Introducing....

Baby Elijah Keith Clark

7 lbs 1.5 oz. Born July 16th at 9:37 p.m. (One month early). But plenty big.

We are all...clearly...ecstatic. 

Welcome Baby Eli. 

We love you!

What's that?

Sophie and I were sitting on the floor today. She was playing with her bucket of animals. I was folding laundry listening to the stories she was making up and the animal to animal dialogue that was taking place. It was a very racy animal story. Marriages, death, magic powers, and fighting. The drama!

She was pulling out the animals one by one, naming what they were, making their noises and then they'd talk to each other and join in on the story. 

This was the next one out of the bucket...

I said, "Sophie. What's this one?" 

To which she replied, "A cantaloupe".

I laughed and laughed. I said, "Do you mean an AN-telope?" 

She shook her head and in my same know-it-all voice said back to me, "Nope. I mean a C-AN-taloupe!!!" 

Sophie always sticks to her guns. Gotta give her credit for that.

Fisherladies

In exchange for an awesome day of listening to mommy...the girls were promised a night of fishing with Daddy. Olivia took learning how to fish quite seriously...just like a first child would. We read a book on how to catch bluegills (there IS a technique apparently) on our way to the lake. Olivia sat with Dad and asked questions about each part of the process, learned how to cast perfectly, and waited patiently. She insisted on silence and "keeping a low profile" as the book we read about fishing suggested we do. Too bad we were all dressed in the brightest outfits ever. 

Sophie was, as expected, more interested in the bait. She is my little tomboy. Her sister comes up the stairs with a coordinated, stylish outfit complete with hair brushed and a matching headband. Soph comes up complaining that she doesn't own anything that looks "fierce" enough...nothing that looks like a dog. She then will put on her soccer uniform and call it good. Never thought I'd see such a difference in these girls but it is there, I love both sides of the spectrum. 

Here are the pics from our fishing expedition. And no, we didn't catch a thing. :)

Sophie participated for about 5 seconds. I caught it on camera. 

Fixing poles, baiting hooks

Pet worm

Daddy and one of his girls

A "rock fortress" to keep wormy safe from birds

Nothing shall get through it. There are even breathing holes. The architecture is outstanding.

No fish to speak of, but a worm fortress to behold. 

Happy Fishergirls and guy. We love our Daddy.

Patch

Sophie loves dogs. This is no secret. At all. She loves dogs so much that she believes she is one. She has about 8 million stuffed animals dogs of various sizes and breeds. One of them was snagged by Rosie Posie Clark and subsequently lost an eye. Unfortunate. Sophie asked me to replace the eye. My sewing skillz are not that advanced so I offered up a patch job instead. You know, like a pirate doggie?

And here he is. 

Patch is rockin it now. He hasn't been out of Sophie's sight since. 

It's nice to be able to make my kids happy sometimes. 

In other related news, I've picked up quilting. Why? To fill the void in my life that used to be activity. My native voyage is going well so far. I've got all the squares cut and ready. I was graciously taught this skill by my sister in law, Amy. She's talented in many ways. Now all I need is the sewing tutorial to go with it. I'd share pics, but it's a secret quilt for the new baby Cornally coming this November. We can't give away the secret quilt pattern yet, right?

Well, it's rainy day #2 (including the 4th), and I'm about to go mad....or perhaps I'm already there. It's questionable these days. 

Happy 4th everyone! I was hoping my body would win it's independence back from this baby, but I'm still with child and dreaming of sleepless nights and lots of crying. Wait, I have that right now....well, I suppose I dream of an adorable reason for the sleepless nights and lots of crying...something other than peeing and contractions...perhaps for a perfect little pumpkin baby?

Quote of the night

Olivia: "Mom? I'm still really concerned and I can't sleep."

Me: "Why, baby? What's up?"

Olivia (furrowed brow, totally freaked out): "Well, the other night, when Bam (grandma) was here, I had a dream that Sophie really WAS a dog and she had HEART DISEEEEEASE!!!!!!!!!" 

Wailing ensued.

A human/dog crossover with heart disease. I hadn't pictured having that conversation. But by the end of our talk, I had her convinced that if Sophie really did turn into a dog (which Sophie believes she already is because last time she lost a tooth she was determined to pray and ask the tooth fairy to turn her into a real dog), we'd make sure she'd have a heart worm pill too....just like Rosie Posie Clark gets...right? Because heartworm equals heart disease...right??

Right guys? Right???

Ever said something you KNOW you've never said before? That was mine. What is yours??