Cleaning Up

Have you ever tried to weed out toys with a 2-year old around?

Mom and dad took Lauren Clay to see Alvin and the "Chickmunks" today, and I decided to make room in our playroom for the toys from Christmas (i.e., purge the clutter.) I decided to set aside any toys she has enjoyed in the past but hasn't played with recently, with the intention of recycling them back into the mix in the spring. I also filled a large trash can with toys that have seen much better days...
Unfortunately, Lauren Clay returned home before I finished my clean-up project, and she immediately reattached to the toys that were going to "disappear" to the upstairs, and is currently going through the bin I'd intended to pitch the next time the garbage runs. She's constantly screaming, "look what I found!" At least she's having a good time, but I'm dreading trying to wrap up my project. The toys that have sat dormant for so many months are no longer "out of sight, out of mind," so I have to figure out a way to make space in the playroom without too much of a fuss from Lauren Clay.

I'm posting a few more Christmas pictures that have made us laugh. In this first shot, Ty is cooing on the new karaoke machine.
Here Lauren Clay is playing with moon sand:
Here are Lauren Clay and grandmother playing in the new ball tent:
Here's how we found the dogs after John and I returned from a few errands. Meanwhile, Lauren Clay is cutting playdough with Christmas cookie cutters:
...and finally, my brother in some plastic glasses Lauren Clay found (probably in a pile to be purged.)

Christmas

What a fun Christmas! I'm doing a quick post because I don't want to miss out on the fun downstairs. We're at mom and dad's today-- we spent the night here last night to do Christmas with my parents and to spend time with Uncle Jon. Lauren Clay has had non-stop fun the past few days. We did the typical progressive Christmas party this year:
-Nursing home for breakfast with Grandmother Doris Christmas eve morning
-To Louisville for the Millers' Christmas even open house with dad's side of the family
-(Didn't make it to the Meehan open house because LaurenClay and JohnTyler were fast asleep.)
-Christmas morning at our house
-Christmas lunch at the Stephens' house (They fixed Turducken; ever heard of it?)
-Christmas night at mom and dad's

Lauren Clay has been showered with gifts; mostly princess kinds of things. When we walked into the living room Christmas morning and she saw the gifts, she kept yelling, "Look what I found!") She spent the day yesterday showing her toys to "Rusty" (I'm thinking Rusty the Snowman may be her imaginary friend. She talks to him constantly. For example, yesterday she would do a spin and say, "whoa, Rusty! That was very hard!") We have that on video.

I'm posting the pictures we have taken over the past few days. We've taken much more video than still shots this year. I'll try to get some of my brother's pictures posted once he's able to download them.
Here's Ty, all bundled. He's almost 8 weeks old now:

Here's a shot of Lauren Clay reading books from the Meehans:
Playing with one of the many toys dad ordered off Amazon.com. Dad gets free two-day shipping through Amazon, and he loves ordering things for Lauren Clay through it. He got her a precious little doll and fun castle. Here she's holding a bear in a tiny Radio Flyer wagon:
This is from Christmas last year:

...and this year:

Christmas Traditions

Libby came over yesterday to play with Lauren Clay. The girls had a great time; they've not seen each other since before JohnTyler was born! Here they're playing with the playdough barber shop.

Lauren Clay is having a ball right now with my watercolors... my nice paints on my broken-in palate, with my nice paintbrushes on nice watercolor paper. She's been begging me to let her paint with the good stuff ever since I've had the paints out this season, but this is the first I've given in. She keeps saying, "daddy, me and mommy are painting." I've been working all day on-- what was supposed to be-- our Christmas card. Looks like it'll be a New Year's card if I use it at all. Faces are really hard to paint, and I've been struggling with LaurenClay and JohnTyler's eyes for the last couple hours. I'm almost happy with the painting at this point (which is a much more positive reaction than I had at about 7pm), so I'm going to put everything down for 12 hours and see if I can put some finishing touches on the piece that will push it into the "use it" category. I am sitting on a couple of half-finished pieces that have ended up in the "lose it" pile. Frustrating, but it's all a learning experience I guess. This is the picture similar to the Christmas painting pose:

In a couple minutes we're going to light a candle and read the Christmas story. It's become a tradition Lauren Clay looks forward to each night. My original plan was to do Advent at the beginning of December, lighting a purple, pink or white candle on Sundays and reading Scripture as we approached Christmas. As most of you know, our December has been kind of wild. Last week I resolved to start some kind of tradition, even though it wouldn't be what I'd originally planned. I made a list of about 10 fun things to do as Christmas approaches (lighting a candle and reading Scriptures about the coming Savior, calling grandparents and wishing them a Merry Christmas, reading the Christmas story, and making hot chocolate with marshmallows.) I cut the list into strips and put them in a santa cookie jar, intending to draw a strip each night. Interestingly, the first three nights Lauren Clay drew a light-a-candle-and-read-a-certain-Scripture strip... so last night before even drawing a strip, she found a Bible and said, "it's time to light a candle!" I'm glad she didn't choose the strip about hot chocolate on the first night because the second night would have been a let down no matter what she chose. Now it doesn't matter what the strip says; we are reading Scripture each night anyway. We pulled out her preschool Bible and we're now reading about the events leading up to Jesus' birth. To make this little evening ritual even more precious, she sings "Happy Birthday" to Jesus each night before blowing out the candle. (We might make a birthday cake for Jesus Christmas eve and bring it to Christmas lunch...)

I'm off to read some Scripture by candlelight with the family!

baby brother

I just opened my old computer and was able to look at friends' blogs. As I was enjoying looking at the pictures of Sutton and Wyatt (babies born around John Tyler's birthday), I realized I haven't posted any pictures of Ty in a long time. Here are a few

This was taken a couple weeks ago (11/26).
This one is from 11/29. We were at the hotel in Birmingham to take Papa home. Both kids had fallen asleep in my lap while John was off visiting with his dad. I kept thinking Lauren Clay would wake up so I could resituate, but we stayed like this for over 2 hours.
This picture was taken at Nana and Papa's house in early December, so Ty was about 4/5 weeks old. Ty was looking in the mirror (and I think he fell asleep in this position.) I thought it was precious to see his little legs tucked up under him. I've let him nap on his belly, but I've read a few research articles on SIDS and I'm now determined to make him a back sleeper.
When we returned from Alabama, we couldn't believe how much more Ty filled his bassinet. He's still a skinny thing, but he's gotten long over the past few weeks. This picture was taken December 9, so he was about 5 weeks old.

I have an album of John's baby pictures, by the way, and he and Ty look identical up to this point. I'll try to scan in a few of the pictures and post them next to ones we've taken of Ty. Sometime.

Back to routines

I just finished running one mile. One mile. I'm exhausted. I 've felt better than this after a 15-mile training run in the past... but I've got to start somewhere if I'm ever going to make a 15-miler again. My goal is to start slowly and work up to a consistent 3- or 4-mile run. Maybe if I can stick with it, I can join some of the Bunco girls in the Derby minimarathon in April, but I'm not setting that as a goal until I can do 3 miles without gasping for breath and feeling like I have jelly for legs.

Took my first shopping trip with both kids today too. I put Ty in the Baby Bjorn carrier and had Lauren Clay in the cart. She was incredibly well behaved (even without a snack!) Unfortunately, I timed the trip wrong and infringed on Lauren Clay's naptime. As we were waiting in the long line to check out, Lauren Clay grabbed my hand and put her head on it... then fell asleep. I kept trying to figure out how to get the goods out of the cart and onto the belt without disturbing Lauren Clay's sleep, so I tried replacing my hand with her coat (she responded with a "No Mommy!", then grabbed my hand and went right back to sleep.) Eventually I just gave up trying to resituate her and figured I'd figure something out. Thankfully the lady behind me saw my dilemma and unloaded my cart. She told me that it was a God-thing that she ended up in this line so she could help, and I got very teary-eyed because she was an answer to my quick and frantic prayer of "God, please help me figure out how to manage this next move." Thankfully again, in the parking lot I ran into a girl who came to Bunco one night as a sub (we had actually run into each other in most every aisle at Walmart :)). She followed me to the truck and helped me get Lauren Clay out of the cart and into her carseat. Unfortunately, Lauren Clay startled and kind of panicked when she saw a "stranger" pulling her out of the cart, and she woke up. I was hopeful that she would go back to sleep, but she didn't. Oh well. Hopefully that means we'll have an early bedtime tonight!

A couple of cute things I've been meaning to post:
-Lauren Clay loves snowmen. She likes to pretend she is Rusty the Snowman.
-She's been calling John "Pops." ("Mommy, where's pops?")
-She says the Humpty Dumpty rhyme, but calls him "Humpy Dumpy."
-And, finally, a quick story about our trip to the Nutcracker Saturday night: Lauren Clay sat the through whole show, quietly enthralled with the ballet. However, in the scene where Clara rides out on a swan, Lauren Clay yelled at the top of her lungs: "Haaaah! A DUCKIE!"

I'm off to straighten the house. Looks like a tornado passed through earlier today...

Latest Painting

I have not had much time to paint lately. I have a few paintings in the works, but inspiration and a chunk of time have to come together simultaneously for me to produce something I'm willing to share, and those two have not happened at the same time in many months. I've put off the following painting for a long time because I don't do well with straight-on faces, but this worked out afterall. It reminds me of a page out of a childrens' book.

Christmas cookies

Last night was Bunco night, and it was great medicine. I hope I didn't come across as Debbie Downer at first. It's just been one thing after the other for us... right up to yesterday afternoon when we learned that a relative died of a heart attack yesterday morning.
Usually, we spend the full evening laughing hysterically, but this has been a tough season for a lot of the girls in the group. Finally when our conversation moved from difficult kids and stressful jobs to missing and terminally ill neighbors, Amy O. requested that we move to more festive topics. We were smiling by the end!

Lauren Clay and I made Christmas cookies to add to the dessert mix last night. I promise I didn't bring any of the cookies pictured below! I gave Lauren Clay a portion of the dough and let her play while I fixed the ones to share with the girls at Bunco.



Here are some pictures of our cookie day with Riley. Aren't the aprons fun? As you can probably tell, Riley was not interested in wearing the apron. Lauren Clay would have usually fought wearing it, but she was too distracted by the cookies! A bite or two was missing from each of the cookies on her plate!

I can smell pancakes cooking downstairs. Looks like Lauren Clay and Grandmother have been fixing some breakfast! Ty and I are off to eat... Cheers!

Finally, some pictures!

I'm still at mom and dad's house, so I'm downloading pictures from mom's camera. Some of these are from way back. Also, be sure to scroll back to the Thanksgiving post if you're interested in seeing new pictures of the family. I have tried to insert some pictures in their logical spots.

This picture was taken mid-November (the 20th.) Ty had just taken a bath and he was sunning in the kitchen window at mom and dad's.
After Ty got his bath, Lauren Clay asked if she could give her frogs a bath. Here they are relaxing in the sun as well:These pictures are from the weekend after Ty's birth (so we're going way back!) Lauren Clay joined Grandmother and Grandaddy for a trip to Knoxville for a UT football game. They spent one afternoon at the zoo, and Lauren Clay is still talking about the visit! This is the first I've seen these pictures. Aren't they fun?

Lauren Clay loved the Ostrich. She still gets tickled when she tells us about how he was "peckin' the fence."

Finally, to go WAY back, here's our celebration of John's birthday. We went to Cheddar's for a delicious dinner (that restaurant is quickly becoming my favorite. Every time I go, my meal is scrumptious!) Libby and Bobby joined us for cake after dinner. Libby and Lauren Clay are both into birthdays. It's a big deal to sing the birthday song and blow out the candles!

updates

Sorry to have been absent on this blog for almost a month! We have been away from internet a couple of weeks and I've been home by myself quite a bit (so I have VERY little computer time these days.) Wow... two kids makes a huge difference in terms of getting things accomplished, but I wouldn't trade things for the world. Things have also been a bit hectic because John needed to return to Alabama to help with his family. We are very ready to have him home and we're especially ready for things to calm down. When it rains, it pours. I'm trying to keep the joyful things that have happened the past month at the forefront. We're resting in our faith that God is in control and that He is all good... all the time.

In the midst of the craziness, Lauren Clay keeps things light as she marvels at the excitement surrounding the holidays. As we drive through town, she yells, "mommy, the Christmas!" every time she sees lights at someone's house. She has been to a few parades and has been on a horse and carriage ride. She likes to talk about Santa and look at him at a good distance, but she kind of freaks out when Santa waves at her or tries to get close. She and Riley decorated Christmas cookies Wednesday and she sings "Jingle Bells" and "Holly Jolly Christmas."

Here are a few precious things Lauren Clay is doing right now: She loves doing puzzles. She can work a 30ish-piece puzzle without any help. It's fun to watch her because she doesn't really look like she's paying much attention to what she's doing, but she consistently pops pieces in the right spot. She is sometimes faster than I am! Her latest puzzle had Thomas the Train on it. She pushes the finished puzzle around the hardwood floors and talks to Thomas as if he were real. Yesterday she gave Thomas a present and today she fed him some imaginary food.

Her imagination is developing by leaps and bounds now. Today as I made a batch of Christmas cookies, she picked a bottle of vanilla extract and a bottle of almond extract and she used them to tell the story of the Billy Goats Gruff. She used a deep voice for the bigger bottle (I think he was the ogre) and she used a high voice for the littler bottle. She'll play like that for hours. She is into playdough. One afternoon she sat in her high chair most of the morning and most of the evening making playdough figures. I think the biggest draw for the playdough is that it comes with little plastic scissors. The scissors are the perfect size for her little hands and her level of dexterity, and it's a big deal for her to be allowed to use them. Her language is also developing daily. We love listening to her talk. She won't allow us to just respond with an "uh huh" when we can't understand something she's said; she will repeat and repeat herself until she's made herself intelligible.

-She wants to know who was on the phone as soon as we get off ("What is name?") If the tone of our voice indicates something was sad or bad, she'll ask, "What happened, mommy?"

-She'll sing a song (like Wheels on the Bus) and sing it wrong just to see if we catch it. If we don't, she'll sing it wrong again, then say, "right, mommy?"

She's into emotions these days.

-One afternoon i was choked up about something. She said, "Mommy's sad? I see a tear." Right now she is telling me to "Cry like a baby. Cry like Hoss. Cry like Kathy. Cry like Orange. Cry like the toys..." (Orange is Uncle Charles. The first day we were in Alabama, he was wearing a bright orange Auburn sweatshirt, so she started calling him "Orange." Hoss is Charles and Kathy's dog.)

-Yesterday when she heard John Tyler crying, she said, "Somebody's hungry!"

-When she sees Ty, she'll say, "He's smiling!" (whether or not he is :))

Here are some pictures from the past few weeks. Ty is really starting to hold his head up well, although he still sort of bobs when he's hungry! Here he is on grandaddy's chest:

Here are the kids hanging out with Uncle Jon at the SEC football championship:

thanksgiving

What a week. A week ago today we were driving home from running a few errands as a family (that was a first, and it went pretty well!) John received a call with news that his father had just lost his arm in an accident at work and that he was on a helicopter and headed for surgery. John packed and was on the road within the hour, and the rest of us pulled things together to go to mom and dad's house. Russell came through the surgery well and has been in good spirits despite the pain he's having to endure, the follow-up surgeries (today he will have a third surgery), and the issues with the phantom arm. Last week it was itchy; I think it's been hurting the past few days. We are thankful that the surgeries have gone well, that lots of family has been down to stay with him, and that John made it home safely early Friday morning. He will likely head back down in the next few days. We are anxious to get down there so he can wrap his right arm around his precious grandbabies! We just got a new computer and I haven't downloaded any pictures to it yet. This is my first day home with the kids for the whole work day, so I probably won't get to the pictures for a while! The day is going well, though. The kids have been great and it's nice to begin settling into a normal routine. LaurenClay is in her high chair giving her bees (Barry and Adam) a bath. She's been at it for a good 45 minutes. I'm off to make sure she hasn't splashed water everywhere...\ Please pray with us for smooth surgeries and a rapid physical and psychological recovery (he'll have a lot to relearn with one less hand.)

Thanksgiving this year was different for us. We celebrated at the Oldhams' house, but dad was out of town at a football game, John was in Scottsboro with his father, and my brother was hanging out at the Cheneys'. While we ate the traditional fare, dad had thanksgiving dinner at Ruby Tuesday, John had it at Shoney's and Jon had it at Denny's. I bet their pumpkin pie wasn't as good as ours (Lauren Clay fixed our pumpkin pie, as you can see in the pictures below.)

Working a puzzle with Aunt Kitty:

Into the playdough the next day. Oh, and while Lauren Clay did playdough, I finished the book "Devil in the White City." It's a true story and it's a great read. It's my last novel for a while; I have to concentrate my reading on academic texts now that the Spring semester is fast approaching!

Happy Birthday

Today we celebrated "Ga Ga's" 90th birthday with a surprise party at the College library. Lauren Clay got a new dress for the celebration and a big bow for her hair. I think she looks so sweet with a bow, but we're lucky to keep it in more than a few minutes. Many of you wrote in with good ideas for helping a baby sleep in his crib... do any of you have ideas on how to sneak a bow into a little girl's hair (or how to keep it there once it's in?) The longest we've kept a bow in was when we were visiting with a friend who had a big bow in HER hair. Lauren Clay wanted to wear a bow as well, but as soon as we left the house, she pulled it out.
The party today was during Lauren Clay's naptime, so most guests saw Lauren Clay like this:


When we returned home, we were able to snap a few pictures of Lauren Clay while she was awake. Here she is playing with the neighbors' cat. She is also holding Gumby, her buddy for the day. Lately, she picks out a toy to mother throughout the day. It's been Barry the Bee quite a bit, but her little plastic Ostrich is another favorite, and Goofy is still popular.


I think she just realized she is wearing a bow. It's about to come out...

Diane and Boots brought Lauren Clay this cool bathtub crayon because she's been such a helpful big sister. As soon as we returned from the party, Lauren Clay took off her dress and headed for the tub to play. She would draw, clean off the drawings, then draw again. She spent a long time playing with the new crayon. What a fun gift!

Two more random notes:

1. Lauren Clay has been calling everyone "Miss" lately. She calls me "Miss Mommy" and (even funnier) she calls John "Miss Daddy."

2. Did you know you can buy a bag of yummy ice at Sonic? Our ice maker is no longer hooked up to a water line, so we have been filling it up with store-bought ice. The past couple of weeks we've been getting Sonic ice, and it is wonderful. It keeps me drinking water all day (well, actually, nursing is probably what keeps me drinking water, but this makes drinking the water an even bigger treat!)

lots of lounging

This is for Nana-- these are some of the jammies you sent for Lauren Clay:

Here's a nice, cuddly nap. Thanks, Mel, for letting us borrow the sleeper. Most of the clothes we have-- even the smallest stuff-- won't fit for another week or so. We have enjoyed Riley and Reed's stuff in the meantime!
Cousin Patty brought the below puzzle to Lauren Clay. She can work it all by herself, and gets all excited each time she does. "I did it!" Nana sent the outfit. I love how the pants fit; they show off her cute legs :)
Mom got Mary Poppins for Lauren Clay. Here she is stacking on the couch enjoying it. Henry loves all the family lounging; this is his idea of paradise!