From Pallet to Bookshelves!

I was introduced to pinterest.com about a month or so ago. It's been so fun to find all these great ideas of really creative things to make or do. One project I really wanted to do was make bookshelves for Clay (and eventually Zeke) out of a pallet. Knowing that Rob could get a pallet from his work for free, this wound be a really inexpensive but COOL project! We have a regular bookshelf in Clay's room for his toys and books, but all his books had found their way into a HUGE pile on the floor by the rocking chair. Clay liked to have easy access to his books and wanted to be able to see the front covers to know what book it was instead of just the binding. So, I knew these book shelves would be PERFECT! Rob's parents came last weekend and Rob took some time off work, (and Rob's parent like to help with projects) so I knew it was time for our first pinterest project! And they turned out AWESOME!! They are adorable and Clay really likes them and I LOVE not having all the books in a huge pile! If you have little ones and have access to a free pallet, this is so worth it... Here are some picks...
The before picture!Clay had to get in on all the action! Painting them was a family event!And the after! How cute are these! Can you believe that they were made from a pallet?!

Clay was SO excited!

Zeke is Two Months!

Well, my little 2 month old is 11 lbs. and 23 1/4 inches long, both in the 50th percentile! At about 6 weeks Zeke started smiling! I'd like to say I got the first smile, but Rob did! I didn't believe that Rob got a real smile until later that evening I got one too! And now he's starting to smile more and more! He is also starting to try to "talk" a little too! Everyday he talks more and more! It's so cute! I guess it's official, he's not my little newborn anymore! At about 9 weeks he started sleeping from 11pm to about 8:30pm, but he got a cold a few days ago and has been waking in the middle of the night for a COUPLE HOURS because he can't breathe very well! Now I'm a little worried that he won't go back to his 9 hour stretch once he's over this cold. I guess we'll see, but I'm exhausted. It would be one thing if he would go back to sleep after nursing him, but instead he wakes and is up for a long time, making me a very tired momma! Besides that, he's really a sweet baby! Very pleasant! I'm so excited to experience all the "firsts" in the months to come! We love you Zeke!

Lovin the things my two year old says...

Last night as we were driving home, stopped at a red light, Clay notices the moon. As soon as the light turns green and we start moving Clay exclaims, "Daddy, the moon is running!" Love that kid!

Zeke's Labor Story

I can't believe our little Zeke is already 8 weeks old! Before any more time flies by I need to write out his labor story! Be forewarned, this is going to be very long with a lot of details! I don't want to forget all the little things which is why I'm writing everything out!
Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was so desperate to have him! Once I hit 37 weeks I was ready to do whatever I could to induce labor! I don't love being pregnant so I was beyond ready to push this baby out and stop waddling around! More importantly, I was having low amniotic fluid towards the end of his pregnancy and had to go twice a week to get it checked. At every appointment there was the potential for the doctor to tell me I needed to be induced immediately (this is what happened with Clay). Plus I had a little bit of high blood pressure, nothing serious, but high enough for them to want to watch me really well. So, needless to say, the end of my pregnancy was extremely stressful and I felt like I was living at the doctors office! I felt like the race was on for me to go into labor on my own before they wanted to induce me! Since I was induced with Clay, I really wanted the experience of just going into labor naturally plus, I just feel like it's just better for things to progress naturally rather than forcing the baby to come before he's ready! (Don't get me wrong, there definitely are good reasons to be induce, like I said, I was induced with Clay and I feel like it was the right decision.) Anyway, like I said I was doing everything in my power to induce labor. I went for walks often, drove in Rob's bumpy truck, sat on a labor ball, etc!
I had been having a TON of braxton hicks that were really painful and were pretty consistent but they would always stop. I was really worried I wouldn't know when I was actually in labor because I would just think it was braxton hicks.
On August 1, 2011 I was having contractions in the morning but they stopped and then would have a few all day long, but really far apart, like 30 min or so. I felt like I was getting really close but had no clue that he was going to be born in only a few hours. I took a nice warm bath that night, trying to relax as much as possible, thinking that it would help me go into labor. Went to bed, but never slept. At midnight I noticed that the contractions were starting to be really strong and coming every 8 to 10 min. I was hoping this was real labor but wasn't really convinced since I had had plenty of braxton hicks that close together but they always stopped. At about 1 am, I'm still in the bed at this point, they were getting really painful and I began to think about the day before and how I was having contractions but they were really far apart and how all day and night they were getting stronger and closer together. I was really thinking this could be it. By 2 am I woke Rob and called my mom and Crystal (my sister in law). I told both my mom and Crystal on the phone that I was so sorry if this is just a false alarm but that I really thought this was it! So, I began to finish packing but could hardly think... It all felt so surreal! Could I really have just gone into labor naturally? Was I about to meet our baby boy?! Because of all that was going on in my body in the past 2 months I had just come to the conclusion that I was going to have to be induced again that that I needed to give up the dream of going into labor on my own. So, it was hard for me to believe that I was really going into labor naturally!
Well, my mom and Crystal arrived at about 2:30 am and I just kept telling them I am sorry if this is a false alarm, but at this point they were coming about every 3 to 5 mins and I couldn't talk while I was having them. They both looked at me and said, "Christina, we don't think this is any false alarm. You look like you're in labor!" So, we called the hospital and they told me to drink a glass of water and wait an hour. So for about half an hour we were all just standing in the kitchen (don't know why the kitchen? all I knew was that it was better for me to stand!) talking in between contractions. At about 3 am they were about every 2 to 3 min apart and were really strong. We all decided it was time to leave. We said good bye to Crystal who was staying with Clay, and my mom, Rob and I left.
We got to labor and delivery at about 3:30 am and they checked me. I was 5 to 6 cm and about 50 % effaced! I was definitely in labor! woohoo! While we were waiting for them to bring me to a room, I was overwhelmed with exhaustion. I hadn't really slept in 2 days (was up the night before with braxton hicks in the middle of the night) and I just remember laying there thinking I was so tired! At about 4:30 am or so they finally got me to the room. As soon as they are trying to hook me up to the machines to watch the baby's heart beat, they were having problems, so more people, doctors, etc. came in the room and I started to get concerned. I thought he was going into distress (this happened with clay and they started preparing me for an emergency c-section. thankfully his heart rate went back up and I was able to have him vaginally.) Well, the doc told me she had to break my water because they had to put internal monitors on the baby and they gave me oxygen. I was getting really concerned, but once they put the monitor on him, he was fine. I think they were freaking out because they couldn't pick up his heart rate with the external monitor. Anyway, I told them I wanted and epidural so I could sleep until it was time! The contractions didn't seem like they were that close together and from what I remember from Clay's labor it felt like one big contraction for a couple hours before I was 10 cm, so I thought for sure I still had hours and hours to go. I just kept thinking it would be nice to sleep for at least 2 to 3 hours! So, they gave me an IV and after about half an hour called for the epidural. The guys came around 5:45 am or so. (I was about 6 to 7 cm at this point) My mom and Rob had to leave while they did the epidural. Well, I don't know who the guy was that was doing my epidural but he was taking FOREVER! He got it in and then had to take it out and do it again. I don't know what was going on but it was making me nervous. I kept asking the guy, is this normal?? Is something wrong? Everyone kept reassuring me everything was fine (all the while I was having to tell them when I was having really bad, had to moan and pray through them kind of contractions, but it still felt like I was having good breaks in between?) My doctor came in and asked what was going on I told her I was exhausted and wanted an epidural so I could sleep. The guy finally gets it in me and tells me it will start to work in the next 5 to 10 mins. My doc says, we really need to check you! She checked and told me "this baby is going to be out in less than 10 mins!" I couldn't believe it! I told the doc to get my mom and husband in here right away! (Mind you, the epidural guy was still in the room waiting for my epidural to start working, that's how fast everything happened) They come in. My doctor tells me to push, and just like that, with one horrible burning push, I was 10 cm. So, here I am with an epidural that hasn't started working yet about to push this baby out. I remember asking my mom and sister in law what it felt like to push without pain killers and they said "oh it feels good to push." I was so surprised because of what I had heard, they said something about a ring of fire, and well, it sounded horrible. Anyway, so with the next contraction my doc had me push twice and out he came! First of all, as I'm about to push, all I remember saying was " It hurts. it really hurts!" I was saying that for a couple of reasons. One I was told it feels good to push (yeah, so not true, at least for me) and remember i had that epidural? Yeah, it didn't start working until my doctor was stitching me up! Glad I got an epidural for 2 stitches!
I couldn't believe that he came so fast! It was only 6 hours of labor and here he was! I was only in the labor room for like an hour and a half! Plus I only had to push twice and out he came! I had to push for an hour before Clay came out! I remember asking my doc at one of my appointments if labor was harder when you are induced compared to going into labor naturally and she said "labor is labor!" OK SO NOT TRUE! Going into labor naturally was WAY BETTER than being induced. That's part of the reason I wanted an epidural, I thought the contractions were going to get horrible with no breaks at all for hours before he came. I couldn't believe that they were still further apart and I was ready to push! Crazy!
One of the things I really didn't like about Clay's delivery is that they took him to the nursery before I really got the chance to nurse him. I had told my doctor about this and she was really apologetic about it (she didn't deliver Clay, the on call doctor did) and said that this experience would be very different! And sure enough she handed Zeke to me right away and told the nurses not to take him until I had the chance to hold him for at least and hour and was able to nurse him! It was great! Zeke took to nursing like a champ and my mom, Rob and I got some quality time with him before he had to go to the nursery. Funny thing, Rob and I had two names picked out but we never decided on which one we wanted to use. Mom had to leave the room while we discussed which name to pick since we might use the other one if we are blessed with another boy. Funny thing is I thought we were going to use the other name, but somehow when we saw him, he looked like an Ezekiel instead! Ezekiel means "strengthened by God" which is one of the reasons we loved the name so much! And that was that. He was Ezekiel Scott Johnson!
We didn't get to the room I would be staying at til about 8 or 8:30 and at about 10 am Clay arrived to meet his baby brother! I couldn't believe how fast everything happened! Clay of course wanted to hold Zeke right away! There was one point when we asked him where his baby brother was and he pointed to my tummy. So I think it took him a little bit to understand that Zeke was his baby brother! The rest of our hospital stay was full of family and friends coming to meet our little Zeke!
Another nice surprise was how great I felt after having Zeke! What a difference from the recovery from Clay's labor! So, I only stayed in the hospital one night and was able to come home the next day!
Zeke we are so thankful that you are a part of our family! You are an adorable baby who we love dearly! We can't wait to get to know you and love you more in the years to come!

Zeke's One Month Stats

Zeke had his one month checkup this week and I was surprised to find out that he had gained more than 2 lbs. since his birth! Gaining weight was such a struggle with Clay! He was the skinniest baby! His weight was always at the 10th percentile or below! Don't know what I'll do with a chunky baby ;) but Zeke is definitely going to be bigger than his big brother ever was! Here are his stats:
weight 9lbs. 6oz. 50th percentile
length 20 1/2 inches 50th percentile

A Year with God by R.P. Nettelhorst

I read the book A Year with God by R.P. Nettlehorst as a book review for BookSneeze.com. There are a lot of different types of devotional books on the market these days. I was excited to get this one, start reading it and see what Nettelhorst had to offer. Unfortunately, I came away pretty disappointed. Although the layout of the book is good; he puts it in topical categories in order for you to pick out the type of devo that you would like to read that day, and he uses different versions of the Bible instead of just sticking with one which is nice; but the actual content of the explanation of the verses was not well done. I normally think of a devotional as a written piece of literature that has something in it to inspire you or make you think specifically about a certain topic which you can take throughout your day and meditate on. Very few of the entries did this for me. There was a lot of interesting historical data, and I don't think he ever says anything wrong, it was more just a lack of deeper spiritual understanding that I could take with me through my day. I'm sure there are people out there who will love this book but it just wasn't for me. So leaving this one a little disappointed and hoping for better luck next time.

Baby #2 on the way

Been wanting to blog about this pregnancy and just haven't got the chance. I've been running around after a 2 year old and, boy, does he keep me busy!
This pregnancy has been quite the ride thus far. Mostly, it has flown by. I don't love being pregnant, so I'm glad it has seemed to go faster this time around. Don't get me wrong, pregnancy is absolutely worth the end result, but I just don't love the process of getting to the end! Such is life...
The first trimester was actually much better than it was with Clay's. It did get sick, usually in the evening but not as much or as long as with Clay. I was extremely thankful for that, especially because I had a toddler to take care of too!
At about 20 weeks, we went to get an ultrasound and found out we were having another boy! We really didn't have any expectations, would have loved either. SO excited that Clay is going to have a brother so close in age. I think they'll be great friends. Clay is definitely ready for a brother! He loves people and will love having someone else in our family! I really think he's going to be a great big brother! We've been preparing him for baby brother's arrival. We've been talking about how our family will be "mommy, daddy, Clay, and baby brother." And how he will live in our house with us, sleep here, etc. Clay has been nothing but extremely excited every time we talk about baby brother! We even went to the store and let him pick out a present to bring to baby brother when he "comes out of mommy's tummy." If you know my son AT ALL, you know that he LOVES puppies and would not be surprised to know that he picked out a puppy for baby brother! I could very well eat my words one day, but I think he will adjust great to having another member of our family!
Been feeling him move around of course, but not nearly as much as I felt Clay. With Clay's pregnancy I use to think, when does this baby sleep? I really felt like he was moving constantly! This little guy however, is not nearly as active. Curious what this is going to say about his personality?! Thinking he might be a little more laid back. Guess we will see!
I was surprised to find out at about 32 weeks that my doctor wanted me to start going to prenatal testing TWICE a week for the remainder of my pregnancy. I had low amniotic fluid with Clay at 38 weeks and had to be induced immediately. I have had a little bit of high blood pressure off and on with the pregnancy too. So the combination of both, made my doctor want to start me on this testing. I was expecting this with this pregnancy however not so soon! I know my doctor just wants our baby and I to be safe, and like all doctors seems to be taking the cautious approach! Basically what prenatal testing means is that I go twice a week to monitor the baby's heart rate for 20 minutes, they take my blood pressure, and then do an ultrasound to check how much amniotic fluid I have. This would not be quite that big of a deal if I wasn't a stay at home mom to a 2 year old. Thankfully I have great friends and family who have been willing to help me watch Clay while I go to all these appointments!
At 33 weeks, I went to one of the prenatal appointments only to find that my amniotic fluid was low, not dangerously low, thankfully, but low enough to make them (an me of course) concerned! Great. my OB told me to make an appointment with the high risk doctor and get the big ultrasound where they check everything on the baby in a couple days. She told me that her goal was to at least get me to 34 weeks. Awesome. All of a sudden we were hit with the reality that we could very well have this baby a little too soon and have to deal with the complications of having a premie. It was a long few days until my appointment with the high risk doctor, however, it was a great opportunity for growth. Rob and I both really just needed to cling to the fact that we have a GREAT God who knows best and is the One in control of all our lives. We just have to trust him, no need to worry. Our appointment came and couldn't have gone better. My fluid levels had gone up a few points and were in the normal range. They checked all our little guy's organs and he seems to being growing great! The best news of the appointment was that they were able to tell us his weight and he was already 5 lbs 7 oz which puts him in the 70th percentile! The high risk doctor was so encouraging! He said that his weight is a great indication that he is growing just fine. Usually if there is any problems he would be struggling to gain weight but he wasn't just normal, but a little bit bigger! It felt so good to know that if something crazy did happen and I had to deliver before he was full term, he was already so big!
Praise the Lord I am now just a couple days away from being 37 weeks pregnant (which is full term) and our little guy is still safe inside my tummy! I have continued to go to the prenatal appointments twice a week and my fluid has not been low since that one appointment! My blood pressure has been very normal and baby's heart rate has been strong! I am SO thankful that I have gotten to this point in my pregnancy! I had a doctor's appointment last Friday to find out that I am 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced at only 36 weeks! Doctor says that she doesn't think I will make it to my due date! It's crazy, for so long I have just assumed that I would have to be induced and the possibility of going into labor on my own is not an option. But now, I feel like it's a possibility again, which is very exciting!
We have been working on getting everything ready for #2 and I have found myself getting really excited! For awhile there, thinking that we might have a premature baby was quite the overwhelming thought and now that I am basically full term, I feel like I can let myself get excited again! I can't wait to meet our little guy! Feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of taking care of 2 instead of one but mostly feeling really excited about what this next little person will add to our family!
Johnson Baby #2 I can't wait to hold you in my arms! We are greatly anticipating your arrival! Here's the belly at 36 weeks!Baby Brother's profile at 34 weeks!

My Little Valentine

So, this was the first Valentine's Day where we could do some special stuff for the little one in our house and he would actally understand it!! We had a special Valentine's breakfast on Sunday morning. (Yes, I know Monday was Valentine's Day, but Daddy gets up a little too early for Clay and I so we made Sunday Johnson Valentine's Day!) You know, what every mom of a pre schooler makes for breakfast on Valentine's Day. Heart Pancakes with strawberries and cool whip. I think Clay's favorite part was the cool whip ;)! Since Clay is getting more and more into crafts, coloring, etc. we made Valentine's for Daddy. Now that Clay is getting older, it is fun to be able to do some more creative things with him!

He's ready for crafts!

So, last week was REALLY cold (freezing in my book, but most of you Northerners would laugh at me! It was in the mid 30's) I don't know if it's because I am pregnant or what but this winter is driving me crazy! I can never seem to get warm, no matter what! I am BEYOND ready for summer to come. I would much rather be sweating in the heat than shaking in the cold ANY DAY! OK, enough complaining from me. Just wanted to get that out.

Therefore, due to the weather, I refused to leave the house last week. Well, ok Monday was beautiful so we went to the park and went for a walk. So glad we did because the very next day it was really cold. I was thankful we had spent plenty of time outside on Monday! So, after Monday, I figured we could make due with what we had in the cupboard and freezer and we would be ok. No need to even go to the store, right?! By the end of the week I was feeling really bad for Clay. Poor kid was stuck in the house all week. So, I decided we would change things up a bit and do some crafts. We finger painted with some baby food I still had from our baby food days. Of course, once Clay learned that it was actually food, he was more interested in eating it than painting with it. Then, we did play-doh for the first time. Clay really liked it and only tried to eat it a couple times! Makes me realize he is ready for some toddler crafts and that I need to try to be a little more creative!

First Hair Cut

A few weeks ago, I gave Clay his first hair cut. I had waited WAY too long and it was beginning to get matted in the back when he slept, but I just couldn't bring myself to cut off all his baby hair! I finally decided to just go for it. I am not the greatest at cutting hair. I have only cut Rob's, but he has wavy, thick hair so you can't really see all the mistakes. Clay's, on the other hand, is really thin and straight. Let me just tell you, it was stressful. I had Rob hold him but he was wiggling everywhere and shaking his head. God bless all those barbers out there who cut children's hair for a living! After all the fiasco, I learned that I should have let him watch a video while i cut it. Duh, that would have been smart, but the thought never crossed my mind! Oh well, the lessons you learn as a new mom!

I never realized how cutting a toddler's hair can change his look so much! I mean, my little Clay went from being my baby to my little boy in 5 minutes. The next morning when I got him from his crib, I had to take a second glance. Who was this "big boy" in my little guy's crib!!? It has taken a little but to get use to, but he is still as cute as ever!

So, without further ado... Here are the before and after pics...

Yes, my son's hair was ridiculously long!

An Update on the Little Guy

Well, hello. Not sure if anyone is still out there checking my blog. Opps. It's been a while, I know, I know. I guess for a little bit there I forgot I had a blog!!! oh well, such is life.

Well, here is an update on the little man of our house:

- he is almost 18 months old and I CAN'T believe it!

- I am LOVING the toddler stage. I mean, really loving it! I love how he sometimes reminds me of a little boy, but still reminds me of a baby too. It's like the best of both worlds. Plus, I LOVE how he learns something new everyday!

- He is quite the talker. I mean the child knows so many words. and is NEVER quiet! I never really felt the need to teach Clay baby sign language because he comnunicates so well. His vocabulary often surprises me.

- He is a night owl. I never knew that you could tell this when they are so young, but he truly seems like a night person and not a morning person (a trait he gets from his mother)! He doesn't really get grumpy when we keep him up so late, but gets crazy! It's pretty nice for those nights when we are out late!

- He's a pretty cautious little guy when it comes to new things.

- He LOVES being outside and asks all the time to go outside (even now as I type!)

- He is definately playing like a little boy. LOVES cars and balls. Will make car noises as he drives them all over the house.

- He loves books

- His favorite thing is his "bankie" He MUST have it when he sleeps and it is always soaking wet when I get him from his bed. He likes to chew on it.

- He loves to go for a run with mommy. He often asks to go for a run and brings me my shoes (he's like my little running accountability partner!) He does so well in the jogging stroller and is quiet the whole time (the only time he is quiet). He loves to strech with me after we run, touching his toes and everything.

I LOVE my little guy and I love that I get the privilege of raising Clay and being a stay at home mom!

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

FYI, this blog was written by my hubby. He uses my blog to get free books lol

“The Grace of God” by Andy Stanley is an excellent read. He goes through the stories of the Bible, most of which are very familiar to anyone who has even an elementary knowledge of it, and tells them from the point of view of grace. He has a great talent for taking these well-known stories and telling them in a way that is fresh and relevant for our culture today. While I had heard all of these stories multiple times, I was never bored as I read through the book. God’s story is a story of grace. It was 4,000 years ago, and His grace continues its work through me and through you. This book is for anyone who believes that they have to work to earn the grace of God; it is also for anyone who thinks that they are too messed up and done too many things wrong that they do not deserve His grace. God’s grace is for everyone and we don’t have to do anything to get. How amazing is that. That is Good News!
I wrote this review as part of Thomas Nelson's booksneeze.com book review blogger program.

Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado

Have you ever felt like your life isn't really making a difference?
Have you ever wondered if there is more to your life than what you are doing with it right now?
If so, Max Lucado's book, "Outlive Your Life", is a perfect read for you. A main theme that constantly runs throughout the book is a call to I would say the rich in general and the American church in particular (because face it, no matter how "poor" we think we are, we still as a group have more wealth than the rich of the rest of the world combined), to reach out to the poor and the needy wherever we are and look for ways to make a difference. The thing I liked about this book is how practical Max gets. He doesn't talk theories. He gives real life examples of real life people and ways to help. He also does an excellent job of building a foundation for why we should be so concerned about helping the needy and poor among us, namely because this is how Jesus lived. We as Jesus followers need to be doing the same.
I wrote this review as part of Thomas Nelson's booksneeze.com book review blogger program.

Couponin'

So, yes, I coupon. And now that I have been doing it for the past few months, and see how much money I'm SAVING, I wonder what I was thinking all of those years of NOT couponin'! Really, it's amazing! Now that I know I can only spend a little over $1 for a box of cereal I use to pay $3 or more for, I don't know how I could ever return to not coupon in'. And that's just cereal, not to mention all the other things I use to pay full price for that I now pay less than half the original price. It does take time and can be a little work, but the return is definitely worth it!
Yesterday was one of my proudest days as a couponer. I never thought I would be one of "those" bloggers who would actually line up everything they bought, take a picture, and post how much I paid for it (not that I have a problem with bloggers who do. In fact, seeing all the amazing deals my friends have posted is what convinced me to actually try this whole coupon thing. I just never thought I would blog about it ;), but when you watch your transaction total go from a little over $30 to just 92 cents, it's worthy a blog right?! I took a trip to Target and CVS and here are all the things I got for FREE (yes, that's right, I said FREE) or for only a few cents.
And here is my CVS transaction that rang up at over $30 and, with all my coupons and ECB, went down to just 92 cents. Not to mention I got 5 ECB back to use on my next purchase!
Pretty fun stuff!

My Little 14 month old

Oh yes, I am still counting months. I mean, when do you stop? Clay still feels like my little baby even though he is clearly in the "toddler" stage. Although he is not "toddling" around. Yes, my 14 month old still crawls. He is fast at it and isn't really interested in walking. He cruises furniture really well, but doesn't let go. He has shown a lot of interest in his walker lately, so I guess he is getting close, but I think it's still going to be awhile. BUT, the child is talking like crazy. Seriously, it seems like he learns a new word everyday, which is pretty fun. I just think it's hilarious that my crawling baby is talking. Seems a little backwards, huh?
Here is the list of his vocab: mama, dada, bye bye, shoe, socks, puppies, touch (comes from when I tell him "don't touch"), and ice. Who knows what he will try to say next. It's too cute!

Catching Up...

Hello again blog world. WOW, It's been awhile. A LONG while. Oh well. we have been really busy the past few months. So, we have a little catching up to do. Here's what we've been up to!

On May 3oth Clay turned 1! I know, can you believe it? My baby is one. Feels like I gave birth to him yesterday. I can remember the first time I held him in my arms (screaming his head off) like it was yesterday! Oh Clay, we are SO HAPPY you are a part of our life. You bring such joy to your dad and I. We love you more than you will ever know!
We decided to have his first birthday party and baby dedication together at our house. It was a great time to celebrate Clay and to commit our little man to the Lord. It was a very special party.
In other news, we are now homeowners! I can hardly believe it. Really. We have lived in 9 different places since we got married almost 5 years ago. Yeah, quite the record. Now you know why I can hardly believe that we bought a house. There were several reasons for this. One is that we were tired of throwing away our money on rent and the other, bigger reason is that we are a part of a core group who is planting a church in the neighborhood we bought our house in. We really felt like God was calling us to be a part of this church and calling us to move to the community we are currently living in. It has been quite the journey being homeowners and we've only lived here for a month! We have renovated the bathroom (well, still renovating) as well as done some other renovations around the house, built a shed, painted like CRAZY, and well, had to clean up our first fallen tree in our yard this week. (Yes an enormous, termite eaten, hollow oak tree in the lot next door fell on our backyard! Could have been worse. At least it didn't fall on the house, right?! I'd much rather clean up a fallen tree in our backyard than clean up a tree AND fix a hole in our roof!)
Also in the past couple months we had my brother, sister-in-law, and family come in town. They recently adopted a little girl from Korea and we got to meet her for the first time. She is only 6 weeks older than Clay and is too cute! She is walking like a big girl and has been for awhile. It was really fun to see them. Wish we could have had more time with them. We had to move into our new house during the time they were in town. Although it would have been nice to do something "fun" we were glad to have the help!
Rob's parents also came in town to visit us for about a week. They were able to make it to Clay's birthday/ baby dedication party which we were really happy about. It was so good to have them here for such a special time in our lives. They helped us A TON on our new house (painting, helping to build a shed) as we had only moved in like 10 days before their arrival. It was great to see them!
Also, my other brother, sis-in-law and family moved back down to NOLA at the beginning of June. It 's fun to have them home, and to see Clay interact with his cousins. He loves crawling after them, and Eli (he's 2) especially loves to "play" with Clay. Eli is absolutely adorable with Clay, feeding him Cheerios, bringing him his cup, and giving lots of hugs. I think those 2 are going to be great friends one day when they can really play together. It's good to have them home.
Well, that was probably WAY more than you care to know about what is going on in our lives. Just seems like there are quite a few "monumental" things happening in our lives the past couple of months.

9 month stats

We had Clay's 9 month check-up today and all is well. Learned that he had his first (of many more to come, I'm sure) virus. He was running a fever this weekend, but didn't have any other symptoms. He seemed fine on Sunday, but I did notice that he looked like he had some little pink bumps on his tummy. Since he is fair skinned and doing the army crawl these days, I figured it was just from crawling on the carpet. Anyway, yesterday evening, it was really looking like a rash. Thankfully today I had his regular check-up appointment and learned (Actually my mom diagnosed it about an hour before I went to the appointment) that he had Roseola, which is a virus common for babies to get at his age. Anyway, seems kinda like a milestone, Clay getting his first virus...

Anyway, here are his 9 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs. 14 oz. -20th percentile

Height: 27 3/4 inches 50th percentile

Growing away

9 months

I can hardly believe that my baby boy is 9 months. It's even harder to believe that we will be celebrating his first birthday is just a few short months. Ya know, I have always heard moms talk about how quickly kids grow up and I never really understood it until I had my own. I seriously feel like I just gave birth to him YESTERDAY. Ok, I can go on and on about how big he is and how I can't believe it, but I'll stop now...

So here are some things my little 9 month old does now:

- claps his hands on command, or when you sing if your happy and ya know it, or just for fun!
- does the army crawl and gets faster and faster everyday

- can pick up food with his finger and thumb and feed himself

- has 3 teeth, one has totally come in and is working on the other two

- gets his feelings hurt when you tell him "no"
- knows the car and will begin to whine before you even open the door to put him in his car seat

- smiles ALL THE TIME!
- has become more and more interested in toys ( but the stacking cups are still, by far, his favorite)
- plays "catch" (I roll him the ball and he rolls it back)
- says mama and dada

- talks constantly, except when we are walking around in a store (too much to look at I guess...)
- is very ticklish
-LOVES to eat solid foods. You would be amazed how much such this skinny baby can eat!!

showing off his 3 teeth (2 bottom and one on the top left... you can see the very tip of it if you look really closely)

if you're happy and ya know it clap your hands

eating finger foods!

ahhhhahhh I got it!