Clayton says HI!

I've been trying to get a good pic of Clayton for the last few days and he has been less than cooperative. I even tried to get some good ones of him in therapy, but he always has his eyes closed or a goofy look on his face! So this is the only one that I liked out of the thirty or so I took--maybe someday I'll get better with the settings on my camera and the lighting will be more professional.

The little guy has become a motor mouth--he has been talking our ears off for the past couple of days. I have no idea what he is saying half the time, but he sure thinks it's important!

He is one cute little man. :)

Good Monday Morning!

Report on band performance yesterday: It went well considering my voice was practically gone from singing with the choir and praise team first. Everyone clapped afterwards, and we got many compliments from people I've never even spoken too--which means a lot. A lot of people did say that at times the instruments were a little too loud when balanced with my voice. We'll need to work on getting the balance just right. When we were finished, Pastor Tim asked us if we had a name--that's something we haven't even discussed as a group, so I guess we'll have to get a name in order to be a "bonafide" group!

Clayton's oxygen flow is back to normal--praise the Lord! Only took him two weeks, poor guy. I think he's officially healed now. I hope this warmer weather scares all the nasty bugs away and he can stay well for a long time to come.

I'm going to go back to work today. You know, that job where I only work like four or five hours a week?? Yeah, that "work." :)

Only two weeks until I'm off to Birmingham for the Scrap Etc. Event. I am totally ignoring the nagging, worrying feeling I get when I think about being gone from Clayton that long. Please, Lord, help Brian handle it okay, and help me handle it without having a heart attack!

The Land of the Living

Okay, so I think we're getting back into the swing of things. Clayton's O2 flow is still high, but he is feeling MUCH better. I'm still coughing a lot, but I think it's getting better. I must say that I'm feeling SO MUCH better today because my mom had Tidy Tina and her bunch come clean the house. It smells so good in here and looks MUCH better!! THANK YOU MOM!!!!

I also have to say a big thank you to my friend Annette. I know she would never want a "public" thank you, but you're getting it, my friend! She has a big family and plenty that keeps her busy, but she still took time out of her weekend and came to visit us at the hospital. Having her visit made my day--it helps so much to pass the time. I always feel like a prisoner there and I always love having visitors because when they are there, the day flies by instead of creeping along. THANK YOU, ANNETTE!

We are Home

I'm still coughing. Brian is better. Clayton is lots better but still needing breathing treatments and more oxygen. He has a cough still too. We're pretty much pooped.

Ghost Writer

Hello, blogger world! I'm Ashley's Mom---Mary, and I've been coerced into writing this post today in Ashley's absence. As I don't have the teaching degree that she does, you will just have to bear with my grammar and spelling errors (I'm certain she will get her red pen out with me later!) Just where the heck is she? Well---the Smiths are a sickly bunch this week. Presently, Ashley and Clayton are in the hospital (Clayton is the patient, Ashley needs her own bed but doesn't meet the age requirement), Brian is ailing at home with the flu. Clayton's condition of fever and higher oxygen needs worsened so he was admitted yesterday. There is also concern of a possible abdominal issue and an upper GI is going to be done (didn't happen today, one of the testing rooms was not in working order). Meanwhile, there is a problem with the computers at the hospital that Ashley uses while there, and she is not able to view, send, receive e-mail or post to this blog. Hopefully, she and Clayton will be home soon and she can be back into her normal communication with you all. Clayton has certainly been ready to check out since his arrival. His wheelchair is parked in his room and today he kept pointing at it and his little hoarse, raspy voice would say: "Go"! Oh, how tempted I was... Thank you for your continued prayers for Clayton and good health to Ashley and Brian!

Layout of the Day

Came home today to a bunch of emails congratulating me on LOTD over at ScrapJazz! Totally unexpected, but definitely welcome! Thanks to everyone who left such sweet comments for me.

Monday, Monday

Thought to ponder: Why do kids only get sick at night and then act better in the morning and they want to play when you are worn out?

Update: I talked to the therapist's supervisor and the therapist and it's definitely over! Thank goodness I'm rid of that situation!

Clayton: We spent all day at Children's Friday only to end up with a flu shot that has had him running fever for most of the weekend and all of last night. He hasn't run fever today, but he still feels really bad. His little throat hurts and he is congested (more oxygen needed). We see ENT tomorrow and pulmonary Thursday for already scheduled appointments--they will be able to check him out real good.

Scrapbooking: I was asked by a fellow ScrapJazzer to do design work for her online store (very flattering!). She is in the middle of revamping her entire site and wanted to add some design team members. Her store website is www.noelmignon.com and for now we are posting our work for her on a blog: http://noelmignonlayouts.blogspot.com/ I really like the other designers and I look forward to working with this team--Noel was more than generous with all of the supplies she sent (and they all worked together great), so it was easy to crank out those two layouts. Look for more in the near future.

UGH!

Okay, so that same therapist is getting on my last nerve. It's 10:50 and she's not here. His therapy time is 10:15-11:15!!!! And he has more after that. I guess she thinks we just sit around and wait on her?! Doesn't she realize that Clayton is a busy guy? This seals the deal--I'm calling her boss today to cancel developmental therapy altogether. It's just too much--for me and for Clayton! With developmental, he has ten therapy sessions over four days. All of the goals she had are addressed in his other therapies--she mainly concentrates on what he would do in preschool if he were there, so it's not like he would be "missing" something. And they don't even come if school is out (breaks and summer)--so how important is a therapy that you don't have to have year-round? F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-E-D!!!

One of those Nights

It was one of those nights with Clayton again. And I have to laugh as I type this because my mom says any night spent with Clayton is "one of those nights!" On any night, he is restless, but he has night terrors or something and we were up most of the night last night with him screaming. Brian finally pulled out the guitar and it calmed him down considerably, but he still layed there and whined. "They" say kids grow out of this, but he's been doing it since he came home from the hospital--isn't that long enough?????

A Little Bit of Snow

is better than none! I sure wish we could get a true snowfall though. Guess I just live in the wrong part of the country!

I've spent most of the day snuggling with Clayton--nothing better on a cold winter's day!

Contest Entries

I just finished the Team Scrappin' Contest over at sassacraft.com. My partner was Patti H and I really enjoyed doing my first online contest with her. We didn't win, but we did get some great layouts done and we got a few votes here and there. Maybe next time we'll do better!

Our first assignment was to use a black background, at least one word of our title had to be black, and both team members had to use the same layout title. Patti scrapped a pic of her grandson and I scrapped this pic of Clayton--the title was the perfect choice for these cuties! The journaling is about how Clayton melted our hearts when he repeated the words "I love you" back to us.

The next assignment was a little harder for me. We had to choose a sketch as a team and both use it as our "map" for our layout. The curve in our sketch was totally hard for me, since I usually stay with straight lines! Brian says he couldn't believe I was posting this online because it's "not my best work." Oh well. Got these pics scrapped at least!

We had a bonus challenge that same week and we had to create a card with two brads, at least one heart, and at least one photo corner. This is what I came up with:

The next week was even harder for me because we had to alter something. I am NOT an alterer. I would much rather stick with layouts.

For a bonus challenge, we had to use the title "Simple Pleasures" in a layout. I love how this turned out (got to use my Cricut). The journaling is just a list of some things that make Clayton happy.

For the last week, the theme was pink and orange. One team member had to do a pink layout, the other, an orange layout. I am SO not good with orange, but this is what I came up with:

I'm going to be doing another contest at scrapforums.com--it starts in February. Even if I don't win, these contests do force me to step out of my creative box--it's neat to see what you can come up with when you get the assignment.

I Have a Praise!

We found a lead guitar player! His name is Mike and it was truly a God thing on how he came about. He just moved to town about two weeks ago, and he was at the music store last week when Brian ran into him. They started talking (Brian probably held him hostage to talk!), and he mentioned that he had played around with some guys in Texas and would love to play in a band here, but he really didn't know anyone. Brian invited him to practice Thursday, and we had an awesome time playing together. We all left that night in great spirits--it felt great to have somebody that could play and was totally excited about the project!

I asked Kent Sunday if he knew anyone who played the drums and he mentioned that Rod (who sings in our choir) maybe played. Charlie had him play for him Wednesday and he said he was rusty, but was solid. So all this time a drummer was right under our noses! We all meet together Tuesday night--I can't wait to see how it sounds!

Still Busy!

Today--Dad's Birthday--HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Clayton has two doctor's appointments, one is the dentist and that one should be interesting!

Our church was broken into and robbed blind and totally ransacked. Charlie's amp was even stolen. Who would do such a thing?

The Milk of Magnesia is DEFINITELY working for Clayton. I won't tell you all the details, but let's just say that he left the office basically naked yesterday because he had poop on every piece of clothing he was wearing.

I wonder about one of Clayton's therapists (she's the newest one). She is ALWAYS late or forgets to come. VERY FRUSTRATING. She was supposed to be here this morning for just a few minutes before we left and I finally called and told her not to bother coming by--she was just now coming in from another school district, still about 20 minutes away from our house.

Off to the doctor!

Today

I need to finish an altered project and a layout for the contest, go to the post office, and visit my grandparents before they forget what I look like. So far, I'm not making very good time. I hope I start moving faster soon . . .but it's just not in my nature!

2007 So Far

It's been a busy year for me so far! These are the things that I'm doing with my time:

participating in a contest at sassacraft.com

attending choir practice again

working on the band issues and practicing with Brian

working a few hours at my mom's office

getting ready for three classes at my LSS

hosting the ScrapJazzy awards at ScrapJazz (whew, that's a lot of work!)

submitting layouts like crazy to DT calls and magazines

and of course, doing the regular mom things that I do here at home

I've basically hit the ground running here in January. I like it, but I do miss my naps!

Same Song, Different Verse

We had an awesome practice last night. Why is that bad? Because James "can't commit" either. So we have a drummer and a guitar player who we love to play with, and neither one can commit. Ugh. So Brian, Charlie and I are going to keep on chuggin' along, and we hope something big will happen soon--maybe God will just drop someone in our laps to complete our group!

YEAH CLAYTON!

Yesterday Clayton had his first swallow study since 2004 and he PASSED! He threw a fit, crying and gagging the whole time, but he never once aspirated (let the liquid go into his lungs). I was so proud of him and definitely relieved. Basically this means that we can be more aggressive on getting him to at least taste baby foods and he can do lots of theraputic work on his feeding. He still has a long way to go, but at least we know he is protecting his lungs while he works on eating. GO CLAYTON!

Making Music

So last year our "original" band broke up. We lost our drummer and keyboard player and we decided to just take a rest for a while. Rest time is over! I've really been wanting to get back into the groove, but getting started is proving to be tough. Right now, the members of the band officially are only me and Brian and our bass player, Charlie. We are all ready to go, but we are on the search for a drummer and another guitar player. We have a drummer in mind, but he is having trouble committing, which is making us nervous--we definitely want someone who is excited about the project. He is an excellent musician, and he is great at actually producing the music. I just wish he would get a sign from God that this is the way he should go. In the meantime, we have a guitar player coming to house Thursday night for a small jam session just to see if we mesh with him. I know he's talented, it's just a matter of seeing if he fits with us and with our music. I'm really hoping this is the start of something big for us. I have so much on my heart that I want to share with other people and I know that music can be a great outlet for that, not to mention just a fun way to pass the time.

T. G. I. F. !!!

Off to enjoy the day--lots of things to do that I've put off all week. Clayton is definitely ready to get out of the house. I'm just glad it stopped raining!

Leftover Thoughts from Christmas

On Christmas Eve, I was able to sing with the choir and it felt so good to be a part of them. Felt really good to sing at the top of my lungs! At any rate, we sang the now classic Christmas song Mary, Did You Know? and the words rang truer than ever for me.

The blind will see!

The deaf will hear!

The dead will live again!

THE LAME WILL LEAP!

The dumb will speak

The Praises of the Lamb!!

THE LAME WILL LEAP! How reassuring to know that eventually Clayton will walk! If not in this life, but in Heaven above. God could have easily healed Shawn if He had wanted, but He chose not too. But the dead will live again--in Christ and through Christ. And if He so chooses, Clayton will walk unassisted someday. I've seen a part of these words come to fruition just this week. Our music pastor's daughter was born deaf. Her family has prayed her entire life that she will one day hear. Today, 20 years later, their prayers are coming true. She is getting a cochlear implant put in as I type this. THE DEAF WILL HEAR! And even though it took 20 years, they are definitely getting the answer to their prayer. How amazing and how encouraging!

So I will keep praying the promises of God and keep singing His praises--one day I will get an answer!