Such a helper

I can't decide if I am too far behind to catch up, or to just do catch up with current intermittently.

Anyway- I can't believe how grown up Cameron is. He truly isn't a baby anymore, and LOVES to help. I have enlisted his services in laundry, dish washing, and vacuuming.

Our life lately

I will start with Memorial Day! Every year Dan and I take flowers to my Mom in May for 3 reasons: Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and Her Birthday. This year her birthday fell on Memorial Day! She would be 52 years old! 

This year is the first year to visit my Grandpa- and now he is with my Grandma. I feel it is important to honor our loved ones and those that keep our Country free!! I want Cameron to learn how important it is to always think of these people, and to honor their memory!

We had a BBQ with our good friends Steve and Nicole and their daughter Braelynn. Cam got his first experience eating corn off the cob, and had fun "playing" with Brae!










Cameron is becoming quite the helper as I have mentioned before. He loves to "help" however he can! He even helped at Grandpa and Grandma's this past weekend!

As you can see, he is never dressed…. No he is but it has been in the 80's and 90's and by the time dinner is over, he is a mess and is just hanging around in his diaper until his bath. It's also just super convenient to throw on a swim diaper to play outside in the sprinklers. 

Grandpa did a beautiful job at refinishing a rocking chair for Cameron that used to be Dan's, and Jackie's before that! It is beautiful. Cameron really likes it, but he insists on rocking in it backwards- well, he got stuck and Grandma had to help him!!

On to our yard projects! They have been keeping us super busy. It has taken all 6 years of hard work a little each year, but my front yard is finally beautiful! I love all my flowers!! 

Our backyard is another story- but it is a work in progress. My garden is all planted- our planter boxes are all done and planted, now we just need to get the stump grinded and removed, and the ground cleared for new sod!!
Dan told me I just had to do before pics. So here they are. My gross backyard. But the planter boxes look alright!

Continuing on with our big yard projects...

Yesterday was our neighborhood clean up/dumpster day which means we had a lot to do! We got our gravel almost all the way in place now and Dan found a deal on garden soil that he couldn't pass up so we had 17 yards dumped in our driveway yesterday morning. Talk about a ton of dirt! We spent all day prepping the garden beds and getting part of the garden put in. We also did a bunch of clean up and got good use out of the dumpster!!
Cameron is becoming quite the helper- and has really started wanting to do everything that we are doing. He and I went to home depot on an errand and he "helped" me load bags of mulch onto our cart!

Busy Busy Bees

We have had alot going on! Mostly good, some sad, some bad. Bad is over, and I'm not going to give it any time here, and sad has already been visited!

So on with the good- Cameron is making serious strides of improvement since we started his bowel program and took away dairy. I have slowly reintroduced 1-2 servings of dairy a day- but no more than that. He loves the almond milk, so that has worked out alright! He is now regular thankfully and the medicine to relax his digestive system is working amazing. He isn't having any reflux problems since we got the regimen on track. YAY! So guess what this means?! He is starting to sleep!!!! He is sleeping 5-7 hour stretches!! He has been going down between 8-9, sleeping until 2-4 then here is the hang up- he thinks it's okay to stay awake for 2 hours!! But finally goes back down for another 3-4 hours. It has been LOVELY to get some blocks of sleep. 15 months of no sleep is a killer.
While he is up, I just hold him in the dark. No talking, no playing. Sometimes he fights and screams or babbles… but I want him to learn that night time isn't for fun.

We have been busy with yard projects: we bought 4 TONS of gravel for our park strip and next to our driveway. We are still putting it into place but it is coming along nicely!

We are also building raised beds around 2 edges of our yard and building trellises so I can do vertical gardening and hopefully get a better crop- vertical to avoid the voles/gophers and raised with metal mesh in the bottom to protect my root vegetables! I am really excited about this and I am hoping to have a really good garden this year! Because of this project, my garden is going in 2 weeks late- I am sad about that but I hope that doesn't limit my harvest too much!

We play lots outside- and right now Cameron is getting into a challenging phase where he throws some nasty tantrums and gets into lots of trouble- all super normal, but challenging and busy nontheless. Here are some of our fun goings on!

He likes to eat the dirt from my flower pots. Gross. But he thinks it's great. Dirt and Cat food. Two of his favorites!!

Right after he swept the driveway and ate some dirt for snack, he took it upon himself to give the sprinkler a try. He was upset about having his clothes wet, but once I stripped him down, there was no stopping him. Most kids run away from the sprinkles, Cameron ran right for them!

You can never have too many Nutter Butter's in your mouth...

BWAHAHAHA- He blows raspberries on my window 

 

Oh! I forgot to mention toilet paper on the roll- yes, he eats that too…..

My best grocery helper!

I have so much help these days with all my chores! 

We take cooking dinner quite seriously.

Okay, so Cameron takes everything seriously. He is a serious boy. Happy, but serious. He is starting to get to a fun age where he really seems to want to "help" or do whatever you are doing. I have tons of help lately with the dishwasher, laundry, and cooking. I have been actually having him push his high chair to eat, and then to put it back away when we are done. He really enjoys helping so much!

Cameron could have been walking a month or so ago, but he refuses to let go. He is starting to get braver, and has taken a few steps alone, then immediately falls in your arms or on his bum. The balance is there, the confidence not quite yet. I am not rushing this one though, cause walking without talking will be a new challenge!

Here is my kitchen helper making tacos for dinner!