It's Offical...

Cameron can go to nursery!!!! I have been counting down for the past 8 months!

Other cute things about Cameron {who also goes by "baby", "Camers" and "Camo"}:......

Cameron makes the cutest "ruff ruff" sound when you ask him what a dog says. He's also turned into a pretty good little kisser. He's a lip smacker and I love it! He likes to say, "Mom. mom. mom. MOM. mom mom...." oh and Connor taught him to say "bum bum" last week. Other words he likes to use are: Daddy, Addie, bubble, nana (for banana...or any food sometimes) and diaper. ;)

Cameron LOVES to jump...on the trampoline or off. He has a cute hop! He loves water and hoses and watering cans. He really enjoys watering plants. He also likes throwing things. We gave him a hot wheel car to play with during Sacrament Meeting this past Sunday and he chucked it two rows up barely missing Sister P's head!

Another thing Cameron absolutely LOVES is blankets. Kaitlyn sucked her finger, Addie, Weston and Connor loved their paci's...but Cameron doesn't like either of those things. He loves to snuggle with a blanket. He has to have one or more for nap or bedtime. The other day he had 4 that he was carrying around, draped over his shoulder or around his neck. It's pretty adorable.

Cameron also really likes food. He's not very picky either. He can out eat Weston and Connor (combined) for any meal. Like most kids, he like sweets and treats but he really eats just about anything. He's a social eater too. He eats breakfast with the older kids when they are getting ready for school...and then he will climb up on the table and sit right in front of me when I sit down to eat my breakfast and beg food off of me.

I love that his hair is blonde, his eyes are blue, and his skin tans. He keeps us busy but he also keeps us all laughing and entertained. He's pretty much all of the families favorite person right now. :)

I'll have to post pictures of Camo later....when I figure out how to get them off of my phone! :)

Paint

Here's a little bit of advice.

Don't house shop 8 months pregnant.

I've done it twice....I should know...you have a since of urgency. You want  a roof over your head. Paint color and room sizes don't matter as much.

Here's a picture of the kitchen I cooked in, cleaned in and spent most of my waking hours in for the past 16 months.
 

This house just isn't big enough for that amount of color!

My parents took the kids last Saturday and Brandon and I prepped and painted for 12 hours.   I am more into boring neutral colors on the wall...and adding color through decorations and accessories.Here's the kitchen now:

I love to walk into my kitchen and not hear my walls screaming "PAINT ME please!"

THANK GOODNESS!!!

....now I need to work up the nerve to paint the rest of the house...not to mention decorations...

*on a totally unrelated note....will someone please pester me about blogging Cameron's birth story!? I had it all typed up LONG ago and then clicked the wrong key and lost it!*

“To whom do we look, in days of grief and disaster, for help and consolation?...They are men and women who have suffered, and out of their experience in suffering they bring forth the riches of their sympathy and condolences as a blessing to those now in need.  Could they do this had they not suffered themselves?”  ~Orson F. Whitney

I love this quote...the truth of it has had a profound impact on my life. My brother and sister in law shared it and I had to put in on my blog so that I'd know where to find it!

School starts for us in 2 1/2 weeks! What the!?

I don't like summers here in the Valley of the Sun.

I love summers to be a time spent outdoors! You can't do that here without a pool in your backyard....

 I find myself conflicted...

I want the summer to go by fast so the heat will be over with...

I want the summer to go by slow so that we can sleep in and enjoy the break and have fun together.

I don't know what it is going to take for me to love summer again. I miss being able to enjoy it.

We took a fun family trip to the Durango Mountain Resort the beginning of June. it is BEAUTY-full there! It was so nice to be in the cool mountain air and to just swim and play as a family. We took our first real hike as a family. It was a harder hike than we'd thought it would be...and we got eaten alive by bugs...but we saw water falls and streams and trees and flowers. We did something hard and lived to tell about it! (will include pictures later) We also went to see the Bar-D Wranglers again. We had a good road trip there and back. No major freak out sessions...so that was good. None of us wanted to come home.

But...we came home....and then we all spent the next week with the tummy flu. It was killer. I haven't been that sick in a LONG time. It totally drained me and being sick combined with coming home from a beautiful place to the dry desert heat left me feeling depressed. I went from being on a family vacation high right to a sick family low. Plus I had our ward YW Girls Camp to get ready for.

Camp went well. I had tons of fun with the girls and the leaders. I haven't laughed so hard or acted so goofy in a long time!

This past week we've had our niece Leah staying with us. We've been trying to do some school clothes shopping...which isn't easy when the only ones wanting to shop are me, Kaitlyn and Leah. Addie and the boys go to one store then they are DONE.

So, summer break is coming to an end. I am not sure what to do to make the next 2 1/2 weeks special or fun.

I'm praying for some rain so we can have a little bit of a break from it just being hot and dry.

I'll try to post pics later!

1/2 inch

You can tell that I am excited about learning that there is something besides surgery that I can do to flatten my belly...because this is my third blog post about it this week. I haven't blogged this much is a LONG time!

Just wanted to publicly congratulate myself on losing half an inch around the largest part of my waist line...in 3 days! Maybe I ate different food or drank more water Monday...that could account for something. But I have also done 500+ sitting transverse exercises and about 40 transverse squats every day for 3 days in a row...and I can feel it! I am focusing on flexing my transverse muscles anytime I am going to squat, bend, sit, stand...pretty much all the time.

The transverse muscles are the deepest on your ab muscles...the first to tear and pull apart when you have a baby growing in there....or gain weight for any other reason. I also read that chronic constipation (which I thankful do not have) can tear or weaken those muscles. I am learning that the key to a strong core is to stregnthen the transverse muscles first.

I am waiting for my Tupler Splint to arrive in the mail. I am NOT looking forward to wearing this thing in the heat....but I know I need to to help things heal and to be able to do other transverse work out without further damaging those muscles.

LOVE this quote from the fit2b.us site! " {read this like Jeff Foxworthy talkin’ about rednecks terms}: If you’ve got a 3-finger wide Grand Canyon in the trench of yer gut, you might need to splint! If you can sink yer knuckles into the ocean of yer belly like the Titanic and yer feeling yer own spine bones like icebergs, you might need to splint! If your pulse hops under yer fingers like a jumpin’ bean, you might need to splint!" 

...yep...I need to splint!

..I don't think I will  feel like I have officially started working the Tupler Technique until my splint, band and guidebook arrive. When they do, I am going to take some "before" pictures. Then I will be able to look back and really know if this is working or not! Click HERE for other peoples before and after pictures. (Do not fear...mine will be taken in a DownEast under shirt! Those things are great at showing off my mommy tummy...) ugh.

Wish me LUCK!

WIERDNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

click HERE to see something weird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! from,Kaitlyn  flake!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DR Rehab

Hi!

I am still researching and trying to figure out the best way to heal my DR.

I sort of impulse bought the Tupler Technique products. I know I will use them....but I wish I'd researched a bit more before buying.

Right now, I am trying to connect with people who have healed or helped to heal DR. I know from experince that having support during a healing process is crucial for success....so I am reasearching excersises and looking for people to reach out to as well.

YouTube actually seems to be a great resource for videos that are "tummy friendly". Like I said in my past post...crunches are the worst thing you could ever do for your abs. (I actually talked to a friend whose husband is a physical therapist today and she told me that's one thing her hubby tells her. "Never do crunches!") SO...with that being said, here are some links/tools that I hope will help me in this healing process!

Work Outs: 

Tupler Technique  Not done by Tupler's company...

Post Natal Rehab  This is a full video of ab workouts that are designed to "close the gap!" (tried it and it's too hard for me right now)

FitHealthyMoms She shows some work outs but doesn't go through all the repetitions. (This is more my level)

The Bump Room

Info and Support:

Tupler Technique

The Tummy Team

T-TAPP

Okay! Here we go!

Does anyone out there of the (2 1/2 people who read this blog) wanna join me on my DR Rehab journey?!

You don't have to have DR to do the work outs! They will still strengthen your core.

Leave me a comment and let's figure out the best way to give each other support....because really, that's what I am most worried about right now....not following through and  not having success because I gave up or did what comes natural to me and that is to put other peoples needs before my own. I need some on going motivation!

I am a good mom and a loving wife but I will be even better at these two extremely  important roles if I am taking care of ME too!