Camden Ivey | Ten Months

Camden turned 10 months on Saturday. I'm already crying thinking that in two short months he will be one. This has been the fastest year of my life. As we approach the holidays, I have been reliving all of the moments last year that led us up to January 17th. I remember dreaming of our baby last year during the holidays and to think we have an almost one year old this year just gives me all the feelings. He truly is the light of our life and I thank God every single day for choosing me to be his mommy.

Weight

He weighed 22 pounds at his 9 month weigh in and was 29.5 inches.  He is our tall boy.

Eat

We have started decreasing his formula. His pediatrician said that the goal is to be able to drink 12 ounces of whole milk at his first birthday so we are trying to work our way down. He still gets 4 bottles a day and we are trying to do 5 ounces in each bottle. Because we have gone down on ounces, he is eating more and more food. We are still giving him some pouches of baby food but only because we can't prepare his real food fast enough. The pouches are more of a "snack" but he loves them. He also loves apple sauce in pouches. Goldfish, puffs, and yogurt melts are still his favorite snack and BREAD is his favorite food.

Sleep

Sleep is still going good. My only complaint is that my child is a very early riser. I shouldn't complain because Craw usually does the super early morning duty but it sure would be nice if he would sleep until 6:30-7:00.  Instead, most mornings are 5:30. The time change messed us up a little as he started waking up even earlier but he seems to be back on track. Right now he is taking a short morning nap and a longer afternoon nap. Not sure what he does at daycare but that's usually what he does on the weekends with us.

Milestones

While he has stayed the night away plenty of times, we finally got away for a full weekend out of town for our anniversary. It was so nice to have a whole weekend to spend with Craw and I think Camden enjoyed being with both sets of grandparents. He hasn't taken any unassisted steps yet but he is starting to stand up on his own without holding on to anything. I have a feeling we are only a couple weeks away from him taking a few steps. He experienced his first Halloween and was the cutest lion ever. Not sure if this is considered a milestone but he found his nose this month and thinks his finger is supposed to always stay in his nose. It's so funny because he doesn't actually pick his nose but he ALWAYS has his pointer finger up there and we are constantly trying to take it down.

Likes

He loves his brother! Camden has really started chasing after Hank and it is so cute to watch the two of them play together. He even laughs when Hank licks him even though we are constantly yelling at Hank to quick licking him in the face. He is OBSESSED with my phone and I've had to start leaving it on the table and not picking it up when he is in eyesight or he will scream. He also loves ANY kind of ball. This weekend Craw put a ball in our shopping cart so he could take Camden's picture and then assumed he could put it back on the shelf. Needless to say, that ball came home with us. He also loves trying to get to the outlets, dog bowls, and Roomba before we can catch him.

Dislikes

His temper shined through even more this month. There were several times he sprawled out in the middle of the floor and started banging his head on the floor because he didn't get his way. It's so funny how babies can develop that so early on. He HATES for us to touch/wipe his face and especially his nose. He also hates to get in his car seat. Once he is buckled in, he is good but getting him buckled is the hard part.

Clothes

He is in 9-12 month clothes. He mostly wears 12 month pajamas and tops but his pants are still 9 month. He is also wearing shoes full time now and wears a 4 in infant shoes. I thought it would take some getting used to for him but he seems to like shoes and it definitely helps keep him flat footed when walking.

Camden Ivey, you are getting so big. It is so fun watching you pick up and learn new things each day. My favorite part of you learning something new is when you turn around and look at us to see if we approve. You start smiling so big when we start clapping. You are smitten with your mama and dada and have been extra clingy this month. I secretly love it because I know there will come a day when you don't want me to hold you. We love you more than all the toys in Walmart- something your GG used to say to your dada.



Happy 4 Years, My Love

Four years. 
That is 1,461 days of being married to my best friend.

So many memories have been created.
Many laughs have been shared.

We had some major trials and tribulations.

Lots of ups and downs and stepping out in faith.

Seven hospital stays in 3 years.

A new job for one of us.

We took on new roles at church.

We have grown so much- individually and as a couple.

One crazy pup that still loves to only cuddle with you.

One INSANE adventure to the beautiful sunshine state.

One beautiful baby boy that completely changed our world.

This was our best year yet.

Having you by my side as we navigate parenthood is the thrill of a lifetime.

I love you more today than I did 4 years ago.

Happy Anniversary, my love.

National Adoption Awareness Month

November is National Adoption Awareness month. I have been very sentimental this past week thinking about how much adoption has changed my life. I can vividly remember celebrating this month last year. We had just finished up our home study and were waiting for the final copy to be mailed to us. We were unsure of so many things but trusting that 2018 would be the year.

If you had told me that 2 months after taking the picture below we would be holding our sweet boy, I would have laughed and not believed you.

January 17, 2018 completely changed our lives.

I can't even fathom what that day would have been like if we had said "no" when God firmly called us to adopt.

 I try not to think of the "what ifs" too much but it does cross my mind from time to time. Our agency was the third agency the hospital called. They had never worked with the hospital that Camden was born at...in fact, it wasn't even in the same city as our agency.

God is GOOD!

I am so passionate about adoption. I know what it's like to be the only one in the relationship feeling the call. I know the pain of hearing your partner say "I just don't think adoption is for us". I also know what it's like to see God do a 180 in a person's life and completely wreck their own agenda. I love hearing Craw tell our story because it truly is amazing how far we have come. In fact, Craw would adopt again tomorrow if it were up to him.

All of this to say, I know God is nudging so many people right now and there are so many that are on the fence. All I can say is DO IT! It has forever changed my life and the lives of those around me. Most days I forget that he is adopted but every now and then, I get a glimpse of a baby that came from brokenness. I see a mama that had to make a painfully hard, yet super brave choice. A baby that laid in a hospital room for an entire day waiting for his mama and daddy to get there and save him.

Camden is our perfect miracle.

He is the reason we celebrate adoption month and why we will do everything in our power to promote awareness and encourage those around us.

Whirligig Weekend

We had a fun filled weekend at the Whirligig Festival. Camden was a little shell shocked to begin with and I think it was because of all the people. He has also been clingy lately so that probably didn't help. His little eyes were trying to take in everything. We were able to take Camden with us to vote and that was fun. I put the "I voted" sticker on him and 10 seconds later it was in his mouth.

We didn't really have an agenda for the festival so it was nice just walking around and observing everything. Camden got to see his daddy's office and loved going for a spin in his daddy's chair. He also ate some fried oreos and corn dog and he seemed to really like it. After the Whirligig Festival, we went home and took a 2 hour family nap. It was the best thing EVER.

Sunday was a low key day trying to adjust to the time change. Camden decided to wake up at 4:30 and then 5:30 so it was an early morning for daddy. Sunday night we had dinner with Jenna before she leaves for Chad. We miss her so much but are so glad to see her when she's home visiting.

It was a really nice weekend with the family and I'm so excited to get out of town this coming weekend with just Craw.



Camden's First Halloween | 2018

I need a vacation from "Halloweening". Pretty sure I just made that word up but BOY were we busy doing all of the fun Halloween things yesterday. Camden kicked off his first Halloween at daycare by having his face painted. They painted a little pumpkin on his face and apparently it didn't last long because it was gone when I picked him up.

The smartest decision I made was taking some pictures of Camden on Sunday afternoon because I knew we would be in a rush on Wednesday. I love how his pictures turned out and I have to say he made a super cute lion. I like to think he is my ferocious lion even though he is smiling in almost all of the pictures. We taught him how to ROAR and his roar sounds more like an "ahhhhh" but it's still so cute.

Our church hosts a Fall Blast for kids every year. Usually it is on Saturdays but since Halloween fell on a Wednesday this year, they decided to have it then. After I picked Camden up for daycare, we rushed home to get him ready for the night. He was pretty tired from daycare so I knew it was going to be a tough night for him in a costume. Thankfully, he did okay and was a good sport for most of the night. I did have some pictures where his face showed that he was over it and ready for his crib. I'm glad we stayed until the end because our ferocious little lion won the costume contest at church.

It was so much fun celebrating Halloween with a baby. I can't wait to TRICK OR TREAT next year. We have a whole year to get him ready and its going to be awesome!