Super Slacker, Super Busy, Super Sickies, Super Mom

Since my last post my world has been turned upside down, inside out, flipped around and back again. The holidays came and went, Pat quit his job at Ben B and went back to Fisher Honda. The kids were sick basically from Thanksgiving to February. In and out of the doctors, urgent care, ER, it was crazy! We pulled the kids out of daycare, hired a wonderful Nanny to care for them at home. Walking zombie is my middle ground anymore.

Working Mom

As I sit here and write this post my eyes are heavy and my head is pounding. I started my day with the sound of my alarm going off at 2am making sure Pat got up in time to go to work. I stay awake until I hear the house alarm set and I know Pat is on his way to work. I lay my head down on my pillow and what feels like seconds later I hear Zane cry. I look at the clock and it's 4am. "you have to be kidding me" I think to myself. I feed Zane, lay him down then Grace is up. Trying not to get frustrated I lay down next to her and get her back to sleep. Lay down and repeat the steps again. At 4:56am Zane finally fell asleep...my alarm is set to go off at 5am.
With my day already starting at 4am I start to get ready. By 6 both kids are up, fed, dressed and I try to finish making myself somewhat presentable. By 7:10 we are at school and I spend a little time there playing then head to work.
My drive in to work is a blur and all I can really do is think about how every red light that I stop at is allowing more people ahead of me get a parking spot at work before me. Yes I look at the cars in front of me as the enemy and that car I allowed to pull out from the McDonalds drive thru in front of my car could be the deciding factor on whether or not I get one of the last parking spots at work.
After finally finding a parking spot I walk in the cold and get to work. Then I sit till 4:45 doing my job thinking the entire time how much I miss my kids.
I race to my car at the end of the day, deal with traffic and finally get home. I spend about 2 hours with Pat before he heads to bed and those 2 hours are usually filled with making lunches, giving the kids baths, getting clothes ready for the next day. Before I know it Everyones asleep and I'm exhausted and dreading the repeat of activities that will like clock work happen again tomorrow.
I enjoy working, don't get me wrong but I'm missing my family more. I work so we can help provide our children with clothes on their backs, food in their tummies, shoes on their feet, and a roof over their head. Would I stay home everyday if I could? Absolutely! My goal is to not have to work and enjoy this time with my family. Hopefully 2012 will provide a new opportunity.
Ok enough for tonight, I just wasted precious sleeping time! Tomorrow is a new day and new memories.

I love my family

Words can not describe how much I love my family! Never did I think I would be so lucky to have such a wonderful loving husband, a beautiful daughter, and a handsome son. Life is good :)

Yo Gabba Gabba

Grace LOVES the tv show Yo Gabba Gabba! So as a special treat Pat took her to the Fox in Detroit to see them live. She had a blast!!!

Faces of Zane

Zane is growing so fast and we just can't get enough of this little guy!!

We love Fall

Family of 4

Need I say more? Grace was a little less than thrilled ;)

Zane Patrick Clouse

Zane was born August 24, 2011 exactly 1 week early. He weighed 7lbs 3 oz and was 20 inches long, the exact same as his big sister!

Zane is such a good baby. He's very mellow and eats a ton!!! We had an awesome team of doctors and nurses and no complications!

We are so blessed to have Zane join our family.

Summer of fun

This past summer we tried to stay busy but it was so difficult being very pregnant and temps reaching 100+ for days on end.

We had lots of firsts this summer. Grace went to the water park, a visit to the zoo, first hair cut, parades.

Grace turns 1

On May 5, 2011 Grace turned 1. I couldn't believe our little girl was growing so fast!! Of course we had a huge party. We threw the party in the back yard and invited all of our family and friends to celebrate with us.

Grace was princess for a day! We had a petting zoo, face painting & balloon animals. It was a beautiful day!!

I'm a big girl now

Well with baby #2 on his way we decided to move Grace into a new room and put her in a big girl bed. She actually did very well with the transition, especially being so young. She loves her room so much.

Easter 2011

I would be lying if I said Easter was low key and the Easter bunny left a little basket for Grace.

Grace woke up Easter morning and we searched the house to find her basket that the Easter bunny had hid. We finally found her Elmo Easter basket filled with books and goodies :)

It's a Boy!!!

In April, Pat and I found out that we were expecting a boy!!!

We are so lucky, a boy and a girl, one of each. The best of both worlds!

I have alot of catching up to do since February!

So I feel like a complete blog slacker! I haven't posted anything since February! I've found it's so much easier to just go into Facebook and update things on there. The whole point of my blog was to one day print it as a book to give to my kids.

So if any of you follow my blog Some of the upcoming posts will be a bit behind and filled with old news :)

Baby #2, Grace, and all our recent updates for the new year

Yesterday I had our 12 week ultrasound for baby #2. Everything measured up just the way they needed to. This baby is measuring one day off just like Grace had. It has long skinny legs and kept rubbing its little face with its hands. Its heartrate was 163 beats/min.

We wont know what we are having for another 5 or 6 weeks so hopefully the time will go quick. I cant wait to find out if its going to be a baby Zane or a baby Lily :)

Grace had her 9mo well child visit last week and she's just growing like a weed. She weighed 18 1/2pds and was 28 1/2 in long. She started crawling when we got home from the doctors appt and she walks holding onto the couch. She says 7 words: Hi, Bye-Bye, Momma, Dad-da, Emma, Bo (Turbo), Baby. She gabs all the time and is such a happy baby.

In just 3 short months she's going to be turning 1!!!! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Pat and I decided that we want her first bday to be huge and memoriable so we are going to have a little mini petting zoo along with a pony ride at her party. I cant wait!!!

Im still working away at the Uof M but Pat has decided to leave Fischer Honda after 10 years and work for Schwartz B & Sons, Inc. One of the largest produce distributers for Southeast Michigan, Ohio & Canada. We are really excited about this new adventure. Pats hours will change and it will be different for a while for both of us but we will get use to it. He's going to be working 3:30am-12:30pm and I changed my hours to go into work 30min later. Sad part of this is I have to drop the kids off at daycare. Good part is Pat will pick them up everyday early and we get the half day rate....BONUS :)

New Year, New Adventures!

2011 came in a very quiet one in our house. I think we were all asleep by 10 and watched all the activities on the news the next morning. Boy do I feel old! I remember New Years Eve was so exciting and a fresh new start. I gave up on resolutions a while ago. Why build yourself up to not complete them and feel bad. I decided to make resolutions throughout the year and work on them without a deadline.

2010 was a wonderful year for Pat and me. We became a family! Grace Ryan was born May 5th and has been a joy to us all. We also found out that we will have a new addition this September! Yikes. Its exciting yet scary all wrapped into one.

So far 2011 has been great. Im feeling good, Grace is thriving and growing every day. Pat and I are blessed to each have full time jobs that we enjoy (especially in this economy). The dogs and cats are healthy and happy and we have a roof over our heads.

We look forward to what 2011 will bring and here's hoping for a happy and healthy New Year!!

2010 What a Year!

 So many wonderful things have happened to us this past year...Here's to a wonderful 2011!

7 Months!

I cant believe Grace is 7 months old already. She is just amazing. We often hear our parents tell us how fast time has gone by and how it seems like just yesterday we were this small. I never understood how they thought it went so fast. That was until Grace came along! These past 7 months have felt like like 7 days. Somedays I want to push a pause button and keep her this little and other days or should I say nights I wouldn't mind a fast forward button to get through her teething or little colds.

Pat and I are so lucky to have Grace in our lives. She truly is our little miracle! We have often thrown out the thought of another and time will tell if we will be able to add to our family but for the time being we cherish each day we have together.

Gracie is learning so much lately and amazes us every day with something new. Her most recent accomplishment is saying DaDa. Pat was wrapped around her little finger before but when he hears her say DaDa he is whipped! MaMa & DaDa are her first 2 words and she shakes her head NO when she wants to be silly.

Grace weighs 17pds and is about 28in long. She has been sitting up on her own for about 2 months and LOVES to stand. She is still pretty wobbly but is learning. I have a feeling she will be an early walker. She loves to babble and is really into the dogs and cats. She's a people watcher (gets that from her mom) and is perfect when we take her out to dinner and shopping. Often she's the light of the party and is such a ham at times. When excited she will clap and wave. Her latest is new found joy is sitting in front of the mirror. We need a 2nd bathroom pronto!

We look forward to the days, months, & years ahead of us and we will share every wonderful step with you!

Santa Claus is coming to town!

 Pat came home and had surprised us with a Christmas tree. It's perfect! Grace and the dogs sat in the living room and watched him as he got it all set up. All three were a little confused but once the lights were up on it they loved it!!

 Grace posing with her first gift to put under the tree. She LOVED the bow. I might have to just get a box and wrap it and stick bows all over it as a gift this year for her!

 Our Helen Keller tree is back. We havent added any lights to it since last year and with all the storms we have had the tree looks pretty pathetic I must say. Well it does every year but this year I think has the others beat. I have to say it does make me laugh everytime I see it.

Our Christmas Angel Grace. What a wonderful blessing she has been to our family. She is full of smiles and is always so happy. She is the best gift of all!