spontaneous watermelon picnic with my boy!

playroom

For the seventeen years I was a student and the seven years I was a teacher, I loved this time of year. Last year was the first time since I was four years old that I didn't go back to school. My big preggo belly and I still browsed the school supply aisle, but since Carson was born on the first day of school, I didn't have too much time to miss it. I was busy getting to know my precious miracle and learning how to be his mama.

Back to school is always full of excitement, new beginnings, and new relationships. Teachers anticipate getting their class list while children anxiously wait to find out who their teacher will be. The pointy new pencils are excited to gradually transition from an awkward fist to a graceful home between the thumb and fingers as their owners become increasingly comfortable with them and learn to form the letters that represent sounds, then combine them to form full words, which they'll then put together to form complete sentences, paragraphs, and eventually even complete stories. The full boxes of sharp crayons are eager to dance between chubby fingers as children draw pictures to represent their hopes, dreams, and fears. It's a special time for all involved.

I don't have a classroom to prepare this year, but as my baby becomes a boy, I'm having lots of fun preparing space, materials, and opportunities for him to play and learn. The previous owners of our home converted the garage into an extra living space. We've enjoyed the space; it houses our treadmill, games, and a few other odds and ends, but since we first moved in and long before I was pregnant, I've been mentally transforming it into a playroom:) I don't typically spend much time or energy on decorating, but play spaces are different! I enjoy walking up and down the hallways at schools and churches and seeing all of the different ways teachers create environments that promote security and learning. I have fun browsing the internet for various play and learning spaces. Providing pleasant space for children to play, discover, explore, and learn is one of my very favorite things.

We used baby shower gift cards to get the toy cubby shelf, deciding it was a more organized option than a traditional toy chest. My parents gave us the glider and Keith's parents gave us the couch with hide-a-bed. Using Christmas money, and after much searching, I found just the right fun and colorful rug so Carson would have a soft place to play. For the past several months, the toy shelf has been on the wall on the left side of this photo with the couch across from it on the opposite wall and the rug between the two, but as Carson became mobile, his favorite place to go was straight through the room, past the soft colorful rug, past the blocks, books, and puzzles, straight to the treadmill and toolbox. These, of course, were not safe play options for my wee one, and spending time in the playroom became more about me saying no than about Carson playing, discovering, exploring, and learning. So, one day a few weeks ago, I had a idea! Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?! I moved the couch and the toys to create a wall blocking the alluring treadmill and tempting toolbox. Sure they're still back there, and he's tried to maneuver his way back toward them once or twice, but they don't dominate his attention the way they once did. Instead, his focus lands on his legos, tractor, or xylophone. It's amazing how a simple furniture shift can change the dynamic of a room and the experience of the people in the room.

During our recent trip to California, I spotted these fun alphabet cards, and my sweet husband sneakily added them to his Amazon cart and surprised me with them. When my mom was here a couple months ago, she helped me hang them. Then last weekend, Keith mounted these gutter book cases so that Carson can select a book by looking at covers, rather than spines. He can easily reach the bottom gutter and I can change them out every week or so. The top one is out of his reach, but is a fun way to display some of his books and stuffed characters, and of course, they too are easy to change out from time to time.

Creating an organized space for my sweet boy to play, discover, explore, and learn is one way I've made my life lovely:) If you've never read Heather's blog, check it out! Her story will touch your heart, and her sweet spirit and desire to make life lovely and enjoy the blessings of each day are a rare treat.

gettin' my craft on: memo boards

With inspiration from around the web at my fingertips, thanks to pinterest, I've been feeling crafty the last few weeks. Memo boards are my most recent craft of choice. They're cute, practical, simple, and inexpensive to make. What's not to love? Find an old picture frame, give it new life with some spray paint, and add one of the following:

• chicken wire and clothes pins
• leave the glass and back with cute paper or fabric
• chalkboard paint
• tin or magnetic paint
• cork
• mini clothes line

I painted this one purple and glued chicken wire to the back. Then, glued scrapbook paper pieces to clothes pins and sanded their edges.

I painted this one and added scrapbook paper and a dry erase marker. Lots more fun than a plain ol' dry erase board, and you can always change out the paper for a quick new look.

Now for my favorite, the chalkboard! I've been wanting to paint a chalkboard wall in the kitchen and/or playroom, but I decided a big framed chalkboard was a better option for now. Someday, when Carson is older, I want to create an interactive playroom wall with chalkboard, dry erase, magnet, and cork! Anyway, back to my chalkboard:) The thrift store near my house had lots and lots of various sized frames. I was excited to find a couple of really big ones.

Here it is before: a picture of a family eating dinner with Jesus behind them and gangster-looking men peeking through the windows. Alrighty.

First, I tossed the broken glass, cleaned it up, and spray painted the frame. Then, I sanded down the picture a bit, and spray painted it with a couple coats of chalkboard paint, waited 24 hours and primed it with chalk. TaDa!

I still haven't settled on a final home for it, and since it's framed and not permanent, I can try it in various spots before settling on a home!

I still haven't decided what to do with this beauty...we'll see where the crafty wind blows:)

What have you been crafting lately?

a whole year old!!!

august 2, 2011

26 pounds 7 ounces

30.5 inches

Precious Son of Mine,

I can hardly believe you are a whole year old!! I remember clearly the absolute joy and immediate love I felt for you when I held you for the very first time one year ago. What an amazing miracle and precious gift from God you were! Over the past year, as you have grown more and more each day, my love for you has also grown more and more. I am so very thankful that God has blessed me with you. Along with being Daddy’s wife, being your mama is my very favorite job! I love love love spending my days with you, watching you learn and grow and play. I am so very thankful that you are such a happy, healthy boy. You have no idea how much joy you bring to everyone who meets you!

This month you’ve continued to grow bigger and learn new things. You wear size four diapers during the day and size 5 at night. You wear 12-18 month clothes. People always comment on what a big boy you are and how healthy you look, and many people point out your adorable chunky legs! I love to squeeze them and kiss them!

Sometimes when we’re sitting in the floor playing, you crawl over and plant a big open-mouth slobbery kiss right on my mouth! It absolutely melts my heart, and I love that you are learning how to show love in new ways. You have lots of fun and like to clap, wave, point, and dance! Your knees start bending and your arms begin to wave as soon as a new song comes on. We love to watch you dance. You love photos, especially ones of you! When you see one, you excitedly point and grunt. You like to look at them up close and touch them.

You are an excellent sleeper! You take two naps each day usually for about 1.5-2 hours each time, and you sleep for 11-12 hours at night. We are proud of the good sleeper you’ve become. After a couple of books, a song, a prayer, and a few snuggles, we lay you down in your crib. The calm time together just before laying you down is so special to me. You quietly play with the stuffed animals in your bed before drifting off to sleep. You usually wake up cooing happily, ready to have some milk, and if we’re lucky, a few more snuggles, too!

Toward the end of July, Mama and Daddy were invited to attend a retreat for ministry couples. We were excited about the chance to be with mentors that we love and respect and to get to know other couples in full time ministry, but we were a little leery of being away from you, our precious baby boy, for four days and three nights. After thinking it through, we decided to go for it. The retreat was in Texas, so Pops and Granny were eager for the chance to have you stay with them while we were at the retreat!

Before we left for our trip, we switched you to your big boy car seat, and you seem to enjoy it. We left on a Sunday, and before heading to Texas, we went to St. Louis to visit Bobel and Reenie. The grownups went to a U2 concert to celebrate Bobel’s birthday and you stayed with a babysitter. I was a little bit nervous about how you would do staying with someone you didn’t know for the first time, but you did great and had fun playing with Bonnie while we were at the concert. The next day, we had fun playing with Bobel and Reenie. On Tuesday, we headed from St. Louis, MO to Royston, TX. We drove through Oklahoma so that you could mark a couple more states off your list. You’ve now been to nine states: TN, TX, AR, MO, CA, NM, KY, IL, and OK! You did great on the long road trip. We thought it was neat that you got to see both sets of grandparents in one day, your city grandparents and your country grandparents! Aunt Misty took off work so she could stay there and spend time with you, too. Before we left for the retreat, our friends, Bob and Kay, came over and we decided to give you a haircut, but this time we didn’t just trim around the edges with scissors, instead, we used clippers and gave you a short/big boy haircut. I wasn’t sure we should do it, because your head full of hair had always been such a big part of your look, but I decided to go for it, and it looks adorable. It made you look quite different. You look older, but just as cute. I think it makes you look even more like Daddy! The next day, we headed east to the Texas Hill Country, and you stayed in West Texas. We had a wonderful time at the retreat, and you had lots of fun with Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty. You even got to go to the Mahaffey family reunion and meet lots of cousins while you were with them. They sent us lots of pictures while we were apart, and that made it easier to be apart.

After the retreat, we met you in Weatherford and spent time with some good friends before heading home. We stayed the night with the Graves and with the Riches. You had fun playing with Lynlee and Kyndall and with Jaxon. We are thankful for those two families. They have been good friends of Mama and Daddy’s for several years, and we’re thankful you can be friends with their children, too!

Being away from you for the retreat meant it was time to wean you. So, in mid-July, we started gradually replacing your nursing times with milk in a cup, and after a couple of weeks, just in time for the retreat, you were drinking all of your milk from a cup like a big boy. We worked hard to make nursing work when you were a newborn and it was a special part of our first year together that I will always treasure in my memory, but I am so thankful that you transitioned to whole milk so well and are growing up just like God made you to do! You drink a cup of milk when you wake up in the morning and after both naps. You still enjoy meal time. You’re a great eater. You love bread, crackers, and fruit. Your favorite vegetables are carrots and sweet potatoes. Your favorite meat dish is cheeseburger pie. We’re working on teaching you not to throw your food and cup in the floor, and you’re getting better.

You are still a fast crawler, but you’re walking along side a wall or table every chance you get. You hold on using only one hand now and are getting to be quite quick and steady! You still love to push your diaper box or anything else you can find: a chair, a stool, a basket, anything you can scoot and push as fast as you can. You aren’t walking all of the time, but you did take your first steps this month. While you were staying with Pops, Granny, and Aunt Misty on Friday, July 22, you took four steps, and a little while later, you took seven! We called you a little stinker for taking your first steps without us, but we were so proud of you, and it wasn’t long until we were able to see you take a few wobbly steps here and there. We are so proud of you; walking all by yourself makes you look like such a big one-year-old boy!

We celebrated your first birthday with a party on Monday evening, the day before your actual birthday. We had a cake shaped like a one and a little cake for you to smash. We also had some of your favorite snacks: watermelon, blueberries, and goldfish. Bobel and Reenie got to come to the party, and several friends from church came too: Ronnie, Angela, CW, Laquita, Lloyd, Nita, Kaye, Lindsey, Margaret, Vickie, Rick, Ann, Jon, Michelle, Tabitha, Hannah, Emma and Bo. When we first gave you your cake, you carefully picked the m&ms and icing off the edge and ate it, but with a little prompting from Kaye, you started patting the cake and quickly tore right in, making a big mess! Everyone enjoyed watching you smash your cake! Then, you opened presents and got lots of fun new toys and books! It was a special time.

The next morning, on your birthday, we greeted you with balloons and sang “Happy Birthday”. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Bobel and Reenie stayed for a few hours and gave you a couple more presents to open. You opened cards you’d gotten in the mail from family and friends. Daddy got to stay home, so the three of us enjoyed the rest of the day playing together.

What a year! My heart is overflowing with lots and lots of love for you, Precious Boy!! We are so very thankful that you are part of our family. We pray for wisdom and discernment as we guide, love, and nurture you from a baby to a boy and eventually to a man. It is a big job and we are honored to take on the challenge!

My prayer for you is the same as it was a year ago: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God!

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Mama

O-N-E

hi, it's carson.

and i'm guest blogging for mama today!

she's doesn't blog very often,

cause i keep her pretty busy,

so i thought i would help her out.

they told me i turned one.

i didn't get it.

they said it means i've been around for a whole year.

hmm, that sounds like a really long time...

i'm still not exactly sure what it means,

but I do know that I liked it,

cause we had a party!

with lots of my favorite people

and balloons

and lot of pictures of me.

i like pictures of me.

there was something called cake.

and all of my favorite snacks: watermelon, blueberries, and goldfish.

happy

1st

birthday

carson

hmm, cake.

i've never had it, but it sure looks good.

and smells good.

i wonder what that waxy stick is?

oh no, she just lit in on fire.

what?!!

oh good, she blew it out.

that was weird.

hey, everyone is looking at me and smiling.

and singing.

i sure do like singing.

mmm, this is tasty...

i really like these little colorful circles.

i think they must be chocolate.

i think mama and daddy sneak this stuff without me sometimes.

because i've smelled it on their breathe.

well, they can forget about sneaking around anymore.

cause i'm not a baby anymore.

and i'm getting some too.

everyone is watching me

and they're actually letting me dig into this big cake thing.

all by myself.

nice.

pat, pat, pat the cake

this is awesome

thanks for the idea, Kaye:)

i like making a mess.

especially a yummy mess.

is that cake on the wall?

oops.

thanks for cleaning it up, reenie.

hey, i get some watermelon too?!

this is awesome.

hi, mama.

hi, daddy.

i can't believe you're giving me so many yummy snacks.

especially after supper.

this is awesome.

thanks.

i'm glad so many of my favorite people came over, too.

turning one is cool.

woohoo!

i thought making a mess was fun,

but, cleaning up may be even better!

mama, we should do this after every meal.

instead of you wiping my face and hands with a wet rag.

yuck. i really don't like when you do that.

this is sooo much better!

what?

the fun still isn't over?

everyone is still here!

wow, look at all of those boxes and bags.

i like boxes and bags.

ooo, they have pretty paper.

and i get to tear it up?!

awesome.

tearing paper is the best.

hey, check it out.

there are toys and books inside the boxes and bags.

nice!

really really nice!

thank you, everyone.

aww, i slept hard after all of that fun!

i slept without pants.

i don't like to wear pants if i don't have to.

what?

the fun's still not over?

they're singing "happy birthday"

cool

and putting balloons in my bed!

really cool!

now i get to check the mail.

i love to check the mail.

especially when there's something for me!

birthday cards!!

and more presents!!!

thanks for coming to my party, bobel and reenie!

and thanks for helping mama and daddy get everything ready.

thank you all for reading my very first blog post.

i'll try to calm down a bit so mama can blog more often, but i can't make any promises.

i may just have to come back and blog for her again sometime.

we'll see.

good bye, folks.

it's been fun.

eleven months

july 2, 2011

24 pounds 8 ounces

29.5 inches

Sweet Carson Clark,

June was a busy month for our family, and you continued to grow and learn during our adventures! You’re getting to be a big boy! You wear size four diapers and 12-18 month clothes.

One weekend, Reenie came and visited. She kept you while Mama and Daddy went to Nashville to go out to eat and to a concert. We had a good time, and you had lots of fun playing with Reenie.

One day you were standing up holding on the bathtub and you fell and busted your lip. There was so much blood; it scared us, but it didn’t keep you down for long. You still have a scar on your lip where that happened.

A few days later, we took a big trip! We rode on an airplane from Tennessee all the way to California. It was a 4.5 hour flight and I was nervous about how you would do sitting still in a small space for so long, but you did great! You ate snacks, read books, looked around, and even snuggled up on Daddy and took a nap. While we were in California, Daddy went to the Christian Scholars Conference and we spent time with family. Granny and Aunt Misty joined us from Texas, and we went to the mountains with Aunt Paula, and cousins: Staci, Wyatt, Racquel, Nicole, and Reid. It was beautiful there and we enjoyed relaxing and playing with cousins. You learned to climb stairs while we were there.

When the conference was over, Daddy flew back home to Tennessee, but you and I went to Texas with Granny and Aunt Misty. You did great on the plane again. You slept in my lap most of the flight. Pops didn’t know we were coming; we surprised him on Father’s Day! We had lots of fun at Pops and Granny’s house. Aunt Misty took off work for a couple more days to spend time with us. It was a special time. While we were there, you befriended their dog, Dakota. You got really excited every time you saw her, and you loved for her to lick your hands and feet. One morning while we were at their house, you woke up and just weren’t yourself. You didn’t want to play or eat, two things you normally love. Instead, you just wanted me to hold you. While I was holding you, I noticed that you felt really hot, so I took your temperature and you had a fever of 105! Poor buddy, no wonder you weren’t acting like yourself. We called the doctor and she said to take you to the emergency room. They ran lots of tests and decided you had an ear infection and strep throat. They prescribed some medicine, and you began feeling better pretty quickly, but it took several days for your temperature to go back to normal. After a few days, Pops got sick too, so Granny took us home by herself. After being gone for 15 days, we were happy to be home and see Daddy. We got back at 11:00 pm, but you woke up and crawled as fast as you could around the house rediscovering all of your things.

One of our very favorite things you learned to do this month is clapping! You love to clap, and once you begin clapping, you look around the room waiting for everyone else to join you. You’ve also started waving and pointing. You wave at people in the grocery store and they talk to you. Everyone thinks you’re so cute! You point and grunt or squeal at food and at young children. Our sweet friend Kaye is still one of your best buddies. She is your honorary Hohenwald aunt and you always have lots of fun playing with her. Your joy is contagious, and your big smile lights up the room.

You are still a curious little guy, and you love to learn about the world around you. You love to open drawers and pull everything out. You are such a fast crawler and still always crawl with your right knee down and your left foot up. You like to get a book, block, or lid to put under each hand so you can slide instead of lifting your hands and crawl even faster. You love to pull up on anything you can get a hold of and walk beside it while holding on. This month you started letting go and standing up without holding on, and later on in the month, you started standing up all by yourself without holding on. You discovered a new favorite toy this month: a diaper box! It’s the perfect height for you to stand behind and push. You love to push the diaper box and walk. Sometimes you get going so fast you’re running. It is super cute!

You got two more teeth on top this month. That makes six teeth: four on top and two on the bottom! While your new teeth were coming in, you went through a biting stage. You left bruises on Mama and Granny and you made Pops bleed when you bit him during church one day. We’ve been talking to you about not biting and you’re doing much better now.

You nurse four times a day, once before breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and again at bedtime. You’re enjoying lots of different foods, too. You’re such a big boy and don’t eat any pureed food anymore. You like to eat table food like Mama and Daddy. You tried pancakes, pizza, and ice cream for the first time this month. Your favorite foods are saltine crackers, goldfish, watermelon, blueberries. When we take them out, you squeal, shake, and point with excitement and anticipation! It is fun to see you so excited! When you’re ready for more food, you point and squeal or grunt to show us what you want. You still drink water from a sippy cup with a straw and throw it on the floor when you’re finished.

We planted a garden and you like to go outside to check it and water it. You still like to play outside, but it’s gotten so hot that we don’t go out as often as we used to. When we got home from our trip there were ripe squash, zucchini, and tomatoes ready to pick! We enjoyed having a garden. You really like eating the homegrown tomatoes.

You still like to play in the kitchen and listen to music while I’m cooking. I found some fun CDs from when I taught first grade that we’ve been enjoying. You like to smile and dance to songs like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Chicken Dance”. As soon as the music comes on, you start moving your arms and bending your knees. It is so cute to watch you dance! You play happily if I’m up and moving, but if I sit down to do something, you’re ready for me to pick you up and play with you! We love listening to all of the sweet sounds you make. You squeal, grunt, do the motor boat, and say “mama” and “ababab.”

You had been sleeping through the night for about 11 hours each night for a couple of weeks before our trip, but you had trouble sleeping while we were gone. We think it must have been because you got sick, were teething and because you were in different places and out of your routine. When we got home, it didn’t take you long to get back into a normal sleeping pattern. We are so proud of you for learning to sleep all night! You usually go to bed about 9:00 pm and wake up around 8:00 am. You still take two naps each day, usually about an hour and half each. We read to you before naptime. You sit still and listen as we read. You love to sit in one of our laps, point to the pictures, and turn the pages.

We are so very thankful for you, Baby Boy! We take seriously our role as parents and pray for wisdom as we guide, teach, and protect you.

Lots of love,
Mama and Daddy