Wow, I can't believe how much I have slacked off on updating my blog! This is insane. I am so behind.
I don't really feel like catching up on everything, so I will just feel in some blanks...some of them!
Justin has now been on 3 interviews and has about 11 more, as of right now. We are really happy with where we are sitting right now with the interviews and have really enjoyed learning about the programs around the country. It will be interesting to see how they all compare in the end. We have been enjoying his time off this month immensely. While he has been gone for interviews, when he is home, he gets to be home and I can't tell you how much I love that! It has been a welcome change.
Jaicie has been...while she has been...there are many things! She is a good kid and has super sensitive emotions. Sometimes it can be overwhleming, but for the most part she is a good kid. She is brilliant. She took the gifted and talented test yesterday and we will find out results in a few weeks, probably in January. She has gotten involved with the Destination Imagination group at her school and is doing a great job. She comes home from DI happier than any other day. You can really tell that she is enjoying it. She can be a back talker pretty bed, but I am sure that she is just taking after me. (I am sure my dad and brothers and sister agree!, in fact, they probably think I deserve it! :) )
Felicity is very strong willed. She knows what she wants and does her best to get it. Luckily for her, (or maybe us) her parents can be pretty strong willed too...Liccy is catching on to things so quickly. She has started to figure out putting letters together to make words. She can now spell and write her name completely on her own. She enjoys school and most days, can't wait to get there.
Collin is my little guy that is growing far faster than he should be. He is now 18 months, we will take him in for his check up hopefully tomorrow. He has finally taken off walking and running and climbing and anything else he can do with his feet. He loves our Christmas tree, especially the bells on it. He started speech therapy 2 weeks ago. Right now, he has really taken a hold of signing. We now have him signing more, eat, drink, all done, mom, dad, please, thank you, milk and I think a few others. He has started to sign them on his own, without even being prompted, which is what his therpist wants him to do. He is also saying a couple things--num for yummy, mom and dad, and of course no! but he really doesn't say much. We are hoping that he starts talking soon. We took him in for a hearing test, which couldn't rule out minor to moderate hearing loss. We know that it isn't anything more than that. But we have to go back in in 6-8 weeks, so in January, to get it all re-checked. It is possible that he had a bit of a cold and that is why the negative pressure was there. He also didn't hear the low tones on the test. Hopefully in January we will find out that his hearing is perfectly fine. But we want to make sure that we find out now if he does have a problem so we can figure out what we need to do to help him, learn sign language, surgery, or whatever it is that is necessary.
As for me, I am doing really well. I got a promotion at work recently. I am now one of the assistants at the Bodyworks Kids Club. As of now, I am really enjoying it. Justin told me this week that he was glad to see how happy I have been lately. I get to attend 2 more of Justin's interview trips with him. And we will be going on both sans children. It will be so wonderful! :) I am looking forward to our trips, even though, it will mean sitting around waiting for him to finish interviewing, it means that I can see a couple of the cities that we may end up moving into!
I think that about covers the catch up. This week will be lots of fun! A trip for Justin and I and all sorts of fun stuff!
Hope all is well with all of you!
Jaidi's Photo Gallery
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Give-4-Kids Extravaganza
Hey everyone, I am organize this event to raise money for the Children's Hospital at UMC. Take a look and if there is any way you can help out, please let me know. I know we are in Lubbock and a lot of you are somewhere else. But if you have any connections that might be able to help us out, please let me know! Here is the info for the event!
Having spent time in a hospital many times as a child, I personally know the benefits of these products and services. Children with various sicknesses and injuries will benefit greatly from the donations gathered through this event. They will have games to play, pictures to make, crafts to put together, movies to watch, and so much more.
The Give-4-Kids Lubbock Extravaganza will be held March 6, 2010 from 11am to 3pm at the new location for Bodyworks on 4th Street between Slide Rd and Loop 289. Admission for the event will be $5. During the event there will be a jumper and spider climber for kids to play in. I will also be arranging auctions and raffles, along with other games to participate in.
Donations of any form are welcome as I put together this event. I welcome and need items to auction and raffle, food items, games, and of course any financial support for this event. All proceeds from this event will be presented to the UMC Foundation to benefit the Children’s Hospital at UMC.
Please consider making a donation to help our event. Sponsorships are available as well, and will include your name and/or logo on advertising flyers. To make a donation, please contact Jaidi Clayton by email at give4kidslubbock@gmail.com or by phone at 806-787-8879 (please leave a voicemail message).
Thank you so much for your consideration and donations. I appreciate your generosity and kindness for the children of Lubbock and surrounding areas in the hospital.
The Give-4-Kids Extravaganza is an event I am organizing to raise money to benefit the Children’s Hospital at University Medical Center (UMC) in Lubbock. All money will be donated to the Children’s Hospital to be used for supplies, games, and products that the children can use while in the play room at the hospital.
Having spent time in a hospital many times as a child, I personally know the benefits of these products and services. Children with various sicknesses and injuries will benefit greatly from the donations gathered through this event. They will have games to play, pictures to make, crafts to put together, movies to watch, and so much more.
The Give-4-Kids Lubbock Extravaganza will be held March 6, 2010 from 11am to 3pm at the new location for Bodyworks on 4th Street between Slide Rd and Loop 289. Admission for the event will be $5. During the event there will be a jumper and spider climber for kids to play in. I will also be arranging auctions and raffles, along with other games to participate in.
Donations of any form are welcome as I put together this event. I welcome and need items to auction and raffle, food items, games, and of course any financial support for this event. All proceeds from this event will be presented to the UMC Foundation to benefit the Children’s Hospital at UMC.
Please consider making a donation to help our event. Sponsorships are available as well, and will include your name and/or logo on advertising flyers. To make a donation, please contact Jaidi Clayton by email at give4kidslubbock@gmail.com or by phone at 806-787-8879 (please leave a voicemail message).
Thank you so much for your consideration and donations. I appreciate your generosity and kindness for the children of Lubbock and surrounding areas in the hospital.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Shout Out
I just have to take a minute to send a serious shout out to my dear sweet husband (who probably won't even read this). Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 29 for the first time! I keep thinking of Grandma Thornock who has been 29 a few more times than I :) Anyway, back to my birthday-- First of all, I got to stay in bed later than usual, as he got up early to attend to the kids! When i finally dragged myself out of bed at 8:30 ( I know, how sad is it that 8:30 is sleeping in for me), I came into the kitchen to bacon, sausage and eggs and a belgian waffles cooking on our brand new belgian waffle maker. The old waffle maker that we had I got my freshman year of college before I moved away from home. Which makes it more than 11 years old. It cooked its last waffle a long time ago. We had been debating getting one for a while. And I got to wake up to belgian waffles without even asking for it!
I knew that Justin had things planned for me, but he wasn't telling me anything. turns out he planned a very nice romantic dinner for the two of us at home, without the kids. The girls went to a friends birthday party, and Collin conveniently went down for a much needed nap (he was sick all weekend). Justin and I enjoyed a candle lit dinner all cooked by Justin, including 5 courses! It was wonderful. We picked up the kids and came back home and spent a couple hours hanging out and then once the kids were all soundly tucked away in bed, we enjoyed watching Push.
I feel so utterly spoiled by Justin. He has always been a hopeless romantic. There has never been a time when I doubted his love for me. He is the perfect husband. I couldn't ask for a more perfect match for me. So, to Justin, my dear, I love you, and thank you for all you do for me!
I knew that Justin had things planned for me, but he wasn't telling me anything. turns out he planned a very nice romantic dinner for the two of us at home, without the kids. The girls went to a friends birthday party, and Collin conveniently went down for a much needed nap (he was sick all weekend). Justin and I enjoyed a candle lit dinner all cooked by Justin, including 5 courses! It was wonderful. We picked up the kids and came back home and spent a couple hours hanging out and then once the kids were all soundly tucked away in bed, we enjoyed watching Push.
I feel so utterly spoiled by Justin. He has always been a hopeless romantic. There has never been a time when I doubted his love for me. He is the perfect husband. I couldn't ask for a more perfect match for me. So, to Justin, my dear, I love you, and thank you for all you do for me!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Good News
It occured to me today that all though we got good news this week, I hadn't posted it on the blog...
I am ecstatic to report that Collin had a CT scan and a hearing test this week and both came back clear. He passed his hearing test and the CT Scan was clear. Though Collin is still behind on his walking and talking, there is no problems with his brain that is causing it. There were worries with his head size that hydrocephalus and a couple other issues could be present. But that CT scan was completely clear.
I had many people tell me that their kids didn't walk til they were 18 months. Collin not walking was not the problem in itself. The concern arose because of his head size and the changes on the growth chart percentiles. When his head size jumped a bunch of lines and then continued to, it was a cause for concern. His head growth has normalized now and hopefully it will continue to.
As of right now, we are going to begin working with ECI, specifically for his language development delays. Next Tuesday we will meet with a speech therapist with the Early Childhood Intervention program that works with children with devlopmental delays. Hopefully, she will be able to help us figure out why the delay is occuring and get Collin talking and hopefully (in a round about way) walking (though she is not specifically going to be working on that.
On a slightly different note, Collin has grasped onto signing pretty well lately. There are very few words that I know how to sign, so it is very little. But as of right now, we can identify him saying more, all done, thank you, and drink. He has also begun waving hello and goodbye, giving hugs, and blowing kisses. It is a work in progres...hopefully, we will both be able to pick up some more sign language. It has helped us give Collin what he wants. It is nice to be able to communicate back and forth with him.
Does any one have any tips on good places to go to learn sign language for free (ie websites, or books, or something). I have a couple more signs that I have learned and I am working with Collin on, but for now, our signs are limited!
Anyway, I just wanted to share our good news for the week. We couldn't say how happy we were to hear the news that his CT scan was clear. We were not interested in having to have him go through Brain surgery to fix any problems! :)
And I have to send out a special thank you to all of you that prayed for Collin. I cannot begin to tell you our gratitude. Prayers are clearly answered. I cannot attest to that even more in my life this week. So thank you for your prayers, and please let me know if I can ever return the favor!
I am ecstatic to report that Collin had a CT scan and a hearing test this week and both came back clear. He passed his hearing test and the CT Scan was clear. Though Collin is still behind on his walking and talking, there is no problems with his brain that is causing it. There were worries with his head size that hydrocephalus and a couple other issues could be present. But that CT scan was completely clear.
I had many people tell me that their kids didn't walk til they were 18 months. Collin not walking was not the problem in itself. The concern arose because of his head size and the changes on the growth chart percentiles. When his head size jumped a bunch of lines and then continued to, it was a cause for concern. His head growth has normalized now and hopefully it will continue to.
As of right now, we are going to begin working with ECI, specifically for his language development delays. Next Tuesday we will meet with a speech therapist with the Early Childhood Intervention program that works with children with devlopmental delays. Hopefully, she will be able to help us figure out why the delay is occuring and get Collin talking and hopefully (in a round about way) walking (though she is not specifically going to be working on that.
On a slightly different note, Collin has grasped onto signing pretty well lately. There are very few words that I know how to sign, so it is very little. But as of right now, we can identify him saying more, all done, thank you, and drink. He has also begun waving hello and goodbye, giving hugs, and blowing kisses. It is a work in progres...hopefully, we will both be able to pick up some more sign language. It has helped us give Collin what he wants. It is nice to be able to communicate back and forth with him.
Does any one have any tips on good places to go to learn sign language for free (ie websites, or books, or something). I have a couple more signs that I have learned and I am working with Collin on, but for now, our signs are limited!
Anyway, I just wanted to share our good news for the week. We couldn't say how happy we were to hear the news that his CT scan was clear. We were not interested in having to have him go through Brain surgery to fix any problems! :)
And I have to send out a special thank you to all of you that prayed for Collin. I cannot begin to tell you our gratitude. Prayers are clearly answered. I cannot attest to that even more in my life this week. So thank you for your prayers, and please let me know if I can ever return the favor!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Prayers for Collin
I know that this is not always the venue to ask for prayers, but right now, I feel like it would be best to ask. It isn't a huge deal, but it could end up being.
Collin's development has been delayed. It is very likely it is simply because he is a boy and he develops a little slower than our girls. And that is perfectly fine. But regardless, he is not 15 1/2 months old and doesn't walk or talk. He has mastered walking as long as he is holding on to something. When holding onto a hand he walks very wobbly, but if you let him go, he immediately drops to the ground. His talking consists of mamama, dadada, nanana...none of which is specific to anything. Obviously there are a lot of factors in all of this. It is very possible that he has a large heavy head (which he does) and as such, he can't hold it up well enough. But it is also possible that there is something else all together.
Here is where the prayers come in. Justin sat down with Collin's pediatrician because of his concerns for Collin. They came to an agreement that if Collin is not walking unassisteed by the time he turns 16 months, then we will do a CAT scan to make sure there are not other problems inside his skull. We hope to not have to do the CAT Scan at all. So we ask for your prayers for Collin's development to catch up just a little bit.
Again, it is possible that this is nothing. And I realize that there are plenty of kids who don't walk until they are 18 months. There is concern though, given Collin's delays and head size and shape. So please keep Collin in your prayers, and maybe throw in a prayer for peace for his mom and dad too! We could use it a little!
October 4, 2009 is the day Collin hits 16 months.
Collin's development has been delayed. It is very likely it is simply because he is a boy and he develops a little slower than our girls. And that is perfectly fine. But regardless, he is not 15 1/2 months old and doesn't walk or talk. He has mastered walking as long as he is holding on to something. When holding onto a hand he walks very wobbly, but if you let him go, he immediately drops to the ground. His talking consists of mamama, dadada, nanana...none of which is specific to anything. Obviously there are a lot of factors in all of this. It is very possible that he has a large heavy head (which he does) and as such, he can't hold it up well enough. But it is also possible that there is something else all together.
Here is where the prayers come in. Justin sat down with Collin's pediatrician because of his concerns for Collin. They came to an agreement that if Collin is not walking unassisteed by the time he turns 16 months, then we will do a CAT scan to make sure there are not other problems inside his skull. We hope to not have to do the CAT Scan at all. So we ask for your prayers for Collin's development to catch up just a little bit.
Again, it is possible that this is nothing. And I realize that there are plenty of kids who don't walk until they are 18 months. There is concern though, given Collin's delays and head size and shape. So please keep Collin in your prayers, and maybe throw in a prayer for peace for his mom and dad too! We could use it a little!
October 4, 2009 is the day Collin hits 16 months.
Residency Applications
Applications are in! Well actually, they have been in for a little while now. We submitted 40 applications. 35 of the programs have downloaded all the available documents for the application. NOw it is a lot of the waiting game. A lot of the programs don't send invites for interviews until NOvember. We have heard that there are some that invite the end of September, beginning of October. But there is no guarantee when invites will come. It is crazy to think though, that in about 8 months, Justin will be graduated and officially be Dr. Clayton. It has such a nice ring to it! Dr. Justin B. Clayton. Wow! I can't wait for that day. we have our favorite programs, and we have our not so favorite programs, but they are all in places we would be more than happy living. I have worked on gathering information on each of the locations. We have cost of living comparisons, and houseing comparisons and lots of other info. As Justin gets interviews, the list will continue to grow. There are some things that I am holding off doing too much research on until he gets interviews. Schools for the kids, locations to live in the city, jobs for me...those can all be researched once our list is being brought down a little bit. But I am excited. It is a new adventure in our lives. Thinking about all the places we could end up is wonderful. Boston, Rochester NY, Rochester MN, Lebanon NH, Dallas/Fort Worth TX, Houston TX...and so many more. All of them are wonderful places and I look forward to the upcoming months and to finding out where we will end up.
I can't tell you how proud I am of my dear Justin. He has worked so hard for his career and continues to do so. Aside from working to do well in his classes he has worked his butt off for his family. I carry so much gratitude for him and all he has done for me and for our beautiful children.
I love you forever Justin, Always and forever!
I can't tell you how proud I am of my dear Justin. He has worked so hard for his career and continues to do so. Aside from working to do well in his classes he has worked his butt off for his family. I carry so much gratitude for him and all he has done for me and for our beautiful children.
I love you forever Justin, Always and forever!
I am so Behind!
There is a lot that I could blog about today, but mostly, I want to share the pictures from the completion of my most recent project.
It took me a couple of weeks to get the sanding all done. It started out as a dark brown dresser, but it was old and beat up. I sanded all of the finish off and replaced the side panels. Once everything was done and put back together, I stained it with a beautiful maple finish. After a few coats of laquer, that is the finished product. It is no sitting in Collins room, filled with clothes. It is my big accomplishment. I am pretty proud of it, if I can gloat for a minute.
Anyway, the project was a lot of fun and has led me into other endeavors. I am currently working on drawings and stuff for a new headboard. Actually, just a head board, since we have never had one. I am kind of excited about it. It is going to be one of those cushioned head boards and it will have a wood frame, probably stained in maple like Collin's Dresser. The measurements are all done, and I think I have figured out all of the designs and everything. My good friend Julie is going to make one form her house too, so we are going to work on it together. My only challenge now is choosing a material that will coordinate with my blue bed. We will see how material shopping goes. I guess we will see how it goes...
It took me a couple of weeks to get the sanding all done. It started out as a dark brown dresser, but it was old and beat up. I sanded all of the finish off and replaced the side panels. Once everything was done and put back together, I stained it with a beautiful maple finish. After a few coats of laquer, that is the finished product. It is no sitting in Collins room, filled with clothes. It is my big accomplishment. I am pretty proud of it, if I can gloat for a minute.
Anyway, the project was a lot of fun and has led me into other endeavors. I am currently working on drawings and stuff for a new headboard. Actually, just a head board, since we have never had one. I am kind of excited about it. It is going to be one of those cushioned head boards and it will have a wood frame, probably stained in maple like Collin's Dresser. The measurements are all done, and I think I have figured out all of the designs and everything. My good friend Julie is going to make one form her house too, so we are going to work on it together. My only challenge now is choosing a material that will coordinate with my blue bed. We will see how material shopping goes. I guess we will see how it goes...
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