Week 6 & 7

Baby Cam,
How in the world did the last 2 weeks fly by so fast!  This is a catch up post since I missed it last week but I wanted to share what you have been up to!  We went to check out your heart murmur at the pediatric cardiologist and thank goodness it was just a normal murmur without concerns from the doctor.  It was still scary for me to see you have to get several test run on you like an EKG of your heart and an ultrasound.  You were such a champ though and didn't cry through any of it except the end when you were just getting hungry.  We were told you had a tiny Atrial Septic Defect which sounds worse than it is but you have a tiny hole in between your right and left atrium.  They found that with the ultrasound but that is not what was causing the murmur, it was actually coming from the passageway leading from the body to the lungs being a bit wider than the norm causing a slight extra noise there but he said as you age it will straighten up and disappear.  As for the tiny hole, we would have never known but the doctor said lots of people probably have had one or still do without knowing and that it doesn't do any harm and in most cases closes up on its own.  He said it will never get bigger, only smaller and eventually close or if it doesn't, it still wouldn't cause issues.  So we have truly been blessed that you are healthy and that this was the worst of your issues! When I brought you home, I couldn't help but hold you and rock you to sleep and watch you all peaceful in baby dreamland and just thanked God for blessing me with such a perfect little angel!

6 weeks

Some funny things I want to remember about you at this age is the noises you make, I call you my little goat because you sometimes make a noise that sounds just like a baby goat.  Also I can't help but laugh when you let the loud toots, especially during church in a prayer when all is quiet you will let one rip.   Also when you are really hungry you make a funny "Pop-eye" face where you squint one eye and open your mouth wide on one side...I always know it's time to feed you.  You also pucker your lips and it makes me laugh when you do it for a long stretch.

Pucker Face

Your sleep is hit or miss...some nights you will go 6 hours straight then the next be up every couple hours.  You are starting to not sit in your swing as much and you'd rather be held.  You will last half an hour at a time but not much longer.  You sit in your bouncer for a bit and get bored with that too.  So now when I need to vacuum or clean house, I just put you in the ergo baby carrier (which you love) and Momma can get all my work done as you sleep through it all. 

Vacumming in style...lol

You are getting to be quite the chunk and I love how kissable your cheeks and you have cute little chubby rolls on your arms and legs.  When you went to your doctor apt you were already about 12 pounds so you have gained nearly 1 pound a week!  I feed you Mommy's milk about every 3 hours.  You are in 3 month clothes now and size 1 diapers.  You hate pacifiers and spit it out now when I try to give you one.  We still haven't put you in your crib yet but I am actually going to test it out tonight since we got a spare monitor now to where you can have one and I will keep one in Cory's room.   Hope you will be able to still sleep good but I will miss you not by my side!

Your brother can't get enough of you!

You love to gaze around the room and look at the bookshelf and you are becoming so observant and love watching your brother play.  Just in the last 2 days you have gotten so smiley and I love it.  You now don't just smile in your sleeping or when passing gas, but you smile at me talking to you and when I tickle your neck.  You have such a cute smile but I haven't caught it yet on camera lately so I will try to have my camera nearby in the next couple days to capture your smile.

Photo Dump:

                                                  On Sunday you turned 7 weeks old!

                                      
                                         In the pic below I felt a rumble in your pants...lol

 

And here's what you daddy and brother were doing...playing in the hot tub (bath water warm)

 

 

Summer Fun!

 

As a stay at home Mom I do feel lucky to be able to have year round spending my days with my little ones but it's always been just kind of "go with the flow" days and we would pick out each day what we wanted to do, the challenge  for me now is finding fun things to entertain a toddler while having the baby there too.  Now that it is summer and Cory is older and able to communicate a lot and I know he really enjoys getting out to play and do new things so I wanted to set up a kind of theme for the week to get away from the monotony of staying home.  I just love summers and getting to spend lots of time outdoors and playing in water and Cory is just full of energy and no longer takes a nap so I have thought about lots of fun things to do with him to help preoccupy him and our time.  I know I have a 6 week old which makes it a bit more of a challenge to do a lot and I don't want the day to be jam packed, but I wanted to set it up to have at least 1 specific thing to do that day along with the daily routine. 

Here it is for each day of the week, (some ideas I got from pinterest):

1.  "Make it Monday" -  This will be a day where we make something each week.  Ideas are to make a craft, paint a picture with finger paint, build a Lego castle, make a fort, some kind of art project or even making a batch of cookies together! 

2.  "The Play Day Tuesday" - Tuesdays are when Cory's best buddy Avery comes over to play so this will be a day to play with all kinds of toys, play outside, swing, jump on the trampoline, etc.

3. "Water Wednesday" - This will be a day to get wet!  Sprinklers, pool day, baby splash pool, play in the hose, water table, water the plants, etc. 

4.  "Take a Trip Thursday" - Thursday is a day I will venture out with the boys ;) I will just do things I feel comfortable with by myself (like probably not the zoo this day).  This day we'll go to the library, go to the park/playground, go to Jen's house to play with Kayla/Clay or a friend's house, go to McDonald's playhouse and get ice cream cones, etc.

5.  "Family Fun Friday" - This will be our fun family day with Daddy here too!  This day we could do something fun like go to the zoo, go to All About Kids or an open gym, go for a hike, story time at the library, then in the evening have a family movie night or maybe even a family camp out occasionally in our backyard with a bonfire.  Cory would have fun pitching a tent and sleeping outside on a warm summer night. 

Then for the weekends, Saturdays will be a day to do whatever comes up, grill out BBQ with friends or family, yard work, get groceries, etc, and Sunday is church day where we go to morning and evening service and have a relaxing rest day at home in between and I can plan for the week's activities! 

I am looking forward to Vacation Bible School which will be fun and the library has tons of fun activities and things going on this summer so I plan to take the kids to the different events and crafts they have there.  Yesterday we took Cory to the Summer kick off at the library where they had a petting zoo there and we just love going to the library, we check out movies and books while there too. 

These are the plans, of course things will come up where our schedule fluctuates but I will switch days when things come up and maybe stay in on the day we take a trip if we've already gone out and done quite a bit that week or something, it will all be flexible and hopefully lots of fun for Cory!  We will also continue things we have in place already like our daily family walk every evening with the pups and Cory and I will do our daily chores, and have a reading time and coloring time in the mornings before we do our main activity.  Cory is getting at the age where he can help out with the household duties and enjoys helping Mommy so I want to add some little responsibilities for him to do each day like picking up his toys and books, helping mommy with laundry, etc. before we go out and about.

Yay for Summer!!

Cameron ~ 5 Weeks



Sweet boy,

How in the world did 5 weeks already pass?  You turned 5 weeks this past Sunday and it is crazy how fast time is flying and your getting bigger and bigger and changing every week!  I have enjoyed this time so much with you and you are such a good baby that i wish things would slow down a bit!  You had some gas issues the last couple days and that made you a bit uncomfortable and figity but other than that you have been the easiest going baby so far!  You just sleep most of the day and eat and stay alert for a little while and you do some tummy time.  You already have good head control and always want to lift your head to see what's going on. 

 

Last week at the doctor we got your height/weight stats at your 1 month check up and here they are:

Weight: 10 pounds, 14 ounces (54%)

Height:  21.5 inches (53%)

 

I was thinking that you weren't going to fill out like Cory did since you were so skinny at birth and in the 7th -10th percentile, but boy you proved me wrong!  Your doctor had a little chuckle when she saw how much you grew in just a little time and said it was great and that you're a healthy eater. She also gave me some news that initially scared me but she made me reassured that it was normal and nothing to worry about.  She said you had a heart murmur and i really knew nothing about them or if would affect you negatively but she said they are quite common and we are going to a cardiologist just to make sure there wouldn't be any complications but it is rare that there would be and the heart murmurs usually go away on their own.and/or never cause any complications.  So May 31st Daddy and I will take you to the appointment to check it out. 

 

 



I just love your chubby cheeks!

 

Although you're getting bigger, you still look pretty small in the recliner :)

Love this face!

 

Sometime next week I think we are going to try to transition you to sleep in your crib.  You aren't a bad sleeper and for my own peace of mind you have still been sleeping in our room but we may see how you do in the crib and i have the twin bed i can lay in with you to feed you to give Daddy more solid sleep.  You wake about every 4 hours to eat, then go right back to sleep and there was one night you gave me 6 good hours to sleep so thanks, Mommy felt refreshed that day!  Love you so much!

 

xoxo,

Mommy

 

 

Cam's 4 weeks/ 1 month!

1 Month!

Sweet Cameron,
You turned 1 month old yesterday and I couldn't believe how fast the 1st month flew by!  This week we got you a miracle blanket since you haven't been too fond of swaddling and you can escape with just a regular swaddle blanket, so we thought we'd try this blanket.  After I first put you in it you just kept giving me these little smiles, it was so adorable!  You would look up at me and grin even though you were stuck like a sardine in the blanket so I guess you thought it was comfortable because then you dozed off to sleep :)  Last night you just woke up twice in the night for feedings and slept solid the rest of the time so I think you felt more snug and secure wrapped up.  We go this Thursday to your 1 month appointment so I am not sure what you weigh now but I can certainly tell you have really filled out!  You seemed so thin at birth and now your cheeks are getting bigger and chubbier and I love it!  I can't stop kissing those cheeks! 

 

 

In a month you now:

-wear size 1 diapers

-are in 0-3 month clothes

-want to eat about every 3 hours, sometimes more often!

-sleep most of the day and wake up to feed, then stay up about half an hour and go back to sleep

-you are very alert for the periods you are awake and look around taking everything in

-you sometimes like a pacifier but usually you just spit it out

-you enjoy bath time and like when I cover you with warm washcloths

-you love the swing, bouncer and play mat

-your big brother is absolutely smitten with you and always wants to kiss and hug you and you like watching him play!

 

 

 

 

Love, Mommy!  xoxo



Past 3 Weeks Postpartum!

I thought I'd catch up on life with Cameron the first 3 weeks after bringing him home, then I will write a post about his birth story & update his nursery pictures to catch up.  I plan to start writing a weekly letter to Cameron with pics and things he is up to, you can either read or overlook but basically after the 52 weeks I want to print them off from this blog into a photo book to have for his 1st year rather than doing a scrapbook, which to me is harder to keep up with, more time consuming and would probably be more expensive.  I did a 1 year scrapbook for Cory and it just took me forever to do and I'm still not completely finished printing off some pictures for it and he is almost 3yrs old now....lol so I figured I would try this route.

1 week postpartum!

 

As for me, my basketball belly is gone!  A week after Cameron came I was feeling pretty good and had lost most of the baby weight except for 5 pounds.  Luckily I escaped this pregnancy without any stretch marks or visible post pregnancy signs.  I feel pretty much back to normal other than some soreness from delivery and not being able to run yet.  Here's a pic of Cameron and I when he was 1 week old.

As for Cameron, the first week he was so easy going and slept a ton!  One time I think he slept about 5 or 6 hours in a stretch and by the time he woke to breastfeed I was looking like Pam Anderson..lol.  He has been a natural at breastfeeding since the first day and has latched on better than Cory did initially so I really haven't had any breastfeeding issues this time around which has been nice.  He got weighed at his 1 week and had lost 4 ounces from his birth weight.  Here's Cam at 1 week.

 

 As for Cory and the family, Cory took up with his brother and the role of being a big brother right away.  From first sight at the hospital, Cory loved his little brother and since then always wants to see him and hug him.  He loves to hold him with the boppy pillow for support and he always says "awe, baby Cameron so cute".  The dogs did fine with us bringing baby home and really haven't seemed too interested in him yet. 

 

 

2 weeks postpartum

 

Me:  My belly is gone now, pretty much flat, just not as toned as it used to be.  I weighed myself this week and I'm back to my old weight pre-pregnancy.  Also I can fit back into most of my regular jeans except the smallest size I have which is a bit too tight.    I think it is from all the breastfeeding and just taking care of a newborn...I told my Mom I think having kids is actually my best weight loss secret because some days I feed them and forget that I haven't eaten breakfast that day, for example.  Of course not on purpose but I really get so consumed with making sure the kids are well taken care of that I let my own care slack and almost have to remind myself to eat, but I will have to make my own health a top priority as well!  Below is a pic of Cameron about to get his 1st bath!

 

 

Cameron:  He is still doing great, never cries unless hungry & he is content after eating.  His umbilical cord fell off this week.  He likes the bouncer and the swing and the activity play mat.  At his 2 week weight check appointment he had gained a whopping 12 ounces from last week which is nearly 1 pound.  My Dr. said that is great and almost unheard of to gain that amount in a week so he must be getting plenty to eat so that makes me happy since I am the one that feels responsible for his weight with nursing.  He is so sweet I could just hold him all day and watch him sleep and never get tired of it!  From the first week to the second week he changed in his looks!  I thought he had a lot of Cory's features but now I don't really see much of Cory in him.

 

 

Cory and the Family:  This week John's Mom got to come visit from Florida and I am so happy she got to come to see Cameron when he is still so small. She wanted to help out and she bought our groceries and stocked us up on fresh fruits and stocked up our freezer with food and she cleaned out my refrigerator since she thought it was messy...lol. 

 

 

3 weeks postpartum

 

Me:  This is the last time I will post about me because I have a feeling from here on out it would be boring and nothing new since there won't be many more changes.  Basically I have bounced back to about my normal size and only thing now to do is to tone back up because these past few months without running or working out has caused me to lose some muscle tone.  I have been walking the puppies every night but since I still have slight bleeding almost like a light period, I think I'll give it one more week and start up light jogging next week.  John and I are signing up to do the Memphis marathon this December so that is my motivation to get back in shape!  Here's my 3 week post-baby pic!

 

  

Cameron:  He is getting so big just since last week and filling out!  He is really changing daily, at birth I thought he had Cory's eyes, mouth and complexion but now I don't see hardly any of Cory in him.  I was certain we would have another baby that looked just like John & Cory, but Cameron is quite opposite now and starting to look more like me!  He has different shaped eyes, different nose and face shape than Cory and I think he has a lighter skin tone than Cory but maybe a bit darker than mine.  He really has no Korean look to him which is weird to me since I thought those genes would be dominant.  He loves his snugabunny swing and he is still sleeping a lot but this week due to tummy/gas troubles he has been a bit fussier than normal but still doesn't cry much at all, he just grunts and seems discontent at times until he lets out some big burps and gas.  He is still pretty easy going.  He doesn't like to be swaddled and is like Houdini, he can escape from any swaddle I try to do.  I just bought the miracle blanket, which is a swaddle blanket that babies supposedly can't escape from, and it has a lot of great reviews so I think this will help him at night to sleep longer because he still wakes every 3hrs (sometimes less) and he's not swaddled anymore so he startles himself and wakes up, so I'm hoping this will help him sleep more sound.  After I nurse him back to sleep, I fall right back to sleep so I still feel pretty rested during the day even though I'm getting short spans of sleep at a time.  Saturday it took forever for me to get a haircut/hi-light so John had to supplement him with formula since he was getting super fussy waiting on me and I hadn't pumped anything for him so I am hoping that isn't what caused his tummy troubles/discomfort this week! 

 

 

 

Cory and the Family: John had to go back to work this week after having the past 3 weeks off.  Cory had so much fun with Daddy in the past weeks.  John took him to the zoo, story time at the library, All About Kids, the park, and they just had tons of quality Daddy and son time!  That made the transition sooo much easier that Cory still had 3 weeks of all that attention from Daddy and then the following week my mom had Tuesday and Wednesday off and came over to help out and she got me things I needed at the store and we all got out to the park to feed the ducks and Cory got to play on the playground and have fun with Nana.  Hoping things will go smoothly next week when it is just me at home with both boys and they will have to share the attention, but I think Cory has adjusted well to having baby home and he should be fine!  He plays well by himself so i won't have to entertain him all day.  He still crazy about his baby brother and still pays him lots of attention!

 

Mother's Day 2013

I have been sooo spoiled!  Seriously, my church family is awesome and totally spoiled us by bringing meals over for 2 weeks in a row! Here was a list of food we received from different families! 

 

4/27 - Chicken pot pie, rice, homemade bread, chocolate cake

4/28 - Pork chops, mashed potatoes, salad, homemade bread, derby pie

4/30 - Croissant roll tacos with toppings, angel food cake with strawberries & whipped cream

5/1 - Backed chicken tenders, dressing, green beans, croissant rolls, brownies

5/5 - Homemade lasagna, bread sticks, salad

5/7 - Chicken and noodles, house salad, bread, apple pie

5/9 - BBQ sandwiches, chips, coleslaw, cantaloupe, brownies

5/11 - Baked ziti, salad, bread, brownies

 

Then in the days when there wasn't anyone scheduled we ate leftovers and my parents brought us dinner a couple nights with Long John silvers and Shannon and Big R's BBQ.  Then when John's Mom was here, my parents treated us to dinner at a Korean Restaurant and to Jumbo Buffet on Mother's Day!  Another friend from church gave us a gift card for dinner at Hometown pizza too.  So between all this help with dinners, I am totally spoiled and if I could have my own chef that would be sooo awesome...lol! 

 

Starting next week it is back to reality.....meal planning/grocery shopping, house cleaning, etc!  It will be the first week with just me and the boys  but the great thing about John's job is that he gets every Friday off so if I have a hard week, I always know that I will have help Friday with John being here and on the weekends to get out, run errands and get a little "me" time. 

My beautiful Mother's Day flowers!

 

John's cousins wife made me a nice bracelet too and his cousins gave me a gorgeous diamond heart necklace in the box as a gift for having the baby.  We had a great Mother's Day and went out to eat after church and John and I celebrated 8 years of marriage since it was also our wedding anniversary and my sister had us over for dinner at her house that evening.

 

 

Below is a pic of my sweet neighbor Judy who came over several times to visit baby Cameron.  I think it is rare to find such caring, trustworthy and thoughtful neighbors who are always going out of their way to do things for us throughout the year and making the effort to get to know us and having us over for dinners, etc.  She gave Cory and Cameron matching blankets with their names embroidered on them and the puppies a handkerchief to wear around their necks with their names on them.  She also cooked us a spaghetti casserole.  She stays home too so Cory and I have gone to her house some during the days before Cameron was born and Cory loves her playroom and just going over there to hang out!  It is reassuring to know if anything happened I have her next door and she would be more than happy to help.  She is always offering to keep Cory if I ever need to get out or get a break and she loves when Cory comes over.

 

 

The time has gone by too fast already and I can't believe in 5 more days little guy will be a month old!  Words can't describe how much I have enjoyed these weeks with our new little bundle of joy and so many priceless moments....I really can't get enough of my house full of boys! :)

 

He's Here!!

Cameron Alexander Campbell

Born: April 21st, 2013

7 pounds, 1 ounce

19 inches long

I have been MIA lately but there's been a lot of new things to update!  Number one being the arrival of our sweet little boy who will be 3 weeks old this Sunday!  John got 3 weeks off work so we have just been enjoying lots of quality family time so I have quite a few updates to post and pics to share but for now I will just say that things are going wonderfully since bringing home baby and my heart has been filled again with so much love, we are all in love with our new little bundle!  I remember when Cory was born, I was just so amazed by how beautiful I thought he was and how I thought he was the cutest baby I had ever seen,  so while pregnant with Cameron,  I would tell John that I don't see how we can top Cory and make a baby as cute as him again since he's just so darn cute...lol,  but when Cameron came along, he was just as perfect in this Momma's eyes!  He is just so beautiful in every way that I sometimes have to pinch myself that this is really my life and I have 2 amazing, healthy boys to watch after.  Cameron has a pretty skin tone, big blue eyes(of course I know 6 months from now they will most likely be brown), and adorable little features.  Stay turned for the birth story and updates on life with 2 kiddos!  I will say that everyone warned me about how tired and exhausting the first few weeks would be, but actually it hasn't been that way in my opinion.  Sure I have tired moments at 2am feedings but overall Cameron has been the easiest baby so far...rarely cries, and is just so content 95% of the time!  The other 5% he's just hungry or having gas issues.  This has been so easy to me this time around, I think just because I have done it before and feel much more relaxed and confident in motherhood.  I'm not worried about every little thing and am honestly just enjoying this newborn phase so much!  It makes me sad that he is already nearly 3 weeks old...lol.  I think I am enjoying  this time more than I did with Cory just because I was a little more nervous with Cory and thought he was so fragile and was trying to do everything so much by the book but now we just go with the flow this time around and know what to expect for the most part.  I can't imagine my life now without Cameron, I am just so obsessed and love every snuggle, every baby noise and the little smiles (whether it is just gas, they still melt my heart). 

Here's a few pics I took!

 

 

Cory LOVES being a big brother!!

 

And we can't forget to post pics of this cute face!

37 Weeks! Full Term

This is a short post and no pic since I forgot to get John to take on over the weekend. 

What's happening: This week was the second of my weekly appointments and I am glad to be considered full term now so baby Cameron can come anytime now and be fully developed.  Doctor said I was 3-4 cm dialated which just 1 more centimeter and I may start feeling the contractions.  I was 40% efaced.  My doctor said she is going out of town this Thurs through Sunday so I kinda hope I don't start labor then but it would still be fine and I would just have the doctor deliver who is on-call.   

Symptoms: Pretty sure I have had some braxton hicks contractions since I have felt some tightening here and there in my belly.

Looking forward to:  I am anxious to see what he looks like and if he looks like Cory did or not.  I can't wait to see him!  Also to finish up the last couple things in the nursery.  Will post pics soon.

Weight Gain:  Same as last week...19lbs.

Movement:  Same....feeling him move but his head is down in the ready position and the movements have changed into just feeling him stretching out or little jabs here and there but no rolling around.