Cameron ate a leaf! And other big news...

Happy 2009!
On New Year's Day, we were playing outside, and a leaf happened to land on Cameron's exersaucer. Being the lover of fine cuisine that he his, it was in his mouth before I could blink, and I think he liked it!

Cameron has been on a roll lately:

• he now has 3 teeth
• he is finally crawling in his own navy-seal, stealth way
• he pulled himself up to his feet twice yesterday
• he broke the 22-pound mark
• HE IS SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!

Zachary is also keeping me busy:

• he has become a wonderful photographer, snapping pictures any chance he gets (Zachary is the only person in the world who can take a picture of Brian without having to beg)
• he is starting tae kwan do (he's calling it karate) today at the gym; he's been waiting patiently to turn 4 for this
• he is completely pull-up free!!!
• he is a WONDERFUL big brother who adores his baby brother

A Fun Bus Birthday Party!

Zachary is now 4! I can't believe it. He's so big and independent and smart and the list goes on. For his party, we had the Fun Bus come to our house for an hour of fitness fun. Basically the bus is padded and set up with "circuts" so the kids travel from station to station. It was a great time, and he's already said he wants to have another Fun Bus party when he turns 5! I've included pictures and video; I apologize for the quality. Taking pictures inside a bus full of active, loud kids ages 3-7 isn't the easiest thing in the world....

http://picasaweb.google.com/staceymiller96/FunBusBirthdayParty?authkey=C-qJ0GG3xvA#

A Howlin Good Time

The last two weeks have been full: very busy, and lots of fun. At school, the boys participated in a costume parade (around the parking lot) and a Halloween party. Zachary was a Red S.P.D. Power Ranger, and Cameron was Superman. Then, we went to our church for a Fall Festival. Zachary slid down the "world's largest inflatable slide," which must have been three stories tall! I've posted pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/staceymiller96/Halloween08#

After Halloween, we took some time off for a "staycation" at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine. That place is amazing. If you haven't been there, the hotel houses a huge indoor (and some outdoor) water park. It has several different play areas, from toddler-sized to adult-sized water slides and splash parks, a wave pool, and water slides. The only thing that held Zachary back was his height. You have to be 42" to ride some of the bigger rides, and he's only 41. But, he tried. Even stood on his tippy toes when they measured. Sometimes that worked; sometimes it didn't. Anyway, we wore the boy out. Cameron had a good time too, splashing in the shallow water and the fountains. Inside the hotel, there is also an arcade, an interactive magic adventure and all sorts of stuff that we didn't try out this time. We're planning another mini-vay in December, so we'll see what kind of fun we can have then. Our few pictures (we were too busy to take too many) are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/staceymiller96/GreatWolfLodgeStaycation#

The Great Wolf introduced Zachary to the wild world of BUNKBEDS! He had such a good time, up and down, up and down, up and down.... that we decided to get him his own set for his 4th birthday. He loves them, but the up and down business hasn't stopped. The boy sure has developed the knack for "peeing at will." I think his record number of get out of bed to potty trips is now at 8! Check out the great set up: http://picasaweb.google.com/staceymiller96/Bunkbed#

Cameron has a tooth!

Yes, the big news is that our baby is growing up. He has his first tooth--and his first bit tongue. I don't know how he did it, but the day after his little tooth popped thru, he bit his tongue and made it bleed. Then the next day, he whacked himself on the head with a clip board while they were changing his diaper at school. Good thing boys are "rough and tumble!" He didn't seem to be phased by either of his ouchies!

Summer 2008

We have had a wonderful summer. I have loved being home with the boys since March, and I'm sad that it is coming to an end. But, some of the highlights of our summer include a trip to San Antonio to the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Sea World in May, a trip to Lubbock to visit Granna and Uncle John, visits from all the cousins, Grandma and Pawpaw, Granna, and Grandma Embry, Vacation Bible School and Kid Care at our church.

Cameron is now 6 months old and is preparing to play middle linebacker. He's 19 lb 14 oz, but he's fallen from the 95% to the 85% range for weight. His newest trick is to sit up (with a little help), and he's a great roller (back to tummy--he's not interested in rolling the other direction even though we've seen him do it). He's also starting eating solid food, and miraculously, and testament to his size, most of it goes in his mouth and stays there!

Zachary has the greatest imagination. He and Brian are forever inventing new games to play either with or pretending to be Power Rangers, Transformers, knights, or any number of other "heroes". He's looking forward to Halloween, but he doesn't seem to realize that he can only "be" one thing; he's got a whole list of costumes he wants.

Brian and I have started competing in triathlons this summer. We completed the Cooper Sprint Tri in July, and I actually placed in my age group! We have another this weekend, the Stonebridge tri, and I think we are both a little nervous about it. I'm worried about the lake swim, and he's worried about the olympic distance he allowed himself to be talked in to.

View our photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/staceymiller96/Summer2008?authkey=yiJtGTmmv4o#