Happiness Is...

January So Far...

2012-01-18T20:15:00.000-08:00

So far in January, we have been super, super cute, had lots of baby photo shoots, built a snowman, and we leave off, with being very cute (of course).

I'll try to be a more faithful blogger, but as far as resolutions go, I'll admit...its probably at the bottom of my list. Higher priority goes to: reading with my kids more, having family dinner every night, having FHE, studying my scriptures more often and finding the joy in each day :)

Happy New Year!

Stuff in December

2012-01-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

December was busy, and packed with fun...just like this post is packed with pictures! I stopped counting after awhile, but I think there are close to a jillion pictures. Sorry.

We started by decorating the tree together

Then we built a fabulous fort, and ate breakfast for dinner inside it.

We went to Jungle Jim's Playland-yay!

And played with our cute friend, Lilah.

Riley finally learned to sit up, on his 9 month birthday! Go Riley! Now, at just over 10 months, we are still mastering sitting up, and he is a much better roller than he was previously.

Played with cousins while their sister and mom recovered from surgeries.

Practiced our cheesy grin a little more

Took funny pictures of Uncle Brett

Enjoyed a Christmas celebration with my family...

complete with a nativity.

And then, went home to bed, because...well....take a look at the picture.

Helped Dad build his pinewood derby car with a "Finding Nemo" theme.

Riley sported a hip new off-the-shoulder look, and rocked it, if I do say so myself.

Visited Santa Clause (true story: this is the first time EVER in my life that I sat on Santa's lap. Big day folks, momentous occasion.)

We went out to breakfast with my family for Christmas Eve, and even though I don't have any pictures, we also enjoyed a lovely dinner with them at our house that evening. After dinner we drove around looking at Christmas lights, then finished off with the Luke 2 movie, a Christmas story, and then games after the boys went to bed.

On Christmas morning, Cece received a new sweater!

Cam mastered the art of unwrapping

Riley mastered the art of being adorable

And I...was really tired. It was an awesome Christmas.

After presents, we geared up for church

Then headed to my parents for a few more gifts and good company.

Merry Christmas!

Later in the week, after the Tanners returned from Cali, we had Christmas with them. Here is the forced brother hug...

Opening presents with Grandma and Grandpa

Chillin' with Uncle J.

To finish our December, we took Cameron to see Arthur Christmas---very cute movie.

Last but not least, here are a couple of videos, in case you haven't had enough of us already. Riley is a total ham in front of the camera. Only seconds before the camera came on, he was whining and growling, and kind of being a grouch. Behold, the power of the camera.

The other video is Cameron. I love how he thinks that if he can't see us, we can't see him. Its magic!

Stuff in November

2012-01-18T18:43:00.001-08:00

Catching up (again) at this point is a little daunting, but I do want to get my pictures posted at some point. It will probably be one of my usual picture overload/smush posts. Enjoy!

In November Cece continued to be cute, although she looks evil in this picture...

Riley started eating lots more food. We think he actually eats more than Cam at this point.

Celebrated Matt's birthday with both of our families.

Went to the Zoo.

And got totally exhausted by the end of the month.

We practiced our cheesy smiles.

Had a fabulous Thanksgiving at my parents house. Sadly, this is the only picture I got. It was warm enough to play outside with this fun parachute. Despite the lack of pictures, dinner was delicious, and the company was awesome.

Just after Thanksgiving we went to Temple Square with my fam.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all! Now, onto December!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, from your friendly neighborhood Tiger and Lobster.

We had a great Halloween, which included: trick-or treating in the neighborhood, trick-or-treating at Grandpa's work, visiting Dad at work, a ward party, a family party, and a party with friends (no, not all on the same day)!

October Smush Post

2011-11-02T21:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the rest of October:

Cam felt like he needed a little babying this day. He grabbed a bottle nipple, used it for a binky, then grabbed Riley's toys and laid on the blanket to play where Riley was.

Chillin' with Grandma April on Conference Weekend.

Hanging out at our friends' cabin.

Cornbelly's with Andy and Brittany

Waiting for the pig races to start

Happy boy!

Giant trampoline!!

First Big Ouchie

2011-11-02T21:20:00.001-07:00

In October, Cam had his first really big ouchie. He and I were playing up in my room while I was getting ready for the day. He went running out of my bathroom at full speed and tripped and I heard a thud! I knew instantly that it was going to be yucky. He had flown head first into the bed frame!

I ran over quickly and he was kind of in a daze from the hit. I saw a big gash in his forehead, and the blood started coming quickly. I called Matt, who had just left for work, and he turned around and came home. Thank goodness, because I was not being a brave Mommy!

We headed in to the emergency room and waited for what felt like forever. The doctor came and gave him some versed, which he spit the majority of out. He did swallow enough to get pretty loopy and wobbly on his feet, but not enough to get him as tired as they wanted. He was pretty funny after the medication...laughing at all the nurses, making strange motorcycle sounds, etc.

It was so terrible to watch him being held down by the 2 nurses and doctor. He was red and sweaty from fighting, and had fingerprints on his arms when they let him back up :( I was doing okay until he got a glimpse of me under the cloth they had over his face and cried out, "Mama, noooo!" I started crying and nearly passed out, so they put me down on the floor.

Thankfully once it was over, he forgot pretty quickly (thank you, versed!) and we went home. He only had to have 3 stitches, but they said it was a wide gash, so he is likely to have a little scar. He thought it was great since he spent the rest of the day watching movies, to keep him a little subdued. Poor kid...

When we got home, he insisted on wearing his pajamas OVER his clothes!

Other Stuff in September

2011-11-02T21:06:00.000-07:00

Again, I can't remember exactly what we did in September...so it all gets to be smushed into a giant post of pictures. Enjoy!

Visiting the state fair

Watching airplanes at the airport

Being silly

Being really silly (this is the way Cam likes to sleep)

Going to the Greek festival

Family bowling

Just being together!

Cece Doggy

2011-11-02T20:58:00.000-07:00

Cece is our new dog! We got her just a couple days before Cam's birthday (not for his birthday...just coincidence). She is a sweet little black and white shihtzu/poodle mix. She is about 6.5 lbs, but acts like she is 50 lbs (she thinks she is pretty tough).

We found out about her on facebook, and ended up contacting the girl who was selling her, who coincidentally I was friends with in elementary and junior high! This girl loved Cece so much and was heartbroken, but due to circumstances in her life, couldn't keep Cece anymore.

She came to us with long fluffy ears, but quickly got a haircut, thanks to Matt...

She loves to play tug of war, be scratched behind the ears, and snuggle with anybody who will let her!

Welcome to the family Cece!

Cam piled all of her toys on her while she was sleeping. Just in case she wanted to play when she woke up...

She sleeps on anything soft, especially our clothes-I was trying to fold laundry here.

Cameron turns 2!

2011-11-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Cameron turned 2 on September 18th! I can't believe he is already 2!

We had to speak in church that day, so my parents came to sit with the kids during church and then came to our house after to help me prepare a little party. That evening we had my parents, and brother Brett, Matt's parents and brother Jameson, and our neighbor Maryanne and her granddaughter.

Cameron was spoiled rotten with a kitchen from Mom and Dad, and clothes and toys from both Grandparents. He also had an awesome fire truck cake (thanks Mom!) and delicious peach cake for the adults!

Cameron is at such a fun age-he makes us laugh daily. A few of my current favorites are:

-He always asks everyone and everything what they are doing. One day as I was putting his shirt on and his finger got stuck, he yelled out "sing! Are doing?" Which is "finger, what are you doing?"

-While talking about Jesus with him and looking at a picture, Cam started to point out Jesus' facial features. When he got to his nose, he poked Jesus' nose in the picture and said, "honk!"

-Whenever he wants something, he comes to me and says (for example) "Treat? Ok! Treat!"

He knows that as long as he asks nicely, I try to say yes most of the time...

He is a little guy, coming in at 23 lbs at his last appointment, which puts him in the 2nd percentile. He loves to run around almost non stop all day. He is obsessed with any type of vehicle (fire truck, airplane, helicopter, motorcycle, yucky truck, car, bus, etc etc). He loves to sing with me and play chase.

Cam still hates most veggies and meat, but loves most fruits and breads. He loves pretty much any treat, but especially marshmallows and vitamins. I know, vitamins aren't a treat...but he doesn't know that!

He loves Cece, but is pretty rough with her. Its been quite the learning process between Cece and Cam. Cece is pretty patient, but occasionally comes running to me to escape psycho Cam. Cam tries to ride her, chase her, play with her "toesies", push, pull, etc...you get the idea.

He is starting to like books more, and especially loves Blue Hat, Green Hat by Sandra Boynton.

He is still a moody kid, like he has always been, but we are learning more and more about how to deal with that when he is. Overall, he is a much happier kid than he was a year ago. He now has all of his teeth in (hallelujah!) so I'm sure that helps his mood as well.

I'm sure I could think of a million more things about our sweet boy...but this is getting long! Enjoy some birthday pictures!

Grandma Tanner and Riley

Jameson and Cece

Happy Birthday little dude!

Riley

2011-11-02T20:30:00.000-07:00

Riley is just a few days shy of 8 months old now. He is the happiest, most smiley baby most of the time. You definitely know when he's not...

He is still really little (somewhere around 13ish lbs). His early start at life has put him behind, like we expected. He is still working on rolling at this point, but he'll get where he needs to be eventually!

He absolutely LOVES Cameron. Cam can do pretty much anything to make Riley laugh. Cam loves to tickle his toes. Riley also likes Cece (oh yeah! We got a dog!) and loves to pull on her fur. I'm not sure she likes it all that much, but she is pretty patient.

Ry loves baby food, but mostly the fruits...not so much the veggies, except sweet potatoes. He is still nursing (yay!!) and still spits like a camel (nasty reflux).

He is a total snuggle bug, and loves to cuddle. He can melt our hearts with his little giggles and grins. We love him!!

With his 2 days older cousin, Brynn.

Snuggling

Bath time!

First haircut (minus a few little trims) at almost 7 months!

August

2011-11-02T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am so behind...I'm actually blogging about August...in November!!!

I can barely remember what we really did in August, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

In August, we:

Celebrated Matt's Dad's (Ric) and brother's (Jameson) birthdays.

Cam helped with the gift wrapping.

Bonded with little brother (except Cam looks like he is up to something in this picture)

Tried rice cereal for the first time.

Went to Dad's work party and played on the bounce houses.

Practiced tummy time

Went to the zoo with Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich and Uncle Brett.

Farewell summer!

Happy Hat

2011-09-26T07:31:00.000-07:00

I have a lot of blogging to catch up on...as usual.

First and foremost though, this event is of great importance.

While Matt was cleaning the garage on Saturday, Cam found a new love. It looks like this:

Cam has not taken this hat off since Saturday, except when we made him (aka bedtime and church). We call it the "happy hat". I don't know if I've ever seen Cameron so well behaved for such a long period of time. Do you think the hat has magical powers? I do. Either way though...we are definitely keeping the hat.

24th of July Fun!

2011-08-17T13:37:00.000-07:00

Last but not least on the catch up list, is the 24th. We had a fun BBQ with the family at Eric and Heidi's house. Its one of my favorite traditions all year! Great food, lots of fun, and awesome people.

Canoeing on a little lake near Eric's house

Wheeeee!

Cam and Sam looked like this through all the fireworks.

Being the inventor he is, Matt wanted to "create" a firework. It was actually pretty darn good. Way to go Matt!

PS, I swear that we do see Matt's family too. I realize the posts have been very heavy on my family. Its really just because my sister was here, and we had a lot of big family events this summer!

Matt just spent the weekend with his family in California bringing back some furniture from his Grandma's house. We got an awesome dining room table and china hutch, plus a beautiful set of china--we feel so lucky! Cam and Riley also just spent the day with Grandma Nancy after I had my surgery...but I forgot to get any pictures. Next time!

Stay-Cation

2011-08-17T13:19:00.000-07:00

For my family's vacation this year, we decided to stick around town and have a few days of different activities. It honestly was one of my favorite vacations we've ever had.

It started with a fun afternoon and my brother's house, and then playing in the 7 Rivers at Liberty Park the next day.

That night, we had a BBQ with games, water balloons, and a pinata, followed by s'mores, song and stories at the "campfire" and camping out in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.

On Saturday we got all day passes at Snow Bird and had a blast! We did the ropes course, alpine slide, bounce house, climbing wall, tram, peruvian express, etc. We had such a great time--can't wait for next year!

Visitors!

2011-08-17T12:57:00.000-07:00

For all of July and part of August, my sister, Rachelle and her family were here visiting. We were super busy having lots of fun with them while they were here. Unfortunately, it flew by way too fast! We miss you guys!!

Grandpa getting sent to the kids table...

Cameron LOVED playing with Tiana and Lizzy. I'm not so sure they loved it quite as much as he did...

The whole family

Wrestling with Grandpa Gene

4th of July party!!

Pyramid!

Cute Sam

Cam reading with his cousins

Dinner on the patio. That is me in the background...dying with a kidney stone. Yup.

Picnic with Grandma April

Hugging Sam goodbye (sniff, sniff)

Lizzy showing off her missing tooth!

Some of us

Lizzy and Uncle Brett

Me and my sis.

Summer Fun

2011-08-17T12:19:00.000-07:00

Here's a little peek of what we've been up to this summer. Busy, busy, busy!

Reading in Cam's favorite chair

Being the baby?!?

Sorry this is upside down.

Chasing the ducks

Helping Mom cook

Being "sick"

Riley sleeping at the 24th of July parade

Matt and I thought it would be fun to try to go the parade downtown on the 24th. We didn't figure we would get great seats, because we left our house about 1 hour before the parade. We ended up parking really close to downtown, and walking right up to the place where you can only sit with tickets, which they happened to open up just as we arrived. It was awesome! We sat right at the beginning of the parade across from the channel 5 cameras. Cameron loved all the motorcycles!

Riding front runner

Being lazy with Dad

Playing at the Mall

We were able to sneak a date in to Hale Theater...yay!!

Playing at the Gateway splash pad

Watching fireworks on the 4th of July

Chillin'

Getting a few bumps, cuts, and bruises along the way
LDS hospital has a little reunion for NICU babies and their families so the nurses can see how the babies they took care of have grown! It was fun to see a few of Riley's favorites!
Sarah and Riley
Camille and Riley
Playing with our friends!
Playing at the park!

We love summertime!!!

Ry-Ry

2011-08-17T11:30:00.002-07:00

Riley is 5 1/2 months old now, and is such a little sweetheart. Unfortunately, he has many of the same stomach problems that Cameron had. We are trying to get that figured out....

Despite that, he manages to be happy most of the time, and he is such a sweetheart. His little smile literally melts my heart, even at 3 am.

He sleeps through the night occasionally, but not most of the time. He is working on rolling over, and getting better at holding his head up and sitting in his bumbo. He thinks it is hilarious when you pretend to bite his neck, or help him clap his hands. He loves watching Cameron and thinks he is pretty funny! Riley has an adorable high pitched squeal and loves to blow bubbles with his lips. He loves being wrapped up after his bath, and well...so do I. He is so cuddly and sweet and warm and smells like heaven.

I love having a sweet little spirit in our home-I could literally squeeze Ry all day if I had the time. Isn't being a mom the best?

Bouncy Bouncy!

Go ahead...wipe that puddle of you up off the floor. It makes me melt too.
Crazy Hair!!!

Coming Soon....

2011-08-17T11:30:00.001-07:00

I'm going to try to catch up on my blog over the next few days. Prepare for picture overload!!!

Riley's Blessing Day

2011-06-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

We blessed Riley on June 12th, 2011 and the day was perfect.

Matt and I were both a little nervous because Cameron screamed through his whole blessing. We were also nervous because Cam is such a Daddy's boy, and especially at church, only wants to sit with Matt. Luckily everything went perfectly and the day was beautiful and special for our family. We are so thankful to have Riley in our family! We are also thankful for all the friends and family who came to support us...we really feel blessed!

Riley getting prepped for his big day!
This is the blessing outfit my mom made for my oldest brother, Eric. It has been worn by all 3 of my brothers, Cameron, Stockton and now Riley.
Nikki and Brittany
Bryan and Ryan
Lauren, Megan, Cameron (my cousin...not my little Cam)
Matt's Mom and my Dad with Ry
cousins!
My cousin Lydia and her husband Bryan
Scott, Wendy, Amber and Cortlan
Teran and me!
My lovely Mama!
Riley lounging in his swing
Aunt Megan with Riley
My family
Matt's family (ps, thanks to Matt's dad for being a wonderful grill master!)
Some of our friends
Our family of 4!!

Happy Anniversary!

2011-06-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

Matt and I celebrated 4 years on June 2nd. He completely surprised me (which is hard to do...ask him) and had planned to take the whole day off. He had an entire day planned for our family and it was so much fun!

We started out by grabbing breakfast and heading to the park to eat. Next we went to the bird show at the Zoo, then home for naps. During nap time, Matt helped me plant some flowers to put out on our porch. After naps, we headed to Liberty park to ride a few rides, then to cold stone for some ice cream! After that, our plans kind of got rained out, so we took Cam to Jungle Jim's, which he LOVED! After, we had dinner at the Asian Potato and headed home to watch a movie. It was a completely perfect day. Thanks Matt, I love you!

Memorial Day

2011-06-16T11:27:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day weekend we headed out to the Uintah Basin to visit with my 2 Grandma's. I also have a lot of family buried there (3 cousins, 2 Grandpas, 1 uncle, and great-grandparents), so we thought it was a good time to visit. We had lots of fun!

Taking a break during the 3 hour drive.
Grandma Goodrich and the boys
Super Riley!
You can't see it well, but Cam fell really hard and got a giant goose egg...ouch!
Dad and Uncle Kerry
Aunt Leslie, Grandma and Mom
YAWN!
Chillin with Brett

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2011-06-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

My Grandma just turned 88 and we gave her a little surprise party. It was pretty funny to watch my Grandma as more and more of her grandkids showed up for no apparent reason...

We had lots of fun catching up with my cousins, aunts, and uncles. Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma with Cam and Riley.
Everybody who could make it (there are LOTS more)
Cam bowling with Uncle Brett
Grandma chatting with Riley (this was actually the first time he smiled!)

Just Hanging Out

2011-06-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a little of what we have been up to lately. In no particular order.....

Hanging out in the beautiful weather!
Blowing bubbles
Playing in buckets of water!
Sleeping at the zoo...
Hanging out with Lilah at the zoo.
Family Fun Day!

The sandbox at family fun day
Snuggling with Grandma!
Sneaking into the fridge...all. the. time.
Hiking with Dad and the boy scouts!
Bath time!

Tummy Time!
Sleeping....at dinner.....
Hanging out with Grandma and cousins!
Visiting temple square.

Listening to music.

WE LOVE SUMMER!!!!!

Random

2011-05-13T13:49:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to post this cute picture. This is Riley's cousin, Brynn. She was born 2 days before Riley and even though she was full term...she was tiny!

Now, 2 months later, both babies just had a check up, and believe it or not, but premie Riley is actually bigger than Brynn! I'm sure these two cuties will be best buds when they grow up!

Cameron LOVES when Matt comes home every night. Its easy to see why!

Mothers Day

2011-05-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day this year was great. It started on Saturday afternoon with a visit to the Tanners. Zoe, their dog, seemed to think my lap was the place to be. She pushed and shoved until she was comfortable (she didn't seem to care if I was comfortable, however). We visited with Matt's parents and then headed to my parents house. We had a bbq with the whole fam (minus Chelle and company). The guys made a delicious dinner, complete with baby back ribs and then everybody hung out and played around for awhile.

Cam pretending he is still the baby...

Cameron was EXHAUSTED by the time we drove home...

On Sunday, Matt, Cameron and Riley gave me a cd player to keep downstairs in the kitchen, along with a bunch of disney music on my ipod, so I can hook it up to the cd player. I LOVE my music, especially disney. It just makes me want to dance!

We also took Riley to sacrament meeting for the first time. We had strict instructions to keep him covered, which wasn't much of a problem because we don't know many people in our new ward. It was so nice to enjoy church again as a whole family! We kept dinner low key, with some of my favorite cold cereal and some yummy quesadillas, and then watched a movie. It was a wonderful day!

I'm so thankful for these 2 little munchkins who let me be their mom. I love being a mom. Its the hardest job I've ever done, but easily the most fulfilling. I love you boys!

Con-GRAD-ulations!!!!

2011-05-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

Matt graduated from the U of U School of Business last Friday. We are so proud of him!

Matt is one of the hardest working people I know. He has been working 2 jobs (1 is full time), going to school, has 2 kids and a wife to worry about, and at one point in the midst of all of it, he was the Elders Quorum president in our old ward. He has been busy, busy, busy but has stuck through it all. We are so glad he is done (at least until grad school...)! We have already seen him about 5 times as much this week as we normally do-yay! Congratulations Matt, we love you!

Matt's family
My family
We spent the next morning at the zoo to celebrate!

Cute Boys

2011-05-13T13:21:00.001-07:00

They are cute...aren't they?

Trailing a Little Behind

2011-04-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind...if you haven't noticed.

We have all been home together for almost a month and everybody is great. Riley is gaining weight like a champ, Cam loves his little brother (sometimes) and is usually doing alright, except the last week or so of teething (boo!). Matt will be graduating in a couple of weeks (yay!) and we might be able to see him a little more, and I'm just trying to keep everything running at home. I love my life!

I have a zillion picture, but not much to report since we can't really go anywhere as a family until June! We snuck out once to go to the park for awhile, and we have been to our parents' homes, and that is about it. We are content here in our snuggly home keeping everybody healthy for another month. Now...get ready for a picture explosion!

Leaving the hospital finally!

This was the night Cam came home-he's checking out the little bro...
Feeling a little more comfortable in the morning...
Ready to cuddle up now!

My boys.
First family photo!

Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich
Kisses from Grandma!
The bassinet sent from Matt's grandma. It was meant for Riley to sleep in...
Sleepy boy
Wheeeee!
Cam loves to help clean up...without his shirt on??
Nap time!

King of the bed!

Cam dyeing Easter eggs with Grandpa Goodrich...
...and Riley having nap time with Grandpa!
Easter Sunday

Playing with Grandma and Grandpa Tanner
Yay!
Tanner Fam
Grandpa and Grandpa Tanner
Riley meeting his cousin Brynn. She is 2 days older than Ry.
Cam playing in Grandma Goodrich's backyard.

Just for fun, a couple of videos. The first one is Riley right after he was born. You can hear the breathing trouble. It kind of makes me sad to watch it, but still...I want to remember what he was like at first! The second is Cam while staying at my Mom's. He loves my brother's dog, Missy!

Green Light!

2011-03-29T06:35:00.001-07:00

After 3 weeks here, we got the go ahead to go home this morning! Riley gained weight last night and is doing great!

Unfortunately Cameron is a little sick, and can't come home until he is better since we can't risk getting Riley sick. Cam will probably come home on Saturday. I can hardly wait for my little family to all be together again!

A few people have asked about visiting. We would love to have visitors, but have been told that we need to be really really careful because if Riley got sick, it could land him back in the hospital. If you are sick (even a little runny nose), no offense, but please hold off on coming to visit. Also, we need to be a little careful having him around other little kiddos. Otherwise, please feel free to give us a call-we would love to see you!

Thank you all for your love and kindness. We have felt your prayers and support through all of this and we are so thankful for all of our wonderful friends and family!

Hasta la vista hospital!

Busting Out?!?!

2011-03-28T06:13:00.000-07:00

Matt was on the blog and accidentally deleted my background. Since he is color blind, he had a friend at work help him put up a new one...hope you like it!

So, I haven't updated for awhile. Riley had a rough week, until we got close to the weekend. He was in his 35th week, which is notoriously known as a rough week for premature babies. They have a tendency to suddenly forget everything they have learned, and get really sleepy. Riley was no exception. He stopped eating well and took a few steps back. Luckily towards the end of the week, he suddenly picked up again!

He came out of his isolette on Saturday and has held his temperature well. He is now eating all feedings by mouth and they took out his feeding tube this morning! He hasn't been gaining significant amounts of weight, about 5 grams (1 gram is about equal to 1 raisin) but he IS gaining or at least staying the same each time. He has passed his car seat test, hearing test, etc.

We just got the word this morning that if everything goes well tonight and he gains again, we can probably go home tomorrow (everybody keep your fingers crossed)!!! It has felt like a very, very looooonnnnggg three weeks and we are so ready to get back home as a family since Cam and Matt have been living with my Mom, and I've been living at the hospital with Riley.

I have had the nastiest cold/cough/infection I think I've ever had in my life for the last 10+ days, but I finally got sent over to instacare on Saturday night. Matt thought it was really funny that we had to leave the hospital to go see a doctor. They gave me an antibiotic and it finally started to kick in last night. Hallelujah!

Everything is looking up and we are excited. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts--we feel very blessed!

Knock on Wood

2011-03-22T10:37:00.000-07:00

I guess I should have knocked on wood after that last post...too late now!

Riley was put back in stage 2 today and it was determined that he possibly isn't even quite ready for that yet, but we will try it out again. He goes back to 2 feedings with me every 12 hours. Apparently yesterday he didn't get enough to eat because he couldn't wake himself up to feed every 2, 3, or ever 4 hours. He lost some weight and the doctors are concerned they are trying to push him a little too quickly and he just isn't showing that he is ready to move up at all. We still don't have a date for going home, but it will probably be later than we have been thinking lately. They are not ready to try him out of the isolette again, he needs to gain more weight, and be getting all of his feedings from a bottle or nursing....so, we have a ways to go.

I have a nasty cold/cough/who knows what (the doctor mentioned some type of influenza that turns into bronchitis...lets hope not) that has kept me hanging out in bed anytime I'm not feeding Riley. It makes me all the more thankful that they have an overnight room I can stay in at the hospital so I don't have to be traveling between home and here and can spend my time sleeping instead. Mmmm...that's all that I can think of for now!

Quick Update

2011-03-21T17:05:00.001-07:00

Riley was able to move to stage 3 of eating today! That means I can nurse him on demand (his...not mine. If it was up to me we would do an 8 hour stretch in the middle of the night!) and he isn't supplemented after feedings with me. Hopefully he will continue to gain weight in order to keep his temperature stable.

One scary thing: this morning they told me that last night they gave Riley his binky, and after awhile his monitors started going off because his sats were so low. They went in to find him turning bluish around his mouth and face. The doctor acted like it was quite normal for a premature baby to do that, but it certainly scared me and makes me pretty nervous to take him home where he isn't on monitors! The nurse told me that some babies will suck and suck on a binky and simply forget to breathe...yikes!

Besides that episode, he is doing great and we hope to break out of here soon!

Day 10

2011-03-19T14:29:00.000-07:00

This evening will mark 10 days that Riley has been here in the hospital. He is doing well overall, although there have been some minor setbacks.

He is now able to do 4 feedings a day, at 8am, 2pm, 8pm, and 2am which means I am staying at the hospital. They provide an overnight room for free for situations like this, and I am right next to the nursery where Riley is staying. Its definitely kind of boring, but so far has been ok. I have a cold and have been able to spend the in between time resting, which is nice.

He was moved from the incubator to an open crib, but wasn't able to tolerate it, so he went back in today. This morning his vitals were a little bit wacky, so they aren't sure yet how he is tolerating 4 feedings. He has gained some weight in the last couple of days, so we hope to continue that.

Riley's biggest problem right now is staying warm. He doesn't have enough fat to keep himself warm, which is why he is back in the incubator. Yesterday and last night he had socks on his hands and feet, a onesie, 2 pairs of pants, pajamas and 2 warm blankets, and 2 hats and still wasn't able to keep his own temperature up. He won't be able to come home until he gains enough weight to maintain that himself. The doctor tells us we will need to be really patient at this stage.

Cameron continues to stay with my parents since I'm now gone all day. Matt goes and stays there after work so that Cameron gets to see at least one parent. I've struggled emotionally lately knowing I am going to be spending so much time away from Cameron and Matt. My Dad reminded me that there are other people who can take care of what Cam needs right now, but I'm the only one who can take care of what Riley needs, and that helps. I'm so grateful for my parents. They have been such a huge support through all of this. My sweet mom even gave up a vacation she was looking forward to going on with my Dad. She was supposed to leave tomorrow, but instead gave up her ticket, which they could get a refund or exchange for. I don't know what I would do without her!

That's all to update for now. Overall we are all doing well and still hoping our little Riley can come home soon!!
Sleepy boy
Very sleepy boy
My little leprechaun
HUGE Binky!

Riley Gets to Wear Clothes!

2011-03-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Today they took out Riley's IV--everybody cheer! I hated that IV and how often they had to move it on the poor little guy.

He is now doing two feedings from me per day, one in the morning, and one at night. The doctors are concerned because he should be gaining weight at this point, but he continues to lose a little everyday. At this point we have been told things can move slowly because while on two feedings a day, he needs to gain for two days, then we will move to four feedings, and he needs to gain two days in a row, and up and up. Hopefully the little guy will start to chunk up soon!

When I went in this afternoon, he was in a cute little set of ducky pajamas! He has just been in his diaper up until now so that they could regulate his body temperature for him. They are trying now to put him in clothes to see if he can regulate his own temperature without using too much energy to gain weight. We'll see how it goes, but he looks darn cute! If he can warm himself he will get to move to a new type of bed.

Here are a few pictures of Riley, since we haven't posted many.

Our sweet neighbor gave Matt and I tickets to the Jazz game last night so we could just get away from everything for awhile. We got to go to a VIP dinner before tip off, and the seats were on the second row! We had so much fun!The little guy gets so exhausted when he nurses that we have to take lots of wake up breaks!

Tiny, tiny feet

Oops

2011-03-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

In case you checked our blog and read our update, it only published half of it for some reason. It is now complete if you wanted the rest of the update...

Just Checking In

2011-03-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of people ask for a little update, so here goes:

First, Riley. It seems like there are tiny ups and downs each day, but overall he is doing well. We were discharged from the hospital on Friday, and that was a really hard day. It is really difficult to walk out of the hospital where you had a baby, with no baby to take home. It is also hard knowing that he is there without me while I'm off with the rest of my family-it just feels like somebody is missing. They have told us to plan on bringing him home around his due date, which is now 6 weeks away, but they say some babies come home early, so we are hopeful.
Still, we are so grateful that he is in such good hands and that things are as good as can be in the situation. His nurses all love him and are so sweet with him. They call us to keep us posted on every tiny little thing, and we can call the hospital day or night, which I sometimes do.
He is still on some oxygen. He can breathe on his own, but not enough yet to keep his airways fully open. He is also still on the "baby" bed. Hopefully he will graduate soon to an isolette, which means he is better able to regulate his own body temp. He is receiving some milk now through a tube in his nose and down to his stomach and we are working on sucking as well. He is such a sweet boy and so tolerant. It is definitely hard to watch him with all the tubes, machines and iv's, which have to be moved to a new place anywhere from every 6-24 hours since the fluids are so hard on his veins. Today we watched as he blew a vein on the iv in his head, and they tried 4 times to place it, blowing out all those veins. Not fun. Overall he is doing well and we are grateful for the awesome progress he has made. He is so resilient and adorable and we hope he can come home with us soon.

As for me, we may have spoken a little too soon about how well I was doing compared with last time. While I didn't have the additional trauma that Cameron did to my body, we quickly realized that the hormone issue is still a big problem as I am pumping milk and still have the hormones of pregnancy in my body. I am walking, which I barely was last time, but having plenty of difficulty doing it. I am so thankful that it isn't as bad as last time, but as the same time so thankful to have my Mom and Matt so close right now to help while I will take a longer recovery.

Cameron is struggling a little with all the adjustments of having Mom and Dad gone a lot, but he is doing well. He loves being with my Mom (sometimes more than us) so it is nice for him to have some stability with somebody during all this.

Thanks for all your prayers and kind words. We are overwhelmed by the love we are surrounded by. We'll keep you posted as things progress.

Matt, Camille, Cameron and Riley

New Baby

2011-03-10T08:58:00.000-08:00

You may have heard...Camille and I went to the hospital on Tuesday morning because Camille started going into labor, being only 33 weeks along. After being in labor for 40.5 hours the actual delivery only took 16 minutes.

Our tiny baby boy was born at 6:48 pm yesterday (March 9th), actually bigger than what everyone was expecting. He weighed in at 4lbs 8.5 ounces and was 17 inches long. All initial tests were fairly consistent with the doctors expectations, however we are pleased to report that he has all 20 fingers and toes and appears to have all other body-parts intact and functioning, except for one. As is common for a child born at his age, his lungs were not yet fully developed, causing him difficulty in breathing and distributing oxygen. However we were able to get a couple doses of a steroid medicine in him in time, which seem to be helping him along. He has already stopped wheezing and is starting to regulate the oxygen flow in his blood.

We have decided on the name: Riley Edward Tanner. (you may know that my dad's and Camille's dad's middle name is also Edward)

Riley is currently in a Special Care Unit for at risk (pre-term) babies. He has his own little room and a nurse watching over him 24 hours a day. Unless something unexpected changes in either direction, he will stay here until his due date, which is the last week of April. Luckily we live less than 2 miles from the hospital and have been offered some extended stay facilities so that Camille and I can stay close. This will also give us some time to get things ready for him at home since we just moved 2 weeks ago and aren't completely settled in...we thought we still had a month or so.

Camille is also doing great. She obviously has all of the standard soreness and pain, but our biggest concern, that she would more seriously and more permanently damage her body than she did with Cameron, does not appear to have occurred. At this point last time she had completely lost her ability to walk and was in excruciating pain. This time though, she is already up and moving on her own, even walking a little bit. We're not sure why this time is so different, except that Riley was much smaller and we were much more careful during the delivery.

We are so happy that we really only have great news to share, considering the circumstances, and we are excited to welcome very new and beautiful little boy into our family. Here are a couple pictures that were taken immediately after the delivery. There will be more to come.

We hope you all are doing well and thank you for all of your thoughts, messages, and prayers.

Love,

Matt, Camille, Cameron, and Riley

He's Here!

2011-03-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

Baby Tanner (no name quite yet) arrived at 6:48 pm. He weighed 4 lbs 8 oz, so bigger than the doctor thought, which is very good. He has lots of dark hair and at least sounded like he had a good set of lungs. He is currently in the NICU with Matt and will stay there. I'll be able to go see him once the epidural wears off. We are so excited! Thank you all for your thought and prayers. Keep them coming so we can have a healthy boy to take home in hopefully not too long!

Ready or Not!

2011-03-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

So, after being in labor over 36 hours now, they have finally decided to break my water because the baby is showing mild signs of stress and they need to get things moving. I've kind of been stuck between 5 and 7 all day today and contractions are slowing, but like I said before, there is no going back at this point. We are just waiting now for the baby to drop and the dilation to be complete, and we have no idea how long that will be at this point. We'll keep you posted if we get any new info!

Quick update

2011-03-09T08:57:00.000-08:00

Not much is happening at this point, but I've promised a few people I would keep them up to date as we go.

I've finally reached a 7 and my water sac looks like it could be very close to breaking, and if it does they say things should progress quickly since his head will be so little. We are hoping to make it to 12:30 today so we can have the second shot to help his lungs develop more quickly, but we'll just have to see if we make it there.

That's really it for now. I'm at 32 hours of labor and going stir crazy, but we are glad that he is staying in as long as he can since each hour counts at this point. Thanks for all the prayers, well wishes, and offers for help. We feel so thankful to have so many wonderful friends and family!

Update

2011-03-09T03:14:00.001-08:00

What does one do while sitting in the hospital at 4 am and not being able to sleep at all? Blog of course!

Here is the latest, and again this is mostly for documenting purposes for our own little family--I'm not expecting most people to read this! Like I had said, contractions felt to me to be starting up again, and I was right. I began to dilate again to a 4 and was told at that point there isn't exactly any turning back. Even if labor didn't progress further, I wouldn't be leaving the hospital until a baby came.

Many of you know that it was highly recommended for me to have a c-section due to my severe hip problems, and we were planning to. However, my doctor is now saying she thinks it would be better to go a normal route. They say the baby wil be 4 lbs or less, which means a possibility of less trauma from the baby moving through the birth canal, less pushing, and they intend to be really careful with placement of my legs as well. All of those things added to the trauma with Cam's delivery. After much thought and a sweet blessing from Matt, we have decided to go that route, avoid major surgery, and have faith that things will turn out alright. There was also some risk that I had eaten a big lunch when they initially thought labor had stopped, as they don't like to do surgery on a full stomach since it increases the risks of certain other problems.

After waiting for quite awhile the contractions were getting pretty severe and I went ahead with the epidural...yay! Unfortunately now I have been stuck at a 5 for awhile without progressing and they aren't sure why since contractions have continued just as regularly. I'll be checked again at 6 am and we'll go from there. The options as I understand them are to remove the epidural and watch my progress for awhile, or to give me pitocin or break my water and get things moving, the second being more likely.

I've now been in labor a little over 24 hours and I'm going a little stir crazy since I couldn't sleep last night from the contractions, and after trying for the last 6 hours I haven't been able to sleep much tonight either--oh the joys of labor! If anyone out there is bored at 4 am, feel free to visit. Just kidding--totally kidding! That's all for now folks!

Erggghhhhh.....

2011-03-08T14:42:00.000-08:00

I love Cameron, I love being able to have kids. I don't love being pregnant, and apparently it doesn't like me either. I started having contractions last night, and honestly thought it was nothing except my back was really hurting, so I called my doctor. They sent me in to labor and delivery and I figured it would be nothing and I'd be home in a couple of hours. Turns out I am dilated and effaced beyond what I should be at 33 weeks. I've had three shots and 4 pills to stop the contractions, as well as a few other tests to rule out any other problems. The contractions stopped for awhile, although they are picking up a little again and my doctor is worried about this baby coming! We definitely weren't prepared for that when we woke up this morning.

Anyhoo...if they can get the labor to stop we can head home tomorrow with orders of strict bedrest. Yipee! I've had my first round of steroid shots to help this little guy's lungs in case anything does happen early, but I'm definitely feeling nervous about a pre-term baby. Please keep us in your prayers! We'll keep you posted (if anybody still reads this thing)!

Cameron at 16 months

2011-01-25T11:38:00.001-08:00

Cam seems to be growing so quickly these days I can barely keep up. He is getting taller and taller, but has stayed pretty thin. He is a tiny guy. He is taking one nap a day now and learning lots of new things everyday. He is a major daddy's boy. He still has quite the temper and seems to be experiencing his "terrible twos" just a little early! He loves bananas, grapes, eggs, pancakes, peaches, ice cream, pizza, peanut butter and jelly, and just about anything sweet. He gives kisses, waves hi and bye, beeps his and other peoples noses, gets into absolutely EVERYTHING, dances, claps, etc etc. He is such a joy in our home and makes us laugh everyday...and sometimes cry. Just kidding. Ok, not kidding.

He can say:

duck, doggy, daddy, mama, please, all done, fish, no, uh-oh, stinky, baby, thank you and a few other words I can't think of at the moment!

We love you Cameron!

Anyone think he looks like a cat burglar? I do!Cam pulled all the toilet paper off of a brand new roll while I wasn't watching for a couple minutes!
Playing at Ikea
Told you he was growing up fast...

First fat lip...
Playing in the snow

Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich

2011-01-25T11:32:00.001-08:00

My Dad's parents are getting pretty old. They are both in their nineties and in June will celebrate 70 years of marriage. 70!!!! That's insane!

Anyway, neither of them are doing very well. My Grandpa seems to have had a quick onset of Alzheimers and is deteriorating quickly. Grandma has good moments and bad moments with the same type of problem, and physically both are in poor health. My siblings and I thought it would be nice to make a quick trip out to visit in case it may be the last time we see them.

Since my Grandpa tends to be overwhelmed by too many people, and can't remember a lot of people these days, we left all the kids and spouses home. My brothers and I had a lot of fun spending the day together driving out to Tridell, talking about good memories and just being goofy.

Grandpa was having a good day when we got there, and was hilarious. He remembered us (or at least said he did) but had difficulties with following the flow of the conversation. He would say the strangest things at the strangest times. My Grandma told him not to stand up because he wasn't wearing any pants. He looked at her with doubt all over his face and said, "I'm not wearing any pants??? Now that's a new angle!" Before we left for the day I played the piano and we sang a little bit, because both of my Grandparents have always loved music. It was a really special opportunity to spend the day with them. I love them both so much and have so many wonderful memories with them. I only hope and pray that they can be comfortable and just be together for their last days on earth.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

We have a tradition of having a little party with my family on New Years Eve, complete with lots of treats, games and fun together. This year was no exception. We had a great time at my brother's house. New Years with young kids isn't quite like it used to be though...

We were all so tired long before midnight that we ended up just watching Despicable Me, which was hilarious, saying a quick "happy new year" and heading for home right after. Still...we had a good time.

Cam reading National Geographic with Daddy and Grandpa
Playing with grandma
Poor grandma...
My white elephant win for the night!

The Sensational Six

2011-01-25T11:21:00.000-08:00

Right after Christmas we were able to get the sen 6 together...all of us! We haven't all been together for quite awhile, so it was lots of fun. We had dinner, white elephant gifts, games, and lots of catching up with each other. We are so thankful for our awesome friends!

Ryan, Nikki and Ella, Andy and Brittany, Jae, Bryan and Katie, Matt and me, James and Allison.

This year we all agreed that our while elephant gifts were collectively...kind of....lame. Matt and I, however, had the hit of the night. We wanted to give a picture of all of us together, but thought it would be funny if we covered the real picture with something a little more funny. This is what we came up with. We were all laughing so hard, I was literally crying. Jae and James actually arm wrestled over this handsome picture of Matt, and I am told that the picture is now actually sitting on the mantle at Jae's parents' home. Too funny....

Christmas Eve and Christmas

2011-01-25T10:43:00.000-08:00

Behind again....grrrr.

This pregnancy is getting tougher as we go along, which makes it harder each day to get anything worthwhile done. Not that it wasn't expected, but still, some days are pretty hard. I've been in physical therapy which helps to a degree and Cameron has learned how to entertain himself a little more while I'm laid up on the couch. Three more months...yay!

Anyway, we had a nice Christmas season. We spent Christmas Eve at my parents doing the nativity, singing around the piano, appetizer dinner and lots of fun.

Cam testing out his new Mr. Potato Head glasses.
Reading a Christmas story with Grandma

Christmas morning we spent at our house. Cameron had a lot of fun opening a few presents, and mostly just playing all morning.

Our Christmas tree is so small you can't really see it behind us...hee hee.
Cam on our way to Matt's parents. Crazy hair!
Taking a break from opening presents to play.
And play some more...
Grandma helping Cameron with his stocking.
Finally we make a quick stop back over to my parents.
Merry Christmas!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

2010-12-07T17:40:00.001-08:00

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas. It is by far my favorite time of year! Cam and I enjoyed staying home one day this week, in our pj's all day, and decorating out apartment.

Cam liked sitting under the tree and looking at the lights.
He nabbed one of the candy canes I was decorating with and started eating it. I didn't have a problem with it, but....
for some reason he felt the need to sneak it underneath the table to eat it there. I later found a hugely sticky mess left behind!
Our completed tree (notice the lack of ornaments on the bottom). Cam has actually gotten really good at not grabbing the ornaments he can reach. Sometimes he tries, but then turns to look at me and tells me, "no, no!"
Enjoying a family movie night by our tree!
Cam got bored with the movie, and spent the rest of the evening sitting backwards in his rocking chair, munching on lettuce. Hmmm....

Happy Thanksgiving, and a picture overload

2010-12-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we made the 12 hour car ride to California to spend the holidays with Matt's extended family. We were a little nervous, but Cameron was an angel all the way there, and we were able to go all the way there in one day. We wanted to get out of town before the supposed "blizzard of the century" (which didn't happen) so we ended up having some extra time in Cali for just our family, and it was such a nice vacation!

Taking a break at McDonalds. Each stop we made was a little lengthy because we figured Cameron needed time to run and play a little. He's playing on the jungle gym here.
All tuckered out! Everything was good until about the last couple hours, when Cam started screaming and we couldn't get him to calm down. Then we had a little accident (everybody was fine) and had to do the police report, yadda yadda...but eventually we made it!
Matt is going to kill me for posting this, but...I just couldn't resist. When we got there, he realized he had forgotten his pj's. Luckily I had an extra pair, which he wore all week. Ha!
On Wednesday morning after visiting with Matt's Nana and Uncle Scott, we headed to the Scripps Aquarium. Matt and I thought it was cool, but Cam quickly got bored.
He did however, like the sharks!
That night we had dinner at Scott and Sonya's. Cam found his own favorite little place, under the bar stool, and spent a lot of the night there.
On Thanksgiving day we headed to Point Loma (overlooking the ocean) and went to see some tide pools. Cam thought it was awesome, and so did we.

Later that day we went to Seaport Village. Cam has a bird on his arm, if you can't tell. He thought they were fun to watch, but was a little wary of them being on him. I have no pictures of Thanksgiving dinner because Cam threw a huge fit and we had to head out early...
This chair has been in Matt's family for a long time now and his sweet Nana gave it to us to take home. Cam LOVES it!
This is at a cute little Chinese restaurant on Coronado Island.
Cameron's first time at the beach. He LOVED it, but a little too much. He wanted to run in the water and get totally soaked. It was November and kind of cold, so we had to stop him eventually and he threw another HUGE fit! We took him up to the sand instead and he was so mad that he did a face plant right in the sad, which upset him even more!
Loving the water...before the meltdown.

After he calmed down he burrowed around in the sand like a bulldozer. He was so filthy and had sand everywhere! Guess we'll try the whole beach thing when he's a little older next time.
The day after Thanksgiving we had left overs so that Matt and I could actually enjoy some of the Thanksgiving meal!
Matt's dad, cousin Yessenia, and aunt Sonya.
Matt's Nana and Mom.
Cameron hanging out at Scott and Sonya's.
So, that blizzard did hit...eventually and it happened to be when we were driving home. We left California on Saturday afternoon, made it to Vegas for the night, and started driving again on Sunday. The snow and roads were so bad we had to pull off in Fillmore in a nasty motel for the night. This is Cam at a little diner we went to...happy to be free of the car seat. He didn't tolerate the ride home nearly as well as he did the ride there. We were out of Fillmore as early as we could go on Monday morning, and finally got home later that day. After 3 days of driving home, we were already ready for a nap!

Random

2010-12-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

These are all just random recent pictures that don't go anywhere in particular, so they all get to end up in this post!

Distracting Dad from his homework on a rainy Saturday morning!
Being silly
Dinner with the sensational six (at least some of them)
Matt's birthday. I don't consider Matt's birthday to be a random event with no special post itself, but it was very low key this year due to Matt's schedule (see previous post) and I only ended up with 2 little pictures. Sorry dear.

Matt has wanted a shoe horn for awhile now. I searched high and low for one, and believe it or not, I only found this one. I thought it looked a little crazy, and so did Matt when he first saw it. Now, he LOVES it and uses it every single day. No kidding.
Handsome new sweater!
Ice cream and cold stone...yum!
Reading bedtime stories with Daddy.
My boys, hanging out.
Matt found Cam sleeping like this during a nap once. Looks comfy, no?

This is Cam's latest cheesy grin. What a goof.

Halloween

2010-12-07T12:29:00.000-08:00

It was fun to have Halloween on Sunday, because it meant we got to celebrate Halloween all weekend! Cameron was a cute little duck for Halloween. Not to brag, but....he was quite the hit at my Dad's office, except that everybody kept telling me what a cute little GIRL I have. Hmm...I'll choose to take it as a compliment thanks to his big beautiful features!

Trying on his costume with Grandma Goodrich
Cute!
Getting tired of it already...
Trick or treating at Grandpa's office with Molly and Stockton
Trick or treating at Dad's office
Visiting Grandma Tanner
Party with the cousins at my Mom's house. Here he is with his cousins, monkey, lion, chicken, and of course, duck. It was a regular zoo...ha!
On Sunday (Halloween) we had a family day after church. Cam got to help Dad carve a pumpkin, and he loved the pumpkin guts! Not my favorite to clean up, but at least he enjoyed it!

After the pumpkin carving, we had a feast of our favorite appetizers in our tent in the living room while we watched a Halloween movie! It was such a fun Halloween this year!

Fall Photo Shoot

2010-12-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

It's time to play catch up again!

Back in October we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful fall leaves near our home. We headed up the canyon to Ruth's diner and enjoyed a delicious lunch, and then some fun in the leaves and an impromptu photo shoot. Its hard to have a photo shoot with one of you having to be the photographer the whole time, but we got a few cute ones anyway!

Its a....

2010-11-30T08:51:00.000-08:00

BOY!!!

Everything is looking healthy and we couldn't be more excited!

Happy Birthday!

2010-11-09T20:45:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is Matt's 26th birthday, and I wanted to publicly tell him "happy birthday!"

When I asked him about celebrating this year, he told me that he is pretty busy right now with school/church/work/everything else and wouldn't be home much. So, he isn't home tonight, won't see him Wednesday night, Thursday night, or even Friday night. Hopefully I can at least take him to dinner on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed that he has enough time.

As we speak, his tiny birthday celebration is set-up in the living room with a couple presents and a few decorations. Hopefully we'll have a little time in the morning for him to check out his presents.

Yeah, its a bummer not to have him home very much (this week isn't any unusual in case you

are wondering) and its a bummer he doesn't have a little more time for himself to enjoy his birthday, but it does make me realize how grateful I am for him. He works so incredibly hard for our family, especially so that I can be home with Cameron. He is currently going to school full time, working a 40 hour a week job, he is the Elder's Quorum president in our ward, and he and a friend have a business on the side, which gives him a couple extra clients to deal with each week. So...you can probably gather, he is pretty darn busy.

I want Matt to know how much I love him and how grateful I am for the sacrifices he is making for our family right now. It makes the time we can spend with him even more precious (you can't imagine how excited I get on those rare date nights). I am pretty sure that he is Cameron's favorite person in the world as well. He is the most wonderful husband and father and I am so happy he is mine for all eternity. I am a lucky girl. Happy birthday Mr. Handsome! Hopefully

you actually read my blog!

An oldie, but a goodie.

Fall Fun

2010-10-18T17:04:00.000-07:00

We have had a really fun and busy month. Here is a review in pictures.

It started with some couples' therapy. This is the aggression seminar. Just kidding! This was an Elder's Quorum activity. I totally beat Matt, but I'm pretty sure he just was trying not to hurt me because I was pregnant.
Winner!
Matt did a lot of studying, and Cameron wanted to join in.
Isn't this the cutest picture in the world? Yes. Yes it is.
Snuggling up before bedtime.
We hung out at Dad's office a couple times.
Went to see a friend and her beautiful horses. Cameron was fascinated until one drooled on him.

Cameron's new favorite place (at least for the week) is his laundry basket. He loves to drag toys and books in with him.
Being cute.
Hanging out with the sensational six before Jae goes to Cali. There are just 4 here I guess...still, they are sensational.
Cam and Cade hanging out. Cam was being a grouch.
Now he feels all better! Flying in a box is cool!
Digging through the cupboards has also become a favorite past time.
Hanging out at Dad's office again. This is the play pen Matt set-up.
Hanging out at the end of a long Sunday. Ahhhh....

Last but not least, a fun little video. Cam gets a little crazy before bedtime. In fact, as we speak, Matt is taking him out for a walk so I can have a break from the screaming. He is either screaming his guts out, or laughing like a little drunk boy. Tonight, he is screaming. Luckily, last night, he was laughing. And luckily, we caught it on the camera.

Partay!

2010-10-18T15:56:00.000-07:00

I know Cameron's birthday was a month ago today, but I am just now posting about it because due to crazy schedule conflicts, we just got together with Matt's family on Saturday to celebrate!

The actual birthday was so fun. Cameron was extremely happy when he woke up. He loved the balloons and playing with all the fun gifts. Later that day my parents and my brother, Brett came over for lunch and cake. He had lots of fun with them, although the cake eating thing wasn't a big hit.

By the time it was over, our house was a mess, Cam was exhausted, and so were we! He had a really great day!

This last Saturday we met up with Matt's family for a little picnic in the park. Cam opened some presents, we enjoyed dinner, and a little play time on the playground. Cam is such a lucky boy!

Waking up and coming out of his bedroom in the morning. Matt had decorated the living room really cute...er, cool.
Loving those balloons!
Thanks for the present Dad!
He loves his Thomas the Train tent.
So happy with his new car seat that I got a birthday kiss from him!
Wahoo!
After we pulled out the car seat, he wanted to sit in it to open his gifts.
Happy Boy!
Hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Goodrich.
Playing in the tunnel from Grandma and Grandpa.
Ummm....yum....cake?

Ready for a nap after the party.
He's ready for a nap too...
Grandpa Tanner helping him open a present.
Uncle Jameson!

Happy 1st Birthday Cameron, we love you!

Guess What...

2010-10-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'm pregnant!

I'm just over 11 weeks and feeling pretty good! This baby is due April 24th and we are so excited!

In comparison to the last pregnancy, I feel so, so, so, so much better! I have definitely had morning sickness, but nothing compared to the last time, and same goes for the headaches. In fact (knock on wood) I think I'm about at the end of the morning sickness!

Anyway, we are so excited for our family to grow a little bit more and can't wait to find out if we are having a boy or a girl!

One

2010-09-17T22:04:00.000-07:00

Cameron's first birthday is tomorrow. Actually, his first birthday is in just under 2 hours. He was born at 12:58 am, one year ago.

All day as I've been planning out a fun day for him tomorrow (I guess mostly for us, since he doesn't quite understand) I've been kind of emotional...I can't believe how fast this year has flown by!
I wish I was as good at writing as my sister, Rachelle, but I'm not. I guess I'll just kind of have to steal what she said. Her little boy turned one 2 weeks ago. She wrote that one year ago, her little boy entered her heart and took possession of it, and now, a year later, he hasn't given back even one teensy weensy little bit of it. I read that and it made me think of Cameron. I decided that not only did he not give it back, but he made my heart grow, and took up all those parts too.

People say all kinds of mushy emotional things about having children. The truth I've learned over the past year, is that I have never done a harder job in my life. I have never worried so much, cried so much, and I have never loved so much, and all the mushy gushy things about parenthood are true. I am different now that I have a Mother's heart. I look at the world in a different way and through different eyes. I am fascinated by the tiniest things: the way Cameron pouts his lips when he sleeps, the way he makes his grouchy face and pretends to cry when he doesn't get his way. His fascination with a roll of toilet paper, or a garden rake. Each day is new and holds a different adventure for him, and so it does for me too. I think children help you see the world much more simply and appreciate the small things and the small moments. I have come to learn that it isn't all that important to have a perfectly clean house, dinner on the table, or all the ironing or washing done (although I still admit I criticize myself plenty over all of those) but that I would rather read a book with Cam, or giggle about something silly, or just take a few minutes to help him learn how to open and close a door.

Cameron, I love you. You make me a better, more patient and kind person. I am so thankful to be your Mama. Happy Birthday!

Hi Again.

2010-09-09T19:54:00.001-07:00

Hi, my name is Camille. Remember me? Its been awhile, I know. So long in fact, that as I look through my pictures, I'm having trouble remembering what happened when, and even sometimes, what happened period. Oh well, details schmetails. Life is crazy, like everybody else's, and blogging doesn't always make it on the to-do list. Here is a recap of our summer (as far as I can remember, and probably in no particular order).

PS, this is a major picture overload. I'm Camille, and I'm a picture-a-holic. I have a major mom-crush on my son, and happen to think everything is does is adorable (don't you?) and feel the need to broadcast it to the blogging world. His Dad's pretty easy on the eyes as well, so you'll notice him appearing frequently as well. Deal with it. Pictures say a thousand words after all. Aren't you glad its them and not me? See, there are worse things than a lot of pictures.

Hanging out with old girlfriends from High School. Weird how much things have changed since then.
Cam loves playing in my Mom's sink. He will sit there and watch her cook or just play with the water.
Hanging out up the canyon with some friends on the 24th.
Cameron enjoying his own slice of watermelon...yum!
Swimming at my brother's house on the 24th of July. Looks fun, doesn't it?
Swinging Cam instead of swimming...a little more fun, I think...
Wrestling my Dad, I won of course.
Watching fireworks with my favorite man.
Cam helping me with the laundry.
Hanging out at memory grove. If you haven't been there, go...hurry...fall is quickly approaching! The little stream is perfect for little kids. It is really shallow, and therefore pretty warm, and very slow moving. Lots of fun!

Climbing in the bathroom cupboard.
Climbing in the car seat. This seems to be one of Cam's favorite games.
Hanging out at memory grove again, this time with Jen and her kiddos.
Learning about flowers.
Hiking Albion Basin with my family.
Brother Brett.

Bowling.
Bowling is so much fun!!!
Learning how to ride and walk behind this car my mom let us borrow.
Just chillin' before heading to Utah Lake with friends.

Dinner after the lake. Cameron is really into cheesy smiles lately, it's pretty cute.
The Herds.
Aaron. His wife Becky was busy coloring, or she would have been in the picture too.
Reading stories with Dad.
Going to the Dave Matthews concert with friends. Only the friends are pictured. The picture of us was, well...less than flattering I guess.
Going to Jen and Aaron's cabin for the weekend. This is Joshua and Cam playing together. They are about 3 months apart.
Taking a break from the cabin to go see my nephew Jake be sealed to his awesome family forever!
Back to the cabin for story time with Jen and the girls.
Games, games, games.
Hiking around Silver Lake.

More fun at the cabin...
Flying to Kansas to visit Matt's family on his Mom's side. It was the first time I had met any of those cousins, and it was a lot of fun. Cam loved looking out the window of the plane.
See any similarities?
All of Matt's cousins' kids.
So, so, so, so tired by the end of the trip.
Learning how to play the piano. I think we may have a mini prodigy on our hands.
Going to Swiss Days with my brother, Brett.
Getting dressed up in Grandma's pink walking shirt to get a haircut.

This is Cameron's 4th haircut in this short first year of life. The kid has a lot of hair.
BBQ with my family on Labor day. Here are Megan and Stockton.
Learning to play croquet with Dad.
Molly.
Climbing in boxes is also a favorite past time.
And by the time you get to the end of a busy summer like that...you're just plain tuckered out. Thank goodness Cam can finally lay down and take a snooze.

Manners

2010-07-19T15:38:00.001-07:00

We try to teach Cameron manners, but he's still pretty young to get the concept.

Elbows on the table is one thing...but feet?!?! Could you tell this face no? I can't. He does this everytime he eats at a table. What a silly boy.

There is also never any privacy for a shower for either Matt or me these days. If Cameron knows we are showering, he comes right into the bathroom to join us. I love this boy!

Summer Fun!

2010-07-19T15:31:00.001-07:00

I've been trying to take Cameron out somewhere most everyday, just to give us something to do besides sit in the stuffy apartment in this heat. We've gone to the park, the planetarium, the pool, the zoo, a work party, and lots of other things. I love summer because there is so much to do everywhere. Cam is at such a fun age too. I love to watch him take in everything around him wherever we go and see his excitement when he finds something new he likes!

Swimming with friends from the ward

Hanging out with my friend's baby, Joshua, at a community carnival.
Loving the bounce houses at Matt's work party.
Peek-a-boo!

And, in case you were wondering, Matt and I do occasionally enjoy our own Summer fun without this little fellow. This last weekend, Matt's parents babysat to let us go to a movie and dinner. We went to Joe's crab shack and had crab legs, a first for both of us. It was lots of fun, and very very messy!

A Trip to the Zoo

2010-07-19T15:26:00.000-07:00

Last week, Cameron and I went to the Zoo with my Mom, and my 2 sisters-in-law and their kids. Cameron did not seem to be impressed by the animals much. I guess he is still kind of young to care. Maybe next year?

His favorite thing to do the whole day was to play on the water globe near the entrance. In fact...I think that may have been all the kids favorite part! He kept putting his head on the globe, which is why his hair is all wet. He could have stayed there all day!
Cam's thoughts on the Zoo...
All of the cousins playing on the globe.
Cam's thoughts about the Zoo now!

4th of July

2010-07-19T15:10:00.000-07:00

Don't you love that in Utah, when the 4th of July falls on a Sunday, we get to celebrate the whole entire weekend? I do!

We had a great 4th. On Saturday we went to see the Bountiful fireworks with our friends Jen and Aaron. The actual 4th was spent at church, and afterwards we took a little family outing to the park and had lots of fun. Cameron loved the little stream to wade in, and the swings.

On the 5th, Matt didn't have to go to work or school, but unfortunately had so much homework that he couldn't do anything anyway:(
Cam and I went down to my parents and went on a hike with them and my brother Justin and his family. We went up to Donut Falls. Cameron was not a big fan of the hike, but really liked the waterfall. After, we went back to my parents for a delicious barbeque. Cameron sat in his high chair and we couldn't believe how much he ate, and ate, and ate. In fact, he had food stuffed into his cheeks, but just kept loading it into his mouth. He was so messy afterwards that I set him down on the grass and let Brett's dog, Missy, clean him up a little. Gross I know, but it was funny. And don't worry...he had a bath after.
Waiting for the fireworks!

Cuddled up with Dad during the show.

Swinging at the park. Wheeeee!
"Is this hike over yet...?"
Missy giving Cameron a pre-bath.
A real bath!
Stockton and Cam. Rub-a-dub-dub, two boys in the tub.

A Message from Cam

2010-07-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

aasdasaaaasasAAAAAaaaaaaaASSSassASDDDDDDSsXXXZZXZXZXZXZX

Thank you, and please tell this kid its my turn on the cOMPUTER.z

Happy Birthday and First Haircut

2010-07-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

My birthday yesterday was awesome. I woke up to Matt who gave me one of the seasons of the Cosby Show (which I LOVE) on dvd. He had also set up a scavenger hunt around our apartment for me to find a bunch of smaller gifts, mostly my favorite treats. He spent the night before writing short little poems with the clues, and they were so funny!

"I guess you could say this is where in our home we keep the nuts (I found corn nuts under Cam's crib). I commend you because that took a lot of guts. Be careful with the next gift or you'll get lots of cuts (under the knife block)."

It was a fun way to start the morning. He then went off to school while I got Cam and myself ready, and then he came home to take me to breakfast!

After that I went down to my Mom's, who took me shopping pretty much all day. It was so fun to spend the day with her, and I got some awesome clothes and delicious lunch. I finished off with dinner over at my parents and then headed home to relax and watch a movie. Thanks to everybody, especially Matt and my mother dear, for making it such a special day!

On another note, everybody LOVES Cameron's hair. Since the day he was born, people have always talked about his hair wherever we go. It is full, beautifully blond, soft and just perfect. The nurses at our doctor's office say he looks like a hair model. Anyway, as sad as it makes me, we knew the day would come that he would require a haircut. He was starting to look kind of raggedy, so my Mom was nice enough to give him a quick buzz. He was so good the whole time and he looks so cute (at least I think so). He almost looks like a different baby with his hair shorter, but never fear folks...it will grow back!

Happy Father's Day

2010-06-29T21:58:00.000-07:00

Happy belated Fathers Day to all you Dads out there, especially Matt, my Dad, and Matt's Dad. I am blessed with a lot of really wonderful men in my life who are all spectacular fathers. Thanks for all you do!

For Matt's Father's day, I was unfortunately sick, so it wasn't all that wonderful for Matt. But...to make up for it I took him on a date on Saturday to a murder mystery dinner theater and boy...it was funny! Matt ended up being the Captain of the ship the play took place on. All night, he was referred to as "Captain Matt". The woman who recruited him as the captain was an actress, playing the part of the ship's activity coordinator who is kind of obsessed with Captain Matt. She played her part so well, and it was so fun to watch Matt blush and get embarrassed. She even sang a whole song to the tune of "Jesse's Girl", but sang "I wish I was the captain's girl". Good times. Thanks Andy and Brittany for joining us. We had a great time!

Captain Matt let me wear his hat...just for a minute...
Julie, the obsessed employee. This is the look she gave Matt all night long.
Scandalous!

Sick

2010-06-29T21:53:00.001-07:00

A couple weeks ago, Cameron started to get really fussy. We have learned from experience, that Cameron is a very particular child, and he will be sure to let you know if he isn't happy, so we were kind of used to fussiness. This was worse than normal, but we weren't sure what to do.
We finally got him in to the doctor and it turns out he had an ear infection. Poor kid! They put him on amoxicillin and it cleared up really quickly and my Cam was back to normal, until Friday...

Last Friday I started to notice some weird little red spots on his face. They were faint at first, so I thought it might be a heat rash because we were outside. Through the day, they got worse and worse and worse...the pictures don't even do justice. Well...turns out he is allergic to penicillin, but the reaction didn't show up until a week after he started the meds...weird. Anyway, he is now on benedryl and the rash is gone and he is just dandy again.

Although it was no fun to see him sick, I will admit that I relished the chance to cuddle with him a little bit, because he is NOT a cuddly boy and never has been. It was secretly kind of nice...does that make me a bad mom?

j

Bye Bye Browns

2010-06-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

We had a little birthday party for my nephew/Father's Day for Dad/going away party for my sister and her family. It was kind of a rough weekend. Cam had had a really bad week being sick (I'll explain in the next post) and I was pretty sick by the time Saturday night rolled around, on top of being super sad. I'm pretty close to my sister and her kids and I am going to miss her so much. Hopefully when the 4 years are up, Aaron will get a job back here in Utah...

Cam got a ride on Brett's bike with Grandpa...The kids got their last giggles, wiggles, and wrestles out of each other...

But I think this picture about sums up how Cameron and I felt about the evening.

We'll miss you Browns!

9 months!

2010-06-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

My baby is 9 months old. Actually now he is almost 9 1/2. I cannot believe how fast the time goes. He is a little over 19 lbs and seems so big to me! He is getting such a fun little personality and it is so much fun watching him explore new things, and see how excited he is when he succeeds. He loves to pull himself up (or at least try) on everything and in the past couple days, he has started crawling a lot. I absolutely love being home with this little guy everyday. We have so much fun and he is a sweet, good little boy. Being a Mom is the best!

Hmmm...sorry, I can't make this picture turn for some reason. Cam is such a silly boy and loves playing with his tongue right now.
Matt and I like to look at Cameron about a million times a night between the two of us (just kidding...) just to see how sweet/funny/angelic he looks sleeping. Matt loves to document.

Cam is pulling himself up and standing on everything! Please ignore the weird pj's...
He LOVES bath time, although it is becoming quite a work out for Mom and/or Dad. He is all over the place and super slippery, so he has had his fair share of bathtime tumbles and tears. This picture is right after he stuck his head under the running water, which apparently didn't bother him at all!

We always find him getting into everything, in this case, he somehow found his way into his closet. Several times a day I find him chewing on a foreign object and have to remove it. Usually it is paper, pieces of carpet or leaves...nothing too harmful...right?

All the videos below are long because I don't know how to edit. Guess I should learn, eh? The first one is of him crawling and there is a big break in the middle because it took awhile to get him to crawl to me.

Matt always wonders how Cam eventually gets himself to sleep, because when we put him down we hear sometimes up to a couple hours of jabbering, squealing, banging object, etc. So, Matt set up a time lapse video to see what happens, just for fun.

The last one is of Cam laughing. The really good belly laugh we love is at the very beginning. The rest...well...again, I didn't know how to edit. Enjoy!

Family Fun Day!

2010-06-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Growing up, my stake at church had an annual Family Fun Day in June, complete with snow cones, popcorn, games, a waterslide, lunch, etc etc. I decided to take Cam this year because Matt was busy studying. We met up with my parents and had a grand ole time!
Cameron particularly enjoyed the ice cream...
and pulling Grandma's hair. Not sure she loved that one as much.

Family Vacation!!

2010-06-29T20:24:00.000-07:00

My sister and her husband just moved to Houston for his residency. I'm sad. Really sad. Just for the record.

Anyway, we wanted to have one last family vacation with everybody (at least for the next 4 years) and my Mom's neighbor was kind enough to let us use her family's cabin near Bryce Canyon. We spent the weekend riding 4 wheelers, playing in the water, playing games, eating, hiking and just enjoying each other. It was a blast!

Enjoying a break at Subway during the long drive.
Four wheeling!
Justin doing a little fishing with the kiddos.
Grammy and some of the kids.

The cheering section at the water slide.
Do you see how long this water slide is? I was terrified to go down it, but with quite a bit of persuading, I did it and it was so much fun! Good thing you can't zoom in too closely to this picture, because I was still scared...
The water at the bottom was freezing! Luckily, Zoe came to rescue me.
Starting out on our hike through Bryce Canyon. It was a hard hike with all the switchbacks, but absolutely beautiful.

Me, Chelle, Brett.
Daddy-o and me.
Near the end...we were exhausted!
All my family behind me are on a higher switchback--it was steep!
This is how Cam felt at the end. "Can't this water come out any faster?!?!"
By the end of the vacation, our windshield was so dirty and with the sun shining through, we couldn't really see, so Matt had to drive like this for a little ways. What a goof...

Stank Face

2010-06-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

Cameron went through a funny phase of wrinkling his nose and breathing in and out. He also went through a funny face of saying "ba-ba" all day long while wagging his mouth dramatically. As I post this (really late) I will add that he doesn't really do either anymore...bummer. Anyway, we think he's pretty dang cute.

Congratulations Jameson

2010-06-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Jameson graduated from high school on June 2nd. We are so proud of him! He is now on to bigger and better things at the U of U. Way to go Jame! We love you!

Memorial Day

2010-06-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

We had a fun Memorial Day, first having a delicious barbeque at the Tanners, followed by another delicious barbeque at my brother, Eric's. Cameron discovered that he loves swinging, and playing with his cousins. He is the youngest of the boys and its funny to watch their interactions together. He isn't exactly tough or aggressive, so he would pick up a toy, and within a few seconds, it was almost always stolen by another baby, so...he would pick up another. And it went on and on. Funny babies...

Bedtime bottle fest.

Three Years

2010-06-29T19:49:00.000-07:00

On June 2nd, Matt and I celebrated 3 years of marriage. It turned out to be a busy day. He had school and work all day, and school again all night, and we spent part of the day at his brother's graduation. So, we ended up celebrating the weekend before by going to the coolest junior high hang out in West Valley (Planet Hollywood) and playing mini golf, getting some dinner, getting ice cream and watching a good old chick flick.

I am so thankful for Matt. He makes me a better person and he makes our lives so much more fun and bright. I love you babe! I'm looking forward to an eternity more of these anniversaries!

Randomness

2010-06-17T21:37:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning out the camera to begin yet another blogging update when I found some funny pictures I forgot about. I guess we switched out our camera card when we went to Nauvoo, and then switched back when we got home. The old one had some pictures on it still! Nothing special, just Cam being Cam.

Do you feel like you intruded on something private? I do. He looks ticked.
He loves his monkey and takes it to bed every night and for every nap.
We had an impromptu picnic with my siblings up Provo canyon. Good times.
Love the double chins.

Eating time is a messy ordeal at our house.
Cam was so tired he fell asleep on the couch one day...so adorable.
Messy, messy, messy!
Cameron has a tendency to throw his binky back behind the crib, meaning I have to crawl under there several times a day to retrieve it. This particular morning was just when he had woken up and Matt may have caught me taking a little nap under there!

Mothers Day

2010-05-12T12:08:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful Mothers' Day, in fact, Matt spoiled me with an entire weekend just for me. He was so sweet and pampered me all weekend. He went shopping with me for the fun of it, we went to dinner and had ice cream and just spent time together. I am so grateful to be a Mom. It is by far the best job I've ever had and I'm perfectly content to do this for the rest of my life. Cameron is such a sweetheart. I love my little family! Thanks Matt and Cameron for a spectacular weekend!

Visiting with Matt's family on Mothers' Day.

Stockton crawled over to Cam and sat down right on his lap. Neither one of them seemed to mind...
Cam-in-the-box. He doesn't seem to like it very much, does he?Happy Mothers' Day to me!
Lately Cam has been making the funniest faces. He loves to scrunch up his nose and breath in and out really fast while he smiles...hard to explain and hard to capture, but I promise its really cute!
I hope all you Moms out there had a spectacular Mothers' Day as well!