A Tale of Two Genders

"Mommy, you have long hair."

"Yes, I do, Owen."

"But I don't have long hair because I'm a boy."

"Would you believe your daddy used to have long hair?"

"Why? When he was a girl?"

I think preschool is really going to do wonders for him.

The Swinging Lion

I had planned to stay in the 'boro for a week or so after Jessica's shower. However, after the horrible nights with Cameron not sleeping well, Cody and I decided it would be best to just take him home and try to get him back in his sleeping groove. Grandma offered for Owen to stick around with her, Grandpa, and Maddy for a few days. I tried not to sound too eager when I graciously accepted! Owen had a great time visiting with everyone while Cody and I reveled in the simplicity of life with one child. Owen is the most easy-going kid I know but kids, no matter how easy-going, are still a lot of work! So it was nice to have a little break as well as some one-on-one time with Cam. One night Daddy and I took him for a stroll in the park and some fun on the swings.

He wasn't quite sure what to think of it at first...

But he quickly warmed up to it...

Below are a couple of videos of some of the fun new things he is doing. He is expanding his vocabulary everyday! Things are still frustrating at times and are very much still on his terms but we are slowly but surely getting there. I'll post more of an update on him and his progress at the end of the month after his 18-month check-up (at 19-months--Mommy is forgetful in the summer!).

Alas, all things must come to an end and we are now back in our family-of-four groove! We had a great Fourth with Grandma Lynn at our house (I think we got some good photos and I will post them soon) and are anxiously awaiting more visitors this weekend! We love it when people come to see us! Especially now that Cameron isn't all that great of a traveller. Stay tuned for lots more summer fun with the Muhses!

Family Fun Time

Owen LOVES going to "Auntie Beth's new house." He loves to run all over the house with Cade, play with Cade's toys, and this trip he got to do lots of outdoor playing. Cade and Cash are going to have such a blast growing up on all that property! And I can imagine them taking all their cousins exploring when everyone comes to visit. Oh what fun we have in store for all of us! But, for now, here are a few shots from our latest adventure:

Cade driving Owen around in his gator. Yes, Cade had to do the driving because Owen really has no steering/directional capabilities whatsoever. Teaching him to ride a bike is no easy task.

He did, however, get in Cade's tractor and attempt driving on his own. I think he almost ran over Aunt Beth, then almost ran into someone's car. After that he thought he should just ride shotgun with Cade.

The little brothers were content to hang out inside. Cameron loved playing with Cash's exersaucer. And I think Cash enjoyed the company.

Now if we can just get Cameron to sleep a little better, maybe we can get back there before he turns five for some more family fun!

Showering the Youngmans

After our trip to St. Louis, we headed down to the 'boro for a long weekend. Beth and I shared hostess duties in throwing a baby shower for my cousin's wife, Jess, who is due with their first baby in August. Beth and I had so much fun planning this event! We had a baby carriage/green and brown theme and we just ran with it! We held it at Beth's beautiful new home and I think everything turned out great.

This is the diaper bag that we got Jess. Under that is the spread from Grammy Gaye--lots of essentials for the baby's new room. Jess had picked out these colors a while ago for the nursery, so we drew our inspiration from that.

We bought lots of different baby outfits in our color theme in varying sizes and used them as decoration:

The best part about these decorations is that they didn't go to waste! Jess got to take them all home to put on cute little Baby Y. for the next year.

We had green and brown M&M's on the tables, along with baby carriages that I painstakingly traced and cut out, with the help of my awesome Daddy. Thanks, Dad!

The spread. I loved these beautiful vases and flowers that Beth found, all in the right colors, of course!

The cake and favor table.

A close-up of the cake--it says "Baby Youngman is rolling in!" It is kind of a re-creation of the invitations we sent. It was made by a woman in Murphysboro, in case anyone there needs a new cake lady!

A close-up of the favors--brown and green M&M's in a little bag. The carriage says, "Baby Y. is rolling in, thanks so much for showering him!"



Beth, Jess, and myself

Only a few more weeks until we meet the newest member of the family! I, for one, am ecstatic and can not wait!!!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

While we were on vacation in St. Louis we were finally able to check out the new Busch Stadium. I almost didn't go because I was afraid to leave Cameron since he wasn't in the best of moods, but I'm so glad Grandma insisted I go! The stadium was awesome! I was a little upset when I heard they were building a new one because I hate change and I am sentimental with everything...even baseball fields. But this park really won me over! It has an old-time feel with all the modern conveniences, including escalators! I hated when we had high seats at the old stadium and had to walk up all those ramps!

Since Steve Glodo was running the show, we made it to the stadium pretty early and had plenty of time to check things out before the game started. We stopped for a few photos outside:

Owen and Stan the Man

Being that this was Owen's first MLB game, I wasn't sure how he would do so I thought I should bring plenty of ammunition to fight boredom. I thought a backpack would be easiest to carry around but forgot to bring one. Fortunately, Maddy came to my rescue:

That's right, I rocked the Hannah Montana!

Third Base Entrance

All around the stadium there are plaques like these:

They were designed by one of my friends from college, Gabe Drueke, who is also from Southern Illinois. I had heard all about them but I was so excited to be able to see them firsthand! I was so impressed with what a great job he did!

Maddy had a gift card to Build-A-Bear and they happened to have one inside the stadium. So she took advantage of the situation and made her own Fred Bird.

The funny thing about this is that if the real Fred Bird comes within 100 feet of her she is consumed with fear and will not go anywhere near him.

We had great seats along the third baseline and took a little time to hang out by the dugout before the game to watch batting practice and possibly score some autographs. Unfortunately, we had no luck with the autographs but Owen still enjoyed himself.



One of my favorite things about the new stadium is how open it feels. You can see right into it from the street and inside, you have an awesome view of the city:

We were even lucky enough to find ourselves on the jumbo-tron:

Yes, that's me taking a picture of myself on the jumbo-tron. I was actually trying to get a picture of Owen and Cody on there because the guy got a great close-up of them, but I was too late and got myself instead!

Alas, the Cards couldn't pull out a win for us but a great time was still certainly had by all! And Maddy and Owen were just happy they got to spend a little time with their Grandpa.

Vacay in the Lou

This year we decided to take our family vacation in St. Louis, where my brother lives. Grandma and Grandpa came up from Murphysboro and we all stayed at Uncle Josh and Aunt Angie's house from Friday to Wednesday. Everyone but Cameron thought this was a great idea. He did NOT enjoy the sleeping arrangments made for him and decided it might be best to give his brother a run for his money on that whole screaming-louder-than-a-howler-monkey thing. I'm pretty sure Cameron won, hands-down. And I'm pretty sure Uncle Josh would agree with me. So, I did something I have NEVER done, swore I would NEVER do, and swear I will NEVER do again...I slept in a bed with him. Never say never, right? While I did enjoy my baby boy cuddling up next to me and falling asleep, I only enjoyed it for about 10 minutes. This Mama needs her rest and she can't get it sleeping with a toddler!

Cameron's mood on this trip was unfavorable, to say the least. We thought it might be teeth, then we thought it might be his ears, but now we think we have come to the general conclusion that he just likes to be at home in his own space, in his own bed, where there are no crowds. I also think he is getting into that whole separation anxiety stage when we put him to bed at night, which would explain the incessant screaming. I'm happy to say that while it is not completely eradicated, it is way lessened and everyone is sleeping in their own quarters. We've had a few rough nights but it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

Of course, the downside to this is that I am now completely terrified to ever travel with him again. I worry about what this means for him as he grows and fear that he is going to be painfully shy around most people. Come on, did you really think I wouldn't try to turn this in to some sort of life-altering situation? You all must know me better than that! ;)

Anyway, enough of my babbling, if you've even made it this far. Let's get on with some pictures.

Our first stop was the zoo. Why are there no pictures of the zoo, you ask? That would be because we never got out of the car. We drove around numerous places in Forest Park looking for a parking place and after many "You-ees from St. Louie" on my dad's part, we never found one. It was crazy busy there so we decided to head to Grant's Farm instead. This was not before Owen cried because we told him we were going to the zoo, he saw the zoo, and then 10 minutes later we told him we were leaving said zoo.

We finally made it to Grant's Farm and checked out the World Famous Clydesdales before heading in:




It is taking everything I have to avoid any references to Owen having his picture taken with a horse's butt. ;) So I'll just digress...

As we were crossing the street to the entrance the crossing guard welcomed Cody and told him that "we have lots of great t-shirts available for purchase in our General Store." You guessed it, Cody wore a Cubs shirt in Cardinal territory and it only took about 10 minutes for someone to notice. There's not much we could do since 75% of his t-shirts have some reference to the Cubs on them.

Once we got in, we stopped to pose for a family photo. Well, a most-of-the-family photo. Danielle wasn't able to make it with us and Josh and I were taking the picture. You can see good evidence of Cameron's overall mood if you look at my brother's version of this picture on his blog.


We then headed over to the carousel, where Owen and Maddy rode with Grandma, all in their matching shirts that Grandma got them.

Cameron sat on the side-lines and watched with wide-eyed wonder as they went 'round and 'round. It was one of the few times during the day that he was actually content.

Then we checked out lots of animals, like cool birds:

And big 'ol turtles:

Of course, the highlight of the trip was the new Elephant show, featuring Bud the Elephant.

Be sure to read my brother's lovely recap of this show when you head over to his blog.

After a long, hot day, and a long, hot wait in the line to catch the tram back to the parking lot, we were finally on the tram headed home. No one was happier to hear that than our sweet, little Cameron, who was tired of being cooped up in his stroller all day:

Of course, this was not before someone decided it would be a great idea to purchase harmonicas for Owen and Maddy. By the end of the night, we were all regretting that idea. And we weren't the least bit upset when Owen's harmonica was lost at Uncle Josh's and still has not resurfaced.

Stay tuned for more pictures!

Big News for the Little Dude

There were times I thought it would never happen, but I am delighted to bring you the latest bit of Muhs news...Cameron is walking!!! He often has the gait of a drunken sailor and still crawls a lot of the time but HE IS WALKING! While he was letting go a bit during our vacation a few weeks ago at my brother's house, he didn't really take real steps until he went to Murphysboro with Grandma & Grandpa. Yes, that's right, the moment Cody and I have waited on pins and needles for happened while we were losing our life savings having a great time at Ameristar Casino in St. Louis. Here's the footage to prove it:

I've already signed him up for his first 5k.

Nature Boy

Owen and Daddy were playing outside one evening and got some great photos of our big boy enjoying nature!

One of this favorite things to do outside is to sit in his chair in the driveway, which is seated right next to his Daddy's chair. He likes to chill with Dad while listening to Red Hot Chili Peppers, his new favorite band (Metallica is a close second), on the cd player. Cody is happy to have his own Mini-me!

Messy Marvin

Like most 17-month-olds, Cameron is quite a messy eater. He often ends up with food all over his clothes and fruit juice caked in his hair. And, really, what makes for a cuter picture than that?

His shirt was so messy I had to take it off and his hair was so crazy because it was all sticky!!

He most definitely inherited his mother's eating habits!

Special Delivery!

I've always said that I don't know why we bother to spend money on toys when kids are so easily entertained by a box...



But who wouldn't love to get this package at their front door? With a face that cute, you could totally look past the fact that he asks you the same question 15 times in the span of 5 minutes, that he screams louder than most howler monkeys, or that he won't touch most vegetables with a 15-foot pole! Or is that something only a mother can do?

"Here, have some!"

Cameron's newest thing is feeding all of us. He gets the biggest kick out of taking his Cheerios and putting them in all of our mouths. After he gets one in, he mimmicks the chewing with his own mouth. A little annoying getting Cheerios from the grubby hands of a one-year-old, but cute, nonetheless. Owen thinks it's great!

Now if I could just teach him to cook our dinners...

Startin' 'Em Young

A few weeks ago I was out doing some shopping and came home to find this:


This is the wheel that we use for MarioKart on the Nintendo Wii. Daddy was playing because Owen likes to watch him play but he said Cameron wanted to get in on the fun, too. It's only a matter of time before this apparatus is no longer Mommy and Daddy's!

*Carmen, tell Mole that it won't be long before Cameron is ready to take his Monkey you-know-what on! ;)