Okay so I am going to get better ...

Well the end of summer was wonderful....

In August, We went to the beach and had a great time. Jayden loved it except he thought he should crawl straight into the ocean. Talk about no fear! Madison loved the ocean and enjoyed Daddy teaching her how to "ride the waves." Tanner had a good time but at night he was ready to go "home." He likes his routine and being away from it was hard. All in all it was a wonderful way to end the summer.

Jayden started walking the last week of August. I guess that is it for us - no more babies! How sad!! He is growing up so much and is such a sweet baby. His health has been absolutely wonderful this summer. The picture of perfection. Sadly, that came to an end last week. He got a nasty cold and was glued to the nebulizer every couple of hours. He has seemed better the past couple of days so we are praying this is just a bump in the road to a lifetime without asthma :)

Madison began 2nd grade on August 25th. Her teacher is Mrs. Freshwater and she seems very happy. You don't get a whole lot of information out of Madison but she says school is great and her teacher is nice. Who could ask for more??? Yesterday, she began soccer for Twin City. Her team is the Mustangs (ironic that was the mascot for my high school). She loves it!

Tanner also began school on the 25th. And let me tell you that was quite a hard decision. I suffered through it all summer. For those who know me decision making is not my strong point and I analyze, and analyze and analyze. No matter what I feel guilty. So anyway, Tanner is at a REAL school. He got into the Downtown Elementary School. He is in their Pre K 3 year old class. It goes Mon-Fri 8:15-Noon. Now, I keep him home on Fridays because I miss him. Tanner LOVES school and loves his teacher Mrs. Geyer. He even insists on being dropped off in the drop off line with all the other kids. Oh he is breaking him Mom's heart!! Tanner also started gymnastics today. His Dad insists it is a waste as he is ONLY going to play football but for now he is doing gymnastics.

So that kind of quickly catches us up to now and I will try to be better about posting. It may just be for me since no one reads this but that is all right. I am learning!!

Summer

We are having a wonderful and relaxing summer. Or as relaxing as three kids can be. The month of July has been good.

Jayden has not started to walk yet but he is cruising all over the place. He is a joy and we are blessed to have him. He is a very happy baby and loves to talk (although we have no idea what he is saying). He talks way more than Tanner did but he isn't as able to get around and run the way Tanner was doing at this age. I guess it is true they are all different. Praise be to God - Jayden has been VERY healthy the past couple of months. It is a true answer to prayer! Jayden is truly an angel sent to us and I hope to soak him in completely!

Tanner is becoming such a smart little boy. He amazes me! He is able to play the Wii and the computer with very little help. He has a love for friends and making people laugh. Tanner has gone to a couple of VBS's this summer and truly LOVES it! He keeps asking when he is going to be 5 so he can play football (thanks Daddy!) He is growing so fast but he is just precious. He use to be on the wild side but he has definitely calmed down this summer. He still keeps you on your toes but he is a fun little kid!

Madison - well she got her haircut and truly looks like a GIRL! I can't believe she will be going into second grade next year. I was going through some pictures today and I couldn't believe how much she has grown. She has had a fun summer. She loves to go to the pool and she has had several play dates with friends. She even had a sleepover at our house with 4 girls! Wow- was that fun. She is in love with one of the Jonas brothers ... Kevin I do believe. Stephen tries to ignore that she is growing up :)

Stephen is doing great also. He works very hard at Forsyth and we miss him dearly when he is gone. I don't tell him enough but I appreciate what a wonderful nurse he is. He gives to everyone who he meets. We are blessed to be a family!

I will leave you with an old pic of Madison

Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet Jayden!!! Can it be that he is really a year. Oh it hurts my heart. It's my last baby - or atleast one that will call me Mommy. I love my kids!!!

Jayden had a great day. Madison and Tanner loved showering their baby brother with Happy Birthday love and kisses. They sang we decorated and we ate CAKE!!! It was a very nice day. Lord, thank you for giving me three of the best children ever. I am blessed beyond measure! Now, if the rest of you could just remind me that everyday :)

I am getting slack

Well I would love to say that life has just been boring ... well I guess it has.

Jayden has continued his health issues. Mid May he was having trouble breathing so I took him to the asthma doctor. While there his pulse oxygen dropped to an unsafe level so they sent us by ambulance to the ER. That was quite a trip. I was strapped to the gurney and he sat in my lap - for a Mom who gets motion sick this wasn't much fun :) Allison thought the idea of it was quite funny. Thankfully she was available to pick us up and take me back to our car. All of that coupled with high fevers we have been through the ringer.

It seems now his allergies are giving him a fit. He has drainage out of his eyes and nose but the new medicine seems to be helping.

He keeps us in motion. He is starting to cruise on everything - he is the sweetest baby. Just a blessing to have. One day we will get his health issues under control and he will just be able to be happy.

Tanner finished up preschool. He is a fish and loves to swim as much as possible. He is a great swimmer. He is impressive!! He is the child that will test our limits but he also is quick to tell you just how much he loves you. He is a jewel!

Madison is officially no longer a first grade girl. Where is my baby??? It is breaking my heart. She started Camp Merriwood today (she is missing the last two days of school). She loves it!! She has all ready decided she wants to spend the night on the optional Friday overnight. I am very proud of her. She is becoming a young lady and it is hard to watch!! Today while she was at her first day of camp, I cleaned out her room and bought a new chair. She was so excited - she loved it which of course made all the work worth it. Then later this evening she brought me some of her money and she said "Mommy, I want to give this to you - I said thank you, she then said "I wanted to give it to you to thank you for the chair" WOW - that was all I could say.

As for Stephen and I - we are hanging in there. Stephen is still at Forsyth and loving it and I am still at home loving my kids!

WOW - it's been a while

Well, it has been a very long time - and I have to try and think if anything exciting has even happened :)

Madison - she is wonderful! She was just in her spring musical at school. She was a monkey and they did the song Hakuna Matata from the Lion King. It was very cute. She is still playing soccer and is very good, if I don't say so myself. She is an angel and we couldn't love her more. She is such a big help with her brothers. She loves to stay up late and play with her Daddy any time she can. She is definitely a Daddy's girl!!!

Tanner - is crazy ole Tanner. He finished up his last swimming lessons. He did a great job. I think he will be sad when he figures out we aren't going back. He also finished up his first season of soccer. He got a gold medal which he really loved!! All in all he is a very sweet boy but he does love to test the waters - especially at bedtime.

Jayden - is growing like a weed. His newest trick is waving goodbye. He seems to be doing well with the tubes. So far there has only been one infection where we had blood and gunk pouring out his ear. He is sleeping through the night and taking two naps a day so I guess life is good!

Daddy was in a pro tournament (expensive if you ask Mommy) and unfortunately he did not win anything - he says he had fun though! He is still enjoying his job at Forsyth and works a gracious plenty.

Surgery

Jayden had his surgery this morning. Everything went well. He woke up around 3:30am and was very angry that I could not feed him (he was NPO after midnight). Therefore, Mom has been up since then. The doctor said everything went well. They did not find anything in his lungs which is great news but unfortunately means all his breathing issues are asthma and we will have to just deal with them. His right ear had what is known as glue ear (sticky fluid collects behind the eardrum. The fluid blocks the middle part of the ear and can cause impaired hearing.) So they got rid of that and put tubes in both ears.

Anyway, thats that in a nutshell. We are so thankful to God for getting us all through the procedure and now we just plan on a happy healthy summer for all the Clemmons' McLeods!

Almost .....

Well, we almost made it without the Rocephin shots.

Jayden had his pre-op today for his surgery on Monday. It took two hours!!! Tanner and Jayden were so good and sooo patient. 99% of the time was sitting doing nothing so I was very proud of Tanner. Jayden had been acting like he wasn't feeling good and by this afternoon he was running a 102 fever so off we went. He is asleep now and I pray that somehow we make it through the night.
My body and heart are soooo very tired. I know tomorrow will be better so maybe I should just end with this .... Lord, protect my children :)

Heather