Happy New Year!



Image from graphicleftovers.com



Happy 2012! At some point, I'm planning on doing a recap of the year, but that's going to take a bit more time than I have right now. In the meantime, I thought I'd do a quick post with my personal New Year's resolutions. I once read somewhere that if you want to meet a goal, your first step should be to write it down. By writing goals down, we make them much more tangible...they're no longer just some nebulous idea floating around in our brains. It's also much more likely that someone else will become aware of our goals when they're written down...which means that hopefully that person (or people) will help to keep us accountable in meeting those goals. That's what I'm hoping to accomplish here.

I've broken my resolutions down into two categories: the goals that I'm serious about meeting, and "extra" goals (those that are more "fluffy" or less important, or that would just be fun). For my "real resolutions," I plan to write individual blog posts about each of them, outlining why I chose them, plans for meeting them, and any other important info I can think of including. 

Real Resolutions:

1. Become a stay at home mom to Campbell.

2. Complete The Radical Experiment

3. Be a better wife to my husband.

Extra Resolutions:

1. Wear more scarves.

2. Exercise more often/get back into shape.

3. Resurrect the food blog.

4. Wear nail polish.

I'm hoping that in posting these resolutions, I'll be more likely to follow through with meeting them. Family, friends, and blog readers, will you please come alongside me and hold me accountable to these goals? I'm sure that I will need encouragement (and your ideas) as I work through them this year.

Campbell's First Christmas

Campbell's first Christmas was a great one, if I do say so myself! It was a very busy few days, but so much fun! We started out our Christmas celebrations with David's mom and dad, his brother (Pat), Pat's girlfriend (Jodi), and Mama, David's grandmother. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures that day, but we had a great time. Pat and Jodi are on vacation in Thailand, so we had to get our Christmas in a little early with them.



On Christmas Eve, we always visit with my dad and stepmom. This is Campbell playing with the squeaky block set from my stepsister and her family. My sweet girl is sporting her "My First Christmas" onesie! We had a nice time visiting with Dad and Theresa and Allison and Larry (my sister and brother-in-law, the guy in the background there looking very serious). We also attended our church's Christmas Eve service which is always one of my favorite parts of Christmas. Unfortunately, I missed Allison's solo because a certain little person (pictured below) did a big poop that went straight up the back of her adorable onesie!

When we got home, we had to get things ready for Santa's first visit to our house! Granny (my mom) sent Campbell a Christmas Eve present, which was a record-a-story of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, read by my Mom. I'll admit that I definitely teared up while listening to my mom read the story to Campbell, especially the last page, when she told her how much she loves my baby girl. David saved the night by reminding me that Santa needs cookies and milk...I had completely forgotten that! I also put out a couple of carrots for the reindeer, too!

Christmas morning was so much fun, even though Campbell isn't old enough to understand what's going on, or coordinated enough to open gifts. I do think she could sense the excitement of the day, and I could tell that she was enjoying herself. I absolutely love the picture below. David is going through her stocking with her, and even though you can barely see her face in the photo, you can see that her eyes and mouth are wide open. It's almost like she's saying, "Oh, wow! How did Santa know I wanted this?!" And it's just a teether....but she does love it!

She got a couple of "big" toys from Santa, along with some bath toys and sensory balls. In the next picture, she's opening one of her presents from us...which is a portable booster seat/high chair. She seems to enjoy it, and I like it, too. She fits in it much better than either the Bumpbo (which is too small now for her chunky thighs) or her high chair (which is still too big for her). It'll also be nice to be able to take it with us when we're going to family or friends' homes at mealtimes.

After church on Christmas morning, we headed over to Mama's house for lunch with the rest of the Klingenfus family. We were missing a few folks this year (Pat and Jodi were in Thailand; Daniel and MaryBeth were in St. Louis with her family), so it wasn't quite the same, but it was very nice nonetheless. While we were there, Shirley snapped this picture of our sweet family, which I just love. We'll have to get this one framed.

After lunch at Mama's, we came home for a quick nap to recharge, then headed to Mom and Chet's house for our last Christmas hurrah. We ate some more and had a nice time with Mom, Chet, Allison, Larry, and my aunt, uncle, and cousin. Miss Priss was showered with gifts, one of which was an absolutely adorable pink armchair! Campbell loves it, as you can see! (It's got a cat's face embroidered on the back...those two big black dots are eyes.)

Christmas with our sweet girl was absolutely wonderful, and we're definitely looking forward to many more!



6 Months!

 Could someone please tell me how this happened? How is it that it feels like I've blinked and my baby girl is already half a year old? Just tonight I was thinking that I can barely remember what those newborn days were like. I'm going to have to get the photo album out and take a little walk down memory lane!

Campbell Adair

6 Months

19lbs., 14oz and 26 1/4" long

Sleeping Patterns: Campbell is still doing a great job of sleeping through the night. I don't think she's woken in the night at all in the last 6 or 8 weeks. At least, if she does, she's very quiet about it and I don't hear her through the monitor. She generally goes to bed at about 8pm and wakes up sometime between 5am and 6am. A couple of mornings this month, she slept until 7:00 or 7:30 (on weekends!) and it was wonderful! I'm not sure how I ended up with such an earlybird for a daughter, but she definitely is worth the early mornings. She's still not a great napper, at least for me. I think she naps fairly well for Gayle, but we struggle when she's at home. She'll take a great nap if I hold her, but usually, if I put her in her crib, she'll go through a cycle of play/fuss/cry. I comfort her, lay her back down, and we repeat the cycle. A couple of Saturdays ago, she fought her nap for an hour and a half. I'm not a fan of the cry-it-out method, so that's not really an option at this point. We'll figure it out!

Eating Habits: We've finally started solid foods! I actually started offering solids to her two or three weeks ago, but it's only been in the last week that she's seemed to be truly eating. I'm very interested in baby-led weaning, and we've been following that plan for the most part. It's absolutely amazing to see how good she is at manipulating food and getting it into her mouth. Our sweet girl loves to eat, and I love to watch her eat! I like the concept of baby-led weaning because it lets Campbell be the one in control of her feedings. I really want her to have a good, healthy relationship with food, and I feel like this plan will help to accomplish that goal. She decides which foods she likes, and she decides when and how much to eat. I understand that not everyone agrees with our plan to skip purees, but I think it's going to work well with us. I've tried spoon feeding her a couple of times, and honestly, baby-led weaning seems to be a lot easier and less stressful! Even with the solid food, she's still getting most of her calories and nutrition from breastmilk. She's nursing about 6 times per day, and I'm guessing that she takes somwhere around 5 ounces at each feeding.

New Foods: So far, she's had sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, cucumber, carrots, pears, peas, broccoli, ham, and chicken. Without a doubt, she enjoys sweet potatoes, bananas, and ham the most! She seems to dislike the green veggies, but we'll keep trying. I know it's not unusual for babies to reject a food several times before they finally eat it.

New Discoveries: It's been a big month for Campbell, developmentally speaking. She's discovered her feet and toes, so that keeps her occupied for quite a while! She's also sitting up on her own now, and it's opened up a whole new perspective on things for her.

My Accomplishments: Being able to sit up indepedently is definitely her biggest accomplishment this month! My poor girl was getting so very tired of laying down and sitting with support, so I'm really excited about this for her! And maybe it's a bit selfish, but it makes things so much easier on us as parents, too! Now I don't have to lug that infant carrier around anymore. She can also sit up in the grocery cart now, and she loves it!

Places She Went: Just the other night, Campbell went Christmas caroling with us through our tiny little town. She had a great time, but it was pretty chilly, so we cut our time short. David went on with the group to finish up, but Campbell and I went to the car to warm up and to have a snack (well, she had a snack, anyway!). I'm still really enjoying the Moby wrap and the ring sling...I can't imagine being without them. I think my favorite is the Moby, and it's mostly because I feel much more comfortable about my ability to hold her correctly in it. It's also nice and warm this time of year. We're now able to do the hip carry with the ring sling, and I think Campbell enjoys the view that comes along with it.

Special Friends: Santa Claus! Last Friday afternoon, I met up with my coworkers for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory at the Mall. I took Campbell with me, and after our lunch, she and I paid a visit to Santa. So many people told me that she would have a bad reaction, but she didn't. She sat right in his lap and grinned like a possum! It was precious, and made a great Christmas card photo! Almost as soon as I picked her up from his lap, she spit up. Santa was lucky he didn't get it!

Baby Babbles: I'm not sure that she's really learned any "new" babbles. She's still blowing raspberries and "talking" a lot. Just in the last few days she's started to really squeal...LOUDLY. Tonight I told her she sounded like a little screech owl!

Just for the fun of it, here are a few pictures I've taken over the last week. Clockwise from the top left: Campbell in her stroller on the way to visit Santa; reading Radical over Daddy's shoulder on Sunday morning; her "faux hawk" after bathtime; her first ride in the grocery cart (outside of the carseat).

Nothing In Particular...

I am seriously horrible about blogging. Back when I started the food blog a few years ago, I blogged several times a week. Now I'm lucky to get a post up once a month. I can't blame it all on being busy with Campbell (even though I am!), though. I just get irritated with Blogger. They've changed things around, and unless I'm just too dumb to figure it out, you have to upload every picture individually now. That's a hassle. Another problem is that I just can't think of anything terribly interesting to blog about. We're just living life around here...nothing too exciting is going on. We're going to work every day and enjoying our time with Campbell once we get home. And when she goes to bed, I crash on the couch asleep. We're living a wild life, I'm telling you! But I wouldn't trade a minute of it for anything.

Since I don't have anything terribly profound or interesting to update you on, I just thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from the last several weeks.

I took this picture today at church while we were decorating for Christmas. One of the little girls from church found this headband and thought Campbell needed it. She's a cutie, huh?

 I just love this picture. My girl is absolutely one of the most goodnatured, laid-back babies I've ever met. I know I might be a little biased, but I do hear that a lot about her. She's always happy and smiling!

 I think this is one of my very favorite pictures of all time. A couple of weeks ago, I needed to get in the shower to get ready for church. David was reading in bed, so I plopped Campbell down with him. They were too cute, so I took a quick picture with my phone...and it's perfect!

 This is the way my kid sleeps every night of her life. I hear other people talk about how their kids are all over their cribs at night. Not ours. We put her down like this, and in the morning, she's in exactly the same spot, usually smiling, laughing, and kicking her legs like there's no tomorrow!

 The vast majority of my pictures of Campbell are of her asleep. She's just so much easier to photograph that way! This was her one morning before I dropped her off at her sitter's, and of course, I couldn't resist snapping a picture. Most mornings she falls back to sleep on the way to the sitters, and she usually doesn't wake up until we're in Ms. Gayle's house. Each morning, I take the opportunity to quietly pray over her. I still struggle with leaving her with the sitter, and I so wish I could be a stay at home mom, so those quiet moments in prayer are what gets me through each day.

And this is Campbell with her sitter, Ms. Gayle. We had a rough start, but I think things are going much better. We're still figuring each other out, but I think she genuinely loves Campbell, and that goes a long way in helping me to feel a bit better. One day last week, when I got to Ms. Gayle's house to feed her for lunch, she had Campbell in the chair with her, and they were just chattering away. It was precious, and I had to snap a picture!

Five Months!

Miss Campbell is now five months old! I feel like I say this every time, but I can't get over how fast she's growing, learning, and developing. It's seriously amazing. It seems like every day she's doing something new. It's so exciting to be her mom! :)

Campbell Adair

Five Months

19lbs., 1oz and 26 1/4" long

Sleep: Campbell is ready for bed by 8pm pretty much every night. We've got a good routine going now. She gets a good bath and hairwashing every other night. On alternate nights she just kind of gets a wipe down. I don't want to dry her skin out. After bathtime or the wipe down, she gets her "sleepy lotion" which is the Johnson & Johnson bedtime lotion. (That stuff is amazing!) Then, either David or I read Campbell her bedtime story. After storytime, Campbell and I settle into the glider for one last nursing session before bed. She usually falls asleep while I'm nursing her, then once she's good and asleep, I transfer her to the Pack 'N Play. Yes, she's been in the Pack 'N Play in our room since we brought her home from the hospital. But tonight, we've put her in her crib. I know it'll be harder on me than her. I am fully aware that it's completely irrational, but I feel horrible about putting her in the crib tonight.

Eating Habits: Campbell is still exclusively breastfed. She's still eating about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I'm still nursing her at Ms. Gayle's right before I leave, then I go feed her at lunchtime. In addition to those feedings, she generally takes about 8 ounces while I'm gone.
I'm struggling with deciding whether or not I should offer her some rice cereal. I know that babies really only need breastmilk for their first 6 months, but she's beginning to show an interest in our food. Tonight, as David and I were eating pizza, every time I would bring my slice of pizza to my mouth. Campbell leaned forward with her mouth open. I think the little girl is letting me know that she's ready for more. I really am interested in doing baby-led weaning, where you skip the purees and mashed up stuff altogether and move straight to finger foods. I have a book on order from Amazon, and it should be here Monday. I'm looking forward to reading through it, and maybe it will help me to decide on the cereal thing.

New Discoveries: She's now able to touch the floor from her jumperoo, so she's in heaven. She'll jump for 20 or 30 minutes. She doesn't really play with the toys on the jumperoo as much as she just enjoys the jumping. She's got to have strong legs!

Accomplishments: Last month, her favorite thing was to be pulled to sitting. This month, she's decided that sitting isn't enough...after she's pulled to sitting, she wants to be pulled to standing. She's also blowing raspberries all the time, and she's giving us laughs much  more regularly.

Places She's Gone: Campbell went on her first hayride and experienced her first bonfire this month! We had a great time, and you can see pictures of that adventure here.

New Friends: Campbell has one new friend this month...Carson Chrystine Dailey! Our friends, Jason and Carrie, welcomed their third little girl into the world at the end of October, and last weekend, Campbell got to meet her. I know they'll have tons of fun playing together in the future!

New Babbles: Campbell seems like she "talks" in fits and starts. A few weeks ago, she was babbling nonstop. Just tonight David I were commenting on the fact that she hasn't been talking quite as much lately. Instead, she's been blowing raspberries. I wonder if it's because the blowing raspberries is a new skill, and she's just fascinated by it? Maybe once the new wears off of it, she'll go back to talking more.

Campbell's First Bonfire

Even though it's officially fall, it seems that Mother Nature hasn't gotten the memo...in Kentucky at least. We've had a string of unseasonably warm days this November. On Sunday afternoon, Campbell and I headed to Mom and Chet's house after church for a family bonfire. Poor David had to miss out because a guy was coming to pick up the bull. Boo!

We generally spend Sunday afternoons with Mom, Chet, my sister Allison, and my brother-in-law Larry. Mom and Chet fix lunch for us, and then we laze around for the afternoon. We're usually watching TV (football this time of year), playing on our iPhones, or looking at Facebook. We chit chat the whole time, but we've always got something electronic in front of us. This past Sunday it was so nice to be outside enjoying God's magnificent creation...and each other's company. Here are some pictures from a (practically) perfect bonfire!

Me and Campbell on our way up to the picnic site. I still call it a hayride, even though there's no hay in sight. Campbell doesn't know the difference!  

 Aunt Allison, Uncle Larry, and my parents' dog, Lucy.

 Not long after we got to the picnic site, Mom and Campbell took off for a little adventure along the edge of the woods. They played pat-a-cake and I'm pretty sure Mom told her what a good little girl I always was. :)

 Campbell is so lucky to have such a wonderful Granny!

 They look like they're having a good time, don't they?

 Allison and Larry went on a 4-wheeler ride around the farm. Allison loves driving the 4-wheeler. Poor Larry had more than a littel cow manure on his clothes when they got back.

 Campbell enjoyed spending time with Pop Pop...even though she had to be in just the right humor.

 Campbell and Aunt Allison had lots of fun, too. And Aunt Allison got her first diaper-changing experience.

 Campbell was so sleepy for the first part of the bonfire, but just wouldn't take a nap. There was way too much excitement going on for that! I was finally able to nurse her to sleep and she got a nice little nap. The sun was in her face, but I used a handy-dandy paper plate as a sun shade.

 And what bonfire is complete without s'mores?! Uncle Larry has perfected his technique and made some beautiful s'mores.

And as much as these two played in the fire, it's a wonder they didn't pee the bed that night!

Four Months!

It's been way over a month since I last posted, but as with most things around here, blogging has just kind of fallen by the wayside since I went back to work. It's really hard to find balance. Harder than I thought it would be.
Anyway, my sweet baby girl turned 4 months old over 2 weeks ago. I thought I'd better update before she turns 5 months old! She's wearing 6 - 9 month clothes, and she can fit into a few 12 month things. Yikes! I can't believe how much she's growing.
Sleep: Campbell is ready for bed a lot earlier now...usually by 8:30 at the latest. She's still a good sleeper, waking only once a night to eat. Every now and then, she sleeps all night long.

Eating Habits: Campbell still doesn't have much of a pattern at Ms. Gayle's yet. She's been taking about 8 ounces over the course of the day. I usually am able to feed her on my lunch break. At home, she's eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

New Discoveries: Some of my coworkers gave Campbell a taggie blanket, and she absolutely LOVES it. She is fascinated by the ribbons.

Accomplishments: She's finally given me a few real laughs! She can also grab things and hold onto them, and she's sitting with support. She's got awesome head control.

Places She's Gone: Campbell had a big month! She went to her very first football game at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia. She did great...she slept through the vast majority of it. She also got to go with us to Lake Cumberland for a few days. I had to be there for three days in late September for meetings, and she and David were able to go with me. He watched her while I was in meetings.

New Friends: It was a big month for friends, too! Campbell finally got to meet her friend, Kate Sexton! They had such a good time playing at Kate's house. I hope they'll have many more play dates in the future. She also met a lot of my coworkers at Lake Cumberland. We also went to David's work picnic and she met some of his coworkers' children who are similar ages: Briley and Remington.

New Babbles: Campbell still loves to talk, and she's still loud! She's blowing bubbles and raspberries now.