Surgery was a success!!

We awoke this morning at 4:30am to -2 degrees and a wind chill of -27. What a way to start the day! Cameron woke up a happy little guy and we put him right in the car and headed over to Des Moines. I noticed a Serta Sleep Sheep truck on the road as we were on our way. The sheep seemed to stare straight at me as if they were in on some sort of joke aimed directly at me. But we trudged on and were the first to arrive at the Surgery Center at 5:45am. Every thing went exactly as scheduled, which I was amazed at. They took Cameron back at exactly 7am. He screamed when they took him away from me. :( The doctors were done by 7:30am and both said that everything went extremely well. Cameron was not a happy camper when he woke up from his lovely drug-induced sleep. He nursed a bit but still wasn't very happy. We left there by 9am and with a stop at the pharmacy we were home by 10am. He watched a Baby Einstein video in the car and clapped the whole way through it. He ate some breakfast when he got home and is doing pretty well overall, though he has his moments of being crabby, which is definitely to be expected. He's still in some pain so I'm sure it will be a trying day but nothing we can't handle. Here are a few pics I took this morning:

In the waiting room when we first arrived, happy as can be.

In pre-op after he just got his fancy gown on.

Look how sleepy!


And here he is at home enjoying his breakfast.

Cheering that it's all over!

Thank you so much for all the prayers and well-wishes sent our way. They were definitely helpful and never go unnoticed. We hope and pray that this is the end of a trying year for our little guy and we look forward to the all good that 2009 has to offer him!

Boys Will Be Boys

A few weeks ago after Daddy came home from work he was playing on the floor with the boys. They both decided it would be fun to use him as their own personal jungle gym. They had a pretty enjoyable time but Daddy took quite a beating!

In other news, we are taking Cameron in early Monday morning to have a couple of small procedures done. He's getting tubes put it his ears as well as another procedure. I'm terrified since our track record with him isn't that great, but I'm trying to stay positive and tell myself that everything will turn out great. Please keep us all in your prayers!

First Snow

I don't think November can come to a close in Iowa without a little snow. We got a few inches over the last weekend of the month.

Cam loves to stand at the back door and look at all the pretty snow.

Of course, you can't have all that beautiful white goodness out there and not head out to play in it! Owen was so excited to head out with his Daddy. I was excited because I actually shopped early enough this year to find snow bibs in his size! Alas, I didn't get the right sized boots. Ya win some, ya lose some.

All geared up and ready to go! He informed when he came in that all that stuff made him hot! I guess that means I did my job as a Mom.

Christmas is in full swing at the Muhses!

It was later than I had hoped but we finally got our Christmas tree up last weekend. It's a little harder to work in now that Owen gets to help. He got to stay up late on Saturday night and help us decorate it, which he thought was pretty cool. He was surprisingly gentle with the ornaments, though he kept hanging them on the little light bulbs rather than actual branches. So I basically had to go behind him and re-hang every one that he did. But he didn't seem to mind! Of course, we listened to the "Sesame Street" Christmas album, which I have listened to while decorating my tree for longer than I can remember. My husband lovingly obliges to my quirky traditions. ;) Reminiscent of last year, Owen now listens to the CD at least 5 times a day. However, he does it while watching TV, playing, or even like now, while singing, "The Wheels on the Bus." His favorite Christmas song is, however, "Jingle Bells." "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. How much fun it is to ride in a sleigh, sleigh, sleigh...HEY!" He has his father's lyrical skils.

Putting on the first ornament

When it was all done he went up to it and said, "Christmas tree, I love you," while giving it a big hug.

He sat in my lap as we looked at it and talked about how pretty it was. Then he said, "We did a great job, Mommy!" I asked him what he thought Cameron would think when he woke up in the morning and saw it and he said very excitedly, "Cameron will be so surprised!" Cameron reacted much like his daddy predicted. He crawled up to, stared at it, touched it, and quickly pulled his hand away. He touched it one more time and he hasn't been near it since. Let's hope curiosity doesn't get the best of him in the days to come.

Rub-a-dub-dub!

I've been dreading bath time with Cameron for a while now for a number of reasons. He was still taking a bath in the baby tub in the sink. It took me longer to drag everything out than it actually took me to give him a bath. And the reason the bath would be done in less than 5 minutes was because he was splashing water EVERYWHERE and I would be soaked by the end of it. I finally decided it was time to move this boy up to the big show. I am delighted to say that he took to it wonderfully. He was smiling and yelling and having a grand 'ol time in there!

Of course, when Owen came up to check it all out he really wanted to get in there with him. I was a little wary of that but I let him. He was really good with him and Cameron seemed to enjoy the company.

Alas, he's still quite the splasher, as you can see by this video.

And here he is just talking away!

He loves it so much that he cries when we make him get out now! I'm thinking that bath time is about to get a lot more fun around here. Unfortunately, I'm sorry to say that I still have to change my shirt when it's all said and done.

On to the next holiday...

Well, we survived another Thanksgiving with the Muhs gang. We've been hosting for the last 7 years and I really think this was the best one yet. We had the whole family here this year, which is a whopping 7 adults and 3 kids. Not much, I know, but it is certainly enough when you're all under one roof! We were able to accomodate everyone with our glorious new basement. It's like a whole new house! Owen and Luca had a great time running around and playing together. I think I did a pretty good job on the meal, judging from the fact that my wonderful husband nearly passed out from eating so much. I didn't get many pictures as I seemed to either being cooking, doing dishes, visiting, or sleeping. Between Cody and myself, we managed to snag a few good ones.

I tried like hell to get this kid to sit still so I could get a picture of his "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving" outfit. But he just wouldn't cooperate with me.

Two of his favorite new toys--the Fridge DJ and Murphy's food bowl.

Mommy and her boys having some giggle time!

Grandma and her boys reading. These boys love to read with Grandma! Rumor has it they even got Grandpa Gary to sit with them and read one book, though no one was able to capture it on film. I'm sure he'll deny it now. ;)




Cameron got quite a kick out of Grandpa's "toys" on his face. He just didn't know what to think!


Grandpa dying his beard for the Bears game that he and Cody went to on Sunday in Minnesota.

Owen and Grandma chillin' on the couch

I need to share a quick Owenism before I go...

Thursday night Cody, Lynn, Gary, Owen, and myself were sitting around the table just chatting. Owen looked up at Grandpa and said, "Grandpa, do you be with Grandma Lynn?" We all started dying laughing. Then Grandpa says, "No, I go with Grandma Linda." Puzzled, Owen looks at Grandma and says, "Well, Grandma, what Grandpa do you be with?" It was hilarious but he really seemed genuinely concered the Grandma doesn't have a Grandpa that "be's" with her. He seemed even more frustrated that he can't figure it all out!

Thanks to all the Muhses for making the drive out to see us. We had so much fun with everyone and can't wait to do it again next year!

You know what they say....

Ok, so it's December 2nd and I'm just getting around to the Halloween pictures. Better late than never! Between finishing the basement, someone always being sick at any given moment, and hosting Thanksgiving, the blog has just been greatly neglected. But I was hit with some motivation tonight so I'm hoping to bring you lots of updates in the days to come! So first we'll start with Cameron's very first Halloween...

Our little pumpkin, who hated the hood on his costume. At least he left it on long enough for a picture!

Owen is still obsessed with this Spider-Man costume. He just puts it on and wears it around the house! It's the cutest thing.

Look closely at his hand and you can see he's shooting his web at you.

The first house. He was so excited to trick-or-treat this year. He would knock on the door and yell, "Trick or treat!" before they even opened the door! Then when they got there he would say, "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" After they gave him candy he would shut the door on them so he could hurry off to the next house! Then after the first couple of houses he said, "Daddy, can you carry my bucket?" Cody said, "Are you tired already?!" He said, "No, all this candy just makes it very heavy!"

Cam was content in his stroller as long as he had some Cheerios to munch on!

After hitting some houses in the neighborhood we headed over to the hospital. They do a big thing there and each wing does their own theme. The clinic did a Disney theme. Owen is getting candy from the Wicked Witch!

Here's Woody and his horse

In Newton, they did trick-or-treating on Thursday night because they don't like to do it on weekends. But Pella still did it on Friday night so we headed over there the next night! Owen was so excited to go 2 nights in a row. We tagged along with our good friends, Chuck, Dawn, Jason, and Brandon. The big boys had a ball running around to all the houses.

Cameron tried to dip into the Knox's stash!

Brandon, Jason, Cam, and Owen

It was so much fun to see it all through Owen's eyes this year. I can't imagine what it will be like next year when we have 2 running around!

Prayer Request

It has definitely been a while since I've stopped by the 'ol blog. Things have been crazy around the Muhs household as of late. The boys and I spent nearly 2 weeks in the 'boro in October and Cody has been working like a dog to get the basment ready in time for our Thanksgiving company. Our carpet is arriving on Wednesday! I'll be sure to post pics of it, as well as pics from the 'boro and other fun pics I've taken of the boys in the last few weeks. I'm hoping to get some stuff up before the weekend is over.

For now, though, I just wanted to ask you all for some prayers. Cody's best friend's younger brother was severely injured in a car accident 2 weeks ago. I didn't ask any of the family if it was ok with them for me to post, so out of respect for their privacy I don't really want to go into too much detail. But they have all just been on my mind constantly in the last 2 weeks so I felt compelled to write and ask for some prayers. I don't think it's important to know the details of his injuries, only that he desperately needs all the prayers he can get right now. And I know so many of you believe in the power of prayer as much as I do! I just can't stop thinking about his mother. As a mother who has sat and watched her child fight in a hospital bed, I feel a strange connection to her. I imagine the helplessness she must feel, as I felt it too. It doesn't matter whether your child is 1 mo. old, 25 years old, or even 50 years old. A mother only sees her baby in pain and wants nothing more than to make it go away. So please, join me in praying for this entire family as they try to find their way through this horrendous ordeal.

He *almost* got it...

We have since corrected Owen on his wording, but I really think his version is funnier.

The Baby Boy Grows Up

Cameron went for his 9 mo. check-up in late September. I still can't believe that in less than 3 months we will be celebrating his 1st birthday! Anyway, he was 26 in. long (3rd percentile) and 16 lbs. 15.5 oz. (~10th percentile, I think). He's obviously still a little dude but the doc doesn't seem too concerned because he is still growing along his own curve. I think he has gained weight every time he's been in there. We had to go back to the doc on Saturday due to another ear infection and he weighed 17 lbs 10 oz! He has two teeth but can still eat table food with the best of 'em, as his latest weight gain demonstrates. He LOVES cheese quesadillas like his big bro, bread, and turkey. He's still having trouble adjusting to table veggies and fruit but he gets better with them every day. He is already showing signs of being a lefty like his daddy. I swear there is just nothing about this boy that is typical! ;) But I guess that makes for an interesting life, right? And he sure does keep things interesting around here! He's still not crawling but he is trying so hard. He gets up on his hands and knees but just can't quite figure it out. He also does a lot of "push-ups!" He does sort of an army crawl to get wherever he needs to go. It's pretty funny to watch him....he puts his head down and then pushes like crazy with his feet and he's off! He's not pulling up yet either but the doc says to just give it time, given his early, rough start. I'm trying not to worry to much about timelines and comparison with other babies and just enjoy whatever stage he is in, no matter what age it comes!

His head still seems to be rounding out. We had another appointment with the cranial doc just to get checked out but I ended up canceling it because just I didn't think it was necessary. Also, this latest round of antibiotics is actually his 2nd in 4 weeks for ear issues. So the doc decided it might be best to see an ENT for a tube consult.

But no matter what you put him through he is still just a cuddly, happy little guy who is a joy to be around. He babbles all day long and just started saying, "Mamama," which, of course, I love!

His first grilled cheese, a Glodo Milestone!

"Mr. PRUME face," as Owen calls him.

Brothers Forever

The other day Owen was hugging Cameron and he said with a smile, "I'm so glad I have Cameron, Mommy. We're brothers forever." What a cute twosome they make!

Big brother trying to "teach" little brother how to crawl.

Brothers being silly

Matching jammies

(It was bedtime so it was hard to get a smile out of both of them at the same time!)

What are the odds they feel this way when they are teenagers? ;)

Lock Up Your Daughters!

Cameron started doing this last night and I was actually able to capture it on video. He still won't do it for us every time we ask but he's getting better at it! Just pay close attention to the cuteness of Cam and maybe Cody won't look so much like a crazy man. :)