The Campbell Chronicles

2011-02-03T19:36:00.000-08:00

At two and a half, Hudson has quite an extensive vocabulary and knows how to use it to his advantage. With his good looks and just overall cuteness, he is totally and completely worthless and spoiled rotten! We now have to be careful what we say because it will come out of HIS mouth at the most inopportune time. For instance, Lyle was telling me about how he saw this car flip over in front of him on the interstate and I replied with a sarcastic "Shut up!" Well, let me be the first to admit that is certainly not the cutest phrase coming out of the mouth of a two year old in front of the grandparents. Oops!

Here are a few of my favorite Hudson quotes/phrases at the moment.

Ders a munster in my woom = There is a monster in my room. (aka, please sleep with me mommy)
I have a burger = I have a booger.
Umple Bwake = Uncle Blake
I NEEEED M&M's mommy (not to be confused with I want)
Buzz Lightyear to the Wessscue
Noah made dis mess (all messes are blamed on his cousin)
Every time we finish reading a book, he ends with a "AMEN!"
I pooped Daddy! (yes, we are completely potty trained, so of course this is a favorite phrase of mine)

He just makes me smile...and giggle!

I just have to say, I am loving American Idol this season. Pure greatness!

Snowed In!

2011-02-02T20:04:00.000-08:00

Ol' Man Winter, how we teachers welcome you! We are going on day three of bad weather and we are snowed, or should I say, iced in. This was a much needed break and my family has gotten lots of extra snuggle time. Needless to say, I have spent more time on Facebook and then hopped on over to my poor little neglected blog.

Last weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and took a little trip to the Dallas Aquarium. It was fantastic. Of course, we topped of the trip with a stop at Chucky Cheese!

Steer!!!!!

Showing him how its done!

   Family fun at Chucky Cheese! We won a total of 246 tickets and left with a
   small plastic car and a cheap goodie bag. Oh well, the $36 dollars was worth all the fun.

     The Dallas Aquarium

At the top of the canopy of the rainforest!

Uncle Blake and Grammy (not pictured) came too!

Cleaning the fish tank...he waved at Hudson!

Cute little bird.

Hope this weather improves soon. We are getting a little cabin fever. Lyle is going to try to make it to work tomorrow and Momma and Hudson are not happy about that!

2010-04-22T22:33:00.000-07:00

Spring has arrived and we are in full swing at the Campbell household. To be honest, it is 12:30 in the morning and I have NO business blogging at this time of night. Grad school is kicking my patooty this semester! I sort of lost my urge to blog when I started grad school last year. But for some reason, I have convinced myself I am back on the bandwagon. Hope it lasts. Now that I am back on, I am obsessed with "blinging' my blog and have just spent two hours trying to figure out my new layout and banner. Like I said, I am obsessed.
Since the last time I blogged, we sold our house in Weatherford, moved back to the our quite little hometown, and are in the process of remodeling my grandparent's house that we bought. In the meantime, we are staying with my parents. Needless to say, it has been crazy! My latest adventure is that I joined a photography club here in town. I must say, I LOVE IT! I am learning so much about my digital camera and who doesn't love a little friendly competition, right? Hudson is getting so big. His new thing is to call me "Mom" instead of "mommy." Well, that AIN'T happenin'. I least get to be "mommy" until he is like in 3rd grade, right? He has grown into this rambunctious, curious little boy overnight. I foresee lots of timeouts in his future. I am not ready for that...I mean the discipline side of parenting. That's when the hard part begins.
Well if any of you bloggers out there have tips for "blinging" your blog, send them my way...tips would be greatly appreciated. We took the usual bluebonnet pictures last week. Hudson actually cooperated and gave me some decent shots. Love that little boy to pieces. Well, better try to get some shut eye. TAKS week is next week and I certainly need my rest to survive!

Happy Birthday Uncle Blake!

2010-02-21T15:09:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Uncle Blake. Hudson made a little video for you to showcase his latest tricks. He is not much of a performer, so your lucky you got this much. Enjoy! Hope you had a great day today!

ENOUGH SAID!!

2009-05-17T07:58:00.001-07:00

Catching Up

2009-04-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Hudson had a fun-filled Easter. He participated in his first Easter egg hunt at the Gordon City park, where he hunted a whole two eggs. He was not so much into the hunt as much as the people watching. He did win $25.00 from the Santo National Bank in a drawing afterwards. I think he may have inherited some good luck from the Campbell side of the family and escaped the curse of his mom's bad luck. I very rarely win on scrath off tickets at Christmas time and was self nicknamed red light Rexroat. I could make a stop light turn red just by looking at one.

Hudson was one lucky little man and got a new swing from his Grammy and Grandpa. HE LOVES IT. He could swing for hours and be the happiest little boy in this neck of the woods.

Hudson looked quite dapper on Easter Sunday. He enjoyed a nice lunch at GiGi's and G-Pa's house. And ror the record Aunt Penny, he hates mashed potatoes!!! He is a strange kiddo!

After lunch, we walked down to the corner to take some bluebonnet pictures. I was so excited to take his first pictures. Below is the best one I got...

He was not having it. So much for cute pictures.

Still haven't sold the house. We have had lots and lots of lookers. So, we just keep praying the right person will come along. I just wish they would hurry up. It sure is hard keeping a clean house 24/7 with an 8th month old.

Happy 31st anniversary to Grammie and Grandpa. We love you.

7 Months Old

2009-03-14T18:56:00.000-07:00

Hudson is 7 months old today. We marked the occasion by loading up and taking a trip to Sears to take his pictures for Easter. This was a last minute idea that I got Friday at work. I called Babies R' Us and booked their earliest appointment for 4:00. But I then realized that by 4:00, Hudson is usually very tired and cranky, and that it would be a big waste of time and money, not to mention a big disappointment to have bad pictures. I remembered seeing an advertisement in my Parent magazine for Sears, so I decided to give them a call. And I am so glad I did. They turned out so well. See his pictures throughout this blog.

It has been forever since I have blogged. I have come to realize that I should win the worst blogger award. I know I have a few loyal fans, you know who you are, and I do apologize for my lack of blogs. So here are a few random tidbits from the Campbell household from the last few months. (Along with the Sears pics)

1. Hudson is now eating more baby foods, rolling around, crawling, and sitting up all on his own. We no longer can set him down on the floor and walk away. He is into everything and has a tendency to get into everything he shouldn't, like the glass door on our TV stand.

2. We have currently put our house on the market so we can move back home. I never thought in a million years that I would ever want to move back to Gordon, but now that Hudson is here, it is funny how things change. I am driving about 120 round trip every day and I do not get home until around 6-6:30. Not fun with a little one. Plus I am going back to school this summer to get my principal certification and I think I will need all the help from the grandparents! (Hint, Hint).

3. I have sworn off The Bachelor" I have never been more disgusted in my entire life. Poor Melissa! And to think I was a fan of Jason. I am still distraught. I hope she wins Dancing with the Stars.

4. I am taking the GRE on Tuesday and not looking forward to it. I haven't done Algebra in so many years and just the thought of the quantitative reasoning section makes me sick to my stomach.

5. Hudson is now sleeping through the night (for the most part). His teeth have been giving him heck these past few weeks. I can see them just under the surface of his gums. It really hurts my heart that I cannot do anything to make him feel any better.

6. We recently lost Pa-Paw a few weeks ago. We all knew the time was coming, but it is still very hard to not have him around. Not a day goes by, that I don't think of him. I am just so thankful that he got to spend time with Hudson. We had a beautiful service and were blessed to have many family and friends around for support.

7. Lyle's sister got engaged two weekends ago. We are so excited for her and Seth. He will be the perfect addition to our family.

8. Lyle bought me an Iphone for Christmas. I am ADDICTED. We (yes Lyle too) play on it all the time. I love it!

9. Hudson, Grammy, and I are going to go visit Uncle Blake and Aunt Lauren this week and see their new house. Hudson is going to go the U of O and meet everyone in the Alumni Office.

10. I am so glad it is Spring Break. It gives me time to play with Hudson, clean my house, update my facebook, and BLOG! Yea for Spring Break. I am ready for the warm weather, so I can start working out. I hate to work out in the cold. But it is time for me to get my rear in gear!!! Especially if I want to hang out at the pool.

Well there you have it. A few random updates. Until next time, God bless.

Daddy Day Care

2009-01-19T17:30:00.000-08:00

Well, today was a big day in the Campbell household. While I had to go to work on MLK day (YUCK), Lyle was lucky enough to have the day off. So Hudson got to spend all day at home with his daddy. Now, I have to admit, I was a little nervous leaving the two home alone together. Hudson has just starting eating baby food, rolling over, and yes, even throwing little temper tantrums. I wasn't sure how Lyle would handle an entire day at home alone with the baby. I knew in my head that Lyle could handle it, but it is still very hard for me to leave him. It was going to be a true test for Lyle.
So after I left Lyle a million instructions, I got in the car and sadly drove off to work. I decided to swing by Starbucks for a quick "pick me up." It was sure to make me feel better. Before I got pregnant, I went by Starbucks everyday. Yes, I know, it was a bad habit. Today was my first time to go back in such a long time. I was so looking forward to my yummy caramel mochiotto. I was waiting in line just feeling sorry for myself that I had to go to work and dreading all the interviews that I had to hold for the day and realized that the guy in front of me was taking a long time to pay out. My patience was wearing thin. It appeared he was not prepared to pay and had to dig around in his car for some change. When I was finally able to pull up to the window, Lee, the friendly Starbucks manager, said, "That gentlemen in front of you paid for your coffee." WHAT??? I was so shocked and surprised. What a nice gesture. He told me the gentleman's name was David and that he was a regular there and that he did this sort of thing quite often. It just made my day and I quickly started feeling guilty about becoming impatient with him. I think God was telling me that I needed to work on my patience and I vowed right then that I would "pay if forward" and make someone else's day.
So when I got on the road, I called Lyle....not to check on Hudson, but to tell him about the nice man at Starbucks. Lyle texted me later that morning to let me know that everything was going fine. I only called twice to check on them both throughout the day and to remind Lyle of my directions about feeding time. He just listened and never said a word. I know he knew that it just made me feel better to restate my instructions one more time.
When I got home, I was never more pleased to find a very happy baby. He was laughing like I had never heard him laugh before. Hudson thoroughly enjoyed his day home with his daddy. I asked Lyle if he would consider being a stay at home dad. He said, "not so much." So Daddy's Day Care was a success and I come to learn that it was not a true test for Lyle, but for me. Lyle is such a good dad and it melts my heart to see the bond that he and Hudson share. I guess this was a milestone for mommy, not Hudson and daddy.
On one other note, since Hudson has starting eating baby food, he now poops A LOT! Today, he had five poopy diapers. Granted not all of them were ginormous poops, but really....five times. He is a pooping machine.
Hudson turned five months last Wednesday. Time is flying by. I just keep reminding myself to soak up this time as much as possible.
Have a great week! Time to go watch The Bachelor!!!

Goodbye 2008!

2009-01-01T18:53:00.001-08:00

Lyle, Hudson, and I celebrated the new years together this year at home. Hudson and I started out the day with a visit from Grammy. She helped us clean out Hudson's closet and put away all his 3-6 month clothes. It was a very sad process. People keep telling me that it goes by fast, but I swear this kid doesn't even get to wear all his clothes. We packed away some outfits with the tags still on them. I decided to save them for baby number two someday! After all that hard work, Grammy, Hudson, and I went to our favorite sandwich shop on the square here in Weatherford and had a delicious chicken salad sandwich. It was so yummy and Hudson wore a cap for the very first time. It drew lots of attention from the ladies. :-)

When Lyle got home, we went out to eat at the Mesquite Pit with some friends and Hudson's best friend, Noah. After dinner we returned home to watch the New Year's eve celebrations on TV. Hudson crashed about 9:00 and I made it until about 11:45. It was my first year to miss the countdown. Lyle was a trooper and stayed up to celebrate. However, I think I heard the PlayStation going about 12:30.

Needless to say, we had a great New Year's Eve. Lyle was off today and he took down our Christmas lights outside. Hudson and I got in a good nap this afternoon. It was a relaxful kind of day.

Happy New Years to all our friends and family. 2008 is, by far, the best year for Lyle and me. Hudson has been our little miracle and we are so thankful for him. We can't wait to see what 2009 will bring.

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-31T14:09:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe Christmas has come and gone. I sadly put up the Christmas tree today and packed away all the decorations. This year, the holidays seemed like a whirlwind. Where do I start? Well on Sunday before Christmas, Lyle woke up in the middle of the night sicker than I have ever seen him in the ten years we have been together. I woke up about two in the morning to find him curled up on the bathroom floor in fetal position. I had went to bed with a sore throat and didn't think much of it. By 7 o'clock the next morning, I was sicker than a dog. I frantically called my dad to swing by and take Hudson out to Gordon. I didn't want him to get sick with the stomach bug. Lyle and I were sick for three days. Lets just say that I lost so much weight, that I am now back to my pre-baby size and Lyle lost a whopping 15 pounds. Best diet I have been on in quite a while!!! Thank goodness for my mom and dad who took Hudson and looked after him during our sickness. I was literally unable to take care of him.

On Christmas Eve, we muddled up the strength to make it to Lyle's family Christmas. I called my doctor, as well as our pediatrician, to make sure that we were no longer contagious. After we got the green light, we had a great time at Aunt Karla's. I wasn't able to eat a drop of food, but we had a fun time playing Chinese Christmas with all our cousins. Hudson opened his first presents and had fun playing with the paper rather than the presents. Our plan was to return to Weatherford so we could have our first Christmas at home. We were so weak and tired from our day's adventure, that we decided to stay in Gordon at my parents house.

Lyle spent the night assembling Hudson's Santa present. I have never seen so many twisty ties and pieces to one little toy in my whole life. After about an hour of laughing and some not so nice exchange of words, we finally got the little jungle gym toy together. It is really hard for me to just sit back and not be bossy, but Lyle let me know that he had it under control. After all the trouble, it was the cutest thing I have ever seen. We had fun playing with it ourselves. Lesson learned: Never wait till Christmas Eve to put together Santa's present. I could see where that could go badly if you can't get the thing put together in time!

The next morning we woke up early and went to Lyle's parents house and had Christmas with them and our niece, Anna. She met us in the driveway telling us to hurry up that "Santa had came." It was fun to watch her open her presents with that look of surprise each time. Hudson watched us open his presents and seemed to like the whole idea of unwrapping.

On Friday, my brother and sister-in-law came down and we had our family Christmas with my side. Hudson was sure glad to see them. It took him a while to warm up to them again, but after about five minutes, he was uncle Blake's best bud. He loved all his presents! Thank you uncle Blake and Aunt Lauren.

Despite me and my mom's efforts of degerming her house and mine, my dad got sick, as well as Blake and Lauren. It was one mean stomach bug. I just thank the good Lord above that Hudson never got sick. God is so good!

Christmas was almost ruined, but we have never enjoyed the season due to our special addition this year. What a blessing he is our life. I can't imagine life without him.

We are all now well, healthy, and a little bit skinnier. (Bring on the food for New Years!)

Here are some of Hudson's Christmas pics. Thanks to Eric and Denise Nowak. We love Natural Shots Photography!

Happy New Year to our family and friends! We love you!

Sleep Is Way Overrated!

2008-11-16T19:52:00.000-08:00

What a week it has been. I went back to work this week after twelve weeks of maternity leave and I am completely and utterly exhausted. After a week of tearful goodbyes and crying myself to sleep at nights, I hoped this process would get a little easier. I had mixed emotions about returning to work. I love my job as an instructional specialist in Granbury, but I never knew it would be this hard to leave my baby. Even though he is staying with my mom and I completely trust her and know he is getting all the love in the world, I just feel so guilty sending him off in the mornings. I feel like I am missing out on so much of his life. I just don't want to miss a thing. My worst fear is that my exhaustion will get the best of me and when I get home in the evenings, Hudson will not have his mommy at her best. My round trip daily drive equals 115 miles. Thank goodness gas went down when it did!! My day starts at 5:00 a.m. and we pull in our driveway in the evenings about 6:00 p.m. What a day! I am ever so grateful we have family close by b/c this would be almost near impossible for me to go back to work.

My first day back was a little rough b/c a storm came through right when school let out, so I had to stay an extra 45 minutes to let it pass. Literally, Lipan was in a tornado warning and I drive right through Lipan to go pick up Hudson. I was itchin' in my britches to get home to see my baby, so when I thought the coast was clear, I took off...only to run into hail and high winds near Lipan. I had to pull over on the side of the road and wait another 15 minutes just praying that my car wasn't damaged.
My third day back I had to leave work early and make a mad dash to the doctor. For some crazy reason, I developed a bladder infection. Wow, those hurt! I woke up perfectly healthy and my lunch time I was in pain. My doctor said it is pretty normal for women after having babies. I'm telling you, pains from having a baby just never end! I am still recovering as of today, but I think I have it about whooped.

I hope next week is a little more routine. My mom and I went shopping in Ft. Worth on Saturday for me some new clothes to wear to work. I needed a pick-me-up after last week.
Hudson got to take his 1st picture with Santa in the mall and tell him what all he wanted for Christmas. I bought him a new outfit for Christmas pictures next weekend. New pictures coming soon. And the craziest thing of all, while I was out with a friend today, my husband surprised me by putting up the Christmas tree!!! It's not even Thanksgiving yet! Oh how the Campbell's love Christmas time!

Hudson's First Halloween!

2008-11-03T12:57:00.000-08:00

Since my last blog, we have been super busy. We have had two weeks of fun and family! WARNING!!! This will be a little long and consist of lots of pictures!

Last weekend we went home for the Gordon Fall Festival. Lyle and I have been attending this festival for the past three years and have made it a tradition to go and win candles at Mrs. Charles booth (our 6th grade teacher). Hudson got to wear his costume and walk the cake/candle walk all night. Unfortunately, Lyle and I did not win one time, but thanks to Grammy and Grandpa, we were able to bring home four Morenci candles. (They would win and let me pick out the candles!) We got a scent for each season of the year! Here a few pics from the festival.

On Wednesday, Hudson and I went back to Gordon for his first trick-or-treating experience at his great grandparents' houses. While at Great Grannie and Grandpa's, Hudson met the colt that was born the day after him. We then enjoyed the evening passing out candy to all the kids on mom's front porch.

Great Grannie and Great Grandpa

Grammy introducing Hudson to the baby colt

born the day after him.

Great Pa-Paw

Anna and Hudson on Trick-or-Treat night.

This past weekend we had the pleasure of celebrating my mom's 50th birthday and my dad's birthday as well. Hudson's Uncle Blake and Aunt Lauren came all the way down from Arkansas to join in on the celebration. We started out the weekend with a good old Texas football rivalry, Gordon vs. Strawn. This was the game of the season. Fun was had by all, well, excluding Hudson. Within the first 30 seconds of the game, the Gordon Longhorns scored a touchdown and the crowd went wild, along with their blow horns. It scared Hudson to death. I looked over at him to see him screaming his head off. During all the chaos, the Strawn Greyhounds then scored and off went their celebratory horn that sounds just like a train horn. If you could have only seen the look in my little boys eyes...it went from being scared to pure fear! I ran out of the stadium as fast as I could. (Thank goodness my parents live right down the road from the football field.) I felt like a horrible mommy! After listening to the game on my parents front porch and missing the half-time performances (my favorite part), I was able to calm him down and we returned for the last half. The Gordon Longhorns were victorious 60-30 and my family had a fun night of celebrating afterwards.

On Saturday, we went to Noah's first birthday party, Hudson's best friend. We had hot dogs and cake and opened lots of presents. After the party, we met up with my family and did a little shopping and went to eat at the Mesquite Pit to celebrate their birthdays. It was so yummy. When we got home, it was more football with the Texas vs. Tech game. Hudson sported his first Texas t-shirt, only to bring them bad luck.

Noah's 1st birthday. (Hudson, Sidney, Noah, and Anna)

Hudson and Uncle Blake...cheering on the Longhorns!

We had a nice visit with Blake and Lauren this weekend. Hudson wishes they lived closer so he could see them more often. We all cried when they had to leave. We miss them terribly.

Uncle Blake and Aunt Lauren

Needless to say, we had a fantastic last two weeks. October has been a busy month. On a sad note, this is the last week of my maternity leave. We have cried many tears already and Hudson and I are just soaking up our last few moments at home together. I read in one of my baby magazines that the United States is one of only five countries in the world that does not give new mothers paid maternity leave. Some countries give up to a year of paid leave from the job. I told Lyle that I am looking into moving to one of those countries. Come next Monday, I know it is going to be the hardest day of my life. I am just blessed that I have had twelve weeks to bond with Hudson and get to know him. How amazing life it now! So pray for us this week. Sorry this was so long, but we had lots to share.

Inspired

2008-10-25T07:20:00.001-07:00

I have to admit that for the past year, I have been addicted to the daily delights of the Dawson's. You would think that we would be close friends and I would have reason to read their blog on a daily basis. But the truth to the matter is that I hardly know them at all! Let me explain.

My husband played football with Mr. Dawson "back in the days." They were all-stars. :-) I have met Mrs. Dawson just a few times at football games, but we just said our hello's and went about our business. We are simply acquaintances. However, over the past year, I have come to know the Dawson's quite well, through their blog of course. I am almost certain, we could be best couple friends. Lyle and I both enjoy reading their blog and often have dinner conversations about the Dawson's and their daily insights. We truly enjoy them. I did have to confess to her a few months ago that I was secretly a fan of her blog. (My husband shamed me to do so. He said that if I was going to be snooping on their blog, the right thing to do was let them know.) Funny thing is, he reads it as much as I do.

So the point of the whole thing is that I have been inspired. Mrs. Dawson has inspired me to cross over to the world of blogging. We have family members that live out of state, and with the new addition to our family, I thought this would be the perfect way to keep them in the know. We live a pretty simple life, so I'm not promising it will be quite so interesting.

So here is a little background. Lyle and I were high school sweethearts and married in December of 2006. Lyle works as a chief compliance officer for an investment company in Ft. Worth and I work as an instructional specialist for Granbury I.S.D. The newest addition to our family, Hudson McCray, arrived in August of this year and we feel so blessed. We also have a dog named Mason. We enjoy living so close to where we grew up and are surrounded by a loving family. We spend most of our weekends going to the "country" and hanging with out with our families.

Hudson is now 10 weeks old and it has been the best ten weeks ever. So I will end my first blog with some pictures of him and our happy little family.

Thanks to Mrs. Dawson for her inspiration. Maybe one day we can actually hang out and become great friends!!!

One day old! He loves his daddy.

I love that forehead!

You can't get enough kisses!