2 Month Old Pieper

I will go ahead and start it off with the cliche: my baby is growing up so fast! I feel like time is slipping away from me--I barely blinked and our first 2 months were gone! I loved pretty much every minute of those two months. I have enjoyed little Pieper more than I imagine any mother could enjoy a baby! Maybe it was the fact that this is my first girl, or that it has been two and a half years since I had a newborn, or that my boys are more rambunctious than ever...the point is, I just can't seem to get enough of this sweet little baby. I love holding her, and I feel like most of the first 2 months were spent on the couch doing just that. Before the baby came, many of you heard my worries about being a mother to a daughter, and now I understand why everyone was so ready to offer the reassurance that having a daughter is a wonderful thing. I can't comment on what it is like to raise a girl and all the emotions and dynamics that come with that...I guess we'll cross that bridge when it comes...but I can say that having a baby girl is especially special. The tenderness I feel towards her is different than with my boys. I do feel a different connection with her. At the moment, I am watching my boys chase each other around the house, clothed only in their shorts (the standard uniform when they pretend to be the Incredible Hulks) with their current weapons of choice. Jake just clobbered Noah over the head with a large shark toy as Noah fought back with a refrigerator attachment. They are laughing hysterically and throwing shoes and seem to be enjoying their fight...but it all just seems weird! Being a boy must be a crazy thing. And so they are proving my point: boys are different than girls. I love all my kids, and I am happy to report that I do love that one of them is a girl!

What Pieper is up to today: she is sleeping through all the big brother commotion! She does still nap for most of the day, but during her waking hours she is alert and quick to smile. She has started cooing, and I just love those first sweet baby sounds. She holds her head up very well--one more sign we are moving past that newborn stage. It went by so fast, and I already miss that little newborn. I would never have called myself a "baby kind of person", but Pieper has converted me :)

Her mom isn't the only one who loves her! She has had a softening effect on all of us, especially the boys. I call Jake and Noah the "Kissing Brigade" on account of the countless kissing attacks launched on the little sister. She is a good sport about it all and takes all the love like a champ. They are big on the baby talk and also make up beautiful songs about our little Pieper girl. In closing, I will include the lyrics of a Noah-original song that captures our family's feelings about her.

you're the best baby ever

you're the best baby ever

you're the best baby ever

you're the cutest girl i ever saw

the cutest baby i know

the cutest baby in the world

you're the baby who i love

awwww

Our little Pieper

Well here she is. These are the pictures from the last 2 months. I have a post in the works to commemorate the 2 month mark that came on Sunday. But until then...here are some Pieper pictures so you can put a face to her name!

Love that girl.

Christmas 2011

What a good time! I wish I could have a newborn every Thanksgiving and Christmas! It is always such a happy time of the year, but this year our new little family member made it more wonderful than I could imagine! We cut back on the extras of the holidays, like traveling and lots of gifts and baking and activities and Christmas cards. Instead it was pretty quiet and we spent the bulk of it at home, just the five of us. We were able to spend a little time with our extended families who came to us (Thanks, everyone!). Here are some pictures from our little Christmas celebrations.

visiting Santa at the ward Christmas party (Jake was the only brave one to sit on his lap)

wild thing dinner:

The 3 cuties on Christmas morning (at least Jake looks excited!)

Baby's first Christmas and exciting Christmas gift

Jake opening his present from Noah
Optimus Prime and Bumblebee masks
the Batman costume I made: (Robin not pictured)

Batman and Robin's reactions to the presents from Gramma and Chief:

She's here!!!

Pieper Mae Campbell

Nov. 15, 2011 @ 11:56 a.m.

7lbs. 12oz.

20 in.

40 weeks is coming!

Our camera has been broken for the last few months, so I haven't taken any show-off-my-stomach pregnancy pictures. Also because I haven't felt very camera-friendly in general!

But now that this pregnancy is coming to an end (I'm due on Sunday)...I better post one big belly shot.

I don't make a habit of carrying around measuring tapes for photo ops (and try not to look too closely at my measurements!)--Kyle took this picture the other day while I was in between projects for the baby room. I sewed the bedding myself this time, because I just couldn't find a girl crib set that went with the blue walls that I loved too much to repaint. I had a million other projects I wanted to do before baby comes...but time is running out, as is my nesting drive. And so we will just spend the next few days waiting and relaxing as much as possible before Little Miss Campbell comes. If nothing happens (and I don't think it will, based on how surprisingly good I am feeling), then I think Tuesday will be the day! Updates to follow...

4 year old Noah

He's been counting down to his birthday for about 4 months. When the countdown came to single-digit days, he would express his excitement by screaming and fall on the floor in a catatonic-like state. His other way of handling good news: he makes this weird panting noise while sticking out his tongue (which Jake is also catching onto).

Noah is such a good kid. He has a soft heart and a natural desire to be good. He gets embarrassed easily when he gets in trouble, and gives this nervous laugh to cover it up.

The other night he sat down and wrote out a list of "homework" tasks to complete. The items on the list: "1. Make my bed. 2. Clean up. 3. Turn off the tv. 4. Draw Transformers." Then he went to work, accomplishing all his self-assigned jobs. You should have seen how clean his room was! Very impressive. Noah is following in his fathers' clean-freak footsteps!

He does have a little of his mom mixed in too. He loves art. The biggest chunk of his day is spent at the table with a box of crayons, scissors, and glue. The kitchen table is in a constant creative chaos, littered with paper scraps and art materials and works in progress (His clean genes haven't carried over to art time apparently).

With all the art time we have accumulated quite a collection of drawings, which are taking over our house because I can't bring myself to get rid of them.

Something I've learned about Noah from art time: he has a perfectionist streak in him.

He gets very upset when he can't capture a certain something in the way he imagines.

We've had quite a few talks about practicing and making mistakes and how things can be imperfect but still awesome. I knew what I said was hitting home when I overheard a conversation at the art table between him and Jake. He said: "It's ok, Jake, even the goodest drawers and painters make mistakes always sometimes."

On a related note, we got to the bottom of his aversion to singing during singing time and toddlertime. (He sits silently during the kind of situations when the group recites or sings something together, while all the other kids chime in and have a good old time.) He explained his behavior: "I don't like singing when I don't know the words. And because I don't want to mess up." Awwww.

But when he does know something, he is more than happy to belt it out. We had the Primary Program last Sunday. My favorite thing was watching him sing "I Love to See the Temple." He knew every word and didn't hold back. During "Scripture Power," he sang parts of the chorus and made a manly sort of face while flexing his muscles for the congregation. He also recited his talk from memory when his turn came. All I could see of that little shorty was the top of his head from behind the pulpit, but his voice was loud and clear. We were proud of him.

He has bad dreams some nights, so he prays fervently every night to keep the bad dreams away. Tonight he went a step farther and said: "Dear Heavenly Father, help me have good dreams and please come down to me so that you can be in my dreams tonight. I love Jesus and I love Heavenly Father." That was sweet.

I just got released from my calling in Primary. Today was my first day not being there. On the way home, I asked Noah if he missed me in Primary. He responded with a fast no. I said "what?? Why not??" His response caught me a little off-guard: "Mommmm. Because I am four years old now! DUHHHHHHHH." (said in a condescending tone of voice you'd expect from a fourteen year old, not a four year old).

Noah, you're growing up fast!

Halloween

It was a big week with Noah's party and Halloween. I'm not big on Halloween, so costumes were low on the priority list. When Halloween came and we didn't have costumes ready for the boys, I put together what we could find around the house. It probably isn't a big surprise that this is what we came up with:

(FYI big football jerseys are a perfect costume for pregnancy!) That picture was taken at the ward trunk-or-treat. Earlier in the day, I brought the boys to Kyle's school to do trick-or-treating to the classrooms. They got many high fives and handfuls of candy from fellow BYU fans.

Bronco Mendenhall: (hence the facial expression, or lack thereof)

and the running back (Jake's choice of positions).

Go Cougars!

And now on to November and all the fun that is coming with this month...(aka BABY!)