Swim

Today Camille had a play-date with her best friend Hannah. Hannah's family has a big pool in their backyard. (Well by family pool standards it's small, but it's much bigger than Camille's wading pool.) It's big enough for the who family as you can see. Camille is swimming with Hannah, Hannah's Mommy and their Yorkie, Mal.

Camille's "float suit" gave her a little extra confidence in the water and everyone had a great time!

The Final Friday Family FotoFun Challange - Take my breath away photos

This will be our final FFFF Challange. The originator of FFFF Challange has elected to password protect her website since one of her daughters reached her third birthday. Her younger daughter will be three in August. Since we only know Donna and her family through the internet and not in "real" life, we are not privy to her password. Camille and I will miss our "virtual friends."

So this is our final challange... Photos that I took that took my breath away when I saw them... Here are my top 2, judge for yourself.

Friday Family FotoFun Challange - Giddy-up!

We haven't taken the plunge to the "real" horse yet... but afterall, Cami is only 2!

Too big for a crib?

Ah... a great debate indeed. How young is too young for "big bed" (we're not talking cheesy toddler bed here) and how old is too old for the crib?

Camille is almost 3 years old. (34 months to be exact, but I stopped aging her in months after she turned 2. Just seemed silly to me... afterall, you wouldn't say your 12 year old is 144 months, right? But I digress...)

Camille hasn't ever tried to climb out of her crib. She's just not a climber. She hasn't ever asked about a "big bed" and she seems uninterested whenever we bring it up. I was planning to transition Camille to a regular bed around her third birthday, but now I am not so sure. What's the rush. I figure as long as she is comfortable in her crib, she might as well stay there. It'll probably only be a problem if she wants to bring her crib along to her Harvard dorm room Freshman year :o)

Comments welcome.

Friday Family FotoFun Challange - Love

Who do YOU love?

For more FFFF check out Donna's Website

Friday Family FotoFun Challenge - Messy

This was taken at a tex-mex restaurant last summer when we discovered that

Camille loves nachos! (I know, why bother with the bib?)

Finger painting, at our house, is an OUTSIDE activity....

But it sure is A LOT of FUN!

What a happy MESS!

Pool time!

Camille has always loved the water. We bought a baby pool before we went to China, knowing that we would be bringing home a baby during the July/August hot and humid weather of South Jersey. This weekend we brought out a new baby pool. I love to look back at then and now.

Then: Summer 2005

Now: Summer 2007

Friday Family FotoFun Challange - Stroller

We took this stroller to China (Doesn't Camille look just thrilled to be in it?

It doubled as a backpack. It was a Godsend in China... especially in Guangzhou where the streets are mostly cobble...
Not exactly a stroller, but a fun way to travel with Mommy!

Too Close to Home

SSgt Joe Weiglein was killed in Iraq yesterday. While we didn't personally know Joe, we are good friends with his parents, Mike and Ellen. Mike and Ellen are special people; caring, compassionate, active in the church and the community, so I know Joe was a special man too. Just before he left for Iraq in January, Joe spoke to 250+ kids at his former elementary school. The children adopted him and his battalion. So you see, the impact is great.

We know the lives of Mike and Ellen Weiglein, as well as Joe's wife Jennifer, will never be the same. Our hearts ache for their loss and our thoughts and prayers go out to them.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend in our area can be a crap shoot. Some weekends are cold and rainy or cool and overcast, but others, like the one we were blessed with this year, absolutely fabulous. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were warm and sunny and we spent lots of time getting a taste of all the things we like to do in the summer. We went to the park, drew on the sidewalk with chalk and ran in the sprinkler. Camille and Riley especially enjoyed the sprinkler...

Referral Anniversary

Today is the second anniversary of our referral day. It seems surreal that it has already been that long. This is Camille's referral photo... the first time we saw our daughter:

And this is our daughter today:

Ocean City -2007

We had a terrific time on our weekend in Ocean City! Although Friday was a bit cool and rainy, Saturday and Sunday were spectacular! Camille loved the beach!

A break in the weather on Friday even gave us a chance to walk the boards...

Saturday afternoon was beautiful and sunny! Camille decided it was nice enough for a boat ride!
The balloon race was next. Camille loved it, but Daddy hated it! Poor Daddy, he really isn't crazy about amusement rides.

A fast horse on the carousel is a toddler's dream come true!
Camille says "Let's hit the beach!" The view from our hotel room balcony...
Camille couldn't get over the size of this sandbox!



Thanks to our friend who lives in Marmora, we were able to have a night away. Camille stayed with Karen while Mike and I headed out for the evening to Atlantic City. We had dinner at Nero's in Caesar's Casino. It was a wonderful evening!
All dogged out after a busy day at the beach!

Crocs

Camille loves shoes. I find it hard to buy shoes for her because she outgrows them so fast and good shoes are expensive. Camille's favorite color is yellow. (Or lellow, as she calls it). While I was out I found a pair of yellow Crocs in her size. All the kids are wearing these shoes and decorating them with little charms called Jibbitz. I thought this would be a perfect treat. Yellow shoes... I gave the shoes to Camille last night. I knew she would like them, I just didn't realize how much. She squealed with delight and wore her new Crocs to bed!

She also wore them to school today. I have a funny feeling these shoes will be money well spent.

We're headed to the shore this weekend for some much needed R&R. I'm sure we'll be taking the yellow Crocs... maybe we'll find the first Jibbit or two. It's a wonderful life!

Happy Mother's Day!

Friday Family FotoFun Challange - No No!

Camille,
That is a piano bench, NOT a stage! PLEASE get down!

Our natural born performer. She love the microphone and needs a stage...
To see other FFFFC entries, visit Donna's website

FIVE YEARS

Today is our 5th wedding anniversary. I am pleased to admit that we are still blissfully married. We've been through a lot in the five years we have been married and, for that matter, the nine years we have been a couple (I know, you're asking "A couple of what?")

So, to my dear husband Michael - You are my rock, my inspiration and my best friend. I love you truly, madly, deeply. Happy anniversary.

Friday Family FotoFun Challange - Gotcha-wear

Gotcha-wear

July 2005, 11 months old, 14 pounds

April 2007, 33 months, 27 pounds

I haven't even had this outfit out of the box until this evening. This FFFFC was a great idea, and it looks like another month or two and we would never have been able to do this! You can notice the split pants of the coverall... and those tiny pink sandals would have never made it today!

Riley's First Haircut!

BEFORE

AFTER!

Props for Daddy

Okay, I know this is Cami's blog, but this time I really think Mike deserves some props. Last night Mike was inducted into his High School Hall of Fame. This was the very first Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the school's 120 year history. The induction class was very distinguished, honoring former students from the 1930's to the 1980's. Mike was the youngest Hall of Fame inductee for the inaugural class 2007. Below are some photos from the event... Cami and I are very proud of him!

Friday Family FotoFun Challenge - Toddler Art!

Last summer, Camille came to our blind kids camp with me for the day. I left her under the watchful eyes of the counselors and found her later at the craft table...

I'm fairly certain that she "moved in" on someone else's project, but she seemed so focused on it, that I snapped this shot.

To learn more about the FFFF Challange and see this week's other entries, go to Double Happiness and check it out!