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Pay It Forward

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As a mother, I am deeply affected by the tragedy that occurred last Friday in Newtown, CT. I have found myself reading every article, watching news clips about the victims' and their families, and shedding tears for their pain and sorrow.

Much like the rest of the country {or really, the world}, I mourn these losses and am beside myself. I remember that day, Camden was in rough shape. My stubborn little girl refused to nap all day, and gave me one of her most difficult days. And still, despite the whining and tears, I had my little girl to hold. Being a mother who lost daughters only 20 short months ago, I almost feel guilty, that I have this little girl who is about to celebrate her first Christmas, and there are families in Connecticut who now cannot even fathom celebrating theirs. 

I had made plans to send a letter to Sandy Hook Elementary, perhaps send a donation, but no idea has struck me the way the video above has. 

26 acts of kindness. It is a simple concept that seems so fitting, not only in light of the Connecticut tragedy, but also because it is Christmas.

My family is very busy this Christmas. On top of the usual family gatherings to prepare for, presents to buy, Christmas cookies to bake, we are preparing to go on vacation to Northern California for a week, and we are also in the process of packing up our house and moving. However, this is something I want to make a point of doing. 

I make this promise today and it is something I would like to continue with Camden as she grows up. 26 Random Acts of Kindness. This year, I am starting it today. It was said best in the card in the video: How do you fight evil in the world? This is my own personal solution.

I urge every one you as well, in these last few days before Christmas, or even before the New Year, to conduct these random acts. They don't have to be big. They don't have to be broadcasted. Just do it. 

Benchmarks and Babies was started because I wanted to share my husband's and my experience in bringing life into this world. In these past two years, the blog has transformed into so much more -- a place to pour out frustrations and heartaches, a countdown, and a place for celebrating life, love, and family. 

We honor and remember those fallen victims and their families. What better place to start than here. What better time to start than now.

Pay it forward.
Pass it on.
26 Acts.

Keeping Up With Camden: 5 Months

Height
27 inches 
Weight
After the last post, we went to her doctor's appointment and found out {i LOVE being right} that she was 15.25 lbs. That was in the beginning of November. My guess is that now she is about 17 lbs. This kid is a major chunk. 

Milestones
* There is a little girl who, while she refuses to roll over, has been sitting up pretty much on her own. 

* Camden has also been eating baby food! {hooray!} Dr. Medina preferred that we wait until she was closer to 6 months, but honestly, we couldn't wait, and I think neither could Cam. She absolutely loves, loves, loves her baby food. The food we've chosen for her is by Ella's Kitchen, which is an organic baby food company that offers not only single item foods {i.e. First Sweet Potatoes, First Pears} but combinations of different fruits and vegetables. We feel that this will help Camden, by not only providing her with so much nutrition from different sources, but by exposing her palette to different tastes. We want a worldly eater for a little girl, and we feel that Ella's Kitchen will help us shape her into that.

* Our little social butterfly has also become such a talker and quite a little dancer. She does this squirm-dance that is so adorable and she normally does so when she is laughing and "talking" to us.

Notable Events
* Camden's first Thanksgiving! I have to admit that at first, I felt a little guilty because this is the first year in seven years that I didn't cook a Thanksgiving meal. Normally my Thanksgiving cooking involves 3 days of active prep and about 8-10 hours of cooking on the day itself. It is exhausting, but I absolutely LIVE for this holiday. This year, however, J and I decided that I needed to take a rest. After all, I am taking care of a 4 1/2 month old. So this year, we decided to go out to eat instead. J and I made early reservations at Maggiano's, and I have to say, it was the best idea ever. We've eaten at Maggiano's countless times just for regular dinner, but have never done Thanksgiving there. We loved the experience so much that we think we may even go there again next year. It was such a nice, stressless Thanksgiving for us . . . and we still had leftovers afterwards! Camden, the our nosy little bugger, loved Maggiano's. She sat with me on my lap and looked around at all the people {all the while unknowingly drawing attention to her and her gigantic turkey beanie bow that I made for her, of course!} and when she was done doing that {and sampling the whipped cream from Mommy's dessert}, she went back into her car seat and slept! It is fairly obvious who J and I were most thankful for this year.


* With the holidays fast approaching, Camden has had her fair share of shopping excursions. From a few trips with one of her godmothers, my dear friend Amy, to our friends {my former bosses}, the Gustave family, or just trips with Mommy, Daddy, or both, this little girl has seen her fair share of spending. On top of that, she had her first experience of Black Friday shopping!

* Though she is not a stranger to the camera {the phone kind and the professional kind}, Camden joined us for our first family Christmas photos, done by our dear friend Carla of Carla G. Design and Photography. Carla is the wife of one of J's very best friends from childhood {and one of our groomsmen at the wedding}, Tim. J and Tim are like brothers, and Carla, who is just starting her photography business and has done so well already, especially this holiday season. Our sweet girl did so well for the photos, braving a cold fall afternoon and not crying one bit during our session. We are so happy with the way the photos turned out!

 Our favorite: Santa's best present!
 Since we were having our pictures taken in Downtown San Juan Capistrano, where we had our engagement photos done {by the insatiable Adrienne Gunde}, we decided to recreate some of the same poses from then, but this time, of course, have our sweet Camden with us. I think they turned out fabulously!

* Camden's first visit to the LA Auto Show... Last year, when I was only 7 weeks pregnant with Camden, I won two tickets to attend the Auto Show. It was my first time ever going, and J and I were so excited to have won the tickets. This year, I joined the same giveaway {through Yokohama Tires, a huge sponsor of the event} and won 4 tickets! We asked our friends, the Lowrey family to come along with us, as they have two little girls as well, and their flexible work schedules allow for them to take a weekday off and go with us {last year, we found going on a weekend to be too hectic; we couldn't imagine doing that again this year, especially having an 18-, 8-, and 5-month old with us}. We had a wonderful time and even got to introduce them to one of our favorite restaurants in Little Tokyo. We love the interaction between Camden and the two Lowrey girls, Coley and Dylan.

* First visit with Santa: My friend Amy {one of Camden's godmothers} and I decided that we wanted to start a tradition of having our girls take their Santa pictures together every year. Her daughter, Olivia, 5, is very close to us, and we want Camden and Olivia to have this tradition to look forward to every year. So we decided to take the girls to see Santa in the Crystal Court at South Coast Plaza. I was a little concerned at first, as Cam has been going through a very clingy phase, where she does not let ANYONE, and I mean ANYONE, except for me or J hold her. I warned Santa's elves to take the picture as soon as I put her down on his lap, because it wouldn't take long for her to melt down. I was so happy to be proven wrong! Not only did Cam not cry at all with Santa, she also sat there and at least somewhat focused on us and the camera while her picture was being taken! So proud of my girl!

* Camden's first Ugly Christmas Sweater Party: Our neighbors {and friends} Andrew and Kali invited us to their annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party this year. Although children weren't allowed, they made concessions for their friends who had babies. Camden got to wear a hideous little gem that I found at a kids consignment store and embellished with more gems and tacky snowflakes. She didn't win the Ugliest Sweater award, but we are proud to say that Daddy got 2nd place!

New Places Visited
* We stayed local during most of her 4th month. She did, however, have her share of new places in town visited for the first time: Maggiano's, South Coast Plaza, Slapfish Restaurant in Huntington Beach, to name a few. I think we decided to stay in town this month because we knew that we would be traveling a lot during the holidays and wanted to not get our little girl wasted prior to.

Personality Revealed: Our Quirky Little Girl
* Tech-Savvy Baby: I guess it should be expected out of all babies and toddlers in this day and age. Camden loves anything that involves technology -- iPhones, light up toys, laptops, and even the remote control. Many times, we have had to keep one of those items in front of her to keep her happy.


* The Whine-Cry: It's the new crying . . . Cam has truly discovered her lungs. In this past month, she has taken to her new hobby: Yelling. She yells just for fun and when she wants to make noise but doesn't want to yell, she does a puppy-like whimper/whine.

* Little Lady: I don't know where she gets it, but J and I have noticed that this little girl likes to sit and have her legs crossed.  
* Someone has discovered her thumb! Before she was born, I refused to buy a pacifier for her. I didn't want her to be attached to this bink. That was until after her first night at home. The next morning, I sent J to the store to purchase a bink for her. I figured, you could take away the bink but not the thumb, and as an avid thumbsucker until the age of 10, I wanted the total opposite for my daughter. Especially now that she is teething heavily, it brings her comfort and she gnaws on her little thumb happily.
* New favorite song: I am a firm believer in NOT allowing young children to be glued to the TV. I've seen other people's children who cannot even hold a conversation with adults when there is a TV, let alone a computer, in the room, and J and I would like our little girl to have a little bit more social graces than that, so we limit her TV exposure to about 15-30 minutes a day. Why 15 minutes? Because when J goes to work in the morning, Mommy needs a few minutes to wash her face, go potty, brush her teeth, and put herself together to be a little bit presentable, and keeping Cam on her post on our bed in front of Nick Jr. for a few minutes becomes a necessity. At any rate, her exposure to Nick Jr. has introduced her to the Fresh Beat Band. Being a little girl who absolutely LOVES music, she is mesmerized by the colors and the songs on this show. One of them is a song called "Spin Around". Whatever I am doing, when "Spin Around" comes on, I go over to Cam's spot and I dance with her for the few minutes that the song is on, and she totally enjoys it. She loves the song so much that I downloaded it on iTunes and I know that when we play it for her and do a little dance with her, she lights up and giggles.

* Another giggly time: Bedtime. I admit that there are many days when bedtime is signaled by a bald and cranky baby rubbing her eyes and doing her whine-cry. There are, however, most days when our signal for sleepy time is a room full of giggles from our 5 month old. She gets herself so deliriously tired that she just giggles at anything and everything as we are putting her to bed. It feels like a cheat sometimes, but I try to take advantage of those precious few minutes as much as possible. 

As Camden's first Christmas is coming, I am filled with so much excitement, anticipation, and a little bit of disbelief that I get to celebrate it with this perfect little girl. We are so blessed to have her and thank God daily for bringing Hope into our lives through her.