Under the Sea, Now I'm 3!!

One of my favorite hobbies is planning a good party! My favorite parties to plan are those for my two most favorite people in the world; my babies! When we started planning Cammi's party a few months back it was between a 'magical fairy party and a mermaid party.' At the time, for some reason or another, Cammi was obsessed with mermaids! She loves all mermaids, not just Ariel. I think the love for this magical/mystical creature stemmed from watching Barbie's Mermaid Tale. From this point forward she talked consistently about mermaids! She also chose to be a mermaid for Halloween and the decision was made... A mermaid party was in the works for the big - 3, January 2012.

I usually start nailing down all of the details as soon as the holidays commence January 1. I received a very generous gift from a friend this year, a new sewing machine! This little piece of equipment helped me to create 10 little mermaid tails. Cammi picked out a beautiful ocean blue and I started sewing! Other details requiring a little prep work were the decorations, seaweed banners, table tents, and sand bar. Cammi really helped out with whatever she could, and loved seeing her party come to life!

FINALLY, the big day was here - Saturday, January 28. We had family arriving from as far as Wisconsin, other family arriving from central and northern Illinois. I love nothing more than a home filled with loved ones!! I decided to invite only little girls this year around Cammi's age that she plays with or sees on a somewhat regular basis. This included 9 sweet little faces. The girls arrived and found their (already prepped) mermaid tails and were asked to personalize them with all sorts of goodies. There were jewels, sparkly letters, mermaids, shimmering fish, seaweed and scales.

Once the mermaid tales were complete, the girls "swam on down" to the basement for more Under the Sea fun!! There was a food station complete with PB&J and Ham & Cheese sushi rolls, goldfish, fish bowl jell-o, shark gummies, clam cookies, octopus dip and a chocolate fountain!

The girls also enjoyed filling up their fish jars at Mermaid Cammi's sand bar and no party is complete without a Mermaid Manicure!

And not to forget one of the most important aspects of a Gotts birthday party... the cake! Cammi chose the flavors - a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and a lemon cake with a lemon/vanilla buttercream. The cake was a two tiers with a purple mermaid on top of the blue sea! She waited all day to try this cake and was so excited for the first bite!!

The girls danced and played for a couple of hours before ending the adventure under the sea and needing a mermaid nap! Before everyone left, Cammi opened presents! Big brother, Brady was so helpful and kind as he handed her her presents one by one, generously helping with any hard to open packages. I was really proud of him the whole day! He was helpful and kind to all of our guests and such a good big brother to his sister.

The day was completely magical and everything a party should be! Family stayed around the rest of the evening and Cammi & Brady got to play with their cousins (& best friends) Marin & Emilie. They just love the time they get to spend together with their cousins. What a wonderful ending to a party under the sea! I wonder what she'll choose for her party next year?

20 Questions by Cammi

1. What is your favorite color? Pink & Purple


2. What is your favorite toy? Zhu Zhu Pets


3. What is your favorite fruit? Blackberries


4. What is your favorite TV show? Power Rangers


5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? French Fries and Apples


6. What is your favorite outfit? Ballerina clothes


7. What is our favorite game? Matching Games


8. What is your favorite snack? Animal crackers


9. What is your favorite animal? A big elephant


10. What is your favorite song? My little pony


11. What is your favorite book? Olivia


12. Who is your best friend? Lulu (& Tifanie)


13. What is your favorite cereal? Marshmallow cereal


14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Climb on the swing set


15. What is your favorite drink? Sprite


16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas


17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Elephant, Favorite Monkey & Paci


18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Pancakes


19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? French Fries & Chicken


20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A princess

By: Cammi Gotts, 3 years old

20 Questions by Brady

1. What is your favorite color? Red


2. What is your favorite toy? A Power Ranger Dino Thunder Morpher (it goes around your wrist, he tells me).


3. What is your favorite fruit? Oranges ("the little small oranges" - mandarin oranges)


4. What is your favorite TV Show? Lego Ninjago


5. What is you favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chicken & French Fries


6. What is your favorite outfit? Jeans & a Batman shirt


7. What is your favorite game? Wii Basketball game


8. What is your favorite snack? Graham crackers


9. What is your favorite animal? A tiger


10. What is your favorite song? Justin Beiber


11. What is your favorite book? The Batman & Joker book


12. Who is your best friend? My sister


13. What is your favorite cereal? Fruit loops


14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play baseball


15. What is your favorite drink? Pop (Orange)


16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas


17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? My power ranger bear


18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Toast


19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? Broccoli & Cauliflower


20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A police man

by: Brady Gotts, 4 1/2 years old

We are back!

After a lot of thought, I've decided it's time for this momma to start blogging again! I was looking over my past entries and realized not only is this such a nice way to document our day to day life, it's also something Brady and Camdyn can look back on... a personal diary of their life. Memories, pictures, personal notes from me... I had to get this blog back in action!

I don't want to miss a single moment of their life, not that I won't remember, because there is nothing in this world that could make me forget. But I want the two of them to be able to look back on all of their little moments... including the little things they do that make me smile every. day.
So much has happened since my last entry. First of all, Camdyn was only 2 months old!! She is now 3 years old! We just celebrated her birthday "Under the Sea, Now she's 3!!" this last weekend. She also goes by "Cammi". If you ask her, She will tell you "I'm not Camdyn, I Cammi". We filled our home with friends, family and 10 sweet little mermaids (and a couple of pirates!). I spent weeks leading up to the party creating mermaid tails and craft tables, seaweed, and mermaid accessories! And yes, I enjoyed every minute of it!! There is nothing I love more than planning a good party, especially a birthday party for my baby girl! (A separate blog entry to come solely dedicated to her party!)

Where has the time gone... I look back at the previous blogs and I feel like it was yesterday, but somehow it was nearly 3 years ago! I no longer have a baby in my home, no cribs, no diapers, no bouncers, boppies, dr. brown bottles, not even a baby toilet! My two little sweeties are potty trained, sleeping in toddler and full sized beds, counting to at least 15 (Cammi) 100 (Brady) and talking, playing, learning non-stop!! These two rarely slow down and even more seldom leave each other's side. I am so lucky to have these two as close as they are to one another, they are truly best friends.

A few fun facts about Cammi and who she is at 3...
*Cammi is sleeping in a toddler bed and has been for about 6 months. She still wakes me up during the night. Sometimes a lot. She has a hard time going back to sleep, once she's up she could be up for half the night!
*Cammi is a Momma's girl!
*She is all girl, but definitely knows how to play with the boys! She and Brady could play power rangers and super heroes all day long.
*She loves to play dress up!
*She loves movies.
*She can be a bit of a couch potato if you let her. She could snuggle and watch movies all day. (Sometimes I let her, I love my snuggles).
*Cammi does NOT like to play in the snow. She does not like to be cold!
*She sure knows how to give you a compliment! "mommy your hair is pretty." "mommy, is that a new shirt? it's so pretty."
*She loves to play with your hair, especially if it is wet!
*She LOVES power rangers!
*She also LOVES Disney princesses.
*Cammi is my shopper! We usually spend the time Brady is in school, shopping. Even if it's just looking.
*Her favorite accessory? SHOES!
*She loves to dance. Cammi just started ballet 3 weeks ago. Although she has a little bit of trouble leaving Mommy, she loves ballet. She comes out of class to greet me, BEAMING from ear to ear with a great, big smile.













Brady is in his 2nd year of preschool. He counts to no limit, recognizes the beginning letter in most words, adds simple equations (2+2, 3+3, 5+5, etc.), knows many words in Spanish (including colors), can count to ten in Spanish. He is very smart, and I am very proud of the little boy he is becoming. He has grown up so quickly! He makes me a proud Mommy every. single. day. with his gentleman like qualities, always holding a door for someone entering or leaving a store, saying please and thank you, politely interrupting with an "excuse me" when needing my attention when I am having a conversation with Daddy or a friend, helping around the house, cleaning up after himself, the list could go on and on. He is just a good kid. period.

A few fun facts about Brady and who he is at 4 1/2...
*If he could get by with it, he would NEVER wear a shirt!
*He has already lost his 2 bottom teeth!!
*Loves his Wii, my iPhone, his DS, the Kindle... the kid loves electronics. Of course we monitor his time spent on these games, but if he would he would spend hours playing. Keep in mind it is winter and Mommy and sissy prefer to stay indoors rather than play in the snow on a daily basis.
*He LOVES sports... this includes, Football at numero uno, followed by ILLINI and ND basketball. He also loves hockey, soccer and baseball.
*He does NOT like to lose.
*His favorite teams: Notre Dame, Illinois, Bears, and then pretty much any team that happens to be winning. He recently went to his first Notre Dame basketball game with Daddy. ND was playing Syracuse, the #1 team in the country. We say he must've been good luck because ND upset them and WON!!
*He loves to play with his sister. They play everything from power rangers to fixing and styling each others hair. He is a wonderful big brother and it makes my heart happy and I glow with pride each and every day over their bond. It's impenetrable and I hope it stays this strong forever.
*He loves to eat, and is still a string bean. He's tall but skinny as can be! He eats a ton of veggies, including raw green peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots... pretty much anything raw and fresh!
*He loves to ride his bike. He actually got out on it today (Jan 31st!) it was nearly 60 degrees today! *He loves company!! He's like his Momma in this aspect. We love to host parties and have a house full! I have never seen anyone so excited to have guests or family over. I think this is probably due to never living in the same town as the rest of our family. So anytime anyone is visiting he enjoys every minute of it!! I love this.
*He loves to play tackle football with Daddy. They play in nice weather and in the snow! He could do this all day.
*Brady loves his dog, Cooper. They are best buds!
*Best of all, he's still my cuddle bear. He loves to snuggle with his Mommy.

Camdyn's 2 month check up!

Camdyn is two months old! Well she is actually 9 1/2 weeks old, but she had her 2 month check up on Friday. We met with our new pediatrician in our new city and with a sigh of relief, he is wonderful! I can't tell you how happy that makes me... having a good doctor for Brady and Camdyn is so important!

So we met with the doctor, which is so much harder with the second child. I had both Camdyn and Brady with me for her visit. I spent most of my time trying to keep Brady inside the exam room! Which was next to impossible! He loves to open and close doors... he also loves to explore! Put these two "loves" together and it makes for a very interesting doctor's visit!

The doctor confirmed what I already knew... Camdyn is just perfect! She weighed in at 10 lbs even and 22 1/2 inches long. She is so much smaller than Brady at this age. He was 12 lbs 12 oz at his 2 month check up!

Here are a couple new pictures of Cam. Even though she's still so tiny... she's growing and changing every day!

What a weekend :/

We had our first trip to the Emergency Room this weekend... and hopefully our last!

Brady was supposed to be upstairs taking a nap Saturday morning in his crib when he must have decided enough is enough and tried to climb out! Brandon and I were both at home at the time... He was in the basement and I was nursing Camdyn downstairs. I heard Brady cry out for me and then his voice grew closer. I knew something was wrong. I scrambled for a place to set Camdyn down and ran for the stairway. There he was... an image burned into my memory forever, holding his arm, tears in his eyes and still screaming out "Mommy, Mommy!" Brandon was already upstairs at this point and we knew it was bad. We ran out the door, got into the car and headed for the hospital. Brady still in his pajamas and me in slippers! It took an excruciating 15 minutes to get to the hospital. Brandon did his best to drive like a mad man to get us there but it still seemed to take too long. Brady was so brave and strong curled up in my arms. I held him tight trying my best to dull the pain and let him know he was going to be ok.

We spent the rest of the day and evening at the hospital. He had to get admitted to the Pediatric floor. Finally at 5:30 pm he was actually put to sleep in the OR to set his arm and put it in a cast. Poor little guy has a cast from wrist to armpit! Brady was such a trooper. I couldn't believe how brave he was... even as they wheeled him away from me, into the OR, he never cried. I cried more then he did. Every moment of that day was like a bad dream... like a blur. It was so surreal. I couldn't believe my little baby was hurt. It made my heart hurt and it still aches...
We got home around 9:30 pm or so that night after being admitted around noon. It was a loooong day.

Brady is doing well now. The cast doesn't seem to bother him too much and he doesn't seem to be in any pain. He's getting a lot of TLC and extra spoiling from Mommy and Daddy! We got rid of the crib and he is sleeping on his mattress on the floor for now. I'm too scared to even have him sleep in the toddler bed at this point. We're too worried about him rolling out and falling on his arm.

We have a follow up appointment with the Pediatric Orthopedic Doctor on Monday. I am praying for a speedy recovery for my little man!! I love him with all my heart and I just hate that this had to happen to him...

When three became four...

I can't believe 8 weeks have passed since we welcomed Camdyn Harper into our family. Camdyn is perfect, absolutely perfect in every way! I truly feel like our family is complete... I have two healthy babies and I couldn't imagine a greater gift in life than that.

Camdyn was born on January 29th at 8:04 am. She was oh so tiny... to us anyways, weighing in at 6 lbs and 15 oz and 19 3/4 inches long. My delivery seemed so organized and simple this time around. Going into it knowing that we would have her via c section eliminated the element of surprise. We didn't have to go through hours and hours of labor before the surgery. We checked into the hospital at 5:30 am, got to our room and started the routine paperwork and preparation for her arrival. Brandon and I spent the two hours before surgery sharing our excitement with one another. Finally all of the waiting was about to be over and we would soon be holding Camdyn in our arms! It felt like we had just gotten to the hospital, time was flying by... We walked into the operating room at 7:30 am, I received my spinal/epidural combo medication and 34 minutes later we were holding Camdyn in our arms!! All of my fears melted away! She is healthy, beautiful and I knew at that moment everything was going to be okay.

In the last 8 weeks Camdyn has grown a lot. She is still my little peanut, but she is changing every day. She is around 10 lbs. She has gone from newborn sized diapers to size 1. She has grown out of her "newborn" sized clothes and into her 0-3/3 month clothing. She has started smiling at me! She grins, grunts, and girgles... She wiggles - a lot! She has started swatting at the objects on her play mat. She can hold her head up and look at me while laying on my chest. A lot has been happening these past 8 weeks and I have been taking in every moment.

Brady has been changing and growing as well. First and foremost he became a BIG BROTHER!!!

He gained a sense of responsibility and loyalty and unexplainable love for his baby sister. He is already so protective of her and so interested in her every squeak, grunt, cry and move. I was never worried about Brady feeling threatened by a new sibling, I knew he would love her and they would grow to be best friends. You can already see the bond between them. He loves to kiss her on her forehead, and give her hugs while always being so gentle. If she is upset, he is usually right there with one of her pacis to place in her mouth.

He loves to rub her head and look at her. He spends a lot of his time asking about his "sissy" too!

In the last 8 weeks Brady became a big brother. He has pretty much lost all interest in Elmo, but gained an obsession with Barney. He started gymnastics and loves it! He has grown out of his 18-24 month sized jeans and into a new size 2T. He loves ice cream and gummy bears! His vocabulary has expanded even more, now including "Cami". He loves his tools! He has two sets now and still tries to take the real ones from Daddy. He loves to climb the swing set outside and go down the slide! He has started potty training and usually makes it in the potty at least once a day!

In the midst of Camdyn and Brady growing and learning to do new things, we moved!! We didn't just move to a new house, but to a new city in a new state!! We're still adjusting to our new life in our new home but we're doing just fine because we love each other, we're together and that's all that matters!