Christmas 2010- "A Comedy of Errors"?!!?

Hello and Happy New Year! I trust that all of you had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. A time to reflect, not on your lack of funds from all the shopping, but the true reason for Christmas. Christ's birth.

As the title would suggest, ours was, well, interesting... and stressful. As seen below, Campbell is exhibiting how we all FELT, but Ryan and I tried not express in pictures. It goes without saying that our little family Christmas picture will not be framed this year.



Yours truly had a sinus infection, Campbell had 1. Croup 2. An ear infection 3. Temp of 102 (sometimes +) and 4. A virus. And, the sweet hubby had poison ivy ALL over that no amount of cortisone, Calomine lotion or steroid injections would heal! So, after a house call from a pediatrician friend of mine, an extra Z-pack from my Dad, and another prescription of anti-itch meds from the local doc-in-the-box, we were back in full swing. A big shout out to my poor parents who probably should've worn masks to combat our little family's germs, but endured and offered LOTS of help and TLC. Below is the "pink meddy" of choice and our new, current favorite DVD that we hear around here about 16 times a day. (Thank you, Mimi).




Despite all of the illness, a Christmas Eve fender bender with my father-in-laws' car, and me breaking my parents' washing machine with one of Campbell's mittens, it was a wonderful holiday. Atlanta provided us with a WHITE CHRISTMAS! Campbell scored mucho loot from both sides of the family! The hubby gave me a KINDLE and my 1st pair of real DIAMOND earrings! We got to play with my sisters' yellow Lab PUPPY (or "huppy" as Campbell says)!





We didn't get alot of pictures on the actual DAY, but the fun continues around here as toys, Cozy Coups, grocery carts, light-up puzzles, Mardi Gras beads and stuffed animals crowd our house.




Here's to a great start (and germ-free) 2011...

Have You Ever?!

Oh, how this pumpkin melts my very heart.




One of these days, I will catch up with the goings-on from this holiday season. It's been a busy one so far, and we can't wait to celebrate with both sides of our family here in AL and in GA... for now, here are some pics of the sweetest and most hilarious little one south of the Mason Dixon. (are we south of the Mason Dixon?)

Thanksgiving turkey--




Me with Campbell, Mindee (my SIL) and youngest cousin, Cate.-





Learning how to "smile" for pictures--




Love to all my little readers out there in blogworld! I pray that you each are experiencing a special and Joyous Christmas season so far...

My Favorite Things...

In honor of the recent Oprah episode on her "Favorite Things", I thought I would give you some tid-bits on Campbell's current favs via pictures... PS-- can you believe how much STUFF Oprah gives away?!? I would totally be 'that person' who has to be resuscitated by the paramedics from hyperventilation. But, that is neither here nor there.

Here we go:
1. Dressing up in Mommy's clothes... or for lack of better title "putting Mommy's panties on my head or around my neck".





2. Chillin' on her potty, or in her words "the bobby". (She WILL kill me for these pics when she is 16). We still haven't gotten the timing down, but at least she's interested, right?




3. Loving on her BFF, O'Malley. Her favorite spot to drink her milk, in the crook of his tummy. Ahh, ultimate safety.



4. Still lining up the friends, but now strategically placing them so they can watch TV.


5. Reading. Anything. Daddy has a go, then Mommy follows up with the same story. Over and over and over again.




And, .6 is coming. I have to break out the videocamera for this one. Oh, the incessant dancing. Stay tuned.

Photo Shoot a la Sister;)

A few weekends ago, Campbell and I ventured to Atlanta. Ry had to work down here in Daphne, so we made it a girls' trip as I had a 2-day conference and Campbell had some cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparents to play with. So, my beautiful and talented sister (who I think may need to take her hobby to the next level), took Campbell out for a photo shoot. These are the results...





Heather, thank you for showing our sweet little girl in her best light-- smiling and joyous about life! We love you, Headee!:)

A GRRREAT Weekend!

First off, a big WAAARRRRRRR EAGLE out to blogworld! I am so proud of my Alma Mater and it's so much fun to have a good season! Ok, I had to get that out of my system.;)

We had a wonderful Fall weekend with a fun night of Trick-or-Treatin' to wrap it up. Funny that I am blogging this "late" (it's 8:30pm), but I am one of "those parents" who has raided their child's candy while they peacefully slumber, and I am now hopped up on some major sugar! So, here we go to update.

During some football half-times, Ryan and Campbell made up a new, redneck-esque pasttime out in the backyard. When you don't have a wagon to ride in, what do you do? Yes, folks. You ride on Dada's COOLER!





Campbell has started placing all her "friends" on the couch, table, bed, whereever to read to, talk to, laugh at, or whatever tickles her fancy at the time. This morning, I was making my coffee and rounded the corner to this sweet girl doing more of her new favorite activity...



And last, but not least... we enjoyed a fun time trick-or-treating in our quiet neighborhood. This LADYBUG saw some of her neighborhood friends and strutted her stuff in her new patent leather MaryJanes. Midway to house one, however, she preferred Dada to "hold me, hold me".







Happy Fall, y'all!

PS-- if any of you SIX readers should care, stay tuned for a post with AMAZING pics from my sweet sister who had a photo session with my sweet pea!

Makin' Dada Proud!

You can imagine Ryan's joy and delight when we rounded the corner and saw this...



Yes! A Viking Hat, reading Sports Illustrated.
(At least the olive green fabric you see around her is one of MY shirts. She's not 100% tomboy..)

Time. Where have you gone!?

I can't believe that our girl is 18 months old! How is that possible? Please don't mind this little photo montage (sp?). While we were in the garden tub "bathing Mommy's clothes", I could not resist snapping some pics of this curly-haired little lady! (I guess I now see how desperately I need to paint our bathroom after seeing the stark white-ness! Ha!)

Campbell is growing up before our eyes. She has got an incredible sense-of-humor, which if you know Ryan, is NOT a surprise! She has a great belly laugh, tries out new words and combinations all day, and is a huge ball of energy. She is a bit of a tom-boy and would live outside if she could. She still loves O'Malley and goes anywhere he does. She loves to talk to her "Ninah", "Doe Doe", "Mad Mad" and "Annie" on Skype and will grab my hand, dragging me to the computer to do so. She LOVES to look at pictures of family members and books-- she has even started trying to "read to us" in her own language while turning the pages. She loves her grandparents and HAS to say each of their names before she lets me get her out of the crib in the morning. She is not crazy about meat, but LOVES cheese, just like her Mama:) In general, she is an absolute love-bug and a joy to be around. We feel so blessed to have been entrusted with her precious life and to share God's amazing creation with her. I think we'll keep her.