First Tooth & First Snow

I can't believe it's December already! We're getting ready for Christmas and enjoying the cold weather (for now!). It's been flurrying here all week, but today is our first real, sticky snow that's started to cover the ground! Lily loves watching it and tells me how pretty it is. While we were driving to daycare on Friday morning, Lily looked at me and said, "Mommy, I love the snow." I felt a little better about moving her here from North Carolina after that :)





Mark's company had a Christmas party yesterday for the kids. It was really cute! There were cookies and milk, crafts, fake tattoos and pictures with Santa. It was packed with tons of families! Lily really enjoyed it and had fun meeting Santa and Rudolph :) We actually managed to get both kids on Santa's lap without crying, though we'll have to see what the pictures look like. I think there was one where both kids had fingers in their mouths and the other one with Lily's mouth hanging open...

Ryan and Lily both went to the doctor on Friday - Mark took them all by himself! They are both healthy and doing well. Ryan is all caught up on his shots and Lily has shot up 3 inches in the last 2 months! I knew her pants were looking shorter, but I had no idea she had grown that much!! Ryan got his first tooth on Thanksgiving last week! He is doing better sleeping through the night (most nights), though he seems to like getting up at 4:45am... When he does wake up and doesn't get what he wants, he screams like a banshee - the volume is ridiculous! We're looking forward to the day when the kids get up and start watching cartoons without us so we can sleep in again :)

We put up our Christmas tree today and Lily helped decorate it - she did a great job except for the part where she kept taking ornaments off to play with them :) And only one broken ornament so far... we'll see how long we keep that record with a toddler, infant and two cats, not to mention two accident-prone adults!!




Below are some pictures of Ryan from daycare - his teacher sent home a disc of shots from the last few months. Even the little guys do lots of art projects, and apparently Ryan is a pro at fingerpainting, though only the one where he is eating orange goo was actually edible (cool whip)!

Lots of baby news today! Congrats to my cousin Chrissy and her husband Brian on the arrival of their daughter Isla, and to our friends Maria and Ian on the arrival of their daughter, Ava.

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Happy Turkey Day! Hope all of you are spending time with friends and family, enjoying the holiday. We have spent the last several Thanksgivings at Mark's sister's house in Virginia, and we miss them, but we had a good time with just our little family of four.

Lily and Ryan's cousin Parker celebrated his third birthday last weekend - Lily walked around all last Saturday singing "Happy Birthday" to Parker :)

Here are some videos from the last month or so...

Hello Pittsburgh!

So we've had some pretty big changes in the last few months! For those of you who don't know, we moved to Pittsburgh :) Mark had a great job opportunity here, and I was able to find a wonderful job as well, so we decided to take the plunge and move back into the snow and cold. So far it has been great! We miss our friends in Wilmington (and our house!), but it has been a great move for us. We got here on Labor Day in September, and we have been busy moving, unpacking, getting settled into work and daycare and exploring our new city. Pittsburgh has a lot to offer, and we plan to take advantage of all of the parks, sporting events, museums and kids' activities around!




We've had lots of visitors already and anticipate lots more over the next few months. We're happy to have seasons again and are looking forward to our first snow here, which should happen soon. We're also thrilled to be closer to our friends and family in the Northeast. The kids have been troopers through this whole process, and Nana (Mark's mom) has been a big help getting us settled here.

We found an amazing daycare for the kids, and they are both doing great there. They are both SO big!!! Lily talks constantly, and we are continually surprised by the things that come out of her mouth :) Her favorite phrases right now are "That's awesome!" and "Yummy in my tummy!" She is identifying emotions all the time and enjoys playing with her friends at school. I know I'm biased, but she is super smart :) She is really independent, but still loves to cuddle (on her terms, of course), and she is an amazing big sister. She is very loving towards Ryan and loves to help with every aspect of his care.

Ryan is 6 1/2 months old!!! I can't believe how fast the time has gone. He is sitting up on his own, and I know it won't be long before he starts crawling. It's funny how with Lily, I couldn't wait for all of her "first" things - with Ryan I want the baby phase to last forever (with the exception of the not sleeping thing!). I think if he never crawled, I would be ok with that ;) I have never met such a happy child. He smiles and laughs constantly and is in awe of his big sister. If she's anywhere in sight, his eyes never leave her. Ryan started eating cereal last weekend, and we added some veggies in this week. He seems to be enjoying it and Lily (of course) likes to help feed him. He doesn't have any teeth yet, but we're working on it!

Here are some pictures from the last few months. It's amazing how much they've changed in just a short time. We love and miss all of you and look forward to catching up now that things have settled down a bit. Our doors are always open for visitors!!

milkshake after berry picking this summer

one of our last weekends in Wilmington
just hanging around

reading with Papa

ladybug for halloween

showing ryan how to trick or treat

ryan's favorite activity - bouncing!

big blue eyes and all that blonde hair :)

lily's "turn" feeding ryan

Big week! 1 month old & ear tubes for big sister

It's been a busy week! Ryan was officially a month old on Thursday. The time has absolutely flown by!! He is growing in leaps and bounds - he has dimples and rolls everywhere in addition to his multiple chins :) He is completely fascinated by Lily and watches her intently every time she is close to him. He has been coming with me to daycare to drop off and pick up Lily most days, and he is a big hit there with both the teachers and the kids in Lily's class. When we walk in the room, the kids (ages 13 months to 2 years) all crowd around the carseat saying "baby, baby!" You can tell that Lily is a proud big sister because she is all smiles during these little show and tell sessions, plus it's fun for her that she's the only one who is allowed to touch him while all the other kids just get to look :)



On Ryan's one month birthday, Lily had a procedure to get bilateral ear tubes. We were up bright and early to go to the surgery center (we had to be there at 6:45am). Luckily, Lily's old babysitter, Katherine, was able to come over and watch Ryan for us, so both Mark and I got to be there with her that morning. We spent about an hour in the pre-op area where Lily got changed into a kid-sized, super soft hospital gown and the nurses, doctor and anesthesiologist came and talked to us beforehand. Then a nurse brought her back to the procedure room while we went to the waiting room. Luckily we were only out there for about 20 minutes before they came to take us back to Lily. Even though Lily finished a round of antibiotics less than a week earlier, the doctor said her ears were still completely filled, so it was definitely a good decision to have the tubes put in. The hardest part of the whole morning was seeing her after the surgery - she was crying and confused from coming out of the anesthesia :( After about 10 minutes of cuddling she was ready to eat some cereal and drink some juice, and as soon as we walked outside the building she was back to her normal self. It's amazing how quick the recovery is and how resilient kids are at this age! We're so glad that she'll be able to recover her hearing loss (from the fluid in her ears) and stay healthy moving forward.


We leave for Rochester on Thursday morning and we're looking forward to seeing friends and family while we're there! We should have some great pictures of Lily and Ryan with all of their cousins when we get back :) In the meantime, we're going to enjoy the long weekend and Mark's short work week. Have a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend!!

Videos

Here are a few videos for your viewing pleasure :) The one of Lily in the tub is a few months old, but it is one of my all-time favorites!

Ryan had his 2 week well baby visit last week, and he is doing great. As of last Tuesday, he was 10 lbs even and 21 1/2 inches long! So obviously he is eating well and doing a great job of growing :) He doesn't go back until he hits the 2 month mark, so he will have his visit when Lily has her 2 year appointment in July. That should be an interesting afternoon!

As some of you know, poor Lily has been sick with colds, allergies and ear infections for the last several months. The ear infections have not fully cleared up since they started in late January (she is finishing up yet another round of antibiotics this week), so we started seeing an ear, nose and throat specialist about a month ago. After the last visit, the doc recommended that Lily get tubes in her ears to help with the drainage and cut down on the infections because they are starting to affect her hearing. (They say it's a lot like hearing things under water, which is important at this age because she is working on developing speech, etc.) She will be going in a week from today to get that taken care of. It's a relatively quick procedure and takes about 15 minutes to complete. The recovery period is also quick, and she'll be herself again after only a few hours. Unfortunately she has to go under for the surgery which is kind of scary, but Mark and I are both relieved that this will help her stay healthy and relieve a lot of the pain and discomfort she's had over the last 5 months.

Other than that, we have a busy couple of weeks coming up! My brother and his girlfriend will be visiting us for the next few days, and we'll be flying home to Rochester with both kids during the first week in June. This will be the first time we've been home in a year and a half, and we're looking forward to seeing everyone while we're there. Mark's sister Melissa will be there with her two boys (Connor is just 2 weeks older than Ryan!), my grandparents are coming into town, and we'll be doing Ryan's christening while we're there as well! It'll be a busy trip, but one we're really excited to make! (We'll see if we're still saying that after flying with both kids!!!)


If you're happy and you know it!


first bath in the hospital


playing with keys


tummy time

Ryan is here!

Our little man has arrived! Ryan was born on Tuesday, April 27th at 6:08pm. He was 8 lbs. 13 oz. (not so little!) and was 19.5 inches long. He has light brown hair and dark blue eyes - we think he might look a little more like me rather than a mini-Mark clone (Lily!), but I guess we'll see!

Ryan's arrival was very different than Lily's - we went to the hospital for a planned "induction" (the doc just broke my water to jumpstart labor) since my doctors were afraid I wouldn't make it to the hospital in time. My labor was just as quick (about 3 hours), but I got to have an epidural this time, which was great! Ryan is a sweet, snuggly boy and we are enjoying him. Lily has been an awesome big sister and just loves Ryan to pieces! She wants to kiss and pet him all the time and when he cries, she is always right there to comfort him. We are adjusting to life with two kids (and getting a whole lot less sleep!), but things are pretty good so far. I promise I will post more in the coming weeks while I am home, once Ryan and I get into more of a routine.

Here are some long overdue pictures!

39 weeks & 3 days - right before we left for the hospital

this was the first time they met!

Easter

Home Stretch

We have had an amazing trip to Vancouver, and we'll be headed home in just another 36 hours. It's gone by SO fast!!! The city is absolutely gorgeous and has so much to offer. I'd be willing to bet we'll find ourselves back here for a vacation at some point in the future, and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who's been thinking about a trip out to the West Coast :)

Emily's finals last night were so exciting! I know the coverage was on late last night for you East Coasters, so I'm assuming some of you may not have seen it. We were a little worried when we got up to Cypress Mountain, as it was raining and very foggy, neither of which is very good for an aerials competition. Luckily, the rain let up and the fog lifted enough for the girls to compete, though the competition was delayed for about a half hour or so. The venue was absolutely packed, despite the fact that there was a big Canadian hockey game going on when we arrived :) (Canada won, by the way!) Last night's competition was some of the most incredible women's aerials jumping I have ever seen! The field was near perfect and there was some stiff competition. Most of the women looked beautiful in the air AND stuck their landings. The winner of the gold medal was Lydia Lassila of Australia, and silver and bronze went to the Chinese women. (We actually saw Lydia blow out her knee in Torino - something I will never forget... It was a very nice change this time around to see her up on that podium!!)

Mark and I were SO proud to cheer Emily on!!! She is such an incredible athlete and an amazing person. She has overcome many obstacles to be here, and it was overwhelming and awesome to watch her compete in the medal round at her 2nd Olympic games. I can't even begin to imagine what the last few weeks have been like for Emily and her dad - definitely full of emotion and anticipation, I'm sure. We saw Emily briefly today for lunch, and she is just so thankful for all of the love and support she has received from everyone around the world supporting her career and this journey in particular.

Everyone is on their way to the men's finals as we speak, and it should be an exciting competition tonight! The Canadian home crowd has 3 athletes in the field, including Emily's boyfriend, Steve Omischl. The American guys are also placed very well for this competition, with Speedy (and his trick "The Hurricane") sitting in 5th, and Ryan St. Onge in 2nd from the qualifiers. The men's competition starts at 6pm tonight, so 9pm for you all on the East Coast. Make sure you watch and cheer on the guys!!!

Women's Qualifiers

We had an awesome day yesterday, despite the fact that it started at 4am ;) We had to catch an early bus to the venue at Cypress Mountain (where the Freestyle skiing events are being held) for Emily's 10am qualifying round. After a bus ride up the mountain at what seemed like a maximum speed of about 5 miles per hour (those busses were not made to climb mountain roads!), we waited in a long line for the venue to open. Thankfully we had lots of warm clothes since the sun wasn't even up yet! Once the venue opened, we got settled into our viewing spots and connected with friends and family of some of the other athletes and waited for the event to start.

Hopefully most of you watched the coverage on TV yesterday, but Emily had an amazing competition!!! Many of the athletes yesterday had trouble with their landings, but Emily was not among them. She executed beautifully and landed both of her jumps, placing her in 5th for the qualifying round, which means she will compete 5th from last in the final on Wednesday. (Typically, it is better to perform as late as possible in the finals, as judges tend to reserve higher scoring for the end of the competition.) Of the 23 women who competed yesterday, 12 will move onto the finals, including 3 American women - Emily and her teammates Lacey Schnoor and Ashley Caldwell (who is only 16!!). This is the first time since the 1998 Olympics that any American woman has made it past the qualifying round, so the ladies had a pretty good day overall yesterday.

Here is a link to the video on the NBC Olympics website, but I've also attached the live version of Emily's second jump that I took from the stands. The shaking in the video is from Emily's dad's leg bouncing up and down next to me :)

http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=df9d63ed-bc6e-4f5d-af64-8bcd08613927.html

Vancouver 2010

We're finally here! It feels like we've been planning this trip forever, but it came up so much faster than we thought. After a VERY LONG day of travel, we made it here on Wednesday and have been getting settled in. The house we're staying in is beautiful and close to transit to downtown Vancouver. Only a 15 minute bus ride, and we're in the center of everything. Lily has been a champ with the travel and the time change, and we couldn't be more excited to be here.

Emily's first event is tomorrow morning - the women's aerials qualifiers, so keep an eye on your Olympic coverage TV at home! The competition is at 10am tomorrow (Pacific time), and the top 12 women will advance on to the finals, which are scheduled for the 24th.

New Year's Resolutions!

Happy New Year to all of you! It's hard to believe that I started this blog over two years ago to let you all know that I was pregnant with Lily!! Even though I've been terrible about updates for the last 6 months, it is my New Year's resolution to start posting on the blog more regularly again, especially since Baby Campbell #2 is well on his way!!!

As many of you already know (or may not since we've been terrible about telling people!), Lily is going to be a big sister somewhere around May 1st :) We found out at the beginning of December that she's getting a little brother, and we couldn't be happier. We are so lucky and looking forward to meeting this little man! I am a little over 24 weeks pregnant, and the baby has been SO active for the last couple of weeks. It's been fun to watch my belly get big again (much faster this time!), and to see a little person poking, rolling and jabbing away in there. Lily doesn't really know what's going on just yet, but she got a "baby" to practice with at Christmas. I think she's going to be a great (and bossy!) big sister :)

kissing cousins at Thanksgiving

with Nana at Christmas

Lily started a new daycare about 2 weeks ago and really seems to be enjoying it. We have so much fun watching her grow into a little person every day. Despite its challenges, toddlerhood with Lily has been incredible. She's talking and communicating more with us every day, and she has the sweetest, happiest little personality. Since the beginning, we've loved every minute with her and it's hard to believe that it only gets more fun with each day!





We've been busy with lots of visitors over Christmas and tons going on here. Other than that, we are staying busy with work and planning our trip to the Vancouver Olympics!! We've been working on this trip for a long time and it's hard to believe that it's right around the corner. We leave on February 17th, and I know it's going to be a blast! Stay tuned for updates from the trip!