Fall Fun!

Hi friends and family!

 What a crazy and fun month October has been! Little miss is just about 2 months old now and I finally feel confident at being a successful mother of two babies under the age of 2! Everyone seems to be adjusting into a routine and life is getting easier by the day. As I say that, some days are better than others and of course we have off days, but more good than bad. I'm sure I'm going to leave something out but I will try my best to describe the amazing month we have had. At the beginning of the month, we had a very special visitor that stayed with us. Our great friend Pete flew in from New Zealand to officiate another wedding for a friend. This was the first time Pete has been home since Cameron was born (he was here when I was about 6 months pregnant). Cam immediately forced Pete to play with him! Pete brought Cammie a few new books from New Zealand and offered to read him his bedtime stories that night. Cam was in love!! The next morning, Pete and Cammie played for 5 straight hours before he had to head over to Leavenworth for the wedding. Cammie was sooooo upset when Pete left - He seriously sobbed until I managed to distract him. Needless to say, Pete's visit was extremely needed and we wished he could have stayed longer.

The next weekend, Ryan and I went to the Husky game - KIDLESS!!!! My wonderful parents offered to watch the kids for the day so we could have much needed adult time. After finding out that Cammie would be at my parent's house, Ryan and Heather asked if they could take Cammie for a special day at the pumpkin patch. OF COURSE!! The days before the pumpkin patch, I talked to Cammie about where he was going and who he would be going with. He was super excited and talked about it day and night - he couldn't wait! I had a little anxiety about leaving Natalie (only had left her for a hour at a time before). It made me feel better that she was with my mama and that I was in dire need of personal time. We had so much fun at the game with Dustin and Katherine - they are fantastic friends that always support and understand us (Love you guys!). Cameron had a great time at the pumpkin patch with his uncle and auntie! Thank you family for giving us the opportunity to go out for the day! We love you very much!

The following weekend, Kate and Zon made the drive down to Auburn to take Natalie's newborn pictures for us. Again, the photoshoot was a ton of fun and the photos turned out amazing - better than we could ever imagine! We are so lucky that Cameron is comfortable with them because we get the best candid, effortless shots that capture our family at our best. Thank you ladies for spoiling us again!!

Ryan and I decided that we wanted to get ourselves and Nat a pumpkin too and since we live literally a mile away from a pumpkin patch, we took the kids to get more pumpkins! Cameron was beyond adorable walking around the patch, trying to pick up pumpkins, stomping in mud and smelling mums. We had a great time and Natalie slept in the ergo the whole time! In between all these weekend activities, I managed to take Cam to MyGym every Tuesday (Nat in tow). He has been SO well behaved during MyGym and even wants to check on Natalie in her carseat several times throughout the class. I try to plan one additional activity per week to get Cam out of the house and stay occupied. We fed the ducks at Lake Meridian, had a play date with Penny and Sally at Bell Square, go for daily walks around the neighborhood looking at Halloween decorations (sometimes in the morning and evening), walk to the park, finger painting, and more. We are enjoying the fall weather and it's amazing to explain changes to Cammie and watch him learn.

The little Ham is excelling at everything!! His vocabulary is increasing and he is beginning to ask questions about things (needing explanations before moving on). He loves going for walks to find leaves (leeefs!) and watching cars, trucks and trains. He now sits through his haircuts like a big boy (just had his 3rd the other day). He plays nicely with other kids and is doing very well at sharing. He is still obsessed with his Nona and Papa and never wants to leave their house! His favorite movies right now are Toy Story, Cars and Monsters Inc. His favorite shows are Little Einsteins, Henry Hugglemonster and Thomas and Friends. Cammie LOVES pickles, Hummus, cheese, apples and mandrin oranges and is still not fond of eating meat (I can get him to eat turkey lunch meat). He likes to chew on celery sticks throughout the other (FYI to moms of teething babies - Celery is a natural numbing agent and helps little lovies with sore gums). Cameron is full of energy and loves to dance, sing and make us laugh. He is very interested in hotwheel cars right now and it is clearly his favorite toy to play with. Cammie still goes swimming with his daddy every Sunday and is really enjoying the one on one time. Ryan says that he watches all the other kids in the pool and laughs with them. He has started to paddle his arms and makes a little noise that he thinks will make him swim faster. The poor little guy is still teething and currently has his last two canine teething beginning to come down. All that is left is his 2 year molars and he has a full set! He is always weighing in about 25 pounds (my baby!!) We are very excited for this week with Cammie - HALLOWEEN WEEK! Cameron has his regular MyGym on Tuesday morning then a special Costume party at MyGym on Wednesday. All of his little friends and him will be dressed up in their costumes and get to play! Should be a lot of fun! Thursday is Halloween night and we can't wait to take him trick or treating as the cutest frog!! I will be doing a separate post in early November of MyGym costume party and trick or treating (mostly pictures).

Miss Natalie is really starting to wake up and show us who she really is! She is a smily girl and LOVES to talk. She has an extremely expressive face and likes to be talked to and touched. She is still a really good sleeper (nurses around 7pm and is out until 2ish - nurses and is down for another 3 to 4 hours) and hopefully it continues! The cutest thing she does is she stomps her feet when she knows she is going to be nursed. She gets so excited and dances until I latch her! She is also an extremely good eater and has been super patient through the whole breastfeeding thing. Speaking of breastfeeding, I am happy to report that we have won the battle of breastfeeding! Natalie is exclusively being breastfed and I do not need to pump and feed her via bottle. I am so proud that we have pushed through the roughest experience of my life and we are getting the opportunity to bond and snuggle. I can't believe I am saying this, but I love breastfeeding! I can see myself nursing her for the next year (before I was dreading it). One positive thing that came out of the struggle in the beginning was I had to pump quite a bit to keep my supply up. I have about 200 ounces of milk frozen and ready for Natalie went I am not around. Breast milk can stay frozen for 3 to 6 months. My plan is if Nat doesn't get to the milk, I can hopefully donate it to the NICU at Swedish (I still have to see if I can). I really hope I can help other mothers overcome breastfeeding troubles and give them advice and support (if they want it!) to succeed and feel positive. Natalie has actually already reached a milestone already - she rolled from front to back! She does it every time she doesn't tummy time. This started at 4 weeks!!! CRAZY - slow down baby girl! I'm so in love with our baby girl and she is everything I imagined she would be. She is snuggly and loves to be kissed. I'm such a blessed mama to have two wonderful babies and bring SO MUCH joy to my life. I'm very lucky to be a stay at home mama and wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

To wrap up this entry, I have a crazy amount of pictures to include!! ENJOY!