New Jobs and Emery turns 8 Months

Posted on August 31, 2014 by camjen

Portland is such a fun place to be. We love it!

When we moved here in June, neither of us had jobs (technically Cameron did, but he didn’t start until August). So we had all of July to adventure together! We hiked Silver Falls, visited Cannon Beach and Seaside, went to a Star Party to view the Super Moon, hiked Multnomah Falls, mountain biked at Powell Butte, and made many trips to the Rose Garden for picnics and frisbee. Emery is an intrepid adventurer, and even though she slept through some of the above, she was present for all of it! Shout out to the Hadlocks – thanks for the awesome hiking pack!

Cameron has been at ZoomCare as a PA for about a month now. He loves it! It’s an innovative company, and we’re happy he could join them. Jen is working for FreeRange, an “idea factory.” She does CAD and testing for new product ideas. The part-time contract work lets her be home with Emery most of the week.

On days when both mommy and daddy are working, Emery goes to play with Katie and her 1-year-old daughter Ruby. It’s a huge blessing and relief to have such a good friend babysit Emery. Speaking of Emery, she’s as energetic as ever. She is trying to crawl now and is getting quite good at it! She’s also to trying to pull herself up on furniture. It’s fun to see her getting more mobile. She can say “ma ma” (finally!), has four teeth, and loves other babies. She is an absolute joy.

Since we’ve been back we’ve had fun hanging out with Grandpa Ron and Uncle Cody! We’ve also connected with high school friends, some friends from our original ward, and from Leatherman. It’s great to be back!

Happy 6 Month Birthday, Emery!

Posted on July 8, 2014 by camjen

Emery just turned 6 months old! So, we baked her a special cake. She loved it! Well, she loved squishing her fingers in it, anyway.

Emery can sit up pretty well now (although she still tips over now and again), she loves sweet potatoes and nothing else so far, she is still a good sleeper, and she just got her first tooth! She is the happiest little girl I know, as well as the most energetic. At certain times of the day she just can’t help herself from screeching and flapping her limbs like crazy.

Her favorite things include: dancing to music with Daddy and riding on his shoulders, being tickled, doing her crazy dance with Uncle Cody, having baths, and playing the guitar with Daddy.

She also enjoys long walks on the beach…Seaside Beach!

She loves hiking and being outside too! We even went to the zoo….although Emery slept most of the time. Here we are at the top of Council Crest, near our apartment.

We are now all moved into our apartment in Portland, OR. We’re so happy to be here! We love this city and are grateful to be near family and friends. After considering several offers, Cameron accepted a job at ZoomCare. He’s excited to begin working there in August.

Graduation Celebration + Emery Turns 5 Months

Posted on May 25, 2014 by camjen

Lots of happenings in the last few weeks!!

A trail in Acadia park… and our lives.

Cameron got his Master’s Degree from UNE! I was able to visit Maine one last time to attend the graduation. Congratulations, Cameron! Two hard years of work in PA school and now you’re done. (I got one good picture of the event. Sigh.) Congratulations and good luck to all of Cameron’s classmates who also graduated and are preparing for the PANCE!

Maine was an amazing place to live and we really grew to love it there. But now it’s time to move on. We are moving back west to start the next adventure.

Emery turns 5 months old today! She is so much fun. She is getting a lot stronger and can sit and stand up (with help, of course). She is really engaged and loves to have attention. She will smile at almost anything, so we are endlessly making fools of ourselves for her amusement. I’ve had so much fun here in Utah. I love being with my family. My sisters are the BEST.

Emery 4 Months!

Posted on May 12, 2014 by camjen

Here are a few pictures of Emery at four months. She is such a cutie. She can roll over front to back now really well. She has even tried rolling the other way, but only succeeded once so far. We love her little shrieks and babbling. I’m going to miss her when I go back to Maine for Cameron’s graduation for four days. Thanks to Granny G for babysitting! It’s no easy task to be on-call 24/7!

Three Months!

Posted on March 30, 2014 by camjen

Happy 3-month Birthday, Emery!

This little widget is the light of each day for Cameron and me. She smiles constantly, and is such an active, happy baby. She can roll onto her side now, but not all the way over yet. She doesn’t like being on her tummy, but we have to keep practicing so her upper half can catch up with her lower half, which is ready to crawl.

She has gotten better at grabbing things and putting them in her mouth, so it’s really fun to watch her play with toys she showed no interest in a couple weeks ago. She is also “talking” a lot. She makes all sorts of adorable noises. My favorite is when she can’t see me and Cameron she yells until one of us comes back. It’s not a sad noise, just a “where are you?” kind of shout.

I’ve been back to work for 3 weeks now and I have to take Emery to the babysitter while I’m gone. My friends from church watch her when Cameron isn’t home. They are so kind and generous and have even given me dinner some nights when they know Cameron is out of town. Emery does really well (or so I’m told). It’s really hard to leave her, but she’s so happy in the evenings I know that she’s well taken care of.

She’s still sleeping really well and usually only wakes up once a night. The last week has been a little hard though, because she was sick. Her first cold! She was really cheerful throughout the whole illness, so we weren’t too worried about her. Word to the wise: if you are pregnant with your first, just go buy a humidifier now. You will not want to drag your sick baby to Target to buy one, like me! Plan ahead, people!

Big news: I’m quitting my job at AVX and this Friday is my last day. Cameron’s final rotation is up near Bar Harbor (about 3 hours away from Portland), so he’s not going to be home much. So….Emery and I are moving to Utah for several weeks! We’ll live with my mom and dad and just have a blast. We are super excited to be coming “home” for a long visit.

Other big news: Cameron will graduate May 17th with his Masters in Physician Assistant Studies! We can hardly believe our time in Maine is coming to an end. It has been wonderful to live here. After graduation, we’ll be moving back West. Where? Not sure yet!

Two Months!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by camjen

Our little doll turned two months old just a few days ago. I have been meaning to post some pictures.

But first things first…

Here are a few taken when Emery was one month old by my sister-in-law. You can see more of her wonderful photography on her website, http://reveriephotographieco.blogspot.com

So other than feeding Emery (which seems like my constant occupation), I’ve been preparing to head back to work. March 10th is my first day back. I have mixed feelings about it. Being in the house all day everyday has been a bit hard, but it will be even harder to leave my little one and go to work. Luckily my two awesome sisters will be here to make the transition easier. I can’t wait to see them and I know they can’t wait to get here! Yahoo!

Emery and I have had a lot of fun while I’ve been home. After the first 4 weeks or so, we have gotten out of the house regularly for various things. Getting us both dressed and fed and out of the house used to be a big chore and one that I was very proud of accomplishing! I’m still proud, but the trips are less traumatic now. I have Cameron and my lactation group to thank for that! Without support it’s hard to make the leap to being independent again.

Cameron is in the middle of his second-to-last rotation before graduation! Two years have really flown by and he graduates in May! He loves the rotation he is in right now and I know he’s doing well because the doctor is having to wrack his brain to find something to teach him. Cameron is already very experienced in family medicine. I’m so proud of all he’s accomplished. Especially these last rotations after Emery was born, which were tough. But we’ve had a lot of fun as well.

Here are some more recent photos. She is such a happy girl and so much fun! I love taking pictures of her because she makes really cute faces.

A STRANGE EMERgencY!

Posted on January 23, 2014 by camjen

Jen’s mom is a 5th grade teacher, and before the birth, her excitement about her future granddaughter was contagious to the kids she hangs with all day. Her class made a game out of guessing/suggesting what the baby’s name should be. 5th graders know everything, but don’t seem to get that we’re nerdy white people, so their list included Monya, Cameo, Shyla, Taisya, Shawntay, Kannani, and the erratic, Cookiewithsprinkles.

Along with all those… sincere… suggestions, the name guessing game yielded one of the most bizarre stories we’ve ever heard. We should preface the story by saying that we held the final baby name close to the chest until the end. When we finally did tell our families, we asked them to keep it a secret. So at this point, Jen’s mom knew the baby’s name, but few others did. Her class knew that she knew, and it was killing them. The following conversation between two 5th grade boys and Jen’s mom occurred after several days of unsuccessful guesses and much frustration on the part of the whole class.“Hey Mrs. G! We know what the baby’s name is!”

“Oh, you do? What is it?”

“Emery!”

Jen’s mom is shocked. “How on earth did you know that?!”

“We were riding home on the bus yesterday, and we saw the sign over the window that said E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y E-X-I-T. If you take the G-E-N-C out of emergency, it spells Emery, and we thought hey, that kind of sounds like a name, and we said it a few times, then we knew that was it!”

5th graders on the other side of the country having visions of her name?! What does it MEAN!?! Maybe our daughter will be president someday! Maybe she will end the coming robo-pocalypse! Maybe she will START the coming robo-pocalypse! Whatever it turns out, remember: You can’t spell Emergency without Emer….y!

It’s a Girl!

Posted on January 5, 2014 by camjen

Time to dig this old blog back out, wipe the dust off, shine it up, and give it another go…

*wipes figurative dust*

…because we are thrilled to announce the birth of our daughter,

Emery Maine Steineckert!

The details, presented efficiently:
Born: 5 pm Christmas Day, 2013
#’s: 7 pounds, 9 ounces; 21 inches tall
The birth process: “all’s well that ends well.” Jen can tell you the rest some time.
Seriously, born Christmas day? Yes! We always joked about this possibility… we’re going to tell her she was born in July. If she doesn’t like that, we’ll just let her choose her own birthday.

Emery is: radiant, flawless, magnificent, lovely. She is healthy every whit, and at 11 days old, she is sleeping up to 5 hours at once, which is glorious!

Jen is: recovering well, the doctor predicted 6 weeks until she feels kinda normal. She has another 10 weeks off work to transition from Jengineer to mom. Cutest moment so far was “Look at my skinny ankles! I feel like Ariel from Little Mermaid when she first gets her legs!”

Cameron is: no longer a sleep deprived zombie! I start back up with my clinical rotations (for PA school) on Jan 7th, in the cardiothoracic surgery unit at the local hospital. Cutest moment so far according to Jen, “Feel her skin! She’s soft like a chinchilla!”

What’s the story behind the name? Near our apt. is a colonial American graveyard/park that we walk every day. “Emery” came from several of the headstones. “Maine,” has several meanings: Emery has a great, great grandma, Jenne Maine, who was herself named after the USS Maine which exploded mysteriously, starting the Spanish-American war; we’re currently sojourning in Maine, so Emery is named after her birthplace; plus, it’s cute. Family love + mysterious explosions + birthplace + cute = our daughter.

Thanks everyone for your endless generosity and support, and special thanks to K&C for stepping in to let us get some sleep and maintain our sanity.

Regular posts to follow, promise!

Utah, Part II

Posted on June 9, 2012 by camjen

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I guess things have been busy here…at least as busy as it can get while I’m still unemployed!

About that – I had my first job interview. I don’t know how it will turn out, but at least it was an interview!

Ok, now let’s go back in time to our road trip! Last post, we were at my (Jen’s) parent’s house. Our next stop was Provo. We got to visit Grandma Steineckert, Kathy and Gordon (Cameron’s aunt and uncle), and a bunch of cousins.

It was SO fun. Kathy and Gordon are the nicest people ever. I really had a great time getting reacquainted. Kathy made us an amazing lunch, Costa Vida style. Also, congratulations to Megan and Mark on their upcoming wedding! We are so excited for you.

We also had a special moment when we got to tour Grandma’s house and see all her paintings. She is a talented artist and it was really neat to see her home.

Our next stop was Cameron’s mom’s house. It is always a treat to visit Teri, Madison, and Molly. Not to mention all the cats! They have a houseful of the sweetest cats and I love it. I miss our little one-eyed cat, Gino. May he rest in peace…(actually we gave him to the Humane Society and he was adopted by a loving family).

We did lots of fun things at Teri’s. One of my favorites was rock hunting! We hiked up to the mines behind her house where there are hillsides with popcorn crystal rocks and other neat finds. Also, she made homemade yogurt which got turned into homemade frozen yogurt. It was delicious! Since moving to Maine, we’ve made two batches of our own. It’s not too hard, and really rewarding. Teri’s original recipe was from Sunset Magazine (coolest magazine!) Here is an online tutorial we used: http://www.makeyourownyogurt.com/

We all went to church together on Sunday, which was also really fun. It’s a great ward. It was nice to spend a full day just being together.

We left on Monday, our car approximately 4 pounds heavier from the amazing quilt Teri made for us. She made a neat little stuff-sack for it, and a mini one for my rocks – both of which came in handy for the rest of the road trip.

Madison, me, and Snuggles on the way up to the mine

Molly, Cameron, me, Madison, Mom

After we left Teri’s, we stopped in Santaquin to meet my dad’s parents. Grandma and Grandpa Gammill were so nice to drive up from their house to meet us. We haven’t seen each other in probably a few years. We didn’t have a lot of time together, but it was wonderful!

Grandma and Grandpa Gammill

We were able to bring a telescope to Maine with us. Grandpa designed and built it. It’s an amazing little thing that collapses and stores in it’s own box. We have already used it and it’s so neat!

Assembled Telescope

Telescope packed and ready to go

After we said goodbye (a teary goodbye on my part, I might add) to Grandma and Grandpa, we headed to Vernal for our last stop in Utah.

Michael, Cameron’s oldest sister, her husband Jared and their three girls, Tori, Tristan, and Jerikka, were so nice to welcome us for a night. The last time I saw these guys was at our wedding, three years ago! Whoa.

Michael made us yummy tacos for dinner. It was so nice to sit around and talk to the girls. Tori is now a CNA, which is a huge achievement! Tristan is a martial arts wizard and can break boards with her fists (I saw it on film!). Jerikka is a darling and loves to dance and do cheerleading.

It was great to meet Jared and hear about his work on oil rigs. Very fascinating to my engineering brain. It was too bad his current job was far out of the way or we might have been able to see the rig in action.

My favorite thing was staying up late to watch, what was it called???, Ghost Hunters or Paranormal Sightings or something like that. We scared ourselves and laughed our heads off. I learned several things: 1) If it suddenly gets cold and you feel spooky, watch out. 2) Do Not Ignore the Incident. Too many people in this show ignore the first incident. Bad idea. 3) I forgot how much I like scary stuff.

Thanks to Michael and Jared for their hospitality and to the girls for being so fun and welcoming to their previously unknown aunt Jen.

After leaving Michael’s house, we headed for Denver….

Utah

Posted on May 30, 2012 by camjen

After leaving AJ & Lindsey’s in Rexburg, we traveled south to the dry and wonderful, Utah.

Me and my sisters!

One of the funnest things was seeing my sisters. I miss them so much! Arg!

Now another cool thing is that Michelle graduated with her Masters! Go Michelle! We were really happy that we could be there for the big day.

Michelle Graduated from Utah State U.

We had a really fun party the night of Michelle’s graduation and I got to see my bestest buddies Brooke, Laura, Jamie and Amanda! Woo hoo! I know my dad was taking pictures the whole time, so I’ll have to get some up here.

I also got to see my grandparents, aunts and uncles and friends from the old neighborhood. It was such a fun night!

Spending time with my family was the highlight of these few days for me. We got to go mountain biking together, visit friends and family, go out to eat at some memorable places, and just sit around and talk. It was heavenly.

Gammill Family in front of Michelle and Brian’s new place.

One more of the sisters