"Peace" Took A Vacation This Week

It was an eventful week for our sweet girl... She met so many new friends at Papa's birthday party on Saturday... She really got to know Aunt Jennifer Saturday night when Mama and Papa went to the hotel... She flew on her first plane to her first time at Papaw's house... And she had her first trip to the urgent care...

Skyler did awesome on the plane but the first few days that we were here she turned into CRAZY baby!!! She couldn't sleep for more that ten minutes at a time... She was crying uncontrollably... She was fidgety and uncomfortable... needless to say... it was NO FUN!!! Finally after I had put the older kids to bed I thought that maybe she had gotten an ear infection or something (Almost every time that we fly with the kiddos someone gets super sick, bummer...)

But it was so late that the only place we could take her was was to an urgent care at the hospital in town. They checked her out and guess what was wrong with her????? Absolutely nothing... the doc said she looked healthy through and through. WHAT??? So I asked if I could check myself into the mental institution for the night cuz I felt like I was going a little crazy... The doc said no. :( Then I asked if he wanted to babysit Skyler for the night since he was going to be up anyway... He said no again...

So we took her home... She fell asleep on the ride home and only woke up once that night to eat then fell right back asleep... And the past few days have been AWESOME!! She has been on an incredible schedule and only getting up once in the middle of the night...So PRAISE GOD! "Peace" is back!!! Yeehaa!!!!
Papaw took some incredible pictures of Skyler last night!!! She's getting so big and strong. She weighs 10 1/2 pounds already!!! Can you believe it. She was 8 weeks this past Wednesday! Time is flying by. :)

She Woke Up Super Happy

I did t!! I finally got her beautiful smile on camera!! She started smiling a few days ago and when ever I pull out my camera she goes right back to her serious face... But here she is.. just glowing with joy!!!

This picture totally reminds me of one of my baby pictures... I'll try to find it and scan it in so we can see if she really does look like me or if I just have high hopes :) But I must say that her eyes are getting darker each day. Yipee... maybe she'll be our little brown eyed girl and we'll have one of each. Sweet Hal has beautiful bright blue eyes but you can't always tell in her pictures because of my incredible photography skills :)

I took this video this morning after I fed Skyler... she was bursting with smiles... and then... a little worried look... and the finale... well, you'll just have to watch and see. :) (you'll have to excuse the "mommy commentary." I get a little excited over this girl!!!!!)

And... the final video of the day... Skyler is totally getting stronger! Check this girl out!! Is she buff or what? :)

She Smirks... But Only For A Moment

Skyler Reese 7 Weeks

Here we are at week 7... She's sleeping, She's eating, She's content... but rather serious, and She smirks... She doesn't really smile, it's more of a smirk... you know those kind of half wanna-be a smile, smiles??? Ya, it's like that. And I haven't been able to catch it on camera for the life of me. :) Joey can get her to do it better than I can... And I love to watch the two of them together...

Mmmmm... what else can I say about these past two weeks... nights are good... she's getting into a little bit of a loose routine... key word, "loose". ;) Nights are fairly predictable... eating at 7pm, 10, 3, and 7am (not bad... not bad I say :). And Days??? Well days are all over the map... Some days she's a sleepy head and other days she's wide awake and chipper. You know me and schedules... I LOVE schedules... so I'm working on it... one day at a time right :)... we'll get there... I'm pretty sure of it :)...

I don't know how much she weighs but I know she's getting big cuz she's grown out of most of her newborn clothes... but she's still swimming in her 0-3 months clothes... Isn't it funny how they make sizes these days???


Skyler's Many Faces

The Yawn

The Pirate Face

The Not Quite A Smile, Not Quite A Smirk Face

We call this one "The Usual" cuz this is what she usually looks like....
Serious... Which is just fine by me cuz she is seriously cute!!!!


Here's a video of Skyler doing what she does best... just hanging out...

My First Trip To The Wild Animal Park

I went to the Wild Animal Park yesterday with the fam... I spent most of the time in the front pack on mommy... It was a little warm , but I like to be warm so I slept almost the whole time... I woke up when we got to the playground to eat... then I just hung out in the stroller the rest of the day and checked out the sights... When we stopped to look at the gorillas my eyes went cross-eyed trying to discern what on earth I was looking at... Those gorillas are funny lookin... :) This is me at at the Wild Animal Park
The Clark Girls

Living One Minute At a Time...

Week Five has brought me to my knees many times over... I'm a little tired... OK... Maybe I'm MEGA TIRED!!! When i'm tired it usually shows itself in tears... Today I had lots of tears... Wanting to know all the answers to all my questions, insecurities, wonders, and doubts about my parenting, I found myself constantly coming up short... I felt like in every situation that came up I just couldn't seem to find my way... When the kids would argue with each other I was at a loss for words on how to guide them and correct them... When Skyer would cry, I found myself holding her face near my face and saying, "What's your deal??? Why are you crying???"... As if she had any idea why she was crying... I was just wishing that she would miraculously open her mouth and tell me in plain english all her needs... It would sure make things a bit easier don't you think...
I knew this time would inevitably come so I planned ahead and prepared some reinforcement... There is a song that I heard in church several months ago and it has ministered to me in so many times over the past few months....
These are the lyrics...

I can see that my hands are trembling, I can see that my legs are weak
I can see that my head is spinning, but I will overcome
And I know that my heart is hurting, And I know that my soul it aches
And I know that it seems I'm failing, but I will overcome,

Chorus:
O Lord I'm strong in You, O Lord I am wise in You
O Lord I can see in You, so I will overcome
O Lord I'm loved by You, O Lord I am free in you
O Lord I'm complete in You
So I will overcome, I will overcome, I will overcome

In the middle of the night when I feel like I am going to just fall apart I listen to this song over and over again... I ask the Lord to remind me that I AM "strong, wise, able to see, loved , free and complete" in Him... Then I repeat Philippians 4:13 over and over again until I fall asleep again...
Sometimes I wish I was super human... I wish that I knew how to be the perfect parent... I wish that I could convince my 2 and 3 year olds that sin stinks and that obedience is a blessing and that they would always choose kindness and never be cruel to one another... I wish that I could go days without sleep and that my body would never feel the repercussions of it all... I wish that I had all the wisdom in the world so that i wouldn't have to struggle through so many things...
But the truth is that there is only one man who was this cool... and I'm glad that I have him in my heart... cuz he helps me minute by minute in my weaknesses...

"But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Thank you Lord that you are so strong in my life right now... because, right now... I am so weak...

Today at the doctors we found out that Skyler has gained over 2 lbs and has grown 1 inch over the past 3 weeks... She's now weighs 8 lbs, 6 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long... She's doing great... She's waking up more often at night... (Maybe she likes spending time with me and the Lord :) or maybe she's just hungry :)

Aunt Amy captured a little smile... she sure is a cute little one, huh?
Until next week...

She's Awake!

Week 4... She's finally starting to wake up...
She's so beautiful when her eyes are open...
She's still as peaceful as ever...

I love to carry her around when she's awake... With three kiddos, it's little things like this allow me to feel close to each one... When Skyler is in the carrier I feel like I am able to spend time with her even though we aren't talking or really interacting much... it's a sweet time for me and i have a suspicion that it is for her too :)

She's still quite flimsy... She just kinda flops everywhere :)... But she is getting better with her head; she's able to hold it up by herself for short periods of time and even turn it from side to side in order to follow my voice as I talk to her... If I talk to her in her left ear she'll turn her head to the left; If I talk in her right ear she'll turn her head to the right... It's kinda cool :)

Her hair is already getting lighter... bummer... I had high hopes that maybe one of our babies would be dark like me... Oh well, it's a good thing that their Papa is one handsome guy!!!

She's also chunking up... We have another check up appointment with the doctor next Tuesday so we'll find out how much she weighs... I tried to put a shirt on her yesterday that was huge on her when i brought her home... Now I can't even get it over her belly...
She's a good little eater; she now eats about 4 ounces at each feeding...

She's cute as ever and I am loving every second that I have with her... genuinely :)

Welcome Shower

Skyler Reese...
Showered with love...The Schmaltzy gals loving on Skyler

New friends, Barbara and Felicity...

Precious Beth... won the play dough baby game with her mohawk, guitar playing baby...

Little treasures Isabella and Kathryn helped out with the gifts...

Pretty party favors...

Vibrant center pieces...

Eloquent yet Simple decor...

Delectable Delights...

A "close to her heart" gift from Papa for Mama... It has three charms with the names of each of her babies...

Thank you all for holding me, praying over me, and loving on me at my shower...