Celebrating Christmas

WOW...I just can't believe another year has almost gone by. So much has happened in 2009...of course the most significant being the birth of Savannah. It's so strange to celebrate Sydney's first Christmas in 2008 and then Savannah's first Christmas the very next year! So let's talk about our holiday starting with Christmas Eve. Thursday morning we decided to head up to the mall to get Sydney's picture taken with Santa. I knew there would be a possibility of Sydney being scared of Santa, but I never imagined how TERRIFIED she could be. We stood in line for 40 minutes during which we kept talking to Sydney about Santa and that she could sit on his lap and get her picture taken. She seemed all into the experience. However, when the time came to actually sit on his lap, she absolutely freaked out. Screaming, arm flailing, tears rolling...it was way worse than I ever envisioned. So Santa suggested that Jason and I sit down with him and we get a family picture done. Twenty five dollars later, I have a picture of me holding Savannah, Sydney sitting on Jason's lap with tears rolling down her face and her finger in her mouth, and a very jolly Santa in the middle.

Onto the next Christmas Eve experience....Church. Mass started at 7:00PM. Since neither girl took a nap, I knew we were in for quite a night, especially since Syd's bedtime is typically around 6:30. The service was beautiful with lots of wonderful music. It all started to fall apart during the reading of the gospel. For the second week in a row, Sydney says, "Mom, I poo." I know that she really didn't, but if I don't change her immediately when she tells us this, she just continues to repeat it getting louder and louder each time. So after changing Syd, Savannah decides she's no longer happy. At this point, I'm really hoping to just make it through to the end...and we did. So we get home, put the girls in their new PJ's. Sydney had cute flannel PJ's with little dogs on them. She was thrilled to wear them.

Jason and I spent the next three hours putting together a wagon from Grandma and Grandpa and a play kitchen from Grammy and Great Gram. I'm not even going to get into the fun we had doing that. So onto Christmas morning...I think I was more excited than Sydney. At 7:00 I heard Sydney groan, so I immediately said, Sydney's up...let's go downstairs! So we got the girls up and went downstairs. Sydney was a little overwhelmed to say the least. She opened a couple of presents and then had enough. Sydney got a Mrs. Potato Head from Santa and Savannah got a personalized blanket with hat folded to look like a penguin. Sydney immediately claimed it as her baby.

Both girls were exhausted by noon. Jason and I had our traditional Chinese food for lunch while the girls napped. We then spent the rest of the afternoon pulling Sydney around in her wagon. We must have walked 3 miles of circles through the house pulling her around. At one point she insisted that Savannah join her in the wagon. We laid Savannah in there and did one lap. Sydney is the best big sister. She never leaves Savannah out of any fun she's having. So when we thought we had enough of the wagon, Sydney jumped on the tricycle from Aunt Case and Uncle D. She's too short to reach the peddles, so scooted along. However, she realized it was much more fun to have dad push her in laps around the house. Jason got tired of that real quick (or I should say, his back got tired of it). Pulling the wagon didn't seem so bad anymore.

Christmas was a wonderful family day. We hung out in our PJs all day, just enjoying each other and spending quality time together. Who can ask for more?

Baby Savannah Arrives.....And Life Since

OK...Again, it has been so long since I've updated this. But I have a good excuse. Life has been crazy since Savannah arrived. It was a little crazy before she arrived too. So October 28th was the day we were blessed with another healthy and perfect little girl. Savannah Madison was 8 pounds 4.6 ounces and 20 inches long. She was born at 2:03 PM. Sydney has been the best big sister ever. When she came to the hospital she immediately hugged and kissed her little sis...and she hasn't stopped since.

So let's review the holidays....Halloween was pretty nice. Sydney dressed up as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader and Savannah wore a super cute Halloween outfit. We bought a huge bag of candy and ran out in an hour. That's ok....the little kids come around early. My mom and gram came to visit and stayed for almost 2 weeks...that was a great visit and we were all sad to see them go. Jason's parents came for Vetern's Day weekend. Sydney enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Grandpa and reading Clifford over and over and over again. My dad came to visit for Thanksgiving. I cooked a turkey, but cheated on the rest of the dinner and ordered it from a local restaurant. It was OK. Next year we'll try for a fully homemade dinner. With two little ones running around and us not getting full nights of sleep, I just decided it would be OK to cheat. At least we didn't order Chinese!

Overall we're adjusting to life with two little ones. Sydney shares all of her toys and she hasn't broken Savannah yet, so I think I can consider that a success. Time is flying by...I'll be back to work in 7 weeks...ugh! I don't even want to think about it. Although, there are some days that I wish I was at work...but we haven't had too many of those days yet.

Monday was Sydney's 1 Year Baptism Anniversary so her Godmother joined us for a yummy dinner. For the first time I took both girls to the grocery store to pick up a few items. Good thing I only needed a few things because Savannah sat in her car seat in the cart, Sydney sat in the seat, and I didn't have any room for groceries. The funniest part of the trip was when we got home. Sydney got out of the car with her baby doll. She was playing in the garage with her doll and stroller while I carried Savannah and the groceries in the house. I accidentally his the horn button on my key chain...So my car starts beeping and flashing and scaring the heck out of Sydney. I turned and looked at the door and Sydney came flying through the door screaming "BABY, BABY, BABY" with the most concerned look on her face. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn't help it. She was hysterical. We went out to the garage and saved her baby. Everyone was safe and there were no major injuries.

Sydney is a little mommy to all of her baby dolls. She is doing a great job for real on her little sis too. The other day we were preparing dinner. I was cleaning grapes, Sydney was putting the grapes in the bowl, and Savannah was sleeping in her carseat on the counter. Savannah started to fuss, so Syd immediately stopped picking up grapes, grabbed Van's carseat, rocked it a bit, and then went back to putting grapes in the bowl. It was so cute! She can multitask just like me! I swear all WOMEN were born with that ability.

So just a couple more notes about Savannah. She's doing great. And she's a great sleeper, only getting up one time per night and then going back to sleep. She is just over 5 weeks now, she's getting used to life outside of the tummy. She went to the doctor on Wednesday for a 5 week check up (actually her one month check up a week late)....and she weighed 9 pounds 9 ounces! What a WHOPPER! When Syd was 4 weeks old she weighed 8 pounds 8 ounces. At this rate Savannah may outgrow Syd in a few months!

Time for me to get dinner ready and then watch Monk tonight. It's the series finale of MONK. I'm so sad to see that show go off the air. I love Monk! Friday nights just won't ever be the same.

Summer Time

So it is now August, and as promised, I am updating my blog. It's been a pretty busy summer for us. At the beginning of July, we went to North Carolina to visit Dennis and Cayce. Here are some pics of our visit to the aquarium.

One of Sydney's favorite things to do is play with water...Yes, I know...What child doesn't like water???
Sydney enjoys splashing in her pool on the weekends.


So Sydney is very fun and quite interactive these days. She enjoys helping me around the house. She puts her clothes in the hamper, throws trash in the garbage can, moves laundry from the washer to the dryer, and even helps me prepare dinner. This has go to be the best age ever....she loves to do chores and she can't really talk back. Speaking of talking, Sydney learned a few more words. She says "Yes" and "Juice"...I don't think she understands what juice is because no matter what is in her cup...milk, water, or juice...it's all juice to her.

Sydney and I took our first road trip together. Last weekend we traveled to Forest City to visit my mom and grandmother. Sydney was awesome for the drive there and back....the 6-hour drive each way! Last weekend was also Old Home Week in FC. So we took Sydney to parade...her very first parade! Well, maybe not the first parade...I think we went to one last year. But it's the first one since she's been able to walk. So I taught her how to pick up candy. It's pretty nice because she doesn't know what candy is, so she thought it was fun just picking it up and handing out to the adults sitting by us.

I'm now 27 weeks along. Savannah is doing very well. She is kicking a lot. Unfortunatley, she's wearing me out! I am still sick a few days a week and am feeling very run down and tired. Hopefully, the third trimester will be better than the first and second :)
I have another sonogram scheduled for the 15th of August to see if they can see her feet to determine if she has club foot. Let's hope she'll cooperate that day!

So we have some events planned...The Baltimore Aquarium on the 14th, Labor Day weekend in PA, Kings Dominion the 13th of September, and a weekend in Gettysburg. No wonder why I'm exhausted! Hopefully, I'll post pictures, but I can't promise anything. I'm using that "I'm pregnant" excuse if I don't get around to it :)

Yes....It has been a LONG time

Yes, I know it has been a long time since my last post. I'm going to take the easy way out and just use the typical excuse...I've been busy! Yes, it is my excuse, but it's kinda true. So I'll try to keep this a little better updated...my goal is at least one time per month. So this post will cover stuff that happened since Sydney's first birthday. Unfortunately, there will be no pictures. I'm at work and don't have access to any. I will however, try to add them in my next post.

So Sydney's first birthday went very well. We had a great time with friends and family. We made a major announcement the morning of her birthday party. Actually Sydney made the announcement...She wore a very cute onesie that said "Shh...I have a secret. I'm going to be a big SISTER." Yes, we are expecting baby number two. In Februray, either the 19th or 20th (whichever day was a Friday), I went to a routine checkup at my family doctor and found out that I was pregnant. It was a surprise to say the least. Not a surprise that I was pregnant, but a surprise it happened so quickly. So I'm using this as my excuse as to why I haven't been keeping up with my blog :)

So after Sydney's birthday, I don't remember too much going on. April was a pretty quiet month. We did travel into PA to visit with Grammy and Great Gram and Grandma and Grandpa. In May we went on vacation to Jamaica. Sydney rode on an airplane for the first time. She did super. It was a bit of a challenge, but for the most part, Sydney was a great girl. She did come down with an ear infection while we were in Jamaica. That was not fun. But luckily she was feeling good enough to enjoy the pool, the beach, and the seasame street characters.

June was a pretty quiet month as well. I celebrated my 31st birthday on the 9th, Jason celebrated his second Father's Day, and we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary on the 23rd. On the 24th, I went for my second sonogram which determined we are having another girl. So Sydney is going to have a little sister. We are very excited about that. As most of you know, we kept Sydney's name a secret until she was born...or at least we tried to keep it a secret. I don't think we were all that successful. But this time, we're not even going to try...it's just too much work. So baby number two will be named Savannah Madison Van Camp. Again, Jason and I couldn't agree on a boy name, so it's good thing it's a girl on the way. Oh...and I forgot to mention that she'll be arriving late October or early November. I believe my due date is November 1, but hopefully we'll plan on a c-section a week or so before then.

That brings us to July. Jason, Sydney, and I traveled to Newport, NC to visit Dennis and Cayce. We stayed there for a long weekend. We took Sydney to the aquarium. She enjoyed the sharks and the snakes. We also visited Fort Macan State Park. They had a cannon demonstration going on. By the time it started, Sydney was pretty unhappy, so I don't think she even noticed the loud bangs. Jason and I got to play on their big kid toys. Of course, Dennis wouldn't let us take the Harley out for a drive, but he did let us drive the dune buggy around. That was fun. Cayce tried to teach me how to drive a stick and of course, I was no good at it. Some day I'll figure it out!

So I'll summarize what's new with Sydney. She is running everywhere. She don't think she knows how to walk anymore. She is in a full speed run all the time. It's very cute! She knows 3 signs very well...milk, all done, and more. Her vocabulary hasn't changed too much. It's still mama, dada and the occassional word here and there like "duck" or "OK". She has a favorite blanket. It is a white, green, and yellow afgan that someone made for Jason when he was a baby. She doesn't go anywhere without it. Well, she does go without it because I won't let her take it everywhere, but if I let her, she would have it 24/7. She watches Blues Clues every morning. And cheerios are her favorite food. She has been getting very frustrated lately because she can't quite figure out the spoon. She really wants to eat with utensils, but has grasped the concept quite yet. Occassionally she gets food with the fork, but the spoon is a challenge for her yet. At Sydney's 15 month check up she weighed 20 pounds (with diaper and clothes). Our scale is still showing just over 19 without clothes. Someday she'll break 20!

That's about it. I'll put pictures up soon, but just in case I don't there are some recent ones on our family shutterfly page and some on my facebook page.

Happy Birthday Sydney

So I have officially been a mom for 1 year to the day. I survived my first year with no major damage to me or Sydney. I still can not believe a whole year has gone by. It was kinda funny because all day yesterday and today I was remembering what I doing one year ago at that time. Like yesterday at 10:40 a.m. I was thinking that one year ago my water broke, at 4 p.m. I was thinking that I was walking around the hospital trying to feel some contractions, at 8 p.m. I was thinking that I got my first dose of petocin and the contractions were going to come soon. I woke up this morning at 4 a.m. and remember that at that time, I was begging for an epidural! And then the alarm went off at 5:30 and I was thinking that I was sleeping because the epidural was so wonderful. Then at 9:59 this morning I was at work thinking that one year ago I heard Sydney's first cry and said "is that the baby?"

So today was a pretty great day. My mom and grandmother drove down from PA. Sydney decided to act all shy. We enjoyed a great dinner (spagetti and meatballs). Sydney ate all by herself. The pics below speak for themselves. Then she had a little piece of strawberry shortcake. I have never seen a piece of cake disappear so fast. She ate the whole thing. Yes, it was the first time she had that much sugar, but there was strawberries too...so that makes it OK.

The rest of the week I will be spending getting ready for Sydney's big party on Saturday. I'm so excited about it!

First Real Snowfall

OK...so I keep getting asked why my blog hasn't been updated. Well there are two reasons. First, I can't really think of anything to write about. Life is extremely normal, we're in a good routine, so there hasn't been too much exciting stuff going on lately. Second, I must admit I have been spending hours on the wii and wii fit each night. Now I'm only doing it after Sydney goes to bed, so she isn't being neglected or anything :). I'm in a competition with some co-workers to break records. So I'm just a little addicted to soccer, ski jump, ski slalom, hula hoop, and step aerobics. As of today I think I hold the high score for ski jump, penguin balance, and soccer....woohoo! And I missed the step aerobic record by 4 points!

So what's new with Sydney. She had a cold for over 10 days, so I had taken her to the doctor last Tuesday. Turned out she had a double ear infection. I couldn't believe she had an infection in both ears, yet acted completely normal and totally happy all the time! Fully dressed she weighed in at 18 pounds 11 ounces. So I'm guessing she is just around 18 pounds now. I'll know for sure on March 20th when she goes for her 12 month check up. She's wearing 9 month clothes, but lately I've been putting some 12 month clothes on her because the outfits are so cute...they are a little big, but still cute.

Sydney still only has 2 teeth on the bottom. I thought for sure the top teeth were going to break through, but again, I was wrong. At this rate she may be 16 before she has all of her baby teeth! We have started brushing her teeth before bed each night. It's really cute...Sydney opens her mouth and says "AAAAHHHHH" while I'm brushing. Then she brushes for a bit. She is absolutely amazing!

As for walking...this pic explains it all. She is walking all over the place. She has actually stopped crawling! She walks everywhere. She falls a lot but is becoming quite a little expert at walking. In fact yesterday at church, Sydney walked all the way up to the front of the church to receive communion all by herself!



Do your knees bend this direction?
Sydney is wearing a sweater that a family member handmade for her (Thanks Olga). It is an absolutely beautiful sweater (and so warm)!


Sydney's first time playing in the snow. Yes! We actually got snow...And not just a little. We got 11 inches!!! Well I'm not sure if it was really 11, but that's what the news reported. It was so cold, so Sydney only stayed outside for about 4 minutes, but she really liked the snow.

Up, Up, and Away

So it's been a little while since my last post...sorry about that. I'll catch you up on everything that's been happening.

Teeth - Sydney officially has two teeth broken through. The second bottom one came through a few days ago. They are not nearly all the way in, but getting there.

Food - Sydney is enjoying all foods with the exception of green beans. Not sure what the hatred for green beans is, but I've tried them several times and she just doesn't like them at all. The face she makes after I put one in her mouth is priceless though. Some new favorite foods from this week have been salmon, asparagus, pasta with meat sauce, and brussel sprouts.

Communication - Sydney improves her communication each day. This morning, I asked her if she wanted to go play with Samantha (her day care provider's daughter) and she said "tha, tha". Then the whole drive to Edna's house, she kept saying "tha" over and over again. It was so cute.

Walking - Sydney walks more and more each day. She is up to about 15 steps. She can walk all the way across the room when she's focusing.

And are you ready for this...she has mastered the stairs. Yes, she can make it all the way up to the second floor all by herself. Do you not believe me...I have proof...check out the video below. This was about her 5th trip up the stairs in 2 days. She's reay to learn to come back down! And listen carefully, she said "mama" a couple of times too :)

First Steps

So, Sydney has almost got the hang of walking. She took about FIVE steps yesterday. And she repeated it a few times. Crawling, of course, is still her preferred method of transportation though. Unfortunately, I couldn't click the camera fast enough to capture her stepping while trying to coax her toward me. So I appologize for not having any pictures this time...you'll just have to take my word for it. In addition, to taking her first steps, Sydney also added a word to her vocabulary...ABE. Yes, we yell at poor Abe so much that Sydney can now say his name. Well, it sounds more like AAAAHHHHH, but she points too. That's how we know she's saying Abe. So Sydney's vocabulary is now up to "mama", "dada", "ba" (I think is bottle), and "Abe" (or her version of it).

Big News!!! Teeth on the Way!!!

OK...So I have some amazing news to report today. The Booz Allen Holiday Gala (aka Booz Allen Prom) was Saturday night. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a huge PARTY hosted by my company!!! Last year I missed it because I was living in NY and was not about to drive 6 and half hours while 8 months pregnant. And what fun is an open bar when you're pregnant :)

I was totally bummed that I didn't attend. So this year, I was soooo excited about it! Well really excited, but very nervous at the same time. What was I going to do with Sydney while I attended this awesome party?!?!?! Jason talked me into letting Sydney stay at our very good friend's house (Tim & Nan). But not for just one night...TWO nights! We put Sydney to sleep on Friday night and she spent all day Saturday with Tim and Nan. She had a blast!

And we had an awesome time at the party! Below is a picture of us right before we left. I have to say we look pretty damn good! We had such a great time!


So we met up with Sydney at church on Sunday morning. So how much could Sydney change in 2 days...Well you wouldn't believe it, but during her visit to Tim & Nan's she got her first tooth. I have to tell you the story about how I discovered it. It's quite funny. For those of you that don't know, I have been checking Sydney's mouth every day since she was 4 months old looking for teeth. I, of couse, have been unsuccessful....until Sunday morning. About 40 minutes into the service, I realized I hadn't checked since Friday. So I stuck my finger in and felt a TOOTH!!!!

I was exstatic! I started telling everyone who was sitting around us. Then it came to announcement time....It took everything I had not to stand up in church and announce to the congregation that Sydney got her first tooth! But I held my composure and didn't act like a total fool. Of course when the service was over, I ran up to Nancy and let her know that Sydney got her first tooth while at her house. Then we all embraced, jumped up and down, and screamed "Sydney has her first tooth"....So maybe that was a little over the top, but you have no idea what it is like waiting TEN months for her first tooth!

Happy Belated New Year

Yes, I know I'm a little with this post. I had all the intentions in the world to update this site while I was on vacation ALL of last week, but things just didn't quite work out. In fact my week and a half off of work wasn't all too relaxing. I guess that's just how it is when you live 300 miles from family and you have to visit everyone in a week.

So our trip started out pretty well. We got up at 3:30 A.M. (NO, I am not lying!) We were on the road at 4:07. It was a long trip, especially being half asleep. We made it to Pat's house by 10:30. Sydney is such a great traveler. No problems during the trip at all.

Our visit at Pat's was awesome! Unfortunately it was cut a little short when I had to leave early to meet my Gram at the hospital. She spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights in the hospital. Definitely not fun. But she's OK now. Luckily it was nothing serious. On New Year's Eve we headed to Jason's parent's house. Sydney had a great time hanging out with her cousins....all 5 of them! Yes, she was a little overwhelmed, but had a blast!

So overall, our New Year's was pretty quiet. Just hung out at the in-law's house and went to bed shortly after midnight. Sydney was asleep by 7:00 (what a party animal).

The trip back to MD was great. There was hardly an traffic and as always, Sydney was so good. In fact on the way back, she was belting out some tunes with Dad. My intentions were to rest up on Sunday before going back to work, but it didn't work out exactly how I planned. Turned out I got terribly sick. I spent the entire day in bed. So I did rest up, but not quite what I intended.

So let's do a quick recap of 2008...

In January we moved back to NY (from MD)
In February we remodeled our kitchen
In March Sydney was born (and our world as we knew it was over)
April and May were a blur
In June I celebrated my 30th birthday
In July we sold our house in NY (along with my beautiful kitchen)
In August Jason moved back to MD
In September we bought a house in MD
We spent most of October unpacking
Sydney got baptized in November
And December was all about Sydney's first Christmas

So here's to an action packed year full of many awesome memories. Let's see what 2009 has in store for us....maybe baby #2 :)