Happy Halloween

Both of Camden's grandmas bought her Halloween costumes, so we had a morning photo shoot to capture them both. Then after dinner, we joined the rest of the neighborhood to go trick-or-treating. Special stops were made at Papaw's and Grandma and Grandpa French's.

Next year...candy!

3m

Sunday, October 26 was Camden's 3 month (3m) birthday. And since I'm a silly mom, we had to celebrate. So give me a...

What's that spell?




Our chuch group helped us wish Camden a "happy 3m" by eating cupcakes with 3 M&M's on each. What fun! Camden has many fans in this group, but a few (who also adore her) didn't get in any of the cupcake shots!




Then we took Camden's picture with her bears. She keeps growing. Looking at her 2 month compared to now - amazing!

Changes

When we came home from the Cincinnati trip, we began to notice big changes in Camden. Kevin even said he thought she looked different - definitely more alert & aware.

She is focusing on things she sees and reaching for them...alot. We've begun giving her one of her stuffed animals, "Mr. Lamb." Camden loves to hug it. She also loves to have someone have Mr. Lamb kiss her. She giggles and giggles and smiles and smiles. Quite amusing for us, too!

She's also begun to prefer her hands as much as her nippie (pacifier).

She looks like a little homegirl. And how about those shoes? She got these when she was born and they seemed as big as her.

But the biggest change has been that she has found her voice...and she is a talker...you would not believe half of the stories she has been telling us!

She is, indeed, a little cutie.

Cincinnati, Day Three

On our last day in this fun little city, we ate at a local greasy spoon. We were hopping for a "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" experience, but instead just got an average breakfast at a really dirty establishment. There were some interesting features of the place, including old jukeboxes at every table (more than 1/2 of which didn't work) and a mechanical band that played when the few remaining jukeboxes were used.

Apparantly this is a great place to come at 1AM when you want breakfast and to hang out with other locals. Oh well....

We drove through downtown Cincinnati and the riverfront area to see the Bengals & Reds stadiums before heading to the Museum Center for the morning. This old Union Station houses 5 museums in one. It has a grand central terminal area with ticket booth, food options, seating, and entrances to the various museums.

If Camden were older this would be an exceptional place. We still enjoyed strolling through all the areas and seeing that when she is 5, we would want to visit the Children's Museum. We both really liked the Cincinnati History Museum, which I thought would be the least enjoyable. From the miniature train exhibit of Cincinnati since the 1920's to the machining tool section, we give this place two thumbs up.

But the best part of this day was stopping in Columbus, IN and seeing Grandma Pat and Grandpa Jim. Camden got held and kissed and loved on to her heart's content!

Camden loved her time with Grandma!

Cincinnati, Day Two

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

Cincinnati has one of the best rated zoos in the midwest and, after our visit today, I would have to agree. The day didn't start off very well, though, when I dropped our camera just as we entered. A piece fell down in a grate and another part of the camera was dented. Here was the test photo I took to make sure it worked, despite the damage. Needless to say, Kevin wasn't real happy...

Surprisingly, Camden stayed awake for most of the morning. She loved the stroll outside; however, she wasn't real thrilled about getting in and out of her seat for pictures. But it was worth it for me to get these pictures of our baby girl's first trip to the zoo!

Finally Camden was begging to be left alone for a bit and we headed back to the hotel for a brief rest. We made a quick lunch stop at Camp Washington Chili for some famous Cincinnati Chili. Once again, we were not disappointed in this local favorite!

Our day concluded with our anniversary dinner at The Precinct Steakhouse. This was one of the best dining experiences I've ever had and probably the best steak. Our waiter was fantastic, several managers stopped to admire Camden and wish us a happy anniversary, and "the captain" made us a special complimentary dessert of bananas foster, complete with flaming table-side service.

The restaurant is housed in the former Police Patrol House Number 6 and is listed on the National Registry of Historic Landmarks. It was a fabulous anniversary celebration.

Another great day in this city with my wonderful husband and beautiful baby!

Cincinnati, Day One

For our 2nd Anniversary (10/14), we went for a mini-vacation to Cincinnati, OH. We spent 3 days exploring this neat little midwest city. Actually, we spent quite a bit of time across the river in Kentucky, but still got to show Camden what Cincinnati had to offer.

We visited the waterfront to see the riverboats and Cincinnati skyline.

We ate dinner at the Hofbrauhaus restaurant. This Newport, KY location was the first authentic hofbrauhaus (brew house) in America. We went early and missed the nightly entertainment, but we loved the atmosphere and the delicious German fare.

We walked off some of the food and did some shopping at a large outdoor mall after dinner, then topped off the evening with a bowl of local specialty (and Oprah favorite), Graeter's ice cream. We enjoyed the original black raspberry chip & coconut chip flavors. Camden was too tired from the day and decided to nap instead.

Finally, we headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. Camden thought that was too much like a bath and protested just a little...

With lots of driving, walking, and getting in and out of the stroller, we didn't last long. Camden seemed to really appreciate being wrapped in her blanket back in the room. It had been a good, but long day!