Random Pictures...

Nothing much to blog about... But, never fear, there are always new pictures. :)

Clayton sporting the equestrian look in my boots after church on Sunday.

Sweet Drew in his new outfits from Auntie Thia

Thanks Cindy - they are perfect!

We have stopped letting Clayton nap after preschool on Tuesdays & Thursdays. We don't get home until 2:15, and a nap that late just makes bedtime a battle. Today he was watching Word World and fell asleep on the coffee table. The groove in the table made for a wicked sleep mark on his cheek. Poor thing.

So Long Soccer & Shower Power

Today was Clayton's last soccer game - the season is over. :( I'm sad to say that what started off as a promising soccer career, fizzled out as quickly as it started. In the words of Wade, "I'm not thinking that soccer is gonna pay the bills..."

Clayton started out the season LOVING soccer and having so much fun playing. By the 4th or 5th week, however, the enthusiasm had faded. I'm not sure what happened, but he just didn't enjoy it anymore. He doesn't want to play again next season. So... we'll be taking a little break from organized sports.

It was a fun while it lasted...

Somehow, preschool soccer becomes a full contact sport

One last break away play and goal scored!

He thought that it was pretty cool that he "won" a medal.

With Coach Jason and Coach Kelli

Maybe fall tee ball will be our next venture. :) I had so much fun watching him play - I'm sad that the games are over. But, alas, all good things must come to an end. Thanks to all of our family & friends that came out to watch our Little Kicker! He always played best with an audience. :)

After the soccer game, I helped host a shower for my dear friend, Halie. She and her hubby, Steve, are expecting their first baby, Miss Cambry Brooke, at the end of April. I am so excited for her!!!

The shower was lovely and Halie got sooo many cute, cute things! I loved getting a good dose of all things pink, frilly, and girly. I can't wait to meet that little bundle of sweetness!!!

Katie, Me, Emily, Halie, and Cindy

Roommate Picture - Halie, Me, Katie, & Cindy
~Laura & Traci - We missed you!!!~

Maybe Cambry will want to play soccer! If so, I have a lovely pair of barely worn, white cleats that she can have. HA!

A Taste of the Good Life & The Passing of the Torch (or, uh... Lightsaber)

There were BIG doin's at the Carpenter household tonight! (Unless, of course, you don't care about rice cereal or Star Wars. In which case, this post is going to be borrrring. :) )

First of all, Drew got his first taste of solid foods! Our little man has been spitting up a ton, so we decided to see if some rice cereal would fix the problem before we asked the doctor about changing his reflux meds. Only time will tell, I guess. But, one thing is for sure, Drew LOVED the experience. I couldn't shovel the stuff into his mouth fast enough! I only made one tablespoon, and Drew was not a happy camper when it was all gone. Guess I'll be increasing it to 2 tablespoons tomorrow night...

The first bite - he was a little unsure...

Then he decided that it was pretty good stuff!

He was sooo upset after the last bite.

Please excuse the poor quality of the video. We used our regular camcorder to capture the moment, so I had to make a video of the video for the blog. Still cute, though.

The second big event involved our young jedi. Wade has been telling Clayton that he still has all of his Star Wars stuff from when he was a kid, and that one day he would pass it down to him. Well... today was that day. You would have thought that it was Christmas the way that Clayton jumped and danced around.

My thoughts were as follows:

1. Oh great, I just cleaned the playroom and organized all the toys and now I have a whole bunch of junk to find a place for.

2. I have been trying so hard to get Clayton's allergies under control (including an $80 copay on a months worth of 2 daily medications - ouch!). And now we are going to subject him to 25 years worth of dust? Nice.

3. I just don't get the Star Wars thing.

So, I left them to their Ewoks, lightsabers, Obi-Wans, etc. and went downstairs to read my InStyle magazine in peace & quiet. ;)

Opening up Pandora's box

The Passing of the Lightsaber

So, that's what we did tonight. Rice cereal for Drew, Star Wars antiques (or classics, or whatever) for Wade & Clayton, and Spring fashion trends for me. Something for everyone...

Faux-Hawks & Airplane PJs

Being the mother of two boys means very little time doing their hair - no braids, no pigtails, no bows. So, whenever there is a chance to play beauty shop, I jump at the opportunity. Tonight in the bathtub I gave both of the boys faux-hawks. Too funny...

Drew was sweet & clean after his bath in his airplane jammies.

Drew LOVES his Papa! Another Daddy's boy... what's a Mama to do???

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Tonight, after we said our prayers, Clayton said:

"Mommy, we have a new verse. All people in heaven will bow down to Jesus. All people on earth must say 'Please.'"

Hmm.... I'm no theologian, but I think that he might have mixed up his Bible verse with the class rules. :)

Drew is 5 Months Old!

It's that time again... another month has come and gone. Our boy is growing sooo fast and time seems to be flying by at record speed. Before you know it, we will be celebrating Drew's first birthday! Oh, let's not go there... my heart can't take it. :)

Drew is still such a good baby! He has dropped his 10pm feeding, so he is sleeping for about 11 hours at night. Hallelujah!!! He is also awake for longer periods during the day, which is super fun. He is getting more interested in his toys and studies the world around him. He is becoming more and more serious, but still smiles a lot. He does best on the days that we adhere to a schedule, but I am learning that a schedule is more and more difficult to stick to with. We are much more "on the go" than we were when Clayton was a baby. But... Drew seems to go with the flow and is rarely fussy (even when he misses a nap). He cries when he is hungry or really sleepy - that's about it. I am so grateful for another easy baby. (I'm sure that he will be a terror as a toddler, right? I'm going to enjoy it as long as I can!)

Monthly "Stuff" (you know, the stuff that no one but the grandmothers care about) :) :
Weight: I tried to weigh Drew on the baby scale today, but he kept trying to roll off. Apparently, he has already inherited my distaste for being weighed. HA! The best that I can tell, he was around 18 pounds.
Height: 26 1/2 inches
Clothes: 9-12 months (I put a 12 month romper on him over the weekend and could barely snap it at the crotch. This boy is loooooong!)
Diapers: Size 3s
Eating/Sleeping Schedule: As I mentioned before, we frequently break our routine. But... for the most part, Drew's schedule is something like this: He wakes up at 7:15am on the dot every morning (that never changes). Eats and then plays until 8:30am. Naps from 8:30-10:30. Eats and then plays from 10:30 to 12:30. Naps from 12:30 to 2:30. Eats and then plays until 4:30. Naps from 4:30 to 6:30. Eats and then plays until 8:00pm. Then sleeps from 8:00pm-7:15am. That's on a days when we are home all day. Otherwise, he takes his afternoon naps in his car seat while we are running errands. He is a pretty flexible little guy - I love that about him.
Developmental Milestones: No major monthly milestones this month. He still loves to be upright! His exersaucer is his favorite place to be - he will study the toys on there for long stretches of time. He still loves his Bumbo and plays with toys in there during awake times, also.
"Firsts": First time in the church nursery (for Mom to Mom on 2/27), First Sunday in the church nursery (3/1), First walk sitting up like a big boy in the stroller (without his car seat/carrier 3/8), First trip to the Arboretum (3/9)

Going for a Walk "Big Boy" Style

5 Month Monkey Picture

Drew decided that he would rather chew on the monkey than smile. :)

There's my happy boy...
Concentrating on making the animal sounds

Happy in his exersaucer

He hasn't quite gotten the hang of the Johnny Jump Up, but he still likes chillin' out in there.

Video from this morning - He loves smiling at his Mama, that is until his brother is in sight. :)

No one can make Drew laugh like Clayton can! (Clayton fake laughs and Drew thinks it is funny! Apparently, Clayton can only keep up the fake laugh for so long. HA!)

Sweet Drew,

You are changing so much every day! It is such a joy to watch you change and grow right before my very eyes. You have become much more interactive this month, and that makes life even more fun. You are so laid back and easy going - perfect for our family! God picked the perfect baby for us, and for that, I am eternally grateful. I am soaking up every minute of your infancy and LOVE each new day more than the one before.

Love you to pieces,

Mommy

Clayton is Home & Ashley's Shower

Clayton came home on Saturday morning! It was so good to see his sweet little face run into my bedroom shouting, "Mama! Mama!!" I almost cried because I was so happy to see that little stinker. :) It was wonderful to have a little "Mommy break," but absence sure does make the heart grow fonder. This Mama hen is glad to have all of her peeps under the same roof again! Thanks Marsha and Terry for taking good care of our boy. He had a ball, and we really appreciated the chance to get stuff done around the house!

We all watched Franklin this morning together - one big happy family. :)

Clayton was squishing Drew and hugging him a little too hard. When I scolded him, he said, "I'm just givin' him some brotherly love. He missed me!"

On Saturday afternoon, my mother-in-law, sister-in-law and I all threw a wedding shower for Jay & Ashley. It was fun to see extended family and friends that we don't get to see very often. Several of the guests were sweet to admit that they are "blog stalkers" and follow our blog. I always love hearing that! It makes my heart so happy to know that people care enough to take time out of their busy day to look at pictures of our kids and read my crazy ramblings. :)

It was a fun shower, and Jay & Ashley got some lovely things. We are looking forward to their June nuptials - it is sure to be a beautiful wedding. Can't wait!

Marsha, Ashley, Leigh Ann & I

The Post in Which I Had a Horrible Idea...

Man, do I ever miss my Clay-boy! The house is painfully quiet and I keep thinking of activities that we could be doing together outside in this beautiful weather. But... he is having a fun time with his Grammie & Papaw. He caught 2 fish that were "bigger than Grammie's hand, but not as big as Papaw's" and playing outside in the "forest." They have lots of trees and room to roam. He's having a ball, I'm sure.

And... with only 1 kiddo, Wade and I have gotten a lot done around the house. We had a long list of things that we wanted to do this week - things that are hard to do with our sweet (but VERY energetic) big boy around. The biggest project that we (we, meaning mostly me, of course :) ) wanted to complete was painting our playroom.

I have been thinking about what I wanted to do for awhile now. I wanted something bold and graphic that would grow with the boys. It needed to be fun and spark creativity, but not be too busy. I finally came up with a vision in my head. I wanted deep blue walls with green & orange stripes in the middle.

In my head, it was a good plan. In reality, however, stripes are a pain in the behind to paint. :( Wade started off saying, "this is your project. You're going to do this." I committed to do it all by myself (knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to stay away & would end up helping me). We both love a good project, and I knew that he would be sucked in in no time. I was right. ;)

Let me tell you, people, stripes are from the devil! I totally underestimated how hard it was going to be to paint those 3 stripes. If any of you are ever contemplating painting stripes, please call me! I will do my best to talk you out of it. Not fun...

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth, we completed the project. My sweet hubs said, "I'm not painting again for a very long time, so don't even think about coming up with any more of your crazy ideas."

Guess that Clayton will have to live with 4 white bedroom walls for a little bit longer. :)

Now it is finished and it is going to be a lot more fun to look at than the white walls that were previously there.

This is what it looked like when we first looked at the house with our realtor (before we replaced the carpet and moved in last March).

This is what it looked like last week with the massive amounts of toys that my children own.
Mid-Project

The finished product

We still have to move in the furniture and reorganize all of the toys before Clayton gets home tomorrow. I have some fun ideas for curtains & accessories also. That, however, will require yet another trip to Target and Home Depot....

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

from our current "only child." Doesn't he look good in green?

Drew's enjoying our undivided attention, and we are getting sooo much done around the house. I sure do miss my big boy, though. I wonder what he's doing right now.... I'm sure that he's having too much fun to miss his Mama. :)

"The only stinky part about today was...."

Today was Clayton's 4 year old well child check up at our pediatrician's office. It was, in a word, AWFUL! When I made the appointment, they warned me that Clayton was going to get 3 shots. So, I recruited my sweet hubby to accompany me to the traumatic appointment. Man, I'm glad that he agreed!

First of all, we had to wait FOREVER before we were seen. I love our pediatrician, but the wait time in his office is almost enough to make me switch doctors. Clayton's appointment time was at 11:00. We got to the office at 10:50, went back to the exam room at 11:30, finally saw the doctor at noon, and didn't leave the office until 1:00. It was a LONG process. :(

The appointment started with a urine sample, which Clayton was a little hesitant about. He agreed after some creative Star Wars themed explanation that Wade thought up. (I'll spare you the details!) Then came the hearing and vision screen. He completed both and passed both. He weighed in at 36.4 lbs (50-75%) and was 41 inches tall (50-75%).

Then he put on his darling little paper gown. It was so cute that I had to capture the image on Wade's phone...
The doctor examined Clayton and was happy with his findings, except for some enlarged lymph nodes in Clayton's neck. They have actually been enlarged for over a year (2 doctors have noted them, but they didn't seem too concerned). I've been worried about them, but I was trying not to be the over-paranoid nurse Mommy that I am. So... I dismissed my concerns. Apparently, I should have trusted my gut. Dr. M. said that they could be enlarged because his allergies are not being well controlled. He took him off of his Zyrtec and put him on Allegra (combined with his Singulair). He said that if he didn't improve by next week, that he wanted Clayton to see an ENT. He seems to think that he may need to have his tonsils and adenoids removed. Poor little fella! Pray that the Allegra will work and the lymph nodes will shrink. I don't want for Clayton to have to go through that surgery. :(

After the exam, everything went from bad to worse! Two nurses came in to draw 2 vials of blood and give him 3 injections. Clayton had this terrified look in his eyes and screamed bloody murder through it all. It was horrible! I couldn't handle seeing my sweet boy so upset. By the time that it was said and done, Wade was the only one that hadn't shed a tear. At one point, Clayton, Drew, and I were all crying at the same time. Thank the Lord that Wade was there - I couldn't have made it through without him!

We went straight to Target to let Clayton buy some new action figures with his birthday gift cards (and an extra one as a treat for being so brave!). Next we went to McDonald's for lunch (another BIG treat). Clayton was so excited! He said, "The only stinky part about today was that I had to go to the doctor." HA!

As an added bonus, Clayton got to go to "Grammie Camp" tonight. He is going to spend the rest of the week with his Grammie and Papaw. I'm sure that he is going to have a blast, but it is going to be a long week for me. I miss him terribly already! Good thing that I have this little booger to keep me company. :)

And... Wade & I went to Home Depot tonight to get some home improvement projects to work on this week - paint for the playroom & Clayton's room, air filters, a dryer vent fan, etc. Hopefully, we can make a dent in our "Honey Do list" and I will be too busy to miss my boy. We shall see....

P.S. I just changed Clayton's LilyPie ticker to countdown to his 5th birthday. Time, please slow down!!! (sniff, sniff)

Plethora of Pictures...

We went to get some pictures of our newly turned 4 year old today. (I know, I know, I'm the cruelest mother in the world to make Clayton get his picture made on his birthday. Truth be told, he loves to ham it up for the camera. AND we took him to Chuck E Cheese afterwards. That makes it better, right?)

Every time that we go to Portrait Innovations I promise that I am not going to buy a bazillion pictures. I am going to go with the 6 pose package (which includes the CD) and be done. And every time I end up with more because I am the worst decision maker in the universe and can't decide between poses when put on the spot. Oh well, such is life...

Doesn't he look sooo old???

Aren't they handsome? I especially love that Clayton's Batman bandaid is showing. ;)

We took a few family pics while we were there.

(Yet again, we couldn't get a smile out of Drew. That little stinker!)

This was right before Clayton said (in his most dramatic tone), "Drew is sooo heavy! He's squishing me."