The Clark Blog

Woohoo an update!

Steven — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 05:13:43 +0000

Hi everyone! Things are busy as usual around the Clark household. Our family and friends celebrated Avery’s first birthday with a big party in March. She’s growing so fast it’s hard to keep up. Believe it or not, I’ve got about 9 posts in the works right now to get the blog back up to speed. The first 3 entries have been published below. Things are finally starting to settle down at my new job, and I couldn’t be happier with the new career path. Avery continues to keep us on our toes as she learns to walk faster and get in to more “stuff”.
She is absolutely awesome.

Keep checking back, and I’ll keep the material comming!

New Swing Set

Steven — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:00:54 +0000

We wanted to make good use of the backyard, so we brought home a swing set for Avery’s first birthday. In total, this ended up being a 4 beer job – which was about 2 beers over budget. The instructions were less than clear, but in the end there were no parts left on the table!

When the guys brought the box out of Toys R Us, all we could do was laugh. Fortunately, we didn’t need to bring the box home with us!

I was able to put about 90% of the swing set together by myself, but as the sun started to get low on the horizon, the cavalry arrived…

Mommy helped for a bit…

Then Mamaw and Chloe helped for a bit…

And Avery helped by testing out her slide. She reeeeealy liked it!

Here’s the final product… and a family pic!

The Houston Zoo

Steven — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:00:25 +0000

Avery’s friend Christopher had his first birthday party at the Houston Zoo. This was Avery’s first trip to see all the animals, and it for sure won’t be our last. Avery had so much fun at the petting zoo, we almost had to take a goat home with us.

Avery and Christopher pose for a party pic!

The cake and cupcakes looked like little zoo critters. Very nicely done!

Of course, the cupcakes didn’t stand a chance with Aves around…

After the party we had full access to the zoo. Our first stop was the animal carousel and Avery had some concerns…

But it only took a few rounds before we made friends with Mr Cheetah!

Afterwards, Aves got serious and asked if the stroller was really necessary…

But it’s hard for Aves to keep a straight face!

Later we went to the petting zoo. I’m not sure if the cage was meant to keep the animals in or the people out.

Here’s the goat we almost took home…

And here’s the pig we almost took home…

And here’s the BIG kitty cat we almost took home…

We never got lost thanks to my onboard GPS…

Avery really likes maps…

I believe this was a type of antelope. You can see by the size of Avery’s finger, it’s a very tiny animal!

Aves makes her monkey face at the giraffe exhibit… funny girl.

And one last stop at the gift shop before leaving the zoo!

We all had a great time and can’t wait to go back!

In Loving Memory

Steven — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:00:48 +0000

Avery’s Great Grandmother (and Shelley’s Grandmother), Dororthy Jean Anderson passed away peacefully on Feb. 27, 2010 in Duncanville, Texas at the age of 86. Great Mamaw was truly a great woman and she will be missed dearly. We traveled to Duncanville to be with the rest of our family, and wanted to post a few pics to celebrate Great Mamaw’s life. I was fortunate enough to know Mamaw for the last 15 years, and loved her like one of my own grandmothers.

This was a sweet pic with Avery’s Great Grandfather Del. It had been a very long and emotional long day, but Aves was a trooper and didn’t get cranky until late in the evening. Here’s one of her better moments…

Great Mamaw’s sister Kay was not able to travel to Duncanville, so the Anderson Family posed with Avery and sat around a beautiful boquet of flowers Kay sent for the occasion. No one realized it at the time, but Avery was quietly eating the boquet.

Before we left for Houston, Uncle Doug showed Avery all the places Mamaw and Bebop traveled as well as their collection of US Presidents. Avery loves her Uncle Doug!

We will all miss you dearly Mamaw. May you rest in eternal loving peace.

Click HERE for Mamaw’s official obituary.

The Little Gym

Steven — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 17:42:24 +0000

Hi everyone! Lots has been going on since Christmas last year and I truly apologize about the length of time since our last post. Avery is now 11 months old and doing new things every day. Not long ago we signed her up at The Little Gym of Bellaire for a semester of gymnastics and hand-eye coordination. We are only 3 weeks into it, but Avery is already climbing stairs by herself and on the verge of walking… she can take a few “unstable” steps on her own before falling over. During her first class, Avery had 5 minor meltdowns. At her second class she only cried 2 times. At her last class there were no tears and made everyone laugh as she (very excitedly) chased the boys around the gym. Our little bug is developing a happy little personality. Below are some pics taken over the last few gym sessions.

It took her a while, but Avery finally decided crawling through tunnels is cool.

Here’s a pic from our first day at the gym.
Avery wasn’t sure what to think about all the equipment!

We practice climbing stairs…

Hanging on bars…

Walking on the balance beam…

Forward rolls…

Obstacle courses…

Wheelbarrows…

And reverse whoopdie-doos… Go Aves!!!!

Goooooooooo MAMAW!!!!

And while she’s having a bunch of fun, Avery is making lots of new friends too!

Every class ends with bubble time… and I think that’s Avery’s favorite part!!

Signing Aves up for the Little Gym is one of the best decisions we’ve made.
Not to mention how much energy it takes to do all the fun stuff!

Great Aunt Debbie & Uncle Ed visit!

Steven — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:41:37 +0000

The last time Great Aunt Debbie visited town was for Shelley’s baby shower. Avery wasn’t born yet and our new home was still just a bunch of sticks. This year she and Great Uncle Ed were able to swing by our place last weekend. We took a few GREAT pics and can’t wait to see everyone again!

This one really turned out… yup… GREAT!

As did this one…

There was however a bit of drama during the visit… No one knew what was going on at first, but Avery and Aunt Debbie had a very intense stand-off.

Aunt Debbie begged and pleaded with Avery to come back… “I said I was SORRRRYYYY!!!”

Avery later told us she was angry at Debbie for getting in her crib. It really crossed a line and she wasn’t sure if Aunt Debbie could ever be forgiven. The proof Avery said, was on the baby monitor. Baaaad Aunt Debbie!!!

In the end, Aunt Debbie gave Aves a bottle and all was forgiven. Avery loves her GREAT Aunt and Uncle!

PS… Don’t tell Avery, but Debbie stole one of her bows for the family pic!!!

Making the Band

Steven — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:00:03 +0000

With Aves on vocals and daddy on tha geee-tar, we’re a band in the making. Aves loves her music time! PS… anyone else think her pj’s remind you of Fruit Stripes gum???

Here’s where we really hit the harmony… Aves can wail!!!

Xmas PJ pics!

Steven — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:25:55 +0000

It’s time for a holiday pajama-jammy-jam!!! We put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving and ever since, Avery has been fascinated by the lights. Mommy had a few extra Xmas pj’s on hand, so we grabbed some shots for the blog.

Daddy’s Xmas girls…

The very first time Avery went for the lights, she used her index finger to point (normally she grabs, so this was another baby first!)… And now she points at everything!

The PJ Queen… hamming it up!

And she really likes her Xmas blankey… Thanks Wendy!!!

Snow Day 2009!

Steven — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:02:34 +0000

Tired of seeing our Halloween pics??? Well, we are too! LOL. At this point, life is so busy we don’t have time to post excuses… so thanks for checking back with us! During the first week of December we had a nice change in weather here… We don’t see much of the white stuff this far down south, so when it snows it’s quite an event. Avery thought it was time to put on her coat and venture out in to the thick of it!

A quick family pic…

And Mamaw was there to help behind the scenes… Thanks Mamaw!!!

Avery was totally fascinated with the snow. It’s amazing to see her experience new things…

The snow was really coming down for a while there…

Just wish it could have stayed around for longer!

Texans Monday Night Football!

Steven — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 06:21:18 +0000

Our friends Mark and Amy Potts had a few extra tickets to the Texans vs Titans and invited us to tag along for a parent’s night out. The seats were great, the beer was cold, and the game… well… it still hurts to talk about it, but we had a blast regardless!

The club seats were AWESOME, so we had a great view of the pre-game festivities…

Our excellent hosts… Thanks to both of you for a wonderful time!