Weekend Fun

On Friday night I decided I had had enough of people saying of my dearest Cameron "she's so cute!" Thanks to Cameron Diaz, his name is not enough to distinguish him as a BOY. We busted out the buzzers. When his sweet strawberry-blonde locks were all over the floor my baby Cameron was gone, and suddenly there was a very grown up little boy in his place. Time flies too quickly...well. I say that, but I wouldn't pause a day. I love watching them grow up and discover new things and skills every day.

Pre-haircut photo shoot.

*Note Cameron's post haircut look-- big boy!*Yesterday we went to VA to celebrate a cousin's baby blessing. This picture is a little funny because of the wall colors behind us, but we didn't realize that until later. Something that also really struck me when I saw this picture was that "one of these things is not like the other." Are these boys really related to me?! I see now how people say William and Cameron look so much alike. They are both miniatures of their daddy.

William enjoying the last of the summer weather. Bring on Fall, baby. I'm ready with my hot chocolate and knitting!

For the grandparents:

Dear William,

You are a little monster. I'm afraid to take you to the nearby tot-lot because I don't want other mom's to look at me like, well, the mom of a little monster. I'm actually protective of you like that. I want others to see you as a gorgeous, adorable, strong little boy... not a hitter, shover, toy-truck-stealer, or biter. You almost never miss an opportunity to body-slam your little brother. You are getting increasingly picky about what clothes or shoes you'll wear and when you'll wear them. You drive me crazy and make me want to hit my head against the wall. Sometimes I actually do. I also love you endlessly. You make me melt when you say "I hold you!" and hang your arm around my neck at bedtime. I almost cry when you say prayers (with Daddy's help), and I did cry when you started trying to sing your bedtime lullaby with me. It takes all my self-control to not let you nap in my bed when you say "no, momma's bed!" because it is just so sweet when you say it. You are always sure to say "ya'okay?" every single time I cough and issue a polite "bless you" from wherever you are in the house when you hear me sneeze. While you love to practice future football moves on Cameron, you also love him a lot. I think. If he needs help or is doing something that might hurt him you say "no! no! Cannon!" and you check on him if he falls (only without your help) and say "oh! Baby! you okay?!" One day, you two will be good friends. Cameron already wants to be everywhere you are, even when I don't understand it because you never fail to knock him down. Today I smiled though as I was in the other room and heard you two actually playing and laughing.
I treasure you and I know that, like my mom says, you'll outgrow this monster phase...even if you never outgrow that nickname. I love you, my little monster, and I'm grateful to be your mommy.

cake pictures, as promised.

It took a little convincing, but then Cameron was sold! Mmm. I love my little sugar (addicted) babies.

Congratulations to the Cougars!

BYU 14 Oklahoma 13

my little birthday baby!

Our sweet Cameron turned one today! I can't believe how quickly time has flown, and while Cameron is still a little small for his age (having been born a month early) he has grown so much this year! He's such a sweet gentle spirit and he's ALL mommas boy. He started walking a couple weeks ago and is getting so very curious about everything! Happy birthday, our dearest little Cameron.

Birthday bath (we'll do the cake photo-ops tomorrow when Aunt Charity is in town. Stay tuned.) What a smile. Man, we love this boy.

When we first saw laid eyes on each other. My first thought was that he looked like a tiny loaf of bread, and not a very happy one. Our love has grown since then. ;)

Sweet baby.

6-months old

No matter how grouchy or tired Cameron is, when you put him in the tub he just gets SO happy. He is a little fish!

holy picture quacamole

Unfortunately, these pictures are loaded from new to old... so. You'll all get the story backwards, if you make it that far anyway! Enjoy our summer.

A week and a half ago we moved into our new house! (I'll get pictures of it later). We're SO excited and happy to have so much more room to spread out. We're eternally grateful for all of the help we received for the move!

This picture is celebrating cousin Olivia's birthday at sugarhouse park. William stepped on the cake first, and then dug in. That's my kid, right there, folks.

Newlyweds: My sister Tabitha and her sweet Brandon.

My siblings had a 3-day camping trip. Our family made it a day-trip. It was so much fun! The kids were well-behaved and it was so relaxing to just hang out with each other. Nathaniel and Trevor had a push-up contest. Nathaniel and Cameron won. I forgot to post the pictures of N and T fishing.. oh well. Now ya know that they did. Such a fun trip.

Look out! Us Hill girl can get feisty even over a (freakishly hard) puzzle.

Vicky and Tabitha. My understanding of this one was a little charcoal war.

The boys discovered redvines. :)

Tamar, Cameron, and Timber (Tabitha's dog). My boys both LOVED Timber. During the first half of our trip William called Timber 'pen-is'. Took us a DAY to figure out what the heck he was referring to when he was saying that! SO funny. He finally got those 'p' and 't' sound right eventually... silly boy.

Spending time with the Hancock Family. William had so much fun with all of his cousins!

Oh, I just wanted to eat her, she was so sweet.

Family BBQ @ sugarhouse park. The whole crew got in the water to work on a Trevor-designed dam. It felt like we were all kids again! William didn't really get the construction project though and kept throwing rocks at poor Trevor.

Cameron is a water baby! I can't keep him away from it!

Visiting California. I love this picture. Handsome boys!

My sweet niece Olivia. She actually was happy when I took this picture. This is just how she kept posing. Such a silly girl.

Hmm, no guilt here.

One of my favorite pictures from the summer. My mom with Cameron.

Sharing a kabob with Aunt Vicky, who is very silly too. She was great at making William laugh. This summer many of my sisters gave William nicknames. Vicky and her sweetheart called him "Bam-Bam" (ala 'The Flinstones'), and Tamar called him "Brutus" because... well. The kid can be kind of a monster. A cute one though.

Watching the most amazing Utah storm...

...and playing in the water when it had passed.

My baby sister all grown up and married!

W in his tux. What a stud.

Meet Preston.

Sweet Olivia

Poor C had a tough day. I don't think the kid napped once.

Finally, a family photo. We love it, even if the poor boys look miserable in it. haha.

Rehearsal dinner night. Just a little muscle contest. I don't know honey... Tamar's got some darn nice tone! ;)

Cousin Sophia.

Tender! Vicky and her Freddy.

Believe it or not, I have a ton more pictures. I actually spared you! Just one last little picture to reward those who made it through:

Coming March 12. BTW- that big ol' stump is the umbilical cord, not our child's gender.

at long last

Well, friends. We're back in good ol' hot and humid Maryland. We moved into our new house a week ago today! We're LOVING all of the extra space and already Cameron has improved his sleeping habits to just waking up once a night. I was so proud of myself.. actually sitting down to upload pictures, only to realize that.... I must have left my camera reader in Utah. Dang it all.
You'll just have to wait for the picture highlights of our trip and new casa.
As a family we're pretty good! Cameron's improved sleeping has been a huge hurdle crossed for us, and now the big thing to deal with is our gorgeous monster, William. Literally, we call him 'monster'. He hits, and every day this week has bitten. I'm the mom that people are going to stay away from because of her monster kid. He definitely has his adorable, fun and wonderful times. It just makes me so sad that the naughty behaviors overshadow all of his lovableness.
I'll keep looking for the camera adapter and post again soon!

There's cute, and then there's cute squared

I'll let you decide whether this kid crosses the "cute squared" threshold.

(Unbiased hint: The answer begins with a "Y"...) :)

I miss my Feliss

(She is out West while I am kickin' it on the East side.) I love you, baby!

I *heart* summer trips and family

Thanks for coming to stay with us, Abby! I obviously enjoyed your visit or I wouldn't have posed like a giddy schoolgirl...

Rain

Yesterday William and I decided to make the most of this rainy weather and go out and play in it.

First Steps

Our sweet Cameron has had a big week! Yesterday was his 9 month birthday. He cut his first tooth yesterday too! I can't believe that in 3 short months he'll be 1-year-old. Time goes so fast.
Last week Nathaniel and I were chatting when my sister said "oh! look at Cameron!" We turned around to see big boy on his THIRD step! Can you please tell me when he got so big?! This kid is all over the place. He'll tackle any obstacle-- mom's legs, big brother (who constantly flattens him), toys, the arm of the sofa-- he'll take it all on to get to whatever he's eyeing. Such a determined boy!

So proud of himself!

He's a hard working baby.

We went and visited a friend last week while new carpet was going in my house. To try to contain Cameron, we stuck him in an empty baby pool. It was a mere speed bump for this stunt-man. He kept getting out!

My baby stunt-man's mentor. Not a great picture, but I love his expression! Such a silly boy. Also, you can see Cinderella on TV. It is now one of William's favorite movies! This momma is happy. I'd much rather watch Cinderella over and over again instead of more Thomas movies.

Cameron after dinner. Laughter and tears in about 30 seconds!