sciortino scoop

Merry Christmas

2009-12-22T16:58:00.002-05:00

As usual, I apologize for the lack of posts. I promise to attempt to catch up soon. But for now, Merry Christmas from the Sciortinos!

Beach Bums

2009-10-27T17:20:00.002-05:00

Here are some pictures from our second beach trip with David's parents. We had a blast in Destin. The boys finally started liking the beach. Campbell even got brave enough to ride some waves in the ocean. I can't tell you how many leaps this is from last year! I guess Campbell started feeling really comfortable at the beach because one day David and I looked around to see him standing in the ocean with his swim suit pulled down peeing into the water right in front of everyone! :) Boys!

Thanks again to MeMe and Papa for a great trip. We are so blessed to have parents who like to vacation with us.

Andrew goes to school

2009-09-10T23:31:00.006-04:00

If you've spent much time around me the last few weeks and I've seemed a bit more emotional than usual (how can you tell, my husband would say), the reason is that my little baby Andrew started preschool last week. Campbell started at this same age, but for some reason I was way more emotional about Andrew starting. I guess because Andrew has been my little sidekick for the past year and a half, and I am just so used to having him with me. But I knew he was ready to go. All summer long I had to pull him out of Campbell's classroom while he's said, "No, I tay (stay) Tampbell!" (he can't say his C's). And he has adjusted well to preschool and seems to really like it. I, on the other hand, am still trying to adjust to having a few hours to myself. Don't get me wrong, a trip to Walmart (or any store for that matter) without kids is fantastic, but I do miss having him around all the time. I really cherish those days we spent together while Campbell was in school, but I know he's having fun and enjoying some time away from Mommy.

Here are some pictures from the pre-preschool photo shoot.

All ready for school!

Being goofy, or normal if you live here

I love how Andrew is looking up at Campbell here

Sweet Campbell is starting his 3rd year at preschool and has moved up to 3 days a week. It's been an adjustment, but he LOVES school and would go every single day if I let him.

The big man on his very first day. I can't believe he's this big.

So then I started wondering about Campbell's very first day, and look at this--he looks like a BABY! Is it just me or does Andrew look so much more grown up than Campbell did at that age? Time just flies!

The Big 3-0

2009-09-08T13:58:00.009-04:00

David turned 30 on August 14, and we had a little surprise party for him at his mom and dad's house. He absolutely LOVES my parents' fried catfish, so they were sweet enough to drag all the stuff up here to fry fish for everyone. He says we got him, but of course, in the next breath he'll say that he knew something was up. Either way we had a great time celebrating his birthday. I know I'm just glad he hit that milestone before I did so I can tease him for the next few months when I will join the ranks of the 30's. A big thanks to David's parents for hosting us at their house and to my parents and my brother for cooking the yummy fish. It was a great party.

This is the present the boys and I made for him--I was so nervous, but I love the way it turned out. It's a picture of David and the boys walking away and he's holding both their hands. They had lots of fun making Daddy's present.

preparing the fish (that's my dad and brother)

waiting on David to get there--kids everywhere!

our chef for the evening

the girls look scared!

arriving at the party

the "you got me" look

family shot--who knows where the kids were

checking out the food

getting lots of help blowing out the candles

Andrew ate his fair share of Daddy's cake!

end of summer fun

2009-08-30T22:06:00.012-04:00

I know it's been forever and a day since I posted, but I get so caught up reading everyone else's facebook and blog happenings that I don't have time to update. Always an excuse, I know. We've been really busy in July and August, but it's been the good kind of busy where you hang out with friends and play outside. Here are some pictures from our recent happenings.

Both boys ended up with a bad cold in July, which turned into croup (no idea if I spelled that right) for Andrew, so we were getting a little stir crazy. We decided to take advantage of the unseasonably cool night and took the boys to the golf course to play a few holes. This was Andrew's first time on the real course, and despite being sick, he had a BLAST. Needless to say, I don't think Daddy will be hurting for golf partners any time soon.

I just love this picture

Andrew's first golf lesson on the course

taking a full swing, and a sizable divot, too!

Mommy and the boys--I better get used to this

Campbell using his "whacker wood" as he calls it

Why do I love pictures of them from behind so much?

time for a water break

posing on the final green

Then in late July we took a little trip to see our great friends Andy and Bethany. They took us out on the lake for the boys' first boat experience. You can tell in that first picture that Campbell is not so sure about this. He kept saying, "What time is it? I'm ready to leave." But we all had a great time at the lake and had a great visit to Georgia.

looking a little worried about this whole boat thing

it took 3 tries to get this shot, and they still aren't looking, but oh well

Mommy and Daddy on the tube. The boys had a total freak out when I fell off.

Andy showing off his skills

Bethany and I rode by ourselves for a while, and then the kids joined us. This is Campbell--as you can imagine, he didn't love it. But I did catch a glimpse of a smile once or twice.

Andrew, on the other hand, kept asking for more!

Then in early August we took a beach trip with my family. Unfortunately my camera somehow never made it to the pool or the beach, so these are the only pictures I got. We had such a fun time. The pool was definitely the favorite spot, but I'm still holding out hope that at least one of my boys will be a beach bum like me.

Andrew sporting Russ's Batman shroud. He didn't love it which means Halloween could be interesting.

Family shot at the beach--not thrilled about my hair here, but anyone with naturally wavy/curly hair will totally understand that your hair has a mind of its own at the beach.

The whole Russell/Lambert/Sciortino crew

I want to make a flip book of all the shots we took trying to get these three monkeys all smiling.

Lots more posts to come, hopefully soon. Thanks for checking in.

Crazy Day

2009-07-29T20:48:00.002-04:00

So last night Campbell and my nephew Russ spent the night with my mom. This morning Andrew and I drove down to pick them up and have lunch with my grandmother. Something about being at my grandmother's house makes the boys go crazy!! They run around like maniacs, and get into so much mischief. Once they picked up everything from her dinning room floor and transfered it to her table, including all her crystal candlesticks and other really nice serving pieces. Luckily nothing broke.

But today hit a new low. You see, my cousin Bryan spends a lot of time at my grandmother's house, and he keeps some stuff in her guest bathroom, including his deodorant. Well, today the boys found the deodorant and decided it would be a great idea to "paint" each other. The deodorant was that Axe stuff that is apparently known for its smell. Well, I can definitely attest to the fact that the smell is STRONG. You didn't even have to wonder where they were because their smell left a trail.

So, we said a quick good bye to my grandmother and rode back to mom's house with the windows down. They kept saying there was too much wind, but I told them it was too bad and they shouldn't have made themselves smell like this. Campbell said that he didn't know it was "stinky stuff." We threw them into the tub immediately upon arriving home and I left the windows down in my car for the afternoon.

And so friends, Campbell has learned an important lesson today: If you don't know what something is, don't put it all over you in case it might be "stinky stuff!"

Fun on the Fourth

2009-07-13T14:43:00.012-04:00

This year we celebrated the Fourth of July all weekend long. Friday night we went swimming with some friends. Andrew is so brave in the pool--he swims around with his floaties on thinking that he is big stuff. Campbell is a little more cautious, but he is really making a lot of progress. We've had lots of fun swimming this summer. Here are some pictures of what everyone likes to do when we go swimming.

Campbell loves playing on the steps and shooting water guns.

Andrew wants to be doing whatever the big kids are doing.

And this is what the big kids do, they throw balls at each other as hard as they can!

Can you tell Andrew has learned how to say, "Cheese!"?

Then Saturday morning MeMe and Papa took us to Chuck E Cheese--one of the boys favorite places in the whole world. We had a great time, and pretty much had the run of the place.

Here is MeMe and Andrew beating Papa and Campbell in a shooting game!

David found his nitch--he rolled his token into the 60 ticket slot several times and got lots and lots of tickets for the boys.

MeMe and the boys

Campbell loves playing skee ball.

Andrew loves to play it, too, but you gotta really watch him. He throws those balls with all his might!

He also loves Whack a Mole, but really, who doesn't?

Daddy and Campbell shooting hoops.

Me and Chuck E Cheese

Campbell wasn't scared of him at all like I thought he would be. However, he did smack Chuck E seconds after this picture was taken and had to go and apologize.

I believe that Chuck E had a little crush on MeMe!!

After lunch and naps, we headed out to Jamie's house in Spring Hill. They had gotten this great blow up water slide on sale and we planned on trying it out. We also wanted to go down there because you can actually shoot fireworks in Spring Hill (unlike in Franklin--well, some people do it, but you know what a rule follower I am). Campbell, Russ, and Hannah (Russ's friend) loved the water slide. I couldn't believe how brave Campbell was about it. They wore themselves out sliding again and again. After a while they even started going down head first. Andrew didn't want to do the slide, but he did enjoy standing in the pool and clapping for the big boys as they came down.

When it got dark, we went outside to shoot our fireworks. Jamie had told us about how all the other neighbors shoot these huge professional fireworks, but I had no idea how great a show it would be. We sat and watched for quite a while as we shot our fireworks. Again, I couldn't believe how much Campbell liked the fireworks. He was totally into it and not the least bit afraid.

Here is Uncle Clark helping Campbell light a race car.

Daddy helping him with a sparkler

This was the spectator section. Andrew nearly fell asleep several times and was a total champ staying up until nearly 10:00 that night.

We had a great July 4th weekend. I kept trying to explain to Campbell that we were celebrating America's birthday, but every time I tried it either turned into a confusing discussion of what America is or he switched gears and began planning his birthday festivities (a favorite topic of conversation). Hope you all had a happy Fourth, too!

Jumping Bean

2009-07-02T13:20:00.004-04:00

I cannot believe how big Andrew is getting. Tomorrow he will be 18 months, but he thinks he is as big as Campbell. He is talking up a storm and getting into anything he can find. He rarely stops for anything, but he does love to watch Dora. Well, he loves for me to turn on Dora and he'll watch for 5 seconds then keep playing. We are having so much fun with our sweet boys. We just can't believe how blessed we are.

These are some pictures I took this morning of Andrew doing another one of his favorite things, jumping on Campbell's trampoline. I cannot believe that at 18 months this child is jumping up and down like this, but here he is. You can see by the look on his face how much he loves it!

A Sad Day...

2009-06-15T21:24:00.003-04:00

...in more ways than one. Today Campbell's favorite UK player, Jodie Meeks, decided to enter the draft instead of coming back to Kentucky. When David told Campbell about it tonight, he seriously started crying. I am not making this up, people. The boy was crying! Of course, this made David swell up with pride remembering the days of crying over the Wildcats himself (not so long ago!) Then I heard them upstairs talking it over. David was explaining to Campbell that you can stay in college and play ball for four years, but sometimes if you are really good, you leave early. To this Campbell replied, "I'm going to stay in college for 10 years!" After David started breathing again, he told Campbell he better not! :) So, now sweet Campbell will have to find a new favorite UK player, but Daddy can rest easy knowing that the brainwashing is truly complete!

Water Baby

2009-06-12T00:24:00.006-04:00

Campbell completed his first round of swimming lessons this afternoon. I'm so proud of him for the progress he has made. He goes under, jumps in, and his teacher said that if he weren't so nervous that he could swim by himself. He really loved his teacher, Miss Jessica. She gently pushed him to do more and more each day. We are really proud of our little Water Baby! Here are some pictures from the last lesson.

Hanging out before class.

Where did he go? That's right, he went under!!

Little Brother supervising the class.

Some new friends he made, Nathan and Jack.

What a jump!

Swimming with Miss Jessica

Swimming while going under! I am so proud!!

Thanks, Miss Jessica! She gave him a purple sucker--a straight line to his heart!

Big Boy Bike

2009-05-28T23:09:00.004-04:00

Campbell is getting bigger every day, and I can't say I like it too much. He informed me the other day that when he turns 5 he won't be my baby anymore. "Oh yes you will," I promptly replied. But he persists that no, when he is 5, he won't be my baby.

This reality becomes clearer and clearer every day, but especially now that he has experienced this latest right of passage--a big boy bike. We since the beginning of spring, we've been riding down to the cul de sac at the end of the street to play with our buddies and enjoy the non-sloping and less crowded road. He'd been riding a tricycle that my parents gave him for Christmas the year before Andrew was born. He would struggle to keep moving all the while the tricycle was squeaking and squealing, and I noticed that his legs were sort of bent and this knees were a little too close to his ears.

So, we tried out Taylor's big kid bike (complete with princesses and all) and it was clear, the kid needed a bike. So, off to Walmart we went. He was so excited that we let him ride it through the store to the check out. We took a picture of that with David's phone, but I've got no clue how to get that picture on here. He thought he was the coolest kid in the whole world! And since we couldn't leave Andrew out, we bought him a big ball to bounce and kick. This might not seem like much, but I promise you that the child could not have loved anything more!

So here are a few pictures of the first time out on the big boy bike. He really loves it, and we take a ride nearly every day. I can't believe how quickly he is growing, but I will continue to insist that no matter how big he gets, he will always be my baby!

Easter

2009-05-28T16:05:00.009-04:00

Yes, I know that I have been quite remiss in updating my blog. I could bore you with the details of why, but I'll just say that I'll try to do better. These are some of my favorite pictures from our Easter Eggstravaganza!! In case you haven't noticed, with two big families, every holiday is an extravaganza around here.Hunting eggs in Kentucky with David's dad's family.

Sporting our sunglasses from the Easter Bunny

Hunting for eggs the Easter Bunny hid.

This one of Andrew just cracks me up.

Campbell sure does love Pez.

Photo shoot at my parents' house

Who knows what Andrew is doing here, but it sure is cute.

Getting ready for the final egg hunt at the Russell's house

Easter at the Sciortino's house

The boys' first time dying eggs--they LOVED it!!

Our beautiful eggs

I'll try not to wait so long to post again. Hope you are all enjoying your summer. Thanks for checking in on us.

up too late...

2009-03-23T23:56:00.003-04:00

So, it's Monday night, and I'm up too late again. I get all wound up from the good TV (and perhaps that cup of tea didn't help either) that I just can't seem to wind down. And there's just something about the silence of an otherwise noisy house that appeals to me. I guess it's that hidden introvert in me coming out, but I really enjoy being the only one awake sometimes.

We've had such a fun day today, and I'm just overwhelmed with a sense of how very blessed I am. For some reason tonight I just couldn't get enough hugs and kisses from my sweet little ones. And when Andrew cried out a while ago, I was kind of glad because it gave me an excuse to go in there and cuddle with him for a few more minutes. They are just growing up way too fast.

Today we were playing down at the cul de sac with Taylor and Callie, and I just couldn't believe how big Andrew was. He followed Campbell and Taylor around and tried to do everything they did. Which, to their credit, they tolerated very well I must say. And then when we got home, he and Campbell were being silly and putting the refrigerator magnets in their mouths and they would just look at each other and laugh. Then one of them hit a button on a toy and it played a song. We three just danced around the kitchen laughing together. It was a great moment and one that I know I will remember for a long time. Part of me wishes I'd gotten pictures of it, but sometimes I'm so focused on trying to get pictures to capture the moment that I forget to be "in" the moment. So I guess I'm really not disappointed after all.

It baffles me that someday soon they will be going off to school and then who knows where. But at least for now they still enjoy dancing around the kitchen with their momma. And that's enough for me.

Burr...

2009-03-12T21:41:00.005-04:00

Well, this post has two purposes--1. since it's so cold outside, I though it would be fitting to post some snow pictures, and 2. I've got to get those pictures of me in a swim suit OFF here!!

A few weekends ago we had a pretty decent snow--not nearly as much as my parents had though. They had 9 inches!! Crazy, I know. Unfortunately we weren't able to head down there to play in it. We got a little over an inch or so. And since this was the first snow when Andrew could walk, we thought we'd head out and play a little before church. So, here are a few pictures of the fun. We didn't stay out too long, but the boys just loved it. And now that we've played in the snow, I'm ready for spring.

Andrew getting ready to go out

Daddy giving the boys a snowball-making lesson

I think Campbell enjoyed the lesson

Just hit brother with a snowball

Andrew loved walking around in the snow. He walked all over the yard.

Me and my little boys

Much-Needed Vacation

2009-03-04T22:43:00.005-05:00

At the beginning of February, David and I went on a cruise with Bethany and Andy Nix. We had a GREAT time--lots of relaxing and laughing. A big thanks must go out to David's parents and my parents for watching the boys for us. It was so nice to get away for a few days. Here are some pictures of the first couple of days anyway. Our camera broke on our stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

These two are from the formal night. The guys were oh so excited about getting all dressed up!

And these are from our stop in Cozumel. We did this tour where we drove ATVs through a national park and stopped at a beach. We had the option to snorkel, but the water was ridiculously cold so we opted to relax on the beach. Bethany and I pretty much could have stayed there forever.

There are more pictures on Facebook, so if you're on there, you can check it out.

Advice Needed

2009-02-19T10:08:00.002-05:00

As you may remember, Campbell was potty-trained last summer. I am totally confident in him now, and we don't take extra clothes anywhere. Since we began this potty stuff, we've been putting him in Pull-Ups for night time. After a few months he decided he wanted to wear underwear, so we tried it. It didn't work so we went back to Pull-Ups. It went on like this for quite some time--he'd decide he wanted to try, it might work for a night or two, but eventually we were back in the Pull-Ups. And that was fine with me, and fine with him. I definitely never made a big deal out of it--just praised him when he stayed dry.

But recently he started being sort of embarrassed to put his Pull-Up on. Then he decided he wanted to sleep in underwear all the time. Now, all this time he's been in Pull-Ups, he would very, very rarely pee in them. Maybe it gave him some sort of confidence or something. But now, the problem is, he has the confidence but maybe not the ability.

He started this new thing of sleeping with underwear right before we left for the cruise (more on that eventually), around the first of February. He did great for about 5 nights in a row, then one accident, the morning before we left. And then he did great at the grandparents' houses, staying dry in underwear each night. Then since we've been home, he has an accident about every 3 nights or so. This morning he made it all the way to 6:00 AM before he had one. I've talked to him several times about going back to Pull-Ups for a while, but he is adamant about wearing underwear. I don't know what to do because I HATE washing the sheets and quilt on his bed 2-3x a week, but I don't want to force him to wear Pull-Ups and make him feel like I don't think he can do it.

So here's where you all come in--I need help. What do I do? Do I let him keep having accidents until he finally gets it? Or do I force him to wear Pull-Ups? And if I do that, will it hurt his confidence? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

some thoughts...

2009-02-17T12:25:00.002-05:00

I know that I usually reserve the blog for updates about the kids and what they are doing, but this morning I have some thoughts I want to share with you. So, please bear with me.

This has been a strange week. It began last Thursday with a call telling us that our dear, dear friend Bethany had lost her dad suddenly to a massive heart attack. Sadly, he was plucked literally from the prime of his life. And so, with heavy hearts, we made the trip to Dalton, GA, to offer our support to our sweet friend and her family. That trip is one I will definitely never forget. To see that family's unshakable faith was truly amazing. They were able to see that God is in control, no matter how hard it is for us to understand. Their strength and faith have made an indelible impression on my heart. And the legacy left by their dear father is one that can hardly be rivaled by any of the Lord's servants. It was a true celebration of his life and his service to the Lord, and I was honored to be a part of it.

And now, this week, my family is dealing with struggles of our own. My grandfather, my dad's father, has been sick for some time, but he has taken a turn for the worse. Currently my family is in somewhat of a holding pattern waiting to see if the doctors' final life-saving attempts will spare his life or not. It is a strange and difficult position in which I find myself.

I was attempting to go about my daily business this morning, and it came time for my Bible study I am working on. It is a study of David taught by Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, and Kay Arthur. For several reasons, I am behind on my homework, but the Lord had a plan for that.

I knew this lesson would be poignant because Beth Moore had been leading us through a discussion of being transformed through devastation, and each lesson has been so helpful and fitting. But today's was incredibly moving and helpful, so I felt the need to share it with anyone who would listen.

Our discussion was based around Psalm 30, in which David describes how the Lord turned his "waling into dancing." How many of you are now singing, "He has turned my mourning into dancing..."? I know I was and still am. And I saw that scripture in such a new light this morning given the current situations around me. And my heart is overflowing with gratitude to our God for the fact that he really does "turn our mourning/wailing into dancing." We have an assurance that cannot be shaken or taken away. No matter what sort of devastation is going on in our lives, the Lord is right there guiding us through it--refining us through fire sometimes. I can have peace today knowing that whatever happens with my grandfather or any other situation in my life, I have a foundation of love that will not be moved. And that is all I need. What an amazing comfort.

Thank you for listening to me ramble this morning. I hope that when you are experiencing a time of devastation or grief, that you will remember to look to Psalm 30 and see how God brought David through every hardship and how his love for God was so great that he couldn't keep silent. I guess that's how I feel right now--I couldn't keep silent.

monkey see, monkey do...

2009-01-19T17:52:00.003-05:00

That pretty much describes my life right now. Campbell and Andrew are inseparable. Andrew won't even let me dress him in his room if Campbell is in the other room with David. If Campbell plays with something, then Andrew wants to play it, too. I'm starting to think that Santa should have just gotten 2 of everything that he got for Campbell because Andrew doesn't play with anything Campbell doesn't play with.

But even though it's really sweet to see them playing together and having so much fun, it also comes with a down side. I am constantly settling fights over toys and trying to explain to Campbell that Andrew doesn't know how to share yet and trying to teach Andrew how to share. It can be pretty tough some times, but it's definitely worth it. Any advice is definitely appreciated. I just hope they continue to be great friends.

Happy Anniversary to us!

2009-01-17T09:21:00.004-05:00

Today is mine and David's 5th anniversary. I cannot believe we've been married 5 years. So much has happened in those five years: we've lived in 3 different places, we had 2 kids, he changed jobs, I quit mine, and we have been blessed beyond belief. I love our life, and I love my husband. Happy Anniversary, David.

Here are a few pictures. The only pictures I have from our wedding day is the girls getting ready, so here's a picture of me with my beautiful bridesmaids. You are all so special to me, and I'm so thankful you are a part of my life.

And this is a picture of us on our honeymoon. Obviously, it's a cruise, and apparently you're supposed to get your picture at the front of the boat like this. Only no one tells you that it's the windiest (is that a word) place in the world. Yikes, I thought I would blow away.

Happy First Birthday, Andrew!

2009-01-04T14:33:00.005-05:00

My little baby turned one yesterday, and I just can't believe it. This year has been such a blessing to our family. Andrew just completed our family when we didn't even know we were incomplete. I can hardly remember life without him. He has the sweetest smile, the most squeezable cheeks, and a personality that just draws people in. Party pictures will come later when I have more time, but for now, here's one from the day he was born and one from his birthday. Wow, what a difference a year makes! We love you, little Roo!!

Party pictures will come later when I have more time.

Happy Late Birthday...

2008-12-23T09:48:00.002-05:00

This is a Happy Late Birthday to MeMe and Papa. They both had birthdays in the last few weeks, and I forgot to mention it. We love you both and hope you had great birthdays!

And now, time for our 4 day Christmas Extravaganza! It's totally crazy but lots of fun.

Party Time

2008-12-13T15:03:00.016-05:00

So, like I said, we had Campbell's 3rd birthday party at Pump It Up. If you've never been, it's one of those inflatables places. I liked Pump It Up because our party was private. It was really nice to know that with little kids like Andrew running around, there wouldn't be any strange big kids running them over!

The party was an absolute blast! Campbell had this look of pure joy and excitement on his face the entire time. Even the parents had fun. David was wringing wet by the end and we were all exhausted. Mommy and Aunt Jamie decided to race through one of the obstacle courses, but that turned out to be a bad idea. Mommy was seriously smoking Aunt Jamie, but then about half way through, she came down really hard on her neck and about paralyzed herself. So we called it a draw, but we know who was winning! :)

After jumping in two different arenas for about an hour or so, we went into the party room to eat cake and open presents. Things had gone so well, you knew that something had to happen. When we told Campbell to come up to blow out his candles, he got a little excited and fell backwards off his seat. I mean he hit the floor hard! And of course, everyone was quiet and just watching him have a meltdown. But he recovered quickly, and we finished up a great party.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Going up..

And coming down...

Uncle Clark and Russ sliding down

Great family pic--if only the birthday boy wasn't too busy having fun to pose.

GiGi and Andrew sliding

An attempt at a group shot

Here we are singing "Happy Birthday". I know he looks sad, but that's because he'd just fallen out of his chair.

Getting a little help opening presents

This smile pretty much sums up the party!

It really was a great time. I definitely recommend Pump It Up for birthday parties. They were really helpful and everyone had a great time. Campbell definitely enjoyed turning 3!

Happy Birthday, Campbell

2008-12-08T15:48:00.007-05:00

I can't believe I'm writing this, but my little Campbell is 3 years old today! He is the most generous, fun, crazy, and wonderful blessing in our life. He keeps us laughing all day long, and he amazes us with his generosity. The other day he said that he would share "all my candy with my baby brother."

We had a great party yesterday at Pump it Up--pictures to follow because there are just too many to sift through right now. And today we've been playing with our new toys and games. Tonight we're going to Campbell's favorite restaurant, Five Guys, for dinner.

Here are some pictures of my sweet boy showing how he's growing so fast--too fast if you ask me!

The day he was born, December 8, 2005

His first birthday, December 8, 2006

2nd birthday party, December 8, 2007

3rd birthday party, December 7, 2008

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy! We love you so much!

Missing...

2008-11-10T15:05:00.002-05:00

Missing--1 blue and brown Swankie Blankie swirls security blanket. Have you seen it? Or maybe I should say have you seen "her"? Campbell lost his blankie, or as he calls it, his baby. She is a girl, and since Andrew was born, he has been carrying her around and taking care of her just like any good parent would. Baby takes naps, gets her diaper changed, and even cries sometimes. But now, she is missing, and we are very sad.

Last time we saw her, Campbell was getting up Sunday morning, and I told him to grab her as he was getting out of bed. We haven't seen her since. We have looked EVERYWHERE. I've looked in the kitchen cabinets, in the refrigerator, the freezer, under our bed, in the trash can, in all the laundry baskets, and pretty much everywhere else we could think of. We even looked in our dresser drawers. This is bad news, folks.

But actually, I will say that Campbell has handled it quite well. He had a major meltdown on Sunday afternoon, but since then, he's really been OK about it. I took him to JoAnn's to pick out some fabric to make a new one, and he chose UK fabric. Well, I made it for him last night, and he was less than thrilled with it this morning when I showed it to him. It clearly does not compare to his baby.

And so, the search goes on. Blankie, you may be gone, but you are not forgotten. We won't give up on you!

Halloween

2008-11-03T14:38:00.008-05:00

Here are a few better late than never pictures from Halloween. We did tons of fun stuff the week or so before Halloween. It seemed like it lasted forever, but we had so much fun. Campbell was hysterical this year. He really understood what it was all about. He loved wearing his costume, although not at first. As you can see, he was a farmer and wore overalls and a shirt. When I first put it on him he told me, "Mommy, this is not a costume; it's just clothes!" But we talked it up and when he put on his hat he felt pretty cool. Now he says he's going to be a tiger for Christmas. How do I explain to him that we only dress up on Halloween? Anyway, here are some pictures from a few of our Halloween activities. Hope you guys had as much fun as we did!

Annual Pumpkin Carving with the Whitfields--we've done this every year since we were pregnant with Campbell and Taylor (except one year when Campbell was sick).

Not sure why they thought it would be fun to put their hands on Andrew's head, but I guess he's too young to be mad about it. And if you are wondering why my kids are in their costumes, it's because we had been to a costume birthday party earlier. Also, Callie missed this part because she'd already gone to bed. But we'll get her in there next year!

Trunk or Treat at church--our Juniors did a GREAT job and definitely should have won that night--great Chocolate Factory EVER. I'm so proud of them!

(The wagon was great except that Andrew would stand up every time we stopped. But at least it kept them in one place!)

Campbell's preschool Fall Fun Party. Andrew pretty much thought he was as big as everyone else.

Harvest Party at the Legends Club. We had never been and didn't know all the kids were dressing up, but oh well. We still had fun.

Andrew's first time on the golf course. Definitely a noteworthy event for our family! Sorry the picture isn't turned right. I thought I had it rotated.

The Annual Sciortino/Russell/Lambert family Halloween Spectacular--for the last 2 years, my sister Jamie and I decided it would be easier if everyone just met in the same place for Halloween. It was a wild and crazy but really fun night.

Ok, this is all the pictures I have the patience to upload right now. Thanks for checking in.

the joy of giving?

2008-10-12T21:10:00.004-04:00

Today in Sunday school, Campbell received a Boo Bag. It is a cute little treat bag that you take home and give to one of your friends or neighbors to invite them to Trunk or Treat. He automatically assumed that the treat was for him, so the ride home was spent convincing him that he was supposed to give the bag to someone else. Finally we settled on our neighbor Ledger to give the bag to.

After naps we went for a walk, and on the way home I decided it was time to give the bag up. Here's how our conversation went:

"Will Ledger eat the candy, Mommy?"

"Yes, Campbell."

"But why, Mommy?"

"Because that's the point of giving it to him."

"Will he eat ALL of it?"

"Yes, Campbell, he will."

"Mommy, how about I SHARE it with Ledger? Is that a good idea?"

"No, Campbell, we are GIVING the WHOLE bag to Ledger!"

It went on like this all the way up to Ledger's house where Campbell stopped dead in his tracks refusing to go up the front steps. I had to threaten him to get him up the stairs. Finally we rang the doorbell and Ledger's daddy came to the door. Campbell reluctantly handed him the bag and then hid behind me to pout while I explained it. Then he pouted all the way home. He even brought it up again at dinner tonight. Yep, we've got that joy of giving thing down! Christmas ought to be really fun.

But actually, Campbell is usually very good at sharing. He even offered to give me his last graham cracker one day. I don't know what it was about this bag that he just didn't want to give up. I couldn't decide if I wished he hadn't gotten the bag in the first place or if it was a good lesson for him to learn. Only time will tell, I guess.

A new addition...

2008-10-10T21:29:00.003-04:00

Well, tonight we added a new addition to our family, in fact, it is 2 new additions. Tonight we went to a carnival put on by a local elementary school. Campbell played a game and won 2 live goldfish! He was so excited. He named them Nemo and "his Daddy" (which I believe is Marlin, or at least that's what I told him it was). So we carted the plastic bag around the carnival while we played a few more games then we stopped at Publix on the way home to get some fish food. He wanted to hold the fish on the way home, but we thought that might be a bad idea. When we got home we had to find a home for them. We put them in a pitcher because we don't have a fish bowl, and we fed them and told them goodnight. Here's hoping they are still swimming in the morning!! I really don't want to have to explain what happened to them just yet, so everyone keep your fingers crossed that these are freakishly strong goldfish who will live for quite a while. Either way, Campbell is really excited about our new additions to the family. Sorry, no pictures. Both our cameras have dead batteries right now--I'm so devastated because Campbell was so cute feeding his fish for the first time. Maybe we'll stage a picture tomorrow!

Beach Pictures...Finally

2008-09-30T11:19:00.007-04:00

So, I'm a little, OK a lot behind on my blog, but I wanted to post some pictures from our beach trip. We went down to Destin with David's mom and dad the first week in September. We had a great time. We were a little worried that Ike was going to ruin our trip, but he decided to hit Texas and ruin the next week by creating a gas shortage in Nashville. Don't get me started on that. Ike did close the beach for the last few days we were there. And I've seriously never seen such huge waves at the Gulf before. The water was all the way up to the steps. But by the last day, the water had receded a little bit. So David and I decided to take Campbell for a last walk on the beach. Well, apparently that was a bad idea. A life guard rode by on a four wheeler and told us to be sure not to touch the water because if a policeman saw us, he could give us a citation. Who knew that? Double red flag=illegal to even touch the water.Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera charger, so my pictures only cover the first few days. I wasn't able to get any of Campbell playing putt putt or riding the go carts or crying through the bumper boats. We got plenty more pictures with Gerry's camera, but I haven't gotten them yet. But, here's what I have. Thanks, MeMe and Papa for a great trip!

Here's a few pool pictures. We spent most of our time there. Campbell was being a fish again, swimming under the water all the time. And he made some new friends, too.

This was when we found out that Andrew loves getting squirted in the face with water. He was laughing hysterically as Campbell soaked him with the water gun. We all laughed so hard. Even now, he loves it when you splash him in the bathtub. The bottom picture is probably the cutest picture of Andrew I've taken.

These are, of course, the attempts at a few family pictures. Nothing Christmas card-worthy, but there are some good ones. There are more, but my downloading patience is spent.

A big month for a little boy

2008-09-04T10:44:00.002-04:00

As Andrew celebrated his 8 month birthday yesterday, I realized that he has grown up so much over the last month. During the month of August he learned to pull up and crawl, began patting your hand (kind of like giving you 5). He also got 2 teeth. That's a lot for a little boy in one short month. I'm very conflicted about all this progress. I'm so excited to watch him growing and learning, but I'm also sad because he may be my last baby. Everything he does is my last first time. It's all very bittersweet, but overall I'm just thrilled to have such a huge blessing in such a little boy.

Campbell's trip to Atlanta

2008-08-26T14:20:00.007-04:00

Last week our good friends Tim and Holly Bewley invited us to go with them to Atlanta to see a Braves game and then go to the Georgia Aquarium the next day. We thought this would be a great time to reward Campbell for being such a good big brother, so we left Andrew with David's parents and headed to Atlanta.

He liked the Braves game--our tickets were awesome, so he could really see the game. We did have to walk around a little bit because a 2 year old's attention span is a lot shorter than a baseball game.

Then we went back to the hotel and the boys and Holly swam. I didn't because I didn't have my suit. Actually, I didn't have Campbell's suit either, but because he's a boy, he could just swim in his shorts. But he did say to me later, "Mommy, when we go to Florida, can you bring my swimsuit?" But the funniest thing is that he was going under the water like a little fish. He's always so much braver with David than he is with me.

The night was pretty interesting--Campbell and David slept in one double bed while I got one to myself. We tried to see if Campbell would fall asleep with the TV on, but no dice. So it was lights out for everyone at 8:30. I had a great night's sleep, but David...well, he didn't get quite as much sleep. hee hee! :)

The next morning we went to the Georgia Aquarium. It was really cool. We saw Beluga whales, sea lions, penguins, whale sharks, hammerhead sharks, and all kinds of other really cool stuff. The best parent was this tunnel where the fish were swimming all around you. Campbell had a blast, and David and I did, too.

Thanks, Tim and Holly, for inviting us to go along with you and sharing your awesome tickets with us. We had a great time. And I'm pretty sure Andrew had fun being spoiled by MeMe and Papa while we were gone.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

2008-08-14T09:23:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to David. You're a wonderful husband and a great father to our boys. We all love you very much. Thanks for being you!

look what I can do

2008-08-09T13:57:00.007-04:00

Andrew has been trying to crawl lately and is really getting frustrated. But I didn't know he was getting so frustrated that he was going to move on to walking. This morning we were playing in the floor and I looked over and he had pulled up on the cube he was playing with. He had tried to do that a few times, but he'd never been successful until today. Then he decided that standing was definitely the way to go and wanted to do that the rest of the time. But then, as you see in the third picture, that he fell down and brought the cube with him. No tears, though!

In other news, David took Campbell to play golf this morning and Jeremy and Miles George came along. Campbell and Miles are good buddies and sure to be quite a pair when they get older. Here are some pictures from this morning.

And next we're heading off to Russ's 3rd birthday party. Happy Birthday, sweet Russ!

The battle of the cicadas

2008-08-08T11:30:00.003-04:00

Sara, you asked for a funny story on my blog, so this one's for you...

So I thought that cicadas only came out every so many years. No one told me that there'd be some in my backyard this morning. But let me back up and give you a little background information. The last huge cicada outbreak was my senior year of high school--right at graduation time. Well our graduation was held outside on the football field. And I was absolutely terrified that these bugs were going to swarm me and sent me running for my life in that ridiculous bright blue cap and gown. I was praying hard for rain so they'd move it into the gym, but no luck. Ultimately it turned out fine, but I am still a bit scarred from the incident.

Now for today. If you're in Nashville today you know that it is a beautiful day outside--not too hot and low humidity (a rarity in August!). So Campbell and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and the fact that Andrew has been rockin' out his morning naps (yesterday was a 3 hour one that I woke him up from!). We went out to swing on his swing set, and everything seemed fine. Then I heard it.

It was that unmistakable sound that I can't even describe right now. I frantically searched for the source, and then I found it. It had landed on the beam right next to the swing I was pushing Campbell in. It's sad to say this, but my first thought was to run away from it. But I couldn't just leave Campbell there. He was oblivious of the bug and his mother's impending panic attack.

Let me just describe this thing for a minute. For those of you who grew up in the country, this thing looked like a horse fly that was on some serious steroids. For those of you wondering what in the world a horse fly is, it looked like the biggest and scariest fly you've ever seen--outside of the movie The Fly which freaks me out completely.

I summoned up every bit of courage I could and removed me flip flop. I thought if I could scare it, maybe it would leave us alone. After all, don't people always say that bugs and things are more afraid of us than we are of them? In this case, I highly doubt it. Whack, I smacked the beam very near to the freakishly large and scary bug. It circled the play set a few times then flew away.

Whew, I thought, even patted myself on the back for a minute thinking how brave I was. But then I heard the sound again. And then it was coming from the other side. Yikes. There's more of them! And then I spotted another one flying over our yard. It didn't stop, but it appeared to be casing us. I just knew that the screeches and buzzes I heard were the cicadas all over the neighborhood gearing up to wage an all-out attack on us.

We stayed out in the yard for about an hour total, but by that time, my nerves were shot. I was seriously freaking out at every sound. I even saw a few more cicadas fly around us. That was enough for me. Let's go inside and get a snack, I told Campbell. And of course, he agreed. Safe at last!

The moral of the story is, I may have won this battle, but the cicada war is far from over. Beware!!

Daddy's First Trip to the Zoo

2008-07-26T14:31:00.006-04:00

We have had such a fun day today, and it's only 1:30 in the afternoon. The boys woke up around 7:00 this morning and David immediately suggested Pancake Pantry for breakfast. Since everyone seemed rested and happy, we decided to go for it. So what if it was raining--the radar looked pretty promising. So we frantically got dressed and headed to the Pantry. We just knew the line would be forever long, but when we got there it was probably the shortest we'd ever seen it on a Saturday morning. Now remember that this was 8:00 and it had just been pouring down rain. We enjoyed a yummy breakfast of pancakes and then we were off to the zoo to enjoy the cloudy morning.

This was David's first trip to the zoo. Usually the boys and I go during the week with our friends, but we'd been wanting to bring Daddy along, and it turned out great. Campbell loved showing Daddy all his favorite animals, and it was nice to have an extra set of hands to help me out.

Here are some pictures of our zoo fun.

Me and Campbell at Pancake Pantry.

Andrew eating crackers and making a huge mess.

Daddy and the boys looking at the ducks

family photo at the alligators--there were a bunch at the glass which never happens

Mommy and the boys in the Unseen World house

Daddy and Campbell peeking up through the meerkat habitat

lingering question...

2008-07-24T13:12:00.002-04:00

First of all, I can't believe that I left a poop story on here for so long. My apologies. Today I'm thinking about something that happened yesterday that is still lingering in my mind. The boys and I went to Toys R Us to buy a birthday present and a big boy car seat for Andrew. The later was a must. My parents are almost at the point of refusing to stuff Andrew into his tiny little infant seat anymore, so it had to be done. The boys were actually very good in the store. Campbell asked to go play with a few things and always came right back when I asked him to. Ok, so sometimes I had to ask him more than once but, come on, it's Toys R Us! As we were leaving, Campbell spotted the candy at the front of the store. He asked if he could have some and I remembered that my mom had given he and Russ each a dollar the other night and he had his in his pocket. (It had been changed to each new pair of shorts since he receive the dollar!) So I told him he could spend his dollar on some candy.

He immediately spotted the Pez dispensers and was sold on those. They had all the characters from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and he was laboring over the decision of which one to buy. Finally, he decided. "I want that one," he said, pointing to the Daisy Duck Pez dispenser. And in some sort of reflex reaction I said very quickly, "No, Campbell, those are for girls. How about choosing Donald?" He was fine with that and has LOVED his Donald Duck Pez. He has not had a second thought about it, but me, on the other hand, I've been thinking about it a lot.

Should I have let him have the Daisy one if that's what he really wanted? Clearly he didn't care that much because he put up no resistance to buying the Donald one instead. And it's funny because usually I'm pretty OK with stuff like that. For instance, his favorite show is Dora. I know she's a girl, but he loves that show, especially Boots the monkey. So I don't worry when he watches it. But then when it came time to buy big boy underwear, he asked if they had Dora and I had to explain to him that they didn't make Dora underwear, only Dora panties for girls.

Anyway, I guess I'm just wondering what everyone else thinks about this stuff. Everyone has a different take on it, and I don't really think there is a right or wrong answer to the question. I'm just looking for some other opinions here.

A funny thing happened...

2008-07-17T16:02:00.004-04:00

...on the way to pick up Campbell this afternoon. So, Andrew and I were on our way to pick up Campbell from Summer Play Days (it's like preschool in the summer--love it!!). I heard him doing a job in the car on the way there, but since we'd been late the day before, I opted not to change him before we went in to get Campbell. You see, at SPD you have to walk a pretty long way to get to the classrooms because the church is doing lots of construction. Usually I put Andrew in the stroller because he's pretty heavy, but like I said, I was in a hurry. As we were standing there talking to Campbell's teacher about why he was in his extra clothes (he sort of went all over his clothes during a potty break--I didn't ask for details) I could smell Andrew's stench. What a great surprise for me when we get back to the car, I was thinking. Oh, I just had no idea!

So when we got back to the car, I laid Andrew down on the seat to change him and noticed he'd had a blow out--a pretty bad one. Wait a minute, I thought, I've been carrying him for the past 5 minutes. And then I looked down at my own shirt--yep, that's right, it was on me too! UGH! Campbell looked at me and said, "Mommy, did Andrew poo poo on you?" "Yes, he did," I said. "I didn't poo poo on you, Mommy," said Campbell. "And I appreciate that, Campbell," I replied. Well, it takes a few minutes, and every last wipe I had, to clean Andrew up. And, lucky for me, I was sporting the cool layered look and was able to take off my shirt and just wear my tank top home. So here we were: me in my white tank top and athletic shorts, Campbell in his $5 outfit from Walmart that I bought just for extra clothes, and Andrew with just his shirt on. Good thing we didn't have an accident or something on the way home. And the funny thing is, today isn't really an out-of-the-ordinary day. As Phil Vaser would say it's "Just Another Day in Paradise."

I'll leave you with a few fun pictures. The first is Andrew in his big boy chair. He loves to sit at the table just like everyone else now. But he's still a really messy eater. And the next is Campbell and Taylor playing doctor. So cute. We'll allow this for now, but I'm not sure how long Taylor's daddy will let Campbell get away with playing that game. Hope you all have a good day. Thanks for checking in on us.

facebook...oh my

2008-07-11T14:40:00.002-04:00

So, I am now on facebook, and I have to say it is extremely addictive. I just want to keep searching for long lost friends--or at least people I vaguely remember. How fun! But too bad for me, Andrew is beckoning...

What goes around...

2008-07-10T09:59:00.002-04:00

...comes around. This morning I was folding laundry, and as soon as I laid the warm clothes on the couch to start folding, Campbell immediately jumped in them. "No," I said, "don't jump in the laundry. You'll make it all wrinkled!" And as soon as I said it, somewhere in the back on my mind, I heard my mom's voice saying that same thing. I remembered how my sister and I used to love to lay on the warm laundry on the couch--which is where Mom, and consequently I, always fold laundry. It made me, just for a second, want to lay in that warm laundry with Campbell and be and enjoy that sweet smell and warm that is strangely comforting to me. But if I did, I knew it would make the clothes wrinkled. And that would bring the worst consequence of all--ironing! Yikes. And so, my hatred of ironing out-weighed my nostalgic feelings and I had to be the mom and ask Campbell not to lay on the clothes. But it was a nice moment just the same.

Fun on the Fourth

2008-07-08T09:27:00.003-04:00

Now that I'm done with the song thing, it's just not much fun thinking up post titles. Maybe I'll bring it back soon. But for now, this was all I could come up with. Does anyone else hate making up titles? It's like when you send an e-mail and don't know what to put in the subject line. It's too much pressure. I think we should just skip titles all together. Anyone with me?

Ok, so now on to the good stuff: the boys. First of all, I'd like to say a happy late half birthday to my sweet baby Andrew! He turned 6 months old on July 3. He has brought such joy to our family. David and I were talking last night about how both our boys just complete our family. When we are all 4 together, something just feels right. God is so good to us!

Anyway, as for Andrew's stats, he weighed in at 18 pounds and was 26 or 27 inches long (can't remember right now). But the big surprise was his percentiles. Everyone is always telling me what a big boy he is, and I am usually quick to agree. I mean, look at those cheeks, they've got to weigh a few pounds each, right? But he is only in the 60th percentile. That's almost average. So, I guess he's not as big as I thought he was. Maybe all his friends are just really small?!? Sorry I don't have any new picture of him. The camera is in David's car.

As for the fun on the fourth, we had a great Fourth of July weekend. We went over to our friends Zach and Mandy Evans' house. We had a great time playing with all the other kids on Carter and Seth's super cool play set in the back yard. And, I have to brag on Andrew for a minute. He was tired when we got there, so I put him in Seth's bed, just to see if he would fall asleep, and HE DID! Now, some of you may be wondering why I am so excited about this. You see, Campbell would NEVER have done that. He has lots of trouble sleeping anywhere but his own bed (except for at school--he always takes a good nap at school--go figure!). I mean, he even has trouble sleeping at my mom's house sometimes. So the mere fact that Andrew fell asleep in someone else's bed is huge to me--not to mention the fact that he slept 30 minutes! Way to go little Roo (that's our nickname for him). Here are some pictures from the Whitfield's blog that we stole.

Fishy Fun

2008-06-25T15:23:00.006-04:00

Today we had a fun adventure with MeMe (David's mom) and her sister Janese. We went out to Opry Mills and ate at the Aquarium Restaurant. It was the coolest thing. In the middle of the restaurant is this huge tank with sharks and fish of all shapes and sizes. Campbell had a blast looking at all the fish, especially when the diver went into the tank to feed them. And then we went over to the Sting Ray Reef next door where we got to feed and pet the sting rays. I ruined it for Campbell by jumping the first time one came near me so from then on he was scared, but it was so neat to see those huge fish so close. You could touch them if you wanted, but Mommy wasn't brave enough for that today. Andrew was a trooper, as usual, even though he was a bit sleepy. All in all it was a GREAT time. Thanks Janese and MeMe, we had a blast!

Happy Late Father's Day

2008-06-17T17:27:00.003-04:00

Happy Late Father's Day to David and all the rest of you dads out there. The boys and I are so blessed to have David. He is a great dad and a great husband. We love you very much, Daddy! Here's a recent picture of Andrew and David. He fell asleep as David was feeding him his last bottle before bed. Such a sweet sight.

I'm out

2008-06-09T14:43:00.005-04:00

OK, so I'm done with the song thing because I can't think of one that combines swimming and eating, which is what this post is all about. So, maybe we'll come back to it another time, but for now, I'm out of the song phase. And all the readers say, "Amen!"

Anyway, on to the important stuff--the pictures. We took Andrew for his first swim this weekend. We went with Jeremy and Misty George to Misty's parents' house on Friday night and swam for a little while. It was great because it was about 7:00 at night, so there was no blistering sun. Andrew really enjoyed swimming with his daddy. Campbell had fun playing on the step. He wasn't too keen on doing much actual swimming. He thought about sliding down the small slide a few times, but he never actually made it down. But it was his first time to swim since last summer, so I'm sure he'll get braver. There are also some pictures of the sweet George kids. Ella is swimming with her daddy, and Miles is trying desperately to fill up that giant water gun. And little Griffin was just chillin' with his mommy. Thanks, Georges! We had a great time.

These other pictures are of me trying to feed Andrew his cereal. Believe it or not, he actually does ingest some of it, but he loves to spit right when I put the spoonful in his mouth. He sprays it all over himself and me. And then he thinks it's the funniest thing ever. Seriously, you need a raincoat on to feed this kid. I can only imagine what he'll be like when he starts eating baby food. This first picture is one of my favorites. Don't you just want to eat that little guy right up?

Just a swangin'

2008-05-31T22:11:00.007-04:00

I had to dig deep for this song--I think it came from my grandparents on my dad's side. Who knows, but I promise it's a song! Anyway, this has been a big week for us. We got a wonderful new swing set on Thursday, and has been tons of fun. It's pretty big and takes up a big chunk of or back yard, but it's worth it to see how much fun Campbell has on it and to know that both the boys will be using it for a long, long time. Campbell especially loves the picnic table under the clubhouse. On Friday we had to eat our snack and our lunch out there. Little Andrew can't really play on it yet, but he had fun swinging in our old set and just watching big brother. And as you can see, Daddy loves it just as much as Campbell! Thanks, MeMe and Papa, we love it so much.

In other news, Andrew has been a busy boy this week, too. He's started sitting up on his own, and he has been going to town in his "johnny jumper" thing. He will seriously sit in there for as long as you will let him. He just bounces and bounces and cracks himself up. It's so fun to watch. Here are some fun pictures from this week. I love the one of the boys playing together, and the one of them rolling on the floor is a glimpse into my future. Campbell is really enjoying being able to "play" with Andrew. It's going to be quite an adventure with these two.

And last but not least, we'd like to say "Congratulations!" to our friends David, Sara, and Taylor Whitfield on the birth of little Callie. She was born Thursday morning, and we can't wait to get to know her and watch her grow up with our boys.

Takin' Care of Business

2008-05-27T14:08:00.004-04:00

Guess where Campbell takes care of his business...the POTTY!!! Yep, that's right, my little man is wearing big boy underwear. We stayed home all last week and worked on it. The first few days were...interesting but we're doing great now. We still have to remind him sometimes if we're in public or he's playing with his friends, but other than that, my daily diaper changes are now cut in half. I'm so proud of Campbell. What a big boy!

And here's a picture of Andrew doing his favorite thing these days--playing in his exersaucer. It combines his favorite things, toys and standing up. He's not rolling over yet, but he loves for you to help him stand up, and he can also sit up pretty well. Who knows why my kids sit up before they roll over, but oh well. He's such a happy guy that I can't complain about anything.

it's so hard to say goodbye...

2008-05-15T14:48:00.002-04:00

...to yesterday--or preschool actually. I had a hard time coming up with a song for this post. Unfortunately, Boyz 2 Men was the only thing I could come up with. And now I'm having all these flash backs to the last day of cheerleading camp. Yikes! Anyway, today was the last day of preschool for Campbell. And it really is hard to say goodbye. It's hard for me because it's been so great to have some one on one time with Andrew and to be able to run some errands with only 1 baby in tow (especially one who isn't mobile yet!). And it's hard for Campbell because he has had such a great year. He made 7 great friends: Reagan, Mason, Ben, Mary Francis, Ryan, Andrew, and Lucas. He comes home with the funniest stories about what he did with his friends that day. It's been so much fun to watch him make these friends and to watch them play together the few times I've been up there to see them. And his teachers, Miss Joanna and Miss Janda, are just wonderful. They are definitely 2 of his most favorite people in the world. And so, as we say goodbye to our most excellent first year of preschool, I can't help but look back on the day he started. He has changed so much. He's become a big brother, started sleeping in a big boy bed. Wow! Life is sure flying by. I hope I can take it all in. Here are pictures from his first day and his last day.

September

May

what's goin' on

2008-05-13T13:37:00.003-04:00

I think I am going to try to make all the titles of my posts get songs in your head. That way you'll be singing them all day and thinking of my blog. Not sure if this will get me more readers or not...hmm, guess we'll find out.

Anyway, there's a lot going on around here, so I thought I'd just make one of those updates that has lots of little snipits in it. First of all, Happy Mother's Day to all the moms and moms-to-be out there. Mine was great. We spent Saturday with my family and had a great dinner with GiGi, Grandaddy, and Uncle Trey. (the Lamberts were out of town) Then Sunday we went to church and then over to David's parents where David prepared brunch for us all. His mom and I were repeatedly told to get out of the kitchen. We didn't even have to clean up either! Then we came home and spent the rest of the day around here. It was so nice to just hang out for most of the day at home. We have been so busy lately that all I wanted for Mother's Day was for the four of us to just be together. But lucky for me, that's not all I got. David and the boys got me one of Courtney's awesome love my baby necklaces. Campbell loves looking at it and saying, "C for Campbell and A for Andrew." It was a great day and weekend. Thanks, my sweet boys.

Also this week and weekend we've been dealing with some food allergy issues with Andrew. He's always kind of had this eczema on his face and it has recently spread to his arms and legs. At our 4 month checkup the doctor said it was probably due to a milk and/or soy allergy. Not to worry, he said, he'll most likely grow out of it. He left it up to me as to what I wanted to do about it. Since it didn't seem to be bothering Andrew outside of the skin thing, it wasn't too severe. So, I've been trying to stay off both dairy and soy for the past week. Let me just say that is next to impossible unless you eat no prepared food. Who knew they put soy in EVERYTHING!! Even the cashews Campbell was eating for a snack the other day have soy in them--what?!? But things are going well with Andrew. I actually found these great skin care products that have just about taken care of the eczema all together. It's a brand called California Baby. We've been using the Tea Tree Oil shampoo and the Calendula cream. It's amazing what this stuff has done. He also had a pretty bad case of cradle cap, and that's almost gone, too. I highly recommend it if your kid, or you for that matter, have skin issues. It has definitely saved the day. And who knows, it might even allow me to eat again!!

In addition to the other food stuff going on, we started Andrew on cereal this weekend, too. He didn't love it but didn't hate it either. I think Campbell had more fun helping us than Andrew did eating. Here are some pictures.

And last but not least, a few notes about Campbell. This is the last week of preschool. I don't know who will be more sad, me or him. He's had a great year and I'm so thankful for all he's learned and experienced. Luckily he's signed up for summer play days at Brentwood Baptist, so he'll stay busy over the summer. And wish us luck on Saturday as we attempt to say bye bye to the diapers. Yikes, I'm sure some interesting posts will come out of that. But anyway, thanks for checking in on us. I hope this didn't bore you to sleep, but I guess it can't always be super exciting.

Come on ride that train...

2008-05-04T16:31:00.007-04:00

Ha Ha--who's singing that song in their head now? Sorry, I couldn't resist. But ride that train is just what we did on Friday. There's this group of people called the Mid South Live Steamers and they have these model trains. But they're not the tiny little model train you might think--they're big enough for people to ride on. And they come out to Maury County Park in Columbia a few times a year and have a sort of festival. Jamie had been before, and since both Russ and Campbell love trains, we decided to head down there on Friday morning.

Thankfully Mom agreed to come with us--I definitely couldn't have taken care of both my boys without her--thanks, Mom, you're the best! Anyway, we checked the forecast before we left and it looked like there was a little rain, but we thought we'd head down anyway. As soon as we got there it started pouring rain and they had to stop the train rides. The boys were so upset. But they had some tents set up with other things to do, so we decided to try to stick it out. First order of business--funnel cakes! Yum! You can't have a festival in the south without deep fried dough, and this one was no different. Between the 5 of us (Andrew did not partake) we downed 2 of them. I couldn't even get Campbell to quit eating his to pose for this picture. But before you start to worry about Andrew, he still had fun without the funnel cakes.

They also had some other fun activities. There was a band playing when we got there, and Russ and Campbell had a blast dancing and entertaining the people around us.

Then they had a storyteller who was pretty good, and after her was a kids' music show where they brought some of the kids on stage to dance around. Look who tried to grab the microphone--his dad would be so proud.

But they loved being on stage. The picture above is Campbell dancing with the lady who was leading them. Unfortunately, I missed this part because I was in the car feeding Andrew who had been a trooper and finally conked out.

Then finally, the rain stopped and we ran over to jump in line for the train rides. At this point we'd been there for a pretty long time, so the boys had all just about had it, but when it got to be our turn, they couldn't wait to hop on that train. I had Andrew in the carrier thing strapped to me, and as you can see above, he was sound asleep. They had told me at the gate that he could ride with me like that since if I let him go he wouldn't fall, but the conductor said they had new rules and no one under 18 months could ride. Bummer! But I understand that they have to follow these rules for insurance stuff. Those darn insurance people--what can you do with them!?! :) Anyway, so I ended up being the photographer and Mom rode with Campbell. You can see he is clearly devastated that I couldn't go. The ride was 2.5 miles long, and they wound all around the park and even went through a few tunnels. It was really neat. It ended up being a really long day, but it was definitely worth it. We all had a great time and will probably go back and see them next time they're here. We'll just hope for a little more sunshine next time.

And I'd also like to say Happy 4 Months to Andrew. He's getting so big and growing up so fast. I can't even believe it.

lots going on...

2008-04-15T22:05:00.005-04:00

We had a great time with Bethany and Andy this weekend. The boys always love to see them because they think that Bethany and Andy come for the soul purpose of playing with them. I wish I had a dollar for every time Campbell said Andy or Bethany (or Beffey, as he called her). And they were so sweet to play everything with Campbell from building blocks to drawing on his aqua doodle for almost an hour!! David and I also enjoyed their visit with David and Andy playing golf on Friday and Bethany and me having some girl time on Saturday. Bethany and Andy, you two are truly like an aunt and uncle to our boys, and we are so thankful for you and your friendship. We loved seeing you and can't wait for you to come back.

The other big thing going on around here is Campbell is spending his first night in a big boy bed. We've been thinking about it and talking about it for a while now, and today we took the plunge. David took apart the crib and turned it into the full-sized bed. We spent the afternoon working on the bed and talking about it, so when bed time came, we thought he was ready. Well, so far, so good. It's 9:45, and all is quiet, so here's hoping that he sleeps well tonight. Thanks for checking in on us.

what am I in for?

2008-04-02T13:41:00.004-04:00

I knew that eventually living in a house full of boys would include lots of... shall we say... potty humor, but I didn't think it would start this early. Campbell has been singing "Who Made the Flowers Grow" for weeks now since he learned it at preschool. As you may know, the second verse is "Who made the fishy swim?" Well, today that verse became, "Who made the DOODIE swim!" Yep, that's right, it's not a typo, he said doodie! And he even answered it with "God in heaven above." And of course he just laughed and laughed and thought he was hilarious. I tried not to laugh, but somehow he knew this was funny because he just kept singing it over and over. Good thing he didn't do the hand motions to this new verse!! Yikes, if he's starting this now, what is it going to be like when he and Andrew are both teenagers?!?

This picture just captures that sweet mischievous nature of Campbell's. How can you not love that face?

so much to blog

2008-03-26T14:07:00.013-04:00

It feels like I haven't blogged in months, especially when I look at that snowy scene on my blog. And so, I'm finally going to update. You might want to go grab a snack while you read this--it's going to be a long one.

First of all, there's Campbell's preschool Easter party and Spring Program. The Easter party was so cute--they had a little egg hunt and then cupcakes, cookies, etc. for the party. The little blond girl you see in these pictures is Campbell's preschool girlfriend, Reagan. I say his

preschool girlfriend because he has different girlfriends in different settings--such a ladies' man! Anyway, these 2 are so thick that Campbell has a pet name for her, Reagy. Well, apparently she likes this name because her mom told David that Reagan told her brother to call her that since, "that's what Campbell calls me!" Can you believe that? Too cute.

As for the Spring Program, this was the second one they'd had this year (1st was Christmas), and at Christmas, pretty much all the kids just stood there and cried for their parents. Well, this time went much better, there was still no singing actually coming from anyone in

Campbell's class, but most of them held in their tears. We had very high hopes of Campbell actually singing because he'd been seranading us for weeks with "Fuzzy Caterpillar" and other cute songs, but alas, he did not sing. He did, however, love being up there, especially w

hen he found Papa and Mommy in the crowd. It is so fun to see him doing stuff like this. I can't believe how fast he is growing up.

Then we went to Kentucky to celebrate with David's mom's family. Campbell LOVES going to the farm and seeing the cows with Uncle Jeff. He even says that he's going to be a cow farmer when he grows up. Not sure if he's ever actually been brave enough to pet one yet, but he sure does love to see them. But this trip was all about the Easter egg hunt. Campbell was really excited about it, but as soon as he picked up his first egg, he opened it up to discover the candy inside. Well, that was it. The rest of the hunt was spent with Campbell opening each and every egg he found while David and I told him to just wait and find more eggs. Oh well, whatever makes him happy, I guess.

Poor Andrew didn't really get to enjoy the Easter egg hunt--it was too cold for him. He stayed inside and cuddled with MeMe, which of course, was just fine by MeMe. This is as close as he got to hunting eggs.

Then we went back home to set out our baskets for the Easter Bunny (or Super Bunny, as Campbell likes to call him!) But I think this got Campbell a little too excited because by 9:00 that night, we'd already been up there 3 times trying to get him to calm down and go to sleep. Then he was up by 6:30 the next morning. But he and Andrew loved seeing what Super Bunny had brought them. Super Bunny was extra generous to Campbell this year, springing for a

kitchen. I think he was rewarding Campbell for making the transition to being a big brother so well. Andrew got a Bumbo seat, and he likes it OK, but someone else thinks it is for him. Have you ever seen a 2 year old in one? Well, mine is actually still small enough to fit in it pretty easily and any time we put Andrew in it he says, "now it's my turn!" But here are some great pictures of sweet Andrew's big cheese and Campbell looking for the eggs from Super Bunny. There are so many pictures I want to post, but blogger just takes so long to do it that I don't have the patience. Maybe later, but probably not.

Then it was off to church for the extra crowded service and then down to Lewisburg to celebrate with my family. We had lunch and another egg hunt at my grandmother's house. Campbell is seriously a professional egg hunter by now.

And then back to Gigi's house (my mom's) to hang out for a little while. We actually did take some family pictures at my mom's house but they are on her camera, so look for those later. But don't hold your breath, I'm pretty bad about remembering to add photos later. Lastly MeMe and Papa came over Easter night to hang out and have a little more Easter fun with the boys. They enjoyed watching a Tom and Jerry video together.

And so this long post draws to a close. Though looking back on it, I don't think it's actually my longest. But it is probably my most boring, so thanks to those of you who made it through.

winter slightly redeemed

2008-03-09T10:42:00.006-05:00

So, when we awoke Saturday morning to a winter wonderland, I could not help but think that winter was trying to redeem itself with me. After all, I've always loved snow and winter time. And I have to admit, I enjoyed myself and have to admit that winter has regained a little bit of that "lovin' feeling." We went over to my friend Sara's mother's house for sledding, and

we had a blast. David went down several times, a few times with one of the neighbor's little girls, who is in this picture. He also went down with 2 other grown men. Yes, that's right, 3 grown men on 1 unfortunate sled, which did in fact get destroyed in the process. As David said, 600 pounds might have exceeded the weight limit. Sadly, I did not get any pictures of David, David Whitfield, and Trent Latta all three piled on the sled, but I believe someone did, so maybe I'll share later.

This next picture is one of my favorites from the day. David had just dropped poor little Taylor into the snow, literally face first! I just knew she'd hate him forever, but she actually thought it was funny and forgave him. That could possibly be because any time she is over here David gives her ANYthing she asks for. The Lord knew better than to give us a daughter!

This next picture is as close as Campbell got to sledding. He was not too keen on the whole sailing down the hill thing, so we put him, begrudgingly, onto the sled with Taylor for a photo op. David then tried to pull them a little, but Campbell wouldn't have it. He also had a come apart any time David or I went down the hill. I guess he thought we were going to be hurt. His favorite part was when he finally got to go inside and drink hot chocolate with Sara's mom, whom he considers his 3rd grandmother.

And last but not least, a token picture of Mommy with Campbell to prove that I was in fact there. It seems like I'm always the one behind the camera, but someone's got to do it.

And special gold stars go to my little trouper, Andrew. He slept the whole time we were out sledding and made it possible for Mommy, Daddy, and brother to enjoy some sledding fun. Way to go, sweet baby. Next time, we promise you can join us. If you got some snow yesterday, I hope you got to enjoy it too. And don't tell winter that I had so much fun, I'm afraid it will stick around a little while longer!

is it spring yet?

2008-03-07T14:46:00.002-05:00

I am officially sick of winter--sick of sick babies, sick of bulb syringes, saline solutions, and not sleeping well. Poor Campbell has been feeling kind of rotten lately, too. And today, we were all supposed to head up to Kentucky for David's cousin's wedding, but because of the snow coming in tonight, the boys and I had to stay home. I just hope that David can get home safely tonight. We are really looking forward to the day when we can head outside to play and breathe easier. Anyone else feeling this way? I hope you all stay warm if you're in this area tonight. We're calling it a PJ day around here!

Super Bunny and homemade peanut butter

2008-03-05T13:51:00.003-05:00

I wanted to share a couple of quick funny Campbell stories from the last week or so. First of all, Super Bunny. So I was telling Campbell about the Easter Bunny the other day--telling him how he visits our house and brings treats and hides eggs for him to find. He LOVED this idea and we talked about it for a few minutes. Well, the next day we were headed to preschool and he asked me, during his normal deluge of questions about where every single person he knows is at that moment (seriously, everyone! if he knows your name, he asks about you!), "where Super Bunny?" Who is Super Bunny, I asked him. "He come my house and bring treats and eggs." Ah, the Easter Bunny, I say. "Yes, Super Bunny," is his reply. I love it.

And then Monday David was eating peanuts and Campbell asked if he could have some. I said sure and we gave him a few. Seeing this as a "teachable moment" I said to him, "These are what peanut butter is made from. They smoosh them up and it makes peanut butter." Oh, says Campbell, then he continues to watch cartoons. Then I notice that he is squeezing the peanut between his fingers. Surely not, I think. Sure enough he looks at me and says, "It's not working, Mommy." Bless his sweet little heart, he was trying to make peanut butter. Guess I didn't realize how literal a 2 year old is.

Anyway, these are some funny stories from our life lately. Thanks for the concern about Andrew. He seems to be doing great--we even had our best night ever last night. He only woke up once, at 2:00, and got up a little after 6 this morning. Keep your fingers crossed that this continues because Mommy's been in a fog lately.

so big!

2008-03-03T13:49:00.005-05:00

You can tell by looking at Andrew that he is a big boy, but that was confirmed last week when we went to the doctor for our 8 week checkup. He weighed 13 pounds 5 ounces! That puts him in the 89th percentile. Wow! Campbell was usually lucky to be over the 20th percentile. His height was the 57th percentile, so at least he's kind of tall, too. So, we know he is growing well, but we did get a little bad news. The doctor said that he seemed to have RSV symptoms. I knew that he was congested, but he never wheezed or coughed or anything like that. So the doctor sent us home with breathing treatments that we do any time he looks like he's having a little trouble breathing. But he really seems to be fine. He smiles and plays all the time. My guess is that the doctor was being cautious since infections like this can easily get pretty serious with babies this young. He also said that considering how big Andrew was, that he'd probably be just fine. Thank God for a big baby and that so far, he's none the worse for the wear. He also said that the germ probably came home with Campbell because in Campbell it would just show up as a little head cold. Who knew? But other moms of 2 are telling me that #2 inevitably gets sick all the time. One told me hers had pink eye at 2 weeks old! You just can't keep them separated when they're this little. But I guess Andrew's immune system will be really strong! Other than that, we've just been hanging out and enjoying Andrew's developing personality. Campbell can't wait for him to get big enough to play with him. We say often that Andrew can do things "when he gets bigger," and so the other day Campbell asked me, "Andrew bigger yet?" What a cutie. Here are some of my favorite pictures lately. First there's a pretty good picture of Andrew's precious smile, and the last 2 are my sweet boys "playing" together under Andrew's play gym. Hope you are all enjoying this sunshine like we are--too bad it's not going to last much longer. Oh well, makes me ready for spring!

so much to say

2008-02-19T13:45:00.008-05:00

I know it's been forever, but I'm finally getting a moment to update the blog. Having 2 little boys takes up pretty much every bit of my time. I guess the main problem is that Andrew hadn't been sleeping very well at night, so as soon as we got both of them in the bed, I rushed off to sleep myself. But we've hopefully gotten into a better rhythm, so here is your long-awaited update. (I know you've all just been on pins and needles waiting!)We've been pretty busy actually, considering how young Andrew is, but he's a great traveler and I think enjoys being out and about just like his brother. We went to Kentucky to visit with David's family who hadn't been able to see Andrew yet. Here are some pictures from that trip.

This is David's dad's side--Pop and Gaggie, as we call them.

And this is David's mom's mother, Memaw.

We also took Andrew to church for the first time on the 10th. I was mostly excited because it was my first opportunity to dress the boys in cute little matching outfits. Thank you to my mom for buying them their sweet little outfits--they looked great.

Here we are about to leave for church. Apparently Bogie wanted in on the family photo, too!

This is the whole crew (my side and David's) out to eat after church.

We've also made a few trips to Lewisburg to hang out with my family, but for some reason I don't have any pictures of that. But I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks.

The first one is Campbell doing one of his favorite things--swiping Andrew's pacifiers. Of course, Andrew doesn't care because he seems to pretty much hate all pacifiers. I've tried 5 different kinds now, all of which seem to make him more mad when he's crying instead of soothe him. The bad thing is that the only way to really calm him down is to nurse him, hence the sleepless nights. But like I said, he's doing better now.

And this last one is my sweet little Andrew learning to smile. He's flashed a few really good ones, but of course not when I've got the camera ready. But I love this one anyway. His first one was on Valentine's Day--what a great gift for Mommy! And Daddy was home to see it, too. Thanks for checking in on us. I'll try to do a better job of updating, but I make no promises. :)

a moment of peace

2008-01-21T15:18:00.000-05:00

Both the boys are actually asleep right now, so I thought I'd give you a quick update. We're doing pretty well, everyone adjusting to their new roll. Andrew is such a joy, and Campbell is the greatest big brother. He even shared his blankie with his baby brother the other night. precious!! We've been pretty busy this week visiting with family who hadn't gotten to see Andrew yet. We went to Lewisburg on Wednesday and Kentucky on Saturday, and I must brag on my children for just a minute. They were both so good on both the trips. I was a little nervous, but everything went well, and all the family agreed--they are the cutest little guys ever.

But don't worry, things aren't always so easy and peaceful around here. Andrew is not sleeping quite as well at night, and Campbell has learned that when Mommy is feeding Andrew, she can't go anywhere and it's a great time to see what he can get into. This morning he tried to put a cheerio in the light socket. Yikes. But overall we are doing great and still can't believe how blessed we are to have these 2 great boys in our lives.

One quick funny story to end with--the other night David and Campbell were in the den, and I had walked into another room for a minute. I came back to see David making a strange face and sort of nervously pointing at Campbell saying, "Umm, your son wants to do something..." What could he want that would make David this anxious, I thought. Then I look over at the couch and see Campbell with the Boppy pillow around his waist, his shirt up around his shoulders and hear him say, "My feed Baby Andrew!" Oops, how do you handle that one? Well, then I had to have a talk with my little 2 year old about why no one could feed Andrew except Mommy. Oh well, what are you going to do?!?

doing great

2008-01-12T14:28:00.000-05:00

Well, believe it or not, things are going really well right now. To say that we are blessed is almost an understatement. I feel like I need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. Here's why. First of all, Campbell is being the BEST big brother Andrew could ask for. He loves on him and tries to share all his food with him. So far we haven't even had any bouts of jealousy or anything. He's a bit more sensitive than usual, but overall, he's done better than I could have hoped with the transition. That is a true answered prayer, let me tell you.

And for Andrew, well, he's just about the easiest baby that there ever was. He never cries, and if you knew Campbell as an infant, you know that we just aren't sure what to do with

a baby who doesn't cry. He's just so very content. He doesn't even take a pacifier because he doesn't need one! And as for sleeping, David and I have

to be the most well-rested parents of a newborn. The last 4 nights, he has gotten up twice each night to eat then fall directly back to sleep. I usually put him

in the bed around 9:30 or 10:00 for the night, and then I have to wake him up around 8:30 or 9:00 that morning. Last night he woke up at 2:00 and then 6:00, so I guess technically he only woke up once that night. I keep thinking the bottom is going to fall out and thi

s dream world is about to end, but so far, I couldn't ask for my boys to be any better

. I've also been blessed with tons of help this week. From my mom who came to stay for a few days then came back for the day yesterday, to my mother-in-law who kept Campbell and has really helped him ease through this transition, to friends from church who have brought us food or taken Campbell on special outings...the list just doesn't end. But the number 1 name on that list of helpers has to be my sweet husband. He has gone to work late, come home early, done housework, gone to the store, and pretty much taken care of everything we need

right now. My boys are very lucky to have such a great example of a Daddy. I can'

t believe life is so good. The Lord has blessed us beyond our imagination.

Here we are on our first little family outing--a walk around the neighborhood.

And here's Andrew in his car seat--don't you love that hat!

And this last one is my two sweet boys.

Pictures

2008-01-04T14:17:00.001-05:00

This is Andrew...
This is Campbell...Don't they look alike?

Well, my mom and campbell just left after coming up to eat lunch with Chris Anne, Andrew, and me. Campbell tells everyone that he's a big brother and shows them his bracelet that says "Big Brother" that I asked the nurse to make for him. (he was a little jealous that the three of us had one and he didn't). He is such a good big brother and loves Andrew. He has kissed him a hundred times and has held him a few too. I'm not an emotional person, but when Campbell leans over, kisses Andrew, and tells him he loves him, it's all I can do to keep the faucet turned off.

Andrew passed his hearing tests today and his pediatrician says he looks very healthy. We are so thankful with the blessing God has given us yet again. For those curious, here is where Andrew Alexander got his names...Andrew is after one of my best friends in the world Andy Nix. We can't think of anyone better for him to look up to besides his grandfathers. The only other real option was him being the III, but Chris Anne's brother is "Trey" and we didn't care for Trip. So that's where the Andrew part came from. Alexander came from Chris Anne's maternal grandmother Martha Alexander Earps. She just passed away this fall, and Chris Anne was very close to her and wanted to give her this honor. I certainly agreed.

This will be my last blog. I'm going to retire from this point forward and leave the posting up to Chris Anne. She always has plenty of words to share ;)

David

He's Here!!!!!!!!

2008-01-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

Andrew Alexander Sciortino arrived at 1:08pm weighing in at 8lbs 8.5 oz. and 20 inches long. He looks very similar to Campbell when he was born. Everyone is fine, more to come later. Thanks for the prayers.

David

Update

2008-01-03T12:02:00.000-05:00

It's now 11:30 and she is progressing nicely. If everything goes as planned, he'll be here in the early afternoon. Campbell is doing fine at my mom and dad's house. When I talked to him about 30 minutes ago, he had just gotten out of the tub and told me "daddy, i'm naked". If Andrew is anything like Campbell, the next 18 years are going to be VERY INTERESTING. Will update again later...

Feel free to leave posts for Chris and I'll be happy to relay the messages to her.

David

Well, here goes nothing...

2008-01-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

David here. I've never "blogged" before, but I know all you ladies do so I figured I'd try to make a few posts from here in the delivery room to keep all of you updated...

We got to Baptist this morning at 5:30 and by 5:45 we were already in our delivery room. This morning we have already watched the movie Rush Hour and are currently on Laws of Attraction. They just finished the epidural ( forgive my spelling, I was an accounting major ) and everything went fine. She is resting peacefully, and I'm right by her side ready ESPN.com, Catspause.com, etc. and twiddling my thumbs.

While I have the opportunity, I want to brag on my wife. She is the most loving, caring, Christ-like woman God could have ever blessed me with. Campbell, Andrew, Bogie, and I are the luckiest boys in the world to have her. Please pray God keeps her safe along with Andrew through this delivery. Will update again later...

tomorrow's the big day

2008-01-02T23:10:00.001-05:00

This is it. Tomorrow is the big day when we will go in to be induced and will hopefully get to meet our little Andrew by lunch time. Campbell came pretty quickly, so we can only assume that Andrew will, too. We've been talking about it for the last few days, trying to help Campbell understand what is going to happen. Boy is his world about to be rocked! But he enjoyed wearing his "Big Brother" t-shirt today and talking about his baby brother who is "coming to my house to see me." Who knows how much he really understands, but I'm sure he'll be fine. He is a very loving kid, so I'm not worried.

As for me, I'm feeling about a thousand and one emotions all at one time. I'm not nervous like I was with Campbell because I know what to expect. But I am more anxious about Andrew being healthy than I was before. But, I've prayed about it, and I know that Andrew is in God's hands. We would ask for your prayers for us as well--the more the better!

We aren't taking the laptop this time, so don't look for a post until Friday when David comes home for a little while. But we'll get it done as soon as possible. I hope 2008 is starting off well for you--we are blessed beyond belief right now. God is so good.

long time coming

2007-12-27T19:36:00.000-05:00

So sorry this post has taken so long to happen. We have been really busy over the last few weeks. First we started with Campbell's 2nd birthday and party on December 8. He was so excited all day long. He kept singing "Happy Birthday" to himself, and as soon as he saw the cake, he could think of nothing else. We can't believe our little man is already 2--it seems like just yesterday he was born. We've especially been thinking a lot about it lately because we're about to have another one. Wow, it goes faster than you can imagine. All you new moms and dads out there, cherish every moment! I'm trying to post pictures, but this new computer (it's a Mac) is giving me fits. So, I guess pictures will have to wait. Sorry.

Then we got started with our 4 day Christmas Extravaganza! We started out in Lewisburg with my family, then Nashville, Kentucky, back to Lewisburg, then back to Kentucky. Believe it or not, we actually have a great time and survived it pretty well. But Campbell had a BLAST this year. Santa brought him a workbench and some new golf clubs, but his favorite thing may be the cutable fruit and the microwave that aunt Jamie got him. It's always the simple things they like the best. But he's really enjoyed playing with everything the last few days. I would post some pictures, but the computer--AHH!

And, as for an Andrew update--we went to the doctor again today for our 38 week appointment and we have made just a little progress. But my doctor--the saint that she is--says we are going to induce on January 3rd if we haven't had him by then. So, little Baby Andrew will be here in just 1 week if not before! We are really excited and can't wait to meet him.

already the class clown

2007-12-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

So last night when we went to pick up Campbell from his class at church, his teachers had a funny story to share with us. They had asked Campbell what his new baby brother's name was going to be--which he clearly knows because we talk about Andrew all the time. You can even ask him who is in mommy's belly and he'll say, "Baby Andrew!" But for some reason this time he decided to tell them that the baby's name was Michael. What?!? Who even knows where he got that. He doesn't have any friends named Michael, and we really aren't around anyone named Michael. But apparently he heard that name somewhere and it stuck with him. Of course, his teachers knew this wasn't the correct name, so they laughed. Well, as soon as he knew that the name Michael got a laugh, he went around saying, "Michael, where are you?" "Michael, Michael!" His teachers were seriously cracking up at him, and he seemed quite proud of himself for making everyone laugh. Then on the way to the car David asked him where Michael was and he looked up at David and said, "In a tree." My son the entertainer!

oh my!

2007-11-29T20:58:00.000-05:00

So, we're out to dinner for David's dad's birthday tonight, and Campbell was in rare form. As you know, if you've spent any time with my son, he is a little on the...shall we say...mischievous side. Well, tonight, we are all sitting around the table talking, and I guess Campbell wasn't enjoying his fair share of the attention, and we look over at him and what do we see? A french fry sticking out of his nose and a grin a mile wide on his face. It took all my motherly powers not to burst out laughing, especially when I look over at David and his mom and they are both having to cover their faces to keep from laughing. David's dad stayed the coolest of us all and calmly removed the french fry from Campbell's nose. I promptly said another one of those sentences I never thought I'd have to say, "Campbell, we do not put french fries in our nose!" And so, another exciting meal with the Sciortino family. What can I say, at least things are never boring.

We hope that despite the french fry incident, that Papa had a good birthday dinner. I'm pretty sure he did since Campbell sang the happy birthday song pretty much every 5 minutes. Too cute, you should hear it!

And so, with the approach of another rambunctious Sciortino boy, I ask you to pray for me that I can keep up with them. Good thing I already color my hair or it would be gray as can be.

thanksgiving, whew!

2007-11-26T14:10:00.001-05:00

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday this year. We had lunch in Kentucky with David's mom's family, dinner in Lewisburg with my family, and then Friday we went back to Kentucky to visit with David's dad's family. Campbell was an absolute trooper, taking his nap in the car both days and only sleeping about an hour each time. He did have a little fall at my grandparents' house which actually started to swell a little and worried us for a while, but he was fine. It was fun to see him interacting with all his cousins and all the other family. It makes me really excited about Christmas this year and how much fun that will be. Although being only 4 weeks from my due date may make it not as fun as I want it to be. But, it will still be another wonderful holiday, I am sure.

We've also been pretty busy lately doing lots of other things too. A few weeks ago we celebrated my sister Jamie's 30th birthday. Her husband gave her an awesome gift of a girls' weekend at the mariott in cool springs. Me, Jamie, and 2 of her other friends scrapbooked and ate and had a great time. Then we had another party for her on her actual birthday where we went to dinner then back here for cake. I think and hope she had a wonderful 30th birthday and it wasn't as painful as she thought it might be.

Then the next weekend we went to Gainesville to visit Andy and Bethany. We had so much fun hanging out with them, even though Georgia beat Kentucky that Saturday. Campbell absolutely idolized Andy and wouldn't leave him alone for a minute. He also loved playing with their dog Callie. I couldn't decide if Callie would be relieved or sad when we left. We have some great pictures from there, but I need to download them. I'll post them later.

And then lastly, on Saturday we had a surprise birthday party for David's dad and 2 of his friends who were celebrating their 60th birthdays (actually I think 1 was 61). He was definitely surprised to see everyone at his house that day for the Tennessee vs. Kentucky game. Unfortunately Kentucky lost painfully, but they made a good showing.

So, as you can see, life has been pretty crazy for us lately, but it's been lots of fun. We are so blessed to have so many wonderful family and friends in our lives, and we had plenty to be thankful for this weekend. And in just a few weeks, we'll have another big blessing to be thankful for. Well, it will be a big blessing in a little package! Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, too.

my man

2007-11-08T11:12:00.000-05:00

Bethany tagged me, so here goes...

1.Who is your man? David, or David Allen to those of you who went to high school with him.
2. How long have you been married? 4 years in January
3. How long did you date? dated for a year then engaged for 5 months
4. How old is your man? 28.
5. Who eats more? well, this is an ufair time to ask this questions, but i think David still has me beat, at least by a little bit.
6. Who said "I love you" first? David
7. Who is taller? definitely David
8. Who sings better? we both think that we should be singing on stage somewhere! no really, probably him.
9. Who is smarter? we both have our areas of expertise
10. Whose temper is worse? David blows quicker, but I can hold my own, too.
11. Who does the laundry? usually me, but he helps out
12. Who takes out the trash? David most of the time
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
14. Who handles the bills? David--I haven't opened one since we married!
15. Who is better on the computer? Definitely David. Those Dell computer geeks taught him quite a bit.
16. Who mows the lawn? David--and he loves every minute of it.
17. Who cooks dinner? I do, but David loves to do the mashed potatoes
18. Who drives when you are together? David
19. Who pays when you go out? David
20. Who is more stubborn? I guess it depends on the situation, but probably David
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? again, depends on the situation
22. Whose families do you see most? We probably see his a little more since we live so close, but we still see mine quite a bit. We're really lucky that way.
23. Who kissed who first? David!
24. Who asked who out first? David, while I was working in the library. I knew there had to be some reason he suddenly started frequenting the library!
25. Who proposed? David, but Bogie held the ring.
26. Who is more sensitive? that would be ME!
27. Who has more friends? I don't know. Probably about the same.
28. Who has more siblings? me, 1 of both. David is an only child.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? David, but he lets me borrow them sometimes! :)
30. Who is the biggest pushover with the kids? probably David--Mommy has to be pretty tough around here.

Have a great weekend!

Halloween Fun!

2007-10-31T14:28:00.000-05:00

I always liked Halloween, but now that I have a little one to share it with, I LOVE it! We have been having so much fun the past few weeks with all sorts of Halloween fun.

First we went to the zoo for Ghouls at Grassmere--tons of fun. Campbell didn't dress up for that, but he had a blast. At one point he was riding in his stroller and singing at the top of his lungs with his arms outstretched. I took that to mean he was pretty happy. Here are a few pictures of that night.

This last picture is Campbell in the bouncy castle, which he actually liked! I'm telling you, he's getting so brave.
Then Sunday night we had our Trunk or Treat at church. Campbell was so excited when he got there that all my pictures I took in the first few minutes we blurry because he wouldn't stop moving. He ran all around there, got more candy, and showed everyone who the cutest lion in all the world is. He even kept his hood on all night long. But around 7:30 he crashed and headed home early with Daddy so Mommy could stay with our youth kids. Here are just a few pictures of that.

Thanks to Tara for that picture which I swiped off her blog!

Then last night we carved our pumpkins with David, Sara, and Taylor. The kids were not too interested in the actual carving, but Campbell did find out that he didn't care for raw pumpkin. The finished products aren't award-winning, but we had fun.

And this morning, we had our play group Halloween party. Man, you'd think that would be the end of it, but nope we've got more fun tonight with Jamie, Russ, Clark, my parents, and David's parents all coming over for dinner and Trick or Treating. Hope you all are having as much fun as we are. I think we'll need a pretty good nap tomorrow!

thank you

2007-10-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

I am overwhelmed and humbled by the support and love that I have been shown over the last week. Today I sat and opened no less than 10 cards from people in sympathy for the loss of my grandmother. I just sat and cried as I opened card after card and read the kind words of people who I know that when they say they have been praying for me, they mean it. I've also recieved countless e-mails, phone calls, sweet comments on this blog, and people coming up to me to say they are sorry for my loss and giving me a hug. And even some who drove all the way to Lewisburg to the visitation. Please be assured that I treasure each sentiment, and I feel so very blessed to be surrounded, on so many sides, with godly people who show God's love for me in such tangible ways. My cup truly runs over with blessings from you all, and for that I will always be grateful. I love you all more than you know, and your support has been such a comfort to me during this time. Thank you.

a sad day

2007-10-23T21:23:00.001-04:00

Today I lost my grandmother, one of my most favorite people in the world. Her health had been declining for a while now, and her battle ended this morning. She was my mom's mother, Martha Earps. She was the most beautiful and graceful woman I've ever known. She had a charm and a vivacity to her that was unmatched. Everyone who met her just loved her. She could make anyone smile. And boy, she knew how to get any man to do pretty much whatever she needed done. She loved her family and the Lord, and she was a fighter to the end. Though her body was always weak, her heart was stronger than anyone could imagine. She told the greatest stories, usually over and over again. I wish that I'd written them all down. She always told me to follow my heart, and I've tried to follow her advice. I will miss her very much, and I ask for your prayers for me and my family as we grieve for this wonderful lady. I told the Lord this morning that this was His lucky day, for He got to walk with my grandmother today.

Movin' On Up

2007-10-16T13:31:00.000-04:00

No, not to the east side, but there has been a lot of pie lately! Man, I crack myself up sometimes. What I mean is movin' on up the scale. And of course, I am referring to me and my ever-growing belly. I have been a little down lately because people keep looking at me and asking when I'm due, and when I tell them 12 more weeks, they look down at my belly in almost disgust and say, "Wow, you still have that long to go!!!" What are these people thinking? The ONLY appropriate thing to say about a pregnant woman's appearance is "You look GREAT!" or any variation there of. I didn't think my belly was freakishly large until all these people keep saying things to me. But at my doctor's appointment last week I was only measuring 1 centimeter big, so those people can just...well, never mind, this is a family show.

Another sign of my swelling belly is that I can no longer wear most of my T-shirts. There is still one I can wear which is one of my all time favorite shirts--no, not my Alcatraz swim team shirt as many of you are thinking, it's that Pi Delta shirt from Luau 2000--it's gray, and I think Kate drew the picture on the back. But I can't sleep in that shirt every night, so I have been reduced to raiding my husband's T-shirt drawer. But don't worry, David has a plethera of UK shirts for me to choose from. Well, the other night, after putting on one, Campbell said to me, "Daddy's shirt!" To which I replied, "Yes, Mommy has to wear Daddy's shirts now." And he said, "I wanna wear Daddy's shirt." And who could resisit? So we grabbed him one of David's shirts and put it on. It was about the cutest thing I've ever seen, and so I had to snap some pictures of my sweet boys.
If you're wondering what kind of face Campbell is making, he's saying "Cheese!"

Finally Updating

2007-10-12T14:47:00.000-04:00

It seems that no matter what I do, I can never keep up with my blog like I used to. When poor Andrew gets here, he'll probably never get any blog time. But here I am to update at last. I'll start with a preschool update. Campbell is doing GREAT now. He goes in with basically no tears, and he gets a good report almost every day. He knows the names of all his friends, and comes home talking about the fun things he did that day. The credit has to go to his sweet teachers, Miss Joanna and Miss Janda. They are just wonderful, and they work really hard to keep all the little guys happy. So, glad to report that things are much much better on that front.

As for a pregnancy update, we are 27 weeks now, and all is going well. Just went to the doctor again yesterday and besides being tired and my back hurting from time to time, I have no complaints.

And now for the fun stuff--things we've been doing. Last weekend we went to Gentry's Farm. It's a family-operated farm not far from our house that has games and hayrides and fun things for kids to do. You can even pick your own pumpkin out of the pumpkin patch. We went with some of the people from our small group at church, and aside from the unseasonably HOT weather that day, we had a great time. Here are some pictures from the day.

I promise to post more again soon. I took some really cute pictures of Campbell and David the other night that I'm dying to post, but if I start posting out of order, I'll never catch up. Have a good weekend and enjoy this wonderful weather.

Is today over yet?

2007-09-27T13:35:00.000-04:00

So, my Tuesday was pretty good after subbing my first day and everything, but Campbell's wasn't very good. After having 2 great weeks at preschool, week 3 started out very badly. He's getting some huge monster teeth in the back, and he didn't feel very good at school. He cried most all the day--didn't even eat his lunch. Those of you who know him well know that it is serious business when campbell doesn't eat. Then that afternoon he had a sort of blow out diaper, and I thought, yep, it's those teeth. Wednesday he seemed to feel fine, but had another questionable diaper. But he slept good Wednesday night, and he ate a good breakfast Thursday morning, so I didn't feel bad about sending him to preschool. Well, in the middle of Walmart around 11:00 today, I got a phone call from preschool. They said he'd been crying inconsolably since he got there, and they didn't know what to do.
They were great. They told me it was up to me, that they were fine to try and asuage him until 2:00, but since I had that lingering question of how he was feeling in the back of my mind, I decided to just go get him. As soon as I got there he calmed down and started saying, "Mommy's car!" I asked him if his teeth hurt and he said no. Asked him if he felt bad, no. By the time we got home, he was happy as could be. Looks like Mommy just got played. It's just one of those parenting decisions that you just don't feel good about either choice. I didn't want to leave him there and get home and him have a fever or something. So, I've been second-guessing myself for the last 2 hours. But we talked and I told him that he was definitely staying at preschool on Tuesday. I guess we'll see how that goes. Any advice?

feeling useful

2007-09-25T21:18:00.000-04:00

Well, today I earned my first day's wages in almost 2 years. That's right, I worked today. I am going to substitute teach at my old school one day a week, and today was my first day. It was really fun to get back in the grove of working again, especially without the responsibility of the class being my class. Today I was an 8th grade history teacher. Who knows what I'll be next week.
We also went on a girls' retreat with our 10th grade girls at church this weekend. It was an awesome time of bonding and fellowship and committment to purity. These girls continually amaze me with their spiritual maturity and poise. Many of them said that they actually pray for their future husband on a regular basis. I can honestly say that I never thought about that at their age. I hope that they learn half as much from me as I do from them.
Hope everyone else is having a good week and feeling useful, too. It's a nice feeling.

serious bed head

2007-09-19T14:58:00.000-04:00

Today must be a very bad hair day for Campbell. He woke up this morning with pretty funny bed head, but when he woke up from his nap just now, it was really serious. I just had to take some pictures. There's just something about little boys with bed head that just makes me smile. So, hopefully these pictures will make you smile, too.

I stand corrected

2007-09-13T17:30:00.000-04:00

Well, folks, like I've said, and experienced, a thousand times, your kids will make a liar out of you every time. And this week is no different. I bet I've said a hundred times lately that there was no way Campbell would sleep at preschool, but, as usual, my son has proven me wrong. Both Tuesday and today he took naps at school. Now grant you, neither was as long as I might like, but they will get him through the day.
And apparently he really likes school. He's not crazy about being dropped off, but other than that, I think he likes it. They say he's pretty happy. I think it's the structure. He likes going from one thing to another. But all in all, I'm so proud of him. This whole mother's day out thing is pretty great for me, too. Today I met Jamie and some other friends for lunch. How fun!
By the way, we had another ultrasound today because they wanted to get more pictures of his heart. Nothing wrong, he just wouldn't cooperate last time. But it was really great to be able to see him again. And by the way, his name will be Andrew Alexander.

Momma's Big Man

2007-09-11T13:53:00.000-04:00

Well, today was a big day for us. Today was Campbell's first day of Mother's Day Out at Harpeth Hills Preschool. I knew it was going to be a good day when he slept until 8:00 this morning. He woke up in a wonderful mood, but every time I asked him if he was excited about preschool, or even if he was going, he said matter-of-factly, "No." Nonetheless, we made the trip to church. I decided to walk him to his classroom today (usually the teachers get the children out of the car and take them to class) since it was the first day.

He started to get nervous as we walked down the hallway, and as we approached his classroom door, he started to cry. So I picked him up and walked him into the room. The teachers greeted him with big smiles, but he was clutching onto Mommy for dear life! Then I noticed that they had taped pictures and name tags on the chairs. I pointed out his picture and his name, and he seemed to really like that. Then he noticed that there were crayons and paper all over the table, so he immediately started coloring (one of his very favorite things to do right now). Sensing that now was my chance, I leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, told him I loved him and to have a good day. He never even took his eyes off his teacher who was drawing something for him. I walked out the door, and he never seemed to give me a second thought! What a brave guy! I was so proud of him. I started to tear up as I walked back down the hallway, but I decided that if he didn't need to cry, neither did I. And so, our first day, at least the beginning, was a success.

It's so hard not knowing what he is doing right now. Supposedly he is napping right now, but you could knock me over with a feather if he is actually asleep right now. But, who knows! I'll let you know later on how the day went. I've also got lots of great pictures and stories from our Hilton Head trip to share as well. But for now, here's some pictures of my big man as he was leaving for preschool this morning. I can't believe how big he is. I love how in the first picture he looks like he doesn't quite know about this bag thing, but then he decides he kind of likes it and gives Mommy a big cheese for the camera.

fun pictures

2007-08-30T13:48:00.000-04:00

Here are some fun and random pictures for you. I realized that I hadn't really posted any pictures lately. This one is the infamous black eye from vacation. It really doesn't do it justice--it was pretty bad. I think my mom got some better pictures, though. This also happens to be Campbell's first time playing mini golf. He did GREAT. We let him hit the ball a few times, and then he'd put it right up next to the hole, tap it in, and clap for himself. So fun! This is daddy and Campbell in their new favorite activity. Daddy got this bike and trailer for his birthday, and the two of them just love riding it. Campbell always says, "MORE!" as soon as they pull in the driveway.
And this is how we found him the other day. He had found his floatie swimsuit and somehow gotten it on up to his knees. Do you think he likes to go swimming? What a cutie.

Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Hope you are enjoying this break in the heat like we are. We actually got to play outside yesterday.

We also want to say welcome to Baby Sam Hazlewood who was born this morning. Congratulations, Kate and Ben. You guys are going to be great parents.

Bad Reality Show

2007-08-28T21:15:00.000-04:00

As most of you know, nothing in the Sciortino household is done easily. And right now I feel like we are smack in the middle of a bad reality show where the audience knows that everything is just a joke, but the people in the show don't. YIKES! You see, earlier in the summer we had a new air conditioning unit put in because it would get up to 80 and above upstairs. So, to make a long story short, it continued to reach 79 or 80 degrees upstairs even after we spent all the money, so the air conditioner people have been back over and over and over again. Put it this way, Campbell knows the name of the repairman, and David knows his cell phone number by heart.

Well, we thought everything was working finally after Saturday when they replaced all our duct work. Then David came home from work yesterday and found water spots all over the ceiling in the guest room. That's right, folks, now the unit was leaking. You've got to be kidding me!! So, he calls them again to express his feelings on the subject. We had been VERY patient, but enough was enough.

And so, they were here all day today ripping out the unit and putting in another new one. The worst part is that we've had no AC upstairs since yesterday afternoon, so poor Campbell had to spend the night with our neighbors last night. Then we hung out at Jamie's all day today. Now, they had promised to be done by tonight, but I had this sneaky suspicion that things wouldn't work out exactly as planned. So, I went ahead and took Campbell up to David's parents' to spend the night tonight. Well, good thing I did because I get home a little before 8:00 tonight to hear that they are not in fact finishing tonight because they ran out of gas for their blow torches. Seriously, do we have a curse or something?!?

All this to say, my sweet Campbell has been an absolute champ, sleeping in 4 different beds in 4 different houses in 2 days, and actually sleeping!! I wish I could give him some kind of reward for being so good, but I don't know if he'd understand it. And so, we shall remain in this terrible reality show. Anyone have any good ideas for a name for the show? After all, if this is going to happen to us anyway, maybe we could make a little money off it! :) I hope everyone else is having a better week than mine.

The Big News

2007-08-23T14:07:00.000-04:00

Well, just as my mom used to tell me, I've always got to be different. We are having a boy! Pretty much everyone I know who's pregnant is having a girl, so from the beginning of the ultrasound, I was convinced the odds were that I was having a boy. And then, we saw the proof. The sweet little guy did cooperate for us to see his, well..., you know, but he wouldn't cooperate on his heart pictures. So, I have to go back for another ultrasound in 3 weeks. But it's kind of nice because I only had 2 with Campbell. It will be nice to get to see him again. Everything else looked normal and healthy, so praise God for that. We feel so blessed to be adding another precious boy to our family. He doesn't have a name yet, but we're working on it. Thank for your prayers, I'm sure that's why he looks so healthy. Keep them coming--we've got 20 more weeks to go!

young love

2007-08-21T14:59:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official, my son is going to hate me when he gets older for making him pose for certain pictures--these are perfect examples. But, after all the diapers and tears I have to endure, this is little retribution. I'm pretty sure he'll live. Anyway, these are some adorable pictures of Campbell and his friend Taylor. Big thanks to Taylor's grandparents for being on the ball and having their camera in the car to capture this kodak moment. And yes, we are at Krispy Kreme, but it wasn't my idea. I won't say I didn't have a donut, though!

I'm including this last one for those of you who might want to see what the belly is looking like these days. This is as close up as you're going to get. I'm getting pretty big, but still not as big as last time. As my husband said, "yeah, by this time with Campbell, you'd already blown up!" I think it was supposed to be a compliment, but he's got to work on his delivery. And excuse his outfit--he didn't know we'd be on camera!

By the way, stay tuned this week for the big ultrasound on Thursday. I'm feeling a lot of girl-pressure, but I've got no feelings either way. I'll be sure to post Thursday afternoon with the big news.

Happy Birthday, David!!

2007-08-14T09:52:00.001-04:00

Today, Campbell and I would like to say, "Happy Birthday!" to David. He is a great daddy and husband, and we love him very, very much. He is 28 years old today, which makes him closer to 30 than me, at least for now.

Here are some pictures of David and Campbell. David is passing on his obsession for a nice yard on to his son. This is the two of them standing out in the rain picking weeds out of the front yard. It's just sprinkling, so you can't see the rain, but trust me, they were out there in the rain.

We love you, David, and hope you have a great day.

confession time

2007-08-09T14:58:00.000-04:00

OK, so it's official--I'm the biggest blogger slacker. I'm so sorry. I know it's been just downright painful for all of you to be without my blog updates for so long, but here we go with the excuses/confessions whatever you want to call them. First of all, Campbell has been sleeping approximately 1 hour per day for about a month. That's right ladies, from 7 AM to 8 PM, my child sleeps only an hour, so, that doesn't leave much time for other things besides the essentials: clean dishes, clean clothes, and a quick rest. Then we went to the beach for a few days with my parents. So much fun, more on that later. And last but not least, my life has been totally consumed by another man for the past week. His name is Harry Potter, and I just couldn't put him down!! I started reading on vacation, but didn't have much time to read with a 20 month old to keep up with. So, since we've been home, every spare minute has been devoted to Harry. I actually stayed up until 1:30 this morning finishing the book. Sad, I know, but what a great book. I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't read yet, but I was thoroughly enthralled by all 759 pages. And so, those are the things that have kept me from my adoring fans. I know, it's pitiful, but true.

For those that have asked, thank you, I am finally starting to feel better and not get sick anymore. I am moving into that good stage of pregnancy, which unfortunately only lasts like a minute, but I plan to enjoy it and get some things done. Yeah, I know what you're thinking, we'll believe when we see it. Or is that just what my husband is saying to himself as he reads?!? Also, we find out boy or girl in 2 weeks. Very exciting. I don't have a feeling either way, I'm just hoping for a good health report.

As for vacation, we had WONDERFUL time in Panama City Beach with my parents, brother, sister, brother-in-law, and sweet nephew. Campbell had fun despite coming home with the following ailments: a black eye, a busted lip, a gash on his had, a strawberry on his elbow, and 2 skinned knees. My brother told me we were going to get turned in for child abuse! What can I say, he doesn't listen when you tell him to walk not run. But I'll tell more about vacation when I get the pictures from Mom and Jamie's cameras to post. You've got to see little Rocky's eye. It's classic.

And last but not least, I'd like to wish my sweet little nephew Russ a VERY HAPPY 2ND BIRTHDAY today. He's a sweetie, and I hope he has a wonderful, wonderful day. Here's an old but cute picture of my little buddy reading with Campbell at his Aunt Peeky's house. (yes, that's what he's been calling me lately, who knows why. But it's better than the Pete he was calling me a few weeks ago!) We love you, Russ.

blogger slacker

2007-07-09T15:40:00.001-04:00

So, I've been accused, by more than one person, I might add, of being a blogger slacker. Who knew I had such adoring and demanding fans! It's nice to be so loved!! and humble, too!! Anyway, to catch you up on what we've been doing, we have just been enjoying summer and trying to beat the heat. Campbell loves the water, even to the point of loving to jump in off the side of the pool. But I have to watch him constantly because he is not afraid to jump without me.
We had a great 4th of July. We went swimming that morning with David's mom and dad at Richland, and then our neighbors had a cookout where we all played and played and ate way too much.
Then we went to the thriving metropolis of Gainesville, GA to visit Andy and Bethany, or as Campbell calls them, Nee Nee and DBEE DBEE. Not really sure what he was calling Bethany, but i do know that we all had a great time at the Nix residence. We swam, visited, and thanks to Andy's parents, we even got to go see a movie. Evan Almighty--I HIGHLY recommend it--clean and funny! I wish I had some pictures to post from our visit, but I didn't take any. Bethany got some great ones of Campbell swimming, so I'll get some from her and post them soon. But thanks to Bethany for being a wonderful hostess and letting us invade her home with enough stuff to stay a month! And thanks for their dog Callie for providing hours of entertainment for Campbell. Anyway, that's about all we've been up to. Thanks for checking in.

50 things about me

2007-06-20T15:27:00.001-04:00

April tagged me, so here goes nothing...

1. I am 11 weeks pregnant and already starting to look it! yikes.
2. I love being a mom, but I hate being pregnant.
3. My son Campbell is the cutest kid I know!
4. My husband and I are great friends and I love to be silly with him.
5. We love to watch Family Feud reruns on the Game show network until late at night and make fun of all the dumb answers.
6. In case I ever get on the Feud, I've already got my team picked out: David, me, Jamie, David's dad, and my dad. We would totally clean up!
7. I've been watching the Food Network since college and still can't get enough of it.
8. I love to travel, but it's been a long time since I've been able to go somewhere far away.
9. I'm pretty social, but I have to have my alone time sometimes.
10. I LOVE Harry Potter: had a 6 foot cardboard cutout in my classroom, can't wait for the last book and the next movie to come out in July.
11. This is harder than I thought it would be.
12. I love to sing to Campbell but am just waiting for the day he figures out I can't carry a tune.
13. I fancy myself a pretty good cook, and I love to do it.
14. I am totally addicted to blogging and would feel a void if I couldn't do it for a while. Sad, huh? 15. I am very blessed to have lots of friends from church and my neighborhood and of course, my sister, who stay at home, too. I couldn't do this without them.
16. My dog has gotten attacked my a momma cat twice now.
17. I trapped 2 of her kittens an took them to animal control this morning. Wish me luck on the momma and the other kitten.
18. Don't worry, they were not harmed.
19. I love Dr. Pepper, but caffeine throws me for a loop.
20. When I have caffeine, David can talk to me on the phone and know I've had it. And he's never been wrong--about that, I mean! :)
21. I caught the last kitten last night, and I think the momma cat is mad at me.
22. I don't face conflict very well, but I'm getting better, maybe, I hope.
23. I truly pray only that I will have a healthy baby, but I really don't know if I'd know what to do with a girl.
24. I hate the color pink--I never wear it, ever.
25. I sincerely hope my son has his father's athletic ability and not mine.
26. I love to eat chocolate, and sometimes if there isn't any in the house, I will eat a handfull of chocolate chips.
27. My favorite meal at a restaurant is probably Cracker Barrel's chicken and rice special that they only have on Saturdays.
28. I'm thinking of writing Cracker Barrel and petitioning to have it permanently added to the menu. Anyone with me?
29. I used to love winter, but now that I have a kid, I'm all about spring and fall.
30. I love the beach and could sit out there and read a book under an umbrella all day.
31. I bought material to make curtains for my bedroom months ago. It was to be my first sewing (not embroidering) project. But I've been too scared to start on them.
32. I hate that I have already lost tough with many wonderful friends throughout the years.
33. I hate having my picture taken.
34. I love movies, especially romantic comedies.
35. I quiz my mom and sister on quotes from movies. They humor me sometimes, but I don't think they really like it.
36. My favorite shirt is one my mom got in San Fransico more than 20 years ago that says Alcatraz Swim Team. It's completely threadbare, but I continue to wear it, much to the chagrin of my family and friends. How many of you remember it?
37. My favorite movie is the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice--6 hours of Victorian England fun. Who couldn't love it!
38. I used to hate pizza, but I started liking it again when I was pregnant with Campbell, and I still love it.
39. Lately I've been on a trail mix kick. Target has an excellent selection if you are in the mood.
40. I love Publix. They are friendly and nice and clean and just plain wonderful. And they have the race car carts that Campbell loves and would sit in all day. It's my happy place.
41. I loved teaching but I don't miss dealing with parents and grading papers.
42. I love freaking out my old kids in the grocery store when they wonder where they've seen me before.
43. I like red nail polish, but only on my toes. I prefer nothing on my fingers.
44. I love pedicures and would get one every week if I could.
45. My dream is to write children/young adult books. I even have some ideas mapped out.
46. I'm afraid I'm too scared to try to go for my dream.
47. I am a graduate school drop out. I got pregnant with Campbell 2 weeks in and figured that was enough on my plate. I doubt I'll ever go back.
48. Some of my favorite memories from childhood are riding horses with my family and friends. I miss that part of my life.
49. I was on the Fine Living Network on a show called American Shopper (not Chopper), but I didn't tell very many people because I was nervous.
50. I really want to go back to Europe and spend some time revisiting some of the places I went back in college, especially Vienna.

Yay! I'm done. That was fun but took a while. OK, so now I guess I tag some people, let's see, how about...Lindsay, Kate, Elizabeth Byerly, and Bethany. Please do it, ladies, it's pretty fun. And thanks to Courtney for starting us.

Big News

2007-06-15T15:10:00.000-04:00

Campbell wore a special shirt today to make a special announcement...he's going to be a BIG BROTHER! Yep, that's right, we're having another baby. This one is due in January which makes me about 10 weeks along. Please keep us in your prayers to have a wonderful and healthy baby just like Big Brother here!

Please excuse the picture, it was the best I could get being here alone.

Little Gym

2007-06-04T22:04:00.000-04:00

Campbell and I have been going to mommy and me classes at The Little Gym. He gets to run around and climb on mats, play with big bouncy balls, pop bubbles, and hang out with other kids. It is also great for buildinng confidence, learning to share, and even helping them learn what to do when they fall off the couch. He loved every minute of our classes, which started back in January (wonderful way to get through the winter!), but as of last Wednesday, he's finished. He graduated from his first gymnastics class. David came out to see the final class and watch him get his ribbon. We were so proud of him. Here are some pictures from that last class.

Look how proud he was of himself after he got his ribbon. What a cutie!

catfight!

2007-06-01T16:19:00.000-04:00

No, I didn't get in a fight and beat up some woman in Walmart over the last bag of baked cheetos, though, I'd do it if I had to. This fight is about Bogie. As most of you know, Bogie is our tiny little 6 pound Maltese whom we love as one of the family. Well, it all started this afternoon. Campbell and I were headed home from the longest trip to Walmart in the history of the world. Campbell fell asleep before we were even out of the parking lot! So, when we got home, I transfered Campbell to his bed, and Bogie and I headed outside to unload the groceries. After bringing in a load, I walked back out to the garage and heard Bogie yelping and screaming and saw him tear across the yard. I ran over to him, but he wouldn't let me pick him up. And when I looked down at my hand, it had blood on it. I freaked out, but Bogie was too scared to let me pick him up. So I went around the house to where he ran from, and there it was--a cat staring menacingly out at me from underneath the bushes around our air conditioning unit. Immediately, I knew what had happened.

You see, Bogie is a little...aggressive, we'll call it. He chases after any and every animal that comes close--German Shephard and Yorkie alike! So, I'm sure that he provoked the cat. So, anyway, I get Bogie in the house and the rest of the groceries in. After quickly putting away the perishables, I head to the phone book to call the vet. I tell them what happened, and they said I needed to bring him in right away. Well great, I thought. What do I do with my sleeping 18 month old. I mean, when you only get one nap a day, that nap is not disturbed by anything short of the house being on fire! So I see out the front window that my neighbor's car is there. She has 3 daughters, 2 of whom are 8 and 10. So I call her and she sends them over to stay at my house while I take my injured dog to the vet. Of course, Bogie is hiding under our king size bed at this point, and I barely get him out from under there.

We get to the vet, and he pulls out the clippers and shaves the places Bogie is bleeding. You can see exactly where the cat's teeth went in. And poor Bogie, he looks just plain stupid because most of the bites are right on the top of his head. So, not only does he have to suffer the embarassment of losing a fight with a cat, he also has to sport this horrible haircut until it finally grows back. Then, to add insult to injury, before leaving the vet, I noticed that Bogie's nails needed trimming. So, the poor thing had to endure that as well. But don't worry, he's fine now. He's running all around the house, not much the worse for the wear. But I did manage to snap a quick picture of him. So, the moral of the story is, watch out for those cats!

mommy's little "helper"

2007-05-25T09:38:00.000-04:00

So lately, Campbell has been really into "helping" me. When I take clothes out of the dryer, he gets a few shirts or something. Then while I'm folding them he continually hands me sock after sock. It's really sweet, but sometimes makes for longer jobs than usual. This morning he was "helping" me unload the dishwasher, and actually doing a pretty good job of handing me things until he found the big collander. He thought it was really cool, and off he went to play with it. I didn't mind thinking that I could unload the dishwasher quicker now that he was gone. So, when I finished, I went in the den and found him with the collander on his head like a hat and kicking his ball around the room. It was the funniest and cutest thing you've ever seen. So I had to take a picture and share it. I'm also including a picture of him wearing his daddy's shoes, another fun thing for him right now. If you leave your shoes on the floor, you can be sure he's going to try to wear them. He's so funny. Every day he learns something new and I just love watching that little mind work.

Congratulations, Trey!

2007-05-19T20:13:00.000-04:00

Congratulations to my little brother Trey who graduated from high school today. I guess that means he's not really little anymore, huh? He even graduated with honors, continuing in the long line of Russell nerd kids. We are so proud of him. He is a great brother, a wonderful uncle who always lets Campbell and Russ play on his drums and his guitar. Campbell loves to listen to him play the guitar. Campbell worked on saying "Yay, Trey!" all morning, but it came out more like, "Yay, Tay!" But still, it was sweet. Trey will be going to MTSU in the fall--don't know the major yet, but we're glad he's not going too far away. Trey, we love you and we're so proud of you!

Excuse the picture. It's the only good one I could find on our computer where you could really see Trey. I know my mom has many much better ones, but this is my family on the day of Campbell's birth.

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-12T13:58:00.000-04:00

Here's a repeat picture from my Valentine's post, but I thought it was fitting. Campbell and I would like to say "Happy Mother's Day!" to all of you moms, moms-to-be, and everyone else out there who is thinking about their mom this weekend. Being a mom is the most incredible, wonderful, complicated, rewarding, world-rocking-but-in-a-good-way experience of my life. It is a blessing straight from God. And so, I wish you all blessings and love on this Mother's Day weekend. Give yourself a hug from me and Campbell!

makes me want to scream!

2007-05-10T14:58:00.000-04:00

Remember that Michael Jackson song? Well, that's what I'm feeling right now. For the third day in a row, my son is screaming in his bed after sleeping only 1 hour. Now, I could deal with the 1 hour naps when there were 2 of them, but not when there's just one! I don't know what to do. I've tried going up there and telling him that it isn't time to get up yet and Mommy will come back and get you when it is, and I've tried just letting him sit in there and scream. What else can I do? Help me! I need some suggestions. I can't take this anymore! It's not just that I want 2 hours of peace and quiet, which is great, don't get me wrong, but he is crabby all day long. Nothing suits him all day long. AHHHHHHHHHH! Never thought I'd say this, but Michael Jackson was right, some things just "Make Me Want to SCREAM!" Sorry for the Michael Jackson reference, but it's what came to mind.

the obsession continues

2007-05-08T14:47:00.000-04:00

Well, I've done it. I've already done my future daughter-in-law a disservice. I have allowed my husband's obsession for golf be passed down to our son. Today David bought Campbell his first REAL golf club. Apparently the plastic ones were just not doing it for us and we needed a metal one. No really, I think it's cute the way Campbell loves golf, except for mornings like this morning when the first words out of his mouth were, "golf!" But hopefully my future daughter-in-law will forgive me.
Not much else has been going on around the Sciortino household. The yard sale was a definite success, and I've been really busy embroidering everything I can get my hands on. I've made 4 more burp cloths, 2 blankets, and 12 towels. Yes, everyone I know is getting something monogrammed. It is fun, but I can see why professionals charge so much. The process has quite a few steps. The worst of which is hooping. And I bare the scar to prove it, well blister anyway!

my first projects

2007-04-26T09:54:00.000-04:00

So I've been hard at work using my sewing machine to embroider some gifts. It's been really fun to actually make something instead of just practice doing things. I have to thank my friend Sara for helping me out. We spent a while on Saturday making these 2 burp cloths and a blankie for our friend Tara who is having a little girl any day now. I posted both pictures because I didn't know which one you could see better.
Then the other day my sister and I were working on something else, and we hit a few bumps in the road. So I took my sewing machine in, thinking that the problem just had to be with the machine. But, oddly enough, the problem actually turned out to be user error! Oops. I guess that's what you get when you are just guessing how to use the software before someone actually teaches you (or before you even read the whole manual!). But I tried another project yesterday afternoon, and things are going along smoothly again. And I have my software class on Saturday, so hopefully I will learn the RIGHT way to do this stuff. But I am having so much fun doing this. Before too long everything in my house may be embroidered! Watch out, Bogie, better not sit still for too long. Just kidding!

buddies

2007-04-19T09:38:00.000-04:00

I took these pictures the other night when David and Campbell were playing on the floor. David was on his belly, and Campbell just had to do just like his daddy. He even made sure to position his hands just like Daddy. So cute. I love to watch them play. Campbell just loves his daddy. Every afternoon when the door opens, he yells out, "Da Da!" as loud as he can. I'm so lucky to have such a great husband and father for Campbell.

to keep or not to keep...

2007-04-17T15:13:00.000-04:00

...to paraphrase Shakespeare, who would roll over in his grave if he knew I was using his words to talk about my yard sale! But that is what I am doing--trying to decide what things in my house I want to keep, and what things are going in the yard sale on Saturday. There are the easy decisions, like the hideous ceramic box thing with angels and roses on it--yard sale! And then there are the tough ones like the beautiful, yet duplicated, crystal pieces. I have just uncovered the most beautiful crystal pitcher, but do I need it? And how many crystal bowls is enough? And where do I put all this stuff that I decide to keep? And for the stuff I sell, how much do I sell it for? Ahh, it's too much! I can't take it anymore. Anyone want to come over and make these decisions for me? Anyone?

Hazardous Housework

2007-04-13T11:39:00.000-04:00

OK, ladies, I have the answer to all your problems. I have proof positive that vacuuming is hazardous to your health. Yesterday I was hard at work, cleaning my house when I was horribly injured. It happened when I picked up the vacuum. I had this pain in my finger, but being the brave soul that I am, I pressed on. A few minutes later I looked down at my still-throbbing finger and saw it was horribly disfigured. It was black, blue, purple, and swollen. But, don't worry, I finished the housework. And so, here is my proof that vacuuming is hazardous to your health. Now, by advised, this picture may not be suitable for small children and squeamish adults--it's pretty gruesome! The picture is a little blurry, but it is surprisingly difficult to get a clear picture of your own hand. I think that you can get the general idea of the injury. And I couldn't, in good conscience, neglect to share this information with all the women in my life. Hopefully, my pain will prevent you from incurring the same injury. So, in honor of my pain, take today off and do NO HOUSEWORK!! Happy Friday, and you're welcome!

Easter Fun

2007-04-10T21:43:00.000-04:00

I always seem to be the last one to post holiday pictures for some reason. I think there's something intimidating about taking 80 pictures in a weekend and trying to decide which ones to include on my blog. And the funny part is that I stress over it and try to pick just the right picture. I'm strange, I know. But anyway, we had a great Easter. Campbell finally realized that eggs were for hunting and not throwing and enjoyed hunting eggs in Kentucky and Lewisburg. Too bad it was so cold he had to wear fleece! But overall, we had a great time. We got to see almost all the great grandparents, which is always a blessing. Campbell is lucky to have so many great grandparents who love him so much, and grandparents, too, don't get me wrong. So here are the winning pictures. I am bummed because yet again, I didn't get any pictures of him in his Easter outfit, which consequently was his 12 month pictures outfit since it was 30 degrees and I didn't want him to freeze to death at church. Hope your Easter was blessed, too.

spatula golf

2007-04-06T16:33:00.000-04:00

I have to give it to Campbell, he has become quite resourceful in this cold weather. I guess the saying is right, "Necessity is the mother of invention." He started out by going to the back door and begging to go outside and then having a breakdown when I told him that it was too cold. But now, he's made up his own game he can play inside. I call this game spatula golf. Here's how it started. Campbell loves to "help" me unload the dishwasher. And so, in an effort to keep him from grabbing all the knives out of the dishwasher, I usually give him a spatula to play with. He thinks it's pretty cool and runs around the house with it. Well, the other day, he spotted a rubber baseball (used to be Bogie's, but now Campbell has taken it over--but it was always a little too big for Bogie anyway). He remembered his new favorite game, and decided the spatula could work as well as a golf club, and he hit the ball. Well, after that, shall we say, the rest is history. It is his new favorite game. The funniest part is that he misses the ball about 80% of the time, but he doesn't get discouraged. And he will NOT let David help him. The fierce indepence rears its head and he shouts, "No!" But, it keeps him happy indoors, and that's all I can ask for right now. Enjoy the pictures. And please don't think I never dress my child. Apparently all the Kodac moments happen first thing in the morning!

practice round

2007-04-03T09:17:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was such a beautiful day, so Campbell and I joined a few friends at the park for a picnic and an Easter Egg Hunt practice round. Campbell pretty much just thought the eggs were balls. He kept saying, "BALL!" and throwing the eggs. I tried to get him to put them in his basket, but he would have no part of that. Throwing them was all he wanted to do. This should make the weekend exciting!

We also got our landscaping last week, and here is a picture of the front. It looks so much better than the 15 year old holly bushes that used to be there. The back looks great, too, but I haven't gotten a picture of that yet.