THE CLARKS

July 2012 sounds like a GREAT month to me!

2011-12-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

It is true, Baby Clark #2 is on its way! Nathaniel and I are SUPER excited, we had our first ultrasound today (10 weeks) and we saw his/her little arms and legs kicking and punching, it was an amazing moment! We also heard and saw his little heartbeat...I can't help it I've already fallen in love :) :) :) The midwife that I saw today was AWESOME! we got along great, I wish that I could see her each time (bad thing about the army, you generally see a different doctor at each appt., positive side to that is your bound to know the doctor that delivers your baby :)

WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET AND HOLD OUR LITTLE BABY in July!!!

only a couple of holidays behind!

2011-12-01T08:26:00.000-08:00

Camden and his friend Emily

Camden, the little dragon

The Group

Having fun frosting cookies after trick or treating.

We had so much fun this halloween. The Fun began the friday before when we went to our friends halloween party, it was AMAZING! The food was delcious, we had a donut eating contest, pin the tail (on some sort of animal, l.o.l), a pinata, and a awesome halloween story at the end. EVERYONE had to dress up and it was just a blast! The next day was our wards trunk or treating/chili cook off! The kids had fun parading around in the customes, us adults had fun talking and at the end of the night everyone had a blast trunk or treating! On Halloween we inviting my sister and her kids over and my friend Julie (how I call cricket from our oakcrest days) and her kids over and we enjoyed eating mummy dogs and fruit! The older kids had SO much fun trick or treating and getting candy and the younger kids (Camden and Emily) had fun but would much rather stop at each house and play with their friends, haha!

A splendid way to spend a sunny day

2011-10-16T14:03:00.000-07:00

We are heading up to Mt Rainier...notice Camden holding my hand, he routinely DEMANDS to hold my hand as we drive in the car!
The beginning of our hike started by the most beautiful lake I have seen. It was SO calm he could see the reflection of the sky and moutains in it!

Camden and Grandpa The boys. Camden's favorite thing to do on the hike: throw rocks into the water...any water we came across for the matter...and Washington has quite a bit of water to say the least :) Grandpa is king of the mountain! This picture doesn't do the view justice, it was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Camden's favorite place to stop on our hike....we sat for awhile on the trail throwing rocks down the mountain...Camden could of stayed there all day if we had let him! We made it - Spray Falls! Mommy and little man!

On saturday Dad, Nathaniel, Camden, and I packed our hiking bags, strapped on our hiking boots and set out for some hiking in Mount Rainier! I was just a little bit nervous about how Camden would do on the hike since we didn't have a backpack carrier for him...but I had no need to worry...Camden ran/walked/and thoroughly enjoyed our FOUR hour hike! The hike was beautiful.... I sometimes forget since living in Texas that some places are SO GREEN! We enjoyed a spectacular view of Mount Rainer and a HUGE waterfall! Besides about 20 minutes of being carried Camden walked most of the time...and insisted (quite loudly) that he would walk the last mile all by himself!

If we are ever stationed here at Fort Lewis we know that we will definently be taking advamtage of all of the hiking this state has to offer!

making bread

2011-10-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Nathaniel decided one day that he was going to make some delcious home-made bread and the next time I looked over at him, this is what I saw! I guess Camden really wanted to see what Nathaniel was doing but Nathaniel needed both hands so he decided the best place for him was on his shoulders! Camden has such a GREAT daddy!

We are still here...and having fun!

2011-10-16T13:09:00.000-07:00

Miss Cayleigh! This is Camden's adorable friend and the cute little girl of mine and Nathaniel's friends, Barrett and Liz Campbell!
The Fountain in Olympia - it was Freezing that day but daddy and Grandpa thought it would be fun, l.o.l :)

And I have to admit Camden had the time of his life!

Camden enjoying the great outdoors :)

"dad dont feed me to the horse"!!!

We are still having a great time here in Washington! We love spending time with family and Nathaniel, Camden, and I are enjoying a much needed vacation together :) It is beautiful here in Washington, but it does rain A LOT...but even with all the rain we have had we have still found plenty to do and some days we still brave the rain and head outdoors for some fun!

One day Nathaniel, Dad, and Camden headed out to the local church camp ground to check on things and to figure out what needs to be done for the day of service for their ward coming up! Camden had a great time putting the horse, swinging in the swings, and of course jumping into all the mud puddles....he came home soaking wet and quite muddy!

We also have enjoyed game nights with friends, visiting the children's museum in Olympia and the water fountain there as well :)

Nathaniel also had quite the scare this week! He took Camden to the local play ground one morning and in the split second that Camden was out of arms reach he slipt off the bridge and fell about 5 feet straight onto his head! Nathaniel said it was one of the scariest moments of his life and ran over to Camden, who thankfully was moving...and crying and wanted to play some more! Nathaniel decided it was a wise idea to come home instead though and we are both so thankful that Camden is ok!

play time

2011-10-09T22:08:00.000-07:00

Camden hanging out on the bed he sleeps on at Grandma and Grandpa's house!!!

This is what happens when....

2011-10-09T22:06:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when DADDY watches Camden in the morning while mommy sleeps in....He gets to hang out in his pajamas all morning and eat oreo cookies!!!!!

Tolmie State Park

2011-10-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Nathaniel took us to Tolmie State Park and it was Beautiful! I LOVE LOVE LOVE all the trees here in Washington! Camden had a blast throwing rocks into the water....which thankfully he didn't run into the water like he did the other day (BUUURRR). We didn't stay for to long because Camden was a bit sick and decided (and made it known quite loudly) that he would much rather be home in his nice warm bed for a nap. But we still enjoyed our little visit!

Seattles Children museum and pikes place

2011-10-09T21:49:00.000-07:00

Mommy and Camden at Pikes place in Seattle

Camden driving the bus

Camden's favorite thing about the museum was the water...of course

Daddy and Camden at the space needle!

The other day Nathaniel, Camden, and I headed into the city for some fun! We enjoyed a walk through down town, passing the space needle and several water fountains that Camden of course wanted to jump into! We had a ton of fun at the children's museum where Camden got to pretend to be fire fighter, a bus driver, and a chef, he also enjoyed "grocery shopping" and exploring little cities! We had so much fun! We then went to pikes place and had a delicious lunch of the best clam chowder I have ever had and we also had a great time exploring the market! One thing I loved in the market was the fresh flowers, they were amazing and SO affordable - 5 dollars for an amazing bouquet!

Pumpkin picking

2011-10-09T21:40:00.000-07:00

Which one to choose.....

Family picture

Grandpa and Camden

I choose this one mommy!!!

Hanging out with the boys.

Yesterday Grandpa took us to the local pumpkin farm! We had a great time petting goats, pigs, and a baby cow! Camden loved the play ground there and we all had a great time on the hay ride and choosing out the perfect pumpkin! The best part though was watching Camden try and pick up every pumpkin, even the ones that were bigger then him!
After the pumpkin farm Grandpa treated us all to a delicious dinner at Panera Bread, YUM YUM!

What we have been up to lately:

2011-09-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Dawson and Camden at the carnival

Camden eating his first bowl of cereal....he's had cereal of course...and a cup of milk, but I was finally brave enough to try this out! He loved it and of course ate it all up!

mommy and Camden playing at the Maybourn Childrens museum (he drink the water before I could stop him and we are pretty sure that led to the three day long yucky tummy!)

This is what we think of daddy's driving!!!

Daddy and Camden riding the asian horse!

Camden wasn't a fan of sitting on the oragantun!

Whitney, Nahaniel, Sarah, Camden, Mommy, and Dawson!

We've definently been enjoying all the time Nathaniel has had off from work, while his block leave doesn't officially start until this weekend, he has only been working for a few hours in the morning, which leaves the whole afternoon to have fun! Camden and I took Nathaniel to the zoo to show him all the fun we had there while he was in Iraq! We also enjoyed the Maybourn Childrens Museum in Waco, a week long visit from my mom, get together's with Nathaniels buddies from Iraq, swimming, the carnival, and a welcome home to our husbands BBQ at our friends house (that was delicious!)

We are now super excited to be flying up to Washington this weekend to spend the next couple of weeks with Nathaniel's family....WE CANT WAIT!!!

Some of the best things in life are:

2011-09-27T11:57:00.000-07:00

Whitney and Camden checking on the cookies we made! They were super excited for them to be done so they could "eat them up"

I'm so glad when daddy comes home...

2011-09-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to have Nathaniel/Daddy home! The night we went to pick him up was SO exciting, I could hardly believe that one whole year had passed AND while we missed him more then words can describe, Camden and I actually had quite a great year, I feel very blessed that our first delpoyment experience was so positive!

When the unit returned, they flew into the airport on post and turned in their guns, etc. while all the family member waited at the parade field. The estimated time for their arival at the parade field was 11:45 p.m.! It was very late at night, but you would never of guessed because everyone had SO much energy! So 11:45 comes and GOES, then midnight comes and GOES, and I am getting even more anxious and excited! Finally around 12:15 a.m. we spot the white buses pulling up to the field and everyone starts screaming and cheering! Camden also pointed at the buses and SCREAMED, "DABA DUBA DA" and was Super excited :) The soldiers then march off the bus in formation and are behind the buses and everyone SHOUTS, "MOVE THAT BUS", the buses then move and the soldiers start marching onto the field, at this point I couldn't contain my excitedment and I burst into tears and thought to myself: He made it home SAFE, all the emotions and fear I bottled up inside of me came out and I just felt such happiness it is indescribable. The soldiers are now standing in formation in front of us and their is a prayer said and a little speech and then the soldiers are released and EVERYONE runs onto the field. Camden and I are looking for Nathaniel and then I turn around and there he is coming up to us with the biggest smile on his face, I just run up to him and hugged him and cried and then hugged him and cried again, haha! Camden went straight to his daddy and has been his little side kick ever since!

I am so thankful for the wonderful friends I have here in Texas, they made this deployment a positive experience, and for those days that weren't so positive they gave me the sanity I needed to keep moving forward! I have no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father guided Nathaniel and I to this neighborhood! I am also so thankful for my family, for the encouragement they gave me and for the many times they let me come home and visit for an extended amount of time :) I'm very thankful for a wonderful little boy, he is now 18 months old and I still look at him and can't believe how blessed I am and how in love I am with him! But most of all I couldn't of done this deployment without a wonderful and loving husband! Nathaniel might of been halfway around the world but I never stopped feeling his love for me, he was so supportive of me.

This first deployment was a success....BUT I am still going to cross my fingers that we dont have to go through another deployment anytime soon, l.o.l :)

Today is the day!

2011-09-04T20:36:00.000-07:00

It is almost time for Camden and I to head out to pick Nathaniel/Daddy up! I can't remember the last time I had these many butterflies in my stomache! It still seems so surreal to me that he is coming home!

so sooooon

2011-08-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

Nathaneil with his friend Jared - Iraq

It's interesting how a whole year can seem to fly by while the next few days seem like an eternity! That's right, Nathaniel is almost home and what a year it has been. I was reading through my journal the other day and I read an entry right after Nathaniel left for Iraq and it said: I was given the advice make this next year a time for you to thrive and not just to survive.

I am very happy for those words because they helped me through the next year and now that I look back on the year Nathaniel was in Iraq it is a great memory...don't get me wrong I missed him so much some nights I would just curl up in bed and cry myself to sleep, but thankfully those moments were far and few inbetween because I had made the commitment to myself to thrive over the year.

Camden and I had a great year, from celebrating his first Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Camden also learned how to sit be himself...crawl by himself...walk by himself, and is now running around like a big boy. We had a wonderful time visiting friends and family. We had FHE every monday night with our friends who's husbands/dads were also deployed. Every wednesday we go to play group in our neighborhood. I take much needed time and work out at our gym while Camden goes to the wonderful child care that they have! I have also come to realize over and over again how lucky I am to have such a wonerful husband, who cares so much about his family, who loves the gospel and is worthy to hold the priesthood. I feel so blessed that he is excited for more children to come into our family because he understands the eternal nature of the family :) Some people have said: I don't know how you do it, a year is so long, I just shrug my shoulders and say, you can do anything for those you love.

But I am not going to lie, even though this past year is full of great memories, I know that his next year is going to be EVEN better!

But in the end I am going to savor every second I have with just Camden and I, as we anxiously await (with butterfly's in my stomach) the day I get to run up and hug (and kiss!) my best friend, my wonderful husband.

Big boy bed

2011-08-27T14:18:00.000-07:00

My little (or not so little) boy is growing up! A few months ago my friend moved her boy to a toddler boy, he is one year older then Camden and I thought man I am happy that Camden hasn't learned how to climb out of his crib yet and that he will be in a crib for hopefully another year! you see in a crib he is trapped, I don't have to worry about him hurting himself while playing in his room in the middle of the night....it was a comfort...and then three weeks ago, my wonderful and adventerous 17 month old learned how to do what I was dreading, he climbed out of his crib! My first reaction: I laughed with him and hugged him because he was SO proud of himself when I opened his bedroom door...my second reacion: A fear of him breaking bones! So I knew the time had come for him to get a big boy bed! Last week we went shopping and bought him a twin mattress and box spring! As soon as I set it up he loved it, I thought hopefully you love it as much when I take away your crib and make you sleep in it kiddo! First night comes: We do our usual bedtime routine and by 8:30 I tuck him into bed, we read a couple of stories, I kiss him and hug him and tell him goodnight and then I cross me fingers! Next thing I knew it was 8:30 in the morning, he had slept 12 hour straight, WAHOO! The next test came at nap time, I wondered if he would sleep as well in a bed that he could get out of when it is light outside..he slept 3 1/2 hours! He has transitioned to sleeping in a bed wonderfully, he never gets out of his bed until after his nap or in the morning, usually around 8! I can't believe how lucky I am to be a mom to such a wonderful little sleeper!

2011-07-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-31T16:43:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

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!

2011-07-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-07-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

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.

2011-07-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

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 :)

Before and after pictures

2011-06-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

So while Nathaniel has been deployed I have been trying to keep busy anyway I can hoping that it will make the time go by fast, which it has and the bonus is that I have been able to accomplish so much aroud the house, from paining to re-painting because I dont like a color, to the endless amount of yard work (my goal is to have a great looking yard for the hubby when he gets home :), to keeping the house clean, the clothes washed and folded, the dishes washed, the bills payed, and of course most importantly little man fed, clothed, and happy (which is my favorite "job" of all, he makes everything worth it :) SO, here are some before and after pictures of the house:

Living room Before:

Living Room After: (it still needs something, but for now I am pleased with it)
The guest room turned into Camden's room: (before)

Camden's room now: The blue turned out to be really really blue, but it is growing on me :)

Slightly out of order, but here is the after picture first then the before picture of our bedroom:

The very red before picture of our kitchen:The after picture of our kitchen: My awesome brother in law hung the chair railing and I painted and painted ......and painted, it took quite a bit of work to cover up that red paint :)

The Zoo

2011-06-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

This post is just a little bit late :) a few weeks ago my friends and I took our kids to the zoo over in Waco! We had a great time with each other and the kids loved the animals!

Side Note: I am very very lucky to have such good friends down here in Texas, we all live in the same neighborhood and we all go on nightly walks together! All of our husbands are in the military, and all of our husbands are deployed/or have already been through a deployment so we understand and can relate to each other :) I am truely blessed to know such great girls :)

Memorial day weekend.

2011-06-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

Camden and I had a great memorial day weekend! It started thursday night at the rodeo, it was military appreciation night, which means we got in free and got a scrumptous dinner :) Camden also rode his first pony and absolutely LOVED it! The first cavalry put on a show and Camden was facinated by the horses, gun shoting, etc.! We had a great night with great friends, Haley and Bennett! Then on Monday we went up to the lake and had a blast digging in the sand and getting wet! That night I also took Camden and my neice and nephew to the movies to see kung Fu panda 2!

CAMDEN BOY :)

2011-05-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Camden trying to drink out of the hose! He loves it and it is quite comical to watch! "MOM I LOVE PLAYING IN THE WATER" Camden's first popicle, he loved it and hated it...he loved the taste but hated how cold it was :)

Oatmeal Boy!

2011-05-25T19:22:00.000-07:00

Camden is a very independent little boy, which is great...BUT it makes for one messy breakfast especially when his favorite breakfast is oatmeal!

For Nathaniel!

2011-05-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

Firepit and one of our peach trees.
One of the sides of the fence (by our neighbors trish and chris!)

One of the gates

Firepit with the fence behind it...and three of the four solar lights that had turned on already! One of the peach trees. I need to buy some more brick so I can finish outlining the shrubs...eventually I will do that :)

My wonderful husband let us use some of our tax refund to get a fence built! It is W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L!!! I love that Camden and I can go out back and play/do yard work and I now don't have to worry about him running into the field behind our house or to the road in our front yard! We can just enjoy our yard and it has been fabulous! So after a week or so of my husbands asking for pictures and of course me procrastinating I finally took some...so I hope you enjoy them honey :)

Visiting Grandpa and super cool Uncles!

2011-04-28T20:06:00.000-07:00

Camden with his Grandpa :)
Even though Camden isn't really smiling in this picture don't let that fool you about how much he adores his uncles! His uncle Zach ran around with him all night long... in the end I'm not sure who was more tired, Camden or Zach :)

I can help Grandma

2011-04-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

The other day my mom got an apron out of the pantry to put on and she felt a little tug on it and looked down and Camden had grabbed it and was looking up at her smiling...and since grandson's know how to melt their grandmas hearts she put her apron on him and let him help her whip up the whip cream. He thoroughly loved it, especially licking the beaters afterwards!

Egg-stra Egg-stra read all about it!

2011-04-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you leave a cartoon of eggs within reaching distance of a very curious 13 month old!

Lasagna!!!

2011-04-18T11:28:00.000-07:00

Camden LOVES italian food just like his daddy!!!

Corbin's 3rd Birthday!

2011-04-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Camden and Corbin hanging out...Corbin is 3 and Camden is 13 months, Don't they look the same size in this picture??? Camden enjoying Corbin's birthday present!

"I can reach it, I just know that I can"

Birthday cake time!

YUMMY chocolate cake!!

Kezlyn and Camden playing at the park for Corbin's party!

Camden's favorite game...light saber's/sword fighting!

Me showing Camden how to be a Jedi...yes we are attacking the birthday boy!!!

Corbin and Camden having fun!!!

I can't believe my nephew turned three!!! Where has the time gone? I remember I was eating a picnic lunch after church with Nathaniel down by the Hudson river when My sister Melissa called and told me she was in labor....was it really THREE years ago! Corbin is a bucket of energy and FUN, he totally has attitude and he says what is on his mind and I am absolutely in love with this little boy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORBIN, we had a great time at your star wars birthday party!!!

Baby Shower

2011-04-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

Cute pregnant belly. She is 35 weeks pregnant and she looks amazing!!! Camden of course stealing all of the baby's presents!

Camden taking off his shoes...AGAIN!!!

Our timing here in Utah was perfect and we got to attend my friend's baby shower! She is absolutely beautiful pregnant and you can tell she is super excited for her baby boy to come! About 5 more weeks she will get to hold and cuddle with him (one of the best feelings in the world!)

Kezlyn and Kallie

2011-04-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Camden's favorite thing to do at Tawnya's was to "re-organize" the kitchen drawers! Corbin, my nephew, fast asleep!

Camden and Kezlyn! Camden LOVES eating baby doll heads and Kezlyn is just being a goof ball!

Grandpa and Camden snuggling!

Camden and Kezlyn enjoying our 4 HOUR CAR RIDE! It should of been 2 1/2 but we hit a blizzard in the canyon going up to Logan!

We had a great time watching my sister's girls, Kallie and Kezlyn. Kezlyn is seriously adorable I could eat her up (which she responded with "i'm to big") Kallie was a big helper with Camden and loved playing with him and carrying him around (much to his dis-like of course :)!!! The first sunday we were there it was General Conference so I loaded the kids up in the car and we made a trip down to my parents! General Conference was amazing as always, and the kids got to play with their cousin Corbin, since Melissa and Andrew also came over! The rest of the week we had fun playing WII, playing with friends, and making home-made pizza's with the neighborhood girls! That weekend we picked my sister Katie up in Logan then headed down to stay at Melissa's new house! That friday we had a girls night and our sister Summer joined us....I haven't eaten that much sugar in ages, we were bouncing off the walls!!! During our stay at Melissa's we enjoyed a trip to the pool, going to the movies to see Hop, and making Easter Cookies...and of course the kids had a great time playing with each other!

Tawnya and Matt enjoyed a great vacation, and Camden and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with their girls!!!

Camden, the little traveler!

2011-04-18T10:21:00.000-07:00

I can make it, I can make it!!! "excellent, pushing the stroller instead of riding in it!"

Reviewing the safety procedures!

Camden is quite the little traveler! This past week we flew up to SLC to watch my sister's little

girls while her and her husband took a much needed vacation! We got to the airport quite a bit early since my sister Amanda dropped us off and needed to be back to Austin by 5 for a family Military dinner - our flight didn't leave until 7, so we had a few hours to spare! The austin airport is quite small to say the least, so we entertained ourselves by eating delicious BBQ, and walking up and down the airport - camden's favorite was to push his stroller instead of riding in it of course! And then Camden thought it was very entertaining climbing over all the chairs, thankfully there weren't to many people down by our gate so I just let Camden explore! The flight went (almost) smoothly, Camden by this point was a bit exhauted and a little moody, but thankfully right after take-off the flight attendent brought us some warm water for a bottle and Camden fell asleep....that is until someone slammed the bathroom door shut waking him up, O well he slept for about 45 minutes! The rest of the flight he entertained himself by reading the safety procedures of the flight!

It's always fun turning five!

2011-03-30T11:59:00.000-07:00

Camden getting really into the bowling game, he couldn't get close enough! Whitney the little guitar hero in the making!

Camden thought playing the games was much more fun then taking pictures...

Whitney LOVING the presents she got...after she would open a present she would say, "I have wanted this for YEARS"

My neice Whitney is FIVE! Wow, she is growing up fast! We had a small party at chuck-e-cheese's where we all played a TON of games and won a lot of tickets, Camden enjoyed any game that involved throwing a ball! We then headed back to their house for presents and Delicious cake and Ice Cream!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WHITNEY!!!

Camping Trip.

2011-03-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

The river was the perfect temperature and we had a great time cooling off in it! Camden is growing up way to fast! AND is a huge fan of camping, he just turned one and already has a few camping trips under his belt!

Playing one of his favorite games, Swords, with his Favorite Cousin Dawson (No joke, Camden adores his cousin!)

What camping trip would be complete without digging in the dirt?

Digging in the dirt some more of course!

This past weekend Camden and I joined my sister and her family for some Camping Fun before her husband deployes.

The camp ground was perfect, it is free to military families and has a huge open grass field and is near a great river and trails for biking and hiking. Right after we got to the camp-ground we decided to all head down to the river and cool off (it was 90 degrees outside, but trust me I'm not complaining! Camden LOVED the river, that is more of an under-statement, it was more like he was in Heaven. He had the time of his life splashing and then he found a "sitting" rock in the shallow area, sat down on it and for the next 15 minutes picked up little rocks and on the count of three threw them has hard as he could, all of course while he was "talking" up a storm. After we enjoyed the river, Camden, Dawson and I went on a bike ride on the trails, it was Beautiful! Camden of course loved it and off and on he would put his head forward onto my back and just say "AHHHHHHH" and since we were going over rocks and bumps it would make his voice go funny, he got a kick out of that! That night my brother in law Coleman made us dutch-oven corn bread and brisket, it was delicious! We then hung out in their tent for awhile until Camden was ready for bed! He did fairly well sleeping in our tent, of course everytime I woke up in the middle of the night he would be in a different location...the bottom of the tent...sprawled across his pillow, and my favorite, him laying sideways with his feet in my face :) The next day was a bit chillier, which made for perfect hiking weather! Amanda was hilarious, singing and dancing and entertaining us all on our hike, even Whitney would say things that would just crack us up! it was wonderful! When we got back from our hike we all took a little nap and after our naps we enjoyed a little bit more of the great outdoors before packing up our gear and heading home!

Thanks Amanda and Coleman for a great weekend! The trip was perfect!

Great Wolf Lodge!

2011-03-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

Camden just chillin in the kiddie pool.

One of Camden's favorite thing to play with was the "jet-ski's"...when you pull the handle you get people wet and he thought it was hilarious!

Camden is WAY to interested in the water below us to care about pictures :)

SAY CHHEEESSEEE :)

Camden and I joined Coleman and Whitney (and of course the many other guests) for story time in the lobby! (coleman is in the red shirt and whitney is sitting on his lap in the pink shirt)

Dawson on our Magi-quest throughout the hotel.

Camden and I joining in on the FUN! Although carrying a 25 pound baby up and down and up and down 8 flights of stairs and also trying to keep up with two youngin's is quite the work-out!

Whitney sat here and said, "take a picture of my Aunt Sarah"!

Dawson, Camden, and Whitney already to go Swimming :)

Camden is SUPER excited to be out of his car-seat and ready to explore the hotel

This Past tuesday my wonderful Sister Amanda and her family invited Camden and I on their family vacation to Great Wolf Lodge before her husband deploys! We had SO MUCH FUN! We had a blast at the water park, and the magi-quest through out the hotel definently kept us in shape (imagine going up and down 8 flights of stairs over and over again while carrying a 25 pound baby, l.o.l). I loved watching how excited Dawson and Whitney were to be there and Camden also got into the excitement of it all! Camden enjoyed going to Club Cub and playing in the play house there and he even colored a picture for his daddy...before he started trying to eat the crayons of course :) We sure missed Nathaniel though and Can't wait until he gets home so we can all go together!

What a wonderful helper:

2011-02-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

Camden has become such a wonderful little helper. He helps me throw clothes from the washer into the dryer and is extra helpful by closing the dryer door after each piece of clothing he puts in the dryer, to helping me "throw" his toys into the toy baskets, and his latest chore...helping me put the groceries away!

YOU ARE THE BEST, LITTLE MAN!!!

So close....

2011-02-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

It almost seems surreal that I get to see Nathaniel so soon, don't get me wrong I am very excited, ecstatic even, I CAN NOT WAIT, but he has been gone for so long and Camden and I have gotten into such a routine that it is hard to imagine having him home again. I try and imagine what it will be like to see Nathaniel playing with Camden but I can't, or I try and imagine what it will be like having him help around the house, I can't even remember what it is like to kiss him...I KNOW I KNOW, I have memories..distant memories of all of this, but as a Army wife and to survive each day without him, I keep myself busy with the day to day things, which is great, I truely have a blessed life...but our day to day things right now do not involve my wonderful husband. So imagine as I might and even knowing that soon I get to actually hug my wonderful husband, I just can't quite comprehend that fact :)

BUT IT IS TRUE...WITHIN HOURS...OR DAYS I WILL BE WRAPPED IN THE ARMS OF THE MAN I GET TO BE WITH FOREVER!!!!

My little sister's wedding!!!

2010-12-25T11:05:00.000-08:00

The beautiful bride and Groom.
BUURRRRR it was FREEZING cold!!! Camden and I snuggling to try and keep warm!

Family picture time.

SISTERS!!!

My little sister Katie was married this past week to a wonderful guy named Tyrell Marchant! The sealing was wonderful and I am so happy for them! Although the day started out a bit rough, Katie found out that Tyrell had been throwing up all night and morning because of a stomach bug going around, so the sealing was pushed back a couple of hours, Katie was a bit emotional all morning, laughing and crying all at the same time, but Katie being the wonderful person she is still kept a positive attitude and asked Tyrell if he wanted to pushed the wedding to the next day, he being madly in love with her said no way and asked his dad for blessing to get better! So with the ceremony pushed back a couple of hours it gave him a little longer to get better and while during the sealing you could tell he had a rough morning, Katie and Tyrell looked absolutely stunning! It was a wonderful sealing and brought back so many memories for me when Nathaniel and I were sealed together forever a year and a half ago!

CONGRATULATIONS KATIE AND TYRELL!!!!!!!

Visiting Santa Claus!

2010-12-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

The other day I told my parents we HAD to take Camden to see Santa because it is his first Christmas...AND while Camden didn't really smile...he didn't scream either. I will say visiting Santa was a success :)

Just some pictures :)

2010-12-25T10:53:00.000-08:00

Some of me neices and nephew and our house of my little sister's wedding!
My sister Amanda and her cute family with my Grandma and Grandpa Jensen.

My Little Sister Melissa and her cute family with our grandparents

My neice Kezlyn, she is so adorable and has the best laugh ever!

My neice Whitney and Nephew Corbin...I am sure getting into trouble, haha!!

Visiting Grandma Laurie

2010-12-25T10:47:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve day Camden and I went to go visit my mom's grave (Laurie my mother in law passed away last year) and to go and bring her some flowers! It makes me very thankful to know that I will see her again and to feel her watching over us. What a blessing it is to have the Gospel in our lives and to have the blessing of being able to go to the temple, what a wonderful gift that is to us!

CHRISTMAS DAY!!!

2010-12-25T10:35:00.000-08:00

We have had such a wonderful Christmas! Thank you mom and dad for making the day so great even though I really miss Nathaniel. The day started at 5:30 A.M. (Thank you Little man for the early wake-up call...aka...scream until I get you out of your crib, l.o.l)!!! Camden wasn't to interested in unwrapping his presents but loved playing with them after I unwrapped them for him...still his favorite toy of the day...the dishwasher...of course!!!
Last night I got to watch Nathaniel open his presents on web-cam, that was a TON of fun to watch him and see his reaction, it makes me very thankful for the technology we have :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE, WE HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING THIS WONDERFUL DAY!!!

Helmet!!!

2010-12-25T10:19:00.000-08:00

The other day we had a lot of family over and my sister Melissa and her husband Andrew took Camden with them and the other kids to play in the play-room and about 10 minutes later they came out with this on Camden's head and they said that it was CRAZY back their with all the kids so they decided that Camden needed a helmet to protect his head...HAHA...how do they come up with this stuff!!!! (Camden is with his favorite aunt in this picture...Aunty Amanda!!!)

UTAH!!!

2010-12-25T10:05:00.000-08:00

Camden and I are having a great time here in Utah visiting with family! Camden loves exploring Grandma and Grandpa's house and "helping" them unload the dishwasher! The only bad part has been the stomache bug that is being passed around, Camden was hit pretty bad by it and I dont think it helped that his 7th and 8th tooth decided to come in as well, but he seems to be getting better each day! (which makes for a happy Camden and mommy :)

My Dad took me to the movies to see Harry Potter (while my amazing mom watched Camden)...I liked it...but books are always better then movies, so I was a little disappointed!!! But it was still GREAT to go to the movies without worrying about Mr. Camden :)

Ward Christmas Party 2010

2010-12-11T08:14:00.000-08:00

We went to Nathaniel's familys ward Christmas party this year, it was GREAT, it was called a night in Bethleham and we are dressed up in that era of clothing, Camden was a adorable little shepard boy!!!!

Christmas tree hunting extravaganza

2010-12-06T08:35:00.000-08:00

Grandpa found the perfect Camden sized tree!

So many trees to choose from!

The wagon Camden rode in on our walk out to the trees...he thoroughly enjoyed and sang and babbled the whole time!

Group Picture (left to right) Grandma, Camden, Jenna, Spencer, and me!!!

Last Friday we had a GREAT time going to Hunter's farm and picking out and chopping down a Christmas tree! It was my first time EVER choosing out a real tree and it was a BLAST, Camden had a great time as well...I think he enjoyed mommy saying "look I found the PERFECT tree" about a million times (what can I say there were A LOT of trees there)! There were actually so MANY trees there that it took us about 2 1/2 hours to choose our favorite...and even then we still ended up with two favorites, l.o.l :) We definently missed Nathaniel there BUT we are SO excited for next Christmas when he will be home...Do you think they have real christmas trees down in Texas, hum???

More pictures just for fun!!!!

2010-11-29T10:13:00.000-08:00

We are all SUPER tired...Can you tell?! (me, Elise, Camden and Dad)

Grandpa and Camden about to go enjoy the snow again.

Mommy and Camden.

Grandpa found Camden's new favorite toy...a BOX!!!

Camden in a food coma...he ate a whole french toast by himself!!!!

Camden with is Aunt Jenna-roo!!!

Camden in his Christmas Pajamas!!!!

Camden loving all of the Attention he is getting here!!!

Elise's Brother and his family came the day after Thanksgiving and it was his sons Caleb's birthday...his request a Pumpkin pie!!! YUM!!!! Here are all the cousin's together, plus Camden!!!!

Our Thanksgiving Celebration.

2010-11-29T09:56:00.000-08:00

Camden enjoying a yummy roll.

Ready to eat some yummy food. Starting on the left: Elise, Jenna, Kayleigh, Camden, Me, Spencer, Liz and Cayleigh, Barrett, Abrahm, Clark, and Miranda (with dad taking the picture.

Camden and mommy.

Camden was just laying next to his grandpa singing and playing with his spoon.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day here in Washington! The company and food were great and Camden and I had a fabulous time! Camden was such a trooper and stayed up with us until 11:30 having fun! He is definently enjoying all of the attention!

Vacation part 1

2010-11-23T17:12:00.000-08:00

Camden and I are having a great time with family here in Washington! Camden did such a good job on the plane flying out here, which made it enjoyable for me :) His schedule has been off since we have been here but he is slowly adjusting and hopefully tonight I will get some sleep...yes I know I was very spoiled with him since I am used to him sleeping 11 hours at night, which means I usually had about 8 hours of sleep at night...but since we have gotten here he wakes up a couple times a night..and last night he was up from about midnight until 2!!!! BUT he has still been super happy and LOVES following his Grandpa around the house :) ALSO it has snowed quite a bit here so Grandpa and I HAD to take Camden out to play in it, he really seemed to like it, especially when Grandpa pulled him around on the sled!!!

Camden and Grandma looking at the fishies.
"what is this on my head?" Camden and Grandpa playing in the snow.

Mommy and Camden

"mom snow is COLD....BBBUUUUURRRRR"

Where, O where

2010-11-04T11:45:00.000-07:00

Camden LOVES to explore and crawl all over the house....the other day he was playing in the family room (right off of the kitchen) and I was in the kitchen finishing the dishes and when I was done I went into the family room to check on him, and he wasn't there, NO big deal because I can usually find him in the entry way...he wasn't there either....THEN I realized he is probably in his favorite room..the BATHROOM, standing up next to the bath tub...and I was right!!!
This is camden's most favorite place to go...I usually have the door closed, but every once in awhile I forget and he takes full advantage of it!!!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-20T10:54:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago Camden and I went to the pumpkin patch with a group of our friends. We had a ton of fun...even if it was HOT!!! Camden seemed to enjoy "picking" out a pumpkin, but mostly loved watching his friends laugh and run around (he is such a people watcher!).

Camden and I.Sitting on the pumpkins - 7 months old. Camden thought it was so funny to be pushed around in the cart by his friend Bennett.

You know youre an army wife when.....

2010-09-29T19:44:00.000-07:00

*your husbands work and dress clothes cost more then yours.
*You only write in pencil because EVERYTHING is subject to change.
*You need a translator to talk to your civilian friends, only because they have no idea what DFAS, AER, TDY, ACS, PCS, and ETS mean.
*You can remember where you kept the scotch tape in your old house, but unfortunately not this one.
*You mark time in duty stations, not in years.
*You refer to friends not only by there names but also by which state they live in.
*You know that a 2 month seperation is short, no matter what your civilian friends/family say.
*You accidently show your military I.D. at walmart.
*you know that any reference to "sand" or "box" refers to Iraq not your kids backyard toys.
*you dont have to think what time 21:30 is.
*You cant remember the last time you saw a doctor that wasn't wearing ACU's.
*You stand for the national anthem at the movie theatre.
*It only cost you $0 to $25 dollars to have a child.
*you have learned to sleep through the sound of tanks, planes, helicopters and artillery simulators.
*you can hate and love the military all in the same breath.

AND many many more. If you're a military wife what situations have you run into that makes complete sense to you, but maybe not to those who have never experienced military life???

My friend Haley added one today:
*When your child thinks the computer is called Daddy. (Because of webcam and that is how they get to talk!!!)

2010-09-29T18:39:00.001-07:00

There isn't to much going on right now. Camden and I are keeping ourselves busy and enjoying time with friends (who are HUGE life savors...especially for my sanity, l.o.l). Things that have happened this past month (after Nathaniel deployed of course):

* I was on the committee to help plan the food/decorations/invitations for the relief society broadcast/buffet/and fireside our stake had last weekend.

* Camden is now getting teeth 3 and 4 and has been super cranky somedays and other days a perfect little angel.

* I was asked to be a key caller for our FRG so I attended a key caller class they held...it was interesting, I'm not really a phone person so we will see how it goes! :)

* I go walking every morning and night with my friends...which has been a huge blessing to me, I enjoy the adult time I get and hopefully I will lose more of the baby weight I gained when I was pregnant with Camden! killing two birds with one stone, excellent :)

* I bought plane tickets for Camden and I to go Nathaniels family's house for Thanksgiving and will spend three weeks there and then we will fly to SLC for three weeks with my family and spend Christmas with them, then we will drive back to the great state of TX with my sister and her family!

* Camden ABSOLUTELY LOVES seeing Nathaniel on webcam, it is very very cute!!!

* I attended a tastefully simple party and was reminded how much I love beer bread...YUM!

And that's about it...nothing really to exciting, haha, BUT we are doing good, missing Nathaniel like crazy, but are keeping ourselves very busy

Deployment

2010-09-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes it seems to fly by and other times it drags by so slow I wonder if it is going backwards. We have known about Nathaniel's deployment since last year, a year to get nervous about it, a year to worry about it, a year to wonder about, well....everything. We knew the day would eventually come when he had to go...but it always felt like something that was in the future...looming, but not ever happening. Well the day of Nathaniel's deployment has now come and gone...and you know what...We are going to make it and it is going to be a good year. A friend of mine told me that this time is not only a time to survive but a time to thrive. It isn't a year to put our lives on hold, but a year to grow, a year to learn from. One year...that is all...the great thing about time is even though at times it might seem to drag it is always moving forward, the day is going to come when Nathaniel will be back here and we will all be together again.

Nathaniel in formation about to head out. (he is the one looking back)Last family picture before Nathaniel heads out. Camden was quite fascinated by Nathaniel's gun.Before the soldiers leave, you have about 5 hours of just waiting around and Camden was one tired boy so he had one last snuggle with his daddy. When I grow up I want to be just like my Daddy. Just waiting around.

Temple Trip.

2010-09-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

The day before Nathaniel deployed we had the opportunity to go to the San Antonio temple. The day was perfect. We had a great time with just each other and couldn't of asked for a better last day together. Thank you Haley and Amanda for watching Camden for us that day!!!

When family comes to town....

2010-09-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

The week before Nathaniel deployed we were super lucky to have my parents come and visit us. We did so many fun things...we visited the Austin botanical gardens, Had an amazing Thanksgiving dinner for Nathaniel since he will be deployed over Thanksgiving, went to seaworld on a GREAT day...hardly anyone there and the weather was amazing AND military families get in free once a year *SWEET*, we had dinner on the riverwalk in San Antonio, went hiking, visited the "bat" bridge in Austin...and SO much more, but like any great vacation it is over before you know it...hopefully mom and dad will come visit again..soon...hint hint :)

(The following pictures are in reverse order, oops)

Saying goodbye to mom and dad at the airport.
Grandma and Camden
Grandpa and Camden Daddy and Sleeping Camden at the bat bridge waiting for the bats to come outAmanda, Dawson and Coleman waiting for that bats. Family picture time. Walking around the Botanical Gardens. Grandma, Grandpa, and Whitney. Camden may not be smiling in this picture but he really did enjoy sitting on the grass...for the first time ever!!!!

WHAT...6 months already

2010-09-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

I can not believe little man is already 6 months old...he is growing up SO fast. At his 6 month appt. he weighed in at a whopping 20.1 pounds and was 28 1/2 in. long!!! He is a big little guy :)
Right now he can:
*scoots backwards all over the house
*sits up by himself.
*feeds himself finger foods (mostly graham crackers, which he loves)
*doesn't like baby food, I think mostly because his daddy spoiled him with tastes of grown up food, so now I just puree my dinner and viola Camden is a very happy little boy!
*Is very very close to crawling, he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He will then put one hand forward and scoot his knees forward but then he collapses!!!
*Does not like snuggling at all unless he is super tired and you are feeding him his bottle.
*LOVES bathtime.
*Still loves anybody who will pay attention to him and will let anybody hold him...but prefers his mommy slightly more *happiness*
*says Dadadadada and can roll his tongue and goes RRRRRRRRRRR
*everymorning when I get him out of his crib he will grab my shoulders and give me a huge hug.
*and last but not least...if you get your face to close to his mouth he will LICK you!!!!!

Sitting in his High Chair for the first time. (thanks mom and dad for buying it for him, it makes meal times so much easier!!!)
"helping" me make the bed.
Daddy letting Camden eat his corn on the cob..this could be why he hates baby food, l.o.l (also don't mind the finger he is giving everyone, what a naughtly little boy :)

Little getaway

2010-09-14T15:38:00.000-07:00

Before Nathaniel deployed he was able to take two weeks of leave and my sister being the wonderful person she is took Camden for a couple of those days so Nathaniel and I could enjoy a few days together. We headed first to a water park we had heard was awesome, Schlitterbahn. We ended being a bit disappointed by the water park. But that's ok we had a great time together. We then headed down to San Antonio for the night. We stayed in a nice hotel right on the river walk..a great walkway with a ton of restaurants/shops. The couple of days flew by though and soon we were heading back home to our sweet little boy (although I'm not going to lie it was quite nice to get away with just my hubby :)

The riverwalk up by our hotel.
Starting the trip.

Camden is ready for a NAP!!!!

2010-08-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

I would never of guessed the blessing that it would be to have my sister and her family live so close. I absolutely love it, not am I only getting to know them a lot better, we also all get together a TON!!!! This past monday night we had FHE at our house and roasted hot dogs in our back yard, we had a great time!!

Camden is a bit tired in this picture, but he really did enjoy the night. what a little trooper!

Amanda and Nathaniel....with some YUMMY food!!!

My neice Whitney, Camden and I!!

Dawson cooking his hotdog over the fire. ( you can kind of see our back yard...we still have a bit of work to do, but we love that we have our fire pit in!!!)
The men concentrating on the hotdog roasting!!!

Mr Camden

2010-08-15T18:50:00.000-07:00

Camden is growing up so fast, here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks:

You can't really tell in this picture but Camden was SO sick of the car so I decided to take pictures of him and make funny noises to try and entertain him

When I went to go check on Camden during his nap this is how I found him, just lounging.

Belly time. He is SOOOO close to crawling. He lifts his whole chest of the ground and gets up on his knees but still is not quite coordinated to crawl!!

I was waching my neice Whitney and I asked you to entertain Camden for a minute so I could get the dishes done and this is what I found when I came back!!! and Camden LOVED it!!!

Weekend in Washington State

2010-07-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Nathaniel, Camden and I flew up to Seattle for Nathaniel's dad's wedding. The weekend started out EARLY friday morning when we left our house at 5:30 a.m. and headed for the Austin Airport, although we left super early we just barely made it to our flight in time! I was a little nervous about how Camden would do on the airplane, but the worrying was for nothing, he did GREAT! We got so many comments from everyone about how good Camden is. It is true Camden was a great little boy on all the flights, he even flirted with every girl who looked at him....and then even laughed at a guy who walked past us with a very very long beard!!! Needless to say friday was still a very long day off traveling...a total of 12 hours from the time we left our house until we arrived at Nathaniel's families house!!!

Saturday was a perfect day. We all went through a session at the Portland, OR temple and then to the sealing. It was a neat experience. While we really miss mom we are very happy for dad and the great lady he married, Elise! and are happy to have SISTERS on nathaniel's side of the family, Elise has three girls, Kayleigh, Miranda, and Jenna who are all super sweet and very nice! After the sealing we off course took A TON of pictures then everyone headed over to this amazing thai restaurant for the luncheon. We then all made our way back up to Seattle for the reception that night. The reception was at a family friends house, The Burtons, and was absolutely beautiful. ALSO I got to see my good friend Grace Payne, that was very exciting!!!

That night we went to bed around 11 p.m., and I have to say Camden was a little trooper, he did so well the whole day especially without to much of a nap and everyone wanting to hold him.

Then the next day (sunday), we packed our bags up and flew back home to Texas. It was a short, great weekend and we are very thankful for the wonderful family that we have!!!

Camden smiling while waiting to board our plane in Seattle, WA.

Dad and Elise coming out of the Portland, OR temple.

Camden with Aunt Michelle!!!

Family picture time :)

Camden with his Aunty Heather.

Nathaniel and Camden hanging out in the airport

Mommy and Camden in the airport.

Just hanging out on our layover in San Jose, CA

Airplane Time.

Camden taking a nap of our flight to Washington.

Camden's 4 month stats:

2010-07-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

Camden had his four month appt. today and he is quite the big boy (actually he is OFF the charts), he is 17 pounds 4 oz. and 28 in. long.....to put it into perspective, he is the size of a SEVEN month old!!! I also asked the doctor today if Camden could be teething because he has been a little cranky lately which is unusal, so he looked at his gums...and YUP he is teething, his two bottom teeth should break through in a few weeks the doctor said!!!
At four months Camden is:
*Sleeping 10 to 12 hours a night
*rolling from his belly to back and from his back to his belly.
*LOVES meeting new people and will go to anyone who wants to hold him, he LOVES the attention.
*tried rice cereal the other day and seems to really like it, but so far he does not like peas!!!
*When he is on his belly he will put his knees up and under him like he wants to crawl!
*He doesn't like the bright sun down here in TX and always has a grumpy face when we are outside.
*Has been swimming so many times we have lost count!
*absolutely LOVES his aunt Amanda, he will be grumpy for me but I will hand him to Amanda and he is instantly happy!!!

I feel very blessed to have such a happy baby boy, hopefully all of his siblings are as content as he is!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

2010-06-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

RANT: STUPID FRG!!!!!!!!!!! If I was stupid I would post the exact hour/minute/second Nathaniel would be coming home, where he was doing his training at and the exact route he will be traveling home..... so get off my back!!!!

P.S. I am sure that when I calm down that I will feel guilty about this post and will delete it......

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

2010-06-20T12:37:00.001-07:00

Although you can't be with us today Nathaniel, Camden and I wanted to wish you a happy Father's day! You are amazing and I am very lucky to have such a wonderful husband and Camden is very lucky to have a great daddy!! THANK YOU so much for everything you do for us, WE LOVE YOU!!!

Chocolate ice cream, YUM!!!!

2010-06-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

Camden with his cousin Whitney. She is a little cutie, she is always asking, "can me hold Camden".
Camden right after his first hair cut. I think my friend Joelle did an amazing job, I just can't believe how fast Camden is growing up.

"Man I look good in these sun glasses" - Camden, 3 months old "This shopping is pretty fun, huh mom?!?!" Camden - 3 months old.

So I was at my sister's house today and we were all eating chocolate ice cream cones and Camden wanted it SOOO bad, he would get sooo excited when I would get the cone close to him, he would kick his legs and get this super excited look on his face, we were all laughing hysterically!!! It was so much fun to watch him...to bad I didn't give him any, I promise Camden when you are older you can have some, YUM!!!!!

HOBBY LOBBY

2010-06-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

I was at Hobby Lobby today with Camden, my sister Amanda and her two kids. I have never been in that store before and I LOVED it, I have so many ideas for decorating our house now. So while walking around the store I noticed a 50% off sign and I said in the corniest high pitch voice, "50 percent off" and Camden started laughing at me...it WAS SO CUTE!!!

The count down begins:

2010-06-09T19:34:00.000-07:00

Does time ever seem to fly by at times, and then at other times drag? With Nathaniel gone to JRTC it feels like the countdown has begun until he deploys in September, can it really already be JUNE??? With Nathaniel gone the whole month of June and some of July, I feels like September is just around the corner. But I must kick my self in the butt and not mop, I'm proud of Nathaniel, I might miss him but I am very Lucky: I have a great son, great neighbors, and my sister and her family are now down here since her husband is also stationed at Fort Hood.

Camden is THREE MONTHS OLD!!!

2010-06-02T10:14:00.000-07:00

I can not believe how fast Camden is growing! At three months he can:

* roll over, at least from his back to front, but he is working on rolling from us front to back!

* He Loves talking (cooing) and will carrying on a "conversation" with us.

* He laughs

* He doesn't really like being on his belly, but has really strong neck muscles anyways :)

*and he LOVES to be held!!! He is also a very content baby and loves to smile!

Memorial day weekend

2010-06-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Horrible picture of me, but this is the only picture I have of us on our anniversary!
ONE YEAR

Swimming time at the lake! Nathaniel and Camden at the rodeo!

Nathaniel had a four day weekend for memorial day and we absolutely loved it! Nathaniel loved having a break from work and I loved having him home for a few days :) Thursday night we went to the rodeo, it was a lot of fun, I think cowboys are CRAZY, but it was very entertaining! Friday we braved it and went to the movies with Camden...AND it was great! The movie was really good and Camden ended up sleeping the whole time! Saturday we went to the lake. Camden enjoyed the water (it was really warm!) and it was a lot of fun to spend the day outside, although I now have a REALLY bad sunburn, ouch!!! Sunday we of course went to church, were I got a new calling, I am now the secretary in the young womens! I am really excited to being working with the girls! On sunday Nathaniel and I also celebrated our one year anniversary!!! We made really good chimicangas and had delicious chocolate cake!!! Monday, we didn't do much because of my sunburn, but we did spend the day watching season one of 24 and putting together a puzzle and that afternoon we headed out to kirklands (the best home decorating store EVER!!!) to get some ideas for our house :) And then tuesday came and Nathaniel had to go back to work..BOO :)

Friends:

2010-05-23T19:14:00.000-07:00

One of the great things about being a military family, is no matter where you move to you always meet up with old friends from previous places that you have lived! Back in MO, I got to see a great friend from the days I was a nanny, Alaina and her husband Roland, and I got to meet her adorable little boys and then Nathaniel and I saw our good friend Steve and met his really nice wife and today when we showed up for stake conference we saw our old bishop, President Roberts, from West Point and his family, it was SO much fun and exciting to talk and catch up with them again!!!! We might move around a lot, but no matter where we go, we get the chance to make great new friends and meet up with amazing old friends!!!

Picture Update: 2 1/2 months:

2010-05-17T14:15:00.000-07:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this little guy! He is seriously a wonderful baby and brings SO much happiness to Nathaniel and I! He is cooing like crazy and will hold "conversations" with me, he is also starting to get better control of his arms and will try and reach for his toys!

Pictures of our home:

2010-05-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of our new home down here in Texas! We are loving our home and the space we have now! We also LOVE our neighborhood! We seriously have the best neighbors ever!!! Most are in the military so there is a real feeling of community and understanding and I have also met several other girls who have small babies as well and we go on walks together every morning, it is so nice to get out of the house and have some adult conversation!!!

P.S. we still have a LOT of decorating in the house to do but that will come with time :)

Front of our house (minus the garage which is to the righht)
Guest room

Hall bathroom

Camden's Room

Master Bathroom: the mirrors are doors that lead to one of the walk in closets in our room.

Tile Shower in our Bathroom.

Master Bedroom.

Master Bathroom

Master Bedroom.

Our backyard: We still need more grass, hopefully that will come soon :)

Door in our kitchen leading to our backyard.

Kitchen

Living room looking into the kitchen.

Camden's two month stats:

2010-05-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

Camden is quite the big boy:
At two months he now weights:
14.7 pounds and is almost 25 in. long!!!!

At the Doctor's appt. today Camden flirted with all the nurses and was cooing for them like crazy, it made us all laugh. Then when the nurse gave him his first shot he looked at her like "why would you hurt me when I was smiling and being all cute for you" and then he started screaming! But he was brave and only cried for 30 seconds!!! Camden got a clean bill of health and is growing and gaining weight (obviously, l.o.l) very good!!!

Happiness is:

2010-05-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

Sitting out on the back porch swing in perfect 80 degree weather, feeding your adorable two month old, and staring out at the gorgous texas blue sky.....and then hearing the guy building the house next door to us start singing along with the mexican opera type music he is listening to...I couldn't help but giggle a little to myself. Life is grand.

Because he is wonderful!

2010-05-10T04:41:00.000-07:00

Nathaniel leaves in about 3 weeks for JRTC, a pre-deployment training and he will be gone for about a month, so his battalion had a "briefing" for the families about JRTC and told us how JRTC can be a pre-deployment training for families...and it really hit me during the briefing that Nathaniel is about to deploy to Iraq and I wont see him for a WHOLE YEAR. He will miss a lot of Camden's firsts, such as halloween, christmas, his first birthday, the first time he crawls, or talks, or walks, his first skinned knee and thinking about all of this makes me sad, but more then that it makes me SO proud of Nathaniel that he is willing to fight for freedom, that he is willing to put his life on hold for a year to serve our country! While I will miss Nathaniel terribly and it will be very lonely without him, I support him and I couldn't dream up a better husband and father then he is! I LOVE YOU BABE!!!!
P.S. I also had a WONDERFUL mother's day! Nathaniel bought me the most beautiful flowers and cooked the most delicious dinner, and he also had a lot of fun with Camden while he let me take a super long sunday nap!!!! Thanks for such a great first mother's day as a mommy!!!

Little Man:

2010-05-07T10:17:00.000-07:00

Camden Alexander Clark:

5 Weeks old! (in the picture at least...now

he is 2 months old and I can not believe

how fast the time is flying by!)

more Camden pictures

2010-04-28T12:46:00.000-07:00

Post all about Camden:

2010-04-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Camden was screaming one night so Nathaniel decided to put him on his head like this and VIOLA Camden is one content little baby!!!

*Camden is an AMAZING baby, although I could be a little biased, l.o.l!!! Nathaniel and I feel so lucky to have him, the other day Nathaniel was holding Camden and looked at me and said "sarah, I love being a dad", little moments like that make the three a.m. feedings all worth it, to see Nathaniel so happy!

*Camden is also a VERY smiley baby, and has one of the best smiles in the world, it looks exactly like his daddy's!!!

*He is also sleeping so GOOD at night. We put him to bed around 8:30 after I feed him and he falls asleep all by himself and then he wakes up between 4 and 6 a.m. to eat and then will fall back to sleep until 8:30ish!!! SLEEP IS WONDERFUL and I am so thankful that he is such a great sleeper!

*He is also cooing like CRAZY...he will just look up at me and start cooing like he is telling me a story, it is absolutely adorable!!!

* HE IS ALSO A CHUB-A-SURAS!!! He LOVES to eat and the only time he really cries is when he is hungry!!! We weighed him on our scale and it said he weighed FOURTEEN POUNDS!!! But we will officially find out next week at his two month appointment!

* He is getting way to LONG for 0 to 3 month clothes, I can't believe how tall Camden is!!

DADDY'S FIRST DAY OF WORK AT FORT HOOD

2010-04-28T12:28:00.002-07:00

When Grandma comes to visit...

2010-04-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

My mom was an AMAZING help when she came and visited us!!! Not only was she a huge help with Camden (watching him one night so Nathaniel and I could enjoy a date night!) she also helped us move from Missouri down to Texas...and then once we got to Texas she helped us move all of belongings into our temporary housing...PHEW it was A LOT OF WORK, but it was made easier with mom there to help us!!! It was so much fun to have her here to talk to and hang out with...I am pretty sure Her and I talked the WHOLE way down from MO to TX...and I think Nathaniel was very thankful he was driving the moving truck...he thinks girls are crazy...hahaha!!!! We also had a great time showing her our house that was being built and exploring fort hood together!!! WE MISS YOU MOM and are so happy that you came to visit us!!!!

P.S. I realized that I don't really have any pictures of when she came and visited, so I added two pictures that she took while she was here!!!

slowly but surely...

2010-04-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

At least Camden made it through church without screaming....he is REALLY hungry and that is about the only time he screams!!! He is like his dad...cranky when he is hungry, l.o.l :)

There is SO much to blog about, especially when you haven't blogged in about 6 or 7 weeks!!! So I will try and write about everything that has happened to us lately in order!
Well the sunday after Camden was born Nathaniel and I decided to be brave and take Camden to church, but I really really wanted to sneak into the back and sit in the back row, we are usually front row sitters, but Nathaniel agreed to this because I think he could tell how nervous I was, I mean what if Camden started hysterically screaming, and as a first time mom it is a bit nerve wracking and of course it is always much usually to sneak out of the chapel without people noticing you if you are sitting in the back. Well Nathaniel and I show up a few minutes late to church, during the part in the meeting were our bishop is talking about ward business...so he see's us sneaking into the back..and he's like "and if you notice the Clark's walking in in the back....." at this point of course everyone looks back at us and the bishop continues..."they had their baby this past week.....and they never called me, but I would like to congratulate them anyways!!!" Yup that's right our Bishop totally called us out in front of everyone...after I told nathaniel time and time again I wanted to sneak into the back of the chapel so no one would notice us!!!! Nathaniel and I still laugh about it...also we had an amazing bishop so it was even funnier :)

2010-03-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

No more pictures mom!!!!!

I love all of the looks Camden gives us...mostly he scowls, but I still think it is SOO cute!!

Fine mom if you insist on taking pictures, I will smile for you..well at least I will give you a smirk!!!

Daddy and Camden's nap time! YUP siree that is a Binki..I thought I would never give one to Camden...but he loves to suck and the binki has been a life saver!!!! We are doing really good! Camden is still a great sleeper and eater and is more awake now and spents his time looking around, he especially loves looking and mine and Nathaniel's face :) Tomorrow is his two week appt. and we are excited and curious to see how much he now weighs...we both think he has reached at least 9 pounds now!!!

We had our initial inspection on the house here in MO today. Everything checks out, so now all we have to do is sign out of housing on monday and we will officially be on our way to TX! Also we talked to the builders last week and our house is SO close to be completed, now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the weather is nice this week and next week so they can finish our house by the time we get there :)

Camden pictures

2010-03-09T10:11:00.000-08:00

Labor and Delivery

2010-03-07T11:34:00.000-08:00

Well I figure since I use this blog as my journal (and hopefully soon we will make it into a book so we can keep it as a memory) I thought that I would write down how Camden's birth went (and plus I also love reading about other women's birth stories....so if you aren't one of those I completely understand if you stop reading before all of the details, l.o.l)

Saturday night (Feb. 27th) I started feeling regular contractions, nothing painful just a pressure that would come about every ten minutes, well that pressure went into sunday and by sunday night they were coming every 3 to 5 minutes apart and a bit more painful, but still nothing to intense that I couldn't handle, but they went on like that for about 4 hours so we decided to head over to Labor and Delivery....were I kept on contracting, but nothing was happening...I was still stuck at a 4, so they sent us home! By monday the contractions were back to 10 minutes apart, but more pressure then pain. So at 2 in the afternoon I went for my regular O.B. appt and NST, and I joked with my doctor about my body not knowing how to go into labor and that I was positive that I would make it to my induction on wednesday, he laughed but also gave me the look like he doubted I would make it that far! So after the appt. Nathaniel and I headed over to the Gym to walk around the track...hopefully putting me into labor...yup, the contractions didn't change, still ten minutes apart and more pressure then pain. So we got home and started putting a puzzle together while watching a movie and ate dinner....after dinner is when all the 'FUN" began. The first "real" contraction I felt was at about 6:30 p.m. and instead of the slow build up, they hit me at about 7 p.m. 3 to 5 minutes apart...of course me not knowing what labor felt like still had my doubts that I was in labor and decided to walk around the house a bit and then they really started getting really painful and I decided to take a bath, hearing that a warm bath would help ease the pain...while I am sure it helps some, my contractions were coming so close together and were so painful nothing was helping....at about this time I realized that this could be the real thing, so I told Nathaniel that I thought we were going to be having Camden tonight and headed to the bathroom to take a shower really fast. Now by this point I was in so much pain that it was all I could do to get through each contraction...finally I made it through the shower and by some miracle got dressed, while all this time Nathaniel is going around the house grabbing our bags and getting them out to the car...AND off we were to the hospital at about 8:30 p.m. The hospital is literally down the street from our house, but on the way there I had two very painful contractions...and at about this time there was nothing I wanted more then an epidural. Well we show up to Labor and Delivery and of course before you are admitted you are checked out to see if you are in labor...I was at a 6 with my bag of water bulging...needless to say I was quickly admitted and transfered to my room. All this time Nathaniel is being the BEST support person ever and listening to everything I needed him to do for me, which quickly became me walking back and forth with my eyes closed trying not to pass out from the pain and me begging the nurses to know when the anestisiologist was going to be there. THANKFULLY he showed up right about 9:30 p.m. at about the same time my Doctor did (the BEST doctor in the world...besides you of course Dad!)....and he quickly got the epidural in me...I don't know if it was because I was in so much pain or he is the worlds best anestisiologist but getting the epidural didn't hurt at all and soon I was in HEAVEN, I could not feel the contractions anymore and at about this time I confessed my love to the epidural guy, l.o.l!!! It's now about 10 p.m. and Nathaniel and I are just chilling out and waiting for Camden to come! A little past 11 is when things started getting a little more complicated. Camden's heart rate started dropping and would stay in the 60's to 70's, we knew something wasn't quite right because our Doctor who is usually very smiley and happy looked very serious. They decided to check me and I was almost a 10 so we decided that I should try and push. Well with each push his heart rate would drop low again, but then pick back up after a minute. So I pushed through 3 contractions and his heart rate this time didn't pick up as fast....so out comes the vacuum and on the next contraction Camden came out! It was such an amazing experience to hear him crying and to see him, Nathaniel and I instantly feel in love with him. But since Camden came out so fast I ended up tearing in two different places, once again I was very thankful that I had an epidural. Well after the placenta was delivered and everything was looked over the nurses realized that there was a knot in the umbilical cord and we are guessing as I pushed the knot got tighter and tighter cutting off the air that Camden needed! I am once again very thankful for the skills and the calmness that my doctor had in delivering Camden and that his birth ended up going smoothly.

We are all now home and are doing quite well. I am healing very fast and we all made it to church today!

Camden is a great baby WHO LOVES to eat. After he was born his weight did drop to 8 pounds 3 oz., but I have a feeling that he is going to have no problem gaining all of the weight back and some :) He is also quite a good sleeper and will sleep for 4 hour stretches at night! Nathaniel and I have truely been blessed with a great son, who we love so much.

CAMDEN ALEXANDER CLARK

2010-03-05T19:24:00.000-08:00

Camden Alexander Clark

8 pounds 15 oz.

Born at 12:01 a.m. on March 2nd

39 week appointment

2010-02-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

Well here I am still waiting for Camden to decide to come :) But for now I think he is quite comfortable where he is and I have a feeling that we will make it to my induction date on March 3rd! ON a great note though...I am now dilated to a 5 and 100% effaced....and YES I am still not in labor. My doctor, mom, everyone else I talk to can not believe that I am not in labor yet...BUT hopefully this means labor will be quick and easy, l.o.l :) As for me, I am ready to meet Camden and I am done being pregnant, on the positive side I have seriously had an easy pregnancy, besides my blood pressure going back and forth, high then normal and back again, I haven't had any complications and at each NST Camden looks great and seems to be having no problems gaining weight, l.o.l :) While I know Nathaniel and I are going to have more children in the future and are quite excited for them to join our family, for now I am done being pregnant and just want to hold our son.

I will keep everyone up-dated and hopefully we will soon be sharing pictures of our son!

Formal Night

2010-02-23T11:20:00.000-08:00

Nathaniel's class formal we went to last week was actually a lot of fun! We had a great time with the people at our table and the speaker was actually really good and had some really good advice for Nathaniel's class and when they first get into their units! Here are some pictures:

Shane Smith, Nathaniel, and Blake Dunn; two of the guys from Nathaniel's class that we have gotten to know.

Nathaniel, me, Blake and his wife Sara Dunn; WHO are moving to HAWAII...as you can tell we are super jealous of them, but know that they will have a great time while they are there. (also Sara and I are both pregnant, she is due the end of April, so it has been fun having a pregnant buddy while here in MO, l.o.l) :)

Nathaniel and I right before we left for the formal.

AND one more...this one is from a different night then the formal, it was for Nathaniel's class social...a bit more, how to put it nicely...boring, hahaha....but mandatory to attend none the less! It was great talking to the people from his class, Nathaniel definently has great class mates!

NST and ER visit!

2010-02-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

Other then my BP being a little bit elevated the whole time, the NST and ultrasound went great! Camden has a GREAT heartbeat and plenty of fluid...and if he decided to come today he is in the perfect position :) I also had a bit of cramping during the monitoring and have been a bit Nauseous for a day or two now, so that hasn't been fun, but if it is a sign that labor is close, I'll take it...l.o.l :) Also the NST nurse, Tiffany, kept checking into Labor and Delivery to see if I had had Camden yet....hopefully I wont keep her waiting to much longer...especially since they are estimating him to be a BIG baby...it will be fun to see how much he weighs when he (finally) decides to come, I am very curious :)

Onto other not so fun news...Nathaniel twisted his knee yesterday during night training, so we spent the night in the E.R., luckily though his knee started feeling better and it looks like he just strained a few ligaments....so he was sent back out into the field with pain medication and doctor's orders not to run or carrying heavy equipment/ruck sack. I JUST CAN'T WAIT UNTIL HE IS HOME AGAIN, it is TO quite in the house without him :(

38 weeks appointment....

2010-02-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

While I know women can be quite dilated for WEEKS...I was hoping I was one of those lucky ones that would get to see my baby earlier rather then later....oooo but tis not so...at my appointment I was still 4 cm dilated, but on a good note I am now 75% effaced :) I am now starting to experience more painful contractions though and now I am not sure if I am to excited about this whole labor shindig!!! I am also keeping my fingers crossed that Camden decides to wait a little bit longer to come because Nathaniel heads to the field today for the rest of the week...and is NOT ALLOWED A CELL PHONE...so if my body does decide it now wants to go into labor it will be a bit tricky trying to get a hold of Nathaniel!!!!

37 week appointment.

2010-02-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

The appointment went great. My doctor and nurse are awesome and hilarious, which is great because today they had to test for GBS and to check for dialation/effacement......well my doctor was VERY surprised because I am already dilated to a 4 and 50% effaced! So at least I know those braxton hicks contractions I have been having lately are worth something, l.o.l!!!! My doctor also set my induction date, but highly doubts that I will make it that far!!! Then again I bet I will be one of those ladies that is stuck at a 4 and 50% for weeks....the not knowing when I am going to have Camden is the worst part, l.o.l!!!!

House up-date!

2010-02-03T13:19:00.000-08:00

HOORAY WE ARE CHOOSING BRICK AND STONE THIS WEEK FOR OUR HOUSE!!!! It is coming along and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it will be finished by the time we get down to Texas :) :) :)

WOW...36 weeks already!!!

2010-02-02T15:39:00.000-08:00

I can not believe I am now 36 weeks pregnant...time has flown by (for the most part, l.o.l). My blood pressure is back up again, even while I was laying there for the NST and I have another appt. on thursday and with that comes another ultrasound to check the fluid, last thursday it was low but still in the normal range, so we will see what thursday brings (I am crossing my fingers that everything is still going great)....and then I have another appt. on monday and they will check to see if I have dialated or am effaced. The great news is Camden's head is engaged...the bad news about that is he pushes on my back more...OUCH!!! ALSO next week I will be 37 WEEKS, which is a great milestone to reach when you have PIH....it also means that if my blood pressure keeps on rising the doctor's may decide to induce me. Everything is up in the air right now, so I will keep you all posted....and keep my fingers crossed that my BP doesn't keep on rising!

2010-01-28T18:51:00.001-08:00

I went to the Social Security office and I am now officially SARAH ANN CLARK...I know finally, huh...it only took us 8 months and Camden's up coming delivery to motivate us to get this done :) Now all we have to do is wait until my card comes in and we can get everything with the military changed as well....and my passport....and my drivers license...phew there is still a bit to do, l.o.l :)

2010-01-28T18:45:00.000-08:00

If you can make it out, that's Camden's foot sticking straight up into my RIBS....ouch!!! I am officially 35 weeks today and everything checked out great at the NST and the ultrasound today. Camden is SUPER active still and surprised the nurse today with how much he was moving (mostly kicking me in the ribs). With the ultrasound today they estimated him to be 6 POUNDS, so he will definitely be a good sized baby!!! His head is engaged, which explains why my back and other parts of me hurt so much lately! :) Everyone is guessing that he will be born in Febuary sometime....but you know how that is, it is all a guessing game :) Nathaniel and I are getting very anxious to meet our little guy!

A neat experience.

2010-01-24T15:28:00.000-08:00

For the past couple of months Nathaniel and I had the Greatest opportunity!!!! But let me start at the beginning of the story..... For a couple of weeks Nathaniel had really been praying for someone to share the gospel with and really dedicating his time to having different people over to our house hoping we could share the gospel with one of them. Well as many of you know the best experiences usually come out of nowhere. One day..or should I say, at 5 in the morning, Nathaniel was out running for P.T., and his buddy he was running with really had to use the bathroom so they went in search of a port-a-potty along the trail, well the first one they came upon someone happens to step into it 2 seconds before his buddy did, so they kept on running until they could find another one...thankfully, for his friend, a short while later they did and while his friend went in, Nathaniel decided to run around the track that was right there to wait for him and he happened to run into another buddy from BOLC 2 running on the track as well, so they started up a conversation and out of nowhere his friend, David, asked if he could go to church with Nathaniel on sunday to check out the "mormons". Un-known to us at the time, that little conversation would start a good friendship and tuesday night meetings with the missionaries with David at our house and eventually David's decision to be baptized.
David was baptized yesterday (Jan. 23rd) and asked Nathaniel to baptize him. It has been such a neat experience these past couple of months to see the change in David as he learned more about the Gospel and how happy he has become. He is a very spiritual person and I have learned so much from him, Nathaniel and my relationship has defininetly been strengthed by David's testimony and having the missionaries in our house each week.

Nathaniel and David at David's baptism.
P.S. they were both looking at the other people taking pictures.