Miss Addison

Is anyone wondering if Addison actually exists? I know, I haven't put any pictures of her up. Life gets busy, kids get sick (see post below) and somehow I don't have many pictures I've taken of any kids, let alone the littlest one.

I did finally go get her pictures taken last week. I HATE having professional pictures taken. It's such a huge stress for me. I worry about what the kids should wear and then I worry about whether they will smile and then I worry about whether any pictures will even come out cute enough to buy. So, then I worry about whether I'm going to look stupid by having to walk out the door without spending any money and wasting the photographers time. I seriously wear work-out clothes to the photography studio because I get so stressed, I'm literally sweating by the time we're done. Yes, I know...so this is why I hardly ever get their pictures taken.

But, this time we had luck!! Addie did a great job and was happy. And, the photographer was cute and was great at getting her attention. So, here is a little of what we ended up with (sorry about the copyright symbols).








Our cute Addie at 4 months old. She has followed suit with all the other Clark babies, and she is a crier. She has been quite naughty the first 4 months of her life, but things seem to be turning around the past week. We think she's had reflux, and she's on a cocktail of medicine that now seems to be working for her. She sleeps well at night, as long as she's in her bouncer. So yes, at 4 months old, she still sleeps in her bouncer. She is also still swaddled at night, another thing we have tried, but been unsuccessful at weaning her from. She looks awfully uncomfortable all swaddled tight in her bouncer all night, but she loves it and I assume she'd let us know if she really was uncomfortable. I just worry that we're going to have to take her to the chiropractor for the next three years because of it. On a good note, there is a pediatric chiropractor opening an office down the street on November 1st, so we're good!

Jackson and Delaney love her more than I would have ever imagined. Here we are 4 months later, and the "excitement" of having her here hasn't worn off for them. When Jackson comes home from school, the first thing he does is look for Addison. And, Delaney is more patient with her that all of us combined. She receives endless amount of coos and cuddles from them. A few too many sometimes. And, heading into cold/flu season we might have to reevaluate how many kisses she gets. But what a great problem for Addie to have! Too much love from her siblings. And I appreciate how much they love helping. I've always worried that 4 years in between each of my kids would be too much, but wow, when you have an 8 and 4 year old helping, it's amazing how much easier having this baby has been! They are so willing to rock and entertain while I'm running around like a mad woman trying to leave the house on time.

Having a baby after getting to a stage where we had no diapers, no naps, no strollers, no bottles, no bibs, no diaper bags, no sippie cups, etc. is quite the adjustment. However, we would do it a million more times to have Addie here. She brings a joy into our family that was not there before, so because of that, we count her as one of our most favorite blessings, every day!

Hillary's Salad Recipe

Thank you everyone who responded! And, I agreed with you all. I thought the dinner "needed" the salad as well. So, some of you are probably wondering how the night went. Let me back up to Friday night, first. Saturday was my birthday, so since we were throwing a shindig here on Saturday, Jeff and I went out for our birthday date on Friday night. For my birthday date, I wanted to go to dinner and then go shopping. Yes, since it was my birthday, Jeff was going shopping with me. Jeff had actually taken the day off, so the birthday date started at 4:30 pm!We have these two sisters who come to babysit for the price of one. Something about loving to watch a little baby...whatever the reason, I love them for taking on our three. So, Jeff and I had just finished dinner on Friday night and we are literally at the door of Nordstroms to let the shopping commence, and his cell phone rings. Of course it's a call from home and one of our two cute baby-sitters says, "Hi, Brother Clark...I just wanted to let you know that Delaney has thrown up 4 or 5 times."


Wha??? What about me shopping, kid-free for the next 3 hours? What about that huge dinner we have at our house in 24 hours?


So, once we find ourselves back home, we find a very pale little girl. No fever, but definitely not feeling well. She continued to throw up so at that point we decided we had to cancel the party. So, no soup, no salads, no rolls. However, that did go hand-in-hand with no cleaning, no scrubbing, no dusting, so that was nice!

Now, to get to the point that you have all been waiting for. I got the approval from Hillary to post her salad recipe, so here it is. I promise it is super yummy and ALWAYS a hit!

Salad:
1 head romaine lettuce
1 bunch red leaf lettuce
1 reg size carton cottage cheese
1 red onion, sliced very thin
1/2 lb. grated swiss cheese
1 lb. diced and sauteed bacon

Dressing:
3/4 c. vegetable oil
3/4 c. white vinegar
1/3 c. sugar
1 t. dehydrated onion
1/2 t. dry mustard
1 t. poppy seeds
1/2 t. salt


- Combine dressing and let stand in fridge for 3+ hours (I've actually forgotten to make this ahead of time before, and it's still okay).

- This makes enough for 10-12 people. It's such a great recipe for a big group!

Opinions Please

Let's talk talents. One talent I definately lack in, but appreciate in others, is entertaining/cooking. I have many aunties, sisters, sister-in-laws, mothers, and friends who excel in this useful area. So, all you talented people (or if you don't posess this talent, I still need a response), I need your opinion.

We're having an Elders Quorum social at our house on Saturday evening. Lots of people are bringing soups, and then Jeff and I are doing Mom's rolls, and more people are bringing desserts. My question is, should I do a salad too? I think I know that I should, but Jeff says no. I think he says that just because he doesn't want to have to worry about it. Yes, it would be more work, but not too much more. I'm starting to think that soup, salad, rolls and dessert sounds like a better dinner than soup, rolls and dessert. Do you agree? If you were me, would you do it too?

As an incentive to get people to weigh in on this important decision, if I get enough votes, I will post the recipe of said salad. Why would this be motivation for you? Because, it is Hillary's/Donna's salad recipe and every time I make it, people go back for 2nds, 3rds and there is never any left. But it is simple and makes tons, so that's why it's perfect for this weekend. So, there's your bribe for helping out. Let the voting commence - salad or no salad?

Photo Tag

Stephanie Y., one of my most favorite friends from college tagged me for this photo. The way it works is you go to your photos on your computer. Go to your sixth folder, and in that folder, find the sixth picture. This is the one in mine. The folder was titled "2005-06 Winter"

In this picture, Delaney is about 18 months old. Delaney still loves ice cream this much. It is her incentive every night to eat dinner so she can have ice cream. I found some 100 calorie ice cream sandwiches at Target. So, every night, if she's eaten all her dinner (or an acceptable amount), she's allowed to have her ice cream square. She forgot a few nights ago, and once she'd brushed her teeth and gotten in bed, she remembered. Jeff wouldn't let her have it then, and so she layed in bed ranting and crying having missed out on her square.

I tag Stephanie R., Tiffany A., Michelle W., Monique F., Vicky L., and Brynn D. to go find their 6th photo in their 6th folder. It was fun to see what came up in mine.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

I have come to understand that parenting is a series of successes and failures. Two steps forward, one steps back. Most days I hope to end up on a forward step when all is said and done. Back when I was 19, I spent a day with Susan Jones in NYC. She's a great friend of my moms (and mine), and for the day, it was just us two gals in the city (lukewarm water and all). Somehow in the course of our many conversations that day, she was talking about the role of a mother. I've never forgotten how her words impressed on my 19 year old mind that the role of the mother is one of eternal importance. The most important thing I could do as a mother is understand that I am responsible for their spiritual welfare and well being, she said. Completely, she said. No one else's job, she said. The buck stops with you, she said. And so, I've often thought back to that May day in NYC, 13 (ohmygosh!) years ago, when I first started thinking about being a mother.

So, what's a girl to do? Try and do Family Home Evening as well and as often as possible. Teach my children the importance of prayer. Have gospel-centered conversations in our home. In a perfect world, I would be the perfect mother of perfect children who sponged up all this information. Many steps forward, and nary a step back, right?

Oh, how I love to celebrate the steps forward! I remember when Jackson was 2, we were visiting my parents. One morning Jackson woke up and we went down to the kitchen for breakfast. "What did you dream about last night, Jackson?" my mother asked. "Jesus" he replied. It melted her heart and of course I was delighted that I've taught him so well, that yes, indeed, he dreams about Jesus.

What about the instance a few weeks ago, when Delaney told the little neighbor girl that she couldn't marry Prince Eric from The Little Mermaid because she needed to get married in the temple? Or the other day when picking Delaney up from her friend, Lily's house. I was talking to Lily's mom, Karen, as I was walking out and Delaney interrupts us to show us all these letter "t"s she's written all over the driveway. Such a good girl, she's working on her letters! But then she tells me, "Mom, these are crosses. You know, the kind Jesus died on." Um, a little morbid, but true, and so I file it away as an example of one step forward. See, they are listening and absorbing and I must be doing something right, right?

Well, then there are the one step back moments. How about the time when Jackson was 4 and we went down for a trip to Washington DC? We are driving along the highway and as we come up the hill, there above us, glowing in the early evening dusk, is the DC temple. "Jackson, look! What is that?". "Mom! It's Cinderella's Castle!".

Jackson is turning 8 in just 3 short weeks. This means he'll be baptized soon. So, we've been having conversations, FHE lessons, and lots of planning going on surrounding this event. Well, this past weekend, Delaney is skipping around the house singing a primary song, "I can't wait until I'm eight...". "Delaney, why can't you wait until you're eight?", Jeff asks her. "So I can be a cub scout!" Yep, I can file that one under the one step back category.

And then there are those times when they *almost* get it. The idea here is that the execution is just a little fuzzy. A few months back, for a week or so, Delaney was telling us that Jesus has a bad brother, and his name is "Mushroom Head". This went on for days, and she was not to be convinced that his name was anything other than Mushroom Head. So, she gets points for understanding that Jesus does have a bad brother, but we have to work on his name.

And then last night, I call Delaney in from coloring on the driveway. The latest craze at our house is to draw a "town" with streets and buildings all over the driveway and then they drive their bikes/trikes/scooters all over the streets and get errands done. Delaney points out to me her temple that she's drawn.


"Isn't it beautiful, Mom? It has a pink roof and a purple and yellow door." So, see, she's *almost* got it.

So, most days at the Clark house are not two step forward days. We have a pitiful number of one step back days. We have a lot of *almost*s and often times the step forwards could be reinterpreted as a coincidence. But for now, I am grateful for the examples of my friends and family, who make two steps forward look easy enough to keep aiming for.

Family Home Evening

There are probably holiday purists out there who are frustrated with cross-promotion across holidays. Peeps are no longer just an Easter treat. You can find them for Valentines, Halloween and Christmas, too. Candy corn now comes in Christmas colors, too. So, when I first saw the Haunted House Gingerbread House a few years ago, I turned up my nose. Gingerbread is for Christmas. Period. Well, the other day I was at Joann's and they had kits for the haunted house ones, and I succumbed when thinking I could do it as a FHE activity. Of course, I'd like you to think we had a lesson, songs and prayer as well that night, but let's be real - this thing took up the whole night:


As you can see, even though I followed the directions precisely, the frosting still was drippy, but Jackson and Delaney had a blast. Here they are, working away:

And then posing with their scariest faces:

And now, here it sits, on the dining room table, on the table runner I finally finished. I had it all done last Halloween, except for hand sewing the binding. And well, most know how my last year has been, so I didn't get to it until a few weeks ago.

A comment about the comments

Thanks so much for welcoming me with such open arms into the world of blogging!! You are too kind. Most feel surprised at the number of comments, so let me assure you - it's beginners luck. I promise my life is neither inspiring nor interesting enough to warrant this kind of response again. This is just what happens when you spam your contact list.

I'm not getting married again nor am I having a baby again, and those types of posts on people's blogs usually solicit quite a response. So, my first post was a one-hit wonder, but I sincerely appreciate the love! Now that I know my blog isn't going to exist in complete oblivion, I will continue posting the mundane minutia that is our life most days. Anyone interested in infant reflux, the fact Addie fell asleep without her paci last night(miracle!), or Beverly Hills Chihuahua? If so, I hope you will continue your readership!!

Hello Bloggers!

Well, I've joined the club. Everyone asks if we have a blog, so why not join the "cool kids" and start one? I have to admit I'm a blog stalker, so I might as well allow myself to be blog stalked in return.

I do have to preface that I'm not very techno savvy...this is something I blame Jeff for. He does everything techinical for me, so therefore I have no motivation to learn anything. So, it might take me a while to make my blog look all cute and fancy, but I will get there, folks. Don't you worry.

Okay, so something funny happened today, and I immediately thought my mom and sister would get a kick out of it. "If only I had a blog", I thought, "I'd be able to show them this." So, here's a funny story, just for Steph and Cath.

Delaney loves to make crafts at preschool. LOVES to. Jackson never made crafts in preschool, so I assume this is a girl thing. I, however, hate the papers upon papers that accumulate because of all these crafts. I have recieved about 30 portraits of myself that Delaney colors on a regular basis. Well, hand over the mother-of-the-year award right now, because I'll admit 99.9% of them go into the garbage and she never notices, so I think it's a win-win. She loves making them, and I love my counters clear, so everyone wins. However, today she produced a "save worthy" picture. You'll even notice in the picture that it is indeed on the fridge.



This is not a picture of me, it is actually a picture of her brother. She walks out of preschool, hands over the picture, and says, "It's a picture of my brother. Doing the robot dance." I couldn't help but laugh. Jackson does indeed think the coolest dance move is the robot. And, I'm so proud to see that her figures now have elbows. Their arms still come out of their heads, but at least we now have elbows!

Once we got home, I told her how cute I thought her picture was, so I was going to put it up on the fridge. She then asks,

"Mommy, where is the secret hiding place you put all my other pictures I make."

Playing dumb I reply, "What are you talking about?"

"All my other pictures. I can never find them, but they are beautiful."

To which I reply, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret then, right?


Maybe it's not as win-win as I thought it was...