Things Clark has taught me over the last year.

1. LOVE. Not only how to love, but what love really consists of and having the feeling that you would do ANYTHING for that person because you love them more then you can imagine. Love so strong that you feel like your body is going to turn inside out because this love might just be too hard to contain.

2. Patience. Even before I got pregnant Clark taught me and Clint patience. We wanted to start our family shortly after we got married, but Heavenly Father had different plans for us and he didn't send Clark to us for what seemed like an eternity,for us anyways. Then there was the having to be patient to hear his heartbeat, find out if we were having a boy or a girl, discover that Clark was going to be a healthy baby. Then there was the waiting for the actual delivery of Clark. I was scheduled to be induced on the 29th of October, but then it was delayed until the 31st. Then I was told that the hospital didn't have any beds and that I was going to have to wait more. That's not to mention all the waiting we did and patience we had to have for the actual delivery. Clark has also taught us patience with sleep, and mood changes and all sources of child like behavior that can be irritating.

3. Kindness. Everyone has to have kindness and it's easy to be kind when you need to model it for your child.

4. The joy of laughing. Daily I get a kick out of something Clark does. Most of the time it is something funny he does, but lately it's been laughing WITH him. He will crack up doing something and then it will get me laughing. :)

5. Time management. I'm not always good at this because many times I find myself sitting down and checking my Facebook account or my email or blogging instead of doing laundry, but that's because sitting with the computer in your lap and watching your favorite episodes of How I Met Your Mother, or House Hunters or Stargate Universe or Parenthood, just to name a few, is a lot more fun then doing laundry.

6. Believing what others say about parenthood. When I was pregnant someone told me that baby's make a lot more laundry. I so didn't believe them. Thought they were over dramatizing how much laundry they have to do. But now that we're living with my parents and there's only one washer and dryer and 6 people to do laundry for, it really adds up. That's when then stupid washing machine is working correctly!

7. Time with family. Not that I didn't miss my family when we lived 1500 miles away, but I really noticed it after Clark was born. It was REALLY hard for both my mom and I to have them leave after Clark's birth. So being back in Orange County near both of our families has brought so much joy to all of us.

8. Being needed. This can be a good and bad thing. As Mommy, I'm usually the only one that Clark really wants. This became even more apparent today because he was running a fever and threw up. He wanted to sleep on me, sit in my lap, and do not much more unless I was right there. The two times I left him with someone else to go to the bathroom he cried. In fact, tonight Clint had him and he cried so hard that Clint had to blow in his face to get him to breathe and when he did, he screamed as loud as he could. Poor baby.

9. Sleep is over rated. Well that's at least what I try to tell myself when Clark has been up too much and I just want to keep sleeping. Wish me luck tonight with a sick baby.