Our Beloved President Hinckley!

We learned of our beloved prophets death last night on TV. My first reaction was of shock and sadness, but then pure joy. I was overjoyed at the thought of the reunion between him and his wife, family and, of course, our Heavenly Father. He lived such an amazing life and was truly an example to all people regardless of religious beliefs. I feel so priviledged to have lived during his presidency of our wonderful church.
Today, I spent some time watching a few of the tributes on TV to his life. Katie looked at the TV and said,"He's a nice man and he goes to our church." (Trying to explain the whole prophet concept to a three year old is a serious challenge so we left it at a nice man who leads our church. I was happy to hear that her version was somewhat close to what we taught her a few months ago.) She then picked up on the subdued music they were playing while showing pictures and she asked me why it was so sad. So, I tried to explain that he had died and had gone to Heaven to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus. Well, for those of you with three year olds you understand the word "why"!!! Here is a brief recap of the conversation that lasted about a half hour.

Katie "Why?"
Mom "Well, he was very old."
Katie "Did he get hit by a car? "
Mom "No, he was just really old. "
Katie "But mom, Grossmutter (what she calls great grandma--it's German) is old will she die? "
Mom "Not right now, she's fine."
Katie "But I don't want her to die."
Mom "I know honey, but she's fine, don't worry. "
Katie "Will papa and grandma die?"
Mom " Not until they're really old like President Hinckley."
Katie "But mom, I don't want anyone to die. "
Mom "It's ok honey, no one is going to die right now. Everyone is just fine right now."

I was in a real pickle at this point. So, out came the Little Einsteins movie in order to distract her. SUCCESS! Note to self, try to explain things without using the word die next time this type of situation arises again!

The First Week Home

Well, we have survived the first week home. Katie has been amazing!!! She hasn' t tried to wack the baby, nor has she shown any jealousy. She just loves to help me. She gets very upset when he's crying because she thinks I'm hurting him (ie Diaper changes). It's definitely been fun to watch her with him. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father has entrusted us with these two wonderful souls. I learn so much each day and am amazed by the miracle of life.

So, I just had to throw this picture of Katie in to compare to Joseph. We were very surprised to see that they both make this little face. Katie used to make it all the time whenever I had instrumental music on. Joseph does it as well with music, but also when he sees lights.














Hanging out with Dad!!

Todd loves to sit and cuddle with him. He's already planned a Superbowl father son viewing. I'm so happy that he has his little boy. I know they'll be best buds. However, Katie may give Joseph a run for his money when it comes to a fishing and skiing buddy for dad.

He's Home!!!!

We brought Joseph home on Friday morning!! YEAHHH!! I kept holding my breath as we were getting ready to leave praying that nothing would go wrong between the NICU doors and our car. I didn't want to leave him there another second.

I must admit the whole discharge thing was quite backwards. Todd had worked that night so we had two cars at the hospital. Rather than try to explain to him where I had parked the car I just went to get the car. So there I was in the driver's seat while Todd loaded Joseph in the car and then I drove him to his car. We definitely got a few strange looks. But, lets be honest here, if I had seen that situation I would have thought a few things about the husband myself. Good thing I have the best husband in the world so it doesn't matter.

Katie has had quite a cold for the last week, but we were able to pull the mask down for a few second to snap this picture. I think it's one of my favorites!! She also got Joseph a stuffed giraffe to welcome him to this world. She's always trying to stuff it in his basket. She's just sure he needs it in order to sleep--like she needs her friend Ribby to sleep with. The sad thing is, is that on the way into the hospital the night of the birth we think her favorite animal, a stuffed frog named Ribby, was dropped. We have searched and called everywhere. We're still holding out hope he has been stuffed in a corner in the house instead of lying in a snowbank somewhere.

Todd and I could not stop laughing as we strapped Joseph into his carseat. He just seemed too small to put in there.

Grandma Sue and Papa were so excited to finally hold him.

Baby Joseph Update

Things are looking up!! Joseph was only on nasal CPAP for about 24 hours. I never was able to get a picture of him with it. I have been having terrible headaches and a camera was the last thing on my mind. Currently, he is on nasal cannula with a small amount of oxygen. They have started to feed him and I was able to nurse him today. He has two more days of antibiotics to go. Hopefully, he'll be off oxygen in the next day or so. His breathing is much less labored and his swelling is decreasing. We're keeping our fingers crossed as well as sending many prayers that he'll be home with us this weekend!!!!

He's Here!!!

Joseph Todd Clevenger
Our little man arrived Friday, January 11, 2008 at 5:17 am after only four hours of labor. He weighed in at 6 lb 15 oz and is about 19.5 inches long.

He decided to make a much more exciting entrance into this world than his sister did. During delivery he swallowed a lot of fluid and has developed aspiration pneumonia. They whisked him away to the NICU quite quickly after birth, so we haven't been able to spend much time with him. At first, it appeared he might be able to come home with us today, but during the night last night his condition worsened and he had to go back to the NICU to be on nasal CPAP (high flow oxygen). The doctors are optimistic about his condition and are monitoring him closely. We are hoping to have him home with us in a week or so. Thank you to all of you for your calls and prayers. We love you all and will keep you updated!


Here are a few pictures of him without as many tubes and wires!





. . . . And the pictures with tubes and wires

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

Snow has been dumpiong on Utah! I've lost count of all the storms. I so love how beautiful and clean it makes things look--until someone drives down the street and ruins it!!!!!

Katie on a sledding trip with dad. Mom has been banned from sledding for a few more weeks!!


Check out those mittens. I think they're more like lobster claws!


I love this picture! You can't see they're faces, but I just love her little tiny body walking next to her dad. I guess it's a mom thing!!!


Two pregnant belllies! Just weeks to go. Our little boys will be only a few weeks apart.

The Holidays 2007

This holiday season was definitely a crazy one!!! Todd has been on the night float rotation which has definitely challenged family life, but we have survived. Only a month to go!!!!

Christmas morning was quite unpredictable. Todd and I realized we hadn't explained the Santa concept very well to Katie. She woke up sobbing in her room that Santa hadn't made it, and she had searched her room for presents and couldn't find any. Apparently, she was under the impression that he was supposed to bring the presents into her room. We tried to calm her and took her to the living room where Santa had come and tried to show her all the presents he had brought. After several minutes of tears she was finally able to open her presents. Unfortunately, do to this little misunderstanding and us trying to calm her we have no pictures of her Christmas morning!!!

That afternoon we spent in North Ogden with my parents and had quite a Christmas feast and then it was back to work for Todd.

A week later we were able to have another celebration with Todd's family at our house complete with chicken fajitas (a Clevenger tradition). All in all the holidays were a hit and they have certainly made the pregnancy fly by. We can't wait to meet our little guy any day now.

Enjoy the pictures!!!



Rachael, Bree & Katie!


The cousins all snuggled in Katie's bed. These three together are quite the crew. I don't know what these new little baby boy's will do with them around.



We caught Katie taste testing Santa's cookies and Rudolph's carrots.



The night before Christmas. Katie wanted to show-off her new Christmas jammies in front of her Christmas tree!



The cousins!

After a fun day of cross country skiing we took the kids to see the lights at Temple Square. We didn't last too long before everyone was freezing and ready to climb back into the car!