Quick10

1. I am pleased to report that I have returned to the 21st century. We finally caved and reactivated my old iPhone for Andy and bought a new one for me! YAY! I had an old first gen phone that we stopped using in the depression of 09 (read: when the husband lost his job just a month after I quit mine) (read: we were broker than broke and cutting expenses left, right, and middle) (read: the iphone+data pkg was the last thing to go, I held out as long as I could). But I'm back, baby! Woooot.

2. So far I only have one photo on the phone:

Yup. My 14 month old was eating at Taco Bell. Cut me some slack though, we had to stay close to the ATT store while they were messing with our phones, and its better than fried stuff at other places, no? Plus, the girls loooves her some tacos. 

3. And this video. I loove having a video camera at the ready! Pardon the nudity - this was post-bath, pre-jams.

And I have to say, there have been times I've wanted to spit at the computer, too. I laughed at the perfect timing of her shaking her head "no" in response to my workoholic question. Silly girl.
My abundance of "I love you"s was an attempt to get her to say "awww" and blow a kiss like she usually does. Oh well.

4. Camy's latest "trick" {Hmm.. sounds kind of puppy-ish.. latest word? skill? obsession?} is throwing away trash. If she finds a crumb on the floor she'll first point and say "eeeeew" {yeah, she's definitely my kid. everything is "eew" to me!}. She then grunts like an 80 year old man as she bends down to pick it up. {yes she grunts, loud! every. single. time.} And finally, she marches it over to the trash can proudly proclaiming "tash! tash! tash!" with every step. It took her a few days to fully grasp the concept though - once you throw it away, you leave it there. Thankfully she no longer digs the trash back out of the can!

5. If you see Camy throw something in the "tash!" be prepared to applaud. She will not move on to something else without applause. She will stand in front of you saying "tash!" and clapping her hands until you cheer for her. For serious.

6. Saturday afternoon Cam and I met up with a dear friend of ours who we don't get to see nearly enough. Its still amazing to me that we entered into the TTC phase so close to the same time, found out we were pregnant within a week of each other, and have 2 beautiful, sweet, fun girls just over 2 weeks apart. Its been such a blessing to walk this path with her, and we had such fun catching up with them Saturday. Her sweet Ali stole my heart by reaching out to me for help and for cuddles, and I hope we can see more of them from here on out!
(Will post pictures after K sees them herself... K, I'll be uploading them soon!)

7. We capped off our weekend with 2 firetrucks barreling into our cul-de-sac, sirens a'blazing, headed for our house. We called 911 to have the house checked for a gas leak after we realized that smell we smelled 4 hours ago was still rather strong. I thought it had gone away with the open windows and blowing fans, but after walking outside and back in again, I realized it was still there. We must have just gotten used to it {which can't be a good thing}. They checked everything out. Waited. Checked again. Closed windows. Checked again. Then talked to me for a while and assured me that everything was fine. The fumes were lingering, yes, but the actual gas had gone away. They were even kind enough to walk me through the house showing me their little detector-gadget as we went along. I felt a bit dope-ish when all was said and done, but I could not have put my daughter to bed feeling safe and confident without knowing that she was okay to sleep there. I was so worried that we'd fall asleep with an undiscovered gas leak, and who knows what could have happened. Calling was certainly worth my peace of mind.

8. Monday morning Cam and I headed down to the Children's Museum again to meet some friends at Baby Bloomers. She had a great time, as usual, and this time we had front row seats for music time! Cam happily danced around in the open space in front of us, dug through the bucket-o-instruments before it was time to play along, and made several mad dashes for the museum store that was off to the side. She hung upside-down like a bat. She experimented with rolling things downhill (in the "notion of motion" exhibit"). She went potty on the teeny-tiny-toddler-sized toilet in the family restroom. And she ran around like a crazy girl, leaving me wondering what her Daddy fed her breakfast! After BB, we enjoyed a lovely lunch with the ladies/babies at Galaxy Cafe.. Mama's favorite lunch spot! Yummm. Best part: She passed out in the car on the way home, didn't wake up when I moved her to the house, and took a 2 1/2 hour nap!!! Dude. Awesome!

9. Bragging on my hubby real quick... his latest side job was to build a deck around an above-ground pool. I think he (and his friend, J, who he hired to help get it done quicker) totally rocked it.

Umm.. how would you like that yard? That view? That's the one thing I miss about living in the boondocks. We had no neighbors to the back (at least not anywhere near us) so we could sit on our back porch and just see trees and hills and sky. :sigh: 

10. So close.. but can't think of one. more. thing. Hmpf. 

Have a happy week, all!

TenOnTues: allergies, and recalls, and the end of an era.

1. Tonight is the first night in about a week that my little love has gone more than 6 hours without Benadryl.
2 weeks ago [Aug30], Cam broke out in a patch of hives on her neck and chest that we thought might have been a reaction to what we ate for lunch at Ikea that day (the lingonberry sauce with their meatballs). A dose of Benadryl cleared them up, but then the hives returned that night. Another dose of Benadryl, and she went to bed. A few days later, the hives returned in a bit of a larger patch. One dose of Benadryl. The next day (in Houston), hives on her arm. One dose of Benadryl. Saturday, hives on her chest. Benadryl. Two days later, on Monday, hives on both arms and her chest/belly. Benadryl. Tuesday night, while eating dinner, Cam very suddenly broke out in full body hives. I mean, zero to a million hives from head-to-toe in a matter of minutes. It was terrifying. And she was miserable. This was the first bout that seemed to really bother her. The only way to keep her from scratching herself silly was to keep her in the tub. She took about an hour and a half long bath that night just to keep her from scratching. Benadryl didn't totally clear it up, but it brought her enough relief to go to sleep. Poor thing.
The following day was her 12 month well check, so of course, we talked to the doctor about it. We were told that allergy tests in kids Cam's age are largely inaccurate and can often give false positives. He said that allergic reactions can linger for up to 2 weeks sometimes, so we agreed to just let this wave pass and as long as any future reactions were just hives, we'd hold off on testing until 2 and just continue to use caution in what she's exposed to.
We went home, Cam was doing pretty well, and we had a normal evening. Dinner, bath, bed.. no problems. But about 2 hours after she went down, she woke up screaming. Usually if she wakes in the middle of the night, I can just go in and let her cuddle my arm and she goes right back to sleep. This time though, she was clawing at me and herself, trying to climb up over shoulder, inconsolable. I turned her night-light on to find that  the right side of her face was swollen and PANICKED. I gave her a dose of Benadryl while I was calling the triage nurse and trying to hold my shit together. And failing. I was a crying, shaking, baby-soothing, scared mess. And Andy was at work. Go figure. The nurse wanted us to give the meds one hour to kick in but if she didn't improve or got worse in that time, we were instructed to go straight to the ER. Andy got home just before the one hour mark and the swelling had gone down a tiny bit. She still couldn't open her right eye all the way, but it did look better. Since she was breathing and swallowing okay, we decided to just stay at home and monitor her closely then call the pedi in the morning. I woke up every 2 hours that night to listen to her breathe, and since she always sounded okay, I let her sleep. Big mistake. We woke up in the morning and I noticed immediately that her whole face was swollen.. both sides. Again: Panic.
We went straight to the pediatrician again where we were told to keep her on a 6-hr Benadryl regimen and given an Rx for an epi pen. We were referred to an allergist for testing (false positives, be damned!) and told to monitor closely everything she eats and comes in contact with.
We tried to delay a dose of Benadryl on Sunday to see how she would do, and within 20 minutes of when we should have dosed her, this happened:

Major Boo. We dosed her up right away. :(
But then....

2. Our super awesome friend Tabatha had a light bulb moment. Camy's hives started the day after we moved her to the floor bed in her room full time. Could it be something in her room? Something with that bed? The mattress? Pillows? New duvet and cover from Ikea? Dust mites? Dog dander (even though they have never been in her room, her window goes to the yard where the dogs live)? So, as of this morning, we are issuing our very own voluntary recall of the floor bed idea. At least for a couple days while we put this theory to the test. Today she napped in our bed and is sleeping in there now. (Trying to resist the urge to do the Happy Dance about the three of getting to snuggle some more!). And ya know what? She hasn't had a dose of Benadryl in 13 hours and she's HIVE FREE. Coincidence? Hmmm... we'll see.

3. I'll try to keep number 3 short... because once I get started, I usually get mad. And when I get mad, I can go on forever. Basically, our health insurance is laughable. Enraging. Absolutely farking reeee-diculous. That allergist appointment we made? That should have been today? To, you know, see whatthehell is making her face explode? Yeah, we had to postpone it. Until Sept28, because that is when our stupidstupid insurance will cover it. After paying out of pocket for her well check (because our stupid insurance wouldn't cover it), we couldn't afford another out of pocket visit so soon, especially one that can end up costing upwards of $500 depending on what they test for and how. I am so FUMING mad that we are having to delay the care that our sweet baby needs based on health insurance. Mad. And sick. And sad.

4. Which leads me to a depressing fourth thing for today. Tomorrow I have an interview at a preschool, where I am applying for a full time job as a co-teacher. Andy has been doing everything he can to find a better job with better benefits and not having any luck, and given our current situation with Camy, continuing with this insurance is no longer an option. Its my turn now to try and find a better option for our family. For Camy. Which means a full time job with benefits. My days as a stay-at-home-mommy are numbered, and that breaks my heart. Into a million little pieces. :sigh:
I am so blessed that I was able to spend Camy's first year at home with her, and I know that she will do very well once she adjusts to a group-care environment... but dammit, I don't want this adventure to end. I love being a SAHM. I love getting to be there to watch Camy learn, to snuggle her to sleep for naps, to take her on playdates or just hang around in our jammies, soaking her in all the time. I love it. And I will miss her so so much during the day. But we need a change, we are doing this for her. I wish I could explain that to her. I wish there was a way to make her understand that I would give ANYTHING to always be at home with her.

{Gotta give a big thanks! to MC for putting in a good word for me and helping me land this interview!}

Boo.

5. But let's turn this around.. let's talk about happy things. Successful things. Like Pizza Pinwheels. Made these little guys for dinner the other night and all 3 of us gobbled them right up. They were seriously yummy, for something so simple and quick. And we are thinking about trying the concept out with BBQ-Chicken, or Turkey-Mozzerella. Hmmm.. the possibilities are endless. We also made the Mexican Pizza recipe found on that blog last night, and it was another hit. Even for Cam! :) Hooray for new, easy meals that the whole family can enjoy.
What are your go-to family meals?

6. It was brought to my attention recently that I skipped 2 rather important updates recently. First, the 12 month stats. Our little growing bean tips the scales at 23 pounds, 11oz these days, putting her in the 75-90%. Her height came in at 30.5", again, 75-90%. And her head? 95%. Hasn't changed since birth. That girl's got a big ol' noggin! Aside from the allergy mess, she was given a clean bill of health. The heart murmur she was born with has now gone undetected for 2 appts, so it appears she grew out of it just as we hoped she would! Her ears looked great, her lungs sounded great, she's an eating champ and a wonderful sleeper, she's trying to communicate even though she doesn't have many "real" words... all went really well at her check-up.

7. And the other update I failed to give, can you believe it?, is that she's a full-time non-stop WALKER these days. Remember she took her first unprompted steps on her birthday? Well within just a couple days, walking became her primary mode of transportation. And since she got started, there's been no slowing her down. She's very confident on her toes now and can turn around, and side-step, and turn corners like its no big thing. :)

8. Despite the Benadryl haze she has lived in for the last week-ish, she's still been cracking us up with a few new cool tricks. Like tickling! She has a new game where she will "tickle" (read: touch) my neck and I'll giggle and squirm as if it tickles, then she'll crack up and point to her own neck. So I tickle her, and she gives an exaggerated laugh and then comes back to tickle me. Its hysterical and friggin' adorable! Oh, I love it.

9. And she's also fascinated with bee-bos, noses, and "mow"s these days. She loves to lift her shirt to find her belly button, and then tries to lift mine as well. I'm only slightly worried about the first time she tries to expose my midsection in public on the hunt for my belly button. :shudder: She's always seemed to have a thing for noses, but she's getting much more consistent when asked where her nose or my nose is. Or the kitty's nose. Or her baby doll's nose. What is it with noses? And just recently she started saying "mow" and pointing to her mouth while she sticks out her tongue. Are we allowed to consider that one of her first words? "Mow".

10. One word/phrase I don't need to verify before adding to her list: "Oh yeah!" She went around all afternoon today repeating "Oh yeah!" to me over and over again. I don't remember what the context was when she heard me say it, but she latched onto it and just toddled around a while.. "oooh yeah. yeah. oh yeah." Super cute, she was. In addition to "oh yeah", the other clearly deciphered words she uses are "this" and "that", "woof" (that counts, right?), and "dada". Another does it count? word is "duh" that she says as she signs "all done". Are half-words allowed. Huh, Joyce?

Happy Tuesday, Friends!

Ten on Tuesday, Labor Day Recap Edition

1. We went to Houston for the long Labor Day weekend and stayed with my sister and her family. Two weekends in a row visiting with them = Awesome! We all love them and enjoy their company, Camy the most, I believe. She lights up when she sees Aunt Vicky, adores Cousin Rylan, and Uncle Kevin is one of the only men besides her Daddy that she reaches out for.

2. Criss-Cross Applesauce is clearly genetic. Even though Rylan's arm is blurred, I had to share this photo! Too stinkin' funny!

3. Saturday was the first UT game of the season, so Camy donned her Longhorn cheerleading outfit to support the Horns. How adorable is she, I mean, really?!

She was quite focused on learning how to "hook 'em".

4. Saturday my sister and brother-in-law hosted a Labor Day BBQ complete with yummy food off the grill, cold beer (or sweet tea vodka for this mama), banana pudding, and a 14ft inflatable water slide. Good times were had by all, but unfortunately I didn't get many photos. Camy made one trip down the slide with her Daddy, and didn't love it (to put it lightly) so she stayed near the kiddie pool and water table most of the time. The bigger kids (ahem, and the Daddies) had plenty of fun jumping, and sliding, and splashing, and the Mamas had a good ol' time watching everyone play!
[There are photos of Andy and Kevin on the slide somewhere, I'll post those when I get them.. the hilarity is just too much to keep to myself!]

5. Sunday we all loaded up and motored down to Galveston Beach with the babies. It was both Rylan's and Camy's first experience at the beach, and I'd say that overall it was a successful trip. We could have planned the details a little better, left a little earlier in the morning, came a little better prepared - but they seemed to have a good time despite all that. Camy seemed to enjoy the sand and then hate the sand in phases, back and forth. She would play and dig for a few minutes...

...then realize that {OMG!} she had sand on her.

Uuuuck, look at my feet all dirty!

I can't get it off my handssss....

eeeeww.. it's between my toooooes.

6. She loved walking up and down the beach feeling the waves crash over her toes.

7. I love watching her with her Daddy.

8. Pop a top again.
This was back at Aunt Vicky's house later that evening.. playing in the driveway.

Mother of the Year, right here.
Instead of taking the beer out of her hand first, I reached for my camera.
[No alcohol was consumed by anyone under the age of 2... or 21.]
Though I know it appears so...

9. I can't get enough of those dimples and rolls.

10. Right now, this minute, Camy is sleeping in a Benadryl-induced haze. I am going back and forth between blogger and the weather channel trying to keep up with the local tornado warnings. And I'm home alone. Allergic Reactions + Full Body Hives (on the babe) + Tornado Warnings =/= A Peaceful Evening.
In fact, it = a majorly stressed out, blogging-so-she-doesn't-pee-her-pants-in-fear Mama hoping and praying that her sweet little one sleeps through the night without her allergy getting any worse before morning (or ever). :sigh: I reallyreally want a drink, but don't know if that'd be the best idea given the weather and sick baby. Wish me luck.

Ten on Tuesday!

1. Camy Bean hit the 8 month mark yesterday. I can hardly believe it. 2/3 of the way to her big Oh-One. Wow. What a sweet little joy she is, at 8 months old. She has blessed our life in so many ways. I have the official 8 month photo post coming just as soon as I actually get her 8 month photos taken. I have high hopes for this afternoon! Be on the look out. ;)

2. My sister came down for a visit over the weekend with her hubby and sweet little guy, Rylan. I have said this before but its worth repeating - sharing this journey of first-time motherhood with her is amazing. Seeing our kiddos grow up together, amazing. The older they get, the more they notice each other.. and I won't go so far as to say they "play" together yet.. but they're getting there. So far its more like stealing from each other...

smiling just before he snatched the toy!

and.. patting each other?

3. Saturday afternoon I made the kiddos some sweet potato fries. It was the first time Camy had SP in solid form. She loves SP puree, so I was surprised to see her resistant to the fries at first but it didn't take long for her to come around. I think the new texture caused her initial apprehension, but then she when got a mouthful, it was on. Those 2 gobbled up that whole SP in no time!

applauding Mommy for the yummy fries?

 4. Having a rough & tumble boy in the house was quite the change of pace. Camy is still basically immobile. Aside from her backwards scooting and rolling about, she hardly moves around. She manages to get where she wants to go, but at a snail's pace {which I like, this is NOT me complaining!}. Rylan, however, is very very mobile. And quick like a cat! And into everything. He crawls and climbs and never stops.

5. Camy has a thing for reading books these days. And by "reading" I mean, of course, eating. I've read many articles and parenting books about how important reading is in the first year. Crucial, even. So we read quite a bit. It usually feels like I am just reading to myself, but the experts insist that even if baby isn't locked in on you and the story, reading aloud is building her foundation for speech and comprehension. I want Camy to develop a lifelong love of reading and learning.. so I do as I'm told, I read to her. I give her books to look at and point out objects with her. Its rare that we make it to the third page of any given book before she grabs it away from me and finds a corner to gnaw on, but one day.. we'll get there. For now, I am letting her love on her books the best way she knows how. And I love that when she sees one of her books, she goes on a mission to get to it.. despite the piles and boxes of other fun toys. 

6. Camy also loves to read magazines. See....

7. Remember I told you we are trying a new eczema treatment? It is called Epi-Ceram and we have a love-hate relationship, me and that stuff. I hate it because it makes her cry for the first 20 seconds or so its on her face (and we were warned it stings/tingles a little at first). I don't like seeing my baby cry, especially when its in response to something I do. :( But, it is working really well! We don't have to count the days or applications because it isn't a steroid like the old stuff.. so we can use it "til the cows come home". {Only in TX will your medical professional give you instructions like that!} She has been using it (consistently) for 2 days and we've already seen great improvement. We used it on and off the first week because I was having a hard time committing to something that was making her cry. But seeing how wonderful her face looks already, I'm just about sold. I wish her daddy was home more evenings so he can be the bad guy!

two days ago:

today!

8. We have been giving Camy much more solid food lately, and she is doing so well! She has had broccoli florets, steamed carrot sticks, sweet potato fries, banana slices, mango chunks, avocado chunks, ravioli, green beans, shredded chicken, tortellini, toast, and crackers. I love being able to give her {some of} what we eat, and she has seemed to really enjoy feeding herself. {I have a video of her eating some tortellini but we have yet to find the software for our video camera that is Windows7 friendly. Stupid Windows7.}

9. Camy continues to nap like a champ these days. Some days she doubles up on the long naps (1.5-2 hrs), and sometimes she gives me just one long one and one or two short ones.. but we have come a long way from her anti-napping days. And she did it all on her own.  I am glad we held out hope for her having her own a-ha moment, and thankfully never needed to resort to the dreaded sleep training! Go, Camy!

10.  I am having trouble thinking of one more thing.. but since this is my blog, I am going to say that my volume of photos in this post earns me a pass on number 10.

Happy Tuesday!

Ten on Tuesday! {on tuesday!!} EDIT: PHOTOS

1. After a hellacious 3 days, I *think* I may have my sweet baby girl back. 

::knock knock knock on wood!::

We can't decide whether it was teething or allergies, but something had our baby all out of sorts. Something kept her temperature on a roller coaster from Friday night through Monday morning, steadily rising to nearly 101 then coming back down with the help of a little Motrin only to steadily rise again 6 hrs later. Back and forth. Saturday night, something woke her up no less than 4 times.. per hour. Sunday something had her in tears over every little thing. Couldn't reach the toy she wanted? Tears. Wanted to stand up to play? Tears. Mommy (gasp!) turned her attention to something else for 3.55 seconds? Tears. Something was keeping her from being her always happy, always smiling little self. Something made her cry in the highchair instead of inhale her yummy solids. Something can kiss it, cuz something is not welcome here again. Teething or allergies or whatever it may have been - we were not fans. And we are glad it seems to have packed itself up and taken off. 

2. Last week Camy and I made our first trip to Tiny Bird Organics for some laundry soap and a reusable swim diaper. While we were there, we came across an amber teething necklace. A little blurb about 'em:

{Amber is a natural analgesic and when worn on the skin, it releases healing oils that helps babies and young children to stay calm and more relaxed thoughout teething. Amber necklaces are a great natural remedy and can eliminate the need for over the counter drugs.}

They only had one necklace left in stock, so naturally I had to buy it. While battling the up-and-down fever and fussiness over the weekend, I remembered our purchase and decided to give it a shot. The jury is out on whether or not it did a lick of good because "calm and relaxed" certainly would not describe her demeanor over the weekend. I have not yet given up hope that the necklace has some magical natural healing power, but Andy (and my mom) pretty much think its a crock. We shall see.

Anyone have one for their babe? Any success stories to share?

3. Camy Bean had her fourth dermatology appointment yesterday. We were happy to report to the doc that her body has been doing beautifully, very few flare ups and very easily managed. Hooray! But, unfortunately, her sweet face is still flaring up as soon as we take a break from the steroids. Steroids cannot become a forever treatment, so we are trying something new. We are only using the steroids for one more day (to help put the current fire out) then we are moving on to a non-steroidal treatment called EpiCeram, which is a "skin barrier emulsion". Whatever that means. We are giving this treatment plan 3 weeks to get the eczema under control and if it doesn't help either, the lovely derm-PA we've been seeing will have to upgrade us to the big guns, the actual dermatologist. {dun dun dunnn} 

Hopefully her fifth appointment will be our last for a while. Or forever. That would be good too. 

4. Have I mentioned Camy's playroom on here yet? No? Well let me tell ya about it!

It used to be our office/scrap room. When we found out we were with-child, we converted it to a guest room. But not long after the Camy Bean arrived, I decided we either needed to buy a bigger house (ha!) or make that room serve double-duty: playroom by day, guest room by (the occasional) night. We toyed with the idea of a futon (but we're not college kids). We toyed with the idea of a daybed and trundle (but the room isn't all that big so a bed would cut out a lot of play space). We toyed with the idea of a sleeper sofa (but we already have one in the living room and again, it would take up a lot of room). Finally my brother-in-law had a stroke of genius and suggested a Murphy Bed. I was a bit skeptical at first, unsure of how it would turn out and whether it would look goofy. But I got on board, we ordered a kit, and my sister and brother-in-law came to town so the boys could build it. They did a great job and I was pleased with the way it turned out. A few weeks later, Andy built some shelves to go on either side to serve as toy storage and finished everything off with some edge-banding and trim work. We are now working on getting everything painted. We are painting a chalkboard on the front of the bed for Camy to use when she's old enough, and painting the rest white. I will come share "after" photos soon - stay tuned. :)

5. Camy finally figured out that napping is awesome! It wasn't just a fluke and it wasn't just sleeping off the cold.. she naps a good hour and a half (at least) in the mornings, and about 45minutes (at least) in the afternoon. Haaaaallelujah. 

6. Andy and are going round and round about whether or not to put Camy's in a swim/water safety class, and if we do, which one. Given that we will have frequent access to a pool, I want to enroll her in ISR classes to teach her the back-floating self-rescue technique should she ever fall or slip into the water. Andy is hung up on the cost (understandable because it is friggin' expensive!) and the idea of putting an almost 8 month old in "swim lessons". We are looking into other water safety programs in the area (look at me, willing to compromise... maybe) and I am trying to help him understand why I will not be comfortable with Camy's exposure to the water without such a class. Does that make me an over-protective, over-paranoid first time mom? Probably. Do I care? Not one bit. :)
Has anyone had any experience with ISR classes or some other infant water safety course? Any recommendations?  

7. Speaking of pools and swimming, Camy's first full summer is shaping up to be a great one! We have our annual lake trip with the in-laws in June. We have big plans to take advantage of Andy's parents' pool (provided we get Numero 6 worked out, and provided "worked out" = I win!). I am really looking forward to frequent playdates with friends at local sprinkler parks and city pools. And, AND, we booked a house on the beach in Port Aransas to celebrate Camy's first birthday. My family will all be staying in the house together and I seriously can. not. wait. It will be the first time at the beach for all the cousins (Syd who will be 2 1/2, Rylan who will be about 14 months, and Camy who will be a year {duh}).  It will be a 4-day weekend spent soakin' up the sunshine, playing in the sand, laughing with the family. It will be such a wonderful way to celebrate our first year with our first babe. 

8. I am starting to think that Camy may not ever crawl. She gets where she wants to go by either rolling across the floor, scooting backwards and then turning herself in a circle to face the right way, or lately by just scooting on her butt. Its hilarious to watch her inch herself across the floor on her hiney, but I have to wonder.. wouldn't it be easier to just crawl? I mean, its a long slow process to scoot that way.. surely it'd be more efficient to get on all 4's and get movin'. Silly girl.

9. Friday was this mama's first night out of the house without the husband and without the baby. Of course I love them both dearly, but I have to say - being ME again was wonderful. Not having to worry about Camy was wonderful. Getting an evening with the ladies and a {few} bottle{s} of wine was WONDERFUL. I had such a great time and cannot wait to do it again! I can't believe it took me 7 1/2 months to take a night for myself. It was long overdue. Thanks, Tabs, for hosting!  **smoooches**

10. Friday was this mama's first night out of the house without the husband and without the baby. Camy did not think it was awesome. In fact, I'm pretty sure Camy thought it was the exact opposite of awesome. :( Andy had to work most of the evening, so my mom came over to put her to bed. I stayed for dinner and bath and started her bedtime feeding by nursing her a little bit. Then my mom warmed up a bottle and took over. Camy did NOT approve, and as much as her tears made me want to scoop her up and stay home cuddling her, I knew I need that night out of the house. So like any good mother would do, I grabbed my bottle of wine and walked out the front door. Hardest. Thing. Ever. (But is it sad that I don't regret it? In fact, I'm glad I did it! Mother of the Year, right here folks.) Camy did eventually take her bottle, but she was certainly not going to sleep without a fight. She wanted her Nona to know that it was not Nona's face she wanted to be seeing. According to my mom she was just looking around the house, straining her neck to look around the room or towards the door.. just crying. Breaks my heart. She finally gave in and went to sleep a good hour and a half later than usual.. but surprisingly, slept through the night. When I heard the recap the next morning, my heart broke a little thinking that Camy cried herself to sleep wondering where her Mama was, so I gave her extra cuddles all morning. After that night, my mom's thought was that I need to get out more to get Camy used to other people caring for her. I had the opposite reaction, I'm so sorry my sweet sweet love. Mommy will never leave you ever again. Smoochie, smoochie, big squeeze hug. 
Just don't tell Camy that by "never leaver her again" I really mean not until the next ladies' night.

I'm terrible, huh?


Tabs -
Here is why there are no photos for this week... they would all look something like this:

Or like this (with Nona):

Or this with her sad eyes, but the closest we have to a smile (with her new amber teething necklace):

It was a rough week. But we have high hopes for some smiley photos tomorrow!