Maggie- 6 Months

Maggie is 6 months now and time is zooming by so fast!  These pictures were actually taken right after her birthday but it's taken me this long to do this post! 

 Just lounging around...

Sorry about the color, the flash was off but it was too cute to not use!

Weight:  18 lbs, 9 oz (95th percentile)

Maggie can now sit up like a champ and she is eating more solid foods.  We've added banana, peas, and various Thanksgiving foods :) to her diet.  She continues to become a happier baby and laughs all the time.  Sleeping through the night is not consistent but is becoming more common.  My most favorite part of this age is watching her interactions with Campbell.  I can't wait to watch them grow up together!

Crafty Mommy Monday

Sometimes the best ideas come out of the blue and cost no money!  Also, not all crafty things have to be "academic".  Play skills are just as important to teach at this age.  This was the case this past week. 

Campbell has a set of cars and trucks that she never plays with.  She really seems like she just doesn't know what to do with them.  So I started thinking I needed to get one of those rugs with the roads on it, but I knew there was no way I was going to put it in my living room.  So the wheels in my head started spinning...

I knew I wanted something similar to the train tracks that kids can re-arrange and started thinking about what I had in the house that I could use.  

So I ended up cutting up a cardboard box and drawing a dotted line down the middle.  Voila!  Instant roads.

She worked on all kinds of spatial skills as she re-arranged the roads.

Look at her learning physics as she props a "road" to make a ramp.

I think we might have to find something to support the ramps...

Also, don't mind me in my pj's behind her :)

The cars, trucks, and roads have been played with every day since!

am I a bad parent?

This is Robbie (because we all know Martha would never question her parenting skills). So what used to be a 20 minute routine, bedtime, recently has been taking over an hour. I (or Martha) put Campbell to bed, read her 3 books, give her a kiss, then turn out her lights, just to step outside her door to hear her get out of bed, turn her lights back on and begin playing. We'll let her do this for about 30-45 minutes before going back in her room to re-tuck her in for the night.

Tonight, I went back in her room to find her behind a bed . . . maybe stuck . . . .

Her bed is on the left

Here she is . . . possibly stuck behind the bed

For someone who is stuck, she seems quite content.

I will say that when I pulled her out from behind the bed . . . she was stuck. The two questions are:

1) how long was she back there?

2) has she been crying and I didn't hear her?

I'd like to think that the answers are 2 minutes and no. =)

5 on Friday

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my girls this week:

1.  For some reason, when Campbell addresses me or Robbie, it's often "My Mommy" or "My Daddy".  For example, she'll say "Let's go, my Mommy".  Something about it is so sweet and innocent and it just touches my heart every time I hear it.

2.  Maggie's nap schedule has been way off this week and she has been a trooper.  She has been sweet and happy and has really become a new baby in the past month or so.  It's so nice to not have to be hyper-aware of how long it's been since she last napped and not have to feel so much anxiety waiting for her to lose it.

3.  The other day I asked Campbell if she wanted 1 cookie or 2 cookies.  She said "Ummm...I want 1-2-3-4-5 cookies!"  Cracked me up...girl after my own heart.

4.  Maggie's hair is unlike any baby's hair that I've ever seen and it makes me smile. This was after her bath:

5.  The other night I was putting on my tennis shoes to head to bootcamp.  Campbell looked over and said "I want to go run, too".  She promptly ran to her room and came back with her princess tennis shoes on in place of the mary janes she'd been wearing.  I just loved that she knew her shoes well enough to know to change her shoes from dress shoes to tennis shoes.  (A little note aside: how life has changed that now when she sees me putting tennis shoes on, she assumes I'm going for a run!)

Crafty Mommy Monday- Turkey Trot Edition

Welcome to Crafty Mommy Monday! (yes, I know it's Tuesday but I didn't have time to write the post yesterday.)  Today's post was a special request by Robbie.  Awww, isn't it so sweet that he's taken such an interest in Campbell's activities?  Or maybe not, read on...

The Turkey Trot is an annual race that happens on Thanksgiving morning.  In the past Robbie has run it with my sister, Sara, and this year we will run it (the 5K) as a family along with a few friends.  One of the neat things about the Turkey Trot is that they also have a "Tot Trot" which is 26.2 meters for the kids.  Campbell in registered to run in her age group and we've been practicing!  Robbie recently found out a friend of his from college, Kathy, will also have a 2 year old girl, Breana, in the Tot Trot.

So we decided Campbell needed a special hat to wear in her Tot Trot...how cute is this Turkey?

We made it by tracing her shoe then cutting it out and gluing eyes, a beak, and a waddle.  We then cut two pieces of construction paper to make the band and stapled it closed.  We also stapled feathers and the turkey head to the band.  We did a red-yellow-red-yellow pattern with the feathers in a feeble attempt to make it educational.

And then Robbie suggested we made a sign for her to wear.  Very thoughtful, right?  

I quickly found out that all Robbie REALLY wanted to teach Campbell was how to trash talk... Classy, right?  ;)

She matched sticker letters (found on the $1 aisle at Target) to the letters on the paper and then added a little "bling" for sparkle.

I'm so proud of this Crafty Mommy Monday.  ::sniff, sniff::  ::as I wipe a tear of sarcastic joy from my eye::

5 on Friday

My friend, Sara, does a really neat post on her blog each Friday entitled "5 on Friday".  She uses the post to describe 5 cute/sweet/memorable/funny things her son says or does.  I love reading them and started thinking about what a great record that is of little memories.  So, I'm going to try to do this for the girls on Fridays.

Here are 5 special reasons I'm loving my girls this week:
1.  Every morning Campbell is so excited to go see Maggie in her crib when she wakes up and Maggie is always so excited to see her big sister peering over the side of her crib.

2. Campbell is a very girly girl.  She got into my makeup this week...while it was messy, it was definitely a right of passage that all little girls should go though.

3.  Maggie has been smiling with this big grin that doesn't show any teeth.  IT IS SO CUTE.  This picture is a little blurry but shows the cuteness.

4.  The other evening Robbie was doing laundry.  He walked away for a second and when he walked back, this is what he found:

5.  Maggie has this little farm pop up toy.  It's so neat to watch her figuring out how to open the doors and push them back closed (I'm sure there will be video of this cuteness in the next week or so).

Prematurity Awareness Day

I don't post too often any more about Campbell's prematurity. That's mostly because I don't think about it too often as she's gotten older and healthier.

BUT sometimes I get overwhelmed by the memories of the scary days when she was in the NICU. There are times when something will trigger a memory of those moments when I couldn't hold her without fear. When I had to worry that touching her would hurt her or my voice would over-stimulate her.

I'm devastated by the memory of sobbing while I told Robbie I didn't want to visit Campbell one night when we were both still in the hospital.  I told him I was afraid I'd fall even more in love with her and then she'd die.  In typical man-fashion, he assured me she wasn't going to die. I didn't believe him, what did he know? He wasn't a doctor.  I'm thankful that horrifying thought didn't last long and I decided if she did die, I wanted to have spent as much time as possible with her.  But no mother should have that memory and I have never shared that with anyone because I am still so ashamed to have ever felt that way, even for a second.

All of these memories and feelings are part of our lives because of prematurity. Today is Prematurity Awareness Day. As blessed as I am that I'm not reminded daily of Campbell's prematurity, I will never forget its impact and I will continue to do what I can to raise awareness and support for the March of Dimes.

A good friend of mine, Tricia, is a much better writer. Today she wrote this and it struck such a cord:

"So on this day, I ask that you think of our babies. Right now at a hospital near you, a mother is wringing her hands, staring at a monitor instead of her baby's eyes. She's praying they can all make it through the night. She's wondering about today, tomorrow and next year. She's feeling guilty, wondering if she could have done something different. She's looking into the faces of the strangers caring for her not-yet-supposed-to-be-newborn, hoping they know how important that tiny bundle hooked up to all the wires really is."

Busy Weekend!

This weekend we thought we were just going to be lazy but we ended up being very busy!

Friday night we had our friends the Popes over for dinner.  I made a new recipe for French Dip sandwiches and it turned out very yummy.

Saturday was Winthrop's Homecoming.  Earlier that day our friend Bryan was racing in an Autocross near our home so we went to see him.  On our way we had lunch and Campbell's favorite part was playing with their video games.

Maggie sat in a big girl high chair for the first time!

Campbell loves Bryan, especially after he took her for a little ride in his race car.

Unfortunately the girls were so worn out from the car race that we missed the Homecoming game :(  But it was ok, because Bryan came over for dinner and we ate leftover French Dip sandwiches.

Sunday we went out to River Park where I thought there were miles of paved trails.  The plan was that I would go for my Couch to 5K run while Robbie took the girls for a walk.  Ummm, there were miles of trails but only about 1/4 mile was paved. So rather than me getting a good run in, we got plenty of nice family time.  We will definitely be going back for hiking, picnicking, and exploring!

Yeah, I dressed my 2 year old in white pants and pink shoes for a hike along the river. Your point?

 

The view was beautiful!  I can't believe we haven't gone here before!

Bootcamp

I mentioned in this week's Weight Loss Wednesday post that I have recently started a Bootcamp at a local personal training facility.  This week we took our "before" pictures (even though if I had had my camera last week, we should have taken them then...)

Me, my friend Crystal (right), and her sister in law, Maggie (left)

Our trainer, Celia, is tiny, but mighty!  She met us at 8:30 on a Saturday morning AFTER going for a run in below freezing temps...brrr.  

This is what we'll look like when we're done...HA!

(Celia is on the right)

Check back in 6 weeks to see our "after" pictures!

Weight Loss Wednesday

WLW is back!  I took a couple of weeks off because I was too scared to get on the scale thanks to eating all the food from hosting Bunko, Maggie's baptism brunch, and Halloween.

Welcome to Weight Loss Wednesday, a weekly post on the Compton Corner for all of us who are trying to lose a few pounds. See the first post of this series to see what it's all about. If you would like to join our check in, please leave a comment with your name and weight loss goal. Next week just let me know how much you've lost and I'll add you!

Check In

Martha:

Goal: 30 lbs by New Year's Eve (40+ eventually)

Weight loss this week:1

Weight loss total:7

Robbie:

Goal: 40lbs by New Year's Eve

Weight loss this week: 0

Weight loss total: 3

Denise (Mom/Nana):

Goal: 30 lbs

Weight loss total: 1

 

Melissa:

Goal: 40 lbs

Weight loss total: 0

Julie:

Goal: 30 lbs

Weight loss total: ? I know you updated on Facebook but I don't remember your numbers, sorry!

 

Chrissy:

Goal: 10 lbs

Weight loss this week: 1

Weight loss total:3

 

Beth:

Goal: 30 lbs

Weight loss this week: 1

Weight loss total: 12

So, for all you who are joining us, please leave a comment with the following:

Update: how much weight have you lost?

What were your struggles/successes?

What is your goal for next week? (could be diet or exercise related)

Martha's Update:

I lost a pound since we last checked in.  I'm disappointed it wasn't more, but I'm happy it wasn't a pound in the other direction!  I just joined a bootcamp at a local personal training facility.  It's 2 days a week for 6 weeks and I'm very motivated to eat well since I'm working so hard!  I have decided to give up all fried foods until Sara's wedding 12/31...except for the occasional Chick Fil A chicken biscuit, because life has to be worth living, right?

Crafty Mommy Monday

Yep folks, you read that right, Crafty Mommy Monday is back!  For this week at least.  :) 

It has been really hard to find time for planned activities.  I work every weekday morning as well as Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.  So between work, Campbell's therapies (Monday and Tuesday afternoons), trying to work out (which has entailed lots of walks with me and the girls), and trying to be a wife and mom...  

Anyway, hopefully now that we are getting settled into a schedule and Maggie is being more....ummm..."cooperative", we can do more fun things and I'll hopefully find time to write about it!

 

So, for this month we will be doing fun Thanksgiving activities.  We started last week by making a couple of different turkey crafts.  The first one I cut out the basic shapes and traced them. 

 

Campbell used her glue stick (she has become a pro with it!) to glue the shapes into the outlined shapes.

 

We then decided it looked a little boring so we added eyes, a beak, a waddle, and feathers.

  

Pretty cute, huh?

 

The next turkey started out as two circles I drew (traced small and large plates) on construction paper that Campbell painted.  We're working on her painting, coloring, etc in lines...it's a process that she has NOT mastered.

 

Next we cut them out with her scissors (ok, I'll be honest, she helped me start cutting and then I cut out most of the circles) and glued them onto another piece of construction paper and decorated.

Now that Maggie is more active and aware, she wants to be involved, too!  I'm trying to find things she can explore in her high chair while Campbell and I work at the table.  This week it was a wiffle golf ball from her daddy's collection.  If anyone has any ideas of things that she can safely manipulate, please share!  I'm sure I'll start gathering some activities for her to do and they will be part of CMM!

  

Some of the other activities that we will be doing this month can be found on these websites:

http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/PreschoolPacksThanksgiving.html

http://www.makinglearningfun.com/themepages/TurkeyandThanksgivingTheme.htm

http://www.preschoolprintables.com/filefolder/turkey/filefolderturkey.shtml

http://www.dltk-holidays.com/thanksgiving/turkey_crafts.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/

Check back next week (hopefully) for more Thanksgiving activities!

Maggie- 5 Months

This post is a few weeks late (bad Mommy!) due to how crazy this month has been...I'm sorry Maggie!

 

Maggie is 5 (+) months old!

Weight: 16 lbs, 14 oz (a couple of weeks ago...by now she's definitely over 17 pounds)

Maggie has been very busy!  She started eating solid foods (avocado and squash so far), can stand propped up for a few seconds, can sit up on her own, started sleeping much better (out of her carseat finally and unswaddled!) and gotten 2 new teeth! Maggie loves watching her big sister and gets the biggest grin when Campbell talks to her.  Maggie has started squealing this month which is both adorable and ear-piercing.  It's been so fun watching her little personality develop.

Halloween

This year for Halloween we headed to Savannah to visit our friends, The Borak Family.  Jennifer and I have been friends for over 10 years and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.  Robbie was down in Hilton Head for work so we decided to meet him in Savannah for a visit. The Boraks live in a large neighborhood and invited us to stay for trick or treating.  We had an awesome time!

Our princess is not so pint-sized any more.

(Many thanks to our friends the Anders for loaning her the dress!)

Finley and Campbell were both beautiful princesses!

Apparently it was too much work to pull the wagon and walk ;)

Unfortunately the bugs were terrible thanks to the warm weather...anyone ever heard of a No-see-um?  Well, Campbell decided it was her dress making her itchy (even though she wears it all the time at home for dressing up)

No amount of persuasion could convince her to wear her princess dress so she went trick or treating in her jeans and Halloween t-shirt...

Those big kids couldn't keep her away from the candy!

 

Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of Maggie in her princess costume that Finley's mom found for her or her pea pod costume (the girls were going to be the Princess and the Pea...get it?)   This is how she enjoyed trick or treating...

 

On the ride back Campbell decided to ride with Robbie and I had Maggie.  She really didn't enjoy the ride home so we stopped to take a break...she was happy as a clam while she was out of her car seat