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.

Silliness at Target

James actually offered to go to the store with me, which NEVER happens. I'm pretty sure he only offered because when we were there after school, he picked out some Skittles for dessert and had to leave them at the store because Mommy forgot her wallet :(

Anyway, he picked jelly beans on our second trip. I'm not a mom who opens food in stores because I know there are people who let their kids eat an entire package of something and then leave the wrapper somewhere without paying for it, and I don't want to be that mom, so James was surprised when I opened the package as we waited in line. 

"Mommy, can I eat ALL of them?" 

Of course I told him he couldn't and told him he could have 10.  When we got up to the register, he handed the bag to her and when she asked if he wanted to hold them or put them in the bag, I asked if he'd finished his 10. 

"Oopps!" was his response. The cashier laughed because she knew what that meant. 

Me: "How many did you have? 25? 37?" 

James: (sheepishly) "11."

Me: "I'll let you slide with 11 this time." :)

On the way out, I told him we'd have to take the jelly beans with us to Grandpa's tomorrow because he loves the black jelly beans and we could share with him. James looked at me with a sad face and said, "We can take them with us, but if he eats all of them, I'll be sad."

And finally- unrelated to jelly beans... I started pulling out of the parking spot, and James said, "Mommy, I'm not buckled! .... Did you hear the 'chichik' (noise) that tells you I'm buckled?!?" 

"Jamesisms" from 2011

This is a LONG one, so beware. These are my favorite "Jameisms" from the past year. I copied all our family-related status updates from last year. Yet another reason why wanted to start a blog (I could only go back and retrieve the past year's).

1/29/11
J: Mommy, I can't grown-up whistle. I can just go "woo woo" and that's a train whistle. But when I turn 4 then I will be able to grown-up whistle.

2/24/11
James: This is what Katelyn brought for show and tell (toy). Me: Oh, no, James. I'm sorry we forgot show and tell! What did you show? James: I just showed them my shirt. (Broke my heart!) Me: What did you tell them about it? James: (shrugs and smiles) I told them my daddy got it for me. -He said he was a little sad but it was ok. I'm SO thankful for an easy-going kid!

2/25/11
James just unknowingly corrected Hulk's (Super Hero Squad cartoon) grammar. Hulk said, "Hulk don't understand," and my sweet, proper English speaking boy said, "Mommy, Hulk said, 'Hulk doesn't understand.'" I love it!

3/1/11
Me: Boys, let's go upstairs.
James: Mommy, I'm an owl. I stay awake when it's night-night time and I go to sleep when it's wake-up time... nice try, buddy!

3/11/11
James' instructions when getting in the car: Mommy, don't crash the car. - you have to love his confidence in my abilities ;-)

3/13/11
‎(praying with James) Me: James, what are you going to thank God for tonight?
James: I'm going to thank Him for 5 things. I thank Him for my carpet, for my puzzles, for my books, for my shark frisbee that I'm going to take with me to Granny's next time I go and I'm gonna play with it in her pool because it's a pool frisbee... that's 4 things. And I thank Him for my fan.

3/20/11
Me: James, did you and Daddy (Ben Hollander) buy some dirt to plant your carrot seeds?
James: Yep. We bought potty dirt. Me: Do you mean potting soil?
James: Oh, yea, potty soil.

3/25/11
A conversation with James earlier...
James: Mommy, I'm getting bigger.
Me: James, you're getting bigger every day. Your brother is, too.
James: Yeah, but not as big as me. And we help each other.
Me: You do? How does he help you?
James: He gives me hugs and kisses. I'm thankful for that.

4/1/11
My silly superhero addict put yellow stickers on his hands and said, "Mommy, look, I'm Ironman" :)

4/2/11
James had a GREAT time at t-ball!! I asked him what his favorite part was, and he said, "Playing baseball." I guess he liked it all :)

4/10/11
Mission Impossible 75: James "can do it myself" so he wanted to unbutton all 5 buttons on his shirt before bed.
Time: 2-3 minutes
Frustration level: Mid-High
Reaction after accomplishing his goal: Pride and excitement!!

4/21/11
On our way to the campsite... James: Mommy, before I go to bed I'm gonna pee in the woods.

4/28/11
James: Mommy, Jesus is in heaven. And He's alive. And He's risen. But He's still in our hearts. First He was a baby but now He's a grown-up.

5/25/11
J: I buckled myself. Me: You're getting good at that, dude. J: I think I'm already 4 years old. -His bday is in July :)

6/5/11
James tripped walking out of church earlier, so I asked him if he was ok. James: "Yep. I just keep tripping. I've got the trips today!"

6/15/11
Tonight James and I read a Clifford book that talked about Clifford's favorite things, so on each page I had James tell me which picture was his favorite. On the animal page he said the octopus, on the vehicle page he said the race car, and on the music page (without hesitation or bothering to look at the options), "Air guitar!" :)

6/24/11
After being away from Mom since Monday, James was ready to see me today. My aunt said he brought his pillow, blanket, and toothbrush downstairs and put them by the door as soon as he woke up this morning :) Cam clinged to me from the moment I got there and cried when I put him in his carseat so we could leave because he thought I was leaving him again. Poor guy!

6/29/11
James: We're playing 'Cameron pour water on James while James is jumping'. -- He's creative in many aspects of life but not so much in how he titles his activities!

Me: James, will you please get forks for you and Cam?
James: Yes. I will get forks because that's my job. And cooking lunch is your job.
Me: And what's your brother's job?
James: His job is waiting and eating.

7/2/11
On our way to celebrate my brother-in-law, Eric's, birthday and James is making up songs for each of the Superhero Squad guys. I love it! 'Thor! Hammer, hammer, hammer!' 'Superhero Squad (drawn out)! Yea, yea, yea, yea!' =)

7/10/11
‎Ben Hollander (to James): How'd you get so good at building with Legos?
James: I don't know.
Ben: Are you just a natural?
James: Ya. I just naturaled.

7/12/11
James and I were talking about how much he loves his brother and he still will when he's a grown up like I love my brother and sister...
James: Mommy, I want a sister.
Me: You do?
James: Yes. Mommy, grow me a sister in your tummy, please.
Me: hahahaha!

7/31/11
James can swim!! He did a great job tonight without his floaties!

8/1/11
Tonight James wanted to thank God for 6 things (he usually ranges anywhere from 1-20 :).
"I thank Him for Destin and Jamie (Destin Garner and jamie garner); that's 1. I thank Him for my fan; that's 2. I thank Him for my lamp; that's 3. I thank Him for my house; that's 4. I thank Him for my family that He gave me; that's 5. I thank Him for my mommy; that's 6."

8/13/11
My awesome 4-year-old can jump off the diving board into 10 foot deep water and swim to the edge with NO floaties! He rocks!!

8/21/11
James: 'Dad, my mom's gonna turn 31 before you turn 30.' (grinning at Mom)

8/27/11
He went to bed a couple hours ago, but I forgot to share!
(James was spinning his toothbrush around in his mouth and swaying back and forth) Me: James, stop spinning your toothbrush, and clean your teeth.
James: But there's music in my head.

9/11/11
James (on seeing the line-up tonight): They said Romo! I guess his boo-boo is better!

10/17/11
James: Mommy, can I do my homework, now? (I'll be sad when this phase is over!!)

10/22/11
JAMES: Mommy, there's a huge food football game going on in my tummy right now. (Translation: I'm hungry.)

11/11/11
It's awesome that James calls his little brother, "Dude." Cracks me up!

11/25/11
James has had his bike for a year and a half and he really rode it for for the first time today. I'm a proud momma!

12/7/11
James is all bundled up for his field trip... He said if he gets cold he won't be able to play, so I told him if he gets cold he needs to jump around. "Ok, Mommy. I'll do the jump and spin move Destin taught me."

12/9/11
James: Mommy, tomorrow is Saturday, so you have nothing to do but stay home and play with me. (It's Mommy's favorite day all week!!!)

12/12/11
James went with me to Walgreens earlier. I used a cart (as a walker) while shopping because my back was really bothering me. When we left, I left the cart inside, and told James I hoped I'd be able to make it to the car. He said, "I'll hold your hand, Mommy." I almost melted :)

12/14/11
Me: Eat the rest of this and you can have dessert.
James: All this?
Me: Yes. You don't have to eat the peas or Lima beans.
James: But I like windo beans. They're so big and good.

James: Mommy, how does God see us but we don't see Him?
Me: Well, we can't be everywhere, but God can. He's a BIG God and He can see everyone.
James: Like, He can see us when we're driving in the car. But He walks with quiet footsteps, so we can't hear Him, we can only hear the sound of the other engines.

12/15/11
James: 2 plus 3 equals 5
Me: That's right. How did you know that?
James: I just saw it in a spot in my brain.

12/18/11
‎2 Jamesisms tonight:
- On our way to Gloria's at the Domain- James: I love bean dip. It's so beany.
- On our way home tonight- James: Mommy, I can't go to bed with my wiggles. They'll keep me up. Do you know how I get my wiggles out?.... By dancing (sly grin and proceeds to dance to the Chipmunks Christmas CD) :)

12/22/11
James: Mommy, kids can have iPods, too.
Me: Yes, they can, but you don't need one.
James: I know.... I want a DS for Christmas.
Me: (uh oh!) You haven't asked for a DS at all this Christmas.
James: No, not for this Christmas. For NEXT Christmas.
Me: (sigh of relief)
He asked for a DS this summer when several friends brought them on game day to school (he brought Chutes and Ladders) so we talked about getting one for him this Christmas, but he's been consistent in his wish-list: Star Wars toys, a train, Legos, and candy. I'm glad he knows he can't throw a new gift in 4 days before Christmas!! :)

I started a blog... again!

I put the boys to bed tonight and came downstairs with one thought... Our boys are amazing! I have the same thought often. Not so much when they're fighting, telling me "NO", yelling, or pooping in a diaper and then walking up to me immediately afterward and saying "I go potty." Really, Cam?!? But even then, they're mine (ours) and they amaze me.

Therefore, I've decided to write a blog. This isn't the first time... Ben and I started one when I was pregnant with James and that lasted until his birth. Then, we tried again a couple more times, but they're just so hard to keep up with! However, since I post silly things the boys say pretty much daily, I thought I could put those thoughts here and actually have them compiled in one spot when I have time to start scrapbooking again. I don't know when/if that'll happen!

Anyway, you can find cute little boy quotes, my amazement with my boys, and probably some stuff about Ben and me here, if you're interested :)