Firsts

We took a little outing today since we've been pretty much couped up in the house/hospital this week. We took Camden for his first trip down to the Revel and walked around for a bit. Blake and I ate some Revel food (including a yummy funnel cake) and looked at a few of the artist/vendor booths. It was a tad hot, about 90 degrees, so we thought we might better get the little man in the A/C. We stopped by Target to pick up a few things on the way home, and he got to take his first ride in a buggy without his infant carrier. He's such a big boy!

Happy Birthday, Claire!

We hosted Claire's 2nd birthday party today! What a pretty girl! She wasn't too concerned about the birthday aspect of the day, but she seemed to enjoy running around and playing with her cousins. Here are a couple of photos. Aunt Haley took a few more than I did, so maybe she'll share hers with us. Either that or I'll steal them when she posts them on her blog.

We're Home!

They finally let us come home! Camden hasn't had fever since Wednesday night, and his urine culture was still negative this morning. Dr. Scott diagnosed him with what basically amounts to a high fever with no known origin. He said about 20% of children under 12 months will have a fever which can't really be traced to anything specific. We'd obviously like to know what caused the problem, but we're really glad it wasn't a kidney or bladder infection with urethral reflux, because if it had been that we'd have to give him an oral antibiotic every day for SIX MONTHS! That would suck - bad.

He woke up this morning and it was obvious he had regained the sparkle in his eyes. He played and talked and asked (to the best of his ability) for someone to PLEASE take the IV board off his arm. He also finally took a bottle, which thrilled me to no end. (It was the first one he had taken in almost 48 hours.) The nurses finally unhooked him around 1:30, and we got home around 3. Thank you all for your calls, visits, thoughts and prayers!

He really tried to be a good sport, even when he felt like total crap-ola!

On top of everything else, he's got another tooth coming in. Apparently, chewing on Dad's hand makes it all better.

The hospital cribs look like jail cells. It was so big that I actually think I would have fit in it with him.

This afternoon he cuddled with the stuffed froggie Aunt Haley brought him.

Quick Update

We've been in the hospital with Camden since 3 a.m. Wednesday morning. I just made a quick trip home to have a full-blown shower and play with the pups for a few minutes. When we went in Camden had a 104.6 degree fever. He's been fever-free since 5:30 p.m. yesterday, but he has to be fever-free for 48 hours before they'll let us go home. He had a large amount of bacteria in his urine, but 2 other tests which usually indicate kidney/bladder infections were negative, so they're trying to determine if he has a kidney/bladder infection or if it's something else. If the urine culture comes back negative tomorrow morning and he stays fever-free throughout the day we should get to go home. He's in pretty good spirits, but the IV board immobilizing his arm has him pretty ticked off at times. I'll update more when we get home. Keep us in your thoughts!

Suggestions, please!

I'm looking for suggestions for naming this kiddo I'm carrying around. We're at the halfway point in the pregnancy, so I think it's time to start trying to find the little girl a name. Any reasonable suggestions would be appreciated! Mom, just to go ahead and get this out of the way, we're NOT naming her Cloudy Ann Rainey or Wendy Ann Rainey. She will not be a walking weather forecast!

Weekend Race Getaway

On Friday Camden and I flew to Chattanooga. Blake, Nana and Chappy were already there for a Beat the Heat race. Blake and I decided air travel would be much easier on Camden, so we spent 4.5 hours traveling as opposed to 10 hours (which would have turned into about 13) traveling with Blake. Camden did great on the way out, but I was wishing for a new baby with a fresh diaper on the first leg of the trip back.

Some folks from a local RV lot donated a RV for us to use while we were at the track, which made things very nice. We sat in the A/C and looked out the windows feeling sorry for the folks who were hot and mosquito bit! Blake nor Chappy won the race, but we won't rub that in.

We also got to spend some time away from the track at the Tennessee Aquarium. These are a few photos from the weekend.
Camden was VERY unsure about having the ear protectors on. He cocked his head sideways and pretty much froze. He never quite got used to them, but he also never tried to take them off, which was surprising.

More Level II

Gymboree

Last week Camden got kicked out of Gymboree Level I because he's getting too mobile (and loud). They don't complain about the noise, but when all the other babies (who are about 3 months and younger) just lay there quietly staring into their mother's eyes and Camden's squealing (with delight, usually) I'm sure it gets a little distracting. On Friday we went to our first Level II class. I wish I had been prepared for the workout the moms get in Level II. He really seemed to enjoy all the new and different activities, but I was panting about halfway through it!

For the sake of comparison

This picture was taken on April 23rd.

This one was taken on September 15th.

Weekend Photos

This ball from Gymboree has been one of Camden's favorite things to play with lately. He likes to transfer it from his hands to his legs and back. He's extra proud of himself when he can figure out how to roll over onto his belly without letting go of it.

Daddy and Camden before our Saturday outing.

This was Camden's first time in a restaurant high chair. He did very well, but he wasn't really amused any longer than he was in his carrier. I guess it's time to throw a fit when the food comes no matter what you're sitting in!

Baby Girl Rainey?

Meet who we believe to be Baby Girl Rainey! She's rather skeletal looking for now, but so was her big brother, and he's cute as pie in real life. Dr. Pineda wouldn't commit to girl 100%, but he's pretty cautious like that. The ultrasound picture of the parts is very fuzzy, so I decided to post the skeleton picture. She had the hiccups and was opening and closing her mouth during the ultrasound. All the measurements were right on target for our stage in pregnancy, so it's looking like we've got another healthy baby on the way. We won't have another ultrasound until 30 weeks (which will be early December), so I really hope that this girl thing is accurate!

Welcome Joshua Vann Giovengo!

Danielle and Joey are finally parents! Joshua was born this morning under pretty unusual circumstances. He was born at home! On accident! Danielle and Joey went to the hospital around 1 a.m. this morning and were sent home at 5 a.m. because she wasn't dilated. Her water broke after they got home and Joshua was born in a twin bed in their office at 8:24 a.m. The first people Joshua saw were his mom, dad and five Bossier firemen! He and Danielle are both doing great. He's 6 pounds, 11 ounces and 18.5 inches long. He has a head full of blond hair and is absolutely beautiful. Go Danielle!

6 Month Statistics

We went to the doctor today for Camden's 6 month checkup. He got three shots again, and so far he seems to be tolerating them better than he did at 4 months. There's been no fever yet. He weighed in at 21 pounds, 27.5 inches tall with an 18 inch head. Blake and I were both thrilled when Scott said that he's now in the 75th percentile for height. (He had been hovering at the 50th.) He's in the 95th percentile for weight and the 90th percentile for the size of his head. He's a healthy guy! We go back in 3 months for a well baby check, but he doesn't need any more shots until 12 months. Scott joyfully informed us that we can bring Camden in for his 12 month checkup and the new baby in for its 4 week check all at the same time!

Is there any such thing as an inexpensive photo session?

I took Camden to Sears for his 6 month pictures thinking "this will be the cheap way to do it", since we spent so much on his professional B&Ws when he was 3 weeks old. I was wrong. But I'm sure that's because I WAYYY over-ordered, so I'll have plenty to share with anyone who's interested. These are just a small sampling, but I figured Sears might appreciate it if I didn't pirate all of their photos for my blog.

Unbelievably cute!

Because I think it's funny

Happy Half a Year!

Happy 6 months, Camden! Some things he's found this past week: his D sound (da-da-da, of course), his feet, that he can rollover front to back and back to front numerous times and actually get from Point A to Point B, and his temper. We could have done without the temper part. I'm pretty tired of being screamed at and pinched! We had his pictures made today, so we'll be sharing those shortly. Hope everyone has a great Labor Day!

9/4/07 update: Blake reminded me that Camden also located his boy parts. Blake cringes every time Camden squeezes them, which I find pretty humorous!

Another 9/4/07 update: It occurs to me that I should note that Camden found his own boy parts, not Blake's. Although that would make me laugh, too!

Camden and Gaven

Here's a cute picture from our weekend in Houston for Gaven's 3rd birthday. Gaven thought Camden was pretty okay until I offered to leave him there as his birthday present! Gaven is a super sweet boy and was really good with Camden, which is always appreciated when your kid is three times bigger than mine!