I love my son.

Clark has been awesome this last week. Sometimes it takes a trial, (like morning sickness, nausea, you know), to reveal the best in people. And although it didn't reveal the best in Mama, it definitely brought out the best in my little boy. I learned that he is very patient, understanding, versatile, and always willing to sit a little longer in the carseat or wait a little longer in his crib to accommodate Mama's nausea.

My nausea has officially begun to subside! I am still taking a sleeping pill as a precaution. I'm going to stop taking it sometime...maybe even this weekend. I'm just afraid of waking up with nausea in the morning. I want to take it on the weekend when I know Josh will be there in the morning in case.

I leave you with this video. Clark was jabbering a lot at breakfast so I decided capture the moment. Unfortunately, at that very same moment, he was overcome with a great thirst.

New Baby! Due 5/7/13

the moment we found out:

 positive!

 9 weeks:

We are expecting a new boy or girl on May 7th, 2013! I am 15 weeks right now and just starting to feel like the nausea is wearing off. Mornings are still rough though. But I'm counting my blessings! I'm so thankful for a wonderful little 18-month-old who makes my days easy and my nights even easier! What a sweetheart. He truly warms my heart every day. :)  And, of course, my wonderful husband who had gone without a decent dinner for the past ten weeks and continues to be gracious and loving about it! He even helps around the house! So happy to have these two in my life.

Stay tuned to find out the gender at Christmas!

18 months

Clark and Emily hanging out:

 "sooo big!!"

cleaning the kitchen

Today Clark turned 18 months old!!  This morning, we went to his 18-month appointment. He cried the entire time. I couldn't even get him to calm down when the nurse left and we were waiting for the doctor!  He got three shots (DTaP, Flu, Hep A), and as far as I could see, that was the only thing worth crying about. Anyway the doctor was extremely gracious, as usual. Here are his stats:

18 months

Weight: 25 pounds, 1.5 ounces

Height: 32.5 inches

Head: 19 inches

The doctor asked if he was walking yet. Unfortunately I had to tell him, "no." So he recommended that we do "Early Intervention" where a physical therapist comes to our house, for free (well "free"...we pay for this with our taxes), and first give Clark an evaluation (make sure he doesn't have a bum toe or something), then give him some therapy until he walks. The doctor said he is 99% sure there is nothing physically wrong with Clark; however, he needs to be walking at this point since I'm pregnant. We definitely don't want a scenario where we let this go, then he doesn't walk, and then the baby is born and I'll have a kid on each hip!  So he calmed my fears that something is wrong with Clark, but strongly urged us to get him some physical therapy.  I agreed. His office is going to call the therapist and give them a referral, then the therapist will call us directly. At first I was embarrassed for Clark, but "it is what it is" and I need to just accept the fact that my son isn't walking at 18 months!  It's okay, I'll get over once he starts walking. haha

Other than the walking thing, Clark is a very healthy, happy, normal 18-month-old. He has become a bit more picky with eating vegetables, but that is typical. He got two more teeth this month so he is at a grand total of 8 teeth! :)  He had his first non-family-member babysitter on Tuesday night this week. Her name is Heather, and she is wonderful! She is a commuting college student who lives nearby in Elverson and goes to our church. She said Clark was "super easy." And when we got home (at 10pm no less! we had left at 5:30pm) she was very cheerful and expressed how much fun they had. So, needless to say, I saved her number in my cell phone. haha

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving next week!  I love the holiday season.

And, lastly, some videos from the last couple days:

Happy Birthday Annie Elizabeth!!!

Annie turned five today!!  She had a very happy birthday. Her big gift from her family was an American Girl Doll!!!  She was very excited!! :)  I remember hours and hours of playing with my doll, Samantha. There's just something about the fancy clothes, long hair, and fun accessories that just never got old for me as a kid.

Here we are at the aquarium...again :) Annie is standing next to Clark (white shirt, braids):

 And, ironically, here she's standing next to Clark again! Hahaha--on the very left:

This was taken in February at the beach house, Annie is third from the left:

Here is a better picture of her, this is from Amy's facebook (Annie is on the left):

Happy Birthday, Annie! We love you!!!