Happy Birthday Jace!!

We are so excited that today is Jace's 3rd birthday! We couldn't ask for a better cousin to Cameron and Cade or a better nephew!!

Jace is one of the most out going three year olds we know! He has such an adventurous spirit and outgoing personality! Cameron and Jace love to play with each other and I am so glad that Cameron has him as a friend to grow up with.

So in honor of your third birthday Jace, here are three things we love about you:

#1: The way you tackle Cameron (thank you for helping him become a little more manly)
#2: You are such an athlete. And we especially love that you always wear those black patches under your eyes (what are they called again?)
#3: Your willingness to try anything new. You are truly a daredevil (climbing out of cribs, throwing baby powder around your room...)

There is so much more we could list...like your scooby-do crocs, your Mohawk as a baby, your keen fashion sense, your blanket and paci, the way you wrap your whole body around someone when they hold you, those arms and legs that went on forever when you were a newborn... the list goes on.

Thank you Jace for bringing such happiness to our family! We hope your third birthday is everything you wished for and more (and I promise we didn't get you a big pink bow!)

Look at Jace's face!! He is so proud of himself!

The boys playing a Chucky Cheese. There is no way both of them could fit now!

Cade is 4 months!

On July 21st, Cade celebrated his four month birthday!! I honestly cannot believe that it has already been four months. Oh how fast time goes...

I finally am starting to feel that I don't have a 'newborn' anymore. Cade has really started laughing and talking this month. Every morning after eating, he plays with his friends. His friends are the animals that hang from his play mat, which include a giraffe, a red bird, an elephant, and a set of play keys (I couldn't find the other the animal that goes on there...). He talks to them and grabs at them, and most importantly, tries to eat them. The kid puts anything that touches his hands into his mouth!!

Cameron still continues to be his favorite toy. He laughs at him when he plays and will find him wherever he is in the room. I love that each one of them love each other so much right now. I will try so hard to remember these times when they are teenagers and probably spend the day fighting like my brother and I did. Lucky for us, we became pretty good friends! There is nothing better than being so close to your sibling!

So here is a list of things that Cade is doing right now (both good and bad...):
**He is on a great schedule...up each day by about 8:15, takes two good naps (about two hours in the morning and three in the afternoon) and two good cat naps during the day.
**We have finally mastered nursing. It took some time, and I am so glad that I stuck with it, but he is a great eater!!
**He randomly will eat in the middle of the night. I would say about three times a week, he will eat and then go back to sleep. Other nights we get up 3-4 times to put the pacifier back in. I can't wait to sleep an entire night!!
**I know he is capable of sleeping through the night. We have talked about letting him cry it out, I'm just not ready yet. I hate a crying baby...especially mine!
**The only way he will sleep is if he is swaddled. I have tried unswaddled (or one arm out) but he wakes himself up after about 6 hours and then we are up for the rest of the night! NO fun at all...
**He is now on prevacid twice a day. Dr. Ransom said we could see a spike in his reflux around 4 months, and sure enough, we have! I just hope the spitting up goes away soon!
**He poops about once every three days...and then he REALLY lets it all out! I never thought I would think so much about poop! This is complete normal for breastfed babies, so I'm not that worried.
**He has finally become a better car rider. He doesn't scream his head off every time he is in the car! (I was originally driving Josh's truck for the space, but now I moved back to my RAV so Cade can watch Cameron in the car. Thank you Cameron for entertaining him for me!!)
**Almost rolling from stomach to back...he is oh so close!
**Loves his changing table and smiles the whole time he is on it!
**He is losing his hair on the sides and on the back. He still has REALLY long hair on the top. I could put it in a ponytail if he was a girl. It makes for a nice comb-over.
**Loves to hold toys and rattles and put them straight to his mouth.
**Mamma gave him the sweetest little lamb blanket that he sleeps with every night. When he gets out of his swaddle, he holds on to it really tight.
**He loves to go from a sitting position to a standing position (with your help of course) and is so proud of himself when he stands up.
**He loves his Bumbo seat and enjoys eating at the table with us each night!
**He laughs so much!! I love his little laugh. And seriously, that smile makes the reflux, sleeping, and crying issues all go away and totally worth it!

Current measurements (exactly the same as his brother at 4 months):
Weight: 15lbs 8 oz (75th percentile)
Height: 25 inches (50th percentile)

Now for a funny. One day, Cameron burped really loud while Cade was in his swing. Cade started laughing. It was so funny and Cameron was so proud of himself for making Cade laugh. We have since learned that Cade loves the sound of someone burping, so you can hear this sound often in our household. Pretty disgusting, but seriously, we love to hear him laugh.

For your enjoyment, I have posted a video of him laughing. I must say that I truly apologize for the annoying sounds that I am making. But, I will do anything I have to to hear my sweet boy laugh!

We love Cade and are so happy you have joined our family!!

Cameronisms Part 2

For Cameronisms Part 1 click here.

Cameron keeps us laughing on a daily basis! I thought I would share a few of the latest:

One morning I was still in my pajamas, which happen to be capris and hit me about mid calf.
Cameron: (in a very concerned voice) Oh Mommy, why your pants break?

Anytime Cameron has to go poop, this is our conversation:
Mommy: Do you want me to leave?
Cameron: Yes, I need some privazzzee. (privacy)
Mommy: O.k., I will shut the door, so tell me when to stop.
I slowly start closing the door, waiting for him to yell stop. Eventually, the door shuts completely and I hear...
Cameron: STOP!

Thank you Mamma for these next two.

Cameron was at Chick-fil-a with Mamma and Daddy Mike. He went up to the counter (with Mamma looking on) to get his ice cream. The man sort of ignored him, but finally acknowledged that he was there and gave him his ice cream.
Mamma: What do you tell him?
Cameron: (in the sweetest voice) I love you.

And, yes, I save the best for last.
Cameron is obsessed with a baby doll that Mamma has at her house. The name of the baby is Baby Josh (thanks Riley!). When Cameron woke up from his nap yesterday at Mamma's house, this is what happened.
Mamma: Do you want to go to the jungle?
Cameron: Yes, but I have to feed my baby first.
Mama: O.k., I think we left the bottle downstairs.
They go downstairs. Mama finds the bottle just in time to see Cameron sitting on the couch, lifting his shirt and nursing the baby.
Cameron: That my milk. (pointing to his nipple)

I guess I should start nursing in private. When Daddy Mike asked Mamma if she told him that boys can't do that, she said she was going to leave that up to the parents. Oh how I will love that conversation!

Tornado Drill

We had a little scare last night. Well, really just a lot of running to different windows in the house looking at this:

(this is not my picture, but definitely the cloud we saw!)

At 6:45 last night, it was a little overcast, so Cameron and I were going to walk to Uncle Dennis' house for a visit. Cameron was going to the restroom before we left and in about 10 minutes, the wind picked up a little and it started raining. By 7:05, all of the news stations were saying that Brazos county was under a tornado warning, and then the unbelievable happened...they cut in to my Bachelorrette: Men Tell All for a little weather coverage. What are they thinking? The weather man was having a hay day with all of these reports of funnel clouds touching down. It did get kinda scary when we saw that cloud forming out of our front window. We were very close to heading for the closet. Lucky for us, all we ended up getting was a bunch of rain.

We thank the weather for our entertainment last night!

And just to let you know...they did return to regular scheduled programming just in time for my satellite to go out! I missed about 30 minutes of the TWO HOUR show!!

A Year of Blogging

I am so happy to say that I have made it an entire year of blogging! I feel that this celebration deserves it's own post and a slew of thanks.

Thank You #1:
Thanks goes to Melissa and Sarah for sharing their blogs with me and giving me the courage to start me own.

Thank you #2:
This goes to my many friends and family who started their own blogs with my encouragement. (aka Lynnie, Katie, and Jayme). Thank you for keeping me entertained!!

Thank you #3:
Goes to the long lost buddies I have found through blogging. What a great way to keep up with so of my old pals. (This goes to you Jenn, Emily, Julie, and Sarah...)

Thank you #4:
Goes to all the people who read my blog. Some of you I know about (thanks for the comments and e-mails regarding my posts). And some of you I don't!! (I would love to know who you 'lurkers' are out there!!) I love when I go to the store or am out and about and someone I know says "I was reading your blog the other day..." Makes it all worth it!

And the most important thank you of all goes to these two boys:

Without you guys, I would have nothing to blog about.

Lets hope that when school starts in August I can continue this blog! I love going back and seeing what my family has been up to...

Our 4th of July celebration

I have been out of the loop lately as our internet has not been working at home. In Josh's words..."Dawn, we need to get that internet fixed for you, it is your only connection to the outside world!" I truly have a husband who understands!!

So, a long awaited post is finally here...and I answer the question for you...

What did the Newton's do for the fourth?

I can answer that question very easily...A WHOLE LOT!!! Let me explain the story to you in pictures...

Our day began bright and early. Sharon (aka Mama or MIL) had plans for the whole family to be at Veteran's Park in Bryan for their annual Fourth of July picnic. She also wanted us to decorate our wagon with red, white, and blue as the kids participate in a parade. I had grand thoughts in my head of a huge crowd, a big parade, patriotic music, and so much more...Now, don't get me wrong, we had a great time, but it wasn't EXACTLY what I had pictured.

The historic association of Bryan had a nice flag raising ceremony.

Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam were there to greet us. (at one point, Lady Liberty came up to me and said (and I quote) "Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam will soon be racing in the potato sack race. Please join us for the fun.")

We sat around and enjoyed the festivities (did I mention it was 150 degrees outside and no breeze?):

Time for the parade (just what I was waiting for...) Oh, the kids just paraded around on the sidewalk. It was pretty cute though...

Josh pulling Cameron in the parade. (His sign says "Let Freedom Ring")

Our niece Riley riding her bike in the parade:

Our nephew Jace brought along his motorcycle:

At around 11:00, we had had enough of the heat, as did Cade. He fell asleep in the heat. Amazing. Cameron even helped him cool off by fanning him with the American flag. So patriotic.

We headed over to Mama and Daddy Mike's for a SUPER lunch, complete with contests!! Sharon never hosts a party without games and prizes!! We had a super cupcake decorating contest...and (drum roll please) I WON!!! My super talented styles finally paid off (yeah right). My winning cupcake was a hand drawn (with icing) American flag and star sprinkles. I was so lucky and won a nice pink float for the pool!!

Thanks Katie for this pic. My cupcake is in the bottom right hand corner. There was much competition as you can tell!!

Luckily, Sharon's plans for the day did include naps for the kids. So after lunch, we headed home, the kids slept, I made my annual fruit pizza, and around 5:30, we headed over to Josh's Aunt Deb's house for swimming, hot dogs, hamburgers, and yes, our annual bike ride to George Bush library for fireworks.

As Katie says, this is NO NORMAL bike ride.
Picture it:
*About 15 adults, each on a bike
*One two seater bike complete with an adult and an 8 year old.
*Two bike trailors with a five year old, a four year old, and an almost three year old.
*One bike seat with a three year old.
*All riding through A&M's campus like we own the place.
*PTS (remember them Ags?!?) having to stop ALL traffic so we can cross the street.

It is truly a sight to see, but one of the things I look the most forward to each year. Infact, Josh and I bought me a bike specifically for this occasion! I wish so badly that I had a picture of the group. This is a must for next year! We parked ourselves in an open field across from Reed Arena and enjoyed the fireworks. Cameron really loved the green and red ones. He told everyone that over and over again, and still talks about them. Fireworks are so much better through a child's eyes!! Enjoy these pics of our evening celebration:

My yummy fruit pizza (my mouth is watering now):

Grandad and Cameron enjoying cheetos together:

Cade and Daddy Mike in the pool. (Cade looks a little scared but I promise he loves the pool!)

A horrible pic, but one of the only ones I have with me and Cade:

Look at this handsome little guy!!

We had a great, fun-filled day and can't wait until next year!