2 Months

The two month mark is here already. And it's actually been 9 weeks! It has been a pure joy to nurture our little one. We can't wait to see what is ahead.

She is eating 4-5 times a day and at least 5 oz. at each meal. She has been sleeping for 6-8 hour stretches at night, so we try to time it for her to go down about 10pm and then she's up between 4-6am. She usually starts snoozing about 8pm, but isn't really out (or "zonkered" as we call it) until the later time. She also sleeps a pretty good chunk every morning and another slot in the afternoon - although she tends to be in that snoozing stage, rather than hard sleeping. Which works fine since she sleeps so well at night. Overall, she is a very easy, serene, pleasant baby to be around. Believe me, we still call her, "Fussy Gus" a lot, but we can't complain about much...we are blessed (and I'm getting a decent night of sleep).

The comparison of her month-to-month growth is remarkable. She'll have her two month doctor's visit this week, so we'll have numbers to back it up, but she sure is changing and growing quickly.

Her position with the big bear this month was too cute. Take a closer look...

And another cute one...

What a doll!

Elizabeth's Gift

My friend, Elizabeth and her two sons, Salim & Ramire, gave Camden a wonderful gift. It is a 4- DVD series, called, "Praise Baby." It has various hymns and praise music played to baby-friendly images...other babies, large objects, colors, shapes, etc. I placed Camden in her bouncy seat and put it in while I made dinner last night. She loved it! She cooed and bounced and happily entertained herself while I was busy. It was also nice for me to have some good music in the background. Thanks for the wonderful gift!


I tried to capture Camden enjoying the music, but she stopped making her little coos. However, she did seem to like having the camera on her...she was full of smiles!

Grandma French

Grandma French has been watching Camden every few Saturday mornings so that I can get some cleaning done or, like this week, some needed sleep. She, too, likes to take pictures of Camden.


Camden loves her time with Grandma!

Trip to the Apple Orchard

Daddy, Mommy, and Camden took an afternoon trip to an apple orchard yesterday. I wanted to make some apple butter for the winter, so we needed to get a large amount of apples. Plus it was a fun adventure for everyone. We went to a huge place called, 'Anderson Orchard' in Morresville, IN near Kevin's work. Camden slept through most of the picking, so we mainly sampled apples from the trees to see what kind we wanted to buy from the orchard store.

We spent most of the time picking fresh raspberries to make some yummy raspberry freezer jam. Finally, we bought some peaches to make peach freezer jam - my personal favorite last year. Making all of this is my task today, so we'll see the fruits (pun intended) of our labor tomorrow.

Camden has been a bit fussy lately from an upset/gassy tummy, but she sure is cute!

Camden's Toys

As Camden is getting bigger, she is learning (slowly) to entertain herself. She still isn't quite to the point that her Mommy can get much done in a day without having to hold her and rock her and let her fall asleep in Mommy's arms (not that Mommy is complaining), but she is enjoying her new activity mat that we bought with a gift card that her great grandma Beasley, great Aunt Linda, and great Aunt Thelma gave her.





The ball on the zebra makes music play. Today while kicking her legs, Camden started the tunes, all by herself. She is a little wiggly worm. She also loves swinging in her swing and looking out the front window.

Hair and Hands

Since it's been about a week since I've posted, you might think that we've just been so busy that I haven't had time to sit down to the computer. Or, we've just had a really slow, boring week!

Camden is growing and changing. She's beginning to get a nice head of hair. I made that comment to my mom on the phone and she asked what color it was. I replied that it had a red tint to it right now, but it would probably be my color. At that point, from the background, Kevin pipes up and says, "Grey?" Unfortunately, that was an appropriate response. Ugh.

Too cute! She's also discovered her hands (especially when she is hungry) and is beginning to really like tummy time.

I did get a chance to take care of my grey hair this week. It had been about four months since I'd had it cut or colored. It was a running joke because I had put off getting it done before she was born, because I was trying to time it around her due date, so it would look nice in pictures. The day my doctor told me he wanted me to check into the hospital that night to deliver Camden was the day before my hair appointment. One of my first responses to him was, "...but my hair..." Vanity at it's peak! So, this week I finally got it "fixed" and also stopped by my office to say hello to everyone. Camden got loved on by two of my officemates - Cindy and Gena. She loved her time with them while I got to visit with my interns who were presenting their summer work.

Hopefully we'll have a more exciting week to report about. And if we don't, we'll just enjoy our little sweet pea.

The Taste

On Saturday night, Crawfordsville held the second annual, "Taste of Montgomery County." This is a festival featuring local music and food vendors. It was a beautiful evening out, so we decided to go. It was held at the historic Lew Wallace House, the site where he wrote, "Ben Hur."

One of the best things about living in a small community, is that you can go to these events and there is a nice crowd, but you aren't boxed in elbow-to-elbow. We saw people we knew and got to show off our beautiful little girl.

But, of course, the best thing is the food! We had some wonderful pulled pork, homemade bratwurst, a gigantic cinnamon roll, and fries. Unfortunately, in the post pregnancy weight-loss game, this is only the short list!

We did sample quite a bit and only spent $20 on food. It was a great evening out for all of us.

Playing Euchre

Euchre is the card game in Indiana. And since Camden decided she wanted to learn it as early as possible, we headed to Grandma and Grandpa French's house for an evening of play.

Camden found the game a little boring and wanted a nap instead. We decided it was a perfect opportunity to do a photo shoot. She is so beautiful when she sleeps.

Daddy's feet are thiiiisssss big...

We were bored...

...so we decided to go for a walk around Waveland. We thought it would be fun to get pictures of Camden at different places around our little town.

Our first stop was the post office to get our mail.

Then as we walked by Papaw's house, he came out to greet us and talk to Camden.

And then...it started to rain. And by rain I mean remnants of Hurricane Gustav rain. We were about 3/4 of a mile from home, so there was no making it back without getting drenched. We had to take shelter in someone's boat storage barn for about 20 minutes while the downpour passed. Luckily Camden peacefully enjoyed the layover.

It finally let up enough for us to walk home, through the downtown of Waveland, in just a fine mist of rain.

Next time we're bored, I think we'll just tickle Camden on the couch!

Labor Day

It's always fun to spend time with family. Since Kevin had the day off and we had some errands to do, we headed to Lafayette and spent time with Gina's family.

Camden got to meet her Great Uncle Jerry and Great Aunt Karen.

One of Uncle Jerry's skills is woodworking. He made each of his children's first babies a beautiful cradle. His youngest, Gina's cousin Marissa, generously let Camden borrow hers for the first few months so Camden could stay in Mommy and Daddy's room before she was ready to sleep in her nursery. We love it!


Camden also got to spend more time with her great grandmother. She always loves being in Grammy's arms!




Then it was off to Aunt Carole and Uncle Ric's for a day of eating, games, and lots of fussing over Camden (we aren't complaining). Between her Cousin Lauren, Cousin Rachel, and Aunt Carole, there is much holding and cooing.

To make it even more fun, Grandma Pat (and Grandpa Jim) were there too! We wanted to capture Grandma with her four grandchildren.

The highlight of the night, however, was seeing Camden miraculously sprout some hair.

But on further inspection, we realized it was just Camden in one of her favorite spots...curled up on Daddy's chest.

But really, anywhere close to Daddy is a good spot!