Happy Birthday, Son!

Clark
You are 12 months old! I love this age. You ditched crawling all together 4 weeks ago. Walking is definitely your preferred mode of transportation. Now that you are walking, you are more selective of what you put in your mouth. Bugs still rate pretty high on the list. ugh.

Here is what he has been up to:

- Size 3 diapers
- Won't be in size 6-9 month clothes for much longer.
- You still wear some 3-6 mo pants...
- Your great aunt has dubbed you as the "butt-less wonder" ...because you are skinny you crawl out of most pants within minutes of being dressed.
- Weight : 18 lbs (1 percentile)
- Takes two naps a day. These can last 30 mins-3 hrs.
- You have 8 teeth.
- You say, "ubp" {up} "trk" {truck}
- Your hand goes over your eyes, you lower your head and sob when you learn something else you can't touch.
- You love truck books
- You climb up and down the stairs with great speed.
- You love to go visit dad in his office and give a shrill scream of delight when you see the gate accidentally left open. down the stairs you go to pound on daddy's office door.
- You sign please on your knee. weird.
- You had a fun birthday party. For days after your party you pointed to your half eaten cake and would say "trk" and then sign "please"...Well done Anna. He LOVED his cake.


- You are beginning to point out family members in pictures.
- You cry when your daddy leaves for work.

We are grateful for 1 year with you, son. Love you. - Mommy

1 year ago ...

They sliced open my belly
{cringe. yet, it wasn't as bad as I had envisioned.}

I had a nameless baby.
{36 hrs later ...Daniel? Josiah? CLARK!}

I took every pain med they offered me.

{wise advice given me: now is not the time to be tough}

3 days in the hospital felt like a fabulous vacation.
{Feed me mashed potatoes and let me sleep! oh ya!}

Colorado

Clark was fascinated when we stopped to watch the elk...

Two brothers and their little ones...

Amalia (4 mo) Clark (11 mo)

Clark may have to watch out for this side of
Amalia's personality!

We loved getting to know our niece better.

Family Photos!

No science needed...just a blender

Food + lil water + barley cereal = 1 happy baby

Packing food for Grandma's house!
Sweet potato - avacados - apple sauce - strawberries

(shhhhh! no one told me you weren't supposed to give baby's strawberries. He LOVES 'em)


Amazingly, we are almost done with this stash. I thought Clark would give baby food by now a thumbs down, but no, he still LOVES it.

There are moments in life where

another's thoughtfulness catches you completely off guard...

Last night when i walked into my bedroom after a long day
... I had one of those moments.

It felt like a hug from God.

Thanks Caitlyn!

Chili and friends...

As I put Clark on my hip and walked into the grocery store on Tuesday, the memory that I was "on" for feeding small group momentarily overwhelmed me.

I haven't been good about taking all to Christ, but i stopped and asked Him for help. I was tired and remembered I had a long night ahead of me going to an election party.

I don't normally shop at Ray's ....so i was confused and went down nearly EVERY isle trying to find what i was looking for. groan. Then, I ran across the gallon section.

SWEET!

Chili by the gallon. Why not!?


Thank you, Lord.

It was a lot of fun to make a TON of chili, feed the small group and freeze 3 gallons of chili. Perfect!

I love our small group. Last night was good to just be with friends.

Having community is such a beautiful thing.

Thank you, Jesus.

Crowded Lives...

"Crowded lives produce fatigue -

and fatigue produces irritability - and irritability produces

indifference - and indifference can be interpreted by the child as a
lack of genuine affection and personal esteem."

- Dr. James Dobson

I love Craigslist

This week's Craigslist Treasure for $15.

Clark's new buddy, Lane Mullet giving the red radio flyer wagon a test run. Lane is 8 weeks older than Clark.

This week

In the last seven days, Clark

....began walking
....flew for the first time.
....popped THREE new teeth, yes, THREE
....met his first cousin, Amalia and second cousin, Fiona!
....fell down the stairs. yes, again.
....ate a fly! yes, disturbing.
....met his Great Aunt Marianne.
....Started taking 2 to 2 1/2 hour naps. happy!
....began to CLAP his hands together


He's not the only one who is ready for a good night of sleep!

Night!

10 Fall Things

Here are some things I'm excited about...

1. Making cinnamon bread one of these mornings

2. Getting a Family Fall picture taken by Jodie. Can't wait!



3. Flying to Chicago next weekend with my 2 boys and staying in a motel!

4. Seeing my sister get married in a few weeks

5. Finishing organizing my closet! 2 weeks ago I purchased an organizer that Allyn has already installed. YAY!

6. Making applesauce for Clark

7. Getting all the goodwill stuff loaded up and dropped off!

8. Spending more time relaxing with friends

9. Making a HUGE batch of chili and freezing it for quick meals. YUM!

10. Working on "not being busy" and delighting in "the lack of perfection"

oh...and 11...celebrating our 4th ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEK. WHOOOHOO!

Help!

These banana muffins are SO good that I am going to eat them all if you don't drop by....

When can you stop in?



The gal that is living with us for 2 weeks gave us this recipe. Better yet, she made them for me AND cleaned up the mess. SWEET! That's what I call easy cooking! We are enjoying the dozen yummy muffins.

2 c. flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 bananas
1/2 c oil
1 c. sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
4 T sour cream
cinnamon
vanilla
chocolate chunks

{with the last three ingredients ...you decide according to your taste. Enjoy}

350

Approx. 20 or 25 min

Big trucks, avocados & breakfast smoothies!

Clark LOVES to "drive" with Daddy!
Wayyyyy better than being in the BABY car seat

Today, was Clark's 9 month appointment.

I'm feeling a bit outnumbered today.

As the Doctor looked at my son's .81 percentile for weight I realized that Clark has officially joined his dad's weight club....hmmmm.

Now, both my men now have doctor's orders to eat more foods that will help put on weight.

Allyn still refuses to eat breakfast (grrr), but is downing
2 larger protein fruit smoothies every morning. That's happy!

Clark's been loving making a mess on his highchair.

You can't beat avocado's for great nutrition and a GREAT beginners mess!



Of course, putting him out on the PATIO in an already STAINED onsie = stress free.

Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas

How Raising Children Shapes our Souls


"Once we realize that we are sinners, that the children God has given us are sinners, and that together, as a family, we are to grow toward God, then family life takes on an entirely new purpose and context. It becomes a sacred enterprise when we finally understand that God can baptize dirty diapers, toddlers' tantrums, and teenagers' silence in order to transform us into people who more closely resemble Jesus Christ." pg. 17



"Unless we are stone-cold spiritually - virtually spiritually corpses - the journey of caring for, raising, training and loving children will mark us indelibly and powerfully. We cannot be the same people we once were; we will be forever changed, eternally altered. Spiritually speaking, we need to raise children every bit as much as they need us to raise them." pg. 15

Abigail Leone Miller

My cousin had a baby girl last Friday. Welcome to our family Abigail Leone!

Melanie had told me last week that homemade Thank You notes would be helpful. Here are the various stacks that we made over the weekend. She requested purple and green. They are bundled up ready to be shipped.


Knowing how much Clark loves his Cotton Muslin blankets, we also worked on personalizing one for Baby Abigail with iron on letters and flowers....

The idea came from a gal at church...I like to copy creative people

Ready for Baby Abigail!

Small Group

I love our small group....babies...


.....Clark (8 mo)
....Mr. Mason (2 wks) we prayed and prayed for you. Thank you Jesus!
....Miss Claira (7 mo) and mommy come to small group while daddy serves in Iraq.
....Miss Dahlia (12 mo) and mommy are moving. * tear

This picture sadly does not include Miss Goss (10 mo) and Miss Izzy (2 mo)

:: priceless::

:: awe ::

:: beautiful ::

There is a time for sorrow and now we are in a season of rejoicing.

Last night, Caitlyn was beyond excited when she saw Amy carrying "the bag."
It's what the hospital gives you.
We've all envisioned and dreamed of what it would be like when
Chris and Amy would get to adopt.
This was one of those unexpected "Mason's a reality" moments.
As emotionally painful as those moments are when sitting in pain, they are emotionally exhilarating when it is time to rejoice.

Amy is finally a mom.

Thank you, Jesus.

Poison Control

Well, I made my first call to poison control. ANSWER: Ingested potting soil is an irritant and may cause your child to throw up. If he ingested the white balls, that's merely styrofoam. There is no need to be alarmed. Simply give him something to drink.

That was good news. Seeing my child's face covered in potting soil reminded me of one thing - i have a lot more training to do....slow deep breath!

In the mean time, I'm glad I had some of THIS on hand.

*Colic Calm contains some charcoal. Light bulb moment. Ahh yes! Charcoal is for poison.
As i waited to talk to a poison control specialist, I gave him a preventive dose - just in case. I figured whatever the answer was, a little charcoal wouldn't hurt him. So glad i have it on hand.


Also, i love my Numimed Dispenser. So easy to use when giving medicine. http://www.colicshop.com


Back to training my little man....

ERGO

I am loving my new Ergo carrier. Thanks for recommending it Rachel! For months, I've been watching Craigs list for these carriers. The only time I've found them is under the WTB section :(

With a family vacation next week to Colorado (YIPPEE!) and some gift card money, I took the plunge. These carriers are supposed to carry the baby's weight on your hips and legs vs compressing your spine. * LIKE
Retailing for $105...ERGO is a brand worth filing in the back of your mind under "if-i-EVERY see-it-on-a-garage-sale...!"

Salsa Chicken

This week's recipe winner! Delicious!

1 whole chicken - cut up and skinned.
1 can of black beans
1 jar of salsa

1 Large Crock-pot + 6 hours + 1/2 pkg of cheddar cheese
= easy & tasty!

I drain off some of the liquid after 6 hrs. I reserve half of the salsa to add right before I top with cheddar cheese. Eat over rice and throw a salad on the table and you are set!

When I use the 50 cents per lb leg quarters from Walmart...this meal can serve 6 for less than $10. Pictures will be posted tomorrow.

Clark's NEW Friend

Meeting his new friend. Clark tried to wake Mason up with all kinds of high pitched excited shrieking...but it didn't work. Maybe next time, he'll be awake enough to play!

Clark also tested out Mason's "crawling grounds". He liked the wood floors.

Favorite Thing...

i LOVE these blankets. If you were standing in my house right now and saw the order I just purchased you'd think i was obsessed with these blankets.

They are perfect because they are lightweight, ideal for swaddling due to their large size, and a great nursing cover. Did I mention that even teething babies love to chew on them.

Brand: Aden and Anais
Cost: With a large enough order you can buy 4 for around $22. Fabulous!

Another pro is that they come in sets of four. Clark is not attached to any one particular blanket.

I love this girl set below!

Mason just got this set today!

I'm stocked with baby gifts again.

One $5.50 blanket + pre-printed note + gift bag = A gift that doesn't break the bank, yet is still fabulous.

Welcome Baby Mason

This week, our dear friends adopted a baby. Our emotions have been all over the place.

We literally feel like Mason's crazy aunt and uncle.

Both of us this weekend have at random times...

had tears streaming down our face
screamed with excitement
jumped up and down
held our breath
Paced
clapped our hands
not stop smiling

What a journey. It's too long of a story to write here, but you can visit www.unexpectedhope.com for more details.

Yesterday was a down day. We were home, but wishing we were still in the hospital with the Barkers.

Here's what i did to pass the time:

Gift bags for the Barkers to give to the nursing staff and doctors. My amazing sisters-in-luv did this for me when we had clark. It was a huge blessing to me.

Barker's printed off a family picture with a personal note thanking the staff for treating them so well as adoptive parents. Beautiful.


We made 13 of these mini bags

...and another perk is that we get to enjoy the leftovers!

Bath time

Time with Daddy

Ready, set, go!