Merry Christmas

We're borrowing Camden's blog to write our annual Christmas letter since we didn't send it out this year...

This past year has been quite an exciting one!

We've been in our house for about a year now and we absolutely love it! We are definitely learning a lot goes into taking care of a house, but so far the work has been worth it.

Tis the Season

I'm learning about this new thing called Christmas and I'm loving it!

The house has been decorated for a few weeks now and last night Dad put up all the lights outside. There are colorful ones on the house and then lots of white ones all over the bushes and trees out front! I love it. We have two Christmas trees. I like the one in the family room more because there's presents under that one! Mom and dad don't worry much about me playing near the presents... I try and open them but I usually can't get a piece big enough to pull any paper off. Besides I can't read yet so I can't even tell what presents are for me anyway.

Sorry for the delay

It's been so busy around here I haven't had much time to write... sorry about that!

Two weeks ago Nonna and Grandpa Gudgel came to visit me! It was very fun. They were both a lot of help to mom and dad while they were here and we got to spend lots of time together. I loved my long walks with Grandpa, I love being outside. Nonna also made me the coolest Halloween costume ever while she was here. I was a pirate, I know my costume was cool because every one that saw me on Halloween at the Fall Festival told me so!

My first trip to the mountains!

Last weekend I went on a really fun trip with mom and some of the other ladies working in the children's ministry at church. We all went up to a cabin in Oakhurst. Most of the moms that came brought their kids and we kept everyone very busy.

I did pretty good most of the trip, especially during their meetings. The only thing was for some reason I didn't want to sleep in my travel crib. The first night mom kept getting me when I fussed, nursed me back to sleep, and then would put me back. This happend about 5 times that first night, mom didn't like that very much. So she finally gave in the second night and kept me in bed with her! She was very worried I wouldn't sleep in my own bed when we got home, but I like my bed so that wasn't a problem.

No more peas

I found out I definitely do not like peas this week! Mom read somewhere that it takes about 10-14 different times of me eating a kind of food for me to be able to tell if I like it or not. Well we must have gotten there with peas because they're just not working out for me anymore. I realized it one night when Grandma Hicks was watching me. (Mom and dad went to the movies to see fireproof)

I let her know I was hungry so she went and got the food mom left for me... PEAS. Well I took one bite and swallowed it hesitantly making a horrible face. The next bite I gagged when I tried swallowing it. Grandma thought she better try one more bite. I spit a spray of peas all over the place. I communicated my dislike well because instead Grandma gave me my rice cereal, and even added bananas! Mom had done this before and I just loved it. However, now I wont eat rice cereal alone, it has to have those yummy bananas mixed into it!

Mom didn't believe Grandma when she picked me up. She said that I've never had a problem eating anything and that I loved all food. Mom had to see for herself that I wouldn't eat the peas. She got the jar back out of my bag, and tried again to feed me those peas. I communicated my dislike of peas to her the exact same way I did to Grandma only a few hours before. I made my point clear, mom's not buying peas anymore and she's going to give the last jar that's in the pantry to my friend Asher, he still likes them. (He must only be on time 8 or 9 of having them)

Once again another eventful week! This weekend especially was super busy. Mom and 24 other ladies went to Women of Faith in San Jose. Of course she brought me. Asher and I did very well. We got to go to the mall and people watch during the day Friday. We loved all of the music and lights at the conference. Believe it or not though we actually got tired of being held. Towards the end of the conference mom actually laid a blanket on the floor so I could play, I loved it. She also let me sit in one of the seats all by myself. I felt like such a big boy I loved it!

We sure missed Daddy though! He had a busy weekend helping Aunt Tami and Uncle Bo move. He also got to see this really cool motocross show that was happening in the shopping center right by our house! I wish I would have been there for that, but I can't be everywhere at once!

4 month check up!

So a week has gone by and like we said were going to try to do this once a week.

This week was pretty good. Mommy and I got to hang out at home a lot, almost two full days of just being home.. it was very nice.

Last night Stetson and Amanda came over to see me. Well really they came over to have dinner with mom and dad but they did hang out with me too! Once again they all ate this really good looking food while I ate mushy apples... After dinner they played a board game and I just hung out. I showed them how good I am in my jumparoo, jumping so fast from leg to leg it looks like I'm running.

Today however wasn't as much fun. We stayed home all day and that was nice but then around lunch time we went to my 4 month doctors appointment. I know I've been there tons of times before but only the past two times have been since I was born. So everything was going great.. they weighed me, and measured me. I now weigh 12lbs 13oz and I'm 25 inches long! The doctor said that was great and I'm right on track to double my birth weight by six months, and that's what he likes to see. After that the nurse came in and they held me down on the table. They gave me four shots! The first one I didn't even cry, the second one I just yelled at them a little but the last two I let them have it. I was not happy about it.. worst of all mom forgot to give me my tylenol before I got them, lets just say it's been a long night. Tonight I should sleep really well though because I've had absolutely no naps today!

This weekend we're going to women of faith. I'm not to thrilled about being with a bunch of women Friday morning till sat night but my friend Asher is coming to so we'll get to hang out. We've already talked about how many times were going to make our mom's stop on the drive up to San Jose and how we'll manage to take turns crying to keep them up all night. Just kidding, we're going to be good, at least mom and miss Kim hope so!

Alright well like I said, no naps today, so it's time for me to be nursed and put to bed. Good night everyone!

Well it's been a long time since we updated this but I've been telling mom we needed to get on it. I've been here now for four months and so much has happened since then.

First of all I was born! After 24 hours of labor that ended in a c-section mommy had me at 12:18pm on May 18th 2008. I weighed 7lbs 14oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. A lot of people came to meet me at the hospital including both of my grandmas, grandpa Hicks, auntie Amy, auntie Katie, uncle Billy, and lots of other family and friends. It was the longest weekend of mommy and daddy's life but I was worth it.

When I was only about four weeks old my family went to Montana. It was my first plane ride and I did really good. We had a lot of fun that week hanging out with grandma and grandpa Gudgel, auntie Katie, auntie Danielle and uncle Brent. We stayed at a house on Flathead Lake, it was huge! I even got to ride in the boat while the grown ups did their water sports. We had a really good time. It looks like this may be a summer tradition for the Gudgel Family.

Not to long after Montana we went to Oregon for my great grandpa Gudgel's surprise 80th birth day party. It was a very long drive to Grants Pass but once again I traveled very well. That was a great trip because I got to meet all of grandpa Gudgel's family. Mommy and Daddy kept saying how it was so nice up there and they didn't want to come home, but of course we did, hopefully we'll go back soon though.



The end of August we went down to Los Angeles to visit more family and friends. One of daddy's friends Meredith got married, I didn't go to the wedding but grandpa and grandma Gudgel, and auntie Katie came all the way from Arizona to watch me so I got to hang out with them. Mommy and daddy had a great time! I also got to meet some of mommy's friends, Rachel, Julia and Laruen, they were really fun and they made me laugh a lot. The day after the wedding was especially cool. I got to hang out with daddy and some of his friends! They all got together for Tex's bachelor party. I got to sword fight with Nate and Jeff and they got a skim board and a slilp n slide.. it was entertaining watching the boys do their sweet moves and I even got my fist skim board lesson! We really wish we were goign to Tex's wedding but it's just not going to happen.. have you seen the stock market latley?!?! =)



So besides traveling a whole lot I'm doing lots of normal baby things as well. I've learned how to smile, laugh, talk in baby language, push up on my arms while I'm on my tummy and roll all over the place. I'm a pretty good sleeper at night, sleeping through the night at about a month. The past two weeks have been hard though because I'm growing so fast and need that middle of the night feeding. Mom's adjusting though, she gave me rice cereal before bed last night, nursed me, then gave me a little bit of a bottle... it worked and once again I slept all night! Along with rice cereal I've discovered bananas, peas, sweet potatoes, pears, and apples. Mom also let me suck the juice out of her watermelon the other day and gave me a little taste of her milkshake! I love all those things I've been eating but I can't figure out why mom wont give me everything else she eats. Sometimes when she eats I get her to hold me, whenever she moves the fork to her mouth I open my mouth and I try to pull it down so I can have some but she just won't give in! I don't understand it, she just says I'm to little still.

The toys I really like to play with right now are my jumparoo and some of my rattles and stuffed animals while I roll all over the floor. Mom still puts me in my swing, and although I fight it at first it still puts me right to sleep! My days mostly consist of hanging out with mommy, auntie Amy and my cousins Emma and Kara (and soon to be one more). We do all sorts of things like work at the church, run errands, have lunch with grandma Hicks and of course our daily sonic drive through run so mommy and auntie Amy can get their ice teas, extra ice.

I've also been hanging out at the Westlund's every now and then while mommy goes and subs. She likes subbing but misses me a lot so she doesn't usually do it more than once a week.

Well that's a lot of blogging, but still not four months worth. We'll be better about blogging, mommy says were going to try and do it about once a week. She says eventually she's going to print it all out and put my blogs in a scrap book or something... So have a good week!

Past Due!

Hello from inside mommy's tummy! (Yes still...)

Today we went to the doctor again. We've actually been there once a week for about the last month. Today was a different kind of appointment though. I had to go get a stress test! They hooked mom up to these monitors and monitored my heart beat. I decided to play a joke on the nurse and every time she'd find my heartbeat she'd get ready to strap the monitor on and I would move so she'd have to start over! I did this quite a few times so she went to get another nurse to help her. Mom, dad, and auntie Katie were laughing... I decided I better cooperate so when the new nurse came in I didn't give her any problems. I even stayed perfectly still for the first half of the test but then mom started getting bored so I thought I should entertain her by moving and kicking and stuff.

After about thirty minutes or so Dr. J came in and I knew I better be good for him. He read my heart beats and was pretty impressed. Next he did an ultra sound. This is always fun for mom so she was excited. This was the first time Dr. J had actually looked at me and his worries about me being to big were relieved. He was very glad to see that most of mommy's belly is filled with amniotic fluid and that's why I seem so big. Next he measured my head. He said a baby is really good and ready when the measurement of the head is between 90 and 93.. Mine measured at a 91.. Mom was excited about this, not to big but just right! He looked at all the rest of me to make sure everything looked good, he seemed to be having fun doing it too! He proved more than ever that I was a boy.... Mom and dad were very happy about this since they'd just spent the weekend finishing my nursery! Well more like dad and auntie Amy, they put up the border while mom watched. Anyway my nursery is awesome, thanks to all of you that contributed towards that!

So back to the medical stuff... my heartbeat was great, the fluid around me was great, my head and body were great, and we got a great report. All this means is mom is even more stumped on when I'm going to get here! She hasn't had any real contractions and just very little mild cramping! As we were walking through the hallway leaving the office Dr. J said something to dad about him being the only one to make me come... something about whoopy?? Whatever that meant. If I don't make my grand entrance by Friday then we get to go see Dr. J again to set up a time to induce. No matter what I'll be here by the middle of next week and that's all I'm going to reveal at this time!

Sorry it took me so long to get this new update, I've been busy getting ready to meet you all in the real world! See you soon!

Camden

Ps: I love getting comments but I'm stumped on who this anonymous person is... please sign your name!

When will I be here?

Hey Everyone!

Mom and I (obviously) went to the doctor on Friday. He listened to my heart beat and then he pushed on mommy's tummy a whole lot. He kept feeling all my body parts and even pinched my head! Then he told mom that he would like me to come by May 1st! He says I'm big enough to make my grand entrance and it seems like he didn't want me to get too much bigger. Like I said in the last post, I've been trying my best not to put on the pounds but it just keeps happening.

Mom didn't really think he was too serious but then he told her to schedule her next appointment for two weeks and then said, "and let's have a baby right around then!" She asked what would happen if I didn't come by May 1st.. would they induce her to make me? He said no because no matter what it will always be better if I come when I say I'm ready.

Mom's kind of nervous but really excited to meet me. She's keeps saying she'd rather hold me in her arms then in her tummy. I've been preparing her for pretty much the last 7 months by making her get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. Now I'm preparing mom and dad for those late night arrivals because I make mom so hungry she wakes up and HAS to eat. So that means dad gets up and to take care of her and bring her food. It's just my way of getting them ready for those middle of the night feedings. I have the best daddy in the world!

So now no one really knows when to expect me. Only God and I know when I'm going to make my grand entrance into the world! Mom hates not knowing... she hates surprises. But either way she's ready for me to be here.

Don't worry I'll do my best to keep you posted on when they predict my ETA. We'll see how right they are!

Hey Hi I'm Back!

Ok ok so I realize I have been away for a while...

Woah 3 months have gone by! So basically I'm waaay bigger now that I was 3 months ago. I'm 33 weeks old now. Crazy huh. 33 weeks ago I didn't exist. How about that for a thought that will drive you crazy.

On a more serious note, I just can't stop gaining weight. I exercise everyday, but for some reason I just can't seem to stop putting on the pounds. I keep telling myself it's all muscle and it makes me feel better. I get my exercise by doing various forms of aquatic activities. I would surf, but there are no waves in here, so I just kind of swim around. I do back floats and belly floats, but those get kind of boring so I swim a lot of laps. Those surges you feel on my mama's tummy aren't just kicks, they are kick turns. I have perfect technique already. My dad can't even do a good kick turn yet and I've already mastered it. Hint - my mom was a swimmer.

I got some new pics taken of me recently, and I actually look like a baby now. I'm not so alienish anymore. Check it out.

That's it for now. I'll try to do a better job about blogging in the last 7 weeks here, but it's tough to find the time. I'm pretty busy getting ready for life outside of mama's belly. It's going to be quite an adventure.