Just to make myself feel good...

Sometimes the day goes by and and I wonder if there is anything that I actually got done or accomplished. You know, besides breastfeeding a newborn, feeding, clothing, and taking care of two other children, (and a husband) and keeping the house from concaving in on itself due to massive internal destruction.

So I decided that I'm going to list things I accomplished this week....just to make myself feel good.

• We survived a Christmas Eve service without childcare. Ungodly amounts of goldfish and apple juice were consumed.

• We survived four Christmases. That's right....count 'em. FOUR. 

• I successfully convinced my four year old, after a 20 minute argument, that she is in fact, NOT a grown up. We decided to compromise and label her a "little, big grown up". You win some, you lose some.

• I watched as my 19 month old unlocked my iphone, navigated directly to the pictures, flipped through a few, watched a video, came out of the pictures, found the music, played a song, then went back to the pictures. I then realized she had an addiction and took the iphone away. She was very receptive to my intervention.

• I ate a half batch of Christmas cookies. In one sitting.

• My 2 month old slept 9 hours straight through the night without waking. Ok that really IS an accomplishment! So proud of sweet Stella.

Now when Mark comes home and says, "so what did you do all day?" I can give him a big smile and reference him to the blog.

My Temptation

Last night, Mark and I laid in bed talking and mourning over the shooting in Connecticut. My eyes filled with tears, as I realized the risk we are placing on our three children by bringing them into this broken world. Elementary schools, malls, movie theaters.....all places of death now.

I said, in a moment of weakness, "Did we make a mistake by having kids, and then exposing them to the sin and the hurt of this world?" My sweet husband, with his always positive attitude and God given wisdom reminded me, that is exactly the reason we SHOULD bring children into this world. And we should have more, and we should lead them to Christ, so that we can take back this fallen world. So that our family, our children, can be a light in the darkness. Because this world is so dark.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

- John 16:33

My temptation, is to hide. To stick my kids in the closet, to shelter them, and to do everything in my power to make sure they are never hurt or scared. But that isn't life. And that isn't the life that Jesus calls us to. They will suffer, they will hurt, and they will be scared. And they will learn to cling to the only Savior who can overcome this world. As I have learned, it is in my greatest times of hurt and suffering that I have to lean on Jesus the most.

We have to take risks. We have to be in the world and not of it.

 Francis Chan says it better than I can....

2 months, Punctuality, and Personal Space

Stella is 2 months today! And I'm on time posting about it. AND I mailed out our Christmas cards this week. I'm on a roll. Last year I had to send Happy New Year cards because I was so late....

My husband is so proud.

Back to Stella...Can't believe 2 months is here already! I am amazed every single day at what an easy and wonderful baby she is. She is Super Baby. 

She is on a great schedule but is very adaptable and flexible and doesn't fuss when things don't go as planned. My mom had to ask me the other day if she ever cries....its pretty rare. And when she does cry, she is easily pacified.

Lucy trying to make her smile. She gives some BIG smiles lately...

Some post nap snuggles....

Annie giving some licks. Because that's just what she does.

Don't think its all gum drops and rainbows over here though. Stella really is an amazing baby, and the transition from 2 to 3 has been WAY easier than I dreamed of. Probably because my transition from 1 to 2 was difficult. Mainly because of this kid....

The one with no personal space. The one who acts like she might have been raised by a wolf pack. The one who thinks the dog bowl is a wading pool. The one who climbs more often than she walks. The one who on average gets bathed twice a day...and has no less than 3 bumps or scrapes on her face at all times.
THAT one.

I do love her...and we're working on the personal space.

Sweet Sisters

So thankful my girls love each other so much!

No personal space in this house...

Thanksgiving

A few of my favorite shots from our fun family Thanksgiving...

Always love piling into the golf cart to go feed the fish

They ran and jumped into a huge pile of leaves for over an hour. They had a blast!

Annie melting down, and Lucy about to drop Stella. I did end up actually getting a decent pic of the three of them after this.

The whole crew

SO thankful for such a wonderful family!

Late as usual

Well, I'm a month late on Annie's 18 month post, and Stella was 1 month old on Sunday so I'm a few days late on hers too...but I'm always late, so you aren't surprised by this.

Here they are, better late than never:


Annie 18 months

Stella 1 month

Stella is 1 month!

One month has come and gone for Stella! Time flies when you're having fun...or sleeping, eating, and pooping nonstop.

I am honestly very surprised at how easily Stella is transitioned into our little family. She is on a schedule, yes, but she goes with the flow and really has settled into our routine perfectly. She doesn't protest when she has to wait for her meal a little longer than usual...and she's perfectly content to sleep in our arms, in her bassinet, or her crib. 

So far the only place she really doesn't like is her carseat, and that isn't even every time. On Saturday we ventured out as a family of five to walk around and have lunch, and she slept in her carseat the entire time and never made a peep. Other times...there are lots of peeps :)

Stella at 2 weeks:

Stella at 1 month:

Trying to talk to me while I take her picture...

She has grown so fast and is very noticeably bigger than even just a week ago. I'm pretty sure she went through a growth spurt at the beginning of last week...its hard to tell because I have to wake her up for every feeding except for maybe one or two. In one week she outgrew newborn diapers AND newborn clothes. I am hurting for some winter clothes because Annie and Lucy were born in warm months, so if you have some hand me downs send them my way and I'll pay you for shipping :)

She is quite a sleepy head. In the past few days she has really become more alert and I don't have to work as hard to keep her awake while she eats. After she nurses she looks around for a little bit, then goes back to sleep. She is only waking up once in the middle of the night to nurse, then goes back to sleep until about 7 or 7:30 am.

Even though she sleeps a lot, she is holding her head up really well. I haven't really done much tummy time with her but when I do, she does this:

So far she is my easiest baby (at least as far as sleeping and eating goes...but that's all she does right now) She is a great nurser. She is a spitter though and goes through several outfits a day. Lucy was the same way so I'm used to smelling like baby puke all day :)

She still has some dark brown hair and her eyes are dark blue. She has pretty olive skin and people are always commenting on how pretty her complexion is. She reminds me a lot of Lucy as a newborn...except Lucy was shiny bald.

She is very tolerant and patient. Kisses and pats and noises and shouts and (accidental) rough hands from her sisters don't bother her at all. She turns her head to their voices when she hears them in the room. She obviously loves her sisters already. She calms to my voice and touch the quickest though.

She HATES her bath. Also hates when I change her clothes. Other than that, she really doesn't cry much.

Much happier after the bath was over :)

It's so hard to believe that she wasn't in our lives just one month ago. She has fit into our family so perfectly that I know she was made for us :) It feels like she has always been a part of our family. I am so thankful to be Stella's mama!

The Silly Faces of Lucy

Lucy being silly and insisting I take her picture so she can look at herself and laugh....please excuse the PBJ all over her face :)

And one of Annie just for kicks...

Stella's birth announcement

Since I'm on "maternity leave" and not bringing in any income, and Christmas is right around the corner and well, because poor Stella is our third and we're too cheap to order/mail birth announcements....here is what Stella's would look like :) I'm actually ordering one to frame and one to put in her little memory box that I've made for each one of the girls. Don't tell her they didn't actually get mailed out, ok?

Joyful Monogram Girl Birth Announcement

Personalized cards for babies, Valentines, Easter and Mother's Day.

View the entire collection of cards.

Pickin Pumpkins

We went to Whitley Farms this year to pick our pumpkins and enjoy a little fall festivity. Usually we got to Uncle Bob's, but unless you pay per person you don't get to do anything other than get a pumpkin, so we wanted to support our local farm! Whitley Farms donated a CSA to us the summer Annie was born, which was amazing! They are growing by leaps and bounds and we enjoy every visit there.

The girls got to plant strawberry plants for next season, roamed the gardens, chose some pumpkins to take home, plus they had lots of yummy treats and cider and coffee for us to enjoy. We had a lot of fun and can't wait to go back. P.S. their jams and salsas are UHmazing.

 Annie found hers!

Then she got lost.... 

Lucy with her two pumpkins 

Watching the cows (bulls??) eat hay :) 

My three girls! Annie can't stop touching Stella for one minute... 

I wanted a picture of Mark with them too but they were over pictures by this point 

After Lucy picked her pumpkin she got to paint it!

Good work Whitley Farms! Happy Fall Ya'll!

Three...

THREE kids...feels like a lot.

Not just in the day in day out tasks, like wiping noses and making meals and reading stories and bathing...but the responsibility of raising three girls in the instruction and discipline of the Lord...feels like a lot.

Three mouths to feed and bodies to clothe. Three educations. Three proms. Three weddings!!!

Three hearts to nurture. Three souls to win to Christ.

For some reason the magnitude of this responsibility is just now hitting me. It's easy to get into "survival mode" with three little ones, but I want to do more than that. I don't want to just make it through the day. With a newborn, that's all I'm doing right now. At the end of the day, if everyone is dressed and fed and not crying (or at least not all three crying at once), I consider that a successful day. But in the very near future, my days will require much more than that. Three little ones is physically exhausting. Three older ones will be emotionally exhausting. This blessing of motherhood is no easy task.

I'm learning that motherhood is all about prayer. We can discipline, we can train, we can love...but in the end, it's the Lord who captures their hearts. I have no control over their hearts. And that's hard for me to accept, since I'm an extreme control freak. So I'm committing myself to prayer....

"But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit."

-Jeremiah 17:7-8

Baby Stella

Precious Stella has been in our lives for almost 2 weeks now, and already I can't imagine our family without her! I feel so content and complete with her here...she has been such a joy in such a short amount of time.

Mark and I stayed in the hospital for 3 nights this time and I'm so glad we did. I missed my big girls but I just love the time alone with the baby in the hospital. Plus having your meals brought to you in bed is hard to resist :) From day 1 Stella has been pretty laid back. She's very sleepy, probably the sleepiest of my girls. She is also very tolerant and patient and doesn't cry or startle easily. She must have gotten used to all the noise and action in utero!

Just love this picture of Lucy and Stella in the hospital...

It's pretty difficult to get pictures of Stella alone since she has two adoring big sisters. I'll try to get more of just her, but for now this is what our past week at home looked like:

 Naked baby!

Poor Stella. Annie canNOT leave her alone. The wet on the side of her face is from Annie licking her. For some reason her new thing is to lick when she kisses. 

Lucy has been so helpful! 

Rare moment of Stella's eyes open. She reminds me of Lucy's newborn pictures when her eyes are open 

I have been getting lots of rest thanks to fabulous friends and family who have brought meals, cleaned my house, and entertained the big girls. Mark went back to work this week and we were sad to see him go, but my mom is here helping out as I continue to recover from surgery.

For now, I'm enjoying soaking up time with my three girls without all the added responsibilities of cleaning and cooking and LIFE in general :)

Baby Surprise

She's here...one week early! And she finally has a name.

We knew for a while that her middle name would be Jean, after her two great-grandmothers, Barbara Jean (my Mimi), and Wilma Jean. Then we had a list of about 15 names on my phone that we changed almost daily. After she was born and I was still in the OR, Mark narrowed it down to about 5 names. After spending some time with her in the recovery room, we decided on Stella.

Stella Jean Campbell entered the world on October 11th




She was 6lbs 14 oz, and 19.5 inches long. She was transverse inside of me so they had a really hard time pulling her out, which has made my recovery pretty rough. She has black hair (gasp!!) and her face reminds us of both Lucy and Annie. She is absolutely perfect and we are so thankful.

This is my favorite pic of Mark holding her in the recovery room...already has him wrapped around her tiny finger.




So far she is a great nurser and a great sleeper, which is pretty much all I could ask for!




Lucy was SO excited to meet her. Annie is obviously clueless, although she did keep patting her on the head saying "baby" and smiling. I'll post the better pictures later when I can sit down at the computer but I got this one of Lucy on my phone.




Lucy is such a great big sister and I know she is going to be a huge help with Stella. I'm a little worried about how Annie is going to adjust though.

We got home today so I'll try to update more soon. I can't believe we have 3 kids! So thankful for a healthy baby and safe delivery.