6 Months Later.....

Okay, so it's been a while since my last entry. Ah, six months to be exact. My how the time flies. Jay and Ian are growing by leaps and bounds. Let's see what have we been up to.......sleeping? No, that's not it. Laying around, taking it easy? Ah, not that either. Well, we are (I am) finally getting some sleep lately. Maybe the lack of sleep over the last 6 months could explain the long delay in updating the blog. Anyway, Jay is finally, for the most part, sleeping through the night. He still has a middle of the night or early morning waking, but is doing well over all. He is sleeping well enough that we have put the boys in the same room now. Ian is very excited about sharing a room with Jay. I think it is a good thing for all of us!

We got to visit KY/IN in March. We had a great time seeing everyone. Ian had a blast playing with Harrison and Ellie! It was so much fun watching them together. It's obvious they adore each other. We also got to have a play date with Jack and Jennifer. Ian and Jack did bounce time at SIGS and then we went back to Jen's for lunch. The kids a great time and I had fun catching up with Jennifer.

I was excited to get to introduce Jay to the family and friends as well. It seemed like he "woke up" while we were at home. He started jumping in the jumperoo, smiling and cooing more, and rolling over! We were away from Jim for 2 weeks and he couldn't believe how much Jay had changed in that short amount of time. It's amazing how quickly infants develop.

Jim made it in the last weekend we were there and was able to fly back with us. It was so nice to see all of our friends and family in Danville and Clarksville. It was a much needed escape from the LONG Vermont winter as well. We got a taste of Spring weather at home and had to come back to more cold weather in Vermont (Boo!). It was a great trip and we are looking forward to our next visit.

Easter was a good time this year. This was the first year that Ian really understood the concept of Easter and the Easter Bunny. We went to a community Easter Egg hunt at a local park. It was soooo cold! Ian found a few eggs and then got in line to see the Easter Bunny. Jay and I waited in the car while Ian and Jim thanked the Easter Bunny for all of the Easter Eggs. We didn't dress warm enough to spend an extended amount of time outside. We just aren't used to it being that cold on Easter! Ian was excited to find his basket on Easter morning too. The Easter bunny brought him lots of goodies, such as stickers, a couple of books, a new tooth brush, toothpaste and a few candies. (I think the bunny was concerned Ian's oral health!)

We celebrated Father's Day with fish and chips at Ri Ra's and by going on our first hike as a family. Ri Ra's was good, but it still isn't The Rover. As for our hike, we went to Mt. Phylo, just outside of Charlotte. I packed Jay in the Kelty carrier and Ian hiked up with some help from Jim. I was so proud of Ian. He did an awesome job hiking! It was 1.2 miles up the mountain and he made it all the way! We hung out at the top for a while, had some snacks, and enjoyed the views of Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. Ian was tired by the time we headed back down the mountain and Jim carried him part of the way. Jay did a great job too. He was so comfortable in his carrier that he fell asleep on the way back to the car. It was a perfect family day. I hope we can go on many more hikes this summer!


Like his 3 month mark, Jay's 6 month mark seems to be a big turning point for him as well. He is sleeping better (YAY!), eating some solids, sitting independently and becoming much more mobile. He is commando crawling, going between laying and sitting positions and doing modified push ups. I'm sure he will be walking in no time.

Ian is of course growing up as well. He speech and communication skills continues to develop. He is becoming very independent and is not shy to tell you about it. He loves to read, look at books and play with anything that has to do with a ball or wheels. He can't wait to be a big boy and ride a big boy bike! I am so glad summer is here and so we can get out. We all love to be outside. I am really enjoying our double jogger and my morning runs with the boys!

Christmas

Even though we were away from home, this was a special Christmas for us. It was the first Christmas for the four of us and it was the first year Ian has really been into Christmas and Santa. He loves talking about Santa and all the toys he brings for the good girls and boys. However, when we took him to the mall to see Santa, he was happy to just wave at him from afar. He wanted nothing to do with sitting in Santa's lap...........maybe next year.


Leading up to Christmas we had 2 big snow storms. I didn't see the official tally, but I think we had about 24 inches of snow. It was beautiful. I have never seen that much snow in my life. Ian only got to play in the snow a little bit since he had been sick, but he loved it when he was out there. Jim even made an igloo for him. Shadow and Sheba enjoyed jumping through the snow, but it was so deep it didn't take them long to tire out. I'm sure we will have many more opportunities to play in the snow this winter.


The snow set the perfect tone for Christmas. We did all of the traditional Christmas activities. We made iced sugar cookies for Santa and listened to Christmas music. (I think Ian ate more frosting than he put on his cookies.) He picked out 2 cookies for Santa and left them by the tree before he went to bed. We didn't tell him that Shadow ate the cookies while we were upstairs tucking him in. We also watched all of our Christmas "classics" like Christmas Vacation, Elf, Christmas Story, Charlie Brown, Rudolph and Frosty.


Ian was so excited Christmas morning. He came down the steps saying "yea, yea, yea." It was so cute. Santa brought him a Thomas train set and had it set up on the living room floor. There was barely room to walk. We quickly figured out that we need to invest in a train table if he is going to get any enjoyment out of the trains. It doesn't take a 2 year old long to disassemble a train track on the floor.
We did miss being with our family over Christmas, after all, that is the heart of the season. But it was a nice quiet Christmas for the four us. I want to say thanks again for all of the gifts everyone sent. We are so lucky to have such a loving family. I have to say with Ian's birthday and Christmas being so close together, he now thinks that the UPS guy and mailman are all about presents!

Ian's Birthday

It's hard to believe, but Ian turned 2! Where does the time go? Just 1 week after Jay was born, we celebrated Ian's 2nd birthday. We had a small get together with Grandma, and our neighbors Areilia, Deke and Cora. Deke is Ian's buddy and is about 6 mo. older than him. Deke's sister, Cora, is about 7 weeks older than Jay. They are all so close in age, I'm sure they will be best buds.

We got the bounce house out for the boys to play in and had pizza for supper. I made a "Thomas" birthday cake for Ian with "Birthday Thomas" on it. Ian LOVES birthday cake and ice cream. In fact, he now refers to all cake as birthday cake. One of his favorite gifts was the race car helmet and steering wheel. We all had a great time and I was glad that Jay chose an early arrival so I could be home to celebrate Ian's birthday with him!

Welcome Baby Jay!

This has to be our most exciting Thanksgiving to date. We welcomed Jay Andrew Campbell to the family on Thanksgiving Day. We went to the hospital around midnight on Wednesday and Jay arrived about 11 hours later at 11:11 am on Thanksgiving Day. He was almost 1 week early and weighed 8 lb 12oz and was 21 inches long. We were so happy to finally meet him and see that he was a healthy baby boy. We have so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.


Grandma was able to be here when Jay arrived. She was a huge help to us and stayed at home with Ian while we were at the hospital. Nana was also able to come up for a visit. I know both grandmothers were excited to meet their new grandson and to spend some time with Ian as well. Ian had a great time playing with Grandma and Nana and both spoiled him rotten while they were here.










Ian had a bit of a hard time adjusted to being a big brother at first but is doing much better now. It did not help that he had a stomach virus when Jay came home from the hospital. He followed that up with croup and then a cold. Poor guy had a lot going on at once. He is doing much better with Jay these days. He will say "that's okay baby Jay" when Jay cries. He also will take Jay a blankie or pacifier. We still have to keep a close eye on him because he still sneaks in the occasional kick to the swing or push/slap at Jay, but overall he doing much better. He is on his way to being a great big brother. I look forward to seeing these two boys grow up together. I can only imagine the trouble they will get into!