Let them eat pie.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who lives a block away. And I'm even luckier that she has a friend who is a pie chef :) Tonight a bunch of the Tower Grove ladies headed over to Shannon's house for a little from-scratch pie-making session and a TON of wine (of course I didn't partake in that last part, but man it sounded so good) Why do I crave wine when I'm pregnant? It's just not right. But the pies came out really really delicious and now I'm exhausted and stuffed. We (and I use that term loosely) made pumpkin pie with caramel sauce and fresh made whip cream, homemade chocolate pecan pie and an apple pie with fresh thyme.

I walked into the kitchen to find this TOWER of butter, and instantly knew these pies were going to be fantastic... and healthy... oh wait.



Some of the girls kneading the homemade dough.


Who knew that in a pinch beer bottles work GREAT as rolling pins?!?!? And the lovely chef explained that the coolness of it is actually good for the dough.



And, this is a diabetic serving of pumpkin pie with caramel sauce and scratch whip cream. Actually, this was a splurge- and I don't regret a second of it! Lucky me though the chef forgot to add sugar to her apple pie and I got to take the whole thing home :)



A handful of our "to go" pies. YUMMY! Too bad Rich doesn't like pumpkin pie. I might have to eat the whole thing myself! A pregnant girl's nightmare for sure.

Clark's going to be a....

and he's so excited he's telling you all about it :) Five and a half weeks ago Rich and I found out I'm pregnant and we couldn't be more thrilled. Right now I'm nine weeks along and things have been going great. It's pretty exhausting having first trimester sleepiness while running after a toddler that has figured out how to run himself... I can't wait to feel rested again, which I assume won't be until they both are in high school! I've only gotten sick once, but have been having some pretty odd cravings (like eating a pickle dipped in cheese sauce last weekend) and it tasted SOOO good! We've had 3 ultrasounds so far and have been blessed to hear that sweet heartbeat all three times- last week it was up to 171 which is higher than Clark's ever was. And if the old wive's tale is true I'm baking a baby girl (which is what I've thought the entire time.) We'll see if I'm right in a couple more months!

Best Buddies

Tonight after we put Clark to bed and finished dinner Rich and I were on the couch watching True Blood, we're obsessed- it's a fantastic show. About half way through the show I heard a funny noise on the monitor. And then another one and it instantly hit me what was going on. Lloyd snuck into the room while Rich was putting him to sleep. We could see on the monitor that he was circling the crib like a shark- Rich bolted upstairs to get him out before he woke Clark up, but it was too late. By the time he got in there Lloyd had jumped in the crib and Clark was sitting up half asleep and really confused, while the trouble making kitty was snuggling circles around him. Rich was able to miraculously find Lloyd in the completely dark room, but Clark remained sitting up. And then he fell asleep... sitting up. We had tears rolling down our face we were laughing so hard watching him. His head would fall forward, and he'd sway, then his head would snap back up again, eye rubs, head bobbing again and more swaying. This went on for about 4 full minutes before he fell over on his side and didn't budge. It was too funny. I know it's not the first time he's going to fall asleep sitting up- it'll probably happen multiple times in class during high school, but at least we got to see it happen once. We had no idea that parenthood would bring so many hilarious moments!!!

Family play time

Yesterday we went to family play at Clark's Gymboree with Lisa, Malcolm & Perry. Clark loved playing now that he's an official walker and he had so much fun showing Malcolm the ropes, it was his first time there.

One of Clark's favorite things to do is take all the balls out of the bucket. Then he puts them back, and pulls them back out again. Over and over.

And he LOVES the rocking horse. He can climb on and off it all by himself and even rock back and forth.

The three musketeers-

And his third and final favorite thing is the trampouline. He gets so excited jumping up and down, but now that he's more confident on his feet he thinks he should be able to jump without holding on... too funny.

This is how he stands up right now-

Happy little Malcolm!

Trip to Chicago

Last weekend we headed to Chicago and had so much fun! We made a stop in Tinley Park to visit with the Hernandez Family, eat yummy Chicken soup and get some "holiday" pictures of Clark and Lola together. Then we were off to the city for The Hold Steady show which was amazing. One of the best shows we've ever been to and we go to a TON of shows :) We got to spend time with our good friends Jason & Hope and even see Franklyn for a bit. All & all it was a great weekend. Tiring, but great.


Happy Holiday Jammies.

Clark "being nice" to Lola

Clark will just walk over to his Daddy and give him a bear hug. Pretty cute stuff!

How many binks can Clark collect?

And finally a picture with Jason & Hope who are so generous with their home when we're in town. We LOVE staying with them and getting to spend time with our good friends who we miss dearly.

Quick post before we leave...

Tomorrow morning we're leaving for Chicago so I thought I'd post a couple pictures before we leave. We're going to visit John, Kristen & little Lola Thursday night in Tinley and then head to the city Friday for The Hold Steady concert and a weekend with our good friends Jason & Hope. Even Franklyn has Sunday off so we can all have brunch before heading to St. Louis.

Clark's new favorite thing is to push Lloyd around in his wagon. Sometimes Lloyd likes it, sometime he doesn't!



And he got some steps in on his own. It's just crazy seeing him actually walking around our house!

Now we know why you're supposed to cut up noodles...

Clark doesn't eat pasta often, and when he does it's always small types, pastina, orzo, o's etc. But tonight we were eating dinner and had *thin* linguini with chicken, cheese and zuccini and I thought he'd like to try a little since we always end up sharing dinner anyway. He has a mouth full of teeth and chews EVERYTHING so I didn't really think twice. Until he was in his bath... and sneezed... and there was a LOOP of pasta hanging out of his nose. So I pulled it out- and I swear a 3 inch long noodle came out of his nose! And then I remembered that you're supposed to cut up pasta. yikes. Now we know better! And if anyone is wondering, Clark is perfectly fine and it didn't seem to phase him one single bit. Once we knew he was ok, Rich and I seriously had tears rolling down our faces we were laughing so hard :)

Visiting Beth-

Last week one of my good friends from high school came in town for one brief day so Clark and I headed out to her mom's house for a little morning visit. Beth just recently packed up and moved to California to be with her Marine husband who JUST got back from a tour in Afghanastan. We are all so thrilled he made it home safe and wish them the best on their new start...

Clark loves Beth's mom. She actually watched him a couple days when he was a little guy and I had development project meetings-

And of course I can't go anywhere without my camera, so I snapped a few pictures of Beth & David for their holiday cards- how freaking cute are they? They just started a family blog so all their loved ones around the country can keep up with the new life they're starting in southern Cali. I added them to out blog list if anybody wants to check it out-

Clark can WALK!

You've got to excuse the crappy pictures and messy room- it was late and Clark needed dinner. BUT, today he officially started walking, I can't even believe I'm typing those words right now! He was able to take a couple steps here and there but never stringing them together long enough to consider it walking. But, he made it all the way across the living room and didn't stop there. He even walked for Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Linda, Uncle Ed and Renee on the video conference. His favorite thing is chasing Lloyd right now, what else is new? It's really is the best seeing how proud he gets of himself as he's walking around the room. He thinks it's pretty funny and giggles the entire time.

Warning- Naked baby below...

Clark walked into the kitchen the other night to tell us he was all ready for his bath :)

Clark's new favorite thing-

Now that our garage door is finally working again Clark loves to push the button. Every time we come home right when we get him out of the car he points to the button. By the time we get up the stairs he's reaching for it. And then the second he hits it his head spins around to watch his handi-work as the garage door goes down- too funny!

Bath is back!

WELL, after over a month of sheer bath hell Clark is a fan of the tub again!!! When he was about 8 months we were in Palm Springs visiting Grandpa Maheu and Clark took a bath with Miles & Perry... somehow the jets in the "jetsons" tub got turned on and scared our little guy and he's been freaked out near big boy tubs since- so we've just been washing him in the sink. At a year we decided he was too big for the sink and it's been torture getting him used to the tub- FINALLY after trying just about everything in the world he's ok with it now. We are thrilled beyond belief, and to celebrate we got Clark some fun pirate bath toys. He's pretty down with them :) and we're pretty happy he doesn't scream through every single bath...

Election Day 2008

Seriously- get out there and vote and enjoy taking part in the most historic election our country has seen to date. And, since we ALL like free things, according to USA today you can take your "i voted" sticker our for a spin and get some fun freebies!

Ben & Jerry's will give voters free ice cream.
Starbucks will give voters a free small coffee.
Krispy Kreme will give voters a free "star shaped doughnut with patriotic sprinkles.

Finally, an adult store is giving away sex toys that we can't describe in any detail.
Were expecting a good response, Pamela Doan, a Babeland spokeswoman, tells MSNBC. Both of these toys are very popular. The Maverick retails for $20 and the Silver Bullet retails for $15. Its a good reward.

HAHAH, I will never think of the word Maverick in the same way again, although after this insanely LONG political season it was already ruined :)

Halloween Night

Last night we had a fun family Halloween out in Pleasantville (I mean Clayton :) at Marc & Lisa's new house... The neighborhood was decked out just like all the little trick or treaters and it smelled like fall- wonderful! Clark made a super cute little Superman and he even able to trick or treat at 3 houses before getting cranky (he decided against his afternoon nap, of course!) He had more fun throwing candy at the kids that came to the door, when he wasn't busy putting it all in his own bag. We already can't wait for next halloween, it was so much fun!!!

Superman and I- happy haircut!


Do you think they'll notice if I put all the candy in MY bag?


Oh yeah, M&Ms- those definatly go in my bag!



Hey wait, a Clark bar :)





Mom & Dad won't take the wrapper off, so I'm just going to eat it like this!