Spring Time

 

Clay has been growing everyday!  He has such a big personality and he sure keeps us on our toes!  It seems like he is going to be an athlete; he prefers to be playing outside or throwing a ball (actually any toy) than cuddling with mommy. 

He loves being around other kids!  He really likes following Arabella around and playing with all of her toys!  We also had Griffey over and Clay was really great with him! 

  

This weekend I put Clay down for a nap.  After yelling and crying for a while, he decided he would just play with his toys!  What a stinker! 

  The joy spring brings is quite incredible!  Way up here in the north you can certainly feel the change from winter to spring in the way people behave.  I can even feel my mood changing as the days grow longer and the rain stops pouring.  We have been able to get outside for walks and enjoy the sunshine.  Clay loves being outside and really enjoys going for stroller rides.  

  

 On an evening stroll a neighbor asked if we'd like some fresh crab!  He even cooked it up and brought it over to our house!  I ate my fair share while I picked out the meat and I turned the rest into delightful crab cakes!

In less than one month, Clay and I will be flying 'home'.  I am so nervous about flying that long with such a squirmy one year old!  Hopefully everyone around me loves kids and thank God he is so adorable!  ;)

Happy Easter

Easter 2014 was wonderful!  To begin the day, we got dressed up and enjoyed a nice church service. 

Later in the afternoon, we met up at Edna's house for an Easter celebration.  The kids had an egg hunt,  we ate some delicious food, and we enjoyed each others company! 

I was surprised by Clay during the egg hunt.  He actually picked up the eggs and put them into the basket that Ryan carried around for him.  He did have a hard time walking on the squishy, uneven ground and he got visibly irritated about it.  

Clay has become such a little boy!  He gets on his bike and rides around all by himself and he LOVES throwing everything!  He is especially good at throwing balls! 

We have so much fun with our little cutie pie!  In just one short month we will be back in the Midwest and everyone there will get to enjoy our fun little guy!  

On a different note, the school board approved my position for next year!  I will be the high school science teacher!  I am so excited!! 

Like Father Like Son

Clay got a new shirt from his Auntie Edna.  She bought it because it reminded her of Ryan.  So Clay and Daddy wore their matching shirts today to church.   

It was a beautiful day so after church we went to the park and Clay got to try out the swing.  He thought it was all right.  He also took me for a short walk.

Spring has Sprung

The restaurant opened this week.  Which marks the beginning of Spring on the island!  We went last night and enjoyed a family dinner.  Clay was really well behaved and ate many delicious foods!  He started out with some shrimp poppers and moved on to applesauce, yogurt, and noodles.  We couldn't believe how much food he consumed!

The badger game was on in the far end of the restaurant.  So in the final seconds, Clay and I walked over to see the end of the game.  While they were on the last time out, before losing the game, I said to Clay, "Go, Badgers, Go!"  He then threw both fists in the air and yelled "Go, Go, Go!"  Of course we were pretty amazed with this and have been asking him to do it over and over since!

On a different note, Clay has not been feeling great.  He has another cold!  So today we were woke up and decided some fresh air might do him some good.  So I dressed him up in his Muddy Buddy and tennis shoes and let him run around in the back yard.  We played fetch with Milo.  But the real challenge for Clay was walking on uneven ground in hard-soled shoes.  He would take about three steps before falling over; it was adorable and he had so much fun!

"Look, I'm just like Milo!"

Stair Climber

Sorry again for the lack of posts in March!  Wow, did that month fly by quickly!  In only one and a half months Clay and I will be home for Taylor's graduation!  Yay, Taylor!  We are so proud of you!

Much has happened in the last month:

Taylor came to visit us.  It was so incredible to have her here and it went by way too fast! 

I passed my Praxis II test and am now highly qualified to teach middle school and high school mathematics! 

We almost bought a house.  It had a beautiful view and lots of room for our family to grow.  But the seller was unwilling to let us bring in friends to inspect the details of the place.  Sounds pretty fishy to me so we had to pull out of the deal, but the prospect of owning a house was very exciting.  

Ryan and I started running.  More importantly, I started running!  This is something I really thought I would never ever do.  And the best part is I feel so good afterwards!  It has been three full weeks of hitting the gym after school and running.  I am now up to two miles, which is not much for your everyday runner, but amazing for me! 

Clay practiced hard and is now a proficient walker.

He has also started talking and signing!  He says "Hi" while he waves and "Dada" whenever Ryan is around.  He also signs more when he is eating and wants more food!  He is also very good at indicating what he wants by pointing and chatting. 

Clay can climb the stairs.  This is frightening.  Up until today he found it thrilling to walk to the baby gate and shut the door whenever we had left it open.  However, this morning he decided to explore while I was getting ready in the bathroom and Ryan was making breakfast in the kitchen.  I came around the corner to talk to Ryan and saw Clay standing halfway up the stairs playing with the remote controls.  I dropped everything, hurdled the end table, and scooped him up.  Thank God nothing bad happened.  We will have to be more careful about keeping the gate shut. 

Well those are the important details of March.  Next post I will include some photos of our little man.  He is growing up so fast!