This is where we play catch up.

Rather than sit and type out a detailed recap of the last couple weeks, I am just going to list the noteworthy happenings in a rapid-fire fashion, toss in a few photos, and call it good. Mkay?

1. 2 weekends ago we loaded up {what felt like} our entire house and hit the road for Camy's first lake trip.. partaking in the big O'Family yearly tradition. 3 rent houses. 3 days. 3 dozen family members. 103 fevers. Yep. 103 fevers. {fevers = not part of the tradition} Luckily we squeezed a lot of fun out of the first half of our trip and got some great pics of Camy doing all sorts of O'Family fun things before she got sick.. there was lots of eating, swimming, floating, boating, tubing, jet skiing, board-gaming, marshmallow roasting, homemade ice cream making, gabbing... Camy loved every second of the trip until our last night there...

2. Our last night there was when she spiked the 103.3 fever around midnight and left us worrying and soothing the rest of the trip. Turns out it was roseola. 3 days of insane fevers followed by 4 days of whole-body rash.

3. The day after we returned from the lake (the same day we took Camy in for her fever), I came down with my second bout of mastitis. Not fun. At all. Luckily I recognized the symptoms right away and got right in to my OB/GYN for meds. Only missed one day of work/life before I started feeling human again.

4. Camy's rash cleared in time for us to partake in my nephew's birthday festivities in Houston that weekend. We had a fantastic time with my sister and her fam.. as usual.

the birthday boy

 the birthday aftermath! yikes!

I love how much these 2 girls love each other! {naked on account of the water table}

5. We celebrated Andy's first Father's Day while we were in H-Town. I got him a beer holster. He loves it.
He soaked in every second that he could with our precious girl that day - including naptime. When I look at these photos, I melt.

6. Tuesday afternoon I got a call from an old, old friend who I hadn't seen in ages. Her and her family had relocated to Canada a couple years ago and we just hadn't reconnected since their move back home. While living in Canada they conceived their third little one and about a month ago welcomed her to the world. Having 3 kids under 5 has been what she calls her "three ring circus" and she remembered seeing my blog post about babywearing. She called to ask about the what's and how's and why's of the concept and I was thrilled to visit with her Wednesday to a) meet her newest little love {precious!} and b) share the awesome that is BWing with her! She is a total BW convert now and was so excited to tell me she was able to get the older 2 ready for bed with the wee one strapped in the Moby, happy as a clam! YAY!

7. To demonstrate the Moby to my dear old friend mentioned above, I wrapped it on myself and tucked her 1 month old babe into the pouch. I am almost afraid to admit this, but I'm pretty sure I had a quick (QUICK) twinge of baby fever. She was tiny and snuggly and soft and smelled like a baby (not that Camy smells like an old man, but you know that smell of a new baby!). She was making all the new-baby sounds that have long been replaced by shrieks and babbles in our home (...which I love, btw). For a fleeting moment, I longed for another little tiny little thing. But it was fleeting. Quick. Now I'm back to my senses. No babies. Yet. Why?

8. Well, beside the obvious (um, pregnancy hates me, Camy isn't even a year old, we are living under a mountain of medical debt), I say "not yet!" today because this week has been h-a-r-d. It has really tested me. My patience. My abilities. My quick-thinking. My confidence as a mother. I feel like I have had more Mommy Fail Moments in the last 4 days than I have in the last 8 years I've been in childcare. I'm too ashamed and embarrassed to even list them all here, but they include things like carseat debacles, bloody noses, busted lips, hand sanitizer mishaps, keyboard keys, {what turned out to be a wildly unnecessary} trip to the ER.. and more.

9. ER? Yep, a trip to the ER. Camy had an allergic reaction to some unknown something last night that resulted in me yanking her out of the bathtub before so much as wetting her shoulders.. throwing together a diaper bag.. rushing to Walgreen's for Benadryl where instead of the pharmacist telling me her appropriate dosage, I was instead told to take her straight to the ER. [insert sudden Mommy Panic and Go Speed Racing!] We checked in, waited for triage, were given a room, and by the time the ER doctor made it in to see us, the hives and swelling and red/blue hands/arms had already cleared. Of course. Just add that trip to our long list of medical debt. Wonder how much that hour cost us. Ugh. I can't fault the pharmacist for advising us to go.. when she saw Camy's arms & hands they looked terrible, frightening. But it is frustrating looking back on the situation. Better safe than sorry, though. Right?

10. We've been trying to figure out what triggered her allergic reaction. It didn't present as a food allergy would, so we're thinking maybe this is to blame:

 this one is so out of focus, but too darn cute anyway!

{Her completed canvas now hangs in her playroom.}

{Perhaps we'll frame the ER bill and mount them side-by-side}

So, that's been the 2 weeks in a nutshell. Andy is not working tonight and I couldn't be happier about that. About having bedtime help. About having the opportunity to leave the house after Camy's bedtime nursing. To be able to go somewhere with some friends to unwind, or even somewhere by myself! I may call up a few ladies for drinks. I may go see a movie. I may just go sit at Barnes & Noble to read. I will definitely be doing something. For me and me only. I've totally earned it.

Bonus Wordless Wednesday, because how could I not share this?

Wordless Wednesday: What to Wear Today?

Ten on Tuesday!

1. Camy can blow kisses!! She just figured it out tonight and it is seriously THE CUTEST thing ever. Ever. Since we can't get videos off our camcorder (are they even called that anymore?), I am going to try to plop her in front of the laptop camera tomorrow. I'm fairly certain that will end up a major fail, but blowing kisses is too cute not to try! :)

2. Its getting harder and harder to get photos of Camy. Not just because I sucky suck at the manual focus with our new lens, but because now Camy comes crawling after me as soon as she spots the camera! I am lucky to get one almost-totally-in-focus shot of her before this happens:

the crazy blur baby is comin' to get me!

3. Camy is continuing to learn new things at an alarming rate. Another recent discovery: cabinets and drawers. Oh joy! She has such great fun opening every drawer and door of her dresser and pulling out the contents within. After refolding and putting away her sheets for the trizillionth time, I gave up on folding and just toss everything back into its place when Camy's done.

4. Andy was home early Friday afternoon so we took advantage of the time together by visiting a local sprinkler park. We are bound and determined to get Camy to love playing in the water, and she has been making great strides lately! She didn't cry when we sat her in the cold water puddled up near the sprinklers, and even crawled closer to the spraying action!
Look! A smile! In the water! YAY!

She had more fun watching her cousin play in the water and splashing in a bucket we found than actually playing in the sprinklers. But that's ok, its progress.

5. Swinging is still her favorite outdoor activity though!!

Look at the teethy grin! I love her little snaggle toofs!

6. Getting love from her cousin? Not awesome.
(She normally loooooves Sydnee, but I think she was done for the day!)

7. I have been meaning to post photos of the sidecar crib since we set it all up, but kept forgetting to actually take a few! Well, while doing the weekend laundry, I remembered the photos as I was stripping the sheets off our bed to be changed. Soo.. forgive the bare mattress. You get the point of the arrangement.

You can see the small height difference here. I actually like it that way, she can roll up next to the bed in her sleep without rolling on top of me.. but when she's awake, she can crawl up to find me.

8. Apparently Camy was making out with herself while I was taking photos of the beds. Crazy kid.

9. I wish this photo was focused better. But I still love love love it/her.

10. Camy has a magical vanishing nursery. The crib is in the master. The changing "table" is gone, with the changing pad now on the floor due to Camy's newfound acrobatics. And now her bookshelf lives in the living room, to keep the Camy Bean from hanging out in the fireplace. I love having it out there though. Easy access to all her toys, and when they're picked up, it looks so much cleaner in here! Before the shelf was out here we had buckets or boxes in the corner of the room or lined up in front of the couch - now every toy has a home out here. And Camy stays soot-free. Win-Win.

I know this is a sucky-suck photo of the shelf/fireplace, but you can see what we had to do. 

The shelf is backless so Goober was still trying to reach through to the fireplace.

 I didn't want her to hurt herself in the process, so we used some foam mat pieces as a barrier.

And yes, she's only wearing a diaper. That's how we roll 80% of the time we're home!

Bonus 11. Camy looooves her some Baby Braxton! He came over with his mommy before a playdate yesterday and Camy was all about him! She wanted to touch his face and gave him kisses and followed him around like a puppy. So cute. Her first love.

Happy Tuesday, all! 
::patting myself on the back for finishing this post before bed... actually on Tuesday!::

Welcome to Camy's Play Room!

Finally. A post about her play room. I've been talking about it forever... since at least January, I think!
We still aren't totally done with it yet because we never seem to find the time to do construction-y stuff. We still need to add a second coat of white paint to the bed and shelves and add the trim around the chalk board. I am also working on getting some color on the walls, but without painting. I have been forbidden to paint. Humpf.
We bought a canvas print of the alphabet that has a picture for each letter and then 2 blank white canvases for Camy to fingerpaint. We've practiced with her a couple times and she has a ball, but I haven't braved using the real canvases yet. Maybe this week! :)

Here is a photo from the hallway.


And from the door.

This is standing in the corner looking toward the bed/shelves.

We put the quilts down because the berber carpet isn't very comfortable to crawl on and I haven't found a rug that is big enough, cheap enough, cute enough for my liking yet.

Mommy having a bit of fun with the chalkboard:

This is the room with the bed pulled down, to be used when my sister and brother-in-law visit or when Andy is in trouble. haha (Not made at the moment because it isn't going to be in use for a while and I didn't want to drag all the sheets, pillows, comforter out for one measly photo.)

I know it looks like the bed takes up the whole room, but there is plenty of walking room around the bed.. I just couldn't get a good angle for a photo. 

So there ya have it. The Murphy Bed and toy shelves her Daddy built (and Uncle Kevin helped!). 

Inside. Outside. Upside down.

This should have been posted one whole week ago. But it wasn't. I suck. I'm sorry.
Better late than never, though. Right? Right?
The post as it was saved that day:


Big Week for the Camy Bean! :)
On Wednesday our precious girl hit 9 months old. Nine months. How is that even possible?
The following day (yesterday) was her Inside-Outside day.

39 weeks and 1 day.

That's how long it took her to grow and develop into the little angel we love today.
That's how long I carried her in my belly. Feeling her kick and wiggle and roll. Feeling her stretch and hiccup. Wondering every day who she would look like, what she would be like, how she would grace our lives with her love and charm. Worrying before every OB appointment and always hoping and praying (and receiving, Thank God) good news about her development. Shopping and buying and washing and folding and painting and preparing and assembling... readying our world for her.

39 weeks and 1 day.

{as of yesterday} That's how long she's been brightening our lives with her smiles and giggles. Cracking us up with her expressions and discoveries. Amazing us by the way and rate at which she learns. Keeping us on our toes. Inspiring us to be more. To be better. For her. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful, charming, healthy little girl. We have loved so much every step of this journey so far. She is such a little joy.

All of the pain and hardship and worry of that first 39 weeks and 1 day have more than been made up for by the second 39 weeks and 1 day. Camryn, our little love, our princess, our goober, our bean - what fun we've had!
I loved it when I knew she was safely tucked away, growing on the inside.
But I have and will always cherish every moment with her here on the outside.

A few 9 month stats and updates:
Weight: 19lbs 3 oz. 50th percentile. She has slowly dropped down from being in the 95th percentile, but from what I understand that's totally normal for this stage.
Height: 29 inches. She has grown 1 inch for every month of her life so far. How amazing! Can you imagine if we always grew at that rate, our whole lives? Crazy, huh?
Sleep: Not as good as it once was, but still not bad. She has been going to bed later, usually between 830-930), stirring a few times throughout the night, and waking gradually earlier and earlier, the earliest being 7am. But I am not going to complain because I know too many mamas who are dealing with some serious sleep issues - so I will count our blessings that we do get decent sleep in our home! Thank goodness. Cuz this mama can't function without a decent chunk of sleep! Naps are all over the place, sometimes as short as 30 minutes or as long as 2 hours - but always unpredictable and not on any kind of schedule. She sleeps when she needs it, and that's okay with me.
Eating: We are still breastfeeding which I am very thankful for. My initial goal was 6 months, then 9 months and at this point I am not going to set another goal. I am just going to take it day by day. She has become a very distracted eater, which has meant meals have more closely resembled wrestling matches than the soothing, bonding moments we once had. I have learned to stop forcing the issue, though (which meant trying to relatch her when she pulled away after 2 minutes of eating just to check out the scenery). If she wants to be done, she can be done. I figure she won't let herself starve, right? I've also started waiting for her to actually act hungry before nursing her, rather than offering a meal every 3ish hours. Sometimes that means she only nurses/takes her pumped bottle 4x a day, sometimes 6. Either way, I've really enjoyed this truly baby-led approach. Why didn't I abandon the clock sooner?
As for solids, baby girl is just cruising right along!!! She is SUCH a great eater! We now give her 3 solid meals a day, and a few snacks at random. There has not been a single food I can think of that she turned away. I can't even begin to list everything she's had at this point, but I can say without a doubt that her favorites are blueberry waffles, cheese, or green beans!
Milestones: We're crawling. We're pulling to stand. We're just starting to cruise along the furniture. We are opening and closing drawers and cabinet doors. Waving hello and good-bye. Clapping and "scrub-scrub"bing our hands together, and occasionally she pretends to rub in lotion when she sees me moisturizing. She signs all done by shaking her hands out in front of her. She plays peek-a-boo with blankets or hats or anything else she can use to cover her face. She knows how to slide open my phone. She's a genius, I tell you. Genius.

I can't believe we are 3 quarters of the way to her first birthday.
It blows my mind that we are already here.

Photos coming soon. Promise.