May: Digital Download

MAY: iPhone Dump

These kids are BESTIES!! They love each other. I don't have a picture of it, but Blakely started hugging Banks this month!! You have to watch out, because she is fierce hugger!! She'll knock Banks down in her hugging!!

This girl is so proud!! She finally figured out how to get into her chair by herself like a BIG girl!! There were many failed attempts, where she ended up on the floor. Ooops!

I think she looks a LOT like her Auntie in this picture.

Somebody stole Gigi's glasses.

This is how a post-call Daddy gets to spend some quality time with his girl! HA!

Came home from work and these is what greeted me at Gigi's front door.
"What happens at Gigi's, stays at Gigi's!!"

Gigi and Blakely went to Wanamaker Park just to "scope it out." And THIS is what happened. HA!
Per Gigi, Blakely ran for the first time and giggled more than she had in her whole life! We WILL be going back!

This is our "Doctor Princess"!! She thinks its a crown.

During March and April, Blakely was on Meat-strike. In May, we discovered Ketchup! She will literally eat anything if it has ketchup on it. If it gets the protein, I do not mind the mess caused by her "dipping." The only draw back is that Blakely will often signal the end of a meal by running her ketchup covered hands through her hair! Gross.

This face! I love this girl! She loves this Cozy coupe! It makes its rounds in the house, the block and occasionally pulls into the "drive-in theatre" in our living room!

DeeDee and Uncle Richard taking the kids home for a slumber party!

Pool time at Carolina Bay!

Oh, when will Blakely smile for the camera again??

All children learn form their parents, but what has Blakely learned from watching Mommy and Daddy?

This picture just melts my heart! Blakely girl and her PopPop.

Blakely and her Gigi swimming!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

To say we spend a LOT of time at Chick-fil-A, would be a gross understatement. It is a great stop with the kiddos! They actually eat the healthy food (grilled chicken and fruit) and play HARD in the playground!! They are still too little to go up by themselves, so invariably we look like maniacs in the play set. Good thing they know us here.
THANK YOU CHICK-FIL-A!

Best shot from our attempted Memorial Day photo shoot.

This is my favorite shot! Blakely loves animals, so much so that for fun we take her to the pet shop. This is Cupcake. Blakely and Cupcake love each other! Can you tell?

Gigi and PopPop were out of town and Rich was on call, therefor Blakely and I were in charge of watering all the plants by ourselves. I should not have let her get out of the stroller and "help." She got a little wet. Oops!

 

20 Months Old

September 3rd:

Finally feeling good!! YEAH!! The rain FINALLY stopped, and I am FINALLY not nauseated anymore!! This was a very, very good month. We got to get outside and go on lots of adventures. Plus, this month Gigi and PopPop closed on their new house on Lake Murray... and we got back out on the water. Blakely is too squiggly to ride on the boats long, but she loves to play in the water at the beach, and we are working on learning how to float and kick in the water. Such a blast! Sad to say, but in August I felt like summer finally got started! HA!

Blakely running through the sprinklers at Wanamaker Park.

Highlights from the Month:
- Blakely learns to give kisses...."MUAH!"
- Word explosion!!! Kitty, Hello, Mouth, Nose, Ears, Eyes, Up, Oh-coconuts, Yo-ho, cup, car, chair, Pop (as in PopPop), Gi (as in GiGi), Mama, Dada, Toes, Shoes, etc, etc, etc...
- Knows TONS and TONS of body parts and is able to point to them and say them.
- Learned how to clink cups and say "Cheers!!"
- Plays at the Wanamaker sprinklers.
- Loves to dance and make Daddy spin around
- Blakely has figured out how to tickle... and she says "tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-tick-a...."
- Blakely learns to fold her hands and close her eyes for evening prayer. Melts my heart every time.

Picture Highlights from the Month:

PopPop and Blakely playing in the sprinklers.

She would have stayed and played all day!!

Playing puzzles with her Daddy. Blakely can't wait for her Daddy to get home. By 6pm... Mommy is beat and not much fun anymore. Daddy, on the other hand, is ready to play, wrestle, chase, dance, etc!! This girl LOVES when her Daddy comes home!

Playing Doctor: Blakely has learned to put the stethoscope on her "patient" and then she says "ba-da.... ba-da....ba-da." Which is the Blakely equivalent of "lub-dub." So precious! Love our Dr. Princess!





Blakely has figured out how to tickle... and she says "tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-tick-a-tick-a...." It is precious. Then, you MUST giggle like crazy for her. She loves it.

Blakely also has learned the meaning of the words "stop" and "go" from the "Little Pony Song." This is her riding her Pony! HA!

 

CHEERS!! Richard taught Blakely how to raise a glass, clink cups and yell "CHEERS!" After which, they "drink" their bottles. Love this.

Riding her Ybike! I feel like she is finally big enough to push it around the house! Go girl!

Kissing EVERYTHING!! This is Blakely kissing her Kitty goodnight. "MUAH!"



Good night, Daddy!! Blakely is going to bed. It doesn't matter what she is doing, if we yell "night-night time," this girl gets up and runs to her room!! She LOVES bedtime and her night time routine. Such a sweet time for our family with precious memories. Just love this girl!

 

19 Months Old

August 3rd: 19 Months Old

Morning Sickness... Ugh! This month was just... gross. I really, really hate morning sickness!! I don't think I really had much morning sickness with Blakely, and honestly, compared with some women (ie my mom and sister), I did not have it that bad with this baby. However, it was still bad for me. Poor Blakely this month... I feel like she lost her fun Mommy!! Poor girl...

Ah well, this too shall pass.

This month was really, really hard! It was hot, hot, hot.... rainy, so we were trapped inside.... and on top of it all, the first trimester was in full swing!! I felt like the human blob.... no energy, always sleepy, nauseated and suffering from "a-motivational syndrome"!!

Highlights from the Month:

- Mommy Morning Sickness = Blakely Free Play
- Loves to flip and be upside down
- Andrea's Wedding
- Always cooking in her Kitchen.... starting to imaginative play!
- Working on spoon and fork.... able to use spoon with REALLY sticky foods! (ie mash potatoes, oatmeal, cheesy rice, etc).
- First spaghetti..... HATES spaghetti!!

Picture Highlights from the Month:

Andrea's Bridal Shower



Blakely hiding in the play "oven".

Surprise!! I was hiding.

Cooking queen... always making Daddy "pudding".

This is blurry, but this girl loves to be swung upside down. Woo-hoo!!

"But where will all the groceries go, guys??"

Working on her spoon work! Get it girl.

Blakely tries Spaghetti for the first time. She tried like 3-4 bites, and then she was down. Since then, she has REFUSED all spaghetti like food. I have tried different noodles, different sauces... Nothing works! Too bad for Blakely, Spaghetti is one of her Mommy's favorite meals, so she will have to learn to like it!

18 Months Old

July 3rd: BIG (little bitty) NEWS

So........Blakely is going to be a BIG SISTER!! We are happy to announce that we are pregnant with our second child!! We are due February 7th, 2014. We don't know if we are having a girl or boy yet, but so far me and baby are both very healthy. This has been a totally different pregnancy from Blakely. With Blakely I was never morning sick, but this baby laid me out for the first 14 weeks!! Ugh!

I found out that I was pregnant the day before Rich got back from Africa, so I had a long 24 hours to think about this information. To put it mildly, I was in shock! I decided I would put this (seen below) sign on Rich's Keg-orator, thinking that after 1 week in Africa a beer would be in order. To my dismay when we got home, Rich told me he wasn't going to have a beer until the NEXT DAY! Not good.... I still NEEDED Rich to go to the garage. I tried several other subtle ploys, but nothing worked. Finally, out of desperation I told a "small fib." I told Rich that a loud hissing noise was coming from his Keg-orator...that got him! He immediately jumped up, ran to the garage and.... got a HUGE SHOCK!!

Highlights from the Month:

-18 Month well visit- Growing and developing perfectly!!
- Found out Blakely is going to be a BIG SISTER!!
- First trip to the Aquarium- LOVES FISH!
- Learning how to color
- Not a ton of words- still only saying mama, dada and hi.... occasional echolalia.

Picture Highlights from the Month:

Surprise Daddy!! Blakely is going to be a big sister!!

I hope Blakely is this excited about her new sibling when he/she gets here!!

We had A LOT of fun telling family the good news!!! Auntie was SHOCKED!!

 

Learning how to color with her first set of Crayons.

"Mommy, I'm as big as a fish!!"

No adventure would be complete without Blakely's partner in crime, BANKSTER THE GANGSTER!!

The aquarium has some great indoor (ie air conditioned) play areas for kids.

We also made a trip to the aquarium with Daddy!!

Daddy and Blakely's favorite part of the aquarium is the Madagascar section- especially the Lemurs!

Banks taking an inside look at the Lemurs.

Sorry about the glare, but I love this picture. Gigi has got her hands full!!

Spent $2 on this pool... and it has led to many hours of outdoor fun this summer!!

She LOVES the water.