A Small Confession

So, I have a small confession... After being a stay-at-home mom for 2+ months now, I kinda miss my job as a nurse. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE being at home with Clayton. I have really enjoyed being able to plan things with him (music class, story time, playdates, etc.). I have had more fun with him in the last few months than ever before. I definitely do not want to go back to my previous job. I am perfectly content and feel enormously blessed with the way that things are now. There are, however, some things that I miss about my job.

First of all, I miss that look that people used to give me when I answered the question that everyone always asks, "What do you do for a living?" Whenever I answered, "I am a Pediatric ICU nurse." I felt like people respected that. They always responded with a furrowed brow and a, "Wow, that must be really hard." Now, whenever I answer, "I am a stay-at-home mom." I just don't get the same look. It's more of a raised eyebrows look followed by, "Oh, that's nice..." I'm sure that I am reading too far into that, huh?

I also miss my paychecks. :) Don't get me wrong, Wade makes a really great living and all of our needs (and most of our wants) are totally covered. I just miss looking at the bank account and knowing that I earned part of the money that was coming in. I never felt guilty buying myself clothes or frivolous things, but now I do. Wade is incredibly supportive about me staying at home. I know that he doesn't see it as "his" money at all. But, for some reason I can't get over that....

The final thing that I miss about being a PICU nurse is knowing that, at the end of the day, I had something to show for my work. I had 12 sets of vitals signs (more on a bad night), 12 assessments, and a child that survived another night (despite the fact that they were critically ill). Now days, I feel like I am running around all day long, and rarely have anything tangible to show for it.

I have been pondering all of this for the last few weeks. The other day, I was thinking about this subject during those precious 30 minutes of quiet TV time that Clayton gets after his nap. I was laying on my bed with him and we were watching Diego. He looked up at me and said, "Mommy, you're my best friend." I realized then that money and notoriety really don't matter to me. I will probably never own the latest iPod or wear designer clothes. I may not have a beautiful home with the latest model big screen TV or drive a really nice SUV with all the bells and whistles. I may not get the hottest new purse or wear shoes that cost a small fortune. In fact, I don't have an iPod at all. I buy my clothes at Old Navy or Target. I live in a 1900 square foot rent house. I drive an '03 Honda Accord that has multiple scratches and dings (but will be paid off in August - YEA!). I continue to carry the same purses that I have had for years (none of which cost more than $30). I wear shoes that are not trendy or expensive. I don't have any clout or a high power position in any company. What I do have is a 2-year-old that considers me to be his best friend in the world and an amazing husband that realizes that what I do on a day-to-day basis is a "real" job. That, my friends, is worth more than any amount of money or respect. There will be time to accrue all of those "things" one day, but I can never buy back this time that I am spending with Clayton. So... I am going to step back and learn to be content with the present and not to wish for the future. On the days when Clayton pushes every button that I have, I am going to remember that he is only going to be little for a short time. That is my new goal. ;)

Baby Talk with Clayton

First of all, let me begin this post by saying that we are not in any way, shape, or form pregnant. We have, however, been toying around with the idea of having another baby. For about 6 months or so we have been debating about whether Clayton is ready for a sibling or not. We periodically ask him, "Do you want for a baby to come and live at our house?" At first, it was a definite "No." Then it turned into a, "Yes." Well... as time gone on, he has become more and more elaborate about his requests. :) I posted a video of our dinner conversation below. Please forgive the messy eating and the talking with his mouth full. I will get him enrolled in an etiquette class first thing tomorrow. ha ha ha

For those of you who are unable to play the video/don't have speakers/etc. here is a run down of our dialogue:

Me: Clayton do you want a baby brother or a baby sister?

Clayton: I want a baby brother and a baby sister.

Me: What would your brother's name be?

Clayton: His name would be Blue's Clues.

Me: What about your baby sister?

Clayton: She will be Mickey Mouse.

Me: Oh... those would be nice names.

So... maybe Clayton is ready for a sibling. He will not, however, be picking the name. :)

On another note, whenever I post on my blog I feel like only a few people are reading what I am typing. I type like I am "talking" to our family and a few close friends. Lately, I have run across several people that are more distant acquaintances that say that they read our blog. How cool is that? I am so honored that people actually care enough to bookmark our blog and take the time to read my ramblings. Wade told me today that one of his friends that lives in Seattle, Kendra, reads our blog. Wade became friends with her while he worked at Vought and they were doing business together. They don't get a chance to talk very often now, but she reads our blog to keep up with us. Isn't that nice? So... I just wanted to send a little love to those of you out there that read our blog. I hope that you find our silly stories and millions of pictures of our kid amusing. :) Keep on reading and I will keep typing.

Thanksgiving Week

We spent this week celebrating Thanksgiving with lots of family and lots of food. Seriously, I think that I gained 5 pounds and I can bet that my cholesterol took a major hit. Oh well, I enjoyed every minute (and bite) of it. We had a great week! Here is the cliff's notes version:

1. We spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with my fam in Houston. My parents, sister, and bro-in-law all loved on Clayton. He had so much fun being the center of attention. :)
2. We went to East Texas to spend some time with Wade's parents. Wade got to squeeze in a round of golf with his Dad before the weather turned cold.
3. We made a day trip back to Dallas to spend Thanksgiving with Wade's Grandmom & Granddad. All the kids (Makinley, Morgan, Clayton, and Talon) were together and they had a blast. By the time we left, the kids (and the adults) were totally worn out. I'm pretty sure that Granddad is still recovering.
4. We spent Friday afternoon watching my Aggies kick some T-sip booty! Yea!!! We have a tradition in our family that Clayton wears a A&M shirt for half of the game, and then he switches jerseys at half time. We have to make it all even. :) He had fun this year taunting Wade and I. He would go up to Wade and say, "Gig em, Aggies! Whoop!" Then he would go to me and say, "Hook em, Horns!" He doesn't even know what he is saying, but he knows what to say to each of us to get a response. So funny!
5. We went to Santaland on Saturday night. They have 2 million Christmas lights all displayed in different scenes and themes. It was neat! They charge $20 per car, so my bro-in-law found a way to cram us all into their Expedition. That's right, folks - 6 adults, 3 kiddos, 3 car seats, and a partridge in a pear tree all in 1 SUV. Talk about togetherness!
6. The kids had a Polar Express watching party snuggled together in their PJ's on the couch. They actually sat through most of the movie. I was impressed!

I now interrupt this post for the Funny Clayton Story of the week. :) Clayton's nose was running, so Wade's mom told him to go get a tissue. He walked right past the box of Kleenex and was walking towards the bedroom. Wade's dad stopped him and handed him a tissue. Clayton said, "Papaw, that's a Kleenex, not a tennis shoe!" Can you just imagine what was going through his head? he he he

That's our Thanksgiving week in a nutshell! I absolutely LOVE this time of year. Let the countdown to Christmas begin!!!!

Crazy Boy

Riding in Papaw's Golf Cart

My Three Favorite Turkeys

Showing Off the Shirt That He Made

Gig 'Em, Baby!

Our Blended Family

My Guys

Resist the Force, Clay-Boy!

Is he going to make a great Ag or what???

A token picture for Daddy...

I'm so sad that I have to wear this jersey. :(

At Santaland

Polar Express Night - Clayton was totally over having his picture taken...

Smiling with Shreky

From the Mouth of Babes

I must preface this post by telling you that I refuse to grow old gracefully. Call it vanity, selfishness, whatever you wish - but, I will do anything in my power to prevent looking older than I am. Shortly after I had Clayton, I began to notice a few grey hairs. I was absolutely appalled that I was "going grey" at 26 years old. I immediately began dying my hair. I have done so every 6-8 weeks since. At the slightest hint of a grey root, I touch up my color. That being said, below is the conversation that I had with Clayton this morning. He was watching Little Einsteins (his new fav).

Clayton: Leo has red hair.
Me: Yep.
Clayton: Quincy has black hair.
Me: He sure does.
Clayton: June has brown hair.
Me: Uh-huh.
Clayton: Annie has yellow hair.
Me: Yes, she does. What color is your hair?
Clayton: Brown.
Me: What color is Daddy's hair?
Clayton: He has brown hair like me.
Me: What color is Mommy's hair?
Clayton: Grey! (With a sheepish grin on his face.)

Nothing like a two-year-old to boost your self esteem. :)

Tiny Tots and Tunes

This semester Clayton and I have been going to a music class at one of the local churches in our area. Clayton loves it! Miss Holly is a wonderful teacher, and she is so good with the kids. They got to play instruments and sing all kinds of cute songs. Claytons favorites were "Bell Horses" (because he got to shake the bells), "Ring Around the Roses" (because he got to play with the parachute), and "The Speckled Frog" song.

On the first day of music we sang a song about Jesus being a carpenter. The kids got to use the wooden sticks and pretend that they were hammering a nail. In the middle of the song Clayton raised his hand and said, "Miss Holly! Miss Holly! I am a carpenter, too!" She said, "I know Clayton, you are hammering so well." I had to clarify that he was referring to his last name. :) The rest of the moms got a good laugh out of that one.

Today was the last day of class for the semester, so I took some pictures. We are really going to miss Tiny Tots & Tunes. It has been a fun thing for us to do together on Tuesday mornings.





After "we all fall down".......... Clayton's favorite - the parachute

Hugging Miss Holly

LaJontee's Wedding Shower

Today I went to a wedding shower for my friend, LaJontee. I became friends with LaJontee while I was working at Children's. So... a lot of my work friends were at the shower. YEA!!! It was so fun to see everyone and catch up on what is going on in the PICU. I can honestly say that I do not miss my job at all. The stress of the job combined with the toll that night shift took on my body was just horrible. But... I miss the people that I worked with terribly. I really enjoyed seeing everyone and celebrating LaJontee's upcoming wedding. Congrats, LaJontee!!!

Afternoon at the Park

I realized today that I haven't posted anything in awhile. I haven't taken any pictures since Halloween, and we haven't really done anything blog-worthy. :) So... I made a point of taking my camera to the park today. My friend Janna' found a park by our house with smaller playground equipment for toddlers and a pond with ducks that are friendly. We forgot to bring bread, so we fed the ducks goldfish crackers. The weather was beautiful and the boys had fun. Have a good weekend everyone!

Trick or Treat

Happy late Halloween everyone! This was Clayton's first year to go trick or treating and he had so much fun. We went to our friends, the Nichols (see The Circle of Life post), house first. Aimee goes all out for holidays (her house is decorated to the nines, she serves festive foods, etc.), so that was fun. Clayton started out a little timid, but got braver as the night wore on. By the last house, he walked right into their living room when they opened the door. What a mess!

Grammie (Wade's mom) got to go with us. She is staying with us for a couple of weeks until she officially retires (next Thursday). We love having her here, and I think that she is having fun, too. On the way home last night, she said, "I can't even tell you when the last time was that I went trick or treating!" A good time was had by all!