Justin, Lindsey, Camden and Crew Neumann

When Camden met Crew...

2011-12-07T07:29:00.000-08:00

He sang him his favorite song, "I am a child of God". We couldn't get our phones out fast enough! So then we had him do it over and over again. The first video is really quiet because he's actually singing it to him. I love how soft and sweet he sings it while he looks at him, but the second video you can hear him a lot better.

Day-cation to Charlottesville

2011-11-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we decided to take a little trip to Charlottesville since we'd never been there. First things first, topping off Crew (who can't seem to get full... EVER!).

Which explains why he is already this big!

I love these little Van shoes!

Then we walked the downtown strip, threw some leaves in this fountain, found a really fun kid's toy store, and got some yummy pizza.

Then we were off to "find our next adventure". Camden loves to say "we're off for an adventure", but when I made the mistake of saying it back to him when we climbed in the car we spent the next 15 minutes having this conversation...
Cam: "Where is the adventure mommy?"
Me: "I don't know yet, we have to go find it."
Cam: "Where mommy?"
Me: "We don't know where yet. That's part of the adventure. We are going to go do something fun that we've never done before."
Cam: "So where is the adventure?!"
Literally after 10 minutes of this repeated cycle of questioning and every answer I could come up with, I asked Justin if he wanted to have a go at it. He tried for another 5 minutes. We couldn't convince Camden no matter how many times we tried to explain what an adventure was, that it wasn't a lost object we were trying to locate.

Next up, the UVA campus. There happened to be a football game going on so we stopped and watched from the fence. I don't know what Camden liked better, watching the game or dancing to the music between plays.
The last stop was to go see Thomas Jefferson's home (Monticello) but we were a little late getting there to do a tour. Instead we turned off on a road that said apple orchard thinking we might find some yummy apple cider. We found Carter Mountain. It is an apple orchard at the very top of a mountain that has an incredible 360 degree view of Charlottesville. We got there just as the sun was setting. Not only did we leave with some delicious apple cider, and big red apples, we also got apple cider doughnuts! Yum!
On the way home Camden kept saying, "thank you for the adventure". I think he got it.

Walking Like Mommy

2011-11-14T04:02:00.000-08:00

This video is my two year old making fun of me. It was taken a couple months ago the first night Camden started this impression of his pregnant mom. We couldn't believe that's what he was doing at first. What two year old thinks to make fun of his mom?! Throughout the rest of the pregnancy Camden would walk behind me at the grocery store, target, or wherever and do this. I wouldn't know he was doing it until people walking by would start cracking up and point at us.

ABCs

2011-11-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

I rarely post videos on here but there are so many cute things that I want to remember when I look back at past posts so I apologize for the flash back videos that are going to take over this blog for a while.

This is a video of Camden when he wasn't even two, sitting in his crib practicing his letters. This kid's memory amazes me! I couldn't believe that he could remember the alphabet when he was so little. He doesn't forget a thing (not always good for us as his parents). When we're driving in the car he will tell me if I miss my turn going to places that he's been a few times. He will bring up things that I didn't even know he noticed that happened weeks or even months earlier. He keeps us on our toes!

Big C

2011-11-09T13:29:00.001-08:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about how fast Camden is growing up. Every day he says or does something that cracks me up and I think, 'man I need to write this down'. Of course I haven't so this post I am writing down some of the funny things he says. A post of videos will follow shortly.
Camden-isms:

He is obsessed with sports. He loves baseball and calls the positions the pitcher, batter and glover (aka catcher). It doesn't matter how many times we tell him it's called a catcher, he still says glover.

If asked how old he is, he will tell you "two months in the morning". We tried and tried to figure out where he heard this but never could figure it out. I usually just laugh and tell the person, "we have no idea where that came from, he just started saying it". While I was in the hospital on bed rest with Crew my mom and Camden were going up the elevator when someone asked him how old he was. His response: "two months in the morning and I have no idea where it comes from".

About the time we were potty training Camden the song Party Rock by LMFAO came out. If you don't know this song it says "party rockin in the house tonight, everybody gonna have a good time". Once after Camden went potty he came bolting out of the bathroom singing "POTTY rockin in the house tonight!" doing a little dance where he shuffles back and forth putting his hands up and down. He also yells, "everyday I'm shuffling"- another part in the song or "put your hands up". After he did it once and we laughed so hard I about peed my pants he does it now all the time. This kid LOVES attention and putting on a show so when he would go to the bathroom while we were at the hospital he would run out into the hall in the middle of the nurses station without any pants or underwear to sing and dance. They loved it too!

Camden has an quite the vocabulary. Common words and phrases he uses: "that is incredible" "well actually mom". Instead of saying sure or yes when you ask if he wants to do something he says "that would be great". If you ask him to do something he says "of course". Out of the blue tells Justin "we're buddies Daddy". His response is never yes or no but "yes I will" or "no I won't". When Crew cries he usually asks us if Crew is "looking for his big brother" and says to Crew "here's the big brother Crew, don't cry". After Camden says bye to Justin in the morning as he is leaving for work Camden will run after him and stand at the door yelling "Dad I forgot to tell you something". This is always followed by "don't drive fast like lightning McQueen, drive safe". Today he told Justin "Daddy, I want to go to work with you. I want work shoes and a work shirt".

I love this kid! Never a dull moment with him around.

Crew's Blessing

2011-11-09T11:52:00.001-08:00

Such a special day. Justin gave Crew a beautiful blessing, and unlike his older brother Crew didn't make a peep through the whole thing. Big C literally screamed his head off from the time Justin started to speak until he sat back down with him. The bishop even said afterward from the pulpit that it looked like we'd have our hands full. And we do! We love our crazy Camden. Any chance Crew will be a calmer kid?! Doubt it but we'll see! It was so fun to have family and close friends there to be a part of this special experience. Thank you so much to those that traveled to be here!!!

Dear Santa...

2011-10-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

I know it's not even Halloween yet but I would LOVE a nice camera. Someday I will break down and buy one of those ridiculously oversized, amazing cameras. In the mean time this is our attempt at getting a few new born shots of Crew with our little point and shoot camera.

My Sister Comes to Visit

2011-10-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

I was so sad to see my mom leave but my sister came out two weeks later for a visit. She is mom to five adorable kids and knows EVERYTHING there is to know about being a great mom. I joke that she is my mom encyclopedia. She just makes everything look so easy. Camden thinks she is the coolest person on earth. In fact when we took her to the airport to go back to Texas Camden informed me that he would be leaving to get on the airplane with Arianne. I can't blame the kid, she is way more fun than me.
Camden's favorite thing to do is go to the park by our house and play either football, baseball or basketball. It was so cute to watch them play together.Arianne brought the boys these bath towels with their names embroidered on the back. They crack me up. Camden loves to just wear his around the house. Every time he puts it on he becomes what we call the "generous lion". He asks if we'd like a cupcake or lollipop and what color. I love this kids imagination but I have no idea where the connection between lions and giving out treats came from.

Little guy maybe not so little...

2011-10-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

We had Crew's one month appointment today and were shocked by his jump in percentage. When we went to the pediatrician three weeks ago he was 28th percentile for weight, today he jumped to 78th. He was 50th for height and today jumped to 75th for height. Our doctor said she thought we may have missed his one month check and this was his two month check. Ha, so much for having a lighter baby that won't throw my back out when I carry him around. Here are a few pictures of our growing baby and family over the past few weeks.
Loved having my mom here after he was born to hang out and help. Justin didn't have any time off so it was so nice to have my mom to hang out with. I just love being around her. She is always happy and smiling. We laugh at all the same stupid things. I think she deserves a gold medal for all her help in getting Crew here! I was sad to see my mom leave but just two weeks later my sister came in town. We had such a blast. This trip was some of the best times I've ever had with my sister and will need it's own post... coming shortly.We got to go out to dinner with the Neumanns. Dinner at restaurants is a little different with two! One is feeding Crew while the other was up taking Camden to the bathroom several times.
These two are already best buds. Camden is so sweet to Crew. Any time he cries Camden runs to him and says, "Are you looking for the big brother Crew?". He pats his tummy and gives him kisses all the time but luckily isn't really into holding him yet.
Our first real family outing was to Cox Farms last weekend. I love this place. We took Camden when he was just a baby but obviously he enjoyed it a little more this go around.

Baby Crew is HERE

2011-10-09T12:04:00.001-07:00

And a month old today! Can't believe I'm just getting around to posting about his birth. I knew life with a new born and two year old would be an adjustment but didn't realize that it would be noon some days before I got to brush my teeth. A girlfriend came over the other night around 8 and when I opened the door, she said "I love it, already getting ready for bed". I looked down and laughed, "No I just never got out of my pajamas!". That's just how life seems to be these days and I'm starting to realize that's ok. I am really just enjoying snuggling this little guy every chance I get because this time I know how fast it goes. I LOVE the newborn stage- so sweet and tiny.
Crew was born 1 day shy of 38 weeks on September 18th and 8:32am. He weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. I went into the hospital around 11pm the night before dilated to a 5 and having contractions every 4-5 minutes apart for the past 4 hours. I was adamant that I have an epiderhal, a GOOD one, since the one with Camden only worked on my right half. The nurses were great and so was the anesthesiologist. I got the epiderhal right away and didn't feel very much pain at all through the whole night. Around 5am I started feeling A LOT of pain as if the epiderhal had completely worn off and I wasn't numb. The doctor came in and said they would get the anithesiologist back in right away but then she checked me and said it was too late because the baby was already coming. After a minor meltdown with a whole bunch of tears I realized that there wasn't anything I could about it and I might as well suck it up and get ready to meet our little guy. It was only about twenty minutes and Crew was on my tummy and showing us his lungs were just fine! He cried for 30 seconds and then he was back in our arms wide eyed looking around. Justin and I kept asking the nurses "So he's healthy?!". Because of our experience with Camden and because of all the pre-term labor problems that started two months earlier, we had prepared ourselves this time that Crew would probably go to the NICU. We just couldn't believe that we got to keep him with us and he didn't have any problems.

I love this picture because if you look very closely you can see he's a little teary eyed holding his new son. That's something I've only seen a few times in our four years of marriage.

I was so happy that both my parents were here from Texas for the birth.

We are also so lucky to have Justin's family live close to us so they could all be here. Well almost his whole family, we were missing aunt Whitney who is in Utah going to school.
I loved having him in the room with us. He never went to the nursery.

Camden was really cute with Crew. He wanted to hold and kiss him... for a minute. Then he was happy having us hold him while he ran around and wrestled his dad. He kept putting his hand on my stomach and asking "Where did your baby go?".

After 24 hours in the hospital we were ready to get out of there and bring Crew home. I hate hospitals. Justin's dad had this cute stork sign placed in front of our house for the first week announcing his birth.The first thing Camden wanted to do when we got Crew home was play football with him.

Crew had to go back into the hospital for two days because his jaundice levels got critically high. I don't know who wouldn't love a warm tanning bed but Crew just screamed 99% of the time. He hated not being swaddled. It was torture to just watch him and not be able to hold him. But pretty soon his levels were back down and we got to leave.

We've been loving every second... well maybe not the middle of the night seconds.

HOME SWEET HOME!!!!

2011-08-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Jail Break Tomorrow

2011-08-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

LONG POST. Please don't feel the need to read this. Many have asked me for the details and this is an easy way to do it. As most of you know that read this blog, this pregnancy threw us a curve ball almost two weeks ago. As my last post mentioned, I have been on moderate bed rest. I went in about three weeks ago and my doctor told me, "Good news, taking it easy has worked" and that I was measuring great now. In fact, they even gave us the go ahead to travel to Sun Valley ID. We were still very nervous to travel but finally decided that with several doctors giving us the green light and being early enough in the pregnancy that we hadn't reached the cut off for traveling, we would go. Our flight left early Thursday but on Wednesday night, bags packed and ready to go, we made a trip into the hospital because I was having a few contractions. When they checked me we were shocked to find out that I was now dilated to 2cm and my cervix length had drastically shortened from our last appointment not even a week earlier. We weren't going anywhere and became scared to death that this little boy was going to come WAY too early.

We were admitted to the hospital and after an IV of fluid and 3 shots of a drug called terbutaline (makes the uterus relax and your heart pound out of your chest) the contractions slowed down. Not for long though. The next night they picked back up to three minutes apart, then one minute, and by the time they rushed me from the high risk perinatal unit to labor and delivery they were 30 seconds apart. This is where I lost it. I didn't think they would be able to stop him from coming and I knew it was WAY too early. I was scared to death. Camden was born at 37 weeks and his lungs were not ready. He was in the NICU and without going into details, I'll just say that seeing your baby through plastic with a million tubes in him was the hardest thing I've ever had to go through and I wasn't prepared to go through it again.

They started me right away on a drug called magnesium. This is a last resort drug they use to stop labor. Everyone warned me what a horrible drug this was and the awful side effects that came along with it for the mom. They were right! It made my body shake and feet numb because I was so cold but then my face was on fire and I couldn't stop sweating. My eye sockets ached and I couldn't focus or see anything. Last of all I had a splitting head ache and felt like the room was spinning. Fun right?!

It was a miserable 30 hours. The magnesium is so strong and potent that it actually infiltrated through my veins three times, making them start a new IV each time. After 24 hours they lowered my dose but my contractions started back up right away. They decided to keep me on the higher dose for another 6 hours. By 6am on Sunday they finally took me off it. As happy as I was to be off it, Justin and I were preparing ourselves that he would most likely be born that day. Then a miracle happened. The contractions spread way out. I slept for the next 10 hours and woke up feeling pretty much back to myself. They took me back up to the high risk area and this is where I've been ever since. In a cute little green and blue room with a window and a chair/bed for Justin by my side. I'm still having contractions but for the most part they are spread out. Tomorrow I will be 34 weeks! My doctor said she will check me and if I haven't dilated any more, they will send me home on bedrest. HOME! There isn't a whole lot they can do for me at this point to stop the labor anyway. The risk of the drugs now outweigh the benefits of delaying labor.

They've told me not to get my hopes up just in case they need to keep me longer but all I can think about is having Camden with me all day instead of just visiting between his naps. Although they would never admit it I know that it's been so hard on my mom and husband. My mom has been amazing taking care of Camden, making us meals, and driving to and from the hospital twice a day. Justin sat next to me holding my hand for two days in a dark room while I was on the magnesium not even leaving to get food. He has spent every night on a horrible bed and tries to divide his time between taking care of me, Camden and getting things ready for our baby. I've just been amazed at how many people have gone out of their way to visit and bring things to keep me busy. That's the only reason I still have a little of my sanity left! It's hard not to feel so humbled and thankful for incredible family and friends.

Every day that he stays in here cooking is a huge blessing. I hope he can hold out even a few more weeks. Although I'll admit I'm still so scared of him being in the NICU I feel more prepared and know that the situation could be much worse for him. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. I know that's what has gotten us to this point. Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I can bust out of here tomorrow and keep this little guy from coming a little longer!

Belly Shots

2011-07-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

I wish I was one of those girls that remembered to take a weekly picture of my bump but I really didn't take very many pictures throughout this whole pregnancy. Luckily one of my best friends happens to be an amazing photographer and she snapped a few of me along the way. Then last weekend Camden, Justin and I went to Old Town Alexandria and Justin snapped a few pictures. Turns out my husband is a pretty good photographer too! The top three pictures are ones that he took and the others are from Alia Cardwell.

This pregnancy has been much smoother then Camden's. Not a single trip to the ER! (I'm knocking on wood as I'm writing this) I did however find out at my last appointment several weeks ago that I'm already 50% effaced. They sent me over to the hospital to get a more accurate measurement. My doctor warned me that if my cervix was 3cm or less that I would be on bed rest. If I measured below 2cm I wouldn't be allowed to leave the hospital. Ehhh! Well I was at 3.1!!! I was put on moderate bed rest since I was borderline. Since I'm not much of a home body, to say the least, I've been going a little stir crazy. Thank you to all the friends that have been playing at our house helping Camden and me stay sane. I have my next appointment this Wednesday to find what I'm measuring. Keeping my fingers crossed that I've stayed the same and haven't progressed!

You still make me laugh!

2011-07-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

This is a mushy post... proceed with caution or don't read at all if this stuff makes you gag! Four years ago I made the most important and best decision I ever have or will make. My best friend asked me to marry him and I said YES!!! (That is after he asked me twice because I was too shocked to answer the first time. But that's a whole other post about how he tricked me into thinking he was having cold feet before he proposed for the shock effect- who does that?!) Since this is a journal I thought I write the quick version of how we met/ got married.
Justin likes to tell the version that he had to wait for me to stop dating all his friends so he could have his chance. Luckily I'm writing this so let me give the true version. I first met Justin at a party my room mates and I had in college. In walks this tall, hot guy that come to find out, one of my room mates was interested in. Due to the "girl rule" when I found that out, he was automatically put in the friend zone. Well his dating realationship with my room mate was short lived but his friends and mine continued to hang out and we became good friends. Over the next few years Justin and I were sounding boards for each other when it came to the opposite sex. We gave each other advice on dating and helped each other through both the good and bad times. After graduating college I left to live in Ecuador for a few months and we talked on the phone just about every day. I missed my best friend and couldn't wait to see him. When I got back he was dating a girl that I really liked and thought was a great match for him. I told him if he didn't marry her he was an idiot. (Hmmm, guess I was the idiot for giving that advice). They broke up and I had just stopped dating someone too. My best friend was dating his room mate so we all decided to go to dinner and hang out one night. It wasn't weird or out of the ordinary for Justin and I to go to dinner because best friends do that stuff right? We went to Happy Sumo and then went back to the boy's apartment to watch the movie Click. After the movie was over Justin's room mate was taking my friend home so I hopped up to go with them and basically high fived Justin goodbye. Justin told me to stay and he would take me home later. Confused I said that made no sense because his friend was driving to our place anyway so I would just go with them so Justin wouldn't have to drive there too. This time he laughed at me and told me to just sit down. Our friends left and about 30 seconds later with no words exchanged we kissed. Justin would throw in here that I "pounced him". He loves to make me blush, which doesn't take much. But again, since I'm the one writing this, the TRUTH is HE kissed ME. Looking back now it sounds really silly/dumb but from that first kiss we both knew we were going to get married. We had seen each other in every situation and knew all the things about each other that you usually try to hide from someone you like for at least the first few months while you put on your good front. Everyone always asks us, and honsetly we've both asked each other why in the world it took us so long to figure out that we wanted to be more than friends. I don't really know that answer except to say that I'm so glad it did because we were able to get to know each other and become best friends in a way that wouldn't have been possible otherwise.
I still can't believe that he's mine! Four years of marriage later, here we are with a crazy two year old and another boy on the way. There are days when Camden's food has miraculously made it across the room, our house is a disaster, there are a million things to do, and one or both of us is at our breaking point and then we look at each other or Justin says something stupid (the more likely scenario) and it makes us both bust up laughing. He really is the most good hearted, funny and charismatic person I've ever met. He keeps me laughing every day.

We celebrated this year at the Melting Pot. YUM! It was a perfect night.

Matching Ties

2011-07-12T18:14:00.000-07:00

Ellen Degeneres Mother's Day Giveaway

2011-06-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

Well considering it's past father's day, I considered not blogging about this but then I remembered things like this don't happen to me and I would feel ungrateful not documenting it. So here it is, the story of how I got to go on the Ellen Mother's Day Giveaway 2011 Show and win a lot of really cool stuff. Back in March I went to San Diego for a fun girl's trip with my best friends from college. One of the things I wanted to do most in CA was to go to a taping of the Ellen show because I LOVE her and joke (except I couldn't be more serious) that one of the things on the top of my bucket list is to dance in her audience. Anyone reading this hopefully has seen the show so you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, we tried to get tickets but they were totally sold out.
Fast forward three weeks later when I get a hysterical message, make that 3 messages in a row from my friend Lindsey who lives in San Diego. The message went something like this, "OH MY GOSH! The Ellen show just called and left me a message. I wrote them an email and they called me back. Can you believe it?! Answer your phone. I think I may get tickets for the Mother's Day show and you are coming with me." Mix in there some screaming and you get the idea. They gave her two tickets to the show and asked if she had any pregnant friends. Here's where my luck streak comes in. I was about 5 months pregnant at the time while she was due just a month later. I bought a ticket back out to CA for the three days before mother's day and picked out an outfit that made me look the most pregnant I could be at 5 months. We drove up from San Diego to L.A early the morning of the tapping stopping along the way at Cafe Rio. Pretty soon we arrived at Universal Studios!

When we pulled into the garage where they instructed us to park this is what we saw...This picture doesn't do justice because everyone is sitting down. It was so funny to see this many pregnant women all gathered in one place. We sat down with all the other waddling ladies and dug into our Cafe Rio. An employee came out and announced that they would be handing out numbers so everyone should slowly line up to get one but assured us that this number had nothing to do with where we would sit in the studio so not to rush or worry. We were both starving so with that we sat and ate our Rio until the other ladies cleared out.

We were pretty much the last girls to get our numbers. Number 170 and 171.

Remember how he said that it had nothing to do with seating? Well he lied. When it was time to make our way into the studio they called everyone up in groups of 2o or so in numerical order. We knew we would be in the very last row of the studio but didn't even care because we were still going on the show and we knew we would still get the goods. When we finally got into the studio, sure enough we were filling into the last row when an employee put her hand in front of me and asked how many were in my party. When I replied it was just the two of us she motioned for me to follow her and started walking down the stairs to the front. This is where our second streak of luck comes in. She took us all the way down to the front left side and put us in the front row of a side balcony. We were RIGHT next to Tony!!! (Tony is her DJ in case you aren't an Ellen fan- in which case you probably aren't reading this anyway). See?!!! That's Tony's seat!
The show was amazing! We danced our hearts out. There's only one thing more funny then seeing a whole bunch of pregnant girls all sitting in the same area and that's watching that many pregnant women dance. There was one girl that was due any day and busting out moves I didn't know where possible! Kate Hudson was the guest. She was adorable. And it was really cool to see how Ellen acted when the cameras stopped rolling. She seemed totally calm and just had a big smile on her face. During one commercial break she was over by our side and looking out at the crowd with a big smile. She stopped when she saw me and started laughing. Maybe because I must have looked like a kid on Christmas with a HUGE smile and mouthing 'Hi Ellen, hi Ellen, hi Ellen". She waved back at me and people in our section started cheering.
Ok, I have to admit that when I see giveaway shows like this on TV and people are crying I kind of roll my eyes (I know that's awful) but when they brought out these incredible gifts I couldn't help but choke back tears. I was hoping for maybe one big gift like a stroller or a car seat or maybe a crib even. We got all of those things and a ton more. Here's a list of the things we got...

$300 old navy gift card

Daillia Necklace

Rockabye Baby 13 CD Set

$240 blume gift card

6-month supply of Plum food

150 Birth Announcements from Paperterie

6-month supply of Huggies

Puj microfiber bootie

Expecting 411 Book Series

Little Giraffe Blanket

Britax B-ready Stroller

Britax Car Seat

Baby Carrier

Diaper bag- go gaga

Peg perego High Chair

Video camera

pack and play

Graco espresso crib

Baby Bedding

Washer and Dryer (Hmmm, after jumping up and down when they brought these out my girlfriend and I looked at each other and said 'oh yeah, we're renting!' Anyone want to buy a washer and dryer?!)

After the show ended we got in our cars are went out in an assembly line. It took us about 4 hours to get out of the parking garage but we were so happy we didn't care! They sent us home with the high chair, pack n play, video camera, baby carrier, blanket, diaper bag, CDs and booties. Everything else they gave us vouchers in a packet that we can order any time for the next year. This is our loot.

CANCUN

2011-06-13T20:03:00.001-07:00

As usual, I'm way behind on blogging! Somewhere between Cancun and the last post will be coming a girl's beach week and The Ellen Degeneres Mother's Day Give Away. Like I said, I'm way behind. In the mean time though, here are some pictures from our Searle (my family) Trip to Cancun. The only thing missing from this trip was two of my siblings Arianne and Quin. We missed you guys!!! Oh yes, and a bunch of the little cousins too. Camden was definitely missed by me and Justin! He was a tricky age for this trip so we thought of it as our babymoon:)

The last night of the trip we did dinner on the beach. You can't ask for better scenery and I guess better food in you're into seafood. It was a champagne and lobster dinner- hold the champagne and lobster for Justin and me. The sprite and steak were however, incredible.

The bump grew in the 6 days we were there... seriously!This is Justin's little admirer Taren or "Fo" as we call her. She likes to tell me that Justin is "HER JUSTIN" not mine. :) So cute. They made a pretty cool sand castle.The swim up bar never got old. Why is it that no one in Mexico believes you when you ask for a drink virgin. It's like they think you're trying to be funny. Every time we'd get a wink and they would start laughing. We had to repeat it four or five times with an added emphasis on "No REALLY" before they'd stop laughing. My parents are so darn cute.

We danced the night away. This was probably my favorite night! Fo was hilarious dancing her little heart out all night. At one point everyone on the dance floor backed up and at the end of the song she got a standing ovation from the entire room.
I wasn't allowed to take my camera in but this was everyone going to swim with dolphins. Apparently they were out of adult sized life vests because everyone got to wear these postage size half vests. Woo! I was so sad that I wasn't able to swim with the dolphins; it's always been on my bucketlist. Dolphins are very smart animals that get freaked out around pregnant people because they hear two heart beats. Who knew?! I expected that I wouldn't be able to do the zip line, ATVs, and speed boats but swimming with dolphins?! Come on!

View from our room. I've never stayed in such a nice room. We had a huge hot tub in our room. Gotta love how cheap Mexico is right now!!!

OH BOY... another boy!

2011-05-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

We had a sonogram at 13 weeks and it was pretty clear that another boy was on the way. Since it was so early in the pregnancy we had our 20 week sonogram on Monday just to make sure. Yep, still a boy! We are so dang excited!!!!! I can't wait to have two boys running around causing havoc together. Camden will be happy to have a partner in crime.

Funny how documenting goes out the window with the second pregnancy. These are the only belly shots we've taken and I'm half way through the pregnancy. I look about the same in both pictures because I swear I popped right out this time. It was like I woke up one morning and BAM. Again second pregnancy is a whole new ball game! I'm happy to be showing. It makes the whole in-between stage when I catch people staring at my stomach and then looking at the ceiling when I look at them thing so much less awkward. You can actually tell I'm pregnant:)

15 weeks

20 weeksLuckily Camden already seems to like him. He is so sweet kissing and patting my belly. He always wants to "see the baby" by lifting up my shirt to see my stomach. Cute until we were at church and he is lifting up my dress and yelling "I WANNA SEE BABY!"

Run-A-Muck!

2011-05-11T19:37:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago we did a race called Run-A-Muck in Maryland. It's about 3.5 miles with a mud pits, a rock climbing wall, tires, mud pool, and other fun stuff along the way. It was such a blast!!! We had a great group of friends to torture ourselves with. Justin and I ran the whole thing side by side which meant that one mud pit turned into a mud fight (I recieved a mouth full of mud- no joke) but I'm pretty sure I still won.

Before the race started... all squeaky clean

Covered head to toe in nasty mud

This is the mud pool before the race started. If you want to see us swiming through this pit here's a link to the video of us crawling through the mud pool. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwau8fBqAWM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMDEN!!!

2011-04-30T18:14:00.000-07:00

Camden had a pretty fun birthday weekend! I can't believe we have a 2 year old. He LOVES firetrucks so that's the theme we went with this year for his little party.This is the reaction when the flame went out. We lit it again.

And then he cheered for himself when he blew it out again.

If you ask him how old he is, he yells TWO! We're still working on the right number of fingers. He has to hold the other fingers down to get two.Of course we celebrated his birthday at "the frog park", Camden's favorite. That's what he calls it because they have a pond with lots of turtles and frogs.I had to put a picture in here of the cake BEFORE the party since the back got smashed and the frosting melted off as soon as we got to the park. My dad helped me with it the night before.

Dad: "It needs a grill"
Me: "What's a grill?"
Clearly I needed all the help I could get!
After cake, looking for frogs, and playing all over the playground Camden got to play baseball, soccer and football with his grandpas.

The partying didn't stop with just that day. We loved having my parents here for Camden's birthday. We celebrated all week with more parks...A baseball game in Baltimore. Go O's!!!This picture cracks me up. Check out his black eye! Poor guy hit his check on our table doing his spin moves. He is clearly more into the game here than we are.
And a bunch of other fun things that I didn't take pictures of. Happy Birthday Camden!!!

Girl's Trip

2011-04-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

At least once a year my best friends from college and I all get together for a girl's trip. This year we gathered in San Diego where my friend LJ lives. This year was an extra special trip together because one of the four- Lyndsay Dougal is getting MARRIED!!! Yes, there are three Lindseys in our group. One goes by LJ, one goes by Dougal and they call me Searle (my maiden name). It was also special because LJ is expecting her first baby! It was so fun to get the three Lindseys and our Britt back together. Other close friends joined us that weekend too. I miss my girls like crazy. We had so much fun and got way too little sleep. Here are some pictures to prove it...

Comedy Show. It was hilarious and Katie even got called on stage to do a little improve.

Here is the Bride to Be at her bridal shower. Love making this girl blush. Especially after what they put me through at my shower!LJ and I got to go riding up the coast. It was so beautiful and made me realize how much I miss the beach.
We ate Cafe Rio - my all time favorite four times in five days. Is that really gross?I really wish I would have gotten a picture of the view from the condo we stayed at on the beach. You can barely see the sunset behind us.

In Memory of Trevor Ryan Searle

2011-03-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

This is long overdue because I've had a really hard time writing this post. On Saturday March 5th, we lost our nephew Trevor Searle. He was in a long boarding accident and hit his head. Since Trev's "relocation" as my brother (Trevor's dad) puts it, we have realized even more what an impact he had on everyone who knew him and even many that didn't know him. So many people have come forward with funny and sweet stories about him and how he changed their lives for the better. To describe our Trev the words happy, care free and loving come to mind. Even as a tiny infant he had this desire to make everyone laugh. I remember babysitting him this one time before he could even talk. I was sitting in the corner, arms on my knees pouting that I wasn't going out with the adults. Little blue eyed blond totaled up to me and got and inch from my face making funny noises and smiling as big as he could. It took all of two seconds before I was cracking up and hugging him. Of all the memories I have with Trevor for some reason that one comes back in my mind over and over. Maybe because I have a little boy about that age. Maybe because to me that is the epitome of who he was. He would notice someone sad and have to make them smile. He was always smiling and joking around. He was extremely close with his mom and dad. Justin and I had talked about how we can raise our kids to develop the kind of love, respect and friendship that Trevor had with his dad Ryan and mom Steph. He is the only teenage boy I knew that always wanted his dad to hang out with him and his friends and would text his mom at least once a day to tell her he loved her. He was never embarrassed to be who he was. People were drawn to him and wanted to be his friend.

Trev and Ry would ride like this, arm in arm or holding hands all the time. The rest of us always thought it was hilarious. Now I just think how great it was that he was so close with his dad.

He was an Eagle Scout.I'm so grateful we got to spend time with him and have him in our livesThis is a memorial that his friends and students set up for him on the hill that the accident happened. There were messages written in chalk all up and down the road.I wish Camden could have known his cousin longer but I'm so thankful he was able to meet him.

This is Ry out front with all of Trevor's buddies riding behind him. His friends told us that Trev was the best rider out of any of them and was always the one leading. I think that it was Ryan's therapy. He did the hill over and over again every day and still goes down it in memory of Trevor.
A lot of the students had this on their arms. Instead of RIP it said RIA. They said Trev was never very peaceful:). He was more of a wild man so RIA stood for "Rest In Awesomeness".
Trevor usually had this ramp in the back of his truck at all times. The high school put it in the library and let students sign it. Then our family got to come in and see it. It was really neat to read all the amazing comments about him.This is Ry with his other two sons- Tate and Trey.
These signs were posted all over the school. It kind of became a saying- "Live Like Trevor".

A bunch of students got "cool kicks like Trevor would wear" and wrote all over them things about Trevor.
The pallbearers wore skate shoes with their suites.

Never will a day go by that we won't think about Trevor. I tell myself all the time to "Live like Trevor". He was an example to us while he was on this earth and he continues to teach us now that he has passed. How thankful I am that I know we will all be together again some day. I love you Trev.

L - O - V - E

2011-02-15T12:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, if the sappy love stuff makes you gag read no further. Maybe its the shoe boxes we used to decorate in elementary school and hand out valentines that sparked my love for Valentine's Day. Or maybe it's because this seems to be the time of year that I get to eat as many conversational hearts and cinnamon bears as I want. More likely it's because four years ago on the day before Valentine's Day, the 13th, Justin proposed to me and now there's that added excitement that goes with the BIG 14. Whatever the reason, and however silly people think I am I LOVE VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!!!!!!

(Here's the proposal)

Justin and I trade off every year who gets to plan V-day. Here's a picture of the very first Valentine's Day we celebrated together. Look at that long hair!

This year Justin was in charge and he pulled out all the stops. It will be a hard act to follow next year. We started celebrating on Saturday by going to a really beautiful restaurant downtown by the Capitol.

But let's back up to earlier that week before the twinkle lights, candles and roses when Justin was holding my hair LITERALLY all night while my head was in the toilet. Justin caught a 12 hour bug which he passed to me and mutated into a 48 hour DEATH bug. I honestly don't know that I've ever been that violently sick for that long. Justin stayed home from work two days taking care of me and Camden. By Saturday morning my head had stopped spinning, my body didn't hurt and I wasn't curled up around the toilet but I was still exhausted so I slept most of the day. When I woke up that afternoon I sat up and saw these little beauties by our bed....

It was such a fun date! Then came the REAL Valentine's Day. Remember what I said about how much I loved getting valentines in the decorated shoe boxes back in elementary school? Justin remembered too. Not only did he make this box, it was full of candy and valentines from my two favorite boys. Thanks for such a great Valentine's Day honey! I guess I should start planning now!

Ready. Set. Catch up!!!!!!!!

2011-02-08T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here we go.... We've been going to Justin's basketball games. Which turned out to be an hour of me pulling Camden back into the stands and off the court.

A couple of hockey games. Camden's favorite sport at the time being. He wakes up saying hockey, he goes to sleep saying hockey, and pretty much talks about it non-stop.Got in touch with our inner white trash and went to a Monster Truck Rally! Which was a little louder than we remembered even with ear plugs (oh Justin and I have been before). We got to go in the "pit" before the Rally and get up close with all the trucks and motorcycles.

Lunch downtown after the Rally at Rosa Mexicano... mi favorito! Where Camden so creatively turned the tortilla basket into a hat.Went to a Frostival and had a blast with our good friends Matthew and Jessica.What's a party without a little dancing?! These boys had a blast, and truth be told Jess and I had just as much fun as they did.Camden has recently become quite the little chef. He loves to help me cook. (Takes twice as long, makes more than double the mess, but it makes him happy)Camden was introduced to the wonderful world of Chucky Cheese at his little girlfriend's birthday party. He was in heaven and I have a feeling we'll be going back often. He was pretty happy about the cake too. After he finnished his slice and noticed Annabelle had left to play he finnished off hers as well. Nice.And most recently we went to COLORADO!!! My cute grandpa got married. That's right, 86 and tied the knot. Go gramps! Oh how I miss my family!!!!! Enough said. This is the most recent addition to our family, number 27 on the nieces and nephews count, Mia. Don't be fooled by this not so happy look. That dark stain on his shirt, that's chocolate milk from earlier that day. Then I got out of the car to run into Walmart for all of 5 minutes to come back and see Camden with fries in one hand and a chocolate doughnut in the other. To say my mom and sister spoil him is an understatement. He kept yelling "mmmmm, chocooooolate!". I got to go snowboarding with my family! I was in heaven. Did I mention that it was on a real mountain with real snow that took longer than two minutes to get down the run?! Aww heaven.
Another highlight in CO was being there for my adorable niece's baptism. It was really special and I'm so glad we were there for it.I'd just like to end by saying (for anyone who is still with me) I have NEVER gotten a normal picture with my brothers just smiling... ever. This was the best of ten. How do they know without looking or talking who's turn it is to make a dumb face?!

Too late?

2011-01-12T11:02:00.000-08:00

The answer to this is YES! It is a little late for Holiday pictures, after all it's half way into January. Oh well. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years... DC style this year!Camden came down Christmas morning yelling "SANTA ho ho ho". The first thing he did was run to his Santa stocking and give it a big kiss. Second thing he did was grab his new skate board.I had to put it back up for the picture. Am I a crazy mom for getting my 19 month old a skate board?! The answer to that is probably yes as well. He loves it though! It cracks me up to hear his little tough guy sound effects when he stands on it.Camden was such a fun age this year for Christmas. Camden thinks this is his football helmet. Every time he puts it on he runs around yelling "touchdown" and "football". The boy loves fire trucks but apparently hasn't seen too many fire men! We spent New Years in Georgetown for dinner and walking around. Then we carried on the usual Searle new years eve fondue tradition at our house, but this time with the Neumanns.

Happy (albeit very late) New Years everyone!

Family Pictures

2010-12-23T07:25:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are our family pictures that Alia the Awesome (that's her legal name) took a few weeks ago. She did such a great job! We took them right in front of our house on this great trial by a river. We go for walks on this trail all the time, that is, when it's warm out. It was a fun scene for pictures of Camden. Warning... this post has a LOT of pictures.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree

2010-12-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

I guess with Justin as his dad it should come as no surprise that Camden LOVES sports. One of his first words was golf club, or as he still says it "gul cub". He can spot a basketball hoop or ball from a 100 yards away. As soon as he could walk he would go straight for the basketball hoop at church and stand under it yelling "baball". We're talking during church, which makes sacrament all the more interesting. About a week ago Justin and I were playing football with him and one of us yelled "hut hut hike", to this he quickly pushed the football between his legs. Justin and I just stared at each other because neither one of us taught him that. This video was from a couple months ago.

Well last night we took him to his first hockey game. Although the Caps choked towards the end and lost in the overtime shoot out, we had such a blast. Anyone that knows Camden knows he is a very busy boy and rarely, let's make that never, sits still for more than 5 seconds. For the entire first period I don't think Camden blinked. He stood leaning over the seats in front of us just staring. We got him chanting "go Caps" in the second period and by the third period he was laughing and high fiveing the fans in front, next to and behind us. We were one of the last people out of the stadium at 10pm and Camden was still happy as can be dancing to the music. For the sake of Camden's teeth I'm hoping we can steer him towards one of the other sports he loves.

Thanksgiving

2010-12-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

My mom and dad flew out to DC to spend Thanksgiving with us this year! This was my first Thanksgiving dinner that I actually made and had at our house. Needless to say, coming from a girl that doesn't like to cook I was a little nervous. Luckily, my mom is an amazing cook. Minus a frozen turkey that morning and the rest of the food getting cold waiting for the turkey (minor details) it went without a hiccup! I'll work on my timing for next year. Camden didn't seem to mind. Notice the pea lodged in his belly button. Nice.
The whole week we got to relax and hang out with my parents. It was such a blast. Camden adores his grandma and grandpa. He was cracking up at everything they did.

I tried to convince my parents to send this out as their Christmas card this year but they declined. Weird. Something about my other 5 siblings being jealous. While we were sad to see them go the morning after Turkey day the partying didn't stop there. Justin's sister Whitney was home from college and his cousins, the Gleasons came up from Richmond. We went to the National Harbor Ice Show. It was so fun! The theme was The Grinch That Stole Christmas. They even had an ice slide. Camden went down it by himself. Although he ended up upside down and backwards at the end he still had a huge smile on his face.

Check out this kids eyes! Do you think we has excited?!Oh the matching hats.Camden thinks his uncle Sean is his own personal amusement park.I told Mrs. Clause to put in a good word for us with the big man.

Family Pictures

2010-12-02T08:39:00.001-08:00

Alia the incredible Cardwell took some family pictures for us and I LOVE them all. Pictures post coming soon...

West Palm Beach

2010-11-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

Justin had a business trip to West Palm Beach, FL a few weeks ago. Camden and I weren't about to miss out on the fun so we tagged along for the trip. We got to stay at a ridiculously nice resort called The Breakers. I've never seen such a over the top beautiful resort. I knew when we arrived in our Ford Taurus rental car behind a Bentley and in front of a Mercedes that we were just a little out of place. We didn't mind by the way. Before Camden was born I went with Justin on his business trips and it was always fun but this time it was so nice to have someone to play with while Justin was off working. Camden was a great date!

Good chance this kid is spending too much time with me....? He took my sunglasses and phone from me and then walked around with his hand on his hip talking in his gibberish. Do I walk with my hand on my hip?!Good thing he also got some male bonding time in!

Camden put his head down on the table while we were eating at Cheesecake Factory and fell asleep. Play hard. Sleep hard... anywhere.

My dreamland. I would like to spend all my time in this ice cream/candy shop. I took Camden there four times in the five days we were there.
West Palm Beach has more money than people know what to do with. Every house looks like a castle, and I've never passed so many Ferrari's, Bentley's, and every other luxury cars in my life.Justin was adamant that he get a picture with this A1A sign. Apparently it was quoted in a Vanilla Ice song...? Yeah, I don't remember it but I pretended to be as excited as he was.

Camden this is you at 18 months...

2010-11-08T11:22:00.001-08:00

You are really into cars, tractors, and anything with wheels. You love shoes, especially ones that aren't yours. You are particularly talented at running in my high heels. Your other favorite is any sport's ball. You carry a basketball around with you all the time, but you only like your dad's basketball that is big. You love to read books. You repeat EVERYTHING we say and do. Even if we sneeze you mimic it. You are one very active, stubborn and wild boy. Every time I turn around you're diving head first in the toilet, climbing up something, pulling everything out of the cupboards, rubbing sand in your hair at the park, or my personal favorite reaching in the back of your diaper to show me what's in it. You're also the sweetest and most affectionate boy in the world. You love to give us kisses (thank heavens because you went through a stage where you hated to cuddle). You kiss my hand all the time. I think because you've seen your dad do it. Last week at dinner you looked at me and said "hand?" reaching out. I put my hand in yours and you kissed it and then gave it back to me. You also ask for my hand in the car just to hold while we drive. You recently started pushing my hair out of my face. You stare at me and gently push my hair back with your chubby and usually sticky fingers and more times than not finish by planting a kiss on my face. It melts my heart and the destruction of the day is erased. You are an extremely social kid. One of the very first words you learned to say was "hi". Everywhere we go, you smile and wave saying "HI" to anyone and everyone. When you do this to strangers the usual reaction is they laugh and say hi back but some people don't respond either because they are lost in their thoughts, don't hear you, or when you were younger they would just stare at you in disbelief, probably because you were so little to be interacting that way. When you don't get a response right away, you are determined and don't stop repeating hi, in increasing volume and pitch, until you get a reaction back. You love to dance. Sometimes I don't even hear the music until I see you bopping back and forth and then notice the commercial in the background with a song. Your dad and I love how excited you get about everything. You absolutely adore your dad. When you hear the keys outside every night as he comes home from work you squeal and run for the door yelling "hi daddy!". You guys do everything together. He has never missed one of your doctor's appointments. Not even when you were in my belly. This is you at 18 months.

Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate's Life for ME!!

2010-11-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

What's better than a stocky little pirate running around singing "yo ho yo ho"?! Camden was so much fun this Halloween. Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE Halloween and all the fun things that come with it. This year we packed in Halloween festivities. I don't have pictures from our friend's parties or the trunk or treat but here's a glance at some of the ways we celebrated this year. Congressional has a big Halloween Brunch Celebration complete with a haunted house, magician for the kids, amazing food and a hay ride. Sean, Cambria and Kelsey went as the Flintstones! Camden wasn't so sure about the spook ally. He didn't cry but I got a very tight hug and he had this wide eyed stare through the whole thing.

He loved the hay ride with his grandma and grandpa Neumann. We were pulled by a tractor or "tactor" as he calls them so that was the highlight for him. He has a book about tractors that we read five times a day.
We stopped at a pumpkin patch to get three pumpkins to take home. Camden mostly just ran around yelling "pumkin" and throwing them. Lovely. We have our own pumpkin smasher. We had to hurry and leave before we had to buy the whole patch. Check out this mischievous look he has before he takes off again to find his next victim...Justin left for a business trip (that blog post will be coming shortly) on Halloween morning so Camden and I got to celebrate with his parents in McLean. Camden loves playing in their basketball court. John was the only one tall enough to lift him up to dunk. Between that, football games and the swing set Camden had a blast all afternoon.That night we went trick or treating around their neighborhood. I didn't think it would last long or that Camden would even know what to do but I thought we would at least go to our friend's house that live next door. When we walked up I told him to ring the door bell, which he did since he loves pushing buttons and when our friends answered the door he said "hi" and repeated my prompt "tic o tre". When they put out the bowl of candy he grabbed one and put it in his little bag. Then turned to run to the next place. I was cracking up that he knew what to do! After that we went from house to house until we finally made him go home.

Meet Maleah Lindsey Pearce

2010-10-31T18:04:00.000-07:00

My super-mom sister just gave birth to this little bundle and we're best friends already. I had been so worried that I would miss her delivery. I flew into Austin, Texas around noon and my sister Arianne went into labor just a few hours later! At first she didn't realize she was in labor so thinking we were in no hurry I spent some time with my brothers and parents. At a park next to my brother's house they throw a "Gobblin Goul" every year. Everyone goes in costume. They have live music, hot air balloons, and tons of fun activities. Camden loved running around with his cousins.

Camden had a good view of the party from my dad's shoulders.My brother Jeremy went as a basketball player. He wore jumping stilts and did back flips in the crowd. That's my Jer! I think we're the only "adults" that still love to get dressed up.

While we were at the party my sister called and said that she really was in labor and to hurry and get to San Antonio. So we hoped in the car, costumes and all and rushed down to San Antonio. My poor sister labored all through the night and into the morning but at 8am Maleah was ready. It was so amazing to be there for her delivery. When Maleah let out her first cry we all cheered and cried. She is so beautiful! You did such a great job Arianne!!!!

It was such a great week. I loved every minute I got to spend with my family. Camden and I were sad to say goodbye and leave everyone in Texas!

Ehhhh!!!!

2010-10-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Markoff's Haunted Forest gets better every year! Even the boys were screaming and jumping at parts. The most common quotes of the night were, "WHAT WAS THAT?!" ... "I don't know but it was scary!". We love you Markoff's Haunted Forest. See you next year!

Younger Than You Look!

2010-10-09T05:10:00.000-07:00

Conversation with a woman in my spin class:
(Context-she was asking me about things she could do to get rid of her extra mid section. Side note- this was the skinniest women I've ever seen)
Her: "Well after you turn 40 it's just all down hill from there. It's starts in your 30's. Well you know what I mean, it's just harder than it used to be."
Me: "Hmm, yeah." Nodding slowly. I would have let it go there but she continued to stare at me waiting for me to expound. "Well I'm actually not in my 30's yet..."
Her: Cutting me off "You aren't even 30 yet?! REALLY?!!"
Me: "Um, no I'm 27 today actually".
Yes, this is exactly what every woman wants to hear on her birthday. 'Wow, you look older than you are!' Thank you lady with no filter. I'm buying wrinkle cream today.

Virginia Beach

2010-10-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

We have been wanting to visit our good friends Sean and Cait, who live in Virginia Beach for a long time now and last weekend we finally got to go! We had perfect weather for a fun day at the beach. Camden was in heaven playing in the waves and digging in the sand. I wish you could see in the picture below the amount of sand that covered this little boy's body. Turns out Dorittos still taste good mixed with sand, or at least he kept eating them.By the time we were ready to leave the beach Camden's diaper was FILLED with sand so he had to do a little skinny dipping to wash off. (Yes this picture will be used as black male in fifteen years when he brings his friends over)Sean was nice enough to do the "one, two, three" game with Camden over and over again. Don't Sean and Justin make a cute couple?!

Sean and Cait are not only the greatest friends but they are so incredible with Camden!

A Black Tie Event

2010-09-20T18:49:00.000-07:00

Like most girls, I love getting dressed up. So when Justin told me we were going to a black tie event for his work I was thrilled. It was so fun to meet some of the people that he has told me about and to see him in action. It's funny how two complete opposites can be married. Justin loves to walk into a room and make connections. I on the other hand get intimidated and want to stand in a corner and people watch. I'm so glad I'm married to someone that makes me branch out.

Bahamas WE MISS YOU!

2010-09-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

Justin and I left the little man at home and went on a cruise just the two of us to the Bahamas. It felt like a second honeymoon. No chasing after a chubby toddler, pulling his hands out of the toilet for the 5th time that day, picking up the food that he chucks on the floor, or changing horrific diapers. In a word... paradise. Don't get me wrong, we missed our Camden dearly. I think my mom must have been rolling her eyes when we called no less then ten times the first day to see what he was doing now, or now, or what about now?! But in the end I'm so glad we went. We stopped at the Florida KeysCoco CayAnd Atlantis!!! This was our favorite day. It was the coolest water park I've ever been to. We turned into little kids running all over the park doing every water slide multiple times. The one in the picture above is a steep drop that then takes you in a tube through a shark tank. It was so cool to see the sharks swiming all around you as you go through.

The ship had rock climbing! So fun to climb to the top and look out to see ocean all around you. The water was the most beautiful crystal turquoise! I was amazed when we went snorkeling at how clear it was. We got to see a plane and shipwreck. It was a little creepy to dive down into the cockpit. Oh yes, and we also saw jelly fish! Lots of jelly fish!! By some miracle neither one of us got stung. This was Justin on our last day. Needless to say we were both a little bummed it was all over- swimming in the warm blue ocean, white sand beaches, entertaining shows, eating all the ice cream you can handle, dancing till 2am, falling asleep in the sun. Our trip had come to an end.But when we came out of the airport and saw this little boy waiting for us, I think Justin and I couldn't stop smiling all afternoon. And luckily neither could he.

Gulcub

2010-08-17T17:07:00.000-07:00

This is part two of "I swear my husband must sneak into our son's room at night to whisper subliminal messages such as 'YOU LOVE GOLF' because really this kid loves golf." He has his very own little set of golfclubs, courtesy of his Grandpa Neumann. "Gulcub," as Camden calls them, was one of his first words.
He loved driving the golf cart just as much as running around on the course...maybe even more.

For the sake of a fun comparison picture....

This is Camden at 3 weeks on his first golf outing.

This is him on the same hole at 15 months. Just a slight change:)

First Kiss

2010-08-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Your first kiss is something to be remembered. I remember the ugly blue carpet under the library stairs and the way all the girls giggled when Beau (who, now that I think back on it was a VERY confident little 4th grader) walked up behind me, tapped me on the shoulder and planted one on my lips the second I turned around. Yes, something to be remembered that is unless your first kiss happens when your 15 months!!!
We shuffled into the last row at church on Sunday and sat next to our really good FRIENDS who just moved out to DC from California. Jake and Lynn have an absolutely adorable 2 year old girl Annabelle. Right when we sat down Camden leaned across Justin to get a better look at this little cutie, sitting between Justin and her dad Jake. After a few times of leaning forward to see her and saying "HI", Camden got down from the pew and made his way down to where she was sitting. He starred at her for a minute and then leaned in on tip toe with his lips puckered making a loud "mmmmmmm" sound. He went 90, she went 10. First kiss.
I should mention here that getting Camden to snuggle much less give us, you know, HIS OWN PARENTS a kiss is very far and few between. And yet, after that first kiss he now tries to smooch any little girl within a ten foot radius- whether that be at the grocery store, play groups, or the mall. We are in big trouble with this kid!

CO/TX Trip

2010-07-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

I'm still playing catch up trying to update our blog! There are A LOT of pictures because we were gone for more than two weeks. There is much to document! We went out to Colorado for a week to visit my parents, two brothers, and other family and friends. Oh how we both love it out West!!! This picture is taken right behind my parents house. It is so beautiful to hike around the canyon they live on. BUT.... watch out for snakes. We almost stepped on one. Ehhh!

We went up to the mountains to watch my brother do a triathlon. Camden was sporting his fireman pjs because my brother is a firefighter. That and we woke him up EARLY to get to the race. Iron Man coming up in September!! Go Sean!
After the race we did some other fun things in Estes. First, Camden and I smoked Justin on the slides.Next up, I beat Justin in go carts. While we drove these cars...Camden drove this car!We also spent some time in down town Denver.Best of all we spent time with FAMILY! Camden loves his great grandparents.He was in heaven with all the kids to play with. He has 27 nieces and nephews. That's right, 27! They were all so cute with him and wanted to take care of him.
After about a week in Colorado we all hoped on a plane and flew down to Austin to meet up with the rest of the Searle crew. My brothers picked us up from the airport and we drove straight to Galveston to stay on the beach. It was Camden's first time in the ocean. We had a blast playing in the waves. Justin and I got to ride a stand up jetski out in the ocean for the first time. SOO fun!!Before leaving Galveston to head to Austin we went to Rainforest Cafe, one of my favorite places in the world and officially one of Camden's!

Back in Austin we played just as hard!

We went parasailing

Bull riding
If you're wondering about my awesome boots, those belong to my brother. It's always an adventure with my family and I didn't know that we were going to go ride bulls so I was wearing work out clothes, not jeans and no boots. I actually tripped walking up the ramp to get on the bull and the cowboys laughed and asked if I was sure about this. To which I replied, no! But I did it anyway, and happy to say I made it 8 seconds. I'm not posting the video because while in my mind I was Lane on the movie 8 seconds watching it might look more like a little girl on a merry go round.
Swam in rivers and clearly got too much sun!
This is Justin going down one the "shoots".
Played beach volleyball while the kiddos played in the sand

Swam in my brother's pool

I LOVE my family and miss them like crazy!!!!!!!!

Girl's Trip!

2010-07-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

I have the best girlfriends in the world. We lived together all through college and made some of the very best memories I have. Unfortunately, we are now spread out all over the U.S. LJ lives in San Diego, Britt is in Utah and I'm here in DC so we often have to do a girl's trip to reunite. I'm so lucky because they have come out to DC now many times! This time we decided to make a little trip out of a trip and head up to the Big Apple. We were only there two days but we definitely made the most of it by squeezing in as much as possible!
Right when we got there we got tickets to see Mamma Mia. Then headed to Central Park to have lunch on the rocks. I had never even seen the movie Mamma Mia. What a lucky choice because it was the perfect show for three girls!
The story (for anyone else who hasn't seen it) involves a mom and her two best friends doing a whole lot of singing in a whole lot of glitter. That's not the main idea of the show but you can see why I'm saying it was perfect for three girls. The disco outfits that the three girls wear in the play are hilarious. LJ, our little clothes designer and seamstress promised to make the outfits for Halloween this year if we promised to wear them. Guess you'll be seeing me sporting one of these beautiful ensemble in the near future...

Next we went to the famous Serendipity for dinner and of course the frozen hot chocolate.

We had a blast walking all over. There is something so electrifying about NY at night. I love all the lights and TONS of people. This is people watching at it's finest.

Along the way back to our hotel LJ somehow lost her shoe in this fountain. Maybe that's why you aren't supposed to climb/in her case "ride" the statues. Hmmmm

The next morning we attempted to go to the Today Show to be out on the plaza. However, I'm embarrassed to say we slept through it! Only a half a block from our hotel and we missed it. Sad but also really lovely.

We took the subway down to the financial district and walked and shopped our hearts out.

What would a girl's trip be without a little chocolate?!Of course our last stop before heading back to DC was some ice cream on the street.

After our NY adventure the girls stayed with us in DC for another week. I LOVED having them here!!!!

And so did this little man

See? He was pretty excited to be surrounded by ladies!

Father's Day

2010-07-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

My boys on Father's Day. Camden is one lucky kid to have Justin as his dad! I don't think a little boy could be more loved. These two do everything together. Camden is already following in his dad's footsteps. He is obsessed with basketball. We have to keep one in the car that he can hold while we drive, one upstairs in his room (which he often sleeps with), and a couple downstairs. Every time Justin walks in the door Camden runs straight for his basketball and runs to Justin to pass it back and forth. I wonder sometimes if Justin sneaks in his room at night to whisper subliminal messages in his ear. Or is it really just coincidence that this kid also happens to love golf, baseball and anything else that he knows his dad likes?

Rock Climbing

2010-07-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

This post is way overdue! A while ago we got to go rock climbing with some good friends of ours.
It was such a blast. I absolutely love rock climbing and hadn't gone since college so I was beyond excited! While we climbed this rock face.

Our kiddos climbed this rock

Or they just hung out in here

Thanks again Justin and Bethany!!!

Sweet summer time!

2010-05-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing and I LOVE it. I love the heat, I love being outside and all the fun things that come with it. Here is a look at what we've been up to so far enjoying the start of summer.

Mother's Day This dapper little guy and Justin made my mother's day so great. I was totally spoiled and it was awesome. Justin had planned out surprises for me. One of which were the ridiculously cute hot pink heels I'm wearing in the picture below. The man has good taste. All day I was thinking about how much my mom sacrificed for us kids and how oblivious and unappreciative I was of her sacrifices when I was a teenager. I was missing my mom on mother's day! We did get to spend time with Justin's mom and family which was really fun.

Gravely Point One of our favorite things to do is take a picnic and go watch the planes come in over our heads. Too bad it was so windy that no planes were landing over us the whole time! Camden didn't seem to mind. Give this kid a few balls and he's happy!

Going to the pond There is a really cool park right by our house that has a huge pond filled with turtles, frogs, and fish. I want to take Camden there every day.

Working on Dunking skills...
Ok, so he can't quit palm a basketball yet but he sure thinks he's playing basketball. We were eating dinner on the porch at Justin's parents when Camden took off in the backyard to the basketball hoop. He sat under the hoop reaching up with the tennis ball. It was as if he thought if he reached hard enough he just might make it the ten feet. Well eventually he did, with a little assistance.

Going to O's games!

My parents, Camden and I headed up to Baltimore in the afternoon to hang out before the game. We went and ate some VERY yummy food in little Italy and walked around the Inner Harbor. Justin took the train after work and met us at the game.

Camden no longer wants to ride in the stroller, he would rather help push. We had a good time at the game but left early because it was freezing! Well at least it was for me and my mom. Camden was better behaved than me, or at least complained less. The boys were all happy to stay but we convinced them dessert and playing scum at home would be more fun so we left in the sixth inning.

Fun to be One!

2010-04-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Camden is now a one year old!!!! Weird, so weird. I remember crystal clear bringing him home from the hospital and now this chunky little tank is tearing apart our house with a smile. His birthday was on Thursday and we made sure he had a fun day filled with playing a mud puddle, playing at the park, a yummy Georgetown birthday cupcake, oh and did I mention horrible mean painful shots?!! Camden's one year checkup was on his birthday, which means he had to get his shots. He still has a red welt to prove it poor guy. But let's back up. Before the shots. Camden's stats... Height: 32 inches Over 100%; Weight: 27.5 lbs 95%. After Camden performed his tricks for our pediatrician she asked if he has taken any steps. To which we replied no, not by himself. She stepped out to get Camden a birthday gift. I put Camden down and the little guy took off toddling to his dad. Our pediatrician must have heard us screaming because when she came through the door we told her to scratch that, he just took his first steps! I was so happy that Justin and I were both there to see it!

Camden's favorite body part to show us is his head. So his ever so kind father decided to ask him after his hands were completely covered in frosting to show us where his head was. I tried to protest but it was too late. He already had frosting stuffed in his ear and all over his hair.

Here are some pictures from his little party we had for him that weekend. This has been the best year of our lives. We love having this happy little guy that is constantly making us crack up with his little facial expressions and constant mimicking of everything we do. Happy birthday kiddo. We love you!

Fast Forward

2010-04-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

Crazy to think how life can change so drastically in just a couple years. I'm one of those people that is always making plans. One year, five year and ten year plans. Not to say that those plans stay the same year to year or even day to day but I just like to think about it. I don't know that two years ago I could have pressed fast forward in my mind and imagined I'd be where I am now. I feel so lucky and thankful to have these two boys in my life. I wish I could just hit pause.

Two years ago at the cherry blossom festival... Our friend who happens to be an AMAZING photographer Andrea Hatch took the first picture.

One year ago...
Last week...

Hoppy Easter

2010-04-05T09:58:00.000-07:00

Camden had a great 1st Easter! He learned how to go on an Easter egg hunt. Well kind of. He crawled over to two eggs and happily sat clinging them together while he watched the other kids go on a mad dash.

Easter morning he used the same technique only this time he watched his mom and dad go on a mad dash. Yes, we are still six-year-olds. Sometimes I wonder if we're mature enough to have a kid. Probably not, but we'll keep him!

Tried to sneak a few of my cupcakes. He did get a taste of frosting.

And then let us do a little photo session. This is the kid that NEVER sits still long enough to get a picture. I'm not sure if he thought he was posing for senior shots or maybe GQ.

Seriously check out the hand on the thigh even! This kid cracks me up.

He even gave me a little yoga shot. Downward dog. He does this little move all the time (and with better posture than I can do) but we can never catch it on camera. That is until now!

Oh and these are the other things we've been up to-
Cherry blossom festival

Playing at the park

This little face kills me

Check out those buck teeth!

Oh and don't forget pulling EVERYTHING off all shelves, out of cupboards, and unrolling all toilet paper. Ha! It's a little hard to get upset when he flashes this little grin!

Say HELLO to Spring and goodbye to Winter!

2010-03-22T12:53:00.000-07:00

It's about time!!!

Big night... don't screw it up Jake!

2010-03-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

Oh The Bachelor. Fake, awkward, and overly cheesy The Bachelor. And yet I have not missed a single episode this season and I'm dying to see the finale tonight. While I'm not really even fond of this guy
I think I might be devastated if he picks Vienna. Tenly is just so sweet and the better match for him. St Lucia is where Justin and I went on our honeymoon so that's the angle I've used to get him to watch it with me. A pretty good angle if I do say so myself. It makes me more excited to watch it too! So tonight we'll be laughing at the nail biting drama and wishing we were back on this beautiful island.

Snowed in... says who?!

2010-02-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

So I realize I'm WAY late on this post but the it needs to be documented. Our laptop broke and we just got a new one so here goes a catch up blog. Warning: LOTS of pictures. "The blizzard of 2010" as the news stations called it was crazy. My parents were coming to visit for a few days (or so they thought) but shortly after they arrived the snow started falling, airports shut down and we trapped them in DC for about a week and had a blast.

Despite the state of emergency and warning to hunker down for the next few days and stay off the roads we were the crazies that did just the opposite. When we weren't driving in it we were playing in it. People found this odd. As our nieghbor asked when she saw Justin and I tackling each other in the snow "Are you out of your ever loving mind?! That stuff is cold". We didn't mind...

(Yes that would be a plastic bag around his legs. He grew out of his snowpants)

I don't know how this started but from the time Camden could hold his head up he would always lean his forehead against my dad's. It's so hillarious. My dad will be talking to him and Camden just plasters his face to my dad's. No personal space here.

My mom is the happiest person I know. I love being around her because she is always laughing. Camden does this fake laugh that almost sounds like a cough. My mom thought it was funny to do back to him so after a day or so of her being here he would do this laugh every time she walked in the room. It's funny how babies remember and associate things with particular people.Happy Birthday Dad! I'm glad we got to celebrate it early with you here!!!!It was a little errie seeing DC totally empty. We got some pretty cool pictures.

Part Two - Colorado!!

2010-01-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

Oh how I miss Colorado!!!! We stayed at my parent's house most of the week but took a few days to play in the mountains at Steamboat. One of the highlights of this trip was skiing/snowboarding. That's right we're a mixed family. Justin skis and I opt for the more challenging sport of snowboarding. We had great powder and incredible scenery. New Year's Eve we watched a firework show on the slopes, went hot tubing and played games. It was a really fun night until about 11:32 when everyone pooped out and went to bed. LAME! Justin, me and my dad held strong till midnight.What would a Searle vacation be without a little chocolate chip cookie cook off. Justin has had this contest with two of our nieces now. His cookies are amazing! Hence why I have him make them at home at least once a week.
Even with being number 28 on the grandkid count our nieces and nephews couldn't get enough of Camden. They thought he was hilarious because all they had to do was look at him and he would smile. That made the kids crack up which only made Camden smile bigger and get more excited. Funny chain reaction to watch.
Justin and Camden have been practicing their stunts to someday join the Ringling Brothers.

Holiday Re-cap

2010-01-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

This year we stayed in DC for Christmas and then headed to Colorado for New Years. We had so much fun spending time with the Neumanns, having our own little Christmas and then spending time with the Searle crew. There are way too many fun things to cut out so sorry for the long posts!
Christmas was so much fun with a little one. Although I'm sure Camden loved the paper as much, if not more, than the present itself! He was so cute tearing at the paper, then trying to eat the paper, mad for .2 seconds when we would take it away and then beside himself again with all the colorful paper.

Camden and Justin both got new basketballs for Christmas. Justin is hoping he will dribble before he can walk. No pressure kid!

DC Temple Christmas Lights

Every year we like to go to Old Town to walk around the fun Christmas shops and take in all the pretty Christmas decorations. We had the whole Neumann family together this year for Christmas! It was so great having everyone together. We have loved having Sean and Cambria and Justin's parents live near by. Now we just need to get Justin's little sister Whit to finish school and come back.

Again with the eating paper!Camden got completely spoiled by everyone!!!!!!!!!

We saw a Christmas concert at the Kennedy Center. Camden sang right along... just not in tune.

Santa... I KNOW HIM!

2009-12-15T07:39:00.000-08:00

Camden stared at Santa for a while checking him out

Then had to think about his reaction for a minuteLuckily he decided he likes him!

Side note: Santa told me he liked my coat. I'm in good with the big man this year.

Play by the rules

2009-12-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

In the Neumann house there are two rules that we stick to when it comes to our Christmas tree..
1. It HAS to be real. No fake trees here.
2. It must be disproportionally large for the room that we put it in. We don't ever get the tree that would fit just right. We get the tree that is way to big for our house and takes up half the room.
Consequently in the process of stuffing the tree in our house, half the pine needles ended up on the floor. When we tried to vacuum up those pine needles our vacuum got clogged and broke. Two hours later and with our vacuum in pieces Justin had successfully gotten the needles out.

The next night (since it was now almost midnight) we got to decorate the tree!!! Camden put his own ornament on.

And was pretty proud of himself

I love you City Mini

2009-12-02T13:32:00.001-08:00

There comes a time when you have to upgrade strollers. Our time came when I literally had to lift up the back of Camden's Snap N Go Stroller and side step any time I wanted to turn because he was so heavy for it!! Doesn't make for the most convenient outings. So last Friday we got this little beauty... And then used it that night when we went ice skating and walking around looking at Christmas lights. Da dah!!!

Justin could push the stoller with one hand and still hold my hand with the other. It's a whole new world. Best feature is that it folds up totally flat by pulling one strap in the middle. So while Camden was happy in there we were happy doing this.

And this...
Side note: We did not leave our kid unattended in his stroller while we ice skated. He was with family. Come on people, it's a stroller not a babysitter.
We love you City Mini

Falling = Giggles

2009-11-17T15:57:00.000-08:00

Searle Girl Trip!

2009-11-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

Every year the girls in my family get together for a trip. This year we went to Texas. I have two sister-in-laws that live in Austin and my sister Arianne just moved to San Antonio. We met in San Antonio and did all the things that constitute a girl vacation... shopping, getting nails done, eating and more shopping. I was there for 7 days and we had dessert every single night and sometimes twice.

After a few days my sister-in-laws had to head back so my mom, sister and I got to hang out an extra day. I stayed in Texas a whole week so that I could spend some one on one time with my sister since we haven't had that in a really long time. Even though it has tough being away from Justin I'm glad that I did!We went to down town San Antonio along the Riverwalk. LOVE this place.

There were really cool outdoor restaurants and live music.

I've mentioned before on my blog that my sister is my 'mom encyclopedia'. I call her at least every other day with a question. She is so great with Camden and he obviously loves every minute of aunt bonding time. It was so fun to stay at her house and hang out with her kiddos.

One afternoon when we were outside playing basketball with the kids I looked over and saw Camden doing this...

This kid is like a puppy. He has to lick all objects that come near him. He usually does this to his car seat. Funny little boy. It was a great trip and I can't wait for next year!!

Mwaaahaha!

2009-11-10T19:16:00.000-08:00

If you are wondering to yourself why Justin and my face masks look so weird that would be because they are for little kids. My husband is such a good sport. He always goes along with my overexcitement for all holidays and gets into it with me. Although he complained about the cape I made him wear for a good two weeks beforehand you better believe that HE was the one running around a parking lot that night with it flying behind him in the wind. He secretly loved it. You're not fooling anyone babe!
Couldn't decide what to make Camden be for Halloween, a superhero or pea in the pod so....

Luckily he had plenty of opportunities to be both!

In my scheming not only did I get a grown man to wear a child's costume and a cape BUT I also got the entire Neumann family to think that they had to be in costume to go to this Halloween brunch for kids.

We were the only adults in costume Ha! It was awesome! Fortunatley, they were all good sports about it and we all had a blast.

Best Month EVER

2009-10-20T19:26:00.000-07:00

October is hands down the best month ever! Especially this October for all of the following reasons...

1. MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!
My husband, family and great friends...
made this birthday so fun. Thanks so much girls, you really surprised me. I don't think I had worn a birthday crown since I was five but it's true... it does make birthdays WAY more fun. Get excited Maeve, the little beauty will be passed to you in a few weeks.

2. This specific October my brother who I've always been really close with and his wife came to visit us. My family is so big (27 crazy nieces and nephews) that when we're all together it's hard to really get much one on one talking in so it was so nice to spend quality time with them!

It was beautiful fall weather and we took advantage of it by plenty of hiking, playing tennis and walking around outside. Thanks so much for coming out guys!!!

3. Reason number three is having an excuse to dress this cute little guy up as... da da dah

SUPER HERO CAMDEN
And then getting a group of this many little tikes together to sit still for a few pictures. Someone should have taken a picture of the things the moms were doing to hold their attention. But hey IT WORKED!!!!!
AND 3 . 2 . 1 ..... well kind of

4. And October is the BEST MONTH EVER because of all the fun fall activities there are to do.

AND October isn't even over yet... best is yet to come!

Hangin With The Boys

2009-09-29T17:49:00.000-07:00

So I have debated even posting these pics because the Skins SUCK so bad right now that I didn't want to even give them a shout out...

But then again a chubby baby in a jersey watching football with the boys MUST be documented

Keep it up Skins and Camden will be getting a Ravens jersey.
I mean it, Jim Zorn!

Amazing what can happen in a few months!

2009-09-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Like visiting your dad at work?

2009-09-08T18:41:00.000-07:00

I think yes

Sun Valley Idaho

2009-08-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Justin has been telling me about this place since we were just friends before we ever got married. His family has gone to Sun Valley every summer. Now I know why Justin loves it so much. It is absolutely beautiful!!! We did so many fun things- country ho down(ye ha!), ice skating, shooting guns, swimming, long bike ride, naps, ice shows, and really fun little restaurants.

Country road... take me home

2009-08-12T20:54:00.001-07:00

I'm a little late on blogging this trip since we don't have the internet yet. We moved into our new place just a few days before Camden and I took off for Colorado. Justin met us out there a day later and then had to head back to work a few days before we came back. It was so fun to be out there for TWO whole weeks instead of the usual quick few day trips. We had such a blast. My parents just moved to a new house that is only a few minutes from where I grew up most of my life. I am a total sentimental girl so I was so sad to not be coming home to the place I had so many memories. But the place they moved to has an incredible view and is set right on top of a canyon that is beautiful!
In the middle of the trip we headed up to the mountains to a town called Steamboat. I LOVE this mountain town. We would go there as a family in the summers. It has so many things that I enjoy doing ... mountain biking, hiking, river rafting, shopping, alpine slides. My two brothers from Texas, my sister from Arizona and my brother and parents in Colorado all met up for the week in Steamboat. Most families go on vacation to relax... Searle vacations usually consist of everything but relaxing and it's awesome. Here are some of the things we did.

As we're walking up to the put put place...
Justin: I hate put put. I'm not going to play
Ryan (my brother): Hey Justin, I'll play you for lunch
Justin: YEAH, you're on!!!
Mmmm, what is it with men and any form of competition?And this was my favorite activity of the whole trip!!! It was a ski jump that X-gamers and Olympians use during the summer to train. It goes into a lake. SO FUN! You get three hours to get as many jumps in as you can. Unfortunately for Justin he had fried his feet and legs floating the river so when he tried to get the ski boots on it literally tore his skin. Gross.

Happy Two Year Anniversary!

2009-07-16T18:25:00.000-07:00

...Almost a month ago. So I am a terrible blogger but the good news is that although I forgot to post this on our actual anniversary I didn't forget that it was our anniversary. Phew!
Eu te amo honey!!!!

LOVE visitors!!!!!!!!!!

2009-07-05T14:31:00.001-07:00

My fam came into town for Camden's blessing and we had a blast!! I have four older brothers and an older sister. They all live in either Texas or Colorado so it is harder for us to get together. Two of my brothers, each with one of their daughters and my parents came. We had so much fun going to monuments, museums, fun restaurants, walks and baseball games. We REALLY appreciate everyone that made such a big effort to be here. Can't wait to get to Colorado to see the rest of the clan!

Camden was obviously a little worn out from the constant go go go routine! He is so easy to take everywhere... and I mean everywhere! We were going from one place to the next the entire week they were here. So fun!!!
My parents are incredible. They have never missed a baby blessing or baptism for any of their grandkids. Oh yeah, and Camden is number 27!!!

1st Father's Day/ Camden's Blessing

2009-07-01T20:56:00.000-07:00

Father's Day was special not only because it was Justin's 1st as a Dad but he also was able to give Camden's baby blessing that day. Justin gave a beautiful blessing. It is such an amazing thing to watch your spouse take on a new role as a parent. I knew when I brought him home for the first time to meet my family and he was off playing with all the nieces and nephews while the adults talked at the dinner table or when we'd be at church and Justin would be crawling around in his suit on the ground with the toddlers, that he would one day make a great father. And yet, I was still unprepared for the emotions that I would feel watching him with our own baby. He is such a hands on dad. He doesn't even mind getting up with him in the night or changing his diapers (even the really bad ones). He is so sweet and patient with him. When the thought of the awesome responsibility of raising this little boy overwhelms me I'm instantly confident knowing that I'm doing it with Justin.So many family and friends came from all over to be there for the blessing. We literally took up four rows at church! Thanks so much to everyone for being there. It was so nice that so many made such an effort to be there and we know it really wasn't easy or convenient for many of you.
Oh and by the way, Camden made sure to scream the whole way through the blessing! He was totally happy right before and the second Justin sat back down. This kid has given us a run for our money from day one, when he would never cooperate for ultrasounds and then scared us to death in the hospital when he was born. Can't wait to see him as a teenager!

2009-06-16T18:45:00.000-07:00

Things that make this baby happy...

Camden LOVES being outside and apparently sunglasses.

If Camden is ever fussy all we have to do is walk outside and he instantly stops crying and just looks around. A couple Sundays ago we left to go to a friend's house and when we walked outside Camden was squinting at the bright sun. I took my sunglasses off my head and put them over his eyes to see if he would open his eyes again. His reaction was hilarious. This wiggly little boy sat completely still and looked around wide eyed for several minutes.The other trick to get this guy to stop crying is to put him in the bath. I have read in several magazines and books on babies that bath time in the beginning can be rough because most babies hate them. Well definitely not Camden. He gets so excited and starts kicking his little legs and waving his arms. I love giving him baths because it also gives me an excuse to put him in this funny little bath robe. Haha

Camden's 1st Baseball Game

2009-06-08T08:35:00.001-07:00

A couple weekends ago we headed up to Baltimore for Camden's first O's game! It was such a fun night. The weather was perfect, it was an exciting game, we had a fun group with Sean Cambria and two of their friends, and we had yummy cinnamon pretzels! What more can you ask for?!

Camden is so easy to take along everywhere we go. He was so good at the game. He just sat with us and looked around the whole time. Justin loved having his little buddy to watch the game.

My sister "The INCREDIBLE"!

2009-05-28T15:54:00.000-07:00

This post is about how ridiculously talented my sister is and how much I love her. Arianne has always been the one that was great with babies, knew how to cook from the time she could see over the counter, and can sew and quilt better than Martha herself! In a nutshell, she is the polar opposite of me!! Since the day I found out I was pregnant I was the annoying little sister that would call her about every day with questions and sometimes just to complain. Since having Camden the amount of questions have just doubled. She is like my mom encyclopedia.
Lucky for me Arianne offered to make all of Camden's baby bedding! I looked at a million baby bedding websites and went into tons of stores to get ideas. I told her what I wanted and she spent tons of time looking for just the right fabric. Since she lives in Arizona we did a lot of picture texting back and forth. I knew that she was good but when I saw all the bedding she had made especially for Camden I could not believe how adorable it looked. It was so much cutter than any of the bedding I had seen on all the baby websites or in any of the stores. But the thing that really made it special was how much time she had spent making it especially for him.

This crib was actually mine when I was a baby. Justin and I re-stained it to make it brown.

Camden obviously loves it!Back in December my sister bought a plane ticket around Camden's due date to make sure she would be here. Unfortunately at the time she bought her ticket we didn't realize that Mother's Day happened to fall on the Sunday that she would be in DC. Even more important, we didn't realize that her son's first birthday was also during her planned trip here! After trying to change the ticket to no avail Arianne, came out to help anyway missing both Mother's Day and her kiddo's birthday!!! It was a huge sacrifice that she never once complained about.

She was like Supernanny coming in and helping Justin and me. It was so nice to have her there since we are rookies at this. Since Camden came three weeks early, we were able to take him out and do lots of stuff while she was here. We had so much fun just laughing and talking. I wish so bad that we lived closer.

First time holding her new little nephew.

THANK YOU SO MUCH ARIANNE! I love you more than you know and I am so thankful for everything you do for me.

2009-05-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

Camden is four weeks old and I can't believe how fast it has gone!! We were so lucky that Justin got a whole month paternity leave from work and THANK HEAVEN because I do not know what I would have done without all his help. It's so fun to see Justin as a father. He is incredible with Camden. He is so patient and totally hands on with him. We have had so much fun going on little outings.

The last day before Justin went back to work we went to Annapolis for the day. As we were parking the car we heard fighter jets flying, what sounded like RIGHT over our heads. We didn't even realize that Friday was the Naval Academy's graduation and so today the Blue Angels were doing an air show right over the city and harbor as a present to the graduates. It was so incredible to watch and so loud! After we watched the show we ate lunch on a dock overlooking the water and ate ice cream cones as we walked around the town and the Naval Academy.

Mother's day... best day ever blog to come

Yes, we took Camden golfing at three weeks. Get them started young!

We went for lots of walks. The picture below we took a blanket and walked along the Potomac and then spent the afternoon under a tree.

World War II Memorial

Bucca Di Beppo (my FAVORITE restaraunt) with our friends.

Georgetown at two weeks. It was so funny how every person we walked past would stop and stare and then say "Oh tiny baby!" It was like we were celebrities.

Camden's First Photo Shoot

2009-05-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

I am so lucky to have a best friend who also happens to be an INCREDIBLE photographer. Alia Cardwell did Camden's first photo shoot when he was two weeks old and got some great moments. Here are some of our favorites. Thanks Alia for these great pics!!!

I'm so glad Alia got one with a little smile!! So dang cute

I love this one. If he is ever fussing he instantly calms down the second Justin holds him to his chest like this. Loves his dad!

His little tongue is constantly hanging out

Camden is Home!

2009-04-28T19:08:00.000-07:00

Monday morning when we showed up at the hospital to spend the day with Camden, the nurse watching over him asked us if we were ready to take him home. We were wondering what she was talking about because on Sunday they told us he would probably go home on Wednesday. The nurse said that Camden had been doing real well and that he was ready to go home, but they wanted to make sure we were emotionally ready for him to come home with us! We couldnt believe what we were hearing. Of course he had only been there since Wednesday, but to us it had seemed like weeks. Lindsey and I kept looking at each other with huge grins on our faces because we couldnt believe he was actually going to come home. They said he needed to have a few more tests done before he could leave, but that most likely in the evening he would go home.

So at 8pm on Monday April 27, Camden came home for the first time. It was such a great feeling just to take him outside, let alone into our house.

Here we are in the parking lot of our complex. Can you tell that we are first time parents? We took pictures of everything.
When we got home, Lindsey's mom had decorated our place with baby stuff. She has been staying with us for over a week now and has been so great and helping out in so many ways. Life has certainly been less stressful with her help.

My parents also came over, as did my brother and his wife. It was fun having family around Camden's first night home.

This is a picture of Camden fighting with Uncle Sean for the Neumann Cup trophy. The Neumann Cup is a family golf tournament, and apparently Camden is already staking his claim to it!
It's great having Camden home! We feel so blessed to be parents to one of Heavenly Father's children and we really appreciate everyone's support and prayers.

Our Baby Boy is Here!!!!!

2009-04-24T05:37:00.000-07:00

My wife has been through a lot of pain this week. On Sunday I came home early from a meeting at church because Lindsey had texted me saying she was in a ton of pain. She had already passed a kidney stone 7 weeks earlier, so she was pretty sure that was happening again. So as soon as I got home we rushed off to the hospital because she was in a ton of pain. For those women who have passed a kidney stone and delivered a baby, I am told that passing a kidney stone is much worse. When we got to the hospital they loaded up Lindsey up on morphine to help with the pain. They even gave her a morphine pump so she could give herself more when needed. I was worried she was going to become addicted!

By early Monday morning she passed a kidney stone and we thought the worst had passed and we could go home soon. Little did we know that there were two more kidney stones in Lindsey that she passed in the next few hours. Below is the last one she passed. Word spread around the hospital about how big the last kidney stone was that Lindsey passed, so doctors started coming to our room to see it.

During a check of Lindsey while we were at the hospital, they told her she was 100% effaced, but not dilated. So at least we knew our baby wasn't coming then.

Finally by Monday evening they let Lindsey out of the hospital after they confirmed there were no more kidney stones. So after 26 hours of Lindsey sitting in a hospital and me watching my wife be in a ton of pain, we went home.

Monday night we relaxed and Lindsey caught up on some much needed sleep. Tuesday morning we went in for Lindsey's regularly scheduled checkup with her OB/GYN. At that appointment they told her she was 2cm dilated!! We couldnt believe it.

Right as we walked out of the doctor's office, Lindsey had her first contraction. She had a few more on our walk to the car and it seemed pretty evident that the baby was coming. But we thought we had at least another week to prepare, so we rushed home to get ready.

I went into nesting mode! I hear that usually that is what the expectant mother does, but somehow it happened to me. So I scrubbed the floors, cleaned the bathroom, finished a touch up paint job on the crib, etc. It was kind of funny to see myself getting in this mode. But I knew the baby was coming!

We had a few errands to run as well. Saturday night we had stopped by Best Buy to check out video cameras and had planned on coming back this week to purchase one. So on our way to the hospital we purchased one. By that point Lindsey's mom and flown in from Denver and my brother and his wife were nice enough to pick her up from the airport and meet up with us at Best Buy. After Best Buy Lindsey and her mom went to get a pedicure. Lindsey really wanted one before childbirth, so off they went. It was kind of funny to see Lindsey having contractions while she was getting her nails done! After the pedicure we went straight to the hospital.

We had put off going to the hospital until the last moment because we had spent so much time there. When we showed up to check-in, all the nurses knew us from our two previous visits to the hospital for kidney stones (at 30 weeks and 37 weeks). It was pretty funny to be so well known at the labor and delivery department without ever having a baby!

So many people had told Lindsey that labor wasn't that bad once the epidural kicks in. Well when we showed up at the hospital they were extremely busy and couldnt give Lindsey an epidural for two hours. So that meant more pain for Lindsey after dealing with kidney stones a little over 24 hours before.

Finally she got an epidural, but unfortunately it didnt completely help. She was still having a ton of back pain that the epidural wasnt helping. They tried to up the dosage, but it didn't work. So after hearing about how great epidurals are and how much they help, the one Lindsey got wasnt heping all that much.

At around 10:45am on Wednesday April 22, it was time to start pushing. The epidural wasnt completely working for her so she was still in a ton of pain during delivery. But at 11:22am, Camden Justin Neumann joined us!!!!!

Our son was here! He weighed in at 7.4lbs and 20 inches. I was in a daze because I couldnt believe I was a Dad!!! And I also couldnt believe how great Lindsey did in the delivery, even though she was in so much pain! But while I was looking at our new son, the nurse hit the "Code Blue" button because he was turning purple and not getting enough air. Next thing I knew there were literally 10 doctors and nurses rushing into our room to look at our son. Not exactly the sight you want to have when one of your kids is born. They tried to stimulate his breathing and that wasnt helping. He was breathing on his own, but he wasnt getting enough oxygen in his body. So they started giving him oxygen right away and his color got a little better.

But they had to rush him off to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit(NICU) to get him more care. I kissed Lindsey and made sure she was ok, and then rushed off with our baby to the NICU. On the way down I kept thinking about how our baby needed emergency care and they didnt know exactly what was wrong. Not exactly what you want to happen with any baby. They got him to the NICU and hooked him up with tons of instruments. They had him on oxygen, an IV in his arm, a tube down his throat and another tube through is umbilical cord. A little intimidating to see, but I was glad he was getting care. After they had him all set up, I finally sat down and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to watch over our son and make sure he would be ok. I had felt helpless all week when Lindsey had her kidney stones and then labor because I couldnt do anything for the pain, and now I felt helpless with our son.

Camden is now doing so much better. Last night we got to hold him for the first time and it was such an amazing feeling. I had been wanting to hold him so bad, but wasnt able to until then.

We feel so blessed to be parents and are so happy for all the exciting times that await us!

Anatomy Lesson From a Six Year Old

2009-04-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

Warning: the following post is a little graphic... proceed with cation! Last weekend it was beautiful weather so Justin and I went to the National Zoo to walk around and enjoy the springtime. We saw some really cool animals. I especially love the red pandas but by far the highlight of the day was when we walked by this bear sculpture in time to hear this little girl say to her baby brother, "This is the bear doing yoga and this is the bear's penis". Justin and I about died. I couldn't believe it. We were laughing so hard.

The second highlight of the zoo trip was when we were walking across a bridge and a big yucky black bug flew down my shirt. I HATE bugs... especially when they are inside my clothing! So naturally I screamed, jumped around and then proceeded to pull up my shirt over my big prego white stomach to get it out. When that didn't work I screamed for Justin to "GET IT GET IT!" So not knowing what else to do, Justin reaches up my shirt trying to find it. We got it. Not only a traumatizing experience for me but for any person within eye shot! Ok, maybe much much more traumatizing for anyone that had to witness the whole thing. Don't worry I don't have any pictures of this one. Instead here are some cool animals we saw.

This bird was so funny. It was guarding the entrance to the bird exhibit the whole time. It had the craziest little side mo-hawks.
Here are some of the rest of the week's activities. It was kind of an animal week with the Zoo, then the Baltimore National Aquarium, and then the Circus.

Cherry Blossoms

2009-04-10T06:59:00.001-07:00

Spring time in DC is the best!