Thanksgiving 2011

Updates on Clifton -
New words - salad and run
Well Clifton is going through a phase that I am not too found about.  He is real clingy.  He will not let anyone hold him except for Alex and I.  Even if he knows and is comfortable with them.  He hates going places, he acts scared of anywhere we go even if he has been to the place many times. Temper tantrums are full blown around here too.  Hopefully this phase will pass soon and we can get him into nursery.  The way he is acting reminds me off when he was getting his first year molars in so maybe he is getting his two year molars in early:(

For FHE this week we made potato turkeys.

 

I really liked how they turned out!

  

Besides that we spent most of the week preparing for and then celebrating Thanksgiving.

  This is Clifton being such a helpful little man and making cookies with me.  He even wanted to put on an apron like Mommy:)

We went down to Alex's parents for Thanksgiving (even though they were not there), but most of the family got together.

Alex's sister had a cute idea of making edible acorns.  You used doughnut holes and dipped the top in chocolate and then dipped that in health bar bits and add a pretzel in the top.  Super cute and fun.

 I got an idea to make rice krispie turkeys.  Mine did not turn out as cute as Alex's sisters:(  But it was messy which always means fun:)  Clifton really liked helping in this activity.  He helped roll the rice krispies and dip them in chocolate and of course eat the candy corn.

Grandma and Grandpa Peterson have a piano and Clifton really enjoyed playing it, especially with someone else.  He spent a lot of time at the piano.

After a little while he started warming up to everyone and enjoyed playing and being read to.

A wonderful week full of family and fun.  One thing I am really grateful for is Alex's family!  I sure do feel comfortable and loved when I am around them.

36 weeks pregnant.  Getting there.  I am doing well just real tired and getting pretty swollen.  Which is all new to me because I did not swell at all with Clifton.  We had an appointment with the doctor this week.  The baby is moving and seems to be doing well.  They are worried that I might have preclampsia.  So I had to do some delightful tests.  We got back the results and I do not have preclampsia!  I do not quite understand it but they are still worried I will get it so they are going to keep an eye on me and my blood pressure, weight, and pulse. So LOTS of visits to the doctors until baby decides to come.

Since baby's arrival is getting closer I have been getting more prepared.  This week I separated all the clothes out that are neutral and put them in the baby's dresser and moved Clifton's to his dresser now in his closet.  I also arranged all the boy clothes by age so if we have a boy again I am organized.  We have been extremely blessed with family that is willing to give us hand-me-downs.  No matter what this baby is we will have tons of clothes! 

Cookies and more cookies!

Updates on Clifton -
Clifton is starting to put words together.  He says my daddy, whats that, etc....  He is still jibber jabbering away these days but most of his conversations have something to do with a truck or tractor.
No luck on nursery this week and I think it is going to be a long process:(

For FHE we made fall sugar cookies.  I have to say that I was a little creative, because I went to look for a leaf cookie cutter and found nothing.  I however found a snowflake and turned that into a leaf.  Maybe a leaf that have to buy on the street corner, but hey it works!

Clifton enjoyed decorating the cookies and then eating his.

 

It is hard for me to admit but Alex is more creative and crafty then I am (he rather be called handy then crafty). He is showing off his mad cookie decorating skills!

So we gave most of the cookies away to friends.  We used almost all of Alex's cookies because I was a little embarrassed with my lack of decorating skills.  But it is a cute little fall cookie platter:)

It was a cold and rainy most of the week so I had to come up with some ideas to keep Clifton entertained inside.

I decided one day I would build a road/street for Clifton to drive all his cars and tractors on.  As you can see I also built little buildings/structures out of Legos.  I was a having a little fun myself:)  But after taking this picture Clifton destroyed my little buildings.  He enjoyed driving his cars around.  He would start following the road and then ended up going crazy.  He did not quite get the concept but we both had fun and that is all that matters.

So another friend of ours wanted to do a family photo swap.  Even though we already got great family photos we figured we could always use more.  We went to Harper Docks and took some more pictures.  Jen did a great job getting some cute pictures.

Clifton loved running up and down the dock!  It is a beautiful sight from the docks.  You can see Seattle (the space needle) and the ferries coming and going.  We would have spent more time out there but it was freezing!  So this summer we will have to take advantage of the dock.

Saturday was National Family PJ Night.  So we all hung out in our PJ's and watched Lion King.  After the movie we decided to test a new cookie recipe.  They are delicious and I am using them for the cookie exchange coming up!

 Clifton was helping to unwrap the Rolo's.  He did well for a while but then ended up putting one in his mouth wrapper and all.  We got it out before he swallowed it.

Clifton was being very helpful in covering the Rolo's in cookie dough.

Sunday morning we decided to try cinnamon roll waffles for breakfast!  YUM!!!!!!  I totally recommend them.  We also tried refrigerator biscuit waffles.  Alex liked those best.

A great week!

Alex had a great week at work.  He has been working lots of over time to build a web site for his company and they LOVED it.  Now the government wants him to do one for them.  Which means tons of overtime (which is great because the extra money but hard because I am almost due).  I am extremely proud of him and all the hard work he does.  It is always a great feeling to be recognized for his hard work and I am glad he is feeling good about what he does.  We are very blessed for Alex to have a good job and for him to enjoy what he does everyday.

35 weeks pregnant!  Things are continuing to get harder to do.  The last little bit is always the hardest for me.  I am swelling but other then that I am doing well and so is baby.  It is hard to believe that we will be having another little baby soon.

Fall is here

Updates on Clifton - 
New words - hot dog, cat, hat, and shirt.
Well, nursery did not go well this week.  He screamed and screamed till he was gagging.  I am not sure how to go about this and how to help him feel comfortable in nursery but hopefully he will get there.  I would love suggestions of what worked for other moms out there with children who are like Clifton.

For FHE we made a blessing tree (got the idea from Pinterest - which is my new addiction).  

 

Alex and I sat down with Clifton and explained gratitude/being thankful.  We are sure he did not understand but it does not hurt to try.  We asked him what he is thankful for.  He answered tractor, grandma, grandpa, and Evan (his friend).  I am sure he was just spouting out words he knew but they worked.  So we made some leaves for Clifton and then Alex and I filled in the rest.  We plan to add more til Thanksgiving.  We sure are blessed and it is great to see our tree get fuller and fuller.

 Clifton and I went for a walk earlier that day to find some sticks to use for our tree.  He found this huge stick!

When I asked to find sticks he kept pointing to the trees and saying trees.  Silly boy - there are sticks on trees.  So I guess I get what I asked for.

Clifton and I have enjoyed the nice sunny fall days we had this last week.  We took advantage of the nice days and spent time outside before it starts getting too cold and rainy.  He sure loves the freedom of being outside!


I love love love doing art activities with Clifton.  I try and plan something each week.  This week we made pine cone wreath and decor.  

 First we went for a walk and took our wagon to pick up pine cones.  After showing Clifton a pine cone he would pick them up with out guidance and knew what they were.  Clifton was having fun picking them up and throwing them in the wagon.

This is Clifton running ahead with the wagon and looking back like "come on mom!"  He is too fast for me to keep up with him these days.  

Funny story about picking up pine cones -  After we found enough and started heading back to the house Clifton wanted to sit in the wagon.  I put him in and starting heading home.  After about a minute or so I turned around to look at Clifton to see him throwing out a pine cone and then noticed a long trail of pine cones behind us.  We had to go back and pick them up again.  He really is a silly boy. 

 So after we found the pine cones we got some paint out and started painting them fall colors.  We started with a foam brush but ended up just rolling them in paint.

This is my messy boy after painting.  Not too bad:)

This is how they turned out.  I love them.  Simple but tons of fun making them!


This weekend we went down to the Marina with another family and swapped taking turns doing family photos.  Amy did an awesome job taking our family photos.  Clifton was not really having it but she managed to get a few good pictures.  Hopefully we got some good ones for her too.

 I look a little weird because he was hard to lift after a while but still a cute family picture.

 Love this one!

 Our favorite!

I have the best boys in the world!


One thing we are blessed with is the beautiful place we live.  We seriously are blown away by the beauty of Port Orchard and surrounding areas!


34 weeks!  Still hanging in there.  Things are getting harder and believe it or not I am getting even slower.  But I am getting there! 

Trick or Treat!

Updates on Clifton -
Well I do not want to jinx it so I won't say too much, but Clifton's sleep is getting better and more consistent!  Nursery this Sunday was better thanks to the wonderful nursery leaders.  The first hour Alex stayed in with him and could not escape without Clifton screaming.  After I finished conducting Primary I tried to take him in and they were eating a snack.   I was able to sneak out.  After a little he asked for us but the nursery leaders kept him happy for the rest of the hour.  So we are getting closer!

Monday was Halloween!

Clifton refused to wear his tool belt and hat so we pulled out his costume from last year (Tigger).  He was too tall for it so we cut off the feet of the costume.  It looked a little silly but he really liked being a Tiger and would even wear the hood.

 Clifton's friend Evan came with us. They sure love each other.  They are roaring in this picture.  Evan was being so silly and every time Clifton was not looking he would try and sneak some candy out of Clifton's bucket.

We set out early just to go to some friends' and neighbors' houses, but Clifton really got the idea of knocking and getting treats.  So we continued for a little while longer; until I could not walk anymore.  He was super cute.  He would go up and knock on the door and with guidance ask for a treat. Later we went home to hand out candy.  I thought Clifton would really enjoy answering the door, which he did, but as soon as I would hand out candy to our visitors, he would shout "No!"  I tried to have him hand out candy but he would take the candy and run.  Silly boy!

 This week we did an art project to make a sign using hand prints that read "Give Thanks."  I traced Clifton's hands and let him color them in/scribble.  Alex was trying to show him it was not scary to trace his hand.  For some reason Clifton did not want to do it.  But we eventually got one traced.

This is how it turned out.  Nothing spectacular but cute.

Thursday was my birthday and I felt very loved with all the birthday wishes I received.  Alex spoiled me and asked to work from home that day.  He woke up with Clifton so I could sleep in, he made me my favorite breakfast, and helped with Clifton all day.  Later he took me out to Olive Garden (yummy)!  It was a lovely day.

Saturday we decided we really had nothing going on and it would be fun to visit with Alex's parents.  So we took a little day trip over to McCleary to visit.  It was real nice to see them.

Clifton loves being around and playing with his Grandpa and Grandma P.  Grandma would not let us take a picture of her with Clifton so we had to sneak a few in of her playing with him.

Here is a cute one of Grandpa and Clifton drinking some water and watching some football.

I love this picture.  Three important boys in my life working together to try and take off a tire.  In the end we all just stood around and watched Alex work:) 

33 Weeks!  Getting there.  It is weird how different I am carrying this baby than the way I carried Clifton.  This baby is insanely low and I am bigger this time around.  I swear I was this big within weeks of having Clifton.
We had another appointment with the doctor.  Everything is going well.  The baby's heart beat is nice and strong and she/he is moving like crazy.  We did find out something interesting. Our doctor does not believe in checking how dilated I am until I am in labor.  Which means no check at 36 weeks and no checks every week after.  Which I am fine with not having to be checked, but I think I will be a little curious to know if I am dilated or not.  But I guess it really does not matter until I am in labor because I could be dilated at 1 or 2 for months and it would mean nothing.