A Look at Our Halloween

A few pics from the evening. Clinton went to three houses with Rodney to trick or treat, but we don't have any pics of that. Here's a few from our little party this evening. We just invited all the neighbors and had chili and cornbread.

A family photo? Clinton looks happy to be there.


Mommy and one crabby caveman.


Noah the turtle.


Playing with the horse who wouldn't eat his oats. (See the previous post)


Nicholas as the most adorable Elvis I've ever seen.


Casey and Collin as Elvis and maybe Oliver Twist...not really sure, but it looked great.


Clinton the Caveman with Sam the Skeleton. Sorry, Mom, this was the only picture I could get of Clinton with all his props and no tears!


The pots I painted and the mums I killed...twice. Apparently they only have two lives...couldn't get them to come back again.


Rodney's jack on the left, mine on the right. Feel free to comment on the favorite. :-)


My two favorite pumpkins. One I picked out at a local farm (love that fat stem) and one Clinton painted at school.


Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Boo,

Happy Halloween????

This morning I only had time to post these pictures, but now for the story...

I feel like I should go back to yesterday morning because that's when the initial event took place that prompted me to keep my cool and take pictures this morning.

Yesterday, I left Clinton in his bean bag to watch cartoons and drink his milk while I went to get dressed. We were already running late and I was trying to hurry because I didn't want Clinton to be late for school. In the midst of scurrying around my room I heard Clinton moving around and thought I'd just run and check on him real quick to make sure he hadn't found a pair of scissors or some other dangerous object. Instead I walked in to find the pantry doors opens, an empty oatmeal canister at my feet, and before me was an ENTIRE kitchen floor covered in oatmeal. He didn't just pour it in one spot, he poured it over the entire kitchen. My patience was already running on E, and I immediately started sweeping it up while telling Clinton, "No, no!" He responded with his own "No, no" and "Eh, eh". He then ran into the living room, retrieved his stuffed horse (which is as big as he is), and started trying to create piles of oats for his horse to eat. He was doubly disappointed when the horse wouldn't eat the oats. Needless to say, he cried as I cleaned up the piles and his horse refused to eat the oats. I was pretty impressed that he knew to feed his horse oats because this is something he learned from a video...and he knew what oats were because the day before he ate a handful of them and I had to explain that oats are yuck. Anyway, the point of this story was that I was later mad at myself for not taking pictures...so when this morning happened, I kept my cool and got a few photos...

This morning happened right under my nose. I was busy in the kitchen trying to make rice krispie treats and cupcakes among other things for the Halloween party we were hosting tonight. While at the same time, trying to talk on the phone and keep an ear on Clinton. But as usual, when he's up to no good there's no noise for the ear to hear... I had gotten the food color out to dye my marshmallow cream orange...and left the box of colors sitting too close to the edge. I had everything scattered everywhere and Clinton had been trying desperately all morning to just get his hands on something....anything. So, while my back was turned he snuck quietly into the kitchen, spotted the small box, grabbed it off the edge of the counter, pulled out the darkest color (blue), and snuck quietly out. After collecting all the evidence, it seems he first went to my favorite chair. The chair I carefully selected and chose the fabric for...and spent too much money on. There is where he figured out how to remove the lid to the food color...and there is where he first began to spill the dye--drop by drop onto my beloved chair cushion. I believe what probably happened next was that he started freaking out about how it was spreading and coating his hands. He then crawled out of the chair, leaving some tiny blue on the arm rest and came to return the bottle but letting it drip from the chair, through the living room, around the breakfast table and into the kitchen. The first sound I heard out of him was "Eh, eh" which caused me to turn around to find him trying to get the bottle back into the box...I guess to pretend that it never happened. To say I freaked out would be an understatement. I was on the phone with Heather when it happened and I'm sure all she heard was, "Oh, no. OH, NO...Clinton, what have you done? Oh, you're all blue. Oh, the floor is blue...OMG. Heather, I gotta go." Click.

I was able to collect myself enough to start taking pictures and regain my composure. He's just one...he had no idea what he was doing.

Luckily, sealed hardwood floors are pretty easy to clean and they don't absorb, so all the color came off of the floor...although I keep finding spots here and there. And you can't wipe it because it spreads the color across the floor, you must blot it. The chair cushion is only damaged on one side, so for now I can just flip it. I'm going to go see about ordering a new cover from the store where I bought the chair. The pajamas still faintly show the spots. And there are still remnants of blue on Clinton's eyes, the sides of his face, in his hair, up and down his legs and on his hands. Google says to give it a week.

As I was trying to scrub blue out of his skin my friend Kelly called to see if I wanted to go work out which I quickly responded, "NO!". I told her what I was in the middle of and she jumped on Google to start looking for solutions. Clinton was excited about a mid-morning bath but began to crawl out as the water around him started to get darker and darker blue. He's crying in the last picture partly because he didn't want his photo taken and I think partly because the blue was really starting to scare him. We had to go to Target shortly after the incident and he got quite a few stares. I just acted like nothing was wrong with him. Maybe they thought it was a really bad costume!

I Wonder If...

I wonder what my parents would have said if 20 years ago I had proclaimed this:

"When I grow up, I want a job so time consuming I start each day under rested and weary with no idea how I might push through the day ahead of me. I hope that when I try to lay out my plan for the day's events, I am met with screaming protests. It is my dream to have my patience tested multiple times each and every day when trying to get through the most simple of tasks that are crucial to making that day a success, or at least productive. I hope that I get to clean up after everyone that I work for and with and that no one notices it unless it's not done. I hope I am in charge of coordinating everyone's meals, every day making sure to accommodate all tastes and preferences of the day with no knowledge ahead of time what those might be that day. I hope my subordinates come to me with every single need they have for the day, even if it's just a drink of water, and that I am responsible for teaching them everything they must know to even function in their role, including interpersonal skills, knowledge of our subject matter and how to wipe their butts. I think it would be great if they were so persistent on what they wanted to do, but wasn't acceptable, that I had to repeat myself over and over throughout the day wondering if anyone has heard anything I have said. I want my attention to be so demanded for so much of the day that I rarely get to do things for myself, sometimes even missing a much needed, rejuvenating hot shower. I hope that balancing the budget will also be my responsibility, so that I may spend even more time I don't have trying to figure out how to make a certain amount last each month while also planning and saving for all the future needs of the company. I hope I can also be in charge of stock and inventory--it would only be right that I know every need of every person and make sure that everything they might possibly need be available to them when the need may arise. I really would like to also be in charge of logistics. Again, I like to know where everyone and everything needs to be, and I would like to be the one to get them there--just so I know it got done. And just as my job should start the second I wake up, I hope it doesn't end until the moment before I collapse into my bed and try to fall asleep while running through the list of things to get done tomorrow. I hope at the end of the day, 90% of the things I was able to accomplish that day go completely unnoticed or unappreciated. And to top it off, I expect no monetary compensation."

I imagine my father would have responded like this:
"You don't want that for yourself. You'll get yourself an education, work hard and get a great job where you'll be respected for the hard work you do and be compensated fairly. Your work will be so valued, the company will hire other people to do the smaller, more medial tasks...you'll only have to focus on what's important and adds the most value to the company."

I imagine my mother would have said:
"Ahhh. How sweet. You want to be a mommy like me!"

I say this not because I don't love my job, but because as I sat and dreamed of "what I was going to be" so many years ago, I never would have written a description like this...and I imagine there are a lot of mommies that can relate! How great of an appreciation I now have for my mother...and my grandmothers!

No worries though, a smile like this is payment enough--(although the occasional gift or compliment from the hubby doesn't hurt either...hint, hint).


Greatly blessed,

Have I ever mentioned how much I love cowboys?

My dad, Clint, with my baby, Clinton. Beautiful.

I Haven't Forgotten...Completely

As I mentioned, the second pregnancy is much different than the first...I'm so busy with what I've got going on that I'm not constantly thinking about being pregnant like I was with Clinton. With Clinton, I was consumed with thoughts about being pregnant. I was so concerned with everything that I ate, following all the rules, avoiding ALL caffeine, and forever rubbing on my belly dreaming about the baby inside. Now, I'll be halfway through my salad before I remember I'm not supposed to be eating feta cheese. I have to have at least one small cup of coffee to make it through the morning after only getting 6-7 hours of sleep constantly interrupted by trips to the bathroom. And I often have to remind myself that the reason I feel so drained and have trouble making complete thoughts, is not that I'm going crazy or falling apart but that I'm creating a life (with a lot of help from the big guy upstairs) and it takes a lot of energy!

So while I'm not giving weekly updates about the pregnancy as I did with Clinton, it's not that I've really forgotten that I'm pregnant...it's just that I'm tired and consumed with a lot of other things going on around me at the moment....which is making the process go by a lot faster.

So are you anxious for an update? Well, here it is. Rodney and I went to the doctor Thursday. Everything looked good and the heartbeat was at 155. And most importantly, they were finally able to get blood out of my veins! My last two visits have ended with unsuccessful, MULTIPLE attempts to draw blood for all the tests they run. I'm usually not bothered by needles, but the last time they hit a nerve in my arm and I about came unglued...so this attempt was a little nerve wracking. Fortunately, my favorite tech was in and was able to get a good vein on the first try...yeah!! And the best news was I'm halfway through my pregnancy (almost) and I've only gained 5 pounds. I realize a lot of the weight comes at the end, but I'm willing to celebrate tiny victories while I can.

All I know now is that this baby moves ALL the time. It's like the baby knows I need to be reminded that I'm pregnant!! I'm at 18 weeks. I'm still having problems with my sciatic nerve, but my chiropractor offers much needed relief every week. I SO look forward to my visits with her!

Ok, so Rodney and I have differing ideas of what we think we're having. I think we're having a girl, and these are the reasons why:
-Skin blemishes throughout the entire first trimester
-Migraines
-Nausea that continues to creep back
-Extremely emotional
-No real cravings to food, just aversions
-Heartburn (didn't have this w/Clinton so I'm guessing this means it's a girl even though people usually say it means the baby has a lot of hair)

Why Rodney thinks it's a boy:
-Slower heart rate

Feel free to cast your vote in the poll to the right.

Neither of us has a preference. We feel like if it's a boy, then Clinton will have a brother close to his age which I think is special seeing how close my sister and I are now. And if it's a girl...well, then I can have a bows and ruffles frenzy! Either way we're perfectly happy.

Hope I've remembered everything...doesn't really matter...I'm going to bed anyway. Hopefully, I'll remember to update again before April 1!

Could this be part of what's keeping me so busy? Probably so...probably so. More to come on this...

Fall Fest 2008

Friday was the Fall Fest at Clinton's preschool. I'd like to say he had a great time...and overall he did...but there were a few incidents.

First, he took a dive into the pavement and you can see his battle wound in one of the pictures below. He and some other kids ran into each other in the middle of all the excitement and Clinton's forehead met the pavement. Ouch.

Then after trying desperately to climb into the jump house OVER and OVER, it was finally Clinton's turn. He was the smallest kid in there and was fine with all the commotion until another little boy fell on him and they bonked heads. Clinton gets really embarrassed about getting hurt, so he typically tries to cry to himself without making any noise until mommy or daddy arrive and then it's an all out wail. (You can see this in the video.)

He also begged and begged to see the ponies, so mommy waited in line for him and as soon as I sat him on the pony, he wanted off...I think the movement scared him. You can also see this in the video.

Clinton's FAVORITE thing was the petting zoo. We let him in there several times because he enjoyed it so much. You can see in the video he loved the rabbit...and I was worried we were going to have to take it home! And I don't really think he liked the ducks.

Clinton also got to wear his caveman costume that his Bebe made him. There is a club and dinosaur that complete the costume, but we had trouble keeping up with those at this particular venue.

Let's "Talk"

Clinton is learning a few more words here and there, but he's really loving his signs. I love his signs, too....it has taken away a lot of frustration when he can clearly communicate to me what he wants. Don't worry...he's still working on his words...he has long spills of jibberish with hand motions and all....can't wait to see what he's really talking about there! Below are a few words Clinton has added to his vocabulary...and a few other things.

*Saturday Clinton and I ran to Hobby Lobby to get some of our supplies for our upcoming holiday crafts. I guess he was desperate to get something a little more "manly" around him and for the first time ever he signed "Daddy"...while saying "da da". This is a sign we've never practiced because he can say the word. But he watches his Baby Einstein "First Signs" DVD and must have picked it up from there.

*Clinton and I often talk about the Baby in mommy's belly. I ask him where it is and he slaps my belly...so gentle. I've gotten him to say "baby" a couple of times...which he does with an EXTREMELY thick southern accent, too cute...but the other day he signed it. Again, something he picked up from his video. Now we practice it because it's pretty cute to watch him sign it.

*And just today he started signing when he wants to brush his teeth...which is about 12 times a day. And he does the actual sign for it...another one from his video. He used to watch the video every morning, but has probably only seen it twice in the past 6 weeks, so I was surprised when he started using all these signs that we hadn't previously practiced.

*Clinton does not like to take much time out of his day to give mommy hugs and kisses...he's too busy running trucks into my antique furniture or jumping off the ottomans. However, when you put him in a shopping cart he wants you to bend over and hug him and kiss him the whole time...a desperate attempt at getting out, I'm sure. He also kisses my arms and hands over and over. And when in the cart, I have to park it in the center of the aisles. If Clinton can reach anything on the shelf, it is going to land on the floor...promise.

*Clinton's new word is "bool". There are pictures of my dad riding bulls above Clinton's bed. Every morning I lay him on the bed to change his diaper and in the last couple of weeks, he has been very interested in the pictures. So we talk about the bulls, and I ask "Who rides the bulls? Pop." So he says, "Bool". (Again, that thick accent coming out) ...and "Hop". He combines Pop and Hat when talking about his Pop and comes out with "Hop". Anyway, now everything is a "bool". Every picture in every book, every animal we see when we're driving, and just about anything I try to get him to eat....everything is a "bool".

*Every morning after Clinton gets his shoes on, he runs to the back door and says "side, side"...which means he wants outside. I then let him out and he runs up and down the backyard with his bubble mower with Gracie chasing behind. I'll try to get a video of this soon...it's pretty precious...especially when it was warm enough to turn him loose in his diaper and tennis shoes.

I realize not everyone wants to read a list of my child's grand achievements...but I know there are a couple of grandparents, great grandparents, and even an aunt who eat this kind of stuff up. This is for you!

Much love to all,

These "Chews" Are Made for Walkin'

Clinton loves his "chews". But he LOOOOVES mommy and daddy's shoes. Now Rodney wears a 13, and I wear a 9...so Clinton has some pretty big shoes to fill. And while he is sporting a pretty large 8, he still has a ways to go before our shoes are a good fit. Whatever pair of shoes Clinton sees first he wants...but if he finds another pair he likes better, then we sit down and change our shoes.

For those of you who have the children who scrunch up their toes, kick their feet, and scream as you put their shoes on...I'm not someone you want to vent with. My child would put his own shoes on if he could figure it out, but will still settle for sitting in my lap and letting me do it...which is one of the few times in the day I get to hold him.

In the pics below, Clinton is wearing a pair of my shoes...and his favorite haaa-ta (hat). Just before I got the camera out he was also vacuuming with his little Dirt Devil, but as soon as I got the camera out he dropped it and acted like he didn't even know what that thing was laying on the floor.




I see some genetics coming through on his calves...those little balls of muscle look awfully similar to my Grammy, mother, and sister.

Hope everyone has a good week!

We'll Call It Progress

Ok, so here's a lot of pictures not of Clinton. So, if you only come to get a dose of adorableness, you'll need to stop reading right now.

Not too long ago I posted a list over on the left hand side of "Things To Do Before Baby #2". While I have yet to do ANY of those, I feel I should note some progress that I've made.

This was something I did before the creation of the list. I FINALLY found the bedding I wanted with all the right colors...after searching for about 3 years. And I got a great deal on it, so that made it even better. I knew I wanted to paint my room that blue-gray (Seafoam Storm) that you see on the walls, but I didn't want my room to be a completely different color scheme than the rest of the house, so I wanted to find something with the cranberry, brown, chartreuse, and cream...whew. Anyway, once I found the bedding, I got my room painted with a little help from Rodney. It's not finished, but we're focusing on the fact that I'm actually making progress. I'm still looking for drapes and someone to pick up all the stuff laying around :-)




Rodney has the office in our house and I tried establishing my office in the play room, but that didn't work out either. So, I recently went and bought this desk to put in my living room. The hanging up of the pictures was a pretty big deal for me because I always have a helper who wants to climb my ladder, and hammering nails into the wall can't be done while a baby is sleeping. SO...one day when he was sleeping too long I started hammering away to wake him up. I actually got all my pictures hung before he figured out what was going on.


When I first put Clinton's nursery together, I had a different bed in there...click here if you'd like to see it. The other night while Rodney was out of town I had a nesting fit. So I changed some beds around and gave Clinton a bigger bed. Now, if I haven't mentioned how bad my sciatica has been...THIS DID NOT HELP! ...but his room looks cute. I've still got to get some new sheets, but I'm loving it.



This is another project completed before the list was made. Rodney has been wanting to paint our bathroom since we moved in. Our builders used flat paint on everything, which looks pretty until any water or children come into the picture. It took me these past 3 years to pick a color...because I wanted to wait and see what I was going to put in our bedroom. After finally getting our room together, and then finally picking a color, Rodney wasn't sure about it. What? Are you kidding me? Three years of thinking and now you're not sure I've made a good decision? Well, I finally convinced him....then we went to Lowe's and the guy at the counter tried to tell me it was a bad color choice for a bathroom. I won't go through the whole speech I gave him, but basically I told him that he had never seen my bathroom, he didn't know my taste, he wasn't a designer, and I didn't ask for his opinion. Anyway, the whole episode made Rodney question me once again. So, we left the store without any paint. A few weeks later, I found some rugs and had the color of brown I wanted on the walls. So I bought them and showed Rodney we had to have the color I wanted to match the walls. Moral of the story: If you don't want what I want, you will eventually...and I can wait until you do.

And the guy at Lowe's doesn't run to help me anymore...he always sends someone else. So, here's my beloved color and the rugs that helped me get the job done. (I actually had this room painted because the ceilings are vaulted and go up about 14 feet.

Thanks, Bebe and Pop!

Yesterday we received another goodie box from Texas! Clinton loves getting these...as does his mommy! Yesterday's box was filled with five pairs of winter pants, a Texas Longhorn shirt, two props for Clinton's Halloween costume, and these really cute jammies.

I also had to run some errands in Wal-Mart yesterday for work and Clinton started yelling "Chews! Chews!" as we were running down the aisle trying to get to the restroom for this pregnant mommy. On the way back out, he continued to yell "Chews! Chews!". I looked over to realize there were tons of house shoes hanging on the rack. Since Clinton had been such a trooper earlier getting his flu shot and had behaved VERY WELL while I ran my errands, I decided he could have some chews (shoes). And he LOVES them! He wore them the rest of the day pointing at them to everyone he saw saying, "Chews."

Last night he had a big time showing them off to his daddy! I hope I can get him to wear normal shoes again!

...oh, and he's still obsessed with brushing his teeth! Hence, the reason for the toothbrush and toothpaste in the picture.

Clinton's First Haircut

So, you may have noticed from the previous post that I finally caved and took Clinton for his first haircut. If everyone had been completely agreeable with me and not nagging me, I may have never cut it. But this particular day, I just decided to do it. While several of you posted sweet comments about it, I have to say it was quite traumatic for me. As you'll hear in the video, I specifically asked her to TRIM it. And that I did NOT want it short, just shaped up.

Well, needless to say, I was in tears the entire rest of the day. I would say 40% of that was pregnancy hormones and the other 60% was anger at the lady for not listening to me...but, hey, I guess that's what you get for $12. Our next appointment will be at the kids boutique in town, "Sweet and Sassy".

Now that a week has passed, I have gotten used to my little stinker's new look. All the silky baby hair is gone, but the curls didn't go anywhere...they got stronger! Now it's just kind of coarse and full of body like my hair. I was finally able to go back and look at the footage today and make this little video. Enjoy!

Notice Anything Different?