Bunk Beds!

The two big brothers are now the proud owners of BUNK BEDS!

Checking it out

Spring Forward and Leave the Mess Behind

We lost an hour of sleep last night due to the time change. (Well, I lost more than just an hour as baby was up numerous times but who's counting.) Today was a warm, sunny day so we were able to get outside and play at the park. We enjoyed the sun and I even snapped a few pictures of the kids on the playground. But before we left the house I was stressed about the mess. Seems like there is always an accumulation of toys and clutter. And no matter how much time I spend straightening and cleaning, it magically reappears as if I hadn't touched a thing. Then I was reminded of a little poem I love and decided to look it up:

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.
Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

-Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

My mom always says that the mess will be here tomorrow. And she is right. Of course this doesn't mean live in filth. But when the kids are ready to play and the day is so beautiful, why not get outside and enjoy it? The dishes and the vacuuming can wait but the kids are only small for so long.

SO, today the mess waited......And we all survived!

The Big Brother!

The Middle Brother!

And the one who sleeps through it all

Nathan and Colin-isms

Our families are constantly laughing about the funny things that Nathan and Colin say. We call them "Nathan-isms" or Colin-isms". The most recent funnies have me giggling:

Colin has "Bieber Fever". Yes, he walks around saying "Bieber Fever". He has no idea what Bieber Fever is or even how he caught it, but he sure does have it:)

Nathan has requested that I order Lipozene...You know...For that "unwanted belly fat" I have going on. My first reaction was to laugh. Second was to cry. Third was the realization that the kid has been watching WAY too much TV. He could quote the entire TV ad. (FYI, I will be getting rid of the post partum belly the old fashioned way, sans Lipozene.)

Happy 31st Birthday, JOE!

You old man, you:)

Liam's One Month Well Visit

Stats:
10 pounds 15 ounces and 23.5 inches long

Growing Like a Weed:)

Cardiologist

Today we visited the pediatric cardiologist and received great news. Liam has a Still's murmur, also known as a functional or innocent murmur. He ALSO has another murmur that will eventually go away. It is from the pulmonary veins being small, common in newborns. He had an echocardiogram to confirm the doctor's suspicions and the echo was completely normal. No PDAs or VSDs. :) He was a real champ and sucked on his paci during the entire visit.

The Planner

I have never been extremely organized. We are rarely late to important events but that doesn't mean that I have my ducks in a row months prior. Joe and I are more of the 'fly by the seat of our pants' type than the 'let's plan every detailed second of our week/weekend' type people. Actually, those people somewhat bug me. I don't really know what I want to eat for dinner tomorrow night, let alone what I want to be doing the third weekend in June, if ya know what I mean. I guess booking up the schedule just stresses me out.

Having said all that...I have been dropping the ball lately. Who suffers most? Seems like poor Nathan. Not what I want at all. First was the library day. Every Tuesday is library day. Nathan's class visits the library and gets to bring home a book but ONLY if he returns the book from the previous week. Ooops, he left home without the library book last Tuesday. Luckily Joe was able to bring the book that morning. A few days later came Field Trip permission form/money due date. I dropped the permission form into the book bag but what do you know...I forgot the darn check. I remembered in time to jump in the car and drop a check by the school's office. Finally, there was project day. Each Friday Nathan's class has show and tell/project day. Yes, we forgot to even look at the sheet that week and he went to school without his project. AAAHH! All of these snafus lead to THE PLANNER. Today, we made a trip to Staples for Mommy to pick out a planner. Hopefully if I can see all of these important dates in front of me I will have my head where it should be! Who knows, maybe I will become fond of planning things in advance:)

One Month Old and Other Family Happenings

Yesterday Liam was one month old! We celebrated with a trip to the pediatrician for a sick visit. Unfortunately, the whole family has had a cold this week and Liam started coughing a little bit late Wednesday night. Thursday he didn't seem too uncomfortable so I just kept an eye on him. By 5 pm (just in time for the MD's office to close) he was running a fever. At 10 pm it was 100 degrees so I was concerned. But, we got in with his normal pediatrician Friday morning and learned a few things!

The good: Our little man weighs 10 lbs 14.5 oz! Up from 7 pounds 13 ounces in less than a month! Growing like a weed.
The bad: Although his symptoms pointed to an uncomplicated cold, he has fluid in his ears so he is on an antibiotic for a double ear infection. I hate that he has his first cold/ear infection at 4 weeks old.
The unexpected: Dr. Spruill heard a flowing murmur and believes he may have a VSD that is about to close. We will see the cardiologist next week to take a peek. Because of his growth and good overall health I feel like all will be fine but we are anxious to get our little man checked out.

Today is Saturday and because we have all been under the weather we are taking it easy. Bummed that we had to delay our visit with Grandma and Grandpa! Nathan was upset that I did not allow him to go to a birthday party at a nearby indoor water park. There is no way I would have been able to get myself and all 3 boys there in one piece. BUT, Auntie Lauren to the rescue to cheer up Nathan! She took him out on a date to see Gnomeo and Juliet. Now dinner is in the oven and the boys are watching Karate Kid with Daddy. But rest and a quiet evening is just what the doctor ordered! :)

4 weeks

Today Liam is 4 weeks old. It is very hard to believe it has been 4 weeks since we met the little guy. So far he is a laid back, sweet baby. We surely hope this continues. His big brothers have adjusted wonderfully to his arrival. I have adjusted well to waking every 2 to 3 hours at night although the mornings are rough. (Liam had given me a false sense of hope when he slept LONG stretches at night the first week home. I suppose he is more aware of the world now and realizes that he loves to eat!) And Joe has adjusted to working again after 2.5 weeks at home with us. I'm sure he enjoys the break some days! It is going to be a wild ride here in the Clark house!

We Welcome With Love

Baby Liam Ray Clark

8 pounds 9.3 ounces

21 inches long

...simply perfect

Monday-January 24th I had a couple appointments. My first appointment was with my OB. It was a fairly quick appointment. First the exam: weight-good, bp-excellent, baby boy's heartrate-perfect! Still no progress so we were definitely set for the c-section the following morning. Dr. Stockstill sent me on my way to head over to the CARES presurgical testing site. After a quick blood draw, nasal swab for MRSA and a series of questions from the nurse I was finished and headed home to get the house (and my brain) ready for what was to come.

Papa came for dinner and a briefing on the following day's events. After spending some time with the boys and getting them settled for bed, I tried to tie up some loose ends and settle down myself. Heading to bed around 11 pm did me no good. I tossed and turned all night and finally took a shower at 4 am and woke up Joe to do the same.

5 am-After loading the car and hugging Papa goodbye we headed to Memorial! So early....And by the way, it was torture to watch Joe eat his breakfast and drink a soda.

5:30 am-Upon arrival we were sent to L&D on the 13th floor to get checked in. Three nurses immediately 'tag teamed' me for a quick prep. L&D was quiet and they were running on time. I was dressed in the Bear Suit. It was actually pretty neat. It is a purple papery gown that is lined with material to keep heat in. You are plugged in to a heater that blows warm air into the suit. Apparently regulating body temperature lowers the risk of infection during and post surgery! The only downside is that the suit really puffs up so I looked like the stay puff marshmellow man. The IV was terrible and the nurse admitted that it was the toughest IV she had done in a long time. I'm not at all scared of needles so either her technique was off or my vein was not cooperating!

6:00 am-After TONS of questions we were left to wait. Soon enough the anesthesiologist was in for signatures and to discuss the spinal. Then my wonderful OB came in to check on us.

7:15 am-Kissed Joe goodbye, up on my feet and heading to the OR. The OR is cold. The people were super friendly and did their best to ease the nerves in the room. (Nerves were all mine of course.) The anesthesiologist was awesome and within a few minutes I was numb and draped to be prepped for surgery.

7:30 am-Dr. Stockstill entered the room and gets ready to begin! As soon as I am checked to make sure I am fully numb, Joe was brought in and was placed at the left of my head. A nice nurse takes our camera (ugh-the crappy one as Joe didn't want to be responsible for the DSLR). We chat and try to pass the time while surgery begins.

7:50 am- Dr. Stockstill announces he is close to baby. Nurse with the camera moves over to start snapping away. Lots of pushing on my belly and voila, his head is out! Suctioning....More suctioning...It was quiet in the room and I was anxious.

7:56 am-One more huge push and Dr. Stockstill announces, "He's Here! It's a BOY!" Lots of crying from baby. Tears from mama. Big smiles from Daddy. They dropped the drape and I get to lay my eyes on the sweetest little thing ever:) Joe keeps yelling, "He's big, Jess! He's BIG!" But to me, he looked like a little peanut. Crying and wet. Ticked off that we pulled him from his happy home. Kinda purple but starting to pink up as he cried.

After his arrival the timeline is fuzzy. But it goes something like this: Baby looks good overall but is grunting. He is suctioned and they are stimulating him to encourage him to get rid of all that fluid in his lungs. His Apgars are recorded. He is weighed. Oxygen is given to him. And I am watching everything and nervous as all get out. I just want to get up and see what the heck is going on. The neonatologist is assuring me that he will be observed but can't comment whether or not he will be okay. I'm glued to this table as they pull and stitch and at this point I am given Zofran to ward off any nausea. Dr. Stockstill is taking a LONG time which is not uncommon with a repeat REPEAT c-section. He starts asking for something called surgi-film and is getting rather antsy for it. The anesthesiologist is scrambling to get on the phone to have it tubed to the room. I am convinced I am dying, lol. What the heck is surgi-film and why the hell is it so important to have it NOW? Then pain in between my shoulder blades and my sternum. Yep, I am dying. This didn't happen before. And at the best possible time (during the beginning of my slow death on the table) Jonathan busts in the OR. Ha! Perfect timing. He observes my insides being wide open and chats happily with Joe. Can I get up and bust them both in the face? Hello, I am dying. SO, I decide to tell the anesthesiologist so he can be prepared for my depise. Bless the man, he tells me it is only referred pain from all of the intense tugging, pulling, stitching and surgi-filming, lol. And promptly shoots me up with a narcotic. Love him, love him, love him. Literally 2 seconds pass and I am more fuzzy and fuzzier and fuzziest, lol. I don't care what they are doing but I do start chanting I want this to be over. Is this over? When will it be over? Poor Dr. Stockstill starts chatting with me..."Now Jess, we can't go any faster. It's okay. I'm working as fast as I can. I know you want to be done." Then probably dictated that I was not lucid, ha! And more fuzzies....Baby leaves to go to the nursery and I am sad that he can't ride with me to recovery but they are concerned about his breathing. Next thing I know we are in recovery and Dr. Stockstill is standing over me telling me that all went well. Joe is proud and shows off the pictures he and the nurse took. Well, that is after he had to go on a hunt for the camera that he left in the OR. Good thing he didn't bring that DSLR!

9:30 am-I have to stay longer in recovery because my body temperature is too low. We don't know anything about the baby's status.

10:00 am-FINALLY, I can go to Mother Baby! We are greeted by the sweetest nurse ever, who randomly goes to our church! And she gives us the best news that baby can come to our room.

10:20 am-I hold my sweet baby for the first time and just stare at him. What a perfect ending to the morning and the perfect beginning for a new little life.

Let's try this again

Making another attempt to blog! Thinking this time I may actually even SHARE the blog so that family and friends can see what is going on in the Clark household...Stay tuned. 2011 should be all sorts of fun!