My boy is turning 3!

3 years ago on the 19th my little man was born! He has captured my heart just like his daddy. He is all boy through and through. I can just picture his daddy as a child being just like him. He has grown so much in so many ways this year! He can ride his big bike the neighbor boys passed on to him. Last year he could barely reach the peddles.

We took Clayton to see the Omaha Royals this summer and to a College World Series game. He loves baseball! He has to play just like the players; with a REAL ball, bat, helmet and on a baseball field. We have a baseball field in our subdivision that we often take him to play on.
Brody pitches the ball to him and he hits it 3 out of 4 times. I love his little saying, "Keep your ball on your eye."

He is having a baseball birthday party on Saturday with a baseball cake and a homemade field in our back yard.

We got a 4-wheeler from the neighbors a couple years ago and I remember thinking "I can't imagine him being big enough to ride it." He has figured out how to ride it now and zooms all over on it.

Clayton is so much like me. He already is organizing his colors. He picks out matching clothes to wear. He pays attention to much detail. If I changed one thing around in the house he would be the one to notice. He can say his ABCs, count to 10, he knows his colors and can recite "The Pledge of Allegiance".

He is such a great big brother! He is gentle with his sister and loves to hold her. If she is crying he tries to calm her down and some of the time she responds very well. He talks about "when she gets bigger" she can play catch with him and wrestle. I look forward to the bond these two will have. He is always so concerned about her. If she isn't right there with us, he wants to know where she is at.

He has such a sweet side to him. I love getting to lay with him at bedtime and talk about our day. He always says, "I love you so much". He expresses gratitude by saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you."

He isn't my baby anymore. Not because he is a big brother but because he is becoming so independent. We potty trained the end of June because he wanted to wear his big boy underwear. We went completely backwards when Addyson was born but now he is back to underwear with no accidents. He can dress himself, put his shoes on and brush his teeth and he is ready for the day!

He gave up his binkie too! Brody asked him if he wanted to trade his binkie for a baseball helmet. He had been asking for a helmet so he told him if he sent his binkie to the baseball helmet company, they would send him a helmet. So we packaged up his binkie and took it to the mailbox. In the mailbox was a letter from the baseball helmet company that said they left his helmet on the front porch. He was so excited, I wished I had a video camera to record the moment. The first night was a little rough without the binkie but after that he didn't even ask for it. I think it was a bit harder on mommy than it was him.

He loves to watch Curious George. He would probably watch it all day if we would let him. He is going to be him for Halloween and Daddy is going to be the Man in the Yellow Hat.

He loves to help his daddy. It is so cute to see him in his work boots out helping his daddy work. He got a tool set for his birthday and loves that he has tools just like dad. Him and daddy have special play time they call "wrestle run". Brody chases him around the kitchen and living room and then they wrestle in the living room.

We started music again this fall. He loves to sing and dance. I always have the silly songs stuck in my head because we have to listen to his music in the truck 24/7. I go to a women's bible group at our church on Wednesday and he looks forward to playing with his friends at the church. There is a young teenage boy that helps watch the kids during bible group and Clayton just loves him. It is so cute to see him run up to him and Jeremy picks him up.

Tomorrow he will start a preschool program through a church here in Papillion. It is called "Parents Day Out" For 2 1/2 hours on Fridays he will go and get to play with other kids. It is structured like preschool and has a thematic curriculum. They do bible story time and prayer, circle time, music, arts and crafts, outdoor play and have a snack. I have mixed feelings about putting him in right now but we are going to try it out. He has been asking to go to school so when I found this program I thought it would be a great intro to school and would give me a little break. As Addyson gets a little easier, I want to do more school type stuff at home.

It is so hard to believe my little boy is 3 now! He is so much fun! I just love my little guy.

Clayton's Big Boy Room

We moved Clayton into his new room and out of his crib about a month ago. At first I didn't think he was ever going to adjust to his new bed. He asked to sleep in his baby crib several nights in a row. I took down the rail on the crib and finally got everything out of his old room and he settled in fine after a week. Now he doesn't even go in his old room; which we will soon be getting ready for the baby. He does great staying in his bed when it is time to go to sleep. Next we have to figure out how to break him from the binkie. Any suggestions?

His quilt is almost finished! I am hand stitching each square, which is time consuming, but it is the look that I want and I couldn't figure out how to machine stitch it. Once I get the hand stitching done, I just have to do the binding and I will be finished!
We painted his room a light blue. Brody built this shelf and we got a set of cubes from target for books and toys.

I made valances for the windows.
And painted some canvases and glued this cute car fabric on them that I found.

It is time to start on our baby girl's room next. I will post pictures soon! My wheels are spinning with ideas.

A Baby Sister?

At dinnertime last week, Clayton wanted to say the pray. "Thank you Jesus for Daddy, Mommy, Doggy, and BABY SISTER." I was a little shocked by his words. We had talked about a baby brother/sister but didn't know yet what we were having. My ultrasound was a couple days later and we decided we were going to find out. Here is a picture of me the day of the ultrasound at 21 weeks. I feel huge, but then I talk to some people and they are shocked to know I am pregnant, so maybe it is just me.

Yes, we are indeed having a baby girl! The ultrasound tech was pretty sure of it and she even got a pretty good picture. Our little Clayton really did know. I am in awe at how our Father uses our children to help us as parents to love, honor and serve him more. I am so thankful for our boy and the love he already has for his heavenly father. He is going to be a great big brother. These days he is surrounded by lots of little girls and I see a great gentleness in him towards them. I now know the Lord is preparing him for a baby sister. He loves to play dress up with his cousin Jolena and wear mommy's lipstick and make-up. I know he will out grow the dress up thing, but I can see him playing with his little sister one day just because she wants him to.

Clayton picked out this little outfit for his sister this week. (sorry for the sideways pic) The butterfly is on the butt, perfectly suiting since I love butterflies. He was so excited to show daddy the outfit when we got home. He said, "Look at the butt dad", as he was laughing.

So 17 weeks and counting for our baby girl to arrive. I just started to read a book a friend recommended to help us with this transition, From One Child To Two by Judy Dunn.

Big Brother!!!

Clayton is going to be a big brother in July! I think he is ready, he is in love with babies right now and stops to see them or points them out in the store. Out of the blue last week he said, "I want a baby sister". Some days it is, "I want a baby brother sister". "Baby in mommy's tummy? Come out soon?"

I just can't believe how much my little man is talking these days and learning. He loves to ride his bike on the hardwood floors. He has rode it more in the house than he ever did outside. He knows his primary colors and it learning to counting to 5 and spell is name. If you ask him how old he is, he will say "four". I guess 4 is more fun that 2? He loves to help me cook in the kitchen and does very well at cracking eggs. One morning I came in the kitchen and he had pulled the chair up in front of the stove and had cracked an egg in the skillet. The shell was sitting nicely to the side in two pieces and he had the spatula in his hand. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "making daddy an egg", "mommy fire on?" Thankfully he hasn't figured out how to light the burners yet! Brody told him to "go make daddy an egg" and he did just that! He is a little sponge right now and takes it all in. He is too smart for his own good!


Clayton loves to paint, color, and play play-dough. It doesn't matter what it is, it always gets tested in the mouth. Him and Brody painted on paper the other night and then it turned into face painting.
He loves to read books. Today he told me he wanted to take a nap in his house (one of our projects during the snow storm last week). I found him laying in there with his blankie, reading books. He is a busy little boy and will find something to entertain him if he needs too, but usually it spells trouble. Today I found him on top of his changing table that is in his closet. He had got the markers off the top shelf and was coloring on his shirts hanging in the closet!!

I am thankful that he takes 3 hour naps; him and I both need that time! He still has his binkie and potty training still seems far off, but hopefully will come before baby arrives. I am excited to transition him into his big boy bed after we get moved and settled. We are starting to talk about giving his bed (crib) to baby and he told me he was going to give his blankie to baby too. Ahh, his blankie is his best friend and goes everywhere with him. This boy just melts my heart. I love him so much! I am so thankful I get to spend everyday with him.

Back on the farm

I grew up on a farm in a small town called McCook, 4 1/2 hours west of Omaha. I was a bit of a city girl growing up, but it is ironic, as I have got older my roots have come back to me. I have looked forward to spending time on the farm and helping my dad when Brody and I have traveled back to Nebraska over the years to see family. I never imagined I would end up back in Nebraska! While Brody was in training for two weeks, Clayton and I traveled to McCook to spend some time on the farm. His whole world opened up to a new level! He had so much fun being outside with Pappa feeding the cows, horses, riding on the tractor and exploring the farm. (Pappa's little shadow)

(Feeding cows right behind the house)

He also got to go for a ride on the combine. That is all he can talk about now! Brody bought him the Cars movie and although he has very little interest in watching it, he loves watching the tractor tipping scene and seeing the combine race through the field.

(Trying to eat a hard piece of corn)

While there, my sister and I took the boys fishing at the sandpits. Clayton has learned how to cast his pole and loves to fish so that is all he could talk about while waiting for the boys to get out of school that day.

(Nephews, Logan-Joni's son, Ryan & Clayton)

Ryan caught a huge wiper! Clayton wasn't too sure about the fish and wouldn't even stand near it, but all he could talk about afterwards was "Ryan caught a big fish" with his arms out.

Brody's Birthday Party

I was talking to my friend Laci last week, and her son overheard her talking about Brody's birthday and he said "I want to go to Brody's birthday party", so we had a party on Sunday. I made him a lemon cake with fun-fetti frosting per his request and we had friends over to help us eat it. The kids sure enjoyed their cake and ice cream. I was so excited to sit outside in the back yard and use our new patio furniture we bought last fall because we have hardly used it, but it turned out to be super windy so we stayed inside. Friday night I took Brody to a Sacramento King's game and we went out for sushi. We hadn't been for sushi since before we moved to California. It was a fun night out, just the two of us! Clayton stayed the night with my aunt and uncle for the first time, and he did wonderful. I could tell he had fun when I picked him up.

Brody had a lot of candles to blow out, he is getting up there in his years. Haha! ( He is the youngest of all our friends including me.)

Saturday was a beautiful day, I think it hit 80 degrees. I bought Clayton this sink from Costco. I just couldn't resist; he loves playing in the water! Brody and I enjoyed watching him, relaxing in our new Cabela's chairs we got for Christmas. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon.

My baby is 18 months!

Wow, has the last 18 months flew by! You know when you were a kid and your birthday felt forever away, time couldn't move fast enough for it to be here. As a mother now, I can't believe how fast my little baby boy has grown right in front of my eyes. This time last year Clayton was just learning to sit up and we started introducing solid foods. Now, he is running all over the place and eats anything!
Clayton loves being outside! We loves to watch daddy mow, run down the side of the house through the bushes and sit at his picnic table and eat a snack. He loves to pick up the neighbors rocks and throw them or put them in his mouth for a little taste. Daddy has been teaching him how to play baseball and yesterday he hit the ball all by himself.

Clayton is fascinated with trucks. His new thing is to point and grunt at trucks he sees and I have to respond with "firetruck, delivery truck, garbage truck, pickup truck". Every Friday we watch the garbage truck come by and empty our garbage. This morning, he was standing at the front door watching as soon as he heard the garbage truck coming up the street.

Clayton loves to wave and say "hi' to everyone he comes into contact with. It is fun to watch as people are taken off guard, but they always respond with a "hi" and smile. His vocabulary is increasing more and more everyday.

Clayton just got his 3rd tooth; at this rate he could be teething for the next 6 years!

My little helper

Yesterday morning I decided to quickly scrub the kitchen floor because it had really been bugging and needed it so bad! So I got my bucket and rag and made a vinegar solution which by the way is great for so many uses because it is effective at killing those germies and is environmentally friendly. Clayton managed to find his own rag and jumped right in helping me. This was a priceless moment watching my little guy so focused on the task at hand, covering every surface of our kitchen floor. I am so thankful for the patience God has given me as a mother in order for my child to learn and explore, even though it took me twice as long to clean the floor and there was more water on the floor than in the bucket.