Two videos and a picture

Ok, so I realize the next four posts are all from today, but I had to catch up. Plus my family has been bugging me to post more stuff on Cami. Here's a short update on her. We have a doctor's appointment on Monday where I'll find out how big she's gotten. At 3 months she was 11 lbs. 4 oz. (I think - I didn't write it down) and about 24 1/2". She's started rolling over (there's a video of it lower down) and she's been pushing herself up on her stomache very well. She's even started doing the inchworm/army crawl. We're on our way to having a mobile baby on our hands. I'm excited because then I won't feel so bad about not entertaining her myself. Here's a picture of her doing tummy time on her mat.

I also wanted to post a few videos of her that I took. It's funny because she rolls from her back to her stomache easily, but I've never seen her roll the opposite way. I'm pretty sure she can do it, I've just never seen it. She'll roll to her stomache, then get tired of it and start to whine and cry, so I'll turn her to her back, and she immediately rolls back to her back. Strange, strange child.



I've told my family about how Cami laughs at us laughing at her all the time. And everytime I tried to get a video of it she alway stops. Result of having a camera shoved in her face. I finally did get a shot though, so here's that. Please ignore my inane giggling in the background, I was trying to get her to laugh.

New addition to our little family

Meet Buddy. Buddy's a little beagle who came to live with us for all of two and a half days. There was a big adoption fair in Lindon and I'd been pestering Sterling for a playmate for Sadie for a long time, so we got another dog. He was really sweet and didn't bark, but he and Sadie just didn't hit it off like I'd hoped. Also, those of you who've had dogs before will know the whole deal that a new dog goes through, the whole 'getting-used-to-my-knew-owners-so-I-whine,-jump-on-their-furniture,-and-have-an-accident-even-though-I'm-house-broken' thing. We put up with it with Sadie when we first got her, but neither of us wanted to put up with it again. So Sterling took him back to the shelter and, of course, right after that I got a call from someone who saw him on craigslist. They wanted to buy him. He was a sweetheart, but we just can't handle two dogs in such a small apartment right now. Between that and having our first dog and a new baby, I just don't have the energy for it all. Hopefully he'll go to a good home though with someone who does have the time and energy for him. Good luck Buddy, wherever you are!

Bouncy Seat

I recently got on craigslist and found one of those bouncy seats that you hang from the doorway for Cami. So far she loves it. She's a little small for it, so we have to stuff a blanket in around her so she'll stay sitting up, but she likes being able to kick her legs and look around and see everything.

However, when she does fall over, as she always does because the blanket tends to slid out the leg holes, she starts chewing on the sides. It's about this time that I decide I ought to take her out and feed her.

It's really adorable and funny to look over and see her slouched sidesways sucking on the fabric.

Happy Halloween

Yes, I realize that November is almost half over and I'm JUST posting our Halloween pictures, but it's been a busy month so far and I haven't had time before now. So, first off is our Halloween costume. We went as hicks/cowboys and girls. Sterling even came up with a redneck joke in honor of the occasion. Anyone who's familiar with Jeff Foxworthy will appreciate this.


"If your waredrobe doubles as your Halloween costume.. you might be a redneck."

Basically, Sterling didn't have to buy a thing for his costume. ALL of it was already in his closet. I had to go out and buy cowgirl boots at DI so I'd fit in. I have to say, they're actually very comfortable. Sterling told me I should wear them to church. I vetoed the idea immediately.

We went to our ward Halloween party initially thinking that our costumes would be kinda cute and unique. Unfortunately for us these people showed up so we didn't win a prize.

The Ghostbuster and Marshmallow Man won first place.



The 'bun in the oven' and baker and Mr. McCain and Sarah Palin tied for second place.

This one I just thought was super cute and creative.

If any of you happen to find my blog, I hope you don't mind that I posted you on here. I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

We were on TV!

Yes, that's in the past tense, so any of you who may have wanted to watch it, can't. Sorry. It wasn't anything really exciting actually, but we thought it was cool. Sterling's friend Dave, from high school, is a news anchor with BYU TV on campus and was doing a news piece on how switching to a progressive tax here in Utah will affect Utah families. We just happened to be that 'typical' Utah family he interviewed about it. It was kinda fun, but I get self-concious in front of cameras. It was actually very short, only like 3 minutes when it came out, but boy did Cami sure look cute! I'm positive that someone in the commercial business will see her on that news program and I'll get a call any day from them asking me to let her be in baby commercials. Yeah... I wish.

Well, I have nothing better to do...

So, here's what the rest of my little family does while I stay up late blogging. They're all sensible. As for me, well, I don't feel like I have much else to do during the day, so why do I need to go to bed at night? I'm getting over it though. I just enjoy blogging.

And may I present...
Yes, we have a thumb sucker in our family! I've tried to discourage it, but there's just no helping it. She spits out the pacifier all the time and goes for her thumb instead. At least it puts her to sleep, right?

Answers

So, for the two of you who actually read my blog - nice to know there's at least two :) - here are the answers to the Halloween trivia I posted. If you haven't yet looked at the questions, skip the answers-no cheating! Looking back over them, I guess I actually got 13 right, with a few hints from Sterling. Enjoy! (I added a few comments in italics)

1. Warts; green skin is acceptable also
2. Archie, Veronica, and Betty at Riverdale High School
3. The Ghost and Mr. Chicken
4. Meatloaf
5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
6. The Monster Mash (Krista, we totally should have known this one from our younger days)
7. Woodsboro High
8. When the moon is full
9. The Bates Motel
10. Dan Akroyd
11. The abominable snowman
12. Collinsport, Maine
13. “Nightmare on Elm Street”
14. Cyclops
15. Jane Eyre – The plot: a second wife living in a house with many secrets regarding the death of the first wife and a deranged governess tossed in.
16. HALLOWEEN
17. The Raven
18. Poltergeist
19. Elvira is Mistress of the Dark and assumed to be a female vampire (still have no idea what she’s from)
20. Frank Sinatra
21. Barry Bostwick - He is the mayor on “SpinCity”
22. Lon Chaney (I’ve actually heard of him before, he plays the phantom, Erik, on the original silent film Phantom of the Opera. I also want to add that he did his own makeup and it wasn’t revealed until the movie’s premier.

Chaney pulled his eyeballs out from their sockets with thin wires, so that his eyes appeared to bulge out and their sockets became very deep. He then kept his eyes in their bulged-out position with wires and painted his eye sockets black, giving a skull-like impression to them. He also pulled the tip of his nose up and pinned that in place with wire, enlarging his nostrils with black paint, and putting a set of jagged false teeth into his mouth to complete the ghastly deformed look of the Phantom)
23. Phantom of the Opera
24. Mummies
25. Boris Karloff
26. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins
27. Michael Landon
28. True. Mary Shelly wrote it because of a bet she had with her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelly and another writer friend, Lord George Byron. She had it entered in a writing contest.
29. Mia Farrow (Uh, who is she?)
30. Vincent Price
31. UNICEF

For Halloween

In honor of the season, I thought I'd post a list of Halloween trivia that I got from my father-in-law. There's 31 questions, one for every day of the month. I only got about 5 of them on my own. Let's see how you do, and no cheating and looking the answers up on the internet. I'll post all the answers later.

1. Witches are commonly known to have this skin problem
2. Sabrina the Teenage Witch debuted in 1962 as a cartoon spin-off of what popular teenage trio?
3. Don Knotts is mostly known for his role as Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show.” However, he made a scary/comedy movie in 1965 in which he played Luther Heggs, a typesetter who was challenged to spend a night in a haunted house. What is the name of this movie?
4. Marvin Lee Aday is the real name of this well-known rock star, who also appeared as Eddie the ex-delivery boy in the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, singing “Hot Patootie”. Who is he?
5. Robert Lewis Stevenson is famous for writing what novel, which is said to represent both the good and evil sides of humanity?
6. In 1962 Boris Karloff recorded what well known Halloween song?
7. What is the name of the High School where the movie “Scream” takes place?
8. Werewolves are known to come out when?
9. One all-time classic thriller is Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”. What is the name of the hotel that stands in front of the owner’s home?
10. Ghostbusters came out in 1984 and still has many fans. Which of it’s main stars co-wrote the movie?
11. This monster is also known as Metch-Kangmi and supposed to walk and haunt the Himalayan peaks.
12. In 1966 TV viewers were introduced to a new form of soap opera called “Dark Shadows”. What city and state did this take place?
13. Freddy Kruger played by Robert Englund terrorized teens in this thriller.
14. What is a monster with one eye called?
15. Charlotte and Emily Bronte are sisters. They also both wrote classic novels; Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. Which of the two is considered a thriller?
16. In 1978, Jamie Lee Curtis joined the scream queen club when she starred in this horror movie.
17. Edgar Allen Poe wrote a dark poem about what kind of bird?
18. A ghost that pulls pranks is called a _____?
19. “Elvira” is played by Cassandra Peterson. Is she a witch or a vampire?
20. The classic 50’s song “That Ol’ Black Magic” was originally sung by which blue eyed crooner?
21. The leading male role in “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” was Brad. The same actor plays a mayor on a television show today. Who is he?
22. What silent screen star is known as “The Man of a Thousand Faces” because he played several different monsters in early horror movies?
23. Gaston Leroux wrote this famous novel about a ghost that resides in a musical theater.
24. Bodies that are wrapped in cloth and stored in tombs are called ______?
25. William Henry Pratt is the real name of this famous actor who is best known for his role as Frankenstein.
26. The movie “Silence of the Lambs” is considered one of the scariest movies ever made. What two movie stars play Clarisse and Hannibal Lechter in this picture?
27. This actor starred in movies and a few popular TV series. One of them was “Highway to Heaven” in 1984. However, the movie that got him noticed was in 1957 when he played a werewolf. (“I was a Teenage Werewolf”). Who is this actor?
28. Frankenstein is based on a novel written in 1818 by a woman. True or false?
29. The early Tarzan movies featured an actress named Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane. Her daughter grew up and starred in the thriller “Rosemary’s Baby”. What is the name of this actress?
30. What classic actor is well known for his roll in many early horror pictures including “The House of Wax” (1953); “The House of Usher” (1960); and “The House on Haunted Hill” (1958)?
31. On Halloween, this charity collects money to help children.

New cousin

My sister-in-law on the Fenwick side, Alisha, had her baby Friday night, three weeks early. She was having labor pains all day at work, so they went in to the hospital. Her baby has been breach for months, so she got a C-section, but everything is fine. Rabeca Ray was born at 11:38 pm, was 19.5 inches, and weighed 8 lbs, 8 oz. (I know, 3 weeks early and 8 1/2 lbs!) I don't have any pictures of Preston and his two girls because when we got there he and Sterling took off to go get drinks. Rabeca has the chubbiest little cheeks in the world! A trait that the grandparents say she gets from her dad. I'm also a little jealous that she has so much hair, whereas all the babies on the Carlson side are all bald! But Kate gives me hope that someday our little girl will have hair as well, it might just take a year or two. Congratulations Preston and Alisha, we're so happy for you!

3 months old

I'm posting this partly in response to Krista's post about Brooklyn's 6 month birthday and partly because it's an excuse for me to post more pictures for my family. Cami had her 3 month birthday/anniversary on Thursday. It's hard for me to believe that only 3 months ago I was big and pregnant. Time has gone by just slowly enough for me to appreciate everything, but fast enough that it hasn't dragged. I'm still loving being a mom and Cami is just absolutely adorable. She prefers to be held so she can sit and hold her head up on her own, she drools a lot! and she talks and giggles to herself frequently. She's such a joy for us to have in our lives. Sterling even agrees that she's more fun now that she'll actually interact with us. I want to go in to the doctor tomorrow to weigh her and see how much she's grown in the last month. At her 2 month appointment she weighed 11 lbs, 1 oz and was 21.5 inches long/tall(?). She still has no hair, as you can see from the pictures, but we're hoping someday it'll stop falling out and will start growing in instead. It may be a lost cause, but we'll keep praying.

She likes sticking her tongue out in pictures. We're not sure why...

This one is a favorite of mine because she was looking at her daddy when it was taken.

Photo Shoot

A friend in my ward offered, for her baby gift, to take pictures of Cami before she got too big. I took her up on it. She photoshopped a few of these, but here's my favorites.

All smiles

I got a few pictures of Cami smiling recently. It's seriously got to be the cutest smile in the world, but then maybe I'm just biased.

The Few. The Proud.

So, for those of you who haven't heard yet, Sterling is joining the Marines. He's actually applying for an officers spot through an Officer Selection program. He wants to be a pilot, and they only have 3 pilot spots open for Utah candidates, but despite that his chances are really pretty good of being selected. They look at a whole bunch of things, like academic achievement (you have to have a bachelors degree), leadership experience, extracurricular activities, etc. The application process is basically just like a job application, except that there's a physical fitness test and a written exam, which is similar to the ACT, but includes naval and flight questions as well. He's currently finished everything except for the written test, so once the whole application is complete, we should hear back from them within a month or so. If he doesn't get accepted, there's still time to bring up any scores that disqualified him the first time and try for a pilots spot again.

Once he's been selected as an officer, he's guaranteed a pilot's spot in Pensecola, FL. So next summer he'll go to OCS (Officer Candidates School) for 10 weeks in Quantico, VA. Cami and I won't be able to go to that with him, sadly. Then he'll graduate from there in August and receive his commission at which point he'll start making a 2nd Lieutenant's pay. Then in Oct or Nov of next year, we'll all move out to Quantico for TBS (The Basic School) which is six months long. That's where they learn all the leadership skills they'll need to be an officer. Then we go to flight school down in Pensecola, FL. Flight school is two years long. Sterling is thinking he wants to do fighter jets, hopefully an F-18.

In order for him to be a pilot, he had to get corrective eye surgery. None of the branches of the military will let you get Lasek because of the flap they cut in the cornea for Lasek - they're afraid that the G-forces will pull the flap back, though that's not possible - so Sterling had to get PRK surgery, which is a much more painful recovery process. He was in serious pain for three days, whereas with Lasek, you're good to go the very next day. I got a picture of him, though he probably won't want me to post it. His eyes were really red and swollen for about a week or so. He's better now thankfully and his vision is getting clearer every day. There was a brief period of time there that I wondered if he thought it wasn't worth it. He says that despite the pain, he always felt it was. He's very excited about being in the Marines, since the military is what he's wanted to do since he was young. I'll keep you all posted on whether or not he gets accepted.

Then and Now

Ok, so Krista (and others) have been asking me for more current photos of my little girl, so here's a few of her when she was just born and what she looks like now. There will be more posted later, but this is just a quick blog for those who have been asking.

The first is one that a 'professional' took of her in the hospital and then wanted to charge me $25 for a copy of it, but I got creative and managed to save it off the internet. She's one day old. The other is one mom took of her today at one month old.

Sterling and I both think that she's gotten much, much cuter as she's gotten older.

As for the next pictures. Mom had the idea to use the blanket as a marker of how much she's grown. You can notice how much she's lengthened out, and how much she's filled out, especially her cubby little legs and arms. But she's still so cute. In the first she's a week old (or so), the second is one month old.

The last two I just thought were cute because she at least has her eyes open in both. Her head has gotten so much bigger and her eyes have lightened to a brighter blue than they were when she was born.

Cami comes to the family

Well, I guess that we will start with the beginning. Erika had us take a few pictures of her to show the progress of the baby. I would also like to note that in the first picture, she thought that she was getting really big! Little did she know what waited in the dark!

On July 15th she had been feeling contractions off and on all day, but at about 10:30 p.m. they came pretty hard and regular. We thought her water broke at around 11:00, but we later found out that we had no idea what we were talking about. We got to the hospital at about 12:00 a.m., and the nurse checked her out and confirmed very emphatically "you're in labor!"

Then the contractions really came on. She was in a lot of pain, and the only person she wanted to see was the anesthesiologist. Now Erika has a very weird fear of needles; she has to see them go in! She was really worried that she wouldn't be able to not see the giant needle going into her back, but she was in so much pain by then that all of that fear seemed to melt away. As soon as she got the epidural, she was in heaven.

Erika's water broke officially at about 3:30 and then she started pushing at about 5:00 a.m. Cami was born at 5:50 a.m. From here on out Kelly started taking pictures on her camera, so when we get those, I will add to this, but here is our little girl, Cami Lilly Fenwick. Oh, the last few pictures are from when we got home. Erika went with her mom to do some shopping, so I was at home with Cami alone. She got a little fussy, so I called Sadie to the chair and put Cami down on Sadie's side. She went right to sleep, and Sadie just sat there like she knew what she was doing.




Is it bad that I think that using my dog as a baby sitter wouldn't be a bad idea? (just kidding, don't call child services on me). Erika is doing great, but is a little sore and tired. Cami weighed in at 7lbs. 1 oz. 19". She is doing great and doesn't really cry much. Hopefully that is a good foreshadowing of things to come, but I won't get my hopes up.