Monday, November 23, 2009

14 weeks!

Today baby Clarkson #2 is 14 weeks in utero. Feeling much better these days as we are officially entering 2nd trimester. Definitely getting more of a "bump", too! I also have divided my closet into maternity/non-maternity which I didn't do with Eli until 19 weeks. Eli still loves to love his little brother or sister everyday which shows what a big brother he will be! Oh, & I love my chiropractor these days :)!!

What's going on in week 14? Well, baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his/her thumb. Also, from head to bottom, he/she measures 3 1/2 inches and he/she weighs 1 1/2 ounces. Cool!

14 weeks

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Eli update

Eli will be 27 months this coming week. Due to my fatigue, eating issues, & work, I have not done well with documenting Eli's last few months (with the detail I usually do, anyway). Here is my attempt to "catch up" and my hope to do better....after all, this blog is our digital scrapbook!

1) Eli has become quite the little "parrot" and loves to mimic us. This is too cute, except when he happens to hear a certain grandpa utter the words "G-- d--- it!". That's been a favorite of Eli's for about a month now.
2) Eli likes to say "okay" when asked something. Oh, and "no" :)
3) Eli is able to communicate his needs very well these days & it's great to have conversations (2 year old ones, but conversations none the less) with him. He can tell you what activities he wants to do & if he is hungry/thirsty & what he wants to eat or drink.
4) Eli has to have naked time after bath every night. This involves running around crazy while naked....although he sometimes pees on the floor. This is good to help him learn what peeing "feels" like, but he still doesn't like to sit on the potty....oh boys...
5) We had our parent educator visit this week and she did an assessment with Eli. She said he did very well. I don't remember all the questions/activities, but here are some:
a) asking Eli to name his friends-he was unable to but I told her that he talks about his friends A LOT!! He'll say "Callie? Cheryl? Jack? Tori?" several times a day.
b) stacking blocks and asking which tower was taller-he did this well!
c) asking him to jump to reach a ball-again, he did well!
d) asking Eli to draw lines-he did and also drew circles like below:


e) asked Eli to identify pictures of animals & the sound they make-did well!

Our parent educator also gave us a handout about what we should see in Eli's language & motor development from 24-36 months:

Look for your child to:
*Understand actions & events in simple story books: Eli can answer simple questions about stories he knows & also likes to pretend to read by babbling & running his finger along with words.
*Listen closely to conversations: as said earlier, Eli knows exactly what we are saying and can do as asked & ask for what he wants
*Initiate & carry on short conversations & be frustrated when not understood: definitely!
*Begin to use four word sentences: Eli has said some simple sentences lately such as "Eli eat cracker?"
*Understand 3 out of 4 words child uses: most of the time!
*Begin to use pronouns, verbs, past tense, and plurals: Eli does use "I" & "my" often. He also uses many verbs such as eat, run, cry, etc., etc. I do emphasize adding the "s" to plurals and past tense.
*Answer simple questions: yep!
*Ask where, when, and why questions: a little but we are constantly asking him these type of questions and he can answer them pretty well.
*Understand some prepositions, most verbs and most adjectives: Eli does well at saying what color things are "Eli cup yellow" and can say phrases like "Eli cup on table". Again, we model language like crazy all day with him.
*Name 3 body parts: Eli knows head, hair, ears, eyes, eyebrows, cheeks, nose, mouth, tongue, chest, tummy, arms, fingers, hands, legs, knees, toes, & feet. During bath I have always named body parts I am washing.
*Catch a large ball: yep! Eli holds his hands up and against his chest when we say "catch!"
*Jump up with both feet: yep!
*Begin to balance on one foot: just starting to balance better
*Pedal a tricycle: yes, on a decline or flat surface, not on incline.
*Walk up & down stairs alternating feet and without holding on: on short staircases, yes. Mommy insists on holding on if larger staircase.
*Use muscles in hands better to create: yep!
*Make purposeful strokes to draw drawing lines and circles while using more adult grip: yep-as seen above.
*Begin to use scissors: just started this a couple weeks ago....still needs work :)
*String/lace objects: we need to buy lacing activities which we will do soon!

Now for some fun pictures from the last few weeks:

Coloring with good friend, Jack:


Helping daddy with leaf duty:


Eli drew these with sidewalk chalk and then said "T!" "P!" (T on the right, P upside down on left):


Playing video games at the mall with daddy:

And the carousel:


Wearing daddy's shoes:


Monday our little one is 14 weeks in utero....yay! Have a great Thanksgiving!


Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wedding pictures...finally!!

It literally took me two days to load these pictures due to slow internet....very annoying. Regardless, here are pictures from the my sister's wedding weekend a few weeks ago. They just got back from Cancun on Monday and besides being sick a couple of days (bummer!!), they had a great time. Their wedding was beautiful with awesome Iowa weather in November! Enjoy!

Eli practicing his job the night before:


Eli loves his Aunt Holly!:

Morning of the wedding....beautiful hair!:


They had their wedding at a beautiful nature lodge that was next to a lake. The hall was modern in design and had a wall of windows on one side....gorgeous!! Below are the wedding flowers:

Sarah & Stephanie etched these wine glasses at home! Very adorable:


The unity candle and memory vase of flowers:


The hall in the lodge:


Entryway with register & programs:


Centerpieces:

No words necessary besides...YUM!:


Prepping for pictures:


Eli & daddy playing out by the lake before the ceremony:


The happy couple:


Sisters:


Eli hanging out...he did pretty good for the most part & enjoyed running around and as you'll see later...dancing!:


Eli with Aunt Stephanie's daddy:


Pictures by the lake:


Eli with his Aunties:





Standing up with/for my sistas:



Yay! Congrats!:


Cheesin' for the camera:



On the dance floor with Aunt Sarah...but not so sure:


"Mommy!":


Dancing with 2nd cousin, Mallory (with Chloe looking on):


One of Eli's dance moves:


Eli is very excited & lucky to have THREE aunties! Congrats & love you Aunt Sarah & Aunt Stephanie! We look forward to seeing everyone again at Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Heartbeat!

Today we had our 13 week OBGYN appointment and finally got to hear the little one's heartbeat: a healthy 161 bpm! At 9 weeks we couldn't hear it, which is how it was with Eli. In fact with Eli they couldn't find the heartbeat at 13 weeks, either, so we got an early peak at him to make sure he was okay. Eli & Eric attended today and we talked all morning about hearing the heartbeat. It was cute! All else checked out well and we go back at 17 weeks for regular check up and the sonogram at anywhere from 19-21 weeks. Yay!! 19 weeks is the week after Christmas so that should be fun!

I think I felt baby last & this week a few random times flutter by in my belly. Could just be gas, though :) Fun if it was!

Hope to post later tonight about Mr. Eli & hopefully Aunt Sarah & Aunt Stephanie's wedding!!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Eli would like to announce.....

.....that he will be a......

.....the end of May 2010!!!

I am12 weeks today and very excited and freaked out at the same time!! This little one was TOTALLY planned and we were lucky to get pregnant on our first try! Eli is too cute about my little belly and says "awww baby!" while kissing and hugging it. A couple of Eli's friends have recently had new siblings arrive so that has helped in explaining the whole deal. Of course, he doesn't REALLY get how his life will change, but he at least knows there is a baby involved!

This pregnancy has been similar to Eli's in that I have had NO morning sickness, but MAJOR food aversions. More so with this little guy or girl as I for a few weeks there, I literally wanted NOTHING to eat but was also starving...not a good combination. Eating was a chore!! I only wanted fruit and junk food like macaroni & cheese & taco bell. I feel better now but still have aversions to some foods. I also have experienced fatigue, breast tenderness (TMI, probably ;), and breathlessness. Breathlessness is a new one for me, but probably more so due to chasing around a 2 year old than anything. The fact that Eli still nurses some has also probably made my symptoms more exaggerated this time around!

Our official due date is May 24, 2010. If he/she is late like Eli, he/she may be a June baby, who knows! I am very glad to be under chiropractic care and doing yoga this pregnancy to help with back, hip & pelvis pain. Looking forward to the fun 2nd trimester where I'll be nesting & we'll learn the sex of this little person!

Here's a belly pic for this week below. I hope to post about Eli & pregnancy separately once a week, but don't hold me to that :) Have a great week everyone!



P.S. My good friend Tori made Eli's shirt! Check out her website for more cute clothing: http://monkeystitch.wordpress.com/

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween, from our little firefighter!

Hope everyone had a fun & safe Halloween! This year we were still able to "choose" for Eli what his costume would be...knowing next year he'll have a lot to say about what he wants to be :)

To start the Halloween festivities, Eli helped daddy carve a "happy face" pumpkin. Daddy asked if he wanted a happy or scary pumpkin and he wanted happy:

Preparing for the fun night:


All ready!:


"This asking for candy thing is AWESOME!!":



Eli enjoyed trick-or-treating but unfortunately, the first house we went to he tripped on his fireman coat and face planted on their porch. He has a nice little bruise and cried for awhile, but he got over it. He did want daddy to carry him for the remainder of the excursion, though.

Have a great week!