On the homefront

Tonight Clark kept asking for "picture, picture" so I grabbed my camera and snapped some of a typical night at our house... here ya go-

Clark really wanted me to take a picture of him and his puppy friends Alpha & Dug.

Plex is no match for Dex

Kisses for baby Kevin

Our sweet baby boys-

Catch Chewy!

Even a smile during a diaper change, which is not typical-

And just in case you think all our boys do is smile...

Clark was king of Dad Mountain.

I really have been blessed with the most amazing boys. All three of them... and I love them so much.

Dex LOVES to snack on crackers, so here are a couple pix of our happy snacker.

taking turns

Well, when it's cold and snowy outside we've got to come up with fun things indoors to keep the boys entertained... Old trusty Radio Flyer did just the trick. It's truly amazing seeing the boys start to interact and play together, just melts my heart.

Clark didn't think it was very fair that he pushed Dex around all night and he didn't get a turn...

So we let them switch. Much better...

Dex loved pushing Clark once he got the hang of it.

Solids

Dex is officially starting solids... the kind you need teeth for. We discovered that he's pretty good with an arrowroot biter cookie, and it also keeps him entertained long enough to unload the dishes which is a total bonus. This afternoon we were all eating an apple as a snack and Dex started chewing on the one in Rich's hand. He ended up eating two large slices (not the skin) and we were impressed. Go Dex with your two big teeth :)

It's a....

On the 14th our good friends Jarett & Jaime had a "sex" party at their place. At their big ultrasound the tech wrote down the sex of their little one and sealed it in an envelope. They took it to a bakery and had a cake made, then they sliced it open with family and friends present so we could all find out together what they were having! After a delicious Italian meal one of their friends cooked up we got to dig into the delicious BLUE cake :) my gut was right, once again, yay!

Chillin with his Auntie Nicolle, she's going to have a TON of practice by the time she and Brian have babies.

Dex loves his Gramme

BOY!

Clark could NOT take his eyes off the cake-

YUM!

A Sad Day

Today was a sad day. Today we said goodbye to Lloyd, our little terror kitty. The good news is we found him a new home with a family that we feel will treat him well. They have young boys whose kitty ran away and never came home and so their Mom was looking for a kitty to fill that void. As anyone who met Lloyd knows, he was a mercurial little bugger, to put it kindly. He caused a lot of problems in the 3 years we had him. But that didn't make it any easier saying goodbye. For all of his issues, he was at heart a loving little guy who just yearned to be the center of attention. Once Clark and Dexter came along, that kind of attention became nearly impossible. We tried everything and exhausted all options until it became clear to us that he just might be happier in a new home. We hope we are right (if we are not we told the family if he wasn't working out to bring him back). It was just heartbreaking to have Clark say goodbye to Lloyd and though he didn't really know what was happening, we will never forget what he told him: "Bye Oyd! I Yuv You!" We all do. Good luck, little guy.

Gabriella Jane Frye

Gabriella Jane was born January 19th at 5:10 and weighed in at a whopping 8lbs 6oz, and is SO precious!!! Congrats Rebecca & Jeremy, after the longest path ever you guys are finally parents and we couldn't be happier for you. We love you guys so much and can't wait to meet your beautiful new daughter!

Pizza Playdate

Clark had his buddy Adam over for a little english muffin pizza making and play-time. Clark loves hanging with Adam, and we're lucky he lives right around the corner. And we're all pretty pumped that Adam has a little brother on the way- I'm sure Dex will be thrilled to have a little buddy!

Swim Class

Two weeks ago Clark started swim class at our gym and has been loving it so far. He gets to swim with his buddy Adam or Adman as Clark calls him. It's super nice being able to go swimming in the dead of winter, and Clark really loves it. Last weekend we even brought Dex into the pool for the first time (although we didn't get a picture.) But he was a total natural, kicking his legs and swimming with his arms. It was pretty cute stuff. I have a feeling we'll have two little fishes on our hands this summer, and I can't wait!

Shamrock Shuffle

I registered... and now everybody can hold me to it. I am NOT a runner, and I have never been. I actually have always hated running. But all the runners I know love it, and say they go to a great place mentally when they're running- and I can always use a good mental vacation. Plus, runners usually have awesome bodies which is a great perk, right? So I've been working on it. And, as motivation I registered for the Shamrock Shuffle 8K run in Chicago this St. Patrick's day. I'll have 1 hour and 15 min to complete a 5 mile run. Right now I can do 3 on the treadmill in 38 minutes, so hopefully i'll be able to work up to 5 by March. When I was living in Chicago it was something I always wanted to do. And in the 8 years I lived in the city I never managed to do it once, which is pretty sad. So I'm finally going to try it, and hopefully I'll be able to finish :)

FWIEEENDS!!!

We keep Clark's "friends" in his anywhere chair in our living room. And most mornings when he gets downstairs he runs over to them and gives them all a big bear hug and says "FWIEEENDS!" it's pretty cute stuff-

Dex's First Word-

Dex just adores his Daddy- not that I blame him. He turned 7 months old yesterday, and this week he said his first word. Rich had to be out of town Sunday through Wednesday for work. So when Rich got home Wednesday night both boys got tons of snuggles. Dex chose that exact moment to say DaDa for the first time! And, I know he probably doesn't "know" what he's saying yet, but he only seems to say dada to Rich. LOVE it :) way to go baby Dex!

Doin' the sprinkler- of course

Little Monkeys

I really love matching jammies, so when Grandma & Grandpa sent these I couldn't wait to get them washed up and on the boys. It's a problem how much I love them to match :) And while they're young I can get away with it, so I'm getting my fill while I can. So now that Dex is getting bigger most of the toddler stuff starts at 12 months, so it opens up a whole new wealth of matching options. I just got them matching swimsuits for this summer... now we just need the snow to melt and the weather to get warm! But that's not happening anytime soon!

Dex loves it when his big brother gives him hugs.

Dex has graduated to the sink bath-

Dex has officially graduated to the sink bath- so any of you pregnant mama's out there that need an infant bath tub, let me know. It's crazy how fast time is flying- seriously crazy. And while it's so fun watching him grow, I just hug him close and kind of wish he would stay this small for another year or two-

He loves to splash, which can make for quite the clean-up after!

two teeth

Dex wanted to show off his two big teeth- but don't be deceived by their cuteness, they're SHARP :)

Pwesents!

The other day when the mail came we were excited to find something other than bills and junk mail... pwesents as Clark calls them. The Hernandez's sent the boys some Christmas presents and so did Rebecca & Jeremy. Here's a picture of Clark showing Dex how to do the shape sorting puzzle. Right now he prefers to chew on the pieces.


Clark was super down with his new Star Wars friends from Rebecca & Jeremy

Dex & Clark both love the caterpillar toy

Welcome to the world Bella Grace-

We can't wait to meet you!!! This morning Joe & Traci had their precious baby girl. She wasn't due to arrive until Feb 8th but just couldn't wait to meet her parents (and wanted them to have the tax deduction for 09 :) Such a thoughtful little girl already!

She was born at 9:08a, weighed in at 4lbs 6oz and is 17 inches long. Hopefully she'll only have to spend a couple days in the NICU and should be able to go home with her Mom & Dad on Sunday. We're so thrilled for you guys, and can't wait to hold our new little niece our arms!!!! We love you so much!

Proud Papa Joe

Ok, Joe does have big hands, but she's also super tiny... this really puts it in perspective!