5 months old!!

 Our happy baby at 5 months old!!!!

Camden continues to grow and change like crazy and I seriously cannot believe he is already 5 months old!! His newest fete is rolling over from his back to his tummy! He has been so close for so long, and finally a few days ago he did it! I was talking on the phone with my friend Deborah and mentioned to her how close he was.....and then a few minutes later I looked over and he was on his stomach! Since then, every time we lay him down, he rolls over! At first he is very proud and happy, but it doesn't take long for him to try crawling, and when it doesn't work, he gets so frustrated! He wants to move! Camden also continues to love his hands and wants to put everything in his mouth. He also loves to suck on his little thumbs which is just the cutest thing ever! He has mastered grabbing and holding on to toys now, and his favorite is little Fan Fan the Deer (a teether).  Camden lights up every time Brett enters the room and doesn't take take his eyes off him when he around. Brett is so good at making his baby brother smile and giggle, and asks to hold him every day :-) I sure do love my boys, and watching them together is the best!

Easter eggs and Pirates

Last night we dyed Easter eggs and made Easter egg pirates! 

All setup and ready to create!

Working on one of the pirates! Rrrrr!

Dying eggs :-)

Brett had fun drawing pictures with a white crayon and then dipping them into the colors!

Love my handsome big boy!!

Brett put his favorite eggs in this little Easter basket :-)

I had fun dying brown Easter eggs...love the natural colors!

And here's a close up of Brett's! Notice the cool designs!

And look at that! Pirate eggs! I think this was Brett's favorite part :-)

Happy Easter everyone!!!

Randoms

I often post my favorite pictures from my phone to Facebook but forget to post them on the blog! So, below are some pictures of every day moments caught with my camera phone :-)

Even in her old age, Madelyn is never far from the action :-) She especially loves to lay with Camden when he is on the floor and will sometimes even lick his little hands. Such a sweet Kitty.

Brett sportin' his cool train hat at dinner one night :-) I think he looks so cute in hats!

Uncle Matt and (soon-to-be) Aunt Amy came to visit a few weeks ago, and of course, we had to dress Camden in the adorable button down shirt they got him for Christmas :-)  Love how his big blue eyes POP when he wears the color blue!

My sleeping angel

The next few pictures are of Camden and the look he now gives as soon as the camera comes out! He'll go from smiles and laughter to pure concentration within seconds....

"What IS that thing you are holding?"

"It always comes out when I'm looking extra cute...."

"But I just can't figure it out....."

"OH! It's a camera? Like the one on my shirt? I'll try and smile next time, I promise" :-)

Brett continues to love building and creating with Legos, and recently he built this awesome airplane. He really is so talented and constantly amazes us with his imaginative mind!

These last few pictures are some of my favorites of Brett and Camden together. Brett asks to hold his baby brother every day now, and these special moments melt my heart always :-)

 Brother love is the best!

4 months old!

I can't believe our sweet baby boy is 4 months old already! He's actually closer to 4 and a half months now - I am late posting because I wanted to wait until his well visit so I could fill everyone in on his stats :-) Our little guy is clearly thriving at a whopping 17 pounds, 8.5 ounces (83rd percentile) and 26 3/4 inches long (95th percentile!)! I'm so curious to see if his bigger size continues as he grows up or if he slows down later on and becomes more average sized like Brett. Only time will tell, I guess! 

Camden is such a happy baby who gives us lots of smiles throughout the day, and recently he even started giggling! He is also quite the chatter box these days :-) He will look right into our eyes and coo and babble away. I swear, it is the sweetest thing ever! One of his favorite times to coo and smile is during nursing - he'll pull away from my breast and look up at me with the hugest grin and start babbling away. He also enjoys smiling and cooing at himself in the mirror - and since he doesn't know it is himself yet, it makes it that much more fun to watch. He loves that baby! :-) Camden also loves sucking on his hands and is starting to grasp toys. He tries really hard to get a good hold but isn't quite able to bring teethers to his mouth yet without dropping them. He is getting close though! So far, he is pretty content to stay in one place, so he hasn't started rolling over just yet. This is very different than his big brother who was raring to go the moment he came out and was rolling over by 10 weeks! As much as I love Brett's energy, I'm hoping this is a sign that Camden may be a little bit calmer :-) 

Here are some pictures of Camden at 4 months old!

Camden is growing and changing like crazy these days and I can hardly believe how fast the time is going by! Since we know our family is complete, I find myself trying to savor each and every moment, and am in no rush for the baby stage to be over. I even get a little sad sometimes when I look at his newborn pictures, knowing that I will never go through these stages again. Those feelings help me to fully embrace every single second and truly appreciate how magical a new life really is. We love you Camden James and are so thankful you are all ours!

Weekend Adventure part 2: Great Lakes Crossing

Our weekend adventure continued on Sunday with a family breakfast and swimming at the hotel, and a trip to Great Lakes Crossing where we explored the Bass Pro Shops and had lunch at Rain Forest Cafe!

Who needs a trip to the Aquarium when you can see fish for free at the Bass Pro Shops?!

Brett pointed to this fish and said "Yana (my mom) would like this one!"

2 out of 3 of my handsome boys :-)

"Take a picture of me holding this ore, mom!"

Who knew there was a brand called "Red Head"? Too bad all their stuff was camo, otherwise I would've bought something - ha!

Brett was mesmerized by this awesome bi-plane hanging from the ceiling! 

This place seemed to have everything, including an outdoor scene with targets to shoot at! Apparently Kyle played this 'game' often in WI as a kid, but this was the first time I had ever seen one!

I really loved watching them do this together :-)

After spending close to an hour and a half at the Bass Pro Shops, we were hungry and ready for lunch! So off to Rain Forest Cafe we went!

Look at that? More fish! No trip to the Aquarium needed :-)

This place is so awesome! The ceiling is covered in vines and life size hanging animals which all move and make noise every 20 minutes or so. There was also an area with life-size tigers and elephants (that I forgot to take pictures of)!

The connected toy store was covered with wildlife too!

We were lucky in that we got there before the crowd hit and got a table right next to one of the aquariums! At first, there was barely anyone there, but by the time we left there was a huge line wrapping into the mall!

We had such a great weekend and hope to take an annual weekend trip every winter - because really - who doesn't need to get away this time of year?! :-)