January 2014

This has been the countdown month to meeting Baby Girl! 

Cameron continues to be an admiring big brother who likes to kiss and snuggle next to my tummy, as well as lifting up my shirt frequently and talking to baby. Lately, we've been cheering baby girl on by her name, trying to encourage her to come out! So far, it hasn't worked...

I've had weekly appointments this month and have made a little progress! I had my 39 week appointment today and am dilated to a two and 50% effaced. Although it sounds like good progress so far, I've been at this point for almost two weeks. I'm doing what I can to try to speed things up, but she just wants to stay inside and cozy where it's warm - away from all of this bitter cold weather we're having! I'm crossing my fingers that it isn't the same case as Cameron where I go a week late and have to be induced. Only 5 days to our due date, so we'll see when she decides to make her debut! I'm ready for her when she's ready - I'm ready to not have swollen calves and feet and having her kick my bladder all day long! 

39 weeks

Now that the holidays and birthdays are behind us, we've tried to settle back into a routine of work, daycare, and relaxing for Ryan while he's off (and before baby gets here :)). Just when we thought things would settle down, Ryan came down with Influenza A on a Sunday night and I got struck with a wicked stomach flu bug just 3 days later! Thank goodness for my parents who took Cameron for a few nights and our daycare provider, Bridget, who also took Cameron for a night so Ryan and I could rest, get better, and keep Cameron away from all of the germs!! 

Cameron is busy as aways! He loves coloring and putting stickers on everything! This includes his face, feet, our slippers, the top of his night stand, his wall, etc. We try to keep them on the paper, but we'll just have to keep practicing :) 

His other latest thing that is super cute is snuggling. He likes to tuck his blankie around his feet and sit on the couch with his stuffed animals. Or the other thing is that he will line up his stuffed animals along the side of his bed and then tuck them in with his blankies. Then he tells me in a whisper that "shhhhhh.... bear/Frankie/Jingle/Buttercup (the name of his animals) seepin'". He'll also read them books after they're tucked in. It's so cute! Because we drop him off at Bridget's so early, they snuggle in the morning while their other friends arrive, which is where he learned to snuggle so well - he absolutely loves it :)) 

Snuggling! 

Two weekends ago, Cameron and I ran errands and got the car wash. It was his first car wash experience and he wasn't a fan at all. He sat hunched over in his car seat and stared mysteriously out the window, watching the bubbles and water hit the car. Afterwards though, he wouldn't stop talking about the car wash. In fact, two weeks later, he's still talking about it... The day after the car wash, we were up at my parents house and he told Papa a very fabricated story about the car wash - about how the water hit his face, cheeks and his back. He also used his arms to show Papa how the car wash made swooshing noises and that it was a very scary, noisy and naughty car wash :) Fortunately, I was able to get a great video of this story - I can't wait to show him some day!  

First car wash experience! 

Another imagination story that cracked us up was tonight he dug his diaper rash cream, or butt medicine he calls it, out of his diaper bag. He laid his bear on the couch and pretended to put butt medicine on bear. He told us the whole story as he did it - how bear had an owie butt, needed butt medicine and then a few seconds later he picks up bear, gives him a hug and says "all better!". Maybe he'll be a doctor some day? I absolutely love his stories and watching how his imagination soars! 

Stay tuned... the next blog post should be the introduction Baby Girl Manke! We can't wait!!! 

December 2013

During the month of December, I bought two journals; one for each kiddo. I knew that keeping up with our family blog was going to be a bit to much for me with all the details I want to capture for our kids. Once a week, I write down things they've done that week (milestones, funny things Cameron says, how baby is growing, etc.) So my blogs will be a little more high level and I'm trying to capture as many details in their journals. 

We started off the month decorating for Christmas and getting the house in the holiday spirit. Cameron enjoyed helping us put up the tree and putting decorations on the tree. We also got out his little manager ornament and book that he got from Cousin Laney last year for Christmas. He called it his "Jesus Book" and would constantly hit the buttons that correlated with each page. Then the manager ornament would make noises and sing songs to what was on that picture. He loved it, but he almost loved it a little too much for us :)) 

Christmas cookie baking was another highlight. As most of you know, I'm not good at cooking or baking, so of course the sugar cookies I made did not turn out at all. One the plus side, they were good cookies for Cameron to decorate because they were so hard and also I didn't feel so bad throwing them away afterwards because they tasted awful. But of course they all looked cute because of his mad decorating skills :)) 

We went to my brother Marc's office to see Santa Clause with Cousins Laney and Anna. We weren't sure how Cameron would react to Santa, but he sure adapted to him quickly!! The candy canes Santa was handing out also helped lure him in a little bit :) 

Our church puts on a fun event called "A Night in Bethlehem" each year. This year, we put Cameron in a sheep costume they had and took a family picture. He absolutely loved the sheep costume- and he was so cute! That same night, we also snuggled on the couch and watched Christmas movies - the perfect way to spend a chilly December evening! 

Christmas week was of course a busy week! We spent Christmas Eve morning at Ryan's dad's house in Annandale, that evening at this sister's house in Foley and then Christmas Day at my parents house. The little babe in my tummy was making me quite uncomfortable that entire week. I almost thought for sure that she was going to make an appearance, but she stayed warm and cozy inside! My brother Tom and his wife Val and their little Blake came home for the week of Christmas. It was so much fun having them home and meeting my nephew Blake for the first time!! Cameron loved seeing "Baby Bake" and we spent as much time at my parents as possible so we could see them before they headed back to Montana. Cameron is now obsessed with Uncle Tom and asks for him quite frequently! 

Christmas at Papa Dave Manke's 

Opening stocking presents at Nama and Papas

Cousins opening gifts 

Reading books with Auntie Val and "Baby Bake"

Opening his monster truck from Ryan and I - his expression was priceless!! 

His new Flipee hat and Frankie stuffed animal from his daycare provider, Bridget. He loves them!! 

Cameron's birthday wrapped up the end of December! He LOVED singing Happy Birthday to himself and unwrapping his gifts. We had a small get together the day after Christmas at my parents house and then the day of his birthday, Ryan's mom came down for supper at The Pizza Ranch and then came over for gifts. He's becoming quite the two year old: mimics everything you say (even more so than he did before!!), has a two year old attitude (lots of NO's!, time outs due to hitting and not being nice to friends), etc. But he also has quite the loving heart still - loves to give hugs and kisses, says please and thank you quite well, and loves playing with his friends at Ms. Bridget's house. I'd say we were blessed with a pretty charming boy (most days!) and can't wait to see what the years ahead have in store for us! 

Enjoying his birthday cupcake 

Supper at The Pizza Ranch and enjoying birthday ice cream! 

Opening his workbench from Grandma Chris 

"Just like daddy's" - he loves his workbench!! 

Manson was NOT a fan of the birthday hat...

Baby Girl continues to grow strong! As I mentioned before, she's made me pretty uncomfortable and already dropped incredibly low the month of December. So low that my tummy measurements were consistenly showing her a couple weeks behind in growth. To be safe, the doctor ordered us an ultrasound. It was amazing to see an ultrasound at 36 weeks and seeing a full grown babe in my tummy! I've only seen an ultrasound at 20 weeks, so I was amazed at how big and real life she looked!! I had a hard time adjusting my eyes and understanding what I was looking at! The ultrasound came back just perfect - measured right on track with a strong heart beat and all of her parts accounted for. We're so blessed! 

Baby girl's toes - her head was so low they couldn't get a good head shot! 

November 2013

This month Cameron started to understand more about his baby sister coming. He now calls her by her name and loves to rub and kiss my tummy. It melts my heart when we're snuggling and reading books at night before bed and he will rest his head on my tummy :)) I hope his love for his sister continues once she arrives! 

Our growing girl <3 

We wanted to start a holiday tradition with Cameron so he would understand that the holiday's aren't just a time about getting presents, but also about giving to others who don't have as much. Our church sponsers Operation Christmas Child (or Operation Shoebox as some may know it). We went to Target and picked out a bunch of toys/activites for a little boy within the age range of 2-4 years old, then came home and packed them up in a shoebox. I don't think he truly understood the whole concept, but he sure loved packing up the toys, taking them out and then reorganizing them again. We talked about how the shoebox was going to a little boy in another country. I'm hoping this is a tradition we can keep up! 

The other big November highlight was of course Thanksgiving! We had a great time with Ryan's family at The Phoenix in MIlaca where we rented one of their party rooms so there was enough space for the entire family. Cameron loved his first bite of Lefse, made by his Great Grandma Sorensen! Auntie Amber also brought gingerbread houses for the kiddos to work on to help fill some of the down time - it was the perfect idea! Of course we all left stuffed and had lots of food left over, but enjoyed our time as a family! 

Giving Papa Dave hugs :) 

The weekend after Thanksgiving, my mom's side of the family always gets together for our Ruter Family Christmas. This year it was closer to home and in Mason City, IA, so we went down for the night - it was Cameron's first hotel stay! AND it was Ryan's first Ruter Christmas :)) How did he get away with not going for the 10 years we've been together?! Cameron loved swimming in the pool with Papa, playing with his second cousin Bentley (my cousin Ryan's son who is about 7 months older than he is) and eating lots of yummy food and treats :) Our hotel room had two queen sized beds so Ryan slept in the bed with Cameron (Ryan moved the mattress to the floor so he wouldn't roll off) and baby and I took up our own bed. Ryan didn't sleep well at all and I could see why... Cameron moves so much at night!! At one point, Cameron's head was at the foot of the bed and his little butt was pushed up next to Ryan's butt. Then the next time I woke up, Cameron's body was turned 90 degrees the other way and was using Ryan's legs as a pillow. Silly kid! 

A Car quilt that Great Grandma Carolyn made 

Playing with Bentley 

Pulling around his Hot Wheels car carrier

Notice the big scrape on his nose in the pictures? He had a small laundry basket on his head being silly, playing a game we call "Basket Head". He tripped and as he fell, his nose was in one of the small hard plastic holes. It gave him a good deep scrape and he still has a small scar! :( 

Cameron had his second set of tubes put in his ears the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. He was quite the trooper and by noon of that same day he was back to his normal self! Now whenever we go to the doctor, he always asks if it's to check his ears. Poor buddy! The night before we needed to take him in for his post op visit, we were talking about how the doctor would look in his ears. His reply: "Look at my butt too mommy?" Oh what comes from the mouth of a toddler! 

Driving daddy's truck. He's so proud of daddy's truck! 

Helping mommy make Christmas cookies 

Doing his hair with mommy

Building forts

Playing with my friend Julie's dog, Meri. Cameron was Meri's first little visitor and they got along well! 

Kisses for Meri! (Poor Meri!! :)