3 + 1 = 4 Cl8n Campers

Margeaux Wren Clayton

January 11, 2011 at 3:43 PM

8 lbs 11.5 oz and 20 3/4 inches

soon after....

meeting Wren

couple hours old

with Papa

Lelia meeting 4 hour old Wren for the first time

big sister/ little sister

long overdue

Belly shot at 40.5 weeks

This child refuses to be born. Period.

We are now 6 days past our 'due date'. Grrr!

We have another midwife appointment tomorrow afternoon so we'll ask some questions, seek some advice and go from there. As long as both Little Bug and myself are healthy, there is really no reason to make Bug evacuate their cozy little home. I've got about another week of pregnancy before we'll have to start making some decisions about how/when to coax Bug out of their happy nest.

But for now, I'll admit, it's pretty frustrating to still be waiting for this little person to make their debut. Especially since the midwives had us pretty convinced we'd have a baby before the New Year! But we're trying to continue to be patient...we know this new little person has their own perfect birthing day in their own perfect time. We're trying to take advantage of sleep and some amazing one-on-one time with our sweet Lelia. Despite the frustration and extended waiting period, we've been blessed to be home enjoying time as a family of 3 for a little longer.

So, we'll see what the next few days have in store for us...

We're just SOOOO anxious to meet Little Bug! ;)

39.5

Nearing the end of Little Bug's gestation...

39.5 weeks along...

38.5 weeks

We're nearing the end of this pregnancy in the next few days (I hope) and are getting really excited to meet this new little person! But if we're being completely honest, we're also a little freaked out anticipating all the changes we'll be making in the coming weeks. But everything will work itself out...of this we are certain!

Tre and I did a belly cast yesterday. We used a different kit than last time so the results were VERY different but that just correlates to how every pregnancy, delivery and child are varied and special! It's currently drying and hopefully we'll actually paint it and/or decorate it...unlike Lelia's belly cast which is still sitting in raw form in the nursery. I'll just tack it on to my ol' TO DO list! :)

At present, it feels like this little person is quite snug as a Little Bug in the ute. Two days until I'm technically 'due' but with the way things are going...it seems as though we will be missing out on any sort of tax credits this year as birthing does not seem at all imminent!

Alas, we could be surprised...it remains to be seen whether we'll have a baby this year or if we'll be a family of 4 in 2011! Any guesses?

Christmas Cheer

We should start at the beginning of Christmas...pics of when we got our tree early in December. Forgot to post these earlier...don't know why?!?

Mighty tree hunters...

Yeah for family self-portraits

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lelia and I celebrated Christmas Eve...just the two of us (well, three counting Little Bug in my belly). Tre was finishing up a double shift at the fire station so although we didn't get him for Christmas Eve, he was home on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Lelia had a special gift from Koko to open on Christmas Eve so after her bath and before bedtime, we got to share in her lovely present.

An excited "Hoo" for the owls on her new jammies!

Ready for a good night's sleep in her new jammies...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We celebrated Christmas in laid back fashion this year! With everything else going on, we wanted to keep things low-key just in case 'you-know-who decided to make an arrival'...which he/she did not! :)

We welcomed family in the morning and shared a lovely Christmas brunch of buttermilk pumpkin waffles with apple cider syrup (recipe I got from Sunset magazine...and SOOOOO worth all the steps to make this heavenly meal), eggs, bacon, fruit salad and of course lots of miscellaneous chocolate!

We had a blast watching Lelia play elf as she brought presents to each of us. She would then eagerly watch whomever was opening their gift and smile and clap. She is truly filled with a generous and sweet heart! She got some very lovely gifts and played with them immediately...it was fun to see her so happy and busy and interactive especially as she was only 5 months old last year. What a difference a year makes!

But I think Christmas is best told in pictures...

Lelia in her Christmas dress...complete with some rough and tumble Converse sneaks!

Reading a book with Papa

Enjoying her new art easel...an artist in the making!

Go Beavers! A sweatshirt from Great G&G Doty!

Learning farm animal noises with Koko

Her animal filled barn was a hit!

Reading the 'Christmas Story' with Papa

Merry Christmas from The Clayton's!

36 weeks!

We're now 36 weeks along with Little Bug! WOW!

We'll be greeting our new little family member in +/- 4 weeks! Double WOW!

Other than some achey ribs, near constant heartburn (oh, yeah) and beginning to feel pretty crowded for personal space, I'm doing well! Both Little Bug and I are healthy and right on track!

We're slowly getting things ready...linens/clothing washed and prepped, hospital bags packed for Tre and myself and an overnight bag for Lelia, "game plans" for various scenarios of me going into labor and (most importantly) trying to decide on names...without much luck, I might add! :)

It's an exciting time in life...elevated by this special time of year. All I gotta say is, poor Mary! At least I'm not 9 months pregnant and riding a donkey back to my hubby's hometown for a census. Phew! I can't even begin to think how miserable that must have been! One more reason to be relishing this pregnancy...

Hindsight...I should've worn a different shirt. I look like a giant pink and brown fish...scaly all over! I think they're actually flowers but when stretched to the point they are...they look more like scales. Um, yeah!

November & being thankful...

Well, since it's been about a month since my last post (naughty me!) figured I'd do a quick re-cap of what's been going on in Cl8n Camp.

Fall descended on us quite quickly this year. We had some lovely sunny days that quickly turned into quasi-winter storms with crazy wind and rain downpours. We used the sunny days to go for walks in the park or spending time as a family raking up the leaves in the yard...Lelia playing in the leaves more than raking. ;)

A family walk at Sellwood Park

Monkey enjoying her wagon on our walk

Lelia spent 3 nights with her Koko (my Mom) while Tre and I enjoyed a short Babymoon/Staycation. We dropped Lelia off on a Friday night and Tre picked her up late Monday morning. We slept in ('till 8:30!!!), ate some great food, went to see a movie (forgot how nice that is) and generally marveled at our extremely quiet house. Was it this quiet before Lelia? Really? Huh! We had a great time together and refueled a bit as we head into the home stretch of this pregnancy and waiting for Little Bug's debut. My Mom enjoyed Lelia A LOT but was sure feeling wiped out after Monkey's departure on Monday...don't blame her. Lelia is a crazy bundle of energy!

Ah...the best thing about Fall...LEAVES!!!

Tentative at first, Lelia soon found out she could toss leaves up in the air all over herself!

Thanksgiving was wonderfully low-key. We went over to my parent's house where my Grandparents and a family friend joined us. The 8 of us ate good food, visited and just enjoyed each other's company. I didn't take many photos as I was too busy cooking or eating! :)

Lelia enjoying some pre-Turkey pretzels

She enjoyed having Grandpa pull her around in the Duplos wagon

Tre carving up our bird!

Our Thanksgiving table and spread! YUM!

Monkey is doing great...can't believe she's already 16 months old. She's becoming more and more of a mimic these days and her muse of choice is her Papa. Tre tends to gesture a lot with his hands when he's talking and Lelia has taken to copying his gestures. Too funny!

She's still enjoying her Monday swim classes. We'll take a break for the Christmas/New Year but she'll start back up in early January! We're thankful she enjoys swimming so much and that we've found something that helps purge some of her boundless energy!

We've been trying to teach her about her new sibling's upcoming arrival. If you ask her "Where's Bug?" she'll point to my belly...although for awhile she would also point to EVERYONE'S belly. Hmm. But our sweet little girl also gives hugs and kisses to Bug/my belly. We're excited to introduce the two and watch them interact with each other!

Other than the normal day-to-day stuff and working, there's not a whole lot of exciting news to report. We're counting down the days until the new one arrives...trying to get our to-do list crossed off in time and get everything situated...famous last words, right!?!