Camden's Friends

Scott and I absolutely love living in New Hampshire. We love that our house backs up to thousands of acres of woods, that we always see people we know around town or in the grocery store, that we usually don't have to worry about locking our car, that we can step out our front door and walk to beautiful lakes, mountains, meadows and the awesome rail trail...but at times it does feel a little lonely. I hear from other young Gordon-alum moms about how they bring their little children to baby story hours, children's museums, MOPS, free swim lessons at the YMCA and tons of other activities that keep their children active and happy and provide a great way for young moms to meet other women. I often talk to these friends (or read their blogs!) and get a slight sense of jealousy - would I be happier living on the North Shore still where there are more opportunities like this? Sometimes I'm tempted, but then I remember all the traffic and busyness and am glad that we live where we are.

Although I don't have quite as many formal opportunities to meet other moms, I do feel extremely blessed to be living in a community full of new moms and babies! Six babies have been born on campus in the last seven months and another woman is due in April! I am (by far) the "baby" of the group as everyone else is in their mid-30's to early-40's, but despite the age difference between us, we are all going through the same things - sleepless nights, researching vaccinations and how and when to introduce solids, dealing with baby's first sickness, etc...

We have been getting together once a week for what we call "Mama's Tea" - it is so fun to see our babies roll around on the floor together and share ideas on different parenting techniques. There is a sense of relief that sweeps over me when I hear a friend say that her child is waking up to nurse every two hours as well, or her child hates tummy time too! It's nice to know that there are other women out there figuring out what's best for their family and their child as they go. Parenting truly is a continuous learning experience - and once you think you have something down, it changes!

Along with these women on campus, many of my very best friends from college are having their first babies as well! Sadly, we all live very far away from each other, but we have a great time sharing stories and ideas over the phone or via Skype on the computer! We were lucky enough to get together at Homecoming in the fall and introduce our babies to each other - it was pretty cute!

We feel so blessed to have so many baby friends for Camden, and as a result of these little friendships, my relationships with many of these women have grown much deeper. I'm so excited to see Camden grow up with these other little boys! It's going to be an adventure!

Caden, Camden and Preston...


Camden and his cousin, Clara...


Camden and his friend Jordan...(Jordan is two months younger).


Camden and his little buddy Linden (Linden is six weeks older than Camden).

Camden's First Christmas!

Wow! It's hard to believe that Camden's first Christmas has already come and gone! In fact, today is his 5 month birthday! Time really is flying by! We had a wonderful Christmas season celebrating with friends and family. We feel truly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love us and support us and are so thankful for all the love that is constantly showered down on our little one.

We celebrated with my side of the family for a few days before flying out to see the Allenby clan in Ohio on Christmas Eve day. Here are some pictures from our time with our families...

My parents enjoying the little peanut...


Camden with his Great-Grandpa Gordon...


Camden and his Great-Grandma Sylvia...


We had a wonderful time at our annual gathering with the McAllister's...

This is me and and my best friend from growing up, Lindsay M., with my new little bundle...


...and just chillin' with Bepa...


We got tons of snow over our vacation...here's a picture of our house during one of the storms!


And then we were off to Ohio! I was sooooo nervous for the flights (hoping that we weren't going to be THAT couple with the screaming baby...), but Camden (as usual) was amazing! He slept the whole way there and back!

Here he is with his Great Grandma and Grandpa Erickson...


and playing with his Great Grandma and Grandpa Allenby...


The whole family...


Hanging with Mama on Christmas Morning...


Family fun...


One Christmas tradition that we are starting with Camden (a continuation of Scott's childhood tradition) is that we are going to give him an ornament each Christmas that he will take with him when he is all grown up and out on his own. Here is this year's ornament...


We hope you all have a wonderful year in 2009! I know we will!

Winter Wonderland

We woke up this morning to a beautiful, snowy, winter wonderland and I LOVE IT!!!



I am sitting on our couch, listening to Christmas music, the tree lights are glowing, Camden is happily kicking in his little kicky chair and the snow continues to gently fall outside.



Scott is outside stoking the furnace. Even though we live in a dorm, we still get to enjoy the country lifestyle. Our whole building is heated with wood, cut from our own campus wood lot and split and stacked by students.
This is the view from our kitchen window...


This snow storm is coming on the heels of a terrible ice storm that wrecked the area just one week ago. Some neighbors and local friends are still without power!

Here is my parent's backyard the morning after the ice storm!

A tree in front of our house...


But despite the wintery weather, we have been keeping warm and cozy with family and friends. Scott's parents came over to Andover for a day and celebrated an early Christmas with my side of the family.

Here's Pop (Scott's dad) reading to Camden in front of my parents' tree...


My little niece, Clara, was having a blast...


Camden continues to bring us such joy. Here are a few recent pictures that always make us smile...



He now weighs 16 lbs 10 oz (65th percentile) and is 27 inches long (off the charts!!!).

He is healthy and such a happy little boy. We couldn't ask for anything more.


Blessings to you all this Christmas season...

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, I originally wrote this blog on Thanksgiving Day, but for some reason it didn't get posted until now. Oops! Oh well, it's always good to remember the things we are thankful for!


Some of the things I am thankful for today:

- My incredible, loving, husband and my beautiful, healthy baby boy


- Pumpkin Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream

- My Mom and Daddy


- Fires in the fireplace


- The opportunity for me to stay home with Camden

- Turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes

- Ellen and...
















Jon & Kate Plus Eight











- Our cute little apartment up on the hill

- Best friends

- My sister and her family


- The ability that I once had to play soccer and basketball (we'll see if I ever do that again!)

- Afternoon naps curled up with Camden


- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX_xi8Db--A

- Peter Christians Tavern


- The health of my friends and family

This is a very short, and very random, list but I really do have so much to be thankful for at this time in my life...I am very blessed.

Vaccinations

It is amazing how many major decisions need to be made regarding raising your child. It goes far beyond how you are going to decorate his nursery, what cute outfits you're going to dress him in, and whether you should buy the Baby Bjorn or the Ergo baby carrier. And these major decisions come long before you are worrying about curfews, driver's licenses and girlfriends. From the moment your child is born, you are faced with difficult decisions that impact the rest of their lives. One of the most difficult that Scott and I have been faced with since Camden's birth in August is the decision surrounding vaccinations.


There is a great amount of fear surrounding this topic and you can barely turn on the news or watch the Ellen show without seeing a breaking news story or a celebrity speaking on the controversial issue. There is fear if you DO vaccinate your child - some studies show a possible link between vaccines and autism, the danger of aluminum and mercury in vaccines, side effects after getting shots that range from discomfort, fussiness and fever to seizures and even death! There is also fear if you choose NOT to vaccinate your child - what if your child catches polio or another horrible disease? What about the public health standpoint?

I have done a good amount of reading on this topic and still do not feel settled about it. If you are interested in learning more about vaccines, I recommend reading The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert Sears. Unlike many books regarding this topic, this is not an "anti-vaccine" book, but rather seeks to educate the reader so that they can make the best choice for their family. The author breaks down each disease and corresponding vaccine into a chapter and covers how common/rare (and how serious) each disease is, how each vaccine is made and what ingredients in it might be controversial, what the side effects might be etc... I found the book to be extremely helpful in answering many of my questions, and although I don't feel completely settled, I do feel more educated.

After much discussion with friends and family and a lot of reading, we have found a schedule that we are relatively at peace with. Dr. Sears suggests a schedule that gets children fully vaccinated, but does so in a way that minimizes the theoretical risks of vaccines. We just went to the pediatrician today, and Camden got two shots. It is so hard for me as a mother to see my baby smiling up into my face one second and then crying in pain the next. I know this process will never feel completely right and will definitely never be easy, but hopefully we have made the best choice for our family.

This post may seem random to many of you, but as parents of a small child it has been weighing on our minds for months now and I often feel better after I write about something that is difficult for me. It is my prayer that we can look back on these decisions down the road and feel confident in the path we took.

On a happier note, our little guy is growing like a weed and is already 15 lbs, 7 oz!!! That's pretty big for a 14 week old!! :) He is smiling, grabbing things, starting to laugh and is just the joy of our lives.

Halloween

Camden has had a lot of firsts recently. He witnessed his first snowfall on Wednesday, has started reaching out and grabbing toys for the first time, and yesterday he experienced his first Halloween. I have to say, I wasn't really anticipating just how much fun it would be to have a baby on Halloween. I haven't really celebrated this "holiday" (if you can call it that) for many years now. As a child I would get dressed up and go trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. I remember dumping all the candy out on the living room floor when we got home and trading all my chocolate for candy I actually liked from my sister. Then I would stash away my candy in my room, only allowing myself to have a piece once in a while, but never sharing with anyone else. I would usually be forced to throw it all away around Easter time when I realized it was too hard to eat anymore. (I've always been really good at saving things and not sharing - but I'm working on being a better sharer now that I'm older!). Here's a picture of Scott and his brothers from their childhood...






Scott and I have talked about how we're going to celebrate holidays now that we have a child in our lives. Are we going to let him dress up and trick-or-treat for Halloween? (We are, but we're going to limit his candy intake and keep our fingers crossed that he'll always want to dress up in cute costumes, rather than scary costumes...we don't like all the scary/evil parts of Halloween). Are we going to encourage a belief in Santa Clause or just focus on the true meaning of Christmas? Are we going to dye Easter eggs and have a Easter egg hunt even though eggs have nothing to do with Jesus' resurrection? We both agree that we want Camden to enjoy his childhood and we want to pass along all of the fun traditions we had with our families, while making sure that he is taught the real meaning behind these holidays as well.

Needless to say, we had a great time celebrating Halloween with our little one yesterday. Even though he will have no recollection of the day, I will always have fun memories of getting him dressed up in his little pea pod costume and joining the school's child care/pre-school kids on a little costume parade around town! It was adorable to see the kids treated to candy at the public library, the town hall offices, the little store in town, the doctor's office, and many of the buildings on our own campus. It made me so glad to live in a small town and see what a strong community we are raising our family in.

We even went trick-or-treating to a few houses with Camden's little friend, Jordan. (Camden is 12 weeks old today and Jordan is 3 weeks old today!) They're going to be little buddies!


We truly had a great day and it just got me so excited for all the incredible traditions and memories we are going to create in the future. We are so blessed.