Camden with his cousin Whitney.
Camden having fun!

There is a wonderful place here called WAZOO'S! It is a huge indoor play place with a bunch of bounce houses and is the perfect place to go in the middle of a HOT texas summer! Camden loved jumping all around and I loved watching his excitement!

Retreat

Waving goodbye to his mommy...he is becoming quite independent!Just chillin'

One of the great things about the army are the retreats they put on. There are several kinds of retreats...family retreats....spouse retreats...but this last weekend Camden and I went on a retreat for "families of deployed spouses"! It was Great and we had a TON of fun! The retreat lasted three days and it was the perfect get away for us! Another benefit of a retreat is that it is completely...FREE! They pay for your hotel room and food...and the food on our retreat was quite delicious. YUM! Our retreat was at the T Bar M resort and it was the perfect location, besides being beautiful, it offered plenty for us to do when we weren't in class! The classes we attended were based on "the five love languages of children", and one of the best quotes the Chaplain said was, "parenting is not a democracy it is a benevolent dictatorship". The classes were great and besides learning a lot I realized how much I love being a mom and many ways I can become a better mom to Camden!

It was a great retreat...but I am excited for the next retreat we go on that will include Nathaniel!

The Shoe Theif

Camden has become the little shoe theif in our house! He always wants to wear my shoes and he doesn't care if they are flip flops or tennis shoes....It is very cute until I am trying to put my shoes on and it takes twice as long because he keeps taking one of the shoes! Silly little boy!!!

time out corner

My nice Whitney is very sweet with A LOT of personality! Sometimes she has a hard time controlling her little five year old temper and this is where she ended up one time for a little time out...Camden then got in trouble for pulling books of the shelf in the office and he walked his cute little 1 year old self over to the corner all by himself and wiggled his way into the corner to sit next to his cousin and sulk! He sure does have a lot of fun with his cousins!!!

NEEEWWW YORK!

Who ever thought of putting a tv in the car was a genius!
Camden playing hide and go seek with James.James, Camden and Kathryn having fun at the park! Camden all wrapped up like a burrito after a long fun day at the beach. Group Picture: James, William, Kathryn, and Camden.We made it. The view was worth carrying a 28 pound 1 year old up 180 stairs! MOM, this peach is DELICIOUS!!!William, James, and Kathryn having fun at the amusement park! Look how strong I am mom!!! Camden LOVED the feel of the sand between his toes! Hanging out with the boys.Beach Lifeguards in training: James, Camden, Kathryn, and William.Camden. Laura and Camden. Mommy and Camden. Mom I think your bed is much more comfortable then my pack in play. Mommy and Camden. Camden intently watching the guy cook our food at the habachi steak house, Gasho's. Camden having fun visiting where his Daddy went to school. Crowded trophy point at west Point on the 4th of July.

Back in June Camden and I were very lucky to fly back to New York and spent a week and half with the family I used to nanny for! Camden did great on the flights...minus a little temper tandrum and a blow out diaper, but other then that he is becoming quite the flier! While we were their I got to spend some time with there awesome nanny Stephanie, who took Camden and I to lunch at Uno's (YUM)! It was a lot of fun catching up with each other! The Nicoll's also treated us to a week at their families beach house down on L.B.I! It was AMAZING! The water was perfect and the temperature couldn't of been better, but the BEST part was the company! I loved catching up with Jason and Laura, they were a huge part of my life for 6 years and I am beyond thankful that they chose me to be their nanny! Kathryn, James, and William are growing up WAY to fast! Kathryn who was 10 months old when I became her nanny will be 9 in August! She absolutely LOVES to read, has a bit of a attitude (oops, I might of spoiled her when I was her nanny), and is a wonderful big sister! She was wonderful with Camden and I loved having conversations with her! I might be a little biased, but I think she is pretty amazing! James is now 5 years old and still has such a sweet personality! He was very patient with Camden, who loved to mess up his toys! I love this little boy! William, who is quite fiesty is now 4 years old! He is definently going to be quite the handsome little boy, he is probably also the trouble maker out of the three of them, but he has a smile that could melt your heart!!! Can you tell I absolutely love these kiddo's?!!!?? While at the beach house we enjoyed a water park (they let me take Camden on the huge water slides...he loved it, but I thought we were going to tip over as we flew around the curves, so we only went a couple of times!), we enjoyed amazing sea food, YUM, and we went to the beach everyday!!!

For the fourth of July we all went over to the school park and shot over a couple of rockets...that was a lot of fun, although the first one we shot of I lost track of it in the sky (have you ever seen grown ups where they shot a arrow up in the sky)...it looked similiar to that, I covered Camden's head and ran in a circle not quite knowing where to go, hahaha! Of course it wasn't very dangerous I later found out and we all had a great time! We then all went up to West Point to enjoy the band play and the fire works show! After the show we were trying to get off post and the line of cars was horendous so I told the Nicoll's I could probably get them out a faster way that most people didn't know about...it took us by a place called flirty walk (Cadets can take their girls there and actually hold there hands even if they are in uniform...gasp...it is a very beautiful walkway right next to the river) and I told the Nicoll's this as we drove by it and Kathryn looked at me and said, "Is there where more army babies are made"...we all cracked up and were laughing hysterically, where does a 8 year old come up with that...to which I told "hum, not as far as I know!!!"

I had a fabulous time in New York! I was so blessed to get to nanny for such a wonderful family for 5 1/2 years. I learned so much while I was there, had so many experiences, traveled, and met some of my best friends! AND I met the guy I want to spend eternity with! I think that I am a very lucky girl!

Our fun weekend trip.

Whitney, Camden, and Dawson at the blue bell ice cream factory waiting for our tour to begin.
Camden lounging after a long day in the car and a lot of fun swimming at the hotel pool. Camden "shopping" at the children's museum in Houston.

Camden and I with Nathaniel's cousin Chelsea and her cute family

The Houston Zoo

Back in June Nathaniel's cousin Derrick was married to his sweetheart down in the Houston Temple and my sister and her family were nice enough to join Camden and I for the road trip down there! On the way to houston we stopped at the blue bell ice cream factory and went on a tour of it and then ate some YUMMY ice cream (FYI: for all military it is free). We then made it to our hotel were we enjoyed a nice swim in the pool and some rest and relaxation! The next day we took the kiddos to the houston Children's museum...which was amazing! We all had a great time, we spent close to 4 hours there and still didn't get through all of it! That night Camden and I went to Derrick's reception, which was beautiful! I had a great time seeing family :) The next day we went to the Houston zoo and then made our way home! The drive home turned a bit scary when a car ran a red light, my sister was able to slam on her brakes but we still hit the side of them, but unfortunently the car who ran the red light hit another car and totaled it, it was a bit scary because they had a infant boy in the back and they were all rushed to the hospital! Othen then that we had a great trip!

advice.

I have always wondered why some people think complete strangers want to hear their advice....when it is not asked for. Today we went to the commisary (military grocery store)...Mistake number 1, We went when Camden was a bit of a crank...mistake number 2, and we went right when people were getting of work...mistake number 3. We are on our third aisle when it happens...Camden decides to have a meltdown, which he is getting quite good at these days, we are at the front of the store where the line is for the check out and I am trying my best to talk to him to get him to calm down which was going quite smoothly when I hear someone behind me talking, I look back and apparently this unknown person is talking to me...everyone now is looking at me and my screaming child as this lady goes on and on, "you know what I always did with my son when we went shopping, I would always put him in a baby carrier", "HUM, that might work but my son is 28 pounds", "O just get the back carrier, I seriously carried my son until he was three in that thing" she goes on and on about this as I nod my head trying to look reasonably interested in what she is saying, "well thanks for the advice" I say as I turn around to try and get back to my son and his meltdown, I thought this was a clear indication for the conversation to end, but I was wrong, on and on she goes as every stares at us, "you know what you should also take time to yourself, seriously go out tonight and have some fun" she says, Hum well I didn't think I looked that stressed after all a meltdown is to be expected when you have a tired one year old, what felt frustrating was not the meltdown but this random lady who thought I wanted to hear her advice while everyone stared at us, while my son is screaming. In the end I thanked her again for the advice and walked away....feeling very frustrated and annoyed about what I felt like was criticism I received in front of everyone!

On a bright note though: Camden's meltdown was short lived and has been the wonderful little boy I know and love!

P.S. we just got back from NY and has soon as I get a free moment I'll post pictures :)