Ryan is 8 months old!

I'm about a week late in getting it together to even work on this post, but better late than never I suppose.  So, our little pumpkin is now 8 months old. Can you believe it? When people ask me in the store how old he is, I now find myself taking a minute and thinking, "how old is he now?" People say that when you are pregnant you have "pregnancy brain", well I think this extends into parenthood as a scatterbrained "mommy brain" as well. Anyways, Ryan is just as cute as ever and discovering his world in fun new ways everyday.  Not to say that he doesn't have bumps and ouchies, but so far nothing major from his new found love for independence. (Thank you, Jesus!) A day before Ryan turned 8 months Mike and I weighed him at his grandma's house and according to their scale he is exactly 22lbs. We tried to use a tape measure to figure out how long he is, but from what we could tell it still said 29 inches, so either we were off last month or off this month b/c I'm sure he's not the exact same. We'll get the official measure at his 9 month appt and update then! Ryan is still in size 3 diapers and is wearing 9 month and 12 month outfits with a few 6-9 two piece sets that still fit.  His pj's are all 12 month now and I finally bought a few two piece sets that hopefully last us a bit longer than the one piece footed pjs.  Now on to some of Ryan's latest accomplishments:

• Halfway through month 7 he finally decided crawling up on all 4's like a big boy is really fun!
• He is pulling up on EVERYTHING!! (couches, tables, chairs, bookcases, crib, window sills etc.)
• He's starting to cruise around furniture, primarily when there is something out of reach that he wants to get to. I'm still hesitant to let him do this much, bc I worry about him falling, but he seems to get stronger every day!
• As of 10/13 he now has 4 teeth with two more up top ready to come through anytime. We started brushing his teeth before bed at night this past month too which he seems to enjoy. (mostly sucking the water off the toothbrush, ha!)
• He loves to roar or make other loud noises, which my family (La especially) finds hilarious
• He jabbers often and tries new sound combinations that we love to hear
• He has learned he can talk into his plastic Halloween pumpkin and hear his voice louder/echo
• He enjoys feeding himself cheerios, Gerber puffs, yogurt bites, and cheese. I have been trying to find more things he can try that he can feed himself because for about 4 days I really couldn't get more than 2oz of food down him a day other than what he could put in his mouth himself. (grapes and bananas were rejected by him)
• The past few days he is back to his normal self with eating about 6-8oz of baby food a day plus some finger food snacks. Fav foods: sweet potatoes, squash, pears, apple/blueberry mixture and CHEESE! Dislikes: peas, bananas, sometimes yogurt
• His nursing schedule is now 8:30am (wake up), around 12:30pm, 4:30-5pm, then before bed at 8pm. He typically wakes up between 3:30-4am for a feeding then back to bed, but the past two nights has made it until 5am so we're crossing our fingers that sticks around!!
• He takes two naps a day, one about 2 hrs after waking up that is typically about two hours. The second one later in the afternoon (usually around 3-3:30) which is normally about an hour, but sometimes a little longer.
• He has varying days of separation anxiety being better/worse. He definitely likes when I am around and tends to look for me when I am out of sight. He's actually turned away from people wanting to take him from my arms a few times the past few weeks which is new. I am trying to give him opportunities to be away from me so that he knows he can play and have fun on his own and with others.

Last month we joined our church's MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) group so Ryan goes to MOPPETS two Tuesdays a month from 9:30-11:30am.  He also spends Sundays in the nursery during the second service. It's a nice break for me and I feel like he is getting exposed to other children and adults. I have also joined a BUNCO group that meets the first Mondays of the month, so Mike and Ryan get some father/son time and Mike gets to bathe and put him to bed which I think is a good bonding time for them.  Mike has also joined a Men's Bible study through our church that meets on Tuesdays, which he is enjoying! Ryan absolutely loves other kids. We will be in a grocery store or shopping and he will hear a child's voice and turn in their direction and just grin and watch them everywhere they go. Sometimes he will even fuss when they get out of sight as though he wants to follow them! (He also does this with the cat) Ryan loves crawling around the house and chasing the cat and climbing up at window sills and banging on the windows.  He has a few books that are current favorites: Peek-a-Who?, That's not my Monster, Trucks, and before nap time- I Love you Through and Through. He used to never sit still for me to read to him, but when I read these books he jabbers along and pays attention excitedly and with the last book he actually let me put him in my lap and sat still to read!! Hopefully this continues, but maybe it was because it was before the last two nap times. He is such a sweet boy and loves his Mom and Dad and all his family around him! We sure love him too! We can't wait to see you as you grow and learn and become a wonderful loving Christian man! Stay sweet little boy!

Love, Mommy

Officially Fall

Well, as of today it is officially Fall. Does it feel like it? No. It is 92 degrees outside, but they are predicting a nice cool front (low 60's-mid 70's high) starting next week.  I'm crossing my fingers it makes it here!  Luckily, our area has had a few nice showers and large clouds lately keeping us cooler than the rest of DFW (like 88-89 ha!) Ryan has all kinds of Fall/Winter clothes in 9 month and 12 month sizes that I am anxious to get him into.  A few of the one piece 9 month outfits we will be cutting it close as the length on those says range up to 28.5" and he was 28 inches at 6 months so I'm thinking he's probably already there or past it by now.  I also have several cute Fall decorations that I'd like to put out, but I just can't bear the thought of it while it's so warm. 

This week there has been an addition to the Campbell Family.  Matt and Vivian (Mike's brother and sis-in-law) just gave birth to their son Charlie earlier this week.  He is so cute and we are excited that he and Ryan will be close in age so that they can play together at family get-togethers as they grow up.  He was 7lb 8oz and 20".  I was only a day off on my guess for his "birth date", but was way off on length (I guessed 22" bc that was Matt's birth length) and I'm not sure what I put for weight, but I think about 8 lbs.  Probably because Ryan was so big. I guessed Charlie would be a little smaller though. I went up to visit them in the hospital the day after he was born and enjoyed some along time with him and M&V while Ryan played at Grammy's house with cousin Naomi.  They have since gone home and had their first night alone with him.  Please keep them in your prayers as the first few weeks are always trying and tiring for new parents.

Finally made a trip to Babies 'R' Us today to buy more stuff for baby proofing our house.  Whew! That stuff sure adds up. It's always such an adventure to get out there and back. I love all the things they have there, but hate having to drive Cooper in Arlington- BLAH!!  Anyways, he now has crib guards which I love the one that I bought- so easy to install and looks nice!  Also, fireplace guards- still working on that and adding to the Daddy-do list will be the cabinet latches.  What a pain! I bought two 12pk containers and we'll see how far that gets us.  I decided against any of the toilet latches or door knob things b/c frankly I don't want to mess with them.  I think I'll be better about keeping an eye on my child where he is never unattended in a bathroom and it'll be awhile before he reaches door knobs. (We have the round ones too which I've heard is harder for them to figure out)  Also, I didn't have to buy any table corner guards b/c I thought ahead to babies being next in our lives and bought round coffee/dining tables! Yay me! :) Already have outlet covers in just about all the plugs. (maybe a few missing) Next on the list will be the gates. I'm still researching them and there is a coupon that will be good for 20% off starting next week so I didn't purchase them just yet. I need 2 to start with and we'll see if we need any others from there.

Oh yeah, Mom and Dad finally moved into their new house! Yay! It's a little less than 20 minutes from us, so saves us 20 minutes from the previous drive.  I will miss driving to Candleridge and knowing that area so well, but I'm happy they are close so it's easier to pop in for a visit every now and then.  Mom's already got a good handle on unpacking and decorating. It's neat to see their furniture in a new set up, and so far everything is looking great! I think that's all I have time for now and gets everyone caught up just a little bit.  Enjoy the first week of Fall.

Love, Emily

Ryan is 7 months old!

What a joy Ryan is each month as he grows and changes daily. Here are a few words that come to mind that describe his personality lately: happy, smiley, determined, loving, stubborn, funny and social. Ryan is becoming even more interested in the world around him and I can tell he is learning new things everyday. He is especially fond of his kitty, Toby and if the cat comes into a room you can be sure that Ryan will be coming after him rather quickly with a smile on his face and jabbering away. He continues to wear size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothing. Most one piece outfits have to be 9 months for the length. He has a few 12 month onesies that fit already too. Shorts and pants that are 6 month still fit just fine. The past month has been full of new milestones. Here are a few of them:

• Sitting up unsupported- now gets to ride in grocery cart up front and high chairs at restaurants
• First two teeth on the bottom
• Starting to pull up on things like his bookcase, the couch, the coffee table underneath ledge, and especially people (we lowered the crib mattress)
• He is laughing more and more and sometimes at the most random things which we think is so funny
• His smile is really developing and just getting cuter! He smiles at anyone in a store who will smile back or pay attention to him
• He does get startled at strangers getting up in his face (lady at suzushii and G.O. nursery) and will cry when he gets scared- including extended family or friends he hasn't seen in awhile (sorry Lisa & Kacey)
• He attended his first TCU football game (out of the womb- he went to all of them last year too!) and his first visit to Dallas Cowboys Stadium. He had a good time for the most part (got sleepy and scared of the noise at times)
• He is scooting like crazy and can get places fast! He is getting up on all fours much more often and rocks back and forth with an occasional movement forward on all fours. I think he is just days from being considered truly crawling
• He is now combining consonants and vowels, some sounds we've heard lately: dada, baba, gaga, mama
• He had his first bath in the "big boy" tub Aug 13th and has done them that way ever since. He enjoys sucking the water out of the washrag and playing with toys
• He is pushing back when on his tummy and is able to push back to a sitting position from there. I actually found him sitting up in his crib the other day after a nap which surprised me since I've only seen him do it a handful of times.

Looks like we have more baby proofing needed soon. I have been intending to buy two gates (soon!) as well as foam stuff to cover the edge of the fireplace. Other than that just a few cabinet locks for harmful places and I think we'll be good. Ryan's feeding schedule is becoming much more routine, although we still have days that are an exception. His typical day consists of wake up-nurse 7:30-8am, play, saucer (while I eat), his solid foods-fruit and cereal around 9-9:30am, typically long nap 2 hrs shortly after that (while I clean the house and shower). Nurse around 11:30-noon, play and read books, jumper time, nap around 2:30pm for about an hour, nurse again around 3:30-4pm, then play again- sometimes TV (generally the news, but I try to put on a kid show every now and then such as Yo Gabba Gabba-recommended by cousin Leigh), occasionally I will get another 45 min nap out of him right before dinner times, but not always. He'll nurse again around 6-6:30pm then eat solid foods-veggie and fruit with us at dinner. Bath time is 8-8:30 then I nurse him to sleep- really more of a comfort thing for him than a necessary meal I think, so eventually I do think I should try to cut this out, but it works for us. He is still waking up once almost like clockwork between 4-5:30am. That's a typical day in the life of Ryan! When I say typical I mean for the last week or two because it seems he is always changing things up, but they follow the same routine just different hours. Favorite solid foods continue to be sweet potatoes, pears, peaches, apples, squash, and bananas. He is even starting to take cereal okay- not always great, but better. The only things I've found that he really hates are peas and plums. We are doing well with our introduction of the foods for 6-8 months. We still have pumpkin, mangoes, nectarines, zucchini, parsnips, turkey, tofu and barley. Then at 8 months he can start his first dairy with whole milk yogurt and mild cheeses! I really think he will love those!! Up to this point I've been making almost all of his baby foods, but I've recently started switching over to jars and store bought because it's easier when you're out running errands and saves a lot of mess in the kitchen. Some foods are still easy to make and definitely are economical (avocado, banana, carrots), but others are just as pricey to purchase (pears) and then prepare and for a few the preparation is a pain in the neck. (peaches, plums) I just keep my eyes peeled for coupons and price cuts and stock up that way! :) Hope you've enjoyed our Ryan update. We sure love him!!!

3 Year Anniversary

We are pleased to be celebrating three years of marriage today! We are so grateful for all of the Lord's blessings on our life and our marriage thus far. It is hard to believe how quickly time has passed and that we are already celebrating three years together. I could never have asked for a better husband than the Lord has blessed me with and I am so thankful for him every day! To Michael- Thank you for being such a loving and supportive husband even when I am being stubborn and "hard to love"! Thank you for your sacrifices for our family and for supporting us financially, spiritually and emotionally. The past three years have been full of fun travels and fun times together, as well as the start of our family. I can only pray that the Lord continues to pour his blessings out on us as he has done so faithfully thus far. I love you Michael!



1 Chronicles 16:34

"Give Thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Ryan has two teeth!!

Well, after all that chewing and drooling, Ryan finally cut his first two teeth. They are both on the bottom front. His left came first 8/16, and right came second 8/18. I have attempted to photograph these cute little pearly whites, but have yet to be successful. He is happy to have you stick your hand in and touch them, but try to open his mouth or pull down the lower lip to show them off "NO THANKS!!"

This past weekend, he also said "dada" for the first time. He happened to be looking right at Mike at the time (which I know he didn't necessarily associate it, but how cute!!) He has since repeated dadas, babas, and a few gagas, but still no mama yet :( Hopefully soon!!

Minus one night, the past two weeks we are finally back to our sleeping from 8pm-3:30 or 4am, then nursing and back to sleep till around 7:30am. Knock on wood!! I'll take it though! Much better than the 12:30-1:30am THEN 4:30-5am that we were stuck with for almost a month. My little guy is also being a big boy napper and most mornings is up for 2 hrs and then naps for 2 hrs first thing, followed by 2 more naps during the day of appx an hour each. If we're out running errands then they are much shorter and typically on Mondays I only get two naps and they are both about two hours. Not sure why he always seems more tired on Mondays. I'm fine with it!

New foods lately, green beans-loves, plums-dislikes. Going to have pears and squash next. I think that's it for now! Just sharing a brief update on our little cutie pie :)

Road trip- San Antonio, TX

Well, this past weekend Ryan experienced his first long road trip to San Antonio, TX. He did wonderfully!! We kept him very busy and it was very hot, but he was a trooper and although he had his tired times in the evenings he did about as well as we could've hoped for.

Day 1: Friday, Mike took a vacation day from work and we left our home around 8:30am. Ryan had woken up that morning at 7:45. I fed him, got him dressed, let him play for about 10 minutes, then loaded him up in the car seat to go. He played with toys in his car seat for the first half hour or so then was out and slept for two hours! (YAY!) When he woke up it was about time for him to eat, but he was happy after I climbed back in the back next to him and played with a few toys and gave him some juice. We stopped just north of San Antonio before Loop 1604 so I could feed him about 12:15pm then continued on to our destination at La Cantera, where we arrived at 1:15pm. We met up with our friends the Turners for lunch at Grimaldis pizzeria. It was delicious! They had just built it before we left last year, but had limited hours and we never were able to try it out before we moved. The Turners have a little girl, Emma, who just turned 1 at the beginning of the summer. She is such a cutie and has grown so much since we saw her last! We went back to the Turner's house after lunch to play for a couple hours so Ryan could stretch and be out of his car seat. It was also just too hot to be outside. The little ones enjoyed playing for about an hour then Emma went down for a nap and Ryan ate and we left. Following our visit with the Turners we went to see a former sorority sister, Jenna Rose, and her two new twin girls- Katelynn and Leah. SO CUTE!! They are one month old and soooo tiny! I think one of the girls is about 5 lbs an the other is a little over 7 lbs at one month. It was nice to see Jenna and meet her precious little angels. After this visit we finally went to the Wood's home where we were staying for the weekend to get all our stuff unpacked and set up for the night. Unfortunately, Ryan didn't get any other naps other than the first long one and a couple 10 minutes between places that afternoon so he was pretty tired. He ate and then we headed out to one of our fav Mexican food restaurants in San Antonio, La Fogata! It was just as good as we remembered (minus being over 100 degrees and sitting outside). While we were there Ryan had a little bit of a meltdown which I think was a mixture of the heat and the fact that he was TIRED!! So, we took turns walking him around, ate then headed home for the night. Ryan had his first big boy bath sitting up in a tub at the Wood's house that night and then went straight to sleep about 9:30pm. The adults stayed up and watched a movie, Bounty Hunter, then turned in for the night around midnight. (long day!) Ryan did great sleeping in his pack 'n play for the first time and slept until 5am, woke up to nurse, then went back to sleep until about 8am.



Day 2: Began after Ryan was up for the morning at 8am. John had gone out and bought various pastries for breakfast from Broadway bakery (yummy!). We had kolaches, muffins, and scones- all delicious. After taking it easy in the morning and letting Ryan play and get in his long morning nap, we got ready for the day and Kristy went to a baby shower while John, Mike, Ryan and I went to Pam's Patio for lunch. I enjoyed their Spinach, strawberry and chicken salad and a strawberry lemonade! After lunch we met back up with Kristy at the house and let Ryan get in a nap. Then, we went to the Shops at La Cantera for a little shopping and Piccomolo gelato. To get out of the heat we headed back to the house and cleaned up, fed Ryan then went to Paesano's for dinner. We had planned to go to the River walk, but figured with the heat and tourists, since it is the end of the summer, we'd rather steer clear. Ryan will have to get his picture with the Alamo and River walk on our next trip. After dinner, bath and bed for Ryan- the adults enjoyed a friendly game of Yahtzee that EMILY won!! (finally!! Mike always wins!) It was lots of fun, then we all turned in for the night since we were pretty tired.



Day 3: Sunday morning we got up around 7:30am after Ryan woke to nurse (he was also up at 4am). We let him play on a blanket downstairs while we ate breakfast and then he napped while we got ready for church. We went to Crossbridge Community Bible Church, which was where Mike and I attended for a little over a year while we lived in San Antonio. We saw a few familiar faces, but many new ones. It was neat to go back and see the service. A few things have changed and they have built a Community Center on their land that they were paying off when we attended. Also, in April 2011 they are going to start meeting in a new sanctuary on their property. (They currently meet at Ronald Reagan HS) It is neat to see the growth of the church and Ryan got to go to BZ-A during service, which is where I used to serve on the 1st Sundays of the month. He had fun for the first half hour or so, then I got a page over the screen which I knew I would because we were past a feeding and I was hoping to enjoy some of the service. However, since he ate during service, we were able to go straight to lunch from church. We went to lunch at Perico's where everyone else had breakfast tacos and I got their enchiladas verdes. Yum! I miss fresh homemade flour tortillas everywhere you go in San Antonio and sooo good! After lunch we went back to the Wood's and packed up our stuff and loaded up the car for the trip home. I'll just give a brief summary on the long trip that we had going home because it's tiring just to think about. Left Woods home @ 1:15pm I-10/DeZavala. Accident/traffic 1604 to get onto I-35N (45min). Nursed Ryan in San Marcos, shopped Ann Taylor store (30min), crazy traffic to leave outlets- 45 min (just to get out of parking lot onto freeway!!), stand-still traffic just north of SM to Buda (1hr+), Another slow-up Lorena, Waco for Subway dinner and nurse Ryan, slow-down in Hillsboro, finally home @ a little after 8pm... Whew! Definitely don't miss the traffic on I-35 and I remember why we always traveled 281 when we lived in SA.

We hated that the trip ended on such a sour note, because it really was a great trip and Ryan did so well. He was pretty fussy by the end of the day Sunday, but can you blame him?!? We were too!! Also, we realized the next day when Ryan had his first tooth come through (8/16) that some of the fussing could've been related to that, but I do think he was bored/tired of being in his car seat. I think that's the summary of our trip! It was great to go back and we hope to go again when it is cooler and show Ryan some of the "historic/touristy" side of San Antonio. You'll see most of our trip revolved around friends and food! That's the way it should be, right? :) Hope you enjoy some of our photos below. I tried to take a few, but didn't get any with the other babies. I hope to steal some the Turners took eventually of Ryan and Emma. Enjoy!

Playtime in the morning on his tweety blanket

Ryan loves his hosts- Kristy and John Wood

Our other gracious hostesses- Ida and Deja

Thanks for opening your home to us!! We miss you two

Naked baby hanging out with Dad before bath time- Deja checking out baby

Our fav- La Fogata, margaritas and tacos al pastor

Tasty food, great company- but HOT HOT HOT outside!

Ryan enjoys ice and water during dinner to keep him cool

Excited about his first day in San Antonio

Ryan is 6 months!

Our little boy is now six months old! He is such a sweetie and growing fast! It is amazing that he's already halfway to a year. Where has the time gone? We have a busy August ahead of us and really most of the Fall months ahead as well so I'll try to be better about blogging to keep you up to speed with what's going on with the Campbells.

Here's Ryan's 6 month update:

-We're on to size 3 diapers and hopefully stick with this size through the rest of the year

-He wears 6-9 month clothing, but 9 month for one piece outfits

-At his 6 month checkup he weighed 18lbs. 15oz 75th% and was 28 inches long 90th%

-He can now sit up on his own for long periods of time to play although we still supervise b/c he will look up or get excited and lose his balance and fall backwards or sideways occasionally. (he's bonked his head a couple times which surprises him and makes him 'and Mom' sad)

-He's not technically on all 4's and crawling yet, but he's certainly getting around. He "creeps" all over the place especially to get a toy out of reach

-He is laughing more and more at funny things Mike and I do or say and we enjoy making him laugh

-He splashes like crazy during bathtime and sometimes you would think that I had taken a bath with him for how soaked I get

-He does get mad and throw a small tantrum when I take a toy he's not done playing with

-He has many favorite toys, but during car rides it's his lovey bear or his blue bear


-He doesn't have much to say with vowel-consonant combinations (mama, dada, etc), it's still mostly vowel sounds, but all his "talks" and vocalizations are so funny and we love hearing what he has to say

-He enjoys playing with/touching his ears and head. The pediatrician says this is because he is learning about "object permanence"- anyways it's cute to watch!

-He seems to recognize his grandparents pretty well now and responds positively to them

-He is not as startled or scared of the Campbells dogs barking when we go to visit which is good!

-He is now starting to have solids twice a day instead of just once as advised by our pediatrician. Current favorites are sweet potatoes, carrots, and apples (I'm sure he still loves peaches and bananas, he just hasn't had them in awhile)

-He was nursing 6-7 times a day depending on night time, but we are now cutting back to 5-6 as we are working hard to break him of the night feeding he's become so dependent on the past month or so. (this is still a work in progress)

-He has gotten much better at napping and has one two hour nap a day (if we're at home) and generally two other appx 1 hr naps which is great!! If we are out and about it's usually just the to and from in the car (so 30 minutes each way from FW)


I think that's about it for now. Hope you enjoy his 6 month picture posts below. It is becoming more and more of a challenge to pose him with that sign. It gets destroyed by the end of each session now. We have a very busy little guy on our hands!
Love, Emily

I am 6 months old!

Look! There's my sign! Let me grab that Mom

Sweet happy smiling boy! We love you so much! :)