A little family trip

Last weekend we took a trip to Portland to visit family. It was a wild ride, with lots of chaos, but fun nonetheless. The kids always have a great time with the grandparents (these are Kaelyn's birthfather's parents, whom we see quite regularly).

Here we are headed off on the great adventure. Excited and ready to go early, early in the morning!

Kaelyn and Cooper shared a bed. I think they slept in the most luxurious bed they will EVER sleep in while on this trip. It was so soft and cushy with a silk comoforter. Trust me, I was petrified they would ruin it, but they didn't! :-)
Cooper got to ride the tractor with Grandpa Bob. He (Cooper, although I'm sure Bob was too) was in HEAVEN. He wanted to ride that thing over and over and over again. Perfect for little boys.
Grandma Chris got in all her Campbell snuggles. I love this picture of them!

And Kaelyn and Cooper got their fill of playing in the mud and sand. This little park is just down the street from Chris and Bob's. Every year we go there and they are always forbidden to play in the little water feature there because it makes such a mess. This year we got smart and embraced the mess. We let them put on their swim suits and get as messy and gross as they wanted to. Of course, they had to be hosed off in the freezing cold hose before being let in the house, but they didn't really mind.

One reason they didn't mind getting hosed off is because it meant that they could then head upstairs to Grandma Chris' big bathtub. Believe it or not, this was only 2 tbsps of soap!!!

But, alas, the weeend had to come to an end. We drove back in the dark of night because it was easier for all of us. And no traffic. I love this picture in contrast to the very first picture. :-)

This is what you missed

Campbell turned 5 months old. Ok, so she's almost 6 months now and hopefully I'll post those pictures sooner rather than later. But, nonetheless, here is her 5 month picture with "the bear".

She also modeled this adorable outfit. Some friends from college sent us this when we found out we were having a girl. I love the little hat. SO cute. It's a Robeez brand outfit. Didn't know they made clothing? Yeah, me either. LOL But I love it.

And there is no better way to beat the 90+ degree heat than by wearing your purple flame diaper. Campbell at least thought it was pretty cool.

I made this adorable little dress. It's still a little big - probably more like a 12 months size. It's darn cute because it has a little petticoat underneath - complete with netting. :) Hopefully it will fit right about Easter time. We'll see.

And Jeff graduated from his apprenticeship. I'd show you pictures of that event, but it was so dark in the room and hard to get any good pictures of him, so I'll spare you those bad pictures. But, here is a picture of Campbell and I all dressed up and ready to head off to the big graduation event. :) Notice the bow that my mom lovingly taped to her head. So cute.

And, you can't see this picture and tell me that Campbell and her daddy don't look exactly alike. It's my new favorite picture. :-)

And last, but not least - let's hope that this is not a look into Campbell's future with her falling asleep at the wheel. Apparently, our dinner conversation was way too boring for Campbell.

And, I realize that I haven't posted any pictures of Kaelyn and Cooper. Pictures of them will come soon from our trip to Portland. Maybe.

When did this happen?

Disclaimer: This post is not an opposition to all things medical. I believe there is a time and a place for medicine and doctors, but.....

When did it happen that we turned from trusting God and believing that he can provides things to help us and instead turn to believing that man made things are better than God made things? Sound like a broad question? Let me give you an example.....

Not only is this an TOTALLY CUTE picture of my baby (which I have to admit, it really is), but in this picture Campbell is sporting her teething necklace. It's not a necklace for her to chew on, but an amber beaded necklace (yes, its safe for babies and is made specifically for them and no she doesn't sleep in it). It is to help with the pain of teething. Here is a good page that talks about how it works... http://www.amberartisans.com/frasqu.html.

Now, why is it that my family and friends once again think I have fallen off the looney bin wagon. What is wrong or weird or whatever about trying something that is FOUND IN NATURE and thus created by God to try to alleviate pain. I'm not placing my faith in amber, nor do I believe that it is a cure all. I'm merely trying to find a natural, gentle aid to help my baby get through the teething stages of life. And yet, I get the rolling of eyes and the craziest comments from everyone I see. Here's the kicker - if I were putting Tylenol in her every 6 hours to help with the teething pain no one would blink an eye. Why is that? Why do we question and think people are weird for trying something more natural and more gentle to a baby, but not question the use of man made drugs as the cure all for everything?

Anyway, I was just thinking about this today as I nursed my beautiful baby girl while she was sporting her cute necklace. I guess it also leads me to a lot of questions. But I'll spare you those thoughts for now. :)

Wow

A whole month has past. This blogging with three kids thing is hard! Maybe someday I'll have time again to write deep and meaningful posts. We'll see! Anyway, here are a few of the things we've done this past month.

4th of July - It was too cold for Campbell to just wear her little 4th of July shirt so here she is sporting the sweater I made for her (which is already too small - so sad).

Here's Campbell is her new toy that we aquired from a friend's garage sale. She isn't QUITE big enough for it, but she likes to sit in it for a little bit and bounce around. I think the bigger kids actually like it more than she does at this point.

Kaelyn and Campbell trying to beat the heat we had in mid-July. We all survived. :)

And yes, I missed posting about Campbell at 4 months. But here is her picture from July 15th when she was actually 4 months old. Such a little personality she is getting!

And this was just a couple days ago. We missed a few weeks of picture taking because everyone was gone (more about that in a minute). But here is Miss Campbell with the cat. This is a Kaelyn posed picture. LOL

So, that's about it. Well, that's not all we've done, but that's all the pictures we've taken. In between these pictures we've taken Kaelyn to swimming every single day of the week (Monday-Friday), the kids have been to one week of VBS at our church (where I also volunteered) and one week of VBS at the grandparents house. While attending VBS at the grandparents church they stayed with them for a whole week. That was a pretty nice week for us all. :) After those two weeks Kaelyn went to her first year of Junior Camp. It was hard to let her go away for 5 whole days and 4 nights, but she was with people we trusted so it turned out fine.

So, now we're here in August. Looking to the future and trying to get prepared for back to school (which isn't happening in this household until after Labor Day) and hoping to enjoy the rest of the summer with a camping trip with family, more swimming for Kaelyn, and some other fun events. Hopefully I can keep this blog updated a *little* better than I have been. :)

Photo Dump

First of all, those of you who joined me yesterday in the "new attitude" - how did it go? Did you find it hard, easy, did you forget?

Personally, I really enjoyed my day. It helped that I spent lunchtime and early afternoon without Cooper (and thus without kids arguing all day) and with my mom. That is always helpful! But, I found that I was reminding myself all day of what I was "getting" to do and how thankful I was that I got to do those things. I think it certainly made me less stressed out! Which is nice for everyone. :)

Anyway, I've had great intentions to do some fun posts and have taken some pictures lately - but haven't found the time to actually sit down and write those posts. So, here is just a picture dump.....

Relaxing is hard when you're three months old. :)

Happy Father's Day to Daddy, Papa & Papa John!

Just enjoying a little tummy time. :)

This outfit is one that I wore when I was a baby. Too cute. Although its VERY 70's I still love it.

Cooper and I at Kaelyn's 1st swim meet

Kaelyn at her first swim meet. She was SO nervous and anxious. But she did great. She swam in the 8 and under 25m freestyle and 25m backstroke. She came in 2nd in the backstoke (which she would have won by a landslide if she hadn't slowed down because she was afraid to hit the wall) and 1st in the freestyle!

Jeff got out his big Tonka trucks from when he was a kid. Cooper has had SO much fun playing out in the dirt pile (aka the garden of past years). There is nothing like a boy and some dirt!

Cooper also had his first experience with a temporary tattoo. He got these for his birthday with a pirate kit and had fun pretending to be a pirate all day.

My three kiddos in their big brother/sister & little sister shirts. Too cute! Not that I'm biased or anthing. :)