Happy Birthday, Karli!

I can't believe little Karli is already two years old! We had a fun weekend celebrating her birthday and finished it off with a big slice of Mike last night (Karli is obsessed with the movie Monsters, Inc., so I tried my hand at a monster cake). Derrick and Leslie came over to join the party and brought Karli an adorable Nemo bubble-blowing machine that Amber loves to "borrow".

Along with her pierced ears and new fuzzy blankie from her family, Grandma and Grandpa Liljenquist sent Karli a cute package full of fun surprises: hair barettes, movies, money for treats from the ice cream truck, princess jammies, a cover-up, and an adorable Ariel swimming suit. Grandma and Grandpa Clark gave Karli some money to use for a shopping spree where she found a cute baby doll that coos and giggles, another movie, Curious George panties, a bubble tumbler, and some new shirts. Great Grandma and Grandpa Rydalch sent her $5 to buy a new Barney book. Karli really cleaned up this year; thank you so much for all of your generosity and kindness! :)

False Alarm (the good kind)

Just to let everyone know, we are going to stay in Lansing until July 18th. That means we get a few more weeks of playgroup, the Trace Adkins concert for my birthday (yay!) and more time with Adam! :) We'll see you in Utah in three weeks!

Quasimo(squi)do

I took the kids for a walk on Tuesday morning when the temperature was a balmy 65 degrees and the humidity must have been at least 85 percent. Yesterday, we sat in the park for about 20 minutes around 11:00 a.m., still in air wetter than any tropical destination. Without knowing it, I managed to garner 27 mosquito bites, some of which penetrated my shirt (and I even have one on the bottom of my foot, right in the arch). They are gigantic and are driving me completely crazy! The biggest one of all is right on the back of my neck and leaves me looking like a poor old hunchback with only one thing to say: SANCTUARY!

Six Days Left

The kids and I are flying to Utah on Friday, never to return to our little house in the ghetto; I am so excited to be out of Lansing but feel a little melancholy to be leaving such wonderful friends (being away from Adam for a month is awful, too!). We've been here for three years--longer than we've lived anywhere as a couple--and I actually do feel a bit sad to be moving on. As ridiculous as it may sound, I've grown to love going to playgroup because I've met many amazing women (and their darling kids) who are wise, friendly, and funny to boot. I'll definitely miss everyone in the Holt Ward...and the pizza from DeLuca's! :)

From Baby to Big Girl in No Time Flat

I'm amazed by how quickly children grow up, especially when they do it right before my eyes. Just last week I felt like Karli would be a tantrum-throwing, whining infant forever, and yesterday I noticed she was talking to everyone like a tiny adult, reasoning and communicating with actual words instead of wailing and sobbing. Suddenly, she's even more entertaining and loveable than before and it's so fun to see/hear her develop into a big girl.

We marked the occasion (and her upcoming 2nd birthday) by getting her long-awaited earrings today. She was so brave and only cried for a few seconds. She told me she wanted "Monsters, Inc. earrings with soap in them", so I made an executive interpretation and ordered the clear, sparkly kind that I liked best. She has been such a good girl to not touch the earrings and lets me clean and medicate them without a fight. She says she looks like Giselle from "Enchanted" and is so excited to have pierced ears like Amber. Her little ears look darling!

Death by Olives

My poor digital camera finally gave up its ghost after three long years of toddler abuse. It's door hung by a meager, broken hinge for at least a year before it finally snapped off, thus rendering the camera useless (the broken door leaves the camera in a permanent "off" position; I'm considering a law suit against HP for an inherent design flaw). Goodbye, dear camera, you've been a great help in documenting some magnificent moments in my life.

One ray of light in this tragic moment is the slew of pictures I took just before zero hour: a feast of olives by Amber and Karli. I've only met one person who doesn't like olives (Adam) and I got a big kick out of seeing Amber and Karli put an olive on each finger the way I used to when I was a kid. Karli even managed to fit a few on her smaller toes (I envy her flexibility but am certainly glad I'm past the years of thinking it's cool to eat with my feet). They had a blast making "monster hands" and eating the olives off each other's digits until Amber accidentally took a bite of Karli's index finger.

Nudie Fest

Karli has finally taken someone over to the dark side; Rex enjoys spending time in the buff just as much as she does. Thank heavens he can't vocalize his desires like Karli can. She always yells out, "I want to be nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnNUDIE!" even in the grocery store and Relief Society.

Gas and Giggles

Rex has been smiling a bunch; of course, his best smiles occured just before we turned on the camera today. He is very well natured and we love having him around!

Rachael Ray, Beware

Amber is going to take over your career! She loves to cook and even has her own little toque. Here's the first take of the "Cheese Pie" episode of her cooking show. :)

Let the Humiliation Commence!

I've dreaded the moment for the span of my motherhood, and it finally happened last night at Target. Amber and Karli were in the shopping cart while Adam was loading items in after they were scanned by the checker. I was standing by, absently staring off (my lack-of-sleep induced behavior du jour) and faintly hearing Amber begging Adam to let her hold the lipstick she picked out. Adam said, "What? You want to hold the diapers?" Amber said, "No! The lipstick!" Adam: "You wear diapers?" Amber: "No, silly! Karli wears diapers. Mom wears diapers, too, after she has a baby!"
The checker, a 19-ish boy who was pretty punky, tried valliantly to stifle a surprised laugh, but couldn't do it. He chuckled as Adam finished loading up the goods (I was halfway out the door at this point!) and steered the cart away from the counter. Just then, Amber yelled out, "Mom, that guy (the checker) has earrings. That's funny!" Adam pushed the cart to the door as fast as he could and I was trying to hide my face in my hoodie as we scurried to the car.
I always worried that I embarrass Amber in front of her friends and other people, but now I'm not so concerned. I suppose the comments she made could have been much worse, so I'll chalk this up as a humorous moment in history and hope that this is as bad as it gets! :)

We Could All Use a Little More

Check out my all-time favorite TV commercial in the sidebar. I saw it the other night on So You Think You Can Dance and I got teary-eyed because I felt so inspired (okay, fine...I am really hormonal and tear up when I see a pile of clean clothes folded neatly...what can I say?!). I hope you like it!

Word Craft

As an English major, I'm pretty much enthralled by language and the acquisition thereof (nerd alert!). One of my favorite things to witness as a mother is the way my kids use their newfound linguistic skills to communicate. Recently, Amber has been rhyming and making up nonsense words and it is often hilarious to hear what she develops. A few days ago, she and Karli were playing in our bedroom and Amber said, "Come get me, Beeheehee!" Beeheehee now serves as one of Karli's nicknames (Amber coined her other nickname as well: Carlos), the name of a game (it involves playing in a specific region of the bedroom), and a word that also describes any general person who is bothering Amber ("Don't, Beeheehee!").

My Narcissistic Experiment

To all of you ladies out there (I don't think I've achieved the blogger popularity of having mannies read my blog, but in case I have, by all means, mannies...go right ahead, too), I've started a new blog called Mama Moda. I'm hoping you'll all visit and post your best advice, recipes, tips, etc. Hopefully, it will be a helpful forum to record and reference all the wonderful ideas we hear and share everyday. Thanks in advance for your input and I hope you enjoy it!

http://mamamoda.blogspot.com

Lost in Translation

Amber and Karli are talking up a storm these days; Karli is learning how to use sentences and Amber is rapidly increasing her vocabulary (a result of her constant stream of questions, I think). The cutest thing about this new linguistic phenomenon is that they both get new, large words confused with other words they already know. Here are some of the best:

Amber told Adam she wants a red "incredible" (convertible).
Amber and Adam bought "elevator" at Meijer (Gatorade).
"Bacteria" put Karli in her car seat for me yesterday (Octavia, our neighbor).
Karli's new favorite movie is "George Washington" (Curious George).

My Little Mermaid

Amber has always loved mermaids; she was Aquamarine for Halloween and is obsessed with Disney's "The Little Mermaid". She even has a crush on Prince Eric and pretends to call him on her Little Mermaid cell phone. Imagine her delight when she saw this large rock at Georgetown Park the other day. She screamed out, "Look Mom! A rock like Ariel's!" and climbed onto it as fast as she could. She immediately started singing, "Watch and you'll see, someday I'll be part of your world!" and did the dramatic back-arch move that Ariel does. It was adorable!

Great Dane

My little sister, Allison, was called to the Denmark Copenhagen mission today. My cousin, Skyler, is serving there, too, so they'll get to see each other once in a while. Our ancestors came from Denmark; maybe Allison will have an advantage with a Danish last name. She is set to leave on September 3rd and I know she'll be a great missionary!

Swamp Things

Living in Michigan has taught me to appreciate the things I hated while growing up in Idaho and Utah, but living in a desert is the thing I took for granted the most. Yesterday we had torrential rain for six hours. Normally, I would have been elated to open the windows, smell the fresh, cool air, and snuggle up with Adam to enjoy the sexiness of a rainstorm of that magnitude. This storm, however, had no cooling effect on the 88-degree temperature and the air was anything but fresh. In weather like this, showering seems utterly pointless as one can never actually dry off afterward. Fixing my hair is also pointless because despite using the best in anti-humectant technology, it hangs in the same, shapeless and frizzy mass only moments after I unplug my flatiron. I must say I cannot stand amphibious living any longer!

The 80%-plus humidity also wreaks havoc on my laundry, and I am falling victim to what I deem the most horrific domestic odor: sour towels. I suffered from this travesty for the better part of my childhood and vowed that when I had my own house, my towels would never have a discernible fragrance. I have, up until this point, been able to maintain wonderfully clean and fresh towels, but last night I experienced a terrible shock when I emerged from the shower and grabbed my newly-washed towel from the bar. As soon as it touched my wet face, the acrid, sour odor blasted into my nostrils and nearly knocked me out. I frantically thought to myself "How could this be happening to me?" After all, I use bleach and baking soda in every load of towels that I wash, and I am the from-washer-immediately-to-dryer Nazi of the Clark home. The only explanation is the cursed humidity; the towels don't even get dry in the dryer. They hang in the bathroom to dry but don't have a chance in heck, hence we are stuck in the awful, disgusting cycle of towel stench. Save us!

Nothin' But a G Thang

Here are some of Rex's best tricks--the gang signs he's learned from five weeks of living in the ghettos of Lansing. He's a 'hood figga; he even has the saggy shorts-for-pants. Word.

Adventure in the 'Hood

Last night we had yet another brush with crime and punishment; of course, we wouldn't be able to have a normal week at The Arbors without a visit from the police.

At 11:00 p.m., Adam was lying down by Amber and Rex in our room and I was working in the office. We heard a knock on our door and assumed it was our beloved upstairs neighbor coming to chat with (lie to) us about the goings on with her multiple lovers and roomates. Adam jumped up, threw on some clothes, and retrieved the revolver from the top shelf of our closet. He carefully opened the door to find a young black male (I'll affectionately refer to him as Suspect #2; you'll know why in a moment) trying to push his way past our neighbor, Ken, into their apartment.

Adam said, "Did you knock on our door?" and #2, feverishly out of breath and looking horrified, told Adam he had just been jumped in the parking lot. Suspect #2 proceeded to pull out a $10 bill (convenient after being jumped, no?), hand it to Adam, and say, "I need to come in and call my girlfriend." Adam said, "There's no way I'm letting you in my house, but I'd be happy to call the police for you. Wait here." #2 said, "No, that's o.k." and walked away quickly.

An element which makes this event even more bizarre and creepy is the wailing of several police sirens heard in the area. Adam shut the door and told me about the conversation. We started wondering if QD, the gas station on our corner, or one of the adjacent liquor stores had been robbed again. Adam decided to go check it out and left me with the loaded gun and the kids.

Shortly thereafter, he called my phone and said, "Lock it up!" I could hear police talking to him on the other end and then he said he had to go but would be right home. At QD, Adam told police what had happened. The officer asked for our address (to which he replied, "Oh yeah...you have a problem neighbor in #5, huh?" See what we deal with?!) and asked Adam if he could identify Suspect #2 if he needed him to do so in a line up. Adam said yes, gave the officer his phone number and an offical statement, and returned home.

An hour later, the midnight need for a Monster emerged and Adam headed back to QD to see if the robbery had been cleared up. The clerk said they hadn't been robbed, but that there was a horrbile accident on I-96 (a block southwest of our apartment) and that someone had been hit while trying to cross the freeway. Adam drove over to the scene to find crime tape, ten cop cars, and numerous emergency vehicles. Upon his return, we anxiously waited for a news report to crop up. At around 5:00 a.m. (I finally gave up at 2:00, but he managed to stay awake), Adam told me the whole story. Check it out here: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/NEWS01/80603001

We believe our visitor last night was Suspect #2. Needless to say, we felt like we were living in an episode of "Cops." Who needs movies when you have real-life crime drama unfolding at your door?

Precious

The other day, Amber and Rex interacted so much that they tuckered right out on the couch. It was adorable!