Happy (Belated) Easter!

The Bakers had a wonderful Easter! It sure came fast this year but we couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather or a better time with our family and friends. Baby Girl's Easter weekend started with an Easter Egg Hunt at our church-so much fun!

She hunted eggs with her new "fish" (she is really into all things fish these days), "bounced" as she says in the moon walk, had a snack and a great time with her friends. Thank you First Baptist & Mrs Joy for a fabulous event!

Campbell & Hudson on the playground


Campbell & Cade hunting eggs.

My grandmother (Nana) and Aunt (Pats) came up for the weekend so we enjoyed our time with them Fri night and Sat. night at Papa & Honey's house where Campbell hunted some more eggs. Then of course, Easter Sunday at church was so special.

I think that once you have a child of your own the concept of God sending HIS son to die for our sins really has a different meaning. Its always been amazing to me as a Christian how God's plan worked but now, as a mother, its all the more heartbreaking and powerful to realize what was truly done for us. Thankfully, Easter means celebration and new life. Motherhood is definitely a new life for me and certainly something to celebrate!

(Pictures of Easter Sunday will be posted later-those are on Honey's camera!)

Disney for Daddy

Well, Matt and I just returned from a trip to Orlando. Just the two of us! Unfortunately, speaking engagements keep me on the road a lot these days but fortunately, every now and then, I end up somewhere fun and take along hubby for a mini-vacation. Last year, Matt joined me in New York which was the first getaway for just the two of us since becoming parents.

For years, Matt has been saying that he wanted to go to Disney. I, on the other hand, never considered it. I am not a rollercoaster kinda girl and I always thought its for kids, we'll have to go one day with our own anyway! I would rather spend our vacation somewhere that has good food, shopping, culture, etc. I always made fun of people who honeymooned at Disney...and if they actually got married there, well that was just hysterical.

So, I book my room a few days before my conference starts and suprise Matt for his birthday and we're off to Orlando. I really had no expectations at all and learned how much FUN traveling can be when you don't! Which is so NOT like me by the way.

We actually ate really good food, shopped & experienced some culture too-particularly in Epcot and Animal Kingdom. And, Matt even got me to ride some thrill rides which was, well, thrilling!! I never had so much fun at a theme park (even in my younger years) and I truly relaxed and had a great time, just Matt & me. I am especially proud of the fact I rode Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice!).

Eventually, I had to return to work and make my presentation and left Matt to go back to all the parks to catch up on the special rides he wanted to --4 parks in one day (he should get a t-shirt for that!)

We joked that we were the only parents in the world that would come to Disney and leave their child behind but we have plans to take Campbell back next year (yep, gotta another meeting there!). We say we were on a scouting mission to see what she would enjoy. I missed her terribly, particulary everytime we saw a stroller or characters that she likes. I practically teared up in the Nemo show just thinking about her at home saying "MO" (Nemo) and "ISH" (fish), but it was a great trip for us as a couple and especially for me to play with that kid inside myself that I rarely spend time with anymore. Here are some pics from our trip:

(Troy also was in town for business so we met up for dinner and checked out "Pleasure Island" in Downtown Disney. The guys were so amazed by some magicians they had to buy some tricks of their own!)

SNOW Kidding!! (with video)

Matt woke us up this morning early so we could see the SNOW!! Yes, that is right. Reporting right here from Troy, Alabama where snow is a phenomenon. So we got grabbed Campbell's monkey hat (she is infatuated with Curious George and thinks about all things monkey at the moment!) and the camera so we could document this once in a childhood moment.
The last time I remember it snowing, really snowing, in Troy was in 1993. It happened to also be a Saturday in March and I was a Freshman in high school. It was like a dream and I still remember it vividly to this day. Even now in my traveling when I get caught in snow it always takes me back to the day and the magic of playing in something that by all practical reasons is not supposed to be in your backyard.

But I digress... so yes, 2008, just this morning we had the faintest bit of frosting on our rooftops, deck railing & car.

Here's some pics of us in our PJs (I was actually barefoot without even a robe on!) darting outside just to take some pictures.

As soon as we came in, I noticed the runny nose was back! YUCK!! In my excitement I hadn't realized that Campbell had the green yuck running out of her nose and now of course I've put her out in the snow in her pajamas.

So I grabbed the Tylenol and Zyrtec (see previous post). Campbell is still so caught up in our excitement that she gives me no grief about taking the medicine and actually volunteers to try the "big girl cup" (rather than the dropper). She's drank it all and is even smiling about it! YEAH-what a HUGE accomplishment for us!

Finally, we watched the snow melt from the warmth of the kitchen window. Here's a video of Campbell talking about her new word "snow", featuring the aforementioned runny nose & monkey hat...

LOLA is finally here!

I failed to mention one of the most exciting things about February was the arrival of Lola, the daughter of Aunt Kit and Big A. (Kristy & Adam Drinkwater). Although I was at the hospital as fast as I could to be at my friend's side, I kept Campbell away for a few weeks since she had those sniffles. She definitely has been aware that Lola is in town and she has been asking about her so we finally let the girls meet!

For months now, we've been talking about Baby Lola and Campbell would point to Kristy's tummy and even talk to it, hug & kiss her tummy whenever we talked about Lola. We named our baby dolls Lola and even identified one of the princesses (oddly enough, the brunette!) in one of our books as... Princess Lola! So I was a little worried that Lola may not live up to Campbell's expectations as just a wee bundled up newborn.

But Campbell could not have been more excited to finally see her. She still looked at Kristy's tummy but would then point to Lola and say "baby??" She was very gentle with her and patient with us but she soon realized that this kid was getting way too much attention for not talking, walking or barely opening her eyes. So of course Campbell pulled our her tricks-running in circles, making animal sounds, playing patty cake, even trying to put on her shoes...anything to get back in the arms of Aunt Kit and Big A! And of course they kindly loved on Campbell too. But I gotta a whiff of "Wow-this is what a 2nd child is going to be like!"

Lola is beautiful with big eyes, dark hair & the sweetest little mouth. She is a perfect combination of her parent's features and I'm sure she will also inherit a perfect combo of their personalities and talents.

Congratulations to our friends--we are SO EXCITED that Baby Lola is now here and can't wait to watch our girls grow up together. I'm sure there will be lots of interesting stories & pictures & future blogs about those two!

Farewell February

Wow-I can't believe almost a whole month has passed since I last blogged in. I'll try to make up with lots of pictures (but forgive the formatting!!)

If you hadn't noticed, I did get a cool design upgrade, thanks to Jennisa who I highly recommend (click on her ad to the left for more info!).

To catch up, here were the highlights of our February:

-VALENTINE'S DAY!!-

For V'Day, we gave Campbell the cutest little chef's hat & apron to match her kitchen that she got for Christmas. Now she can cook us up something sweet looking sweet, too. PS-she really doesn't have ears that stick out like that but I had to put that hat on pretty tight just to keep it on. She wanted to look at it more than wear it the first day!

Papa sent Campbell a Valentine! She got her first dozen of red roses (a cup of little baby ones!) and a soft lamb. They were delivered to our house to her attention-no doubt that kid is loved! We hope that Papa is Campbell's only sweetheart for a looong time!!

It was a tradition that my Dad used to send me flowers every Valentine's Day but of course when I got married, that was my husband's duty (or should I say pleasure!) but now that he has a granddaughter, cupid has a new valentine!

Sugar Crash!

-WEEKENDS IN THE PARK-

February brought the strangest weather-high 70s & low 30s, sunny days and thunderstorms!! On those unseasonably warm days, we took advantage of the sunshine and were so glad to get out of the house.

We have a great park that is really close to our house so we took Campbell to Murphree Park several Saturday and Sunday afternoons to enjoy the pretty weather.

She has learned "slide" and "swing"

and "park" as some of her new words and she gets so excited whenever we ask her about going.

We are also hoping that she is learning that she isn't the only kid in the world and as she gets older make friends at the park. She really prefers the "big kid" side of the park which her daddy likes too because that means he can go down the slides with her!

Its been really interesting to see her get braver with each trip. She actually wants to start at the top of the slide now and of course doesn't want any help coming down!

This particular weekend she was sporting her new designer Calvin Klein jeans (crazy, I know-thank goodness for TJ Maxx! But who can resist when she looks this precious in them!!)

Another weekend we ventured out to Banks where we had a picnic and a long stroll and then sometimes we go and look for ducks around town to feed them our leftover bread. You know how she loves those ducks!

-Wintertime Sniffles-

We have been so blessed that Campbell has been so healthy! After a few weeks of on again/off again runny nose and low fever I decided it was time for to visit the doctor. I travel so much with work that I couldn't go out of town and leave her knowing she didn't feel good. She has been acting so gentle and loving and always wanting to cuddle with me-which sounds really sweet but that's just not my little girl! She usually can't stay still and constantly jabbering so after a long weekend of her not leaving my side (day or night!) I decided to call the doc. Matt had been on some antibiotics and it was the season for everyone to be sick. You always hear those horror stories about ear infections going unattended so I was determined my little girl was going to get a professional opinion.

I don't have any pics of us at the doc's office but here are some of Campbell's "sick days" staying inside and in her pjs all day, particularly on the wet days. Along with the sunny days we had some thunderstorms throughout the month too. She even learned the song "Rain, Rain Go Away"!

She was 19 months old before having her first sick dr appt. which really is amazing and a huge blessing for us! Even her dr was shocked when she asked me if she had ever had any trouble with antibiotics and I said, "Well no-I guess not, how would I know...she's never been sick before?!"

Thankfully, she didn't have an infection or anything severe but was diagnosed with having "sensitive sinuses and allergies" and we got a prescription for Zyrtec which was so surprising to me. I had been on Claritin/Zyrtec for a week myself-who knew that she was just reacting to whatever was in the air just like her mom. It was no time before she was back to zooming around the house and flashing that grin!

-CELEBRATION IN BIRMINGHAM-

The last weekend in Feb. we went to Bham to visit Clairey and Papa Q. We celebrated Matt and Papa Q's March birthdays at Matt's favorite restaurant, Ruth's Chris. He has celebrated his birthday there for most of his life so we had to go but I was a little nervous about Campbell's behavior. She is becoming a wild child the closer she gets to 2 yrs old! But we got dressed up, packed a bag of books and toys and wipes, and had a great time!

Thank goodness :

1)We had a private room

2) Burr (Aunt Sid's boyfriend) had pictures of his dog Jake on his phone and that captured Campbell's attention for awhile and

3) for the koi fish pond that was a nice distraction. By dessert, she was leading us all over the restaurant to go see the "FISH!"

Matt got his HUGE piece of chocolate cheesecake-have you ever seen anything so large on a dessert plate in your life??!! And even Miss Priss got some ice cream but insisted she feed herself which meant I got my fair share of dessert all over me too.

Thank you Edith & Jerry for a wonderful meal and celebration with the family! We're glad Campbell could join us.

Sidenote: Matt fell and cut his finger very badly. He really needed medical attention but refused to go because he was scared we might miss our reservations! So he enjoyed his meal with his pinky finger bandaged up so thick he had to stick his little finger out while he held his fork or glass and now he has a nice little infected scar as a souvenir-I guess even daddies can be children too!

On Saturday, we had breakfast, went shopping at a Spring "Cottontails Village" Show at the BJCC where Campbell got her picture made with the Easter Bunny. Afterwards, we ended up at the "Tot Lot" in Crestline Village which is where Clairey's stationary shop is and where Daddy played when he was young. Another beautiful day to enjoy being outside and each other!

Whew! February was a whirlwind, even with the Leap Day. I can't believe Campbell is now only 5 months away from being 2 years old!! You know what they say about time flying away...well it must be true because we are sure having fun!