Clark2B & Jadyn

A week ago, while Nancy and I were in Houston, we stayed with Nancy's sister, her husband and our 8-month-old niece Jadyn. Jadyn was very curious about Nancy's belly.



"My belly doesn't look like that..." she thinks to herself.





"Perhaps some music might coax out whatever is in there..." (She has a strong vocabulary already)





"I guess I'll just have to pull it out!"





Finally she was content with just playing with her Cousin2B. It will be even more fun when Jadyn can teach her cousin how to play with all her toys!

Baby's First Wedding

This past weekend, Nancy and I went to Houston and attended a wedding for a good friend of mine (and one of my own groomsmen), Jason & Priscilla Sloan. They had a beautiful ceremony at the University of Houston Chapel. There were windows surrounding the entire chapel area that gave you a sense of being outside without actually being outside.

Afterward, Jason and Priscilla had their reception at Masraff's, the same place Nancy and I had ours. It was a lot of fun to be on the "other end" of the reception this time. We got to experience what everyone else has raved about since our wedding.

"Clark2B" was kicking around during the ceremony. The kicks have grown increasingly stronger. This morning, Nancy was awoken at 6:30 a.m. by repeated kicks on her lower right side. We've got a kicker, but they're hanging around the bottom of the pool!

21 1/2 weeks

Nancy and I are taking a break from house cleaning for a few minutes. This past week, the baby has started to kick a little harder and move around a lot more. This afternoon, Nancy was eating lunch and had to stop halfway because it seemed the baby wouldn't get out of the way and was blocking the path for the food!

This coming Thursday is our regularly scheduled midwife appointment. I've added a couple links to the left that give more information on our midwife and the fertility acupuncture that Nancy received. She hasn't had any acupuncture since starting her 2nd trimester, but she'll go back during her last month for "easy labor" treatments and after the birth for postpartum treatments. I'm sure there are some mothers out there that would have a comment or two about a few pricks of a needle making the labor easier...like "good luck"...ha ha. However, I will say that during her first trimester, Nancy never got sick while receiving acupuncture for morning sickness. So, there's always a possibility!

Road Trip

This past weekend, I got to visit with my good friend Rose from Charleston, SC. She was in Houston, and Christopher and I had driven into town from Austin already for the weekend, so it was great timing to see each other. We hadn't seen each other since the wedding 3 1/2 years ago. Rose has been an important part of my life and I was thankful to spend a part of my pregnancy with her.

Halfway There!

This morning, Christopher surprised me with my favorite white roses and a WillowTree Angel:Awaiting a Miracle. (What a good husband!) Today is halfway. It is hard to believe that in just 20 more weeks we will have the most amazing blessing ever! The baby must be getting ready too, because I felt it moving at 4:30 this morning. Apparently Piggy (our cat) is on the same schedule because she came downstairs crying around the same time. She proceeded to curl up on me and go to sleep, I don't think the baby will be that accommodating. We are so thankful for all the prayers and will keep you updated.

A Decision...Maybe...

Nancy and I have gone back and forth on whether to find out if our baby is going to be a boy or girl. Earlier we thought it would be a good opportunity for Nancy to form a strong connection with the baby, especially considering our pregnancy history. Even after hearing the heartbeat, which was a huge milestone and a significant source of relief for us, Nancy still held a desire to know.

However, now feeling the baby move this past week and a half has seemed to subdue some of that curiosity and rekindled a desire of surprise...so long as we can agree on how to decorate the baby's room for either a boy or girl.

We've got a couple ideas, but would love to hear from you all and either what you may have done yourselves or heard of others doing. Our midwife is holding off on our first ultrasound until after 24 weeks, so we still have some time to reconsider and change our minds if we want.

Needless to say, when I consider his/her life, this will end up being one of the eaiser decisions to make for our little "Clark2B"!