Working Girl

Thought that title might grab someone's attention. Ha! I never stopped working per se when I had Campbell. I am still a realtor and I had a couple of listings that were on the market before I had the baby. But over the last few months, 99.99% of my time has been spent as a Mommy. My old firm was great in some respects, but I needed a change of pace. After interviewing last week and thinking it over, today I made it official and switched real estate firms! I'm very excited about it. Just having the interview and putting the thought into it to make this decision has re-energized me. I feel focused again and motivated, and at my new firm, I think I'll be more successful. It's not like switching firms means I'll instantly have clients beating down the door to work with me. BUT...it gives me a new angle and a new perspective and tons of new resources. For one thing, this new firm is minutes from our house. Score! It's also a much larger office and I'm excited to have coworkers again. There were definitely perks to working for a small firm on the other side of town - I had total autonomy. But in order to be more successful, I think I need the support of other agents nearby. I'll still work from home 100% - it's just that I'll have an office minutes away that I can go to for help, for adult conversation (ha!), and for more resources. It turns out that this office has five agents with babies under six months of age, something that was totally attractive to me when I was looking. My plan for childcare was just to figure it out as appointments came up. Occasionally Travis can work from home and could stay with Campbell while I had meetings. Or my mother-in-law is only just over an hour away and always happy for an excuse to babysit. Well I was pleasantly surprised in my interview when the broker-in-charge told me that there were two babies at the last sales meeting! Babies are totally welcome in the office. Wow! Obviously when I have meetings with clients, I'll fly solo. I don't think anyone wants to schedule their home tours around their realtor's baby's nap schedule! But how convenient to be able to have a job that I can have baby in tow for sales meetings or if I need to run in the office for a minute. I took Campbell with me today when I stopped by to fill out some paperwork. Of course she was a little fussy at her big debut...but that's OK. She managed to smile at a few of the women and won some hearts already. Don't get me wrong - I'm LOVING my job as Mommy and I'm sure that it will continue to occupy a lot of my time. But how lucky am I to have a career that is so flexible and completely on my own terms?!? I'm excited to have a fresh start at a new firm. I think this is just the boost I needed to really step it up a notch. I'm ready to bring home a little more bacon!!

Campbell's Baptism

This morning Campbell was baptized. We had family and friends with us to witness this special time in our lives. Today's baptism was a symbol that Campbell belongs to God. Because of our faith, we dedicate her to God. It's kind of like a promise that we will try to raise her in a loving, Christian home, and that we recognize that she is a child of God. And it's our hope that when she's old enough to understand, she'll make the choice to follow her own faith. Today was just the beginning.

Family is an integral part of our lives and establishing the loving environment that we wish for Campbell. This morning Campbell had the honor of wearing the Reid family christening gown. This gown was first worn by my grandmother. We estimate that the gown is about 100 years old! My grandmother is no longer living, but having my daughter in her gown was a tribute to her this morning. The gown was also worn by my Dad (who swears that's the one and only time he has worn a dress), my sister, me and my niece Taylor. If I can be so bold as to say so myself, Campbell looked like a little angel in the antique gown. As my mom and I were dressing her in the white dress this morning, I made some comment about the next time she wears a fancy white gown it will be her wedding day. The words came out of my mouth and stunned me - sometimes I can't even wrap my arms around the idea that she will eventually grow up. And how fast time is already going...I hope we savor every minute!

When it came time for her baptism, she was just perfect. No crying, no fussing, no sleeping, no spitting up! She was calm and alert and the congregation was full of ooh's and aah's for our little girl. It was very touching and a very proud moment for Travis and I.

Following Campbell's baptism, they introduced a little boy, Aidan, in our church who has just been diagnosed with brain cancer. There's a picture of him below. He recently underwent surgery to remove the tumor and starts chemotherapy in a few weeks. He was baptized this morning and there were very few dry eyes in the house. Such a happy moment to see him dedicated to God, yet so scary to think of him going through the biggest battle of his little life. He'll have a whole church full of people that won't be able to get him out of their minds though. He's in good hands now. :)

After church we came back to the house for a big spread of barbeque and all the fixins. It was a wonderful day with our families and friends to celebrate Campbell. Meant the world to us that they were able to be here with us today. She is smiling, laughing and squealing all the time now - we had so much fun with her today.

Thanks to Holly for taking such great pictures of us during the baptism. I'm anxious to also get my Mom's pictures since she took some of Campbell getting ready in her fancy gown, shoes and bracelet. Congratulations Campbell! We will look back at these pictures over the years and tell Campbell about this day.

Fancy Pants

I couldn't pick a favorite of these pictures I took of Campbell today, so here are all my favorites. I just love these fancy pants! Campbell is a very happy baby and she's especially excited for Sunday. She is getting baptized this Sunday!!! We have some family coming into town for the big day and some friends will be joining us too. What an exciting time for our sweet baby.

Can't get this child to quit watching TV...she loves it! We got the Baby channel for her and she squeals and giggles during her favorite shows.

One of my favorite pictures of Campbell...ever. That little smile warms my heart everyday! This one kinda says to me, "how YOU doin'?"

Love the crooked smile too, now she's really cracking herself up.

Bring on the Holy Water, I'm ready for Sunday!!!!

Fresh Air

Fresh air. Now that is some good stuff! When you have a baby in December, you spend a lot of time indoors. Even though we live in a warm place compared to most areas, it's still been a challenge to get out as much as I'd like to this winter. Now that it's warming up, I've been trying to get out as often as possible to walk Campbell and Lexi. I think Lexi has had worse cabin fever than I have! But other than walks and being in her stroller to run errands, Campbell really hasn't been outside. She had never really just sat outside and enjoyed a warm breeze, one of the finer things in life!

I find that I get often get bored around 5pm. That's when I'm anxiously waiting for Travis to get home from work, which usually doesn't happen until 7 or 8. This evening it was still super warm at 5pm, probably in the low 70's. So I took Campbell out front on our porch to get a little fresh air. It's an upstairs porch, which is more fun for some reason. (Well, it's all fun and games until people walk by on the sidewalk below and Lexi scares the bejesus out of them barking from above. Gotta work on that...) But Campbell seemed to LOVE the fresh air once I put her hat on and kept the sun out of her eyes. I enjoyed having her outside in the sun, maybe we both soaked up a little vitamin D. I let her go barefoot today because it was so nice, and I've really enjoyed looking at those tiny toes all day and laughing at her chubby ankles. And yes, those are cropped leggings, how hilarious are they? I love dressing up my favorite baby doll and introducing her to new things!

A Week of Worrying

This week, I have been a worrying aunt! My niece Taylor was terribly sick. She had a fever of 105 on Tuesday and ended up in the ER. After getting an IV of some fluids, she was sent home. Unfortunately things got worse on Wednesday and after another trip to the ER, she ended up in the hospital. That night, they decided she needed to be transported to a larger hospital that had a pediatric ICU. Poor little thing was extremely dehydrated, lethargic to the point where they were calling it an altered mental state, not eating or drinking, and unable to get this terrible fever under control. My sister called me from the front seat of the ambulance when Taylor was being transported to the new hospital. Parents aren't allowed in the back. Crazy...I still can't grasp that. But anyway, Jen had a little camera in the front seat where she could see Taylor in the back, all strapped in, wide-eyed, clutching her Elmo doll for dear life. That mental picture broke my heart. What a brave little girl!

After a trying two days, I'm happy to report that Taylor got sent home last night. My sister and my brother-in-law never left her side and they are beyond exhausted. Thank goodness his family lives in town and was able to bring them meals, coloring books for Taylor, and much-needed company and support. They are just calling this a really nasty virus. Nasty is not a strong enough word to describe this sickness! I was worried sick about her, and so upset that my sister had to go through that. I have had a baby in the hospital...it is the most awful thing ever. I know it's quite different to have a sick baby versus a sick two year old. Each has its unique challenges and worries of course - in a lot of ways they are not comparable at all. At least we got to leave to shower and rest for a few hours here and there when Campbell was sick. But I could hear the exhaustion and worry in her voice and I just wanted to run up to Virginia and fix it.

When someone in your family is sick and hurting, all you want to do is be there. Period. Just be there. I know there was nothing I could really do for any of them this past week. I just wanted to be there worrying with them. When you are not with your family, it doesn't matter if it's 10 miles or 10 hours away, it feels like a million miles away. I love that little girl so much and I can't wait to see her again and give her a huge hug. Until then, I'll have to settle for a webcam call so I can see her acting like her old self again to reassure me that she's just fine. Now that I'm a mommy, I think I'm even more affected by things. My perspective on life is just different now - it's so fragile and it's so, so precious.

Here's a picture of Taylor from this past Valentine's Day weekend. So glad you're OK!!!!!!!!!!

More Than A Lot

Today Travis and I are celebrating our one year anniversary! I try to think of words to describe what an incredible year it's been and what a wonderful husband he is, but words just don't seem adequate. Saying a lot is just not enough. I love Travis MORE than a lot. Saying he has a lot of wonderful characteristics that I adore and admire is not enough. There are MORE than a lot of a things I love about his personality and his spirit. Saying we have accomplished a lot in a year is definitely not enough. Not only have we spent an amazing year as husband and wife, but we have spent three incredible months as mommy and daddy. Our lives have changed MORE than a lot! Saying that he loves me a lot isn't enough either. He is so good at loving me...he makes me feel special even in unspecial moments.

We've been making this sort of a forty-eight hour celebration. Last night the three of us went to one of our favorite restaurants, Mickey and Mooch. Campbell was a great baby...asleep up until dinner came. Then I held her for a bit while we finished our meal, but she quit fussing the second we got her out of her seat. She just wanted to look around the restaurant and enjoy her night out as well. We had a great meal and excellent service and washed it down with delicious wine. We watched the slideshow from our rehearsal dinner last night and shed a few tears when we saw pictures of the grandparents we miss so much. And then a few more happy tears to see all the pictures of Travis and I over the years. This morning we watched the wedding video (many more tears shed by Sara, more than a lot of tears actually haha). Then I laughed so hard I spit out my coffee and it even came out my nose. Not at the video necessarily, but at Travis' reaction to some of his commentary on our video. That's a perfect example of why I love being with him...we laugh a lot...MORE than a lot. I can't wait until Campbell is old enough to watch the video and she can see how happy we were to become man and wife. I know we will continue to love each other a lot over the years and hopefully set a great example for her of how great a relationship can be. We've been nibbling on year-old wedding cake on and off since yesterday - to my surprise, it wasn't bad! And tonight our good friends Drew and Holly are coming over for dinner. Maybe we'll crack open the champagne to celebrate our one-year anniversary and their wedding coming up in a few months!

I love my life more than a lot...much more than a lot...and I owe this happiness to my sweet husband. Happy One Year Anniversary, Travis! I love you...a lot!!!!!!!!!! Here are some highlights of our first year of marriage.

And we're off!! Honeymoon, here we come!

Before dinner on our honeymoon in St. Lucia

Scuba diving in St. Lucia

Last day of our honeymoon

Big news!!!

Newport Beach, Rhode Island for Gaiya and Kevin's wedding

VT game in Charlotte

Asheville, NC for Jessica and Ian's wedding

Out to dinner for Dad's 60th birhday

Thanksgiving in Roanoke - about to pop!

Just a few days before Campbell arrived...

First picture taken of our beautiful daughter on December 11

Celebrating Valentine's Day 2009 - a night out without Campbell.

3 Months Old

Happy Three Months, Campbell! These pictures speak for themselves and show how our baby girl really woke up this month!

The rest are from a photo shoot we had yesterday in Campbell's room. We had so much fun! Well, OK, maybe only Mommy had fun but these pictures of my serious baby are just too cute.

Notice...the ribbon on Campbell's shirt (and on her headband) matches her room!! Her table is trimmed in it, the curtains are tied with it, the mirror is hung by it, and now the baby matches!! This outfit was a gift and we've been dying to grow onto it.

You Are My Sunshine

This time last week it had been pouring down rain for over 24 hours straight. Then Sunday night it turned to snow and we woke Monday to a winter wonderland. Both yesterday and today, it has broken 80 degrees. We have had Carolina blue skies and sunshine. I just thought Carolina blue skies was an expression until I moved here. The sky really is bluer here. On a sunny spring day, I truly believe there is not a place in the world with a truer blue sky than right here. I love it! It will cool off again by the end of the week, but I'll enjoy it while I can. This weekend we have taken Campbell and Lexi for two super long walks in our neighborhood. We let Lexi run off leash and we let Campbell feel the sun and the breeze in her face for the first time. Both loved it! Thank God for daylight savings time too...I am ready to come out of hibernation for good!

Big exciting things are in our near future. Travis and I will celebrate our first anniversay a week from today! And at the end of this month, Campbell will be baptized. We took a class at church this morning to learn about our church's philosophies about baptism and to get ready for the big event. I'm so excited. My mom mailed me the Reid family christening gown. I think I have this right...it was first worn by my grandmother. Then followed by my dad, my sister, me, my niece, and now Campbell. Hopefully. I have said before how Campbell is a little big for her age. OK, a lot big for her age. I've got to try it on her tonight to make sure she can squeeze into it! Fingers crossed.

Some pictures of our "little sunshine" from the weekend!

Playing dress up with my headband one morning with Mommy.

Mom, please don't take my picture without any pants on. It's just not right...

Happy Baby

I ran to the grocery store for 20 minutes and tip toed in to find this. So sweet. They were both out cold.

There really is nothing more peaceful than a sleeping baby. And Campbell looks pretty cute too. Ha! :)

Hangin' with DaddyAnd now with Mommy

What you talkin about, Willis?

It's official - Campbell only sleeps in her room now. We have moved the pack-n-play to her playroom downstairs. Big step! Showing off my biceps in my new spring clothes.