What Have We Done All Summer?

Wow! This summer has been full of fun! Brooklyn and Camden are growing so fast. This summer we've had a lot of adventures and spent a lot of good, quality time with family. I also babysat a friend's kids this summer and Brooklyn and Camden loved their time with Sarah (Age 10) and Packard (age 9). They looked forward to seeing them a couple times a week and Sarah and Packard were so good playing with the kids and giving them a good brother/sister example.

We were also able to spend some time at the zoo this summer and got to see the Koala Bears, and of course, pet the sharks. It's so amazing what a difference a year makes in watching the kids enjoy the zoo. Brooklyn and Camden both love the dolphins and we always make sure to hit the dolphin show! Brooklyn also loves the lions, tigers, and elephants, while Camden finds all the fish and seals intriguing!

We went on two trips this summer. One was with Cade's family to Great Wolf Lodge in Cincy, OH. What a great place and tons of fun. The kids both loved the water park (as did we!) and they also enjoyed Storytime at night in the lobby. And, most of all, they just loved spending time with their Gigi and Papa. I would definitely recommend this place for family time and staying just one or two nights is perfectly sufficient.

About a week later, we went to Myrtle Beach with my mom (and sister) for a family reunion. We had a really great time and the weather was perfect! I could share several funnies, but most are better said in person. The kids actually did as good as could be expected in the car...thanks mostly to GoGo's laptop and movies. Molly couldn't have had a better time with her niece and nephew with the minor drawback of listening to way too many children's songs. However, Brooklyn and Molly managed to memorize lines from the movie Elf as that happen to be Brooklyn's favorite of the week!

Well, now we're getting closer to the end of our summer as others are going off to school and we're starting in on our fall schedule of CBS and MOPS. This week we are also working with Brooklyn and potty-training and she has done remarkably well and we are NOT turning back to diapers, so that's promising at this point. The most difficult part about the potty-training has simply been to keep Camden's hands out of the toilet...he's loves any water he can splash in!

Finally, Cade is loving to be at church and working with all of the people there--staff and members. He continues to grow spiritually with the job and as a leader in our home. It is truly humbling to see how God has worked in our lives the last six months to have us in the right places in the right times. I am doing well too. Baby #3 is almost 19 wks. along. I've yet to really feel this kid move, but I rarely even get a moment to lay and be still to give myself a chance. I've been feeling great and have started having progesterone shots every Fri. They're no biggie and a nice friend of mine does them for me. Sorry for the long blog, but wanted to catch up. I've added some pics so you can see how our little ones have grown. Take care to you all!

I love playing in the backyard. At night, I do "shots" with Daddy. (Basketball)
I love playing in the pool and with my water table! I've also mastered the slide!
I really like the spaghetti Mommy made the other night. So much, it was all over me and the floor too!
"Aren't I beautiful?!" I love playing dress up with necklaces and other jewelry.

Many Changes

Wow, things can change so quickly! We found out we will be expecting Baby Stockwell #3 on Jan. 19, which is my sister Molly's birthday. Although the doctor knows I will probably be far from still pregnant on that date, we are hoping to at least get this baby to full term. I've already been told I will hit bedrest around 30 wks. (right before Thanksgiving). Part of me is looking forward to the idea of skipping the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, but really what it does is just move mine closer. I have to get it all done this summer and fall.
Some days I'm really excited for this baby and other days I'm kind of scared...I mean 3 kids under 3--what were we thinking???? Actually, we know this is God's timing and pretty much how we pictured it ourselves. We wanted our kids to grow up close, be friends, and experience so many things in life together...and, they will! We couldn't have asked for God to bless us any more.
Everything else has been going pretty well. This summer I'm watching a couple kids a few days a week, which isn't bad and I know it's short term so I can get through it. Fortunately, the kids (mine and the kids I watch) have been great! It will be weird in the fall to just have my own b/c I'm so used to always having other kids around.
Brooklyn is always getting more mature in so many ways. Even though we're still kind of in a "whiny" phase with her, she has more up moments than down. I can't definitely tell the influence I have on her, which is scary at times. The other day I was upstairs and she was downstairs with Camden. I heard her say, "Wow Camden! That's so crazy. That's cool, Camden!" And lately, as we've put her to bed, as we leave the room she tells us to have sweet dreams. I'm sure we've said that to her before, but not on a consistent basis...where do they get this stuff??? Brooklyn's favorite thing to do this summer has been to go outside with Cade after her bath and help him water the flowers. She has her own little bucket and they have quite a routine! She loves to play basketball, or "do shots" as she calls it, afterwards in the backyard!
Camden is our little man. So hilarious, for the most part laid-back, but can throw himself into a fit in seconds, which is weird because I didn't ever feel Brooklyn really do that. He's walking all along everything and can stand by himself and has even taken a few steps on his own, but he's not quite there yet. He loves the pool and yesterday he even kept trying to just put his face in...it was so funny and he was so proud!
Cade is loving his new job and I can tell he is pouring himself and his heart into the church. He really desires to see people connected and making that effort to get involved. I'm really proud of him for being willing to follow God as he led us to TPCC (in terms of a "job"), and we are realizing more and more that it was His perfect timing.
Well, we look forward to a great summer! We are heading to Great Wolf Lodge for an overnight in July as well as a week in Myrtle Beach...both vacations with family! Brooklyn is also going to her first "sleepover" (I'll be going too) at the end of June. Always something new, always something fun!

Some Early Spring Pics

"I fly like a bird, Mommy!" said Brooklyn.
Just a pretty picture!
I've mastered the art of biting the spoon when Daddy feeds me yogurt!
I love wedding cupcakes!
"Daddy knows how to do my hair, Mommy!"

Happy Birthday Camden!

This is on my birthday...the hat only lasted long enough for the picture!
I love the camera...and I love to say CHEEZZZZ!!
I loved my birthday cake and my birthday cake loved me!

The Year Has Passed So Quickly

I can't believe Camden will be 1 in two days. This past year has gone so quickly. Part of that I'm grateful for, but I also feel like where did that time go and how has he grown so quickly? I try not to compare, but I feel like I had so much more one-on-one time with Brooklyn to read, build blocks, etc...and I wonder if I shorted him of those same opportunities. However, I know he has experienced different things she never did. I try to convince myself that every family with multiple children goes through this, and all children grow up experiencing life differently based on birth order, but it's a different feeling as a mother than as a child. Anyway, I'd love to brag on him for a moment and let you know what he's been up to! Well, like any boy I'm sure, he's totally all over the place. He's very active and climbing and walking along anything he can hold onto. He laughs and smiles a lot, although having a shy, flirtateous side to him as well. I know he's our kid, but I just think he absolutely beautiful and wouldn't change a thing about him! The thing I have been most excited about is the relationship I see developing between Brooklyn and Camden. To see her be so protective (and of course those other "big sister moments" too) and for him to watch her every move is so intriguing. I know God gave me Brooklyn first for a reason, and I love growing her heart to love others so that Camden and any other siblings that may follow can have a role model that loves Jesus. I am so grateful for both of our children, and I'm so excited to see them grow together in friendship and love.

Spring is Here!

Well, it's been so nice to have such beautiful days lately. The kids have enjoyed many wagon rides and trips to the park. I'm looking forward to summer! Brooklyn is now 2 1/2 and Camden is 11 1/2 months. I can't believe he is almost one. It's scary to think how fast the last year has gone. Camden has really blossomed (no pun intended w/ the weather) in the last couple weeks. He has a hilarious personality and is so easy-going. He waves and says Bye-bye, and babbles all of the time. He's a pretty good eater and sleeper, and is just a real happy kid! He laughs a lot and loves to follow Brooklyn everywhere, which she doesn't always appreciate. Nevertheless, she's taken on the big sister role well. She plays out a good balance of nurturing and loving on him, and of course, the sibling squabbles over toys. Brooklyn just had her 2 1/2 year check this week and is about 38in. tall and weighed in at 27.5 lbs. (I'm sure one of these days she won't appreciate me sharing her weight)! A few weeks ago, Brooklyn did take a hard fall and had an emergency trip to the dentist. She chipped a top tooth and the four main bottom teeth are loose. The dentist believes they'll tighten back up, but they're still tender for her with certain foods. She's really loving to read lately and is reading many of her books to us (well, she's memorized her books to us). She will really be at a loss in about a month when we take the summer off of MOPS and Bible Study, but hopefully we can fill it with many trips to the zoo and parks.

There's not much news on the homefront lately. Cade and I are doing well and he's really enjoying his new job. We're so blessed that he is so close to home. Well, I'm sure we'll have more news in May...Camden's birthday, Mother's Day, I'm running the Mini, and whatever else comes our way. I'll try to stay updated!

*Pics above are 1)Brooklyn and cousin Avery at Chuck E. Cheese and 2) Camden laughing because he is excited Mommy fed him some ice cream!

Life is Good

Our life has been in constant change for the last couple of weeks, but it's all been good. Cade has started his new job at Trader's Point as Director of Member Involvement and he's really enjoying the people he's getting to meet and the other ministers and staff. God really has a plan and it's always good to listen and follow Him in His timing. We truly are blessed. I am currently still in the midst of working with a few other friends to get MOPS going at TPCC in the fall. We are making great progress but are still in prayer for the right leaders to come forward to serve on the team. We are confident God will provide the women we need and funds we don't have! All the changes have been exciting and overall good for us as a family.

Brooklyn is just a piece of work. She's really understanding a lot more and speaking more clearly, which helps me get through the day...she can be fun to have a conversation with actually! However, as Camden becomes more active and fun to be around, Brooklyn realizes that the attention focused on her has been cut in half and she has become quite clingy...which can be a little much on my nerves. My mom came down last week and we tried potty training with Brooklyn again. We also quit again as we realized she's really not ready and became the devil child over a matter of hours. We wanted our old Brooklyn back and are willing to take diapers with her!

Camden is a ham. He's such a laid-back kid and just goes with the flow. He smiles, eats, and poops! He constantly wants to be in the know, which has not been good with naptime because he doesn't want to miss a thing! Today I cut his hair for the first time. I used the clippers and it ended up a lot shorter than I had intended, but he's still a cutie. He did sit still for the most part, but he kept trying to turn his head because he wanted to see what the noise was.

Our Easter holiday went well and it was great to see friends and family...oh, and watch basketball. I mean, what's Easter without basketball...I don't remember seeing that anywhere in the Bible, but I'm sure Jesus has a bracket too (but I doubt he gets in a pool...anyway, it would be cheating since he already should know who will win!). Brooklyn has learned a lot about the Resurrection from CBS and Sunday school over the past couple of weeks. She told me today that Jesus is alive and lives in her heart...so precious. Well, I'm posting some pics and hope to post more in the next couple of days. Take care to all!

*Pics are of Brooklyn & Camden and Annabelle, GoGo, and Brooklyn making cookies for Easter!

So Many Changes

Since I've last blogged there have been a lot of changes going on in our lives. First, Brooklyn continues to amaze us every day with new phrases, songs, and extensive sentences. She really has a great sense of humor and is such a nurturing and loving little girl (she has her moments, though!). I have shared this touching moment with several of you, but Brooklyn and I had a short conversation the other day as we were singing songs one morning:
Me: Brooklyn, who lives in heaven?
Brooklyn: gives me strange look
Me: Who do you talk about at church?
Brooklyn: Jesus.
Me: Where does Jesus live? (thinking she'd make a connection?)
Brooklyn: Down in my heart.
Me: What did you say? Where does Jesus live?
Brooklyn: In my heart (Da Mom, did you not hear me the first time!?)
It was such an awesome opportunity to hear our daughter really remembering the things she is learning in church!
Camden is now ON THE MOVE. He still has a good army crawl going, but he can get wherever he wants to go. He also just started to clap, and is always looking for a crowd of applause when he does it. I definitely notice the difference between having a girl and boy, but I haven't quite put a finger on what it is yet. I feel like when Camden looks at things he's thinking how can I break that? or how is that put together? He's also doing really well drinking out of a cup and can almost do it by himself...but I think that skill may still be a little while off. However, he definitely eats like a boy. He's been eating meat ravioli, chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, goldfish, peaches, etc...Whatever Brooklyn doesn't eat, he'll pick up her leftovers (after his own meal)! It's weird how much faster and willing I have been to let him try new things with him being my second. He's such a content little guy though and for the most part continues to be a happy camper!
OUR BIGGEST NEWS is that by God's grace Cade has found a new job. Cade has taken a job at our church (Trader's Point Christian Church). He will be the Director of Assimilation, which basically entails knowing everybody in the church on a more personal level and getting them connected within the church body. Getting this position was definitely in God's plan. Cade has been looking for a job for several months to a year. We seemed to be looking on our own terms, but were continuing to be faithful in prayer about where God wanted us and wanted Cade. And God is faithful and we're learning this through this opportunity. The church actually approached him about the position and it couldn't have been a better fit for Cade's passions and desire to impact other people. Although he felt like he had a ministry being a Christian in the workplace at the NCAA, this is just God's way of putting him someplace else and reaching different people just where they are. We are so excited to see how God will continue to work. But just know that if any of you are trying to make a change or praying for something, continue to be faithful in that prayer, for God will reveal Himself and His plan in His timing...and it is perfect!
As for me, I am doing well. We are trying to get MOPS going and ready for launch this fall. I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with some great women and minister to other women who need and desire fellowship and the Lord. I continue to enjoy being at home and can't say I miss working (although talking to more adults during the day would be a nice change every once-in-awhile!). I've also been involved with our Senior Crib at church on Sunday nights. These high school seniors are great, funny kids and I'm learning so much from them and about how to strength my own faith. I pray our own kids will one day have this opportunity.

Making Great Strides!

Well, over the last couple of weeks it seems like both the kids have been making great strides. Brooklyn continues to use new words and phrases...it's hilarious! She's very good at saying "please" and "thank you" and says to Camden, "Dude, chill out!" Camden finally figured out how to eat Cheerios and crackers (he could always pick them up and put them in his mouth, he just could never figure out the chewing and swallowing!). Now he's moving onto bigger and better things like trying to walk. He is a serious madman in his walker and can get around anywhere, and we've been letting him try to walk with the push-toy and he's doing pretty well. The kid seems to have no interest in crawling, but I still make him try. Oh, and Camden also finally got his first two teeth (on bottom) last week, so he seems a lot less drooly.
We had a very eventful long weekend this past weekend. Last Wed. night Cade realized he probably had a kidney stone and he did...9.5mm in length, which is huge. To make a really long story really short, he had an outpatient procedure done Fri. where they basically crush the stone into hundred of pieces so he can pass them. He was put out for the procedure so he was moving slowly for a few days, but he's doing great now. Praise God that he had minimal discomfort during all of this because it could have gotten pretty bad.
All is great at the Stockwells and hope all friends and family are doing well too!

Gotta Love 'Em

I love being a mom. I can't imagine missing the opportunity to witness what I did yesterday. After naptime, we were playing upstairs in the bonus room. We were playing with little toy where you press the buttons and the characters pop up and then you push them back down, only to do it over and over again. Well, I had gotten it out to start Camden trying to push them down and of course Brooklyn scooted herself right in there to show her little brother it was a toy she had already mastered! Anyway, so I asked Brooklyn to pop the characters up so Camden could try to push them down. I turned away just for a second and next thing I know, Brooklyn had taken Camden's hand and she was helping him open them. Once they got one open, I watched her clap for him and she looked right at him and said, "Good job!" I was so touched at how she knew he was only learning and it would be such an accomplishment for him. She proceded to play with him and grabbed his hands yet again to do Pat-A-Cake with him.
The little things like this make me so grateful that I am able to stay home with our children. These are precious moments that I can never get back. I wish I had a camera recording at all times so Cade, grandparents, etc...didn't have to miss these little things. Witnessing our children show compassion towards one another is so rewarding...I am confident their hearts are growing towards God. I love the responsibility I have in helping shape their hearts and minds and I delight in their learning even when it's hard (well, if I was being honest, I delight in it most of the time!).
Well, we're venturing into attempting to potty train Brooklyn, so we'll see where this takes me and how much I delight in cleaning up wet carpet and smelly clothes! We tried awhile ago and boy, it was a crazy 3 hours! Really, that was all I could handle. But, today we're starting again and hoping to last at least 3 days and hopefully she'll get it. If not, it's okay...we'll try again later!

Rough Start to the New Year

Well, we've had a rough start to the new year, but from an optimistic point of view, now there's no way to look but up! On Jan. 1 I headed to a "quick clinic" deal and found out I had bronchitis. By the way, Brooklyn already had a typical winter cold. Then, a day or so later, Camden started showing sign of having something. He continued getting worse and we went to the doctor. He had RSV and we were giving him breathing treatments. It's not a fun thing for a baby to have. Needless to say we didn't get much sleep and were pretty much dragging the first week of the new year. Camden is still struggling, but doing much better as of the last two days! It was good and bad that Cade went back to work. Good because he didn't get sick so he had the energy to help when he got home...bad because I could've used the help all day! His parents were nice enough to come up one day and watch the kids in the morning so I could get some sleep and recover myself.
Other than that we've been doing great. This week we're finally back to our schedules of going to Bible Study, MOPS, visiting the library, Children's Museum, watching Annabelle, etc... It's weird how much normality can be missed?! I've been feeling very motivated lately to keep up with some of my new resolutions. I've started training for the mini-marathon, started a new book, and have actually tried to limit my intake of sweets...this is by far the most difficult of all my resolutions...one I am bound to fail!
Some of you may know, but many probably don't, a friend from church and myself and working to co-coordinate a MOPS group for TPCC. Although we are still in the early stages, I have been so excited to have an opportunity to get back into leadership, which is something I have dearly missed since leaving college and the workplace. I look very forward for the opportunity for God to use me for His glory in our church and to reach out to unchurched women. I have felt such a tugging in my heart towards leadership especially in the last couple of months. I know this is His will and He will bless it!
Our kids continue to change so much. It's beginning to go so fast. The other day I was already starting to figure out when I would want to have Camden's first birthday...okay, it's a little early to be thinking about this, but he's just getting so big and fun! Watching him fly around the house in the walker chasing Brooklyn and watching her every move makes me so excited to see their friendship grow. Fortunately her phase of testing his breakability is seemingly over and now she is such a nurturer. Even at times when I get frustrated with him if he's crying and I just sit him up on the floor, Brooklyn's right there trying to make him laugh or bringing him toys. I can tell she loves him so much and tries to protect him in many ways. Speaking of Brooklyn, I just can't explain how much her vocabulary just seems to skyrocket every day. She's coming up with new sentences, using new words and expressions I would never have thought of! She is also such a love bug. She constantly is hugging our legs, giving us kisses, or trying to have us hold her...her love language is definitely touch! My favorite thing she has recently started doing is singing the "Barney Theme Song". She mostly sings it to me (at bedtime) or Camden during the day...sorry Cade:( Anyway, she does all the hugging and kissing and it's just the doggone cutest thing ever! I can't imagine my life without these two precious children...and Cade of course (he has to help keep making more!!!) Okay, so maybe that was too much information! Lots of love to you all and have a great week!