Our sweet friends Matt and Natalie are moving. To Wisconsin. That's, like, majorly far from California. *sad face* BUT! They will be in the same town as Natty's family! And Matt has an awesome new job there! And they will start a new chapter of their lives together there! *happy face* We had a Goodbye Party for them a few weekends ago. Lots of good friends. Ladder golf. Burgers and dogs and cake. Board games. Balloon fights in the living room. Normal stuff. Boy, oh boy. We're gunna miss them. Continue reading

(Looking back at old drafts.) December 19th, 2011 ___________________________ Poor Roman. He HATED tummy time with a fiery passion. Like a good Mom, I tried and tried to get him used to it, but it was intense for both of us. He had, and still has, a giant head and holding that puppy up and rolling over was just so hard for him. I used to cry and he'd do the same, all in the name of neck muscle and front-to-back. If I could go back and talk to myself, I'd gently tell mention that it turns out okay. At... Continue reading

( Looking back on old drafts.) May 4th, 2011 "I had a doctor's appointment today with Dr. J. and told him not only about my sharp pain last week, but my high blood sugar these past few days and it's been decided that I've got borderline Gestational Diabetes. Frankly, I'm surprised that it didn't happen sooner." ___________________________________________________ Doctor J. was my perinatologist while I was pregnant with Roman. Towards the end of my pregnancy, my sugar levels were all over the place. I would eat a chicken apple sausage with my breakfast and the sugar from the apples in the... Continue reading

That's how many years apart these two are. Grandpa Gene is Dustin's Mother's Father. Roman talks about "Dampa Jeeen" at least once a day. *magical* Continue reading

Adding to the collection! See previous banners HERE. Here are a few cute ones from our shoot. :) Continue reading

I really love dental cleanings. Having my gums scraped and my teeth polished and flossed by a stranger. It's strangely intimate and makes my heart race! I don't even care if it's weird. The free toothbrush is just the icing on the periodontal cake for me. Score! Continue reading

I've been going through the drafts of posts that I've got here on the blog and I've come to a conclusion. Instead of deleting the posts because they're a little old and irrelevant, I'm going to post them now and leave a current comment at the bottom. July 31st, 2011 ___________________________________________ These are 3 of 4 of Roman's Grandparents. He was about two months old here and so, so tiny. Oh my word. Tiny. And he looked like an old man. My Grandfather, to be exact. My heart is breaking that he'll never be this tiny (and hasn't been in... Continue reading

I recently co-hosted a baby shower for a friend who happens to have Celiac disease. If you're not aware, Celiac sucks. BOOM. It sucks. My friend cannot have any wheat or gluten (a sticky protein found in many grains including wheat, spelt, barley and rye to name a few) and this almost always means that cake at parties are out for her. Even if the cake is made from a gluten free mix, things like vanilla extract made with a gluten-containing alcohol can make her sick. Little things. Cross-contamination. Accidental ingredients. It's tricky and frustrating for her, not to mention... Continue reading

My Boy, Last week, Mommy's friend (and Gavin's Mommy!) Jewel's gave you a real hair cut. I've snipped your locks three or four time before, but you squirm like a worm and, lets be real, I didn't REALLY ever know what I was doing. Your hair was getting out-of-control CRAZY. I started bobby-pinning your bangs back at meal times because it was getting in your eyes and you'd try and brush the hair away which would result in me having to clean (insert everything on your grimy mealtime hands HERE) off of your face and out of your eyes. It... Continue reading

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Dearest Spring, Please linger for a little while. Your big sister, Miss Summer, will soon be here to settle in and sweat us all out. Don't tell Mother Nature, but I much prefer you, darling. Sweet smells, sturdy seeds sprouting out of the soil. Birds bouncing atop the grass looking for buggies to munch and "bum bees" (Roman's phrase) flitting about the branches of blooms. *sweet sigh* We adore you. Love, The Clark Family Continue reading

From a few weeks ago. Roman was enjoying a quick visit to Danny's (Granny's) house and decided that he wanted to kiss Mom's wiener dog, Punsie. The bow tie. The stripes. The parted hair that happened to lay flat (it normally looks like Einstein). The gigantic drumstick/baseball bat. My boy! It's so crazy that I a) created a person INSIDE my body. I still can't get over it. It's straight up science fiction! And b) the little person that my womb knit is just so incredibly handsome. I can't wait (yes I can!) to see what he'll look like as... Continue reading

Another Easter passed us by. Vrrrooooom! (Roman makes that noise.) it was so exciting watching my child hunt for eggs! Chubby hands holding a too-big basket. Cracking each egg open and finding candy. SO sweet! Although, he was a bit disappointed (maybe it was more that I was disappointed for him) that the eggs didn't have any chocolate in them -- only chewy, taffy like stuff. A no-no for my little guy! Oh, and the Easter Bunny was enjoying his last lax year at our house -- no basket for Roman, just a matchbox sized Tow Mater that he went... Continue reading

(Last part, I promise! Continuing on with my word of the year...) This blog has become somewhat of a diary for me. A place to keep family and friends updated about our life, how fast Roman is growing up and what is going on with me and my health. A place to leave my mark for my child(ren) and family in case my cancer comes back and I end up kicking the bucket. I know that's morbid, but it's always a reality in my mind. I made my first blog (the same name as this one, but on Blogger) in... Continue reading

Well, despite the tests and planning (another way to say we had lots of strategic humping - I'm so fancy), this month proved unfruitful just like last month. Just like every month since September. We had been "half-trying" from the months of September to December, and now we've been full-force trying since January. As in, peeing on ovulation prediction sticks twice a day (they do work, by the way) and then waiting the two weeks until my cycle decides to show up. This past month Dustin told me that he wouldn't be answering any of my, "Did my boobs feel... Continue reading

Friends, I'm still here! I swear! I have three other windows on my task bar open with blog posts in the works - the last installment of Bones (blogging bones!), and two parts of a mini-series called How We Eat. Gah! Seriously. I wish it was acceptable to me to ignore my child and get some work done, but I just can't bring myself to deny those sweet requests to read books or go outside (NATURE BOY, for reals) or to play trains. My boy blows me away daily and I can't imagine having anyone but him be my baby.... Continue reading

A friend of my friend (Lala), Miss Mandi from Making Nice in the Midwest, is going through something scary with her health and my heart just wants to swallow her up. You can read about her issue, here, and I encourage you to drop her a comment and send her a little love. She is a new Mom to one of the cutest little girls around (and Lucy wins Best Baby Hair of the Year award, hands down!) and she and her husband live in Ohio. I've never met her personally, but she seems super sweet and has such a... Continue reading

My mom took this picture of Roman last week. Who is this young man and where the heck did my baby go? SLOW DOWN. Continue reading

(continued...) -- I want to build the bones of my business. Good God, I am chicken shit. Seriously, at least in this area of my life. I've never been more afraid to fail at something in my life.-- I recently bought a binder to house all of my recipes and notes. It was a $21, 4 inch binder. Oh dear! I've been putting a lot of effort into building these bones. When I am able to sneak a minute (and if you're a mom to a toddler, you KNOW how easy that is. This is a joke, my friends.), I've... Continue reading

He is living in a material world, folks. Seriously. The air I exhale is pure love for this child. Continue reading

Continuing on with my word of the year, Bones, I want to talk about food. I want to get the bones of our diet nice and solid. I cook dinner, from scratch, almost every night. Some nights are for fishsticks from a box because this is real life, folks, and I try to keep it real. I am mildly organized to the point of planning a weekly dinner menu and shopping according to what I'll need for those meals, but I find myself (more often than not) scrambling the hour or two before I'm to head to the market (fancy!)... Continue reading

To: the Husband that is mine Love: the Wife that is yours Our song still makes my heart skip a beat every time I hear it. (+ another one of our favorites for good measure) Happy Valentine's Day, hot stuff. Continue reading

(continued from yesterday...) We have found our home. This year, we will buy the house we love and make it officially official. Officially ours. The walls that will be painted and decorated. The garage that will be organized. The garden that will grow food for my boys and flowers for Momma. The yard that will be redesigned and covered in fresh sod, picnic table rooted and swing on tree. The rooms that my children will grow up in. We found our home bones and soon they will be ours in writing. Now to pick the paint, plan the garage, plant... Continue reading