Today is the day!

From the moment he woke up to the moment he went to bed, today was a special birthday for Payton. He awoke this morning to the kitchen table decorated with Thomas balloons, a birthday cake and a few little gifts. Of course we had to continue the Clements tradition of eating birthday cake and toast for breakfast on his birthday (boy, does he like this tradition!). After school and a good nap, he got to open a few more little gifts (see picture of the whoopie cushion) and choose where we went for dinner. Of course he chose the fine dining establishment called "Chuck E. Cheese." (Sidenote: why do kids love this place so much?!? It's dirty, loud, and the pizza is terrible... but I digress...)

After we got home from Chuck E. Cheese he got to have more cake - this time with candles in it and a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" sung in two very different keys by his loving parents.

Now it's time for my big 4-year-old to head off to bed. I cannot believe it's been 4 years since I was in the hospital and got to see his precious face for the first time. As my Aunt Cheryl recently said, "Don't blink, it will all go by so fast"... boy is she right. Happy Birthday my precious angel.

Happy Birthday Week Payton!

Birthdays are a BIG deal in our house. Brian doesn't really understand this. Fortunately, he's learned to accept my crazy ways and is now willing to participate in the "Hoopla" that surrounds birthdays in our house.

It all began when I was a little girl and my mom always made a big deal out of my birthday. I think she was afraid that since my birthday is only 4 days after Christmas, it would be forgotten and lost in all of the holiday madness. So every year, she made sure all my birthday gifts were wrapped in birthday wrapping paper - even though the Christmas wrap was much more easily accesible at that point. She always made me a cake, and always, ALWAYS had a party for me.
So, since I have such fond memories of these special birthday experiences, I want to provide the same for my family.

Today, Payton got to stand up in front of his preschool during chapel and have everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to him and all the other students who are celebrating a birthday this week. He was so proud!

Tomorrow we will bake cookies for him to bring to school on Wednesday and I'll also make his birthday cake for Wednesday (his actual birthday). Stay tuned for more birthday celebration photos...

The Beach in Winter

Even though it's snowy and cold in many parts of the country, it's still possible for us Floridians to hit the beach this time of year. So, this weekend we put on our jeans and sweatshirts and headed out to the beach for a sunset picnic in the back of our SUV. It was a little chilly, but still just as beautiful. Payton didn't seem to mind the cooler weather as he just kept asking if he could go swimming.

So just remind me of these Florida weather "perks" in September when it's still 100 degrees out.

First Soccer Experience

Payton has finally chosen to be a part of the most elite sport that there is... soccer! I'm not partial to the sport or anything (wink, wink). But it is the only sport in our area that he can register for at 3-years old.


(he's the one in the blue hat in these photos)

He had his first practice/game a couple weekends ago and boy, was it entertaining. At first he was scared, then he started having fun, then he cried a lot (couldn't understand why the other kids were running away from him and not letting him play with the ball), and then he really started having fun just as the game was over.
World Cup... here we come! (check out the video below!!)

Don't Come In Da-Ma-House!

Brian has taught Payton how to put the "smack down" on football players. Check it out...

Relatively quiet... except for the Super Bowl

Sorry it's been a while since I last posted something. Things have been pretty quiet around here the past few weeks... which has been a nice change of pace. The only traveling we've done is driving over to Bradenton to see Brian's family... and Payton spent the night there by himself (well, without his parents that is) for the first time. He had a ball of course and apparently behaved very well as they have invited him back "anytime!" Gotta love the grandparents!



As most of you probably know, the Super Bowl is taking place here in Tampa this weekend. Although we're not going, we are enjoying all the "hoopla" that surrounds the event. Brian and Payton are going to the "NFL Experience" tonight (I'll post photos from that later). And even though I know that the two teams playing in the Super Bowl are the Steelers and the Cardinals... I think my husband still thinks the Bears might have a chance. As you can see from the photos below, he has been in full "Chicago Bears" mode lately. He busted out his 1985 Mike Ditka t-shirt and put it on Payton complete with the slicked-back Ditka hair. He also dug out his starting line up figurines that he used to play with when he was a kid. He's taught Payton that the "Packers are BAD" and the "Bears are GOOD." It's hysterical to watch them play with them together. I'll also have to post a video of Payton pretending to tackle Brian on the bed as he pretends he's a Bears player and Brian is a Packers player. Boys will be boys...

We've got the house decorated for Valentines Day and Payton keeps reminding me that it looks so nice because "it's all in your favorite color, Mommy... PINK!" He thinks Valentines is a celebration of the female gender since it's all in pink and red... oh wait... I guess it kind of is for women, huh?

So to end this post on a funny note, Payton has recently discovered that his finger fits quite conveniently in his nostrils. So, the nose-picking has begun. He is constantly holding up his finger with a nice "prize" on it and telling me "Mama, I need a tissue!" Except for the other day when I saw him picking away in the rear-view mirror in the car and said, "Hold on honey, let me get you a tissue." Of which he replied, "Don't worry Mama, I just wiped it on my shorts." Lovely, eh???

New Year, New Experiences...

2009 started off with a bang. Well... maybe it was more of a "blah" than a "bang." As most of you know, Payton was hospitalized with a dangerous strain of strep throat. It started off with symptoms similar to a stomach virus, and since we knew several of our friends had been hit with a similar virus, we thought he would turn around fairly quickly. However when he couldn't keep down even a tablespoon of water, we knew he needed to be rehydrated... and quickly.

We headed to our local Children's Hospital emergency room where they quickly got us set up in the ER with IV fluids and medicines to help bring down his fever. But after 2 bags of fluids and several doses of medicines, it was clear that it was more than a stomach bug. He was still very lethargic and could barely keep his eyes open. So, they decided to admit him to the Children's Hospital.

Thank God (literally) that we decided to go ahead and stay the night at the hospital because his fever came back with a vengeance that night and didn't go away. Then, he broke out in a terrible rash all over his body that made him itch like crazy. So the nurse went ahead and gave him a strep test - even though he NEVER had a sore throat, or even a very red throat for that matter.

The strep test came back positive and they immediately started him on some heavy-duty IV antibiotics. After about 12 hours on the antibiotics, he started to turn a corner and his fever finally broke. After three days in the hospital, we were finally released to go home.

I tell ya... nothing can prepare you for seeing your child laying in a hospital bed hooked up to IVs with a serious illness. It was awful. But at the same time, the hospital staff were amazing. They were so nice are caring. I can't really remember much about the doctors, as they were in and out in just a couple of minutes. But the nurses were incredible.

So... after that adventure, we are happily enjoying our normal little life again. Payton was finally able to go back to school this week, and all of us are healthy again... for the moment at least. :)

P.S. Sorry for the poor picture quality... they were taken on Brian's camera phone.