Emerson's New Rocking Chair

When Brad's mom (a.k.a. Gran) was in town last month, she decided to buy Emerson a bare wood rocking chair under one condition: I paint it! Well, we have been working on it for several weeks now and here is the finished product. I am actually very pleased with the way it turned out and Emerson LOVES rocking in it! Thanks to Brad for sanding it and putting down the base coat of paint and laying down the clear finishing coat (couldn't do it b/c of the fumes and being pregnant). You can see more pics in our photo gallery to the right.

Drum Roll Please....

We have reached the halfway mark in this pregnancy (20 weeks) which means finding out the sex of the baby! We had our 20 week ultrasound earlier this week and everything looked great and we could not feel more blessed.

We are so excited to announce that we are having another GIRL!! And after much thought, we have decided her name will be

IVY SABINE CLARK

"Ivy" is a name that Brad and I both loved and felt it was just fitting for our second daughter. Her middle name, "Sabine", is a literary character from a series of whimsical books (Griffin and Sabine series by Nick Bantock) that I was introduced to many years ago and that I love. Below are pics from our 20 week ultrasound of Miss Ivy and a pic of my growing belly at 16 weeks. Thank you all for your continued prayers, love and support.

SURPRISE...AGAIN!!!!

Well, the Clarks are excited to announce that Miss Emerson will become a big sister come January! Brad and I were elated to find out that we were expecting again and that Emerson would have a sibling so close in age (22 months apart). We are due January 2nd and cannot wait to have another little one in our home. We just ask for your prayers and blessings for this baby and our family. We love you all and are so happy to share this wonderful news with each of you. Here is our precious baby's first photo at 9 weeks.

Emerson's 1-Year Birthday and Pics

Okay, so I know that we have been slacking when it comes to updating our blog, but I have finally sat down to put up some pics and fill you all in on what's going on with the Clarks. Well, since our last post, Miss Emerson has been growing like crazy and we can hardly believe that she has been in our lives for over a year already. What an amazing and blessed year it has been for us. Emerson turned one on March 4th and we had a birthday celebration with family and friends at our home - complete with cupcakes, candy bar, presents and lots of laughter and love. Emerson also received her first haircut on her birthday (boy, did we need it!!). Finally, she also had her one-year pics taken with our wonderful photographer, Susan Brewer. Here are just some photos of the birthday events. Thanks to everyone who made her birthday so special - we LOVE you all.

Pumpkin Pickin'

Here are a few pictures of Miss Emerson at her first pumpkin patch. We visited Denver Downs Farm to get some pumpkins for the fall.

Child Dedication at Springwell Church

Daddy and Mommy with Emerson

Grandma and Grandpa Clark with Emerson

Brad and I had the great privilege of dedicating Emerson during the child dedication at our church on Sunday, September 12th. We were among several families that shared in this special moment in each of our lives. Each day we look at Emerson, we are reminded of how awesome God is and how much He loves us to bless our home with such a beautiful child.

Family Pastor, Chip Joiner, with the Clarks

Chip Off The Old Block

This is a picture of me at around 4 months of age with one of Emerson at the same age - and people say she looks like me??

Smoking Jacket or Bathrobe??

Our good friends, Matt and Jennifer Card, gave Emerson this bathrobe at her baby shower. We all kept laughing because everyone kept saying it looked like a baby's smoking jacket! Anyhow, we finally remembered to snap a picture of her in it after her bath the other night and wanted to share.

Swimming!!

We took Emerson to the local waterpark for the first time and she loved the water. After all the work of getting her covered in sunblock, finding a rashgaurd small enough for her, finding a cute hat and buying those Little Swimmers diapers (which we had to cut off of her - how else do you get those things off when they poop - pulling them off just creates more of a disaster to cleanup!!) - she spent a little time in the pool and then passed out under the shade. We can't wait until next summer when she is a little older and she can really run around and splash about in the water!

Emerson's 3 Month Pics

Well, I know this post comes a little late (as Emerson is now over 5 months old and these are pics from when she was just over 3 months). Anyhow, we just scanned them into the computer and wanted to share some of our favorite pictures from her 3 month photo session.

Real Food. . . Finally!

Yesterday was Emerson's first taste of real food. We started the feast with sweet peas and she loved them. Usually there is quite a mess after we are finished with cereal, but she hardly let a drop escape her mouth. Who knew sweet peas were so good! I did actually taste them and they are pretty good. We are going to add some fruit after a few days, which she will probably inhale. Our little girl also used her highchair, which I can't believe we haven't used until now. This thing is great, and she can sit right there with us for dinner.

Emerson Meets her Uncle Barry

We just wanted to share some photos of Barry's visit to SC to meet his new niece! She just loves him, and we were so happy to have him come visit. Check out the picture gallery for more pics of our good times.

It's Gonna Be a Great Father's Day!

So we just wanted to share some photos of us out in Greenville and back home before bedtime. As we were looking at these pictures it struck us just how big she is getting. We looked back at some earlier pics when she first got home and can't believe how big she is now! We attribute her astonishing growth to several weeks she spent sleeping on Mariam. They say that constant love, affection, and physical contact speeds growth and it seems like Mariam has been putting Miracle Grow in her formula. This Father's Day is going to be a first for me and I couldn't be happier! I'll be spending it with my two girls and changing a poopy diaper or two. . . livin' the dream.

Just For Fun

Not much to say, just wanted to share.

I'm Growing Up So Fast!

Watchin' TV on the couch

What a smile!

My girls

Here are a few new pics of our baby girl. I can't believe how fast she is growing! Look, here's the deal. All of you out there who's baby is sleeping through the night from day 1, keep that to yourselves, we don't care. What we do care about is how that happened. If you have any advice on this process please advise. . . otherwise tell us that it took you 3 years before your child would sleep through the night and that will make us feel better. As you can see Emerson is a miniature Mariam, this means two things. One, she has a beautiful smile, and two, her favorite thing to do is talk. She will carry a coo and babble conversation with anyone and usually makes more sense than they do. I will also say this, I didn't realize how entertaining staring at a smiling baby can be, especially if it's your own baby. What an awesome feeling!

The Many Faces of Emerson Grey Clark

As most of you know that have children (especially your first), you are constantly snapping away with the camera to capture every little moment of your baby's life and sometimes the emotions you capture are more comedic than anything else. These are some our most favorite

pictures of Emerson - we just laugh out loud every time we look at them!

First Professional Photos

Emerson had her first set of pictures taken about three weeks ago and we had to share one of our favorite pics. This one was used for her birth announcement. Susan Brewer was our photographer and did an amazing job - check out her website at www.susanbrewerphotography.com

Emerson Grey At Home

Bath Time and The Bear : we loved this picture of Emerson after her bath

Daddy-Daughter Time: Brad and Emerson during naptime

Pure Contemplation