Hoping for Spring

Posted by Ally on March 1, 2015 in Uncategorized

It’s been a long but busy winter for us with the two kids. Looking forward to spring and getting outdoors more as it was too cold most days to take the baby outside and with the snow taller than me, never mind Cam, playing outside was limited this winter. We are happy it is finally March! Here are some pictures since we did our last post, it’s been awhile! Feels like Christmas was so long ago!

Playing in the snow before it got too deep!

Leaving sugar cookies out for Santa Christmas Eve

Cal happy for Christmas Morning

We have been getting out here and there when we can. One special trip we brought Cam into the city for New Year’s Day to see the ice sculptures. The highlight of his trip was going on the the T though, he thought it was so fun!

It is amazing how much Cam and Cal look alike. We often compare pictures of Cam when he was the same age as Cal and they really could have been twins. But they have their differences of course! Here’s pictures of the two of them, similar age and same exact props, haha! Guess who’s who…

Cam has become quite the ham for the camera. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a super cutie! He is at a great age, talking up a storm and exploring everything and anything.

“Cheese!!”

Enjoying a s’more on an overnight adventure with Dad

A rare event with the two of them behaving for a photo

Cal has been chewing on anything within reach as his first tooth broke through this past week

We were able to get out and finally start some hiking this past weekend as temperatures felt above freezing. With Caleb approaching 20 pounds I need to start getting used to him in a pack so hoping for an early spring!

Turning Two!

Posted by Ally on October 12, 2014 in General

This past week Cam celebrated his second birthday! We can’t believe he’s two already, seems like just yesterday he was Cal’s age.

We wanted to do something special for him to celebrate, he’s always had an interest in fish, so we thought we would do a fish themed birthday. We got him a fish tank and set it up for him the Friday before his birthday when we was at daycare. He was so excited to see it when he got home. The next day we went to the pet store and picked out a few fish.

Cam’s own fish tank

His actual birthday was on Monday, since I’m still home with Cal, Eric took the day off from work and we took a trip into Boston to visit the aquarium.

The weather was perfect and the boys both cooperated on the drive in. It’s been a while since we’ve been to the city with Cam, he’s become much more aware since last time. He was so excited to see the tall buildings and all the trucks and buses driving around.

He had a blast at the aquarium and got to play in a couple of touch tanks.

Looking into the giant ocean aquarium

He loved the Stingray tank

Touching the Starfish

We made Cam’s favorite for dinner, Macaroni and Cheese! Then it was cake time, again following the fish theme.

So excited about Mac & Cheese

Fish Birthday Cake

Blowing out the candles

Delicious frosting

Showing his age

After the sugar high and the night was over Cam had a great time, and we had a blast too.

Keeping Busy!

Posted by Ally on April 21, 2014 in Uncategorized

Can’t believe we haven’t posted since January! Time flies when you’re having fun and running around after a one and half year old. Cam is doing great, now running at high speeds, babbling away, and discovering new things every day. Here’s a wrap-up of the last few months!

It was a long winter but luckily Cam loves outside no matter what the temperature, and so do we, so we made the best of it and enjoyed every new snow fall.

Every snow storm Cam made sure to test out the drive way with his car!

Eric dug a tunnel through a big snow bank and Cam actually crawled through it, we were amazed.

Valentine’s Day 2014

A typical evening at our house of cat chase dog and mom reading to child 😉

Sled ride in New Hampshire, Cam loved the horses.

We finally broke down and got Cam’s hair cut for the first time in February. We love his curls and couldn’t cut them all yet so left it a little shaggy!

1st hair cut

Cam loves bubbles!

March usually brings some warmer weather but we found ourselves still cold on St. Patrick’s day, hopefully now the warm weather is here to stay!

St. Patrick’s Day at Grandma’s 2014

Washing the cars with Dad.

Easter is definitely more fun with a toddler! We have had 3 Easter Eggs hunts in the last week that we ALL enjoyed!

Easter egg hunt #1

Couldn’t fit all the eggs in his hands, he wanted to hold them all.

A visit with the Easter Bunny

Decorating Easter Eggs

The finished product.

Scaling a rock wall for Easter Egg Hunt #2

Rusty helped Cam find the eggs!

Easter Egg Hunt #3 and enjoying a basket of goodies from Aunt Shelly.

Easter Egg Hunt #3 and enjoying a basket of goodies from Auntie Shelly. Rusty taking in the festivities as well!

We brought Cam to the marathon again this year, last year he was only 6 months old, but this year being 1 1/2 years old was a whole new experience, pretty sure we walked nearly 26.2 miles chasing around after him for the 3 hours we were there! Maybe we should let him just walk the route next year 😉

Trying to keep up with the marathon runners.

Water break and watching the runners with Mom.

Time for a rest.

For those that haven’t heard, Camron is going to be a big brother in September. We can’t wait and neither can he as he goes crazy every time I show him my belly (or he just really likes belly buttons 🙂 ) When we announced to our family and friends we had him wear these cute shirts depending on the occasional (we announced to my family at my mother’s St. Patrick’s Day Party).

One year old… where did that year go?

Posted by Ally on October 9, 2013 in Baby's First, General

Cam turned one this past Sunday, October 6th! We still can’t get over it!

For Cam’s birthday we thought it would be great to keep it simple and do something we know he loves. We went hiking of course… but not one of our usual local hikes, Cam has now officially “hiked” his first 4,000 footer in the white mountains, Mount Liberty. It was rainy at home but as we drove up north it remained overcast most of the day leaving us to the beautiful foliage and an 8 mile adventure. Cam did great, myself and Eric is another story! I haven’t done a 4,000 footer since I was pregnant! And Eric had quite the heavy pack, he swears Cam must weigh in around 50 pounds now a days! Here’s some pictures from his birthday.

Present time! Rusty helped him rip off the wrapping paper!

Looking cute as usual, even in his Super Cam Man PJs.

All bundled up and hydrating with mom’s camel bak before we started our big hike.

Rusty leading the way…

Keeping an eye on things over Eric’s shoulder…

Snack break!

We made it to the summit, not much of a view but well worth the journey.

Cam climbed in the driver’s seat, told us to rest up, he’d drive home.

And to end the great day, a cake smash! He was a little hesitant at first…

But then dug right in…

Literally…

The happy birthday boy

It’s been a busy couple of months, with a couple weddings of close friends, to enjoying the beautiful fall weather, we feel like we go nonstop. And with Cam on the move, crawling faster than the speed of light, walking holding onto anything and everything and taking steps on his own here and there, and just today figuring out how to stack objects so he can use them to climb over things such as safety gates, we see ourselves stopping no time soon! And we love every minute of it. There are days we just lie on the floor and belly laugh watching Cam do the funniest things.

You never know what child proofing a home means until you have a child. Cam has found things in our house that we never knew existed. One thing we needed to address was the cat’s litter box, and we therefore had to install a cat door… Cam still thinks this is a special toy to play with daily.

Cam looking for the Cat!

And eating… never knew what messy was… Thankfully Rusty eats most anything and has probably gained a couple pounds since Cam started eating solids, but when we don’t have Rusty with us is when we really notice the messes.

Nectarines definitely taste better if you smear them all over your face.

Here’s a couple pictures from our friends weddings of Cam all dressed up. He had the honor of being a ring bearer in my best friends wedding. That day he fought sleep and decided he would not nap before the 4pm ceremony, myself and Eric were sure Cam would scream or else sleep going down the aisle… but he ended up being a ham, gazing up at the crowd, maybe even winking at the cute flower girls on the way.

Cam holding the ring box and getting pulled down the aisle by Eric.

Sitting on Eric’s lap paying attention to the photographers… I mean ceremony…

Me and Cam ready for our friends wedding that Eric was a groomsmen in.

Here’s a couple other cute ones I just had to include… Enjoy!

Cool chair at Mountain Top Inn, cool kid getting ready to go hiking in his cool shirt that says “Let’s go hiking”

His formal “One year old” shoot with Dad!

9 Months Old!

Posted by Ally on July 13, 2013 in General, Travels

Cam is growing up fast! We can’t believe he just turned 9 months old! Over the past month we have been keeping busy with family, friends, and most importantly, staying cool! Here’s some pictures to highlight what Cam has been up to.

Cam visiting with his Great Grandparents.

We went on our first family vacation and brought Cam to our favorite spot, Acadia National Park. We’ve been the last 3 years for the Fourth of July, this being Cam’s first, and definitely not his last!

Eric and Cam resting during a hike up Mount Sargent.

Part of our week up in the park is waking up at 2am to catch sunrise on Cadillac Mountain on the Fourth of July, although we’re guessing as Cam becomes a little more opinionated he may opt for the lazy way up, and make us drive, boooo….

Rusty resting on the summit watching sunrise.

Top of Cadillac Mountain on the 4th of July. Notice the sleeping baby, he slept through it all.

While away, Cam finally started crawling forward! To make it more of a challenge on us, he chose to do it in the house we had rented which had all tile floor. After a couple bumps and bruises, he’s mastered crawling and has us running after him every which way!

Practicing his crawling on the lawn in Bar Harbor.

Pretty views from Compass Harbor.

Looking cute in his lobster shirt for our lobster dinner at Abel’s, you can watch the lobsters come off the boats.

Showing off his pearly whites, 5 teeth now! Happy to be on vacation.

Playing with Rusty in Camden Maine, where we stopped on our way up and back to break up the 6 hour ride with a 9 month old, but he did great!

Summer seems to be in full swing now, hot and humid days make for frequent trips to the lake, boating, and the pool! Our gym has a big outdoor pool that is great for kids. One 90 degree day we took a trip and cooled off!

Splashing around in the pool to keep cool.

Cam and Dad at the pool.

My 1st Mother’s Day

Posted by Ally on May 13, 2013 in Baby's First, General, Photos, Travels

It’s been quite a busy month around here for us and Cam. He has had lots of exciting firsts! And we continue to keep busy with the usual… making messes at meal time, bath time, and of course lots of hiking!

Very excited to be having some real food!

This gaze will get the girls some day (minus the food on the face).

Bath time!

Has started to hold onto Eric’s pack straps like they are reigns… hehe…

He still loves hiking, notice the smile, he now knows to smile for the camera, what a ham!

We signed him up for swim classes as soon as they’d allow him in the pool, so far only gone to two classes but he seems to enjoy it, no fussing anyways.

Rubber ducky in the pool!

He seemed pretty content in the water!

He pretty much sits up on his own, usually we just stay near to make sure he doesn’t take a face plant! The first couple times scared him but with some sidetracking with his favorite toy or a book, he easily forgets!

Sits up for a cute photo op with Dad at a friends photo shoot (notice his shirt has a camera on it, had to buy it!)

Sits up to play…

Getting big, soon he’ll be driving!

Cam got to ride on a plane for the first time as him and Eric tagged along for a conference of mine to Denver, Colorado. We were able to take a quick trip up to Boulder where the Rocky Mountains overlook the city and the views are breathtaking. Of course, Eric brought his camera for some nice landscape shots! We were lucky (although some would say “unlucky”) to see the Rockies covered with fresh snow, making it a true Colorado experience. The snow was gone the next day with the sun shining and temperatures in the 60’s. While the snow was falling we visited the fishies at the Denver City Aquarium as we know Cam loves fish!

Cam and me after walking around at the FlatIrons.

Looking down on Boulder with a blanket of fresh fallen snow.

Eric and Cam hanging out at the river by REI, Denver, where you can try out your kayaks before you buy them! So cool!

Me and Cam sitting beneath the iconic blue bear outside of the Denver Convention Center where my conference was held.

Cam thought the bear was pretty cool!

Me and Cam watching the fish.

Stingray swimming over Cam and Eric.

I told Eric I wanted to stay home and hangout with Cam for Mother’s Day. The great husband he is made it as special as he could with the request of not going out for a meal and made lobster dinner! And of course we had to introduce Cam to the lobsters before their hot bath…

No fear!

I had a great 1st Mother’s Day and am so happy to have Cam in my life, he is a true joy!

If only we could add sound to capture his giggles with this picture!

True Love!

3 months and growing

Posted by Ally on January 12, 2013 in General

We still can’t believe it’s been 3 months since Camron was born. We were just reminiscing that this time last year we were wondering if I was pregnant, and I was, can’t believe that was a year ago!

Well, Camron is growing fast. It seems like every day he is a little bit bigger and doing something new. His arms and legs are nice and chubby, everyone loves to pinch them. I sadly swapped out his 0-3 month size clothes for the next size up, looking back, it’s hard to believe he ever fit into new born size onesies.

Cam has started to be quite interactive, smiling back at anyone that will smile at him, who is just about anyone he meets. Every now and then he’ll have a conversation, cooing and gaaing back and forth with me. He has started to really use his hands to pick up things and play with his toys. It’s amazing how fast he is growing up already! Here’s a couple recent pictures taken on his 3 month birthday, last Sunday!

Camron getting a kiss from Rusty!

A big smile!

And a coo…

One of my favorite pictures yet, he looks like a little man.

Side profile of our handsome guy.

An Angel

Posted by Ally on December 16, 2012 in General

With the holidays here, the unfortunate loss of Charlie will make Christmas a little harder this year, he will be greatly missed. We are fortunate to have Camron and be able to share with family and friends as he keeps us all smiling through this tough time.

Now 10 weeks old, Camron is growing fast. He has started smiling and even a little giggle from time to time which makes us all melt.

I took this picture with my phone to show Eric the outfit Cam was wearing for our day out, he started smiling and giggling.

Cam is getting much more awake and alert, he loves to play in his activity gym and swing around his arms and kick his legs. We practice tummy time but he doesn’t always cooperate!

Happily sleeping during tummy time!

He is always looking so cute! After having 3 neices I was very excited to buy cute boy clothes. The little jeans and button down shirts make him look like a little man.

His cute owl hat Great Aunt Holly got him.

And now he’s started riding piggy back in a pack for our hikes up Wachusett Mountain, he likes to look around for the start of the hike but usually within 10 minutes he’s fast asleep.

Eric took this picture last week when him and Cam were doing a solo hike and sent it to me at work, I thought it was so cute!

We are so blessed to have Camron and right now he is a huge blessing to Eric and his family. He really is a little angel.

This picture was taken 2 days after we ordered our Holiday Cards, go figure!

We’ll miss you at Christmas Charlie but we know that a little piece of you is still here in Cam.

Happy Holidays to All and to a Happy & Healthy New Year!

Amazing first couple weeks

Posted by Ally on October 20, 2012 in General

It’s been quite busy around here with the arrival of Camron. We are still getting used to sleepless nights but it feels like every day is a little easier. Plus, Cam is so cute it makes up for our lack of sleep. Overall I am feeling about back to baseline, even made it up Wachusett for Camron’s first hike 🙂 . We have been fortunate to have visitors almost every day bringing us delicious food and great company, thank you to all. Next week Eric returns back to work and I’ll be on my own but we have been doing trial runs here and there with Eric going out to run errands, and so far, so good! I even got out for a couple hours with my mom and got our nails done, which was a wonderful break, although I admit I was texting Eric the whole time asking how Cam was doing, if he was okay. It’s funny how a little bundle of joy can totally run the house though. We tell people a time to come visit, give or take an hour or two depending on Cam! But for the most part he’s pretty easy, actually sleeps great when he has visitors. Here’s a couple pictures of the last week:

Camron watching the patriots game (not the best of games but we’re no fair weather fans, we’ll still dress him in pats garb no matter how bad they play…

Visiting with Grandma

Hike up Wachusett, an accomplishment for both me and Cam

Looking cute as usual

Visiting with G Pop

Celebrating Cam’s two week birthday

Playing with pumpkins!

Due date is here… and now almost passed.

Posted by Ally on October 3, 2012 in Uncategorized

We can’t believe the due date is here. It’s been quite a journey, with ups and downs along the way, both literally with hiking throughout pregnancy, and emotionally with the miracle of carrying a child. Pregnancy was nothing like I thought it was going to be. I had somewhat of an idea what to expect as many women (make that pretty much every woman that has had a child) love to share their experiences, but I’ve come to realize everyone’s experience is different and feel mine has been unique as well. It hasn’t all been easy, there have certainly been bumps in the road, but overall it has been an amazing experience and I’m happy to have had the chance to go through it.

Today, October 3rd, the estimated date of delivery, we completed a hike up Wachusett Mountain, I still can’t believe we kept hiking the whole time. But quite honestly I feel my best when I’m hiking, before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and hopefully after too! It’s been a great pregnancy and we can only hope that it continues for labor and delivery… whenever that might arrive! At this point I am looking at labor and delivery as one of the most difficult hikes I will ever do, with meeting our son being the most beautiful summit I will ever reach. So here’s a couple pictures of our past week, from hiking Wachusett in the clouds and at sunset, to taking a trip to the National Seashore, we are just waiting on baby-to-be to arrive. No signs of him yet!

Watching sunset last weekend from the summit of Wachusett

Enjoying some beach time with Rusty

Summit of Wachusett on my due date in the fog

Adventures of Cam & Cal

The Tale of Our Two Boys

Author Archives: Ally