Cute family picture on Christmas Eve.

And, fun opening a few presents on Christmas Eve.  :).  He is so excited for Santa!

Campbell got to go make a gingerbread house at the Children’s Museum in Jackson.  He had such a great time – even though most of the decorations went into his mouth instead of onto the house.  🙂

We opened Christmas presents early since we weren’t going to be home on Christmas and knew that space in the car would be at a premium.

This is Campbell coming down the stairs and seeing his ice cream/hot dog stand from Aunt Charlotte.  He loves it and calls it his Ice Cream Parlor.  🙂

He also especially loved the construction trucks and truck book from Aunt Lizzy!

 

Campbell wanted to help pack.  He “packed” all of his clothes.  🙂

 

We don’t have a picture of him doing it, but Campbell has started to really like telling “jokes.”  His favorites are knock-knock jokes where he says, “Knock knock.  Who’s there?” and then just says whatever he sees.  His favorite is:

“Knock knock. Who’s there? SIGN!”

Or, he said, “Daddy, can I tell you a funny fire truck joke?  Knock knock. Who’s there? Siren.”

More diaper cream shenanigans.   🙂

More cuteness in hats.  🙂

Campbell loves wearing hats these days.  🙂 And, loves playing with big ticks – even when it’s cold outside.

Later, we got a family selfie with rudolph that Pa made!

 

Campbell loves to tell us where all his diaper cream needs to go.  (He didn’t quite want to perform on camera, but he usually points all over and says “right there, right there, right there….” while pointing all over!  It’s pretty funny.

Otherwise, he continues to be pretty cute. 🙂

Dad and Campbell had fun on the golf cart down by the river today.  

Later, we went to the Pink Palace for the Enchanted Forest.  All Campbell wanted to do was to look at the train!

And, then reading our new “reindeer” Christmas book from Charlotte Grzebien.

Campbell is loving his “hard hat.”  🙂

And had a nice visit with Bing after work today.

Campbell loves playing with this new tractor!  🙂

Campbell is still so excited about his Santa visit.  🙂

And, dad and Campbell got to go to the Children’s Museum and ride on the new carousel.

And, grocery shop.

 

Campbell had so much fun playing with his trucks and putting on his “hard hat” tractor hat.

I think today might be the best day of Campbell’s life.  First, we got our Santa visit, and then Pat-Pat and Bing gave Campbell his Christmas present.  (I hope he doesn’t think every day is going to be this good and filled with presents!).

We went to SpringCreek Ranch for the Santa Brunch.  It’s especially nice because you have a reserved time, can avoid waiting in a crazy line, get a nice brunch, and get your own private time with Santa – about 10 minutes – with the opportunity for Santa to give a present.  It really was extremely special, and Campbell was so excited.  We’ve been talking about going for a while, but I wondered if he was going to be scared or nervous.  We shouldn’t have wondered at all – though it was at least understandable when we had to wait a while to see Santa because of a traffic jam…

We got a couple of cute videos beforehand, too.  But we missed the cutest moment – when Campbell told dad in the car that “Daddy – I am so excited!  I am going to see Santa today.”

Not that you can tell it from this video…

Campbell walked in the room and was so happy to see Santa.  Dad tried to get a picture of his expression but couldn’t get there fast enough.  Campbell walked in and walked straight up to Santa and went to hold his hand.  It was so sweet – especially since he went and did it all on his own!  🙂

Then, he got up in Santa’s lap, and they had the sweetest conversation.  Santa asked Campbell what he wanted for Christmas, and he said that he wanted a “tree truck” and a “Jeep.”  Santa asked if he’d been good (he said yes, of course), and whether there was anything else he wanted, and Campbell said “I think that’s enough.”  He was also very polite and thanked Santa.  :).  Then, Santa got to give Campbell a special early Christmas present.

We got a few great pictures, but it’s hard to capture how sweet the moment was and what a great little conversation they had!  But I put the photos into a montage so you could try to get a sense of it.

And, then we got a cute family picture.  🙂

And, later, here’s a cute video from afterwards.

Later, Campbell got to “open” his gift from Pat Pat & Bing – a new tractor!  When he walked into Bing’s closet, he said “oh wow!”  🙂  He had so much fun playing outside with it too.

Later, Pat Pat, Gideon, and Campbell got to read books.

I think it’s fair to say that this has been the best day ever.

Today, the sickness hit me!  I knew I was going to be sick about the time I went to bed, but I made it until early morning and then started throwing up.  :(.  So, no work for me today, and Dad and Campbell got to have fun without me.

But, I wasn’t nearly as sick as dad, and I managed to make it out for a bit this evening to do a little Christmas shopping.

Turns out, Campbell loves to do shopping too.  He loves to visit the cars and playgrounds at the various shopping centers – and he loves to go and look for “hiding places” in all the stores.  We’re experimenting with letting him out of the stroller/shopping cart, and he does pretty well most of the time.  🙂

Well, our hopes of Campbell not getting sick were dashed!  Mom took Campbell to school yesterday, and they called me to come and get him about noon.  He had had three terrible diapers – so bad they gave me plastic to put over the carseat on the way home!  Thankfully, he was okay while we went home.  He was ready for a nap when we got here, and when he woke up (after a very long nap), we were sitting in the hallway talking to dad (who is also still sick), and Campbell threw up in my lap.  :(.  Thankfully that was the only time he threw up, though he clearly hasn’t felt well since.  But, thankfully, dad was feeling better today – and finally eating some solid food – and so I got to go to work.

Campbell wanted to go play outside as I was leaving.  He lasted about 5 minutes before asking to go back inside because it was too cold!

Later, Dad and Campbell got another selfie in his cute winter coat.  🙂

Well, dad is still extremely sick, so I stayed home again to take care of Campbell and to keep him away from dad.  So, today, we went to the Children’s Museum.  The new carousel from Liberty Land is finally open, and Campbell got to ride it.  At first he was a little scared and wasn’t so sure, but once it got started, he really enjoyed it.  (It was fast!).

So, here are a couple of action shots.

Well, in an unexpected change of plans, dad woke up extremely sick in the middle of the night with a bad stomach flu.  So, mom stayed home to take care of dad and to hopefully help keep Campbell from getting sick.  To get away from the germs, we went to the zoo.

Later, after a nap, we went out for a golf cart ride to check out the construction going on at the lot.  The nice men at the job site were completely charmed by Campbell and wanted to know all about him.  They were impressed that he said, “mom, that’s a track excavator” when we drove up.  And, they even invited Campbell to come over and sit in the seat of the excavator.  The man also offered to let Campbell wear his hard hat, but he said no.  :).  They said they couldn’t believe how long he wanted to stay and watch what they were doing and that he must be destined to be an engineer.

Campbell had fun learning how to shave this morning with Dad before church.  🙂

Then, for the first time when we left church, Campbell wanted to carry his own backpack for the first time we’ve seen.  

Later, we got some family pictures in the back yard.

And, while Campbell napped, mom and dad decorated the golf cart for Christmas.  🙂

Then, Campbell go to go to the golf cart Christmas parade and tree lighting with Pat-Pat and Bing and Gideon.

Later, we got a picture of Mom and Campbell in the decorated golf cart, and a cute family selfie in front of the Christmas tree.

Today, Campbell had a busy day.  First we went to make a stocking and have story hour at Grace-St. Luke’s.

Then we went shopping at the Oak Court Mall.  It didn’t take him long to find (and refuse to leave) the monster truck toy downstairs.  🙂

Later, we went to Snowy Nights at the Botanic Gardens.  Campbell had a great time and loved playing in all the playhouses in “my big back yard.”