Tomorrow (January 12th) my baby turns 2 years old! It's not that big of a shock to me that he's actually two years old though... He's acted like a two year old for several months now. Unfortunately for me he never really wanted to be a baby. :( He's always been doing things pretty advanced for his age. When he was just a few months old he started refusing a pacifier. He started sitting up at 5 months old. He began crawling a month later. At 9 months old he was walking without any help. By 12 months old he was saying words and had been using a spoon and fork to feed himself. By about 16 months old he was speaking in short sentences. Now at almost 2 he says complete sentences better than most 4 year olds do.

It amazes me at how much and how quickly he's learned everything. (Especially after having my first baby being a bit delayed in everything compared to his peers...) I feel like I haven't had a baby around the house since he was a newborn 2 years ago. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him. I'm looking forward to working a lot more with both he and his older brother on pre-school activities this year. He loves learning new things and I have no doubt that he'll be learning everything just as fast as my 4 year old.

My baby boy turns ONE today! My gosh, I can hardly believe how big he's grown in these 12 months. At 5 months old he was sitting up and got his first tooth. At 6-7 months he was crawling. Eight months old he was standing. Nine months old he started walking. Now he's a year old and already thinks he can do all the things his big brother does. 


I didn't have this blog when he was born, but I did post his birth story on my old blog. I'm reposting it here in honor of his first birthday. :) Happy birthday my Monkey Boy!


Late morning on Sunday, January 11th I felt the first contraction. It was some time around 10am. I really didn't think anything of it because I had been having contractions all along... so I figured this was just some more annoying Braxton Hicks. About 45 minutes later I felt another one. A short time later another one. I mentioned to my mom that maybe we should start timing these as a just in case. So we timed them.... 30 minutes apart, 13 minutes, 40 minutes, 25 minutes. They were all over the place! The only thing that made me think they COULD BE the real thing was that they were getting more intense. I had to actually stop and breath through these ones! From 3pm to 5pm they were 14 minutes apart... FINALLY some kind of pattern! I called everyone who needed to be called just in case this was the real thing. I still wasn't entirely convinced.
I called up Lizz and told her what was going on. I needed her to take me to the hospital since my mom just got out of the hospital and my dad had left that weekend on a trip to Mexico. She was really excited and was convinced that this was the real thing. 

To pass the time I made dinner for me, my mom and Camron. In between making dinner I had to stop to sit down during every contraction. They hurt so bad! 

Shortly after I finished making dinner Lizz decided to come over. At about 8:30 she convinced me that we should go to the hospital to get checked. Couldn't hurt... 

At 9pm I was at Balboa with Lizz by my side. My grandma and grandpa were on their way. When the nurse checked me I was already 7cm!! Holy crap! I was completely surprised by that because my contractions were still about 10 to 14 minutes apart. Hospital policy is that you are not to come in until they're 5 to 10 minutes apart.

They admitted me to the hospital and took me to my labor and delivery room. I told the nurses and doctor that it was my goal to not get the epidural. I wanted to try to do it all natural since I had already made it to 7cm with no help. Shortly after making it to my room my grandparents showed up. 

After an hour or 2 the contractions were getting closer together and coming on harder and harder! Close to midnight the doctor checked me once again. I was STILL only 7cm. I was gonna go nuts when I heard that!! I thought for SURE I was close to pushing. 

After that check things started to get really intense. The contractions were getting almost unbareable. My whole body was shaking. I was hot. I was going out of my mind! I BEGGED for the epidural! I kept saying that I couldn't take much more. FINALLY the doctor came in after what seemed like forever... I was shaking even worse... She told me I had 2 choices. I could get my bag of waters ruptured and deliver this baby or I could get the epidural. I wanted the pain over with right then and there so I choose to have the baby! Plus I knew there was no way I could sit still long enough for the epidural to be put in. By the time the bag was ruptured I was 8cm and unfortunately there was merconium in the water...

As soon as my bag was ruptured things moved VERY quickly! Right as the nurse left the room I felt the urge to push... From here things are kinda fuzzy for me. I was out of my mind with pain... I couldn't control the urge to push. I remember my stomach contracted and I felt myself pushing and a gush of water came out. (Ew! lol) I think Lizz and my grandma were freaking out because the nurse wasn't coming back and they weren't answering the call button. 

After what seemed like forever a ton of people filled the room. I was screaming from the pain. Like screaming on the top of my lungs. My body was pushing the baby out and I couldn't stop myself! The stupid doctor kept yelling at me not to scream, to stop pushing and she kept shoving the baby back inside of me! I guess they were worried about him coming without the pediatritian there. She did this about 5 times. Lizz was ready to kick her butt. They started arguing and I asked them both to stop. 

FINALLY I was allowed to push. I think I pushed maybe a total of 5 to 7 times and he was out. As SOON as he was delived I instantly felt normal again. It was amazing! I felt like super woman. I did it! I did it all on my own! Oh my gosh. I just kept saying, 'I did it!' over and over. 

Brayden had to be cleaned off right after delivery so I didn't get to see him right away like I wanted. Lizz got to cut the remainder of the umbilical cord. (The doctor did the first cut since he had to be rushed over to the table.) While all of this was going on the doctor was stitching me up... taking her sweet time. I swear she did it on purpose! 

FINALLY I got to hold my baby! I put him straight to the breast and he he started breastfeeding like a champ. Nothing like Cam! It was so awesome. 


He was 7lbs, 3oz and 20" long. He arrived at 1:42am... very early morning on Monday, January 12th, 2009. :)

When I was ready to go to my recovery room Lizz (plus her family) and my grandpa went home. My grandma stayed with us. 

Well, that's my birth story. Nothing like Camron's, thank goodness.

He was 8lbs 13oz and 21 inches long. Unfortunately during the labor he devolped a sore on the top of his head which they thought to be a viral infection.. It wasn't. I think the doctor did it when she was turning him. He spent one week in the NICU because of it. My husband was on deployment, I was a new mother and I had to leave the hospital alone. Luckily they were nice enough to move me into a new room the day after I was discharged and Camron was allowed to room with me. We got to go home on New Years Eve.





I was trying to find where I posted my birth story, but I guess I didn't type one out for Camron. The best I could find was what my best friend, Lizz typed out in my Myspace blog the day he was born. She was giving my friends and family the updates as things were progressing:

Well, you all know he was 8lbs 13ounces.. 21inches long. Born sometime after 430 this afternoon. He's got HUGE feet, and looks just like his Daddy. Grandma Rose said that his hair is SO blonde, and his eyebrows are so blonde it doesn't look like he has any.. and even his EYELASHES are bright blonde. He has blue eyes, and a STRONG demeaner.

Camron is, at the moment, in the NICU being monitored. The only thing "wrong" with him was the fact that he had some type of blisters all over his head from being stuck in the birth canal for too long. They're monitoring him for a short time, and maybe doing an ultrasound on his head, then returning him to Mommy.

The hospital staff that was there when I visited said she is SUCH a strong girl! She pushed like a champ for three hours to get that lil bugger out. She was pretty wiped out when I got to see her, so it's kinda good that she gets a lil time to recoop before being a full time Mommy. Not much time, but enough to maybe catch a cat nap. Thanks everyone for your prayers, keep em comin! And she'll be posting her birth story when she gets home, along with a MILLION pictures I'm sure :D Hopefully she'll be home tomorrow afternoon/evening sometime. If not, she'll be coming home on Christmas! What a great present, huh?

and here's CAM!

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f14/artstunique/2.jpg
Like I said, it was taken with my camera phone. And it's not of him, it's a picture of him on the digital camera. He was already gone when I got there.

Happy Birthday my little man! You're growing into a smart and independent little boy. You'll always be my baby boy to me though. Thanks for choosing me as your mommy. I love you!

Today is Josh's birthday and he's not too happy about turning a year older. He keeps joking around that he's officially an old man now. Now don't get offended if you happen to be older... but he turned 26 this year. LOL. I know that's not old, but he's freaking out just a little. For the next two and a half weeks I'm gonna have to tease him about it. (After the 2nd I won't be able to because I'll be the same age.)

I made him some Funfetti cupcakes to enjoy when he gets off of work. Apparently my cupcake pan has ran off somewhere... So I had to put the paper cups in a large baking pan. It all worked out. We just have square cupcakes now instead of round ones. Mmmm... The apartment smells sooo good! ...I ended up eating one, I couldn't help it!

After we eat dinner and enjoy our cupcakes tonight, Josh and I are dropping the boys off at my mom's house and we're going to enjoy a night alone. Ok not really alone alone... We have to finish our Christmas shopping and grocery shopping. So we'll be spending it with the crowds at various stores. At least we'll be able to walk hand-in-hand tonight instead of chasing kids around the store. LOL. Hey, what ever alone time I can get with him is fine by me! :)

My oldest son's third birthday is coming up on the 23rd of December.  My youngest will be one on the 12th of January. Our family and a few friends keep asking me what I'm planning to do. When I tell them that we're going to have cake and ice cream at home they sound disappointed and ask me why I'm not throwing either one a party. Well... quite frankly, I don't believe in throwing little kids huge/expensive birthday parties. We don't have the money and I have enough to stress about in my life right now without throwing 2 birthday parties in the mix. Who would the party really be for anyway? In my opinion, the adults. Sure, the kids will have a good time.. unless it's close to nap time... but they most likely won't remember any of it. Do you remember your first, second, third or even fourth birthdays? I sure don't.

Now if you want to deal with the planning and the cost that comes with children's birthday parties... more power to you! If big birthday bashes are something your family does... AWESOME! If I'm invited I will show up and help you celebrate! ...It's just not something we are gonna do in my family.

I think cake, ice cream, singing happy birthday and a present or two to open with just the four of us works just as well... for us. I'm not doing it to try to exclude anyone. (Which is what I think a few of my family is thinking.) If YOU would like to plan a birthday party for my kids... go for it! I'll be sure to get us all there! Just let me know what time and where. ;) I just don't want to deal with it.






I'm not judging anyone who throws a big party for their kids.... Just don't judge me for NOT doing the same.