A little bit of tongue.

This little girlie is all about the tongue these days. It is her newest discovery and she is constantly sticking it out.

O Christmas Tree

This year we decided to buy a real tree. We have a fake one we normally set up every year but we thought the kids would enjoy going to pick out their own special tree.

I was freezing cold out, so after we walked around for about 10 minutes we told the kids to pick one so we could go! They settled on this one.

We loaded the tree on top of the car and headed home.

As soon as we got home we set to work setting it up and decorating it.

Taycee liked to hang all the ornaments on the same branch. It took quite a bit of convincing to get her to spread them out around the whole tree.

Kaden said over and over "This tree is cool. Grandma's tree is beautiful but our tree is cool!"

Grandma Sharp came over to help, she and Addison were excellent directors. Growing up I have lots of memories of going to her house ordering pizza and helping her decorate her Christmas tree. It was a lot of fun to have her come to our house order pizza and decorate our tree.

All done. I don't care what Kaden says. I think our tree is pretty beautiful.

Christmas Crafts

A couple of my Christmas crafts this year.

Growing up I always had a countdown to Christmas Calendar. I can't remember a Christmas at home without one. Now that my kids are old enough to be excited about such things I decided to make one of my own. My mom was lots of help and supplied me with all the felt I needed. After a trip to Hobby Lobby for some small ornaments and a few appliques, I set to work.

I was so happy when it was done and hung on my wall. It looks so similar to the one I grew up with that it just made me feel like I was 10 years old again. I think that I am more excited to open a pocket each morning that the kids are... and they get pretty excited.

We also did some paint ornaments this year. They are so easy and cheap to do. Just buy a box of clear ornaments and the paint color of your choice. Squeeze the paint down the insides of the ornament and swirl around til you are satisfied. Then let it dry overnight and hang on the tree. :D The kids had a blast.

A baby girl turns 5 months old

This is one of the newborn onsies I made before she was born. Silly me to think she would fit into it while it was still warm outside!

How can she be so old? I feel like it has been 5 weeks, not 5 months. It is a good thing she is still as small as a newborn or I might be tempted to have another. I love the baby stage. And I hate that it only lasts for such a short time. I know there are lots of people who do not enjoy the tiny baby stage. But there is something so precious about a newborn babe snuggled into my chest that pulls at my heartstrings. I love my kids at all stages. There is something fun to be found with every age. But they are never as sweet and innocent and angelic as they are for those first few months of life.

Addison is doing much better these days. Her cough still lingers but it doesn't keep me up in a panic all night anymore. She seems stronger and healthier. She is a much happier baby and has her appetite back.

She is already rolling over. I can't believe it. She is so tiny to be rolling over. She rolls from her back to her tummy and then gets stuck and cries til I roll her back to her back. But as soon as she gets back she immediately rolls back to her tummy. I am guessing she will learn to roll to her back quickly.

We started her on cereal a few weeks ago. The doctor thought that might help with her acid reflux. She was also recently started on a new medicine, I am not sure which one it was or if it was the combination of the two but her acid reflux is much better. Instead of spitting puddles at each meal she only spits once or twice a day and it is usually a small amount.

She is abundantly loved by her siblings. Taycee smothers her with kisses and hugs. The other day Taycee asked me to take some pictures of them together.

We love you miss Addison. Here is to hoping the next five months are a lot slower and healthier than the first five!

Kid Funnies

Having a 3 and 4 year old around makes our days full of funny moments. The things their minds come up with never cease to astound me.

Here are a few of the funny conversations this week.

Kaden:

"Mom... I played angry birds today. It CHANGED MY LIFE!"

(He is obsessed with angry birds. He knows that people who have the new I-phones have it so whenever he meets someone new he asks to see their phone so he can check if they have it. It is so funny. People are always thrown off gaurd that this little 4 year old is asking to borrow their phone. He also is always playing it on dad's I-Pad. Which leads me to the next quotes...)

we were pulling into Wal-Mart and he said " Hey mom... I am pretty sure they have I-Pad's here." Then he looked at me with this sweet face and batted his eye-lashes.

I was doing Taycee's hair and she wouldn't sit still and I said "Taycee stop moving you are making me mad!" Kaden said "hey mom, you are like the angry bird and Taycee is like the pig!" hahaha ( in the game the pigs are who the birds are mad at)

The kids weren't cleaning up their toys and Chris went downstairs to repremand them. When they finished Chris said "thank you." and Kaden said "You really looked like an angry bird down stairs... but now you are a happy bird!"

He was talking to grandma Clayton on the webcam and Chris was kind of bugging him by touching his legs. He sad so exasperated "UGH, Grandma... my dad is freaking me out!" we started laughing and he said so matter of factly with a straight face "I'm funny, I know."

We have been doing a little listening reward system for him, because he has a hard time listening the first time he is asked. So he has a piggy bank and if he listens on the first time he gets to put a nickle in it. Then when he builds up enough nickles he can use them to buy minutes on the computer to play angry birds or he can save them to go to the nickle cade or buy a toy. Anyway.. because of this when I ask him to do something I ask him by saying "Kaden this is the FIRST time I am asking will you...." or this is the SECOND or this is the THIRD, so he understands what reward/punishment he gets. ( If I have to ask 3 times he loses a nickle for each time I ask) So this morning he came up to Chris and said "Dad... this is the FIRST time I am asking... will you make me some breakfast." Chris didn't respond right away and Kaden got a stern tone and said "DAD, this is the SECOND time I am asking, will you make me some breakfast." hahaha. At least I know he understands the concept.

I asked him what he wanted for Christmas and he said "a lightening Mcqueen coloring book, a lightening mcqueen game.... and my own I-Phone with plants and zombies on it." haha. What a crazy world we live in where 4 year olds ask for their own I-phones. The sad thing is he really does know how to use them. Probably better than I do.

The other night I was making a large thermos of hot chocolate for the Young Men Chris was bringing over to the house. I had a bag of marshmellows out sitting on the counter and Kaden had been asking for some. I told him no, because they were for the hot chocolate. A few minutes later he walked into the kitchen and was moaning and holding his tummy. I asked him what was wrong and he said "my tummy really doesn't feel good" I asked him if he needed a drink and he said "no, I think it needs something soft and round and white."

Taycee mostly just keeps me laughing with her many dramatic songs like the one in the previous post. I need to get her into a dance class because she is definitely my little dancer.

Taycee's Birthday Part 2

Taycee Lynn... oh what a pill she is

When I think about how to describe Taycee at this age so many conflicting words come to mind. Darling/Stubborn, Sassy/Sweet, Funny/Frustrating... and oh so smart. Maybe too smart for her own good and definitely too smart for mine! People are always commenting on how well she speaks for only being 2.

She never stops, she is going from sun up til way past sun down. She can not sit still for anything, she can't even make it through an entire Dora show without getting up and running around a bit.

She LOVES her daddy. She has figured out that he is a very heavy sleeper and waits for him to start snoring then sneaks in under his arm and snuggles him the rest of the night.

Her favorite show by far is Dora, she begs for it daily. Anytime I let her watch a show Dora is always her first pick. When she is playing pretend with Kaden most often her name is Dora.

She loves her baby sister. She loves to look at her and kiss her, and give her blankies and binkies. She wants to be a part of everything that is going on. If Addison is on the floor for any length of time Taycee is right next to her the entire time talking to her and trying to make her smile. She also loves to take care of her own babies, and can turn any object into a baby doll. The other night she was carrying around Chris shoe rocking it and putting it to sleep.

She has started making up songs. It is adorable. It doesn't matter the subject, she can come up with a song about it. Usually the songs all have the same sing song tune. When we were in the car one day she was singing about how daddy was her heart.

We gave her a talk about turning 3 for a few weeks before she turned 3. We told her that once she was 3 there were things that she couldn't do anymore ( like sleep in our room) About a week before she turned 3 she came sneaking into our room after we had put her to bed and said with a hesitant smile, "daddy I am not 3 yet, I am still 2 see..." and she held up 2 finger "so I can sleep on your floor cause I am still 2!"

One night I was doing "magic tricks" for the kids. I had medicine dropper that I was making disappear from my hands and reappear in another place in the room. The kids were riveted. They thought it was the greatest thing ever. When i was making the dropper disappear I would have all the kids blow on it and then I would cover it with my hands and throw it up or at a wall and it would disappear. Taycee kept saying "mom I want to do magic let me try!" Finally I gave her a chance, she put the dropper in her hands, had everyone blow on it and then chucked it as hard as she could at the wall. I have never seen a more dejected little girl. She let out a great big "oooohhh" and slumped her shoulders. Then she said " I can't do magic!" hahahaha, Chris and I were laughing so hard. She was just so sure that dropper was going to disappear.

When she is excited or happy about something she uses lots of exclamatory words. The other night I made dinner and she was in a particulary good mood. When i put it on the table she said "WOW mom! This is the super goodest dinner I have ever seen."

When I ask her if she is hungry she stop and acts like hears something and then she will say "Yep! my tummy is growling!" or "no, my tummy is not growling."

On her actual birthday we tired to do little special things for her. We did cake and presents before Chris went to work because the kids were going down to St George that night with Aunt Kathy for Thanksgiving. ( Chris and I had to stay home because of Addison being sick)

Cake for breakfast... now that is a happy birthday.

her only request for her birthday was that she could ride a merry go round. So on our way to Aunt Kathy's we stopped at the south town mall and she got her ride. She was one happy girl.

We let her choose anything she wanted for dinner... her choice?

Chicken nuggets.

Happy Birthday Taycee girl, we sure do love you!

This is a little video of Taycee singing her made up songs. They are quite entertaining.

Taycee's Birthday Part 1

When did this tiny babe...

turn into this sassy 3 year old???

Where oh where does the time go?

I just can not believe that she is 3. The words 3 going on 16 were never so true.

She requested a princess cake again for her birthday. Actually first she told me she just wanted a banana cake. I asked her if she meant a cake that tasted like bananas because I know she loves bananas. But she shook her head and said "no mom, a cake that LOOKS like a banana" Then a few days later she changed her mind to a princess.

Her birthday was on a Tuesday and I knew we would not have time to have a party for her that day so we decided to let her choose somewhere fun to go the Saturday before hand. She decided to go to Jungle Jims in Salt Lake.

We couldn't take Addison out because of her cough so my mom came and stayed with her while we took the birthday girl out.

Taycee was pretty excited to eat her cupcakes. She had been asking me since the night before when I started making them when she could eat one. I think she was more excited about the cupcakes with sprinkles than the princess cake.

All of the kids ate their cupcakes before their pizza. Now that is a party!

Such fun friends.

Aunt Lisa and Baby Kara were nice enough to come and join the party. Isn't she a doll?

Taycee loves the ride that goes around really fast in a big circle. She screams the entire time.

After the ride guy spun their saucer around a few times I heard Kaden yell to him, "stop you are making me throw up." ...the guy didn't spin them anymore.

Taycee and Mason were checking out a few arcade games.

When we left Taycee and Kaden both immediately fell asleep in the car. It was such a fun time and Taycee loved spending the day with her friends.

Videos for grandparents

Just wanted to share the kids videos they made for grandma and grandpa Clayton this year.

First Snow

The first snow is always a favorite time of year for me. I think it is beautiful. There is something so peaceful about seeing the world with the first coat of untouched white snow.

We have to very dead trees in our front yard. They need to be pulled out, badly. They are so dead that the branches on them are curling. I think they are ugly, however on the night of the first snow I gained a new appreciation for them,

They looked like a piece from an art museum with all their curled snow covered branches.

The view from and upstairs bedroom window

Cough, Cough, Cough.... WHOOP!

SICK. That has been the word of the day around our house for the last few weeks. It all started about 3 1/2 weeks ago when I noticed Addison getting a really bad cough. At first I was worried about RSV. With her being a preemie I knew she was at high risk for it. I called the doctor to ask if I should bring her in and the nurse said that they wouldn't really do anything for her if she had it except to watch her closely to make sure her breathing was ok.

Taking 3 kids to the doctor is quite the chore, and I didn't want to do that if they were just going to tell me to go home and watch her closely. So I decided to just keep a close eye on her at home. A few days later her cough was worse. Especially at night when she would sleep. It was an awful hacking that sometimes ended with her vomiting. One night she was coughing so hard she choked and stopped breathing. Luckily I still keep her right next to my bed, I flew out of bed and yelled at Chris to get up and grab the sucker. We sucked all the junk out of her throat and she was ok. Our nights were long. I wasn't sleeping. She would have a coughing fit about every 20 minutes and I would immediately wake up and be on full alert in case she had more troubles. On top of all of this I noticed her thrush was back. We had had enough. I called the doctor, packed up the kids and in we went.

While we were at the doctor Addison wasn't coughing much. I was trying to describe the cough to the doctor but was doing a poor job. It was hard to describe just how awful her cough really was. He listened to her lungs and said they sounded clear... (thank goodness). He was just about to send me home with some thrush medicine thinking Addison just had the common cold with a bad cough. I had her lying on the table getting her dressed when she went into a coughing fit. The doctor immediately turned around and said "OH, that is a scary kind of cough".

Addison has whooping cough. When the doctor told me, all my mommy panic sensors went off. They had warned us about whooping cough in the hospital, wouldn't let me leave til I had the vaccination. The nurse who came to our home told us to have ALL adults who would be around her vaccinated. She told me it had already killed 5 babies this year. She warned it would be very dangerous for Addison to have. She explained that adults can have whooping cough but show no symptoms at all (except for ins some cases a persistent mild cough) they then pass on that cough to infants, who it is deadly to. Her awful Acid Reflux was making it worse, because she had so much junk already in the back of her throat. The doctor tried to be reassuring but it didn't do much good.

We left the doctor with 4 prescriptions, quarantine orders, and a teary eyed mom.

We are blessed to have such amazing friends and family. The day after we found out there was a huge fast in Addison's behalf. How grateful I am for the power of fasting and prayer. It is real. I know it.

It has been a long three weeks. The quarantine orders were for Addison's sake. ( She was not contagious after the first prescription was finished) but the doctor warned if she got any other sickness on top of this cough we would be in a bad situation. Whooping Cough has about a 6 week recovery time. So we are on the backside of it and hoping to kick it completely before Jenny come home from her mission on the 15th of December.

Addison coughs less now. The nights are getting easier and a little less interrupted. We feel blessed she is pulling through this without any of the major side effect that can come with it.

And sick or not, she is still one of the cutest babies I know.

The kids have been such great helpers. Addison had needed lots of attention from me. And since we can't leave the house the kids have been left to entertain themselves at home. It is times like these that I am SO GLAD we had them 18 mo. apart. They are such great friends and play together so well. I have come downstairs several times to find them played a new made up game. They have built houses out of couch cushions and played school with all the stuffed animals. They have just been so great and such good helpers.

Kaden was helping with Addison while I folded the mounds of laundry that had piled up.

PRIVATE!!

I've been back and forth on taking our blog private, but after seeing some of the search terms used to find our blog it has been decided.

We were private once before so if you sent us your email back then I still have it saved on here.

If not and you would still like to view our blog just leave your email here or send it to me @ jillwclayton@yahoo.com

Thanks all!

Baby Eats Cereal

At Addisons 4 month appointment the doctor recommended giving her a little cereal at night to weigh down her belly. He thought this might help with the awful acid reflux she has. The medicine doesn't seem to be helping and we are willing to try most anything to help the poor girl. So at 4 months and 4 days Addison had her first taste of anything other than mommies milk and medicine. I pumped a small bottle and we added a bit of cereal to it.

She wasn't so sure what to think of the new taste and texture, but she handled it pretty well and let us give her about 6 bites.

Not so sure about that stuff dad....

regardless of what he is feeding her... she is always all smiles for her daddy.