Charlie's a Big Girl!

This little girl potty trained herself. I'm totally serious. She really did.

Charlie after bath. With her undies. With hand-me-down jammies from Lily that have a huge hole in the trim. But, they're princess jammies. Lily and Charlie would both throw a fit if I trashed them.

I'm probably the world's worst potty trainer. I have no potty training patience. Why? Well...because when you're potty training...you're really training yourself to ask your child literally every five minutes if they have to go to the bathroom. Literally. And, when they say no - you take them to the potty anyway, strip them down, put them on the potty, and wait. Wait. Wait. Talk about pottying. Sing a potty song. Then either clap and scream with excitement or tell them it's okay, they can try again later. Then, put all their clothes back on, wash and dry hands, and leave the bathroom. And, in 5 minutes...do the whole thing over. Oh, and of course there is always the accident...just when you put the clothes back on. :)

Brady was about 2.5 when he was potty trained. Lily...well, Lily finally trained herself (yep, she did it on her own, too) just before she turned 3. She was stubborn. She could do it. But, I swear...she just wouldn't do it because she knew I wanted her to. And, she wanted to be potty trained on her own terms. Not kidding.

Well, with Charlie...it was like she literally woke up one morning and said to herself, I'm going to be potty trained today. And, then she brought me her potty and went. Now, she's gone on the potty before, so I just thought it was a one time thing. I mean she had just turned two. But, then she told us a little while later that she had to go. And she did. And then again, and again, and again. And all of a sudden...she was potty trained.

Yahoo!!!!

Don't let me fool anyone, though. Sometimes being potty trained is more work than diapers. At first, you are literally going to a restroom with them at least every 30 minutes. And stripping your child down (shoes and all) in a public restroom is very time consuming. But, it's worth it. And good gracious - I've never seen Charlie look any more proud of herself. And, Lily and Brady are so proud of her, too. We're like a big potty-singing, clapping, happy-screaming family!

One last thing. At Charlie's 2 year well check, the nurse practitioner called it. We were told that the third child always potty trains themselves. Well, she was totally right!!

Happy Anniversary - 36 years!!

It is 9/11.

In 1976, my young parents were married.

It is now 36 years later. Holy cow!

My parents have been married for 36 years. Wow. They are two of the most unselfish people I know. 9/11 has taken on a new meaning for so many people (and rightly so) but, today I'd like to recognize my parents for their 36 years. 

Happy Anniversary!

We love you guys!!

p.s. Yes, welcome back to me. To the land of blogging. It has been far, far too long. 

Our Little Ricky Vaughn

Today was an exciting day in the Campbell house. Brady has been waiting the entire last week for some new.......

GLASSES!!!


He's been telling us for awhile that he had trouble seeing the board clearly. So - we took him in and low and behold, he needed glasses. We're not entirely sure he really needs them...I mean he definitely could have faked his eye test. He wouldn't be the first one in our family to do that (cough, cough...Ashley) But, I guess it's better to be safe than sorry. He only needs them for the classroom, not for reading - so we won't really get to see him too much with the glasses on. 


And, he looks so stinking adorable. 


He picked out the glasses all by himself. It was a chore. So many to choose from. He did not like the glasses with the little nose pad things, so we were pretty limited to the ones without. 


What a cutie. 

Counting Charlie

This video is a bit old...but, OMG Charlie is the cutest thing ever. She might not be able to say her alphabet...but, she loves, loves, loves counting to 10. Holy cow I love her. So dang cute!

Happy Easter 2012

A few weeks back we took part in the Marriott Photography Spring for Charity event. The kids got all dressed up and went to a 15 minute-ish photo shoot. A portion of the proceeds went to Phoenix Children's Hospital. There were my favorites and we turned them into Easter cards.

Hoppy Easter!

Team Mom...Again

So, since I have nothing else to do (um...kidding) - I've taken on the job of Team Mom again for Brady's little league team. 


Ugh. 


Worst.Job.Ever.


I had full intention of NOT being team mom again. I did it last year and I thought I had put in my time for at least the next...well, really forever. But, then Brady's coach sent email after email about how he needed a  team mom. I tried and tried to ignore them. And, finally - when I felt like he was basically yelling straight at me that I needed to volunteer (which he SOOO was not, it's just me taking general emails as if they are written straight to me vs. to the whole group) I stepped up and said I'd do it.


Ugh.


Oh well, the tough part is almost over. I've gone to the league meeting (3 hours seriously), sent out the loads of emails (ugh - it's like a parent sales job), recruited parents to volunteer for opening day festivities, printed and copied the Hit-A-Thon fundraiser sheets, collected money for the silent auction and embroidered hats, dropped off and picked up the hats, picked up and passed out uniforms, sent reminders about the President's award essay, put together a snack schedule, field prep schedule, and scorekeeping schedule, sent reminders about Dbacks night, provided Dick's coupons to the team for equipment....and, missed out picture day entirely. To be fair it's not totally my fault. I received an email about the picture day just one day before - but, unfortunately didn't even see the email until after our scheduled time. I mean who sends an email to tell a team of their scheduled time for pictures just one day before with the expectation that they could 1) actually open the email ahead of time and 2) coordinate 12 boys and their families for a 3:30pm, Saturday picture day!!?? Ugh!! 


So - I guess as team mom...I fail. 


WWTM! Yes, add World's Worst Team Mom to the list of WW things I am :)


But, here's our silent auction basket. And, by golly - I think it looks awesome! At least I excel at putting together baskets. 

Brady's First Baseball Essay

Brady's little league team gives away awards to kids in each division for writing a 100 word essay about what they want to get out of little league. They can win bats and jerseys and even their registration fee. This is what Brady wrote. It had to be handwritten. Yes - we helped him with spelling here and there...but, this is what he wrote. How cute is he!!

Major Update

Okay. I know other than a couple of birthday posts (and belated at that) I've been MIA. So...what have we been up to? Let's see...


1. Rylee's cheer performance. Yes, this was a really long time ago. But - it was so adorable, I wanted to mention it. I took the kids to north Phoenix for the performance. It was sooooo darn cute. There were kids from schools all over the valley and everyone had a few minutes to do their performance. One super cute thing was that all the girls from all schools had the same uniforms and to dress it up and make their team stand out, they all had different bows or socks or shoes or even gloves and tutus over their cheer skirts. The girls were so darling. Imagine hundreds (literally) of 4-8 year olds in little cheer outfits yelling cheers and dancing. Of course, I was in heaven. The cheerleader in me just couldn't contain myself. There were older girls there, too - but, Rylee's division was for the younger girls. And - everyone got a medal, so everyone "won." Love that!

2. Babcock Family pictures - Okay...I put these on my other blog, but goodness gracious. Are these not the most perfect family photos ever!!?? I mean, I'm not even a professional - and I think these pictures look pretty darn good. It just might be that they're the cutest family ever. 

3. Brady's School Musical - Yankee Doodle Dandy. OMG - best. school performance. EVER. We'd been hearing snip-its of the songs for weeks leading up to the musical - but, holy cow...Brady was SOOOOO into this musical. He was singing and dancing like he was the only one out there. I swear he should be an entertainer...but, he wants to be a baseball player :)

4. Recipe Book Photo Shoot. For Christmas I gave out these recipe books. I compiled about 90 of our favorite recipes into a folder. I had family recipes, recipes from friends, Pinterest recipes, recipes I found online, and even ones that I had and adjusted to fit our family's tastes. The recipes are literally our favorites. I had to stop because I ran out of time - but, there are so many more I could have added. For the cover of the recipe book - I decided to put a picture of the Cuties "cooking." So - I got out a ton of cooking tools and the big mixer. I put the Cuties each up on a bar stool with an apron tied on each. I poured flour all over the island and even dusted their faces and aprons with some flour. This was probably the best day of the entire 2011 for the Cuties. They thought making this huge mess in flour and getting to play with kitchen tools was THE BEST thing ever!! Who would have thought. You should have seen their faces as I was setting everything up for the photo. They thought I'd gone crazy. I mean...I'm not the messiest of people and me purposely throwing flour all over the place and even rubbing it on their cheeks...they were laughing hysterically. 

5. Majercin pictures. In January, we had a Majercin Family photo shoot for my Grandmother's 80th birthday. We met up at the Scottsdale Civic Center and one of my cousin's oldest and dearest friends snapped some photos for us. We haven't had a family picture taken since...well, I had braces. So, it has definitely been a long time. And...our family has grown sooo much. It was pretty tough to fit us all in. We presented the photo to my Grandmother at her 80th party (more about that later). What a treat!


6. Flag Football. Brady is just finishing up on his first flag football season. I will say - I. LOVE. FOOTBALL. The games were very fun for the players and the parents. They are short (which I love) and Brady absolutely had a blast. He pretty much played QB and I will say...he's got a pretty good arm. And, I'm pretty sure I'm not just being a proud mom. He really is good. Not only that - but, throwing that football really seemed to help with his baseball throwing skills, too. Brady will definitely be playing flag football again. The videos below are Brady as QB and Brady as receiver. I sure do love watching football. 

7. Family Pictures. Here's the only family Christmas picture that we had from this year. Ehh...it's okay. Nothing fancy. Taken pretty spur of the moment by Kristen at our Majercin Family Xmas. It's all we got - but, it will do.

8. Cori's Pictures. I snapped a few pictures of Cori and Aidyn after our HUUUUUGE Majercin family photo. Don't they seriously look soooo beautiful!!?? They couldn't have come out better. I only wish I took more to have more options for her.

9. Beautiful sunset. Okay - this is nothing fun...but, the other day there was literally the most beautiful sunset ever. This picture doesn't even do it justice. So...I ran outside and snapped a few photos. This is just right outside our house in Gilbert. Everyone always says that AZ has some pretty nice sunsets - and holy cow, you can't disagree with this one. Even Lily noticed it and said how pretty the sky looked. 

10. Birthdays (3 already) and cupcakes. So...it's like 7 weeks into the year and 3 of the 5 of us have already had our birthdays. Lily - had her Girly Girlz party. Brady didn't have a party this year, but - he did get to take 3 of his cousins (Jake, James, and Baley), Uncle Brett, and Bryan to the Monster Jam at Chase Field. He and Bryan have gone the last couple years and they loved it - so this year...all the boys went for the fun. Bryan took everyone to dinner at Red Robin and then off they went to Chase Field. The boys loved it. Once it was over, everyone came back to our house for a sleepover. What fun! Brady loved his birthday...even without a "party." Last...I had a GREAT birthday. We went to Grimaldi's for pizza (yum!!) and then Bryan surprised me with my very own beach cruiser!! Yahoo!! What a great surprise. The kids made me go outside and ride it immediately and you should have seen the looks on their faces when they realized that I actually know how to ride a bike. They were completely shocked :)


11. Charlie getting to hold her baby. Charlie CANNOT get enough of Carsyn. She calls her "my baby" and absolutely L-O-V-E-S, LOOOOOOVES her. I mean - look at her holding Carsyn the other day. I can't wait for Carsyn to get a little bigger to play with Charlie. They will be sooooo cute!

12. Girls night while the boys are at Monster Jam. (Carsyn in stroller). So, during Brady's birthday Monster Jam - Ashley and the kids came over. And...well, we put Carsyn in the American Girl Stroller. Seriously - look at that cutie pants. She looks GINORMOUS in the doll stroller. She's growing so fast!

13. Monster Jam For Brady's birthday, Bryan took Brett and 3 cousins to the Monster Jam. Boy did they have fun. I wish we still had the cute video of Brady and James dancing to all the loud music. It was awesome. But...we lost it. Oops! 




14. Valentines - Fishies and Heartbreakers. I'm such a procrastinator. Bryan and I were up until like 1am making valentines for the kids to take to school. This is what we made for this year. Thank you Pinterest for the ideas!!! Brady and Lily each took the "Heartbreaker" valentines to school and the "Fishy" Valentines were for the sitter from Lily and Charlie. Too cute!! Bryan says Brady's last year valentines were the best...but, we wanted to change it up. 

15. Grandma's 80th Party. This deserves it's very own post - but, my goodness. 80. Surprise Party. Margaritas. Perfect. A full post to come later.


16. New bike. Did I mention I got a new bike? LOVE It!! :)


17. Michelle's Funeral. I posted about this before - but, I still cannot get believe that Michelle is no longer with us. Too young. I just do not understand why this happens. Cancer sucks. 


18. Working and working and working. I've been working a lot. I've been very busy. VERY busy. I've been working late at night when the kids go to bed. I seem to do my best work between 8:30pm and 12:00am. Probably like an entire day of work during that small amount of time. It's a good thing that I don't really like to get a lot of sleep. Because I'm not. Everyone at work is swamped. 


19. Bunco. A few months back, my cousin Robin invited me to a monthly Bunco night. It was a quiet start as we got to know each other...but, now it is our 5th month. This month we are foregoing Bunco and doing happy hour instead. I hope this will help us even get to know each other better!! Either way - it's a nice ladies night out. I do love me some Bunco. I actually love all games - I'm hugely competitive. 

Michelle Wilsey Berry

About six months after graduating from high school a few girlfriends and I decided to move into our own apartment. We needed co-signers (yep) but, we did it. 4 girls in one 2-bedroom apartment. We lived in the Quadrangles apartments on University - right next to ASU. Definite college living at it's...um, finest. If that's what you want to call it. 

The four of us girls - Me, Nancy, Gina, and Michelle - had a BLAST. We were pretty much dorky college students/workers. We were your typical 18-year old girls. We had lots and lots of laughs, stayed out late, worked, went to school, partied (a little), went to clubs (some of us), watched movies, stayed up really, really late talking and laughing. We had so much fun. I remember late-night trips to Fort McDowell. We couldn't believe we were old enough and had no curfew. We made big messes and struggled to clean them up. We pined after boys and even did a little bit of stalking. Lots of dinners at Red Robin. We just had fun. Pure, simple, no responsibilities fun. 

Good, good, GOOD times.

January 15, 2012 - Michelle lost her battle with cancer. She had been fighting this horrific disease for the last few years. She left behind a husband and three puppies that were literally her children. Over the years I kept up with Michelle periodically, but not as much as I should have. It's hard for me to not feel guilty that I did not see her as much as I would have liked. Of course Facebook was a helpful tool in staying in touch. The day before her passing I had the chance to go with the Nancy and Gina to say goodbye. The four of us once again in the same room. Michelle slept for our entire visit - but, we all sat with her and prayed for her peace. I will say that her husband, Jake, is the most amazing man. The way he sat with her, talked to her, and cared for her - that is something I will never forget. What a truly genuine and loving person. So fitting for Michelle. 

Please pray for Michelle, Jake, and both the Wilsey and the Berry families. Michelle comes from a family just like my own - three girls and one boy. Sadly, the Wilsey family lost Michelle's brother just last year. So much heartache in such a short time.

I love you, Michelle. You are so greatly missed. I will remember you as the most inspiring and fun person who never gave up the fight - even up until the end.  

Wow...We Have an 8 Year Old!!!

 Brady is 8.

Wow.

I know every year I write how I can remember the day he was born and I can't believe how very fast the last 8 years have gone. And...this year is absolutely NO different.

Brady was born on a Tuesday. I went into the hospital to be induced on Monday the 26th at 7pm. They were PACKED at the hospital. I was told to call Monday morning to see if they had room. They didn't. We were told to call back at 10am. Still no room. 12pm. Still no room. 5pm. We were told they would have room at 7pm and to come on down at that time. We went out to dinner. With our bags in our old green Nissan Xterra, we went to Applebees. OMG were we sooooo nervous and even more SOOO excited. We went straight to the hospital. At the hospital they were surprised to see us because they had left a message on our house phone saying they were packed and to call in the morning. We didn't get that message since we were at dinner. Thankfully, they let us stay. I was admitted and set up in room 3. By 9pm the pitocin was dripping away. I was a 4. Family and friends visited to wish us luck. My family packed into the room. By 2am I was given the epidural. A quiet night brought some good rest. My doctor came at 9am to break my water. I started pushing at 12pm. He was face up. This was NOT good and super duper painful. I was not prepared for that. After one hour of pushing they wanted to use a vacuum and called the doctor to come on down for that procedure. I freaked out and started pushing like a maniac. By the time the doctor arrived (with an intern) Brady was just about out. 1:36pm he arrived. Holy cow. I couldn't believe it. My blood pressure dropped. Thank goodness my mom was there to take care of me while Bryan took care of Brady.

I was a mom.

Wow. 8 years have literally flown by. 

Our only son. Our oldest. Boy oh boy - Brades....we love you!

8 things I LOOOOVE about Brady:

1. He hates, hates, hates to be in trouble. He is the kid that when he ONE time got a yellow ticket in his classroom (red=BAD, yellow=warned, green=GREAT day) he literally cried and was so visibly upset and saddened that the teacher called to warn me what to expect and check on him later. He is; however, 8 years old. He, of course, talks back at times. But...he listens. When we talk to him about his behavior - he understands. He apologizes. And when we are really upset, the disappointment in himself is almost too much for me to take. It reminds me of myself. Well...and since the Hottie literally NEVER did anything bad (not kidding) I'm guessing that is a definite trait of him, too.

2. He works hard at everything he does. He always gives it his all. With his schoolwork - he is not happy unless he gets a good grade. With baseball - he practices ALL.THE.TIME. Even with football - he listens to his coach and tries to follow EXACTLY what was said. I love it. He jumps into things feet first and gives 110%. 

3. He dances. I mean...he really dances. He LOVES to copy moves he sees on TV. And...the thing is, he's pretty good. I mean dorky good, but pretty good. We keep trying to talk him into taking dance class at Lily's studio, but...he keeps refusing. We told him he can do both dance and baseball...but, still a No. He saves his dancing for just us. Well, not really - he'll dance for anyone. He just doesn't want to do it in a formal dance class. The Boyz Crew (that's what they are called) at Lil's studio are so awesome. But...no, we can't get him to join.

4. He sings. Umm...not good - I mean he is my child :) But, that doesn't let it stop him. He TOTALLY will sing the entire lyrics to a song super loud. Even though they're only about half right - it is awesome. I'm Sexy and I Know It is pretty much his favorite song right now and good gracious...when that comes on - watch out. He will dance and sing. It is literally a hoot. We just look at each other and laugh. He will always sing it as loud as he can....kind of wanting us to know that he knows the words. What a dork - I love it!

5. He still gives me hugs and kisses everyday before school and every night before bed. He's not embarrassed yet in front of his friends. I'm dreading that day. And...EVERY.SINGLE.NIGHT he wants the hottie to tuck him in bed. I love listening to the boys have their 5 minutes together after putting up with us girls all day long.

6. He is still the kid that the teachers love. They count on him to help take the sick kids to the nurse. Or show the new kids around. Or help the teacher when he needs help. It makes me smile every time a report card comes home or the teacher sends a note, or during parent conferences when the teachers tell us what a pleasure he is to have in class and how he always listens and how he is so polite. Yes, we know he is a good kid. It just makes me feel good to hear it from other people.

8. Call me biased but I think he just might be the cutest 8 year old boy around. He's got this crooked "jack o' lantern" smile from all of his permanent teeth - and I couldn't love it any more than I do. He smiles so big and laughs so hard. He is just so stinkin' adorable - I can't handle it. I love that kid.

8 years old. Happy (belated) birthday Brady. 

I love you tons!

Lily's Girly Girlz Party

***Warning - a gazillion photos follow this post! :)


For Lily's birthday this year - she got to have a super princessy, Girly Girlz party for her cousins and friends around her age.


OMG! Was she is super duper heaven.


It was a party fit for a princess...and we all know Queen B has no problem being a diva princess. All the girls were dressed in their princess finest. The events of the party included...

• A glittery princess up-do
• Sparkly makeup
• Manicure
• A craft of making a foam tiara
• Dance and dance and more dance to Princess songs
• Playing a game of freeze dance
• A cute "charades" type game involving Princess movies
• Pizza, chips, pretzels, and pink "tea"
• Pink cupcakes
• A princess walk to show off their new look

The girls were all so adorable and certainly had fun. Lily got to have Aidyn, Rylee, and Kate come over for a sleepover immediately following the party. The girls (hyped up on sugar) ran around giggling and screaming until I was able to persuade them with popcorn to lay down and watch a movie. Lily picked her new favorite $5 Santa stocking movie Barbie Charm School Princess. Then we (yes, I played) Pretty, Pretty Princess after Lily had zonked out during the movie. Rylee was the night owl staying up until 1am! I finally turned off the TV and she fell right to sleep. I guess not all kids (oops!) fall asleep to the TV like my kids...and me!


What a party. Definitely her favorite one yet! Thank you to all the girls for helping to make Lil's GOLDEN birthday super special!