Christmas Cheer

The best way to spread holiday cheer is...posting pics on your blog! (and singing loud for all to hear, of course! I heart you, Buddy.)

This year, we used our slim tree and put it in the living room. Usually we have a bigger tree set up in the den...which has become Camryn's playroom...hence the moving of the tree. :)

But I did let her have a look at it for fun...she wanted the gold ball ornament REALLY bad!

Yeah, so I have orange and lime green on my tree...so what! :) There's red and gold in there, too. I gotta have something to go with my orange couch!

This ornament says it all! Merry Christmas!

Before and After

If you know us very well at all, you know that we LOVE a good before and after moment. Well, we must, because we've had SO many of them! :) You know, when you've finished a project that has turned out great, then look back on what you started with. It's so satisfying! Here are some of the before and afters that we've experienced over the years, mainly home updating/renovation projects. :) Enjoy!

Yard sale coffee table from our first home as married people - Harding West Marrieds apartment B-16. :) We simplified it and made it smaller to fit our tiny living room.

Dining room of our current house. Do not adjust your monitor settings...that really is a matching padded wall, table runner, and curtains! That's how the former owners had it decorated. Once again, we simplified. And, I heart orangey red. :)

Bathroom in our current house. Can you say, "major overhaul?" We took it from 1983 with his and hers sides (one vanity, closet and entrance door each), brown cultered marble, and carpet (ewww, in a bathroom?!?) to 1 big vanity, 1 big closet, and nice new tile. Major thanks go to Tyson's parents for their huge help on this project! And, yes, these two pictures were taken from the same spot in the room...did I mention this was a major overhaul?

In the living room we took down the dark paneling and replaced it with painted drywall. A much simpler project than the bathroom, and it really brightened the room, made it feel bigger, and brought it out of the 1980's.

Camryn's room. I don't have a good before picture of the opposite corner...that's where the huge mural of Gotham City was. Not very girly, so we changed it to golden yellow walls with black, cream, and pink...but not too much pink. :)

Just had to throw this one in there. :) The pregnancy wasn't always easy, but so worth it now! The before picture was about 1 week before Camryn came, and the after was last month...such a sweet girl!

The den/office/play room. For the last 3 years it has been brown paneling and dingy white drywall. We recently finished painting everything and rearranging the layout. Aaaaah, much better. :) (Anyone remember Kevan's dog Bailey? Apparently she came to visit us once!)

This is a little project that I saw on Martha this week, and it actually looked easy enough for me attempt. By just folding old magazines (no cutting, no glue, no nothing) I got a couple of cute, office-y Christmas trees! It took a while to fold each page three times, but really, what else do I have to do. ;)

So, there you have it...our favorite before-and-after moments. What about you...what's your best before-and-after? Pictures, please! :)

A Musical Heart

Camryn loves music. It is one of the sweetest things about her. A sweet tune can make her smile when nothing else will. :)

A couple of examples:
At Kevan and Katie's wedding, a family friend, Randy York, played guitar for the pre-wedding music. *Side note - Y'all, he is amazing!* Being seated on the groom's side, we just happened to be on the front row, right in front of him. The entire time he played, Camryn was transfixed...didn't take her eyes off of him...didn't fuss...didn't even wiggle.

I don't know what it is about "Twinkle, Twinkle", but any time I start singing it to her, she gives me the biggest smiles! That song seems to be her favorite, but she always listens and pays attention whenever I sing a peppy tune...she really likes it when I add snapping and/or clapping. :)

On another note (heehee, get it, "note"), at each check up since she was 2 months old, our pediatrician has told us that Camryn has a functional heart murmur. She has no symptoms that it is causing her problems, and our doc isn't worried about it at all....he even told us that he has a functional heart murmur himself, and that made us feel better about hearing that news. At her 6 month check up, he mentioned that he still faintly heard the murmur and said, "It has a musical sound to it. That usually means it won't cause her any problems, but we'll keep an eye on it."

I mentioned his comment to Tyson when he got home from work. He responded by looking at Camryn and saying, "Camryn, do you have a muscial heart?"

Yep, I think she does...in more ways than one. :)

Whoa there, Buckaroo!

Because I'm not quite sure that I'm ready for this!

Baby-proofing, here we come!

*If you're viewing this on Facebook and can't see the video, head on over to my blog!*

Life is Good....

...when your sweet baby is laughing and playing with your sweet husband. Life is GOOD!

Lately...

Lately...I've realized that I'm a much better Facebooker than blogger.

Lately...I've decided that I need a new approach to blogging. I have had the mindset that I need to have a cute theme for each post, write detailed descriptions of everything, and include lots of pictures. Obviously, that's not working. ;) I think I'll try doing little short posts instead because big posts just aren't happening!

Lately...I've become a stay at home mom, and I'm really enjoying it. It hasn't really sunk in yet, but I'm sure it will when all of the teachers go back to school in August without me.

Lately...I've found it easier to enjoy Miss Camryn. I mean, I have always enjoyed her, but I don't feel like I'm worrying so much. She is getting much more interactive (smiling, playing, making noises) and that is fun. Feeding her is much easier than it was when she was a newborn. Baby/Mommy life is good. :)

And here's a few pictures of what we've been up to ...lately...

Camryn turned 4 months old on June 15th.

She loves to hold toys and put them straight in her mouth.

We went to our first baseball game as a family...Astros @ Rangers. We all wore our Astros gear! Camryn didn't so much like the heat or the cheering after a Rangers home run, but she did pretty good. :)

Tyson celebrated his first Fathers Day. Camryn and I love him so much!!

2nd 6 Weeks

(First of all, geesh! It's been 6 weeks since I blogged...shame on me!)

Going back and reading that previous post, I realize how much Camryn has grown and changed in such a short amount of time. I guess she is TWICE as old now as she was then, but still! She is growing so fast, and is getting sweeter, cuter, and more fun all the time! :) This will probably be the last "report card" that Camryn gets for a while...since I won't be a teacher any more after this year, I'm going to take a hiatus from giving grades!

BABY REPORT CARD

Student: Camryn Kirksey
Grading Period: 2nd 6 Weeks

Being Cute: A+
Tummy Time: B+
Smiling: A+
Here's a picture of her completing an "assignment" that counts for all 3 of these classes:
Sleeping: A-
The day she turned 9 weeks old, Camryn turned in her "Sleeping Through the Night" assignment for the first time! She has woken up just a few times since then to eat in the middle of the night, but mostly she sleeps from 9:30 or 10:00 until 6:30 or 7:00. Yay! Here's a pic of how we usually find her in the morning...for some reason she likes to turn her head around like this and wiggle her arms and legs out of the blanket. Hey, whatever works! :)
Dirtying Diapers - A++
I don't really need to go into detail on this one, do I?? ;)

Eating - A +
I don't have a picture of this class, but Camryn is a really good eater. We have never had problems with her nursing, and she even takes a bottle really well. That was something I was worried about because I will be going back to school on May 19th (so sad!), but she eats from a bottle like a champ! Also, I know she's eating well because she's doing a good job of growing and gaining weight. We went to the doctor for a 2 month check-up on April 15th. She weighed 11 pounds, and was 22 1/4 inches long...50th percentile for both!

New Classes this 6 Weeks:
Car Trips: A+
Since the last report card, Camryn has been on several trips out of town. Our first trip was over Easter weekend, and we went to Tyler to visit a whole bunch of grandparents, aunts, and uncles. Since then we have been back to Tyler once (for Kevan and Katie's shower!) and to Abilene (for Kevan's graduation...yay Kev!). She slept basically the entire time we were in the car, coming and going, for all of those trips! Granted, none of them were over 3 hours long, but still, she did great!

Talking: B-
Also since last 6 weeks, Miss Camryn has really started talking! OK, talking might be a bit strong of a word...really she can only say vowels at this point (you know, "eeeeh" or "aaaaah")! She and I even had a little conversation the other night! She would make her cooing sound, and I would make one back. She would watch me, then make another sound right after I finished...so cute! :)

Teacher's Comments: Camryn is a wonderful student! She is showing improvement in all categories, and I love having her in my class!