STATUS : PASS

For all of those waiting on the edge of their seats for this update...I PASSED the ACE Personal Training Exam today. This is the one I FAILED earlier this year. Womp womp. I probably wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of my Aunt Wendy and Nicole who also took the Exam today and passed :) We all had taken the training class at AACC which prepared us to take the test today ...there were late nights and early mornings filled with studying, donuts, and bottle after bottle of wine. And even though it is over...my brain is still on information overload. 

I came home after my test to see my little man cheering me on...looks like he's already practicing his weird mommy faces.

And my big man came home with flowers <3 Jeremy and Camden are the best.

This past weekend we went to our friends' house for their annual Christmas party. Camden got to play with all of his friends and mommy and daddy got to play with theirs :)

At this Christmas party we always play the White Elephant gift exchange and every year Jeremy and I try to give funnier gifts than the year before. This year we made out with the gifts that we got to go home with. I ended up with an "I am TPAIN" record-able microphone and Jeremy got a big bottle of tequila. HELLO DATE NIGHT.

We have done some updating in the house to Jeremy's man cave....now it's a man/boy cave. Camden has a nice place to play and Jeremy can still watch Camden from his sports bar. Now we will have room for whatever new toys Camden will get for Christmas.

Speaking of, we are finishing up getting the house ready for Christmas. 6 days...EEK!!!! Our stockings have been hung by the chimney with Jeremy's care and tonight was gift wrapping night.

Jeremy and I have decided this year to not really give each other gifts. There's nothing at this point we NEED, and honestly, this little guy is the best gift ever...what more could we want? 

Happy 6 Months!!

Camden turned the big 6 months last Thursday! Today we went for the 6 month check up.

He obviously wasn't a big fan of the shots....THREE needles this time :(....but he still did great. He even found his new favorite thing...the paper on the table. Christmas time is going to be fun!

Nothing really new to report with Camden...except that he has learned to scream....for no reason. He must get that from his mom. Someone has to be loud and the center of attention...I totally understand. AND if that's the worst thing he's going to do now, I'll take it.

We had a nice weekend with friends. Camden had his first sleepover with his friend David who is 7 months. Trying to teach Camden to share is going to be fun. He wanted every single toy that David had and had no problem taking them from him. Oh boy....!

I have finally finished up my personal training class at the college. If I did my calculations correctly, I got an A in the class. Whoop whoop! Aunt Wendy, Nicole and I have all signed up to take the national ACE exam on the 19th...next Monday. EEK. This is the test that actually matters, the one that I received a (STATUS : FAIL) on the first time I took it. Good news is that I already feel so much more prepared than before :) Keeping my fingers crossed.

TAG

We've been playing a not-so-fun game of Tag in the Floyd household. This game of Tag is also known as "pass the cold." Right now everyone seems to be getting over it, but if we're going to continue to play, it looks like I would be next one to be IT. Womp Womp. It probably doesn't help that I am still constantly eating Camdens' hands, or kissing his cheeks, or licking his head. I don't know how to keep my mouth to myself when this baby is around!

Even though Camden is sick, you would never know, unless you hear him cough or if you get stuck sucking out his nose. Yes, you heard me right. He is still extremely playful and he sleeps great through the night....he handles a cold better than Jeremy and I do!

Peek-a-boo Camden, we seee you!!

He is also my little errand buddy. If you get him after a nap and a feeding, he is pleasant to take everywhere. No one likes a cranky baby and everyone loves Camden. No matter where we go, we always get caught up because we end up chatting with someone new. Old ladies love him! It must be that toothless smile they're after.

We have put up all of our decorations for Christmas....and although it doesn't feel like Christmas time, it's beginning to look a lot like it in our house!

Mimi gave Camden a special ornament that is his that he can look forward to putting on the tree each year. We helped him get the tradition started :)

Mommy and Daddy got their own special ornaments this year too!

Ta-da!







So Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time when we seem to reflect back on what is most important to us and what we are most thankful for. It is easy to make a list of the things near and dear to us that we wouldn't and couldn't live without. I challenge you to find something about every day that you are thankful for...even if it is as simple as waking up that morning. It makes the day so much more pleasant. I promise.

I have begun making it a point to be more thankful overall. Whether it is telling Jeremy "I love you" more than I normally would in a day, or if it is hugging Camden a little tighter each night, or even if it is just thanking God for the beautiful weather we are having. Whatever it may be, there really is so much to be thankful for. I truly feel blessed everyday.

Today I am extra thankful that we get to share this day with our wonderful family who has traveled many hours just to spend the holiday with us. I am thankful for the friends that have helped me to become the person I am today. I am thankful for my dog, who may be fat and smelly, but absolutely adorable. I am thankful for my amazing husband, who loves me no matter what. I am thankful for my healthy and happy son who, at this moment, loves his vegetables. I am very thankful for my relationship with God because I believe without him, none of the above would be possible.

Thank you.

When I grow up

I found a piece of paper in my baby book that said..."When I grow up I want to be a teacher, or a doctor" and when I was 3ish I told my parents I want to be a pig. Oink Oink. Good news is that I didn't grow up to be a pig and I know I will never be smart enough to be a doctor. I mean, could you image this face walking into your hospital room to talk to you about your ailments?

What I have become is a teacher, although probably not the type I imagined I would be as a little kid. While I am currently teaching gymnastics to little kids, being a teacher to my son is the job I take the most pride in. 

I think that some people know from a young age what they want to be when they grow up. They go to school with a plan and put their careers first. I, on the other hand, didn't have that plan. I had ideas of things that would be cool to do, things I enjoyed doing, but what I really enjoyed the most was family. 

It wasn't until I started dating Jeremy that I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be a wife and a mother. Education was important to me, but a job wasn't. I knew I would always be able to find some sort of job...even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do...because having a happy family was my priority.

I am extremely blessed. I am working part-time teaching gymnastics. I work about 6 miles from our house. I get to spend M-W at home with my son. I mean, who wouldn't want to spend a few days a week hanging out with this handsome fellow!

I always thought I would be the type of mom who went back to work a 9-5 Monday - Friday job. I thought this because I loved working. I got so much joy out of working as part of a team and being able to significantly contribute to our family financially. Boy how things have changed. I have the luxury of only working 2.5 days a week but if we could afford it, I wouldn't work outside of this house a single day. If you were to ask me 5 months ago if I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom...the answer would have been, "No way!" Now, I honestly would give anything now to stay-at-home everyday with Camden, not because I don't like my job, but because I just totally love my son.

On Sunday we had Camden's Dedication at our Church. It was a wonderful ceremony with our family. I know Camden doesn't understand yet how blessed he is, but one day he will.

Last but not least, today Camden is 5 months old. Happy Birthday Big Boy Camden! <3 I look forward to teaching you everything I know...like how to Oink like a pig and not be a doctor. 

Hairy, Scary....Monster!!

For Camden's first Halloween he was a scary monster....or quite possibly the cutest monster ever.

We went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with our friends and their son. The weather ended up being really nice and everyone seemed to have a good time...runny nose and all.

Jeremy was in charge of Camden's candy bag and I'm saddened to report he did an awful job. Good thing we had left-over candy or mommy wouldn't have had anything to eat these past few days!

Earlier in the day we went over to play with Grammy and we wore our Halloween outfit. Even though he was a little under the weather with a runny nose (he can thank mommy for that...) he seemed to have a great day. Happy Halloween! (I even dyed his hair red so he could have a pumpkin head to match his bib and butt)

Last week when Mimi and Poppy were in town they bought Camden a chicken costume in case we weren't prepared for Halloween. After a little hesitation on the part of Jeremy, we got Camden in the costume so of course we had to take some pictures :) I personally think the outfit shows off his huge muscles very nicely. Some would call that baby fat, but mommy likes to refer to it as muscle.

I mentioned earlier that Camden has a runny nose. I know he unfortunately got that from me. Mommy has been working with a cold for the past week now. Although I ended up feeling excellent on Sunday, I missed the 5k that I had signed up for to be on the safe side, which was probably a good idea because it was super cold in the morning. I was convinced that my home remedy of gargling, throat drops, and hot tea with honey was the way to go.

By Monday afternoon I was in serious pain. I don't remember the last time that my throat had hurt that bad. It hurt to touch, it hurt to swallow and it almost heart to breathe. Nothing that had worked previously was working this time. I went to the doctor's on Tuesday and was cleared of strep...thank goodness. I like to think I have a very high pain tolerance and I lasted a long time trying to fix this cold on my own. Tuesday afternoon I gave into the ibuprofen.

Cold and flu season - 1...Jackie - 0

So mad that I've been sick this past week because I haven't been able to run and try out my new kicks :)



I better be up and running (literally and figuratively) soon. We have a lot going on this weekend and family coming into town! Camden is so excited to finally meet his Aunt Randee and Uncle Brandon!!!

Num Nums!

We are a little over a week into rice cereal. Proud to report that Camden is loving it! Looking forward to adding some vegetables into his diet soon...not sure it will go over as well as the cereal :)

"What is this?? This isn't my bottle!"

"This is supposed to go IN my mouth?"

"Okay...That wasn't sooo bad"

"Let me handle this, mom"

"Where's that spoon??? I want MORE"

"Okay, that was goood!!"

"All done!"

"Why won't anyone feed me??"

**The quotations are actual quotes taken during the feeding**