Too funny not to post

Hi Andrew, oh I mean Ceilidh, oh actually I mean Graeme! haha Isn't this hilarious? They both were losing their hair the exact same way at one month. There are definitely differences in their features; but they look a LOT a like. A lot like Andrew! Good thing I married a hot man! wink


Ceilidh


One month old Ceilidh


One month old Graeme (all the rest are)

Happy Birthday Lydia (Randy and Paul)!

Happy Birthday Aunt Lydia!! We love you so much! Ceilidh bugged me all day to call you! ha Hope you got our message. Happy late bday to Randy and Paul as well. You are loved just as much! It has just been a hectic month! wink Both of you will understand soon! ha Hope you had a great day Lydia!

One Month Photos

Blogspot will not let me edit the last post, so I will make a new one for the pics.

Milestones, Milestones

So both of my babies are hitting milestones today!

Little Graeme Carpenter is a month old today!! Can you believe it?! I can not. Some days I feel like we have never known life without him; and then others I feel like he was born this morning! ha He is definitely hitting that weird infant phase right now. ( I love my children... but I am an honest mom! ha) He looks like a mix of an eighty year old man (he is losing all his hair in the front); and a teenager (baby acne from his nose to his shoulders! ha). He is sleeping right now, hence the blogging; so I will update the blog with his 1 month photo later.

Miss Ceilidh Davis is also hitting a milestone (and explaining TONS of behavior issues) today. She is cutting the top two 2 year old molars!! Both of the top molars have broken skin, and the bottom two are a little swollen. Poor baby is miserable. She has chewed on EVERYTHING in site for the last week, and today has developed a runny nose with her already yucky cough. She actually took a nap today though, again, hence the blogging; which makes me want to leap for joy! ha

So... last night as we had a HORRIBLE time getting her to sleep, I sat down on the couch feeling sorry for myself and rationalizing my bad mood. I then looked down on the floor and saw "Karen," one of Ceilidh's "Little People" toys and wanted to cry thinking about how fast these milestones are going to keep coming. I hope I can continue to remind myself to live in the moment and take lots of pictures!

Side "bragging" note: Andrew and his "too cool for school" self, has once again rocked 3 more A's. One of his latest A's was on a group paper, that the Professor actually asked if she could distribute among her colleagues and use as an example for her other classes! Andrew's response was, "Only if we get a cut of the royalties when you publish it!" ha

Zion's going to be a big brother!!!

Yay for Paul, Lydia, and Zion! We got exciting news last night when Lydia called to tell us she is expecting. Baby Jack and Baby Collins will be born within month of each other. What fun for Lyd and Lauren to experience this together! I can't wait to know if we will be continuing the boy trend or welcoming a baby girl on the "Clendenin" side of my family! Only a month of suspense! We love all four of you!

Just a few pictures from the beach this weekend. Thanks again Debbie and Sam!!


HA!










Not my favorite... but at least we are all in it!

Fall break '09!

So this has been a great couple of days! Andrew has been on Fall break since 4pm on Wednesday, which means so has Cyndy, Ceilidh, and Graeme! ha Since Andrew would have more time at home, I decided to use the gift certificate Randy and Suzanne gave me to Aveda for my birthday. All I can say about the experience is THANK YOU!!!!!! I called to schedule my facial, and the woman told me that all facials were 20% off in the month of October. So.... I got a facial, a LONG overdue brow wax, and STILL have some money left on my card. Yes Randy, I found a deal... I know you are proud! wink The facial was AMAZING!!! It was 90 minutes of pure bliss. It was so awesome, that I even fell asleep for a minute or two. My aesthitican (sp?) and I were laughing at the guy in the room next to us, b/c he was in a full-blown snore. I told her I wasn't going to fall asleep b/c I didn't want to miss anything. HA I wasn't out that long.... but I definitely woke up with a snort/jolt which she and I both then responded to with uncontrollable laughter! I guess the lack of sleep really is catching up with me! Thanks again Randy and Suzanne!

Friday morning we headed out to spend the weekend at the beach. Nicole's parents, Sam and Debbie, graciously allowed us to stay at their beach condo. Thank you Sam and Debbie!!! We have really enjoyed ourselves! Graeme has enjoyed his first trip to the beach. He slept under an umbrella, and Ceilidh jumped waves all afternoon. They both were in heaven! Oceanfront views and sounds, days at the beach, Seafood Hut, and Dunkin Donuts... couldn't ask for a much better weekend! I will post pictures when we get home... I don't have the USB cord.

The other cool thing about this trip, was that I learned I might have a Jewish heritage (besides my spiritual Jewish heritage). We met an older gentleman on the beach that through talking, found out he was from Gastonia. Obviously we started taking about names since my parents live there, and he recognized my maiden name. He said, "Smoak... They are an Orangeburg, SC family name." I told him that my father's family is all from that area. I knew 'Smoak' was of German descent, but that is all I really knew. Well... according to this man, who is a self-acclaimed German lineage historian (ha), the surname Smoak, was actually 'Rauch' in Germany. It wasn't until Johann Rauch immigrated to Pennsylvania, and then to SC, did the name change. Rauch means smoke, which is where the translation came from. I think this is very cool, as I would love to be of blood Jewish descent. I need to do a bit more research to verify all this, but the preliminary search done on the internet last night verifies what the man said. Caitlin... I might have to start teaching you Hebrew now! HA

Anyway... I am just rambling now; but really what are blogs for if not for rambling. I will post pictures tomorrow.

Dean Dome party

Last Friday, Ceilidh and I decided to take a walk while Daddy and Graeme hung out a little. She grabbed her "rain stroller" (the umbrella stroller) and out we set off. It was beautiful weather, and she was having a blast finding leaves that had already changed colors. She is obsessed with finding leaves, rocks, flowers, anything nature-esque and giving it to Pops the next time we see him. I literally have to keep ziploc bags of leaves sitting around until we see him next. ha All of the sudden, we start hearing music coming from the Dean Dome. We decided to walk down to the Dean Dome and check out the "Late Night with Roy" festivities.

I wish that someone had been taping us! She was MESMERIZED! ha There were tons of people, loud music, a volleyball game going on, food, etc. Right up her alley! She was smiling from ear to ear and asking a million and a half questions. As we were walking around, an upbeat song came on and she told me, "Mommy, I LOVE this song!" ha She also told me, " I want to go to the Dean Dome party with Daddy!" Awww, so naturally I call Andrew and tell him. Andrew being the awesome Daddy he is, canceled his plans for the evening and took her back later that evening! He said she danced in her seat the whole night, and got the most excited about seeing Ramses drop from the ceiling. ha I think she enjoyed the chocolate ice cream as well!

I promise this will be the last incredibly long photo post! ha Most of these are from the October Birthday Bash.

update through pictures

Graeme is not happy with mommy blogging right now; so I will blog about Ceilidh and Daddy's adventure to Late Night with Roy later. I will just add a few pictures. Thanks for the matching Halloween outfits Grappy!

What a day!

So yesterday was one of the worst parenting, patience, marriage, and emotional days I think I have ever had. I was at my wits end by the evening... and if Caitlin and Susanna hadn't shown up right before dinner; I don't know what I would have done! Thank you girls... I know it was just a random trip; but God knew I would need you two last night!

Ceilidh has decided she doesn't need to nap anymore, and she is bucking her normal bedtime routine as well. She is completely resisting her naps, and will eventually settle down at night; but not before she has totally worn out my patience and sometimes her daddy's patience. I have had A LOT less patience with her and Andrew for that matter recently; so I did a lot of apologizing to her yesterday as well. frown She always says, "I give you mommy." (forgive you! ha) I had to apologize a couple times to Andrew as well, as I wasn't very gracious to him either. She colored on the wall, peed on the floor, fought all sleep all day, and is coughing like a seal barks. I spanked her way more than I wanted to, didn't give her any lee-way, and tried to make her do what I wanted just for my convenience, instead of trying to figure her out. I definitely didn't want to be the parental figure; I would much rather have been the one kicking and screaming on the floor. Being so exhausted, poor Andrew did not get a very friendly welcome home after an eleven hour day at his practicum. All in all, the day stunk.

But today is a new day, and God's mercies are new every morning! I am intentionally staying calm and patient today. I am intentionally remembering that she is 2. Yes, she will be disciplined when needed; but I want to be a parent of grace rather than condemnation. Parenting is hard. I need a lot of prayer and practice! ha

So to encourage our new attitudes today; I leave you with these pictures!


She literally asked Andrew "Why can't I color on the wall?" If you think about it, it is a pretty legit question for a 2 year old! ha

Randomness and pictures

Well, when you are couped up in the house due to childbirth and rain... you start thinking about random things. Does anyone else have a problem keeping their silverware tray clean? I promise I always wash our silverware before I put it up, but the bottom of the tray always seems to get stuff on the bottom. I post this, hoping it won't deter you from eating with us again! wink I rinse everything off before we use it; I just don't understand where the "stuff" comes from. Am I the only weird one that this happens to, or does anyone have any tips for me?

This morning while we were doing a morning nursing, I got an overwhelming desire to jump inside Graeme's swaddled blanket with him. Can you imagine!? Ah.... I could sleep for days swaddled like that! ha Again... am I the only weird one; or have you secretly desired to curl up snug and tight? ha

Well, just a few cute pics.




Thanks Steph! I love my adorable elephant!




She is already reading to him! ha