Is that thunder?

After Cambri.....

heard our little ones heartbeat,

read Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco (a few too many times),

used her stethoscope while we mimicked the sound of a beating heart,

talked about heartbeats with me,

and remembered where kangaroos carry their babies (because of last year's Halloween costume)


she looked at me and said,

"The baby is making thunder in your pouch, ba boom, ba boom."

I would have to agree that a fetal heartbeat does sound like thunder. And I suppose she is not too far off with the pouch.

I hope this brightened your day and made you laugh just as it did for me! I sure love my little 3 year old!

Manic Monday

Light left on + Cold morning = Dead Battery

Not the best timing. Errands to run. In-laws coming tomorrow. Needing a working car to get them from the airport.

We cleaned the interior of our car Saturday, in preparation for the arrival of Cameron's parents, this week. One of the interior lights must have gotten bumped and it stayed on through the rest of the weekend without us noticing.
After chasing down the girls this morning and trying to herd them out the door to run our last errands, we made it to the car to find my clicker was not unlocking the doors. Not a huge deal, but frustrating because I changed the battery just a few month ago. After unlocking my door with the key, I reached/crawled around to unlock the other doors to get my kids buckled up. I then jump in the car, put my key in the ignition, turn it, and nothing. Not a sound!
Thankfully, Cameron works very close and was able to grab a coworker to come home and give us a jumpstart. While the girls and I waited for them to arrive, we sat freezing in the car. I was not about to unbuckle them to have to repeat another 30 minutes of trying to get them back out the door so instead, I ran in the house and grabbed blankets to keep them warm.
After several minutes of charging, console lights came on, beeps could be heard, and vroom, the car started. Thank you Craig for stepping away for a few minutes to lend us a hand! We really appreciate having our car up and running. It did not give us anymore grief today.

Butterflies in my stomach

Last Wednesday, just after the haircut, my stomach started fluttering. After having had two children, I knew without a doubt that those flutters were NOT butterflies.

What was it then?

Fetal Movement

Our little one is alive, well, and kicking

I know....feeling movement in the 14th week is a little early but I felt it.

It may have had something to do with my pants squeezing the life out of me. Well, not really squeezing the life out of me but they are definitely fitting more snug now then they did back in June.

Whatever it was, it got my baby moving and I LOVED IT! However, I do not think I will torture our little one with tight fitting pants again so I may need to find a more effective way to get *him moving.


Note:
*We do not know the gender but if my intuition and Cambri's closeness to the veil is correct, it will be a boy. Every time we ask, without hesitation Cambri tells me it is a boy and that she is going to have a brother. Never once has she said a sister.

Haircut

You would have thought gum in the hair was enough for one week but......it isn't. The gum episode happened last Wednesday and the very next morning our sweet little Ella had her FIRST haircut. It was the cheapest and quickest haircut ever. The stylist to thank for such great service, Cambri. :) I can't blame Cambri because we have let Ella's bangs grow a bit too long and she is in great need of a little trim.
Just like our gum incident, it could have been much worse.
Cambri received a bunch of crafting supplies for her birthday which she loves AND we, as her parents love. One of her newest supplies was a small pair of scissors. Her new fascination has been cutting paper and ribbon into the smallest pieces possible. That morning, she had been working on some "art" in her room while Ella and I were in the Living Room. Cambri walked out with her scissors (which I did not know at the time), over to Ella, picked up some hair and ***chop***. Thankfully, I caught her in the action and numerous clumps of hair were not removed, just one.
Ella's face was priceless. She looked at her hair that had fallen on her clothes with puzzlement, bewilderment, shock, surprise, sadness, etc. Just about every emotion, was expressed across her face.
Unfortunately I do not have pictures to show. It actually took me awhile to even find where Cambri had made the cut, up at the top of Ella's head. With the amount of hair that girl has, I suppose she can afford to lose a chunk on occasion. The only time you may notice her haircut is when she wears pigtails because her 'shorties' stick out.
I knew it was bound to happen. I think every girl has a desire to be a hair stylist/beautician at some point in their life. For a few that does not occur until later in life but for the majority it occurs in the early years of childhood, which is ever so unfortunate for the mothers and the victim.
Just for the record, Cambri is temporarily band from scissors so you will not be hearing any snipping at this place!

The Latest Fashion

Who knew?

And yes, she has worn her hair like this in public a time or two.
It was not a battle worth fighting.
If you saw her like this, who would you think did her hair, me or her?
I kept telling myself everyone would know it was her choosing.
Am I right?

Aloha!

This year, the closest we could get to Hawaii was attending a Hawaiian Luau hosted by Cameron's employer. Although, I am sure it is not quite like going to the islands, Cameron and I still enjoyed ourselves. We hired a babysitter, for the first time, which turned out rather.....interesting. Perhaps my expectations for a sitter are a bit high?!?
Anyways, Cameron and I rigged up Hawaiian attire with some help from our New Zealand/Samoa friends. We ordered Hawaiian print fabric online, did simple sewing, and had our very own sarongs. I wore mine like a dress and bought a cardigan sweater to wear over top. I was given hand carved coconut earrings from Bonita and borrowed one of her necklaces, flowers, and handbags. She informed me that on the islands it is all about the accessories so she made sure I was well equipped.

Cameron wore his sarong like a skirt, with a white button up shirt, flip-flops, and a necklace to complete his look. The food was delicious and we had enough LDS friends/coworkers there that the company was enjoyable as well.

Here are a few pictures from the night.

Cameron and Jamie

Becky and Craig

Brittany and Roger

Sam and Liz

All of which are friends from work, our ward, and BYU. How cool is that?

Our little, big girl

Our children seem to run small in the size department. According to the rules and regulations of forward facing car-seats, children need to be at least 1 year old AND weight 20 lbs. With both of our girls we met the first requirement but could not bulk them up enough to reach 20 lbs. For Cambri, she hit 20 lbs at about 14 1/2 months but Ella took a bit longer and did not reach that "goal" until 15 months (which was in September). As soon as she was 20 lbs you better believe we got her a new seat and flipped her around in the car.

And with a look like this.....

we won't ever turn her back around!

The Big T-H-R-E-E

This past Sunday, our sweet little Cambri turned 3. Where has the time gone? As I thought about her birthday I realized that she is growing so quickly and will be graduating from high school sooner than we would like. I know, I know, I may be getting ahead of myself but hear me out. Just TWO years ago when we celebrated her 1st birthday she was only 1/18 of the way to graduation and now that she turned 3 she is 1/6 of the way there. Why does it feel like our time with her is slipping away? My math is correct, isn't it? I know that she has a lot of life ahead of her and many great things she needs to accomplish but can't she stay young and small for just a bit longer?
Well, Cambri, as sad as it is for me to say, another year has come and gone and with each year that passes we find ourselves loving you more and more. We do have our challenges at times but you have taught me so much about loving life and loving people. You are the happiest and friendliest little 3 year old that I know and I am privileged to be your mom. Sometimes your friendly hellos and chats with strangers make us a bit uneasy but as I think more about it, you are their ray of sun on a gloomy day....and I am ok with that :) You approach any and every child at the park and quickly become friends. You say hello and wave to each person we pass on our walks. And lastly, you are so sweet and kind to the elderly and disabled. Regardless of how different they may be from you and I, you see them as Heavenly Father sees them, as Children of God. You do not make judgments or say unkind things and for this you are a constant reminder to me of how I need to treat others.
Just the other day, we were walking home from the park when an elderly woman was walking towards us. You quickly ran up to her and began talking. I saw her countenance light up immediately as you acknowledged her. You chatted and entertained her for about 5 minutes until we continued on our walk. Upon leaving she told me, "Thank you for letting me visit with you and your children!" In that one incidence I learned a great deal about you and an awful lot about me.
Cambri, thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives as well as the lives of those you see in passing. For those older people, their children are grown, many are widowed, and they are just waiting until it is there time to go. Your little hellos, as simple as they may be, brighten up their day, and may even give them a reason to continue living.
We love you Princess Cambri! Hope you had a wonderful 3rd Birthday!

Ooey Gooey

After unloading the kids from the car, what do I find but a big wad of gum stuck in Cambri's "orange" curly hair. I thought I was about to die.
After getting gum stuck in my hair multiple times as a child, I knew that was a risk I was taking by allowing Cambri to chew gum. This girl LOVES anything minty and my gum just so happens to be minty so......she LOVES it! She is really good about not swallowing the gum so I found no harm in letting her chew it, especially while she was sitting up in her car seat.
I suppose her gum must have leapt out of her mouth and headed straight for her hair. Cambri realized it was in there before I did and she began tugging on her hair to get it out. Once I figured out what she was doing she had already ripped a bit of gum and a chunk of hair out of her head. We quickly got inside and went straight for the bathroom to operate. The last thing I wanted was to give her an emergency hair-cut. With a bit of tugging, a frozen go-gurt (since we were out of ice), and a comb we managed to set Cambri's hair free. Boy, was I ever grateful. I just LOVE Cambri's hair, the color, the curls, everything about it is just perfect to me, so perfect that she has yet to get her haircut. We trim her bangs on an as needed basis but other than that we do not go at it with a pair of scissors.
I am so grateful our little operation did not involve, butter, peanut butter, an insane amount of time, or scissors. I hope we are just as lucky next time. Or should I say there will not be a next time?!