18 months ago ...

I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, named Reese Peyton Anne Cameron!!!  We didn't have her name picked out until Wednesday and she was born on Friday, November 19th!  Cal thought of it and I said, "Like Reese Witherspoon?"  He said, "Yeah!" and I said, "I love it!!"  For middle names, Cal really wanted Peyton (Peyton Manning!) and I really wanted Anne (my middle name and Cal's Mom's middle name!).  And now she is our Reesey, Goose, Gooster, Reesey-Gooey ;)  lol!!

Now there is a theme here, I know ... BUT I am always amazed and surprised at how fast time goes!  I'm sorry I sound redundant but really?!  Reese is 18 months old already?!  She's closer to her second birthday then her first?!  Where did THAT time go???

Reese has completed our little family, she is our 3rd baby and we've always said we want 3 (at least) :)  We'd have another if we were billionaires and could hire some childcare/house help!!!  Not joking!  I know why Brad and Angelina have so many kids!!!  I think I can relate with Angelina a little ;)  But, as we look back on the last 18 months of our lives it is almost surreal.  The last 18 months have been BUSY!!!  I know, everyone is busy ... but there are different kinds of busy, right?!  And I've been all kinds of busy and this is the busiest!!  I feel like I'm pulled and tugged and pushed in a million different ways from everyone in our lives, including the pressures I put on myself!  But although the last 18 months have been the busiest we've ever experienced they have also been full of love and fun :)  Of course having 3 young children has been tough at times but we really would not change it for the world.  They bring so much joy and love into our house and have really taught and shown us what is important in life.  They are our whole world and everything we do, we do for them.

Reese is growing and changing so fast and we are having so much fun with her at this age!  She continues to be a little monkey, climbing everything!!  Just yesterday she climbed Blake's bunk bed ladder ... twice!  One of those trips to the top bunk resulted in a fall :(  Her vocabulary is growing daily and she is starting to say two word sentences!!  The other day she held out her snack cup and said, "Need more!"  Another new word for Reese is 'hungry!!'  She will go stand at the pantry door and say, "Hungry!!  Hungry!!"  I'm 100% positive she picked that one up from her big brother and sister ;)  (Yes, she eats like a horse!  Just like Blake and Em at her age!!!)  She is into pointing out body parts and knows 'elbow' now, as well as ears, nose, eyes, mouth, teeth, hair, hands, feet, fingers, tummy and chin!!

Reese had her 18 month immunizations today.  They went extremely well - she did not even cry!  She weighed in at 24 lbs (50th %tile).  Her head circumference is in the 50th %tile and her height is in the 25th %tile.  Reese surprised the nurse when she pointed to the sticker she wanted when the nurse showed her a sheet of stickers and asked her if there was one she liked!

Reese is a total flirt!  She tilts her head to the side and looks up at people with her long lashes and big blue eyes, it is so cute!!  She loves playing with other kids and watching and learning from Blake and Emerson.  She often tries to mimic what they are doing and has a love for Lego, just like Blake!  She tries to put it together, it is really cute to watch!  I was really worried about the little Lego pieces making it into her mouth but she's more interested in playing with it!

Reese LOVES her blue rubber boots ...  it is so funny!  We borrowed them from our friends who had borrowed them from someone else, so they have been around the block!!  She pulls those boots out every time we're getting ready to leave the house!!  She holds them up and says, "Boots??"  She can even put them on herself, which may be why she loves them so much!!  She also loves babies and dolls.  She pats them on the back and rocks them :)  She loves her cousin Connor and looks so proud when she is holding him!  Reese also loves books and sits so quietly, listening intently as we read to her.

Reese recently started singing to herself!!  It is SO adorable!  She will be sitting somewhere playing and will start humming and singing :)  I can make out some of the lines and one of her favorite songs to sing is 'Twinkle, twinkle little star!'  The line I can make out is, 'Up above the world so high!'  She says "Up above' very clearly!!!

We love you so much Reese, happy year and a half :) :)

xoxo

Happy 5th Birthday Blake!!

It is Blake's champagne birthday this year - he turned 5 on the 5th day of the 5th month ;)  He toasted with an apple juicebox ... the 'champagne' of choice for 5 yr old's!!!

Our birthday celebrations started on Thursday, when we brought mini cupcakes to the YMCA for Blake's preschool classmates.  Blake chose chocolate cupcakes with blue icing and orange sprinkles.  We had quite an adventure making 48 mini-cupcakes on Wednesday morning.  At one point there was cake batter everywhere and we had to throw a cake batter-filled mixer in the garbage!!  At school, Blake stood at the front of the classroom and sang along with his classmates, as they sang happy birthday to him ;)  It was really cute to see!  And he loved handing out his cupcakes to his friends :)  He would say, "Here you go ____!"  Often the child would say, "Thank you Blake!  Happy Birthday!"  And Blake would reply (with a HUGE grin on his face), "Your welcome ____!  Thank you!"  So, so sweet, my heart just melted listening to them :)

On Friday the kids were super excited because Grandma and Grandpa D were home!  My parents came over in the morning and were smothered with hugs :)  We enjoyed a nice lunch at BP's and then Blake and Em went off on a bike hunting adventure with Grandma and Grandpa!  They found one eventually and Blake took it for a spin and approved!!  We can't believe he's on a 20" bike now!!!  Hopefully it lasts a few years!  He's loving his new bike, has crashed it a few times and has already been on another horn shopping trip with Grandpa, but this time they bought a metal horn so it shouldn't break again!

Saturday morning Blake opened his gifts from Cal and I and 1 of his gifts from Emerson and Reese (the other was saved for his birthday party, later in the day!)!  Blake was very excited to see that he was in fact correct, we gave him roller blades.  He knew he was getting roller blades because the little sneak found them under our bed ... what a turkey!!!  But nonetheless, he was excited and had fun trying them out!  He did great on the carpet and grass and was a bit more hesitant on the sidewalk but started picking up speed after a few minutes!

 We had a busy house Saturday afternoon, celebrating Blake's birthday!  Blake requested a LEGO themed party and I had fun planning!!  I kind of flopped on the cake (although Blake didn't notice and loved it!) but scored big-time on the Lego-head marshmallow pop's :)  I had fun making them and the kids had even more fun consuming them!!  Everyone enjoyed playing in the toy room, outside, creating with Lego and doing some Lego coloring and activities I found on the Lego website!  Blake had a BLAST and was very, very excited!!  He invited his best buddy from preschool and was so happy when Evan arrived (30 minutes late - we were worried he wouldn't come!)!!  Blake definitely played the 'birthday boy' role ... when it was time for birthday cake, I overheard him saying, "I am the leader today!  It is cake time!"  lol!  I'm not sure I've ever seen him so excited!!!!  We are so glad he enjoyed his birthday party :)  It was great to have everyone here, celebrating with us!  A huge thank you to everyone for coming to the party and for all the birthday wishes we received via email, phone , voicemail and Facebook!!  Blake had a wonderful day!

There are days when I look at Blake and he looks so grown up and mature and then there are times when I look at him and see my baby boy.  It is hard to wrap my head around the fact that he is 5 years old already!  It seems like just yesterday, I held my very 1st baby in my arms!  And even minutes before that, I heard, "It's a boy!"  I think of those moments and feel like I am there.

We are so proud of you, Blake.  You are such a loving little boy.  We witness this everyday and I will be forever grateful for your kind-hearted soul.  I pray you will hold on to your giant heart of gold as you grow older and experience life a little more.  You have an innocence about you that is so precious but I already see some of that slipping away.  It is so hard not to protect you from everything 'bad' in the world but we must let you grow, experience and learn on your own, to some degree.  You are such a big boy, taller and weigh more then anyone in your class and yet after class when we are playing in the playgym and you and your friends start wrestling and playing rough and tumble, you are always the one on the bottom of the pile!  I know you don't realize your strength but you are also very gentle and don't want to hurt your friends.  Many of the other preschool parents have remarked at how gentle you are!  And your teachers have told me how nice it is to have you in their class - they say you are so helpful and almost like a big brother to everyone!  And of course I can see that because I see how helpful you are with Emerson and Reese.  You are so particular Blake - honestly, it is hard to keep up with some days!!  You take "A place for everything and everything in its place" quite literally :)  You can be a worry-wart and I wish you would just stop worrying!!  You are only 5, trust me there will be many, many years ahead for you to worry.  Be a kid, don't worry!  You are a boy of routine and structure, that is for sure.  And we love you just the way you are, from the spiky hair you like to style (I never thought my boy would spend so much time in front of a mirror, brushing his super short hair!!), your handsome smile and almost grey/blue eyes, your ticklish tummy, to your orange toe nails (boys like nail polish too, you know!).  You are one of a kind and we are eternally grateful and blessed to call you our son :)

Happy 5th birthday to our baby boy!

xoxo Mom & Dad

Our family at Blake's 5th birthday party

Such a fun age!!

It is easy to forget how FUN being a parent to an almost 1 1/2 yr old is, that is until your youngest nears that age!!  Reese is SO much fun right now!  She is learning new words every day and talks so, so much (much of it sounds like a foreign language!)!  My parents are on vacation for a month right now and I bet when they return they are going to notice a huge difference in Reese!!  Be ready Grandma and Grandpa, she is going to surprise you ;)  I say my parents will notice a huge difference because they typically see Reese at least once a week and upon their return it will have been almost 5 weeks since they've seen her!

Reese can point out her own and everyone else's ears, nose, mouth, hair, hands, feet, tummy, and eyes!  And she can say hair, nose, and eyes quite well!  Blake loves playing this game with her, "Where's my eyes Reese?" etc, etc and they giggle together as she points everything out :)  Another new word Reese has learned is 'poo'!!  And she will tell you if she has it in her diaper!  I'm entertaining crazy thoughts of attempting potty-training before 2 ... It is tempting!!!  Reese LOVES being outside!  She loves going down our slides, walking Heidi, playing ball, puddle splashing, chasing Blake and Em and driving the coupe car, amongst other things!  She can spend a lot of time out there and when we let her out of her car seat in the van, she loves to take off to the front lawn and run around!  It is so much fun experiencing this age with our Reesey :)  

We have some good news!!  All of Blake's last round of tests have came back with zero issues!!  He had an ultrasound and a water deprivation test (2 rounds of blood and urine work) on Friday (it was a hard day for Blake and I!) to check his kidneys, abdomen and bladder.  It was a huge relief to hear there were no negative results!  We will be tracking his intake, output and stomach pain complaints over the next 2 weeks to see if there is any correlation between the 3 but hopefully this is just something he will grow out of.  After talking to Cal's Mom and Cal, Cal had some of the same issues when he was a little guy ... surprise, surprise!!!  Those 2 are like pea's in a pod, I swear!!  Blake is enjoying his hockey camp (Sundays, from 4 to 5) and has never worked harder in his life!  They sure make them sweat!  We are very excited for Blake's upcoming 5th birthday!!!  He's turning 5 on the 5th day of the 5th month - and of course it is cinco de mayo!!  Big milestone birthday :)  We have a super fun LEGO themed party planned with a hot dog roast and lots of cool LEGO games, decor, goodie bags and food!!!  Blake's very excited and is really excited to invite his best bud from preschool to his party!  This little boy and Blake get along so well and from what I've seen are so similar in their personalities!  Hopefully he will be able to attend!

We made a quick trip to the medi-centre today, to have Emerson's eyes checked.  My suspicions were confirmed ... pink eye :(  We picked up prescription drops and she will not be contagious within 24 hours.  I think Reese and I are getting it as well, so here's hoping Cal and Blake don't.  Emerson is LOVING preschool!  And I mean loving it ... the minute she wakes up on preschool days (which is often 6:30 am), she is asking, "Is it time to go to school yet?"  or saying, "I want to go to preschool!!"  We're so happy she is enjoying her class and know that she will have even more fun next year, when she attends a few more days a week!

We had our 5th annual new mom's group birthday party on Sunday!  I love that we are still 'together' and celebrating our wonderful group of kids!!  5 years sure flies!  Our first meeting was June 23, 2007!

This weekend we're looking forward to our friend Marc's 6th birthday party, amongst our other regular weekend activities.

Happy 'hump' day (tomorrow), enjoy the rest of your week, have a fabulous weekend and we'll talk to you again soon :)

xo
Tracy

:)

Blake found a penny in the back of the car ... Cal told him it was a lucky penny and he should make a wish!  Blake made a wish and Cal told him to not tell anyone the wish or the wish won't come true!  They drove home and Blake walked in the house and was disappointed that his wish didn't come true.  We told him not all wishes come true and that sometimes it takes days, months and maybe even years for wishes to come true!!  He was moaning and groaning about his wish coming true all through supper so we thought we better find out what the wishes were!!  Cal told him he could tell him and turns out he had 2 wishes: 1)more Batman stuff and 2)more storage for his toys!!!!  Too funny!!  We feel a bit crowded in this house and apparently Blake feels that way too ;)

Emerson walks up to me and says, "You don't have very long eyelashes Mom!"  I said, "No, not really!!"  Emerson says, "I do, they're sooooo long!!"  lol!  She's been absorbing everyone's remarks at how long her beautiful lashes are ;)

The other morning the kids decided to have yogurt for breakfast.  I asked Reese if she would like yogurt and she nodded her head.  I went to the fridge to get the yogurt and when I turned around, Reese was in the kids cupboard!!  She pulled out 3 spoons and proceeded to give one to Blake, one to Emerson and one to me (to feed her!)!!!  It was SO cute :)  We all said thank you to her and she was grinning from ear to ear!

Thursday was Blake and Emerson's 1st day in the same preschool class!  They had a blast and there were no issues between the 2 of them!!  Emerson's favorite part of her second preschool class, was cutting paper with scissors!

Friday evening Blake and Emerson had their swimming lesson, which is always fun to watch!  Blake is trying really hard to swim on his tummy with his head under the water!!  He can travel a short distance and then comes up for air and to wipe his eyes ;)  He tries to hard, you can see the determination on his face!!  Emerson is having a blast and keeps her teacher busy, along with her other 3 yr old classmates!  I often hear the instructor telling them, "Back on the wall please!  No kicking please!!  We're not supposed to be splashing right now!!!"  lol!!  Em loves it though and is pretty much fearless!  On Friday she slipped off the edge and went under and didn't even bat an eye!  The instructor lifted her back onto the edge and she kept on going!  It will be fun to take them swimming at the lake this year!  We're not sure how much camping we'll be doing but will definitely be taking day trips to the beach :)

We had another busy Saturday and Sunday!  Cal took Reese, Blake and Em to the YMCA on Saturday morning.  Blake and Em went to Mighty Munchkins and Cal took Reese to her swimming lesson.  I picked Blake and Em up at 11 and took them to Emerson's gymnastics class.  After her class we met Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna for lunch.  The kids had fun visiting their cousins and playing in the play place!  Afterwards, we stopped at Home Depot for a plumbing part for Cal and a new shelf for Blake and Em's room.

We attended the St. Albert United Church again on Sunday.  The kids went to Sunday school and had a fabulous time!!  They played play-doh and read "The Hungry Caterpillar", which they related to Jesus!  They re-enacted the book and did a craft relating to the book.  It was a wonderful hour spent in Sunday school and we will be back next week!!  I'm a bit sad that we didn't have much luck at Pilgrim United Church but the congregation is so old (for lack of a better word) and the minister is not that great with kids, where as the St. Albert congregation has many young families and the minister is fabulous!!!  As children leave the service, he gives them a high five and says, "High five for Jesus!"  We're going to try really hard to go every Sunday!  I like the service time too - 10 to 11 am and he is firm on the 11 am!!  Lots of time to get Reese home for lunch and her 12 o'clock nap!

Sunday afternoon, Blake had his first spring hockey camp ice time.  I think he may be the youngest there ... but Tammy (the main instructor) told us after his last session that he was ready for this and he wanted to go, so we registered him!  I think he worked the hardest he's ever worked!!  It was a pretty intense hour!!  He was sweating a lot under his equipment!  He had fun and I think he will learn quite a bit!  There are 4 more sessions and then it's hockey break time ... until summer camp in August!

Have a great week everyone :)

xo
Tracy

Happy Easter!!

We've had a busy loooong Easter weekend!  And thankfully, it was a 'long' weekend ;)  Cal had Good Friday and Easter Monday off.  

On Good Friday we headed to Stony Plain for an Easter celebration with the 'Smith' family!  This was also the first time Cal and the kids met Connor!!  We had a great day visiting and playing!  The kids all wanted to hold Connor and we got a nice picture of Mom and Dad's 4 grandchildren!  The Easter bunny made a stop at Grandma and Grandpa's and left a treat for Blake, Emerson, Reese and Connor!!  I got lots of Connor snuggles in :)  We had dinner and headed home with some tired kids!!

On Saturday morning Cal took Reese to her swimming lesson and Blake, Emerson and I went to Emerson's 1st unparented gymnastics class!  Em had a blast and did so well!!  She is certainly an independent little girl :)  After gymnastics, the 3 of us were off to Connor's baby shower at my Mom's house!  It was a lovely afternoon, with a house full of Connor's friends and relatives!  Everyone had a chance to hold the guest of honor and he received many cuddles, kisses and ooo's and awww's!!!  Blake and Emerson had fun playing with the other kids in attendance!

On Sunday morning the kids enjoyed opening their Easter baskets and a little egg hunt!!  Later that morning, we joined friends for an Easter Sunday service at the St. Albert United Church.  It was a very nice service and a lot more kid-friendly then the Church we usually attend!  We plan to attend more regularly!!  Sunday afternoon, Grandpa Bruce came over for dinner and a visit!  The kids kept him busy, that is for sure!  The kids were very excited about the gifts he brought, from his recent trip to the States!  

Easter Monday has been pretty low-key, which is nice after the busy weekend!  Blake has not complained about his stomach or anything for 2 days now, so hopefully he is over whatever was bothering him!  We are still waiting on the results of a hemoglobin test the lab was doing, but hopefully there will be nothing out of the ordinary to report.  Connor and his Mom and Dad are making a quick pit stop at our house this afternoon, enroute to Fort Mac ... we have some goodies I forgot to bring to Stony this weekend!!

We hope you enjoyed your Easter long weekend!  We wish we could see see all our family, every holiday but with everyone so spread out it is difficult.  But we are always thinking of you all and this weekend, wishing you all a very Happy Easter :)

Lots of love,

Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese

Emerson's 1st day of preschool!!

Today was the big day!!  And Emerson did SO good :)  We had no worries at all, she has been excited for this day for awhile now!  Watching her, you would have thought she'd been going to preschool for months.  She participated so well, told the teacher when she had to go to the washroom and was totally comfortable in the classroom and with the other children.  It was awesome!!!  This morning we thought we might not go to preschool because Blake wasn't well enough and a snowstorm was occurring outside!  But Emerson really wanted to go, so we got dressed took some "1st day of school photo's" and I took her.  I'm glad I did, as she had so much fun and they had an Easter egg hunt!  She brought home some chocolate eggs for Blake too :)  Cal stayed home with Blake and Reese.  From taking Blake to school, Emerson knows the drill - when we first arrived she took her coat and boots off, put her inside shoes on and put her lunch kit in the right place!!  She went into the classroom and sat right down on the rug where they are supposed to sit for the start of class!  I had tears in my eyes watching her, she's grown up so fast and was so flippin' adorable sitting 'criss-cross applesauce' ;)  She's already on the show and share list for the end of April and when I asked her what she'd like to bring, she replied "Teddy!!!!"  I hope I can video tape her 1st show and share!!  Emerson was very excited about the Easter egg hunt and kept saying, "That Easter Bunny is a sneaky-sneak!!!"  Apparently the teachers told the kids that while they were having free time in the play gym, the Easter bunny snuck in and hid some eggs ... !!  So much fun :)

Starting next week, Blake will be by himself in preschool on Tuesday morning's and on Thursday's Blake and Em will both be in preschool!  That means it will be just Reese and I (or Cal and Reese or Reese, Cal and I!) at Come Play With Me, which will be nice for the 3 of us!  Reese enjoys the songs and playing in Come Play With Me and I'm sure she'll enjoy our undivided attention :)


We've received confirmation from the Lago Lindo preschool that Emerson is registered and at the end of April we have Emerson's evaluation for the 100 Voices Preschool.  Either program will be wonderful and today is evidence that she will definitely enjoy school next year!  Way to go Em, we're so proud of you :)  xoxo


Have a great Easter weekend!


Tracy

Blake

Tuesday:
Blake is under the weather :(  He's been complaining of stomach pain since Sunday afternoon and is SO thirsty.  He is drinking so much water and peeing so much!  I called Health Link because I was a bit concerned and they advised we get him in to see a doctor today.  I called our pediatrician's office and they were able to get him in this afternoon.  When I described Blake's symptoms to Dr. Radisic he said it sounds like diabetes.  This morning that same thought hit me and that is primarily whey I called Heatlh Link.  Even though I'd had that thought in my mind, my stomach still dropped.  All I could think about was needles everyday.  Dr. Radisic sent Blake for lab work (blood and urine) and put a STAT order on the results.  He said Blake was still looking well and that there would be nothing we could/should do overnight.  He said if the blood work came back showing his glucose levels were high, he would get us into an endocrinologist first thing tomorrow morning and Blake would start on insulin tomorrow.  I was pretty scared at first but then realized diabetes is very manageable and if there was going to be something 'major' wrong, at least this is treatable.  So I took Blake to the lab, then we came home, Cal and I put the kids to bed and waited for Dr. Radisic to call.  He called at 7:38 pm and told us that the glucose levels in his blood were normal!  He said he is almost 99% sure he does not have diabetes and will call us with the urine results tomorrow.

Wednesday:
I called Dr. Radisic's office to see if they had the urine results.  They did and the urinalysis did not show anything.  Blake started having diarrhea this morning and it is quite bad - every 1/2 hr on average :(  They are still waiting for the hemoglobin results, which can take a few days as it is a further in depth test not often requested where they break down the hemoglobin.  We may not get these results until Easter Monday but in the mean time we are thinking this is a virus, which is a relief!  Dr. Radisic may send Blake for a fasting urinalysis and further blood work just to keep an eye on his glucose levels, but we'll find out more next week.

Blake seems to be less thirsty now and is having more bursts of energy, so that is good!!  We have Easter dinner at my Mom's on Friday and Connor's baby shower on Saturday, so hopefully Blake can enjoy these events and Easter Sunday too :)

xo
Tracy