maternity pictures!!!

Our sweet friend from church has an artistic eye and is really good at taking pictures. This morning, she took maternity pictures for us, and we've already gotten them back!!! We had so much fun and are really happy with how they turned out! What a fun way to document such a special time in our life!!

Click on the link to see more of Kendall's creativity at Bristles, Brushes, and Bows Boutique! She sells lots of adorable, hand-made, personalized gifts.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures!

from teacher to mama

The sweet teachers at my school threw me a surprise baby shower!!! It was so much fun!

I've loved working with this sweet group of teachers. I was pretty nervous about joining the big, scary world of middle school, but these teachers have made me feel so welcome! Middle school was not so big and scary after all:) The kids were taller and could tie their own shoes but were still very sweet! I still got hugs and sweet notes, and enjoyed going to school each day.

My mom has been a teacher most of my life, and I spent many hours in her classroom. Then, at ACU, I spent four years preparing and learning to be a teacher, and for the last seven years, I have been a school teacher. Teaching school has been who I am. It's been a huge part of my identity. I loved building relationships with my students and fellow teachers. I loved reading to children. I loved helping children learn to read independently. I loved helping children learn to solve problems. I loved giving them a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, a hug, or a high five.

After much thought, prayer, and conversation, Keith and I have decided that I am not going to teach school next year. I know that I will miss teaching. I'll miss preparing my classroom as school starts next year. I'll miss the excitement of getting to know a new group of kids. I'll miss spending time with a diverse group of young people everyday. But, I am thrilled to be able to stay home with my sweet son. I'm excited to snuggle, play, and teach Carson! Teaching has been special, and I know I can always go back and teach again someday, but I am thankful and excited for this new chapter in my life!

Here are pictures from Carson's baby shower. These teachers, who I only worked with for one year, were so thoughtful and generous. Carson and I will definitely be going to visit them next year:)

Here are the the sweet sixth grade hostesses and host!

Justin was brave to join so many oooing and awwing women!

The other host had football practice:) We missed you, Brad!

the cute and very yummy turtle cake:)

the gift table and CUTE diaper cake made by sweet Tracy!!

my sweet friend Jill

opening lots of sweet and thoughtful gifts for baby Carson!!!

growing belly

It's been a while since I've posted a picture of my growing belly, and it is certainly growing! So, here are some pictures of the last several weeks. Things are going really well. I'm enjoying being pregnant. My favorite part is feeling my sweet boy move and kick inside me! It is absolutely wonderful!!!!

23 weeks

24 weeks

25 weeks

26 weeks

(my photographer was at Pepperdine!)

27 weeks

28 weeks

29 weeks

30 weeks

31 weeks

the nursery!!!

My sweet parents, aka "Pops and Granny," came to visit while I was on spring break, and it was such a special time! We talk on the phone all the time, but I was so excited for them to see me pregnant and get to share this special time of life with them in person:) We worked lots on sweet Carson's room and enjoyed a little relaxing and game playing, too!!

This is a before picture of the nursery (formerly craft/office/laundry/catch-all room).

Step #1: Find a place of all of this crafty/officy stuff!!!

Step #2: Shopping for paint, fabric, and other odds and ends!

Steps #3, 4, and 5: Mama and Keith put together furniture and painted!!!!

They worked hard!!

Daddy and I helped here and there as needed!

We provided some entertainment for the hard workers;)

And....HERE IT IS!!!!

We were all so pleased with how it turned out!!!

I love going in his room and thinking about him being in there soon!!!

In fact, that's where I'm sitting now!! It only seemed appropriate for this post:)

Our first purchase was the painting of the daddy and baby hands with the scripture, "How great is the love the Father lavished on us, that we should be called children of God" (I John 3:1). Keith and I got it in early December on our trip to Gatlinburg, before we told anyone I was pregnant!!!! We both loved it and knew it would be perfect in our baby's room.

We looked at a lot of cribs and dressers and decided on dark brown. We found a crib we really liked online and had it shipped here. We knew that we didn't want to get a separate changing table and dresser; we wanted to find something that would serve both purposes and could stay with him long after his baby days are over. The challenge is, most dressers aren't very tall. We finally found one we loved, but the closest one to us was five hours away and the shipping would have been very expensive. Mama and Daddy were so sweet and bought it for us!!! They picked it up in Texas and brought it!!! We're very thankful for their generosity!! I was hoping the crib and dresser colors would match, but it's hard to tell online. I was really excited when we opened the box and saw what a great match they were!! We found the bookcase, in the same dark brown espresso at Target, and guess what? The product name is "Carson"!! Isn't that fun?!!

Originally, I wanted to make the bedding. Ahem, I wanted Carson's grandmas to make the bedding;) But, after looking and looking, we could not find any fabric that we loved. We just wanted something simple a blue and green or blue and brown set with a solid, stripe, and polka dot...I didn't think that was too complicated. I really wasn't trying to be picky, but all of the cute fabric had pink!! So, instead we found this adorable blue and brown turtle bedding, and guess what? It was blue and brown and had the cute and simple stripes and polka dots we'd been searching for!!! We ordered the four piece bedding set, an extra sheet, the turtle mobile, and the valance. We decided not to order the drapes, because they were pretty pricey for two straight pieces of fabric. Mama said we could find some matching fabric and make them ourselves; I had looked at fabic a lot and was not convinced we'd find any. But, she was right, thanks to Keith's keen eye, we did!!! It's actually cuter than the pricey one that came with the set! Of course the store we were in didn't have enough. But, after several patient phone calls, Keith found another store about thirty more miles down the road that did!!! So, he and Daddy went and got it while Mama and I went to Motherhood Maternity!!! She and Daddy bought me lots of new maternity clothes for my birthday, which was another sweet blessing!!! It's nice to have lots more fun clothes options and feel cute:)

We used the cricut to cut his name out of brown vinyl and display above his bed. I knew I wanted it to be fairly big, but simple, and I think it turned out great!! We also got a changing pad and more fabric for that. Mama made two cute covers for it, too:) We already had the lamp, and Mama painted it blue!! I really wasn't trying to be a slacker....I'm just not the best seamstress and was trying to stay away from the paint fumes!! I got to make lots of fun decisions, while they did lots of the work! I already had the books and stuffed animals from my days in first grade. A couple of the sweet toys and rattles are gifts that Carson has already gotten from Misty, Mama, and Margo!! Don't worry, we will fill those empty picture frames soon:)

I should have taken a picture of the closet, too. It already has some cutie clothes hanging up!! We gotten him a couple things and so have his grandparents. The multi-colored chest of drawers from my first grade classroom that you saw in the before picture fit in the closet and will be great for storage!

We had a great time with Mama and Daddy, and we are thankful for all of the progress we made! Keith's parents, who still need to decide on grandparent names:), were able to come see the nursery and they loved it too!! Our sweet sisters loved it from pictures:) So, we all LOVE it, and we know Carson will too!!! Having his room ready, along with me looking more and more pregnant, is making it all seem more and more real everyday!!

We have loved our time as a family of two and would not trade the special time just being a couple, but we are soooo excited about our family of three!!!

What's in a name?

Naming our baby was quite a job! So much of a person's identity is related to his or her name. It stays with you from birth until death. It is a big decision to make for someone else. But, like so many big decisions, the reason they feel so big is because it is such an honor to make them! I've been wanting to talk about possible baby names for years, but Keith always said it was silly to spend too much time thinking about names before we were pregnant. Nonetheless, I've had a running list of possibilities for several years and have convinced him to talk about them from time to time. When we got pregnant, Keith teased that we might as well wait until we knew the baby's gender. However, I pointed out that we should have a boy and girl name picked out, that way when we found out the gender, we could begin calling him or her by his or her real name! Most of our conversations surrounding names involved me thinking of names, and Keith telling me all the reasons each name was not a good idea. Now, don't get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that he was looking out for our baby and wanting to avoid names with obvious fun-making possibilities, but sometimes I did get frustrated that he would nix my ideas and not come up with any to replace them! We did not make our final decision until the car ride on the way to the doctor the morning of our gender appointment. So, without further ado, our sweet baby boy's name is......

Carson Robert Clark

Carson

My dad's mom's maiden name was Carson. She passed away before I was born. In fact, she passed away on my dad's twenty-first birthday. My dad and his mama were very close. Even though I never got to meet her, I have heard many stories from him and other family members about what a kind, gentle person she was. She was sick for much of her life, but she did not let her sickness define her. She was an incredible artist, and a loving wife, mother, sister, and friend. My dad has a lot of his mom's qualities. He is also kind, gentle, and loving. He loves his family dearly and would do anything for us. He's also got a great sense of humor! He is so excited to become Pops, and he loves Carson so much already! We loved the idea of naming our baby after someone special, and Carson has been at the top of my list for a long time. So, to honor my dad and his sweet mama, we decided to name our baby boy Carson.

Robert

Keith's middle name and his dad's first name are Robert. Since Carson's first name is in honor of his maternal grandpa, we wanted his middle name to honor his paternal grandpa and his daddy. Keith and his dad have both dedicated their lives to bringing people closer to God. They are dedicated students of theology, they love conversation, are not afraid to challenge old ways of thinking, and work to push themselves and others to reach beyond the status quo. They both love music, basketball, and their families! They are thrilled to become a grandpa and daddy!

Carson is moving while I type this post. I think that means he's excited about his name and what it means!! I hope and pray that he has some of the same qualities as name sakes!

hoppy easter

We've been taking lots of pictures of me throughout the pregnancy, but I realized Keith and I hadn't taken any pictures together in a while, so on Easter Sunday, we did just that! I hope all of you were blessed on Easter and were filled with hope!

22 weeks

blue is for BOY!!!!

Hi, my name is Mindy Clark, and I am the worst blogger EVER!! I really want to document my pregnancy here to share with family and friends and to be able to look back on in years to come, but I have not been doing a very good job. It seems like I've been too busy or too tired. So, since I haven't updated in over a month, I'm going to have to backtrack a bit.

The gender poll showed 14 votes for BOY and 16 votes for GIRL.... and guess what?!!! Well, if you're reading this, I've either seen you in the last month, talked/texted you on the phone, or we're facebook friends, so there is no suspense here, but the poll was wrong, it's a BOY!!!! We are absolutely thrilled and are so very excited to meet our little guy!!

However, in order to document properly, I need to back up even more. So, even though most of you know the story, I'm going to tell it anyway.....

March 25

I usually schedule my doctor's appointments in the afternoon so that I don't have to take a day off of school, but for the gender appointment I was way too excited to wait until after school, so the appointment was at 10:00 am. Keith and I enjoyed sleeping in a bit before heading to Columbia. We prayed that our sweet baby was doing well healthy and were anxious to find out if Itty Bitty was a he or a she! We talked about possible names and dreamed together about fun things we would do with a son or daughter.

The ultra sound was amazing once again! We had the first one at 8 weeks, another at 12, then, now, at 20 weeks. It was so neat to see how much our baby grew from one ultra sound to the next. There are not words to describe just now amazing and miraculous it was!! We were able to see lots of teeny tiny body parts this time. The doctor pointed out the heart, kidneys, and lungs. Not only could we hear the heartbeat, but we could also see it pumping. We could see him swallowing. We could see arms, legs, fingers, and toes. At one point during the ultrasound, he lifted his little hand and layed it beside his cheek...so sweet:) God's divine creativity and attention to every detail has never been so clear to me. I am so thankful that God has blessed us with this tiny person to care for and share life with!

Now, about the gender part, Itty Bitty was snuggling with the umbilical cord and hiding his or her parts. The doctor thought he saw something early on, but with the cord between that sweet baby's legs, he wasn't able to confirm it, and as he looked more and more without seeing "it", he said he couldn't be for sure, but it must be a little girl. Though we were overjoyed with the good health of our baby, we couldn't help but be a little disappointed to not be able to name our baby and begin more specific planning and preparing.

The doctor said he would check again at the next appointment, but that was another month away. I told him that my mom and dad were coming to visit over spring break, and we had big plans to work on the nursery while they were here. Our sweet, patient doctor said to come back by sometime in the next couple of weeks, and he would check again. We called our parents and sisters to fill them in on our news and headed to Nashville to relax and enjoy the day together as we browsed fabric and baby stores. I texted everyone in my phone and told them that we weren't 100% sure, but that we were thinking pink. We looked at lots of pink that day, but didn't buy anything. As we headed back towards Columbia, we wondered if that afternoon was too soon to stop by for another ultrasound, so we called and they said come on in!! Yay! Now, we could have a confirmed answer. We were both thinking we had a baby girl but were excited to find out for sure.

The doctor squeezed us in, between other scheduled appointments, only to find that Itty Bitty was crossing his or her legs. We really didn't want to waste our kind doctor's time, but what could we do with our baby, who we decided must either be stubborn or have a good sense of humor. After trying to get the baby to move without success, the doctor told us he needed to see another patient, but that while he was gone, he wanted us to wake that baby up! Keith talked to the baby, told him to wake up, and pushed on my belly until it turned red:) Sure enough, it worked!! When the doctor came back, the legs were spread and there it was!! Our sweet, precious baby was not a little girl, but a BOY!!!!

We were excited to know and begin planning! We had lots of phone calls to make and texts to resend! We headed to Target and Kohls to pick out a couple of little boy outfits to hang in our sweet son's closet. Then, we celebrated with a meal at Olive Garden! I hope our little guy likes OG as much as we do, since that's where we celebrated the news of the pregnancy and the news of his gender:)

I told my kids at school that I would tell them to news at school the next day by wearing blue or pink. So, I got a new blue shirt while we were at Kohls (the picture at the top of the post was from that day). The kids were just as sweet as they could be giving me hugs and congratulations at the news of my sweet son!! Keith wore a blue shirt to church that Sunday to tell anyone there who hadn't heard the news!

We are enjoying the pregnancy so much!! On the Saturday before that doctor's appointment on Thursday, I felt the first BIG movement!! I'd felt little flutters that I thought were him, but that night, there was no question at all...it was him and he was making his presence known!!! It kind of felt like a little fish as swimming around in my belly:) What a special feeling!!! We are thankful to all of the sweet family and friends who have already shared in so much of our excitement. People have been so sweet and thoughtful...asking me how I'm feeling, telling me about their own pregnancies, and explaining just how joyful parenthood is:)

Our hearts are still full of joy and thanksgiving for the miracle growing inside of me!!!

Here are a couple more pictures from week 20! I was excited to be looking preggers that week, instead of just chunky:) I've grown A LOT since then....I'll update again soon and post more updated pictures! My mom, sister, and husband were annoyed that I kept chopping my head off in the belly pics, so these include my face;) I was just trying to zoom in on the growing belly!!