We are MOVING!

OK, OK, we didn't get a new house :0)

BUT... we did get a new BLOG which is almost as exciting right? Koa's Corner has been a great place for us to share updates with all of you and now that Caleb is here we figured a new place to share goodies would make sense. We will leave Koa's Corner up and running for Grandmas and Grandpas to continue to enjoy. Starting today we are officially posting at http://clearycorner.blogspot.com/

While we are still polishing the new digs our first post on the new blog is ready to go so check it out!

With Love,
Karen, Mike, Ethan and Caleb

Halloween

What a fun night! We met up with the Wheelers, Brydens and some of their neighbors for a mini Trick-or-Treat session. Enjoy...

Ah Ah Ah

Anyone who knows Ethan knows that he LOVES Sesame Street. Oddly, his favorite character at the moment is The Count. Last week Ethan was miserably sick and consequently he got to watch lots of "deet-deet" videos. By the end of the week he was doing this...

Lake Arrowhead weekend

We had a great, relaxing weekend up at Arrowhead and it's a little crazy to think it might be the last vacation we take as a family of three!

We took the boat over to the Village for groceries. It was a gorgeous evening. What a way to get to the store and drink in the outdoors!

There was some time in the spa which has a stunning view of the lake.

Over the course of the weekend Ethan and Zeke started interacting more. It was adorable when Ethan would belt out "Zeeeekers!" Ethan was a huge fan of spinning (or "pinning") in the chair and he was insistent that Zeke enjoy the experience with him. Unfortunately, Zeke didn't always love it as much a Ethan.

Eventful weekend

We had quite a busy weekend filled with fun things to do. It began with a spur-of-the-moment trip to Spectrum on Friday night. Ethan hasn't been there since he was little so it was a whole new experience. We started at the fountain because it was still crazy hot.

Ethan was fascinated but had no intention of jumping in with the big kids without some serious observation.

This was a close as he got without some help from Dad.

After the fountain we went in search of dinner but we took a detour when the train went by. Ethan was so excited and wanted to chase it down.

We bought tickets but the moment we entered the car Ethan decided that was enough and frantically started saying "All Done! All Done!" We proceeded with the trip but he was not happy about it.

By the time it was over he was enjoying himself even if he still wasn't sure about the whole thing. While we were on the train ride we happened to see the Smiths and had a great time catching up over dinner at Corner Bakery. Liam and Ethan hit it off and were instant pals.

As we were leaving we took a family pic in front of the carousal. That ride is on our list for the next trip to the Spectrum. The next morning we took a little boat ride with Brydens just off of Dana Point. This was Ethan's first trip on a boat that did more than casually float. He wasn't exactly sure about this either but the presence of his buddy Ezra certainly helped out.His favorite part was when we came back to the harbor and cruised around and admired boats. He is so taken with older kids and is in awe of what they can do. In this picture Ethan and Ezra are making funny sounds and cracking each other up. I love it. :) That night our small group had a pool party at the Titov's new house. The water was COLD but Ethan couldn't get enough pool time with his dad.

They have a great backyard for all sorts of entertaining and games and Ethan never stopped moving the entire time we were there. What a blast! By the time Sunday rolled around all we could handle was church in the morning (Rock Harbor launched the first weekend service in South County!) and naps in the afternoon. Great weekend!

Books with Dad

Ethan loves his reading time with Dad. You have to listen closely to hear him identify the pictures.

Cleary Summer

We have had a busy Summer. Between moving in to our new place, Mike's recovery and some good ol family time... well it's been a while so here are some fun memories to share.

Sprinklers in the front yard.

I think he looks like a little Magnum PI in his red car, baseball hat and Hawaiian shirt. :) He's reading his Boz magazine. Ethan will ask for either Boz or Sesame Street at least 30 times a day and he primarily targets people other than me to make his request.

Life is finally settling down to a manageable pace. Mike is off his crutches and a couple of days ago the doctor gave him the go ahead to start physical therapy. The no more crutches thing is awesome because you would be surprised how little you can do for yourself when you can't use your hands and walk at the same time. Mike is super excited about PT and the fact that he hasn't been able to be physically active for the past couple of months has been KILLING him.

We just got back from our annual trip with college buddies and this year we spent 5 days up at Shaver Lake. Ever since Ethan has arrived I couldn't say that a vacation has been restful. Wonderful? Yes. Memorable? Yes. Totally worth it? Yes, but not restful. Last weekend changed that! We had a great time with our friends and enjoyed some great conversation and games. I even read a book just for fun! Ethan loved hanging out with the guys. He would squat next to Mike while they played horseshoes or follow them around while they played frisbee golf. He was so proud of himself for learning everyone's name and would usually loudly announce the person when they walked into the room. Good times!

Snack time at the cabin. Hi Dad!

We decided to rent a pontoon boat on Friday and had some fun times swimming and lounging around at a nice 10 mph. Ethan even got to drive the boat!

Ethan and Hazel had lots of fun getting into everything the cabin had to offer. Who needs cabinet locks anyway?

Last week Ethan went to his first MLB game and saw the Angels vs the A's. One of Mike's manufacturers had tickets so Ethan and I got to join Mike and Patrick at the Ball Park. I envisioned a tired, cranky Ethan fidgeting and running around the entire time. I couldn't have been more wrong. He didn't fuss once and sat in Mike's lap the entire 2 hrs we were there. He was mesmerized by all the people and activity and he particularly loved the group claps. He was also glued to Mike and insisted that he sit or be carried by Dad the entire time. Mike was loving it!

Ethan has decided that being sassy... or "Spicy" as Mike calls it, is his new favorite thing to do when the camera is on him. Here is a great example of Ethan doing his thing at Jen Miller's Birthday down in San Clemente.
Here we are playing with water in the front yard. I just had to share this smile with everyone.



Well Summer is almost over and Ethan's little brother is getting bigger and bigger. Much more to come!

We made it!

We've moved thanks to the incredible help from our family and friends. Mike and I have been so helpless due to his crutches and my pregnancy. Moving would not have been possible without all the help and it's so humbling. A GIGANTIC THANK YOU to all those who've given their time, food, backs, sweat and trucks to make this happen! We are so loved and we are looking forward to giving back to you all.

We like our new house (rental for the next 12 months) in Laguna Niguel. Sam misses our Rancho house a lot but even he is slowly adjusting. We have quite a few boxes left to unpack but please feel free to stop by any time. We would love to have some visitors.

I have been terrible about taking pictures the past few months but my sister does photo shoots with Ethan every time she's here. Here's a few for you:
peek a boo continues to be a favorite

Ethan's new game is ping pong. Aunt Kim taught him to say "Game On!"Kim and I took a break from unpacking to visit Salt Creek Beach. Ethan absolutely loves the big grassy hill and absolutely hates the sand and the waves!

Two News Worthy Items

Hold on, I've had this in my draft folder long enough that there are now three news worthy items.

First, Mike and I have the joy of expecting baby #2! We are so excited and looking forward to #2's arrival sometime around Nov 29th. I'm 16 weeks and it's flying by. The number one question we get asked is if we are going to find out the gender of the baby...ABSOLUTELY! 4 weeks to go. :)

Second, we've decided we want more space for our growing family and we put our house on the market. We went into escrow in 1.5 weeks and escrow should close today or tomorrow. It's been a whirlwind the past month and a half but God has blessed us with a smooth process. No, we don't know where we are going to live because we haven't found any houses we really like (at least not in our price range) but we are renting back for 30 days and then probably rent somewhere else for a little while.

Third, Mike tore his achilles tendon while he was on a business trip in MA a week ago last Sat. He had surgery last Tue to reconnect it and is recovering in bed as I type. It is unfortunately a very painful recovery but he is improving a little every day. He injured his right foot so he can't drive for another 5 weeks let alone do any heavy lifting. I'm not sure how the next couple of months are going to work out, and truthfully I get a little overwhelmed when I think about it. However, if I take one day or one task at a time God has shown me over and over again that He will provide.

High from Tahoe!

Mike, Ethan and I joined my parents for a little vacation at Lake Tahoe last week. Ethan was a good traveler and we had a pretty smooth drive up. We stayed in a condo a short walk from the lake through the beautiful, fragrant forest. I love the mountains! The picture above is at the beach at the end of the short walk. Ethan is all about Dad right now. He loves to play rough and he definitely loves to be thrown in the air. The higher the better. In fact, if he has a choice between me or Mike he will choose Mike and he is so sad when Dad leaves in the morning. Back to Tahoe...the weather was beautiful in the high 60's to low 70's and the mountains were all packed with melting snow. We went on a little hike up the hill behind our condo.
What a view.

Just a wee bit of update...

Ethan is such a busy boy these days. Now that he's walking everywhere he doesn't stop. (He's been going strong since beginning of 13 months and I promise to give you a video) He loves stairs and seeks them out wherever we go. He is talking up a storm and sometimes we actually can understand what he says. The grandparents are all on a mission to get him to say their names. Last week we taught him to say "ahh nuts!" which is melt-your-heart adorable. We got a video of that too and I promise to post it. Ethan has this strange love of brooms and dust pans and plays with them all the time.

Here's a shot from when we were up at Arrowhead a few weeks ago.

Ethan got to try out my old rocking chair when we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa last week. He thought he was such a big boy sitting in his own chair next to Grandpa. My parents are redoing their floors and Ethan loved having a furniture-less room.

Ethan's Buddies

Ethan got to hang out with his buddies, Laekin and Micah, last Friday. Ethan is so impressed with how much Laekin can do and follows her around the house. Jen and I had a nice visit and it was a lovely afternoon all around (especially since the kiddos all took their naps!). Here are some cute shots of the kids rocking on the glider.

Kisses!

Ethan was fascinated by Micah in a totally different way. It was if he was trying to figure what this guy was all about.

This is suburbia Orange County?

Every spring there is a field a few blocks away from our house that erupts in wild flowers. It's a limited time only type of thing because, unlike the rest of Rancho, this is not a carefully maintain and groomed field. My friend Kathy and I took our kiddos over to take some pictures. It was quite a bright day so there weren't as many smiles as I was hoping for but the flowers definitely did not disappoint.

Here's and adorable one of Kathy and Savannah:

Little Explorer

I've been meaning to post this for a while...

I was sitting on our kitchen floor cleaning cupboards while my son was roaming. I heard some frustrated grunts coming from behind me and I turned to see Ethan sitting inside a cupboard! I had taken the recycle bin out of the cabinet and he thought it was the perfect place to explore.