Happy Birthday Camden!

Yesterday was Camden's 1st birthday! I can't believe I have a one year old and a 3 year old. Where did the time go. I feel like I JUST had him last week. Happy Bday big boy!

Check Up!

So I took both boys in today for their well-baby check up. Decovin is right at 50th percentile for his height (37 inches) and just under the 50th percentile for his weight (30.2 lbs.). :-) Everything was squeaky clean and the doctor did some estimator that they can do at age three to predict how tall they will be as adults...apparently Decovin is destined to be just under 5'10"...we'll see about that! ha!

Camden was 24.6lbs putting him in the 75th percentile (but right on track b/c they said at age one they should be 3 times the size from when they were born...he was 8lbs...so there you go)...and he was in the 90th percentile on height at 31 and 3/4 inches long! His head was 19 inches around also.

The doc checked his ears and his left one is still "plugged up" from all his ear infections he had over the past couple of months and so he did an "ear test" to see if he would turn to a sound and he didn't...soooooo...when he goes back in for his 15 month check up in April, he will look at it again and if it is still bad he will have to have tubes put in. Sigh...I hope not, but we will see. Poor baby. I wonder if this is why he hasn't really spoken any words yet other than mamamamamamamama???? Hmmmmm

And at this age he likes to have their blood drawn to check for anemia and lead levels...so we had to go to the lab and get baby C's blood taken. He didn't cry at first...the lady stuck him and then had to fish for his vein (he got his momma's veins...poor guy) and it wasn't until about 30 seconds of fishing that he finally got mad. They finally found it right at the last second and then it was over. No big deal.

So other than that...they are healthy little boys. Yay!

Steppin' up

I forgot to mention that on the day of the boys' bday bash (01/24/09) Camden took his first solo steps (2 steps)!! The best part was he did his first steps in a very similar fashion as Decovin...chasing after Katrina! :-) Thanks cousin Katrina for inspiring my boys to walk! Love you little girl!

Happy Birthday Boys!

Well the party was a success and including us, there were 36 people there! It was way fun and I think everyone got fed til they were full! Thanks for those of you who were able to make the trek...we really appreciated it!

Camden digging into his cake...he was much more aggressive than Decovin was with his first cake! It was super cute!

Yummy!!!
Decovin with his cake, he LOVED people singing to him! LOL!
Eating his beloved icing!

Happy Birthday Decovin!

My baby boy, who is not such a baby anymore is 3 today! I can't believe it! Where did the time go?!

The "before" and "after" pictures...

For those of you who said "You didn't have 60 pounds to lose!!!" Here you go...this was back in April...

This was the day I found out I made my goal weight!!

New Do

Eh

Well, not much new to report. I have spent most of the new year wiping the boys' noses and listening to them get a lovely cough! Oh the joy's of the winter season germs! :-)

Other than that, we are back in a routine again and it seems to finally be settling in again and everything is rolling along.

Decovin had his last official meeting with the Parent's As Teacher's lady. They can only participate up to the age of 3! Sad isn't it?! She will still be coming once a month until Camden turns 3 so she said she would still bring D some toys to play with but she would be only focusing on Camden from now on. He's growing up so fast!

Yet, he isn't. We tried potty training really hard for about 2-3 months with no success what-so-ever! So, we are back in diapers until he decides to show us interest in using the toilet on his own. Two steps forward, five steps back. Potty training sucks! LOL!

Camden has been officially off of jar baby food for over a month now it seems and completely transferred to sippy cups. We gave all our bottles to my cousin Karen who is expecting in June...this is her first and she has NOTHING. :-) So I was happy to help fill her house with stuff we no longer need!! A LOT OF STUFF! That felt good to purge!

I think we will work on getting rid of the binky next. We waited until Decovin was almost two but I think we will try to ween Camden sooner. He usually doesn't NEED it most of the time anyway...we'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Bob is back on his shift work and I am just trying to get my house clean. I feel like there is no good time to do such chores...b/c when they kids are sleeping, that is when I just want to RELAX seeing as how there is no other moment in my day to do so...so I am at a cross-roads with my priorities I think...hmmmm...

On another note, I have a hair appointment on Friday and I am trying to decide what I want to do...any suggestions? I am ready for a change. So far, I have come up with this...Obviously I don't LOOK like Victoria Beckham, I'm not dillusional...but I like this haircut...opinions???

Happy New Year!

Can you believe this is the only picture we took of all 4 of us during the holidays?!?! Crazy busy holiday for us! As you might have noticed from all the pictures sent out between my sister, my mother and myself! Sorry about that...but I guess you can always delete the email if you don't want to look at them! :-)

I hope everyone had a safe holiday and a fabulous New Year. Bob had to work through the night on New Year's and again tonight...so I didn't get my midnight kiss, but that's ok. Christy was here and we had a good time. It was laid back and relaxed. I decided to let D stay up as long as he could if he wanted and he made it all the way til 11:02pm! He made it EST to the New Year! He looked up at as at 11:01 and says: "I'm ready for a nap"...haha! So I guess I got a New Year's kiss from him. That was sweet.

Christy and I decided to watch Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve's New Year per usual but this time at like 20 seconds before the ball drop my local channel pops in with "BREAKING NEWS" (Christy and I both were like: "WHAT?!?!")....Yeah, the breaking news...the ball is about to drop at Times Square...we get to watch the local channel's feed of the ball dropping in NY...horrible angle and they were terribly far away! It was pathetic and not to mention SUPER ANNOYING...then to only find out that that local channel couldn't come to an agreement with DISH network and so ABC is no longer available on our listing...that's right...as of today I will not get to watch Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice, or anything on ABC!!!! Can I just TELL YOU how annoyed I am?! Grrrrrrr!!!!

Oh well, hopefully something is agreed upon soon before the premiere's start showing again!

Oh and we did have a wonderful Christmas in case you were wondering. The boys were SPOILED rotten again and they had a good time as well. We had a lovely time gathering with all the family and friends and we are also very glad to be home again! ha! There truly is no place like home!

Happy New Year everybody!

Holiday Cheer!

So last night was our local Parents As Teachers holiday festivities. We are a small numbered group, but it was fun! Our PAT lady had several different stations for the kids to do different crafts.

Decovin decorated a cupcake to look like a reindeer and then gave me the "deer in the headlights look!":

He decorated a sugar cookie with lots of sprinkles, he made a wreath (with my help, little more complicated than a 2 year old can manage), he made a santa hat:

and a picture frame and oh yeah...they got to SEE SANTA!!!

And when Santa asked Decovin, "What do you want for Christmas this year?" He responded cooly with "presents"...haha!

Happy Holidays!

Season’s Greetings from The Plummer’s
2008
Wow, where did the year go?! It has been a very crazy and busy year for us! January started out with our oldest turning 2 on January 16th quickly followed by the birth of our latest addition. Camden David Plummer arrived January 31 at 9:51pm weighing in at exactly 8 pounds and 20 inches long! It is weird to talk about him as an infant because next month he will be turning 1!! See!! Where did the year go?!

We sold our house in Warrensburg, MO back in May and moved to Burlington, KS. Bob got out of the NAVY and was hired on at Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Plant in the Operations Department. He will be in training for the next 5 to 7 yrs to become a fully qualified nuclear operator. Sound like a long time? Well, wouldn’t you want someone who is running a nuclear power plant REALLY trained so they don’t blow up the world?

We bought a house in town in late June and have pretty much settled in. We have already re-roofed our house and plan to re-roof the detached garage in the spring. Also, in the spring, we plan to paint the house a lighter color and put up a fence.

Other than that, we are trying to stay warm in this bitter cold weather we are currently enduring. Next month will be a busy one with the boys turning 3 and 1! They are growing up so fast. Decovin is talking in full sentences and Camden is getting so close to walking! He is cruising on furniture and has recently started to let go and balance without holding onto anything! We plan on enrolling Decovin in preschool in August…this is only if we can get him potty trained in time. This is proving to be much more difficult than we ever anticipated! Wish us luck!

As for me, I am still staying at home with the kiddos and I feel like there is never a dull moment! After Camden was born I was asked to be in a wedding over the summer and had to lose the baby weight in order to fit into the dress. So I joined Weight Watchers and have lost just over 60 pounds over the course of eight months. I feel great and am so glad I did it! I’m the smallest I have been since high school! I’ve been maintaining since Halloween and do not plan to go back where I came from!

With that I will wrap things up and wish you all a wonderful holiday season!

Sincerely, The Plummer’s

(If you wish to see the pictures I originally posted with this letter and did not receive my email with them, let me know and I will send them your way...be sure to leave an email address!!)

Do you think we could have been twins?

Holy surprise Batman!!

I am still in shock at how oblivious I was to anything and everything going on around me on Saturday!!

It started out innocently enough...ok, so you all remember my clothing debacle...that is how this all started. Yeah, well the cute top that I already had...yeah, should have tried that on before I went shopping b/c I tried it on Friday and it was WAY TOO BIG!! Great, so I had to make another emergency trip to go shopping and after about an hour I finally found a cute top at Maurice's in Emporia. Outfit, check!

So Bob tells me we are leaving precisely at noon...no sooner, no later...period. Ok, so we make it out the door 5 minutes til and he is ok with this. We are heading to LaCygne, this much I knew b/c I knew mom and dad were watching the boys for us overnight (I also knew we were staying overnight SOMEWHERE, just didn't know where). So all the while Bob is driving and getting text messages left and right, he says they are from his sister as they are out shopping for his dad for Christmas and don't know what to get him and are asking Bob's advise...in my head, I am thinking BOB HATES TEXT MESSAGES, why is he so nonchalant about replying to them and not complaining that much, but thought oh well, must be important enough to him so whatever. Blonde moment #1, check.

So the story was a few days prior, my Aunt Linda, who works for the LaCygne Library, calls me up and says: "Hey, the library is getting rid of a bunch of National Geographic's and wondered if Bob wanted to go through them and take any." (Bob collects these, so I thought nothing of this either!!) So Bob says, we have time to stop and look before we drop the boys off before we get to our final destination. In my head I am thinking he just has reservations at a really nice restaurant, etc...Blonde moment #2, check.

We get to the library and meet Linda in the back and she lets us in and says that the magazines are in the conference room spread out...I had to hand over Camden at that moment as I needed to use the restroom really bad, too much coffee! Ha! I get out of the restroom and quickly gaze outside and see my brother and his youngest walking toward the building. I'm thinking to myself, why is Jeff here? Maybe he knew that we were coming and wanted to bring the girls down to play with the boys??? But why would he bring them to the library??? Still not picking up on what is going on. Blonde moment #3, check.

FINALLY I realize when the lights were still out in the conference room that something was up...DUH! I walk in and "SURPRISE!!" Man, he really got me.

The most amazing thing was my aunt Mendy & uncle Jim came all the way from Ft. Smith, AR just for the DAY!!! That is like a 6 hour drive one way people! Man, they really love me...tears were a rollin'!

Christy arranged for the room rental and the decorations. Tabitha, my sister-in-law, brought the soda and ice cream. My mother-in-law made the DELICIOUS cake and cupcakes and Linda was in on the trick about the National Geographic's. Clever buggers!

It was awesome and I got some really great gifts and some cash too!

Then after the party was over, we loaded the kids up in my parents car and we headed up to the city for surprise #2, which wasn't REALLY a surprise but more of a treat! He took me to the Plaza to eat at Kona Grill and we had SUSHI!!! IT WAS DEVINE!

Oh and rewind. At the party, Tabitha had asked Bob and I if we wanted to meet them at the bar and grill to watch a friend of theirs in a band that was performing later that night. I didn't know what to say as Bob had told me prior to this entire weekend NOT TO PLAN ANYTHING...so I say, I don't know, it's up to Bob.

So as we are eating dinner, Bob says, let's go and check out this band with Taba & Ryan and just hang out for a bit. Ok. But apparently we had some time to kill before we went there so Bob suggested we run by Walmart for a quick few and then head over there.

So we get there and immediately we see Taba & Ryan and Elizabeth (my other sister-in-law) and Jake (her boyfriend). So we sit down and I think nothing more, just waiting for the band. Then all of a sudden, one of Bob's old co-workers and his wife come in (they live in KC, MO)...so I'm like, WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!?! To which Shannon (the guy) replies, oh just here to watch the game (the MU game was on and he is a HUGE fan, so again, I think nothing of it). Cool, so good to see you both!

Then Bob nonchalantly points to a table and says to me: "Isn't that Abbi and Justin over there?" (Friends from college). "HOLY COW!! YES! What a coincidence!!" So I stroll over and give her a hug and start chatting and say: "What are you guys doing here?!" Amazingly Justin's co-worker knew a guy in the band and recommended the place..."WEIRD?!" Blonde moment #4, check.

Still oblivious to what is going on, I turn around to head back to our table and what do you know? My best friend Kim and her husband are there! WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE?!?! Apparently Justin, her husband, knew a guy in the band too! ARE YOU KIDDING?!?! That is so weird, because Ryan & Taba know someone and Justin's coworker knows someone and now you guys know someone...crazy!!! Blonde moment #5, check.

So we are all chatting, I'm completely oblivious and just amazed at the coincidence of the whole thing and then my brother and cousin walk up and that is when I finally was like: "OMG!! YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!" Blonde moment #6, check!

It was surprise party #2! Bob got me SOOOOO good, I still can't believe the root of my blondeness! I'm a little embarrassed about it now, but whatever, it totally makes for a good story! He really did a good job of planning these events and I am so amazed at how he was able to time everything JUST right and not leak any pertinent information!!!

Oh and according to Christy they calculated that 44 people were at my first party and I calculated that 19 of us were at the bar. Wow, they like me, they really like me! Haha!

Thanks to all of you who helped with the planning and also to those of you able to help keep it a secret and to my husband too!! He is the best!

Surprise...

So this weekend is my 30th birthday and Bob has something up his sleeve...all I know is we are staying overnight somewhere and mom & dad will have the kiddos. Oh and I had to go and buy dress pants b/c I am not allowed to wear jeans to whereever it is we are going. ??? I found this out yesterday and I was like, HELLOOO...NOTHING in my closet fits me...OY! So I had to rush out today and find something...went to Lawrence and hit Kohl's & Old Navy...Old Navy had the pants that fit and looked the best...I already have a cute top so wa-lah! I guess I will update with details of the mysterious weekend next week! I'm so excited!!

Happy Holidays!!

Our Tree is up! I love it and it is beautiful. Bob did a really good job of modifying it to fit in our house! No topper this year though...just a Red bow is all we can manage...but I actually like it better I think! :-) Oh and Decovin helped me put up his ornaments but after he got his new ornament for the year (Buzz Lightyear that he picked out), all he wanted to do was play with it, it talks and makes noise...so much for getting help finishing up the ornaments...haha! It was fun watching him regardless!

Here he is playing with Buzz UNDER the tree! LOL! I think he thought it was a good hiding spot! Too cute!

Scroll down to my next blog for a recipe I posted also! Yum!

Mmmmmm Tastey....

Here is a recipe that Marianne gave to me long ago...it is easy and DELICIOUS!! We had it last night as a matter of fact:

Chicken in Wine Sauce

3 lbs. chicken pieces, preferably breasts & thighs

Salt & Pepper

2 TBsp butter

1 medium onion, sliced

1 can (4oz) sliced mushrooms (I prefer fresh but either work)

1/2-1 cup dry sherry

1 tsp Italian seasoning

Hot cooked rice

Rinse Chicken parts and pat dry. Season chicken lightly with salt & pepper. In skillet, melt butter and quickly brown chicken parts; remove w/slotted spoon & place in slow cooker. Saute onions & mushrooms in skillet. Add sherry & stir, scraping to remove brown pieces. Pour contents of skillet into crock pot over chicken. Sprinkle with italian seasoning. Cover & Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high 3 to 4 hours...I notice it takes less time than suggested...so just keep an eye on it towards the end.

Serve with hot rice. Chicken just falls off the bone and the breast meat just falls apart...AWESOME!!!

Bob likes it with mashed potatoes...so whatever you like really!

Thanks Marianne!!

Wow, Time flies!!

It's December, ALREADY!!! Holy cow, where did the year go?!?! I know that my kids aid in the speedy year, but MAN!!!

In a little over a month Decovin will be 3 and Camden will be 1!!! WOW! I can't believe it. It is just crazy how they change so rapidly at these ages...Decovin is talking in sentences and Camden is ready to start braving the walking front! Now, if Decovin would just love the potty, I would be in a state of enlightenement! About that...

He still, after a good month of solid, good effort, potty training still has NO desire to want to do this on his own. He still pee's in his pull-ups on a regular basis unless we take him every half hour and he still has yet to poop in the potty. WHAT IN THE WORLD DO WE DO TO MAKE HIM INTERESTED?!?!? I don't get it?! You would think stickers would work, he LOVES stickers...he loves getting them but doesn't care if he doesn't get them though. We take away TV, no big deal, he just plays with his toys...I can't take away his toys...that is just ridiculous! I try to make it fun, I sing a silly potty song and do a silly potty dance, and he laughs but still could care less...I checked out books at the library for him to read with us and he loved the books, but didn't want to be like the characters in the books...Any suggestion...my friends with potty trained boys?!?!

Camden is done with his is second round of antibiotics but I am still not convinced he is better...I am still putting in ear drops regularly as he still tugs away at the ear...thinking about calling doc up again to see what's next. He is still waking up in the middle of the night but not for long, he has been able to fall back asleep without our assistance at least...I really hope he doesn't have to have tubes put in, but several people have said it was no big deal and it made all the difference in the world!! So maybe???

Oh and I survived Black Friday Shopping with my cousin Amanda. We had a blast, woke up at 4am and was out the door by 4:30am! We hit Walmart (where I did the majority of my shopping) and the only scary part of that trip was when I was passing by the electronics and heard someone shouting: "EVERYONE HAS TO MOVE BACK, PEOPLE ARE GETTING HURT UP HERE!!" Eeek! Glad I wasn't there for the Garmin!

Then we hit, Old Navy, Kohl's, Best Buy, Hallmark, and Target. It was a fun day! And I am NEARLY done Christmas shopping. Just a few last minute items to pick up and DONE! Oh and did I mention that I am almost done wrapping all of them too?! Including the birthday gifts for all the nieces and my boys?! Muah ha ha! You can all shoot the dagger eyes now, my shield is up! hehehe! Still don't have our tree up yet, Bob has to do some modifications as our old house had vaulted ceilings so we had a 10 foot tree, now we have 8 foot high ceilings...so yeah, he has some tinkering to do to make it fit!

How is everyone else doing?! Keep the post's updated...love reading them!!

Two words: Bum Mer

So I decided that I ought to call the doctor this morning to have Camden looked at. With him waking up in the middle of the night screaming for an hour and then him occassionally still grabbing at his left ear...thought I should do it before the long weekend. Thank goodness I did.

He said the right ear is fine but the left ear still looks "dull"...he did not say infected, but "dull." So he gave me a prescription of zythromax (sp?) for him to take over the next 5 days and said that I could either wait and see if he gets better or wait to see if he gets a fever then start it or just go ahead and start it now. Since we are about to be SWARMED around people I thought it best to just go ahead and start it now. He also gave us some ear drops to put in the one ear.

So here is hoping we get a full nights rest. *sigh*

Oh and did I mention that we also got our Flu shots today? Decovin got it in his arm...his very first arm shot...big boy! LOL! He cried longer than Camden did. I got one too. I have to take Camden back in a month for a booster. Yippee! Anyway...

Happy Turkey Day tomorrow! Love you all and hope you are all having safe travels if you are out and about!

OH YEAH!!!

Did somebody say TURKEY!?! I'm so looking forward to Turkey...why do we only bake a turkey once (or in some cases twice for Christmas) a year?! It is so delicious and drug inducing! Mmmmmm...

I digress...

I am also looking forward to BLACK FRIDAY BABY!! I have some Christmas shopping that needs to get done and I plan on wiping out my list all together on Friday...wish me luck!!

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So Camden has stopped sleeping through the night since he got sick a few weeks ago and I am sure it was partially due to the ear ache and now it is due to the fact that he knows he can cry and we will come...trying to break that...last night, he cried for an hour straight!! AWESOME...aren't you glad you weren't at our house?! And just so you don't think we are heartless we did go in and reassure him he was ok and laid him back down but we did not pick him up or stay in there! He finally fell asleep, just took a battle of the wills! His ear piercing scream about did us in...oy! Decovin was DEFINITELY our sleeper!! Oh how I miss those days...ha!

It will get better...I'm not worried...just have nothing better to blog about. So that's it and probably all I will write until after Thanksgiving! I signed up for a program here in town where you pay $10, weigh-in, and then after New Years you weigh in again and as long as you are the same weight or less you get your $10 back and a divvy of anyone else's money who didn't make weight! Good incentive to not gain the holiday pounds! So I am putting my money where my mouth is...so to speak...I sure want my $10 bucks back!! So wish me luck!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone is with their loved ones and has plenty to eat! Here's to the tryptophan induced coma's everyone! Cheers!

Chicken with Scallion Sauce