DeMaria Campbell Chronicles

2010-09-28T10:39:00.006-06:00

Catie is participating in a 4 day dance seminar at Cottonwood High School. It is an introduction to dancing. Yesterday was her first class. She laughed so much and worked so hard at copying her teachers. Her are a few pics and mini videos. Her best friend Millie is also taking the class with her. You can see her debut in this video too :)

Will post more over the next few days!! Enjoy !!

Happy 5th Anniversary Barrie and Andrea

2010-08-26T13:51:00.007-06:00

This past August 13th, Barrie and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary. I cant believe it has been 5 years already. Wow time does fly while having fun. We share half the day with Catie and John. We went to This is the Place state park. We rode the train around the pioneer village twice. We hopped off at the Indian village and toured the teepees. Barrie helped Cate pan for "gold" in the little creek. We found a small piece and took it to the "bank" for a piece of taffy. Cate, John and I rode on the mini train that went around the small pond, were on the far side we were able to look out across the valley.Walking back to the town, there is a row of wheel carts. These carts are used when there are school groups. They take a mini trek up the mountain and come back down. They get experience what the Mormon pioneers experienced. We had to put Cate and John in a cart for a picture. It has to be my favorite picture of them by far.it was the Civil War days while that weekend at the park. There were camps set up around. When we came out of the "bank" the soldiers were lining up. They counted down and fired their rifles, then they shot the canon off. That was cool. Catie didnt think so. She was instantly sobbing.

On our way back to the gate, on the west side of the park they had build a mini town for children to play. Cate loved it. She was in and out of the little houses, store, cabin and on the train. Johnny liked having his picture taken on the train.
That evening, our very good friend in the ward watched/entertained Cate and Johnny so Barrie and i could spend some time together.( Thank You Denise and Ty!!!!!) We had a coupon for a buy one get one free park coupon for Lagoon amusement park. I did alright for a little bit, until we went on the ride Samuri. It spins in 3 different directions at once. I was sick. It took an hour for my stomach to calm down and my head to stop spinning. Barrie lost his sunglasses on it. We were able to go on more rides and play before we picked up Cate and John.

DeMaria invasion

2010-08-26T13:31:00.005-06:00

My family came out to visit at the end of July. It was sooooooo much fun having EVERYONE here. Dad, Mom, Chris and Shannon came out on Saturday July24th. I dont thin I ever made so many trips to the airport in one day. It was fun. Paula and Josh were to get into town on Sunday at about 1130pm, but with delays, they arrived at about 2 in the morning. Monday we played. After Cate and John's MD appts, we went up to Snowbird. We took Chris and Shannon last year and had the "wonderful" time of hiking down from Hidden Peak - the top where the tram drops you off, back down to the lodge. needless to say we didnt do that again. But, we did take the tram - both ways. Everyone thought the view was amazing. It was about 50 degrees, a good 45 degrees cool than the valley. It was beautiful!!

We ate at many fun places. At the Porcupine, Josh and Chris sampled the local beers. We introduced Mom, Dad, Chris and Shannon to a Brazilian Grill- Tucanos. Yummy. There was a request from Paula where we had to go to Leatherby's for ice cream. I dont think anyone disagreed with that request. There was rocking out with Rock Band, and lots of naps taken. Cate had everyone busy playing with her doll house with her, drawing with chalk outside and reading her books. Thanks for all the fun everyone!!! I miss you all so much!!! Kisses and hugs!!!

Scottish Festival

2010-08-26T13:19:00.003-06:00

In July, we thought it would be fun to go and take part in Barrie's heritage. We all went down to Payson, Utah where the annual Scottish Festival was held. We sat and watched some of the games/competitions they had. They tossed logs (like telephone poles). There was an event where it was a sack filled with straw. The men competing had a pitch fork; they stabbed the sack and then tryied to launch it over a horizontal pole. It was pretty cool. We then went and sat in the shad for awhile and watched/listened to a few bag pipe groups as they competed. Cate had her usual pose - her hands over her ears. Johnny was intently watching the people. It was lots of fun!

After the festival, we decided to drive by
Barrie's first house he lived in where he was born.

Johnny at 3 mos old

2010-08-26T13:11:00.003-06:00

Cate had been so in love with John since he came along. I am so glad that she has been for the most part pretty gentle with him. Whatever he is doing, Cate wants to be involved.

Summer Swimmin'

2010-08-26T13:00:00.005-06:00

Our little pool has been so much fun this year. Catie was very apprehensive about it but warmed up quickly. Johnny on the other had, loved it the minute he was put in the ladybug floaty. He would just kick back, float, kick his legs some more to where he would go around the pool and then just float again.

Handing down of the trades

2010-08-26T12:55:00.003-06:00

Ben had fun taking these pics. I dont think Johnny enjoyed them as much. Dont worry Johnny, I find the whole linux and programming thing boring too!!

Johnny at 2 mos old

2010-08-26T12:52:00.002-06:00

Looking back on these few pictures, it is hard to remember Johnny being this little. It is crazy how they grow so fast!

Happy 3rd Birthday Miss Cate

2010-08-26T12:38:00.004-06:00

I am going to do a little catching up in our lives. We have been so crazy busy, but have had so much fun!Happy Birthday to Catie!!1 She turned 3 May 28th. We have had so much fun with her these past 3 years. She has bought so much joy and happiness into our lives!

2010-06-16T10:54:00.003-06:00

Last Tuesday I went back to Weight Watchers after being on a pregnancy hiatus and few months before too. I weighed xxx last January when I originally joined up. I lost weight, then put it back on - not so hot. Before I found out I was pregnant with John, I was at the highest weight I have ever been at. I had John in March, never gaining thoughout the pregnancy. I actually lost 10 pounds. Starting weight watchers 10 pounds down from last July was awesome. I had my first weigh-in last night. I am down another 7.2 - YEAAAAA!!! So totally I am down 17.2 from January 2009!!! Exciting. Now I have to keep up with it and keep going. My goal is to 40 more pounds by Christmas. Think I can do it? We shall see

And the vacation ends :(

2010-06-08T14:52:00.002-06:00

Well, I am now back to work. I started last week on June 1st. It has felt like I haven't been off for the past 12 weeks. A lot has happened since I last blogged.
Johnny has been very colicky. At 6 weeks of age we had to purchase a swing from Kid to Kid. We have named it the "Magic Swing". We would (and still do) put him in it at night to sleep/calm him down. At 2 months of age (May 17th-ish), I took Johnny to the pediatrician for his well baby check up. He had gained 4 pounds in 1 month time. he definitely doesn't have problems with eating (takes after his mom ;) ). We had switched him to a different formula for sensitive bellies and started putting rice cereal in his bottles. The world had changed. The fussing calmed down. The spitting up has drastically calmed down. The rice cereal was then termed "Magic Cereal".
Since then, we have seen so many smiles and now cooing coming from John. We also have seen how different he is from when Catie was his age. He is tracking objects and looking everywhere, where as Cate had big troubles with it. He is loving the dragonfly attached to his carseat and the Winnie the Pooh mobile attached to the crib.
Memorial day weekend, Barrie's family came into town. Amelia, Ben and the boys came from Olympia, Washington and stayed with us. Barrie and Cathy came in from New York. We had such a fun time. We had Johnny blessed and given a name on Saturday May 29th, with a birthday BBQ for Cate after.
I can not believe Cate is 3 years old now. She has seemed, in my eyes, to have grown up so much since we brought John home. She is talking much more -still is behind a bit, but talks nonstop. She now has a white cane that the blind and visually impaired use to help him/her walk. She does a tremendous job with it. The confidence she has when she is outside in unfamiliar places with her cane is amazing. She is copying everything we do too. It is so funny. The lastest was she wanted to change John's diaper. We let her, with help of course. Barrie showed her how to unsnap his overalls between the legs along with the onsie underneith. She undid the velcro tabs on his diaper and looked inside. Her first comment was "Oooooo". She then grabbed the wipe container and pulled out a wipe. She started to wipe his genital area, stops., looks at it closer, then states "Ewwww, yuckie!!" then starts wiping it again. I was laughing so hard. I kept waiting the whole time to for John to pee on Cate. Bad thought, but for those that have been peed on by a baby boy, you know exactly why I thought that. Barrie then showed her how to put the clean diaper on.
Earlier in May, we had a placement meeting on transitioning from Early Intervention to Preschool. In the meeting, we all agreed that the best school for Cate to go to now is the Utah School for the Blind. There she will go to preschool 4 days a week for 6 hours a day - long I know, but it will be worth it. She will be going from prebraille learning to reading braille. The representative from USB said that it is their goal to have all blind/visually impaired children reading at the same rate as their sighted peers by 3rd grade, so that is learning uncontracted braille where all the words are spelled out letter by letter to contracted braille where the words are shortened down to make reading faster. We are so excited for her. Cate now loves to have us read books to her or to look/feel the pages to see what is on them. She is just so amazing.

Saturday June 5th, Barrie and I wrote down all the home improvements that we want to do with the house. That day, we conquered a bunch of them. We finished staining our fence that we put up and partially stained 3 yrs ago. We weede the flower beds in the front of the house and put fresh barch chips out. It smells so wonderful out there now. We purchased a wooden swingset for Catie so she can play in the backyard and also strengthen her legs to walk better and hopefully eventually run. We started to put it together - we are about 2/3 of the way though. We did get the swing beam up with the swings on it. Both the kids love to sit on the swings and be pushed. We need to finish the small house on top, attach the slide and put the rock wall together.

As I mentioned earlier, I am now back to work. I am still doing Ultrasounds for Utah Imaging Associates. It has been nice to be amongst adults again. I am still only part time, liking the 8-5pm hours. I get super excited though when 5pm comes, to run on over to daycare to pick up my Bug and Buddy.

I haven't had any patients this afternoon, hence all long blog. What I did figure out though, is I can copy and paste my blogs to Word and then print them out. Now I can put them in a journal, and save them. so much nicer than sitting down to write in the book. Don't get me wrong. I do like to write and I am not trying to be lazy. It seems to be much quicker and more legible to type thoughts and or events that have happened than to sit and write them out.

March/April 2010

2010-05-06T09:13:00.017-06:00

So I have been a slacker since bringing John home from the hospital. Ok, not really slacking, just trying to stay a float with lack of sleep, house chores, and splitting my time between two little urchins.
Catie has been such a huge helper since John has been home. She is quick to grab a diaper/take it to the garbage. She loves to help feed John, though we have to tell her to be gentile. She loves to hold him the most!

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Catie and John both met the Easter bunny at the mall. Johnny wasn't so interested. Cate on the other hand was frightfully interested. She had her hands over her ears, afraid it was going to make a loud noise. She refused to sit next to him, not to mention on his lap. I had to sit in the picture and hold her hands down on her lap. We decided to take the kids' picture off to the side of the bunny where there was cute eggs and flowers. Cate still kept eying the freaky rabbit with her hands over her ears.
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Catie and I decorated eggs this year. We had so much fun. Catie did a great job.
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We had fun on Easter Sunday. Even though it snowed the night before, it melted by the afternoon to have an egg hunt in the back yard. Cate had so much fun and did a GREAT job with walking in the back yard.

Day 1 - John comes home :)

2010-03-30T09:35:00.005-06:00

Sorry for the delay in my post. We brought John home yesterday at 12 noon. Can I tell you how nice it was to come home and for the most part stay home, especially in the evening when we would usually run to the 8pm feeding, spend an hour with him, go pick up Cate then get her home and in bed at a late hour. 2 wks of that was enough. Catie was so excited to have him home. She was constantly wanting to hold him. She loved getting his diapers and wipes when we needed them and then throwing the diapers in the "barbage". Bed time was interesting. Cate was in bed by her usual time 730pm. She fell asleep. Well, John has decided that 8-11 will be his fussy time. It was in the hospital, why not at home. Cate ended up waking up, crying because he was crying. So everyone was up until 1030/11pm. John ate until 1045, rocked with Barrie for 15 minutes and was out. Catie was up singing in her bed until after 11 sometime.
Once everyone was asleep, it was great. I set my alarm for 3, thinking Jon would wake up at 2 for his normal hospital feeding. Nope. I had to wake him up at 3. He ate and fell back to sleep. I set my alarm for 7 thinking ok, he will wake me up at 6 for his next 3 hour feeding. The alarm went off, and he was still asleep. I fell back to sleep for an hour and heard him squirming in the bassenette. Crazy. I was able to get a 4 hour and 5 hour block of sleep. It was great. Not sure how long this will last but, it was nice. Anyway, well, I must get back to my little peanuts. I will try to keep a daily update, but we shall see now that John is home and Cate is starting to get more clingy. Thanks again everyone for all your prayers and thoughts. I know for a fact that they were all heard and answered!!

AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-03-28T18:37:00.002-06:00

I just talked to the NICU doctor. She said that Johnny can come home tomorrow!!!! She said he has been doing awesome off his oxygen and eating super well. Oh my goodness.... I feel like screaming I am so excited!!! I know the good night sleeps are going to be shortened to night sleeps but who cares. We will be able to get Catie back on her normal schedule without interruptions. I won't be such a hysterical freak with needing to be at the hospital to see him, and feeling like I am neglecting my Catie and Ben. Ok, so I need to calm my excitement down until tomorrow morning. Please keep John in your prayers tonight so he can have an awesome night and come home tomorrow!! Thanks so much for all your support and prayers so far. I know that Heavenly Father has heard all of them so far and has answered all of them!!

We have a count down going on

2010-03-28T12:28:00.002-06:00

We are almost there!!!! I hope this post doesn't jinx anything. Johnny has been off oxygen for 23 hours now. We have 25 more to go before we take him home. Yeaaaaa!! He is still eating like a champ and maintaining his temperature which he has been doing all along. We are so proud of his hard work and determination. He is just like his big sister in that aspect. Prayers and fingers crossed for the next 25 hours.

Are we up or are we down?

2010-03-24T21:59:00.003-06:00

Ok bummer of a night. So I went to feed Johnny this evening. I asked his nurse how he was doing with the oxygen. She told me that he was on 110 cc's. I asked her what happened because he was on 40 cc's this am. She kept talking in circles but never really saying anything except that that amount was the equivalent to what he was on in the level 2 NICU. I had asked her why he wasnt just put on that in the beginning. She couldnt answer me, just kept saying that was what he was on before. I am a bit pissed. Since he has been moved from level 2 to level 1 the nursing staff has seemed to become dumber and when asked questions just repeat themselves and dont answer the question. I will have to wait till the morning to talk to the neonatologist to actually have my questions answered.

Wahooooo!! Go Johnny Go Go Go!!

2010-03-24T12:45:00.003-06:00

We got awesome new this morning. First we get a phone call at 7am from the NICU. They said they moved Johnny out of the level 2&3 NICU care into the level 1 NICU care. So awesome. Here is where little ones still need a little bit of help, but are on their way to coming home. They also dropped his oxygen amount down. It went from 200cc's from what Ben explained to me down to 40cc's - so just a little puff of air in essence. When he was in the Level 2 and 3 they had him on a mixed flow where they were constantly pumping oxygen into him to keep his lungs expanded. Now he is off that, on straight oxygen and doing great. We have been able to start breast feeding him again now that he is off the vent and doing great. He is eating like a champ. He has surpassed his birth weight. He originally lost about 5 oz- not bad for being sick. As of last night when they weighed him he is now 7# 8oz (7# 7oz at birth).
It was so nice to get good news this morning. Hopefully the crying roller coaster that I havent been able to get off of since coming home will not start up today. I have had a nap already - and going to start another one here shortly while Catie is down for one. Thank you all so much for your prayers and thoughts. They are definitely being listened to!!! You all mean so much to us!!

2010-03-21T02:20:00.004-06:00

Good Early morning!!! Baby Johnny is jumping leaps and bounds. He had the arterial line taken out of his belly button about 1130am on Saturday. His blood gases have been good. He has been holding his oxygen levels. At 1130 Saturday night he had his first feeding of 10cc's. He sucked down that down in no time. After that the plan was to comfort feed every 3 hours unless he wanted more. Well, by 1am he wanted more an had 10 cc's. I can down at 2am to bring him more breast milk and he was up wanting more. He ate 20 cc's this time. His NICU nurse said he was doing awesome. If his next feeding goes just as well, then they will start to ween him off the IV food. I am so happy!!!! Hopefully, with things going the way they are, he will come home sometime this week.

Bye Bye Vent!!!

2010-03-19T22:55:00.008-06:00

Baby Johnny is off the ventilator!!!!! I walked in to see him and was wondering i f they had moved him because the vent was not there. I get over to his little isolet and saw he was squimming around and fussing. His oxygen levels have been great. Liezle, his nurse for the second night in a row (she is super awesome) had let me gentilly hold his while she watched to make sure the arterial line in his belly button did not get pulled. Oh I so loved that !!! He smelled so good. I just wanted to snuggle him up. Liezle then layed Johnny on his belly. i hung out a bit more rubbing his little back and patting his tiny bum. I am so excited that we are another day closer to bringing him home

Weening

2010-03-19T12:40:00.002-06:00

I like the word weening. Saw little Johnny this morning. He is so dang cute as ever. They continued to decrease the oxygen on the vent. His blood gas levels have been awesome per his nurse. By lunch time, they started turning the settings of the vent down - so exciting!!! His fentynol drip which has kept him lightly sedated was also cut in half making the weening process even better :) He will have a chest x-ray at 2pm to look and see if his lungs still look wet, or if there is a tiny bit of pneumonia. He has been on antibiotics fighting a small infection. He looks worlds better than he did yesterday or even Wednesday night. Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. They are working!!!

And now a vent

2010-03-18T18:50:00.004-06:00

Little John is now on a ventilator. He was struggling too hard to breathe on his own and pump the fluid out of his lungs. They sedated him and intubated him around 1pm. He has held his own and they actually weened down the oxygen a little since they put him on. He is starting to heal and get stronger. His nurse said that he responded well once put on the vent and more so when he had the drug serfactin (I know I butchered the spelling of that name.) So for right now, it is a wait and see, draw blood gases throughout the night and hopefully start to ween him off the vent if things are continually to get better.

NICU update

2010-03-18T11:06:00.006-06:00

Well, little Johnny is holding his own. I talked to the NICU doctor. He said that they are going to watch him for a while, and continue with antibiotics for 3 days (maybe more). Right now he is living under an oxygen hood. It delivers more oxygen to him than a nasal cannula. If he keeps his saturation level up with the hood, then they will back him off to the cannula again. Dr LaPine reassured me that this is very common with c-section babies. His chest x-ray this morning looked the same as last night, so the fact that it hasn't gotten worse is good. He is a little trooper. While I was sitting with him this morning, he was holding my finger the whole time. I didn't want to leave him, but I was starting to hurt and needed to go rest. The NICU came up to my room a few minutes ago. They are going to put an arterial line in Johnny's belly button to look at this oxygen levels in his blood. He is still breathing too many breaths per minute. Dr LaPine will be back when the procedure is done and let me know how things are.

John John our little leprechaun

2010-03-18T06:09:00.007-06:00

Our little boy is finally here. John Benoni Campbell was born yesterday March 17th at 8:08 am. What a wail he gave to let us know he was fiesty. He is absolutely beautiful!!! I am bias what can I say. He weighed in at 7 lbs 7oz and was 20.5 inches long. Miss Catie-bug came to see him yesterday afternoon and started to freak out when she saw me la. ying in bed, with an IV and compression booties on my calves. I quickly tolder her I was ok and that we had a present. Her eyes got big and she said "present?". I said yes, that we have a new baby. She looked at Johnny and was so precious. She said "ohhhhh, cute." we knew she was in love with him. She immediately wanted to hold him. She snuggled on my bed with him and patted his belly. When he was in the bassinette, she kept saying "me go see" and would walk over to him and say "ma, see Johnny." Can I tell you, the two of them are just so precious; what wonderful blessings.
Barrie and Catie left about 6pm; both were falling asleep very fast. At about 930pmish, my nurse took little John to the nursery so I could get a few hours of sleep. About 20 minutes later, just a I started to doze, his nursery nurse came in and said he was having trouble and was going down to the NICU. I instantly lost it. She said that he was doing good for the first 10 minutes then started getting blue around the mouth. His oxygen sats started to drop into the 70/80's - not good. His temperature started to also to drop. Barrie came back in, with his brother staying at our house to let Catie sleep. I ran down to the NICU (well, not actually ran....more like walked with caution so I wouldn't hurt my incision.) They did a chest xray which showed he had some fluid in his lungs which is very common with Csection babies. He was given some antibiotics, fluid to bring his sugar level up, and put on oxygen to help fight the fluid.Jeremy, our wonderful home teacher, came and gave both the baby and me a blessing of healing, health and comfort. We are just truely blessed to have him and Emlyn in our lives!!
I didn't sleep very well - ok so I didnt sleep. I went down to see Johnny at about 445am and he was doing about the same. They are going to do another chest xray this a.m. to see if the antibiotic worked / get a game plan on how long he will be there so on and so forth.
We have been blessed tremendously with him though. He is otherwise very health, and just so beautiful, so perfect. I'll keep everyone posted as the day(s) go on :)

D-day :)

2010-03-15T14:19:00.002-06:00

The time has come. This Wednesday I will be going in for a csection and we will be welcoming our little leprechaun. I have been having contractions on and off for a few weeks now. It has been much harder this time around with doing things-walking, moving, sleeping etc. Catie and Barrie have both been a huge help, with Barrie taking over house chores and Catie walking and throwing things in the "ba-bage" for me. I am nervous for this little guy coming. I keep thinking how I am going to split my love between both my angels. I am so excited for Wednesday. I'll post pictures of little John as soon as I am home from the hospital.

Best Christmas present ever!!!

2009-12-24T11:00:00.004-07:00

It is Christmas Eve here in Salt Lake City and Catie has given us the best present ever. She is walking 100% on her own. She gets shaky and falls a bit more freuqently when she is tired, but gets back up and keeps going. When you pick her up to carry her to the car, or in a store, she immediately asks for whom ever is holding her to walk. What a wonderful time!!! her determination and love of life, no matter what has been given to her has really opened my eyes to show how blessed we truely are. It testitifes to me that there really is Jesus Christ, that he was born, that he loves each and everyone of us. It shows me to never give up on prayer, that Heavenly Father always listens to us and always blesses us. I hope everyone has the most wonderful Christmas!!! Love to all!

Welcome Baby Campbell #2

2009-10-21T09:44:00.002-06:00

It is official!!! We are expecting our second little angel April 1st. No joke intended. As of today we are 16.5 weeks. I have been peeking the past few weeks to see if I could make out the sex early. I peeked yesterday in hopes to find out and surprise Barrie for his birthday today. The verdict is either it has mutated a third leg or it is a little boy!!! Barrie was excited.

And we're walking!!

2009-10-21T09:42:00.003-06:00

Catie is finally doing it. For about 50% of the time she is walking on her own. We have stopped taking her walker to daycare and she isnt using it in the house. If we catch her trying to crawl, we ask her to stand up and come to us. And she does. She is doing great an getting more confident with every step. Our hopes are that by Christmas time, she will be walking everywhere. Go Catie!!

Neuro Update

2009-07-22T09:36:00.002-06:00

We met with a neurologist on Friday, 7/17, while Catie had her appointments in the Spina Bifida clinic. He said we are kind of in the middle on what to do with Catie. He said he wasnt sure if the first seizure she had was a fever seizure or not. The second definitely was not. He was treating with medication was up to us at this point. If we did treat, then it would be a 2 year commitment with giving medications, which might have to be changed up. With the medications come various side effects. Barrie and I both decided that we will watch and track her seizures, meaning that we wont give medications now. If her seizures become more frequent, say every month/more than that, then we will start medications. But if she is having a seizure once every six months, or longer than we will just get her through them. Kind of scary when she has one, but I dont want to give her unneccessary medications that don't have the nicest side effects for just one or two seizures. So we will keep saying our prayers, make sure Catie is well rested, well hydrated, and stress-free - all things that help.

We'll be coming down the mountain....

2009-07-22T09:25:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was so much fun. My baby brother turned 26 on Sunday and came out for his birthday with his girlfriend Shannon. We had a blast. Saturday evening, we went to Seven Peaks waterpark for a few hours. Catie LOVED the water. The wave pool was her favorite. We walk in and all she kept shreeking was "wawa, wawa!!" After the park we introduced Chris and Shannon to our favorite ice cream shoppe - Leatherby's. Sunday, we skipped church to keep playing. Chris and Shannon wanted to see the mountains and maybe do a little hiking. And we did both, with emphasis on " a little hiking". We went to Snowbird Ski resort and took the Arial tram up to the top on Hiden Peak which is 11,000 feet. We were told that we can hike a short distance down to a chair lift and take that back to the resort. Well, we got to the lift and looked down. I think I was the one with the bright idea that it doesn't look too steep to hike down. RIGHT!!! About 4 hours later, 3 falls for me, one for Shannon and an hour nap while hiking for Catie, we made it to the bottom. We were exhausted. Back at the resort, Chris and Shannon took a ride on the Zip line. Barrie, Catie and I went down the alpine slide. I was so sick from the sun and heat that we had to go home after that. I will post pics shortly. We would so do it again, but just take the tram up, then take the chair lift or tram back down. I can at least say I hiked in the mountains!

Sadness, Struggling, and Answers

2009-06-25T12:13:00.002-06:00

This past week has been one long happy yet extremely devestating week. Last Thursday, Catie stood up on her own, in the middle of the room and on a few occasions, walked to me or Barrie. We are so proud of her! Then Saturday sent us on a whirl wind downhill. Saturday morning, we awoke to Catie having another seizure. She had one about 2 months ago when she had a high fever. Her doctor told us that she more than likely wont have another one because it was high fever related. Well, yeah. Saturday morning she just started seizing. It went on for 2-2 1/2 minutes. She was cool as can be, so we called the paramedics. She stopped seizing just before they got there. They checked her out, noticed that she did spike a fever after. We took her to Primary Children's hospital to have her checked out. Her urine and other testing for viruses/flu/ect all came back normal. Her pediatritian on call said for us to have a brain MRI and an EEG, then to see a Neurologist. The MRI and EEg will tell us if she is having fever related seizures which she would grow out of about the age of 5, or if there is in fact a problem to where she has a seizure disorder. Ok, so we went Tuesday am to have her MRI. She came out of the test fine, Barrie kissed her and went off to work. I was hanging out with her untul the anesthesia wore off then we could go home. The radiologist came to talk to me about her scan. He said that it was a good thing that we were sent in to get her tested as soon as we did. There were some brain abnormalities that were found some relating to her having seizures. He said that these seizures wont go away, and that the neurologist will discuss things with us about her being on medication. Next he said that her corpus calllosum, an area of the brain that helps sends messages back and forth to each side of the brain was abnormally small - that it probably didnt completely form when she was in-utero. This can cause lack of coordination (which she has), developemental delays (which she has), impaired vision (which she has), facial/head abnormalities (which she does a small bit - her eyes are wider apart - the upper limit of normal), and mental retardation (which thankfully she doesnt show any signs of ).
I am doing better with all this right now. We see the neurologist on Monday. We will know more. I am having my good moments and bad moments. At times I feel like what did I do wrong when I was pregnant or what should I have done differently? I know I am not the cause of any of this, but I feel this way at times. I look at my little princess and constatnly question why this has to be her, why doe sshe have to be given so much at such a tiny stage in her life.Is it going to stop for her. Will she be ok, will she ever be able to run and jump like other children. Will she excell in school, will she be able to be in a "normal" school if there is such a thing. I hate having people stare at me and be the center of attention. I dont want people doing that to her. Kids are mean.
PLease please dont get me wrong here. I am so in love with my little bug. I wouldnt trade her for anything in or out of this world. I would never trade her for a little on with out problems. I think I am the most luckiest person in the world to be blessed with Catie. She is the most amazing little one I think I have ever met.
...................................................................................................................................................................
I had to take a few minutes away. I didnt want Catie seeing me cry. Ok, I am doing good now. The past few days, I have been really thinking about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I have been feeling really close to Heavenly Father in the fact that my heart breaks thinking of Cate and all that she has gone through and what she will go through. I look at Jesus Christ and see only a glimps of what Heavenly Father must have felt to see his most beloved son go through all the pain, torture, sadness, loneliness that he did. To think that Jesus went though so much more than Catie, that he went through exactly what she is and will go though and that if he can do it she can too.

Happy 2nd Birthday Miss Catherine!!

2009-05-29T11:55:00.011-06:00

Yesterday our little bug turned the big 2. We can't believe just how time has flown. The fun day started with special instruction therapy at 9, then off to Shopko to get new frames for Cate's glasses. Yes, they broke again. We then had lunch at Jason's Deli with Barrie. Cate took a nap. Yesterday evening we had a BBQ with some good friends. Catie and her BFF Millie tore it up with the sandbox that Barrie build for a birthday present. Here are some pics to show off the fun!!

Cute cousin Ashley and Tia MaricelaBFF Millie and her daddy

I made an "Itsy Bitsy Spider" cup cake.A Pyro just like her daddy - "oooooo"

MMMMMMMMMM, Like it!!MMMMMMMM, Love it!!!!
And the best picture yet....

Happy Birthday Miss Catherine Jane!!!!

She finally walked!!

2009-05-24T20:52:00.003-06:00

Catie took her first steps tonight! It is 4 days before her second birthday and we are blessed with steps. Barrie and I we getting her into her pj's tonight and both sat down with her to say our family prayer. Catie slid down Barrie's lap and started to reach for me. He guided her towards me and she took 2 steps - without help- to me. I picked her up kissed her and she said "walk". So I put her down and she walked 3 steps to Barrie. So for about 10 minutes she kept walking between the 2 of us. She was so proud of herself (not as proud as we are :) ). Everytime she get to one of us, she would say "walk" and turn around and start to go the other way. So amazing. It is making her 2 yr birthday that much older now that she is starting to walk. Barrie and I decided to practice this walk between every night till she is doing it all the time and everywhere. Yaaaaaaa Catie!!!

Quilt time

2009-05-15T15:32:00.004-06:00

So I made a rag quilt for Catie when she was born. I fits her crib just perfectly. I then made a rag quilt for our bed - king size. That was some work. I had lots of fun with that. I bought the fabric from WalMart - their $1/$2 fabrics. I thought since I was learning, if I screwed up, then I wouldnt have spent lots of money doing it. Well I have had the erge to make another quilt. This time I want to make a real quilt. My coworker brought in a box of some FUN scraps. She said that she saves the all the scraps from whatever she is sewing/making and some day she would use them. She gave me almost an entire box of scraps. So I have been making 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 in squares and am going to make a "crazy" quilt. It has all colors, paterns, sizes and shapes. So far the squares are awesome. In this process of making my squares, I wanted(and still do) to make Catie a new quilt for her big girl bed (twin - which has not happened yet, she is still in the toddler bed/crib). I was back at Wally-world today and they had precut fabric in strips. The bundle I picked up is so much fun. It has cartoon bugs and bright colors on it. Prefect!!!! now I just have to decide how I want to play the quilt out. I am so excited!!!! It will be awhile but I will post a picture once I get it assembled/or partially assembled.

Any yet another surgery :(

2009-05-13T11:08:00.002-06:00

Little Miss Cate is keeping us on our toes. She is going to have eye muscle surgery June 19th. She has been crossing her eyes and having even more trouble looking at objects. Her doctor tried strengthening the prescription of her little glasses, but no dice. Talking to many friends, I guess the eye muscle surgery is very easy and they go back to their normal routine the next day. To top things off, Catie failed her hearing test the beginning of April. We took her to her pediatrician who looked in her ears. She has fluid in both of them and as of a week ago -it is still there. We have an appointment with a pediatric ENT next week to see about putting tubes in her ears to help with draining the fluid and in hopes that will be the cause of her hearing test failure. Her Optomologist said that both surgeries could be done the same day. So that is what we are looking at going through now.

Mother's Day Weekend recap

2009-05-13T10:39:00.004-06:00

This weekend had been, by far, the best Mother's day weekend. I felt totally lost. I woke up early Saturday am and went with a great friend to the Jordan River temple for a 6am session. It was super early but totally worth it. I got home at about 830 and noticed the living and kitchen were massively cleaned!!! The laundry was started, and my peanut was still sleeping soundly. Barrie was so good to me.

We got Catie up and spent the morning at Wheeler farm, for a PIP(vision) activity. It was a hoot. Cate started off calling all the animals "dogs". She signed dog and "woofed" at everything. When we corrected her, she would look at the animal, look at us, then look back at the animal and make their respected sound. We went over to the sheep and told her is sad "baa". She made then sound, then the sheep did. She looked so startled as if to say - " what the heck was that?"
It was so funny. We took a wagon ride and had a great picnic lunch in the shade.
After the farm, we went and bought plants for our garden - carrot seeds, 4 kinds of bell peppers, cilantro, onions, scallions, pea seedlings, zucchini, yellow and butternut squash, and lots of tomato seedlings!!! Cate played in her rice box and little tykes jungle gym while Barrie and I transplanted plants, planted, fertilized, and spread mulch on the garden. It looks so good!!
Sunday is where I felt lost. Barrie made us breakfast and grilled an awesome dinner. I stood around asking for things to do and was told to "relax, go take a nap or sit down." I finally was able to slie up strawberries. Barrie and Catie gave me a BEAUTIFUL necklace with a heart shaped pendant, that had diamonds around the outside. Inside the heart is a figure of a mother holding a baby/child. Oh, it is so gorgeous!!!! I also got new head phones for my IPOD where they are really soft and sit inside your ear verses the hard plastic ones that usually come with players.
We took a 1 1/2 mile walk that evening. What a wonderful weekend, just spending time with my Heavenly Father and my family. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and daughter. My heart is so full!

Weight Loss Journey

2009-03-18T14:34:00.003-06:00

So, my journey to becoming a lighter, healthier me is progressing. I need to seriously get back into the gym. Vacations really screw things up. I went to weigh in last Thursday, not expecting to have lost anything. I was shocked. I lost 2 more pounds putting at my 5% body mass loss goal for a grand total of 14.8 pounds since January 1st. I am stoked!!! This Thursday will not be so positive. I have to admit, I have been on a serious chocolate bindge, along with pizza. I did not get my water in nor was I very careful with watching my points. I am going to start over again tomorrow once I weigh in. Hopefully, tomorrow wont be too bad :)

New York 2009

2009-03-18T13:57:00.004-06:00

I can't believe that it is the middle of the month already and I have written nothing since the beginning of February. Catie, Barrie and I went to New York to visit our families and have a little R&R. We took a red eye to JFK. Catie did not do well at all. We put her down for a nap at 7pm, which is usually her bed time. We woke her up at 9 and got to the airport. She walked all over with her walker (we thought it was great-she will konk out on the plane). Wrong!!! She was up the entire flight. I was besides myself - I do not do well without sleep. Catie slept amost all day trying to catch up on sleep. My aunts, uncles, and cousins came into town for a pizza gathering. My brother Chris and his girlfriend Shannon, my sister Paula and Mom all joined us as well. My mom didnt get into town till later that day, missing my extended family due to her plane hitting a bird upon take off from Orlando - scary!!!

We introduced Cate to AHL/NHL hockey. She didnt know what to do when the fog horn blew anouncing a goal scored for the home team. She clapped endlessly when kids were dancing and everyone else was clapping. She sat in our laps and just watched the players slam opponents into the glass(fiberglass). She was even clapping when fights erupted (girl after my heart!!)

We got together with may of our friends/coworkers that we havent seen for 3 1/2 - 4 yrs. It was so good to see everyone and catch up on missed events. Cate went with me to the hopsitals that I worked for to visit good friends. Everyone was amazed at how well she is doing, how big she is getting, and loved her walking with her walker.

Paula, Chris and Shannon had horrible times trying to get back to North Carolina. There was a big snow storm the rolled through part of the east coast. Philly airport was cancelling/ delaying flights left and right. Chris, Shannon and Paula all left a day later than they should have. I didnt mind. I loved spending the time with them, but they were a bit ticked. (I would be too.)

Barrie's mom took Cate (Barrie and myself, too) to the Poughkeepsie Children's museum. Oh she had so much fun!!! We did too watching her. The museum was a dicovery museum. They had a infant toddler area where they have a little tikes tree house. She kept climbing in and out of it. She rode on a mini cow. They had a child size firestation, school room, bakery, grocery, farm house with garden. Upstairs was more for older children. They had hands on science activites, a giant jungle gym that traced the human heart, a news station, and so on. It was really cool.

We got together with my girlfriend from high school (Andrea Magacs Eisley) who is living down near Poughkeepsie. Her little boy turned one that weekend we were leaving. We took Cate to his birthday party. It was so much fun seeing her and her family again and also meeting little Nathaniel.

Our journey ended with it's usual drama. On our way back to the JFK airport, Barrie's father's car ran out of gas. It was never filled up before we left. We sat on the side of the 684 just outside the city for an hour. Barrie's brothers came and brought us gas. We got to the airport in just enough time to check in, get through secruity, grab a sandwich/bananas and get to our gate to find out we didnt have a plane yet. We finally got one, left about 40 minutes later than expected, and got home close to on time. Cate did sleep 4 1/2 out of the 5 hours of flight.
All in all it was so wonderful. It was great to see our families, friends, and just get away from our daily routine.

Happy Birthday to me!!

2009-02-05T15:30:00.004-07:00

Well I didn't do too bad this week on the scale. I really wasn't watching my points/what I was eating (it was my birthday week). I didn't lose any thing but the cool side is, I didn't gain anything either. Pretty good present I must say. This week will be a even better week. I have a new yoga mat and dvd. I also received a free personal trainer session from the gym as a thank you for being with them for the past year. I am excited to get going!!
Barrie (and Catie) bought me a new bed for a birthday present. It is a king size. So super nice!!!! I love it. I dread the mornings, because I just want to sleep in. We went out to eat at Bonsai, Japanese habatchi grill. Oh it was so yummy. Cate loved the chef and the tricks he was doing with the utensils and lighting the smiley face made out of oil on fire. She clapped when he was tossing the eggs in the air. We had so much fun!!

Walkers were made for walking. And that's just what she'll do

2009-02-05T14:25:00.002-07:00

Catie had her biweekly physical therapy today, the first time since Christmas (due to sicknesses on our side and her therapist's side). Anyway, Lisa ( her Therapist) said that she has made great progress since she last saw us. She said her cruising along furnature has greatly improved and we decided that the goal for cruising would be passed off today. We did set another goal in that Catie would walk, confidently, using a walker. Cate was not too sure on that idea. She is used to her little shopping cart that Santa brought her. The walker is used backwards to the shopping cart. Cate has to pull it long in stead of push it like the cart. We aren't able to use the walker in our house, right now, (the house is too small and the walker is quite clunky), so we will use it everywhere else. She can use it at church where there is the cultural hall to walk through from nursery to Sacrament meeting. She can use it when we wait for her daddy - there is a smooth sidewalk and a great waiting area. I am excited. This year is the year for meeting goals. I am almost to my first goal in my weight loss exhibition. Walking with a walker, to eventually walking unassisted will be Cate's.

Week Five

2009-01-29T10:37:00.003-07:00

I was quite crazy last week and didn't get a chance to write. I lost 0.4 lbs last week. Nothing to crazy but it was still a loss. I went this a.m. for this week's weigh in. The verdict is - 2.8lbs this past week giving me a grande total of 10.2 lbs since January 1st. I am so excited. I did some Yoga this week, mixed in with Cardio and Ab workouts. I can not believe how hard the yoga is, but so relaxing. The stretching feels so good, especially at night after a long day of either work, or chasing Caite around. My pants are getting much baggier - yeaaaa!!! (Please don't be mad Jessica - I still haven't measured myself - I guess lazy is the key work here.) I have been feeling great. I am 2.8 pints away from losing 5% of my body weight. Oh I am so excited :) Tune in same time, same website for next week's adventure. I will see how I do with treating myself to whatever I want to eat for a "special occasion" some time next week....To be continued.

Another successful week on the scale

2009-01-15T08:42:00.003-07:00

Good news good news!!!!! I had my weekly weigh in today. Yes, I did it again. I lost 2.4 pounds this week for a grand total of 7 pounds since the New Year. I am stoked!!!!!!!! I was a bit worried this week. I had used up all of my weekly (extra) points last weekend. I had such the cravings for chocolate( and I did eat them). I did great though. I planned everyday and watched what I was snacking on, making for lunch and dinner, and made sure I ate my oatmeat every morning. I made it to the gym a few days this week.
I was talking to Ben (or Barrie for those I am confusing) this morning. I was sharing on how good I have been feeling every day. I have been satisfied with meals and snacks and not sick from over eatting. I said the gym has been great too. Last night I worked on the Elliptical machine for 45 minutes. The first 10 were the worst. The success was I brought our travel DVD player watched a movie. I covered the time indicator for I didnt keep looking at it every 2 minutes and try to psych myself out.
I need to go to a WW meeting tonight. I get a "5 pound" sticker - yeaaaaaa. I am 1/4 of the way to reaching my 10% body weight loss goal!!!!!!!! Thanks for everyones suppose and encouragement!!!! You are all awesome!!!!

WK 2 Weigh In

2009-01-08T11:12:00.003-07:00

My second weigh in of the year was very successful!!! I am down 4.6 pounds. So exciting. I have felt full all week, eatting tons more fruits and veggies - which Catie loves both. It was nice to go to meeting today; they have 3 meetings where you can take your little ones with you. It was nice to have Cate with me. She is my inspiration and motivation to go and change my life. What an example she is at 19 months old. I am stoked to see what this next week brings. Going to work hard, work out more and keep soaking in the great feeling of being 4.6 pounds lighter!!

New Year's Goal

2009-01-06T10:18:00.002-07:00

Ok, I have done it. I signed up with Weight Watchers on January 2nd. After having my doctor share with me that due to one blood test last year, where the results were 2-3 points over normal, she has to technically consider me a diabetic. I am not happy - not with her, but with myself. Oh well, 'tis a new year and I am going to take this seriously. I did well when I was on Weight Watchers in New York. My mom did exceptionally well on it. I dont want Catie in the same boat when she gets older. I dont want problems when we start looking at another little Campbell - no I am not pregnant, but if it were to happen... I have also set up a gym routine. I will be going to the gym super early in the a.m. before work for about 40 minutes Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I dont want to over do it gym wise because my back has still been bothering me. I am hoping that getting in shape and some weight loss will help my back tremendously. So here it is. Goal number one, for the healthier me - I am wanting to loss 10% of my body weight in the next 6 months. I wont tell you what that is...then you can guess my weight. I will keep everyone posted on how I am doing and when I reach the goal. So everyone go eat 3 cups of air poped popcorn (only 1 point) and stay tuned for an update!! Happy New Year Everyone!!! :)

Lights at Temple Square

2008-12-30T15:29:00.005-07:00

Yesterday, Ben, Catie, Nathan (Ben's brother) and I went to Temple square and looked at all the lights. The entire 2 blocks were lite up. From December 1st to the 31st, the lights are on at night. There were hundreds of people there. It was so neat to walk around the temple grounds, sharing in each other's company.

December 2008

2008-12-30T14:02:00.004-07:00

This past month has been so much fun. With my new job, I was fortunate to have Thanksgiving and Black Friday off for the first time in about 10 years. We had a Turkey dinner, which was so yummy. I coaxed Ben to put the Christmas tree up on Friday. Catie and I did a little bit of shopping that afternoon, while Ben was working. Catie and I found some great deals and stayed out of the Apple store - in fear of being trampled.
We counted down the days till Christmas, with the counting blocks that I made at a craft night. Catie loved the lights on the tree. She did very well with leaving the ornaments on. She played with a nativity set that I painted at the craft night as well. I completed knitting the sweater for Catie, on time for a Christmas present. It turned out so nice. I also made lots of flannel "heat/ice" packs for gifts for grandparents and my nursery class to give to their parents.
Christmas eve, we carried on the traditional Polish dinner that my family had every year at my Babci's house. We had haluska, pieroghi's, mashed potatoes, peas, a 7-up ham, and many more yummy foods. We shared our wonderful time with the Beagley family, and the Sarle family, my old roommates Cynthia and Tiffany and Tiff's hubby Alan. Cate loved all the foods and chowed down when her plate was given to her. When the party came to an end, Cate, Ben, Nathan (Ben's brother) and myself opened our one present (new jammies for everyone) on Christmas eve - a tradition that Ben and I started the first year we were married.
I, of course, didn't sleep very well. I was too excited for Christmas day. I was up at about 630am, and helped Santa fill everyone's stockings with goodies. Cate woke up about 830ish. The present unwrapping began. Cate wanted to unwrap everything. She would tear off a piece of paper, hand it to someone, then start clapping. She did this with almost every tear she made. Our families in North Carolina, Florida and New York all turned on their computers, logged onto out web camera site and watched Cate open all her presents. It was so much fun to be talking to everyone, and them watching us. Even though I thought this investment was silly years ago when Ben purchased the camera, I think it is the most wonderful gift to have received. We are able to share our life and family with our families even though we are across the country.
Later Christmas day, we went to visit Ben's grandparents and extended family up in Bountiful, Utah. It is fun to hear how everyone is doing, see the great-grandkids running around and getting bigger. We also visited with Andrea, Ben's sister, who was up from BYU Provo and going to San Fransisco the following day.
Saturday night, 12/27, we had a Pizza - Wii game night with Cynthia, Tiff, Alan, and Nate. Holy smokes did we have fun.

Happy Halloween

2008-12-28T20:25:00.002-07:00

So I am a little backwards in my blogs, but oh well. I realized I didnt put anything in here about halloween. Our family participated in the annual neighborhood parade. It started about 530pm 2 street over from us at our Bishop's house. The South Sal Lake firetruck lead the way with police motorcycles and cars blocking off the main entrances to the streets so the familys could parade/trick or treat safely. We walk about 8 blocks and end back up at the Bishop's house where there is hotdogs, candy, popcorn, drinks and snacky stuff for everyone. It is so much fun. Cate was Winnie the Pooh this year. She was so dang cute, if I must say.

Turkey Gizzards anyone?

2008-12-28T20:13:00.003-07:00

This thanksgiving I was so fortunate to be off on Thursday and Friday. I decided since Ben's sister-in-law made a huge Turkey dinner last year, I would attempt to tackle the task this year. It was so much fun. I had my cooking schedule all planned out by Thanksgiving day. I had never made/baked a turkey before and it scared the beegeebys out of me. I was up at 8am, prepping the bird. I was washing it out. I took what I thought was the neck of the bird out.....keep reading it gets funny. I put the flour in the bag and stuck the bird in. I tossed on some rosemary and thyme on top of the bird (which made the turkey taste and smell so nice.) I then began cooking all the other dishes. Ben's brother and sister-in-law came over. We also had the Beagley's from church and Dave Sarle over as well.
At 130, it was time to take the turkey out. We all sat down at 2, and pigged out. The turkey turned out great as well as the other foods. When dinner was done, I decided to cut the rest of the meat off the turkey for leftovers. As I was doing this, I noticed a plastic baggie in the middle of the turkey. I just realized that I didnt fully remove all the insides, that the baggie was the gizzards - so gross. Oh well, at least I am ready for next year :)

Now pronouncing Mr. and Mrs Ramirez

2008-12-28T20:01:00.007-07:00

Catie and I flew to North Carolina the beginning of November for my sister's "elopement-wedding". It was so awesome to be there and see my family. Catie did super on the flight out. It was a direct flight. There were seats open, so I was able to put her in her car seat in the seat next to me. She slept most of the 4 hours out. Hanging out with my fam was so much fun. Catie was showing off her smiles and tricks, making everyone fall in love with her. The two of us shared an air mattress the first few nights then a queen sized bed the next few. Cate slept great. I had no sleep whatsoever. I either had feet in my face, a butt one night (not too pleasant) or various body parts flapping around. She loved it of course.
Paula's ceremony was small and wonderful. Josh's family made it there, except for Tim - who was protecting Logan, Utah (he is a police officer.) We all hung out hand had snacks at Paula's place afterwards, with dinner at a super nice Italian restaurant. Oh the food was sooooo good.
Sunday Cate and I had to travel back home. It was a crazy fun few days, that flew by way too fast. The flight home was not fun at all. The flights were booked. Cate had to sit on my lap. She did not want to sit still, constantly wanting to get down and move, hitting/kicking the seat in fron of her, poking the gal next to us and waking her up. I was glad to get to Salt Lake and hand her off to her Daddy. I think she was happy too!

Happy Birthday Barrie(Ben)

2008-10-22T08:37:00.003-06:00

Yesterday was Ben's 31st birthday. Cate and I surprised him with a cake from Costco at work to share with his coworkers. We then took him to Bonsai - Japanese steakhouse/habachi (sp?) grill. Ben and I shared a dinner for two - filet migion (sp?), teriaki chicken, and shrimp, with fried rice, veggies, soup and salad. Cate ate handfuls of noodles, chicken, veggies and shrimp. Sooooo Yummy!! Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Meet the Blind month

2008-10-20T14:40:00.001-06:00

This month is Meet the Blind month. This weekend at the Gateway, the National Federation of the Blind will be having a booth set up with information and technology used/for the blind of visually impaired. It is Saturday 12-6pm by the water fountain and Barnes and Nobles. Barrie, Catie and myself will be there in the beginning with some things Catie uses and plays with for her Vision Therapy. Hope to see you there!!

Coxsackie anyone?

2008-09-29T16:58:00.002-06:00

Another bummer for Cate. Starting this past Friday, Cate had a low grade fever that rose to 103 on Sunday morning. We called her Md's office and they got her in that morning. We thought she was having ear infections again. Nope. They then ran a Strep screen. Negative. The doctor looked a bit closer to her mouth - the results....Coxsackie Virus, aka Hand, foot, mouth disease. The poor peanut. We are thinking she got that from daycare. They said they haven't had anyone sick. Cate's fever is down with the help of Tylenol and Mortin. She now has little blisters in and outside her mouth, a few on her hands. I haven't seen her little feet today (I have been at work). I feel so bad for her. But classic Cate, she constantly has a smile and a giggle despite feeling crappy. Say some prayers for her to get over this super soon!! Thanks!!

Now Introducing to our Family.....

2008-09-24T01:26:00.002-06:00

So we have a new addition to our family. Tonight Barrie and I bought a 2005 Toyota Sienna LE. We are super excited and majorly depressed. Our beloved 1997 Honda Civic was having transmission problems. It would be thousands of dollars to rebuid and put a new trans in. So we thought we would start shopping around. We wanted something that was roomie for potentially maybe more little Campbells (definitely non in the near future.... Cate is enough for now.) We also wanted the space so when family was in town, they could have a seat, be comfortable and not have to rent a car to get around. We looked at Used Honda Odesseys (super nice). Did research on Dodge Caravans - not too fond of. And more research on Toyota Siennas (sorry Amy and Ben for copying you). The ride is sp unbelievably smooth. The space is rediculous. Curtain side air bags all the way to the back. All wheel drive. Only 30,000 miles on it. We can now go to the zoo and put Cate's wagon in there instead of the stroller. I will post some pics as soon as I take some. The depressing part in all of this is we now have a car payment to make each month, where the beloved Honda was totally paid off. Bummer.

Poor Miss Cate

2008-09-06T08:56:00.002-06:00

Little Miss Cate has had such a hard last few days. First she has been battling a cold for the last 2 weeks. She started daycare this past Wednesday which they said she did really well except for constantly taking off her glasses. Then that evening/early Thursday morning, she was vomiting, had a low grade fever. The vomiting stopped by late morning, but the fever continued till Friday. Barrie and I took her to the doctors, thinking they will send us home, saying she has a cold. Well to my surprise, she has bilateral ear infections. Poor peanut. She never tugged at her ears or made any kind fussy like they hurt her. We get home, with antibiotics in tow. After pj's were one, she guzzled the 6ml down like it was going out of style. When she opened her mouth, we realized that along with all this that has been going on, she has also cut a new tooth - one of the top front teeth. Amazing. Cate has gone through so much in her little life and has hardly, if any, made a complaint. Makes me take a look at myself and be thankful for my trials. I need to take her example and be happy with life more than complain about it.

New Job Report

2008-09-03T10:22:00.002-06:00

What a wonderful change, to go to work and not have chest pains. I started working for Utah Imaging Associates at the Utah Vascular Clinic Tuesday. It was so nice yesterday ( and today) of course to come to work, to scan patients and not have someone backstabbing another coworker, or getting yelled at. I am now 8am-5pm, Monday, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, no nights, weekends, or holidays. No more early 3am morning calls saying we have a scan in the ER for you. It was so nice to work the day, then come home and be with Ben and Catiebug (except for the hunt for the missing checkbook, which has still not been found and considered lost). It is nice to look a few days ahead to the weekend and see that I don't have to work. I get to be home and not skip out half way through church. I can have my afternoon Sunday nappie. Waahoooo!!!

Letter of Resignation

2008-08-29T07:58:00.002-06:00

Ok folks, the day has come. I am turning in my letter or resignation to the hospital that I work at. I received a call yesterday for a clinic position. That means I wont have to work nights, weekend, holidays, call....any of that. Finally!!! I will be working 3 eight hour days, Monday thru Wednesday. I can not wait. I start next Tuesday, 2 September. So today at work I need to turn in my letter. I was going to see about staying on a few Sundays, or helping out with call. I chose otherwise due to the past few days' events working. Anyway, yea to answered prayers!!

CRAWLING!!!!

2008-08-22T13:54:00.004-06:00

Yesterday and today, Cate has been doing a small bit of crawling. She would start out slowly on her hands and knees and move forward. If the object she was looking toward was too far away, she would drop down to her belly and army crawl like a crazy person. She is hands and knees crawling more and more every minute. It is so exciting!!! If she keeps this up, we may be finished with physical therapy for awhile, if not for good and putting up safety gates everywhere. YEAAAA, CATIE!!!! Keep up the good work kiddo!!!

Bridge Transplant = Watching Paint D

2008-07-21T21:27:00.006-06:00

Today was a pretty cool day. I80 - the interstate that runs from the east coast to the west coast of the US runs right in our front yard. There has been construction on it to widen the interstate as it comes into the Salt Lake valley. Today was the day that the 500 East bridge on the north side of the interstate (our side) was being placed. It was constructed up in the bridge yard at 1300 East. It started it's journey from 1300 East to 500 East last night. It took a few hours to travel; it weighs 5 million pounds and traveled at the speed of 1 MPH. Crazy, I know. It was neat to see this huge structure be slid across steel Ibeams. Dish soap was used to lubricate the beam for the sliders to move it across. It is now over 500 East and will be lowered into place tomorrow. I have some really cool pics of the bridge moving.

Catching Up A Year

2008-07-18T13:01:00.000-06:00

So this past year has been extremely busy. Catherine was born in May 07. She was diagnosed with spina bifida in August 07, with a corrective surgery in September 07, then another surgery in October 07 to deal with a massive infection from the first surgery. When she was done with her antibiotics, Andrea went in to have her gall bladder out (and is feeling much better with that gone.) A week later, she was in the hospital with blood clots in both lungs. Barrie was a superior multitasker by this point. He was (and still is) working for Attensity, Corp. in the QA department. He was Andrea's big time support when she was at rock bottom when Catherine was in and out of the hospital. He played Mommy and Daddy when Andrea was in and out of the hospital and became a limited register nurse (giving Andrea Lovenox shots 2-3x's daily over the next few months)

December was our first Christmas with Catherine. WE had so much fun. "Catherine" had purchased Barrie a Hamm/CB radio for christmas, wrapped it by "herself" and even wrote her name on it (you can substitute Barrie for all the " quote" areas. Catherine loved the paper ripping.

2008 has been pretty eventful. The beginning few months, Andrea was in and out of the hospital for continued chest pains and migraine headaches associated with the medicines she was on and the blood clots. Catherine started physical, occupation, and vision therapies in March 08 to help her with many things she was lagging behind in. As of now(July 08) she is army crawling everywhere, pulling herself up onto her hands and knees, and pulling herself up into a standing position all by herself. She is also sitting upright and will move from laying down to sittinng and visa versa. With sight-wise, she is seeing small objects (without her glasses), finger pinching to pick them up. What tremendous progress she has made!! We are so blessed with that. We also made a huge purchase since puchasing our house 3 years ago. We had to buy a new furnace.

In April, we went to Raleigh, NC to visit Andrea's family. Catherine did wonderfully on the airplane trips. Andrea's grandparent from Florida drove up along with Grandma Jane and Mugsy. Grandpa Johnny flew in from NY for the fun. Everyone met Paula's Josh and his adorable children. While in NC, Andrea found out she has a blood disorder - Methylenetetrahydrofolatereducase Deficiency. Her body does not process folic acid, thus letting her homocystine levels increase - making her blood thicker and easier to clot. Her doctors are also thinking this is relating to Catherine's Spina Bifida and Colobomas (eye abnormality).

Ok, then May 08 came and we celebrated Catherine's first birthday. What a hoot. It is amazing how much a little one grows in a year's time. We had a family birthday party in NC when we were with Andrea's family. On May 28th, we along with the Stuts' and the Baker's celebrated the realy day of birth, then had a "We-made-it-through-the first-year/Thank You/Birthday" BBq in our back yard that following Saturday. That was lots of fun, all the way down to the water gun fights.

June 08, brought on the warmer weather. We purchased a AC unit and let us tell you, it has been very cool!! We helped Cattherine's little best friend celebrate her first birthday. Andrea started Per Diem at an imaging clinic doing diagnostic and vascular ultrasounds in hopes to get a part time clinic position and give up working at St Mark's with call,nights, weekends, and holidays.
So far no day has been permently giving to her, but we are still hanging in there. Barrie celebrated his 2nd Father's day. Catherine (and Mommy) made Barrie a tie, with hand and feet prints all over it. It was proudly worn to church.
And that brings us up to July 08 - this month. Look for more blogs concerning this month!!

Blogging Beginner

2008-07-15T08:16:00.001-06:00

I have decided to take Anna's advice and start blogging. I figure that I can keep track of things here and later print them out, and put them in my journal. Then I can kill 2 birds with 1 stone - keep family and friends updated and 2, have journal entries without handwriting them. ( No birds will be hurt in the process of blogging. Ok, well this is my first blog and the end of the blog. I definitely have more to write, I just dont have time right now - Cate needs a bath, I have a job interview at 10am, etc.