2009 in review

I sat down this morning thinking about how much has changed in my life in 2009. I think I can honestly say that this year has brought more changes in my life than any year before, mostly because it brought the birth of our son. So, I put together this photo reflection of 2009. Enjoy.

January 2009...you can barely tell I'm pregnant.

February 2009...starting to get a pouch.

March 2009...Happy Birthday!

April 2009...Hello "Oscar" aka the Mommy mobile.

May 2009...30 weeks pregnant

June 2009...Sister, Moo and I at my baby shower.

July 2009...The Hardy family grows. Welcome Robert Cameron!

August 2009...Still has his stump.

September 2009...The whole family is exhausted!

October 2009...Happy Halloween!

November 2009...Beautiful smile.

December 2009...Merry 1st Christmas Cameron!

My plan is to start a 365 project for 2010. For those of you who don't know what it is, I will be taking one picture a day to document our year. I am going to set up a seperate photoblog for the project and I will post that link for you when I get it up. I hope you all have a Happy New Year!

A letter to Cameron from Santa

Dear Cameron,
Ho, ho, ho and Merry Christmas to you, my boy! I am so glad that I got to add you to my list this year. I'm even happier that I got to add you on to my nice list.
It is my tradition to make a Christmas list of wishes to give to every child on their first Christmas since they are too young to have a Christmas list for me. So, Cameron, here are my wishes for you.
1. Always believe in the magic of Christmas. Wondorous and amazing things happen to those who believe. Please keep my spirit alive within your heart and your mind.
2. Share the Christmas spirit with others. There will always be someone who has less than you do at Christmas. Seek that person out and share your blessings with them.
And last, but not least,
3. Please leave a glass of cold milk and a plate of treats out for me each Christmas Eve. I get so hungry and thirsty riding in my sleigh, I wouldn't be able to make it to all of the good boys' and girls' houses without the goodies. The reindeer get tired too and love veggies to snack on!

I look forward to reading your Christmas list next year and I'm sure you'll be on my "nice" list for many years to come. Merry Christmas Cameron.
Love, Santa Claus

Bouncy, bouncy

So, I figured that since I was up at 4 in the morning, waiting on Cameron to fall back asleep, that I might as well be productive and upload this video of him in his jumperoo. He's enjoyed sitting in it and playing with the toys for the past week or so, but last night he figured out how to jump in his "jump"eroo. I know I'm biased, but I think it's just the cutest thing!!

The Hardy Christmas Tree 2009

We picked out our Christmas tree! I refuse to have an artificial tree and lucky for us, there is a small Christmas tree farm less than a mile from our house. So, we went to choose and chop down our Christmas tree for Cameron's first Christmas. It was freezing out, so it was a quick event....

Cameron and Zack getting ready to start the search

Luckily, the decision wasn't too hard!

Searching for the perfect tree...

This is it!

Zack doing the hard work.

Success!

Stay tuned for pictures from our "trimming the tannenbaum" evening!

Some recent photos and videos...

Supporting his favorite basketball team!






His first snow 12/5/09






Loving the snow!







Checking out the snowflakes.




Still not too big to snuggle with me!

And, below, for your viewing pleasure...Cameron rolling from his back to his belly. It takes him a little while, but he doesn't give up...I hope he keeps this quality as he gets bigger!

I'm awful...

I haven't updated the blog in forever and there is so much to update. I guess you can blame it on the season... the holidays seem so much busier when you have a little one! I originally thought I would make a bunch of seperate posts to update everyone on all of the exciting things going on, but it's been so long, that is a little overwhelming. Instead, I'm going to make one giant post in an attempt to summarize everything that has gone on. So...here it goes...
We spent Thanksgiving in Alabama. It was our first big trip with both Cameron and Lex. I didn't realize how much more stuff you need when you are travelling with a baby. Despite having an SUV which we got to haul all of our baby stuff around, we still needed to use "space bags" (the bags you vaccum the air out of) to pack all of our clothes. Cameron's clothes alone took up a space bag and a half! So, we loaded up the suitcase, pack n' play, travel swing, carseat, boppy pillow, sound machine, baby monitor, a small suitcase filled with toys and books, and Lex, and headed to Alabama Wednesday afternoon. It was a good trip, and Cameron travelled really well in the back seat. Lex also did a great job sharing the cargo area with all of Cameron's accessories! We had a wonderful time in Alabama. Cameron met lots of new relatives and was so pleasant, even though he got passed around a lot! We got lots of compliments on what a good baby he was. Cameron also rolled over from his back to his belly for the first time Thanksgiving morning. I was in the shower, so Zack got to witness this "first". He also was able to catch the roll on video which I'll post later (I'm planning on a picture and video post soon). All in all, we had a great trip and a wonderful holiday in Alabama.
When we got back from Alabama, we decided it was time to stop swaddling Cameron when he slept at night since he was now able to roll over. The problem with swaddling once a baby can roll is that if they roll in their sleep and end up on their stomachs, their arms are not free to hold their head off of the mattress. Deswaddling has been a real treat (please note the scarcasm)! Cameron had a very hard time adjusting to the new sleeping arrangements. Not only would he roll over in his sleep and then wake up, very angry that he was on his belly, he also would swing his arms and wake himself up with each movement. Needless to say, the week following Thanksgiving was a sleepless one for all of us. I am happy to say, though, that Cameron is adjusting to sleeping unswaddled and we are making progress back towards only waking up once or twice a night. I'm really glad we decided to deswaddle before I have to go back to work because I think the sleepless nights would be much worse if I had to be at work with 16 second graders during the day.
Cameron has also been to Miss Kim's (his sitter) twice for "practice runs". This is definitely more for my benefit than his. He has done two half days there, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Next week we will be doing his final trial run so I can go to school and plan with the other teachers for the week that I come back to school. He has done a great job at Miss Kim's and I feel more and more comfortable with him going there while I'm at work. She is so highly recommended and there are two other kids there his age who live in our neighborhood. I think it will be good for him to be around other kids and maybe he'll even make some buddies while he's there!
He is changing so much. His hair is getting thicker and lighter (it looks like he's going to be a "blondie") and he has learned that he has an "outside voice" a.k.a. a shriek that sounds like I am pulling his toenails off. He also interacts with his toys and turns the pages in books when I read to him. He is no longer content just to lay around on his back. Instead, he likes to grab on to your hands and pull himself from laying to sitting and then from sitting to standing. He is still pretty wobbly on his feet, but he loves to stand up (with us holding him of course) and check out the new perspective. He is also a very observant baby. He watches everything. So, I think that gets us pretty much caught up to the Christmas holiday. I will try to be better about posting as we get ready for Cameron's first Christmas.

4 month checkup and pictures

Cameron is four months old! He went to the doctor for his four month check up and got a great report.
Here are his stats:
Weight 15lbs 12.5 ounces (75%)
Height 26 inches (95%)
Head 40 cm (25%)
The doctor said he was healthy and seemed to be reaching the appropriate developmental milestones. He also said it was time to start adding vitamin drops to Cameron's diet. Let me tell you, it is no easy task to give the little guy 1 mL of a yucky tasting, dark staining liquid every day. He has figured out how to push his tounge against the dropper so it is impossible to squirt any liquid into his mouth. If we do manage to get some in his mouth, he is very good at spitting it right back out. The most success we've had is getting him to pitch a major fit and then squirting the entire dropperful into his mouth during a scream. Cruel? Maybe, but it works.
Anyway, the doctor also said that we could start rice cereal if we really wanted to, but we have decided to wait until he is 6 months old since the American Acadamy of Pediatrics (and our pediatrician) recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed until 6 months. Cameron also got his second round of shots. He did almost as well as he did with the first round at two months. The nurse wasn't as quick as the nurse who did them the first time, so he had a little more time to cry, but we all survived. He had a slight fever the next day, but other than that, he was his normal self! We go back next month for his five month checkup.
I can't believe how fast he is growing and how much he has changed. See for yourself....

Rolling, rolling, rolling!

Cameron has been so close to rolling over from his back to his tummy for weeks now. We have been pretty sure it would happen any day since he gets sooooooooo close to making it all the way over. Today, Cameron was hanging out on his tummy in the living room. Tummy time is the only time I am okay with him watching tv since it seems to distract him from being on his tummy...So, he was hanging out on his tummy when I got up to let Lex in from outside. Imagine my surprise when I turned around and my boy was on his back! What?!?! I couldn't really believe it, so I grabbed the camcorder, flipped him back onto his tummy and this is what I saw...

As you can see, even Lex was excited and came right over to congratulate Cameron! Now, if he can just figure out how to get from his back to his belly, he'll be totally "mobile", in a log rolling kind of way... watch out!

New camera, new pictures!

Since Cameron has come along, I have really enjoyed taking pictures of him, as I'm sure you 've noticed!! Looking at other people's pictures online, I realized that I wanted to be able to have more control over the pictures I took and their quality and decided to look into getting a new camera. After doing a lot of research, I decided to ask for a Nikon D3000 DSLR for Christmas and Santa brought it to us early! I can't believe how complicated it is, but I've already had a lot of fun playing around with settings. Luckily there is an "automatic" mode that I can use when I'm not learning so I don't miss out on any pictures. I'm also planning on taking some classes this winter so I can take full advantage of all of the camera's options (it's kind of overwhelming!). So far, I've loved using it, even in automatic mode. Here are some of the first pictures I've taken with the new camera...



He's getting much better at being on his tummy!


He's going bald. He lays in his crib at night and rubs his head on the mattress!



This jacket was Zack's when he was a baby...it fit Cameron perfectly!




Father and son photo shoot.

My two favorite guys!

I am so proud of this one- I love it!

Too cute!

3 months- better late than never!

So, technically Cameron is a little bit over three months but we didn't go for his three month check up until last Friday, so I'm not so late after all! He did a great job at the doctor and got a good report. The current stats are:
Length: 25 3/4 in (95 percentile)
Weight:14lbs 2 oz (75 percentile)
Head: 40 cm (25 percentile)

Yup...this is the first time the dr. gave us the percentile on his head circumfrence and apparently he has a tiny head, especially for being so big otherwise. The doctor wasn't concerned at all since his head has consisitenly been tiny since he was born (who knew?!?!). Hopefully that doesn't mean he'll have a little brain (ha!). He has had a great month and again has changed so much! He babbles all of the time, and his smiles just get bigger and bigger. He's also well on his way from rolling over from his back to his tummy. Hopefully, when he does, we'll catch it on video and upload it here! He has slept through the night a couple times but he still mostly gets up once a night to eat around 3:30-4:00 am. I actually kind of enjoy the quiet time we have together in the middle of the night although a couple of weeks ago he was getting up every couple of hours and that was a bit rough! Our four month check up (and second round of vaccinations) will be on December 2. Time continues to fly by and we are loving every minute of it!
Here are our 3 month pictures...

My first Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all! Cameron had a great "first" Halloween despite being on the mend from fighting a stomach virus & fever earlier this week. He started out the day in his "Halloween" outfit, and luckily we got a picture when we did since before long his adorable shirt was covered in spit up and poo(thank you stomach virus!).



Next, it was time to get ready to go trick or treating. Cameron looked so cute in his Tigger costume!




Our first stop was to see Nan and Papaw. They loved his costume too!

After we went to see Nan and Papaw, we went to see Granny and then we went to Aunt Kristen and Uncle Mike's house. This was a surprise to Aunt Kristen and Uncle Mike and this was Cameron's first ever "Trick or Treat". We caught the big occasion on video which I have attempted to upload below. I apologize for the bumpy video (I need some camcorder practice) and the obnoxious commentary- you might want to turn your volume off (ha!)! Hope you enjoy it & Happy Halloween from the Hardy Family!

Pumpkin Patch and Carving...

Last week we went to the pumpkin patch to pick out two pumpkins...one to carve into a jack o'lantern and one for my "special" Halloween project (more on that below!). Cameron got all dressed up for our big trip....



We arrived and got ready to head to the "patch".


Now in my head, I was thinking patch=big field full of pumpkins, but when we got there, we first came to a collection of about 30 pumpkins at the front of the store. That was enough for us and we didn't really take the time to investigate if there was an actual "patch" like I was thinking. Instead, we just surveyed the pumpkins in the collection and found two that would suit our purposes. Anti-climactic? Yes, but we got what we needed...

Cameron was very picky about the pumpkins he wanted to bring home!


Saturday morning, we got ready to work on my special project.
Zack took over carving duties.



Cameron took over the supervising duties.

After three tries, we finally got the holes big enough and now I proudly present to you...

Cameron Hardy in a Pumpkin!!

I love how these pictures turned out. My intention was to get them printed and send out Halloween cards to everyone, however, realistically, with the amount of free time I have lately, the Halloween cards would probably get to you by the week after Thanksgiving. So, I decided to share them here instead! Cameron did a great job and was very patient in putting up with my antics! I have to take advantage of his inability to object to sitting in a cold, slimy pumpkin for an absolutely adorable picture while I can!!

10/31**I need to edit this to add that Cameron is the proud winner of our local news station's Halloween picture contest thanks to the picture above! He got over 100 votes for favorite picture. We are now the proud winners of a Heartland series t-shirt and "bragging rights" according to the news station's web site- Go Cameron!!!**

It's been awhile...

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated our blog...we've been really busy! As Cameron is getting older, he's sleeping a little bit less during the day which makes it a little tougher to find the time to update. He's 12 weeks old today, about a week away from being three months old! I still can't get over how fast time flies when you have a little one around. Cameron has been growing and changing so much. He smiles all the time. My favorite smiles are the ones that are so big that he squints his eyes and ends up with a double chin. They are amazing! His favorite activities are laying on his play mat and trying to catch his monkey and giraffe that hang above his head. He also loves listening to Raffi...we now have 3 Raffi albums and even Zack sings along! His favorite book so far is Curious George's ABCs and his favorite toy is his "moo cow" that squeaks and has a mirror for him to look at himself. I can also say he's definitely "discovered" his hands. He loves chewing on them and he even clasps his fingers together every once in a while.
We have a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks...Katie and Kelli (my best friends since middle school) are flying in this weekend for a whirlwind visit to meet Cameron. We're hoping to spend some time hanging out here and also visiting with my parents at the lake. We are also planning a family trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out Cameron's first pumpkin and maybe we'll get to pick some apples while we're there. Then Halloween is right around the corner...Cameron's Tigger Halloween costume is ready to go (unless he hits another growth spurt in the next week and a half!). We also have his three month professional pictures the week after Halloween. So, hopefully, I will have lots of new updates and pictures as we enjoy all of the fun plans we have coming up. Love to all!

2 month checkup!

Cameron went for his two month checkup on Monday. The doctor said everything looked great and Cameron was a healthy, happy little boy!
Here are his most recent stats:
Weight- 12lbs14oz; 75th percentile
Height- 24 1/4 inches; 90th percentile
Head-38.4 cm
I was really dreading the vaccination part of this appointment, so Zack took off work to come with us to the appointment. I must say, the nurse was fabulous. I didn't watch her give him the shots, I just watched the little tray she brought the needles in on, but she had given him all three shots before I even heard him scream! After the third and final shot, he cried for about a minute and a half and that was it. Yup...that was it! All of the stress and worry for just about nothing! Cameron has definitely pitched bigger fits at home, he didn't even make his pitiful scream/cry noise that I lovingly call the "goat call" which he uses when he's really upset over something! I was so proud of him being such a brave and tough little guy. He was basically asleep by the time we got back to the car and stayed asleep except to eat and get his diaper changed until it was time for bed. He also slept really well Monday night. Tuesday night, he came down with a bit of a fever, but one dose of Tylenol knocked it out (although I didn't sleep much because I was worried his fever would come back in the night and get worse). So, all in all, our little guy is healthy, brave, and growing too fast! Zack and I still fall more in love with him (and eachother) every day! We are so lucky.

Sleeping Through The Night.

Cameron decided to celebrate being two months old by sleeping through the night. Sunday night, he went right to sleep at 8:00. I woke up around 3 am quite confused since I didn't remember getting up to feed Cameron around 1 am when he usually gets up to eat. Zack was confused and a bit worried too, so he got up and checked on him and sure enough, Cameron was sleeping soundly. So, we went back to sleep until I woke up around 4, sure something was wrong since I still hadn't been up to feed Cameron. I checked on him this time and he was still sleeping! Cameron didn't get up to eat until 5:15 which is when Zack gets up to go to work! Although we were thrilled that he slept through the night, we were pretty hesitant to celebrate too much in case it was a fluke. Well...last night, it was the same thing. He went right to sleep at 8:00 and didn't get up to eat until 5:00. Unlike last night, Zack and I slept through the night too and didn't have to get up three or four times to make sure everything was alright! I hear that if babies do things three times in a row, it's safe to plan on it sticking for awhile, so everyone cross their fingers that he sleeps this well again tonight! I'm so proud of our little guy (and quite well rested!!)

Our first adventure in public!

Last Friday, we finally took Cameron on his first adventure in public. We started out at Babies R Us to get diapers and wipes and of course we ended up with a few extras (toys, books, halloween costume!). Cameron hung out in his car seat in the cart and did a great job. He though about fussing when the cart wasn't moving, but all in all, he did a great job! After that, we went to a sub shop for dinner. I put Cameron in his Baby K'Tan and he sat in my lap the whole time we ate! No fusses!! Finally, we went to Home Depot. It was in the same plaza as the sub shop, so I just kept Cameron in the K'Tan and walked over. Cameron really seemed to enjoy being able to look around and see everything and he was so comfy that he eventually fell asleep in Home Depot! It had been so long since we'd been out shopping together that we actually were out a little later than we had planned which meant that we didn't get home until after Cameron's bedtime so he got to bed about an hour late. Boy, did he make us pay for that! He slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up VERY upset. He cried and fussed for the next three hours and we finally got him to fall asleep at midnight. I'm thinking it was a combination of overstimulation from the outing and being overtired from us keeping him out too late. Another lesson learned for these new parents! All in all, it was great to get him out and about and just to be out of the house as a family!

Here's Cameron in his Baby K'Tan!! Such a great investment.