Scary Santa!

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!

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...

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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!

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

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!