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!