Ben, Brooklyn and Brooks Campbell

Scary Moment

2009-11-20T15:23:00.000-08:00

We experienced a scary moment today...I was totally freaking out!! Brooks and I were getting ready to leave my MawMaw's house when he climbed in the front seat and wanted to "drive." Next, he wanted my keys and then proceeded to put them into the ignition. I was chatting away to my Daddy when I realized that Brooks had closed the door and locked it with the keys inside! I was terrified that my baby would soon realize he was trapped and totally freak out. Meanwhile my Dad was trying to pick the lock and I was trying to show Brooks how to unlock the door. I kept tapping on the window trying to show him where the "unlock" button was and he just kept tapping right back at me! The neighbor across the street heard me coaching Brooks while trying to remain calm and started walking over to try and help. I guess I was loud!! Amazingly, my smart boy found the button and pushed it down, down, down and finally up!! Scary moment for sure but an even scarier moment averted! I was imagining a screaming, terrified toddler and fire trucks coming to rescue him! (Which is what the neighbor said happened when her child locked himself in at the doctor's office) Glad for a smart boy who was old enough and capable enough to figure things out!!

Potty, Punkin Day, and Aunt Patricia

2009-11-02T17:22:00.000-08:00

We finally got the hint to buy Brooks a potty after he started squatting like the dog in the yard and saying "pee pee" or "poo-poo," especially after he proceeded to actually perform what he was claiming to be doing. He is by no means potty trained but it's a start! It's also nice to not have to change every diaper! Ben picked out the soccer ball potty because it says "goal!" on the lid. Nice one dad. Brooks does love his potty even though the excitement has dwindled a little.
Here he is on his first attempt at using his new potty. I'm sure he'll thank me later for sharing these priceless pics!

Punkin Day at Mars Hill was two weekends ago, but I figure I'm good to get the pics on here at all! Aunt Patricia, and my Mom (aka Gi Gi) took Brooks around...as you will see in the pictures he loved it. He even stood still to get his face painted! He got to ride the train, slide down a scary slide with Mama, pick up ducks, shoot a basketball,and eat a hot dog. Pretty good day for an almost two year old!

Not a great pic because Brooks wouldn't stay still but this was fun! Patricia and I actually thought the train was going to turn over at one point...a very bumpy ride!

With his Mama on the train...I LOVE my boy!

Eating chips with GiGi in the freezing cold!

He stood soooo still to get his face painted.

Later that night, we all went over to GiGi and Pop's. Brooks wanted to put on Aunt Patricia's boots...very cute. His new favorite word is Pa-chee-cha. He says it 10 times a day and it sounds very, very close to Patricia! Brooks has a great, fun aunt!

My Mom brought home a bat costume from her work-he's really going as a turtle but he loves to dress up in this at her house!

Growling and karate chopping because that's what bats do...or something like that!

1st Haircut

2009-09-04T18:44:00.001-07:00

Brooks's actual first haircut was way back in July but with all of the changes...moving, back to school, sickness...I finally got the pictures up. Thank you Kyla for a wonderful first haircut memory!

For Runners Everywhere...

2009-08-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

I need some advice please! Believe it or not, I was once an avid runner back in the day-the high school days that is. Actually I was pretty obsessed since I always felt guilty if I missed a day of running. Cross-country and track had my goals in place. 10 years later...

Let's just say that this month has been HARD. Mainly physically but in other ways as well. We moved, got sick, started school, got sick some more, Brooks went to MawMaw's house all day without me, and got sick some more. Basically I have stayed sick for a month! Allergies, colds, with a good dose of stress and emotional heartache from leaving my boy.

Anyways, the sicker I get, the more caffeine I drink and the more sugar I eat to get me through the day. Thus, I feel wonderfully horrible when I get home from work.

So, I have decided to start running again. For not only my sake but for my husband's as well. I'm sure he's tired of catching my colds. So the immune system needs a big boost and soon!! I have so many dedicated friends who run and I am so impressed that I really want to join. The only trouble is WHEN??? When do I run...at 5:3o every morning, 9:00 at night? after school when my energy is at its lowest and I need a major snack? Keep in mind to that Ben will start basketball season soon and there goes the evening babysitter.

So, please if you don't mind, let me in on your secret because I know everyone is as busy as I am! I would truly appreciate your advice and so would my poor unhealthy out of shape body!

House Update & Thank You

2009-07-29T10:32:00.000-07:00

First of all, I wanted to thank all of my great friends for keeping us in your prayers while we are in house "limbo." I truly appreciate your concern and just for listening to me vent!

Well...we will know tomorrow afternoon if the deal is 100% approved..that is the lady who is buying our house's loan will either go through or not by tomorrow. IF it goes through, the builder whose house we are buying has been so great and will let us move in our big stuff on Saturday. Then, we'll stay with my parents until we close on either Monday or Tuesday. So some pressure has been lifted off our shoulders by God letting us buy a house from a great builder who is willing to help us out. If it doesn't go through, we will be back to square one.

So, please continue to keep us in your prayers that it will work out according to God's plan and that I will eventually learn to let go of my constant need to be in control and let God work. It's so hard for me! But I want to so badly! Love you all.

Summer 2009

2009-07-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

We have had a fantastic summer! Ben and I have bonded even more with our sweet baby. Here is most of our summer in a nutshell:

We started the summer off with Brooks's first busted lip. Both Brooks and I were hysterical. Brooks lost a lot of blood-most of which ended up on my clothes- but he was better soon with the help of his first popsicle.

Helping Daddy cut the grass is definitely a favorite pasttime. He doesn't exactly appreciate being told when it's time to stop playing with the lawnmower and come inside the house!

Brooks was visited frequently by my Mom whose name got changed from "Grams" to "GiGi" because Brooks can say "GiGi" and cannot say "Grams." Brooks ALWAYS drives GiGi's car when she comes to visit.

We watered the flowers-a lot! He is slightly obsessed with flowers-he might just be a future florist!

Brooks at the University of Alabama's Recreation Center where Ben had team camp there in June. There were about 2o hoops in one area-Brooks was in heaven!

Sporting a popsicle face

Brooks fell in love with sidewalk chalk, but he wanted to eat it! He got his first spanking over not minding and hiding behind the house and a deck chair to sneak a bite. The spanking didn't go so well...he laughed at me! I admit that I then laughed too.

On the pier with his MawMaw at Lake Guntersville. We went to Scottsboro for our annual family reunion at the end of June. Brooks had a blast.

On the way to Brooks's first airplane ride. We went to Ohio to visit Ben's parents-Brooks's Nana and Pops- for 8 days. Brooks slept the whole plane ride, so it was an easy first trip going there. He didn't sleep on the way back, but it was easy nonetheless because Brooks was awesome and content to sit in my lap. Brooks had a great time in Ohio and bonded instantly with his Nana.

I mentioned that he's obsessed with flowers, right? These are Nana's flowers and Brooks was drawn to them as soon as we got there.

Hanging out on Nana and Pops's deck...near the flowers of course.

Brooks with Mommy and Aunt Erin (Ben's sister) before baby Campbell was born. We were sad that we didn't get to see baby Cam before we left but we are so glad she is now here and healthy! Congratulations Aunt Erin and Uncle Scott!

Brooks was the life of the party! He waited until everyone in the room clapped for him after he made a basket before he attempted another shot! He's definitely a ham! My mom said he gets this from me, but even though she claims I did tricks for anyone who would watch when I was Brooks's age-I don't believe her.

Brooks just had to help his Nana water the flowers, and she was glad for his help too! :)

Stepping out onto the deck while posing for a picture. He's getting used to Mommy snapping away.

Nana and Pops took us to Price Park to feed the ducks. Brooks LOVED the ducks. "Duck" is a new word he learned to say at the beginning of the summer. He said it over and over while watching his favorite friends. (He learned to say some animal sounds while in Ohio-"moo" for a cow, "bach" for a chicken, and "me" for a kitty. He still can't say "quack" for a duck though-hasn't quite master those tricky "q" words. He also learned to say "peas" for please and how to say "shhhh" ) Then, he totally relaxed while Daddy pushed him in the swing...didn't really want to get out either!

We all enjoyed Nana and Pops's pool! Brooks loved it so much that he wanted his good pal "Elephant" to join him in the water! Elephant needed a good bath after his dip in the pool. Brooks was brave and blew his first bubbles in the pool...a future swimmer like his Mama for sure!

Brooks discovered Nana and Pops's cool closet and thought it was HILARIOUS to play peek-a-boo in it. Mommy and Daddy thought it was HILARIOUS when he accidentally came out wearing Nana's brown dress shirt!

Thank you Nana and Pops's for a great trip! We have lots of good memories from our visit!

We are sad as our summer winds down and Mommy and Daddy head back to work. But we will cherish it always and look for so many more good times as Brooks grows up-despite the fact that we don't want him to grow up! We love you Brooks!!!

House?

2009-07-23T11:50:00.000-07:00

Before yesterday's events happened, we were scheduled to move into our new house in Killen on Friday, July 31-the Friday before school started. I have been working like crazy to get my room ready at school and to get what I could packed into boxes. BUT...yesterday morning, the plan fell through. There is still a smidget of hope that we can work things out but as of now we are waiting to see what will happen with the lady who wants our house and as far as we know she does still want it. So....we'll see. It hit kind of hard with both Ben and I for the first couple of hours after we heard the news, but we are fine now. We just have to be patient and have faith that something will work out!

To all my Brooks fans, I will post pictures of the summer very soon...as soon as I can get my memory card reader to work-or else buy a new one!

Invasion!

2009-05-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a week since the incident happened but it has been one of the major events in my life so I thought I'd share. My entire purse was stolen out of my car in my driveway last Wednesday! My cell phone, wallet, camera were all in my purse too! I was SO upset when I found out. It is definitely partly my fault- I was so consumed with getting Brooks in the house quickly because it was 4 and he hadn't had an afternoon nap yet that I grabbed him but not my belongings. I didn't remember to look for my purse until in the morning and it was gone! I totally panicked, squalled to Ben on the phone, etc. To make a long story short, the girl who took my stuff ran up a $1700 charge on my debit card by using it 20 times in the middle of the night. The last place she used it was the Economy Inn, so a police officer went over there and she had left her license there-real smart! However, I don't know he they have found my stuff yet because I can't get in touch with my investigator. I don't know how many people I have talked to that say they leave their purse and such in their car, but I can say from experience don't do it!!! The worst part of this whole thing might have to be that some creepy person was in MY driveway and in MY car. It makes me shiver to think that while she was in my driveway, my sweet baby was peacefully sleeping very close by! Not an experience that I want to go through ever again! Oh yeah, we will get our money back but probably not my phone or camera (I am so upset over losing my camera!).

Some Rain and Lots of Sunshine!

2009-05-04T11:35:00.000-07:00

I guess I'll start with the rain first, so I can end on a happy note. Last week was grueling and completely interesting in every way! It started a week from last Saturday with us in the ER with a 104 temp (we went to Helen Keller this time because of the fiasco at ECM last time-we still love the ER at ECM for the big people but not the little ones-we were not going through THAT again). Brooks was given a steroid shot and sent home with croupe. Sunday was MISERABLE-I couldn't get him to stop crying-that is the one of the worst feelings for a Mama. He wanted me to hold him and not sit down and he only wanted his Mama. So, as much as Ben wanted to help, he couldn't! Then, Monday morning the 104 temp came back and he was breathing so fast-panting. I absolutely didn't want to go back to the ER so we got the first available appointment at Infant's and Children with Dr. Huffman-Parker. She did oh-so-many tests and she expected to find nothing new-just still battling croupe. But she found something-pneumonia in his left lung. So now he was given another shot-in the other leg- of antibiotics and sent home with oral antibiotics to start on the next day. He has gradually gotten better and better. THEN, we discovered on Thursday-FIVE-yes FIVE- new teeth! 3 molars and 2 bottom teeth had decided to make their presence during the second sickest week of his little life. No wonder there was so much misery! One more molar is still making it's way through! Presently, he still has a lingering cough, but HE IS SO MUCH BETTER (that's the sunshine after the rain). Thinking positively, I guess we're almost done with the molars!

More rain...our refrigerator, air conditioner, and garage door opener stopped working the same day!! Luckily it hasn't been too cold out lately, so we really haven't burned up too much. The double rain is that our air conditioner is going to cost us an arm and a leg-really two arms and two legs! But we'll be okay. It's getting fixed TODAY! YEA!

Some good things:
Brooks is now 15 months old and can do some new tricks:
1. says "nana" for banana
2. learned to drink from a big people's straw-he found this hilarious
3. claps wildly everytime we are in the neighborhood and see a basketball hoop-he's CRAZY about basketballs and hoops
4. says "doc, doc" for doctor and coughs on command
5. says "amen"
6. claps for himself constantly
7. loves to climb up in our sitting chair in our bedroom and just sit there and smile and wait for us to notice
8. loves to play "hide-n-seek" especially in the closets in our bathroom
9. LOVES to brush his teeth with his new toothpaste-I have to give him more about 6 times every night-but I guess it's a good habit to reinforce
10. His absolute favorite thing right now is to "cut the grass" with his toy lawn mower outside in the real grass and all over the house of course-thanks Julie Mitchell for the gift!
11. Points to birds in the sky and says "buh, buh"
12. Climbs up his Little Tykes slide all by himself-he couldn't at first and even had a tumble but now he's a pro!

Finally, here are some recent pictures to enjoy:

Playing ball with his Daddy at Gram's and Pop's house in killen. He kept wanting more but Ben got tired- or said he did at least! I think he gets his love for basketball honestly. Ben really hasn't encouraged it either-he's a natural!

More singing before bathtime with Daddy!

Cool Shades!

2009-04-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, before the croupe and pneumonia came, Brooks was enamored by my sunglasses! He was hesitant to put them on at first and just wanted to see me play "peekaboo" out from under them, but them he grabbed them and laughed hysterically when I put them on him! He's turning out to be quite a ham!

Pancake Anyone?

2009-04-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Brooks decided that he didn't want his yummy Cracker Barrel pancake-he much preferred his turkey sticks in a jar...disgusting. But he didn't want Granger (our dog) to have it either! I caught them on video "fighting" over it. It's quite funny. The video is a little long, but after only 30-45 seconds you get the drift... Enjoy a good laugh on a Monday morning!

If You're Happy and You Know It...

2009-04-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

This video is so cute and is so Brooks. He's a happy, happy boy (for the most part). Enjoy! By the way, Ben taught him to do this "on command." They sing it every night before bathtime...it's precious! What great boys I have!

House For Sale, Licking the IBUprofen, and Throwing the Glass Ball!

2009-04-06T08:49:00.001-07:00

As of today, our house is now for sale!! I think we have a stressful time coming up but I'm excited that we are officially official. The sign goes up today! Killen here we come (as soon as we start looking :)) Saturday was the day we met with our realtor-we ended up meeting with her partner instead because she had a stomach bug, which was fine with me-she was awesome, but Brooks melted away the last half hour. I was by myself (Ben had yet another softball game of course) and Brooks wanted my attention totally focused on him. He was good at first, but then decided to play with our realtor's purse. She said he was fine to play in it but I was still worried and with good reason! First, I heard a quarter fall out and ran over to get it only to find a licked IBUprofen with the coating all over the floor beside Brooks. Thankfully, he didn't eat it but it scared me still! I guess he liked the taste of the outside of it, but didn't try the inside. Good thing! Then he proceeded to throw the frog-sitting-on-ball glass statue that WAS in our flowerbed onto the concrete sidewalk breaking it into many pieces. Then he cried when I wouldn't let him play with the broken ball. Poor buddy, it was a ball-which in his mind is meant to throw-just a "glass" ball this time. Our poor realtor was great though-it helped that she has kids too!!

Video Blog!

2009-04-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

Video of Brooks playing in his sandbox and going down the slide..it's kind of long but very cute! Enjoy!

New Slide, Sandbox and Dump Truck = One Happy Boy

2009-03-31T06:35:00.000-07:00

Ben's parents, Brooks's Nana and Pops, came one week ago and got Brooks a mini slide, turtle sandbox (which is cool because my brothers and I had one as kids), and a cool dump truck. He fell totally in love with the slide and laughed every time going down. It was awesome to see complete JOY on his face. He got braver and braver too and started to lean forward going down. The sandbox took some time to get used to but after getting a bucket, some shovels, and a car and rocketship sand mold from his MawMaw (my grandma), he started venturing into the sandbox too. Of course the truck was a hit immediately! Enjoy the pics!

Brooks's "Tricks"

2009-03-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

I wanted to jot down what Brooks is up to these days at 14 months:

1. Claps his hands and stomps his feet when anyone sings "If You're Happy and You Know It" without any urgings from us.
2. Pats his head if he hears the word "brush" or "head"
3. Points to his toes if you ask him to find them
4. Starts patting like a crazy man if "Little Einsteins" come on (They have to pat to make their rocket ship go)
5. Says "mama" more than any other word but also says "baby" and "ball"
6. Calls his PawPaw "manny"-totally don't get that
7. Is almost totally off baby food-loves macaroni and cheese, pizza, juice, tangerines
8. Sleeps through the night from about 7:45 (sometimes later) til about 6:00
9. Has 6 teeth-two on bottom and four on top
10. Loves his bath time for the most part
11. LOVES OUTSIDE-he is very, very passionate about the outdoors just like his two uncles
12. Cries hysterically to go outside
13. Drives his four wheeler around-finally learned how to push the button to make it go but cannot steer so he runs into everything in the house-mainly the garbage can and the cabinets
14. LOVES TO WALK- he never crawls anymore and he always wants down...will walk around and around the house forever
15. Likes to go to the grocery store with his Daddy
16. Has to have his elephant binky and his blanket to sleep
17. Loves his paci and his bottle-not sure when he's getting off of that-I just stopped nursing and that's enough change for now
18. Has started making a weird gurgling noise-have no clue what he's try to say but he does it constantly
19. Loves to get in the "fort" with Daddy-Ben makes a "tent" with the comforter and sheets for him
20. Favorite toys are balls, trucks, anything with wheels (he's obsessed with wheels especially)
21. Loves to read and to go to his book shelf and pull every book out-then he actually looks at every book
22. Loves to swing at his MawMaw's house-a precious boy in my third grade class made Brooks a swing (with some help from his grandfather) for Christmas
23. Says that a pig goes "la, la, la"-a Sandra Boyton book has singing pigs in it so that's where that came from
24. Plays tug-of-war with the dog's stuffed cat toy and gets frustrated when he isn't winning!

That's all I can think of for now but I might add more later-he's a fun, fun little boy and is adored by his parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunt!

Wasted Money

2009-03-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

I feel like I should complete the "key disaster" story even though I hate the ending! After we shelled out the $160 on Tuesday to pay for a tow and a new key, lo and behold, what do you know, we found the key. My mom told me we would! She's always right. It was in a crazy place...in Brooks's old diaper bag that I haven't used in months and months. However, my Grandma did send home some fresh laundry of Brooks's in it the other day, and I guess I put it in there when I was getting Brooks and the bag out of the car. We just happened to use that old bag last night at church because all we needed was a diaper, wipes, and Destin so I told Ben to grab his small bag and the key was in there!! So, now we have 3 keys-we got 2 made. Horrible, horrible waste of good money.

Key Disaster

2009-03-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

For the ones that know me very well, this is typical Brooklyn and I hate that about myself! We are trading cars around with my mom and grandparents to get better gas mileage for Ben to drive to West Limestone or for mom and dad to drive down to see Evan. So, the key to my mom's car, which I just got back a week ago from my dad, is not on a key chain. My fault!!!! We cannot find it!!! We need the car back by tomorrow, so we are now having to pay $160 for the car to be towed to the Ford dealership and for them to make a new key for us. (My parents used to have an extra key but it's lost-I guess I get it honestly. Not from you Mom, but from Dad). I am going against my "girlness" but I hate, hate to spend money. I always feel guilty. So, the $160 is killing me! I am so mad at myself. But I guess I learned a valuable lesson: never, never, never carry around a single key!!!!!

Proud Mama

2009-03-16T10:33:00.000-07:00

Brooks is the wonder walking kid now! He doesn't want to do anything BUT walk. He's so wobbly and falls often or runs into the trash can or the cabinet, but it's the highlight of my day! I can't get wait to get home to see him wobble around the house. He walks in circles around the house. A not-so-proud-mama moment is when he constantly cries to go outside. He is OBSESSED! I haven't swatted his little hand yet, but the thought has occurred to me. Dare I?

I Finally Broke Down

2009-01-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

I keep reading everyone's cool blogs and decided I wanted to join the addiction. Plus, it will help me keep up with Brooks's latest accomplishments. Sorry this is boring...I'll get better!!!