Holiday Catch-Up

This year the holidays were totally unique for the Clive family. Not only did we have a brand new member, making us a family of 5, but for once we didn't travel to be with families but had our own Christmas in our own apartment. And, Spencer was able to be with us 100%--a nice long break from school, no applications to prepare, no interviews, just family. It was so wonderful!

Our first Christmas Tree (*with the exception

of one Charlie Brown tree in Walnut Creek that

we only had for a week or so before we left town

for Christmas.)





Not a bad decorating job from the Spencer/

Cadence Task Force.

We missed our families very much, but considering that we were (and are) still adjusting to having a new baby around, it was really nice to just be at home.

This tree-topper/heart-stopper
of a star was one I purchased when I

was probably 17 from Christmas World (Sprinkler World's alter ego) where I worked for 6 years as a youth. I have loved it and cherished it and waited for the day it would finally shine for my own family.

I love this star.

C

Museum of Science and Industry.

Cutest Mary and Joseph EVER. On Christmas Eve we went to some friends' home and celebrated together. It was a lovely evening and so fun to do the nativity, even though it was about 1.5 minutes long and still too long for the kids to pay attention to.

Campbell played the all-important role of "star". She has a pretty commanding presence so I thought the role fit her well.

Above: Mary and the Star tend to Baby Jesus (Layla) in the manger/videographer (Mardee).

Right: Christmas Morning! Cadence was so glad to see that Santa ate the cookies and drank the sparkling cider. We enjoyed toasted panettone (next year we'll warm, not toast it), got ready, and then finally got to go see if Santa came. The girls were really excited and of course Cadence directed the present opening.

The week after Christmas we went with some friends to Nauvoo and stayed at a log cabin/lodge with all three families: Olivers, Hutchisons, and Clives:

Visiting Nauvoo in the winter really paints a more clear picture of how hard it must have been for the Saints to leave. We all know they loved the city, but it is CO-O-OLD and dreary there. I can't imagine loading up a few things in a covered wagon and heading into the great unknown, knowing that we would never return to the city we built and loved. It sort of breaks my heart.

We had a lot of fun with our friends and Cadence wanted to "live with Jacob and Simon for even more days".

Funny note about that. Simon's dad Jeff is a really mild and nice guy. For some reason Cadence is very afraid of him. As we drove into Nauvoo she said to us, "Okay--Mom and Dad: promise you won't let Jeff talk to me?" She was so serious. Jeff did talk to her and she survived. :)

Layla's First Photo Shoot

I told you she was cute.

To the right: With April, Spencer's mom.

If Campbell is allowed to be near the baby,

this is inevitably how they are found:

My friend Lisa did these photos for us last weekend. April wanted to get pictures done with all her granddaughters, so Lisa obliged us and did a terrific job! I highly recommend her to all of my fellow hyde parkers. Thanks, Lisa--I love all of the pictures (and I know I still owe you $$).

Reese, Maeve, Campbell, CAdence,

And Mamaw with Layla.

Layla April Clive aka Apple Dumplin

Welcome Layla!!

Born Nov 28, 2009

10:38 am

7 lbs 10 oz

19.5 inches

Dark hair, really really cute feet.

Very very beloved by her big sisters!

So far, no pictures have really done her justice. More to come.

I'm too tired and busy feeding to write more now...an official post will follow with all the details that you know you are dying for.

Campbell-icious

I feel like Cadence gets a lot more attention on this blog than Campbell. Like Campbell is her back-up dancer or something. Recently I have found myself just eating up every little move, look, and sound that Campbell makes. If you look over to the right on my self-description you'll see that I described her as "the most loveable baby". That is still true. But may I add to the list of words to describe her: EXUBERANT. And loveable. So very loveable.

One of Cam's most obvious traits is her cuddli-ness. When she sees a baby, she wants to give it "luvs". When she sees a leg belonging to some random adult, she gives it luvs. When any kid is sad, she wants to give luvs. She has kissed so many babies. When Cadence gets sent to time out for clobbering Campbell, Cam heads right over to time out and smothers Cadence with luvs and kisses and "ohhh"s. And if it has just been a few minutes since she has found somebody who needs luvs, she just comes to Mama and gives me a sweet sweet luv. I love it. Oh, how I do.

Campbell also greatly enjoys salutations. She is a very gregarious greeter and ...farewell-er (?) (sure can't think of a way to say that). Oh, the excitement of a goodbye! She loves it. She's known for it at the "tot lot".

Campbell doesn't speak as much as I expected her to at this point, although I'm not too concerned about it. She has great comprehension and can follow simple instructions, which I love to have her do, just for my own amusement. "Campbell, go pick up that cheerio and put it in the trash", or "Cam, go get your baby and sing her a song". For some reason it is really fun to see her little body and her happy face as she completes a task.

The girl is so expressive. Like I said, not too many words. But that doesn't stop her. She is loud, has a million facial expressions, and knows how to get her point across.

Campbell is a climber, a doer, and a goer. She is always trying to keep up with her sister. She is fearless on slides and stairs and a myriad of other things that can be climbed. She wants to experience everything.

Campbell is a laugher. Remember when she would not laugh? Well, now she laughs all day long. She can pick up on a sarcastic tone and will laugh at it. She and Cadence crack each other up all day long. She'll accidentally drop something and start laughing. She is jolly.

Like her sister, she loves dancing and singing and all kinds of music. The other night Spencer was playing ring-around-the-rosies with them and although she couldn't say the words, she sang along in a way that was almost recognizably the melody, and the words were like this: "whaaayaaawhaaayaaawhaaayaaaa..." I was proud.

Oh, and did I mention she's just so darn cute? I love those eyes. Yup, she doesn't get the lime light as much, but she certainly deserves some of it. She is a strong, smart, loving, and fun girl. I am so grateful for her. Oh, and did I mention she's a total Mama's girl? It's nice to be needed. ('We'll see how much I appreciate it when Apple Dumplin' makes an entrance).

MAKE YOUR PREDICTIONS

Okay, everybody, I'm down to my last 25 days...and I've been saying all along I don't think I'll go that long, but we'll see.

So, here's your chance--never had the joy of predicting a mission call correctly (I have, HA!)? Your odds are so much better this time. So look over to your right and note the poll that is open until the 20th. VOTE!

Also, feel free to leave a name recommendation (although many of you know I already have names picked out, which I will not include in this post since 1. it seems fun to make it a little bit suspenseful to some of you and 2. I just want you to give suggestions without being influenced). Who knows, maybe you'll dethrone the names I've chosen--even more exciting than guessing a mission call!

Oh, and you can also guess the date of birth, weight, or awesomeness of the baby, if you like. Whoever is closest will receive high honors and great lauds of glory...

By the way, speaking of all of this, a few nights ago I spent the wee hours of the night in what certainly felt like real labor. Not just contractions, but regular ones, with back-ache, crampiness, and a different shaped-uterus than braxton-hicks (but no bleeding, which I've never had before reaching the hospital, anyway). By 5 am they were every 9 minutes and the doctor had instructed me to go to the hospital when they were 10 minutes apart. So I called the doctor, packed my bags, and decided that on the next contraction I would wake up Spencer, call Matt and Mimi (to come stay with the kids), and go to the hospital. And then that last contraction never came! So I went back to bed and finally slept, which was nice.

So, how common is this false labor stuff? Does it just happen more the more pregnancies you've had? Does it mean I'm close to delivery or does it even matter? It's never happened to me before. Since then I've had like a small handful of non-regular painful contractions and almost constant braxton-hicks. I'd like to be told that I'll make it to about 38 weeks and no further, please. Anybody?

Okay, place your bets!

FIRST HAIRCUT...39 1/2 months old!

I've been waiting a long, long, LOOOONG time to be able to post about anybody's first haircuts around here. And the day finally came. I had told Spencer I was going to get Cadence's hair cut after Halloween (so that I could be sure to have enough hair to put in a Tinkerbell bun), and so the morning after Halloween, while he ever-so-kindly was letting me sleep in, but without any regard to my blogging needs, he cut her hair himself.

He's a go-getter.

And he's sick of spending money. (Have you seen my new stroller? It was a hard pill for him to swallow. Oh, and I LOVE it, by the way.)

So, inspite of the fact that I already had to blog about Halloween, and that nobody was around to take before and during pictures, he did it.

So, here's a little picture tour of Cadence's hair:

At one year: still peach fuzz.

I don't have anything around 18 months on this computer, but I can just tell you that it's basically still peach fuzz at that point.

About three weeks after she turned 2:

At about 2 and 3 months (about a year ago): First time wearing it up successfully--a ponytail on top and two little pigtails in the back.

Around 2 1/2: pigtails were sustainable without the ponytail on top.

About a month ago: Not very long but wispy and uneven. Looks terrible unless I pull it up, and she insists on only one hairstyle: one ponytail in the back. And the only "after" shot I have: Spencer did a great job and this is her in the tub immediately after the deed was done. It's hard to see, I guess, but it's just a little shorter and even across the bottom. Campbell loves the camera and makes this face whenever she sees it's ready for her.

Congrats, Cadence! You made it a good long time without a haircut, and now we are in the world of having normal (almost) amounts of hair! Campbell is a little ahead of you (and, by the way brunette with possibly curly--albeit too short to know for sure--hair), but you still got your hair cut first. You win!

The Most Wonderful Day of the Year...

Yes, we love Halloween over here. Were you wondering if we observed the holiday? Here you go:

Campbell as the cutest little candy-hoarding Unicorn (recognize this, Walnut Creekers?):

Cadence as Tinkerbell: And I'll have you know I made this costume entirely by hand. Yes, the wings are hangers. They were actually pretty cute. The pink top is because it was the only turtle neck she has and she refused to wear the costume with a regular top (the ribbon irritated her).Spencer and Mardee as Paulie Bleeker and Juno: Slightly inappropriate? Yeah, I know. But I thought we pulled it off pretty well. I'm just greatful that it was so dang cold so that Spencer was forced to wear something under those short shorts. And yes, I carried the huge thing of Sunny D around the whole time.

The whole fam:This is Spencer holding up the family pumpkin for the Pumpkin Carving Contest at the ward party. Cadence designed the face and he carved it, staying very true to the blue-print. In spite of how very ornate the other pumpkins in the contest were (a VERY well-done Thomas S Monson, a big pumpkin eating another pumpkin, etc), Cadence's took second place in the dual-round cheer-off.

More of the pumpkin. One eye is actually a side-ways heart, which Cadence was really proud of herself for having drawn. Not bad, right?

We had a really full and fun day that started with the "Tot Lot" Halloween Party, which I was in charge of, along with Mimi (thank goodness for her), and then after naptime we had trick-or-treating inside our building, and then we had to get to the parking lot for the trunk-or-treat at the church. Cadence and Campbell both had about a million grams of sugar that day, and so between that and Daylight Savings (i hate you daylight savings), we've had a crazy crazy week so far :)

On the way home from the church that night, Cadence exhibited some interesting behavior. The whole way from the parking lot to the apartment, and then for about 20 more minutes, she was just blurting out random phrases and words and stringing them together with a great deal of tonal changes. She was also doing this weird skip-walk that was quick and sporatic.... hmm, reminds me of when we fed her Jello on her first birthday and she started giggling and moving around in jerking, sporatic movements, puncuated with a happy scream here and there... Anyone know anything about clinical hyperactivity?