Itsy-Bitsy Spider

Camden loves to sing. She especially loves, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider." She frequently will come up to you and put her fingers together and move them back and forth. Similar to the sign for "more" but with movement. She's telling you she wants you to sing. And she does the motions.

Here's an attempt to capture it on video...however the chair proved to be too much of a distraction. It's cute none-the-less.

Presents

We had a very nice family Christmas. Tradition has it that we have Papaw down for breakfast on Christmas Eve morning. Kevin had to work the night before, so he got home at 8am and the festivities began at 8:30. We had scrambled eggs, sausage and Monkey Bread (another tradition). Camden approved of the everything.

Then it was time for presents. Camden went in the living room and straight for her new rocking chair. She did her little "ooohhhhh," as she climbed in it. I couldn't believe that I actually found a rocker I liked on craigslist. It was in great condition...and a steal!

She then got right to work opening her stash.

I thought we'd have more fascination with the boxes, but she actually liked opening the presents, seeing what was inside, then going back for more. It was quite remarkable. Although that pesky tape got to be pretty annoying to her!

She loves her new vacuum cleaner. It sings the ABCs and numbers which she absolutely can't get enough of right now. It makes other cool sounds, plus their gadgets and buttons to push.

It's so cute to see her actually use it like a vacuum as she roams around the living room.

Probably the most annoying gift (to me) are the wooden puzzles. She likes the idea of them, but in general can't put the pieces in place, so we just have tons of puzzle pieces everywhere waiting to be stepped on by me...and those little knobs hurt!

She also got a cute camo sleeper from her daddy and a stuffed deer that she loves to hug and kiss. Actually, she gives those open mouth "baby kisses" so it's hard to tell if she's giving it a kiss or mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

After all gifts were open, we played a little Mario Kart on our Wii (one of Daddy's gifts). Even Camden got in on the action.

All in all it was a good morning.

And an exhausting one!

Merry Christmas

A few glimpses of our day...

...and a wish from Camden.

Saturday Visitors

The Braunds came down on Saturday to do some hunting, some shopping, and some football watching. Camden loved the company. Her cousin RaRa (or "ReeRee" in it's current Camden utterings) is always a favorite. She plays and plays and plays with Camden.

At the stores RaRa even carrys her, which pleases Camden to no end since she isn't confined to the cart. Although I must say the Tony Stewart carts at Home Depot are too cool. Camden loves "driving" in them!

Camden was happy when Daddy and Uncle Ric got home from hunting.

'Cause that meant it was time for supper. Her new eating trick is to dip everything. In anything. Ketchup, ranch dressing, water...or even if she can pretend to dip her food into something, it seems to make it taste better.

After some snuggle time with Aunt Carole,

it was time for a few presents. It wasn't really Christmas gifts, but we found some Colts attire that we knew Aunt Carole and Uncle Ric would like and so we bought them. Camden was such a good helper in taking them their gifts, but also helping to unwrap them. I think Christmas is going to be fun this year!

Plus Uncle Ric let her model the goods.

She may need something a bit smaller!

Can't Get Enough

This girls' expressions are too much. Those eyes always make me wonder what she is thinking...cause I know she is always thinking something! She's jabbering and jabbering all the time. Definitely trying to tell us stuff...full conversations...but we, of course, have no idea what she is saying!

Her face is broke out in the top picture which is usually a sign of teething (along with a bad diaper rash). She also has been crying in her sleep the past two nights. Sure enough, this morning when I was changing her, I saw that another tooth is popping through. I think that's number 13 or 14!


Now if we could only get some hair to grow!

Snap!

It's a brief clip, but I finally caught Camden "snapping" her fingers.

One Big Birthday Party

Grandma French had a birthday party to celebrate 4 of us who have December/January birthdays. Together, Brian, Kevin, Amanda and I total 144 years old!

Camden was a little astonished by such a big number. She can only handle 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 (and her ABC's). Just ask her!

We had a feast of popular Grandma dishes...homemade chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes, salad bar with all the fixings, hot out-of-the-oven yeast rolls...and a dessert spread for 50! Really, just the birthday cake, yummy lemon bars, and her famous cinnamon rolls; but for 8 of us, it was plenty.

Camden's favorite was the chocolate cake.

After dinner, Camden entertained us as usual. Dancing, reading, pointing at all the Christmas lights, and drinking from her mammoth special cup that she uses when at Grandmas.

She loves using a straw!

Camden was fascinated by her Uncle Brian. I think it's because he looks a little like her daddy and a little like her Papaw. Regardless, he makes her laugh.

It was a fun, delicious party...right, Camden?

Blue Eyes

Camden has been struggling lately to sleep in her crib. But last night she went down without a problem and stayed in the entire night. Yippee! Although I must admit I kind of like when she sleeps with me the nights Kevin is at work...I don't like the nights on the couch when he's home.


We had some extra time this morning after we were both up and ready and enjoyed playing and being goofy. I decided to take a few "us" pictures. Besides the fact that growing out a portion of my bangs makes me look like I have a really bad haircut, I love this picture. Though Camden's not smiling, she doesn't have a nippy in her mouth and you can really see those big blue eyes. Eveyone says she has my eyes, but if you look closely, they aren't the same color at all. I have more green and hazel in mine (from my father) and Camden's are crystal blue. Gorgeous!

Mommy and Daddy at Colts Game

We had a blast on Sunday! Aunt Carole watched Camden for the night, so Kevin and I had a date for dinner, a night at a hotel (well, I did; Kevin had to work), and a fun day at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Go Colts!

Colts Tickets

This week has been crazy...and makes a long story, so hold tight! Kevin and I were supposed to go to his annual Christmas Party for one of the committees he's on at work. It's so much fun. They put us up for two nights in the Crowne Plaza in downtown Indy, take us to a great steakhouse for dinner, then out to a show. Kevin attends meetings for two days, but we get the royal treatment at night...Kevin started vomitting on Tuesday night. At about 10am on Wednesday, it became apparent that I needed to leave work and head for home. We were both sicker than a dog for the next 24 - 48 hours. Needless to say, we cancelled our reservations.

Thankfully, Camden was able to stay at Grandma French's for the night. Although Grandma came down with the bug on Friday. Camden never got sick.

I was debating whether to go back to work on Friday, but decided since I had already taken it as a vacation day, that Camden and I would head to Indianapolis for some shopping.

While driving to the big city, I heard two separate announcements for Colts ticket giveaways for Sunday's game against the Titans. One was in the afternoon from 3-4pm at Meijer. I decided we had enough shopping that we could plan on going to that one. We got there about 2, but Camden was asleep. So I let her snooze for another 15 minutes, then did a quick loop through the store to see if there were any bargains. By the time we got to the deli area where they were having the giveaway, there were about 200 people in front of us...and it was only 2:30pm.

Camden was a little fussy, but it was snack time. Luckily we were by the produce and I grabbed a container of fruit and she was overjoyed. She loves her canteloupe!

The line moved quickly as you simply had to spin a wheel. Few people won. In fact I think only 3 had got tickets by the time it was our turn. We stopped to get a picture with some Colts cheerleaders and the people behind us went first.

I spun...and WON! Just like this guy a few people behind me. Camden and I apparently started a winning streak.

As you can see, Blue showed up. He got busy and entertained Camden for a while.

Miss America was there too! Camden only wanted Blue and, unfortunately, didn't want to pose for other pictures.

Did I mention I won Colts tickets...it also included VIP tickets to the Meijer Party Tent before the game - free food! I couldn't wait to get home and give Kevin his 40th birthday present. Am I a good wife or what?!?

Lafayette Thanksgiving

On Saturday, we headed to Lafayette to spend some holiday time with my family. Gramma Pat and Grampa Jim had come up too. Kevin hunted in the morning, then we went to Grammy's for a lunch of leftovers and visiting with her and Aunt Linda. Since Kevin and I don't host a meal, we never have leftovers, so we were happy with that option. Camden loved the apple salad and green bean casserole the best.

We went to the mall for a few hours of shopping then off to Aunt Carole and Uncle Ric's for games and more food. Camden got all kinds of fun attention from everyone, but especially her cousins LaLa and RaRa. I gave them my camera and asked them to take pictures. They got a few silly cute ones of themselves with Camden.

And then many of her escapades. Since Aunt Carole used to watch her all the time, Camden knew right where her stash of toys were. She headed for her basket of books.

Then her basket of toys.

She discovered that keys are used in a door and tried her best to lock us in.

Please note the most amazing dress Camden is wearing. She recieved it from Miss Lora, our friend in Colorado who hand made it. We got it in the mail on Friday and she HAD to wear it on Saturday. It is the most precious outfit!

Closer to bedtime, she got changed into her sleeper and still wanted to play. She loves to tickle the ivories and enjoyed looking through the music books.

And since she loves her shoes, RaRa thought she would enjoy some new rain boots. They were a little big.

She actually was giggling when she put these on, but it took us too long to find a camera and she got a little upset by the time we snapped this photo.

They captured how focused she gets on her activities. I love how she sets her mouth when she is concentrating.

It is also obvious how much she adores her cousins. The look on her face says it all.

It was a great day with my family. Kevin especially thought so, since he won EVERY game we played!