Really Scattered Catch-up Post

Cameron kind of sort of halfway smiled twice today!!  Makes me melt...

Last weekend with Betho & Kayla was the greaaaatest.  I miss them so incredibly much and enjoyed every single second of our time!!  I loved seeing my girls with Auntie Nug & Aunt Kayla :)  Thank you guys for making the trip, for your crazy babysitting fiasco on Friday night, and for just being some of my most favorite people in life :)  I love youuuuuu.  Aves misses dancing for you guys.  Come back!!

That same wknd I hosted a lingerie shower for a great friend, at another friend's house.  The entire week leading up to the shower was insanity.  I hoped to get most everything finished before Brian left town on Thursday for a bachelor party weekend.  Um.  DIDN't happen.  So... Friday was a whirlwind to the max, but it all worked out and the shower was super fun :)  Thanks to Casey, Greg, & Tatum for entertaining my sweet babies until Nug & Kayla were able to take over!

Speaking of the lingerie shower...I took off early so I could get home to see Nug & Kala...and after less than a MINUTE in the car- I had a blowout.  Two 18-yr-old boys and an hour later, I was on my way home, almost 2 hours late, on a donut.  Awesome. 

Speaking of donuts, I have REALLY been craving some Shipleys lately.

And still speaking of donuts...that donut is STILL on my car.  The rim was damaged and the matching rim that was ordered OVER a week ago has still not arrived.  Um. Cool.

I was cleared on Monday to return back to my normal life.  I. AM. PUMPED.  I went on my first jog last night with the Kerbster, and although short, it was TERRIF.

Brian and I toured Lifetim Fitness in Allen this evening.  AMAZING.  Basically a country club.  And basically EXPENSIVE.  We shall see what decide in the gym membership department.

I ventured to church on Sunday morning with my babygirls BY MYSELF.  It was an adventure.  Brian had a golf tourney.   I was most definitely 15 minutes late, but it was much easier than expected!  Everything just takes SO much longer when there are 2 babies to feed, dress, change, pack for, travel with...  I had a good practice run the week before when Betho & Kayla were here to help!  And Casey & Greg helped me out a little bit after the service with getting Aves from the nursery and getting everyone to the car :) You guys are the bomb.

Tatum came over and spent Saturday night with us while her parents hosted a couples shower at their casa.  I seriously LOVE watching she and Aves play together.  They can be so sweet and so NOT sweet to each other.  It's awesome.  They pooped each other out big time and each went to bed without a peep!  Such big girlies!!

Gosh SO much more I need to document, but I am headed to take advantage of the fact that Cameron is ASLEEP (yesss).  Documenting the details of my life can wait until tomorrow....or maybe next week?  :)  GOODNIGHT!!

On Wednesday morning, Cameron and I headed to the hospital bright and early to get her little heels pricked and squeezed :(  Nobody likes a PKU.

We hung around the house all day, the girls napped (at the same time!! yayyy!!), their momma took a cat nap (sooooo needed), and then headed out for a girls night w/Casey!  The original plan was for B & Greg to hang out at our apartment with the 3 girls, but Tatum came down with a major runny nose, so they didn't get to come over- bummer!  Casey and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed our mani/pedi date and def plan on doing it again.   Thanks to our hubbies for being terrific babysitters!

This morning we had a much more exciting date than Wednesday morning's appointment.  Avery, Cameron & I met my college friend Jenny @ Chick Fil A!  We have been saying we'll hang out for almost a year now that we live less than an hour apart...and we FINALLY did it.  Love you JennyBenny and it was soooo great to see you!  Avery totally loves her book!

Aunt Ames met the girls & me at our apartment to deliver a load of tamales (one of our favvvv foods in the Bradford casa!) and to squeeze in some quality time with her nieces :)  We love you Amy!

This evening, Brian and I are heading out to meet with our Lifegroup for the first time.  We have been wanting to join one since we started attending Hope Fellowship and are pumped to get started.  Greg & Casey are dropping Tatum off over here and then we're all heading out to meet the group.  Another awesome college friend of mine is coming over to babysit the girls for us.  Thanks Heather!  Aves is pumped to see you!

I got more sleep last night than I have since Cameron was born!  Um...awesome?  I think so.  Cameron will not go back to sleep in her bed after 5:00am.  I have NO clue why, but she just won't.  So, I have decided to just accept it instead of trying for 2 hours to get her back down.  This morning I brought her to the couch, got us both all cozy and comfy and the two of us slept there for 2.5 more hours.  It was AMAZZZZINGGG!  So...it looks like I'll start catching my last few hours of sleep on the couch with little Camo.  I love the opportunity to snuggle with her anyway :)

Target is having a monster clearance on summer attire (for munchkins), so I stocked up on some great playclothes for Aves...I realized the other day as I was perusing her closet that she has like...TWO outfits that are "playclothes".  Everything else is way too cute and nice-looking to let her go dig in the mud.  I didn't pay more than $4 for an outfit.  SWEEEET!

Tomorrow morning I'm meeting my sweet friend Kayla in Addison for a surprise adventure (can't make it public yet).  When B gets home from work we'll hit the road for Sugar Land for Cameron's sip'n'see Saturday morning which I am sooooo excited about!  Can't wait to visit the Freede Casa with our new addition :)  Kayla informed me that there will be dairy free choc chip cookies AND mini cinnamon rolls waiting for me when we arrive!  Two of my all time favorite foods!  I seriously can't wait.  We'll spend the rest of the weekend thru Tuesday in Freeport with the Curry Clan.  Could NOT be more excited about the next few days.  YIPPEEEEE!

Happy Thursday!

My Girls

So I honestly don't know if the dairy thing is really effecting Cameron or not.  After the first day or two or being dairy-free, she seemed to improve..but then the last 2 days/nights have been NOT so pleasant.  Along with nixing dairy from my diet, the nurse told me to start her on gripe water....soooo we did.  Well, last night I finally decided to switch from gripe water to mylicon because, although Avery didn't have gas issues to the extremity that Cameron does...Mylicon worked like a charm any/everytime gas became an issue for her.  Miraculously (and hopefully NOT coincidentally), Cameron has had a stellar 24 hours.   She has pooped more, been a gas queen (maybe she takes after her daddy on that one??), and has slept soundly!!  So is Mylicon a magic little liquid OR is the no-dairy thing finally kicking in?  Only time will tell.  And while I wait to figure out the true cause of Cameron's bloated/painful tummy, she will hopefully do a little of this:

 

and a little of this:

This child seriously slept peacefully PRETTY much the entire day today.  SUCH a relief to see her happy and comfortable :)

Aves kept trying to crawl into Cameron's chair and sit ON her...so I finally brought HER chair over... cuteness.

Today I took my first solo outing with my sweetbabygirls.  Where did we venture to?  TARG.  Where else?

 Aves seems to love Cameron more and more every day.  She wouldn't stay more than 5 feet away from her allll day today.  And couldn't stop kissing, hugging, sharing with, and loving on her.  She kept trying to pet her like she pets Kerbey.

Annnnd...here's the cutest little hippo on the planet.

  

LOVE my girls. :) 

Avery: 15 Months

Height- 30.5 in- 53%

Weight- 20lb, 8oz- 16%

Head-18 in- 46%

Aves is still a healthy little munchkin!  She has regressed a teeny bit with her talking...but the doc warned us to be prepared for regression in LOTS of areas with the arrival of the new baby...it hasn't been nearly what we expected though!  She's growing at a consistent rate, so even though she's so teeny, there's no concern there :) 

At 15 months she's...

• got lots of hair!  It's growing like crazy and is so cute and crazy and wavy/curly.  I love how windblown it always looks haha. 
• still making no attempt to say "mama" but says dada, byebye, hi, uh-oh, bite consistently
• she LOVES pointing out her eyes, nose, mouth, ears, toes, feet, & belly button.  The last one is her fav...her eyebrows raise really high, she opens her mouth really wide and lifts her shirt with intense enthusiasm!
• she has started mimicking us a lot more...when i have a laughing outburst, she will squeal and laugh really LOUD...kind of like what I do (maybe i should work on that!)
• she's facing forward and LOVING it.
• she's no longer afraid of the car wash
• she has become ABSOLUTELY TERRIFIED of the vacuum.  BUMMER.  It just gets worse each time I turn it on...opposite of the progression that I expected...
• loves all the same foods
• finally is a pro whole milk drinker out of her sippy
• is 100% off the bottle and has been for a month or two now!
• has 4 teeth and is DEF working on some more...she's been pretty uncomf for the last week
• is the greatest big sis ever...she LOVVVVES to love on her baby sis
• loves to give kisses and hugs and blow kisses.  it's no longer the open mouth kiss...it's a pucker and super loud kissy sound!
• wants to go on walks and to the pool ALL the time
• has a new BFF- tatum!!  they are ADORABLE and love to play together!
• loves to hang out in her crib and play for up to an hour when she wakes up in the mornings...so cute :)  i SO wish we had a video monitor!
• is obsessed with our laptops
• loves to read more and more every day.  it's almost annoying...
• her eyes still water (bummer)
• has a few new dance moves...my fav being "shake your booty" and her "twirl" bc she gets dizzy and always ends up crashing when she tries to walk around after a dance sesh.

In our opinion, she is the greatest, cutest, sweetest, most amazing little 15-mo-old on the planet.  Thanks for hooking us up with one of your most beautiful and loveable children, Lord! 

Averton- thank you for all of the joy and love you bring to our every day! Your mommy & daddy lovvvvvvve you a whollllllle lot!

For the record...

I hate cancer.

I don't hate much...but I hate cancer.

It sucks.

Saturday

I woke up tired and grumpy this morning.   BUT a big thanks to the Lord for my terrif hubs who put a smile on my face.  He brought us some donuts and kolaches for breakfast (YUM) and then took on daddy duty while I took a 2 hour nap!  Thanks boo!

We then loaded up and headed to do a LOT of things that I have needed to get done, but haven't felt up to doing all by myself.  We replaced the battery in my car, picked up my bridesmaid dress for Kayla & Noah's wedding in September (hope it fits!!), got a new cellular with a camera that actually WORKS (soooo excited about that one!), went out for burgers (which satisfied a craving I've been having), and finally headed to the grocery store to stock up on some dairy free essentials that I have been MISSSSSINNNGGGGG- milk, ice cream, coffee creamer.  If anyone knows of some delish "dairy free" yogurt, let this sister know bc I am having the hardest time being satisfied after I eat now....dairy is a HUGE part of my diet, so I'm struggling to make up for cutting it all out!

Like I said before though, it's all worth it FOR sure...just a transition/learning curve that I've gotta navigate through :)

Thanks to B-Riz for making today a great day! 

Prayer request for our youngest...she really had another uncomfortable day today.  It's prob my fault.  I'm still figuring out how to change my diet.  But we hate seeing her so uncomf.  It makes me sad AND gets really frustrating (not fair, but true). 

Thanks also to my little Averton who is seriously the sweetest munchkin ev.  Such a sweetheart to her new baby sis and so bursting with personality, sweetness, and joy!  Love you my sweet baby :)

I Got Bullets...

Brian, Aves, & Cameron make me extreeeeeemely happy!  Anytime I walk in the room to find B snuggling with his 2 babygirls, I melt.  And sometimes I kind of cry a little ha.  There's nothing in the world that brings me more JOY than these 3 cuties.

So I've eliminated milk (soooo sad!!), cheese, ice cream, cream cheese, sour cream, chocolate (superrrr depressing) from my diet and so far so good.  Camo seems to be feeling a little better!  Yay!

Today was Cameron's first experience in the Moby.  She was in heaven.  It's pretty much like being back in the womb from what I can tell.  She doesn't LOVE her swing OR the bouncer and wants to be held most of the time....so the Moby MIGHT be a lifesaver around here :) Thanks Eli!!

We've gone on a few [short] walks this week and it is HOT...but I LOVE it.  Can't wait til I'm cleared to resume normal activities...we will def be a spending a little bit more time outside (as much as little Caminator can handle)

I finally got the invitations finished for my friend Kayla's Lingerie Shower and got them mailed out today.  It has been a CHALLENGE finding time to get it done without Aves attacking my pile of paper/glue/scissors/ribbon OR without Cameron needing to eat/be changed/be held.  So YAY for completion!

On Monday night, The Bradford Four went to the ballpark for B's softball game.  Casey helped me keep up with Aves as I was a little preoccupied with a 2.5 week old.  Averton & Tatum were pumped to see eachother after a LONG break when Tatum & her momma were in Lufkin/Tyler.  We missed you guys! They walked all around the place holding hands...cuuuuuuties :)

Last night, we had the Weghorsts over for fajitas and playtime for Aves & T...such cute little bffs.  They are getting better & better at playing together.  They had the GREATEST 5-second bear hug moment ever...but none of us had our cameras ready :(  We are trying to plan a sleepover to see how they do.  We're kind of thinking they're WAY too young...but we mommas are dying to give it a shot anyway :)

Cameron is still a little bit yellow.  Is that okay?  It makes me a little bit nervous...but we've got Averton's 15-mo check up on Monday, so I'll let the doc take a peek at Cameron too and she can put my mind at ease!

Man... I can't believe I have 2 kiddos.  2 gorgeous little girlies :)  Life is good in the Bradford casa.  Thanks, God :)

Avery is a Good Sharer :)

During snack time yesterday, Aves crawled up on the couch to enjoy her graham crackers while sitting next to her sleeping sister Cameron.

Although Cameron was zonked out, Aves decided that her baby sister wanted in on the graham cracker action, so she kept setting little pieces in Camo's hand.

All of the ruckus finally awakened little Cameron from her slumber...and she apparently did NOT want anything to do with the graham crackers :) 

BUT- Isn't Aves such a good sharer!?  What a great big sis :)

Gassy Baby :(

Poor little Cameron is a gassy little thing.  She grunts like a constipated old man and her tummy is constantly hard!  She seems SO uncomfortable a lot of the time...makes me sad :(  I'm trying to figure out what part of my diet might be causing her discomfort...I called my doc today and they told me to cut all dairy from my diet and see how she responds over the next few days.  This will be a CHALLENGE bc I am the dairy QUEEN (ha)... I'm not even sure I'm totally aware of everything that is made using dairy products...but I better educate myself REAL fast!  Hopefully a dairy-free diet makes Camo a much more comfortable little munchkin! 

Has anyone else had to cut dairy while breast-feeding?

The First 2 Weeks

Week 1:
My parents and brothers stayed with us all weekend after Camo was born...and it was awesome.  Uncle Riles & Uncle Reidster loved on their nieces lots- so sweet :) Big Poppy was super sad to leave on Sunday, but he is working man!  My mom (Nonni) stayed with us all week and was an ENORRRMOUS help!  She cooked for us, cleaned up after us, did our laundry, and was a stellar playmate for Averton.  I just lounged, nursed, changed diapers, napped, and worked on recovering! 

The early days of nursing were a little bit of a struggle.  Cameron had trouble getting a latch going and I finally figured out that it was because I was totally engorged.  So...I pumped a good 11 oz of milk and ever since then- nursing has been going soooo much better!  Cameron also developed a pretty intense case of jaundice...so we've been dousing her in sunlight every chance we get...which isn't often bc it's TOO hot outside for that poor baby and although our apt has a million windows, none of them offer direct sunlight!  Boo!  She is def improving though...

Thank you so so so much mamacita for staying with us and providing everything we needed!   Aves loved her walks with you, storytime, pooltime... We love and miss you! 

Week 2:
The Bradfords stayed with us for the wknd, so the girlies got plenty of Nana & Papa time!  Then, Marsha stayed for the remainder of the week and took over the role my mom played the previous week!  Thank you both for all of your help!!  It was soooo awesome to not have to worry about meals or cleaning and yet STILL wake up to a clean house every morning! 

I woke up on Tuesday feeling PRETTY awful.  As the day went on I just continued to feel worse.  I tried to nap and laid in bed for 2 hours crying- totally unable to sleep despite being 100% exhausted.  Turns out I had developed mastitis.  AH!  NO FUN.  24 hours later, after a ton of scorching hot baths/showers & around the clock pumping- the fever, chills, & achiness were GONE! And after a few days the breast tenderness was gone too.  YIPPEEEE.  Now my freezer is SERIOUSLY stocked up with milk.   Cool.

Marsha & Momma- you guys are awesome.  Thanks for the love and the provision and for waiting on us hand & foot with a constant smile on your face!  We lovvvve you!

This past wknd we took our first road trip as a fam of 4!  We headed to Lufkin for Granny's 90th Bday wknd....SO fun/relaxing.  We just hung out by the pool under giant tents, ate delicious food, chatted, watched the kiddos play in the pool....and I napped, nursed, and loved on my little babies!  It was the first time Brian & I got to spend a significant amount of time with Amy & her loverboy.  Loved it.  OH!  And we played the greatest game ever...called "Quelf".  Ever heard of it?  If not- check it out.  It was HILARIOUS and awesome and highly entertaining.

Now we are back in Plano...just the 4 of us.  I'm excited to experience life as a foursome and kind of get into the groove of our new life!