Our next holiday stop was Camarillo to celebrate with Christian's side of the family. Uncle Mike and Aunt Susie hosted us along with Grami and Garball at their home. Grandma Gail and cousins Allie and Keira joined us as well. While they were there we created a candy plastered gingerbread house, had a top model fashion show, and went on a bug hunt around the neighborhood. Camille loved being around the big girls and followed them everywhere. Cousins Zac and Bonnie and Grandma Gail joined us for a delicious fondue dinner. A great way to ring in the New Year!

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Camille continues to amaze us every single day.  At 17 months she is talking up a storm. She is continuously asking us, "What's that?" or "Who's that?" and so far she remembers every word she hears. We truly understand what it's like to have a parrot in the house. Monkey see, monkey do is her favorite game as she imitates everything we do whether it be wiping down counters, putting dishes away, or typing on the keyboard at the computer. She continues to be intrigued by everything in her world. She likes to study bugs crawling, watch birds and airplanes flying, and listen to dogs barking. We have continued taking her to Toddler Time at the library and she enjoys having interaction with all the kiddos that attend. She runs, climbs and slides and is now working on mastering the art of jumping. She continues to be our social butterfly and our daily dose of sunshine.

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The very next day we had a yummy dinner celebration for Jessica at Tara's parents. We think she enjoyed the Special K but the chocolate cake for dessert was pretty amazing, too!

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For the first time in a long time we were able to celebrate with Tara's brother, Kurt, on his birthday. Camille did very well on the three hour drive (her longest!) and we all enjoyed the afternoon together with a delicious meal prepared by our new SIL, Trish.

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What a fun *almost* TWO weeks Tara and Camille had while visiting Tara's parents. Tara's mom, Diane, had unfortunately lost her voice and was unable to work which meant she got to be home! Camille spent every day waiting for Grandpapa to get home so that she could go outside to feed the ducks and chickens and watch the dogs run around the yard. Christian arrived on the 23rd and it snowed on Christmas Eve which made our Christmas Day just perfect. Grandpa Russell (Gary's dad) and Granny Ann joined us along with Kurt and Trish and Bret and Jessica making it a very merry and memorable Christmas!

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At the beginning of their 25 day trek and on their way to visit Nana and Grandpapa Russell, Tara and Camille stopped at the home of Tom and Kori Cook. It has become a little bit of a tradition for them! Camille and Riley had a lovely time getting reacquainted and they got along very well. Tara always enjoys her time with Kori and this time was no different. We're looking forward to seeing them again in March!

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We celebrated our home Christmas quite early this year as Tara and Camille left early to spend some extra time with her parents. It was fun to have Auntie Andrea visiting us and join in our festivities! Camille LOVED all the Christmas lights and decorations this year.  She was constantly pointing them out and talking about them.  It was fun to watch her look at the tree and shake the presents while yelling, "PRESENTS!!" or "LIGHTS!!" or "SANTA!!" She certainly was far more aware this year! She was very excited to finally be able to tear open the presents on "Christmas Morning" and although she was very appreciative of each one, we think her new tutu took the prize!

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The day after Thanksgiving Papa Roly and Daniel arrived! We were so excited to see them and have another Thanksgiving celebration. Although it rained most every day they were here we were able to go see the Zoo Lights one evening when the rain let up. As always, the time passed far too quickly!

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We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day at Abby and Brandon's house. Abby cooked up quite a meal and, lucky for us, there were lots of leftovers to bring home. Camille thoroughly enjoyed tagging along after the big kids and they were very sweet to her allowing her to join in and play. We are truly thankful for our wonderful family and many blessings.

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These months pass by so quickly.  Our sweet girl is a full blown toddler!  She is funny, curious, social,  adventurous, and more and more independent every day.  She is all smiles from the moment she wakes up in the morning until she falls asleep at night.  We delight in hearing her sweet voice all day long practicing all the words she knows and putting them together into two and three word sentences.  Some of our favorites are, "I love you!", "Hold me", "Open it, please," and "Night, night."  She has (at last count) 67 words in her vocabulary and adds more to it every day.  She has begun spending more time with her dolls which is so cute to watch.  She loves books and is always asking for us to read one to her.  We don't mind the extra snuggle time at all!  We could go on and on about how amazing she is, because she is! 

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Christian found a great deal on plane tickets and surprised Tara and Camille with a trip to Maui.  It was a perfect, sun-filled vacation!  Camille loved the sand, the sun, and the pool (NOT the ocean).  We spent every day at the beach or pool soaking up as much vitamin D as possible!  The macadamia nut pancakes with coconut syrup did not disappoint and neither did the fresh fruit platters with so many exotic fruits.  We were treated to TWO complimentary upgrades which meant First Class to and from Maui.  What a treat!  Camille did really well on our overnight flight back, she slept all the way from Maui to San Francisco.  It was tough leaving the 85° temp and coming home to a 48° house!  As always, we left already planning our next trip.

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What a treat to have Tara's co-worker and our good friend, Tracy, come to visit!  It was a quick trip but we packed in as much as we could with walks to the mall, cooking/baking, a night out at the movies, and an afternoon in downtown.  Camille was enchanted with her from the beginning and was excited to get up every morning knowing that Tracy was in the next room.  Tracy taught her a new favorite trick which she has been doing ever since..."Woo, woo!" 

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There is no slowing down...time or Camille!  We've had lots of visitors this month, play dates with Annie and Cooper, more swim lessons, and Camille's first coast-to-coast flight!  A 6th tooth appeared this month and two more are just about to cut through.  She has a vocabulary of 45 words now and does so well communicating with us using words and signs!  She is showing more of her silly side and finds herself quite hilarious most of the time!  Her new favorite joke is to say "Night, night" and lay down while snoring and pretending to sleep.  She is tall enough to reach up and pull things off the counter tops and just today showed us she can reach the door handle and has learned how to open the door to the garage.  We love that she is showing more affection to us with lots of hugs, kisses, leg squeezes, and "I YOU!" (I love you!)  She melts our hearts, over and over!

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Another work trip for Christian, another adventure for Tara and Camille.  We celebrated Christian's birthday by touring Boston on the Duck Tour and ended it with dinner at Cheers.  Uncle Mike and Aunt Susie (who just happened to be there at the same time!!) joined us as well.  The following day we explored the Freedom Trail on a self-led tour.  The rest of the week was quite a history lesson for Camille and Tara with trips to Salem and Concord but mostly spending time exploring Boston.  It was a wonderful trip and Camille was such a trooper!  She is quite the little traveler, but after ten days she was very happy to be home again!

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It's that time of year!  This was the first trip to the pumpkin patch for both Camille and Reid.  Camille had fun running around all the different sized pumpkins.  She soon found one that was just her size.  We took her through the hay maze and down the giant slide but she refused the pony ride!  Reid slept through the entire adventure, and couldn't have been any cuter!

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Camille is a big cousin!  Baby Reid Oliver Anderson joined the family on August 18 and we have been so eager to meet and hold him!  We finally got our chance!!  Camille loves "Baby Weed" so much and was completely enamored with him from the very beginning.  He is as precious as can be and we just couldn't get enough of him!  Camille was thrilled to have Auntie Lindsey and Uncle Kirky here too and relished their attention.  Reid was introduced to many new sights and sounds  as we took him around to some of Camille's favorite places; the park, the mall, swimming lessons, Book Babies at the library, and the pumpking patch.  They make quite a pair and we are so excited to watch them grow together and become the best of friends!

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Football season is in full swing!  Camille is a quick learner when it comes to cheering for our team and walks around saying "Go Niners!"  On this particular football Sunday we spent half-time in the garden where Camille loves to pick tomatoes and eat them like apples!

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Just after returning from San Francisco we were visited by Grami and Garball.  We took walks, went to the park and the mall, and were finally able to take Grami to the Rose Garden.  As always, the time passed far too quickly and we're really looking forward to the next visit!

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Christian had to be in San Francisco for work and Camille and Tara were happy to accompany him!  We stayed the week at the Palace Hotel with a few days spent visiting Grami and Garball.  Tara was happy to see friends and spend time at Woodside visiting previous co-workers, families, and students. 

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Another month has flown by!  Camille is more talkative than ever with 25 words and seven animal sounds along with numerous signs and learning more every day.  She had her first big boo-boo and trip to urgent care this month when she scrapped the roof of her mouth with a stick.  There was blood and tears, but within a few minutes she was happy as could be (although mom and dad were still pretty frazzled!).  Her newest accomplishment is walking backward and then smirking because she is so impressed at her new skill.  She began a new session of swimming lessons and is getting more and more daring in the water.  She is taking mostly one nap a day, although there are still many days when she will take two.  She has had a few night of waking from bad dreams/toothaches, but overall is still sleeping well at night.  We spent a wonderful week in San Francisco toward the end of the month and while we were there Camille cut her 5th tooth!  We just can't say enough how blessed we are to have such a beautiful, healthy, happy baby girl.

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It's been a busy month with lots of birthday celebrations and family visits.  Camille is walking around like she's been doing it her whole life and she loves it!  Not only is she walking, she's talking up a storm.  She is very sociable and loves to talk to mom and or anyone else who is around.  She also continues signing and using her words and has added "help" to her list.  We've been enjoying and taking advantage of the beautiful sunny days and hoping they'll last for a while longer.  Camille loves to be outside exploring.  She crinkles leaves, collects sticks and rocks, and smells the roses.  It's been fun to have our garden in bloom and take her out to pick fresh blueberries, strawberries, green beans, and snap peas.  It's amazing what she can gnaw down with just four teeth, although we can tell there are more on the way!  The toddler phase is so much fun, we are continuously amazed and entertained!

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Just a few photos from our afternoon at the park.  It was the first time we'd been there since Camille started walking and she was so excited to be walking around with all the other kids.

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What a treat to have so many family members at Camille's first birthday celebration, including ALL of her grandparents!  Cousins Rick and Lisa were so generous to host the party at their home in Huntington Beach, and it was the perfect setting.  After a dip in the pool and a bite to eat Camille was ready to dive into her cake (prepared especially for her by Nana and Uncle Chad).  This time it went EVERY WHERE!  It's hard to tell if more went in her mouth or on her body!  It was a perfect celebration for our little angel! 

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Tara's parents had planned to spend a week in So. Cal. with her brother so we made plans to be there as well.  We thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to see lots of family and to celebrate Camille's first birthday with all of her grandparents present.  It was a whirlwind week full of lots of activity and travel and we enjoyed every minute.  Thursday was spent at Descanso Gardens near where Tara's brother lives.  Camille was so happy to see her big cousin, Uncle, Grandpa, and Nana.  Friday was spent at Papa Roly's house and the girls got to go swimming!  Saturday was also at Papa Roly's and Camille finally got to see Uncle Kirky!  Sunday was the big birthday party in Huntington Beach.  Monday was a quiet day at Papa Roly's and then dinner with Grandpa and Nana to celebrate their 40th Wedding Anniversary.  Tuesday was photo shoot day with the cousins and grandparents.  Wednesday was a trip to the L.A. Science Museum, a sad good-bye to Nana and Grandpa, and then on to Camarillo to visit Aunt Susie, Uncle Mike, Great-Grandma Gail, and Grami.  Thursday we headed back to Papa Roly's for a few hours and then boarded our plane to go home.  Lots of fun memories packed into one short week!

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Our 7th anniversary was on August 3rd.  What a more perfect way to celebrate seven years of wedded bliss than as a family.  Our day began with Camille's One Year Check-up.  She was weighed, measured, poked and prodded, and after it was all said and done the doctor informed us that she was "PERFECT!" which, of course, we already knew!  Christian had to work so Camille and Tara dropped him off and spent the day together at home.  At the end of Christian's work day we headed to the original Old Spaghetti Factory which is right on the river.  It was a perfect evening and we had a beautiful view from our table.  Dinner was delicious and afterward we enjoyed a leisure stroll.  It was a happy anniversary indeed!

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And just like that, she's ONE!  We can hardly believe how quickly this year has passed.  You can imagine how many times we have played the day of her birth over and over in our minds and the tears we've shed (of happiness and sadness) because she is growing so fast.  Her celebration was small (the big one will be in August in Southern California) with Mommy, Daddy, Grami, and Tara's friend, Jayme.  However, thanks to the use of two laptops, we also had Grandpa, Nana, Uncle Kirky, Auntie Lindsey, Uncle Chad, and cousin Keira too!  We had a delicious dinner and then out came the cake.  She was quite unsure of how to react with the cake.  She mostly just looked at it and then at us.  She eventually patted it a little but still wasn't too sure even when Christian gave her a lick of frosting.  She was far more interested in the balloons and presents!  She is thoroughly enjoying all of her new toys and clothes but we are fairly certain her favorites are her new chair and activity cube.  What a wonderful, memorable year this has been and we are anticipating the next to be the same!  Happy birthday, sweetheart!

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On the morning of her first birthday we decided to have an informal photo shoot of Camille.  We have posted photos taken all month which you can find below, but these are her "One Year Old Photos." 

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It isn't too often we have someone around to take photos of all THREE of us.  Luckily, Grami loves taking photos and was happy to oblige.

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She is growing way too fast, but what a joy she is.  Camille weighs 19 lbs. 10 oz and is 30 inches tall.  She now has four teeth which we get to see a lot of because she is such a smiley girl!  She is babbling more and more every day and it's fun to hear the "words" she uses for different things.  Along with "Mama," "Dada," "up," "hi," and "pop" she now says "ba" for ball, "boo" for balloon, "dow" for down, and "poo" for pool.  She knows eleven signs now and is so happy to be able to communicate many of her wants to us.  It's fun to see her put them together such as "More milk please."  She also points at everything and then looks to us to show her the sign for it.  It is a learning experience for all of us!  Camille LOVES the water and enjoys splashing around in her kiddie pool as well as in the hot tub.  She started Waterbabies swimming lessons and did very well for her first time.  She and Christian have been practicing her kicking and scooping all week!  She has great balance and continues to stand up for various lengths of time.  Just this week she took her first steps!  So far the most she has taken at once is three.  We wouldn't really call it walking yet, but she is definitely "stepping" and is excited to think she can get around on twos rather than fours!  She is an expert climber and loves climbing on anything and everything.  Luckily we live near several parks with climbing equipment so she has plenty of practice.  She has been able to climb up the stairs for several months now, but she has now become a pro at climbing down the stairs.  Camille continues to be a social butterfly and enjoys having visitors or being in a place with lots of little ones running around.  Never before has a year passed by so quickly and what a year it's been!  Our lives have never been fuller.  What a blessing it is to have our beautiful, sweet Camille.

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To celebrate Camille's first birthday, Tara and Grami took Camille to the zoo.  It was Camille's first time and she absolutely loved it!  It was a beautiful morning to visit the lions, tigers, elephants, giraffes and other wonderful animals.  Next time, we're determined to take Christian. We're sorry he missed out!

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Wednesday night Christian's mom arrived.  Camille didn't get to see her until Thursday morning and she was very excited when she saw her Grami walk into her room!  We had a wonderful time out in the yard, trips to the mall, a trip to the zoo, Camille's  first birthday celebration and first swim lesson.  We're so happy she was able to be here with us and we're excited to see her again in August.

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Last week we hosted our long-time friend, Stacy.  She is a 4th grade teacher in Taiwan and is back in the states for vacation.  We feel so honored that she spent part of her vacation with us.  We had a nice, relaxing time together enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.  Camille loved Stacy from the beginning and the two of them were inseparable!  We're hoping for another visit very soon!

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The weather has warmed up and we are enjoying every minute!  Camille loves to be outside playing in the pool.  In fact, she loves it so much she says "pool" and points at the door to go outside! 

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What a treat for us to host the McNamara family for a night!  Tara and Stacey worked together at Woodside and we all were excited for their visit.  We enjoyed the evening together with a walk to the park and dinner on the deck.  The following morning was a bustle with three little ones crawling up and down the stairs filling the house with giggles.  Camille loved having "little people" around and took the opportunity to show us what a big girl she is....she crawled DOWN the stairs for the very first time!  What fun!

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With the sun out and the weather warming up we thought it would be fun to get a kiddie pool for Camille to play in.  She loves splashing around in the bath tub and hot tub, now she has a pool of her own that is just her size!  She absolutely loved it!  We're hoping the sun sticks around so we have lots of opportunities to use it!

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Tara's good friend, Andrea, came to spend a long weekend with us.  She brought sunshine and warm weather with her which enabled us to be outside a lot!  We enjoyed an outing to the park, the mall, and plenty of time at home in the yard and hot tub.  Camille adored her and was all smiles whenever she was around. 

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Now is when we wish time would just slow down.  Camille is growing so fast and it makes her Mommy teary-eyed to think that next month she will already be ONE!  What a joy she is!  This month has brought new accomplishments and challenges.  She is now completely done eating purees.  Just after she turned ten months she decided that she wanted the food that Mommy and Daddy were eating, so now that is what she eats and she is quite content.  She's a pretty good eater and tries most everything we give her.  The day after we got back from our trip to CA she began using a fork.  We are continuing to stab her food, but she loves to feed herself with the fork!  She has also found that dropping the fork and other objects makes a loud sound that she rather enjoys.  She likes the Drop and Pick Up game.  When an object is dropped she looks at us and says, "Uh, uh, uh!" as she waits for us to pick it up.  Signing is progressing as well.  She signs "all done" for everything now!  We are working on "more", "eat", and "please."  We are also hearing her make more sounds closer to words.  We have been able to decipher "Dada", "Mama", "up", "pop", "bye-bye", and "hi."  We keep thinking any day she will be up walking.  She has been practicing standing unassisted for various lengths of time.  She surprises herself when she realizes she is up on two feet!  It's adorable to watch her.  By this point she has also become quite the climber.  She climbs all over the couch, all over Daddy, up her high chair, up the oven, up her crib, up the stairs...she climbs anything and everything she can.  She continues to be very sociable and loves attention given to her (who doesn't?!).  Sabbath school, the grocery store, the coffee shop, and the post office are all highlights for her especially when there are other babies around.  She loves "chatting" with other babies and kids we pass along our way.  Today at the post office she played Peek-a-Boo with a little boy standing in front of us.  He hid behind his dad and popped out and she giggled with delight.  She continues to amaze us every minute of every day.  We have never known such love!

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It was a cold, rainy day outside but we had plenty of sunshine on the inside as we celebrated Christian's first Father's Day.  He took Camille to get donuts for breakfast and the rest of the day was spent snuggled inside together.  Camille and Tara had worked in secret and were excited to give him his Father's Day gifts; a book all about daddy hugs and a photo of his beautiful angel girl.

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We decided to take a quick, spur of the moment trip to Southern California as not to miss out on celebrating with Lindsey at her baby shower.  We are so glad we were able to be there to see Lindsey's adorable baby belly.  The weekend also happened to be graduation weekend at Loma Linda Academy so we stopped by the grad party for cousin Carley and were able to visit with lots more family.  It was a whirlwind, but we thoroughly enjoyed our visit!  Now we're home and wishing for sunshine and warmer weather.

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Saturday afternoon our family joined us on a walk up to Benny's Mountain for Camille's dedication.  We had asked Tara's dad to dedicate her and couldn't have thought of a more special place than on The Farm.  It was beautiful and memorable in every way.

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The day we have been looking forward to for over a year finally arrived!  On Camille's ten month birthday we boarded a plane and headed to Michigan's beautiful Upper Peninsula for a week long vacation with Tara's family.  The trip was uneventful with a layover in Chicago and then a quick flight to Hancock airport.  We spent the first night at Grandpa and Grandma Rendel's house where Tara spent every summer growing up.  Monday we were greeted by the rest of the family; Tara's parents, brother Kurt and his fiance Trish, brother Bret and his girlfriend Jessica.  That evening we had a hot dog roast by the crick then headed to our rented house near Baraga.  Tuesday we spent at the house and exploring the area, Wednesday we took a trip up to Copper Harbor, Thursday we spent around the house, and Friday we spent back at The Farm and nearby McLain State Park.  Saturday we spent at The Farm enjoying the beautiful weather and celebrating Camille's dedication on Benny's Mountain.  What a memorable day to be surrounded by our family and have Tara's dad dedicate Camille in such a special place.  Sunday came far too quickly and it was time for us to say good-bye.  We had the most wonderful time and are looking forward to the next time we can all be together.

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Time continuously passes far too quickly!  It seems like just yesterday we were writing about her turning nine months.  Camille is showing us more and more of her personality each day.  She lets us know when she wants something by grunting and holding her arms straight out or up.  She also tells us when she doesn't appreciate something!  She is constantly babbling and making new sounds.  We love the looks we get when she figures out a new sound to make, she is so proud of herself.  She is getting around the house very well on her own and follows mommy and daddy wherever we go.  No walking yet, but she has been toying with the idea on a daily basis.  She kneels and tries to lift herself up but hasn't quite gotten it yet.  Her second tooth appeared the morning of May 16 which has made her grin even more adorable!  She has now decided that she would much rather eat the food off our plates rather than the purees mommy has been making so she is eating less and less purees and more and more "grown-up" food.  She has enjoyed pasta, veggie links, grillers, chopped fruit and veggies, and many other delights.  We find it incredibly fun and often amusing to introduce her to the culinary world.  She continues to be fascinated by everything we do and watches intently to see how things work.  Each day continues to be a blessing with our growing girl.  Enjoy the photos!  We have also posted more videos.

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We enjoyed a wonderful opportunity to celebrate neice/cousin Brandon's 11th birthday at the Old Spaghetti Factory.

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A special day with the most beautiful girl.  How lucky and blessed we are to have our darling daughter. 

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It was a beautiful, sunny day here and we couldn't have been happier!  Tara's one request was to stay out of the kitchen for the weekend and Christian and Roland were happy to oblige.  We spent the day enjoying the sunshine.  It was perfect!

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Camille hadn't seen her Papa Roly for five months, so as you can imagine, we were all looking forward to his visit.  While he was here we celebrated Cinco de Mayo, Tara's birthday, and Mother's Day.  We had several days of beautiful weather and took advantage!  We took many walks to the park, played outside, went to the mall, visited the Rhododendron Garden, and spent lots of time at home just relaxing and enjoying the company.  Camille enjoyed every minute with her Papa.  She crawled, climbed, clapped, and cuddled.  We hope we won't have to wait too long before the next visit.

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She's been out as long as long as she was in!  Life continues to be in the fast lane.  If she could run she would, but instead she crawls REALLY fast!  She is cruising around the furniture and can stand on her own without holding on to anything for about two seconds.  She has become quite the climber.  Just today she climbed up the side of her crib and knocked down a picture frame.  Time to lower the mattress again!  She is quite adept with the finger foods we have given her so far which include Cheerios, Kix, bananas, avacado, pasta and cheese.  This month has been incredibly exciting for our little social butterfly.  We had a play date with Annalise and her mommy, Heidi (a classmate of ours).  Andy and Danielle came for a weekend visit.  Our trip to California brought many known and new faces and she greeted each one with a big, gummy smile.  No teeth yet!  We don't want to hear how quickly time passes.  We are feeling it and we wish it would just slow down.  Every moment is precious.

UPDATE:  April 24- We spoke too soon!  When we woke up this morning we found that Camille has cut her first tooth!!

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The three of us flew to Sacramento to spend some time with Grami and Gar-ball.  We had a lovely weekend with the two of them and Kirk and Lindsey, who drove up from So. Cal.  Camille could not have been more excited about all the attention.  She was in the midst of constant activity and didn't miss a beat.  She could hardly contain her excitement with the dog.  She chased him everywhere and giggled with delight when he licked her.  Camille and Tara were able to stay for a week and enjoyed their extra time despite the rain and cold weather.  One of the highlights was a short rode trip to Woodside to visit Tara's friends, co-workers, and many of her previous kindergartners.  Time flies when you're having fun and before we knew it, we found ourselves back home looking forward to our next big trip!

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Camille wasn't quite sure what to do with the plastic eggs we placed around the living room.  We're sure in the years to come she will grow to be more interested but as for today, she found one she liked and stuck with it.  Our baby girl knows what she likes!  Happy Easter!

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We were so excited to have Christian's cousin and his wife come up for a long weekend.  We were hoping for better weather, but no such luck!  We made the best of it, however, and thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  Friday evening, admist a hail storm, we headed to the original Old Spaghetti Factory which sits right along the river.  It was a beautiful setting and we were very glad the power came back on so that we could enjoy a delicious dinner.  Camille adored them both.  She smiled and giggled at them and looked for them intently whenever they left the room.  The morning after they left she stared at the door as if waiting for them to burst in!  Our time passed far too quickly, come back again soon!

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It was wonderful to have Grami come visit us for a week.  Camille wasn't too sure about Grami at first, but soon warmed up to her.  Every morning Camille greeted Grami with the biggest smiles!  Grami took the best care of Camille spending time with her during playtime, putting her down at nap time, feeding her at meal time and getting her ready for bed at night.  Friday night we were joined by our niece, Brandon.  It was such a treat to take Grami and Brandon to Sabbath School with our traditional donut shop stop on our way.  Sunday came too soon and we had to say "good-bye" to both Grami and Brandon but we're looking forward to another visit soon!

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Another month has passed and it has been a big one!  Camille learned to crawl the first week of March and her world has completely changed.  Along with crawling she has learned to stand up in her crib, pull herself into a standing position using various pieces of furniture (her favorite is the ottoman), and climb the stairs.  She has been babbling more and more.  We think she has the sweetest voice and love to hear her"da-da-das" and "ba-ba-bas."  She continues to eat anything and everything that we put in front of her.  She tried beets for the first time and ate a whole jar full!  Teething biscuits are her new thing.  She loves gnawing on them and creating a gooey mess in the process.  Speaking of teething, she is right in the middle of it!  We are sure we will see it pop through any day now.  Camille continues to teach us new things every day and we can't think of anything more fulfilling than to have the opportunity of looking at the world through the eyes of our darling baby girl.

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A few photos from Camille's visit to Sabbath School.  She looked adorable in the outfit from Nana and thoroughly enjoyed all the attention!

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 We flew down to Loma Linda for a long weekend with Kirk and Lindsey.  It was a beautiful weekend in sunny Southern California and we took advantage by spending lots of time outside.  We were literally shaken by four pretty significant earthquakes in one day which left us feeling quite nervous but we were happy to be there to celebrate Lindsey's birthday and spend some quality time together.  Camille did great on the plane rides there and back.  She was very excited to spend time with Puka and adored her Uncle and Auntie. 

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Camille is growing so fast!  She is now 15 lbs. 10 oz. and is 27 inches long!  She is sitting up all by herself and has gotten back into a sitting position twice after rolling over onto her belly.  She is putting everything into her mouth these days; fingers, toys, towels, hair, EVERYTHING!  She is able to reach for things and transfer from one hand to the other.  Her babbles continue to amuse and we can tell she loves "talking" to us.  We have yet to hear a distinguishable "Mama" or "Dada" but we are waiting!  We have begun teaching her sign language and she is now able to recognize "eat", "milk", "mama", "dada", and "bath".  We continue working on "all done" and "more".  Solids are going well, she has liked most everything we have introduced to her.  She wasn't too sure about avacados and broccoli, but loves mangos, bananas, edamame, applesauce and everything else!  When she sees mommy getting her food ready she races over in her walker and squeals with delight!  On these rainy, wintry days she continues to be just the sunshine we need.

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Today was a gorgeous, sunny day and we decided to take full advantage!  The sun was shining into Camille's bedroom casting the most beautiful light making it perfect for photos.   Camille was more than happy to oblige me with her antics and giggled the entire time.  After we finished we headed straight outside to the park to soak up more sun.  We love to be outside whenever we have the opportunity!

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Camille's new high chair arrived just in time for Valentine's Day thanks to Grami Jami!  She had her Valentine breakfast sitting in her new chair and we think she likes it.  The three of us spent the day at home together.  She is the perfect Valentine!

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Today was SuperBowl Sunday and we celebrated in a big way!  We wore our 49er pride in hopes for next year as we cheered on the Saints and the Colts.  We would not have been disappointed either way, but we were happy to see the Saints win! 

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Camille had her six month check up today.  After looking her over, watching her roll over and grab a tongue depressor, and listening to her heart the doctor told us she is "Perfect!"  Of course, we knew that already but it was fun to hear it from a professional! :)  She weighed in at 14 lbs. 13 oz. (just over double her birth weight!) and is 26.5 inches long.  Camille started solid foods this week!  She is already a pro at eating and loves sweet potatoes and bananas!   Now if only Mommy and Daddy could just get the food in her mouth rather than all over her face.  We don't have a high chair yet, so it's a little tricky!  Camille also wore her first pair of shoes yesterday!  She doesn't care to wear them too long but loves how it helps her move her walker so much better. 

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Camille turned six months old today!  We can't believe our baby girl is already half way to being a year old!  Time is flying by so quickly.  She is growing and changing on a daily basis and it is all we can do to keep up.  She has now outgrown the wrap we'd been using for naps and nighttime and we find her in all kinds of precarious positions in her crib as she rolls and scoots around.  She has found her thumb and uses it at times to put herself to sleep.  She continues to be vocal, really loving the sound of her own voice.  She is eager to crawl and pulls her legs underneath her in effort to do so, but Mommy and Daddy are happy to have her wait to reach that developmental stage!  She slept through the night without interruption for two straight weeks this month.  We're hoping to get more of that!  She loves her new walker and scoots around the kitchen floor and squeals with delight when she is in it.  We continue to feel so incredibly blessed by our beautiful daughter!

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To celebrate Camille's six month birthday she got two special new toys.  The first one is a walker!  She got to test drive it while we were visiting Kori and Riley and she absolutely loved it!  When we got home from IL there was one waiting for her and she couldn't have been more excited!  She squealed with delight at the sight of it.  The other special toy isn't really a toy at all but a Klean Kanteen just like Mommy's.  She loves holding and drinking from Mommy's and now she has one of her very own.

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Christian had to leave early to go back to work but Camille and Tara stayed a few days longer.  We drove to the airport to drop Christian off which gave Tara the opportunity to spend the afternoon and night with her good friend, Kori, and her family.  Kori's daughter is three weeks older than Camille.  The girls seemed to enjoy seeing each other and got along very well.  We left wishing we lived closer to each other and excited for our next visit! 

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The three of us were very excited to take another trip to visit Tara's family.  On our way there our flight from Denver to St. Louis was canceled due to weather.  It was quite an adventure for us to spend a night in a near-by hotel with nothing but the clothes we were wearing.  Thankfully the hotel had a pack-n-play for Camille and tooth brushes and tooth paste for the two of us!  We were on our way early the next morning and happy when we finally arrived at our final destination.  While we were there Uncle Bret and Grandpa got to show off Camille at their respective jobs and Nana got to feed Camille with a spoon!  On the trip back Camille and Tara flew from Quincy to St. Louis in a small nine seater Cessna Prop plane.  They both quite enjoyed the adventure and were happy to make it safely to St. Louis.

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