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!

Seems we’ve been pretty busy judging from our last post. Can’t believe it’s been since April.

There have been a lot of changes around here since then, so we’ll take it from the top:

In May we got word that my Grandfather wasn’t doing well, his health had been slowly declining over the past year or so, and the time came for us to say “goodbye”. The three of us jumped on a plane and made a surprise visit to see him. When we walked in he lit up like he always did, there’s no question he was happy to see us. I’m glad we got the chance to see him when we did, when he was still able to enjoy our visit and his time with Cam. Kids must have a sixth sense, Cam somehow knew something wasn’t right. He is usually unsure around people he hasn’t seen in a while and somewhat timid, from the moment we came in his room Cam was there interacting with him, but not in his typical “crazy” way, he was somehow more gentle and calm. I know it made my grandfather happy to see us all one last time, and it was good to see him too. He was a strong roll model for me throughout my life and he will always be remembered as a true gentleman.

Holding hands with Great Grampy

A kiss goodbye

Between visits we spent some time at the beach, Cam loves the sand and the waves so naturally he had a blast.

Cam building sand castles in North Carolina

Hiding in a hole at the beach

In July we made the annual trip to Acadia National Park for the week of the Fourth. This was our fourth year going and definitely not our last. It’s always tons of fun, lots of hiking and enjoying nature. We’ve developed a list of “must dos” each year, Cam is getting acquainted well with our favorites.

Crawling under a cairn (trail marker)

Eating a popover at the Jordan Pond House

Asleep on the trail

4th of July pride at the Parade

The excitement was too much for him

Later in July Ally had a conference in Falmouth, we always take these opportunities to make a mini vacation as me and Cam tag along and spend a couple of extra days wherever the conference leads us.

Cam LOVED the lighthouses

Playing at the beach steps away from our hotel

Me and Cam took a day trip to Martha’s Vineyard one of the days Ally had the conference, it was a somewhat gloomy day but that was okay for us. We took a small ferry over, which Cam had a blast on and we dodged the rain as we ran around town.

Collecting winning tickets at the arcade as we hid from a passing shower

Playing in the water after the storm passed

Getting wet!

Once the conference was over the three of us packed the car and headed to the beach! We made the 45 minute commute to the National Sea Shore one day, having a toddler we were up early and therefore able to beat the crowds and find a parking spot with ease.

Climbing his sand castle at the National Sea Shore

Flying a kite at the National Sea Shore

The next day we stayed local and after a delicious breakfast at a French Bakery found our way to one of the top rated beaches in the area.

Relaxing by the water at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth

Oh yeah, we mentioned that Ally was pregnant again, well, thats been chugging right along. Cam had been getting pretty excited about it. He would point to Ally’s belly and say “baby”, and he would light up whenever he sees a baby in a magazine or pictures.

Cam kissing the baby

Showing off his belly

Introducing Caleb Patrick Darlington. Born September 7th, 2014 at 12:36am. Weighing just under 7 lbs and 19 3/4″ long.

Meet Caleb

What an exciting time. Everyone is doing well and Cam LOVES the baby, he’s been such a good big brother. The first thing he say’s each time he wakes up is “baby?”. We are adjusting to the lack of sleep and nonstop action pretty well, despite being slightly tired we are still keeping busy getting out a bunch.

The ride home with our two boys. Not as scary the second time…

First hike

Taking Cam and Cal to Grampy’s tree

Cal relaxing

Cam keeping an eye on Cal

We made it to the top of Mt. Wachusett

Cal’s first bath

Three boys

Hiking with Cam

Overall things are going pretty well for us right now (knock on wood), I just started work again after taking three weeks off,  I’m sad to not be around as much, but Ally has things under control!

Now that things are hopefully settling down around here we will be able to update this blog more frequently, Cam’s Birthday is right around the corner, so look for a post on that soon!

It’s going to be an adventure for sure, its amazing to see how much has happened over the past two years since Cam was born, some difficult times, but some really great times too. It’s unfortunate that as we get older and we move into the next stage of our lives, so do others. I’m saddened that my Grandfather never got the chance to meet Cal, but I know that he and my Father are looking down smiling.

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 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).

We’ve been busy this past month with Cam enjoying his ever growing personality and exploring new things.

We made it into the Boston Aquarium, which Cam loved! He watched all the fish in awe and wanted to grab them all and shove them into his mouth…

He started rolling over too! Needless to say, he no longer does much tummy time. As soon as we put him on this stomach he flops right over.

We are headed to Hawaii to celebrate Ally’s 30th, with out him 😦 We already miss him so much and we are only sitting on the runway…

Here are a few more pics from Cam’s 5 month birthday. Enjoy!

Its been pretty busy around here lately…. here is a recap of the past several days.

October 6th, 2012 1:36pm – Camron Hart Darlington enters the world. He weighs 7 pounds 11 ounces and is 21.6″ long.

Minutes after Camron is born, the first family photo

After he was born and got to spend some time with his parents he was taken to the nursery to get a quick check up and make sure he was alright. While Ally was recovering I got to tag along and keep him company.

Camron relaxing in the nursery after his grand entrance

Once Camron was given the “all clear” by the doctors he and I got to visit Ally in the recovery room. She was hooked up to a couple monitors and they all started sounding the alarm when we came in.

Cam and Ally getting some snuggle time

The first day was a bit crazy so once we finally all settled in and had a chance to admire our baby we had our families visit us in the hospital on day two so we could introduce Camron to the family.

Cam’s Grammy (Eric’s Mom)

Great Aunt Holly (Eric’s Aunt)

Camron’s Great Grandfather (Eric’s Granfather)

Camron’s Great Grand Parents (Eric’s Grandparents)

Grampy (Eric’s Father)

Camron, Dad, Grampy, Great-Grandfather

Auntie Jen (Eric’s Sister)

Cam’s G-Pop (Ally’s Father)

Grandma (Ally’s Mom)

Grandma #2 (Ally’s second Mom)

Day three was a bit scary, nothing bad happened or anything, just that it was time for us to go home. We had to leave the comfort of the hospital with all the wonderful nurses and amazing doctors all looking out for baby and momma. The entire staff at the hospital was simply amazing, everyone was so kind, caring and professional, it truly was a wonderful experience.

Getting dressed to come home

Bundled up for his first car ride

It was the scariest car ride ever, again nothing bad happened, just that we now had this extra little person in the car. We ended up taking all back roads home, I drove like a 90 year old, I wanted to only make right turns so we didn’t have to cross traffic. It was scary…. Eventually though we all made it home safely.

Welcome home Camron

Now begins the next chapter in our life, already it has been so amazing, we are all looking forward to many more wonderful memories with out newest addition to the family.

P.S. Rusty and Cuervo are both getting along great with Camron, the cat pretty much just ignores him. Rusty will come stand and stare at us when he starts to cry, when we take him out of the crib he has to smell him to make sure everything is okay. He even gave him his first kiss!

Camron Hart Darlington was born October 6th at 1:36pm. He weighs in at 7 pounds 11 ounces and measures 21.6 inches. Mom and baby are doing well! We’ll post some pictures once we get home.

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

Only days left before we welcome the newest addition to our family. We thought it would be fun to do a comparison on what our baby will look like. Below are photos of me and Ally when we were newborns. Wonder what he is going to look like….we are so excited to find out!

Baby Ally

Baby Eric

Things are getting down to the wire around here, baby could arrive anytime now. We passed the 37 week mark so he is officially considered full term, however, we are still hoping that he gives us a couple more weeks to get all our final preparations squared away.

Ally is still doing great, we went for a hike up Wachusett yesterday and plan on going again today, she is starting to get a bit uncomfortable, but she is taking it all in stride and already is a great mom!

We are becoming regulars at the doctors office now, as we are there once a week for a check up, as of Friday, the baby is still right on track, healthy, and head down. We had another ultrasound to get an estimate on his size so we got to see his cute little face again. They estimate him at 6 lbs 14 oz, perfect for this stage.

Two weeks ago we had our friend Corey Fitzgerald take maternity photos for us. He is awesome, you should check him out and hire him to take some photos! Here are a few of the photos from that shoot.

Our two little pumpkins

Baby love

For some time now we’ve wanted to do a night hike during a full moon, well last night was the night. With a couple good friends that have night hiked with us before, we met at the trailhead a little before 10:00pm. Thankfully, we made it to the top of Wachusett Mountain without running into any wildlife (phew…). Eric of course brought his camera and took some time taking pictures on the summit. It was a nice relaxing hike on one of the last nights of summer, we finally made it down around 12:30am.

Here’s a couple pictures and of course an update of the baby belly that is growing by leaps and bounds, can’t believe only one more month! Still feeling good, we kid around and say next full moon we should go for a hike, its only a few days before our due date and rumor has it, full moons put women into labor, haha!

The new fire tower on the summit

“Full moon, Friday night”

Our group relaxing and enjoying the summit to ourselves

The belly at the start of the final month…