Life Lately

Oh my goodness! TIME FLIES! I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since Liam came into our crazy world and since I blogged last. To my faithful readers (mom, dad)--I'm so sorry I've been absent. Here's a very small glimpse into what life has been like since the last time I emerged from my cave...

Liam was born on June 8th.

This was one of the happiest and hardest days of my life! We are BEYOND thankful for our sweet little man!

That first month was all about adjusting...sleepless nights, breast feeding, many naps, and just trying to survive! My wonderful mom came to town and helped us immensely! I often tell her I wouldn't have survived without her.

Tyler would be sad if I didn't document Liam's first trip to Academy Sports :) He looks incredibly into it, huh?

Tyler got to experience his first Father's Day and we celebrated my birthday on June 15th!

 We also celebrated the 4th of July (his first time to church)!

Then this little guy turned 1 month old on July 8th!

July consisted of a ton of hanging around our home and visiting grandparents in Tennessee!

Liam, Tyler, his dad-Gary, and his granddad- Papaw (4 generations of Clem men) met and took a picture!

Toward the end of July Liam started smiling intentionally :)

On August 8th, Liam turned 2 months old!

At the end of August we went to the beach for Liam's first time! This was interesting...I thought we'd never go back. However, now that he's older I'm ready for another beach trip!

On September 8th, Liam turned 3 months old!

Liam was 4 months old on October 8th.

We went to mine and Tyler's high school football game with our new addition...go Blackman!

We went to a pumpkin patch, and Liam got his own pumpkin!

We were the Robertson's for our church's fall festival.

And we decided we had the cutest pumpkin of all!

Liam was 5 months old on November 8th. This was the point when he was seriously bald. All of that dark hair fell out and he rocked the bald look for a while...

We took some really DARLING pictures outside on a beautiful fall day

He turned 6 months old on December 8th.

He met Santa Claus and didn't mind him much. We even got a smirk!

He even got to go to a firehouse!

We celebrated Jesus during Christmas season!

Then he turned 7 months old on January 8th...a new year for Liam!

Mommy and daddy escaped for the day and went to watch Kentucky dominate South Carolina in basketball! This was my first KY game!

We escaped again on February 5th to see WICKED! This was a Christmas present from "Liam" to mommy. BEST PRESENT EVER. We love a good date night!

February 8th he turned 8 months old.

We celebrated Valentine's Day by finger painting for grandparents! Someone got excited!

He also experienced his first snow (more like ice)!

On March 8th he turned 9 months old. At 9 months old he got his very first tooth! His bottom left tooth is cute as can be!

We went to Gatlinburg for Liam's first mountain trip and to celebrate Tyler's birthday. Sadly, momma got sick. But we had one fun day!

We also celebrated his first Easter!

He turned 10 months old (I CANNOT believe it) on April 8th.

We welcomed his best friend into the world on April 20th--little Henry (my best friend's baby)

And this is the first picture where I truly felt like Liam was becoming a toddler...

He was completely engaged in the Palmetto softball game!

Liam truly has the best personality! He smiles at us all the time, crinkles his nose, loves to play with daddy, and has the greatest baby laugh. He loves the our dogs! He even says DO(silent G). He says "dada" all the time and only says "mama" when he's upset. He crawls like a CHAMP (since February). He cruises alongside objects and will be walking before we know it. He has a head full of blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes! He now has a top right tooth to accompany his bottom left. He is giving us high fives and gets thrilled when we cheer for him! He loves to take baths and LOVES playing with balls! He makes us so happy!

If you made it to the end of this, you are a CHAMP! I am going to try my best to be consistent now that I'm all caught up!

The Stork Visited the Clem's!

Wow! What a whirlwind! I didn't quite make it to 39 weeks. Liam decided to make an early arrival! I can't say I'm sad about that! I was starting to get to the point where misery was setting in. The heat mixed with large belly mixed with swelling was just not cutting it.

Here's how everything went down...

It was June 7th and Tyler and I went to bed as usual. It was 11 pm. At 1:30 in the morning on June 8th, I got up to go to the restroom and when I got back in bed, something wet leaked out...I knew I didn't wet myself! So...sparing all the details, my water broke, we finished packing up our things, and headed to the hospital. The whole car ride there, Tyler and I were overflowing with excitement! I wasn't in any pain, so we laughed and squealed all the way there.

As soon as we got to the hospital, they hooked me up to monitor to make sure I was ready to be admitted. Sure enough, it was time! We got settled in our labor and delivery room and the incredibly long day began. Tyler and I tried to catch a little snooze before things got really crazy...he slept, I counted ceiling tiles.  At this point grandparents had been called and were on their way from Tennessee, so anticipation levels were sky high! Side note...Tyler's dad was at a fishing tournament the whole weekend and was supposed to fish that day. His prefishing had been awesome! We couldn't get ahold of him because he didn't have service! Once we finally did, he had about 8 hours worth of travel to get to Anderson! We weren't sure if he would make it on time...

So once sleeping beauty awoke (Tyler),  my parents and Tyler's mom had arrived! Yay! They made it! I was doing fine for about 4 hours, but was only dilated to a 3. They gave me pitocin, and that's when the contractions became intense! This low pain tolerating woman then requested an epidural! Y'all. Best decision of all. I highly recommend an epidural to any pregnant lady! I had nothing to prove at that point.

Once the candy man (he has a great job) came and gave me the goods, I was set! I didn't feel anymore pain. I labored and labored and labored. For hours. 13 total. With about an hour and a half to go, Tyler's brother Travis and his girlfriend Cassidy showed up. They could only be here for the day but they still drove allllllllll this way to see us! They're amazing! With about an hour to go, Gary made it! Yaaaaay! It was awesome. We all got emotional and prayed together, then I felt a slight change in my body. It was time. Sure enough, I was right. It was time to push. Each set of pushes consisted of  3 sets of 10 second pushes. I only pushed for about ten minutes! Thankfully. They kept an eye on Liam's heart rate all day because it kept dropping with the pitocin drip. We were on the cusp of a c section because of his heart rate, but thanks be to God, he made it just in time! They had to use a little vacuum device to get him out, but I'm just thankful we avoided a c-section! Our little boy was finally here!!!

Again...I'll spare you the details, but the aftermath was the worst part. The epidural wears off and all the sensations come back. But hey, it's almost been a whole month, and I'm feeling great! Just tired, of course.

This little guy makes all the pain and crazy changes worth it all. He's seriously the cutest baby I've ever seen in my whole life. No bias here. But really...look at this guy!

He's stolen my heart. One of the most beautiful parts of the day he came was instantly seeing Tyler become Liam's daddy. We both were a wreck in that delivery room. This was such a special moment in our family and our marriage. I wouldn't want to do this with anyone else! He's already been the biggest help in ALL aspects. I'm so thankful he's Liam's daddy! What an adventure for us.

Thank you all for your support, love, and prayers! We're so excited Liam's finally here! Now to figure out how to raise a child....and get a little bit of sleep...