At long last - 4 is plenty

My Sister Lisa's Wedding June 25th

Did I ever tell anyone that having 4 kids is plenty for me! My Mom asked me the other day if I get funny comments from people about having 4 kids. I just laughed and said, "Yes Mom, every day!" For my friends who have 5 or more, kudos to you! So if any of you are wondering why I haven't posted for over a year, not that many follow this blog anymore, (why would you? I never post, right?), it's because I have 4 kids and like to do many things homemade. But we are living large and having fun - at least sometimes! The above pictures are from my sister Lisa's wedding. She was the most beautiful bride I have every seen!!!! (More summer vacation pics to follow - one of these days.)

Help. . .Need Real Money

Sometimes Cambria is too cute. As much as I will miss having a little baby, it is so fun seeing her personality coming to life. She still can't crawl but charms the socks off us all! All our kids just love her so much!

Sidney's Birthday. . .yet another Disneyland post

We've waited a while to get back to Disneyland as a family. So we decided Sidney's birthday was a great time to do it. She was so thrilled to make this trip. She even had to wait an extra week after her birthday because a few of us including Sidney were sick that week. We had a great time with the kids. Divide and conquer worked well. And Cambria was such a good baby!

The excitement, the anticipation. . .

Whenever she goes on our tire swing she says, "Push me like the Dumbo Ride!"

Mommy's love Jojo's circus train!

The line for Princess Alley wasn't too bad. . .45 minutes.

Everett wanted to know all the countries in Small World. Mom did her best.

Does Cambria look like Greg?

The boys going rogue.

A day well spent!

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!