Elf on a Shelf - Week 1

Ok, it might have been about 3/4 of a year since I last posted, but I didn't want to forget our first year of Elf on a shelf! We decided our Elf was not here to do the 'nice/naughty' detailing but to teach us how to be nice to others and how to have fun as a Family. So, here is "Snowman The Elf" as Clayton so cutely named him, and his activities for the past week!

Helping to make the kiddos their chocolate milk in the morning!

Reading Christmas books together was a lot of fun!

He was hanging from our coat rack because it was 12 degrees outside!

We put up the tree but didn't decorate it, so Snowman wanted us to decorate it as a family!

Praying the Rosary. Probably one of my favorites since I came up with it myself!

Trying to light a fire. Awkward positioning though, oops!

Clayton's FAVORITE by far. He loved that Snowman had powdered sugar on his mouth and hands!

Clayton at 23 months!

Mommy panic-attack!!! You turn TWO this month?! Oh. My. Goodness. I might have started out the last monthly post with that same sentiment. But, really, Mommy is slightly freaking out over the fact that you are turning two! You are getting to be such a big boy. Here are some highlights from this past month, your last monthly birthday before two!

- Requests chocolate milk instead of just milk now!
- Has gone poo-poo on the potty a few more times, and actually told us when he needed to go!
- Remembers everything - can't get anything past him!
- Learning to count on fingers, can already count objects up to 10
- Loves going to church! (Probably because there is a swing set and playground there!). Can repeat and do motions for the sign of the cross, and repeats "Lord hear our prayer" during the petitions
- Loves to help in the kitchen! Helped Mommy make Daddy's birthday cupcakes!
- Knows what birthday's are all about - this upcoming one should be a lot of fun!
- New phrase: "No way, Jose!" and "No, ma'am!"
- Sits at the big kid table at daycare and gets to sleep in the big kid room!
- Finally understands how talking on a phone works and likes to talk to people, mostly Pop! "Hello, Pop?"
- Alternates between watching Go Go and Super Why as his favorite shows.
- Knows: Happy, Sad, Scary. Can give you the "faces" for each, and if he sees something scary he tells you!
- Likes to pick out his own t-shirts or PJ's
- Definitely in the terrible twos. Throws quite the temper-tantrums when he doesn't get his way!
- Starting to outgrow the 18 month clothing, finally! But 24mo and 2T are way to big! Ugh! Still in a size 7 shoe, size 4 diaper.

Ten Months!

Happy Ten Month Birthday, Reagan E!

Mommy is done making false promises. I am so sorry that I get so behind in writing your letters. You and your brother keep us pretty busy! ;-) This is not to make you think that I do not love you. No way! In fact, I love you SO much that I put off blogging and anything personal so that I can spend as much time with you as I can! You're my little sunshine and I love you so much!

Now, on to the fun stuff! This month you started to show us what life will be like with two toddlers instead of  two babies, or one baby and one toddler. Sometimes your brother still acts like a baby! hehe... You haven't changed in the walking department yet. You still prefer to be holding on to something! When we let go of your hands to get you to stand on your own you immediately reach for the floor! It's so funny! It's like you think that it is the scariest thing ever to not be holding on to something. But, you cruise along furniture so well and can walk behind a push toy like a champ! So, it's not that you can't do the physical motions of walking, you just are a bit scared of the idea!

Mommy's FAVORITE thing that you started this month was saying Mama! Yay! Your brother was a little turkey and he pretty much refused to say Mama until he was over a year old and he went straight to saying Mommy! You call for me whenever you're upset. You are definitely a Mommy's girl! I can pick you up and you instantly stop crying or fussing. This makes your brother a bit jealous at times since you occupy a lot of Mommy's time.

We love interacting and playing with you. You learned how to play peek-a-boo this month, and you can clap your own hands when we do patty-cake! Playing peak-a-boo is precious. You'll hold something up to your face, take it down and smile so big when we say peek-a-boo! Then you'll put it right back up to do it again and again! =) You still just ADORE your brother and playing with him is your favorite! You follow him from toy to toy in the game room, and mostly just eat whatever toys he is playing with. You will even stand up at his art easel and help him color! You don't quite know how to put the tip of the crayon to the paper but you definitely know that the crayon touches the paper to make the mark!

We bought you a new car seat and got you a fun mirror that goes on the back headrest and you have been a much happier baby in the car! Hooray! I guess you just needed a comfier ride! ;-) You are still not a huge fan but you don't cry inconsolably anymore, thank goodness!

Poor girl, you are still throwing up. We have been to countless doctor's visits, we have done blood work, and Mommy has probably become the least favorite person who calls the nurses! Your GI doctor in Lubbock put you on a medicine called Reglan that was supposed to help with your throwing up, and then he put you just recently on Zantac which is an antacid for reflux. So far neither are really helping all that well. You have good days but then you still have bad days. We hate to see you suffer and really hope that you grow out of it soon. We feed you a lot more now than we used to in hopes that you will grow some! You haven't gained any weight, besides maybe a few ounces, since in the beginning of December! =( Mommy took you to the doctor just over a week ago and you weighed 17lbs 5oz and were in the 19th percentile for your weight. Nana came to visit in the thick of all of your appointments, thank goodness. We were so glad to have some help and relief!

During Nana's visit she also taught you to sleep through the night! Hooray! Maybe it was her constant comforting to you during each noise you made, hehe. We are thankful to not have the middle of the night feed anymore! You sleep from about 8pm to 7am, sometimes later depending on your mood! Most mornings we wake you up for daycare when we get your brother up at 7:30. Weekends though you normally think it's time to wake up still! You're not napping well during the day though and we are not sure if it is because of your medicine or not.

Since you still have gagging issues we only feed you the stage 2 Gerber foods. You do great with them! You eat 3 meals a day interspersed with your bottles. Now you can also drink water from a straw sippy cup! So we give you that from time to time too! We have tried all of the little baby snacks and what not but you just choke and gag on them, then throw up. Your Pediatrician has suggested that we see a Speech Therapist to help you work through your texture issues. We'll be making an appointment soon, so we'll see what happens!

Since you haven't grown you still wear all of your same clothes. You are still a size 6-9mo, size 3 diaper. Tiny girl! It's been kind of nice to not have to buy a lot of new clothes! ;-) Your two top teeth are finally poking through! Not a lot of progress yet but you can see the two white buds! =) Yahoo! Finally!

We can't believe you're already in the double digits. Wow. Time has flown! Mommy has been working hard to plan the best first birthday party for you! You'll be sharing it with your brother this year, but we promise when you're older you can have your own girly party if you want with all of your friends! =)

We love you so much!!!!! Happy Birthday, sister girl!!!

Love,
Mommy

Lent

This year I am making my Lenten penance/fasting/almsgiving public. Why? Because I want accountability! Not only with the Lord, but with my friends and family. A few weeks ago I started a morning workout class entitled "Amazing Life" by Body & Soul Fitness. We begin each session (at 5:30am) with a scripture reading, a lesson, and then a prayer. All of our workout is done to contemporary Christian music. I LOVE IT. It has really brought me to see life in a new perspective. I do have an Amazing Life.

This leads me to Lent.... this year I am going to pray every day, and try my absolute hardest, to not complain. Yes.... me. No complaining. I'm serious! I really feel as if this will be a challenge for me, but I am ready to take it on with help from prayer. When I get up at 5am to go to my workout class I think "man, this is early!", but hey... I got up this morning! God decided to continue my lease on life! I have two beautiful children and an amazing husband. I have a roof over my head and food on my table. We have clean clothes and running water. Little things like that may not seem important - but to those that do not have those luxuries.... wow.

So, please remind me if you hear me slipping.... no complaining! Be thankful in all things!

For another perspective: http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2011/11/patti-armstrong-be-thankful-in-all-things/

“In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Clayton at 22 Months!

Oh my goodness, we are getting so close to my baby boy being 2 years old! Cue Mommy cry-fest! =( He is growing up so fast and getting smarter and cuter by the day - if that is possible! Here are some highlights (or lowlights, ha!) from the past month!

- Knows these shapes: Triangle, Heart, Square, Circle (little harder on the circle)
- Knows these colors: Purple, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Brown, Black, Pink (So, pretty much all of them!)
- Speaks in full sentences all of the time and for the most part we understand everything, or most of what he says!
- Loves to wrestle with Sister, but tends to bite when he gets really excited.
- Already got one of the 2 year molars in! Has all the rest of his teeth besides the remaining 3!
- Knows his name is Clayton "Kaykon" and Sister's name is "Reagan E!" haha, it's too cute!
- Sings these songs in addition to the others: Jesus Loves Me, Mary Had a Little Lamb, the Go-Go song
- Now obsessed with his Reveille pillow, Angry Birds blanket, and Go-Go (Cat in the hat) stuffed animal and must have them with him to sleep at night or get ready for bed. Sometimes wants to drag them downstairs when he wakes up. But, he will sleep without them - such as at daycare!
- Will tell you whether he'd rather sit in a big boy chair or the highchair for meals
- Wants to read the Goodnight Aggieland book every night before bed, THEN the Pooh bear book. He even "reads" the Pooh bear book himself!
- Doesn't want to take a bath without Reagan in there too!
- New phrase: "Oh my gosh!" haha!
- Favorite word, still: "Nooooo"
- Went to Nana's house in California and was scared of the animals, haha. But did feed Laddie, her stallion, carrots on the last day and Leroy, the goat, some bread!
- Loves to color!!!
- Can do matching games where he matches a picture on the screen to a picture on a card!
- Still wearing all of the same clothes and shoes! Woo hoo - cheaper bills! ;-)

Love my sweet boy. Even if he is a little toot sometimes! He definitely knows how to express himself and is not lacking in the personality department! We just love him to pieces!

Nine Months!

(Pictures to come!)

Happy Nine Month Birthday, Reagan E!

Mommy gets a big F this month for not posting your birthday report until now. Next month I promise to get an A! ;-) We've just been so busy trying to get you and your brother healthy lately that time has just seriously flown by! We are ready for warmer weather and are hoping that will bring some healthier kiddos!

This month you really took off in your developments! You started cruising along the furniture and hardly ever just stay in one place, whether that is walking along something, or crawling! You follow your brother wherever he goes and can almost keep up with how quickly he changes from toy to toy! ;-) You also started walking behind a push toy this month! You don't like it too much because your arms get ahead of your legs, but you do alright! I'm sure this next month you'll really get the hang of it!

Verbally you started repeating bye-bye and waving!!!! We were so proud of you! You say "bu-bu" but wave at the same time, so we know what you mean! You also started giving us open mouth kisses this month! They are so sweet, but so slobbery! haha!

You still hate your carseat. This makes Mommy & Daddy very sad! We even changed you to a different one thinking that the new one we bought you was uncomfortable. Nope... no change! You do fine as long as it is not long distances, or if you can just take a nap. You also hate when we get your PJ's on after a bath. I guess we are just not quick enough and you are too cold! Once we are done you quit crying instantly! Too funny!

You and your brother have so much fun together and we love watching you day to day. His new favorite thing is to wrestle with you. We've had to get on to him a few times for being too rough, and one day he even bit you! Your first bite! =( He felt really bad afterwards though. We know it was just play but we still had to scold him!

Gia nicknamed you her Mona Lisa because you always have this little smirk on your face. You're a happy girl and we love your big smiles too, but your little grin is just adorable! When you and brother are playing you make this cackling laugh that is too funny!!! You have a pretty deep voice so Pop calls you Kathleen Turner.... you'll learn all about these two references later in life! hehe!

Pretty much since the day you were born you've been teething, haha, and your two top teeth have still not come in. Some days are worse than others where the drool just pours out of your mouth. Lovely, huh? We keep bibs on you if we want to make sure your outfit stays nice and dry! Hopefully they'll come in soon and you can be relieved of the pain for a while!

You still only get to eat the Stage 2 Gerber baby foods since you can't tolerate any real solid foods. You eat nearly a whole jar or cup each time! Your favorite is pears. You take a bottle of 6 ounces every 4 hours during the day as well. Sometimes you go a little longer if you had a lot of food, but we need to fatten you up anyway so we don't mind feeding you!

Speaking of - at your 9 month appointment your stats had dropped off significantly. Your doctor said it could be from the throwing up, or it could be the way you grow. You only weighed 17lbs 3oz and were 26" long. You went from the 42% in weight to the 22%, and the 43% in height to the 13%. Your head went from 25% to 12%! You just shrank right up! We are hoping everything will work itself out but we don't know yet - you're still puking! More to come on that in your next monthly letter!

You still wear 6-9mo clothes and are now a size 3 diaper. Shoes - ha - not sure! ;-) We don't ever put you in shoes. Those are just pointless for babies! You still get up once a night at least, sometimes more... but other times you sleep all night. It's random! We feed you though when you wake since you are still so tiny. Need to fatten you up!

You are so precious and we love you so much. It kills us to see you struggle with your tummy, or whatever the issue may be. We are working on it, I promise! We love you, sister girl! Happy Birthday!!!!

Love,
Mommy

2012 in Pictures

Well, since I am postponing Reagan's 9 month update until I can take her pictures tonight, I figured I'd copy a blog post that I read the other day! The author did an update of her year in pictures! I don't post many pictures on the blog besides their monthly updates, so I thought this would be fun!

January: Snow!

February: Mommy's Cupid!

March: Clayton is ONE!

April: Reagan is born!

May: Mother's Day and TWO babies!

June: Father's day and TWO babies!

July: Two Firecrackers!

August: Meeting Gloria!

September: Aggie Football starts!

October: Ghost and Ghostbuster!

November: Aggie Football with the whole family!

December: Our first Santa visit!

A New Year...

Poor blog.... it's been a little deprived lately. We are so glad to see 2012 come to a close. Not only was it a terrible end to the year for us, it was also terrible for our dear friends and Goddaughter. Thankful that everyone pulled through and is now (mostly) well! Whew!

This year will be exciting for many reasons! Clayton and Reagan will turn 2 and 1 in the Spring. Kevin & Sarah will get married in June. Gloria will turn 1 in July. My dad will be 60 in July. And, I'll get my Aggie Ring in November! WHOOP!

Ready to see what the new year will hold. Praying that it brings nothing but happiness to all of our friends and family!

Clayton at 21 months!

We have hit the terrible two's! Ok, not really, but sometimes it feels more like we have a full-fledged toddler rather than a baby! Clayton continues to amaze us with how smart he is. Seriously, it's scary sometimes! My mom seems to think that we'll never be able to keep him entertained enough in school since he'll be so far ahead, lol. He does come from some pretty smart family! Here are some highlights from the past month:

- Sings these songs by himself: The ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle, Jingle Bells (main part only), The Bearkat song

- Can identify the letters B, C, D, H, J, E, and T. Probably could do more but doesn't have the attention span!

- Can put together baby puzzles in no time flat!

- Doesn't want to sit in a highchair very often. Would rather sit in a "big boy" chair.

- Eats everything with a fork or spoon

- Would just eat ranch as a meal if we'd let him!

- Obsessed with candy... Thank you, Christmas! Asks us for candy all of the time. Favorite is M&M's!

- Throws trash away by himself, even things that are not trash to us but that he thinks are!

- STILL obsessed with tractors.

- Wants to read the Winnie the Pooh book every night before bed

- Knows what things are his and what are Sister's and does not often want to share!

- New favorite thing to do on our phone is scroll through and look at pictures and watch videos

- Met Santa for the first time and did not cry! But sure did not like him!

- Talks in complete sentences. Sometimes we don't always understand what he is saying but most times we fully comprehend!

- Loves to scold his Sister.. "Sisteerrrrr... No! No!", haha. 

- Understands time out, but seems to enjoy it so it is not much of a punishment!

- Loves to run and he'll tell us, "Run! FAST!". 

- Knows everyone's name at daycare

- Loves to tackle Sister and make her giggle

- Still not very interested in going poo-poo on the potty. More interested in hiding from us. Oh joy.

- Thinks it's hilarious to "tooty"... all boy I tell ya!

- Still wearing 18 month, size 3 diaper day/ 4 night, 7 shoe. Not much growth happening!

I'm sure there are tons more things he has done. It's so hard to keep up with him when he changes every day and learns new things. His Sister does the same. It is hard to watch my babies grow up so fast! 

Love my sweet sweet little stinkeroo!

Eight Months!

Happy Eight Month Birthday, Reagan E!

Mommy is once again late posting this.... December/End of November was ROUGH! We are glad to see a new year here! You grew and changed so much this month and it has really made Mommy sad! No more little baby Reagan! You crawl so fast now and go wherever you please. You follow your brother around all of the time and even will follow us if we leave the room. Your big accomplishment this month was that you started pulling up right after your 7 month birthday. First you would only pull up on things that were shorter than you in crawling position and you would sort of "climb" onto the higher things from there. Well now you put your arms way above your head, reach for something, then pull with all of your might until you are standing!

You are getting so good at keeping your balance and love to let us hold your arms and let you walk. You are not a huge fan of walking behind a push toy yet because you'd rather chew on the handle! However, you love to walk around in your walker! Sometimes Brother thinks he needs to push you instead of you doing the work and away you go like a roller coaster ride! ;-) You laugh and think it's fun!

You started dancing just after your 7 month birthday also! Mommy mentioned that Brother danced on his 7 month birthday and you must have heard me and thought "Wow! I should do that too!". It's cute to watch you shake your booty! ;-) You and Clayton love to dance together to music and you will dance while he sings along to songs!

This month was rough because we were all sick. Even since probably October some time you developed a little cough from what we assumed was drainage in your throat. Well, you have a pretty weak gag reflex so if the cough tickled you the wrong way you would throw up. And we mean throw up everything in your tummy! We still don't know when you will throw up or when you are ok. We're looking in to why you continue to do this. It's been rough on Mommy & Daddy and it really upsets you as well. Hopefully it will go away soon. Nana says that you will probably outgrow it by the time you turn one... man, that's only 4 months away!

You are a pro at eating solids but we cannot feed you anything that you must chew because of your gag reflex. Anytime we feed you puffs or something like that you gag and throw up. Oh joy! You really don't have a favorite or least favorite food though! We did try to give you some grownup sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving and you made the worst face ever! It was hilarious! But you love baby sweet potatoes, so who knows! ;-) Silly girl!

You started babbling this month. You say "bababa". You still blow raspberries alllll of the time and you drool allll of the time! We have to keep bibs on you a lot because you soak the front of your shirts! You and your brother still have so much fun playing together. It's so fun to watch you two. He loves to wrestle with you and you put up with all of his crazy boy antics!

This month you also started to lean to people when you wanted them to hold you and you outstretch your arms. Also, you clapped for Gia when you were playing patty-cake with her! And, Mommy got you to wave once to yourself in the mirror! Those are not every day occurrences yet  but you are getting so big and smart!

You are wearing 6-9 month clothes and still wear some just 6 month clothes. You're pretty petite! We will go to the doctor next month to see how much you weigh and what not! You wear either a size 2 or size 3 shoe depending on the brand, and are still in a size 2 diaper but not for long.

Your pictures this month are a little interesting... Mommy & Daddy's good camera was broken so we had to use our old junky one, and Mommy took the pictures by herself with Brother "helping" us. Haha. Enjoy the outtakes!

We love you so much, Sister Girl. You make us so happy and we are so blessed to be your parents!

Love,
Mommy