Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas! We have had the best Christmas ever so far, and it will continue for many days as we see our families and friends. I hope that everyone has a great holiday season!

Katherine opened one of her gifts last night.

John wondering why the characters in Katherine's new book all look like Cartman.

Winston "opening" his gift from Santa.

Katherine loved the swing that Santa brought her!

She's a big girl now!

Katherine is over 5 months old now, and she can (almost) sit up by herself. We can see her soaking up all of the world around her every single day, and her total enjoyment of it all is totally contagious! The Campbell household is a very happy household!

Santa!!

This past week, John and I took Katherine to see Santa. Santa looks fantastic...it's been so many years since either John or I sat in his lap, so it was good to see that he doesn't age much. Katherine wasn't too impressed...after three seconds in his lap, her "early warning system" (big pouty-shrimp-lip) appeared. In a few years, she'll be begging for his approval and forgiveness for any mischief.

Close-up of the pout from my camera:

So much to be thankful for!

Katherine's first Thanksgiving was great, and we were so lucky to able to share it with Brian, Heather, and the now-huge Togi.

Here's a time-lapse of me cooking (please excuse the PJs...it was still early!), and Brian helping.

4 months old today!!

I can't believe that time has gone by so quickly...it feels like just yesterday that Katherine was a tiny newborn. Now, she's a super interactive baby....lots of smiles and giggles. She babbles a lot, and although most can't understand what she's saying, I can...she's already explained to me her campaign platform for her first Senate race.

Workin' it!

Just because I can't put the camera down.....

She's on the move!

This past Wednesday, Katherine entertained us by rolling over for the first time. Yay! Here is a movie of her performing this monumental feat. I think she looks proud of herself!

I am so ridiculously smitten with this beautiful girl. She giggles all the time, and has started squealing too. She'll be in stitches over our impressions of Ernie (or Bert, I forget which) laughing. She's already shown a preference for certain songs - she'll immediately quiet and smile as soon as her favorite plays. Of course I took more pictures of Katherine. Here are a few of my new favorites....

Katherine + Winston

I figured I would post some newer pictures of Katherine that I took this week. Up until a few days ago, she hated "tummy time." Now, she's actually enjoying it...especially with Winston in front of her.

Desert fun

If anyone has talked to me since we've moved into the new house, I've likely listed the amazing creatures I've spotted that week. Now that we live on the outskirts of Tucson, we get to have the Sonoran Desert as our backyard. I figured you guys might like to see some pictures of what we've seen so far.

Many white-tailed deer sightings, several times a week

Many hummingbirds - you can see a bit of the desert in this picture


Meep! Meep! This roadrunner hung out on our patio for a while.


Coyote - Sorry the coyote is so far away--they are skittish and fast. One night I caught a few coyotes checking out me and Winston when I let him out for a bathroom break - I always make sure to watch over him, even though he is likely too big to tempt a coyote.


My favorite - a javelina! Although they look like wild hogs, they are technically peccaries. Apparently they aren't friendly and they smell funky, but I think they are kind of cute.


This is the view from our kitchen and living room!

I don't have pictures of everything we've seen, unfortunately. Of course we have a ton of lizards running around, including one lacking a tail thanks to Winston's hunting skills (he brought him to me as a present, then finally let the poor thing go when I told him to). As for birds, we have tons of quail around here, and the other day some sort of raptor landed on our patio railing (the bird flew away before I could snap a picture). There are also plenty of adorable bunnies with huge ears, and although it is tempting to feed them, it is a bad idea to bring coyotes and bobcats closer to our house. In terms of creepy-crawlies, we saw a snake on our walk. We've seen a few tarantulas, too, which are welcome visitors - they are harmless, quite pretty, and they eat scorpions. We did get one scorpion in the house, and have used our blacklight to spot them outside - they are my least favorite creature out here. Finally....depending on who you are, you may be happy or bummed that we haven't seen any bobcats yet.

This place is truly amazing. It is a shame that Katherine won't remember seeing the Sonoran Desert so close!

5 years!!

Five years ago today, John and I exchanged our vows to each other at the 88th Street Beach Pavilion in Stone Harbor, NJ. It has been an amazing five years, and when we got married we hoped that one day we'd be able to add to our family. One adorable dog and one magnificent Katherine later, we can't imagine being any more lucky. To celebrate, the three of us went to Cafe Jasper for brunch....so good!



And, today we also celebrate Winston's 3rd birthday! He'll blow out three candles on his peanut-butter puppy ice cream treat later today. Happy Birthday, old man!

Katherine's Paparazzi

Ever since Katherine came home from the hospital, she's been lucky enough to have many visits from her adoring extended family. I wanted to post some picture now that all of our parents and siblings have been able to come and spoil, I mean see, her. We are so lucky!!

Dad and Carol - Dad is known as "The Baby Whisperer" in this house...as the second oldest of 7 kids, he's amazing with babies and kids!

Johnnie and Colon - Johnnie loved rocking Katherine...I think it brought back the days when she rocked John.

Vann - Vann would lull Katherine into a trance with his booming singing voice.

Mary-Mitchell - MM took Katherine and I out on our first adventure to the mall!!

Brian and Heather - Brian may have taken more pictures of Katherine than I did...he's clearly smitten.

Togi, the Alaskan Prince - Togi was Winston's favorite visitor.

Happy girl!

Katherine really is amazing! It is so much fun to watch her develop and learn something new, every single day. These days, she totally gets a kick out of talking with John. She and her Daddy will go back and forth, saying "Hey" until she breaks out into a huge grin and makes some adorable noise/squeak that must be the beginnings of a laugh. I become more smitten with her every single day.

This is her "I will NOT poop on the new couch, I promise" face.

Smiling for Daddy!

Talking with Daddy!

Katherine chillin' with her BFF Winston.

Smiles smiles smiles!

We have been so happy to see some smiles from Katherine!! It's great to finally get some sort of feedback from Katherine that she either likes us or finds our silly faces entertaining enough to humor us. There are so many milestones that she'll be starting to reach, and I'm so excited to watch her go through them and learn about the world around her. I'm so in love! As for John and I, we're a bit pooped out now and then, but we're managing to keep our heads above water. As for Winston, he's been a good buddy and always accompanying Katherine around the house.

4 weeks old!

Katherine is 4 weeks old....our little girl is growing up!