My Babies

It has been quite a while since I last posted. I thought about trying to play "catch-up", but let's be honest, I rarely take the time to post anyway. No way am I going to try and do 3-4 posts to try and catch up.  Plus, I may no longer have "pregnant brain" but I do have "mom-of-two-on-very-little-sleep" brain. I'm not sure which is worse. All I know, is I probably couldn't even remember enough of the details of the last two months to make decent posts. 

But, I had Michelle take some pictures of my babies when Titan was only 3 days old. I thought I would share some of them. She really does such a great job and I LOVE that I have these sweet pictures. Titan may very well be my last baby and I wanted to make sure I got great pics of them at these precious ages they are in.

Sedona Rose 3 years 4 months      Titan Joseph 3 days

6/18/2014 Titan Joseph Clift 7 lbs 20 inches long

Sedona requested that Michelle take a few pictures of her being silly.  I love how goofy she is.  I love that she loves life and is full of energy. I love how smart she is, and even though it does cause some frustration for me, I love that she thinks and challenges me with some of the things she comes up with. I love how friendly she is and although sometimes it causes some 3-year-old heartbreak, I always encourage her to keep trying and always be kind.  She is very persistent (that is a nice way of saying stubborn).  She is tender-hearted and feels emotions and expresses them well. My Mom said, "When Sedona commits to an emotion, SHE COMMITS." It's true. Proof that she is my daughter.  I think what I love most about Sedona is that she will tell me and her Poppy that she loves us about 100 times a day.  She loves to give hugs and kisses and gets emotional when she is being left behind by one of us (like when Austin goes to work).  She is truly a light in our lives and we love her so much!!

So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some pics of Sedona being silly. ENJOY!!

Overdue, and Very LONG

 Right before Sedona and I left for our two-week "vacation" it snowed. Quite a bit. Enough for Sedona and Austin to make an Olaf. She is heaven, as you can see. Olaf melted in a couple days, which was a little devastating to her, but she eventually got over it when I explained to her that sunshine is good and that the more sunshine we get, the closer we are to having Baby Brother with us!

We left for our two-week trip on May 1st and headed to Cokeville. To my surprise and great pleasure, we enjoyed several warm and sunny days there. Sedona spent a Friday and Saturday outside from 10am-5pm when I finally drug her inside to clean up for dinner and get ready for bed. She just played with a watering can and hose all day long. Happy as a lark, that child. She got pretty sunburned on Saturday, though, because I kept putting very expired sunscreen on her that didn't do a dang thing. Oh well, she is a brown little girl now with a rather nice farmer's tan. 

On Monday, my older sisters Tami and Taffy and all their kids came to Cokeville to have a "sister's day." Livi had to work most of the day, but took off a little early so she could have a few hours with all of her sisters and the grandkids.  We spent most of our afternoon together at my Grandma Teichert's house, cleaning out her flower beds. It was great to work together, visit, and listen to all the grandkids enjoy exploring in the "jungle" in Grandma's back yard. I have so many fun memories playing back there with my Teichert cousins. It was fun to listen to them play and have a good time.

 Connor is 10 now, so that means he can do some pretty good work and even use what I would consider a "dangerous" tool. But lucky for him, his Grannie and Mom thought he would be okay using a small hand-saw, and he was more than happy to oblige.  He used the hand saw to cut down this pesky tree, while Tel, Kimball, and Brady helped him bend and maneuver it so it would finally come down. They worked hard and got the job done!!

 These two little munchkins are three weeks apart and in the past have not enjoyed each other's company as much as they did this time around. It was fun to watch them talk and giggle together as they built a "fire" out of some of the smaller logs in Great-Grandma's wood pile. They sure are cute, aren't they?!

 After a couple hours of raking and bending over, my sciatic nerve in my left leg was screaming at me. So, I used that as an excuse to get some cuddles in with this cute little boy. Dixon is so cute and he is such a good baby. I can't wait to get my hands on my own little one!!

After a week at my Mom's house, we headed to Caldwell, ID to see Austin's family. We were there last in November for Thanksgiving and Sedona was so surprised (I didn't tell her we were going there or I would never have heard the end of, "When are we going to Mimi's?!) and happy to get to see the family and her Gizzy dog.

As you can tell, she wasted no time getting dolled up. We were there for about 30 minutes before I snapped this picture. She LOVES "her" dog and was beyond excited to play fetch with him. They are a pretty cute pair!

 I love how this picture captures her personality. ALL of it!

 On Thursday night, Sedona started complaining about a stomach ache. You would never know it, but this picture was taken at about 3am, right after a bath. She got a 24-hour bug and it was rough. Poor kid. Luckily it was only a 24-hour thing and she was still able to enjoy most of her stay at Mimi and Jojo's house.

 Helping Jojo make Mother's Day crepes for Momma and Mimi.

 Mother's Day with my babies.

 The day before we left, we went to the Zoo in Boise. Her favorite thing there was of course, the Carousel. She rode it THREE times. 

 Feeding the goats with Jojo.

As I said before, Sedona LOVES "her" dog, Gizmo. She talks about him daily, and even has her own stuffed dog that looks just like him and is also named Gizzy.  In the past, I have thought people who had such special bonds with their animals were just kinda weird and needed to "get a life" or a hobby or something. I am still totally weirded-out by people who call themselves "pet parents" and even consider their animals their kids.  Totally weird to me. 

But....I have seen a bond between my Sedona and Gizmo that is real and irreplaceable. It will be a very very sad day when Gizmo is no longer with us.  I captured this little moment with Sedona and Gizmo and it kinda melts my heart.  

 "Hey Gizzy, buddy 'ol pal! Wanna play fetch?!"

(She threw the toy in her hand and he didn't respond. Not even a little.)

 "Awe. Okay. Guess what, Giz? I went to the Zoo today. I rode the Carousel free times! I even fed goats and saw the giraffes.  The baby giraffe peeped and the Momma giraffe licked it. It was keekee."

 "Oh Gizzy Boy, I just love you. You are so cuuuute!"

 "I give you kisses because I just love you!"

 And then she spotted me taking pictures and the "moment" was over. But I am telling you, it was pretty darn cute. The hardest "goodbye" for me to watch when we left Caldwell was when she said bye to Gizz.  Really. I was bawling like a baby. So tender. I wish I could get her a dog. She would just play with it all day long.

 It was a hot afternoon and she asked if she could play in the water. So, we put on her bathing suit and she played!!

After a week in Caldwell, we went back to Cokeville and stayed one more day. Tess is in AK for the summer and so we wanted to get one more day with her before she left.  Tessa is such a great Aunt!! She played with Sedona ALL day long. She probably gave her 100 under-dogs as well as played sidewalk chalk, jumped on the tramp, did puzzles, had a picnic lunch, and read stories with her.

It was such a great two weeks seeing family, but we were happy to get home to her Poppy-Dally and her bed. She loves her both of them!! We had great weather while we were gone and have had some pretty good sunny days since being back in Laramie, but we miss our family. Thanks for the fun visit, everyone! Hopefully we will get in some more family time after this baby boy gets here!

Easter

I know, it's rare for me to just randomly post. I have had a lot on my mind the last few days. Mostly, "Am I doing what I should be doing as a Mother to teach Sedona the IMPORTANT things? You know, about Jesus. About how we want to try to be more like Him. How we can ask ourselves, 'What would Jesus want me to do?' "...those kinds of things. And I think this "Holiday" has been what has had these things on my mind. 

I love Easter. I love what it means. It has such an incredible meaning to me personally, but to the entire world. And, a lot like Christmas, the real meaning is so easily forgotten or set aside by commercial things. Now, I am not one to deprive my kids of the "fun" things about Holidays. I will do "Easter things" with them. But, the other day I asked Sedona if she knew what Easter was about. She quickly responded with, "Easter eggs and the Easter Bunny!!!"  

Okay, so she is ONLY 3, but I was immediately reminded of my responsibility to teach her what it is really about.  A friend of mine posted a "7 Days Till Easter" activity on FB. I looked in our Friend magazine (a children's publication I order from our church) and found the two-page spread and pulled it out. We were a day late starting, but we started. 

Let's be honest, I don't think she understood most of what we taught her, even though it was worded so simply. But she listened. She loved the songs that went along with each day's scripture and principle. Last night, while she was combing her hair, I said, "Sedona, do you remember what Easter is all about?" She didn't look at me, just kept combing her hair, and she said, "Jesus died."  I guess she heard and understood some of it, and it felt good to know that she was listening. 

  

 (she is holding up her completed 7 Days Till Easter)

My favorite part about Easter, and what it is really all about, is Jesus' Atonement. From His suffering in the garden, to his painful death, and his glorious Resurrection! He lives! He did for us what we could not do for ourselves.  He suffered for our sins, our sorrows, our disappointments, our aches and pains, and He did it all willingly. Because He loves us. I want Sedona to know that. Jesus LOVES her! He loves her even more than her Dad and I do, and I don't know how that is possible, but it is. I know it is. 

Christ suffered for me. For you. And because He made the ultimate sacrifice and died and on the third day, was resurrected, we will live again too. He overcame death. You know what that means for me? Life does not end at death. Therefore, families do not end at death. What a blessing He has given to us!

I will see my baby sister again. My Aunt Kris will be reunited with her children and husband. My Uncle David, cousin Errol, Grandpa Teichert, my Father-in-Law's younger brother Josh, all the people I have loved and lost, will be reunited with their families. 

And most important, I get to be with these guys forever! It makes me tear up with joy, just thinking about what Christ did for me so that I can have what I hold most dear through the eternities.  This is what I want Sedona (and Titan) to think about when Easter comes around.  

Sure the eggs, the bunny, the candy, the family time....those are all really fun. And I enjoyed watching Sedona have fun with all of it. But at the end of the day, the most rewarding thing was for her to tell me that "Jesus died."  He did. But He lives! And that is what Easter is about.

March

With our February being so eventful, the month of March came in like a lion! And, looking back, it went out just as fast as it came in. Days here seem so long, but when I look back, the months go by pretty quickly. Funny how that works. Our March went as follows:

UW Basketball games/riding the shuttle bus to the arena

Sedona has a home pre-school group run by some moms from our Ward at church. We meet every Tuesday and she really enjoys it. She is the one jumping in the left corner. She jumps constantly, especially when she is excited.

We went to Casper to see Grannie, Grandpa, Livi and Tessa. Grandpa Teichert's girls basketball team was playing in the State Tournament, so we went to see family and watch the girls. Livi and Tessa are such great Aunts and took her swimming one morning for over an hour. She LOVED it and she LOVES them!

We worked on learning how to ride our bike. She got a fancy new helmet from her Mimi and JoJo, so we put it to the test!

Sedona is always silly!

We spent a cold and windy Sunday afternoon at our friend's house. The Gardener's live out on UW's cattle and research ranch and they have a little boy close to Sedona's age. They had fun tromping through the dirt and cow poop and seeing all the animals, especially the new baby calves.

Sedona got the movie FROZEN!

We spent most of our "Spring" Break at Grannie and Grandpa Teichert's house. But before we left, Austin had a job interview Monday afternoon with a cellular phone company who is an Authorized Verizion Dealer!! We were so excited about it because Quizno's (where he had been working) had just announced that they were closing their doors :(  Monday evening, we went to Cheyenne to have dinner with some new friends. I am sad I didn't take any pictures, but there will be other opportunities.

We went to my sister Taffy's house on Tuesday night so Sedona could play with those cousins for a couple hours. That was fun, even if it was shorter than planned (dang WY weather!) At Grannie's, Sedona got some much-needed cousin time.  These cute boys were at my Mom's for a few days because my sister Tami had just had her 4th boy, Dixon. So Mom had them at her house while Tami rested. Worked out perfect for Sedona.

Being silly and having fun at the Elementary School gym...tiring them out for bed time ;-)

Spring Break came and went all too quickly, but it was nice to get out of Laramie for a few days. Things I didn't get pics of:

Austin got to go golf in 60 degree weather

Austin helped my Uncle Ron feed cows Friday and Saturday

Livi gave some of the kids ski lessons and they did awesome!!

A nice walk with all my sisters

Celebrated Tillie's 25th Birthday

April First came and I had my 28 week Dr. appointment. Everything is looking and sounding great, according to my Dr. I have re-entered the "I am so tired I can hardly see straight" phase, but continue to get in my exercise 3-4 days a week. I have already gained as much weight with Titan as I did with Sedona the ENTIRE pregnancy, but Dr. Klingler says I am right on track and I am too critical.  (He must be a girl Dr. or something...haha)  I have been busy doing projects and trying to make space in this tiny apartment of ours. Babies have more "stuff" than I remember! Good thing we still have plenty of time! 

February

 A lot has happened in the last month. I can't believe February is almost over! Can't believe it, but couldn't be more happy about it, either. It just means we are getting closer to Spring and then SUMMER!!!  The month of February began with us finding out that we are adding a sweet little BOY to our family in late June. We are so excited!! We went out and purchased an outfit for him. Austin was so sweet about letting me choose the first outfit we purchased for Sedona. He was like a kid in a candy store looking through all the boy things. He and his Dad LOVE camo. They have camo jargos that they wear religiously YEAR-ROUND. So, I wasn't surprised when this is what he came up with:

Truth be told, I am not wild about camo. But I am wild about having a baby boy and so excited for Austin to have a son and Sedona to have a little brother! She is so excited, and asks regularly when her baby is coming.  Last night, as I was laying in bed with her, she was laying on her tummy and put her chin in her hands and said, "Momma, I'm so gig-cited (excited) to be a big sister." My heart melted. I almost cried. She is so sweet and she will be an awesome big sister!

The day after we found out we were getting a boy, we drove to Denver to pick up Austin's Mom, Mariam. Or, to Sedona, Mimi.  She came in town to help celebrate Sedona's 3rd Birthday. It's hard to believe my "baby" is already 3. 

For any of you who know my Sedona, you know she is OBSESSED with the movie Frozen. She loves the music and thinks she IS the princess Elsa. She wants a side braid in her hair every day and will actually hold still long enough for her rather untalented mother to complete it. Needless to say, she wanted an Elsa cake. But she made it very clear she was not going to share it. Especially with her Uncles. Because they are boys. Boys don't eat Princess cakes.  So, after I found a bakery that would make us a small Elsa cake, we went to the store to pick out all the fixin's for some cupcakes that she could share with her Uncles.  She picked out every aspect of these babies. Pink cake mix, pink cup-cake papers, vibrant blue frosting with fish sprinkles, and then of course, she had to add pretty sprinkles that I already had in my entourage of baking supplies. She was pretty pleased with the finished products.

 Here she is admiring her beautiful Elsa cake. She just could NOT wait to bite into that thing! It was really pretty adorable.

  She had a great birthday and we feel so blessed to be living close to my brothers and that Mimi could make the trip to come celebrate with her. She is something special and is loved by so many people. I love that. No matter what, she will always have a support system that will always be cheering her on in the good things she does.

Valentine's Day is only a few days after Sedona's Birthday. Austin and I don't want her to think that her Birthday is an entire week of getting gifts and having parties. So, we don't do much to celebrate Valentine's. No gifts or get-togethers until she is old enough to understand and separate the two days.  So we decided activities are the way to go. This year, we made Valentine's Jell-O Jigglers with her. She LOVED it! Brought back memories of after-school snacks of Jell-O jigglers.

The hardest part about this month is that it is still very much winter here in Laramie. Sometimes, I wake up and see sunshine and get excited, "Maybe today we could go outside and play without freezing to death!" Then the wind starts. 30-50+ mph winds are not conducive to ANY kind of fun outside. Not for this sun lizard, anyway. I get the winter blues every winter, but I can usually fight it with my daily trip to a gym and some intense exercise and an occasional session in a tanning bed.  Welp, I don't have a gym here, and being pregnant kinda makes the tanning thing out of the question. Not to mention, both cost some serious $ here in Laramie. 

Since my recent "clean bill of health" from the Dr, I was told I could begin exercising regularly. Like more than walking and doing my regular daily activities. So, after a very tough week with days where I just didn't want to get out of bed and face the day. Days when I never even got out of my pajamas because I could HEAR the wind howling outside my window.  Days when the sadness just felt so heavy and tangible yet totally unexplainable. Those days are really really hard. We had some great talks in Sacrament meeting yesterday and I decided that the choice is still mine. I might struggle with feelings of depression, but I can still choose to fight them. 

TODAY, I went out to my garage and found my 2&5 pound dumbells and decided to open up the blinds and curtains and let the sunshine in (even though the wind is still howling). I turned on the only workout DVD I own (Jillian Michael's Last Chance Workout) and got my sweat on! I'm not going to lie, it was a little disappointing that I got tired so quickly doing the MODIFIED version of some of the exercises!! But the feeling of sweating and breathing hard and my muscles working felt SO DANG GOOD.

A far cry from where I imagined/dreamed I would be at this point in my pregnancy (I was determined to be fit and fabulous this time around), but I have to start somewhere. 23 weeks isn't a bad place to start.

Heart-Attack

I know I may cause some slight heart palpitations, or maybe even a heart-attack or two, by finally writing another blog post. My absence the last year has been so nice. I am not going to lie. This is, however, NOT a declaration of any new desire to be consistent with this thing. But, I did want to give a little update on our lives. Seeing as how it has been over a year since my last post, this COULD get kinda long, but I will do my best to be brief. I don't have any pictures to add to this post, but if you're dying for a picture or two, you can find plenty on Facebook.

At the beginning of last year, we decided to put a kibosh on the whole Dental School thing (can't say I am NOT happy about that) and head in a different direction. Engineering has always been something Austin wanted to do, but was overwhelmed with all the fields of engineering. My brother, Tyson, is in the Petroleum Engineering program at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY.  After much prayer, thought, research and picking Tyson's brain, we decided it would be a good fit for us and started the preparations for heading that way this January (2014).

So, now that it is 2014, we are officially in Laramie! It is so nice to be close to my brothers! Sulli and Michelle and Tyson and his girlfriend, Candace, make living in this tundra somewhat bearable. I haven't been geographically "close" to any sibling since I left UW in 2003.  11 years, people!!! I am so happy that Austin and my brothers have such great relationships and that Austin is happy here.  He has told me multiple times how happy he is that I have this chance to live so close to some of my siblings. That makes me happy. I sure do love that man!

The most exciting part about this new year, is that we are going to be welcoming Clift baby #2 to our family in June.  I have had a hard time letting myself get excited about this pregnancy for a couple different reasons: in the very beginning, I didn't FEEL pregnant. Not like I did with Sedona, anyway.  Not until about 8 weeks did I REALLY feel it and about that time, I had the nerves about weather or not we were going to get to be excited, if you know what I mean.  I have sisters who have had miscarriages and a best friend who lost her third baby last May, at almost 20 weeks.  I was nervous.  At 13 weeks, I thought my worst fear had just happened.

It was a Sunday, and I had A LOT of bleeding and felt very weak and achy the rest of the day and through the night. It was Austin's finals week and we were moving! My wonderful Father-in-Law (who is a nurse-anesthetist) suggested that I go into the Doctor to make sure everything made it out okay so I wouldn't end up with an infection and become very sick. That was the LAST thing I needed on top of the emotional drain that had seemed to just suck so much out of me.  First thing Monday morning I made an appointment to see my doctor.

When the ultra sound showed a tiny baby, I was sure it just hadn't "passed through" yet. Then the tech turned on the speaker and I heard a strong, amazing, heart-beat! "How is this possible?!" I asked her.  I honestly did not think I could bleed as much and feel as weak as I did and STILL have life inside me.  Well, I am here to tell you that miracles DO happen.  At least it is a miracle to US.  It was discovered that I had placenta previa, and I was given orders to "take it easy".  Uhm, one small problem: I WAS MOVING!!

Thank goodness for amazing family and friends. My Mom came and got Sedona and I had a small army of people from my ward show up to help me clean my apartment.  My brother Tyson got a truck and trailer from a family friend in Cokeville and came to Rexburg to help us load our stuff and get it over to our place in Laramie.  Blessing right and left, people.  Not to mention, we were STILL getting a BABY!!

Even with the reassurance that I was still pregnant, the last two months have been nothing short of stressful and restless.  My first Dr's appointment here in Laramie was, to say the least, pointless.  The doctor told me that bleeding in the first trimester was completely normal. He made me feel like my concerns were trivial and actually said, "I am not even sure why they put us in the ultra sound room. You are only 16 weeks."  Did you hear anything I just said to you?!  He did the ultra sound, but really gave me no information to calm my troubled heart.  I tried to book an appointment with a different doctor in the following weeks, but was always told "sorry, he is booked."

I had my 20 week ultra sound today and NOW I can sleep!!!  Prayers are answered.  My Placenta Previa has fixed itself and we have a healthy baby.  Momma is healthy and baby is healthy. I feel so blessed.  I also saw a different doctor and he assured me that everything looked great and that the placenta shouldn't cause any further complications.  I can exercise now!! I don't know if I will, but I could if I wanted to!  People, it was -30 out there this morning. uhg....

Anyway, sorry to bore you all with a "wordy" post. But thought I would share our exciting news that I finally feel like I can be excited about! Oh yeah, and we are having a baby......
Nope, not telling you! Not YET anyway.  Still have to make some phone calls.
Have a nice day everyone!

CHICKEN SOULVAKI SANDWICH

My husband entered a weight-loss challenge with his Dad on January 7th and is bound and determined to win it.  It ends officially on April 7th.  He started at 245 and informed me this morning that he is now somewhere under 210!! I am so proud of him! He has worked really hard and has been very strict about his diet. He found an "app" for his phone called Calorie Counter.  Creative, I know.  It has hundreds of recipes, which is really nice! I haven't made anything from it that I don't like. I have made this particular recipe 3 or 4 times and it is one of our new favorites. Weight loss or not...it's stinkin' good.
It does take a little "thinking ahead" time, but it's well worth it! I just do all the prep-work on a day when I am feeling "in the groove of things" and it really only takes 10-15 minutes to do....MAX.

Chicken Soulvaki Sandwich
A day before:
Make marinade and add thawed chicken breasts.
Make sauce for cucumber dressing.
Purchase whole wheat Salad Pockets or Pitas

Marinade:
2 tsps garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp ground oregano
2 tsps olive oil
1/4 c lemon juice
2 Tbsp soy sauce, low sodium
1 Tbsp honey
Mix marinade in a large Ziploc bag.  Add 2-3 large thawed chicken breasts

Cucumber Dressing:  **1 med cucmber (to be added day of service)
4 oz plain greek yogurt
2 tsps dill  (dry or fresh, whichever is cheapest)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients together in a small tupperware and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.  This gives the dill and the garlic powder/salt time to blend flavors with the yogurt.

Day of serving:
Put marinaded chicken breasts in a greased pan and bake @ 350 for 30 minutes or until juices run clear.
While chicken is cooking, pear and cube 1 medium cucumber.  ( I use my Vidalia Chop Wizard's smallest chopper size. If you are an Oberg Cousin and you don't know what that is....ask Grannie to educate you!)  Add chopped cucumber to yogurt mixture.

When chicken is done cooking let it sit for 10 minutes before cubing it into small cubes. You could also slice it, or whatever you feel would be easiest for you.  No matter how you do it, it will taste the same!!  Heat pitas or salad pockets for 10-15 seconds and fill with chicken and a couple spoonfuls of the cucumber dressing.

This tastes sooo fresh and is absolutely delish! Sedona and I just ate it for dinner and it reminded me of how darned good it is and I just thought I would share.  ENJOY!!