Upstream with the Pikes

Our Snow Day!

2012-02-03T16:02:00.001-08:00

Oh, what to do when there's a Blizzard warning in effect, school is closed and the kids restless? Consult Pintrest and find some things to do!!! I came across this the other day, indoor, mess-free finger painting!

It's pretty simple, take a gallon Ziplock bag, pour in some paint, seal, then place a white sheet of paper on the table put Ziplock bag over it and attach to the table with painter's tape. Then let your kids "paint" to their hearts content! (One glitch we found, don't use your nails and scrape the bag...it causes holes! (hence the extra blue tape in spots!)
The kids had alot of fun with it and it is still attached to the table for play again tomorrow. :)

Next on the list...Play outside of course!!!

Do a little shoveling....

A little exploring....

These two were totally loving the first real snow we've had all winter!

This one....not so much....

Needless to say, Drew couldn't wait to get back inside...
Once inside, we warmed up with a steamy cup of hot cocoa, then made some tasty treats for Daddy when he gets home (and the rest of us!)
Nothing like warm Chocolate Chip Cookies fresh out of the oven!!

We then enjoyed some "quiet time" watching "Hook" and relaxing while Drew took an afternoon siesta. :)Here's my happy camper! Drew is so adorable, always so smiley and happy to see me when I come in to get him after a nap. :)

I love days like these when it is filled with fun activities with my kids that bring so much joy into our lives. This is the greatest part of being able to be home with my children, the little things that mean so much and memories that will be cherished for a lifetime. (Hopefully!)

Getting back into the blogging thing...

2012-02-03T15:37:00.000-08:00

Ok everyone, I have had quite the blogging break, but I am going to do my darndest to keep this updated! I have so many fun adventures with my kiddos and I want to share them, so blog, here I come! I already put some pics from Dan's Birthday on here and am working on another post. We'll see how soon I can get to it. but hopefully there will be no more 2 year gaps! :)

Let them eat Cake!!

2012-02-03T14:49:00.000-08:00

You may or may not know, but there's nothing I love more than making a fun Birthday cake, for example...I decided for Dan's 30th Birthday I would go out of my cake comfort zone and experiment with marshmallow fondant. It wasn't as dreamy and fun of an experience as I had hoped and will most likely stick to my Mother-in-law's amazing Buttercream Frosting recipe from now on, but it still turned out pretty cool. My hubby is a huge hockey fan and his favorite team is the Vancouver Canucks. So I made a hockey puck with their symbol for his cake. What'd ya think? :)

The kids loved "helping" Dan with the candles...look at the determination on Cam's face!!

Then I have a new friend here that's little girl was having a birthday and her Mom was really stressed about the cake, and the theme was Ducks, sooooo I offered to make the cake. This is what I came up with. :)Oh and I made some ducklings as well since it was a rather large gathering for the party. It was a fun little project.

Snow~Bunnies :)

2009-12-15T11:21:00.001-08:00

We were so excited to have our first little snowfall. Cam couldn't wait to go out and play. Needless to say, it took 20 minutes to get all the snow gear on and then after 15 minutes we were all frozen and had to come inside! Cam's favorite part was going down his slide head first with it covered in snow, but was then upset when the snow didn't "reappear" on the slide afterwards. He is definatly taking after his Daddy in his love of the outdoors in winter. I prefer to stay inside with a cup of cocoa and watch :).

This was the back-up photo for our Christmas cards..I was going to title it, Ho!Ho!Ho! Merry Christmas! This was the night that Cam dumped half the bottle of Mr. Bubbles in the tub while I was getting Ally undressed. He is such a minx lately!

Hair cuts!

2009-07-10T11:39:00.000-07:00

I have to say, not only do I totally love and miss Jayci, but recently I was exploring through her blog, came accross this picture of her hair and totally loved it! So...when I went to get my hair cut yesterday I showed the stylist her picture and asked her to make my hair similar. :)

This is what I got...

Pretty close, obviously not going to be exact same since Jayci's hair is amazing and I have no time to do anything with mine...but I really like the cut! It's super easy and looks half-way decent without doing anything other then brushing it. Dan even said he liked it, and he always insisted he wouldn't if I got it cut. Thanks Jayci! Oh and by the way, my hair is all natural now..no dyes, perms or anything...hasn't been that way since 7th grade! And I have to say, I like my natural color best, haha, never would have guessed and could have saved myself alot of time and money over the years!

Oh yeah and this little stinker got his mane cut too :)

I love you Mommy!

2009-07-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

Recently Ally has discovered how to soothe herself by sucking on her two middle fingers on her right hand...I was thrilled, not only can she make herself happy when I am busy, but she looks adorable doing it!I think of it as her way of saying, "I love you Mommy."

She can even soothe herself to sleep...ahhh, peaceful bliss :)

I love you too Ally!

Just a little Update

2009-07-10T10:55:00.000-07:00

A little update and picture eye-candy :)

(Not sure why but I couldn't get the above picture to rotate...hmmm)

Cam checking out the F-16 statue at the Air Force Museum

Ally and Daddy taking a snooze together

Cam and Ally posed for Daddy's Father's Day Present

Ally just hanging out :)

Fun Birthday!

2009-07-08T17:09:00.000-07:00

Cam's friend Karen turned 2 and had her birthday celebration at the park. Needless to say, Cam was thrilled to be invited!

He personally took the liberty of escorting the Birthday Girl to the playground.

Then assisted her in climbing up...(what a gentleman, his Mama is teaching him right!)

He made sure she found the slide okay

Then took the smaller more difficult slide while she had the smoother bigger one :)

He was rewarded handsomely with a birthday cupcake :)

Karen had the treat of a seranade of "Happy Birthday" by the saxaphonist of the neighboring free jazz concert.

Cam and his best buddy Owen, or as Cam calls him, "Owie" :)

Over-all Cam had a blast!

Great birthday bash Karen!

Ally's first Playdate :)

2009-06-12T19:30:00.000-07:00

I watched my friend Caroline's baby Whitley Claire today for a couple hours and Ally and she enjoyed some tummy time together :)

What a smiley baby Whitley Claire is!

Not that Ally doesn't have the cutest smile ever!

Although Deer-in-headlights is Ally's classic face when I get out the camera...

Ally and Whitley Claire are 2 weeks apart, Ally is younger, but Whitley is so much bigger! But my babies tend to be little ones...that's okay, she's going to be huge before I know it!

Fun Adventures

2009-06-12T19:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the park with my "twin" and her little boy and this was the sand pit/play area that they had for the kids to play in, needless to say Cam was in heaven! (Cam is in all blue in the lower left.)

Ally had fun watching Cam coat his entire body in sand. :)

Baby goats! Too cute!

We went to Youngs Dairy last weekend and Cam loved feeding the Mommy goat.

And pretending to drive the tractor....

What a Good Big Brother

2009-06-12T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is a fun one of Ally...I thought this hat was too stinkin' cute on her!

Cam totally loves Ally and loves to give her kisses :)

Cam and Ally hanging out

Cam has become the best big brother. He has really started helping to keep her happy when she is crying, he will go over and try and put her binky in her mouth and he'll talk to her and play. It's so cute and most of the time it works to make her happy till I can come over too. I love watching Cam with her, you can tell he really loves her and is going to be one of those protective big brothers. Ally loves to watch Cam, she is always looking for him and gives him big smiles :).

Just when you think they can't get any cuter...

2009-06-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

The other day Cam had his mini-loader and was pretending to dump things into my hand, when I asked him what he was dumping he said 'Cheeseburgers'. It was so funny. Luckily he was still pretending to do so by the time I got the camera.Cam is so stinkin' cute when he says "cheeseburgers"! I love that he is starting to use his imagination!

My Twin?

2009-05-27T11:17:00.000-07:00

Cam has become a collector of things...sticks, rocks, bugs..anything he can get his hands on outside, he picks them up and carries them around with him. I feel like over-nite he has become a little boy, and no longer a baby. He is so into anything with wheels and just rough and tough, getting dirty and into things. Man, I love my little guy!
Cam showing his award-winning smile. He loves to "smile" for the camera!

So this is my friend Charity...everyone that sees the two of us together thinks we're sisters or at least somehow related, but to both our knowledge we aren't. At church even, when we've both been at this ward for over a year, we are still confused for the other unless our husbands are wtih us. :) I totally loveher and think she's awesome, so at least it's someone I like to be mistaken for :). What do you think? (we took this picture at her son's b-day party and were laughing, cause we both had white v-necks on and our hair up, so even our clothes matched and it was when one of her friends asked if I was her sister that we decided that we should have a poll to see if we should consider ourselves "long-lost twins". :))

Holly takes a Time Out

2009-05-20T12:39:00.001-07:00

This past weekend I was blessed with the oppertunity to attend Time Out for Women in Cincinnati. It was so great! If any of you live near a city that hosts one, I definatly reccomend going! I was able to spend time with my gal-pal Liz Carr, what an awesome time we had and I am so grateful for our friendship, I wish she wasn't moving in a couple months! Stinkin' Air force! But I was able to be so spiritually up-lifted by the speakers and beautiful music. The performers were Hilary Weeks and Jenny Oaks Baker, both are so talented and their music invited the spirit so well, it was great! Some of the gospel tid-bits I learned and brought back with me were:
"You haven't really learned something unless you've changed from it" ~Sheri Dew
"Nothing will quiet the spirit of a rightous woman."
"Obedience is not perfection, obedience is trying" ~Wendy Watson Nelson (wife of Russell M. Nelson)
"A stubborn child can turn into a rightous adult that won't succum to the world"~ Emily Watts
"Bring to the Lord your needs and he will take them, bless you, then give you sufficiant supply to meet your need and give you comfort."
"The highest form of worship is duplication." ~ S. Michael Wilcox
And the greatest thing I've heard in a while that really made me want to change is this:
"If you saw a mother treating her daughter the way you treat yourself, what would you think of her? How should a daughter who's deserving of such wonderful blessings be treated? Heavenly Father loves us like we love our children, unconditionally and fully. He gave us the oppertunity to be parents to see things from his perspective. He loved us even before we came to this Earth." ~ Kim Nelson
As I heard these things I realized that I do beat myself up alot that things aren't clean enough, the kids aren't as smart/well behaved/obiedient/etc. as other kids and it's by short-coming, I'm not keeping myself spiritual enough, and the list goes on, but after I heard Brother Nelson's talk, I realized that Heavenly Father loves me so much more then I give myself credit for and he doesn't see those things as short-comings. Instead he sees the things I am blessed with the ability to do and I should also. So here's to all you women and mother's out there...We are loved, and you are doing a fambulous job! Even if there is dishes in the sink, laundry in heeps and babies screaming, YOU ARE AN AMAZING WOMAN, give your babies hugs and kisses and tell them and your hubby you love them and give yourself a hug also. That will please your Heavenly Father more then if you clean your whole house. I love this gospel and all the wonderful lessons I have been taught, I am so grateful for my family and the wonderful life I have been blessed with. Thank you all for being a part of it! :)

Just in case you wanted an update....

2009-05-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

Well, where do I began? I've decided that any mom with more then one child that is able to keep an up-to-date blog deserves an award! Holy cow, what a crazy schedual I have now! It's so wonderful to have a baby in the house again though. I just look at her tiny, sweet, little face and smile. Ally is such a beautiful baby, espacially now that she is smiling and starting to coo. It's the sweetest thing. When she smiles her whole face lights up and your heart melts. Cam is just too fun for words these days. He mimicks all the words you say, except "I love you"...Mommy is working really hard on that one. But he is learning so fast! He now knows about 5-6 letters and 3 numbers, and he knows circle and all the basic colors. His favorite movies are Elmo visits the Firehouse, Finding Nemo, and Cars. He will do anything and everything to get outside where a walk and swinging on the swing for an hour will make you his new best friend. Dan and I are hanging in there...as a couple we are fabulous, but as parents we are always reminding ourselves that we are blessed to be parents and that someday we are going to miss the tantrums, screaming babies and poopy diapers :). We just took a family trip to California, Dan had to go there for work and the kids and I were able to tag along and visit my sister Kris and her family for a week. We had a great time and Cam totally loved playing with his cousins. He keeps running to the picture I have of their family and pointing out Jeffery and Kate and asking to play with them. I wish so much we lived closer! And lastly we are finally sealed together as a family! That whole experience was so incredable. It really is true, the week you are preparing to go to the Temple is the hardest! Just a breif re-cap, Monday Cam put a hanger in his mouth and ruptured a saliva gland causing a trip to the ER and an overnight stay in the hospital. Thursday my sister-in-law went into labor causing my parents to delay their trip, which caused us to have to find an alternate to shorten Dan's temple pants, and have our home teacher pick up Chelsea and Rod at the airport. Oh and my mom cut her finger and was sick to her stomach the whole drive here....But after all that, we made it to the temple on Friday night to recieve our endowments and went back on Saturday morning and were sealed. I can't put into words how unbelievable it felt to be in that sealing room. The spirit we felt was overwhelming. I have never been so at peace and felt so loved. Cam and Ally were great and after the ceremony holding our children I felt so blessed. I know now that we truly have a Father in heaven that loves us and if we live worthily, he will pour out his blessings upon us. I am so greatful for my husband and children, and it ment the world to us to have all those who were able come share that day with us. We couldn't have dreamed of a better day or experience. Dan and I have both agreed that this is the happiest either of us have ever been. Now, enough serious emotional stuff...on to the pictures :)....

It was so great to have Chelsea be able to come to our sealing. I had missed her and all our friends from Del Rio SOOOOO much! We still love you all, and think of you often!
I was so greatful to have my parents and my sister and her husband be able to join us that day. It ment the world to me espacially to have my parents both be able to put their arms around me in the Celestral room. It really was a heaven on earth.

Cam loved all the different flowers outside the Temple. It was all so beautiful.

Our Eternal Family :)

Hanging out Sunday afternoon...Cam loves to smile for the camera lately.

Daddy loves to see his little tyke follow in his footsteps.

Daddy gave Cam some war paint the other day after cam discovered a bag of charcoal in the garage.

Ally has discovered her smile, and it goes strait to our hearts :)

This is Ally these days....she has turned into quite the happy baby

Dinner was just too much effort...

Checking out the construction scene in Walnut Creek, CA

A cute shot of Cam before he got his 1st hair cut

Ally around 1 1/2 months old

Cam and Ally supporting the local sports teams... :) Thanks Aunt Kristin!

Our New Arrival!

2009-03-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

Freshly hatched

Loves and the Peanut

Proud Daddy

Allison Sarah Pike joined our family on February 27th, 2009 at 12:24 am, weighing in at 6 lbs,14oz and measuring 19.5 inches long. My labor was great, contractions started at 6 pm, went to the hospital at 8:30, and she was born 4 hours later...all natural again this time and I recovered really well and quick. Dan was also a great labor coach, I felt really blessed to have him there with me. Ally already is a great baby and her big brother absolutely adores her :). Dan and I are pretty fond of her too. I totally love having a little girl, she already is head to toe pink most days. Everyone is doing great, minus an eye infection with Ally that required a trip to the emergency room on Saturday...not fun! I'm hoping to be able to keep up with pictures and posts on here, but already I have my hands always full of little ones :).

Going to the Temple and we're....

2009-02-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

Gonna get sealed! I am so excited to post on here that we have finally made it to the point of schedualing our sealing date at the Temple! (For all our followers that aren't Latter-Day Saints, this is a wedding ceremony that instead of binding you and your spouse together till death-do-you-part, it seals your family together for time and all eternity.) The offical dates are April 24th, 8pm, Endowment Sessions, and April 25th 10am Sealing Session. We are going to be going to the Columbus, OH Temple which is about an hour from here and we had to do it in 2 days cause with a 20 month old and a 7-8 weekish newborn, all in one day would have been too long. Soooooo, needless to say, any and all of you that are able to come and be a part of those special days for us, we would love, love, love to have you there with us! If you are going to try and make it let me know and I'll give you the number to the Temple so you can get in our sessions and also, the Columbus Temple is a smaller one, so you have to have your own Temple apparel. We also have a great network of friends here that have offered to help with childcare if you need it and we can get rooms on base (5 mins from our house) if you would need them as well. We love you all and will definatly post pictures afterward for all those that can't make it.

Just for Fun...

2009-01-26T16:02:00.001-08:00

Yep, it's all baby!!

I like this pic better, I don't look quite as gynormous.

Me and my Loves :)

I have been nagged lately about getting some belly shots of me...I hate to take them cause it always seems like I look HUGE in them! I really don't feel that big this time, although I don't fit into much anymore. I still can't believe that I only have 5 1/2 weeks left to my due date! I'm definatly getting more action from this baby though...she moves a ton and I have 3-4 contractons an hour...nothing regular or timed out, but I think I'll be closer (hopefully) this time to delivering near my d-day. I'm getting excited though, and I'm going to start getting things together for my hospital bag and washing all the cute little girlie pink clothes :). Although, after Cam's 10th tantrum of the day, I think if I go past my date a bit it wouldn't be the worst thing... he is quite the handful my friends! But he's so much fun too.

Cam's life these Days...

2009-01-25T12:39:00.001-08:00

I just wanted to let all of you know what I'm up to these days...

First off, I am improving my vocabulary almost every day. My words are: hot, ma (mom) and sometimes ma-mee, da(dad) and sometimes day-dee, at (hat), app (apple)..which is actually any fruit I see, tusst (toast)..which is anything having to do with bread, mmm (moo) for a cow, baa (sheep and goats), and I have a great snort for pig!, ffff (woof) for doggy, daan (down), baahh (bath), baaay (baby), bubbles..yes I can say it!, joos (juice), chhhh (cheese), baaaa (ball) this I scream when I see one, and I can sign for eat (fingers to mouth) and drink (pointer finger to mouth). The other day after Mommy said a blessing at lunch I said Amen after her...but I am holding out on that one..I don't want them having me saying the prayers too soon! Mommy and Daddy are always so excited when I try to say new words which I'm doing daily! I also know most of my body parts! My favorite is my belly button and it's so much fun to see other people's too! Lately I love pointing out eyes. I point to the eye on the Elephant above my changing table, then to Mommy's eyes, Daddy's then my own. Daddy says I'm getting too smart for my diaper lately....whatever that means.

My favorite movie of the moment is the My Baby Mormon DVD that Grandma Thomas got me for Christmas. I love the songs and all the fun toys they show. I am always so upset when it's over. I have also started turning the tv off when its over. My favorite toys are still my trucks and cars. I love making them race around the table while I make vroom, vroom noises. And sending them down my slide is way fun! My favorite books are all my truck and construction ones. The one that makes noise is super fun, but I really just like looking at all the scooper and dozer pictures. The other thing I love to do is make my toy vaccume go all around the house. Mommy won't let me use the real one, but I love helping and watching her do it!

My favorite foods are still blueberries, cheese, PB&J, stuffing, popsicles, yogurt, raisins, broccoli, pasta, peanuts and cheeseburgers.

Daddy and I have been attempting going to Nursery the past couple weeks in church, but I am not feeling it. Today I screamed so loud the leaders thought it was one of the girls! I think Daddy and I are going to fly solo a few more weeks then try again. I just don't like having to share toys and "be nice". The rest of church I keep Mommy and Daddy's hands full, but I love all the treats they bring! The other great thing is all the pianos! I love banging on them and "making music"!

I'm getting really confused as to why Mommy's tummy is so big, I keep slipping off her lap during storytime and she can't hold me as much anymore. And I keep getting nudges and kicks from it, I get all confused and irritated when that happens. Although, I love lifting up her shirt to see her belly button, it sure does look funny these days! :)

Last but not least, sorry Grandpa Pike and Uncle Ryan for my outfit in the pictures here...Grandma Thomas had gotten this outfit for me and I finally fit in it. I will soon be fitting into the Red Sox apparrel you got for me. I promise, I'm still too little to be persuaded as to what team to dedicate my cheers to.

Love you all, and can't wait to see you when my little sister comes! I'll keep ya posted on my thoughts~ Love, Cam

Holy Static!

2009-01-25T12:25:00.001-08:00

Haha, so our house is really dry...we're contemplating getting a humidifier cause it's so bad. Needless to say, Cam's hair gets pretty crazy during his couch antics lately! I had to get a picture of it! Sorry they are a little blurry, but trying to get this kid to sit still lately nearly impossible!

It finally snowed!

2009-01-25T12:18:00.000-08:00

We were so excited when we looked outside last week and there were snowflakes falling! Cam was so excited and it actually accumulated enough that it covered the ground and we had about 2-3 inches! The neighborhood kids all came over to sled in our backyard since we have the best hill on the block. Cam loved it! He even got to go sledding down the hill with Daddy! Isn't his little snowsuit too cute? His only problem is when he falls down he has soo much padding and his boots are still being "broken in", it takes him quite a few tries to get back on his feet.

Catching up

2009-01-25T12:10:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post...no excuses! These are some fun pics we took at the Aquarium in Kentucky we went to over Christmas break. Cam loved all the fish and fun froggies to climb on!

Scary Santa!

2008-12-23T06:26:00.001-08:00

Cam meet Santa for the first time the other day at Dan's work Christmas party...to say the least, he was not into it! It was also 15 mins past his naptime and he was pretty "partied" out by the time the Jolly Ol' Fellow arrived. His onesie he's wearing even says "Santa is my Homeboy". Oh well, maybe next year he will be more into St. Nick :).

The finished product!

2008-12-23T06:22:00.001-08:00

After we got the tree home and finally found a store that still had decent tree stands we put it up and decorated it. It was so fun to have our first real Christmas tree! I love how it makes the house smell like pine and new to both Dan and I...our tree is a Scotch Pine and has real pine cones on it! Cam and the kitties love it, espacially the ornaments! I love Christmas!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

2008-12-23T06:03:00.000-08:00

Hey, are we almost done? I'm freezin'!

Timber!!

What cha doin' Daddy? Can I help?

A couple weekends ago we went to a place where you can cut your own Christmas tree. It was really fun and got us into the Christmas spirit, but it was only 15 degrees that day so we were pretty chilly! Cam loved running through all the trees and helping Daddy cut ours down. Then he espacially liked riding the tree back to the car!

Hey Cam, where have those smiles been hiding?

2008-12-05T17:52:00.001-08:00

I love this one, you can see his slight dimples :)
My little loves :)

The new "do" and look at that cute little profile :)

He melts my heart when he looks at me like that.

There's my happy baby!

So of course, now that we are home I got the camera out today and the stinker was all smiles! So I'm posting these pictures to prove that yes, my child is happy and smiles! I also cut Cam's hair for the first real time the other day...it was sad to cut of his flowing locks in the back, but his hair was past his shoulders when it was wet and very mullet-like. So he let me go after him in the tub the other night. Dan was upset, he liked it long. But the poor kid, he kept being called a girl with it long! And our neighbor said he was begining to resemble Joe Dirt. That pretty much did it for me. He looks more like my little boy now and it can grow back although, I like the new-do :).

Ice Skating with Cam

2008-12-05T17:44:00.000-08:00

Another fun thing we did while we were home was take Cam skating on his new double runners (skates for little tykes that buckle over their shoes and have two blades on the bottom so they can get better balance). Cam hadn't been out on the ice since he was 7 months old and I don't think he remembered it. But he had fun holding onto the skate bar and having Daddy puch him all over. He loved watching the other kids and Dan even said he was barely holing onto him at some points and Cam was able to keep himself up. He'll definatly need more ice time before we let him loose, but so far so good with the hockey training! He can say he began skating at 15 months! And mommy didn't fall once on her skates either...I was worried my expanding tummy would throw off my balance. :)

Thanksgiving with the Fam

2008-12-05T17:29:00.000-08:00

Cam showing off his "football" skills to Uncle Mac and Tom

Cam with Great Aunt Kelly and Uncle Glen

Cam with Aunt Sarah

So although I had the camera with me everywhere, I neglected as usual to take pictures! I got a couple in at our Thanksgiving with Dan's mom's side of the family. Over-all our trip home was great, it was the best to be able to see all our family. I was esacially grateful to Dan's mom and my mom for havng a baby shower for me while I was there. I still get so excited looking at all the cute little girl clothes and I can't wait to have my little princess to put in them! Cam was a trooper while we were there even though he was getting 2 molars and had a fever the first few days then got a really bad cough and had trouble sleeping the last few nights. He loved spending time with all the different people and going to so many fun places. The worst part was the drive back. What was suppost to take 7-8 hours ended up being 10.5 almost 11 and Cam was a mess for most of it. Dan and I pretty much decided after the 15th tantrum and screaming and crying coming from the back seat that it's going to be a long while before we drive again, if ever. We love our family, but putting Cam through that and espacially when we will have two back there, it's too hard on all of us. Oh and if you're wondering why I didn't take more pictures...look at Cam with Sarah...that's what he did everytime we got the camera out. No matter what he was doing or how cute he had been, he scowled and made a stinker face! We didn't get one single picture of him smiling the whole time! What a punk!

Cam's Love

2008-12-05T17:21:00.000-08:00

While we were home we went to visit my Grandmother in the nursing home and when we arrived, Cam went nuts! He totally loves anything to do with construction, cars, trucks, planes, etc. and when we pulled in, there was a bulldozer/snowplow at the end of the parking lot. Cam couldn't wait to go check it out! :)

A little Update

2008-11-15T16:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry to everyone that I've been such a blogging slacker lately. I have to blame it first on laziness, second on sickness. First I had a nasty cold that I passed onto Cam who also developed an ear infection from it...then when we were finally getting better I got a stomach flu bug of some-sort. I'm just hoping we are getting all these bugs out now so that we'll have a good trip to New York. (Cam and I are flying there Thursday and Dan is joining us next week for Thanksgiving). I am so excited to be going home to see all our family. I'm mostly excited for them to all see Cam again. He is getting so big and everything he is doing lately is so cute! As far as pregnancy stuff goes, everything is going great...feeling a lot of baby "action"...lots of cravings..chicken tortilla soup and tacos are the most recent, I'm hoping to get some tummy shots soon to post on here, I can't believe how big I've gotten already! Dan is doing great...he is assistant coaching a high-school team here and is at his first game with them tonight...I guess they stink, but hey, at least he is getting experience and time on the ice :). Oh and we had our first snow-fall today! It was pretty fun to see snow falling, although the ground is still warm so it all melted :(. I can't wait for it to accumulate so Cam can go out and play in it! I'm starting to love winter more, but I think it's just cause it's only beginning, when it's been cold and dreary for 4 months it may be a different story! Well...that's about all that's new here. Sorry no new pics to post...Cam's had a runny nose and I haven't been to eager to grab the camera lately. But I'm sure I'll have fun ones when we get back from our NY trip. :)

Dan's Seattle/Vancouver Trip

2008-11-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

While Dan was TDY in Seattle a couple weeks ago he had the oppertunity to drive up to Vancouver.

To see the Vancouver Canucks take on the Edmonton Oilers of course :).

(If any of you don't know, Dan's favorite team is Vancouver and this is a "top 10" on his list of things to do before he dies) So needless to say, he was pretty pumped to be there.

Dan totally took this picture for me, every hockey game we go to the cotten candy is the highlight for me, espacially when the guy comes around with it! :)

This is a picture Dan took in Seattle. He said it was really awesome there, but the traffic was a nightmare! He had a great trip, but Cam and I were super excited to have him come home. A week without Daddy was a long time! :)

Cam's Halloween

2008-11-04T06:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry it's been a while since I updated!! It's been kinda hectic lately, then I got a nasty cold-bug. I forgot how much it stinks to be sick while your pregnant...colds last FOREVER! Anyway, we took our little "giraffe" around the neighborhood for Halloween last week. Cam loved the lights and decorations and all the other kids running around. We have alot of great friends that live close so it was fun seeing everyone out and about and their kids all dressed up. Cam did pretty well, he mostly was interested in running around and looking at things rather then getting candy, but he got the hang of it. He figured out how to pick up the candy then put it in his pumpkin, it was pretty dang cute! The first picture is of our pumpkins that I finally carved the night before. I had forgotten what a project it is, not to mention, messy! I have to remember next year to prepare more so I don't make such a mess! Oh, and yes....that is a leash on Cam...although I have always been 'anti-leash' the kid is getting soooo fast! He just takes off! So I got a monkey backpack with a tail that you can hang onto to put on him when we go outside and espacially for my trip home at the end of the month. I just was worried about having him in a crowded airport by myself trying to keep him from running away. Cam actually likes it, and gets excited whenever he sees his "monkey" cause that means we're going outside. So as much as I hate to say it, yes, Cam wears a leash when we go for walks....

Wuz Diss?

2008-10-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

This past week Dan was on TDY (Air Force term for Buisness trip away from home) in Columbus and since it's only an hour away Cam and I decided to tag along. On Tuesday I took Cam to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. This was the Manatee exibit, which also had sting rays, sea turtles and fish. Cam totally loved it! The whole wall was the tank, he kept running back and forth along it squeeling and pointing and saying "Wus diss?" (Cam's way of saying, what is this?) I think I told him about 100 times, that's a fish, that's the turtle, that's the manatee, that's a rock....etc. :)
This sting ray was just as curious as Cam to investigate what was looking in.
Cam was pointing out the fish to me.
Hello Mr. Sea Turtle!

This was by far Cam's favorite part of the zoo. I can't wait to take him to the aquarium in Cincinnati this winter. He loves to look at fish and marine life!

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

We went to Young's Dairy Farm a couple weekends ago and picked out pumpkins for Halloween. It was really fun, we got to take a tractor ride out to he field and Cam loved running around looking, touching, and trying to pick up the pumpkins.
Cam looked so cute toddling around from pumpkin to pumpkin. Of course he wanted to touch and inspect every one we passed. :)

I loved this picture, the pumpkin looks huge, but it's just that Cam is still little :).
We ended up getting 3 pumpkins...2 bigger ones, (Dan and Me) and a little baby one (Cam). I can't wait to carve them the week of Halloween...stay tuned for the glowing jack-o-lantern pics!

Trip to the Zoo

2008-10-17T07:07:00.001-07:00

Sorry it's been a while since my last post...we've been kinda busy lately! Last Friday we took Cam to the Cincinnati Zoo. We had a really good day, the weather was perfect, Cam was great and most of the animals were actually moving around! This bird was just chillin' walking around on one of the sidewalks and jumped this fence when Cam chased after him. It was neat to see the bird out in the open, but Dan and I were wondering if we should tell someone....escapee??
Mr. Cheetah
Cam thought the Gorillas were really fun. There was a Mommy, Daddy and Baby gorilla, and he loved watching the baby jump and swing all over. The mommy gorilla had her hands full chasing him around and watching him. I have to admit, I know how she feels!
The gorilla was clapping and so Cam started clapping too. It was super cute!
The baby hitched a ride on Mommy :) Isn't the Daddy huge?!?

Cam totally loved going to the zoo. He just loves being outside, and the fact that everywhere we went there were animals to look at was a huge bonus.

Looking Good Lieutenant!

2008-10-03T07:40:00.001-07:00

Dan with Colonel Fabian, his Deputy Director. Colonel Fabian was letting everyone present know what a steller job Dan is doing down at the Research Lab. :)
Standing at Attention
Our super awesome neighbor Seth Marek reading Dan the Oath of Office and making his promotion official.
The Pike Family

Last Friday Dan had his Promotion Ceremony where he officially pinned on his 1st Lieutenant rank. I copied the Oath of Office for all those non-military peeps who would like to know what is said when an Officer is promoted or sworn in.

I, [name], do solemnly swear, (or affirm,) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. (So help me God.)

It was a nice ceremony and Cam actually behaved through it all, dispite it being during his naptime. He's such a good little trooper!

My day with my BIG little boy

2008-09-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

So after getting Cam all dressed and ready for our day I realized he looked so much older then a one-year-old with this outfit on! I had to get the camera...

He was even sporting his new kicks form Uncle Ryan that even our 30-year-old neighbor is jealous of. :)

He just looked so darn cute!
Mommy had some Burger King coupons and a huge craving for a Whopper Jr., so we went and Cam had his first kid's meal. He totally loved the chicken nuggets and apple fries...the toy was kinda cheesy and not that big of a hit. His favorite part though was the juice box...who doesn't love apple juice through a straw! :)

After lunch we got out the crayons and paper for some arts and crafts time. Although Cam was more interested in banging the crayons on the paper and trying to eat them, I managed to get his first drawing out of him! I helped a little, but I think with some more practice, he'll get the hang of it! (the drawing is at the top)

Over-all we had a pretty fun day. I love having my little tyke around to play and learn with!

Cam's Jams

2008-09-17T11:24:00.000-07:00

The other day I was feeling in the mood for the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, and when I popped it in, Cam totally started jamming to the songs, espacially the one by Pink, Lil' Kim and Christina Aguilera. It was pretty funny, he can really rock out! When Dan got home that night I played it for him again and he got into it even more. Dan is really impressed with how Cam not only bops up and down, but also throws in a sway here and there. What can I say, the kid can boogie! :)

My Afternoon Project

2008-09-16T12:29:00.000-07:00

So today I went to Michaels in search of a fall-type wreath to put on our door and make our house look festive since I am totally stoked to be back in an area where we have all 4 seasons!! So I get there and even with their wreaths 40% off they are still way expencive! I was bummed for about 30 seconds 'till I realized that hey, I'm pretty crafty when I want to be...I'll make one! So with all their fall floral on sale and their grapevine wreath, I was able to put this together for under $10! Oh, the little scarecrow guy I got at JoAnn's, he was on-sale too though! I was so excited when I got it done, I actually like it better then the ones that were in the store! So now our house is welcoming fall and I didn't break our bank :).

It's too quiet....Cam????

2008-09-15T11:04:00.001-07:00

So while I was making dinner the other night I realized that it was rather quiet in the house and Cam hadn't made any babbles or commotions in a while...this was what I found....

First, Cam had found the snack baggies and had emptied them all over the floor and was having fun sliding them all over.

Then while I was putting all the baggies back in their container, Cam ran into the living room. I went back to making dinner and again a few minutes later...quiet Cam. This time somehow he had found a deck of cards and decided to play 52 card pick-up by himself. This he found rather entertaining, espacially when Mommy came and tried to pick up the cards...he thought it was way more fun to throw them and eat them rather then pick them up and put them away!

What a little stinker-stink! We just can't leave anything out that he just might find interesting!

Cam's First Word!

2008-09-11T16:49:00.000-07:00

The other night I was carrying a pot from off the stove in the kitchen into the dining room and Cam came running over. I very sternly said, "Careful Cam, this is hot." Cam immediatly said, "Hot." I looked at Dan, and was like, "Did he just say hot?" and Cam then said, "Hot, ot, ot, ot." And ever since then everything is 'hot'...the stove, my pans, orange juice, the light, anything in the refridgerator...etc. He is so cute saying it. I finally got him on one of his "ot, ot, ot" tangents yesterday. He is getting way too fun! :)

Night night Cam...wait, maybe not...

2008-09-03T07:24:00.000-07:00

Okay, so how on earth are you suppost to get a hyper 1 year old to sleep and stay asleep? Cam has decided lately that sleeping is just not his thing. For months he has slept like a champ, nap every morning from 9-10:30ish, nap in the afternoon from 2-4, bed at 7:30 awake the next day at 7ish....glorious! Loved it! Now, he's playing, laughing throwing things in his crib and taking almost an hour to fall asleep and sleeping for if i'm lucky, 45 mins-1 hour for naps, and not falling asleep until 8:15-8:30 and getting up 3-4 times a night! I've heard that when they get more independent they will want to play more then sleep and so I always do a "cool-down" routine and keep the lights dim, all that to get him into "sleepy" mode. We also tried just going to 1 nap, which resulted in a 1 & 1/2 hour snooze and a way cranky Cam the rest of the day. I am hoping this is just a phase that will soon result back into a new routine, but we'll have to see...for right now, I'm just frustrated with the commotion coming from the nursery during what is supposted to be NAPTIME!!! Oh my crazy little one, gotta love you and your energy!

Cam's Smooth Moves

2008-08-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Cam has a thing for music lately. It started out as him swinging his head back and forth when he heard it, and then for his birthday he got this farm set for the fridge that the farmer plays a banjo. When we played it for Cam he started doing this "bop". It's pretty funny, we love pressing the farmer button just to see Cam dance! :)

And we are having.......

2008-08-25T07:40:00.000-07:00

It's 90-95% that Cam is going to have a baby sister!!!!! yeah! Mommy is super excited cause now she can start getting all the cute pink frilly girl clothes and accessories and Daddy is totally freaking out because although he is excited, the idea of raising a girl is already giving him hives! Hopefully the boys will stay away and her "attitude" will be nothing but sugar and spice.... Okay, I'm done blogging for the day. I have some videos to upload on here as well, but I'm saving those for another day...so stay tuned. :)

Down on the Farm!

2008-08-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

As you can see we had a very exciting week with Mimi, Aunt Sarah, and Uncle Mac visiting! On Friday we went to the dairy farm where Cam was able to feed goats, and pet them, pretend to drive a real tractor with Uncle Mac and see other fun farm animals like pigs, sheep, cows, ducks and a turkey! It was super fun and we can't wait to go back again with Daddy...maybe this time we can try some of their homemade ice cream! Yum!

Oh, Let him eat Cake!

2008-08-25T07:04:00.001-07:00

As though a party wasn't enough, we had to let Cam go nuts on a cake! I made him a smaller truck cake, (which I forgot to get a picture of before we gave it to him), but it was similar to his earlier cake, just car shaped instead. Man, did he go to town! As you can see in the pictures, he pretty much thought being able to totally cover himself in frosting was the funnest thing ever! Plus it was super yummy! Espacially when he discovered the chocolate doughnut wheels! It was so fun watching him just get messier and messier and laugh and go crazy! Clean up on the other hand was quite the job! But over-all it was so worth it! I think Cam had a pretty good day. :)

Cam's Tonka Birthday!

2008-08-25T06:47:00.000-07:00

Cam had so much fun at his birthday party! I'm so glad I decided to make the extra effort and have a party for him! Thanks to my super-terrfic mother-in-law his cake turned out so cute! It was a carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting, so it was super hard to get to shape since the cake was really moist and the frosting at first was runny...but we were able to fix the glitches and in the end it was soooooo yummy and fun! We had the party in our backyard where the neighborhood swing set is and brought out toys. The weather was perfect, the kids had fun and Cam was so excited to have friends over and eat cake! Happy 1st Birthday Cam!

We love Great Grandma and Grandpa Pike!

2008-08-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

We sure did have alot of fun with Great Grandma and Grandpa Pike visiting! Cam espacially loved taking Grandma all over the back yard and showing her everything, like his swing, the neighbor's doggies and all the leaves! He looked so cute guiding her around pointing at everything! Grandpa also showed Cam how to send everything and anything down the slide...coasters, balls, etc. He sure was sad to see them leave! Mommy and Daddy were too!

Cam, Where did you go?

2008-08-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Yeah! Thanks to my super-terriffic neighbor, I finally got the scoop on posting movies! So here ya go! This is our favorite video of Cam. Dan took it the other night when we first put Cam's new Cozy Coupe (car) together. Cam is too funny, we sure do love him bunches!

Having too much fun!

2008-08-07T17:10:00.000-07:00

Cam is just getting so fun and big! I can't believe he is going to be a year old in just 16 days! Uncle Ryan sent Cam some really fun early birthday presents that included a climber with slide and basketball hoop, and a little car that he can "flinstone" around in. Needless to say, he is totally loving both, although he just likes to sit in the car and have Mommy do all the work by pushing him. But in just 2 days he has mastered climbing up onto the playset and going down the slide headfirst. I have videos of him playing that I really want to get on here, but I am either missing the link or just not understanding how to post movies. I'm going to have to "phone-a-friend". So stay tuned for those. Everything else for the time being is going great, we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Great Grandma and Grandpa Pike, then Dan's mom and brother are coming right after, so we are going to have a way fun prelude to the Big First Birthday Bash :).

2008-07-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is the latest and greatest with the Pike family....
1. Cam is walking! He took his official first 8 steps on 7/16/08 and has really gotten the hang of it since.
2. We're expecting! The newest Pike-tot is schedualed to arrive 3/5/09.
3. Cam now has 5 teeth...quite the mouthful and serious bite!
4. Morning sickness is not fun! :(
5. Dan begins his master's in Biology the end of August.
6. Holly is now a Close to my Heart Consultant, so fun! Gotta love scrapbooking!

For the moment, that's all I got for ya, but I'm determined to keep this updated! :)