HalLoWeEN W-EEKenD 2009

Thanks to germs that infested my house the week of Halloween was almost bust. Eden managed to be well enough for her party.

Maya was not.  By lunch I realized that Maya was well enough but I didn't think it was right for her to miss school and still party.

I am Eden's room mom so I was in charge of the party. Luckily I have had a few years experience so I delegated pretty much everything. All I had to do was show up and bring some foamie stickers.

 

That night my sister's ward had a chili cook off and trunk or treat.

I am very picky about  my chili...give me Nalley's please...so I brought a crockpot full of Nalley's and totally forgot to bring candy.

We enjoyed the festivities...

 

Notice how Aric didn't dress up this year? Yeah I'm bugged about that. In fact I am bugged that out of all of my friends and family, I am the only adult that dressed up, or ever does. An Old Navy "Happy Halloween" t-shirt does not count....I repeat DOES NOT COUNT! 

However crazy hair, funky tights/socks, and black fingernail polish TOTALLY count!

 

Saturday morning Eden had her last soccer game of the fall season. She could hardly walk do to the shin splints she was experiencing but with some physical therapy from Papa Joe and some encouragement from mom and dad she was in the game.

On the way home we took the back roads and found a pumpkin stand...all pumpkins $1.oo! Since our trip to the farm was rained out the week before we still hadn't gotten any. Well we grabbed plenty at the stand and carved them when we got home.

 

That night Camden was feeling pretty sick so he stayed back with my mom while Aric, Joe and I took the girls trick or treating.

Eden was still nursing her shin splints so Aric helped her out...

 

We have some pretty fun neighbors...

Maya does not like going to their house, she prefers the not so scary decorations...which is why our house looks like this...

 

After getting kiddos to bed, Aric and I went to watch a scary movie with our scary movie friends, the Sampson's. Only the movie wasn't scary at all...but that was okay. We've had some bad luck recently with scary movies...like being too scary, too ridiculous, or too boring....

Sunday was quiet, sort of...I kept the girls home because of their coughs and Camden was still sick, so Aric and I took turns going to church. The thing is the girlies really could have gone, they were making me crazy with all their tattle tailing. I was so happy to get out of the mad house!

I had Young Women's in Excellence which has consumed a lot of my time but it turned out great. I was in charge of decorations, the armor, the punch and I had to give a talk! I know that Heavenly Father gave me just enough energy to get through that night because when I woke up this morning I could hardly move or breathe. I got the cold germ that I tried so hard to avoid.

I know there are a few of you who also serve in the YW's program who read my blog, so I thought I would share...

Our theme was putting on the armor of God.

Each girl shared a goal/experience that they have recently passed off. They told how that experience helped her strengthen her armor.

Then she would put a piece of the armor on our model...

Early we had taken pictures of the girls doing things that strengthen their armor...praying, reading scriptures, going to church, etc...then we put them on shields that they took home. The shield said, "Have you put on your armor today?"

 

The girls wore head pieces that represented the value experience that had accomplished.

I love serving these young women! They are precious, and worth every minute of the time that I gave in preparation. I truly get more out of teaching them, they get from me.

What a day!

5:00 am~ Camden decides to wake up for the day. Not okay. But I am too tired to try to put him back to bed so I bring him into bed with me and Aric. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb. Aric was not pleased with my decision, and after being smacked, kicked, and poked for over an hour he put Camden back into his crib.

7:00 am ~ Go time. But instead I have Aric hit the snooze.

7:15 am ~ Still hitting snooze.

7:30 am~ Have to wake up for reals this time. Go wake up the girls.

7:45 am~ Breakfast and scriptures.

8:00 am ~ Get kids dressed and fix their hair. It's picture day.

8:15 am ~ Load up girls go to piano lessons. I stay and keep the piano teachers little ones busy so she can teach Maya.

8:55 am ~ Drop off girls at school.

9:05 am ~ Take Shower. Get Dressed. Fix Hair.

9:18 am ~ Visiting Teachers are here.

9:50 am ~ Visiting Teachers are gone. I walk over to my friend Heather's house because she is watching Camden so I can help out in Eden's classroom.

11:35 am ~ Finish up in classroom. Go and get Camden.

11:45 am ~ Load up Camden's diaper bag, head out the door.

12:00 pm ~ Stop by my hair stylist's house to cheer her up.

Are you still with me.....

12:30 pm ~ Drop Camden off at my sister's so he can take a much needed nap while I finish the rest of my crazy day.

12:45 pm~ Go to the Seminary Building to take pictures of some of the girls I teach at church. We have a big thing coming up that I need these pictures for.

1:15 pm~ Have a lengthy conversation with the guy at BYU who is in charge of printing my book. It was a conversation that I have waiting to have for the past two weeks! Good news my book will be printed tomorrow! That means sometime tomorrow afternoon, you, and everyone you tell, can get it at byubookstore.com.

1:45 pm~ Go to Toys R Us to get a new kareoke cd for Eden's kareoke machine that she is dying to play with.

1:55 pm~ Run into Ross to grab one more skirt for Maya's dance class.

 

I'm in charge of the costumes and found these darling skirts for 8 bucks! They will wear them with a black leotard.

2:15 pm~ Head over to the high school to pick up some of my church girls so we can go have ice cream to celebrate Nicki's birthday.

3:15 pm ~ Pick up Maya, Eden and my tutoring student.

3:20pm ~ Tutor

4:20 pm ~ Take student home. Head to my sister's house so we can watch her kiddos while she and my brother in law go to the temple.

5:10 pm ~ Make sure my niece makes it to her piano lesson.

5:15 pm~ Feed two babies and six big girls. Thank heavens Evelynne had already made the food...

(Me and Maxo)

7:15 pm ~ Head home.

7:35 pm ~ Put on pajamas. Give lecture to my first and second born on how dessert is not to be expected every single night. Remind them how I NEVER had dessert growing up unless it was someone's birthday.

7:45 pm ~ Check emails and begin writing this post.

It is now 8:10pm and the rest of the night will go something like this...

Clean up the kitchen. Put put kids to bed.

Watch the Biggest Loser while I tape So You Think You Can Dance.

**SYTYCD....was so amazing last night! I LOVED the contemporary dances, and the hip hop was so good. The tappers were okay, I think they needed a better song. But honestly, that opening number by Wade Robson was INCREDIBLE! **

Work on my talk and a project for Young Women in Excellence that is coming up on Sunday.

 

Snuggle with Aric, and go to bed.

I am sooooooo grateful that everyday is not like this. It was a busy day, full of lots of good things but I am WIPED OUT! It's days like today that I have to laugh when I think that my title is  "stay at home mom". During my visiting teaching visit, my friend Kris told me not to get overwhelmed by all of the busyness that today had in store, but to enjoy every activity and be in the moment. She even called me at 5pm just to make sure that I had survived my day.

I followed her advice and I have to say that I truly enjoyed my day. All of it. I can't even tell you the highlights because there were too many.

Tomorrow's agenda....get kids off to school, take care of Camo, clean bathrooms, sweep, vacuum, and maybe a leisurely fall run.

Milestones

Camden recently had his first haircut...

before:

 

during:

 

after:

 

 

Cut his first tooth...

 

And took his first steps...

His shirt says it all...

 

This next video is funny, he looks like he is dancing.

 

I'm having mixed feelings about these milestones...my baby is growing up.

A Friendly Reminder...

You might want to check your child's back pack Friday after school verses Monday at 8:46am, which just happens to be the time they are supposed to be heading out for school!

Why? You ask....well because you might just find this sitting inside of it.

 

Yes my friends I made 25 little chicks  in 40 minutes.

 

I believe this is my second Mother of the Year award. Two in one year! Go Me!

Dear Mr. Favre...

 

I am married to a the biggest Viking fan that ever was.

When I met him eleven years ago, I barely knew who the Vikings were and I didn't even know that you existed. It only took watching a few games, and few nights of Sports Center to figure out that this relationship that Aric had with the Vikings was deeper than I had ever imagined. And that you, Mr. Favre, were enemy number one. I learned quickly about the rivalry between the Vikings and the Packers. I had to put away my love for the green and gold, which were my high school colors and embrace the purple and gold that happened to be my high school rivals color. Every time Aric heard your name, or anytime the Packers won, it made his blood boil.

So you see, I have spent eleven long years watching my husband's Vikings get burned by you and those Packers.

As the seasons have come and gone, I have watched Aric's super bowl dreams get dimmer and dimmer. He has always stayed true to the Vikings, even when they have broken his heart.  He records the Sunday games and savors those rare Monday night showdowns.

When the rumors began about you joining our beloved Vikings it was hard to even let the thought cross our minds. We never thought it would happen. But you did it, you traded your green for purple. I have to admit we were very skeptical about it all. It was so strange to see you in that Vikings jersey. I wasn't sure if Aric would ever be able to change his feelings towards you.

I am happy to report that you have done the impossible. You have softened Aric's heart. You have put a spring in his step. You have put a twinkle in his eye. You have played like a warrior and you have brought new life to our team. As of yet, Aric will still not allow himself to fully ignite that Super Bowl dream just yet, but if you keep playing the way you are, it is only a matter of time.

So THANK YOU Mr. Favre, for giving us a reason to wear our purple proudly. Never in a million years would I have thought that we would raise our kids to be Brett Favre fans...clearly these are the "last days". I would also like you to know that we will no longer make fun of your name or your age. You have earned our affection and we stand in awe of your skills.

Sincerely...Your Fan,

Jessica A.

GO VIKES!

Things I love about Camden (10.5 months old)

He loves to crawl under stuff and get stuck. Every single day I find him stuck under my desk, under his walker or under the piano. His favorite place to get stuck is under the kitchen table...

 

He can stand up for very long periods of time but he still can't walk.

 

He likes to suck/chew on my shirt, on my shoulder. The shoulders of my shirts are usually crusty and soggy. Gross but cute.

 

He likes to eat. He gets very impatient when he sees us making his food.  Normally it doesn't take that long to get his food ready but lately Aric has gotten really into the baby food grinder, so it takes longer than usual.

 

Camden took his sweet time figuring out how to put things in his mouth. He just started doing it a couple of weeks ago. On one hand it was great because I didn't have to worry about him choking on stuff, but now it is so nice to have him sit in his high chair and eat stuff.

Now that he's gotten the hang of it he tries to put his whole hand in his mouth.

 

It is finally cold enough to put warm jammies on Camo. Aric and I couldn't stop laughing when we put these on him...

 

 

When I check on him at night this is what I find...he likes to sleep with his little bum in the air...

 

For most of his short life, Little C has been a pretty mellow baby. But this kid definitely has developed his lungs. It's like he just realized that he could be loud.

 

(Notice the toes...well that's because he rubs his feet like a cricket so we can't keep his socks on him. Today I got him some Robeez...they stay on.)

 

Camden has recently discovered his fingers. In this picture he is showing me his thumb.

 

 

This kids hair is OUT OF CONTROL!!!!

(I took this picture while he was sitting on Grandma K's lap. I didn't realize it until later how it looked like he had an afro!)

We seriously have to do something about this hair soon. Aric is very protective of Camden's hair and he won't let me touch it.

Needless to say it is not growing in very even. I wish I could get a better picture of his tight little curls.

 

This next picture isn't the greatest quality but I love his sweet little expression. As you can see by his drooliness, his teeth are finally coming in...YAY for teeth!

 

What's not to love...really!? Sometimes I will just stare at him with a giant grin on my face, I can't believe that he is mine. That he is really here to stay. Maybe it's because of all the D.R.A.M.A that we are experiencing...who knows.

What I do know is with this adoption stuff still hanging over our heads, it's so easy to get frustrated. I try not to let the weight of it squash me. Most days I do pretty good. But lately I have had to make a conscious effort to not be angry or bitter. I just can't believe that Camden is almost eleven months old! That means we have been dealing with this legal stuff for almost a year! When I find myself going to that ugly place, I look at that precious face and I am comforted.

I know that Camden is worth every single moment of stress, every single dollar spent and every hour of work I've had to do just to get us this far. So today, just like every other day, we are still hoping and we are still praying, that this month we will finally make some progress.

I just realized that most of you don't know exactly what the DRAMA is....well let me tell ya.

Right now we are trying to terminate paternity, something our lousy agency didn't do. The problem is that the laws in my state are way different than those in South Carolina. The details are long and boring so I will spare you them. But for now we are grateful to finally have an attorney in South Carolina who seems to know what he is doing. We thought we were going to have to go back to S.C. but now it looks like we may not...we'll see.

The other thing we are still dealing with is the financial issue with the agency that we got stuck working with. They found us on line, the day C was born, and because they were working with our birthmom we had to switch over to them. They left us high and dry and want us to pay them a RIDICILOUS, and I mean RIDICULOUS amount of money for services they did not provide. In fact, we had to pay other people to do the work they didn't do! Again, more long...boring details. Bottom line is, we have been trying to settle things with them but they are not cooperating.

I wish I had more happy news. I feel like my adoption updates are depressing. One of these days I will have great news. One of these days I will have a birth certificate. And that birth certificate will have Camden's name, Aric's name and my name on it. It's crazy how a little piece of paper can mean so much...but it does.

So I leave you with a much happier note...someday, hopefully soon...hopefully before Camden is bigger than me...

 

...we...

...will be here.

 

High Fashion

This is another rewind post. Let's go back to the first week of September...

My mother in law, Kathy, decided to take the girls for a back to school shopping trip. Afterwards we had a fashion show, complete with music and choreography!

So here are the outfits...

Outfit number one ~ Casual in khaki

 

Outfit Number Two ~ Flashback with a  modern edge.

 

 

Outfit Number Three ~  Eden is Trendy Conservative, and Maya is Cute and Comfy.

 

Camden giving his critique...

 

Outfit Number Four ~ Sunday Casual

 

Outfit Number Five ~ Modern Day Pioneer

 

Outfit Number Six ~ Pretty in Plaid

Thank you Grandma Kathy for the fun shopping trips. You are the best!

Camden is feeling a little left out, I will do a post on him next time.