One Year Later...

Kai celebrating his kindergarten graduation at McDs.

The all important towel shot - Mia is 8 weeks on the nose.

8 weeks and sporting another new outfit. That girl has more clothes than me!

Mommy, Kai and Mia on Father's Day.
Luca in his aviator shades, striking a pose!

This past week was fairly significant for us in several ways. We celebrated our 8 year wedding anniversary, Mia turned 2 months (its flown) and probably foremost on my mind was the anniversary of losing the baby last summer. It was amazing how much we grieved that, and yet here we are (never forgetting) but so thankful for all that God has done in the past year. Not only did he bless us with another baby, but sustained us through a high risk pregnancy, and brought us exactly what he knew we needed - Mia. She is just our little sunshine and I am constantly amazed at the way she has turned our home upside down and filled it with even more joy.

Kai also graduated kindergarten at the end of June, which was exciting and yet filled me with apprehension - in two months he will leave my home AAALLLL day long, and will be subject to many more ideals, personalities and temperments for more hours each day than I will spend with him. Scary!

Luca is still my little man. He is turning into more and more of a ham each day. Doing silly little dances in the Superstore aisles and making eyes at me to get a laugh.

How thankful and blessed we are. We had Mia dedicated in church a few weeks back and we made an interesting observation. The first Sunday we returned after the miscarriage, Tony was leading and felt to play "Blessed Be Your Name" The lyric in the song is: "You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will chose to say; Lord, blessed be Your Name" He cried while trying to choke out that line that Sunday morning. Fast forward over a year later, and we were up dedicating our new daughter. After a full year of not playing that song, the song leader led us in those same lines: "You give and take away" Truly it was not a coincidence. God is faithful and good and can be trusted, even we we are reeling in uncertainty - He Gives!

Funny Things

2 Funny things my boys said:

Kai: "Mommy - when you leave the baby alone, I'm like a VULTURE! I just swoop right in"

Luca: While examining his nipple: "Mommy, dis my nipplepotamus"

4 Weeks Later...

So Mia is 4 weeks today! The first week of her wee life, I couldn't have imagined we would settle into a routine with 3 kids in the Clark family, but slowly and ever so unnoticiably we have. Mia is sleeping longer stretches at night, with fewer and fewer bad nights interspersed. How blessed we are to have our family complete and healthy. Attached is Mia 4 weeks to the day!

Malachi is now finishing up kindergarten. I can hardly believe it. He's been bringing home is work from school, and is adding and subtracting already. Really? In kindergarten? They also sent home his Grade 1 school supplies list. I can't believe I am old enough to have a kid that is old enough to get school supply lists. Don't you remember that excitement as a kid? Brings back all those memories of perfectly labeled and organized supplies. What do you want to bet he takes those supplies in and out his bag a million times before September comes?? :)

Luca is a little ball of fire these days. He reached the 'terrible 2s' when he turned 3. He is still so engaging and charming and funny, but has added a whole new set of traits to the list. Demanding, stubborn, feisty and disobedient. We love him the same but man, how do you parent it when you have a newborn in your lap all day?

I am cherishing (or trying to) each moment of the crazy daily grind of being a mom to young kids!

Dear Daddy...

Thank you for taking such good care of me when I'm squirmy and fussy in the night.

She's Already GROWING!!

I cannot accept the fact that she has ALREADY GROWN! She is 11 days today, and I put on a pre-washed sleeper that she wore last week. Last week I rolled the sleeves and the legs were much too long. This week the arms are almost short if she stretches, and the legs are a snug fit. ACCKK. I need to breathe it in every moment, because she is changing before my very eyes. Her knees are a little less 'baggy' and her skin is a little less buttery. What a miracle these first few days are. She has 100% stolen my heart, her big brothers' hearts, and of course her daddy's heart. God grant me the clarity of mind amid exhaustion not to wish even a moment away. To treasure those middle of the night feedings and relish the fact that simply the sound of my voice brings her comfort. *sigh* young love....

Little Miss Mia!!

We are beyond thrilled to announce the birth of our new baby girl - Mia Soleil ! ! ! She was born Monday night, May 11th at 7:45. It was a wicked labour, but she was worth every stitch of it. She weighed just barely 8 lbs and was 20" long. She is a picture of perfect health and has already brought us much joy! Tony is totally wrapped around her wee finger. Mia Soleil = My Sunshine!!

We continue to try to figure out my blood clot and DVT issues. I was put back on my needles and was also put on a drug called comoudin. It is a rat poison (literally) that they say is okay while breastfeeding as only trace amounts can be found in the breastmilk - please pray for this. I go to the hospital daily to give blood and try to monitor my blood levels. Hopefully soon this will all be a distant memory (2 more months?).

All in all we are completely blessed and trying to get into the swing of things. It feels like we are a BIG family now. Amazing how one extra child bumps up the workload 10 fold!

Attached are a few pictures of our sunshine!

Okay Okay Already

I know you all deserve to read cute anecdotes about my little boys, and see pictures of their wee cute cute faces, but I'm just too darn tired. All my remaining creative energy is being poured into finishing work up (less than a week to go!) and all the other energy I possess is being poured into nesting and getting this house ready for a baby again. So... Here is the countdown

Needles: 11 to go!! (From 257 [i think])
Baby: 13 days (or sooner should the good Lord step in [yes please])

booyah!

Spring Break Busyness

Spring Break was full of all sorts of tasks. We painted the nursery, installed wainscotting. Emptied out our basement and hauled away tons of clutter, painted all the basement floors to cut down on the dust in the house and in between all that, tried to have some family time. Behold: Our trip to the Manitoba Museum. There happened to be a dinosaur exhibit, which was great fun for the family. (I must admit - 1/2 way through 4 hours of walking, I caved and let Tony push me around in a wheelchair! haha) It was possibly the last big day out before baby's arrival. Enjoy!

ahhhhh...light.

So nothing much new to say except that...wait for it.... I only have 41 more needles to go!! That is such great news. Induction date is set for May 6 or 7 and I CANNOT WAIT to meet my tiny little sweet pea. The anticipation is nearly killing me. I find each pregnancy I get more excited to meet the addition to our family. It is insane busy here with work, but I am okay with plugging away and then enjoying a full 4 months sans paint swatches and blueprints!

My New Room!

I am so incredibly blessed! I love love love to be creative in my home, and make beautiful spaces, but it can get very expensive. I am fortunate to have a husband who understands this incredible itch I have. Designing other peoples' spaces is great, but there is nothing like the excitement and pleasure of creating a space you get to enjoy everyday! So... after 8 years of marriage, and decorating every room in the house but ours, we were finally a priority. I was fortunate to receive tons of cash birthday gifts, bonus money like co-op gas cheques, and a fat tax return of which I used a portion of - and voila! We have a romantic, beautiful, functioning retreat. I just love to sit in my room now, read and have peace and quiet. I feel like I was magically plopped down into a gorgeous little New York hotel suite. Gotta also say that I love my new curtains - they are better quality than the old, and fully lined. They actually block out a lot of light, and allow me to nap during the day. (Just in time for baby's arrival!) A small thing, but yet a big thing. Here are probably a few too many photos of just one little room!

Birthday Pics!

My Little Luca Turns 3!!

Well I had to officially face the music this week - my wee Luca is not so 'wee' anymore. He isn't a toddler, but a little boy. A spiky haired, chicklet toothed, smoker voiced little drop of heaven in my home. He is starting to string together sentences (finally) and with each new word reminds me that he's no longer my baby.
I came home the other night with his 'Spiderman' birthday cake. (I'm not a fan of 'theme' parties and gimmicks, but when you end up with a child with an obsession, you inevitably cave to see the joy on their faces) When he saw that cake he hardly knew where to leave himself. He had to come back and look at it every few minutes and tell me all about it. That night at 10pm I crept into his room to take out his clothes for the next morning and he was WIDE awake. He gave me a big smile, so I crawled into bed next to him. He whispers in my ear: "I wuf my buwfday!" I couldn't contain my love for him and so ensued a kissing and cuddling session (of which Kai slept right through!) The next day was his party, and it nearly killed him to wait until 2am when friends were set to arrive. Of course, he was pure misery because he'd been up half the night, and fell asleep at 1:45 in my arms. (teehee - I was secretly overjoyed because babies fall asleep in your arms, not big boys!) We let him sleep for an hour or so, and the next 3 hours he spent in pure bliss with 30 family and friends, and lots of new cars and tractors, spiders, and spiderman toys. I will include just a few pictures from the big day.
Before I go there, I thought to make a list of all the things I love love love about my Luca.
1. I love your raspy little smoker's voice.
2. I love how you insist on being on my lap (like right now) although there is only about 2 inches between this big baby in my tummy and the table.
3. I love the way when I come into a room, your eyes LIGHT up and you have to sit with me. (exception: Papa is over to visit!)
4. I love the way you call yourself 'Coca' (although you will eventually have to figure it out)
5. I love the way you put your treasured possessions in your 'man room.' (A walk in closet full of his tools and remote control car and other random items.) "Don't touch ma stuff. Dis' all my stuff in my man woom."
6. I love the sound effects you make as you play quietly. (he's better than I am and he's 3!)
7. I love your obsession with gum. Always about the gum.
8. I love (and sometimes loathe) your sticky uppy crazy hair. It truly has it's own mind.
9. I love those big gorgeous blue eyes that have me caving when I shouldn't.
10. I love the way you walk on the balls of your feet and constantly beg to live only in your 'Cars' gitchies.
11. I love those 'ball' calves of yours. (and don't even get me started on those delicious noogies...)
12. I love the way you make me feel like the best mommy in the whole world, even when I know I might have failed big time.

Luca - you are the light of my life. I am totally amazed that God gave you to me, and so in awe of how you love me despite all my shortcomings.
Happy Birthday my wee man!

A Valentine's Day Tony Style

So Tony is notorious for his either inability to remember special holidays, and then in his desperation to make up for things, will the next time a special season rolls around, pull out the red carpet and stress himself out to the max to make it extra special. This year was one of those 'make up' years.
At promptly 3:45 on Saturday afternoon, he told me he had lots to do and that I needed to await his phonecall and he would tell me where to go and what to do. I tried waiting (patiently) at my folks place for him to call. At shortly passed 6 the phone rang, and he told me he would be in the driveway in minutes, and to get my coat on.
Upon opening the car door, I was greeted with the smell of Niakwa Pizza - my favourite. It was clear now we weren't going out to eat. The questions was: where are we eating this pizza? He drove past our house and for the life of me, I couldn't figure him out. Low and behold he pulls up at our pastors house: how romantic right? Well, it turns out that Dave and Lynn were gone for the weekend. He led me down to their uber chic newly appointed basement, and there he had set up the romance. The lights were dimmed, the fireplace was crackling (err, okay, so it was gas, and didn't have a crackle, but is was ON!) Old skool Sting was on the sound system, the candles were quickly lit, and I was served sparkling wine (juice) from a nice glass bottle. He cracked open that pizza box, and my vegetarian pizza had a heart on it, made of olives. (They made him pay extra! - haha) The best part was that surrounding the table was one cinnamon heart (arranged in a pattern) for every day that we have been together. That is 11 years which is 4015 cinnamon hearts, all counted out by hand. (I am going to be eating from a garbage bag of cinnamon hearts for the next 5 years!) He had me pick one out at a time and then he shared a memory from our years together for that 'day'. After which we ate ice cream drumsticks for dessert, and watched a movie on the big flat screen TV in matching lazyboys.
He put a TON of effort into making this night special. I cannot even believe how we have grown up together. We sure have a lot more gray, and a few more wrinkles (ahem - smile lines. I'm not even going to go INTO the stretch mark talk) but a whole lot more love for each other. What a beautiful thing this business of love and marriage is!

A Day Out and Other Ramblings

For those hoping for more news on the baby's progress, I have none for you, but I am finally sitting down to write a quick note. The boys and I have been trying to take the time to enjoy these few days of gorgeous weather God gave us all (to get us through the NEXT arctic blast) and the boys even persuaded me to get their bikes out of storage. Attempts to pedal through the snow were quite futile, but the boys were so thrilled to be out and on them, that they didn't complain.

I am beyond exhausted and trying to parent two boys who are hugging one minute, and hitting and screaming the next. How do you teach a 2 year old how to problem solve and talk about the heart issues when his brother takes a toy? It seems like I'm getting no where, but as with Malachi, I trust Luca will figure it out soon. I am ready to meet the baby, but am trying to slow down and enjoy these last months with the boys. I keep reminding myself I will never be in this place again, and most likely won't ever get to experience the joys (wee baby kicks) and frustrations (sore back, tummy pain, heartburn etc) of carrying a baby, and so trying to take it all in and be patient.

Enjoy the respite from the cold!