The Nelson Family

November Catch-Up

2012-01-18T14:21:00.000-06:00

People, feel free to tune out. Before I plow ahead with the, ahem, hundreds of photos from our trip and January so far, I need to do a photo dump from November. So without further delay, I give you said dump. :)

November 7, 2011 - I became a nerdy brace-face orthodontist's wife!

My dad went home on November 8th. He had so much fun just spending time with Chelsea and the big kids.

Sorry about that, Dad.

Love it.

Lots of reading practice going on these days.

So sweet.

SERIOUSLY...heaven help me, she's too cute!

I die every night putting this face to bed.

This was just the start to her hand-gnawing...now she must be working on some teeth because it never stops!

The best face, like her hand is nasty, but she can't stop eating it.

My little love...MAN she makes me crazy!

This reminds me a ton of my brother as a baby.

Those spastic feet kick like crazy.

Okay, this day I asked Cami to take some pictures of me with the baby - with my big pro camera! She did a great job, and I love all of these - even though I hadn't showered yet and some of them hardly have us in them. They are treasures to me...Cami's little perspective.

With me at Carson's school for Grandparents Day

Yeah, this was the best I could do in the gym.

We tried giving Chelsea a bottle...no go.

Watching the Blues practice at the Mills Mall.

More mirror smiles.

Love them.

Most nights, the kids beg to wrestle Zack. Cami loves to ask Zack (while they're wrestling) - "Dad, are we wesseling?? Dad, is this wesseling??" It's the cutest ever.

This is an on-purpose face.

Murder face is back, ya'll.

Love the eyebrow pop she pulls all the time.

After a workout a la Cami.

It's gotten coooold here!

Okay, now I'll move onto December. You guys are thrilled, I just know it!!

Just for Fun

2011-12-15T10:01:00.001-06:00

Some comparisons at 4 months old...

Carson

Dude, Carson reminds me of Gordon B. Hinckley as a baby.

Cami Jo

Chelsea girl

What d'ya think?

Forget November

2011-12-06T16:46:00.002-06:00

Let's just skip to December for now, shall we? Boy it's been a whirlwind already, and we haven't even gotten to the Christmas rush of things. The highlight of the month so far has been Cami's birthday (Dec 3rd) and party (Dec 5th). But before we go there...

We had a little bake sale in our neighborhood on Friday the 2nd to earn money for our Christmas Jar (if you don't know what that is, here's a link to the book we read as a family - thanks Jenny!). It was lots of fun and our jar is full! Thank you, wonderful neighbors.

Just hanging out with my 4-month old beauty...she sucks on her fingers NON-STOP these days. It's driving the orthodontist in the family nuts.

After her bath one night, Zack amused me by taking pictures of me making Chels smile.

The things you do for a baby smile.

She's so precious, I seriously never put the babe down.

Really, I could die.

Okay, onto Cami's birthday. Here are the streamers I put up for her to break through on her way upstairs. But when she came and got me and I peeked at the doorway, they were still intact. She carefully climbed under them, haha.

Hanging out with the birthday girl while dad worked til 2pm.

Opening presents from Grandma Cramer.

...while Skyping with her - what a treat!

Littlest sis wears Carson's old bibs b/c she spits up so much, I run out of girl ones!

Breakfast - monkey bread and smoothie.

Playing with her new princess phone, shoes & pjs.

"How old are you?"

For this pic, she was saying, "Oh. my. GOSSS" as she spun around to continue her "conversation." She is hilarious.

And she loves to play with Chelsea.

The morning of her party, yesterday the 5th.

Decorating bookmarks with friends.

It was a vintage-y pony theme.

Zack bein' real dumb.

Shhhh, it's an awesome pony, haha.

Fitz's root beer is a St. Louis thing. They're yummy.

Lissa held Chelsea the whole party so I could take pictures (thank you!).

A marshmallow popper game...that poster only took me like 8 hours to make, haha.

Cami had a better idea of what to do with the marshmallows...

Time for freeze dance! Cami was super shy at first.

Freeze!

Then she warmed up.

The little favors...

Then cupcakes and more friends!

The beer sign went great with my decor. :)

While everyone was running around, Cami decided to plop herself in the middle of the floor and continue decorating her bookmark with pony stickers.

P.S. Cute 3/4-sleeve denim jacket, huh? That may or may not be her 3-6 month one from her baby days! It was the only cowgirly thing I could find in the closet!

Oh man, the party was at 3pm at the clubhouse, and I didn't even arrive until 2:15pm, with nothing done, a hungry screaming baby and a toddler asleep on my floor at home. Zack started making trips in the van from our house to the clubhouse, and my awesome friends Lissa, Laura and Lili came and helped me set everything up. I COULD NOT have done it without them. Thank you so much for all your help, and thanks everyone for coming and supporting Cami Jo!

The Neverending Story

2011-11-21T17:11:00.000-06:00

Or maybe Neverending Pictures? Here...we...GOOO!

Carson has adjusted to his long school day and is really thriving in kindergarten. He was chosen as his class' POD (Person of Dignity) Squad member for the month of October - I didn't even realize what that meant until a friend said she saw his picture up in the hallway at school. He got to have a little POD Squad party in the cafeteria during school. I got a copy of the picture. I guess it's like a "student of the month" type of thing. I also went to the parent-teacher conference we had at the end of October and really enjoyed talking to Carson's teacher, Mrs. Moore. She's great - I really love her. She said Carson is the type of student she wishes she had a bunch more of. I was trying not to smile too big. :) We still have some issues we're working on, like treating all of his friends nicely (it's like he's gone friend-crazy with all the new little boys in his class and is suddenly full of little boy drama...you know, "So-and-so isn't my best friend any more," and "I didn't want to play with so-and-so today" and then the next day it will be all different). We're also still having accidents at school weekly. I got him a cool Cars potty watch that buzzes every 90 minutes, but since Dad is in charge of getting him ready and out the door, it doesn't ever make it on his wrist. :)

Cami having fun at Kylea's house the day I flew out to Maryland.

Kylea's house = heaven to her.

While I was gone in MD for my cousin's wedding, Zack took the kids camping. He promised he'd take some pictures. :)

(They're pretending.)

Zack also took them to a ward Halloween activity.

I took Cami and the baby to the Kirkwood train station to scout out a location for a session and took these of Cami girl.

Super shaggy right now, and she always rips out her ponytails.

Total Cami face.

Meanwhile, Lil Miss is about the sweetest thing ever. She is such a good baby and I feel extremely blessed that things have gone so smoothly with her. I don't want to jinx myself, but the last 5 nights she's slept through the night (about 9:30pm or 10pm until 7am). The last three nights she's slept in past 8am! I still do my dream feed around 11:30pm or midnight and then I go to bed. The pics are from the middle of October...around 2 1/2 months old. A couple more murder witness faces.

Oh, I ADORE that little body!!

Loves sucking on my knuckle if I give it to her.

During October we met up with some friends at a pumpkin patch.

Sweet friends...and also major enemies some days!

Pete and Repeat running off into the maze.

Our friend Kade.

Isabella, Julia and Kylea.

This was the best smile I got!

Did I mention she likes to copy her bro?

Note to self: try a new pose so you don't look pregnant.

There you go...

On October 27th my dad flew in for another visit with a free ticket he had to use up. He got to spend time with baby Chels since he took off last time when she was a couple hours old.

She likes him.

And he likes her. Best eyebrow lift.

World Series champs, baby. It follows us around. First Phillies, now the Cards. We're taking bids from major league teams for where we should move next.

Since my dad was here, he stayed home with the sleeping kids and Zack and I drove around honking at people on the street and yelling "Yeah Cards!" It was pretty ~~lame~~ fun.

On Halloween day, the girls, grandpa and I went to Carson's class to help with the party. It was really fun to see him in his element and meet the friends I've been hearing about.

Lining up for the parade.

Cami got to walk in the parade holding his hand. I forgot her costume. Whoops.

Our good friends London and Miles.

This is his whole class.

Cami got to join in on the fun party after the parade.

Oops, forgot the trunk-or-treat the Saturday before Halloween. Zack was a....drumroll please.....GANGSTER! Zack's mom got him this sweet short-sleeved gangster suit.

P.S. Carson refused to wear the cape because it bugged him.

Ready to go trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

We walked around with some of our friends. Super fun.

Love this one from Lissa!

Right after this picture they squealed and said, "We're the same person!!!!"

It was like a flash mob at every door. Sorry folks!

She didn't really enjoy trick-or-treating. Psych!

After all the fun.

And a close-up of our jack-o-lanterns. The kids helped 0% besides telling me they wanted a mean-faced pumpkin...

...and a happy-faced pumpkin. I waited til the day of Halloween to buy pumpkins, which is why they're the fancy weird-colored ones.

Oh man, that brings us through October. Sometime in the new year I'll probably be posting November!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T15:43:00.001-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Love, the Super Family

More Halloween pics to come (obviously).

End of Soccer

2011-10-29T09:03:00.000-05:00

Carson's last soccer practice was an hour-long scrimmage. He started out in the goal.

Way to go, Bud.

A little half-time dance party.

I have to admit, I was proud at how often Carson got in the middle of the pack and wrestled the ball away...although we're working on not pushing!

Double-arm pump after he scored!

Almost there...

Doh!

Water break.

Carson on one of his many break-aways (the kid is pretty darn good!)

(That's his foot kicking the goal...)

Double arm-pump to a kid who doesn't care much, haha.

The Three Musketeers.

I love this smile on his face...soccer is SO fun to him! He was giggling as he was getting in the mix.

Whoo hoo!

Some of the gang after the scrimmage.

Showing off their soccer bling.

Fun times 'round here.

Eric & Stephanie's Wedding

2011-10-27T16:02:00.001-05:00

Last weekend I was able to fly out to Maryland with Chelsea for my cousin Eric's wedding. I stayed in a room with my mom, which was really fun. We were there three nights, and luckily Chelsea did great on all three flights (I had a 2-hr. direct flight there, and ended up being delayed coming home on my layover, so I had a 3-hr. layover...boo!). The only flight she even made a peep on was the last one, and she only cried out a few times before falling asleep. Love that girl.

The weekend was wonderful - the wedding and festivities were gorgeous and my brother was there, too. It was a treat to see him since it doesn't happen often. And it was awesome to be able to introduce all of my mom's family to baby Chelsea! I missed the kids, but am always glad to give Zack a taste of my daily life. :) Thank you to my great friends for watching Cami and Carson on Friday so I could fly out Thursday night!

In the hotel room with Grandma Cramer. :)

Can't even stand the cuteness.

Napping in the room...she mostly napped on the go, so this was a treat for her. :)

At the wedding (it was in a gorgeous little forest in Thurmont, MD).

Uncle Zach.

The groom entertaining as usual.

Mom and Aunt Vicki fought for Chelsea all weekend. :)

This picture sums up Chelsea's effect on the guests - she always had someone cooing at her!

My fav.

Gorgeous Stephanie.

So pretty!

He wasn't about to stop kissing his bride!

The most precious expression on Eric's face.

Uncle Steve, and my cousins James and Sean-Michael

Stephanie's adorable grandparents...married 64 years.

I wore Chelsea in the baby bjorn the whole day...including on the dance floor!

At the reception...blurry pics because it was dark and I don't have a flash.

Ready to head to the airport.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun weekend!

October Photo Dump

2011-10-20T16:21:00.001-05:00

So General Conference weekend, Zack went out of town on a school trip for the weekend. When he got back after three days, I was a MESS. Cami hadn't napped well in two months and I completely blew my lid as the kids misbehaved and threw fits one after another. I literally felt in the pit of despair...sobbing, screaming at times (awesome)...I wanted to quit and walk out of the house. I said more than one pleading prayer and went into my room where Cami was having a meltdown and said a prayer with her that she'd be able to fall asleep and nap. She fell asleep within a few minutes, and things looked up for a few hours until Zack got home and I completely fell apart again. Anyways...needless to say, it was a rocky weekend, and I was grateful for what I did hear of Conference. I had to post this picture Carson drew while Zack was gone. Notice my face??? He also drew the baby crying, but I'd say Cami was the one doing the most crying...well, maybe tied with me. :)

Things have been better since then...I've done whatever it takes to get Cami to take a nap almost every day. We've all done soooo much better since then. And Carson has finally gotten pretty much used to his long kindergarten days. Here's another picture he drew of our family soon after Zack got home. Funny huh? I love the "Carson" that's crossed out and "Cami" written in.

Here's another cute picture he drew for his cousin Houston.

More chalk fun...this time with some 3D chalk we bought.

When I first started jogging again, we went to Zack's school and jogged at the new track that's right across the street. The kids had fun jumping on the mats and running around.

Cartwheel.

Somersault.

It's a good thing this pic is blurry, trust me.

Making fall sugar cookies.

At Kylea's Pinkalicious birthday party - so much fun!

Right?

Riiiiight?

The bday fam.

Carson was cracking himself up so bad taking and looking at these pictures one night.

Okay...now onto a million and one cute Chelsea pictures. She was smiling up a STORM one Sunday night and I make no apologies for posting them all! Actually, that's a lie...I've already narrowed it down to my favs.

The best!

Love. her.

Seriously I could die, she's so cute.

This picture reminds me of Molly for some reason! :)

Loves her bathtime, even though she was zoning out in these.

She still doesn't like getting dressed always...but most of the time she's happy.

Started using the bumbo this month! Our big girl...almost 12 weeks old!

I'm heading out tonight to go to my cousin's wedding in Maryland for the weekend. I'm just taking the baby. Fun!!

More September

2011-10-15T13:37:00.002-05:00

I give you...drumroll...more pictures from September! Whoo hoo!

Zack took the kids to a Cardinals game with some friends.

Since Chelsea's birth, Cami has taken way less naps, since I have to lay down with her. Some evenings I find her asleep on a couch, cute little tired thing.

Had to snap a few of the littlest pest before I woke her from a nap.

And after I woke her too...

September 18th - Saddest day ever. Zack accidentally dislocated Cami's elbow when he pulled her up on the bed. She screamed and screamed, but then fell asleep holding her arm. When Zack tried to get his arm from under her, she woke up screaming and holding her arm (shoulder, actually) again. We knew something was wrong. As I was getting ready to take the whole family to the ER, Zack called our buddy Chris (whose boys have both dislocated their elbows) and it sounded like the same thing. Chris gave Zack instructions over-the-phone on how to pop it back in place - and it worked! The first time we tried it, tears were streaming down my face because Cami was screaming so much and I had to hold her down while Zack moved her little arm. It didn't work...just before I was ready to take Cami in, Zack went in and tried again all by himself. He told me he heard a pop and thought it worked that time. Sure enough, after a few minutes, Cami started moving her elbow and stopped crying. Here she is after the ordeal.

She got a bowl of ice cream for being so brave. :)

All smiles again...it really was instant relief!

Happy to be getting ice cream too.

Some cute Chels pics.

So awesome.

The roundest cheeks that I eat continually.

She was ready for bed, but I couldn't stop smooching her.

FHE - paper airplane contest.

And pumpkin marshmallow s'mores after for a treat.

Cami with her new sneakers. Light-up Sketchers from the used kids store.

She is in. love.

With the wonderful weather, we've been spending more time outside. We love to play chalk with Isaac in the evenings.

I love that her hopscotching is really just jumping from one foot...

...to the other. The cutest puffy hair!

Just enamored with the cute little babe after bathtime.

Playing outside one day!

We brought a bucket of cars and bad guys to the park and it was a major hit.

Are you kidding me?? Look at that sass!!
Loves to spin...and loves wearing her (now very scuffed) church shoes outside to play in.

Love this one.

Classic Cami face.

I've started jogging again - here's the little gal all bundled in the jogging stroller.

A few more self-timer gems.

All right...October's next. Hold onto yer hats!

Little Scouts

2011-10-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

My little guys went out with me yesterday to scout a location for some mini sessions I'm doing today. I forced them to model for me so I could find some spots I liked. They obliged, somewhat willingly. They are just too cute not to post.

Carse already starting to hate me.

I love the way Cami is lounging on Carse, even though he's giving me a death glare.

Cami's turn to be sad.

Make crazy faces!

Lil sis was there too...love her double chin.

This pic shows the roundness of her face, which doesn't always come out in pictures.

After all the posing, we played around the huge pond at the park - this is Cami's "strong girl" pose. All in all, a great evening out waiting for Dad to get home from school.

Chelsea turns 10 weeks old tomorrow! She's a little doll. This was a good week.

September Round-Up

2011-10-01T08:51:00.000-05:00

September 12th - 16th in pictures...

Smilin' at Dad.

More smiles.

None for Mom this day...but that won't stop me from squeezing her guts.

Seriously could she look any cuter??? I woke her up from her nap and couldn't resist a shot with her.

On the 16th we went to the Balloon Glow in Forest Park (our second year going). It was fun, but so crowded. Snapped these right when we got there before it got completely dark. Can you spot a grumpy lil miss?

Once again, lovin' the giant corndog.

Little cutie watching the balloons light up.

See, doesn't this look fun? The kids loved it (eyes rolling). They were kind of little punks this year, but it's a cool event nonetheless.

I've never taken a picture of us at the famous Ted Drewes, located just a few miles from us.

These next ones are Cami's and Carson's handiwork on the little camera...Carson doing his reading homework with Dad.

Awesome.

I showed Carson how to do the self-timer and he's gone crazy with it.

Doing reading homework with Mom...a la self-timer.

Self portraits, a la self timer.

This picture makes me happy.

Loving their kneeling for family prayer.

Ok, hold on for more September comin soon I hope.

Two months old!

2011-09-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

Chelsea Rae is two months old, and getting cuter by the minute. I have much to blog, but I wanted to take a second and record some things about 2-month old Chelsea.

Her stats at her doctor's appointment today: weight - 11 lbs. 9.5 oz., length - 22 1/4 in. (both 70th %).I never posted her stats from her appointment at 5 weeks 2 days: weight - 9 lbs. 15.5 oz. (let's round up to 10 lbs., folks) - 70th %

She is still a really sweet baby. Most nights she goes to bed around 9pm or 10pm and then I do a dream feed around 11pm. She wakes up once and *usually* goes right back to sleep. Every few days she has a dirty diaper to change and she'll be up for 30-45min. during that middle-of-the-night feeding. She usually sleeps until 7 or 8am after that. I can't complain most nights, but I'm definitely still tired these days. She's started smiling on purpose and still cries for a few minutes before falling asleep for naps and bedtime. Bedtime is usually longer still, but she's doing so well. We're going to move the kids' bunk beds to the basement...Chelsea has officially taken over the kids' bedroom. :) Every time I look at Chelsea I want to eat her. Looooooving this little girl.

Soccer!

2011-09-21T15:16:00.001-05:00

Carson started a 6-week soccer skills/scrimmage class through the YMCA this month. He's doing it with his friends Kylea and London, which is so fun. Last week they scrimmaged and afterward I explained to Carson that you only try to get the ball away from the OTHER team, haha. How cute is he? These are from his first week. Marlie came into town the night before, without her kids, and we had a fabulous couple days with her. Can't wait to see the whole family in December!

The little sibs on the sidelines. Cami was thrilled beyond belief to be playing on Aunt Marlie's iphone.

The littlest pest out and about.

Giggling as the talking kitty repeated everything she said. Also chomping away on gum - her favorite thing of late. She wakes me up each morning asking for a piece of gum. Nice.

In this game, you were supposed to kick other people's balls out of bounds while protecting your own. Carson kept getting a few good kicks in (getting people out) and then getting his own knocked out while he was after others' balls. Haha. He looked at us with this awesome face and folded arms combo.

After soccer and dinner we got some frozen yogurt...yum.

Cool beans, cool beans.

Get your photos, here!

2011-09-17T22:36:00.002-05:00

Yes, more photos...what do you expect from me?

Came in from my shower to find Cami holding a binky in for Chels. This happens quite often. It comes naturally for her to help Chelsea and I love that. She already has a special love for her baby sister.

5.5 weeks old

Doing exercises with Dad.

"You're so strong, littlest pest!"

Loving her Dad time.

Good Chelsea. Stay.

These next three I call, "Zack is dumb."

A blurry smile.

Feeling Pop's whiskers.

My turn.

Are you kidding me??

More on the way...

A New Normal

2011-09-15T16:30:00.001-05:00

Yesterday a friend asked if we'd reached a "new normal" yet. I think we have. The fact that I've cooked dinner three nights this week tells me things are slowly calming down. Carson went through some very rough weeks transitioning to kindergarten. He's just been so tired, so close to tears, SO sassy (talking back, etc.). I've felt a lot of frustration even though I knew to expect this. It's hard to feel like your sweet little boy has disappeared into thin air! And it's been really hard for me to balance being sympathetic and also not allowing bad behavior to go unchecked. This week I've begun to see the light at the end of the tunnel. He's had some really rough moments, but overall he's getting better. It helps that he really loves school and is enjoying his time there. He's also gotten very protective of his sisters. One night Cami did something really naughty (who remembers now?) and Zack spanked her. Carson choked up as he told us we were mean and we should NOT spank Cami because she was just little. Also, if he hears the baby crying, he pleads with me to "Please feed the baby Mom! She really wants to eat and you're not feeding her!" He doesn't understand that she sometimes cries for other reasons and wants to make sure I'm not slackin' and causing the babe to suffer. :)

Cami Jo has also had some really hard weeks. I don't even think it is mostly due to the baby - it's much more the transition of her losing her bff all day long and wanting more of my attention since she isn't engaged in playing with Carson all day. She now refuses to use the potty unless I help her, and she is more needy during the day, but if I give her the attention she wants, she does pretty well. This has meant way less "me time," and actually that's been good for me. I tend to get selfish with wanting computer time/relaxing time during the day and it's good for me and Cami to get down and play with her more. We continue to marvel at the difference between Carson and Cami though. She has this little ornery streak in her that is pretty funny, if disconcerting. The other day, I saw that she needed to go potty and said very cheerfully, "Oh Cami! Let's go potty! Come on, I'll help you!" She insisted she didn't need to go and threw a fit as I helped her get on the toilet. She forcefully and tearfully told me she DIDN'T. HAVE. TO. GO!! Then I heard a trickle, and I started in with my praise hoping she'd change her attitude. Instead of being happy at my nice words, she got the grumpiest face EVER and said, "DON'T SAY GOOD JOBBBBB!" and then stopped peeing! She waited until I said sorry for saying good job and looked away, and then I heard her start peeing again. SERIOUSLY?! Seriously. I have this nagging feeling that her teenage years will put me in a looney bin. We got a free elliptical from Craigslist (the console doesn't work, but hey, it's still a workout!), and in the mornings I try to work out while watching Monk (my favorite show right now, haha) and most times wearing Chelsea in the Baby Bjorn since I can't always wait for her nap time. It always takes some "convincing" to get Cami to change the show from Backyardigans or Beauty and the Beast to my "exercise show," but we get there. Basically, Cami's morning consists of shows, shows and playing puzzles on the floor while Mom watches her own show and exercises. That's okay. We're moving in the right direction and exercising is a psychological need for me! And Cami is so sweet and loving to Chelsea. It's amazing to me that a little girl who can be sooo testy with me is always sweet to her baby sister. She really does help me out by giving her a binky when I'm upstairs, etc.

Baby Chelsea continues to be a sweet little baby. She doesn't stay awake long after she wakes and eats...within an hour from waking she's ready for a nap. This week we've let her cry it out without going in and putting the binky back in, and it's been much better. She's down to crying for 10-20 minutes instead of up to an hour at bedtime (when we were trying to go in and help her fall asleep...that would just get her going longer). At night, her routine lately has been going to sleep around 9 pm, then dream feed at 11 pm (she doesn't wake up any more), another feed around 4 am, and then again around 8 am. Not bad! A couple times a week she feels the need to change it up and stay up for 1+ hours at her 4 am feed, or wake up every couple hours instead. During the day, she does like to be held if she's awake. Zack loves to come home and find her ready to be awoken from a nap...it's a treat for him to go in and wake her up and cuddle her while I finish dinner. When she's awake you will most definitely see my lips plastered to her lips, cheeks, neck, double chin, fingers, hair, eyeballs...I cannot get enough of this sweet little girl. What a blessing it is to have her in our family and our home! Truly, this stage is one of my very favs. She is just my little doll-face prisoner - has no choice but to be my little buddy and go with me everywhere and let me smother her with smooches.

Okay, on to the pictures...

Almost 5 weeks old.

Chelsea wasn't feelin' it, but Cami was.

Our last swim of the year...can you even stand their matching goggles/ears? Oh my word.

"Mom, help me!"

Cami loves giving Eskimo kisses.

Some camera work by Carson.

Carson memorized the August Poem of the Month - the Mesnier Cheer - and got an award.

We had a couple lovely windy days and enjoyed doing kites for the first time, on the hill outside our house. Sept. 5th.

Don't scoff. THIS HAIR TUTORIAL changed my life!

Many more photos waiting to be edited and blogged. Soon, my friends.

Finishing Up August

2011-09-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

"Cami...DON'T smile at me. And PLEASE don't laugh!!"

Chelsea-belle...don't know why, but that's the nickname that's stuck lately. (4 weeks old)

Cami Jo sure adores baby Chelsea. She loves to hold her (for about 10 seconds, then it's "Oh, you want mama? Okay!")

Can you say static electricity? Actually, the fan is blowing her hair...

We did mini golf for the first time and it was a blast. Cami would take her initial shot, then go pick up her ball every time and place it right at the edge of the hole and knock it in.

Chelsea turned 5 weeks yesterday! Last week was harder - I think all day kindergarten caught up with Carson and he was TIRED. Close to tears at the drop of a hat, not minding, talking back. Yikes! I was actually scared for the weekend when I'd have to deal with him all day! This four-day weekend has helped him rest up and return to normal. We'll see how this week goes! Cami is also having a rough time, breaking down into crying fits, and when I ask her what's wrong, she says, "I don't know!" We're also dealing with some potty-training reversion. Lots of fun. It has cooled off the last two days, like all the way to the mid-70's. It's divine!! So we should be getting out and doing more since I won't be a sweaty mess. Chelsea is sleeping like a newborn - not great, but not bad. I'm usually up twice to feed her. I can't complain. I started "dream feeds" last week and it has helped her do longer stretches, although I have to fully wake her up to get her to eat when I'm heading to bed. With Cami I'd just pick her up and feed her while she slept, but Chelsea is totally out. It's worth it for a few extra hours of sleep though. Last week I also started laying her down when she's drowsy but not asleep. She usually cries for a few minutes before going down for her naps and bedtime. But I'm so proud of her! She only cries for a few minutes and then self-soothes. I know sleeping through the night will come...I'll have another post up soon.

Let's Face It...

2011-08-31T12:04:00.000-05:00

There will be zillions of photos on here for a while...yes, even more than usual.

Chelsea's first bath at two weeks old. Cried at first but then calmed down and liked it.

Did NOT like the getting out/drying off/getting dressed part.

My mom was here until the 22nd and she spoiled Cami by reading to her and rocking her for naps, just like I usually do but haven't had time to lately. Oh, I will really REALLY miss that.

This is the little chandelier I made for the kids' room right before I had Chelsea. I found those yo-yo flowers in the clearance aisle of Marshall's - they were stitched together in rows as a table runner, with some missing and some falling apart. I tied them with ribbon onto a Dollar Tree plant hanger that I added extra wire rows to, in twos. I like how it turned out - it hangs above the rocker.

Chelsea has been sleeping in the kids' room in the bassinet since she was a week old. The kids are in the basement having a "slumber party" every night on blankets and sleeping bags. We have the video monitor on during the night and they've done great so far.

It's just a little crowded in their room, you think? We've hardly used their bunk beds! Someday this baby will be sleeping better and they can all be roommates.

Grandma french braiding Cami's hair for the first time. Have I mentioned how much this little girl loves to read?? She makes up words, and I want to die it's so cute.

We went to the zoo all together on Saturday the 20th. I was seriously dripping sweat during the sea lion show. What is wrong with me? It was not even crazy hot. I hate the humidity.

Hangin' with the hippos.

Carson calls this his "cool kid" pose. "Mom, do you want my cool kid pose??" Yes, son, I do.

Doing his first homework assignment on Monday the 22nd!

Right before baby girl's bath one night. This pic is about right for me - air-dried hair, no makeup, bloodshot eyes and spit-up on my shoulder...oh, and sweet baby in my arms.

I really could eat her face off when she's sleeping. Can't get enough.

Cami sure loves sis too. She's so much more soft and loving than I had feared.

Fair warning - millions-o-pics coming up. 3.5 weeks old here (last week).

She LOVES staring at the light...any light.

LOVE her!

A tiny smile at no one.

SERIOUSLY!

What is this face? Those nostrils!

I love holding her up to me for "tummy time." Her neck is getting pretty strong!

These scary eyes are awesome.

As are these slightly crossed eyes.

Sweet little fingers.

Don't I look awesome? I started walking with the walking group in our complex last week and it's been great getting out and chatting with the ladies again. I push Cami in the stroller and wear Chels.

Some cute Daddy/daughter images one night.

Didn't love the whiskers.

That double chin gets nibbled on daily.

Those darn whiskers again.

Well maybe they're not so bad.

Oh my, the best profile. Don't miss her alfalfa sprout in the back!

Cami took about 20 pictures of us one night and this one was actually in focus.

That's us lately! Check back soon...

A Whole Lotta New

2011-08-19T08:58:00.003-05:00

Cami's had a whole lotta new in her life lately. Besides having a new baby sister and her brother (aka best friend and all-day-playmate) start kindergarten, she is also now potty trained and got her first haircut! All in the month of August (well, Chelsea came July 31st - close enough).

Here she is getting her first haircut from Grandma Linda on August 15th. I asked her to trim about an inch off the bottom. Haha, it took like 13 seconds.

Bribery works wonders.

Pouty face because the hair was sticking to her lollipopped messy face.

After a wipedown...smiling for me!

We buzzed Carson's hair too and then they ran upstairs to shower all the hair off. Love these kids!

I just couldn't cut it short enough to be all one length, but at least the bottom is even now.

Checking herself out in the mirror. Ha!

These kids are getting so big, I tell ya what.

They now shower separately at night since Carson started kindergarten. I'm in love with this series of images of Cami girl.

August 3rd - her first day of wearing panties! Thank you Grandma Linda for instigating this. She was already dry most days in her pull-up, but I just didn't have the energy to fully potty train. Linda took over and she's done great! She's only had maybe 3 accidents and it's been a few weeks.

Pete and Repeat in their undies after a shower.

I'm seriously going to eat them one of these days.

And these are just a couple cute ones of Cami stealing my makeup things.

Whew. I think we're caught up. Now I have about a million images from Chelsea's first three photo sessions to edit. Coming soon!

School Schmool!

2011-08-18T12:52:00.001-05:00

It's official: Carson is a big kid! He started full-day kindergarten yesterday morning. He has been sooo excited to start school, and especially to ride the bus. The bus came at 7:40am - it was bittersweet for me to see him so excited and also nervous. I asked if he was nervous and he said no, but I could tell he was. Especially when it came time to get aboard. I followed the bus to the school with my mom and the girls, but Chelsea needed to be fed and by the time we got out of the van, school had started so I didn't get any pictures of him there. I'm so proud of him though! The bus got him home at 3:40pm. What a long day! He said his favorite part was watching a little show and laying on a mat for rest time. He also loved recess. Movies and running around...yeah, that sounds like Carson all right! I think about him all day long and check the schedule to see what he's doing throughout the day. Cami seems to be doing okay so far, but she has Grandma here to entertain her. We'll see how she does when all our company is gone!

Zack gave Carson a father's blessing on Monday night after FHE. Zack choked up and that got me going too.

Of course Cami couldn't be left out and got one too, to help her transition as well.

At the bus stop! (Which is right in front of our house...so nice!)

Those nervous fingers creeping in.

Could you just die at this last look of his before getting on the bus? My nervous, brave boy!

And he was off!

Home again.

His pose of choice.

Love our little kindergartener!

Day two so far so good...a few more hours 'til Little Bud gets home.

Hello, Goodbye!

2011-08-17T15:09:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we said goodbye to Grandma Linda and said hello to Grandma Cramer! Zack's mom was sooooooo nice to come stay with us for 2.5 weeks, from the day Chelsea was born. She was a serious lifesaver. She took the kids for me every morning so I could sleep in, made every meal her entire stay, entertained the kids all day so I could rest and recuperate with Chelsea, and cleaned the house along the way. She's superwoman and I don't know what I would have done without her. Thanks again Linda!

Zack took Monday and Tuesday off of school after Chelsea was born, so on the 2nd they went with Grandma down to the Arch and rode on the river boat tour.

It was hot. :)

The kids also went to the library with Grandma, and read lots of books with her during her stay.

Some snuggle time with Chels.

Carson gets to play video games for an hour if he takes a nap each day. Now he gets to play for an hour after school for free time/wind-down time.

The gal-y gals.

Thanks for the close-up, Zack!

We went to a concert at the World Bird Sanctuary last Thursday. The kids LOVED it and it was so nice and cool outside. A perfect night.

They went down and danced with the other kids the whole time. In fact, I left early with Chelsea and Zack, Linda and the kids stayed. Carson started doing some of his interpretive dance moves (which have intentionally never been posted, haha - they're kinda scary) and the singer stopped after a song and said, "I gotta hand it to this kid!! He's feelin' it!!" Zack and Linda could not stop laughing.

Some other things the kids got to do with Grandma (off the top of my head, and not pictured): Shop, shop, shop (they went to Hobby Lobby and picked out crafty things to do with Linda and went to Walmart with her a bunch of times), visited the zoo twice, went to the Science Center and saw the Imax about tornadoes, went to the pool and went to the Magic House. I tell you she's the Energizer Bunny.
My mom got in late last night. This morning she met Chelsea.

What fun to have so many visitors!!

Chelsea - Week 2

2011-08-17T12:57:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from week two with Chelsea...

I can't resist sleeping shots...because A) she's always sleeping and B) she's so darn cute.

Big bro and sis doing dominoes together. Grandma Linda called them Pete and Repeat because Cami literally follows Carson around all day and copies everything he does and says.

A shot of her long hair!

Sweet baby girl.

More cross-eyes.

The kids love taking pictures these days. Thanks Carson.

We took the kids to the batting cages for the first time - they loved it!

Cutest thing I've ever seen.

Hangin' with Grandma Linda!

She makes the craziest faces all the time.

Whachutalkinbout?

Right?

Smiles and dimples...

A classic shot of Cami petting sis.

Tummy time!

And she's done.

She spends a lot of the day asleep in her bouncer.

Had to get a shot of Cami in her new church shoes that she wanted to wear all day.

Smiling for mom.

She's had some good nights this last week - a few 5 hour stretches and a 6.5 hour stretch. Then the other nights she's up every 3 hours. I can't wait for some consistency, but we're doing well. I moved her bassinet into the kids' room and moved the kids downstairs with Grandma when she was a week old. I've gotten SUCH better sleep since then.

Chelsea's BIRTHday Story...

2011-08-14T15:32:00.002-05:00

...and some pics, of course. Story first, then the pics. I'm warning you, it was about the most perfect delivery possible, so if that makes you angry/jealous/crazy, don't read on. The short version: 9:30am - Arrived at hospital (3cm dilated)11:00am - Started on pitocin11:45am - Received epidural12:25pm - Water was broken2:00pm - 4cm dilated2:30pm - Felt pressure, told Zack I thought I was getting close3:00pm - 10cm dilated and head was visible3:48pm - Doctor arrived, told me to give a "half push"3:51pm - Chelsea was born! The long version (for those who care/dare):

Okay. So at my 38.5 week appointment, the doctor said, "So if we can induce you on Sunday, would you want to do that?" (I had been planning on Monday August 1st, which would have been exactly one week early.) I said, "Well, my mother-in-law gets in Sunday at midnight, so actually Monday would be better." He said, "Then it will have to be Tuesday afternoon, because I don't think you'll get a spot on Monday...and also...I don't think I can do it on Monday." (AKA, I have a golf game I don't want to miss on Monday!) I thought about it for approximately .3 seconds and then said, "Okay then, let's do Sunday!" After a day of phone tag with the office, the front desk girl said they can't do it on Sunday because I will be more than 7 days early. I told her that the doctor knew that when he suggested Sunday, but she insisted it would have to be Monday or Tuesday (which meant Tuesday since I knew the dr. couldn't do Monday). I was sooo bummed for a day. Like totally sad and depressed at the thought of being pregnant for two days more than I thought I'd have to be - thank you horribly awfully hot and humid St. Louis summer for turning me into a psycho who could not be pregnant a single day longer than necessary. Anyways, later that day another girl called and said the induction was set for 9:30am Sunday morning. I was thrilled and immediately my sour mood disappeared.
So Sunday morning we kissed the kids, left them with my dad, and headed off to the hospital. The staff was so great and my IV was in a little before 10am. I must add that it was the most comfortable IV I've ever had. The nurse had to dig around to find my vein, which wasn't fun, but once it was in, I couldn't even feel it! Usually that's one of the most uncomfortable parts for me. Then she loaded me up on fluids in the IV and started me on pitocin at 11am. About 40 minutes later she came in and said she finally got ahold of Dr. Mormol and he wanted my water broken. I had already told my nurse that I'd like to have my epidural before they broke my water (Cami style) since I progress really quickly after my water is broken. She said he insisted that my water be broken first and then I could have my epidural whenever I wanted. I said as long as they promised the anesthesiologist would be right outside the door for the second my water was broken, I'd do it. She said, "You can always refuse to have your water broken," and I said, "I'm just not that kind of patient." After a minute, she said, "You know what, we're going to do this your way. He's a man - he just can't fully get it. We'll just break your water right after your epidural and he'll never even know." At that moment I wanted to hug my cute nurse.
The anesthesiologist got the epidural in perfectly the first time, without much discomfort - the numbing shot was the worst part. That was at 11:45am. At 12:25pm my catheter was in and a doctor came and broke my water. Then I let the warm fuzziness take over and rested for about 1.5 hours while Zack napped too. My nurse checked me at 2:00pm and said I was at a 4cm and that it should go more quickly now. She said to call her if I felt pressure. Literally 30 minutes later I felt some pressure and told Zack I thought I was getting close. I didn't call though because I thought she'd think I was dumb for thinking I'd be close 30 minutes after she checked me. At 3:00pm, right as I was about to call her, she came in and checked me. I told her I was feeling a little pressure. She said, "A little pressure?! You're complete!"
Then we waited for my doctor to arrive. The nurses got the room set for the delivery and told me she had dark hair. They even did the mirror thing and showed me - not an image that will soon leave my mind, as much as I want it to. Zack chose not to look, haha. In fact, he stayed up by my head the whole time. The doctor arrived at about 3:45pm and saw how close she was to coming out. He told me very casually, "Just give me a half push, you don't even need to wait for a contraction." I pushed for a couple seconds, and Chelsea was born at 3:51pm. They plopped her up on my chest - the first time they've ever done that - and I just gazed at her while the nurses prompted Zack to cut the umbilical cord - also a first for him. I needed a couple stitches and then we got to hold our baby while my Dad drove the kids over.
They stayed until 6pm when the nurses tried moving me to the recovery room before the shift change. The problem was that my right leg was still really numb from the epidural even though it had worn off in my left leg. Since I could move it from side to side, I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to walk on it. The nurse helped me up, and before I knew it I was on the floor, gown awesomely spread open. It took a few seconds for me to realize what had even happened. My right leg couldn't support any weight at all. She got me back in bed (horribly mad at herself!) and I stayed there until 7:30pm when the new nurses were in. I still couldn't walk on my own until the middle of the night. Zack stayed with me in the recovery room, with Chelsea, until a little before midnight when he left to go get his mom from the airport. I spent the night with Chels and the next morning Zack and Linda and the kids came to see the baby. They left at lunch time and came back at 5:30pm to pick me up. And THAT is Chelsea's birthday story.
I realize that I am extremely lucky to have such easy deliveries. I feel so blessed to recover quickly too - I'm feeling great, and getting good sleep because my mother-in-law is taking care of EVERYTHING. The kids, all meals...she's just an angel. She leaves on Tuesday, the same day my mom gets in for week. I can't wait!

Now onto the pics. The little beauty at one week old. I know there are gobs...forgive me.

Surprise face!

Zack's fav...the cross-eyes.

"I just witnessed a murder" face.

Oh, the horror!

"I'm all done" face.

And a couple comparisons for fun...what do you think?

Baby Dani...

Baby Zack...

Love this one - doesn't Cami resemble her Aunt Marlie a bit?

More from her second week to come soon...

A new Nelson...

2011-08-02T15:55:00.002-05:00

We welcomed Chelsea Rae into our family on Sunday, July 31, 2011 at 3:51pm. She was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and 19 in. long. The delivery seriously could not have gone better - we feel so incredibly blessed that she is healthy and that I am recovering so well. For now, we're just enjoying our lil' sis. I especially cannot get enough of her sweet breath and peach fuzzy cheeks next to mine. Mmmm, heaven. Here are tons of pictures...her full birthday story to come later.

38 wks 6 days - let's get this show on the road!

After the epidural. :)

This is why Zack loves my epidurals...he gets to nap during the labor.

Zack cut the cord for the first time.

Such a rude awakening for a tiny babe.

Did NOT love the wipe-down.

Less than an hour old.

This picture is for Dennis.

My sweet dad brought the kids over right away. Their first peek at baby sis! Love Cami's face...

Giving Chelsea the same frog Carson gave Cami when she was born.

My sweet boy.

Cami was so thrilled.

Grandpa's turn!

It was dinner time so we ordered a pizza to the hospital for everyone. Shhhhh.

My view from the bed. Love them!

Such a Cami face.

Daddy stopping Cami from "petting" Chelsea too hard.

This is very serious stuff.

Monday morning, August 1st.

Love that she has Zack's dimples.

Are you kidding me?

Love her!

Grandma Linda got in late Sunday night, so she got to meet Chelsea Monday morning!

The new fam.

Baby Chelsea's great...but Barney on the hospital TV is better.

Zack's cool shot of her profile...he thinks she will have an overbite, haha.

Let me just check...

Yep, I think she needs one more kiss.

After the pests left, we had the afternoon to ourselves...just me and Chels.

What is this tiny tuft on the back of her head?! So funny. She also has balding grandpa hair (no offense, Dad) and it's awesome.

Right before this picture, I said, "Hi beauty!" and she raised her hand up like she was saying hi. I think she's probably gonna be a genius.

Camera phone pic of my heavenly nap with baby girl on my chest waiting for Zack and the gang to pick us up.

Discharged around 5:30pm on Monday August 1st.

Zack and the kids made this cute sign as a surprise.

A thoughtful gift from Zack's residency.

I'm off to feed the baby and kiss her face off...

Hold onto yer hats...

2011-07-29T20:00:00.003-05:00

The latest baby news is that I'm scheduled for an induction this Sunday morning (the 31st, the day before I turn 39 weeks) at 9:30am. Whoo hoo!

The last couple weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind. My dad drove in from California on July 14th and I started taking advantage of a live-in babysitter right away! The next day I went shopping and got a haircut - it was divine. Saturday I went out with some friends to lunch, and I've been getting errands run like a madwoman before baby girl arrives. It's been so wonderful having someone here that the kids adore being with so I can get so many things done. Plus, my dad has been a very busy bee around the house - he completely reorganized the large storage room in our basement, hanging things and opening up so much space. He has also been doing all the guy sort of projects that have been piling up. I just can't describe how much help he's been.

Here are the kids at my 36 week appointment. They do puzzles and we play I Spy and I bribe them with candy and I adore them.

At the beginning of the month we had a crazy downpour. Within minutes the little waterfall you see behind Cami was rushing by. Zack had taken the kids to the grocery store and when they got inside, Cami yelled, "That was SOO fun - can we do it again???" Since they were already drenched I told them they could go out and play in the rain.

Reading books with Grandpa.

Carson's wiping his mouth from his own grandpa kiss.

Grandpa pulled up step-by-step instructions on how to draw a cat online and Carson loved following the directions and ending with a cool cat.

At the driving range with everyone.

The day of muh haircut. Cami snapped this.

That night we ate at a yummy Mexican restaurant - Pueblo Solis.

Chewing bubble gum like a pro - her new favorite treat. She smacks her lips so hard. It makes me laugh but soon will drive me crazy.

Dad watched the kids so Zack and I could go celebrate St. Louis at a free concert downtown. We heard Gavin DeGraw and I about died from both the heat/humidity, and from embarrassment at how much I was sweating. Seriously, people. Not cool.

This picture is for Zack's bros.

We scored VIP tickets as we walked up, which just meant we were squished in the middle in seats where it was hotter instead of spread out on the lawn in our lawn chairs. Doh.

Ole Gavin.

I've been blessed to feel good enough to exercise 4-5 days a week this last trimester, which has helped me feel in control of my weight gain a bit. :) I had my dad snap a picture on a walk with the kids at the trail right next to our house. I will miss walks with these two cuties in the mornings - soon it will be Cami and her lil sis while Carson's at school!

We have continued swimming most every day - these goggles make me want to eat Cami's face off.

I'm so proud of the kids and how much they've turned into little fish this summer. Carson even swam the shorter length of our pool under water without a breath last week. Zack took off Cami's floaties one night and it was all over...she's obsessed with swimming without floaties now. She can swim from the steps to mom or dad by putting her head under and kicking, and then back again - about 5 seconds or more each way. She has no concept of how to use her arms yet. It's the cutest thing I've ever seen.

Helping dad wash the van.

It's so humid my camera lens was literally fogging up. We live in the Amazon.

At the zoo this week - from 8-9am the carousel, sting ray exhibit and children's zoo are free so we took advantage of the slightly less hot morning and checked it out. We were still DRIPPING. Thanks so much for the sweat genes, Dad. Poor us.

Matching awkward smiles.

I think I found who passed the awkward smile gene on too...

Dude, Zack snapped this with his camera phone and it is one of my very favs. Cami buck naked trying to reach the potty treats for going potty - no need to get dressed first guys! Gotta get that treat. Most days she's staying dry in her pull-up. I haven't spent time potty training her yet. I will do it after baby. But she's pretty much potty training herself. Love her.

We've also been doing lots 'o partying. Jon's birthday bash (thrown by none other than his crazy-talented wife Lissa of my baby shower fame).

And Gigi's 2nd birthday party (thrown by her insanely talented mama Lili, who also threw my shower). Here are just a few details.

Seriously one of the prettiest cakes I've ever seen.

These are straight-up bits of heaven.

Check out this gorgeous pinata Lili and Lissa made!

Playing pin the bow on Gigi downstairs. Carson won!

All decked out in pinata goodies.

Wow, 1.5 days until baby girl turns our lives upside down! In a good way, though, right? Right? Ahh! So excited. Zack's sweet mom Linda gets in on Sunday to help for two weeks, my dad leaves on Monday, then my cute mom flies in the day Linda leaves for a week...then Zack gets a week off starting the day she leaves! We're set for August. Thank you awesome family!

Pool Junkies

2011-07-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

We go to the pool just about 6 days a week. It's the ONLY thing I want to go outside for during these hot and humid summer months...especially pregnant. Most of the time we go during the day while Zack's at school, but on the 8th we went with Dad after school and I clicked some pictures finally.

Carson's been obsessed for the last couple weeks with throwing diving rings into the pool and fetching them. He's moved onto trying to dive and get to them at the bottom of the pool. He gets better and better each day, but he's so light that it's hard for him to get down there.

He LOVES doing belly flops and always looks at me so proudly like it was the coolest trick ever.

Cami just "bewaxin'" - relaxin'.

Love these little pool junkies.

The Fourth

2011-07-13T12:26:00.000-05:00

Pics from the Fourth of July weekend...

Sunday the 3rd (Carson snapped this).

Cami's hair was all curly from being in buns all day...I was making a big deal about how pretty she looked and was cracking up at how seriously she was looking at herself in the mirror.

Saturday morning we went to the Webster Groves parade. It POURED on us while we walked up to the parade, but then it was nice the rest of the time.

Carson's favorite part.

Yay for clueless people who stand right in front of your chairs.

We parked at Zack's school and just watched the fireworks at the Arch from afar. The kids got glow-in-the-dark drinks (idea from THIS SITE).

Glow stick fun while watching the fireworks.

Yikes.

Totally conked out on the drive home.

June wrap-up...

2011-07-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

So, let me wrap-up the rest of June...

Haircut for Carson...the kid sweats so much I have to keep it buzzed short in the summer. He wasn't lovin' the razor on his sweaty head.

Carson thought this face was hilarious because it prompted Zack's "You bug!" over and over. I love that our kids already recognize the phrase "You bug!" as being a compliment in our family.

Cami and I have a pretty regular tradition of painting her nails on Sunday morning. I love how still she sits while I paint her fingers and toes and how much she ooohs and ahhhhs over the finished product.

Hangin' with Dad while he prepares his lesson for YMs.

The kids ADORE helping Dad in the kitchen. Zack almost always makes breakfast on the weekends and he is so good about letting the kids help.

Despite the love she has for her baby dolls and barbies and princess dress-ups, most of the time Cami is following Carson playing whatever make believe game he is. So most of the time she is yielding a sword or gun, or being a secret agent or ninja of some kind. Zack and I were loving her awesome still-never-been-cut mullet hairdo in this knight's helmet.

And last but not least, I give you one of the kids' favorite treats - "mustachios." Carson gets it right, but Cami calls pistachios mustachios. Love it.

Concentrating on breaking into the goods.

All right. June down. July to come!

Virginia Trip

2011-07-12T08:33:00.002-05:00

Zack had a week off in June, so we took a bit of a whirlwind trip out to Virginia to visit Steve and Jenny's family. It was a blast!

Houston and Cami meeting baby Lauren for the first time...Marlie flew in for a couple days with just the babe.

Cami is a huge fan - we all are!!

Showing off their awesome bday shirts from Mar.

We all tried making drawings of Stevie from his family picture. We were laughing sooo hard...they looked so jacked.

Carson was in HEAVEN with his sweet cousins AND tons of video-gaming. :)

The sibs.

Carson behind the camera...

It was the last week of school for Houston and Brady so we got to go to lots of school concerts and football games. It was fun to cheer them on!

Checking out a People magazine while we waited.

Bubba Lauren.

We walked over to Five Guys for dinner one night...oh yikes Danica.

A mani/pedi with Aunt Jenny. :)

Houston's chorus concert.

Cami was so wasted from no naps all week.

These are all self-portraits of m'boy.

Brady being tough after an injury.

My favorite picture of all time.

In heaven at Chuck E. Cheese's with their cousins.

On our last day we visited the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum outside of the city. It was so neat!

Can you spot this airplane's mustache?

On the way home we just drove straight through - about 15 or 16 hours with all the potty breaks. The kids did great though and we all enjoyed the comfort of our "new" mini van on the trip! I forgot to ever mention that we got a 2004 Toyota Sienna back in May. I seriously drive around everywhere with the hugest smile on my face...love that thing.

Ten minutes of fun at a rest stop on the drive home.

"Guys, pretend you're sleeping and I'll take a picture."

"Ugh, Mom. That's so lame." You're right, son.

A quick round of hide and seek.

They found Dad in no time.

And there ya go. Our trip to VA.

Birthday Week Photo Dump

2011-07-11T08:35:00.075-05:00

Zack jump started "birthday week" at our house on May 30th. Then on Saturday June 4th we had a birthday party for Carson's 5th birthday. It was a week of record-breaking heat and excessive heat warnings. Friends, come celebrate with us in the excruciating heat and humidity and be miserable for an hour! Awesome. We tried to keep it short and sweet.

Carson in his "party shirt" - there really was no theme - he picked Oreo cupcakes and a Hot Wheels pinata.

We brought sand toys and water toys out to the playground in our complex and let the kids play...make believing his sand castle is a cake.

The obligatory picture for me with the dumb hat on. :)

I literally carried a towel around and wiped my face every minute or so. I was DRIPPING sweat. Poor Carson has my genes.

During the birthday song.

Love this one.

So awesome.

I was taking video during the pinata bustin' so I only got a pic afterward.

Here's a pic of Zack's fine watermelon slicing skills...there were just huge wedges that were so awkward for people to eat. I was laughing so hard. Please also note the warped bowl - we know how to throw a classy party for sure.

See how easy it was to eat? Haha.

Opening presents.

The next day, Sunday the 5th, was my birthday. We went to a special stake conference where Dallin H. Oaks spoke to our stake! It was awesome. Zack brought Carson over to meet Elder Oaks before the meeting started, and Carson threw his arms around him in a big hug. It was so stinking cute. After church, we took naps and when we woke up we went for a walk to the pool. There we spotted some friends setting up a BBQ. Zack said, "Let's go over and say hi." I was wearing an awful outfit with nap hair and hardly any makeup left, plus I didn't want them to think we were trying to invite ourselves to their BBQ so I kept saying, "No no no, let's just go home babe!" Zack insisted, and as we walked over, I saw a Happy Birthday sign hanging and realized that they had orchestrated a surprise birthday BBQ for me. It was soooo sweet and so yummy! We have such great friends here. I don't think I've ever had a surprise party before - it was so fun. Except for the awful outfit and hair sitch, haha. The Ruckers made this delicious Teriyaki chicken...yeah, it tasted as good as it looked.

Cool, Jon. :) And seriously, just disregard me in all the pics.

Cami insisted on wearing her new black leotard for "dance class when I turn 3."

Cool.

Lili made the most delicious dessert ever...and beautiful to boot!

After getting home and seeing these pictures, I decided to go off treats til the baby comes!

THEN, Monday the 6th brought Carson's real birthday. We had three days in a row of partyin'. We woke him up early so he could have breakfast and open his presents with Zack before he left for school. Zack would like to note that he made breakfast for Carson...cinnamon rolls per Carse's request.

The candles were so bright on his sleepy eyes.

Love his face.

The best.

Loving her new stuffed poodle from Grandma JoAnn from Carson's birthday package.

And his new stuffed turtle sleeps with him every night.

I exercised that morning...I don't actually wake up sweaty, thank goodness.

I think the biggest deal for him on his birthday was getting his video game privileges back again.

He requested Pei Wei for dinner and we gladly obliged.

Phew...what a fun and busy week!

One lucky gal!

2011-07-10T08:42:00.001-05:00

My adorable friends, Lissa and Lili, threw a BEAUTIFUL shower for me yesterday on July 9th in the clubhouse. They seriously pulled out all the stops and created the most delicious, gorgeous food and decorations. It was such a fun time and I appreciate everyone who came! I was spoiled rotten and am definitely one lucky gal to have such great friends here.

Right???

I took this before the strawberries made it onto their platter. So pretty!

These are the most delicious Brazilian treats...a fav.

Look at that cake!!!

And a peek inside...it was sooo yummy.

Are you kidding me?

When I saw these, I died. I was dead.

Before all the yummy food made it to the table.

Mmmmm...

They even made a dvd with family pictures and had it playing in the background.

Aren't they DARLING?? Friends, please just pretend that I don't wear that shirt every. day.

Aww, thanks for coming ladies! Lea, sorry I didn't snap one before you left!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU everyone!! Love ya.

Zerg turns 30!

2011-06-23T19:05:00.001-05:00

On May 30th, my baby daddy turned 30. Here he is enjoying breakfast in bed with the munchkins.

Since it was Memorial Day this year, he got the day off of school. We went for a swim...

Cami went kissing crazy.

Love the grimace.

Our friends the Barbosas hosted a Memorial Day bbq and made it into a bday celebration too. We love our friends!

Do you see the mocking behind those eyes? This guy hates when I take his picture.

And now for some cute kids...

The best smile ever.

I love this picture - he's such a "Squirt" himself. Look at those little arms.

Darling Gigi.

Smiley Christian.

And his cute parents. :)

Kade boy.

Dress up shoes and dolls are a must at any bbq.

And popsicles of course.

Not everyone, but most of the kiddos.

Cami and Carson always clack their drink cups or popsicles and say, "Cheers!"

Beautiful Isabela.

Handsome Sawyer.

What a fun way to spend our day.

Anticipation

2011-06-23T18:08:00.000-05:00

The kids are SO excited for baby sister to get here. To get these pictures, I was holding the camera above my head and clicking randomly...so focus is not spot-on, but I love them nonetheless.

A kiss for lil' sis.

And his other lil' sis.

This Elmo puppet book is a favorite of the kids. If Cami is crying, often Carson will sneak downstairs unnoticed and come up to her with Elmo on his hand to cheer her up. The kids wanted to introduce baby sister to Elmo.

Letting Elmo talk to baby.

Just chatting away with baby...love it.

Sweet boy.

Today I had an ultrasound because I measured small at my 33 week appointment on Monday. The baby and my fluid levels looked great. They estimated her to be 4 lbs. 14 oz. Man, this is really happening!

Now that it's almost July...

2011-06-23T18:02:00.000-05:00

Why not do a May post, right?? Ugh, I have seriously had less than zero desire to blog for the longest time. Oh well, suck it up Danica.

Some May happenings...

8 year anniversary on May 9th. We got some frozen yogurt as a fam and Carson clicked this picture.

Carson and Cami still love taking pictures. This is before family prayer one night.

Cami's view...

We had a fun ward BBQ and the light was just gorgeous...which explains why I took, ahem, two pictures. Whoops. Zack helped bbq the hundreds of hamburgers and hotdogs!

Cami with a bff Jaime - who went through the temple that day! Whoo hoo!!

Being silly one morning.

An on-purpose face.

This half-eye look is a Cami classic. She does this face when she's saying something silly or when she's peeking during prayer.

More posts comin' at ya soon...

Randoms and Kid-isms

2011-05-23T20:18:00.000-05:00

In the middle of March we had a fun girls afternoon at the Disney On Ice show with Kylea and Lissa. It was lots of fun!

Cami adored the Ariel part.

And back in the middle of April, Cami got a stomach bug and threw up for the first time. She only threw up a few times, and then had diarrhea for days and days, poor thing. Here she is doing a puzzle (which she loves) with her bowl close at hand just in case.

She's getting too big, I swear.

A sick-Cami face.

And here are a couple shots of one of Carson's new responsibilities...putting away the silverware. He is so good about it most of the time. He gets a point (a pom pom in his points cup) for doing it each day. I even caught him helping Cami onto his stool and showing her where to put the kid plasticware one day since she wanted to help. I thought that was sweet. Points are working pretty well for us right now to encourage doing jobs around the house. Carson gets three points each morning if he makes his bed, puts away his pjs and gets dressed. Then another point for silverware and anything else he helps with throughout the day. Cami gets two points each morning if she folds her pjs and throws away her diaper. Her cup is much smaller than Carson's. :)

Here are a few funny things the kids have said lately:

Feb 2011:

Mom: "Are you the cutest?"
Cami: "No."
Mom: "I think you are."
Cami: "No, I'm the COOLEST."

Mar 2011:

Mom: "You guys want some music?"
Cami: "Yeah. Of COURSE I want some of dat!"

Apr 2011:

(Cami "singing" - aka wailing - to herself playing with her Ariel barbie): "I will go and det da plates, I will go and det da plaaaaaaates!!! Jesus died for youuuuuuuu, Ariel!!! And that's naughtyyyyy...and that's niiiiiiiiice. I will det you, Arielllllllllllllllll! I loooooooove you Ariel!!!!" My only explanation is it was around Easter?? Holy cow.

May 2011:

(Cami talking to herself while playing babies in the basement): "I was talking to a neighbor and she was NOT LISTENING! And I was so. freak. out. And these are my babies and I don't want them to die. Freakin' babies. I hate when dey fight with eachtudder." Whaaaaat?! Maybe I should stop saying, "I am going to freak. out." when I'm about to lose my cool? Do you think? Awesome, Danica.

And because the search feature never works on this blog, and I can't remember if I ever posted these Carsonisms from last year when he was three/four...I figured what the heck.

Jan 2010:

Carson: "Mom, I smell something...I think my breath is stinky."

Mom: "Carson, please get back in your seat and finish your bites."

Carson: "Mommy Douglas Nelson!!"

Mom: "Carson, I don't like that Ninja Turtles show. It's mean."

Carson: "Well you don't have to watch it then."

Carson: "What in the whole world is going on??"

Feb 2010:

(In his prayer): "And please bless that we can go to church when it's Sunday, and please bless that it can be Christmas, and please bless that we can go to Houston and Brady's house..."

Mom: "Carson, would you please put my yogurt on the counter for me?" (Then later when I went back to get it...) "Where's my yogurt, Carse?"

Carson: "I put it in the trash."

Mom: "Oh! You were supposed to put it on the counter! That's okay, no biggie."

Carson: "I'm not a piggie, YOU'RE a piggie!"

(In his prayer): "...and thank thee we can have this yummmmy dinner, and thank thee that I love Mommy up in the moon..."

Mar 2010:

Carson: "Cami, calm down!!! You're breakin' me to PIECES!"

Mom: "Carson, you're soooo handsome!!"

Carson: "Yep, I yam. And I'm really COOL!"

Apr 2010:

Funny phrases, such as:

"My shirt is all all ALL grumpy today."
"My food is too hot, Mom! So can you please come make it all awesome?"
"I don't like my oatmeal like Cami's...I like mine allll comfy."
"Mom, I love you up higher than the wind, and the sky!"
"Man, this is KILLIN' me!"

Aug 2010:

Carson: "Hey Dad, who are dems?"

Dad: "Those are mine Carson."

Carson: "Oh. You’re nice, right Dad? I’m glad you like to share."

Dad: "Yeah Carson, I like to share."

Carson: "Oh. Those candies are my favorite…I wish I could have one of those…"

Oct 2010:
Carson: "Mom? If Cami's gonna grow up, we need another baby!"

Nov 2010:
(After cleaning up the basement together)
Carson: "Look! It's all clean!"
Mom: "Awesome! Great job, Carson."
Carson: "I'm not just awesome, Mom. We're a team, we worked together!"
Mom: "Whaaaaaaat? No, you're awesome"

Hilton Head Vacation

2011-05-15T12:00:00.001-05:00

Another HUGE photo dump. We spent a week in PERFECT Hilton Head, SC with the James and Dayley families April 15-23. It truly was the most relaxing, enjoyable time. Basically we woke up, swam in our pool, ate lunch in the house, walked three houses down to the beach (our street had a private entrance so our stretch of the beach was pretty empty), stayed there until naptime, then read by the pool (or if you are an adult male you checked fantasy sports), ate TONS of goodies nonstop, then swam again when kids woke up and just enjoyed catching up. Repeat for a week. There was a hole in my heart as we pulled away from the beach house...

It was a 14 hour drive, so we stayed in a hotel in Nashville on the way there and back.

Do you think she adores him much?

Pretending to sleep.

Lizzie with her little guy Hudson.

...and Miles!

Cami throwing sand and "singing" (aka shrilly wailing) to the wind at the top of her lungs.

Cameron-man.

With mama Clare.

Baseball on our deserted beach.

The besties.

These people make me happy.

Thanks for watching Cami so I could take pictures and Zack could shirk his parental responsibility, Clare!

Chris, I've gotta have more chest hair.

The Dayleys. :)

They picked up right where they left off...so fun. The first morning when Carson and Tommy had been playing for like an hour, someone said Tommy's name, and Carson looked at Tommy and exclaimed, "You ARE Tommy!!! I thought you were Miles with different hair!!!"

Taking after their dads I guess.

Love Cami's girly little poses.

Umm, Medusa?

The galy gals.

There were lots of these stinging jellyfish on the sand and in the water...not so fun.

At our backyard pool.

Lots o' wrestlin' was a-happenin'.

On our way to SC we passed a ton of billboards for YellaWood. Zack loved the guy's face and he felt the need to copy it in almost every picture I took of him.

Not quite, hon. New Facebook profile pic? Maybe I'll take care of that for you while you're in Chicago this weekend...

Closer. You're so dumb (and hunky).

Where all those trees are is the entrance to the beach. We walked three houses down and there was our beach house! SOOO nice!

The tide comes up really high at night and it packs the sand down and keeps it cool and wet. People rode bikes up and down right by the water - we rented some for a day and it was way too fun!

Lots of living sand dollars to be found.

Aww, can't wait for Clare's little girl to get here in July!

Love them.

Yep, still doing the YellaWood face.

Bike day!

What these guys did the majority of the time...check Fantasy on their iPads. Oh wait, Zack doesn't have one. What a loser with his laptop!! :)

Flexing?

And now a break for some awful-quality point-and-shoot shots.

What a good sport.

The pool temp was all wonky and it ended up getting up to 101.4! It was like a spa until it was fixed the next day (thus Carson's totally flushed cheeks). He was swimming by himself with no floaties. He especially does great swimming underwater. Whoo hoo!

There's all this hanging moss from the live oak trees. It's beautiful in person!!

He also mastered pulling himself out of the pool. What a big guy.

The kids watching a movie together. Seriously, is this not bliss?

Another bike trip before we had to return them.

Can I even describe how fun this was? Look at this gorgeous bike trail that was right next to our house and went for a mile down into the town.

Cami fell asleep (and became practically undressed).

Easter egg hunt at the end of the week.

The last night we bought a lobster to cook for fun!

And we took family pictures. The guys being totally awesome. Hey, you should know by now if you're gonna be silly it's goin' on the blog.

How cute are these kids?

Ahhh, this place was gorgeous.

Our hair was standing on end - it was time to get outta there before we got struck by lightning!

Cool, Danica.

Pinata fun before we headed out the next morning.

Carson was not havin' it, but Tommy ate some!

Oh man. Thanks SOOO much you guys for the most awesome week ever. Love ya'll.

A Mothers' Day Video

2011-05-08T23:11:00.001-05:00

CLICK HERE to see a little video the kids made last week for their grandmas for Mothers' Day. I didn't realize until I heard the primary kids sing today that there was a third verse to this song. It's one I never learned. The end of the video is pretty darn cute, if I do say so m'self. Oh, and don't mind the toys everywhere or my impatient pestering of Carson.

Aaaand...a quick shot of me enjoying my (nearly undressed) Cami and (closed-eyed) Carson in the lovely evening weather we had tonight. It doesn't get much classier than this.

And a very impromptu 27-week photo. I'm to the point where I'm hungry all the time. The other night while I was brushing my teeth, I gagged (since that happens most of the time when I'm pregnant...weird) and told Zack after: "Whoa, I almost lost my third dinner there." Sad, but true.

Here's hoping the August 1st inducement date goes through as planned and I don't have to go even one week into the Amazonian August I'm expecting here. (My doctor is willing to induce me a week early since my other two inducements went great and Carson starts kindergarten a week after my due date - I'd like to separate those events as much as possible!)

Happy Mothers' Day!

2011-05-08T11:18:00.000-05:00

Today has been perfect - breakfast in bed with handmade notes (Zack's busted my gut). Happy Mothers' Day to my mom, mother-in-law, grandmas, friends' moms that always treated me like a daughter, and all my wonderful friends - those who are mothers right now, who will be, and who always have been. I love you.

Things have been busy around here and I haven't given this blog much thought. We spent an amazing week in Hilton Head, SC last month with our good friends - here are a few pictures we took on the last day. Thanks for getting this family one for us guys!

A day doesn't go by when I don't gush over how adorable these people are, inside and out. They are everything to me.

King of Cheese.

Love.

Queen of Cheese.

Cheesin' together.

I truly am so blessed.

We'z is having uh...

2011-03-28T21:12:00.000-05:00

...GIRL! In case you haven't heard through the Facebook vine, we had our ultrasound last Monday, March 21st, and found out we're having another baby girl. Our scanner broke, so I'm not able to scan the ultrasound, but one of these days I'll update this with the ultrasound pics. She's got quite the cute profile. Zack, the kids and I all thought it was a boy, so we were pretty surprised. Carson did tell me in the morning before the appointment, "I think you guys are going to win." I asked him what he meant, and he said, "Don't you remember? If it's a girl, the GIRLS win, and if it's a boy, the BOYS win!" So maybe he had a last second change of heart and knew it was a girl. :) After switching my mindset, I'm getting really excited to have another girl. I don't have a blood sister, so I think it's awesome that Cami will. I'm just trying to imagine shared secrets and girl-talk camaraderie and not fighting over shared clothes and missing hair brushes...

And since I royally stink at updating this thing lately, here's another photo dump from Rick & Britney's trip out here with their son Dylan (we missed you Marley!). It was so fun to spend time with them - and they got to experience our crazy spring: lovely bike and zoo-worthy weather one day and snow the next!

The lil' miss ready to hit the bike trail.

Realizing the trike isn't super easy.

Pondering if she wants to give up.

Buds!

On her favorite scooter.

But still really frustrated.

At the zoo later that day...touching a leaf bug.

Making paper airplanes before church.

Britney was Cami's BFF...Brit's good looks roped her in and the iPod sealed the deal.

Chuck E. Cheese on their last day.

All right...maybe you'll get another post in the next few weeks...and maybe not.

Us, lately

2011-03-10T09:18:00.000-06:00

Here are some more pics of da fam lately.

A nice, blurry shot of Cami stuffing her mouth with apple in a corner.

Cami crashed while watching some old Disney cartoons on Dad's computer before bed...

Last Sunday we went on a walk after church. Carson said we were explorers. This was his map. He's pointing to where we are on the "map."

"We've gotta go down that big hill!"

They insisted on wearing their backpacks and were so serious about their maps the whole time. So cute.

Cami got her shoes on herself.

Our exploring led us to the canal, where we threw rocks in the water for a while.

Waiting for Dad to get home from school. Are you kidding me? Love them.

"He's almost HEEEEY-EYE!"

And the littlest pest going potty right before bath.

Love her.

And if you made it through this post, here's an EXTRA special treat for you - a pic of me at 18 weeks on Monday.

Just chubby all over. Yessssss. My favorite. We have our ultrasound on Monday the 21st, so stay tuned!
Oh! I almost forgot. The day before this pic, Sunday March 6th, I was taking a shower to get ready for church and started feeling really light-headed. It's happened randomly before a few times, but this time it felt much more intense. I called to Zack, who luckily was getting ready in the bathroom, and told him I felt like I was going to faint. He said, "Let's get you outta there!" As he helped me out, I told him my arms were all tingly. And that's the last thing I remembered until he woke me up yelling my name! Zack said I just collapsed in his arms and started snoring with my eyes open, haha. So awesome. I've never passed out before and I had a hard time believing Zack! He said he called my name for a minute or so and then finally stood me up and that's when I awoke. He laid me down in our room and right away I felt better. My hands were shaking for about 5 minutes, but other than that, I felt fine. I feel so blessed that Zack was right there when I needed him and that the baby and I are fine.

Go Blues!

2011-03-08T13:17:00.000-06:00

Zack does dental work at the Boys & Girls Club here in St. Louis and the director is the sweetest lady who has connections to the Blues NHL hockey team. We've been able to go to three games this season, and I must admit...they are FUN!

Some bro-sis love.

More Feb

2011-03-04T11:50:00.000-06:00

Forgot these from Valentine's Day...

Again, copying big bro.

Cami woke up from a nap on a Sunday afternoon and I plopped her down next to Zack (after doing her hair), who was talking to family on his phone. She was still sleepy and was being too too cute for me not to go get my camera. And oh man...our bed...just...yeah. Know that I'm in the market for a new getup (our duvet got ruined in the dryer).

This was actually a smile.

Playin' with her pony.

Love.

Tickling Dad.

Am I seriously caught up? I need to pull out my camera more...

Time to go it alone?

2011-02-24T18:09:00.000-06:00

As much fun as they have together in the bath, I'm thinking it's probably time to start having them bathe separately. For those of you who have kids of different genders...when did you start having them bathe by themselves instead of together?

And for fun...here are the chocolate covered strawberries we made on Valentine's Day (read: Mom was too lazy to make sugar cookies until a few days AFTER Vday).

Ain't they beauts?

Here's Carson with his bff London at preschool the Friday before Vday. I registered Carson for kindergarten yesterday (what???) and I'm so happy London will be going to the same school and riding the bus with Carson. They usually part ways exclaiming, "I love you!" Cutest boys.

That's our February in a nutshell. Yeah, pretty boring.

Cami Girl

2011-02-17T08:19:00.001-06:00

Cami loves...

...her babies.

...her vitamins (most mornings she says to me first thing: "Mom! You forgot our vitamins!!")

...her makeup and all things dress-up (I made this with nail polish and an old eyeshadow).

...smiling and laughing at my camera if I tell her not to.

...spending time with her bro.

...and being silly if he is.

This is Carson saying, "No, no, no thank you." It's something he does when I ask him, for instance, if he wants more to eat when he's full. I think it's the cutest. He did it, and I told him to do it again for my camera. Afterwards, I said, "That is so cute." He sat for a second and asked me thoughtfully, "So you think that's cute, huh?" Love him.

...and pretty much copying her brother in every. single. possible. way. (Including building and knocking down dominoes.)

Love that she closed her eyes to knock them down.

Cami girl is sure a light around these parts. She makes each day fun and adds a lot of sass to the house. Carson is, for the most part, sweet to her despite her often bratty little sister ways. They play so much together now - it makes my heart happy. I hear them running around the house being "ninjas" or "secret agents" or "detectives." She also looooves to sing - oh you would die hearing the songs she comes up with. They are mostly wailing type songs in lots of monotone and just getting louder and louder, then starting quiet again. It's the cutest thing in the world. I can never even make out two words. She is fighting her naps these days and only takes one every other day or so. She also goes potty right before bath each night. For fun, here are some things I've written down that Cami has said that make me laugh.

From October 2010:

"No, honey..." and "This way, honey..."
"Be quiet! I'm TALKING! Want fruit snacks." (We're seriously working on the sass.)
"Cean up, cean up, eveybuddy eveyair."

From January 2011:

"Next time I'll toot on your face!" (Just kinda sing-songy to herself...what??! Big trouble for that one! Everyone denies teaching her that.)
Carson was sneaking out of time out and I heard Cami say to him in the bossiest tone: "Are you serious? Don't get out!" The "are you serious?" line had me rolling.
"You a big mama." (Patting my chest...awesome.)
One morning Cami was trying to get Zack's attention while he was saying his prayers. He didn't respond obviously. Here's what she said: "Dad? (quiet pause) Daddy?? (quiet pause) Buggin..." Oh my gosh, we were dying.
"Thanks for saving my life, Mom!!" (After I helped her get down from the table.)
"It's right hee-eye!" (She can't do the "er" sound, so words like "here" turn into hee-eye...it's too cute.)
"I just funny..." (She says this when she's demurely trying to get out of doing something...like eating her dinner. Dad tells her to take a bite, and she shakes her head no...then flashes a sly smile at him and says "I just funny....")

January - Snow Month!

2011-02-14T07:46:00.000-06:00

January was full of snow and ice for us here in St. Louis, along with most of the Midwest and East Coast. Here are some pictures from some of the first snow falls we got in the month.

Love Cami's reaction to the snow outside.

We definitely ended up with more than this...just no pictures of it. :)

Oh my heck I want to eat them.

I couldn't find Cami's hat this time so I stuck mine on her.

Have I mentioned these kids adore their dad and love any time they get to spend with him? They do.

Sledding on a snowboard actually works pretty well. lol

This hill is right out our back door.

Cami wanted to go play at the playground for a minute. Love her bag lady look.

Love her.

Our friends Kylea and Kade went sledding too!

How cute is he? Nevermind that he's borrowing Cami's boots. :)

Zack and I (but mostly Zack) built the kids a "snow fort" - here's Zack being dumb.

Drinking hot chocolate in the ~~homeless shelter~~ snow fort.

After weeks of temperatures in the teens and below, the weather yesterday was DIVINE! This week we have weather in the 50s...lovely.

Last One...Good News!

2011-02-02T14:26:00.002-06:00

Nelson baby #3 heading our way around August 8th, 2011!

I forgot a few...

2011-02-02T14:23:00.000-06:00

These are from our day at Huntington Beach...and meeting up with the Troutman twins at Ruby's on the pier. Oh such fun!

Soakin' up that sun.

A pelican flew right by us.

Little Meeka...the cutest thing!

And Dirk dude. Seriously, they are so cute.

Carson was kind of in love with Meeka.

Yep, kind of in love.

If you gon' be silly, I'm gon' post it, Zack.

It was chilly, but the kids were still loving it.

I got soaked in this wave...whoops.

Trying to keep Cami from stomping the castle right away.

Not for long.

Oh, California...we miss you! Especially sitting here on our 3rd day of ice/snow.

Our CA Christmas

2011-02-02T14:07:00.000-06:00

I'm going to go ahead and post alllll of these at once, so that all ya'll who don't really care can move on. :) The kids and I spent nearly 4 weeks in CA for Christmas. Zack joined us after two weeks. We had a blast. My brother was in town in between moving to Washington state with the Navy - since I hadn't seen him in three years, I was thrilled.

Cami in H-E-A-V-E-N with all of my old Care Bears...about 15 of them!

Visiting my Great Uncle Jack.

Sweet moments.

Walking the lights on Thoroughbred Lane with Brit and her crew.

These houses are awesome...they go all out and we've visited them since we were kids.

Swimming later on...Carson and Dylan were fast friends.

Dinner at the Papaveros' house.

Cami and Marley were (mostly) friends too! :)

The awkward friend photo.

Sharing the love.

Love these ladies.

Thrilled to be riding Dylan's power wheel.

Coloring with Uncle Zach.

Are you kidding me?

Haha. Sorry, Zach. Had to post how tough you are.

With his brand new truck.

I wanted to document the cute decorations on my dad's house - he went all out with snow on the windows and everything. He decorated every inch of the house for the kids...so sweet.

Birthday presents at Grandma Cramer's house!

And fun decorating her tree.

And some fun with her glasses.

Park day with Grandma.

While the kids were with Grandma, we went shooting in the desert.

So much fun!

Hardcore.

Swimming (swimming!!) at the hot tub at the big house.

Does not get cuter.

Beach day with Grandpa while I was away for a couple days.

Whoops - a little out of order. This is Christmas Day at Grandma's house.

Day after Christmas at Zack's Grandma Lillie's house. Hangin' with Mr. Cooper...

The gang.

The best pic I got.

Post-Christmas dinner at Aunt Vicki's house.

Cute cuzzes.

Fun at the Ontario Mills Mall with Grandma.

Then lunch at the Rainforest Cafe...umm...the kids LOVED it!!

A little worried about the gorillas I think.

Frozen yogurt with Becky and Josef!

Pre-Christmas ornament party at the Jollys' house.

My Uncle Steve.

With Grandma JoAnn.

Nice face, Cami. Showin' Carole some love.

We spent a couple days at Mary and Marwood's house in Camarillo...Cami and Carson were in HEAVEN with all their great toys and fun playmates...and puppy of course.

Video games with Jared - again, HEAVEN!

So fun!

Talk about a Christmas tree!

You'd have to twist our arms to go back for another visit...right??

Christmas Eve at Grandpa Hartenstein's house...some love for Grandpa Peacock.

My cute cousin Nikki.

The kids were sure excited to leave this for Santa and his reindeer.

Christmas morning...I guess I only took a few pics?? New flashlights were a hit.

Thanks to everyone for the great time. What a perfect trip. Love you all!!

Haircut the First

2011-01-13T08:57:00.000-06:00

11-15-10

Observe: Cami's shaggy bangs (and rest of her hair...I know, I know).

Said shag on table.

Newly trimmed bangs!

This was the first time I've cut Cami's hair at all...it was kind of a big deal to me. Sadly, this next trim today didn't turn out so great. Hey, I love Christmas as much as the next gal, but LLOYD Christmas-esque bangs, not so much. Good thing they grow quickly!

Letters to Santa

2011-01-11T09:05:00.001-06:00

A 'rado Thanksgiving

2011-01-09T08:27:00.001-06:00

The kids and I flew out to Denver in the middle of November to spend some time with Zack's sister, Marlie, and her family before Thanksgiving. Zack flew in five days later and his parents and brother Dallin came in for the holiday too. It was lots o' fun, that's for sure.

The kids loving their rides together in the el Piloto.

Grocery shopping together. No, that's not a bag lady holding the carts. Dang it.

Marlie's gonna love me posting pics of her all of a few weeks before delivering darling baby Lauren...this was a crazy night, though. It must be documented, Mar - you know dis.So we were over at Marlie's sweet neighbors' house, and were enjoying a literally gourmet dinner that Jeff had cooked up for us, when Marlie suddenly started having problems. She was silent but we could tell something was not right. After a few minutes, I wanted to call an ambulance, but she shook her head no (next time I'm not listening to you, girl!) and so instead, Ginger and I hopped in the car with her to drive her to the ER. We figured out it was an allergic reaction and we thought she couldn't breathe. As soon as we were on the road, I offered to say a little prayer. The second I said "Amen," Marlie yelled, "Danica!" I was scared and said, "What Mar?" She surprised us all by saying that the allergic reaction was GONE. It had just fled her body as soon as the prayer was over. It was a true miracle, and we all shed a few tears pulled over in a parking lot. So glad that Marlie is okay and that we were able to witness such a sweet miracle.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving. Cute cousins.

We only hit up this Winchell's for the best donuts in the world a FEW times...

Righteous Marlie doing scripture study with the kids after bath.

The boys loved scaring everyone. Creepy, right?!!

A candy factory tour...

A favorite hangout for lunch.

Grandma treated Cami to a lil manicure. So cute.

Thanksgiving Day.

Grandpa giving a mini history speech.

Movie thyme.

Grandpa took the boys to see Tangled while Grandma stayed home with the babies.

They were in heaven with their soda and popcorn, as you can imagine.

A little Black Friday shopping at Nordstrom Rack.

Oh man - we almost missed our flight coming home. Thus the pjs and awesome looking mom. I still can't believe we made it.

And congrats to you for making through all those pics!

SAD!

2011-01-07T15:12:00.000-06:00

Sad that it's been so long since I've blogged. Denver for 10 days in November and then CA for almost 4 weeks in December done did this blog in...almost. I'm scheduling a bunch of posts so I can start catching up.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and New Years...happy 2011!

Halloween-ish

2010-11-21T09:10:00.001-06:00

Here are the Halloween pics. If it's way too late and you don't care anymore...sorry. I'm posting them anyways.

Ward Halloween Party on Sat. the 23rd.

Not feeling it.

Seriously. What the?

Cami would NOT let go of her candy. Her bucket broke right at the start, so she held no less than four pieces of candy at all times...which really limited the games she could play.

Kylea!

Baby Hannah making a move on that candy.

First time getting face paint.

Still lovin that candy.

I told her I'd give it right back if she went in the swing. She still wanted to hold one sucker.

Not even "Dadda" could have some.

The costume parade. Or is this the cutest thing ever to me?

Looove him.

This was a week later for the ward Trunk or Treat. Zack and Carson went ahead since I was still getting Cami's hair ready. She could sense that she was missing out on some fun. When I finished and was getting a few things together, she stomped to the door with her head tipped back and going, "Huhhhhhhh. Huhhhhhhhhhhh," like she was just so put out. Then she put her hand on the door and said, "MOM! Dets go PWEASE!" Are you kidding me?

Cami with one of her nursery leaders (I'm her other one).

Friends!

With his buddy London. Nice smile, Bud.

This was his fav trunk - the head moved and talked. You can see he was kinda scared though.

So dang cute watching Cami carry her bucket everywhere.

Carrying on the GANGSTER TRADITION. Actually, since he went early, people didn't really recognize him and the person who set up next to him totally thought he was just a really creepy guy that was crashing the ward party. I laughed pretty hard at that. This year the facial hair's real, folks!

Awesome. So glad to be your baby mama, boo.

Randoms

2010-11-19T08:57:00.002-06:00

*Update:

Thanks for all the comments, ladies. I figured I'd update the post with how I made the headbands. They are SO easy. Like, really, really easy.

For the felt rose, I used this tutorial: http://www.purlbee.com/rose-barrettes/

I wear these almost every day. I've enlarged the pattern and made darling broaches, made clips for me and Cami...the possibilities are endless! For the headbands I posted, I only did the first two steps so it would be a small rose. I didn't add the second petal layer to the back.

For the other layered flower I used: http://yoonie-at-home.blogspot.com/2008/09/peony-flower-felt-clip-tutorial.html

For the large one, I skipped the leaf layer in the back, and then I just stitched them together with a crisscross of embroidery floss instead of using a button in the middle. For the smaller one, I only used the first three layers of the flower so it would be small.

I just use the $.25 felt sheets at Hobby Lobby or JoAnns, etc. SO cheap, SO easy, SO cute. *

Baby shower for cute Lindsay.

Fun headbands I've been obsessed with making...and yes, I do steal it from Cami and wear it myself.

Approve my censoring, Zack?

More baby shower fun for Diana...Olive Garden style.

At Kylea's fun 4th birthday butterfly party! What is this face??

Pin the head on the butterfly. :)

The cute birthday girl.

My sweet girl.

Hope you enjoyed the randomness.

Eckert's Farm

2010-11-17T08:51:00.005-06:00

I'm heading out to Denver today for 10 days of family fun! Whoo hoo. Zack will join me in five days and we'll come home on the 27th.

In October we made a trip out to Eckert's Farm in Millstadt, IL. Sorry if you really love that place. We sorta felt ripped off. Maybe the random 90 degree October weather made us extra irritable, but it was annoying that adults had to pay. The kids had fun, so whatev.

Yay for awesome family pics.

Grandpa was there too, even though he was not pictured. :)

Grandpa-rama #2

2010-11-15T08:34:00.000-06:00

Trip to the Gateway Arch, and playing in the muddy Mississippi River.

Throwing logs.

Love it.

Pretending to lift the anchor.

Copying Grandpa.

Yes, now that I have you at the edge of your seats...I'll be back with more soon!

Grandpa-rama #1

2010-11-13T08:29:00.000-06:00

My dad came and stayed with the kids while I worked at the NACAC conference here in St. Louis for two days (for my BYU Independent Study job that I do very very part-time), and then I left for the wedding, and then he stayed for another week after I got back.

One of the things he did while he was here was teach Carson how to color. Like, how to color in the lines and such. It was very cute.

Love.

More October pics soon...seriously, why is it so hard to get caught up?!

My first kidless trip...

2010-11-11T16:27:00.001-06:00

...was awesome, I must admit. I was able to fly to UT the weekend of General Conference for the wedding reception of a dear friend from home. It was so fun - no, like SO fun - to see so many people and families from my home town...not to mention to see Jessi and Don in love and perfectly perfect together. Then throw in some time with the family, and it was the perfect 2 1/2 day trip. I missed the kiddos, but it was nice knowing my dad was taking care of them, and talking to them on the phone. And now for the pics you've probably already seen on Facebook.

Sat night = dinner with the Upland peeps at CPK at Gateway Mall for Britney's birthday! It was practically free thanks to good ole John the chef!

Glen, Kevin, Paul, Adri, Carson, Chandler, Valerie, Ashley, me, Brit

Carson holding Adri & Paul's adorable little guy.

Throwin' Brayds in there.

Monday we met up with cute cuz Nikki and had J-Dawg's for lunch (my fav) and then got some frozen yogurt (ok wait, maybe that is my fav).

The reception Monday night at Sundance...it was beeeeautiful. Great job, Jess.

Yes, that's who you think it is. Jessi's the newest member of the Osmond family and is the cutest thing ever.

With her man.

Me with Mar and Katherine (one of Jessi's talented sisters...you should buy her CDs if you don't have them! HERE)

Rach!

Michelle, Rachel, me, Jess, Adri, Brit, Melinda

Dear ole Brig.

Braydee (thanks for putting me up!), me and Brit

Dude. Dude. Don't even know what to say. Best time ever. Thank you everyone who helped make it great.

The Duck Pond

2010-10-25T08:26:00.000-05:00

There is a park about three minutes from our home that has a few beautiful ponds, and we like to go feed the ducks together. The last time we went we played hide and seek after we fed the ducks, and let me tell you, it was Carson's favorite thing ever.

Cami wore Carson's Spiderman cap and I was dyin'.

That little body running away? Oh my. I'm in love.

So excited.

Signing duck.

Mmmmm, nice shot.

The ducks weren't comfy for long...

Cool, guys.

Love the bangs, Cam.

So what if I told him to do it - it's still awesome, right?

A little preview...

2010-10-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

Love Carson's squished nose (why do they make masks like that anyways?). When I finished Cami's costume and tried it on her, I'm pretty sure I squealed - not only was it actually wearable (my first attempt at dresses/sleeves), but I had no idea it'd be so cute on. I 'bout died. And yes, I think ours were the only kids under 9 at the ward party with weapons. Whoops.

And THIS. There are no words. I gagged just a little whenever I looked at him. He was running the bball game at the party and wanted to dress up last minute. Nice, babe. Nice.

He's growing a beard for ONE more week until the new kids come interviewing - apparently there's a really cool tradition of the residents growing mustaches for the interviewees to woo them. Since Zack can't really grow a beard, his whiskers just look like spider legs. Or armpit hair. I can't WAIT til next week...

A love affair ended

2010-10-22T09:09:00.000-05:00

Before Carson's life was cruelly ended by his evil mother, he loved* to play the Wii. Now, he doesn't get to play it until he is 5, the reason being that his brain turns to complete mush when he plays and he almost always has an accident because he can't pull himself away from the game to go potty. This drives me NUTS. SO...no more Wii for a long time. BUT, when he did play, he was really good at Super Mario Bros. He impressed me with his skills as he showed me all the tricks and had to wait for me to catch up. Kind of funny. But dude, I'd kick his butt in Duck Hunt!!

*MAJOR understatement

Carse and Cami "playing" together one day (Cami's remote isn't on).

All right, I know, enough kissing pictures. I love that Carson's eyes are closed and Cami wants none of it.

I could eat them both up for dinner.

Love her face.

He's just too cool.

Tantrum that followed shortly thereafter. Dad, these are for you (you always did love the cry shots).

Balloon Glow...aka...

2010-10-20T08:25:00.000-05:00

Home of the Best Corndog on Earth! Dude. Our family had so much fun going to the Balloon Glow held in Forest Park in September. We ate overpriced fair food (my favorite obviously being the giant corndog) and got loads of free stuff - balloons for the kids, random free teethers and other products companies were handing out. The best part, though, was watching the hot air balloons start to fill with air and then getting to walk among them as they floated just off the ground and "glowed" for us!

Mmmm...wish I had one right now.

Zack took Carson potty so Cami and I got the first peek as the balloons filled.

Love this girl.

Seriously - the faces make it all worth it.

Sooo pleased with herself.

Starting to get bigger...notice the big Budweiser balloon. Sweet.

Glow!

We met up with the cute Rucker fam for the glow part.

Happy as a clam.

Pretty cool!

A buzzer would sound and then all the balloons would fire up at the same time for about ten seconds.

You bet we'll be there next year!

We all scream for...POPSICLES!

2010-10-18T14:28:00.000-05:00

Man, my kids love popsicles. This summer, Cami wanted them allllll the time. She called them pop pops. Here are some pics of the kids from a month ago eating popsicles together...

Still love those "silly eyes."

Are you kidding me?

The best underbite smile.

Fav.

Cami trying to copy Carson in the spit game (naughty kids).

Kiss your sister!

Kiss your brother!

Love it!

They're cuh-razy sometimes too. But I love these nice little moments between them.

Help a girl out

2010-10-16T21:26:00.001-05:00

Hey folks -

As many of you know, I have a photography blog. When we moved to St. Louis, I launched a new website: http://danicanelsonphotography.com. If you are a special someone who has a link to my photography site on your own blog, would you mind updating your link to http://danicanelsonphotography.com (just take out the blogspot)? I'm still getting a lot of traffic to my old blog and I've finally realized it's probably because of all ya'll great people who have my old blog on your sites. And if you'd rather have a button, you can grab the code for one from the sidebar. :)

Thanks! I appreciate it. That's all.

P.S. More blog posts to come soon. It's been a busy week.

Grandma-rama

2010-10-06T09:12:00.001-05:00

Here are more pictures from the rest of my mom's trip. It's been so fun to have family visit us here. And it's especially nice to be able to go outside without wanting to die now that fall is here and the weather is so nice. Plus, St. Louis has more free things to do than I've ever heard of! It's fantastic. Besides the 5K and the air show, we...

Shopped at Target (these pics were taken by Carson)...

Target trips almost always include an Icee. This is Carson's view of Cami.

And went to the St. Louis zoo (which is free...did I mention that?) the morning my mom flew home. Here we are in the butterfly house.

Yo.

And the penguin house (my fav).

And at a quick and yummy lunch at Pappy's Smokehouse so mom could try some St. Louis style ribs.

I love these images I got of Carson with Grandma the night before she left. They were going through the animal pictures on her iPhone together, and he was in heaven.

She even let him pick the pictures.

Thanks for visiting, Mom. We had a blast and miss your cute buns around here!

September 11th

2010-10-04T08:08:00.000-05:00

My mom was in town for the weekend of 9/11 and we had such a wonderful time. We started it off with the Strides 4 Kids 5K in Tower Grove Park. Zack pushed the kids in the double jogger and still finished in 13th place with a time of 23:45 (out of 128 people). I tried my hardest to keep Zack in my sight, but alas, I could not. I came in 45th place at 27:31 and my mom came in 53rd place at 28:45. Since I've been running for exercise all summer, I thought it would be fun to do a race together. It was.

Let me give you a visual lesson on how to stand if you want to look even chubbier than you are:

We're number one!

Later that day we drove out to the Scott Air Force Base for the Airpower Over the Midwest air show. Saying it was awesome is an understatement (even though it took 30 minutes to get to the Scott AFB offramp and then an HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES to get from the offramp two miles to the base to park...poor Zack was going crazy - at least we could see the air show going on from our car). I got pretty emotional seeing so many amazing military men and women walking around, and watching the Blue Angels was literally the coolest thing I have ever seen. I kid you not. I felt like a little kid and I told Zack that watching the show was the most patriotic thing I've ever experienced. My chest felt like it would burst with pride for the United States of America. Man, I love our country. And I think I'm hooked on air shows.

Mom and Zack took the kids inside a huge cargo plane. And Carson bites his fingernails all. the. time.

The Blue Angels getting ready for the show.

Here's the cargo plane they went on.

That's my girl.

The coolest show ever. Ever. How they fly in such tight formation for so many cool tricks at such high speed is completely beyond me. It was thrilling.

What a wonderful way to spend Sept. 11th, remembering the people that were killed, voluntarily or involuntarily, on that awful day 9 years ago, and honoring our amazing armed forces. Two thumbs way up!
*This post was scheduled before my trip - but I miss you, Z C & C! I'll see you tomorrow.

Dr. Nelson

2010-10-02T08:02:00.006-05:00

After a fun potluck lunch at Zack's school, he took impressions on me for a night guard and on Carson to make a model of his little teeth for fun. Lissa grabbed some pics of the Doc working his magic on us.

This pic is awesome.

Here's his chair.

A little worried.

What a big boy. He didn't do so well on top...started to cry.

And here are a couple fun ones of the kids with Kylea. We love to get together and play games or watch movies on the weekends and the kids get to hang out and then go to sleep at Kylea's house until we go home.

On a side note, I'm heading out to UT for my cute friend Jessi's reception - without kids!! This is my first time going anywhere by myself without kids. I'm. so. excited. Can't wait to see so many of my friends from home that I haven't seen in years. AND looking forward to the kid-free, reading-full flights. Whoo hoo! I will miss you, my darlings! The whole time I'm eating J-Dawgs and Cafe Rio and In-n-out, I will be missing you dearly. Thank you, Dad, for coming out and watching my babies.