A White Valentine Weekend

The snow was so beautiful this past weekend! I still can't believe that we got 8.6". When the snow started falling on Friday afternoon, I immediately took Mason out to play because I had my doubts about whether or not it would still be around on Saturday.





It started to accumulate almost immediately and by that evening our yard was transformed into a beautiful winter wonderland. We had a great time on Saturday alternately playing in the snow, coming inside to get warm, and going back out for more playing.



Graem's truck was snowed in...



As was Mason's truck...



The little white dog was not a fan of the fluffy white stuff. She literally leapt into my arms and though you cannot tell in this picture, she was shivering uncontrollably. So much for having descended from the West Highlands of Scotland...this puppy is southern!



She was happy to find a patch of dry ground.



Roper is 7 months old today, which means Mason is 29 months old today. I actually took Roper to the doctor last week in a moment of paranoia desperation. He has been sleeping through the night since he was 9 weeks old. All of a sudden, he started waking up every 3 hours during the night last week. There had to be a reason for it, right? I had a sneaking suspicion that it was another ear infection. I shared my diagnosis with the pediatrician.

Ped: Has he been coughing?
Me: No.
Ped: Runny nose, sneezing?
Me: No and no.
Ped: Irritable?
Me: No.

Couldn't the pediatrician tell that I just wanted him to sleep again? His ears were perfectly clear. He was perfectly healthy. Turns out it must have just been a growth spurt, because when he was weighed at his 6-month check-up on 1/22, he was 19.5 lbs. Less than 3 weeks later, he weighed in at 21.4 lbs. And thank goodness he is back to sleeping all night again!

In closing, here is a Valentine hug from Roper...



And a big kiss from Mason!



(Thank you, Bebe, for the wax lips. We had quite a bit of fun with them!)

My Roommate

My college roommate, Jessica, is getting married in April. I had the pleasure of helping hostess a shower for her this past weekend. It was so nice to get to catch up with college friends that I don't get to see very often.



She got lots of nice gifts.



I think she liked what I got her. She picked it out, after all. :) I love china and I especially love casual china that is white-on-white. Jessica picked out a really pretty pattern.





Of course, this is how I will always remember these girls:



I can still remember the day that I met Jessica. Two girls from small towns on opposite ends of the state...somehow we ended up seated next to each other in the Koger Center during freshman orientation the summer before starting college. Later that day we learned -- much to our surprise -- that we had been matched as potluck roommates! We spent the next four years living together...Becky lived with us for 3 of those years and Andrea was with us for 2 of them. Holly was our neighbor in the dorm and at our apartment. Good times!!!

I Heart...

I am admittedly somewhat anti-Valentines Day. It's a silly made-up "holiday" that forces couples to endure crowded restaurants, spend money on overpriced flowers, cards, etc. My husband and I love each other every single day of the year, thank you very much. I also recently learned that the expectations are high for mothers when it comes to sending cards to all your children's classmates.

Remember my debate about what to do for the children in Mason's pre-school class for Valentine's Day? Well, the teacher answered all my questions by sending home a note that instructed me to send in one valentine per classmate, along with a list of names. The list included all the children in the class, i.e. not just the children that are in the Monday/Thursday class. The funny ridiculous thing about this is that Mason will be giving Valentines to children that he's never met.

I actually had fun making the cards though.

Cardstock + stickers + heart-shaped suckers = cute crafty Valentines.





I had to do most of the work, although I let Mason go crazy with the foam heart stickers.



This sticker was Mason's favorite. Hopefully his buddies won't be blowing up my cell phone with all sorts of texts to him.

Feeding the Family

On Saturday, I took a trip to Myrtle Beach with some friends from church for a meeting in the morning and shopping -- my favorite kind of shopping, i.e. outlet shopping -- in the afternoon. The meeting was EARLY, it started at 9:30. Which means we left Lexington at 6:15. Which means I was up at 5:00 AM!! After having supper club at the Browns the night before, it was HARD to get up that early. I can't remember the last time I was up that early by choice!

I digress -- Graem had the boys for the day. He dropped Roper off in North Augusta to spend the day with Nana and the three Masons (Ward Mason aka Grandaddy, Graem Mason Sr and Graem Mason Jr) took off to the land in Edgefield for a day of fishing. My hubby loves to fish and hunt -- he refers to his hobbies as "feeding the family." I'm thankful that his hobbies are so productive and that he can keep our freezer full of venison and fish. Mason helped Grandaddy reel in a big bream and learned to cast & reel his rod -- and he loved every minute of it!





Other ramblings...
Valentine's Day is coming up, and I've been wondering if I need to send cards and candy to all the children in Mason's pre-school class. My discussion with Graem about what to do...

Me: Do I need to send Valentines to all the children in Mason's class?
G: Only the girls. And maybe the teachers.
Me: I think if I send them for the girls I also have to send them for the boys.
G: Mason doesn't want to give Valentines to boys.
Me: He is 2 years old. I don't think he cares about giving Valentines to any of the children.

I consulted with some other mothers on the proper pre-school etiquette and they informed me that I need to send them to all the children that are in class with Mason.

I'll wrap this up with a big GO GAMECOCKS!!! Graem was at the game -- he said it was very loud & a lot of fun. The boys and I took dinner up to my parents. My Daddy had his surgery on Monday and is recovering very well. He is refusing to take any pain medicine (wonder where I get my stubborn streak)? Thanks to everyone for all the prayers!

6-month Check-up

My baby had his 6-month check-up on Friday. It feels like he isn't such a baby anymore -- literally! Wow, the infant carrier has gotten HEAVY!

Here are the stats:
Weight - 19.5 lbs, 78th percentile
Height - 27", 68th percentile
Head circumference - 17.5", 68th percentile

I had to look up Mason's stats from his 6-month check up just to compare. He was also 27" long, but only weighed 16 lbs, 9 oz.

Back to Roper -- he had a good checkup. Nothing too exciting, he is right on track for everything. He loves baby food. So far, he's had squash, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes and bananas. He gives all of them two thumbs up.

No, he doesn't feed himself, he just likes to check the spoon for extra food after each meal...





I had some 6-month pictures made of him in our family christening gown. The photographer (Eddie Shealy in Clinton) seemed a little uncertain that we got any good ones...Roper kept making the funniest faces! He was really being silly that day, and it was the day before he was diagnosed with dual ear infections, so in hindsight I'm very pleased to have gotten any good shots. I wanted to make sure we got at least 2 good ones -- one full length and one half length, and I think we did.

Here is the link for the pictures. I like #1 for the full length, but can't decide between 2, 3 & 4 for half length. Let me know what you think!

In With the New

I have a feeling that this post will be all over the place...which is kind of how our lives have been since the beginning of the new year. So far, we have taken two family trips: one to Fayetteville, NC and one to Montgomery, AL. Graem also went to the SC bowl game in Birmingham and has taken countless work trips...this is the time of year when we can count on him being out of town every week...Dallas, Raleigh, Boca Raton. We also spent quite a bit of time at my parents' house and Graem's parents' house while the floors were being done.

Our floors are done...the unexpected work that was a byproduct of getting new hardwood floors is almost done...our new furniture is here...and we are glad to be getting back into somewhat of a routine.

Baby Roper hit a milestone over the weekend -- his six-month birthday! The big 0.5. It's so hard to believe! His check up is Friday, so I'll be sure to post his stats. He also had a double ear infection AND croup last week. I didn't even know he was sick until he started running a fever! I honestly think the amoxicillin bothered him more than the ear infection did.

Believe it or not, Mason has never had an ear infection...but he & Roper have been such different babies. Mason rarely spit up. Roper spits up every time he eats. Hopefully now that he's reached the magical 6-month mark, the spitting-up will not be as frequent. Our pediatrician says he has reflux, but since it hasn't kept him from packing on the pounds, we don't medicate him for it. Friends have told me that babies with reflux suffer from more frequent ear infections. That seems logical to me since the ear/nose/throat are so connected.

He's getting pretty good at doing this:



It was beautiful this morning...I told Mason to go get his shoes on so that we could go play outside and this is how I found him standing by the door, ready to play...



Roper's personality has really started to blossom and he has become much more interactive with us and with Mason. As you can see below, Roper wants Mason's cup and Mason wants Roper's toy...





And Mason wants Roper's ear {poor kid}...

Happy New Year

Twenty-ten is here!! Happy New Year to all of you!

Here is a little visual of what's going on in the Clark home this week...



We are having hardwoods put in our living room, kitchen and bedroom. I'm so excited for the final result...but getting there is the hard part, especially with two young children, two dogs, and a husband that's in Dallas for the week.

The most progress has been made in the living room.



The kitchen...



The hall, which had a little surprise under the old flooring. Some of the subflooring was rotten, even down to the joists.



We have basically been living in the upstairs of our house, because the rooms that are "livable" in the downstairs are either packed full of furniture or lumber.



They plan to fix the hall floor and finish laying the wood today. They will start sanding and staining *hopefully* tomorrow, so we are staying at my parent's house for a couple of nights. We are very excited about tomorrow night's forecast for the upstate...we're keeping our fingers crossed that we'll get to play in the snow on Friday morning!