She is here!!!!!
Brinley Victoria Clements
December 13, 2008
6:51 pm
6 lbs 10 oz
18 inches
Brinley Victoria Clements
December 13, 2008
6:51 pm
6 lbs 10 oz
18 inches
More to come when time and energy allow...
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Giving the Tree the Trim
I love Christmas time, and I have found that a Christmas tree is pretty essential to making your home feel Christmas-y. Sam and I have only had one Christmas tree since we've been married because the last two years we were in Pittsburgh and did not have a tree there for two reasons: 1) Our first apartment was too small. There wasn't room for another person to stand in there much less a tree, and 2) We always left to come back home to Washington by the middle of December, so there really didn't seem to be much point in getting a tree. But this year, I was itchin' to get a tree. We had it purchased by the 2nd of December and spend the evening of the 3rd decorating it. So here are some pictures of our beautiful tree. (And just to give credit where credit is due, Sam did most of the work: hauled the tree in, sawed off the trunk, put it in the stand, helped Levi with most of the decorations... he even vacuumed up all the pine needles! What a man! I did put the hooks on the ornaments, make the candy cane hearts, and manned the camera... very important! :D)
Levi loved the ornaments... or should I say "balls". Luckily, I had enough foresight (or just plain dumb luck) to have bought plastic ornaments instead of glass ones. Most of the tree decorating time was spent trying to keep him from kicking the "balls" all over the house. Now that they are on the tree, though, he does leave them alone for the most part.
Levi was being so funny! I was trying to get the camera timer set up so we could take a family picture, so I had the camera sitting on a chair. Levi just came up and crouched down right there posing for a picture. I, of course, obliged. This is probably the second time he has posed for a picture. The things kids learn at such an early age...
Levi loved the ornaments... or should I say "balls". Luckily, I had enough foresight (or just plain dumb luck) to have bought plastic ornaments instead of glass ones. Most of the tree decorating time was spent trying to keep him from kicking the "balls" all over the house. Now that they are on the tree, though, he does leave them alone for the most part.
Levi was being so funny! I was trying to get the camera timer set up so we could take a family picture, so I had the camera sitting on a chair. Levi just came up and crouched down right there posing for a picture. I, of course, obliged. This is probably the second time he has posed for a picture. The things kids learn at such an early age...
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Thanksgiving
Well, this post is a little late in coming, but better late than never as they say. We hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving just like we did. Our Thanksgiving was split between the Clements and Thurgood sides of the family. You know what that means... twice the food! Good thing I'm pregnant and can totally justify it. Actually, we did a good job with taking small portions so we didn't really stuff ourselves but still got to eat all the delicious food.
What made our Thanksgiving even more fabulous? The day before was our third anniversary (Hooray for us!!!!), and we actually celebrated on our actual anniversary. We went to Olive Garden where we thoroughly enjoyed our salad and breadsticks and somewhat enjoyed our entrees. (We should have gone with the pasta dish we were both eyeing instead of trying "something new". Oh well.) But here is the best part: Levi spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood's. This is the first night Levi has spent away from us. We figured we'd better do it now, because chances are (with nursing and everything) it will be at least a year before it would even be a possibility for us to have a childless night. It was AWESOME! We watched one of our movies without having Levi take it out and put in one of his movies. Then, the next morning (and this is what made our Thanksgiving even more fabulous), we slept in until we wanted to get out of bed... not when our dear son dictated we get out of bed! The simple things you relish when you are a parent of small children. And for those concerned about how Levi did sleeping away from Mom and Dad, he actually did pretty well. My sister Amber and her family came into town that night for Thanksgiving so he had cousins to play with. A few times he went to the door looking for us and being sad, but Amber was able to rock him to sleep finally.
For Thanksgiving at the Clements' house, Asa (Sam's brother) was able to come home from BYU so that was really fun to see him. Other than him, it was just in-town relatives. Mom and Dad C., Joe, Lauren, and Arina (who all three still live at home), Rhonda (Sam's sister just older than him), her husband Jared and their kids Kamora and Nate, and then Sam, Levi, and me. Unfortunately, I forgot to get out my camera there, so no pictures of that Thanksgiving celebration. Sorry.
At the Thurgood's, I actually did remember to pull out the camera and I think I got just about everyone in a picture. The only thing is, I didn't tell them that I was taking a picture, so some are not very flattering... oops! None the less, here they are:
1. Doug (married to my oldest sister, Amber), Carson, Bronson, Amber, Mom
2. Dad, Jared (oldest brother), Kristin (married to Jared), Madison
3. The spread... yum!
4. Sam, Levi (in the background) and me
5. Levi
6. Levi again (we sure like taking pictures of that one!) He loved the olive-on-the-finger thing.
7. Savannah, Jackson, and Sierra
My brother Justin and his family were in Utah, along with my younger brother Ben who goes to BYU. My sister Lacey and her family were at their in-laws house. Oh, and if you are trying to make connections about what kids belong to what parents, all the children ending in "son" belong to Amber and Doug. Sierra and Savannah (and Brooklyn, not pictured) belong to Jared and Kristin.
What made our Thanksgiving even more fabulous? The day before was our third anniversary (Hooray for us!!!!), and we actually celebrated on our actual anniversary. We went to Olive Garden where we thoroughly enjoyed our salad and breadsticks and somewhat enjoyed our entrees. (We should have gone with the pasta dish we were both eyeing instead of trying "something new". Oh well.) But here is the best part: Levi spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood's. This is the first night Levi has spent away from us. We figured we'd better do it now, because chances are (with nursing and everything) it will be at least a year before it would even be a possibility for us to have a childless night. It was AWESOME! We watched one of our movies without having Levi take it out and put in one of his movies. Then, the next morning (and this is what made our Thanksgiving even more fabulous), we slept in until we wanted to get out of bed... not when our dear son dictated we get out of bed! The simple things you relish when you are a parent of small children. And for those concerned about how Levi did sleeping away from Mom and Dad, he actually did pretty well. My sister Amber and her family came into town that night for Thanksgiving so he had cousins to play with. A few times he went to the door looking for us and being sad, but Amber was able to rock him to sleep finally.
For Thanksgiving at the Clements' house, Asa (Sam's brother) was able to come home from BYU so that was really fun to see him. Other than him, it was just in-town relatives. Mom and Dad C., Joe, Lauren, and Arina (who all three still live at home), Rhonda (Sam's sister just older than him), her husband Jared and their kids Kamora and Nate, and then Sam, Levi, and me. Unfortunately, I forgot to get out my camera there, so no pictures of that Thanksgiving celebration. Sorry.
At the Thurgood's, I actually did remember to pull out the camera and I think I got just about everyone in a picture. The only thing is, I didn't tell them that I was taking a picture, so some are not very flattering... oops! None the less, here they are:
1. Doug (married to my oldest sister, Amber), Carson, Bronson, Amber, Mom
2. Dad, Jared (oldest brother), Kristin (married to Jared), Madison
3. The spread... yum!
4. Sam, Levi (in the background) and me
5. Levi
6. Levi again (we sure like taking pictures of that one!) He loved the olive-on-the-finger thing.
7. Savannah, Jackson, and Sierra
My brother Justin and his family were in Utah, along with my younger brother Ben who goes to BYU. My sister Lacey and her family were at their in-laws house. Oh, and if you are trying to make connections about what kids belong to what parents, all the children ending in "son" belong to Amber and Doug. Sierra and Savannah (and Brooklyn, not pictured) belong to Jared and Kristin.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Check out the Poll in the Sidebar
Alright... I'm 37 weeks and counting (it will be 38 weeks on Wednesday). So I thought I would put up a poll to see when y'all think this baby will actually be born. I will just do it by weeks, so if you want to put in a more specific guess feel free to leave a comment telling me your exact prediction. The winner will receive the grand prize of being right and having the privilege of rubbing it in others' faces. Really... is there a better prize than that?
A little back ground info to level the playing field. Levi came at 38 weeks and 2 days after I had contractions for a solid week (about 8 hours straight each day), was dilated to a 4 in the doctors office, then taken up to Labor and Delivery and given Pitocin (drug used to induce or augment labor).
I had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday (one day before I was 37 weeks) and was dilated to a 1. I have been having contractions (sometimes pretty painful ones) for about 2 or 3 weeks now. They are super irregular, but extremely irritating!!!!
Alright, that's all the info you get. Now go vote!
P.S. If any of you vote for next year "I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish!" - The Grinch
A little back ground info to level the playing field. Levi came at 38 weeks and 2 days after I had contractions for a solid week (about 8 hours straight each day), was dilated to a 4 in the doctors office, then taken up to Labor and Delivery and given Pitocin (drug used to induce or augment labor).
I had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday (one day before I was 37 weeks) and was dilated to a 1. I have been having contractions (sometimes pretty painful ones) for about 2 or 3 weeks now. They are super irregular, but extremely irritating!!!!
Alright, that's all the info you get. Now go vote!
P.S. If any of you vote for next year "I will hunt you down and gut you like a fish!" - The Grinch
Baking Banana Bread
So I have been MIA on the blog scene as of late. I haven't even checked anyone's blog! So, I'm going to have to find some time to catch up on what is going on in all of your lives. I have been busy preping for this baby to come. Cleaning, getting the nursery ready, packing for the hospital. Not to mention trying to get as much Christmas stuff done in advance as I can. I am proud to say that I have all of my shopping done, I only have one project left to finish (and it is almost complete), and about 90% of my gift wrapping done. Hooray for me!
Anyway, back to what this post is really supposed to be about. Levi is always my little helper in the kitchen. He loves to pull his step stool up next to wherever I am working and participate in the process. This only seems to happen when it is just him and I around, so I finally pulled out the camera and snapped a few shots. I even did the self-timer thing to try and get both of us in the picture. The shot didn't turn out great, but oh well. Here Levi and I are baking banana bread together... YUM!
Watching the bread bake.
Anyway, back to what this post is really supposed to be about. Levi is always my little helper in the kitchen. He loves to pull his step stool up next to wherever I am working and participate in the process. This only seems to happen when it is just him and I around, so I finally pulled out the camera and snapped a few shots. I even did the self-timer thing to try and get both of us in the picture. The shot didn't turn out great, but oh well. Here Levi and I are baking banana bread together... YUM!
Watching the bread bake.
Oh yes, and Levi loves to climb up on the counters now, too. Pretty much nothing is out of reach anymore. Here he is "helping" me measure the flour. Maybe I should have stopped him, but he is just so darn cute!
Fall Activity Checklist
This checklist was hanging out in my sidebar throughout the Fall, and I want to create a post of it for family history's sake before I took it down. So here is what we did Fall 2008.
Go to football games
Go pick apples at a U-pick farm
(Bought apples directly from a farm... close enough!)
Bake pies & crisps
Take Levi Trick-or-Treating
Go to a harvest festival
Carve Paint pumpkins
Make carmel apples
Rake up leaves and jump in them (Didn't get around to this last one. Sam just mowed up the leaves. Maybe next year...)
Go to football games
Go pick apples at a U-pick farm
(Bought apples directly from a farm... close enough!)
Bake pies & crisps
Take Levi Trick-or-Treating
Go to a harvest festival
Make carmel apples
Rake up leaves and jump in them (Didn't get around to this last one. Sam just mowed up the leaves. Maybe next year...)
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