Clinton Meets a New Cousin

This past weekend we ventured out to Charleston, West Virginia to see some of Rodney's family. We saw Rodney's grandma Emma, uncle Robert, aunt Cathy, cousin Jason (and wife Julie and baby Caleb), cousin Christy (and husband Brit and kids Fielden and Madelin), and Uncle Gary (and son Brandin).

Clinton's favorite was Caleb. The boys are only 4 months apart but they look a lot alike and they act alike--wild! Below are some pictures of Clinton playing with his new favorite cuz.

Rodney holding Caleb and Jason holding Clinton. Caleb is big on hugs. Unfortunately, the first hug he gave Clinton was from behind and completely flattened him. Clinton wasn't a big fan of all the love after that!


Sweet Caleb. Recognize those blue eyes?


Daddy, I want to make sure this thing isn't going down!


Oh, yes...these two boys are definitely related.



Sweet Clinton.

I'll Have a Happy Meal with McNuggets and Fries, Please!

On our way to West Virginia last week we stopped for a bite to eat and Clinton made a new friend!

Hi, my name is Clinton...what's yours?


Your hair is crazy looking! Don't worry, I get that a lot, too.


What? I'm being good. Promise.


Hey, can I pick your nose?


Hey, can we go? This guy's not talking!

My Dearest Samantha....

My Dearest Samantha,

I just wanted to let you know that I will be leaving town this afternoon and will not return until Sunday. Therefore, there will once again, not be a "Favorite Things Friday" post. There will also not be any new posts of Clinton until Sunday. It is my hope that you will survive without my words of wisdom, bits of entertainment, and occasional blog whining. I am certain that if you put your mind to it you will be able to find something to do to pass the time. My guess is that since you have TWO children under the age of TWO, that you will be plenty busy.

However, if you really need something to do you can contact your friend who left the comment on your blog about parents using leashes on their children, and inform her that I am not a bad parent but that it is for the safety of my child who chooses not to listen, quite often refuses to be strapped into a stroller, and loves to dart in front of moving objects. I'm sure she'll understand.

While I have written all of this jokingly and sarcastically, I really do hope that you have a fabulous weekend and that my lack of blogging has not ruined another Friday night!

All My Love,
Courtney

Lifestyles of the Glamorous

There are so many "glamorous" things you add to your home when a little one arrives.

There's the wing-backed reading chair that gets replaced by a baby swing. The breakfast nook becomes a little more cramped with a bulky high chair. The master bedroom gets a bassinet next to the bed...so romantic. And somewhere else throughout the house room is made for an exersaucer, a jumpster, a bumbo, an activity playmat, OODLES of toys...oh, and all the stuff that fills the nursery.

But none of it seems to be as glamorous as the baby pool. A VERY brightly colored, VERY large piece of inflatable plastic that doesn't really have a place in the yard. NO place. It doesn't look like it belongs anywhere, and believe me I've tried several places....it just looks out of place wherever you put it. And the best part is, it leaves a big circle of dead grass...which is devastating to a certain unnamed man who takes great pride in maintaining a perfect lawn in order to keep up with the neighbors.

But we live with the obnoxious color and the oversized annoyance AND the death of our beloved fescue, in order to bring the joy you see below. Both Clinton and Gracie think the pool is a little piece of heaven, so in turn, we can look past all the ugliness and appreciate the beauty it brings to us.

And, yes, my child is fully dressed with shoes and all...

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Clinton loves to do everything we're doing.

He will only eat with a fork. He begs to drink from water bottles (or whatever glass I'm drinking from). He likes to wear Rodney's "ha-ta" (hats). He gets so excited to sit in our lap if we're just backing the car out of the garage into the driveway. If I'm sweeping, he's sweeping. And as seen in previous posts, he likes to play golf and wash the car like Rodney.

He also LOVES to type on the computer like mommy! Rodney and I were upstairs in the family room the other night rubbing each other's feet and watching HGTV (I'm obsessed with it right now), and we noticed Clinton had gotten awfully quiet. We both realized it about the same time and turned around to find this...





...such a goof.

Please excuse the mess in the picture. This particular part of the room is "under construction".

4th of July - Cont'd

These are the pics from our 1st party. Our friend Alison threw another wonderful bash with lots of yummy food! There were lots of kids and Clinton loved being in the middle of them all! As you can see from the pictures, he had no problem making friends. He even had one special girl, Maguire, who became quite attached to him. This isn't the first time Maguire has shown him a lot of love...at Halloween, when she was a peacock and he was a skunk, they were quite enamored with each other. Click here to see those adorable pics.

Favorite Things Friday - Crisps

I'm sure you've been on the edge of your seat waiting for my next "Favorite Things" post :-), so here it is. This is Clinton's favorite snack. They're freeze dried apples and pears. There's no added sugar, no preservatives and no chemicals. The first day we got them Clinton ate four bags. Mother then informed me that dried fruit swells in the belly, so we cut him off at four...he probably would have had four more! Since Clinton only chews and spits out real apples, these are nice because he actually eats them! I like them, too...so every once in a while I grab myself a bag on the way out of the door. I get them at Costco, but you may be able to find them somewhere else. They come in these individual size bags in a box of about 24. We go through 2 boxes a month!

Better Late Than Never

I'm a little late on my 4th of July post. I forgot my camera and borrowed other people's...and then I had to collect my digital files. Whew...that's a lot of work.

Below are pictures from our second party where we saw fireworks. Clinton was paralyzed, I guess with fear. He wouldn't move and when I would try to talk to him, he would turn his head and close his eyes without moving any other part of his body.

I'm having a little trouble getting pictures from our first party to upload...hopefully, I will solve that problem soon! Enjoy these pics for now!

Happy Birthday, Marin Dalby!

A year ago today (on 7-7-7), I got a call from my friend Heather that her little girl had arrived. And tonight we got to celebrate with a little private party. There are lots of pictures below, so be ready to scroll! Please note both children were fully dressed when the party started...but between meals and spilled drinks, we began losing pieces of clothing!


Mari-D getting some birthday torture from Clinton. Clinton either wanted what Dalby had, wanted to sit on her, wanted to hug her, or wanted to pull her diaper off. We're not sure what was going on with the diaper thing.








MD trying to find some safety at her mommy's feet!


Enjoying some birthday cupcakes! Mmmm...vanilla with strawberry icing.











Washing off cupcakes and icing! We decided the daddies might have something to say about the boy-girl duo taking a bath together...but then we decided Dalby's daddy would have more to say about it than Clinton's daddy!