Let's Talk About December 2019...

... why not?  I'm on a roll tonight! Let's go ahead and do a photo dump from December 2019 (which is actually when Coronavirus was breaking out in China - there's a little fun fact for ya)!

SO THANKFUL FOR HAND-ME-DOWN
SNOW SUITS! 

NOT SUPER STOKED ON IT YET. 

WE TOOK AWAY ALL THE SCREENS...
HE FOUND THE SCREEN ON THE PRINTER. 

WE WENT SNOWSHOEING WITH OUR NEIGHBOR!

C GOT A GOOD NAP. 

CLAYTON'S FIRST CHRISTMAS!!!!! 

FIRST BIKE! KINDA. 

It wasn't exactly how I imagined Clayton's first Christmas to be.  Mike had to work but was able to go in late which was nice.  We woke up, played with presents, and had breakfast.  But, I honestly felt like crap.  I had a cold that was getting better, then suddenly got worse... and worse... and worse.  I felt so run down I just wanted to cry.  So, Mike called in a favor at the Heavenly clinic.  The doc checked me out and got me a script for antibiotics.  Mike helped me find a pharmacy open.  Clayton and I were supposed to fly to Raleigh the next day but this momma couldn't have handled that solo trip in that condition so we pushed it back a few days (had to give those antibiotics a chance to start working).  

VISITING DAD AT WORK...
UNFORTUNATELY AT THE CLINIC.
THANKS AGAIN HEAVENLY (AND MIKE
FOR CALLING IN THE FAVOR)! 

AFTER DELAYING OUR TRIP BY A FEW DAYS,
C AND MOM WERE ABLE TO FLY TO RALEIGH!
OUR SECOND SOLO FLIGHT!
AND HE DID AWESOME! 

It's always nice to be home (NC).  We love spending time with family but we miss Mike when he isn't able to go with us.  But, I love that Clayton gets time with his cousins and grandparents. 

WE PLAYED WITH COUSINS AT THE PARK! 

THE WEATHER WAS LOVELY! 

C WALKED EVERYWHERE!
(WITH JUST A LITTLE BIT OF HELP) 

WE VISITED WITH BABCIA! 

That pretty much gets us to New Year's Eve!  And even though the next pictures technically occurred in 2020, I'm gonna share them in this post: 

WE VISITED GRANDPA MADDEN! 

C GOT HIS OWN SEAT ON BOTH RETURN FLIGHTS!
LIFESAVER ON A 5 HOUR FLIGHT!
HALLELUJAH!

HE WAS ALSO VERY EXCITED TO HAVE SOME
EXTRA SPACE. 

Well, I've officially caught up to the year 2020.  A lot has happened already in 2020 so I will continue posting until we're up to date.  

Like everyone else in America right now, I'm trying to adjust to a new normal.  

I'm working from home. Mike's job is likely done for the season. The baby isn't in daycare. 

We are just home. 

All of us. 

Together. 

 Potentially for the next 4-5 weeks or longer??? Who knows?

Catching up the blog, looking back on "normal times" is probably helping me cope with all this craziness in some way.

So, thanks for reading (mom).

And keep checking back, I will post more when I can! 

Last November...

... we got ALL the sickness! 

At least that's what I seem to remember.  

We had croup. 

We had a stomach bug. 

We had colds. 

We caught it ALL and we ALL got sick. 

Seriously, Mike and I thought we had stronger immune systems than that. 

But, we were living with a petri dish (sorry baby but it's true). 

That's not really what I want to remember though... here's a glimpse at the fun stuff I do want to remember: 

LITTLE MAN GOT REALLY GOOD AT STANDING UP!

WE MADE IT TO APPLE HILL!
C HAD HIS FIRST APPLE DONUT! 

MORE APPLE HILL FUN! 

WE WENT ON BIKE RIDES! 

AUNT PAM CAME TO VISIT FOR THANKSGIVING!!! 

C's FIRST TURKEY DAY!!!!  

IT STARTED SNOWING.  OF COURSE. 

WE DECORATED FOR CHRISTMAS! 

SPOILER ALERT: WE MADE IT THROUGH THE WHOLE CHRISTMAS
SEASON WITHOUT HIM PULLING THE TREE OVER!!
WOOHOO!
HE DID PULL A FEW ORNAMENTS OFF THOUGH. 

C DISCOVERED BUBBLE WRAP! 

Despite sickness, November was fantastic.  

And I'm so glad I'm taking the time to catch up the blog!!!  This reminiscing is good for my soul during this crazy, chaotic time in our lives.  Life is good.  

Stay safe blog readers (aka Mom).  

Time to Resume Blogging

The Coronavirus pandemic is ALL you hear about in the news lately.  Everything is shut down in hopes of slowing the spread.  That includes Heavenly Ski Resort (actually, all Vail resorts) AND Douglas County Schools (actually, ALL schools in Nevada... and North Carolina... and SC.. and Texas... etc).  The ski season may be over completely - which is a shame because as I write this there is approximately 3 feet of fresh, fluffy, light powder outside.  And schools in Nevada are close for 3 weeks "at least."  This is unprecedented.  Nothing like this has happened in my lifetime

Obviously, I haven't written a blog post in quite a long time.  It's mainly because I thought I would switch to instagram since it's so much easier to post pictures and videos.  But, I ended not blogging AND not posting much on instagram... and then noticed I was taking less and less pictures of C. 

I've actually missed blogging.  I read old posts occasionally and reminisce on adventures we've had.  I've been thinking about starting it back up again and it looks like now I will have the time to catch up from where we left off.  The way I see it: this gives me something to do for the next 3 weeks and it gives others something to read! 

So, without further ado, let's go back in time to when you could just walk in a store and buy toilet paper... back in October...

After my last post, we continued to do as many fall things as possible!  Clayton got croup unfortunately BUT we still got out and did a few things:

WE WENT TO OKTOBERFEST AT CAMP RICHARDSON

AND DOWN TO TAYLOR CREEK TO SEE THE SALMON

And Clayton and I took our first SOLO flight to NC!!!  

We survived!  It actually wasn't that bad even though Clayton came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth soon after arriving.  

PLAYING ON THE FLOOR IN THE AIRPORT
BEFORE BOARDING

SWEET COUSIN LAINEY

C AND JUJU

PLAYING WITH FIN

HANGING OUT WITH UNCLE JOHNNY

WENT SWINGING AT THE PARK

SWINGING WITH JUJU

THE WEATHER WAS GORGEOUS! 

MEETING TITAN AT BABCIA'S HOUSE

ENJOYING THE WARM SUNSHINE 

CLAYTON DID A LOT OF SWINGING

SWINGING WITH GRANDPA

LOOKING AT LEAVES AND TREES

CLAYTON'S FIRST TRACTOR RIDE

WHY NOT? 

MORE SWINGING AT THE PARK 

HE LOVED IT!

JUJU AND HER GRANDBABIES

UNTIL NEXT TIME!!!  

We had a wonderful fall! We dressed up for Halloween... Clayton was the Hungry Caterpillar and I was a witch... a Blair Witch... duh!  

Well, there will likely be a LOT of blog posts in the days to come.  Next post we will catch up on November 2019!  

In the meantime, stay healthy friends and family!  Wash your hands (duh)!  Don't touch your face!  And stop buying ALL the toilet paper!  

One Month Since I Last Posted

Wow.  Time has gotten away from me.  I didn't realize it had been a MONTH since my last post!  Honestly, not much has happened in the past month other than usual work/life/home stuff.  Mike finished a basement project he's been working on (closing in the walls with plywood, painting, etc so we can store stuff down there).  Clayton has been enjoying daycare.  Recently, we were plagued with the crud (and Clayton's first fever... poor baby).  That's about it.  But, I've taken a few pictures along the way so... here they are:

SWEET BABY FALLS ASLEEP ON THE WAY TO
DAYCARE ALMOST EVERY SINGLE MORNING.
DESPITE ALL THE TOYS IN HIS LAP TO PLAY WITH.

WE SPENT OUR LAST SUMMER DAYS TAKING THE DOG TO THE
BEACH! (THEN IT SNOWED)

WE PLAYED WITH NEW TOYS FROM FRIENDS! 

WE NOW EXPLORE EVERY SQUARE INCH OF
THE LIVING ROOM. NOTHING IS OFF LIMITS.
EVEN THOUGH THERE'S SNOW OUTSIDE, WE ARE
IN SHORT SLEEVED ONESIES BECAUSE FEVERS
MAKE US HOT!  

STILL SMILING DESPITE HAVING THE CRUD. 

FEELING GOOD ENOUGH TO PLAY! 

HE WOULD RATHER PLAY WITH AN EMPTY BAG
RATHER THAN ALL THOSE TOYS. 

CHECKIN' HIMSELF OUT IN THE MIRROR. 

That's it from here.  Short and sweet.  We are all hoping to feel well enough to get out and do some things soon (Apple Hill, etc).  And in 18 short days we fly to NC!!!!