47 Weeks Old

November 27th: Happy Thanksgiving!!

The Monk family celebrated Thanksgiving this week. Since Rich was on call Thanksgiving Eve, Blakely and I spent the night at Gigi and PopPop's. We love a sleep over!
Blakely and I both slept in, then cuddled on the couch while we watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Blakely loved the music and the dancing. She loves to dance. Every time she hears music she bounces up and down, waves her hands and claps. It is adorable. We had a great day celebrating with the Tober family and got to meet Ryan's new girlfriend's mother.

So, so, so much to be thankful for this year!!!

My Little Turkey

Highlights from the Week:
-Blakely's first Thanksgiving
   -She loved all the people and food
   -Watched the parade with Mommy... loved the singing and dancing parts best!
   - Absolutely LOVES left overs!! Everything for Thanksgiving is surprisingly baby-friendly!
-Blakely cut her first Molar this week... very painful, lots of Motrin. :( Poor girl!
-Banks went to Camp Gigi for the first time! ...and Auntie went back to work. :(

Picture Highlights from the Week:

Blakely wanted to help get ready for Thanksgiving, too! This is a picture of her "shopping" in the fridge.

 

Blakely in her Phil&Ted chair "helping" Mommy and Gigi cook Thanksgiving dinner.

 

 

Gigi and PopPop hard at work. It was delicious!!

 

My Sweet Family

Loves Thanksgiving dinner!! Everything is so yummy!!

 

Left to Right: PopPop, Gigi, Uncle Ryan, Olivia (Ryan's girlfriend), Ms. Terri (Olivia's Mother), Richard and the BLAKE-A-BEAR!!!

Richard and Blakely reading the paper preparing for Black Friday!!

 

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING Y'ALL!!!

46 Weeks Old

November 20th: Getting Ready for the Holidays...

This week was a time to prepare. The Cogdill''s were going to North Carolina for Thanksgiving, and the Monk's were preparing to stay in Charleston with the Tober family. Alyssa and I did a lot of cleaning, cooking and shopping. It was crazy, but as always the BEST TIME EVER!!! I love raising babies with my sister. Love you Lyssa!!

Highlights from the Week:

- Crawls into Mommy's lap for story time: Loves to read Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton and Each Peach, Pear, Plum. We have read each of these books so many times that both Rich and I have literally memorized these books.
- Mountain climber: Blakely climbed 22 steps in 2 minutes at Auntie's house (with A LOT of supervision). Richard might not be wrong about her being a Mountain Climber! HA!
- Crazy cooking with Auntie: The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, Auntie and I...
-Took care of 2 babies...
- Made 2 appetizers...
- Made sweet potato casserole...
- Made Mimi mashed potatoes...
- Made 1 pumpkin pie....
- And packed Auntie up for the Mountains... ALL in 90 minutes! Whew! Go us!

Picture Highlights from the Week:

Hanging out with my Daddy! I love him.

 

Blakely is getting to be such a fast crawler!! She can go from one side of the room to the other in 2 seconds!!

 

Speedy Gonzales!! So fast... she's a blur!

45 Weeks Old

November 13th: Chop-Chop

This week was jam packed with lots of firsts!! First bike ride, first haircut, first slide....and Blakely had the best time!!

For Christmas this year, GrandAnnie and GrandPop gave us BIKES as early Christmas presents!! This week we finally got the baby seat put on, and so we were able to take Blakely for her first bike ride. At first she hated her helmet, but after we got rolling she was having the best time!! She loves to feel the wind in her face. We love our new bikes, and we are looking forward to many adventures together in the future!! Thank you GrandAnnie and GrandPop!! We love them!

 

Highlights from the Week:

- Fully recovered from her ear infection... Wildcat, back in action!

- Walking with Auntie and GiGi

- Sitting in Mommy's lap for books... FAVORITE book right now: "I Love You, Through and Through."

- First Haircut!!! Looking MUCH more fashionable.

- First Bike Ride

- Loves to slide! Slides down and quickly crawls back for more! First real interactive play...so fun!

 

Picture Highlights from the Week:

 

GiGi ready for our big walk

Wildcat ready for an adventure!! Love her in this LLBean fleece suit!! She is so cozy and warm!

NO ONE loves a walk as much as Tig! He could not be left out of the fun!

Baby Switch- I got to spend so quality time with my favorite little man... BANKS!

 

Loves to Swing

 

Two Mommy's off on an adventure.... love these days when we are ALL home together!! Best days ever!

 

Loved sliding with Gigi

 

First Bike Ride...strap her in tight, Daddy!

Cutie in a bike seat!!

Off for a big adventure

 

Before: Daddy and Blakely looking kind of WOOLLY!!

Love those long locks and rat tail!! I will miss your sweet, "crazy" baby hair!!

 

First haircut: Blakely was such a good girl the entire haircut. She sat very still and smiled the whole time.

The whole thing was very quick... only about 10 minutes.

 

Blakely can actually SEE now!! Before, her hair would fall in her face while she played. Sorry for keeping you in the dark, Baby Girl!!

 

MUCH BETTER!! Looking stylish!!

The remains of her sweet, little baby curls

 



Blakely's FAVORITE book is "I Love You Through and Through." She could read it over...and over...and over.... and over, again!! It is the only book that she will sit still and listen to the whole way through. She loves the pictures. I have even caught her trying to read it by herself. She can't quite turn the pages one at a time, but she talks to herself while she looks at it!! It is so precious! It's hard to believe that someday she WILL be able to read it to herself.

44 Weeks Old

November 6th: Sick Days

No pictures this week... things were not exactly "picture perfect" this week. On Monday, Blakely started to get a little congested, and woke up several times during the night. Then on Tuesday, she got a tummy bug... it was NOT pretty. Things did not get terrible though until Thursday, when Blakely spiked a fever and became inconsolable. I finally worked up the courage to check Blakely's ears, and discovered that she had a raging ear infection!! OH NO!! Called in some Amoxicillin, and it was like a miracle! As a Pediatrician, I diagnose ear infections and prescribe Amoxicillin ALL THE TIME; however, I rarely see the patient the next day. It was amazing!! The very next morning Blakely was feeling more like herself, and fever free!! Go-Go-Antibiotics!!

Last week was rough, and I am so glad our little Wildcat is back to her wild, child self!!

Highlights from the Week:
- Presidential Election 2012- Barack Obama gets elected for a second term
- First ear infection
- "Frankenstorm": Hurricane Sandy pounded the Northeast and THOUSANDS were out of home and power, and the jersey shore practically disappeared!
- Favorite Sick Week Story: On Wednesday night, as Rich and I were attempting to put her down to sleep, Blakely got ill. I tried to rush her to the bathroom, which only made the mess worse! There was baby throw up on the carpet, the walls, the cabinets, the toilet... and best of all Mommy, Daddy, Blakely, and.... THE CAT!!! Rich and I jumped into action! We stripped the girl, her bed, threw the cat in the shower and the girl in the tub! After we got Blakely cleaned up and put to bed, we had the daunting task of washing the cat. Max was NOT happy. It is not something I want to repeat, but it did give us a good laugh. Bathing a cat is not for the feint of heart! HA!

The ONLY pictures from the week:

Before.. The calm before the storm!!
 

After... Recovering, while watching cartoons in Mommy and Daddy's bed.

43 Weeks Old

October 30th: Happy Halloween!!

This week was Blakely's first Halloween!! We all went over to Auntie and Uncle Matt's house and went trick-or-treating for the very first time!! It was so much fun!! I know what you are thinking... Babies should not eat candy. Don't worry... Blakely only got to lick a Hershey's bar. HA! All the candy that Blakely got, she "kindly" donated to her Daddy!! Rich better enjoy that while it lasts.

Highlights from the Week:

- Blakely's very first Halloween

- Blakely is a Strawberry for Halloween

- Blakely loves people food only; she doesn't want to eat jar food anymore. She loves anything we are eating, including: lemons, hummus, turkey, broccoli, carrots, bananas, baked potatoes, chicken, etc.

- Blakely will NOT hold her own bottle... she is Miss Lazy Pants!! I can hold her hands on the bottle, I can hand it to her and see what she does... does not matter, she would dehydrate before she would feed the bottle to herself! Only 2 months left Blakely until you have to be OFF THE BOTTLE!! Uh-oh!!

 

Picture Highlights from the Week:

 

Blakely and Daddy off on their first Trick-or-Treat adventure!!

 

Blakely had a great time... but you CANNOT tell from this pic! HA!

Blakely picking out "her" Halloween Candy

 

Banks is dressed as a Lion, but it was a VERY COLD Halloween evening.

 

Me, Richard, Uncle Matt, Auntie and Banks all took Blakely door to door trick-or-treating... it was so much fun!

Happy First Halloween Blake-a-bear!! We love you, girlfriend!!

 



42 Weeks Old

October 23rd: Trunk-or-Treat

Happy Trunk-or-treat everyone!! This week, we got to take the most adorable strawberry every to her very first carnival! It was so much fun! The whole family came out and had a great time!! Blakely went as a Strawberry, and Rich and I attempted to go as farmers. Banks went as a doctor (with monogrammed scrubs and everything!), and Alyssa and Matt went as his patients! It was hysterical!

Blakely absolutely loved it! Tons of people, kids and stuff to look at.... she was so excited!

I abandoning the chair pics. It has gotten WAY too hard to keep this mobile baby in her seat long enough to snap a pic!

Highlights from this Week:
-Trunk-or-treat
-Blakely is cruising!! She laps the coffee table and walks down the couch. She'll even do it one handed!! She is getting to be one talented little Monkey!
-Mimicking movements- you wave, she waves; you kick her legs, she kicks her legs...etc. So cute... however, will be obnoxious when she is 3 year old and plays the "copy everything your saying" game! HA! We will just cross that bridge when we get there!
-"Dada" seems more specific to just Richard.
-Standing up 24/7!

Picture Highlights from the Week:

Cutest Strawberry ever!!

Uncle Matt, Auntie and Cousin Banks: The Doc is in!



"Doctor, Doctor give me the news
I got a BAD CASE of LOVING YOU!!!"

Cutest cousins ever

Love this girl!

Strawberry Patch Farmer Family

 

Cruising in my cadillac

Left to Right: Auntie Alyssa, Uncle Matt, Banks, Olivia (Uncle Ryan's new Girlfriend), Uncle Ryan, Mommy, Blakely, Daddy, PopPop and Gigi

 

Trunk-or-treating in style!

Our Sweet Little Family!! What a great night we had! It was a beautiful fall night, and Blakely had the best time!! Will be even more fun next year when both Banks and Blakely will be WALKING car to car for treats! So crazy!!

 

HAPPY TRUNK-OR-TREAT EVERYONE!!