BabyFrench

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Our week with Megs & D!

This past week Meghann & Daniel came to stay with us for a few days while Dan & Heather attended the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. We had such a fun time with the kiddos. Our week was full of LOTS of activities. We did our best to give them the full Cape Girardeau experience! HA! Let's see our week entailed playing with Cherry Merry Muffins, putting together the Barbie house, going to Cici's for pizza and games, a trip to the dollar store, lunch at McDonalds, playing at the playground, visiting the arcade in the mall, Sophia's doctor appointment, watching several DCOMS (Disney Channel Original Movies), decorating brownie sundaes, coloring & crafts, dinner at the Chinese Buffet (with Crab Legs), a few games of Uno, an attempt to go bowling, renting Bee Movie from Red Box, watching Daniel play PS3, the cousins reading and helping with Sophia, playing with play food, lots of make believe and finally a trip to the movies to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Phew...hopefully I covered it all. Like I said, this week was FULL of FUN! Jon and I thoroughly enjoyed our time with them and I know Sophia did as well!

Meghann actually took more pics than I did this week but here are a couple shots that I captured...

 

 

Baby #2!!!

Yes, believe it or not, I am pregnant again with Baby French #2! This was definitely a surprise and quite a shock to us. We had hoped to have another child some day but not quite this soon. However, we know that this didn't catch Jesus by surprise so we are excited, none the less, to welcome another little one into our family! And how exciting that Sophia is going to be a big sister!

Last week we had our first ultrasound and got to see the little baby and hear the heartbeat. It is always such a cool experience to watch this little life grow inside of you. The baby looked great and had a nice strong heartbeat of 166. Pretty fast!

We also got a chance to meet with our Doctor and just talk "baby." I am technically due on May 10th, however we are planning another C-section sometime around May 3rd. This will be the first May grandbaby for the Clark side! Woo hoo! We should find out the gender of the little one a week or two before Christmas. That will be a fun Christmas present!

Here are baby # 2's first pics!

 

9 Months Old!!!

Sorry for the delay in blogging. It has been a crazy, but fun week! We had Megs & D here while D&H were in Atlanta. More about that in a future post...

Anyways, it is hard to believe that Miss Sophia Lynn is already 9 months old! Where are on earth did my little peanut go? However, I can't complain because she is a total blast at this age! She is so much fun to play with. Her new thing is clapping when you say "yay" and she also loves to point her finger as if she's saying "Number 1!" She just loves to play peek-a-boo and listen to Mommy & Daddy sing silly songs! And in the words of Megan, "She just talks and talks and talks!" And that she does. She just loves to use those vocal chords when she is happy. I think it's a girl thing! =)

We had her 9 month check up on Thursday and as usual, everything looked great. No big surprises or exciting news. She is continuing to grow right on track with how she has been. The doctor weighed her in at 23 lbs and 15 oz. and she was 28 1/2 inches tall. Yes, she is still as chunky as ever and was off the chart in her weight but the Dr. said that was perfectly fine since she has always been a little hefty. =) And the visit was even that much more enjoyable this time because it was a SHOT FREE visit! Woo hoo! We love those! As I said before, the Dr. was perfectly pleased with all of her progress of growth and health.

Sophia is still not crawling but she does scoot around on her belly if she really wants to. She has that strong willed personality that many of the Clark babies possess, so when she wants a toy, she goes for it. However, she does much better scooting backwards than forwards so that she can push off on her hands. It's quite funny to watch. 

And finally, Daddy's new favorite thing that Sophia likes to do is snuggle. She is turning into quite the cuddle bug and it just melts your heart. She is definitely a Mommy's girl all the way, but her face always lights up when Daddy comes home and she is sure to reach out to him to hold her. It's the best now that she can reach up when she wants you to get her and it's almost impossible to resist!

Happy Birthday my little 9 month old!

Here she is on the big day...

(She has LOTS of hair. Today she wore some piggy tails and they were so cute!)

(This is just too goofy not to post!)

Workout Baby!

Jon decided to get Sophia dressed last weekend. I recommended the onesie and the sweats since it was a lazy Saturday, but Jon took it up a notch when he added the rockin' sweatband to complete the ensemble! She looked so funny so we just had to take pics! Everywhere we went, Jon informed everyone that she was all ready to work out! What a riot!

We added some dumbbells just to be funny...

And thanks Poppy for my "Grandpa's Sweetheart" onesie! I just love it!

Semo Fair Baby Girl Contest!

Wow! What a night! And what an amazing memory that was made!

Every year here in Cape Girardeau there is the annual Semo Fair! And each year there are several competitions you can enter in such as Beauty Pagaents, Mom & Daughter Look a Likes, and of course the Baby Contests. A few months ago, I had mentioned to Jon that I was interested in entering Sophia in the Baby Girl Contest. I went back and forth through the thought process..."Will I be able to keep my chin up if she doesn't place?"..."Can I handle the excitement and possibly the rejection?" I know it sounds a little crazy over a silly baby contest, but you know me...I can't do anything half-heartedly. So after I had reasoned with myself (and with Jon), we decided to go for it and enter her in the competition.

And boy, am I glad that we did because SHE WON 2ND PLACE! WOO HOO!

I was elated! I honestly was not expecting this! And let me tell you why...

There was probably over 100 babies there altogether under this huge tent! Many family members and friends came to cheer on their little peanuts. It was all quite overwhelming. I was expecting maybe 50 babies tops and a few people in the crowd, but I was way off. The place was full of adorable, kissable, squeezable babies. They divided the competition up into individual age groups such as 3-6 months, 7-9 months, and so on. Sophia competed in the 7 to 9 months category. Before they went, the 3 to 6 months old competed and there were only 8 babies in that category. Not too many considering they were giving away 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. And then Sophia's group was up...18 BABIES! Geesh! And man oh man, there were some serious cuties in this group. And that point, I had already accepted the fact that we were probably not going to place and that would be okay with me. After all, it is just a little baby contest. So when they announced Sophie's name for 2nd place, I was honestly stunned! I belted out this huge "Wahoo!" and proceeded to the stage in sheer delight! (Her Daddy was pretty pumped too!) It was great and a memory that I will never forget! Sophie and I, as well as the 1st and 3rd place winners, got our picture taken with Miss Semo Fair for the Semo Newspaper. Ha! Oh the fun things they do in Cape Girardeau! We also won a small cash prize, a free box of diapers, free food at Burger King, and of course, the glorious pink ribbon that we will display in her room proudly! What a night!

Here's gobs of pictures for you to enjoy!

Getting ready to leave for the Contest!

Daddy and his little girl anxiously awaiting for the competition to start...

Some crowd shots...

It's almost our turn! Getting ready to hit the stage!

And we're up!

And the hard part is over. Now we eagerly await the judges decision...

YAY! We got to stand center stage as they announced Sophie's name!

1st, 2nd & 3rd place getting picture taken with Miss Semo Fair.

Sophia's babysitter and one of my great friends, came out to support her! Thanks Lindy!

I am a proud Mommy! (And Sophia is an exhausted daughter!)

Our New Friends

I have recently started to watch 2 little girls a few mornings a week from 5:30am to 9:30am. It's a pretty easy gig since the girls normally go back to sleep pretty quickly after they arrive. Michaela is 3 years old and Katie Jane is 10 months old. Sophia really enjoys playing with Katie Jane on the floor. It's been so much fun to see them interact with each other.

Katie Jane & Sophia...

Michaela just woke up from her nap...

8 Months Old!!!

Yay! We have reached the 8 month mark and we are just loving this stage of life! The world is a great big play ground right now to Sophia. Every day it seems as though she makes a new discovery. It's lots of fun to watch!

Sophia has learned how to scoot in a circle on her belly now and sometimes she will even go backwards. We try to help her get her tummy off the floor, but it just seems like a little too much still for her to support all her weight on her knees. We will get there eventually!

Here's some 8 month birthday pictures of my happy girl!

Just Because It's Adorable...

Just some pics of the outfit Sophia wore to remix on Sunday night. IT WAS ADORABLE!

A Bath Time Experience I'll Never Forget...

Sophia has always really enjoyed taking a bath and the older she gets she seems to enjoy it more and more. So on a daily basis either Jon or I bathe her in the afternoon or evening. So the other day Jon was getting ready to come home from work, so I decided to give Sophia her bath. (And LOTS of props to my hubby who gives Sophia a bath at least 4 times a week!) Anyways, Soph was just having the time of her life in the tub! She was acting SO crazy splasing and talking and bouncing in the tub! So I got the camera and took some shots...(I haven't got to the good part yet!)

As I was putting the camera away I noticed a little discoloration to the water...SHE POOPED IN THE TUB! Yuck! No wonder she was so pleased with herself! It was the best bowel movement she's ever had! Luckily most of it was still in solid form. But oh what a pain to clean up! I had to take her out, clean her up, get her dressed, drain the tub, get the poop out, pine sol the tub, disinfect the toys. Geesh! I know for many of you Veteran Moms this is no big thing, but this was out first "poop in the tub" experience and I will never forget it! And sure enough, for the rest of the day she was so pleased with herself!