Happy Birthday Jesus!

Wow, how quickly the last two days have gone by!

Last night we celebrated Christmas with the Smith Family. We ate yummy food and were entertained by the kids.

This morning we began a new tradition. My folks, sister, and her fiance came over for a big breakfast. After filling our tummies we opened gifts. Thank you Nana and Pappy and Aunt and Allie and Uncle Miles for the gifts. We aren't sure of which is Camden's favorite gift quite yet, but when we do, we'll let you know.


Then for lunch we headed to the Shafer Family Christmas. There are so many of us, family gatherings can be a little chaotic. We arrived back at home around 6:30 p.m. Austin and I are about to enjoy some shrimp cocktail snacks while Camden is taking a little snooze. No morning or afternoon nap can wear a little man out!

More photos to come of Cory and Tagen's big day and the Yake Family Christmas on Sunday (at the earliest).

Before I sign off, I want to say a belated Congratulations to Mike and Carrie as they welcomed Baby Aiden Alexander into this world on December 3rd. We've seen some cute pictures and are looking forward to meeting him in mid-January.

Last but certainly not least, Welcome Baby Aira Pankey and Congratulations Jon and Ashley. Aira arrived on December 22nd (3 days before her due date). We are excited to come see you!

Camden's First Christmas Sunday

The past week has been mostly uneventful. Austin was home with Camden on the days I worked. On my days off, we enjoyed playing with toys and taking naps around the Christmas tree. On Friday, my folks had their first lamb of the season. We took Camden in to see the baby lamb. He was terrified of the Mommy sheep, but he did laugh and smile at the baby lamb....... until the baby lamp whimpered to her Mommy. Let's just say that Camden doesn't like the baa, baa, baa sound just yet.
My Little Lamb from Pappy
Under my Nana's Tree
My Guitar

Today we continued with our normal routine - wake up, eat breakfast, rush to get ready for church, go to church, come home and eat dinner, and take a long nap. We just woke up from our 3 hour nap. Shortly we'll head back to town for Carols by Candlelight. In our mad rush to get to church this morning, we did find time for a few photos by our Christmas tree. I hope to take photos of our family on each Christmas Sunday. During my childhood, my mom would always take photos of my sister and me in our Christmas dresses. It is fun to look back at the photos mom took over the years. Hopefully someday Camden will appreciate the photos that I take of our family.
Cam Cam
Mommy, Daddy, and Camden

This week we will be an exciting week, and I can't hardly wait. This will be Camden's first celebration of the birth of Christ. We plan to celebrate Christmas Eve with the Smith side of the family and Christmas morning with my folks, sister, and her fiance. Then we'll travel to the Shafer Christmas later on Christmas Day. We also anxiously await the birth of Aira Pankey who is due to enter this world on Christmas Day. Hang in their Jon and Ashley - you are in our thoughts and prayers during this special time. Friday is set aside to help Cory and Tegan (my cousin and his fiance) prepare for their big day. On Saturday, December 27th we'll celebrate the beginning of Cory and Tegan's new life together at their wedding ceremony. Then on Sunday we'll head to church and then to the Yake Christmas. We have a very busy week ahead of us and we pray that we not forget the reason for this season and that is Christ!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Wishes

Family and Friends,

My intentions were to create a photo collage Christmas card of photos of this past year and send to all our friends and family, near and far away; however, time has escaped me. This past week when we began receiving thoughtful cards from family and friends I realized I better get on the move. Well, before starting my Christmas card project, I checked to see when Shutterfly would have my personalized product to me, and they could only promise that the cards would arrive at my home by Christmas Eve. Well, that is a bit late considering I would need to address and send to family and friends.

So, in lieu of a Christmas card delivered to your home, this post is for all you family and friends. The photos for this post were taken on Saturday when we made a special visit to see Santa. The photos are posted in the order they were taken, you can see the progress Camden made during our visit. He's not a Santa Baby this Christmas!

May God Bless you this Christmas season, and Best Wishes in 2009!





Love,
The Yake Family

We've Got Another One......

A tooth that is. On Tuesday, I discovered Camden's second tooth poking through. Two new teeth in 6 days. At this rate, we'll have a mouth full by the time he's 1. I know, they all don't come so fast, but it sure seems like it! The teeth aren't visible just yet so no photos. When the teeth begin to peek through Cam's smile, I'll be sure to share photos.

Yea For Our Daddy............

He passed the National and Indiana State Surveying Licensing Exam (on his first try). This past fall Austin spent lots of hours studying for the exam. Most of my memories of Austin studying are with Camden and Shadow (our cat) setting on his lap in the recliner. I think all of Camden and Shadow's help paid off. Daddy, we want to give you a special CONGRATULATIONS! We are so proud of you! I bet Camden will be able to hold a surveying rod by the time he's walking so he'll be ready to survey this coming summer with Daddy.

We're 100% Positive......

Camden's first tooth has emerged! Last Thursday evening as we were having banana pudding dessert as a family I stuck my finger in Camden's mouth. I felt around and there was no question to whether or not the sharp object in his mouth was a tooth. Austin wanted to feel the tooth, but before he could get his finger in, Camden stiffened up and with all his might tried to keep Austin's finger from being inserted into his mouth. Camden's gums must be super soar as he doesn't want anyone feeling his new tooth. I think the other tooth isn't too far from breaking through. I'm trying to check each day, but it is difficult to determine if there is a new tooth or the same "first" tooth. We haven't gotten to see the tooth yet, but we're excited to. We'll take photos when the tooth becomes visible!

The weekend is coming to a close (sniff, sniff). Camden and I have spent the evening baking apple pies and snuggling in our jammies. Austin went to Bobe's for dinner with some guys from church and then to park cars at New Hope's Journey to Bethlehem. It has been a little lonely here with out Daddy tonight.

I'm going to get back to playing with my Camden. We're putting all the farm animals back in the barn for nighty, nighty. I'll leave you all with smiles my precious boy!

Cookies and Cousins

On Thanksgiving Day we went to my paternal grandparents. My grandparents have 7 great grandsons. Not everyone was able to attend our annual Thanksgiving feast, but 5 out of 7 is pretty good if you ask me. Here are the boys.Jarius, Jansen, Camden, Jaston, and Lakin

On Thanksgiving night, my cousin Craig opted to come over and spend the night. His options were Black Friday shopping with his Daddy or a fun day at the Yake's. The next morning, after we all slept in, Austin fixed us all a big breakfast of eggs, sausage, and toast (not that we needed a huge breakfast the morning after Thanksgiving). The remainder of the day was filled with playing tractors, making cookies, raking leaves, cleaning the garage, and discovering snake skins in the backyard (scary, huh?). We ended the day with Austin's family and Amish pizza (our favorite).




Today was a super lazy day. I slept in until 9:30 a.m. I can't even remember the last time I slept this late. I must admit that I did enjoy the extra rest. This evening we went to the Yake's for our Thanksgiving dinner. We don't see Austin's brothers, SILs, nieces, and nephew often, so we took the opportunity to get some photos of "The Cousins." In June, we'll have an addition to the family, and we are excited to see if the girls or the boys will be outnumbered.
Madalyn, Landon, Camden, and Aubrey
Landon and Camden

As a side note, please pray for Austin's brother Kenley. Kenley is a correctional officer at the Carlisle prison. Last Tuesday, he was assaulted and has a fractured jaw. He has undergone surgery and is now going through the recovery process which will take approx. 6 weeks. He is in lots of pain. Please pray for patience for Kenley, his wife Vanessa, and their daughter Madalyn during their journey of pain.

1st Thanksgiving Day

This morning we were awoken by gentle coos of a precious boice through the baby monitor. Camden was awake just talking and cooing away. It was like he was able to sense that it was a big day. Today marks Camden's first Thanksgiving Day and our first Thanksgiving as parents. We are so very THANKFUL for Camden and all the joy he has brought to our lives. What a beautiful day to celebrate our THANKFULNESS!

I just finished up in the kitchen working on a pumpkin pie and broccoli casserole. I tried to get finished with my cooking and cleanup before the start of the Thanksgiving Day parade; however, I didn't quite make it. Camden and Austin were watching the parade and have dosed off for a morning naP. I am glad Camden is resting as today will be a long one for him, and I'm certain his afternoon nap (which is his longest nap of the day) will be omitted.

Here are some photos of Camden on his first Thanksgiving. And, yes, I do have my Christmas tree up. We put up our tree on Tuesday evening so now we can enjoy tomorrow as a family and get some rest before another big Thanksgiving celebration on Saturday.
"Happy Thanksgiving Mommy and Daddy!"

"I'm going to get into these ornaments Mommy, you better watch out!"
"See, I told you so!"

Happy Birthday Daddy

Please bare with me as I have a few things to cover. First of all, yesterday was Austin's 27th birthday. To celebrate Daddy, Camden and I went to work with Daddy yesterday and did a little bit of shopping. After an hour or so of shopping we headed home as Camden and I are fighting a cold bug (stuffy and runny noses, fever, and soar throats) and began to feel tired and worn out. After a 2.5 hour nap with Camden we went to my folks and had Amish pizza and bread sticks - yum, yum.

Secondly, we reported a tooth too early. Although Camden won't allow us to do a thorough investigation of his gums, we don't feel any poking anymore. We'll keep you all updated as we don't think it'll be too much longer until his teeth make a grand appearance. Lastly, my family has been quick to inform me that my posts generally contain spelling errors and misuse of words. My lovely mother and wonderful husband were quick on their feet and eager wanting Camden to know that Mommy has an MBA, but she just can't spell or pick out words to fit the context. My response is, I barely have time to post, so when I do, I generally don't proofread or spell check (not that spell check will inform me of my misuse of words. I think most of you get the point even thought I misspell or use words in the wrong context. With all that said, I'll try to better. I've got to run as it is medicine time again for both Camden and me. I've had quick shower to unclog my nose and now it is Camden's turn. It will be a lazy day here as we try to rest up and get rid of our cold before Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, we may have to make a quick run to Wal-mart. Camden still uses diapers and eats while he's sick. Have a great day!

It's Polking Through..........

Tonight as Austin and I were wallerting around on the floor with Camden, I stuck my finger in his little mouth. Much to my surprise, NOT, he kept attempting to push my index finger out of his mouth. The few short seconds my finger was in his mouth I believe a felt a tooth polking through. Austin stuck his much larger index finger in and felt the same little polk that I felt. After trying to investigate with our eyes for nearly 1/2 hour we gave up. Camden made it very clear that he didn't want our fingers in his mouth or anything else that would aid us in trying to discover the tooth with our eyes. I guess we'll check again tomorrow morning when he's half asleep before he figures out what we are doing. More to come......

I Love The Days..........

I love the days like today were I can be home all day with my family and not have to put one foot out the door of my home. Today started off great as Austin and Camden escaped our bed quietly for an early morning feed and allowed me to sleep in until 9 am. Sleeping in on the weekends used to be the norm, but not so much now these days which is the reason I am so grateful to have a few extra hours of sleep every now and then. Once I got up and got going, today turned out to be a very productive day. I finsihed some photo projects on Shutterfly and finally got them ordered (I've been working on them for a few months - by the way - if you haven't used Shutterfly, you should as it is the greatest thing since sliced bread), cleaned our bedroom really good (washed walls and baseboards, washed curtains and all bedding, flipped the matress, and cleaned the windows) which hasn't been done in almost 2 years, yuck, I know, washed and folded 5 loads of laundry, and spent lots of time with Austin and Camden. The two of them are so good about helping out around the house which lightens my load immensley. Thank you, Honey, for all your help and doing all the undesirable jobs around the house! And, thank you Camden for being so patient and happy while watching Mommy and Daddy do chores. After Camden signs off for the night, I'm off to finish a few scrapbooking pages.

Oh and here are a couple of photos of Camden. The first photo below is Camden helping out with his favorite chore - laundry. And, the second is Camden after a tub bath. He likes to be naked.

Last Week In Review

I finally have a few moments to give an update on our last week. Many of you have asked how working part-time is going. Well, this week was my first week working my reduced 20 hour workweek (actually it was 23 hours, but close enough to 20 for me). I can't even begin to express how much I loved it. Even thought I wasn't "at work" this week it was a very busy one. Monday I worked and Camden stayed with the sitter. On Tuesday, Camden and I traveled with Steph and Riley to Carbondale IL to visit Angie and Caitlyn Kribs. It was about a 3 hour trip one way and the kiddos where absolutely wonderful. No meltdowns until we pulled in Steph and Riley's drive way. We had such a wonderful time catching up with Angie and the kids enjoyed playing with Caitlyn and all her toys. We even tried finger painting - it wasn't as successful as we'd hoped so we'll probably try again in a few more months. Wednesday was our Wal-mart/Trick or Treat Day. I took Camden to my Grandma's and then we went to Wal-mart. Thank goodness Nana (my mom) was at Wal-mart when we arrived because I was in much need of help. Camden isn't quite setting in the cart very well and not content in his car seat. Once I lay him in the cart there is no room for all my purchases and well, most of you know my horror story of Wal-mart with Camden - I'm so afraid some other catastrophe will occur when I walk thru those doors with Camden. Thanks Nana for all the help! Thursday was back to work for a very long day. Camden stayed with Nana until his Daddy got home. I became ill on Thursday at work so Friday was a stay at home, get some rest, catch-up on laundry, and family day. Saturday I went to crop to catch up on my pregnancy scrapbook. Yep, you heard me - I never finished my pregnancy scrapbook. Camden did come a bit early leaving me with some unfinished projects. I'm almost done now - another day of scrapbooking and it will be complete - I can't wait! Austin helped my dad pour concrete in his new pole building so Camden hung out with Nana. Camden did a craft project and stamped his feel in his Pappy's building. I wasn't there to see it, but my wonderful husband captured the event for me. Today we've gone to church and I'll be going to my cousin's fiance's bridal shower. Hopefully my boys will get some rest and then we're headed to a weenie roast with our church family.








P.S. Steph and Angie - may I have your email addresses so that I may send you the photos I took during our visit?

Happy Halloween

This Happy Halloween wish is a bit late; however, it is better late than never, right? Tonight we stayed here at home as I'm fighting off a bug. Earlier in the we celebrated Halloween and allowed Camden to do some trick-or-treating. We didn't collect any candy but we did collect some money and toys. Camden is having a great time with his new toys and his piggy bank is getting fuller.

My First Pumpkin

The very first weekend in September Austin and I hunted everywhere for a pumpkin. Camden was due for his 6 months photo shoot and we wanted to get some photos of Camden with a pumpkin. Austin finally found a pumpkin at a nursery in Vincennes. We've held on to this pumpkin since the first of September and yesterday we finally had the opportunity to carve it. It was a bit chilly outdoors yesterday so we carved the pumpkin indoors. Here is what Camden thought of the experience.









Pictures of Camden and his Pumpkin to come.......check back soon!

Milestones

This week my sister, Allie, came home mid-week and watched Camden while I was at work. She came to our house so that we didn't have to drag Camden out (which was so nice for a change - thanks so much Allie). I did well and didn't call a hundred times to see how things were going. I was in a meeting at work and my phone rang so I let the voicemail pick-up. During lunch I checked my voicemail and it was Allie. I called her back to see if she needed anything and she had exciting news to share. Camden had been setting up on his own for over 2 minutes at a time. I was a bit saddened that I wasn't home to witness this special milestone, but I was also happy that Aunt Allie got to witness this. She doesn't get to see Camden as much as she'd like so I'm sure it was special for her to see him set up for the very first time. Here is photo that was taken during this special moment (I hear that there was a video, but the video was erased after Camden fell backwards and bumped his head on the floor - it is okay Allie - I forgive you). Thanks again Allie for making the trip home and spending the day with Camden.

A Much Needed Fun Day

After an extremely long week, I was grateful for a fun, long day with my family. The only thing that would have made the day better is if Austin had come along. Austin had planned to come along, but being the wonderful person he is, he stayed home to help Sprinkle Farms harvest crops. Camden and I traveled to Evansville to watch my sister run. While watching a XC isn't really my cup of tea, I fully enjoyed every bit of the day. Camden watching all the people as there was probably over 200 hundred runners there and of course every one's family was there to watch. Many of the spectators had their dogs with them which excited Camden even more. After the race was over we went out to dinner with Miles and Allie and Butch and Donna (Miles' mom and dad). Then we headed to the mall for a few hours for a short little shopping spree. This little shopping spree was just for me. Last fall/winter I wore maternity clothes so I am in much need of a new wardrobe! Camden was a trooper. Not one little whine or cry escaped his little mouth and we were so proud of him. He was such a good, little happy guy - I am so lucky to have him!

Today was a lazy day here around home. After church and dinner Camden and Austin took a long nap while I caught up on some house chores and work. I love my days at home and am looking forward to more of them very soon!

Here are some photos of our fun day yesterday - just for you Uncle Miles and Aunt Allie!

I'm a Winner!
Me
Pappy, Nana, and Me
Uncle Miles, Aunt Allie, and Me
Mommy and Me