I want to ride bike

Campbell's newest phrase . . . "I want to ride bike."

Crafty Mommy Monday (but on Tuesday...oops)

This week we started our Very Hungry Caterpillar unit and Campbell has loved it!

One of the biggest hits has been the felt board story sequencing pictures.  She has loved using it when we read the story and I'll often hear or see her at the board counting and naming the pictures.  So cute!

She has also enjoyed the Matching butterflies file folder game.  I printed it out using cardstock, cut out the pieces, glued one copy to the file folder, and laminated the file folder and the other copies to make a matching activity.

We also worked on her sorting using a chip and dip tray I bought at Dollar General and the cutest little insect erasers from Oriental Trading.  It was less of a hit, but we'll keep trying...

She loves painting so she and Robbie made this caterpillar.  So cute!

Here is our sensory box with dried pasta and plastic bugs and a butterfly magnifying glass I bought at the $1 aisle at Target.  It has been a big hit for her to dig in and play with while I'm cooking dinner!

These are from the Tot Book/Pack.  I adapted it and made it a matching activity.  She really loves doing the shapes and can now identify oval, star, and heart and point to the other shapes when asked.

These are supposed to be for putting in size order but she doesn't really get it yet...

We also made this caterpillar craft.  It used to have legs and a mouth before I let her play with it...  Oh, and I basically had to remake it using my hot glue gun because Elmer's just didn't cut it...

March for Babies (and MFM update)

Saturday was the March for Babies.  It was a dreary day, but Team Campbell showed up to lead the pack!  Unfortunately, Martha couldn't walk but she cheered on the team.  We'd like to thank Chrissy Catoe, Sara Hopper, and Bryan Hayes for coming to walk with Robbie and Campbell.  Many thanks also to Denise Hopper (Nana) for coming to keep Martha company and to bring her a snack ;).  

We decided since Campbell is not such a fan of the stroller, that she might like to go in her backpack carrier and she loved it!  (Thanks to Karen and Rob Needham for passing this down to us!).  Robbie really appreciated that Chrissy and Sara shared the carrying duties...that girl is heavy!

Team Campbell is proud to announce that we raised $1115 for the March of Dimes!  This is amazing, especially considering that this year we were quite distracted and were not nearly as organized as we've been in the past.  That is a testament to all of our family and friends who donated! 

We'd like to thank the following donors:

Bill and Denise Hopper

The Milne Family

Chrissy and Michael Catoe

Mary White Modla and her co-workers at Office Environments, Inc.

Bryan Hayes

Nancy Needham

Crystal Greene

Jennifer and Greg Borak

Linda and Ron Call

Sara Hopper

Frances Ann and Larry Mabry

MFM Update

We had an appointment with the specialist on Friday for a growth ultrasound.  Maggie now weighs 5 lbs, 12 oz and we could see a head-full of hair!  We discussed the episodes of tachycardia (rapid heart rate) on Thursday and rising blood pressure.  He was obviously concerned and we discussed bedrest.  We decided that Martha would just "take it easy" for now instead of bedrest, but if the attacks continue or the blood pressure continues going up, bedrest will be the next step.  Luckily, we are very close to full term!  A pregnancy is considered full-term at 37 weeks so we have less than 2 weeks!  We are hoping to make it to that mark or beyond to our scheduled c-section date of May 18th.  Thanks for your continued prayers!

Surprise visit to the doc- Updated

From Martha: heading to the OB...not feeling very good and bp is 114/94 and heart rate is 143 beats per minute. Hopefully it's a false alarm...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

So, here's the whole story.  I woke up feeling fine.  I treated myself to a cup of 1/2 decalf coffee and cinnamon roll before getting Campbell up.  I got her up and was walking around getting ready.  I started to feel light-headed and jittery.  I sat down to take my bp b/c I just didn't feel very good.  It was 114/94 but I was almost more concerned that my heart rate was so high.  I called my mom to come get Campbell because I didn't think I could drive.  While waiting, I re-took my bp and it was 136/106 and my heart rate was even higher.

By the time I got to the OB, my bp was back down to normal but my pulse was still a little elevated.  My urine didn't have any protein (a sign of pre-eclampsia) so they decided to go ahead and do a non-stress test which monitors the baby.  I actually had a scheduled appointment to have one and see the dr this afternoon anyway. 

During the test, I started feeling light headed, clammy, and hot.  I had a hard time seeing and my mom said basically my eyes appeared to roll into the back of my head.  Nice visual, huh?  Anyway, so the nurse came in and they laid me down and got a fan blowing on me and I felt better pretty quickly.  The baby looked fine on the test which is great news.

So, long story short, Dr. McClelland said it could be a one time thing or it could be a sign that Maggie might need to go ahead and come out.  I'm to take it easy for today and monitor how I feel and monitor my blood pressure.  If I start feeling bad, I'll go back to the dr to try to figure out what's going on.  We have an appointment with the specialist tomorrow for a growth ultrasound anyway, so they'll check my blood pressure and everything there.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!  We'll keep you updated!

Crafty Mommy Monday

Welcome to the 2nd installment of Crafty Mommy Monday!  I'm going to attempt to make this a weekly post (of course, I may have to take a week off when Maggie comes...we'll see). 

This past week Campbell and I've continued our work with colors.  We've made green and yellow color books to add to our collection.  We've expanded our color sorting to three colors at a time.

We made green and yellow bracelets by lacing beads onto pipe cleaners (bought materials at Wal Mart).

I am really excited about the next unit, based on the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  I had originally thought the unit would last a week, maybe two, but it now looks like it'll be at least a month because there are so many cute activities! 

We'll also continue making the color books because Campbell has really enjoyed making and reading them and they are easy to plan and prepare...

Each unit, I hope to have unique activities including crafts, file folder games, something different on her felt board, something new to explore in a sensory box, and other fun activities that are age and developmentally appropriate. 

For this unit, I have planned:

Sensory box:  dry rice and pasta with stretchy rubber bugs and a butterfly magnifiying glass.  I found both of those this week at the $1 bin at Target.

Felt board: story sequencing pictures

File folder game: Matching butterflies

Crafts: here and here

Other activities: Tot Book/Pack

Check back next week to see pictures and videos of Campbell doing some of these activities!  If you have any great ideas for this topic, I'd love to hear them!

A few videos...

Campbell loves puzzles! She was doing this one the other night as I was cooking dinner.  Isn't she cute (and smart)?! (We are working on the whine when she needs help...)

A couple of videos of Campbell enjoying the windows down in the car...

March for Babies...coming up soon!

Dear Family and Friends,

There is not much time for you to join us as we March for Babies on April 24th!   We hope to have Team Campbell make a good showing again this year.  We are sad that we have been distracted by Maggie's upcoming arrival (and all the uncertainties that have come along with it) and haven't prepared as much as in the past.  But, we will be speaking at the walk and Robbie and Campbell will be walking!

Please consider joining our team or donating to the March of Dimes.  All you have to do is click the purple button to the right of your screen and you can donate.  You can see we are far from our goal this year (but the ticker is wrong, we actually are up to $375).  We know times are tough for everyone but want to let you know that this organization is worthy of any donation.  As many of you know, on Campbell's 2nd day of life she received a drug called Surfactent.  Surfactent allows a preemie's lungs to expand more easily.  We believe this drug directly impacted her survival and her quality of life.  This miracle drug was developed during research funded by the March of Dimes.  They continue to fund research and awareness campaigns dedicated to ending prematurity and giving all babies a healthy start to life.

We'd like to thank the following people who have donated to Team Campbell:
Julie, Dean, Jacob, Zachary, and Lydia Milne
Bill and Denise Hopper
Linda Call
Crystal Greene
Sara Hopper

Here is a picture of Campbell at 2 lbs to remind us all of what we are fighting for...

Crafty Mommy Monday

So, after I had the epiphany that Campbell and I need to work more together (see this post), she and I went to Michael's and bought a bunch of craft supplies.  I decided this week we will focus on colors (while incorporating language, counting, etc).  We actually started on Friday and made a "Red Book".


Today we worked on our "Blue Book".

No book is complete without one of her favorite Sesame Street characters.  Painting has been a big hit!

We also glued tissue paper squares to Blue from Blue's Clues.

We glued blue feathers to a picture of a blue bird, but I apparently didn't take a picture...  

I'll assemble all the pages once dry into a book.

Last, we sorted blue and red puffballs as we worked on identifying the colors.

One of my biggest challenges with this new time with Campbell is that she doesn't want it to end!  I'll have to brainstorm some fun activities that she can do that don't require my help...  :)

I've been searching the internet for helpful sites and have found these:
http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/
http://www.dltk-holidays.com/
http://lets-explore.net/blog/
http://www.perpetualpreschool.com/

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/ForTots.html
http://www.productiveparenting.com/
http://countingcoconuts.blogspot.com/
http://littlelearnerslounge.blogspot.com/
http://www.toddlercraft.net/
http://theidearoom.blogspot.com/
http://mommyme-thewonderyears.blogspot.com/
http://4crazykings.blogspot.com/ (crafts)
http://belladia.typepad.com/crafty_crow/toddlers/ (tons of crafts)
http://www.preschoolprintables.com/ (free file folder games)
http://www.enchantedlearning.com

If you have more to suggest, please let me know!  

I'm working on the theme for the next few weeks which will be based on the Eric Carle book, 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Check back next Monday to see the rest of our color activities and see what we have planned for our next unit.

Feeling like a crafty mom...

Now that Campbell is getting to an age where I feel like she's understanding so much more about the world around her, I have really been feeling like I need to start doing more with her.  Plus as I've been home for Spring Break, I have realized that she needs more than toys, coloring books, and puzzles...especially this summer when she's home most of the time with me. 

So, today I made her a felt board by hot gluing felt to a foam board and mounting it to the wall (cost about $5).  I cut out a figure of a girl for her to dress up.  I made a dress, hat, shirt, skirt, jeans, and of course, bows for her to use to dress her up.  I can think of so many interactive activities I can make for the felt board.

I'm really excited about doing crafts and other activities based on weekly themes so be on the lookout for pictures and posts of our fun~

Language Explosion!

As most of you know, Campbell has been in speech therapy since last summer.  We have seen such amazing progress, especially recently.  Back when she started, Campbell couldn't point to body parts or pictures in a book and said less than 5 or so words.  Her speech therapist and I were discussing this week the number of words Campbell uses and I got curious...so Robbie and I sat down and listed them out.  Her speech therapist guessed it was between 50 and 60 but the actual number is over 100!  This number is growing every day as she learns new words or we realize that we left off words... 
Here's the list in case you are curious...

1.       Mommy

2.       Daddy

3.       Nana

4.       Pop

5.       Ethan

6.       Cookie

7.       Elmo

8.       Ernie

9.       Abby

10.   Eat

11.   Cookies

12.   Cheese

13.   Water

14.   Milk

15.   Baby

16.   Bear

17.   Cow

18.   Pig

19.   Duck

20.   Horse

21.   Hen

22.   Dog

23.   Cat

24.   Monkey

25.   Apple

26.   Book

27.   Bus/school bus

28.   Fish

29.   Duck

30.   Seat

31.   Walk

32.   Run

33.   Kick

34.   Read

35.   No

36.   Yes

37.   Ok

38.   Bye

39.   Eyes

40.   Nose

41.   Mouth

42.   Shoes

43.   Sock

44.   Pants

45.   Shirt

46.   Foot

47.   Toes

48.   Hand

49.   Wash

50.   Cake

51.   Poop

52.   Bath

53.   Up

54.   Down

55.   Clock

56.   Emma

57.   Anna

58.   Bill 

59.   Cook

60.   (ba)nana

61.   More

62.   Please

63.   Out

64.   In

65.   Bow

66.   Brush

67.   Teeth

68.   Toothpaste

69.   Egg

70.   Hop

71.   Money

72.   Football

73.   Car

74.   Frog

75.   Ears

76.   Hair

77.   Knee

78.   Boo-boo

79.   Mess

80.   Me/my

81.   Mine

82.   Help

83.   All done

84.   Bed

85.   Paci

86.   Chair

87.   Look

88.   Hat

89.   Box

90.   Open

91.   Hot

92.   Bubbles

93.   Want

94.   I

95.   Bug

96.   Bee

97.   Night night

98.   Kiss

99.   Toast

100.                        Moon

101.                        Hippo

102.                        Yuck

103.                        Come on

104.                        Where

105.                        Ice

106.                        Off
107.                Say-say (Sara)

108.                        snack (ok, she really says "nack" but it's close)

A few more Easter pictures

I didn't think Robbie posted enough of her Easter cuteness, so here are a few more!

Happy Easter

Love,
Campbell

What's different with the second picture?

Today when I (robbie) got home, Martha was bragging on how much more Campbell is able to play independently. She told me that she played in her room for 15 minutes by herself. We are such proud parents . . . . until it was time to put Campbell to bed tonight. Take a look at these two pictures and tell us what's different. Can you guess what Campbell did to entertain herself this afternoon?

Cooking School

Check out Campbell's "special helper cooking school" award . . . I'm so proud!