Princess Crazy

One thing that Derek and I have never encouraged is the Princess obsession.  We have never dressed her in princess clothes, called her a princess or encouraged the princess dress-up.  But, gradually princess things have crept into our house as gifts.  And Camden has gobbled up every bit of it!

 I've tried to not make a big deal of it.  When she wants to dress up in her princes clothes, I let her.  I don't push it, but I follow her lead.  Derek has been resisting anything princess and fighting it every step of the day.

 Which is why I was so shocked when I came out of our bedroom to see this...

 Camden brought her princess dress to Derek and asked him to help her put it on. 

It probably doesn't hurt that Camden says quite frequently, "I'm a princess and Daddy is my Prince Charming."  Awww!  It melts my heart!

Happy Valentines Day!

We celebrated Valentines with the kiddos on Sunday and we had such an awesome day!  We started off the morning with a few Valentines gifts from mom and dad.  Camden got a new Barbie to which she exclaimed, "This is what I've wanted my whole life!"  

 Kade got a couple new books.  He brought them to me to read over and over again.  Each time I'd finish a book, he would hand it to me and say "again".

I also found some cute pancake molds for the kids.  So we had fun-shaped pancakes for breakfast.  Kade got a duck and a sheep and Camden got a butterfly.

I don't know that Kade really cared too much about the shaped pancakes, but he thought they tasted delicious.  He devoured two of them!

We spent the morning packing and playing.  Before long it was time for lunch and we had another special Valentines meal planned.  We had a heart-shaped theme for lunch consisting of hotdogs, grape jello jigglers, and cheese carved to spell out 'love'.  

Once again Kade was less than impressed with the artistic presentation of the lunch, but was pleased by the taste.

My favorite part of the day was when Camden and I were sitting on my bed.  Camden said, "Mom, I want some M&Ms".  To which I replied, "I don't think we have any, honey."  And she said, "Yes we do.  We bought you some for Valentines Day.  Did you open them already?"  

"Nope.  But I think I know what you got me for Valentines Day!" 

House Update

Well everyone's good thoughts and prayers that they have been sending our way must have done the trick!  We have sold our house and will be closing in just a few weeks.

So, what's next you ask?  Well, we are trying to get everything figured out right now.  We think we have secured a house to rent in Adel.  It's an older 3-bedroom ranch in Adel.  It will suit our needs while we work through the construction process.  It will be nice to get moved over to Adel and start getting settled in the new town.  But we are really sad to leave Ankeny.  Ankeny has been a great home for the past 6 1/2 years and it will be difficult to say goodbye to the great friends, neighbors and conveniences that we love here.

A move to the other side of the city also means that we have to find a new daycare.  We have toured a daycare center and will be getting the kids registered there.  This will be a big change for all of us.  Our kids have always been in an in-home daycare so the Center environment is all new to us.  I know there are advantages to both and I think at the age the kids are at now, they will really benefit from a center.  And with Camden starting pre-school in the fall, this will work well because she won't have to transported since they have on-site pre-school.

And finally we are just starting to dig into the building process.  We are working on selecting a builder and a floor plan right now.  We need to get this decided quickly as it won't be long before spring is here and they can start digging.  Typically by the 1st of April the weather is right to dig and pour concrete.  That's only about 6 weeks away!

Exciting times ahead.  We're looking forward to seeing how the next few months unfold!

From the Mouth of Camden (Part 2)

In reference to an accident Camden had at daycare --

Derek: Camden, how did that happen?

Camden: The potty just came right out of my bottom

***

Camden: My eyelashes are cold.

***

Camden asked me to read a book to her. I got 2 pages into the book and she got up and left.

Mommy: Cam, don't you want to listen to this book?

Camden: No, Mommy. You can just read it to yourself.

***
While in the bathtub

Camden: I think this water is too wet!

***
Camden has been resisting bedtime lately.  While putting her in bed one night...

Camden: But I'm not tired, Mom

Mom: It's time to go to bed now, Camden.

Camden: Well, I'm just going to lay here without going to sleep

Mom: That's okay - if that's what you choose to do.  Mommy is going to go downstairs now.

Insert Temper Tantrum


Mom: Camden, does Mommy need to take something away from you?

Camden: I think you should take away going to bed.

***
While sitting on the potty and taking her time in there


Daddy: Camden are you done yet?

Camden: Not yet Daddy.  You're distracting me with all this talking!

Play time

One of the favorite presents from Christmas is this car mat that Kade got from Uncle Jeremy, Aunt Jacki, Emmett and Ella.  I think Camden has just as much fun with it as Kade does.  

Camden makes up these elaborate scenarios and assigns everyone a vehicle.  Daddy usually ends up being the street sweeper and Camden always gets to be the Ice Cream truck.

 Kade is typically more interested in destruction than contributing to the vehicle community.  He kept throwing the cars and Mommy and he got in trouble for it.  

 After several times of him throwing the cars and getting in trouble, he was put in Time Out.  This was Kade's first time in Time Out and he wasn't a fan of it.  

 After a minute in time out, Daddy got Kade and brought him back over to play with us.  But then he threw a car again and Daddy told him 'no'.  So he walked back to the corner and put himself back in time out.