My Poor Little Guy

Cameron is sick again. He had just finished a round of antibiotics and had been feeling well for about a week when he picked up a bug from his aunt, who we have now discovered has an upper respiratory infection. Oh, and his pink eye came back as soon as he caught whatever it is he has. I am so tired of having sickness travel around my house like it were playing a game of bumper cars. My poor little guy is down and out with a fever in the 102 range, a terrible runny nose, a cough that makes his mommy cringe and labored breathing that makes her want to cry. We have had a weekend of long nights & I couldn't even get ahold of my pediatrician to get him an appointment. I am hoping to avoid antibiotics again, but I doubt that will happen. Anyway, any prayers that anyone feels like sending our way would be much appreciated.

I Survived Cameron's First Hair Cut, oh and he did too.

I will be the first to admit that I can be a bit dramatic about silly things. I can even admit to myself that it is silly for me to care as much as I do, but I still do care. Today I took Cameron to receive his first hair cut, unless you count the 2 times I have trimmed his bangs before. I must have talked myself out of and back into going at least a dozen times since I made the appointment Monday afternoon. And again, while I know that it is just hair (at least I know it in my head) I have struggled with the idea of getting his hair cut since the first time Brian started asking me when I was going to get it done around his first birthday.

I don't know what it is about Cameron's curly tresses that evoke so much emotion in me, and I am slightly ashamed, but not totally, to admit that this appointment had me in tears several times in the days leading up to it and in the car ride there. I guess to me, and most people who have seen Cameron or pictures of him, Cameron's curls are part of what makes him him. In fact, I almost backed out yesterday after lunch with Brian at school when we had at least a dozen people comment on how cute his curls were. It is not like I planned on chopping them off, and I didn't if you looked ahead at the pictures, just trimming them. I suppose to me a first hair cut is one of the many first steps Cameron takes to becoming a big boy and not just my baby boy anymore, and I was in charge of when this particular step took place. I wasn't sure if I was, or am for that matter, ready for Cameron to be on his way to being a big boy yet. I made sure to take lots of pictures, way too many actually, in the days leading up to the appointment and right before we left to help ease my troubled heart.

Here are a few of the before shots, front & back

Well, I made it to the place, talking myself through the whole drive. Telling myself things like "It is just hair"; "Cameron's hair cut does not change who he is"; "His hair really is curly a trim won't change that (I was mortified of the possibility that a trim might make his curls go away)"; and various other things of that nature. All the while, Cameron was oblivious to his mother's inner turmoil over such trivial matters as what his hair looks like and was thoroughly enjoying the cracker he was eating on the way. When we got there the staff was extremely friendly, both to Cameron and his barely able to compose herself mother. We went to a salon that only cuts children's hair & they had two cool truck seats for Cameron to choose from, it took him three times of changing his mind before he settled on the yellow one he eventually sat in. I apologize in advance to anyone who like the show that I I am about to mention. They had a TV with a Dora video on and the staff was amazed that Cameron had never seen Dora before (we don't watch TV). They expressed a sentiment that I too feel, that Dora is one of the most inane children's shows out there & that it addresses children as if they are imbeciles repeating everything several times as if once or even twice weren't enough. I felt bad for them that they have to have it on all the time, but that is what most kids watch these days so that is what they are stuck watching. Cameron was sucked into the TV, as he usually is since he doesn't get to watch it at home, but was quickly distracted and involved in the conversation or the various toys to play with. Cameron did amazingly well. He sat still and enjoyed himself, except for the blow dryer which we decided to forego when he got very scared and started to cry- Mommy doesn't own one so he has never heard one before. They were very good about listening to what I wanted done and talking to me through out the whole thing too. The hair dresser, her name was Judy, said that I didn't have to worry about Cameron loosing his curls anytime soon because the curl goes all the way up to the roots; that knowledge did wonders to ease my troubled mind. When it was all over they had a special baggy and certificate for me to take home with some of the curls they cut from his first hair cut. All in all, it was a pretty good experience and I actually like his hair cut. Cameron still has curly hair, which I love; but I don't have to pull it out of his shirts or squirt it down with water to keep the frizz at bay, which I didn't like; and the curls are not tickling Cameron in the ears, which he hated. I took lots of pictures while we were there and of the after so here are a few.

During the cut

Cameron showing off his new haircut

See he still has plenty of curls

Hooray for craftiness

this is what my front door looks like thanks to Michaels' super awesome 50-70% off holiday stuff sale last week & about 10 minutes of my time. Brian made me smile when he asked how much the wreath on our front door cost, he thought I bought it. I already had the grapevine wreath form so minus that my wreath cost me just under $5. Cameron actually helped me put the leaves on, which was a pleasant surprise. I was afraid that I was going to have to stop and make it during nap time. Pretty much every season/holiday change I unwrap what I have on the wreath and add something else more seasonal, hooray for inexpensive decorations!

The big news

So, for those of you who don't know yet, we are expecting child number two sometime in April. We are due date is toward the end of the month, but I think Peanut (Brian's name for the baby while it is in utero) will come toward the beginning of the year. According to my due date I am 16 weeks along or four months. This pregnancy has been worse as far being sick goes. As soon as I got over morning sickness, which I got pretty bad this time, I came down with a really terrible stomach virus. I got another bug the week of Halloween that lead to our holiday festivities Friday night being spent in the ER with an IV. We were blessed to have Brian's parent's come and get Cameron and he got to go home and sleep in bed instead of trying to snuggle up to me on the small hospital bed between various tubes. I was really disappointed that he didn't get to show off his super cute farmer costume at our ward's trunk or treat. Anyway, between my terrible morning sickness and the two stomach bugs, I have ended up five pounds lighter than when I first got pregnant. So, that gives me a free ticket to eat as much as I want right ;)

We are planning another homebirth & I really like our midwife a lot. She has been delivering babies at home for nearly 20 years. We have seen her twice and get two see her again shortly before Thanksgiving. Unlike with Cameron we are not planning on finding out the gender of baby number two, or any of the rest for that matter. I think it makes the whole thing more exciting. I think that I have the beginnings of a bump, but Brian says that I am just sticking my belly out. Here is a picture (please forgive the crazy hair) and you can decide. Brian says the only reason it looks like I have a bump is because of the angle that he took the picture.

Slowly, but surely

Ok, I am back, that is if anyone is still checking to see if we are still around. Lets just say the last month and a half have been interesting. We, especially Cameron & I, have taken turns being sick pretty much the whole time. Add to that having a major hurricane come through. Luckily, we only had minor fence damage and some branches that needed to be cut. We were out of power for a week, we stayed at Brian's parents during that time; and out of A/C for another week beyond our power being out- the power surge when the power came back on killed something in the unit, unfortunately we were home that week. We consider ourselves lucky as we know people who were out of power as long as 17 days. Brian spent the entire month of October studying and taking midterms, which basically meant that despite that fact that he stayed home from work we still didn't see him much because he was on the computer studying. He finished midterms last week, but already has another major test next Monday & finals start two weeks after that. Anyway, he has been working super hard in school and still loves it, so I guess that is a good sign that he picked the right profession. Cameron never ceases to amaze me as he gets older and learns new things. Currently, his favorite song is "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with some additional verses from a book we found at the library. Cameron has, in the past 2 months, discovered and fallen in love with the word "no", much to my & his father's dismay. The most recent thing going on for him right now is his battle with allergies, cutting his two year molars, an ear infection & pink eye all at the same time. He sure has been a trooper. The first few days he had high fevers and a terrible cough that kept waking him, luckily those are mostly gone now and he & we have all been sleeping a lot better now. Anyway, it is late and I really need to go to sleep I will update more later & look forward to finally getting a chance to go and update myself on the lives of our friends and family that has been flying by me as the past few months have gone. I won't try to give day by day run downs, but I will try to get some pictures & a few of the highlights up over the next few days.