Ringing Bells

Camden's cousin Rachel, aka RaRa, showed Camden the new bell at their house.

Camden even gave it a try.

Eden's Visit

Ashley and Graham Bodie, friends who moved to teach at LSU last summer, were back in town for the week. Camden and I went to visit them and their one-year old daughter, Eden, on Memorial Day.

Dave and Laura, our hosts, had 2 cats and a dog. Camden loves animals and wanted to play with them all.

It was great to see Camden interact with another child about her age. Eden is very social and grabbed and kissed and played with Camden. I liked seeing how Camden handled herself. She took it like a trooper - very calm and playful right back. She even let Eden take her "Nippy," put it in her mouth, then back in Camden's.

It was wonderful to have my daughter be with these dear people, even for just a brief afternoon.

Graduation

Kevin's neice, Amanda, graduated from Southmont High School on Saturday. Camden went to help celebrate this tremendous achievement.

She enjoyed all the people and all the sounds. We loved how she echoed everyone's cheers. Camden entertained many people around us!

Grandma commented that she held her youngest granddaughter while she watched her oldest granddaughter graduate.

Daddy liked all the kisses Camden wanted to give.

Congratulations, Amanda!

First Trike

Camden had a few "big girl" toys in the garage. A beautiful sunny day was on tap so it was time to dust them off and see if she was ready for action.

Of course, our fearless, curious little one wanted to try them both. First was the rocking Elmo.

She loved his nose best of all!

Then she hopped on the little trike. She was fascinated by all it's gadgets and barely wanted to look up at the camera.

Camden is ready to go!

Bubbles in the Backyard

Go Boilermakers

Go Boilers, Go!

Standing Up

Camden stood on her own Saturday night. And not just the "2 second when I let go of something then fall" standing, but the real deal. She grabbed on with her toes and fought to balance. She stood for a good 30-45 seconds...or more!

Now don't look too close. 'Cause yes, it is butter in her hand. I had to borrow a stick from Grandma and gave it to Camden to hold for a second. She was completely enwrapped in it, that she didn't notice she was standing.

Actually...she got it to her mouth and got some teeth into the stick without me realizing she was getting a good taste. It was only when I stopped cheering loudly for the standing effort and pulled it back from her face that I saw the grease-stained chin and realized why she was more than happy to stay standing...she was eating butter!

Oops!

Storms

Friday night started out with a nice rain. I took Camden out in the yard to see if she liked the cool water on her. She thought it was a good time.*

And wasn't thrilled to come in**.

But then it stormed. Kevin was at work when the winds howled, the lightening and thunder shook the house, and we briefly lost power. I never heard a tornado siren, but all the signs throughout town on Saturday morning point to a very powerful storm. Many, many trees were down or limbs sheared off, shingles were scattered throughout the streets, and the old grocery store in town took the hardest hit.


* our battery was dead on our new camera, so we used an old one...whether it's to blame or it's user error, you'll have to excuse some of the blurriness in the pictures.

** oh, my...those bluest of eyes!

Pots, Pans, and Pounds

While I'm cooking dinner, Camden's new distraction is to play with the pots and pans. Thanks Auntie Carole for the start of this fun new activity.

We also had her 9-month check-up at the doctor on May 7 and Camden weighed 19 lbs. 4 ozs. and was 28" long. Perfect in the 50 percentile!

Beauty in the Grass

My friend Margot gave Camden a few outfits her daughter Zoe had outgrown. One of my favorites was a cute blue sundress with a hat. Camden donned it today and we had to have a photo shoot in the yard, because she was just so stinkin' cute!

I cropped many of them close, because she has so many classic faces lately I wanted to capture them.

I'm So Cool

It's summer and so it's time to break out the shades. We grilled out with Grandma (and Grandpa) French for dinner on Mother's Day. Since it was a wonderfully sunny evening, Camden needed her sunglasses.

Hard to believe that 9 months ago, in some of her very first hours, she wore these same sunglasses.

She IS so cool!

Mother's Day

Camden made my first Mother's Day so special. She had her Daddy buy a beautiful locket that said "Mom" in which we could place a small picture of her. Then she had him get an amazing bouquet of roses. Such a thoughtful young lady.

It was a perfect day and I felt so loved!

Bad Mama

Kevin and I took the day Friday and went to Badlands Recreation Park. This is a 4-wheeling paradise. Now, I've only rode on the back of Kevin's about 5 times and drove myself a couple times around our yard, so this was quite the adventure for me. And I was a Bad Mama at Badlands!

That's Kevin and me on one of the smaller sand hills.

We went with a friend from Kevin's work (Gabby) and his wife Bella.

It had rained quite a bit the night before so the terrain was very flooded which made for a fun excursion. Each of us got stuck several times and had to be towed out.


I really enjoyed the circles and figure 8's.

Kevin was a master at going through the deep mud holes.

This outing also marked the first time we had someone babysit Camden at our house. Camden's cousin Lauren, was the perfect first timer. Camden adores "LaLa" and they had a superb time playing and hanging out together.