1st Birthday

It is hard to believe that Micah is 1 year old. I can't believe that a year ago on my 32 birthday I was having a C-section and got a baby for a present. What a gift it is to share my birthday with my sweet boy. Micah I love you sweet angel baby and you will always hold a special place in my heart. I hope you had a terrific birthday

Christmas Traditions

Our holiday traditions begin by decorating our Christmas tree and our house. This year with a little one around, not to many decorations were put out. Every year Mark and I have been going to Zoolight Safari, this began while we were dating and we have carried over the tradition every year. Noah participated in the children's Christmas program at church, this year it was called Cookin' Up Christmas Where Jesus is the Main Ingredient. He did a terrific job, but he had to get rid of the hat 1/2 way through and I think he took off his Shepperd costume too.l We traveled to South Carolina the weekend before Christmas to celebrate with Mark's family. We had a terrific time with his family. Ever since I can remember I use to go to my Grandmas house in Christmas Eve and spend time with family eating and opening presents. Well we have started that tradition with our kids by going to their Mimi's house. But we usually do it in the afternoon. We open gifts, eat dinner, prepare for church and it never fails as we are leaving for church Santa comes through the neighborhood on a firetruck. After church we came home and Noah set out Cookies and Milk for Santa. I believe Mimi gave him some cheese to set out for the reindeer. Mark and worked frantically to put together a Little Tykes car and A smart cycle. Mark said why didn't we do this sooner...I replied because the kids are always around and we have had no time. The next morning Micah awoke first and he loved his car from Santa. We had to wake up Noah. We spent the morning opening presents and having breakfast. We ate biscuits, eggs, toast, bacon, and grits. I made real grits, not instant and the actually turned out good, expect I made enough for an army. That afternoon Mimi and PawPaw came over and we had Christmas Dinner. It was a great Christmas!!

Mexican Thanksgiving

For those of you who don't know and those of you that do we spent Thanksgiving in Cancun with the most of my mom's family. There was 13 of us total and boy did we have a ball. Talk about excitement..getting through customs in Mexico was fun. I believe there was 21 or 22 pieces of luggage. And by the time we came home I believe we had 25 pieces. We spent a wonderful 7 days in Cancun at Moon Palace. Mark and I spent a day at Tulum, which was breathtaking, we visited a sister resort that was right up the road from where we stayed this summer, we walked out to the beach and looked over to see the Barcelo Maya!! We snorkeled in an estuary in the freezing rain! Mark says it wasn't freezing, but I was cold. We took a boat ride to the Isla Mujeres!! Noah got sea sick on the boat ride over, but he was able to fall asleep on the way back after dancing the night away on the boat or maybe it was the last shot of Tequila :) Mark went scuba diving for the first time with my dad. We had quite an experience when we rented a golf cart and drove around the Island shopping. Noah thought it was odd when we had to pay to go potty!! Well, if you wanted a clean potty with a seat anyways! Mark and I went out to eat one night and I got a nice seafood meal, well that was until I noticed the suction cup things!!! Noah enjoyed his time with his older cousins and we weren't really sure which one was the kid in the pool. I believe GG and Big Paw Paw took in all the chaos, but also relaxed some too. Noah did go snorkeling in the ocean with his daddy, PawPaw and cousins, while of course Mommy, Mimi, GG, and Micah went to the Mexican Mall!! We had a great time, but we unfortunately did not get any turkey!! The good news is Mark and I made it home just in time to see the Auburn/Alabama Game and I will just end with a WAR EAGLE!!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch Express

Today we took the boys on the Pumpkin Patch Express. We took the train from the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum in Calera out to the Pumpkin Patch. Noah decided to ride inside on the way out to the pumpkin patch and then outside on the way back. Micah enjoyed his first train ride!! When we got to the Pumpkin Patch of course Noah had to get his face painted and you guessed it...Spiderman would be his choice. He loved every minute of it. From the inflatable jumper, the hayride, to picking out a pumpkin. He worked really hard at finding the perfect one. However, there was not alot to choose from in the make shift pumpkin patch. But you cannot leave the pumpkin patch without a pumpkin when you have kids, now can you???!! We had a lot of fun. And before we left we went to the gift shop and Noah picked out a train conductor whistle. Which he is running around in the ground the garage blowing his whistle pretending to be a train. I believe Micah enjoyed it to. He had his first train ride and his first hayride. What a day for him.

Way to long

Yes, it has been way to long since an update on our lives. So I will try to give you a quick version. As many of you know I am back in school working on my Ed.S in Teacher Leadership!!! I often think I must be crazy,work,a husband, two kids and going back to school??? Somehow it is all working out, for now. But, we will see since I have 2 more years of this fun and excitement. Noah is playing soccer this fall and he is doing wonderfully. I guess he takes after his mother!!! Really, he is very good at it and has some fancy footwork for a 4 year old. Micah, well he is almost 10 months old and he is crawling, pulling himself up, and of course into everything!!! Mark, is doing well and continues to stay busy at work. I have included some pictures of our boys. We hope everyone is well and I will try to get better at keeping up with this.

Summer Fun

This update is a little overdo, but with summer ending and school beginning, I have been quite busy! The boys and I had a terrific summer. Lots of adventures and lots of crazy days. We did spend about 10 days with my grandmother in Illinois! Boy, that was a long, yet fun ten days! We explored the St.Louis Zoo, Science Center (just in time for the Marvel Superheros Exhibit). We were able to spend time with Jenny and Ryan, my best friend and her new husband! Saw many friends I had seen in a VERY long time. We did fun things that you can only do in small towns, like a BBQ cook off on mainstreet!! Homecomings! We had lunch with our cousins, dinner with Uncles, and planted flowers with our GG (Great Grandma). We visited the park. Then upon arrival back to Alabama, we were heading to the beach 3 days later. It has been a very busy summer! Now both the boys are back in school. Noah is now in 4K!!!! It is hard to believe and Micah will be 8 months. The boys are a true blessing to me, but let me tell you I never new it would be so hard taking care of two of them. I guess that's what happens when you are an only child. Enjoy the pictures of our summer fun!

Mexican Wedding

The joy, the love, the friendship, the relaxation, the fun!!! Mark and I just returned from a fun filled trip to Mexico(without the kids)!!! My best friend since preschool got married while we were down there. It was so peaceful, sweet and perfect!!! The love these two share is amazing!! Mark and I enjoyed every minute of our time there, we did miss the boys, but it was a nice relaxing time. We are planning our next trip, this time we will take the boys.

My Baby is 4

How it seems like yesterday, this sweet angel baby was born. I remember like yesterday getting up and going to the hospital to be induced. Thinking when I return to this house I will be a mommy!! My life will be changed forever! But what a wonderful thought, scary but wonderful! As the day progressed, unfortunately labor did not. As most of you know Noah Russell Clayton was born by C-section at 8:30 the evening of June 11, 2003, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz and 21 inches long. Now look at our big boy!!!

50 Things We LOVE About Noah on his Birthday

1. Your enthusiasm for life
2. Your eyes
3. The way you ask questions about everything
4. Your youthful energy
5. The freckle on your belly
6. The joy on your face
7. The way you want us to lay by you at night
8. How you love your little brother
9. The curls you had as a toddler
10. The way you play with daddy
11. How long to still and always be our "baby"
12. Your love for "bellies"
13. Your love for the park
14. That you can ride your bike without training wheels
15. Your love of sunsets and how you point them out
16. Your adventurous spirit
17. The way you bargain
18. Your smile
19. When you tell us you love us so much
20. Your love of books
21. When you give us hugs and kisses for no reason
22. Your curiosity
23. Your love of heavy equipment
24. How you pronounce automatically, carbonation, and ridiculous
25. The joy you had on your face when Micah was born
26. Your love for action
27. The way you sing songs
28 Your memory
29. Your love for the moon
30. They way you dance
31. They way you take charge
32. How you need a band-aid for every boo boo or lack there of
33. How your just like your mommy
34. How your just like your daddy
35. How you do yoga
36. Your love for cartoons
37. Your love for the beach
38. That you love elephants like mommy does
39. That you love monkey's like daddy does
40. The way you say WAR EAGLE
41. The way you pick out your clothes and ask if they match
42. How well you learn
43. Your love for others
44. How you make friends easily
45. The way you love to show us everything
46. Your demand for undivided attention
47. How you write your name
48. Your southern accent
49. They way you say your nighttime prayers and the dinner blessing
50. That God gave us you to be our son

Can we put him in my fish tank???

Well, it was an eventful morning around our house. Mark let Gracie outside and boy was she barking up a storm. He went out to see what it was..... and came in with a turtle. Noah couldn't believe his eyes. He said we can put him in my fish tank. Well. with a little discussion and a little bit of playtime with our new friend, it was decided to take him to a pond. So, Noah and daddy loaded up the turtle and went to a near by subdivision that has a pond and let him go. Enjoy the show!!!

Figuring it all out

As you can see I am just figuring all of this out and trying it all out. One day this blog my make sense and be neatly organized, so for now you will have to put up with me randomly putting stuff on here as I learn.

Our Beautiful Boys

Our Blog Spot

Hey Everyone! We just wanted to try this out. Actually, I was truly inspired by a parent of a former student and her terrific blog spot. It has inspired me to create my own or our own spot for our friends and family to keep updated on our lives. I am not going to promise it to be the most remarkable place ever but it will be better than mass emails. Check back regularly to see our happenings. And thanks Jennifer for being a true inspiration.