Here is the highlights from the Clayton life as of late...
I spend all of my time with these precious bodies
And in the moments when I have worn down to my very last nerve and Addison is running around with poop falling out of her diaper, Brie is crying for her next meal and Taycee and Kaden are fighting over who's turn it is to play the reading game on the I-Pad, I remind myself that these days are fleeting. Someday they will be grown and I will miss their noises (even the unhappy ones) filling my every waking moment. And then I reflect back on Grandma Halladays FHE lesson a couple months back and say "I can do hard things, and I can do them HAPPILY" Sometimes that works better than others. Sometimes I do them not so happily.
So every week day I send this most handsome boy to 1st grade
And spend the next 6 and 1/2 hours with these little ladies.
Taycee has finally gotten old enough that her constant mothering is actually quite helpful. She is always so concerned about Brie, and doesn't mind bouncing her on her lap while I chop veggies for dinner or do other miscellaneous chores. She doesn't even mind doing it while Brie is crying. She is also so good to watch Addison, sometimes Addi doesn't appreciate it as much. But Taycee doesn't seem to mind her screams as she carts her around either. :-/
Addi has quite the personality as I have previously said. We are REALLY working on getting the girl to form sentences and use words. But she has her favorite 15 words that she seems content to stick with. So if any of her needs fall out of those words she simply. says "please, please, please" while rubbing her tummy until we finally guess what she pleases. Then she emphatically says "UH HUH!!" Once I figure it out I say the word over and over until she at least attempts say it. It gets old, and sometimes I won't indulge in her lack of speaking and she ends up in nuclear meltdown on the floor. It's a work in process.
Taycee is helpful, yes. But is is also the sassiest 4 year old around. We are thinking about attempting a "sassy sauce" approach which involves a spoonful of vinegar. (Thanks to Aunt Leanna for the idea :) but I haven't quite gotten around to implementation of it. So for now she sits in her room a lot. :D
She will do great things, she will accomplish much and break through walls to do it. I really honestly believe that. She challenges and pushes and doesn't settle for anything that doesn't make sense in her 100 miles per minute brain. And all those things will work for her benefit as she gets older. She is strong willed, and determined, and way smarter than she should be. But oh boy does it make for some long days at home. My struggle is trying to figure out how to guide that spirit and reign her in without squashing all of the fire.
The sad/funny/frusterating things I totally get her. I wish I didn't, but I do. In many of her outbursts or arguments I think, "That is probably exactly what I would say if I were you." And as I wasn't the easiest child... I guess you get what you deserve. haha.
She does make me smile and laugh. She makes herself laugh too. Whenever she does something she finds funny....
She BUSTS out in the biggest most genuine gut laugh. And even if in the moment prior I was frustrated I can't help but laugh with her because her laugh just makes me smile.
She actually laughs this way whenever she finds anything really funny. Once she tricked Chris into getting sprayed by the sprinkler, she was kinking the hose on one end and he thought the sprinkler was clogged so he went to check it out and right when his face was over the sprinkler she let it go. Oh boy did she laugh and laugh and laugh, I was watching from the window and I laughed pretty hard myself.
We all miss our daddy a lot. And although I keep busy all day taking care of my munchkins his absence is always felt. This time has been firmed up my testimony that men and women are divinely designed to be partners. We sure do love that daddy, and we need him in our home. After we left Virginia someone asked how it was and I said "it was pretty, but it is not home" I was wrong. Home really is where you heart is, and right now half of my heart is in Virginia. I am here in a place surrounded by family and so familiar, yet feel far away from home. And so, home will be with him. Wherever he may be
I wish I could say the time is flying by... but it isn't. That could be due to the fact that last week I spent a day with some sort of stomach bug and this week was blessed to have a bout with tonsillitis/strep/something that left me with white puss balls on the back of my throat and a fever of 103. Yesterday I broke down and went to the doctor, they gave me a doozy of a shot that almost made me pass out and although I can not walk normally today, I do feel a little relief in the throat area and was able to swallow down some yogurt this morning. Hopefully by then end of the week the antibiotic has me feeling like a normal person again.
They say when it rains it pours.. my question is WHY? Things are so much easier to take in small doses. Yet in the last two weeks,
Our car broke down.. $700 dollars later it is running like a champ, but we had to buy a new car so Chris could drive to Virginia so we are selling it. Anyone in the market for a 2000 Toyota Cam
My phone broke down. So if anyone has been texting or calling. I do like you, I just don't get any messages or calls. I was going to get it fixed this week but...
My body broke down and that sweet little visit I mentioned earlier cost me $300.
So for now all spending is put on a major hold as we are in the process of trying to buy a home which has proved to bring a set of stresses and headaches all in its own.
On the upside of things however..
Conference was amazing and I was uplifted and rejuvenated in a way only the words of prophets can do.
Afton approved a flight for me to go and visit Chris for a few days. So I get to go visit that man I love. And thanks to some wonderful helpers, aka my parents and sister in law Lisa, my 3 oldest kiddos have somewhere to stay.
The Claytons have been more than wonderful letting us stay here. They are the kindest most gracious hosts and we are so blessed to have a place we can stay and be surrounded by so much love. The kids will really miss spending so much time with grandma and grandpa. Taycee gets up every morning and sits right by grandma on the bathroom counter while she gets ready. Grandma has even given her her own makeup bag with some of her old makeup in it. They get ready together and Taycee starts each day looking quite beautiful.
My kids are funny and say funny things that make me laugh
A few recent favorites
Taycee
- After I had finished nursing she came into the room and I hadn't quite restored my shirt to its proper order. She looked at me cocked her head to the side and said "mom, I think you need to fix your shirt. It's got a wedgie or something."
- I found her letters book on top of the microwave and she was standing there when I pulled it down. She said "I bet you were thinking, what in the heck is this doing up here!"
- She calls a hanger a "hooker" which makes for interesting sentences like " I am going to use my hooker, to pick that up." Or "I left that hooker downstairs." Or the most heart stopping so far.. "MOM!! I can't get this HOOKER out of my clothes!"
- I have been making her learn my number for various reasons but one reason I told her was that if she ever got lost and someone found her she could tell them my number and they could call me. Today I asked her what it was and after reciting it she said "I have to know that so when someone steals me and they decide they want to bring me back I can tell it to them huh!" Now that is only funny because I have thought to myself at times, "if someone ever took her, she would sass the pants off of them wear them out and they would just return her same day" We did afterwards have a talk about how getting lost and being found by someone is very different than being taken by someone and if the later should happen she shouldn't wait for them to ask for my number
- We were talking about her birthday coming up and she said "Mom I think for my birthday I just want a car. One that drives by itself and can take me wherever I want to go." -- at least she dreams big.
Kaden
- Last night he said "Some people have brown skin, isn't that so cool mom? I don't my skin is just skin color. Some people have polka-dot skin too, like Booster" ( I think he was referring back to when Addi had that awful rash for a few month.)
- As I was putting Kaden to bed we were having what I thought was a little tender moment. I told him how much I love him and what a good boy he was and gave him a hug. Then he said, "Mom? Can I tell you something." I said "sure", expecting some sweet thing to come out of his mouth. Then he said, "did you know when your nose is stuffy it's really just a huge boulder of snot."
Life is challenging at the moment but life is good. We are blessed and happy. (Most of the time) I think I am finally mentally and emotionally ready to move to Virginia. To be at home with the one I love most. We are ready to settle somewhere and find normalcy and routine. I am itching to get Taycee into a preschool and make some new mommy friends. We will miss our friends and family here. But change has come and I am finally ready to embrace it and move forward.
So there it is, the scoop on our life in the present. We are crossing fingers and toes that nothing else breaks, the house sale starts proceeding a little more smoothly, I don't contract any more unpleasant illnesses, and the next 37 days fly by so we can be with that Daddy again. Not to much to ask right? :D
xoxo- me
