My Cute Little Kiddos

My friend, Mette, graciously took a few photos of my darling little ones so we could give them to Adam for Christmas. She is very talented and gets some great shots. Here they are!

Namesake

Case and Grandpa John E. Smith, for whom he is named. Since I forgot to mention them in the first post, here are the stats:

Case John Clark

8 pounds, 1 ounce

20 inches long

born at 2:40 p.m.

Grandpa Smith is a wonderful, generous, and wise man who has been a great support to Adam throughout his life and to both of us since our marriage. He's a surgeon, but also an electrical engineer who fought in World War 2. He is selfless and kind and has a great sense of humor. I'm glad we can honor Grandpa and know that Case will live up to the potential he has to be like his Great Grandpa Smith.

All The Single Ladies

...definitely need one of these:

Karli was so excited to see her "Beyonce leotard" on Christmas morning. I was flattered because she immediately doffed her jammies in favor of the sparkly uniform and wore it all day long. She even received some purple, sparkly high heels from Grandma and Grandpa, so her ensemble was complete.

I didn't think it would turn out to be so adorable on her, but it fit perfectly and I'm pleased by my first attempt at costuming.

A Wonderful Christmas

This Christmas was great and a bit different from the usual. Santa decided not to wrap the kids' gifts this year because he and Mrs. Claus were so worn out from taking care of the new little elf. Regardless, the kids loved all of their gifts and had a magical morning.

Rex was thrilled to get some "boy toys" like Army guys, a football, some trucks and a race track.

Karli was thrilled to see her Beyonce outfit (worthy of a post unto itself), her hula skirt, and all of her cute toys.

Amber's favorite gift was her new kitty, and a close second was her Fur Real Hamster.

I love to see how excited the kids get at Christmastime. Their reactions were worth the sleepless night before, and we were all thankful for awesome grandparents who added to the magic with their generous gifts as well. Merry Christmas, everyone!

He's Here!

We are thrilled to have our newest family member here safely. Case John Clark arrived right on schedule on December 22, 2009 at American Fork Hospital. Everything went well with the delivery and it was fabulous to feel my stomach collapse! He looks like a mix of Karli and Rex and has the Clark Scowl down perfectly. We all love him to pieces!

Here's Case right after birth. He came so quickly that he was nice and pink with a very round head.

Case wanted to suck his fingers from the very beginning...a sure sign he's a Clark baby. I love his tiny bum and his dark, wild hair.

Don't let that sweet, innocent face fool you. This kid has some pipes! I was worried that he was bound to be my ornery baby, because he cried all the time in the hospital. Once we brought him home, though, he calmed right down and has been a dream so far.

This delivery was definitely my craziest. Since I was positive with Group B Strep, I had to have 4 hours of antibiotics before I could deliver. My contraction monitor wasn't picking up any contraction, so when they finally broke my water, I didn't think anything was happening (aahhh...epidurals!). Ten minutes later, I felt a horrible pressure in my spine and thought for sure there was something wrong with my injection or that I was one of the .4% of people who have major complications with the epidural. Adam, Greg, Leslie, and the kids had all just headed downstairs for a treat and my phone was clear across the room, so I pressed my call button for the nurse. No one responded, so I started to panic as the pressure grew worse and worse. I was in tears, and finally yelled out, "Help!", hoping someone was in the hall.

Thankfully, a nurse poked her head in to ask if I was o.k. I immediately broke down into sobs, saying I didn't know what was happening to me. She calmly told me she would first check my cervix and then go from there. I was dilated to 4 centimeters when the doctor broke my water, and the nurse said, "You're complete and I see the baby's head." I couldn't believe how quickly the labor progressed, and five minutes later, I was holding little Case. It was madness! I had a wonderful staff of nurses who took fabulous care of Case and me and I'm thankful to have a beautiful, healthy baby. And, of course...to not be pregnant!