December already?

The end of the year came so quickly. Once Thanksgiving comes and goes, the rest of the year is lost for me. I'm always thinking about Christmas once Thanksgiving is over until my family reminds me that my birthday must be celebrated in between. Oh yah that's right. Can you tell how important birthdays are to me? Not very. Anyway, my family made me feel very loved for my birthday this year and I must admit in this picture I don't look too much worse for the wear after having my fourth child this year. That's just a good picture. . .you should see me without make-up! Ha-ha! Thank you to all my friends for the birthday wishes. With the invention of facebook I think more people remembered my birthday this year than in my entire life.

My adorable children waiting patiently to eat my birthday cake.

On my birthday, Sidney showing off her great grin. Notice the yellow bruise on her forehead? Mom helped her get that while playfully chasing her around the house. She slipped and her head hit the ground first. OUCH! Swelled up like a golf ball.

Everett has become the sweetest big brother.

He actually asked to hold her before this picture was taken. AWWW!

Sidney loves her little sister Cambria too!




My precious baby!


Cambria actually has blue eyes, which in our family is so odd. She is the only one. My Dad has blue eyes and Greg's Mom has blue eyes. We had a one in four chance of getting a blue-eyed baby and Greg kept teasing me that I was wishful thinking. I think they are going to stay blue for a while. Sometimes I look in her eyes and think, "is this really my child?" She is such a gem!

I'll wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year now!

Children are blessings

Wow 2 months went by fast. This little girl is growing like a weed and I don't know where the time has gone. I must admit this 4th kid has me whooped. I kept telling myself that I wasn't going to let having a 4th child tire me out like all the other moms I've known, but it's out of my control. It is great having a little one, but eveything in life is just day to day. The one thing I have been able to better control is my level of patience. I think my children would admit that I'm more patient than usual probably because I've learned that without more patience I'd go insane. Nothing is perfect or even close any more. I just feel blessed to have 4 beautiful and loving children. They all know how to make me smile even during this rough stage of having a newborn. Dawson asked me again today when my little belly roll is going to disappear. Gotta love that! He wants his thin Mom back. . .so does his mother. Everett has become the loving and thoughtful older brother I hoped he'd become. He loves his little sister Cambria especially. He did sit on his sister Sidney today, for which he got scolded, but those incidents are few and far between. Sidney is just a delight with her new cackle laugh and her ability to sing and chatter at all times in the car. It is rare that we have quite while driving anywhere, thanks to her. And Cambria is smiling like a champ and starting to giggle. Her Dad says she even punches his face in a playful attempt to interact with him. She's always so curious when he comes home from work and hear's his voice. Not afraid of her Dad like Sidney was for the longest time.

I count each child as a wonderful blessing because they really are!

More Halloween Pictures

Here are few more individual pics of my Halloween Costumed Kids. My kids make me laugh when we take pictures. They are so goofy!

Happy Halloween

Halloween is over. It was fun while it lasted. . .

My princess, pumpkin, fireman and Danny from Bakugan

Time flies

This last month went quickly, with Everett starting soccer, various house guests, and the UCLA football season. I'm still trying to figure out the value of the first and last I just mentioned. Let's just say Everett's interest in soccer ended after his first game a few weeks back. I'm sure he shares the same mindset of his mother when she played at a very young age (what the heck is all this running back and forth for?!) Oh well! As for UCLA football. . .well, I think it helps my husband keep his sanity, so that's worthwhile.

Here are my precious girls hanging out with Daddy.

Cambria's first time at the beach. Wow, this was a beautiful evening.

I miss going to the beach so much sometimes. We take it for granted living here, don't we?

Cambria at 5 weeks. She's changing so fast.

Finally getting some fat in her cheeks!

We are surviving here in the Campbell household, but just barely it seems. Though I feel so blessed, that doesn't mean I don't feel like crying at the end of some days. I think the exhaustion from sleep deprivation gets the best of me, but I know it is for a short time and that keeps me going. I love my children. They've all held up very well with the arrival of Cambria - much to my husbands credit. He fills in for the mothering duties that I can't keep up with. He is a wonderful father and husband. Thanks goodness for UCLA football.

Rollercoaster week

Last week was an interesting one. Not only was it an emotional rollercoaster for me, but an intake and output (in nursing terms) rollercoaster for Cambria. Which reminds me to mention that Cambria's name is pronounced with a LONG "a" sound for those having that question.

So, back to my story, by Cambria's 3rd day of life she had exemplified very sleepy behavior and fed very infrequently. When my milk supply arrived she was having a very hard time latching on. Then I noticed she wasn't making wet diapers. So we wound up at the doctor, I had to stop nursing for a short time and give her the bottle to increase her dehydrated and weakened state. Meanwhile I was struggling with the idea that she would not be able to nurse (premature assumption, but you know how volatile your emotions are when you are post-partum).

Fortunately within 3 days Cambria was back to nursing well (her intake), her wet diapers were frequent (her output) and her Mom was emotionally stable again. Thank you to all who prayed for us and gave Mom support during that week. We feel so blessed. SOOOO. . .here are some more pictures of the week.

Also, Greg took the kids to Disneyland - Sidney in the morning and the boys in the evening. What a great Daddy!

Sleeping so soundly. Such a peaceful sight.

There's my perky little Cambria!

Sidney is already such a sweet and loving big sister. How did I get so lucky.

My ever so sweet husband got these yard signs for us. He knows how to make me feel special!

The boys love Disneyland with Daddy! He takes them on all the fast rides!

Sidney not so excited about being with Goofy

She loves going on the carousel. Wish I could have been there with her.


She's been waiting for weeks now for Daddy to take her to the castle!

Her Daddy is her prince, you know!


The princess with her prince

Our baby has arrived and...

It's A GIRL!

Cambria Raquel Campbell

7 lbs. 11 oz. 20 3/4 inches

Cambria Raquel Campbell was born early Friday morning August 28th at 1:30 a.m. Mom and baby are home and doing very well.

The hospital food and bed were not as good as I remembered, so I opted to come home a day early. Especially when my Mom so generously offered to take the kids a couple of days. Thanks Mom!!! And thanks to Kelly and Ron as well!!!

Less than 48 hours old

Cambria is already demanding lots of holding time from Mom since arriving home this afternoon.

She lays in my lap even while I type this. We feel so blessed to have her little spirit in our home!

New Beginnings

Lisa, Jeanine and Kelly

So I don't have a new beginning to report on yet, but I've been thinking so much about my sister Lisa's New Beginning at BYU this last week. She started in the Honor's program at BYU and started school on Thursday. Her departure last week brought on a flood of memories of when I started at BYU so many years ago. I'm so happy and proud of her and in some ways envious of her stage in life. Not that college is all fun, but who wouldn't go back and do it again and do it better than the first time around. Oh, those painful hours in the testing center are best forgotten, but how great was it to be around so many fun and upbeat people. I wish I could live it through my sister. If I wasn't 39 weeks pregnant I would have gone with my family to drop her off just to feel a little bit of nostalgia again. I love being on the BYU campus, it just brings back so many good memories.

Of course I am about to be a part of my own new beginning, and yes I am quite excited to meet our newest family member. But ahhh, there's nothing quite like starting a new life in college. Wouldn't you agree!? Maybe I'm just getting old and wishing back those younger carefree days.

I just watched a bit of the movie "Coraline" with my kids last night and thought, "I don't want to be a stuffy old mother - boring, matter of fact" - and that's just what I've become. I need to remember the younger days when life was more FUN. Okay, I know I've always been more of the responsible type rather than the carefree, but not so much the latter now. Those are the feelings I need to rekindle in myself to be the kind of Mom I want to be. How do you do that?!?!?!?

Can you guess which one is me? An old friend posted this recently on Facebook from our Freshman year at BYU. This was around Christmas, so I had already gained my Freshman 15. . .does is show?

June and July events

I just can't keep up on this blogging. Maybe because I'm trying to prepare for the arrival of our next little one. Or maybe because I've become more obsessed with keeping the house clean so I spend more of my free time doing that than on the computer. Nonetheless, here are some events from the summer. To start Dawson finally lost one of his upper teeth. It's been almost a year since he lost the bottom one, or so it seems. He was very excited and he looks pretty cute without it. Next, I have some pics from a beach outing to Salt Creek. I posted the next picture realizing that my oldest son is looking more like me all the time, (minus the dark bags under my eyes - thanks to those less sleepful pregnant nights).

Everett and Sidney are enjoying our beach outings more this year. I've been enjoying them too!

Everett turned 5 at the end of July. I can't believe he's growing up so fast. He definitely seems taller this days and more handsome too. He is trying to be a big boy. We've been working on reading and writing this summer and I'm so pleased at his progress. We had a small birthday party for him. It was just perfect for me. He loved having a pinata and other games. The boys were all very good!

And here we have our most recent picture of me and the kids taken today. I'm 37 weeks pregnant. And for those who still think my belly is little, I want you all to know I have gained the required 35 lbs and maybe a little more. So. . .like I tell my son, I still feel like I'm carrying around a bowling ball on my tummy and my back is taking a beating for it! Three more weeks to go and I'm very excited!

Sidney said the funniest thing tonight when we were at a wedding reception. She was watching the bride and groom dance and her Daddy asked her if she wanted to get married and wear a white dress like the bride someday. Her response was, "Yes, I want to wear a pretty white dress and then I can have a baby in my tummy and it can grow bigger." I'm glad she has the order right.

All the kids are getting excited for the baby's arrival. They all know it is coming soon. Sidney is hoping for a girl, the boys of course want another brother. Greg and I just want a healthy little person to welcome into the Campbell family. We'll let you know when the surprise baby arrives!

Turning 7, Baseball, Babies, and other stuff

Coach and Dawson

Proud to be a baseball player!

The month of May was so busy for me. I don't think I ever stopped going. Greg was gone an awful lot for work and church related things. I'm glad we survived. So, what's been going on the last few weeks? Well, Dawson's baseball season is over. He was so excited to get his trophy. His coach was proud of him too! Dawson really is loving baseball. If I had more energy he'd play catch with me for an hour every day if he could. He looks so cute in his uniform. Greg still hounds me about how Dawson can't stand to get his uniform dirty. He says I've damaged him for life. Dawson's just being considerate of his mother's workload.

Speaking of workload, we had a birthday party for Dawson at our house this year. Why do I do these things? We love our kids, but birthday parties are exhausting! Not just the party itself, but all the prep that goes into it. We had about 18 kids and Greg and I pretty much ran the show. We should have hired some help!!!! Especially since Greg was deathly ill the whole week leading up to party day. Talk about mayhem. I had not anticipated that many kids but I think they had fun. Dawson is such a sweet boy, it's no wonder they all showed up!

The limbo - this was the first game. After that I couldn't take pictures

and keep the chaos under control at the same time.

Kids really do like the cookie cakes over regular cake! And they are easy to make!

Then my nephew, Matthew, was born about 3 weeks ago. I flew out to Plain City, Utah (West of Ogden) to visit him and his family. I wouldn't recommend flying at 28 weeks pregnant. I threw up in a barf bag for the first time in my life on this very turbulent airplane ride. Fortunately I was in the back row with no one next to me, so I wasn't too embarassed.

I miss being closer to my brother, Dan. It was a nice break away from the family duties, but I did miss my kids and hubby a lot. My other nephew, Nathan, was funny! He is still getting used to having a younger brother - poor guy! We went to an air show at the air force base one day. The jets are pretty awesome when they do their stunts. We saw just one set of jets performing in the air at the end of the day, but it was really neat!

Nathan and Matthew

And just in case anyone is wondering, my pregnancy is still going well. Getting more aches and pains, but just under 12 weeks to go. After seeing my new nephew I'm getting nervous about how I'm going to juggle all 4. Hopefully my newborn will sleep A LOT!!!!