Bye Bye Chicago

Dear Friends,

Well, we made it to Dallas and are all settled in our new house. We are so happy to be home. Sorry it has taken me so long to post a finale to our blog - we just got our internet set up here. Here are some pics of the end of our time at Kellogg and our move back to Dallas. Thanks, Dallas friends, for making us feel like we never even left! Feel free to skim through my millions of photos...:)


Thanks for reading this year and caring about our little life in the Great White North.

Love,
MC, Jordan and James

Some from Graduation:

Saying Goodbye to all our fun friends:

Jordan and his buds

All the significant others

Bye bye to our best friends the Alters (this one, I'm saving for James and Jada's rehearsal dinner video)

And James and Dave in their matching outfits

After we left Chicago, James stayed with his grandparents for a week while we trekked back to Dallas. Jordan and I had a mini-vacation in Natchez, MS.

And back in Dallas with summertime fun.

James LOVES to mow with Dad.

James with two of my best friends from both college and Dallas' sons, Baxter and Jack

James with his very first friend, Henry (they were born two weeks apart)

James and Jack

Tuscaloosa: One Month Later

Last weekend, James and I traveled to Tuscaloosa for a night for Ashley's graduation from high school (Congratulations, Miss Salutatorian!) and then went to the beach for Memorial Day with my family.

Pulling into T'town a month after a tornado wrecked the town was surreal and seeing my neighborhood with so much damage and sans a single huge oak tree was so emotional.

And here are some from my beautiful old neighborhood.

I know Tuscaloosa will rebuild and the town has made so much progress already. Most of all, we are so thankful that none of our friends or family were injured in the storm.

Jordan was in a different part of Alabama for Memorial Day also playing the Robert Trent Jones golf trail with his Kellogg buddies. His friends loved Alabama, not that I am surprised!

Lately

Lately, we have been busy. We've hired movers, started getting organized, and have even begun to say goodbye to some of our favorite people and Chicagoland activities. Our last Wiggleworms class was a few weeks ago and James and I were both sad to leave.





In happier news, we also made a trip to Dallas where we found a house! We bought a cute little house in Preston Hollow and will close on June 17, which is also Jordan's graduation day. We can't believe our time in Chicago is coming to an end already but we are also excited to return to family and friends in Dallas.

Texas, here we come!

18 Months

Dear James,

I can't believe you are 18 months old! You are so adorable and fun right now. Your favorite thing to say is "oops!" You take super long naps (and you love them). You love trucks, trains and airplanes. You give lots and lots of hugs and kisses to us and to your best friends. :) You are hungry all the time. You love to climb, play golf with dad, music and being outside. You are such a joy to us and make our life so full.

Love,
Mom

18 Month Stats:

Height: 34 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 26 lbs (45th percentile)

eastering

In posting this, I'm not taking lightly the reason for Easter this year. We went to a phenomenal Good Friday service and another great Easter Sunday morning service by Stuart Latimer at Grace Presbyterian. "Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed." I'm so thankful for this reminder and the blessing of a wonderful church in our transplant city for the year.

We did a lot of eastering (little e) this year too - egg hunts, shrimp salad, deviled eggs, Easter Lunner, Easter brunch, easter outfits, etc. It was James' first year for all this and he was in heaven. We are exhausted now and in our pjs but here a few pics.

Happy Easter!

We also had a short but sweet visit with Marie and Robert at Lincoln Park Zoo this weekend. James thinks Aunt Marie is hysterical, but who can blame him?

Getting Creative

The weather lately has been tough on Campbell Family morale.

We get outside when we can but mostly, we've been getting creative! Jordan and I got James an art table for $1 at a garage sale and stocked our house with play-doh, crayons, doodle pads, stickers, etc. It's a fun diversion to have "craft time."




I've also found that baking is a fun thing for James and me to do together during a rainy/snowy afternoon. James loves to stand in a chair and help me knead dough or stir. I made a homemade sourdough starter and James and I made homemade wheat bread last week.

And, sometimes he does get pretty worn out! This was taken after James' buddy Jack left our house last week.

One great thing about Chicago is all the different museums, conservatories, friends' houses, indoor playground coffee shops, playplaces, etc. that we can visit when it's impossible to go outside. James even invented his own indoor wooden spoon golf game. Here's to hoping that the 10-day forecast improves soon!

Happy Days

Thank you, Lord, for these happy days.