sweet baby

                                                   reading!

                             waiting for breakfast! 6 months old! 

pumpkins and halloween

we thought we'd get some really cute "fall" (and free) pictures of anders outside of whole foods, but he wasn't having it...he could've cared less to have his picture taken. he was too busy chewing on his clothes.

now more interested in his finger..
pod of peas! this lasted a total of 10 minutes before he got hot and started screaming.

5 months old and first trip to MS

we had our first trip to jackson on the 7th. anders was PERFECT on the trip there and back. he slept most of the time and just woke up to play or eat for a minute. we had such a wonderful, awesome trip home. anders met g-mama and papou, ginger got married, and we got to visit with family and a lot friends we haven't seen in a while. we also had a HUGE baby party at our friends jay and jackie's house. the picture above is us attempting to get a picture of all the babies. that's the best photo we got. they were all over the place!! i was pretty busy with gin's wedding preparations (FUN!!) so, we didn't get alot of visits in to some people..but we'll hit them up our second round home in november for thanksgiving!!! we can't wait to some back and see everyone...again! it was a fun, successful trip and anders did so well, we were impressed!!

so anders is 5 months old now! he's rolling over from his back to tummy now. he actually started it the day he turned 5 months old. he also is babbling and cooing like crazy! it's SO cute and makes me laugh all the time now. he's such a source of entertainment..i can sit and watch him all day!!! he's reaching and grabbing for everything! and everything he gets goes into his mouth. he focuses so well on things and loves to touch things. he's started a cute little game where he stares at you until you look at him and then he looks away and squeals, then he looks back at you to see if you're still looking at him! it is adorable! he's starting to sit up by himself now...sort of. he can for a few seconds by himself. by thanksgiving he will be sitting up! he is absolutely the best baby ever!!

happy baby!

4.5 months old!

anders had his 4 month check up a couple of weeks ago. he's in the 50th percentile in height (25 inches) & weight (14.6lbs) and his head is of normal size! yay! the doctor said he's perfect. he is still having issues with his eyes, the doctor said it is his tear ducts and if they do not clear up by 9 months old, he will have surgery. hopefully we will not need it.

he is reaching for everything now and putting whatever he gets into his mouth! hearing him laugh is the cutest thing! he gets really teased and will laugh and hide his face and then look at me out of the corner of his eye! he loves to be held but now he's getting to where he likes to be put down on his stomach and patted on the back to go to sleep. he is rolling over from his tummy to his back but hasn't quite figured out how to get from his back to his tummy..he's trying though! i have seen a temper starting to develop over the last week too! he's getting to where he is screaming out really loud if he doesn't like something. he fights sleep now, which is no fun...he usually does not go to sleep without a fight. he just wants to stay awake as long as jakob or i are awake. i think he's scared he's going to miss something. we started on cereal a couple of days ago. he's doing great. i mix in a little applesauce or pears with it and he eats the heck out of it!! i'm getting anxious about when to start weaning him to the bottle. my goal was 6 months old, which is 6 weeks away (whoa!)...but we will see. if he's not ready, i'm not going to push it, but i'm getting kind of ready. i'm not too comfortable with the idea of breastfeeding a child with teeth or that is going to be teething, so i'm guessing we will start the weaning process sometime in november. i'm also ready to start back working and don't want to still be exclusively breastfeeding while i'm working full time. sooooo...wish us luck...i think he may have a hard time giving this one thing up!!!!

time is really going by extremely fast. and because of this, i hold anders whenever/for however long i want, don't let him cry for very long when he wants to be picked up, kiss him and squeeze him....i don't think you can "spoil" a 4 month old and even if you can, i don't care...he's only a certain age once and i will never get any of these moments back. sometimes i pick him up in the middle of him napping just to hold him and i don't care if he wakes up, i just want to hold him because i won't be able to when he's not a baby anymore. jakob walked up to him the other night when he was asleep after getting home late and anders had already gone to bed. he looked at me and said that he wanted to hold him so bad...so, i told him just to pick him up and hold him. there's no rule that he can't. and yes, as exhausted as i am, i told him if he woke up, i'd deal with him and stay up to put him back down. i'm just so glad that he's here, healthy and happy, i'll take an hour less of sleep just to have him smiling at me and cooing at 12 at night.

oh, i've noticed i haven't updated on our house in a while. it's made progress! as of last monday, the insulation has been put in. they should be sheetrocking it this weekend. i'm thinking it may be finished end of october!! we're so excited. this has been a stressful year long process that jakob and i are ready to put to and end! i will post about the process of this ordeal later. but, we've made it through and hopefully will be in our new house in a little over a month!!

my cousin cameron is leaving for iraq as we speak, so please keep him in your thoughts.
oh, and today is my sister's birthday..i forgot to call (mom brain is like having mashed potatoes for brains)...so, i'm sending her a happy birthday across the world wide web! also, my mom (yia yia) came for a visit this past week! we had a fun visit...i don't think i've ever heard anders laugh so much. i was sad to see her go..but we will be in jackson in a couple of weeks for ginger's wedding and anders will get to finally meet a lot of family! i'm so excited about him meeting his g-mama for the first time. it's his only living great-grandparent! i will have a lot of pics to post after his first trip to mississippi!!!!

3.5 months..yay!

the pictures of anders in the blue suit i took a couple of days ago..it's the same blue suit that jakob and his brother wore when they were his age. i've been thinking it was too big and was putting off trying it on him but the other day i just grabbed it and thought i'd try it on for fun...the button on the back of the neck almost didn't button! it fit perfectly! i love these pictures because i feel like they really show anderson's personality! it's so neat to see him so focused on things and react now. he lights up whenever jakob or i walk into a room. he laughs all the time. my favorite thing he does is balls up his fists in front of him and says "a-goo." it's the cutest thing ever! i'm constantly laughing at him because he gets so tickled at things and will laugh and hide his face but look at me out of the corner of his eyes. adorable!! i cannot believe how big he's gotten either! he weighs 14 lbs already. such a good baby, too. he barely makes a peep whenever jake and i take him somewhere. he just takes everything in and stares at things around him. we are enjoying every day with him.

pictures! pictures! pictures!

i am 11 weeks old!!!

my flippers!

daddy's favorite outfit, of course!

my hat!!

me and aunt ashley!

time flies!

anderson will be 10 weeks old tomorrow! wow! i know he's still so little, but i find myself getting a little sad that he's grown up this much already! ridiculous, i know, because it's not like he's 11 years old or anything! time is just flying by and before we know it, he'll be going to his first day of kindergarten. ahh! i can't even think about it.

anders had his 2 month check up 2 weeks ago. he weighed 11.8lbs, 22.5 in long, and his head measured 39.5. he was perfect! he got his first round of shots, which he wasn't happy about. he was fussy the next couple of days after that. he also has clogged tear ducts that have made his eyes yucky. i've been putting drops in them and massaging them alot during the day so he won't have to have surgery on them. if they don't get any better by 6 months, then they'll look into some sort of surgery. i hope we don't have to do that, so i'm really trying to get them cleared up.
he has started laughing and smiling ALOT!! he's really so happy. he follows voices and movements. he's figured out how to put his hand in his mouth. he loves to suck on it! he drools alot because of it! i've been supplementing with formula now for about a month and just recently, he's decided he doesn't want anything to do with bottles anymore. i've gone through about 7 different bottles to try to get him to take, but he just won't. all he wants to do is nurse. there's one bottle he'll take if he absolutely has to, but he mostly cries the whole time. so, needless to say, he's never really far from my side!! which is fine by me! he's been such a wonderful addition to our lives, it's crazy!!!! we think he's the greatest thing ever! my little mini-me!

our house is being built also! we're so excited...they're framing it now. hopefully we'll be in it in the next few months. i don't even want to think about packing! this will be my 6th time to move in 3 years!! ugh! i'm a professional! hopefully this will be the last time for awhile.

also, my family came last week for a visit...i was so glad to see everyone..i miss them so much. of course, they couldn't get enough of the baby! we had a lot of fun and i cannot wait to see everyone again.

our house!

these are pictures from the website (solaustin.com). this is not our house, but an exact one that is being built like ours. we signed on our house 3 weeks ago. chris krager (the architect) told us that they should be breaking ground on ours by mid-july...which is right around the corner! the house may be completed by november. we are so excited!!!!!!

oh, boy!!

anderson is now 6 weeks old! wow!

he's now getting on a schedule with feeding and sleeping. he's doing very well at night. last night, he actually went 3 hours between feedings! he's not sleeping as much during the day and really likes to look around now. and the boy LOVES bath time!! he just lays there and looks around. he's grown so much. i'm not sure what he weighs, but i'm guessing 10 pounds. all i know is that the kid has an awesome double chin now! he really likes eating....a lot. it feels like he eats all the time! jakob and i are enjoying him so much! we love laying him in the bed in between us and just staring at him and laughing at all of his moans and grunts. anders makes so much noise, i swear the neighbors can probably hear him! aunt lindsey says he sounds like a swingset when he eats!! and he does! it's hilarious! he has his 2 month check up on july 17 where he will get his first round of shots...ouch...not looking forward to it.


we love him so much! i finally had a night away from him last night to see jakob and joshua play (thank you aunt sarah!) and the whole time i felt weird because i didn't have something attached to me! i missed him so much and felt like such a goob because i wanted to show everyone that asked about him pictures and videos on my phone!! i honestly couldn't wait to go see him! jakob and i are so in love with this little nugget!!

3 weeks of baby!

anderson is now 3 weeks old! it's been a very eventful 3 weeks. we've had lots of visitors, 2 ER visits (one for me and one for anders), jakob went back to work so it's just me and the babe during the day now, and tons of eating (on anders part!). i had a vaginal laceration (probably from the vacuum used to get anders out) and had to be rushed to the hospital by my mom and jakob 6 days after being home. thank goodness my mom and sister were here. anders was fine while i was gone sleeping with his aunt kristie. and aunt kristie was in heaven sleeping with anders! we had a good visit while they were all here. i cannot wait for my family to come back...i will be able to get out of the house with them next time!!! anders had to go to the ER because he threw up a couple of times in a couple of hours. he's been spitting up a lot and throwing up sometimes after he eats, so we went to the ER to get it checked out. turns out, he has reflux. go figure. jakob and i both have it bad. inri even has reflux! it's only perfect that anders has it too. so now, he's on baby zantac. and he HATES it. he gags and makes faces and spits it out. so dramatic. so part of my family.
we're all adjusting well. jakob is now getting used to interrupted sleep. he's on diaper duty on the weekends...meaning he gets up during the night on the weekends to change the diapers. anders gets up every 2-3 hours to eat. i usually get 6 hours of sleep during the night! of course not consistantly. he's really a good baby. and SO cute! he's grown so much. he's now out of newborn clothes. he's starting to stay awake a lot more. he kind of laughed the other day. i thought my heart was going to explode when i heard him and looked over and saw him smiling and making a laughing noise. he grunts and groans more than any baby i've ever been around. he makes a TON of noise when he eats and sleeps. it's hilarious. he's such a boy!!
it's funny because i can't wait to see what he's going to look like at 6 months or what he's going to sound like when he starts talking and i can't wait for it. but also, i found myself getting sad that he's outgrown his newborn clothes! i want things to speed up, but also want them to stay the same..its weird. time flies by so fast. i'm really trying to take in all i can with him now. i know that when he's running outside to play or going to his first day of 3rd grade, that i will want to be back sitting in this chair, holding him and watching him sleep at 3 weeks old again.

welcome to the world, anderson!!

anderson atley clark decided to arrive at 9:27 am on wednesday, may 13th, 2009. he was 6lbs 10oz and 19.5 inches. i labored for 22 hours, mainly because he got stuck in the birth canal and had to be vacuumed out..he's had a rad bump on his head that is slowly going away. that was my luck. thanks, son. appreciate it!! i was all worth it though. jakob and i are undecided though if we're going to have another one this way!! it's still a little too early to forget about the pain. we'll revisit the topic at a later time. like, 3 years from now.

we're doing great. he's passed all of his tests so far..he even got his first certificate for getting 100% on his hearing test! he's a good sleeper, right now. we'll see how that turns out later on. hopefully he'll keep that up. he loves being held, of course! and most of all, he's the most beautiful baby ever born! we both can't stop staring at him! this whole 9 month ordeal was amazing. tough, fun (at times), and especially rewarding.

now, here comes the fun, stressful, scary, and interesting part. raising our son. here goes nothing!!!!

full term and a gift

37 weeks! he's now officially full term! hopefully he will realize that and come out next weekend. i'm probably going to be wrong but i feel like he's coming in the next week or 2. i have a doctor's appointment wednesday, so we'll see if there's been any action this past week. cross your fingers and say a prayer.

jakob and i heard from the architect that's doing our house. they've started on a few houses in the development and he says that they will be breaking ground on ours the end of this month. we'll see. i'd like to believe him, but i'm not getting my hopes up! i know it may be september or october before this is all over with. which is fine, because anders will be a little older when we move.

i know you've all heard it by now, but i have a fantastic story to share. jakob and i were doing yardwork yesterday and i noticed (after being outside for 30 minutes already) that there was something growing in the dirt beside our front door. i walked over to it because i thought maybe it was a weed i needed to pick. the thing is, that whole area was dug up back in january because we had some drainage issues. they filled in the area with dirt and it's all dry and covered with leaves now. there's no grass and it hasn't rained here in 2 weeks. anyway, i walk up to the "weed" and notice something familar about it. i'd seen it before and then it hit me. they were easter lilies. my grandmother's favorite flower. my grandmother died 4 years ago. i almost passed out in my driveway. jakob makes fun of me all the time because i do believe in "signs" from loved ones that have died. as crazy as it may sound to some who don't believe, this was a gift from her to me. i truly believe it. jakob and i replanted them in a pot on our backporch and they have now bloomed. happy mother's day to me, huh, grandma?!!

come on down..

35 weeks, 4 days!! i think i may have dropped a couple of weeks ago. i can breathe alot easier now and my appetite has picked up! i had a doctor's appointment today. dr. eduardo could feel his head and said my cervix was closed. she said everything looked good...now, anderson just needs to get ready to come out in the next couple weeks!! jakob and i went and stood in his room last night..we can't believe that in probably under a month, he'll be here and in his room! we cannot wait.

how much longer???!!

i just got back from my doctor's appt. everything is looking good! i asked the doctor if she could "guesstimate" how much anderson weighs right now and she said she would guess almost 5 pounds. but, she DID say that there is more stuff in there to factor in than just a baby. he is still head down...YAY!! and she doesn't think he'll move from that position. he's running out of room in there!! i asked if i was getting another sonogram and i cannot remember what she said!! ah, i cannot wait to get my brain back! i think she said i would, but then again, i absolutely must've blanked out because i don't remember!

the pic above is me at 34 weeks. this is getting a little uncomfortable! if he decides to go to his due date, i'm going to be very upset with him!! i think 38-39 weeks along is perfect for him to come on out!! PLEASE don't disappoint your mother, anders!!!! (please excuse the mess behind me in the picture..our office has just kind of been collecting stuff!)

size small

so my friend josh came for a visit last week and brought jakob and i mississippi t-shirts with designs by ginger on them. they are both size small. i put this one on as a joke because i didn't think i could fit in it...but....I CAN WEAR A SMALL!!! so i decided to dance around in complete joy and had jakob take pictures of me enjoying the moment. i look like i have a basketball underneath my shirt!

33 weeks and counting...

here i am at 33 weeks!! i know he has several more weeks to bake, but i couldn't be more ready for him to get the heck outta there!!! i feel absolutely HUGE and know that it's only going to get worse! i can't imagine being any bigger. i feel like he already weighs 8 pounds. i go to my last 2 weeks appointment next wednesday and then after that, it's every week!! yaaaay! i can't wait to see him!

skylar and her crown

just thought i would share the funniest conversation i've EVER had in my entire life. it was with a 4 year old little girl named skylar at a restaurant the other night, standing in line waiting for the bathroom.

i'm standing there, waiting, and into the hall walks a little girl wearing a handmade crown.

me: "heeeey, i like your crown."
skylar: "i like your baby."
me: "thank you."
skylar: "can i see it?"
me: "well, you can't right now because he's not ready to come out yet."
skylar: "well, i want to see him."
me: "he's still too little to come out. he has to stay in there a little bit longer."
skylar: "i like your baby in there."
me: "thank you."
skylar: "can i poke him?" (she points her finger towards my stomach)
me: "um, well..."
skylar: "he'll cry if i poke him."
me: "yep, that's right."
skylar: "i like him."

she then skips around the hall and we're still all waiting for this one person to come out of the bathroom. she goes up to the door and yells: "somebody musta had to POOPOO in there!"

i swear, if my kid is as funny and cute as this little girl was, i'll be happy.

update

we took inri to the vet saturday and talked with his doctor. we got some really good news. he may actually be a great candidate for a hip surgery!! i have to call the organization that does the surgery and set up a consultation. it really blew our minds that our vet told us this because the first vet that we took him to that told us to put him down and go adopt a "normal and healthy" dog basically told us there was no hope for him. needless to say we are thrilled that he may be getting this surgery and she also told us that putting him down was not even an option in her mind!! YAY!!!! she said she's never seen a happier, healthier looking dog and that we will control the minimal amount of pain he is in with meds until the surgery. we LOVE this woman! she is our hero.

i forgot to update everyone on my dad also. he's doing fine!! still not back at work, but healing quite nicely at home. i finally unpacked that bag i had waiting in my bedroom just in case...

i have a doctor's appt tomorrow and will be meeting (maybe) my new doctor. there are 3 others in the clinic with my doctor and i was told i could try out all of them to see which one i want to use. we'll see how this meeting goes tomorrow!!
anders is moving like crazy! the other night i was laying on my left side watching a movie in bed and he kept moving his knee around my right side! it looked completely nuts! i could actually see his knee pushing my skin out!...kinda weird to look at! he moves more now than he ever has. and he moves constantly at throughout the night. i am 32 weeks today!! 8 more weeks to go! and MAYBE 6 or 7 if i'm lucky!!

inri and his legs

jakob and i are taking inri to the vet tomorrow. he's not using his left leg. he just kinda hops around like a bunny. for you that don't know anything about inri and his legs, he was hit by a car when he was a pup and shattered his hips, wasn't taken to a doctor by the evil people that had him, so his leg joints just grew around muscle and that's how he's been able to walk. he hasn't ever shown any signs of being in pain. he knows his limits and knows how much he can do with his legs. but, now that he isn't even using his left leg now (except when he goes outside he'll run a little), we're starting to worry. we've always said since having him (almost a year now!!) that if he is in any pain and nothing can be done, we will put him to sleep. the thing is, he still is so happy!! he's still outside running and plays like crazy with jakob. we just do not know what to do, so we're taking him to our vet that saved safron's life when she was sick a year ago (yes, our pets are ridiculous!) and we're going to get her opinion. we really trust her and value her opinion.

jakob and i are getting very impatient having to wait on anders!! jakob said yesterday that this was the worst suspense he's ever been in in his entire life!! waiting to see what your child looks like is the most mind blowing experience ever! i cannot wait to see who he looks like! hurry up 8 weeks!!

shower pictures

here are some pictures of our shower from yesterday. it was a blast! we have some really great friends (and family) in austin. it was nice to have everyone together to celebrate anders!!!

baby fiesta fun

tomorrow is mine and jakob's baby fiesta shower!! lindsey (sister in law) and sarah (friend forever) are giving us a mexican themed baby shower. they even got jakob a pinata! i can't wait to see how that's going to unfold!
jakob + a stick= dangerous. hopefully no one will get hurt! i'm taking our video camera to capture the chaos, hopefully i will be able to post it on here for all to see.

my dad was moved into a regular room friday. he's doing so much better and finally got jello and a popsicle tonight for dinner! he was very excited, having not eaten in 3 days. they're still not sure when he will be discharged. he's sure ready to get outta there though. he's getting pretty cranky being in there! (big surprise.. the hales do not do so well when things don't go their way!!) thanks to all who have prayed for his recovery.

update on dad

just a quick post...as of tonight, he is still in ICU. he was taken off the ventilator and is now on oxygen. we'll find out tomorrow if he'll be moved to a regular room.

i think someone is already jealous

last night, jakob and i were watching a movie and inri decided to crawl into bed and lay on anderson. he's absolutely rotten.

here is a picture of anders room. there are more that i will post later.

soon to be 3

i decided to go ahead and start a blog for family and friends who want to keep up with anderson (and our journey as first time parents!). hopefully it won't bore you to death and hopefully i will keep up with it! we'll see after anders arrives!

i am 30 weeks/2 days today. i had a doctor's appt. today and everything went well. my doctor hasn't had her baby yet (she's due on the 29th), but did say that if anderson decides to come after 38 weeks, she will be the one delivering him. that eases a little of my anxiety about having to get used to a new doctor so late in the game. at least there MAY be a chance she'll deliver him.

i had a family shower in jackson on the 21st. it was a fun time. mama and kristie drove me back to austin on the 22nd with all my goodies. we got into austin at 4:00 and by 6:00, we had anders room all done. jakob was very impressed with our enthusiasm to get things done! he said we were a bunch of crazy women in that room!! it looks adorable. i can't wait until he is actually here and laying in his bed or being rocked in the rocking chair. i just want to see his face!!

i got some news today that my dad was rushed to the ER. he was complaining of abdominal pain and found out he had to get his appendix taken out. surgery went well but aunt julie just called me and said that because of his heart condition and being dehydrated, he is being put in ICU and on the ventilator over night. please pray that he overcomes this and is ok. it's hard being so far away and not being able to be at the hospital.

well, this was a longer 1st post than i expected! i will keep you updated on my dad and my progress with anders.