Lily....or Lillian

This is has been Lily's first experience with official school. She's had sitters before and still does - but, this is her first official school experience. On all of the school forms they ask for her birth name. Well, that is Lillian. So...I write down Lillian.

She knows her name is Lillian, but we NEVER call her that. She's Lily. From the day she was born she has been Lily.

On meet the teacher night - her teacher asked all of us if our children had any nicknames. She wrote Lily down and has called her Lily since the start. But...it looks like she prepared some things ahead of time - things like her homework/activity kit. So...Lillian it says on that bag. Lily was confused at first because she knows she spells her name L-I-L-Y and Lillian is not the same.

Well, the other night she surprised us by telling us she wants to be called Lillian. We laughed. She was serious. She also said she wants Lily to have two L's...Lilly. Yep. Seriously.

So, introducing Lily Lillian Lilly Mae Campbell. Hilarious. Lucky for  us - we got to pick her name. That's our right as parents...isn't it?

I'm thinking we're sticking with Lily.
Sorry Bugs!

One Month

(Charlotte with her..."please save me from my sister and brother" look)

Charlotte is one month old!
Well...really she was one month old 2 days ago.
I'm behind.
Oops.

Charlotte at 1 month....
EATING - She is a little piglet. 4 ounces, sometimes 5 at a time.
SLEEPING - She is a great sleeper. 5-ish hours at nighttime.
She definitely loves her mommy and it makes her daddy very jealous.
Her hair is starting to thin and lighten just a bit.
We estimate she weighs about 9 pounds.
Her eyes are still blue.
She is looking more and more like Brades.

So far - life with 3 is great.
Pretty easy.

Some thoughts....
1. You forget with EVERY child how much they eat.
2. And...how much they sleep.
3. Baby grunts are the best.
4. There is such a thing as the older sibling helping too much!
5. Savor the moment - I don't want Charlotte to grow another inch.
6. There is a big difference from 2 children to 3 children to the outside world...everyone asks if its hard...it really is not any different than 2...not yet anyway.
7. I'm not sure I'll ever get out the birth announcements. And that's okay.
8. I have a baby book - I can't really start it until I know if she's a Charlotte or a Charlie.
9. I miss date nights reaaaaaaaally bad.
10. I find it rather freeing to shower and put my hair in braids for the day.
11. And, apply lotion rather than any makeup.
12. Childcare interviews are stressful.
13. Having the time to cook dinners is really, really nice.
14. Fitting or trying to fit into my clothes is HORRIFIC!
15. Listening to Brady and Lily try to play with Charlotte and give her kisses is priceless.

Life With 3

These pictures pretty much sum up our life right now...

Eating - besides this delish cake that Julie brought...I've been cooking

Looking at this cutie's face...

Giving Lil treatments...

Watching Lil take care of her "babies"...

Loving how stinkin' sweet Brades is with his new sister...

Enjoying visiting family...

Memorial Day BBQ at the Babcock's...

Cleaning up and saying goodbye to the old house...

And, of course falling more and more in love...

Brady...Heart of Gold

See this kid?

Yes, Brady.

He is the very best big brother and
literally has a heart of gold.

Let me give you an example.

Bedtime ritual:

1. piggyback ride to bed for both Cuties

2. lots of giggles and kisses

3. nighty-night
Tonight after putting him to bed he told the Hottie,
"Daddy, the kisses that you and Mommy and Lil give me - I wipe them off and put them on my heart."

Seriously adorable.

The hottie was pretty much holding back the tears as he told me what was said.

Love you Buddy!

We're...

Totally Shocked,

Completely Ecstatic,

Freaking Out,

Nervous,

Jumping for Joy,

Believing in Miracles.

We're....

yep, expecting #3.

EDD 05.30.10

Yippee!

Piggy Back Rides

When I was little...I would sleep walk. But, not anywhere dangerous, or scary (like outside) just to my parent's bedroom. I seriously did it every single night until I was like 20. Just kidding...probably like the 1st grade.

My parents hated it. We'd all do it. All 4 of us did it at some time or another in our lives. Sometimes when we would try to enter...the door would be locked. That would not discourage us in the least bit. We'd just lay down right there outside the door in the hallway.

Somehow...I've passed on this sleep-walking gene to the Cuties. Thankfully...they just walk to our room and not anywhere else. But, sharing a bed with a 2 or a 5 year old S-U-C-K-S...big time! We take turns (or the Hottie mostly takes the turn) returning the Cuties to their room. Thankfully, it's not an every night occurrence. But, it happens often enough that it is super frustrating.

The Cuties tend to have a hard time going to bed, too. They're scared of monsters. The Hottie has taught them to make forts with their pillows to "block" out the monsters. And...for the last several months, they have been escorted to bed via piggy back. They love it. And, it somehow makes them forget about the monsters. So every night, when bedtime arrives - the Cuties make the decision as to who gives the piggy back ride that night - Mommy or Daddy. It's exciting. They love it...and it works.

But, I guess...who wouldn't want to be carried to bed by piggy back? Right? It certainly makes bedtime fun!

Friday Night Costco Trip

Wow. I am certainly feeling old tonight. Life with kids makes Friday and Saturday nights relatively calm. Most of the time. That's okay - I enjoy it. Even our Friday Night Costco Trips.

I'm out of space on my camera chip. I have 3 chips. They're all full. Unbelievable. I guess it's been awhile since our Costco dinner night out. Hopefully, we're not the only ones in America to take the whole family out to Costco for dinner. You can't beat feeding a family of 4 for $7...and that includes a churro.

Friday Night Costco Trips start out like this...me at the photo center while the Hottie and the Cuties browse (and dream) the TVs. After uploading 500 pictures....I find the rest of the family and we head off to walk the store. This is my favorite time of the year. Costco is all decked out in Christmas and the Cuties happily run through the aisles of toys wishing for every one of them to be under the tree. After we pickup a couple snack items for Brady's school lunches...to the checkout we go. Then....dinner time. Yes, pizza, hot dogs and soda. What else could you want? Yes, not the healthiest....but, certainly delicious and cheap. We return home and put the Cuties to bed...8pm. The Hottie and I lay on the couch watching TV for the rest of the night.

Yes, it is a Friday night.

No restaurants, no clubbing, not even a beer. Just the 4 of us browsing Costco. Not what I imagined...better.

p.s....no pictures...remember - no space on the chips??? And, I haven't made it to Costco to pickup the pictures. And...I'm the wacko that won't delete them until I know for sure I have them safe and sound on a disc. Me = FREEEEAK! Here's an oldie that I love...

p.s....sorry I missed last night's post - but, I fell asleep while lounging on the couch with the Hottie. surprise. surprise.