garbage day wednesday

Wednesdays are BIG in our house.

It is garbage day.

Yep, the day for the garbage and recycle pick up. 

In the mind of a 2 and a half year old boy, it is basically Christmas.

Camden shakes with excitement when he hears the rumble coming down the street. Very often we have had to run to the window, and stop everything to watch the garbage get picked up. 

Now that the weather is so nice mid day, we have started a little camp out in our drive way as we wait for the garbage man. 

Last week we watched the guy drive by on the opposite side of our street. Camden watched in amazement as the trash was picked up.

Then we sat with our drinks and snacks and waited for him to circle around and come pick up on our side of the street.

Grayson loves it too!

As he pulled up by our can, he stopped, turned off his truck and started talking to us. He said how much he loves seeing Camden each week waving as he drives by. He said if Camden wanted to peek inside his truck he could. Camden was too star struck to want to get in, so I just lifted him up and we peeked inside.

We said thank you, and learned that our garbage man is named Nick. He was such a nice guy.

This week, we were out running errands when I remembered it was {garbage wednesday}!! Since Nick the Garbage Man was so kind to us, I asked Camden if he wanted to get him a little gift. We decided on a little package of caramel corn. Camden couldn't wait to give him. (Cam actually thought it must be Nick's birthday since we bought him a present and he tried to convince me that we needed to get him a cake too!)

So we waited outside while eating lunch. 

Then he came by! We waved and he stopped again to talk to us. Camden reached up to give him his gift. He was so nice and told Cam he couldn't wait to eat it!! Camden was so proud, and when we were saying goodbye, Camden told him to "be safe". He has such a tender heart!

Then we watched in amazement as he picked up our trash. This little boy is fascinated by all vehicles and machinery. 

Goodbye Nick the Garbage Man, see you next Wednesday!

Potty Training

Camden is our first born and although I now have 2 kids, I know that each new thing with him will always make me feel like a first time Mom...because, well, I will always be a first time Mom with him.

So potty training is definitely something I have never done. This is a territory I was very afraid of. Not only did I grow up with all sisters, but I am still getting used to having boys and taking care of their, ah hem, jewels. 

Anyways...Camden is just your typical 2 year old boy. Very busy, on the go, never stops, and doesn't like to be told what to do. In my mind, the last thing I wanted to do was tell him to stop what he is doing and go potty. So we decided we would wait until he was ready (and not a moment sooner), to start potty training. 

We bought him a potty chair from Ikea a while back. We thought we would just have it on hand for him to try every once in a while. When he was about 18 months he started to show interest in the potty when he would watch Wes or I go. We would let him sit on the big potty, or his potty chair, (whichever he preferred), before bath time. A lot of times he would sit, pee, and get all excited. We would get excited for him, but that was where it would stop. We never tried during the day to have him go. 

That was until about a month and a half ago. 

He was 25 and a half months old. 

I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day. Camden came running in saying "potty potty". I clearly assumed he wanted to play in the potty next to where I was getting ready. So I said, "No potty, please, do not play with the potty". Then I noticed he was tugging at his pants. He told me "diaper off". At this point I was in total shock, no way am I letting you take off your diaper and play in the potty. Then it hit me, oh my gosh, he wants to go potty. So I took off his diaper and sat him on the potty and he peed as if he had done it a million times before. I cheered for him like a crazy Mom. I asked if he wanted his diaper back on and he said no. So I went to the stash of underwear that I had waiting in his drawer and asked if he wanted to wear it. He did! I couldn't believe I was putting him in underwear.

We spent that day at home letting him run around in underwear. We had a few accidents, but we also had great success. Since I hadn't prepared myself for this day, I just went with the flow and didn't push him to actually potty train. He is a bit stubborn and I knew if he didn't want to go potty on the toilet, then he wouldn't. We spent a few days just playing around in underwear but as soon as bedtime came around or we had to leave the house, I would put his diaper back on. He didn't mind, and it was the only thing I could think to do since I was afraid of this whole potty training thing. 

I know a lot of Mom's do rewards for going potty, but I was not about to let him know he would get a treat when he would pee. He is a smarty pants and I know he would pee 45 times a day just so he could have a skittle each time. Instead, I made him a potty chart and every time he went we would let him put a sticker in the box. He loved it for 2 days, and after that he could care less about the stickers. All he really wanted was to go potty and then get back to whatever he was doing. Such a man!

So after a week or two I realized this was serious. I told Wes that from now on, once he wakes up in the morning, we put him right into his underwear and no more diapers. The accidents were very few. At the beginning he would pee just a little in his underwear and stop himself and come running to tell me he had to go. This was a good way for him to learn what it felt like when he had to go. He no longer does that, and we haven't had an accident in a long time.

I haven't made him stay in his underwear yet when he is sleeping. He has never woken up dry, so I don't want to push him. We are hoping to finish the pack of diapers we have and never have to buy another diaper for him. Once he starts waking up more dry, we will switch him to underwear and just let him wet the bed a few times to learn. 

We are so proud of our smart little guy. We can't believe he is already potty trained. I had mentally prepared to have him in diapers until he was 3. I honestly didn't want to rush him, I wanted him to be completely ready. 

This is the face he made the first time he pooped in his potty chair. Yes, we were outside and we now have the potty chair out there because that is where he prefers to poop. Its ok with me, at least it is contained in the potty chair and doesn't stink up the house. 

I know he will love this picture someday! Sorry buddy, your proud Mama couldn't help it!!

Now that he has been going potty for over a month he has become an expert. And let me tell you, boys going potty is literally the best, easiest thing ever. He runs to the bathroom, pulls down his underwear, stands on his step stool and pees, then runs back out. No wiping, to touching, no flushing (yes, we do sometimes flush, but not every time), and it takes like 3 seconds. When we are out in public I just lift him up, and he pees, then we are done. Sometimes he even pees in the grass or in a bush. Hey, I can't stop it, it is one of the perks to being a man!

We are hoping Grayson will learn just as quickly as his big brother!! This potty training thing was not nearly as scary as I imagined. Even if I did stepped in his poop one time on the way to the potty!!! Oh, another story for another time.

Bigggg Bed!

Last weekend I mentioned to Wes that I thought Camden was ready to graduate to a real bed. He had been sleeping on a crib mattress in his crib/toddler bed. He is such a big boy it just didn't seem comfortable anymore. 

His crib was convertible to a full size bed with a head and foot board. I was talking to my Mom about it and was asking her where the best place was to buy a full size mattress for Camden. She said, is there a reason it has to be a full? I said I guess it is not totally necessary, I just figured since we had the head board we should buy that size. Well she told me she had a queen size mattress and box spring in their storage unit and she was more than excited to lend it to Camden for his new bed. 

I was thrilled that we didn't have to go out and buy a bed. Those things are not cheap!! Since I love searching the internet for ideas, I had already been planning what bedding I wanted him to have for his big boy room. I fell in love with this one from West Elm.

Cute huh?!

Well it would cost around $110 before tax and shipping for me to buy the duvet and shams. Not sure I was ready to spend that much.

I decided to google "gray and white striped duvet". To my surprise I found an exact look alike from Target. And...the best part?! It was in stock at the Target 2 miles from our house. 

I was thrilled!! 

The cost was only $30 for the duvet plus it included the shams. We also had to buy a matching bed skirt for $15. But with my Target Red card I also saved an additional 5%, making this a perfect deal!!

We set his room all up and surprised him with the final result. He LOVED it!! He couldn't wait to go in to see his new "bigggg bed" as he calls it.

His first sight of the new bed.

Trying to decide his best approach for getting on this huge bed.

Yep, that technique works!

He looks so grown up on this bed!

This was his little happy dance for the bigggg bed!! 

I love his name on the wall, it used to be centered with his crib, we may have to move it to a different spot once we redecorate

Dada was getting too comfy. He has already fallen asleep in bed with Camden about 3 different times.

He calls this "under covers"

He is ready!

Thanks Papa and Gigi for my new bed!

Grayson can't believe his brother has a queen size bed at only 2 years old!!

Now we just have to decide on a design for a head board. We want to make him a padded head board like ours. It is a cheap way to make a big statement in a room. We also plan to put some new stuff on the walls. 

Can't wait to turn this room into a big kid room.

2 Years and a party

We officially have a 2 year old in the house.

2 years ago, Camden came into the world and made me a Mom.

He made Wesley a Dad, and a great one at that!

He has been the greatest joy that we could ever imagine. 

We are so blessed to call him our son and we are so proud of him.

______________________________________________________________________

This weekend we had a little birthday party to celebrate our little man.

Wes and I were both raised in families that throw amazing parties. I guess you could say that entertaining is in our blood. So with Camden turning 2, we couldn't pass up an opportunity to host a fun gathering for our family and friends. I spent the week before his party searching for free party printables online. I found some cute ones and spent a morning at my mom's house printing off the printables. Since we are on a bit of a budget we didn't go crazy, yet we planned a very budget friendly party.

I created a cute little treat table with homemade cake pops, pictures of our sweet 2 year old, and the printable birthday banner.

I wrapped the table in left over wrapping paper from Christmas. I made the cake pop displays from a piece of styrofoam that has been in our garage for ages. I had Wes cut it down to the sizes I wanted, and wrapped them in other wrapping paper I had left over from Christmas. The cute black bucket with applesauce packets in it was from Camden's party last year. Last year the bucket was red, this year I had Wes spray paint it black for me. The picture frames came from different places around our home, and I just added new pictures to them for the party.

The drink table was pretty cute too! I borrowed these drink dispensers from my Mom. I printed free labels that we added to the cups for everyone to put their names on. The straws came from an Ikea straw pack that I had in my panty and discovered the black and lime ones were perfect for the party so I separated all of them. I put the straws in a mason jar and made a little pinwheel out of scrap book paper.

I made little goody bags for all the kids. Once again, I printed the free labels at my Moms house (on full sheet label paper my Mom had a ton of) cut them out and added them to the lunch bags I had in my pantry. In the bags were a bunch of little things from the dollar store. I spent $20 at the dollar store and made up a bunch of these bags for all the kiddos.

Our lunch spread included sandwich trays from Costco (bought by our very thoughtful in laws), sun chips, veggie straws, applesauce packs, and goldfish/animal crackers for the little ones. We believe one of the most important things when planning a party is to make sure you feed people. Everyone sticks around longer and is in much better moods if they are fed.

These cake pops were quite the experiment. I have never made cake pops before, and apparently I am stubborn and don't like to read directions. I try to just do things on my own, and when I fail, then I go back and read how to correctly do it. After spending almost the entire day on Friday getting the cake pops made, we finally perfected it, and I love how they turned out. 

Overall, the party turned out pretty good. The weather was perfect, the kids all seemed to have a great time, and Camden loved being outside with all the people he loves.

Thanks to everyone who made Camden's party such a blast. We had such a great time and we loved celebrating our sweet babe!!!

23 Months

Next month we will officially have a 2 year old. Camden is 23 months old today, and it is so hard to believe that I am already planning his second birthday. We have learned so much in the past 23 months and we are so in love with the blessing that Camden is. 

In the last 23 months we have...had less sleep than ever before, learned to love like we never knew we could, changed our schedules weekly to accommodate what is best for him, snuggled, cut food into a million little pieces, moved furniture out and moved toys in, worried more, learned to trust God more than ever, sang silly songs {with the hand motions, of course}, changed 2 trillion diapers {approximately}, snuggled, kissed, cleaned, wiped, filled our computer with pictures, made TONS of memories, snuggled, prayed, enjoyed every second, and so much more. Oh yes, and did I say snuggled? Because that is what Camden is good at, and we love it!

In 23 months Camden has changed so much. As an adult I don’t feel like much changes year to year. I am sure I learn more, I might change my hair a little bit, and I might even buy some new clothes. Camden however has grown drastically in size; he went from 21 inches to about 3 feet tall, he has outgrown more clothes than I have ever owned, he has learned everything from learning to sit on his own to even learning a few letters of the alphabet.

Camden brings us so much joy each day. Yes, he is definitely in the midst of the “terrible 2’s” but he is handling them well. We have days where the tantrums seem to never end, but thankfully those days don’t last forever and we have plenty of fun days with this sweet boy. 

Camden loves his little bro and is always concerned for him. He wants to see him when he first wakes up in the morning, and gives him a kiss every night before bed. He calls him “bro”, “beebe”, or “fray gray” {Gray Gray}. He tells me “eat” when Grayson cries and points to my chest, he definitely knows how I feed him. He also lets me know when he is ready for me to put Grayson down; he will point to the boppy pillow and say “beebe”, as in, “please put the baby here, now”! While we were driving in the car the other day I saw Camden reach over into Grayson’s car seat. I instantly thought he was trying to steal his paci or just mess with him, so I quickly turned around and saw that he was holding his hand. He smiled at me and I made sure he knew how sweet he was being with his brother. It totally melted my heart.

Camden also loves to pray. Every meal Camden stops everyone and says “pray”. He reaches out his hands, and bows his head. I would LOVE to get this on video sometime. It is adorable. He is also getting better at closing his eyes; he squints them very tightly.

There are so many things that Camden loves right now. He loves hiking with Wesley, going on bike rides, playing out front, playing with cars of any shape and size, wrestling with Mama or Dada, playing in our cars while we are in the garage, going for walks, and just about anything that has to do with being outside. He loves blueberries and asks for “blooboos” at every meal. He is also obsessed with orange juice (watered down, of course) and he calls it “onge ju”. 

Just in the last few weeks his words have REALLY taken off. He likes to repeat everything he hears. I love to just sit and tell him words just to hear how he says them. Our favorites right now are: ah gahs (oh gosh), onge ju (orange juice), upa doh (play doh), oh gee (oj), cahs (cars), annie (uncle Andy), unk a baj (uncle Rog), pete zees (pizza), and so many more. He is so much fun to teach things to and I love to see him learn and absorb.

As we plan Camden's second birthday we are looking forward to what is in store for him. We are so thankful for him and for each day we have with him. He really brings so much fun to our family and his sweet, gentle nature just melts our hearts. We love this little boy and we are so proud to be his parents.