Happy Birthday

Today is Clayton's birthday. This devistatingly handsome kid is officially 8 years old!

Here are a few facts about Clayton at 8 years old:

1. He no longer likes pb&j (WHAT!?!). He prefers pb&honey, pb&banana, or pb&nutella.

2. His best friends are: George, Kambry, Landon, and Noah

3. His favorite shows are Pokemon, Ninjago, and Phineaus and Ferb.

4. He loves to ride his bike, play with friends, play with water squirters, play the iPad and his new Nintendo 3DS (his birthday present).

5. He is a good little singer and makes up songs that he sings. Loudly. In the shower. (Last nights tune was about how awesome Nintendo 3DS is).

6. He is a sweet and compassionate kid. He is the current favorite of both Noah and Josie. It's not hard to see why, he is so loving and caring with them (most of the time).

7. He's so smart! He picks things up so quickly. He's an amazing reader, he knows his geography better than I do, and he loves science. He told me that he wants to be a doctor/teacher/builder when he grows up (not one of the three - he wants to be all three). I think he can do it!

8. He's dedicated. He's currently training for a triathlon (it's on Saturday). While it's hard for him, he's doing it. I'm so proud of him.

9. He's nice. He just genuinely likes people. One of my favorite things about him is how innocent he is. He believes the best about people and never lets physical appearance influence how he acts toward others.

10. He's funny. He loves hearing and telling jokes (I don't always get them, but he loves them). He loves making people laugh.

I love Clayton so much and am so proud of him. He is choosing to be baptized on August 4th. He's been taking it very seriously. We've had a lot of discussions about baptism and he's ready for it.

Happy birthday Clayton. I think you're the best! 

8

Tomorrow this baby will be 8 years old.

In some ways, I can't believe that he's 8 already. I feel like he was just barely born. I remember feeling so hot and swollen (Vegas in July = not the best time to be 9 months pregnant). I had annoyed my poor doctor into consenting to an induction on my due date. We were supposed to go to the hospital mid-morning, but they called us around 6 and asked if we could come in earlier. Justin and I were so excited that we agreed. Foolishly, without eating anything, we went in. My induction with Clayton was pretty standard. I got my pitocin and epidural at the same time. I had the mother of all epidurals. I could not feel a thing (which was how I wanted it). My mom and sisters hung out with me in the delivery room while I labored and Justin went back and forth between the delivery room and the waiting room, where the rest of our family were waiting for updates.

I remember being given oxygen because his heart rate was dropping. I didn't think it was a big deal, but my mom did. I remember I took the oxygen mask off for a second and she gasped and insisted I keep it on.

I remember being told I was a five. Justin went to go update our family, leaving me with the nurse and my mom. A few minutes later (literally, minutes), the nurse checked me again and I was a ten! Justin wasn't in the room anymore and the nurse was concerned because he was still in distress and my doctor wasn't there yet. Justin came back into the room about the same time as a whole horde of nurses descended on me. They gave me a shot to stop my contractions and were getting ready to get me down to the OR for and emergency c-section. I was scared. Really scared. So was Justin.

As we were about to get wheeled out, Dr. Paul showed up (seriously, my knight in shining armor). In what seemed like seconds, he put the vaccum extractor on Clayton's little baby head and yanked him right out. Just like that, it was over and I had a very sweet (and very cone-headed) healthy baby boy.

He weighed in at a whopping 8 pounds and was the cutest baby I'd ever seen (I still 'awwww' a little when I look at his baby pictures).

I remember looking at him and just being floored by the realization that 1) this kid was ours - a little bit of me and a whole lot of Justin 2) I could love someone I just met so fiercly.

So now, on the eve of his 8th birthday, I have trouble believing that my first little love, my baby, the boy who made me a mom, who used to depend on me for EVERYTHING, has gone from this:

to this:

Happy birthday Clayton. To say I love you just doesn't seem strong enough to express how I feel about you. You are becoming quite the young man and, while I miss the baby you were and our total co-dependent relationship, I love watching you become the man that you're going to be.

I have other kids...

My last few posts have been very Sammie-centric. And, while I continue to be impressed with her mobility and fatness, I do have other kids that deserve attention.

Kids who work in my sweatshop:
I made them wash my walls. They're still not as clean as I wish they would be, but it's better than nothing!

Kids who get really messy and crazy at the splash pad:

Kids who love to dress up and be ballerinas with their best friend/cousin:

Kids who struggle to take a picture together (can't I just get one of all four of my kids looking? It's very literally all I ask of them when the camera is out):

Kids who fight and then, as punishment, have to share the small chair until they figure out a way to get along. (Don't let this picture fool you, Josie did not love this punishment):

 This was more like it:

Kids who have been playing baseball in really hot weather (and doing a great job):

 I love the pants:

Kids who love to be outdoors no matter how hot and humid it is (and get mad at their mom when she insists that it's too hot to go out):

Kids who are supposed to help me weed the front yard but get easily distracted by rolly polly's and then decide to build 'bug city' (and that was the end of my help - they lasted about 10 minutes weeding):

Noah was a master bug collecter:

Kids who catch frogs toads:

 Kids who abruptly throw said toads back into the bushes when they get peed on:

Kids who know how to MOVE (please turn off the sound unless you want to hear my annoying baby-talk voice - also, forgive the wiggly footage, I'm no pro):

They're great kids. I'm glad they're mine.

Mobile

Yesterday, Justin and I were hanging out, waiting to get the kids ready for bed, chatting, watching something dumb on TV... you know, the usual. All of a sudden we looked over and lo and behold, Sammie was getting up on her forearms and knees and propelling herself forward! I pointed it out to Justin and we both just watched her (I may or may not have been holding my breath). She was getting her beginner 'army crawl' going! We were so proud! For a little girl who has been so slow in going with her gross motor skills this was HUGE! After a few minutes she reverted back to her old standby of log rolling and Justin and I went back to hanging out. She log rolled over to me and I sat her up (still struggling with that one) and handed her a toy. A few minutes later I looked down at her and she was STANDING UP against my coffee table! I swear I almost cried! She was in a super ackward position - and since she doesn't ever step when she's standing she wasn't getting out of that super ackward position - but she was doing it! I was so afraid to startle her so I waved to get Justin's attention and pointed it out to him. Poor Sam, she had no idea how to get out of her predicament so she just stood there, ackwardly, until she sort of fell over.

We cheered and clapped and were so proud! I would have taken photo/video of it but I was so afraid to jinx it that I left it alone. Today, Sammie had physical therapy. I was so excited to show Miss Cathy (the PT) her progress. Miss Cathy was just as excited as we were. While Sammie refused to pull up again she did show off her army crawl. She crawled almost the whole session! I think we exhausted her because I put her in her high chair right after Miss Cathy left and it wasn't too long before this happened:

She's made so much progress! She still has a ways to go before she's caught up with where she should be for her age, but I'm so happy with this progress she's making. She's getting so big and I'm more confindant now than ever that she'll catch up in her own time. With Noah and Josie it was kind of frustrating when they became mobile but with Sammie we are welcoming it. Way to go Samma Sue, we couldn't be more proud of you right now!

**Video coming soon!**