Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We hosted Kim, Jim, and nieces Sarah & Alyssa for our first Thanksgiving at our house.

Everyone wanted to hold baby Clayton.

Clayton & Caroline

"This is the Day!"

The past few days...

With big sister Caroline always singing, Clayton has decided to start "singing" too. He does little octave leaps while he's cooing!

Doing tummy time together...

Riding on her toy leopard

Smiling man

Family picture

Playdough and spitting up

So - what have we been up to this week? Caroline got to play with playdough for the first time. It's nice because you can make it yourself using baking ingredients so that you don't have to worry if your kid eats it by mistake.

Clayton is smiling more and more, but also spitting up a LOT. Ugh! I will change him into new clothes, look away for a second, and then look back and he is soaking wet already.

Do-Re-Mi

De Re Mi

The laws of toddlers....

- When you try to pick up and put away a toy that has been untouched for the last 30 minutes, that is the toy that your toddler all of a sudden wants to play with.
- When your toddler asks for eggs for breakfast and you make them, the second they are put on the tray, you hear "I want pancakes."
- When your toddler says "I want up" and they are not picked up, they proceed to say "I want up. I want up. I want up. I want up" continuously until they are picked up. Of course, when they are picked up, you instantly hear "I want down."

Yes, they can be exasperating, but then they smile or laugh or give you a hug and you fall in love with them all over again.

The ABCs...almost

First attempt at a video...

Happy Halloween!

Decorating cookies

Aunt Kim, Uncle Jim, and cousins Sarah and Alyssa came over to help Caroline decorate Halloween cookies.

Caroline already loves Halloween. She likes to point out all the pumpkins on our street. We have a Jack-O-Lantern in our window that we call "spooky pumpkin" and Caroline often asks to go see "smooky punkin".

fountaintop

Growing with Mr. Bear

Growing with Mr. Bear - 20 months

Growing with Mr. Bear - 2 1/2 months

Growing with Mr. Bear - together!

Dreading winter...

Both kids LOVE being outside, so we are really dreading winter. Being cooped up for months does not sound like fun!

Testing out her fairy wings...

Fall is here...

Fall is here and it is time to rake leaves.
Both Caroline and Clayton pitched in to help.

Clayton meets GiGi

Clayton met his great-grandmother GiGi for the first time today. As you can see, they hit it off right away!

Go Bears Go!

Go Bears!

Touchdown!

Unfortunately, my little cheerleader's cheers weren't enough to make them win. :(

2 months

Clayton just had his 2 month doctor's appointment and he is 10 pounds, 15 ounces. He is growing, despite his meager diet this past few days while he was recovering from being sick.

Sick!

Ugh - After Caroline got sick with a stomach virus, I got it, and so did Clayton. It is no fun at all trying to take care of 2 sick kids when you are sick yourself. Luckily, my mom swooped in and took Caroline for 2 days, which was an ENORMOUS help.

The past week...

A snooze and a smile

Visit with "Boppy" (Grandpa Ray)

Two in the tub

Mobile!

My new hat

Under the weather...

Caroline came down with her first stomach virus, so we took a temporary hiatus from postings. The poor thing was throwing up all day Friday. :(
The first time was all over me. Ugh! 6 pairs of pajamas and 2 sets of sheets later, the throwing up thankfully stopped. She's on the mend now, but unfortunately, one of the symptoms of the tail-end of this virus is the outbreak of a rash. Ugh! In a day or two, my poor polka-dotted baby should be all better. Keep your fingers crossed that baby Clayton doesn't come down with the same thing!

First smile

Clayton rewarded us with his first smile the other day. We (of course) didn't get a picture of it, but hope to get a snapshot of that gummy grin soon!

Photos from Africa

My parents took a trip to Africa. Here are some of their photographs. It is unbelievable what they were able to see!