My Girls

First there is Kelsey

My Little Model

Photogenic

Cheeser

Little Poser

Then There is Mylee with her Many Expressions:

Inquisitive

Cheeser

Genuine Smile


Grumpy

Fake Smile

Small Cheeser

Then There is Both of Them:

My Mom Says I'm Mischievous

(Don't worry, this is chocolate pudding)

I don't know why exactly. Maybe it's because she doesn't like my new trick. Did you hear about it? I can climb out of my crib all by myself!! It's so cool. My mommy puts me to bed and I can climb out and still play. Today I climbed out of my crib during my nap time. I looked all over for mommy and finally found her sleeping in her bed. Silly mommy!! What was she doing in bed? She even got Kelsey to lay down in her bed too, only she wasn't sleeping. My mommy wasn't too happy to see me. She took me back to my bed again and told me I needed to go night night. I stayed in my bed for a while, but then got out again--I wasn't tired. Only this time I stayed in my room. My diaper was feeling like it needed a change, so I took it off. Today it had stinkys in it. My mommy usually changes these diapers, but she was sleeping, so I thought I would try to change it myself. I never realized how fun stinky is to play with. I took my diaper off and sat down by my door on the carpet and painted my walls and my door. It was sooo cool, it made brown marks all over the place, even on the carpet. It was really cool to feel in my hands too. After playing for a while, I thought I better call mommy because I needed her help. Changing stinkys was harder then I thought it would be. It took her a while to come, but when she finally did come, she wasn't happy to see me again. She put me in the tubby and washed off all the stinkys. Mommy said I had to soak in the tub for a while so the stinkys would come out of my fingernails. That was fine with me, I love the tub. Mommy got me dressed and told me to go play with Kelsey and watch a movie while she cleaned up the mess. She told daddy later on the phone that it took her 2 hours to clean it up. What is 2 hours? Daddy won't be home until I wake up in the morning. He has a funny job!! Working when it is night!! Daddy says he is saving lives, what's that? I will try to make mommy happier with me tomorrow. Maybe next time I will stay in my bed and let her change my stinky diaper.

Go Cougars!!

This past weekend we went to Arlington, Texas to see the BYU Cougars play!!! Blake was able to get work off early on Friday. Once he arrived home around 12 PM, we left about an hour later for our 6 hour drive. Blake's Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy Clifton live in Plano, so we stayed with them. We had such a GREAT time. Uncle Bob and Aunt Kathy have their 3 grandkids living with them and they are all close to our girl's ages, so our girls were in heaven. Blake's brother flew in for the event, so we met up with him and Uncle Bob, Aunt Kathy, the grandkids and Douglas (Blake's cousin) and his fiance for dinner at Scottie P's--a hamburger joint. It was Delicious!

Blake and I had stopped for gas on the way home and told them we would meet up with them at their house. When we arrived at their house, no one was home. We just figured that they had stopped somewhere. So we unloaded our things on their steps and waited... and waited. After a while I insisted that Blake call them. After some proding he called, and sure enough--there was a problem. We had been waiting at the WRONG house!!

Once we arrived at the right house, we got the girls down to bed and then talked into the wee hours of the night. The next day Blake and Trevor used their handy skills to help around the house. Blake fixed their broken mailbox and Trevor fixed some cabinets and did some repair work in the bathrooms. I got to go to the store with Aunt Kathy and the three girls.

Saturday night, we left our girls with the Clifton's and went to the game located at the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium (SO Cool!!). Aparently Kelsey taught all the kids to dance while we were gone. Mylee did acrobatics in the port-a-crib by climbing out onto the nightstand and dancing around when she should have been going to sleep. Kelsey also showed off her swimming skills in the bathtub, showing Uncle Bob that she could blow bubbles underneath the water and so forth. As for Blake, Trevor, and I. Well, what can I say!! We were in one of the coolest stadiums ever--indoor, air-conditioned (whew!!), with the biggest television screen I had ever seen--AND our BYU Cougars beat the #3 Oklahoma Sooners! Let me tell you, we were proud to be cougar fans.

Our seats were in the middle of a sea of Sooner fans, but we didn't let our voices go unheard. Luckily there was a couple that were BYU fans that sat next to us. So there were us 5 cheering for the Cougars in the midst of a bunch of frustrated Sooner fans. Sam Bradford's injury was unfortnate of course. Blake was already diagnosing his problem before they pulled him off the field. He examined the way the team doctors were holding his arm and how they treated it when they put him on the table to be examined. He even called one of his chiefs (another BYU fan, watching from home) to discuss the diagnosis. Their diagnosis matched what reports have been confirming--go Dr. Blake!

Overall the Oklahoma fans were very nice as we walked out of the stadium. One man sitting next to us that had had a few too many drinks was a little upset with us, but his family was quick to apologize for his comments. After the win, the side of the stadium where most of the BYU fans were, stayed and cheered with their team. The players were living up the moment and boy did they deserve it.

It took us 2 hours to get out of the stadium and game traffic before we were on our way. There was even a wreck that happened right in front of us in the stadium parking lot! When we got home, the Clifton's filled us in on the night and we stayed up until 1:30 A.M. talking.

The next morning we went to a local ward and then the Clifton's fixed us a yummy lunch before we dropped Trevor off at the airport. It was a great weekend!

We're number 1!!
Blake and his brother Trevor, the stadium lit up in the background
Mylee (2), Cassidy(5), Kelsey(4.5), Cassandra(2.5), Denny(4)

New Calling

Today I was called and sustained to serve in the Stake Young Women's Presidency as Secretary. I am very excited about serving in young women's again. Blake and I have been serving as primary teachers in the CTR 6 class, but we will be released next Sunday. I've never served in the stake before so I am excited to learn about how that works and hope that I can be an influence for good in the lives of the young women in our stake.

Did We Mention That....

We're Expecting!!!

Baby's Face

Baby's foot and face (unfocused)

Position of the baby, leg up by the face

And....that we're having a GIRL?

We are super excited!! I am 20 weeks and due January 9, 2010. I've been really healthy and have been feeling great. The baby looked good in the ultrasound. I took Kelsey with me and Blake was able to come to part of it--yeah! Kelsey is super excited!!! Blake and I told the girls the other day.

Back to School Fair

Some friends invited us to a back to school fair over the weekend. We had a blast and best of all, it was all FREE. We love things that are free. Kelsey got to ride a horse--she thought she was in heaven! When I asked Mylee if she wanted to ride she said, "Uh, uh, uh, uh" (meaning NO!). They had a fun play gym to bounce in, a train to ride around in and free snow cones and hotdogs, drinks and chips! Wha--hoo!!

Nadia (3), Anya (5), Kelsey (4), Mylee (almost 2)

We got all our ages covered here :)

Mylee a little unsure

The highlight for Mylee

That's Mylee for you

Today me and the girls went over to a friends house for lunch. We had a great time and it was fun to visit and let our kids play with one another. At one point during our visit I noticed Mylee was nowhere to be found. Well.... I wish I had my camera. She was in my friend's master bathroom and had taken off her diaper, put it in the trash actually and then found some pads underneath her sink and was opening them and taking the stickers off trying to put them on herself. Thankfully I know this friend really well and we do a lot together, so I wasn't too embarressed, but we sure did have a good laugh. What do I do with that girl? She is always getting into mischief! But man, she just melts my heart--how can I do anything but just LOVE her?

Last Day of Swim Lessons

Kelsey had her last day of swim lessons this past Friday. She absolutely loved it! I'm so glad we signed her up. She finally overcame her fear of putting her face in the water. It took a lot of prying and bribing one night in the bathtub for her to put her face in the water and then once she did it, she was so proud of herself and would do it over and over again and was so proud and excited to show her teacher. She also became brave and jumped off the diving board, but the little pickle had to have the lifeguard drop her off because she wouldn't jump off herself. She's not quite like her daddy who was doing flips off the diving board around her age, but we are so proud of the progress she made. She is our sweet little Kelsey and she is such a joy to have around the house!! It's my guess that she is going to be an artist one day because she will spend hours and hours coloring and drawing. One of the first things she asks for in the morning are her crayons and markers and off she goes. I'll often have to pry her away to get her to eat her breakfast.

Kelsey hanging out in the lazy river.

Mylee's designated spot during swim. Why? Because if she wasn't strapped in, she would be in swimming with Kelsey.

Sprinkler System

A little over a week ago Blake put in a sprinkler system at our house. It is SOOO wonderful!! We got all the pipe laid and trenches dug one day, but it took us the remaining week to finish with his work schedule. My job was to fill in all the trenches. It really wouldn't have been that bad except it poured rain on us the day after we dug them so it was a big muddy mess and the dirt was very heavy and hard to work with. It got better as the days went by and it dried up a bit. I was also the messenger that went to and from Lowes way too many times. The sprinkling system passed inspection with flying colors. It was funny actually, the first guy that came to inspect one part of the system said, "Wow, we don't get too many medical people putting sprinkling systems in!" Blake had just gotten home from work and was still wearing his scrubs. But O, that guy doesn't know just how handy my husband is!! Then the other guy that came to inspect the last part of the system said, "Wow, it looks really good! Have you done this before?" He then told us about this guy down the street who was putting one in and he had to walk through mud and all sorts of mess. Like I said, my husband is amazing! The picture is the system getting put in. I didn't get one of the finished product, I should do that.

Swim Lessons!!

Kelsey started swim lessons on Monday and LOVES it!! It is every day for two weeks. She's becoming more and more brave; however, much to Blake's chagrin, I think she has part of my curse of fear of water. She refuses to put her face in the water and is very timid when it comes to water. She has a sweet teacher though that plays with her very well and pushes her a little bit. Kelsey's favorite thing is to swim with a noodle wrapped around her waist--I had never considered this before. She just lights up swimming around the pool. The video is the first time she did it by herself. Poor Mylee wants to join in. I have to chase her around the pool and grab her before falling in--she doesn't fear water. She's like "Wha-hoo, throw me in!" She'll even put her face in the water and blow bubbles and we can't get Kelsey to do it. Go figure.

Recipes Anyone?

Many of you know that Blake has had health problems. When we were in Utah for a couple of weeks he was able to get some testing to find out what he was allergic to and nutrients he was lacking etc. His dad had this same test done and found out he was allergic to many things and since following his prescribed diet doesn't suffer from his arthritis anymore!! Well we are hoping this will be the case with Blake with his medical conditions. From the test we found out that he is allergic to:

Milk and milk products including cheese, butter, etc.
Caesin
Garlic
Eggs
Mustard
A few others that weren't as severe

Let me tell you that it has been a HUGE shock to our eating habits. Garlic surprisingly is in almost everything, salad dressings, speghetti sauce, grilling spices, marinades, etc. In fact it seems like the things that don't have milk or eggs has either mustard or garlic. I am coming to terms now that I will have to make all my sauces and dressings from scratch and I bought some egg substitute that I can substitute in recipes.

I am calling for any recipes that you may have that don't include these ingredients, or if you have a recipe that could be left without something. I'm starting to compile my own list and may even start a blog of recipes/foods we are eating to help others who may be in the same position or for those who want some healthy recipes. If you have any recipes you would like to share with us, you can email them to me at cami_clifton12@hotmail.com

A Discussion

Cami: Kelsey please stop picking your ouchys (ie: scabs)

Kelsey: But Mom, it's my favorite part


Another day...


Kelsey: Mom, how old are you?

Cami: 26

Kelsey: Mom, when I am 26 I won't pick my ouchys anymore

Humm, Mascara or This?

We have a PROBLEM!! So the mascara was bad, but I'm thinking this next thing is worse because it happens nearly every day!! BED WETTING!! Kelsey you're thinking right? WRONG--Mylee! Confused? Well Mylee has this habit of taking off her diaper ALL the time. It mostly happens when I put her in her bed for a nap or bedtime, but she has been known to do it during the day--especially if she is on her own for a while. Should I try to potty train her? What should I do? Any suggestions?

The Joys of Motherhood

Mascara, need I say more?

4th of July Festivities

We started the morning off early, leaving our house at about 8:20 A.M to go to the city parade downtown. We went with our new friends and next door neighbors. We had a great time. Kelsey LOVED it. It took some warming up for Mylee, but she eventually got the hang of it and was clapping and waving and having a grand ol' time. We met up with some other friends and went with them after the parade to check out the fair where the supposedly had some great food. The food smelled great, but we didn't end up buying anything and didn't stay long because it was pretty hot. People are BBQ happy out here!! The whole town smelled like BBQ yesterday!! They go all out with the smookers and and everything. Hearlded as some of the best food are their fried turkey legs, yes I said fried. I've heard their fried pies aren't too shabby either.

Just chillin' in my stroller Mom!

Mylee waving
Kelsey enjoying the parade

Me and my girls :)

Kelsey thinking this is SO great!!

Later that evening we went to our neighbor's for a BBQ and had some really yummy steaks and sides. Then around 9:00 P.M. we gathered our girls and went searching for some fireworks. We came to a great little place off the side of the road with some green grass to sit on and enjoyed watching the fireworks. Here in Lubbock, they don't really have any restrictions on fireworks, so people were setting them off EVERYWHERE!! It was great! Who needs to buy fireworks! Mylee wasn't too impressed though. After every load boom she would cry. Eventually she found her way into Dad's arms and covered her ears with his arms and the blanket.

We sat next to this family and shared our glow sticks with them. They were thrilled and Kelsey quickly made some new friends. What's funny is this morning at church we realized they are in our ward!! Ha ha, who knew?

Visitors!!

Well we have to give props to three families now, Logan and Tanya and Matt and Dionne who visited us in Vermont and now Matt and Monica who just visited us on Lubbock. We were so thrilled to have visitors and it was so great in being able to accomodate our guests with more space. Matt and Monica arrived late Monday left Wednesday morning last week. Tuesday we packed a lunch and went to go see the temple here in Lubbock--Beautiful of course!! Then we found a really neat park where we ate lunch and let the kids play for a while. The kids had a great time and it was practically perfect weather for the park--not too hot, not too cold, a little windy though. Blake then showed them around the hospital where he will be working. Later that night we just enjoyed visiting and enjoyed watching our kids play together.

Kelsey pushing Blake in the swing
Mylee eating her applesauce on the move--typical
Oakley hanging out eating his sandwich
Blake, Matt and Monica just chillin'

The Beginnings....

Well, Blake started his first official day of residency today. He woke up at 4:30 A.M and was out of the house at 5 A.M. I don't expect him home until 7 PM or thereafter. We feel so blessed that he has a job and that he is doing what he wants to do--Orthopaedics; however these feelings are mixed with, ahhh, how am I going to do this? How is he (he's amazing, he'll do it without complaint)?

I'm comforted by the scripture found in Moses Chapter 6:56 that reads: "...and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good." Yes, these five years will be hard, but when he has time off or when things aren't as busy, I will learn to cherish those times and appreciate them so much better. I also find comfort in the fact that there are other wives in the program with kids that are making it through. I asked a second year Ortho resident wife how the intern year was and she said, "Oh just fine, nothing worse then med school." We'll see if I say the same.

Another adventure begins....

Checking In...

I know I have been MIA lately. I'm making an attempt to give ya'll a little update. Things have been really crazy!! In the past month we have traveled over 4,000 miles, driving from Vermont to Texas to Utah then back to Texas. Our move to Texas went very well. We had no problems on the way and were able to stay with my Aunt Julie and Uncle Brock and their family in Tennessee and then Blake's Uncle Bob and Aunt Cathy in Plano, Texas.

After arriving in Lubbock, we unloaded our truck--mostly by ourselves, but had some help from some nice neighbors near the end with the really heavy stuff. We got our refrigerator the next morning and then went to our ward for the first time. The ward is great, ironically the first person we met was Brother Merrill in the bishopric who was Blake's seminary teacher in high school--it's a small world. The next day they invited us over for a BBQ for Memorial Day where we met other people in the ward. We are lucky enough to have members living next door to us who are also medical residents--Ophthalmology. They have already become our good friends.



We spent the next 2 days trying to get our house put together and then we left for Utah to visit family. We had a great time. My mom had a family reunion for that side of the crew, Blake built us an entertainment center, we went boating, took some new family pictures and mostly hung out with family. We had a great time. I'll have to do another post on all that we did later with pics and the whole deal.

We left Utah after staying about two weeks then drove to my Grandma and Grandpa's house in New Mexico to visit. They live half way between Utah and Lubbock--how convenient!! I got to see my Great-Grandma and my girls got to meet her for the first time!!

The next day we drove home and have since been trying to get things settled. Unfortunately I got really sick with fever and the works for 3 days after we arrived home--I think all the change, moving, etc. got the better of me. We are still in a mess I feel like I have sort of hit burn out stage and have had no energy to do anything. Calling any volunteers who want to come help :) Ha ha, I know that's unrealistic. We'll get our house put together sooner or later. One of the hardest things is I have had to do a lot of cleaning, the previous owners didn't really do anything other than clean the carpets (which was good). I still need to clean walls, doors, baseboards, blinds, etc.

Blake started Orientation today and then starts work officially on July 1st. We are excited to begin our new journey, but also sad at what we have left!!

Kelsey's Interview

1. What is something mom always says to you? Do my chores
2. What makes mom happy? Doing my chores
3. What makes mom sad? When I don’t do my chores
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Doing silly things
5. What was your mom like as a child? she did chores
6. How old is your mom? 4
7. How tall is your mom? Real HUGE (hand over head)
8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV? cartoons
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? She tries to find me.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? I don’t know
11. What is your mom really good at? Helping little kids do chores
12. What is your mom not very good at? Getting Jesus to come down from heaven (Where did that come from???)
13. What does your mom do for her job? Clean up
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Salad
15. What makes you proud of your mom? When she does her chores (do we see a theme here?)16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? The Little Mermaid
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play with each other
18. How are you and your mom the same? I just don’t know
19. How are you and your mom different? We are wearing different colors
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Cause she gives me hugs and kisses
21. What does your mom like most about your dad? When he gives her kisses.
22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Lowes (we’ve been house hunting/dreaming too much apparently)

All Moms that have not done this are now TAGGED!!

Blake's Project

Last week we were able to go to Blake's sister's house to build them a new fireplace mantel and some bookshelves on either side--well, Blake went to build it, I went to help support the cause :) He did a fabulous job! Really truely, the last picture doesn't do his work justice. There is a lot of detail you can't see. Click on the picture to blow it up. He came home from Home Depot with nothing more then big pieces of wood, molding and some tools and wha-la!!

This is what their fireplace looked like when they first moved in a little less then a year ago.

This is what Blake had to work with when we showed up at their house. Notice how all the dark paneling was taken down and the walls painted--nice.

This is the end result--well, almost. then still need to finish around the edge of the hearth and do a few touch ups, but can you believe the DIFFERENCE!! Wow, LOVE IT!!