Girls Only Roadtrip

Campbell and I survived our first 'girls only' roadtrip! She did really well in the car. No one else was surprised by this. For some reason I was. I was convicned that she'd be crying the whole way. Not sure why, she's typically such a good baby, but I just thought for sure that would come to an end when I was on my own. To my delight, I was wrong!! On the way there, she slept for 2/3 of the drive and sat quietly for the last hour. On the way back home, she slept the entire way! I was very thankful for uneventful roadtrips.

We had a great time in Virginia. Friday night we went to dinner at my parents' club so they could parade around the baby. :) Campbell was a trooper, stayed up late, and was still charming to all of their friends. Granddaddy was especially excited to show off her Virginia Tech shoes. Saturday morning we went tailgating with Grandma Betty. OK, not really tailgating. But seriously, how cute is this? Grandma just moved into a new apartment at a retirement community. (I guess that's what you call it?) They were having a tailgate party - yummy finger foods, decorated with a ton of Tech, UVA and Tennessee gear, and they even served beer! Grandma's new place is REALLY nice and I was so happy to spend some time with her. I approve of the new pad! Grandma proudly introduced Campbell and I to everyone. My mom and dad were there too, so between us girls, we had four generations which was pretty special (picture to follow!) After tailgating, we hung out for a while, then headed back to my parents' house to settle in for the Tech/Miami game. Go Hokies! What a great win on a nasty, rainy day.

Also on Saturday, Campbell must have come down with a little virus or something. I won't go into details and embarrass her...let's just say I had to run to CVS twice during the Tech game to buy Pedialyte and more diapers. Does that tell you enough? :( It has been awful, part of the reason I've been late posting about my weekend. Poor Campbell has had this tummy bug since Saturday!! It's now TUESDAY! That's a lot of really dirty diapers, people. She seems to be on the mend today...finally...but has also gotten pretty cranky and fussy. I don't know if her tummy hurts, or if she's just taking advantage of the extra attention. We were just about to get the hang of letting her cry it out when she woke up in the middle of the night - and then this virus happened. One night we found a not-so-pleasant surprise in the crib...so we have not been letting her cry it out for the last few nights. Therefore, Campbell is loving the cuddle time in the middle of the night - and Travis and I are very sleepy! We are very anxious to get her back on track, feeling well, and of course reminding her that we sleep until 7:30 in the morning. :)

On another note...yesterday we got to see some our family pictures on the blog of our photographer. OH...MY...GOD. Best. Pictures. Ever. I don't have the cd of pictures yet, so I can't post them here today. But I will say that those pictures absolutely made my week. They totally exceeded my expectations and I know we are going to cherish them forever. This is such a fun time in our lives and it's so cool to see it captured in amazing pictures. Aaaaahhh, I'm smiling just thinking about these pictures. I will post here as soon as I get them!!

There is a random tidbit I want to share. A cute new habit that I've noticed around here. Campbell used to beam ear to ear when Travis walked in from work. She still does. But now, while grinning, she stops whatever she's doing and crawls over to him and reaches up. I love to watch this scenario go down. I have to wait in line to get my hello hug and kiss now - but it's worth it to watch my little girl in her daddy's arms.

And lastly, Travis had an awesome weekend at a cabin in South Carolina with his best guy friends. They did manly stuff like fish, go target shooting, and play poker. He really enjoyed his time and Lexi enjoyed crashing the boys weekend and running around in the wilderness. Of course I have no pictures to share from his weekend since I had the camera...and because I'm not sure if guys really do the whole "picture thing"...so please enjoy a couple from my girls weekend in Roanoke!

Dinner at the club, sitting up at the fancy table like a big girl

"Tailgating" at Grandma Betty's new place

Four Generations!! I love this picture!!!!

Checking out Grandma Betty's new place. It looks good to me!

Brown Bear with my GrandDeb - it doesn't get much better than this! Mom brought my special baby fence from home for me to play in. Keeps me from bonking my head on sharp tables and helps me resist pulling Norman's ears and tail. ;)

I have my OWN keyboard at GrandDeb and Granddaddy's house. I can type e-mails...or just sit on it.

Thirsty Thursday

It's been a hectic week to say the least. Nothing out of the ordinary going on in our world, just a lot of "stuff." Campbell and I spent Monday with her cousin Miller and his mommy. They live in South Carolina - yes, we cross borders for playdates. haha OK, I'm being a little dramatic, it's like a 40-minute drive that was well worth it. Miller has a TON of toys...even after loaning us all of his "baby" toys. Campbell and I both had fun.

After Oasis at church this morning, Campbell and I have been getting ready to host Thirsty Thursday this afternoon. It's a playgroup for the kiddos in the neighborhood. The name comes from the adult beverages usually served to the moms. Yes, we are responsible parents and no one is boozing it up while watching their kids. But it is really fun and quite nice to share ONE glass of wine with my friends while the kids play at the end of the week. I'm excited to host it today, although quite disappointed in my produce. I was making this awesome dip about twenty minutes ago. I waited until the last minute on purpose so the avocado wouldn't turn brown. I cut the thing open, and it was bad. Really bad. Not salvageable. And of course, this is discovered when my normally-non-napping child goes down for a great nap, and company is coming over in an hour. Oh well, now I know to always buy two avocados! We'll be having avocado-less dip today. Maybe the wine will make up for it... Lexi is at doggie daycare for the afternoon so it will be a lot easier on me to keep things in order around here with all the toddlers running around.

The best part of the week was Tuesday morning. We had family pictures right after sunrise on the first day of fall with the most talented photographer on the planet. Seriously, y'all, this girl is GOOD. I will tell more about her and about our session when we get all the pictures back and of course share them here. But she did post this one picture on her blog as a teaser of what's to come, and said some really sweet things about how cute Campbell is. I couldn't agree more, Sharon!

Tomorrow Campbell and I are headed to Virginia to see my family. Travis can't go this weekend, and it will be the longest trip I've ever taken with Campbell solo. I'm going to carefully time the drive around naptime and hope for the best!! I can't wait for my family to see how much my little girl has grown up since the beach trip!!!!!!

My Two Buddies

The tall, handsome one in the suit cracks me up, makes me feel so loved, supports me, comforts me, makes me have fun, calms me when I'm getting all high strung, shows me everyday what a wonderful Dad/husband/friend he is, and he makes me smile...over and over again, all day long. And did I mention handsome?? He's pretty easy on the eyes as well.

The cute, little redhead also cracks me up, makes me feel so loved, makes me have fun, lets me be a kid again, reminds me to count my blessings, fills me with pride, has helped me become a better person and take a closer look at myself, wow's me with her personality, her growth and her tiny spirit, and she makes me smile...over and over again, all day long. And did I mention cute?? She's pretty easy on the eyes as well.

Those are my two buddies. And they fill my life with joy, over and over again, all day long.

Campbell has slept through the night without any problem for three nights in a row. I'm not bragging. Simply stating a fact. I refuse to comment further for fear of jinxing it. As for the bloodwork earlier this week, it was a failure. The process was much less traumatic, but the end result was the same. Her veins were too small and they couldn't find one after sticking her in both arms! So next step...off to see an allergist in the near future. Until then, we're all smiles around here.

The Score is Tied

Campbell - 1. Travis and Sara - 1.

This is the score as of last night. Tonight, Travis and I are going to make every effort to put us up a point. What is the game? Trying to make Campbell go a whole night without waking up to be rocked back to sleep by Mommy and Daddy.

I have bragged and bragged over the past few months about what an amazing sleeper we have. Oh, my sweet baby sleeps for 12 hours straight without a peep. Oh, my little angel is such a good sleeper, we are so lucky. Well...she is sweet, she is an angel, and we are very lucky. But good sleeper...no longer!!! My bragging has totally backfired! When am I going to learn to keep my mouth shut when the going is good???

I have mentioned before how her new ability to stand up was interfering with her sleep (and ours). It has snowballed and we are now in the middle of a nighttime battle with Campbell. She wakes up, as we all do during the night. But most of us roll over, adjust the covers, and go back to sleep. Not our precious Campbell! These days, she sits ups, maybe even stands up. Then she's awake and wants to be held. Let me correct that. Then she's awake and demands to be held.

I know you shouldn't rock a baby in the middle of the night because they get used to it. But we have been doing that when she wakes up because it's easier on us. We bought an amazing rocker for her room that is so comfy cozy (mistake #1). We should have put a hard, old rocking chair in there so we wouldn't be tempted to cuddle. When she cries, we have two options: (1) sit in the cozy rocker and rock her to sleep, probably drifting to sleep ourselves in the process, or (2) listen to her wail on the monitor. She doesn't cry herself to sleep, either. That's what the books say to do. We've tried that. We'll check on her, let her know we are there, make sure she's safe, and then leave her to "cry it out." She cries alright, but there's no "crying it out." The crying escalates to a deafening level and instead of tiring her out, it gets her more wound up. So we are forced to lie awake in bed and listen. Selfishly, we'd rather just hold her, soothe her quicker, and go back to bed. Well, that plan has afforded us a little more sleep but Campbell has caught on. It's become a nightly routine now for her to wake up a couple of times and cry until she's rocked back to sleep. We've decided to nip this in the bud before this middle of the night rocking routine gets worse than it already is!

Last night, Campbell won the first time she woke up. I started rocking her at 1:45 a.m. I woke up a little disoriented at 3:15, still in the chair in her room. I was able to gently lay her down and escape back to the comfort of my own bed. Just an hour and a half later, she woke up again. This time, we were on a mission to NOT get her out of the crib. She cried and fussed and screamed and wailed and whimpered for 45 minutes. Most of that time, I stood over her crib and rubbed her back. (Travis came to help, but it really is a one-person job. I sent him back to bed since he has to be coherent during the day at work). When she'd sit up, I'd lay her back down which REALLY aggravated her. I had to be touching her, and she had to be able to see me. There was no sneaking out. Eventually, she fell asleep sitting up against my arm, with me leaning all the way over the crib. Remember, the mattress is in the lowest position. And remember, I'm only 5'2". This is NOT an easy position to hold, especially not at 5 o'clock in the morning. But I proudly walked out of her room (OK, limped out, due to my sore back) at 5:30 a.m. with her sleeping peacefully, scoring one point for Team Mommy and Daddy. Then she slept until almost 7:45 which was nice, considering what we'd been through during the night.

Tonight will be a new challenge I'm sure. It's so hard to see her cry knowing that all she wants is to cuddle with us. Our pediatrician and our parents have assured us this is a normal stage of development. She is getting older and as she wakes up, she's crying for us to come rescue her. As opposed to a newborn who just cries because, well, that's what babies do. On top of that, we know she's teething, and we know she likes to try out her new trick of standing up. But we know it's best for her to learn to sleep by herself, unassisted. Wish us luck as we go to battle tonight! I'm feeling confident right now that we can try to keep her in the crib again tonight. But ask me again at 3 a.m. when the alternative is sleeping in that cozy chair with her...

9 Months Old!!!

Campbell was 9 months old yesterday!!!

I got the pictures taken on time, but didn't get a chance to write this post yesterday. It was a busy day! We started out with her 9 month doctor's appointment. There we got the same news as usual - that she is perfect!! Well, duh, we already knew that. Apparently all this standing up is helping her figure because she is holding steady at 22 pounds. This is only the 89th percentile! Notice I said ONLY the 89th. I guess that's kind of funny. We are used to being over 95! However, Campbell is over the 98th percentile in height! She is a whopping 30 inches tall. Wow! She sure didn't get that from the Reid side of the family. Red hair, tall...whose baby is this, anyway?? Travis has an uncle with red hair that is 6'6" tall, so I guess she's a Justice baby through and through! She got a vaccination which was the start of her demise. Then we had to take our pitiful, freshly-vaccinated baby to the lab for bloodwork. Yes, bloodwork on a 9 month old. :( We are ready to get some answers about Campbell's food allergies, so they are going to do bloodwork for an allergy screen. I waited in the lobby for twenty minutes while poor Travis and a nurse held Campbell down. I could hear her screaming the entire time. After all that trauma, they weren't able to find a vein. So guess what? Campbell and I have to go back Monday morning and try again...without Travis. I'm not going to lie, I cried on the way home. I knew it didn't hurt her, I just hated that she was so scared and I'm totally dreading going back. We need answers about these allergies so we can keep her safe, so I'll get through it! While I heard her screaming, I had flashbacks of when she was in the hospital as a newborn and her IV got stuck in her leg. YOUCH! So anyway, that made me sad. But we're all fine now. :)

Then yesterday afternoon my sweet husband took Campbell and sent me to the spa for a manicure, pedicure and haircut. It was fabulous. I really do hate that word, but it seems to be the only one that is adequate for my afternoon of pampering.

So...there are my excuses for the late post. On to more important things. I stand corrected...

CAMPBELL IS CRAWLING!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know you may be laughing now. In my last post, I went on and on about how convinced I was that she'd never crawl. Ha! So much for a mother's intuition! On Thursday morning, she and I were sitting in her playroom, and she just crawled past me to get a toy. As you can imagine, I flipped out. Did that really just happen? So I grabbed the same toy and moved it to the other side of the room, and off she went! Once she repeated this about 7 or 8 times, I realized it wasn't a fluke, she was truly crawling! I got out the video camera and held back a few tears as I watched my baby girl growing up right before my eyes! Life is going to change big time around here now that she's mobile! We've got to babyproof this house...fast. And she's showing quite an interest in our big screen TV and all the electronics in the entertainment center. Great... We are so proud of her and I'm so glad I was wrong. I love the fact that she can move to get her toys and explore the world without my assistance. Sure, it'll be a lot more work for us, but it's going to be really fun too.

That's obviously the biggest news from this month. She also pulls up to standing on EVERYTHING now. She then lets go with both hands and balances for 10 or 15 seconds before falling on her behind. She eats all big girl food - no baby food at all anymore! She will not be winning any awards for being a good napper. And lately, she won't be winning any awards for being a good sleeper at night either. But she's getting two more teeth right now, numbers 7 and 8, which might have something to do with that. We're dealing with a little bit of mommy-attachment sometimes at bedtime but hopefully that's just a short phase. She laughs outloud when her favorite baby shows come on TV. In fact, she is trying to watch TV around me in a lot of her 9 month pictures below. You'll be able to tell when I'm standing in her way. Her personality has really blossomed this month and she is one funny baby!

We love her as high as the sky and as deep as the ocean. Nine months...wow. Enjoy!!

"Normal"

I'm happy to say things are returning to normal at our house. Or maybe I should say "normal." I'm not sure there is such a thing as normal without quotation marks when you have an almost 9 month old!

The crib is now in the low-rider position, as I like to call it. The bumpers have been added to the crib. We took them out when she was a wee little tike because they posed a suffocation hazard. But with all her standing and rolling and climbing, we decided the risk of her bonking her head is much greater now! It also keeps her from launching her paci's out into the floor too. :)

We've have a few good nights in a row where Campbell has slept through the entire night. Naptimes are still very rocky - standing up usually proves to be more exciting than napping, but we're working on it. She can now pull up to standing on a lot of her toys, on the couch, on the laundry basket, and on us! Once up, she's getting brave and letting go with both hands and amazingly enough, is able to balance while standing for several seconds! You can totally see it in her eyes - she is loving her new independence and can't wait to take off walking. Notice I said walking, not crawling. I'm convinced this child will never crawl. She could do it if she wanted. She's halfway done it once or twice. She just has no interest. Once on all fours, she wants to do nothing other than push herself up to sitting, and find something to pull up on. I did some reading about milestones, and most things said they will crawl first for a month or so and then try to pull to standing. I think Campbell has just bipassed the crawling completely. Not my preference...I thought crawling would be cool, less dangerous than toddling around, and a quick fix for her frustrations of sitting still. But...I guess I don't get to make all the rules, so we'll just see what mode of transportation Campbell chooses! She is somewhat mobile by sitting up, spinning around, and pushing off in another direction. She basically spins into a sitting position over and over again until she reaches her destination. It's actually quite cute to watch.

Now a totally random picture that has absolutely nothing to do with this topic. This is Campbell demonstrating the dangers of texting and driving.

Taking a Stand

Campbell can now pull herself to standing! Great right? Well...sort of. Of course we are proud of her, but every new milestone also brings new challenges. The issue with her latest trick is her insistence on doing it ALL the time. And that includes the middle of the night. And the early hours of the night. And into the morning. Last night, Campbell took a stand all night long! Every forty-five minutes to an hour, she'd roll over in her crib, sit up, and then stand up...and cry. And because we haven't moved the crib down to the lowest setting yet, we can't let her stay in there alone for safety reasons, so we go pull her out and try to coax her back to sleep safely on her back. She thinks...hmmmmm...I stand up, I cry, they come cuddle with me in the rocker. Sweet! She is a smart little cookie, trust me. This little girl knows how to work the system! So last night was a long night. We'll be able to take the crib apart and move it down this weekend. Once we move do that, she can stand and play as she pleases...and hopefully she'll do so quietly so the rest of us can catch up on some sleep!!!

What could be more fun than this?

I know...

Almost there...

Made it!!!

Campbell, it's a good thing you are so sweet and you do melt the hearts of your Daddy and I...because we are VERY tired today!!!!!! :)