House update

We will have some Christmas posts up soon, but first - a picture update on the house. We still don't own it (but closing might, maybe, perhaps, be early next week) but these are some pictures from the last few times we have been in there.

Here is the kitchen, complete with finished countertops, backsplash and appliances.
Looking from the living room into the dining room. Stairs to go up are to the right. The garage, taken from the mudroom steps. We have a very shiny floor, I think it is from some kind of concrete sealer.
The office, which is downstairs in the front of the house.
The guest bedroom, complete with lovely carpeting.
The master bedroom.
Master bathroom - the only thing missing is the shower doors, which are in there now.
The other side of the master bathroom.
Upstairs main bathroom

Decorating for Christmas

We haven't been all that good about posting this month. It has been a bit crazy, with lots of drama related to closing on the new house. We haven't closed yet, but the house is done. I don't really want to write about that right now though!!

Instead, here are some cute pictures of Cameron decorating Nana and Poppa's Christmas tree. He LOVED it and really did a good job. He hung all of the ornaments on the bottom branches, and he knew what he hung where. When Nana tried to move some of them the next morning, he quickly noticed and demanded they be moved back to his original placement. One of Cam's favorite games since the tree has been up is playing hide-and-seek on the tree. Someone asks him, "Can you find a shell?" and he points one out. Cam's favorite ornaments to look for are the nutcrackers.

Cam ready to put the first few ornaments on the tree.
Cameron is obsessed with cuckoo clocks, so he was excited to find this ornament (despite the complete lack of excitement on his face!)
Mama, Nana, Poppa and Cam all put ornaments on the tree
Adding more ornaments
Nana and Cam look at an ornament with Cameron's hand print on it. He made it when he was a tiny baby (one month old) and we can't believe how big he has gotten in two years!
Cameron examining his handiwork.
The fragile ornaments that I can't touch are waaaaaaaay up high!
Christmas boy

And completely unrelated to Christmas at all, here are a couple more cute pictures of Cameron in a box. We got a four foot long down rod for the fan in our family room, and the box it came in was abnormally large. Cameron had a good day at school (no biting!), so his special surprise when he got home was to play in this large box. He loved it and made everyone climb into the box with him at one point or another. It was very cute!

Thanksgiving in Rochester

This year we spent Thanksgiving in Rochester. We had Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle Jim and Aunt Jill's house. There were two turkeys, tons of side dishes and about ten different pies. Everything was great!! Cameron had a wonderful time playing with all of his cousins - he wasn't always quick enough to keep up but they did a great job making sure he was included.

Everyone ganged up on Uncle Matt, and Cameron got in on the fun. If you look really close, you can see Cam's face smushed into the middle of the pile!
In the middle of all of the craziness, Cam took a break with Nana to look at the fish and relax.

When it got late, it was time for Cam to put on pajamas. Before he got his pjs on, he asked to have some Nakie Time. Luckily, Nakie Time includes a diaper!! Cam found a huge Guinness pint glass hat and had a great time with it.

Check out my hat!
Yep, I know I look pretty darn cute.
Peek-a-boo!
Cam kept pulling down the hat and stumbling around not being able to see.
It was really funny, and he only got hurt once. :-P
Yikes, it has been a looooooong night.

A walk in the woods

Before Thanksgiving, Cameron went for a walk in the woods behind our new house with Poppa and Daddy. They explored the easement behind the house and went down to the river.

First Poppa gave Cameron a ride.
Then he took a turn on Daddy's shoulders.

Walking along the easement, which could also be a stream if there is enough water.

Getting closer to the river.

Cameron is the king of the mountain!

View of the river
They walked back up to the house and walked around the backyard.Cameron with a tree his size (and a ball he found along the way).

House: Almost Done!

The house is coming along pretty quickly now. These pictures were taken last week, but even since then a lot has been done. We are keeping our fingers crossed that our house will be ready in a week or two.

The kitchen cabinets are all in, and so are the appliances.
Laundry room - everything is done except for the laundry sink and counter top (and the washer/dryer, of course)
The master bathroom with the tiling almost done. They still need to paint above the tile, and add another row on the left side of the shower. Then they will put up the glass wall and door.
The completed stairs and banister
Cameron really wanted to be in a picture showing something, so in this picture he is showing the inside of the cabinet (his choice).
Since these photos were taken, the carpet has gone in, all of the lights are pretty much done, and we are on our third tub. Yes, that is right, the third tub! The first one had a chip in it (you can see it in the bathroom photo above), then the replacement had some other mess-ups in it. So right now the third tub is sitting in our closet, waiting to be installed.

This post also sat in draft for a while so its about a week old. We have newer pictures but just haven't gotten around to putting them up yet. I'm going to go ahead and post this and hopefully soon we will get the others up.

Welcome Santa Breakfast

Last weekend we went to a Welcome Santa breakfast at the Great Northern Mall. Cameron liked it quite a bit. First we stood in line to get Cam's gift (some snacks, an ornament to make, some coloring sheets) and then we got some breakfast. We sat down to eat just as Santa came in. He came in on an antique firetruck, which was quite a sight to see driving around inside the food court of the mall. Cameron was kind of dazed, just staring and slowly waving, watching Santa as he made his way around. He recovered quickly and went to check out a doggie first, then went to see Santa. He really liked both, especially Santa. When he got up to the front of the Santa line, he held his arms up, said "Up, please" and happily climbed onto Santa's lap. None of the photos we got were any good because they had to be taken so quickly.

Cam with a dog that was there before Santa got there.With Santa. I am not sure what the goofy expression is from.
After breakfast we wandered around the mall a bit. I let Cameron go where he wanted, so it was funny to see what he wanted to look at. First we looked at two Christmas trees (and he asked "Me touch, please? Me be careful"), then at a sports car that was parked in the mall (where he wanted me to tell him all of the letters on the car), then we to the rides in the food court. He had no interest in going into any stores (not really a surprise!). Cam was really good the whole time and I think he had a lot of fun. It is great that he is old enough to enjoy this kind of stuff now.

Raking Leaves

A few weeks ago Tim was gone for the weekend, attending a NE Patriots game. The weather was gorgeous so Cameron and I went outside to help Nana and Poppa rake leaves. Cam didn't do so much raking, but he definitely enjoyed being outside and helping with all of the activities associated with raking (except jumping in the leaves; he didn't like that because they were wet).

He started out by helping Poppa pull a sled full of leaf bags into the front yard, and liked that. But pretty soon, Nana came up with a much better idea - Cam rode in the sled to "help" hold the leaf bags up. He LOVED it!! He kept urging us to fill the bags quicker so that he could have another rid into the front yard.

First, Cam got into the sled with the leaf bags.
The Poppa would pull him into the front.
Wheeeee!!!
Cameron took his job of holding up the leaf bags very seriously.
After dropping off the leaf bags in the front yard, Cam would get a high speed ride back into the back yard.
He LOVED those rides too.
The ride would always end by crashing into the leaf pile.
Timber!
Then Cameron decided to give Nana a ride. He gave up fairly quickly, declaring "You too big Nana. You pull me."

These photos have nothing to do with raking leaves, they are just cute pictures from another night. At this birthday party, Bridgette showed Cameron how to make a giant bead snake/circle. He has been making them every since.
This is Cameron's "CHEESE" smile.
He loves stretching out inside the circle. If you want to come into the circle too, he will break the beads so there is an opening in the circle - that lets you in. You walk in and he puts the circle back together. You can only get back out if he opens the circle again for you.

Cam Cutes: Random Stuff

Cameron has been especially cute lately (and also, especially trying... but the terrible twos are for another post!) so I want to record a couple stories and photos.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First, a photo from Cameron's birthday. This was a couple hours after he actually turned two, but Mama had to have a picture with him on his big day!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cameron "helped" Poppa open a bottle of wine and got the cork as his prize. He spent the entire night playing with the cork. When he was in the bath, he spent a ton of time trying to make the cork sink. He thought it was hilarious that it kept popping back to the surface. Tim was giving him that particular bath, so when I came up to get him into pajamas, I asked him what he was playing with.
Mama: What is that you have, Cam?
Cam: A porcupine, Mama!
Mama: What? No, silly boy, it is a cork!
Cam: It's a cork-u-pine!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One day Cam was a bit tired out, so he wanted to relax and watch some TV. He got on the couch and asked for two pillows and a blanket, just like Nana uses. He snuggled in, chewed his hand and relaxed for a few minutes. Luckily, I got a picture of the cuteness!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We have been spending a ton of time at various home improvement stores, trying to get everything that we need for the new house. Cam comes along for most of the trips, so now he is very familiar with the stores, where to go, who to ask for stickers, and can do various gymnastics in, around and on top of the carts. Every time that he gets in the car these days, he asks "We go to Home Depot?". Sometimes we spend an hour or two there, and he is so good, so patient. He keeps himself busy on and around the cart, playing with toys out of my purse, pushing the cart down the aisle and charming the people who work there. He is such a good boy!