Clayton's Blair Witch Project

Alternatively titled: What Happens When Mama's Phone Goes Missing

Alternatively titled: Clayton's First Crack at Cinematography

One day last week, I couldn't find my phone. I, of course, quizzed Clayton on its whereabouts. He proudly brought it to me and said, "Look! Watch the video that I made!"

Disclaimer: If you suffer from vertigo or motion sickness, you may not want to view the video below. :)

This is probably not funny to anyone except for his Mama, but I was laughing so hard that I was crying. What in the world am I going to do with this child???

This and That

Y'all, I have a serious case of blogger's block. :( I just can't seem to come up with a coherent post that anyone would care to read. Hopefully, I can get back in the bloggy grove soon. :)

For now, I am just going to post a random list (complete with iPhone pics - sorry):

• For Christmas, we bought Clayton a Snap Circuits, Jr. kit as one of his gifts. It was a great purchase! He has played with it a ton! I have to admit (as dorky as it sounds!) that I have even enjoyed building the more complex circuits with him. I can't wait to see what my brainy boy ends up being when he "grows up." :)
  

"Electronical" - I love it! He has called his circuit set a "circumstance" many times. ;)

• Several people have asked me what Drew does on our homeschool days. He sits up in the school room with us and does his own thing. His Lego table is in there, which he loves. I also put out puzzles and art stuff. I really think that our days at home are his favorite days. I mean, come on, sticking stickers all over your face is pretty much toddler heaven. Ha!
  

• "Operation Share a Room" is in full fledge at the Casa del Carpenter. We haven't painted or bought furniture yet, we are merely in the first stages of a trial period. We moved Drew's toddler bed into Clayton's room on Friday night and they did AWESOME! They went straight to sleep and woke up right at 7:30. However... Saturday night did not go well at all. The unlikely culprit was actually Drew! He would not stop talking! I have to admit that I did not see that coming. It took 2 hours and 2 "corrections" before that little stinker would go to sleep. I was so frustrated! I think that Clayton was too. I heard him on the monitor over and over again saying, "Drew just close your eyes and go to sleep." Last night was better, but not perfect. I am just hoping that they get used to the idea. I am really hoping that having them share a room will work. It's just going to take some time to adjust, right?
  
• Still no name for Baby #3... It may seriously come down to a blog contest. How sad is that?!?! We have a name that we agree on and we are trying it out for now (calling him by the name to see how it sounds in everyday speech). We'll see if it sticks... I had to move my OB appointment to Wednesday, due to Clayton being out of school for MLK day. (I was not about to take both of those crazy monkeys to my appointment!) Here's hoping that I'll see a divine name tag at my sonogram on Wednesday. ;)
• Clayton's teacher sent an email out to all of the parents to update them on how each of her students were progressing. Her email was very sweet and positive. It made me so proud of my boy! I got tickled at one line in particular, though - "Clayton is very social, so his desire to socialize during lessons is the only thing he has been corrected for." I guess that was teacher speak for "he gets in trouble for talking," huh? Very P.C.
  

• We took a family trip to the grocery store on Saturday night. (Yes, we are that lame!) We were trying to imagine where we would put another child in the cart, when Clayton came up with a solution. He figured out the perfect spot for him to ride...
  

Unfortunately, I am not thinking that will work! Ha!

• I had a dream the other night about the birth of our third child. I got a vivid picture in my mind of the hospital scale with a newborn on it. The weight read 11 pounds 5 ounces!!! I certainly hope that was not a foretelling of the future!
• We are now 16.5 weeks away from my due date. In some ways it seems like forever away and in others, it seems like it is just around the corner. When I think about the fact that I still have to wait 4 more months to hold my delicious little newborn, it feels like an eternity. When I think about how busy the next few months are (birthdays, school, things to get done), I know that it will fly by.
  
• Drew is at the funniest age. I enjoy him so, so much! He has started talking in full sentences and saying things that make me realize how fast his brain is catching on to the world around him. His little toddler quirks make life so fun! He says things that I know he has picked up from listening to us, which makes him sound even older. In the last few days he has said, "Aw, man! Nuts!" "Good job, guys!" and "blue ascot." (Only a 2 year old with a serious Scooby Doo fan of a brother would know that one!) My favorite thing that he says is, "Whatch doin'?" His interpretation of "What ya doin'?" makes me smile every time. He also calls my laundry baskets his "spaceship." Watching him sit in the baskets and make his little boy spaceship noises makes laundry day so much more tolerable. ;)
  

• Many people have asked us if Baby Boy #3 will be our last child. Considering that Wade has been calling this baby the "Grand Finale of the Carpenter family" since the moment that we had a positive pregnancy test, I am fairly certain that our family will be complete. However, I am very leery of saying that is set in stone. I have noticed a trend lately of God making me eat my words when I use absolute terms for the future like "always" and "never" (i.e. "I would never homeschool my kids." "I could never handle three rowdy boys." "I would never let my child behave that way in public." etc.) God seems to be using motherhood to keep me humble and to teach me that His plan is ALWAYS better than my plan. So... no, we are not planning on having any more children at this time. But, we know that God could always change our hearts.

That's all that I've got right now, Friends! I'll try to come up with some better material for the future. :)

Promotion!

Last night my sweet Drew was promoted out of his crib and into our toddler bed! He did awesome! I'm so, so proud of him!

After he got out of his crib a couple of weeks ago, I knew that the toddler bed was our next step. Thankfully, he only climbed out of his crib a few times, and then he was back to sleeping soundly within the confines of his crib. He is super tenderhearted, so it only took a couple of "corrections" before he knew that we meant business and that he had better stay in his crib. (Oh, how I hope that his Baby Brother is as compliant with discipline!)

However, as my belly has grown, it has become harder and harder to change his crib sheets. Out of sheer convenience, we decided to switch him to a "Big Boy Bed." ;) Last night, we set up the toddler bed and told him that we had a surprise in his room. He was SOOOO excited when we opened the door and he saw his bed!




He kept saying, "Big Boy Bed, Bubba!" Like he was telling Clayton that he got a big boy bed like his. Ha ha! He wants to grow up so badly, and I want him to stay small so badly. At this point, he is winning!
"Practicing" pulling up his covers and calling for Mama when he wakes up. ;)
He did awesome last night! I hope that I am not jinxing myself, but he slept soundly from 8:30pm-7:30am. When he woke up, he just said, "Mama, Mama..." in a sweet little voice until I came to get him. Just like we had practiced. I praised him so much today for his accomplishment. :)

The next step is to move him into Clayton's room. I have a feeling that may not be such an easy transition... We shall see. We will be moving the video monitor into their room, at least until #3 gets here. I want to be sure that I have eyes and ears on those two at all times. There's no telling what kind of mischief they will get into! ;)

P.S. Baby Boy #3 still doesn't have a name. :( We are open to any and all suggestions, of course! I see my doctor next Monday for my usual appointment & sonogram. I'm hoping and praying that God has given him some sort of black and white name tag that I will be able to read on the screen. Ha ha!

Christmas Grand Finale/New Year's

Last weekend we went to Houston to celebrate Christmas with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, and nephews. We successfully stretched Christmas from December 17th-January 31st. Whoa! Our kids have been lavished with attention from LOTS of family members and blessed with TONS of gifts. They enjoyed every minute of the time that they got to spend with family of the holidays!

My parents made Christmas really nice for the kids, as usual! The house was really loud and crazy with 4 boys running around, though. At one point I asked my parents, "Did you ever imagine, when you were raising two sweet, calm little girls, that one day you would have 4, almost 5, rowdy grandsons???" My Dad laughed out loud and said something to the effect that we weren't the quiet angels that I remember us being. Hmmm.... ;)

Johnny (5), Clayton (5.5), Angel (7), and Drew (2)

Stocking Time

Clayton got a telescope, which thrilled him to no end!

Drew got a "jump-it-lene"! He has jumped at least a thousand times since he got it. :)

My Dad has this headlight thing that he bought to fix the kitchen sink about 2 years ago. It is all of the boys' favorite thing to play with at Gran & Papa D's house. So, each of the boys got one for Christmas this year. They were all in heaven! Ha!

An ascot and a headlight - what in the world???
If he keeps this up, he may not ever find a girl to date! And, I'm totally okay with that! ;)

Clayton got a bank from my sister & Jeff that counts the money as you put it in. It has a digital display that keeps track of how much money you have put in the bank. Clayton was anxious to make some dough, so he asked Papa D if he could do any chores to earn money around their house. Papa D told him that he could pick up pecans out of the front yard. He would pay him $1 per pound. Clayton was in the yard working for over an hour. It made me wish that we had a pecan tree!

He ended up with 3.5 pounds of pecans and $3.50 in his bank. Quite the little entrepreneur...

Thanks, Mom & Dad, for all that you did to love on us! We had a very Merry Houston Christmas!