Camping

A couple of weekends ago we decided to turn what would typically be a boring Friday night into a fun camp out in our own backyard! We plan to try to do a real camp out sometime this fall so we thought this would be a good test to see how Cami would do sleeping in a tent. She enjoyed helping daddy set up the tent! She also liked helping to cook hot dogs over the fire. Although, she wasn't too interested in eating a hot dog!

We set up her ladybug tent outside, too. She was much more comfortable in the tents if we got in them with her. Cami is not a big fan of small spaces like little play house and tents.

My favorite part was the roasting of the marshmallows! Cami loved watching the fire! She wanted to keep the marshmallows in the fire way past due resulting in a burned marshmallow or two.

But we finally toasted some good ones! She liked the marshmallow but really just wanted the chocolate from the s'mores!

It finally got dark and seemed much more like a camp out! We bought Cami a cool red LED flashlight to play with.

Wow! Look at the stars!

Cami also got her first sleeping bag!

She was so excited about it when we were inside the house but once we got into the tent and tried to get her to lay down inside the sleeping bag she flipped out! At this point we were pretty sure sleeping outside in a tent probably wasn't going to happen. But she did pose very cute for the camera :)

This picture is hilarious!

Cami is getting upset and wants out of the tent. Molly is trying to fluff up the sleeping bad and go to sleep. And Neal already has his eyes closed-he's so over it!

Overall, it was a fun night to cook hot dogs and roast marshmallows outside by the fire. But we will have to try again next time for a true camp out...with actual sleeping outdoors!

Summertime

Well, we have been extremely busy this summer...and I'm loving every minute of it. Not the heat, but spending lots of time with my family and watching Cami just enjoy life! First of all, I would like to officially declare Cami potty trained! Woo-hoo!! We started right before her second birthday and she caught on quickly. She loves wearing panties just like big girls do and getting a sticker AND a M&M after each time she goes potty is a pretty good incentive, too! In the picture below Cami is getting her very first hair cut. Neal has always been the groomer of the family-such a steady hand he has :) The next few pictures of some of Cami's favorite things to do... She does really well with building blocks. She is pretty creative and can just look at a pile of blocks and come up with the coolest "castles" and towers. I am so amazed at how she can stick with one activity for so long! She also LOVES to sort things! Usually she sorts things by color. This keeps her occupied forever! She will stand at her little work station-what we call her table- and sort all the crayons and markers from her box. Then she will go through a box of UNO cards and sort all the blue cards, yellow cards, red cards, etc.

Can you find Cami???

She has also taken to the game of hide-n-seek. She usually goes to the same few hiding spots and sometimes she will just stand behind a chair and cover her eyes. It's the whole 'if I can't see you, you can't see me' thought! But, the biggest thrill to her is the finding part :)

Cami has always enjoyed reading! She now will look through a book and say the same words over and over on each page. She goes through different phases with this. For a few days it was "glub, glub,glub" then it was "maggers, maggers, maggers" then it turned into "I am okay, I am okay." It's the most random words or non-words but it is so adorable to watch her "reading!"

And, of course, we have done lots of swimming this summer! Cami is such a little fish! She loves being in the water. This bikini accentuates her adorably, round belly. When I bought it I thought there will never be a time in her life again that having a big, round belly will be so cute so why not embrace it :)

By the way: Cami has finally learned the correct way to wear her sunglasses! :)

tutu much fun!!!

Cami had a blast as she celebrated her 2nd birthday with her friends and family! Here are some pictures of the big day...

The BIG 0-2!!!

Two years ago today Neal and I became the proud parents of the sweetest, cutest, most precious baby girl! She has changed our life for the better and we thank our lucky stars each day for her! Happy Birthday, Cami! Mommy and Daddy love you very much!!!

Lions and Tigers and...

Elephants! Okay, I know that's not really how it goes but there weren't any bears at the zoo! So, Cami took her first trip to the zoo this past week. Although it was way too hot to be doing anything outside that didn't involve water we still enjoyed watching as she got excited at each animal. Before we even went to the zoo she was talking about seeing the tigers. Apparently that was THE animal to see! She did enjoy looking at the tiger and all of his massiveness, but I think she got more of a kick-out of seeing the penguins! Those little guys have always been a favorite of hers!

Please don't ask me why my child wears her sunglasses upside down. I don't know if it feels more comfortable to her to wear them this way or what. It doesn't matter how many times we put them on her the right way she will always flip them over upside down. Don't worry, I have plenty of pictures of her like this so one day when she is older she can look back and realize the embarrassment we had to go through!

This next picture cracks me up! Cami is pointing at me and saying "this way" because I was taking the picture the wrong way, according to her. You see the camera was vertical, not horizontal and I was apparently doing it all wrong.

The giraffes! You could get so close to them

that you could actually touch them! We had a great day at the zoo. But next time we will go in the spring!

Fireworks!

Our July 4th festivities were a lot of fun this year! We started the day off by making, what I have decided will be a tradition from now on, a flag cake. Cami loved helping mix the ingredients together and adding the strawberries and blueberries. We then headed over to Grammy and Papaw's house (minus Grammy because she was out of town) to enjoy some swimming and cooking out!

Later that night we went to see the fireworks show. Neal and I both were unsure of how Cami would do with staying up late-the fireworks didn't begin until 9:45 and Cami usually is in bed by 7:30 or 8:00! Cami is also scared of loud noises so we thought she might get pretty upset at the sound of all the fireworks. But, she did great!

Not one time did she cry or whine about being tired-she even stayed awake for the drive home! She did seem to be a little nervous and was quiet when the fireworks first started and held on tight to Neal and I, but she eventually got excited and would call out the colors of each firework. July 4th is one of mine and Neal's favorite holidays and I'm so excited to be able to carry on traditions like watching fireworks, BBQ's, and flag cakes with our very own family!

Updates and the Heat!

Cami has made several steps towards becoming a big girl! She now drinks out of a big girl cup, without a lid for spill protection! Sometimes she will pick up the cup and look at me with big eyes and say "slowly" because I told her to drink it slowly every time she picked up her cup for about the first month we were trying out this whole big girl cup thing!

And the biggest and hardest step towards big girl hood that Cami has gone through...the removal of the paci! She had given it up at school and only needed it to sleep with at home so I thought it would be a quick and fairly easy process. It was just like taking off a band-aid. She cried the first night (A LOT) and each night got better and better until a week later she didn't even ask for it. It was a little sad for me, though. As I threw away all the paci's I realized that my baby girl is growing up way too fast! Summertime is here! Well, technically the first day of Summer is not until June 21st, but if it's 100 degrees then I say it's Summer! Last Summer Cami loved the water and this year she is proving to love it just the same! Here she is making the face she makes when water splashes on her face...Cami has become quite fond of the accessories, and

sunglasses are usually a must before going outside :)

Swimming at Grammy and Papaw's house. Ridiculous as it may look, this swimsuit with a life vest built in is genius! She loves swimming and really has no fear of the water! We need to enroll her in swim lessons soon!!

Unfortunately, we only have a little wadding pool for Cami to play in at our house. But she doesn't seem to mind...she'll splash in anything!

Cami is such a happy little girl! She makes life so much fun!!!