Moving, and moving to Blogger

Well, a lot has happened for our family since the last post here.  It's been a bit over three years, and in that time we have made the move back to Portal.  I have taken a night job as the night auditor at the Holiday Inn in Statesboro.  And the biggest news of all:

We had our third child!

Allen James Saunders (A.J.) was born on September 21, 2011.  He has been a great blessing to Leila and I as well as the girls.  He's such an easy-going baby, and so happy.  I love to hear him laugh, and he loves his daddy so much!

I also moved our site to Blogger. When I was beginning with trying to keep an online journal of our family's adventures, if you wanted a decent web presence you had to have your own server and use custom code to achieve a good look.  That's all changed now.  Blogger, Wordpress, and Squarespace have all made blogging so much easier, and the sites that these tools generate tend to look very good as well.  The sites are also much easier to maintain and post to, which hopefully will encourage both Leila and I to post more often.

So here's to new horizons!

Camille's Birthday Trip to Disney

Camille turned four years old on June 5th. Earlier in the year, Leila found out about a promotion that Disney was running that gave you free admission to one of their theme parks on your birthday. Since Leila and I have the same birthday, it was almost a no-brainer to take Camille to Disney for the first time.

We spent the week with Leila's parents in Fernandina. Camille really enjoyed going to the pool and the beach. Unfortunately, Daddy forgot to reapply the sunscreen and she got lightly toasted.

Camille jumping into the pool. Pappy's playing catcher.

Camille loves the beach!

On Monday night, everyone went to the Redneck Yacht Club for a cookout and dance. Camille loves to dance.

Camille dancing with Cousin Casey's girlfriend Amy.

We woke up way too early Wednesday morning and made the three hour drive to Orlando. We arrived at the Disney entrance just after 9:00. I couldn't believe that they charge almost 80 bucks for an adult and 65 bucks for a child, and they still charge you twelve dollars to park! Greedy mouse, no cheese for you!

Disney Entrance

Once we got our free tickets and bought a ticket for Camille, we took the ferry boat to the Magic Kingdom. Once inside, the first character we saw was Pluto. Camille wanted to meet him, so we stood in line for about a half hour. She got to meet him, though.

Camille meets Pluto!

We headed down Main Street USA and got one of the photographers to take a family picture for us.

Mommy, Daddy and the girls in front of Cinderella's Castle.

I got quite a workout carrying my girls around Disney.

Daddy and his girls at Disney.

The first ride we went on was the "It's a Small World" ride. I survived. Then Mommy and Camille rode the Dumbo ride. Camille kept wanting to go higher! Camille was on the inside of the ride, so I couldn't get a good shot of her on the actual ride, but they had a static Dumbo for pictures.

Camille loved the Dumbo ride.

We then hid from an hour-long rainstorm in the Winnie the Pooh ride and then did the Peter the Pan ride. Then I took Camille to drive the racecars. She was very excited to get to drive a "real" racecar! Of course, Daddy had to work the gas pedal.

Camille drives a racecar!

After the racecars, I fed Amelia while Leila and Camille rode the teacups.

Camille and Mommy in a teacup.

After they rode the teacups, we wanted to take Camille back to meet Pooh and Tigger. It wasn't quite time for the appearance, so I took Camille to play in Pooh's house. I showed her the tree and asked her, "Whose house is that?" She got wide-eyed and whispered, "Pooh's house!". She loved playing at Pooh's house.

Camille visiting Pooh's house.

Then Camille got to meet two of her favorite characters -- Tigger and Pooh! She was star-struck.

Camille meets Tigger and Pooh!

After meeting Tigger and Pooh, we went to watch the Country Bear Jamboree. Then I wanted to take her on the Amazon boat ride. The sign said the wait was 30 minutes. An hour later, we're still 15 minutes from getting on the boat, and Camille is on my shoulders asleep. She slept through the whole ride!

After that, we decided to head on back to the car. Camille was wiped out, and so was I! We made it back to Fernandina at about midnight.

The next day while I was working, Leila and Camille went with Memom, Pappy and Uncle Bruce to try their hand at crab fishing. I think they caught one hermit crab.

Camille getting ready for her spot on "Deadliest Catch".

That night, we celebrated Camille's birthday with Memom and Pappy.

Camille's birthday cake at Memom and Pappy's.

We left Fernandina Saturday morning and headed to Portal to celebrate all the birthdays with Nana and Poppa. That afternoon, we went swimming. Amelia wasn't really a fan of the water.

A very soggy family photo.

That night, we celebrated all the birthdays, and Camille got to blow out the candles again.

Camille blowing out her candles at Nana and Poppa's house.

We came home on Sunday. It was a great trip, and Camille had a blast. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with the family doing something special. It will probably be a long time until we go back to Disney, but I was happy to see that Camille had a really good time.

Camille Sings - Again!

I love how good a big sister Camille is to Amelia.

 The other evening, Leila was making Amelia's food. Apparently, Amelia wasn't happy about having to wait. To calm her down, Camille started singing "You Are So Beautiful" to her, and it worked. Amelia became happy almost immediately. I managed to get a recording of her singing. My phone didn't pick up the "-ful" part of "beautiful", but it's still very cute. It brings a smile to my face every time I hear it.

 

Camille Singing to Amelia

Camille has always enjoyed singing to her baby sister. Even before Amelia was born, she would sing to her Mommy's tummy. Leila brought Camille and Amelia to our offices for the office Thanksgiving meal the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. While Leila was changing Amelia's diaper, Amelia was crying, and Camille decided to try singing to her. I started up the recorder and held the microphone in Camille's direction and was able to capture the following audio of her singing "Jesus Loves Me" to her baby sister.

Click the Play button to listen.


Camille is such a wonderful big sister!

Meeting the Great Grandparents Davis

Amelia is almost a month old. So, we wanted to take the time for her to meet her great grandparents that are Pappy's mom and dad. They were really happy to see us and seemed to be doing well. We didn't go sooner because Mommy was sick and didn't want to get anyone sick. We had hoped the weather would have been better, but it was drizzling all day and foggy. Camille enjoyed seeing them and the Christmas decorations they had just put up. Camille wanted to be in the pictures, too. Hope you enjoy them.

Great Grandmother, Camille and Amelia

Great Granddaddy, Camille and Amelia

So Much to be Thankful For!

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It is a time to be with your family, eat some delicious food and remember all your many blessings. This year, Amelia is the new blessing to be thankful for. We are thankful for our little family of four. We hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful. Please enjoy these pictures from our Thanksgiving memories.

This is my 1st Thanksgiving

Our 1st Thanksgiving as a family of four

Camille and Amelia's girl cousins on my mom's side

Things Camille is thankful for

Our family turkey

Our family turkey was done using Jamey's foot, Amelia's feet, my hands and Camille's hands.

Amelia at Home

The day that Amelia was born, Jamey was feeling sick. He stayed the night with us, but went home when Camille came to the hospital. He slept the day hoping to feel better. My mom stayed the night with me to help with Amelia.

When Amelia came home from the hospital, I asked that Jamey wear a mask to prevent Amelia from getting sick. A few days later, I started feeling sick so I wore one. When Camille saw me, she asked me if I was a pig. I tried to explain to her that I was sick and didn't want to get Amelia sick. But, she didn't understand. She just knew she wanted to be a pig, too.

Here are some pictures of us in our masks:

Camille, Amelia and Jamey (in his mask as a "pig") reading a book

Camille and I (as pigs) and Amelia

Camille loves holding Amelia and giving her kisses and snuggles. She hasn't quite learned that she needs to be gentle with her baby sister. She is learning though. She asks to hold her, but if Amelia starts crying she asks me to hold the baby. Camille loves being a big sister. She won't let you change Amelia's diaper without letting her help. It is so cute that she wants to help out.

Camille giving Amelia kisses