The Holidays are Here!

Early December FLEW by, luckily I managed to get some good pics to remember the blur...
This shirt pretty much sums up Cam, "always jolly"... he hates the car seat, otherwise he is a happy baby!

South Coast Plaza (Crystal Court) train ride for Mattie!

Santa came to Mattie's preschool! Luckily Cam was there for the holiday party, so he got to meet the big man as well! Mattie sat on Santa's lap this year, and told him that she wanted a razor for Christmas, much better than last year, when she barely spoke a word and would not get close to him!

A December can't go by without a visit to Olwyn street in Tustin... the whole neighborhood is decked out with AMAZING lights!

My growing kiddos!

I just LOVE this pic of my happy kids here! Cam is about 12 weeks old now!

And look at this happiness!

Thanksgiving after party... Mattie followed Cam's lead and decided to rest....

All refreshed, ready to party some more!

My, how time flies!

Cam is already 10 weeks old! I'm sad to say I let 5 weeks go by in between posting blog updates, but hey, I update on FB a little more often!
I didn't get a pic of the kids in their costumes together, but here they are Halloween Day in their festive "regular" clothes!

Our first family photo (since Cam arrived) was taken at the Irvine Great Park Pumpkin Harvest. I can't believe it took us 8 weeks to get somebody to take a picture of the 4 of us!

Mattie still asks to hold her baby brother every chance she gets... here Cam is almost 8 weeks old and Mattie is 3 1/2!

Cameron is 5 weeks old!

Mattie still loves being big sis, and asks to hold her little brother often!

My, what big eyes you have little boy!

Cam gives us practice smiles... and I was able to get one on camera!

Tummy time... doesn't last for long, he usually rolls onto his back pretty quickly ;)

Is this the same baby?

No, it is not... the top is a photo of Mattie when she was just a week old... and the bottom photo is Cameron around the same age... crazy how much they look alike!

Newborn days...

Cameron decided to take a nap without his shirt because it was quite warm during his second week home ;)

2 weeks old today! Cam went to watch football with Daddy...

And Mattie got some much needed alone time with Mommy at Pretend City

Doctor visit at 16 days old, and Cam already weighed 8 lbs, 11ounces! I can't believe how quickly this kid is putting on weight! No wonder I feel like he is always eating, and my life revolves around his eating!

Cameron's first week at home

Mattie LOVES being a big sister and asks to hold Cameron all the time!

Cam's first bath... he seems to be sleeping through it....

All cleaned up, ready to poop some more!

Mattie was napping, so mommy went a little paparrazi crazy with Cameron...

Here are a couple of my fave shots!

Cameron is here!

He is finally here! After being uncomfortable and in early labor for weeks, I finally stopped waiting around for Cam to show up... then he decided it was time... he really decided... just over an hour of active labor and bam, he was here (so yes, just like with Mattie, I showed up to the hospital fully dilated and did not get an epidural!) Cameron was born at 3:39am weighing in at 7 1/2 pounds, and was about 19 1/2 inches long.

So relieved to be done with labor! Yes, it was painful, but it was FAST!

Sunday afternoon in the hospital

Mattie was thrilled to come meet her baby brother... we had been saying he would come "at the end of summer" for months, so she certainly was ready to meet him. We are blessed to have two healthy children and cannot wait to have lots of fun as our kiddos grow up!

Lately....

My little gymnast... Mattie takes a class every week while I get to sit upstairs and take a break for an hour... first she is getting ready for a forward roll, and next she is practicing her beam skills...

Curious George baked carrot muffins, so Mattie just had to do the same... luckily, grandma was brave enough turn her oven on so Mattie could bake, as I have been in no mood to heat up my kitchen, being 8 months preggers....

We headed to Balboa on one of the hot weekend days, where Mattie was recruited to clean the firetruck with some other kids who were out and about staying cool near the ocean...

Have you ever seen child labor produce such a happy face?

Isaac turns 2!

Mattie's good friend, Isaac turned 2 years old! He invited us to Irvine Park to celebrate his big day...

Mattie and the birthday boy at the petting zoo

Mattie and Tatum decorating cupcakes

Irvine Park wouldn't be complete without a ride on the train!

Some BFF time...

Mattie just loves her BFF Tatum... recently, we met up in Oceanside for a playdate at the beach!

Mattie was also very excited to show Tatum around Pretend City.... they played dress-up and performed on stage...

And here they took turns playing doctor/patient in the "doctor's office"

4th of July fun!

Mattie had a great time on the 4th this year! Two parties, each with lots of kids, BBQ and water balloons....

And we ended the day watching fireworks close to home with Grandma and Papa!

Ladies Road Trip to Arizona!

Apparently I forgot how much I despise the summer heat of Phoenix, b/c my mom and I planned to take one more trip out before baby Cameron makes his appearance.... I was very quickly reminded that I would not like to own a big house, if the cost was living with long summer temps of over 100 degrees...Needless to say, we spent a lot of time indoors visiting and playing....Mattie loved catching up w/ her newest cousin Samantha...

Of course we hit up the Kids Museum, where Mattie did her Marilyn Monroe pose again....

And Mattie and Ryan even played outside for a bit.... kids see water and they don't care if it is 109 degrees!

The best part of the trip was getting to hang with the Melaras, in fact, that was the ONLY reason I would ever go to AZ in the summer.... Poor Jason had to deal w/ a house full of ladies for 3 days, he already has 3 in his own life, and 3 more showed up... what ran through my head most of the trip while we were inside playing was "welcome to crazytown!" But so glad we got to see our favorite people!