Children's Museum

Nana and Papa are here visiting from Michigan so we get to do lots of fun things this weekend. Friday morning Samuel woke up to having Nana and Papa sleeping in the living room. It took a few minutes to warm up, but then he was quickly Nana's boy!

Since daddy had to work on Friday, the rest of us decided to head down to the Children's Museum to see the new Bob the Builder exhibit. Samuel was a bit timid and shy at first, but warmed up and loved it. Here are a few pictures of our fun adventure.

Happy Valentine's Day

Samuel wanted to wish every one a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! Last week, we started the process of making his valentines to send to his family and friends. It was a four step process in which Samuel did two steps all by himself. We left the scissors and mailing to mom!

Samuel got to paint three different ways. He started with a brush, then moved to the golf ball and finally finished with his fingers. It was hard to tell which was his favorite, but he was all smiles with most of it.

Here are all the projects he completed! All that was left was for mommy to cut them into hearts and Samuel to send them off to his favorite Valentines! Look for yours in the mail!


Valentine's Day Part 2

Here is another cute story perfect for Valentine's Day. Samuel loves his stuffed animals. He carries them all over the house, has to choose which ones come places with him and even tries to sleep with as many as mom and dad will let him. On of his favorite things to do with his animals is to make them kiss. Here he is sharing a special Valentine's day kiss between his elephant and cow!

Kisses to you all! We love you and miss you. Sending you lots of hugs this Valentine's Day!

Big Boy Bed

Monday afternoon, for the third time, I went to Samuel's room to get him up from his nap and I was surprised when he met me at the door. He seemed a bit surprised also and looked at me, looked at his crib and said "out?" All I could do was laugh. I guess I should have expected it since he is an active boy and likes to climb, but I was hoping to keep him behind bars a bit longer. So, at a mere 19 months of age we are transitioning him to a big boy bed!

When daddy got home last night we headed over to Babies R Us to get one of the bed rails so that we don't find him on the floor every few hours then headed home for the big construction project. Samuel was pretty excited about the whole thing. He watched us take the front of his crib off then he helped me make his bed. He then climbed up on it and just sat there looking very proud of himself. A bit later when we peeked at him he had taken a few books to his bed to look at.

Then it was time for the true test......will he actually sleep in his bed?? Mike and I went through the normal routine then started to talk about how he was going to sleep in his big boy bed tonight. It took a bit longer to get him to fall asleep, but he did finally with daddy sitting and singing next to him. The night went as smoothly as expected considering he is also still getting over being sick. He didn't seem to be up more often because of the bed, but I guess as the nights roll on we will find out.

Today, Samuel was very excited about taking his nap. After I got him cleaned up from lunch he grabbed his blanket and said "night-night" I took advantage of this rare opportunity and went into his room with him. I tucked him all in with his blanket, his cup, cookie and cow of course and sat down next to the bed. Within about 20 minutes he was sound asleep. I'll let you know how it goes!

Recovering

No hikes this past weekend. Instead we all laid low at home and tried to get rid of a bug that has infested our house. I started feeling pretty sick Friday and into Saturday. By Saturday night it had also hit Samuel. He remained pretty miserable even up to this morning.

It seems to be a chest cold that just won't give up. Headaches, stuffy noses, raspy chests and miserable sleeping conditions. Samuel actually spent last night in our bed propped up on pillows to try and make it easier for him to breath. We decided to bring him in after we were up every half an hour with him crying and screaming. To say the least no one slept very well.

He does seem to be in a better mood today and ate a good breakfast. We are going to hang out here at home again and get some medicine in him. Hopefully a nice long nap will be in our near future! We have to be healthy when Nana and Papa come to visit on Thursday!

Big Brother

Take a close look at Samuel's shirt...

This was one of his Christmas presents this past year. Yes, he is going to be a big brother. Mike and I were pleasantly surprised when we found out the news this past Thanksgiving. I had not been feeling well and was beginning to wonder, but figured it couldn't be that easy the second time around. After walking by our linen closet and being able to smell the vitamins I decided it was time to take the test. Lo' and behold it was positive. After an early ultrasound to confirm that everything was good, we found out that we will be expecting baby around July 24th! Which makes me 16 weeks right now.

The first trimester was a rough one for me. I was much more sick with this baby then I ever was with Samuel. I also have not felt that I have gotten enough sleep and am always walking around exhausted. I guess I better get use to it. I am feeling a bit better now, but continue to struggle with what sounds good to eat and then actually eating it. I am well into my maternity clothes, but am showing much differently than I did the first time around. This might be because I don't eat everything in sight this time.

Samuel is excited about being the big brother. He knows that there is a baby in mommy's tummy and everytime he thinks about it he comes over to lift my shirt and kiss my belly. It is really sweet. He was able to see the baby on the ultrasound and hear the heartbeat again last night. He has his own baby that he carries around, feeds and loves to burp! It is amazing how much he has grown up and matured over the last few months. I am hoping this continues as the baby gets closer and closer to being here.

Well, I guess that is it for now. I am sure there will be lots more to tell, but there are 20+ more weeks to talk about all that! Know that baby and mom are doing well, daddy and Samuel and preparing for another little miracle and Bailey is wondering how she can escape before July!

Cars

Samuel loves playing. He is such an active little guy and keeps himself pretty busy throughout the day. You can generally find him running from his room to the living room hauling books, trains and cars with him.

Awhile ago he was in his room playing and being really quite. Which in our book translated to really up to something he shouldn't be doing. Anyway, I walked back to his room and found him like this...

He had lined up all his cars bumper to bumper. I instantly started to worry about him! Was this normal? Do all kids do this? This was just the start. He enjoys lining his trains up and even his books! I guess he is just a bit too much like his mom when it comes to order and organization!

Samuel also had his first introduction to arcade games. He ran right up to car, climbed up on the seat, grabbed the steering wheel and pretended to drive. I guess I should stop letting him drive our car (that was a joke, don't report me to CPS).

How can you not just love that face?

St. Edwards State Park

Since the weather was beautiful today, we decided to head out for a family hike. Mike found a state park that is about 15 minutes away from us. It use to be a seminary, but is now owned and operated by the state. There were a bunch of trails, a kids play area and just a beautiful surrounding.

We decided to take the easiest walk (.62 miles) down to Lake Washington. Samuel walked the whole way by himself! Once there, Bailey got to play in the water and Samuel crawled around on some of the rocks. We watched the little waves come in and looked for ducks. After a few minutes we decided to start the trek back up.

Samuel made is quite a way before signing and telling us he was all done. He then got a short ride on mom's back before daddy took over. It was a great little outing!

The Sun is Out

The weather has been really nice here the past couple of days. Yesterday, Samuel and Jase went on a walk around our complex. We have a really nice walking trail that is far enough off the road that the boys can run and play on it without me constantly worrying.

Today, we decided to try a couple new parks out. Neither of them had really good play areas that were young enough for the boys, but they both had really nice walking trails. We set out on the trail and discovered all sorts of neat things. We heard and saw ducks, we heard lots of birds and heard a very excited dog. They boys did great. They even wanted to hold hands for part of the walk.

Hopefully the weather will stay nice through the weekend and we can take our first official family hike of the 2007!

Congrats Uncle Mike

Well, its officially official. Last Monday night, Uncle Mike signed his scholarship to play golf at Indiana Tech.

Indiana Tech is a small, private college located in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and compete in the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference. This year, Indiana Tech is reestablishing their golf team. It should be an exciting year for them.

To say the least we are all very proud of Mike. It is amazing to think that my little brother is going to college and being able to pursue a dream at the same time. Samuel talks about and to (his pictures at least) his Uncle Mike constantly. I am so excited that Samuel will always have Uncle Mike to look up too. I guess we will just have to hurry up and get back to Michigan so we can see some college golf matches.

Keep up the good work bud. We miss you bunches and are so very proud of you!

Congrats!

Happy House

Well, there is a happy vibe in the Clark household this afternoon. The Chicago Bears are going to the Superbowl ! Around 12:00pm we all took our places around the tv. Jenn on the couch, Mike pacing nervously and Samuel finishing up a much needed nap. There was lots of clapping, cheering and even a few grumbles, but in the end there was the Superbowl Shuffle.

Samuel and Daddy after a touchdown dance.

Samuel wasn't happy with all the calls...

...but in the end there was dancing!

Go Bears...two weeks to plan the party!

Fun in the Snow

Well, the weather has not yet taken a break out here in Seattle. We got another ice and snow storm before I left for California giving Mike both Thursday and Friday off. This week is a bit better with him having an hour delay both Tuesday and today. At least they count as days. Right now they will have six days to make up at the end of the year. Uhhh!

This afternoon the boys were driving me a bit nuts so I thought we would head to the grocery store. I soon discovered that I only had one car seat since Mike had Samuel's in his car from last night. Since I couldn't really tie one to the roof we voted against the store. Instead we bundled up and went on a walk.

The boys were relatively good. Of course they don't stay together and each have their own agenda about which direction we should be heading. After about a twenty minute walk around our building we made it over to the little park. They ran around and played in the snow a bit.

Once little hands and noses were cold we made our way back to the apartment. After a snack they are both really calm as they watch good old Elmo. I guess we will have to take walks more often!

California

This past weekend, Trish and I took a much needed weekend away to California. This was the first time that I have spent more than a night away from Samuel. I know I should have done it sooner. Anyway, we had a great time. Here is a brief summary of our trip through pictures.

We flew into San Jose early Friday morning and drove up to San Fransisco. We visited Pier 39. Lots of shops and barking seals!

We had to have Fish n' Chips for lunch at Bubba Gump's.

Since we are chocolate lovers we had to head to the original Ghirardelli shop at Ghirardelli square.

We decided on hot chocolate. Too bad it was soooo sweet we couldn't finish it!

We then drove up to Golden Gate Bridge. We walked halfway out to get some good pictures before we headed to Monterey. It was windy and cold!

Picture of the city from Golden Gate.

Once we arrived in Monterey, we drove around to some of Trish's old stomping grounds. We saw her old apartment and language school. We couldn't leave without eating dinner at Michael's.

A view down Cannery Row.

Sand dollars at the aquarium.

We did a lot of walking on this trip. We took a three mile hike through Point Lobos.

This deer was literally this close to us. There were actually five total wandering around eating.

The Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach.

One of the golf courses in the Pebble Beach area.

A view of the coast.

The beautiful sunset over the water.