Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Christmas Pics!


Thanks for taking a look at our Christmas pictures! I would love to blog about each interaction, special meal and the special people in the pictures below...however, Tom, Lelia and I are all headed out to Arizona tomorrow for Tom's sister's wedding and I can't take the time today to write. I did want to share the pictures from our first Christmas with Lelia. I have to admit it was the most joyful Christmas I have had in more years than I can remember (Tom and I both agree). It was so fun to have a little one who stole the show. It has been a real learning experience for me to see how much a child can bring people together. We have seen it already in our community, both Tom and I have met more people in our community in the last 4 months than we had the whole time either of us has been here. We love having our little one in our lives to share everything with. Enjoy the pics! Happy New Year to everyone...we will update the blog when we get back at the beginning of January with wedding pics and family pics with the Clarke side of the family. Much love...Brooke, Tom and Lelia
















Friday, December 21, 2007

One More Boston Pic


Here is a picture of Tom, Lelia and my Aunt Debbie. I wasn't able to get this picture in on the blog about our trip but there was a blurb about our time with Aunt Deb, my cousin Tyler and his girlfriend.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Our Trip to NY and Boston

We set out for our very first family trip and it began pretty well. Lelia slept for 2 hours to start the trip but after that things began to get sticky. Stopping almost every hour to feed / play / potty...you know the drill. We learned so much about each other on our 2 week trip to NY and Boston. We learned how to travel well together and a little bit more about how to live in close quarters for a stretch of time. We learned better how to prepare as far as packing goes and I learned so much about Lelia's likes and dislikes. Thanks for taking a look at our blog! We have done an overview of the special people we visited and sites we saw. Like I said, we learned a lot but we were very happy to come home!!


The first stop on our 2 week adventure was to my grandmother's house in Rhinebeck NY. She and I began to get to know each other when she wrote me a letter asking me about my faith and the new peace I had after becoming a Christian. We wrote/emailed for 3 months before I went up to visit her and we had such a wonderful time together. She and I don't get to see each other very often but we love getting together and seeing each other when we can. The last time we was the first time she met Tom and I was 7 months pregnant. So she was able to feel Lelia moving around inside my tummy. This time she got to meet Lelia for the first time and it was so fun for me to see them together. I love my time with Doris and always look forward to seeing her again.



After we left Doris' house we went to the big city of New York. We went there to see The Christmas Show at Radio City Music Hall with the Rockets. It is something I have wanted to do since I was a very little girl and never had the opportunity to go. Tom surprised me with the tickets on my birthday this past year...so I had been waiting for December to come and it finally did. Lelia didn't like the noise so Tom took her to the lobby while I watched the show. It was so wonderful...more than I ever expected. My favorite part was the end when they did a live manger scene (with real Camels). I felt like the true meaning of Christmas was brought out and honored and they did it in such a spectacular way. It almost made me cry...I LOVED IT!!


Tom and Lelia heading out for their Saturday morning adventure with out Mom. Saturday mornings in the Clarke household are special for me. Tom either takes Lelia out or gives me the opportunity to go out on my own for the morning. He does this so that I have some time to get refreshed from the long week of being "Mommy" 24 / 7. One of the many things that I love and respect about my husband is his sensitivity to my needs. I love my Saturday mornings! But I love coming home from them too :)


On the first Tuesday night we were in Boston we went to a beautiful town called Littleton to visit my Aunt Deb, cousin Tyler and Tyler's girlfriend. Aunt Deb made a wonderful dinner that I am going to try in the crock pot tonight! We had such a great time connecting with them and sharing the joy of our little girl with them. It was the second time Aunt Deb met Lelia, she came down to MD when Lelia was about 1 1/2 months old. But it was Tyler's first time meeting her. The time we spent with them was a real blessing to me. I love seeing my family!










Our romantic dinners out...the one with the Christmas tree in the background was in the North End of the city (i.e. Little Italy) and the picture of Tom and Lelia is from Legal Seafood. Legal Seafood is supposed to be a great seafood joint...neither of us were horribly impressed. I am a more blue collar "just steam it up for me" kinda' girl though so my opinion doesn't count for much.



Living in the same space for 2 weeks presented quite a few challenges for "team Clarke." The first pictures are of Tom watching a Baby Einstein video with Lelia at night to calm her down. Lelia didn't like sharing the same room with her parents, who can blame her, we didn't like it so much either :) It was a very difficult challenge to tip toe around so we didn't wake the baby up after she went to bed. I think we managed to wake her up every night at least once. Because of all of the changes in environment, Lelia woke up at 2, 3 and 4 in the morning almost every night just to keep Mom and Dad on their toes! It was a huge challenge. Now that we are home she is sleeping right through the night again - whoooo!!


While Tom was at work, Lelia and I would go out exploring in the city. Boston was a great city to explore because it is such a walking friendly place. We stayed very close to everything. We walked the Freedom Trail on one of our last days in town. It is a trail that goes along all of the city's sites where history took place in the freedom of our country. It was a truly awesome experience for me...Lelia slept through all of it though, so we'll have to go back when she is older :) One of the great things about being in the city was being able to meet Tom for lunches every day. This picture is from our favorite lunch spot - Quincy Market. It had a great food court and was also one of the stops on the Freedom Trail.

Lelia and I had an adventure one day to go out and find my great great grandfather who was a Governor of Boston. We went to the State House to find his picture among the many other Governors of the past. A very nice gentleman helped me to find William Eustis' portrait and also directed me to find his biography in the State House's library. As I read the bio I realized that William never had any children. It made me laugh because obviously if he didn't have children he wasn't my great great grandfather, or anyone else's for that matter. I asked my mom about this again and we realized that he actually was my great great uncle. I got a chuckle out of it but also found out that this relative of mine was in a presidential cabinet as well. It was a very informative adventure and learned more about where our family has come from.

While in Boston I had the pleasure of reconnecting with a childhood friend. Jessie Popham (now McDermott) has been living in Boston for 1 1/2 years now. Before our trip I contacted her to see if I could visit with her while I was in her town. She graciously invited me to spend multiple days and times with her and her 1 year old daughter, Lane who loved Lelia. I was so grateful because without my time with her every day in Boston would have been just Lelia and myself. It was such a nice time getting to know Jessie again. We hadn't been in contact for 10 years with the exception of a wedding of a mutual friend 1 year ago. We found that we have so much more in common than we thought. One of the wonderful things about this connection was that Jessie still spends lots of time in Annapolis because her parents are still living here. She and I will continue to stay in touch when she comes home to get the kids together and have time to spend together. I never would have guessed that we would be able to pick up where we left off 10 years ago and have such a great connection. This was just one of the many blessings God had for us on our trip.

Our trip ended with a stop at my Aunt Dee's house with my 2 cousins Jack and Kela. We had such a wonderful time with them and they loved holding Lelia. It was such a joy for me because I haven't had the opportunity to spend much time with my cousins. They are both such wonderful kids and I hope that we will keep in contact more closely after our visit.

We left their home at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning for the drive home. It was a bittersweet journey back to MD. I loved arriving home but the adventure was over. I think both Tom and I can say it was an incredibly challenging 2 weeks, but overall we learned more about each other and our little girl. There were so many things that I will look back on fondly. My time with my friend from high school was a highlight as well as my time with my Aunts and cousins. Our trip was a blessing and we hope that our time with those we visited blessed them as well.