Preschool. Check.

Friday was also Noah's last day of preschool. Forever. Little hyperventilation on the part of the parents... Gonna have to accept it but that doesn't mean we have to like it. Last day of the year means Field Day for the kiddos. It was daddy's day off so he got to go and help. His job was the shoebox races. We showed up just in time for the parachute.

Is there any kid who does not love the parachute?I love to watch their faces when they play with this.

After all the games, we moved inside for Popsicles.

Even the siblings got one which made one certain little boy very happy.

As the children left the classroom, they got one final hug from each of their teachers. Mrs. Gregory

and Mrs. Rothgeb.

Noah had a great year in their class and I think we are all going to miss them. I was a little disappointed that there was no ceremony on any kind. He did get a diploma, though.

I found a cute little preschool graduation card. Daddy had to read it to him, though, because silly mommy kept choking up.

It was pretty cute to watch how proud he was. After the card, he went around and gave every one in the family the biggest hug.

One of the sweeter moments I can remember. Too bad it has to insinuate that big, bad kindergarten is just around the corner...

Play Ball!

T-Ball season #1 is officially underway. Game #1 was last night and it went just as you would think a 4 and 5-yr-old baseball game would. Everyone on the team bats every inning. No outs. Last batter runs all the bases. 12 little boys on a team. Takes forever to get through an inning. Games last an hour and we got through almost three innings in that time frame. But, all that aside, a good time was had by all.

(Sporting his Hot Wheels shades - thanks, Codey!) A little warming up.Pregame huddle and pep talk.Let's PLAY BALL! You guessed it! Noah got a hit and later scored a run - every time he was at bat, actually. What can I say? The kid is good!

Chatting it up with his teammates on the bench.

And the fielding...

Purple Cardinals - Undefeated. Go team!

Baseball Eve

Last Friday marked a very exciting day in our house. Noah had his first real T-ball practice - with daddy as his coach! Due to a LOT of rain, the first practice got pushed back a week and a half and ended up being the night before the first game. Daddy gave it his best effort and Noah was so happy to have daddy out there with him.

We really weren't sure what to expect with Noah. Our other attempts at team sports had not been so well-received but we took into account the fact that he was pretty young and wanted to give him another shot. We also weren't sure what he would do with daddy out there. We have some issues with him taking instructions from us at times and weren't sure if it would be better to have someone unfamiliar be his coach. But daddy really did want to be out there and to get to be a part of Noah's introduction to his [daddy's] favorite pastime. I was really proud of daddy, too. He had to go way out of his comfort zone for this and he did it a fantastic job.Night one went pretty well. His favorite part was, of course, batting. (Envisioning of his out-of-the-park homerun or yawning?? I can't tell.) Who doesn't like that best, really? (Unless you are an AL pitcher, that is...) He wasn't crazy about fielding but liked all the catching gear. This is how little brother spent the evening. (Such a good listener to mommy's pleas to PLEASE stay out of the mud. As if I thought it was really going to work. Mud is a boy magnet and I know that. I'm actually more surprised the entire T-ball team wasn't here all evening.) And with one good practice under his belt, sweet Noah went to bed dreaming of baseball - complete with new batting gloves intact.

Dear Santa

Just thought I would give you a head's up, Big Guy... Benjamin has his heart set on a tuba for Christmas. Noah tried to tell him that you don't make insstruments that big in your toy shop but he isn't buying it. So, if I were you, I'd start hitting those garage sales now. From what I hear, cheap tubas for three-year-olds are hard to come by. Oh, wait... he will be four by then. Hope that helps!
Oh, and don't worry about the roller skates anymore. He spotted some at WalMart and has not stopped talking about them since. I am hiring him to do odd jobs around the house to earn his $18.44. I'm pretty certain he will have those skates in no time. So, you can just concentrate on that tuba. Good luck!

Abby Meets Elmo

I have mentioned before that Abby LOVES Elmo. We really have no explanation for this as she has never actually seen him. Well, not on TV, that is... We have a lot of Sesame Street toys around the house so she knows who he is. In fact, she only knows who HE is. Every Sesame Street character is lovingly referred to as Elmo - including Abby Cadabby, which really should not be the case. But we have learned to live with it. Today while making lunch I decided to give her a real treat - to make up for the front yard cage incident. I put on an Elmo video. And how did she react? Uh, yeah. She was excited. The boys, however, were not so happy as they could not see through her head. I can't wait to see how often she asks to see it again. Up until this point, she has not paid a lick of attention to the television (except for her animal video). Hopefully I didn't create another TV monster....

A Beautiful Day

We had the perfect day to be outside today, so we did just that. We "be'd" outside. All day. I don't have any pictures because I was too busy working. It's too bad, too, because there were some things happening today that were camera worthy... For instance. I took the baby gate out of the front room and caged Abby in the driveway so I could actually accomplish something. (I decided to start the day off with mowing the lawn.) She HATED it! She stood in there crying and calling to me the whole time. I felt sorry for her. So I mowed really fast. :) More picture worthy than that? The boys were self-suffient. They played together (or seperately at the same time) ALL DAY. Really. Benjamin came over at times and helped me weed. Noah planted some flower seeds with me. But, really, for the most part they were on their own. And it was beautiful! There is still a lot of unpleasant talking between the two but they have come such a long way. They are actually finding out that it is fun to play together. I love it! After a while the neighbor kids came out. By the time daddy got home there were eight little ones running between our three houses. There was much giggling and squealing and there is truly no sweeter sound than that. So, what did I do with my day? After mowing the front yard, we all cleaned out the car. Abby sat in a car seat downing every leftover snack she could find and the boys helped me pull trash out from under the seats. We went to the car wash and vaccumed it all out. (Noah says it's good as new.) After lunch I weeded all the front flower bed areas. Now we just need to decide what we should plant in there and get it under way already. No more sitting on our 'duffs' and talking about all we should be doing. See, I was planning on missing out on this summer as I lay yucky in bed. Since that will not be the case, I figure I better make the most of my 'new-found' time. And tomorrow the rain is supposed to move back in... Glad we were able to take advantage of our sunny day.

Benjamin's Last Day

Tuesday was Benjamin's last day of school. I'm pretty certain it was a whole lot colder that day than it was when he started back in September. But he was happy to adorn his coat and humor his mommy for a picture. Oh, boy that kid is cute. Hehehe... We decided to make his teachers some flower pots as end-of-the-year gifts. He posed with them, too. "Show me your sweetest smile, Benj..." "Uh, no, not that one, dear." "Much better. Thank you." Parent's Day Out? Complete. Next year - Preschool. Oh boy! He claims he doesn't want to go but I think he will like it.

Our Loss

It is with great sadness that we have to write this post. Two weeks ago we learned that we had suffered a miscarriage. Because I would be turning 35 before the delivery we were in a special category that allowed us early sonograms. With my "advanced maternal age" there were certain measurements they wanted to check. Our first sonogram was April 20. There was no indication that anything was wrong but the bones they had hoped to measure were not large enough yet so they scheduled us to come back a week later. If you have ever had a sonogram you know that when they measure certain aspects of the fetus an estimated gestational age pops up on the bottom. The second week, that measurement was exactly the same as it had been for our first visit. 11 weeks, 1 day. While the doctor didn't say anything at first, he was pushing a lot of buttons and trying to look at the baby from different angles. I knew right away there was a problem because I couldn't see a heartbeat. He finally said, "I'm sorry..." It was the worst sentence ever. After his words of sympathy, he left the room to go call our OB to determine what we were to do next. When he left the room I lost it. Due to a little stomach flu we had Abby with us. Christopher stepped over to me and after a second Abby reached out to hug me and kissed my lips. This was the first time she had done that of her own accord and truly something I will never forget.
Christopher's parents were out of town so luckily we were able to find some friends to come and stay with the kids while we went to meet with our doctor. Boy, there is nothing worse than walking into an OB's office in that situation. They quickly ushered us to the back where it was determined we would have a D&C two days following. Thankfully, my mom was able to fly down first thing the next morning. She was here to stay with the kids but was also willing to be our messenger. As we had just started sharing the good news with people, we didn't really want to go have to face them all again. We are so thankful that she was able to come and do that. Aside from that, I was also just thankful for her company. As Dr. Shipman says, "There is just no better medicine than a mom."
So, where are we now? Well, still hurting, but I think we get better each day. We sat the boys down that first night and explained to them that mommy was no longer going to have a baby. They seemed most upset because we were upset in talking to them. Benjamin didn't say much. Noah asked a lot of questions that hinted at the fact that he really didn't understand what we were saying until we explained that the baby was now in heaven with Grandma Dorothy. He still asks on occasion why our baby died (sometimes really loudly in the middle of Target - sorry, complete strangers!). We are doing our best to answer his questions but it is not all that easy when we don't understand ourselves. I can finally close my eyes now without seeing that final sonogram, which means I can sleep now. That is definitely a good thing. All the doctors were very quick to tell us that none of this was our/my fault, that we had done nothing wrong; that statistically this just happens sometimes. We understand that they were trying to be comforting and maybe in some way it was, but mostly it was just numbers. We both have struggled with feelings of guilt - What did we do? Have we not proved ourselves good parents? Was it that ibuprofen I took before I knew I was pregnant? Did we not pray hard enough for the new baby? A friend asked if we were angry. I don't think either of us ever felt any anger towards God - just a lot of confusion and guilt that we were somehow to blame. The guilt is starting to subside but I don't know if the confusion ever will.
We have received a number of condolences and have had a lot of contact from people that have also experienced a miscarriage: our minister, our OB, the nurse that cared for us after our procedure, and several friends. My mom asked if it helped when people shared that information. The answer is yes. And, no. It is, of course, comforting to know that we are not the only ones to have been here. On the flip side of that, it is scary to learn just how common miscarriages really are. We were so naive in believing that because we had been through it three times already without a hitch that we were free and clear. We were unaware of just how fragile our little gift was and maybe didn't fully appreciate how truly blessed we are to have the three perfect, beautiful children that we do have. While we are not really sure what our future holds at this point, we know it is going to be a continual process of getting past certain dates. As you have seen in our last several posts, I was all about planning what life would be like. Instead we have to try to get past these dates. Our suffering will be in the little things: remembering that the new dress I need for a wedding this summer will no longer be a maternity dress; picking out Halloween costumes for three kids; attending the Christmas at Resurrection program; etc. We will be celebrating each of these events with our three beautiful children and you can be sure we will be hugging them a little harder and kissing them a little more.

Noah's 5 - AGAIN!

And now for Noah's final birthday party of the year. Well, almost. I guess he has ONE MORE celebration, but we will get to that later. Daddy and I were having an unheard-of childless vacation at the end of March. Grandpa and Grandma Campbell were going with us, so Grandpa and Grandma Randolph came down to stay with the kids - and to return Noah. (Remember he went to their house for spring break? I realize I am a little slow in posting, so I am trying to keep you all in line...) Turns out a week away from each other actually made the boys miss each other. (They actually talked to each other on the phone a couple of times but it mostly just turned into a giggle/screamfest.) But it was fun to see them back together again.

With everyone here, we decided to have Noah's family birthday party. Which meant one more cake. And more presents. Grandpa and Grandma Randolph gave him a scholarship to Star Wars camp this summer. His picture doesn't show it but he was very excited. He has asked daily about when it would finally be time for camp. He also got a countdown calendar from his mommy and daddy. He doesn't know what it is for, but he knows that 72 days from then he will be getting something special. My mom can't believe he is patient enough to wait that long to find out what he is getting. (Apparently she thinks his mom never would have accepted that idea. Maybe he just trusts us more.) But the waiting might actually be harder on mommy and daddy - we know what is coming. So, like I said, one more birthday activity for the big five-yr-old. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

Ok, last holiday post. I promise. This was just too fun not to share. Do you remember me talking about the BIG Christmas program that our choir does? While Christopher and I have not been a part of it yet, Noah was this last year. We went the year Benjamin was born but Christopher was hesitant. Our OB goes to our church and we wanted us to buy her the seat next to us just in case.... I was sort of hoping that my water would break during the 'Hallelujah Chorus'. Not because I wanted that to happen, really, but just because I thought it would make for a great story later on. That didn't happen. Benjamin was born 4 days later. But this year... We are going to get our big story this year... When we announced our pregnancy to the choir/orchestra last week we jokingly asked about 'Baby Jesus' auditions because IV will be just about the age they like to use for the show. Well, when our weekly 'Joys & Concerns' email came out today, this is what it said:
Christopher and Stephanie Campbell are pleased to announce they will be expecting baby #4 around Halloween. They asked Kevin when the Baby Jesus tryouts are for Christmas at Resurrection. There will be no tryouts - Baby Campbell will be Baby Jesus 2010. How neat is that? Baby Jesus' parents both beng involved in the Music Ministry. It doesn't get any better than that.
Sooo... you should probably put it on your calendars now. Tickets go on sale in August and I just know they are going to sell like hotcakes this year. You won't want to miss it!

Happy Halloween!

No, it really wasn't 7 months between posts - it just seems like it. If your children are anything like ours, Halloween in a subject that comes up quite regularly. We decided to take advantage of that and get a head start on the planning. Yes, we know full-well that there is a good chance opinions will change between now and then but it never hurts to try. Last year was a first for me in that I let everyone pick their own costumes and didn't make them follow a theme. It was no surprise that Benjamin followed in his big brother's foot steps at the last minute and gave up his ghost idea to be a Transformer. Now Noah already has his next three or four years of costume ideas picked out. It is no surprise to us that he can remember these ideas and lists them in exactly the same order every time he talks about it. (One little problem, he really thinks his vampire costume should come with green teeth. So, should you ever see any while you are out, please pick them up for him. We will all be eternally grateful.) This year, he hopes to be a Ninja. Lucky for us, Santa brought him a ninja costume last year. Again, no surprise, Benjamin has decided he would also like to be a 'Minja'. Only problem? He wants to be a "Grey Minja." Santa brought him the same RED costume. Halloween happens at night, right? I can tell him he looks grey in the dark, right? I'll keep working on it... Now Abby is going to be a little bit more difficult. There really is not much she doesn't love. Except for the weed whacker. She doesn't love that, so we will toss out that idea. She could easily be any animal. She can make every animal sound, although my favorite would probably be a cow. Or a wolf - she does a great howl. She also really likes Elmo right now. She calls every Sesame Street friend Elmo. Even Abby Cadabby! So, we still have her to work on. But, really, it is the last one that is throwing us for a loop. We just can't decide. A wee 'Casper'? Or a mini 'Jack'? Which do you think is better?


PS. Special thanks to BIG SISTER Abby for allowing us to use her sonogram picture. "IV" (read Ivy) hasn't had any pictures yet. :)

Happy Easter!

A little bit of a posting time laspe... Sorry about that! Someday I'll get all caught up - maybe then you will understand. For now, let's get on with Easter. We had a perfect day! Daddy had to be to church at 6:15 this morning. It's a bummer for daddy AND we don't get to do the early morning Easter stuff, but it all worked out ok. The bunny left some goodies for the kids on the breakfast table but he hid all the eggs at Grandma's for the kids to find when we went for lunch. It did not take Abby any time at all to catch on. There was a little confusion as to why she had to move on when each egg seemed to have something worth shaking inside. She was pretty quick to learn how to break in and get out the goodies. The boys were all about numbers this year. It was too quick but everyone seemed pleased with their spoils. After lunch, we had some outdoor time for the new bubbles and mini kites. Mostly the kids just loved running outside. Boy, it feels good to finally be outside again. Next up was cousin Nick's birthday. Noah picked a whole bouquet of daffidils for Nick. Not sure if 13 yr old Nock was as pleased as Noah and I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them together. When will I learn?!? Lots more time for playing then the TV came on. I got to watch 'High School Musical' and do this... (my favorite part of long, holiday, no-nap days!!) while daddy and Grandpa took the other two to the park. All in all, it was a beautiful day!