Camden & Teddy

I love the stage that Camden is in right now. He is so reflective and asks such great questions. When we were putting him to bed tonight he said "I don't know why Teddy is so special to me. He's just a stuffed animal. " and then he squeezed him tightly. It was so cute! He sure does love that teddy and has since he was born. What is it about stuffed animals? I always loved them as well. That's probably why Camden has about a thousand of them some of which I had as a kid.

Here he is a few hours after we put him to bed. This is often how he sleeps:

The Tooth Fairy was here!

Yesterday was a monumental day in Camden's life or so he thought. He lost his very first tooth. He was so excited. He was walking around the house saying... "I can't believe I lost my first tooth?" I don't know why he is so surprised. His hand has been in his mouth almost constantly for the last few weeks working that thing. Anyway he is beyond thrilled and just couldn't wait for it to happen.

Cam has been admiring this new smile in the mirror.

Here is Cam with his Toothless Wonder superhero. TW guarded the tooth until the Tooth Fairy came the other night. Camden was pretty excited about that as well and had been asking all sorts of questions...When will she come? How will she get into my room? Can you hear her? Too cute!

The Tooth Fairy came and here's what she left. Yep, those are Sponge Bob socks.

We were putting Cam to bed tonight and he told us that since he lost his tooth he can run faster now. Too funny! :)

Blue Eggs & Spam

The things we do for our kids... First, Camden asked if he could have his eggs and spam (yes spam!) Green. But after he thought about it he changed his order to Blue since that is his new favorite color. Appetizing huh? Camden thought so. He ate it all up! :)

Here's Camden enjoying his gourmet meal while watching the tube. Are we outstanding parents or what? We have been doing this a lot lately....eating dinner while watching the Olympics.

First Day of School

I can't believe it! Camden started 1st Grade today. Wasn't it just last week that he started Kindergarten??? It really is going way too fast!

Beijing Olympics

I am so excited that the Olympics finally started yesterday. I couldn't wait for them to begin. We have always loved the Olympics in our family and now of course we are even more excited as it is being held in China. We have already spent way too much of our day today watching tv. It is so addicting...beach volleyball, swimming, fencing, gymnastics and a new favorite...team handball. With the exception, of say boxing I can sit and watch just about anything. Hmm...I guess that we are not going to be getting much done around here for the next 2 1/2 weeks. But to be honest we haven't gotten much done in the previous 2 weeks either as there as been way too many shows on tv regarding China as well. We especially loved the ones on the travel channel. Oh well projects, laundry, they'll wait, right? How often do the Olympics come along? :)

Last night we headed to our fellow China adoption buddies, Jenn & Matt's to watch opening ceremonies. We were joined by other China adoption buddies, Lisa and Heather & Mark as well as a few of Jenn & Matt's neighbors. Jenn & Matt were wonderful hosts and we had a great time watching the AMAZING opening ceremonies, eating Chinese, playing bingo and having great conversation. Jenn & Matt's neighbor, Ed just returned from China and had wonderful insights into their culture. We also enjoyed talking "China adoption" with others that are right there with you....longing for our children to come home.

Here are a few photos from our evening:
Jenn & I:

Lisa & Jenn:

Mark & Heather:

Some of the gang watching the show:

While everyone else was watching opening ceremonies Camden & Xander were upstairs playing Lego Star Wars. Sadly that is one of Camden's favorite things to do. Fortunately, we don't have any kind of game systems at home. But he sure enjoys playing it at everyone else's house:

Jenn, the bingo master:

Some of the kiddos playing bingo

Here's Camden with his bingo prize. He was so happy!

Steven Curtis Chapman on GMA

Steven Curtis Chapman was on Good Morning America this morning. It was the first interview since their youngest daughter from China, Maria, was tragically killed in May. This family has been through something horrific that no parent ever wants to go through. But they have done so with honesty, grace and hope. What an inspiration! To see the short interview go here:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=5519704&page=1

Mud Festival

Camden & I headed to the Mud Festival at a local park this past weekend. We met Camden's buddy, Connor and his Mom, Leigh and sister, Abi. What a strange but fun thing. They had different mud obstacle courses, a pig pen and even mud volleyball. Initially I think the kids were a bit shell shocked by it all. Connor's Mom, Leigh and I kept egging them on to get into it but they kept holding back...as in normally they are not allowed to play in the mud and now you want us to??? They were confused! It was too funny! Finally I decided that I had to take matters into my own hands and get in there with them. So I headed into the pig pen and rolled myself and the kids in it. But unfortunately, I put mud in Abi's hair and that made her cry. I guess that plan backfired! After, we finished playing in the mud, the fire department was there to hose us off. Only in Arizona don't you think...

Here's a look at the fun:

Before:

Midway:

After:

Camden taking a stab at the obstacle course: