Hard Week

This past week has been one of the hardest I have been dealt in a while. Yesterday I had a breakdown and for the first time I truely felt like I could not be a good employee and a good mom. I have been struggling with this anyway but sickness just made it worse. I want to be a good mom spending quality time with my boys and husband but I also need to be a good employee. In all honesty I enjoy work. It's all I know. I have never been a stay at home mom so I do not know that world. I do know that this is my life and the Lord has blessed me in more ways than I could have imagined. I am so thankful at the end of the day I can just lay it all before the Lord and he will take care of us. My life and my boys are the Lord's anyway! What a relief that is to me. Sorry for that tangent but its just my heart these days!
Back to the week.....
 It all started last Wednesday. They called me to come get Charlie bc he had thrown up. The bug was going around his class so I knew it wouldn't be long before it got us. So I went and picked him up and stayed home Thursday too. Thankfully there was no more throw up and he was totally fine. So I took him back to school Friday. When he woke up Friday I knew he didn't feel well but no fever and no vommitting meant he was going to school. Mommy vs work begins. So I come to work and they call me an hour later saying he threw up and I had to go get him. I was not surprised. Friday he truely was sick. He slept on me all afternoon and just did not feel well. Saturday and Sunday were great! We all played a lot and had a good weekend. Sunday around 4 we came in from playing outside and Whit went and laid on the couch. He said his tummy hurt. OH great! We were headed to small group but I looked at Nate and said lets just stay here. So we decided to just go get some dinner and stay home. We get in the car and poor Whit felt so bad. I told Nate this was a bad idea and we just needed to turn around and go home. 5 min later - throw up everywhere! So we fly home get cleaned up! I told Nate I had to go to work Monday bc I had already missed 2 days. So thankfully he stayed home Monday. HILARIOUS by the way. Thankfully no more throw up! Then Tuesday Whit woke up and said his tummy hurt again. Great! I knew Charlie had skipped days so I was just waiting for it. I took them both to school expecting to get a call about Whit. Around 11:30 they called but not Whit.... Charlie. I was so annoyed. I knew he could not truely be sick again. So I had to leave work and go get him. He was fine the rest of the day. Charlie has had some random reflux since he was born that is completely random but it is projectile vommiting. I knew that this was what had happened at some point. So since he was fine I ignored the 24 hr rule and took him back to school yesterday. Well they got mad at me. I was so mad. I told them he was not sick and that it was reflux. I had an 8am meeting and I had no choice so I left. I knew they were mad at me so I made an appt at the doctor. I picked him up at 12 and we went to the doctor so we could get an excuse. Thankfully we went bc they wrote a note for his files and found out he had an ear infection :) So today I am praying for a full day at work! I really need some normalcy in my life. Oh and by the way Nate threw up last night in the middle of the night :)

Sick babies are still so sweet and cuddly



Family Farm Trip

We headed to the farm this weekend to meet Nate's grandmother and aunt and uncle from Knoxville. We were sad his cousins couldn't make it but we still had a great weekend. The weather could not have been more beautiful. It was perfect! Blue skies and cooler air is rare for Clopton!! Whit and Charlie were so good all weekend. Whit even got to stay Sunday night with Deedee and Jimbo. He was such a good boy. As always I am more thankful than I can express for this beautiful place!!

Whit wanted to feed the cows with James Roy

Grandmother helping him! By the way every farmer in every book is James Roy

Playing in the empty boxes

So much fun playing in the dogs water bowl

sunrise - up early thanks to the time change!



Halloween 2013

This was the first year Whit really understood Halloween and knew what was going on. I asked him a month or so ago what he wanted to be and it was a fireman. I was good with that but somewhere along the way he changed his mind. Thankfully we had plenty of time for our new costume and there were no more changes after that! So he wanted to be a cowboy and that he was! He was sooooo excited. If you asked prior to Halloween he would tell you he wanted a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a cowboy shirt. Thankfully a friend had a costume we could borrow. Deedee and Jimbo bought him some awesome boots and we were ready to go! He is obsessed with his new boots and they will be worn plenty outside of the costume. He wore his outfit all day yesterday to school and had so much fun! Charlie was the same tiger that Whit was when he was that age. He seemed content too ;)
Since we did not know about the weather I could not make a decision until the last minute. We jumped in the car to go to Homewood bc we figured it would be the best for trick or treating! Whit had so much fun! He LOVED going from house to house. It was a great place to go bc he could easily walk from house to house. This was such a fun year with him and I am so glad the rain held off so we could go trick or treating!! Great Halloween overall!

 

Helping carve the jack o lantern

school parties!

 



10 months

ya'll I totally forgot that Charlie turned 10 months until last night! I mean it's not like I have anything else going on ;)  But Charlie is now a 10 month old! This child is a mess. There is nothing else to say. Period. Not really but he keeps me on my toes and I have a feeling it is going to be like this for the rest of his life. Jesus, help me! He does everything Whit did not do. He is into everything. He eats everything. Everything he can find goes in his mouth. He stands up all the time. He wants to be held whenever I am around. He eats everything, oh I think I mentioned that :) Seriously though, he wants to put whatever in his mouth but when it comes to food there is no joking around with this kid. He eats A TON! I cannot keep enough food on the tray. I have not found much he does not like. He loves pizza, vegetables, fruit, muffins, graham crackers, ice cream, nila waffers, cake, meat, spaghetti, vegetable soup and anything else I fix. I laugh bc at this point with whit he maybe ate 3 of these things. Charlie never really liked baby food. He only has 2 bottom teeth but those teeth obviously serve him well. I do not even have to fix his dinner separate bc he eats whatever I are from the night before. He drinks whole milk already from a sippy cup. He is not a big milk drinker like Whit was and I have no idea how much he drinks daily bc it varies every day.
He stands up in the bath despite being told no the entire bath. He pulls on my leg and cries the whole time I am trying to cook dinner. He scrunches up his nose and breathes really hard like a bulldog when he gets really excited about something. He talks often and laughs at Whit.
He goes to bed at 6:30 usually and will only take about 2 sips of milk and then he wants to get in his bed. He is exhausted at the end of the day. He naps pretty well at school. Usually in the mornings for about 30-45 min and 45 min to and hour in the afternoons.
Nate and I look at each other often and say "what are we going to do with him?!"
I hope the spark in his eye remains forever though. I love this little booger more than anything and I pray that his fire and craziness will be for the glory of the Lord as he continues through life! Thank you Charlie boy for adding spunk to our family(and probably some wrinkles later)

My little fireball

Preciousness

He has to be in the middle of the action

In to everything!



Auburn!

We decided to venture to Auburn for the game on Saturday. We have never taken Whit and he is now at an age where he understands and we figured he would LOVE it! We didn't have anyone to keep Charlie so we decided to go ahead and take them both. The day was great and both boys did really well. We left around 8 and got to Auburn with time to get to the tiger walk. Whit is so obsessed with the band so we wanted to make sure he got to hear as much of them as possible. It was really crowded around the tiger walk but he could still hear the band. After that we walked around and stopped to eat our picnic we had packed. We headed into the game about 12:30. We had great seats for Whit. We were on the 7th row so he could see everything! We were able to point out the eagle cage right when they were about to release it so he saw it really well. He loved the eagle, the marching band and his shaker best of all! Charlie fell asleep in my arms as the first quarter started. It was great bc he was content in my arms. We left at half time after the band played. It was a hot day but I am so glad we went. Could not have survived without the double BOB! It was a great memory and Whit woke up Sunday morning asking to go back to Auburn so I think he had fun!!

Ready to watch the tiger walk

We lost Whit approximately one minute after buckling his seatbelt



Separate but good weekends!

This past weekend the family split up but all 4 of us had great weekends! It was my annual beach trip with my girl friends and so Nate took the boys to the farm for some fun!
I am thankful as always to have some girl time and time to sit on the beach without watching anyone, actually just time to sit period! The weather was looking really bad for us as tropical storm Karen was headed straight for us. We were up in the air on what to do but Thursday night we made the decision to go ahead. We left bright and early around 6:30. We were sitting on the beach by 12:30 baking in the sunshine! The weather was perfect. Bright sunny skies for 2 days. Friday night after finally making in up from the beach we headed to Fishers. It was a great atmosphere and great food! Saturday night we ended up staying in,. watching the Auburn game and eating pizza. It was a great weekend. We are all very lucky to have each other! Looking forward to the lake weekend in March :)

While I was sitting on the beach Nate and the boys were playing at the farm. I am so glad Nate went with his parents down there. Whit loves it and I was glad he could have a little help! They had a great time. Whit went fishing with Jimbo and daddy and caught a fish then daddy caught a really big fish but Whit insisted it was the one he caught. I am not sure who was more excited about it.... daddy or Whit :) 

They also enjoyed the neighbors 6th birthday party. Apparently the young girls there loved Charlie and took over him for a bit! I was so proud of Nate for taking such good care of them and thankful he let me enjoy some time alone!

I was glad to have my little family all back together last night but it was a good weekend! 

9 months

I am a few days late on 9 months for Charlie. It was a crazy busy week last week. We headed to the doctor for his check up on Thursday. It was nice to not have any shots. He weighs only 19 lbs which is in the 25% for weight. I cannot remember the exact height but I know it was the 50%. He is so little. Thankfully he has some rolls even though he is just a little guy. I don't do well with skinny babies ;)
Charlie is a MESS! He is feisty, has a temper and is a charmer. Those 3 things combined are not so great! haha! His little grin and eyes get me every time!
He is crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything. His teacher told me today he is determined that he will not be the last to walk in the class so I will not be surprised when it happens. I am so not ready for that! He is kinda over baby food. It is so funny bc I had the hardest time getting Whit to eat food and Charlie is all about some real food. I am trying to give him baby food in addition to real food bc I just feel like he is not getting enough. He ate pancakes, lasagna, apples, and bananas this weekend. He starts crying when I give him baby food. I guess I can't complain except that I bought a bunch of baby food that must be eaten! We are starting using a cup, well trying to get him used to it! We have a while but I just need to introduce it. We can also see how he does moving to real milk. Seriously?! Where is my baby?!
He loves Whit, bath time, jumping up and down, daddy and his bottle. He gets so happy when he sees daddy but he is still a mommas boy. In the afternoons when I am trying to cook he holds on to my pant leg and will not let go! He loves to cuddle and would love to be held all day long.
Oh Charlie, I have a feeling you are going to look like your momma and act like your daddy. I think he might be my trouble maker but I love him to pieces!!