This champ is now weighing in at 9 pounds, 10 ounces, is 22 inches long (21.5 but we round up in this family,) and sleeps like a champ!

 In his defense, we were definitely laughing at him, not with him.

We also accidentally took him on a couple of hikes while looking for cool places in WA. We spent probably four hours looking for the entrance to this old abandoned tunnel that you can hike through and instead ended up wandering through trails of some mountain covered in ski trails. After running into this super creepy older guy, who Cam and I decided probably lived in the woods, we gave up and went down the road to get fudge.

The next day we drove up north to an old abandoned mental hospital/farm village/disc golf course place that we heard you could go explore. We found the farm part and the place where they processed their food, but couldn't ever find the graveyard or actual hospital part. After about 2.5 miles of walking around we called it a day and headed home to make milkshakes. 

Moral of the story: If at first you don't succeed, reward yourself for trying with dessert.

And as if all of those treats weren't enough, Maddox also got his first sweet taste of Bdubbs and proved to the whole restaurant that he can win at every "funny face" contest. Plus he attended his first trunk or treat while sporting his slick football costume ($2 suede from Walmart and white duct tape.)

And finally I got the chance to take Maddox home to Boise for a few days so that my family could meet him. I was so so nervous to fly with him for the first time but he did awesome and didn't cry once on either flight! Plus people are so nice to you when you have a newborn. We got a whole row to ourselves, two packages of mini pretzels, and a refill on my drinks the whole flight home! Add that to all of the compliments and attention this little guy attracts and I would travel with him daily if I could!

Without a doubt his favorite part of Boise was meeting my best friend since high school, Julia. He was obsessed with her! Like you know when you were little and your parents would tease you that one of their friends or your classmates were your boyfriend/girlfriend? That's gonna be her. I have no doubt that in a coupe of years I'll tell Maddox that his "girlfriend" is coming to visit and he will get shy and embarrassed and tell me to stop calling her that. Ugh, this is what dreams are made of you guys. Seriously though, he loved her. And it's pretty obvious, but she was smitten as well.

 It's hard to believe that I've already gone a full month without a full night of sleep. The laundry is hardly ever done and my cereal is almost always soggy when I finally get to it. I don't know how many diapers we've gone through, how many times I've sung "You are my Sunshine," or how many days I've gone without a shower. But I do know that my love for both Cam and our little one has multiplied by twenty in the last month and that I have loved every second of this new chapter of our lives. Bring on month two!

Movement: This kid does not stop moving! Cam and I were talking about if babies start to develop a sleep routine while in the womb because I find that I feel a lot of movement at the same times each day. Does anyone know? I have no idea but now Cam tells the little guy to go to sleep whenever he is kicking after 10PM or before 7AM. Haha. I suppose it's never too early to start on the whole "sleep training" thing.

This may be TMI but the other day I was sitting on the couch and all of a sudden I got this super intense, super quick urge to go pee - almost like my bladder had been electrocuted or something. So I went to the bathroom real quick and didn't think anything of it. Then it happened again. And again. And I finally realized that this little guy was just kicking my bladder over and over again. Pretty sure that was payback for all the times that I poke him trying to get him to move enough for me to see it. Luckily he hasn't made a habit of doing that yet. Haha

Then today at my doctor's appointment, my OB was checking his heart beat and he kept kicking the Doppler hard enough to actually move it down my stomach a little bit. I told Cam about it later and he was all, "He's like me. When he does that he's saying 'stop checking on me, I'm fine. I've got this.'" Ha way to go little dude, you're a champ! But man, I could listen to your heart beat all day long.

Nursery: We are painting tonight! Last Thursday Cam texted me saying, "Wanna grab dinner and pick out paint colors?" Let me tell ya, that is a perfect date night. HOWEVER, I forgot for a moment that Cam is colorblind. Not only that but I prefer softer colors on walls and then accent colors in the decor. Naturally I picked out a few swatches of light grays and pale blues and greens. Then here comes is Cam and his love of bright colors. I remember in 3rd grade we had coloring contests and I ALWAYS used the cerulean crayon because it was such a pretty color. Fast forward 14 years and I see that same color on a swatch and Cam saying it was the perfect color for the nursery. HA Yikes. Needless to say it took us about an hour to find a color that we both liked for Cam to cave and give into my pale green color of choice.

We also bought the crib last week and it should be here tomorrow! I finally feel like we can start decorating because I'm realizing that this last half will go even faster than the first. And the first felt like a blink of an eye. Hopefully we will have everything set up in the next couple of months so that the last few weeks can be smooth sailing.

Best Moments: At our 20 week anatomy ultrasound we got to see so much of our little guy. It's so crazy that I not only have a baby inside of me but an entire skeleton! I don't know why that was such a shock to me but being able to see the separate radius and ulna in his arms and his spine was just so crazy! Afterward they gave us a DVD of the ultrasound so that we  I could watch it over and over again. I put it on the table when I went to work so that I would be able to watch it that night but then came home to see chewed up pieces of it laying all over the floor. Herschel somehow got up on the table, picked up just the DVD and went ham on it. I was seriously devastated.

Que pregnancy-hormone induced breakdown.

I texted Cam telling him that Herschel needed to find a new home and crying about how he could do something like that to me and his little brother. I locked Herschel in his kennel and texted Cam again reminding him that we didn't have anymore ultrasounds and that I would now have to wait 20 more weeks just to see my baby again. In tears I cleaned up the mess and checked my phone again expecting a text about how it would be okay and how I needed to be patient with Herschel and how he didn't do it just to spite me, etc. but there was nothing.

I was fuming. My dog didn't love me and obviously my husband didn't either. How dare he go 10 minutes without texting me back in my moment of need? With tears STILL streaming down my face I decided to call him, knowing that him hearing me in tears would make him feel bad for ignoring the mother of his child. But right as I went to dial his number I got a text saying, "I'm sorry sweetheart, I called the clinic and they are burning us a new DVD that you can go pick up tomorrow. Herschel was just curious and didn't mean to make you upset. He loves you and so do I. I'm on my way home, I'll see you soon."

Que pregnancy-hormone induced breakdown #2.

It amazes me how quickly Cam has been able to turn around my bad moments. It seems like whenever something is going wrong or whenever I am inconsolable he figures out a way to make everything better almost immediately. I don't have a clue how to raise a baby but I do know that he is lucky to have Cam as a dad. I love that I'm taking on this new chapter with such an amazing man.

I always thought that when I was pregnant with my first little baby I would document EVERYTHING on this blog. I would want to remember every little detail and take a million pictures of my growing belly and anything baby related. I thought that I would have this healthy glow and that my hair would grow and that by some lucky twist of fate I would avoid all of the morning sickness and fatigue. Honestly I thought that I would be 24 and finishing up grad school and living in a little house with 3 bedrooms and a little backyard.

And while I'm so excited to have this little guy joining our family this October, he definitely demolished every expectation that I had of pregnancy. And he will probably crush all of my expectations about parenthood too.

I've been keeping a journal about my pregnancy thus far but have had a hard time figuring out what exactly to say on social media. It all feels so private yet public and the emotions are so extreme. I've been worried about saying the wrong thing or sounding ungrateful because I don't want anyone to think that I'm not overjoyed to have a growing family - because I am so excited. But the realization that I am going to be a mom has brought with it a lot of worry an self doubt. It feels like a lot of change and responsibility that I honestly don't think that I'm ready for. It's all so new. And I think that has been why I haven't been quick to post anything. It's taken me a few months to come to terms with the fact that I'll make a lot if mistakes and that I have a lot to learn, but that it will eventually work out to be okay. And that no matter what I will always do my best and love this baby with my whole heart and just pray that it'll be enough.

SO, here I am, halfway through my pregnancy, finally posting about our little guy:)

Due Date: October 10th which is a Monday. I don't know why but I thought it was the weirdest thing that my due date is a weekday. I guess I just subconsciously assumed that these things were like weddings and birthday parties and only happened on weekends. HA


Gender: A BOY HALLELUJAH! My in-laws put together the cutest gender reveal party for us a few weeks ago and it was one of the best days of my life so far. I was CONVINCED that we were having a girl. Mostly because I knew that if it was a girl Cam would have a very hard time accepting that and I needed to be prepared to compensate for his lack of excitement. I think everyone was secretly hoping that it was a boy just for Cam tbh.

 
Name: All picked out but a secret. It's hard to explain but I just really like having something that is just between Cam, this baby, and me for now. It's fun to giggle about it and to have something that still just between us.

Sleep: Luckily I'm still able to sleep on my stomach. Other than waking up a few times each night to push Cam over to his designated 6 inches of the bed and drinking a full bottle of water, I've been sleeping just fine and often. Hello 9PM bedtime. Once I grow a little more and have to sleep on my side I imagine that sleep will be a thing of the past so I'm soaking this in as much as possible.

Movement: Yes! I feel him multiple times a day. It's my absolute favorite:) Yesterday we were laying in bed before church and I felt him kicking so I told Cam to watch my stomach so he could see it. It took a few moments and pokes but finally I watched his kick poke through my stomach. I was like, "Did you see that?" and looked over only to see a guilty looking Cam checking his twitter feed. Ugh. Hahah next time hopefully;)

How I’m feeling: So. Much. Better. I'm still taking my Diclegis in the mornings or else I start to get nauseous again by the afternoon but it has helped a ton. My appetite is also back and in full force. Yesterday alone I at half a pizza, a ham and cheese sandwich, chips, two bananas, and a burrito all before 6PM. I've been feeling bloated like I ate too much at Thanksgiving yet at the same time my stomach is growling and I have hunger pains. 

Weight gain: I've decided to try to stop weighing myself for the rest of my pregnancy. With the high emotions and the obnoxious appetite I don't think weighing myself will do much good. Hah so until the doctor tells me that I'm gaining too much or too little I will just assume that everything is fine.

Best Moments: Accepting that pregnancy brain is a thing and blaming all of my blonde moments on it. One of the things that frustrate Cameron the most is that I forget EVERYTHING and if I don't write something down then he constantly has to remind me. And I've always been bad about that. But this is something else. A few weeks ago I was chatting with his grandpa and asking if he had any advice on how to fix an armrest on Cam's recliner. I went on about this for probably 15 minutes until Stephanie looked at me as was like, "Didn't you guys sell that thing?" OMG yes we did. Like two months ago. HA please send help. This brain of mine is not working correctly.

Also it's so fun watching Cam be so excited about having a new little buddy. I came home the other day to Cam putting together a baby swing with the biggest smile on his face. Heart Melted. We are also constantly talking about what Herschel will be like as a big brother. I think that after he gets over the jealousy of not having all of our attention they are going to be best friends.

Missing Anything? Being able to walk up the stairs without getting winded. Heck, I miss being able to get up in the night and pee without being out of breath. During school I learned all about the benefits of exercising during pregnancy and was shocked at how many people simply didn't do it. What they didn't tell me is that it is HARD. They didn't tell me that even before I had a huge belly my heart rate would skyrocket at the thought of going for a run.

I am still somewhat trying to stay active during this pregnancy though. a couple of weekends ago Megan, Cam and I hiked Little Si. It was a gorgeous hike but I think the beauty of it was drowned out by the sound of me panting and eating granola bars and beef jerky the entire way up.


Looking Forward To: My last ultrasound on Wednesday. I am so excited to see how much he has grown in these last 6 weeks and to get some more pictures! I remember when my mom was pregnant with my little brother I couldn't understand how anyone could see a baby in the black and white fuzzy photo but now that it's my own I don't know how you could miss it. Can't wait!

I've come to the realization that I have basically not progressed since the fifth grade. I remember sitting in Ms. Enslow's class next to the cutest boy in the world (I obvi didn't know Cam yet), and listening to my teacher talk about how if she found out that any of us started "dating" that she would tell our parents because she thought that we were "too young." Let it be known that my little heart was stricken with fear because I just knew that I would be grounded until 2076 if my mom ever found out that I was dating a boy before I was 16. Let it also be known that my little heart had a wild desire to be a rebel and that I was still sitting next to the cutest boy in the world.

So I flirted. Hard Core. I remember stealing all of his pencils out of his desk during recess one day so that he had to ask to borrow mine for a week straight. I remember doing my state project on Oklahoma and making it all about Mickey Mantle because McDreamy was a Yankees fan. I ALWAYS put my violin next to his viola after orchestra practice and  watched from the top of the slide as he played basketball during lunch. You guys, it worked. About halfway through the year he sent his BFF over to me when I was walking to the bus and had him ask me out. Pretty sure that my exact response was, "LOL sure." Regardless, I was a taken woman and my new hottie came in for a hug. His viola case smashed into my knee making it painfully awkward (like what I did there? HA) and I was not mature enough to laugh it off so I ran up those bus stairs and didn't look back until I was safely seated and blasting Hilary Duff's "Rock This World" on my portable CD player.

Fast forward to the next morning: I show up to school and what to I hear? My idiot boyfriend, standing outside our classroom door, announcing to the whole class, that he and I were a couple. Um, excuse me? Did he not hear that the teacher would tell our mothers if she found out that any of us were pairing off?! "That's it," I declared, "he was is too much of a risk at that point in my life." So I avoided him just as hard as I had been flirting a week before. And it also worked. 

Sometime in between that and my senior year we managed to break up. I know that because as we cheated off of each others biology tests we were able to laugh about that hug and I could finally admit why I decided to ignore him for seven years. As an extra sign of maturity, I was able to lend him pencils without expecting an exclusive relationship.

So I suppose I did grow up a little.

But as I was laying in bed last night, reflecting on this last week, I realized how much has not changed in my flirtation technique. I hide Cam's shoes just so that he has to ask me where they are every morning. I pretend to talk sports and say, "that would be me if I played ____" every time someone does something impressive. Just so that he knows that I'd be super athletic if I was a 7 foot man. I say things like, "look how cute I am" just so that eventually he'll subconsciously begin to think I'm actually cute and maybe one day he will want to mate with me. 

The difference between Cam and my blast-in-the-past hunk is that instead of being the mature fifth grader, Cam is more of a sports-obsessed second grade tot that is afraid of cooties. I snuggle up to him and pucker up for some smooches and he palms my face and pushes me to the edge of the bed. I kiss his cute little belly and he wipes it off. I chase him around the house begging to be adored and he hides in the bath and scrolls through Twitter to help clear his mind. At this point I am pretty sure that when he says, "Katie! You know that I hate that!" is his way of reassuring me of his love and it let's me know that I'm headed in the right direction. Hahaha

Don't get me wrong, he gives me tons of attention and humors me every time I tag him in hilarious things on Facebook. I get millions of smooches and we get to cuddle at least 4 times each week which is technically the majority, but when I really take time and stop in the moment I can't believe that two of the most childish people (probably in all of Washington at least) have been married for a year in a half. And it's actually been working out pretty well so far.

So to the boy that once told me, "you need to just choose the team that you're going to watch every game. Study their stuff, really dedicate you life to it. It would make you a more interesting person,"I love you. Thanks for loving me back no matter what.

So, being the problem-solver that I am, I hopped in my car, rushed to Seattle, picked up his lunch, and took it to his work. At 10AM. HA and once I got there and surprised him, all of his work buddies came and welcomed me.  I don't know if I was just flustered or excited or what, but I got super nervous all of a sudden. All I could think was, "These are the people that pay him the big bucks." So, of course, I was all, "Oh hey, Cam talks about you all of the time. He wants to steal your job." HA WHAT. Please excuse me while I learn how to act in social situations. Haha but then his lead boss came out and she was a big Bachelor fan; finally I felt calm. Well besides being really excited to meet another Bachelor fan. Finally Cam graced me with a good old, "Well babe, I better get back to work" so I rushed out of there, took a deep breath, and headed back home to decorate, wrap presents, and make a cake.

Growing up my mom always had our age in balloons waiting for us when we got home from school. So like for my ninth birthday I had nine balloons. I always loved it and I want to continue to do that with our kids one day. So I blew up 26 balloons, taped up some streamers, and hung a little banner. Decorations? Good enough. 

Okay, first, let this be said. If I had to define myself I would probably say that I thrive off of last-minute ideas but really, really good intentions. That was this cake. I was going to frost the cake white, sprinkle on a black G, and outline it in red sprinkles. Then, without thinking obviously, I added just a drop of red food coloring to the frosting. Pink Frosting. So what do you do? Add more red? I added an entire tube of red food coloring and I had a somewhat darker pink frosting. So I bailed on the whole white cake idea, decided that Cam was colorblind enough to think that it was red, and sprinkled on a G. Upside Down. HA strike two, Katie. After scraping off the top of the cake, remaking a stencil, and re-sprinkling the G, I had to finally just tell Cam to fake excitement and that next year it would be better. 

 When Cam finally got home from work he was SO EXCITED. Like big smile as soon as he opened the door that made the butterflies in my stomach go wild. He clipped this balloon that his co-workers got him to the pup and Herschel had the time of his life trying to catch it. 

Traditions are big deal to Cameron. I remember when we were first just talking, he was at a Christmas party that his family throws every year and he really just talked about how some of his best memories came from family traditions that he had growing up.  In my family, on our birthdays, we always ate our favorite dinner, opened presents, then had cake. Cam, of course, wanted jalapeno stuffed burgers and fries but was still full from his lunch, so I made up a small plate for him to chow down. Because, presents.

Herschel was not impressed with the party hats. UGH I LOVE HIM.

Then for the real presents. His authentic Le'veon Bell Jersey (made with the right material) wasn't scheduled to arrive until that weekend so substituted his other Steelers Jersey in its place. Finally came some excitement/relief as he realized that I actually had gotten him something sports related.

Lastly came the authentic Herschel Walker signed Georgia helmet. 

Followed by the biggest, realest smile I had seen all night. And maybe a tear or two.

Crushed it.

We celebrated by trying to selfie. We put my camera on a shelf so it was more of a shelfie. HAHA. I didn't take the time to focus my camera so all of the pictures were blurry and I ended up falling down in the last two. May I direct you back to the "last-minute ideas but really really good intentions" thing. 

I really am so grateful to have the chance to celebrate Cam all day long. He kept saying, "I wish every day could be my birthday" and it really just made it the best day ever. Because even though it felt like so many things were going wrong throughout the day, it was still a special day for Cam. And he still appreciate the entire day from start to finish.

Happy Birthday, Cam. I love you more than Herschel loves popping balloons.

Do you ever do the thing where you look at your phone and see that you have 7 unread emails and it's totally manageable so you decide to delete them later? Then three days go by and now you have eleven times as many unread emails and it seems like a lot so you continue to put off deleting them? And then before you know it the little red bubble above the app reads 346 and it's overwhelming but you just finally buckle down and delete them? No? I am probably the only one with that kind of problem. ANYWAY. That is how I feel about this little blog of mine.

Between the Fourth of July (I know, that was 4ever ago - hahah Just came to me) and KyKo staying with us for a week, I have more pictures than unread emails and so so many memories to post. And I am so behind that I just want to put it off but Cam's birthday is tomorrow, is today, was last Thursday (FAIL) and our anniversary is  this weekend and we all know that I need to document those. Basically I don't want to fall even more behind but I would have to have like three blog posts just to catch up. So I present to you lots of pictures from the weekend with KyKo.