The REST of Vacation

It had been my intention to post pictures each day of vacation last week. That didn't happen...but let's get caught up now!

Christmas day we drove to my hometown of University Place to spend the holiday with my mom, aunts, uncle and granny. Of course, Megan, Patrick and Nolan came, too! The babes had a great time playing at Carolyn's house.

Afterward, our little clan stayed the night in a hotel. I specifically wanted to stay in a hotel because of the indoor pool. We checked in right around bedtime, put on our snuggliest pajamas, jumped on the hotel beds then had cocoa and popcorn in bed while we watched movies (that's the picture above).
The next morning we woke up bright and early (emphasis on early) to go swimming. Clem was so jazzed to swim she threw on her tankini, life jacket and rain boots then ran down the hallway squealing.
Before we got there I asked her to stop so I could take a picture. She turned around and immediately threw her hands in there air for this pose. No matter how long I live, this will always be how I picture Clem: cheeky, full of excitement and dressed like a rock star!
The rest of vacation was filled with bike rides, park visits (this park is a new one in U.P.)


and Clem's first ever BOWLING experience.

Like a pro.
Can I just say that my 4 year old out-bowled my 34 year old husband?? And it was on her first try ever. I'm just sayin'...she should probably go pro.
Most days we got out of the house as soon as we could (trying to enjoy the last few days of dry weather & trying to burn off some of this girl's endless energy).
But on days we couldn't get outside, Clem practiced her photography skills.
First she took dozens of pictures of her hopscotching,
and of course, the blurry Christmas tree photo.
She snapped daddy doing what he does best: being super silly.
There were lots of self portraits.
And one simple picture of me, doing what I do best these days: snoozing on the couch.

Vacation Days 2-5

On Day 2 of vacation Clem and I visited the Marine Science Center at Bellingham Marina. It's a teensy place with only 3 tanks total in it (one completely occupied by Dulce, the red octopus) but Clem had a blast nonetheless.
She even ran into a friend of hers from school who encouraged Clementine to actually stick her hand into the touch tank. She still wouldn't do it (yay! Peer pressure doesn't work on our girl!!)
Then we came home and made Dragon soup in the backyard.
And later decorated Gingerbread people.


Day 3 was a TOTAL disaster around here. Cam and I both came down with some kind of stomach bug. I had an OB appointment that morning and, feeling fine, joyfully got to listen to baby #2 wiggle and squirm in my belly while we tried to hear his/her heartbeat (we did: it was 160 bpm).

Cam was able to get into work after settling his stomach with a bunch of meds. I, on the other hand, can't take those drugs, but I did have Nurse Clementine here to take care of me. She was seriously the best nurse I've ever had. I'll spare you the gory details but she rubbed my back and brought me seltzer when I needed it. She is the sweetness.

Day 4 Cam was 100% better and back to work. I was home with Clem functioning at about 5% capacity. She had a Dentist appointment that morning which I was able to take her to. I'm glad she thought it was such a thrilling thing because it's about all we accomplished that day!
On the drive in to town, Clem started getting real nervous. She's been to the dentist before, but couldn't remember any of it. Poor little thing. I tried reassuring her and I think it worked, but here in this picture, right before her first x-rays ever, you can see that itsy bitsy twinkle of fear in her eye.

The dentist and hygienist were both really impressed with how well she's taking care of her teeth and how seriously she takes coming to the dentist.

Vacation day 5 was a true vacation for all of us. We sort of slept in, then Cam headed south to go pick up a little something from Santa for himself (more on that later). Clem and I had another day just the two of us.

A little cabin fever had crept up on us so we watched some holiday movie then made our own hopscotch on the floor using Frog Tape!
These pictures are so blurry because she just couldn't hold still! She loves to hop around in these squares!

We've got a whole 9 days worth of vacation ahead of us still! Whew....I think Clem and i are BOTH glad that the rest of them include Daddy!

Vacation Day 1

Recently

Recently, my energy has returned (somewhat) and I find myself remembering to take pictures of the things we're doing! Hooray!

Here are the only two pictures of Clementine's recent Christmas recital through school. It was in a church (Cam was thrilled) that was dimly lit and very crowded, so, unfortunately, I didn't really get great pictures. Above is our little chanteuse before the recital.
And here she is after her class' singing part. The kids were dismissed to come sit in the pews with their families to listen as the older kids performed. But Clem wasn't ready to sit still. She conned Aunty Kelly out of her camera and walked around the place taking pictures of the performers as well as the audience members.
Recently, Clem's been begging to make Gingerbread things (she really just wants the candy, of course!). Here we are one Saturday morning decorating our gingerbread house.
I have never seen her concentrate on one task for so long!


Recently, sunny days are few and far between. As soon as we see the sun, we dart for the door with our winter gear in hand and try to soak up as much of it as we can!

Recently, Clem and her BFF Taylor finished level 2 of their swimming lessons. Level 2 had a big focus on water safety--each week the girls practiced entering and exiting the deep pool safely.
Each week that got to swim two lengths of the BIG pool, which Clementine loved, of course.
That's my baby in 7.5 feet of water!! Go Clem, go!

Baby News!!!

Whole baby--head to upper thigh:Finally! At long last, we are expecting baby #2! We are due in early June but I'm holding strong that this baby comes in May (although I don't know how we'll deal with TWO bull-headed Taurus-es in the same house)!

I have neglected the blog for so long and have hardly taken a single picture in the last few weeks because this kid is making his/her presence known! I have been feeling extremely tired/nauseous and just haven't been off the couch much.

Profile (with Clem's same button nose and one obviously brilliant brain!):
Almost two weeks ago, I righted myself out of a horizontal position long enough for the most awesome ultrasound ever.

We were having our 12 week "measuring" done to test for any abnormalities. Normally, a quick 20-30 min. appointment. Well, of course, our little Turkey just wouldn't hold still long enough for the measurements to take place and our appointment turned into an hour long wiggly worm show.

Cam had never seen an ultrasound like this--one where baby has plenty of room to wiggle, stretch, flip over and completely disobey the Doctor's pleas to hold still (he had come with me to Clem's ultrasound when she was 20+ weeks and things were not so roomy by then).

One very long left leg:
The entire time we were in the ultrasound lab, baby wiggled, kicked, stretched, rolled over and sucked on it's thumb. It was amazing to see every single part of this baby at 12 weeks gestation: the heartbeat was ticking away furiously, we could count every little rib and see both hemispheres of the brain. Baby clearly has 10 fingers and 10 toes. At only 3 inches in total length I was just amazed at all we could see.

Baby reaching both hands down to hold onto feet (face is a blur):
We are both feeling so blessed to have this dream come true and we look forward to getting to know this baby more and more!

Halloween 2011

This Halloween seemed to sneak right up on us! We forgot about pumpkins until Halloween night! That didn't leave us much time for carving; we painted instead!
Clem was very serious about this task.
This little Princess (using her wand as a weapon, of course) got to Trick or Treating twice this Halloween! First with her best pal Taylor in downtown Bellingham. These two were super adorable together, as usual!

Then on actual Halloween she got to go Trick or Treating around our neighborhood. We will never run out of this candy!

(This was the first year Clementine really *got* the idea of Halloween. She was so excited to walk the neighborhood at night. Each house we walked by she asked "Can I go ding-dong at this one?" then she'd run up to the door and say "Trick or Treat!" She was asked by several neighbors: "Who are you?" and she'd say "I"m Clementine!" (instead of "Snow White!" everyone thought it was so cute, they kept giving her two or three times the candy!)

Clem's most favorite part, just like last year, was answering the door to Trick or Treaters! She would scramble up from whatever she was doing and run for the door, greeting the neighborhood kids with a big "HAPPY HALLOWEEN!" then she'd put the candy in bags herself.
She loved it so much she just sat waiting by the window once it got dark looking for Trick or treaters! She's so goofy!