portraits

A few pictures of baby boy in his blessing outfit best, for posterity's sake and all that jazz.
Plus he's just so darn cute.

xo

happy love day

What with busy season going strong these days, Clark, Dave, and I have been lucky to spend two minutes together with all three of us awake at the same time.  So I could have kissed his manager when she sent Dave home (relatively) early on Friday night and told him he didn't have to come in on Saturday.  Two whole days of being together??  We were going to live it up.

Saturday morning was just what it ought to be: a baby in pajamas and cuddling in bed.  I keep thinking certain outfits are too big for this little boy and then I wash them and...they fit exactly.  Can't believe this little chunk is growing so fast.

As per Valentines tradition there were heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and homemade whipped cream.  My favorite.

For lunch we mozied on up to a local haunt we've been wanting to try called The Braise and Crumble.  Doesn't the name just sound delicious?  And the food was just as good.

I love that picture of Clark on my lap - he looks so tiny!  And on the stroll home we were sure this little bug was planning something devious...

I will never admit how many pictures we took trying to smooch those little cheeks just right.  But it was a lot.

"Hey baby, I'm a sucker for you.  Happy Valentine's Day." - Clark

xoxo

3 months

Three months.  Three months!  Who said it was ok for my tiny babe to be a whopping three months old?  Looking back at pictures of him fresh and new and then seeing him now I just can hardly believe he's gotten so big.  He's started packing on the rolls and already has two chubby chins with plans in the works for a third ;)

As of his 3 month appointment this little chunk is weighing in at 16 pounds (90th percentile), and is 26 inches tall (>98th percentile). We've got a big boy on our hands here. However, the biggest surprise of the day was that my doctor informed me that we are, in fact, TEETHING. Excuse me? My 3 month old is teething?? It appears we could have two little bottom teeth cutting through as early as next month. Well shoot, I do love his gummy little smile, but I guess a few pearly whites could only improve the cuteness ;)

It has been so fun watching the little dude find his hands lately.  They now seem to always be in his mouth and a drool spot on his onesie is a constant you can count on.  He's a little flirt - most especially to his momma - and he gives out smiles aplenty.  He's also figuring out his voice and has started chattering to me all day long, which I adore. And his favorite spot to have a nice conversation?  Where else, but up on his changing table.  We spend many an afternoon gabbing away together.

Clark has also decided that laying down is for babies and he's all about sitting up and, most especially, standing.  He gets this big, proud grin on his face every time I hold him up that melts me.

We're trying, trying, trying to get all the way through the night, but we're not there yet.  If I time his feedings right, most nights he'll just wake up once in the 3:00-4:00 range to eat and then get up again to start the day in the 6:00-7:00 hour.  It's progress and I can live with that, sweet baby boy.  But the night he sleeps all the way through??  Oh honey, that will be the best.

This kid is, literally, growing like a weed and he is currently shooting through 3 month sized clothes and hopping right into 6 month onesies without even breaking a sweat.  Stop growing baby!  Stay little forever!

But my all time favorite thing about this age is when I go to his crib to sooth him or get him up from a nap, and he'll be fussing or some such thing, but once he looks over and makes eye contact with me he gets this huge grin on his face and start cooing.  I just die every time.  What a little heart breaker.

Other big three month milestones:

• Being left with babysitters for the first time.  Thanks Grammy and Poppy!
• Making it through three hours of church (and mom going back to Sunday School for the first time since last November).
• Giving us a 6 hour stretch one night.  Feel free to do that again anytime baby boy.
• And receiving a name and a blessing from his daddy in church.   

This boy has run away with our lives and our hearts and I just wouldn't have it any other way.

PS - I took pretty much 100 pictures trying to get a grin out of this guy - it's easier when Dave is home to help in that department.  Man, the things I'll do to get a smile.  These outtakes were the bulk of my haul, and I almost love them just as much:

This is Clark's usual pose these days, hands up because he's so proud he can (sort of) control them, and eying his feet because he can't figure out how they keep moving.

And that little self satisfied mug on the right?  I just love that.

 I'm not gunna tell you what that face on the left means, except that that little blue line on his diaper was yellow a few seconds earlier...

I'm always impressed by how much spit up comes out of such a little body...


Mom, are you done taking pictures yet???

And I just love those chubby cheeks.  The day they disappear will be a sad day indeed.

xoxo

Clark's baby blessing

Clark is one lucky boy to have two sets of grandparents that love him so much.  It's the best having my parents so close by right now, and it was such a treat to have the Nemrows come down too this past weekend to spend time with their newest grandson and be there for his baby blessing.

Norm hadn't met our little Clark yet and it was so fun to watch them get to know each other.  

As you can see, they are two peas in a pod ;)

As a momma, there is nothing quite as great as watching someone else love on your baby.  These two are old pros.

 What is better than grandma kisses???

The reason we got to steal away these Utah grandparents in the first place is that we blessed our sweet little babe this past Sunday in church. 

The little dude was dressed to the nines and his daddy gave him a sweet blessing, promising him so many wonderful things.  As this little boy's momma, my heart is so full.  There is nothing I want more than for him to have every happiness in life.

In the morning, before we went to church, Dave asked me if there was anything I'd like for him consider including in the blessing later that afternoon.  Initially I wasn't going to add anything, and then suddenly I was spewing out everything I would ever want for my little guy: health, a testimony, marriage in the temple, serving a mission - the list just went on and on.  Having a child is literally like letting you heart walk around outside your body and I ache for him to be successful and have joy.

Family came from near and far to celebrate our little dude and we felt so very loved.

These handsome men stood in the circle with Dave to bless our little guy.  I'm so grateful for these worthy priesthood holders who joined us on this special day.

I love watching my in-laws and parents become grandparents to my little guy. 

We sure love you little man.  We're so glad you're ours forever and always.

date night

Since having baby boy, Dave and I have only gone out once by ourselves sans baby boy to grab some dinner for an hour-ish while he slept at Grammy and Poppy's house.  Well, this time Grammy and Poppy pulled through again and gave us a fabulous Christmas gift: tickets to see Wicked and offering their babysitting services to watch Clark for the night.  As you can imagine, we were pretty thrilled.

And as it just turned out, Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Norm were in town too so Clark was extra well taken care of.  We were feeling really good about leaving the little guy in such capable hands.


We had planned to hit up a local Pasadena haunt for some pulled pork and hearty BBQ, but we pulled up and it was closed for a special event.  Laaaame!  Oh well.  As it turns out there was a fabulous hole in the wall Mexican joint next door with killer taquitos and freshly squeezed watermelon juice that made up for it just fine.

Pulling up to the theatre I started to get really excited.  Not only was I wearing a nice blouse that I didn't have to worry about getting baby spit up on and a pair of kicking booties, but we were seeing a great play with killer seats and David has never seen Wicked before!  He didn't even know the musical goodness that was about to hit him.


At intermission David was trying to remember a song he had liked best from the first half so I proceeded to sing the opening lines to every musical number they had done so far.  Midway through Dancing Through Life he stopped me dumbfounded and asked, How do you know all the words already??  Oh honey, I've been listening to these show tunes since I was 13.  Trust me.  I know the words.

It was such a lovely night to just get away and be the two of us again.  Somehow it's still crazy to think that this is how life used to be.  Just us going to and from as we please.  And now we sit in the theatre before the show begins and watch videos of our little munchkin and crave pictures of him at intermission.  And even though it was good to take a break, there was something so right about coming home and tip toeing into Clark's room to check on him.

I wouldn't have it any other way.