Friday, November 18, 2011
Our new baby boy!
Announcing the arrival of our new son Payson Edward Lee, born at 9:10pm on November 15th, 2011 at Mountain Vista Medical Center. Payson weighed 6 lbs 7 ounces and was 19 inches long at birth. Mom and Payson are both doing great and are now at home with daddy and Payson's big sister Lacey. Our "Fam Lee of Three" blog will now appear as "One Two Lee Four!" 
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Complex personalities of the toddller
Since I haven't done much blogging for the past year, I thought I'd record something here about Lacey's personality. Perhaps that would make my post about the Target pictures make more sense.
These were taken at her uncle Dallin's 12th birthday party in January.
Observation one: The need for constant attention and a mommy escort. Mommy, you must do everything with me! Sit right next to me to watch Barney, swing with me, swim in the miniscule baby pool with me, whatever it is.
Observation 2: Mom, I must have cake!!! And candy. And especially gum! What motivates a kid to chew up and swallow piece after piece of speriment gum. What makes it so good? And her 2 year obsession with fruit snacks. I had to ban them from the house. She would ask for a "Nack" at every meal.
Observation 3: She must be heard! She will use her outside voice 99% of the time. She will yell for whatever thing she wants and she will do it ALL day long. Our favorite is lately when she is with her good friend Olivia and she's playing nicely with her. There's mild-tempered Olivia and Lacey with her Stalin-esque demands. "LIBIA! LIBIA." Telling her what to do. And every time, I kid you not, every time she says her name I think of the country and its dictator Kaddafi. And then I think it's ironic that she is acting like a dictator. Is that the nerdy history teacher in me?
She will always probably be obsessed with swinging. Since the tender age of one. You will see ber married someday with an adult-size sing set in her back yard, and there she will be, swinging away.
This was immediately following my brother Shawn pummeling me in the forehead with a tennis ball on accident. Yes, folks, he did aim that well on accident.
If you observe closely you will see the red mark.
These were taken at her uncle Dallin's 12th birthday party in January.
Observation one: The need for constant attention and a mommy escort. Mommy, you must do everything with me! Sit right next to me to watch Barney, swing with me, swim in the miniscule baby pool with me, whatever it is.
Observation 2: Mom, I must have cake!!! And candy. And especially gum! What motivates a kid to chew up and swallow piece after piece of speriment gum. What makes it so good? And her 2 year obsession with fruit snacks. I had to ban them from the house. She would ask for a "Nack" at every meal.
Observation 3: She must be heard! She will use her outside voice 99% of the time. She will yell for whatever thing she wants and she will do it ALL day long. Our favorite is lately when she is with her good friend Olivia and she's playing nicely with her. There's mild-tempered Olivia and Lacey with her Stalin-esque demands. "LIBIA! LIBIA." Telling her what to do. And every time, I kid you not, every time she says her name I think of the country and its dictator Kaddafi. And then I think it's ironic that she is acting like a dictator. Is that the nerdy history teacher in me?
She will always probably be obsessed with swinging. Since the tender age of one. You will see ber married someday with an adult-size sing set in her back yard, and there she will be, swinging away.
This was immediately following my brother Shawn pummeling me in the forehead with a tennis ball on accident. Yes, folks, he did aim that well on accident.
If you observe closely you will see the red mark.Now, a positive note. The title mentioned "personalities". That's because I am constantly amazed at the Jekyl and Hyde shifts of Lacey. Despite some of the difficult things mentioned above, there are so many things I love about her. She gives the BEST hugs. She says "i love you." She kisses my owies. She tells me, "You good girl." And also, "You big girl." (Which I think she thinks is a compliment because I have said it to her. Later we'll explain that's not nice to say to Mommy) She laughs and laughs at her own jokes. And she has this low deep voice she talks to me in and it's our little inside joke. She also growls at you a request when you're not responding to the first time. So there you have it. Many reasons to love my multiple personality, high maintenance child.
And since I'm on here now and who knows when I'll get my pregnant rear-end back on the blog. Let me make a few observations about how I'm feeling at Week 26. Well, you look at yourself in the shower and think, "I'm going to get bigger for 3 more months??? Look at this large basketball!! How am I going to walk around when it grows???
I get out of breath walking up the stairs in my house. So if you ever call me on the phone, I'll most likely huff and puff. PS, watching a 2 year old and being pregnant is a lot more tiring than teaching 150 high school kids like last time.
Did I mention I was excited?? I am!! I am cherishing the tiny tennis shoes my boy will wear that my sister-in-law gave us. I am excited for the little soft baby head on my shoulder. I'm excited to dress him up in a Santa suit for Christmas.
I'm excited for the next meal I will eat because I'm ALWAYs hungry and this time around, any treats is the desire of my heart. Different than last time. Bring on the brownies, icecream, candy bars. Bring on the 50 pounds I will gain! Uh oh. But for real, the doctor kind of lectured me that I was gaining a little fast last time and told me what foods to avoid such as "liquid calories, junk food, etc."
I promptly increased my intake of fruit juice and chocolate bars. Who wants to be a conformist, anyway?? Please stay tuned for future post when I complain about weight I need to lose.
The pictures coupons can take
So I found these coupons for a free portrait sitting at Target, plus a whole package of prints for $7.99 and I just couldn't pass it up. For people who have been around me the last 2 weeks, I discussed this and how worried I was about doing it. I had several "master plans", if you will. One was bringing Lacey's friend McKell with us to "show her how it's done." McKell's mom Rachel is always up for photo shoots. :) Plan B was bringing Cameron in a clown suit. Ok. minus the clown suit but Cameron can be quite entertaining for Lacey.
Neither plan worked out so I set out to do it alone. The appointment was for 11:20 which I had deemed in my head to be a potentially disastrous, hungry time for Lacey. I tried to be very pleasant to her all morning. I tricked her into putting her dress on. Then I came up with the idea to curl her hair as she ate a bowl of powdered parmasan cheese in the high chair. You see, Lacey has inherited my obsession with cheese. This worked swimmingly.
Next, I gave her candy on the way to Target. Yes, all you moms out there I do use junk food to bribe my kid. We stopped at Taco Bell on the way. Yes, for more CHEESE in the form of cheese roll-ups. This was science, people! Her tummy needed to be full! I have learned that food Lacey's currency.
Nervous as I was for the 11:20 event to start right on time, the photographer was finishing up the previous baby for another 20 minutes! My eyes shot daggers at her! (without her seeing of course) Inside I panicked. " This mood will not last!!!" (I screamed that inside my head.)
So I forgot these photos upload in reverse order, so I guess I'll narrate them that way. This, we think, is the best shot. I had to bring out the tickle monster to get it. I have many regrets about not making it the package picture because of her hand sticking there.
The package pic. How we got her to pose so professonally, I don't know! She would only hold still for about 1 second at a time. Most of the tmie I was sitting next to her and had to run out of the way.
When she was standing, you bet your bottom dollar she was running in circles and would not stand on the red light. I have to give props to the lady for getting any still shots.
This one is at the beginning. You observe the subject seems unsure, timid, if you will. But underneath that shy facade is a firework ready to burst out any second and smack her daddy in the face.
You gotta love the cute, laying down pose. She held still for half a second and I'm flabbergasted that her legs are crossed so nicely.
Can we say that it's also a feat that her bow was left in!!! She never touched it! She never does that. So honestly, people, I'm making a mountain out of this mole-hill of minutia that I'm writing about. But it's going to take me about 4 more kids to stop being so high-strung. So until then, you're all just going to have to suffer through it. Ha ha! I honestly think Heavenly Father answered my little prayers about it.
Neither plan worked out so I set out to do it alone. The appointment was for 11:20 which I had deemed in my head to be a potentially disastrous, hungry time for Lacey. I tried to be very pleasant to her all morning. I tricked her into putting her dress on. Then I came up with the idea to curl her hair as she ate a bowl of powdered parmasan cheese in the high chair. You see, Lacey has inherited my obsession with cheese. This worked swimmingly.
Next, I gave her candy on the way to Target. Yes, all you moms out there I do use junk food to bribe my kid. We stopped at Taco Bell on the way. Yes, for more CHEESE in the form of cheese roll-ups. This was science, people! Her tummy needed to be full! I have learned that food Lacey's currency.
Nervous as I was for the 11:20 event to start right on time, the photographer was finishing up the previous baby for another 20 minutes! My eyes shot daggers at her! (without her seeing of course) Inside I panicked. " This mood will not last!!!" (I screamed that inside my head.)
So I forgot these photos upload in reverse order, so I guess I'll narrate them that way. This, we think, is the best shot. I had to bring out the tickle monster to get it. I have many regrets about not making it the package picture because of her hand sticking there.
The package pic. How we got her to pose so professonally, I don't know! She would only hold still for about 1 second at a time. Most of the tmie I was sitting next to her and had to run out of the way.
When she was standing, you bet your bottom dollar she was running in circles and would not stand on the red light. I have to give props to the lady for getting any still shots.
This one is at the beginning. You observe the subject seems unsure, timid, if you will. But underneath that shy facade is a firework ready to burst out any second and smack her daddy in the face.
You gotta love the cute, laying down pose. She held still for half a second and I'm flabbergasted that her legs are crossed so nicely.
Can we say that it's also a feat that her bow was left in!!! She never touched it! She never does that. So honestly, people, I'm making a mountain out of this mole-hill of minutia that I'm writing about. But it's going to take me about 4 more kids to stop being so high-strung. So until then, you're all just going to have to suffer through it. Ha ha! I honestly think Heavenly Father answered my little prayers about it. Thursday, July 21, 2011
Ghosts, Mice & Keys
For one reason or another, Cameron got on YouTube the other day and ended up watching a few videos about ghosts. 
Needles to say, he's been a little jumpy ever since. Heck, he's even been leaving lights on in the hall now. That's a biggy too, because he usually prefers it to be pitch black when he sleeps. I guess that will teach him. Anyway, the whole thing with all the lights being on is just one of the many new and extreme protective methods being employed around here. It's been an interesting summer. Quick question, are ghosts afraid of the light like we are afraid of the dark?
Anyway, I think we have a mouse in our Attic. After all, we've been hearing random scratching here and there, and Cameron was in ear shot of some rustling in the garage. In any case, I'm confident this rodent is playing off of the already uneasy feelings that are going on around here. Mice are like that though.
Then there was the whole front door fiasco. Despite being pregnant, Cassie's been waking up early and getting out to exercise. Cam's been studying into the wee hours of the night and consequently sleeps in at times. Without waking Cameron or Lacey, Cassie slipped out the door and hid a single house key in the sole of her tennis shoe. She then proceeded to jog around all of southern Apache Junction before anyone woke up.
Upon her return, she became alarmingly aware that her faithful key had bailed on her somewhere in mid flight! She was locked out, and Cameron and the kid were still pleasantly slumbering without a clue. As considerate as she had been in letting the others sleep in, desperate times called for desperate measures. And so began, a knocking frenzy of all knocking frenzies! It was all in vain though, cause no one ever answered. It's possibly our early rising neighbors witnessed this thing go down and thought Cameron threw his wife out?
To better pass the time, Cassie ventured over to a friend's house where the two of them shared a lovely breakfast together and made numerous calls to retry waking Cameron up. Surprisingly, he never picked up! Attempts were even made to retrace footsteps and recover the lost key, but it was no where to be found.
Cassie then returned back to the house where she resumed her frantic knocking and doorbell ringing. She even went around back and threw pebbles at the bedroom window and made additional phone calls at yet another neighbor’s house. Again, no one stirred. Then she wondered, did a ghost or mouse get passed the gauntlet of lights Cameron had hoped would save him? Had that small whiskered friend of ours chewed through the phone lines?
Eventually, Cassie sat down at the neighbor’s house while the neighbor's husband tried his hand at waking the household. No luck!
Finally, Cameron's alarm clock went off and he happily got up quickly and initiated his morning routine. The answering machine was clearly flashing, but the only calls he could see on the caller ID were from Cassie's friend and a neighbor whom Cassie usually associates with. No need to check the messages he thought, they are for Cassie. That's when the neighbor began calling again, and Cameron became aware of a crazy person pounding on his front door. Long story short, he finally came to the door well rested and a little confused. Lacey woke up 10 minutes later.
The moral of the story is, white noise drowns out everything, so keep a spare key hidden somewhere! Never underestimate the power of an Alarm Clock when it comes to getting the job done!
Needles to say, he's been a little jumpy ever since. Heck, he's even been leaving lights on in the hall now. That's a biggy too, because he usually prefers it to be pitch black when he sleeps. I guess that will teach him. Anyway, the whole thing with all the lights being on is just one of the many new and extreme protective methods being employed around here. It's been an interesting summer. Quick question, are ghosts afraid of the light like we are afraid of the dark?
Anyway, I think we have a mouse in our Attic. After all, we've been hearing random scratching here and there, and Cameron was in ear shot of some rustling in the garage. In any case, I'm confident this rodent is playing off of the already uneasy feelings that are going on around here. Mice are like that though.
Then there was the whole front door fiasco. Despite being pregnant, Cassie's been waking up early and getting out to exercise. Cam's been studying into the wee hours of the night and consequently sleeps in at times. Without waking Cameron or Lacey, Cassie slipped out the door and hid a single house key in the sole of her tennis shoe. She then proceeded to jog around all of southern Apache Junction before anyone woke up.
Upon her return, she became alarmingly aware that her faithful key had bailed on her somewhere in mid flight! She was locked out, and Cameron and the kid were still pleasantly slumbering without a clue. As considerate as she had been in letting the others sleep in, desperate times called for desperate measures. And so began, a knocking frenzy of all knocking frenzies! It was all in vain though, cause no one ever answered. It's possibly our early rising neighbors witnessed this thing go down and thought Cameron threw his wife out?To better pass the time, Cassie ventured over to a friend's house where the two of them shared a lovely breakfast together and made numerous calls to retry waking Cameron up. Surprisingly, he never picked up! Attempts were even made to retrace footsteps and recover the lost key, but it was no where to be found.
Cassie then returned back to the house where she resumed her frantic knocking and doorbell ringing. She even went around back and threw pebbles at the bedroom window and made additional phone calls at yet another neighbor’s house. Again, no one stirred. Then she wondered, did a ghost or mouse get passed the gauntlet of lights Cameron had hoped would save him? Had that small whiskered friend of ours chewed through the phone lines?Eventually, Cassie sat down at the neighbor’s house while the neighbor's husband tried his hand at waking the household. No luck!
Finally, Cameron's alarm clock went off and he happily got up quickly and initiated his morning routine. The answering machine was clearly flashing, but the only calls he could see on the caller ID were from Cassie's friend and a neighbor whom Cassie usually associates with. No need to check the messages he thought, they are for Cassie. That's when the neighbor began calling again, and Cameron became aware of a crazy person pounding on his front door. Long story short, he finally came to the door well rested and a little confused. Lacey woke up 10 minutes later.The moral of the story is, white noise drowns out everything, so keep a spare key hidden somewhere! Never underestimate the power of an Alarm Clock when it comes to getting the job done!
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Summer Update
So what happens when a family of three becomes a family of four? While we are completely ecstatic about the upcoming arrival of or little boy, we are also having to make some major changes around here. For starters, our catchy blog title’s got to go. Any ideas? Secondly, Cam’s home office received an eviction notice so as to make room for the new baby tenant. 
We’re thinking a baseball themed room would be a winner! Then there’s the name. We’ve been shuffling through hundreds of boy names in search for the perfect pick. As Cameron puts it, “a guy can’t have a name that will get him beat up. It’s gotta be strong and strike fear in his foe’s hearts.” Needless to say, a lot of cute names may get shot down as a preemptive strike in defense of manhood. Cameron’s also polishing all his workshop tools in preparation for another man around here. It's going to be different. It's going to be great!
Cassie’s been wrangling the terrible twos while Lacey is constantly thinking of new ways to outsmart us. She sometimes reminds me of those tricky raptors in Jurassic Park. They are way too smart for anyone’s good. Just when you think you’re in control, they pop out of the bushes behind you and it’s too late! Lacey may not have a lizardly companion who’s luring our attention away from the eminent danger in the opposite direction, but she sure has a way of making the hunter the hunted. Ahhhh. It makes sense in an analogical way?But seriously, Lacey is so cute and talks up a storm. We love her with all our hearts and can't imagine our lives without her. Pretty soon, we won't remember how we lived without or next one too! Lacey is growing up so fast. I guess that is why we knew it was time to have another baby. Our current baby isn't such a baby anymore! She is definitely a girl though, as is evident by the way she tries on all her shoes and won’t leave the house without a specific outfit on. Just don't judge us when you see our child wearing mismatched clothing. We are aware of it and are just avoiding some confrontations. What can I say, her style is a work in progress? She’s also learned to talk on the phone and goes through our wallets and takes out our debit cards. Nature vs. nurture? Hmmm?
Cameron’s been taking classes this summer through ASU. Come fall, he’ll be back in the full swing of things. Four classes and fifty hours a week. Needless to say, it’s wearing him down but getting him closer and closer to a career as a counselor for individuals, families and couples. Check out his blog at: cameroonie.blogspot.com. He’s also loving the fact that he’s a Sun Devil and really wants to go to a few ASU baseball and football games this coming school year. We especially want to see ASU up against UofA. Anyone want to go with us?
Aside from being more and more pregnant, Cassie has been teaching violin lessons. She’s also been taking Lacey to the AJ pool to learn how to swim. Lacey however, is more interested in the rubber duckies they let the kids play with after the class. Why would anyone however, show a child the reward for a good job before classes have even started? Swimming lessons therefore, turns into screaming sessions!All in all, we are doing well and looking forward to the next half of 2011.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Cameron's blog
Hey everybody,
I just wanted to post an invitation for everyone to visit and browse around on Cameron's personal blog. As many of you know, cam's been in school to become a marriage & family counselor. Anyway, his blog is all about that sort of stuff, and is a great way to get to know him better. Take a look!
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