Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Weekend in Review

This was a busy weekend.
First off...we finished celebrating Brady's big 6th birthday.
On his actual birthday, we celebrated with his favorite home cooked meal and this:


(the hottie reminds me of brett...he's always "stealing" the picture!)

On Saturday - we celebrated with his class and a few cousins at Bounce Jungle. Oh boy - did they all have fun. 1 hour of bouncing, followed by pizza and cake...and of course lots of presents. It's a good thing we really didn't get him anything - because he got waaaaaaay too much!


Luckily, Bryan's boss at the Diamondbacks came through and got 2 tickets to the Monster Truck Show. Seriously, they said the seats were awesome. We are SOOOOO thankful that Josh was able to help us out!! We surprised Brady Saturday night and Bryan took him for a boys night out at the show. He was completely surprised and L-O-V-E-D, loved it!! He kept telling us thank you and how awesome it was. What a cutie. Sometimes...he is just the sweetest....


Saturday night, Lil and I had girls night...and we really did nothing special. But...we did find a couple new little things for Baby Girl Campbell (yep, still no official name).

Sunday was filled with a bit of cleaning, me prepping for my early Monday flight, and a "date afternoon" with the Hottie and me. We caught a movie while my parents watched the kids. Sunday night dinner followed...and now I'm doing laundry, packing, and waiting for the Hottie to get home to watch the Grammys.


We took about a bajillion photos of the birthday party and the Monster Truck Show...but, here are a few.

(pretty much the whole crew at Bounce Jungle)

(Brady and his friend Cole...pulling Jake up the BIG slide)

(the birthday boy in the "coveted" birthday chair)

(Me...eating cake)

(boys night at the monster truck show)

(Grave Digger - Brady's favorite. It crashed...and he just about cried.)

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Our First Born is 6

Happy 6th Birthday Brady!!

As I write this, I am reflecting back to 6 years ago...
Bryan and I were SO excited to become parents. It was almost time.
We waited all day for the call to come in for the induction.
It never came.
Finally, around 4pm they called and told us to come in at 7:30pm
We cleaned house. (It was already clean)
We made sure everything is ready. (because he soooo needed his room immediately)
We went to Applebees for our last childless meal.
We arrived at the hospital at 7:30pm.
They told us they left us a message not to come.
But, since we were already there...we could stay.
Thank goodness.
I wasn't going home.
It took all night.
And part of the next day.
He was finally born at 1:36pm.
It was overwhelming.
And, exciting.
And, super exhausting.

6 years ago today.

Unbelievable...

Brady Facts:

You are super tall - and I have no idea how that happened!
You are very curious and intelligent - you definitely take after me :)
You have great manners...now please teach them to your sister.
You are (most of the time) very sweet and gentle with Lily.
You have a favorite color - it's red.
You love Tony Hawk shirts - thank you Kohl's!
You want to be a professional baseball player - and daddy hopes so, too.
You listen to your teacher...THANK YOU!
You love school and hate when there are breaks because you can't wait to go back.
You are excitedly waiting for your littlest sister and you give her kisses every night.
You are just a little OCD and thrive on organization.
You have a secret handshake with daddy and think it is so cool.
You are very excited for your birthday and can't wait for your first "class" party!!

Oh, Brades - you really are the best. We could not ask for a better son and are SO thankful to have you in our lives everyday. You're our buddy and we can't believe you're 6!!

Happy Birthday, Brady!!

We love you LOTS and LOTS!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Sunday, January 24, 2010

I Feel Beautiful



Not really...
but, Lily sure made me feel that way.
Yesterday as I was cleaning.
Picture me....pregnant.in jammies.hair in a messy pony.no makeup.
Lily runs up to me with this picture:

She says "Mom, you so beautiful. Your shirt is so pretty. I wanna be pretty like you."
Umm....TEAR!
Thanks Lil...but, you are BEAUTIFUL!


p.s...in that July 4th beauty of a picture. I'm sweating profusely because I'm hanging out outside at the Babcock home and it's about a gazillion degrees. And...this is the very same picture that the Hottie laughs at because I've got these bug eyes. But...if Lil thinks I'm beautiful...I'll take it!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Our One Night Guest

We got to keep Aidyn overnight.
The Cuties l-o-v-e-d, LOVED it!
Today...Lil struggled with sharing her toys.
But, they seemed to work it out.
We watched Dora, played dress up, used the strollers as race cars around the house, made cupcakes, ate said cupcakes...and lots more.

We love you Aidyn!!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

********Baby Name Poll********

Remember this little girl?

Yes...the one that surprised us and made a home in my belly to grow and grow and grow???

Well, she needs a name. And, we're struggling with this task.

Names are important. It is the first thing that you tend to learn about someone. They are a big part of our identity. Names make a lasting impression. For instance, there are several names I will NOT use solely because of bad experiences I've had with people with that same name. Can you think of any names that fit in that category for you? If you're a teacher...I'm sure you can think of a ton!!

This idea of the name being SO very important just stinks!! I mean...it's not like she even gets to pick it out herself. We, as her parents, have to pick it out for her...and we need help deciding. So, this is where you all come in.

Here are our favorites:

1. Charlotte Grace Campbell

2. Piper Grace Campbell

3. Violet Grace Campbell

How you can help:

1. Please, Please, Please comment with which one you like best. OR

2. If you don't like any of these (Mom here is where you can help) comment with a new suggestion.

We will seriously consider every single comment that we receive. The Hottie, Brady, Lily and I each have our favorite and we just need some help on deciding on one that we can all be happy with. Our goal is to finally decide on a name...before we leave the hospital with Baby Girl Campbell on the birth certificate.

Thanks To You ALL!!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

My Life

sometimes words are unnecessary

Friday, January 15, 2010

Heartburn

Yuck!!
Heartburn is awful.
Before I was pregnant with Brady, I had never in my life experienced heartburn. I thought it was just a pregnancy symptom...but, even after pregnancy I am now susceptible. Luckily, it's much, much worse only when I'm pregnant.

With this pregnancy, I had yet to need my candies (Tums). I call them my candies...because I love them. I was thinking heartburn just may pass me by this time.

Well...I was wrong.

No more late night ice cream or milkshakes for me.
The heartburn has set in.
Full Force.
Which means rough nights.
Little sleep.
Lots of pillows to keep me upright.
UGH!


Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Naming Rights.........

Round Number 3 of pregnancy brings lots of naming issues.
The good news is...I get the final say on this one.
The Hottie gets to veto my choices.
But...again, I get the final say.

I have a list of names that I like.

Probably like 20.

They're listed in my phone so I don't forget them.
Forget. I do that often.
The Hottie only likes about 5 of them.
But, he only REALLY likes 1.
I had narrowed it down to 3 names.
And then I brought another one back.
One that the Hottie likes, but everyone else hates.

Our top 3 names are...

Piper - my favorite
Violet - Brady's favorite
Ella - Bryan and Lil's favorite

The name I just brought back...
Charlotte - we'd maybe call her Charlie.

The middle name for ALL of them...

Grace

Recently, we found out that one of Bryan's cousins in Connecticut is expecting.
We're all friends on Facebook.
Don't ya just love FB?
We're due within days of each other.
It's their 4th child.
They've got 3 boys.
Guess what???
They're having a baby girl.
Yippee!! A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
Guess what else???
They've decided on the name...

Ella Grace.

Yep, no lying. The Hottie's favorite name. Taken.
He's still thinking we're going to use it.
I'm thinking NO.

Did I mention they have the same last name?

So...we'd both have an Ella Grace Campbell, and maybe even born on the same day.
I don't think so.

The Hottie says we're back to square one.

He is now veto'ing all of our other names.

Boy, it's a good thing I've got the naming rights...isn't it??

do you have any name suggestions???

Monday, January 11, 2010

I'm Pregnant, I'm Pregnant, I'm Pregnant

I've been yelled at for neglecting my pregnancy on my blog.

It's true. I'm pregnant. Yep, I'm pregnant.
You see, although we are very happy...this is a VERY big shock to us. In March of 2002, we made our first visit to the fertility clinic. We were very young. Although I kind of felt we had a problem...we really did not expect to really have a problem. Well, as luck would have it - we did. It would be very difficult for us to conceive.

We went home and thought about it for awhile. Months later, we decided we better get a head start as this could be a lengthy ride. The younger the better with fertility. So - on the fertility roller coaster we went.

Lots of testing and needles and medicines and doctor visits and pregnancy tests and hospital visits and crying and even laughing followed for the next many, many months. Finally, we were blessed with Brady. We were still young. We lucked out - all the science technology worked. Every single moment of my pregnancy was SUPER EXCITING and new and everything we had waited for.

2 years later, it was time to give it another shot. We wanted another baby. Unlike most other people, when we decide to give conception a shot - we must make a doctor's appointment to schedule the conception. Kind of funny...kind of not. We like to make jokes about it - I think it makes it easier. When you go for baby number 2, you start all over. Lots of testing and needles and medicines and doctor visits and pregnancy tests followed. This time, the doctor was a bit concerned. He suggested we move on to IVF. You see...apparently this was my best chance at having a baby. My body did not respond very well to the meds...and when they increased them just a bit - my ovaries went crazy and produced pretty much a bazillion eggs.

Think Octomom times 5. So NOT happening.

Every cycle during those months was halted due to over stimulation. The doctors did not want to take any high order multiple chances...THANK GOODNESS!!! Neither did we. So, off to IVF we went. Many, many more tests, LOTS more needles and medicines, and a long hospital stay happened next. But, good news - 2 months later...we were expecting. Yep, Lily was born almost 3 years after Brady.

After Lil...we never said we were done. I think it seemed to final. Bryan was good with 2. I was good with 2...but, I really had wanted more. Then, Lil started getting older and becoming easier. We were getting more and more settled into having 2 cuties. I guess we still never completely ruled out another - but, certainly had not made any appointments for conception.

Going through fertility treatments, you often hear about people that had trouble having children and then all of a sudden...they got pregnant. People would tell us that they know someone that did IVF and then got pregnant a few months later on their own...or that they knew someone that adopted and then got pregnant right when the adoption was final. We would kind of dream about something like that happening. But, knowing our issues - we never really imagined it could actually happen. So...in September of 2009, when I randomly took that pregnancy test and saw "pregnant" pop up immediately...I was literally in shock.

Shock.

Shock.

I felt like a 16 year old girl telling her parents that she was pregnant. Bryan was stunned. We seriously had no idea how this happened. Well...I guess we knew - but, could not believe it. We weren't trying. Not at all. I took about 6 more tests that all read pregnant and made an appointment for the next day to confirm. The doctor, too, confirmed the inevitable. I was pregnant.

Miraculously, I was pregnant.

We kept it a secret. Well...for a couple days. We then spread the word to our very close family. We were still in shock. For the next couple weeks and months, at every doctor appointment, I would continue to be shocked that I was still pregnant. I guess I was in denial.

Does that sound bad? For years, we had dreamed with almost no hopes that such a thing would happen...and it actually did. We should have been jumping up and down and screaming out loud to the world. But, we weren't.

Were we happy? Yes.
Were we shocked? Definitely.
Were we scared? Yes.

An unplanned pregnancy? Very strange in our books. This kind of thing was so far from our normal that we did not know how to react.

The word is now officially out to everyone. We are beginning to make some preparations for what is needed. We have told the cuties and they are so excited that it makes my anxieties fade a little. The baby girl is very active. I can now feel her regularly and with each movement, it makes me more and more excited. I do feel guilty that it has taken so many weeks for me to begin to feel such excitement. Yes, we were excited from the start...but, nerves and shock and fear seemed to overpower the excitement.

So, I now vow to get on the pregnancy happy train. Put my fears behind me. Have faith that it will all work out. And prepare to bring this little girl into a very excited and loving house. She has a big brother that already tells her good night and blows her kisses and a big sister that insists her name will be Ella.

I always wanted Lily to have a sister...I got my wish.

Here we are - me and baby girl Campbell. We're not sure on the name. It is different depending on which one of us you ask. Yep, I certainly look pregnant.

p.s. sorry about the longest post ever. i guess i had a lot to say....

A Common Site At Our House...

Here's Lil...but, this could really be either one of the cuties.

Lil's Third Birthday Not-Party

We skipped the party throwing event this year for Lil's No. 3. In lieu of a full-blown party, we decided to meet up with the family at Peter Piper Pizza. Lily loooooves pizza, so it was absolutely perfect. And, when pizza, games, and slides are mixed...well, to her that is just pure heaven.

We held the Not-Party this past Friday at the PPP near our house. Lil was super excited all day and refused to nap. She did help me make a gigantic cupcake cake for the dessert. Of course it HAD to have pink icing and lots of sprinkles.

The Cuties and I loaded up the car and headed to PPP a bit early to get a spot. Nope...we didn't reserve a party table, we just arrived a bit early to hold our table. It worked out perfect!! Once the family started to arrive, I put the order in for loads of pizza, sodas, and some pitchers for the adults. The kids could have cared less...they were busy spending their tokens, playing games, and sliding down the slide.

We ate, played, sang happy birthday, and opened presents.

Highlights of the Not-Party:
** Baking the cupcake cake with Lil - it turned out so cute and she loved it!
** Her continuous birthday excitement that is still ongoing.
** Lily coming up to me while running around like crazy and saying, "Mommy...this is SO much fun!" I sooooooo wish I had it on video. Her excitement in the statement was so adorable and it literally made my heart melt.
** Watching the kids eat cupcake after cupcake....or at least the icing.
** Lil's shyness as we sang - I LOVE that with the little kids.
** Jake whispering "happy birthday, Lil" into her ear right before she blew out the candles.
** Lil's excitement over every present.

Thanks everyone for making Lily's birthday so extra special. She didn't care that her birthday party was not really a birthday party - it fit her perfectly!



Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Princess Lily

Yes, Lil is definitely a princess.
Everything she wants involves some type of princess...
a bike, a scooter, jammies....EVERYTHING!

For her birthday - we got her none other than a....

Princess Vanity.
She loves it!

We knew she was going to be so excited because she absolutely love, love, loves Rylee's vanity. She could sit there all day, put on makeup, stare at herself in the mirror...and giggle.

Lucky for us - the Target black Friday special had it half-off and we saved it for the big day! It is pink and purple with a cute little piano (that I'm sure we'll soon be sick of hearing), and it came with some cute mini instruments, pretend lipstick and a brush.

The first thing she did was sit on the little stool...stare at herself in the mirror...grab the lipstick...and put it on. All we heard was..."it doesn't work." Oops! She figured out immediately that the lipstick is NOT real. I'll have to hide all of mine!

Happy Birthday Princess Lily - We love you!

p.s...yep, still has the bruiser on her eye. today it looks worse than ever!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Our Buggies is THREE!

My goodness. Three year ago today I was deciding whether or not I should make my 4th trip to the hospital. Luckily, I did...they finally let me stay. Just a few hours later....

What an angel, huh? (At least most of the time!!)

Today, our Buggies is a very opinionated, loud, sassy, funny, girlie-girl who looks up to her brother as if he is the very greatest human being there is. I love it.

Bug Facts
*Girlie-girl to the max!
*Loves dress up
*HATES to wear pants...throws a tantrum when we make her
*Loves to be naked
*Obsessed with Dora...and Wonder Pets...and sometimes Spongebob
*Girlie-girl, but tough - you can definitely tell she has an older brother
*Loves to wear dance outfits
*Is so excited to turn 3..."the same as Jakey," you always say
*Favorite color...PINK
*Begged and begged for a Princess bike - but can't ride it.
*Biggest klutz EVER!
*Born in AZ...but, has a New England accent. Ask her to say "park"
*Favorite song...Kings of Leon, Use Somebody
*Hates driving on the freeway
*Has a deep, rough, boy voice that is so cute and sounds just like Ry
*Loves to sing...anything!
*Best Friend...Nanny

Oh Buggies - boy do we love you. You bring us so much happiness and laughter. You crack us up, you are so silly. You are becoming such a chatterbox, I just do NOT know where you get that from.
Happy Birthday sweet girl!
We love you bunches!

Love,
Mommy, Daddy, & Brady







Monday, January 4, 2010

Hot Water Woes


Ugh!!!

Just when I thought the hot water heater was fine....
this is what it looks like tonight:


Nope, no hot water for us.

I rounded up the Cuties and we headed over to my parent's house to shower. The Hottie will head there in the morning.

Happy New Year to the Campbell's!

Did I say Ugh??
It's a DOUBLE UGH!!!
On a better note...a basketball hoop finally came in...the Hottie and Dougie are putting it together now. Brady can FINALLY enjoy his Santa gift!!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Slide Whoops...

This:


And This:


Proceeded by this...


Just in time for her 3rd birthday.



Saturday, January 2, 2010

Happy New Year!!

So far...2010 has been filled with:



Besides a quick little scare with our hot water heater (that our beloved, BIL fixed...or should I say re-lit the pilot for) 2010 is off to a great start.
Goodbye 2009 - HELLO 2010!!