Christmas Pics

Lelia's First Christmas Gift

Holiday Traditions

As many of you know this year has been a year of setting traditions for our family for the holidays to come. We really want our children to understand what Christmas is really about. In an attempt to have them "get it" we have decided to bake a birthday cake for Jesus each Christmas Eve to eat together on Christmas day.

Not Pregnant, Never Was??

Well, I fooled you and myself! On Wednesday night I thought I was beginning to miscarry our 3rd pregnancy and was devastated! Thursday morning went to the doctor's office to take blood to check on my pregnancy hormone levels to tell how far along I was and then they would bring me back in on Saturday to see if the levels had increased or decreased to tell us whether or not I was, in fact, miscarrying. When they got the tests back on Friday morning they found that I had absolutely no levels of the pregnancy hormone in my blood at all which could only mean one thing...I was not pregnant and I never was pregnant. I asked then about the two positive pregnancy tests I took and they said they couldn't explain that. I asked if that could have happened because I had just had a child 2 months earlier and the nurse said she had heard of that happening before but that it was HIGHLY uncommon?? So, much to our surprise and your's too I imagine, we won't be having a new little bundle to love come July.

How are we doing with this information? We are having mixed feelings right now. We are very sad to know that this little life we thought we were going to be welcoming into our family will not be joining us after all. We are working on changing gears so to speak because we were already planning for his / her arrival and getting very excited. We are adjusting to a new reality of staying parents of 2 for a little while longer. We are also a little relieved that we won't be moving so quickly up the ladder to being parents of 3...we were having a hard time swallowing that one. I am grateful that I will have a little more time to raise Lelia and Sedona before we start again with another newborn. I am hoping to start trying for number 3 in a few years time...we are aware, however, that sometimes God has other plans and we welcome any child He chooses to bless us with. I am also grateful that I won't be pregnant this summer because I haven't been "un-pregnant" since the summer we were married almost 3 years ago!

We are grateful for your love and support and ask for your continued prayers for our family. Suddenly, raising two kids 12 months apart doesn't seem like such a large task...I guess we have gotten a heavy dose of perspective the last month!

Big News

If any of you know us you know that every year right around this time we have a big announcement to make. Well, we thought this year would be different but we were shocked to find out that, yes, we are expecting our third child. We can not believe it! I have my first appointment on the 16th of December to see the heartbeat and find out the official due date. We ask for everyone's prayers for this little life God has chosen to bless us with. We are so excited to find out if it is another girl or a little boy...that won't be for a few months now. With love, great joy and a little fear, The Clarkes

Our Precious Little Sedona

Some new pictures of our newest addition to the family, Sedona Hope

Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving as a family with a child who was able to really appreciate a day being different than another. We began a tradition this year of eating chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast with our hands while we watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was so much fun. Lelia loved the pancakes (as you can see) and the parade was great too...she loves music and dancing. She also loved the meal and it turned out great! I had to take a picture of my turkey because it looked so good :) I mom did teach me not to toot my own horn, but I thought this one was worth it :)

Edible Playdough

Halloween

Pumpkin Patch #2

This was the second pumpkin patch we visited on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with Papa Toomey. We had a great time!

Our First Pumpkin Patch of the Season

We took Lelia to her first pumpkin patch this year. She loved it and it was so fun for us to watch her have such a good time. We are at a really fun age with her! We are enjoying every minute of this time with her.

Our Trip to the Zoo

Uma watched Sedona for a day and I took Lelia to the zoo. It was great to have some one on one time with Lelia, now that I have 2 kids my attention is very much split and Sedona gets most of it right now because she needs it. My favorite part of the day was just eating lunch with Lelia...it has been so long since she and I could enjoy a meal together without any distractions. However, I think her favorite part was the petting zoo :)

A Girl Loves Her Shoes!

One of Lelia's very favorite things, besides spending time with her daddy, is putting on shoes. Any shoes...her own shoes, my shoes, dad's shoes, visitors shoes...any shoes. I thought this pic was cute :)

Drowsy Dinnertime

Our first official falling asleep at the dinner table. I had always heard of kids doing this but thought Lelia was the exception...not so!

Grandma Mim and Grandpa Clarke's Visit

It has been over a month now since the Clarke grandparents came and went. We all had a lovely visit with them...they enjoyed their grandkids and we enjoyed being able to function more fully with the extra 2 sets of hands in the house. They were wonderful to have around!

Sedona Hope Clarke Has Arrived

Well, our new little bundle is finally here. She was born on September 16th, 2008 at 7:14 p.m. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 inches long. The labor and delivery went without any problems and was VERY easy!! Brooke was in labor for 6 hours and only pushed for 11 minutes and most importantly...the epidural worked perfectly! Yeah!

Lelia and Sedona are both doing well. Lelia is adjusting to being a big sister and because of that is a little crankier than normal. Sedona had a little time that was touch and go for the first week of her life...there was some concern about Sedona having botulism but that was ruled out before we had to admit her back to the hospital. So, all is settling in at the home front. Tom went back to work on Tuesday and although we miss him greatly, we are doing much better than expected at home.

Most of all, we feel so grateful for all of the love, support and generosity so many have shown toward us. We are grateful for a healthy baby and a easy arrival into this world. Now, we are praying for a relatively easy adjustment for Lelia and for our family of 4 to bond in months to come. Thank you for everything! Love, The Clarkes

Lelia's First Birthday

We officially celebrated Lelia's first birthday 2 weeks ago. She turned one on August 28th and it was incredibly surreal for myself and her daddy! We invited family and 2 friends to share in the special day and wish we could have had all of our friends there to celebrate with us. We hope you enjoy the pictures...as you can tell, the cake was everyone's favorite part :)

My First Birthday Cake

I'm Not So Sure About This

Oh Yum!