Eight Months!

Emalyn was eight months old on Saturday. I cannot believe how quickly the past few months have flown; we will be celebrating her first birthday before I know it. It has been so much fun. She has changed so much in the last few months. Here are all the new things she is doing:

• Her first little bottom tooth popped through the middle of August, and she is working hard on that second one (I had forgotten how rough teething was. I now remember why I was so excited when Maddie finally got her last moler). 
• She can push herself up to sitting. It is so fun to walk into her room to get her up from a nap and to see her sitting up in the bed smiling at me. We had a few rough days when she couldn't figure out how to lay back down, but she seems to have worked through it.
• She has started crawling! She is still not really motoring very far yet. But for the past week she has been getting up on all fours and rocking, and has gotten stronger each day. Her life and my life is about to really change once she can start getting into everything!
• She has starting pulling up on things. She pulled up on the coffee table last Friday, but she still hasn't quite figured out how to get her legs untwisted and stand up. But she is working on it none the less.
• She has learned to tip her toy basket over so she can reach the toys inside, which means all I have to do right now is set her in front of her toy basket and she is quite content.
• She has started patting me on the back when I pat her back, and when you ask her to “pat pat mama,” she will get a huge grin on her face, think about it for a second, and then bring her right hand around to pat me – she gets so proud of herself. 
• Gone are the days of setting her in the exersaucer for entertainment.(Thanks to baby Carrie for letting us borrow yours since ours got "flooded" as Maddie calls it). All Emalyn wants to do is to be on the floor scooting now.

She still loves being held and snuggled although she is quite the wiggle worm these days. And she is still is laid back as ever, but we are starting to see a little bit of a temper when she doesn't get her way. :) Bottom line, I am loving life with my sweet family these days. I was reminded tonight by an e-mail from a friend, that September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness month. And I spent a few minutes looking at YouTube videos of pediatric cancer patients, and it so quickly took me back to my precious patients in Atlanta, so many of whom are no longer with us. Chris and I are so blessed to have two healthy girls. I don't have to worry about white blood cell counts, shaving my child's head b/c their scalp is itching from their hair falling out, sores in their mouths from chemo, ports or central lines, emergency trips to the ER, hosptial bills stacking up, and so many other things. Puts so many of my "problems" into perspective!

First Day of School

Miss Maddie starts the 3 year old program yesterday at St. George's Kindergarten, which is where I went to preschool. St. George's is in a area that was devastated by the flood, and they worked hard all summer to get it reopened on time. The school looks great; she even has a touch screen computer in her classroom! She went to St. George's last year one day a week to the Mother's Day Out, but this is her first year to be in the Kindergarten side of it. We went on Tuesday to meet her teachers: Mrs. McMurtrie and Mrs. Hill. They are both so sweet, and I know Miss Maddie will be well loved this year.

Here she is on our front porch before we left for school.

She had a great day and lots of fun playing with new friends. Although I think she mainly played with the one little boy Ethan that was in her class last year. We stopped by Donut Den on the way home (I was hoping for a cupcake from Bread and Company, but she is her daddy's child and wanted Donut Den), and as we talked about her day, the one question she asked me was "How come I have to keep my shoes on there?" She had worn her jellies to school, but I had put her tennis shoes in her bag. Her teacher told me about 10 minutes after I left, she changed shoes, but my guess is she was trying to take her shoes off. She is definitely not a shoes girl; she would much prefer to walk around bare foot like her daddy.

Maddie's 3rd Birthday

 So much for planning to post the day of Maddie's Birthday, but better late than never! This year was Miss Maddie's golden birthday: she turned 3 on August 3rd. And she soaked up every minute of this birthday! We went to Donut Den that morning for breakfast, and she ordered her usual: 1 chocolate sprinkle donut and 1 pink sprinkle donut (she can never eat both of them, but it is very important to her to get 2 each time)We had a few visitors stop by to wish her Happy Birthday, and we went to lunch with Neel and baby Carrie. And after a quick nap, we went to get cupcakes at Bread and Company with Bebe. When we got home, Uncle Tee and Miss Caroline were waiting for us to give Maddie her present: a new addition to our family - Jim. One of Caroline's roommates has a Beta fish named Jim, and it has been all Maddie has talked about. We have talked about what Jim's favorite color is, what Jim likes to eat, what Jim is doing right now, and it went on and on. So Uncle Tee got her her very own Jim (he tried to explain that this was Jim's sister, but instead Maddie said "Oh, there are two Jims!"). Maddie was so excited, she could not even believe it at first.

And we finished the night off by meeting Mimi and Grand D and Anna Caroline for dinner at Yolo's. Maddie wanted to wear her "high heels" to dinner. This is a look I've been getting a lot these days, when she is not pleased with what I am asking her to do (in this instance stop so I could take a picture of her)

I gave Maddie the option this year either to have her party at our house or at Monkey's Treehouse (a indoor playroom w/ a treehouse and just about every other type of toy you can imagine), and without blinking an eye she replied Monkey's Treehouse! So that is where we had it. She was excited that day that the last thing she wanted to do was take a nap. We had been in a transitional period where she really still needed a nap, but she was fighting it and if she slept too long then she was up at night. So I've been letting her just play quietly in her room, and most days she plays for a few minutes and then she will snuggle into her bed and fall asleep. But on the day of her party, she absolutely did not want to take one. So she sat on her stairs screaming for about 30 mins that she was not going to sleep, and when I opened her door to wake her up from her nap for the party, this is how I found her: sound asleep on the stairs. :)

Here she is with her beloved "big girl cousins" on either side!

And the chaos begins of getting everyone cupcake wrapper off, getting everyone ice cream and a drink! I learned two things for next year: take the wrappers off ahead of time, and do not attempt cream cheese icing when it is 100 degrees outside - it was good but way too runny and therefore very messy!

It is amazing to think about how much Maddie has changed and grown in this past year. So much changes from two to three. At two, she wanted to help with everything but wasn't able to provide much useful help. But I feel like in the blink of an eye, she goes and gets her own snack now and can get a juice box out of the refrigerator. I turned around last week and she had buttoned her rain coat all by herself! She will go and get a bib or burp cloth for Emalyn without me even asking. If she hear Emalyn crying, she will go and put her toys back in front of her. She loves to help me cook and bake, and we have so much fun doing it together. And she has had had a lot of change thrown at her this past year: starting school for the first time, she moved to her new big girl room upstairs (and soon she will have a new big girl bed), she was potty trained, and the biggest change of all - a new little sister. We definitely had our moments, but overall I have been amazed at how lovingly she has welcome Emalyn into our lives. When Chris and I went to the mountains last month, she called Honey everyday to check and see how her baby sister was (and could have cared less about talking to Chris and while we were gone). They already have a very special relationship. Emalyn squeals and flaps her arms every time Maddie walks into the room. They carry on little conversations with each other by squealing back and forth to each other. I have so much fun taking her places with me these days. She went shopping with me last week, and we walked into the fitting room. She hopped up on the beach, and with each new shirt I tried on she would say "that one is pretty cute mom." Wow! What a change even from a few months ago...she truly is a little girl now! She even suggested that I get two of the shirts I tried on. Definitely my girl! :) But I think what has been the most fun thing for Chris and I to see is more of her little personality coming through these days. She has the sweetest little heart, so caring and compassionate. It was a wonderful third birthday, and she is already talking about her next party!

A Glimpse into our Crazy Month

Whew! Get ready for a marathon of a blog post.  We have had a lot of milestones this month: Maddie's first tea party, first 4th of July festivities with two kids, Maddie's first year of Vacation Bible School, Emalyn started sitting up, our first trip away since Emalyn was born, and our first slumber party at our house. Throw in there a quick trip down and back to Atlanta to get the townhouse ready for new renters, a going away party for Lauren and Matt, and all the preparations necessary for Chris and I to actually get out of town and now you see why it has been a month since I have posted anything!

Maddie was invited to princess tea party birthday party for Anna Claire, one of her friends from church. She was so excited the invitation told her to bring her baby with her.

Anna Claire's mom painted each of the girls their own plate and tea cup. They each got to make their own tiara (of course Maddie wouldn't keep in on), but she had a blast!

Then it was onto The Fourth:

The Youngs invited us to join the parade on Skyline. 

We went ahead and gave Maddie her birthday present a little early this year: a new bike!

Maddie started off riding her bike, but that didn't last for long. She dropped her bike off in Graham and Neel's driving and ran instead!

Here are the girls with "baby Carrie" in their fourth of July dresses.

We followed up the parade with an afternoon in downtown Franklin with Joe (Chris' boss) and his family and friends.

We have known for a while that "Miss Lauren" and "Mr. Matt" as Maddie calls them would be moving to New York City this summer, but time passed all to quickly. Lauren has been my best friend since elementary school, and we have gotten so spoiled these past two years having her in Nashville. We are going to miss them very much! The day she left, Maddie packed up her picnic basket and said "Okay Mom I'm ready!" (When did she get old enough to call me mom and not mama?) I asked her where she was going, and she reply "To New York with Miss Lauren."

That next week was Vacation Bible School at church, which made for a very busy week in the Camp household, not to mention it was from 4-6:30 which meant that I had to wake Maddie up from her nap each day to get there in time. Maddie loved it did not want to leave each night, and of course Thursday night was the only night Chris was not there to help me round the girls up. Maddie made her rounds giving all her friends hugs and telling them bye. And by this point I was hot (I know I was on the couch most of last summer in the beginning stages of pregnancy, but I really think this is the hottest July yet!) and tired and hungry and was ready to get the two girls in the car and head home. Maddie continued to stall, and I was done. So I resorted to picking her up and carrying her to the car,. which never turns out well. She's kicking and screaming, I'm trying to bend down and pick up Emalyn in her car seat which now weighs 30 pounds, and get my purse to get out to of there as quickly as I can. Thankfully, another lady took pity on me and carried Emalyn to the car. I'm half way down the hill to my car when I look down and Maddie has pulled my shirt down and my bra is showing for everyone at church to see. I set her down in front of the car to lock Emalyn into her seat, and Maddie runs away into the parking lot. (She never does this!) So I quickly set Emalyn down, run and get Maddie who is still screaming hysterically "I don't want to go home". I finally get Emalyn in the car. I try to take Maddie to the side of the car and talk to her, but of course at this point there is no reasoning with her! So I decide I've just got to try to overpower her and get her buckled (which is proving to be very difficult these days...she is getting strong) and get home. Sweat is dripping down my body at this point, but I got her buckled. I am calling Chris to prepare him for when we arrive home, and I look in the rear view mirror and Maddie, still screaming, has gotten her arms out of the harness of the car seat and is trying to stand up. I pulled over at a gas station, telling Chris he may have to come get us b/c I don't know if I can get her back in her seat. At that point, I lost it and told her she was acting ridiculous and that daddy was going to have to drive all the way out there just to buckle her in her car seat. Using the daddy threat worked, she immediately sat down and let me buckle her in. Lesson learned, next year there will be no waking her up from her nap 5 days in a row, that is just asking for disaster. But overall it was a great week. The highlight of Maddie's week: Daddy dressed up as Adam and was the story teller one of the days (yes, my sweet husband still loves me even after I volunteered him to do this).

Here Maddie is singing The Butterfly Song, her new favorite song.

The long awaited first trip away! I was bound and determined to have Emalyn taking formula so that Chris and I could get a little break from being mommy and daddy and just be us for a few days! My mom and Millie and Woody divided up Maddie duty, and we dropped off Emalyn with the Hills in Knoxville on the way up to Ashville to meet two of my best friends from college. It was such sweet time being able to catch up with Emily and Rosemary. I feel like with the addition of Emalyn, there is less time in my day to stay in touch with my friends. So it was a wonderful, relaxing weekend. I still woke up each morning at 6, but it was so nice to be able to roll over and fall back asleep!

Sweet Maddie had done so well until Saturday night when Tee and Caroline came to babysit her for my mom to go to a wedding. She absolutely lost it. I tried talking to her on the phone, and she was just frantic. "I want my Bebe." So my mom ended up staying home from the wedding. That night as she and Maddie were falling asleep Maddie said to my mom, "I happy now, Bebe. You can go to your meeting in the morning, and I go with Uncle Tee." When my mom asked her what made her so sad, she said, "You see Bebe, my mommy and my daddy are both out of town, and I not want my Bebe to leave me too." Sweet little thing! I was so proud of her that she was able to communicate what was wrong (of course not in the heat of the moment, but at least she is thinking through it).


And on Friday night, Maddie got to have her first slumber party. We had two of Brian and Sara's kids over to spend the night. We started the night with dinner at Chick-Fil-A

Then it was home to bake sugar cookies and watch a movie

They did get in bed until 9:45, but I was really impressed we only had to go upstairs one time and it was because my child would not stop talking. We could hear John Miller through the monitor saying, "Maddie, I am trying to go to sleep if you don't stop talking, something bads gonna happen." We were up by 6:15 the next morning and at Donut Den by 7:00.

Okay, I have to admit I have been working on this post for over a week now. But I knew I had to get it done before our big day tomorrow: Maddie's turning 3!

What a difference a week makes ...

So I feel like everywhere I have gone the past few months, I have heard people talking about Pure Barre, this exercise class that uses a ballet bar. I still had about 15 pounds to lose to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, so I figured why not go ahead and try it for a month. I had heard you where sore afterwards, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I went to my first class last Wednesday and came home telling Chris it was the most miserable thing I had ever done. If I hadn't paid money to join for the month, I didn't think I would ever go back. I had to get Chris to get me advil in the middle of the night Wednesday night b/c I couldn't roll over in bed. Trying to get down on the floor to feed Emalyn her cereal or walk up the stairs to put Maddie in was almost impossible. Muscles were sore that I did not even know existed in my body. But it is amazing what a difference one week of doing Pure Barre has made. I am still a little sore after class, but nothing like that first day. And I am already seeing a difference in my body after 5 classes. Everyone says you get addicted to it....we shall see.

Everything on the home front is good. We are enjoying playing outside. Maddie loves helping me water my flowers each day (which usually results in at least one meltdown between the front and backyard b/c she does not like for me to help at ALL, so that is one of the many things we are working on). I am definitely seeing why so many parents say that age 3 is hard than 2. There are so many hard things to learn in this new world. It is amazing to me how much more aware of everything Maddie is and how well she is able to communicate with me. But along with that comes quite a few frustrations. Somehow she has already learned to ask..."Are we there yet?" And asks it over and over and over again. So we are working on only asking it once and then mommy will tell you when we are there, we are working on saying "excuse me" when mommy is in the middle of a conversation instead of continuing to scream "mommy" louder and louder and louder! We are working on how to communicate our emotions instead of just screaming and pushing, we are learning about inside voices (our poor neighbors....she just goes outside and screams instead), and of course we are still working on being gentle with our little sister. I came into the den on Wednesday, and Maddie was pulling Emalyn around the room by her arms. But with all of the hard parts of being almost three, there are so many new fun things that she is able to to...she loves to help me set the table each night, and unload the silverware from the dishwasher (you never know quite where they will end up in the drawer, but none the less the are in the correct drawer), and her all time favorite thing is to help me cook, (making cupcakes being her favorite of course!).

Emalyn is just growing. I can't believe she will be 6 months in 10 days! She has learned to roll to her stomach, but then won't roll back to her back and get SO mad. She has woken up a couple of time the past week furious, face all red, screaming b/c she can't get back to her back. She is still just a sweetheart, but definitely lets her little opinion be known when she is not thrilled with the situation. She still loves Maddie, and actually laughs more at Maddie than she does Chris or I either one. 

Here is the latest creation with my embroidery machine. It is hard to tell from the picture, but it is a pink and green purse. I had a blast yesterday afternoon using my machine, and actually got a few things monogrammed!

It finally happened....

I remember asking several other moms at church if they had any good suggestions for ways to entertain Maddie while I was trying to cook dinner. Their response was it is always hard. But  it gets easier once you have more than one, they entertain each other. And tonight I had my first moment where it was easier with two than one! It was a miracle! I had tried to squeeze too much in (as usual). We had stayed at the pool a little bit longer than I had planned; I had to rush to the grocery store to get a few more things for dinner; and then rush home to cook dinner b/c Reid and the girl he is dating for coming over to eat and for me to meet her. So I walked in to a messy house (of course! b/c I didn't manage to get them down for a nap at the same time today), set the groceries down, turned on Maddie's music, set Emalyn down in the living room, and hurried into the kitchen to get as much done before one of them had a melt down. And it happened...Emalyn was giggling with joy. I tried to peek in to see what Maddie was doing to make her laugh, and I still have no idea what Maddie she did.  But none the less she entertained her for 20 minutes until Chris walked in the door. It was wonderful! Here's to many more nights of them entertaining each other and maybe even trying new recipes again.

Summer!

I feel like summer is finally here. The pools finally are allowed to open since we are not having to conserve water anymore. We have been outside a lot: walking down to the playground down the street, playing in the sprinkler, and catching lightning bugs at night!

Maddie wasn't sure what she thought about the sprinkler at first, and insisted on Chris and I run through it with her.

We have had all sorts of baby animals in our front yard this year, but the baby bunnies have by far been Maddie's favorite. We found the first one the day we were playing in the sprinkler; it is teeny, tiny, but it is just to the right of Maddie's shoulder. 

This is her latest pose, usually when she is trying to tell you something that she knows she is right about.

And here is another one of the baby bunnies, she is living in the bush right in front of our side porch, and every time we walk out the door Maddie looks for "sister bunny."

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We had a pool party for playgroup at Neel's house. Carrie and Maddie were in matching bathing suits!

Emalyn just chilled in her bumbo!

And you can't have summer without catching lightning bugs. Maddie of course was petrified of them. It has taken me two and a half years of working on the girl just to get her to touch a worm. But she was quite excited to run around the yard and point them out for Chris and me to catch for her. Here she is with her bug box, still unsure if they were going to come out or not, so she wouldn't take her eyes off of them.