Prizefighter update

Clark two days later. Yes, I have looked at his eye and let some of the specialists that I work with look at him. It'll get better.

our little prizefighter...

poor guy cannot catch a break. Left black eye is from Tuesday's jump out of the crib and right swollen eye is from tonight's falling out of the car.

Never Boring

One thing about parenting is that we don't experience many dull moments when the kids are awake. Last night, Clark threw himself out of Shannon's arms during a fit and scraped the tip of his nose. The tip of his nose gushed blood for 6 hours. There was nothing that would stop it. We had to wake him a couple times as the dried blood accumulated around his nostrils. Here he is with his band-aid on and wrapped in a towel so he won't rip the bandage off. So we didn't get much sleep worrying about him all night. Then when he decided to wake up at 6:30, I found Audrey asleep like this on the stairs. We're still not sure what happened here.

If you're happy and you know it

then your face will surely show it.

touchdown

Here's the newest word Clark has learned. It's actually a little new to all of us but we have had the good fortune of saying "touchdown" 19 times alreaday this season!

Happy birthday Molly!

The cutest niece in the world is 2 today! We love you so much Molly!

Baseball

I always joked that my first son would have to love baseball and be left handed so he could be a pitcher. Looks like I may have gotten my wish.

The Human Race

Shannon ran a 10K at Nike's Human Race in Austin. Audrey, Clark, and I are really proud of her and everything that she's accomplished.

Not exactly what I meant...

Today my friend Colleen watched the kids while I went to the dentist. They must have had a good time, because went I got home Audrey started whining, saying,

"No, thanks, Mom! Go back to the store!"

I gave her "the look" and said, "Audrey, I won't allow you to be rude to me."

She said, "Ok, Mom will you please go back to the store?"

David's Wedding

Pictures from Shannon's cousin, David's wedding. They had a really nice ceremony and a fantastic reception at the Austin Museum of Modern Art. I told Shannon it was like a reception that you see in movies with how beautiful it was. Audrey never had a shortage of dancing partners with all of her aunts and Molly.

Clark+Mosquitoes=Bad News

Here's why we couldn't move to Beaumont. This looks bad, but the mosquitoes are worse in Beaumont. Trust me.

First Day of School

Last Monday was a really hard day for Shannon and I as we sent Audrey to her first day of pre-school. We had to face the realization that she's not our Lil 'A anymore. She's so grown up and has real conversations with me. Today, Audrey and I were in the bedroom and she wanted some snuggling. She said "I think something's missing. I need your wife and my bestie (Clark)."

We went to Salado Creek again when my parents came in. Just like last time, Clark had the time of his life throwing rocks.

Please don't call Sally Struthers...

Here's a shot of our little skinny guy. When he lifts his arms over his head you can see every rib. Clark and Uncle Pat had a great time watering the lawn though Clark enjoyed spraying himself more than the plants.

It starts early...

I keep telling Clark no texting during dinner.

Creativity

Here's Audrey as Cinderella, complete with horse-drawn carriage. I guess necessity is the mother of invention. (Alston, I'm sure Henry didn't imagine this when he picked out the mega-bloks for Audrey.)

Weekend recap

Friday we said goodbye to Jennifer who had been living with us for the summer. Audrey was prepared to throw a big fit and really amp up the drama so I turned on The Parent Trap, and all she said was, "Um, okay, bye Fur-Fur," then back to zombie state.

Saturday we spent the day in Georgetown with my new little cousin Maggie Sloan Shannon. What a cutie! T. Sean and Kitty brought Maggie on her first Texas trip and lots of people came to Georgetown to welcome them. Josh and Uncle Pat took Audrey to the swimming hole and Clark watered Paw-Paw's front beds (naked).

Sunday we took naps after church and then headed out to Pace Park in Salado for some swimming. Clark promptly sat down in the water and proceeded to throw rocks for 90 minutes. Without stopping.

We didn't take a single picture all weekend. Boo! Here's a photo of Pace Park and the mermaid statue. Audrey said, "Hey! That mermaid needs a bra!"

Scary new hobby

Audrey now loves to hold Clark...doesn't he look thrilled?

Round Top

We spent the weekend at the Brunson's Bed and Breakfast in Round Top, which is close to Brenham. It is really beautiful down there and we had an awesome relaxing weekend. The Olivers and Brunsons were all there so we had a house full of kids. Here's some pics from around their place.

28 years

I had my 28th birthday last week. My awesome wife set up a dinner at Chuy's with some family members. I got some pretty awesome presents too: Wolf Parade tickets, Mario Kart, Mario Party, and some new clothes. Audrey was in quite a strange mood after the party. Check out the sweet cake that my sister made.

We've had a lot of family in lately, which is just how the "hostess with the mostest" Shannon likes it. Here's Jake and Clark with their matching shirts, Stephers, and Fur-fur.

Cow Appreciation Day

Yesterday if you went to Chic-fil-a dressed as a cow then you got a free value meal. Here's pics of Audrey, Jennifer, Stephers, and Shannon in their outfits.

Fourth of July

We spent the fourth of July at Nacogdoches with Shannon's family. Two exciting events happened with Brigid and Joey getting engaged at the lake and we got news that Jacob and Kalan got engaged the same night in Vegas. Pat had very Derek Jeter like clutch performance at this ball game. With all of this family watching he had 4 rbis and pitched really well.

Library Fun

Last week during our library visit Audrey was acting really cute in the adult stacks. She kept pulling books off the shelves (cookbooks for me, baseball books for Josh), and putting them in the stroller. Then she found this little gem and said sweetly, "Oh, I love llamas." It was hilarious. Her favorite book is Llama, Llama Red Pajama and she picked out the llama right away. I checked it out to humor her, but she has actually "read" it cover to cover four or five times.

Black Sarah and I were talking and thinking--what person would be interested in llama farming and think, "Oh I bet the Temple Public Library would have a great book on that!"?

All brides need to know about the care and breeding of llamas.