Oh No The Big 3-0!

On Saturday, December 12th we celebrated Jonathan's 30th birthday! We surprised him! It was a lot of fun! It was also the babies first night away!!!! They slept over at Gabby and Papa's house! Jonathan and I slept in until 8:15..whoohoo! I can't remember the last time I slept that late! I know it was before I was pregnant! Anyway, here are some pictures from the party.

SURPRISE!!!

We decorated each table with pictures of Jonathan growing up

Happy Birthday!

Luke and Madison are so blessed to have such a great, young :) daddy!

They partied till they dropped! Madison fell asleep on Uncle Ryan

Luke fell sleep on my Uncle Greg :)

*2 more new posts below

Colds, Colds, Go Away!

These past few weeks have been a bit crazy for the Clayton's household! A few days after Thanksgiving I heard Luke wake up on the monitor and I thought a dog was in their room barking! The croup had arrived! Poor guy sounded awful! You could hear every breath in and out and when he coughed or sneezed it sounded like a dog or seal. I finally took him to the doctor Monday night and they were very concerned about him. They gave him a steroid shot and had me stay in the office for a while to keep an eye on him. Later that week Dr. Jones told me that he was so concerned that if Luke's oxygen level was not up he was about to call the ambulance. Luke stayed on steroids for several days. Later that week both Luke and Madison got their first cold. Not fun! We had about 2 weeks of restless nights. We still have runny noses but I think we are on the tail end of it. We went from only going to the doctor for well visits to going 3 times in a week and a half! Luke was put on breathing treatments for the croup. They both have been troopers!! Their sweet smiles never fade! In the midst of all of that Jonathan had to travel to Canada for business for almost a week and I was trying to plan his 30th birthday party! Crazy times! Here are some fun pictures from the beginning of December :)

Luke getting his breathing treatment. It breaks my heart! The only way I can get him to sit still to get the whole 10 minutes worth is to watch Baby Einstein! Madison is there for support :)

Learning to share

Sweet, funny boy!

Madison is pulling up on everything she can!

Playtime with Daddy when he gets home from work

This girl loves her passy!

Jonathan says Luke's cheeks are getting so heavy it is weighing him down! He can't even hold his bottom lip up anymore...HA!

Luke now has 2 teeth!!! This picture only shows one but the 2nd one came in not long after!

7 Months Old

Tis the season to be busy! I do love this time of year! I love what it means and how you get to spend so much time with family! We enjoyed the babies first Thanksgiving with my family on Thursday then Jonathan's family on Friday! Of course my battery was dead to my camera when we got to my aunts house so I do not have any pictures of them on Thanksgiving day...Boo! I did charge it for Friday! Here are some other fun pictures of what we have been up to lately :)

Mark (Jonathan's brother), Neely, Noah, Micah, Luke and Madison

Nanny Harris with the grandkids

Luke and Madison opening up their first Christmas presents!!!

We celebrate Christmas with Jonathan's brother and family because they live in Alabama

Madison's happy spot! She just wants you to hold her hands and walk her around!!

The day we lowered the pack-n-play!

We were trying on different outfits to get ready for our Portrait Innovations photo shoot for Christmas cards.

They turned 7 months old on November 30th. Notice it still has the tags on it :)

Oh happy day!

Holiday Traditions

As the holidays are quickly approaching I have been thinking about wanting to start holiday traditions with Luke and Madison. I would love to start something this year and continue each year. So, what are your holiday traditions?? It can be for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or both! I would love to get some ideas and steal them (J/K) :) I have heard of giving and ornament each year, new pajamas on Christmas Eve, baking Jesus a cake, opening one gift Christmas Eve, and for Thanksgiving saying one thing you are thankful for at the Thanksgiving dinner.

Add a comment below (or you can just email me tigerfaith03@yahoo.com) and tell me what your traditions are! Thank you ahead of time for sharing! It's always fun to see who replies...who knows...you may get some new ideas!

Go Zack!

Jonathan's cousin, Zach Faircloth plays for Presbyterian College. They played Clemson on Friday night and Furman Tuesday night. Just Jonathan and I went on Friday night but we took the babies on Tuesday night. We had a lot of fun watching him play! He is a great ball player!

He scored 14 points against the 24th ranked Clemson!

He has a beautiful shot!

Uncle Billy and Laura...we enjoyed seeing them!

Go Uncle Zach!!!

Madison could not keep her eyes off the game! She watched them go up and down the court and loved all the action!

We were able to get together for dinner over the weekend while they were in town. Justin, Jonathan's nephew, put his Bass Pro Shop hat on Luke. Next thing we know he will be taking him hunting and fishing!

Uncle Billy with Luke

*I have another post below! Check it out :)

Sweet Blessings

Here are just a few pictures I have taken so far this month. They are starting to scoot around and Madison can get up on all fours but then she just collapses. It is one of those things that I am not exactly sure why we are encouraging it! I know once the crawling starts the real fun begins!

We can't express enough what a blessing these sweet babies are to us. As we approach Thanksgiving my heart feels more and more grateful to our wonderful God who chose us to be parents! I love Christmas but I don't want to miss what Thanksgiving is all about! I want to enjoy November....Thanksgiving...family...fall.

No teeth yet, but the spit is out of control!

She is a wiggle worm! I was changing her diaper and when I finished I just let her wiggle. She turned over, then sideways, then almost over the table trying to find her brother!

I thought this was so sweet. It looks like Luke is laying in her lap.

Peek-a-boo! Madison has figured out how to pull down the bumper pad a peek out!

I am thankful for sweet smiles and laughs!

Checking you out

I was trying to cut out coupons the other day with Madison in my lap (yea, I know, not a good idea) and she kept grabbing the papers. I finally just put her down with a piece of paper and she went to town! I tried to keep the passy in her mouth so she wouldn't eat any of the paper! It is amazing what entertains them!

Raggedy Ann and Andy

Happy Halloween from Raggedy Ann and Andy!

6 Months Update

On October 30th, Luke and Madison turned 6 months old! I counted over and over to make sure that was right and it was! I feel like so much has changed in the past month! They are now enjoying squash, carrots, peas, pears, papaya, mango, bananas, oatmeal, and rice cereal! They are still doing great nursing too! They are rolling all over the place and doing really well sitting up. They love to make noises and laugh! It has to be the best sound in the world! Jonathan and I are really enjoying this stage! They light up when you walk in the room and they love to play peek-a-boo and hear books being read to them. We love to sing songs and go on walks. They have grown so much! Last night I was organizing clothes they have grown out of to go in the attic and I pulled out all of Madison's premie clothes!!!! I could not believe she actually wore those! And to think they were big on her! They looked like doll clothes!!! We feel so blessed to have 2 healthy babies! We give all the glory to God who is allowing us to learn selfless love and complete joy! Enjoy the pictures and come back soon for Halloween pictures!!! They were Raggedy Ann and Andy- ADORABLE!

Luke

16.2 Pounds

26 Inches Long

Madison

14.5 Pounds- They have stayed 2 pounds apart since birth

25.5 Inches Long

One of my favorite pictures of Madison!!

Who was she looking at?? Her daddy! This little girl LOVES her daddy! She lights up when he walks into the room!

Big pimpin'! Luke wearing his Puma outfit that my dad got him! What a stud!

Now that Madison has learned how to sit up that is all she wants to do! She likes to play with Luke's feet! This was fun and cute until he got excited and gave her a swift kick right in the mouth! Oops!

Learning how to share toys...this ball is one of their favorites!

I love this picture because she started off facing the toys on the left. I finished bathing Luke, took him in his room to get clothes on him, and when I came out this is where she was! I need a fence! I can't take my eyes off this rolly polly!

Luke's new way of swinging! It makes me a little nervous because it looks like he is about to tip out! He enjoys it :)

Luke sitting up!

Madison sitting up!

Have I mentioned Madison is our WILD WOMAN! This is her new trick. It is like London Bridges! She loves to get up on her toes and head! Really funny! She is getting close to crawling!

Yum, yum food!

Happy 6 Months Luke and Madison!

We love you so much! We have enjoyed every moment!