Thanks for the memories ...
- Cal's 30th birthday!
I have known Cal for nearly 1/2 his life!! Hard to believe! I could not ask for a better husband or father to my children. He is so generous and "there" it is amazing and I am one lucky lady! Love you Cal :) Cal had a great time on his 30th birthday trip to Seattle in December of '08. He caught a NFL football game with 2 buddies and saw some Seattle sights! I was due a few days before Cal's 30th, so he spent a fairly low-key birthday at home! All though, I do recall there being 3 birthday dinner's out!!!
- Emerson Marie Cameron, born February 16th at 8:58 p.m., 6 lbs 11 oz, 18", Sturgeon Hospital, St. Albert
Your first year has gone by SO fast Emerson, but you have brought more joy to our lives then you'll ever know! Well, perhaps when you become a Mom you may then understand! You are so sweet, smiley and cuddly. We love your cuddles and your smiles and just can't get enough of them and you and can not imagine our lives with out you :)
- Blake's 2nd birthday, May 5th
As we always say Blake, you are an amazing little boy! We can not imagine life without you. You fill our home with laughter and joy. Every day we thank our lucky stars for you. You are such a bright little man and amaze us daily! Your facial expressions, quirky ways and gentleness make you a very, very special boy.
- Many memorable camping trips this summer/fall
We love getting out in the great outdoors with family friends! We had a great time camping with my Mom and Dad, Linds and Jer, at the 1st annual Cameron family camping trip, camping with the Streadwicks, the Gillams and camping with our extended Smith family at the 2009 Smith Family Reunion! Blake loved playing outside and had so much fun, we hope Emerson will enjoy camping just as much this summer!
- Lindsay and Jeremy's wedding, Sunset Gardens, Las Vegas, Nevada, November 30th
We embarked upon our first "fly away" trip with the kids, to no other then Sin City!! A bit of an unconventional location for a family holiday, but surprisingly there are quite a few strollers to be seen in Vegas!! Fortunately, we had a fabulous time. The kids flew great (we received MANY compliments :), slept well and we had a lot of help from my parents and Aunt! It wasn't our first time to Vegas, so we didn't miss out on the typical gambling/shows holiday, as we'd been there done that so to speak! Although, Cal did participate in one poker tournament and I actually won $85 on a nickel machine!! We love Vegas and hope to go back soon!! Linds and Jer's wedding was as GORGEOUS as they were! Sunset Gardens was so pretty. Everything from A-Z was 1st class and well ... GORGEOUS!! And I tell you, those two looked like they had walked out of a bridal magazine! Hot stuff!! I had a lot of fun partaking in the pre-wedding preparations and stagette!!! We had a lot of time together to explore Vegas a bit and shop too, which was fun for us and Blake too! Of course Emerson being so young, I'm not sure I can say she particularly enjoyed herself, but she was good and did love her time in the Snuggli on her Daddy :)
2009 has been good to our family and we thank our lucky stars each and every day for a healthy, happy family. We are truly blessed and do not take a minute for granted.
Here's hoping 2010 will bring a new year full of many great memories, the best of health, the best of friends and many laughs and good times!!
Happy New Year everyone :)
Love The Cameron's
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
The Magic of Christmas!
We had a wonderful Christmas this year! It is so much fun enjoying Christmas with kids! Especially 2 1/2 year olds!! Blake really "got" Christmas this year, which made it even more fun :) We started some new traditions we hope to carry on with through the years! For 22 years I awoke on Christmas morning at my Grandma and Grandpa's house in Tisdale, Saskatchewan. It was hard to move on from that and I do miss those days, but as a married woman with a growing family, I am enjoying mixing those old traditions and customs with new ones and making new memories with my wonderful husband and children!!
On the 22nd Cal and I took Blake to Candy Cane Lane. We had an awesome time on the sleigh ride!! Blake was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for him to relax! He was pointing out all the Santa's and the Frosty's (what he calls all snowmen!) and shouting Merry Christmas to people walking on the sidewalks!! It was great! Another highlight was the Thomas decoration on one home's lawn!! I'm so glad we got to do that! Thank you so much to my Mom for staying with Emerson! After Candy Cane Lane we also drove by the "Christmas House" on 97th street. Personally, I feel it's a bit over done! Some how, each year they add more lights. Not sure where they'll add more next year, but I'd sure hate to get that electrical bill!!
Cal's vacation began on the 24th and we did some last minute Christmas preparations that day. There seems to always be some last minute running around to do on Christmas Eve! Emerson put on her cute Christmas p.j.'s, we took some pictures and she went to bed. Blake had a long nap that afternoon, so I decided to take him to the children's service at our church at 7pm that evening. I am SO glad I did!! We had a living nativity and Blake was an angel. It was absolutely adorable and we had a very special time together. When we got in the truck after the service Blake asked, "Where's Jesus?" I told him that Jesus was in Heaven and he then asked, "Jesus not at home?" I told him that Heaven is Jesus' home and then thought boy oh boy, I'm sure I'm confusing him even more!! When we got home, Cal came out and we sprinkled our reindeer food on the front lawn! We then went inside and put out cookies (4) and "snowman milk" a.k.a. egg nog for Santa, as well as 3 carrots for the reindeer (Blake was very specific about the number of cookies and carrots)! Then he put on his Christmas p.j.'s, sat for more pictures! and headed to bed!
I'm not sure if it was the Christmas excitement or not, but both kids were up EXTREMELY early on Christmas morning!! We finally got out of bed at 6:30! Blake was thrilled to see all that Santa brought and loved both his and Emerson's presents!! Emerson also enjoyed her presents and Cal and I loved having Christmas morning with our kids in our home. We had lots of time to play and get ready to head to Stony, since we were up so early!! We got to my Mom and Dad's house around 10 am. We opened gifts and Blake was very helpful with opening Emerson's and a few other presents as well! I know Emerson is too young to understand Christmas and opening presents, but she truly enjoyed some of her gifts. She didn't really have any of her own "girly" toys yet, so it's nice she has some now! We had our traditional Christmas morning wife saver brunch, which was very yummy and spent the day playing and visiting! We stayed over that night as well as the 26th night.
On Boxing Day we went to Gerry and Lesley's for a visit and to open the Cameron gifts! It turned out that Bruce and Kourtney were able to come by as well, so it was very nice to spend some time with them!! We had a great visit and the boys had fun playing!
The morning of the 27th we headed to Beaumont to visit the Hrdlicka's! We hadn't met Presley yet, so I was very glad we were able to catch up with them while they were near Edmonton!! Presely is gorgeous! She looks a lot like Nicholas, but as I told Candace "in a very feminine way!!" As always, we had a great visit and I was left feeling sad that we don't live closer to each other :( Hopefully one day!! I was teasing Brandon and Candace that I was going to put a bug in the RCMP's ear to prevent them from moving any further away and hopefully nearer!! Just kidding of course ... We also got to meet Bosco, Brandon's 12 week old, German Shepard puppy, who he is training to be a police dog. Bosco is SO adorable! I'd have a tough time being strict with the little guy! Which I suppose is the reason they do what they do and I do what I do!! lol!! We also got to visit with Tina and Barb, which was great! Tina gave Emerson a Christmas birth stone ball with her name on it, just like Blake's. They are gorgeous and Emerson's is purple, my favorite color, and is so pretty in the sunlight!! We returned home that afternoon and my parents came in with the rest of our gifts and Heidi! We enjoyed a Chinese dinner and said good bye to my Mom and Dad, as they were off to Saskatchewan, with Lindsay, the morning of the 28th.
We hope Emerson enjoyed her 1st Christmas and Blake his 3rd! We certainly enjoyed spending lots of time with friends and family and watching the kids! We find it is often a struggle to keep the gift portion of Christmas under control. It's hard not to buy too much ... but I think we all did a good job this year!! Sometimes the true meaning of Christmas is often pushed aside for presents and Santa Claus. Not that these are bad things, but we really want our children to understand the real meaning of why we celebrate Christmas. This year we decided to talk to Blake about why Christmas exists. We hope to teach our kids that the true meaning of Christmas is not only about getting presents, but about giving to others and celebrating how much they mean to us. This year we also chose a gift from each of us to purchase through Plan Canada. We will continue this tradition each year. Hopefully this will encourage us all to remember the real "reason for the season!"
Cal is off work until January 4th, so we are enjoying lots of family time! Today we played outside and took Emerson for her 1st sleigh ride! She really enjoyed it! Blake walked and had fun kicking the snow and helping pull the sleigh!! We hope to go swimming one morning this week and other than that we're going with the flow and just enjoying life!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with loved ones wherever you were. If you still have travelling to do, wishing you safe travels! We'll be back with one more blog before 2010 ;)
Lots of love,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
On the 22nd Cal and I took Blake to Candy Cane Lane. We had an awesome time on the sleigh ride!! Blake was hesitant at first, but it didn't take long for him to relax! He was pointing out all the Santa's and the Frosty's (what he calls all snowmen!) and shouting Merry Christmas to people walking on the sidewalks!! It was great! Another highlight was the Thomas decoration on one home's lawn!! I'm so glad we got to do that! Thank you so much to my Mom for staying with Emerson! After Candy Cane Lane we also drove by the "Christmas House" on 97th street. Personally, I feel it's a bit over done! Some how, each year they add more lights. Not sure where they'll add more next year, but I'd sure hate to get that electrical bill!!
Cal's vacation began on the 24th and we did some last minute Christmas preparations that day. There seems to always be some last minute running around to do on Christmas Eve! Emerson put on her cute Christmas p.j.'s, we took some pictures and she went to bed. Blake had a long nap that afternoon, so I decided to take him to the children's service at our church at 7pm that evening. I am SO glad I did!! We had a living nativity and Blake was an angel. It was absolutely adorable and we had a very special time together. When we got in the truck after the service Blake asked, "Where's Jesus?" I told him that Jesus was in Heaven and he then asked, "Jesus not at home?" I told him that Heaven is Jesus' home and then thought boy oh boy, I'm sure I'm confusing him even more!! When we got home, Cal came out and we sprinkled our reindeer food on the front lawn! We then went inside and put out cookies (4) and "snowman milk" a.k.a. egg nog for Santa, as well as 3 carrots for the reindeer (Blake was very specific about the number of cookies and carrots)! Then he put on his Christmas p.j.'s, sat for more pictures! and headed to bed!
I'm not sure if it was the Christmas excitement or not, but both kids were up EXTREMELY early on Christmas morning!! We finally got out of bed at 6:30! Blake was thrilled to see all that Santa brought and loved both his and Emerson's presents!! Emerson also enjoyed her presents and Cal and I loved having Christmas morning with our kids in our home. We had lots of time to play and get ready to head to Stony, since we were up so early!! We got to my Mom and Dad's house around 10 am. We opened gifts and Blake was very helpful with opening Emerson's and a few other presents as well! I know Emerson is too young to understand Christmas and opening presents, but she truly enjoyed some of her gifts. She didn't really have any of her own "girly" toys yet, so it's nice she has some now! We had our traditional Christmas morning wife saver brunch, which was very yummy and spent the day playing and visiting! We stayed over that night as well as the 26th night.
On Boxing Day we went to Gerry and Lesley's for a visit and to open the Cameron gifts! It turned out that Bruce and Kourtney were able to come by as well, so it was very nice to spend some time with them!! We had a great visit and the boys had fun playing!
The morning of the 27th we headed to Beaumont to visit the Hrdlicka's! We hadn't met Presley yet, so I was very glad we were able to catch up with them while they were near Edmonton!! Presely is gorgeous! She looks a lot like Nicholas, but as I told Candace "in a very feminine way!!" As always, we had a great visit and I was left feeling sad that we don't live closer to each other :( Hopefully one day!! I was teasing Brandon and Candace that I was going to put a bug in the RCMP's ear to prevent them from moving any further away and hopefully nearer!! Just kidding of course ... We also got to meet Bosco, Brandon's 12 week old, German Shepard puppy, who he is training to be a police dog. Bosco is SO adorable! I'd have a tough time being strict with the little guy! Which I suppose is the reason they do what they do and I do what I do!! lol!! We also got to visit with Tina and Barb, which was great! Tina gave Emerson a Christmas birth stone ball with her name on it, just like Blake's. They are gorgeous and Emerson's is purple, my favorite color, and is so pretty in the sunlight!! We returned home that afternoon and my parents came in with the rest of our gifts and Heidi! We enjoyed a Chinese dinner and said good bye to my Mom and Dad, as they were off to Saskatchewan, with Lindsay, the morning of the 28th.
We hope Emerson enjoyed her 1st Christmas and Blake his 3rd! We certainly enjoyed spending lots of time with friends and family and watching the kids! We find it is often a struggle to keep the gift portion of Christmas under control. It's hard not to buy too much ... but I think we all did a good job this year!! Sometimes the true meaning of Christmas is often pushed aside for presents and Santa Claus. Not that these are bad things, but we really want our children to understand the real meaning of why we celebrate Christmas. This year we decided to talk to Blake about why Christmas exists. We hope to teach our kids that the true meaning of Christmas is not only about getting presents, but about giving to others and celebrating how much they mean to us. This year we also chose a gift from each of us to purchase through Plan Canada. We will continue this tradition each year. Hopefully this will encourage us all to remember the real "reason for the season!"
Cal is off work until January 4th, so we are enjoying lots of family time! Today we played outside and took Emerson for her 1st sleigh ride! She really enjoyed it! Blake walked and had fun kicking the snow and helping pull the sleigh!! We hope to go swimming one morning this week and other than that we're going with the flow and just enjoying life!!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and enjoyed time with loved ones wherever you were. If you still have travelling to do, wishing you safe travels! We'll be back with one more blog before 2010 ;)
Lots of love,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Monday, December 21, 2009
We Wish You a Merry Christmas!!
We weighed and measured the kids on December 17th when we went for our flu shots. Emerson weighed in at 17 lbs 9 1/4 ounces. She is 65.4 cm long and her head circumference is 42.5 cm. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10 percentile for height and head circumference. But growing, so all is good!! Blake weighed 36.4 lbs and was approx. 40" tall. He hasn't gained much weight in the past few months, but has grown taller!! He's definitely a big boy! Our flu shots went good. Cal and I got the seasonal flu shot and the kids got their 2nd H1N1 shots and the seasonal flu shot. Like last time, Blake didn't even flinch or make a sound! Emerson cried briefly after each shot, but not for long! I'm going to wait until her 1 yr immunizations to get the 2nd seasonal flu shot. Between the four of us, we've had 10 flu shots to date! Crazy ...
We had a great week and weekend! Thursday we had our last Time for Two's class at the library. Friday we had our Preschool Christmas Party at the YMCA. It was a ton of fun!! We had a pot luck lunch, the kids did 2 crafts (a Christmas tree made out of a ice cream cone, candies and icing and a bag of reindeer food!), there was entertainment and Christmas carolling and Santa even made an appearance! Blake had a lot of fun and was smitten with Santa once again!! Friday afternoon our friends Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over for a visit. Berlyn is just under 7 months younger then Emerson! And absolutely adorable!! It was great to visit with them and see Berlyn!! Friday evening Cal and Blake has their last Bubblers class. They begin a new session in January. Saturday afternoon after the kids naps we headed to Stony Plain for my parents annual Christmas party. We had a blast and had fun visiting with lots of friends and family! Blake and Colby had a BLAST running around and playing!! They were so cute! Emerson went through a grumpy period right around her bedtime, but overcame it and we made it all the way to 9 pm before we had to leave!! Sunday we slept in (yes!!!) and made a gingerbread train after Blake's nap. Then my parents came over for supper. So it was a busy and fun few days!!
This week is a bit slower. We're all done our Christmas shopping and can't wait for Christmas Day! Blake's opened a few gifts already, so we've already seen his present opening skills at work!!! He can sure tear through them! Good thing Em needs his help! lol!! As I've said before, Blake is really enjoying the Christmas season this year. Another thing he loves about Christmas is the music!! His favorites are Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer!! He knows a lot of the words and often asks me to sing them to him!!
A friend of mine is coming over for lunch tomorrow and then tomorrow evening my Mom is going to come stay with Emerson while Cal and I take Blake out to look at some Christmas lights! I'm looking forward to showing him the "Christmas House" on 97 street! It's quite amazing!! Other than that we'll be wrapping presents and possibly doing some baking this week. I'd like to go to church on Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure we'll make it. The family service is at 7 pm and then there is a midnight service with communion. 7 pm is definitely too late for Emerson, and Blake as well. He usually goes to bed at 7:30 ish and we don't want to start out Christmas with a tired boy!! So that's okay, there will be many more years to come when the kids are older and we won't have to stick to bedtimes so closely!!
It will be nice to wake up on Christmas morning in our own home. It's also very nice to not have to travel during the holidays. We would love to be able to see more of our family at Christmas time, but we are all so spread out, which makes it difficult. We're going to my parents house on Christmas Day and staying there that night as well as Boxing Day night. On Boxing Day we're going to visit the Stony Plain Cameron's!! So it will be a great few days and the greatest part about the holiday season is ... Cal's holiday's!!! Cal's last day of work is the 23 and he doesn't go back to work until January 4!! Yay!
We're wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best during this holiday season! Safe travels to those of you travelling and we'll talk to you soon :)
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
We had a great week and weekend! Thursday we had our last Time for Two's class at the library. Friday we had our Preschool Christmas Party at the YMCA. It was a ton of fun!! We had a pot luck lunch, the kids did 2 crafts (a Christmas tree made out of a ice cream cone, candies and icing and a bag of reindeer food!), there was entertainment and Christmas carolling and Santa even made an appearance! Blake had a lot of fun and was smitten with Santa once again!! Friday afternoon our friends Eric, Christa and Berlyn came over for a visit. Berlyn is just under 7 months younger then Emerson! And absolutely adorable!! It was great to visit with them and see Berlyn!! Friday evening Cal and Blake has their last Bubblers class. They begin a new session in January. Saturday afternoon after the kids naps we headed to Stony Plain for my parents annual Christmas party. We had a blast and had fun visiting with lots of friends and family! Blake and Colby had a BLAST running around and playing!! They were so cute! Emerson went through a grumpy period right around her bedtime, but overcame it and we made it all the way to 9 pm before we had to leave!! Sunday we slept in (yes!!!) and made a gingerbread train after Blake's nap. Then my parents came over for supper. So it was a busy and fun few days!!
This week is a bit slower. We're all done our Christmas shopping and can't wait for Christmas Day! Blake's opened a few gifts already, so we've already seen his present opening skills at work!!! He can sure tear through them! Good thing Em needs his help! lol!! As I've said before, Blake is really enjoying the Christmas season this year. Another thing he loves about Christmas is the music!! His favorites are Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer!! He knows a lot of the words and often asks me to sing them to him!!
A friend of mine is coming over for lunch tomorrow and then tomorrow evening my Mom is going to come stay with Emerson while Cal and I take Blake out to look at some Christmas lights! I'm looking forward to showing him the "Christmas House" on 97 street! It's quite amazing!! Other than that we'll be wrapping presents and possibly doing some baking this week. I'd like to go to church on Christmas Eve, but I'm not sure we'll make it. The family service is at 7 pm and then there is a midnight service with communion. 7 pm is definitely too late for Emerson, and Blake as well. He usually goes to bed at 7:30 ish and we don't want to start out Christmas with a tired boy!! So that's okay, there will be many more years to come when the kids are older and we won't have to stick to bedtimes so closely!!
It will be nice to wake up on Christmas morning in our own home. It's also very nice to not have to travel during the holidays. We would love to be able to see more of our family at Christmas time, but we are all so spread out, which makes it difficult. We're going to my parents house on Christmas Day and staying there that night as well as Boxing Day night. On Boxing Day we're going to visit the Stony Plain Cameron's!! So it will be a great few days and the greatest part about the holiday season is ... Cal's holiday's!!! Cal's last day of work is the 23 and he doesn't go back to work until January 4!! Yay!
We're wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best during this holiday season! Safe travels to those of you travelling and we'll talk to you soon :)
xoxo
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Emerson
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Happy 10 month Birthday Emerson!
Yes, Emerson is 10 months old today!! Wow!! 2 more months until her big 1 year birthday!! How crazy is that?! She really doesn't seem like she's 10 months old (to me anyways!). I'll get her weighed when I take the kids in for their 2nd H1N1 and seasonal flu shots. But I think she's around 17 lbs. She just looks little to me! Some 10 months old are walking or near walking, but she's no where near, which I think also makes her seem younger! Which is fine with me - keep her little longer!!! It's been a great 10 months though and she's an amazing little girl! We all love her to death :) I think she'll be a bit more outgoing then Blake. She loves going to Blake's My 1st Preschool class and Time for Two's at the library! She sings (okay ... yells!) almost the entire time! It's very cute, but I hope not too disruptive at Preschool! Speaking of Preschool, Blake had his last class of this semester today. And his last class with Ms. Rosealee (I think I'm spelling her name wrong ...). She has taught him since April and we will miss her! She is a great Preschool teacher and although she may not know it, Blake really loved her! Of course in class, he's shy and quiet, but at home he talks about her a lot! She'll still be around the Y so we'll hopefully see her from time to time! Our next Preschool class begins in January. On Friday the YMCA is hosting a Preschool Christmas Party, which we're looking forward to attending. It is one big party for all the preschool classes - so Monday to Friday's My 1st Preschool and Fun Factory classes. Should be fun! Tomorrow we have our last Time for Two's class at Woodcroft library. And Friday Blake has his last swimming lesson until the New Year! Friday will be busy, because we have the Preschool Christmas party from 11 am - 1 pm, then our friends and Blake's godparents are coming over for a couple of hours in the later afternoon and then Cal and Blake have swimming! Saturday we are heading to Stony Plain for a Christmas Open House at my parent's house. Phew! Christmas season is a busy one!
We are so, so, SO happy that it is warming up outside! Hopefully we'll be able to sneak a couple of sleigh rides in before Christmas! Blake loves playing outside - rain, sun, snow, doesn't matter what the weather is! Thankfully, this year he is keeping his mittens and toque on. Last year he'd take them off and freeze and get upset! Blake had fun last weekend at my Mom's work Christmas Party. Apparently he was quite taken with Santa (again!) and had fun playing with some of the other kids at the party. Of course, he also enjoyed his sleepover! In fact, he didn't want to come home when my Mom told him it was time to go home! Cal, Emerson and I enjoyed some quiet time while Blake was visiting Grandma and Grandpa! The house sure is quiet without Blake home!! Which is nice for a short time, but we definitely would start missing him and his business ;) It will be crazy when Blake and Em go for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's!! Not sure when that will be, will have to be after I'm done nursing Emerson (obviously!). Cal and I will hopefully go on a short get away together before I return to work in March. We'll see!
Cal and I have both noticed that Blake has changed a lot in the last few weeks. He has had that independent streak for quite awhile now, but lately he's taking it to a whole new level!! He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself! Everything ... seriously!!!!! Which is cool sometimes, but it can be dangerous/frustrating/time consuming at other times! We're hoping that this, "I do it myself" business will come in handy when we start potty training in the new year. Still not looking forward to potty training, but we're thinking we should at least try while I'm still at home and have "time" to do it!! We enjoy hearing Blake use new words and phrases and can't believe what he knows and understands! He is a bit difficult to understand sometimes. We of course, are used to listening to him, so we usually don't have trouble understanding him, but others sometimes do. He continues to make us laugh with what he comes up with some days! A few days ago he told Emerson it was time to go home to Las Vegas!? We told him we are home and we won't be going back to Las Vegas for a very long time!! (well, hopefully Cal and I will be going back sooner!!) I guess he had a good time and wants to go back?! Blake knows all his colors, and has for some time, as well as shapes, and he has counted to 10, but it's hard to get him to count!! I knew he knew the basic shapes, but was surprised last week when he told me what an oval, rectangle, diamond and star were! With counting, it seems that the more we want him to count, the less likely he is to do it ... Stubborn streak!!! The time leading up to Christmas has been a blast with Blake this year! He loves Santa and some of the highlights of the Christmas season thus far include, decorating the house, visiting Santa at the mall, going to my Mom's work Christmas party and seeing Santa again, receiving a letter from Santa at the North Pole, Alaska (my Mom arranged for the kids to receive these letters when she visited the North Pole this summer!!), and receiving a personalized email from Santa!! He enjoys watching the email over and over and over again (thanks Tina!!!)!! We also talked to him a little bit about it being Jesus' birthday on Christmas Day. Which he was quite interested in ... he asked if we'd have birthday cake! lol!! So I told him no, but we do have a big celebration with lots of yummy food! I'm not quite sure how to explain the whole "reason for the season" to him, but hopefully as he gets older he will learn more at Sunday school!! The whole discussion began when we were putting our Nativity scene on our fireplace mantel. He wanted to know what it was and to play with baby Jesus, so I told him about Jesus' birthday and gave him another small nativity scene to play with :) We bought a gingerbread train at Sobey's last week, but haven't made it yet. But I'm guessing he will enjoy that project!! So December has been a fun month and we can't wait for Christmas Day!! It is so wonderful enjoying this time of year through a child's eyes!
Take care everyone! Good luck with those last minute Christmas preparations!!
Love Tracy
We are so, so, SO happy that it is warming up outside! Hopefully we'll be able to sneak a couple of sleigh rides in before Christmas! Blake loves playing outside - rain, sun, snow, doesn't matter what the weather is! Thankfully, this year he is keeping his mittens and toque on. Last year he'd take them off and freeze and get upset! Blake had fun last weekend at my Mom's work Christmas Party. Apparently he was quite taken with Santa (again!) and had fun playing with some of the other kids at the party. Of course, he also enjoyed his sleepover! In fact, he didn't want to come home when my Mom told him it was time to go home! Cal, Emerson and I enjoyed some quiet time while Blake was visiting Grandma and Grandpa! The house sure is quiet without Blake home!! Which is nice for a short time, but we definitely would start missing him and his business ;) It will be crazy when Blake and Em go for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's!! Not sure when that will be, will have to be after I'm done nursing Emerson (obviously!). Cal and I will hopefully go on a short get away together before I return to work in March. We'll see!
Cal and I have both noticed that Blake has changed a lot in the last few weeks. He has had that independent streak for quite awhile now, but lately he's taking it to a whole new level!! He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself! Everything ... seriously!!!!! Which is cool sometimes, but it can be dangerous/frustrating/time consuming at other times! We're hoping that this, "I do it myself" business will come in handy when we start potty training in the new year. Still not looking forward to potty training, but we're thinking we should at least try while I'm still at home and have "time" to do it!! We enjoy hearing Blake use new words and phrases and can't believe what he knows and understands! He is a bit difficult to understand sometimes. We of course, are used to listening to him, so we usually don't have trouble understanding him, but others sometimes do. He continues to make us laugh with what he comes up with some days! A few days ago he told Emerson it was time to go home to Las Vegas!? We told him we are home and we won't be going back to Las Vegas for a very long time!! (well, hopefully Cal and I will be going back sooner!!) I guess he had a good time and wants to go back?! Blake knows all his colors, and has for some time, as well as shapes, and he has counted to 10, but it's hard to get him to count!! I knew he knew the basic shapes, but was surprised last week when he told me what an oval, rectangle, diamond and star were! With counting, it seems that the more we want him to count, the less likely he is to do it ... Stubborn streak!!! The time leading up to Christmas has been a blast with Blake this year! He loves Santa and some of the highlights of the Christmas season thus far include, decorating the house, visiting Santa at the mall, going to my Mom's work Christmas party and seeing Santa again, receiving a letter from Santa at the North Pole, Alaska (my Mom arranged for the kids to receive these letters when she visited the North Pole this summer!!), and receiving a personalized email from Santa!! He enjoys watching the email over and over and over again (thanks Tina!!!)!! We also talked to him a little bit about it being Jesus' birthday on Christmas Day. Which he was quite interested in ... he asked if we'd have birthday cake! lol!! So I told him no, but we do have a big celebration with lots of yummy food! I'm not quite sure how to explain the whole "reason for the season" to him, but hopefully as he gets older he will learn more at Sunday school!! The whole discussion began when we were putting our Nativity scene on our fireplace mantel. He wanted to know what it was and to play with baby Jesus, so I told him about Jesus' birthday and gave him another small nativity scene to play with :) We bought a gingerbread train at Sobey's last week, but haven't made it yet. But I'm guessing he will enjoy that project!! So December has been a fun month and we can't wait for Christmas Day!! It is so wonderful enjoying this time of year through a child's eyes!
Take care everyone! Good luck with those last minute Christmas preparations!!
Love Tracy
Friday, December 11, 2009
Miss Emerson
Our little Emerson seems to be growing quickly these days, so I thought I'd write a little update :)
For one, she is growing!! I haven't had her weighed lately, but she is growing out of her clothes and feels like she weighs a lot more. She did lose some weight when she was not feeling well for a few weeks, but I think she's gained that and then some back!! Although she is still a smaller girl!
Emerson is finally choosing to be on her stomach. She enjoys sleeping on her tummy now and often rolls to her stomach when placed on her back! And she's reaching and moving a teeny tiny bit while on her stomach! The other day she surprised herself when she was sitting, reaching for something and went onto her stomach!! She has also been waving for awhile now, which is adorable! She has the chubbiest little hands and wrists I've ever seen!! And she loves clapping her hands! When you clap she looks at you with her huge grin and tries to clap too!! We do a lot of clapping to different songs at the library program we attend, which she love, love, loves!! She loves all the music and clapping and we always blow bubbles at the end, which is a huge hit as well :)
She continues to be VERY talkative!!! We love listening to her talk and having conversations with her. Of course we love hearing her say "Mom" and "Dad", although we know she's not directing the words at us yet, it's still nice to hear ;)
Emerson continues to be entertained and intrigued by her big brother. They have great conversations between the two of them every day! Blake's so good with her, although he is definitely the boss!! I love that I can leave them playing by themselves for awhile! I think it's good for both of them and I can get some things done around the house!!
Emerson is eating pretty much everything these days. I find that she enjoys soft, cut up food more than baby food. I try to give her lots of finger foods too, as she enjoys feeding herself. She tried yogurt for the first time a couple of weeks ago and LOVES it!! A few of the other foods she's tried recently are cheese, ham and chicken noodle soup! All of which she enjoys! She's going to try cottage cheese this week. It's great to see her eating more again! She still only has her two bottom teeth, but manages quite well with just the 2!
Emerson will be 10 months old on December 16th ... I feel like she's still 6 months old!! Unbelievable how fast her first 10 months and soon to be year, has passed.
Take care everyone and stay warm. We're staying inside today, avoiding the deep freeze outside ;)
Luv Tracy
For one, she is growing!! I haven't had her weighed lately, but she is growing out of her clothes and feels like she weighs a lot more. She did lose some weight when she was not feeling well for a few weeks, but I think she's gained that and then some back!! Although she is still a smaller girl!
Emerson is finally choosing to be on her stomach. She enjoys sleeping on her tummy now and often rolls to her stomach when placed on her back! And she's reaching and moving a teeny tiny bit while on her stomach! The other day she surprised herself when she was sitting, reaching for something and went onto her stomach!! She has also been waving for awhile now, which is adorable! She has the chubbiest little hands and wrists I've ever seen!! And she loves clapping her hands! When you clap she looks at you with her huge grin and tries to clap too!! We do a lot of clapping to different songs at the library program we attend, which she love, love, loves!! She loves all the music and clapping and we always blow bubbles at the end, which is a huge hit as well :)
She continues to be VERY talkative!!! We love listening to her talk and having conversations with her. Of course we love hearing her say "Mom" and "Dad", although we know she's not directing the words at us yet, it's still nice to hear ;)
Emerson continues to be entertained and intrigued by her big brother. They have great conversations between the two of them every day! Blake's so good with her, although he is definitely the boss!! I love that I can leave them playing by themselves for awhile! I think it's good for both of them and I can get some things done around the house!!
Emerson is eating pretty much everything these days. I find that she enjoys soft, cut up food more than baby food. I try to give her lots of finger foods too, as she enjoys feeding herself. She tried yogurt for the first time a couple of weeks ago and LOVES it!! A few of the other foods she's tried recently are cheese, ham and chicken noodle soup! All of which she enjoys! She's going to try cottage cheese this week. It's great to see her eating more again! She still only has her two bottom teeth, but manages quite well with just the 2!
Emerson will be 10 months old on December 16th ... I feel like she's still 6 months old!! Unbelievable how fast her first 10 months and soon to be year, has passed.
Take care everyone and stay warm. We're staying inside today, avoiding the deep freeze outside ;)
Luv Tracy
Friday, December 4, 2009
Our Vegas Vacation!
So from my previous post, you can see that the wedding was gorgeous and perfect! Those would be the 2 words I would use to describe it!!
The rest of our vacation was much the same! We had a great time! The kids did well on the airplane and in Vegas. We had many people tell us how well behaved and cute they were! Actually, through out our trip we had people telling us this!! Makes you feel like a good parent ;) They were so adorable in their wedding duds, but unfortunately I didn't have time to take a picture of them :( I know the photographer has pictures though, so we'll just have to wait for Lindsay to get those!!
We had a lot of fun shopping and seeing the sites together. We did a lot of walking and sight seeing! Some of the highlights were watching the Bellagio fountains, seeing the light show on Freemont Street, visiting the lion habitat at MGM, and lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I think the lions were Blake's favorite!! He sat on the railing around the enclosure and talked to the lions and roared like a lion. He had people around us laughing!! The night before we went to see the lions, we told him what we were doing the next day and he started getting excited! He said, "I see lions?" and we told him yes and he started asking about other animals!! "I see monkeys? I see tigers? I see elephants?" We told him we might see other animals, but we're not sure! As it turns out, the only live animals he saw were lions, but the Rainforest Cafe where we ate lunch had large, life-like tigers, elephants, monkeys, birds, etc, etc!! So he really enjoyed our lunch there! And he loved the cool aquariums! He had fun pretty much everywhere we went, no matter what we were doing! He brought Sam with us nearly everywhere and even convinced Grandma to by Sam some new clothes!! Like Grandma needed a lot of convincing ;) He wanted Sam to have a t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses just like he had!! Emerson also enjoyed sight seeing! She always started out in the stroller and ended up in the Snuggli! She's a kid who loves to be held and after a few hours in the stroller, she was ready to get out! Cal wore the Snuggli and boy oh boy did she love it!!! She kicked and "danced" and was such a happy girl!! It was very cute! We were very fortunate to have my parents and Auntie Kathy babysit a little bit, so we could maintain the kids bed times and get out!! Thank you SO much Mom, Dad and Auntie Kathy! And I have to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband for spending some of the first 3 days and most of the first 3 nights by himself with the kiddos while I was doing wedding stuff/partying!!! You're THE best Cal :)
Blake did an amazing job walking down the aisle ... the best lil' ring bearer I've ever seen! He was so, so good and CUTE!!! Emerson walked in with Cal and according to those who saw her she had the biggest grin on her face!!!!! Good time to showcase her famous smile ;) And Lindsay and Jeremy looked like they walked out of a bridal magazine photo shoot! I could go on and on about the wedding ...
Blake enjoyed having his own room with 2 beds. He pointed this out regularly!! "I have two beds. One to sleep on and one to play on!" The rooms were very nice and really big. The bathrooms were almost as big as the kids rooms at home! So Emerson did sleep in one of the bathrooms and it worked out perfectly! She was not disturbed and we didn't have to tip toe around too much!! We put a monitor in Blake's room and Em slept in our bathroom. I'm SO glad we went with 2 rooms! SO worth it!
We snagged many wicked deals while shopping. I bought my very own Coach purse. It's so pretty!!! I almost didn't buy it, but Cal talked me into it!! Then I found a deal on Ugg boots!! YAY!!! Cal bought some Colts memorabilia and clothes and we bought a lot of clothes for the kids! I LOVE shopping in Vegas!!! I love Vegas actually! I've been to a few different Canadian and U.S. cities and Cal and I have both been on a "hot" vacation and I have to say Vegas is my favorite vacation spot! I'm not a huge beach person, although I think I'd like 1 every 5 or so years!, but I'd like to go to Vegas at least once a year!! Love everything about it - the shopping, the shows (didn't get to see one this time), the food, the cheap drinks, the lights, the hotels and casinos, the people, the crowds, the noise, etc, etc, etc! Can't wait to go back!!
We flew back on Thursday afternoon and went to pick up Heidi straight from the airport. Blake told Heidi and Jazz he missed them and Emerson was very excited to see them too!! I love that our kids love our pets! Heidi did well at the kennel and Jazz was well looked after by his pet sitter! There was a bit of snow on the ground when we arrived home, but nothing compared to what today has brought!! WOW!!! It has snowed pretty much all day. Which is fine in my books - it is December and I love snow for Christmas!! Cal has cleared the driveway and the sidewalks three times so far and you can't even tell. Poor guy - thank goodness we have a snow blower!
We're slowly doing all our laundry and getting things put away. Blake was happy to see all his toys again! The first thing he did was pull out all his trucks and trains and take a spin around the family room on his Winnie the Pooh car!!! We are going to our nephew Colby's 2nd birthday party tomorrow, which will be a lot of fun! Blake enjoys visiting Colby's house and playing with his toys!! Next week we have preschool, Time for Two's, we have to get the kid's 2nd H1N1 shots and Blake is going to my Mom's children's Christmas party, which she is organizing! It's hard to believe Christmas is only 21 days away. We've been focused on my sister's wedding and Las Vegas for so long! Now it's time to focus on Christmas :) We're almost done our Christmas shopping and have the letter's to Santa mailed! We hope to do our Christmas decorating on Sunday. We always decorate on December 1st, but this year couldn't! Blake is going to love decorating the house. He points out Christmas trees and Santa everywhere we go!! I also plan to bake 7 dozen cookies this week for our the annual cookie walk at our Church. I have to deliver them to the church on Friday evening! Should be able to get it done by then!
Have a great week everyone :) Stay warm and safe on the roads!
xoxo The Cameron's
The rest of our vacation was much the same! We had a great time! The kids did well on the airplane and in Vegas. We had many people tell us how well behaved and cute they were! Actually, through out our trip we had people telling us this!! Makes you feel like a good parent ;) They were so adorable in their wedding duds, but unfortunately I didn't have time to take a picture of them :( I know the photographer has pictures though, so we'll just have to wait for Lindsay to get those!!
We had a lot of fun shopping and seeing the sites together. We did a lot of walking and sight seeing! Some of the highlights were watching the Bellagio fountains, seeing the light show on Freemont Street, visiting the lion habitat at MGM, and lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I think the lions were Blake's favorite!! He sat on the railing around the enclosure and talked to the lions and roared like a lion. He had people around us laughing!! The night before we went to see the lions, we told him what we were doing the next day and he started getting excited! He said, "I see lions?" and we told him yes and he started asking about other animals!! "I see monkeys? I see tigers? I see elephants?" We told him we might see other animals, but we're not sure! As it turns out, the only live animals he saw were lions, but the Rainforest Cafe where we ate lunch had large, life-like tigers, elephants, monkeys, birds, etc, etc!! So he really enjoyed our lunch there! And he loved the cool aquariums! He had fun pretty much everywhere we went, no matter what we were doing! He brought Sam with us nearly everywhere and even convinced Grandma to by Sam some new clothes!! Like Grandma needed a lot of convincing ;) He wanted Sam to have a t-shirt, jeans and sunglasses just like he had!! Emerson also enjoyed sight seeing! She always started out in the stroller and ended up in the Snuggli! She's a kid who loves to be held and after a few hours in the stroller, she was ready to get out! Cal wore the Snuggli and boy oh boy did she love it!!! She kicked and "danced" and was such a happy girl!! It was very cute! We were very fortunate to have my parents and Auntie Kathy babysit a little bit, so we could maintain the kids bed times and get out!! Thank you SO much Mom, Dad and Auntie Kathy! And I have to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful husband for spending some of the first 3 days and most of the first 3 nights by himself with the kiddos while I was doing wedding stuff/partying!!! You're THE best Cal :)
Blake did an amazing job walking down the aisle ... the best lil' ring bearer I've ever seen! He was so, so good and CUTE!!! Emerson walked in with Cal and according to those who saw her she had the biggest grin on her face!!!!! Good time to showcase her famous smile ;) And Lindsay and Jeremy looked like they walked out of a bridal magazine photo shoot! I could go on and on about the wedding ...
Blake enjoyed having his own room with 2 beds. He pointed this out regularly!! "I have two beds. One to sleep on and one to play on!" The rooms were very nice and really big. The bathrooms were almost as big as the kids rooms at home! So Emerson did sleep in one of the bathrooms and it worked out perfectly! She was not disturbed and we didn't have to tip toe around too much!! We put a monitor in Blake's room and Em slept in our bathroom. I'm SO glad we went with 2 rooms! SO worth it!
We snagged many wicked deals while shopping. I bought my very own Coach purse. It's so pretty!!! I almost didn't buy it, but Cal talked me into it!! Then I found a deal on Ugg boots!! YAY!!! Cal bought some Colts memorabilia and clothes and we bought a lot of clothes for the kids! I LOVE shopping in Vegas!!! I love Vegas actually! I've been to a few different Canadian and U.S. cities and Cal and I have both been on a "hot" vacation and I have to say Vegas is my favorite vacation spot! I'm not a huge beach person, although I think I'd like 1 every 5 or so years!, but I'd like to go to Vegas at least once a year!! Love everything about it - the shopping, the shows (didn't get to see one this time), the food, the cheap drinks, the lights, the hotels and casinos, the people, the crowds, the noise, etc, etc, etc! Can't wait to go back!!
We flew back on Thursday afternoon and went to pick up Heidi straight from the airport. Blake told Heidi and Jazz he missed them and Emerson was very excited to see them too!! I love that our kids love our pets! Heidi did well at the kennel and Jazz was well looked after by his pet sitter! There was a bit of snow on the ground when we arrived home, but nothing compared to what today has brought!! WOW!!! It has snowed pretty much all day. Which is fine in my books - it is December and I love snow for Christmas!! Cal has cleared the driveway and the sidewalks three times so far and you can't even tell. Poor guy - thank goodness we have a snow blower!
We're slowly doing all our laundry and getting things put away. Blake was happy to see all his toys again! The first thing he did was pull out all his trucks and trains and take a spin around the family room on his Winnie the Pooh car!!! We are going to our nephew Colby's 2nd birthday party tomorrow, which will be a lot of fun! Blake enjoys visiting Colby's house and playing with his toys!! Next week we have preschool, Time for Two's, we have to get the kid's 2nd H1N1 shots and Blake is going to my Mom's children's Christmas party, which she is organizing! It's hard to believe Christmas is only 21 days away. We've been focused on my sister's wedding and Las Vegas for so long! Now it's time to focus on Christmas :) We're almost done our Christmas shopping and have the letter's to Santa mailed! We hope to do our Christmas decorating on Sunday. We always decorate on December 1st, but this year couldn't! Blake is going to love decorating the house. He points out Christmas trees and Santa everywhere we go!! I also plan to bake 7 dozen cookies this week for our the annual cookie walk at our Church. I have to deliver them to the church on Friday evening! Should be able to get it done by then!
Have a great week everyone :) Stay warm and safe on the roads!
xoxo The Cameron's
Congratulations Lindsay and Jeremy!
Congratulations to my sister Lindsay and our new brother-in-law Jeremy!! They were wed on Monday, November 30 at Sunset Gardens, Las Vegas, Nevada! It was an absolutely beautiful day and a fabulous time!!
The wedding festivities began on Saturday night, with the Vegas stagette and stag parties. The girls met for dinner and then headed to the Thunder from Down Under! We all had a blast!! The Thunder from Down Under were very talented ... dancers!!! lol!! No, but seriously, they were very good dancers as well as gymnasts! Very entertaining ;) Afterwards we were went to a club for awhile and then headed back to our hotel. The "younger" ladies continued partying, while this "older" lady headed to bed!!
We had the wedding rehearsal on Sunday afternoon, where most of us got our first glimpse of Sunset Gardens. It is a gorgeous venue and the wedding planners were so organized and friendly! I think Lindsay relaxed a little after going through the rehearsal and all the details with the wedding planners!! Sunday evening we had the rehearsal dinner at P.F. Chang's. I highly recommend this restaurant! SO yummy!!! Cal, Blake and I attended the rehearsal dinner, while Emerson snoozed away in the hotel room with my Auntie Kathy watching over her :) After dinner we put Blake to bed and I went over to Lindsay's room to visit for awhile.
Monday was the big day!! We started out early in the morning with hair and make-up in Lindsay's hotel room (she got a separate hotel room the night before the wedding, so her and Jeremy weren't staying together!). We headed down to the lobby around noon, where Lindsay and Jeremy saw each other for the first time on their wedding day! It was very cute, how the photographer arranged their "first look!" The girls waited by the elevators while the boys and Lindsay and Jeremy's family waited in the lobby. The photographer had Jeremy face the other way and Lindsay walked up to him and then he turned at the last minute! Many of us had tears in our eyes ... it was very sweet to see them see each other for the first time on their wedding day. The wedding party then proceeded to climb into our H2 limo with the photographer for pictures on the Strip! It was lots of fun and boy was that limo sweet!!! We arrived at Sunset Gardens at 3 pm. We did family pictures and the cocktail hour began at 3:30. The appetizers were yummy, the jazz band was great and the atmosphere was very festive! Lindsay hung out in the bride's room with the bridesmaids (although at one point in time we all checked out the cocktail hour!)! After the cocktail hour, the guests made their way to the garden for the ceremony, which began at 4:30. More tears were shed and the ceremony was beautiful! We did some more pictures after the ceremony and then the dinner, speeches and dance began!! I was glad I gave my speech before dinner! I think it went pretty well too!! It was a perfect day, with a perfect couple :) We're so happy for Lindsay and Jeremy and so glad their day was wonderful!
The wedding festivities began on Saturday night, with the Vegas stagette and stag parties. The girls met for dinner and then headed to the Thunder from Down Under! We all had a blast!! The Thunder from Down Under were very talented ... dancers!!! lol!! No, but seriously, they were very good dancers as well as gymnasts! Very entertaining ;) Afterwards we were went to a club for awhile and then headed back to our hotel. The "younger" ladies continued partying, while this "older" lady headed to bed!!
We had the wedding rehearsal on Sunday afternoon, where most of us got our first glimpse of Sunset Gardens. It is a gorgeous venue and the wedding planners were so organized and friendly! I think Lindsay relaxed a little after going through the rehearsal and all the details with the wedding planners!! Sunday evening we had the rehearsal dinner at P.F. Chang's. I highly recommend this restaurant! SO yummy!!! Cal, Blake and I attended the rehearsal dinner, while Emerson snoozed away in the hotel room with my Auntie Kathy watching over her :) After dinner we put Blake to bed and I went over to Lindsay's room to visit for awhile.
Monday was the big day!! We started out early in the morning with hair and make-up in Lindsay's hotel room (she got a separate hotel room the night before the wedding, so her and Jeremy weren't staying together!). We headed down to the lobby around noon, where Lindsay and Jeremy saw each other for the first time on their wedding day! It was very cute, how the photographer arranged their "first look!" The girls waited by the elevators while the boys and Lindsay and Jeremy's family waited in the lobby. The photographer had Jeremy face the other way and Lindsay walked up to him and then he turned at the last minute! Many of us had tears in our eyes ... it was very sweet to see them see each other for the first time on their wedding day. The wedding party then proceeded to climb into our H2 limo with the photographer for pictures on the Strip! It was lots of fun and boy was that limo sweet!!! We arrived at Sunset Gardens at 3 pm. We did family pictures and the cocktail hour began at 3:30. The appetizers were yummy, the jazz band was great and the atmosphere was very festive! Lindsay hung out in the bride's room with the bridesmaids (although at one point in time we all checked out the cocktail hour!)! After the cocktail hour, the guests made their way to the garden for the ceremony, which began at 4:30. More tears were shed and the ceremony was beautiful! We did some more pictures after the ceremony and then the dinner, speeches and dance began!! I was glad I gave my speech before dinner! I think it went pretty well too!! It was a perfect day, with a perfect couple :) We're so happy for Lindsay and Jeremy and so glad their day was wonderful!
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