She did fine...

Ella did really well in her ultrasound! She smiled and cooed at the technicians and didn't cry until the last minute of the procedure... mostly because it was lunch time. So Friday I'll call her Orthopaedist and see if they received the results and make an apt to get her harness adjusted. And if all goes as planned, she will be able to go to wearing it just nights.
I left Anson at home with Auntie Megan...
By the way...
Dusty's sister Megan just moved up here to ATL and is living in one of our rental homes about a mile from our house! It is sooooooo nice to have her here! She is working for Dusty and helping me a lot with the kiddos! She is enjoying being on her own in the big city! Anson loves watching out the window for "Aunt Megan's white car" to come. He then runs to the back door, swings it wide open and yells, "Welcome home Megan!" at the top of his lungs! When she actually reaches the back porch, he says as he's reaching for her hand, "Come build castle!" He's really into mega blocks right now and Aunt Meg knows how to make the best castles!!
So Megan has allowed a little sanity to return to my days by helping me with my little charge. And it is so nice to have family close by again!
I honestly don't know how you girls do it... I'm talking to my sis Aly with 5 kids and Ranae with 4 now... God's grace and extra energy?
Til next time...

More Nap-time bliss

Yea! Today is the second day that Anson and Ella's naptimes lined up. I am going to try my hardest to make this an every day occurrence! Not much going on today... at about 7:15 I heard "Good Morning! EE awake!!" Anson still refers to himself as "EE" most of the time... we don't know where this came from but now it has become a sort-of nick name. When he does tell someone his real name is sounds more like "Ethan" than Anson so I still have to translate for him. Today he said , "Mommy, sing Holy". I asked him what he meant and he said, "You know, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty..." - clear as day! He is now remembering song lyrics which means he can start memorizing! Well, now you know what we will be doing! How cool. Well, Dusty has the camera in Florida so no new pictures today! Dusty had to take one of his crews to the Tampa area to finish a job. He is really enjoying running the painting business and doing a great job!! What a guy! Most times he just sends the crews out but this job needed a little TLC. A funny story about that... A check came in the mail the other day and I said "Wow! Daddy's bringing home the bacon!" Dusty and I just laughed, not realizing Anson heard my comment. Later that day we were all four in the car heading out to dinner and Anson said, "Mommy, Daddy... EE growing up soon. EE bring home bacon too!" He doesn't miss a thing!
Be careful little mouths what you say!
Well, tomorrow is Ella's ultrasound. We'll keep you posted!

What an imagination!

Just a quick update with some funny tid-bits... mostly so I don't forget them myself. The other day Anson came out of his room with his Nemo cell phone wedged between his sholder and his ear... He was saying..."Yes... uh huh... oh, you have snow at your house too Aly?" He was "talking" to Auntie Aly! Just then he dropped the phone, picked it up and put it to his ear again and said "Oh man, I lost her"! What a funny kid! His imagination is really growing! Saturday he made a playdoh birthday cake with crayon candles! And I can see that he is beginning to think of other people too. Yesterday he told me he was picking up his blocks because it would make Daddy happy when he got home! It's a start!

And then there is his vocabulary... the other day, while enjoying a nutritious lunch of fish, tater tots and peas, he looked at me and said "Mommy, this is delicious!" What a big word! More of his favorite words these days are "anemone" (where Nemo lives), "Mississippi", where Daddy had to go last week, and "Tennessee", where Daddy had to go the week before! Dusty has had to go on a few trips recently to check on some jobs. We are lucky that his traveling weeks are few and far between and that he is home a lot! We miss Daddy when he's gone! Anson told me that he is "growing up soon to help Daddy work". Not too soon, little buddy!!

Ella is doing great! She goes for an ultrasound of her hip on the 31st and will then go to wearing her brace only at night! Yeah! She will be able to wear real clothes again and catch up on her development milestones of rolling over and sitting up, etc. She is such a sweetie! She smiles a lot and rarely cries. We are looking forward to her Baptism on March 9th at 10:30 AM at our church, The Church of the Apostles. (More info to come on that... You can actually watch it online in real-time!) At her 4 month check-up she weighed 14 lbs 10 oz! Big girl! I was curious how she compared to Anson at 4 months and he weighed a whopping 18 pounds!! I forgot just how big he was!

Well, I am enjoying a quiet moment while they both nap. Today their naptimes lined up perfectly while most days one is waking while the other is going down... we'll get there. They both sleep very well at night though. Ella is now sleeping from 7:30 to 7:30! What an angel!

I guess that's all for now...

Snow! Snow! Snow!

We had snow two days last week! Anson LOVED it! The first time it snowed, I could not get him to come inside! He instinctively knew how to make a snowball and throw it. It was fun for a couple days but I would not want to live in snow for months on end, that's for sure! It was pretty while it lasted!

Christmas and a New Year!

Happy New Year! Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We had so much fun in Florida visiting both grandparents and meeting Anson and Ella's new cousin Charlotte! Dusty's brother Jared and Brittany welcomed Charlotte Michelle on Nov. 18th and she is a cutie! Anson had so much fun and was so much fun to watch as he opened up presents and appreciated each one! He helped Ella open her presents too!

Ella had her four month appointment today! I can't believe that she is 4 months old already!! She now weighs 14 lbs 10 oz! She has been wearing her hip harness for 5 weeks now and has 1 week left of wearing it 24/7! It took her a few days to get used to it but after that she's been fine. She's a real trooper! Her orthopaedist says it was only a slight case of hip displaysia and that wearing the "Pavlik Harness" would cure her and she should have no ongoing problems. Next week she goes for the second ultrasound and after that she only has to wear the harness at night for another 6 weeks. That means she can actually wear real clothes again! I have had to dress her in onesies that she can wear under her harness and dresses that button that go over it. She could not wear any pants because then I couldn't change her diaper. It has been an ordeal but it's almost over and we're thankful for the outcome! She is such a sweet baby who smiles a lot and is beginning to laugh! She loves watching Anson! She can now hold toys and puts them right in her mouth. She also sucks her thumb which is quite cute! She only does it when she's tired or hungry.

Anson is communicating better everyday! He understands so much and doesn't forget a thing! Here is a great story... this happenned last week:

He has a little blue elephant that Gramma Camp gave him before he was born and he LOVES it. He sleeps with it, eats with it, and wants to take him everywhere! Well I finally gave in and let him bring elephant into Target with us. When we were getting back into the car I noticed we didn't have elephant! I asked Anson and of course he didn't remember dropping him. We searched the whole store and couldn't find him. Anson was about to cry because we couldn't leave the store without finding elephant! So we prayed that Jesus would help us find elephant. We then found a Target employee with a walkie-talkie who reported it as lost and asked all the employees to keep an eye out. Then we went home with no elephant.

Dusty and I tried to keep his mind off of losing elephant so we took him to the zoo that afternoon. He had the best time seeing all the animals! But, in the car on the way home I heard Anson saying something so I turned around and noticed he had his hands folded and his eyes closed... He was praying "Dear Gesus (that's how he says Jesus! how cute!) please help us find elephant. Amen." He prayed all on his own! After hearing that, Dusty took him back to Target to try lost and found one more time. They came home with a new ball but NO elephant. Anson prayed again at bedtime that night that "Gesus" would help us find elephant and went to bed missing his buddy.

Well, the next morning Anson asked if we could go to Target to find elephant so I took him for one last chance. (In the mean time I had called my Mom in Florida and had her look for another one where she had bought the first one, looked online etc... no luck) As we were leaving the car to go into the store, Anson prayed again, all on his own! We walked up to the customer service desk and asked if anyone turned in a little blue elephant. After a brief check in the back, the lady brought out his little blue elephant!!!!!!! Anson and I were so happy.. he hugged him and shouted,with his face looking up "There's elephant!! Thank you Gesus!" I told the clerk that he had been praying to find him and she was so touched. He never gave up hope and just knew that we would find him! What a lesson in faith from my own two-year-old! So just keep praying and believe! Jesus does hear our prayers no matter how petty they seem! If he cares enough find a little boy's elephant in Target, how much more does he care for "the big stuff'!

Well, here are some updated pictures. More stories soon...

Happy Holidays! FAMILY UPDATE

Well, here is a quick update and we'll go on from there!

MOM: No Chemo, No radiation! Praise the Lord! She's doing great and looking great! She was also able to take a test to see if she carried a mutated cancer gene that could be passed down to daughters/grandaughters (and there are many!) AND... she does not have it! All great news!

DUSTY: He is busy with his commercial painting business. He was building houses but with the housing crash (or whatever it is!) he branched out and is running painting crews. They work all over the southeast and have recently painted a Pottery Barn, Chic-Fil-A, Ann Taylor, Office Depot, Men's Wearhouse, Longhorn Steakhouse... the list goes on. The great thing is that he does NOT always have to travel with them so he is still home a lot! He's really enjoying running the business. He's still an avid reader, a fisherman, and an all around great guy! :o) He's the best Dad and loves playing with the kids, too!

ARIN: (Me) I LOVE being a stay at home Mom and I'm very thankful I get to stay home! Anson and Ella keep me busy! I enjoy going to the park, shopping, taking a class at church once a week, and doing Dusty's bookkeeping. Just before Ella was born I pulled out the old sewing machine and started making handbags! I really enjoy sewing and making customized bags, mostly for gifts. So that is what I do during the sacred "naptime" at the Rollins Home!

ANSON: He loves being alive! He has so much energy and is always on the go. He is 2 1/2 now. He enjoys building with blocks, lining up his toy cars, watching videos (we still don't have a TV!!),playing with anything that resembles a bat and ball, and tormenting our Chihuahua, Bella I have to keep them separated most of the time for my sanity! He also likes to help and has a very sweet heart. His imagination is starting to kick in too... the other day he went into great detail about how his elephant threw his lollipop on the ground so Anson had to punish him. After he did, he hugged him and told him he loved him! Wonder where he got that idea?? Dusty has taken him a couple times to the Atlanta airport to see the jets take-off and land. And this fall we've been having fires in the backyard which he loves! He is adjusting very well to being a brother. He hugs and kisses Ella everyday without my prompting and is very helpful getting things for me. On to Ella...

ELLA: She is now 3 months old and is such a sweetie! She's already sleeping through the night from 7:30 to 7:00! And when I go in to get her in the mornings or after naptime, almost always she's just laying there sucking her thumb, smiling! What a blessing! At her 2 month chek-up, our pediatrician found a click in her hip. He referred us to an orthopaedist. We were pretty "freaked out", but the orthopaedist, after taking x-rays, said it is a very mild case of DDH (Developmental Displaysia of the Hip) very common in girls (1 in 3000). She goes Friday for a more detailed ultrasound and then back to the Orthopaedist to get a hip sling that she will have to wear from 8 to 12 weeks. It is a contraption that keeps her hips flexed outward until they fully develop. BUT, the good news is that it is not serious since they caught it so early. Cases that they don't catch end up with a limp (one leg shorter) or more serious hip problems. Next week some time we'll have all the results and treatment info. It does not hurt her at all, and other than that, she is fine!!

Update on Mom

Thank you so much for all of the prayers for my Mom (Gail Camp)! As most of you know, she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in July and had a mastectomy on September 6th. She is recovering very well from the surgery which went perfectly. They also removed many lymph nodes which were suspect. As it turns out, only one lymph node was affected! That was great news! She is consulting with a cancer specialist in Gainesville, FL who has decided that she does not need to have chemotherapy! Another answer to prayer! Chemo is so hard on your body and no one wanted to see her have to go through those treatments. So at this point it looks like she will start taking a hormone pill everyday for the next 5 years as her treatment. This is very costly, though, and insurance does not cover it, so please pray for God's continued provision for them. She still has a consultation with a radiologist to see if he thinks she needs radiation... so we will see. But to sum things up, her prognosis is great and she is on the mend! Another survivor! Please continue to keep her in your prayers and I will keep you posted on her progress.

1 month old!

Well, Ella is now 1 month old and she is doing really well! She continues to eat and sleep well and usually only wakes up once in the night to eat. Yesterday she broke a record and was awake for 3 solid hours! She fell asleep just as we got to the park so she missed the whole thing again! Oh well... the life of a baby!

Anson is doing great also and getting used to being a big brother. He is really sweet to Ella and still loves to "see" her and kiss and hug her. We are enjoying the cooler fall weather by taking outings to the parks and playgrounds and going on daily walks. (This job of being a Mom has the be the best!) Anson goes to a neighborhood playgroup on Thursday afternoons and loves it! We also go to a Bible Study on Tuesday mornings at our church where he goes to his own class. He always has such a great time. He is really learning how to communicate. Last week he counted to 10! And now we are working on the days of the week. He seems to learn things on his own. I hope he keeps it up when he starts school!

Dusty is keeping very busy with the commercial painting business. He has 3 crews of painters working all over the South on places like Pottery Barn, Ann Taylor, Chic-Fil-A, Men's Wearhouse, etc. Most of these are new construction. They start a big Office Depot next week. He doesn't have to travel too much which is nice. He is such a great help with the kids. Anson loves to ride in Daddy's truck and go on special errands with him. Most of the time they behave themselves!

Well, we're looking forward to our first trip to Florida with Ella! We are going next weekend for Auntie Brittany's baby shower and Gramma's birthday! Gramma and Papa Camp will get to meet Ella for the first time on Gramma's birthday! Stay tuned for pictures of our trip!

3 Weeks today!

Well, Ella is already 3 weeks old! She is such a sweet addition to the family and we are enjoying every minute with her! She is just now starting to wake up more and having more alert times during the day. Anson likes to "see Ella baby" and wants to lay by her all the time. When we ask him what Ella says he replies, "maaaaaa" (like a cry) even though she doesn't cry very often!

On Sunday we were coming home from Church and we overheard Anson say "1,2,3,4,5, 6!" He counted to six all on his own! Today he added 7 and 8! I guess all the books we read sink in after all! What a kid!

Not much else new but I will add another recent pic...

Welcome Baby Ella!

Hi All!

We are new to this "blogging" thing... but here we go!

We welcomed Ella Kathleen into the world on September 12, 2007! She is so sweet and doing really well. She still sleeps a lot and eats well. She was 9 pounds 8 ounces so she likes her meals! I love having large babies! Big brother Anson just loves his little sis and likes to hold her and kiss her. Very Sweet! He is also craving attention right now and finding new ways to get it! (i.e. driving Mommy crazy with nonsense talk and saying "Mommy" repeatedly for 5 minutes even when I say "Yes, Anson" What do you want? ") But I'm sure it's just a phase he's going through!

I'm going to put some pictures up and try to keep this current.. we'll see how that goes!

See you soon...