Team Campbell

Good News. You CAN Help!

Katie — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 23:02:00 GMT

OK…So nearly every post on this blog relates to how much we love our daughter and want to share her antics with our friends and families. This one is a little different.

We recently learned about yet another situation in which families have been affected by the Haitian earthquake: adoptions. Many American families were in the process of adopting orphaned children from Haiti before the earthquake hit. Those adoption proceedings have stalled due to the destruction of “the system.” Adoptive children have to remain in Haiti while safe, loving homes wait for them here in the U.S. In fact, one mother we’ve heard about was in Haiti visiting her future son when the quake struck. She and her biological child who was travelling with her made it home, but they were not allowed to bring their Haitian son with them! I can’t even begin to imagine the anguish and helplessness these adoptive parents must feel.

Fortunately, there is a way to help them. Our government can grant Humanitarian Parole during emergencies such as the earthquake. If granted, children will be allowed to enter the U.S. to join their adoptive families until the time when their adoptions can be finalized formally.

Join me in contacting our congressional representatives and our President to express our support for these measures.We don’t have to send money. We just need to write letters. A friend even prepared a form letter that you can use. Copy it. Fill in the name of your Representative or Senator. Sign it. Send it. Help to make a difference in just a few minutes.

Go to Contacting the Congress to find the links to email your elected officials. You can also go to www.whitehouse.gov to contact President’s Obama’s administration.
Fill in the relevant information.
Copy and paste the sample letter below into the message box.

Dear (insert name of elected leader),
I write to request that you support and/or sponsor a political effort to extend Humanitarian Parole and all other available remedies to Haitian adoptive children who are caught in stalled proceedings due to the recent earthquake.
According to the U.S. citizenship and Immigration Services website, Humanitarian Parole may be extended "for admission into the United States based on urgent humanitarian reasons...
[f]or a period of time that corresponds with the length of the emergency or humanitarian situation." As President Obama has repeatedly acknowledged the gravity of the humanitarian crisis in Haiti, it follows that Humanitarian Parole should be available to prevent Haitian adoptive children and their U.S. families from being needlessly separated pending stalled adoption proceedings.
Thank you for your service and for your consideration of this request.
Sincerely,
(insert your name)

Fill in the name of your Representative or Senator.
Type your “signature.”
Click Send.
Say a prayer. God listens, even if we haven’t talked to Him recently.

It’s that easy. Let’s stop looking at this disaster and wondering what we can do about it. Let’s help some children come home!

The Prodigy Strikes Again

Katie — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:36:00 GMT

Yesterday, while Bethany and I were driving to meet Dustin for lunch after church, Bethany started singing a song about him. I tried to get her to sing it for him later, to no avail. And my attempts to sing it for him in her place were unimpressive, to say the least.

Today, she picked up her Pop Tunes Big Rocker Guitar by Little Tikes (thanks, Grammy and Paw-Paw Haller!) and started singing it again. I managed to catch it on video! This one’s a little longer than what I usually post, but I think it’s worthy of a little extra bandwidth.

And the answer to Bethany’s question?

Daddy is at work. He’ll be thrilled to see the video when he comes home.

Introducing…Minnie Mouse

Katie — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:18:00 GMT

Bethany had fun on Halloween this year. Her favorite part was the costume. When I finished making her skirt, bow and tail, she wanted to wear them right away. And she wanted to put them back on after her bath that evening. Over her purple jammies.

She wore the ears each day until Halloween. I finally dressed her in the whole costume.

We took her to trick-or-treat at Crossroads Mall, not too far from our home. The crowd at the mall was a little overwhelming, but we still had fun. The in-mall library gave out books, and Bethany received This Is Not a Pumpkin by Bob Staake. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Check it out for next year.

At the end of the night, Bethany examined her loot, looking for lollypops.

She proceeded to try to fall asleep during dinner and was rewarded with an early bedtime.

November 2009 Grand Tour Highlights: Part 1

Katie — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:43:00 GMT

Team Campbell spent the first two weeks of November visiting family and friends in Ohio and Chicagoland. I can’t think of a better way to express our thankfulness to have awesome family and friends than to post highlights of our trip here!

The beginning of the grand tour was spent with my family in Dayton, Ohio. On the first day, we took a drive down to Newport, Kentucky to go to the Newport Aquarium with my parents, sister, brother-in-law and nephew. We had a great time. Newport has a lot of tropical exhibits. We saw a LOT of color and variety. It was just right for the toddlers’ (and adults’) attention spans.

Bethany watched fish with Daddy, Aunt Becky, Paw-Paw Haller and cousin Jake.

I really enjoyed the creepy beauty of the jellyfish tanks.

But one of the most fascinating features of the aquarium were the tanks where we could walk under the glass. We saw the sea creatures swimming all around us…

Including sharks!

Bethany was not squeamish about the swimmy things at all. There are pools where visitors can touch starfish, crabs and, yes, even sharks. Bethany loved petting the sharks, especially. One of her only toddler moments on the whole visit was when she had to leave the shark pools instead of jumping into the water with the sharks.

Visiting South 47 Farm

Katie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:18:00 GMT

Our MOPS group planned an outing to the South 47 Farm in Redmond, WA. I’d heard of it, but hadn’t checked it out yet. In spite of a little rain and mud (or maybe because of it), we had a good time. The Farm Tots program gave Bethany the opportunity to:

Pet a chicken. This particular hen is 5 months old. If we had been coming to the farm since spring, we would have seen her grow from a hatchling. Her feathers were wet from the rain; her comb feels like a gummi bear; and her legs are very hard and a little scaly. Pretty cool.

Go on a hayride. We saw corn stalks, changing leaves, pumpkins, lots of birds and a daddy scarecrow with his baby scarecrow.

Play with pumpkins. We were allowed to pick two kohlrabi bulbs to take home as well. (I’d never tried kohlrabi. Surprisingly yummy!)

Watch the animals. There was a pen with two alpacas, three pygmy goats, a few ducks ducks and some chickens. The animals were Bethany’s favorite part. Well, almost…

Splash in puddles! If you listen carefully, you’ll be able to hear her sing “Over and Under and Through” à la Grover.

Music, Music, Music

Katie — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 03:21:00 GMT

Many of you know of Bethany’s love of music. She sings, dances and has very strong opinions about her bedtime listening selections. She sings her favorite Sesame Street songs frequently. She even runs around the house singing into the doop-dee-doo whenever I finish a roll of paper towels. But she especially delights in Dustin’s guitar playing and calls it “Daddy music.” You’re probably expecting that Bethany’s reaction to hearing me play trombone would be a positive one.

It wasn’t.

I finally dusted off my horn last week in anticipation of joining the Bellevue Community Band. Now, granted, it had been a while since I played anything that required good tone, accurate intonation or any endurance whatsoever. Nearly two years, in fact. My last gig was playing in the pit for a Bedford Community Players production of Annie while 6 months pregnant. As I fought to breathe around the baby who was using my diaphragm as a trampoline during that show, I daydreamed that the little person I carried would someday share my enjoyment of playing the trombone (or at least a brass instrument).

Wrong.

Instead of requesting more “Mommy music,” Bethany’s eyes opened wide in terror. Her little face scrunched up to show that tears were imminent. “No, no,” she whined. “All done, Mommy.” I offered for her to touch the shiny metal horn. When that didn’t work, I backpedaled to the mouthpiece. Surely the funny little sound it made would placate her. But no. She protested until I finally took the horn downstairs to finish playing. By the end of a very short practice session, I was left with prickly, swollen chops and a sorely bruised ego.

After hearing the story, Dustin had a good chuckle. Then he helped. He sang the ABC song and pretended to think it was the greatest thing ever when I played along. After a couple of times, Bethany approved. “Again!”

But it didn’t stop there.

The next day, I offered her the mouthpiece again. After after trying to put it in her mouth a few times, Bethany made an elephant sound on the mouthpiece! Later, we put the mouthpiece on the horn, and she sat on my lap. We took turns playing sounds on the trombone. (“Mommy bom-bone. Beffie bom-bone. Ephant sound. Again.”)

As it turns out, Bethany is a natural. To my relief, she enjoys my favorite instrument. And she hasn’t spontaneously sung “Tomorrow” even once.

Got It!

Katie — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:48:00 GMT

We finally have video of Bethany walking. Enjoy!

Hiking at Twin Falls State Park

Katie — Wed, 27 May 2009 04:55:00 GMT

Since we celebrated the first anniversary of our move to the Seattle area last week, we decided it was time for us to start enjoying the greatness of the outdoors here! We joined what seemed like every other young family in Western Washington to hike at Twin Falls State Park on Memorial Day. The highlight of the hike is a pair of waterfalls with lookout points between them. We stopped for a rest and some photos at the higher of the two falls.

I uploaded more pictures from the hike to my Shutterfly share site, Team Campbell Pictures. Go ahead and check them out, no password necessary.

It was the first time I’d ever hiked anywhere with an elevation gain, and Dustin carried Bethany in our frame backpack carrier the whole way. After a 500 foot elevation change over a 4 mile roundtrip distance, we were tired and sore, but it was worth it! (Or at least I think so.)

Cheap Flights!

Katie — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 14:53:00 GMT

Southwest airlines is offering reduced fare rates. One-way flights from Chicago, Detroit and Columbus to Seattle are as low as $99!

Purchase your tickets by April 6, 2009 for travel through August 14, 2009. The airline requires that tickets be purchased 14 before travel for any day except Friday and Sunday, and there are blackout dates around Memorial Day and Independence Day. Check it out.

Summer is absolutely gorgeous here. The guest room is ready. We’d love to see you!

When Bethany Skips Her Naptime...

Dustin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:51:00 GMT