I'm Queen of the Land...

...of barf.

Yes it sounds disgusting and that's probably because IT IS!!!! Let me sum it up like this.

Tuesday night:
Midnightish: Noah starts coughing and all of a sudden I hear the wonderful sound of him throwing up.

1:30: Oh yes we're still awake. Noah has thrown up all over me (considerate) and we are both in the shower.

1:45: Noah back in bed

2:00: Noah throws up - again (and again I change his sheets and clean it up - I didn't puke once - yay me!)

2:20: Noah back in bed

2:45: Noah throws up - again

3:00: Noah back in bed

3:30: Noah throws up - again

4:15: Noah back in bed

7:00: Noah wakes up for the day - no puke, but diahrrea all day long!! Yay!!

Tuesday night stats:
1 - the number of showers taken past midnight and the number of loads of laundry run past 1:00a.m.

3 - the number of times I had to change my pajamas

4 - the total number of hours of sleep I got

5 - the number of times I had to change Noah's crib sheets

6 - the number of times I had to change Noah's pajamas

GRRR

Thursday night:
Justin plays flag football and took Clayton to the game to watch, when they got home I heard Justin and Clayton together in the bathroom...you guessed it - Clayton's turn to throw up!!!

Clayton and I had a big discussion about how, if he feels sick in the middle of the night he needs to get up and go into the bathroom and I would hear him and come right away. He's a pretty smart kid and has been informing us before he has to throw up for months now (much better than a surprise attack) so I thought he'd get this.

Friday morning:
Surprise! We all slept through the night! Yay (or so I thought). As I am giving Clayton breakfast I notice that his pajamas are crusty and gross. That's right - he puked in his bed and then slept in it ALL NIGHT!!! Cleaning that mess up made me want to throw up more than cleaning up any mess of Noah's Tuesday night!! Poor kid, it makes me really sad that he slept in it.

Friday afternoon:
Noah vomits in the basement (lovely - a contained space), not only does he stand there and vomit, but as he is running away from me in my attempt to clean him up, he starts throwing up again leaving a trail of vomit behind him! Delightful!!

I don't say this to complain. Truth is, I know that these are the times that bond us. I know that helping my kids through their illnesses will help them know just how much I love them. And there are certain things I do like about them being sick - like snuggling with Noah in the middle of the night when he is laying in my arms and everything is quiet and cozy and having Clayton sit next to me on the couch with his head on my shoulder as we watch cartoons for hours on end. I wish that we could be that way even when they aren't sick, but I'll take it when I can get it!
Who wouldn't want to cuddle with this cute sick kid?

P.S. - Guess who has the stomach flu now (hmm, weight loss opportunity)!?!

It's great to be the Queen!!

My Nemesis

Meet Silky
Let me give you a little bit of background on silky. Clayton got silky when he was about 10 months old. I bought it for him on clearance at Babies 'R' Us for $4. Ever since the day I bought it, silky has become a necessity in Clayton's world. He began to need silky to go to sleep, to calm him down if he was hurt, and to comfort him if he was sad. We had to start taking him EVERYWHERE! It was annoying, but silky always worked - no matter what. We all became dependent on it.
Once, when Clayton was about a year old, we lost silky. Clayton didn't sleep through the night until we found it. After that debacle, Justin and I decided we needed a backup silky - our sleep and sanity were just too important. So we looked around at stores with no luck. Finally Justin found them on the internet for $16 apiece!!! Four times what I had originally paid! We bought two. That brings our silky total up to 3 (for those of you keeping count).
Anyway, silky has always been Clayton's very best friend. Up until he was about 3, he would wake up in the middle of the night sobbing if he couldn't find silky. This would force either Justin or myself to go on a midnight silky-hunt. Right before Noah was born, I tried to force Clayton to get rid of silky. I made the mistake of taking it away. Again, there was no sleep in our house for three nights. So, of course, I caved. Silky was back and there was once again sleep in the Smith house.
Today, silky is still a very important part of Clayton's life. He doesn't rely on it quite as much as he used to (he can fall asleep without it, he is okay with the fact that silky isn't allowed to leave the house, and if we can't find it for the day he's okay with that) but he still likes to have it around if he's sad or hurt. It is the one thing he's never been asked to share and it is extremely important to him. One day when he gets married he's getting a quilt with silkies sewn into it (you better believe I'm saving those things). He can have a good time explaining that to his wife. Hee hee.
Okay, I know that was a lot of background, but I needed you to really understand what I am competing with (and there are times when it is a competition) before I tell you this story.
Yesterday began like any other Tuesday. We all had to rush around frantically in order to drop Clayton off at school on time. Somehow, probably because I was trying to get us out the door and I wasn't paying that close of attention to Clayton, he smuggled silky into the car. When we got to school, I noticed this and told him that he had to leave silky in the car. He was perfectly fine with that. Three hours later, Noah and I went to pick Clayton up. As I was buckling Clayton in the car, and our faces were only about 6 inches apart, he said (in the sweetest most tender little voice),

"Oh, I really missed you today!"

My heart immediately started to melt. Clayton is so independent that it sometimes makes me feel sad because I don't think he misses me when I'm not around for long periods of time. I know this is supposedly a good thing, but I think all mothers want to feel like they are missed by their child when they're not around. So, when I heard him say that I was truly touched. I gave him a big hug and kiss and said,

"Oh honey, I missed you today too!"

And then the conversation took a horrible downward spiral.

"Mom, I didn't miss you, I missed silky!"
"Well, did you miss me a little bit?"
"No, but I sure missed silky a lot."

So there you have it. This is what I am competing with. Yes, this story is funny, but it's also kind of sad. I've created a monster! Fortunately, we learned our lesson with silky and have made sure that Noah doesn't get super attached to any one thing. Maybe he'll miss me when he starts school...

All About Clayton

Kaylene tagged me with this and, while I don't normally do the whole 'tag' thing, I liked this one because it is all about Clayton!

Name and Meaning: Clayton Gilbert. We chose Clayton because it is my Grandpa Peterson's first name. My grandpa is one of the most hard working, honest, Christlike, family-centered guys I know. I have known since I was a teenager that I would name my first son after him (fortunately, Justin really liked the name too so it worked perfectly). Gilbert is a family name on Justin's side. Justin's great grandpa is Gilbert Warren Smith, his grandpa is Warren Gilbert Smith, his dad is Gilbert Warren Smith and Justin's middle name is Gilbert (they decided, thankfully, not to use Warren). Anyway, we knew that we were going to keep the name Gilbert in the family. Justin's dad loves to tell people how Clayton is a 5th generation Gilbert!

Age: 4, although when he wants to get away with stuff that Noah does he will tell you he's 2 and when he wants to do "grown-up" stuff he will tell you he's 7 (somehow he equates being 7 with being all grown up).

Nicknames: Claytanny, keekiss (that's how Noah pronounces it), bud, and Clayton Bayton

Favorite Activities: Playing outside and anything involved with parks, camping, and generally being outside, CARS CARS CARS (the movie, the toys, watching cars on the street, pretending he's a car, etc.), watching cartoons, going to school, playing with his 'boys' (he will ask me to take him to see his 'boys' - so funny), and playing with Noah (most of the time).

Favorite Foods: PB&J sandwiches, pizza, chicken nuggets, any kind of candy (he's soo healthy).

Least Favorite Foods: Fruits and veggies. I swear if it is red or green or yellow he puts up the biggest fight about eating it. I'm hoping he grows out of this because dinner is getting to be really long and contentious!

Favorite Music: Called to Serve (if you ask him, he'll tell you it's his favorite) and Life is a Highway by Rascall Flatts (from the movie Cars - what else)!

Favorite Toy: Any of his cars and his Leap Pad

Favorite Book: New Tricks I Can Do

Favorite Item of clothing: Probably his McQueen shirt (noticing a pattern here), but he really doesn't care about his clothes - typical guy. Whenever I ask him to choose his own clothes, he tells me that he'll just stay in his pajamas.

What makes him Happy: Playing with Noah when Noah is doing what Clayton wants, watching Cars, playing outside, going to school, seeing his friends (girls and boys), seeing Justin when he comes home at the end of the day, getting hugs and being complimented.

What makes him Sad: When Noah doesn't play the way Clayton wants, being picked up from school (yes, he still cries), being told that he has to eat fruits and veggies, when company leaves the house.

I tag:
Kerstin with Landon
Natalie with Niah
Melissa with Trace
Melissa with Asher
Leesha with Jaylee
and anyone else who wants to do this!

Harvest Festival

Well, it's official. Fall is here. For all my friends and family out west who are enjoying the "cool" 80ish degree weather let me say, I AM SO JEALOUS!! Don't get me wrong, there are many, many things I love about fall. I love the beauty of the changing leaves (it really get GORGEOUS out here), all my favorite TV shows coming back, the chance to eat soup again, getting out all of my fun fall clothes, all the activities that are available around here in fall (apple picking, hay rides, fall festivals, etc.), and the chance to have hot chocolate every night!
However, there is one thing about fall that I do not appreciate - cold weather!!! I do not like the fact that I have to start putting more clothes on my kids. It takes us so much longer to get out the door these days!! I hate waking up in the morning and rushing to put on a sweater and socks because it's so cold in my house (we are NOT turning on the heat yet - it's still September for crying out loud)! Plus, I know that it is only going to get worse. Once fall gets here, it's only a matter of time before winter comes along. As much as I really do love fall out here, I DO NOT like winter. I might have enjoyed it once upon a time when snow was a novelty that we got to see once in a while when we went to Utah, but no more.
But I digress. The moral of this story is - I DO like fall, but it's getting cold and that makes me very sad. Why can't it be gorgeous and fun out here but still be in the 80's? I don't think that's too much to ask for.
Well, now for the whole reason for my post. As I said before, there are many fun things to do out here in the fall. One of those things is the Harvest Festival at Shelburne Farms. We went there when my brother came out to visit earlier this month but the place really transforms for the festival! There are vendors, games, activities, and some yummy food! One of the things I like most about it is that the majority of the things to do are aimed at kids. Clayton and Noah had a blast. I was really worried because Justin wasn't able to come with us (he was studying) and I didn't know how I was going to keep an eye on both boys in such a crowded place, but it was great!
When we first got there, Clayton insisted that he was cold and wanted to wear his hood. It cracks me up, he looks like he just walked off the set of '8 Mile'. Anyway, here are the boys showing me how strong they are by hammering these wooden pegs. Clayton was actually really good at this!
Noah struggled a little bit. He really never made contact with the pegs, but he loved trying!
They had a bunch of these kiddie pools fulled with corn and all kinds of sifters and buckets. It was Noah's favorite place at the fair. He kept escaping out of the stroller (man, that kid is fast) and running back there.
Clayton got to make this necklace. He loved it so much that he also wore it to church the next day! (And hooray, I was finally able to convince him that he did NOT need his hood on!)
There were a bunch of hay bales set up that the kids kept climbing on and jumping around. I'm not sure if that's what they were there for, but Clayton and Noah sure loved it! (I wanted to get a pic of Noah on the bales too, but he kept trying to jump off, so I had to make sure that I was always ready to catch.)
The boys also got to make a cornmeal cake. Clayton was given a cup of corn that he needed to grind down with a rock in order to make flour. Then he needed to mix some cornmeal, water, and honey into it. When that was done, some men cooked it for him. It was actually really fun and kind of interesting.
Both boys loved smashing the corn!

Clayton adding his cornmeal.
The boys watching as the cake is cooked.
The final result! I didn't think it tasted that good, but Clayton ate the whole thing! (Yes, he's wearing my sunglasses. It was really smoky when they were cooking the cake and he kept saying that his eyes were hurting. This was our solution.)
This was the only picture I got of all three of us. We all look a little ragged, but I think that is a good sign that we had a lot of fun! (I wish we were all looking at the camera, but two out of three isn't too bad!)
It was a long and fun morning. We got to see and do a lot. Plus I got to eat some really yummy food! I ate the most delicious caramel apple. I tried to get Clayton to have some, but he heard the word apple and he was not interested! I didn't try too hard after that - more for me!
Noah didn't even make it out of the parking lot before he passed out! When we got home, I washed his face and hands, changed his diaper, and set him down for a nap and he didn't even stir! You've got to love any activity that wears your kid out that much!
I love that I got to do this with the boys (although we really missed Justin). We had a great time! I do love fall, especially in VT. It is a really special season here. I know that, no matter where we go after this, I will never again experience falls that are this beautiful. I am grateful for that, I just wish it wasn't so cold (dang my desert blood)!

Grrr...

So lately Noah has been trying my patience. He is such a great kid, but he is almost 2 and it seems like the closer we get to his birthday, the more difficult he is becoming. He is always either underfoot, on the counters (with my kitchen knives or other things that I put on the counter intentionally to keep away from him), or following Clayton around like a puppy (they are so hot and cold these days - when it's good, it's GREAT, but when it's bad, it's BAD). In order to better illustrate my point, let me share with you the following story...

Last Saturday I spent most of the afternoon canning pickles. This part isn't really that relevent to the story, but they all sealed beautifully and, dang it, I'm proud of that!!
(They're called Cherry Pickles - Justin thinks they are the most delicious things EVER.)
Anyway, after my canning extravaganza, I threw a quick dinner in the oven. It was only supposed to be in for about 45 minutes and I figured I could keep my kids busy until then (yeah right). When there was 5 minutes left on the timer, my mom called. I went into the living room to talk to her. Shortly into our conversation, the kitchen timer went off and when I went to take the dinner out, this was what I found...

CAKE!!! We had about 1/4 of a cake saved on a plate and I found Noah chowing down! He ate the WHOLE THING! In 5 minutes!!!! Yikes! It was one of those moments where I didn't know whether I should yell or laugh (I ended up doing a little bit of both). Not surprisingly, he didn't want any dinner. I can't blame him though, I mean, who wouldn't want cake for dinner!?!

I love Noah so much. Even though he is driving me a little crazy right now, I recognize that he is a great kid. He's cute, cuddly, funny, and quite a little charmer! He is also one of the most relaxed, go-with-the-flow kind of kids I know. I really do appreciate that about him and I don't know what I would do without him. I just wish he hadn't eaten all my cake...

Uncle Bubba's Visit

Last week we were fortunate to have my youngest brother, Jeremiah, come and visit us. He just recently got home from his mission in Honduras and it was so much fun to see him again! Clayton had a serious case of idol worship all week with Uncle Bubba. He was so excited to get to see him. He kept insisting that "Uncle Bubba is going to sleep in my room on the bottom bunk!" It was cute to see his excitement. When we went to the airport to pick him up I pointed him out to Clayton and he took off like a shot yelling, "Uncle Bubba, Uncle Bubba, you're here! You're here!" Then he literally jumped right onto Jeremiah.
I love how happy they all look. It was a great moment! Noah had never even met Jeremiah, but he was really excited to see him anyway!
We did so many fun things while Jeremiah was here. I am going to try to just keep it to the highlights, even though it seemed like every minute he was here was fun (especially to Clayton).
One of the first fun things we did was go to the Echo Aquarium. Yes, we go there a lot, but it's free (because I can check out passes at the library) and the boys always love it.
(Some of the pics are a little blurry, I couldn't figure out how to focus Jeremiah's camera.)
They have a really fun exhibit at the aquarium right now called "Bodies in Motion", all about how your body moves. This was a fun activity where you use your legs to push off and see how far backwards you can go. All the boys loved this one!
This was also a big hit. You stand on this circle and push off to make it spin in circles. If you move your legs out or in it changes how fast you spin.
Jeremiah is so funny! He really kept me laughing all day. I had forgotten how much fun he is!
The guys at the lookout.
We also spent some time on the boardwalk this same day, but the pictures all turned out too blurry (I really stink with his camera)! After that, he took the boys to McDonald's for lunch (best uncle EVER)!!!

Another fun thing we did with Jeremiah was go to Stowe to the Ben and Jerry's factory, and to Sharon to see the Joseph Smith Memorial. It was raining on the day we chose to do this - which was good and bad. It was bad because driving in the rain always stinks, but it was good because the places we went weren't very crowded.
Waiting in line for ice cream. Yum!
At the entrance to the factory.
Becoming Ben and Jerry!
The Joseph Smith Memorial is always a great place to visit. We were the only people there (thanks to the rain) so our tour guide spent a lot of time showing us things and explaining things to us. It was really neat. Then we got to watch the Joseph Smith movie (I do love that movie). She even gave Clayton a big bag of blocks to play with while we watched the movie! It was amazing!
Clayton and Jeremiah with the memorial in the background.
I just like this picture because Clayton looks so small holding that umbrella!
Finally, we went to an amazing place called Shelburne Farms. It is a working farm that is outfitted for little visitors. Clayton and Noah had a blast (as did Jeremiah).
Penning the boys in. I wonder if I can get one of these for my house...
Uncle Bubba and Clayton doing farm puzzles (notice Noah in the background).
We think this must be where they strap the chickens in order to slaughter them. Jeremiah thought it would be funny to put Clayton in there.
Uncle Bubba and Noah (I love this picture).
Uncle Bubba and the members of his fan club (I love this picture too).
We got to go and see the cheese-making process (one of the things they do at the farm - they also have a wood working shop and a bakery). The boys were so fascinated by this process.
Clayton decided to try to make some cheese of his own!
The place you park is about 3/4 of a mile away from the actual farm so you get to ride on a tractor to get to and from the farm. The boys thought this was the best thing ever! I love Noah's face in this picture - so typical of him!
We had so much fun while Jeremiah was here. I wish that I could post all of the pictures of everything that we did (but I think there are over 100). It was so great to see him. I am glad that he got to visit and I love that my boys look up to him so much. Clayton will tell you now that he is going to go on a mission just like Uncle Bubba! I am grateful for his example. I feel like this visit went way too fast! We miss you already Jeremiah! Come back soon!

True Love

Lately I've been thinking about THIS post that my newleywed cousin, Jen, did many months back. Her cute new husband noticed that she was almost out of gum and he bought her a new pack - without Jen even hinting (or even noticing) that she needed it!! Now that is true love!! After I read that post I got to thinking about all the ways that Justin lets me know that he loves me (without actually buying me flowers or jewlery - although before we started med school he did do that). The other day I had this experience:

On Tuesday (the same day that Clayton started school), I woke up painfully sick. The boys had both had sinus colds over labor day weekend and, as it always goes, they got rid of their colds and passed them on to me (they are such great sharers). My head was pulsating, I couldn't breathe, I was loosing my voice, and my body was aching like I had just run a marathon (which I have never actually done - but I imagine that's how it would feel). It totally sucked!! Well, Clayton had to get to school (no sense keeping him home just because I was sick). I got out of bed before Justin left for the hospital and trudged my way into the shower. Because he is a good husband, he rummaged around and found our last SudaCare Shower Soother and gave it to me. Then he stayed home until I was out of the shower (just in case the boys needed him). That in and of itself was sweet...but there's more:

As the day progressed I got worse. All I wanted to do was sit on the couch and drift in and out of uncomfortable sleep. Too bad you can't do that with kids. Plus I had a parents meeting at Clayton's school that night so, on top of having to stay awake, I had to stay dressed and decent looking! Arrgh! I was literally counting down the seconds until Justin came home just so that I could lay down and take a little nap before I had to be at Clayton's school. Here's where it gets good:

When Justin came home I had about had it. Noah, who has discovered that he can climb onto the counter and get into my kitchen knives, had been driving me batty and Clayton (as you will recall from my last post) was in a bad mood anyway because I had brought him home from school. Enter Justin. He walked in and the first thing he did was give me a huge hug. Then he pulled out a little brown bag from behind his back. He had stopped at the drugstore on his way home and bought me all kinds of medicines. He got me Halls to take to my meeting that night so that my throat wouldn't hurt so much if I had to talk, and two boxes of the SudaCare Shower Soothers because he knows how much I love them and he knew we were out of them! I will tell you, I about started to cry right there. He knew how yucky I was feeling and wanted to make me feel better. It would have been so easy for him to just come straight home and let me nap for a bit (which would have been good enough for me), but no - he went the extra mile because...HE REALLY LOVES ME!!!

Flowers and jewlery and candy are nice, but having a husband who notices things and goes out of his way to make sure you have what you need (be that gum or medicine) - THAT'S true love. I'm glad I have a husband who loves me enough to notice how I feel and what I need. It's little moments like that that take my breath away and make me think, "Wow, he REALLY loves me." You know what, I really love him too!