Momma's Helper

Levi is really into cleaning lately. These pictures were taken back in September, but it is still something you will often see at our house. I actually mixed up a solution of water and vinegar that I let him use to clean-I mean "wash", as Levi says- everything from the fridge doors to the table and chairs. After a while, the vinegar smell starts to get to me, and I have to distract him with something else. I do appreciate having a clean kitchen, though!

Bet you're glad you didn't hold your breath...

After just over a month... I am finally getting around to posting that news I was talking about. I'll let the videos tell the story...

Here is Brinley at 9 1/2 months old:


And 3 days later:


And another 3 days later (October 5, 2009):


That's right... my ity-bity teeny tiny little girl is a big walker. She was one week shy of her 10-month mark when she officially started walking. All 18 lbs and 27 inches of her. :-)

Of course, that was well over a month ago (getting close to two months now), so Brinley is totally cruising all around. It is so fun to watch her and to hear people comment when they see her. In the words of my friend "it just messes with the mind to see someone that small walking."

MIA

Yes, I have been completely missing in action... Life right now just feels too out of control to even think about sitting down and catching up on all the blog posts I want to do. Add to that the wonderful fact that I spilled hot chocolate on my computer (which has all our pictures on it of course), and you might understand why this blog is pretty much stagnant as of late. Trouble not your hearts, though... the pictures are not lost. My hard drive is fine--we just need to get it out of the non-functioning laptop and hooked up to this laptop.

I have footage of some exciting happenings at our house that I will post just as soon as I find time to get it off of our camera. So... stay tuned. (But don't hold your breath.... I don't want anyone passing out on my account!)

La Jolla, CA

Sam had a business trip in La Jolla, CA and this time I GOT TO GO WITH HIM!!!! We took Brinley along with us, and Levi stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Thurgood. Levi had a good time, except that he got really sick. I felt so bad not being there to take care of my little boy, but if mom's not available, who better than Grandma to care for you? Thanks Mom for taking such great care of my little boy!

This was Brinley's first trip ever on an airplane. She did a really great job! Especially since we had to be at the airport at 4:30am and that caused her to be wide awake for quite a while.

Our first stop when we landed in San Diego was the San Diego Temple. It was so beautiful.

Check out this awesome vegetation!

Sam's conference was at a really nice resort-type hotel. It seriously took about 10 minutes to walk from the front desk to our room. However, the pool was right next to our room, so we had no complaints there. I really tried to make this a very relaxing vacation. Brinley and I played and lounged around the pool, I watched movies while Brinley napped, and we went for a couple of strolls. I also got a chance to meet a lot of people that Sam works with and to put faces with names, which is always nice. Sam and I went out to a yummy Mexican place called Fred's. If you are ever in San Diego you should check it out.

After Sam finished his conference, we decided to walk down to the beach. The hotel gave us a map telling how to get down to the beach, but it was a ways away. A guy from Sam's conference told us a closer way to get down to the beach, so we went that way. Here is what we climbed down to get there:

Easier my foot!

We pretended like Sam made this for me:

Okay, but that treacherous descent wasn't even the worst part. As we start walking towards the shoreline, Sam says, "Hey, I think that guy's naked." Yep. And so was that guy, and that guy, and that guy. We found out later that it was a gay nude beach. Sam thought it was hilarious... I thought it was disgusting. We walked out in the water away from people until we moved far enough down the beach to be at the spot where the hotel had recommended we come down. All I can say is "EEEWWWW!"

Sam, me and sleeping Brinley in the water.
The water was SOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice! We overheard some girls giggling about it being cold. We were like "What are you talking about????!!!!" Of course, we had just been swimming at the Oregon Coast...

The courtyard of our super nice hotel--La Estancia La Jolla.

Bye-bye California. Hopefully we'll be back soon!

Camping... of sorts...

My kids are so lucky to have such a fun dad. One day I came downstairs to discover this:


We hadn't had the chance to go camping yet, and summer was almost over, so Sam took matters into his own hands. He and Levi had a couple of camp-outs (hmm... camp-ins?) and watched some movies from inside their cozy tent. I joined them from the movies, but my comfy bed was much more tempting than the hard floor. :-)

My favorite toy is a dishwasher!

We have a climber on our hands! Brinley loves to climb in the dishwasher. She has been climbing into the dishwasher since she was barely able to crawl. Unfortunately, the pictures I took of her the first time she climbed in were lost due to the faulty memory stick. Grrrr! Now Brinley is way beyond just climbing into the dishwasher. First she started pulling herself up to standing using the top rack, then she started pushing and pulling the trays (??? what do you call those things??) in and out. Now she is on to pulling on the dishes out of the dishwasher. So adorable, yet such a handful! I absolutely love watching my kids learn and discover new things, even if it creates a mess in the process. It is like watching a little miracle happen every day.... sometimes several times a day.

Say "Ahhhhh!"

This summer, Levi had his first trip to the dentist. He was so cute, walking so confidently down the hallway... however, once we got to the chair that all changed. As you can see from the pictures, it was not a joyous experience. Levi was anything but cooperative, which is weird because he has always been so good at the doctor's. I ended up tickling him to try and get him to laugh and open his mouth, but instead he just cried. Either way, his mouth opened up a little. The only thing the dentist did was sit about 4 feet away and try to count Levi's teeth as I tortured him, then told me that in 6 months Levi would do much better and would recognize the office and dentist. My comment to Sam about the experience: "I'm so glad we didn't have to pay for that."

Fair Fun!

We made another trip to the Benton Franklin County Fair this year. Levi wasn't quite as ecstatic about the animals as he was last year, but he still liked them a lot! Brinley wasn't incredibly interested--she's still a bit too young--although she did like the bunnies. The highlight was watching Motocross, or as Levi puts it "Bik-ee! High!" I like to call it "Holy craziness!" Another favorite at the fair this year for Levi was the rubber ducks floating in the hot tub. It was hard to pull him away from that booth! I personally liked the library booth where both Levi and Brinley got a free book.
Like this last picture here? Levi took it of Sam and I. A little blurry, but at least it is aimed well. :D

p.s. I live with a bunch of clowns. It's great!

Oregon Coast!!!!!!!!!!

In August we went on a spectacular trip to Lincoln City, Oregon with the Thurgood side of the family. It was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, such a great trip. Every single person was there--Ben surprised us and showed up from Utah. We rented this big, beautiful house about half a block from the beach. It has all sorts of amenities: a hot tub, flat screen tv's in every bedroom, two big screen tvs, a huge dining area, an arcade machine, a pool table, a couple of video game consoles, beach toys, a partial ocean view... it was a great place. Both of the kids loved the beach and playing in the tide pool. Levi learned a new word: "ocean" and says it in the most adorable way. He also refers to the ocean as "the big woker (pronounced wok-er)" a.k.a. the big water. Every day we went down to the beach and played in the sand, flew kites, went for walks, collected sea shells, and even braved the deathly cold water. One of the best parts of this trip was how well Brinley slept. We put her in a big ol' walk-in closet and she slept soooo well. Since then, we have gotten black-out curtains for her room, and she has been sleeping loads better!

Hundreds of pictures were taken on this trip, and there's no way I can post even a fraction of them. So I decided instead to just pick out a select few to share with you all. If you ever have a chance to take a trip to the Oregon Coast--DO IT! The house we stayed in is called "Drift Away" and I highly recommend it.

Classic Oregon Coast beach attire: shorts and a hoodie :D

We made a trip to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. There were lots of cool fish, and this shark tunnel was a big hit--especially since Levi had been watching a lot of Shark Tale.

Here is the AWESOME house we stayed in. Sam took pictures of every room, so if you are really interested I can hook you up with detailed pictures.

Oh! The sunsets! B-E-A-Utiful!

We also hit the outlet malls. This is my younger brother, Ben, sporting an awesome hat and glasses. Crazy kid.

Daddy keeping Brinley warm.

Our little family, walking in the surf. Oh man... I wish I could go back right now!

My cutie-potootie parents!
We have a long standing, and very true, joke in our family about us crazy full-blooded Thurgood's getting playing in cold water, while all the in-laws sit on the beach. We call them "cold-water wusses". Being at the beach changed nothing. Above are my dad, me, and my 5 siblings after we had played for way too long in the extremely cold water. It was so much crazy fun... memories that will last forever. I love my siblings!!!
This picture pays tribute to everyone who braved the cold water (I believe... if I'm wrong, please correct me.) The three additions are Bronson (Amber's), Madi (Amber's), and Savannah (Jared's).
Miss Brinley LOVED the sand and water. We had to keep grabbing her before she plunged into too deep of water.
Levi also had a blast playing in the sand. He wasn't too into the water, though. This was both of our kids first trips to the ocean.

Seriously, this trip was so much fun. A small post just cannot do it justice. I hope we will go back very, very soon. Being near the ocean just made me feel so relaxed and happy. The cold weather and cold water did not matter in the least. Just hearing the waves crash and feeling the salt air made my heart happy.

Splish! Splash!

The second reoccurring theme among my pictures was bath time photos. Brinley and Levi both love water. Brinley especially right now. It is quite often that I end up showering with both kids... which makes shaving my legs quite the event. Sometimes I'll put them both in the shower if I ever need a break (or if they are total messes, which is quite often). I think Brinley would prefer more baths, though she does love the shower, but there's no way I'd let leave her in the bath tub unattended, so showers end up being much more common around here. Wow... talk about a run-on sentence. For shame!

One of my favorite things in the world is after I get the kids out of the water, I wrap them up in towels and tuck them into my bed to get warm. When I leave to go get their diapers and clothes, I always come back to Levi making Brinley laugh. I love it!

Food! Glorious Food!

As I've looked through the pictures I've taken over the past couple of months, I've noticed a couple of reoccurring themes. One of those is Brinley eating. I've started letting her feed herself and experiment with utensils. It worked great with Levi--he was eating with a fork before his first birthday--so I decided to try again with Brinley. Well, she has been loving it, and we love how adorable she is with potato salad smeared over every inch of her face... strike that...every inch of her head. :-D



p.s. Bonus points for whoever can name the movie that this post's title comes from. :-)

Camera Malfunctions....grrr!!!

We had a few issues with digital cameras this summer. First, our camera got left in a hot car, and now all the pictures from it are distorted. So we purchased a new camera. After taking a month of pictures on it, our memory stick failed. Boo! We lost all of July. Sob. That means we missed the following:
*Brinley learning to crawl (she started crawling at 6 months)
*Brinley pulling herself to standing (right about the same time as crawling)
*Brinley climbing in the dishwasher for the first time
*Levi getting his first x-ray--He had to have his chest x-rayed because he was really wheezy. He did such a superb job! I was so proud of him for not being scared and doing just what the technicians asked.
*Levi riding his trike wearing his dad's bike helmet and gloves. It was adorable! Especially since he found them himself and we had no idea until we saw him riding his trike. I sure love that boy.

Note to self: Do not go a whole month without uploading my pictures. Wait, I've already broken that rule again! Hopefully my memory card doesn't fail again. Technology... it's a blessing and a curse!

Brinley's voice

We took this video the first of July, when Brinley was 6 1/2 months old, because we wanted to capture her voice. She's a little screamer/squealer. We'll see if that hold true throughout her life. :D

Clements Family Reunion 2009

We had a reunion with Sam's side of the family the last week of June. We gathered at The Wasatch Mountain Club lodge up Big Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake City. It was loads of fun! Everyone was there except Rhonda and her family. On the way there, Sam's sister Andrea and her family rode with us in my sister's Suburban that we borrowed. That meant there were four adults (one of which was a pregnant woman), two toddlers, and two infants. It took us 12 hours to get down there--- not a trip I'm excited to make again anytime soon. But it was well worth it. We had lots of fun playing together, got some family pictures taken, and were even able to attend a blessing of our niece, Audrey.

Our Cabin:

We went for a walk around a little lake just down the canyon a smidge from where our lodge was. It was very beautiful.

Levi fell asleep in the car--when you are traveling, getting your kids to take a nap any time for any length is fantastic!--so we put him in our kiddie backpack. We thought he was pretty darn cute. I love that he sleeps like a log and had no problem being transferred from the car seat to the backpack. Isn't Brinley so cute in her little bonnet?

Around the cabin:

Grandpa and Levi playing in the snow--Vista overlooking Park City--Joe, Sam, Levi, Andrea, Benjamin, Sariah, and Dan at the vista--Becky and Isaiah--Connie and Eli--Grandpa and Levi again--Sam and sleepy Brinley

In the cabin:

Levi and Mommy sleeping (notice how Levi has his arm wrapped around me)--The cabin from another angle--Mom and Becky working on crafts--Brinley (6 months) and Benjamin (8 months)--Funny story, see below*--Asa, Isaiah, Sam, and Levi playing soccer in the cabin

*So I was outside cleaning out the Suburban for our trip home, and Levi was out helping me. He got cold, and I didn't want to go inside and get him a jacket, so I gave him a sweater of Brinley's that was in the car. This sweater is size 3-6 months... ummm, yeah right. Levi ended up wearing it all night and we thought he was pretty darn cute. Besides the sleeves that were incredibly short, it fit pretty well!

One day we were there, we went down into the valley and attended the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house and toured Kennecott Copper Mine. We had never been to the copper mine... it was totally awesome. You all should check it out.
1. The family at the temple. It was very beautiful. I love going through temples. 2. These pictures of the copper mine don't even begin to do it justice. I believe the pit is 3/4 mile deep and more than a mile across. It was sooo massive. You had to use binoculars to see a bus at the bottom of the pit. 3. Levi and Daddy. 4. Brinley and Daddy. 5. Abe, Laruen, Asa, Sam, and Ann. 6. Our cutie little family in front of a tire from one of the dump trucks used in the mine. The trucks are roughly the size of a house. HOLY COW!

Summer's Over?!?!?!?!?!

It has been brought to my attention, much to my chagrin, that Summer is over. Technically, it is not over until September 21st, or whenever the Equinox is, but as far as it goes in our culture Summer is over as of Labor Day. I guess that means that Summer is over. Sigh.

Well, enough of that. WELCOME FALL! I love Autumn. I would love if we just had Spring and Fall all year long... but I probably wouldn't appreciate them nearly as much without the extremes of Winter and Summer. Now, after my long Summer reprieve, it is time to get back to work updating the blog. Prepare to be inundated with posts....

A brief update on us:
Sam is super busy at work (they just got a ton of stimulus money and lots of projects to go with it). He has also been traveling quite a bit--at least once a month, this month the tally so far is 3. Sam is also our Ward Mission Leader, so that keeps him quite busy as well.

Levi's vocabulary has absolutely exploded--especially in the last 3 weeks. It is incredible! He says some hilarious things. A few examples:
*I was getting in the car to go to a church meeting with some of Sam's siblings and was saying goodbye to Levi. Me: Say "I love you." Levi: "Goodbye Joe." I guess we can see who he loves!
*I told Levi that we were going grocery shopping and that he could get Jo-jos, a tradition we have.
Levi: Owie Jo-jo (At least, that's what I thought he said.)
Me: The Jo-jo is owie?
Levi: No! Owi Jo-jo.
Me: Were the Jo-jos hot the last time we got them?
Levi: NO!
Me: Always Jo-jos? (To myself: Doubtful, I don't think he knows the word "always".)
Levi (exasperated): Yes!
Me: What do you want then?
Levi (super excited): Chicken!
At the store, he actually decided to go with the Jo-jos.
*Levi has the best manners I've seen and always says "please", "Thank you (insert name here)", and "Welcome!" The other day, Sam sneezed and Levi immediately said "Bless you Dad." After a minute of silence, Levi then said, "Mom.... Bless you Dad." Always reminding me to have good manners!

Brinley is growing like a weed.... Maybe I should say, developing like a weed. We just had her 9 month appointment, and she isn't really growing all the fast. She is just one little girl. Right now she is 16.5 pounds and 26.25 inches. But she is incredibly active and a little bit of a terror. I have proof in pictures that will be coming shortly. Good news... she is sleeping better at night. Shhh... I can't say that too late or it's all over from there.

My life consists of try-and failing-to get my house clean, reading lots of books, and taking care of the two most beautiful (albeit sometimes exhausting and frustrating) children in the world.

That pretty much sums things up for the Clements' family. Now get ready for the exciting details of our summer!