Jonesboro, Arkansas

At the end of September our family finished packing our boxes, kissed our family & friends goodbye then set out for Jonesboro, Arkansas.

City living has not been a hard adjustment.  After living in the mountains away from a small town and an hour or so from a big city, I throughly enjoy being literally five minutes from Walmart.  And ten minutes from the mall that includes Target & Bed, Bath and Beyond (two of my favorite stores). Three minutes from our super awesome library.

The kids love it too.  And they are especially loving our rental house and all of the space.  Hannah finally has her own room.  Right now Sammy & Amos share a room and eventually Shiloh will join them.  We have plans to buy a four bedroom house when our year lease ends and our old house sells.

As I've mentioned, we are already enjoying our library.  They have an entire room devoted to children's books & activities.  This past Wednesday, Hannah attended an art class there.  Throughout October & November they are having Art-O-Rama where kids learn about a different artist each week and then try to reproduce some of their artwork.  Last week they studied Michelangelo and the kids taped their papers to the bottom of the table and laid on their backs to work.  It was so neat!

We've also found an Awana program for the kids at a church just three minutes from our house.  Amos was so excited that he took his leader's hand and went to his class without a backward glance.  Hannah & Sammy were a little more hesitant but by the end they were having fun and begging to come back next week.

There are a few kids in our neighborhood but Sammy is so shy that he won't approach them without Hannah.  They're trying to make friends with some of the kids but I'm not sure how friendly some of those kids are.  Keep praying that we will make friends and have other adults/kids to fellowship with soon.  That has been the hardest adjustment of all, being so far away from all of the family & friends we love.

I still need to update on Shiloh, I've been neglecting my monthly updates but I plan to get back on track with those asap.  

I'm trying to figure out how to upload pictures from the iPad and as soon as I do I'll share pictures of our house.

Chaos

My dear sweet husband recently mentioned that it has been a while since I've updated the blog.  And so it has. 

There has been so much going on lately that I feel like our lives are in complete chaos and updating the blog is low on my list at the moment.  Then again, there's so much happening that I don't want to forget certain things.

At the end of July, Bobby flew to Arkansas for an on-campus interview at Arkansas State University.  He left on a Tuesday, returned home Thursday and was offered a job on Friday.  He is going to be their new Director of Environmental Health and Safety.  So the Clark Clan is moving to Arkansas at the end of the month!!

We (namely Bobby) had already been packing up our house so we could fix/clean it to put it up for sale.  Now we're cleaning, repairing, packing, organizing, painting....  it never ends.  On top of all of that we have to find a house to move all of our stuff into.  There are several that we're interested in so we'll have to wait and see what will work out and be the best for our family.  Chaos.

The kids are very excited about our move.  They're sad to leave family and friends but looking forward to a bigger house and a new adventure.  Our goal was that Hannah would have her own bedroom before she turned 10 (in January) and we're barely making that deadline.  She has repeatedly commented that she'll be glad to be away from the boys.  I think she will but I do think she'll miss having the boys in the room with her.  Sammy just wants to find a place to do Upward Basketball and a church that has an AWANA program.  Amos is just confused.  Poor guy.  He thinks all of our friends and family will be in Arkansas with us.  And whenever we're going somewhere he asks, "Are we going to Arkansas now?"

I'm sad to leave my family.  A little panicky about leaving my Mama for sure.  But I am very proud of Bobby and very excited for this opportunity for him.  It's going to be an adventure and we're going to love it.  I'm just ready to be moved, unpacked and settled. 

We've been spending every spare minute with family and friends. 

Hannah & Shiloh have fun while Sammy is taking his tumbling class.

 Amos & sweet Sarah Jayne. 

 Shiloh & his best buddy Collin.

 Oh this kid.  I love him!

Recently...

• My computer took a permanent holiday which makes uploading picture and updating the blog difficult.  And my 5 button isn't working on my cell phone so I can't use 'jkl' in any of my text messages.

• Shiloh turned six months old.  He is such a beautiful baby and his sweet little personality is emerging more each day.  He's still laid back and now that he can sit unassisted he's much happier in the evenings.  He can roll both ways and has gotten onto his knees several times but still isn't crawling.  He loves his older siblings, especially Hannah.  He's our snuggliest baby by far.  At this point he still doesn't have any teeth but I think they're coming soon.  He's started rubbing his tongue over his bottom gums so maybe they're on their way!

• Sweet Amos James turned 3 years old last weekend.  I can't believe it's been three whole years.  He is unbelievably smart for his age but I think it's because he has Hannah & Samuel to talk to and play with.  He is very very verbal and such a little comedian.  He loves tortellini, bubbles, Skippyjon Jones and anything Toy Story related.
  
  
  
  

          Just two days before his birthday he had a near drowning experience at a friends pool.  He   

          wore his puddle jumper all evening until we got out for dessert.  Then he got back in the pool 

          but  just sat on the steps, playing.  He stood up to get out and slipped off the steps and went 

          under -butt and head toward the bottom of the pool.  My friend, Rebecca, and I were standing 

          nearby and she immediately jumped in and pulled him out.  He swallowed so much water that   

          he vomited twice -all over me.  I spent a sleepless night keeping an eye on him for dry 

          drowning.  Thankfully he was completely fine and went back to the pool the next week and got 

           right back in.

•  Samuel & Hannah have been so helpful with Amos & Shiloh.  They're growing entirely too fast for this mama!  Right now they're both in a tumbling class -separate classes- and are having so much fun.  Hannah is getting better & better each week.  Samuel just started last month and he's almost as good as Hannah because he is such a natural athlete.  They've been enjoying their summer vacation since we go swimming each week and then have tumbling.  
  
  
  
  

• Bobby has been working super hard at fixing our house so we can sell it.  He's been painting our porch and storing all of our belongings in our storage building.  Our house is starting to look empty- which I rather enjoy.  He's doing all of this and working three jobs!  He's super husband! 

• In June we all went to Indiana because one of Bobby's (many) cousins got married.  We stayed with Ryan & Bethany and there three kids.  It was a fun, crazy visit for sure.   And they were kind enough to watch all four of our children for us so we could go on a quick lunch date.  Thank you so much Bethany!!!

• We've been trying to do something fun with the kids each Saturday.  No technology, just getting out of the house and spending time together as a family.  So far we've been to Caesar's Head State Park, Sassafras Mountain, Tallulah Gorge, and today we saw the Minion movie.  They are loving it! 
  

Random

So many things have happened lately but I've not had the chance to get it all documented.  I'm sure there is something I'm forgetting but...

Bobby's brother & his family came for a visit at the beginning of April.

I hardly took any pictures because I spent the entire time talking to Karen while the kids played.

I have the cutest nephew in the world!

The best of two attempts.  Why try more than that right?  This was on Bobby's birthday but he had to work so we celebrated without him.

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Spring arrived and brought with it tons of pollen but some beautiful flowers as well.

My azaleas are gorgeous!

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As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to be a great aunt!  

My oldest niece is expecting a baby boy in June.

A few weeks ago we celebrated with a baby shower.

Once again I didn't take nearly enough pictures b/c I was too busy having fun.

I did make this Ducky Punch and it was cute and delicious!

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Sammy finally lost his other front tooth.

I love when kids are missing both of their front teeth!

Shiloh @ 4 months

MILESTONES
- rolling from his back onto his belly
- finding his voice and chatting loudly
- starting solid foods (home made baby food from locally grown sweet potatoes)
- sleeping through the night
- easily grasping objects
- recognizing voices.  He will stop nursing if Bobby walks into the room & starts talking.

Please ignore my dirty rug in the background.

LIKES
- his siblings, especially Hannah
- sleeping on his tummy
- sweet potatoes
- being held.  All.the.Time.
- bath time

Shiloh with Granny Jordan.  His face in this picture cracks me up.  He looks a little scared and like he's yelling for help.

DISLIKES
- sleeping on his back
- being in his swing or bouncer for more than 5 minutes
- waiting more than a second between bites of food.

TO REMEMBER
- drool.  Lots and lots of drool.  But no teeth yet.
- grabbing everything.  And everything going into his mouth.
- his pudgy little self, squirming and smelling so sweet after a bath.
- first baby shower (for my niece Jessi -I'm going to be a great aunt!)
- reaching for my face when I'm changing his diaper.

STATS
- weight is 15 lbs and 5 oz (70th percentile)
- height is 25.5 inches (70th percentile)

Best Friends

Sweet little Collin is just nine days older than Mr. Shiloh.  His Mommy & I have already decided that they're going to be best friends forever!  Whether they like it or not.

My Boys -1

I had to share this picture that I took of Sammy & Shiloh this morning.  I was in the process of getting Shiloh dressed when Sammy woke up and came into my room.  He wanted to lay with Shiloh and talk to him so I went to get breakfast ready.  I turned around and there were two of my boys looking so stinking adorable that I had to snap some pics.  I just love Sammy's grin in this picture!!  He's such a sweet, handsome, little boy and he's growing too fast for this Mommy.  

And just look at how fat Shiloh is getting!!  His little legs are like loaves of squishy bread :-)