Katey Jane Carter

How baby girl got her name:

Katey Jane Carter

I always wanted to name my daughter after my mother. I had always thought of it as a middle name and my hubby and I would get to choose a first together. As this pregnancy went on and more and more names were looked at, I thought "If this is my only daughter, what would I want her name to be?" A Family Name. I decided to nameher after my dear Aunt Jane also - and Katey Jane was born! As soon as I wrote the name I knew that was my girl's name! Unfortunately......Halsy didn't like it. I tried everything I could think of to get him to see that it was the most beaufitul name EVER, but to no avail. I offered to grown out my hair and keep it long for a couple years (something he has been begging me to do forever), I tried to think of nicknames he could call her, I even made a list of others names that I sort of liked and convince myself that that was the fate of our daughter, but my gut was never quiet - Katey Jane......Katey Jane.......We went back and forth so much about it we had to stop talking about it because we weren't getting anywhere.....

So at work Friday I decided to write down ALL of my reasons for loving the name and send them to him in an email in a last ditch efort to get him to go for Katey Jane. The email looked like this:

Why I LOVE the name Katey Jane Carter:

1. It is very sentimental to me to be able to name my daughter after my mother who I love dearly and my favorite Aunt.
2. It is really cute when you say it together, apart, as initials, anyway you say it, it is beautiful.
3. I can sing to her “K K K Katey, beautiful Katey, you’re the only girl that I adore…..”
4. I love the tradition of the family name: Kate, Katelyn, Katie.
5. I am in love with it. It was not something that I would have chosen before, but once I heard it I was in love.
6. I love to write it, of all the names we have thought of, this is the prettiest to write on paper.
7. Every single person that I have asked their opinion - LOVES IT! Family and non-family alike.
8. If I only get one little girl....I would be in heaven to name her something that I LOVE!!

How about, if you let me have Katey Jane - you can pick the next little girl's or boy's name?!?!?!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE choose Katey Jane Carter!!!

Love, Brooke

I sent the email out to the universe and hoped he would check his email soon! I waited all day and the subject was not broached. I was bummed. After Cameron was put in bed, Halsy handed me a gift wrapped in pink......LOVE IT! I opened the gift and it was my email - but he had added at the bottom:

If it means that much to you, Katey Jane it is!


I WAS SO EXCITED!!! I gave him the biggest hug and biggest kiss and couldn't stop smiling! I have a beautiful baby girl on the way and she has the most beautiful name!!

Weight Watchers

Halsy and I started WW this week and had our first weigh in this morning! I actually did very well, loosing 3 lbs this week! (No worries, I cleared all weight loss through my OB) Halsy started mid week so he will count this as his starting weight. I am not worrying about excercise until after the baby comes, just becasue I am uncomfortable enough as it is! Wich us luck and hopefully we will see the results soon!

Cameron Talking

Cameron has started talking! "Daddy, come on!" Mommy, Wait!" "I don't know" "Bite please" phrases that he has heard others say for a long time and he is now just spoutig them like it's nothing! I love to hear his little voice! He is counting too, every night before we go to bed we count our fingers. He knows 2,3,5,8,9,10.....so sweet. He is singing with us more too! Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle Twinkle, Hey Diddle Diddle, Miss Polly, and Little House. He smiles so big the entire time!! He also tells us what books he wants us to read at bedtime and is very adamant about it! Go Dogs Go is his very favorite. I absolutely love watching him learn and grow!!

Cameron Update

Our little guy is growing so fast! I can't believe how much he has grown......

When he started talking "YAH" = yes, then that morphed into "ESH" = yes somehow and today he said "YES". He is sounding more and more grown up. He is prounouncing his little words so much better. His singing is also improving. He sings lots of words to Twinkle Twinkle and Hey Diddle Diddle. It is so fun to have him sing with us at bedtime now!.

His physical coordination is much improcing too! He has really been into doing things by himself lately and the stairs is one of those tasks. He started by holding the railing, but now he walks right down the middle like a big boy!! It scares me to death, but he is a persistent little guy!

He knows that Mommy has a baby in her tummy, but hasn't figured out what a sister is yet. Can't wait for him to meet the new little miss coming in April! Week 27 and counting!

Silly Memory for later

This is one of those things I want to write down so we don't forget!
Cameron is still such a little guy, so little in fact that towels just drown him and he trips over even baby towels with the hood as he walks from the shower to our room. So we started using dish towels and they fit perfect! It is so cute to watch him run from the shower to our house because his little buns stick out the bottom. I need to get a picture!
Also, yesterday he participated with one of his favorite TV shows, Little Einsteins, He pats his legs to get rocket started and he even said "Blast Off" with the show! Halsy and I almost died from the cuteness! He is talking more and more, even putting two words together "MORE PLEASE" "HELP MOMMY", etc. He is getting to be such a big kid! I love you Cameron boy.

Christmas is my favorite holiday

We had such a blast of a Christmas this year!
I was lucky and got most of my shopping done and presents wrapped 2 weeks before Christmas! I was only waiting for 2 presents that were to be delivered on Christmas Eve! YIKES, but they made it and all was well!
We went to the Grotto with my family on Wednesday evening and got to look at the beautiful lights and listen to a concert in a large Catholic church. the music was nice and it was packed to the hilt! I was mostly enjoyable, except that Cameron wouldn't sit in his stroller, he wanted to be carried....ARGH. He screamed and screamed until we pulled him out, and then he made no more fuss. So we all took turns and had fun.
Christmas Eve morning we got up and packed our things and headed to Eugene to be with Halsy's family for Christmas! The drive went fairly quickly and with no issues. Cameron does so much better in the car than he used to. We got to Eugene around 1pm and got unloaded. We hung out with Grandma and Papa and ate lunch. Then we played a fun game called "Nertz" or "Wackee Six", anyways it is a mix of solitaire and speed....very fun! We had the family over for Christmas Eve dinner and Dru (Halsy's mom) made her famous lasagna! We loved it, it was a fun memory to be eating her lasagna. We then played more games until kids bedtime and hit the sack a little earlier than normal.
Christmas morning we woke up and went over to Halsy's sister's house for presents around 10. It was a house full of family! Brothers, Sisters, Moms, Dads, Cousins, Nieces, Nephews! LOVED IT! We opened our presents and laughed a lot! Cameron loved his present - bugs and a book about bugs. Halsy got me a pre-natal massage! YAY and I got Halsymoney to go shopping for new shoes and a gift card to Chipotle so he can go- since I never want to go there and he does. His family has a few fun traditions, we do a name draw for all the brothers and sisters, but we also do a white elephant exchange. So we always get a good present, but then a pretty crappy one. I think this year the favorites were; pregnancy tests, Tai Bo VHS tapes, pancake mix, etc. We all get a good laugh out of it!
We ate through the entire day and played lots of games, especially when the kids were napping. We had Prime rib for dinner with baked potatos, veggies, and homemade rolls YUMMY!
Cameron had so much fun with his cousins, he would just disappear for periods of time playing downstairs! It was nice for me not to be his only source of entertainment. We headed back to his parent's house around 9pm for bedtime. Cameron was so tired! We hit the sack immediately. We woke up the next morning at 10am! I couldn't believe it, let alone I sleep that late, but Cameron has never slept that late. We had our breakfast and headed home to Portland with a little tear becasue we already missed everyone.
When we got home everyone attacked Cameron because they missed him so much. We opened presents with my family becasue we did a gift exchange too! We were spoiled rotten, especially me! We got lots of beautiful little girl things for Miss Carter, Cameron got really fun toys and books, Halsy got new socks and a sweatshirt, and I got a brand new Glider chair for my house upstairs!! I was so happy I cried, I really wanted one but knew it probably wouldn't happen. I found out after that Halsy gave up his Christmas gift so that I could have the chair! what a love! I was so thankful! I also got a cute hat, headband, sweater, and movie tickets!

All-in-all, a wonderful Christmas! Can't wait for New Years!

Bedtime Woes

Cameron started sleeping in his big boy bed a few weeks ago and has been doing well up until last week. He began this habit of crawling into our bed around 4 or 5 in the morning. This would be alright with me if he went back to bed, but he doesn't. It becomes jungle gym time with mommy as the play structure. Pulling on my ears, rolling on top of me, kicking me as he tries to get comfortable, and no personal space unused between us. I have been getting no sleep! So last night, I decided I wasn't going to do it anymore. When he got into our bed at 4:30, I was hopeful that he would just drift back to sleep so I wouldn't have to do what I was planning. But, he didn't, he started the gymnastics. I wanred him, "Cameron, if you dont lie down and go to sleep, mommy is going to put you back in your bed." "NO!", was his definate reply. So he didn't stop and I got out of bed to put him back in his. He flipped out! Crying, screaming, really mad at mommy! I had to put him back three times before he decided to try daddy's side of the bed. (All of this is made more difficult becasue his little bed is only 2 feet from ours, we only have the space to share a bedroom) Halsy had to get up and put him back a few times, then Cameron started going to the door, he did that twice and then asked for a bottle, we gave him a couple ounces and laid him in his bed and this time he stayed!! He cried again for a little while, but stayed in his bed. He then fell asleep with enough time leftover for Halsy and I to go back to bed for a couple hours before we had to get up! WHEW, what a night! Bed training is no fun.