Update on pretty much everything

Camden has been a fantastic little man. He is growing so quickly and learning new things every day. He explores SO much and at times can be a handful, but we couldn't imagine our lives without him. Here are a few things to give you a glimpse into our live with big-man Cam:

* He is more into watching movies than TV now. His favorites are The Incredible's ("Incre-bras"), Monsters, Nemo, and Lion King. He asks for them by name over and over until we put one in. We usually do movies 1-2 days a week or whenever Brad and I need to study and get something done. It's a great distraction. ;)

* He still knows and recognizes all his letters and can tell you what letter comes after each one (out of order as well). He can count to 15. He knows a decent amount of shapes (oval, rectangle, square, heart, diamond, circle, triangle, cross...). He is a genius in the works, I tell ya.

* He absolutely loves to be outside. ALL.THE.TIME. When we go inside around 8pm for bath, he cries so much it hurts to see him sad, but we know he's so tired. He has started to help us with the lawn and gardening and his favorite part is throwing grass seed and using the "shobel" (shovel).

* He loves saying hi and bye-bye to everyone and everything. He doesn't like to give high-fives as much as he likes to fist-bump or as he likes to call it, "knockers" (knuckles).

* He has a BFF named Carter at school and we found out his parents live in the same area as us just a few neighborhoods away (walking distance). YAY!

* When you ask him for a kiss you get a nice, wet, sloppy kiss smack dab on the mouth. It's quick so watch out.

* His tubes look great according to his ENT doctor and he has only had one ear infection since getting them last October. *knock on wood*

* He is often times telling you what he wants and doesn't want. He will ask for a certain food or drink now and if you offer him something he doesn't want, he'll say no. 

* Speaking of food, we've tried slowly reintroducing strawberries into his diet to recheck his allergy. It was blueberries that he had a mild allergic reaction to, so I'll wait a little longer on those. So far so good on the strawberries!

* He's a mama's boy. When I'm in the house or in the room, he asks for me. If I'm at clinical or work and he knows only Brad is home he's totally fine though. He also loves spending the night at grandma's house and does really well; I just always forget little details like he sleeps with a night light, etc. 

As for school and work, Brad is taking two exams to finish his Actuarial studies (less a project he's still working on). I am finishing my first semester of clinical and nursing school. It's been a crazy and emotional first round, but I know it's worth it. I got a PRN job at the hospital where we have clinicals at and absolutely love it there! I get to see trauma's, orthopedic and spine patients, etc. I got to see leech therapy this week on a lacerated and reattached finger. 

Overall we are doing great, but busy and overwhelmed a bit. Things should calm down over the summer when my school load lightens up a little, Brad has more exams done, and we get to actually see each other.. hopefully. ;-)

Flashback Friday

One year ago this month ...

 

We were moving, just sold our house.

 

 

We took our first trip to the zoo.

 

 

Aunt Rachael came to visit.

 

 

First trip to the park was a success and was subsequently followed by many more.

 

 

Park fun!

 

 

Cam was sitting up like a champ, crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, and very active.

 

 

And BOY did he love to eat! Any finger food!

 

I can't believe we've been in our home almost a year. A place we can happily call our home.

Photography editing

I ususally use the basic (free) programs on my computer to edit my pictures. Finally I started to poke around Photoshop Elements 10 that I have (thanks, sis). I figure, if I have the nice expensive camera and know how to mostly use it, why am I just editing in Windows Live Photo Gallery?

 

I've still yet to take a class or read a single book about Photoshop and picture editing, but I like to learn from experience. The following photos are just some edits I made tonight of some recent photos to get started.

 

Side note: my birthday is coming up and I've asked for a Photoshop how-to book so hopefully I can find a spare minute or two in between clinicals and pharmacology to read up.

 

SOOC (straight out of camera)

 

edited photo

 

 

SOOC 

edited photo

 

I'm no expert nor do I really have any clue what kinds of tools this program has to offer, but this is just the beginning! I can't wait to go back and edit some of his baby photos.

 

Speaking of which, I'm SO FAR behind in backing up my pics. Someone please come do that for me while I study. K thanks. 

Here we go ...

I've successfully completed my first few weeks of nursing school. I can't really comment on how the workload is because I've yet to have an exam or anything graded.

 

As for myself (aka a mess), I can definitely comment on that.

 

When I finally decided to apply to nursing school, I was nervous but excited. I wasn't sure if I'd even get in, much less be good at it or enjoy it. I got in and then things got real.

 

I had to find money to pay for (very expensive and private) tuition, bills, day care, etc.

Register for classes.

Buy uniforms, scrubs.

Figure out how to motivate myself to study because ALL of my classes are online.

ALL.

 

Let's just say the library and I have become well acquainted these last few weeks.

 

In the first few days of classes officially starting, I was full of butterflies (and an upper respiratory infection). I quickly doubted myself.

 

Is this something I CAN do?

Am I sacrificing too much?

How much debt will I actually accrue?

Should I just drop out and work until I become a SAHM?

Why did I want to do this in the first place?

 

Lots of doubts and questions bombarded me in that first week. I still am a little nervous, but feeling much more confident that I chose the right path for myself and my family. I know that in the end this is really what I want to do (and will be great at).

 

One reason I know is because I've read every word of every chapter and studied like crazy in just a mere week-and-a-half. I love this information and just inhale it; soak it all in. I can't help but ask myself why I wasn't in nursing school to begin with.

Kitchen upgrade!

As our Christmas gift this year, we received new Corian countertops in our kitchen. With it, we purchased a new faucet, under mount sink, and garbage disposal. Here are some of the before and after pictures.

 

The main thing I've learned with solid surface countertops is that you really have to dry them when cleaning. Otherwise, they leave an awful-looking spotty film on the surface.

 

BEFORE:

 

 

 

AFTER:

 

 

 

 

We painted the walls green as well. For the last picture, there are three electrical boxes that we found behind the tile on the wall. (A BIG NO NO.) We aren't sure what the far left one is (maybe an internet or phone), but the middle one is an electrical outlet we plan on rewiring back over there. The far right box was the old light switches that they rewired to the upper white cabinet so that will stay a panel as well. It looks SO MUCH BETTER than the ugly, flowery, white tile. :)

 

They look amazing and really give our kitchen that well polished look!