The demise of the bookstore

I went to a bookstore this morning and it actually made me a little sad. I love bookstores. In fact, I used to work at one. There is something magical about the smell of a bookstore and aisles and aisles of books. I have been reading a lot lately about how bookstores are on the verge on bankruptcy. With the digital age we live in, books are becoming obsolete. I don't own a digital bookreader and perhaps I don't know the joy of one. But to me there is something about cracking open a new book. Or re-reading an old favorite. I know books take up a lot of space, but to me they are wonderful. I hope that bookstores don't go away completely...but I guess only time will tell.

Christmas and New Years

We had a wonderful holiday. Marlene got to come stay with us for a few weeks and Lisa, Bryan, and little Roo were here. It doesn't get better than that. Well, except for if Jodee, Russell, Calvin and Wesley were there.

Here are some pics of the fun things that happened.

Lucinda's first Christmas dress



Marlene got the Ipod she wanted



The family all hung out for New Years. Ask Lisa what she keeps in her freezer...:D





Lucinda got her ears pierced




And Lucinda got to meet her big sister

Growing up smiling

Lucinda is almost 3 months old now. She smiled for the first time on December 23rd, 2010. I think she was just really excited that Aunt Lisa came for a visit from California. How could you not love this smile??

Some Firsts

We brought Lucinda home on Monday November 1, 2010. And we were welcomed home to this beautiful flower arrangement from the girls at work. Gosh, how I miss them! But wouldn't trade my new job for the world.

After bringing Lucinda home and getting settled she got her first bath! She was not a fan. Frankly I cannot blame her. Because of the umbilical cord you have to sponge bathe and I think she was just cold. Poor girl. But she is liking her baths now. However, still HATES being lotioned and massaged. Go figure!



Lucinda had some higher than normal biliruben levels. Unfortunately her levels continued to rise rather than fall so she got to spend a few days in the tanning bed. Although it was sad for Mom (I only had one huge breakdown, thanks Hayley for the nap) Lucinda didn't seem to mind it at all. She was warm and got to sleep, sleep, sleep. They aren't in this pic, but she kept moving so shortly after this pic she got herself some stylish felt goggles to protect her eyes.



We tried Lucinda in her swing to see if she liked it. She likes it sometimes and hates it other times. But this first time she REALLY liked watching the butterflies fly around.



Last, I went to check on Dennis one night to see if he was ready for bed. Obviously they both were. Goodness, I love these two!

Lucinda Alwine Cluff

The day of Dennis' party, I knew something was up. I hadn't been feeling quite right but was just glad that I made it to the party without having this baby. But I had a good feeling that she was going to come the next day. So Saturday morning rolls around and I woke up having contractions. They were about 20 minutes apart so Tootz and I decided to go about our normal Saturday activities. We went to Costco, Target and Great Harvest and by the end of it they were about 12 minutes apart. I decided to go lay down and try to get some rest. Little did I know you cannot sleep when you are having painful contractions. I told Dennis they were getting closer and I don't think he quite believed me. He decided to go get some fishing in since he knew he wouldn't be going for awhile. I told him I would text him if they got closer. So a few hours later....they were closer. I told him to hurry home, we needed to go to the hospital. He was home in 15 min and although we still weren't sure this was the "real" thing, we decided to go get it checked and see. We arrived at the hospital around 3:30. And sure enough I was a 6 and this was definitely the "real" thing. This was my nurse, she was awesome and got me hooked up with an epidural right away.



I had the shakes from the medication so they got me warm blankets, which didn't really help but it sure did feel nice.



This was Lil' Lucinda's heartbeat. She was a champ and maintained a good beat the whole time.



Dennis was the perfect labor partner. While watching the World Series he took care of my every need.



I had a little drop in blood pressure due to the Epidural so they lowered me down and gave me some Epinephrine to perk me up.



This is Dr. Jacob getting ready. He was awesome! And the other nurse who was dressed up for Halloween. Not many babies get their nurses with wigs and butterfly wings.



10 short minutes....THERE SHE IS!! She was born at 6:03 pm on October 30, 2010. We were commenting how that was the perfect date 10/30/10.



She weighed 5 pounds 14 ounces and was 18 1/2 inches long. Just a tiny little Cluff!



It had been raining all day and was overcast and miserable. After she was born Dr. Jacob said..."Look outside, she brought the sun." I like to think of her as my little ray of sunshine.



Here is the whole team. You can't see the baby because she is skin on skin. Loved that part!



Lucinda was a little cold so she had to spend some time in the heat bed. Dad stayed with her the whole time.



This is when Mom saw me first time post bath and heat bed and after they got her all settled in her room.



And our first picture as a family



I was small and needed to fill out my skin



And super tired from all the excitement...



I am officisl, name tag and everything



Here are some of my visitors

Slideshow generated with Smilebox

After a fun few days, they sent us home sweet home



Then the fun/real life began.

Dennis turns the big 4 0

Wow! What a crazy few months it has been. I REALLY need to get better at this blogging thing. Well, the biggest and most exciting thing that has happened is our Lil' Cluff finally arrived. But we will get to her in the next post. We had a surprise party on Friday October 29th for Dennis' 40th Birthday. We had a lot of family and friends come and it was so wonderful. Hayley helped me so much putting it together. We had pictures all around the house of Dennis all throughout the years. We also had a ton of black decor and balloons (which Hayley blew up and tied all herself...goooo Hayley!)



Dennis was surprised, but he suspected something was up. He knew I have wanted for years to throw him a surprise party.



These are some of the friends and family that came.



There were lots of food, gifts, and cake!






It was a really fun party and I hope Dennis enjoyed it as much as we did.

What a wonderful musical summer and harvest

It has truly been a wonderful summer. In the month of July we got to go see two amazing concerts at Red Butte Gardens. This is my new favorite concert venue. You can bring your own food and drink, which is huge! People brought full on picnics. So we did the same. We were able to eat the foods we love and drink the drinks we want at a fraction of the cost. First we saw Barenaked Ladies.



They were a lot of fun, although the opening act Kris Allen sucked. I am a fan of the idea of not having an opening act.

The following night we had the opportunity to see Lyle Lovett and his Large Band.



We saw Lyle Lovett last year at an acoustic show with John Hiatt. That is where we discovered that we really love Lyle Lovett. He has a great sense of humor and is fantastic on stage. When we saw he was playing at Red Butte we knew we had to go. It was even better than we had hoped. There was no opening band, just them. The music was great and I cannot wait to see him again.

My garden has also been a success this year. I have tried a few things I haven't tried in the past and have been pretty successful. I just discovered a pumpkin on the vine this morning! I planted brussell sprouts, green peppers, green beans, cucumbers, jalepenos, zuchinni, tomatoes, arugula, summer squash, and pumpkin. This was my harvest just today.



It has been a hot summer, probably more so because of my built in space heater. I am ready for Fall. All of my favorite things happen in the fall...changing leaves, pumpkins, Halloween, cooler weather, and this Fall will be extra special because we will get to meet our Lil' Cluff.