The ULTIMATE Craigslist Story So Far....

Ok...so I am a bit excited, but I LOVE having Rob home on the weekends with me. It makes things so much easier to handle. I LOVE the girls.
Today was an interesting experience...For those of you Craigslister finders, you'll appreciate this one. I went to pick up a table/chairs for the girls. Cheap $7.00 Winnie the Pooh and friends one that I don't have to worry about them coloring on, etc. Anywho, I am driving there and an ambulance passes me, but it wasn't going toward any hospital; it was going away. Well...I kept driving my merry way to this lady's house. When I got there, I found out where the ambulance went! And there was a fire truck too!! So...of course I am not going to go knock on the door and say, "Excuse me? Where is my Winnie the Pooh table?" Too funny. So, I headed toward Meijer for bottle liners, yogurt, fruit, and lettuce (just thought you should know my shopping list!). And, in Meijer, I had to go potty....So...I am going potty and my phone rings!! McKenzie abruptly says, "Mama! Phone!! Mama!! Phone!!" Yes, your toddler is not ashamed to say anything in a public restroom. So....I pick it up. Here is how the conversation goes...P.S. The lady's name is Liz.
Liz: Hello? Kelli?
K: Yes?
L: Um...I was just wondering if you were picking up the table and chairs?
K: Well...yes...I was planning on it, but there were emergency vehicles in front of your house when I came by.
L: Yes, well...my 2 year old fell and had cut her lip open and I couldn't stop the bleeding. So, I called 911 and told them they didn't have to come, they just had to tell me how to stop the bleeding. They said they had to send someone anyway....
K: Ok...Well, I am in Meijer right now.
L: How long are you going to be?
K: I don't know...maybe an hour?
L: Can you make it faster?
K: I'm sorry?
L: Can you make it faster? I have bills to go pay and a few errands to run.
K: Well, I can try...I'll see you as soon as I can.
So...here I go rushing through Meijer grabbing produce, yogurt, bottle liners, etc. and reach the front only to have THE SLOWEST CASHIER POSSIBLE. All the while, Kylie starts screaming for who knows why and McKenzie wants her "goldfishies", which I left in the car.....
So...we finish checking out and I go into the bathroom AGAIN to change Kylie diaper and she burps too (which explains the crying). Then, I go to the car and call Liz to tell her..."I'm on my way!" P.S. It's been 45 minutes.
She says, "Oh, that's OK...I'm not going anyway today."
WHAT?????????????
Then, she says, "I went downstairs to grab laundry for my kids and my washer had overflowed and my basement if flooded.
And I thought I was having a bad day.......................
All in the life of a mommy.....

McKenzie's Potty Songs

We are hoping for McKenzie Grace to get potty trained sometime soon.

Back on the horse...err...elliptical! :)

Well...I am officially back on the ranks of exercising!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!! After nearly three years of babies and births, I have gotten the chance to begin a "regular" exercise routine again. I am soooo excited. This is what motivates me...sweating :) I love it and it inspires me to do many other things.

Tomorrow, I am taking the girls to the mall because this winter is for the birds. I cannot stand it anymore. I just want to play outside!!! I will NEVER complain about heat or humidity this summer, and if I do, make sure you tell me that I complained about the winter :) As you can see in the pictures below, you can se McKenzie couldn't wait to get outside so this weekend when it was warm, we put her in her "rocket" swing... :)

We are all doing well. Kylie is sleeping on my chest right now and it's just so cute. I work online in 25 minutes and McKenzie is upstairs watching Dora (again) and Rob is working on the cupboard in the kitchen that he built. He's so handy :)

So...we are doing good. Counting the days until McKenzie's 2nd birthday party with her friends from playgroup and church. Can't wait!! :) All is well. More later when life gets a bit more exciting. :) Hope you all had a GREAT Easter :)

Happy Weekend is Here!!!

Well...it's Easter! How fast this approached us! It's Friday night and we're actually waiting for McKenzie to wake up so that we can go out on a family date to Starbucks and Babies R Us. I know it's crazy, but we were supposed to go at 6:00, then she got crabby and tired and fell asleep. I *think* we'll still at least hop in the car for a Starbucks run. :) I'm craving their oh-so-yummy hot chocolate :)
So...life is still good. I work tomorrow night for Tutor.com and then I am working one hour every night next week. We're seeing if it works better for Rob and me to have me work just one hour a day? Who knows.
So...that's life in a nutshell. We're planning a few playdates for next week, but nothing out of the ordinary! :)
We'll write more as life gets more exciting :)

McKenzie dances herself Dizzy

Heading into the homestretch....

Well...Kylie is doing MUCH better sleep-wise. She stayed up until 11:15 with me last night, but then didn't wake up until 4:00!! My husband (my sweet, wonderful husband) got up with her and I got to go back to bed. I have to say we've been blessed with sleep in this house. The problem now is getting McKenzie to sleep through the night again! She has been up and up and up since Kylie's been born. I pray every night that she would find peace in her sleep. If you know me at all, I have to say McKenzie's sleep schedule fell pretty far off of my tree :)

Overall, things are going great. I work again tonight at Sylvan and online on Saturday for four hours. I am excited to be able to contribute to the income and keep teaching. I have to admit, I drove past my old school today and there was a bit of longing in my mind for what I am not doing for this season in my life. But, I know God's plan is for me to stay home with my girls and I take comfort in that. I will return to teaching when Kylie's in school and I look forward to it. I also look forward to *hopefully* another opportunity to return to the community college where I taught last fall. :) We'll see what God's plan is :)

Rob has been so supportive of this co-parenting thing. :) We're getting there. The other day, I mentioned how with one child, you still each have a bit of your own independence, but with two, it's totally a tag team scenario. I am sure it will get easier when Kylie can actually play with McKenzie, but for now, we're still a tag team.... :)

Here are some new pictures, including the girls in their matching PJ's that Aunt Brookie got them! :) The are adorable! :)

Another night of sleep....maybe?

Kylie has a cold. She's stuffy and I think she feels yucky. As hard as I tried, she got it from me. My cold developed and grew and grew. It was horrible. I feel horribly that I most likely gave it to her :( She is so little. But, I am feeling better thanks to antibiotics and Sudafed....It's odd, though, like once every 2-3 hours, I'll come up with this random smoker-like cough.....

She is sleeping horribly at night. I don't even know how little I have slept, but I am dying to go to bed!!! I am hurting today :)

So...it's 10:08 and I have a double screen open up here while I am working on Tutor.com. Aaah...the benefits of at-home working :) Actually, I'm either waiting for a slow student to type or I am just waiting for a student. Either way, it's not that bad :) I work at Sylvan next Thursday night again. That's my new night there. McKenzie Grace starts swimming lessons with daddy on April 7th. I am very excited to go and watch :) We also are planning her 2nd birthday party for April 12th. It's just going to be a friend party, but I better get my butt in gear to do that.

So..that's the latest. Not really that exciting. If you read this far, I am impressed :) Have a great weekend!

Life resumes a sense of normalcy....

Well...life is slowly getting back to normal here. The biggest transition has been for McKenzie, but she is doing great. Kylie is sleeping much better at night and I usually only get up 3 or 4 times, so that's pretty good!
The week after Kylie was born (hence the delay in posting), the flu bug hit Rob and McKenzie pretty hard! It was awful, but all glory goes to God for keeping Kylie and me healthy! Now, I am battling the colds of all colds and once again praying for God to keep my littlest girl safe and healthy. I am washing my hands so much they are starting to dry out and crack!
Other than that, I am busy learning how to balance a house with two little ones running around. It seems like nothing is ever picked up, cleaned, or done the way it used to be :) Oh well. I also started "working" again. I am back at Sylvan on Thursday nights and every other Saturday. I am also back to my online tutoring job, with Rob's help :) He watches the girls while I tutor and try and "bring home some bacon". Overall, it's going really well. We're still learning, but isn't that what parenting is all about? :)
Rob turned 40 on Friday! It's a big deal. I am amazed at how great he looks for his age ;) I think it has a lot to do with his younger wife :) But, seriously, we're grateful for every second God gives us in life --- and together.
So...Kylie goes to the doctor tomorrow for her one month check-up. I can't believe it's here already! My, how time flies! We are excited to get out of the house for a bit. Everyone has been so kind to us to bring us food and visit and all of these wonderful presents. We can't keep up with the thank you cards, but we're trying! :) As always, you are always welcome to come and visit and meet our newest Clifton. Just shoot us an email or give us a call.

More Visitors

Grandpa & Grandma Clifton

More Cramptons and husbands

Great Grammee Divish

Boppa (Grandpa) Crampton

Grandma Crampton!

We've enjoyed a lot of visitors to the house lately. Here are some pictures!