An All New Outlook on Life.....Literally!

Why look at things on your back or in your bouncy chair, when you can roll over and prop yourself up?!?! The same old toys have taken on a whole new life as our Little Miss Camdyn seems to be enthralled with her new talents! She happily spent several hours today rolling from side to side and trying to get a better look at that cute baby in the mirror! While she is still hard to photgraph in such positions, Mom tried her best.......and by the way she's struggling to drag herself along, I am scared we've got an early mover on our hands!

Worth Every Mile......

For those of you thinking I must be a crazy woman to relocate 68 miles from the nearest stoplight.....indulge in the view from my window each morning. While we may be short on strip malls and fast food, we are definitely not lacking in sunshine and beauty. Although I was too busy yard saling to enjoy the great outdoors on Saturday, Baby Camdyn and I traveled the six miles up to the lake yesterday to basically just enjoy the view.....and we didn't miss the hustle and bustle of the city at all!

Working 9 to 5...What a Way to Make a Living

The whole point of my new part-time position was to spend some extra time with my daughter, while earning enough money to allow us meals not centered around Top Ramen! So you can imagine that my bubble was somewhat burst once we arrived in Enterprise only to find my employment had suddenly became a full time job, 8-5 Monday through Friday. However, there were two major perks! Due to the opening of a learning center, 20 hours a week were added for tutoring Middle School students and launching a mentoring program. Anyone who knows how upset I was about leaving my kiddos back in Portland, can imagine how thrilled I am to be working with adolescents again. Second, and perhaps even bigger....Baby Camndyn gets to come to work with me every day! You heard me alright, every second, every minute and every hour of EVERY day! Not that Mom doesn't love doing two full-time jobs simultaneously....but a few bouts of "baby burnout" have definitely arisen.....

However, I do have an amazing kid who is busily filling her days at the office with practicing her rolling on the floor, playing on her tummy time mat, concentrating on the plethora of toys she has been given by my co-workers, and occasionally hanging out with our receptionist to greet people as they walk through the door! Here are a few of my favorite photos of our working woman!

It Keeps Growing and Growing and Growing

Just about every time I look in the mirror, I think about how much I hate my hair. Not only do I have about 4 pieces, it is so incredibly fine that I have to use baby barrettes and I seriously worry about bald spots whenever I find a few hairs on the shower floor! So you can only imagine my relief when the first words out of our Delivery Nurse's mouth were "Look at all of that hair!"

Like most new moms, I was scared she would loose it all, but much to my surprise, after a slight bought of receding, we have continued to grow more hair than ever...except in that dreaded bald spot......the one that just keeps getting bigger and bigger the more active we get! While everyone assures me this is totally normal, I still have to wonder.....are they all this bad?!?!

I am so sorry Camdyn....I promise Mom will try to keep unflattering pictures on the blog to a minimum!

Lots of reasons to smile!

Although I sit and write amongst dozens of boxes, the biggest hurdles of the move are officially over. The U-haul has been loaded, driven, unloaded and returned and at 4:00 this afternoon, I am headed to the title company to sign the sales papers on our Portland house! The essentials to life with a newborn have been unpacked and Mom, Dad and Camdyn are trying to settle into our new Enterprise routine!

In order to ease the transition, Camdyn has been spoiled with a few new outfits and several new toys....and as you can tell she is all smiles! We promise more updates and photos from Enterprise as soon as I can find all the cords and camera materials admist all this chaos......

When All is Lost.....Try the Laundry

Like many baby's, Princess Camdyn has a period each evening where she can be rather unpleasant. During this time, our little Crankenstein has been very difficult to console, but we have been able to find a few simple strategies that can keep the major meltdowns at bay. However, since we have recently added teething to the mix, it has been impossible to make it through the seven o'clock hour without at least one major bought of rage. Last night appeared to be no different....

As usual, I was trying to accomplish 100 different tasks and no matter what I did, little Miss Camdyn was not happy. In desperation, I abandoned my To Do list and attempted both a walk and a drive to mute the continual cries, but alas, my regular bag-o-tricks fell short! As we arrived home, I set her on my bed and simply explained to her (while screaming above her moans), that she had lost the opportunity to compromise and that she would simply have to sit and fuss while mom folded the laundry. As I emptied the contents of the dryer onto the bed, a towel accidentally fell across her body...SILENCE. Not only did the warm linen cause her to cease her wailing, she actually started to coo! Encouraged, I proceeded to cover my child with the entire load of warm laundry, each article create more giggles and smiles! Our fun lasted for nearly 45 minutes...when sadly, I actually had to stop taking photos of this new phenomenon and fold the now wrinkled clothes, but I swear....it was worth every crease!

Happy Baby.....Crying Mom!

So, maybe the tears were a bit much, but I just couldn't help myself! After a month of trying, my baby girl finally started to laugh! Maybe it was the ridiculous photo shoot she was forced into, or perhaps the fact that Dad will be home in five days brought those little vocal chords to life. Whatever it was, I am pretty convinced it is just about the most wonderful sound in all the world.....and I hope I get to hear it for the rest of my life!