9 months... WHAT???

 Just call me the late queen... my little Spark of Life has been 9 months for about 27 days now... this little puddin face will be the dreaded..... 10 months in a few short days!!!!!!!!!! I thought I would go ahead and document his 9 months, he has been up to many fun things!

Westin you are officially mobile. You will either roll, crawl backwards, cruise your way around the house, whatever it takes to keep up with this busy family you were born into.

This has by far been your healthiest month since August, Mommy is very thankful for that! Except you did get the flu last week but in your true style... you were still such a ham and you didn't stay sick too long! Dr. Mathis checked your ears and said they were the prettiest they have been since August, Mommy is again so blessed the tubes are working. Good job bubbie!

We are still trying to introduce soft table food that is easy for you to eat. You want nothing to do with it, I think it's hilarious. You will gag until your little eyes water, I guess you just aren't ready yet so we will try again! 

Weight: 19lbs 3oz
Height: 27in
Little bitty head! :)

My little man looking so cute! 

He can't believe he's 9 months old either! 

Love him and his little strawberry on his forehead! It is slowly going away, I will miss that precious mark! 

The cutest little booty I've ever seen!!!

Westin you are one special boy! We love you more than you will ever know. I truly enjoy seeing you interact each day with your big brothers, they love every ounce of your being and it is such a miracle. You boys will have each other the rest of your lives and it makes Mommy and Daddy's heart swell.

Love you little bubbie!!



Adenoids out, Tubes in!

Starting in August, Westin got his first double ear infection. I didn't think much of it but when we went back 2 weeks later with the symptoms back, he had another double ear infection. (or same one, not sure). So that was our routine for 4 straight months. I'm not lying... Every 2 weeks we were at the doctor with double ear infections. Finally in December the doctor mentioned tubes, just because of Westin's history and knowing that we still have awhile to go in the cold season. We met with his ENT, Dr. N about 2 weeks later and boom we were scheduled for tubes in. Dr. N was FABULOUS, I serioulsy love that man. He was so wonderful and also x-rayed his adenoids which determined they were enlarged but did not pressure us to have them removed. He told me to go home, talk to Dad and see what y'all want to do about the adenoids. So I did and then we talked to our pediatrician and he advised us to go ahead and have them removed. Hesitantly, we decided it would be the best thing for Westin to go ahead and have them removed when they do the tubes so there is no further surgeries in the future.

On the morning of surgery the nurse and anesthesiologist really was shocked about us doing the adenoids. They said it's rare to do them this young. At that point, we decided we would hold off to talk to Dr. N before the surgery and get his opinion again. Once we talked to him he made us feel SO much better about our decision to take them out. The nurse and anesthesiologist had good intentions, they were looking out for my baby but we had to trust our doctor, Westin's history and x-ray which shows it being enlarged. Off he went to surgery which is by far the worst part of it all... watching a stranger take your 8 month old baby boy away and he is clueless about what is about to happen, then waiting 45 minutes which seemed like 10 days. It's horrible, I know so many other parents have to deal with so much more but this was horrible to us. I'm blessed this is all we have had to worry about, I'm not sure I could handle anything much bigger.

During surgery I prayed for clarity that we made the right decision with the adenoids. The last thing I wanted to do was to just take them out, just because. I wanted the doctor to tell us he was happy we made that decision and that's the first thing he said. He told us that his adenoid was so infected and he was just taken off antibiotics 2 days before surgery. Thank you Lord is all I knew what to say, He allowed clarity in our decision and we did make the best decision for Westin. It was an awesome feeling!

His recovery wasn't too bad. He slept most of the day and the next day still needed extra loving but was his normal sweet self by day 2. He has been antibiotic FREE since this surgery! Thank you Lord, another great clear decision on our part.

I'm not self conscious in my parenting, I just like to make sure I'm making the right decision and I feel completely confident that this situation was made by God leading me the whole way and He allowed it all to fall into place!

Snow Day

I honestly can't tell you the exact date but we did have some small snow at the beginning on the year. I think it was a week or so after Christmas. It was wonderful and super fun for the boys. We didn't get much as you can see, just about half an inch, maybe??? This Mommy did document Westin's first snow day and he had a super fun time the 3 minutes we were outside taking pictures.

I love these monkey's so much! Each one of their little smiles, laughs, cries, toots, burps, whines... I love it all! I love my boys and the blessings they continue to bring to our lives! Oh my goodness and talk about toots. What is it about toots and boy? If you have a son and he is pouting or in a bad mood (it happens often) all you need to do is talk about a toot and bam... they are cracking up!! Works everytime!



Westin's face is hilarious it this picture above... He's over the coldness and wants his Mommy's warm arms again!

Have a blessed Tuesday my friends!!

What is baby boy up to?

 * I'm finally able to upload pictures, my life is complete! I read on google that is was a blogger problem, they must of figured it out! Thank you Blogger!*

Here's my puddin head last week before "school" one morning. Yes he is just the most handsome little boy and he knows it! (I promise this was before I buckled him up, he is normally strapped so tight he screams so no Mommy fail here).

 I love this little face, there's no telling what he's looking at here, probably his big bubbie Luke. His little cute self is 9 months old now. I will get to that post soon!

When I have to work or get ready really fast in the morning, I will put him in the floor with anything he wants. This is the aftermath of his destruction. Daddy always tells him that he is the most destructive of them all (the boys that is) and he's so right! He definitely loves to make messes and the messier the better! I'm afraid this means he will be the wildest of them all, right now he's the sweetest so I will hold on to that!

His new trick is to close his eye when I take his picture. He has begun to have the funniest personality. We always think all of the boys were so funny as babies and he did not disappoint. He is so darn funny, I promise I took 3 pictures and each one his blue eyes were bright, until he heard the "click" of the camera and he shut them, with this silly grin on his face!! He is such a mess!! 

The high chair below was white for Will and Luke. It needed a new paint job but I really didn't want to paint it white again, I mean how bland? So I decided to paint it baby boy blue by behr. I love it, it looks baby blue here but sometimes has a turquoise look to it as well. He loves his new seat and is super proud! :)

Happy Blessed Thursday to you all! I have more pictures of my big babies! My joyful cup is overflowing!

Friday Randoms

• I can no longer upload pictures from my computer to the blog. Is anyone else having these problems? It is so frusterating!!!! I would love for the normal icon to pop up to upload pictures from my computer.
• I will get to my 2013 word post but for now the no pictures on the blog has me a little frazzled.
• We got winter precipitation this week. It made the week fly by to me which is lovely. We did not get snow but did get freezing rain, the trees and woods looked so pretty!!
• Westin turned 9 months last week. I'm totally having a hard time thinking of his first birthday. He has gotten so big and a joy, even more than before. He is my early bird. He loves to go to bed at 6:30 and wakes up around 6:30. Since discovering this new schedule of his he has become the HAPPIEST little camper ever! People think I'm crazy for putting him down that early but my love bug is a grump until he is in his bed with a full belly! It has helped with less hectic craziness at night time but Daddy hates coming home some night to him already in bed. He misses his little buddy.
• I have a 3 day weekend this weekend. The boys and I were going to Georgia for the weekend but I decided I was not ready for that just yet. We were going to fly and this is the second time now I've backed out on flying with 3 boys by myself. I know I can do it and it would be so much better than driving but I'm planning to go in February around my birthday. Just putting it off one more month!!
• For the past 2 weekend J and I have drove around looking at houses, in the country. We really see ourselves moving that way soon and it just totally excites me!!! I just pray things fall into place and we stay very content in our current home until we find the perfect home for us. We are not looking for a nice home but for lots of land. We want land so we know we will not have this huge fancy home, that's ok because once we buy it, we won't be moving again and we will fix it how we want it. I'm trying to be patient and remember God is in control!!
• My coworker unexpectedly had a triple bypass this week. I'm praying for her to make a speedy recovery. She sits next to me at work and it breaks my heart for her family!
• If you were to sneak a peek at my computer you would see that I've been googling ways to get pregnant after having a tubal ligation. The hubs and I are pretty bummed we made that decision not knowing how easy it is to have 3. He is one of 4 kids and says he could see us having one more. It breaks my heart, during my pregnancy he never said much about it but I was determined to get them tied. Now after the fact my heart breaks... who knows??? I might just get it reversed one day OR be happy with the decision we made. I do believe God would not of allowed us to make that decision if He didn't believe it was the best decision for our family.

Love to all! I hope you have a very blessed weekend!!!

My Word for 2012...

Many people have been finding one word to help them through this year. I have finally found my word for 2013 but I first want to talk about my word for 2012.

BLESSED!

I know that word is very generic but I take it very serious. No matter how bad one has it, it can always be worse. My life in 2012 (and always) is BLESSED. We were blessed by so many things in 2012. The Lord never seems to deny himself to us, He is forever giving and in so many different ways.

1. He blessed my sweet family of 4 with another healthy, beautiful, perfect gift from Him. He blessed our family with James Westin Clements. God's timing is perfect, He sent this angel to us to restore our family. I got pregnant with Westin during a time when I didn't know what I wanted in life. I 100% feel like that sweet angel was sent to us to remind me of God's love and it was God saying to me that He has me EXACTLY where he wants me to be.  

2. Our 2 older boys are becoming big boys. They are such sweet souls and they love the Lord. They are becoming followers of Christ and what more could you ask of your children? It is fun teaching them the truth and teaching them how to be men. Will and Luke are at different phases than Westin but I love it that way.

3. He has shown our family just how important we are to each other. During a hard time He will reveal Himself to show me personally what I'm doing right and what I need improvement on. I need this in my life, I need Him to constantly help me through every aspect of my life. I have no doubt He has always been there to show Himself to me but I am becoming more aware of it and just how blessed we truly are.

4. We have grown financially. The Lord is very forgiving and after we went through the worst financial times we thought possible (several years ago) He totally made it worth it. He taught us SO much during those times and I don't regret it for one second. The Lord says if you stay faithful to Him, He will bless you ten fold. People we aren't rich by any means, but we are rich in each other and man did He show us money is not everything, but it is important. Debt free (besides our mortgage) is the best way to live.

5. I have grown personally in 2012 (becoming more mature I guess you'd say). I'm not saying I was immature before, but I'm getting older and no more is non sense part of my life. The most important things in my life is my relationship with Christ, my husband, my children, my family, my church, my health and my career. Friends are important but I've learned in 2012 that you love the ones that love you back. We all have a busy life but you must take the time for others!

6. Lastly, I'm so blessed to be able to enjoy the simple things in life. This can go along with #5 but I no longer care or worry about big things. I want my life to be as simple as possible and I feel like I'm on the road to that right now. Making my life more simple is allowing me to do a calling in my heart which is to become more giving on my time to the elder and families in need. (I will talk more about this when I discuss my 2013 goals)

Many times in 2012 I was on my knees, praising Him for all that he has done for us. He deserves all of our praises! There are so many more blessings I'm thankful for but these are just a few I wanted to share.

 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that he swore to your fathers to give you. Deuteronomy 7:13

Be blessed friends! I will share my word for 2013 and what it means to me next!

Meal Planning 2013

So one of my goals this year is to do better at meal planning. I believe if I am better at meal planning then I will have less of a stressful life when it comes to dinner time. Plus, I feel if I plan the meals out I can better prepare and save money each month. This "goal" goes along with another goal of mine which is to save more money at the grocery store. I understand groceries are going up in prices but if you take our spending amount each month it blows my mind how much money we spend at the store.

I made a huge list of things our family likes to eat. Then I just plug it into the right date and what all we have going on that week to see where each meal best fits. Below is a list of our meals for this week.

Sunday: spaghetti, salad & bread (our family tradition)
Monday: bbq weenies, rotel & chips, sausage / cresent roll dish (Football theme for Championship game)
Tuesday: tuna fish sandwiches (basketball games night so quick and easy!)
Wednesday: baked chicken, rice & brocolli
Thursday: pork chops, mac n cheese & baked beans
Friday: family taco night (our family tradition)
Saturday: eating out (one night a week we eat out. It might be something simple like picking up Lenny's sandwiches or something big like us all going somewhere. Either way this Momma needs a break).

For the next month or two the boys will have basketball 3 nights a week. For that reason I am limited with time to make a big meal. Next week I plan to use my crock-pot a few times. That will help so much as well!!

I hope you all are having a blessed Monday!!

Hello 2013

It is still so hard to believe we are in 2013. I feel old saying it but time does fly by. 2012 will be hard to top for our family. Only because 2012 was an amazing year. Yes we brought another angel into the world but we also learned a lot and healed as a family. You see, I won't talk often about this but before and during my pregnancy we were stressed. Life got the best of us and we lost sight on the important things in life. I know for sure J and I both could say we never saw the good until the Lord brought Westin into our lives. Our hearts are so full. We are so strong as a family now and I praise Jesus for restoring our hope, dreams, future and faith.

2013 has started out wonderful. My prayer for 2013 is that our good times and memories will spill into our new year. I can say for the first time ever I am happy within my own skin. I am becoming the daughter, Christian, wife, mother, friend, coworker, sister and everything else that I want to be. It feels good. My goals for myself are to really work on those relationships but also make our home life simplier. Life is not about climbing the ladder, being everyone's best friend, worrying about the small things and so on.... This year will be about the small things that make my family and I happy.


Happy New Year friends! Make this your best year yet!

Happy New Year but first....

I need to finish one last Christmas post.

We started a new tradition this year. The town that J grew up in, which is next door to the town I grew up in... has the most ADORABLE town square. Seriously it makes me feel like it's straight from a Thomas Kincade painting and especially during the Christmas Season. We always go to the tree lighting which this year we missed because we were in Georgia but we decided on the Friday before Christmas to take Mom there to eat at the Silver Caboose which is located on the Square and then walk around.

Of course when we started to walk around we had to take pictures of all of us. The above picture Mom took and we could not stop laughing because she is so off centered. Poor J almost got cut off... :)

My beautiful Momma with my boys. They are so lucky to have her in their life, she's very special to us all!  

I love this woman, here's me and my Momma at the Silver Caboose. :) Great restaurant and awesome family atmosphere. 

Me and my sweet boys!  

My life!!

Collierville will always be a very special town to us. The square is where we got married almost 9 years ago and it is where we first lived. We are looking for property right now and can't decide if we want to buy in Collierville or buy some land right outside of Collierville, Eads. Either way we like that area and it makes us feel at home. Just this weekend we took the boys to Collierville so they could play at the square, hop on some trains, watch a train go by and eat some YoLo ice cream.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. We sure did and we are very blessed. Our family has been through a lot and we are closer now then we ever have been. Westin has been a joy to our family, 2012 will always be a special  year to us all!

We are looking forward to the blessings of 2013!