Flashback Friday - 1 Year Ago

I was looking at Clay's pictures from a year ago and can't get over how much he's changed!!

Here he is getting his first taste of cereal! Look at those chubby cheeks!!
Here he is hanging out in the chair. He couldn't even sit up by himself and now he's all over the place!

And here is our crazy, mischievous, little monster today looking like he's about to do something he's not supposed to...

Time is flying by fast!

Oh, WOW!

Take a look at this...


And this...
The first one was mine... all mine! It was a Chocolate Malt cupcake from a place called GiGi's. The 2nd one was called Kid's Cake and it was for Clay. Look at all that icing! The icing was as tall... actually taller than the cupcake! They were amazing!!! You can't eat the whole thing in one sitting... I could barely get through half of mine!

Clay thoroughly enjoyed his... especially the icing...

He really enjoyed the icing... a LOT!

A WHOLE lot!

Worst Week EVER!

This week started off as any other normal week... busy, busy with work! Then the dreaded stomach virus hit! It first infected my mother-in-law and landed her in the hospital for a couple of days. Then, Thursday morning I called her to check on her and was convinced that I was in the clear and not going to get it... boy was I wrong! About 2 hours after my conversation with her, it hit me like a ton of bricks... a VIOLENT ton of bricks! I put myself on quarantine and didn't leave my bedroom whenever Clay was up and around the house. I washed my hands at least 347 times and continuously sprayed everything that I touched with Lysol. I'm praying that Mark and Clay do not get this stomach virus from hell (so far, so good)! I think if we can make it to Tuesday without anyone else getting sick, then we will be in the clear!

I've never watched so much non-DVR'd tv in my life! I've forgotten what commercials were like. I'm now convinced that I need to get Pro-Active for my face, go on Xenedrine diet pills, sign up for the Special K Challenge, and get the In-Styler for my hair (and if you don't know what that is, it's actually pretty neat!). I've watched a Platinum Weddings marathon (which I'm now addicted to) and worry for my son when he becomes a teenager because everything on TV lately seems to be dealing with teenage pregnancy! Clay is NOT dating until he is 30!

I am MUCH better now... still taking it a little easy on what I put into my stomach. I've been eating a lot of chicken noodle soup! I've lost 5.1 pounds according to my Wii Fit! I actually reached a goal on it early... although, I'm sure I'm going to gain it all back when I eat my first actual meal.

Anyways, this week Clay has been playing a new game with us... it's called the Love It/Hate It game. I'll give him something to eat and he will LOVE it for the first few bites and then wants nothing to do with it a few seconds later. He's been doing this a lot with stuff he's typically loved in the past. Of course, he won't turn down a snack cake or chocolate ice cream! I've been trying my hardest to find some form of protein for him to eat since he's not a meat eater and decided to try Tofu. I've read that a lot of toddlers actually like it... so we tried it...

I know from his face you can't tell that he liked it... but he ate it up! Then Mark tried to feed it to him the 2nd night and he just sucked off the BBQ sauce and spit the tofu out! So... a no-go on the tofu!

He still has a major obsession with Elmo and I've been trying to get him to say "Elmo" on camera. I finally got it the other night...

See, it sounds kind of like "Mama"! I have been trying forever to get him to call me Mama... but I guess Elmo is much more fun than Mama is.

We also tried to teach him how to color. Yeah... he wasn't much interested in it.

He was more interested in eating the crayons. We'll keep trying! I predict a budding artist in our future!!!

So, that was my week! And now the little monster is stirring so I must wrap this up! Have a great week!

Busy Week!

Yesterday was my big deadline for my yearly government project - and it has been deployed!! So now that I've got that out of the way, I'll maybe have time to do other things... like update my blog!

Other than work, nothing exciting has happened this week. Clay has been a pill lately, but I'm pretty sure it's due to 4 more teeth coming in. Bless. His. Heart! I know he must be in pain! His poor little gums look horrible! Once these 4 come in, that will give him 16 teeth! He won't even have anymore cute gaps between his teeth since these will fill them in!

Just in the last week I feel like he's grown a whole inch! He's all of a sudden able to reach things that have previously been out of reach. He's also picking new things up so fast! He now can show you his belly, foot, hand, nose and ear when you ask him. He's obsessed with Sesame Street now and wants to watch it everyday. This morning he was watching it and came up to me saying something that sounded like "Mama". My heart just melted... until I figured out he was really saying "Elmo"!

He's been so picky with food lately! Some of his favorites now get chunked on the floor. I have found a couple of new things he LOVES to eat... Kiwi, Cinnamon Twists from Taco Bell and those Go-Gurt things (yogurt in a tube - I have to help him with these). I'm hoping the pickiness has a lot to do with his teething, but it may just be that he's being a "toddler".

Tonight we've got a big night on the town! Mark and I and another couple are going into town to do dinner and go to the hockey game!! I haven't been to a hockey game since I was pregnant. I'm looking forward to a night out!!

And here are a couple of pictures from this morning... nothing special, just really cute!

This is his chair we're trying to teach him to sit in. He's determined that he likes it better turned upside down so he can crawl around on it like a jungle gym.

I tried to get an action shot of his daddy throwing him up in the air, but my camera wasn't fast enough (or maybe it's me that's not fast enough).
Hope everyone has a good rest of the weekend!!!

16 Months!

Baby Clay... You are 16 months old today!!!

It's hard to imagine that this time last year your amazing feat was rolling over both ways and doing the motor boat sound! Now you're a walking, talking ball of energy that never seems to stop! (I wouldn't have it any other way!)

We went to your 15 month appointment back on December 22nd and you weighed 25 pounds 9 oz. and were 33.5 inches long! That puts you in the 62th percentile in weight and 96th percentile in height. Looks like you are going to be tall and skinny like your daddy! This time last year you were only 18 pounds (92nd percentile) and 26 and 3/4 inches (94th percentile)! You've definitely slowed down in the weight department! Good thing... you were a chubby little thing when you were 4 months old!

You are in 18 - 24 month clothes and we just moved you to a size 4 diaper!! You are already growing out of your winter shoes which are a size 5 wide (although, it's pretty much pointless to buy you shoes since you refuse to keep them on).

You are obsessed with books - OBSESSED! I love it when you bring me a book, turn around and plop down in my lap ready for me to read it to you! I also love it when you read the books to yourself. You have your own little language and it cracks me up how you say a few words and turn the page... say a few words and turn the page. You like your puzzles and have gotten really good at your farm animal one. I don't even have to help you put any of the pieces in!

You love your ball pit Santa got you for Christmas and love it when Mama pushes you down in it. You also love to hide under the balls and play "Where's Clay?". You love your Little People toys, especially your Farm.

You've discovered TV and will almost sit through a whole episode of Sesame Street! Your favorite character is still Elmo, but you really like that fairy character... I think her name is Abby?? I think it's her cute little laugh that gets your attention! We're trying to break your habit of standing too close to the TV to watch it...
And are trying to get you to sit in your "recliner" as I like to call it...
You are very unpredictable as far as food goes. One minute you love hamburgers from Burger King, the next you're throwing them on the floor in disgust. You NEVER turn down avocado and you LOVE your Little Debbie snack cake desserts you get after dinner. You are starting to take bites off of food, so we don't have to cut up everything in teeny, tiny bite-sized pieces. You have an obsession with Ritz crackers and get really excited when I pull the box out. You still LOVE Nutri-grain bars and any kind of fruit. I'm having trouble getting you to drink your milk, but you never turn down juice (which I still mix with water - you don't know what your missing and hopefully won't know for a little longer!).

You love daycare and go right to Ms. Helen when I drop you off. She knows the way to your heart - SNACKS! Even though you've just had breakfast, you still are ready for that snack! I have been told that you are the daycare teachers' entertainment. Always putting on a show - whether it be taking your clothes off (we're going to have to have a talk about that), stealing other kids' (or teachers') food, or throwing toys out an open window. You learned the word "MINE" while opening up the new toys the teachers bought for the class for Christmas... you didn't want anyone else to play with them and you hoarded them in a gift bag for the rest of the day!

You are growing up too fast, but you are at an age that is so much fun! Every new thing you experience brings you such excitement!

Happy 16 month birthday, Baby Clay!!!

Winter Storm 2010!

Yay!! We got snow yesterday!!! It was Baby Clay's first snow and he loved it... until we took him out in it this morning. He didn't want any part of it!

It was so cute when I took him out in it for the first time! The snow had started to stick and it was coming down pretty hard. He was running around trying to catch the snowflakes and kept exclaiming "WOA!". He loved to touch it... with his bare hands, of course! No mittens for this little guy! It was a struggle just to get him to put his adorable teddy bear coat on! Mittens were a fight I didn't want to encounter.

Here he is touching the snow for the first time.

I made a couple of snowballs and tried to show him how to throw them. All he wanted to do was crumble them up!

This was later on that afternoon - we had gotten a good bit more snow! We built a sad mini snowman which he just knocked down with one swipe!

Having fun in the snow!!!

I LOVE this little picture! This was taken this morning. The lake across the street is frozen on top and it looks really neat with the snow on it! Clay walked down the driveway and back up... then fell and got his hands wet and had had enough of the snow!
So now we are back inside staying nice a warm - most likely going to watch Sesame Street a couple hundred times!

And what did Monte think about the snow???

He was NOT lovin' it! Bless his heart! He's getting over an intestinal track infection he got this past weekend. We had to take him for an emergency visit to the vet Sunday night because he had gotten dehydrated - which doesn't take much for a 4.5 pound little dog! He's pretty much back to 100%, thank goodness!!!

And here's my FAVORITE part of Winter Storm 2010... We have a big umbrella on our back patio and it had a lot of snow on it. Mark would stand under it and hit it so that the snow would fall off. Clay found it HYSTERICAL!

White Christmas

A couple days after Christmas we went on our long-awaited vacation to Crested Butte, CO. I've always wanted a White Christmas... and Crested Butte didn't disappoint! With almost a 40 inch base, it was perfect weather for skiing!!

The condo we stayed at was BEAUTIFUL and it was a few minutes walk to the base of the mountain. Here is the view from our bedroom window... GORGEOUS!

I decided that I wanted to try snowboarding... BIG mistake! I was doing ok until I had to strap both feet to the board. I got a little claustrophobic and it was a disaster. It also didn't help that I got altitude sickness and thought I was going to DIE! So my snowboarding career was very short-lived and I went back to skiing the next day. I was very surprised at how quickly skiing came back to me! I haven't really skied since I was in high school!

My 2nd day of skiing, I got brave and thought I was ready for some Blues (intermediate slopes). Boy, was I wrong! It didn't help that I had my husband encouraging me telling me that he thought I could do it. We were on a mission to make it to a place called the Warming House. The Warming House is a restaurant/bar/hang out place. We had to go on 3 different ski lifts and ski 4 different runs to get there. One of the runs turned out to be a double blue (VERY intermediate) and it about did me in! I scooted sideways down most of it... stopping a couple of times to inform my husband that I didn't think I could make it. Obviously, I had to make it down since ski patrol didn't come get freaked out, out-of-their-league skiers. I eventually got brave and tried to "snow plow" from side to side. That didn't work out so well either... I ended up going "mach ridiculous" and couldn't slow down... and ended up using my face to slow me down. It was not a graceful fall! Other than that, I had a great time skiing!

Here's the one and only picture I have of Mark and I on the slopes. I wasn't brave enough to take my camera since I couldn't guarantee it's safety in my pocket with my wipe-outs! See how happy I am... this was obviously before the double blue incident.

Another really fun thing we did was go snow mobile riding! It was the perfect day to do it because it was snowing pretty hard and it was gorgeous!

Here is Mark getting ready to ride!

And here he is on our "Death Machine". I was freaked out at first because if you look over to one side of the trail, it's a drop off.... to nothing! It took me a while to get used to, but once I realized my husband was not going to intentionally throw me off, I relaxed and enjoyed the ride!
Here's the one group picture I got from the week. Look at all that snow!

Even though you can't tell by looking at the picture (could be those giant, uncomfortable helmets we had to wear), it's: Mark, me, Sam, Augusto, Jenny, Ryan, Leigh and Jason.

And here are the guys letting loose on the snow mobiles. Us girls were smart and decided to watch the guys go crazy. Good thing since Mark flipped his and another one ended up falling off and having to chase his down.

Our last day, Mark and I decided to go into the town and explore. The town is adorable! It's one of the few, true ski towns left! We ate at a yummy place called the Secret Stash.

Look at how cute the buildings are! The building on the right is the post office...

Here is another picture of the town...

They also had these neat ice sculptures around the base area at the ski resort.

I definitely want to go back... soon!!

I enjoyed my vacation, but I missed Baby Clay TERRIBLY!!! He stayed with Mark's mom and was spoiled rotten by the time we picked him up!! It was the longest we had left him! It's amazing how much he had changed in a week! I definitely do not recommend a ski vacation if you are looking to relax! I feel like a need a vacation from my vacation! I have never been so sore or bruised up in my life! It's been really difficult getting back to the real world!

Christmas Fun 2009

Vacation has put me WAY behind on my blog! I can't believe I'm just now getting around to my Christmas post!

We had a fabulous, busy Christmas this year! Christmas Eve we hosted dinner for Mark's side of the family. His mom, sister and her family came over. We went to Christmas Eve service at church and then came home to my very first Christmas Dinner! I was very proud of myself... everything turned out delicious!

We attempted to take a picture of Nan and the grandkids... Clay was having no part of it!

Clay got a new ride from Aunt Lee Anne, Uncle Ray, Grace and Ellie. He was a little intimidated by it at first... but he loves it now!

Clay enjoyed his Christmas dinner... he cleaned his plate (or tray)!

His favorite gift were his books! He couldn't stop reading them.

Ellie and Grace looking comfy in their snuggies...

Christmas morning Santa brought some FUN stuff! His big gift was a Sesame Street ball pit!

And he was frightened of it...

Santa also brought Clay a Little People Christmas on Main play set along with bunch of toys in his stocking! We got him some clothes (he wasn't very interested in those), a collectible car (that he'll never get to play with), and another Little People Carwash playset.
I made monkey bread and we were in a sugar coma for the rest of the morning.

That afternoon, my parents and sister and her family came over to celebrate. We had so much food left over from the night before that I didn't even have to make my Christmas Chili.

Here's sweet little Hailey! She's almost 7 months and she's still so tiny!!

One of my favorite gifts was the painting my sister did of Clay. She painted one of my very most favorite pictures and did a wonderful job! I LOVE it!!
Clay's cousin, Cady, loved the ball pit!

And once he saw her having fun in it, he decided that he was going to like it too! We now can't keep him out of it!

I am so thankful for the wonderful Christmas we had and being able to spend it with our family! We have been truly blessed!