Texas Summer '09 - First Things First

The kids and I just got back this morning from Texas. We're exhausted! We had such great time and were sad to leave Bebe and Pop but very excited to see Daddy and Gracie! While we were on our two week venture both of the kids had a lot of "FIRSTS". Some of them we're proud of....all of them we'll share.

HEIDI rolled over....ALL the way over! She was rolling a little bit before we left. But now it's all the way across the floor and back!

CLINTON grabbed his first cactus! We told him not to, but he just could help himself. And it was one of those cacti with the itty bitty red spines that are hard to see and even harder to get out. Thanks to Google and a bottle of Elmer's glue, Clinton is now cactus spine free! (The next time he walked outside and saw the cactus he screamed, yelled "NO!" as he pointed at it, and grabbed his little hand as if it had just happened all over again. Such a goober.)

HEIDI got her first ear infection. :-( We saw the doctor Friday, started her meds immediately, and survived today's flights with little problem.

CLINTON made his first batch of pancakes. I often let Clinton "hup" (help) me in the kitchen by adding ingredients to the mixer or stirring a pot of dried beans on the stove with no heat, but Bebe let him cook pancakes. With heat. She also let him break eggs, which she regretted later as she picked egg shells out of the pancake batter. Clinton was SO proud of himself and couldn't wait to serve me my pancakes!


HEIDI met all her great-grandparents! They were all super excited to meet her and she let each of them hold her.





CLINTON pulled his first TV out of the TV cabinet and broke it beyond repair. Luckily the TV was 20 years and it didn't really matter to anyone...but it was the last TV in house. So, with 100+ heat everyday and a kid on anti-sunlight antibiotics and no TV for the last 5 days, we had to get really creative on things to do inside! Oh, and what I meant was...LUCKILY, Clinton didn't get hurt! When I found him, he was being as quiet as possible hoping I wouldn't find him (although the thud of 25 pound TV is hard to miss) and just his toes were under the edge. Not sure what to do or really what had happened, I just calmly told Clinton he needed to go to his room. He jumped up as fast as he could, ran to his room sobbing and stayed in there for 10 minutes without even trying to come out! The rest of the trip Clinton told us, "I boke tee-hee". No worries, Bebe bought a new flat screen today...after we left.

HEIDI met TEXAS...and she loved it! She told me she wants to live there one day. Me too, baby girl...me too.

CLINTON drove a skid steer and rode a horse. I, of course, missed both because they happened on outings with Pop that the girls weren't invited on. But Clinton loved it!

HEIDI got her first tooth...her first two teeth, actually. Two little pearly whites right on the bottom. So cute....and so razor sharp.

CLINTON picked his first vegetables from a real garden...Bebe's garden. He brought me a handful of cherry tomatoes and insisted I eat them all right then...I obliged, it's one of my fave foods.

HEIDI ate cereal. I didn't intend for her to eat cereal until she was 6 months old, but she would watch us eat with such intensity....following every bite with her gorgeous blue eyes...and raising her eyebrows up making such a desperate face. So, we fed her....we're weak....and she's a porker. We might start some fruit purees this week.


CLINTON "rode" his first goota-goota-goota-goo. This is Clinton's word for motorcycle. He says it exactly the same everytime, and very fast. It's hilarious. Dad has an old motorcycle in his shop and EVERY day Clinton said, "Hop! Wan go shop! Wide goota-goota-goota-goo! Peas." They'd both put on their boots, their cowboy hats, and their sunglasses and off they'd go. So sweet.

HEIDI had her first plane ride. She did great. Other than THREE poopie diapers...all on the plane. But she was happy and everyone around us loved her!

CLINTON said his own name! I've asked him a million times to say his name and he's never even responded. I've also said his name about a million times when he hasn't responded, so I was wondering if he even knew what his name was. Last night he was watching one of the digital frames on Bebe's end table and he'd say everyone's name as their picture came up. When his picture came up, instead of saying, "Dat's you." like he normally does, he said, "Dat's Kenton." I almost cried.

Enjoying Firsts,

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Ready for Tennessee!

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Rule #234 - No Carnival Rides

Anyone who knew the Creech girls in Meridian, knew we had a lot of rules. Maybe more rules than any of the other kids in town. Rodney gets cracked up because I will just randomly blurt out, "We weren't allowed to do that!" when I see something that reminds me of one of our many rules.

I often find myself passing on some of these same rules to my son...BUT I also find myself letting my son break a few of these rules (with Rodney's coercion, of course).

Our most recent rule-breaking--we let Clinton ride the Carnival Rides at the fair last weekend. Gasp! I still haven't told my dad, but he's sure to see this and let me know what he thinks about it. Eeek. His logic, which I concur with, is that they are temporary and it only takes someone forgetting one step in the process for things to turn catastrophic. They also ware down easily and quickly because they are taken down and put up over and over and not well cared for, in many cases.

In my defense, Clinton only got to ride the little kiddie rides which are very close to the ground. I didn't want to go at first because I wasn't sure what we would do at the fair since I wasn't going to let Clinton ride the rides. But Rodney convinced me it would be okay for him to ride the baby rides. (Dad, you can call Rodney with your lecture!)

He had such a great time! We had to ride a couple of them with him at first, but it wasn't long before he was a master! I was so glad to see how much he loved it! I'm a roller coaster girl myself and was hoping some Disney or Six Flags trips might be in our future...and it looks like they will! I've never been to Disney (we grew up at Six Flags Over Texas) but I've been dreaming of my first Disney vacay! I can't wait to meet Cinderella and go to the castle! I wonder how many other twenty-somethings are chasing Cinderella down in the park?

...but back to the county fair. Below are the pictures of our little adventure.

Rides, rides, and more rides!!





One perfectly behaved little sister who didn't make a peep for three hours! She was so excited about all the activity around her and her toes, she just sat and kicked her arms and legs and played with her toes the whole time we were there! She also was the recipient of rave reviews regarding her precious face and ginormous hair bow!



A close up of a cow. I called it a bull and Clinton told me, "No! Cow!"


Clinton went through the Farmer's Market which was really cute. The kids went through different areas collecting things a farmer would collect on the farm. When they filled their basket with all the goodies (i.e. eggs, apples, vegetables, milk), they took it to the farmer's maret and sorted it and got paid. They could then take their "money" and buy an ice cream. So cute! Although, Clinton was a little perturbed that the eggs wouldn't crack, the apples weren't real, and the milk cartons were empty! But he LOVED his ice cream!




This boy loves his tractors!



Me and my kiddos.


Oh, and we had to wait until after dark! Clinton still can't be in a lot of direct sunlight because of his medication and we prefer cooler weather. We were there from 8-11 at night. Our kids are natural night owls!

Having fun (with and without rules),

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Ready to go! Texas here we come!

Running Away from Home

Clinton is strong willed. Very strong willed. To say the least.

I appreciate how this quality may serve him well in the future, but I'm struggling as a mother as I try to teach him when and where this is appropriate. He has yet to realize it is not appropriate when playing outside near the street.

He is determined to play in the street, which would be fine if he would stay in our cul-de-sac. But he wants to head out the other direction and take off. So, I'm determined to keep him in the driveway or on the sidewalk. The battle lines are clearly drawn.

I, too, am strong willed. Anyone who may have been gazing out their window yesterday got to witness a war of wills for the record books. There was a lot of raised-voice-instruction, back-breaking lifting of a monster truck with a 2 year old in tow, and some kicking and screaming (by Clinton...and as much as I wanted to I was able to refrain).

I was hoping to take advantage of our perfect picture taking weather and get some cute shots of the kids. Seeing as I was running back and forth between the kids, the cute pics were limited...but a story unfolded.

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"Clinton, we're not going in the street, okay? You can ride right here in the driveway or on the sidewalk, but no street, okay?

Okay? Clinton are you listening?"

No response.

"Mom, I don't think he's listening. I'm just sayin'."


"Clinton, you need to stay away from the street. No street, okay?"

"Kay."

He agreed, but it lacked sincerity.


What followed were multiple attempts by Clinton to ride free in the streets. The mommy girl would herd him back, carry him back, or lure him back with threats of going to his room.

She thought she had finally gotten through to him, he WAS staying on the sidewalk, but...

"Oh no, mom! I think brudder is running away!"


"Clinton, come back here. Clinton, you need to turn around. Clinton, get back here now."

No response. Forward motion continuing.

"Clinton, now! You're going to go to your room."

He stopped but only long enough to look back and see how serious the mommy girl really was with her threats. Then he was off again.

"CLINTOOOOOOOOOON!!!" A few snappity snaps of the camera, and the mommy girl was off to retrieve sweet Clinton from the dangers lurking at the end of the street.

After giving the boy a stern talking to, the mommy girl turned the truck around and Clinton headed back to his home sweet home.


However, as he got closer to his house he was feeling defeated. "I must get to the street," he thought, "this mommy lady can't hold me back forever." Really? Want to bet on it, son?

As he approached the driveway he veered left to make his great escape onto the much desired pavement.

"Clinton, that's it! You'll go to your room!" He heard the mommy girl's footsteps nearing the truck.

"I'll show her," he thought. "She can only punish me if I get in the street."

He slowed the truck down and parked it here.

The mommy girl was exasperated. She couldn't punish him because he wasn't in the street, but boy, was he pushing her buttons!

Now on foot, Clinton happily watched the mommy girl's face with a smirk. He had a small victory under his belt. But he just couldn't help himself.

As he and the mommy girl locked eyes, both standing their ground, he eased closer and closer to the street. He could see smoke starting to come out of her ears. "Well, that's pretty cool. Let's see what happens if I touch the street."

With laughter, he quickly turned and darted out into the street. "I think I just heard her head explode! Ha ha ha ha!"

The mommy girl sprinted out, scooped up the boy and carried him straight to his room.

"We do NOT play in the street!!" She shut the door and her heart broke as the little boy fell into a sobbing heap on the floor.

Not 60 seconds later the mommy girl returned to check on her little delinquent and could hear laughter and "Jump! Jump!" coming from Clinton's room. She opened the door to find he had thrown the clean laundry and pillows onto the floor, pulled the covers back and was using his bed as a trampoline.

With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart she shut the door and headed to the kitchen. As much as the bottle of Shiraz on the counter was calling her name, she opted for a glass of iced water and an oatmeal cream pie to help calm her nerves. "Maybe tomorrow," she thought, "Maybe tomorrow will be better."

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Surviving the everyday drama,

Hospital Pics

I finally got the pictures downloaded off of Rodney's camera. Thought I'd share a few shots of our medical adventure.

Waiting for them to call our name. Poor little Clinton just thinks we're here to play. And, no, Clinton does not know how to play video games--he just knows how to push buttons and squeal.


Someone got their "silly juice" and is feeling pretty good. This was about the time my heart was breaking into a million pieces. :-(


Waiting on brother...


...still waiting...


Feeling completely helpless as a mother. All I could do to comfort him was order more pain meds.


Have you ever seen such a miserable face??


Perking up a little that night.


Now that's an owie! He'll be showing this off on the playground one day!


Feeling tons better the next day (at the peak of pain med effectiveness). Tractors and trucks always bring a smile to this boy's face.


After we ditched the catheter we took Clinton to the train room. Talk about a boy in heaven!


Thanking God for a successful surgery and smooth recovery,

A few of my faves...

...from last week.


I have a feeling this is a glimpse into my life in 16 years, but I imagine there will be a little more 'tude to go along with it. :-)


Clinton's new favorite toy. I'm pretty sure it's already broken.


Watching their new favorite show "Clifford the Big Red Dog".


I love this one. Heidi Sage is so interested in Clinton and he seems totally annoyed. He rarely makes this face at her, but when he does it brings back memories of me being the older sibling. :-/


Ahhh. How lucky am I? I get to kiss these sweet cheeks every single day.


Last week Heidi had her 4 month appointment. I always get a little nervous about taking the kids in for their shots because I hate to see them cry, but I wasn't quite prepared for how much Clinton didn't want to be there. He immediately started saying, "No.....no.....no, no, no." Poor thing, I think he's been completely traumatized! I kept reassuring him he wasn't getting any owies and that we were there for Heidi. Normally, he tries jumping out of his stroller the second we get there. This time he refused to get out. Once in our room we had to wait for what seemed an eternity. He finally got comfortable and got out. As soon as the doctor got there he scrambled to get in his stroller telling me, "Wet's go. Wet's go." When he realized Heidi was getting shots he almost started crying saying, "No, no, no!" He did not like her crying and was so glad when we got to go home.

Heidi's 4 Month Stats

Weight - 12.5 lbs. - 25th percentile
Height - 24 in. - 25th percentile
Head - ?? - 50th percentile

It seems Heidi is little which I'm loving, especially since she loves to be held and carried around.

Lovin' my babies,

Whatever It Takes

Bebe and Pop came to visit us at the end of June for Heidi Sage's baptism, but Clinton decided that wasn't enough so he pulled his own little "stunt" forcing their return. ;-) Obviously, I know that Clinton didn't really do anything, but he was more than excited to see them...even under the circumstances.

The first day after Clinton's surgery he wouldn't let anyone hold him except mommy and daddy....and Pop. Go figure. He also loved having Bebe around...aka "The Cookie Dispenser". And he was especially glad to see Chelsea and Turtle walk through the door after we got home. Oh, and yes, Clinton is now thoroughly confused about what a turtle actually looks like.

Below are a few pics of our house guests who were able to stay for several days...something we ALL look forward to!

Heidi Sage and her Pop


Clinton and his Bebe sharing some special moments.



Bebe, Heidi Sage and Aunt ZsaZsie


Me and My Mommy


Aunt ZsaZsie and Heidi Sage


Pop and Turtle taking a nap...Turtle was quite exhausted from all the "playing" he got to do with Clinton. Clinton really liked to carry him around by his neck. We're sorry Turtle, we promise to work on that before we see you again!


Heidi Sage and her Bebe


Clinton showing Gracie and Turtle how it's done.


Countin' down the days 'til we see you again....just seven more!