Kids with Grant

I have never seen our kids so excited! It was better than Christmas morning! We got home Wednesday night and boy were the kids ready to meet their brother!

Kiersten is going to be a wonderful help. She already wants to know when she can start changing diapers! Kiersten said, " Ahhh Mom, he is just perfect! How do I already love him so much?" She is going to be a wonderful mother one day!

Logan was so happy to finally hold Grant or "Brant" as he says it. Justin said we need to ask Logan's speech teachers at preschool to work on the letter "G" sound.

Hunter loves his brother Grant. and was way impressed with his Mohawk. Hunter asked if we could do Grant's hair like this everyday!

No too sure about some lovin' from his brother, but he'll just have to get use to it!

So Sweet! So far Grant is a wonderful baby but we know that can change. After having 3 colicky babies we are a little worried that Grant is too good of a baby and that one day we'll wake up and the crying will start. But until that happens we are loving every second of having a good baby!!! We have more than earned a good baby, but that's what we thought when we had Logan, and he was really colicky so we hope for the best. Justin and I never knew having a newborn could be this fun, what a difference a happy baby makes.................hope it stays this way. Kiersten even complained today that Grant doesn't cry enough! I never would have thought anyone would say that about one of my babies :)

The kids were so excited to put Grant in the swing for the first time! Love my kids!

Hunter is a great helper and just adores his little bother!

See Grant's already getting use to the kisses and lovin'.

Logan is just thrilled too be a Big Brother!!! i have found Logan sitting next to Grant while he is sleeping and i ask Logan what he's doing he says, "I no wake him up, i just talking to my little friend!" So sweet! Logan always wants to know where his "little friend " is.

So Sweet!

Goin' Home

Grant is all ready for his first car ride home to Pima!!! This kids picked out this cute Ducky outfit for him to wear home. They are so excited to see him! Hunter is so excited because Grant has a natural Mohawk! It's so cute how his hair just does this Mohawk thing on it's own, I knew Hunter would think it was COOL!!! Cute Little Ducky Bum! I love how the car seat just swallows him up!

He FINALLY came............a Labor of LOVE!

GRANT DAVID CLUFF

Grant was born on September 21, 2009 @ 5:56 p.m.

He weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and was 20 inches long

His head measured 13 and his chest 12.4

He was born at Banner Gateway Hospital in Gilbert

Ahhh....... holding onto his Daddy's finger how precious!

This is our Wonderful Dr. Susan Kudlinski! She has delivered all our kids and we just love her! For the last three kids we have traveled down to Gilbert just so she could be our Dr. I have never been so happy to deliver a baby in my life and Grant is our forth kid! So here is how his story begins.............we went in on Sunday September 20 at 3:00 p.m. for a scheduled induction. They started me on Pitocin around 4:00 and around 7:30 I started to have contractions. The contractions got stronger and we walked the halls to try to help things along. I was at the maximum dose of pitocin but nothing was working to get me to dialate, so at midnight the dr. decided to stop the pit and give me a sleeping pill to let me just some rest and we would start again at 6:00 a.m. Did I mention I had no pain killer during this whole time because I was waiting to dialate so I could get the epidural! YIKES!!! The nurse came in at 5:30 to wake me up so I could take a shower before we got things started. I got started on the pit and this time they were more aggressive jumping the doses up in large increments to try to jump start things. Well it finally worked, slowly but surely. Around 11:00 they said I was in active labor and was at a 3 so I got my epidural and was much relieved! I started pushing around 4:15 and pushed for 1 hour and 45 minutes. I was about 5 to 10 minutes away from having a c-section. I kept telling myself that if I wasn't close to having him out by 6:00 I was done. It was the hardest labor I have ever had. I always have to push a long time but for some reason this time was more wearing. Maybe because I had spent 2 days having strong contractions up to this point I don't know. We had a fabulous nurse RaKay Dance. She did such an amazing job helping me through the birthing process and Justin of course was a wonderful coach! The nurse said I was luck to have such a patient Dr. because she said most Dr. wouldn't let me labor so long and hard. I am grateful things worked out and I didn't have to end up having a c-section after all that time working to get Grant here.

One funny thing happened, once Dr. Kudlinski came in and I was still pushing she was getting her gloves on and she looks down and says in a paniced voice, "Stop Pushing I Need to Get My Gloves On!" I said , "Really stop pushing?" She hurried and was able to catch Grant! With all our other kids Dr. Kudlinski was in the room the whole time I pushed, but this time she just kept checking in on us because she said we were in good hands with our nurse RaKay, and she was right. My mom was in the delivery room with us just like she has been for all the other kids deliveries. This time I think she got pretty scared because I was having such a hard time getting Grant out. She said she cried much of the drive home, she knew how close I came to having a c-section! One Happy Daddy! Justin was such a great coach this time. Usually he is pretty quite and doesn't say or express a whole lot, but this time was much different. He said all the right things and really helped me keep going when I felt like I had labored as long as I could. Thanks Sweetheart for helping get Grant here! We are so grateful to have this new, sweet spirit in our family! The next day all clean and sweet as can be!

Painted Belly

So my Wonderful, Wonderful friend Steph said she would paint my prego belly. I have never painted my belly (when pregnant or not pregnant). It was so fun! It was hard to not laugh while she was doing it. She did such a great job!

Doesn't it look just like a soccer ball? 13 days to go!!!!! When my kids got home from school and I showed them my belly they got quite the kick out of it (no punt intended). Logan was so sad when I washed it off. He keeps saying "where your baby soccer ball go?" These pictures just make me smile! I highly recommend painting your belly to every pregnant gal out there. I wish I would have done this with my other pregnancies! Thanks so much Steph for doing it for me! I LOVE IT!! It is such a fun way to capture being pregnant!

What a great friend Steph is to paint my big 'ol belly! Love ya girl!

Bubble Fun

The kids just love to take a bubble bath in our jacuzzi tub so we use it as a reward for good behavior. They were so excited! The bubbles got a little out of hand but it made for some good fun!!! This is Logan the human bubble! He thought it was so stinkin' funny to go all the way under and be completely covered in bubbles. What a character!

Yipee we finally saw.............June Bugs

It has been years since I have seen a June Bug so this summer when we were at my parents having a family BBQ I was ecstatic to have one land right on Justin's back. I have been wanting to show our kids June Bugs and how we would tie a string onto them and then watch them fly. It's like a pet kite...........they just fly all around while you hold the string. Just seeing them brings back wonderful childhood memories for me. Hunter was the most excited about seeing one...................he's our bug boy! Tying the string around it was harder then I remembered it being, I guess we are just out of practice.

June Bugs (not sure if that is their official name, but that's what we've always called them) are such a shinny green color and their legs are so clingy. They can hold onto your fingers and clothes so tight, but they don't hurt at all.

This one wasn't too into flying but it was still great fun! The crazy thing was that when we got home our kids found another June Bug in our driveway. I can't believe it's been years since I have seen one and then we find two in the same night!

Sweet Little Guy

These are the most recent pics of little peanut. I had to have a ultrasound at my last appointment because I am measuring 4 weeks small. Everything looked good and baby measures right on for my due date. He is about 6 1/2 lbs right now, has a little hair and has some obvious chubby cheeks! This picture is a good shot of his cute little face. It shows his eyes, button nose, lips and chubby cheeks. His left hand is up by his face.

This picture is him giving me a thumbs up!!! He kept putting his thumb up................so cute. It shows a little bit of his face, but most of it is covered with his right arm and then his hand. I am going to be scheduled to be induced on September 22nd, which is a week early. Dr. Kudlinski said the hospital has been good about getting patience in within 24 hours of their scheduled time. We will be delivering at Banner Gateway which is a new hospital and we are excited because we've heard it's super nice and it's close for my parents to get to! Hope and pray all goes as planned! I am just so excited for this new little spirit to join our family. We've been painting his room, I'll post pictures soon, getting his clothes all washed and buying baby stuff we haven't had in the house for a couple of years. So fun!

This picture shows his little button nose and lips! Two weeks or less and we'll get to hold this bundle of joy and we are soooooo ready! I have been feeling better than I remember feeling with my other pregnancies at 8 1/2 months pregnant so that's been nice. I am definitely in the "nesting mood," which has been fun and exhausting at the same time! We think we are ready, but is anyone ever "ready" for a baby?