Clayville Kids
Suddenly, the house got eerily quiet… then LAUGHTER.
When you’re the Mom of two young boys, that’s not always a GOOD thing. I turned around from the sink and saw THIS:
I was curious with what EXACTLY was going on, so I dried my hands and walked over.
Paxton had crawled onto the couch, nestled in with Chance and was pushing the little yellow button on Chance’s “fighter jet”. Each time the fighter jet “launched a missile”, the boys laughed hysterically.
I love “catching” my boys loving each other and just BEING together.
I can honestly say I would never trade this for a million dollars.
Paxton’s Allergies
Let’s catch everyone up to speed.
Paxton is 15 months old. Since he was 3 months old, he’s had a really difficult time going “number two”. He doesn’t actually have a hard time “going”, per se… but whenever he’s ABOUT to “go”, he starts to cry.
If you know Pax, you know he actually RARELY cries. He’s a pretty chill kid. But when he’s ABOUT to “go”, he cries… as if someone is REALLY hurting him. Here’s the weird thing: WHILE he’s “going” and after… he’s totally fine. No tears. No whining. Nothing. In fact… while he’s “going”, he’s usually just babbling something cute. When he’s done, he runs about his merry way as if nothing ever happened.
And if you really care, when we change his diaper, everything is normal. No constipation. No diarrhea. NORMAL.
Our family eats mostly organic, so we knew it wasn’t because of an unhealthy diet. We obviously knew something was up.
Pax’s pediatrician recommended we go to see the Pediatric Gastroenterologists (G.I. doctors) at Doernbecher Children’s Hospital up at OHSU. So, for the past year, we’ve been checking in and out at OHSU to monitor Paxton. First, they said that once he’s eating solids, he’d most likely be able to have more substance to help with the “pressure”. Once, we figured out that wasn’t it, they said once he was walking and used his core muscles more, it would help give “muscle” to the pressure release. Nope… that wasn’t it either.
A month ago, they finally said it was time to go in… surgically. They scheduled my baby for a “Flex Sig” (Flexible Sigmoidoscopy). It’s basically a babies version of a colonoscopy (they just go into the lower intestines). The biggest problem I had with this is THEY PUT THEM UNDER. Not only that, but there are a million pages of paperwork we have to sign in case of “the worst” happening. Yeah… not ready for that.
This is when I began my quest to find an alternative solution. Last week, my friend, Coral, told me that her Naturopath could find out what was going “wrong” and if they were induced by allergies, Paxton could be treated through me as his surrogate. She could treat the allergies using NAET. I not only strong suspicion that Paxton had MULTIPLE allergies (I was pretty certain he’s allergic to dairy and probably gluten), but I had also been treated via NAET myself in the past. I knew it worked… so I made the appointment.
TODAY… Pax and I went in to see our Naturopath. She was AMAZING!!! Pax had a lot of fun holding all the different viles of “allergies” and no blood was drawn! YAY! However… as we kept on testing, I was BLOWN away by how many things we were finding he was allergic to.
He had a weak response to 10 to 15 viles. The most important ones we can work on right now are:
- Dairy
- Gluten
- Egg Whites (but not the yolk)
- Vitamin C (group – citrus)
- Iron (red meat)
I know… how do you avoid the last two, right?
Well… the good news is our Naturopath CAN treat these allergies and hopefully lessen, if not eliminate, his negative responses to these allergens. Obviously, he NEEDS to have Vitamin C & Iron in his diet… but right now, his body is rejecting them. It’s causing more harm than good. If we can remedy these issues, then we can go back to giving him his vitamins.
Our first treatment is in two weeks from today. Until then, we are completely changing Paxton’s diet. I’ve also canceled the surgery for now. We’ll resort to that only if this doesn’t work first.
It’s so good to finally know that I’m not CRAZY and something REALLY was wrong with Paxton. It’s even better knowing there’s something I can do about it to make his life a little easier.
Please keep praying for our little boy.
To all the parents out there: YOUR INSTINCT IS USUALLY RIGHT. Doctors are great and know SO much more than we do… but YOU know your child. Go with your gut and don’t ever stop researching and learning about what’s best for them.
Holy Crayoly!
Chance decided Paxton should color with him while I was putting a load of laundry in the dryer.
I came out to Paxton looking like he’s bleeding out his mouth.
This photo was taken AFTER I dug around his pie hole and found out it was marker so the red isn’t as intense. Good thing for washable & non-toxic, right?
And yes… Pax bit the WHOLE tip of the red crayola marker off and chewed on it for the whole 2 minutes I was in the laundry room… then swallowed it. YUM. Can’t wait for that to “pass”.
Poor Chance. He’s now without a red pen.
So tell me… what are some of YOUR “heart-attack”-now-not-so-scary stories.
Invite Me
I’m sitting here watching my 4-year-old.
He grabs a little cup from one of the bottom cabinets (we put all the kids dishes where they can reach them so they can help themselves), scurries over to the fridge, fills his cup with water and drinks from it. Then he grabs a couple apple slices I’ve cut for them and runs over to his 1-year-old little brother.
“Here Paxton… want an apple?”
As they both snack, they sit side-by-side and Chance “reads” to Paxton. Then… out of nowhere… Chance says:
“Hey Mom… you wanna come and read with us?”
ABSOLUTELY!!!
I could have easily done all that water-fetching and snack-handling for Chance and Paxton… but there was so much more pride when I saw he was self-sufficiently taking care of his own needs, sharing with his brother, playing quietly… and then he invited ME to come and play with him.
I love walking alongside my kids.
I love listening to the silliest rambling and chatter their little minds offer.
I love to watch them grow.
I love holding them close and cuddling in.
I love experiencing every milestone with them.
I even love their temper tantrums because it reveals passion.
I love being WITH them.
That’s when it hit me: This is what God wants from ME!
God loves to see me taking care of myself… taking care of others… living out my purpose. He’s always present, just like I’m present with my kids… but to be invited into the simplest, daily activities of our lives?
God loves walking alongside me.
God loves listening to the silliest rambling and chatter of my mind.
God loves to watch me grow… especially if I take a lesson in with it.
God loves holding me close… in joy or in my tears.
God loves when I experience my milestones THROUGH Him.
God even loves my passionate outbursts because I’m using the feelings He gave me.
God loves being with me.
Happy 1st Birthday, Paxton!!!
Today is Paxton’s FIRST birthday.
His first year of life has flown by, but it’s as if he’s ALWAYS been a part of our lives.
Pax has got 6 visible teeth right now — 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. He’s walking EVERYWHERE and can get up the stairs in less than 5 seconds. His talking sounds like gurgling and babbling ALWAYS brings a smile to Brian and my face.
He’s gonna be a big blogger, obviously!
Paxton Joel,
YOU are cherished. You help me look outside myself. You give Mommy hope that I can be a better person… for you, for Chance, for Daddy AND for myself. Your smile melts my heart. Your cry breaks me into a million pieces. All I want to do is make your world right for you. And I know I don’t have that kind of control, so I just hold you… and drink in your presence.
“Pax” means “peace” and you have brought JUST that into our lives. You have no idea the kind of restoration you’ve brought into Mommy & Daddy’s life just by existing. I thank God EVERY DAY for letting me be a part of your life. There is NOTHING you could ever do to make me stop loving you. NOTHING!!! And when I forget to tell you I’m proud of you, or that I love you… I hope you’ll know by my actions that you mean the world to me.
Happy first Birthday, sweet Paxton… my darling peacemaker. You came just in time.
Love Forever and a Day,
Mommy
Paxton: Last Year
Paxton is 11 months old now.
Next month, he’ll be a ONE year old. I’m not sure I’m ready for my baby to grow up…
… but at least I have a month to prep.
Now… a note to my sweet Paxton:
I love you, Pax. There are no words to describe how proud Mommy is of you. Your sweet face lights up my day, my night, my minute. Your cry makes me want to fix everything and make the world right for you. Your mere existence pushes me to be a better person… a better Mommy. Your name, Pax, means “peace”… and that is what you have brought to our family. Peace. Thank you, sweet boy. I thank God every day for letting me be your Mommy.
What Brian & Chance Talk About
What I just overheard…
Brian: ”Look! Paxton just made some chocolate ice cream in his diaper! You want to try some?”
Chance: ”YES!!! That sounds yummy?”
Brian: ”It’s warm though… you still want some?”
Chance: ”Yeah… for real!”
oh… my… word
MOM BLOG… I know…
Crystal always makes fun of me for having a mom blog… but this is how I share what’s going on with our family… AND I’m documenting our life as it happens.
Babies grow up WAY too fast and I forget things WAY too often.
Here’s a video of Chance loving his present from Crystal:
And here’s one of Paxton from yesterday. He’s SO sweet:
Paxton’s Got TEETH!
Paxton is growing up way too fast. He’s really the sweetest little guy.
He LOVES to eat. He’ll eat anything and everything. I love that he’s not a picky eater. He’s actually a “shoveler” when it comes to food. It’s fun to watch him.
In the photo above, he got a nectarine chunk stuck on his face. He didn’t even know it was there till I took it off for him.
Though he’s easy during the day… he’s been waking up a couple of times a night for the last week or so. We found out why…
Poor guy was teething not just two top teeth… but FOUR! No wonder he’s been waking up.
He slept through the night last night so I’m hoping the midnight wakings are over now that his teeth have poked through. It doesn’t matter though… I wouldn’t trade this kid for the world!
Paxton – 10 months
My baby is growing up faster than I’m okay with.
He is now 10 months old. He’s the sweetest little spirit. I’m praying God BURNS all these sweet moments into my mind and heart forever.
I’m afraid I’ll forget.
Say “Mama”…
Paxton is 8.5 months old right now.
He’s passed a few milestones. He can:
- Crawl… FAST.
- Pull himself up on furniture.
- Feed himself small snacks.
- Say, “Da-Da”.
So, during lunch today, I thought it would be as good of a time as any to teach him to say, “Mama”. Here’s some video of how THAT went.
Paxton is 8…
… months old today.
I am continually blown away by how amazingly wonderful this little boy is. He completes our family… he makes us even better than we could have ever known.
Pax is easy-going, cuddly, mostly happy, and easily MADE happy when upset. His face lights up when Chance, Brian or I walk into the room. His laugh is contagious. Brian and I are praying that he will have an amazing impact on this world one day. Knowing his personality now, I’m sure God will do GREAT things through him.
His current “statuses”:
- His two bottom baby teeth are out and sharp as ever.
- He’s crawling… FAST.
- He can pull himself up to standing.
- He can SOMETIMES get himself back down
- He only sleeps 6 hours at night. Ugh!
- He can feed himself little snacks.
Here’s a quick video of us just trying to record what he’s all about right now:
I love that he’s growing into his personality… but I wouldn’t mind if he’d stay a baby a bit longer too
Here are some recent photos of our sweet Paxton.
P.S. Today is my sister, Renee, and my brother-in-law, Jason’s, wedding anniversary. Happy first year. I think your first years’ gift is paper. If you print this up, this will be by gift to you. Sorry… the economy, ya know. 
P.P.S. Today would also have been Scott Resnick’s 40th birthday. Happy Birthday, Skilly! We still miss you.
Paxton is SEVEN…
… months, that is!
He’s sitting up by himself, he’s crawling… he’s mobile people.
I love how he laughs.
Scotty & Paxton
Janet just emailed me this picture. It was in Holly’s collection of pictures from our family beach vacation a couple of months ago and Janet thought I should have it.
Scott ALWAYS loved on my kids. Brian and I have explained to Chance that we won’t be seeing Uncle Scott around anymore because he’s hanging out with Jesus now. Chance said, “Can Jesus send Uncle Scott back to play cars with me?” I said, “Not for awhile… but someday soon, we can go play cars with Uncle Scott AND Jesus.” Chance: ”But I like Uncle Scott.” Me: “I know, honey… everyone likes Uncle Scott.”
Not only did Scott leave a lasting affect on his friends… but he left an amazing lasting impression on our kids.
I’m so glad Janet sent this. Paxton won’t ever get to know Scott in this life, but he’ll have this picture to know Scott loved him too.
The Bromance Comes To Town
Brent and Josh came into town early this week.
First of all, it was a BLAST to have them here. It’s nice having REAL friends that you can just be authentic around. No need for masks… no need to cover things up. It was also nice to learn a few things about how to take better photos from Josh. Brian and I are thankful for them.
Here are the pictures from their 48 hours here. Some were taken by me, some by Brian, some by Brent and some by Josh:
[nggallery id=1]Floating Thought
It’s that time again… you know… when I can’t seem to gather all my thoughts into one comprehensive post, so I’ll just bullet point and type ALMOST exactly what my mind gathers!
- I just received free albums from Kari Jobe & Joel Ruge (promo items for churches). The bum deal is I just BOUGHT Kari Jobe’s album. Glad I supported her. Sad I spent money where I didn’t need to.
- I love that my cutie patootie hubby, Brian, is blogging and twittering a lot more than before. I like sharing this world with him.
- Chance has a ridiculously large vocabulary for being 3, but he still says a few things incorrectly and I think it’s WAY to cute to correct him just yet. Here are just 4 of his words (I’ll write a whole post about it someday):
- “cric-crocs” = flip flops
- “peeks” = keeps
- “perfeck” = perfect
- “liveberry” = library
- Paxton is getting some seriously chubby thighs and I just LOVE that. He also rarely cries, and you can always stop his crying just by singing to him. When he smiles, my whole world melts for him.
- At this time last year, I would have NEVER thought I’d life, for me, would look the way it does today.
- How is it possible to just stop loving someone you said you would always love?
- Life as a stay-at-home Mom can get really lonely if I’m not careful.
- Good: The weather is crazy beautiful right now in Portland. Bad: That means allergies are going to attack me soon. Boooo!!!
- We got rid of cable a month ago… I don’t think I’ve even missed it.
- Looking at a possible new home. I’ll update soon… if there’s anything to update.
- I’m so sick of moving!!!
- We are going on our annual beach trip with our closest friends in two weeks. I can’t wait ‘cuz I miss having THOSE friends around.
- In THREE weeks, Matt, Brian and I (with Paxton in tow) will be in Florida for a week for the Exponential Conference. This is exciting because I haven’t been to a conference in a few years AND this will be the first NON-worship or Youth Ministry conference I’ve attended. This will be for church planters. I *heart* learning.
- I love lemons.
- I had a dream that I was in a home that was disorganized and full of cats. I woke up sweaty and so tense, it took me 10 full minutes till I could move again.
- The memory foam pad we got for our old bed helps us A LOT… but I still think we need a new bed.
- It’s time for Chance to move out of his toddler bed and it’s time for us to find a big boy bed for him. Anyone getting rid of a twin bed? Bunk beds maybe?
- I still have a box of thin mints in my freezer
Quick!!!
Tell me the first three things in your head RIGHT NOW!
Paxton is 5 months!
My baby is 5 months old today.
This was the outfit Chance was dedicated in. I can’t seem to find a comparison picture. Oh well.
Pax is the sweetest little boy! He is always smiling and making these funny little expressions.
For a little guy that made me so sick during pregnancy, he sure is easy outside of the womb. My life is better because of him! I am so thankful Paxton is in my life.
Flashback Friday
My boys are growing up… a little too fast, actually.
I took this photo of Paxton yesterday:
Here’s Chance in the same outfit just a few years ago:
I think Chance is a bit younger here… maybe 3 months. It’s crazy… I remember putting Chance in this outfit and placing him in this seat to take his photo. And now… he’s speaking whole sentences to me and negotiating his bedtime.
I LOVE being their Mom. My boys are so sweet.
These two boys love each other. It’s so awesome.
Okay… YOUR TURN.
What’s your favorite memory with your sibling(s)?
All In A Week
As I posted recently, Paxton has been rolling all around.
At first, it was only back to front and he’d only roll to the left. Now, he’s rolling every which way and sort of scooting too. But he only scoots backwards… which is pretty normal so all is well.
In the last week, he’s really found his back muscles and can hold his head up for quite some time now.
Of course, Chance had to get in the picture too, once he noticed me with my camera out.
We also started rice cereal today. Well… we started on Saturday, but he didn’t like it much. So, I gave it a couple days and tried again this morning. Paxton LOVED it, and ate the whole little cup I prepared for him.
I’m so looking forward to him eating solids because that means he MIGHT sleep through the night now. I’m so ready for a straight 6 to 8 hours again.
Paxton’s Nursery
Oh Saturday… how you’ve kept me busy all day long.
Our main goal yesterday and today was to get Paxton all settled in his new nursery. He was camping out in our room in a cradle, but the cradle was getting way too small… or he’s way too big. He’d roll over and get his legs caught in between the rails, therefore waking himself up.
We have two guest rooms so we decided to turn one of them into HIS room. Here’s the before:
And here’s how it looks now (click on the picture to enlarge):
So… I figured while I was moving Pax into his new room, I’d “upsize” and re-organize both boys’ dressers and closets. That was a pretty big project. It involved lots of plastic bins, folding of laundry, separating for Goodwill and packing Chance’s “outgrown” clothes away.
In the process, Chance decided to pack himself away:
I’m TOTALLY done now… and spent. But at least now, I can fall asleep in my own room ALONE with Brian.
Chart #4 & Crib Upgrade
Sunday would be week FOUR of “The Chart” Experiment.
It’s not working the way we are needing it to in the poopy department, but he’s really rocking the rest of the chart so I think I’m gonna keep it going for the time being.
As for the Paxton… he’s starting to sleep through the night. THANK GOD!!! We’re planning on moving him out of the cradle (that’s currently in our room) into his new crib in his OWN room this coming weekend.
Why move him out of his cradle???
Let me show you:
He seriously sleeps like that every night. I’m not sure I’d find that comfortable, but apparently, he does. Sometimes, he’s in that shape… but ACROSS the cradle with this legs sticking out. The crib will provide him more space to breakdance in his sleep.
Also… he’s four months old now. Time to move out of our room… cuz it’s BUSINESS TIME.
I’m actually really looking forward to putting his nursery together. It’ll be a nice quiet place for him since Chance treats our room like his own.
I’ll post pictures of his nursery when I’m done with it. For now… I’ll leave you with a BEFORE picture of his room (currently GuestRoom #2):
FOUR Months…
… that’s how old Paxton is today.
I took him to his check-up this morning. Of course I took him… it’s not like he’s going to get up and walk himself there, right? It was pretty sweet that Brian stayed home all day today so I didn’t have to drag Chance there with me.
Here are Paxton’s 4-month numbers:
Weight: 14 lbs. (32%)
Height: 25 in. (54%)
Head Circumference: 42.5 cm (54%)
Here were Chance’s at his 4-months:
Weight: 15.4 lbs. (60%)
Height: 26 in. (80-85%)
Head Circumference: 43.5 cm (90%)
Paxton is definitely smaller. I kinda like it that way.
Anyway… Paxton got THREE shots today. These are 3 of the 4 he was supposed to get at 2 months… but I pushed them back with Chance (as well as deny some of them) so I figured I’d do the same with Pax.
Here he is BEFORE the shots (poor kid had no clue what was comin’):
And here he is AFTER:
He rarely cries, so imagine our feeling of helplessness when he cried for TWO HOURS.
I put him in the front pack, and we all went for a walk around the block. Paxton fell asleep and is still asleep.
Now… time to get Chance ready for bed… but go ahead…
Sara Gray Photography
I believe you can NEVER have too many photos of your family.
Time is the one thing you can’t get back… so capturing moments are extremely important to me. If I had unlimited funds, I would have a live-in photographer following my kids & family around on a daily basis, capturing moments and beautifully setting them into scrapbooks. But since I don’t have unlimited funds, I take my family to get photos done once a year and pose as an amateur photographer (sometimes, I get a good shot).
HOWEVER… Sometimes, I get awesome opportunities of photographers looking to build their portfolio. Who am I kidding??? I’m actually LOOKING for these opportunities.
Since it feels like I’m ALWAYS behind the camera, it’s nice to have some moments IN FRONT of the camera so my kids will know they actually HAD a Mom.
Today, Sara Gray took us out for a quick shoot. Here are the ones she posted to her Facebook.
If you live in the Portland area and are getting married anytime soon… make sure you check Sara out.
TimeFlash Thursday
Paxton has outgrown his newborn clothes. He’s in 3-6 months clothes now.
*sigh*
Here are some pictures of both Chance & Paxton in the same outfit/towel/sink:
Man, the grow up fast.
Jenni on Skype: jclayville 
