Wonderful Weekend!!

As tired and as stressed as I was last week, this weekend was WONDERFUL!!! The Jamboree was very successful (depsite a bus accident in the parking lot) and Charlie was baptized yesterday!!! It really was a great weekend and we are blessed that many people shared in the wonderful event.



After a L-O-N-G week of camp and long days, I was ready for Saturday to come and go. Everthing went really smooth throughout the week and I was lucky to have my parents here to help with Charlie so that I could make it through. I am glad they were able to help with camp, but I am even happier that they were able to spend some quality time with Charlie. They left late last night (after a cat nap) and they were definitely not ready to say good-bye to the Lil' Man. If it was not for the fact they were running out of gas as they sat on my driveway, they still might be out there saying good-bye to him. I had to keep a close eye on my mom and she was conspiring to take Charlie with her back to IL.

On Sunday, we all awoke early and got ready for Church. I knew I was going to be tired, but I was so excited that the day had come for Charlie to finally be baptized. It really was a great day and he did so good. He let out one good wail during the beginning part of the ceremony, but once the water was being poured over him, he was good to go. My sister, Theresa, and Eric's brother, Andy, will serve as Charlie's godparents. As his godparents, they have promised to always look after Charlie and to guide him in Christ's ways should anything happen to Eric and I.

Following the ceremony at Church, we headed home and had a cookout with all of the family and our friends. We had several people come over and enjoy hamburgers, hot dogs and all the good fixings that go along with it. By about 5 pm, Eric and I were knocked out in an afternoon nap. My parents also took a snooze before hitting the road back to IL. Andy, Jennifer and Eva (Eric's bother, sister-in-law and mother) got on the road shortly after 3 pm for their trek back to KY. It was such an awesome day and I am glad that they were able to take part in it.

I still have one more camp to run in July, but it will be rather easy considering what I have been dealing with over the past month. I am excited to be able to spend time at home again with Charlie. He will start day care the fifth of August so I am anxious to spend as much time with him as I can before I have to go back to work. As I sit here typing tonight, I am listening to the sound of his breathing through the monitor. We decided that tonight is the night!! Charlie has been put up in his own room and we are seeing how he will do in his own crib for the night. It is time to start weaning him out of our room (as much as it kills me)!!

STRESSED!!!

I am ready for NEXT Sunday to be here ... I know that it will all get done, but camps are really wearing me out this year. I am not asking for sympathy, just some understanding that having a 9 week old at home DOES make things a little bit more difficult, especially when he is still trying to catch up. People don't realize that babies require ALOT of attention, especially when they are premature and feedings are still happening every couple of hours.

Yesteday was the first day I had to leave him with a sitter all day (I had to go in and work all day to make sure camp is ready to go on Sunday). Poor Charlie was SOOO off schedule .. he finally fell asleep at 5 a.m. this morning!!! When I had to get up before 7 am, I felt like crying :( I had to leave him again today so we will see how tonight goes. My parents are coming in all next week so it should be better as they are pretty familiar with how we do things. Thank goodness for their help!!

When they say "having a child changes everything," they are not joking. I wouldn't trade it for the world -- just need to get through next week. After that, I can go back to enjoying my maternity leave and soak up the last few weeks of my time at home with Charlie. It is something that I will never get back again!!

One week down!!

The first of my three "hell weeks" is over and done with. I was able to survive Elite Camp this past week and am proud to say that it went very well. I got a text message from our head coach late last night that said we got a commitment from a Texas kid yesterday so that made my day (that meant camp went really well.) My parents were here all week as well helping with Charlie and then with the camp store too. It was great to have them around and I love that they were able to spend time with Charlie.

Mom and dad headed home Saturday afternoon then once camp was over. They are trying to get their front yard re-landscaped so there is lots of work to do there. They will be heading back to KS though this coming weekend to help with camp and Charlie once again. We will have about 250 girls in next week (Sunday-Wednesday) so I will be busy and need their help. I will have two days to prep then for the Jamboree, which is on Saturday. We have about 50 teams coming in for that on June 28th so we will have nearly 600 HS girls on campus that day.

If that were not enough to do in one week, we are also going to have Charlie baptized that weekend. On Sunday, June 29th, Fr. Mick will baptize Charlie at Corpus Christi Catholic Church here in Lawrence. That is the church that I have been attending the last four years. Eric and I really enjoy Fr. Mick and are excited that he will be celebrating over Charlie's first sacrament. Our parents, as well as Charlie's godparents (my sister, Theresa and Eric's brother, Andy) will all be here to celebrate. I think that we will plan to have a lunch then here at the house for friends and other family. It should be fun.

Last, but not least, yesterday Eric was able to celebrate his first Father's Day!! It was pretty uneventful, but it was a nice relaxing day (something we don't have alot of lately). I feel bad as I didn't get Eric a "gift" for the day, but he did get his "daddy's chair" a few weeks ago, which was supposed to be his gift. I will take him down to the Plaza in KC to pick out some cigars from his favorite store. It has been a whirlwind few months, but it has been awesome. I am very lucky to have such a great daddy for Charlie!! I, myself, am also blessed to have a great dad (yeah, eat it up Bumpy!!). I enjoyed him being out here all week and love watching him with Charlie. I think those two will be good buddies in the coming years ;)

Busy, Busy!

Camp season is officially here!! I say that like I am excited??? It really is not that bad. Things have been a little stressful now that Charlie is here, but we are getting things figured out. My parents have been out all week helping care for Charlie during the days so that I can be in the office and get ready for camp. Our first camp will run Thursday-Saturday and then we have a week off and go again Sunday-Wednesday. We get two days off and then run a team jamboree for over 600 kids that Saturday. In mid-July, we will run a half-day camp for the little ones and that will be it. If I can just get through the next 2.5 weeks, I will be in good shape.

Good news is that Charlie is doing great! He is over 2 months old and really starting to get a personality. We have decided that he does not like to be left alone and really LOVES being held. He is still pretty little, but eating like a hoss! I am doing pretty good too. My blood pressure continues to go down and is now back in a "normal" range. It has taken awhile to get there, but finally, I can get off the meds :)

Wish me luck that everything goes well over the next couple weeks. I can get through camps and then be able to enjoy Charlie stress free for the rest of July before heading back to work in August (ughhh!)

Making Plans ...

This week has been all about getting plans made. Plans for summer camp, plans for Charlie's baptism and plans for a vacation (yes, we are FINALLY taking vacation!!)

I really thought I would be able to take it easy with summer camp this year as I was "supposed" to have a baby last week. But, alas, Charlie arrived early, which allowed me to get back into the swing of things faster so once again, I will be directing all of the summer camps again this year. I seem to always stress myself out getting ready for them, but things always come toghether and they turn out to be successful. This time next week, I will be getting ready to open the doors for our Elite Camp check-in. Elite Camp will run June 12-14, Individual Camp June 22-25, Jayhawk Team Jamboree June 28 and Junior Jayhawk July 14-17. It feels like all of my summer revolves around camp as I am planning/running/wrapping up for most of June and July.

I am not allowing myself to stress out that much because I am still working to get my blood pressure down. I still am fighting high BP as a result of the HELLP syndrome, but it has gotten ALOT better. Today it was 129/73!!! Plus, having Charlie makes me realize there are much more important and serious things in life so there is no sense in stressing over something that will turn out just fine.

This week, I was also able to Charlie's baptism scheduled. He will be baptized in our Church on Sunday, June 29th. My sister, Theresa, and Eric's brother, Andy, will serve as his Godparents and will pledge to allows raise him Catholic and make sure that he is cared for should anything ever happen to Eric and I.

And, finally, we confirmed last night that we will be traveling to North and South Carolina this summer for vacation. We are going to be flying in and out of Raleigh and will spend 5 days in Myrtle Beach while we are there. We are excited because the Bibbs and the Moores have decided to trek along with us! It will be a blast spending time with them and being at the beach :) And, if that were not enough, the McCaslands are also traveling to see us in July (18-20). Evan has been here once before, but Kelly has yet to make it out so they are coming to stay with us for a few days and to meet Charlie. We are so very excited!!

I remember how the summer months used to last forever when I was little. Now, it seems there is something going on every weekend and the time just FLIES by!! I am not complaining though ... we have been very blessed!!

Doing Great!!

Charlie ready for the party!!

It seems the past few weeks have been extremely busy, but I don't remember having THAT much to do!! Charlie and I trekked back to Illinois for the Memorial Day weekend. Upon our return, we hosted a baby shower for our friends Rance and Amy Holt. They are expecting their first baby (a boy!!) in July. We had a lot of fun putting that all together and are excited about Layton's impending arrival. We are hoping that Layton and Charlie become best buds as they grow bigger.

This past weekend, Charlie made his first trip to Church. We have put this off the past few weekends at the suggestion of our neonatologist as many people can't keep their hands off babies. And, with Charlie coming so early and being extra small, he thought it was best to give it a few more weeks to help build up the immune system. We have seen some tremendous changes in Charlie though over the past few weeks with regards to growth, so we were pretty comfortable venturing out. We were stopped on our way into Church by our pastor who had to get a look at the big guy!! Charlie did great. He seemed to enjoy it as he spent a good deal of time checking things out -- especially the different lights. I was a little nervous how he would respond to the music, but Charlie loved the organ!! We did have to feed him mid-way through the mass, but he was great. As I was burping him following his bottle, I kept hoping that he would not "BELCH" when it was really quiet. Eric, on the other hand, thought it would be great if he would "grace" the people with his noises!! On our way out, Charlie was grabbed from my hands by Fr. Mick!! I thought he just wanted to get another look, but he wanted to hold and love on. It was so sweet!!!

Home from Church!!

We don't have alot of plans for this weekend, except to do yardwork and RELAX! This is the last weekend I have until camp season begins. I wasn't really expecting to have to do all that much for camp once it started this year as I was supposed to have just given birth, but because Charlie came so early, I am back on board and will be directing it all again this year. I don't mind ... I just always stress a little bit as it is nerve-wracking having nearly 1000 young girls under you for a few weeks in June!! My mom is supposed to be coming out next week to help with Charlie. She will be staying for a few weeks then so I some help getting through the hard weeks of camp!!