Exciting Day!

Yesterday (September 7th) was an exciting day in our world! Jenna finally stood by herself for a period of time, while clapping too! So cute to see! She has been pretty reluctant to try taking steps, but she surprised us! She took two steps toward me after standing for a while!!! They were very wobbly and quick little steps, but still her first steps nonetheless! :) I was SO happy to see them (as I missed Colby's first steps that he took at the dayhome). Daddy was lucky enough to see them when he got home when she did it again. Yay, Jenna!! You'll be walking in no time!

Jenna's new moves... standing and clapping!

September is always crazy in the life of a teacher, but oh my goodness, it has been pretty crazy around here for a couple of weeks now. I must admit, I had a rough start to the school year as my first day with my grade 3 class didn't go well, but things are definitely improving. I have a class of 23 students (16 boys and only 7 girls!) that are very busy and keep me on my toes. In that mix, I have 7 students who are new to the school... and 2 of which are showing some interesting behaviors. I have support now in the classroom with a half-time EA, so I'm very lucky!! She's great and I love every minute she's around to help!! It is very busy teaching full-time and getting out the door in the morning with two kids. I don't know how my mom did it with 3!! I feel bad when I have to wake the kids up (most mornings) to go to Becky's. Colby is tired in the mornings, which breaks my heart. They're getting much better with the routine, so that makes it easier. On a positive note, they are still doing great at the dayhome! We're so lucky they adjusted so quickly (really only had about 2-3 days of crying in the morning) and are doing well everyday! See, I knew kids were resilient and would adapt... ours anyway! :) It's definitely a juggling act fitting everything in through the day. I try to work every recess, lunch hour, and optimize minutes before and after school so I can pick them up relatively early and get home to make supper, play, bath, and bedtime. Whew!! It's busy, but we're doing well, so I can't complain!

Colby has had a cough at nighttime for about a week and a half now. In the past two days, he has been coughing more throughout the day. Gerry took him into the doctor this afternoon and she said it's just a cough. No ear infections, lungs are clear, etc., so not even a cold. Hopefully it clears up soon... he's not getting enough rest when he wakes up coughing throughout the night!! Fingers crossed!

We had a great September long weekend! I really do wish every weekend was three days! :) Oddly enough, I didn't miss camping one bit. I think that's because we went so often throughout the entire summer that it was really nice to be home on one long weekend. On Saturday, we met Gerry's sister, Carmen, and the kids at WEM and did some shopping and went for lunch. It was great to see them and Colby always loves hanging out with the kids (especially Dylan!) Sunday I worked for a chunk of the day to try to get ahead for this week. I'm finding that if I plan for a week at a time, I haven't been going back to school in the evenings as much. Monday, we had a great family day! We went back to WEM and went to the Sea Lion show and Sea Life Caverns. It's been a while since we saw the show (Jenna was still sleeping in the sling), so both of them loved it! Jenna couldn't stop smiling and clapping and Colby couldn't take his eyes off of the show! Such a great time altogether! On Monday afternoon after Jenna's nap, we headed out to Jody's house for a family dinner. It was nice to have everyone together. :)

This is a busy time as we get ready to celebrate Jenna's 1st birthday soon! Next weekend is her party, so we're looking forward to seeing everyone here. Lots to do, but all worth it! :)

Here are some recent photos of the kids! Enjoy!


Colby LOVES riding his new bike!

11 1/2 months old!




They really do have a lot of fun together!

Have a great rest of your week!
Love,
The Cameron's

All great things must come to an end...

I had an amazing 14 months off work, but as the old saying goes, "All great things must come to an end". Today is my first day back at school after my maternity leave with Jenna. The start of a new school year begins with two PD Days before the students arrive on Wednesday morning. I truly have mixed feelings about returning to work... I wish we could afford for me to stay home with our kids full-time, but in reality, that's not an option right now financially. On the other hand, I really do love my job (but secretly wish it wasn't so much work!!) and enjoy it. I grew up with both parents working and I think it's important for our kids to be around other children too, so I know everything will work out fine. I'm sure the transition will be tough for the kids at first with the new dayhome, but if I learned anything from my first year of having Colby in dayhomes, kids are pretty resilient! They will adapt and do great at Becky's, I'm sure!! Fingers crossed for a good first week! :)

Gerry took Thursday and Friday off last week as holidays, which was SO nice!! I've been putting in quite a few hours at school in the evenings, but with him home on Thursday, I spent most of the day at work. The kids loved having Daddy at home! I'm so thankful for my wonderful husband who supports everything I do and puts the kids to bed when I'm at school or if I can't be home. Gerry, you're truly the best dad in the world and your kids ADORE you (just like I do!!) We had a fun weekend of playing, going swimming, and doing a bit of shopping! So good to have some family time before the craziness of fall hits. As I've mentioned before, I'm worried about balancing everything, but just keep reminding myself to be the best wife, mom, and teacher I can be, while still making some time for myself.

I achieved a personal goal yesterday that I'm SO excited about!! I finally ran 10 km!! I am racing in the 10k Rotary Run on September 12th in Stony Plain and wasn't feeling ready (truly... had fallen off my "running bandwagon") so needed to get serious again and had a great run late yesterday afternoon. Yay... such a great feeling. Just need to continue it and look forward to race day. My Goal = Finish! :)

We are in major transition mode with Jenna... she has switched over to Homo milk now, so no more making up formula for us! She loves milk and is doing really well with it. Also, we are trying to eliminate her bottles... so far, we have eliminated her naptime bottle, so we'll keep working on the others. One last transition... into one nap a day instead of two. She seems so young (much younger than Colby) to drop her morning nap, but if she sleeps in later in the morning, it just doesn't work. Hopefully we can figure out her schedule now with the new routine of going to the dayhome everyday. She's growing up way too quickly... planning Jenna's 1st birthday party has only reminded me of this! How can my baby girl be one already!?!

Colby is doing great on his bike... it's so cute (and yes, brings tears to Mommy's eyes watching him!) He loves riding his bike and is really good at stopping, starting, and walking his bike across a road. I think he really enjoyed having Gerry home at the end of last week and was needing some Daddy time! We are still working on his "behavior" and are all hoping this "phase" soon passes! It's very draining and I truly hope he is good at the dayhome for Becky. Kids are always better for others, right?! :)

Have a great week, everyone!
Lesley

End of August Already?!

No new puppy...
Yes, you read it right... we are no longer getting a puppy. We decided that right now is not the best time for our family. I am returning to work very soon and we don't have the time to commit to a puppy with having a very young family right now. Colby also didn't understand (or like the idea) that the puppy is going to grow up to be very big. He says he wants a "Teddy" puppy (Kristy and Kyle's small dog), not a big puppy. So, he's clearly not ready and I'm very happy with our decision to keep our family the way it is now. :) Maybe when our kids are a bit older we'll think about it again, but for right now, it's not the best thing for us.

Camping season is over for us...
After being away from home for 7 weekends in a row (from July to mid-August), we went on our last camping trip last weekend to Wabamun Lake Provincial Park. It was a good last weekend (other than the fact Jenna got a cold and Colby became ill too). We really love how close it is to Wabamun and it has great features like beautiful sites (we're partial to one loop in particular!), great playgrounds, and of course, our kids love the beach! We truly love camping and love going places as a family! However, 7 weekends away in a row might be a bit much for me! Mental note for next year! LOL! The kids have a great time outside and I love the activity, but it's a lot of work with little kids, especially with one being a baby!! All definitely worth it though... :)

End of maternity leave... already?!
I have been on maternity leave for 14 months, but still can't believe it's that time again! Sssshhhhh....... Back to School time! This year I am teaching grade three at Forest Green School. Part of me is looking forward to going back because I really do love my job. I just wish it wasn't so much work!! LOL! I have been going in several times working in my classroom and trying to get things set up again. It's a lot of work to "move in" again and set everything up from scratch. Hopefully I'll be in my room for many years and not have to do that again any time soon! It has made for some very busy evenings trying to go to school in addition to the normal evening housework and exercise stuff! The kids are going to a dayhome here in Stony Plain and I hope the transition from home to dayhome everyday goes okay. They've had a rocky start (with not going consistently as "trial runs"), so I think the first week back is going to be a bit of a shock. With numbers, they are unable to go until my first day of work, August 30th and I work 5 full days that first week. Hopefully once they are going everyday and we all get into a routine, they will be fine. It's just hard to have kids upset when you drop them off or aren't there with them... :(

September means birthday time!
Jenna is 11 months old today! I need to go weigh and measure her, so will update with that soon! With the arrival of September comes Jenna's 1st birthday! I keep asking myself, 'How is that even possible?!?' It seems like she's still our little baby, but everyday, I'm reminded of how she's too quickly becoming a little girl. She's changing so quickly and growing so much! Every milestone and new discovery is exciting, but reminds me of how she's growing up. She's not walking on her own yet, but is a very fast little crawler, cruises along furniture, and walks really well with her walkers. Maybe soon she'll be an independent walker. :) She absolutely LOVES playing with Colby! She chases after him and tries to keep up with what he's playing. I love it! We're looking forward to celebrating Jenna's first birthday with lots of family and close friends. She's a very happy little girl (unless she wants something or gets mad she can't have something... then you can hear her a mile away!) and is fun to play with! She loves Little People and playing with the kitchen downstairs. She's recently been playing at the train table too, which is really fun! How do they know to "drive" things so early?! Jenna is a very independent little girl. Perhaps she's just a wee bit stubborn like her mommy?! She hasn't been eating "baby food" for a couple of months now and enjoys feeding herself anything and everything we eat. But when she's hungry, she's hungry! She's a VERY good eater... often eats more than Colby does, which makes me continually wonder how she's now bigger than she is! Love you so much, baby girl!!

Mr. Colby
Colby has definitely hit a new stage... at least I hope it's just a "stage"!! He has been quite defiant and is quite enjoying the word "No" lately, or "No thanks" if he's feeling especially polite! LOL! Makes for some difficult days, but hopefully it won't last too long. I think Colby is quite enjoying having a very mobile (and quick) little sister! He laughs when she comes to play and calls her to come and check out some toys. I love that they get along well! He's doing well with potty training still, but we're having some pooping issues still. I hear this is difficult for a lot of kids, boys in particular, so hoping that gets better soon too! All in all, he's a very active little boy who loves playing outside or downstairs, and even just chilling on the couch with a movie or an episode of his favorite Diego. Oh, Diego, you don't know how much you're loved by one little boy!! :) He has already decided he wants a Diego happy birthday party when he turns 3! Colby is growing up too quickly too... our little man now rides his new bike SO well!! We got him a little two-wheeler with training wheels. At first, it was a bit difficult and takes some practice because it's so different from a tricycle. One day when we were camping last weekend, it just clicked! He is super fast and LOVES riding his bike. Makes me sad to see him growing up and learning new things so quickly, but at the same time, it's so wonderful to see kids do and discover new things. Good job, Colby!! Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you! Love you, little buddy!!

Yay... date night!
Yes, for the first time in a year, Gerry and I went on a date last night! :) So fun! We haven't been out since before Jenna was born, so it was definitely overdue! We went out for dinner at Original Joe's and then to Cirque de Soleil Alegria. It was a great show and a wonderful evening out! Thanks Ger... love you!! Thanks to Auntie Tracy who came to spend the evening with Colby and Jenna. They loved having her here!!

Well, I think summer is officially gone.... it's beginning to feel like fall WAY too early this year! :( Enjoy the last week of August, everyone. September is right around the corner.

Love and hugs,
Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Sick Little Jenna... and our new puppy!

Sadly, our camping holiday this year is not going as planned. We did go to Cross Lake Provincial Park on this past August Long weekend with great friends, the Kluz Family. However, something was definitely up with Jenna. We thought she was teething (other middle bottom tooth just about to poke through) and we fought with a fever and very irritable little baby all weekend. Turns out, she has measles! :( Our nephew, Jordan, came down with the measles days before Jenna, so it all makes sense now. Her fever finally broke after three days when she woke up on Monday morning with spots all over. While she no longer has the fever, she is still a bit "off" and I'm hoping she back to normal very soon!! Poor baby girl... :(

It was a very eventful weekend! Had fun at the campground with great parks and Colby always enjoys playing with Brock and Braydi. The beach was great on Sunday afternoon and ended with a surprise!! We were walking back to our beach and found a family of puppies with their mama and the family they belong to. Several people were all around then and Colby asked to touch one! (Yes, our son who is petrified of most dogs!!) So I was cuddling one of the three week old puppies and Colby touched it, then asked to hold it!! Even more shocking. Then came the "I want one!!" Seriously?!? Yes, he was serious. So, I went back to the trailer to get Gerry (who was having an afternoon nap with Jenna) to come and check out these absolutely adorable puppies! All in all, we are getting a puppy!!! He is SO cute!! He's a black lab - shepherd cross puppy and we can pick him up in about 3 weeks. I keep thinking, "What are we doing?!" But it's great to see Colby so excited and of course, Gerry is so excited too! So... we're going to be dog owners!!??!! Should be interesting..... Still working on his name... will keep you posted!

Since Jenna was sick and not herself at all, we cancelled our reservations in Jasper for the week. It wasn't the best weekend camping with Jenna and we didn't want to put her through that for an entire week too. So we are enjoying a week with Daddy at home!! Lots of things to do around the house, little shopping/errand trips, and hanging out! Colby is loving the fact that Gerry is home during the day. Tomorrow, he's going to take Colby out to the farm to see the animals, tractors, and go for a quad ride or two. I'm sure he will love every minute!

Speaking of Colby, potty training is going great!! Well, "pee training" is going great. He's having no problems with going pee (when we tell him to... he doesn't tell us yet that he has to go), but going poop is another story. So frustrating, but hopefully soon he'll try to poop on the potty??!! Mom and Dad can't wait for that day to come!!

Have a great week everyone with the warm temperatures ahead! We are using our air conditioning all the time and LOVE it!! :)

Gerry, Lesley, Colby, Jenna (and new puppy!!)
xoxo

Camping, Camping, and More Camping!

That's been our summer weekends... and we're loving it!! I think camping is such a great family activity and I'm glad our kids enjoy it too! I grew up in a big "camping family" (both immediate and extended), so I'm thankful we have our trailer and take our own children on mini-vacations and travel around Alberta. We've had a great July (can't believe it's almost over!) camping and enjoying the summer weather (in between the rain storms)!

July 9-11 - We were supposed to camp with Strathmore Friends, the Koppel Family, but Mark had to work, so we decided on a whim to cancel our reservations and go to Strathmore for the weekend. It was SO great to be back in our old "home". I always love visiting Strathmore and catching up with great friends who I miss dearly. Colby had so much fun playing with Matthew (6) and Cameron (4)... he always loves playing with older kids and was quite attached to Matthew! We went to the Calgary Zoo and also visited good friends, the Plett Family. I really do miss our Strathmore friends and think about moving back (occasionally!)... if I could only find a job!! Not such a great scenario in GHSD right now! Thank goodness life is established here to keep us grounded and right here in Stony Plain. :)

July 16-18 - We camped with the "Edmonton Cameron's" and two other families at Miquelon Lake. It was a really nice weekend (minus the wind) and all of the kids had fun. It was Canada Parks Day 2010 on Saturday, so there were many activities, including face painting, quilt square craft, and pond dipping. Colby always enjoys playing with Blake and they had a lot of fun the entire weekend, especially playing in all of the water and mud around the campsites! Pond dipping was a great way to spend an hour out on a dock searching for living things in the wetland. Colby was more interested in seeing how much mud he could pick up in his net, but also seemed intrigued by the creatures the older kids found! I really like going to Miquelon Lake... it's been recently renovated and it's a great family campground! Close to home makes it even better!! We hope to go back next year!

- July 23-25 - Ol' Macdonald's Resort in Stettler!! One of my all-time favorites since we used to go all the time when I was a child!! This is such a great place for families and was even better this year, now that Colby is a year older. Being a very short weekend (we arrived Friday night and left Sunday), it was pretty jam-packed!! The kids absolutely loved the beach and the lake. We haven't really played too much at the beaches while camping with the not-so-great weather, so I was happy to have some fun in the sun this weekend!! Colby enjoyed building sandcastles and playing in the lake and taking his dolphin (inflatable lake toy) for "walks"! :) Jenna LOVES the sand... and everything about it. She ate a lot of it!! She loved crawling in it, crawling over sand castles, even going in the very chilly lake! SO much fun!! Check-out time is 11:00 (which I'm not a huge fan of!!), but we were able to park in an overflow area and spend some more time there today (Sunday). So we packed a picnic lunch and headed down to the beach again this morning for some more fun before getting cleaned up and heading home at nap time. Aaaahhhh, travelling at nap time! Nice and quiet! :)

I'm excited about our next camping adventure. On Friday, we are heading to Cross Lake for the August Long weekend with friends Rob and Christa Kluz. Then we're coming home on Monday for a couple of hours to re-pack, etc. before heading to Jasper. We will be in Jasper from Monday until Friday. I'm excited to explore the town as a family and do lots of activities together. On Friday, we're going to Crimson Lake (by Rocky Mountain House) for the weekend before heading home on Sunday. We're both really looking forward to getting away as a family on this year's little summer vacation!

Have a great week... and enjoy the sun!
Gerry, Lesley, Colby and Jenna

Dear Colby...

My little Colby...

Where do I begin? You are such a funny, smart, and handsome little man who I'm proud to call my son! While I still can't believe that you're 2 1/2 years old already (I know...where did the time go?!) I have had so much fun watching you grow, explore, and learn. I absolutely love playing with you and having some very interesting conversations with you... you're one smart cookie! :) You come up with the funniest sayings sometimes!! Thank you for being such an amazing big brother to Jenna. It often brings me to tears watching you play and interact with her, giving her hugs, kisses, and snuggles, and telling people that she's your "baby sister". You will go far in life, no matter what you decide to do. (I think you might be a bit stubborn like your mom too... so I know you'll persevere and get whatever you desire out of life!!) I look forward to watching you continue to grow and learn about your world and having fun all along the way! Thank you for bringing so much joy and love to our lives!!

Love and hugs,
Mommy
xoxo

Dear Jenna...

My dearest Jenna...

I often ask myself, "Why does time need to pass so quickly?" I truly believe time goes by quicker when you have children and even more so with your second baby. You were so close to crawling for so long (lots of creeping around on your tummy for a couple of months!) and are now unstoppable with your crawling! First it was crawling, now it's taking a few steps behind a walker toy, and climbing two stairs on your own!! You're growing up way too quickly!! You've even said your first word, "Hi!" and use it in context whenever someone is talking to you. It's adorable!! While I like to see you grow and discover things, I wish you could stay our little baby girl forever! You are such a beautiful and happy little girl who brings such joy to our lives! You are loved more than you will ever know and I am so proud to have you as my daughter!!

Love and hugs,
Mommy
xoxo