8 month old boy

Just for some quick updates:

Noah is crawling and pulls to stand, he is a little toughie, when he falls he usually gets right back up!
He babbles but he loves to say da-da-da-da the most, with a very occasional ma-ma-ma thrown in.
He loves the pool.
Still eats anything and everything and we have switched him to about half "normal food", half babyfood.

Camryn is getting close to starting preK.
Takes swimming lessons and loves them.
Is so good and helpful with her brother...until he drools on her or pulls her hair!
Is hilarious and will do anything for a laugh.

Also we got moved into our new home.  We love it here!  Slowly but surely making it feel like ours!
Things are good!

Happy half year to Noah

Today is my little guys half birthday.  He is still the sweetest most kissable thing and I swear he gets cuter by the minute!  He's got his two bottom teeth.  He can roll both ways and is just dying to crawl.  He loves to be held and wants to be where the people are.  If you get out of his sight range he whimpers like a puppy.  He thinks Camryn is hilarious and gives his biggest laughs to Bert.  He loves to eat and I'm pretty sure eats more at a sitting than his sister.  I have been making a bunch of his babyfoods.  He has had peas, greenbeans, carrots, sweet potato, apple, banana, prunes, rice, oatmeal, yogurt and last night we gave him a little banana pudding!  He has loved everything although I think not a huge fan of the peaches.  I have a feeling he is going to be my good eater!
Noah has a new sitter named Sarah.  I put him in daycare for a month but didn't like it.  I just figured that since I am home I would try to find someone to come here and give him personal attention.  She has been good with him and I like having him here. I plan to put him back in daycare once his a little bigger and mobile.
Camryn is doing good, she had strep throat twice in three weeks and it was pretty scary how high her fever got.  I got worried and took her to the ER once it hit 106.  At the same time Noah had RSV and Bert and I were sick with colds, so it was a challenging time to put it mildly.
All in all the Gary's are doing well.  We have a contract on a house, hopefully a home the kids can grow up in!

Noah's Four Month's Old

Hey again, just wanted to make a few updates so I don't forget some milestones.  Noah is 13 lbs 11 oz (22%) and 24 3/4" (39%) so he is definitely my little peanut.  Poor little guy got four injections today.  Despite that, he is the happiest little baby I have ever seen.  Always smiling and laughing.  He is my little love bug and has just started rolling belly to back. He also figured out how to turn himself around in the crib so he can turn on his little aquarium with his feet.  He's not as good of a sleeper as Camryn was, he still wakes up at least once a night but usually twice.  I don't get grumpy about it usually because he typically eats and goes right back to sleep, plus he's such a joy during the day I figure you can't have the best of everything.

Camryn is doing great.  She loves school, today they started a new reward system for good behavior and Camryn got a great report and got to pick a toy or candy from the treasure chest.  She picked candy.  Girl after my own heart.  She knows her numbers and colors in spanish and can spell and write her name.  She is for the mostpart and easygoing kid but definitely has her sassypants moments.

On another note tomorrow is our sitters last day.  It's pretty sad for us, as she has been here almost 3 1/2 years, and I really give her a lot of credit in helping us raise Camryn to become who she is today.  She took her to dance, gymnastics, art class, storytime, the pool, the park, and so many other places.  She befriended other sitters/mom's so Camryn could have a group of friends to be social with.  She definitely loves her nearly as much as I do.  She hasn't gotten to know Noah as well but she takes him for walks, reads to him and was there the first time he rolled over.  Our family will not be the same without her, but we will definitely keep her involved in the kids lives!

My sweet baby Noah

I'm baaaaaaaaack.  Actually I am probably not.  It's hard to stay committed to keeping my blog up, so I am making no promises.  But I did want to write an entry for my sweet baby boy.  Noah Parker Gary was born October 22.  I am extremely excited to have a Halloween baby and will probably have Halloween birthday parties until he is old enough to tell me to stop.  He was 7 lbs, 11 oz, 19" long and born with a full head of black hair.  He had to be monitored for his first few hours so Bert got to spend that time with him while I impatiently waited in my room.  I was so happy when he was finally wheeled in and I got to hold him.  We stayed in the hospital for four nights and Camryn stayed with Jan and came and visited us every day.  We came home and had to get adjusted to having a baby in the house again.  For the first few weeks he was a major fussy butt and I was afraid he might have colic.   Between the fussiness and lack of sleep tensions ran a little high, and then it stopped.  He has turned into a smiley happy giggly baby who rarely cries except for food or if he gets tired.

He is definitely a little sweetie and I am all over him.  I'm surprised he doesn't have a dent in in his cheeks with all of the kisses he gets from Bert and I.  He loves his bouncer chair and his swing and taking baths.  Camryn has been great with him, she helps make bottles, passes me diapers and wipes and brings him stuffed animals to try and soothe him if he is getting fussy.

I feel so blessed to have my little family.  Everyone is healthy and happy and I really couldn't ask for anything more.  I can only hope that 2013 is as wonderful for us as 2012 has been.

Birthday Party Weekend

So the birthday party weekend is over and things are starting to go back to "normal". Grandma Lori, Grandpa Frank and Uncle Jay came in from my side of the family as well as Grandma Jennine and cousins Callighan and Tristian from Bert's side. We all had a great time, mostly just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. The party went very well, and it looked like everyone had a nice time. We rented out the clubhouse to have more space and I'm so glad we did or it would have been really packed in our house. I kept the decorations pretty minimal with some balloons and a banner that I made with all of Camryn's monthly photos, showing her grow from months one through eleven. I also had a playroom with some of Camryn's toys and a poster that Nicole designed for me that "Camryn's World" instead of "Elmo's World" which came out awesome! Camryn had a good time playing with her friends and she looked so cute in her special birthday tutu. We had pizza for lunch and cupcakes for dessert. We sang Happy Birthday and gave Camryn her smash cake, but she just poked at it and licked the icing off her finger. I wasn't disappointed because we didn't have the luxury of throwing her into a bathtub. I'm convinced the girl doesn't like cake, that was the fourth time I offered her some, I know this because we've been to three other birthday parties recently, and she has turned down the cake each time. Crazy!

Tomorrow is Friday and our plan is to have no plans and relax. Saturday I'm going on a girl's night out with Heather and a bunch of other girls. It's been a while and long overdue.

In new Camryn news she is now walking nearly 100% of the time. She will still crawl if she really needs to get to something in a hurry, but she likes walking back and forth and bringing me things from her kitchen. She is very smart. When I tell her "I love you" she starts blowing me kisses, she brushes her hair and her teeth and wipes down her own highchair tray. I'm one very proud mom of a one year old girl!

**Almost forgot to mention, we took Camryn for her 12 month dr appt, she is doing great! 20lbs 10oz (37%) and 30 1/4" tall (79%). She is also on whole milk and totally off bottles! What a big girl!

Bert and Camryn with the Boys.

Playing with Tristian.

These were so delicious.

The birthday girl with her friends.

Lalalala Camryn's World!

Hanging out with Uncle Jay - who spoils her rotten!

Weekend Trip to the Lowcountry

We are back from our incredible family trip to Charleston/Isle of Palms and are already planning when we can either go back for another visit or stay there forever! We stayed on Isle of Palms which is this ritzy beach community in a resort called Wild Dunes. It had everything ranging from condos up to multi million dollar mansions. They had tons of pools, tennis, golf, restaurants, a spa, bike rentals, a pavilion with live music, a private beach, you name it! I honestly didn't even care about going into Charleston once I got into the resort. The first day we got in and got groceries and got settled into our condo. We went out to dinner to a restaurant called The Boathouse and had lots of yummy seafood and Camryn got lots of attention in her (well actually Emersen's) #1 onesie, and they brought her out a nice bowl of whipped cream for her birthday, since it's her favorite! Then we went back to the condo and put the birthday girl to bed and listened to some music over some cocktails on the patio.

On Saturday we got up and went to the beach! Camryn liked the sand and the ocean. She sat on the edge of the blanket and scooped the sand into her pail. We also went for a walk along the water and got a few seashells. After a while we decided to go to the pool and relax there. Then Camryn took a long nap and Bert watched football while I stayed at the pool! When she woke up we drove into Charleston, went to the straw market, walked around some other shops and went to dinner at a restaurant called Hyman's per Calvin's recommendation. We went early but by the time we left there was a line down the block! Very yummy and Camryn flirted with the manager and got a free scoop of ice cream!

Sunday we went back into Charleston and went to all of the historic sites. Next time I'd like to do this on a carriage ride so someone could tell us more about the history of the area, but we got to see a battle site and some beautiful homes. After that we got in some more pool time and went to Morgan Creek Grill for dinner. This was my favorite restaurant, they had live music and really good food.

Monday we decided to get up and hit the road. Unfortunately we hit really bad traffic and Camryn was really whiny in the car for some reason. She just couldn't get settled down. I felt bad for her and also bad for us! We survived the ride, and all in all had a really great trip. Now it's time for family to come into town to celebrate Camryn's birthday this weekend. Should be a really fun time!

Birthday Girl!

Playing in the sand.

Smiling after a great seafood dinner!

Beautiful view of the marina from the condo.

First Steps that we actually got to video!