We've Moved!

It's official...the new blog is up and running. From now on, please follow our family at www.justicefamilyblog.com. All old posts will remain on this site - there is a link on the new blog which will bring you back here if you like. See you there!!!

MIA

So I've been missing in action for about a week and a half! What's my excuse this time? Well, let's see...first Campbell was a little sick with a slight fever. Then I started feeling a cold come on, but thought maybe it was just allergies since everything is blanketed in bright yellow pollen. I ended up at the doctor last week to find out that I had a double ear infection! What in the world?? Am I two years old?? Luckily my ears only hurt for a day or so and the antibiotics seem to have helped knock that right out. But I have had a terrible time trying to kick this cold. I haven't been able to taste food, AT ALL, for a good week. That is sheer torture for a pregnant lady who derives such pleasure from a yummy meal! Seriously, I've been depressed about my lack of taste and I just keep eating, hoping that maybe all I need is a burger, a candy bar, some chips....to get my taste back. :) We also had a great Easter weekend despite the stuffy noses, and this week Travis has been off work for a few days. He's been working tirelessly in the backyard and it's really shaping up so hopefully we can use it this spring and summer.

And on top of all those excuses...we've been looking into revamping our blog!! With my new computer, I apparently have so many more options of cool stuff to do. I've been having a terrible time getting pictures to post the way I want them to ever since we switched to a Mac. Which really doesn't make sense since Macs are designed for creative applications! So anyway, to make a long story less long, I think Travis found some solutions to make the blog much easier to use and it will probably look cooler too once I find some time to build the new blog! So I've been procrastinating putting up our Easter pictures because I just want to wait for the new format. Look forward to those, they are super cute!!

So that's that. I'm still here. New Baby Girl is doing great and I feel a few more teeny, tiny kicks each day. Campbell started running a fever last night out of the blue and was quite pitiful, so today we are laying low while Daddy finishes some work in the backyard. She is currently slurping down her second pickle (one of her favorite treats) so I hope that is a good sign that she's feeling better! Maybe if she cooperates with a good nap today or tomorrow, Travis can help me get this new blog up and running.

Surrounded by GIRLS!!!

This morning we had our ultrasound and it's definitely a GIRL!!!! At least that's what the ultrasound technician told me, so she better be right! Let's take a quick inventory here - me, Campbell, New Baby Girl, Lexi and Harley - all girls. Travis - he'll be the one and only male around here - surrounded by girls!!!

The appointment was at 8 a.m. Travis followed me and Campbell there so he could leave straight from there to head to work. When we had the ultrasound to determine the gender with Campbell, we wanted to find out in a more special way than the technician just saying, 'it's a girl.' So we had her write it down, put it in a sealed envelope, and we waited until we sat down to dinner at Ruths Chris to open it. It was a really neat moment for us and we had a perfect date night that night. Well...this was lesson #537 in things are different with baby #2! We totally wanted to do something similar and make it special. But Travis had to leave straight from the appointment to head to an out of town client with a possibility of staying the night. Therefore the whole dinner thing wouldn't work. Not to mention we have a sweet one year old who wouldn't exactly be welcome tossing green beans at Ruths Chris. So...we had to opt for the less exciting reveal and just let the technician tell us!

Well, even that plan went a bit awry. Campbell and I both developed terrible headcolds over the weekend. We are both miserable! She woke up a complete mess this morning. We felt so sorry for her and had a hard time consoling her. Once at the doctor's office, things were better for a short time. Unfortunately, New Baby wasn't cooperating and was being lazy and napping. Therefore the ultrasound took a little while because I had to lay on my side and move around a lot to try and wake her up. In this time, Campbell turned on us, was screaming bloody murder, and really causing a scene. Poor Travis had to step out of the room with her and walk her down the hall because she was being so disruptive. Of course, that is when our New Baby Girl woke up and gracefully gave us a glimpse of...well, you know what. So I was alone in the room when she made the 'it's a girl' declaration. I must admit I was a bit sad that Travis wasn't there. He admitted later he was pretty disappointed to miss the announcement too. But in the big scheme of things, that was just one tiny little moment. We have a very healthy baby girl who is growing normally and looking great and we couldn't be happier with that news!!! She's also a sassy little thing. Right when Campbell threw her fit and had to be escorted out by Travis, New Baby Girl threw up her hand with her middle finger sticking straight up. The technician cracked up, snapped a quick picture of it for us, and told me she is certain that gesture was for big sister. I love it!

So let's talk about this girl thing. I AM SO EXCITED!!!! I really didn't care - boy or girl. Honestly, I wanted each for different reasons. But now that I know it's a girl, it just makes perfect sense and feels so right for our family. I am so looking forward to having two girls only 21 months apart in age. Of course I hope they are best friends but that will be up to them. It's going to be so easy to welcome a girl into our family because that's what Travis and I know. We have girl stuff and girl clothes and dolls and the like...so it really will be pretty easy to add another girl to the mix! I wanted a girl because I wanted Campbell to have the experience of having a sister. My sister and I are so close and I just feel like every girl deserves to have a sister, so I'm excited that little dream is coming true. So how does Travis feel? He really is excited too. Honestly. At least he says he is! I'm sure there is a part of him that wants a boy, I think all men do. That's a no-brainer. But he has said a million times how he adores having a daughter and would be completely happy to have nothing but girls. He is so good with Campbell, and seeing how he relates to her, it just makes sense that God would give us another girl to raise! The only thing that's stressing him out is he keeps thinking about paying for two weddings.

I'm feeling little tiny, faint baby movements these days. It's very sporadic and I have to really be sitting still and concentrating to feel it, but it's there and it's amazing. It makes me erase all those memories of throwing up and feeling like death just a couple of months ago. It is all worth it!!!!!!!!

Pancakes-2, Campbell-0

If you've been around for a while, you know about Campbell's food allergies. You may even remember how on her first birthday, Travis and I took Campbell to IHOP for a special birthday treat of her first pancake and scrambled egg. Then you would of course remember how the poor birthday girl broke out in massive hives and we ended up racing to the doctor's office for bloodwork and massive doses of Benadryl to celebrate the big day!

That was our first run in with the pancake. This morning, we had our second. :( Allow me to set the scene for you. Travis is doing a triathlon as I type, his first of the season. His start time was 8:43 a.m. Campbell and I reluctantly decided not to go. The venue wasn't very kid-friendly (I could just see Campbell diving into the indoor pool), and the forecast was calling for temps in the 40's with rain and thunderstorms likely. So us girls stayed home. Me, being 17 weeks pregnant, and suffering from a headcold and a headache, and a little bit bummed to not be watching Travis, decided I would make us a special Sunday breakfast. I decided to make Campbell-friendly pancakes, with Bisquik, soymilk, and her special egg replacers (a powdery substance you mix with water to replace eggs in baking, designed for vegans or people with allergies). I threw in a little of Campbell's applesauce to moisten up the batter, fired up the griddle, and the end result was pretty normal-looking pancakes!

I gave Campbell a few small bites. She told me "mmmmm." So I tore up an entire pancake for her, and even dipped some of her bites into syrup (which had none of her allergens per the label). All was going well. I made myself a plate with 3 pancakes stacked up high once I finished cooking and was just sitting down next to Campbell to enjoy my breakfast when I saw it - her bottom lip was huge. OMG. Everything I've ever read about food allergies says not to worry until you have swelling of the face, lips, or tongue. I freaked. It was 8:39. Couldn't call Travis because he would be standing on the starting block, ready to dive into the pool in 4 minutes. Didn't know if I should stick her with the EpiPen and call 911 or not. I was so scared to make this call on my own! So I did what every grown woman would do...grabbed the children's benadryl and called my Mom. I'm also having the thought - great, I'm in my pj's, barefoot, pregnant, contacts aren't in yet, alone...and I'm going to have to ride in an ambulance like this. Call me vain, but yes, I thought of that.

Campbell's lip went down to normal in no time. Really, from the time I noticed it, it was only swollen for less than 30 seconds I'd say. Got some benadryl in her, ripped the pancakes off her tray, and let my Mom calm me down. We decided I needed to call the on-call nurse to make sure it was OK to quit worrying. The nurse walked me through a bunch a questions. I checked Campbell for hives (there were none), for a swollen tongue (nope), irritable or agitated (yes, but then again I'd just taken away her pancakes). The nurse was super sweet and we determined that Campbell had some reaction, but that she seemed to recover on her own and the benadryl in her system would help.

Who knows what happened? I feel kind of crazy, because her lip was DEFINITELY swollen, and then it was just fine again! My mom pointed out that maybe she bit it? Who knows??? It was swollen enough that I nearly dropped my plate of pancakes and ran for her bag with the benadryl and EpiPen in it. It was definitely scary. Campbell is now 0-2 versus the pancake. I guess she'll have to stick with bananas and dry wheat toast for breakfast from now on. So much for Mommy trying to make a Special Sunday Breakfast for the Girls! :( I'm not sure my heart can handle another incident with those darn pancakes!!! In the meantime, we'll wait patiently for the call from Travis from the finish line and I guess I'll have to fess up and tell him about the nonsense that went on around here this morning!!

Goodbye Normie

Meet Norman. (This is a funny picture of him, exactly how I'd like to remember him). Tonight my family said goodbye to Norman, the dog we got when I was in high school. Of course my sister and I had to say our goodbyes from afar, in our hearts. My parents had to make the heartbreaking decision that it was Norman's time to go be in Doggie Heaven. Norman was sixteen years old with failing health and some major dementia. He's really gone downhill pretty fast, which I guess is a blessing since we know he wasn't suffering for long. We all talked about it and agreed with my parents that they would be honoring and respecting Norman by letting him go be at peace. My heart truly aches for my parents and what a hard day they've had. I also know tonight and the coming days will be tough as they see reminders of him all over their house and miss the sounds of doggie footsteps and a jingling collar.

I was with my parents when we went to the SPCA and picked out Norman. He was an absolutely adorable puppy who didn't bark for the first couple of weeks we had him. He was some sort of terrier mix we think - ended up at about 35 pounds, mostly black and white, some resemblance to a cross between a jack russell and a beagle or something like that...and he learned how to bark. The first weekend we had him, we struggled with a name. Someone came up with Norman, from the movie Psycho. He had done something mildly psycho like running around or acting crazy, so it seemed appropriate. Norman Bates Reid was his full name. He earned that name in the next few years! As a puppy, Norman was quite the psycho dog. He ate EVERYTHING, including the TV cable that he chewed in half, the vinyl flooring that he ripped to shreds, and even $60 cash of mine from a paycheck I'd just cashed! Despite the wildness, we loved Norman to pieces. He was never the most cuddly dog. Just a cool dude. Always full of energy and just happy to be a dog and do doggie things, like run laps through the house. All of my friends have always known Norman and loved him. I can't really describe what was so cool about him. Just trust me, if you had known him, you would've called him cool too. Everybody loved Norm and Norm loved everybody!

Over the years, Norman has starred in the Roanoke Valley SPCA's calendar quite a few times since my Dad sat on the board there. He was quite the handsome fellow and Norman never forgot where he came from, and was happy to support the cause. In the 2010 calendar, my parents put in a picture of Campbell and Norman together. So that picture will be really special to look back on.

I know Norman is happy now, tail wagging, hiding a massive bone behind a huge cloud in heaven. He will be greatly missed but he will always live in our hearts. Goodbye Norman!!

Eavesdropping

One of my favorite things to do is to eavesdrop. On Travis and Campbell. Most nights, it's Travis' job to put Campbell to bed. If he is at work too late, or if she is pitching a Mommy-fit (which she does on rare occasions), I will. But otherwise, that is special time with Daddy and daughter. I am usually downstairs trying to find a place for all our dirty dinner dishes, or maybe in our room changing into comfy clothes. Either place, there is a monitor and I hear it all go down. And let me tell you, sweetest sound in the universe.

Just recently we started changing the routine a bit so that Campbell has her sippy cup of milk (soymilk of course) before bedtime. I've also started bathing her after dinner most nights. I find that she is much more cooperative in the bathtub if I don't wait until she's overtired to do it. And then her hair has time to dry and she can unwind for a little while in her pj's before Daddy gets home from work. So when bedtime finally rolls around about 7:30ish, it's just time for books and cuddling.

Campbell goes through phases with different books she's obsessed with. These days, it's "Pat the Bunny." (NOT a favorite for Travis and I, but we let her pick!) Any given night, I hear Travis read it at least 3 times in a row because it's so short. She'd rather hear it over and over again than switch to a new book. Hopefully next week it'll be something different! Then I hear a bunch of rustling around on the monitor. He tells me this is usually the point when she insists on getting down, takes a few laps around her room looking for something fun to do. Finding nothing, she always returns to Daddy's lap and that's when she snuggles up. I hear his gentle voice tell her it's time to get in her bed and go night-night, and that he loves her and will see her in the morning. I tell you, it gets me every time!!! It gives me the sweetest mental picture to know he's tucking her into bed. I just love eavesdropping on them.

Just for the record...she is usually great at bedtime. But she isn't without fault. So yes, some nights he does all the same things, and I hear wailing in her room because she just isn't ready to call it a night yet. But for the most part, bedtime is pretty easy these days and a time I just love to listen to Travis and Campbell together.

One final note - a week from today is our ultrasound where we hope to find out whether Campbell is getting a sister or a brother!!!

Fifteen Months and Fifteen Weeks!!

Campbell was fifteen months old on Thursday! Yes, I'm getting pretty slack about posting her monthly updates. Can you tell I have my hands full with a very active toddler and another baby in the works?? (Can you also tell I'm still learning on my new Mac? Travis figured out how to drag and move pictures, but I can't get it to work and I'm tired of fooling with it. So enjoy the few pictures above, and a few more down below). :)

This month, Campbell has been brightening our days just being herself. A happy little girl who

loves to dance, run, giggle, clap, climb and play. She signs 'more' and 'please' very appropriately now. She is trying to say new words everyday. She still requires a translator, really only Travis and I understand most of them. But she's getting very good at imitating speech and each try is a little closer to the real word! I think she's going to be a talker like her Mama, watch out world! The newest thing this month is the climbing. One day I walked in the living room and found her sitting on the couch. Um, OK, didn't know you could get up there! I wouldn't mind, if she understood the concept of edges. She does not! So it's been a bit treacherous as she is constantly scaling the furniture and dangling from whatever she can swing her leg over! I really think she's going to be athletic! Campbell is crazy about throwing a ball, that is probably her favorite thing to do right now. She also likes to sit on the low window sill in our breakfast nook and look out the back window which is just too cute for words. She absolutely hates riding in a stroller these days. Running errands is becoming increasingly difficult for me as my little angel does NOT want to be strapped into anything, yet can't be trusted on her own because she runs around like a crazy person. We've got to work on this whole stroller thing before September rolls around!!!! Yesterday morning we took her to the indoor pool at the gym. It was her first water experience since last summer. She fussed a little here and there, but overall was the same little fishy from last summer. Travis put her face all the way underwater three different times! She didn't choke, didn't cry, and came up frantically signing 'more'!!! Apparently she loves the water just like her Daddy and I do.

Campbell gives hugs on command, and blows kisses too (sort of, she kind of sucks on her palm but never lets go of the kiss). She is sweet and funny and even a little devious at times. It's really fun to watch her explore and climb and get into things, we just hope it doesn't land us in the emergency room anytime soon!! :) (I just knocked on wood).

Now onto the fifteen weeks part, happy fifteen weeks to New Baby! :) I am now fifteen weeks pregnant and cruising along happily in my second trimester. I hate to say it outloud (knocking on wood again), but I think the morning sickness is finally gone. The last couple weeks have been significantly easier on me. I still feel a little run down at times. But hey, why should I blame that on the New Baby? It's Campbell who makes me run around all the time! The New Baby is about the size of an apple now. I appear to be about six months pregnant, no lie. Just like last time, my stomach popped out into a baby bump pretty much the day we got two lines on the stick. Now that I'm feeling better, I'm enjoying being pregnant again and ready to start planning! I MIGHT have felt a few tiny baby kicks last night, and I'm so very anxious to feel the baby again. I adore that part of being pregnant. My latest obsession is bedding. The nursery willremain the nursery, and just be modified if we are having a boy. Campbell will move down the hall to a big girl room, so that is what I spend my time googling. I'm craving a ton of fresh fruit, which is great, but quite random for me. I was mildly allergic to fresh fruit most of my life, so have never really eaten a lot of it. Now I want to dive headfirst into a huge fruit salad. I also crave salads and other fresh, cold things. Weird...am I having a child who likes to eat healthy?? Whose baby is this, anyway??? That is not to say I don't have a Bojangle's chicken biscuit every now and then, and a little ice cream to wash down all that fruit... All is well and if I ever feel cute enough, I'll make Travis take a picture of me so I can show off the new bump. Two weeks from today we have our Level II ultrasound to determine whether we are having a girl or a boy! Can't wait!!

Enjoy just a few more pictures of Campbell from the recent weeks.

Happy Fifteen Months, Campbell!!

A Big Whole Much Prayers for Nanny

My niece Taylor uses the cutest phrase, "a big whole much." It is obviously used to describe anything you want a lot of. That's why it's so appropriate here, because I really want a lot of prayers for Nanny. A big whole much, to be exact.

Nanny is Travis' grandmother and a very important part of our lives. Travis has always been extremely close to Nanny. Growing up, she was ever-present and a huge influence on Travis and his brothers. In his adult life, Travis' relationship with his grandmother did not weaken. He talks to Nanny on his drive home from work every night. There's probably not a lot to talk about each day - the weather, something funny Campbell did, any upcoming plans - but still...they talk. They have a very special relationship. I too have become close to Nanny over the years, and now Campbell is too! Without going on and on any more, just trust me, she's part of the glue that holds our family together.

A few weeks ago, we found out that Nanny has bone cancer. Five years ago, she underwent chemo for breast cancer and has been doing well ever since. Over the last few months, she's had a nagging backache which turned into severe back pain. Apparently the doctors don't think the two cancers are related. In other words, bone cancer usually starts somewhere else and spreads to the bones. They haven't yet determined where this cancer started. The worst part of this terrible news is the amount of pain Nanny's in. She is in a tremendous amount of pain, and painkillers are not able to make her more comfortable. She is in week two of a two-week radiation treatment for her tumors. They continue to run all sorts of tests, scans, MRI's, etc. to learn more about her cancer and how to best treat her. Our prayer is simple - we just don't want her to be in this pain!! Of course part two is that we want her body to heal and strengthen and recover. But first and foremost, we just can't stand to see her hurt like this. She is such a strong woman and never quick to complain. If she says it hurts, boy, it really hurts.

We are trying to get to Marion often to spend time with her and to let Campbell brighten her day by saying her name, blowing her kisses and showing off her dancing skills. It may not cure the cancer, but it sure is good medicine! I'll update the blog with her progress as we learn more, but for now, we just really appreciate your big whole much prayers.

Meeting Baby Leif

Last week, Campbell and I journeyed to Virginia to meet my nephew, Baby Leif. (I will explain below why all these pictures are in no order and not moved to the bottom like I usually do). I took Campbell to the pediatrician on Monday and got a pretty clean bill of health. She just had a minor cold and my sister and brother-in-law told me to 'bring it'! Tuesday we drove to Roanoke and spent the night with my parents, giving Campbell another day to shake the cold before meeting the baby. Wednesday we headed up to Northern Virginia. Somehow I survived all these roadtrips, each leg being about 3-4 hours, with Campbell by myself. She did amazing in the car and I was so proud of her.

My sister and I thought Campbell would not even notice Baby Leif. Wrong! She was OBSESSED with him. She was constantly saying 'baby, baby' and would light up every time he made a noise or moved. We often caught her perched on the edge of his pack-n-play, trying to climb the side to see in and look for the baby. Knowing there's going to be a baby at our house this fall, it was interesting to see that she was already so into babies!

It was kind of a crash course for me in dealing with more than one child. I tried on several occasions to manage all three - Taylor, age 3, Campbell, age 14 months, and Baby Leif, age 2.5 weeks. It was far from easy, but not impossible. Campbell was definitely the most difficult of the three. Baby Leif just lays there and looks cute, and Taylor is old enough to follow directions and listen. And then there's Campbell - who just walks around and destroys things! :) Snuggling with Baby Leif was heavenly! You forget how tiny they are, you really do. Just to have a tiny baby laying on my chest, asleep most of the time, inching up higher and higher until his little warm head rested under my chin...ah...perfection!

Taylor and Campbell played REALLY well together. I was super impressed with Taylor. She not only has a new baby brother getting a lot of her parents' attention, but she then had to share all her toys with Campbell. She liked helping me "babysit." One of my favorite quotes of the week came when I asked Taylor to watch Campbell for a minute. They have bookshelves with a sharp corner and I was very paranoid Campbell would fall into the corner. I guess Campbell approached the shelves because I heard Taylor say, "Campbell...that's not a good idea! You are going to bust your head, get a bleed, and then you won't have a brain!" Well said, Taylor! Another favorite memory came one morning when Campbell had woken up early so I brought her into my bed. We were both dozing again when I heard the door to my room open. I kept my eyes closed pretending to be asleep so Taylor would maybe sneak back out and let us sleep some more. Wrong. First she started opening and closing the door, a little louder each time. Then she got on Campbell's side of the bed and started whispering, "Campbell, Campbell!" I was trying so hard not to laugh. I can see these two cousins getting into trouble together later on, and thought it was so cute that Taylor came to get Campbell up. I put Taylor to bed each night I was there and completely choked when it came time to say prayers. I thought, I can handle this, I pray. What I wasn't prepared for were the questions about who is God?!??!?!? Based on my terrible answers, Taylor probably thinks God is some man who lives in her room and "will never leave her." hahahaha I need to read up on teaching my own kids about God!! I realize Baby Leif isn't getting much airtime here, but it's a lot easier to tell stories about the ones who can talk! I truly enjoyed my time with both of them, and of course loved the time with my sister and Big Leif too.

We had a fantastic trip, complete with some great quality time with my parents in Roanoke. Campbell LOVED both of my parents, and was especially clingy with GrandDad. I was pleased she remembered them and was so fun at their house so they got to see my crazy baby!

We were so ready to get home, we drove 130 mph the whole way. No joke. Sort of. Leaving Northern Virginia, I looked down to see my speedometer say 130 mph. What? Traffic was flying past me, and I thought, man they really do drive fast up north! Then I stopped at a stoplight and it said 60 mph at a dead stop. Great, a broken speedometer! Thankfully, I have a GPS that I could use as my speedometer, but it sure is weird to look down when you're cruising through a residential area and it tells you that you are driving 90mph! The problem seems to be correcting itself, each day it gets a little closer to being accurate. This morning it was down to 2 mph when I was stopped, so maybe I won't have to pay to get it fixed?

Campbell and I were pumped to see Travis because we REALLY missed him. Little did I know he had a surprise waiting for me! He got me a new computer! This post is coming to you from my new MacBook Pro, which is why my pictures are at the top and unorganized. :) There is a bit of a learning curve when switching to a Mac, but I'm learning and will hopefully get better soon. I am so in love with this computer! Not only does it have a "k" key, but it does so many cool things with pictures and video. Travis wrote me a really sweet letter about why he got it for me. Let's just say I was reduced to a crying mess from all the sweet things he said. This blog may get fancier now that I have the capability to do so! I just have to make sure Campbell doesn't get a hold of this keyboard. Thanks, Travis, I really, really love my new toy. And the amazing man who bought it for me.

Justice, Party of...FOUR

It's time to make the official announcement! Sometime around September 5th, we will be growing from a party of three to a party of four! In case you didn't get that, yes, I am pregnant and we are expecting Baby #2. I will go ahead and answer the question that seems to be on most people's minds when we share the news. Yes, it was on purpose! Travis and I have always said we wanted our kids to be close together in age. There are many reasons for this. He grew up being only 15 months younger than his brother Alex. They were, and still are, the best of friends and I think he recognizes the special bond between siblings so close in age. Travis and I aren't old - but we aren't in our twenties anymore either. Considering we aren't sure how large of a family we want to have, we decided we wanted to go ahead and grow to a family of four and go from there! We were very blessed to find out on December 23rd that we were in fact expecting this New Baby!

We have been calling he/she just New Baby. Real creative, huh? We called Campbell "Baby J" until we met her. I kinda thought we'd call this baby the same thing, but it hasn't stuck! It's like Baby J was Campbell's name, so we needed a new nickname for this kiddo. New Baby is all that we came up with!

I am now 13 weeks along, happy to be finishing up the last week of my first trimester. I have been much sicker this go round, which is quite challenging when you are home with a 14 month old! Campbell has spent many mornings leaning over the toilet with me. It has also been very challenging NOT to blog about this! I am not the best secret keeper in the world. And this is BIG news! I have been sick and tired, literally, and wanted so badly to complain to all my blog readers. :) I also wanted to share when I went grocery shopping in a snowstorm and came home with $165 worth of groceries, consisting mostly of things like guacamole and Cocoa Pebbles.

Campbell and her new little brother or sister will be about 21 months apart. We will have 'two under two' for a short time. I am very excited to have a fall baby. The summer may be a bit miserable being so big when it's so hot outside. But it will be worth it to have a newborn in a mild season. It was no fun being trapped inside during the cold winter months when Campbell was itty bitty. Hoping that this fall, we'll be able to take walks or at least sit outside a little when New Baby joins us.

Last Monday was our first ultrasound and our first opportunity to hear the heartbeat. I was so nervous, going 12 weeks without any confirmation that my belly was in fact growing because of a baby, and not just because of the guacamole and Cocoa Pebbles! Travis and Campbell came to the appointment and we were all thrilled and amazed to see a perfect, tiny baby moving around. There was a perfect heartbeat at 162 beats per minute. We were shocked at the 4d pictures of the baby - even at 12 weeks, the features were so clear and we could see our sweet baby.

Life is going to be wild and crazy and wonderful at our house and Travis and I could not be more excited to become parents of two. Thanks for sharing in our excitement!

I spent last week in Virginia with my family so there will be a big post to come with many pictures of my new nephew and our trip!

Freedom!

Last night, Travis and I did something we never do! We went out without Campbell! The night was made possible by Travis' parents. We took Campbell to Marion to spend the night with her Gangy, PawPaw Butch and Nanny for the first time. Then we headed uptown for a night out with friends to celebrate Holly's 30th birthday! Campbell did amazingly well. She didn't even cry when we left - just a little whimper as we waved goodbye and that was it. They said she never fussed, didn't get into anything, and just played sweetly all evening. She went to bed right at her bedtime without a struggle, and they had to WAKE her up a little after 7. WHAT? Lately, we've been doing everything in our power to get her to stay in her bed past 6. I guess grandparents have the magic touch! We had a great time getting out, having a nice grown up dinner in a restaurant that likely doesn't even have high chairs. We left our table without a collage of green beans, bread and cheerios strewn about the floor below us. It was really, really nice. Then we stuck around for a while and hung out, but by 11:30 we were feeling our age and decided to call it a night. Coming home to a house without a baby was weird! Without the monitors on, our bedroom was completely silent. There was no need to go check on her in the night, and we woke up from the sunlight in our room, not her little cries! I must admit that I was awake at 6, laying in bed counting the minutes until we could go get her. I tried my best to take advantage of our ONE morning to sleep in, but I didn't do a very good job. I missed my little alarm clock! There's just something about waking up to that little voice saying "mama" that makes me not care that it's so early. Our reunion with her today was super sweet and she went nuts for Travis. I barely got any attention for the first five minutes because she had her face buried on his shoulder in a huge hug. I waited my turn and got plenty of snuggling in shortly thereafter. We took Nanny out to lunch for her birthday, and then headed home to enjoy a long walk outside on the first warm and sunny day we've had in ages! It was a great weekend, and a nice treat for all of us to switch it up and have a little freedom.

We weren't the only ones to experience freedom this weekend. This afternoon, I let Harley out of the garage for about a half hour and let her explore the backyard! She's been living in the garage for about a month now since we were having so many issues with her inside. She has seemed complete content out there which has definitely made it easier on me and my conscience. After she got used to living out there, I wanted to introduce her to the outdoors. She just turned 9 years old in January, and I adopted Harley when she was only 5 weeks old. She has lived strictly indoors that entire time, only setting foot outside the one or two times she escaped onto the back porch. She was definitely hesitant at first, not so sure about the grass. But she eventually got up the courage to walk the perimeter of our fence and check it all out. The fence runs along the ground and is six feet high, so it should, in theory, keep her in the backyard. After about 30 minutes, she was hanging out on the back porch by the back door which made me sad. So we took her back to the garage and fed her which always improves her mood. Eventually we hope to be able to open the window in the garage, and let that serve as her kitty door so she can come and go as she pleases. Also, she could escape to the garage when we let Lexi out back, and obviously Lexi can't jump in the window. I hope that Harley learns to like it outside, enjoys time to explore nature, and will enjoy some spring days with the sun beating on her back. I want the best for her. I know we made the right decision moving her to the garage because she was destroying our things and making it unsafe and unclean in our house. But that doesn't mean I don't love her and want to find a way for us all to live in harmony! I hope we are on the way to that solution.

The plan for tomorrow is for Campbell and I to head to Roanoke for a night before making the trek up to Northern Virginia to meet Baby Leif and spend some time with his family!! The only problem is Campbell doesn't seem to be 100% well. She's acting just fine, but has had some tummy issues for a few days now, flushed cheeks that won't go away, and now a bit of a runny nose. I'm going to take her to the pediatrician tomorrow and hope for a clean bill of health so we can go to Virginia as planned! I really don't want to postpone going to see my family any more, so let's hope all these little symptoms are nothing and the doc says she's free to go meet her new cousin!!! If so, we'll be up there all week and I'll try to capture a lot of our time on film so I can share it here when we return. Wish me luck in the car alone with Campbell for all those roadtrips!!

Campell is fourteen months old!! She has been since Friday, but Mommy is a little behind on this post. I always start these updates about Campbell with then intention of being brief, and then by the time I've written out all her new tricks, I am halfway through writing my first novel! I'll attempt once more to be brief, but you know me well enough by now to know that won't happen...

Chatty Chatterson...that's Campbell! She is talking up a storm. I wonder where she gets it from?? :) Only Travis and I really speak her language. She has words that she definitely uses in the right context and says them the same everytime. But it will take a while for the general public to understand these words. The current list includes Mama, Daddy (those two are spot on, said perfectly every time!), Baby, snack, turkey, chicken, cracker, juice, toast, bye bye, paci, moo, Nanny, Lexi, kit kat (for Harley), Elmo (pronounced Elbow), belly button, all done. She understands so much more than she says! I can tell her to go upstairs, and she runs to the foot of the stairs and waits at the gate. I can tell her to go look out the window and she runs to the front hall and pulls back the blinds to look for Daddy. She definitely knows what a diaper change is because now she runs like the wind in the opposite direction! In addition to speaking, she signs 'more' and 'please' like it's her job. The please one is new, and so adorable. You're supposed to rub your palm on your chest in a circle. Half the time, Campbell's 'please' is a very frantic belly rub. She is so polite, signing please ALL the time. Not quite sure she totally gets the concept, but she is catching on that in order to get us to do something for her, she needs to sign it first. Sometimes she uses more and please interchangeably, but I guess they are sort of similar concepts, one is just more demanding than the other.

Notice I just said she runs. Yes, she runs. Her fast walk has become a nicely paced jog. It still often ends in a crash and maybe a new bruise, but nothing slows her down! In the mornings, Campbell is stuck to her Daddy like white on rice. While he's getting ready for work, she won't leave his side. He is usually juggling Campbell while he tries to shave, brush his teeth, put on his tie. She knows that he's leaving I guess, and she won't even come to me. I have to pry her out of his arms so he can leave for work and she sadly waves to him as he goes down the sidewalk each morning. It is pretty cute, though.

Campbell is still a dancing fool, starting to bounce everytime she hears some music. Her favorite toys this month are probably her Baby and her ball. She carries her baby doll all over the place, puts her in the stroller, puts her in the chair and sits on top of her, and asks us to 'please' put her hat on Baby quite often. The ball is new and she LOVES playing ball with Daddy. Books are still of course a favorite and she's becoming a little more interested in slightly longer stories. We're still not ready for paragraphs yet, but she can sit still through a sentence or two per page and is completely engrossed in the story. Her other favorite pastime is playing with Lexi's dog bowls which I'm not a fan of. Luckily Lexi eats all her food at one sitting, so there is only some occasional water to splash in. We weren't so fortunate at a playgroup one Friday when we caught Campbell and her friend at the dog's bowls, with handfuls and cheekfuls of dog food. HAHAHA Oops. Bad Mommy. In addition to dog food...Campbell enjoys singing songs and playing games like pattycake and other little rhymes. This is starting to sound like a singles ad...long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, I should move on.

This month Campbell has been super busy with playgroups, storytimes, going to church on Thursdays and Sundays, and spending a LOT of rainy and snowy days trapped inside with me. Cabin fever has been in full effect around here for both of us! We did get to go to a nature museum with our playgroup, something I thought would be totally over her head. Not at all! Don't get me wrong, she wasn't studying the exhibits or anything, but had an absolute blast running around. The nature museum was totally geared towards little ones and she had tons of things to touch, water to splash in (the biggest hit of all), and things to climb on. Travis and I took her to the community arts center before Valentine's Day to make Valentines for the family. She was most interested in the water bucket used for clean up, but we managed to get some handprints made and glued them on hearts to send out.

And last but far from least, she got a new baby cousin this month who she'll get to meet next week when she and I go to Virginia to meet Baby Leif! It's been a fun, full month and she is still growing up at the speed of light.

Below are some favorites of the past couple of weeks, showing Campbell and all her favorite things. Somehow I caught her in a few posed pictures, a rarity these days! These first two are of her playing with her Valentine's card from her grandparents that makes jungle noises. She thought it was hysterical!!

Look how TALL she is!!

Giving Baby a "kiss." This picture won't rotate for some reason, but I still had to share the kiss.

Happy Valentine's Day 2010!!!

Baby Leif

On Friday, February 5, 2010 at 2:09pm, my nephew Leif Egon Hansen III made his grand entrance into this world! My sister and brother-in law, Leif, have been through so much over the years when it comes to having babies. Now they are the proud parents of not one, but two, perfect little sweeties. Baby Leif, as we've been calling him, weighed a hefty 8 lbs 4 oz and was 21. 25 inches long. I think he knew he'd have to be big and tough to be able to keep up with his big sister, Taylor! My sister was a trooper throughout the whole process. She didn't have the easiest of pregnancies, not to mention all the drama associated with getting pregnant in the first place! Then when the time finally came for him to arrive, her first epidural didn't work. WHAT? Didn't work??? Are you kidding me??? That just seems so cruel! So poor thing had to have a second epidural!!! Luckily it worked and helped her out a little in the process. He was born during the biggest snowstorm in the history of Northern Virginia. They got about 33 inches of snow over the weekend! Their kind neighbors shoveled the driveway so they could bring him home Sunday night. There's nothing in the world like good neighbors, is there? He was greeted by my mom and his proud big sister who continues to proclaim just how happy she is. Adorable!! They are settling in and attempting to teach the little guy the difference between day and night. I think he's got a lot to learn still in that department, but he'll get there. They are still trying to decide if they will call him Leif (for those of you that don't know my family, that is pronounced like the word "life" - it's Danish) or some other nickname. The other one on the table right now is LT, short for Leif the Third. Call him whatever you want, I call him adorable, sweet, precious, perfect...and my nephew. And I love him! Counting the days until I get to go meet him in a couple of weeks. Welcome to the family, Baby Leif!!!!!!!!!

K-tastrophe

First, let me say that I hope you truly appreciate all the k's in this post. Why, you ask? I'm not sure who is responsible this time, Lexi or Campbell. But someone has taken the k off of my keyboard. It is currently resting on the spot where the k belongs, and if I very deliberately push on it, I can get it to work. Campbell has previously picked off the F8 and one of the shift keys. I don't even know what F8 does, so I haven't missed it. The shift is kinda like the k key at this point - it works if you really push it. I left my computer on the couch, I think out of Campbell's reach. I was dumb enough to leave it right where Lexi launches off when she's making a mad dash for the front of the house to scare off a UPS truck or school bus. I found j and k laying on the couch. J was an easy fix, k continues to be a work in process. So far it's working, I just hope you appreciate all the time and effort that has gone into each k in this paragraph!! As I typed this, Campbell approached and popped the b off with little effort. I think we have identified our culprit...

On to more exciting things. You may have noticed the decline in pictures recently. No, they didn't rip the lens off the camera (not yet at least). The issue is me! I used to hear parents say that it was hard to take pictures of a toddler because they were too fast. I thought that was an excuse lazy picture takers used. Nope, it's legit. Either my camera got slower, or Campbell got faster. I think it's the latter. I keep capturing the back of her head, or that moment right after she was doing something cute! I'm telling you, it was a LOT easier to stage photo shoots with a baby who wasn't mobile! I know, we need a new computer and a new camera, but neither is happening anytime soon. I did get a few pictures of some funny stuff over the past couple of weeks which I'll post below.

I also want to share another little milestone. Campbell is now signing 'more'!!!! We have been signing 'all done' and 'more' since she was about six months old. For about a month or two, Campbell has been signing her version of all done, and has now progressed to saying it. She only says it when prompted, like if we ask her is she's all done. Believe you me, she'll let you know if she's not! But last week, we were floored when Travis gave her a bite of his banana, and completely umprompted by us, she looked up at him and signed more. We both had the same reaction - oh my gosh, get the child a banana quick! We need to reward her for asking for it! After a few days, she's gotten a little confused and now signs more quite often. I think for Campbell, it means "give me some food." We've noticed she does it when she's hungry or frustrated. So cool to watch her try to communicate with us! She definitely uses it appropriately as well, and will ask for more when she's in her high chair and runs out of food. The people keeping the nursery at church got a laugh out of her frantically signing more when her Cheerios were all gone. That's my girl!! I'm trying to use 'more' when we're singing a song or playing a little game that she likes. Like, do you want to sing some more? I think she's catching on that you can have 'more' of things other than just food!

Enjoy the pictures below that I've been able to catch in the last few weeks. I'll keep trying, but get used to seeing the back of her head until she is old enough to learn how to pose!!

She's learning to follow simple directions like, put your blocks in the box! She LOVES to drop them in and make a loud sound.

Campbell LOVES to wear Daddy's hats.

There's something about my little girl in her Daddy's hat that melts me everytime!

Background for this next pic: Lexi was in a "time out" on her doggie bed for following Campbell around and stealing her snack. So what does Campbell do? Plop right down on the doggie bed with Lexi to have her snack. Lexi was upset about being sent to her bed, so she didn't even try to eat a Cheerio from this point forward. Campbell was happy as could be sitting with her pal Lexi for snacktime.

Keep in mind, this is the child who is supposedly very allergic to dogs. Riiiiiiight...

Crazy Baby before bedtime!

Red 80, Red 80!

This post is dedicated to Travis. In fact, he begged me to write about this. So here's the story. Last Sunday, he was upstairs putting Campbell to bed and I was watching the ProBowl. I know that makes me sound like quite a cool chick. Truth is, it was 15 minutes before the Grammy's started and so I was just killing time. Anyway, I am watching this play when the AFC team is on offense. The AFC team is in red. Their quarterback, Matt Schaub, gets down and yells "Red 80, Red 80!" just before the ball is hiked. Then he drops back (did I say that right?) and throws a beautiful pass to the guy wearing #80 (in red of course) and they score! I'm like...you've got to be kidding me. He called out the number of the guy he was going to throw it to? Shoot, I'd like to play defense against Matt Schaub. He went to UVA, my school's rival, so I figured he just wasn't that bright. ;)

Travis comes downstairs and I tell him what happened. I'm thinking, maybe because it's a ProBowl, they haven't really practiced much with their teammates or maybe they don't have a lot of fancy plays. But man, that seems pretty dumb to yell out the play for all to hear! Travis died - I mean he died. He thought that was the cutest statement I'd ever made. Can someone please back me up here?? I mean, he said Red 80!! And he threw it to Red 80! Was my observation really that airheaded? Apparently he yells Red 80 before every play, which I saw in the next series (just before I switched it over to the Grammy's). I thought I was just making a good observation. Travis thought it was the biggest "girl" football comment ever. He said he couldn't wait to wake up and go to work on Monday morning so he could tell his coworkers all about it. Well there you go honey, here is your funny story, forever to be remembered now that it rests on our family blog. :)

Pause Button

Can someone please tell me where the pause button is? On our life right now. I just want to hit pause so I can really soak it in and make sure I enjoy every millisecond. I was just rocking Campbell in her chair for a few minutes before putting her to bed. Travis usually does this, but he had to work late tonight so we had a few quiet minutes to cuddle before bedtime. Lately she's so independent and such a "big girl" that it's quite nice when she's sleepy and wants to lay on me. I was just having a moment, thinking about this stage in her life, and in our lives.

What an amazing time for Campbell right now, and in turn for us. She is turning into a little person. Everyday I get a little more insight into her personality, who she is, what she likes, what makes her tick. It is truly fascinating to watch a person develop. She's learning so much, so fast. I feel like each day Travis comes home from work, I have an "oh yeah, you're never going to believe what she did today" story. And each day, he's so impressed because it's always something we had no idea she could do! These are just the little things I'm talking about. But my oh my, how sweet those little things are.

I have a collection of mental images in my head of the place where we are right now and of our little baby girl. I am trying to get those images burned in my head because they are so precious. Like when we strip her down for a bath, and send her down the hall in front of us to the bathtub. She is waddling down the hall with her bow-legged chubby little baby legs and a tiny baby hiney, just as happy as can be. And it never fails, she always pees on the bathroom floor when we start up the water. Ha! Or her new found love for dancing. She bounces when there is music on TV, when I sing, when we just tell her to dance. She's a dancing fool and takes so much delight in being able to move to the beat in her head (which is not always quite in synch with the beat of the music, but she's getting there!). Or how about how she moo's? All of a sudden I realized this noise she was making was her "moo." I'd been trying to teach her to moo like a cow. Everytime she sees a picture of a cow in a book or we say cow, she makes a noise much closer to that of an elephant. I love her moo, and I especially love how proud she is of herself when she sees a picture of a cow and makes the sound. The recognition in her eyes and the smile on her face is just plain adorable. And last, when we are coming home from being out and about, I'm holding Campbell while I unlock the front door. Every single time my key turns in the lock, she laughs like someone has just told her the funniest joke in the world. How great is it that coming home and the anticipation of opening our front door makes her so happy? I always end up laughing right along with her, it's contagious.

I guess my point is I want to pause and enjoy these tiny little parts of our big long lives so I don't ever forget them. I don't want to rewind, I don't want to fast forward, I just want to sit right where we are and enjoy the moment.

Cookie Monster

So you think Campbell's our Cookie Monster? Wrong. Campbell is our Cracker Monster.

THIS is our Cookie Monster.

Lexi. This past Wednesday, I was running around with a ton to do. Travis' Mom was coming Wednesday night to watch Campbell while we went to the Bobcats game. I had errands to run, cleaning to do, and still needed to grab a shower. Lexi polished off an entire package of Chips Ahoy cookies, as well as part of a package of uncooked rice and the dried flavor mix. You'd think I'd panic right? Nope! The weekend of my baby shower, Lexi ate an entire batch of chocolate chip cookies and an entire batch of brownies. Whoever said chocolate is really bad for dogs hasn't met Lexi. She never even got sick or had an upset stomach! And the rice...well that was old news too. A few weeks ago, we pulled up in front of the house from church and heard Lexi inside howling. We had no idea what was wrong with her. We ran inside to find her frantically pacing by the back door. The reason? She gotten into a rice mix - only this time she'd eaten the whole package...including the zesty spicy sauce mix. Ouch. She went out quite a bit that day, but was fine. We didn't think much of it.

But the other day when she ate the cookies and the rice, I called the vet. They kind of freaked out. Not about the cookies, but about the rice! Apparently their concern was that the uncooked rice would expand in her stomach and potentially explode. Yikes. So they insisted I bring her in to induce vomiting. Not exactly how I planned to spend my morning!!! Lexi is fine. We are trying to be much more vigilant now about keeping food off the counter since she can obviously reach it.

In other pet news, we are sad to report that we've been having some major issues with Harley. We have been treating her for some urinary tract problems for well over a year. The medical issues will seem to be fixed, but yet she continues to pee outside her litter box. The vet says that now it's not even clear whether the problem is medical, behavioral, or a combination of the two. The problem is getting out of hand, and it's really affecting our quality of life. The "cat pee hit the fan" a couple of weeks ago when Harley peed on some of Campbell's things. It's not safe and it's not acceptable and we have been talking to our vet about what to do. Yesterday, we moved Harley outside to her new retirement condo - our garage. Our garage is detached and we weren't currently parking in it because we'd been working out in there. So we decided as a temporary solution, we'd see how she did outside. We have a nice radiator-style heater that has a thermostat, so we turned on the heat, put a radio out there for her, and took all her cushy beds, blankets and towels out to the garage. She did really well yesterday, and even stayed in the garage overnight. The vet suggested she may even like it out there better. She was obviously miserable in here and acting out, so maybe a change of scenery will be appreciated. We had planned to do the move gradually, but decided it might be even more traumatic for her to go back and forth. Eventually, if this garage thing seems to work, we plan to let her start exploring the backyard since it has a six foot high fence. We are at the end of our rope and just looking for ways to let Harles stay a part of our family without ruining our house and all our things! It was a sad day for me and I'm still not too happy about kicking her out. But I know it has to be done and I am looking forward to having a cleaner house and less worries. Wish us luck during Harley's transition time!!!!!

Tragedies and Miracles

I didn't fall off the face of the Earth. I know it's been a week, which is a little unusual for me. I didn't really have any details to bore anyone with. And then there's that old saying, if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all! The weekend was kind of a bummer with bad news. First, there was a terrible tragedy at my parents' church. A wonderful family that I grew up with lost their 25 year old son. He was actually killed, and his roommate was charged with his death. To make matters even worse, both families are active members at the church. I know their church was totally rocked by this horrific event. The day I heard about it, I tossed and turned all night dreaming about it, and I'm pretty far removed. I can't imagine the impact this tragedy will have on those families and all those close to them.

Then we had a death in the family. My aunt's father passed away this weekend. This is my mom's brother's wife's dad - if you can follow that. I was also very sad for them and their loss.

And then to top all that off, the news is a collection of devastating pictures and stories of all the devastation in Haiti. All these terrible things happened in the world, and here I sat in my happy little home with my sweet, safe and healthy family. So...I just didn't have much to say! I guess instead of being silent, maybe I should vocalize my concern and prayers for all those people more directly affected by those events. I have been making a very conscious effort to lift them up in prayer and hope that someone, somewhere, felt it!

On an extremely happy note, yesterday brought good news to a close friend's family. My friend's sister became a mom yesterday! A long journey finally had a happy ending when her adopted son was born healthy. Wow! Talk about good news. I know the sister too - she did some sewing for us for Campbell's nursery, and I could not be happier for her and her family. Boy, did we ever need that good news!!

Don't get me wrong, we didn't just sit around the house and sulk all week. Campbell and I have been enjoying getting outside on the playground now that the weather has turned nice. We have been to storytime, playgroup, and my Thursday morning Oasis started back up again. So I guess we've actually been kind of busy! We're off to storytime again this morning because Campbell had so much fun last week. I mean, how could she not, they ended with bubble blowing - her favorite!!

Counting my own blessings and trying to remember everyone in need right now!

Thirteen Months Old!!

OK, I know I say this all the time. But I really mean it this time. I think Campbell has grown and changed more in this past month than she has during any other month of her lifetime! Sure, in other months she had huge milestones like rolling over, crawling, eating table food, walking, etc. There is no huge thing that Campbell mastered this month. There is just a laundry list of little things that have totally amazed us this month!

First - her babbling is becoming more like talking everyday. Cracker is still her best word. She knows how to ask for one, she knows what the different cracker boxes look like, she knows when I'm eating one and not sharing...this girl knows her crackers!! She has the m, d, b, g, n and k sounds down pat. She can now imitate a sound that we make and usually gets it right. She calls her Elmo doll "el-bo" and can accurately refer to us as ma-ma or da-da. She doesn't call out for us yet, but definitely identifies Travis as da-da and me as ma-ma. Ah, how sweet it is to hear her say our names!

Even more impressive than her ability to talk has been her ability to understand this month. We had no idea she was capable of listening and following a command. Yep, she is! It all started when I told her to go into her playroom and get her purse. She got up, walked in there, and returned with her purse. I thought maybe it was a coincidence, but she quickly proved it was not! She got a baby doll for Christmas and she calls her Baby. You can tell her to go get Baby, to hug Baby, to put Baby in her stroller...and she does it all! I think the most clever stunt she pulled relates to Travis' iPhone. He often calls his Nanny on that phone, puts it on speaker phone, and we try (sometimes successfully) to get Campbell to say 'na-na' to her Nanny on the phone. We realized the other night that she was trying to get his iPhone by asking for na-na! She took it into her playroom and left it there. A few minutes later we said, Campbell, go get Nanny! Sure enough, she went directly to the playroom and emerged proudly holding out the phone to show us! So cute...we were stunned. She says bye-bye in the appropriate context and can wave simultaneously. We're working on only having a paci in bed, so she now drops the paci into her crib, waves at it, and says bye-bye!

In addition to being cute and sweet and bright...this month she introduced us to her evil twin. :) She taught us what it's like to have a very clingy, cranky, sick, teething, mommy-crazy child. I took this picture today looking down. I saw a LOT of this in the last month, but thankfully, she's returning to normal and this was just taken when she was sleepy today. (If you look close, you'll see those molars that were part of the problem!!) She still has her mommy moments, but we've had several occasions lately where she was with Travis and wouldn't come to me. Daddy's little girl is on her way back we hope!

Campbell's walk is often a jog/shuffle. Not to say that she still doesn't crash a lot, but she is becoming much steadier on her feet and gets around extremely well...and fast! She is able to crawl up the stairs on her own, with one of us of course right behind her to catch the inevitable stumble. Bathtime has gotten a little challenging as she decided out of the blue that she hates having the shampoo rinsed out of her hair. She stands up in protest and demands that bathtime end immediately. We are still working on this one. To my dismay, one of her favorite pastimes is playing in Lexi's water bowl. She likes to splash in it, and then she likes to put things in it...like her sippy cup. Nice. I'm sure there's no bacteria in there, right?? She is drinking straight soymilk now - no more formula! She has FINALLY figured out how to tip up the sippy cup to drink out of it, and we are using bottles less and less. Over the next month or two, we hope to say bye-bye to the bottles for good!!

We are adjusting well to the news of her food allergies. It doesn't seem like a big deal to always pack her a meal when we're on the go. We've never known any differently, so it really hasn't been a huge change. I get a little bummed when I think about all of the things she can't taste and enjoy, but I hope that she'll outgrow the allergies and someday know the joy of a Reese's peanut butter cup!

I won't be doing the posed pictures in the chair anymore. I'm kind of sad that era is over, but she's one year old now and we fulfilled the first year photo tradition. I've got a few pictures below from the past week or so of Campbell playing and just being herself! Love you, you adorable little thirteen month old cracker-aholic!

Campbell has been working hard on using a spoon. Sometimes, she is successful!

Other times...she just doesn't have time to bother with a spoon.

Still a bookworm! This month she has started "reading" a lot more on her own. Instead of insisting we read them to her, she spends a lot of time flipping through them by herself, staring intently at the pages. Or just chewing on the cover. ;)

The Hair. Aaaah. Sometimes it's wilder than others. Today she just had messy waves in the back. But right after a bath, she often has complete curls all over the back! She sports everything from a feathered look, to a Carol Brady-style flip out, to a wavy mullet, and occasionally the Mad Scientist. But regardless, we LOVE those wild, red locks!