Photo Friday

I've taken a bunch of random pictures of Clay lately that have absolutely nothing to do with each other, so what better place to post them, than on a Photo Friday post!

First, I'll start off with a sweet smile since I got NO sweet smiles from him at his Bday party!

This look cracks me up! Looks like he's saying "Whatcha talkin' bout, mama!"... or maybe he's saying "Get that darn camera out of my face!"He wanted absolutely nothing to do with his party balloons the day of his birthday, but had a blast with them the next day!
His new jail! We needed to block off the way to the stairs because he LOVES to climb the stairs now.

Reading his new Elmo book

And on the agenda for the weekend... We are going over to Mark's sister's house to celebrate her big 40th birthday!!! She's having an 80's themed birthday party. I've gotten a few accessories for my costume, but need to find the rest of it tomorrow. I'm thinking old school Madonna with a little bit of Flashdance (you know I just needed an excuse to buy some leg warmers!). I'm a little bummed that I can't pull off the "big hair" look due to my fine, straight-as-a-board hair, but I'll be rocking out the side ponytail (with neon colored scruchies, of course)! It's amazing how much 80's stuff you can find in the stores these days! It's what is in style now! I can totally dress myself 80's with the Miley Cyrus line at Wally World :)! Anyways... be looking for the crazy pictures! Have a great weekend!!!

Thirsty Thursday

Yeah... he's hittin' the bottle at such a young age... We decided to skip the whole sippy cup thing and move onto 2 liters. Helps us with not having to worry about filling the cup up so often.

At least it's Diet AND Caffeine Free!!!

Anyways... I'm sure you are all wondering how we are doing with Operation Sippy Cup. Clay is actually doing quite well with it! There have been a couple of dinners this week where he's drank the whole thing! I asked how he's doing with them at school and his teachers say he's doing ok... all the other kids in his class have bottles, so I think he's a bit jealous of them right now. At his last check up, I asked the doctor how many ounces of whole milk he needed a day and she told me 8 ounces. She said that some toddlers don't drink anywhere close to that, so if he gets 3 servings of full-fat dairy a day, then he's good. Let's just say we will not be having a problem with that! He can practically eat his weight in cheese (if I would let him).

And I just had to share these cute pictures of my nieces! They are so adorable!

This is Cadence - Such a sweet, angelic little smile.

And here she is loving on her baby sister Hailey! Precious!!! Hmmm... do you think Clay would look good in one of those hats?? I love them!

Operation Sippy Cup is Under Way!

Yesterday we began "Operation Sippy Cup" in an effort to rid our house of the dreaded Dr. Brown's Bottles. I will be so glad when I can pack away those bottles! They are a PAIN to clean! I've been trying out the sippy cup for the last few months and Clay has had no part of it. Lately he's been taking a sippy cup every once in a while, but still prefers his bottle. At his 1 year check up last week, I asked his doctor if she had any advice... and she didn't. She just said we've got to practice "tough love" and to not give in when he throws a fit. She did say that I could continue the formula bottle at bedtime since that's probably the only "cuddle time" I get with Baby Clay (and... she's right).

So yesterday, Clay went to daycare with only sippy cups... and the sippy cups came back pretty much full. He did take a couple of ounces of milk (Woo-Hoo! We're on real milk now!!) at dinner out of a sippy cup. Once it was time for his bedtime bottle, he drank it like he's never had anything to drink before! He gulped it down in about two bedtime songs (it usually takes him 4 bedtime songs to drink it all). Hmmm... this is going to be tough!

I sent him to daycare this morning armed with only sippy cups, so we'll see what happens! Hopefully he'll get so thirsty, he'll give in!

This is the reaction I got this morning when I set the sippy cup of milk on his tray. Yeah, not the reaction I was looking for!

But what's this? Someone got thirsty and actually gave in a little.

Hopefully I'll get a good report when I pick him up from daycare!

It's His Party...

And he'll cry if he wants to... and he did!

First year birthday parties are obviously for the parents! My poor, sweet baby was very overwhelmed by the spotlight being on him. I planned to put him down for a nap a couple hours before his party so he would be nice and rested and in a good mood. Nice and rested, YES! Good mood... NO! He did finally come around and enjoyed playing with his new toys. The big hit of the party was the big dump truck his Aunt Lee Anne, Uncle Ray and cousins Ellie and Grace gave him. A big thanks to our family and friends that came over to celebrate his birthday with us!

And now the pictures! Warning: There are absolutely NO smiles from the Birthday Boy!

The gorgeous and VERY yummy cake!

Clay's personal birthday cake

Opening up the big dump truck

Another one of his favorites... his vacuum cleaner!

He really liked the tissue paper

Already taking the dump truck for a spin

Eating his birthday cake! The hat lasted about 2.5 seconds!

So over his birthday cake! He was a MESS!

See, I told you... no smiles AT ALL! Oh well, at least his daddy and I enjoyed celebrating his birthday!

Yay!! Nothing to Worry About!

Just got a call from Clay's doctor's office and the x-ray of his hips was NORMAL!! Woo hoo!!! The ultrasound on his "boy parts" showed that he still has some fluid around one of "them", but they do not think he needs surgery. They are hoping that it will go away on it's own. They have sent the ultrasound to a pediatric urologist to look at for an expert opinion and we should know something on Monday.

Whew! I had done really good with not worrying until last night! I guess it was because I was so exhausted Wednesday, I just never really wrapped my head around it. Thank goodness they called me before the weekend or I would have been a wreck!

And by the way... I just picked up Clay's Bday cake and I LOVE IT!!!!! She made a big cake for everyone else and a mini cake just for the birthday boy!! And no, you are not getting any pictures of it... just yet. (Mainly because I've already taped the boxes up REALLY good!) You'll have to wait!

Flashback Friday!

Yay!! Clay is now a year old and I feel like I can participate in Flashback Fridays like everyone else!!

This week last year I looked like this (and sometimes I still feel like I look like this!)...

And then on Sept 8th of last year I got to meet this bundle of joy for the first time:

This was taken a year ago today on our first morning home... I loved that little hat!

Wow! He's changed so much!

Tomorrow is the big 1 year birthday party and I'm so excited!!! We're just having a small party with some family and friends. It was VERY hard not to go overboard, but I didn't want to overwhelm him! I'll be sure to post LOTS of pictures!!! Have a great weekend!

1 Year Well-Check Gone BAD!!

OH. MY. GOODNESS!!!!

I cannot even begin to tell ya'll how exhausted - mentally and physically - I am! All I really want to do right now is curl up in a ball and go to sleep... and not wake up! Why all the drama you may be asking yourself?? Let's just start from the beginning...

Clay had his 1 year well-check appointment with his doctor this morning at 11:00. He's been a little snotty, which is not uncommon for him. He wasn't acting like he felt bad, so I just attributed the snottiness to a little cold or maybe even teething. His doctor took a look and said that there was definitely quite a bit of drainage and then looked in his ears... and, of course, another ear infection. In fact, it was a pretty bad one in the left ear. Not a big deal, right? Just give him some antibiotics and he'll be back to normal in no time! Since he had the ear infection, she felt that we should hold off on the immunizations. She did give him his first flu shot, which didn't go over all that well.

As we were discussing my giant list of questions, I happened to mention to her that I noticed his hips pop a lot when I pick him up or move his legs around. She seemed very concerned about this and orderd an x-ray. On top of the x-ray, she also ordered an ultrasound. The ultrasound was to take a look at his "boy parts" to check on some extra fluid that didn't need to be there (Sorry, Baby Clay! I know this is embarassing, but it's a big part of the trauma today.) Needless to say, we had to go to two separate places for the x-ray and the ultrasound. Both Clay and I didn't get lunch and were starving! Clay was also exhausted from all the crying and thrashing around during the x-ray and ultrasound (It was NOT PRETTY!). We won't know the results for a few days. His doctor doesn't think anything is wrong... she just wants to be super cautious, just in case.

After the ultrasound, Clay konked out on the car ride home and slept for the rest of the afternoon. After he woke up, he was happy and back to his old self... until bedtime!

He DID NOT want to go to bed! Everytime I put him in his crib, he would stand up and scream bloody-murder. I tried to practice "tough love" and let him cry it out, but it WAS NOT stopping! Let's just say after about 50 times of singing "Five Little Speckled Frogs" he was finally passed out asleep and hasn't stirred since.

So... let's just say today was not one our better days! I do have his "stats" and he's still a big one! He weighs 24 pounds and 13 ounces and is 31 1/2 inches long. That puts him in the 75th percentile in weight and 90th percentile in height. Hopefully the antibiotics the doctor gave him will knock this ear infection out and I'm praying that the results of his x-ray and ultrasound come back normal! I will be sure to keep everyone updated!

Sorry, I do not have any pictures today. I did take some the past couple of days, but I'm too exhausted to upload them. I'll be sure to put them in the next post :)!!

And now... I'm going to BED!!!

Happy Birthday, Baby Clay!!!

A birthday letter to my sweet Baby Toddler Clay:

Dear Clay,

I can’t believe it’s been a year since you came into my life and made me the happiest person in the world (shhh… don’t tell your daddy)! As I rocked you to sleep last night, I looked down at your sweet, peaceful face and vowed that I will rock you to sleep for as long as you will let me (however, it will be slightly awkward when you are 16 – but I’ll still do it). I don’t want you to grow up, but I know I can’t stop you! You have been such a blessing to your daddy and I and we can’t wait to see what the next year brings. You make us so proud every day with all your little (and big) accomplishments. You change so much every day – we left you with your Nan over the weekend and we come back and you are walking some and chattering away like you’ve got all kinds of important things to tell us. Your cow “moo’s” and chicken “bock-bock’s” crack me up! You always have a smile on your face, except when I pull the camera out. I love how you look like both your daddy and me – like a perfect little combination of the two of us. You sleep like a champ like your mommy and you LOVE the vacuum cleaner like your daddy. You eat just about anything like your mommy and have very little hair like your daddy. See… a perfect combination!

We have so many hopes and dreams for you – most are conflicting… I’d like for you to be a world-renowned surgeon and your daddy has high hopes that you will be the youngest driver to grace the NASCAR circuit. But for now, I just want you to be my baby… not a toddler like ALL my weekly emails are calling you now (Shame on them for messing with my emotions on this day!).

Your daddy and I love you more than you could ever imagine and we will always be here for you! Even though this is a sad day for me, it’s also a happy day since we are celebrating the day you were born! You are truly a little miracle and we thank God for you every day!

I love you my sweet Clayton Neal and wish you the happiest birthday ever!!!!

This is Clay's birthday invitation we sent out. A friend of ours (Melissa) took this picture when she was here 4th of July weekend and I thought it was perfect since it looks like he's holding up a "one". He's got his 1 year well check appointment tomorrow, so I'll have his stats then!