Huntington Library

Let's play catch up! I have some posts to catch you up on, for the 3 of you that read this: Uncle Mark, Aunt Elyse and maybe like 2 others ... maybe. But hey, I do it for you guys!

So last month, November, our friend Steph got free tickets to the Huntington Library. I know, I know, who would pay to go to a library. Not this girl. So Im so glad she invited me, because I would have missed out on such a beautiful place! They have a bunch of gardens to visit and it's so peaceful there. My favorite was probably the Japanese Gardens, I think I'd like to have a bathroom designed after it and it can be my own personal at home spa. So here are some shots of Clover and her friend Ellie.

Aunt Elyse was there for moral support.

This is like the one shot I got with me and her where she's actually looking at the camera.

On a side note update. Clover didn't win the Gap Casting Call. Im only upset about it because the kids they picked out of the "baby girl" category, aren't babies! They are like 2 year olds. Not fair. :( Oh well, Im over it. ;)

We didn't get pictures of Thanksgiving ... I thought someone is suppose to follow us around making pictures so we can catch all those moments with mommy and daddy. Guess not. So I'm kind of a slacker with the picture taking. boo.

Other than that, the only other thing is Im still pregnant, due July 15th. Don't really have morning sickness, although got a fantastic case of the stomach flu with Brian. Somehow we did not give it to Clover, praise God!

We are going to Georgia for a week for Christmas and it's suppose to snow while we're there which is kind of exciting and kind of not. I don't know if any of us have snow weather clothes. And Clover's first birthday is coming up this weekend. So hopefully we will get this blog rolling again soon and I can get some pictures up here. Maybe I should just hire someone to follow me around with a camera all the time. That'd be nice. How do you other mom's do it? Don't you want to be in the pictures? Tell me some secrets!

In case you didn't know .....

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11 Months & counting

. 25lbs . 28in .

these are approximate, because it looks like she's gained 6 pounds in a month ... so either she had a huge growth spurt or I am bad at math! (edit:11/26: She's actually 21.5lbs, we used a different scale.)

.Milestones.

1. walking more than crawling
2. talks : "dog", "God", "uh oh" , sometimes "yea"
3. takes naps ALL BY HERSELF! YAY!
4. eats solids all by herself! no more pureed foods. (still breastfeeding though)
5. her favorite song is the "goodbye" song from Yo Gabba Gabba ... when we sing it she always waves goodbye
6. high fives
7. drinks from a sippy cup
8. is going to be a big sister

She is growing up so fa.......wait what?!?! She's going to be a SISTER?!?! Are you crazy?! Nope. It was just a surprise from the Lord! We thought because it would probably take us just as long to get pregnant like it did with Clover (almost 2 years) we weren't too concerned about birth control. Well, we learned our lesson!!! I got really sick with Clover, but the Lord has been gracious, so far I only feel a little sick but mostly just STARVING!! (takes a break for a snack)

Where was I? Oh yea! So yes, we are excited but sometimes I get fearful. I get thoughts like, "I don't want to love another child, I love Clover! She's my little buddy, another baby will just take my attention away from her!" But then I remember the Lord's truths! He is Sovereign, and He planned this for me because He knew I could handle it and that whatever happens, it will help me grow in my faith. With Christ's love in me, I have the ability to love others, and that includes a second child. And after I get my mind set on things above, I get excited for what the future holds! Someone told me an awesome encouragement, The Lord gives you grace for what you're going through, He DOESN'T give you grace for what you think you might go through. Because you're not going through it, and you might not! Those are just sinful, worrying thoughts!

So for now we are calling the baby Crabgrass, so we can stick with the foliage theme! :) Pictures are from one of my FAVORITE photographer Jason Dolbier. I'll make a new post with more of my favorites.

Walkie Talkie

Where did my baby go? She's not here, she is replaced with this walking, talking child! It's amazing how one day it starts with taking one step to quickly get from the couch to the table, to now she walks from one side of a room to the other without holding onto anything!

And to make matter worse (don't get me wrong, we're excited too) she said her first 2 words!!!
Word number one is not a surprise to us, it's "Dog". Well seeing as we have 3 in this house, of course that would be the first word. Number two followed shortly after, "God" which pretty much is dog but backwards but we are still giving her the credit! AND it would be awesome to tell everyone that her 2nd word ever was God!

Just for you skeptics out there, we do have video of her saying dog! But it's not uploaded, sorry. Someday I'll share! maybe...

Clover's 1st Halloween

I'm watching the Biggest Loser as I write this, so if my sentences are incoherent I apologize before hand. It's very intense!

Clover's first Halloween was so fun! We don't really celebrate Halloween, we celebrate life through Christ instead of death. But on this night, who can pass up free candy?? ;)

Clover's granny/bb/beanball/whatever she's going to be called (aka Brenda, Brian's mom) and her MawMaw(Brian's grandma) came out to see Clo in her first ever costume. She was first a ladybug and we took some cute pictures of her and my sister's dog Macy, who was a bumblebee.
Then, like any classy young girl, she had a wardrobe change into the main costume of the night. A giraffe! Cause you know this girl loves giraffes! Well, we like giraffes, that is.



We only went to 4 houses, and they were all our neighbors we've known for years. And because she is just so darn cute, we got lots of extra! So afterward we thought we'd take some cute pictures of her and her pile of candy. And the inevitable happened, she bit through the package of a crunch bar and got her first taste of chocolate! ah, I know I'm a bad mother!! ;) jk! But we did try to get all the pieces out of her mouth before she swallowed!

The evidence.

Okay, I hope I satisfied the few who actually read this. Im going back to eatin' some not so good stuff and watching Biggest Loser! Happy Tuesday!

10 Months & counting

. 19lbs . 27.5in .


.Milestones.

1. first steps! the most she'll do is about 3
2. understands "don't touch" although when I say it she usually touches whatever it is and then crawls away at lightening speed!
3. almost has "all done, please" in sign language down ... usually in the form of clapping hands
4. learning to nap unassisted (translation: crying it out) ugh, it kills me!
5. has yet ANOTHER cold
6. 8th tooth coming in for landing!
7. eats just about everything now, including stuff she finds on the ground; still.

We had an ultrasound on Oct. 18th. We got good news, not great news, but its good. Her left kidney (the better of the 2) has grown and the swelling has gone down. WOO! The right (the bad one, which had surgery) has grown just barely enough to be called grown. But hey, that's better than digressing or not growing at all! We are seeing the light at the end of the long tunnel. We have another ultrasound in February and he is scheduling a Mag3 scan (details of last one, click here) which will tell us at what percentage the kidneys are working. And after those tests we will decide if/when to do our (Lord willing) last surgery. Phew, lots to be praying for!

As for me, things are busy. Not that I have a ton of plans or anything. I thought having an infant kept me busy, but now that Clover can crawl everywhere super fast (I wasn't joking about "lightening speed") I am constantly saying "don't touch" "no" and chasing after her. She is a smart thang ... go figure she is learning how to get around my barriers (pillows) I put up to keep her in the living room!

On to our recent venture. Gap Casting Call I know it's a slim chance to win, but if we win the fan vote, we get a $1000 gift card to baby gap! That's awesome! And then there is a separate judging panel and if we get in the final 20 we get $500 gap gift card and a trip to San Fransisco for a photo shoot etc. I'm mostly doing it for the gift card! So please vote for Clover! CLICK HERE! You can vote everyday until November 14! And then I'll leave you alone :)

Gap Casting Call

Normally I wouldn't look twice at this, but the prize is too tempting!

Please vote for Clover! You can vote everyday until November 14!

Click here to vote for Clover

GO DODGERS!

Actually I could care less. My family roots for the Dodgers and my husband is in love with the Braves. I say in love with and not roots for because I constantly find him looking at Braves stuff on MLB.com when he is supposed to be doing other things. It's not healthy.

My dad, wanting a picture of Clover in her new first Dodger's t-shirt, insisted I try to get a cute picture of her in it. Well this is no easy task. You can have a brief look into the multiple pictures I tried to take just for ONE good one. I tell ya, I took about 30+ pictures.

So here ya go!














































































and the lucky winner:

The Year of the 5

I'm going to stretch this idea a bit so bear with me. On a tangent is it "bear with me" or "bare with me"? That is the question of the hour, isn't it?

Five number 1
This year we have added a fifth member to our family, Clover! How? We consider our dogs our first children, and yes we do realize that for those of you who don't really like dogs we seem crazy! If I were to never get married or have children I would be the crazy dog lady. My dream is to have a huge house with property, overflowing with dogs and children! Ah, I'm going off topic again! Sorry. So there are five of us.

Okay moving on!

Five number 2
Indiana, our first child, turned 5 this year. We always celebrate with hot dogs which he barely chews, just swallows them whole. Gross.

and
Five number 3
We have been married 5 years this last September 17. Yes, we made it. We are now considered a wise married couple, so if anyone needs counseling you know who to call. No not us! The church, they'll give you someone good. ;)

We celebrated by going to Oceanside and staying in a beach house right on the beach! It was beautiful and COLD! Clo enjoyed the sand, putting it in her mouth, in her diaper, pretty much anywhere. And right before we left there was a hot rod drive right outside, they were pretty cool. Five years came fast, and now that we have a babe it's going to go a whole lot faster.


Now Im not really a sentimental or emotional person, but I don't want my love for my husband to go unnoticed. The Lord gave me a man that I didn't think existed. He was everything on my "list" that I wrote out when I was 16 as a new believer in Christ. He is my perfect counterpart. We don't even have to say anything, just a look and he knows what Im thinking or looking at or wondering about. He is patient, kind, gentle, playful, hilarious, and all around my best friend. And like I tell him all the time, he better NEVER die!!! He is my little poopsie (like from the little mermaid).