Angels among us

"I believe there are angels among us, sent down to us from somewhere up above,
They come to you and me, in our darkest hour, to show us how to live, to teach us how to give,
To guide us with the light of love." (Alabama)

There are so many Christmas songs on right now about angels... and I just can't help but cry each time I hear one! No matter the meaning of the song, just hearing the word "angel" makes me think of my beautifu little Mia. I miss her so much and I wonder if my heart will ever truly heal. I know there are worse things than what I have gone through, but that doesn't make me miss her any less or love her any less either. I feel so blessed to have our own angel to watch over our family!

My good friend Jaymie wrote this beautiful poem for her baby boy when he passed away just a few hours after being born... I switched some wording to make it for my little girl...( and yes, that is Mia's hand holding her daddy's)

An Angel In My Hand

Some people sing of angels
But I held one in my hand,
She was pure and clean and touched my life
As only an angel can

I longed to keep her here with me
And though I loved her so,
I knew she didn’t belong here on earth
So I let my angel go.

Sometimes when my heart is still
And when I miss her most,
I think about the time I had,
To hold my angel close.

And I know that God must love me
And I know how blessed I am,
To not just sing of angels
But to have held one in my hand.

Too funny not to share!

My mom sent me this email and I thought I would share because it made me laugh... hope it makes you laugh too! Some are somewhat women bashing, but funny none-the-less...

How the fight started......

One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot As a Christmas gift...The next year, he didn't buy her a gift. When she asked him why, he replied, "Well, you still haven' t used the gift I bought you last Year!"And that's how the fight started...

I asked my wife,' Where do you want to go for our anniversary?' It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation. 'Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!' she said.So I suggested, ' How about the kitchen?'And that's when the fight started...

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first.'I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please.'He said, 'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?''Nah, she can order for herself.'And that's when the fight started...

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping the channels.She asked, 'whats on TV?'I said, 'dust.'And then the fight started...

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary.She said , 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to200 in about 3 seconds.'I bought her a scale..And then the fight started...

My wife and I were sitting at a table at her high school reunion, and she kept staring at a drunken man swigging his drink as he sat alone at a nearby table.I asked her, 'Do you know him?''Yes,' she sighed, 'He's my old boyfriend... I understand he took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear he hasn't been sober since..''My gosh!' I said,' Who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?'And then the fight started...

I rear-ended a car this morning...So, there we were alongside the road and slowly the other driver got out of his car. You know how sometimes you just get soooo stressed and little things just seem funny? Yeah,Well I couldn't believe it... He was a DWARF!!!He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!'So, I looked down at him and said,' Well, then which one are you?'And then the fight started...

When our lawn mower broke and wouldn't run, my wife kept hinting to me that I should get it fixed. But, somehow I always had something else to take care of first... the truck, the car, playing golf. There was always something more important to me.Finally she thought of a clever way to make her point. When I arrived home one day, I found her seated in the tall grass, busily snipping away with a tiny pair of sewing scissors. I watched silently for a short time and then went into the house. I was gone only a minute, andWhen I came out again I handed her a toothbrush.I said,' When you finish cutting the grass, you might as well sweep the driveway.'And then the fight started...The doctors say I will walk again, but I will always have a limp.

Turkey Day Shmurkey Day!

This Thanksgiving... well it just plain sucked! We had big plans for Mitch's whole family to come over and spend the weekend and have lots of good food and fun- you know, the usual Thanksgiving. Well, as luck would have it, Mitch and the boys all came down with the flu- we were thinking it was the swine flu because it lasted the whole week. Luckily, Madeline and I were spared... so far. So we had to cancel our festivities two days before. We just laid around the whole week. We did cook our 24 pound turkey and had turkery to eat for the rest of the week! I was beginning to wonder what I could do with turkey and oatmeal!

Then I began to feel sorry for myself- it doesn't take much these days... and as usual, I think the Spirit was trying to convey a message through music to me. I have learned so many lessons in life through music! I definitely believe that we can feel the love of our Savior and Heavenly Father, and hear what they are trying to tell us- just through good, wholesome music!

Enter Josh Groban... he has got to be my most favorite singer of all time!!! I absolutely love him! So I was attempting to get in the Christmas spirit, feeling very low and ungrateful for everything... when his song "Thankful" came on. I was touched that the words to that song seemed like it was being sung directly to me at that time! I would like to share with all of you, because I realized that even though life is hard, and we don't see all the good things that we should... we truly do have so much to be thankful for.

Somedays we forget to look around us
Somedays we can't see the joy that surrounds us
So caught up inside ourselves, we take when we should give.
So for tonight we pray for, what we know can be.
And on this day we hope for, what we still can't see.
It's up to us to be the change and even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Look beyond ourselves, there's so much sorrow
It's way too late to say I'll cry tomorrow
Each of us must find our truth, it's so long overdue
So for tonight we pray for , what we know can be
And every day we hope for, what we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change and even though we all can still do more
There's so much to be thankful for.

Even with our differences, there is a place we're all connected
Each of us can find each other's light
So for tonight we pray for, what we know can be
And on this day we hope for, what we still can't see
It's up to us to be the change and even though this world needs so much more
There's so much to be thankful for

Our Belated Halloween

I'm telling you- I am the most lazy blogger ever! It is almost the middle of November and I'm finally posting about Halloween.

We don't make a big deal of this holiday- much to my kids' dismay! They want us to decorate all scary and spooky, but the problem is, we live in a neighborhood of older people and NO kids come trick or treating around here. So we veto that request pretty quickly!

The kids got to have a Halloween party/parade at school on Wed. because they had no school on Thursday or Friday. This year they wanted nothing to do with themes, but more to do with "real Halloween". Thus- here is Cameron... I don't think an explanation is needed here...

I must say he did make a rather good Frankenstein!

Madeline started out wanting to be a black cat, but then she switched to a tiger- very cute!

Then Collin wanted to be a vampire this year- although my outlook on vampires has changed quite a bit since Twilight came out! :0)

Creed was not okay with a costume so I didn't get a picture, but he was a dragon- cute and cranky!!!

And now, the rest of the story... (trip)

Wednesday Oct. 7
We mostly just played on Wednesday at the beach and drove around to see more sites. But the fun part was Wed. night, we went to the Smith's Family Tropical Luau- I know "Smiths" doesn't sound real Hawaiian, but that's what you get when a man from England marries a hawaiian woman! But they put on a great luau, that's for sure!


They took our picture with some native hotties right when we entered. Then we got to tour the gardens before the luau actually began. It was beautiful!

Of course, there was an abundance of chickens, roosters and peacocks!


The Easter Island statue- otherwise known by my kids as "Dumbdumb" from Night at the Museum... it looks like he sneezed us out!


Another "local" hottie!






Some more of their garden area...




We couldn't pass up the photo opportunities in this gorgeous place!


The luau was a blast and the food was awesome! The shows were cool, and we had a great time!

Thursday Oct. 8
We decide to try to find this cool place Jenn had heard of called Ki'Pu Falls. It was only a short drive from our hotel and we were told a five minute hike off the road to the falls... so we took off early morning after breakfast. Well they were right about the drive- about 15 minutes... and the hike was right off the road, it was probaby a five minute hike too- but what they left out was it was a five minute hike with sugarcane slapping you in the face and towering above our heads the hold time! Talk about claustrophobic! I was just about to call it quits when we came to this clearing and saw the most beautiful sight so far!!! And the best part is- we were the only ones there for about 30 minutes! Then the crowds started showing up.

It was like walking in to a move scene! There was lava rock all over the place, with a stream cascading down into these huge falls that flowed in to a gorgeous pool!

Two different views of the falls, the first was what we saw when we got there, the second is from the view by the rope swing, after crossing the stream (jumping from rock to rock, trying to not fall off the falls!)

I swear it was like the scene from Swiss Family Robinson! The trees were huge and felt so smooth we thought they were fake! And then, much to our delight, there was a rope swing about 30 feet above the pool that we could swing out and land in the pool! Mitch and Buzz of course didn't hesitate, and we just happened to be wearing out swim suits! :0)

Mitch trying the rope first- surprise, surprise!


Buzz was short to follow- they are so much fun!


I was a little more leery- I am such a chicken! Twenty years ago- maybe even ten, I used to jump off cliffs higher than that at Lake Powell, but something has happened to me to make me a scaredy-cat! but, I eventually jumped- I won't post that video of me! It wasn't the most graceful moment of my life, but I did it and I'm glad! The water was cold, but refreshing and not salty for a change!

Here we all are, posing in the stream before taking off- it was getting crowded and our camera's were both out of batteries- dang it!


We had so much fun! We didn't want to leave, but we had other things to do and we wanted to get some shopping done that day too.

While out shopping, we decided to go see the Spouting Horn- Kauai's blow hole. It was cool, but not as cool as Old Faithful in Yellowstone!


It was cool to see how strong the waves would hit and create a big spout or a small one.

Friday Oct. 9

We had to check out of our hotel by 11:00 a.m., but our flights home weren't until late that night... plus, it was pouring rain! We just drove around and splashed through puddles, then we saw a sign for Waimea Falls- so we went to take a look... it was foggy, but still pretty! I can't imagine how these would look on a sunny day.

Then, much to Mitch's delight, the weather finally cleared at around 3:00 and we hit the beach one last time- well he swam, I didn't want to test my luck with sharks- we were told they like to swim closer to shore when it has been raining because the water is murky. Mitch said "bring on the sharks, baby!" Tough guy!

Here is a far picture of Mitch in the waves, trying to act like a teenager and body surfing, where he about broke a rib and knocked himself out! I don't think he needed to worry about sharks, just himself acting like a goofball!

We had to say goodbye Friday night and get on our planes for the long flight home! That's the great thing about Tylenol PM... we slept the whole night and next thing we know, we are in Seattle and on our way home to our -very homesick for mommy and daddy- kids! They were so excited to see us, but more so to see what we got them! We were excited to see them, but both Mitch and I said later that we definitely could have stayed another week and been just fine!

Good to be home, can't wait for the next trip! Hee hee, I think we're hooked!

Hawaii 2009 (part one)

ALLOOOOOHA!!!

Finally! I am sitting down to post about Mitch and I's fabulous trip to Kauai, HI. We were so blessed to be able to go with our wonderful brother and sister (in law) Buzz and Jenn. We had an absolute blast the whole time! I am probably going to break this down into parts of our trip so I don't overload anyone with pictures... so without further ado...


We arrived late Saturday night and it was pouring rain- warm rain! So we just drove to our hotel and went to sleep since it was really 2:00 a.m. our time- it was 10:00 Hawaii time. Here is the villas that we stayed in called the Princeville Westin- gorgeous! I didn't' get a picture of their pool area, and that was absolutely beautiful! We swam and played in that area on Sunday.



You can't see it in this picture, but the ocean is in the background- we were on the coast! And the weather is beautiful here- my camera was on the fritz!

One thing Kauai has in abundance (and we thought it was a joke that the airline people were telling us) in chickens and roosters! I swear! They had to have more roosters running around than Hawaiians!!! Oh, and let's not forget the frogs! They liked to come out at night, but those suckers were big!


Sunday we played in the rain for half the day at Hanalei Bay, but I forgot my camera- dangit! the waves were HUGE!!!! Mitch really wanted to play in those waves, but I think he underestimated the powerfullness of them! Plus, we didn't have our suits on as we were just touring at that time.


Monday was one of our best days there... it was forecasted to rain all week, but we saw nothing but clear blue skies! We took a 6 hour catamaran tour of the Na'Pali Coast, and MAN was it worth it!

Here we are on the front of the catamaran- best seats there and no one else dared! We totally scored!




The valley of the Na'Pali Coast- what is so cool about this coast, is that it is not inhabited, and never has been! Just lush and green and so amazingly gorgeous! My camera seriiously didn't do it justice at all! (If you look closely, you can see a waterfall in the middle of the valley)


A tunnel in the middle of the rock - oh, by the way, this is where a lot of films were made - South Pacific- we were right by the beach where she "washed that man right out of her hair"! Also, the start of Jurasic Park was filmed here, and a lot of others that I can't remember. A very popluar, beautiful place!








This cave was so awesome! I have a picture of Mitch and I by this, but no one is allowed to see it because I look like a whale! So just enjoy the awesomness of this picture- the falls are coming from the mountain- and you can't see it, so it looks even cooler!




The highlight of the catamaran tour was the dolphins! I was the lucky one who spotted them in the distance- I saw fins and thought they were sharks- the guide had a lot of fun with that one!! But we were able to get video of the coolest thing ever! They came right up to us and were literally swimming at our feet- we could have touched them if we dared, and they were so amazing!!!


After the tour, we came back to the hotel, cleaned ourselves up and went to a nice dinner with a gorgeous atmosphere at a place called Keoki's.



Tuesday we went to a place called Waimea Canyon. They call it the "Grand Canyon of Kauai" and it did not disappoint! My camera did, but hopefully you get the picture... no pun intended! :0)



This little farm house was clear down in the bottom of this valley- it was tiny! We had no idea how it even got there, or how they get out because there was not a thing around!



The "Grand Canyon of Kauai"



Looking down in the valley on the other side of the Na'Pali Coast


That's all for today, stay tuned for more this week! (I have to post all my Hawaii trip so I can post about Halloween and the kids before it gets too late!)

Look Who's Walking Now!!!

(Insert Alleluia Chorus!!!)

Creed did it! He finally started walking! It only took him 15 freaking months, not to mention all his "friends"-(mostly girls) are walking...but he did it!

I know I haven't posted anything on him in a while, and I really dropped the ball when it came to his birthday... but I had a good excuse, I think. He was one sick little boy on his birthday- turns out he had Hand, Foot & Mouth disease! Poor little guy had sores all over his mouth and couldn't eat. So I was going to celebrate his birthday with my family in IF, when we went over for the 4th of July, but then we lost Mia, and poor little Creed got put on the back burner, and I just never got around to it. Sorry sweetheart! Believe me, I will more than make up for it when you turn two!

Some things about our little man:

- He is so dang serious! If you get him to laugh or smile at you, it's a miracle! This is his newest look... enough said!

- He likes to yell- a lot! But not necessarily in anger; when he's happy or excited, and when he's letting us know something important!

- At 12 months, he weighed 22.75 lbs. (50%)

- He was 30.25 in. long (67%)

- He loves to go up and down the stairs following us- Has recently learned to climb up on the furniture by himself!

- Loves to pound on the piano

- Creed LOVES to eat! He's our best eater by far! And speaking of eating... I promised I would post this- a video of Creed and our neighbor "Red"- he loves Creed, and Creed loves Red's beard!... We like to call this "Cotton Candy"

We love our little Creedo!!!

Y-Not Tri...

Sure why not? Mitch thought as he was asked by a buddy to do this mini triathalon. "How hard could it be?" So he began his training and working out, eating healthier, and of course losing weight (without trying- grrr!)

The race date was scheduled for Aug. 6, it was 1/4 mile swim, 6 mile bike ride, and 2 mile run... sound fun? Not to me, but Mitch had fun training for it and race time came and we were there to support him and cheer him on-- in the rain!

Mitch in his sexy swim outfit! Hee hee!

There were hundreds of men in the water (it was the mens division) and let me just say... yuck! That pond water was so nasty smelling! He told me he wanted to puke a couple of times during the race from getting water in his mouth Gross! I lost him right as the race started, but it was so funny to see all these guys trying to swim and beat everyone around them when there was hardly any room! Good job babe! (Mitch is the one in the middle, not the one standing up!!!)

Next was the biking portion. He would have done a lot better had he not decided to get totally dressed to get on his bike! Other guys were biking in their speedos and Mitch not only gets completely dressed, but he also gets dressed slowly! He made it through the bike portion in good time, but he was tired and slowing down... he said he was so tired by the time the running part was over, that he wanted to collapse- but he made it! He did so good- much better than I could do!

When people ask him how he did, he replies with a smile on his face, "well, I didn't come in first... but I didn't come in last either, and I didn't die!" So there you have it folks! Mitch did his first TriAthalon. I asked him if he would do it again and he said he would definitely do this one, but not one any bigger! Hey, someones gotta do the small ones- we'll leave the Iron Man's for all you diehards out there!

Good job babe! We are so proud of you!

The kids "chillin" in the rain during the race- they were (soaked)troopers!

Our family... happy that the race is done and we could all go home and take warm baths and showers!

Kids will be kids

So we have been trying to make some normalcy of our lives, and the best way to not constantly be grieving is to keep busy. Being outdoor really helps me, so I thought I'd start taking my kids to the park just down the road from our house. You know, get some fresh air and enjoy the summer weather, kids get free lunches, and their favorite part of the whole thing... catching frogs in the mosqito infested swamp/pond.

Here is there final work... I personally think it's disgusting, but even the girls seemed to love it! EEEEWWWW!

The many, many frogs all the kids caught... we only took 4 home, which somehow escaped (thanks Mitch)

Cameron, Collin, Madeline, Emily, Maggie, and Lilli

Creed not quite sure what to think about it all.

Aren't kids disgusting?! But if it makes them happy, then it's all good!

Mia Catherine McClellan

This is probably the hardest post I have ever had to do...

It is with great sadness and extremely heavy hearts that we announce that Mia Catherine McClellan was stillborn to us this morning. Words can not express the feelings that we are going through right now. She is a beautiful little girl with thick dark hair. We got to spend a few hours with her this morning. It was a very special time that we will cherish forever.

We want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support that we have received.

Love,
Mitch & Carlie

Doing much better now

Well I've decided that I probably shouldn't post anything after just having found out bad news and also when needing a nap! My apologies to all who read the last post, things are looking better now. I have started adjusting my menu ideas to eat healthier and take care of this baby girl- not to mention myself! Thanks to you all for caring and for the encouragement and support, you are all amazing! I love you so much!

A huge blow to my already high-strung emotions

AAAAAAGGHHHH!!!!!! I just don't know how much more I can take! This pregnancy from the start was not planned and definitely a surprise! As time has progressed, I have, or still am trying to accept that this is real and ready or not, here comes number five. In order to be okay with how close she and Creed will be, I have to not think about it at all. I can't, or I start having anxiety!
So week 28 rolls around, and low and behold, what do I find out??? I not only failed the one hour glucose test, but failed two out of three of the three hour test also! This means I now have gestational diabetes and have to go to a diabetes clinic and who knows what else it means.
I can tell you what it means to me... fear! Fear of the unknown, fear of an overly big baby, fear of having to have a C section from a doctor that is all too "for" that! i don't know if getting a new doctor would make any difference or not at this point. Would a different doctor tell me different results? I just don't know anymore, and I'm scared! If any of you moms have dealt with this or can give me anything positive to look for, please don't hesitate!
sorry about the tone of this post, but at this point, all I can wonder is "will the tears never end?"!

My baby is growing up!

Where in the world does time go? I swear I just came home from the hospital with Creed (at least I still look like I did!) And now, lo and behold, he's 10 months old, well, he'll be 11 this month anyway!

Creed has decided that he is done with the baby food business... he wants the real stuff and he wants whatever it is that we are having! How do we know this? It may be the tantrums he throws when placed in his high chair and he sees the jars of baby food... it may be the drooling and staring at us while we eat, along with the accompanied grunting and squawking... who knows what it is; all we know is that he won't be quiet until he gets what he wants!

So today I discovered he LOVES ravioli (Chef Boyardee... mmmm) it was his first try with this stuff and I must say, he did rather well!

Step 1: Dump contents of bowl on the high chair, smear with hands, and rub all over bib and face... all before eating one bite!

Step 2: devour whole bowl of ravioli in the time it takes Collin to eat two bites!

Step 3: Inspect bowl by turning over (again) and sticking it on your head!

Step 4: Give mom the devilish grin telling her I love her but she gets to clean it all up and give me bath-time!

I just adore this cute and very serious little man!