best photo of the week

This may be one of the funniest pictures I've ever seen. It's sure to be a lifelong family classic (even though it was taken with my phone and is junk quality!). First, I had caught his pinkie in the sliding glass door. To help him feel better I bundled up myself and the boys to go stomp in puddles. I hadn't realized it was still raining until we were already out, but decided to brave it anyway... until it started hailing. Just not baby friendly weather! William wasn't too happy about coming back in the house and was even more unhappy that I didn't take off his coat instantly when we entered. The word he is mid-saying is a VERY pathetic "offff".

coo coo for you

Here is some footage of our sweet Cameron on his 3 month birthday. Time flies!

Nightly bonding with Daddy

My darling William got VERY sick last week with high fevers. The poor darling cut both his eye teeth AND had an ear infection and possibly strep too. Poor little lamb. The antibiotics kicked in quickly and he's back to his old ways... pulling cookies off the counter, destroying the DVD closet, and giving kisses to mommy and daddy. My new favorite trick of his is when we pick him up, he'll pat our back like he's saying "way to go, mom!"

catch up

Sorry, Friends. I know it's been a while. Here is a (long) photo summary of what we've been up to:

Cameron has started smiling and it makes him even more irresistible.

-Great Falls, VA-

This past weekend Nathaniel's parents, and my brother and sister came into town to celebrate Cameron's blessing with us (a separate post on that later). On Monday we all went to Great Falls for a little family outdoors time.

Dang it, he's a gorgeous child!

We prepped for the trip by finally buying a deluxe kid backpack. I was surprised that William was even willing to get into the thing- but he seemed to really enjoy the view. After about 1/2 hour he started to say "all done!", but not long after that we found him like this:

Thanks Grandpa Ralph for hauling our sleeping prince!
Family photo. All freezing our tukkusses off together. (Can you spy Cameron?)

Grandpa & William livin' it up.

When William woke up from his nap and saw the falls he kept saying "Wow! WOW!"

An enhanced photo of the falls.


-At Home-
Getting a picture of these two together is risky business! William has the hardest time resisting the temptation to "steamroll" his little brother.

Oh dear. My sister opened a whole can of worms when she put William into the baby swing... Now he wants in ALL. THE. TIME.

-Halloween-

For Halloween we laid low. I took William trick-or-treating around our cul-de-sac, and that was it. The little love REFUSED to wear his costume though, so no pictures of that!

The itsy bitsy spider.

During Cameron's photo shoot, William climbed up and said his proudest "DEEESE" (cheese).

-Poppy & Grammy-

My dad and stepmom came out from california to meet Cameron. It was so much fun to have them here to play!Grammy was an especially good sport riding the rickety, speed racing merry-go-round at the inner harbor.

There you go! All caught up! *Bisous*

pictures by demand

Alright, alright, here are some pictures! As you'll see... I've been having a lot of fun with my new camera and photoshop!

When William was a newborn some dear and very talented friends took some pictures of him on this blanket. These are my best go at recreating them.

Nope, not an outtie bellybutton. My sweet baby has an umbilical hernia.

My gorgeous sister Dr. Charity. If you know any awesome LDS single guys over 6' 2", let her know.
Bedtime. I think William is just irresistible in PJ's.

On Sunday my brother came to visit again! We went for a walk in the fabulous Columbia woods. I love this picture.

Looks like a laugh, but I think he was yawning. This is a newborn sized sleeper that he's just able to wear. William wore it ONCE. Ahh- by way of stats: Cameron has gained 2 lbs since birth. As of Monday, he weighed 7lbs 8 oz. He's 5 weeks old today.

Cameron looks a lot different than William did as a newborn. He seems to have more of my features than daddy's.
William styled his own hair. With RANCH DRESSING. Mmmm.

That's all for now, friends! Hope you enjoyed them!

Hint, Hint...

I think my sweet William is trying to tell us that it's time for a new bathroom floor!

What an innocent face! (grainy picture from my phone)

Here's your baby fix. This is Cameron in William's toy stroller. Cameron had his 1month check up yesterday and he weighs 7lb 8 oz. Sounds about right for what his birth weight would have been had he been born on his due date!

I've got lots of other great pictures- I promise I'll get them up later, but naptime is ticking away right now and I need all the minutes I can get since Cameron's decided wake up time is 4am... bless his heart (shout out to all our NC fam!).

Estrogen Makes the World Go Round

So lately I've been thinking a lot about the intricate dynamics of family life, and, more specifically, about Felicity's impressive ability to keep our family (and our home) in order. Now that we have two kids under 18 months old, sleep seems to come only in short spurts, resulting without fail in tired mommies and daddies (not to mention the *sometimes* grumpy kiddies). In spite of this unwanted side effect of what is otherwise an unestimable divine blessing, I have noticed that my sweet wife has this remarkable capacity to bounce back from the depths of fatigue to tackle whatever project she sets her mind to. Take today, for instance. I don't recall us sleeping much after about 3 a.m., which is why I shamelessly crashed after work and took a modest nap (shame on daddy, I know). Meanwhile, as visions of sugar plums danced through my head, my used-to-require-at-least-10-hours-of-sleep eternal companion effectively morphed into the energizer bunny and was entertaining the kids while simultaneously cleaning the house. Either it's a miracle, or it's the estrogen. The way I see it, she's the only one around these parts with a significant amount of the stuff, and mysteriously she's the only one who seems to be able to go, go, go all day long without stopping. So my theory is that estrogenic beings benefit from the hormone's mystical properties and are thus able to accomplish far more than their testosteronic counterparts. Then again, perhaps I just need to suck it up and pamper my well-deserving wife. I'll figure it out... someday.

Goodnight, Sweetheart

Big brother & little brother

While William is usually rough and tough, he knows how to express his tender side as well (just like his daddy).
Here's a classic, recurring scene as of late: "I know you don't want this binky in your mouth right now, but I want it there, so eat it!"
Big brother coming dangerously close to disturbing little brother's peace...
David & Goliath. Funny how 17 months of breast milk and protein shakes can quadruple your size.
All parents think their kids are the cutest kids ever. We're no exception.
Sleepy time, again (22 hours a day, broken down into convenient 45 minutes segments).
For another brief moment, William was actually tender and gentle with Cameron. Way to go, macho man.
These two are just too much fun!

A Baby Story...

Cameron Ralph

Dear friends, it is wonderful to be home! Nathaniel has been spoiling me rotten and William has been taming his urge to point (poke) out his new brother's eye, nose and mouth. I feel so amazingly blessed to be the mother to two darling, beautiful, healthy boys.

Big and Little. We're having to remind ourselves that William is still very much a baby even though he's not the baby anymore.

Cameron was due on September 30th. I had no idea or even fanciful notion that he'd come any sooner than his brother had (3 days). When contractions started on the 3rd, I wouldn't even commit to myself to thinking that I was actually in real labor until the nurse at the hospital told me I very much WAS. This labor was incredibly different than my labor with William. I was completely shocked when the nurse told me I was a 6-7, was progressing quickly, and that she felt the baby's feet! We were admitted to my room at 11:15, and our sweet Cameron was born via emergency c-section at 12:14. We are so grateful for modern medicine and the skilled work of all our doctors and nurses that ensured a healthy mother and baby!

I think this picture is amazing. Nathaniel took it maybe seconds after Cameron had arrived.

Our first family photo.

Sweet Cameron's arms barely made it half way down the sleeves of his shirt! He's a long skinny thing, to be sure.

I was so happy when William came to visit. It is the longest that I'd been away from him, and I missed him dearly. It was a challenge, of course, to keep him off me (he kept trying to jump in my lap) and the baby, but what a joy to have such a loving son.

Another picture I adore.

William is getting better every day about the new "baba" around the house. He is very curious about his new brother and is very sweet with him. He drastically changed his nap schedule on us the day after I came home... but we're working with it and trying to keep the rest of our routines as normal as possible.

"Bisous"
It's really hard to capture how small he is until you meet him! I tried with this picture and our hands though.

Mama's boys! Packing up to go home.

I never thought that anything would look smaller than William did in this car seat! Well, he's growing fast (already surpassed birth weight again), so I'm sure he'll fill it out in no time.

We are so grateful to all our dear friends and family for their love and support. Cameron's arrival was definitely a surprise and we feel so very blessed that he is healthy and that he and I are doing so well. I am feeling great and getting stronger and better every day. Cameron is a good eater, a great pooper, and a fabulous sleeper... except from 10pm-1am. Any takers for that shift?

I'm amazed every day that Heavenly Father has blessed me with such a remarkable husband who loves me unconditionally. Honestly--If you all knew how crazy I can be, you'd be amazed too. :) I have been blessed with two healthy sons and countless other wonderful people and blessings in my life. Thank you to all for all of your love and prayers!

Random things I love about my eternal companion

She loves me unconditionally.
She is the mother of our children.
She plays the piano wonderfully well.
She is a woman of great faith.
She shows empathy for friends and family; she is slow to judge and quick to love.
She is super gifted with crafts (knitting, scrapbooking, quilting).
She occasionally laughs at my dumb jokes.
She puts up with my passion for bodybuilding and pushing myself physically.
She has an incredibly delectable laugh.
She loves that I love French.
She is amazingly humble despite being drop-dead gorgeous.
She makes our home feel like home.
She puts our sons' needs above her own.
She gives me a piece of her mind when I can benefit from it. :)
She likes to travel to new places.
She cuts my hair and shaves my neck so I don't look unkempt.
She loves her family and prays for them often.
She loves animals and is very cute with them.
She appreciates good quality music.
She has an incredibly sensitive side and doesn't hesitate to cry (usually a big plus). :)
She married me despite having an unspoken rule that she wouldn't marry a shorter man.
She used the cake decorating kit I got her to make me the most inspiring birthday cake.
She is the epitome of patience.
She likes to deep clean.
She has a pink tool belt.
She is a talented dancer.
She is the one who always keeps up our blog (unless she has just given birth).

What a lucky man I am. I love you, sweetie!