Well, Andrew has turned into a teenager overnight. Three things to tell:

First, I have become "Mom" now instead of momma or mommy. Oh, he still uses those terms for me, but several times I day I hear: "Wait, Mom" or "Mom, where are you?" So sad... (quivering lip and moist eyes...)

Second, yesterday Andrew and I were having a jam session with Clark's djembe (Africa drum). We were both rocking it and he kept saying, "Feel the beat, momma. Feel the beat." The he started saying, "Rock and roll, mommy. Rock and roll." Then he started including Big Bunny and Brother Bear. After all, they are his backup singers. Down By The Bay, anyone?

Third, Clark has started singing the song about the bones being connected with him. The other night they were singing it and Andrew started connecting all the things in his room together. "The head bone to the symbol bone; the symbol bone to the snare bone; the snare bone to tom bone; the tom bone to the bass bone; the bass bone to the other drum bone; the other drum bone to the Big Bunny bone" Oh, he is destined for music...



On another note, Corinne and I had our first conversation Saturday morning. It went a little like this:

Corinne: "Goooo"
Mommy: "Goo goo"
Corinne: "Goo"

No kidding - it was just like that! I'm so in love with her...



We also have a new family pet! Andrew keeps asking to look at the fish when we go to the store, so today I bought one. Fishie was the least saddest looking beta fish of the three at Wal-Mart. Y'all, he was so happy when I put him in his new bowl and out of the container from the store. He just swam around a couple of times and kept swishing his tail. I was so glad we had bought him. I just wonder what Clark will say when he gets home tonight...

So I decided that the only good thing to come out of Clark working nights is that I was forced to venture out alone with the kiddos. Most days I would try to spend the morning out of the house. This way he could get some uninterrupted sleep. Please understand, Clark could have cared less if I left the house. He has been trained to sleep well when he can due to medical school. But I felt I needed to leave the house b/c it would stress me out when the kids were being loud.

I feel so good now because I know that we will all survive if we go somewhere. This is good news especially b/c we need groceries pretty badly and Clark's last day off for awhile was yesterday. So it looks like we'll all have to go to Wal-Mart together on Monday (I NEVER go to Wal-Mart on the weekend!).

This new and exciting step in our lives could have only happened with the help of a few good friends. So:

  • Grandma and Papa - thank you for letting us come over. Thank you, also, for buying me Burger Box!
  • Amy V.- thank you for letting me invite myself over and for making me a really good grilled cheese sandwich. I only make them with sliced cheddar now!
  • Heather M. - thank you for letting me invade your house and keep Quade. It was fun getting to meet each other's needs - like a community, imagine that! Then getting Chick-fil-a with Emily was so fun and you were such a great help! That was the biggest challenge of all and I faced it with your help.
  • Carrie C. - thank you for meeting me at McDonald's and giving great conversations. Also, thanks for getting Andrew out of the playground tower!
  • Most importantly - my mom!! Thank you for staying with me almost all of those nights, but especially the ones with bad storms. You're my hero!

Anyone notice the theme - fast food??? Yummy, yummy...

Pictured below is Andrew wearing a jersey that, according to Clark's mom, belonged to him when he was about Andrew's age. His dad was coaching at Lamar Junior High (the most awesome junior high in Irving) and this was his way of showing school spirit. I guess he was all spirited out after this because he showed no school spirit when we were in high school... (by the way, the jersey is 25 years old)



Andrew and I have also started a garden. I should say, Andrew, Clark, and I have started a garden. Andrew loves playing in the dirt and using his shovel. It was so fun to be out there with him. He kept saying, "This is so fun. Great idea Mommy!" "Great idea" is his new comment for everything we do that he likes. Whenever he sees Clark change his clothes, he says, "Great idea, Daddy. Take a shower" - regardless of whether or not Clark is taking a shower. Or if I brush my teeth when he is "brushing" his teeth, he says, "Oh, great idea Mommy!" It's so cute!




Also, yesterday Andrew fell and scraped his knees pretty badly. It was the first time we needed to put Band-Aids on him.



Clark is finally done working night shifts in the ER - yea! I feel like life will return to normal now. This does not mean he will stop working nights, though. The difference will be that from now on, his nights will be on call. This means that he can try to get some sleep as opposed to working all night. He will, however, have to sleep at the hospital.

Sorry we hadn't posted anything in a week - but look for more exciting stories and interesting thoughts next week!

PS - let me encourage you to leave a comment for us - we love to know who is reading our blog!



so i'm sitting here eating my "day off" pb&j (what's the difference between a "day off" pb&j and any other pb&j you might ask? take it easy there friend, not until i know you better...) and something magical happened. i got the never before seen (by me) triple decker oreo. yes 3 cookies and one layer of cream. for some of you, i know, this may seem more of a waste than a gift from God himself. but for someone like me who has recently come to appreciate the cookie more than the cream, well you can imagine just how happy i am and why i needed to let the internet know.

WARNING: hospital talk below

2 weeks in Parkland's ER and here are some of my favorite chief complaints (brief summaries written by nurses on the chart):

  • "groin pain" - a perennial favorite.
  • "there's a snake in my back" - a schizophrenic trying to describe what turned out to be a dissecting thoracic aortic aneurysm. lucky we caught it.
  • "it feels like there is something in my rectum" - again, another one to make you excited about seeing a patient.
  • "skin ulcers" - a 50 year old skin popper with absolutely no flesh on her left forearm or thigh because the needles she uses are dirty and a raging infection had eaten it away.
  • "peeing from scrotum" - 71 year old with abscess draining so much, that's what he thought was going on down there for the last 3 months. yes, 3 months. and he decided to treat it by smoking crack. yes, crack.
yes, i am officially living the dream...now i'm gonna eat my special oreo.

The night before last I gave our dog, Hoss, three treats. I felt bad that he had been outside all day, but mostly I was just glad I didn't have to change his diapers, feed him, or rock him to sleep.















Despite what these photos suggest, I am not good at putting my children to sleep early in their life. Corinne is proving to be especially difficult. Clark, however, is a genius at it. He has that special touch, I guess.
Early this morning, around 2 am, when I was trying to suction the huge booger out of Corinne's nose so she could breath and therefore sleep, I heard Andrew in his room. I went to his door and leaned in close so I could hear what he was doing. He was singing, "Down by the bay, where the watermelons grow, back to my home, I dare not go..." He sang it twice and then I swear he said, "Keep singing everybody" to his two bunnies and teddy bear that were in his bed. But no one kept singing, so I guess they all went back to sleep.

Before I went to bed last night, I read a sermon from John Piper about what submission is for a wife and how it works in a marriage. The key points to me were that I am to hope in God, be fearless b/c of this hope in the future He gives me, and adorn myself internally with a quiet and gentle spirit instead of focusing on adorning myself externally. He preaches out of 1 Peter 3:1-7, and sums it up much better than I can:
"Unshakeable hope in God. Courage and fearlessness
in the face of any future. Quiet tranquility of soul.
Humble submission to her husband's leadership."

"Submission is the divine calling of a wife to honor
and affirm her husband's leadership and help carry
it through according to her gifts."

While John Piper mostly gives me tired head, I was really encouraged by this sermon. Most people don't like or agree with the biblical roles of husband and wife, but Piper says it is both covenant keeping and a portraying for the world what the relationship between Christ and Church is to be.

So I have to confess my distrust in God last Friday night when Andrew, Corinne, and I were in the hallway while sirens were going off in Irving due to bad weather. I was definitely not fearless... but I've been encouraged by my role as a wife. And I like that word...
FEARLESS
PS: check out Andrew on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIYZhabSFiw

So, we've finally become hip to the gig and started blogging! The title of this first post is my current favorite line from "The Office" (a great comedy on primetime TV Thursday nights!). It aptly describes my inspiration for starting this blog - I'm not going to sit on my biscuit, not risking it any longer. Translation: I'm going to risk embarrassment and criticism by sharing our lives with all of you despite my utter lack of wittiness and complete disregard for correct grammar (I just never could understand it!) I hope you'll all tune in as I share our lives with you. And as a treat, Clark will post his witty comments from time to time!

Coming soon: pictures of us and the kids, interesting thoughts from my brain, and exciting details of our daily lives. Yea!

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