Life with the Campbells

Just for Granny...

2010-03-08T19:20:00.001-08:00

Claira Faye

2009-11-28T19:28:00.000-08:00

2009-11-28T18:59:00.000-08:00

Trick or treat!

2009-11-03T15:54:00.001-08:00

Avery talking to the baby

2009-08-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Avery's Birthday

2009-07-27T13:25:00.001-07:00

Visit with the Stam's

2009-06-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

2009-06-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Our sweetheart

2009-02-12T08:10:00.001-08:00

The Zoo

2009-01-22T18:43:00.000-08:00

Gymnastics

2009-01-22T18:24:00.000-08:00

Christmas at Disney

2009-01-22T17:35:00.001-08:00

Halloween

2008-12-01T20:05:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

The Zoo

2008-10-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

Avery's first boat ride to watch guys jump out of an airplane

2008-10-13T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ride in PC 12

2008-10-13T16:40:00.000-07:00

Trip to University of Arkansas campus

2008-10-13T15:14:00.000-07:00

Hurricane IKE

2008-09-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

Chloe's Birthday and AJ looking cute

2008-09-12T05:48:00.000-07:00

Birthday Party

2008-08-17T15:27:00.001-07:00

Spaghetti For Dinner

2008-07-28T21:44:00.001-07:00

The Sweets Visit

2008-07-28T21:15:00.000-07:00

Avery playing at the park

2008-07-06T21:41:00.001-07:00

Cute Pictures From The Week

2008-07-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

Alesha and Presley's Visit

2008-06-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

My good friend Alesha and her daughter Presley (Avery's BFF) came to see us this week. We had a great time. Here are some of the pictures of their visit.

Will, Mom, and Leslie's visit

2008-06-12T10:41:00.000-07:00

Cute pictures

2008-06-07T20:17:00.001-07:00

Three more magical days at Disney!

2008-06-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

Nicole and Cynthia (my neighbors and extended family) asked me to go to Disney with them this past weekend. Three moms and five kids!! It was a blast. We had the best time. Here are some of the pictures we took while we were there.

Avery at the pool

2008-05-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

Trip with the neighbors to Naval museum

2008-05-25T10:37:00.000-07:00

Beach pictures

2008-05-20T15:23:00.000-07:00

Butterfly House

2008-05-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

Our trip to St. Augustine, FL

2008-05-04T15:16:00.000-07:00

Disney World

2008-05-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

More Easter Pictures

2008-03-29T20:13:00.000-07:00

Easter Morning

2008-03-24T09:47:00.000-07:00

We had some pictures made at JCPennys this week. As soon as they send them to us I will post them either on here or I will give ya'll a link to their website. I hope everyone had a good Easter. We started going to Village Baptist Church in Destin and our Sunday school teachers had us and two other couples over for lunch. We had a really good day. I was going to get more pictures of Avery with her dress on later in the day, but she got poop on her dress and then later she spit up on it. I will wash her dress and take some more. Have a great week everyone!

Isn't she sweet?

2008-03-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Cute Pictures

2008-03-04T18:07:00.001-08:00

Becoming a big girl!

2008-02-24T14:11:00.000-08:00

Avery got her new highchair this week. Here are some cute pictures of her in it and a couple of pictures before church today. She is so pretty. Tracey

Happy Valentines Day

2008-02-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone has a great day. Happy Valentines Day!!!!

Pensacola News Journal

2008-01-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

There is one picture of Avery and me at the rally on this website: http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

Huckabee Rally!!!

2008-01-28T08:41:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Avery and I went to the Mike Huckabee rally today it was so much fun! He walked past us and just grabbed Avery I didn't even have to ask. She was just waking up from a short nap, so her hands were in her face. He really liked her Razorback shirt! Tracey

A Boyfriend!!!

2008-01-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

Hey!
Avery made a new friend yesterday. His name is Payton. He was trying to put some moves on A.J. by the look on her face she was not having any of that! Tracey

Hello!

2008-01-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone!! Sorry it has been so long! I hope you enjoy these pictures we took when we were home for Christmas. Love you guys! Tracey

Big Smile!

2007-12-16T10:07:00.001-08:00

Is everyone ready for Christmas? We let Avery open some of her presents this week. We got some really cute pictures that I wanted to share. My good friend Marcy and her children, Liberty and Colton, came through Navarre this week and we were able to spend time with them. They are such sweet kids. I miss being closer to them. They just moved to Georgia and they have family not too far from were we live here in Florida. We are going to Arkansas on Friday and staying until Jan 2. We are so excited about seeing all of our family and friends. We can't wait to show A.J. off. Love you guys,have a Merry Christmas!
Tracey

Our new address

2007-12-08T16:15:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to let everyone know what our new address is: 2073 Seagrape Drive, Navarre,FL
32566.

That Darn Dog!!!

2007-11-27T18:28:00.000-08:00

Everyone has heard about Roger and his storm anxiety here he is in action. Paul went to check on him in the laundry room and found this!!! Crazy dog

Getting ready for Christmas

2007-11-26T20:24:00.001-08:00

Gobble Gobble

2007-11-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! We miss and love everyone very much. I will post a video tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great day.

I loved this poem about open adoption

2007-11-21T20:45:00.001-08:00

An Openly Adopted Child's Legacy

Once there were two expectant mothers.
One carried and cared for you beneath her beating heart
She became your Birthmother.
The other carried the hope of you within her.
She became your Mom.
As the days passed, and you grew bigger and stronger,
Your Birthmother knew that she could not give you all you needed after your birth.
Meanwhile, your Mom was ready and waiting for you.

One day your Birthmom and your Mom found each other.

They looked into each other’s eyes and saw a friend.
Your Birthmom saw the life your Mom could give you.
Your Mom saw how much your Birthmom loved and cared for you.

They decided that what you needed was both kinds of love in your life.

So now you have two families,
One by birth, the other by adoption.

And you have a home where you can get:
your questions answered,
your boo boos bandaged,
your heartaches soothed,
And much needed hugs.

And a place where you can find:
answers to your questions,
your image in the mirror,
a part of yourself,
And much needed hugs.

Two different kinds of families
Two different kinds of love
Both a part of you.

Brenda Romanchik

Cute Video

2007-11-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

This is a really cute video of Avery. Paul is trying to get her to say Daddy...whatever!

Tracey

Halloween and other cute pictures!

2007-11-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

Couldn't wait until halloween

2007-10-19T20:15:00.000-07:00

O.K., I know it's been forever since I posted some pictures. Sorry about that. We have moved into our house in Florida. We really like it down here it is so pretty. Anyway, we got A.J. a halloween outfit at the build a bear store. That's the only place we could find one that would fit her. She can't wait to be a real Razorback cheerleader. Tracey

Bath time

2007-09-25T19:42:00.000-07:00

A.J. 's first bath.

More Pictures of A.J.

2007-09-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute???!!!

Avery's Third Week Of Life

2007-09-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry, it's been so long since I posted. Here are some pictures of Avery's first trip to the doctor and other random shots. She was mad because we put her back on the scale for a picture. If you want to see A.J. up close you can double click on the image.

Tracey

Home at last

2007-09-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

We are finally home. We got back on Friday. It was so nice to sleep in our own bed. Avery is doing well. I got some pictures of her today after her bath. She looked so cute!!! (like she always does).

What's up?!

2007-09-04T17:20:00.000-07:00

Wow! The first week has been awesome! We are loving being parents.

We stayed two nights in the hospital after Avery was born. We wanted to be there to feed her in the night and spend as much time with her as possible. We stayed one more night in AJ's birthtown, and went to the birthfamily's house for lunch. We enjoy hanging out with them.

Right now, we are staying in Montgomery waiting for the lawyers to work their magic so we can leave the state. We hosted Tracey's Dad, Mom, brother, sister and the birthfamily in our hotel room so everyone could get to know each other. It was a great visit, and everyone felt as if we were family from the beginning. We can't wait to get home, and try to get into some kind of routine for AJ.

AJ is doing really well. We took her to the Air Force base here in Montgomery to enroll her in our insurance and have her weighed. She has gained 5 ounces since she was born. She is normally waking up twice a night (2 AM and 5:30 AM), but last night she slept from 11PM to 5:30 AM. Wooohooo! We sure appreciated that!

We'll keep you all posted from here so check back often.

Go Hogs!

One week old today!

2007-09-04T09:08:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures from her first week in the world.

Avery Joy (AJ)

2007-08-28T18:40:00.000-07:00

Here's some pictures of Avery. She and the Birthmother are doing great.

A Child is Born!

2007-08-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

She weighs 6 pounds 11 ounces. We'll send pictures when we get them.

2007-08-15T18:14:00.000-07:00

Today, we went to our adoption agency's office for our match meeting. This is when we make plans with the birthmother for what she wants on the birth day. We also discussed our plans for after the birth for visits.

We had a wonderful talk with the birthmother, it was mediated by our adoption counselor. The BM decided that she would rather us wait at our hotel until the baby was born. Since she is bipolar, she is worried that she may do or say something that will hurt us. The BMs mom will call us when they are ready for us to join them at the hospital. The BM is very confident in her decision to place the baby with us. She understands that she is not ready or able to provide for the baby, and she thinks we will make great parents.

We also bought a car seat and stroller today. The car seat is rated the #1 in the country by several officials. The stroller is one of those jogging one's, and it matches the car seat. We can actually attach them to each other. It's red and black with some silver, so we are planning on loading it up with Razorback memorabilia.

We got some really cute clothes from my Grandma today for the baby. Thanks Granny!

Paul and I want to thank you all for the prayers. We'll keep you updated.

Tracey and Paul
Go Hogs Go!

Latest News and Our Timeline

2007-08-08T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hey!

Paul signing in for the first time here.

As some of you may have known, the BM and her family were really stressing out about the BFs rights in the adoption. They were worried that he would somehow be able to take the baby away from us after we had taken custody. This was such a significant worry for them that when they talked to us about the adoption they would always add, "if this whole thing works out." They spoke with an adoption lawyer today who assured them that the BF will have no say in what happens to the baby. He will be considered to have abandoned the baby and BM since he hasn't provided any support, financial or otherwise. They were so excited that they immediately called Tracey and told her she was going to have a baby and she needed to start buying baby stuff.

On separate but related news, we are moving to Hurlburt Field, Florida. I have to report to my new squadron by 31 Oct 07. We are planning a househunting (we plan to buy for the first time) trip from 22 Aug to 27 Aug. Most of you know that the BM is due for a C-Section on 28 Aug. After that, once the interstate compact is completed, we are going to try to make it to Arkansas for a couple of days before returning to NC to complete our move to Florida. We have to be back in NC no later than 11 Sep. My last day of work in NC will be 19 Oct to give us time to get moved to Florida and settled in. Therefore, we will have 37 days after we return to NC to get our lives in order to move.

Crazy!

Pray for us. We are extremely excited and anxious about the baby, but we've got a lot of other stressors on us.

Go Hogs Go!

Chowing down

2007-07-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

This was a picture of our visit to Alabama. We were eating cajun style shrimp, corn, and potatoes. The birthmother is on the left in black her dad is at the head of the table and her mom is sitting by Paul. This is going to be a long month. I'm glad that we have friends praying us. Thank you! It means a lot.

The Visit

2007-07-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

We drove to Alabama on Friday. We had dinner with the birthmother and the birthgrandmother and after dinner they showed us where the hospital was. The next day they invited us to their house. We stayed from 3 until 10:30. We had a really good visit. It was as if we had known them our entire lives; as if they were already family. By the end of the visit, they said that we would be perfect parents for the baby. They said that we seemed like part of the family. The birthgrandmother said that it will be like one of their kids having a baby and then moving away. She told us that she wanted to make sure that the house was really clean so we would would to come back and visit with the baby. They were asking us what names we were thinking about for the baby and they asked if our family was excited about everything. Then, when we were driving home today they called just to see where we were and to tell us again that they enjoyed our visit. They are such sweet people. I think they are going to call the adoption agency tomorrow to let them know that they want to "match" with us. I hope everyone has a good week. I will keep you posted......

Good News!

2007-07-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

I talked with our adoption agency today and they told me that the birth mother can place a child without the birthfathers consent. They are not married and he has not given her any money throughout the pregnancy. He can fight it, but he would have to come to North Carolina all the way from Alabama and get a lawyer here. I don't really see a drug dealer doing that. Keep on praying!!!

A bump in the road

2007-07-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, the birthmother's mom called tonight and said that the birthfather decided that he wanted to keep the baby. I guess he is a drug dealer and his parents even do drugs. As she was telling me all of this, I could hear the birthmother crying in the background. They said that they are going to go talk to him tomorrow about open adoption and pray that he will change his mind. In the beginning, he agreed to sign over his rights. I don't know what changed his mind. Please keep us in your prayers.

Visit moved to next weekend

2007-07-17T07:26:00.000-07:00

I got an e-mail from the birthmothers mom today. She said that she wants us to wait and come down next weekend. She told us that she is embarrased of her home and her husband is going to be in town this weekend and she wants him to do some stuff around the house before we come. She said that the birthmom is going back to the doctor on July 23 and they are going to talk to the doctor about how the she could stay on a another floor in the hospital, so she won't be on the same floor as the baby. She is also going to talk with him about how we can have a room in the hospital, so we can stay with the baby. The adoption agency contacted them yesterday because they wanted a proof of pregnancy. The birthmother sent it right away to them later in the afternoon. I like the way that they are on top of things. I guess the time is getting near, so I guess they have to be.

The Phone Call

2007-07-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

So, we talked with the birthmother and her mom today. The BM (birthmother) wasn't home at the time, so we talked with her mom. We talked with her mom for about 45 minutes. Paul and I both talked with her. The Mom said the that the BM told her that she didn't ever want to have children and she would rather give her baby up for adoption than to get an abortion. We had a great conversation with the mom. When the BM got home I started talking with her and it was really hard....I would try to start a conversation and it didn't flow very well. I was really nervous. She told me that she didn't like to talk on the phone and she wasn't good at small talk. Paul also tried to talk with her, but that didn't last long either. Her mom wanted us to come to Alabama next weekend. She said that she would cook us dinner and that she was excited to get to see us. When I asked the BM about next weekend she sounded like she really wanted us to come. Maybe, it will go better with the BM in person. I hope that they liked us....

Love this poem

2007-07-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

There Is An Empty Room by Stephanie Garcia
There is an empty room
In which no child sleeps
Just a rocking chair, a teddy bear,
The baby clothes they keep

It is a quiet room
With everything in place,
But no happy sighns or lullabies,
No child in their embrace

There is an empty crib
In the corner, tucked away;
The gentle light of the moon shines bright
As they kneel by the crib to pray.

"These are our empty arms, We hold them
out to you. Help us stay close to Your way,
As this valley we walk through.

Remove all bitter thoughts, Your will is what we seek.
Dry our tears and calm our fears, lift us up, for we are weak."

There is an empty room
In which no child sleeps.
But they know the love of a Father above,
And His promises He keeps.

Our first contact.

2007-07-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! We thought that we would start a blog to let everyone know what is going on in our adoption journey.

We got a contact from a birth mother in Alabama. She is 22 years old. She has contacted us twice by e-mail and has contacted our adoption agency about us. She told the adoption agency that she has chosen us and did not want to receive anymore birth mother letters from any other couples. She is scheduled for a C-section on Aug 28! Wow! We actually just found that out today. Kinda crazy!! This is our first contact, so we are trying not to get our hopes up. She wants us to come see her in Alabama in the next couple of weeks since she is due so soon. Anyway, please keep us in your thoughts and prayers and I will keep everyone posted.

Paul and Tracey