Good Intentions

Long before Christmas, I had a great idea for Clayton's therapists' gifts. I would have gotten started on them then if I had known how long it would take to get them put together! I have them ready, I just want to get them framed and it looks like they'll be Valentine's Day gifts by the time they get them! They are 5 x 5, so I bought 5 x 5 frames, which makes total sense, right? Wrong. In those frames, you can't see the whole design that my friend Christina made for me. So I decided to go back up to Hobby Lobby yesterday to see if they could custom frame them for me. She recommended I come back next week when custom framing is half off (no problem there) and then she said that it will take about two weeks to actually get the frames in! So these special little gifts probably won't be so special when they finally open them. Kind of anticlimatic in a way, but I'm willing to wait in order to get them how I originally pictured them in my head!

Welcome 2008!

Ringing in the new year for us always means celebrating Brian's birthday as well. And although he was a total dud on New Year's Eve (he was asleep by 9:00!), we did have a full day yesterday to make up for it. We started out watching the game at my aunt and uncle's house (pretty sorry game, to say the least). We had cake and ice cream and made it through "Happy Birthday to You" without even making Clayton cry!

We then moved on to some friends' of ours for dinner. Had our lucky black-eyed peas and I kindly passed over the cabbage . . . In Clayton's perfect timing, his Milk of Magnesia kicked in while we were there. I won't go into major details, but I will say that his clothes had to be washed while we were there and I'm super glad it happened at a home that has a child in diapers--they had plenty of wipees and the poop didn't seem to bother them much (or so they said!). Clayton had so much fun at their house despite the pooping. Their little girl is so great about playing with him and including him in every activity. And she was determined to hold him even though I'm pretty sure he weighs more than her!

Christmas Pics!

As usual, the Christmas pics are pretty random. It's usually so chaotic that it's hard to get a good pic (not to mention it's usually too dark to get a great shot). But at any rate, here is a sampling of Christmas for us. Last year, I got a group shot of my dad's family, and this year we were able to get one of my mom's family. My only wish is that the out-of-staters could have been there for it!

A Star is Born!

Okay, so we all knew he was already a star! But his first real public performance was this weekend at the church during our Christmas music. The toddlers and preschoolers were supposed to ring the bells to "Jingle Bells" and wave streamers during "The Virgin Mary Had a Baby Boy." Needless to say, it was a HOOT! (The second pic shows him in action). I was so proud, laughing and crying at the same time!!! Clayton started out strong on both songs, but by the end of the first verse of both songs, he was bored--just staring at everyone like "what the heck are we doing up here?!" He even tried to sing along a couple of times. Lots of people who never see him in action came up to me after church--they were so surprised he could do so much. I was glad he got to show a little of what he's good at . . . someday I know he'll be playing music for them!

ETA: Christmas pics coming soon . . .

Thursday

--Clayton doesn't feel good. Stuffy nose, runny nose, and I'm pretty sure sore throat because mine is raw as well. He does think his voice sounds cool though because he's just sitting around saying "OH." Like he's just listening to himself!

--Still not finished shopping!

--Got lots to do before this weekend and what I really want to do is just sit and scrap.

--Our Christmas music is Sunday night. Clayton is supposed to ring a bell and sing Jingle Bells with the toddlers/preschoolers. Should be very interesting! I'm supposed to sing, and I'm hoping my throat is much better by then.

--Dr. Berlinski gave us permission to start weaning Clayton from his oxygen more aggressively. Can't wait to see how he does! (But I think I'll wait until this cold passes though).

WOW!

Talk about a Random Act of Kindness! I opened the mail today only to find that an anonymous gift giver had sent us a very BIG gift card to Wal-Mart!! And everyone knows that Wal-Mart has everything, so we'll be putting it to good use! I don't know who you are, but Brian and I send a very BIG THANK YOU for blessing us this Christmas. We so appreciate you thinking of us and we will definitely be paying it forward.

Scrapbooking Your Faith

Here is the little flier I've prepared to advertise my upcoming Bible Study. You'll have to double click on it to enlarge it enough to read.

I left off my contact information for obvious reasons, but those of you who are close enough to attend know how to get in touch with me about signing up. Can't wait to hear from you!

Feeling Better

For the last three days I've been dealing with a constant stuffy and runny nose, sneezing, and super itchy eyes. I'm guessing it had to do with the fact that one day it was in the fourties, then the next day seventies (all the while being 100% humidity). Whatever it was, I couldn't concentrate on anything because I was distracted constantly by needing to breathe! I woke up this morning feeling much better. No sneezing at least. That's a relief! Must be that medicine my mom brought me last night! Her medicine is always better than my own! I'm still going to take it easy today because I was busy the whole time I was feeling bad and that made it even worse. At any rate, I can already tell I'm going to have a much better day today!

Monday

--I actually did a little Christmas shopping today. Don't know what got into me!

--Got to scrap a little last night. Nothing spectacular, but I was creative nonetheless.

--This weather is WACKY.

--Clayton is lovin' singing Christmas carols!

--Bible Study + scrapbooking: it's coming to my church, led by Yours Truly! (details to come soon)

--Helped Debbie strip wallpaper this weekend. Remind me to NEVER hang wallpaper in my future homes!

Thursday

--I am not a Christmas present shopper. I want to buy something the person will *LOVE* so searching for the perfect gift becomes a futile search

--I had lots of ideas for handmade presents this year. The trick is to actually get started on them

--It's chilly here today, but tomorrow it's supposed to be back up in the seventies. December in Arkansas.

--Our Pastor gave me an assignment and because I'm obsessive/compulsive I've been brainstorming constantly about it even though I have plenty of time to get a plan together. I was super tired last night and still couldn't sleep because I was making lists and outlines in my head. I seriously need help!

--haircut today, about two weeks too late!

--And on that note, I've gotta get out of here because Clayton is "READY TO GO, MOMMA!"

Went Bowling

Brian and I had a rare night without Clayton (THANKS MOM AND DAD!), and we took the chance to do something we wouldn't normally do with him. We went bowling with Stacey and Rod, and boy, are we ever horrible at bowling! Of course I knew I wasn't any good, but our whole group was pretty sad. So sad that we abandoned the bowling alley after just one game! (Off to eating, which is something we are very good at!) Here are some of the few good pics we got out of the night. I'm sure Stacey will love that I'm sharing the last one--I think she was attempting a celebratory toe touch or something to that effect, and I just happened to catch her mid-air!

Have I Told You About Brian's New Toy?

On Black Friday we ventured out to shop with our houseguests, even though I would have preferred staying home. And since we were out, I could tell Brian was itching to make a purchase. He stayed in the kitchen section of each store. He finally told me that he had been comparing expresso machines. He does spend lots of money at Starbucks so I was fine with whatever he wanted. But little did I know what he would do once he got it home! The first afternoon he drank about six or seven expressos while "perfecting" his recipe. He was up until about 2:30 am! It wasn't that big a deal that night because he didn't have to work the next day, but last Sunday night was a totally different story. He was STILL drinking expressos at 9:30 just like they were cups of water. HE DID NOT SLEEP AT ALL Sunday night! I think he finally laid down around 5:00 am!!! I think it finally dawned on him that he was going to have to drink in moderation or never sleep again! He said that was as close to doing crystal meth as he'll ever come! He's still using the machine a lot (ANNOYING sounding machine), but at night he's running tea through it thank goodness!!

Checking In

Yes, I am here. Just busy with little things and not spending lots of time on the computer. My FIL and family were here from last Wednesday to Sunday so entertaining them took lots of my time. Clayton had a procedure done in the O. R. this morning, so I've been holding him and spoiling him for most of the day. He had his ear tubes removed and his teeth cleaned. His little preemie teeth look SO much better. The doctor explained that all of his medical issues and treatments have done nothing to help nuture the growth of strong, good looking teeth, so we're lucky that they've turned out as well as they have. I'm hoping his permanent teeth look better, but he also explained that they were being formed right after his birth and up to three years of age, so his health issues could have affected them as well. But this doctor was SUPER empathetic and assured me that whatever Clayton ended up with, if he could make it better, he would. You could tell by the way he talked and acted that he has a heart for these special kids. Such a 180 from the original dentist we saw there. Thank goodness we changed doctors!! But back to Clayton, he's been sleeping all day from the effects of the anesthisia. And of course now he's wide awake! Even so, I'm sure I won't have to beg him to get to sleep tonight--between the medicine and the getting up at 4 am, he's beat!

Happy after Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great day yesterday! We spent the afternoon at my GrandMother's and then promptly came home for our after-turkey nap. Ah, the joys of Thanksgiving! Here is a song from Clayton--as usual he gets stagefright in front of the camera, so the only way I could get him on film was to get him while he was in the bathtub. I wish I could get one of him while he's sitting up, because he looks so much better and cuter then, but oh well! He kinda gave out on me by the end of this one, but at least you'll get to hear his sweet voice for a moment.

I've Got an Idea

Since I don't "work" my mind is always coming up with new projects that I could start, but I'm too tired to ever really act on them. My latest idea involves the other parents that I see daily at the clinic. I've always known there are other people out there with special needs children, but it wasn't until I started taking Clayton to the clinic that I realized that we really have lots in common and it would be great to share the burdens and joys of our children together. So my first idea was to set up some kind of social function for the parents/moms just so we could meet and visit with each other. That was several weeks ago when I thought of that and one of Clayton's therapists even encouraged me to talk to their non-profit person about helping me get it started. Then today I thought about how I could use scrapbooking as a bonding tool. I've really missed teaching my classes since the LSS closed, and I love the outlet that scrapbooking our story has provided for me. So why couldn't these other mothers do the same? I could come up with some different ideas on how to get them started on scrapbooking their child's journey or even their personal or family journey through life with special needs. That's what's always been my strong suit anyway in scrapbooking, the journaling and telling of the story. I'm definitely not known for my unique artistic skills--just known as a mother who pours her heart into her creations. I'm really thinking about giving this a go, just need to put my ideas on paper and talk to the non-profit lady about some help from the clinic. Surely they'll be willing!

Christmas Wish List

I wouldn't normally talk about what I want for Christmas unless someone asked, but since it's my blog, I figure I get to talk about it if I want. So here are just a few items on my wish list:

1. Windchimes

2. as many of these that I can get (I'm pretty sure they are being discontinued and I love these particular albums--I've needed some for a while as I don't have any room in my albums for my scrapbook pages anymore!)

3. Merle Norman gift certificate

4. Bon Jovi CD: Lost Highway

5. Kenny Chesney CD: Just Who I Am/Poets and Pirates

6. Sugarland CD: Enjoy the Ride

7. Loungewear/Pajamas

8. ANY gift certificate to Kohl's or Dress Barn (I'm seriously dress clothes poor right now-----WELL, at least dress clothes that FIT me!)

And that's all I can think of right now. Hopefully that will help the few of you who want to buy me something this year. :)

Time Seems to be Flying!

Has it really been six days since my last post? YIKES! I can't even tell you what I've actually accomplished during those days, just haven't really been on the computer much. Haven't been scrapping, and haven't been reading. Been sittin' I guess! Church was interesting yesterday because Brian was out of town and I had Clayton by myself and still had to sing on praise team and in the choir. He ended up sitting with my friend Jennifer and he was entertaining the whole section of people during the whole song service. He even went off to Children's Church with her and saw me as he left--never got upset once! He's growing up--doesn't need his momma as much anymore!

I don't really have much else on my mind at the moment, so I'll go for now--have a great day everyone!

I Actually Scrapped!

I did this layout first:
And that got me warmed up for this one:

Journaling: When you were little the vacuum cleaner terrified you, but that's all changed now! You have your very own vacuum and you play with it everyday! You spend lots of time in the floor with that toy. And the vacuum isn't your only obsession . . . cars (particularly the red one), guitars, and your keyboard are all your favorite toys. You ask for each one of these at least once a day. It's so much fun watching your personality develop!

I'm hoping I'll get to scrap some more this week and I'll be as happy with those pages as I am with these!

Halloween Photos

Clayton has always dressed up for Halloween, but last night was the first time that he really went trick or treating! He was a little overwhelmed at first, but he loved being out and about. He never did say anything to anyone as they gave him candy though. Just stared at them with his big blue eyes!

THE REAL SUPERMAN!!

TRICK OR TREAT!!!

And here he is with his cousins and friends before the big walk around the block.

Some Photos from the Weekend

We went for a boat ride on Saturday and I tried playing around with my camera. I'm slowly but surely learning to change my settings and shoot in manual. The scenery was a bit uninteresting, but it did give me some time to practice. Brian grabbed the camera and shot the last pic here--he never gets out of practice!