2011 Christmas Letter and Photo

Hello to all our friends and family!

We hope 2011 has been kind to you and yours …
2011 has been the busiest year of our lives!! We seem to say that every year, but this one has definitely gone by the quickest!! Here is a little bit of what has been keeping us busy:
Blake turned 4 on May 5th. He continues to be mistaken for a 5 year old and sometimes even a 6 year old! He is very tall for his age, not a trait he picked up from Cal or I, but somewhere further down the line! Blake is our deep thinker … he is a planner and not in the least impulsive! He is very routine, right down to where his teddy bears sleep at night and the words he says at bed time! Blake also has an amazing memory. For example, last month we went to West Edmonton Mall. When we came out, I had no idea where we were parked. Blake said, “We are parked in between the F and the G Mom.” And sure enough we were! I asked him how he knew that and he said, “I looked when we got out the van.” Of course, we think he is a very smart boy ;) Blake is enjoying his preschool class, swimming lessons, initiation 1 hockey and skating lessons. He has a blast in all these activities and has been passing his swimming lessons with flying colors, moving up to Gliders this fall. Much of his swimming lesson is in the deep end of the pool now and he’s even learning how to dive! He also loves hockey and skating and continues to improve every week! Blake’s favorite hockey player is Taylor Hall and he loves watching Don Cherry on Hockey Night in Canada! We are excited to take him to a few World Junior Championship games at the end of December and hopefully an Oilers game in the New Year! Blake will be starting Kindergarten in the fall of 2012. We’ve had a hard time deciding which school and program to put him in (sometimes too many choices is not a good thing!!) but have decided to enroll him in a Catholic, French Immersion program. He is looking forward to “big kid school” and is excited to take the yellow bus!!
Emerson will be 3 in February and is a busy little girl! She is a lot of fun, very cuddly at times and very imaginative! We love hearing the stories she comes up with! She can tell quite the tale! But she also keeps us on our toes and challenges us with her feisty little attitude!!! She’s definitely not passive ;)  She has embraced her role as a big sister and loves her little “Reesey.” She is very helpful and enjoys assisting with everything to do with Reese!! We are very lucky Blake and Emerson get along quite well and are the best of buds most days. I think Emerson will be a bit lost when Blake starts Kindergarten! Emerson has a lot of fun attending “Come Play With Me” with Reese and I while Blake is in school. She loves her “teacher” and to her, this is her school time! We dance, sing, enjoy story and craft time! She knows every tune and all the actions to go with them!! Emerson also has a blast at her swimming lessons and gymnastics classes. Cal and I often wonder what types of sports Emerson will pursue in the future or be successful in, as she loves to do her “gymnastics” moves around the house (a.k.a. on the coffee table, the couch, the stairs, etc.!!). I worry about the furniture, but see Olympic rings in her future … totally joking ;) We hope to enroll Em in some sort of music/dance/art class in the New Year, as this is an area she really loves and would like to explore. 2012 will be a big year for Em – she will begin Preschool when she turns 3 and will also be in un-parented lessons! It is hard to believe our little girl is growing up so fast.
We can not believe how fast Reese’s 1st year has passed!! Reese turned 1 on November 19th. She is our earliest walker and is so proud of herself as she tottles around!!! Of course Blake and Emerson are her biggest fans, cheering her on every day and always lending a helping hand! Reese is also quite the chatterbox, chattering away all day and holding conversations with us all! We do recognize a few of her words and she comprehends quite a bit of our conversations. Reese enjoys reading books, attempting to do puzzles, playing with dolls and spends a lot of time chasing her older brother and sister around the house ;) She is also a very independent little girl and we predict Reese will be giving Emerson a run for her money in the “feistiness” department … she certainly has a mind of her own and isn’t afraid to voice her “opinion!!” Blake will have his hands full with his 2 sisters ;) Reese also has a lot of fun at “Come Play With Me”, she “sings” and dances her little heart out. And like her siblings, Reese loves the water and is going to begin parented swimming lessons in the spring!

Cal is doing great! He is keeping busy at work and has changed roles within TELUS. He is now working in inside plant in charge of DC power for Edmonton and north. He has a large area of AB to cover, which means some overnight stays every now and then. He continues to work 4, 10 hour days which works really well for all of us. Blake and Em love when he is able to take them to school! In his spare time (chuckle, chuckle … really not much of that these days!) he continues to run and still aspires to complete a full marathon. For the 2nd year, Cal is coaching Blake’s hockey team. He is enjoying seeing all the players improve and most of all having fun! We are all itching to get started on a backyard rink, but our weather has not been cooperating! Emerson hopes to skate as well, so we shall see how that goes! She will not only have Cal and I coaching her, but Blake I’m sure will be a wealth of knowledge ;)
I am doing great as well! Keeping very busy with our 3 munchkins and all their activities! I must say going from having 2 kids under 4 to 3 under 4 felt more like going from 2 to 6!!! I think the year has gone by so fast, because we have been so busy!! But I do love being home with the kids and spending so much time with them and I could not imagine our family any other way! Some days I do understand where the term “domestic engineer” comes from, as I try to organize and juggle a million different things at one time!!! There is never a dull moment and never a shortage of work to be done! To add to the workload, I began a new venture earlier this year!! People who know me well, know how much I LOVE to dress our little cuties up and after discovering the online consignment world, I opened an online consignment business of my own! It is run through Facebook. I have really enjoyed this new business, albeit the late nights!! If you are on Facebook, please check out my page … just search for “Cameron’s Closet”! Cameron’s Closet takes up much of my spare time, but I have also really enjoyed taking in a few Oilers games with Cal and friends (we split season tickets with a few friends) and date nights with my other Mom friends!! In the New Year I have to work on scheduling some me time and taking care of myself, I have to admit I have not been good at that this year!! I have been saying for awhile now that I want to try Zumba … so I better get at it ;)
We stuck fairly close to home this summer, enjoying our local attractions, but did do some travelling in AB and SK. Our travels in AB included taking our annual trip to “A Day Out With Thomas” in Calgary in May and spending a long (rainy!) weekend at Ol’ MacDonald’s Farm! We were in SK at the Smith family cabin at Marean Lake Resort for 2 weeks in July. The sun was hot and the insects minimal, which paved the way for a great time!! I love it there and the kids had a blast and are always asking to go back or saying, “When we go to the cabin again …!!” At the end of our vacation time in SK, we celebrated my grandparent’s (my Dad’s parents) 60th wedding anniversary and had a great time catching up with all my cousins, aunts and uncles while celebrating a fantastic couple! In August we took a quick day trip to Battleford, SK to celebrate my Grandma Kelley’s (my Mom’s Mom) 80th birthday. My Mom and her siblings threw a surprise party and once again we had a great time catching up with many relatives whom we don’t see often enough! We were also very lucky to see Grandma and Grandpa Alstad (Cal’s Mom’s parents) this summer, as they were down this way! It is so nice to see our grandparent’s, but also for the kids to see them as well, as they are very blessed to have so many wonderful grandparents and great grandparent’s in their lives! At the end of August Reese and I took a quick flight to Saskatoon to attend my cousin’s wedding, which was a great time! And to end our out of town travels this year, we all headed up to Fort McMurray to spend the Thanksgiving long weekend at my sister’s new house! One thing we have found funny and enjoyed at the same time, is that amongst all these travels this summer/fall the kids feel like world travelers and we haven’t even left AB and SK?!  Oh to be a kid again … while I lust after a European vacation, all they want is to go back to SK!!!
We are truly blessed and very thankful for the many blessings in our lives. We hope this letter finds you in good health and surrounded by loved ones at this special time of year.
Wishing you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous 2012!

Tracy, Cal, Blake, Emerson and Reese Cameron

Random Thoughts ...

Another year, another Santa picture with an upset child!!  When Blake was 7 months old he did not cry on Santa's lap (2007), 2008 Blake was crying, 2009 Emerson was crying, 2010 Cal and I joined in the picture so Emerson would not cry, 2011 Reese is crying!!  We predict tears from Reese in 2012, but after that ... smooth sailing!  Then we'll look back on these Santa photo's and get teary eyed ourselves ... :)

Blake opened a Hot Wheels track at our Mom's Group gift exchange last Sunday.  He loves it SO much, in fact he was heard saying, "This is the BEST Christmas present ever!!"  We were downstairs playing and I suggested to Blake that we give his Fisher Price garage (which is HUGE) away to someone who doesn't have many toys, in order to make room for more Hot Wheels track.  He put one hand on top of the garage, the other on his hip, furrowed his brow and said, "Well Mom, that WOULD be ideal.  (long pause as he looks up and thinks things through!!)  but I do really love this garage and especially the cars that go with it.  If we gave away the garage it would make sense to give away the cars too and I want to keep the cars."

I gave Emerson a rubber-like bracelet that we got with our World Junior ticket package.  I was taking her to the potty not 5 min. after I gave her the bracelet and she tells me she bought this pretty bracelet from Mom's website (didn't know she even knew what a website was?!?) for 20 bucks!!!

We started a Christmas tradition in 2009 of choosing a Gift of Hope from Plan Canada from each family member.  This year as we're picking out our gifts, Blake decided on the classroom essentials package.  I asked him why he chose that gift and he said, "Well, because I really like school and I think those kids would like it too!"

I try not too do too much Cameron's Closet work (other then online occasionally) through out the day because it takes me twice as long and I want to spend the majority of my time with my kids, the reason I am home!!  But last Wednesday I was short on time and had to pick orders and boy oh boy was my little helper Emerson ever helpful!!!!  lol!  She had to inspect each piece of clothing, hold it up, flip it over, etc, etc and fold it herself!  If I tried to sneak something into a bag, she'd say, "Mom, can I see that little onesie??"  lol!!!!  So I'd have to pull it out, pass it to her, let her do her thing, and put it back!  She's so cute with the whole consignment business, she knows that every person has a "slip" and asks where does this bag go, etc, etc!  But she's been upping her prices ... she used to say everything was 5 bucks now everything seems to be 20 bucks or 40 bucks!!!!  Talk about inflation ;)

We have another blanket lover on our hands here ... Miss Reese!  She loves her blankie and if she see's it she says, "Bankie, bankie, bankie!!!"  And sometimes (when she's tired, cranky, etc.) she'll wander around saying bankie, bankie ;)



So, so sweet :)



I often wonder what Blake, Emerson and Reese's sibling relationships will be like as the get older.  I always hope that they will be great friends, and so far I think they are!  Emerson misses Blake when he is at preschool, so much so that when we pick him up they often give each other a huge hug right outside the classroom door :)  It is so sweet and the other parents are always remarking at how cute it is!!!  Emerson must be the biggest hugger out of the 3, because her and Reese are also very "huggy!!!"  It's cute to see them hugging, Reese leans into her, like in the picture :) 




Reese really enjoys the Come Play With Me program we go to, especially the music portion of the class.   She likes to stand up and dance!  She wiggles her bum and hips and even tries to do the hand actions.  She really likes "Elephants have wrinkles" and when we sing "Zoom, zoom, zoom" she starts getting excited when everyone starts counting down to blast off!!  She turns towards me to get ready for "Blast off!"

Our Elf on the Shelf made an appearance on December 12th.  The kids didn't see him until the morning of the 13th.  He has created quite the excitement!!!  We read his story as soon as the book was spotted on our coffee table and then the hunt was on to find him!  Emerson was the first to spot him.  Here is where he spent his first night in our house ...  Immediately Blake wanted to name him Picks and Emerson wanted to name him Rudolph, so his name is now Picks Rudolph!  I was actually very surprised at their name choices!  I thought they would come up with Elf or Santa or Blake or Emerson!  We know Blake is a little bit skeptical of the whole story and magic, etc!!  Here are a few of the things he has said, "I will know he's real if he turns his head when I walk into the room.  I will know he's real if he is in a different spot when I get up tomorrow.  He's just a toy.  How come he doesn't eat all day?  He looks at the same thing all the time.  Maybe if I touch him, I will get all the magic?  Does everyone have an elf to talk to Santa?"  Our sensible boy :)  Love him and his enquiring mind!! 

We took our 3rd annual Candy Cane Lane sleigh ride on Sunday night!  This was the warmest year yet and we had a lot of fun!  The kids enjoyed the ride and we were surprised at how well Reese did!  We were on the sleigh for approx. 45 minutes.  The lights were nice, nothing spectacular, but nice to see most of the houses lit up!!  We also got to show the kids the "Christmas house" on 97th and 144th!!  Now that is amazing!!!! 


Magic show!!

 Friday was the YMCA's preschool Christmas party.  It was wonderfully organized this year, with an "Around the World" theme.  There were numerous stations for the kids to visit, each featuring a different country.  At each station they got their passports stamped and did a craft!  We learned that in Germany on Christmas morning the first person to find the big pickle in the Christmas tree gets an extra gift!!!  Each child had a chance to visit with Santa and a magician did a magic show.  He was fantastic!!  Checkout Brian Lehr for your next event, I will be! 

Blake is getting to be such a great skater!!  We went to watch hockey today and I could not believe how well he was doing!  Very fast and handling the puck too!!!  All the while, with a huge grin on his face ;)  The girls and I went with my parents to watch a few weeks ago and even since then he has improved!  We're so proud of him and really glad he is enjoying himself! 

Poor Cal has another kidney stone :(  He is an experienced kidney stone survivor (this is his 5th) and has yet to go to the hospital this time around ... but I did have a Dr.'s appointment with our family Dr. on Thursday evening and she was nice enough to prescribe him a painkiller to help manage the pain.  So far he's doing fine, hopefully it has either broken up and passed or it is small and will pass on its own soon!  He's only ever had to have 1 extraction and it is not pleasant, so we don't want that to happen again!!

I've had a sore throat for a few days now, it hurts but that's about it!  No cough, running nose, etc.  Hopefully it leaves me soon ... it's making me a bit grumpy ;)

On our agenda for the days leading up to Christmas Day, is baking and decorating sugar cookies, building our gingerbread house, making Christmas chocolates and attempting to clear up a ton of Cameron's Closet "stuff!!!!"  I would really like to have at least 1 week off!!

Every night at bedtime I ask Blake and Emerson if they've had a good day.  So far they always say yes!!  Then I ask them what their favorite part of the day was.  It is a lot of fun to hear their responses :)  Tonight Blake said hockey and playing with Daddy and Emerson said eating her candy cane :s  In case you don't know, Em has a huge sweet tooth!!!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!

xo
T

Extra, extra read all about it ...

We have a walker!!!  Miss Reese is now a pro ;)  Just a few days after her 1st birthday she started taking more then a few steps at a time and is now walking everywhere!!  Last week she decided to try running ... but her little legs didn't keep up with what she had in mind!  She's getting faster though and is so darn cute with her wide stance :)  She is our earliest walker and we're so very proud of her!  And by the look on her face, she is very proud of herself!  And Blake and Emerson are definitely proud of their little sister!  If we are not in the room they have to tell us right away if Reese is walking - "Mom, Reese is walking!  She just stood up, she's walking to the book shelf."  "Mom, Reese is walking to the coffee table!"  We get a play-by-play of every step Reese takes :)  I still can't believe she is 1 and walking.  Seems like yesterday, she was my tiny baby girl ... Love ya Reese!  We're happy you have joined the rest of the family, up on 2 feet and hope you enjoy your new view!!! 

xoxo

Oh sweet Emerson

I just have to tell/document this cute story:

Cal and Emerson picked Blake up from preschool this morning and then went to WEM Christmas shopping for the most important person in the house ... moi!!!  (snicker, snicker)

I was in Reese's room attempting to put her down for a nap (she's very congested, feverish, etc. today ... booo!!) and when I came downstairs Emerson looked at me and said in a cute whispery voice, "We bought your birthday present today Mom!!"  She also had a huge grin on her face and her gorgeous eyes were WIDE open!  I said, "Ohhhh, I can't wait to open it!!  But is it my birthday present or a Christmas present?"  Too which she said, "Oh yeah, Christmas.  It's a _____! (I won't tell you what it is, might as well let someone be surprised ;) )"  Cal said, "Emerson, what did I say?"  She then said, "Oh yeah, zip and throw away the key!"  (she then zipped her lips and pretended to throw away the key!)

Then later in the afternoon as we were decorating our Christmas tree, she is standing beside me and looks up at me with the most innocent look on her face and asks me, "When are you going to wear your ____ Mom?"  Oh my gosh, it was so adorable :)  She's so excited to give me my gift! 

xo
T

I'm 1!!

Hi everyone!

On Saturday I turned 1! My Mom and Dad say the time has gone by wayyyy too fast and my first year went even faster then Blake and Em's!! But I've had a great first year, learning something new every day :)

On Saturday morning I got to open my gifts from Mom, Dad, Blake and Emerson.  Then we went to watch Blake's hockey with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Lindsay.  In the afternoon Auntie came over for a visit and we played!  After supper that night I had my very first cupcake :)  It was so yummy!! 

Then on Sunday, I had a very fun birthday party at our house!  We had some of our family and a few friends over. I had a cute #1 birthday cake, that Mom and Auntie Lindsay made me!! I wasn't too sure about digging into the cake but enjoyed a few bites!

I had my one year pediatrician appointment on Wednesday (Nov 16th) and I weighed in at 23 lbs and measured 28 1/2" long!  I'm in the 75%tile for weight, 30th for height and 50th for head circumference!!  I have 8 teeth and Mom and Dad say I'm a pretty good eater :)

I love walking around the coffee table, walls, couches, play table, and pushing my car around!  The most steps I've taken is 4 and I'm a little monkey ;)  I like to climb things!!  It's so much fun!!!  I'm not too crazy about hanging onto other people's hands and walking, but Mom and Dad think I'll be walking before Christmas.  I'm not sure yet?!  I'm a very fast crawler, and that seems like the easiest way to get places right now!!  I love clapping my hands, waving hi and bye, blowing kisses and dancing to my favourite music. And I am quite the chatterbox!  Mom can decipher quite a few of my words: Dad, Mom, More, Ta-Ta, This, Jazz, Dora, Blankie and All Done.  Everyone seems to love it when I talk!!!  I chatter away a lot :)  I have a fun little personality, one of the things I do that makes everyone laugh is my "fake" laugh ... when I hear other people laughing I like to get a laugh in too!!!  Or anther thing that seems to make people chuckle is when I'm thirsty and I clear my throat!   

I've had lots of fun going to Come Play With Me with Mom and Emerson while Blake is at Preschool.  I love to sing and dance :)  I love the water and am going to start swimming lessons in the New Year!  Some of the other things I enjoy doing are reading books, especially touch and feel books and standing and playing at my play table, the coffee table, the couch or pretty much anywhere there is something for me to hang onto and play with! I also love dolls!!  But I probably spend the most time watching my sister and brother run around the house, they're just so entertaining!!!

In August I took my first airplane ride to Saskatoon for a wedding!  Just Mom and I went and we had a nice little trip!  I also had my first camping trip this summer and we can't wait to get out camping next summer!! 

But I should go I'm getting pretty hungry, it must be supper time ;)

Hugs and Kisses,

Reese


PS: Mom is going to proof read this for me. I hope she doesn't change too much!!

Happy 1st Birthday Reese!!

Happy 1st Birthday to our sweet baby Reese!!  We love you so, so much - beyond words. 

It amazes us how well Blake and Emerson accepted you into their lives and have loved you to pieces since the first minute they met you!!  They adore you and love playing with you and taking care of you.  They are always watching out for you and are certainly a lot of help most days!!  You seem to be mesmerized by them a lot of the time and enjoy watching their crazy games and jumping around and love to crawl as fast as you can after them as they run laps around the coffee table :)  We know you will all have your arguments now and then but we hope you can continue to grow up best of friends!
Reese, you have such a loving nature!!  We adore your hugs and kisses (even when they are mouth wide open, tongue sticking out!) and of course I feel like a million bucks when you reach for me, I pick you up and you nuzzle into me ... I love those moments so much!  Even better is when Blake and Emerson see you giving me a hug and rush over to join you :)  I love how excited you get when you see your Dad and hearing you say, "Da!  Da!!"  melts my hear!  As with your sister and brother on the eve of their 1st birthday, last night when I put you to bed, I shed a few tears.  Both happy and a little bit sad.
Your first year has gone by remarkably fast, fastest year of our lives thus far!  But it has also been an amazing journey, we have all grown and learned so much from each other and we can't wait to experience your second year with you :)

All our love,

Mom, Dad, Blake and Emerson

3 days ...

Until Reese's 1st birthday!! 

Today she had her 1 year pediatrician appointment.  She is healthy, happy and adorable ;)  Reese now weighs 23 lbs (75th %tile), is 28 1/2" long (30th %tile) and her head circumference is in the 50 %tile!

She was very happy for Dr. Radisic until the last 5 minutes!  We brought up a couple of concerns, her disinterest in milk and waking up at night.  She eats yogurt and cheese and enjoys it, but doesn't care for milk (yet).  So we will keep trying it and hopefully she'll start enjoying it more!  We've cut back on the kid's milk consumption quite a bit after talking to the naturopath (who is totally against cow's milk consumption!!) and realizing that according to the Canada Food Guide they really only need a small amount of milk and milk products in their day and they eat a lot of yogurt!  So I'm not too worried about Reese's milk consumption, but definitely would like her to enjoy a cup of milk now and then.  As for the night waking that has begun, as suspected I think it is a separation anxiety thing :S  Hopefully she'll get back to no night time wakings sooner then later!!  We're home for awhile now, with no over night trips planned, which will help!

We had Emerson's ears checked to make sure the amoxicillin worked and her ear infection is gone, which it is.  The nurse also weighed her and she weighs 30 lbs now!!  I guess all that intake is going somewhere ;) 

We're looking forward to spending the day together on Saturday and celebrating Reese's 1sth birthday with friends and family on Sunday!!

Talk again soon,

Tracy