All Moved In

Well we did it. Last Tuesday around noon we found out that by the end of the business day we would get the keys to the home we would be renting. So right then we decided to make Wednesday "moving day". I'd been packing what I could for about a week and a half and Gregg had taken a few loads down already, so we had a pretty good jump start. Our nieces Courtney and Ashley helped watch the kids for me while I packed up the rest of the house Tuesday night. Gregg's Brother Chris helped him load the moving truck and came with us to Bakersfield to help him unload. Gregg mother was in L.A., tending to some personal business after visiting his younger brother Jeff and family in Tuscon, so she was able to come up to Bakersfield Wednesday and Thursday. The kids did really well during the move and I was able to get every box unpacked by Saturday night, (I HATE not being able to find anything and everything else that goes along with living out of boxes.) After that it's just been hanging pictures and catching up on laundry. It's nice to feel like the house is becoming our home. It's significantly larger that the last house we lived in, or any house we've lived in for that matter, and the kids have loved having the extra space. Here are a few pictures:

Here it is.. Home Sweet Home

The Entryway and part of the Formal Living/Dinning Room


The view of the Family room from the stairs.

Our Kitchen.

Carter is standing in front of the laundry room door with the bathroom to his right and the guest room directly in front of him.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Carter and Kyle's Room

Cammie's Room

The Back Yard

Gregg took this picture a few days before we moved in, the grass is much greener now thanks to his care.

We have lots of room so please come visit. We are very excited about Gregg's new job, (that is going very well by the way,) but we will miss everyone in Fresno very much!

Cammie is 4 Months Old

My little angle is 4 months old. She had a doctor appointment last week and she was 11 lbs. 9 oz and 23.5 inches. She is in the 10th % for height and weight. I'd say that's pretty good considering the fact that she was close to the 3rd % in weight like 9 weeks ago. She got three shots and did very well only crying as she got the last one. She is healthy and developing great! She likes to grab things like her car seat toys. She can take her pacifier out of her mouth and as long as she keeps it in her hand she can get it back in her mouth on her own. She tries to sit up but doesn't quite have the strength yet. She still loves to sit in the Bumbo and does it even better now. She can roll from side to side, and I think that she could roll to her belly if she wanted to, but she doesn't like to be on her belly so she stops on her side. If I give her a nudge to her stomach she gets mad and wiggles back up to her side. She kicks and scoots all over the floor. There is no point putting a blanket down on the floor for her to lay on because in 5 or 10 minutes she'll be 12 inches from it anyway. She talks a lot and is the most content happy little baby I've ever been around. She was a total peach during our move this week. She continues to be a source of joy for our hole family.

Our Father's Day Adventure

I hope that all of the Father's of the world had a wonderful Father's Day. Ours was an adventure. It all started like any other Sunday, washing cars (except this time I washed them because after all it was Father's Day,) and a little light yard work while the boys played outside. Gregg suggested that we make a quick run down to Bakersfield because the kids and I hadn't seen the new house yet, and he could take a light load of things like patio furniture. We loaded up and headed out. Just before Selma (about 20 miles down the road), one of the trailer tires blew out. It had enough air left in it for us to limp into town and get a cheap one put on as a temporary fix.


Carter wanted to help me feed Cammie while we were waiting at the hole-in-the-wall tire shop.

So new (used) tire is on and we are back on our way. Well about another 20 miles down the road guess what happened...yep, the new-used tire blew out. This time we had to stop right away so we didn't damage the wheel. Luckily we were by the Tulare County Cemetery. Gregg pulled in and unhooked the trailer, took off the spare, (that was also unusable) and went in to town with the kids while I stayed at the cemetery. We put the fixed spare on and headed down the road again. It took us about 4 hours to get to Bakersfield when it should have taken us 1 1/2. It was quite a Father's Day adventure.

The next day I noticed Carter's truck and trailer was set up like this. When I asked him about it he said that he had to take of the tire because it was flat, and his guy was going to get a new one from the cemetery.

Backseat Drivers

My boys are 2 and almost 4 years old and already they are completely backseat drivers. Carter is the law enforcement in our car. His Grandma B told him what each color means on the signals. He has decided that it's his job to tell me what I should be doing. The other day I made a right turn on a red light, Carter noticed and was appalled that I "went" even though Red means Stop. I spent the rest of the drive home getting scolded and trying to explain why what I did was legal to my 4 year old! It was actually pretty funny to hear his logic. Mostly I heard things like, "but Grandma B said red means stop. Mommy you have to wait until green turns on because only green means go."

Kyle on the other hand is our adrenaline kid. He likes the windows down, the loud motor, and going fast. He is usually yelling, "Go FASTER Mommy! FASTER FASTER FASTER!" He also mimics the sounds the truck makes, as if it wasn't loud enough already. A stop light is practically torture for Kyle, and he thinks I'm doing on purpose. "I can't go Kyle, the light is red" doesn't mean anything to his little 2 year old mind. He just thinks I'm not going to defy him. He's crazy!

Cameron usually sleeps through all of it! ;-)

A New Cast

Yesterday was Carters cast removal appointment. Here is what it looked like after 5 weeks. His poor little hand smelled like feet. I think I was more excited about him getting it off than he was. They stuck a plastic splint in to protect him from the heat of the saw and then off it came!

Next we went in for another x-ray. Both of the breaks were slightly more severe than they originally thought which means that they haven't heeled as much as they would have liked. You can see in the picture that the fracture still goes all the way through. His doctor decided he needed to wear another cast for 2 weeks.

This cast is SO much better than the last one. It's called a swimming cast. It can get wet, it's not as thick as the old one, and it stops before the elbow so he can bent his arm. He was so cute in the docs office telling me all the things he can do again. "Mom now I can hold my plate when I eat dinner so you don't have to scoop my food....I can pull my pants down myself too so I don't need you to help me go potty anymore...." we played that game for a while, there was quite a bit he couldn't do with his old cast.


Here is the pain scale that they use. Carter noticed it on the wall and said, "Look Mom, today I'm the end one"(meaning #0). I lifted him up and he said "last time I was this one," pointing to 4, "and when I went with Daddy I was this sad face" pointing to 8. When he got back from the ER Carter had told me about the sad face that he had to show the Doctor about his hurt.

He wanted a picture with the Valley Children's Giraffe.

We were looking forward to having no cast, but I was also a bit worried about him re injuring his arm. With this new swimming cast we don't have the hindrance's of a cast, but he gets all of the protection of one. Best of both worlds I guess! ;-)

Back to Bakersfield

Well we are officially moving back to Bakersfield. Gregg got a job doing sales and installations for a flooring store in Bakersfield. He has been working there for about 3 weeks now while we have been in Fresno. He lives in our RV during the week and comes home Saturday night. We have been looking for a house to rent but have had zero luck until late last week when Gregg found us an unbelievable home to rent. We will get the keys Thursday, (hopefully) and we are planning to move on Sunday - Gregg's only day off. Moving sucks but I can't wait for us all to be together again all week long. The boys have had a hard time not having their Daddy around all week.

Gregg and I loaded up a trailer load for him to take with him when he went down this week so that we could have a jump on things this weekend.

Some precious cargo.

Very Fragile!

Kyle was so cute. He was "helping" by loading his bike for us, (after we already had the trailer stuffed.) He worked so hard getting it up the ramp and when he got it where he wanted it he said, "It's perfect Daddy!"

So proud of his job-well-done!

Meet the "Clampetts"

Hand-Made Gifts

The other day our neighbor Irina came by to give Cameron a gift. She knitted her this beautiful blanket. She made one when Carter was born that I have always used in the babies cribs, but it's green and she said Cammie needed a pink one. It is so beautiful and soft and it got me thinking about all of the hand-made gifts that Cammie has gotten.

My sister Allie made her this awesome blanket, burp clothes, cute bibs, and this little sign that we have on a shelf in Cammie's room. I have to brag on my little sister a bit. She got a sewing machine for Christmas last year and made all of this stuff in her first round of sewing ever. She also made a bunch of hair bows and flower hair clips.


Grammie Chrissie, (my step mom) made all of these blankets and burp clothes. Theses are big fleece and flannel blankets that are great for laying on the floor or out on the grass. We use them all the time.

Grammie really spoils us and all of her grand kids with hand made gifts. She currently has 15 grand kids and she is always making stuff for them. She has also made us wash clothes, these hooded towels and all of the boys pillow cases. (Carter and Kyle won't let me put a store bought pillow case on their beds, it has to be a "Grammie" pillow case.)

She knitted Cameron this cute little beanie that she wore all winter. Auntie Carroll made the flower hair clip that I clipped on the side.

Auntie Carroll, (my step-sister in-law) made Cameron this ingenious car seat cover. It has come in handy in not only keeping the baby covered from cold, sunshine, and rain drops, but also keeping her covered and hidden from people who want to touch her and stick their faces in her car seat when we are in a public place like the doctors office. (I have had so many more people try to touch my newborn baby girl than I ever had with the boys.) It's also pretty darn cute!

Carroll also made Cammie a personalized bow holder and a bunch of headbands and hair bows. You can see from pretty much any picture I post of Cam that I love hair bows!

My Grandma Wardle makes receiving blankets for all of her grand kids and great grand kids. They are awesome. She crochets the edges of these soft flannel blankets. They are perfect and something else we use ALL the time. The boys still carry around the ones she made for them.

A friend of my Mom's made this quilt. It matches Cammie's room. I think it's so pretty.

We love and appreciate all of the gifts and hand-me-downs that we've gotten for Cammie. I just wanted to do a little something to showcase the hand-made stuff because it amazes me. I can't do more that sew a button on and even that's not great, so to see all of the things that other people have made makes me sit back and say Wow! Thank you to everyone!

Carter and Cammie

Carter and Cameron are total buddies. It is so much fun to watch them interact. Cammie just adores Carter! She lights up when he gets close to her and starts looking around for him when she hears his voice. If she's sitting in her little chair or laying on the floor you can usually find Carter curled up next to her. They talk to each other all the time.

If someone is holding her and gets too close to the front door Carter starts getting very uncomfortable and usually asks them to "give the baby back to my Mommy now." He yelled at his uncle Chris one night when he jokingly mentioned that he'd like to take her home. Carter was less than thrilled about that and watched uncle Chris like a hawk until Cammie was "safe" in Mommy's arms again. I don't think we'll have to worry about anyone bullying our little girl as long as her big brother Carter is around.