FFF - Silly ... Snow, A Birthday Girl and a Dr's Appt.

**OK I am 'cheating' for FFF today - I posted this last night and figured I would repost it for today since the video below is Charlotte being pretty silly ... **

Charlotte does some SERIOUS fake crying these days - so I thought I would catch it "On Tape" ... it is too funny ...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

(ABOVE: Jaden showing off her new Ugg Boots Manda bought her!)
(ABOVE: Charlotte - doing what she does best - catching some ZZZ's)
(ABOVE: A Beautiful picture of my Two Beautiful Girls ... just look at those faces - My heart melts! Are they really mine?)
(ABOVE: Looks like most of the 11.5 pounds are in those chubby cheeks! LOVE THEM!)
(ABOVE: Big Sister ~ Little Sister ... look at those eyes!)
(ABOVE: I LOVE this picture of Charlotte peeking out from her car seat!)

Hello all! Well it is Thursday and I am looking forward to the end of the week tomorrow! Today is a struggle to stay awake on my behalf and I am hoping I can actually get through the day! It is supposed to start snowing at some point this afternoon and according to the weather people we are supposed to get anywhere from 5-9” of snow … alls I have to say to that is ICK! You see – at this point in the season we are starting to see our grass again and the birds have come back to MN and they are chirping. Yesterday it was 40 outside and the car windows were rolled down and jackets were shed … that is what we call spring – not to mention Cabin Fever by now is at an all time high!! So now we will hunker down yet again and weather another storm … plus below zero temperatures and wind chills – the only positive to this is that it is almost March and snow usually isn’t around too long in March!

On another POSITIVE point it is almost March – which means it is almost Jaden’s birthday – which also means my mom and dad will be here to celebrate her big day!! You see mom FINALLY got cleared to travel and return to work … right away she hopped online to buy their plane tickets and I am BEYOND happy to report that my mom and dad arrive on Wednesday March 11th and will be here until March 17th … I am so excited for them to meet Charlotte and to celebrate Jaden’s 7th Birthday! I am sure they ached to see the girls as much as I ached for them to be here … so it will be a wonderful day when they arrive … The other GREAT news is that they will be here for Jaden’s “Friend Party” on March 14th at Grand Slam. It will be fun to have them here to enjoy Jaden wither friends and to partake in the Kid Activities … I am sure my dad will enjoy Mini-Golf and Laser Tag with the other ‘Bigger Kids” (like Jason, Dan, Jeff and Andy!!!) I can’t believe Jaden will be SEVEN in 1 week! How is my Baby#1 SEVEN already …. And how am I the mother to a Seven Year Old? I am in awe that she is so grown up already and I am beyond proud to be her mommy … she is such a great little girl! It will be a fun birthday – and Charlotte will be there to celebrate too!

Speaking of Charlotte – I took the day off yesterday because I had a Dr’s appointment and so did Charlotte. Mine was at 11:15 and Charlotte’s 2 month check-up was at 2:30 so I decided to take the day off and go to the mall in between to pick up some clothes for work … I met Jason at home and the 3 of us headed to the pediatrician for her check-up! As we were walking in to the clinic Jason and I guessed Charlotte’s weight … I said 10lbs and he said 8lbs 14ounces … BOY were we both wrong … she actually weighed in at 11 ½ pounds … HOLY MOLY! As the Dr said when he walked in – “Oh she chubbed up nicely!” He was happy to see that she fattened up since the last time he saw her she was so tiny. She went from the 18th percentile in weight to the 85th percentile. At birth she was 19.5” long and yesterday she was 23” long which put her in the 89th percentile for her height … so it looks like Carnation Good Start has done it's job and Miss Charlotte is growing well! Her Dr. was quite surprised with how strong her leg and neck muscles are and he said to give her as much pratice using them as she wants - she actually doesn't mind tummy time so that was good to hear. She also developed "Baby Acne" all over her face and scalp last week but as suspected there is nothing to do for it except to keep her face clean and free of lotions until the hormone levels get back to normal. Oh and of course she got her immunizations as well - I was very tempted to skip them until she got a bit older but decided to go ahead and give them to her instead ... it was a pretty sad thing to watch ... she got 3 shots total in her little legs and the cry that came from her tiny body was so big and sad. Her face was red and her lip was trembling and the tears that fell from her eyes were those big, heavy tears that fall when you blink instead of rolling down your cheek. These tears simply fell - and they fell all over for about a half hour. She did get a dose of Tylenol but sadly it didn't kick in until the 3rd dose. She was so tired and sore but she just wanted to be held all night. We of course obliged but she was so uncomfortable no matter how you hel her that she just sobbed. It was such a sad night for her ... it took about 7.5 hours for her to finally relax enough to let herself fall asleep. I did give her a calming bath and gave her a lavender lotion massage afterwards which may have helped her calm down. I fed her a bottle and she fell asleep in my arms. I put her in her crib at 10:30 and she slept through until 1:00. I fed her again at 1:00, gave her more Tylenol, cuddled and put her down. She woke up for another ounce of formula at 3:45 and fell back to sleep. Today when I spoke to Manda she said she was doing fine and acting 'normal'. I am relived and hope she is feeling better today - My Poor Baby!

So that is the news from the Clark House ... not too much else is going on ... Tomorrow Heather, Dan and Savannah may be coming over to hang out and Saturday Jaden has swimming lessons. Then at 1:00 Manda and I have hair appointments at Cole's ... she is getting some platinum highlights put in and me - well I am 'hoping' to go in to the salon, sit in the chair and tell them to do what they want ... and then get it colored - I am assuming that I will just get a trim and then color my hair but my GOAL is to actually get it cut - and cut A Lot ... So Wish Me Luck ... Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far ...

Love ~ The Clark Family of Four (plus Manda) ~ Rebekah, Jason, Jaden & Baby Charlotte