Cameron Michael

I've been wanting to do a Stewart family update for a long time, but have been putting it off because I have so stinkin' many kids these days.  It's going to take me hours to write about all of them so I've decided to split them up and hopefully finish a post before someone needs food, a drink, to go potty, or the ever-popular time out.  I'm going to start with the smallest of the family.  Some of the most fun/unique things about Cameron are:

My Little Inch Worm

Cameron is almost nine months old now and he still has not fully mastered crawling.  He appears to know how to crawl on his knees, but he just prefers to propel himself forward using only his arms and feet.  He's the first of my kids to do the army crawl and it's very cute until I see that the entire front of his outfit is black with dirt.  I guess I need to vacuum more! 

Late Night Laughter
He gets the bedtime giggles worse than anyone I've ever met.  (That includes all of my High School girlfriends!)  Even when I'm exhausted and trying SO hard to get him to sleep, I just can't help laughing along with him.  I don't even know what he thinks is so funny!  Do I look weird in the dark or something?

It's the Climb

Maybe I've been listening to that Miley Cyrus song too much lately because all Cameron wants to do is climb.  He's fallen off the bed 5 times, down the stairs once (all 14 of them), and crashed while pulling himself up to the couch innumerable times.  I know what you're thinking...maybe he needs a little more supervision.  Well, you're right!  He is such an active little guy that I have a very hard time keeping up with him!  Fortunately, he's getting a little more steady on his feet lately so the goose eggs are more few and far between.  He also enjoys stealing toys from his older brothers and sisters.  I'm afraid he's going to turn out to be one of those crazy adventure seeker types because he just doesn't seem to be happy unless his life is somehow in danger.

Three's a Crowd

Cameron loves to sleep in bed with Mommy and Daddy.  This isn't completely unheard of with our kids because Carter slept with us until he was almost two.  However, after having two little girls that have always been excellent sleepers...I naturally assumed that I had mastered the mothering technique of getting your kids to sleep through the night in their own bed.  Now not only have I lost my pride, but with my husband sleeping diagonally and my baby in the middle I've very nearly lost my spot in the bed. 

Feeding Frenzy

Cameron LOVES to eat and when he knows it's feeding time, whether it's nursing or table food, he gets super excited.  He does this crazy man's giggle and grabs the food up in handfuls simultaneously shoving it into his mouth.  It's important to have it all cut into bite-sized pieces before I even get near his high chair or his quick little hands will grab it before it's ready and he'll be choking before I even know what just happened. He smacks his lips together loudly to let me know he's ready to eat which is really cute at home, but a little embarrassing during sacrament meeting...

Cameron is such an amazing challenge blessing in my life.  He may make me feel like a crazy person at times, but I love his playful little personality.  One of his favorite things to do lately is "crawl" directly to the top of the stairs because he knows I'll be chasing after him to make sure he doesn't fall.  The little stinker even has the audacity to giggle and crawl faster when he hears me coming.  He looks the most like Randall to me and apparently they not only share their looks, but also their joy of teasing me.  I'm a lucky woman. Ü

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!

Mom:  How was school?

(This is usually followed by Carter giving a thumbs down sign, saying "not really,"  or holding his pointer finger a millimeter away from his thumb.  On this particular occasion it was the latter.)

Mom:  Why didn't you have a good day?

Carter:  I did a lie to my teacher.

Mom:  You told your teacher a lie?  What did you say?

Carter:  I didn't TELL a lie; I DID a lie!

Mom:  What did you DO? 

Carter:  When my teacher said (using his high-pitched girly voice) "Everyone that likes school...stand up,"  I standed up but I don't like school!

So...I'm trying really hard not to blame Carter's teacher, but I don't understand why he absolutely LOVED preschool and Kindergarten and HATES 1st grade.  I'm totally bummed about it.  He still loves homework (thank goodness!), but I'm hoping that he will get used to first grade and start liking it eventually. 

Last week I finished my biggest homework assignment since I dropped out of college.  Lydia was Star of the Week, and I admittedly went a little crazy.  It's been a long time since I've busted out the scrapbooking supplies, so I had fun with it.  Now I need to figure out what to do with an enormous gaudy poster.   Any ideas?

Bye-Bye Summer!

We've had such a crazy fun summer that I haven't even had time to blog about it.  We went to Lagoon, several family reunions, the cabin, and to Vegas for Labor Day.  We took swimming lessons, camped in Manti, had family bike rides, went to the movies, had a yard sale, and even changed houses. I didn't take pictures at all of these events (dang it!) but here are a few that I did take -

You can't really tell from the picture, but my Mom helped Lydia walk up this crazy steep hill with her walker at the cabin.  She is getting so strong! (Lydia, not my Mom.  Mom has always had notable vigor.)  Ü  It was such an amazing summer that I was sad to see it end, but I've actually been enjoying our return to a schedule and kids in bed by 8:00.

Blueberry Muffins!

Blueberry Bran Muffins

3 cups Fiber One cereal (or All Bran)

3 cups bran flakes

2 cups boiling water

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 cup applesauce

2 mashed bananas

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

5 cups whole wheat pastry flour

5 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

4 cups skim milk, mixed with

4 tablespoons lemon juice

6 egg whites, beaten until fluffy

4 cups blueberries

Pour boiling water over cereal and let stand. Mix together remaining ingredients except for egg whites and blueberries, then add softened cereal. Fold in egg whites and blueberries. Bake in muffin tins sprayed with cooking spray for 15-20 minutes at 400°F.

This recipe makes 60 muffins. They freeze really well, but if you don't want to make this many you can easily cut the recipe in half. I've also made these without the blueberries, and they're still really good. I didn't calculate the calories/weight watchers points, but hopefully they're not too bad.

All Clean!

Meleah's Dictionary Volume II

aw better - all better
tisses - kisses
my pot - No, this is not what you're thinking. It actually means my spot, this is stated repeatedly even if it has been two days since she sat in that particular "pot."
lellow - yellow
nowannit - no, thank you.
aw full - I'm bored of eating now, so I'm going to go get into something while you all are distracted by your dinner.
unto do it - I want to do it.
fower - flower
self - I did it all by myself!
otay - okay
tearit - carrot
boopit - blanket
yep - this actually means what she says. She just says it all the time and I think it's so cute.
awesome - I want some; awesome
ook - look
amren - Cameron
pippy - sippy
gar - car
one, two , three, cinco, seis - One, two, three, four, five
no opum - no problem
fofun - I have no idea. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. FYI it's not "for fun."
unnies - undies/underwear
piyer - spider
nked up - once again...not what you think. I believe it's "I just woked up", since she says it in her happy voice every morning and also when she comes walking out five minutes after I put her down for her nap.
oh trist - in the name of Jesus Christ
at me Mommy - Look at me, Mommy! She usually says this when she's climbing on something very tall and precarious. Does she want me to have a heart attack?
UPDATE - fofun means this one. I knew I would figure it out someday! Ü

Daddy Day!

Happy Father's Day baby! We love you SO much! Isn't he adorable? Ü

My Bad!

Dear Readers,

It has come to my attention that there are a couple of errors in my last post about Meleah's Birthday. First of all...apparently the 90's fad of calling yourself by your name rather than "I" is actually considered using the THIRD person, not the first. I wasn't really sure about that, but was too lazy to look into it. Secondly, I referred to my daughter as bull-legged, and have since been informed that it is actually BOW-legged. I assumed that it was bull-legged because it looks very much like a person that has just gotten done riding a bull. Unfortunately, as my High School friends know, this is not the first time my hearing has deceived me. Well, you learn something new every day. Thanks go out to my husband for bringing this to my attention 2 weeks after I posted (He LOVES to stay current on the family blog), and to all of you that were too sweet to tell me about them. I hope these errors have not discouraged anyone from reading due to my vast lack of intelligence, and hope to acquire literary perfection in every post from this day forward.

Sincerely,

Candice

p.s. I realize that the title of this post is yet another 90's fad, but it was either that or "My last post was perfect...NOT!" Which do you prefer?