Monthly Pictures

Dawson is just the best. If you take away the fact that he developed a dairy/soy protein sensitivity around 6 weeks and we struggled with it (poor little guy) until he was about 4 months old then you have the perfect baby. Really. I want to have more just like him. I am also realizing that Harper was such a great and easy baby -- I just struggled with what Doc McStuffins might call "First Time Momatosis." (Mom humor. ha.)

So let's recap. The first month with Dawson was great. He nursed basically the whole time. He was born weighing 9lbs1oz and measuring 22 inches long, and after one month he was 23 inches long and he weighed 13lbs5oz.

He looks like SUCH a different human here

sweet sweet baby face

At two months, Dawson made quite a jump and measured 25.7 inches long and weighed in at 17lbs12oz. I got very little sleep because this guy would wake up every couple of hours to nurse. The lack of sleep is much easier the second time around in case anyone is wondering.

It's around this time that we were going to the doctor quite a bit because he was crying a different kind of cry -- one that is hard to hear because you know it means your baby is in pain. I stopped eating all dairy a week before Thanksgiving. All dairy. That means no obvious dairy (milk and cheese) and then pretty much everything else -- BECAUSE EVERYTHING CONTAINS DAIRY or dairy proteins. No whey. No casein. The first few days were really hard because I didn't have time to read the labels on everything, so I ate oatmeal. 8 straight meals of oatmeal. Trips to the grocery store became an hour long because I had to read the label for everything. I figured that if I ate a mostly vegan diet then I would be avoiding dairy. And things got better.

We started noticing that Dawson's sensitivity was reappearing and I was getting really upset because I knew that I wasn't eating dairy. A lot of babies that have sensitivities to dairy also have sensitivities to soy AND most NON-DAIRY food items are LOADED WITH SOY. Poor guy. So I cut out soy. He started getting a little better. We went to an amazing pediatric GI (side note: my PCP, OB/GYN, Harper's pediatrician and this doctor -- I want to be friends with all of them. They are brilliant and hilarious and just great people) who assured us that babies tend to outgrow this around the time they start eating solid foods....which was just around the corner for us. Such a relief to know that there was light at the end of the tunnel and that we weren't causing any permanent damage to him.

At 4 months old, Dawson was measuring 27.7 inches long and 21lbs3oz. The only time he has been in the 98% for weight was at birth/1 month. After that he has been off the charts for both length and weight. That's how we knew that his sensitivity wasn't a major concern -- because babies who really have an allergy (or one that is cause for concern) will not "thrive" and our little man was clearly thriving.
 

At 4 months Dawson was well into rolling over. He began to hate the carseat. He clearly loved Harper and would constantly smile at her. He still refused to take a pacifier or a bottle and he giggled -- a lot.

At 5 months, Dawson really started trying to sit up. We were prepared for these early developments to take a little longer because he is so big, but he is right on track. He loves eating oatmeal, blowing raspberries, sticking out his tongue. He continues to smile a lot and giggle. He is always pulling my hair so it is (and will remain) up in a messy bun. He seems happiest when he can be completely naked.

At 6 months we introduced him to carrots. He did NOT like them at first, but he grew to tolerate them. He really enjoys sweet potatoes, Mum-mums and avocado. He rolls and scoots across the room much faster than I would like, he laughs when he hears Harper laugh, he found his playful screaming voice and really loves gnawing on his corn on the cob teething toy. The smile on his face when he wakes up in the morning can make you forget how little sleep you got that night. He finally took a bottle (two in one day) and now I feel like I have a little more freedom.

We are late in taking his 6 month photo, but I have several cute pictures to share from his first 6 months with us.

5 Month Catch-up Post

Dawson turned 5 months old yesterday. It seems so crazy to me. It's true what they say -- you don't get as many pictures of the second child as you do the first, but I don't think that's because you care less. I can honestly say that I am enjoying this experience more than the first 5 months after Harper and I am living in each moment, not snapping pictures of it. Why? Simply because I am better equipped. It is exhausting. I really want to be a stay at home mom at another home because after a day of play and entertaining, cooking and some cleaning... our house is a mess. It's full of toys, burp cloths, my high heel shoes that Harper takes everywhere, socks, more toys, beaded necklaces. 

 So here I am at the hospital. September 27. We waited until Harper went to bed because we wanted it to be an easy night for her -- knowing that major changes were in store for her the next day. My dear friend Adam Schaefer has the most fabulous parents. Mike and Kathi came and spent the night at our house and spent the morning with Harper. Harper loves spending time with them -- so it made all of us very happy.

 I was having contractions every few minutes but nothing was happening. I walked around for a while. My favorite doctor (the one who delivered Harper, my nephew and who I really want to be BFF with) was on call until 8 am. I was determined to have this baby.

At some point in the night my contractions just stopped. They start increasing my pitocin (ugh!) to get things going. I never really sleep. I watch Silver Linings Playbook on my phone. I watch the clock. I have to have this baby before shift change. 6am rolls around. I know that my doctor is waiting to visit me last -- I like to believe that we are friends and she knows I want her to deliver my baby. 6:30 comes and Dr. Purdie isn't around and my nurse is leaving soon. I start sobbing. I don't feel much of anything (thanks to the epidural) and I am just a mess. I meet the new nurse. She is really sweet. It is her first day back from maternity leave. I know it is hard for her. She has a student from Emory with her and I really like her, too. Dr. Purdie comes by at 8:15 to let me know that Dr. Weinstein is now on call. I also really like him. They check me. Wow. The baby is right there. Dr. Purdie tells Dr. Weinstein she would like to deliver me -- despite no longer being on call. AWESOME. Let's do this. I am so pumped. She goes to get her gown on and the nurse says to give a practice push. And then screams to stop. Dr. Purdie runs back in and Dawson was born at 8:35. Hours of contractions and one push.

Everything was great. I held him and cried. He was big and healthy. Another 9 pound baby. It's in the genes. He didn't cry during his bath. He was so quiet and calm. This was such a different experience than with loud mouth Harper. I tell my parents to hurry home to get Harper. She gets to meet her brother first. She came in and was so curious. She was so gentle with him. My mom heart just melted and I was forever changed. This picture was taken just before I was moved upstairs -- before the incident occurred.

We decided to go up to my recovery room together. We happened to pass the windows where Harper sees her grandparents -- both sets of grandparents together! She was so excited so she went to see them. John took her to see them and they would bring her upstairs when we got settled. I can't tell you how thankful I am that she went with them. I entered the room with my nurse and her student. They tell me to stand up (with their help and very slowly) and sit on the bed. As soon as I stood up blood went everywhere. Everywhere. She told me to sit down. I said I feel like I am going to pass out. I wake up a few minutes later. John is getting me on the bed. I wake up a few minutes later. A room full of nurses and doctors yelling. Someone is putting this awful smelling crap in my face. John is talking to me, telling me to open my eyes. I wake up a few minutes later. Same thing. "GET THE DOCTOR IN HERE." "Who is the President? Alyson, can you hear me? What year is it? Alyson, open your eyes. Stay with me. Stay with me." It was so hard to open my eyes. It was so crazy. I had no concept of how long it lasted until John told me later. I was unconscious for 10-15 minutes. I lost  a lot of blood. I was moved to the high risk labor and delivery rooms. The ones that have one nurse for every two patients. I was given medicine during the episode which helped contract the uterus. That and an extra bag of pitocin.

I was so cold. And sore. They were pushing on my stomach (trying to get my uterus to contract) to stop the hemorrhaging. Poor John. I just kept apologizing. I felt so sad. I cried a lot. My face was so swollen from crying and all the fluids they were pumping in me. I wanted to hold my kids. I wanted to eat and drink something. Ugh. It was scary. It had to be awful for John. He just kept in my face the whole ordeal talking to me, telling me it was going to be okay. And it was. I recovered quickly -- didn't need a transfusion. The uterus, you see, is like a rubberband. The more you stretch it out, the hard it is for it to come back to its normal size. Big babies and multiple babies make it even harder.

I was glad when I could see my family, love on Dawson and get some sleep.

 When we got home, we tried to keep up like nothing changed. We took Harper and Dawson to the pumpkin patch when Dawson was three days old.

Life got a little more complicated when John returned to work, his mom went home and my mom went home. But we managed.

I will post more specific pictures later, but we are doing great. I just love watching my kids interact. Dawson adores Harper -- he smiles at her all the times and stares at her while she plays. Harper likes to "watch" Dawson while I am cleaning -- she brings him toys, wipes away his drool and spit up and only occasionally (accidentally) throws a toy at him.

I feel very lucky. All the time.

Meet Dawson

As you can tell, I stopped updating my blog almost a year ago. Life got in the way, and I was much happier to participate in it than document it. I have been pretty bad about taking lots of pictures, too. Again, enjoying the moment.

9 weeks ago we welcomed Dawson Everett Clark into our family. At 9lbs1oz and 22 inches long, he had our hearts instantly. I will post our birth story eventually -- it was pretty crazy. As for now, here he is.

Having two children is difficult and extremely rewarding. John and I agree that one of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a sibling. (note that sibling is singular -- haha)

I am still in pajamas. I showered yesterday morning, which was a treat. Harper is napping, my mom is loving on Dawson and I am finally getting to some pictures from earlier this year. (no need to judge -- I plan on changing into clean pajamas before bed -- I am not an animal.)

It's Almost Christmas!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. I mean, it is four days away. I have been purchasing gifts for Christmas since summer -- so the fact that it is actually here (and I can get stuff out of closets) it crazy.

I often find myself wishing Harper was old enough to understand Christmas (it's true meaning and how we celebrate it today), but then I feel guilty for essentially wishing time away. I don't want her to grow up too quickly -- so if that means we have another year of her not really knowing what is happening, that's great. So no, we didn't do an elf this year (I am not sure that we will -- for various reasons.) We took Harper to visit Santa at Lenox Mall. We went before Thanksgiving because a) waiting in line is not a favorite pastime of mine, and b) before Thanksgiving? After Easter? On her birthday? Taking pictures with Santa meant nothing to Harper so it didn't matter when we took her.

Harper - 2012 (8 months old)

Harper - 2013 (20 months old)

Although Harper doesn't know what is going on, she has really enjoyed all of our Christmas crafts, decorating the tree (or un-decorating, as it is a passion of hers), decorating cookies, going to see lights, decorating then destroying a gingerbread house, playing with Baby Jesus and waving to Santa. ("Hi Santa" is what she says to our Santa cookie jar as she waves to him -- all the time.) She also says "oooohhhh liiiiights" a lot. She will follow that up with a "pretty."

Harper is at a really fun age. She sleeps like an absolute champ (unless she has a cold or is teething...in which case she is a monster.) 8:30-8:30 most every day. She is more interested in animals than anything else. We practice colors and numbers. She will say colors -- but since we used to laugh when she always said yellow, she now says yellow expecting us to laugh. We are trying to remedy this. She will count to three using her hands (the best a 20 month-old can) and say "A...B..." but she really knows much more about animals. She is obsessed with our dogs (mostly Jackson) and Toby Jack, the mule.

I have always known that Harper liked books, but she is really starting to develop opinions and favorites. We have to read "Merry Christmas Splat" every day before her nap. She loves the book I gave her last Christmas "Daddy Takes me to a Georgia Tech Game." (She says YELLOW...JACKETS a lot.) "Move over Rover," "The Cat in the Hat," and "10 Gingerbread Men" are some of her current favorites. She will sit down on her own (in any room -- even if she is alone) and read to herself. She ends every book with an "Amen."

Aside from being the most adorable child (haha), she has started having some tantrums. Not full on ones -- but situations where I can see she is irrationally upset and she doesn't really know why and clearly I don't. We have taken to just talking to her calmly and trying to redirect her. It is working for now. Occasionally she will hit or throw something and go to time out. That's pretty special. Trying to keep her to sit in one place for a minute, let alone 30 seconds, is tough. She is very bright and can quickly develop bad habits. It is so hard not to laugh sometimes -- and it's even harder when other people laugh at her misbehavior because you don't want to correct them, but you certainly don't want your child thinking this behavior is acceptable. Ah, parenthood.

ok -- a few current things about Harper:
favorite time of day (for her): right when she wakes up (from nap or in the morning) or when daddy comes home from work
favorite food: cheese. raisins.
favorite book: Merry Christmas Splat or Puppy Boo
favorite movie: Toy Story. (will she sit to watch any show or movie from start to finish? No. but she likes Woody and Buzz)
favorite activity: painting (without ANY help from mommy) or playing on the playground
hidden talent: ability to dance non-stop regardless of the weather, time of day or her level of fatigue
best friend: she has a couple human ones and she says their names, but Jackson is probably her best buddy
favorite song: "Driving in my Car"
worst time of day: when mommy is cooking dinner or if H doesn't get a good nap (eek!)
new words: I wouldn't even know where to start. Her saying her friends names is probably the sweetest.

OK -- a few pictures and then I am off --

at the Pink Pig after seeing Santa

at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

reading in her playroom

coloring with her BFF, Caroline

at the fire station with Brendon, Michael and William (and moms)

Brendon and Harper weren't big fans

ok she changed her mind

Merry Christmas to those of you reading this. I pray that 2014 is a prosperous year for you all.

Long time no see...

It seems like it has been SO long since the last post. Fall has been a blur. We had some great times with family and friends and we are looking forward to great times during the holiday season (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years.)

So -- what's happened the past few months? John's best friend's wedding (Spencer), one of my best friend's wedding (Meghann), a sister-in-law's wedding, my brother's wedding, a terrible cold, Halloween, a trip to Macon, two birthdays, several teeth, a 5k, and family pictures. I am not going to even try to post all the details from all of these events. I will post some pictures and try my best to stay on top of this lil' ol' blog.

Memaw with her youngest great granddaughter, Avery

Kelly, Philip & Avery (Ricky's wedding)

Harper at Ricky's wedding

David, Megan, Harper, John and Me

Keri and Ricky Perry

a sick Rosie the Riveter

Harper, Sarah, Caroline and Brendon

Baylee, Madison, Donna and Harper

Harper painting

Harper and Brendon

they did this themselves...I promise!

Time Out.

I feel like the last few weeks in August passed so quickly and before I realized it, we had entered the -ber months...my favorite time of year. The end of August had many activities -- my race in Roswell, a wedding shower, a baby shower, a cold (boo!), a trip to the zoo, toddler time at the museum...the list goes on and on.

I had a great time at my recent half marathon. I learned a lot about myself and about races. 1) If it is a night race, don't expect the whole course to have lights -- it became scary/interesting the last few miles 2) don't overdo it on the energy gels 3) be sure to eat before the race and not walk around for the few hours leading up to the race -- if you can help it 4) find a friend to run with and spend a couple of hours chatting away 5) listen to your body but also tell your body to lock it up and finish. This was the first time I have ever really RUN the last mile -- as opposed to jogging to the finish line. I put in my earbuds, asked Cheryl did she mind if I took off (haha -- she also took off -- our take off speeds are different. She finished a bit ahead of me) and off I went. It was probably my fastest mile. Well, 1.1 miles. I passed a lady on the bridge about .4 miles before the finish line -- she looked like she was in pain and I felt awful passing her, but I could not be stopped. I didn't quite make my goal -- but that's ok. I really did learn a lot and I can't wait for my next race. Fall races are sure to be awesome thanks to the fabulous weather.

LtoR: Cheryl, Jessica and me

post-race

Harper has been learning so much -- and she is just so active. She will be on the table or the counter in a matter of seconds. Climbing rocking chairs is a passion of hers. She still loves shoes -- going to the shoe basket and bringing a pair to you. Trying to put shoes on your feet. At one point we had four pairs of shoes (Harper's) on the kitchen floor. There is no stopping her. She puts on my high heels when we are upstairs getting dressed. Yellow is still her favorite color to say -- blellow is a close second. She can imitate many animals -- dogs, cows, lions, sheep, monkey, duck, snake, horse and gorilla -- the gorilla is just her hitting her chest. She adores walking to the front of our neighborhood and seeing the horses. We have made friends with the owners of both pieces of property -- some of the kindest people who encourage us to feed the horses and go play with the chickens. We haven't ventured to play with the chickens yet -- one day. Harper loves pointing out flowers, helping me water our plants and playing in dirt/mud. She loves to jump in puddles -- perhaps that is just something we are born with...unless John taught her to do it. He did teach her to jump on the tops of sewers which makes me cringe -- apparently he doesn't remember Baby Jessica. Am I the only one who remembers that? Slightly different than jumping on a sewer -- but still.

We start our educational play dates this Friday. The kiddos are going to start learning about shapes. Our music class starts on Monday. We have library story time on Tuesday and sometimes on Wednesday. Thursday is music class and open play at a gym. My goodness -- this is why I am tired. :)  We are a week into one nap a day -- and it is pretty magical. She is also sleeping longer at night. We have had about 4 days of post 8am wake up times. Amazing.

Harper has really enjoyed play time at the gym. She is a little braver (more brave?) each time we go. (Braver doesn't sound right -- but she is waking up soon so I will continue...) She will climb into the foam pit by herself. She will also climb up a ladder and go down the slide by herself. My stress level is typically sky high at the gym, but that little girl loves it. She is extremely friendly with other kids, handing them toys and playing with them. She has become apprehensive around new adults...she likes to scowl at them. We knew this point would come, but overall she is extremely outgoing and friendly...and talkative...and active.

We have also started implementing time out. Ha. It was working great until she figured out how to make us weak -- she would just laugh the whole time. Eventually we would start laughing and it would all fall apart. I have been reading a lot about it and we are doing better now. She sits for about a minute and when I come over she says "I sorry" and hugs me. I melt.

with B and C at the zoo.

post-zoo horse visit

so many animals in one day!

she loves the foam pit

I had to fight every urge to make her stop

get comfortable, Harper

In other news, John will be turning 30 this month. We (read Harper and I) started the countdown 30 days out -- so, we have been celebrating "30 Days to XXX." Roman numerals, folks. Stay classy. He has been given a gift a day, and this will continue until his birthday on September 26. His friend is getting married the weekend immediately following his birthday, so we will celebrate it in Hilton Head in early October. I am very excited about our first beach trip with just the three of us. We will be staying in Sea Pines. yayayayay! John has a softball tournament coming up in a few weeks. He will be in Raleigh, North Carolina for a long weekend. I know that he loves this time to himself. He has also been keeping busy with his various jeep projects. He purchased another jeep about a month ago. It was a CJ that someone had rolled. John just wanted it for the axles, so he bought it, took it apart and is now selling the parts. He is not the type of person to ever slow down, so when he isn't at work or helping around the house or with Harper, he is in the garage working on the jeep or finishing my patio furniture. Or mowing the lawn. Naps? Never. Early bed time? Forget it. He is my superhero.

I will end here -- but first you must see some precious pictures of Harper from last week. This is the same field where John and I had our engagement and maternity pictures. These will serve as her 17 month photos because yes, she turned 17 months old on September 2.