No Excuses!!!!

Hello All...... I apologize for not posting any pictures or updates since December. I can't believe I have let my posts fall off like that (but I kind of can believe it). Just in case any of you were unaware, Campbell will be getting a baby brother around October 25th of this year!!!! We are ecstatic to be having a little boy and are happy to eventually have the all American family. We plan on being finished with conceiving any more children at that point.

Campbell had a big first birthday party, so thank you to all who attended and those who gave gifts as well. She has been having a ball with all of her new toys and is growing into her new 18 month size clothes too. In addition to getting presents and eating cake for the first time, we discovered that she has an allergy to the red dye in the icing. She whelped up everywhere the icing touched her, but it was nothing a little benadryl couldn't fix. On top of the icing debacle, she was diagnosed with an ear infection the day of her birthday party too!!! We just had a day of fun, in more than one way. She was a trooper though.

Since having her first birthday, she has become a full-time walker and is NON-STOP!!! And I do mean non-stop. The house has been completely child-proofed, with socket covers, cabinet latches and gates. She is having so much fun exploring any and everything. She has 8 teeth now and is trying to cut some more. As you will notice in the pictures, she is looking more and more like Gene every day. The pediatrician said, "well, she looks a little bit like you when she smiles", so I took that as a compliment and agreed. Campbell loves her school and is thriving there, but she has been out the last two days due to a fever and ear infection. We were doing well for about a month, with no ear infections, but the beast is back. This may not be part of her chronic issue, so we are hoping to simply treat it and move on. She is weighing in at just over 22 pounds and is loving her forward-facing car seat. She gets to see Mommy and Daddy better and has a better view of the world.

Gene and I are doing well and staying very busy. Gene is still enjoying his job with Captain D's, but is is running him a bit ragged lately. His boss flew me out to San Diego with him for a franchise food show, so we got a small vacation on the west coast. It was beautiful out there, and GoGo and Umpy had the pleasure of babysitting Campbell while we were away. In addition to me being almost 21 weeks pregnant, I have been working full-time at Vanderbilt Medical Center as an exercise physiologist for inpatient cardiac rehab. It is a very, very fast-paced job, but has offered me some great experience. I work a flex schedule of either M-F or T-Sat, which is challenging. As you can imagine, time is hard to come by these days. When we do have time as a family, we have been taking Campbell to our community pool. She LOVES it!!! We also try to go for family walks, when it is not too hot. Again, we apologize for not posting and updating you in a while, and we hope to be better about it in the future, but I am not going to make any promises (simply so I don't get myself into trouble).