A New beginning...

Thats what I have been feeling for Cami this past 2 weeks. She has really made some HUGE improvements. My girl is actually talking It started with us just getting notes in her folder from school stating she was saying "I want" then more words added in to it. Well slowly at home she started saying "I want" appropriately for food, drinks or toys. Then this weekend at our last camping trip she really just took off. She was flipping through a toy magazine and she pointed to a ride in car and said "I want it" I couldn't believe my ears....Three words in a row!
She continued the evening with the I wants. She went over to her cousins ride on and said "Mama, I want it" 4 words....What in the world was going on. Was there some sort of talking juice in the air....LOL! Then she went over to a bike that had the kid seat on the back of it and said "Mama I ride" OMG I was about to fall over with excitement. I mean where in the world did this all come from. It was like a switch just flipped on! She went on and on that weekend with the I wants.
On Sunday morning she woke up and her daddy was gone and she sat up and looked out the end of the bed and said Dada Go Go, Dada Go Go! That's right Cami dada went gogo! So sweet my little gal.
At school this week she has said quite a few new things. During speech she has said to be doing amazing. On Monday she said "I want more" 5 times spontaneously, Boo for ghost(shes been saying that one for a few weeks now), Pat Pat, More, Done, and Dada.
Then on Wednesday during speech her teacher asked her what do you see in this book? And while looking at the book she said Frog and there it sat a Frog on the page. I couldn't believe what I was reading. That's amazing Cami!
On her class room notes the good news continues of saying how well she is doing and how well she is participating with her friends. And even saying Gabby a lil one in her class. Also said "Dont want' after a taste of a carrot and ranch dressing, Blo for block and a big one PENGUIN! My goodness baby girl you are on a roll. Now I haven't heard her myself say this stuff but she will come around. It took her awhile to say the "I want" to us so I will wait patiently.
Yesterday she was standing on our bed looking out our window as the dogs where barking she said Dog. SO I asked her what the dog said and she said just as clear as day Bow Wow. How cute is that? I then asked her to say it to her daddy and she said it again to him.
Today was there Fall fun day at school and I told her outside, Cami come this way and she looked at me and said Disay(this way). I am totally just blown away by her huge improvements. Mommy is so proud of you....maybe just maybe Caleb our big girl WILL be talking by her 4th birthday! Wouldn't that be just awesome!!!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch

Well we where a little behind on going to the patch this year. Typically we try to hit it the first weekend of October but we had tons going on so we where a little late getting in there. And I will say that will be the last time we ever wait that long again. There where so many people that you couldnt barely move. This patch was great though tons to do for the kids but the owners said that particular weekend is normally there busiest and I believe it. And Cameran just wasnt having it on this day she was tired, moody, and hungry. So it made it even more difficult to deal with the crowd of people. I just dont think she can handle lots of people, too much stimulation for her.




Its was funny though watching other parents living my everyday. Kids screaming, pitching fits because they want to play but the parents want that one perfect shot of there cutie with the pumpkins. I deal with that everytime I want a pic of Cameran, that is why I dont pay expensive photographers to take pics of her becuase its a waste of time and money and on this day was no exception she was just not having it. She didnt want to take pictures, she didnt want near Caleb, she didnt want to hold a pumpkin she just wanted to go. So we had lots of meltdowns. Now dont get me wrong she had shinning moments she played great with the Fisher price area and loved the kiddy playground area. It is the departing from these activites that make her mad. So we hate to avoid these things but it literally wears us down, makes it hard to enjoy the outing.


Caleb was kind of everywhere, lets go over here no over here, now I have to go potty, lets go back and do that again. I tell you it was just all around exhausting!
I guess we just didnt get into it much this year there where good pieces in there but again I think it had all to do with the crowd it was a little overwhelming.
The Waldon Farm Activities included:
Face painting, sand art, a fisher price farm toy area, a milking a fake cow section with other interesting games, hayrides, 2 corn mazes, one kiddy maze in the barn, playground area and then lots of animals. They had pigs, mini horses, goats, chickens, cows, you name it!







Then there where the pumpkins but their prices where a little steap...$20 for their med/large pumpkins small/medium where $12 so we skipped that and picked some up else where that was just rediculous. We did get the kids a tiny pumpkin from there but that was it....$1 I could handle that...LOL!
I then got to thinking that we need to move to a farm and start up our own PPatch, man charging that much and with that many people we wouldnt have to work the rest of the year!
We then hopped onto the hayride that took us out to the corn maze.





The kids LOVED it and we loved it. We let Caleb and Cami lead. Cameran loved being able to just go and we where satisfied because the stalks blocked her in so she couldnt run off from us. The kids both loved it and surprsingly Caleb did great leading us out, it didnt take him no time. Once out we had to wait for the hayride to come back and get us so the kids found a bunch of acorns on the ground and enjoyed throwing them into the little creek. That whole part was relaxing and was wonderful to be away from all those people.



The kids pretending to eat the corn...And yes Cami saw Caleb do it and she did it too! Monkey see Monkey do!





Then of course she had her own idea as well....Can you hear her....Hiyo!



Cami's whole mood that day I think turned out being belly related. She had refused foods for 2 days and was backed up. So after getting some relief thanks to a Murilax clean out she has been very happy....Woooo what a day!

Ok so I know it may look like the kids are always so happy and cute in the pics but I tell you in one outing I can snap 100 pictures in 10 minutes trying to get a happy shinning moment. It is hard work! So here are some of the not so shinning moments...LOL!











Poor gal this just wasnt her day! I actaully managed to keep Caleb on track at just looking at me so all I had to do was get Cami to look but this just was not the day. She wanted to be independent and DID NOT want to be touched....typical girl I should say..teehee!

So even though the day wasnt perfect we had a perfect orange sunset to watch. It was beautiful and Caleb thought it was great to have it on our Pumpkin Patch day!

Spooky Ookeys

Just thought I would share my cute as pie spookey ookeys with ya! A little early I know but I couldnt resist. Caleb is a pirate and Cami a witch! They are both loving their looks this year I couldnt get the costumes off of them. More pics coming soon from our trip to the Pumpkin Patch and then more from Gatlinburg. I've also got an amazing update on Cami coming soon! Until then enjoy my little bugs!

Calebs thought for the day...

This might have to become a weekly post for me, he can really come up with some stuff. This week we where outside and the kids where swinging and Caleb says Momma you know what I know?
Me: What Caleb, What do you know?
Caleb: I know that if you travel to the middle of the earth you arent actaully upside down like some people think. Because if you where upside down that would mean the grass would be in the sky and the sky on the ground. And if that was true we would all fall into space!

Dont you just love it! Where do they come up with this stuff!

The Birds and The Bees...G rated!

Ok so this is not an easy topic for me simply because I thought I had plenty of time to prepare for it. And of course too it was never one we got from our parents. So I was really caught off guard but I knew it was coming with all his interest in the seahorses and how the male carrys the babys, which hey I think is fabulous!
Lets just say Calebs interest didn't stop there. We've had the conversation of when they came out of my belly. When I had Cameran I told him that I was going to the hospital and she was going to come out of my belly end of story and he was fine with that. But now he thinks they where both in my belly at the same time and he just came out 3 years before Cami and then she came out later....LOL! I have tried explaining that before but I get no where. So I'm guessing that topic led to the next big one. Let me lighten the mood for you!

Its late evening and I'm ebaying, their daddys is at work(of course) and the kids are playing and Caleb comes over and says Momma does Cameran have a baby in her belly?
I then say what? No Cameran is little she cant have a baby in her belly. Only grownups have babys in there bellys.
I continue doing what I'm doing.....trying to win a dress for Cami.....I lost...I'm so not good at that stuff. Anyhow I look up and his wheels are still turning and then it comes....

......Mommy how do babys get in your belly.....JAW drop!

HE IS 7 ...COME ON!

I'm at loss for words. I say Caleb I I I I and he interrupts me and says Mommy tell me! My mind is now running a hundred miles an hour trying to figure out what in the world to say. I look over at him and curiosity has now taken over his face and he is patiently waiting on an answer.


I say Well you have to have a mommy and a daddy and mommmy has an egg and daddys have an egg and when you put them together it makes a baby and when Jesus thinks you are ready he will make it in your belly.
He says oh well thats neat....ok...and then walked off! Can you see me sweating.....ACCKKKKK! I so need to prepare myself better for that one next time. I'm sure the older he gets the more in detail you have to go and I'm a long time away from that kind of detail.

Camping in Gatlinburg

WOW WOW and WOW is all I can say! We had such an amazing time camping in Gatlinburg. The colors where so breathtaking and it seemed the leaves where changing as the week went on.

(View of Gatlinburg)
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and set up camp, we did have a few problems at first. When we got to the campground it seemed to be a very nice campground, it was nicely shady and it had lots of sites that are spread out decently. The campground for some reason doesn't let you pick your own site so they assigned us one. There probably weren't maybe 10 campers on this 150+ site park and they placed us at the very front.
First thing we noticed was all the nats you couldn't even talk without one flying in your mouth up your nose and yes we even had a few get into our eyes it was so aggravating and the kids where very annoyed and where ready to go home because of the nats. Then of course the site they put us at was so stinking small your camper barley fit on them, no room to park your car on the site either. The sites where also very uneven and stumps everywhere. Jasons parents couldn't even get there lift down to get his mom in there camper and then our site had huge tree stumps. Actually as soon as we got the kids out Cami tripped over one and went face first into the picnic table and had got a huge knot on her head. So the guys went up to the front desk and complained and they got us much better sites in the back. Even better was there where no nats back there and the sites where pull through sites so lots of room for parking your car and camper. So once through all that things went much better. We just spent the remaining of the evening setting up for the 2nd time and getting the kids settled in.

Come early Wednesday morning(2am) we had a good storm and big gust of wind come through that I thought was going to blow us all away. If you can imagine a storm in your home just imagine one in a camper....you hear everything and feel everything. And of course here you are sitting under these huge trees wondering if a limb should fall through where is it going to land.
Strange thing too is that you could literally hear the wind coming through the trees. It sounded like a car coming down a driveway and then all of a sudden louder and louder then SWOOSH and the camper would start rocking back and forth it was so freaky, good thing the kids where asleep. Then came the rain....the best sound you can hear in a camper its so soothing! It rained off and on all day Wednesday so we didn't get out but for just an hour drive to Pigeon Forge. By Wed evening the rain had cleared out so we where set for the fun to begin.

Thursday was my birthday so we headed down the road to an Apple Orchard and man oh man was it perfect.

We ate lunch at there restaurant that had an amazing view of the mountain side with apple trees lined up and down the hills. We also got to see a momma and baby horse running down through the orchards hills. It was perfect and oh my goodness was there food out of this world. Lots of apple options, we had apple fritters with apple butter sauce dipping for an appetizer along side apple cider, it melted in your mouth so yummy! We had there chicken finger special that had an amazing honey mustard apple dipping sauce so YUMMO. And to follow I had an apple pie topped with vanilla ice cream what a lunch it was. We walked around outside afterwards and got some great photos and then picked up some of there Apple Cider on the way out.







We then headed back to Pigeon Forge and played at this new place they had in town. It had Pirate Putt Putt, a Laser tag room and a Mirror Maze, we tried it all. The mirror maze was a hoot imagine not being able to tell who was where and which way to go, it was so confusing weird how your mind thinks...LOL! They make you wear gloves in there so you don't finger print up there mirrors.....could you imagine having to clean all those...Not I!
Jason ran into his self a few times, and his mom ran into the glass with her chair cracking it....we all got a good chuckle out of that one. It was very hard to tell what was real and what was not. They warned us before we went in that they have had several people get broken noses in there and the part she ran into was the room that had the most cracks and tape on it...lol! Cami didn't know what to think, and Caleb thought it was hilarious, such a great memory in there. That pretty much summed up that day the driving from Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg is a nightmare with the traffic its a hot spot that's for sure. Tons of stuff to do there, its like a mini Las Vegas without the gambling, very family orientated, putt-putt, go carts, laser tag and shows galore.



Friday we pretty much stayed in Gatlinburg. We ate some breakfast at one of there famous pancake houses, then hit the Aquarium. The kids LOVED it Cami was very fascinated by the fish and of course the ocean always strikes Calebs interest. When we got to the Seahorses(his favorite sea animal ever) we could not interest him in anything else. My sweet sweet little Caleb got so touched by their beauty and innocence that he just started bawling! Of course they where playing this most soft music that you ever did hear that did make it seem so sad. But bless his heart he just couldn't get over how cute they where and then he said mommy they just look so sad....Then it came...Mommy I want one....then came the tears again! I felt so sorry for him so I quickly pulled him away to see the other seahorses they where too cute and then he got to see some teeny tiny baby ones... it just made his day. I had to pinky promise to get him away to let him hit the gift shop on the way out. He got two sea dragons, a seahorse key chain, a bag and a sea horse t-shirt. He is truly in love with those things. I captured some amazing photos of them so I'm gonna blow one up and put it in his room, he'll love that!
Now I only had one request of this trip and that was to do something that I had never done before of all my trips up to Gatlinburg and that was to watch the sunset on the mountains. So we took our trip up to Clingmans Dome and we got there just in time to see the HUGE pink sun settling down behind the mountain, man was it a breathtaking site. It was so much colder up there and the trees where even more gorgeous up there. I however didn't get a very good shot of the sun setting since we got up there right as it was going down but at least I got to see it even though my camera didn't. I did capture some beautiful pink glow shots! I almost couldn't pull myself away from the endless view of the mountains, no words can even describe what I was feeling up there.....accomplished and no regrets...it was a perfect way to end the day.









Saturday we packed it in and hit the go carts and some shopping on the way out. It was such a wonderful Birthday present to just get away from all the stress from the week before. I didn't..... not once think of any of our everyday problems that the kids have, they for once seemed happy and healthy! Now that's a GREAT getaway!



Today I called and got Camis results from her GI Dr. All her blood test came back normal. No celiacs no thyroid issues...so great news there. But her X-Ray showed a huge amount of bowel a for sure sign and diagnosis of Chronic Constipation! Our instructions are to go ahead with the clean out and start her back on Murilax.
Her good sleeping habits have ended so I guess its off to try the Lunesta. Hopefully it won't back fire like the Ambien. I'll keep you posted. Right now we are just enjoying the last week of the kids fall break then its back to school....siggghhhh!

More pictures to come soon! This is all I had downloaded of my favs right now!