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!

36 weeks...

A quick 36 week belly shot...

And our baby, who will be a big brother in a few weeks! Ack! :)


We're so excited, I can't believe how fast it's coming, and how soon our baby girl will be here. Tomorrow I have my 36 week appointment and am hoping that I'll be dilated or more effaced...but I was dilated to a 2 for a month before Landon arrived, so who knows. Nathan is off work for a bit, so we'd love for her to come soon as opposed to when he won't be able to take any time off.
We had an ultrasound last week because I am measuring so far behind, but she looks healthy and well, and dropped a few weeks ago. I am having constant braxton hicks contractions (and, I am serious, they do not stop) so I keep wondering if they are actually doing something! Tomorrow we are picking up the toddler bed we ordered for Landon and a few last minute things...

34 weeks!

...and I don't care what anyone says, I'm starting to feel huge! :) If our little girl is born when her brother was, yesterday was 5 weeks left to go! We are getting very excited, even though it still seems like a ways off to me. Up until 30 weeks this pregnancy went by in the blink of an eye, and now time seems to be standing still, haha! Before I know it though, we will be holding our little girl and she will be growing up way to fast, just like Landon.
I got some little things I needed today, like newborn diapers and a few other little odds and ends for her arrival that I had on my list. Now we just need a name. ;o)
I have a picture session with some siblings this Saturday, for their Mother's Day gift to their mom. I can't wait to get out and take pictures! We are loving all the sunshine we are getting lately. Life is so busy, but so wonderful. We are BLESSED!

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! :)

Dear Zags...

We are thrilled you made it to the Sweet Sixteen. Seriously. But do you think you can win just one more game? We aren't quite ready for the season to end just yet. That and you can't ever seem to win even one game in the tournament, so now that you've done two, how about just one more? And no crazy shots please, Pargo. We like you and all, but you're kinda overrated. No offense. Give Bouldin the ball, and we'll all be happy. Unless, of course, you can make that crazy three-pointer you're gonna try. Then go ahead and take it. Just not too many of them. And then we'll all be happy...

From: Your Biggest Fans
P.S. Yes, our child's shirt does say, "Start 'em young, raise 'em right." with a GU emblem on it. His little sister already has a bulldogs shirt waiting for her in the closet... ;o)

Some crafting...

When Nathan and I got married we got a sewing machine and I played around on it a bit...but never did a whole lot besides hemming and small projects with it. Lately I've been itching to try new projects so I've broken it out again...and, amazingly, and absolutely loving sewing! It is so much fun. I thought I hated patterns, and even though I still do sometimes, they are mostly fairly easy to follow (the super simple ones I've been trying that is ;o) ) and I bend the rules by trying my own thing when something isn't working. I made our little sweetie a dress (and appliqued a matching onesie that I need to get a picture of) made Landon a quilt and pillow, and have done various small projects. I can't wait to get started on something else!

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.

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!!

It's a....

Girl!!
We were supposed to find out Chrismas Eve, but due to Nathan having to work and snowstorms, the big ultrasound was postponed till last night. I had talked myself into having another boy (I was excited for Landon to have a little brother) that I am still slightly in shock that we are having a baby girl...but very, very excited! She looks very healthy and is right on time for the due date of May 24th, though I am hoping she is a little early like her brother. She doesn't move nearly as much as Landon did, but when she does she kicks very hard. She enjoyed head butting me the whole time the tech did the ultrasound, and almost didn't let us know what she was. :) We are very happy, thrilled with how healthy she seems right now, and grateful to God for another incredible blessing. What joy!

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. :)

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)