Clark's first day of soccer

We signed up for soccer lessons this fall. Clark is taking these classes with his friend Will, whose parents are Katie and Brian. Will is just 4 days younger than Clark. Here is a photo of Clark in his soccer clothes with his new soccer ball and shin guards. He is holding a car he got for pooping on the potty yesterday. He's getting so big!



Here's a video of the most organized part of the soccer lesson. They were kicking the balls into the cones to knock them over. Clark got the message about knocking them over all right! He's in a navy blue hoodie. The boy in the second part is Will. He is with his dad, Brian.

Clark loves fun.

Clark loves reading. He could read almost the whole day. We are thrilled that this intellectual development has coincided with cold weather and the impending birth of Joy. Clark loves the slide. He is sitting on my lap as I type this shouting "weeee" and pointing at the picture of him on the slide.

He's having fun in the playground.

And eating some snacks in the playground. We think he might be allergic to wheat, so have eliminated it from his diet. In response, he started eating chicken, meat, and dairy. Amazing.

Clark loves the swings! Fr. RB came to visit and took these pictures of us in the park. We all went out to eat, but we didn't take any pictures of all 4 (5) of us. booo. next time we will have to do better!!! but, I admit, it is nice to actually BE in some of the blog photos!

blurry swinging.

blurry swinging.

before the pushing began. I think he is looking at some bigger kids swinging on the tire swing towards the left.

Latest fun stuff!

Here are pictures of our Spring so far.
I'm still babysitting Bernadette. Here she is sitting in the garden like a little flower.


We played in the yard for a few hours this afternoon. I got a play kitchen for them, but both found their favorite yard things. Bernadette's is a block that she can step up and down on. Clark's is a solar powered lamp that lights up the back yard at night.

Here we are!
Clark loves to walk around the house carrying a big noisy pot.
Yesterday, we went to a nearby park and Clark had a blast.
He climbed (and slid down) the slide.
He had fun playing with the center of the gears.
He got lots of fun toys for his birthday but (a lot like the fun toy kitchen! / lamp issue in the back yard) he really loves this box and plastic "beer cups" or "solo cups"
He also loves hanging out under the sink.
Last week Josh, Ashley and John Paul came over to play because it was spring break.
"I give you my blessing"
Bernadette was over that day, so we had a big fun play group.
What cuties!
We've been taking lots of video lately, and need to upload that next. We send love to everyone! xxoo.

Clark's FIRST BIRTHDAY party!!!

Clark is one!!! We had a sweet party for him on Saturday. I think he had a great time. In the past few weeks, Clark has developed some new skills. He just started clapping, sometimes he will point to his tongue, he will also look at me or Tom when we ask him, "Where's dada's/mama's tongue?" He is walking much much more now. He can't stand up when he falls, so he will walk as far as he can and then plop down. He can shake his head "no". He loves to give us hugs, kisses, and blow on our tummies. If we are laying on the ground, he knows its going to be a good time! Enjoy the pictures. It has been an amazing year.

I made him a yummy carrot cake (very baby friendly)! He's not a big eater so their aren't pictures of him smashing it on his face, sorry. He ate his cake slowly and deliberately with his little fork.


Here are pictures of his little friends.
The little girl in the front is Eva, her mom lives down the street and she was featured in his Superbowl Walking Video.
The boy in the back is Thomas, we met his parents in our birth class!


This is Clark with Anna, his babysitter and Work Auntie from when I was at Chemonics. She was in Afghanistan recently and bought him this adorable little vest!

Here are Eliana and Benji, two kids from down the street, they are enjoying some yummy sugar laden cupcakes. Their mommy is pregnant and due March 4th, so we'll see when that baby gets here!
Here are Clark and John Paul! They are such cute, sweet big boys now!


Here is Thomas again (from birth class) and the little pink one is Samantha. I met her mother at my Bradley training.

Here is Will Clark, he was born 3 days after Clark was. His mom is Katie.
John Paul's angelic face.
and here is one of Clark and Bernadette. I don't have any pics of her from the party, so here's one from when I was babysitting her. Clark loves her sooooo much!

Snoverkill

We're getting another 10+inches of snow today. Here are some pictures.

Monster Icicle.

We cleaned the chair off and put it back outside last night.

And at 11:30am it was this full.

Photos

I'm still slacking, but here are some photos we took late January. You can see Clark's teeth in one of them. He has 8 now! Its crazy how fast this year has gone. I really understand the saying that the days are long and the years are short. And we aren't even through our first year. I'm really trying to treasure these last moments of infancy, before he turns into a crazy toddler and we start working on another baby. I want to just enjoy these precious moments with Clark while I have them.

More snow (and some old stuff)

Here are more pictures of the snow, some older pics I don't think I posted.

Like Father like Son. Tom and Clark gaze out at the snow.

What did they see???????????????


The cars totally covered!

Here's another view!!!


And another - slightly shovelled.



Our house


The Snow Canyon (our sidewalk)




I did a lot of shoveling! It was fun!


Our neighbor had a Snow Thrower and was Throwing snow off of the sidewalk and neighbor's driveways including ours! Thanks Charlie. He gave Tom a quick lesson. And he took off! He cleared another neighbor's driveway! Here's a random photo of Clark in the tub! Here is a picture of Clark and I with Santa and his Elf! After the shoveling was completed we went for a walk with our neighbors. The baby here has had some play dates with Clark before. She lives down the street and is 5 weeks younger than our boy. Her name is Simone.