Lest I Forget

River's two year stats:

Weight: 24.5 lbs.......................25th percentile

Height: 34.5 inches..................70th percentile

We went to River's two year well child check up and all I could think after we left was, am I really the mother of a two year old? This past year has flown by in a blur of the sweetest moments.

Will I remember years from now that River loves puzzles? So much so that we call her the puzzle wizard? Will I remember that she can read books for hours straight and never get bored? That, in fact, the first words out of her mouth every single morning are "I want to read books!"? Will I recall the sweet 'cheep cheeps' that fill the air each day as River flaps her arms pretending to be a baby bird who's name is Red? Or her infatuation with all things Curious George? Or even the way her hair looks like a rat's-nest in the morning?

That is why, my friends, I am going to take a moment and write about all the things that I love about River. Feel free to read on if you like, if not,visit again soon. My next post won't be nearly as sappy. I promise!

(One of my friends wrote the sweetest letter to her daughter on their blog. I thought I would do the same thing to jot down some things I want to remember.)

Dear River,

You are very excited to become a big sister. You 'hold' the baby all the time by cradling my tummy and giving it hugs and kisses. A few days ago while you were hugging my belly you became very concerned and asked why the baby was 'in there all by herself'. You also asked how the baby would get out by herself. I had to assure you that mommy and daddy would help her. Then you felt better.

Your favorite songs to sing are 'No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep', and 'the ABC's'.

You randomly yell, "Let's move our bodies!" And begin to do squats and shoulder presses and the like. Your dad and I have no idea where you got this from!

Your favorite color is yellow. You know all your colors. You know your all your letters. You can count to 12.

Whenever I'm doing dishes, you rush into the room saying "Ho ho ho. I have a teddy bear for you." And hand me an imaginary teddy bear to hold. Then you'll say "give the teddy bear a hug, mommy" or "I brought you a present, mommy".

As soon as you put on your Dora backpack you yell "Come on, vomonos! Everybody let's go!" and immediately run for the door.

You love to say prayers. You're even saying them on your own now.

When I zip up your coat you say "you're strong, mommy".

You demand that daddy tickles your belly after you've had a bath. You won't let me do it.

You have to be able to run your fingers through your hair to fall asleep at nap time or bedtime. You inherited this bad habit from me (and grandma).

The last time you successfully used the potty I heard you shout, "Awesome!"

"Let me do it" "I wanna do it" and "I can do it by myself" are your favorite phrases.

You always want to put on deodorant when you get out of the tub. Only you pronounce it 'd-yogurt.'

When you put Curious George or the baby doll to sleep in your bed you put your face as close to mine as you can, and with finger to your lips whisper "Shhhhhhhhhh. Shhhhhhh! The baby is sleeping!"

...There are so many more things that I could write, but most of all I just want you to know how much Daddy and I adore and love you. We are very blessed to have you as a daughter!...

Taste the Rainbow

River turned 2 this month! River and I were horribly sick on her birthday, so we just stayed home with Daddy and ate cake and icecream to our hearts content.





When I was little my mom made me a rainbow cake with skittles, so naturally River had to have one just like it. However, next time I won't put the skittles on so early...they melted and ran all over the place. (I'm sure the cool-whip frosting didn't help either) Anyway.It tasted good.


River got lots of presents in the mail from her many grandparents, including; this pink jacket, two adorable birthday cards, stickers, play-doh, markers and a doll blanket!

Thank you! You made River's day purr-fect!

Dance Dance Riverlution

Taking Care of Business

Belly Business:

River: "Mommy, your belly is BiiIIIiG!"
Cameron: "You won't even be able to fit on the couch soon."
Me: (smoldering silence)
Cameron: "......."
River: "Mommy. Mommy. Mommmmmy."
Me: "What Riv?"
River: "Your belly is big!"
Me: (sigh)

Potty Business:

River won her potty prize (a Dora backpack) by filling up this chart with stickers each time she used the big-girl potty. Hooray! She's been using thicker training-undies we found at Target until it's reasonably safe to make the switch. Plus, they look like little boxers, so they're super cute!

Snow Business:

Winter in Buffalo hasn't been too horrible so far, just unpredictable. We took advantage of a rare sunny day to play in the snow and build

THE BIGGEST SNOW MAN EVER!

Despite the awesome snowman, snow angels were the hit of the outing. You wouldn't be able to tell from this video, but River had to make a snow angel a million ka-jillion more times.

Christmas: The Short Version

River with one of her favorite gifts, three pairs of Dora underwear.

* she is wearing all three pairs at once over her pants

* they are all backwards

The much anticipated tricycle.


Cameron when he saw his iPod. Our house may never be the same.

Christmas this year was just our little family of three, and it was really fun. River opened each present with such excruciating slowness that Cameron and I were dying with anticipation to see what was inside! River did get excited once she actually opened the darn thing.

What We Do When it Snows

SWIM! We escaped the frigid Buffalo weather Saturday and swam all day at Splash Lagoon with our friends. It was AWESOME! (Thanks Jesse, Andrew, Weston and Rhett!)



River and Weston ran around like crazies splashing in the water. The picture above was soo soo soo cute because they both wanted to go on the ride but they weren't tall enough. They have their faces smashed between the bars to get a better look.

River eyeing the kids on the alligator. "Hey, how come you get to ride on a ferocious crocodile and all I have is this dumb log?"

(please ignore my mickey mouse voice in this video. thanks.)


River loves this Santa hat. When Cam or I put on the hat, she says "Say 'ho ho ho' Mommy!"

We have been getting hit with storm after storm...we've gotten even more after I took this pic.

Random picture.

On the way to the water park, this puzzle kept River entertained.. Also, she will not ride in the car with shoes or socks on. It can't be done.

Christmas Letter and the Real Reveal

Happy Holidays to all of our friends and family!

Although we have made many friends and enjoy living in Buffalo, we miss all of you! Since we live so far away, we wanted to update everyone on our progress and new adventures in life.

Cameron is thoroughly enjoying his experience as a new administrator for the Buffalo VA. We moved to Buffalo last July after Cameron accepted an administrative fellowship with the Veteran Affairs as part of the Government Health Administration Training Program. There are only 23 other fellows in various VA’s across the country, so we are very proud of him. Cameron loves the fact that Buffalo is the nation’s hotspot for buffalo wings and pizza. You can even order buffalo wings ON pizza. Also, much to Sheena’s chagrin, Cameron won’t settle with ordering medium or hot buffalo wings, but insists on getting fire, suicide, or the infamous DOA wings (dead on arrival).

While Sheena also enjoys buffalo wings, she is more partial to New York cheesecake. She enjoys teaching the 11 and 12 year olds Sunday school class, attending play group and going to story time with River. She is also working part-time as an after-school program teacher for the YMCA (anything for a free gym membership!) and sells the hats she crochets. Oh, and she also updates the family blog once in a while. Please stop by and visit us at cameronwhitefamilyblog.blogspot.com.

River is no longer our tiny little infant. She will be turning two in January! She is inquisitive, full of spunk and keeps us on our toes. Her favorite phrase is “You no do that!” However, our favorite is when you ask her if she wants a drink or something, she says “Oh sure! That sounds nice.” It is really funny when all you expect is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’! River also loves to dance, sing and read. All of which are hilarious to watch. Her favorite color is yellow, and her favorite things to play with are cars, balls, puzzles and her horsey (aka Daddy). We can’t believe how grown up she is, and she can’t wait to be a big sister.

The most exciting thing this Holiday Season is that we are expecting our second baby on April 3rd, and have just discovered the baby’s gender. Hold your breath everybody, the baby is a… girl! Today, River officially wants to name the baby “Fuzzball Ava”. Has a ring to it, don’t you think? If you have any better ideas, please let us know!

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year.



With Love,

The Whites



More Christmas-y stuff.

We decorated our tree. Sadly, it looked WAY more impressive before we put our presents under it. Thanks to everyone for all the packages of gifts we got in the mail!

And River and I went with friends to eat breakfast with Santa at the mall. For some reason all the kids got a Bob the Builder hat. Not Christmas-y, but whatever.

River got a candy cane from Santa and she wasn't even scared.Well, maybe just a little.

Also, VERY BIG NEWS. River has been sleeping in her big-girl bed for a week now. She started climbing out of her crib at four in the morning, so we decided it was time. The transition went so smoothly I wish we had made the switch sooner. River loves climbing up under the covers and has me get under the covers too, so I can see how nice it is. I must admit, it's pretty nice! Now that I'm pregnant we often take our daily nap together, and it's my favorite part of the day. Is that pathetic or what? Don't answer that!

Baby Names

Last week our whole family got together (well we weren't there, but pretty much everyone on my Dad's side was) in Roosevelt for Thanksgiving. After the turkey was eaten they all got out slips of paper and wrote down 2 boy names and 2 girl names they liked and sent them to us in the mail. It was really funny to see who wrote down which names. Thanks everyone! Ty's were actually the worst....don't worry he knows it ;) ...and we really liked a few of the others. We had a blast reading each name. River even picked her favorite, as you will see in the videos below.

TAKE 1

TAKE 2

However, she who wears a bowl as a hat may not pick a baby's name. It's an ancient rule.

ps. We had an awesome Thanksgiving with friends who should seriously think about becoming professional chefs. I forgot to take pictures, because uh, I was busy eating, but I did manage to take a picture of the leftover pie we brought home. Yum diddly um.