Recruitin'

Matthew was contacted this week by the University of Georgia Athletic Association.
They need his help, and they need it today. The busiest shopping day of the year.
The Athletic Association's employee Christmas list will most likely be shorter this year, so they don't need Matthew's help shopping for presents. They need his help scouting talent.
The holiday shopping season affords the opportunity to review a large group of people in a unique setting. Reports seem to indicate that this economy coupled with the deep holiday discounts will result in the type of agressive attitude that is highly valued on the football field. The Dawgs needs help at every position. But as Matthew makes his way through the malls and shopping centers of Eastern Georgia and Western Carolina he has been tasked with looking for talent to fulfill specific roles. Again, instructions are that talent is the key, and the age or gender of the prospective football players is not an issue.
Defensive tackle prospects are most likely to be found in the appliance section. Heavy lifting demonstrates both the lower and upper body strength necessary for the position. Additionally, anyone with a rear end more narrow than a nearby 42" LCD TV would not have the body type that could stop the run or pressure the quarterback in the SEC.
Safety is another position Matthew will be looking for while he is out and about. The key to this recruit would be an ability to keep the action in front of them and not allowing their rival patrons behind them. Also must be able to execute the procurement of items and not let go under pressure.
Finally, quarterback. Decision making is the number one priority. Matthew will not even bother to scout players in the sections with high-end items. A willingness to give away money will translate in a willingness to give away the football. Matthew must find a prospect that is able to read the retail employees and react to exploit their weakness. They might have to employ various tactics, depending on the sale situation.

There are some who might read this post with a skeptical eye. After all, Matthew has only been alive for 10 weeks of the current football season. But he has seen all he needs to, and is more than happy to help his daddy's alma mater. His parents have no doubt that he will do a great job, certainly better than some of those currently being paid to evaluate talent. Besides as his family will gladly tell you, He's Gifted!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is Thanksgiving week and Matthew is looking forward to one thing....

No, not that...

Or that.
He is looking forward to spending time with the Whittle and Dunaway family!
Although the addition of the rice cereal to his diet has taught Matthew how to gobble, he doesn't yet know anything about turkeys. Matthew also doesn't realize that he has two turkeys in training.

Next year they might look more like this.

The Campbell family has certainly been blessed. This year they have so much to be Thankful for!
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody.

Final 2009 Home Game

The Georgia Bulldogs are playing the Kentucky Wildcats this weekend.
The game is late, hopefully Matthew can stay awake to watch.

The view from last week's night game.

Please consider the remainder of this post a Choose Your Own Adventure Edition.
If Georgia wins the game Saturday, head upstairs and look at Matthew's picture below.

Woof, Woof, Woof!

If Georgia loses a close, heart-breaker, turn back to the living room and look at the next picture.

Awww, Better Luck next time Guys!

If Georgia happens to lose in a blow-out,
storm outside and let the neighbors hear you follow Matthew's lead in the final picture.

What are you doing!

Regardless of what happens, Go Dawgs!

Two Months!

Matthew Garrett Campbell is two months old today!

He went to the doctor for his check-up.
Matthew is now 23 inches long and just a couple of gumdrops under 11 lbs; he weighs 10 pounds, 12.5 ounces. He is a growing little boy.

The doctor said that he can also start to have some cereal in his bottle at night. He did not specify whether Fruit Loops or Frosted Flakes would be best.  Undoubtedly, Matthew will enjoy either.

People in the know say that the cereal should help him sleep longer too.

What dreams may come

Fun Stuff

Matthew's weekend was filled with lots of excitement.
Big Mama and Big Daddy came to visit and watch Matthew during the aforementioned Georgia game. Big Daddy was so excited to see Matthew that while traveling north on the Georgia country roads, he may have broken the speed limit for the first time in 30 years. Also, the grandparents came bearing the first Christmas presents long before anyone has even had a chance to talk to Santa.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Mark and Danielle got a chance to see a lot of their friends before the game this weekend. Herty Field was hoppin'.

 The above picture was not taken during a home football game.

Matthew's parents also had the opportunity to watch the football game in better seats than they are accustomed to (thanks Lawson's). However, the game was so exciting the seats were not utilized very much due to the standing and shouting. Despite spotting the Tigers 14 early points, the Bulldogs were able to escape with a close, hard-fought win.

Escaping

The Auburn fans back in Watkinsville were in a much better mood post-game than expected. Evidently, nothing eases the pain of a loss by your favorite football team quite like time with a grandson. Matthew spent the day showing off his new tricks like smiling and cooing.
During a photo session at Miss Heather's Sunday afternoon, Matthew was not interested in smiling. There he was showing off his pouting and crying skills. He was much more cooperative for the previous photo-op with Heather when he was still in utero. Based on the previous pictures, Matthew will undoubtedly look fantastic in the pictures that were taken. As soon as pictures from that session are available they will be posted here.

Guys Night

Thursday evening Matthew's mama had a opportunity to spend an evening out of the house with her friends. That left Matthew at home with his father.
Thankfully, Robert Lewis, whose wife was out with Danielle, brought by pizza from Depalma's and a Guy's Night was in full effect.

After a few short hours listening to Man Stories, Matthew's life was improved. His knowledge base about important things like hunting, guns, money, travel, etc. was drastically expanded.

There was no girly talk, or any estrogen influence what-so-ever; with the exception of  the bottle of breast milk around 7 p.m. (estrogen is not all bad).
As a by-product of an evening with the guys, Matthew's appetite has increased as well.
This is in addition to a little bit of football Thursday night, with a full weekend of football ahead.
Now that Matthew is 8 weeks old, he should probably have this type of evening more often.

Busted

Despite the fact that he sleeps frequently, Matthew does not like to sleep. The more alert and aware he becomes, the more he fights the siren song of slumber. Some might speculate that he is afraid he is going to miss something, others might say he is just being stubborn; either of these hypotheses could be explained by genetics.
Actually accomplishing the task of getting Matthew to sleep is a job with immediate rewards, silence, relaxation, and relief. There are times when his parents do too good of a job at soothing, and actually fall asleep themselves before Matthew does. Unfortunately, that is quickly remedied by Matthew through either physical movement or vocalization.....
Imagine that it is 3 a.m. and Matthew will be hungry in about 2 hours. He is held close with a subtle bounce and the aptly named pacifier in his mouth. Matthew's breathing has become relaxed and regular. His eyelids have finally closed and his limbs are no longer tense. Then, just as you lay him down, his eyes spring open like search lights on a prison yard during an escape.

The freedom that sleep provides is doomed.
You've been busted.
It's going to be a long night.

Family Feud

It is Georgia - Auburn game week!

The football game between the Bulldogs and the Tigers is Saturday night in Athens. Big Mama already came up last Saturday to watch Matthew so that Danielle could attend her first Georgia game of the year.

This Saturday, Matthew will be outnumbered at home as Big Mama, Big Daddy, and Cousin Campbell Ann (all Auburn fans) will be with Matthew; while Mark, Danielle, and Haley go to the stadium where the Georgia fans will have the crowd advantage.

Hopefully everybody has a great time! The Dawgs look to get after Auburn and keep the War Eagle shouts to a minimum. At the end of the day, Georgia fans like Matthew hope to be barking instead of crying.

GO DAWGS!

Play

Matthew is more than 7 weeks old now. There is definitely a difference and he is not only growing but becoming more alert and active every day.

Matthew and his mama are out an about quite a bit. He handles trips pretty well.

Matthew also smiles a lot more, especially when is belly is full.
Sometimes his smiles turn into spit bubbles

He is also starting to enjoy his play mat.

He likes his musical star and looking at the little boy in the mirror.

Ironic Choice

After Matthew was born, the purchase of one particular item has increased exponentially; diapers. To the untrained eye, most diapers would appear the same. But some diapers bring a little bit of humor to the world. Of all the hundreds, or even thousands, of possible cartoon characters that HUGGIES could choose to put on their diapers, Matthew has been wearing ones that have the likeness of a beloved but particularly ironic one.

POOH!

On the diapers.....think about it.....
Matthew's father is 30 years old and he still laughs every time he thinks about this.

Hats off to the product development guys at Huggies! Who was their first choice? This guy?

Horse Show

Matthew went to his first horse show last week. This show was in Augusta, GA and was the National Barrel Horse Association (NBHA) World Championships.

Matthew loved it. The tractors, the lights, the music, the sparkles, , dancing, movement, and attention. He watched his Aunt Devin run on Wednesday and Friday. Additionally, he saw horses and their riders dressed up in all sorts of costumes for "Trick or Trot".

He even got to see something that a lot of folks have never seen, called team ghost riders. The only way to describe this rodeo act is: monkeys riding dogs, chasing and herding rams (sheep). Monkeys riding dogs! Wild....

Of course now he has been spoiled because not every horse show is like this one.

But he did much better than his father thought he would do, and was a happy boy.