Camping Trip 2011

We got home from Vegas right in time for the annual Rowdy Rebel camping trip. We missed it last year, but Mommy says we'll never miss again - too much fun and togetherness to skip out on! It was the perfect way to unwind after Las Vegas, and being with my original playgroup is always a blast!

I loved some parts of camping. I loved getting in the water and when we were on the boat. I loved having my friends so close (Hannah and Cole were right next door!) and when me and Kate readed books.

Some parts weren't my favorite. I didn't like the bugs. They were everywhere! I didn't like when we went so fast on the boat that the wind pulled my lollipop right out of my hands! (And according to Mommy and Miss Ella's screams, they didn't like the fast boat either... sorry, Daddy!)

Click here for pictures of the trip!

Love,

Avery Outdoor Pro McClinton

From Riches to Rags...

(Sort of)

This week we spent Sunday through Thursday in Vegas and then camped with some precious friends Friday through the next Sunday. We literally flew in from one type of vacation and drove straight to a very, very different kind of vacation (blog about camping coming soon).

Jordan has been back and forth to Vegas repeatedly for work, and this time we hopped the plane with him to see the sights of Vegas. It was my first time there, and we decided this was perfect timing for our little family of four to get away one last time before Reese joins the crew.

The time in Vegas was so special, despite not being a place meant for young children. It was the only trip where I've been alone with the girls for so much time with no agenda but to be together, and I will absolutely cherish the memories of watching them interact, being totally available to them (no dishes! no laundry!), and of the way the girls lit up when Daddy got home from his trainings each night (it meant two wonderful things: Daddy was here AND the real excitement of the day was about to begin). For an impromptu 'babymoon', the week couldn't have been better suited in terms of family adventure and loving on each other.

We have a little family tradition for trips. Each girl gets a folder full of blank paper and uses the pages to draw and dictate the important parts of the vacation. Vegas is such an interesting place, and I thought the girls did a pretty accurate job telling about it in their books. So, without further ado, Vegas, as seen by a 2 and 4 year old.

Sunday:

The flight in, by Avery (apparently she has inherited her parents' anxiety about flying... note the 'bumpy' part of the picture at bottom right).

Monday:

Watching tv, by Avery (even with all of the activities, what struck Avery the most was that Mommy loosened her belt some on tv watching time).

Tuesday:

(We did this both Mon. and Tues.)

Swimming with Daddy at the pool, by Kate (the artistry is nothing compared to the sound effects that went into drawing this pic).

Wednesday:

Avery's impression of Vegas (I think she was drawing the view out of our window - strip to the right and desert to the left, but isn't this true on so, so many levels?)

Thursday:

Things Kate thought were important: lions from MGM, the trains we rode (so many of them), and froggies (which we asked her where they were from, and she replied, "Nowhere. I just yike them.")

Click here for more pictures from the girls' books as well as actual photos!

The Cat Came Back...

This week, we had a little adventure with a stray kitty. What follows is a series of emails I sent a friend of mine as the drama unfolded.

Tuesday, 9:57 am:

"If you need me, call my cell bc Avery wants to play in the front yard with the cat. Haha. Jordan's arch nemesis is a 5 lb feline."

Tuesday, 10:08 am

"So the cat's been in our backyard and he just threw it over the fence and it hopped back over with a little meow. His face. Oh I am so happy right now. Hehe."

Tuesday, 10:37 am

"The battle lines have been drawn. The cat and the girls. The dogs and the dad (and unlikely union, but desperate times lead to desperate measures).

The only neutral party is the mom. (Can she be called 'neutral' if she laughs at every encounter?)

Who will win? The fight is on. For the love of a cat...

This is the best.day.ever. Well, not really, but I am thoroughly enjoying watching this play out. Recently, Jordan sighed heavily, said, "Oh geez. Oh heavens," picked up the camera, and took pictures of the girls holding the cat. You think he's already to acceptance?"

Tuesday, 11:38 am

"The cat tried to eat my kids' lunches and scared Eggie. Jordan took it in a car to the other side of the neighborhood. When he got home, he said, "If that cat finds it's way back here, it can stay," with a smug grin. Poor kitty was obviously hungry but it crossed a line. Ha. The story won't be complete unless the cat shows up at our home again tomorrow. I'm seriously not sure if I'm pulling for it because it'd make a better story or if I really don't want it to because I'm not a fan of cats...."

The cat never showed up again. I guess he found a new home to love and feed him for a bit...

Click here for pictures of the week, including the cat, Easter with Mimi and Papa, and Katy Folk Life Festival

Itty Bitty Kitty

The thing Mommy says most to me (after "I love you", of course) is, "Kate, I can't understand you." Mommy says it so much that she called some nice ladies to come see if I needed something called Speech Therapy. I don't, Mom just needs to listen more carefully.

While they were here, the nice ladies noticed some things about me. They told Mommy that my 'failure to thrive' could be because I have poor core strength and that makes me fatigue easily when I eat. If this is the truth, which is likely, then I have probably dealt with it since birth and it explains why I never eat much. They told Mommy that I probably only eat until the hunger pain goes away, but never until I'm full (I'm not telling!) because it's so much work. They also said they wanted to help me strengthen my jaw and chewing muscles since I probably never developed those either.

Miss Mary Ann, my nutritionist, comes and weighs me and teaches Mommy how to hide fats in my food. Chocolate milk?? No complaints! I gained 1/2 a pound in two week's time, which she said was good since I'm growing. But average weight gain for my age is 1-2 pounds a week. We still have some work to do.

Miss Darlene, my Occupational Therapist, is a rock star around here. She lets Eggie help me during the practice sessions and brings really fun things to do. I get to make funny faces, play with party blowers, use a straw to make bubble volcanoes, and chew gum sometimes! Mommy thinks she's a rock star, too, because this week she helped me with a major life milestone.

I've never put a piece of bread in my mouth. I refuse to let it near my plate. If something looks like bread or if Eggie tells me it's like bread, I refuse it. I will NOT do bread. (Miss Darlene says it's probably because it is hard to chew once it starts to break down in my mouth.) This week, Miss Darlene asked Mommy for a piece of bread. As soon as I saw it, I said: "Kate NO do!" But Miss Darlene is smart. She took the bread and made tiny balls out of it. Then she used a straw and stabbed the bread. She asked me to practice chewing it and acted like it was just gum or something else. I did it! And then... I swallowed it! Mommy and Daddy stood by and cheered while Miss Darlene helped me eat a bunch of bread balls. It was such a proud moment for all of us!

Click here for pictures of the week

Love,

Kate "No Do It!" McClinton

Spring Break 2011

During Spring Break, Daddy traveled on business, so that left Kate, me and Mommy home together... for 5 long days. I had to be creative about what I was planning to do with our time. I wanted it to be memorable.

So, I started on the first night Daddy was gone. I woke up at 1:30 am and demanded to call Daddy. Unreasonable as she is, Mommy told me no. So I turned on all the lights upstairs, woke up Kate, and had a little playtime. It took Mommy about an hour to realize I wasn't singing myself back to sleep before she came up and cut the play time short. Spoil sport!

Next, we got to pet-sit Mitzi and Rascal for Nana and DD. I thought it'd be fun to send Mitzi down our new slide. Mom is so boring... she said no more of that and instigated an 'ask before you touch' rule for the dogs. Luckily, she's not always watching me, and therefore doesn't always know if I'm obeying or not.

Things were starting to get more exciting, but just to be sure, I decided to style and cut my Barbie's hair. Mommy disciplined me for 'being destructive'. This was absolutely unacceptable. Who does she think she is? I figured out the perfect way to show her... I gave Kate bangs! That should teach Mommy to think she's the boss of me. (Except she somehow came up with a consequence for my actions that put her back in the driver's seat... how does she do that?!?)

We had had almost enough fun... almost. For my grand finale, I had to plan something really awesome. The plan worked perfectly!

After I got in bed Saturday night, I heard Mommy searching the house, calling Mitzi's name. I heard her call Daddy and frantically tell him to hurry home from the grocery store because Mitzi had run away. I heard her take the flashlight out to the street and yell for Mitzi. When Mommy finally realized that there was no way Mitzi could have gotten out of an open door and she couldn't find a spot where Mitzi had dug out, I knew my gig was up. Mom came upstairs. It went like this:

Mom: "Avery, is Mitzi in here with you?"

Avery: "No, she's in the cabinet."

Mom: "What??? She's where???"

Avery: "She's in the cabinet. The one I play in. I put her in there earlier today."

Mom (as she sprints downstairs): "You did WHAT?!?"

Sure enough, there was Mitzi, covered in her own urine, hiding in the cabinet in the kitchen. I'd say she was in there a good 3-5 hours before that little game played itself out (Mitzi seemed happy as ever...amazingly). Mommy wondered why Mitzi didn't try to get out or bark the whole time she was in there, and DD says maybe it's because it was one of the only places Mitzi actually felt safe.

Mitzi and Rascal are safe at their home now. I'm back to school and 'real' life. But I think I did a pretty good job of making this a Spring Break to remember!

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK

Love,

Avery 'Mischievous but not Downright Evil' McClinton

Taking Mommy to School

This week, I got to take Mommy to school for a few hours to show her what it's like to be a Panda. I showed her how to play in the music and science centers, how to make a boot art project, how to sort colors, and what we do in circle time. I especially liked sharing with Mommy just how smart I am. Avery is such a smart (and loud) girl that it's easy for me to sometimes be overshadowed. But, in my own classroom, with my peer group, Mommy could really see and enjoy all of my many strengths: I know my colors, my gender, how to wash my hands all by myself, and I'm really good at the fine-motor skill of picking stickers off of a page. Mommy was proud, and I was proud!

Soon, Avery will get to celebrate her half-birthday with a lunch date at school. She delicately looked at Mommy, and with a super sweet voice, asked, "Mommy, do you think on my half birthday, Daddy can bring me lunch... instead of you?" It's her half birthday, so Avery gets what Avery wants - Daddy and mac and cheese from Willie's.

Taking Mom and Dad to school... super special!

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES FROM THE WEEK

Love,

Kate Panda Class McClinton

Things That Kept Us Busy This Week

There are so many things to tell about this week. I really don't think I can cut any of them out. So, here is a list of the things that kept us busy this week:

1. Fish

This week, the fish that have been living in our house for less than a month have multiplied. One afternoon, Jordan found babies swimming along the bottom of the tank. After googling "Molly fish babies", we learned that Molly fish (we have two) almost always leave the pet store pregnant and can have 12-15 fish a month for up to 6 months even without a mate. So far, we have 11 baby Mollies, but there is no telling how much excitement the next few months will hold. It would figure that we ended up with very fertile fish. The *little* idea of getting fish for the girls for Valentine's Day has turned into quite the situation, with a separate baby net in the tank and everything.

2. Growing a baby

And I do mean growing a baby. I am rapidly expanding. I ended up taking the advanced track on pregnancy weight gain and am roughly double the recommended weight for my stage of pregnancy (I'm mirroring about what I gained with Avery). Baby Girl is almost 1 pound now and has begun moving enough to let Jordan occasionally get a kick.

Baby Girl also has a name. She will be Reese Suzanne. Reese is derived from Theresa, Jordan's oldest living relative (and Reese's great-great grandmother!). She is the matriarch of the McClinton side of the family and we are thrilled to have the chance to honor such a fun-loving, welcoming bunch of folks. Suzanne is after my sister's middle name, which we feel is fitting - Reese's gift to us and our gift to her is sisterhood, and it seems appropriate to name her after the very same gift I've enjoyed throughout my life - my sister.

Avery seems excited about Reese and has big plans to wake up when she cries at night to feed her. Kate has taken to lifting up my shirt, yelling, "Oh, Reese!", and spanking my stomach repeatedly.

Baby Reese deserves her own blog post. Maybe she'll get one soon... riiiiight.

3. Avery's animal obsession

Recently Avery has become obsessed with Dottie. Dottie has never been highly favored in this home... until recently. As Jordan and I have said, anyone that my beloved loves becomes my beloved. So, in retribution for Dottie's endless hours of being chased, pounced on and drug around, we repay her with love and acceptance. We think the worst part of this current obsession is that she cannot get away - if she hides in her dog bed, Avery will drag it across the floor, Dottie in tow. It's a dog's life.

Avery and Kate stayed their first night with Popi and Mimi recently and Avery was in absolute heaven. Their dogs are very friendly to children and the dogs would allow Avery to hold them, rub them, and attack them with sweetness for hours on end.

4. Floors

Jordan has been hard at work on upgrading our dog-dirty carpet to new wood floors all week. With a LOT of help from his dad and mine, the progress has been amazing. I cannot believe what a difference the new flooring makes.

Our home is currently in absolute disarray... furniture everywhere and a thin layer of dust covering everything. By the end of this week, my nesting can go into overtime and I can clean and arrange to my heart's content. I'm so, so thankful for the hard work of the men in our lives this week and for the difference the floors are going to make in our home.

5. The Great Ooh Ooh Rescue

On the way to school today, we had the car windows down. Kate's beloved lovey, Ooh Ooh, somehow took a dive out the window. Kate, Avery and Hannah were all devastated, so I promised to circle back and get him on the way home. Sure enough, once we dropped off the older girls and headed back down Kingsland, I found Ooh Ooh in the middle of the street. We pulled over, put on the hazards, and then watched as no less than 10 cars ran Ooh Ooh over. Once the cars had cleared, I was able to dart out and get the treasured Ooh Ooh. He looks none the worse for wear - no skid marks or dirt. Kate was proud to get the guy back and couldn't wait to tell Daddy all about the adventure: "Ooh Ooh fly 'way! Out window!"

If we stay this busy on an average week with 2 kids, I have no idea what to expect with 3! It'll be a ride worth sharing, I'm sure.

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE WEEK