Merry Christmas!

Dear family and friends,

Another year has gone by faster than ever, and here we are still trying to figure out what happened to January. Here are some of the top highlights for 2009 (in chronological order).

We bought a condo at the beginning of the year and love having a place of our own.

We celebrated our 3^rd wedding anniversary two days before our little Camden made his appearance.

Michelle performed on the piano at Abravanel Hall. Camden kindly waited until the next night to come.

Camden was born May 7^th and already has two teeth with two more trying to break through right now. He crawls everywhere and wants to eat everything. We feel so grateful for our little guy and the happiness and challenges he brings.

Michelle is not in school anymore – as a student or as a teacher. Hooray!

We went to St. George this summer to celebrate Michelle’s Grandparents’ 50^th wedding anniversary. It was especially meaningful to Michelle because her Grandma passed away shortly afterward.

Brian’s parents drove from Maryland to deliver a special, Grandpa-made crib for Camden. It was exciting to see them.

We hiked Angels’ Landing (including our super hiker-baby).

Brian is still in school, but just finished his hardest (fullest) semester and is looking forward to being done next May.

We wish everyone a merry Christmas and thank you for your love and support. We are especially grateful for our Savior and hope you feel of His love at this Christmas season.

Love,

Brian, Michelle, and Camden Marchant

Under the tree

I was in the kitchen for awhile, while Camden played in our front room with Brian. When I looked in, this is what I saw:


Camden was playing with the toy, which he pushed over to the tree so he could get to the ornaments and higher branches!

7 months!

Well, this is just a quick update to celebrate that Camden is 7 months.

Camden's 7 favorite things:
1. Eating real food
2. Hanging upside down
3. Taking a bath
4. Electrical cords, cell phones, and electronics
5. Crawling and bouncing
6. Making sounds (pounding on the piano, singing)
7. Brushing his teeth

On Sunday, he started real crawling and he is starting to pull himself to stand up. He does a funny little fake giggle when he thinks it's appropriate (mostly when Brian or I laugh). I can hardly believe that he is not a little baby anymore.

I'm big!

Splash!

The only baby who was happy to see Santa

Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving we went to Saint George. It was so nice to be in warmer weather and especially to see our family. We had a fabulous time eating way too much food on Thanksgiving. On Friday we went on a hike in Zion's National Park up to Angels Landing. Camden was such a trooper being stuck in a car seat or backpack almost all day long, but he loves being outside. The chain part was a little scary, but we held on tight and made it up and back safely. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend.

This is Angels Landing from the back before the scary chain part. Click on it to see the people.

Here we are before the final ascent with our super-cute hiker-baby.

Camden playing with his Great-Grandpa Wilkinson

Mmm...Sweet potatoes! (These weren't even the baby food kind!)

Crib

We feel happy and grateful for an addition to our house. Grandma and Grandpa Marchant drove all the way from Maryland to bring it to us. Camden loves all the room he has to stretch out now. I think it is gorgeous! Thank you so much!

One Paperclip

I had an assignment for one of my classes a couple of weeks ago that was called One Paperclip. The idea was that you would take one paperclip and trade it up until you got to something much more valuable. It was taken from a Canadian that decided he wanted to trade a red paperclip for a house. You can see his progression here. I wasn't sure how to go about getting something much more expensive in the three weeks that we had for the assignment because this guy set a goal of getting a house within one year.
I finally took the paperclip to work and asked a few people to trade me for something more valuable. The first couple of people looked at me like I was crazy and tried to give me company office supplies in exchange for the paperclip. I didn't want that kind of thing because I could have just gone to the supplies and taken supplies if I wanted to use them at work, and I didn't want the next traders to think I had just raided the supplies to get something cooler. Finally the secretary (who has access to all the paperclips she could possibly need) took pity on me and traded me two packets of spiced apple cider for the paperclip.
As I walked out of her office, I saw the salesman trying to hand out cutting boards that our company made for Christmas gifts to our contacts last year. He had a few extras and was taking the time to be fair and give one to everyone. I could tell that he was in a hurry, though, and was a little stressed by doing that at the time. I asked him if he liked spiced apple cider. He said, "Yeah, I love it. Why?" I then offered him the two packets for the rest of the cutting boards. I ended up with 5 cutting boards that were probably worth about $5 each. I decided I was going to keep one of them and trade the other four for something cool. I also knew that the people in the shop that worked on the cutting boards the year before were jealous that they didn't get any, meaning I had a hot commodity on my hands.
The first person I talked to is usually pretty vocal when he feels he is being treated unfairly, so I knew for sure that he would want a cutting board. I told him I had four of them that I was willing to trade individually for something much nicer. After he thought about it for a bit, he remembered that his parents were cleaning out their basement and had some baby items that they used for their youngest grandson who is now 17 years old. He traded me a very nice playpen, and an older stroller for two of the cutting boards. The playpen folds up nicely for portability and is in really good condition. I gave the stroller to Heather because she told me her stroller smelled like wet dog and they were going to get rid of it.


At the time, my company was going through a housecleaning of sorts and had a ton of stuff they were just getting rid of. I was working on a bid and had a fast-approaching deadline, so I didn't have time to go pick something cool out. I talked to one of my friends from the shop floor and showed him a cutting board. I told him to get me something cool, and I would give him a cutting board. He came away with a nice, little, antique-look nightstand and some stain for it. He also gave me some additional hardware he pulled out. So in one day I had gone from a paperclip to a nightstand, stroller, and playpen (Michelle had been looking for a playpen online, and they were about $50), and I still had one cutting board I was planning on trading.


I didn't do anything for quite a while, but I mentioned to some classmates how I had done so far. A couple of days before the assignment was due, I got a call from one of my friends in the same class offering to trade me a cordless drill with a faulty battery charger for one of the cutting boards. I took both cutting boards because I wasn't sure which one he would prefer. Later that night he called me again and offered me a DVD player/VCR combo for the other cutting board. I decided that was better than keeping one for us (since we actually got one last year when my company made them), and I agreed to the trade. Apparently his wife saw the cutting boards and wanted one for herself.
I took the drill back to work the next day and looked up the battery chargers and the price of the drill. The drill was worth $60 originally and a new battery charger would be $20. I knew that one of the employees sold Mona Vie that retails for about $45 per bottle (which is a ridiculous price, by the way), but he gets them for about $30 per bottle. I should have realized it was a bad trade when he was so eager to trade for it, because now I'm being recruited to be one of the "distributors" with him and another guy at work in the multi-level marketing "team." I'll just tell them I'm more interested in the corporate side of things and hope they leave me alone.
Anyway, within 5 trades I went from a paperclip to an estimated $255 worth of stuff. Unfortunately I never got to see how far I could go because everything I got for the cutting boards was something I wanted to keep. You have to admit, though, I did get some pretty cool stuff.

We're in trouble now!

Here are a few new things from this week...

New hat...

New experience swinging all alone...

New ability to scoot!

And, Happy Birthday David!

May the force be with you

So, I know that our blog should be renamed "The Life and Times of Camden," but really, he is the cutest and most interesting in our family.  Anyway, Camden dressed up as Master Yoda this year.  I know the ears are a little too big, but I still think he makes the cutest Yoda.  I had a hard time getting him to look at the camera.  He was too interested in crunching leaves in his fingers.

 

And here are some other Halloween pictures.  Notice how he can sit by himself!

Finally, here is Camden playing in the pumpkin goop.  Actually, he was more interested in the newspaper, but he did get a little slimy.

Happy Halloween!

P.S. We found that the secret to getting the little guy to eat vegetables is to mix them with rice cereal. Presto!  He loves them!

Busy week!

Camden and I got to spend a week in California with my parents.  We had a good time in the warm weather, and Camden loved being the center of attention!  He also cut his first tooth--a bottom front tooth.  He was enchanted by the dog, the trampoline, and my family.  It was so good to spend some time with my family!  And, it was soooo good to see Brian again!   I didn't take many pictures, but here are a couple:

This is Camden at his first football game, wearing a baseball hat. 

My sister Rachel and Camden.  She was very good at entertaining him (as long as she didn't have to touch his diapers!)

This was taken before our trip up in the mountains.  Camden was especially interested in the river. 

Toes

Here's a few updates about this week:

Our little guy is getting so big!

I've had a request for a picture of little one sucking on his toes. So, here it is:

In church on Sunday, Camden caused quite the commotion. At the beginning, he was unusually happy. He stared at the older ladies until he got their full attention, and then smiled, cooed, and practically flirted with them. The poor teacher had no chance!

Stay in tune for a great story about Brian's negotiations assignment and for Halloween pictures.

5 months!

Today is our little guy's 5-month birthday! He giggles just about everyday now, as long as mom acts goofy and makes funny faces. :)

Top 5 favorite things:
1. Having everyone's attention
2. Being outside
3. Eating
4. Newspaper
5. Mirrors

5 recent accomplishments:
1. Grabbing lips, hair, noses, neck skin, and cheeks
2. Sucking on his toes
3. Sucking his thumb
4. (This one is more complicatd to explain.) When he is leaning back, like in his high chair seat, he pushes his elbows against the back of the chair so he leans forward over his toes. Pretty impressive for a little guy, but he gets himself into precarious positions.
5. Eating rice cereal.

Happy Birth(month)!

He loves the exersaucer!

Playing

He scooted sideways while he was napping and woke up quite concerned.

Helping mom with the laundery

Mmmmmm.....newspaper!

Mosaic/Collage/Smorgasboard

I have a random collection of things I wanted to post about, so here goes!

Zoo--On Saturday, we went to the zoo. We saw a baby elephant and a baby giraffe. They were pretty cute. Camden didn't really know what was happening, and slept through a lot of it. Next year...

Good Advice--I recently attended a wedding, where I heard some excellent advice: The minister told the couple to listen to everyone's advice, and then make it work for them. I think this good for marriages and children. :)


Mints--As I walked home from the wedding, I carried a little box of mints. Apparently I was talking to Brian with great use of my hands, because all of a sudden, there were butter mints all over the road. The next day, there were little pastel spots where the mints had fallen. We laughed the rest of the way home.

Birthday Girl--My little sister turned 10 years old yesterday! She's in double digits now. She's not a little girl anymore!

July 2009

3 year-old Rachel posing as a Hawaiian princess in our backyard

Happy birthday, Rachel!

Random discoveries--

~You don't really need a microwave to cook microwave popcorn.

~You don't really need eggs to make peanut butter cookies.

~Baking soda can make your carpet look, feel, and smell cleaner; it may take its toll on the vacuum, though.

~Baby bibs with water-proof plastic backing will melt in the dryer.

~The quick-cook option on the bread machine actually makes delicious bread.

Happy Fall!

Giggles

Hi! It happened! Camden had a fit of giggles last night. It was 5 or 6 minutes of pure thrill! This is the video from Brian's phone--sorry about the very un-HD quality. (Our camera battery was dead.) I can't wait until next time!

4 months old!

On Monday, Camden turned 4 months old, and for his birthday, he got to taste cherry-flavored teething gel and ice water. He was pretty excited about both. Today he went to the doctor's office. He is 14 1/2 pounds (29th percentile) and 25.75 inches tall (67th percentile). He was pretty sad about his shots.

Over the last month, Camden has started giggling, though he is pretty stingy about them. He has rolled over both ways and is starting to sleep on his own (hooray!). He is very opinionated about what he wants. I had no idea that 4 month olds would care so much about what is happening. :)

Playing outside

Bath time!

Play time!

Happy 4 month birthday!

Teeth!

My little guy is getting teeth! I can see the white bumps on his upper gums. We think they are his canines, which don't usually come first. Unless he'll need major orthodontic work, these are definitely not his front teeth. Anyway, he was pretty grumpy for a few days, but today has been better. He also rolled from back to tummy on Tuesday. It's funny how excited I feel about these little developments. He can grab toys and block our hands from tickling him. He's growing up so fast!

BYUniversity of Utah?

Being a huge BYU fan and going to the U has been an interesting experience, to say the least. For the longest time I felt sure that everyone would be able to tell that I went to the Y for my undergrad and try to jump me as I left class. After a while those thoughts left me and I focused on all the demands of an MBA program. Well, in the last few months I've had a couple of experiences that just might get people to jump me.

My brother, Andy, is the biggest BYU fan I know (bigger than I am even), so it only stands to reason that his ringtone on my cell phone is the BYU fight song. You know where I'm going with this. I always turn my phone to vibrate before class just because I would hate to have to dig through my pocket with my phone ringing in the middle of class. I never need to turn the ringer off because nobody ever calls me, but I do it anyway. Well, I forgot to turn it off one day, and someone called. It wasn't just some random person that would get the flight of the bumblebee ringtone, it was Andy. Fortunately class hadn't started yet, so only a few people noticed, and only a few of those people even knew what it was. They gave me some really dirty looks before I could hit the silence button.

The second experience had a much higher possibility of getting jumped. School starts again on Monday, and I needed my books. After a long morning of working on disposing of a rickety old shed on our property, we realized we didn't have much to do for the afternoon, so we decided to go up to the U and get my books and find my classrooms. We got to the bookstore, which, of course was super crowded on the Saturday before classes started, and I was surprised that everyone was clearing a path for me. The problem was, they were slowly stepping to the side and looking at me like I had just announced that I had tuberculosis, but not to worry because it wasn't a very contagious strain. Some looked absolutely livid. That's when it hit me... I looked down at my chest and saw this:

I looked back around and saw this:

Only the people looked angrier than these guys.

Fortunately I was holding some papers with all of my class and textbook information that I immediately held in front of my chest. When we left the bookstore I put the diaper bag on with the strap covering most of the logo. Now, don't get me wrong, I still am and always will be a cougar fan. The thing is, I would like to live long enough to go to some more BYU games and such. I really felt like an idiot not realizing what I was wearing before I went.

Oh well, at least I survived the day. Maybe I'll be a little more careful in the future.

Happy 3-Month Birthday!

Today Camden is 3 months old! He is definitely not a newborn anymore. He loves to be with people and gets pretty indignant if we leave him alone at all. Anyway, here are some pictures from yesterday and today. Happy (3-month) Birthday, Camden!

This is Camden first thing in the morning. He usually is pretty happy when he first wakes up.

Camden has discovered his toes!

We thought that this was just funny.

Happy Baby!

Reaching for his toes

Happy August 7!

Crockpots

I have another sad and happy story relating to hot, hot, hot. For our wedding, we got a really nice crockpot. Well, this last week, it started leaking out the bottom. When I inspected it, I realized there was a giant crack about 2 inches from the top that also split up the side. I was so sad, but I figured I could keep using it as long as the liquid line fell below the crack line. Then, the next time I used it, I saw that the glaze on the inside was cracking off.

Probably not safe for consumption.

So, I went to Target to use my lost-and-found gift card. I found a very pretty red crock pot (on sale, too!) that is slightly smaller than my old one. I am so excited to have a crockpot!

Picture Update

Camden's favorite things of the week are:

1. Eating

2. Sleeping

3. Drooling

4. Kicking and wiggling

5. Going on long walks with mom

6. Listening to classical music (He was born on the same day as Tchaikovsky and Brahms.)

7. Smiling at mom and dad

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the past few weeks:

"I'm a cool dude."

"Bright Eyes"

"Goofy boy"

My new trick

Strong neck

Goofy boy 2

Standing Tall

As you can see, we're having lots of fun!