Skyler Reese Clark

A few more weeks to go...

2009-06-05T20:25:00.000-07:00

She's 11 months old already. It's just pure craziness. Sweet little Reesie, believe it or not, has a mind of her own. She's in that phase where she doesn't much care for being corrected. I'm not sure if it's a girl thing or just a clark kid thing, but the past few weeks she has turned into a drama queen.

She's super interested in the stairs. I don't want to put a gate up so i have been diligent in teaching her to NOT CLIMB THOSE STAIRS. When she starts to climb, I go over to her and very gently say no and give her the tiniest little flick on her hand. Then she puts her head up and starts wailing!!! Not cool. Not cool, I say. She most certainly does not care to be corrected. (What do ya know, after 10 months with a peaceful, perfect in my eyes, little girl, it turns out she's completely human after all. :)

She's totally standing these days... cruising around on whatever she can lift herself up on. She has only four words, Mama, Papa, More & Siah (She actually calls him YiYa. It really is the cutest thing ever watching her crawl around the house looking for her brother and shouting his name over and over again, "Yiya, Yiya, Yiya!!!!!!!"

She dances. Yes, really! When we are driving she sits in the back seat and bobs her head to the music. (Which as a side note, she really does NOT care for being in her carseat. She spends most of the time pulling on her straps hoping with all her being that she will be able to pull them of of her chest.)

She still has the best laugh ever. She's super independent. Today I was making dinner and I realized that I hadn't seen Reesie for a few minutes. All the older kids were playing outside. Tara went out there to see what Reesie was up to. She was playing ball with the rest of the kids. She seriously plays for a long time by herself. I must admit that I really love that about her.

She went on her first camping trip this month and did better than awesome. She slept throught the night both nights and started to fuss around 4am. So I went and laid with her next to her bed and she fell back asleep till 7:30 both mornings. She played everywhere and jumped right in with the rest of the kids at the creek and on the grassy field. She played on the playground, and crawled around in the dirt. She was awesome and I was so proud of her .

Some other things that I love about her... she's so cuddly, she lets me old her all the time and she buries her head in my chest. She claps her hands on command now. She waves hi and goodbye (it's the same wave for both :).

She's such a treasure.

Until next month when we celebrate her first birthday!!!!

Who? What? How?

2009-05-01T14:09:00.000-07:00

Who's turning TEN months old tomorrow??? What happened to bring us to this point?? How could all these months have already gone by?

Month ten was loaded with great and glorious things...

Our little Reesie
crawls,
claps,
says, "Papa," "Mama", & "More."

She gave us a little scare this month... But the Lord healed her in a day and she has been her sweet self ever since...

She only has two teeth that are all the way in... But she has four other teeth that feel like they have been "coming in" for weeks now... Oh well, I'm sure they will pop through one of these days...

I know that her teeth are bothering her & she is most certainly NOT sleeping that great during the day (fine at night though :)... But the strange but really cool blessing about the whole thing is that with baby number three, I know these hard phases will pass... there is an end in sight, and I must confess that makes it so much easier to get through each day with joy...

What can I say about Ressie...
At 10 months she weighs 19lbs, 2 ounces
She's already in 12-18 month clothes... She's growing a lot like Siah did when he was a wee lad... He was a BIG baby, but now he's tall and lanky...

She's down to 2 bottles a day... She totally knows how to drink out of a cup all by herself... So she drinks a lot of water throughout the day in addition to her bottles...
She seriously eats everything that I put in front of her...

She celebrated her very first Easter... She really wasn't that into the egg hunt, or even the delicious food... But she loved having all the people over at our house... She really does love people... But the past few weeks she has really been into her Mama... I must confess I kinda like that she likes me... :) Cuz I sure do like her to!!!!

It's hard to believe that in 8 short weeks we will be at the one year mark... What a day of celebration it will be!!!! This little treasure continues to bless our socks off!!!!
Happy ten months little love!!!!

9 months and counting....

2009-03-29T19:16:00.001-07:00

Hello... Yes, it's been NINE fabulous months!!!! I have a REAL treasure on my hands!!!

When I look at Reesie just in everyday life, I feel like she looks exactly like Josiah, except with earrings and pink clothes... But I pulled up some old pictures tonight and discovered that they are definitely related but they are not the twins that I sometimes picture them to be...

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Close up...

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Bath Time....

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Eating Time...

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Lip Biters...

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Big Eyes...

This month has been full of awesome accomplishments and milestones, if you will... I know that I say this every month but little Reesie lights up my life!!!

She is sooooo loud! She is LOUDER than any of the other MSC! She's a screamer... not like a tantrum or in anger... she just talk in one volume and that volume is LOUD! I think she just wants us to know that she is here... Mission accomplished!!!

I love the stage when you can give them finger foods... In so many ways it makes my life so much easier... I can feed her maily what I give the rest of the family now, I just break it into some tiny pieces, and with her two little teeth she manages to get it down. I think she likes the idea of feeding herself better as well. The other day she ate almost an entire meatball all by herself!!!! We also drove to LA last week to pick up a tripple jogger that I have been saving for for months! I found a used one on craigslist and it turned out to be even better than I thought it was going to be... Anyways, I am telling you all of this because on the way home Reesie started to get fussy and I had one of those teething biscuits with me so I gave it to her and she was QUIET as a mouse the WHOLE way home!!! Praise God for new phases! There is seriously something awesome about every phase of our children growing up. I am so grateful that the Lord is helping me to see the major blessing in the little things! As a mom the little things feel so big! This time of my life with my MSC is above and beyond anything that I could have imagined!! I am in LOVE!

Anyways, back to Reesie... She's not a speed crawler yet but she can definitely get herself where ever she wants to go... She's at that phase where she puts EVERYTHING in her mouth... I have got to get better at keeping an eye out for all those tiny things in the carpet that nobody can see but somehow Reesie manages to find them and eat them on a daily basis... I won't go into detail but she has had some interesting stuff in her diaper lately... yuck!

She's growing up... She's getting more independent... She's a total sweet heart! And I completely cherish every second I have with my little treasure! I have no idea what the number of herr days might be but I know that God has already used this girl for his glory... to draw me closer to him and to see that there is joy in everyday if only we will ask the Lord to help us see it!

Tonight as I was putting her jammies on after her bath, this overwhelming feeling of gratefulness came over me and i found myself thanking the Lord for the way that the baby lotion smells so sweet on her skin, and for the soft warm jammies that I could put on over her chubby little legs... which reminded me of what a blessing it is that I am able to feed my little treasure good food... several times a day... everyday... And as silly as it might sound, I got a little teary-eyed in the bathroom tonight as I buttoned her last button and swooped her up in my arms, and heard her precious little giggle in my ear. I'm just grateful that she's here... that the Lord entrusted her to Joey and I... And it is my privilege to teach her all about HIM!

Ok, I think I've gone on and on long enough... until next month...

8 Marvelous Months

2009-03-02T13:37:00.000-08:00

Here we are again... Little Reesie is 8 months old today...

The exciting news is that she finally got her first tooth... I can't get a picture of it for the life of me but it's the one in the front on the bottom right... I was praying that she would get a bunch at one time so that we could get over the whole teething phase sooner than later... but no such luck here... She only has one lonely tooth with no other ones in sight...

Moving on... mmmm... Let's see... let's start with eating... she started smacking her lips while she eats... it's kinda cute...

Joey recently got a little video of how Reesie really feels about eating... she swallows every bite... but not without expressing how she feels...

She started saying "Papa" this month... If you listen really closely you can hear her say it once in the video above...

She's also on the verge of crawling... I posted a video of it on our family blog if you would like to check it out... she can push herself all over the place but she only goes backwards...

If she's on the ground, she's up on all fours... She's just not going anywhere yet... :)

Since she started getting her tooth she chews on her tongue all day long... it's her built in teether I guess :)

When Papa took her to the doctor a few weeks ago she weighed a whopping 17lbs 2 ounces, and was still 27 1/2 inches tall... She's in the 95% for both her height and her weight... it's fun how different each Kid is... Skyler is hardly the petite little girl that Hal was, and still is... Hal is a little over two years older than Reesie but she only weighs ten pounds more than Ressie does now at 8 months...

Ressie had her first Valentines Day party this February... She was an angel... she LOVED having all those people around... she let anyone and everyone hold her and she just kinda hung out and observed everything that was going on... I am convinced that she is a people person... we'll see how that pans out as she gets older...

Reesie and Mommy at the Vday party...

I think that's about it for this month....

Until next time...

She's Movin On Up!!!

2009-02-01T14:52:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Reesie... what a face :)

Here we are at month 7!!!!! Holy Cow!!!! How on earth did we get here? I am sitting on the couch, Superbowl 43 is about to start, and Reesie is fast asleep upstairs... Sometimes I wonder what it will be like ten years from now with my little Reesie... I have this feeling that she will not be fast asleep upstairs... We are quickly discovering that she likes to be in the middle of everything and everyone... Put her in a room full of friends and she's content for hours. She LOVES people!!!

I have been putting her on her stomach a lot lately and she is trying SOOO hard to get herself over to where Josiah and Halee are playing... but she can only push herself backwards, which usually means that she is pushing herself away from her brother and sister... Once she realizes that she's further away she starts screaming! Not crying, but more like yelling, "What's going on? How the hec did I end up over here????"

She definataley knows how to hold her own... When she is playing with something and someone comes and takes it from her she starts that whole yelling bit again... and when they give it back she stops yelling IMMEDIATELY and gets a smile on her face! I know that it's not a good way for her to get what she wants but in all honesty I think it is hilarious! I wish that I could get it on video so that I could send it to America's Funniest Home Videos and win $10,000!!! But every time I pull out the camera she doesn't do it any more! Oh well...

In other news, she can totally sit by herself! And she LOVES her walker... she has this sense of freedom in that walker that she loves... Check out the video below and check out the smile on her face!!! She's freeeee!!!

Below is a little video of my Reesie sitting all by herself... you go girl!!!

Please excuse my commentary on both videos... I guess you're never aware of how you sound until you hear how silly you sound on these videos :)

I am not sure if she will ever officially have a name...We call her so many things but it seems that "Reesie" has been sticking lately... We'll have to see if we call her that next month :).
She's 7 months and has NO teeth!!! I don't even see any on the horizon! She is full of fun... She still laughs at the tiniest little things... I just love it!

She's easy going, almost always has a runny nose, sleeps 11-12 hours at night, takes two naps during the day, her goopy eye has magically disappeared, she's always covered in baby food or spit up (at first I tried to change her clothes often and always keep her clean, that lasted for about two days when I realized that all that was doing was adding more laudry for me to do. :) She's another Clark treasure!!!!

Here are some pictures of this month... Enjoy :)

Like I said, always snotty...

A total Reesie face...

Drool, drool, drool... always drool...

I love this hat... both girls have worn it and maybe one day we'll have another girl who can wear it too...

She sure does love this pacifier... And I must admit that I love that she loves it!

Like i said, this is what her clothes usually look like... covered in baby food and recycled baby food :)

Well until next month... maybe then we'll have a tooth or two :)

Look Who's six Months Old!!!

2009-01-03T14:22:00.000-08:00

I know I say this every month but seriously where has the time gone???? My little Reesie is already half way though her first year of life... I can hardly believe my eyes... And my heart and my mind can hardly keep up on all the ways that she is growing up...

She's waaaaay past the newborn thing... that phase flew by with Reesie... even though she didn't sleep through the night until 13 weeks (3 weeks later than the other two kids), I finally (by the time the third kid came) put my heart and that newborn time in the Lord's hands and He just blessed me beyond anything I could have thought up on my own... He changed my attitude and my outlook towards all the difficulties of those first few months.... The nights were not nearly as painful as they were with the first two (not that they were any less exhausting, they were just conquered with a different perspective)... oddly, there were many nights that I found joy being awake with my little girl... It was the only time a day that it was just the two of us...

I soaked it up and now I'm thrilled with phase two... Sleeping all night, settled into her naps... eating four meals a day... rolling... holding and chewing on everything that she can get her hands on... full of smiles and laughter... hanging out in her walker... able to entertain herself for twenty to thirty minutes at a time... a chatter box who is constantly covered in drool!!! She is a LOUD talker... I guess being #3 she instinctively knows that you gotta speak up if you want to be heard... everyone has something to say and it seems that it all needs to be said at the exact same time... We are working hard with the older kids on respectfully waiting our turn to say what we need to say; key word, "working on!" Reesie on the other hand, has one volume... LOUD! We might have to work on that when she gets older!!!

Anyways... She has been quite sick this past week with a runny nose and a cough, some fevers and an ear infection... Besides the snotty nose and the dreadful cough you might not even guess that she was sick... She's sleeping like a champ and still loaded with giggles and smiles..

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Well here are the most recent glamour shots of our precious treasure...

She definitely has her own look... She is for sure a Clark but with her own special flare!

She still likes her pacifier but she has added her fingers into the mix...

You can hardly tell that she has been super sick this whole past week...

She loves this walker... She'll hang out in it for a good half hour...

Kindred Spirits!!!

Well, until next month... This is the Mama signing out...

My First Christmas...

2008-12-27T21:09:00.001-08:00

My Very First Christmas was just lovely...
Here are some highlights...

Our dear Friends the Barons took some family photos for us...

Mommy loves this picture of me... she put this hat on one morning and went a little crazy with the camera...

Our decorated tree... we are... the three amigos...

My cousins came down to visit to bless my mommy!!!

We went to see Christmas lights... I got to sit in the front seat with mommy while we drove around the neighborhood... I just stared at all the lights!!

Just spending time with my mama...

We visited Gramma and Grandpa in Fremont...

Granny DeeDee baked us some delicious gingerbread cookies...

I have been trying to eat my peas without making a face but I can't help myself... They're just so, kinda, really yucky!

On Christmas eve I went to the wild animal park... The park was empty and we had such a good time...

On Christmas morning aunt Mindy and Uncle Jason came over... Papa made a delicious breakfast, we read the Christmas story and opened gifts...

Then we spent the afternoon with Granny and Gramps... Granny made a delicious dinner... we spent time together by the fire... opened gifts... Granny's great at making things special!

It was a lovely Christmas!!! Aren't I cute???

A most Merry Chirstmas from me... Skyler Reese!!!

She has got to be one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me!!!

2008-12-17T09:12:00.000-08:00

She is a cuddle bug... The other kids were never as into being in my arms as Skyler is... it has been such a blessing these past few weeks... The poor girl, if she was not sleeping she was in my arms!!! I have been extra grateful for Skyler ... for her smell... for the way that she buries her head in my chest ... for her giggles... for her smile...

She is a TV watcher... But it's not what you think... She loves "American Chopper" and "Sunday Night football." She'll sit on the couch for an hour without a peep, with her blanket and her pacifier. She's super content a good 90% of the time.

We can't leave herr on the couch anymore unless we're right there to catch her... She rolls right off!!! She's getting way better with tummy time these days... she actually even has some fun every once in awhile...

Look how long she is... when did this happen????

Honey, I think you got a little something on your face!!!!

This girl is the messiest eater in town!!! But nothing a giant warm wash cloth can't fix!

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Loving you more and more each day my precious Skyler!!!!

Five Month Update...

2008-12-04T17:07:00.000-08:00

Can you see her LONG eyelashes... Aren't they beautiful? :)

We went to the doctor today for a little check up and we have a happy, healthy baby! She's is 27 1/2 inches which is SUPER tall, over the 100 percentile!!! Which is kinda funny to me because Joey and I aren't that tall... :) Her head is not as off the charts as it was the last time we went in (that's kinda nice that she's growing into her head! :) And finally, she's 15 lbs 5 ounces! You go girl!

Lately when I set her down, leave the room, and come back she's in a totally different spot in the room than where I set her down. I love that she's doing so many new things all the time...

She's also moved into a four hour schedule this past week which I LOVE! It's so nice that she eats only four times a day now... three "meals" with rice cereal or vegtables and a bottle... then one last battle before bed. She has been sleeping like a champ since we got home from Texas. She's finally settling into some decent naps... Today had to be one of the best nap days since she was born. She slept this morning for two hours and this afternoon for a little less than two... It feels so good to have things "settled in"... I love this stage with my whole heart... I love waking up in the morning to the sound of Skyler talking to herself through the monitor... it's one of my favorite sounds.

This girl has got a plethora of faces...

Happy Five months my sweet girl!!! I sure do love you...

I Can Sit... Well, Sort Of

2008-11-18T09:06:00.001-08:00

This past week I have learned some new tricks... I am starting to sit a little bit on my own... I kinda still fall forward a lot but I really am getting better each day...

I have also started pushing myself forward when I am on my tummy... I pull my legs up under me and thrust my self forward... I can get half way across the room but then I get tired and super mad and start screaming... what can I say, when I'm done, I'm done!!!

I just absolutley love Siah... I get bashful around him... When he talks to me my whole face lights up. He can make me smile more than anyone else!!

What a face... :)
Until next time...

It Was My First Time Eating Food Today...

2008-11-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

I have been waking up at night for the past five nights so today Mommy gave me some rice cereal for the first time. I ate it like i was an old pro! i didn't even really spit it out like Siah and Hal did when they first had cereal.

Ok, so I got a little bit on my lips... but for the most part I slurped it all down...

What is that stuff??? Whatever it is, it's mighty tasty! :)

Just wanted to show you some pictures of my new trick :)

Can You Believe She's Four Months Old!!!!!!!

2008-11-10T14:41:00.000-08:00

I am so stoked and yet so stunned that Skyler is already FOUR MONTHS old!!!! We're that much closer to the one year mark which has become my success date... I have in my head that if we make it to the one year mark we can do ANYTHING! The past few weeks have been up and down; good and bad; fun and crazy!

The past few weeks we have been calling Skyler "Reesie". Reesie has had a cold off and on. Just when she gets rid of one, she has a break for a day or two then catches another one. She's still been sleeping pretty good at night but she has been waking up at 5 every morning and talking at the TOP of her lungs. (I feel kinda bad for our neighbors). Who wants to wake up at 5am?? Not the Mommy!!! But I have been getting up and feeding her, then putting her back to bed and going for a morning walk. Whenever I get back she's asleep so that's nice. It's been nice having time in the morning to get some exercise and have some quiet time before all the kids wake up. :)

She's been super crazy every time we feed her... She drinks about an ounce then freaks out for about 20 seconds then drinks another ounce... But she's eating plenty and doesn't seem upset after she's, done so there you go. I'm pretty sure her nose is just plugged and that makes it hard to eat. We've been cleaning out the poor girl's nose like crazy. She doesn't like it very much, and rightfully so, I'm sure that it doesn't feel that good.

But as you can see, she is still full of smiles... She looks a lot like my mom to me... Which blesses me throughout the day to have those little glimpses of my mom.

Although she loves to smile she still has her many serious moments. She's so funny... you can make her belly laugh then right away she'll go back to her serious face.... which makes it even more funny.

Anyways, here we are at four months... pluggin through and feelin blessed!

Notice anything different about me???

2008-10-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Skyler here... So I'm sixteen weeks old and today I went to the mall with the whole fam... everything was fine and dandy ... I was laughing and smiling and having a good old time... Mommy took me into this store that had all these amazing shiny things, hair bows, scarfs, hats, necklaces and everything.. Mommy started talking to the lady at the counter ... then she took me out of the stroller and held me ... The lady behind the counter was so sweet, she started talking to me and making me laugh... Then she took a pen and put a little dot on each of my ears.. I thought it was funny and I giggled ... Finally she pulled out this crazy lookin white thing and put it up to my ear...... Then BAM!!!! I started screaming!!!! The nice lady quickly turned into the mean lady ... She saw that I was crying but she still pulled out the white thing again and, BAM AGAIN!!! She stabbed the other ear!! Can you believe it??? Then my crazy mother kept whispering in my ear, "you're ok, your ears look so beautiful." What in the world??? Painful and bright red, Yes! Beautiful, that's not the first word that came to my mind! :)

Anyways, as you can see (below), I totally got over the pain and got my smile back. :)

Check em out... below you have a much better view...

Now the other side...

Up close and personal...

I'm getting super big...

I have been sick this week with a yucky cold... I can't breath so good so it makes it difficult for me to eat, but i still manage... This is my second cold since I was born... I've also been super tired... mommy put me in my bumbo chair so that she could make lunch for my brother and sister and I started getting a little sleepy...

Then I TOTALLY sacked out...

A little more info about me this week...

I have started to grab onto EVERYTHING! I grab onto Mommy hair several times a day and hold on for dear life...

I love my blanket and my pacifier...

I have been sleeping from 7-7 for the past few weeks (mommy's blessed :)...

The nap thing is finally starting to set in for me as long as we stay home for the day...

I bite my lower lip ALL the time...

Well that's the scoop for now... Next week I will show you my spiffy Halloween costume... :)

Toodles :)

Wanna Hear Something Cute?

2008-10-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Here's our sweet little Skylee laughing!!! I think it is probably one of my favorite sounds in the whole world, along with Siah and Hal's belly laughs... Hope you enjoy it too :)

She doubled in size!!!

2008-10-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

Skylee at 31/2 months

Last week I took Skylee to the doctor for her 2 month check up (yes, I am a little behind with the doctor visit thing considering that she is already 3 1/2 months!!! Oh well, I'm giving myself a little grace :) Any who... She has nearly doubled her birth weight... When I brought her home she weighed 6lbs 2 ounces and now she is a whopping 12lbs!!!! It's wierd to think that she has doubled her weight in just twelve weeks... thank goodness that didn't happen to me in the past twelve weeks!!! That would be kinda crazy :)

Sorry about all the tangents... So she's 25 inches long and in the 90% for her height!! (Also kinda weird to me cuz Joey and I are NOT tall folks :)

She looks a little cross-eyed cuz she's trying to watch
"You Tube" on Papa's iphone and she can't quite make it out :)

I don't remember her head measurements but I know that she has a big head cuz the doc so... (always something you wanna hear about your perfect little girl... she has a big head :)... all the kids have had big heads... I like to think that that's because the girls are going to be astrophysicists, and Josiah is going to be President of The United States... And they will need to their big heads to store all that information that they are in need of knowing... :) Fun thought huh? :) It could happen :)

Joey is good at making Skylee laugh... which is really no surprise cuz
I think he's pretty much good at making all of us laugh :)

Ok so seriously... Skylee is another JOYFUL Clark... I feel super stoked that the Lord has blessed Joey and I with genuinely joyful children... Most of the time that Skylee is awake she has a smile on her face... This morning while I was getting her dressed she totally started laughing for no reason at all (I wasn't tickling her or anything)... I asked her if she thought I had picked out a funny outfit or something... she giggled some more (I'm glad that somebody likes my corny jokes)...

She's completely fun and i am so glad that God created her just so perfectly for our family!!! WOOHOO!

Skylee and Papa watching "You Tube" videos together. It's one of her favorite "past times," that is if she's even old enough to have a favorite "past time."

I can't believe she's 3 months old!!!!!

2008-09-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

Skylee Reesee Piecee... (Her knew nickname:)
She's 12 weeks and a few days now... Last week she started sleeping through the night!!! Halelujah!!!! She sleeps usually from 7-5, I feed her, then she goes back to sleep until 7:30 0r 8!!! Let's just say that Mommy is super stoked!!!

This week she laughed for the first time while we were all playing with her... It was so cute...

She loves to stand up and she doesn't much care for tummy time at all :)

During meal times we put Skyler in her Bumbo seat so that all of us can eat dinner together...
Just a little update... until next time...

Week 11

2008-09-18T14:54:00.000-07:00

Week 11 is going great... The past week or so she has been sleeping from 7 till 3 then again till 7... I feel refreshed and encouraged... She's sooo happy!!! I feel overwhelming blessed to have a baby with such joy... I know that little ones can be so trying during these first few months while everyone (especially baby) is trying to get settled in to our new life together... But how can I not feel blessed when she talks to me and shoots me these beaming smiles all throughout the day!!!!! I seriously just wanna kiss the girl to death.. She's so stinkin beautiful and amazing!!!! (Which by the way, I have to admit that she is not to fond of all my kisses... She kinda gets annoyed when I kiss her to much... to bad... she should have expected nothing less coming into our family :)

The Clark House Sisterhood... Halee looks like a little girl to me in this picture and not much like a toddler... In person she still looks like a toddler but sometimes I capture pictures like this and I feel like I get a little glimpse of what she might look like when she's grown... Beautiful is what she'll be... My prayer is that her heart is even more beautiful that the sweet little face in these pictures... I pray that for all my kiddos... I pray Lord, that whoever they come in contact with over the years they will look at my kids and say to themselves, " Wow, what a beautiful heart those little girls and boy have!!!" A heart that loves their neighbor, a heart that respects authority, a heart that brings glory to their Father...

Look at those smiles...

Sweet cheeks...

Anyways... There's not much news to report... I just wanted to post a few pictures to mark this week of her precious little life!!!!

Getting Back Into A Routine

2008-09-07T18:42:00.000-07:00

I wanted to keep a little record of how this routine thing is going so that if I find myself doing this newborn thing one more time in a few years I can remind myself that it is a process and that things only get better in time...

So here it goes...

We feed her at 7, 10, 1, 4, and 7 everyday (more or less, If she's hungry earlier, we feed her but she usually falls into the three hour thing on her own)
We started putting Skyler down awake, in her own room, in her own bed, when she was nine weeks and two days old...
Night one... we fed her at 7... put her to bed at 8... she woke up at 12 and 4...we fed her both time and she went right back to sleep... she fussed a little at 6, I changed her diaper, put her back to bed without feeding her... and woke her up at 7 to start her day.

Night two... Almost exactly the same except she slept till 1 instead of 12... everything else was the same

Night three... We fed her at 7... put her to bed at 9... she slept till 3... we fed her and she went right back to sleep... She started fussing off and on from 5:30-6... we changed her diaper at six and put her right back to bed without feeding her... we woke her up at 7 to start her day...

Night Four was just fine..
She fell asleep for a nap @ 5:30pm and she slept till 7 when I woke her up to feed her... I tried with all my might to keep her awake but she kept passing out so around 8 I just put her back in her bed... She slept till 12 then till 3:30... i fed her both times and she went right back to sleep... then she started fussing a little, I put her passie back in her mouth and she went back to sleep until 7...Not bad :)

Night five...
Almost exactly the same as night 4

Night six...
fed her at 7:30 and she slept until 3:45 then I had to wake her up at 7:30 to start her day!!! Hooray!!!

Night seven...
Fed her at 7:30... she slept until 4:22... Sweet!!!!!!!! Then I had to wake her up at 7:30! Slowly by slowly! We are totally getting there!!! Praise be to the Lord!!!

Night eight...
Fed her at 7:30 but didn't put her to bed until 9pm... but she slept until 3:30 ... then again till 6:48!!! She' eating a little more at each feeding during the day too... only about 1/2 ounce more but it seems to be helping her to sleep longer at night...

Glory To God and Gripe Water; Peace Is Back From Her Vacation!

2008-09-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

She's back from CRAZY land!!!!! While we were in Texas one of Skyler's problems was gas, gas, and more gas!!! I can't remember if it was Granny or Aunt Amy who suggested it but we started putting a little 'Gripe Water" in Skyler's bottle and she is a new baby!!!! She gets a little restless sometimes but her fussiness is usually solved with a diaper change, a nap, or a few minutes of patting her on the back until you can get her to burp.

How sweet is this little face...

She's found her fingers this week... She usually sucks on her whole fist though... she hasn't quite figured out how to stretch her fingers out to fit better into her mouth...

I most definitely LOVE this smile!!!!

Is she chunking up or what??? She's getting roles on her thighs!!! Hooray! I have been working on her roles since the day we brought her home from the hospital...

She's nine weeks now... Sleeping is getting better... I decided when we got home from Texas that we would start some sleep training with her... Last night was the first night and it was totally successful... Up till now we would swaddle her every time we put her down and she usually slept in her swing rather than in her bed... and her and I would often sleep down stairs cuz it was easy access to the kitchen for all the middle of the night feedings...
But last night... no swaddle, she slept in her bed, in her room, and we put her down awake so that she could learn to go to sleep by herself...
And she did great!!! We fed her at 7. She didn't even cry when Joey put her down at 8pm... She woke up at 12 and 4, and I put her right back to bed and she went right back to sleep both times... She woke up at 6 with a VERY wet diaper, I changed her and put her right back to bed... She fell back asleep and I woke her up at 7 to start our day!
Night one = a HUGE success...
Week nine consensus... Things are lookin up... Thank you Lord for helping me through each day and thank you for gripe water that has brought my sweet little girl back from her crazy vacation!!

"Peace" Took A Vacation This Week

2008-08-29T06:00:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-22T14:34:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-19T14:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-09T16:01:00.000-07:00

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...

2008-08-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-08-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

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...

Week 3; Still Sleepy

2008-07-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

Sweet Skyler... I took this picture today... She's 3 weeks old already!!!

We made it through week three... Nights are very descent, four and five hour stretches... She wakes up around 4am and grunts for about an hour... you would think that she was trying to go to the bathroom, but no, four out of five times she's not... So I just put her in her own room and she goes back to sleep on her own time... and I get to go back to sleep too... It was an eventful week with Skyler's first bath and first day at the beach...

Some Fun Facts...

*She's drinking almost 3 1/2 ounces every feeding
*She has a little eye infection
*She cries about 10 minutes of the whole day
*She likes to suck her fingers
*She loves to be swaddled
*She's the first Clark kid that likes a pacifier
*We (Mommy, Papa, Josiah, and Halee) like to call her by her first and middle name...
*She gets the hick-ups ALL the time!!!!
*She is our precious blessing and she is sooooooo loved

First Beach Day

2008-07-23T20:00:00.001-07:00

It was my first time at the beach today... I have to admit that I don't think that I got the full beach experience because in all honesty I was sacked out almost the whole time... I opened my eyes for a few moments when mommy woke me up to feed me... but then I passed out again... But next time I plan to smell the salty air, squish my toes in the sand, and watch the waves crash onto the shore... I'll keep you posted!!!!

My brief moment of alertness...

Out again on Mommy's lap...

My First Bath

2008-07-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

By the third kid Mommy finally figured out how to give a "first bath." Skyler is the first baby that didn't scream when we put her in the bath... This time I covered Skyler with a warm wash clothe and she laid there so peacefully and let me wash her... She's soo sweet...

My first bath was Sunday, July 20th...

Skyler has these long scrawny legs... Whenever i get her dressed or undressed she sticks them straight out and refuses to bend them... It adds a little challenge to getting her dressed... Silly girl... :)

Mommy keeps me warm...

Bundled up... It was a good first bath. :)

Week 2... EIGHT GLORIOUS HOURS!!!!

2008-07-17T15:38:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that it has already been two weeks since Skyler Reese arrived!!!! Week 2 was even better than week 1, if that is even possible... She slept like a champ giving her mama four and five hour stretches.. then last night she blessed my socks off with 8 GLORIOUS HOURS!!! I couldn't believe it!!! She slept from 8:30-until 5:00 am!!! It was SOOOOO wonderful... need less to say I woke up feeling like a brand new woman!!! Don't worry... I know that she is still in her sleepy phase and that this sleepy girl will probably be keeping me awake all night long before I know it... So I am just trying to soak up the rest while I can... My friend Mindy blesses my socks off every few days and comes over in the afternoon to watch Skyler while the older kids and I take naps... blessing upon blessing!!!!!

In other news, Skyler seems to be getting a little bit bigger but I must admit that she still looks like a peanut to me... She's staying awake quite a bit more during the day which is so fun for me cuz I feel like her face just lights up when she opens her eyes... I can hardly wait for her to smile...

We also discovered this week that her little tummy doesn't tolerate the kind of formula that we have been giving her very well. So our doctor suggested a different brand and ever since we made the switch she has done so much better... (No more throwing up, less grunting, she can actually go #2 now (she didn't go for almost 3 days with the other stuff... It was not bueno!!!!)
But the doc said that she will not have to have the fancy formula forever, just until her tummy gets a little bit bigger and a little more developed... So praise God, cuz that stuff is expensive!!!!... but she's worth it!!!!

Skyler's belly button thing fell off a few days ago so we are thinking about giving her her first bath sometime soon... I will be sure to post pictures...

Finally, she's working on strengthening her neck... She doesn't like it much on her tummy as you can se in the video below... When we put her on her tummy "Peace" goes out the window :)

Thank you Lord for another joyful week with out peaceful little Skyler....

Blessing upon blessing...

Skyler"s First Photo Shoot

2008-07-13T13:50:00.000-07:00

My Friend Lauren brought us dinner last week and took some pictures while she was over... (Lauren is the same friend who takes our Christmas pictures every year :)

the Lord has really gifted her...

Hope you enjoy the beautiful pictures of our sweet Skyler...

We Call Her "Peace"

2008-07-13T13:34:00.000-07:00

We should have called her Skyler "Peace" instead of Skyler Reese...

Tomorrow morning when I wake up my little Skyler will already be one week old... It's so hard to believe... Thus far she is the most peaceful baby that I have had... Before each new baby comes it's always hard to imagine how I will be able to love a new baby as much as I love the others... but the Lord is faithful as always and he has given me this incredible love and desire for this little girl... She blesses my heart every time that I look at her... She's so tiny she almost fits into the palm of my hand... I know that she will only be this small for a few weeks so I am enjoying every moment that I have with my little peanut...

five out of the last six nights have been great... we had one doosey where she woke up almost every half hour but the rest of the nights she ate every 3-4 hours and then went right back to sleep... When she's awake she just lies in our arms or on the ground or in her swing and looks around... her eyes follow my voice when I walk around the room... basically what I'm trying to say is that she's awesome!!!

We took her to the doctor today and she is starting to gain her weight back... she got down to 6lbs 2 ounces on Saturday but now she is 6, 4...so tiny... the doc said that she is absolutely perfect... I could have told him that :)

i don't really know who she looks like... to me she just looks like Skyler... the only distinct feature that I can pick out are her fingers... they are super long and skinny, just like her grandma Sherry's... My mom used to file her nails in a more rounded shape and even Skyler's nails look like my mom's the way that they are growing in...

Toodles for now...

(I just realized that we don't have any pictures of her with her eyes open... so that's my project for today... I will try to get a few good ones and post them sometime soon :)

Is there such thing as "to good to be true?"

2008-07-12T19:37:00.000-07:00

Content Skyler Reese

Mama here... I woke up Wednesday morning with Philippians 4:6 going through my head... "Be anxious for nothing... " And this unexplainable peace was in my heart... when we left for the hospital I felt joyful and calm (a first for me... usually on "birth day" I'm a total nervous wreck at the thought of what I know I have to do... get the baby out... and the last two times I cried the whole way to the hospital) but this time I smiled the whole way there...

We checked in and got settled in the room... They started my antibiotics... and i took a long nap... at 2:30pm the doc came and broke my water and started a little pytocin (spelling??)... I got my epidural and took another nap... at 5:30 I felt a little pressure... at 5:57 I felt A LOT of pressure... 5 pushes later... at 6:03 I pulled the baby out myself!!!!!! IT WAS SOOOOO COOL!!!
I loved not knowing the sex of the baby ahead of time... announcing to Dr. Rob, Julie, and Joey, (these same three people have been with me to deliver all three of my babies :) that it was a girl was definitely one of the best parts!!

My friend Mindy took this picture
and I just love it cuz it captures exactly how I felt!
I am one happy Mama!

Now our sweet Skyler... The first night was nothing but a blessing... We had our own room (a first for us, the last 2 births we have had to share)... And Skyler slept all night only waking up to eat then falling right back asleep... What a miracle... Night 2 was similar... She was awake around 3am for almost an hour but she just laid next to me totally silent looking around then she sacked out again... It was a sweet treat for my little heart to have that time alone with her... the Lord has been preparing me for months to be awake at that exact hour every night in the middle of the night... and what do ya know, Skyler was awake in my belly at 3 and she was awake last night at 3... It's kinda nice and wonderful that the Lord has prepared me all this time so it didn't feel like a big deal to be up with her...

If I could pick one word to describe Skyler Reese it would be "content". She is so peaceful... I know that it is the only the first two days and that things can and probably will drastically change over the next few weeks and months but I want to cherish these days in my heart and be overflowing with thankfulness cuz I feel like the Lord is POURING out his blessing on me and I want him to receive ALL THE GLORY because he is faithful!!!

Siblings... Josiah and Halee love Skyler... and i'm not just saying that... Especially Halee... She wants to hold Skyler all the time and kiss her and hug her...
Siah is not as into holding her but he's very "proud" to call her his sister... He likes to tell people her name... "This my sister... This Skyler..."

Halee loves to hold "Baby Skyler"

She usually calls her "baby" instead of Skyler...
We called Skyler "baby" for so long cuz we didn't know
if she was a boy or a girl or what her name was... So Halee
hasn't quite made the transition yet...

We are OFFICIALLY a family of 5 :)
(I just love saying that out loud)

I know that this whole experience was as wonderful as it was because of all the amazing family and friends who prayed fervently for us for this moment in our lives... I know with all my heart that this day would not have been the same if you all had not joined together and spoke to the Lord on our behalf... To me, this day has been joyful evidence that God loves to love on his kids... Sometimes he loves on us through trials and sometimes he loves on us through blessings... Thank you Lord for this season of blessing!!!! i love you Lord more than life!!

Blessing upon blessing... :)

Introducing Skyler Reese Clark

2008-07-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is the proud Papa of sweet Skyler. She is so precious!!! She was born last night, July 2nd @ 6:03 pm and weighed in at 6 pounds, 9 ounces, and stands a lengthy 19 1/2 inches tall. Ok, she doesn't stand yet, but she is a smart little girl. In fact she can already count to 3. Check it out in these pictures...

3

ll this counting and showing off her tricks wore her out though and she decided to sack out and sleep through the night only waking every few hours to eat and get a new diaper. It was such a great night. Hopefully it continues like that ;) This morning she woke up and decided to be chipper for a bit...

I think she takes after her momma, because that is what her momma looks like when she wakes up in the morning. I call it the 'don't bother me, i'm still asleep' face. It is very cute on momma and Skyler!

Anyways, Kacy and the baby are still at the hospital and are doing great! We will keep you posted as to when we get out. Thank you to everyone who helped pray this beautiful little girl into the world. We can't wait to introduce her to everyone.

Meeting My Family

2008-07-12T19:05:00.001-07:00

Granny Smith

Papaw and Granny DeeDee

My God Parents... Uncle Jason & Aunt Mindy

Uncle Andrew & Aunt Amy

Welcome To The World

2008-07-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

Just moments after you were born...

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside,

then out;

you formed me in my mother's womb.

I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!

Body and soul, I am marvelously made!

I worship in adoration—what a creation!

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something.

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.

Psalm 139:13-16

You sporting your special eye gel....

Your newborn foot prints...

Our first family of five photo....

Lots of family came to visit you in the hospital right after you were born... Halee and Josiah, Granny and Gramps, Granny DeeDee and Papaw, your God parents Jason and Mindy...

There were so many people praying for you little Skyler... you are one loved little girl...