Our Daughter...

We are extremely excited to announce we are having a daughter and her name will be Ella! We think it is such a beautiful and classy name like Clara. It was also Jason’s great-grandma’s name which gives it an extra special meaning. The cool thing is that each of our daughters will have a great-grandma’s name from each side (Clara being my great-grandma).

Now for the middle name….we have decided to be unconventional by using the same middle name as our first daughter! We really wanted a middle name that had a significant meaning and no other name could really compare for us. We love that both our daughters’ names will always be able to remind us (and them) of the grace God gives us in our lives. It’s so easy to go about life and forget about what Christ did for us. Easy to forget the gift of grace that He offers just because He loves us. That we are made right with him purely because of what He did on the cross and nothing else.

My ongoing prayer is that Clara and Ella know there is nothing they can do to earn God’s love. And there is nothing they can do to lose it. That Christ died for them so they might have eternal life through a relationship with Him. I pray one day they will understand and be humbled by the grace God so freely gives.

Ok, so now for some other reasons we chose to use the same middle name for both our children. Most of these quotes come from my husband:
1. It’s efficient. For example, when they are both in trouble at the same time you would just have to say “Clara and Ella Grace! Get over here!” as opposed to “Ella _______ and Clara Grace…” – Jason’s idea
2. “The middle name is a chance for the parents to go wild and do whatever they want.” - Jason
3. “If George Foreman can name all six of his boys George Foreman then surely it’s not too weird to use the same middle name.” – My mom
4. “One day Clara and Ella won’t share the last name anymore but will always be able to share their middle name.” – Jason (I thought this was so sweet)

Joking of course.....

In the past month Clara has developed a love for shoes and playing outside. She will find all sorts of shoes around the house, slip them on and try to walk in them. Clara LOVES being outside and will even have little tantrums when we make her come in! She is getting to the stage where she copies everything we do from cleaning the floor to mimicking silly sounds we make. She can point to her head, nose, mouth, ears and feet when we ask her and is fascinated with her belly button. But even more interesting to her is MY bellybutton since it’s protruding from my stomach! She loves to read and play “dress up” with the dogs. This entails putting random articles of clothing and some of mommy’s necklaces on the dogs’ backs and heads. They have been very good sports. :)

The pregnancy is flying by and I am BEYOND excited to meet Ella and see what she looks like. Jason seems to be freaking out a bit more than me but I’m sure he’ll be fine. Haha……

I’ll stop writing now because this post is already so long. I will TRY to update sooner that way I can fit all our “updates” in! See a couple videos at the bottom....

Sweet Ella

Ella Waving

Before the appoinment

After the appointment and so excited! (Amber had an appointment at the same time so we got to see each other)

Little bug playing at the park

I'm gonna puke!

18 Weeks

20 Weeks

22 Weeks

My little nature girl

Preslee's princess dress up birthday party

Tinkerbell

Hangin' with the big kids

My best friend Amber had her baby!
Cara Turner Clark

You're gonna have a little sister. She was super excited ;)

Visiting a friend while shopping at Lowe's

Ready for Fall

Clara had her 13 month check up last week and is doing great! She weighed 21 pounds and 1 ounce and was 30 inches tall. The doctor says she is in the 45% for weight and 73% for height. She is OFFICIALLY walking now and is very proud of herself. Two more molars came in this week along with a little cold (or allergies). Poor little girl! We’ve had a sad baby on our hands…. To get her mind off things we took her to the park for the first time since she’s been walking. She loved being able to go everywhere on her own and loved playing in the dirt. We also went on walks and to the frozen yogurt shop this weekend. It definitely got her out of her cranky/grumpy/sad mood.

Exciting baby news! We got our double stroller in! We have been researching them for a couple months now and finally decided on one that was best for us. We have loved our Baby Jogger City Mini and recently found out they make a double version of it! I was against side-by-side double strollers, but the selling point of this particular double is its narrower design. It can fit through any standard doorway! You can also snap an infant car seat into one side (when the baby is still little and likes to sleep a lot) while big sister Clara rides in the other side. See pictures below…

Even more exciting is I have started feeling “Clara Junior” (this is what Jason has named new baby)! I started feeling him/her around 15 weeks. This seems crazy because I didn’t feel Clara until I was about 22 weeks.

Jason’s foot is doing a lot better and he has been cleared to run. He’s not to that point yet but we can at least go on family walks again! I know we have both missed these. We are excited about fall bringing us cooler weather and some football! And also our ultrasound in 11 days...

Looking at sister or brother's picture

Will there be a baby sister next to Clara?

Or a baby brother?

Date night

Sick baby...

Sweaty and dirty after playing at the park. And ready for football!

Bubbles!

Hanging out with "Uncle Chaz and Aunt Christy" (she looks so old to me in the this picture!)

Leaving happy at the yogurt shop

My tummy pictures..

12 weeks

14 Weeks

16 Weeks

17 Weeks

July/August Videos

The next American Idol?






Baby moving around! These were from our 12 weeks ultrasound on July 27th.





Baby's heartbeat...





Happy Birthday Clara!

Big Sister

Our little girl is one! How did this happen? I know I’m going to sound like 30 million other people but I SWEAR I just came home from the hospital with her! I can vividly remember everything about labor (or lack thereof), holding her in the first moments of life, the whole breastfeeding thing and learning how to be a mom. I’ve held 2 newborns in the past week and I just can’t imagine her being that small!

Her birthday party was a blast and the babies had a ton of fun. I actually had a lot of fun too. I was determined not to get stressed out about it and, surprisingly, was pretty successful. After all, it IS just a one year old party that she most likely will have no recollection of. HA.

And equally as cool as celebrating Clara’s first year, we got to announce the coming of Baby Campbell #2! It couldn’t have been more perfect than to announce it with all our family in the same room. “Clara is going to be a big sister!!!” And no, we don’t know what we’re having yet. For some reason, when we tell people about Clara becoming a "big sister" they automatically assume there is a “little sister” on the way. Now, Jason and I DO have a feeling it’s another girl but that’s beside the point. And the fact that I have a 99% inaccuracy rate in guessing the sex of mine and other peoples’ babies, it will probably end up a boy! We are sooooo anxious to have our next ultrasound on September 17th to find out! 4 more weeks…

So what’s new. Clara got two more teeth (one being a molar) so now has a total of 8. She is really starting to walk and we are having so much fun watching her get more and more confident! It’s so cute to see her toddle across the room, bust it face first on the floor, and lay there with the biggest smile on her face. It cracks me up every time! The puppies have definitely come around more and seem to love her now. They don’t run away from her and will let her snuggle up against them. I think this new acceptance might have something to do with the fact that she gives them bites of her food. She is completely off the bottle and is eating and drinking like a normal “person”! So weird….

For daddy….well, Jason has been told that his job is secure as any job can be. Obviously nothing is ever 100% guaranteed, but basically his job is as stable as it was 3 years ago. This is a HUGE blessing because of the hundreds of layoffs going on at NASA right now. There are 6 people in Jason’s group and 4 of them were let go. We definitely give God all the glory for continuing to provide for us!

For me…just being barefoot and pregnant. HAHA. Totally kidding. I love being pregnant again and am just as excited, if not more, than the first time around. This is of course after we freaked out a bit when we first found out! I am extremely thankful the first trimester is over with. Dealing with fatigue and nausea is NOT fun while taking care of a one year old. I feel like a million bucks now and love my new found energy! I also turned 27 last month.

We are looking forward to enjoying this time just the 3 of us and the anticipation of new baby growing and coming to meet us. We’re also anticipating all the new babies soon to arrive to many of our friends in the next few months. Babies, babies everywhere!

Baby Campbell #2 due February 8, 2011

We are all pregnant! Also, Jessica (in the middle with me) and I have the same due date! We thought it would be fun and creepy to get pregnant at the same time again. HAHA! (joking). Amber is due in Sept and Christy in March. :)

The birthday cake

My sweet birthday girl

Cake smash

Play time

Helping Clara open presents

The big reveal

In Sickness and in Health...

We had a lot of fun last month at Port Royal! It was nice to get away and spend a few days swimming and looking at the beach. I say “looking” because it had been taken over by seaweed and was pretty much impossible to hang out on. Jason and I did manage to get some time boogie boarding so we got to enjoy the ocean for at least a little bit.

A couple days after we got back Jason had his toe surgery. I think I underestimated how indisposed he’d be. It took several days for him to recover from the anesthesia and getting used to crutches. He literally could not help out with Clara whatsoever for about three weeks! I don’t know how single moms do it. I confess I have not done a very good job in fulfilling the part in our vows that says “I will love you in sickness and in health.” Let’s just say I have done my share of grumbling and he has been very patient with me and my selfishness! This short time has definitely revealed my majorly self centered heart. I was reading through the 1 Corinthians 13 passage and did a little test I learned about. In the book “Crazy Love” I’m currently reading, the author suggests inserting your name in place of the word “love” or “it” throughout the passage to see how it sounds to you. So I went ahead and did it…..

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Cor 13:4-7

Hmmmmmmm…..I couldn’t help but laugh after doing this because I pretty much have been the opposite when it comes to serving and caring for my husband! Oh how I desperately need Christ to help me in these areas I so easily fail in! So I have learned quite a bit about myself over this last month to say the least.

Jason is recovering quickly and will be back and running in no time (figure of speech, not literally). As far as our sweet little girl, she is just 18 days from turning one! Over the past month she has started pointing at everything and telling us what it is (in her baby language), claps, waves her arms to songs, is off baby food, drinks through a straw, gives kisses and has figured out what vegetables are that she’s not too fond of them. She doesn’t seem super interested in learning to walk on her own, but definitely keeps us busy. Soon, we will be venturing onto toddlerdom. I’m not gonna lie, I’m a little nervous….

This is how she gives kisses....

Doing her chores

Hanging out with Grandma and Great Grandma. So typical of grandmas ;)

Playing in her water activity pool

I'm done.