home tour

we've been living in our home for about six months now and sometimes we still can't believe it's ours. it was the very first house we looked at with our realtor and from the moment we walked in the front door, it was home.  I still get goosebumps thinking about it.  everything from the smell, the layout, the fact that it had every single thing on my wish list, the way every drawer and closet was OCD organized the way I would have things...I just knew.  and when I looked at Mark after five seconds of being in the house I could tell he knew too.  we were home!

before moving in, we had the entire interior of the house re-painted in Repose Gray and the kitchen cabinets painted Alabaster, both by SW.  the house used to be different shades of yellow...I have attached some before pictures below!  paint makes such a huge difference!  when we walked in after they had repainted the whole house, it felt so much more like ours!

before

after

before

after

before

after

one of the most important things to me in a home is the kitchen.  and when I walked into this one I fell in LOVE!!

it hit everything on my wish list: white and bright, granite countertops, subway tile back-splash, stainless steel appliances, a bar area to eat at, and a gas stovetop!  the kitchen is the heart of the home and we spend so much time in here so it was really important to me.  I couldn't have designed it better myself!

I really wanted to have a little play area for Clark close to the kitchen so I could keep an eye on him.  this little nook where the previous owners had a kitchen table (that was too big for the space in my opinion) was perfect for Clark's little happy place :)

before

after

Clark's play area is actually super convenient because it's also next to the laundry room and my office space.  even though right now he still prefers to follow me around most of the time, the times when he does play by himself, it's nice to have him close.

one of my favorite rooms in our entire house is our little mud room.  why, you ask?  my command center!!!  I splurged on these from Pottery Barn and since organization is my LIFE, they were worth every penny.

I want to let you know that Mark organized both our closets.  I thought I was OCD...

our upstairs game room is still a work in progress.  I still want to get a little play rug and I have so many dreams for the desk / homework area.  but right now it's just a little play haven for Clark and he doesn't seem to mind one bit ;)

I already did a little nursery tour here and everything transferred over to our new house seamlessly.  this room is actually much bigger so we were able to spread everything out more.  Still love it!

when we have another baby, my little superman Clark will be moving into this big boy room.  Isn't it awesome?!  they already had it painted like this!!  too perfect.  we have his press pass hanging on a hook, along with his superman onesie.

Clark's rainy days bathroom

now, it hasn't all been smooth sailing.  the first heavy rain after moving in, the skylight in our bathroom had a leak.  our master bathroom toilet doesn't always flush on the first try.  we found out the hard way the upstairs bathroom was leaking over the kitchen sink (I was horrified!!!)  not to mention, we've had every kind of pest you can think of in the house (Mark says it's the price we pay for living in a forest).  and of course, there are so many dreams / plans / ideas for the future (a new front door, vegetable garden, jacuzzi, repainting the exterior, walk in shower in the master bath, granite counters & dual sinks in the bathroom upstairs) but even with all it's flaws, we are so in love with our very first home.

clark wilde: eleven months

e l e v e n   m o n t h s

I can hardly believe there's only one more month left until my baby is ONE!!!  where did the time go???  the other night before bed, Mark was rocking Clark and calling him his baby and he looked a little ridiculous because he's just so big!!  my baby is really growing up.  must be time for another one! ;)

this month was a good one.  Clark had all kinds of firsts and he is really starting to become quite the character.  he now shrieks all the time for fun (especially during church), claps his hands when he's excited, stops whatever he's doing when a good song comes on and shakes his shoulders to the beat, splashes like cRaZy in the tub and gives me slobbery kisses all day long!  he makes me happier than anything in the world.

Clark had his first Easter and even though he didn't meet the Easter bunny, Grandma spoiled him with goodies...some cars, candy (for the parents heh), and a bunny that says his prayers!  Clark loooves saying prayers so it was the perfect gift.  then Grandma made us all a delicious dinner and, as usual, watched Clark while Mark and I ate :)

I already wrote about Clark's first beach trip and he also went to a farm for the first time!  we rode a train, fed the animals and had a blast on the swings!

eleven month stats:

weight: 22 lbs (72nd percentile)

length: 29 in. (38th percentile)

head circ:  18 in. (50th percentile)            

♥                ♥                ♥

f a v o r i t e s

I think Clark is a thrill seeker!  he absolutely loves being chased up the stairs, standing up in a moving wagon, climbing on the dishwasher and hanging onto the top rack, sticking his fingers in the dog's mouth, riding on the roomba, pushing anything with wheels, and pretending to drive!

another one of his favorite things is playing with the cleaning supplies, especially the broom and standing dustpan!  we have this Casabella one and it's pretty lightweight and short enough that he can pull it down.  he loves waving it in the air, haha!

these days Clark pretty much wants to do whatever I'm doing...when I'm unloading the dishwasher, he loves pulling all the spoons (and knives!) out and trying to get his dishes off the top rack.  when I'm doing laundry, he loves pulling the clothes out or sneaking things in when I'm not looking.  when we're eating breakfast, he always prefers bites of my cereal instead of his oatmeal (I guess I understand that...I'm usually eating lucky charms! hahaha)

e a t

one of the big questions I ask myself every day is, "what should I feed Clark?"  ever since we stopped giving him baby food, I feel like I have to be so creative to think of new things to give him that he'll actually eat.  it's also hard to find the time to make him something before he gets impatient.  I usually end up feeding him snacks in between making him macaroni & cheese, a pbj, etc.  I'm not used to making myself food during the day (I usually just snack all day, mainly because I hate using my precious free time to make meals!) and so now that I have to make meals for Clark, I feel like meal times take up the majority of the day.  sometimes I miss the days when all he did was nurse!

Clark's palate at 11 months:

brie & crackers - 😋

turkey sandwiches - 😋

greek yogurt - 🤢

teriyaki chicken - 🤢

raspberries -😋

mac 'n cheese - 😋

pesto tortellini - 😋

lasagna - 😋

chicken penne pasta - 🤢
Dino chicken nuggets - 🤢

cheese ravioli - 😋

vanilla yogurt raisins - 😋

Snickers ice-cream bar - 😋

corn on the cob - 😋

 so we had a super scary choking incident this month.  unfortunately, it wasn't with food.  it actually wasn't even really a choking accident, more of a swallowing accident.  one morning I was so cozy in bed and did not feel like getting up.  after Mark left for work, I was laying in bed half asleep while Clark played on the floor.  I heard him getting in my drawer but I always let him play with stuff in there and I didn't think there was anything dangerous.  I guess I must have fallen asleep for a minute (mother of the year) because all of a sudden I was dreaming he was chewing on something.  probably because I could hear him chewing in real life.  I sat up and scrambled over to the side of the bed to see him with my headphones and I just knew he was chewing on the soft black ear bud that comes off.  I stuck my finger in his mouth and felt it at the back of his tongue.  I started freaking out, still tangled up in the sheets and unable to get out of bed fast enough, and continued to try to swab it out with my finger.  he was gagging and I thought maybe it would be good if he threw up when all of a sudden he swallowed it!  then he acted fine and started playing!

it was a surreal moment and I had no idea what to do.  so I turned to the internet and found out that babies swallowing things is a pretty common occurrence and as long as it's small and not sharp or magnetic, it's usually nothing to worry about.  Mark called his brother who's a doctor and he said he should pass it and to look for it.  I was still pretty uneasy for the rest of the day but the next day he did pass it! completely intact (picture below may be TMI)

can you find the ear bud?

it looks really big in the picture because it's close up but it was like the size of a cheerio.  that was one of the scariest things to happen to me so far as a mom...until a few weeks later he stuck his head through the banister!!!

s l e e p

we've reached a new sleep milestone this month!  Clark has always been a great sleeper once he's actually asleep but since he learned to pull up and stand, it's been a nightmare most nights getting him to lay down and go to sleep.  but this month I think we finally mastered it.

we tried one final method we've never really given a fair shot before...cry. it. out.  now cry it out gets a really bad rep but you have to wonder if it's worse to let your baby cry for a few minutes so he can fall asleep or let your overtired, cranky baby stay awake for another hour while you try everything under the moon to get him to sleep!  I honestly do not have the patience for the latter so Mark usually does it.  sometimes I wonder if I even have the patience necessary to be a mother but that's another topic altogether.

so here's how we do cry it out.  after his usual bedtime routine (bath, pajamas, brush teeth, nurse), I lay Clark down in his crib and sometimes he is already asleep and stays asleep!  those are the best nights.  other times he is still awake but calm and tired enough to go to sleep with a little patting on his back.  then there are the times when I lay him down and he immediately stands up.  these are the nights we do cry it out.

first, I'll lay him back down a few times and pat his back, telling him, "it's night night," but usually once he's stood up, he's not going to go to sleep, at least not for a long time.  so after about 5 minutes of laying him down, I'll go and sit in the rocking chair without saying a word.  he knows I'm still in the room so sometimes he doesn't even cry or it's just a little whining and he will eventually lay himself down and go to sleep after about 10 minutes.  if he does cry, I count to 60 very slowly without saying anything and then I'll go over and lay him down.  sometimes he will then go to sleep while I have my hand on his back for another 60 seconds.  other times he will try to go to sleep but still can't and that's when I'll leave the room for 10 minutes.  now, this method ALWAYS works.  we leave for 10 minutes and he cries, sometimes he even screams (but that's just how Clark is).  he gets himself so worked up that when we go in again after 10 minutes, he's so exhausted that he immediately lays down and goes to sleep.  works like a charm!

in other news, I think we may be approaching one nap a day!!  ahhhh!!!  Clark's morning nap has started to get pushed back later and later and usually lasts up to an hour and a half!  today he napped for 2 1/2 hours!!!  his nap is usually from 10-11:30.  he still gets tired in the afternoons but won't go down unless I take him on a walk.  if we don't go on a walk, he always falls asleep when my mom picks him up and drives him to her house and will sleep for an hour in the car with her.  so I guess he is still taking two naps...I just only benefit from the one, haha.  he also has started going to bed a little later, usually not until 8:30 and then wakes up around 7-7:30.  still sleeping straight through the night most nights or if he does cry out he usually puts himself back to sleep.  we are all loving having a good night's sleep every night!

 

p l a y / d e v e l o p m e n t

the night before Easter, we came home from our beach vacation and Clark went straight up to his walker and started pushing it all over the house!  I have the cutest videos of it...he was so proud of himself!!

now he tries to push anything else that has wheels, like his strollers, his wagon, even an old man's walker at church, hahaha.  while he's pushing them he makes his signature car sounds, "brrrrr".  he is such a BOY!

lately he loves letting go of anything and just standing all by himself, beaming!  he even took a step once!  I just know he's going to start walking any day now!

Clark loves dancing to a good beat (it's my favorite to watch), climbing to the top of the stairs in under a minute, taking family showers, fake screaming when he hears something loud, hanging onto my dresses in the closet and trying to balance, feeding the dog the rest of his food when he's full, petting the dog (he loves the dog!), turning off lights, getting the mail, and opening the flaps in books.

I took sooo many pictures this month which is the reason I'm a week late in posting.  here's a look at some of the things we did this month!

p h o t o   d u m p

fun at the library...

doing the splits! haha

 

chik-fil-a

 

 

chillin' at home...

 

 

 

he is obsessed with hats!

first temple trip + first steps

 

grandma + grandpa's

that face!

 

they are the cutest!!

sunday best 

 

don't ask

radio flyer photo shoot

in less than a month he will be ONE.  we've had him in our lives for an entire YEAR!!!  it almost feels like just yesterday I brought him home from the hospital...

I can't wait until his first birthday party!!!  the theme is pretty fitting...next time I post I'll have a ONE YEAR OLD.