Campbells Bday

(scroll over pics for a caption - some of them were cut short)

campbell had a fun-packed birthday week... on tuesday (feb 3) - her actual birthday -we took cookies to school and she had a little party there. honey and papa (my parents) came in town, and we had cake that night before wheel a fortune. then on saturday all our family came in town from auburn and atlanta and we took her to chuck e cheese... i thought this would be a hit - and the games and pizza were - but NOT the mouse, chuck e cheese himself. she FLIPPED! for days she kept saying, "all done mouse!" guess we'll have to wait a few years to go to disney... we still had fun, and my brother brian and his girlfriend savannah came in town that night. campbells got to show them the park, and her favorite ice cream place. i can't believe she is already two - she'll be driving before we know it...

Sunny Cali

So here are the long overdue pics from the LA trip... did my girl Hannah do good or what? $40,000 - not too shabby... Sorry, no pics from the show - they didn't even allow cameras anywhere near the studio. And yes, there is a picture of Amanda Bynes (What I like about you, Hairspray, etc)and her man thats on The Hills (Villacampas - y'all will be impressed!)... we saw them in their Range Rover and got a picture as she turned her head! :) I love that we got to walk on the beach in January - it was over 85 degrees!

Dear friends and family...

We are not ignoring you, nor have we forgotten to call you back - or call you at all... we are out of minutes! I hate this time of the month - the end of the billing cycle, when every month without fail - we run out of minutes early. I'm sure you are asking, "why not get more minutes?" I ask Ben the same question... :) But we are trying to work with this plan for now, so until this weekend - we can only text, and we are almost out of text messages too... perfect. :)

For those of you with verizon - we can talk for free! Otherwise, we'll have to put our conversations on hold until the weekend. :) Stay tuned for LOTS of pictures from the weekend and Campbells birthday...

Have a great Monday!

Tomorrow - The Big Day

 

 

 

Campbell Grace is TWO! Tomorrow, Feb. 3rd - my little girl will be two... the pictures above are of the day she was born, her 1st birthday, and today. Its amazing to see how fast she has grown, and to remember the days that she couldn't walk or talk - and now she is saying full sentences, counting above 10, saying the ABCs, singing Jesus loves me, telling me she loves me and the name of our new president. :) i wish i could go back and relive it again - even the bad days. but since i can't, i am going to try to love the here and now and cherish it - even the bad days. :) i love you my sweet little girl - your dad and i could not have prayed for a more wonderful child - we love you to pieces!


Side Notes:

-tomorrow is also big because it is my friend Hannah's (and maybe a bit of me too) debut on WHEEL OF FORTUNE! if you are in birmingham in is on ABC 33/40 at 6:30pm. Don't miss it! :)

-HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS! today is one of my most special and oldest friends birthday... i love you and am so thankful for you!

The Wheel!

Wheel a Fortune fans... eat your heart out... I am going to LA to be on the show!! Not as a contestant unfortunately, but my friend Hannah is - and her sister, another friend and I are going with her! The taping is in a week, but not sure when it will air yet... I just can't believe we will be on a live taping (wait... that means it ISN'T live... oh well) of the show! Maybe Vanna will be sick that day and hopefully they will take volunteers from the audience :)

Also - be praying for Ben... he leaves for a medical mission trip to Africa soon, and needs prayer for their safety and for God to open the hearts of the people they minister to. Its a really neat opportunity - but Campbell and I need prayer too - this is a long time to be without daddy! :)

Our streak is over...

Well, we somehow managed to go 2 whole years with no ear infections - until this week. Campbell has had a cough for a while, and since had been weeks - I called the nurse. She wanted to see her, and of course it was her ears... I was so sad to break such a good streak! But, so thankful that we made it this long without them. Now if we can just get rid of this cough...

And I know, I know... I'm terrible. It's after New Years and I haven't even put the Christmas pictures up yet. They are coming... I promise.

Christmas Craziness

Sorry for being so tardy with this post...the Christmas Season is in full swing, and so is my stress! :) I am pretty much done with my shopping and decorating - so that feels good. But I am figuring out that what would save us all a lot of time and stress - would be if we bought a few presents for ourselves (so we could get the things we REALLY want) and just do presents for the kids in our lives. (that really enjoy it) And spend our money on the people who REALLY have needs - the angel tree kids at our churches, the troops, giving money to missionaries. The birth of our Saviour is what Christmas is really about - not the craziness. We bring that on ourselves... Although, I really do love buying gifts - and to see a smile and know they really do like what they got!

On that note, I want to let y'all know about something I heard on the radio. Southern Link Wireless is collecting cards, letters, and care packages to send to the troops overseas that are from our area. They are doing this in several states - not just Alabama. So go to www.southernlink.com/community and click on the soldier option. It will give you all the details for what they need. All you have to do is drop the things off at one of their locations (listed on the site). Campbell and I are writing letters and making Christmas cards to send, and I also went to the Dollar Tree and loaded up on stuff for the care packages. They have TONS of stuff that they need, and it doesn't cost much! Please consider doing this - we should be so thankful for our troops - and they deserve a great Christmas being so far from home...

Part of the Christmas Craziness at our house has been Ben working extra to make some money to put towards Christmas... this has left me and Campbell a little lonely - but we are thankful for his hard work! It was so sad - Ben hardly saw Campbell at all this week (he was on call several times, and worked late). Wednesday night he came home at 6, but then had to leave again at 6:20. He picked Campbell up to tell her by before leaving again, and she looked at him and said "Dada workin?" He answered yes, and she replied "All done workin!" It broke my heart - she wanted him to be all done!
Poor Ben was a little teary too, so hopefully he can have some time off soon.

I heard someone say the other day on TV that it doesn't surprise him that people get so stressed during Christmas. What other time do we try to send a card to everyone we know, buy a gift for everyone we know, redecorate our house, and visit all our family - all in less than one month! :)

Stay tuned for pictures of our tree, Campbell, etc!

Congrats Ben!

We are very proud of Ben... he was offered the Chief Resident position at Baptist, and he took it! His "chief year" will be the year after he finishes residency (he'll start it in a year and a half). They ask 1 or 2 people to do this each year, and they oversee the residents, do scheduling, take care of some of the administrative stuff, get to teach, etc. All of which Ben will be GREAT at! :) The part I am excited about, is he will have a VERY easy schedule, and will be home with us a lot more - yea! It also means we will have 1 more year in Birmingham - which we are really excited about since we are really just now feeling settled in our house and church, making new friends, etc. We'll see what the Lord has in store after that...

Fall Fun

We have definitely been enjoying our fall... we have been to Dr.Crosby's pumpkin patch in Auburn, the Pumpkin Festival here in Birmingham at the Botanical Gardens, and the Fall Festival at Dawson Baptist. We still have more to come this weekend - with our church's Fall Festival tailgate on Sunday - pictures to come soon...

Campbell LOVED the Fall Festival at Dawson - they had a mini carosel to ride with mommy, tea cups to ride with Daddy and our friends the Booths (the dads squeezed into 1 tea cup together with the girls - it was hilarious!), cotton candy, snow cones, and a band! It was such a fun night... Campbell didn't wear her real Halloween costume (it was too much to play in) but she did wear her tutu. Thanks for inviting us Booth family!

Dr.Crosbys pumpkin patch was a hit too. We had mommy, daddy, Campbell, Honey, Aunt Jess, Aunt Kimmie, and much of the Crosby clan there. We got to run through the pumpkins, dig in the corn, and go on a hay ride!

My friend Jamie and I took the girls to the Botanical Gardens while the men were working - and we ran into our friends Kari and Ellie there too! It was fun while it lasted, but really the girls just loved running free through the gardens - although Campbell didn't understand why should couldn't pick those flowers...

Happy Fall!

Prayer for Katie Crosby

 

My friend Kimmie's sister, Katie Crosby, just left for the mission field for at least 2 years straight - no coming home inbetween. She is working with Muslims in Northern Africa, and will travel to other places as well. Please keep her in your prayers - as well as her family - 2 years is a long time! I got to be in Auburn the weekend before she left for her commissioning service at church, and a friends and family "send off" party after. It was such a blessing to hear her tell us about how the Lord has been preparing her for this for a while - and how strong her calling to the Muslim population is. This is a hard and dangerous calling - but obviously so close to the heart of God. Although we all aren't called to this specifically (however I do think the Lord mandates mission work) we can be a part of this Kingdom work through praying for her. It was also really neat to see the strong support she has from her parents... Although I'm sure they will worry about her, they obviously trust her to the Lord. I pray that one day I get to see Campbell involved in God's work on the mission field - and that I can trust the Lord as the Crosby's do...

Random

Here are some pictures from the last month... some late birthday pictures, our zoo trip with friends from church, and Kimmie's baby shower! Enjoy!

Daddy-Daughter Time

Last weekend in Auburn while I was at a baby shower for one of my friends, Daddy played with Campbell. He took her to the mall to keep her busy and found a photo booth to get these classic pictures taken. I thought they were precious!

One more thing...

Does anyone have any suggestions on the easiest way to clean blinds? I have tried paper towel, sock and cleaning solutions - but this could take years... any quicker ideas?

Boyd Family Beach Trip

So, I am WAY behind and trying to catch up.... bear with me!

My family took a beach trip to Panama City Beach Labor Day weekend. Papa, Honey, Uncle Brian, Aunt Savannah (Brian's girlfriend who Campbell calls Aunt Vannie), me, Ben and Campbell loaded up in 2 cars and made the trip down on Friday, and came back Monday. As you know, Hurrican Gustav was coming through that weekend - so we were a little nervous. Thankfully, the weather was great and we didn't have to evacuate... although the storm took over the beach and you couldn't even see the sand. Savannah and I were even forced to play in the hurricane waves by Ben and Brian - what were we thinking?!? The trip was great - Campbell loved the beach and the pool, and we enjoyed the shopping and great food! Savannah and Brian got her the cutest beach stuff - sand toys with her name on them, a car float for the pool that she LOVED, and even a baby beach towel with her name on it! She even got brave enough to put her face under in the pool - and then after hearing everyone clap and chear, did it over and over! Can't wait till next year...

I heart Consignment Sales

For those of you who don't know, the BEST invention for moms was the consignment sale... a way to sell your childrens clothes that you don't need anymore, and buy other gently used clothing that you DO want! For those of us on a strict budget, these things are amazing... I have gotten SO much of Campbell's clothes at these - and go to almost 8 sales every season! Dressy clothes, casual clothes, furniture, toys, you name it! So the last big sale of the season just ended here in Birmingham -and it was great... I went the night that I got the stomach bug, which was a terrible time to be there - but I had the much-coveted early admission pre-sale pass, and I wasn't going to miss it! I got Campbell pajamas, some cute clothes, and a big girl bed and slide for the back yard! (for an AMAZING deal) She loves the slide - and although we love her bed, we are going to wait a little longer to make the switch. If you are interested in these sales and want more info, let me know! I will have my spring/summer sales maped out before you know it! :)