"Nothing"

Ok, so I know that I don't usually get very "deep" here, but tonight I feel the need to stray away from my typical latest updates on baby C and focus on some new "stuff" I'm learning as a parent. First off, some background info.

Neal and I recently (3 weeks ago) started attending a new campus that has become a part of our very large church. It's closer to our house and the current Sunday morning assembly times work really well with Camden's feeding/nap schedule. He has napped through church for the past two Sundays, and it has been glorious! Also, he goes to the nursery while we go to class, so we get to have some time where neither one of is having to keep him happy and entertained. We can focus on some adult time. Even though I have been a nervous wreck with him in the nursery, our son has adjusted like a pro. In fact, I think he likes the attention that the nursery helpers give him. He's one of the cute ones, so he gets held a lot. :) But, I digress.

So, we have been enjoying our "new" church home. Each week, we meet a new couple or two or three, and we end up having great conversations and even exchange contact info in hopes of meeting up later on. Also, we have run into other friends that we know from our small group who have been giving the new campus a try. I personally love the size and the welcoming qualities of this church. Even though the worship times are going to change to accommodate the new growth, we will still probably stick with it because we are enjoying meeting new people.

Last week, we tried to go to a class for young families/young marrieds/singles and ended up in the young families (but really people who have children in college, but don't want to admit that they are no longer young families) class, and we were somewhat disappointed. So, this week, we made a point to find the right class, and the topic happens to be "Nothing." Literally, they are looking through the Bible for references to the word nothing and designing lessons around those passages. This week the lesson was over Romans 8:38-39 about how nothing can separate us from God's love. I liked how the teacher seemed to try to make it personal by bringing up stuff from his life experiences and he had good points. However, it is always frustrating that people in college or the just out of college age group often seem to refuse to talk in Sunday School. Neal and I encountered this same response when we co-facilitated a college class on Sunday mornings when we lived in Little Rock. We even tried the cool, post modern Nooma videos, but they were still very closed off. Anyway, maybe they will open up more as we get to know each other better.

Speaking of Nooma videos, the teacher showed one that we had already seen called Lump. I vaguely remembered the title from when Neal and I watched them 6 years ago. But, as we started watching it, I remembered seeing this particular one, and I remembered that I had thought, "Oh, that's a cool way to illustrate how God will always love us, no matter what we do. Nothing can separate us. Cool." Then, I forgot about it, and moved on with life. Now, as a parent watching that same video, I thought, "Whoa! I completely understand how God can love us even when we mess up. I love Camden that much!" I almost teared up in the middle of the class. The speaker in the video (Rob Bell) tells a story of his son doing a few things he shouldn't and how when he gets "busted," he is so ashamed that he runs and hides under the comforter in his parents' bedroom. When his dad comes home, he pulls back the blanket, holds his son (who is sobbing), and tells him over and over again that nothing he does will ever make him love him less.

Now, I have a hard time picturing Camden ever doing anything wrong, because he is still too young and innocent to know right from wrong, but I think about how I put up with his fussing, I change his diapers (even the stinky ones), and I make sure he has plenty of milk to drink - even when I don't feel like it, or I'm tired, or I'm frustrated, simply because I love him, and I couldn't imagine not doing those things for him. I know that the time will come when he'll disobey me, but even then, I will be reminded of why I love him so much. And, that's just a fraction of how much God loves us!

Neal and I were discussing this on the way home from church, and we pointed out that the teacher in our class mentioned that even people can say to each other that we will love each other no matter what, and that nothing will come in the way of that love. We're not supposed to have exceptions, but sometimes, later on down the road, we realize the exceptions or the things that make us love others less. So, because of that, I think it is sometimes hard to remember that God does not have those exceptions, and he never falls out of love with us. Having that reminder today made me realize how important it is for me to keep loving the ones I have been blessed with in my life - no exceptions.

Now, watching that video, I have a very clear picture of God holding me and all my imperfections and whispering over and over again, "Nothing you can do will ever make me stop loving you. Nothing. Nothing." I think that becoming a parent is one of the ways that He is teaching me about His love for me, and I am so thankful that I get to experience this. I'm also so grateful for our church family!

Feeling Blessed

Since we ended up with 4 snow/ice days, I thought I would bless the blogging world with an extra post for the week. I know - two posts in one week! That must be some kind of a record for me! First of all, on the topic of being snowed in, I would love to share how blessed I felt this week to be stuck inside with my two favorite gents, Neal and Camden. We played, laughed, caught up on dvr (until the bulb in our tv died today :( ), cooked delicious meals (so glad our freezer/pantry were well stocked, and went on a journey (more on that later). I felt like this was a mini-vacation. I had no responsibilities, no where to be (even if I did have somewhere to be, there was no way I could leave to get there), and plenty of time. I will admit that I spent an unhealthy amount of time on facebook, but I also did some cleaning and spent the majority of my time holding my sweet baby boy. I feel like this semester will be much easier now that I had this extra bit of time. I couldn't help thinking how blessed we were as we sat in our warm, comfy pj's in our warm, comfy home while enjoying many a hot meal and tv marathons. I know that there were others in our part of the world who weren't quite as lucky. Sometimes I get caught up in worrying about the little things in life, and it was a week like this one that reminded me of how much I have to be thankful for and how little I actually have to complain about.

Now, on to the story of our journey! Neal and I knew that we had a four month check-up scheduled for Camden on Thursday afternoon, and while it was still pretty nasty outside (the temps were pretty much staying in the teens and twenties for most of the week and that kept everything covered in a thick sheet of ice), we thought we might be able to get out to take him there. Neal tried scraping/shoveling the driveway. No such luck - it was too solid and too frozen. We thought about trying to slide our car out of the driveway and cautiously driving the one mile to our pediatrician's office (her office is in our neighborhood - so convenient!), but Neal did not want to leave either of our vehicles parked on the street, because we had seen too many cars sliding all over the street outside of our house. It would have been way too easy for someone to hit us (especially since we are on the curve of two streets). So, the next logical plan was to bundle up and walk to the doctor's office. Since we were eager to get out of the house and take care of this appointment (we knew it would be hard to get a new one with all of the other cancellations that would be trying to reschedule later on), we put on our warmest clothes, strapped Camden onto Neal in the infant carrier (Neal was more sure-footed than me), and set out on our trek to the pediatrician's.

We actually did quite well. We made it in less than half an hour. No one slipped and fell, and they did not think we were too crazy for walking to the appointment. I felt so proud of what we accomplished, but I was dreading walking back. At the doctor's, we found out that Camden weighs 15 pounds, 2 ounces (65-70th percentile), is 26.5 inches long (95th percentile), and his head is 43 centimeters around (60-65th percentile). He also had to eat (twice) while we were there, and the nurse acted like I should have been embarrassed for her to see me feeding him when I thought that all medical personnel were usually pretty professional about that, but maybe she is just not that type. ;) Anyway, I think that our little boy is figuring out what happens at the doctor's office, because he only cried and screamed when we would lay him down on the exam table. Otherwise, he was happy to be there. Oh, by the way, he usually gets his shots when he lays down on the table. He screamed through all of the vaccinations (two shots and one he had to drink) and when the doctor layed him on the table to check out his reflexes. I thought it was really sweet of her to sing to him, but he was not buying it.

So, after our appointment was over, we bundled up and began our journey home. However, we did not go ten steps before someone pulled over and begged to give us a ride home. We only hesitated about the fact that we did not have a carseat before we gave up and hopped in. I was secretly praying that someone would stop and offer us a ride. It turns out this family lives on the street behind us, and they are often out with their little girl, Harper, and their dogs. Hopefully, we will run into them when it is warmer outside. After that, Neal and I were exhausted and we rested while Camden took a nap.

Today, we finally ventured out and took care of grocery shopping, even though we would have made it (it is embarrassing how much food we keep in our house) without a trip to the store, it was nice to stock up on new provisions. The grocery store was pretty crowded, but I didn't mind too much, because I felt like it had been too long since we had been out in the world. And, we picked up pizza from Papa John's! We had been craving this treat, so it was nice to be able to get out to get it!

Now, we will enjoy the rest of the weekend, watching non-HD TV, but we should feel blessed that we have extra TV's to use while our nice one is on the fritz. By the way, Neal ordered a new bulb, but we will have to wait to see when it will be available as they are on nationwide back order. We also have plans to pig out on our favorite junk foods while watching the Superbowl tomorrow night. The first year that we were married we moved to Fort Worth right before the Superbowl and we didn't know anyone yet, so we had our own party - just the two of us. However, we cooked enough appetizers and junk food for a huge party. We had so much fun - and way too many leftovers, but we still bring up that memory. So, we decided to recreate that tomorrow night, but this time it will be considerably downsized. We were each allowed to choose one appetizer and one dessert. We also agreed on one dip that we have both been craving (guacamole!)! I can't wait to snuggle with my guys some more.

And, I leave you with a photo montage of more Camden After Bath Hair :)

Profile shot with a side grin
Another profile shot

Preach it, baby C!

I love those baby blues! Enjoy the rest of your weekend! I know, I will. ;)

Catching Up!

I know that it has been awhile, but we have had a busy few weeks! I have had to adjust to being back at school after Christmas break, and we have either had people in town, been sick, or gone on day trips on the weekends in January. This past weekend was the first time we had nothing to do, and while the weather was amazing (highs in the 70's and sunny), my allergies were acting up so I spent most of the weekend inside. I'm still getting over these allergy issues! By the way, I never used to deal with allergies, but then I got pregnant about a year ago, and it seems as though I will be fighting allergies for the rest of my life. Obviously I am no longer pregnant, but the allergy flare-ups continue! Add that to the growing list of ways I have already sacrificed my body for my child. But, when you get to wake up to this face each day,

wouldn't you say it's worth it? :)

A few updates for the month, Camden experienced his first snow:

He loved it!
I loved that we used socks as mittens to keep his hands warm. :)

Such a happy boy!

We also participated in our church's baby dedication.

(We are in the center of this picture.) We actually forgot to call the church to inform them of Camden's arrival, so we only found out about the baby dedication the day before, but thankfully they were able to include us in the festivities. At first I thought it wouldn't be as special since it was all of the babies born in 201o (which explains the huge crowd from this picture), but the reception before the church service was really neat. Camden was given two Bibles, a cross for his nursery, a diaper bag tag, and we met with an elder and his wife who prayed over our family. The prayer was really heartfelt, and even though we didn't know this particular elder, he really captured some of our hopes and dreams for our little guy in his prayer. It was also great to see many of our friends who have had babies over the last year and get to celebrate with them as well. I can't believe that at this time last year, we were just finding out that we were expecting our little bundle of joy, and now he has been with us for four months. I find myself thinking a lot about what we were doing at this time last year, and how we couldn't wait to meet our little guy and learn all about him. What a huge difference one year makes!

Also, one of Neal's best friends, Jared, came to visit us recently and he hung out with Camden. He loved getting to cuddle with him and play. I think Jared secretly wishes that he has a little one of his own - even though we used to tease him that he never wanted to have kids!

Jared also helped Neal put together Camden's Around the World play table. He loves it already, even though his legs aren't quite long enough for his feet to touch the ground. I have a feeling that our little guy will spend a lot of time in this over the next few months. He was fascinated by the bright colors and all of the moving parts! Camden has also started to enjoy his Johnny Jump Up - we have it hanging in the doorway to this nursery, and he loves to spin and practice taking steps in it.

He has also started rolling over from his tummy to his back and from his back to his tummy! He used to hate tummy time, but now, he loves to hang out on his tummy. It looks like he is trying to do push ups! Pretty soon he will be scooting and sitting up. I'm not sure I'm ready for him to grow up so fast, but I'm so proud of all of the things he's learning to do.

This picture was taken after a bath. We love his "after bath" hair - it stands up completely straight! He also gets a little "faux-hawk" that does not require any extra styling to stay in place. :) He is already so stylish! Camden has also discovered some new sounds. He sometimes sounds like Tarzan when he talks. O - e - o - e - oh! He loves to put his lips together and blow like he is making toot sounds (such a boy!), and this is what he does whenever he finishes eating or he is happy. At church on Saturday night, he kept making this noise towards the end of Rick's sermon, and he doesn't know what "Shh!" means yet, so I had to distract him with his plastic keys. However, those were almost as noisy as his noises! This prompted Neal to decide it was time to find out about our church's nursery. We went and visited and found out that they take babies as young as two months old, and there are different rooms for different age groups. Everything seemed really clean and everyone was very nice, so we may try it out during the sermon next week. I know it will be good for him, but I'm worried I will be a nervous wreck while he is in there! Expect an update on this soon!

Camden with his new Bible from the baby dedication at church - he is wearing his Valentine's Day shirt from Grammy, and he is my "prince charming." :)

This picture shows how he is starting to try and sit up on his own, but he doesn't last very long! So adorable!

Well, the main reason why this post is happening is because we had a snow day today, and I just found out we have another snow day tomorrow! Two bonus days with my little guy this week! I'm so excited! I know we will have to make them up later on in the year, but it's still nice to get extra time with my little one when I didn't expect it. Oh, and I'm also enjoying the extra time with my hubby, too. :)

On Thursday, we will go in for his four month check-up and shots, so expect an update on his stats soon! I do know that he is at least 15 pounds, because that is what he weighed at 3 and a half months (we visited Pop's office a few weeks ago during a day trip to Athens). What a chubby chunker! But, he's a pretty cute chubby chunker!