Taste of Montgomery County 2009

Last year, one of our first outings with our newborn was to the Taste of Montgomery Co. It's a small festival in Crawfordsville, highlighting the various restaurants in the area. One of the nice things about this town, is it's big enough to have something like this, but small enough to make it enjoyable without a massive crowd.

We love to sample the various foods. We discovered a new Mexican restaurant in town that we are planning to check out this week. Austin and Camden added a new twist on the evening, because we had to choose things they would like as well. Of course, the potato curls were a must.

Look at a year ago.

She was a little alien then...now she's such a grown up girl!

And the homemade brats from Miller's Meats are also one of our favorites. Camden was only allowed to eat some of the bun - it's kinda spicy.

She loves people so much, too, that it was a perfect event for her. She got to flirt and "talk" to so many people.

She was pretty content with her own food, too. But who doesn't love a good animal cracker?!?

Learning to Crawl (again)

This past week, Camden has been determined to be mobile. She is pretty tired of sitting on laps and laying on the floor and doing nothing. So just like a newborn, she started rolling over.

Then she moved on to pushing herself up on all fours. Let me tell you, this takes quite a bit of ingenuity when one knee can't bend.

Finally, she got enough strength and will together to move herself along. In fact, yesterday, I put her down in the living room to play safely on the floor, went to the bedroom bathroom and took a three minute speed shower (literally). When I came out, wrapped in my towel, she was crawling across the kitchen floor. We are now back to having a curious, moving, toddler in the house....YEA!

Yes, those are pads on the floor. They belong to Camden. At 13 months, she has to wear them (I thought it was suppose to be 13 years). Because she has to wear a number 1 diaper to fit inside her cast, and the absorbancy is too small for a 1 year old's kidneys, we also have to put 1/2 a poise pad inside the diaper. Oh well, it works - her cast has stayed dry!

A short clip of Camden in action.



She tends to lay down every few minutes...but I imagine it does get pretty tiring.

And, yes, by the look of some sort of crumb on her face (gross!), I realize I must now go vacuum the living room and sweep the kitchen floor.

Southmont Soccer

Austin is playing soccer this year for Southmont High School. They didn't have enough kids for a junior varsity team, so he is playing varsity. That means he gets very little playing time, plus he missed several practices with injuries from the accident. He got to play for the first time this past Thursday against Crawfordsville.

Camden enjoys going to the games (usually 2-3 days/week) and cheering him on. More importantly, she loves all the attention from all the other parents. At the first game, she had the whole stands repeating sounds after her. Then she'd laugh. She really enjoys being the star.

What she doesn't love is when the boys win. That's not exactly true. We are thrilled that the team is currently 4-0. What Camden doesn't like is that after a win, all the boys run across the field to the stands, clap in unison, gather in a circle, and shout "South, South, South, South" in deep male-teen voices. It scares her and she cries loudly everytime. And of course, everyone in the stands gives her more attention.

Boy, she's doomed to be a ham.

Gramma's House

Kevin and I are actively involved in a new truck search. We had a promising lead on one in Shelbyville, IN which is about 1 1/2 hours from us, but only about 20 minutes from Gramma Pat. Camden hadn't seen Gramma since her visit at Riley Hospital, so we thought it was a perfect excuse for the trip. We stopped for dinner after looking at the truck.


Camden was at her best. She has become so verbal and pleasantly "talked" up a storm with Gramma Pat. She also giggles and squeals so easily - both when provoked or unprovoked. She'll shake her arms wildly, then squeal excitedly. It's so hilarious. She definitely has discovered that she can entertain.

She has also discovered photographs. She came to my office the other day and was thrilled to see all the pictures of herself. She wanted to hold the frames and hug them or just look at them and smile. On Gramma's shelf was a picture from our wedding. Camden started pointing and saying "Daddy" until she got to "love on" the picture.

Camden had a great time sitting on Gramma's lap and showing her some other new "tricks."

Not quite sure why she loves that hole so much, but her finger is often finding it! Ugh!


After a delicious meal, we visited for a little bit, then had to get on the road so Kevin could get to work that night. Thanks Gramma for a great visit. We didn't get a truck on the trip down "South," but we had a great time seeing you!

I Love My Cousin

Camden finally got to visit her RaRa recently. Rachel had been babysitting her twice a week in the summer, but since the accident, Camden hadn't even seen her. Or more accurately, Rachel hadn't even seen Camden. And that made them both sad.

Camden and I stopped for dinner this week and they both hopped into their normal routine. Ring the bell, read a few books, walk around the yard (although this time Rachel had to carry Camden), and, of course, play the piano!

The pictures aren't blurry cause I'm a bad photographer...Camden is that excited and active when she plays...it's constant movement. And a happy day for both.

What's In a Smirk?

Cuteness...pure cuteness!

Cast Clinic

Camden and I went back today to Riley for a check-up on her cast at the Cast Clinic. Everything is progressing nicely...the x-rays show there is already some bone growth. We will go back in 3 weeks to, hopefully, get it off. I decided to have the green bow removed...it was really cute, but starting to get in the way too much. They wrapped a little more green around it to make it smooth, so now she just has a nice racing stripe!

It was interesting, though, that she cried anytime a nurse or a doctor came near her. One nurse said she probably does remember all the poking and proding last time and wanted nothing to do with it today!

On the way home, we stopped and did some grocery shopping. I discovered that laying her in the cart is actually a really great way to go. She loved making faces at me and playing with the groceries as I selected them.

We also had a girls only lunch at Chick-fil-a. Camden has discovered french fries!

She's one happy eater.

Camden's Flowers

The Church we attend has been especially kind and caring to us following the accident. One of the pastors phoned while we were at Riley's to check in, some of our friends from our Bible Study group came to visit, and the entire Bible Study group made us casseroles. I haven't had to cook since we got home! And the children's department sent Camden a flower bouquet.

She had to check them out first. And then decided they were just right...for playing with!

Thank you Pleasantview family for all the love!

Colts Training Camp

Kevin is still off work recovering from his injuries and I'm taking time off this week to care for both of them. Taking care of Camden is similar to a newborn. She is completely dependent on us. She needs her diaper changed every 2-3 hours because only a size 1 diaper will fit inside the cast. This includes through the night...so I'm getting up 2-3 times each night to change diapers - ugh!

So since we had the time, we decided to head 30 minutes down the road to Rose Hulman Institute of Technology where the Indianapolis Colts have training camp each year. Kevin has always wanted to do this, but never had the opportunity. I guess it's the upside of the accident - we are getting things done - both business and fun!

Camden wore her Colts cheerleading outfit. It is a 3-6 month dress, but now works as a perfect shirt...especially with her cast.

Morning practice was from 9:30-10:45am and we saw many of our favorites take the field.

Of course, there was Peyton!

But also Dwight Freeney, Joseph Addai, Tony Gonzales, Bob Sanders (sidelines), Dallas Clark (sidelines), and Offensive Coach Tom Moore.

After practice we braved the crowds and went down to the locker room entrance to try to get autographs. Peyton, surprisingly, worked the crowd a bit and came down the line. He, unfortunately, stopped about 5 people from us and went back in. We even tried to use Camden's cast (shameful, I know)...but he's an expert at blocking out all the screams for his attention.

Curtis Painter, a rookie out of Purdue, also came down the line. He "Boiler up"-ped and signed Camden's cast. Thanks #7!

It was a very fun morning and will proabably become a family tradition for us.

Camden was tuckered out and was zonkered about 2 minutes out of the parking lot...snack in hand.

Strolling Along

We are grateful to have the special car seat to be able to get Camden around in a car. But we were unsure what we'd do once we got someplace.


The cast makes her significantly heavier...and it's just ackward. She can't sit in a cart and we really didn't want to haul around pillows and blankets to put in the base of a cart in order to have her lay down. She's got her new wagon, but neither the rental vehicle nor our Buick have enough truck space to take that along.


Surprisingly, the umbrella stroller, with a blanket behind her back, actually works...and she appears to enjoy it and be comfortable. Off to the mall we went!