The Crazy Clarks and Other Oddities: 2011

Monday, December 26, 2011

Catching Up...

Can you believe I didn't blog ONE single time during the WHOLE month of November and even December? I have SO much catching up to do it's not even funny.

Soooo...maybe I just knock it out in one big, concise, inclusive blog?!?! I say, "YES!"

November:
I bought a house! That's right! I guess that makes me an official adult now...More to come on our house...

Signing my life away!

Ken, Christian and Diane (Our real estate agent...)

Christian is very important in his rolling chair at the closing...


The sweet congratulatory dessert our waitress made us at the Cheesecake Factory after our closing

Somehow Christian lost his britches at the new house while we were helping Daddy "fix it up"

Smiles for Mommy! You can see the heinous color the previous tenants used int he sun room. We have had to repaint the WHOLE house...28 gallons (and counting) later and it doesn't hurt your eyes to look at the walls...

Christian LOVES taking "big boy baths"! No more baby bath tubs for this little guy!

Christian also went from loving baby food to only wanting "big boy food" like, overnight...so he's in this weird stage where he wants to eat everything you're eating, but he doesn't have the teeth to do it with! He has one tooth coming in right now and as far as teething is concerned, you'd never know a difference in his personality. He's not drooling any more than usual. He doesn't appear to be in any pain or discomfort. It's kind of strange. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop (which I'm sure it now will since I just had to open my big mouth...)

Eating meatballs (HIS FAVORITE!) and sweet potato french fries...

I went through Holiday at my store and we rocked it out BIG TIME! I'm sad that the Christmas season is over...I'm probably the ONLY person in retail who LOVES Christmas in retail.

My Holiday Team!

My AMAZING management team and their FEARLESS leader!

Grandma INSISTS on dressing me up...

Christian got to hang out with his BFF, Zeryk. Christian LOVES Zeryk...and Zeryk tolerates Christian. In his family, Zeryk is the youngest and whenever someone refers to Christian as "the baby", Zeryk is quick to remind them that he is "the baby". It's pretty funny! One day I asked Zeryk if Christian was his buddy. Zeryk said, "No! He's my friend." I had to laugh...but am so thankful that Christian gets to spend time with other children.

Christian is on the move! And he is into EVERYTHING! He has a ball playing on the floor with his toys and with Remmy's and we have officially lost the "don't play with that toy it's Remmy's toy" battle.

Yay for toilet paper!

December:
Christian is doing much much better at sleeping through the night! He will usually sleep for about 6 hours straight (and sometimes even 8 on a really good night!) before waking up to be nursed. I have no pictures to represent this change in his life, but you can visibly see a difference in the reduction of bags underneath my eyes. Sometimes when I get home from work, I miss nursing him to sleep if he's already in bed. But I realize it's part of Christian growing up and needing Mommy less and less. It's such a bittersweet thing...

Christian went to see the doctor on the 8th of December for his 9 month checkup! The doctor confirmed that Christian is a healthy happy boy who remains in the 10th percentile for growth. We are absolutely fine with having a little guy with a big personality! I will do a separate post for this checkup because there was a lot of information learned...

Daddy celebrated his birthday on the 9th! We took Daddy out for a day of shopping and a dinner of sushi...

On the carousel with Daddy

LOVES playing on the playground

Making friends wherever he goes...

Dancing with our waitress...we're pretty sure Christian has a thing for Asian women.

SUSHI! Mana from the gods!

Christian also got to see Santa! And he LOVED him...naturally, my child knows where his bread is buttered...

Grandma still loves to dress me up...

We spent Christmas at my mother's house...it was wonderful! I will do a longer blog of Christmas day, but we had so much fun!

TOYS!

We've had some busy months! And our little man has flourished. You never understand how thankful you are until you take time to stop and recognize all of your blessings...and the Clarks aren't short on blessings! Here's to a quick "wham-bam-thank you-ma'am!" catch up blog!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Q & A...because I'm like, ten years old...ok!? Sue me!

I copied this from a fellow blogger Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart...

Fill in the blanks....

If I were to get pregnant again...
**I would scream. Seriously. Because secretly I wouldn't mind (which I suppose isn't a secret anymore...), but I would also be kind of scared because I was not a huge fan of being pregnant the first go round.

If I could have any job in the world...
**I would be famous. That's all you need to know. (And you know I'd be good at it. I was MADE for the stage, baby!)

If I had a day to myself...
**I would sleep in, get a massage and go shopping...it's the simple things I miss most, people!

If I could get married all over again...
**I would elope.

If I could live anywhere in the US...
**Montana, Wyoming or the Florida Keys...

If my boy would have been a girl they would have been named...
**Francesca Denise...SUCH a beautiful name!

If I could have any talent in the world...
**A voice like the girl in Glee...you know, the one who no one likes. Her voice amazes me. I can't believe that God gave someone a voice like that.

If you met me in real life...
**You would realize that I am rarely being mean...I'm just being funny! Or at least I think I'm funny...

If I could go back to school and get a different degree...
**I would go back to school to be a lactation consultant or a midwife...like, the old school midwives...you know, the ones that give you a piece of wood to chomp down on and tell you to shut up and push.

If money was no object...
**I would have a shelter for homeless animals and kids...and I would own J Crew and take Michelle Obama out of their marketing.

If I could meet one celebrity, it would be...
**Michael Moore...and then I'd punch him in the face.

If I could shop at only one store the rest of my life...
**Macy's...if you can't find it at Macys or BBW, you don't need it!

If we were to get another pet it would be...
**A bird! Christian loves birds just like his mommy!

If I could go on a trip right now...
**I would never come back...seriously. The Keys are calling my name.

If I had to choose between a house cleaner and a personal chef...
**House cleaner...to give my hubby a break already!

If I had the option of plastic surgery...
**I'd get 'er done up right! I am not opposed AT ALL!

Alright! Now feel free to copy and paste to your own blog! (But only if you're ten years old like me...)

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Let's Go Team Christian! 6 Month Checkup

Right before we went to the mountains (Literally. After the doctor visit, we went home and loaded up the cars!), Christian had his 6 month checkup. Because of Mommy's hectic schedule, we weren't able to see the doctor until just a few days before he turned 7 months old. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing, but Mama's gotta do what Mama's schedule allows...you know?

This doctor visit was really special because Daddy got to come! Ken hasn't been to one of Christian's well child checkups because I usually take Christian on one of my days off and Ken is usually working on those days. It was helpful to have that extra set of hands there to keep Christian occupied since his patience levels are low and his energy levels are high!

Yay! Daddy is at the doctor's office with us!

16 pounds! Good growing, Buddy!

25 inches long!

Christian's weight and growth percentile dropped a little bit. I was concerned that he was only in the 10th percentile whereas he was in the 25th last time. Dr. Rosenthal assured me that his growth was fine...as long as he's growing, there's nothing to be worried about (riiiiight...try telling a mom that!) But I had a hard time believing he was only in the 10th percentile. I mean, to us he has grown soooo much! He feels heavier and looks longer. He's wearing 6-9 month clothes (and even some 12 month clothes!) All I can deduce is that there must be some pretty big babies out there setting the curve so high. I think about all the babies who come in my store that outweigh Christian by 10 pounds sometimes !!!!!! and are the same age, and I guess I am thankful that he's not obese at a young age.

Dr. Rosenthal said that he's just "a little guy" which makes him that much more endearing to me! She did suggest that we feed him more solids when I told her he was only eating about 3-8 ounces of solids a day. She said to make sure we are offering them at every meal...and since then we have made a concerted effort to do so. But honestly, Christian is not a huge fan of solids just yet. He'll eat them if he's hungry, but he'd rather nurse if I'm around. Plus, he's such a piggy when it comes to nursing that he's usually full from milk and isn't all that hungry for more. Really all a baby needs till they are about a year old is breastmilk. My mom didn't feed me any solids till I was a year and I'll eat anything. I think the common concern is that the older a child gets, the less open they are to new and different things.

The best part about the whole visit was hearing about how sweet and good natured Christian is. The nurses LOVE him! They ALWAYS comment on what a pleasure he is. Thank goodness!

Stethoscopes also double as fun toys!

Same thing with thermometers...

Just about everything is fun to play with!

After all his measurements were done, along with his temperature and breathing and heart rate (which were all perfect, thank goodness!)...it was time to wait...

And eat...

And wait...

When the doctor finally visited Christian, he was really enthused with all of her gadgets. She let him have one of the tongue depressors since he laid claim to it anyhow (go figure...) She loved how happy he was and how entertained he was by every. little. thing. Seriously. It takes almost nothing to amuse our child.

Her only concern was that we weren't pulling his skin back enough from his circumcision. Apparently, if you don't pull it back on a daily basis it could grow back and he'd end up having to have another surgery. Obviously that is not something we want to have happen...it's so weird having a little boy though. I never would have thought that something like that could grow back. And I'm sure one day he'll hate me for writing this, but oh well! It's my right as Mother to embarrass my child!

After Dr. Rosenthal got done inspecting every inch of His Majesty, it was time for Christian's favorite part...edible vaccinations! Woo hoo! Yup. You know my kid! He'll eat just about anything...

But with the good comes the bad. Poor little man never had a chance...

However sad that little face might be, it only lasted for a moment. He is such a trooper with his Daddy and Mommy's tolerance for pain...seriously, this kid almost never cries from pain...

Even though I was a little upset by Christian's growth, we still had a great visit. We did decide, however, that doctor visits should take place in the morning hours instead of in the afternoon...Christian was a little grumpy there towards the end.

His next appointment is in December for his 9 month well child checkup. I can't wait to report his growth and progress!

Go Bright!

This year's Holiday Kickoff was held at Embassy Suites at Cobb for Aeropostale and PS From Aeropostale. Holiday Kickoff meetings are always soooo much fun! We have games and prizes and we learn so much to help us understand the company's strategy for the holiday season.

It's also a time to enjoy your peers since you almost never get to see them throughout the regular part of the year. I am lucky to have amazing co-workers who are super talented and full of great insight.

I honestly love my job and the company I work for, but more than that, I love my boss. She is an amazing woman who allows me to manage my store in the way which I best see fit. She allows me to grow my people according to my own strategies (and the company's, of course!) and trusts my abilities to the fullest extent.

Here are some pictures from the holiday meeting!

Always gotta look your best for Holiday Meetings! With VP's living in Atlanta, you never know who might be there! Plus, I was super excited to show off my new figure that I have been working so hard to get back. My Regional VP didn't even recognize me when she saw me...it was great!

Kay (our district training store manager, whom I LOVE!), Korenda (my boss and mentor, whom I also LOVE!) and me

The PS store store managers doing our best to be Super Heroes! We launched our new Marvel line in October and are pumped! From left to right: Spider Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Wolverine and Iron Man!


My PS BFF, Cory! Cory is my daily dose of humor when I need it most...

I know that this holiday season is going to be AMAZING! We are almost 100% staffed and ready to go. Not to mention, I have the best team possible dedicated to our store's success. Let's Go, Holiday 2011!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Fun In The Mountains!

For my birthday every year, it's been a tradition of ours to go to the mountains. (Except for last year...yeah, we went to the Keys instead. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make...) This year, we had a few people who accompanied us to North Georgia. His Majesty, Christian James and his sister, Marcella along with her boyfriend Pat decided to come along (as if Christian had any choice...)