Clay's Christmas Pictures - 2009

We went last week and got Clay's 18 month / holiday pictures taken. As you'll see, he was in a really good mood (I think a first for any of his picture taking sessions). We ended up with so many good ones that we couldn't decide... so we just bought the rights to the pictures. The photographer even made us sign a release so that she could use the pictures in their promotional materials. Enjoy!

A Month to Catch Up On

It's been a month since our last post and there is so much to catch up on...

Our little boy is now 17 months old and will be 18 months soon. Brian asked me the other day when we could just start referring to him as a 1 and a 1/2 year old instead of how many months. I guess being around so many other mothers with little ones its just what I am used to.

Fall has been a very busy time of year for us - it seems like there has been something going on every weekend with football and visits. Does life ever settle down? Clay enjoyed all the nice fall weather we were having (until the rain came this week). We've been outside playing and on walks and having fun in the fresh air before we are stuck inside for awhile.

We had grand plans of getting together with our friends here in Indy with babies for Halloween but one of Clay's little buddies came down with pink eye and he is in Clay's daycare room so we thought it best to keep these 2 boys away from the other babies just in case they both ended up with it. We still went down our street trick or treating and had a chance to meet a few more of the neighbors. Clay was a hit in his giraffe outfit and was a very polite trick or treater taking only 1 piece of candy from each bowl (unlike so many of the kids that came to our house) he loved when the trick or treaters would come ring the doorbell and would run screaming to greet them.

Clay has been feeling a little icky lately with a fever for a few days this past weekend and a cough that just keeps on going and a wheeze afterward that would scare any parent. A trip to the Dr. told us it was nothing more than a cold. We're glad we checked it out just in case. Not sure if it is the cold or just being a 1 and a half year old that is causing Clay to be the pickiest eater ever lately but getting that child to eat a meal is near impossible. As small as he is he can't afford not to eat so meals have been pretty random lately consisting of whatever we can get down his throat. If you have any great meal ideas for an 18 month old, please send them our way.

We hope all is well with you and yours and have a great Thanksgiving!

Clay the Camper

We braved the elements and spent our annual 3 day weekend in Devil's Lake Wisconsin over Columbus Day weekend. It got down into the 20's at night and was pretty chilly during the day so we spent a lot of time in the campers.



Times they are a-changing...
What used to be parents and their kids now includes 5 grandkids (1 of them being our little man). Going on a hike all together has gotten a bit harder with everyone on a different napping/ eating schedule, we did get to say Hi to everyone at least twice though :) We had a terrific time, hopefully some better weather next year will get us all outside to play.

We did have our big pot luck meal like always and everyone braved it thanks to some tarp work by Grandpa Swinter. Clay was so bundled up that he couldn't get up if he fell, but as you can tell from the pictures he didn't really mind. Luckily there was a playground near by for kiddie entertainment. Have we mentioned that Clay LOVES to slide. We even bought him a slide from a garage sale to keep in the basement for now. Best $15 ever.

We're looking forward to a weekend at home this upcoming weekend, including a possible trip to the pumpkin patch. I'm sure there will be plenty of pictures from that as well!

Grandma Swinter and Clay out in the cold Wisconsin air


The Most amazing snot bubble we have EVER seen!


Mountain Men


Cheese!


Mommy, are you under there?

Health, Home Improvements and Illinois Football

Time to update before the grandmothers yell at us. Lots of pictures in this one, here's a cute random one to start:



We've been busy on various home improvement projects around the house lately. Most has been painting (Clay's room, basement, and dining room) and we've also put up some lattice around our deck. Here's some after shots:







We did manage to get away for a day or so up to the lake over Labor Day weekend for some relaxation. Grammy Boyle brought some sidewalk chalk, which everyone loved (Clay drawing on everything, Holly and Grammy drawing nice pictures, and Brad and Brian drawing naughty things), we took some boat rides, and tried to recover from our recent bouts of sickness.









We also had a chance to head to Champaign for the first Illinois home game over the weekend with Uncle Brad, Grandma and Grandpa Swinter, and friends Hazel and Terry. The game was a 6pm kickoff so we stayed over that night. We played Illinois State, Holly's alma mater, so she made sure that Clay was appropriately dressed in both ISU and Illinois clothes. We were able to get some Papa Del's pizza for lunch and Clay did a good job making it through 1 quarter of the game (we were actually pretty pleased with that).







Only hiccup of the trip was Clay face planting in the parking lot on the way to the car to head back home. Some ice, hugs, and a trip to the Carle clinic later (just to verify stitches weren't needed, which they thankfully weren't) and we were on our way back to Indy.



Hope all is well with you!

New Pictures

We've been struggling with the idea of what to put up on the large wall in our master bedroom behind our bed. We finally decided that some large family pictures would be the way to go. We got our frames last week and thanks to Brad and his photography efforts and my limited knowledge of photo editing software, we'll have these three pictures up in our room soon:

Back in the Grind

Hello Everyone!
Clay and Mommy have been back to school now for almost a full 3 weeks. It has been great being back with the kids and also exhausting. There are alot of children trying to see what they can get away with almost like I am a new teacher all over again. It makes me feel like I am not being a very nice person when I am constantly having to talk to students with such a stern voice and sitting them out if they can't behave in class.

Clay has been doing a great down in the TOTs room (toddlers of Teachers and Staff). He is playing with his new friends and his teachers said that he is the best napper, he doesn't wake up for anything until he's ready. He has been having a rough time when i drop him off each morning though. We are having some serious separation anxiety going on with him and he gets pretty upset when I leave the room. Luckily he is usually fine within a few minutes. (daddy thinks it is all a show for mommy). Its getting better everyday though.

Being back at work now, I realize just how much I really loved being at home with Clay this past year and how blessed I was to have that time. Having someone else take care of our baby for the majority of his day and then only spending a few hours with him in the evenings is a tough thing to adjust to. I commend all you working parents out there, it's hard to find a good balance of work and family.

Hope all is well with you and yours!

Pictures and more updates coming soon - I'm in my school office so I don't have my pictures a click away.

Pictures and Videos from the Summer

This is how Clay thinks you wear sunglasses


13 month picture


What's cuter than a baby in a diaper


Friends don't let friends drive alone


Dancing the night away


Not sure about the Elephants


Brown bear Brown bear what do you see?


That's a BIG kitty


Ew, you want me to touch what?! (petting the dog sharks at the zoo)


14 months!


Ay Ay Captain