So Big Already

Jed...

It truly is hard to believe that Jed is three weeks old already. He is so genuinely tender and sweet. He's pretty quiet. He's had two days in the past three weeks that he has been fussy, and the rest of his days he's been peaceful and calm. He loves to look around, check things out, especially his Papa and Mama. I often wonder what's going through his little mind. For such a little guy he seems to have some deep thoughts. :)

He's been a busy bee his first few weeks of life. Already he's been to several parks, to the docotr twice, to church three times, to the zoo, to the Focus on the Family play place, to Woodland Park, to Denver, to Aunt Brooke's house, to the airport, the grocery store, Walmart, and Costco.

At his 2 week appointment he weighed 7lbs, 9 ounces already.

He's pretty predictable... He eats at 8, 11, 2, & 5 both day and night. His predictability is nice but he never really gives me any long stretches. the good news is that he at night he goes right back to sleep after I feed him.

When he's awake he's super alert. I love how he always checking out his little world. He searches the room with his eyes.

I can hardly believe that he is already 3 weeks old. We are more than making it through. I am soaking him up. And even in the night when I think that I can't keep my eyes open any longer, I have still been able to feel great joy in my heart as I spend time alone with my little man, rocking back and forth in our rocking chair in the corner of my room, in the dark of night. Our time is fleeting and I don't want to miss a moment.

Here he is.... Jed at 3 weeks...

Go With The Flow

He is clearly #4...

He just goes with the flow...

All the kids want to hold him and he just goes with it.

I love that about him. :)

The brothers...

Biggest sister...

Big sister...

Our entire treasure chest!!!

Man, are we rich or what?

First Bath

Jed will be 3 weeks old tomorrow. His belly button finally fell off two days ago so I was hoping to give Jed his first bath soon. And today we went to an event up in the mountains where the kids got to climb in and explore all these different work trucks and rescue vehicles. While we were there a flight for life helicopter landed. As it was coming down it blew tons of tiny rocks and dirt everywhere and everyone got covered in dirt, including Jed...

So when we got home I decided to finally give him his first bath... and for the most part he did great!

The beginning...

The middle...

The end...

All clean...

The first bath has always been something special for me with each of my treasures. It's one of the many "firsts" that I will get to experience with little Jed... and I just want to soak up each moment with each treasure. Not to mention that I absolutely LOVE the way that a newborn smells after their first bath! OOOO, I could smell them all day long! :)

An Hour With My Son

I don't want him to get lost in the shuffle...

After all, he is #4...

And if I'm not intentional, I can see him getting left behind.

So I decided that I would use our time (just Jed and me) and give Jed a little heads up on what he's getting himself into. I held him on my chest for a few hours and told him everything I could think of to prepare him for our crazy little household.

I told him him how incredible his Papa is. How madly in love with him I am and always will be. I told him how hard his Papa works and how he makes funny faces and tells jokes when Mama is having a bad day. He thinks he's so funny. And the truth is... he really is funny... and he knows how to brighten Mama's day. I warned him how his Papa smells good most of the time but he has some of the worst gas that anyone has ever had to deal with! I told him to be prepared. :)

I told Jed all about his incredible brother Siah. I told him about the ways that Siah had been praying for his arrival for several months. I told him about how good Siah was on his bike... and I told him that I was confident that Siah would gladly teach him everything he knows. I told him that as he grows up, Siah will be the kind of brother that watches out for him with great joy and pride.

I told him about Hal... how sweet and tender she is... How she'll probably constantly want to hold him and feed him and change him and coddle him... and how if he gets annoyed with the excess amount of love that he's getting from his sweet loving sister he needs only to scream and I will gladly come to his rescue.

And when I started to think of what I should say about his big sister Reesie... well, I decided that a warning would be more appropriate... So I told little Jed,

"Sweet boy, watch out for that sister of yours. She may talk nice but she's got a firm grip. Your interactions with her might go something like this... "nice pat, nice pat, WHACK, WHACK, WHACK!" So watch out my little man!"

I told him that she'll probably smother him in kisses and shove her big furry kitty in his face over and over again. But he'll get used to it... Just like the rest of us have gotten used to it.

Check out the progression of how Reesie "Loves on" her little brother below...

1. Looks on like an innocent bi-stander.

2. Slowly makes her move.

3.Goes in for the eye poke.

4. Stashes key chain in her shirt... so that... next time....

5. She CAN USE BOTH HANDS to "Love on," I mean, WHACK her little brother....

Welcome to the world Jed! :) Don't worry, your Papa and I are here to protect you. :)

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I told him how much we love Jesus in our home and how we strive with our whole hearts to love each other the way that He loves us. I confessed that we struggle, and struggle often, to always do this. But we pray a lot and we are learning daily to give and receive each others forgiveness.

I told him about his Mama and how I can seem sort of grouchy in the mornings but I usually perk up by the mid morning. I told him how much I love tea and how I eat a bowl of cereal almost every night before I go to bed. I told him how aware I am that he is one of the greatest treasures that the Lord has ever given me and that I will never be without gratitude for his little life.

I told him about his three brothers gone to be with Jesus. I told him about how precious this life is... how we only have one chance... and how the best way to live out our one chance is in the arms of our sweet Savior Jesus Christ!

I told him about where we used to live and how beautiful the ocean was and how dear our friends were (and are). I told him about where we live now. I warned him about "Falcon" and how it has been a "special" place to live... and how there have been a lot of "special needs" there. I reminded him (and maybe myself too :), how even with all the little corks in our "kansas home" we are truly truly blessed to have that roof over our head. And how the most important part of that home is truly the family that loves and lives inside of it. I told him about how quaint our little house was, about how I love making our house feel like a home with pictures of our family scattered around, comfy blankets on the couch ready for us to climb up under and read a book with, and lots of homemade yumminess in the fridge. I told him about my obsession with vacuuming and how I tend to be a control freak but how with each treasure I am learning to let go of that a little bit more. So in that sense... He's pretty lucky to be #4. :)

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As I was wrapping up my hour long mantra of information with my son,

I looked down on my chest where he was whimpering a bit and got completely overcome by a sense of gratitude.

Four... Healthy... Living... Breathing... Crying... Treasures.... entrusted to me... Oh my goodness Lord... Thank you!

Just few more pics...

Welcome To The World

Easy Peezy!!!

I want to brag on God's FAITHFULNESS to his fearful little daughter, Kacy Nicole, who loves her babies, but fears labor so much that she'd rather have someone punch her in the face and knock her out than have a natural birth. And her Jesus knows that better than anyone and blessed her with the absolute easiest labor EVER!

Man... It's just so evident that the Lord knows what each of His children needs and can handle! Can I tell you how AMAZING this birth went?

I came in at 7:30 am.

Gwendy was my nurse. She was kind, gentle, funny and fabulous!

She got my IV in on the first try! (BTW, this is the first delivery EVER where I didn't pass out when getting my IV in... Praise God! :)

I got a round of antibiotics for strep B and a little pitocin.

I felt some contractions that were a bit uncomfortable.

Dr. Rafael (AKA, My best friend for the day), put my epidural in. I felt FABULOUS!

At 12:15 pm I got my second round of antibiotics and Dr. Claus broke my water.

I went from a 5 to a 10 in less than an hour.

Then at 1:21 Joey said, "Alrighty Kace... You have 60 seconds to get him out, then he would be born at 1:22 on the 22nd."

SO I pushed twice, and at 1:22pm on July 22, 2010 we met our son for the very first time!!!!!!

EASY PEEZY!!!

And here he is... our fourth, living treasure that the Lord has entrusted us with for this season.

Our little... JEDEDIAH CYRUS CLARK

(Known to us as "Jed" and sometimes, "Jedi")

His Papa and I labored over his name more than any of our other kiddos. WE wanted him to have a strong name like his brother... one overflowing with meaning and purpose, but had the HARDEST time coming up with anything at all. A few weeks ago I was going through the book of 2 Samuel and reading about David and the birth of his first living son with Bathsheba, Solomon. And how the Lord sent a message through Nathan to David saying how much He LOVED Solomon....

"And the Lord loved him and sent a message by Nathan the prophet. So he called his name Jedediah because of the Lord." (2 Samuel 12:25)

Jedediah means, "Loved by the Lord, or "The Lord's Beloved."

And Cyrus, means, "King", or "Lord." Which is like his Papa's middle name Ryan, meaning, "Little King."

Papa with his newest son!

So now all three boys (Papa and our two sons) have a special connection in their names. All three have the same initials, JC. Josiah and Joey share similarities in their first name. And Jedediah and Joey share a connection in their middle names.

And although I am well aware of the fact that a "name" does not determine the outcome of a child, the name that we chose for Jed, is a constant reminder to us, his Papa and Mama, that heis loved first and foremost by his heavenly father, and that he is only on loan to us for as long as the Lord sees fit. :) And for that, we are so so so grateful!!!

The Proud Papa and Mama

In other news... I felt so good after I delivered that I thought out loud to Joey and the nurse, "Surely I can get up by myself and walk to the bathroom."

That was until I tried to even move my leg off the side of the bed and it just kept falling over on it's own. NO control what so ever! :)

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One of my favorite parts of the whole day was seeing my older kiddos meet little Jed for the first time. They have been anticipating this day for weeks. Josiah has asked me every morning how many weeks we have left till his little brother comes.

They are all responded so differently... Halee was smiling from ear to ear and kinda cheering and clapping. Reesie was chanting "bebe, bebe, bebe" over and over again. And Siah climbed up next to me and buried his head in my shoulder and whispered, "Mom, is that my little brother?" I wrapped my arm around him, kissed his forehead, and said, "Yes, He finally made it, huh?"

(Oh, and after viewing her new little brother for a brief moment Halee informed me that she, "Really, really loves my BEAUTIFUL pink dress." AKA my extremely attractive hospital gown.... She cracks me up!)

It was a sweet moment with all four of my treasures meeting each other for the first time! I'll always carry that moment in my heart.

The Mama with her FOUR kiddos.

A few visitors....

Little man... I hope you know how incredibly loved you are! We have been praying specifically for you for nearly two years. Your Papa and my hearts longed for you! And the Lord was more than faithful to give you to us to help us learn to love others even more like Him!

You are cherished little boy!

WELCOME TO THE WORLD!!!