Belated Thanksgiving Post

Well, finally here are some pics from our Thanksgiving travels. As usual, we split our San Antonio time between the Markham and Skloss families. We weren't there long but we got to spend a little time with everyone and Clay got to experience his first Thanksgiving (which he spent as the centerpiece in his bumbo seat at the Markham meal!)
My niece, Casey, came to visit for a couple of days before Thanksgiving and she was such a help. It's been so much fun to watch her grow and see what a neat girl she's become.

Casey and Clay

One thing that Casey was grateful for this Thanksgiving- now there's a new little girl for Aunt Brittany to put hairbows on so Casey doesn't have to wear them anymore!

Brittan Tyne

One of my greatest joys has been spending time with my niece and nephew. Now, as a mother, it's watching my niece(s!) and nephew play with my son. Since Brittan and Clay are just five months apart, I look forward to many playdates with the two of them. Already, Clay thinks Brittan is so interesting. Every time he gets near her, he wants to eat her hands! So cute!

"Now, let me help you get her settled, Aunt Mandy..."

"How'd you get so little?"

Our first night in SA was with Mike's mom and dad. Clay loves his Nana and Papa and they were more than ready for him. Mike's mom had everything for Clay from a new bed with a new quilt and super soft blanket, a new mobile for his bed, baby Tylenol, pacifiers, and fun new toys! It's was a mom's dream to walk into a room with everything your child needs and I didn't even have to pack it or buy it! She even had treats and a new bed for Lindsay the dog! It was so nice to have everything ready and waiting for us so all we had to do was unpack and go to bed. Thanks Nana!

Nana & Papa couldn't wait to feed Clay

Aunt Jamie bought Clay some cool cowboy boots he wanted to show off

Cowboy Clay with his Papa
Three Generations of Sklosses: Grandma Susie, Papa & Clay

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I think Mike and I realized how many things we have to be thankful for. We were especially grateful for loving families and being able to share a special time as Clay's first Thanksgiving.

And finally, for the thing Clay was most grateful for this Thanksgiving:

His feast!

A Sweet Six Months

Clay turned six months old yesterday! We sang "Happy 1/2 Birthday" to him all day. He loved it! It has been such a great six months. We have truly enjoyed every day with our little prince. It all started with a 6 lb. 4 oz., 18 inch long little boy. Everybody kept talking about how tiny he was. He lived in preemie clothes for the first six weeks. Now I can't even carry him in the car seat because he's too heavy! Everybody always talks about how big he is now. What a difference six months makes! Here's a (long) look at the last six months:

Just before Clay arrived...
Two day old Clay
Taking a snooze

Clay with Dr. Wells Three week old Clay after his surgery
That little grin
Happy boy
Mommy loves that smile
Up to something...
That exersaucer can be a little overwhelming!

Our little thumb sucker

Clowning around
Cousin Kaelen took this
Ta Da! Clay's newest trick! Sitting up like a big boy!

Here kitty, kitty (Landry better watch out in the next six months!)
I can't seem to get his six month old fall picture to load but hopefully I can get it soon. Stay tuned!

Blessed

Recently, my best friend Rebecca and I went to one of those shopping events with all of the booths and vendors selling everything from baby clothes to jewelry. After the event, I was telling Mike and several others how frustrating it was that the entire time everyone kept stopping me to talk about Clay. It sounds silly but it made it so hard to shop. Clay does NOT like his stroller and wants to be held pretty much the whole time whenever I try to do any shopping. So basically, anytime he was actually calm in the stroller, or not screaming, people would stop and say one of six things (or all of them): 1) How old is he? 2) What's his name? 3) He's too cute! 4) Where did you get that hat? 5) He's so big! 6) Can I hold him? The same six things OVER AND OVER. Even Rebecca, the most patient person in the world, was tired of answering. I told Mike that I just wanted to hang a sign over his stroller with all of the answers. 1)He's almost six months old. 2)His name is Clay, Clay Morgan. 3)Thank you. We think he's cute, too. 4)We got his hat at Janie and Jack. 5) He is big, we're going for a linebacker. 6) Not right now. We're just trying to shop as quickly as possible while he's calm.

Change of subject: Anyhow, the past couple of days when I have been blog surfing, I have come across several blogs about Trisomy-18. From the little I have read, I know Trisomy-18 is something you typically find out about during your pregnancy and the babies who have it tend to die shortly after birth (if not in utero). Their stories all so sad, but yet inspiring. I admire the parents of these children so much.

Yesterday, I was reading about Eliot Mooney. What an inspiration their story is and the movie about little Eliot's 99 days of life. I copied this part from their blog- "For those of you who want to see the movie, it is available for viewing and purchase at ignitermedia. It is a movie, so you will want to watch it somewhere that has a faster internet connection. Once you go to the site, click on "igniter videos".Look for Eliot's feet- the video is entitled "99 balloons"."

Watching the movie about Eliot's life made such an impact on me. I went into Clay's room, picked up my boy who I had worked so hard to put to sleep and rocked him and kissed him. I thought about how it was so selfish of me to complain about not being able to shop because too many people were talking to me about my perfectly healthy baby. I am very sorry for ever even thinking it after reading about these Trisomy-18 stories. I made Mike watch the video and we talked and prayed about how grateful we are for a healthy baby boy. If you need a reason to be grateful this season, I would definitely recommend reading the blogs of these parents or watching this video. These parents truly cherish every single moment with their children. It changed my thinking as a mother and made me realize what I take for granted.

I leave you with a picture of my almost six month old, cute, Janie and Jack hat wearing, linebacker size, no, you can't hold him because he's finally calm Clay Morgan from the "shopping event":

Baby Brittan

On October 12, I became an aunt again. Yay! I posted a whole bunch of pictures from our fall but I thought Baby Brittan Tyne (or Bwittan as my nephew Kaelen calls her) deserved her very own post. So here's a couple of pics of the newest addition to our family (and my little namesake, yay again!) She was 6 lbs. 1 oz. and 18.5 inches. She's a cutie!

Kaelen meets Brittan

Sisters

Big Brother is Watching...

Sweet Baby Brittan

A Peek into Our Fall

Since I could finally get our pictures to upload, I thought I would update our blog by pictures. Our house feels like it is pure craziness all the time, so here's a little of what we've been up to:


Nana & Papa came for Clay's Baby Dedication

We've Been Teaching Daddy to Play Peekaboo

Like a True Skloss, He's Ready for Hunting Season

Daddy's 1st Little Hunting Buddy

The ONLY Time in the Past Six Months When We Weren't Holding a Baby...

Little Man in the Middle

Officer Daddy feeds Clay his Fruits and Veggies

Saving Mommy Money on Baby Soap


Whew! I think I just cleaned out the digital camera for a while. We have many more pictures to post so stay tuned...