4 Months Old!

I can't hardly believe Jack is already 4 months old...at 4:52 this afternoon!  He is such a sweet, good natured baby, smiling all day and talking to me.  He's getting to be such a big boy, trying to sit up if he's laying down, scooting all over the place, and if he's on his tummy he will push his whole bottom half into the air!  He has been rolling over for about a month now.  I love when I come into his room in the mornings and he's laying on his back looking up at me, always with a big gummy grin on his face!  He talks all the time now, he's hardly ever quite anymore and when he gets mad at me sometimes it sounds like a little MA sound is coming out.  I don't want him to grow up too fast, but I can't wait until he says mama for the first time!  He loves his big brother so much, when he sees Riley he can't stop smiling and he talks up a storm.  He normally has his last bottle any time between 8 and 10, just depending on when he's eaten that day, so he still gets up around 4 or 5 some nights, but he has also slept until 7 in the morning.  I can't wait until he's sleeping all night long, I don't remember what a good nights rest feels like!  He loves to swing, sit in his Bumbo and watch me cook, go for walks in his stroller (he loves to be outside) and sit propped up on our legs and talk to us.  His favorite noise is the "dove sound" and likes hearing me and Dad make that sound, and he always makes it back.  That was Riley's favorite sound too!  He has made our lives complete and we love every minute of being Jack's Mommy and Daddy - even at 4 in the morning!

He has the sweetest gummy grin I've ever seen!

And he loves his swing...for about 10 minutes.

I love this look - like a deer caught in the headlights!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I'm not too crazy about this maroon business, but Daddy loves it!

I know I'm a week (and a couple of days) early, but I probably won't be posting again until after all the festivities are over.  We went to a play at the high school last night (The Music Man), a couple of our youth group were in it, and it was a lot of fun!  Danny and Tanner did a great job, Danny was the male lead and Tanner was the only one from the middle school choir who had a speaking part, so we were so proud of them both!  About 1/3 of our members were there, and half of them weren't even related to the two guys...these are such great people!

Saturday afternoon my parents are heading here and we're taking Riley on the little bayou tour then they're going to stay the night with us and hear Tim preach on Sunday morning...we're all really looking forward to their visit!  After lunch on Sunday the littlest boys and I are going home with them to spend all of Thanksgiving week and Tim will be heading there after Wednesday night church.  Thanksgiving day we will get to see all of my Mom's family and it's always so much fun when we're all together!  That weekend Tim has got something planned for me - I keep asking, hoping he'll forget and answer me, but he never does :)  Whatever it is, I know it will be a lot of fun and I'm really excited about it!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and a safe holiday!
Love, The Campbell Family

TO: Mamaw and Papaw

Dear Mamaw and Papaw,
     We love you so much!  And not just because you buy us stuff and take us places.  Even though we really like going to Atwood's and Taco Casa and Wal-Mart.  We love you because you treat us both super special, give us both our own attention and you never play favorites.  We know you love us more than anyone else (except for my Mom and Dad) and we think you're the best grandparents that any kids could over have.  We love you!
Love, Riley and Jack

Mamaw with Jack the day after he was born.

Papaw with Jack, also the day after he was born.

Mamaw with Riley on the last day of Kindergarten.

With Papaw outside one of their rental properties.

What is it about baby boys in overalls? (Thanks for those Mamaw!)

The two most beautiful Campbell boys ever!

And just because this is hilarious:  This is where Jack started out...

...and this is where he ended up!

Happy Halloween

We have all had such a great time for Halloween this year!  This is the first time we've lived somewhere where it was feasible to trick or treat, apartment complexes aren't great for that.  First, we went to the Fall Festival that was downtown in the historic district.  They had a cake walk, trunk or treating, face painting, free food, a little "train ride" and games with prizes.  Riley had a wonderful time, and the rest of us did too.  Once it cooled off a little more we headed back downtown to trick or treat with friends from church and their little boy and they had the best time.  Riley got a pumpkin full of candy (no candy corn though, so I was disappointed!) and even won a cake on the cake walk.  He declared it the best Halloween ever!

Marshal Deadwood

Howdy pardner

Mom with her little Marshal

She cackled, stirred in her cauldron and talked - he thought it was very cool.

He was totally in character and so funny!

Boo Bones

And Mom with her sweet little skeleton!

On a totally different not, I finally saw Jack roll over! He's been doing it for almost 3 weeks now and was such a stinker. Any time I tried to record it, or even watch, he would play possum and just lay there like he couldn't do it. I still can't get him to let me record it, but at least I finally saw. And he is also laughing now, but he won't do it very often. Mostly he just laughs at his ceiling fan :)

This just makes my whole day!

Another year has come and gone...

married to my wonderful husband!

Today marks our third anniversary and it's been a fantastic three years.  Friday afternoon we all drove to my parents house in Greenville, unloaded all the stuff you have to take for a baby and 6 year old boy, and got ready.  Neither one of us really wanted to drive all the way to Dallas in dressy clothes!  Tim took me to The Melting Pot in Addison - it's our anniversary tradition.  We went on our honeymoon and have been for all 3 anniversaries.  I know a lot of people think, "why would I want to pay to eat somewhere where I have to cook my own food?", but it's an experience you can't get anywhere else and we both have so much fun there.  Then we got to spend the night at the Hilton, with no kids to take care of, no homework to do, or dishes to clean up!  Saturday morning we went to Dunkin' Donuts, there aren't any within 50 miles of Jefferson, so it was a nice treat.  Tim loves their coffee and I had been dying to try the pumpkin muffin and latte - I love anything and everything pumpkin.  After that we headed to the Galleria to visit Gymboree (I finally found a specific outfit from their website for Jack I had been wanting) and Victoria's Secret.  I could go into major debt shopping at either of those places!  Then, it was back to Greenville to see our beautiful boys and spend a little time with my family.  But, before we headed home we got to have dinner with them at Tim's favorite mexican restaurant (thanks for our anniversary dinner Mom and Dad). 

Tonight, I cooked one of Tim's favorite meals: manicotti with grean beans and cheesy garlic bread.  He loves Italian, and I love homemade Italian, so it's always a hit at our house.  After church we'll share some sparkling red grape juice, just another dorky tradition that we have!

Tim, I love you now more than when I said "I Do", and that was the best decision I've ever made.  You're a wonderful husband, father, provider and minister.  I thank God every night that I have such an amazing, loving, and attentive husband.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

3rd anniversary at The Melting Pot

And just for good measure, here are the pumpkins we carved last Tuesday.  The scary werewolf is mine and Tim's and the smaller happy face is Jacks.

And this is Riley's.  He got to pick out his and Jack's pumpkins and he chose the face for his by himself.  He did a great job!

Pumpkin Patch and Fall Pics

We took our first trip to a pumpkin patch as a family of 4 this afternoon.  I got lots of great pictures of Riley, but none of Jack by himself that were any good.  The only one's with him in them are where Riley is holding him.  Jack was 3 months old on Sunday, I can't believe how quickly it's flown by!  He holds his head up very well, people at church are always commenting on how well he does that, and he's been doing that for over a month and a half now.  I think he might be really strong like Riley, which may not be good for me!  He is rolling over, but he won't do it where I can catch it on camera.  He also won't smile and talk for me if he sees the camera anywhere near my face.  As I'm typing this he's laying in his crib, and I can hear him cooing and talking and every now and then I hear a THUD.  He likes to raise both legs in the air and smack them against the crib mattress.  He also likes to lay on the floor in his room and laugh at the ceiling fan.  He does NOT like being on his stomach, unless he's sleeping, but I torment him and make him lay on his tummy mat anyway.

Riley was on the A honor roll the first 6 weeks of school and we are so proud of him, he especially loves math and science (where did he get that?  Not from me!) and he's reading very well now.  His teacher is pretty tough, but I think it's good for him.  He's already doing spelling - I do not remember doing spelling tests in the 1st grade - and he's gotten a 100 on all but one of them, and he got a 90 on it.  We are so proud that he's adjusted to a new house, school, church and teacher so well.

Here are the pictures from the pumpkin patch, plus some others that I took around town.  We want to get family pics done after Thanksgiving and I'm really looking forward to that! 

Pictures...and pork

I love watching The Food Network, especially 30 Minute Meals and Diners, Drive-In's and Dives.  I've never had too much luck cooking any of the recipes I've seen, they tend to have too many ingredients I don't normally buy, or be super complicated!  But Cooking For Real had 2 recipes on one night that I thought looked good - a cornbread upside down cake (not impressed) and Apple Cider Chicken, which looked so delicious.  I bought the ingredients for it and gave it a go, but I substituted  pork tenderloin for the chicken, mostly because I'm tired of it.  It had an onion, 2 apples, cinnamon, nutmeg, cilantro, and salt.  You cook it til the onions are soft, add in the cider, then the meat and once its cooked stir in some flour to thicken the sauce.  It was so great, but next time I will use Granny Smith instead of Gala's because the tartness will be better - and I'll try it with the chicken.  I had mine with spagetti squash, but the guys ate it with rice.  Although Tim tried the squash and deemed it acceptable.  It's worth trying if you like apples - you can comment and I'll send you the recipe. 

Now what you really come here for....pictures!

I love that he loves his baby brother!

He scoots pretty well on his belly...

Gotcha!

I know it's mean but he was trying SO hard to get the porcupine in his mouth.