Chance of Showers

Travis and I have the bathtime routine down to a science. After we eat dinner and get the kitchen mostly cleaned up, we head upstairs with Campbell. We each have our own tasks - divide and conquer! He takes her clothes off, gets rid of the diaper, cleans up whatever may need cleaning up. Meanwhile, I go take off my jewelry, grab a clean washcloth and towel, set up the pillows we kneel on by the tub, and run the bath. By the time I do all my little jobs, Travis and Campbell are coming around the corner. This is one of my favorite sights. She is completely naked and very smiley and giggly because she knows she's headed for the bathtub. They usually stop at the bathroom mirror and "look at the baby!"

It's a very cute routine, but also a very dangerous one. Once that diaper comes off, there's always a chance of showers! Tonight, Travis got her undressed and I was in my closet taking my rings off. I hear him calling me...SARA...I need you...NOW. I go in there and find Campbell laying on her changing table in the buff and kind of wet all over. Travis is standing there with a completely wet t-shirt and a trail running down his shorts and to the floor. HA! We knew one of these days she'd feel the urge to go en route to the bathtub, and tonight it finally happened! I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself! I high-fived Campbell and kept her occupied while Daddy went to put on some dry clothes. It was pretty funny!

Lefty the Four-Toothed Giant

I guess this title needs a little explaining. As I mentioned the other day, my best friend Kim just had a baby. Last Friday, we went to meet Baby Carson at the hospital. Then yesterday, we went to pay him a quick visit at his house. Carson was not a little baby - he was 8 lbs, 7 oz at birth!! But let me tell you, when I saw him...he looked TINY! And so in turn, Campbell looked GIANT!! Carson is absolutely adorable and healthy and seems to be enjoying his first week in the outside world. Kim and I have done everything together since we were three years old. So it is especially special (can you say that, especially special?) to share motherhood with her. I know our families are going to have a ton of fun together in the years to come. And I hope Carson grows fast - because Campbell looks like a teenager next to him!!!! I got to hold him in the hospital and it was honestly shocking to me how tiny he felt in my arms. Campbell was even smaller at birth, but my perspective has changed so much now that I'm used to a seven month old baby. And a big one, at that! I loved snuggling the little guy. When we left the hospital, Travis said...uh oh, I saw it in your eyes when you were holding him........ :) But for now, I'm very happy with my little giant.

The lefty part is something I just discovered the other day. We have been giving Campbell some puffs to try her luck at finger foods. At first, she didn't get the concept at all of picking the food up off of her highchair tray. Then I started moving her hand for her and trying to coach her on how to pick them up. Without thinking, I just grabbed her right arm. She was far from happy with me. She wasn't making much progress, got increasingly frustrated with me and refused to do it on her own. When I finally gave up, she reached up on her tray with her left hand, picked up a puff, and successfully got it to her mouth! Then she repeated this numerous times. Over a span of a few days, she has only reached for food with her left hand. We've got a long way to go on this self-feeding business. It takes a lot of coordination to pick up a tiny morsel of food and know the exact right instant to release it into your mouth! But she has grasped the concept now and just needs to perfect her technique...left-handed!!! Lexi is learning that under the highchair is a good place to hang out. I don't know if all this means that Campbell will definitely be left-handed, but I wouldn't be surprised. Her Daddy is a lefty too!

Finally, the four-toothed part is pretty self-explanatory. I mentioned that I saw a third one pop in. Well later that day, I saw something glistening on the bottom row. Sure enough, it was another new tooth! So now she has four and fifth one about to come in. Once she masters puffs, I'm thinking she'll be ready to tear into some corn on the cob! She has been a true champ when it comes to teething. We had no idea these new teeth were coming in until we saw them!

Since Lefty the Four-Toothed Giant sounds like the bad guy in a fairy tale...here are a few pictures of Campbell so you can see that she's really not scary at all! In fact, she's pretty cute if I do say so myself!

She can't do this on her own yet. But I often prop her up there and sit behind her so she's totally supporting herself by leaning on her toy. She LOVES standing up.

There goes that left hand again! ;) Happy girl playing with all her toys.

We are loving the new playroom!!

Memory Lane

I'm into reminiscing a lot lately...so here is another stroll down memory lane.

Five years ago today, it was a typical Wednesday. Like today, a BEAUTIFUL summer day that had me wanting out of my cubicle...bad. Once I got home from work to my uptown apartment, I was antsy and looking for an excuse to get out of the house. My roommate called - did I want to join them for a happy hour about 15 minutes away? Nope - I didn't want to drive anywhere! That was the beauty of living in uptown, I could walk anywhere I wanted to go! It didn't take much to convince her to come home and we'd go out for a drink in uptown. She brought with her one of her male coworkers. In a short time, I managed to round up a few other girls. We went to Cedar Street Tavern in the bottom of my building. It was 5 girls and the one guy. Apparently he stepped out and called his roommate. "Dude, I'm at a bar and there are five girls here. I'm the only guy. Don't tell anyone, just come." The roommate wasn't too interested...he was already settled on the couch watching Dazed and Confused and not too keen on driving into uptown for a drink. He finally gave in and after a few minutes he walked into Cedar Street Tavern to join us.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, the roommate was Travis. He walked in and my jaw dropped - WHO is that???? Needless to say, I liked what I saw! One of my girlfriends knew him and I'll never forget the introduction that preceded Travis. "That's Travis. He's divorced." I thought (and I think I even said it outloud) - sweet, so you're saying there's a chance! So, wearing his scarlet letter "D", Travis came and sat down at our table. If you know me, you know I am far from shy. And if you know Travis, you know that he's not one to talk much when you first meet him. So, I talked to him for HOURS. I cornered him in a booth and told him my life story. The more we talked (ok, the more I talked and he listened), I really felt like we were clicking and I just really enjoyed hanging out with him. The night continued, other guys came, and then finally all the guys left except for Travis. He stayed with a group of about 6 girls and went to a second bar for more drinks. The night ended with him walking us all back to our apartment complex. I boldly asked him to call me and gave him my number. He obviously did!! And here we are, five years later, living happily ever after.

Thanks for humoring me and letting me relive my fairy tale today!

Seven Months Old!!

Campbell was 7 months old yesterday!!! Campbell has grown SO much this past month. One of the most noticeable differences is her hair. It is coming in like crazy! We've still got a long way to go before her first ponytail...but we are on our way! She is talking up a storm, obviously taking after her mother. She loves the "ba" sound and is getting pretty good at sticking out her tongue and making a funny (and very wet) "th" sound. We carry on long conversations somedays, ba ba ba ba th th th th ba ba ba ba. We have yet to get a "da-da" out of her on command, but Travis is working especially hard on that sound. I noticed another huge development today, but I am pretty certain it was here yesterday too on her 7 month birthday. She has another tooth! One has just broken the surface up top and the one next door is about to pop through as well. I can't believe our little girl just got her third tooth! She sits independently really well these days. Occasionally she does a face plant but for the most part is really good at balancing. She cannot pull herself up to a standing position on her own, but once we help her up, she does a great job of standing and leaning against a toy or simply holding our hands. We are starting to wonder if she will just skip crawling all together and just take off walking! She is rolling over with a little more ease and definitely starting to push herself up better when laying on her tummy. One of the most fun developments is that Campbell is laughing much more frequently now. Her little personality is totally coming out and our house is often filled with baby giggles - ahhhh, one of the sweetest sounds in the whole world! She loves peekabo and loves bouncing around on our laps. Those two are a sure fire way to get a good laugh out of her. In the bathtub, she plays with (aka eats) toys now. Campbell has grown up so fast. Seven months! She's not a little baby anymore!!

I've got so much more to say. My best friend Kim finally had a healthy and adorable baby boy named Carson Andrew! We have rearranged furniture, switched some rooms around and redecorated quite a bit this weekend. I had a blast hanging out with some new girlfriends in the neighborhood last night. We've had a full weekend!! But I'll save all those details for another post later this week and end with some really fun pictures from Campbell's 7 month photo shoot. The photo shoot was pretty eventul yesterday. I got her all dressed up in a white dress with a white hairbow of course. I removed the bib at the very last second and put her in her chair with her special bear. As I stepped back, before I could snap the first picture, her lunch reappeared and the pretty, little white dress was now covered in sweet potatoes. Gross! I took some pictures anyway but then we did a wardrobe change to get some clean pictures!! Enjoy!!

We went through two signs this time!

Someone wants to help Mommy with the camera...

Finally, the shot I've been waiting for!

Look at all that HAIR!!! It's still what I'd call strawberry blonde but we are thinking it may darken up. But I don't know...her eyebrows are awful red! Couldn't you just eat her up????????????

Tie Her Hair Up in Ribbons and Bows

I have been waiting for this day for a LONG time. I can't say I've really been waiting for it since the day I found out I was having a girl. I didn't really think this far ahead. But I can say I've been waiting for this day ever since the first time someone stopped me in public and said, "well isn't he a cutie?!!?". No more! Today, I have put an end to all the mistaken gender comments Campbell gets when we are out and about. No more, "hey little fella"s, no more "hi buddy"s, no more "look at him smiling"s. My little girl has had a very important first today - her first hairbow!!!!! I could not be more thrilled. I have this hairbow carefully balanced on the few long hairs Campbell has on top of her sweet little head. It's obviously comfortable because she's had it on for hours now and has no idea it's up there. I have a pack of multicolored bows, but I thought it was only fitting for her first one to be pink, the girliest color of all. So pink hairbow it is!!!

God Bless America

This is probably going to be a long one with a LOT of pictures, so get comfortable... :)

Happy Fourth of July! We had a GREAT day. We were invited out on the lake with our friends Lee and Dana. Their son, Hunter, is probably Campbell's BFF. They play together a lot - Hunter will turn one in a few weeks. Travis and I were so happy to finally be on the water again! We live literally minutes from the lake, and haven't been out on it in years!! What a waste! Today we actually went out on Mountain Island Lake which is also just down the road. It's way less crowded than Lake Norman. Dana and Lee took us out to a sandbar where a bunch of boats had dropped anchor. It was perfect - when you stepped off the boat it was only two or three feet deep. Now, I'm not one to stand on lake bottoms, I usually get grossed out. But this was sand, not mud, so I didn't mind. We got Campbell a life jacket yesterday and the trial run went horribly. We tried it on her and she screamed the same way she screams when she gets shots at the doctor's office. Fear and panic. I think it just scared her because it's tight and right up around her face. But today we eased her into it and she did so well! The lake water was surprisingly cold and yet she played and splashed and smiled. She took a short nap on the boat and enjoyed watching the water behind the boat when we were moving. What better way to spend the Fourth of July than out on the lake on a BEAUTIFUL day with friends?? It was perfect. We came home and grilled out burgers and corn, just put the baby to bed, and plan to watch the fireworks on TV unless we fall asleep first. Next year, we will for SURE be taking Campbell to see fireworks in person, but we decided that was a bit too much this year. As Travis would say, she was "wore the slap out" after the lake and quite cranky, so we made the right decision. She went to bed a half hour early, there is no way she would've made it up two hours late!I love the lake!!!
A serious pose for my first boat outing.

This is my friend, Hunter. This is his boat.
Here Hunter, let me get that hat off for you. Really, it's no problem.
I'm not exactly thrilled about my new life jacket, but at least it's pink, so I'll tolerate it.
Mommy and I are laughing at Daddy while we play in the lake.
Freezing! WAY colder than my bath, but also WAY bigger. This could be fun...

Feeling the wind in my face for the first time.
Heading home, I'm one tired baby!

Switching gears...yesterday about halfway through the day, I realized something. Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of our engagement! My, my, my, we have accomplished a lot in two years! Bought a house together, got married, I switched careers, and of course...had a baby! We had lunch at a restaurant on the lake yesterday and had fried pickles as our appetizer. It wasn't until a few hours later that we realized it was the 'proposal anniversary', and oddly enough on that night, we had eaten fried pickles together a few hours before Travis popped the question! If you haven't had fried pickles dipped in ranch before, you are missing out on one of the finer things in life. It's not everyday we get to eat them, so it was kind of cool that we had them yesterday. Then we did something we NEVER do which is wait to eat dinner until after Campbell goes to bed. It was a gorgeous evening, low humidity with a nice breeze. So we grilled out and ate out on our back porch with the monitor nearby. We sat outside for a while and had a drink and just talked, which is exactly what we were doing two years earlier. We were at the old house, but were seated on our patio having a glass of wine together when Travis got down on one knee. What a sweet memory and what a great night we had reminiscing about it.

I have some pictures I need to catch up on, so enjoy a few shots from the last week or so. We are also extremely happy to report that we have not had a single allergy incident since last Sunday. Hallelujah!!!

Happiest Baby on the Block

This is Lexi. I feel the need to pet her (aka grab her fur) all the time now. Thank goodness Lexi understands and is gentle with me!
Pretty Girl
Somebody take the keys, seriously, I've had way too much soy milk...
It's so hard to get this child to smile on camera...HA! Playing with Lexi last Sunday morning in my pj's before I broke out in hives and ended up at urgent care. :(
Our little lovebug
Lexi loves it when I pet her. Now if I could just get my hands on that cat...

I just want to end by saying that you can obviously see from our pictures that we are a very happy little family. We have a great life and it's not everyday we take time to think about how

AWESOME it is to live in a country where we have the freedom to live this wonderful life. So today, I'll be sure to give thanks for this country and all the people who fought/are fighting for us to enjoy this freedom!