valentine's day

The Campbells had a lot of fun prepping for Valentine's Day this year. I made chocolate covered strawberries, chocolate bark with cashews and heart-shaped sugar cookies. We had even more fun eating them!

We also put heart window decals on the window adjacent to the front door. When I turned around Tyler moved them all. I waited until he was distracted and spread them out again. Then you can guess what happened; Tyler came back and rearranged them several times over. There is nothing worse than two OCD -- and stubborn -- family members tweaking each others work. I see some head-butting in the future!

got a plan

I was trying to talk with Tyler about our day, when he put both extended arms and hands in front of my face and said, "Mom, mom...I've got a plan."

9-month checkup

Jenna's stats are:
Weight: 19 pounds, 2 ounces (50-75th percentile)
Height: 28.75 inches (75-90th percentile)
Head circumference: 18 inches (90th percentile)

ringworm

We suspected it (thanks to Ms. Debbie) and now it is somewhat confirmed. At the doctor's office this morning, the doctor agreed that the coin-sized rash on Jenna's cheek is probably ringworm (a fungal infection like athlete's foot). The doctor was surprised since it is uncommon and she took a scraping to send to the lab to confirm, but in the meantime we have prescription ointment as a remedy.

THEN, tonight we noticed that Tyler has a similar rash on his side that was hidden by his arm during changings, etc. Guess we'll be getting our money's worth from the tube of prescription ointment!

daddy is home

The plows came through early Monday morning after the "blizzard of 2010." Alex had been scheduled for a flight to California which was in question due to the weather and most everyone being snowed in. He was sleeping and I had the choice: wake him and tell him that he could get out to the airport or let him sleep and miss his flight but be home with us. Since I have a conscious, I woke him and he and our wonderful neighbors cleared out the last part between our driveway and the plowed road. He made it to his flight, but he was scheduled to come back late Tuesday. Only trouble was, "blizzard of 2010, part two" was headed for Maryland starting Tuesday afternoon. Sure enough, as I had suspected, his return flight was canceled (now you can see why I was slightly torn about waking him up). He was rebooked on a flight coming back Wednesday evening, and as I suspected, that flight was also canceled. The third return flight was then scheduled to return Friday morning in the wee hours. Megan was not happy! Tyler was devastated. So I asked Alex to keep trying for a better flight. And now I'm glad that I'm pushy and Alex is persistent, because he was able to hop on a red eye that had been mistakenly marked as canceled in the system. So ultimately he flew home (sleeping all the while) on a nearly empty flight that got him in this morning. Yay!

I was feeding Jenna at the kitchen table when all of a sudden she smiled in the direction of the front door. I peered that way and saw nothing out of the front window. And just then I heard the door open and Daddy was home! He had peeked in the window and made her smile. We were all ecstatic to have him home where he belongs!

i am a robot

Out of the blue, Tyler walked up to us in a mechanical motion and with a digitized voice declared, "I am a robot. I am a robot."

and then some more snow

the big dig

The snow finally stopped and we attempted to dig out and chat with our neighbors.

indoor fun

We're enjoying the extra family time before the cabin fever sets in.

blizzard 2010

Let it snow, let it snow! 30 inches have fallen. What does this much snow look like? See below:

Camera on the floor, looking into the backyard

Tyler's second-story window

Looking out of our two-car garage

Above the bumper

Several feet of the trunk below snow

Screened-in patio

Our grill

snow gear

When Tyler was one I was so excited to have him partake in the the snow fun I loved as a child. I pulled out all the stops and got him snow pants, boots, gloves and a new winter coat. Then it didn't really snow. What a waste! At two I passed on buying the same gear that went unused the previous year. Then this year at three it didn't even cross my mind to get him snow gear (first mistake). We were then hit with a BIG snow season. I figured that I had already missed the boat on the snow gear and would have to wait until next year (second mistake). Boy, did I learn my lesson after we were hit with the mother load of all snowstorms! 30 inches!! But as you can see, we made do!

seventh tooth

Playing with Jenna this morning I spotted something new: her seventh tooth! So along with the 30" of snow that have fallen in the past 24 hours, she now has her left lateral incisor as well.

birthdays, birthdays, birthdays

On this day we celebrate our mothers' (Oma and Granny) birthdays (yes, the share the same birthday). After calling them and singing them the best birthday song ever, we moved on to a local birthday party. Yet another Howes birthday party had to be postponed due to snow. Albeit hampered by snow, the party would go on and we joined them to wish Matilda a happy 1st birthday.

more snow

weekend mornings

magic!

I had a very quiet house as the rest of the Campbell family napped for several hours. When Tyler finally woke up and called for me to come get him, I spent some time with him in his room looking out the window at the falling snow.

Then he noticed my necklace, a diamond encrusted snowflake. When I told him that I wore it because I thought it might snow, he awed and then declared the necklace, "MAGIC!!!" Tyler pointed out that the snowflake around my neck was just like the snowflakes whirling inches from us on the other side of the glass pane. He requested to wear the necklace (which he thought was hilarious) and after about 5 seconds offered it back telling me how Daddy had bought the necklace especially for me.

beating

Tyler has really been into racing and competition lately. He loves for us to say "Ready, get set, go!" and then he dashes past us.

Alex and the kids were walking Daisy when Tyler started lagging behind. At the top of his lungs Tyler yelled, "Daddy don't beat me!!" Alex could only imagine the thoughts going through our neighbors' heads.

when I am big...

Tonight Tyler and I talked about what he would do "when he is big," and in his words:
- go on the potty
- drink coffee
- go swimming
- go ice skating
- go in a BIG wave in the ocean
- get a BIG trophy
- go on a big, big, big, BIG merry-go-round
- go in a big car with broken seat belts and crash into plants
- get in a BIG tractor

Then I asked him what Jenna would do when she is big, he said:
- poop on the potty
- get coffee
- go on pink tractor
- go on a BIG wave
- go fast on a merry-go-round
- get a big present

Then I asked him what Mommy and Daddy would do when we grow up and he said:
- go shopping and come back
- Daddy can go on a little tractor

dressing room

Who's that playing in mommy's dressing room already?

schooching

Jenna is SO close to crawling. She schooched around in circles tonight and even did a little backwards move too. You can see the determination in her eyes!

sick no more

While she is still not eating her normal amounts, Jenna seems to be over the stomach bug. Unfortunately, she passed it on to mommy who seemed to get the worst of it. Only Tyler seemed to escape this bad bug.

mmmm, milk....sleepy

stomach bug

Poor Jenna. She got the stomach bug that her Daddy had the previous weekend. She vomited for the first time last night near the end of her dinner. No fever, not acting funny so we chalked it up to possibly a gag reflex. She was able to keep some milk down later that evening and this morning. I asked Ms. Debbie to keep her eye on Jenna. Sure enough at lunch, projectile vomit again out of both nostrils too. My poor baby.

i love my silly,happy boy

wii workout

New Year's resolution: to workout, eat right and get healthy. Alex and I have been true to that, both shedding pounds while working out using our Wii system. And what I love even more? The positive role models we are being for our kids. Tyler has grown accustomed to sharing the family room with us as we workout. We've had a few bumps (teaching Tyler it is not ok to slide under my legs while doing lunges) but now Tyler even likes to join in.

On this particular occasion, I asked if Tyler wanted to join me and he lamented that he didn't have a ribbon. I finally figured out that he was referring to my resistance band. We fashioned one for him from Christmas ribbon and when I turned around he was already setting himself up with the game remote, putting the nunchuk in his pocket to emulate the leg band. Too funny! He even had the patience to participate in four exercises before putting it down saying, "Mom, I'm done."

caught with your pants down

Tyler came running in my room with his pants around his ankles to induce a laugh. It worked but I told him not to try making other girls giggle that same way as he gets older.

firewoman

Jenna loves wearing her big brother's hat. Watch out fires, Jenna's got you covered!

first night away

While Alex travels occasionally, this was the first time when I was away from Jenna. The occasion? I took my mom to NYC for the long (early birthday) weekend to see a Broadway show -- A Little Night Music at the Walter Kerr Theatre. We had a great time and were so thankful to Alex for caring for the kids, especially after coming down with a stomach bug, and Dylan for caring for my mom's dogs.

8 months

Jenna is growing so fast. Her personality is even bigger! She is really sweet and loves to giggle. But she's no pushover -- when she wants something, she'll let you know! Daddy thinks she is already very similar to mommy.

Each month I have taken Jenna's picture with her little bear. But it is clear to me that doing this is going to get a bit more difficult! :)







Looking back at 5 weeks old.

babbler

Jenna has started babbling hard core -- you know -- now that we actually leave the binky out of her mouth more than two seconds.

talker

clapper

Jenna figured out how to clap today. She likes the response she gets (YAY!) so does A LOT!

cars

Jenna likes to play with cars too. And Tyler is nice enough to share.

collins visit

We had the pleasure to host my mom's cousin and his wife, Terry and Roxy, before they left from a DC conference and flew back to Illinois. They had been here the previous January for my mom's 65th birthday party. I had been pregnant at the time. This time they got to see our beautiful baby girl.

pretty in blue

never gets old

Tyler's favorite joke is still to put something on his head that doesn't belong and then call it a hat. He loves to be silly, which of course I encourage.

new year sled ride

We joined the Linsenmeyers and their extended family for a sled ride on Ellicott City Golf range. The day was just bitterly cold with a terribly icy wind chill. Alex and Jenna (the smart ones) opted to stay in the warm car. But Tyler was a dare devil. He didn't even hesitate to jump on the sleds with the big kids and adults. He also loved collecting the golf balls scattered about. Despite the frigid temps, we had a blast!