The Road to Another Baby (or More Babies)...

Ben and I are attending a fostering/adoption orientation next Tuesday, and since we feel God has been leading us in that direction for years, we've been talking to the boys about it. We've talked about why we would adopt, what it means to adopt, etc.

Last night we watched a story on the Olympics about an Olympian who had been adopted from Russia as a baby. When they showed the orphanage I said, "Maybe we need to adopt a Russian baby." James was not interested in that- he said we need to adopt a baby from America. We told him we'll look at our options and see what direction God wants us to take in adding a brother or sister to our family.

Then after church today we asked Ben's mom to watch the boys while we go to the orientation next week. James was excited, "So, you're going to go to that meeting next week and come home with a baby?" If only it were that easy!!

Of course it came up again this evening when The Proposal came on TV. I loved the movie and when walking out of the theater while pregnant with Cameron, I said I wanted to name the baby Andrew. Ben said we were not naming a baby after a Ryan Reynold's character. Ben brought that up again tonight, and James decided we needed to name our next baby Andrew. I told him sometimes when you foster and adopt a baby he already has a name, and he said, "That's ok, we can change it!"

I'm glad James has been so much a part of this conversation lately and look forward to Cameron better understanding what's going on, too. It'll be a journey but I look forward to what God has in store for us and to the future growth of our family.

Cam's Joke

Cam: How could a bear eat a banana with a piece of bacon on his head?

Me: Um, I don't know. How?

Cam: He could just put a piece of bacon on his head (as demonstrated in the picture)

Me: What?!? Hahahaha! 

Cameron's Dinner Prayer

God, let us have fun with Jesus.
And let us have fun with our food.
And thank you for the fun we had today.
And let us have a good night.
In Jesus Namen, Amen.

Love that boy!

Catching up

It's been awhile since I posted, and I want to make sure I don't lose any of my kids' awesomeness that I post on Facebook :)

12/23/2011

I used to be afraid of Cam's lack of a healthy sense of fear, but after watching him climb a ladder to the top of the highest slide at the bounce place, my perspective has changed. I pray he uses his adventurous spirit to try new things, to take on challenges, and to know that sometimes success only comes after several 'failed' attempts. Wow! Parenting is stinkin awesome!!! (Yes, I am tearing up at the bounce place!)

12/28/2011

Me: James, you may not get to have dessert anymore if you can't calm down.
James: But it's the Sour Patch Kids. They're playing video games in my tummy and they make me move and dance.

12/30/2011 

Cam busted his lip a little while ago. Playing with hair soothes him, so when Mommy got off the couch he moved right on to James 

1/10/2012

I'm in the garage, Christina is in bed. It's almost 1:30am. This begs the question: When did Cam (2 years old) come downstairs and start watching TV by himself in the recliner in the living room?

1/18/2012

Me: James, do you know what tomorrow is?
James: It's Thursday.
Me: And Mommy's birthday. 
James: Oh, yea.
Me: Do you know how old I'll be?
James: Umm.. 31. Will Daddy still be 29?
Me: Yes.
James: HAHAHAHAHAHA!

1/21/2012

I highly recommend having 2 boys!! Spiderman and Batman (the REAL Batman) are running around, laughing, and having the best time together

2/11/2012 

"How old are you?" "Twooo!" (holds up "hook 'em")

3/20/2012

Me: James, Daddy is running up to Home Depot. Want to go with him?
James: No. I only want to go if someone goes to Costco cuz I like snacks!!

8/28/2012

Ben: When we get home we are going right to bed with no arguing.
James: Kindergarteners never argue and I'm a Kindergartener now so I won't argue.

9/27/2012

James got the team ball tonight!!! I'm so proud of my little man and the joy he has for the game!!

9/29/2012

Pajama/movie day "started" (it actually started at the butt crack of dawn when the boys got up but I refused to make breakfast until  with biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs and The Incredibles. Cam is in big boy underwear and the timer is set to take him potty every 15 minutes. It's going to be a great day!!

11/19/2012 

Christina, 6:20 pm: "OK, I'm going to bunco, see you later."
James, 6:21pm: "Daddy, look at Cam!"

11/29/2013

C: Are we going to get Dames?
Me: Well, we need to get gas too. Which should we so first?
C: Get my Dames.
Me: Do you miss your James?
C: Ya. I'm gonna tiss him.
Me: You can't kiss him because you're sick.
C: Oh. Can I "high five" him?
Me:  Ya. You can.
C: Ok 

11/30/2012

C: Where's Daddy? 
Me: He went somewhere with his friends.
J: Ya. He went to Bunco.
Me: Bahaha! Actually he went to play poker.
J: Oh ya. Bunco is for girls

12/25/2012 

James' letter to Santa

1/23/2013

Cam was a sweetheart and got a prize from the Dr's goodie box for his brother. He got James a monster truck. What did he get for himself? A princess wand, of course!

1/30/2013 

I wasn't sure what he meant when he said he wanted "Wolverine" hair but apparently this did the trick... He is so proud!

3/30/2013 

James insisted on bringing his own money to tip the clown for his and his brother's balloon animals so he "won't waste mom's money". Sweet kid!

Spring 2013 

Cameron played his one and only season of soccer. He did NOT like it! His brother was a big helper during some games. Cam did play his entire last game though because he knew he'd get a trophy :) 

4/9/2013 

James lost his first tooth!! Unfortunately, it was at recess and the tooth is long gone. We've decided we'll write a letter to the tooth fairy explaining the situation

5/13/2013

Ben and I tried to explain to James what a butler does. After hearing our explanation, he said, "Y'all do all that so you're butlers." Yes, son, we do all that but we don't get paid! 

6/19/2013

James did something weird (sorry, but I can't remember what!)
Me: James, you're a weirdo.
James: Well, you made me!

6/2013

Summer trip to OK- Cam LOVED fishing

7/14/2013

James has requested couscous, meatballs, and cucumber for his birthday dinner.#lovethatkid

8/2/2013 

James went to work with Ben today. He found Photo Booth on the computer :)

8/16/2013

Mom and Cam went on a lunch date at his favorite, Chick Fil-A, before work got busy.

10/2/2013

Cam's class made a list of what they want to be when they grow up... he wants to be a Ninja Turtle :)

10/7/2013

Shopping with Cam at Kohl’s… Cam wants to get me a ring, necklace, earrings, bracelet, and watch for my birthday. Don't forget to take him shopping with you, Ben. Although that'll be above our typical birthday budget ;) 

10/8/2013

Cameron didn’t like baseball the whole way to practice. Once we got there, he played catch with his brother and then helped the coach with team stretches. Then after batting, he was supposed to be fielding the ball around the pitcher’s mound where he proceeded to lay down and pretend to snore. Then he stood up and said, “Mommy, I’m so funny.” That boys likes to bat but isn't a fan of the rest of it.

10/12/2013

James threw a touchdown pass, ran in two touchdowns, and had two runs over 50 yards (on a 70 yard field).

I also saw him start to throw a perfect block, but he pulled up because he remembered he's not allowed to do that in flag football.

Smart, talented, athletic kid. I have no idea where it comes from. (The athletic part anyway)

10/20/2013

Dinner conversation tonight...
James: Mom, I'm glad you're alive. I really like your salad.
Cam: I'm glad you're alive, too. If you weren't, you'd be dead.

10/22/2013

Tonight's dinner prayer:
James: God thank you for giving us a good day today and bless the food.
Cam: And don't let the dragons eat us. I mean don't let the dragon FLIES eat us. 
(He had an issue with some dragon flies at t-ball a couple weeks ago.)

That's what boys do...

Cameron and I were walking down the hall a little while ago because he wanted to put money in his piggy bank. He's a little thief- he finds money everywhere he goes and picks it up. This time the money was on the end table in the living room and he scooped it up and said, "Mommy, we will go in my room and we will put this in my dinosaur piggy bank." How could I say no to that? :)

Anyway, as we were walking down the wood-floored hall, Cam spun in a circle. He was very proud of himself. He said, "I can do that. I can spin. That's what boys do." After being home with the boys for about 6 weeks so far this summer, and being on the verge of going crazy some days, I'm glad I can still crack up laughing at my silly boys!

And this, is Cameron :)

Cameron is a nut!! Here he is in his "Pider-guy", "Cap Merica" costume. And this pretty much sums it up :)

Cameron is his own person. He wants to do things on his own and we're in the midst of the 'terrible twos' where he throws fits when he isn't allowed to do things his way whenever he wants!!

He's also hilarious and full of words. I think second children have it harder because they're constantly compared with their older sibling. Luckily, I don't remember when James did anything, so every Cam does is AMAZING!

Some cute 'Camisms' at this point:
- Cap Merica
- Pider-guy
- Supe-man
(Notice a theme?? He loves everything his brother loves!)
- He repeats us as we pray with him each night.
- He LOVES the 'shark prayer' that we're SO excited (insert sarcasm here) James introduced to the family. It's fun putting your hands on top of your head to make a shark fan no matter where we eat dinner.
- He says "Jas burp" or "Tameron burp"
- He is very polite and always says "Peas" and "Tant tu".
- Earlier today, he sneezed a couple times in a row and then said, "Say bess you Mommy".

Cameron makes us laugh daily and it's so fun being his mom!

James' Prayer

We have a routine every night with the boys. They put on PJs, brush their teeth, go potty, and then each of them gets to pick a book. After reading, we ask James what he's thankful for and then we pray over them. Last night, was Ben's bed night, and James told him at dinner that he was going to say the prayer before bed. He usually prayers before dinner, but it's a memorized prayer so he doesn't think much of it. At dinner, he said that he was going to try real hard and do his best and say a prayer. Ben said James even went through the routine of asking Ben and Cameron what they were thankful for before he prayed. Ben said he did a good job.

This was his prayer tonight (night 2 of praying for the family):

Dear God,
We thank you for this day and we love you. We love you because of the toys and the food you give us to eat and to play with. We thank you for the refrigerators that we can keep our food in and we thank you for the stores that we can go to when we run out of food so we won't be hungry. We thank you for the builders who make our houses so we don't have to be out in the rain or cold so we don't catch a cold. We thank you for our pajamas that we have to sleep in.
Amen.