Congrats Uncle B!

Cam and I were able to go to Uncle B's graduation from the fire academy!

Despite the annoying teenagers behind us and their stinky feet, we had so much fun.

B, we are so proud of you! We can't wait to see what is in store for you next. Thanks for loving Cam so much and being a great uncle! Oh, and nice pecks ;)

We love you!

Potty Training

Potty training Cam was one of the things I was putting off because the thought of it made me sweat with fear. The other thing that had the same effect was switching Cam from sleeping in his crib to a toddler bed. The toddler bed was a piece of cake, so, with my luck, I knew this potty training business would be horrible for sure.

A couple weeks after we got home from our California trip, Scott took a Friday off work and we planned to stay in the whole weekend to teach this little boy how to go potty.

I hate being home-bound more than anything, so potty training AND being home-bound was even worse.

This is how the weekend went:

*Cam cried and screamed when he saw the underwear and refused to put them on. (We forced it...)

*He did not go potty in the toilet once on Friday, and only twice on Saturday. Meaning all the others were in his pants.

*Rewarding with pennies was not working, so Grandma went and got some prizes at the dollar store.

*I cried my eyes out Friday and Saturday thinking I was the worst Mom ever and that we had tried to teach him too early, before he was ready.

*I almost gave up and gave in to putting the diapers back on about....20 times! I was sure his friends in school could teach him someday.

*Sunday: It clicked! He realized what it meant to feel like he needed to go potty and....actually went on the toilet! He also realized how excited Mommy and Daddy got when he went and he loved the prizes.

There you have it! After he understood how to go and that he didn't like going in his pants, he has been a pro. I can count on one hand the number of accidents he has had since the first weekend. He even taught himself to not go during naps and bedtime. We were still putting him in diapers for sleeping times, but after a week of keeping them dry we just stopped. I think he knew that he was supposed to keep his pants dry, and that was part of it. I am so glad he did that on his own, because I was afraid it would be hard to teach him.

Here he is reading a book...waiting for nature to take its course.

He had a really hard time going number 2, he held it for a week. After some raisins and a healthy dose of Miralax, he went! Good thing because the nurse told me the next option was a suppository.

I am so glad he learned so quickly and that he enjoys being clean as much as me! I am so glad Scott was able to be there to support us while we were learning this new way of life. I am so glad we did it when we did and that we didn't need to buy any pull-ups! I am even more glad it's all over and life is normal and he doesn't even remember diapers!

Potty training is something I never want to do again. It's too stressful and emotional. So...Anyone volunteering to help baby Ali in a couple years?

Family Vacation 2011 Part 3

We had rain the first 2 days in California, but the day we went to Disneyland was beautiful. No rain and plenty of sunshine. It was a little chilly, but having a sweatshirt on and walking around kept you feeling great!

Here is our day at the happiest place on earth:

Cam all ready to go into the park with his cute sunglasses.

Scott and Cam at the front of the park. I wish we would have gotten a picture with all of us here.

Cam loved the castle and walking through it.

Cam loved all of the rides. He wanted to go on everything over and over again. He loved the horses, if you can't tell by his huge smile here!

Dumbo was another one he didn't want to get off.

My mom and me on the Carousel. No horse for preggers, so the bench was the next best option!

Cam was pretty hesitant to go on any ride that was inside and dark. He was worried on this ride, but had SO much fun blasting Zurg. My mom said this was her favorite ride!

 

Cam had to have his own blaster after the ride.

Cam loved the monorail and it made for a nice break from being on our feet all day.

I wanted to get Cam one of these balloons so bad and he liked it for about...5 minutes. It sat in the front seat with me on the drive home (not the most ideal spot) but popped in Cedar City. I was SO mad!

On the Jungle Cruise. Cam thought the animals were real and enjoyed looking at them and even got a little scared a couple times.

For Uncle B:

I was sad to see they took down the giant letters just outside California Adventures. But they did have a giant sign with their new theme, "Let the Memories Begin". You can't see it too well in this picture. Never ask a 20-something-year-old guy to take your picture...Not the best composition, but oh well.

 I'm pretty disappointed in myself and the lack of pictures I have of this trip. I don't know if I was just too excited and was moving too fast to remember to take more pictures, or that I was just too busy trying to rest any chance I got. Although, Scott did get a pretty good amount of video, so that will be fun have.

We went on a few other rides that I don't have pictures of.

Peter Pan: Our first ride. My mom screamed her head off and made me laugh so hard. After soaring over the streets of London, she was terrified to go on any other ride I tried getting her to go on throughout the rest of the day! She didn't trust me after I made her go on "such a scary ride!"

Finding Nemo: It was a pretty long ride. Cam enjoyed it. My mom was hesitant to get down into the submarine, but liked it after we got started.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Oh gosh. This ride is one of my favorites. I had to fib a little to my mom to get her to go on. She was screaming and white-knuckling the bar on the seat. Cam on the other hand, was laughing and smiling from ear to ear. He was loving the ride. Once it was all done, my mom said she did actually enjoy herself and liked all the detail in the ride.

All in all, we had a fabulous trip. We made some great memories and I cannot wait until we can go again!

Family Vacation 2011 Part 2

Friday morning we were off to California! The drive went so fast again and we were in LA in no time. We were about 45 minutes away from Anaheim and decided we couldn't wait to eat or use the bathroom, so we stopped at this cute little place off the freeway.

Worst. Day. Ever.

Cam's first real accident.

To spare too many details because my heart can't take it, Cam got his finger closed in the hinge side of the bathroom door!  My life was over!  Cam was so brave even though we know how bad it must of hurt. His finger nail was instantly purple and his finger tip was completely swollen. He finally calmed down after a while with some medicine, a band-aid and a movie. He fell asleep within 5 minutes of being in the car. When your baby gets hurt when they are with you, their protector, you have awful guilt. Mix that with pregnancy hormones and you have me crying hysterically during the ordeal and the rest of the way to Disneyland.

This picture doesn't do it justice. Poor baby.

We stayed at a hotel right on Harbor Blvd, which means we were just yards away from Disneyland. The forecast, unfortunately, said it would be raining the first 2 days we were there. It was pouring the first night, but we decided to go to Downtown Disney (my favorite!) and show my mom around.

Cam had a shopping spree at the big Disney store and we headed back. We had ponchos on, but with the wind, it kept blowing my hood off. I was soaking wet from head to toe by the time we got back. I still had fun though. How can you not? You are at Disneyland!

The next day was so much better. You could see clouds and it would drizzle but nothing like the night before. We walked around Downtown Disney again and had lunch and enjoyed a few more shops.

Cam loved this Woody lego statue!

I love Downtown Disney. I could just spend my whole vacation there. I don't even need to go into Disneyland!



Family Vacation 2011 Part 1

For a while now, we have been wanting to take a family vacation before Ali gets here, so we decided to take Cameron to Disneyland over President's Day weekend.

My mom was able to come with us too! She has been dying to visit Vegas, so we decided to have her fly there and we would drive and meet her and stay one night and drive together to LA. It broke our drive up perfectly and made it seem faster. Her flight coming in was delayed over an hour.  This delayed dinner plans which caused the pregnant girl and 2-year-old to lose it a little. We walked down the strip to find somewhere to eat and got stuck in a new section called The City Center.  Rather than hotels and restaurants, this section was full of high-end shops.  The entire section was two full blocks and was basically disconnected from the street which made it so that we couldn't cross the street or find anywhere to eat. After what seemed like miles of walking and shedding a few tears, we finally passed the section and made it to the Monte Carlo where we ended up eating. After that disaster, we, or should I say I, felt better and was able to enjoy the strip and night a little more. Well, as much as you can enjoy the loads of people, smoke, alcohol and the creepy people flicking their cards.

Cam loved the water show at the Bellagio! We enjoyed some gelato after too. It's a must!

My mom loved this part of the strip. I wish we could have afforded to stay in one of these hotels!



We stayed at the Stratosphere. I liked our room, but getting to it took some time. I wish you could stay in a room on the strip without having to walk through a casino. It gets so confusing in there and the smoke smell is so strong.  I felt bad for Cam. He didn't seem to mind too much, he just didn't understand why he couldn't play any of the games.

The helper

Cam is more than willing to help with anything that Scott and I are doing, especially if that something is being done in the kitchen. Or if something requires a tool.

Cam helped me make cupcakes the other morning and made sure he told everyone that he saw that day.

I am so glad to be home with him to do these special things. I know that he won't always want to do everything with me like he does now, so I will eat it up while I can. Be attached to my hip forever, precious boy...please!

Riding the train

Scott had a long weekend for the holiday, so we wanted to be sure to be productive and get out and do some fun things. There is nothing worse than having the weekend fly by and you realize you didn't do anything exciting.

On Monday, we took Cam on the frontrunner and then trax to the Gateway mall to have lunch and walk around. Too repeat myself like every post, Cam loved this day!

There was an ugly little dog on the train that distracted Cam the whole time, so it limited the pictures he was willing to take.

Perfect day. Perfect boy.