Motherly Instinct

It's amazing to me how God creates this in little girls at such a young age. Camille LOVES her babies! When I pick her up from her from the sitters, she is caring for her babies and loving every minute. She has just recently discovered how much fun it is to use a blanket to cover her babies up and how to put them in her bumbo. She entertains herself for so long by playing with her babies. It makes me excited to think about her being a big sister (but not anytime soon!). The last picture is her next favorite...talking on the phone. Notice my phone isn't a cute pink razor anymore. I put my phone in the washing machine last week and that was the end of that phone. I found my old Nokia phone in Camille's toy box. Now that it's my phone again, it's fun to play with again. She doesn't care for them if they don't light up! I miss my razor!

Naptime Breakthrough!

Camille's usual naptime routine is for me to put her in her crib with her snuggly and she would scream for atleast 10 minutes (sometime 30-45) at the top of her lungs while standing up before falling asleep. I couldn't figure out why this was such a battle and at bed time, she VERY willingly would lie down quietly and fall asleep. We have a great routine at bed time so I thought maybe we needed more of a routine for naptime. All I have begun doing is sitting down and reading this same Good Morning, Good Night book before putting her in her bed. We've had a HUGE breakthrough and is it was SO simple! Why didn't someone tell me this simple trick earlier? She now lies down so calmly and allows me to cover her up and she stays quiet as I walk out the door. All because we just go in and sit down to read a book before going to bed. I hope this lasts!

Camille is learning new things everyday and is SO fun right now! She LOVES rocking, patting, kissing, feeding and even talking to her babies. I caught her the other day with one of her babies up on her hip and she was looking her in the eyes just talking away to her in her own language. It was adorable! She also loves books, balls, her slide, dancing to music, outside, doing front rolls (with help) and playing hide-and-go-seek. She is signing more, drink, please and thank-you. Her vocabulary consists of Daddy (her favorite), Mama (my favorite), ball, bye-bye, baby, doggie, hi, car, and her newest - Nana! She loves watching people pray and making sure their eyes are closed. It's so interesting how still she will sit in my lap at night when we are saying our bedtime prayers. She is NOT a still child right now and somehow she knows that is a still moment. I love her so much and love each day with her! She makes me smile!

Great day back!

Today was my first day back to school. It was so good to see my sweet kids again! They were all so excited to tell me ALL about their break and presents. After doing a journal entry about their favorite gift, they each had a turn with my microphone to stand up and tell ONE of their favorite things about their break. I said they could share their favorite present, favorite person they saw, or favorite place they went. Most of them shared their favorite present, some mentioned seeing their grandparents out of town and one was my favorite! The second to last girl, stood up and said, "Celebrating Jesus' birthday!". HOW AMAZING IS THAT! A five year old saw that as something more important than her new Jeep she journaled about. This is something that Clayton and I have talked a lot about this holiday season. How would we do our best to help Camille see the true meaning of Christmas? Does this mean not buying gifts for each other to take away that emphasis? I have really struggled with this idea and we still aren't sure what we will do next year. I would love to hear your ideas of how you emphasize Jesus' birthday at Christmas time. This little girl has definitely seen it and it just made my day!

I also came home to a clean home and clean laundry today! Clayton doesn't go back to school until Monday so he was at home cleaning away today! I love this man!

Happy New Year!

We were very happy to ring in the new year for a few reasons, but the most important to me was that we got to see our little girl again! Camille had been with my family since Saturday and I missed her ALOT! We had planned on her staying with them for New Years Eve so that Clayton and I could enjoy a night alone, but they talked us into her staying a couple of extra nights as well. We really enjoyed some time alone and were able to do some things that you just can't do with kids (go to Cheesecake Factory at midnight for some yummy cheesecake!). I cried a few times though because I just missed her so much! When we got to my parents she was so excited to see us and gave us lots of big hugs. It will be a while before we send her off like that again.

Clayton and I enjoyed New Years Eve by going to Billy Bob's with some friends and their family. It was a great time of country music, dancing and people watching! They have free dance lessons on Thursday nights that Clayton and I need to sign up for. We had lots of fun attempting to dance, but could use some help. I do know the date on these pictures says 2004 and I am aware it is now 2008. We put in new batteries that night and I forgot to reset the date.

Here are a few highlights for our family in 2007:

January - Enjoyed a snow day together at home all bundled up.

February - Enjoyed a trip to Abilene for Camille's first ACU Sing Song.

March - Clayton got a job with FWISD for the following school year. Camille began rolling over and eating solids.

April - Camille began sitting up. We spent Camille's first Easter in Austin.

May - We went to Abilene for Clayton's graduation from Grad school and Brooke's graduation from undergrad. We bought our first house.

June - Enjoyed our summer together in our new home.

July - Celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at Rainforest Cafe. Enjoyed VBS at church.

August - I began teaching part-time Kindergarten.

September - Camille began walking.

October - Camille turned 1 years old! Enjoyed the Fort Worth Zoo and train with Bubbie and Papa. Went to Abilene for ACU Homecoming.

November - Celebrated Thanksgiving with my family in Kemp.

December - Went to Austin for Christmas with Clayton's family.