Lots to update!

Wow! Time is flying! We celebrated E's birthday yesterday. She did great with all the people and the action. I think that she just thought it was another day at church!

She is such a people person and we are blessed to have a kiddo with such personality!

Momo and Papo came for a visit last weekend for her actual birthday and they spoiled her rotten!

The weekend before we were blessed to have the Shields Crew hanging out with us and enjoying the Peter Anderson festival.

We are looking forward to this week as the Church offices officially close and we hope to fit in some much needed rest.

Here are a few pictures from her party! There are more on facebook.

Tough stuff

Hello All,

The last few weeks have been very tough. We have had four different families lose love ones and this week was the 1 year anniversary for another family who lost their only son. So, we have been grieving with our Mo Family as they grieve.

These weeks are tough emotionally but also tough physically. We still have other work things that we must do, we still have weekend services to handle and we still have to manage our families. I am grateful that I work with such a good team.

The weather is beautiful here, so we have been trying to enjoy it when we can. It is also very refreshing to be out in it.

Party planning has begun for Elliott's birthday. We are hosting an Elliott and Elmo party. I have decided to make most of her party crafts, so the fun has begun! Who knew crafting could be so fun?!? Pictures to come soon!

Elliott is just growing and learning everyday. She is close to walking but not quite there. She will take a step, but that is it. She knows the word oops now too. She dropped her toy in the bathtub the other night and said "oop". Soo cute!!

I'll post videos and pictures soon.

We are ok!

Texas Peeps,

I know the national news is making it sound like we are in horrible weather, but we are not! It is just a lot of rain and some wind. So, no worries!

Shaun and I have been super busy as we just finished hosting a marriage conference at the church as well as preparing for the launch of the City, weekend services, and several funerals, births, and weddings.

We are rejoicing with our Pastor Dustin and his wife as they recently adopted a newborn baby boy, Rhett. A journey that began 15 years ago for them. He is perfect and healthy and was born in Texas, so he is one of us! ;-)

Elliott is great. More interested in Rhett's puppy Zoey than in Rhett, she just a bundle of energy. She has several words that she can say, daddy, mama, tree, and dog. Although, dog is her favorite.

I will update more when thinks slow down. But, check out this video of some of my kiddos sharing their faith story. This is why we do what we do and why we are so blessed to be used by Him!

Love,

Jessica

Mosaic Kids Video from Mosaic Church on Vimeo.

First bite of lebanese food

E tried her first bite of lebanese food Saturday. I made yubra. I made WAY too much by the way and ended up with 3 pots full of them! No worries though, Shaun has eaten all of them minus a few that were shared with friends.

I even had leban. Elliott tried it with that and I think it was too sour for her. After her first bite, we tried it without it and she loved it! As Jidi always says....enjoy! Saute?!?

First bite yubra from Jessica Campbell on Vimeo.

Almost 9 Months!

Here are a few recent pictures of Elliott. She is just learning and growing every day! She will be 9 months old on the 13th. This time has just flown by much too quickly!

She is improving on her walking skills, not really stepping by herself, but running when in her walker and walking with help from us. She keeps trying to stand up when crawling and has almost mastered it!

We are adventuring into the world of real solid foods and so far eggs, toast, Lebanese food, squash, sweet potatoes and bananas have all been a success! She still only has her 2 front bottom teeth, but her top gums are very swollen and white. The Dr. thinks her top teeth will be coming soon.

Enjoy!
JessicaSunday night at church. Sundays are so hard on her, but she is a trooper!
Her footed monkey pjs that were big last month now fit. She is wearing 18 month size clothing now and just keeps growing!
First bite of real bananas.....yummo!

Coupon Drama

So,

We have come to realize that kids are very expensive! We have traded Shaun's truck for an even more used vehicle to try to drop some car debt and are looking for ways to save more money. The County Tax office messed up our warranty deed filing causing our house payment to go up $300.00 a month until we can refile in January! Add this to the cost of gas, food, electricity, and day care and we had to do something!

Shaun is teaching spin classes to keep himself healthy. Since heart disease seems to run in his family, he had to vow to keep healthy and try to live longer than some of the other men in his family. This also adds a little extra income a month. I am counseling clients on Wednesdays and Thursdays trying to finish my hours for LPC and to earn a little extra. Problem with counseling clients here in MS is that they want things for free and since I work for Mosaic, it is a fine line that I walk. Average rate for counseling is $100-125.00 per session. I charge $50.00 and offer some discounts for extreme needs. People still complain and I even had one person go through the session and then tell me they couldn't pay that day!

So, I took a class on couponing in effort for us to save money. So, I have started the new adventure. Now, when I talk about this, I am not talking extreme couponing like on TV. That isn't real and as a counselor, I think it borders on being a disorder! But, I learned the right way and easy way to try to save my family money on things that we already buy. MY first trip was an utter fail. They were out of everything I needed and Shaun was with me, so time was very limited as he is very impatient when it comes to shopping. I didn't give up though and my other trips have been much better! I have saved over $100 thus far! I even got diapers for $1.50! If you want to learn more, email me and I will send you the how tos!

We knew coming to start Mosaic would require us to sacrifice. And we are grateful for the blessings that have come through this time. There has been and will continue to be a call for us to sacrifice emotionally, physically, and financially. But, we are learning the joy that comes with this.

We are looking forward to taking some time to rest and recoop. Most of you know that my health has been challenged recently and I have been ordered to slow down and rest. In fact, I have been ordered to not sing or talk for longer than 10 minutes at a time due to the stress on my chords. I am grateful that my recent trip to the ER was simple and grateful that the Dr. was a Mosaic member whose wife is one of my volunteers. He gave me a steroid shot for my voice and even checked up on me during the week to make sure my migraine was under control. God provides!

On to Elliott news!

She is still battling ear infections but that will be common for her until teething ends. She is over 22 lbs now and wearing 12 month clothing and some 18 month clothing. She is quite the dare devil and loves to try new things and explore. She has the bruises to prove it too! She is standing on her own and not holding onto the couch more and more. She walks the furniture and the other day she let go, turned around to face the TV and took a step before falling. She still LOVES music. To the point that she has started what we call singing to the music on her shows. Her favorite show is Sesame Street and Little Einsteins. She is kind of over the Mickey Mouse Club.

She LOVES being in the center of everything. At church, I hold her during between services and she is our youngest volunteer as she helps greet everyone when they arrive. She absolutely loves it! She has been over at Mo Kids with the Older Kids and she loves being there too. She just laughs and crawls after the other kiddos. Because she is advanced for her age, at her daycare, they moved her to the bigger babies room two weeks ago. This was tough on me! She still is adjusting and so am I! WE are about to move her into the bigger baby room at church as well.

About 2 weeks ago, she suddenly realized that she liked her Daddy too. It was like a switch went off and she realized that there was another person besides Mom who loves her and is fun to be with. She lights up when she sees him now and doesn't have to be with Mommy all the time anymore. She is funny because Daddy usually gives her the bath and Mommy usually gets up at night with her. So, in the bath tub, she says Da, Da, Da, Da, Da. When she wakes up, she stands in her crib and says Ma, Ma, Ma. She was so confused when I gave her a bath! It is so fun to watch her play with her Daddy!

She has suddenly changed her food habits. She has always eaten everything and anything. Last week, she started yelling and turning her head if she didn't like the food and rejected some of the regular foods that we have been feeding her. She is in Stage 3 Foods. I have been feeding her yogurt regularly. It helps with the antibiotics and although she seemed to have a milk allergy as a newborn, the yogurt hasn't affected her. Next week, we are going to start feeding her more regular food like pastas, cheese, fresh cooked veggies. I have a ton of baby food to work through as we start this process.

I am just amazed more and more with her on a daily basis. I hope that y'all will get to see her in person soon. Feel free to come visit!

I am attaching a video of her in the crib the other morning. You can hear her new skill which is clicking her tongue and spit bubbles!

E 8.3.11 from Jessica Campbell on Vimeo.

Elliott Climbing the TV

E climbing the tv from Jessica Campbell on Vimeo.

Blog update...sorry for the delay!

Wow! I knew it had been awhile since I blogged, but didn't realize it had been over 2 months!!

This time of year is really the craziest for me as we gear up for Extreme Week and all the things that we plan to launch in the Fall.

Let's see if I can recap the last two months...

Had a birthday.
E is now 8 months old!

She is walking the couch and getting very brave and letting go. She takes steps when I hold her hand and walk with her. She has had several ear infections due to the teething. She now has 2 bottom teeth and a 3rd possibly coming in soon. Currently, she has strep throat and a double ear infection. The Dr. isn't talking about putting in tubes just yet. She wants to wait until the majority of her teeth come in.

She is talking up a storm! She says Mama and Dada and knows that means us. We have started working on baby sign language and of course in true Daddy fashion, our first sign is the sign for eat! She is eating third stage foods now and yogurt. So far, she is doing really well with the yogurt, despite the fact that she is on soy formula due to a reaction to milk based formula when she was a newborn. So, we think that she has outgrown the allergy. Thank goodness!

Our work world is keeping us both on our toes as always. Our recent event for the kids and their families served 200 kids! We had 175 faithful volunteers and the week was a huge success! Of course my friend from Texas was gracious enough to come down and be a part. Steph co wrote the drama and she plays a mean electric guitar! She also acts as my eyes and ears and helps me in so many ways. Shaun and I are blessed to have her as part of our crazy family!

We invite the kids to attend the weekend services with their families as a way to connect the families to the church and let the kids be a part of the weekend services. This weekend was the third largest weekend in our history! Falling just behind our Easter services in attendance! That is awesome news because it means that our goal for outreach was accomplished!

Shaun is preaching the service the next two weekends and begins our series on doctrine, what we believe. Should be a great series! And then onto the launch of our Community and Social network, the City. More to come on that later;-)

I will try to post picts and video later...but for now off to tend to a sweet baby!