Thanksgiving Day

This year marked the 10th anniversary of Marietta's Gobble Jog. John and I decided to sign up...no, not for the 5k (which would have been more appropriate), but for the 10k. I have been running 2-3 miles every few days as I begin training for my half marathon. I have yet to get to 6 miles. John said we should just go for it. Well...we did.

Ricky's fiancee, Keri, and her brother, David, joined us Thanksgiving morning and we drove to the Marietta Square. I was so nervous. I hadn't run this far since before I got pregnant. Yikes! My goal was to finish. 

Before the race. So excited for Keri to officially join the family in October 2013!

Just...so....cute!

Just finished the race. David and Keri were patiently waiting for us. My parents were volunteers at the event, so they were waiting for us with bottled water and bananas.

Keri and her brother, David

The Clark Family

As we were approaching the finish line, the kids participating in the Tot Trot turned the corner. I started laughing because I knew this meant that we will be finishing in a sea of children. Watching these kids run was precious. I just know my finish photo looks like I ran the kids race. :)


After our 10k, we raced home to shower and pack up the car to head to Macon. We timed it perfectly so that Harper would nap on the way down. Hooray! We were looking forward to spending time with the Millers and the Conklins, and Grandmama and Grandaddy Clark. 6 kids in one house was crazy, but fun.

I had seen this turkey dress online and I felt like I could make it. With John's mom's help (and lots of it!) we made the turkey dress for Harper. Donna then made dresses/jumpers/shirts for the rest of the cousins. 

all the cousins

Hunter, Mason and Caroline

Baylee and Madison

Harper

Harper and Madison

After a delicious meal, there was lots of shopping, lots of napping, lots of crying and laughter. The next day there was a family portrait session, shopping, playing, napping, crying, a bonfire -- a fiery blaze that made the Clark men proud, smores and bedtime.

[Perry] Thanksgiving

I hope that everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. We had a great time. The Perry Family celebrated the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. My Mewmaw and Uncle Doug were unable to attend because Memaw had shoulder replacement surgery a few days earlier.

It is always nice when we can all get together. We all live close to each other (the furthest away being in Atlanta), but that doesn't mean we always spend quality time together. I feel very blessed that I have such great relationships with my brothers and their spouses (or soon-to-be-spouse!) My parents have always told us that it comforts them to know that when they are no longer here, we will have each other. 

Philip, Harper and Kelly

Ricky and Keri

Happy Jason and Happy Harper

Fussy Jason and Fussy Harper

Betsy and Harper

John, Harper and Alyson

Unfortunately, the nap schedules of Hadley, Hayden and Harper did not coincide, so we didn't get any pictures with them before we had to take Harper home. All in all -- the day was a success. It was my first time making the dressing and pecan pies with my mom. I am very excited to carry on that family tradition.

Nashville

Friends of ours were getting married in Nashville. We decided that it would be nice to attend this wedding and spend a night away from Harper. John's parents were so kind to drive up from Macon to take such wonderful care of Harper. I cried...a river...when we left Harper. Eventually I get into finding music on XM and shopping at the outlet and was able to get past leaving her.

Arv and Jess' wedding was on Sunday, but we left Saturday morning. We met up with some friends at our lovely hotel bar, then we went to dinner.

After a great dinner (one to which John and I are not accustomed) we met the wedding crew at a bar. At this point I realized that I am a) not as young as I used to be, and b) stubborn as always.

This was the first Hindu wedding that John and I have ever attended, and it was great. I remember going to my first Bar Mitzvah and wanting to be Jewish. This wedding made me want to be Hindu. I love my religion -- I just really like how other religions celebrate various occasions.

I would also like to add that I am so thankful for GE. John met Kevin through GE. Kevin is married to Cindy. I love them both. They are great people. Kevin introduced us to Allan and Leah Sicat. The Sicats are also wonderful people. I feel very blessed to know such great people and to call them our friends.

John, Me, Al, Leah, Kevin and Cindy.

At the wedding

John, Jess, Arv, Me

7 months!

Again, I am a little late in writing this, BUT HARPER IS 7 MONTHS OLD! It is hard to believe that much time has passed. So...updates on our little lady:

-she now eats apples, pears, prunes, peaches, bananas, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and carrots.
-she sits up on her own
-she rolls and rolls around the floor and her crib
-she is excellent at taking her pacifier out of her mouth and she is getting MUCH better at putting it back in her mouth
-she babbles "ba ba ba ba" and "da da da da" are common
-she loves making sounds with her lips and her tongue
-she is in love with Molly and Jackson. 

Halloween

A baby's first Halloween is all about the parents. I mean, the baby isn't aware of what is going on, can't eat candy and probably hates being put in costumes. That being said -- I was very excited about Halloween. Unfortunately, GE had other plans for John. He was in Greenville, South Carolina the whole week of Halloween. It was the first time he was away for so long.

We went to a church Halloween get-together the Sunday before Halloween. Then, on October 31, Jason and Betsy invited me and Harper to come to their house for dinner and trick-or-treating.

It has turned into an unplanned tradition -- carving pumpkins with Keri and Ricky. Next year at this time THEY WILL BE MARRIED!

We let Harper play with the pumpkin innards -- and she loved it.

Eating her nom-noms.

At the church Halloween get together.

With her cousin, Hadley on Halloween.

Hayden, Hadley and Harper.

Harper loved playing with her cousins -- Hadley and Hayden will tell you that Harper is very loud AND that she accidentally poked Hayden in the eye. After dinner, we took pictures and then Harper and I went home. I was worried about no one being home for trick-or-treaters. My mom was sweet to come stay the night with us and help with all 12 of our trick-or-treaters. We missed John, but we were able to Facetime with him.

Beach trip!

We wanted to take Harper to the beach this summer, but we were worried that she might be too young and it might be too warm. So, we decided to take her to the beach in October. Now, where to go? We decided to take her to Panama City Beach because that is where I used to go when I was a child. My parents owned a condo at Edgewater Beach Resort....that is where I learned to dive. I remember a college student asking my Big Mama to dance at the Palapa. We used to buy the big, chewy Sweetarts at the giftshop, and spend lots of money at the arcade. We always ate at Sweet Basil's, and got salt water taffy from The Candy Basket. It just felt right to take Harper (and John).

My parents came along with us. It was such a special trip. Panama City has changed so much from when I was 14. That's when my parents sold our condo and bought a place in Destin.

The weather was gorgeous and Harper, as usual, was an angel. She slept a lot and my parents looked after her, so John and I were given a good bit of beach time. Harper loved the sand. She enjoyed the ocean water -- not the pool water. 

Did I mention that John and I got sick at the beach?! Who does that? I haven't had a cold in over a year. It was a bit disappointing -- but if you have to be sick, be sick at the beach. Luckily, Harper didn't catch it -- maybe just a  slight runny nose.

We ate lunch at what used to be the Palapa, but is now called Ocean's.

  I think that my parents are hysterical...and OH SO cute! I was taking pictures with the condo in the background and I said I wanted one from the other side....haha.

After dinner at Captain Andrew's, we walked around the dock and looked at boats.

Harper had a great time with Nana and Popi.

On our last morning there, John took Harper up to the 12th floor and took a picture.

In case you were wondering, yes, Harper had a different swimsuit for each day. Actually, she had more that she didn't get to wear and some that we didn't capture with the camera. I certainly over packed for her, but I had several months to get precious outfits for the beach. She has so many outfits that she never got to wear. Solution? We will just have to have another girl. Clearly we want a boy, too....but another girl is a must.