Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Bonks, bruises and surgery!!



My poor little boy has a black eye (almost). He was trying to climb over my legs while I was cutting Cameryn's long fingernails and toenails and smashed his face into a hard toy on the floor. It's not too noticeable yet but I had to document it anyways.

I also wanted to write that he will be having his eye surgery on September 13th. He had an appointment with his eye doctor last week and she said that he was ready for surgery (finally). His measurements (how far his eyes cross, etc.) are the same from his last appointment but his eyes are crossing more and more. She wants to do it soon so he'll have the best possible chance of developing a normal depth perception and so that he won't develop other vision issues.

I'm not too nervous about it yet but I'm sure I'll get worse as it gets closer. Right now I'm just grateful that I finally have a date set. I feel bad for my little man though. I hate to see him hurting and I just pray that he won't be too bad after the surgery. The doctor said that most parents say that their child was fine the same day of surgery so I'm praying for the best. I also hate that I can't feed him before the surgery. Hopefully they won't make him go too long without food cause my boy loves to eat (anything).

He'll be put under general anaesthesia and the surgery will only take about an hour so it's a quick procedure. I'm not really scared about him going under even though his Doctor said that's the part that worries most parents. I think it's because I've been under anaesthesia so I'm not really scared of it. Though I was a lot older then Luke.

Just keep my baby in your prayers please.

Thirsty much?




This is my silly little boy after a rainstorm. He discovered water in Cameryn's Baby stroller tray thing. It was so funny that I just had to run all the way back upstairs and get my camera to take pictures. I took that one of Cameryn too just because she looked so cute standing amongst our tomato plants.

I have been so busy trying to get myself, my kids and my house ready for us to leave for vacation. I want to have me house really clean because I'll be gone for 3 weeks and I don't want to come home to a messy house. Me, Cameryn and Luke are all leaving this Saturday, July 14th and aren't coming home until August 4th. My husband will be flying out to meet us on July 20th and staying until July 28th though I wish it were longer.

I can't wait to leave but I'm really nervous about flying by myself with two kids. We do get to fly first class though!!! My father-in-law let us use his Air miles and so it was an automatic first class ticket, wohoo!!

Anyways, back to my preparation.... they are going horribly. Luke has suddenly decided to be Velcro Boy again and not let me get anything done. I made a list today of things to do, things to pack and things I need to buy before I leave and that was pretty much all I did that didn't involve children. I did clean my fridge yesterday though so that's good. All I have left is three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and vacuuming. (Oh is that all)

I'm trying not to obsess though. If I don't get to it all, Mike will just have to do it (hahaha).

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

New "things"

While writing out my post from yesterday, I got an idea and I decided to change some of my 8 things. I had such a hard time coming up with those first 8, but now I've realized that I actually do have a few more interesting things about me. So I am replacing three of those things with new ones.

New #5. I mentioned this in my last post but I HATE CLOWNS!!! They totally freak me out. I hate when I'm anywhere there is a clown and one looks at me... AHHHHHHHH.. don't look at me.... is it coming over... oh my gosh what a freak... is it going to try to interact or (heaven forbid) talk to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I also hate people at theme parks that are in a full body costume or even just the make up. Like at the Paramount's King's Dominion park in Virginia there are people that dress up like characters from Star Trek. MORE FREAKS!!! I DO NOT WANT MY PICTURE WITH YOU!! And please please please don't come up and try to talk to me like you are really the character that you are portraying. I mean seriously, these people really make me nervous and uncomfortable. Even (or especially) the ones dressed up like the cartoon characters and the Disney characters. I guess I'll be in trouble if we ever take Cameryn to Disney Land because she LOVES the Princesses!!

New #6. I am SUPER SUPER SUPER competitive. I don't think people realize this though because I'm usually really good at hiding it. I get seriously angry and upset when I lose at anything. I'm not too horrible if/when I lose while playing a sport because I'm not expecting to always be the best. But I would still get really mad in high school while running if someone who I always beat would suddenly beat me. It was usually only someone from my own team too. Oh I would get so mad!!! I was also so competitive in my weight training classes. The teachers would post from each class all the people and how much they lifted for each thing like squats, bench press, etc. I would always make sure that I was the strongest girl in all of the classes and I usually was except for maybe once or twice. I especially worked hard to make sure that no one beat my times on the rowing machine, the mile and other activities like that. Now, playing board games and other group activities like that, WATCH OUT!!! I hate losing there too. It's really ridiculous how I obsess about things like this, but as I said, most people (I think) don't know this about me because I don't want people to think I'm a sore loser or something which I am not. I just really like to win.

New #8. Jessica and Gina both mentioned this one in their comments to me and I never even thought of this "talent", or whatever it is, until then. I do have lots of funny voices and I'm pretty good at imitating accents and things like that. My brother, Andrew, and I have this really funny voice that we do and it just cracks everyone up. Of course it's hard to convey over a blog but we call it our "euhhh" voice. Now only family members will actually know how to pronounce that word so sorry to anyone else who might actually be reading this. We (Andrew and I) always answer each others phone calls with that voice too; "Euhhh, hello?" (I know Jessica will laugh reading that one) My college roommate, Tara, and I used to do accents all the time too. We even rented a video camera and taped ourselves doing accents and being stupid. Yes, I know that is dumb but it was really fun when we were doing it.

Well those are some different, more interesting things about myself that I wish I would have included in my original "8 Things". Oh well, you know them now.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Cameryn

I've been having a lot of fun with my little girl this summer. She is so silly and is developing the funniest imagination. I have so many stories from this past week that I'm not sure how to tell them all. Sorry if this post will seem to jump here and there but that's how my little girl is too to I guess it makes sense.

I'll start with these pictures here:


As I've said before, she loves to play with her Mr. Potato Head. Well, she started putting the face pieces on her own face to be funny. She started with the ears (which looks really silly but I didn't get a picture of that) and now loves to do all the different mouths. I just had to get pictures of them. I was only going to take one picture but Cameryn kept putting in a different mouth and saying "Get this one mommy" so I of course obliged.

When Cameryn wakes up in the morning she always calls to me from the top of our stairs to tell me she's awake (even though I already knew since I almost always hear her door open) and then she makes her way down the steps. She is usually carrying an assortment of things from her room; like her blanket, a book, a stuffed animal and maybe her Princess pillow. Well, one of the mornings last week I heard the door open and her call out "Hello out there! Oh I hope nobody answers." In case you aren't sure why that would be funny or cute, I'll tell you that she was quoting from Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. I cracked up!! I mean the first words out of her mouth is from Pooh. I just wonder what was going through her little mind when she was doing that.

Speaking of rooms, sleeping and waking up. I can't count how many times I've found Cameryn sleeping in weird places in the middle of the night. Just to name a few:

- Mike went upstairs to take a shower after we put the kids to bed and found Cameryn falling asleep on a big red bouncy ball in our bedroom. I was cleaning the kitchen and he was in the basement and neither of us heard her get out of bed (I said I ALMOST always hear her door open).

- I went to check on her one night before I went to bed and she was asleep on her floor flat on her stomach, perpendicular to her bed. I wanted to take a picture but didn't, dang!

- Luke woke up for a nighttime feeding and I went out into the hallway to go to his room and I found Cameryn asleep on the floor again in her doorway. This one has happened a few times that I find her asleep in the hallway.

- Last Sunday Mike was up sick most of the night and was asleep on the couch. Well, somehow Cameryn got out of bed and into bed with me without me hearing her and was asleep on Mike's pillow.

What a silly, funny girl!!

This past Saturday was a busy day for the Shipley's. At 10:30 am, we all went up to the Library to see a special visitor that Cameryn was really excited to meet. Winnie the Pooh was going to visit the library!! Well, they had the kids sit on this carpet and they played the intro song to the Pooh cartoons while all the kids got bells, shakers, cymbals, and other noise makers to play along with the song then Pooh came out. Cameryn was so excited to see him but as soon as it was her turn to take a picture with him, she was scared to death and wouldn't stand there for anything. I told her I would stand there with her but that was still barely enough to get a picture with her and Pooh. It's okay though, she is only 2 and I really wasn't expecting her to run up and hug him or something.

To tell the truth, I hate people in costumes and masks; and yes I hate clowns too. It totally freaks me out. Whenever I go to any theme park or anything like that I carefully avoid eye contact with anyone dressed up as some character just in case they think that I might want to talk to them or get my picture with them because I DON'T!! (I should have put that for one of my 8 things... hmmmmm)

To continue on our busy Saturday; after that we came home for Luke to take a nap and Cameryn to play. After lunch we all went to the pool for awhile. The kids were so excited that Daddy was at the pool with us because usually he is working when we go. Cameryn even got in the deep water with him and would "jump" to him from the sides of the pool (when I say jump, I mean he would hold her hands and she would carefully fall into his arms). I got in with Luke and we had a great time in the water as a family. Cameryn is so skinny though that she gets cold pretty quickly in the water and it had just rained so it wasn't as warm as it usually is. Her lips were starting to turn slightly blue and she was shivering but was having so much fun with Daddy that she just kept saying that she wanted to jump in again. When I told her she was turning blue she looked at her arms and legs and said to her daddy "I'm all blue. (pause) I want to jump from the steps again."

I finally got her out and we got in the warm shower for awhile to warm her little body up. I went to the snack bar and got everyone a snack and then after a little bit more time in the water we headed home.

But Cameryn's day didn't end there. Mike's parents wanted to take her out to dinner with them so they came and picked her up. They ate out and then Cameryn requested that they take her back to their house so she could play with the toys and of course, being grandparents, they did. She always has a lot of fun playing at their house so it wasn't surprising that she wanted to go there. Later, Robin (Mike's mom) told me that on the drive back to our house she just talked and talked and talked, which isn't surprising either; my little girl loves to talk.

She got home and we quickly got her to bed. She was out like a light after her long, fun filled day. I checked on her before I went to bed and she was sleeping in a semi normal position so I knew she was tired.

I love my little Princess!!

Friday, June 29, 2007

8 things meme

All my posts so far I think have been all about my kids but my friend Gina tagged me with this so here goes.

The Rules: Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag a few other people and notify them they have been tagged.

1. I really hate to cook. Breakfast of course is easy and always yummy so that's no problem. Lunch isn't too bad either I guess, but I still wish I didn't have to do it. I think the problem is that I'm not a very creative person with my cooking. I can make a few things really well but other then that I'm lost. I'm not good at cooking meats either so Mike usually does that part no matter who is actually making the dinner. I do all these things anyways of course since I have children and me and my husband need to eat to live but I HATE cooking.

2. This is in answer to Gina's #2. I DO love to run. It is weird I know, but I love to go running. Of course, I have been running since elementary school and ran Cross Country and Track in high school. I was pretty good if I do say so myself. I have recently begun working out again by following (or trying to) this program I found on the Internet and I love the days where I get to run. It's great when you hit that stride and you feel like you have all this energy and could run for hours. Unfortunately I sometimes have to miss those days because of other engagements or I just run out of time after my kids go to bed. That's my favorite time to run because the day is cooling down and there's not as much humidity.

3. I am really good at zoning out other people and noises. I have a very large family and I love to read so when I was younger and I wanted to be able to concentrate on my book (or other things) I could easily just zone everything else out. I still do it but I've been trying hard to get better about not doing it. It's very inconvenient to do since I have children now because who knows what they are getting into while I'm sitting there doing dishes while daydreaming or thinking about a book I am reading. Plus it really annoys my husband.

4. I love to read and am a pretty fast reader. I get really weird when I don't have any book to read. I feel like I'm missing something. I'm not saying I sit around all day and read (though I would like to) but I like to have something to read when I'm nursing or at night after the kids go to sleep. I need to find a book club again so that I can have more suggestions of books to read. I was in one last year but when school got out all the other moms kinda drifted off and then we never started it back up again when school was back in session.

5. Along the same lines as #4, when I find a really great book I like to try to read it a least once every year or two. I have a lot of books that I really like too. I am just that kind of person though. My favorite book is called Shadow of the Moon and I definitely make sure to read that one often. It is just too good. I've been working on my book collection and it's pretty good though there are a lot more that I want but I don't really have the room for them. I'm glad I live right down the street from the library.

6. I'm the same way with movies too. I like to watch them over and over again. My husband doesn't get that but most of my family is the same way. We like to quote and laugh about our favorite parts from our favorite movies all the time. We've even quote T.V. shows.

7. I am OBSESSED with ebay. I love going on there and looking for pretty much anything. I love the watching, the bidding, the winning (especially that), the selling, the feedback... I just love everything about ebay. I get so excited when an item I am either bidding on or selling is about to close. I will constantly refresh the page to see exactly how much time is left and if there are any new bids that I either need to outbid or just shout for joy cause I'll be getting more money!! So unfortunately this all means that I pretty much have to stay away from it unless I really do need something. I am really addicted to that site. I can spend LOTS of money there (of course while getting tons of great deals in the process).

8. I have a shameful secret. I occassionally like to watch Days of Our Lives. I know, I know, so stupid and corny, but it makes me laugh and every once in a while I like to watch all that dumb drama. I could not watch it for a whole year and catch up on all that has happened in about one week. The stories are so stupid and unreal; it's GREAT!!! I have watched it on and off for a long time actually. This one summer most of my family was watching it and we would all laugh hysterically at the stories. Ahhh... those guilty pleasures can be so fun!!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Crazy little man driver

We bought this little pink Barbie battery powered 4-wheeler for Cameryn when she was about 15 months old but she has never really been interested in it. Well, I think it found someone who does want to ride it.


I hope you all laughed as hard as I did about that song. I cracked up and couldn't stop laughing when I found it. It was even the right length for the clip.

Of course Luke is hilarious on that Barbie 4-wheeler too but that song is just too funny. Luke loves to be up on that thing and we found if we place his hand in the right spot he can push the little button to make it go all by himself. He of course loved that even more. He also tries to get up onto her little red trike too. What a silly boy!!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Watering the grass


I'm watching my brother Devon this week because my mom and sister Kathryn are at Girl's Camp and my dad is in Russia on a business trip. I didn't feel like driving into town to go to the pool so I thought the kids would like to run through the sprinkler for a little while.

Luke just sat there the whole time trying (yet again) to drink the water even when it was spraying him in the face. Devon ran through it a few times and then just played with the water spouts. Cameryn, I had to drag through or run through it with her to get her anywhere near it. You can see that the water isn't turned on very high either.

They had fun though and were outside for awhile so that's always a good thing.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Fun at the pool

Luke and Cameryn have played in our little baby pool in the backyard many times already this year but I took them, along with Kathryn and Devon, to the city pool this past Saturday. Luke is definitely a water baby, must have been all that swimming I did while I was pregnant with him. He loved the pool and had so much fun. I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted because it was too hard to do that and to be able to watch Cameryn going here and there. It's hard to watch two little kids at the pool.



After playing with the water spouts for about 20 minutes he finally decided that he could crawl around and would crawl a little ways into the water and then sit. He would then crawl back to the spouts and repeat.

I love that pool. It is great for taking little kids for so many reasons. It's small so it's easier to keep track of them, there are so many toys in the water for them to play with (you see the big floating turtle in the video), and it has a beach front entrance into the water which Cameryn and Luke both loved.

Cameryn loves going to the pool but she's not one for actually getting into the water too often. She mainly likes to walk around, maybe get in up to her knees but then she gets out almost immediately. I have to bring lots of toys to keep her occupied. She does still love to play with the water spouts just as much as Luke does so that's nice since it keeps her close to me instead of wandering around (which makes me very nervous sometimes). I'm not too paranoid of a mother (at least I like to think so) but I still worry about her suddenly thinking that she'd like to get in the water in the 4 foot area or something like that. Yes, I know there are lifeguards, but still. She usually does stick around me though so that's nice.

When you take Luke out, however, he just tries to crawl right back over to it. I was trying to get all of our stuff together to leave and he kept trying to crawl over to the edge of the 4 foot area because he wanted to get back in. I'll have to watch my little man like a hawk around water.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Pretty pretty princess

Mike and I went to the Disney store a few weeks ago and hit on a really big sale they were having. We stocked up on birthday and Christmas presents for Cameryn and Luke. While there Mike found these princess nightgowns that Cameryn would of course just absolutely love so we bought her one.

We came home and decided that we couldn't wait till September (her birthday) to give it to her because we wanted to see her reaction now. Not even two minutes after putting it on she was dancing and singing and twirling. She loves her "twirly Cinderella nightgown" as she calls it. She twirls around and then sits down real fast so that the dress is spread out all around her (I taught her that cause it's what I used to do with anything that twirled.. hehe). She also loves to dance with me or Mike especially when she is wearing that nightgown. We twirl and dip her and of course we have to sing a princess song while doing it all. She is such a fun little girly girl. It is so easy to buy her things that we really have to be careful to control ourselves. She now has three princess nightgowns but that is her favorite.

All play and no work...

I have been so busy these past few weeks it ridiculous. I have so many things to update on my blog and I fear I will never get to them all.

I'll just start with this past weekend. Last year when I was 8 months pregnant, me and some friends of mine since high school decided it would be fun to go to my friends cabin about 2 1/2 hour away for a weekend. We had so much fun talking, playing games, talking, riding on Heidi's dad's 4-wheeler, watching movies, and mainly just talking. We decided then that we should have our little girl's weekend every year.

So this year I have a 10 month old baby and am still nursing him so obviously I couldn't leave him behind. He got to be the lucky little guy with all the ladies all weekend long.

The weekend started with us leaving from Chrissy's mom's house Friday in the early afternoon. The van that Heidi was going to drive us all in didn't have any AC and of course it was in the high 90's with ALOT of humidity (per usual in Maryland). Well, my poor little man got a horrible heat rash. It was everywhere and there wasn't much I could do about it. I had some ice and a cloth diaper that I used to try to cool him down and it helped him a little bit but it was still so hot until we got about half way through our trip when the temperature finally started dropping.

He slept well that night and we were all up early and ready to go out and rent a boat for a few hours. I was a little worried about Luke but it was all for nothing as he loved being on the boat and even fell asleep for the first 30-45 minutes of the trip. The day was beautiful and we had lunch on our boat. We rented a pontoon boat so it wasn't too fast and it ended up only being about $16 dollars a person for 3 hours. We could have stayed out longer but with a baby we didn't want to push our luck. Next year though we are going to get a faster boat, rent our longer, and try tubing, but of course I won't have to bring any kids with me (yay!)

We played tons of games again and had a camp fire and smores. Luke sat with us for a little while until his bed time and tried to eat all the rocks he could. Once he realized that they didn't taste very good mixed with dead leaves he just kept handing them to everyone.

He wasn't too happy about the long car ride home and unfortunately he didn't fall asleep but over all I had a wonderful time and I can't wait till next year!!

Luke, Heidi, Annie, Jessie, and Chrissy . Luke on the boat

Luke sleeping on the boat. Playing with toys after a quick nap

Chrissy getting the wood ready to burn. Not bad for a bunch of girls!!

Luke eating rocks

Jessie with Luke and Luke with his momma