Their First Date

Last night our church hosted a Father/Daughter Dance. Russ and Campbell had their first official date. I photographed the dance, so I was lucky enough to spy on my favorite couple!

Some pictures of the sweet couple getting ready for their night out.

At the dance. They didn't actually dance much, as Campbell was more interested in climbing on and off chairs and eating cookies.

And she's done. This girl turns into a pumpkin at 7:00 pm.

Gorgeous

I figured I haven't done a good job updating on CRK's current development/extreme cuteness. I like doing it, if for no reason other than me to look back on.

Campbell at 21 months:

*Talking more and more everyday. About a month ago she had a language explosion. Prior to 20 months she said quite a few words, however a lot of the time she would just say the first half of the word ("ri" for rice, "che" for cheese) . All of the sudden it was as if something clicked and her language increased about 300%. She says the full word for everything now, is putting together short sentences ("dada car out"), and learns new words and phrases at an unbelievable rate. Literally last week she said her full name for the first time ("Cam-uell"). This week she mastered saying it correctly AND yesterday I asked her what her name is and she said "Campbell Rose King". Brilliant.

*She looks so much like her daddy that sometimes it is startling to me. Something about that mouth closed over those big teeth, she makes the exact same facial expression as him when she is looking serious.

*She has a lot of hair for a one year old. She frequently looks like a mop-top.

*She has recovered weight-wise and has become a really good eater. Since she was released from the hospital, she has gained almost 7 pounds. I was looking back at pictures from when we at TCH and the difference is amazing. Praise God for such a healthy girl!

*As sweet as ever. She loves to be cuddled, loves to sit in my lap in the rocking chair and read books, gives TONS of hugs and kisses, and often tells me "Mama, hold you, carry you". When she was a baby I was so sad she wouldn't always be as cuddly as a newborn. God definitely heard my prayers and gave me a little girl who loves to hug and cuddle a thousand times a day.

*Loves her babies (Jo and Steph Reagan) and carries them around a lot. Lately she has been putting her little purse on her shoulder and pushing her baby around in the stroller a lot.

*Campbell's first words (after "hi!") were the names of people she loves. Mama, Da-da, Mimi, Da, Yamy, Drew, La-La, Greg, Grandma, Paw-paw, Gigi, and Bob-bob are her favorite things to talk about. She also loves her friends, Miss-miss, Spencer, Ellison, Shan, Dude, Drew, Kate, Nik, J, Elle, Ry-Ry, and Jenny. She requests to pray for someone different every night (although many times it is Uncle Drew and someone else). We also sing a version of "Wheels on the Bus" that is personalized with people she loves (the Mimi on the bus says "I made some rice" and the Yamy on the bus says "take my picture"). It's by far her favorite song and she is constantly adding people.

Obviously I could talk about her all day, because she does so many things that are precious, that make us laugh, and that make her so uniquely her. We love her.

This and That

Some current happenings, in the form of a list...

1. This weekend my good friend/next-door neighbor, Missy, hosted a Valentine's Baking Day. Since they moved in (two years ago next month! How faithful was God in delivering such a precious friend to me!), Missy has kept us well-feed, challenged my cooking abilities, and introduced us to a world of new recipes. Saturday she had some girls over for baking time. In true Missy-fashion, it was very organized and very cute (that about sums her up to me :). The end result was a TON of sweets and getting to know some new girls. Thanks Miss!


2. We had a great time watching the Superbowl with friends. Thank you to the Bortkas for hosting us again this year. I use the word "watching" very loosely, as the girls sat in another room and talked, which I would gladly choose any day over watching football!

3. Speaking of the Bortka's, I did a session with them on Saturday morning. Erin bought Adam a session for as Christmas, as they haven't had any pictures made together since they got married. It was not only so fun, but I'm pretty sure this might be one of the best sessions I've ever shot. It's easy when your subjects are so willing and attractive!

4. We went to a 100th day party with Russell's staff from school on Friday night (apparently I'm not going in chronological order here). Most of the staff knew Russ to be pretty reserved, which is the norm, since he takes a couple of years to warm up to people (love you baby!). If you've ever seen Russ dance, you know that there is nothing reserved about his dancing. He is crazy. And hilarious. And awesome. By the time we left the party, the staff as a whole was in shock. I can't imagine the reaction he has gotten at school the past few days.

5. We had a follow-up at Texas Children's today with CRK's renal doctor. Her blood pressures have been a bit high. Not alarmingly high, but trending on the very high side of what is acceptable. Dr. Kale is going to raise the dosage of her medication a little and see if that decreases the pressures. She said we may need to order an ultrasound to look at her artieries, particularly the spot that was previously opened up in surgery. She mentioned that they may need to go back in surgically to re-balloon the spot or others. We are praying that God would decrease her blood pressures and she would respond to the increase in medication.

6. My heart has been heavy for the Marsh family and sweet Layla Grace. According to Shanna's twitter, they spoke with the doctor today about hospice options. Please pray for this family as they prepare to say goodbye to their daughter.

7. It is certainly a lot easier to blog when you don't include pictures!

Unanswered Questions

If I have not written much of anything regarding Campbell's hospitalization in the two months since we have been home, it is largely because I, and Russ and I together, have spent much of this time processing. Processing what we have gone through. Processing the changes God has initiated in us as a result of this trial. Processing the miracle God has given us.

I have struggled over the last few months as I have sought to understand so many things. Why did God spare Campbell? How do I respond now? Some of our responses have been automatic. We came out of this situation knowing that we wanted to be people who gave more, who were there when others were hurting - regardless of how comfortable it was or was not. I vowed to not use that phrase "let me know what I can do", but rather be one who simply did (as I will never stop being grateful for those who did for us when we most needed it).

And yet there are deeper things, deeper questions. I have no doubt that the Sovereign God has plans that I do not understand. I have no doubt that while here on this earth there will be unanswered questions, there will be things we don't understand. And yet I feel the need to make some sense, to have some reasoning as to why God, my God who knows all and is above all, chose to give Campbell the chance to live a full and normal life.

Today our friends, Ryan and Shanna Marsh, were told that their precious two year-old daughter has two months to live. Having been treated for an aggressive form of cancer since May 2009, Layla has undergone surgeries, chemotherapy, radiation, and a bone marrow transplant. After reviewing her recent scans, doctors found new tumors had formed despite all of the treatment.

Shanna and I knew each other in high school and were on drill team together. Up until several months ago, I had not seen her since shortly after high school graduation. After Layla got sick, I got back in touch with her to see if there was anything we could do to help them. This past fall I got involved with planning a fundraiser with several other girls, to raise money for Layla's medical costs. It was several weeks before the fundraiser that Campbell was hospitalized. The fundraiser took place while we are at the hospital and Layla was hospitalized again pretty quickly after the fundraiser. During the time we were at Texas Children's, Ryan and Shanna became a great support to us, both in prayer and encouragement.

As we talked about Layla tonight, as we prayed for her, Ryan, Shanna, and her sisters, Russ and both had the same thoughts running through our heads.

Why not us? Why did God give us a miraculous outcome, while the Marsh's have been given the most devastating news I can imagine?

While I may not yet (ever?) understand the "why" behind it all, I do know that God is loving, compassionate, and purposeful.

Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose."

The Girl I Love More Than Any Other

There are a myriad (awesome word) of reasons I don't have more full-out photo sessions with Campbell. #1 She is unbelievably uncooperative. Seriously, for a child who is SO well-behaved, she absolutely does not respond to "Campbell, look at the camera!". And #2 I generally always feel guilty if I work on my own stuff when I have client images to edit...which is basically all the time.

But I often feel sad that I am handing out fully edited and ready to print images to clients and the pictures of my precious girl often sit unedited and almost always unprinted on my hard-drive. My mother frequently refers to herself as the plumber's wife (cause you know, the plumber's wife has leaky faucets...and the photographer's mother doesn't have good pictures of her granddaughter.)

So Campbell and I made a stop today as we ran errands and "pwayed" for a bit. Angela and Lori, forgive me as I took a brief break today from editing your sessions, to edit my own. I love these images, from that beaver tooth smile to that prissy walk to those huge blue eyes, these represent all the little details of her that I obsess over day in and day out. What a gift she is.

So without further ado, the girl I love more than any other.

Christmas, King Style

While Russ and I set out after last Christmas with the intention of making Christmas remain about the awesome gift God has given us in Christ Jesus His Son, what we have gone through over the last several months with Campbell has made that even more of a priority to us. The miracle we have been given in the restored health of our daughter has changed our perspective in many ways, has altered our marriage, our decision-making processes, and our overall relationships with God. In light of all that, in addition to our church's focus on the Advent Conspiracy, we wanted to make sure that we were showing Campbell the right things about Christmas.

In the interest of hoping to actually post this in the month of December, you can read about one of our most significant new traditions here. Thanks Missy for doing the hard work of typing it out for me!

We had a fabulous (busy!) Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, celebrating with family. Despite our "less is more approach", Campbell got more presents from family than I can currently bring myself to go through, Russ has been gifted with a television that has made football even better than it already was, if that was possible, thanks to his adoring wife, and I am looking forward to our annual girls shopping day tomorrow with my mom and sister in lieu of Christmas presents.

Campbell, MiMi, and Da on Christmas Eve

Hannans

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Much love for Cousin Zuriel

The man of my dreams on Christmas morning

Playing with her new highchair and baby

Campbell LOVED this baby in the store. Now that Santa has delivered it, she is not the slightest bit interested. Practical, thrifty me is considering returning it...is that wrong?

Christmas morning with Grandma and Paw-Paw

We spent Christmas afternoon with GiGi and Bob-Bob (Russ's mom and stepdad). By this point, CRK was a master at opening presents. GiGi and Bob-Bob got her a whole host of items for her play kitchen, including the worlds cutest apron, made by GiGi of course!

Campbell got GiGi a new apron too.

We thank God for the gift of His Son, for this season of celebrating Him, and for the blessings He has given us. I pray that Russ and I are this aware all year of the joy we have to celebrate, of the needs of those around us, and of the resources God has given us to help those He has placed in our paths.