Swimming!

For months I've wanted to take "mom and baby" swim lessons but I didn't know where. Our friend told us about Love Swimming, and we immediately signed up. Campbell and I have been taking lessons since the end of September, and we love it. Campbell's favorite part is jumping in (more like wiggling and plopping in) from the side of the pool. My favorite part is the heated, salt water pool that feels awesome at 7 months pregnant. Least favorite part... putting on a maternity swimsuit every Saturday!

Big breath! Close those eyes and mouth!

Kick Campbell kick!

YEA! Way to go C Man!

Dallas Visit

First weekend in October we went to Dallas to see family and attend our first football game with Campbell. With baby #2 arriving in January, we won't be traveling to Dallas for Christmas this year, so our October trip was like our trip to Dallas for "the holidays." We had lots of fun seeing everyone and as always wish we could have spent more time visiting with everyone.

Campbell just learned his first word that week before our trip - "duck." So we tried to see as many ducks as we could. We visited Lakeside park and fed the ducks. We saw the ducks at Northpark. And my favorite duck sighting... as we walked into the fair grounds for the TX/OU game, Campbell saw giant "duck" shaped boats on the lagoon and exclaimed duck...duck...duck over and over again. He also started saying snack and learned uh-oh while we were in Dallas. Brad and I were endlessly amused at asking funny questions and waiting for Campbell to reply with "uh-oh." Needless to say we are having so much fun with our toddler and are amazed every day with all that he learns.

Whoa! Close to the ducks!

Campbell trying to get closer to the action at Northpark!

Ready for my first football game!

Checking out the petting zoo at the Texas State Fair! Of course we saw ducks. And a Longhorn!

If only Texas had been so tough. Our seats were right behind the cannon, so we spent the first half hanging out in the concessions area. [Dad said no to sitting by the cannon with Campbell's little ears!] Then it was nap time...

Busy morning at the fair = exhausted Campbell!

Super cool necklace Aunt Jessica.

Cool fountain Paw-Paw. I wonder if any ducks are in there.

We're Walking

Campbell has been taking little steps for the past few weeks, but during brunch on Sunday August 28th, he walked (while holding on to my hands) from our table to the kitchen and back! We were so excited. Since then he has been totally focused on walking. He raises his hands and squawks to say "give my your index fingers I want to walk across the house!" We've taken some videos with our camera, but of course the files are too large to upload here. As soon as I figure out how to get the video uploaded, I'll add it. In the meantime, here are some new pics of the little monkey!

Campbell loves to help Waylon eat his food! Now if only Campbell would eat his own food!

Saturday morning breakfast!

Way to pre-wash that spoon before loading into dishwasher. Such a great helper!

I love my music table! And now I use it to walk around the living room.

Birthday Surprises!

I love birthdays! And I love surprises! So this year we combined the two. More on that in a minute. Campbell turned one on Monday, July 11th. We celebrated his birthday with family and friends and a party on Saturday July 9th. Grandparents and Campbell's aunt Whitney made the trip to New Orleans to help us celebrate. Our house now looks like Campbell's daycare room with all the gifts he received. That's one lucky boy!

As much as I love little surprises like when Brad brings me flowers for no reason, or unexpected phone calls from great friends or when Campbell bursts out giggling just because, at my core, I'm a planner. I like being prepared and planning helps me to feel prepared. The more I plan, the more prepared I am. And yet, Brad and I have had so many wonderful surprises in our life together. I would have never planned to live in San Antonio , Nashville or New Orleans, and yet I have treasured each experience we have had and the friends we have made along the way.

So the biggest surprise of all. Our friend Amber suggested how to announce the surprise, and I have to admit it was great. As we opened gifts during his birthday party, Campbell's first gift from mom and dad was his first coloring book, his first package of crayons and a onesie that reads "This Little Monkey is Going to be a Big Brother." That's right, we're giving Campbell a sibling! It took the grandparents several minutes to read the onesie, apparently no one heard me when I read it out loud. But once they got it, there were screams and cheering.

According to Katherine's Master Plan, we were going to start trying for our second little one in January to optimally space the kiddos about two years apart. What do you know... I'm due in January. So we're 9 months ahead of schedule in my master plan. You would think by now I would have figured out that I'm not actually in control of the master plan. All I hoped for in life was a happy marriage and a large family. I am blessed to have an adoring husband who's an awesome dad, and now our family is growing. Sounds like a great plan to me!

Our photographer (Brad's mom) was a little shaken by the news. She was so excited that our picture is a little blurry, but you can read the Big Brother part.

Happy Birthday son!

A monkey cake for our little monkey! Test cake looked terrible. Second cake turned out much better!

Wow... That Kid Can Dance

As Campbell continues to grow and develop, it's so amazing to see so much of myself and Brad in him. Becoming a parent has been such a reflective experience, and I have loved every minute of it.

To that point, I love dancing, all dancing, any time, any where. Growing up I took ballet, tap and jazz. At first because "I was made to" then because "I wanted to." I loved it. And when I hear a great song with a great beat, I just can't help myself. I dance in the car, I dance in our house, I dance at the grocery store. Yes you heard me correctly... at the grocery store. It cracks Brad up. Our Whole Foods plays awesome music, and I routinely find myself jamming out while cruising the aisles. It apparently cracks other people up too. One time I was in my own world, rocking out while walking down the chip aisle. I got to the end of the row and looked up to see this guy laughing. He agreed that Whole Foods played great music, but I guess I was the only one actually dancing to it.

So, this week at daycare, Ms. Gloria has had lots to tell us about Campbell's dancing. When Campbell and I arrived yesterday morning, she had to know whether or not we had instruments at home. Campbell loves music, especially live music. One of his teachers (Ms. Annie) is a former musician, and she routinely brings her guitar and/or harmonica to play for the kids. This week she played her harmonica, and Campbell jammed down with her. He was dancing so hard in his chair that Ms. Gloria could hear his back slapping the back of his chair. Every time Ms. Annie stopped playing, Campbell would lose it. She would continue playing, and he would keep dancing!

The funniest part to me is that he loves the same kind of music that Brad and I listen to. Ms. Gloria continued to explain that Campbell is bored to tears with all the baby tunes. While all the other kids smile and enjoy Row, Row your Boat, Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, etc., our little man prefers jamming to the radio. And he dances any where, just like me. During Easter Brunch, as we sat on the patio, Bob Marley started playing through the speakers. Next thing we know Campbell is dancing away in his highchair. I wish I had it on video! As soon as I get some of his moves on camera, I'll be sure to post them.

Dress Like Dad!

In honor of Dad, daycare had a "dress like dad" day the Friday before Father's Day. I had seen cute baby scrubs on the internet and at friends' baby showers, but had never bought a pair for Campbell. So that Thursday night I decided to make a pair of scrubs for Campbell. Brad participated in the project by suppling old scrubs and getting my sewing machine out of the attic.

After Campbell went to bed (yea for early bed times!) I used a pair of his pants and a t-shirt to draw and cut out a template on Brad's scrubs. Then the sewing started. I had never made clothes before, so I just sewed and checked measurements as I went. By the end of the night, I had created one pair of pants and one shirt. I was dying to know whether or not they would fit, but alas, I would have to wait till the morning.

They fit! Barely. I didn't have any spare elastic at the house, so I used a drawstring from one of Brad's pants to create the drawstring for Campbell's pants. Campbell is a super commando crawler and the drawstring was no match for keeping his pants up. But at least he looked cute and we got great pictures!

Parent's Day

I'm a little behind on my blog updates. I wanted to get these Mother's Day photos up awhile ago. So we're doing a combined Mother's/Father's day post...

We had a great first Mother's Day. Church, brunch at Emeril's, a walk in the park, all in all a wonderful day. Little man was such a ham all morning, laughing at everything. He had a great time at brunch, sitting in his highchair like a pro, munching on Emeril's delicious cornbread muffins. Then passed out on the car ride home. We all enjoyed a post-brunch nap! Then we broke out my gift from Campbell, a BOB stroller, and headed to the park. Now Campbell and I can cruise the park in style and with great shock absorbers.

For Father's day, we celebrated by sleeping in - way to go Campbell on being sleepy. Then we had a great brunch at Superior. Dad enjoyed the afternoon playing golf with his new clubs and then we all went swimming. Looking forward to celebrating many more mom and dad days!

Like Son Like Dog

I'm not intentionally trying to compare our son to our labrador, but the similarities are striking especially since Campbell has started to army crawl (he's finally started to abandon the roll).

On one of his first trips across the house, he found the pups water bowl, and the splashing commenced.

Unfortunately, no picture of Waylon actually splashing in his water bowl, but that kitchen floor would be soaked.

Found the golf clubs!

Happy Easter

I love Easter. I love getting dressed up and going to a packed church service. I love hearing all my favorite songs and singing with more gusto than I normally do (because there are more people in the church to drown out my off-key voice). I love the sermon and message of Easter. What I don't love is how commercial it's all become.

Campbell and I just happened to be at Target the Saturday before Easter. Trips to Target are not a weekly event for us, more like an every two months kind of event. But we needed new PJs for c-man, and we were already near the store. The studio where we had Campbell's Easter photo taken was in the same area. As we made our way through the masses to the kids section of Target, we had to pass the Easter section. Seasoned moms and grandmoms, were in a tizzy buying baskets, candy and plastic eggs. I stopped for a moment to check out the scene, when a mom started commenting on how cute Campbell was. She continued, "oh, I know it's so hard the first year to buy Easter presents because you don't know what they want. I promise it will get easier next year when he can tell you what he wants!"

Excuse me? I was nearly speechless. When did Easter become Christmas part II? I smiled and sheepishly picked up a brightly dyed blue basket. I proceeded to grab a bag of eggs. Gifts? Was I supposed to buy Easter gifts? Ok, cookies for Brad and I to share. An iTunes gift card for Brad. Well, what's the point of buying a basket if you're not going to fill it. Campbell's gift? I finally made it to the kids section. The area normally reserved for all my favorite Carter's clothes was taken over by rack after rack of frilly dresses. PJs? I hunted for several minutes for boys pjs and finally found one size 12 month - Monster Beach Bash pjs will have to do.

I checked out, made it back to the car, loaded everything up when it hit me. I was just peer pressured into buying Easter presents for my entire family. I better do my Christmas shopping this summer or I'll be toast come November!

Campbell after his Easter portrait was taken. He was fascinated with all the lights we could not get him to smile!

Oh, mom. You dressed me up in this silly outfit again!

Church was too much for little man. Passed out during the sermon.

Post church family picture!

On our way to brunch! Yummy brunch at Dante's with friends.