Annual Zoolights Date Night

Tonight was our annual ZooLights Date. A group of boys from our ward always plan it and we are lucky enough to bum along.

It started off with Fondue at our house, which I am so sad I didn't take any pictures of. And then we headed out in the freezing cold. After it was all over we came back to our place for some nice toasty hot chocolate!

There never are many animals out and about, but when there are...you know it because there is a swarm of people around as if they have never seen an animal before.The zoo is much more enjoyable at night and especially when there are Christmas lights everywhere. This was the fun group we went with!
Getting a normal picture with Dan is nearly impossible.

Camden slept for most of the date, but once he woke up he had a blast looking at all the lights.

You Good Liar You

I should've know better than to believe my husband when he said we'd be spending Christmas in Vegas. Who spends Christmas in Vegas?!?

To make a long story a little less long...Dan and I(looking back, apparently it was only me) decided we would be staying here for Christmas seeing how tickets can get a little pricey. Knowing that we would not be going to Utah for Christmas, Dan's buddy Tyson invited us to cash in on his "Christmas Vegas Getaway". Everything was paid for except breakfast and lunches, and Dan just happened to have those days off work. I know, I know..I should've caught on. Well...I didn't until we got to the stinkin' gate at the airport and I saw Salt Lake City was the destination. That little turd! It was a happy surprise, I just felt like a sucker not knowing he could pull something like this off.

Nobody knew except our parents, and Tyson! So when we arrived home it was so fun to see our families reactions.

Just a fair warning...this is a mega long post, but I couldn't resist posting these pictures.

As soon as Camden finished opening his gifts he went straight down for a nap, he was exhausted!
I am pretty sure Uncle Cracker felt bad Camden's toy wasn't getting played with(since Cam was asleep), so he took the honors.

My Mom was kind enough to share her drink of choice with Cam. That's what Grandma's are for, eh?
Don't ask about the sweatband! This picture was just too cute to pass up.

This is Dan's brother Aaron and his wife Denise. They are such a riot! Denise got in a pretty bad car accident the night before we left. Hope you are feeling better Denise. We love you!

Cousin BreeAnn found the trick to grab his attention!

We had so much fun visiting with everyone. Here he is with Grandma Bonnie and Aunt Chrisee.

This is Camden's cousin Savannah. She had on the cutest pink cowGIRL boots ever, not to be confused with cowBOY boots.

This picture was at the request of Dan's brother-in-law Mike. He knew Dan would be so mad when he saw Camden holding this bear. Dan was so glad to hear Camden barfed after this picture was taken. Sorry Natalie, at least it matched your sweater.

Christmas would not have been the same in Vegas, I was so glad we were in Utah!

T'was 2 Days Before Vegas...

Since we are going to be in Vegas for Christmas we decided to do our little family Christmas tonight. It wasn't anything big, we just wanted to do something, seeing how it is Camden's first Christmas. So after we ate a yummy Christmas dinner of Fajitas and rice, we opened our gifts.
I am pretty sure Camden enjoyed the wrapping paper more than the Air Jordan's that his Dad bought him.
We decided, what better gift to open Christmas morning than Camden...so we packed him up and plan on saving him for later.
Here is our first Christmas together as a family of three, thanks to the self timing camera sitting on the floor. We tried putting our Christmas loot in front of us but it is kinda hard to see.

WARNING: Choking Hazard

This afternoon I was trying to finish up a project I had started but Camden didn't want this to happen. He was fussy and wanting to be held so I did what I thought was brilliant...found something to distract him. I set him in his chair and gave him a "biter biscuit". These are easy dissolving cookies for TODDLERS that are teething. On the back of the box it states that these can be a choking hazard and to only give them to children that are strong enough to crawl on their own. I didn't see what crawling had to do with eating, so I gave it to him anyway. It worked, he loved it and was making a mess so I continued with my project. To make a long story short...he ended up choking on the dang thing and scared me half to death. I tried to get it out with my finger but it was stuck, so I picked him up out of the chair, set him on my knee and smacked his back like I meant it. After the third smack he started to cry and the food came up.


Who am I to think the warning on the back didn't pertain to me?

Toe-Jam and a Tooth

Yesterday when I got home from work this is what I found...

Some major Toe-Jam...

And a second tooth!

Jumpin' Jackpot

Tonight we splurged! Tiffani got a babysitter, we left all our kids together, and went on a double date to Dave & Buster's. This place is like 49th Street Galleria for you Utahans old enough to remember, or Chuck E Cheese's on steroids. I should've taken pictures of some of the people there, really...it was all adults, some a lot older than others.

We ate dinner first and then we were off to win tickets. The first "game" I played was the Jumpin' Jackpot. A light spins around this contraption and when it reaches the bottom you have to jump as if you were playing jump rope. Sounds stupid, but it was sooo fun and I have to brag because I rocked at this! I made it look easy so Dan decided to give it a try...much to his dismay he...well, let's just say jumping rope isn't his forte.
But he is good at whatever this game was called! He scored us a ton of tickets on this one!
Watch out people, you don't wanna get on this couples bad side. They will tear you apart.
After playing hard all night we went and cashed in ALL our tickets! We ended up getting somewhere around 1400 tickets, and out of everything we could've "bought", my dear sweet husband picked this...(dun dun dun)
A stupid plastic toy that blows air in your face! WOW, I love him!

Can This Really Be?

My little man turned 6 months yesterday! I cannot believe he is really that old, and I cannot believe I am really that old! WOW!

I never posted a picture of him when he turned 5 months, so here it is.

I know what you are thinking. This picture doesn't look much different from the one below. But I am here to say that he has changed tremendously in the last month.

He now weighs 18.1lbs. Not a huge difference from before but give the kid a break...he was barfing pretty much that entire time. He is 27 1/2 inches tall.

The lucky guy got 6 shots in the legs and one oral vaccine, which he handled pretty well. Once he started to cry I shoved the binky in his mouth and he was fine. I have probably created my own monster with that plug because he would do fine without it, but it really comes in handy for the noise pollution.

Over this past month he has started sitting up on his own. He still takes his fair share of tumbles when I sit him up, but he is getting the hang of it and loving a bit more independence. I have really noticed him watching me when I leave the room and sometimes he even cries until I come back in his sight. This is bitter sweet. I love the fact that he recognizes me and wants me around(come on people, this won't last forever), but the crying...not so sweet!

He loves toys. He recently found the wheel on his stroller and was fascinated by it. This and anything that lights up will surely grab his attention. He loves to be the center of attention. He will pound toys on anything near him, and talk your ear off for days. He loves to watch our mouths move when we talk and has been caught trying to mimic the movements.

He has started to show interest in holding his own bottle. It would be too good to be true if he had actually mastered this skill. I will keep praying. I am loving that he is a pretty good baby food eater. When he is hungry he will open up wide and try just about anything.

He recognizes his name and will look when it is being called(almost every time, but sometimes that male selective hearing kicks in). And my favorite thing lately has to be when I walk in to pick him up from the gym daycare and his face lights up. He kicks his feet and shakes his hands with excitement and I love that he loves me. Dan still wins the award for getting him to laugh the hardest. He loves his Dad and busts up at everything he says and does!

I cannot believe he is already this old, man time has flown by!

Two New Favorites

I cannot get enough of this kid! He melts my heart! I think this picture is my new favorite. He has been super smiley lately until I take the camera out, and he turns oh so serious!

What I was trying to capture was his new friend that came to town, Mr. Tooth!
It is so weird to think that my "new" baby has a tooth already. It finally broke through the skin last week and we can't stop looking at it. It is my favorite when he gives me a big smile and his tooth shows. He is getting so big!

Getting In The Mood(The C-mas Mood That Is)

Growing up in Utah I totally took advantage of the snow getting me in the Christmas spirit. Since moving to this beautiful desert(no sarcasm intended ha ha)I have noticed that it is harder for me to get in that jolly, shopping, hot chocolate, carol singing mood. So today I decided decorating gingerbread houses would do the trick. We put Camden to bed(he wasn't feeling very good), and the two of us had a gay ol' time.

As Dan and I were decorating I found out that he has NEVER decorated a gingerbread house before! Can you believe that? I think his turned out pretty darn good for a first timer!



Please note the beautiful icicles he decorated on his roof...oh how I miss breaking icicles off Nanny's roof and eating them!

I Don't Think So

Camden has always been a really good napper until just a few weeks ago. I am not quite sure why there was a change, but something changed. I thought it was a phase and he would get over it and be back to his normal good napping self. Well he still hasn't snapped out of that so called phase. So today I told myself he is on MY schedule and I will put him down for two naps, no questions asked.

The first nap went great! I kept him up a little longer than he wanted, made sure he was fed and had a clean diaper before he fell asleep. Me being the naive little person I am, thought the second one would be that easy! I don't think so!!! As I sit here typing, he is lying in his crib SCREAMING and has been for the past 53 minutes. The longer he screams, the more I keep telling myself he is getting to the "tired cry phase", and will be out any minute. But at the same time a little bird sitting on my shoulder keeps telling me to go pick the poor kid up, he is not tired. How long do I let this go on for?

Oh the joys of motherhood! I wouldn't trade it for anything.

He is now gagging he is screaming so hard(yes he is a little bit of a drama queen, but I love him).

Three's Company

Today we had two friends over to play and we had a blast. As we were all jammed on our bed playing with toys I couldn't help but think about life with three kids.

It was nice because the three of them pretty much entertained one another. But I think I am good with just having friends come over. Because when it comes down to it...one mouth to feed, one bath to give, one butt to change...that is overwhelming enough for me. Whenever I am feeling crazy and thinking I want another kid...I will just borrow these two because they are angels and Camden loves them.