Thanksgiving 09

What a great Thanksgiving it was! We had a ton of food and a lot of family time and we thoroughly enjoyed one another. I just love this time of year and all of the great things that come along with it.

I always say how blessed I am but I TRULY have been blessed. Everything I need and am thankful for falls into the "3 F's as I call it", Faith, Family and Friends.
With my FAITH comes, our God, love, my church family..with FAMILY comes Dustin and Camdyn, my wonderful parents/grandparents and sisters, my in-laws and Dustin's grandparents, our extended family, Bozzy...with FRIENDS brings all of the relationships that have made a huge impact on my life and all of the great people, parents and children I have met through my career in teaching.

I can only hope that Camdyn will feel as blessed as I have growing up and I will do anything and EVERYTHING to help her realize how blessed she is. All of the things I am thankful for cannot be purchased but are simply earned through living life to its fullest. As I have grown up, gone off to college, married, had a career and a child of my own, I have deeply realized how wonderful life truly is.

A small memory/analogy that I want Cam to remember happened the other day to us while we were walking and I kept thinking how a child can teach you so much! While we were walking the sun was starting to go down so the moon was coming out. Yes, Camdyn loves the moon :)

And she kept waving, smiling and telling the moon bye. Then she would come back upon it as we walked she would smile again and wave goodbye and continued this. As a young child, she cannot understand that the moon is surrounding her and the further you walk it is still going to be above you and visible. I love how she displayed this and the first thing that popped into my head was God. No matter where you are and what you are doing, he will never turn you away or forsake you. :) Such a sweet moment...

Here are some pictures of all of us girls!

Macey, Aunt Tay Tay, and Camdyn

Camdyn and Macey showing off their cheerleading skills on their mommas! Camdyn and I have a whole routine...maybe we can show you sometime :)


And just for a little Camdyn humor...here is what I found on Thanksgiving morning...Camdyn decided that Elmo needed to eat some of her vegetable straws.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Arboretum 2009!

Since we had a full week off as a family, we decided to make another trip to the Arboretum and what a great weather day it was to go! It brought back so many little memories of how Camdyn would SIT, pose and smile while people walked by last year...this year we got to experience a whole new side of her grown up and showing her enjoyment of the Arboretum. She ran and looked at everything that surrounded her and then hopped back into her wagon for the next stop.

Here we are under the same pumpkin hut from last year...

and now this year!

Camdyn is a little fish...she kept trying to get into this water to take a little swim :)

Our first stop was this tepee...she kept waving bye to it so we could leave ASAP. Not too fond of the tepee.

My little veterinarian then spotted the sweet deer by the lake. She was definitely going to get out of the wagon to check these guys out!

and climb on the baby (she kept rocking back and forth like she was on the pony at church)

Then her "baby Elmo" had to get on the big deer as well...

Perfect!

We headed to Santa's workshop...super cute!

Camdyn knocked (literally) to see if anyone was home. Hopefully it would be his elves that answered because we are still a little scared of Santa himself :)

This is what Dustin got on camera as we were walking...only our child!

We hope to make a trip back very soon. Here is a walk down memory lane from last year's visit! Boy was she my chunky little monkey!

Mace and Cam time

Camdyn had a sweet little friend over yesterday morning to play...her cousin Macey! I really didn't have intentions on getting pictures of the girls since Cam was still in her pj's but once they got together, they were just too precious not to get some shots! Camdyn had such a fun time with her gentle, loving cousin. Camdyn just loves loving on Macey and playing with her. The girls are only a month apart and it's so fun to see them grow up together.

This one will definitely be blown up and framed!!!

I then walked into the room and found them "sharing" Cam's car

Camdyn giving Macey a ride around the house

The girls then proceeded to watch their favorite show and look at their sweet little heads!

and they sat like this for seriously 30 minutes! I peeked in at them when they didn't know I was there and I kept seeing Camdyn look over at Macey and smile. I think she just loved having her cousin sitting beside her that she didn't want to get up!

We love you Macey Cate!

While mommy's away...

Today I had lunch (and we snuck in a lil shopping) that was LONG needed with my friend Heather. Dustin watched Camdyn so we could do tons of catching up and "pregnancy" talk. We had such a WONDERFUL time! I called to check up on Camdyn and Dustin let me know that while they were cleaning up the house he taught her something and they both shared it with me on the phone. Here is a little clip of what Dustin taught her while I was away...

Oh how I love how she hurry and says what Dustin told her to say before he actually asks her the question. Oh sweet girl and nutty daddy! You two are a pair!

19 months and Congratulations Daddy!

Camdyn Reecer is 19 months today! I feel like the 23rd rolls around extremely quickly each month. I just can't get it to slow down! We had her 18 month check-up today and she also woke up with a nasty runny nose so I know she was not eager to have to get poked around on. The pediatrician said that she looked great and what a growing girl she was. Everything we were asked we were able to say "yes and more" to, so we are extremely thankful that God has given us this healthy spunky little girl.

Here are a ton of things that we LOVE about you or that you LOVE...

*You still love to rock with me before bedtime. You wrap those legs around me and you do not move. We've had a few close calls where you would point and say "bed" but you are back to needing "mommy love" before your sweet dreams begin. :)

*You love to hear the garage door open knowing that it's your daddy and running with me to go and hide in your tent until daddy finds us.

*Dancing is one of our rituals at night. The music turns on and you get your animals and "slow dance" in circles with them.

*You use the word ewwee all the time with the face and all. You know exactly when to use it too!

*You adore your church nursery now and Miss Sarah. I love how independent you have become and that you can now take to others beside mommy and daddy.

*You love to sing patty-cake while holding other people's hands and you know when to do the "roll em up" part and "throw em in the pan" (You and Mace practiced last night!)

*I think I know your favorite color...PURPLE! You say "puple" when you see it.

*Your favorite book to read is still Pinkalicious and Goodnight Moon

*Whenever the doorbell rings you get super excited knowing that it is probably someone coming to visit you!

*You love brushing your teeth.

*You love your family. Whenever I speak of any of them, you get a huge smile on your face. Whenever you talk to them on the phone, you always give the phone a sweet kiss.

*You love your cousin Macey and you are always so excited to see her.

*You adore your "Bobby" and you always smile when you see him in the morning

*Sesame Street is your all time favorite show now!

*You have become more free with your kisses. Sometimes you will just look up at me and kiss me. HEAVEN!

*If you happen to pull my hair on accident you will always say "aww" and pet it to make it better...so cute!

*You love to play chase with your daddy and anything that involves daddy (you have him wrapped around your little finger!)

*You still love to go on walks and you also are enjoying to water color.

*I am still amazed at everything you understand. You are also saying so many words now.
*You love to do "tricks" with me (I am preparing you for cheerleading! Ha!)

*You are very strong willed but you also have such a caring heart. I know you will not have a problem taking up for yourself and standing up for what you believe in!

*You love to point out belly buttons and stare at your own. You are always looking for mine and when you find my stomach you enjoy kissing it and smiling! Silly girl!
*You now have started to show sympathy for others. Whenever you hear a baby cry you will stop and listen with a sad face or when someone gets hurt you have learned how to care for them or show that you are sorry for them.

Now for the congratulations posting! Camdyn was not very eager to wish her daddy congratulations tonight primarily because she just didn't feel too well but

if she could understand just how happy and proud momma was of her daddy,

She would sit up proudly just like this and congratulate her hard working daddy on his high score on his Principal's test!

Dustin has worked very hard and very quickly on completing his Masters, classes on line and on site...while balancing baseball, teaching, ME! ha, and taking care of a little girl and he did it! I am so proud of him. Once this final class is over with he will be ready to go whenever he feels that the time is right for him. Oh if Camdyn only knew that her mommy was going to be teaching at the same school that she attends while Daddy might be the principal over her when she is in high school!

In a few days we will all be celebrating Thanksgiving. As our pastor encouraged us this past Sunday, try to not only take this week to thank God for what you are thankful for but take a few minutes to thank him EVERY morning when your alarm goes off. We all have so much to be thankful for!!!

Breakfast with Melmo

What a great day it was! This morning before Camdyn woke up, I got up and decided to make us french toast! It is the first day heading into our FABULOUS long Thanksgiving break so why not start it out with a great breakfast! :) When Cam found out she was about to eat she kept telling Elmo to sit in her chair so instead of having to be impolite and put Elmo on the ground, we invited him to join us for breakfast with his fork and even coffee! Oh did Camdyn enjoy watching her BFF eat breakfast with her and she loooovved mommies french toast. I think she smiled after every bite! I could just eat her up!

Camdyn got to enjoy a day with Daddy while Melissa and I went shopping and to the Chi Omega Christmas Market. We found some super cute stuff and now we are in the "bling mood" and the Christmas spirit!
Here are some sweet pictures of Camdyn enjoying her breakfast date with Elmo.

Camdyn after realizing Elmo was actually eating real food with her!

Taking the first bite...

So yummy!

Here she is talking with Elmo

and even giving him a kiss

I love where she thinks it's funny that she just piled all of her mandarin oranges on her sippy cup :)

After we got home, I got her ready to make a quick trip to the park before it was time to order pizza. We always have such a fun time at the park with new adventures each time. Today Camdyn kept going up the huge twisty slide and sliding down and she also wanted to get on the big girl swings! She did and held on super tight but I pushed her probably 5 inches high (if that!) so I'm sure I wasn't much fun. Camdyn then found some new friends that were much older than her but she sure held her own and played on the slide with them. I loved how the little girl kept calling her "Candace" : )

Here is the sweet girl playing with mommies rings before the park. (I know her shoes don't match very well but these are the most comfy for the park! We just had to buy her a size 7 in shoes...I think she is going to be tall like Aunt Tay Tay or her Poppee!)

Cute lil pony tail!

A few months ago Camdyn discovered the pantry and all of the fun things inside of it. She brings us the snacks she wants and today we found her carrying around her Cheetos. Little piggy!