Monday, April 02, 2012

Loves Mud


I love my boys, but I simply do not get this fascination with the mud and the muck.


I think if left to his own devices, he would play in these puddles 24/7.

And I could watch him just about that long as well.  


Because while the girl in me doesn't get it, I still love watching him explore the world and pretending all sorts of fun things while he tromps through the yuck!

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Closing A Chapter

When Clayton was born, he was not breathing.  The NICU staff resuscitated him and immediately ventilated him for his breathing.  That was just the beginning of a very long road with Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD).  We were told he would battle this lung disease his entire life.  And while the battle did rage on for years, it was when Clayton was around five years old that a doctor looked at his chest x-ray and declared there was absolutely no sign of lung disease!  

At first we kept the oxygen around for the "just in case" moments.  In the past when Clayton got a small cold or was dealing with allergies, he needed just a tiny bit of help keeping his oxygen saturations up.  But as time went on, those instances were rarely happening.  And since it had been so long since Clayton had used the oxygen, his pulmonologist told me two years ago he was not going to renew the prescription for the oxygen.  Factor in the [non]-communication between doctor-hospital-TEFRA, and two years later we still had about ten oxygen tanks in our garage and an oxygen concentrator machine as well.  I could have pushed the issue long before now, but to be honest, I kind of liked having them around as a comfort thing.  I always thought of the "what-if" moments like his seizures he has had when he decides not to breathe.  [EEK!]  But you know what?  Today when they called to ask if we needed any refills (why they called month after month, I don't know), I thought to myself, "self?  today is the day we just let it go!"  Apparently the company still had not gotten the message that the doc is okay with it, so I had to sign my life away for doing this "against medical advice."  (This as the guy wipes the cobwebs off the tanks as he loads them in the truck . . .)

So there it is.  Another chapter closed in Clayton's book of life.  One we thought would drone on forever, and here it is getting killed off in the second season!  We will live in faith that we won't have the "just in case" moments to deal with and we will pray that his lungs continue to function normally!

Thank you, Lord!   

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Jackson: A Photo Essay

Clayton is the lucky owner of both an iPad and iPod.  Clearly, he can't use them both at once, so while he prefers the iPad, Jackson gets to use the iPod for [limited] amounts of time.  This makes for some interesting viewing later on.  He has recorded at least 25 ten second movies and has become somewhat of an expert maneuvering around YouTube finding videos of trash trucks and trucks and ATVs stuck in the mud.  And when he's not busy with videos, he is quite the little photographer.  So here is just a taste of what I found on Jackson's camera roll when I uploaded the files . . . this might be an overshare, but I've culled them down considerably!


self-portrait:
 the office:

 ceilings and floors are a common theme:

lots of backseat photos as well:
he even used natural lighting on this one:
 change in perspective:
 Clayton, of course:
the T.V.:
Christmastime:
 his guitar:
a photo downloaded off my blog (yes, he knows how to do that because he does it on the iPad regularly):
toys:

 lots of pics taken while I'm inside picking Clayton up from therapy:

 and on the way home:
 laying in Momma's bed:
pic downloaded from a game:

Daddy on FaceTime:
 Clayton and Katie:
 the ever-present cup (I like his composition here!):
 his dinner (ugh--his food photography could use some help):
 Momma talking on the phone:
 Clayton, again:
 one of his toothbrushes:
 the cup again:
 his new rain boots (he made a production of getting this pic):
 I'm sensing a theme in the self-portraits:
 beside the desktop:
 beside the laptop:
 last one on the roll, taken yesterday:

So there you go.  A peek into the world of Jackson.  You never know--this may be the beginning of a budding career in photography!

Monday, March 12, 2012

The Art Of Improvisation

Jackson is still toting the guitar around daily--a regular one man show.  He's also a man that never misses the chance to use a microphone.  The only problem is he has taken apart the two microphones we've given him, down to each nut and bolt.  So a singer without gear must learn to improvise.

He's been pretty darn creative with lots of things around the house, namely using Brian's guitar stand to hold his various "mics."  But the other day when I left the vacuum in the living room, I had to grin when I came back to a concert in full swing.  

Tuesday, March 06, 2012

Tuesday

Hello, blogger people.  I am still here, and I have blog material waiting in the wings to be written, but I've just been too pooped to get it done.  For the last year or so, the majority of my blogging has been done between the hours of a 11pm-1am.  And even though I'm still a night owl, I've just been super tired lately and blogging has been last on the list.  Don't abandon me, more reading material is just around the corner!

Friday, March 02, 2012

Photo Friday

Because it's mud.  And he's a boy.  

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

The Good and the Bad

The bad news is Jackson and Clayton have both been sick with a fever virus the last few days.  The good news is that today they seem to be on the tail end of it.

The bad news is we had to endure a marathon trip to the doctor's office that had a packed waiting room full of sick and very whiny kids (can't blame them!).  The good news is my mom and dad sat outside in the parking lot with Clayton and Jackson while I waited for our name to be called inside.  (THANKS, MOM AND DAD!)

The bad news is I gave Jackson Benadryl for the first time last night and he was BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS.  The good news is I know not to ever do THAT again!

The bad news is they both have a super junky cough that I'm sure will be hanging around for a bit.  The good news is that their lungs are clear and Clayton is strong enough these days to keep coughing that stuff up.

The bad news is their fever got higher than I like to see it (102).  The SUPER good news is Clayton has been able to stay coherent through all of it!  So many times in the past he has literally gone almost comatose with any fever.  He has done so well fighting this bug, which proves again how strong his body is getting and how much healing is taking place behind the scenes when we really don't even realize it!  

Thursday, February 23, 2012

From the Mouths of Babes

So in prayer meeting last night, our pastor asked members of the congregation to share scripture passages that were special to them either in the past or relative to a situation they were dealing with in the present.  Clayton was sitting with our friend Leisa during the service and he had been quite busy praising the Lord during the praise and worship time.  Leisa had already shared one scripture from the Psalms and had left her Bible open.  She raised her hand again for a second time and reported that Clayton had been obsessing over "Chapter 8, Chapter 8, Chapter 8!"  So she decided to turn to eighth psalm and see what it was all about.  She said once she read it, she knew she should share:

LORD, our Lord, 
   how majestic is your name in all the earth!
   You have set your glory 
   in the heavens. 
Through the praise of CHILDREN and INFANTS 
   you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 
   to silence the foe and the avenger. 
Psalm 8:1-2 (NIV)

Just another example of Clayton's sixth sense about what is going on around him, and definitely another example of how children seem to be more in tune to the world of our faithful heavenly Father than we adults sometimes are!

Friday, February 17, 2012

Moving Up

One of the great features of Clayton's new power chair is the elevator feature.  In his manual chair, he is relegated to one height--and with lots of tables and surfaces, it's not always the right height.  And while it is great for tables in general, this new up/down feature is great for giving him a new perspective on many tasks.  
He was more than excited the other night when I asked him to "help" me with the dishes.  He worked and worked putting things in the sink and then taking them back out again.  


 He even tried his hand at drying a bit!

When I told him I wanted to take his picture, he was glad to grin for me.  He was pretty proud of himself.  We just take so much for granted--it has probably been years (since he was itty bitty) since he was raised up to the sink to peek in.  So just getting to see what a sink even looks like was new to him!  Long after I was done, I let him just hang out at the sink and explore.  He's got a lot of learning to do about the environment above his normally three feet height.    

 He eventually got bored though.  Told me he had to wash himself next!