Sweet Emma...

A few pictures of our beautiful blessing. Emmalia is doing so well, she sleeps way more then Landon ever did (which isn't saying a whole lot... ;o) ) and is taking to breastfeeding like a champ, most days. She is so tiny, and though a bit smaller then Landon was, I can't believe he was ever this little. Though the labor was alot longer then with Landon, I'm having a fairly easy recovery and we are enjoying every minute with Emma. She fits so easily into our family it's like she's always been here.

She's here!

Emmalia (pronounced Emma-Leah) May arrived May 12, at 3:36 am. She was 6lbs, 3ozs and 19 1/4 inches long. Our tiny baby girl. :) She has beautiful dark hair just like me when I was born. We'll have pictures soon, but for now, mommy and baby are doing well...Praise the Lord!

Update

At our appointment yesterday we had great news, and not so great news! The good news is that I am already almost 3cm dilated and 85% effaced! We are well on our way to having our baby girl here soon, and my doctor doesn't think I will last much longer.
The not so great news is that in our ultrasound last week, the doctor found a cyst above baby's bladder. The news was rather daunting to take when we were told that they have never seen something like this before, and aren't sure what to make of it. Our doctor met with her partners, a pediatric specialist and OBGYN specialist last week and all seem rather stumped at what to do. SO, we jointly decided that since I am so far along, and since it would be a huge issue to try any kind of surgery, we will wait until baby is born...after which there will be ultrasounds on her to see what the cyst could be. It was not there at her 20 week ultrasound, and is rather large for a baby her age so we know it has grown that much in 16 weeks. The doctors do not believe, however, that it will grow at such an alarming rate in the next few weeks, that I would need a c-section, which is such a blessing to hear! Thus, their happiness at me being as far dilated as I am, this early. Right now, we consider ourselves so blessed to have another otherwise healthy baby, who will be here before to long! We are hopeful that the delivery will go well, and that no other problems will be seen so that we can snuggle with our baby and enjoy her before ultrasounds etc start. Finally, we are praying, and very hopeful, that the cyst dissipates before she is born or will soon after she is born.
God is good and we are blessed with an amazing and supportive doctor and network of doctors. Though it is extremely daunting to us that they have never seen this exact problem in a un-born baby before, it is a blessing to have so many of them looking at the ultrasound, and offering encouragement.
Can't wait to meet our baby!

Sweet babies...

This past week my sister-in-law was over and snapped a picture of Landon and I. I've been so sick and not sleeping at all, so with her over I grabbed the chance to lay on the couch and rest. Landon immediately brought over all his "vroom-vroom's", lined them up beside me and proceeded to tell his baby sister all about them...all while laying his head on my tummy and giving her lots of kisses. :) He talks so much every day, never stopping and always is such a busy kid. He doesn't go to bed till around 9 and is up at 5 or 5:30 every morning. At least he does well on little sleep like his mommy! :)

26 1/2 weeks!!

Time is flying...which is a blessing! I had contractions last week and am already effaced to 50%! Along with the preclampsia, we are praying that our sweet baby girl stays safe and that my body is able to carry her for at least 2 more months.

Bathtime!

Landon usually loves baths, but last night was quite unpleasant for some reason. Of course, whenever he is like that I whip out the camera. ;o) I did get a few adorable pictures out of it though, so it almost makes up for it. Almost. :)




My brother's where in a car accident last night and both are fine. It is such a blessing that they are all right, but makes me realize once again how fragile life is, and how things can happen in seconds. Thank you Lord!

22 weeks?!?

Disclaimer:
Dear hubby took this picture at 11:30 at night. He also has never picked up my slr before that night. He also wouldn't move from his seat so I have dishes in the background. Thus said, he did a pretty good job.






I can't believe we are already to 22 weeks! It is amazing to both Nathan and I how fast time is flying. At my doctor's apt. last week our little princess had a beautiful heartbeat. And, apparently is a very strong baby! The only problem we are having at this time is that my blood pressure is higher at every appointment. We will be moving to twice a week appointments if the trend continues. What a blessing to have another healthy baby, two amazing kids!!

Pure joy....

Even when mommy and daddy get crabby about 4 feet of snow in the yard, 3+ nights of shoveling off roofs and car accidents and driving on ice, there is still much joy to be found. What a blessing this little man is...

Home!

Seattle was fun but very very icy. With 4 inches of snow their roads are as bad as ours simply because no one ever plows and hardly anyone can figure out how to drive on ice and snow because they never get it. We were at the top of one road when this happened and are very glad that no one was seriously injured. Yikes. I wished we had found our camera in time to show how steep the road was they went down. Nearly vertical! Also special was having Snoqualmie Pass get shut down and having to take the long (Steven's Pass) way around. Ugh. It should never take 8 hours to drive from Seattle to Spokane. But, we are safe and happy to be home!
The game was awesome! I didn't realize how much I've gotten into the Zags until I realized I was yelling louder then Nathan during the game. :) Neither of us could talk that evening, but we loved it nonetheless! :)
Landon did awesome with both sets of grandparents and everyone had fun with him. Our house, however, was not so much fun, since we came home to frozen water pipes. About 24 hours later they are finally unfrozen, thanks to an awesome husband and two dad's that came over to look at things.



Now, for your viewing pleasure...Landon received a badly needed haircut today...here he is giving Grandma some awesome lip action, telling her how mean mommy is...




My 18 week, ridiculously tiny belly. Can this even be considered a belly? Nathan says I look like an anorexic who ate a bit more then normal :) The dr. however says that baby is just hiding (and that I am skinny) and that soon, I will pop. Ha! :)



Finally, this one speaks for itself. :)

Getaway...

Heading for Seattle in about an hour for a romantic weekend and the big Battle in Seattle Gonzaga game! We are thrilled...but less then thrilled about the 2 1/2 feet of snow at our house. Oh well, I am so blessed with my SUV, it's gotten us ANYWHERE the last few days! Can't wait to share pictures...

Here comes baby!

There's the newest Clouse! And yes, the little bean is quite tiny still. ;o) We had a dr. appt. yesterday and got to hear the beautiful heartbeat and see our newest addition. Even though I waited over 2 hours in the dr.'s office, it's always worth it to see and hear a baby. I love it and could never tire of it! The baby is measuring about 2 weeks further along right now, but the Dr. and I are keeping the dates the same since growth spurts happen. If the baby keeps growing this way we are due around May 10. I have a cyst in one of my ovaries that they are slightly concerned about (only because it is somewhat larger then what most women have) but won't get really worried unless it continues to grow rapidly. I also got medicine for the morning sickness which is helping so much! I have gained no weight so they are hoping this helps me to keep food down.
We are so excited. I remember having concerns (as all parents do) with Landon, but I feel so at peace about this new baby. Besides the throwing up I don't even feel pregnant, and the days are absolutely flying by. Amazing. We are so blessed!!!
I'll have my sister-in-law take a picture of me tomorrow so everyone can see my ity bitty baby belly. ;o)

15 months...

Seriously, how do they grow up so fast? I can't believe that our little man will be 15 months on Wednesday. He is such a bundle of energy and fun. He constantly talks ("what's that?" "shoe" "byebye") and runs around, playing basketball with his daddy and following mommy everywhere. As always, we are in love...