Visit from the Rogers

Our good friends, Chris, Cassidy, and Caeleigh Rogers, came to visit this weekend. Rogers (Chris) was Russ's best man and they have been close friends of ours since about the time we started dating. Caeleigh was born in January and this was our first time to meet her. What a doll! We had a great time of hanging out and catching up.

6 month-old Caeleigh was VERY interested in getting her hands on Campbell.

I snapped a few pictures of Caeleigh for her mommy and daddy.

Campbell's Yamy

Campbell has a wonderful Aunt Amy (or Yamy), her mommy's big sister. Yamy is so in love with Campbell and she feels the same way about her!

Here are a few of their moments.

Smiley!

We have had the most difficult time capturing that sweet smile on camera.

We finally got a great one!

Mobile

Campbell is a big fan of ceiling fans. She could watch the fan all day. She smiles at it and talks to it. She does not, however, have one in her room because she has a chandelier. She looks at it some, but is not so interested, as it does not "do" anything movement-wise. She has not had a mobile either, because I could never find one that I liked enough to put in her beautiful room (I have really good priorities as a parent, don't I?). Thanks to a fabulous idea and some supplies from her MiMi and GiGi, I created this one for her yesterday.

As you can see, she loves it.

She did it!

Campbell has been a very good sleeper for about the past month and a half, but we have still been getting up once a night. She kept gradually getting later (3:30, 4:00, 4:30). The past week she has gotten up at 5:30 every night (goes to bed between 9 and 9:30). We loved the new amount of sleep, but it made it difficult for me to feed her at 6:30 the days I go to work. Yesterday night she slept from 9:30-6:30 and last night from 9:30-7:00!

We thought this day would never come!!

Here's the smiley girl this morning.


In other "she did it" news, Aunt Nik graduates with her Master's in Counseling today from University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. This is a long, fairly difficult program (I know) and not only did she get through it, she did it while commuting an hour to school and having a baby in the middle of all of it. We are so proud of her!

Before our eyes

The other night I was sitting in the living room folding laundry while Campbell laid on her activity mat (you know, the pad on the floor that has an arch of toys attached to it). She has just recently gotten to where she likes to spend a little time on it. She has not, however, made any attempt to play with the toys, beyond the occasional bump of a toy by her little flailing arms and legs.

As I sat and watched her, she reached her tiny hand up and touched one of the hanging toys. It was the first time I have seen her intentionally reach for something with her hand. She continued to study the toys with such intensity. I have never been so amazed at such a simple thing. To watch her slowly begin to comprehend that those hands belong to her, and to see her studying something other than a person, blew me away.

I started to think about how incredible it is to watch her change in front of our eyes and to see her take developmental steps like that made me think about what it will be like as she grows to know the Lord. How amazing will it be to see her begin to comprehend God's love for her, to see her begin to experience the fullness, freedom, and love He desires for us, for her, to live. I pray that God would give Russ and I the clarity to see her take those spiritual strides, as clearly as I saw her understanding change that night.

What a week!

This past week was filled with a lot of "firsts", milestones, and general craziness for our little family.

Sunday we made it back from our first road trip to Waco. Mid-trip, Russ and I made the decision to move Campbell from the bassinet in our room into her own room. This was a great move for all. She sleeps much better, as do we, now that she is in the quiet of her own room.
We decided we had to purchase a video monitor to feel comfortable with her in another room. Best purchase we ever made. Russ even hooks it up to the TV sometimes.

Monday Campbell reached two months old. Time sure flies. We took her for her two month appt/immunizations. Immunizations did not make her a happy baby. The rest of the day was basically like this....
We already knew she was a big girl, but we were astonished that she weighs 13 pounds and is 25 inches long. She is basically the size of 4 month old.

Tuesday I went back to work. God has graciously paved the way for me to work part-time (3 days per week). Since Russ is still on summer vacation, he is home with her for now. There are no pictures of these three days, because it is basically a blur for both of us. I have a new respect for working mothers...those three days wiped me out!

It was nice to get back to somewhat of a normal schedule again, but by Thursday night I was so ready to be home with my sweet girl again. Friday we worked on getting ready for a baby shower we were having at our house on Sunday (and I fought a cold). Saturday we went to Aunt Amy and Uncle Drew's house to work on a special project for our new cousin, Preston, who will be arriving in September. Sunday we hosted a baby shower for the Bartlings, a sweet couple in our small group. They are expecting Baby Girl #2 in September. Campbell was a great hostess.

Needless to say, Sunday night we crashed! We did manage to take some pictures of family time though.