Over the River and through Graceland to Grammy's House We Go!

We are on our way to visit Grammy in Arkansas! We stayed in Memphis at a hotel (we will not mention the name for fear we may be banned). It was the first time we've stayed in a hotel as a family. Here's a little preview of how it went. Arrive at 8:00 pm CST - 1 1/2 hours past bedtime. One king size bed, one couch, and two pack and plays. All four of us slept in the bed. After a restless night, our early risers were eager to see the King's mansion but we had 3 hours to burn before the gates opened. We managed to fill our time with Wilson getting his arm stuck in an automated door, going to the bathroom on the floor and playing mummy with the toilet paper. Sorry housekeeping - this makes up or all the times I traveled for work and left a pristine room.

 

Finally we depart and leave behind only a mess you would find after a raging frat party. We get to Graceland early enough to beat the crowd! I now know why children under three are free- they DON'T CARE! Their favorite part of the tour was the shuttle ride to and from the mansion. The highlight was when the bus driver turned on the windshield wipers. Of course we all had to have a pair of Elvis glasses!

I think the folks at Graceland were happy to say "Clara and Wilson have left the building"!

In Between the Holidaze

Well, I guess it's been a minute since our last blog entry. We'll post a more detailed update on how the kids are progressing developmentally, but below is brief picture recap of the last six months. Enjoy! 



Clara and Wilson had special seats for their first McGarvey / Morgan family
Christmas Eve Dinner.



Although they often enjoyed the wrapping paper more than the gifts,
it didn't take long for them to figure out how to open their presents.

Clara got a little too wild during dinner on New Year's Eve
and crashed before the ball dropped.

Chris "Martha Stewart" McGarvey decided to get creative with the
Valentine's Day decorations.

Ok, it looked better on Pinterest.

Fortunately St. Patty's Day wasn't as wild for Miss Clara as New Year's Eve,
but she still partied in style!

Horse racing definitely qualifies as a holiday in Kentucky and Clara and Wilson
attended their first Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland. Sure, we never made it inside,
but at least they got to see the horses.



This year Clara and Wilson were healthy enough to attend their
first Easter service. They even walked up to the front for the children's sermon.

Clara and Wilson made everyone happy on Mother's Day

And Clara and Wilson made their first trip to Missouri over Memorial Day

In between the Holidays . . .

We had new adventures

Made new friends

Played new games



Made new fashion statements



Went new places

Tried going new places

Continued to laugh

Cry

And help each other out along the way.

20 months

Between chasing two quick toddlers, making meals, working, and trying to keep up with friends, blogging has fallen by the wayside. We have lots of cute pictures and some really funny videos we need to post. Gabriel and Mary Helen spent Christmas again with us this year and we had a truly magical holiday! Clara and Wilson continue to progress very well in their development. Clara is walking now (that happened in December). They are both starting to talk; we understand "wawa" means water, "gaga" means I want to hear Lady GaGa's "Edge of Glory" again for the one hundred twenty-fifth time today (thank you Uncle David for giving Clara a dance CD - oh well, I guess it could be worse). Their little personalities are really shining and I think these two pictures best capture the true essence of Wilson and Clara.

Wilson loves to pretend cook. His specialty is soup! The spatula is hot commodity in our house. We have lost three spatulas to Wilson's cooking in the past four months.

I don't even know where to start with this picture. Clara loves to be naked so the onesie  was a compromise. The pink thing around her neck is a headband. She is a big fan of hats but apparently not headbands. She is a really funny toddler and we're pretty sure she knows it.

PS - Happy New Year!

Gratitude

For a week with little sleep, lots of laughs, not very many showers, meals and snacks, a few bottles of wine, an escape to / catch up with my friend Elizabeth, sweeping, Swiffering, cleaning the countertops, naps, strollers, smiles, animal sounds, diapers, toys that make sounds, sleepy eyes, and love...

Gratitude.

For great friends that let me stay with them and play with their kids, for their family that welcomes me on Thanksgiving, for friends that let me drive their car to escape to Elizabeth's, for the excitement that this home gives, for how peaceful and boring my house will be when I go home tomorrow...

Gratitude.

For friends that are like family, for food, for wine, for laughter, for love, for health, for life...

Gratitude.

With love,
CT

The Little Things

If you see Clara & Wilson in person, you probably know these things already. But for those of us that don't see them regularly, these are the little things that [I think] make them, them.

Here goes...ladies first.

Clara loves:

• MUSIC. There is an iPod dock in the kitchen. If you are in the kitchen and the music is not on, she makes sure you know to turn it on. Yesterday when I turned to turn it on, she screamed "yay!" Her favorite song is Superstition by Stevie Wonder. When she dances, she raises her right hand in a kind of fist pump notion. It.is.hysterical.
• HATS. She repeats "ha" a bazillion times a day and wants to wear a hat pretty much all the time. Any hat will do, she just wants one on her head.
• THE PHONE. She puts her hand up to her ear and pretends to talk on the phone, whether you are or not. 
• GIRLY STUFF. Pink, Auntie CT's necklace, other jewelry, anything that is girly.

Wilson loves: 

• CHARMING YOU. He will smile really big, say hi from the back of his throat, and charm you like there's no tomorrow.
• USING HIS HANDS. Specifically to ask for more food when he wants it (or push away food when he doesn't want it). He also puts up the "I don't know" hands. The other day they were in their eating seats and Clara was causing some ruckus. I asked Wilson what she wanted, and as if on cue, he put up his "I don't know" hands. Of course I started cracking up. 
• MOVING FAST. Seriously the boy is so fast. He walks like he's in a race, he goes from one toy to the next, or from eating something to putting his hand into something else.
• SHOWING YOU HOW SMART HE IS. The other day we were in the playroom and I was lying down. He pushed my head up, then my arm up because he wanted me to sit up. Then he took my hand and made me start clapping. When I was done clapping he wanted me to play the drum, so he made me do that. All of this, of course, is done with that charming smile on his face.

And those are The Little Things about Clara & Wilson.

With love,

CT

Oh Wednesday...

Here's how this went. I slept late (see previous posts about how I sleep a lot). And I felt really bad.

Kids napped.

We went to Whole Foods. Obviously one of my favorite places on earth. CD was off getting milk and eggs while the kids and I took our time examining the eye creams in the body section. Then we meandered over to the bars (as in the kind you eat, not the kind that serve alcohol) to load up on Banana Bread LARABARS because my Trader Joe's doesn't have that kind and they are my fave. While deciding if I were going to buy a few or a whole box, a man told me that he has 20-year-old twins and they are best of friends. I talked to the man and kind of pretended that C&W were mine. Whoops.

We came home and ate lunch, and then the kids had story time, color time, music time.

Reading their new book from Mimi and Mac 

Music time on his own piano

Guess he needs both pianos to play! 

A great concert

So then they nap and I ask CD, "what do you want me to do?" Although I wanted her to say "take a nap!", I should have known what she would really say: pick up. The playroom, the kitchen, the floors, basically anywhere two little ones have been!

That's all she wrote for right now.

CT

A Tuesday Fail

It's true, I fell asleep just now. The good news is that the kids were also asleep.

But now everyone is awake and I'm attempting to squeeze in a post about yesterday. Because (guess what?) I was too tired to do it last night. Evidently I sleep a lot.

So Tuesday...

The morning was normal, and then, as CD mentioned, she had to go to work for two hours. I asked her, "What is the worst thing that could happen during this time?" She said, "Someone would bust their head open and have to go to the hospital." I thought I could avoid this.

Especially if they were contained. So a walk it was. As we were leaving the driveway, CD said "Don't let her fall asleep - her eyes are heavy." [Her being Clara.] I said, "What do I do if she falls asleep?" CD said, "Don't let that happen." And we were off in the double BOB. Well guess how that turned out?

Fail, CT, FAIL.

But at least no one busted their head open, and we were sufficiently exercised and lunched by the time CD got home from work. WHEW.

Speaking of lunch, my instructions were: white chicken chili and milk first, then a banana and a roll with butter. Not only did they eat all of the white chicken chili CD thought they would, but they were nearly jumping out of their chairs when I brought the banana from the fruit bowl to the cutting board. I LOVE that they get so excited about fruit and eat it right up. Then I gave them the roll with butter. Wilson scraped his butter off and then one of them dropped part of their roll on the ground. This is them looking down at it. Cracks me up!

Some other highlights of Wednesday...

Color time! (Commonly confused with eat-the-crayons-time!)

Story time with Auntie CT while Mom got ready for work

After the afternoon nap. I love how blue her eyes are here! So beautiful.

A rare moment of Wilson not moving...snuggle time with Auntie CT and I LOOOOVED it! 

On top of all that excitement, Mimi and Uncle Dave came over for dinner: homemade pizzas and wine. Only three had wine, though. Bet you can guess the guilty three. 

I think that's about it from yesterday. But don't worry - I have more great stuff coming. 

Be back soon,

CT