Weird Week

So it's been days of snow/sleet/rain and just general cold. Didn't get a lot accomplished during the week. Cammie has enjoyed sledding and playing in the snow. Friday Alice came out to stay with her and Joe and I went to Kohls (I had Kohls bucks that were getting ready to expire) and then to dinner at La Fiesta (YUM). Best burrito I ever had! Then we went to the Union party at Serafinos in Ellicott City and that was lots of fun, I saw a lot of people that I haven't seen in a while and a lot of people that I have no idea who they are. We had a good time and when we got home Cammie was asleep so we went for our second dip of the day in the hot tub!! On Saturday the Dieter/Deaver crew came out and that was a wild time as usual. There was partying in Cammie's room and running down the hall and whatever they did was awesome because as soon as they left, Cammie passed out!! And it was only 730!! I immediately went to bed and watched Phineas and Ferb, Rollercoaster the Musical (funny!) and fell asleep. Cammie woke me up at some point standing by the bed, saying Mommy, it's me Cammie. Joe came home from work this morning and while Cammie was taking her afternoon nap we snuck in another dip in the tub!! I'm getting ready to go wake her up now!!

Cammie and PopPop Fish

Saturday Cammie, Donna, Melissa and Kristink (and myself) went to Meaghan's baby shower and had fun! We all ate too much and I gave Kristen and Melissa one job to do on the way home, which was to keep Cammie awake and they failed!! She fell asleep with out the bink even!! Sunday Joe had to go to work so Cammie and I got some stuff done at home and then we headed out to buy a paper since the Sun can not get our delivery right. Oh, Cammie also told me that she would trade her bink in for a bike but she took it back when I told her that we couldn't go to the store right then. While we were out she requested ice cream, fries, blueberries and to see Daddy. So we went to McDonalds and got a happy meal and one of those berry smoothies. She took one drink of it and proclaimed it YOGURT! (Which she does like) and wouldn't drink any more of it. Not sure what that was all about. She did enjoy the fries, stating that they were so good. Then we headed for the firehouse to see Daddy. He was greeted with "Hi, it's me Cammie". Just in case he was unsure as to who the little cutie was. She made herself right at home and gave him some instruction on how to pump the fire engine, telling him where the hose went. We didn't stay long since someone called 911. She fell asleep pretty early but woke up often throughout the night and woke up early this morning. She didn't take a nap today but fell asleep at around 545 and we got right in the hot tub. She is still sleeping so I'm headed for bed shortly since I got all my coupons organized and my to do list done. Earlier today she did take off her clothes and inform me that she was going to the beach. I'm not sure which beach and it is awfully cold out so I'm not sure what is going on with that. We did some shrinky dinks (FUN) and made some jewelry. Uh oh, someone is up.

Our artist in training

Today I had another cleaning session sponsored by Five Hour Energy. I got a ton of stuff done and even made baked ziti for a party tomorrow and for dinner tonight. The best part of the day, aside from Granny Franny and PopPop Fish coming over for dinner was that I got to go get a massage. It was heaven! Cammie had the best time playing with the Fishers and we enjoyed hanging out with them as usual. We also got our Epic Mickey game which is really kind of weird. I don't know what the age on it is but it is very dark. Then we actually managed to get our Wii hooked up so we can watch Netflix on it. I was pretty proud of us! Now I am waiting for Cammie to go to sleep....... Wish me luck!

Playing Mariokart on Wii

I think I need a pair of pj's like Cammie has, they say Fatigued on the front. She is not. Tuesday Joe had to take Clyde to the vet to get the spots on his neck checked out. She said they probably were from the puppy biting at his neck and then he scratched them and they got infected. So he is on antibiotics again as well as a special cleaner in the morning and a spray at night. Cammie's fingers are much better but we still think her fingernail is going to fall off. She is working the injury too, every once in a while she'll fake cry and say "I fall off chair". Poor thing! Yesterday we went to lunch at Uno's and she was rocking her cowboy boots! Then Joe took her home and I ran a couple of errands. She also fell asleep at 8 last night so Joe and I got to get in the hot tub which was really nice since it had been about two weeks since we were able to get into it! Cammie has also discovered her inner artist and is loving painting. She is also very anxious to go to the beach and to school. We are trying to use those requests to get her to lose the bink and try the potty again. No luck yet.

Taking time to remember our happy place!

Well, in keeping with the year so far, this past week and weekend has been busy and flew by. We got a bunch of stuff done this week. Thursday we met Jennifer and Brody at Red Robin for lunch and cruised the mall a little bit. Friday Cammie and I went to Missi's house for a play date with Cammie and Morgan. I'm not sure we will be invited back though. We were all sitting at the table and the girls were painting and having a snack, all of the sudden Cammie turned around in her chair and then the whole thing was on the floor. When I picked her up there was blood everywhere and I was afraid to look at her face but it was fine, she smashed her first, second and third fingers on her left hand. Ugh, she was screaming for Daddy. Poor Missi was helping to get the bleeding stopped. I was trying to call Joe at work and there was no answer, I finally got him on his cell and he said to bring Cammie to the fire house. I tried to call her pediatrician on the way and it kept rolling to voice mail, she screamed most of the way from Mt. Airy to West Friendship. In between yelling she would cry for the "baby doggie" so I think at some point I promised her another puppy. I was so glad to get to Station 3. Joe cleaned her fingers off and put bandaids on them for her. They are pretty bruised on the tips but she can move them which is good. Sigh..... Once we got home and got settled she passed out at about 530 and stayed asleep most of the night, I kept her in bed with me and she woke for a while about 10 or so and wanted a snack. Saturday Alice came out and we went to the Hagerstown outlets which were a lot closer than I thought they would be. We found some great deals and Cammie was very good except for a little devil coming out when she was on the playground. Joe fixed us dinner when we got home and then Cammie got a bath from Aunt Alice and a promise that if she pees in the potty we can all go to the beach. So far no trips are on the books. Stay tuned though!

Lily got adopted!!!

It's been busy as usual and Cammie is continuing her sleep deprivation tactics. Last Thursday we met Jenn, Matt and Brody for lunch at Cracker Barrel and then went to their house so we could talk Disney and we also booked a June trip to Great Wolf. Saturday Joe had to go back to work. Cammie and I went to Timothy's Superhero birthday party and had lots of fun! Afterwards we stopped in at my Mom and Dad's so Cammie could see their tree! She loved seeing Christmas lights again. Sunday I dropped Cammie off at Donna's so I could go the Lab Rescue Adoption Day in Gaithersburg. She had lots of fun and Kristen brought Riley over so Cammie had fun playing with her. The adoption day was successful too, 13 dogs got adopted which made 30 for the year so far! Joe took Michael and Donna to Timmy's house to watch the football game so Cammie and I stopped by for a bit and she got to play with Tanner and Morgan and I finally got to see my friend Missi's new baby! Last night Cammie actually fell asleep at 830 so we got to get our soak on! It felt very nice. Today we just ran some errands and I got some great deals at CVS but we went to the one in Ellicott City and it was crazy in there. I did my sale paper/coupon combo and saved almost 80 bucks! This afternoon a super nice family came to meet Lily and they adopted her!! So I'm sure she is enjoying her new family this evening! Cammie cried when she left. I'm glad Lily has her forever family!

Happy New Puppy!! I mean New Year!!

(The puppy is a foster, we haven't completely lost our minds!!) Well the first part of the new year has been a blur. New Year's Eve we waited patiently for the Maytag repairman to come and fix our fridge (it's been freezing everything and the troubleshooting that the lady that Joe talked to previously didn't work.) He was supposed to come between 8 and 12 and the service even called at about 9 to tell us he would be there between 8 and 12. At 12 we called them back and Joe talked to the same lady who called and she said that the serviceman had gone to our house and the people there didn't know what he was talking about so he cleared the call. Does that not make sense to anyone else? So we went to the Chinese food buffet for lunch but it was too crowded so we went to Hunan Manor instead. We were going to go to Toys R Us afterwards but I forgot the coupons so we went to Petsmart instead. Joe went into work OT at 7pm and left me to party with the wild woman. She is back into her stay up late, get up early routine again and I am most assuredly not a fan. Saturday we went to pick up the foster puppy, Lily in Germantown. She has been with us all week so far. Donna, Andrew and Paul came to see her and thought she was very cute. (she is!) Joe got off at 7pm and then had to back into work Sunday morning for his regular shift. I somehow missed the annual NYD dinner at Mommom's. I really have lost my mind. On Sunday Cammie and I hung out waiting for the phone to ring about Lily. I did get a text about her from Leslie who wanted to come over with Ben and play with the puppy. Fun! Cammie also took over and made them play Lego's with her in her room. Monday I had to take Cammie to the doctor because I thought she had a UTI, well they wanted me to get her to pee in a cup. Really? Then when that failed (big shock I know) they told me to put a bag on her. That went over well. I asked if they could just straight cath her and they said that was too traumatizing for the parent (OKAAAAAY) and the kids didn't like it either. Yes and I'm sure they love their vaccinations. I didn't tell her that I used to have to cath kids all the time and I sincerely doubt I would be bothered by it. But anyway, they sent us home to try to get a sample, which was lovely as Cammie screamed every time we put her near the potty. Finally Tuesday morning we got her to pee a little. So anyway, she doesn't have a uti but she has a yeast infection. I'm glad that was settled. Tuesday night we went out after dinner to Toys R Us and got a few things (like a new potty). Today Cammie and I met Mollie and Brady at the library to watch a Curious George movie and then we had lunch at McDonalds. For some reason it is taking me forever to clean the house so I'm hoping I can get some stuff done this evening. I did knock out our grocery shopping on Monday so we have food! Joe has been cooking all week, it's been awesome!!

Cool hat!

I think I'm still tired from Christmas!! This week has gone by in a blur too. Tuesday Joe took Cammie to the Bennett's to pick up some ground beef and when they got there one of the goats was having her kid so they got to see that (it would have been neat but I'm really not sad I missed it, you know how I feel about the whole birth thing....). Then Cammie helped out and fed the chickens and collected some eggs. She was getting in her practice for when we get our chickens in the spring! Joe said she did really well with it and only broke one. Today Alice came over and we went to Frederick to the mall. JC Penney had a good sale and I got a bunch of stuff for Cammie (of course) for 20 bucks!! I forgot the stroller so it was hard to do any real shopping since the wild woman was running around touching everything. We also went in Bath and Bodyworks and they were having an awesome sale but again it was hard to look around when Cammie was unscrewing the tops off of everything she could, smelling it and declaring it Delicious!! She did like looking at all the toys in Barnes and Noble (I could spend all day in there, I think that is my favorite store!) since you know she didn't get anything to play with for Christmas and she even looked at some books! We were going to go to lunch at Cracker Barrel (I'm having severe withdraw) but someone got sleepy when we got in the truck and more than a little cranky so we stopped at Roy Rogers instead. That was NOT an adequate substitute for CB! So now I'm craving chicken and dumplings and Chinese food. Weird. And NO Theresa I am NOT pregnant!! Cammie did fall asleep for about 15 minutes on the way home and she actually passed out a little bit ago so I am going to relax (or try) and watch the Big Bang. The dogs are already in bed warming it up for me! Well Clyde is still in the living room he hasn't noticed that the lights are off and everyone is gone. He's so sweet.

The Christmas dress was a success.

It was a busy few days leading up to Christmas and on Christmas eve we did a ton of cooking and cleaning and then we went to the Brown's. It was really hard hanging out with the girls and not giving away their Christmas present but we managed. Cammie had slept all the way there and stayed awake all the way home. We got home around 830 and she then stayed up until 11. Then we were in a rush to get the tree decorated and her doll nursery together. The tree that we got (artificial) wasn't nearly big enough so I only put out less than half our decorations. Duly noted for next year. I couldn't fall asleep after all the excitement and was up til probably 3. Then Cammie woke up 630!! We managed to keep her in bed until 7. She was so excited when she saw the tree and she couldn't wait to start ripping into her presents! My Mom and Dad came over and so did Uncle Gary and Uncle Michael. Cammie liked showing off all her loot. Bill, Donna and Andrew came over for breakfast too. Once we all got dressed we went to Donna and Bill's. Cammie had more fun opening her gifts and helping whoever would let her open theirs too. She also let Donna put her in Christmas dress and was very happy as long as everyone told her how beautiful she looked. She couldn't wait to show Paul and Daniel. Luckily she had changed back into her play clothes when Kristen pushed her into the dogs water dish (just kidding I know she "fell"). Then luckily Donna had gotten her a new outfit because she was soaked. After eating a bunch we headed back home to get ready for everyone to come over to our house. Alice, Mike, Matthew, Emily, Edd, Donna, Bill, Daniel, Kristen, Mary, Bill, Zack, Theresa, Nick, Laura, Julie and Nicholas all came over and hung out with us. We had lots of fun and ate more food. Cammie was showing off all her stuff to whoever would pay attention to her. We had a great day!

Sunday I was so tired, Joe thought he might get called for OT but he didn't so I went shopping with Donna and Andrew. We met Kristen at Target, and then we went to Hallmark and Michaels. It wasn't as bad as I had feared it would be. I got a ton of stuff on sale and then came home for a nap. Joe did go to work today, it is crazy windy again and it drives the dogs crazy and they start barking which drives me crazy so it's been a long day. I also spent over two hours putting together Cammie's new barn. I think it would have been easier to build a real barn. So anyway, she couldn't wait to play with it and kept tossing animals in while I was building (and swearing). As soon as I finished and set it up she went over to it and hasn't even looked at it since. Grrrr.... Hopefully she will fall asleep soon because I am oh so ready for bed! Hope everyone had a great Christmas!!

The Rockstar is ready for Christmas!!!!

HO HO... Snow???

Cammie and Joe had a great time sledding down the hill in the back yard yesterday morning. Emily came to get Cammie and Joe and I spent most of the day running errands. Cammie spent the night at Alice's and then Alice and Emily came over today to bake cookies. YUM!

Back to reality

Ugh..... I think we need a vacation after a Disney vacation. We were both wiped out over the weekend and I didn't feel good at all. Joe ended up going to work for 12 hours on Sunday and I don't think I finished unpacking til about Tuesday. Monday Joe and I took Cammie to her last session of gymnastics. She did a lot of showing off for Daddy but she participated a bit more than she usually does. She even did some of the stretches. We decided to pass on the next class and then sign her up again maybe in the spring. Tuesday passed in a blur, I don't remember what we did. Wednesday Joe went back to work and Cammie and I went to my appointment with Anneliese at Pain Management. She changed some of my pain meds around and then gave me injections in that muscle spasm I had in my shoulder blade. It hurts less but it's still there. Yesterday we were supposed to go to the Union Executive Board dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse at Pier 5 in Baltimore. It started snowing in mid morning while Joe was at the union meeting and around lunch time Kristen G texted me to see if we were still going and at that time we were. She wanted to know if she could come over then because of the snow and she did. As soon as she walked in the door Joe texted me that they cancelled the dinner. AHHHHH Kristen said as soon as she got out on main roads it was fine. It's just our driveway that sucks, which Joe found out when he got home. Mike Freeman's son plowed it in front of him so he could get up it and then Dean came over later to check something on Joe's plow so hopefully we are all set for the next snow on Saturday which of course will happen when Joe is at work. Got to do some shopping, grocery and otherwise today. Hope we can make it off the hill! Stay warm!!

Downtown Disney

We checked out of the lodge yesterday morning kicking and screaming. All of us were looking for a reason to stay! Well actually a reason to go home. We ate breakfast at Whispering Canyon in the lobby of the lodge and it was so good! All you can eat and they bring it to you! It doesn't get any better than that. Jennifer and I decided that they must put a little something extra in the Mickey waffles because they are addictive. After breakfast we took the bus to Downtown Disney and enjoy the beautiful day. The best weather days were the day we arrived and the day we left. It's hard to shop with Cammie in tow so Joe and I didn't do much but we did get a couple of things. It was really crowded too. We also found out that it was snowing or some such foul weather event at home so we began to hope that our flight would get cancelled. Cammie and Joe got on the carousel and then we watched some kids from Australia perform and Cammie entertained the people around us with her smooth moves. We ate lunch at the T Rex Cafe which was really cool. Actually it was more of a snack since we were all still pretty full from breakfast. After that we had to go back to the lodge to get ready to get picked up. We hung out by the fireplace for a bit and then Juan came to take us to the airport. We were still hoping that our flight would get cancelled especially when the 630 flight to Baltimore was delayed until 930. This sucked because a bunch of people got on our flight and it was completely full and then people had too much carry on luggage and they had to start checking baggage and we were late leaving. It was however the first time in a while that we left Orlando and it wasn't storming. The taxi to the runway is so long though it feels like you are just driving home. The flight was pretty uneventful until the descent, Cammie had some ear issues and started screaming. That was lovely. Of course when we landed and were waiting to get off the plane she was standing on the seat full of smiles saying Surprise! Mr Matt! Hi! and things like that so hopefully she redeemed herself to the other passengers. On a related note I do wish that grumpy people who don't like kids would not go to Disney. Why are they surprised when there are kids there who are all hopped up on Mickey? I find them irritating. So anyway, we made it home and up the driveway (that did take a couple of tries) and had a quick soak. The dogs (and Cammie) let us sleep in this morning which was really nice. We were disappointed to not have an all you can eat breakfast this morning but we'll have to work on that I suppose. We had a great vacation and can't wait to return as usual!

It's our last day. :o(

I forgot to mention that yesterday we also got on the Haunted Mansion ride which everyone braved!! Today was much warmer and would have been super nice if the wind wasn't blowing. Of course it is supposed to be 70 tomorrow because we are leaving. After spending most of the day at Downtown Disney of course!! The firsts continued today, as we were leaving the villas EMS was rolling a stretcher in for someone. Then we headed by boat over to the Contemporary to have breakfast at Chef Mickeys. It was the best! Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto and Donald all visited our table and the food was so good. We were full most of the day afterwards. It was lots of fun. From there we went by monorail to EPCOT and everyone checked out Innovations. I went to get fast passes for Soaring and while I was there, EMS rolled a stretcher by. (I know.) Then coming back up the steps this man tripped and almost knocked both of us down. I did make it back to the group in one piece and we found the place that has the different flavors of Coke, some are pretty bad. Cammie liked the one from Israel, it kind of tasted like Sierra Mist but more sugary lemony if that makes sense. We tried to go to the countries after that and made it to Canada where we listened to Papa Noel tell the story of Christmas. It was really neat and Cammie sat on the ground with all the other kids and Daddy. The cute Cammie ended not long after the story did and she turned into tired mean Cammie so we didn't make it very far around the world. We decided to try to go to Hollywood Studios instead. Aerosmith was on the to do list and we caught the end of the Block party which was AWESOME. Cammie loved that and we thought that since she had had a brief nap she would be OK but she morphed back into a bear so we returned to the room. It was about dinner time so we picked up sandwiches from the canteen and then Alice took Cammie down to get in the pool and Joe and I got in the hot tub. It was nice but I like ours better. Oh and in EPCOT Alice almost had a seagull fly into her head and then a duck tried to trip her. Sadly we are getting things ready to leave for tomorrow. We are having breakfast at Whispering Canyon and then going downtown. Going to pack one more day of fun in before we head to the airport.

Our Disney Princess

Today was warmer than yesterday but still pretty chilly. We all met in the lobby and took the bus to Magic Kingdom. In some combination of the group we got on The Flying Carpets, Tree house, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain, It's a Small World, Snow White, Peter Pan, the Race cars and we also saw the little show Captain Jack Sparrow's pirate tutorial. Brooke and Brody got to be honorary pirates and we also saw the Philharmagic show for the first time. It was really cool. The mandatory rest period was late this afternoon so we had a late dinner at Trails End with everyone plus David and Michelle and Jake and Sarah. After dinner we took a walk around the campground and checked out the Christmas lights which were AWESOME!! Dinner was really yummy too! While we were waiting for the boat to take us back to the lodge we caught the water Electrical light parade and then we hit up the arcade for a little while. Cammie just finally fell asleep and soon it will be lights out for all of us. Another magical day in the happiest place on earth!!!