The Campbell Fam

Jodi. Wife. Mama of two boys. Business owner. Can’t stop, won’t stop.

[thecampbellfam]

Are you and your family OK, Jodi?

Yes and no.

The kids are thriving at school. Amazing teachers - better than I could have asked for.

The kids also keep getting sick at school. It triggers me so much every time they get sick and my anxiety is through the roof.

We celebrated 10 years married this summer with a 5 day, kid free trip to San Francisco. It was exactly what we needed.

Now that we’re home I feel so disconnected though and I don’t know how to correct that.

It was a good summer full of memories, day trip, adventures, and time together.

It was a hard summer too. We got Covid in July. My Papa died in August. And the kids had a lot of emotions and tantrums, and ultimately I was not a patient mom. By the end of the summer we knew that our son has ADHD.

The ADHD designation helps me understand my son better but my heart hurts for him knowing the struggles he has faced and likely will face. I hope we can get the right supports for him.

My mental health is at a pretty low point and I don’t know how to get myself out of it. I would call it PPD but I’m 18 months post partum so I guess that doesn’t count.

Life is messy and up and down.

[thecampbellfam]

Wow, I’ve been incredibly absent here on Tumblr. Life with 3 kids is wonderful and wild and exhausting. 2 of 3 are sick right now plus my husband is too, so that’s *fun.* I want to rip my hair out at the annoying sounds of constantly sniffing noses and throats being cleared.

W is in Kindergarten and doing amazing. He is high energy, loves helping, and is an extroverted people person. He has the best teacher who has taught him so much and a good class full of friends.

J is in preschool and he loves it. He’s a reserved kid and is happy to observe everything. Once he’s ready, he jumps in with both feet. His speech and comprehension continues to be well above his age and that really helps with communication.

D is along for the ride and so chill about it. Coming with me to school drop offs and pick ups, running errands with me, and going on walks and coffee dates. She is a fire cracker and will go after anything she sets her mind too.

My husband is busy with work and a startup that he’s working on. Doing his best to balance work and being present at home.

My business has been growing steadily so it’s now a big juggling act between parenting, household responsibilities and keeping up with it all. I’m grateful to have found a good rhythm that has made things easier overall business wise. But my goodness is owning a business a lot.

Anyways, that’s a tiny life update from me. Pray that I don’t get super sick, parenting while sick is one of my least favourite things.

[thecampbellfam]

Okay, what does everyone pay for gasoline where you live? You’ll want to vomit when you hear how much gas is for us right now.

[thecampbellfam]

We are paying $1.93-1.99 PER LITRE where I live. That’s around $7.50 a gallon. 🤮 😭

[thecampbellfam]

Okay, what does everyone pay for gasoline where you live? You’ll want to vomit when you hear how much gas is for us right now.

[delta-breezes]

Alessandra Olanow | @aolanow 

[thecampbellfam]

Okay I see a number of y’all are watching Sweet Magnolias. I am as well. I have a beef with one of their story lines though so if anyone gets through episode 4 and wants to hear my beef feel free to DM me. 🤣

[thecampbellfam]

I’m so invested in the Gabby Petito case and I’m literally heartbroken at today’s news. 😭 I hope they find Brian and bring justice for her.

💔💔💔

[thecampbellfam]

Hi, I’m still here. Lurking when I get time to but time is really limited these days.

This week has been so long and such a rollercoaster.

Started off with taking the kids to visit husband’s grandparents (and so they could meet baby girl) and holy crap was it a gong show. Then the rest of the day was rough too.

The very next day was my worst day hands down with the kids. My oldest woke up sick and couldn’t go to preschool, so much fighting between the boys, accidentally cut baby while I was cutting her nails (I’ve done it with the boys too but this was the worst cut and bled for so long), I could not control my emotions and literally raged which I hate to admit, and a whole list of other issues. I went to bed exhausted from crying all day.

My husband and oldest son got sick too. My husband got tested for Covid to be safe and the results were thankfully negative.

Baby just woke up sick now too.

Yet somehow I am fine. Which is shocking at the amount of coughing and sneezing done on and around me. Pray I just avoid this mess because I’m tired of cancelling everything.

[thecampbellfam]

Jodi, are you and your family OK? I haven't seen you post for a while.

It’s true, I haven’t posted in forever. I’m better about updating my Instagram (if you want to follow, message me with your handle name and then I’ll send you mine).

Life has been full and hectic and wonderful and challenging. My kids are almost 5, 2.5 and 3 months. The older two are busssyyyy and have big emotions. It’s a constant battle to keep them engaged, regulated and entertained, but we’re making progress. I’m learning so much from parenting them.

The baby is a literal angel. Sleeps well, eats well, and is content when she’s awake. I helped a friend set up her wedding last week and baby girl was with me for 10 of the 14 hours that I was there. She barely made a peep and was happy to sleep, eat, and watch what we did.

Our pandemic regulations are finally lifting now that cases are decreasing and vaccines are increasing. While we’re behind in the vaccine roll out, now that it’s happening we are apparently a world leader in vaccination rates (nearly 80% of adults 18+ have their first dose and 30%+ have their second dose). I should get my second dose in the next 2-3 weeks and I’m excited to have that done. We have lost so much in the last 1.5 years so I’m grateful that normalcy is returning.

We are visiting friends this weekend who have two kids. My kids and their oldest were struggling to get along on the first night and I was terrified that we’d made the wrong decision about visiting for 3 nights, 4 days. I thought that we may need to leave after the 2nd night. But the kids are getting along better now PLUS last night our friend’s 1 year old had a medical emergency so our friends have been at the hospital with her since 11pm last night (it’s 1:30pm now). We’re grateful that we are here and could watch him so they could leave immediately and feel safe while they were caring for her.

Not sure what else to update on but feel free to message questions I guess. 😅

[thecampbellfam]

Me two weeks ago: irrationally angry and emotional for a full day.

Me today: period starts at almost 8 weeks post partum on the dot. 

Everything makes sense now.

[thecampbellfam]

Two nights ago: baby girl fell asleep, in her bassinet, and only needed to be resettled one time between 8pm-4am. 🤯

Tonight: baby girl was laid down in her bassinet but has been awake and unsettled and needing to be fed and held endlessly since 8:30pm. She just now fell asleep at midnight.

[thecampbellfam]

Your house is so big. Do you and your family ever go over to the parts the other families have? How does owning the house work? Are you all owners? Do you know anyone else who has a house arrangement like you and your family?

It’s an amazing home, that’s for sure! Everything indoors is unlocked so we will head upstairs to the other family’s kitchen or living rooms to say hi, make a drink, or borrow something. Our kitchen is small so some of our bigger appliances that we don’t use daily are stored upstairs.

None of us own the home, we rent it. We looked at buying but it wasn’t in the cards. Vancouver real estate is insane right now and even with money pooled we couldn’t afford something that would work to sustain us all living together. Instead we share the rent based on how much space each family needs.

We know of a few other families who have tried community living. Most scenarios haven’t worked out because the home wasn’t large enough to give everyone proper space.

[thecampbellfam]

How did you and your husband and/or family meet the families you live with? Do you ever watch each other's kids? How big is your house? When do you think you will find a single family home?

We met one of the families at Bible college and the other at church. Our faith has been a big connection point, that’s for sure.

The couple without kids definitely watch our boys and were even the ones to care for them when we were at the hospital after having baby girl. The other family with a son will occasionally keep an eye on the boys but aren’t used to watching multiple kids at once. We watch their son when they need help or a break. Generally though we try to rely on grandparents for childcare unless it’s an emergency or special occasion.

The house is 5000 square feet with a 1 acre backyard. 3 garages. 2 kitchens, 2 washer/dryers, 3 living rooms, 3 dining areas, a big rec room, and enough bedrooms for each family.

For the time being we love our living situation and are taking it a year at a time. We’d love to own a place one day but currently it’s completely unattainable. When 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom places in the suburbs regularly go for $900,000, it’s pretty damn impossible. 🤦🏼‍♀️

[thecampbellfam]

What has surprised you the most about having three kids?

As ridiculous as it sounds: how long it takes to get out the door is the most surprising. 😅 The checklist of things we need to bring is so long, especially with a newborn. My husband forgot to grab shoes for the boys this morning so we had to turnaround and get shoes once our 4-year-old asked why him and his brother didn’t have shoes on. 🤣

And once we’re out the door the fight to get everyone in their car seats and buckled in.

Leaving the house is an ordeal but it’s also great for my sanity sooo it is what it is.

[thecampbellfam]

Is there anything people can do to help you or your family?

So kind! At this point just checking in is great. We’ve received a lot of amazing support which I’m so grateful for.

[thecampbellfam]

Can you tell us more about your living situation? Did you always know you would have housemates? Do you and your husband own the house and rent to others, or are you a renter? What are the pros and cons?

We live with two other families. Two individuals who have a son together and a couple with no children at this point. We all rent one giant house on a 1 acre lot. It works because of the house and the space and the backyard. Each family has their own living room, bathroom, and 1-3 bedrooms (depending on the needs of each family). Those upstairs share a kitchen and washer/dryer, and my husband and I downstairs have our own kitchen and washer/dryer. We each have our own space and privacy which is insanely important. The rent is quite reasonable (for this area 😅) so it allows us to save a bit to hopefully own one day.

We didn’t expect to ever have housemates but all of us came to a point of needing to move so what started as a joke turned into a reality. It wasn’t what any of us planned on but it’s been a pretty amazing thing that we wouldn’t change.

Pros: having people around who care about you, check in on you, and want to spend time together. We do game’s nights, charcuterie nights, dinners together, and we even went on vacation together before the pandemic. It’s been such a blessing with the pandemic because we are allowed to see each other and spend time together, which is not the case for most people here in B.C.

Cons: living with people who are different than you. We have encountered that we have different ways of communicating, parenting, and just approaching life. Some of us have gone through some big life moments while living here which can be hard to navigate too.

Ps. We are NOT swingers or a cult, nor are any of us in any form of a relationship with anyone asides from our spouses here.

[thecampbellfam]

I have been lurking on here but am terrible about actually updating on my own life. Follow me on Insta and you’ll get more regular updates on my stories.

Anywayyys. Life is good. It’s hectic and exhausting but it’s still good.

-baby girl is almost a month old. She’s so chill. Loves cuddles, her soother, nursing, and sleeping. Not talking about sleep because #sleepclub but things are pretty decent in that department.

-my younger son is adjusting well to being a big brother. He’s always been a pretty independent kid so he’s happy to play Playdoh or at the water table or with a sensory bin if I’m occupied with the baby or his older brother.

-my oldest is having a hard-ish time adjusting. He’s very high energy and likes attention to be on him. But he’s still an amazing big brother who shows so much care for the baby especially. Like giving her her soother or a blanket when she needs it.

-my husband has two weeks off work which was so amazing. He’s now almost done his second week back to work which means I’ve survived two weeks of solo parenting three kids.

-our village showed up for us after baby girl was born and admittedly I’m sad that that time of support is coming to an end. It doesn’t help that I had a milestone birthday that came with gifts and random acts of kindness and all that, and then 5 days after the birthday had a baby which prompted more gifting giving and kindness. Gifts are mayyybe my love language. 🤷🏼‍♀️

-my brother-in-law and sister-in-law had their baby boy this week. He’s so perfect! And they gave him my husband’s name as a middle name. I sobbed when my husband told me that they chose the middle name in honour of my husband. So special!

-my parents are amazing and come watch the boys 1-2 times a week so I can work, run errands, and all that. My mom helps get things done around the house like fold laundry and mop my floors, and it seriously means the world to me. I don’t know what is do without them, especially with all the post baby appointments.

-speaking of appointments, they’re much harder during the pandemic. Hard because I can’t take the older kids to any appointments. Hard because they’re more challenging to book. Hard because they feel more detached and like the healthcare provider wants you out ASAP because of Covid.

-I’m very much back to work (self employment life!). However it’s a slower time plus I’ve been giving myself grace, setting boundaries, and allowing for longer deadlines which has made working this early doable.

-oh and the vaccine rollout in Canada is garbage hah! My age group isn’t eligible for a first dose of the vaccine until at least June. Cases are rising here, we have a rampant variant of Covid, and we are pretty locked down. Sucks.

How’s everyone else doing?