Thanksgiving Vacation

Matt’s parents hosted our Thanksgiving getaway this year in Gulf Shores.  It may seem a little unusual to celebrate turkey day at the beach but it’s actually very relaxing and is the perfect place for me to get some fresh air and reflect on all the blessings I have in my life and give thanks. 

Each morning I would get up to go for a walk/run (trying to get back into it!) and have some much needed quiet time. I prayed a lot during this time, realizing that I don’t thank God enough for the good life he has blessed me with. It’s really humbling to think back on all the happenings of this past year and how we continue to reap so many of His rewards. It was also some precious time to and prepare for the holiday season ahead, knowing chaos will begin soon and wanting to not lose sight of the what we are really celebrating.

So Thanksgiving Vacation is our version of Chevy Chase’s Christmas Vacation!  Crazy, wild, fun but exhausting!  In addition to us [Stephanie, Matt, Campbell, Sara Gray], Matt’s parents[ Helen Claire, Tynes], grandmother [Edith] & aunt [Sid],  Helen Claire’s sister [Katherine], brother-in-law [Pat], niece [Julie], brother [Michael], sister-in-law [Cap] and mother [Jerry] all joined us this year. 

While it was hectic at times (6 adults+ 2 kids=one condo), it felt like what family is supposed to. Matt' has always told me that some of his favorite childhood memories were at “Jerry’s Beach Trip” which was when Matt’s grandmother Jerry (HC’s mom) gathered her four kids and all their spouses and children together with her sister’s family for one huge family beach trip.  Since Matt is an only child, we typically represent half of the family at his family functions so it was very different but fun to have extended family join us.

The girls were both wild & out of their routine but adored and doted on by everyone. I got a considerable amount of Christmas shopping under my belt but was still fairly lazy.  And I think Matt’s family got a good dose of life in the Baker household!

Here’s our Thanksgiving Vacation album:

 Every morning Campbell would wake up and go to the kitchen to see what she & Clairee were going to make for breakfast.

 Cooking with Clairee!  This is their special time together and they’re a pretty good team.  Clairee told Campbell that when she got old, they could open a Pancake & Waffle Shop together.

Lots of play time together!

Silly Sisters!!

Cuddling up to watch a movie with Julie. Julie is Matt’s cousin and my God-send! She is getting her Masters in Education, so good with kids and Campbell absolutely adores her.

Campbell “reading” Edie’s book with her magnifier. 

Playing with Aunt Sid--she’s so silly!

Uncle Pat feeding Sara Gray

Coloring with Julie

Swimming in the indoor pool

On the beach

Sara Gray’s first stroll on the sand

Getting her feet in the sand for the first time

 

Playing on the beach with Julie

Look-it’s dolphins!

Aunt Cap & Uncle Michael brought Campbell her very own little turkey cake from Louisiana. They have a granddaughter named Campbell and are just so sweet to us.
  Aunt Cap: you made the blog!! Thanks for reading!!

A beautiful Thanksgiving Day view from our balcony

Campbell told everyone “Happy Tanksgibing”

Sisters checking out the pretty day

 Clairee & Sara Gray at Thanksgiving dinner

The whole crew

Daddy & his girls

Aunt Katherine, who told Campbell all kinds of stories about Herman, the bad elf with bad manners.

Jerry, Edith, Campbell & Katherine

 Tummy Time!

This was Campbell’s star chart.  She got starts when she got caught with good manners. As you can see, some days were better than others…  Thanks Sid for the great idea!

 

Campbell giving SG “zerberts”

 

WAR EAGLE DADDY!!  Campbell was soo excited about Auburn and reminded her Daddy very often the first quarter of the Iron Bowl…

Unfortunately, the Tigers couldn’t pull it out and I lost my other daughter to the nasty SabaNation.  Can you see what someone had written in the sand? and then what someone ELSE did!

Campbell’s First Dentist Appt

Campbell had her very first dental appointment with Dr. Amy Flowers at Charles Henderson Child Health Center today. Luckily, Dr. Flowers goes to our church and teaches Mission Friends so she wasn’t a stranger to Campbell.  The night before our appointment, Matt & I played dentist with Campbell so she would know what to expect.  Matt mentioned something about a mirror in her mouth and that terrified her!  When I picked her up from school, all the way to the office she kept saying “I don’t want that mirror in my mouth, Mom. Please tell them no mirror in my mouth, Mom.”  She was a little impatient in the waiting room and wanted to sit by herself and read a magazine but didn’t sit very still for very long.  When they called us back, the nurse asked basic history questions and Campbell kept hopping around the room saying “no mirror in my mouth, I don’t want that mirror in my mouth.” The nurse told her it was a dollhouse mirror and suddenly that made it seem okay.

Dr. Flowers was WONDERFUL with Campbell!  She sang the whole time and explained everything.  She let Campbell touch and smell her “special hands” which were her gloves that smelled like toothpaste! 

When she laid her down she looked in her mouth very quickly, assessing her mouth while the nurses jotted down notes but somehow still singing, counting teeth and telling Campbell that God gave her a beautiful smile and strong teeth.  The dentist didn’t clean her teeth or really do anything much more than just take a good look. She did tell me that Campbell has small teeth & doesn’t have a lot of space which probably means plaque problems and braces down the road-we’ll have to start saving our money now!

When Campbell left, she got stickers for being so good. On the way out she said “Mom, that was fun.  Let’s do that again!”  I’m so glad Dr. Flowers was so patient and loving and fun and made it a great experience for Campbell. Let’s hope she always feels that way about going to the dentist!

Happy Birthday Kate

Our friend Kate Nelson had her 4th Birthday Party on Sunday. It was a Pinkalicious Cupcake Party—if you don’t know about the “Pinkalicious” books they are precious!!  A friend of mine that I met through my recycling travels sent me the books as a baby gift for Sara Gray but Campbell and I have enjoyed reading them too.  Pinkalicious is a spunky little girl that has a lot of personality, has a creative imagination and of course loves the color pink—sound familiar??!! No wonder we like those books so much!  Well, Kate must like them too since that was theme of her party. Candace let everyone decorate their own cupcakes and it was such a cute party. Campbell had the perfect outfit to wear—a pink cupcake dress!!  Happy Birthday Kate! We love you!!

 Kate blowing out her cupcake candle

Campbell decorating her cupcake

Nixon Cartee & Ashleigh Lane—all dressed in pink for the party!

My Little Helper

Campbell helped me this weekend give Sara Gray her bath and get her dressed.  Campbell loves helping…well, loves doing it “by myself”.  I hope she always is a sweet and helpful big sis to Sara Gray. And Sara Gray doesn’t seem to mind so much.  In fact, Campbell was making her laugh this weekend just making silly faces and noises.  So THIS is what having a sister is all about!

 

P.S.—Campbell is wearing her pink dress. that’s it name….”my pink dress”.  This is a FINE, Wal-Mart hand me down dress that has become Campbell’s attachment thing.  Some kids of binkies, others have blankets—Campbell has a dress!  EVERY DAY she comes home from school (or church on Sundays) and immediately takes off all her clothes and looks for her pink dress.  This happened to be a Saturday and Campbell has woken up and taken off her pj’s to put on the dress before even coming out of her room.  Thankfully, Mrs Frances knows about this obsession and has the dress washed and hanging up where Campbell can get to it every afternoon.  Campbell knows that I’ve laid down the law and the dress doesn’t leave the house so she doesn’t give us too much grief about wanting to wear it to school.  Who knows how long this little stage will last.  There are worse things of course so I realize I have nothing to complain about it.  Its just the weather is getting kinda cold these days…

Sara Gray’s 1st Cereal

Sara Gray has been fighting a cold which has led to some restless nights and I decided it was time to experiment with a little cereal tonight. Maybe it will be something to help her cold and also help her sleep longer.  She LOVED it!!  She took the spoon (yes, silver..what do you expect?!) really easily and eventually tried to chew on the bowl itself.  Finally, she worked up an appetite and wanted more and more so I dumped the bowl in a bottle and mixed it up with some formula and she sucked it down!  She’s definitely a growing girl!!