So I guess I am blogging again... I have lots to put up here, like that we moved to a new bigger house, that we are licensed foster parents now, and we are planning on adopting. I know it is like a big wildfire all the things I need to update people on. I will get to it all eventually. Honestly I thought no one was even reading this blog anymore and then today I see that there were comments, and people had visited. So I will try to be a little more entertaining and also add pictures.

Things I am working on this week:

• FHE (family home evening) lesson: What is a HERO and what does it mean to 'stand as a witness of God at all times' (Mosiah 18:9)?
• Hannah's Amelia Earhart costume for the 5th grade Wax Museum.
• Handmade and Heartfelt Christmas gifts for all of my nieces and nephews. (We have 12 ranging in age from 2-14, so it is a challenge, but I have a killer idea!) Also gifts for our parents, also a pretty cool set of ideas.
  
• Planning the Thanksgiving menu: We have 16 confirmed(including us) and a possible 5 more coming for dinner and I am so excited!
• Put out Thanksgiving and fall decorations.
• Start 25 days of gratitude journal.

Good Riddins' Halloween!

As much as I loved Trick-or-treating as a kid or love getting our 3 girls dressed up in cute little costumes, I really don't like what Halloween has become. The other day we were looking for a costume ideas for Nathan(for work) and we stopped at the Halloween City in a neighboring city. It is one of those Halloween places that is only open for like a month and a half, that takes over an abandoned Kmart or Circuit City building. We were really blown away by the costumes that were there. We had checked out the local Walmart and were a little disappointed in racey nature of everything, since when are Little Bo Peep or Alice in Wonderland sexy characters? What we saw at Walmart paled in comparison to the trash at this Halloween City, we left feeling gross, like we had just been tricked into walking through an Adult Bookstore-GROSS! If someone wants to dress up like a nurse/stripper, whatever that is their choice, but there was a costume that was basically an orange prison jumpsuit with a fly and a realistic looking plastic phallic. There was also a human breathalyzer with a blow here reference. It wasn't in a back room or in a clearly marked adult section, it was right there by the Where's Waldo costumes. People had their kids with them trying to find the latest princess or Star Wars dark lord. Kids don't need to see that trash and for that matter neither do adults. What happened to ghosts and cute goblins? I remember dressing up with my "step-twin" sister when we kids as cute little witches and our mom had made us little capes. Sometimes I really long for a simpler time when little girls costumes didn't include little garter belts. I am just grateful for the Thanksgiving season to finally be here.

Perspective

I haven't blogged in over a year, partly because I have been busy, very busy raising three beautiful girls, partly because I remember being taught "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." There have been times this year where I haven't really had much of of anything good to say, not because there was no good going on, but because I was too busy murmuring and whining about the crumby things that I couldn't see the good. Looking back, there was plenty to be grateful for then and is now.
Today while trying to get the twins to settle down and take a nap, I heard a really strange sound coming from their bedroom. I go upstairs to see them swinging in the handmade wooden cradle that we keep in their room. It holds their baby dolls and little stuffed animals. It was constructed by my dad just before Hannah was born. The cradle is custom, so my mom, Deb, had to sew a special sized mattress and a special cover for it. Before I could get too mad about their shenanigans I was reminded of how they both used to be able to lay down feet-to-feet and sleep in the cradle in the first few weeks home from the NICU so they could be close to our bed at night. It is hard to believe that in less than 2 months they will turn three. While days when they won't take a nap get to be very tough because they turn into little beasts by 4pm, I do have a lot to be grateful for...Sweet babies, loving grandparents, lots of loving family, and good memories.
Another perspective that I have gained in the last few days happened while helping Hannah with homework. It was obvious that she hadn't put much effort into the book report that is due on Wednesday and before I could stop myself I said words that I heard my Dad say to me when he helped me with homework--"if you would just apply yourself..."
So things have gone full circle, the cradle that once held Hannah as a baby and Sara Emma so tiny and new, is now a swing for avoiding nap time and I have become my dad. (Which isn't such a bad thing--the dad part, not the swing!) Things have changed and things have stayed the same, it is funny what little perspective will give you.

Busy summer and 20 Months!

I cannot believe how the time has flown. Hannah has just returned from a visit to MN to stay with Grandma & Grandpa H. She was able to take swimming lessons with all of her cousins and she loved every minute but admits that she was homesick. To surprise her, we made-over her room with a fairy/Tinkerbell theme. It now has giant leaves coming out of the walls and a green canopy over her bed complete with floral accents. Her favorite part is the reading corner with a giant green butterfly chair. She loves to sit there and just hang out.
Amidst the craziness of getting everything prepared for back to school, the little girls turned 20 months! There are so many things that they are doing now:

• They walk every where, this took a little longer but they both nailed it by the beginning of June. Emma was walking about 2 weeks before Sara. I attribute this to Emma's easy-going nature, whereas Sara is a little more cautious and meticulous.
• They both climb just about anything you put in front of them. They climb the stairs, the furniture, and us!
• They are both working on the coming-down-the-stairs. This is taking longer because most kids get to practice every time they go down whereas I hold one on my lap, while I help the other one down. Let's just say I tried letting them both go at once and it wasn't pretty!
• They are in full swing of Twin-speak. They have a little language of their own, sprinkled with some of our words.
• They go to nursery class at church. This started at 18 months. They get to go have a little lesson, sing, and play with the other kids that are 18 months-3 years all while the rest of us go to Sunday school classes. They love it!
• They are eating with a spoon and a fork. Successfully most of the time. One of their favorite foods is yogurt, and that is quite messy to clean up, but with practice I am sure that they will have this down soon.

On Wednesday, we will start school for Hannah. This year she is attending the UT Virtual Academy. It is an online public school. I will be posting more about that in subsequent posts. A few weeks ago, a computer, and boxes of textbooks, workbooks, and cool supplies for art and science showed up on our door step. Last night we made the final touches to the organization system that we will be using. It looks like an amazing system, I am really excited for Hannah because she will finally be able to challenged in language and reading and get the individual attention in math that she needs. She has already told me that she plans to finish 5th grade early so she can start in 6th. I keep telling her, "we'll see", thinking "mmm, am I ready for a middle-school child?"

She's Back!

Some of you know that I have been very busy this summer with two toddlers, a 10-year-old, and 15 credits at school. "Why?" It is a question that I have asked myself all summer. After it is all said and done I am glad that I am doing this. I believe that education is important, and just as my oldest daughter is starting to get to that stage where school is less enticing, I have showed her that it is important to me. I would like to finish what I have started 10 years ago, but I would also like to not be that old lady who is featured on the news at 82 years old for being the oldest college graduate! I can see the end in sight. I will be taking a semester or two off so I can really focus on getting Hannah started with school this fall and spend some time just dinging around with my girls. I might just take a class or two here and there to keep the momentum going. Hopefully I will be posting on the blog more often too!

Where in the world?

Where have the Clarks been and what have they been up to? Well, we have been super busy, too busy in fact to post on our blog, things will probably slow down in a few weeks. I know I need to post about our vacation and what we have been doing for the last two months but something happened today that was just too cute. Check out the video for yourself.... (pay special attention to the last 5 seconds.)

10 years

10 years ago The Clark Corner welcomed our first child into the world. Nathan and I had been married just under a year and although we didn't necessarily plan to get pregnant a month after being married we were excited and nervous and thrilled and felt extremely blessed to become parents. On the 17th of May (Hannah's Due Date) Nathan and I went to visit Dr. Moody, not my doctor but his partner, to find out that Hannah was in the breech presentation-butt first so we were told that she would have to be born via c-section. This was a huge disappointment because we studied the Bradley Method and natural childbirth. None-the-less we were happy to know that she would be born safely. So we scheduled a c-section for May 21st at 8am. Future Grandparents were called and bags were packed.

A few days before the big day my parents Deb and Dave and my little brother flew out for the big day. They brought with them a beautiful grandpa hand-crafted wood cradle for our sweet new baby. The night before the surgery I had my mom french braid my hair and then I could eat or drink anything after midnight. The morning of the big day Nathan and I drove to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center and checked in at 6am. There ended up being some mix-up with the doctors and we were postponed and had to sit around a wait in a skimpy hospital gown until just before 10 when the anesthesiologist arrived to give me the worst epidural ever. It was horrible and painful. They prepped me and wheeled me in to the operation room. My parents and Dano had arrived by then and were waiting to meet the new baby. Once in the operating room they began right away. About half way through the surgery, I let out a scream because I could feel them cutting. I was quickly and completely knocked out. Nathan admitted later that he thought that I had died, but then the anesthesiologist announced that he had just injected my IV with "Angel Dust" and that I was ok. Things got a little weird then because I could hear everything that was going but could feel nothing and couldn't move or speak. I heard them all talking as they brought Hannah into the world. Hannah Mae Clark was born 10:10am weighing 8lbs. 4oz. and 21 inches long. They cleaned her up and she cried right away. That is all I remember until I was in the recovery room. In the recovery room I could hear my parents and Nathan all talking but I couldn't move or speak. I felt like I was out of my body. I started to come to and was congratulated on the sweet little girl I had just given birth to. Eventually I was moved to the Mother/Baby wing and was allowed to wake up. I remember when the nurse brought Hannah to me, it felt surreal to hold her. I felt like I might drop her, it was unreal to think that she was mine!

Within the day we were informed about a birth defect that the nurse found in her hips. We were scared, we didn't know what to expect. Nathan and our best man from our wedding, Jonathan Bird, gave Hannah a priesthood blessing. (In our church, anointing of the sick and other sacramental rites are preformed by lay members of the church who have been given the holy priesthood.) In the blessing Hannah was promised that she would walk and run and play like other children and that the doctors would be guided to heal her little body. As young new parents we were scared for our little girl but found comfort in the promises of the blessing. Within a few days we were home from the hospital. My mom stayed to help take care of us as we cared for our new little lady. Nathan's mom NanEtte came to stay with us once my mom needed to head home. We had many doctor appointments for both Hannah and me the first days home. Hannah was seeing an Ortho Surgeon that first day home the hospital. He put her in a "frog leg" brace. Within in a week she was up at Primary Children's Hospital to see a pediatric ortho surgeon. After a few tests and an exam we found out that within a month Hannah would be having a surgery to correct her hips. She went on to have 3 different hip/body casts in the first 9 months of her life. She was the sweetest new baby even with all of the garbage she had to go through. We love her so much. She is growing up to be an amazing person.

1. Hannah is super bright and loves to read.
2. She is kind and loving and a great big sister.
3. She loves to dance and sing in her room when she thinks no one is watching.
4. She has been in 12 plays.
5. She loves sweets and ice cream.
6. She loves her big giant cat Dojo.
7. She is a really great artist.
8. She loves to garden, go for walks, and ride bike.
9. She skipped up a grade this year.
10. She is the most beautiful and amazing firstborn a mother could wish for!

Happy Birthday Hannah Mae! We love you!

Happy 17th Months!

I will be posting a a few birthday pics of the girls later, but I cannot let this day go by without saying Happy Birthday to our sweet little babies! I cannot believe how fast these past two years of expecting and having you in our lives has flown by. We love you Emma & Sara.

Contest Giveaway!!!

I have decided to do a contest giveaway. There are two categories:
1. Guess how much we spend on tolls.
2. Guess how many miles we have driven, (including the miles while at places, so you be able to just mapquest it. )
The two contestants that come the closest to one of these categories will receive a fabulous prize!
Just email me at nathan_melissaclark@hotmail.com with your guesses!

Summer Trip: The Rest of Week One

Wednesday: Hung out with Grandpa, Visited The Beaudry Family, Visited with my friends from Monarch Montessori, Hannah went to Isaac's baseball game.
Thursday: Went to see a very interesting play with Jamie and Ellen. Hannah got to have a special Girls' Night out with her Aunties Carrie and Jamie.
Friday: Packed up the van and left for points east! After stopping at Sam's for gas we hit the road at about 9am. I would like to take this chance to say that I absolutely hate Chicago! Beyond the crappy traffic, people drive horribly there, it is dirty, it stinks, I could go on but I don't want to waste another second on that horrible place! We spent the night in a suburb of Cleavland, OH (I should actually say morning because we finally put our heads to the pillows at 4am, the girls all slept in the van, but I just kept driving. I did stop to rest my eyes for about a half hour at about 2 am because the horrible rain was just hypnotizing me.)
Saturday: Slept in and went to visit some local historic church sites. We also went to the boulevard of 500 flags. That was amazing! This memorial has 500 flags for fallen soldiers, each flag pole has a name of someone that gave their life striving to protect our country and freedoms. (pics to come) They also have a memorial to 9-11. It was beautifully designed with pieces of twisted I beam from each of the Twin Towers, and granite from the pentagon. It was all put together on a pentagon shaped platform of grass. There is a sign there saying earth and grass from the field in PA. If you are ever driving through Cleavland, you must stop.
Sunday: We are heading out to VA & MD and will stay until Friday when Nathan comes! We are excited to have Daddy back.
Check back later tonight because Hannah is doing a toll count to tell us how much we have spent on tolls.