Field Trip

We went on a field trip today with a huge group of homeschoolers.  We toured an Egyptian exhibit and a military museum.  Clayton was mainly interested in watching the people and directing his drivers, but this jeep in the military museum did catch his attention.  He just couldn't understand why we couldn't go for a ride in it!  I say (and Clayton would probably agree) that the best part of the trip was that Daddy got to come along with us!

Just A Glimpse

I've begged.  I've pleaded.  I've made big promises.  But still no cooperation.  Clayton is just not impressed with my camera anymore.  I wanted to get a shot of him with a full grin on so you could all see that snaggletoothed smile, but it just ain't gonna happen, folks!  So for now, his soft little smile at someone ELSE'S mother is going to have to do.

I'm not jealous.  Did I say I was jealous?

Friday Out

We spent most of yesterday at a nearby state park and it was wonderful to get outside.  It was almost a bit too hot at times, but in the shade it was perfect!  We had a picnic lunch with some of our homeschooling friends and then went for a short "hike" in the woods.  I even managed to get Clayton up to one of the observation decks (carrying him up stairs is not fun anymore!).  As it turned out, the view from the deck wasn't that spectacular, but he didn't care.  He just wanted to be with everyone else! 

I couldn't help but get a little frustrated with the logistics of it all though.  Sometimes things just hit me a certain way, and yesterday was one of those days.  When we were searching out a picnic spot, there was absolutely no wheelchair friendly paths to any picnic table in the area we were in.  All the other kids bounded down the stairs and Clayton just had to sit and watch and then we had to go into problem-solving mode.  How in the world were we going to get down the side of this hill without hurting ourselves?!  The steps were too many and too steep to just carry the chair like we normally do when we need to adpat (which is also annoying, but still doable at his age).  We finally found a route we could go through the grass and mud, so we plowed through.  It was great fun for Clayton watching us pull and tug the chair and stroller, but the chair did get really dirty.  And then once we got to the picnic area, Clayton put his hands on his wheels, got the dirt on his hands, and sensory issues kicked in.  Major gagging in front of the whole crowd, with all of the kids asking questions and staring.  They are naturally curious, but I just hate it for Clayton because the best thing for him is just for everyone to ignore it.  He recovered pretty quickly, but he didn't want to have anything to do with lunch or food after that though. 

I will say that even though the logistics were getting on my nerves, one thing that is so great is the way this particular group of kids is coming along with Clayton.  They are getting better and better at including him and learning about his little personality quirks.  It's still a work in progress, but they are always willing to try to include him and help with him. 

It was so nice to get outside for most of the day.  Pretty soon, the Arkansas heat will set in, so we have to enjoy these tolerable days outside while we can! 

Did You Know?

I've had laryngitis for the past two and a half days.  I have to sing a solo for a baby dedication on Sunday.  To "save" my voice, I've been whispering for two days straight and then tonight I read on all these med websites that whispering can actually put more of a strain on your vocal chords!  Am I the only one who didn't know this?  Because dumb me has probably prolonged being hoarse!!  Guess I'll be talking in my squeaky low voice from now on out!!

Caravan Blue and White Dinner

As most of you know, I am the director of the Wednesday night children's ministries at our church--otherwise known as Caravan.  We celebrated the Caravan year with our Annual Blue and White Dinner tonight and it was a great night.  We had yummy food served by great children and lots of good fellowship.  And the kids got to show off some of what they had been doing during the past few months.  This was Clayton's first official year in Caravan.  I love seeing him in his little Caravan scarf with all the badges he's earned. 

He started out interested in serving his table . . .

. . . but quickly decided socializing was more fun.

(Notice the glimpse of the new smile?  As you can see he's just totally on camera strike these days and saves his smiles for everyone else.  I'm determined to get a good one of his toothless grin soon though!)

First Haircut

Jackson had his first haircut this morning!  It went pretty well considering I had to wake him up to get him out of the car.  He was a little on the grumpy side (he's also cutting a tooth, so the grumpiness was more than the usual "why the heck did you wake me up?")  He also wasn't happy about posing for pictures since it meant giving up Momma for a few seconds!  But during the actual haircut, he was a little angel and jibber jabbered away to Chasity while she worked.  She barely cut any hair off, but it looks so much better since it's not hanging over his eyes and ears!

Here's the before:

And the after:

Little Handsome Man!

My Brain=Scrambled Egg

I know I've talked about this before, but SERIOUSLY!  I am constantly chasing my tail around here!  I used to have things so together and then Shawn and Clayton were born.  And after Clayton finally got stable, it took about a year after that (he was probably at least four) for us to settle into a groove.  And then came Jackson!  I literally cannot get anything accomplished completely (notice lots of stale blog days lately?).  I am doing most things halfway, just enough to get by and it seems I'm always playing catch up.  Is it just having a toddler that does this?  Please tell me it will get better??!!  I forget everything, misplace things (where is that iPOD?), and basically make myself look like a nut half the time when people remind me what I should be doing, bringing, etc.  I don't like feeling so undone and hope beyond hope that as Jackson gets older I will be able to settle more into a routine of getting things accomplished.  Until then, I'll just be the crazy lady that's lucky if she remembers to put both kids in the car! 

Saving More Stem Cells

If you remember my post about saving Jackson's cord blood, then you'll be interested in knowing all about our latest quest for usable stem cells for Clayton. 

Last Thursday, Clayton had his annual visit to the operating room for dental work.  Dr. K cleans and polishes his teeth, takes x-rays of everything, and in these last two visits, pulls teeth that are loose.  (No one wants to risk Clayton gagging on or aspirating a tooth).  We were late to the game on learning about available stem cells in teeth, (I so wish we could have saved his first two lost teeth) but we made the decision this time to bank Clayton's three pulled teeth (his top two and one lower), in the hopes that some of his own stem cells will be usable for a future infusion. 

We'll know in about three weeks if there were any usable cells in these teeth.  His baby teeth were being formed when he was going through MUCH trauma, so they aren't exactly the healthiest of teeth.  We're praying for SOMETHING to come of this--you just never know . . . it may be the Lord's way of healing Clayton!

New Camera

Yes, for the inquiring minds who wanted to know, I did get a new camera! Dearest hubby decided (with little to no conjoling from the salesman) that I needed an upgrade. I'm now the proud owner and operator of a Canon 7D. Quite the jump from my lowly 20D that at only five years old was a dinosaur in the technological sense. I'm also shooting with two more lenses, one being the sainted 50mm/1.4, which has now become my favorite piece of photography equipment! Why in the world did I wait so long to invest in this lens?!

Game Day

Clayton and I went to the Arkansas Travelers game on Monday.  It was quite the experience since all Arkansas school districts received free admission and it seemed like every kid in the state was there!  We were lucky enough to find a seat in the shade, and while I {tried} to watch the game, Clayton watched the people.  There was just way too much stimulation going on for him to even look at the field!

Once the kids left to get back to school on time, Clayton was able to see that there actually was a game going on!  He even practiced making "SAFE!" and "OUT!" calls with me.  It was nice to have some alone time with him--a big shout out to my parents for chasing Action Jackson all day long!!

Eleven Months

I can't believe we are one month away from celebrating a year with our little man!

At eleven months, Jackson is . . .

**standing on his own from all kinds of starting positions

**still doing some "regular" crawling but mostly gets everywhere by what we call the "crab crawl"

**jabbering away--he seems to repeat what we say with the same inflections we use

**still waving at everyone, yelling "HEY!"

**still saying Da-Da, and something sounding like Momma comes out occassionally

**into throwing things into the toilet if we forget to close the lid

**still not sleeping completely through the night consistently (I think it's something we've passed on to our kids!)

**becoming a picky eater--doesn't want the usual kid stuff like mac-n-cheese.  I struggle to get him fed something of substance each day and I pray he gets over this dislike of soft foods (we don't need anymore feeding therapy/sensory issues around this house!)

**loving the church nursery and always gets a good report on his behavior.  :)

**loving cars and trucks, and when he can't find one, he just pushes other toys/objects around as if they were one

**getting more and more mobile everyday, busy exploring the wide expanse of world around him!

It's Baseball Season

It's baseball season, and now that the kids in our family are getting older, everyone is starting to get into the competition.  Clayton's game last weekend was rained out and we're keeping our fingers crossed that it doesn't happen again this weekend.  But in the meantime, we've been making the rounds to other ballparks to cheer everyone else on!

I just had to share this picture I got of my brother and my nephew though--Josh is coaching the team, so he gets to stand in the field and help the boys out.  And when I saw them standing side by side, I had flashbacks of the many summers my family's world revolved around Josh's ball schedule.  That whole world is foreign to Brian, but I think it's one of the best parts of summer!

Clayton's Room

I finally took pictures of Clayton's finished room this week.  I know a couple of people out there were wanting to see the finished product, so sorry it's taken this long!  I might have mentioned this before, but when we started planning his move into this room, he was adamant that it be painted green.  It took me forever to find a comforter I liked with green in it (seemed everything was too young or too old for him).  Finally found this one at Target (it was the last one they had), so I jumped on it.  I really like the way it turned out.

I kept three of his stuffed animals out because they were significant, at least to me anyway.  The bear with the glasses is the one he made at Build-a-Bear and I'm hoping the other two are recognized by the people who gave them to him.  :)

We left plenty of room for his wheelchair to get in front of the window and he absolutely loves the view.  And even if he is still in bed, he can wave to Daddy as he leaves for work.  (He is obsessed with waving at everyone as they leave!)

I had a bulletin board in my room growing up, and I decided it could be just as cool for a boy's room--it's a great place to put his stuff from school and church.  He got the tool set for Christmas and he doesn't "play" with them, only uses them if he is "helping" Daddy with a project.  But they do get played with plenty.  Jackson makes sure they are scattered from here to yonder by the end of each day.  :)

I got this artwork at Target as well--it was  perfect for Clayton since he loves, loves, loves vehicles--trucks especially!

Clayton loves his new space.  Loves it so much we often wonder if he'll ever want to join us in the living room again!  I'm so used to him being with me all the time, it's taking some adjusting.  But it's definitely time for him to have his own time in his own room!

Mighty Warriors

This weekend we had a Prayer Summit at our church.  Pastor Corey Jones of Crossroads Tabernacle was our leader in this endeavor.  I thought all day yesterday about what I would write about the weekend.  There really is no way to describe the movement of the Holy Spirit! 

He gave me lots to think about and I do believe our church will never be the same as a result of his insights.  I think the biggest revelation for me was the reminder that we are all MIGHTY WARRIORS in the sight of God (Judges 6).  When we pray, we use the most powerful sword imaginable against the enemy--and when we pray, the enemy is sent shaking in his boots!!!  Satan doesn't mind Bible study classes, regular church services, Sunday School parties, outreach programs, etc.  He infiltrates those types of meetings ALL. THE. TIME.  (How many of you know what I'm talking about here?!)  But a corporate prayer meeting?  When we are crying out to the Lord, calling down His Glory into our midst . . . Satan is powerless against it! 

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God boldly." ~Acts 4:31

Never again will I get nervous in a prayer meeting when everyone is praying aloud.  And never again will I get nervous when people are lifting their hands in prayer.  It's taken me many years at a {semi}-charismatic church to get to this point, but I am finally in that place of not caring what others think.  If falling on my knees and crying out to the Lord will bring healing to Clayton (not the only prayer in my life, but it's at the top of the list), then let me humble myself before Him and let His will be done!

Help a Brother Out

Jackson is constantly pushing Clayton's chair these days. (Yes, he is quite strong enough to move it while Clayton is in it!)  At home, it gets a little dangerous since Clayton tends to go in circles on his own and Jackson can't get out of the way fast enough, but when we were at the park the other day, they seemed to actually be working together at moving the chair forward!  It's definitely interesting and comforting watching this part of their relationship unfold.

The only problem seems to be when Jackson puts the brakes on and can't figure out how to get them moving again!

It Was Clayton's Idea

Clayton volunteered to hold Jackson in his "black chair" so I didn't pass up the opportunity to get a new blog header out of the deal!  It's overdue for sure--hope everyone likes!

Counting to Ten

After the fourth or fifth time I took Jackson out of the dishwasher as I was trying to load it, I finally decided to calm my nerves by taking a few pictures.  Worked a whole lot better than fighting a losing battle!  And Jackson really liked it when he figured out it was entertaining Clayton:

Disclaimer:  No child was harmed in the taking of these pictures.  :)

He's a Ballplayer, Not a Benchwarmer!

Look at Clayton!  On the ready for any ground ball!!  That's what any tough third baseman looks like--no matter what league you play in!  Today's game was wonderful.  Seeing all the kids out there smiling (most of them at least!), having a blast just being kids, accepted as they are.  Clayton got a little nervous when the coach was putting on his jersey, but after that he warmed up quite well to his helper, Ms. Pam.  I don't think she pushed him around the bases fast enough, but she was able to talk him into wearing his glove longer than I've ever seen him keep something on his left hand, so I say kudos to her!

We've been practicing hitting off a tee, but they didn't use a tee in the game.  Guess we''ll have to do some more practicing with an actual pitcher!  And here he is ready to run at the crack of the bat: 

Playing second:

And just plain having fun:

I can't wait for next Saturday's game!

In Which They Bond

They spend time every morning and every afternoon being nosey, watching the action of the neighborhood together.  Maybe not the chosen activity of typical sets of brothers, but they seem as content as two peas in a pod during these moments together.   

Baseball: Here He Comes!!

Clayton's practicing for his first ballgame this weekend!  You can tell by that pursed lip that he's concentrating!  I've been looking forward to seeing him participate in baseball.  The soccer league was a bit of challenge with him having little to no use of his legs--it'll be fun to see him race around the bases in his chair!!! 

He can hit the ball on his own, but he's really more interested in taking the tee apart . . . I just hope stagefright doesn't get him those first couple of games since he tends to tense up around strangers.  I'm praying the fun involved will help him loosen up immediately so he can make friends with his coaches and buddies!