Family Matters!

Carson has to make sure everything looks okay before getting behind the wheel!

And he's off!!

Sweet Cammie!

Daddy and his princess!!

Mommy's sweet angel!!

We've been pretty busy lately, but still try to get some quality family time in when we can! Nanie and Pawpaw bought Carson a Power Wheels Jeep and he absolutely loves it! We went out in the back yard tonight and spent some time playing...luckily I had my camera handy as well! These are the moments that I love and cherish...and know that as my kiddos get older, they'll become fewer and far between! I love my family!!

Many Blessings

Johnathan and Liz

Camden slept through pretty much the whole thing!
The Sims Family

We had a fabulous weekend! Camden was dedicated at church today! We are so proud and cannot wait to teach her about God and guide her in knowing a Christian life. It was a beautiful service and we were so blessed to spend it with family and friends!!! Unfortunately, although I was good in remembering my camera, but we didn't get all the pictures we had hoped to get! ARGH!! Thanks to everyone who shared this special day with us!

Oh...also, we are happy to announce that we finally asked Aunt Elizabeth to be Camden's godmother! Uncle B also agreed to be her godfather! Camden is so blessed to have such wonderful role models and a loving family!!!

Crazy busy these days...

Camden loves her swing!!

Carson sliding! At the park with the Ballard's!!

Smiley girl!!

Mackenzie and Camden holding hands!!

Yes, we have been CRAZY busy lately!! I started nursing clinicals on March 28 at Floyd Medical Center and the 2 late nights a week are pretty intense!! The kids have been spending A LOT of time with Nanie and Pawpaw (God bless them!) because my clinicals are on Monday and Tuesday afternoons/nights...late nights out and having to get up with my little lady would make for a cranky Mommy...I am SO thankful for all the help!! The semester is almost over though...2 more weeks of clinicals, then my final exam on May 3 and hopefully I can relax for 2 weeks before the summer semester begins!!

So...I have been asked by multiple people to post pictures of the kids. I have been so bad about taking pictures since Camden has been born. I hear that is what happens when you have 2 kids, but I swore that wouldn't be me...oops!! Anyway, that is basically the purpose of this blog...so I hope everyone enjoys the new-ish pictures I posted!!

March Madness

So, we've been pretty busy lately, and things don't look like they will calm down anytime soon! We had spring break last week, so I took the kids to Charlotte with Mom to visit Nanny and Poppop! Since Nanny isn't doing so great these days, we wanted to spend some time with them and help out...plus I really wanted them to meet Camden! Carson had a blast and really became attached to his Great Nanny and Poppop...he especially loved Poppop's train board!! Nanny is doing better and even though she is on oxygen 24/7, she is a trooper and has more energy now to move around the house and even cook some...which we loved!!!

I was so excited to get pictures of the kids with Nanny and Poppop, and one afternoon I whipped out my camera and though I would start by taking a few shots of Camden (who has become SO smiley lately!!). Well...wouldn't you know my luck...my camera battery died and guess what I conveniently left at home!!! My charger of course!! I was SO bummed! Needless to say, I didn't get any of the pictures I wanted to get!
The picture at the top of the post is the ONE picture of Camden I did take!!

A Wedding AND A Baby!!

January 15 will forever be a day our family will celebrate!

My baby brother, Bryan, was married on this day and even though I had to have last minute alterations to my bridesmaids dress...I was honored to be a part of his and Amanda's special day!
We started the morning early so we could get everyone's hair and make up done on time. Well, actually, my morning started with what I thought was the beginning of labor!! After realizing that was not the case, we all went about getting ready! I sat a lot, so as to not let gravity take its course...I REALLY wanted to be at that wedding! I managed to walk down the aisle and then sat during the readings...and didn't get back up until it was time for the groom to kiss his bride! Then we headed to the reception! I was having steady contractions by this point...but I was determined to make it as long as I could! After about an hour or so, I realized I needed to call my doctor! She told me that I needed to head to the hospital so they could at least check me. So...off we went! I was bummed to leave the reception, but excited at the same time to find out whether today would be the day we'd meet our daughter!
Luckily Johnathan's mom and sister had come to the wedding, so they packed up Carson and drove behind us to the hospital. As we were going down 285, Johnathan noticed his Mom was not behind us anymore and at that same time his sister called us to say that his mom was having car trouble and they had to get off the interstate! They told us to go on...but there was no way we were going to leave them on the side of the road! So, we turned around and went back to get them! When we got to the hospital, Johnathan dropped his sister and I off at the door and as we walked in, a lady said to me "Well...you must have gone to a fancy party today!" To which I couldn't help but respond "Well, no...I just knew I was going to have my baby, so I had to dress up!!"
I was sent up to triage and the doctor on call came in to check me. Sure enough, I was dilated to 6-7 cm and during contractions, it would go up to 8 cm! So...I was there to stay!! I was admitted to Labor and Delivery and the doctor came in to break my water...followed by the anesthesiologist with my wonderful epidural! It was about 5:30 at this point and my doctor had arrived. She said it wouldn't be long and I'd be pushing!! So I got to 10 cm around 7:00 and I started pushing around 7:20...Camden Annaleigh Sims was born at 7:27 p.m.!!!! I literally pushed about 7 times...it was so wonderful and WAY different from my experience having Carson!
Camden weighed 7 lbs, 7 oz (exactly the same as Carson!) and was 18" long! She has dark brown hair and looks a lot like Carson! We actually call her our little Eskimo baby because she seriously looks like one! She is precious and wonderful and we are so happy to finally have her here! By the time she made her debut, my Mom, sisters, brother and new sister-in-law had joined Johnathan's family at the hospital! It was awesome to have them all there! We had a lot of visitors while we were in the hospital! We also have been SO blessed to have meals made by some friends (THANKS to Michelle and Tammy!!!) and of course my Mother-in-law has been a god-send! I actually returned to class on Wednesday and Thursday this week as well...so I only missed one day of class! I know...you're all thinking I am nuts, but Nursing school is no joke and I knew I had to stay on my game in order to keep up with my school work! I actually feel pretty good and I am healing up, so I am thankful for that!
We cannot wait to introduce our little princess to you all!

Sisters

Daddy and his best buddy awaiting our 4th family member!

I did take my bobby pins out and opted for a pony tail for delivery!

She's here!

Camden's first bottle

The newlyweds and their niece!

Daddy and his princess!

Carson loves to hold his baby sister!

Where for art thou, Camden???

Carson's first snowball

LOVES the snow!!

Yeah...he doesn't quite get that his 4-wheeler won't work on snow!!

So, after all we've been through in the last 2+ months, we still have not gotten to meet our little lady! She is getting her beauty rest we think! We were all so sure she'd make a very early appearance, after WEEKS of heavy duty contractions and being dilated to 2 cm for 3 weeks and now dilated to 3-4 cm the last week...but she is holding out on us! We are glad we made it this far though...she is safe where she is and even though Mommy is SO very uncomfortable, I am glad we didn't have to deal with any premature issues that could have been!

The weather this week has also made us thankful that she is holding off! We cannot believe the amount of snow we are seeing and to think about getting out in this to rush to the hospital is just too stressful! We are sitting on GO, but also now hoping Camden waits until after this weekend to make her debut! Bryan and Amanda are getting married and we cannot wait to celebrate and enjoy the weekend with all our family and friends!!

Lots to share!

We haven't meant to abandon blogging, but things have been crazy for us the last couple of months!! Here's an update to let you all know what we've been up to...

Baby News:

So, we finally decided on our little girl's name...Camden Annaleigh Sims! We just loved the name Camden and Annaleigh is a combination of mine and my mom's middle name with my dad's middle name!! So...there you have it! Camden seems to be baking away...even though we've had some minor complications over the last month or so! At our 28-week visit, I let the doctor know that I had been experiencing contractions for a a few days...nothing major, but definitely something she needed to know! So...we did an ultrasound and found out that Camden may be trying to come earlier than expected! Also, she is breach, so that's something the doctor wants to keep an eye on as well! I've been going to the doctor every 2 weeks to make sure all is well...we've got another appointment this Wednesday and they'll do another ultrasound to check on Camden! I am 32 weeks along now, so hopefully we can make it through the holidays and maybe even Bryan and Amanda's wedding before Camden makes her debut! We'll see!

School News:

My last semester in pre-Nursing is coming to an end! Wow...what a year it has been! This semester has been really hard on me, as this class (or teacher, rather!) has been pretty intense!! I will be so glad when it is over! I found out at the beginning of November that unfortunately, I did not get into the Nursing program for this coming spring semester! I was SO bummed, but I was very happy for my friend Kristin, who did get in! Well...God works in mysterious ways, because about 2 weeks later, I received a call saying a spot had opened up and I was the very next person to get in....so it was offered to me!!! SO....I am in!!!! I know it will be crazy balancing classes and study time with my little man, newborn little lady, husband, etc...but I am so excited and ready to tackle this new chapter in my life! This means, if all goes well, I will graduate from nursing school in May 2012!!!!

Other News:

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year a little differently! Mom had hip replacement surgery on Monday before Thanksgiving, so our week was spent at the hospital assisting her! She was released on Thursday morning...just in time to have a mini-feast up at Sandy's house! My sister's and I divided up the menu, and with the help of our awesome significant other's...we pulled off an amazing meal that turned into a huge feast instead of the mini-feast we thought it would be! It was wonderful to be with Mom, even though we missed our extended family this year. Mom is recovering well at Sandy's house...she'll be there all this week, but will move to my house this weekend to finish out her recouperation until the doctor clears her to drive and handle stairs at her house!

So...that's the main jist of what we've been up to! Craziness! Hopefully I can get some pictures up sometime soon...Carson is growing like a weed and we've got a lot of fun times planned this month...we'll be sure to share them with you all!