Birthday Flashback

Today is William's "real" birthday. We are having a low-key day slowly opening his mountain of presents, playing with all the new toys, and looking forward to his requested noodles for dinner. When I told him it was his "real" birthday, he said "where will my real party be?!?!?!" Sorry to disappoint you, kid. :) We spent a lot of time this weekend looking at old videos and pictures from each of William's birthdays. It was literally shocking to see how much both the kids have changed each year. Steve and I were almost in tears looking at how tiny Caroline was when her baby brother was born. So in honor of all that sentimentalism, here's a flashback to my baby's first birthday... I was so hopelessly in love with this boy the moment I saw him... Me and my babies...

His famous cheeks...

William's Birthday Party

We celebrated William's 3rd birthday a couple of days early this morning. He LOVED his party! It was so much fun to see him running around with all of his friends.

William INSISTED on having a penguin cake...I think it turned out really cute (if a little seasonably inappropriate).



Although the party was just for the little ones this time, a couple of the "big girls" came to keep Caroline company.

Most of the group...

Happy three, baby boy!!!

10 on Tuesday

I haven't posted in more than a month...I've practically been receiving death threats from my mom. :) Here's what the Clarks have been up to in February and March...


1. We moved William to a big boy bed. It's been a mostly smooth transition. Nights are going great! Naps are a bit of an issue...I think we may be in a gradual transition towards dropping the nap. Which would be fine, except William was taking a three hour nap every day before the big boy bed. Some days are a bit brutal around here. :)


2. Pictures of me are rare since I'm usually the one behind the camera. Love this one of me snuggling my favorite boy.




3. Here he is on the last night in his crib.... So sweet. :)






4. Pretty much every day I vow to do a photo shoot of William in his new bed. It's been nearly 2 months and still hasn't happened. :) Maybe tomorrow....

5. We also potty trained William! It's going....ok. Still a work in progress. Steve and William spent A LOT of time in the bathroom the first weekend of potty training...

6. I think we've all had enough of major transitions for the big boy around here. :)

7. Caroline "starred" in a production of Annie! Nana and Papa came for the big show, and we had a really nice visit. Here Caroline is putting the orphans to sleep right before singing "Maybe."

8.In other big girl news, Caroline is registered for kindergarten. Sigh. We are SO excited for her, but I just can't believe it's that time already.


9. We took a mini-vacation to a nearby hotel just to get away from our house and chores. The kids thought it was the absolute most glamorous thing that ever happened to them. They had a blast swimming in the pool, running down the long halls, and riding the elevators a million times. Steve and I were pretty thrilled that the kids did so great and are thinking it opens up new doors for vacationing together as a family. Hooray!


10. We celebrated my birthday earlier this month. It is so nice to be reminded of all of the wonderful people who love you. My absolute favorite present was a pair of matching pajamas for me and Caroline from my bff. Maybe I'll get Erin to take a picture of us in them....since Caroline and I are going to AL next weekend!!!! So excited!!!!


Those are basically the only pictures on my camera since January. Hopefully the ever-warmer weather will inspire me soon. Sorry, mom.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from my little loves...

Bye Bye Crib!

We moved William out of the crib and into a big boy bed this afternoon. In many ways today is a celebration, but it's sad, too. That crib has served our family so well for the last 5 1/2 years and watching it come down, probably forever, broke my heart. I have such vivid, happy memories of the days I spent researching cribs and driving all over Colorado to find the perfect bed for my baby-to-be. Steve and I were so proud when we brought it home, set it up, and decorated the nursery with love. Truthfully I'm really happy with our life with "older" little kids, but it just amazes me that this phase of my life is over. I think back on those nervous, excited parents 5 years ago and I can't believe we aren't them anymore. I don't really want to go back, but I sure wish we could visit once in awhile.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of our babies and their crib. Can you believe how teeny Caroline is in this first one?



Caroline and her playgroup besties, Sarah, Leah, and Noah. This is a very early Erin Cobb Photography shot. :)



William and his sock monkey, again taken by Ms. Erin.

Thank you crib, for keeping my babies safe and comfortable. I'll miss sneaking in every night to peer inside at a footie-pajama clad baby.

On the other hand, the Big Boy is THRILLED with his new bed. Pictures to come later this week!

Back to the Beach

January is killing me, readers. I'm looking through my front window at 4 feet of snow on the ground. The mounds around our driveway are taller than I am, two cars can't pass each other safely on most streets, and nearly half of my friends are dealing with water or ice damage to their homes. Every body's vehicles are banged up from playing bumper cars with with the huge, frozen piles of snow lining every street and driveway. My friends and family in Chicago got hit hard with a storm yesterday, and I had no sympathy at all - we were on our 5th major storm and 4th snow day from school. I attacked the first few snow days with snowman pancakes, craft projects, and baking, but the fun has worn off and we're all completely stir crazy. It has been a long, cold, snowy winter, and guess what? We're expected to get another 6 inches Saturday, followed by another storm Tuesday. I'm beginning to think that sometime soon we may just have to stay in our house until the snow melts - there is literally nowhere else to put it.

Sigh. Sorry for the complaining. Anyway, a perfect way to take my mind off this miserable winter? Planning our joint Clark/Cobb/Shertzer family vacation to the fabulous Isle of Palms. We booked our house (same as last year) today, and we are so, so, so, excited. In less than 6 months, there will be this...

And a little bit of this....

Maybe a mud massage....

And of course, a whole lot of these crazy fools...

Photos courtesy of Amy Shertzer Photography!

Snow Day(s)!

My advice for happy snow days: have neighbors next door that you love. Nearly 2 feet of snow dumped down on us yesterday, resulting in two straight days of canceled school. Turning it into a 6-day weekend, people. With no daddy for the storm. We'll see if I'm still sane by Tuesday morning. :)

Fortunately we have the best neighbors ever next door, and what could have been a long, lonely day was a whole lot of fun. We drank coffee all morning, the big girls watched a movie during little people nap time, and we all played outside and shoveled in the afternoon. Mary Helen was husband-less as well, so we both looked pathetic when our 16 year old neighbor with a snow blower was outside. Good thing he comes from a nice family, too. :) Oh, and MH and I may have decided all that shoveling entitled us to an entire pitcher of cocktails to enjoy with my (awesome) bolognese, but if so I'm not telling. :) Let's just say the 10 foot-ish walk home was a little...slippery.