Besties

This afternoon I fell asleep on the couch while the kids were napping. I woke up to hear them laughing and talking upstairs--this is what I found when I got up there. Audrey had somehow climbed in the crib and they were having a great time. She told me, "A is for Audrey and C is for Clark!" You can't tell because he is wearing it FreshPrince style but that's a Cubs hat.

Focus, Mom.

Last night as we were getting ready for bath, Audrey said, "Mom is the water hotsy-totsy or not?" As Shannon's suspected ADD kicked in, she reportedly didn't hear the question. So Audrey repeated, "Mom. Focus. Is the water hotsy-totsy or not?"

Breaking news!

The Clarkster has just taken eight steps in a row! He has been "technically" able to walk for a few weeks now but has been a big scaredy cat and hasn't taken more than 2 or 3 steps at a time. Just a few minutes ago after nap he was standing forever, so I held up a ball in front of him and there he went! Who knows how long he would have kept walking, but he snatched the ball out of my hand and promptly sat down to hurl it, crawl after it, and throw it again.

Mother's Day pics...

Talking all of a sudden...

This week Clark has added several words to his list... "Audrey" "Brown Bear" and "Night Night." He is still obsessed with Brown Bear and throwing balls. all day long.

First Haircut

Clark did great on his first haircut! Just a little trim...he looks like such a big boy.

Bike Trip/Climbing

Audrey as she prepares for a bike ride with mom. Clark has been climbing on any and everything that he can get to. He's resourceful as he pushes Audrey's booster to the chair, climbs into the chair, and then climbs on the table. Maybe Jacob will teach him so techniques after he gets back from his summer-long climbing trip.

Weezer fan

The past couple times that Audrey has ridden in my car, she has asked for daddy's CD. "You know the one that says My name is Jonah." For those of who don't get it, the first song on Weezer's blue CD is "My name is Jonas." I'm pretty sure that I have the coolest daughter of all time. She loves going to Baylor basketball, watching baseball, and now loves Weezer. Except for a love for Cinderella, she's like a little Josh but way cuter.

Another cute thing she says when we have to speak harshly after disobeying (To the grandparents-this does actually happen). "Mom you hurt my feelings. You spoke ugly to me."

San Francisco Trip

We went to San Francisco and the Bay area for a continuing education conference and vacation. Our good friends, the Carters, live in Palo Alto as Chris finishes up business school. Our trip started pretty rough as we forgot we barely made our flight and forgot Clark's pacifier. He squirmed all over the place for four hours straight. The one thing that saved us on the flight is Clark's love to throw things. He would throw the ball ( left handed-which is good for his future baseball career) and catch it over and over and over. I'm not exaggerating here it was probably like at least one hour per flight of doing this. Anyway, we stayed out in Berkeley our first four nights as I went to my lectures. Clark did trash his first hotel room (see pic). Friday, we went to Fairyland (I know it's San Francisco but it's not what you think) and Clark saw his second baseball game as we went to an A's game. We visited University of Cal-Berkeley where some of these pics where taken at sunset. Some students live in the trees adjacent to the football stadium in protest of the expansion of the stadium. On Monday, we made it into San Francisco and went to see Alcatraz. The one thing that really struck me was the size of the cells (5' wide x 7' high x 9' deep). I made Clark get behind bars to see what it'd feel like if he keeps acting as rowdy as he has lately. The Golden Gate park had an awesome playground with a concrete slide on a hill. You went down on a piece of cardboard. It entertained all of us for about 30 minutes straight. Our last night, we had a great visit with the Carters and got to see some of the Stanford campus. I'll speak for Shannon here. Even though we didn't get to do everything we wanted because of nap times, early bedtimes, and general rowdiness, our kids enrich our lives beyond measure and I'd bring them anywhere.

Clark's Birthday Take Two

Here's some pics from Clark's birthday party in Nacogdoches. We had a great weekend at the lake at Bebe and Pop's. Clark looks like he has a little Edgar blood in him as he reached out to touch the flame on the candle (FYI- my mom's side of the family really enjoys burning things, ask Jacob next time you see him for details).

Here goes sappy Dad post. Shannon and I are amazed that one year has already past with this special little guy. He's gone through so many phases but has constantly remained a sweet, calm, unassuming little boy (recent exceptions on trip to San Francisco but occur after year birthday details later). At first, I wasn't sure I could love another child as much as I did Audrey but he has definitely proved me wrong. Some highlights-waking up every 2 hours for six months, army crawl, his faux-hawk haircut, first ballgame at Fenway, his Johnny Jump-Up, and his little stature (you're welcome for those genes son.) I love coming home from work. The moment I walk in the door, Audrey yells, "Daddy's home!" comes running and gives me a hug. Clark's face lights up the second he sees me and immediately does his speed crawl to me. To top it off, I get a kiss from my beautiful bride. Anyway, we are in love with our little man and can't wait to see all the great things he'll do.

anniversary party

Finally got some pics of Grandma and Grandpa Morrison's 65th anniversary party.

Clark's Birthday

Here's some pics from one of Clark's birthday parties. We had another one three days later in Nacogdoches. A sappy blog post from his dad will follow shortly.

Good job Mom!

Here's what transpired when we went to Luby's on Saturday for "kids eat free" day. We got situated and set everyone up to eat, when Audrey realized that I had not given her anything to drink.

In her best manners she said, "Mom may I please have my drink?"

"Oh sure, here you go," I handed it to her.

"Thanks, Mom. I like how you're being obedient."

It was all we could do not to crack up laughing.

catch up blogging

we never got around to posting some great pics from Christmas. The picture from the beach is from New Year's Eve at the beach with the Shannon clan, and here we are at Chick-fil-a with our friend Holli-Ann and her little cutie Ethan who just moved back to Texas from Moscow!

Easter

The kids spent Easter day with Gigi as Shannon and I tried to catch a flight home from DC. We couldn't stand to be away from them any longer so we cut our trip short. Poor Audrey thought it was going to snow again after last Easter when we did our Easter egg hunt in the snow.

Clark has decided that he wants to feed himself lately. As you can see this process normally involves a bath afterwards. I caught Audrey in this pose as she talked to "black hair Sarah (Bales)." She looks like a teenager to me in this picture.

getaway to dc...

pretty little princess

mark it down. Audrey put on this dress and crown and actually asked me to take a picture of her (as opposed to the trickery, bribery, or coercion that usually precedes a photo shoot).

Baylor vs Missouri

After the Bears beat Missouri today, Audrey got to meet her favorite player Tweety Carter (who had 17 pts). Clark got his picture with Aaron Bruce. Audrey has loved going to the Baylor basketball games and does all of the cheers.

Zoo

Despite Shannon's repeated concerns, I ventured back to the Houston zoo to face my old demons. (For those of you who don't know I was left here in 5th grade on a school field trip and my dad had to drive from Beaumont to pick me up) Sara, Isa, Diego and Gigi all met up with us too.