Fun at the Atlanta Zoo

Last weekend we headed over to Atlanta for an action-packed weekend! Friday we had a play date at the park and an afternoon hanging with friends along with a crazy Mexican dinner! And no, I didn't manage to take any pictures that day... Bad Mama!

Saturday we took Clay to the zoo! It was his first trip (as well as his Dada's first trip) and I was hoping he was going to be as excited as I was about it. What we got was a lot of this...

He was not very happy that all the other little kids at the zoo got to run around without holding their Mama's hands... and really wasn't happy to be riding in a stroller. We did manage to make him happy by giving him a bag full of cheese puffs and he was good to go after that. My mom and dad and my sister and her husband and 2 kids came along. I've got a TON of pictures, so I'm just going to let them tell the story...

My sister, mom, and nieces, Hailey and Cady.

Giraffes, Zebras, Ostriches and some Wort hog looking things. They had a baby giraffe, but he didn't look too "baby"... they obviously get big quick!

The Meerkat was one of my favorites... they are really cute!! I may have to start watching that Meerkat Manor show now!

Little Hailey loved the zoo!! She had the best time looking at all the animals.

Clay finally found something he liked... although, I don't remember what it was we were looking at here.

We tried to get a picture of all 3 of them in the giant nest, but Clay was having no part of it.

One of our favorites were the Gorillas... to Clay they were all "moneys". There was a baby gorilla on one of the gorilla's backs that was so cute!

Cady had no problem striking a pose for the camera!

I think Clay liked the Gorilla statues better than the actual Gorillas!

The orangutans were Mark's favorites. The one in the middle of the picture above is playing on a computer.

Clay's FAVORITE animal of the day was the tiger! We don't have any pictures of it, but the tiger walked right in front of the glass and Clay went NUTS!!! He loves tigers and thinks all of them are Aubie! We also saw pandas, kangaroos, flamingos, and all kinds of snakes.

But Clay's favorite part of the zoo trip was the petting zoo! I was hoping they'd have some pigs because he loves to make a pig noise, but all they had were goats and sheep... very calm (probably tranquilized) goats and sheep. Those poor animals didn't know what they were about to get into with Clay coming up in there...

We've been working with him on being "gentle" with animals so he'd start off really gentle...

See... gentle...

Hmmm... gentle may not be so fun...

Notice the death grip Dada has around him...

And there he goes... he bopped the goat on the head! My evil child! He did that to multiple goats and one gave him a little head butt. I thought he might start to cry when that happened, but he started laughing hysterically!

Hailey loved the goats too!! She had the best time petting them.

Once we were done he got a surprise from his Nana and G... a stuffed panda bear! He loves it and has to sleep with it every night.

The rest of the weekend was filled with eating too much food, drinking too much Starbucks, and a concert Sunday night with some friends of ours from Auburn.

We had a fabulous weekend... but needed a few days to recover!

Labor Day 2010

Yeah, I know it's been almost a month since Labor Day occurred... AND I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I've got to get this stuff in here! Making Clay's Blog Book is no fun if I don't have the blog post to go off of!

So... Labor Day weekend 2010 was a blast! Mark's side of the family (Nan, Ray, Lee Anne (sister), Grace and Ellie) came over Saturday and we went out on the boat. Actually, we were a little afraid there would not be any boating time because we couldn't get the darn thing started... but finally Mark called with the good news and everyone headed down for some boating fun. Clay was still napping, so I hung around until he woke up and then we met everyone on the boat.

There was lots of this...

I tried to get Clay on the tube, but he was having no part of it!

Then we floated and swam... and then I fell overboard. Oops! I was sitting on the back of the boat and my sweet husband forgot to latch the part of the boat I was sitting on. I leaned a little too far forward and off the back I went! This wouldn't have been so bad had it not been right beside the engine... and I had my flip flops, cover up and hat on! Luckily I didn't hit the engine... and the flip flops and hat were saved.

After that we headed home to get cleaned up and watch the first Auburn game of the season! We had lots of yummy food and watched a great game (great, because we won!).

The next day we went back out on the boat for a nice ride. It was cool outside, so I wasn't planning on getting wet... but some gigantic boat that I swear should only be on the ocean decided it needed to drench us. Let me paint the picture... Ellie, Grace, Clay and I were sitting on the front of the boat enjoying our nice ride. We were looking at the houses and chit chatting... chit chatting about the big, huge boat coming towards us. As it passed us we all waved at the passengers... Clay was excited since it was a BIG boat and that's when it happened. I swear... it was like the big, gigantic wave in the movie the Perfect Storm (minus the storm). We hit the first wave which wasn't so bad... but it was the wave that came after it that got us! I thought the boat was going to tip over, but Mark handled the boat right and drove into the wave (that's what they did on Perfect Storm). The wave came up over the front of the boat... WAY up over our heads and drenched us! I'm talking DRENCHED! I'm sure the passengers on the big boat were laughing their butts off! Clay enjoyed it and thought it was the greatest thing!

After that we headed home and relaxed... until that afternoon! Mark, Clay and I went back out on the boat and met up with some friends. We tied our boats together and just hung out! They had kids so Clay was really excited to get to play with them. The boys had their Star Wars toys, so Clay had a big time playing with those!

Yeah... he was pooped!

We had a fabulous Labor Day weekend... it was GORGEOUS weather and we had a great time with family and friends!!!

I am really looking forward to this weekend!!! We've got a play date at the park with some good friends on Friday, a trip to the zoo with family on Saturday, and then an outdoor concert with friends on Sunday! Can't wait!!!

2 Year Well Check

I know I'm way behind on this post - especially since his 2 year well check was back on September 9th - but if I don't blog about it, I'm going to forget about it. (Just wait! I completely forgot to blog about Memorial Day weekend... so that's coming too!) I also want to have it available to me when I get to this part in the 2nd blog book I'm doing for Clay. So, while this post may not be very interesting... I need to do it in order to have it handy!

Clay's 2 year well check went very good! He's almost 31 pounds and 36 1/2 inches tall. That puts him in the 79th percentile for weight and 95th percentile in height! Still a big boy!! He was so good and let her examine him without putting up a fight! He was jabbering away and was very interested in her doctor "tools". He got a little wild towards the end of the appointment and she said that he was "all boy"! She warned me and said that mothers of quiet little girls may think I'm a bad parent because of my active and vocal child! I guess she knows best since she's got 3 ( I think ) boys. He had to get 2 shots and his flu mist. He did decent with the flu mist and was good for the shots up until they actually gave him the shot! He screamed for a few seconds and then calmed down.

The rest of the appointment was filled with my endless list of questions and Clay squirming around ready to get out of there. We were told to wait 6 more months and then take him to the dentist... so it looks like that will be our next doctor adventure!

ELMOPALOOZA!

I don't even know where to start! Elmopalooza (aka. Clay's 2nd Bday Party) was SO. MUCH. FUN!!!!!! I guess I'll let the pictures tell the story!

The Decorations and Food

This was the food table. I did a red food theme in honor of Elmo's favorite color. We had red fruit, tomato basil mozzarella sandwiches, red chips and salsa, Red Velvet cookie sandwiches (yum), goldfish (in honor of Elmo's pet goldfish, Dorothy) and...

The ELMO CUPCAKES!!!(Note: My mom took most of these pictures with her fancy camera. She did a fabulous job, especially on this picture! They almost look good enough to be in a Food magazine!)

I was so happy with how these cupcakes turned out! I made Buttercream Frosting from scratch (Watch Out, Betty Crocker) and put a layer of that under the red icing. Mark put all the eyes, noses, and mouths on. I think he did an excellent job!

One of my favorite decorations were the tissue paper pom-pomsThese were so fun and easy to make! I think they definitely made the party porch more festive! I got the idea from another blog and followed these instructions.

Another one of my favorite decorations was the birthday banner.There were cute Elmo visors for all the kids Clay was a little hesitant to put his on...
But we got it on... at least for a few quick pictures!
Wyatt wasn't afraid to pose with the Elmo visor on!
But this little guy takes the prize for cutest kid in the Elmo visor! He even came sportin' his adorable Elmo and Cookie Monster outfit for the party!
(He obviously didn't like me taking his picture! He was so happy right before I showed up with the camera!)

We had a Moon Bounce... which I HIGHLY recommend for every party that involves children. They delivered the Moon Bounce the night before so Clay got to spend a little time in it before the party! Clay loved the Moon Bounce...
Really LOVED the Moon Bounce!
It was a big hit with everyone!

I feel as though I need to explain the towels in the moon bounce. The night before the party it rained... a lot... so the moon bounce had gotten wet. The inside dried off, but we didn't realize there was a ton of water on top. Clay accidentally turned the blower off so the Moon Bounce started to deflate with all the kids in it. I flipped it back on quickly and as it blew back up, all the water from the roof fell in! I think the kids enjoyed it being wet more than dry! Probably cooled them off a bit because it was H-O-T!

To cool down, lots of juice got guzzled! I think Clay had at least 5 juice boxes... although, I really think he just liked the Sesame Street characters on the juice boxes!

One of his buddies sipping on his Elmo juice.

Cute Nora cooling off with some juice!

There was lots of playing going on and lots of balloon fun!

The favorite gift was the dinosaur from Toy Story his buddy Les got him.
When he opened it, someone squeezed it to make the dinosaur noise and Clay looked like he was scared and about to FREAK OUT! Then all of a sudden he started squealing and laughing hysterically! He LOVES it! He takes it everywhere and always asks to sleep with it! I have a feeling an obsession with Toy Story is just around the corner!

But my most favorite moment of the entire birthday party was when we sang Happy Birthday to Clay. I didn't know if he'd be scared of everyone singing to him, but he LOVED it! I know he felt so special having all of our family and friends celebrate his big day! He smiled the entire time!

When we finished the birthday song, he started clapping and squealing "Yay!!!". That just made my heart melt!

This was the only family picture we got!

I love this picture of me, my dad and Clay! We definitely all look related!

This Elmo Party was definitely a lot of work, but it was SOOOOO worth it! I hope my baby has some fun memories of his 2nd Birthday Party... I know I do!! I'm so grateful to our family and friends that made this party so special for my sweet baby! I know he had a blast and enjoyed every minute of it!

2 YEARS OLD!

So I was going to write a birthday letter to Clay like I did last year, but nothing was coming out right… that and I kept getting all teary-eyed. So I decided to do a Favorites List so that I could look back at this post and see what Clay loved the day he turned 2.

1) Favorite Foods (at the moment): Nutri-Grain Bars, watermelon, yogurt, bacon and cookies
2) Favorite thing to drink: Mama’s Dr. Pepper
3) Favorite TV Show: Sesame Street (of course) and Yo Gabba Gabba (calls it Yo Yo Yo)
4) Favorite Restaurant: Margaritas – loves the rice and chips
5) Favorite Animal: Monkey (specifically the Paul Frank monkey and Curious George)
6) Favorite Movie: Monsters, Inc.
7) Best Friend: Andrew (at school)
8) Favorite Toy: Mr. Potato Head and Sesame Street building

9) Favorite Outside Activity: Going on a walk in his stroller
10) Favorite Song: One Fine Face by Ernie and Elmo, Ice Cream and Cake by the Buckwheat Boyz (I feel as though I need to explain this one – I played him this song on my computer one day and now every time he sees me on the computer, he wants me to play it. Here it is for your listening pleasure. WARNING: You will not be able to get the song out of your head!)




Now, some of my favorite things:

The other day I told him that it was almost his birthday and that we were going to have an Elmo party for his birthday. Now when I mention his birthday, he always says “Elmo Party”… he’s going to be so excited when Elmopalooza gets here on Saturday!!

He’s learned how to give kisses. Before, I’d ask him to give me a kiss and he’d lick my face. Now he knows how to do a real kiss.

In the mornings while he’s eating I always ask him where Dada is. He responds with “Dada at work”. I then ask him where he’s going and he’ll says “School”. Then I will ask him what Monte is going to do all day and he says “Monte sleeps”.

Whenever he’s watching something on TV and it’s over, he’ll run over to me and say “Mama, over”. I’m sure this actually means I better get in there right away and put him a new show on!

He’s just learning so many new things every day it’s getting harder and harder to keep up! Tomorrow we have his 2 year well-check appointment. I have no clue how much he weighs or how tall he is. I’m guessing he weighs at least 33 pounds… we’ll see tomorrow!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY my sweet Baby Clay!! Mama loves you more than anything in the world!

New Hot Rod

This past weekend Clay got to open one of his birthday presents a bit early. His PopPop (Mark's dad) sent his present in the mail and we got it last Friday. It was in a HUGE box and was difficult to hide. Plus I was excited to see what it was going to look like so we decided it was ok for him to have 1 early present! And it was a COOL present!! His PopPop got him a Hot Rod!

Mark put it together Sunday afternoon while he was napping. When he woke up and came downstairs, he was so excited! He ran over to it and hopped right in! It's a pedal car, so we've got to teach him how the pedals work, but right now he's content just to sit in it and turn the steering wheel. I'm sure once he learns how it works there will be endless hours of chasing him down our driveway making sure he doesn't run out into the street!