Cute Video of Clark laughing/being entertained by Mom

Unfortunately, babies don't perform best when a camera is in their face, but the first several seconds give you an idea of what he was like tonight after Momma Veronica took care of him.

something funny.

Clark scooted backwards today while he was on his changing table. He pushed on his legs and arched his back and I let him scoot until his head almost fell off of the table!!!! UH OH!!! Our Little Man is on the move!!!!

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SOMETHING FUNNY!
In an Auburn University classroom, they were discussing the qualifications to be the president of the United States .

It was pretty simple -- the candidate must be a natural born American citizen at least 35 years of age.

However, one girl in the class immediately started in on how unfair the requirement was about being a natural born citizen.

In short, her opinion was that this requirement prevented many capable individuals from becoming president.

The class was taking it in and letting her rant, but everyone's jaw hit the floor when she wrapped up her argument by stating, 'What makes a natural born citizen any more qualified to lead this country than one born by C-section?'

hahhahah!

More Louisiana

Here are two more pictures from the boat ride we took. They were cute, but I couldn't add them when I posted last time due to connection issues.
I dont know why this is so cute, but it is. his expression is hilarious!

Alligator sighting! Its just the splash, but it was there! I told Dad to defend us if the alligator attacked and tried to eat Clark.
On Saturday we drove to Lafayette. Clark met Jill Douglas (a friend I went to Mexico with for my very first mission trip). Clark got dressed for the wedding at Jill's apartment. Mom thought he looked like a little engineer. He was pretty cute in that outfit! He's so grown up already! Jill thought he was trying to grab my breast, so she helped him out. What a nut!

We went to the wedding of Steven Brooksher and Mauree Harris. Clark was able to meet Craig, Christina, Lucy and Samantha Baker (our Goddaughter), Josh, Ashley and John Paul Brumfield (soon to move to DC and to be Clark's Godparents), Clark was excited to meet his future best friend, John Paul. He also met Steven Locke, Andrew Marin, Katie Austin and the bride and groom. Clark also met Ms. Molly, the woman who pushed me into Tom one fateful night and said, "you two should go out". Without Ms. Molly there may be no Clark.Ms. Molly

Ashley and John Paul

Josh, Clark and Lucy (Craig and Christina's firstborn)

On Sunday, my brother, Stephen brought his family over from Houston and we hung out in the hotel where Mom and I spent the night. It was a really great visit.

Katie teaches Kenzie how Clark will hold her finger.

Matthew holds his little cousin.

Clark, his momma and his USA!

my mom and Matthew goof off!

My momma and her kids! (it was bright outside!)

Sunday night, mom dropped Clark and I off at Josh, Ashley and John Paul Brumfield's house. We stayed there for the remainder of the trip. On Memorial day we had a pool party at Josh's aunts house, and on Tuesday we went to the Tulane Catholic Center for a communion service and walked around campus. Then we were dropped off at the airport.

John Paul and Clark at the pool party!
Ashley, John Paul, Clark(alseep) and Me - Rocking the Moby Wraps! At Tulane Campus. Tulane Catholic Center is in the background.
It rained every day of my trip - I love Louisiana!

It was a wonderful trip, Clark was able to meet his granddad, lots of cousins, and second cousins, his USA (Uncle Stephen Averill) and Aunt Katie, he got to meet his Godparents, and many other hugely significant people in his parent's life, including the lady who was responsible for their dating. Clark got to fly in two airplanes, ride a boat, go to a new state, and to stand in the location where his parents met. How nice. It was a very jam packed, and therefore tiring trip. Clark and I slept all day long the day we got back. I personally got out of bed at 4:30 this afternoon. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to get some stuff done!
Love, V

I Love Louisiana.

Clark and I are having a really nice time in Louisiana.

He did awesome on the plane ride, as expected.

We flew in on Wednesday and went straight to my Aunt Cindi's house when my mom picked us up. We met my new cousin Naomi. We also met my cousin's babies, tons of them! Here is a picture of the wild event!

Mom, Clark and I met up with Dad at a Mexican resturant for dinner. Dad was instantly charmed by Clark. Here is a picture of 3 generations of blue eyes, our Averill heritage. =)

On Thursday, I drove to Metairie and had lunch with my best friend's mom, Carol. Here is a cute pic of us. We ate at Applebees and it was really nice to catch up with her, since the last time I saw her was when I got married, and I was a little bit busy then! I drove home and hung out with dad for the afternoon. Mom came home from work, we had dinner. Then, Mom, Clark and I went to a memorial dinner for a friend of mine that died. I found out he died while I was here, and they happened to have the gathering while I was here, so I though it was good to go. I feel very fortunate that I was able to be there. Then we went to the store and got clothes for the wedding.

On Friday, mom and dad both had off, so we had a great big breakfast, and sat on the porch passing the time. We went on a boatride, Clark's first, and we saw and alligator! Then mom, Clark and I went shopping some more for wedding presents for Steven and Mauree who will be married on Saturday. Mom and I also had pedicures and manicures, Clark slept the entire time! Then we came home and Clark napped some more. Then the whole fam went out to dinner at a resturant where I had worked in High School called Nuvolaris. Afterwards, we went to Free Music Fridays! Dad thought that Clark was hot, so he took his jammies off and they relaxed to the groovy jazz. It got cold, and THEN it started to sprinkle, then it was a huge downpour! We were trapped under a pavillion, but decided that we would just have to get wet. Mom braved the rain and then I ran out. She got an umbrella and protected dad who was holding Clark. Clark didn't cry the whole time, even though it was incredibly windy and raining harder than its rained in a long time. delicious. i love louisiana.

Louisiana Bound!

Clark and Veronica are going to Louisiana on Wednesday morning. Yay!
Clark is ready for the sun and to meet tons of family (Grampa, Uncle Stephen, Aunt Kaite, Cousins Kenzie and Matthew, Great Aunt Cindi, Great Cousins Heather, Courtney and all of their children plus Great Cousins Mia, Marisa, and Naomi - maybe Great Uncle Grant and Great Cousin Clay if we are lucky) and friends (TCC and my best friend's mom and sisters) and attend the wedding of Steven Brooksher and Mauree Harris. Clark is most excited about meeting his new best friend, John Paul Joseph Brumfield, who will be moving to Maryland this summer with his parents Josh and Ashley!
I am very excited about this trip and most excited about meeting my God daughter, Samantha and seeing God daughter Kenzie!

Clark is ready for the Louisiana sunshine!

This past week we had dinner with Sal and Alice and Pauline Dalfio, Tom's parents life long friends and their daughter. We will post photos later!

Stop and smell the roses.

We love him so much! He's so cute. Here are more photos for your viewing pleasure.

They aren't roses, but he is smelling them.
He is just starting to grab stuff now.
He doesn't have much arm control yet, which explains the burst of pollen to the face.

He looks like a little boy in pants and a t-shirt!

We all agree that life is SO exciting!

The Drama King.

the laziness just gets worse, people.

Here's a better picture of Clark and Jai taken with Shanti's camera.

Here's a better pict

Lazy Post

I'm feeling lazy, so here are some pictures and not many words:

Here is the happy family at Easter

Here are me and Katie and Clark.

Here are Clark and Will, Katie's son, who is 3 days younger than Clark.

Here are Jesina, Clark and Jai. The ones that aren't Clark are Shanti's kids. Shanti and I have known each other since we were 3 and 4 at McGuire AFB. Jai is 8 days younger than Clark. Here's another one of the two boys.

Clark went to the doctor this week and these are his stats:
Weight: 13lbs 3 oz (85 percentile)
Height: 24 3/4 inches (95th percentile)
Head circumfrance: we dont remember (50th percentile)

Medical results

We had Clark's VCUG last Thursday. This involves putting barium contrast into the bladder and x-raying him to see if there is reflux into the ureters and kidney. There was no reflux! Hopefully this will mean no more UTIs for Clark G.

Metabolic panel (including PKU) which was done at birth and again at 2 weeks is all within normal limits!

He got three vaccines today: Rotavirus, Haemophilus influenzae type B and Pneumococcal 7 conjugate. He seems to be doing fine and is laughing and smiling in between naps! We are glad that he won't get baby meningitis now. No brain damage, deafness, or blindness for our son! yay!

More later on last week's fun activities!

Where Faith and Politics Intersect, Part III

This is really a place to talk about the fam, but this was interesting reading. Are we really a "sure bet" for politicians and therefore lose our political strength???

Where Faith and Politics Intersect, Part 3

By Scott P. Richert, Monday May 11, 2009

Over the past two weeks, in "Where Faith and Politics Intersect" and "Where Faith and Politics Intersect, Part II," I have examined the situation in which Catholic voters in the United States find themselves. On the national level, neither of the two major parties reflects the moral and social teaching of the Catholic Church completely. Indeed, sometimes through the positions they have adopted and sometimes simply through compromise, both parties fall significantly short of what Catholics should expect in their political leaders.

That means that voting is almost always a compromise, as long as one is voting for a candidate from one of the two major parties. Many Catholics, myself included (at least in the past), have decided that the better compromise to make is to vote for candidates who are pro-life, even if they do not adhere to Church teaching on other issues, because abortion is the gravest moral evil that we face everyday in the modern world.

But the problem, as I explained in Part II, is that voting in that manner has led to us becoming "sure votes" for those who say they oppose abortion (which means, in most cases, Republicans), even if they do not follow through. As long as a putatively pro-life candidate is facing an opponent who is pro-abortion, he or she can count on our votes, election after election.

And the result is that Roe v. Wade remains the law of the land, and we now have the most pro-abortion President the United States has ever seen.

Other Catholics have made a different (and equally flawed) choice.

Life is amazing.

Every day, Tom and I are amazed that this little person came out of me and was a result of our love. Every day, we are amazed at how he grows and does new things. Its incredible how much he's grown. We are shocked to find our favorite Clark outfits no longer fit him! I constantly go to the bags of gifted and handed down clothes to pull out the next biggest thing. He will never wear-out any of the cute things he has.

Clark is a funny little boy. I will be holding or feeding him and talking on the phone, watching TV, playing on the computer, reading or day dreaming. Then I will look down and he will have a massive grin on his little face. Suddenly, I feel bad for ignoring him. Then I'll pick him up and he will laugh or smile. He is very social and loves to laugh and smile. See?


The most tender moments have been at nighttime when rocking him to sleep. For two nights in a row, I've looked down to see a beautiful, huge grin on his sleeping face. Wow. Now that's what I call positive reinforcement. I will rock him to sleep forever, just like the mommy in "I love you forever"

He is getting stronger every day. While he works on his neck control on the floor he likes to work out his legs too. I prematurely put him into the doorway jumper to see if he could use it yet.

He's still too small (don't worry, I held his neck). One of his feet could touch the floor and he spun around on it a little bit, but I know he wants to push up on them.

We took him into the big bath with me this week because we were too lazy to use the baby bath. Let me tell you it is way easier and way more fun to clean him that way! Then he got to "swim" around in the water. He pushed off of my tummy like it was the side of the pool and he did the baby backstroke to the edge of the tub!

There are so many things about being a parent that I love. I love the smiles and laughs. I love his coos, but most of all I love that I am growing more and more patient. I know! Me! Patient! I no longer want to speed when I drive, its no problem to stand in lines, and I will try to put him to sleep for hours without it bothering me anymore. When I was a youth minister, parents always told me I had a bunch of patience, well now I think I really do!

Clark loves to watch mouths right now. When we eat he watches intently, and moves his tongue in his mouth. When we make noises and stick out our tongues at him, he LOVES it! He loves singing and when we talk. He tries to talk back to us. Posting all three of these videos may be overkill, but I love that Clark is willing to converse with us. Here are just some examples of how much fun it is to talk to Clark.

We have not visited Shanti and her babies yet, but will go Friday.

This weekend we went to a craw fish boil! YAY! We didn't bring our cameras so we have no cool pictures from it. We also left Clark with a babysitter for the first time (Thanks Anna!) and we went to the movies. We saw: X-man origins: Wolverine. It was awesome. We checked in with Anna to see how Clark was doing, and the answer was "fine" So, we went to La Tasca and had some tapas. It was a great weekend!

The week ahead brings: getting our car fixed, the VCUG (test to see if he will get chronic UTIs), visiting Shanti, hanging out, and then a Drs visit for 2 month check-up complete with vaccination! weeeeeee!