SUPERMAN!!!!!

So remember the past blog where I disclosed to all of you that can keep a good secret that I'm actually a super hero? Well mommy finally got me my super hero costume!! :-D Though I really don't understand what the symbol means that's on my chest or on my cape but I'm sure glad that I have my costume now!! I had a great time wearing it too!! I got to practice my flying technique even though i never made it very far off the ground. But that didn't stop me from helping people with their problems!! I assisted in helping little girls found their parents, helped a really nice lady (actually my Aunt Teresa) get a really cute pic of me, and even foiled my pirate cousin Preston from his pirating ways! :) Yup it was a great day full of great and heroic deeds!! At least that's what mommy tells me!!

October in Helena, MT

Well the second half of the month of October was a pretty excited yet sad time. My mommy and I went out to Helena, MT on an air to visit my nana, who was really sick. It was my first time ever on an airplane and I had a lot of fun. I got to play with the window blind that our seat had and climb all over the seat next to us cause there was no one in that seat...much to mommy's relief. When we got to Helena it was pretty late, even though our airplane landed early..at least that what mommy said, I don't really get it..we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves as we waited for my Uncle Landon to come get us. We were in Helena for nearly 2 weeks, which I know was long for daddy cause of how much he squeezed mommy and me when we saw him again. But during that time I did a lot of stuff. I got to try new foods, like garlic bread which I really, really like. I got to wrestle with a BIG BEAR and a BIG DOG (they were both sooo much bigger than me!!!), but don't worry; I was able to pin them both down eventually and gave them both a really BIG Cameron like hug! :D
I got lots of love and cuddles from my Aunt Rhonda, she was a lot of fun, and I even took my Aunt Jami for a walk! I play tons of fun games with my cousins Izzy and Brie, my favorite was hide-n-seek I always hid under the table...they never found me there. :) It was tons for fun for me. I can't wait to go see my family in Montana again!!!

Cam's First Birthday!!!

It is official!!!! Cam is now a 1 year old!! Now this is the part where we do our resounding...NNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! It was just the other day that he was born...oh wait....I guess a year really has pasted by. Weird!! Well, his birthday was really fun! He really enjoyed the frosting, but not so much the cake. I'm sure that he didn't like the texture, but he probably will in time. Grandma and Grandpa's present came in that over size bag. The bag really was bigger than Cam. I've never seen a bag that big in my life!! Shorty covered Cam in frosting thus the frosting mohawk on his head, but Cam did a great deal of it himself. Either way I think the best part for him on his birthday was his bath.

It's Dinner Time!!!

So Cam was eating and we were playing the open wide and then I'll feed you game. Pretty soon he was opening his mouth as wide as he could and then laughing every time the spoon got in his mouth. I called for some motherly help to get the camera, and we caught this. No more laughing, but still pretty funny nonetheless.

Diet Mountain Dew Ad

Patty Cake

Just watch the video. you'll be happy you did.

A visit from the once new englanders!

So the other day my Uncle Landon, Aunt Myryah, and cousin Izzy came over on their way moving to Montana!! They spent a good amount of the day playing with me. We went outside, ran around in the wet grass and walked their pet ferret Panda (I really liked her by the way...that is until she started to get an interest in me.) Then Izzy and I played hide-and-go-seek. Izzy was very good at hiding. Uncle Landon had to help me find her, she was so good! I was really sad to see them go but, mommy promised me that we would see them again sometime soon...I wonder when that is.

Do the Cam Dance!

Here is Cam dancing away to Aladdin. Saggy diaper and everything. I'm pretty sure it's going to be big. How do I get him on Dancing with the Stars?

To Minnesota!.. New Cameron Cuteness and more!

So we completed a cross-country trip from Idaho to Minnesota in about the least direct way possible. We went from Idaho to Utah to Colorado through Wyoming to South Dakota and finally to Minnesota. For those of you drawing our route in the air with your fingers you can tell that it is not exactly a straight shot. But that's ok, we saw some cool stuff along the way! We saw some of my family in Utah and then some of Dani's in Colorado. Then we passed through Wyoming as quickly as possible (who wouldn't?) so that we could see Mt. Rushmore and the Black Hills for a few days.

So we are now finally settled in Minnesota as I get ready to go back to the real world--or at least as real as school gets--and Dani gets to chase Cam around all day. Literally now that he is starting to walk all over the place! He took his first few tentative steps a few days ago and he is getting less and less tentative with every step! He walked across the entire living room not more than ten minutes ago to cheers from the Mom and Dad audience! He is having a blast with Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota and he is so fun. Well, enough from me, let's look at some pictures!

Some Videos

So here are a couple videos of Cameron chasing me around the apartment that I thought were pretty funny. I know, I sound like a little girl. Enjoy!

All Me All The Time

Since the last time my parents wrote I have done so many cute and adorable things. Unfortunately, they have been slacking on telling everyone about all the new and cute things I do that I will just have to take it upon myself and tell about me!

So first things first. I'm figuring out how to walk like all of you big people! I need a little help, but I can pretty much pull myself up on anything that I can get a hold of. This means that I get to do a lot more treasure hunting! I have also learned that "No, get out of there!" really means "Good job, you found the treasure!" So it's very exciting for me.


Also I spent some time visiting all of my grandparents this Summer. First I saw Nana and Papa in Helena and then Grandma and Grandpa in Minnesota. I love visiting grandparents because they are so much fun! I never stop playing and they have the coolest toys. I think their houses must be where toys are made because every time I see them there are new and cool toys coming from nowhere!




I also got to meet some of my cool cousins who were so nice and played with me a lot too! Actually I think that I will have to thank them for being so nice and fun. I will try to be nice to my cousins too when I get older and I have cousins who are younger than me! I'll help and teach them how to do all of my fun tricks like making all the girls at church melt whenever I smile. I think that will be a seriously useful skill for all of my cousins!

I also got to go to my Uncle's wedding in Helena, MT! It was really cool, but my dad forgot the camera so we didn't get any pictures! I tried to remind my dad but then he just started speaking gibberish back to me. Doesn't he understand plain English? But it was still really cool and I got to meet a lot of new people who seemed really happy to meet me. They always talk about how happy I am, but I'm only happy because they're happy. It's contagious, so I can't help but smile if you smile at me! Here's a picture of me playing with my aunt and uncle who were visiting from some place called Massachusetts. I was mesmerized by them! Maybe I stared a little...

I got to swim in a pool for the first time ever and it was the best! It was like taking a bath except in a giant bath tub. Again mom and dad didn't bring a camera, but we reinacted the experience in a bath tub later for everyone to see!

Well, Dad says it's getting to be my bedtime and that I should get to sleep! I don't really understand why though, because every time I wake up they are awake too! They probably never sleep, so I don't really understand why I should have to. They should let me stay up and play with them all night just like during the day! Well, I love you all!

-Cam

Cam laughing.

Here's Cam laughing as hard as he can while I played with him. Well, he kept laughing at least until he saw the camera and tried to dive for it! Oh and those "Neerowmmmmm"s are about as high as my voice goes.

Training a Superhero

So we need everyone to keep this on the downlow. We have a superhero in training in our home. Now we know that he is only almost 7 months old, but its better to get them started at a young age. That way all his crime fighting skills well be second nature to him. Now, we must seriously stress that everyone keeps this on the downlow, because if any of Cam's nemeses learn of his true identity the lives of those around him would be in peril. Plus, now that you know a mind erasing crew will be over at your house to erase your memory of ever reading this and this message will never appear on the blog again. Sorry, but we got to keep people safe.

Going to the U of M

A month ago everything was looking easy. We would go to BYU as it was so much cheaper than any other option and we would find a cheap place in Provo for three years. After visiting Provo it felt like a bigger version of Rexburg, so it felt like it would be an easy switch. On top of that, we would have lots of friends from Rexburg (Dani was so excited to be in the same town as her old roommate again!) that were down there and a lot of my old mission buddies still lived there. I was also excited to finally be able to make it to a Mission reunion since I haven't been to one since I returned from my mission. Easy. It really just seemed like the easy choice.

The U of M had always been really personable and kind. I had received several phone calls and emails from current students and alumni offering to answer questions and offer advice. One conversation focused on Cameron and how important it was to me to go to a school that would be supportive of someone with a family. I would later receive a package with a Rubber Ducky that was apparently the result of this conversation. A nice personal touch. However, on this particular day I had no desire to speak on the phone with a polite student asking me to consider the school or offering to answer my questions. Cameron had spent most of the afternoon screaming and I had a headache. I had finally gotten Cam down for his nap and was finally able to get to some of the cleaning that I had been neglecting that day. I was eager to get it done as fast as possible because the possibility of a nap that I might get in before Dani got back from work. I was shocked when I listened to my voice mail and the message was not "Let me know if you have questions" but rather "Congratulations! You have been awarded a scholarship!" It didn't take long to do the math and realize that with the scholarship MN was suddenly about the same cost as BYU. Originally that was what set BYU apart. It was a good school, and it was cheap! Now both schools were cheap and they were both good! I called Dani and the conversation that followed would have been comical if we both hadn't sounded so pathetic:

"Hi babe... I have um... Good I guess... yeah, it's good news, well it's complicated and it makes things harder."
"What happened."
"Minnesota just called and offered us a scholarship."
"But... But... We just decided BYU..."
"I know! We were done! I thought we were done anyway, shouldn't we think about this at least?"
"Probably... but.. um... why??? We had finally made a decision and we were done..."
"I know... this is good news... right?"

And that went on for a little while with neither of us being able to decide if it was good news or not. Of course my headache only got worse and I didn't get to my nap.

The news settled in and we began to realize how similar the two schools were. BYU is respected across the nation but places really well in Utah/Idaho and to a lesser extent other areas in the Mountain West. U of M is also respected across the nation but places really well in Minnesota and the midwest.

I had visited BYU and was really impressed with the faculty/students. The building was not that attractive, but the library (where most of my time would be spent) was nice and having your own study desk was also a nice touch. I had not been able to visit MN but have heard that the building is not ugly and not beautiful. The faculty/students that I had been in contact with had all been very nice and were generally impressive.


Dani loves her mountains and I love my green. Neither of us really wanted to live in Utah long-term, although we also didnt' have a great desire to live in Minnesota long-term. An in-between place (like Colorado) would be ideal, but there are no schools there that we got into (U of Colorado rejected me) or at least no other schools that we would want to go to. Even if we had got in, without a substantial scholarship it would have been pretty hard to justify the debt since we would have been paying out-of-state tuition. So basically we had no major pull for either school in terms of the region. There were things we really liked about Minnesota like the lakes and the green and the seasons and there were thigns we really liked about BYU like the Mountains and the hiking and camping. Neither was pulling ahead.

We thought about what would be best for Cam. Would it be best to go to a school with a huge population of married students like BYU where there will likely be many kids who are Cam's age or would it be better to go to school with a more diverse student body where we would be exposed to a wider range of perspectives which we would be able to pass on to Cam? If we end up living in the place we go to school long-term, which place would provide better schooling for Cam and be better for him? To raise a child in the church is it better to be surrounded with members or to be surrounded by non-members? Which would be more likely to provide a solid foundation for Cam? As we studied this out, we often decided the winner here was Minnesota. This is likely because both Dani and I grew up outside of the Utah/Idaho bubble and we both cherished our experiences of being able to grow up with people who had diverse opinions. I felt this may have helped to solidify our testimonies, as we knew that it was something unique and important. We also felt that the public schooling in Minnesota was slightly superior to Utah, although we will admit that we can only go by fairly incomplete data and word of mouth. Is it better that Minnesota has smaller class sizes and spends more on each kid? I guess we decided it is slightly better, although this definitely did not tip the scales for our decision. I just wanted to give you a little idea of how close we felt these schools were and the types of things we were comparing.

Honestly, when we got to this point things just started to get more and more confusing. It wasn't too long after this that we took a break from talking about where we would go to school. We decided we would go to the temple on May 2nd (we had to absolutely make our decision by May 4th) and that we would make our decision while we were there. I also forgot to mention that when we were set apart for our new callings the week before that part of my blessing was that I would be able to understand where we needed to go. Dani told me that she would be fine with either place and that she would stand behind my decision--which I hate! I love that she supports me and understand her attitude but I hate the possibility that I might make a decision that could ultimately make her unhappy. I would rather us both come to the same conclusion together, but it looked like it wasn't going to happen as we were both pretty much clueless. So, we went to the temple looking to decide once and for all where we should go. Without going into details, it became more and more clear that Minnesota was the place for us. After telling Dani that's how I felt she told me that's what she figured would happen. I had forgotten, but months ago she had mentioned that she really couldn't see us going to BYU and I had felt the same way. Now that we had decided on Minnesota everything felt great.

I can't say that we made our decision through logic, although we definitely tried to. In the end, it really came down to the fact that it just felt right and BYU didn't. Maybe that's not the best way to make a decision that will affect the rest of your life but I think when it comes down to it was the only way we could make this decision. Now looking forward, I am excited for Dani to get to know my side of the family better. I want to take her and Cam to a Twins game and take them fishing. Maybe we will decide that Minnesota is where we want to be long-term and settle down there. On the other hand, maybe after three years we will decide we want to get out of there as fast as we can.

To celebrate (not that we're going to Minnesota but the fact that we finally made a decision) we treated ourselves to Olive Garden yesterday and ate until we were stuffed. I joked to Dani that after finally making that decision it fel like I had lost 30 pounds from my shoulders and then packed it all into my belly. Same weight, but in a much more satisfying place! It is good to finally be done with that decision!

Pirate of the Sink!!

So Cam likes the baby in the mirror and sitting on our bathroom sink. Today he was seriously eying the sink like he was scheming something. Like "I wonder how the shiny thing over there works and why mom and dad use it alot?" For kicks and giggles Dani decided to fill the sink up with water just to see how Cam would react. Well Cam went nuts for it! He started dancing around like the monkeys from The Planet of the Apes and then Dani decided to let him put his feet in the water. The rest is now picture and video history......With a huge mess in our bathroom. Don't worry, Daddy cleaned it up!

Before Easter

So we are working our way backwards! Cam started eating solids and as you can see that made Mama so happy! As usual, Cam continues to make us all melt at his every whim, but that is why he is the baby and we are the parents!

Our easter was very exciting! We had Dani's parents in town and Cam had a look-alike contest with "little" Michael. In case you didn't know Michael is almost 4 months younger than Cam but they are almost the same size! Still, they are already looking like a couple of lady killers to me! We also figured out how to make collages with Picasa, so look at all the fun things we can do!

Lies, Lies, Lies!

Dani is pregnant again! Triplets this time. Cameron will be so excited! We have decided on a law school today. University of Peru law here we come! Cameron started talking this week and earned his first award as debate champion in division D. Division D of course is for children in size 2 diapers and under. As far as work... Work? Why would we need to work? We can pretty much just leech off of our parents and other friends while we go trek around the world. Everyone will be fine with that right? We are planning on going skydiving next week!

On an unrelated note, Dani took out a rather expensive life insurance policy on me. Good to be safe right? She is such an angel! She even told me she would pack my chute when we go skydiving! I have the best wife!

Random Cam Picks

"I just bought stock. It's that easy."

"Do you see what they're trying to do to me???"

"Water Bottle, you're the one for me!"

A Sun Named Cameron

Everything goes well with life at the Andrewsen place. Dani is at work and I finished my internship a few weeks ago. Since then, I have been staying at home with Cameron and we have our crazy adventures while Mom brings home the bacon. Cam is starting to have separation anxiety with Mom, which makes things interesting for me. We have met Mom for lunch a few times and he always behaves really well while she's around and then will cry and cry about five minutes after she leaves. I have to pull out all of my Daddy tricks (aka "The Bottle") to get him to calm down afterwords.

Cam has been doing lots of really cute things. As I type this Dani is on the phone with her parents and Cam is mesmerized by this little thing where voices come out of. He is getting very good at grabbing and figuring out how close things are to his face. He is intrigued by hair, and you put your hair close to his face at your own risk. At church he will look at a lady and stare at her until she smiles back at him, then he will smile and look away. At night, he will scream and scream because he doesn't want to sleep and then if we give him a break he will look right at us and give us this mischievous smile that I know means "Nya Nya, you can't put me to sleep and I can stay up as late as I want!" Oh, and everything goes into the mouth.

Dani works, and she is excited to switch positions with me in September when I start law school. Then she will be a stay-at-home mom and I will be the one who has to only see Cam on nights and weekends. Oh the horror! Speaking of law school, we have narrowed things down to the U of Minnesota and BYU, although BYU has taken a lead due to the fact that it's worlds cheaper than Minnesota. It is still a good school. Until then, I will be enjoying changing the diapers and cleaning up the mess.