CLAWSON FAMILY

Thankful

2011-11-25T13:51:00.003-07:00

We had a delicious and wonderful Thanksgiving dinner yesterday but I didn't really take the time to really think about what I was thankful for this year. Now that the eating and shopping are done I decided to write about what I was most thankful for and that was the miracle our family experienced this last few weeks. Dave was in a head on collision at the beginning of this month on the way to work. It was the scariest thing that either Dave and I experienced but we have SO many things to be thankful for. Dave wasn't hurt except for some bruises and a sore shoulder. I'm so thankful for Dave's amazing driving abilities. He was completely aware and was able to save himself by pulling back into traffic so the lady hit more his passenger side than him. (the other driver passed out going 50mph and has no recollection of the accident or how she traveled across all the lanes of traffic to oncoming traffic). I'm so thankful that my best friend was immediatly behind Dave when the accident happened and she was the one who called me to tell me about it. I'm thankful that the other driver was only in the hospital for a day. I'm thankful that we finally have a new car and that things went so smoothly with that! We took a few pictures of the car after the accident. Here they are for those who haven't seen them yet.

This is taken at the junk yard when we were getting out all of our stuff.

This is taken at the accident.

This is the other lady's car at the junk yard.

Party Animals, Disneyland, and Halloween

2011-11-03T20:56:00.007-06:00

My next door neighbor had her sister-in-law come over and do face painting at her daughter's birthday party. She is pretty much a professional and the kids loved it.

Meeting Mickey at his house.

Camille meeting Minnie while wearing her Minnie shirt. She was so excited.

Mulan

Ariel from Little Mermaid

Proof that we were there over Halloween.

Andrew and Camille hugging Sully. (or Camille getting lost in his belly)

This picture is for Grandma Tootsie. The sign above the door says Beverly.

Camille's favorite ride was Winnie the Pooh and she was super excited to meet him. Probably more than the princesses.

Tigger and the kids.

Andrew and his strong face.

I wanted a picture of our family out here but I never had it happen. I was happy to see that Dave remember and shot one of the kids while I was getting the car on our last night.

Andrew as a police man, again. He got real metal handcuffs if he wore the costume again. He was in and loves his handcuffs.

Camille as a bumble bee. I made the costume and I think it turned out pretty cute.

And of course our traditional family picture in front of the house!

Camille Turns 2!

2011-09-09T13:02:00.004-06:00

Camille turned 2 yesterday. She was all about her birthday and has been asking for a Tootsie Roll birthday party for weeks. Emily Judd made her a yummy and so cute cake. We had a small party with neighbors on Monday and then gave her the rest of her presents yesterday on her real birthday.

Andrew's First Day of Preschool

2011-09-07T14:15:00.003-06:00

These were the best that I got. He can be such a ham at times. He loves preschool and is super excited to be going again!

The Big Reveal!

2011-05-11T21:40:00.000-06:00

The basement is pretty much finished! I have some pictures for you guys but first you have to see what my life has been for the last 10 months. Here are the before and afters....
Our closet

The toy room

The laundry room

The kids bathroom

Some of that stuff was put in the basement and a lot went to DI. I am a much happier woman now that my life is organized! Here is the basement...

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T14:17:00.004-06:00

Two quick snapshots during the easter egg hunt!

Here are my two cute kids in the Easter duds.

Picture Updates

2010-12-15T14:11:00.004-07:00

Life is crazy here (counting down to the wedding and Christmas) but I wanted to post so all know that we are alive and well...

We are trying to get into the Christmas spirit. Here are the kids making rice krispie wreaths. Andrew decided to go with a Christmas bush instead.

Here is Camille doing what she does best, trying on shoes. Her first word was shoe, she is definitely a girl. In this particular picture she is wearing a gorgeous pair of shoes that I scored at Kohls for $5. I love a good deal.

This last picture is mainly for my mom. As I am one month away from being 27, I guess the old age has set in and I needed some glasses. They are really just for driving at night but I like the new accessory. Now if I could only wear them while I am walking and not feel like the floor is slanted!

Happy Halloween

2010-11-03T09:51:00.005-06:00

Cornbelly's. We had to visit Cornbelly's at least once this year. I think the kids had a blast, espescially on the giant pillows!

Carving Pumpkins. Camille was all into sticking her hand in and helping out. Andrew preferred to sit and practice his letter A while observing more than helping. (Click on picture to enlarge and see his progress.)

Our Police Man and Elephant. Camille loved trick or treating. She walked up to every door, lifted your bag and went "uhh". She wanted that candy.

Birthday Celebration

2010-09-15T09:40:00.006-06:00

Camille was able to celebrate her birthday twice this year. First we woke up and celebrated on her actual birthday. We opened presents with Dave before he left for work. She received a bunch of girly toys. The tea set was from Andrew and the stroller and Cabbage Patch was from my parents.

For fun during the day we went to the aquarium and then met Dave for lunch at Chick Fil A. She enjoyed the aquarium, espescially because I let her walk most of the time, making sure she choose where to go instead of Andrew.

On Saturday we had a party for her at our house. The weather was wonderful. We cooked hot dogs for everyone and my AMAZING neighbors let us use their bounce house (even though we had approx. 40 kids there!) My friend Emily Judd made Camille her smash cake. After a little prompting she went at it! I don't know how much she consumed but she loved playing with it. (Dave and I have proceeded to eat the cake after the party it is delicious. If anyone in the Salt Lake area needs a good cake I will get you her info!) The party turned out great, thanks to everyone that came and helped out!

Happy Birthday Camille

2010-09-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

One year ago today I was having the longest day of my life. I hadn't eaten anything in 24 hours, I had sat in a hospital bed all day long (approx 12 hours) and watched TV waiting to be taken into surgery but it was so worth it....

Happy Birthday Camille! You are absolutely crazy and I love you!

First Day of School

2010-09-07T13:35:00.002-06:00

This is Andrew on his very first day of school. We are into his second week of preschool and he is loving it. Last week when they learned about the letter A they glued apple jacks onto the letter A. When his teacher handed me his paper she said, "here is Andrew's, he is very neat." That is my child!

Denver

2010-08-30T11:06:00.009-06:00

So last week we went on our annual family vacation. This year's destination: Denver. We like to choose one place a year that we have never been and try it out and it usually corresponds with some visit to a sporting event. (at this rate, Andrew is going to visit all the major league baseball fields in no time. Andrew: age 3, number of Major League baseball fields visited 4.)

This is the aquarium in downtown Denver. It was a lot of fun and Camille was in heaven. She got out of the stroller and loved being right up to the glass. A big fish would swim by and Andrew would freak, Camille would scream with excitement.

We went to a three game series between the Braves and the Rockies. The Braves lost all three which was very disappointing but we still had fun. We had great seats (not seen pictured above, we moved late in the game so Millie could crawl around) and Camille acted tolerably. Luckily her and I were able to take the train from our hotel to the stadium so Andrew and Dave could enjoy batting practice.

We made reservations to tour the US Mint while we were in Denver. Dave and I found it pretty interesting, unfortunately they were not actually making any money last week but it was still cool to see how things were done. The kids were not that huge of fans, Camille made sure everyone on the tour knew she wanted to be taking a nap by letting out a high pitch scream every once in a while.

The Denver zoo was one of our last visits. It was fun but hot. Of course the weather had been absolutely perfect until this day but we still had fun. They had the cutest baby orangutan that was only two weeks old. We probably all sat and watched it interact with its mom for a half hour!

The vacation was great, tons of swimming at the hotel which I think the kids will miss the most but we are glad to be home sleeping in our own beds.

The Wedding

2010-08-08T22:48:00.004-06:00

So Kevin and Jen's wedding was this weekend and of course I took no pictures but I stole one from my sis-in-laws blog to show the skirts. I made all 16 skirts (I take that back, my wonderful neighbor made the purple ones) for the wedding. I think they turned out to look great!

This is all 33 grandkids with the happy couple! It was so much fun having everyone together for the first time in forever! I am now excited to use the leftover fabric to make them a quilt but I put my sewing machine away so I don't have to look at it for a while. I don't think I could stomach that yet. I told them to not expect anything until their first anniversary!

Bear Lake

2010-07-23T09:10:00.004-06:00

Here are some pictures of the kiddos at Bear Lake. I went with 5 of my sister-in-laws, my mother-in-law, 27 kids and 3 dogs. It was three days of fun and craziness. The kids loved the water, espescially Camille. She played in the water and sand for about 3 hours straight with no complaints. Thanks to Deb and her wonderful in-laws for the awesome vacation!

PS-My kids were amazing and kept on their hats for the entire time. They only got the slightest shade of pink, me on the other hand not so lucky. I have a horrible sunburn and have been complaining all the way!

My $300 Sandwich

2010-07-11T19:10:00.005-06:00

You know when you hear about the politicians going around campaigning and they have special dinners where it is $500 a plate, I feel if I got to experience that a little this weekend. Dave's 10 year high school reunion was last night. Because Dave was elected Senior class president it fell on him to plan the event. He started in December and got no help from anyone except one girl (who was extremely helpful and we are very appreciative). The past 6 months we have worked so hard to contact people and plan. They did the cheapest tickets possible while keeping the night fun and interesting. So when all is said and done, after putting down thousands of our own money, Dave and I ended up paying $300 a dinner while everyone else, complaining all the way, paid $30. To all those who did not attend the event, thinking I will just go out with my friends I want to see...You are extremely rude people and I hope I never meet you. To all that came and said see you at the 20 year I say....You are smoking crack! To all those that came and feel bad for us...I will happily send you my address so you can send me a check!

(Picture not of the actual sandwich I ate, I just added it for affect.)

What I want to be when I grow up...

2010-06-07T21:50:00.003-06:00

Andrew has recently changed his answer to what he wants to be when he grows up. The past six months or so he has said he wants to be a "regular doctor." Before it was a baby doctor probably because he saw one so much when I was pregnant with Camille. Tonight at dinner he told Dave that he wanted to be "nothing" when he grew up. Dave asked him how he was going to live if he didn't make any money espescially when he got married and had babies. He had obviously thought this through because his answer was "You, Dad, are just going to make a lot of money and take care of me and my family." He was then promptly informed that he will be cut off at the age of 18!

(Picture taken at Stinker's birthday. We have at least three birthdays a week for various stuffed animals. On this birthday Stinker received the watch he is wearing and the "book" Andrew has.)

Memorial Day

2010-06-03T09:06:00.002-06:00

To get away Dave and I booked a hotel room for the family, Sunday to Monday in Park City. We had a blast swimming and hanging out. Even though we couldn't get away for the whole weekend the one night was perfect. With Dave working on the Core project and us starting to finish the basement I am praying for a real vacation some time this summer but until then I will take a mini trip when it includes putting our cute kids in their swimsuits! (Little girls swimsuits are the best!)

8 Months

2010-05-10T08:45:00.003-06:00

Camille turned 8 months on Saturday. Camille's 7th month was full of development. She began crawling and now can also stand up on everything. She has begun to let go but can only last a few seconds. She also has just started cruising around furniture. She is growing up way to fast!

Camille also got some more teeth. Her first tooth came during her sixth month but since then has been working hard on more. She has both bottom teeth. When you look at the top of her mouth you can see all four top teeth but the only one really broken through is the top left (not the center ones). We had to work hard for a picture at this is all we got.

Despite a a torture week when that tooth broke she is still her happy go lucky self. She is such a Daddy's girl and will crack up laughing when she hears Dave's voice.

Clawson babies can crawl normally....

2010-04-12T18:59:00.003-06:00

So Camille officially started crawling today. She has been very close for about a week. This morning right after she woke up I took her downstairs and put her on the floor. Andrew had left out a deck of cards he got from Chuck-E-Cheese over the weekend and she just took off for them. Right now she only uses the crawling to get something she really really wants, which is mostly Andrew's toys. I guess he better learn to keep his toys off the ground. Here is a video of Camille crawling. Please ignore my annoying voice. It sounds even weirder than normal because I have a cold.

(A side note, we went to Chuck-E-Cheese this weekend to officially celebrate Andrew's being completely potty trained. He has been a pro without diapers for a couple weeks but we just got around to celebrating. The final answer to the problem, get rid of diapers for good. Once he didn't have the option he figured he had to learn how to use the potty.)

Here is a picture of me and the kids for my mom and dad, to prove that we are alive and well!

Article

2010-03-31T16:12:00.002-06:00

Here is an article about Dave's new job and what they are doing for it. They had a big meeting and Dave got to meet governor Herbert. In the picture of the governor speaking Dave is all the way to the right behind the guy in the orange vest and hard hat. You have to look closely but you can tell it is him.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700020502/Construction-ahead-UDOT-contruction-crews-prepare-for-I-15-CORE-in-Utah-County.html

6 Months Old

2010-03-10T09:17:00.004-07:00

Camille's half birthday was on Monday. I haven't done an "official" photo shoot with her yet but here is a recent picture I took. It is of Camille performing my favorite new trick. Most mothers just can't wait until their kid can smile. I get most excited about the reaching!!!

Camille is doing great. She has her doctor's appointment on Friday so that is when I will get the official stats. She is a great napper and okay night sleeper. She only wakes once at night but that is more than Andrew did but he was a horrible napper. She had a bad cough last week and an ear infection but she was a trooper through it all. She is the happiest baby I know. Yesterday we were at Itty Bitty ball watching Andrew and she has the tiniest whinny, like most Mom's wouldn't have noticed but I was freaking out because it is so unlike her. I finally figured out it was because I had a hat on and it was weirding her out! She is such a blessing in our lives and I am going to say it, I can't believe how fast time has flown. (I hear it just keeps getting faster as you have more kids! Scary!)

One more photo, taken by Andrew.

Family Home Evening

2010-02-23T13:45:00.002-07:00

Last night Andrew decided to give the lesson for family home evening. He then commenced telling the story of Noah. He did a great job. It went something like this... Jesus told Noah to build a boat. (He then described the boat in length, I think he was describing the Fisher Price Noah's Ark that my sister has.) Then he put all the animals on it. The mommy giraffe, daddy giraffe, and baby giraffe. Plus the mommy zebra, daddy zebra, and baby zebra. Then it rained. The end!

Happy Belated Birthday

2010-02-19T09:26:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to wish my hubby a happy birthday. I didn't get the post up yesterday because we had to do all our birthday fun. Out to lunch, homemade pizza and smoothies for dinner and rook with Grandma and Grandpa Tootsie! I love you Dave, you are the best!

The Berenstain Bears

2010-02-16T22:42:00.002-07:00

Is it wrong that every time Andrew and I go to the library, which is once a week, I go check out a Berenstain Bear book for me?

Picture Update

2010-02-12T11:22:00.005-07:00

Camille and baby food equals love. She is much happier when she is full!

The only picture of my birthday. You gotta love it. Andrew and Dave making me a cake.

Andrew's 3rd Birthday. We went sledding on Saturday. He opened his presents before church on Sunday. Then we had a Curious George party that night, complete with monkey cupcakes and the man with the yellow hat.

Family Pictures

2010-01-30T17:33:00.001-07:00

My sister, Debbie, took our family pictures over Christmas break. She just finished editing them and they turned out great. Check them out on her blog...

http://debbiebrenner.typepad.com/thats_in_my_book/

M.I.A.

2010-01-25T16:41:00.004-07:00

I know, I am a lazy blogger. But the past two weeks have been dedicated to this...

We are actually doing pretty good. He stopped peeing in his pants pretty much after a few days. He doesn't tell me he has to go though. It is maddening. I have to wait until he begins to hold himself or he begins to dance. Then I take him to the potty. He used to scream bloody murder, but that is dying down now that he realizes he can just pee and be done. We have still yet to have a successful poop in the potty. He has pooped a small amount but nothing significant. Dave has decided we must force it. Meaning not giving a diaper option. Therefor, no diaper last night. He made it through the night without wetting the bed. So I guess we just keep going. I hope to have a successful poop before his birthday (Sunday). Pray for me!!!

Camille's Blessing

2009-12-17T18:54:00.003-07:00

We blessed Camille the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The blessing was beautiful. Dave did a wonderful job. We were lucky enough to have my parents in town along with most of Dave's family. After Sacrament meeting we went to my sister Jenny's for lunch. Thanks again Jenny for the use of your house, it was great. Here are some pictures that my brother-in-law took.

Camille was pretty fussy so I was so glad we caught her smiling. It looks like she was an angel the whole time in this picture.

This was her real demeanor but still cute none the less. Half smiling, half crying.

And finally the family picture. Andrew has on a suit but it was too hard to convince him to put it back on for pictures. Oh well!

Congrats Dave!!!

2009-12-16T17:12:00.003-07:00

We found out today that Dave passed the PE (Professional Engineer) Exam. This means he can now get a stamp saying that he designed things and sign off on them himself. I am so proud of him. He didn't sign up for a class to study because we just had Camille so he did all his studying on his own. Congrats honey, we are so proud of you!

2 Months

2009-11-12T13:44:00.003-07:00

Camille turned two months last Sunday. I feel like she has been around forever. She is still a really good baby. She is sleeping through the night more and more. She had her doctor's appointment yesterday and did not like the shots. Andrew was never affected by the shots but after her nap she cried for an hour. Not just crying but screaming bloody murder. It was hard to handle, but I survived. She weighed 9 lbs. 15 oz. (25%) and 22 in long (25%). Her head is also just under the 25%. I guess she is a pretty proportionate girl.

I am obsessed with figuring out what color her hair is going to be. It is hard to describe but it looks gold right now, but at times the new hair growing in at top seems darker.

A trick and a treat, arg!

2009-11-05T20:07:00.001-07:00

This is what Andrew said when he knocked on doors. He then proceeded to tell me over and over again what a great time he was having. He had a hard time keeping up with his two older cousins but he obviously didn't mind.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-29T22:04:00.002-06:00

Thanks for the pumpkins Grandma and Grandpa Tootsie!

First Family Photo

2009-10-26T20:43:00.004-06:00

This was taken tonight (by the trash can) and I realized, sadly enough, that this is the first picture we have of all four of us! Maybe my sister Debbie can remedy this during our trip to Houston over Christmas. Hint, hint. I have a ton of pictures to post but tonight is dedicated to getting some printed so we have an actual picture of Camille.

Celebrate Good Times

2009-10-15T13:41:00.003-06:00

Camille slept through the night last night! I nursed her at 10 pm. She woke up at 6 am. Life is wonderful when you have an angel for a baby! I on the other hand did not really get to enjoy the all night sleep because I woke up with a small dose of food poisoning at about 1:30. Yuck! I feel better today though. Hopefully there will be more all night sleeps soon so I can fully reap the benefits.

Oh yeah, if you have lost count she is only five weeks and one day.

Dutch Oven in the Fall

2009-10-12T09:47:00.002-06:00

We went up American Fork Canyon on Saturday night and Dave cooked delicious dutch oven. We had chicken cordon blue, rice, a white wine sauce and squash. It turned out wonderful. It was pretty cold so I couldn't take Camille out for some cute family pictures by the fall leaves so this is what we got.

One Month

2009-10-08T20:24:00.002-06:00

Camille is one month today. I can hardly believe it. One month ago right now I was just getting out of surgery and I felt awful and I was pretty out of it. Crazy!

Camille is doing great. She is a wonderful sleeper. I got six hours straight last night and that isn't a rare occurrence. I love my little girl, she is perfect.

Sunday

2009-09-29T15:33:00.003-06:00

Here are some pictures that I took of the kids on Sunday. It was our Primary program so I decided to brave it and take the kids while Dave sat with our class. I quickly discovered the importance of having two parents to entertain the two kids during sacrament meeting but we survived and actually only left once during the meeting.

I also wanted to say thanks to all those who have been helping me out. Camille is three weeks old today and I have yet to cook a dinner. My ward is awesome. Everyone is bringing food and taking Andrew so he can play with other kids. Today has been awesome. Grandma and Grandpa Tootsie (aka Bev and Les) have had Andrew all day. Dave just dropped him off on the way to work and will pick him up when he is done.

The recovery from this C-section is going wonderfully. Physically I feel really normal. No pain or anything left. Emotionally I am doing really well. I am pretty sure I had a mild depression after I had Andrew. I had no motivation to do anything after I had him and I broke down almost daily. I am so motivated to keep up my routine but I also don't feel stressed to get anything done. I feel a lot more relaxed about nursing and taking care of Camille. Life is good!

More Pictures of Camille

2009-09-13T07:34:00.003-06:00

Pictures Of Camille

2009-09-09T23:34:00.004-06:00

Mandy has a slide show of a bunch of pictures on her blog too: http://amandabwebb.blogspot.com/

It's a Girl!!!!!!!

2009-09-09T09:18:00.000-06:00

This is Dave. I'm writing this from the hospital waiting room, so Katie will put up some pictures later. Camille Elizabeth Clawson was born at 7:13 PM last night (9/8/09). She is 5 lb 11 oz and 17 inches long. She's doing great. Katie is a little nauseous from all of the medication from the C Section, but she's doing fine. We'll post more later.

Sorry for the lack of blogging...

2009-08-26T14:00:00.002-06:00

I am not sure if anyone cares but I am sorry I haven't blogged in forever. My doctor's discovered high blood pressure with this pregnancy which has equaled me being admitted to the hospital every time I go to the doctor which has been about 2 times a week for the past couple of weeks. My last check went really well. I see my real doctor on Monday so we will see if anything has changed. No pre-eclampsia yet luckily, hopefully we can keep it that way or this little one is going to join us early!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-08-07T14:28:00.003-06:00

A couple of nights ago Dave came home late from work so Andrew and I had already eaten dinner. I fixed him a plate and sat down at the table. After eating for a few minutes Dave looked under the table for my feet, because he couldn't find them with his own. I just started laughing because I knew what he was looking for before he even told me. Every night at dinner for the first year of our marriage would go something like this...Make dinner together, sit down together, start eating together and then Dave would look under the table and say "were are your feet." I was inevitably always sitting on them or had them tucked under my chair. Now that we have been married for five years a lot has changed, for example, no more footsies under the table because there is a two year old in between. But one thing hasn't change I married the man of my dreams. He is an awesome husband and father and I don't know what I would do with out him! I love you Dave!

Clip

2009-07-01T09:51:00.002-06:00

So I can't figure out how to get the clip of Good Things Utah in my blog but I have it on my sidebar. Check it out. I think they did a great job!

Good Things Utah

2009-06-28T19:53:00.001-06:00

For all those in Utah, Dave will be on good things Utah on Tuesday the 30th. Check it out. It comes on ABC(channel 4) at 10 am.

Big Boy Bed

2009-06-17T13:37:00.005-06:00

So Andrew has been sleeping in his big bed since Saturday night. We casually mentioned moving the bed on Saturday and as soon as we got home Andrew demanded that the big bed be moved into his room. Dave did the grunt work while Andrew and I watched. As Dave was finishing up Andrew looks at me with huge eyes and exclaims "The baby is here!" followed by frantic looking for the baby. I quickly realized that all this time we have been saying that he will move into his big boy bed when the new baby came. We explained that it wasn't time yet and then reassured him the baby was still in my belly.

We have not had any incidence with the bed yet. He sleeps in it at naps and at nighttime. He still hasn't figured out that he can get out yet. It bugs Dave but I enjoy it. I need him to keep the nap!

Here are some other pics we took this weekend. I didn't have any official belly pics yet so I made Dave take some. I only have two with Andrew. One when I was about 6 months and one the morning before the C-section.

One last story, on Sunday after church I asked the common question, what did you do in nursery and this was Andrew's response..."Sing songs, blow bubbles, Andrew no pushing..." I couldn't help but burst out laughing. When asked if he pushed, he quickly blamed another child for pushing him. I guess I will never know!

A weekend of firsts...

2009-06-08T13:40:00.002-06:00

1. Andrew went poop on the potty for the first time. Actually this is the first time he sat on the potty and anything came out. We just bought him a step stool to put in the half bath so he can wash his hands unassisted after he goes to the bathroom. I decided not to even think of potty training until he could wash his hands by himself. Dave put it together on Friday afternoon and we proceeded to teach Andrew how to use it. He then got down said he needed to go potty, which happens very rarely, we stuck him on the potty and he pooped. No I have not started potty training but it does give me hope for the future!

2. Andrew said the prayer all by himself. After church on Sunday Andrew gave me what he colored in nursery, a picture of a little boy saying the prayer. So at lunch Dave asked if he wanted to say the prayer, which he does often but always with prompts of what to say. This time he took off and did it by himself..."Heavenly Father, food, bless food, amen." Not much but all by himself non the less.

3. I met Andrew's imaginary friend. Now I know Andrew has a good imagination. He is always taking his little people and having them interact and he speaks for them so I was not surprised at all when he said he had a friend. On Sunday night he came up to Dave and I and said this is Andrew's friend, pointing to the air beside him. We asked for a name and he thought about it and named him Duke. (that is the name of our next door neighbor's dog.) He then ran off and played.

4.I made curtains! I actually made them last week but we just hung them up. We have recently moved our bed in our bedroom and the sun peaks through the top of the blinds very early in the morning. I made the curtains so I could sleep longer, I can't say that they have worked yet because it has been cloudy the past couple of days. I am just proud they turned out because I went to the fabric store, fell in love with the fabric and had to buy it even though it was a remnant. Luckily it was long enough, especially because I only paid $2.50 for it.

Family Vacation

2009-06-01T13:57:00.007-06:00

So we just got back from our family vacation to Phoenix. We had a lot of fun and enjoyed doing all the activities. I am still a little confused why people live in Phoenix (the hottest weather ever!!!) but other than that we had a great time.

Our first stop was Tocqueville, Utah. We stopped to see Moses Clawson's grave. Moses is Dave's great-great grandpa who had 25 children. It is pretty crazy because Dave's great Grandpa was the youngest of all the kids, born when Moses was in his 70s. Moses was a Mormon pioneer who crosses the plains and he is only Dave's great-great grandpa.

Then we continued on and drove through Zion's National Park. It was really beautiful. We only stopped to take one quick picture while we waited to go through the tunnel. We then spent the night in Page, Az. It was a nice little town. I was able to see Lake Powell for the first time and Dave got to visit the Glen Canyon Dam. Of course Dave now says that yes the lake was beautiful but the dam was awesome. That is a civil engineer for you.

We woke up the next morning at drove to the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful and I am glad that I can finally say that I have been there. As you can see in the picture, Andrew had no fear about being so high up!

Then onto Phoenix. We stayed at an awesome hotel that had its own water park. Of course I didn't take any pictures to document it but we went swimming every day and had a blast. We also visited the zoo. It was nice but would have been better if we didn't go on the free entry day. Then we ended our trip by attending the Friday and Saturday games of the Braves vs. Diamondbacks. The braves won on Friday. It was a lot of fun and the stadium was awesome. We drove home on Sunday. Oh yes, one of the things I am most proud of is that no one got sunburned at all during the trip. I feel that my job as mother was successful!

Andrew is getting a...

2009-05-12T13:41:00.002-06:00

Baby Sister!!!

The ultrasound went great today. Everything looks good. The due date is still September 25. We are so excited to be adding a little girl to the family!

The Peacemaker

2009-04-20T13:20:00.002-06:00

Sorry I have not put up Easter yet. I have pictures but it is like my camera weighs a thousand pounds or something because it can not make it upstairs to the computer!

On Sunday morning I was sitting on the bed finishing up my primary lesson and Dave had just gotten out of the shower. Andrew was across the hall in the toy room playing. Dave comes into the bedroom and jokingly threatens to jump into my side of the bed soaking wet! Now all who know me know I have a weird love for my bed. It has to be perfectly made and I can never switch sides with Dave. So in response to his threat I yelped "NO!!!" Andrew comes across the hall into the bedroom and before he even makes it into the room I can hear him say "Don't fight" We both quickly apologized for fighting! It is nothing like a two year old to remind you to keep the peace!

A Prediction

2009-03-30T15:05:00.002-06:00

So I found this website on babycenter.com. I thought I would test it out because unlike with Andrew I have no idea if this baby is a girl or boy. Here is the sight if you want to try it out...

http://pregnancyandbaby.com/pregnancy/baby/Madame-Zaritska-predicts-your-birth-experience-1.php

Here is the predicition for my child...

The day you deliver, outside will be hot. Your baby will arrive in the early evening. After a labor lasting approximately 12 hours, your child, a boy, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 8 pounds, 8 ounces, and will be 16 inches long. This child will have medium brown eyes and a little patch of auburn hair.

I think it could be right, all except for the brown eyes. Not that I guess it is entirely impossible but both Dave and I have blue!

A Pretty Good Excuse

2009-03-20T10:41:00.004-06:00

So I know I have been absent for quite some time but I believe that I have a fairly good excuse...

this little peanut combined with...

a full of energy two year old makes me very, very tired. Lets just say anytime I have a free moment is dedicated to sleep. I am know 13 weeks and finally feeling more normal. I haven't had a super hard time but it has been different and harder than when I was pregnant with Andrew. We are due September 25. Everyone is super excited, espescially Andrew (since he really has no idea what is going on.) But he likes going to the doctor and hearing the baby's heartbeat. He says it goes "bump, bump, bump!"

Andrew's Birthday Celebration!

2009-02-07T16:40:00.005-07:00

I know, it is a week late but here it is...

On Friday night we took money received from Great Grandma Higginbotham and went bowling. We have taken Andrew before but he enjoyed it a lot better this time and wanted every turn to be his. Because he is the first child we practically let it be his turn the whole time!

On Saturday morning we let him open his presents first thing. We gave him a hooded towel that I made, a golf set and some books. After breakfast we took him took Chuck E. Cheese and after his nap we went to McDonalds and Walmart where he got to pick out a new toy from Grandma Jana and Grandpa Robert. He picked a Tonka car garage, which he loves.

On Sunday evening we held a little cookie party for Andrew. I had my two sisters come over with there families and eat cookies and ice cream. You can see my handy craftsmanship on the hat I made for Andrew. Right before my sisters came over Andrew talked about how he was going to blow out the candles and were a hat! I guess a birthday hat is a must for him.

Guess who is 2!!

2009-01-31T09:25:00.002-07:00

Andrew turns two today. I would say I can't believe he is so big but I have thought about it a lot lately and it really has felt like two years. He is my little man!

We took him to the doctor yesterday and here are his stats.
Weight 25 lbs 6 oz.
Height 35 in.

So that makes 25% in weight and 75% in height. Definitly tall and skinny. I will keep you updated on the fun weekend we are having. (We aren't having an official birthday party with everyone so he gets a whole weekend of activities for his birthday!)

Christmas

2008-12-31T13:36:00.003-07:00

Sorry it has taken so long to post some Christmas pictures. The Monday before Christmas I woke up with a fever. I couldn't do anything except lay there, luckily my wonderful sister Mandy came and got Andrew and I slept from 11 am until 5:30 pm. Only waking up at 1:30 to eat a piece of toast and to make sure Dave was getting Andrew from my sisters. The fevers proceeded along with a stuffy nose and a sore throat to the point that I could not swallow anything! So lets just say Christmas morning is a blur and it is a good thing we took pictures for me to remember it by. I went to the doctor on Friday morning and they gave me an antibiotic. By late Friday night I was starting to feel normal and could finally eat something. We finally ended Christmas on Sunday but having Christmas dinner. I was glad we waited and I was actually able to enjoy the meal! Here are some pictures of Andrew on Christmas morning.

Andrew truly loved his train set and kitchen and has not stopped playing with them. I loved that he was so excited for each present as he unwrapped it! I think it will make his birthday even more fun because he understands unwrapping presents and that when you do unwrap them you get a toy!

...Our dear old Allen High!

2008-12-21T14:21:00.002-07:00

My high school won the Texas High School Football championship last night. It was an awesome and suspensful game! (Dave so kindly upgraded our Direct TV so I could watch it.) If you don't know, I have a tremendous love for football and learned everything I know about it from watching the Allen Eagles play. I went to practically every high school (away and home)game since I was born. This was the first time they made it to the championship and they won!!! Go Eagles!

What does your snow taste like???

2008-12-18T16:37:00.002-07:00

Ours tastes like COOKIES!!!!

Christmas Time...

2008-12-11T20:46:00.002-07:00

So I thought I better begin posting the Christmas activities before I become overwhelmed. We put up our Christmas tree on Monday. We searched long and hard for the perfect Christmas tree, after a couple tree lots I found it at Home Depot. The same place we bought it last year, I must remember this next year so I can start there. I wanted short and skinny. I think it is perfect and it smells great! Andrew wasn't that interested in the tree decorating but was excited to put the star on. He was interested in our nativity scene which I decided to go out a buy him a small one to play with so I didn't have to hear him cry any more. He now carries around Jesus baby Jesus and Jesus baby Jesus Mommy (aka Mary).

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-28T14:59:00.004-07:00

We made this turkey for FHE this week. Andrew has carried it around ever since. We then took turns saying what we were thankful for.

Dave-Andrew and Katie
Katie-Dave's job (espescially in this scary time!)
Andrew-Lights! (I was so surprised he actually came up with something.)

So Dave and I were some of the crazy that went shopping this morning. Being the awful parents we are we woke Andrew up at 4:45am and went to Walmart. It was so out of control. Neither Dave or I had ever seen anything that bad. So we quickly just got back into the car and went to Target. I got in line while Dave and Andrew went for breakfast. I had a blast at Target because I was part of the craziness and I got what I wanted, a new vaccuum. Then we headed over to Big Lots, which had already been open for about half hour and by some miracle we got the $5 Tickle me Cookie Monster! It was the only one on the shelf and when we went to pay for it the lady said that everyone in line at 6am was coming to buy that so she didn't know how we got it! We brought Andrew home and he wanted nothing to do with sleeping so Dave and I took turns taking naps, but when we left to meet my family for lunch he was out the moment he got in the car. You would think he is wearing the glasses to be cool but I think he choose to wear them so he could fall asleep without Mom or Dad knowing.

All Aboard the Choo-Choo Train

2008-11-25T21:49:00.002-07:00

Good thing we bought him a train set for Christmas! You have to commend the 21 months old little brain for coming up with his own make shift train which he pushed around for an hour tonight.

A Wall-er...

2008-11-18T15:24:00.004-07:00

So I haven't blogged in forever, I blame it on the fact that so many of my friends and family update their blogs so often I easily get my blogging fix. Sorry! Here is what has been going on lately (meaning, here are some things that I have taken pictures of in the last weeks thinking, "I should blog about that.")

A couple of Sundays ago Andrew really wanted to sit down and read books. I happily obliged because who can say no to your kid wanting to read. He sits down in my lap with a few of his favorites and within two minutes he has already turned the pages so fast that I could hardly get the first word out from every page. I quickly became frustrated and sent him over to his Dad's lap to read. And there he sat, contentedly listening to every word on every page. I am telling myself he just liked hearing from some one different for a change!

Smith's had one of its 10 for 10 sales so I decided to get these great jugs of water for $.50 each to add to the food storage. They have been lined up, stacked in the hall for about a week. Put there as a suttle reminder to Dave that they needed to be in the basement. Last night Andrew carried each one individually into the living room. By the end he was so tired, yet so determined he began rolling the waters until he had them exactly how he wanted them.

And last, but not least, Santa visited Dave and I early this year. We got our new TV and the HD reciever comes tomorrow. Just in time for everyone's most important program of the year.... BYU vs. Utah!

The Elections

2008-11-05T09:48:00.003-07:00

So I know I haven't shared any opinions about the elections but I did have some things I was thinking about since the conclusion last night. I voted for John McCain, largley based on some simple beliefs that I have, for example abortion. When I was watching the election coverage last night I thought to myself, I do not want to feel bad/sad that John McCain lost, espescially for my child. I need to show that even though who we wanted to win didn't, doesn't mean we can't turn around and support the good things that Obama brings to the table. Obama is going to be our president for at least 4 years. He seems like a good man and what he needs most is our prayers. It felt so good to face these facts and not have to feel impending doom. I am tired of hearing "The world is falling apart and we are all going to live horrible lives!" (Okay, not really a quote but wanted to emphasize what I feel.) What kind of mother would I be if I raised my child in that kind of attitude and atmosphere! Staying positive and fighting for what you believe in is most important. I think my sister-in-law Janet who has a great way with words said it best. Thanks Janet, for sharing.

Halloween, finally!

2008-11-02T21:17:00.004-07:00

Here are some pictures of the Halloween festivities!

We carved our pumpkin Monday night. As soon as the top came off and Andrew could smell the pumpkin he made a noise like he was going to gag and we became very clear that he was going to have nothing to do with it. After we got it carved I bribed him with a cookie to sit near it for a picture.

On Halloween day we went to Grandma Bev and Grandmpa Les's for lunch and fun with cousins. Andrew enjoyed himself running around with his cousins but I did find him once sitting on the couch next to Uncle Scott watching football. I had to drag him outside to continue in the Halloween festivities! On Halloween night Andrew enjoyed passing out the candy but didn't understand why he had to come back inside instead of going out with other kids. Mandy, Martin and the girls came over around 7 and Andrew was finally let out to go Trick-Or-Treating. As you can tell by the picture he was ready to run out the door and get candy, he was not going to pose for a picture!

To teach or not to teach....

2008-10-23T18:39:00.001-06:00

that is the question. You experienced moms out there, what did you do?

Food Calendar

2008-10-22T16:07:00.003-06:00

I got this idea off my sister-in-law's blog many months ago and I finally decided to sit down and make it. I can get into a real food rut and I hope that this will help me not forget about good recipes. I plan on adding ribbon to it and hanging it below our white board that it is sitting on. All I did was attach a page protector that is made for slides to a piece of paper and ta-da. It only has 25 squares but lets be honest there a some nights that you end up picking up McDonalds!

Blogging laziness=Major update

2008-10-20T13:32:00.006-06:00

I have been super lazy with blogging lately. I just sat down to upload pics and I had 40! That is a lot for me, I don't seem to take a lot of pictures at one event. So here is the update....

Andrew is really loving apples lately, except he will not eat them cut up, it has to be whole. I have just started wrapping them up in Saran Wrap and making him eat the same apple for more than one meal/snack time.

On Friday night we met up for a fun night with Heath, Lacey and Crew. First we went to Joe Morley's for dinner. Delicious barbeque, the best brisket I have had in a long time!!! (A must visit if you are in Utah.) Then we went to Gardner's Village to ride the horses and look at the witches. The boys wore their costumes. Andrew borrowed the horse costume from Lacey's little brother and he loved it. It was hopping along like a horse. Lacey took video of it, she will have to send it to me and I will put it on.

In an effort to salvage the last of the good weather Dave and I got up early and we went to the zoo. Andrew loves the zoo and we had a blast. He espescially likes riding the train and carosel. Hopefully we have a few more, semi warm days so we can continue to go and use our pass.

Then on Saturday night we went to Cornbelly's for some entertainment. Dave was dreading another outing but Andrew had so much fun I guess he decided it was worth it. Andrew rode the cow train, played on the playground and much more. His favorite was the bouncing pillow, unfortunatly it was too dark to get pictures of it. We also got our pumpkins from the pumpkin patch. I guess we are ready for the real Halloween to begin after all of our fall fun!

Sunday night we had a stake meeting to realign the wards. Our ward was barely affected and I am glad that we don't have to make any big changes! Espescially because we have a weekend of church coming up!! (Meetings, primary program and the real church!) I am SUPER excited too because Rachel is coming to town this week and we get to meet baby Kennedy. I have been prepping Andrew, he says he wants to hold the baby and sing her a song. When I asked which song he gave a resounding "Cougars!!!!" (meaning the Cougar fight song). So get ready baby Kennedy!

A much needed date night...

2008-10-10T21:57:00.003-06:00

So Dave and I finally were able to go on a date tonight. It is not like we don't have a trillion people willing to baby-sit for us, we have just been so busy the last "few" weekends that we really haven't had a chance. We went to Archibald's for dinner while Les and Bev watched Andrew. It was pretty good, and nice to relax while eating. Thank you Les and Bev!!! They said Andrew was great, of course he loved running around and playing ball with Grandma and Grandpa.

I also got my hair cut this week. I went in with a picture of Reese Witherspoon and I think the girl did a pretty good job. Reese's hair turns under, but for the life of me I can not get it to turn under. I think it still looks good flip out, espescially because this is what it does naturally when I don't dry it with the hair dryer. Less work, who would complain!

Things I am loving...

2008-10-01T13:39:00.005-06:00

Life has been pretty much the same lately. Yesterday my sister's and I got together and made a Halloween decoration for our homes.

This is how mine turned out. It is a mummy if you can't tell. I personally think it is adorable. I guess this means I need to pull out the other Halloween decorations that I have.

I went to Ross this week and discovered this book. It has 5 different books in it. Now of course I told Dave that I purchased it for Andrew but lets get real, it is for me. I love ther Berenstain Bears!!!! Talk about childhood memories.

The last thing that I am loving is that I am almost done with my Christmas shopping, yes you heard me correctly!!! No I won't rub it in but I am super excited. (It does help that we bought my parent's BYU vs. TCU tickets, and Dave and I are purchasing a new TV so it narrows down the number of presents I have to buy to Andrew and a few extended family gifts!)

Dave and I are off to Logan on Friday to cook dutch oven for his work and to watch the BYU game. I am looking forward to it and hope Andrew's energy doesn't run me ragged before the game even starts!

Weekend in Review

2008-09-22T14:35:00.004-06:00

So Friday night Dave and I baby-sat my sister Mandy's kids so she could take her husband out for his birthday. We had a lot of fun. We first picked up Ashlynn (4 years old) and she was so excited to being going on a date with Andrew. Then we picked up Alex (6 years old) from a birthday party and the night of fun began. We went to Carl's Junior for dinner and then to the farm at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved the animals and Andrew loved riding the horses.

Then on Saturday we went to the BYU game. I tried to get some pictures of Andrew but was really too into the game. He loves the games and is so good at them. We did leave early this time though because he spilt some popcorn on the ground and didn't understand why he was not allowed to eat the dropped popcorn, despite the fact that he still had half a bag left!

Sunday we went to church of course. We decided to walk this week, which we should do every week because of the proximity of the church to the house. Instead of pushing Andrew in the stroller he walked the whole way and loved it. I guess he is really growing up! I even let him walk to go visiting teaching today and he was in heaven! Later on we went for a drive in the big car (Dave's car). We drove down to the lake and throw rocks into the water. Andrew's new found love is rocks, he picks them up everywhere. (It reminds me of Evan's stick obsession for all the Clawsons that know who Evan is.) Lets just say he was quite distraught when we had to leave the lake.

We are back to the work week. We took Andrew back to the doctor this morning to get his arm checked out. The doctor gave us a new wrapping and splint (I am pretty sure there was a mold growing on the old one, GROSS!) but said to keep in on another two weeks. Everything is healing just fine so we should be good pretty soon!

A Nigh, Nigh

2008-09-16T13:13:00.004-06:00

Every week when I do laundray Andrew finds this sweater dryer and asks "A nigh, nigh?" Translation, is this a crib? I usually just say no and he moves on. I think today, he finally gave up on asking and pulled it into the bedroom to try it out himself.

Who needs a port-a-crib when you have a cozy sweater dryer!

Aviary and Fair

2008-09-11T13:16:00.005-06:00

So last week I went to the Tracy Aviary with Lacie and Crew. Andrew was not that big of fan of the birds, but Crew loved them. He wanted to pet them. Afterwards we had a picnic lunch at the park and then we let the boys play in the water. I am pretty sure that that was Andrew's favorite part.

Then on Friday night Dave had to judge a cook off at the State Fair. We met up with Scott and Amy and the kids had a blast looking at all the animals and riding down the big slide. The only place I got my camera out was at the interactive kids area. This is were the kids travel from building to building, milking a fake cow, planting vegetables and so forth. Andrew loved it!

Andrew's accident

2008-09-08T21:25:00.003-06:00

So Andrew broke his arm today. He was playing on my sister's trampoline (which is a kid tramp) and the next thing I here he is on the ground crying. I brought him in and I could not calm him down. Usually if I give the kid a sippy cup of milk he is all better, but not today. I left my sisters and decided to stop by Dave's work to let him look at it. The arm looked fine but Andrew was definitly favoring it. We decided to make an appointment at the instant care and see what was going on. Our appointment was at 5 but we sat in the waiting room until at least 5:30. By the time we were called in Andrew was doing so much better, dancing around, clapping. I thought, I am such a worrier, I bet we don't even need to be here. Well the x-rays showed that he has a greenstick fracture. His bone is pretty much bent. He just has to were a splint with an ace bandage and it should heal in about 2-3 weeks. He is not a huge fan of the splint but he is a trooper!

(We tried to put a bandage of monkey to convince Andrew not to rip at the bandage during the night. We will see how it works in the morning.)

Playtime with Andrew

2008-09-03T14:08:00.004-06:00

So I have decided that I need to try to be a better mom therefor, I need to be more interactive. So when the Michaels coupon came last week I took it in and bought Andrew a set of finger paints for a $1.50. It took a lot of encouragement, but I did get one picture out of him. He has a serious issue with touching yucky stuff with his fingers. For example, he would not touch his birthday cake, he had to eat it with a fork. Here are some pictures of his first attempt at art...

On Sunday, after Andrew woke up from his nap he brought a bunch of stuff for me to put on him. I guess this is his first attempt at dress up. He ran around dressed like this for hours, playing ball of course!

Relaxing in sunny St. George

2008-08-25T13:42:00.003-06:00

So we drove down to St. George this weekend to spend time with our friends, Emily and Nathan. They live in California so we never get to see them. We drove in the Explorer with Lacie and Heath and Crew. Lets just say that the trip down was not a precurser to how the trip would play out. The kids were awful, taking turns crying and waking each other up. Once we got to St. George they were great. The boys(meaning the dads) got to go golfing every morning. I am pretty sure Dave was in heaven. After they got back the girls were off for pedicures and shopping. The poor kids got stuck at home but it was great to have the three boys play together. It was such a relaxing trip. Thanks for being such wonderful hosts Emily and Nathan!!! (Thank your parents for us again!) Here are some pictures of the kids swimming.

It was really hard to get the kids to congregate all at one spot in the pool and to all look at the camera. These are a few of our some what successful attempts.

Of course, Andrew was being a cheese once we got the camera out. Before, he was freaked out to be in such a big pool all by himself.

Oh yeah, Emily, thank Easton for expanding Andrews vocabulary. This morning we went on a walk and every time I turned around Andrew was yelling "TRACTOR!"

The newest member of the family...

2008-08-19T12:47:00.004-06:00

So we broke down and purchased another car this weekend. Dave's Contour is on its last leg so we decided to start looking. We didn't know we would fall in love so quickly but we found the perfect car for us so we decided to buy it.

This is our "new" 2003 Ford Explorer. (Sorry all of the pictures are taken in the garage, Andrew is asleep and I don't want to risk waking him up for a few pictures.)

This is a picture of the really fancy tires on the car. Totally not Dave and I style but they sure are shiny.

Here is a picture of the inside. The last owners treated it so well it practically looks brand new. We are really excited, espescially Dave because this is actually his car. He will be driving it to and from work every day (to save on the gas mileage thing.) Then we will have it for when we go on trips or are ready to add more kids to the family.

A crazy weekend

2008-08-18T11:27:00.004-06:00

So Andrew got sick on Thursday night and didn't get better until Sunday evening. I mean better by the fact that he could eat again. Despite the illness I tried to pretend he wasn't sick. I know I am an awful mother! Andrew and I went to the zoo of Friday with Dave's sisters and mom. It was fun but Andrew got really cranky at the end. Then on Saturday we "bought" a new car. I put bought in quotes because we don't actually have it yet but we are working on the details. I will post pictures soon. Here are some pictures of our zoo trip.

Andrew loves the elephants.

Here is a picture of Hailey and Andrew looking at the elephants.

It is so dark under the canopy where you watch the elephants and I had to have at least on picture of Andrew's face, this is what turned out.

Here is my attempt at a picture with the giraffes. He was so excited to see the giraffes but this was at the end of our trip and all he could think about was riding the train. It made it difficult to keep him still.

A Glorious Day has arrived...

2008-08-11T09:38:00.003-06:00

The new season of Sesame Street started today. Although my child does not care and could watch the same episode 10 times a day, I had all of last season memorized. Hooray for the new shows, enjoy!

Happy Anniversary!!!

2008-08-07T10:24:00.005-06:00

Four years ago today Dave and I were married in the Jordan River Temple. It has been a wonderful 4 years and I am so happy. I don't know what I would do without Dave, he is the best husband and a wonderful father!

I wanted to post a recent picture of us but I hardly have any of just Dave and I. There is usually an Andrew stuck in the middle, but that is the way we like it. Here is the most recent picture of just the two of us. It is taken in Toronto and I think we look great!

Just like Daddy

2008-08-06T13:48:00.003-06:00

So everytime I go to my sister Mandy's house one of the first thing Andrew plays with is her girls dolls. I dropped him off there last week to run to Walmart and when I came back he was walking around with the baby doll feeding it a bottle. I thought it was the cutest thing ever so I had to go buy him a doll. It came with a sippy cup and a bottle and he loves feeding it the sippy cup. The other morning we came downstairs after he woke up and Dave's shirt was on the couch. He ran to it yelling, "Daddy, daddy!" He then picked it up and tried to put it on. I helped him and then he got his doll and started taking care of it. It was too cute not to capture!

Of course once I pulled the camera out he quickly lost interest in everything but here he is holding the doll.

Here he is being a cheese for the camera.

A Free-"bee"

2008-07-31T22:19:00.003-06:00

So Dave won tickets to the Bee's game on Tuesday night so we went with Heath and Crew. Andrew was so excited that when we were waiting outside for Heath he kept running at the stadium yelling "ball", thinking we were just going to let him go in by himself. We only stayed until the 5th innning but we still had a blast!

This is Andrew intently watching the game. He was pretty fascinated.

Here is Crew. Isn't he just the most adorable little guy you have ever seen! He was so good at the game, even though he was a bit squirmy. It is so hard when they are crawling cause they want to get down and go but you can't let them.

Here is a picture of the boys together. This was taken right as we were leaving so they were both pretty tired. We had to get a picture of them together though Dave said, I guess to prove that they were both there!

This last picture is of Andrew with the Bee mascot. The whole game he would find him out in the stands and wave to him, but when we got close he was petrified. All I can say is that if he is afraid of the Bee he will really be scared of Cosmo. I guess we will have to see what happens then!

Welcome Kennedy!

2008-07-31T15:45:00.005-06:00

So Clawson grandchild number 25 was born yesterday. Congratulations Tim and Rachel, she is beautiful!

Say Cheese

2008-07-28T10:03:00.003-06:00

So Andrew loves the camera but we don't usually let him play with it. Today he found the camera and I decided to teach him how it works. He usually just wants to look at the pictures that have already been taken. He loved watching me make funny faces through the window so I convinced him to make a few so I could take some pictures. Here is what we came up with.

Also, Andrew has gone down to one nap but I wanted to share with everyone what I have been doing so it feels like I get two naps from him. I still put him down at the same time as he did before for 1 nap, which is about 10am. He sleeps for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Then when 3pm rolls around, the old time for his second nap I put him down again but I put all his board books in his crib with him. He sits and reads for about 30 to 40 minutes and then when he is bored he calls me and then I lay him on my bed an turn on Curious George. He is a huge fan and he will sit there for the whole half hour and watch the show while I do other things around the house. It is a great system because I still can get things done both morning and afternoon and Andrew doesn't get cranky because he has geniune time to rest. Just a thought if anyone is a sad as I was about going to one nap!

A Happy Mommy

2008-07-27T14:05:00.003-06:00

One of the best things in the world is walking into a room full of small children and 3 adults and have every single one of them tell you what a wonderful, good son you have. I love nursery!!!!

(This is just Dave and Andrew snuggling, being their cute selves!)

A Work of Art

2008-07-23T10:14:00.003-06:00

So I have been complaining for quite a while that we have no artwork in our home. Lots of pictures but no artwork. Yesterday I was at Roberts looking for a pillow form when I got distracted and found this...

I thought it was very simple and the green in the trees would go perfectly with our broccoli couches. Then I looked at the price...75% off. I couldn't resist getting a perfectly framed piece of art for $18 when it was originally $71. Here is how it looks over the loveseat.

I love when I find a deal and when I fall in love with it! Unfortunatly that means I am off to Hobby Lobby in search of a pillow form!

A Weekend with no Pics...

2008-07-21T09:58:00.002-06:00

I really need to work on remembering my camera. I have decided that the next time I update my cell phone I need a camera phone so that I will always have a camera with me.

Friday night we went up to West Jordan for the night. No plans really but we were able to give Cindy her graduation present. I found the cutest bedding set at Ross for $25. I will have to get pictures once it is all set up in her dorm room for you to see. We then went to Children's Place to hit the sale and then to Jamba Juice. Dave has been living off of Jamba Juices because he had a tooth pulled on Tuesday and it is the most comfortable thing for him to eat.

Saturday morning I got up and left the house at 8:15 before Dave or Andrew made any signs of waking up to go to breakfast with some friends from the ward. First, if you live near Provo or are visiting soon you must eat at Magleby's Fresh for breakfast, it is to die for. Second, I am going to miss you Christina! You will have to become an avid blogger so we can all stay on top of your adventures in Philly. When I got home Andrew was down for his first nap so Dave and I cleaned and then we headed off to do more shopping. Dave desperatly needed new shorts. After shopping, Andrew went down for a second nap and I being the wonderful wife I am took the car in to get the oil changed so Dave could take some pain medication and go to sleep. Then Saturday night we went to the carnival in American Fork. Andrew loved all the rides. We took him on the carousel and the ferris wheel.

Sunday was normal. The greatest thing was that Andrew went to nursery and wasn't even phased. He stayed the whole time and every time we checked on him was participating and playing. We have only attempted to take him once before and he came out crying within 5 minutes. Hopefully it is a good sign that the transition is not going to be as hard as I thought. I am keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-11T10:08:00.004-06:00

I know that it is a week delayed but I was deteremined to post in order. It was nice to be back in Utah for the 4th. We went to a movie in the morning, Mandy and I and the kids watched Kit Kittredge and Dave went to Get Smart. Then we went to my sister Mandy's house for a barbeque, which was delicious. Then we headed to Thanksgiving Point to watch the fireworks. Here are some pics of the day.

This is Andrew with a sparkler. I know, super dangerous but he was feeling really left out. After he held one, he was done and ran off to play on the big wheel.

This is Andrew all in his PJs ready to watch the fireworks.

This is Andrew and I watching the fireworks. He was so in awe. I think it was one of the best fireworks shows I have been to just because of Andrews excitement.

Here are Dave and Andrew watching the fireworks. Even though the fireworks show was pretty long after about 5 minutes Andrew lost interest and just ran around our blanket over and over again. I guess he needed to wear himself out because as soon as we got into the car he was asleep.

Days 6, 7, 8-July 1-3

2008-07-10T14:35:00.002-06:00

So after we came back to Detroit we really just relaxed and hung out. We went to see Kung-fu Panda, made lots of smoothies and played games at home. It was nice to relax. Tim had this great idea that we all go to the dollar store and we each had $4 dollars to spend towards a game. Of course, his game was the most original so it was the only one that deserved picture documentation. I think the pictures speak for themselves, check them out.

Yes those are balloons filled with shaving cream being thrown at a poster covered with tacks!
Thanks again for a great vacation Tim and Rachel!!!

Day 5-June 30

2008-07-08T10:26:00.005-06:00

On Monday we drove and saw Niagra Falls. They were amazing! We decided to stay in Canada and view them from that side and it was so worth it. If you ever go you need to see them from the Canadian side, it is a much better view.

We had heard from Rachel's dad that the best way to see the falls was from the Maid of the Mist, a boat that takes you right up to the falls. He was right, you get soaked, despite the ponchos provided, but it was an awesome way to see the falls.

After viewing the falls we walked over to Planet Hollywood and ate lunch and then got a milk shake at the Hersheys store. Whenever we went to dinner Tim could not resist giving Andrew the lemon from his water because even though Andrew hated it he would keep eating it. After one more look at the falls we headed back to Detroit.

Day 4-June 29

2008-07-08T10:20:00.002-06:00

On Sunday we had a pretty relaxed day planned. We got up and made it to Sacrament meeting in a local ward. Then we ran back to the hotel, packed up and went to downtown Toronto one more time. We walked along the waterfront. It was beautiful but really hot.

After taking some picture was loaded into the car and headed to Niagra Falls. It is just a short drive, about 1 1/2 away so we just went and found a hotel just outside the city and settled down for the night.

Day 3-June 28

2008-07-05T15:24:00.005-06:00

On Saturday, after a wonderful breakfast at our hotel we headed back to downtown Toronto. This is where we split up. The boys, Dave, Tim and Andrew went to the Braves vs. Toronto day game and Rachel and I visited Casa Loma.

Let me start with Casa Loma, which means house on the hill in Spanish. It was a house in the middle of Toronto that looked like a castle. It was really interesting and a fun place to visit, without children and men and with another history lover. It was built by the guy who was the first man to harness the energy of Niagra Falls but then the Canadian government took his power plant away after about a year and didn't pay him for it so he lost his house and it pretty much became a tourist attraction.

These are some outside pictures. The house has over 100 rooms in it with a underground passage way leading to stables.

The house was also surround by some beautiful gardens. This door just looked secret garden to me so I had to take a picture.

We got to go up to the highest tower to look over the city of Toronto. It was a great view but a difficult climb up there. I was so proud of Rachel climbing up, I think 4 flights of stairs, three being small, metal circle staircases.

The boys had a blast at the baseball game even though the Braves lost. Dave had found some good tickets on e-bay so they were only about 20 rows up, directly behind the Braves dugout.

Here is a view from their seats.

This is a picture of Chipper Jones swinging the bat on the on deck circle. Chipper was hurt during this series so he didn't play but he did come up before the last out. Unfortunatly, the guy got out so Chipper didn't play.

This is a picture of the catcher, Brain McCann. After one of the innings, (Dave would tell this story so much better because he was there) Dave took Andrew down to the top of the dug out as the Braves players were heading back down. Brian McCann had the ball in his hand and as he approached the dug out he point directly at Andrew and rolled him the ball on the top of the dug out. As Dave told me the story all I could think was, I guess it was worth it to dress Andrew in his only Brave's gear which happens to be a 6-9 month onsie. Good thing Andrew is still little! Andrew loves his souvenier and wanted to carry it around/throw it the rest of the trip.

After our separate adventures we met back up in Chinatown. With Tim serving his mission in Taiwan, we had someone who could really find us the best Chinese food. The restaurant was great and then we had to poke around the little cheap shops. Tim wanted to buy this hidious Canada visor but Rachel would not let him. Thank goodness.

This is a street in Chinatown named Beverly. We had to get a picture for Dave's mom.

Day 2-June 27

2008-07-04T09:15:00.004-06:00

We had a full day planned on Friday. We started out at the Rouge Factory Tour where we were able to see the Ford F-150s being built on the assembly line. It was really interesting to watch the people put together a car, start to finish while it was moving. You get to walk around on an elevated walk way and watch as the assembly people go about their normal work day. Then in the lobby you can watch two movies, one about the history of Ford (the company and the man) and the other about the building of the F-150 with cool interactive seats. It was like you were on a ride at Disney. Here are some pictures of us taken with some Ford classics.

Then we ran home, loaded up the car and were off across the border to Canada. After an hour of driving around downtown Detroit, with directions, we finally crossed the border and were on our way to Toronto. With all the delays we ran to our hotel rooms to quickly check in and then we went to the Braves vs. Toronto game at the Skydome. It was so much fun. The Braves won and Jurrgens pitched an amazing game. Plus, Andrew finally figured out it is Ball not Mall! Hooray!

Day 1-June 26

2008-07-04T09:05:00.003-06:00

So this is actually day two because we left on Wednesday but our flight was delayed two hours and with the time difference (Detroit is on Eastern time) we did not arrive until 2 a.m.! Andrew was an angel throughout the whole flight and everyone on the plane fell in love with him. Our first day we slept in until 10! But after we got up, we went to pick up a rental car and got a little tour of Livonia, the actual city where Tim and Rachel live. Then when Tim got off of work we went for a walk in the park behind their apartment. It was beautiful, but very humid!

Family Vacation 2008

2008-07-04T09:01:00.002-06:00

So we got back yesterday from our vacation to Detroit and Toronto. It was so much fun! We loved visiting Tim and Rachel. Everyone in the Clawson family must go visit because it was a blast! I will give you updates day by day so you can see all that we did (and so when I publish my blog to a book at the end of the year I have less work to do!)

Whirlwind Weekend

2008-06-23T22:15:00.002-06:00

So this weekend was jam packed. It started off with Dave working 60 hours last week before Thursday at noon. It was insane. On Wednesday he went in at 6 am, came home for a half an hour at 8 pm for dinner and was back at the office until noon Thursday. I don't know how he stayed awake but he did and they finally finished his project. Luckily for me that meant Dave did not have to go to work on Friday. Thursday night we went to Heath and Lacie's for a barbeque. It was so fun to see everyone and hang out. Andrew fell in love with Wendee because she was willing to throw the ball back and forth the whole night with him. On Friday morning Dave and Matt Dean went golfing and hurried home so that we could make it to Brittany's wedding in the Timpanogos Temple. It was a wonderful ceremony, one of the best I have been to. Then we did the wedding thing the rest of the day, luncheon and reception. We were so tired when we got home but there was no time for stopping. We had to pack the car for our day trip to Idaho. Bright and early we were up and driving to Chubbuck, Idaho for Grandma Winward's 85 birthday party. It was a great family reunion but a very hot day in the sun. Suprisingly enough I was able to keep all three members of the family sunburn free except for a small spot on Dave's neck. We were so excited for Sunday to come for our day of rest. We went to church, came home and ate some lunch then Dave and I layed down while Andrew played by us. What I am guessing was 20 minutes later we both are jolted awake to Andrew hitting the wall with a paintbrush. Luckily there was nothing on the paintbrush and he hadn't destroyed anything while we accidentally fell asleep. I quickly got up and put him down for a nap so that Dave and I could nap some more. We all slept another 2 1/2 hours. We were pretty tired. It is a good thing that we had some rest because we are going full speed in an attempt to have everything ready for a trip to Detroit. We are so excited to see Tim and Rachel!
(sorry there are no pictures to help document this weekend. I am so lazy about carrying the camera around. Jen, send me some pics from the wedding, I would love to post them!)

Whoa!!

2008-06-17T22:16:00.003-06:00

This is my new favorite word of Andrew's. I am so excited about the word because it is slowly replacing the "he ma" or "he my." For those that aren't around Andrew let me give you insight into my day. He talks non-stop but he only knows a few words so a sentence will go like this..."He ma, he my, he ma, he my ball." It is quite annoying because who knows what "he ma" means. So now when we are driving down the street and he sees a big truck drive by he says "Whoa." It is absolutly blissful. So today we drove to my sister's house and he pointed out the usual things that he does down Lehi mainstreet...the giant flag at the Chevron, the construction equipment for sale, the horses and cows, and of course, the McDonalds playplace all to which was a given a Whoa.

I wanted to put up a cute picture of Andrew to go with the post but this is the only picture I really have of him that is recent. I needed Dave to get a picture of Andrew walking for the baby book so he snapped it while he was running around the basement with no pants. What a crazy kid!

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T13:53:00.002-06:00

I wanted to wish all the father's in my life a happy father's day!

I love you Dad! I really miss you and wish we could be in Texas in the blink of an eye so we could see you today.

I love you Les! I think you are a wonderful father-in-law and I love that you can always make me laugh. You have a great sense of humor.

Now to Dave, I hope you have a great father's day. I am trying my best! You are an amazing father and we have Andrew to prove it. I love the way you can always entertain him, like you are doing right now, having a wrestling match on the bed with him. We are sorry that you have had to work every evening this weekend but we truly appreciate all the hardwork you do to provide for the family. I also really, really appreciate that you have waited until Andrew was in bed to go into work. That really shows how wonderful of a father you are, willing to work all through the night just so you can stay home and help put your son to bed. I love you!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Birthday Bev!

2008-06-13T09:38:00.001-06:00

I just wanted to say happy birthday to my mother-in-law Bev. You are a great mother and grandmother. I am so happy that we live close by to you. You are always willing to lend a helping hand when we need it and I really appreciate it. We love you!

I blame it on the toys...

2008-06-09T15:27:00.002-06:00

So not to long ago my sister-in-law kind of went off about cleaning the house and her extreme dislike for doing so. Ever since then I have been doing a lot of thinking about it. I have always liked cleaning to an extent but my house gets out of control dirty about every other day. The bad thing is, I get really depressed/ upset when it is dirty. So this morning when I awoke to an exceptionally bad house (I usually make Dave help me pick up each night but we were both too tired to last night) I decided I had to figure out what was making my house so messy. My conclusion...Andrew's first birthday party. The number of toys we have is out of control. Now, let me first say thank you to all that attended Andrew's party many months ago and how much we appreciate the gifts. So after about an hour of ranting and raving about the junk Andrew has (of course all of this is in my head because I am sure my one-year old does not care) I decided I had to just clean up and throw out. So I picked up my house, which makes me feel 100% happier and I organized the toys. We have labled bins for all different things and hopefully it will be in more control in the future. I am now going to go relax in my clean house while my child takes his second nap. I will have pics of the organization soon!

And Cindy Makes Ten...

2008-06-04T21:35:00.003-06:00

I just want to congratulation my sister-in-law Cindy in graduating high school last night. It was a great ceremony, except the dang principle talked wayyyyy to long. Thank goodness Andrew was a saint. He just sat on the little stairs beside me and didn't even think about moving. (I know you are jeoulous but he made it up to me today by being a little hellian. I had to leave Wal-mart it got so bad. I have never had to do that before!)

Back to Cindy. She is the best little sister ever! She is an amazing singer and we got to see her perform with the choir last night which was fun. She was accepted to both BYU-Idaho and BYU Provo and I am so excited that she choose BYU Provo so she will be close by. Congrats Cindy! We love you.

In reference to my title choice, as many of you know Les and Bev have ten kids (Dave being number 7). Cindy was there last child to graduate from high school! With her moving away to school they will have no more kids in the house. You would say, wow how are they going to adjust, but then you remember that 8 of the ten kids live with in 30 minutes and that also includes 22 of the 25 grandkids!

Happy Birthday Mom!

2008-06-03T10:03:00.005-06:00

I wanted to wish my mom a happy birthday! I love you and hope you have a wonderful day! I wish we could be with you today.

Here are some pictures of the present me and my sisters, Jenny and Mandy made for my mom. Mom taught us all how to quilt. I think we were all stubborn growing up, thinking, when will we need to sew, so we only half listened. Or maybe that is just me, but luckily we could put all our brains and efforts together to make this quilt! I think it turned out great, I hope you like it Mom!

Don't worry, I am not ruining the surprise by posting the pictures, we were good and sent her the quilt last week so she already has it!

Be Prepared...and Organized

2008-05-24T15:38:00.006-06:00

So last Saturday Dave and I were finally able to organize our basement. We had been storing Tim and Rachel's furniture and food storage, and although we were sad to see them leave, I am so happy to have an organized basement.

This is our years worth of food storage plus some. I finally feel like I can actually go downstairs and rotate what we have.

This is a picture of what looks like a bunch of boxes and trashbags under the basement stairwell. These bags/boxes are full of boys clothing size 0-12 months only! None of which were purchased by Dave and I. All of Andrews clothes are in a small plastic bin in his room. I have to say we are very blessed to not have to buy a lot of clothes because of all of Andrew's cousins but I will also say I can't wait for a Clawson to get pregnant with a boy!!!

This is the rest of our stuff. It takes up such a small amount of space in the basement and I love it! Can you tell that I love to have an organized house? Even in the space were I hardly ever go I like to know that I could find something in it within seconds.

I hope everyone has a great memorial day weekend. Dave and I started ours off right by dropping Andrew off at my sisters and staying at the Blue Boar Inn for the night. If you have never been there you have to go. The dinner at the inn was one of the most expensive I have ever had but it was the best food I have ever had!