Wednesday, November 25, 2009

~life~

Not much really is going on here. Well, I guess it feels that way, but maybe only because I'm stuck in the house!!!

Dad got the H1N1 Flu a few weekends ago.. He ran a fever for a week, which makesdhim contagious. He was holed up in his room for a good week!! He also had (and still has) bronchitis, which maked him feel even worse. He had H1N1 pretty badly and was put on Tamiflu and antibiotics for the bronchitis.

Mom started feeling towards the end of the week. She didn't have it as severely as Dad, which is great, but she's also holed up in their room.

So far, no one else has symptoms. The girls seem unaffected, which is GREAT!!!!

It did ruin our Thanksgiving plans however. We weren't able to go to Kim and Tom's. So, we didn't get to meet little Angelina!! :( I know that it's best for everyone, especially Angelina, but that doesn't mean I have to like it!! :)

So, I ended up cooking Thanksgiving Dinner by myself!! After all that I'm starting to think that Thanksgiving Dinner is over rated!!! Cameron, Kristen Joel and Lizzie were all here. Thankfully, Mom and Dad were well enough to join us at the table!! It was fun, but we missed all our family. We definitely felt a bit Quarantined.

We bought a new used car! We really weren't even looking, but would often talk about getting a van or suv. Someone in our neighborhood was selling a 1994 Honda LX Wagon for a great price! Originally Dad was thinking of purchasing it, but when he told us about it, we jumped on it! We need a bigger vehicle! So, we bought it and we are going to give Tim's car to Dad. So, we both get a car out of it. Dad just needs something for the papers, so it should be OK. We feel so blessed to have it!!

Tim's been working and going to school. So his days are still very busy! We miss seeing him!

We've decided to move our bedroom into the basement to have more privacy. So, it's already finish, but we are painting and replacing the carpet with remnants from Ollies. We've already organized the storage side of the basement, and now have emptied out the finished side. Now we just need to build a wall (for Elise's little room), rip out the current carpeting, paint the room, hall and stairs, put in a closet organizer and lay the carpet.

Since Tim's working and going to school, it will be hard to get done in a timely manner, but we hope to get in before Christmas!!

The girls are growing up fast! Elise is doing SO much these days!!

-crawling
-feeding herself cheerios, animal crackers or whatever we give her!!
-sitting up and ALMOST getting into a sitting position on her own
-clapping
-waving
-standing while holding onto furniture or our hands
-6 teeth!!

It's hard to believe that she's almost 8 months old!!!

Nora is also growing up so much. She's turning into a little woman!! She helps take care of Elise by running for things like diapers and wipes. She plays with her in her crib to keep her happy until Mommy can come rescue Elise. She plays with her on the floor and makes sure to tell Mommy when Elise eats something off the floor! :)

We are so excited for Christmas with the girls this year!! As always, we wish we had more to spend on gifts, but we are concentrating on the girls this year. We know that family understand our current under-employed status. But, it does make us sad to not be able to give more.

This year Nora gets to participate in the Children's Christmas Eve Program at Church! We are excited to see her sing on stage! :)

We are thankful for Tim's part time job at Costco. It's turning out to be a real asset and we wish he had pursued it sooner. Hindsight is always 20/20.

I haven't been taking many pictures, but I will try and update you with the girls pictures soon!!

~Nicoli

Saturday, November 7, 2009

~LEAVES~


Nora "helped" Tim rake leaves this week. She did little raking, but she did enjoy playing in the 2 huge piles!

I love her beaming smile!
Tim taking a rest after a few hours of yard work. Thanks Babe!







Friday, October 23, 2009

~An Update On Life~

I've been terrible at keeping my blog up to date! So, even though I don't have time to load some pictures, I thought I could do a little update on our family.

Probably the biggest change around here is that Tim has started working at Costco AND is going to HACC for his Microsoft Certification (MCSA & MCSE). School started in the middle of September and is going really well
for him. Our hope is that it will provide a brand new job opportunity for Tim. It was a long 13 month journey to get here, but we feel like things are finally starting to happen. We are anticipating some great things for our future!

As Tim is working AND going to school, we are seeing him much less than before! He work 5 evenings a week (3-10) and has school Mondays and Wednesdays (6-9:30), then class again on Saturdays (8:00-11:30) and works Saturday evenings. So, we don't see him much at all. Mornings and early afternoon are what we get. :) Which I guess is better than nothing. It does limit our opportunities to get with friends and doesn't allow for Tim to attend our Care Group meetings. I know he will miss the fellowship there.

Elise is getting SO BIG!!! She had a 6 month appointment last week. She weighed in at 16 lbs. 13 oz. (56%) she was 26 3/4 in. long (74%) and Head Circumference is 17 (63%).

So, she's LONG! I already knew that since she doesn't fit most of her clothes!!!! :)

Her visit went well, except for one thing. It appears that she has a heart murmur. Nora also has a murmur and a hole in her heart. So on November 20th, Elise will see a Pediatric Cardiologist and we'll see if it's serious or not. At this point, our Pediatrician is guessing that it's just small and nothing to worry about, but we still have to check it out.

She's doing SO MUCH! For the last few weeks, she's been crawling everywhere, sitting by herself for long periods of time and is eating EVERYTHING!

She has 5 teeth and 2 more on working their way in. She's already eating animal crackers and biter biscuits because she needs something to gnaw on!

Nora is doing well. She spend most of her day playing by herself. Often she is in her own little imagination world. She talks to herself, plays various games and gets "lost" in her world. It's great that she is able to occupy herself.

Anyway, that's an update for now! I'll try my best to post some pictures of Halloween and Nora playing in the leaves.







Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Visit with Grandma Hinshaw


A few weeks ago, my Grandma visited from Columbus, Ohio. On Friday night, Tom and Kim and most of my siblings came over for a visit.

Here's some snapshots of the evening...



































































































































































































































































































Saturday, October 3, 2009

Seasons

"Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each." ~ Thoreau

I love Autumn. It's only the beginning, but we were able to get out and enjoy a childhood favorite of mine, the West Lampeter Fair!


Poppy & Elise enjoying the Fair

Sweet Elise, I love her smile!

Nora and Daddy waiting to make Nora's own Jump Rope!!

Here's Nora making the jump rope, with Daddy's help.


Elise chilling after her bath...ready for bed now.

Soon to come, our visit with Grandma Hinshaw and Gettysburg...

Saturday, September 19, 2009

We Are...PENN STATE!

Tim and I had the opportunity to use some family PSU tickets! We were able to see the Penn State season opener, which was tons of fun! PSU fans are always amazing and make for an entertaining ball game (even if it's not a great game).

Here's a slide show of our time in Happy Valley.




Thursday, September 10, 2009

FINALLY! New Hampshire Pictures!

Here is a scrap blog of our Clark Family Vacation to New Hampshire!

If you click on the Scrapblog logo on the bottom right, then click full screen you can enjoy a larger format!


Friday, August 21, 2009

Elise at 4 months!

Elise Micaela
4 months and counting...

This week Elise had her 4 month check up. It's hard to believe 4 months have come and gone so quickly!

She's getting SO BIG! Here's her measurements:

Weight: 14 lbs. 15.6 oz. (71%)

Length: 24 1/2 inches (51%)

Head Circumference: 16 1/4 (52%)

Here's what she's been up to:

~Almost 2 weeks before she hit 4 months, her first tooth broke through!
~She is able to sit up with a little support
~She's got STRONG legs and stands often (with help of course!)
~She reaches for things and grabs them
~She reaches for toys and they head DIRECTLY for her mouth!
~She talks a lot
~She laughs a lot!
~She's very ticklish!
~She sits in her Bumbo and plays with her toys
~She grabs her toes (and sometimes gets them in her mouth!)
~She loves to smile (some folks can get more smiles out of her than others!)

It seems like everyday brings about something new that she's learning or doing!

After her Dr. appointment, she started her first solids, Rice Cereal! Yum. Below are some pics of her first time trying it out.



I love that sweet face!


Posing with Big Sis, getting ready to try out Rice Cereal

She grabbed the spoon right out of my hand

She moves so much that it's hard to be clean about it!


Thursday, August 13, 2009

I stole this from Steve's Blog

Hey, you need to check this guy out. What an amazing pianist! I love this arrangement!


Monday, July 6, 2009

Sisters

I thought it would be fun to compare Elise with Nora's baby pictures! So, here's a little taste...



Elise birth day - 7lb.2.4 oz (supposedly) 22 in. Long

Nora's birth day - 3 lb. 9 oz. 17 in. long

Elise at 1 1/2 weeks

Nora at 1 1/2 weeks

Elise around 1 Month (May)
Nora around 1 month, home only a few days at this point (May)

Elise around 2 months (June)

Nora around 2 months (June)

Elise around 3 months (July)

Nora around 3 months (July)




Monday, June 29, 2009

2009 Teaman Reunion

On Saturday, we headed up to Bellefonte PA for our Family Reunion. Here's some pictures of our time there.


Monday, June 22, 2009

Memory Lane Monday - Youth Camp 2004

I know, it's been a long time, but it's back, Memory Lane Monday.

I chose Youth Camp 2004 in honor of this past weeks Youth Camp. Here is a YC 2004 slide show from Mount Zion Camp. We have great memories there!! :)



Thursday, June 18, 2009

AMAZING NEWS!!

Today we found out that Pop's Leukemia is in REMISSION! This is amazing news, because in October, the news was so grim. They didn't expect Pop to live long, to be able to recieve treatments or to beat Leukemia.

God had other plans! He not only lived longer than expected, recieved MORE treatments than normal (7 treatments, 5 is normal) but NOW his Bone Marrow is NORMAL!!! The Doctor's are stumped and don't understand how this can be...

We believe that God has chosen to hear prayers and to heal Pop. He has blessed him with many reasons to live and is an example of God's joy and love. We will continue to pray that his life is a living example of God's miracles (beating cancer TWICE!) and more importantly of the miracle of Christ dying on the cross for our sins, pouring out his grace on our lives, when we don't deserve it.

Thank you Lord for this blessing of Life!!!