First Word

Don't have it on tape - 'cuz you know how that goes, but Abby has her first word. "Amen". She even knows when to say it. She's still keeping it a secret from daddy but mommy, her brothers, and her grandmothers have heard it. Pretty cute, I gotta say...

When Life Hands You Dirt...

Make a mud bath!! The boys had THE most fun with this activity. Grandma Bonnie did not think this was such a good idea but I think that is because she could not hear their squeals of extreme joy as they played. They perfected skiing and even made a few mud angels. Noah didn't even mind the hosing off afterwards, Benjamin was not such a fan of that. They have asked to do this about a hundred times but I am pretty sure daddy wouldn't be so happy about their burrowing a hole in to our already troubled backyard so I am trying to hold off. I know - so mean.

11 Months

Who feels a FIRST birthday coming on?

This Little Light of Mine

Abby got her first 'Target toy' to keep her occupied while mommy did some shopping. Didn't take her long to figure out what to do with it. This video was actually taken later in the evening. I am surprised that the flashlight still works AND that she hadn't worn out her thumb.

Mother's Day

I didn't get the chance to post about Mother's Day lat month but didn't want it to go unmentioned. Christopher always does such a nice job of making me feel appreciated as a mother. Or, helping the children, I should say. And I know he feels a lot of pressure because I am a make-it-yourself-er and I think he feels he should be too. But this year he really outdid himself. And even held to a theme which always scores bonus points in my funny little world. He managed to get all the children to the pottery store to make me this "ice cream dish". It came with a letter that reads in part: "A mother's hands are so important in the life of a child. They help dress a child in the morning. They help tie shoes before school. They help make jelly sandwiches. Everyday. They help guide a child safely on their way... There are so many more things that a mother's hands do. The children have made this bowl for you with their hands. Something to help hold things for you. I hope you will cherish holding their hands while you hold on to their gift." I also got a pretty, little heart-shaped necklace that reads, "A mother holds her child's hand for a short while and their hearts forever." He thought it fit in nicely with the bowl. Not bad, hunh? And he also took Noah to Lowe's to make this planter.

Father's Day

We celebrated the special day by taking daddy to the zoo. It was a very warm day but we always enjoy walking around and seeing what we can. This visit was especially fun because Benjamin got his first try to feed the lorikeets. He was not afraid at all. Unfortunately, Noah sneezed as we were entering the feeding area and dropped his feeding cup so he just had to stand and watch this time around.
I love that the kids are getting older and can help with celebrating their dad. I found this cute questionnaire idea and thought I would try it out. I was very impressed with how well Noah did. He knew what every question was asking and, I think, did a pretty good job answering them.

My Great Dad

My daddy is 4 years old.

He weighs 3 lbs. and is "kinda big, about here (showing hand)."

His hair is black and his eyes are green.

My dad loves to relax by going to work and he likes to wear his Star Wars shirt.

He loves to cook pancakes.

His favorite household chore is painting.

His favorite show is Star Wars and his favorite song is Star Wars.

Daddy always tells me about the creatures in Star Wars.

It makes him happy when I share toys.

When my dad shops, he loves to buy Pop Tarts, bananas, and milk.

If he could go on a trip, he would go to Africa to look for snakes and turtles and he would take his grandpa.

I love it when my dad helps me blow bubbles.

I also had Noah draw a picture of his dad on the bottom of the card. He was so proud as he stood there and I read his card to his dad. It was pretty precious. I look forward to doing this each year to have a record of how the answers change. I had seen this 'Daddy's Footprints' poem a long time ago and wanted to do something with it.

I made a picture this year but am not 100% satisfied with the outcome so will probably continue working on it. The poem reads:

Daddy's Footsteps

“Walk a little slower, Daddy”,

Said a little child so small.

“I’m following in your footsteps,

And I don’t want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast,

Sometimes they’re hard to see;

So walk a little slower, Daddy,

For you are leading me.

Someday when I’m all grown up,

You’re what I want to be;

Then I will have a little child

Who’ll want to follow me.

And I would want to lead just right,

And know that I was true;

So, walk a little slower, Daddy,

For I must follow you.”

-Author unknown

And, lastly, Abby got daddy her first Father's Day tie. Now that he dresses up on Tie Tuesday she felt obligated. I thought she did a very nice job with her first attempt.

6 Years and Counting

Six years ago today Christopher and I were married. The day and ceremony were beautiful yet they pale in comparison with what has occurred in the 2190 days since. I don't brag about my Christopher very often because, c'mon, who here [besides my mom] wants to hear about how wonderful he is. But the truth is, I am one lucky girl. These 6 years have certainly had their challenges and definitely their blessings. And Christopher has been there right beside me every step of the way. Just some of his highlights: He comes home every day for lunch. He does the dishes after every meal. He irons his own clothes. He cleans the bathrooms. He takes out the trash. He is a wonderful daddy! And has been from the very beginning! He was at every OB appt. (for all three kiddos). The semester that I was teaching while pregnant with Noah and sick beyond belief, he brought me breakfast in bed every morning, made my lunch every day, and even drove me to and from work on occasion. He has cleaned more than his share of messes. And he never complains! Not about anything! He's suffered through some pretty sorry living conditions and has had to do more than his share of housework. He's had to care for all the animals (and still does most of the time because I can't seem to remember to do it). He gets up and goes to work every day no matter how hard I try to convince him to just skip it. He works hard all day at the office then comes home and jumps right in with what I need here without ever taking a break - sometimes without even changing his clothes. He is always up for one of my crazy adventures and will always humor me by listening to my outrageous ideas. It is just such a blessing to wake up every day with my best friend and to know that no matter what we will face that day we are in it together. I am definitely looking forward to our future and many more anniversaries. I love you, Christopher!

Road Trip

We've had our summer vacation to Michigan planned for some time. After driving with the boys less than three hours in March, Christopher thought maybe we should do some sort of trial run before July as thought the boys could use some practice. Well, he got his wish. Although, I don't think driving the entire way to Michigan really qualifies as a test run, but it is what it is, right? So we loaded up the car and headed north. Our hope had been to set out as soon as Noah was out of camp at noon. That didn't happen. (Editor's note: no shocker. We are never on time anywhere. Ever. Any. Where.) After hitting a neighborhood garage sale and picking up a whole house full of furniture, we still had some packing to do. The boys were so excited to be headed to Michigan and to have their travel backpacks, they sat in the car for over an hour holding their packs just waiting for the go-head to tear them open while covered in their travel blankets with their pillows in place. We didn't end up leaving until almost 4PM and had a good 6.5 hour drive ahead of us. While there was no sleeping to be had, they rode like champs for two days. In all honesty, with spending four out of five days in a car, they were angels! We found a new highway (36) that allowed us to avoid I-70. Takes us all the way to Indianapolis if we would choose to go that far on it. We were the only car on the road and saw just some beautiful parts of the Midwest. We have decided not to be the family that just turns on a movie and tunes out the drive. Yes, we realize this will lead to some loud travel. Believe me, we know. But, we also had some pretty fun moments. The boys have mastered joke telling. We came up with a new "Guess Who I Am" game. And the boys had a LOT of practice on recognizing several different car models. My kids can spot a PT Cruiser from a mile away. And, really, if you are ever responsible for doing something to make my children the happiest kids on earth, take them to a hotel. Boy, is that fun. We did pull out an old portable CD player, though. We were hoping that if Noah was kept quiet, the other two would be able to nap. Nothing in that previous sentence worked out as we had hoped, but the headphones did give them something else to argue about. All kidding aside, I am very grateful for a lifestyle that allowed us to drop everything and head to Michigan. I am also grateful for a husband who knew I needed to be there and wanted to be there with me. My grandma's service was beautiful and I am so glad we were there. Now we unpack, wash clothes, and pack to do it all over. And, yes. We do color-coordinate our traveling clothes.

6.2.09

My mom called this morning and said Grandpa had called first thing this morning requesting everyone come to town. The nursing home had called and said grandma had taken a turn for the worse over night. They were headed up. I requestsed that they call Christopher because I didn't want to get the dreaded news over the phone while I was home alone. After lunch there was a beautiful summer rain falling as I napped with my Noah. When I heard Christopher's car door close hours before he should have been home, I knew exactly why. Strangely enough, it wasn't as devastating as I thought it was going to be. Perhaps that is because I was so thankful for the extra time we had her here on earth as we thought we were close to losing her last summer. I got some beautiful pictures of her with my baby girl and know that she was so pleased to get to hold her, if only once. Maybe it is because it was such a gradual decline that we were able to prepare ourselves for the inevitable. It also helped to talk to my mom who was present when she passed to hear that it was very peaceful. I can't help but be reminded of a song they used to play on my mom's radio station when I was younger: "Heaven's got to be a happy place, my [grandpa's] going there. Everyone around with smiles on their faces, folks who really care." She will certainly be missed but I am, of course, grateful to know that she is no longer in any pain and that she has been reunited with many loved ones and is reaping the wonderful reward that is hers in heaven today.

10 Months???

Well, the calendar says it is so, so I guess we have to believe it. She just keeps getting cuter and wrapping us more tightly around her little finger. She is just the happiest, sweetest baby girl and she brightens the day for each of us.

School's Out for Summer!

Noah is officially on summer vacation. Tuesday he had Field Day at school so we went to watch. They played lots of fun games. They did relays and lots of water games. It was fun to see them all interact and 'follow' directions. Then today we had a class picnic at our house. 7 of the 10 kids were able to come and we had a blast. We grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and had the sprinklers on for the kids but they mostly just wanted to dig in the dirt and look for worms. Even the girls! No wonder Noah liked his class so much. I think it was a great way to kick off the summer. (Unfortunately, I was having too much fun visiting with the other parents and forgot to take pictures.)Hopefully Noah will not expect such excitement for the next three months!

A Red Letter Day

Abby had a very big day today. I went in to get her from her morning nap today and she was crawling - just like a big kid - hands and knees - in her crib. She was doing laps from one end to the other with the biggest smile on her face. When I put her on the actual floor, she went right back to scooting on her tummy. Guess she wasn't really ready to make the full transfer just yet. And, as if that wasn't exciting enough, she then sat herself right up. Now she has been holding herself up for some time but never had I seen her sit up all alone. I called her daddy right away and told him he should probably take the rest of the day off because at this rate she was probably going to be either walking or talking before he got home. He didn't take me up on it, though. So she decided to save all her other big firsts for another day. Most likely because she really wants her daddy to be there.

Took Him Out to the Ball Game

We had tickets to the Royals' game and decided to take Noah up on his request to go with us. He had a great time and did pretty well sitting in his seat and watching the game - eventhough he could see the NEW AND IMPROVED children's play area out past the infield. He asked about it frequently and when we were going to go out there, but he waited patiently until daddy said it was time. His one request was to sing "Ball Game" but the game wasn't necessarily worth watching through the seventh inning so we headed over a little early and just kept an ear out for THE song. We ran back to the seas to sing and who should we see but Sluggerrr. That sure made a little boy's evening. Unfortnately, mommy didn't take her camera. Noah did, though, so we have to settle for toddler-quality shots. I think you get the picture. (Pun intended.) As we were headed out, the Royals pulled off a miraculous comeback and won the game. Woo-hoo! Oops. Turns out someone has learned to delete photos from the camera, I guess. No more baseball pictures to be had. Sorry about that. You'll just have to imagine how adorable they were.

Eating Update

Shortly after my last post, we made a huge change in Abby's eating habits. After several nights of her crying for hours at bedtime and the absence of regular dirty diapers, I decided to try an experiment to see if regular store-bought food worked better on her tummy. I didn't realize just how little variety the baby food section offers, but we found enough to make a week's menu. It took her a few days to get used to the cereal options, but she then settled in nicely. I think she even started to enjoy breakfast. The homemade food got her used to chunkier food so we were able to try the stage 3 stuff right away. On occasion she gags, but really she has made the switch wonderfully. It was a little hard to pay out $30 for a week's food that I knew I could make for much less but I think her body did better with the store food. We also moved right in to table food. She will try EVERYTHING we put down for her and that is such a treat. The only thing we have found that she doesn't like, so far, is animal crackers. Go figure. But if that is the worst we have to deal with, we'll take it.

A Day at the Zoo

As luck would have it, today was one of Christopher's Fridays off. We opted to make the most of it. Christopher got up early and started on a yummy homemade breakfast. (How cute is that - cooking with the laptop at his fingers for the recipe?) The boys had other ideas, though. Noah had to start the day out with presents because he could stand it no longer. He got me a Snow White Barbie. He picked it out all by himslef and told me about it every chance he got between buying it and my birthday. When it was finally time for me to open it, I thought he was going to explode. Of course, I didn't get to see much of her after opening her as my sons took turns playing with her.

Next we packed a lunch, loaded up the family and headed to the zoo. It was a beautiful sun-shiny day and we thoroughly enjoyed our day outside. Noah wanted to see the Meerkats and Benjamin wanted to see the elephants. Check and check. Abigail just wanted to ride around in the stroller blowing raspberries. She did a great job at that. Benjamin even got to try his hand at feeding the birds. He did pretty well with it. Poor Benjamin did have one little accident, though. He tried ejecting himself from the stroller while it was in motion and landed on his head. It bled pretty good and I was amazed at how many people just walked right on by while we were trying to come up with something clean to wipe his head with while we were stranded in the middle of Africa. When we finally got to a bathroom and got him cleaned up, it turned out to be just a tiny cut, thank goodness. And once we got him cleaned up, he calmed down and we were able to finish the rest of the zoo.

Grandpa & Grandma Campbell had us over for dinner. Grilled steaks. Yum! I was lucky enough to score a new RED iPod, some new slipps, and a new John Denver CD. (It was hard to tell who was more excited, though. Me or the boys?) Benjamin had accident #2 when he and big brother collided and he got a bloody nose. Slowed down the wrestling for about 5 mintues. Save Benjamin's blood loss, it was a great way to spend my day!

Rock On!

Noah's friend Codey came over to play yesterday. After a long period of playing Knights and chasing down imaginary dragons, Codey found the drum set. To say he was taken with them would be an understatement. He had a great time playing away. And it never ceases to amaze me how kids just seem to know how to play all the drums, including the bass drum played with the foot. Surprisingly, Noah had no problem letting him play the drums and even picked up the guitar on occasion to accompany him. It didn't take long for Codey to request some real music that they could play along with. I asked if he had any requests and he thought for a moment then said, "Do you have the A B C's?" Luckily, I did. Although, I have to admit they were actually better at their rocking rendition of "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider". It was super cute when they were even singing along while they played. I do think this is a good sign, however, that we should definitely make sure our future house has a sound proof room for band practices.

9 Months

Nothing new to report this month - no new teeth, no crawling, no talking, no new tricks. Abby just continues to get cuter and cuter and we love her just a little more each day. (Hard to believe it's possible, I know, but she finds a way.) Well, I guess she did pull herself up for the first time. In the rocking chair. Just in time for her monthly photo shoot...

Abby's First Bad Hair Day

Not sure if it is good or bad but Abby has had her first recorded bad hair day. On the one hand, it's exciting because this means she actually has enough hair to get it messed up when she sleeps. On the other hand, it could mean that she is in for a really long life of messy hair days. At least she will always think she is making people happy! After all, who could look at this face and not smile??

Noah's Garden

Noah has quite the green thumb and always looks forward to the planting season. This year he got the notion that in addition to his regular flower bed, he would also like to plant some vegetables. I thought it sounded like fun so we headed to Home Depot and got some supplies. He picked carrots, pumpkins, radishes, corn, red peppers, and lettuce. We also picked up this little seed starter which I highly recommend, should you decide to try something like this. The kit came with little dirt circles for each of the holes. We just added water, let the dirt expand then stuck the seeds down inside. We might not have followed the seed number recommendations but how do you tell a four-year-old to put just ONE seed in each hole when they are so small you can barely see them? So, instead of one, we got more like 10. Better the chances for something growing, right? Oh, and if you are as impatient as Noah and I are with growing things, I highly recommend radishes. We planted them just before dinner and by the time I went to bed they had already sprouted! Also, with this little greenhouse thingy they are in, they are to stay nice and moist so we won't have to try to remember to water them regularly. An added bonus in this house. Now, in case you are wondering, when I asked Noah if he was going to actually eat the vegetables that he grew, I think he kind og chuckled when he said, "No. I just want to harvest them like Rabbit." At least now I know where he got the idea for the garden! Unfortunately, he also thinks we need to build a scarecrow to keep his corn safe. Wish us luck!

Mmm, Mmm, Good!

I think Abby is finally getting the hang of this eating thing. She has very definite ideas of WHEN she wants to eat but as long as I hit one of those, she'll take whatever I offer. Most times she even screams if you aren't feeding her fast enough. Due to some problems with her 'pipes' bananas have been banned. She has taken to mangoes in their place. However, if I had to guess, I might say asparagus is her favorite. Isn't that beautiful? I've decided the freezing food stuff might not be the way I want to go. The poor kid has been eating the same 4 foods forever because a batch makes so much. So, I decided just to make something at each meal that she can have. Tonight was a very big night for her as she had her first meat. I pureed some of our dinner for her - pork chops, potatoes, and red pepper. She gobbled it right down. Now if I would just get brave enough to give her the chunkier foods, we could be on the road to another little Benjamin. Keep your fingers crossed!