Thursday, January 27, 2011

Introducing Duke...and a January Update!

Meet Duke!

The newest member of the Clegg Family! I know what you are all thinking and yes we are crazy to have an infant and puppy....

Duke joined our family 2 weeks ago, he and Ella are the same age...10 weeks! He's a yellow lab and a good little guy...but he is a puppy and puppies (especially labs) are naughty! So he has kept us on out toes. Shawn had been wanting to try another dog for quite some time but we were nervous because of what happened with Max... w came to the conclusion though that the reason we had such a hard time with Max is because we were in a carpeted basement apartment in the winter without much ventilation...we haven't had any allergy problems with Duke so that's all we can figure....

Anyways...Duke is Shawn and Jaden's dog...even though we all know that being a stay at home mom means I take care of most the dirty work although shawn gets up with him at night.

Jaden and Duke are buddies! They usually start off like this....


and end up like this....

Although they have their moments Jaden absolutely adores having Duke and that, to me, makes it worth it! He wakes up every morning and wants to go get Duke and Ella and he snuggles with Duke while he watches a show in the morning....its nice for him to have a buddy! Their favorite thing to do is go outside and play in the snow! Sometimes Jaden will just march around the deck while Duke follows him and he'll sing "follow the prophet" it's pretty cute!


One of Jaden's favorite things to do outside is make snow angels....

Personally I loved having a dog growing up and I know Jaden and Duke will continue to just become better buddies! We love taking Duke on walks every day. Ella seems to like them too but we have to bundle her up pretty good!

Seriously it doesn't get much cuter!

Jaden and I have been doing a lot of baking as well...mainly cupcakes at daddy's request! Frosting the cupcakes is Jadens favorite part...if you can't tell :)


Duke is a great napper during the day, and we find him in some fun places...

Which is nice because it allows us some snuggle time too!


But Duke also gets his fair share of snuggles!


Jaden is such a great big brother and he loves Ella SO much!


Jaden is growing up so fast and to be honest I'm kinda having a hard time dealing with it! He's my little boy! Lately he has been SO into dinosaurs , he can pick out a T rex, Stegosaurus, and Triceratops, and tell you what about them makes them different! He loves to play doctor and rock band with his guitar and saxaphone! He always wants to help me cook and clean, sometimes too much! :) His imagination is growing like crazy and he loves to play pretend! He has recently decided that he is going to go potty all by himself...standing on the toilet seat....it's been quite interesting and the bathroom is now a daily cleaning project for mom! :) He is getting so independent and I am just going to have to accept that my baby is growing up!

Dinosaur Jaden

My little Ella Kate is getting SO big! She had her 2 month apt last week and was 10.6lbs! She's in the 37th percentile for weight and 67th for height! She is smiling laughing and "talking" up a storm! She loves to play and is obsessed with her tounge! She is such a pleasant baby! She has the sweetest personality and is just a joy! She loves to be held but also loves to have her quiet time! (which at our house is never that quiet) She's been sleeping good and I can't imagine our lives without her!


I feel so blessed to have my little family! Moving up to Eden and being forced to spend so much more time alone and at home, has made me stop and enjoy the little moments I have with my family and I couldn't be more grateful!

Friday, January 7, 2011

The Happiest of Holidays!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas Time and this year is no exception! We couldnt go out and do everything on our wish list with a brand new baby, but we definatel have enjoyed ourselves! There is just something about having kids that brings the magic back into the holidays!

On Christmas Eve we started out the evening by heading over to Scott and Kim's for dinner and letting the kids exchange presents!

Ella loaded up and ready to go! (and sleeping again )

Jaden playing with his presents

After we opened presents and before we headed home we sang some Christmas carols! Jaden wanted to sit with Kim and was SO funny! Most of the songs he didn't know the words to but he didn't care he wanted to sing anyways...and he did :)


We came home and changed into our Christmas jammies!


Then we got Santa's cookies and hot cocoa ready! (and tasted a few too) Jaden decided Santa would like hot cocoa better than regular milk, so thats just what we made!
Jaden

had been SO excited about Santa all month, and was more than willing to go to bed so he could come!



On Christmas morning we actually had to wake Jaden up to get the ball rolling! We had a big day ahead! The first thing he said when he woke up was, "santa?" and yes Santa had come!
The first thing J saw was his tool bench and he loved it
Then he opened what he had asked santa for and had been anticipating the most...
and santa delivered...his guitar!
Align Center
He also got a dr kit and has loved checking to make sure everone is healthy :)

I hate to admit this but my son already is brand obsessed and picky about what he wears! Shawn taught him awhile back what the adidas sign is because once they both had Real soccer gear on that had the sign....so Shawn thought he would get a kick out of it, and he did, to the extreme! Now he wants everything he wears to have "Aeeas" on it, or be a soccer jersey...so for Christmas he got a Chelsea soccerkit with the Adidas sign on it and tries to wear a jersey every day....we're in for it...thanks to daddy :)
Ella made out very well at christmas too! Here she is with one of her presents from Santa... a tummy time mat...she's learning to love it! :)

and here is the bug on her play mat
After checking out the presents we had some yummy monkey bread and headed down to Lehi for Brunch with Shawn's family.

Here is grandpa and Ella
Granma and Grandpa Clegg got Jaden a VERY cool motorized dump truck that he loves!
After visiting with the Clegg side we headed to Nana and Papa (Buck)'s house! I was SO mad but my camera battery died at Shawn's parent's house so I don't have pictures from my parent's house. We had a great time though! Nana and papa got Ella her beautiful blessing dress and a few little toys and for Jaden, a Pirate ship!! All the toys were a great big hit, but more than anything being able to spend the day with our families was the best present of all! We miss seeing them as much!

Shawn had the week after Christmas off, and we were quite busy and had a lot of fun, the day after New Years we blessed our little Ella! It was so nice to have everyone up here and to spend even more time with family, it was sad to see them all head home! Ella is growing too big too fast! here are a few pictures of our little princess!

Daddy and Ella KateAll dressed up!
Smiley little girl!
This holiday season has been such a special one for our little family and we couldn't feel more blessed and loved! Shawn did an wonderful job on Ella's blessing and we are so lucky to have her as a part of our little family!

I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for us!