Getting the hang of Blogging...

So I am starting to get the hang of this whole blogging thing. I totally love it! I have discovered how to change my background and add fun gadgets like a count down for our baby! Having the count down on my blog is kind of scary! Today it said only 53 days until baby! How can that be? I don't feel like I have pregnant that long! Dave and I have both been busy working and taking care of Joseph. Last week we traded in our Civic and got a Suzuki XL7 which is an SUV with a third row of seating. So now we feel like parents of not just a child but children. It's insane! David also surprised me by planning a trip to Disneyland at the end of February. I think we might be crazy to go when I'm 8 months pregnant but I am so excited. Joseph will be so fun to watch while we are there. He loves Mickey Mouse! I can't wait to see his reaction when he gets to see him in person! Then when we get home from our trip the baby count down will really be on.

Christmas 2008

So we finally found our camera during the move. I thought I would post some Christmas photos. For me it seems like Christmas lost some of it's magic as I got older. But once you have children Christmas becomes something different and new. This was by far my favorite Christmas so far (the Christmas I got my Barbie Dream House complete with a working elevator and furniture is a close second though!) It has been fun to start new traditions and carry on the ones both of us grew up with. We are creating unique memories for our children. One new tradition that we started this year was buying Joseph a new outfit forchurch. We wrapped it up and let him open it the Sunday before Christmas. That's him up above in his Christmas outfit. The Sunday before Christmas Grandma SoSo and Grandpa Terry had a Christmas party with all the Aunts and Uncles and cousins. The kids opened presents and played the grab bag game. This a game my grandparents started when I was young. Grandma and grandpa bought lots of little toys for the grandkids and put them in brown paper lunch sack along with a couple dollar bills. Then they placed all the bags in a big pile in the center of the room and all the grandkids took turns picking out a bag. The kids all love opening the bags. At this age they love the toys and don't really care much for the dollar bills. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa Dietz's house. We opened our Christmas Eve present, a new pair of pajamas, and then we watched Luke II. My dad plays Manhiem Steam Rollers Silent Night as the background music for the movie. That's Joseph in his new Mickey Mouse jammies and slippers. Then we went home. We woke up around 6:00 on Christmas morning. I think we were more excited for Christmas morning than Joseph was. Santa brought him a new toddler bed with a Cars comforter. He loved it! It took a few nights for him to get used to sleeping in his bed but he loves it now! Dave and I got him a Mickey Mouse Club house that sings and makes noise and has all the Disney characters. He loved it! He also loved his stocking. He wanted to each piece of candy as he opened it. Then we went over to grandma and grandpa Dietz's house to open presents and talk to my brother who is on a mission in Canada. Joseph and his cousin Johnny both got bikes complete with helmets and elbow and knee pads! My parents got us a really cool clock. It plays music each hour and the face opens and there are little people that dance. It's really cool. My parents have one and Joseph loves it so they got us one to have at our house. When we first put it up Joseph ran over to it and started saying "grandpa" because he knew grandpa has one too. Then it was time to go over to the Cluff family breakfast. This year it was at Ashley and Marks' house. We had omlets just like we always do. They are sooo good! Dave helped his dad this year and he did a really good job! He's going to have to make omlets at home now! The cousins all had fun playing with each other and showing each other what they got! Dave ended up having to go into work for a few hours to do some snow removal so Joseph and I got to to go home and take a much needed nap before dinner! We went over to my dad's for dinner and then we played games afterward. The snow started falling and it was pretty heavy so we decided to spend the night at my parents. It turned out to be really fun because my brother and his wife ended up staying over night too. It was such an awesome Christmas and I can't wait for next year!

Settling in...

So it's been barely a week since we moved and we are slowly getting things un-packed and put away. Joseph and I both got sick this week and I am still not feeling that great. The doctor thinks that I have pneumonia so they started me on an antibiotic and now I'm just waiting for it to kick in! Living out here at West Ridge has been great. I feel like I get to see David a whole lot more than I did before. He stops by sometimes during a shift or I go and bring him dinner. It's really nice. Joseph is getting used to the new apartment. He was fine once we got his movies and his toys un-packed. He loves watching movies!! He likes to have the tv on even if he's not really watching. I guess he just likes the noise. He loves Mickey Mouse. He has started recognizing characters so he says Mickey and Donald and Whinnie the Pooh. It's really cute! He is picking up new words everyday. When something bad happens or he does something naughty he covers his mouth with one hand and says "oh no". It is really cute. He is also learning sign language from his cousin Johnny. I am amazed to see how quickly toddlers pick up on sign language! Joseph recently learned the sign for candy from his grandma SoSo and now he will randomly come and ask for "more candy please" in sign language. I'm not sure I like him knowing this sign!! Joseph is also a big help around the apartment. He loves to help Daddy do anything around the house. Dave got guitar Hero for Christmas and so we got Joseph his own guitar to play with. It's pretty cute to see the 2 of them on their guitars. Joseph also loves to help me when I'm cleaning. I have to give him one of his baby wipes and he'll help me wipe down the bathroom counters. He loves to cook with me too. I let him sit on the counter and help make dinner or lunch and he loves it! He has also become a pro at unloading the dishwasher! He will hand me the dishes as I put them away and now the silverware drawer is down where he can reach it so he loves to unload the silverware. He even gets everything in the right spot. I will be so grateful when I get to spend all day with him in a few more weeks!

2009~A time for change!~

The Cluffs have finally entered to Computer age and started a blog! We both have a facebook account which has been cool to catch up with old friends and keep in touch with family. But there are a lot of people not on facebook so we're starting a blog. Keep in mind when I say we I mean me (Sarah). The new year has already brought lots of changes for our little family as well as our extended family. We have spent the last few days moving. We have moved out here to West Ridge Academy where David has been working for the last year and a half. It has been a huge blessing because now I can quit when baby Anna is born! I have loved managing Hallmark for the last year but I love being a mom even more! The extended Cluff family is going to have 3 new cousins in 3 months! David's sister and brother-in-law just adopted the cutest little boy named Samuel. David's other sister and brother-in-law are going to have a baby boy any day now and we are going to have baby Anna in March! I guess 2009 is the year of babies! David and I are excited to see what the new year will bring. We felt like we were extremely blessed in 2008 and we know we will continue to be blessed this coming year. This year we will celebrate the birth of our daughter Anna Jean, the second birthday of our little boy Joseph Dee and 5 years of marriage. Life doesn't get much better than this!