ok

Well, like I said, there was snow the day after Spring last week. Luckily, it's been pretty sunny and warmer (near 50!) this week. Because of the weird snow and the fact that I was trying to learn more about my camera, we took a lot of pics.

This is how it began

And then turned into this

Our cars (and Chad and Cameron) in the snow

Cameron's ready to drive already!

Cameron LOVES the remote. We gave him one that we don't use and doesn't have batteries (he was chewing up the dvd player one). This is a Chad face, I think.

He's working his way onto my leg here. He likes to stand beside me on the couch and put his head on my leg or arm. It's pretty cute.

Not sure what this is

Cameron woke up from a nap one day and was just standing up at his crib. Chad grabbed the camera. Also, Cameron's hair was wild! But I loved it. I wish his hair would curl like that all the time. And if you couldn't tell, Cameron is usually pretty happy when he wakes up.

So this was last Sunday. See the foil-covered plate on the piano? Well, those were rice krispy treats I made for my nursery. Cameron was intrigued by the foil (I think he also knows that gold fish come in a foil bag...maybe he thought that's what this was). Anyway, he was trying to chew the foil. I wouldn't let him and he got pretty upset. I also liked his outfit. Chad said it made him look like he was from the 70s (how his collar is pulled out).

You can see how I moved the plate to the bookcase. Look at Cameron's face--not too happy.

This picture says to me, "Excuse you, mom!"



Luckily he got over it by the time we went to church. He was pretty good...we didn't have to take him out of Sacrament at all!

Record-breaking snow

Well, I'll post more pics tomorrow. Our internet has been down for a few days (I think Chad went into mourning).

But I wanted to point out that we have had a record-breaking amount of snow this year...100.4". That's right, folks. To put it another way, that's over 8 feet! I think Madison usually gets around 40-some inches during the winter.

Just wanted to mention.

Spring....?

Chad and I went to the Temple yesterday. It was a nice day, sunny and about 45 degrees. It was a long day, but good. And, it was the first day of Spring!





And then, we woke up to this:

Chad thought it would be a good idea to go outside with Cameron, only he didn't want to get pants on. So he's wearing shorts. Nuts.

One news station called for 8-13 inches in our area by the time it's all over (tonight or early tomorrow morning). It's disappointing cause we were finally seeing our street. But, it wouldn't truly be Madison if we didn't have a FULL 6 months of winter (Oct. through March). And now we know that our Xterra was worth buying (without snow, the 4wd really isn't worth anything). So, the day after the first day of Spring brought us snow. And now I'm trying to look at the positives of this situation!!

Update

We went to WI Dells yesterday. Well really, we went to the Tanger Outlets, had lunch, and then drove through the Dells. Eh, it was cold and I had a headache. But it was still fun.

So, here are some pics from yesterday and from the last few weeks.

This was a random up-side-down white house in the Dells. Kind of cool, I think.

Chad was annoyed that the Mount Olympus park would have a Roman Coliseum (Mt. Olympus is clearly Greek).

This is Buffalo Phil's, where we ate lunch. We liked it...I think Cameron had a good time, too.

This pic is dark, but look at the antler chandelier to the left of Chad. Also, to the left and up a little, there's a moose head (I think it's a moose-- really, I have no idea).

Cameron ate too much and needed to stretch.

We hadn't done bathtub pics in a while. Here are some recent ones.

Cameron had a pretty bad cold a few weeks ago. Because of the constant flow of snot and, therefore, my constant need to wipe his nose, Cameron got a mustache. Looks kinda cool.

I think this is a Chad face. What'd you think?

(Nice chins)

Teething Blues

I'm sure Cameron is totally uncomfortable with his second top tooth getting ready to pop through. But I gotta say that Chad and I are feeling the teething blues. These last few days have been kind of up and down in our household. Cameron woke up every hour the other night until we just let him cry...we knew he was ok and that he needed to just sleep (and if we kept getting up with him, he would wake up every hour throughout the night).

He was horrible in church today and just burst into tears randomly. It was a fun day at church (and home). He went to bed pretty early, and I think that's really for his good. I hope this tooth comes through soon.

We're going to the Dells tomorrow and the Temple on Tuesday. So we'll be messing up Cameron's nap schedule for a few days. Wish us luck!

I'll post pics of the trip when we get back on Tuesday night.

Tag

Well, I wasn't personally tagged, but I thought it would be fun to do since I'm just sitting on the couch watching Forrest Gump.

Here ya go.

Ten years ago I was:
15 and a half. I was a sophmore in high school. I loved hanging out with my girl friends from the Gayton ward. I also loved driving around (I had my permit) in our old family Dodge Caravan (an '88 maybe?)--with wood paneling on the side. Classy. I was awkward and towered over a lot of my friends who were about 5' nothing. I was getting up to my current height- 5'9" or so.


Five years ago I was:
20 and a half. I was at BYU. It was my first semester there after going to Ricks and then to Hawaii for a semester. BYU was a culture shock from BYU-Hawaii. I was trying to get to know people in my ward and figure my life out.


My to-do list:
Go to Kindermusik with Cameron tomorrow, organize the pantry (that's not going to happen anytime soon), find a dress for Katie's wedding, lose more weight so I can win the biggest loser competition and get lots of money!


Bad habits:
biting my nails, driving in the left lane all the time (this is one Chad would say is bad, but I think it's perfectly fine), I'm not sure it's a bad habit, but I get overly anxious about little things sometimes...like, just getting stuff ready for me and Cameron to go somewhere. I have a mental list I check off and sometimes I can work myself up about it. But it's strictly an internal thing. I don't think I affect others much with it (I hope).

Snacks I enjoy:
Cereal, Ukrop's cake (mmmm), donuts, strawberries, gosh...I have a hard time finding good snacks. Suggestions are welcome.

If I suddenly got a billion dollars I would:
Travel with Chad. Somehow, I would have his schooling postponed (or done for him. Ha!) for a few months so we could travel the world. Oh, and mom and dad would watch Cameron--I'd pay them, of course! I would also get a place on the French Riviera or maybe somewhere in Italy. I'd love to go to some tropical island and just lounge at the beach for a while. Ahhhh...

Places I've lived:
Richmond, VA; Rexburg, ID; Laie, HI; Provo, UT; Madison, WI


Jobs I've had:
Dental surgery office worker (lame-o job), deli worker/waitress for a specialty foods shop, temp admin assistant to most everywhere you can think of, legislative assistant to a delegate in VA, scheduler and staff member of WI state senator, staffing and recruiting specialist at an insurance company, cook, maid, taxi service, research associate in the field of child development and human relations (I'm a mom)


Things you might not know about me:
I secretly hate doing the dishes, but it bugs me too much to have the sink full for a long period of time. So I do them. Even if I've made dinner or I am sick or I've lost a limb (ok, that was a little extreme)... I'll do them

I'd like for us to end up living at home (VA), but I have this tiny feeling that we won't. It's just a feeling, but we'll see

I love love love cereal. I could eat cereal for all 3 meals a day

I used to work out 5-6 times a week--before Christmas. I got out of the habit, but am slowly trying to get back into it

I used to detest the homemaker stereotype (having dinner on the table when the husband gets home, doing the housework and taking care of the kids while the husband sits reading the paper and the dog brings him his slippers). Well, maybe that's not the real stereotype, but I hated it so much and fought against it a bit when we were engaged (talking about the way things would be). But since I've been home with Cameron, I find myself doing these things naturally and not hating myself for it. I still LOVE help from Chad *hint hint wink wink*.

I started college as a mechanical engineering major because I wanted to design the interior of cars. I also thought people would think I was really smart (everyone kept telling me how hard it was and I wanted to prove I could do it). They were right. I quit after one semester and felt like a total failure. Then I took an international politics class when Sept. 11th happened and I became fascinated with the interactions of countries. So, I changed my major to political science. I haven't exactly delved into the world of international politics, but I would like to someday get my masters in International Relations and Conflict Resolution with an emphasis on peacekeeping (*sidenote, I just started re-reading a book from college that's about the history of genocide...what went wrong and what we could have done...and although it's pretty morbid, I find it so interesting).


Ok. That's it. Thanks for sticking around for so long, if you did!

Our new baby

Well, you might have heard the rumors...














And here's our baby...











So a few weeks ago, Chad mentioned to me that he thought we should have 4wd because of all of this snow. I guess he was a little nervous about me driving...me?!?! I'm an expert now.

Well, that spurred some major thoughts/contention/searches/you name it. We found a 2001 Nissan Xterra on craigslist and saw it last Saturday. It's in great shape and was washed up really nice when we saw it. We decided we wanted it...there were also two other people interested that were looking on Sunday. So, we called on Sunday night and said we wanted it. We picked it up today (it's not as clean and polished-looking, but I guess it has been in the snow and salt for a few days).

I have to go to the DMV tomorrow and get new plates....AND pay our life savings in taxes. What a piece of poo (did I say that out loud?!). I just think it's ridiculous how much you have to pay on top of what you pay for the vehicle. Anyway, I'm done.

So, it's our new car. We're going to wait until the Summer to sell the sedan we have. It'll look a whole lot better then when all the snow is gone!

Just to clarify (Kristen!)

Our news that we will post in a few days isn't terribly exciting. Needless to say, Kristen, I'm NOT pregnant! I don't know what I would do if I were. Cameron is 10-months-old. That means he and a younger sibling would be 19 months apart. No thanks. I'm not that good of a mom to handle two kids under 2!!

Anyway, just wanted to set that record straight!

No pics this week

I just didn't take any. We have some video of Cameron, but our computer is having a hard time burning anything and there's not a ton of disk space (that's what it says anyway), so I couldn't get a decent video on here. Sorry. You'll have to wait!

Cameron has been sick again. I know! He has a pretty bad cold...a lot of snot (the sneezes are NASTY), a lot of congestion (he snores now), and a pretty sad-sounding cough. At least he's not the devil anymore...that was a week or two ago when he had roseola and its aftermath.

And one other interesting (at least I think it is) thing to say: I have this pimple on my face. I know. I'm an adult, but the acne doesn't seem to know that. It wasn't as bad before I ever got pregnant. But since then, it's been the bain of my existence. Anyway, I have this pimple and tonight I was playing on the floor with Cameron and he just stared at it! Rude!! I'm sure he was wondering what that big thing on my face was, but I still didn't appreciate the attention!

So, I'll work on some pics/something more interesting than this post during this week. We do have something cool to post, but it will have to wait a few days.....that's a teaser!

Until then...