Camryn is 6 months old!

I never thought it would happen to me, but it has! I have my third baby and I am not as good about taking pictures. I realized the other day that Camryn is 6 months old and I have not taken a picture of her in over a month. Sydney had her picture taken daily I am sure during her first year of life. Austin at least weekly and now poor Camryn is lucky if it happens monthly. So here are some pictures of our baby girl! She has found her toes, can sit up alone, loves to eat from a spoon and slept 12 hours straight last night (thankgoodness for her 2 favorite fingers).

Austin's Birthday

Our little boy is growing up so quickly! Austin turned 3 on November 29th. It was so much fun to see him get excited about planning his birthday and he definitely had an opinion on what he wanted. When asked what kind of cake he wanted, "A dinosaur cake!" What should we have for your birthday dinner? "Spaghetti!" What would you like to do on your birthday? "Watch Mimi play basketball and see the dinosaurs!" Easy enough, I thought! After having family to Thanksgiving dinner at our home on Thursday I thought this would be simple. We would take Austin and his cousin Stockton to the Dinosaur Museum, then meet family at Spaghetti Factory for dinner with a dinosaur cake in tow baked by our local Harmons and then off to watch Mindy (aka Mimi) and the BYU girls basketball team play SUU at the Marriott Center.

Austin brings a lot of fun and energy to our family. He thinks that a game of chase should prelude any change of clothing or getting dressed period! He loves to make us laugh and that was evident even as a baby! He loves sports and is content to play basketball in the backyard alone for hours. He is very sweet to his little sister and tells me daily, "Baby Camryn is so cute!" He enjoys playing with Sydney and will even dress up as a prince when asked. Austin is definitely a mama's boy which was very evident when we went around the table at Thanksgiving, he stood up and said, "I am thankful for my mommy!" And yes, he melted his mom's heart right then and there! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUSTIN, WE LOVE YOU!!

Halloween

Our family had a fun and warm Halloween this year. The kids were especially excited to see Greg (Dora the Explorer) join in the fun. Thank you Lisa for this great coustume! I had high hopes that Austin (Tigger) would actually like his costume and trick-or-treating this year. As you see from the pictures, that was not quite how it went. He was much happier answering the door and handing out candy. Sydney (Alice in Wonderland) thoroughly enjoyed herself and was joined by her cousin Celine dragging Greg throughout our neighborhood till their bags were too heavy to carry. Camryn (Hershey Kiss) was in bed by 6:30pm and slept through the constant ringing of the doorbell!

Witches at Gardner Village

One of our favorite Halloween traditions is the Witch Festival at Gardner Village. The kids love to be with their cousins and scout out their favorite witches!

Campfire and Smores

Our FHE was not complete until we roasted marshmallows in the firepit, made smores and sang campfire songs as requested by Sydney. My sister Brenna and her family along with my brother Nate and his family joined us for this part of the evening.

Caramel Apples and Pumpkin Carving

When my siblings and I were growing up, we had a tradition of making caramel apples with Mom and carving pumpkins with Dad the FHE before Halloween. I wanted my kids to be able to experience this while we were home with my parents. Sydney and Austin sat at the table with my mom to unwrap caramels and I saw them sneak a few just as we always tried to do.

My dad helped Austin carve his "scary pumpkin" as he specifically requested. Greg helped Sydney to carve her pumpkin. Then my mom brought the candles and lit the pumpkins for them. I love the smell of burning candles in a pumpkin! It was so much fun to re-live the excitement of this time of year through my children!

Pumpkin Patch

We had an adventerous trip to a pumpkin patch while we were in California. We had decided that we wanted to go on a Monday afternoon, so we could carve our pumpkins for FHE that night. We heard about a couple really good places that were not too far away from my parents. When I called to inquire about their hours of operation, they both quickly informed me that they were only open to the public on weekends and only open to school groups during the week. I searched the internet and found a pumpkin patch with a really great website promising hayrides, corn maze, I Spy hay bale maze, animals and of course a pumpkin patch. Afer driving over 30 miles, we arrived at the Pumpkin Patch in Kerman, CA. They had 2 sheep, 2 geese, and 2 chickens in cages, a tiny maze and hayrides that were not operating. Thankfully we were on vacation and my family could not complain that I took them clear to another town for a very mediocre pumpkin patch experience!

Yosemite

The day after we arrived in Clovis we took a day trip to Yosemite. Despite the controlled forest fires that were going on, it was still beautiful. There are some beautiful scenic pictures that Greg took and snapshots of the rest of us enjoying the sights! We had a delicious picnic lunch that my mom spent hours preparing. Thank you Mom and Dad for making this such a wonderful day!








HALF DOME

California

We survived the 12 hour drive to California! We are enjoying the sunny, warm weather and time with family. Yesterday we visited Yosemite National Park. It was Greg's first time there and it was more amazing than I remembered as a child. When we return home, we will post the photos from our trip.

On The Road Again...

Tuesday evening I made my first trip back to NYC since Camryn was born. Thankfully my sister was able to convince Camryn that taking a bottle was not so bad after all and I was able to make my 27 hour excursion without an infant in tow. To make matters even better, I still have my medallion status (despite 4 months without traveling) and I was given a complimentary upgrade to first class.

All seemed to be going seamless until I left the office Wednesday afternoon in a Town Car with a driver of Indian descent. He was a nice man, but had a hard time understanding my request. After a quick trip to Bloomingdales (to search for my favorite sales) I asked if he would take me to the nearest Cosi ( I even spelled it for him) so that I could get a sandwich. Those of you who have either been to NYC or lived there know that these places are everywhere. At the time I was on the upper east side, which I am not as familiar with. So, the driver says to me, "Oh yes, there is one on 81st and 2nd." As long as it is

en route to JFK, that is fine. We arrive at 81st and 2nd and I look all around...

no Cosi.

"Here we are!" says the driver pointing at the building on my right, ELI ZABAR'S. I must have looked quite puzzled because then he said to me, "This not OK?" "It will do", I said. Now for those of you who are not familiar, Wednesday October 1 is Rosh Hashanah and I was just brought to a Jewish Deli. Obviously none of the Jewish employees were working that day due to their religious New Year. I found the deli counter where sandwiches were made and there was a woman in front of me asking for a roast beef sandwich, the man at the counter said they were not serving roast beef that day. She started an argument stating that she was Episcopalian and she did not have to abstain from eating red meat, etc, etc. I was next. All I wanted was a turkey and provolone sandwich. Holding my breath I made the request to which the man behind the counter said, "Sure, it will be $17.95 per pound." My response, "Are you serious?" "Yes Ma'am!" At this point I did not have much choice. It was 5:40pm, I had not eaten lunch, I had 5 minutes till I need to leave the city for JFK, so $17.95 per pound it was. He made my sandwich on brioche with all the fixings. I went to pay the cashier who kindly weighed my meal of choice and announced, "$10.15 please!" Not as bad as I thought, only $2.00 more than the Cosi sandwich I planned on having; just not quite as tasty.

Once I arrived I had to make my way through security with the provisions of a nursing mother. I won't go into the details (sparing my husband any embarrassment). You mothers know exactly what I am talking about. I am told by a uniformed (thankfully female) TSA Agent that she needs to open my bag to check for explosives and screen the liquid I was carrying. I quickly explained to her what she was seeing on the x-ray and after passing the explosives screening made my way to my gate.

Now on to my next task which was to find a private room for a nursing mother to use before boarding the airplane. At the Jet Blue JFK terminal they have private changing rooms for babies with locks on them and usually a chair or two. This was not to be found at the Delta terminal. I knew there was no way I could wait another 6 hours till I was home because I had already waited 4 hours. I then saw the Crown Room sign and thought they must have something there that I could use. When I approached the Crown Room a uniformed Delta agent stopped me and asked for my itinerary. I gave it to her and explained that I knew I was only Silver Medallion and that I was willing to pay the fee to use the facility. She then told me it would be $30. That was more than I wanted to pay for a private "mothers room". So I explained to her what I needed, hoping she would have some sort of mercy on me. At that point she said that if I would make a donation in their Breast Cancer fundraising jar, then she would show me to a shower room that had a locking door, an outlet and a chair. Perfect, I thought what nursing mother does not want to support the breast cancer cause? I dropped in a $5.00 bill and was promptly shown to my room! I left the Crown Room, boarded my flight (in coach this leg) and enjoyed my last 5 hours of uninterrupted reading, TV viewing and napping!

Sunday Afternoon...

There is nothing sweeter than:

3 children

all napping

at the same time!

Sweet Dreams...

This morning when Austin woke up and came in my room I asked my usual question, "How did you sleep?" To which his normal reply is, "Good!" But today it was different. When I asked my rhetorical question it went like this:

Mom: How did you sleep?

Austin: Well, I went on an airplane, I went to beach and I ride in a boat!

Mom: Wow, that sounds like a great night!

Austin: It was soooo fun!

Camryn Update

Camryn's ear procedure went very well! The hardest part was starving her for 8 hours before surgery. Once we were in the car and headed to the hospital, she was calm. When she was having her pre-op work done she was all smiles for the nurses.

We were amazed when she was coming out of the anthesia. We were in a room with about 10 other kids who were also coming out of anthesia, so you can imagine, it was very noisy. She put her hand over her left ear, which she had never done before. I think she must have noticed that is was very loud for her. On our way home we stopped for lunch and she woke up while we were eating. I called her name and she looked in my exact direction and smiled. It was the first time she ever looked right me when I spoke to her. It was all I could do to not cry when witnessing such a miracle! She is such a sweet little girl and we are hopeful that the worst is behind us with this little setback in her life.

Thank you for all you thoughts and prayers on her behalf!

Reid Family Reunion at Bear Lake

Here are pictures of Austin with his cousin Stockton, Austin with his Uncle Kirk and Sydney playing in the sand.

We had a great time at the Reid Family Reunion in Bear Lake! The kids loved playing on the beach and in the lake. Greg was even able to convince Sydney to go on a waverunner with him. Austin's hi-light was waking up each morning know that his best friend and cousin Stockton was so close by!

Smiles, Giggles and so much more...

We are sure enjoying our little Camryn! I do not think there is a day that goes by that Sydney does not say to me, "Mom I love Camryn SO MUCH! I am so glad we have a little sister in our family!" I could not agree with her more. We feel so fortunate to be blessed with such a sweet and calm baby girl in our home. She has brought so much joy to our lives!

Potty Training Stinks!

So my little Austin has been showing an interest in potty training. He is 2 1/2 and I have not quite been in the mindset to start this yet. I am however, very excited to not have 2 children in diapers. So this morning, as he has done on other mornings, he takes off his diaper when he wakes up, throws it in the garbage and then goes straight to the toilet to go to the bathroom.

I was planning to be home all day doing laundry except for one trip to Target to pick up a prescription. Sydney left at 9am to playgroup, so I got the other 2 kids ready and headed out the door. I said to Austin if you want to be a big boy and use the toilet, lets buy you some big boy underwear. He was very excited about it and when we arrived at the store he picked out:

Perfect, I thought 9 pairs of underwear half of which we will probably go through in one day! We came home put them on with plastic pants over them to prevent messes around the house. I would say we have had 5 good experience and 2 not so good! I think this is one of the most frustrating parenting experiences. Maybe more so this time because I have a new baby who needs so much time and attention as well. I know some of you are reading this saying, "Didn't I ask her for advice when I was doing this?" Yes you did and now that I am in the middle of it, I am asking for your advice!

Crazy Busy

I am hoping to get some picutres and updates on the blog this evening. We have had family in from out of town, Camryn's baby blessing, an American Express company party at our house and today we are hosting play group! Whew!! As soon as I get a minute to come up for air, the blog will be first priority.

Stay tuned...

And the Winner Is...

The Canon SD 890 IS. Yes just a point and shoot! After much delibertation and the realization that I am not the worlds best photographer, we went with this camera.

The truth is, I need something small enough I can throw in the purse or Greg can put in his pocket for those fun family outings and adventures. It does have 10 megapixels and a 5X optical zoom, both of which are more than our last camera.

Change it Up!

Since I have not replaced my camera yet, I thought at least I could have some fun changing the blog a bit. If all goes well (a.k.a. all 3 kids cooperate)... I will be buying my new camera today! Since my two year old is napping at the moment, I am hoping he will be managable for some afternoon shopping. (fingers and toes crossed, knocking on wood) :)

Sisters!

Here are pictures of Sydney and Camryn at about the same age. We are starting to see some similarities now that Camryn is filling out!

What Camera Would You Recommend?

We had a little mishap over the 4th of July weekend with our camera. It was sitting on the patio table at Greg's moms home during our BBQ. We had taken some fun pics of the kids playing on the slip and slide as well as enjoying their yummy meal. When Grandma went to gather up the table cloth and take it down to the washer, the camera was gathered up and washed as well!

We have had this camera for about 4 years now and I have not really researched or looked for new cameras for quite some time. So, please tell me if you have a favorite digital camera that we should look at purchasing. I need to get one soon so we do not miss out on any fun memories.

Thankfully, I had recently downloaded pictures and we only loss our Children's Museum trip and the 4th of July festivities!

Swimming Lessons

Sydney and Austin enjoyed daily swimming lessons last week. Although they are not swimming on their own yet, they are both more confident than when we began! And what did Camryn do during these daily lessons? Why work on her double chin of course! Our little 5lb. baby is now 8lbs.