FIVE

I cannot believe my baby is five. I feel like a legit parent now. I mean sure....babies are hard and have their own challenges and after you have a baby you can be all "I'm a parent now"...but a five year old? I mean, that's a KID. I'm a parent of an actual KID.

Is anyone else blown away by this? Just me? Ok.

Mark was out of town for work on Lucy's actual birthday, and we hadn't moved into our new house yet so her birthday was spent at my mom's house. I feel bad because it was such a transitional time for us and her birthday just happened to fall right in the middle. Being the happy, energetic five year old she is though, she didn't notice anything was amiss and enjoyed the day like any five year old girl would.

I started off the day with our tradition of balloons upon wakening, and a special birthday breakfast.

She opened her presents from Mark and I, and just spent the day playing with her new things and the balloons. It's amazing to me that parents spend so much time and money on crazy birthday parties that end up stressing out the kid and the parent anyway, when really, the kids just want a day devoted to them. I made sure Lucy knew the day was ALL about her, and though it was simple, she loved it and so did I.

She chose Partner's Pizza for her birthday dinner, complete with grandparents, great grandparents, aunts and uncles, a tiara, and of course a cookie cake. Where would my life be without cookie cakes?

This year has been a big one for Lucy. She became a big sister again. I have watched her blossom into a beautiful, bright little girl. We've moved houses, we've made new friends, and in a few weeks she will be starting kindergarten.

I know all parents say this about their oldest girl, but Lucy really is an amazing big sister.

While she does tend to play the little mother at times, she has a very nurturing spirit and is a natural with babies. I can already see what a wonderful mother she will become one day. She is calm and patient with her sisters, much more patient than she is with me :)

After we moved into the new house, I invited some of Lucy's friends over for some cupcakes. Nothing big, just a playdate with bonus cupcakes. It was nice to have her spend some "birthday"time with her friends. (notice Noelle curled up in Lucy's lap)

Lucy is very smart, and very literal. All her friends kept telling her "happy birthday Lucy!" and she would say, "well, it's not my birthday anymore. But thank you". 

At five years old, she loves princesses, horses and playing dress up. She loves arts and crafts and as soon as the babies go down for their nap she asks me if she can paint. (I make her wait until they nap because as you can imagine, Annie and paint DO NOT MIX)

She goes through about 6 outfits a day. She loves dance and drama. She sings all. the. time.

She challenges me and humbles me daily. She is a little me....and yet so different and very much her own person. I've said before that she cannot be explained in words. Atleast not in my words.

Lucy is spunky, feminine, opinionated, energetic, dramatic, compassionate, and a natural leader. She is our referee. And she has my heart.

Love in black and white

Yes we are alive....

I feel like we are on an undercover mission to hideout and have no contact with the outside world. Except the world that is the Peachtree City bubble. That world is okay. 

We are officially homeless. We rented out our house and our tenants have moved in. We decided to rent out our house instead of sell it....which was a good decision. It rented in 4 days. We never expected it to rent so fast....so we were a little unprepared. We had a week to move out (technically we had 2 weeks....but the first of those weeks was spent in Hilton Head. We have priorities people...) Since we didn't have a house to move into that quickly we have been house hopping and living with family. It's been fun....but I'm ready to have my own space and home again.

This week we have been with mark's parents, living it up and soaking in the Peachtree City lifestyle. This basically means daily golf cart rides, TCBY, and living in our swimsuits. Awesomeness. 

Meanwhile, all the moving and house hopping has somehow caused Stella to get even fatter. Or maybe it's the fact that she's 9 months old and STILL REFUSES TO MOVE.

Fine with me. I love fat, lazy, happy babies. I would have 10 more babies if they were all just like Stella. But they wouldn't be. They would all be like Annie. And then I would have to invest in padded, sound-proof rooms. 

Mark has to go out of town for work on Sunday......for 2 weeks!!!! What am I going to do for 2 weeks??? Go bug my mom and whine to her everyday about how my husband is gone and I have three kids to take care of. Bet she's super psyched about us coming to live with her. 

When Mark gets back from his work trip we will move into our new house! Hallelujah and praise be to Jesus for all things holy!

I'm a little excited. 

Happy 4th!

Despite the rain and gloomy weather, we had great 4th of July. Usually we go to the parade and fireworks in Peachtree City but they were canceled due to the weather, so Instead we had a relaxing and laid back day. Mark had a rare day off work, we ate a LOT of food, took a nap, and spent time with family.

We ate lunch and went for a swim at Mark's parents house. 

The water was freeeeezing and Annie could not stop shivering! Lucy jumped off the diving board for the first time without a float or anything....she has turned into such a good little swimmer this summer. 

Back at my mom's house for naps, dinner, some really old and questionable fireworks, and a Pinterest inspired dessert.

Annie is always up for a photo op...

This is what our dessert was supposed to look like....

                              

And this is how it turned out....mine are on the top. My mom's are on the bottom. Pinterest fail. 

They still tasted yummy!

Beach Teaser

We went to Hilton Head this past week with the whole Campbell side of the family (except Tim, we missed you!). Picture 12 people in a 3 bedroom condo, 5 of them kids. It was chaotic even in the best moments.

Despite the chaos and the cramped quarters, We. Had. A. Freaking. Blast.

Seriously. I was already pressuring everyone into a trip next year. Mark and I had to sleep with all three kids in the same room with us. Two of them in the bed with us. If you know anything about me, you know I'm not into that whole co-sleeping thing. I know plenty of people are fine with the whole "family bed" concept and everyone turns out alright and kids eventually grow up and move out of the bed. We are not those people.

I say all that so you understand that all three kids in the room with us for a week, is a big deal to us. We are used to our privacy, used to not being kicked 1200 times in the middle of the night, and used to not having to whisper and get ready for bed in the dark.

However, if it meant another week at the beach with this crew, I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would get slapped across the face and end up with multiple children on top of me at 2 am for another week. (those of you whose kids sleep with you probably want to punch me right now)

Since we're MOVING.....(that's a whole nother post) I don't have time to upload and edit all the pics from my camera. I promise I'll get to it soon. I do have some from my phone so they aren't the best quality (since I don't have that hot new iphone 5). I honestly didn't take that many pictures anyway because we were so busy having fun and hanging out.

Our dvd player broke half way through the trip down. Thank you Jesus for Leapfrog entertainment.

First night there, we went down to South Beach and ate at Salty Dog. I'm pretty sure its a requirement to eat at The Salty Dog if you're in Hilton Head. They have live music in the evenings and Lucy waited about 0.5 seconds before she started dancing in front of the stage.

Family dinner out...it was crazy but fun! The little ones were so patient.

The beach at Hilton Head isn't like the Gulf....its not as white and powdery and the water isn't as clear so I didn't know if Lucy would love it or not. Apparently she's not as much of a beach snob as I am because she loved every second.

Later that day...tuckered out from all the wave chasing

Stella with me at the pool one day. She's so fat I thought maybe she would make me look skinnier.

All the cousins! These kids love each other so much. I can't believe they didn't fight at all while we were there (aside from the usual sibling stuff). I swear we didn't coordinate these outfits but it turned out to be perfect for a photo night.

More pics to come!

You know that feeling when you think you might pass out from exhaustion?

Yeah, that's me lately. 

I have been SO tired. Mainly because we have been SO busy. Why is May always so crazy? Our kids aren't even doing all the end of school year business and somehow it's still insane. Not to mention just general life with three little ones will straight wear you out. In the evenings after the girls are in bed Mark and I look at each other and say, is it like, midnight?? (it's not by the way....just feels like that)

Due to all the sleepiness, I've missed a few special events here on the blog. Let's recap.

May 27.....Our 7th Anniversary!! I can't believe we've been married for 7 years. One day I'll tell our love story here on the blog...but not today...one day when I have time and energy and am not suckling an infant or chasing a 2 year old or fighting with a 4 year old. So, yeah....not today.

Mark and I have never been into big romantic gestures. Give us a date night out and we are happy. So for our anniversary we went out, just the two of us, to one of our local faves. It was lovely and happy and giggly and fun and everything an anniversary date should be. 

June 2 and 8th - Mark and I both turned 29. Eeeek. One more year til 30. I'm kinda freaked out, I'm not gonna lie. We squeezed in another date night to celebrate our birthdays.

June 9th- Lucy's first ballet recital

This was so much fun and brought back insane girl-hood memories for me. I took ballet and gymnastics growing up, and though I ended up following the athletic route and playing sports as I got older, I do have fond memories of my dancing years. I did Lucy's hair and make up (thanks to my mom for doing my hair and make up all those years!) and can I just say, MY recital costumes were not this cute.....

She. Had. A. Blast. The girl is a performer....what else can I say. She most definitely did NOT get that from me. That is allllllllll Mark's side of the family. (Name any play or musical, I guarantee Mark OR one of his sisters starred in it.) That's a little known fact about Mark. He has some drama in his genes.

On the way home from the recital, Lucy said "I wish I could do my recital over and over and over and over. I had SO much fun." She seriously loved it. The flowers helped.

June 11 - This sweet munchkin turned 8 months old!

Really can't say enough good things about this chunk. She is so lovey and affectionate. She is also a fattie. But perfectly fat. Just enough to make it impossible to stop squeezing her.

She is showing no signs of moving anywhere fast...which is fine with me. She loves to sit on a blanket and play with toys. She is getting better at eating baby food, though most of the time she just wants to grab what's on my plate. She is still breastfeeding great. 

Her first two bottom teeth are just starting to poke through. She's pretty much a do my own thing in my own time kinda girl. Lazy, fat, and Oh So Happy.

Little bathing suit factoid for ya: All three girls have worn this swimsuit. One of the few things that all three girls have been able to wear. (Having three girls in three different seasons all three different sizes isn't very convenient when it comes to hand me downs.)  It's a cheapo target brand one that turned out to be adorable on and actually held up really well. It's a size 18 months (though it runs small). Lucy wore it when she was about 10 months. Annie wore it at 15 months. And now Stella....at 8 months.

Lucy

Annie

Stella

My pillow is calling me....

Just because

These two make me laugh....

I think they're gonna be best buds one day.