Ramblings...

Wow, I know I have been missing in action lately. I have just had so much going on it seems. Plus, I haven't taken any pictures so I haven't wanted to blog, well I have wanted to blog but not without pictures! Work Monday thru Friday, The weekend...Then it is time to start all over again. Mornings are still hectic at the Clark home. I am doing better about getting up in the morning, so I am not in such a rush. Which makes things less stressful. I am still trying to gather everything I can for the next day the night before. (Prepare bottles, layout out clothes etc.)Emily is on a pretty good schedule. She goes to bed between 7 and 8 each night. She sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night for a bottle but most of the time she sleeps through. She is eating oatmeal cereal in her bottle for bedtime and usually her first morning bottle. She has 3 bottles at daycare along with cereal and fruit in the mornings. At night she has a vegetable and now 1/2 a "tub" of fruit. Since 1 veggie doesn't satisfy her these days. She is about to start the baby food with meat in it. Not sure which ones will taste okay. We may also increase her to having a 3rd serving of baby food mid day. She is still loving her baths! She splashes like crazy, loves holding her rubber duck, steals the wash cloth from me, and has been pulling herself up on the side of her whale tub. I am fine with it until she wants to get her face too close to the water, and I decide it is time to get out! She is getting into crawling position but hasn't "taken off" yet. That doesn't mean she has any problem moving herself around though! She still loves her jumparoo and has figured out where all of her "activities" are on it. She is starting to really notice Sosha. She loves for Sosha to let her "pet" her. She loves the texture of Sosha's fluffy hair! Sosha doesn't know what to think since we have been telling her "No" for 5 months when she gets too close to Emily...Now we want her to come over to her so Emily can pet her. Should get interesting when Emily starts crawling or walking and wants to pull Sosha's hair out.
The latest and greatest Emily has had a runny nose for over a month. Tuesday night it was so bad she woke up every few minutes because she couldn't breathe out her nose, and since she sleeps with her paci...things were not working out! So Wednesday I decided I was going to take her to the doctor even though I knew they wouldn't give her any medicine since she is so young. Well, I am glad I took her because she had an Ear infection! I am sure it is because her nose has been so congested for over a month. I have a feeling it's going to be a long winter, full of sickness. I am praying if her antibiotics work, that she will not get something else soon after, but at the same time it is expected being in daycare. Speaking of daycare. She seems to love it, and her teachers love her! I am glad she is sooo good when she is there, of course she is good/ happy all the time anyway!

So, I wrote all of the above Friday, and well I am still working on this post. Emily is still sick. She feels good, but her nose is a mess, and it sure does make for a long night. It is EXTREMELY HARD when she can't breath out of it at night. Any suggestions? We have a Vick's vaporizer, a Vick's wall plug, Saline Nasal drops, The suction bulb, not sure what else to do.

Old Pictures... August ---- Can't believe these haven't made it on here yet. Wow.


I think she was 13 weeks in these.

What is this furry thing?

Decided to shed the dress... Yes, I love my Paci!

Please get this ridiculous Flower off my head Mommy...

Happy Baby... Even with my Peas on my pajamas

Okay, I know, I know. Some of this deserves it's own post, but since I am so behind it's going to be a combo! 


Labor Day in Destin. (4 months)

Emily had on her bikini even though she didn't swim!

Emily and her favorite guy...better stay that way too...forever.

Daddy, Let's just stay here!

Deep thought.

Did you guys really have to get this stuff between my toes...AGAIN?

Daddy, What are you doing to me? Wait...I think I like it.

Daddy is more worried about the sand between Emily's toes than she is...

Natalie's Shower for Baby Blake; Hosted by Jenny, Kasey, and Susan. Great Job Ladies! Everything was perfect!

 Claire and her Pigtails! (Tyler and Jenny Boyd's Daughter) She shares her Birthday with Emily. She is exactly 1 year older.

 Love this picture... (Anna ? , and Brady...Claire's older brother)

 Now let's smile this time...

 Claire getting her Pigtails put back together... Not sure how in the world Jenny does it.

 Emily Makenna at the Shower.

 Mr. Sam... Mommy get me out of here. ( Reed and Jayme Dill's newest addition.) Precious!

 Jayme and Sam

Looks just like his grandfather in this one!

And a few of Miss Emily from today...

Okay, I think that's enough babbling for one day. Hope everyone has a great / safe weekend!

16 WEEKS, RACING, AND BIRTHDAY PARTIES!

It has been so long since I have updated this blog that I do not even know where to start! Emily is 16 weeks today. So I get a little confused about the age thing. It seems like she will be a month "ahead" soon if I go by how old she is in weeks, but if I go by the day she was born in "months" it is different. humm.. I can not believe it. She is holding her head up really good. We are practicing sitting in her bumbo seat. She seems to enjoy it more and more. She is starting to not like to sit in the bouncer for any amount of time. So we mainly use it to eat baby food. (which she has tried everything that is for her age. haven't really found anything she DOESN'T like yet. I am sure it all tastes better than just formula!) She wants to be stretched out so she can move around. As soon as she lays down on her back, she rolls to her tummy. Sunday we tried out her Jumperoo. She can finally hold her head up well enough now to enjoy it. She loves the music and lights on it.She is getting so long she can almost reach the ground. I am so excited for her upcoming appointment to find out how long / and her weight. She is growing so much, the down fall is she has to have shots again! Boo hoo. Emily has just recently started day care at the Gingerbread house. So far.... we love it! Ms. Brenda who is the teacher in Emily's room spoils her! I am glad everything is going good so far. Hopefully she will not pick up any sickness for a while!




I was going to post a picture of her in her Jumperoo here...but she has been in bed early every night this week! Day care makes her tired!


Two weekends ago, we went to Bristol,TN for the Nascar race. Jayson and I are not "big" into it, but whenever my Mom has suite tickets, we are always up for it! Thank you Mom! Jayson braved the trip with myself, my Mom and my Aunt! We had a really good time. It was pretty interesting trying to find a place to park. Everything was filling up quickly. The people that live there "sell" spaces in their yards. Most of them were 40 or 50 dollars, leave it to Jayson and I to find the most organized one for 20 bucks! Yay!


Bill Haslam's father owns Pilot Travel Centers (the suite we were in) He is the mayor of Knoxville, and is running for the governor of Tennessee. It was neat to meet him.

Bill and myself

Lisa, Bill Haslam and Mom

View of the track from the suite...

Last weekend we had a busy weekend. My niece celebrated her 7th birthday on Saturday. We went to the party for a little bit.


Emily had a good time playing with GrandMom.

My cousin, Wendy, who recently had a baby also was there. She brought her son Landon. He is so cute. We were joking because he has the same car seat as Emily. When Jayson and I were leaving the hospital with Emily we had to move the shoulder straps to the 2nd position. We joked that we couldn't believe there was such a baby that would have it on the first level! Well, guess what? Little Landon has his on the first level and he is 1 month old! How precious. He is so tiny! His Mom doesn't know any better but to dress him in ORANGE.

Emily stayed awake until 2:30, then it was nap time! As soon as she layed down she was out! Then I had to wake her up in an hour so I could take her to her Nana and Papa's house to go to her Great Grandmother's 86th Birthday party. She had a busy day! Jayson and I had ANOTHER birthday party to go to. This time a surprise 50th party for a friend of ours! The party was held at Willow Creek Farms.

 Jayson and I drove the orange Fastback...

 We visited the llamas!

 We had a really great time, but missed our Little Emily! Sunday she started getting congested since she was outside some on Saturday and Sunday. She hasn't been out much since she was born because it has been 100 degrees everyday. Now she has a stuffy nose, sneezing and watery eyes! Poor little baby, I hope it goes away soon!
 
Sorry, I didn't have many pictures of Emily this post! We have had a busy week already. I should have plenty on the next post. We are off to stick our toes in the sand one more time tomorrow before the weather starts cooling down. Yay! We need a mini - vacation!
 
Hope everyone has a great Labor day Weekend, BE SAFE!

A new background, and 12 weeks.

Emily Makenna, Tomorrow you turn 12 weeks old! I can not believe it! Time has flew by us in the blink of an eye! 


What are you up to these days?

• Your head support is getting much stronger. I think by next week you will be holding it straight and still. You can hold it for several minutes now, with a little bit of bobble left. 
• You now can completely roll over and "fix your arm" that was getting stuck when you were rolling. 
• You now want to sleep on your tummy ALL THE TIME since you have figured out how to get into that position.
• You now have an earlier bed time. You have been going to bed between 9 and 10pm. 
• You wake up one time during the night to eat. 
• You are eating rice cereal with bananas or apple sauce. The apple sauce is your favorite. We are getting ready to try a few others since these have been working out well.
• You are cooing and making sounds more and more.

Here's some pictures Daddy took of you today. 

My how time passes so quickly!

Really? I didn't know it had been so long since I had posted.. 5 weeks? Where did it go? What have we been up to? Well, July 4th we packed up half of the house and headed to Stone Mountain for the laser show and fireworks. To begin with, we traveled 2 hours to get there. Upon arriving at the exit, we noticed they started barricading the exit! They closed the park. That was nice! We told them we needed in because we were camping, but they would not let us in. (My parents were camping) So we drove down to the next exit and tried another entrance, but they would not let us in either! So we got back on the interstate headed North, and pulled over when we got back to the exit. This time we GOT IN! Once we got in and was in line forever...This is what we saw when we got up to the entrance!
(Stone Mountain Park is CLOSED due to capacity. We apologize for any inconvenience. Please join us another day!)

Luckily we got in, was in traffic for quite a while, then finally got parked and walked in. Boy was it crowded. Emily did great...until the fireworks! They scared her to death. It was very interesting trying to move up the lawn with a baby n carrier, stroller, two folding chairs diaper bag, camera and purse! Wow... Here's a picture of how crowded it was before everyone got in!

Below is Emily in her 4th attire...

I decided to go back to work last Monday when Emily was 2 months old. I was planning to go to her 2 month check up, but work was crazy and my husband was okay braving it by himself so he took her and I stayed at work. She was super healthy! 10 lb 10 oz and 23 inches long. Dr. Rogers said we could start spoon feeding her rice cereal whenever we wanted to. So we started last week. Here she is before her 3 shots!

Emily Makenna, What are you up to these days?

• 10 weeks old
• Eating 4.5 - 5oz of formula, approx every 3-4 hours.
• Still eating cereal in your bottle at night, and spoon feeding cereal once a day.
• Rolling over from your stomach to your back.
• Sometimes suck on your paci so fast you send it flying across the room. Not sure what you would do without it, you are so attached! We are not going to find out anytime soon. Although you will not be the child walking around or going to school with it so forget it!
• Have lost some of your hair in the back from sleeping on your back.
• Have BLUE eyes :o)
• Loves to hold on to your little personal bear blanket for security.
• Cooing and saying "OOOOOO".
• Smiling all the time. (We are ready for a laugh!)
• Loving bath time.
• Loves to snuggle!
• You get excited when it's time to put your sleeper on!
• Always happy in the morning!
• Sleeping 5 hours at night, but thinks bedtime is midnight.
• Pretty good control of your neck. Still a little bobbly, but getting there!
• Tried bananas for the first time today, and loved them! Although you are still trying to figure out what to do with your tongue!

Here's some pictures from the last week.

Summer Time Fun

Well, I know it's been a while since you guys have heard from me. Not a lot of exciting news, just living the day to day routine.
May 28th Jayson and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary.  We stayed home on our anniversary but went out on Sunday to dinner to our favorite place (Outback). Seems we always decide to go there. Last week we decided to take off to the condo in Destin to spend the week. 


I took this when we were driving over the midbay bridge.

It was great to go on Vacation again. We usually go spring break as well, but this year I was too pregnant to travel in the car for so long. So we hadn't been since Thanksgiving, and boy was I ready to go! We didn't know what to expect traveling with a one month old infant, BUT she did great! She sure was ready to get out of her car seat when we got there though! Everything fit in the car, so that was a plus as well. I thought it would be a tight squeeze but actually we still had plenty of room.


I just couldn't wait to get her toes in the sand! 

We didn't take her to the beach or outside really any more than we had to. She went to the beach the first night, then one other night after the sun went down. Of course she was too little to get in the pool. 


I didn't take very many pictures while we were at the beach. I've got to get better at remembering to so I will have them to share when I blog!... and of course for memories! 


June 16th was my husband's 32nd birthday. We were going to go eat at The Red Bar, but it's a pretty good drive from the condo, so after much thought Jayson decided on Bone Fish! It's one of his favorites! 


I made the mistake of letting Jayson know that on the 17th, the next day, Destin Commons was having an RV Show... We use to have a travel trailer camper but ended up selling it after we didn't use it very much. After seeing other campers we found options we would rather have. Anyway, at the show they were all pretty much brand new. It was super hot outside, and I was so afraid I was going to get sunburned. Most of the campers had the A/C running in them, but the ones that did not it was like a sauna! 


We came back home on Friday... Saturday I went to my cousin's baby shower...

I just love this diaper wreath, now if only I can get that creative!!! So cute!Going to try it soon...

Today was Father's day. We celebrated Father's day on Saturday with our parents, so today we stayed home. Today was Jayson's 1st Father's day. He is an amazing Dad. Emily is so blessed to have him as her Dad, as I am for him to be my husband!

I'll leave you with a few new pictures of Emily.

Emily Makenna 5 weeks old

Taco Soup Recipe

1 lb. ground beef
2 cans of pinto beans ( I use 1 can, and 1 can of black beans)
1 large onion
1pkg. hidden valley ranch dressing mix
1 pkg taco mix
1 can of corn
2 cans of stewed tomatoes ( I use 1 and 1 can of diced tomatoes, also chop up the stewed so they are not so chunky)

Brown meat and onions, drain. Add all other ingredients..

Serve with Fritos, Cheese and Sour Cream...