June 10

Well, we haven't officially announced this to the world yet, but for anyone who still checks this to see if anything new is on here, you get a special treat! We are pregnant! After 5 years of trying for a second child, the Lord has answered our petitions of Him! The total God part is that we had completely quit trying as I have a herniated disc in my lower back that cause sciatica. It can be severe, and I was waiting to see a neurosurgeon to find out how bad it was. God thought this would be a good time to surprise us! I am due June 10, which was the same due date as Camden's! God is so good!

I am about 7 1/2 weeks along by measurement, 8 weeks tomorrow by due date. We had our first ultrasound last Thursday, and everything looked good! We heard and saw the heartbeat which was 127 bpm. I was 7 weeks and 1 day, but I measured 6 weeks 4 days. They don't want to change the due date yet, and I certainly don't want them to! It's too cool the way it is. They said that everything looked good and that I had probably ovulated on like day 18 instead of day 14 and that would explain the difference in measurement. The due date is just a guess anyway. Kind of a time to look forward to and have your ducks in a row. Of course, Camden was 3 1/2 weeks early. Some of my ducks were still swimming around the pond when he arrived, so I'll be better prepared this time! I have been talking to the baby trying to convince him or her to wait at least till Memorial Day to make an appearance. (I originally said Labor Day as I often get the two confused, but I had to quickly correct myself as Labor Day is totally out of the question!)

We have our 2nd ultrasound this Friday. I should be at or closer to 8 weeks either way, and things should have changed a lot by then. I'll post pictures after that visit. The baby will be bigger and easier to see by then.

We are praising God for how wonderful He is. Camden is truly excited to be a big brother, and he tells people he will be a good big brother. We think so too. He is so helpful and really loves the baby already. He is trying to help us think of names, except he really thinks outside the box. He is reading very well already using phonics, so he puts letters together for names by the phonics. A few of his names so far have been: Oxo, Clugh, Oraen, & Erec (to be different than him & Daddy). He comes up with many everyday. Camden would like to have a baby brother, but he thinks the baby will be a girl. I know he'll love a sister, but I'm sure he's thinking of having a brother to play with down the road. Either way, it will be fun! He even graciously is giving up his playroom (eventually) to make a nursery for the baby. My sweet little man is so loving toward his sibling!

Sounds so weird to say that! It's been so long. I'm doing pretty well, although I have an aversion to smelling or thinking about food. We've eaten out way too much as I really have a hard time cooking anything. It's either hit the fast food or buffets so that I can eat pretty much as soon as I first smell it. Otherwise, I get really nauseated. Thankfully, I don't have morning sickness like so many do. I just get indigestion and nausea all day long. I'm just glad to not have to stay at the big white throne like others!

Well, I'll end here for now. Sorry it's been so long. If there are any readers still out there, thanks!

We have conquered!

After a collaborative effort of Daddy, Mommy, Aunt Lori, Mr. Walter, GaGa, Mimi, & even Camden's help and hard work, we have conquered the treehouse/fort/swingset/jungle gym/contraption!
It took at least part of the last 8 days (except for Wednesday cause of church) including one night of Eric working in the rain to put this thing together. 5 huge boxes of pieces of wood, hardware, etc and 112 steps of directions (an example of one step is to screw 32 boards to the main frame...etc) has provided Camden with something to enjoy until he turns 10, but most likely until he no longer fits through it (he's light as a feather).


Now, if you know us well, then you know that there is no way on earth we were going to pay the $1600 price for this thing that Sam's wanted. We had always said that it was way too much, and we could live with the small, hand-me-down swingset we had. Well, that was until last Friday when Sam's marked this thing down to $840. Almost half-price. You know me...I can't pass up a bargain! We did sleep on it to follow our "big purchase" rule. We realized that our sweet little boy wouldn't be little but once, and it was worth it! As you can see above, our little monkey is having a blast! Daddy's outside now with Camden and his friend who lives behind us playing and enjoying the finished product! I think I'll go play now.... :)

First Day of Kindergarten

Thursday, August 7: Camden's First Day of Kindergarten!

Camden has a great teacher, Mrs. Lumpkin, at his new school. It's a private Christian school that is not far from our house. He did so well on his first day of school. He really likes Mrs. Lumpkin, and he enjoys school already. Daddy takes him to school which Camden really enjoys too. Mommy picks him up. We opted for half-day K because most of the instruction is in the morning, and Mommy didn't want him to have to grow up any faster than he had to! She's loved staying home with him for his first 5 years of life, and a full day of school can start next year!

His school has several campuses, and they want him to learn the name of the campus he attends. It's called the "M&M campus" because of the city/community location. So, they decorate with M&Ms everywhere to help the kids learn. He actually got a pack of M&M's to bring home his first day!The classroom is also decorated in frogs, which is just one of God's thumbprints on Camden's placement at this school. When he was born, we nicknamed him our little froggy because he would pull his legs up and then kick them out like he was a frog wanting to jump around. When we saw his name on a frog on the bulletin board in the hallway and then saw the classroom, we felt so overwhelmed with God's blessings on Camden's life! Below is a picture of our little froggy when he was just a day old:

Camden jumped right in our lives and blessed us immediately with his precious little life God created. As he's growing up and becoming more independent, we are truly thankful to the Lord for entrusting this precious child to us. Camden is such a joy to have as a son. We are truly blessed! I can't believe how quickly time has passed. Tune in next week for high school graduation pictures! It sure does seem like it goes by just that fast....

Mommy & Camden's Last Day Together before Kindergarten!

Wednesday, August 6, Mommy & Camden went to a local water park to celebrate our last day together as Camden being a preschooler!


We had a great day together eating pizza & cinnapies, floating at the Wave Pool, practicing our swimming skills in the big pool, and playing in the kiddie pools.

We had AWANA registration that night. Visit back soon to see pictures of Camden as a brand new Spark! (He finished Cubbies last year!)

Swim Lessons

Camden had 8 swim lessons in the afternoons for two weeks (Mon-Thurs) at the indoor pool at our gym. The picture above is the last day of class when the kids raced with the flotation devices. This is his 3rd year to take lessons, yet he has never really swam on his own until now. I guess we didn't spend enough time in the water in prior years for it to stick. However, we are swimming much more this summer than usual, and we plan to swim year round at the gym to keep up his skills.

He was so brave, and he now will swim underwater for short distances (longer ones if you just back up without telling him). We are so excited that he has had successful lessons. The picture below is him swimming to the wall by himself.



The picture below is Camden swimming to the ladder after jumping in the deep end. He swam a long distance (for him) from where he jumped in to the ladder. Sorry the picture is off center...it was an afterthought to take the picture, and I almost missed it completely. Overall, we had a great experience!

Disney World May 2008

Hi! I thought I'd set a new record and NOT wait 6 months to post vacation pictures! :) We made our first trip as a family to Disney World May 11-18.


Camden's Mimi & GaGa (Renee's parents) went with us too which was a huge help in keeping up with an adventurous 5 year old!

We flew out of Huntsville on Mother's Day, and we spent that Sunday evening at Downtown Disney. We did 6 Park Hopper Days and didn't see everything! My, what a huge place! If you are thinking about going anytime soon, may I suggest that we were really glad we waited to take Camden when he was old enough to not require naps and tall enough to ride almost all the rides. You have to be 42 inches to ride most rides there, and he was 43. We saw so many smaller kids crying because they couldn't ride many of the rides they saw. We were glad to not have to fight that battle! We stayed at the Pop Century Resort, and we used all their transportation to/from airport and to/from parks. We did save money using the Basic Dining plan too. We enjoyed all the major theme parks cram packed full of fun with character meals, thrill rides, and shows. We definitely learned what to do and what not to waste time or money on.Camden wanted to ride ALL the rides, even the scary ones! Here's proof that my brave little boy inspired his Mommy to go on Splash Mountain at night despite the fact that I had already decided that the first time I went (in the daytime) that I didn't have to do that anymore! I wouldn't have even done it in the first place except that I don't want to instill fears in my child that keep me from being "the fun one." I want him to be brave enough to conquer obstacles and only fear (respect) those things that he should (God, touching a hot stove, getting squished by a car, etc).
Eric and I celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary on Friday, May 16. We spent our anniversary at Animal Kingdom riding the Kali River Rapids over and over until evening. Then, it was time to attend Mickey's Pirate & Princess Party at Magic Kingdom. Eric had gotten me a ring for our anniversary back in November while we were in St. Thomas, USVI. It's beautiful. I had gotten him an iPod. However, that night, I was his princess, and he bought me my very first tiara. It even lights up! Ok, so it's plastic and has Disney characters on it, but it was nice to feel like a princess instead of a slave to laundry and dishes for a change!

Camden was actually 4 years old for most of the trip...he turned 5 at Disney World on Saturday, May 17. He had a good birthday breakfast with Lilo & Stitch, Mickey & Pluto, and family at Ohana's at the Polynesian Resort (Mickey & Camden pictured above on his birthday). We went back to Hollywood Studios to do some things we missed the first time like the Playhouse Disney area where Daddy got a good shot of Mommy & Camden together getting ready to watch the show!

We also revisited Epcot to ride the "Soarin'" ride one more time. That night, we had supper at the Garden Grill at Epcot with Mickey, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and our family. It was really good food. The restaurant slowly turned as you ate, but don't let that reel you into eating there. There's not much to see. However, the food was great, and it is a good character meal. Camden had a great birthday.

It seemed like a good idea at the time of booking the trip to leave early to come home so as to have time to rest at home before going back to the normal workweek on Monday. My mind wasn't processing that catching a 8 am flight out of Orlando would translate to having to have luggage at the bus by 4:30 am. It was nice to have time at home, but I think we will spend more of the day sleeping and at Downtown Disney before catching our flight home next time. Oh the joy of learning from experience!

I'm Not Too Good At This!

I learned to never make "promises" for my blog now....here you were promised pictures of our cruise in January, and it is May now and still not done! Good grief! I don't know how you guys and gals that post regularly do it. Maybe I just didn't get the "blog" gene....anyway, here is a pathetic attempt to add a few pictures....the first one is from our room balcony on the Royal Caribbean "Mariner" in St. Thomas, USVI. This next one is me & my sweet boy on our balcony in St. Maarten. The third one is what we woke up to every morning of Camden looking down on us from his bunk bed that pulled down across the top of our bed. :) The last one is my boys on the Royal Caribbean private island, Cococay, in the Bahamas. I hope to finally print some pictures this week and get our photo album done for you all to see!

Life has been crazy to say the least. I never knew I could go from coasting along quite well to pure and utter chaos so quickly! It is all good, and God is faithful to provide through it all completely. Forgive me for not updating sooner though. I hope to do better in the future. That's all for now!