Bethany's 2!!!

Wow, unbelievable! Our Bethany Jean is 2 years old! Didn't she just turn 1 and wasn't she just born???

She is such a joy to have in our lives. She makes us laugh so much!! I have to say for the most part she is really easy going, well behaved and lady-like. She is a clean freak still and doesn't like to have messy hands, if she spills something it's a major tragedy and immediately needs to start cleaning.(Brady was very similar to this). Some of her favorite words to say and she uses quite often are "Mama", "Daisy", "Ummmmm", Ciffiow(Clifford), "pee" and "poop". There are others some I can't always identify but these are used very often!!! She seems to be about ready for potty training, being so clean so absolutely hates having a wet or dirty diaper and will bring you a diaper and her wipes to have you change her. Once we get a little more settled we will definately start in on it. She has used her potty chair a few times already so we will see how it goes.

Her hair is getting longer, and starting to curl a little in the back. She still has beautiful big brown eyes! She loves her baby doll, purse and jewelry. Her favorite show is Clifford the Big Red Dog, I think she would watch it non-stop if we let her. :)

We didn't have a big birthday party for her this year because we were in the moving process so we just had some family time at home. I made her a Clifford birthday cake, it looked pretty good, hey I'm not a professional but she knew it was him so that's all that matters. She blew out her candles all by herself. She opened all her gifts but I think she liked the Elmo balloon Daddy got her the best, we actually had to hide it awhile so she would focus on the rest haha.


I love my necklace


Blowing out my candles


Clifford Cake!


Mmmm Yummy!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!!!

Final Countdown

We are nearing moving day. Praise the Lord!! We are so ready to move. The house is looking wonderful! The carpet starts getting laid down tomorrow. The whole house won't be totally finished when we move, the kitchen still needs a lot of work and of course the odds and ends that aren't necessities. But we will be together as a family again and I will take that over a finished kitchen any day! :)

We are all getting by day by day. Brady's doing better and better in school. His writing is improving(pretty good for a leftie), he's learning his sight words and starting to read some. He is now crossing the street to get on the bus by himself. He would like me to stay in the driveway. I'm good though he still gives me a hug and says I love you before he goes. It feels good to watch him grow more confident.

Bethany is good, turning two in a couple of days!! She's chugging along. I'll write more about her on her birthday.

I'm fine, babysitting away! Packing, Packing, Packing, Oh and did I say Packing?

Our biggest news is about Kirk. He recently accepted a new position, actually a promotion. He is now Project Manager for the Literacy Grant he was working with. Basically, he oversees the whole Ohio grant and is now "boss" over the Literacy coaches at each institution(he used to be a literacy coach). So his office will move to downtown Columbus to the Dept of Youth Services Central Office and he will not have an office and work at the prison each day. He will travel a bit more(not spending nights out) to each institution(prison) to oversee there programs. The only major travelling will be 1-2 times a year he will have to go to Washington DC to give reports and all that jazz that goes along with the grant. He's excited about the transition and looking forward to the challenge. He'll start in October.

Ok, well a big storm has come in so I probably should get off this computer. If you would keep us in your prayer during the next month with the major changes coming about we would appreciate it!

Love to you all!

Update

The last two weeks have been super busy. Brady's first week of riding the bus was last week. He did great! It was really hard last Monday for me, I think it was harder seeing him leave on the bus then leaving him on the first day of school. The bus driver was very nice, I was able to talk to him for a couple minutes. His friend Christian that he also went to preschool with rides the same bus as Brady so that was very exciting for him. I couldn't believe how hard it was, I cried a lot that morning. Bethany was so concerned! :)
I have had a killer cold/allergies for over a week now. The cold his knocking me out!! We'll see how I am at the end of the week, I may take a trip to the Dr.?
I started babysitting Macie, my neice, last week too. Her mommy Amber, is going to LPN school so I will be watching her until the end of Spring. Macie has done so good! I know it's been an adjustment for Bethany, last week was pretty hard for her to share mommy but this week is better. The girls enjoy their time together, I know this is going to be a good year for them.
We are in full force in home remodeling on our new house. My parents came this past weekend and helped out a lot. There was a lot accomplished. Kirk's tackling the plumbing now so we can have some bathrooms. After he gets that done things will start to move pretty fast.
I have a lot of the house packed, the downstairs is pretty much done, just the kitchen and bathroom but that will be done closer to moving. I've started the upstairs, I'm hoping to finish that this weekend.
Ok, well better get back to work. Time for baths & bed!
Love you all!

Brady's 1st day!

Brady had his first day of kindergarten today! He was so excited! We have kept a calendar so he could count down the days. We had gone to a Kindergarten open house last week. We were able to get to know his teacher better, she went over the class rules, we brought all his supplies and she had a little scavenger hunt that we did so the kids could start to learn the room and the school. So we had already gotten a little taste of things before the first day.
Bethany & I took Brady to school this morning and were able to walk him to his classroom. I was able to get a hug from him before we went inside the door. ;) He went right to his seat and was ready to go! It was hard for me to leave, I just stood there for a few seconds. Then I knew I needed to go, so I said a quick "Bye" to Brady and he DID say "Bye" back, but it was obvious he was ready for me to go. At first it made me sad that he was so eager to leave me, but then I realized I should be happy that he was excited and wanting to go to school. I didn't cry until we got to the car, I put Bethany in her carseat and as I walked to get in myself hit me. Whew! The rest of the day I just kept myself busy, the day went fast. I picked him up and he ran and gave me a hug. It was so good to see him, he was happy so I knew everything went good. We chatted about his day on the way home. I'm so excited to see how much he grows throughout the year!!
Life changes, kids grow up, but the memories we have of each new adventure with them will always remain.

Brady's teacher, Mrs. Rengert gave all the parents this poem:

The First Day

I gave you a little wink and smile
As you entered my room today.
For I know how hard it is to leave
And know your child must stay.
You've been with him for five years now
And have been a loving guide,
But now, alas, the time has come
To leave him at my side.
Just know that as you drive away
And tears down your cheeks may flow
I'll love him as I would my own
And help him learn to grow.
For as a parent, I too know
How quickly the years do pass
And that one day soon it will be my turn
To take my child to class.
So please put your mind at ease
And cry those tears no more
For I will love him and take him in
When you leave him at my door.

(Can I get another "Whew!") :)

Our new home!

We officially closed on our NEW HOUSE tonight!
We have been waiting so long for this moment, we are so excited to start our new life in this house.

We have lots of interior work to do on it before we move in, it will be a totally new house when we are done with it. We hope to be able to move in around mid September.
We will be eager to have our family and friends over after we get all settled.

Keep us in your prayers as we embark on this new adventure!!

I'll try and keep you posted of the progress, but forgive me if it's not too frequent.

Here is a picture:

(4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths)
Heeheeheee! WE ARE SOOOO EXCITED!!!!! :)

A home for Simon

Hello Friends!

We are looking for a special home for Simon. Simon was rescued last year and given to us to take care of, we have worked with him and now he is ready to go to a new home. He is very gentle and absolutely wonderful with kids. Simon is about a year old. He is neutered and up to date on all his vaccinations. He is also litter trained. Simon would make a great companion. I call him my little shadow. He follows me and comes when I call. I have attached some picture below.
He is ready to love and snuggle up with a new family!

Please let me know if you or if you know someone that would want to give Simon a home.

Thanks,
Amanda Cameron
Any question: 740-223-3032

A frog and a bunny

Brady caught a frog and was very proud of himself!



Bethany aka the Bunny!
(So cute I can hardly stand it!)

Belated Birthday

Kirk threw me a belated 30th birthday party with some of my friends yesterday. It was a lot of fun and I really appreciated everyone who showed up! :)





(check out Jen's face! haha)

Mmmmmm!

A Friday afternoon treat...



Milkshakes!!!!!

Mmmmmmm, Yummy!!

8 years!

It's our anniversary! :)

Columbus Zoo trip

This past Saturday, we were able to go to the zoo with our friends, the Myers(Nate, Jen, Sofie, & Jonah). We had such a wonderful time. The weather was great, sunny but cool. It was fantastic. It was super duper crowded but we wiggled our way through. The kids had fun climbing on the statues outside the different exhibits. A lot of the animals were out and up close so they could see them pretty well.

It was a really fun day! I attached some pictures below:


Mommy & her kiddos


Petting a Goat


Kirk thought we should visit his brother since we were so close. :)


Sofie & Brady wranglin' the Komodo Dragon


Our baby & the Polar Bear baby


Sofie giving Komodo a sweet kiss!


Brady riding the Carousel


Sofie riding the Carousel


Bethany riding it too, she had a ton of fun!


A big "howdy" to my peeps!


Jonah had the best seat in the house!


The 3 Amigos catching a ride on the manatee!