Boat Ride!

We went on our first boat ride of the summer last weekend....and Olivia's 1st boat ride ever! It was a beautiful evening. Blake was so excited. His excitement lasted about half way around the lake, and then that turned to frustration because he wanted to drive! That would have been fine if he could just sit on Ryan's lap and steer...but he wanted to drive all by himself. He pitched a fit when he couldn't do it alone...what a stinker! Oh well....it was still a fun ride :)

At first he was so excited...just kept saying "I see a boat"..."I see a house"..."I see a bird"....and on and on!

The captain :)

Checking everything out...

Beautiful evening!

Livi enjoyed it!

What a doll :)

I hope that we can enjoy MANY more boat rides this summer!!

Vrrrrrrrroom!!

We finally got Blake 4 wheeler back out! He got it for his birthday back in December, but didn't get much use out of it because there was snow on the ground! On Saturday we took it out to my parents house because they have a big driveway that is perfect for riding! We left it there for him to use there (we go there so often anyway) and on the way home he said....."oh no, my carrrrrrr".....he was so sad to not have it! ha, but he will be excited to ride when we visit next!!

Now he thinks that he needs a helmet though! I mean, seriously the thing only goes 2 MPH (if that)....not really necessary! BUT, he thinks that helmets are "cool" so we might as well keep him thinking that for the future, huh?!

He is at such a fun age! I just love that he has a personality and can communicate with us so well! I love each age...but it really does just get more and more fun with each and every stage!

My babies are growing up!

I haven’t posted in a few days. I just have been feeling like there are not enough hours in the day lately! Last Friday Blake turned 29 months and on Sunday Olivia turned 5 months old…so I am going to do a post on how they are growing/changing!

Blake

Blake is turning into such a little boy! He isn’t a baby anymore. I cannot believe that he will be 2 and a ½ in less than a month! Sometimes I feel like he was JUST born!

His communication skills are awesome. He is talking so much now. It is so nice because now we know what he wants!! He is very polite and uses his “please” and “thank-you’s” freely!

He is sleeping good again. Usually from 8:30 p.m. until 8:00 a.m.

He is LOVING school. No more issues in the morning getting him up and around and out the door. Makes my mornings SO much easier!

He has a pretty good appetite and will eat most things….but hamburgers, fries, cheeto’s, and popsicles are at the top of his list…if only he could just live off of those 4 things…ha! Also loves anything with “dip” (ranch usually).

He is so tall and skinny. He is still in a size 4 diaper, with no real signs of being ready to potty train. Maybe this summer.

He wears mostly size 24 mo. clothing. Starting to get into 2T shirts…but could still wear 18 mo. pants, but they are too short now. He wears a size 7 shoe.

LOVES his nana, and wants to go to “nana’s house” every single day.

Still loves his cartoons…especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Pirates, Backyardigans…anything with music. He is also still obsessed with Toy Story.

He is VERY sweet to his sister and is getting protective of her as well.

Olivia

Olivia is doing GREAT. She is growing like crazy and getting so strong. She is still the sweetest thing ever. SUCH a great baby.

She weighs about 12 pounds now. Still a peanut…but getting bigger.

She is outgrowing 3 month clothing in length, so we are using some 6 month, but those are a little big.

She is still in size 1-2 diapers, but we will switch to size 2 next!

She has started eating Rice Cereal…but doesn’t quite have the hang of it yet. I am hoping she gets it soon, because she is waking up 3+ times a night to eat! I am not really complaining, because I am glad that she is finally eating a lot….but I am hoping that it will be mostly during the day soon :).

She has the cutest belly laugh ever that just warms my heart. She gets a big kick out of everything and will laugh if you just look at her!

My mom got her a new excer-saucer and she loves to sit in that and look around!

I LOVE having my girl and dressing her up as cute as can be.

We feel so blessed to have two such healthy, sweet, happy, beautiful children!!

Blake and Nana

Blake is a grandma's boy!! (nana to him)....this kid just LOVES his nana!! I love that they have such a special relationship. He gets so excited on the days that she comes to babysit him. He asks for her each morning when he wakes up (somethines that hurts my feelings just a wee bit :)). We are so lucky to live so close to my parents...and lucky that my mom retired to spend extra time with her grandbabies!

A Day at the Beach

Here are a few more picture of my beach bums from our Florida Vacation.....Blake just loved the beach!! I cant wait to take him back again.

Not the paparazzi!!

I follow this boy around all day with the camera...and never get a good shot of him! He is too quick...and does NOT like to get his picture taken! I hope that he grows out of this phase....beacuse I sure do like to take pictures :)

I have NO good pictures of Olivis and Blake together...none....and she is almost 4 months old!! These are some of the last pictures with him with his long hair. We got it cute today! I will get some "after" pictures (if I can catch him)! I DO love those curls...but they had to go. They will be back in no time. His hair grows like crazy. This was his 4th haircut so far! AND....he is sleeping in his bed like a champ! He is so proud of himself for getting in and out by himself :)

We start swimming lessins tonight, so I am excited about that. He doesnt really get it, but I think that it will all come back to him when we get to the pool!

We've got a sleeper!!

Well...I think (hope) that it is safe to say that we have a sleeper!! Blake has ALWAYS been a good sleeper...and now he is in his big-boy bed. It has been three nights.

Night 1 = NOT so good.

Night 2 = still not good..but better.

Night 3 = SUCCESS!!

We put him down at 8, he got out of bed at about 8:45, we said, No, back to bed. Then we didn't hear from (or see) him until 7:30 when he woke and came out all by himself! I am so proud of him. I hope that I am not jinxing this situation by blogging about it already!!

Dont mind ALL of the stuff in his room...what a mess!

What a big boy!

When did my baby turn into a big boy?!

It seems like Blake is REALLY growing up lately. In the past month or so he has really turned into a “big boy.” I think that he is on a growth spurt. He is still a skinny boy….but he has outgrown most of his 18mo. clothing and is in 24 mo. and some 2T’s! It’s about time…since he is 27 months old :)

He is starting to eat more and more. I rememebr not long agao when I was so concerned b/c he never wanted to eat....now he s doing a great job and has a very big appitite!

His vocabulary is also exploding. He talks all of the time. He is using full sentences now, which is awesome. There are still times when we have no idea what he is saying…and that is very frustrating for him. He is starting to talk on the phone to my mom and sister…which is fun. He used to just listen.

He loves to sing and dance while he is watching TV. I just love to watch him interact as he is watching Diego, Dora, Mickey Mouse Club House, etc. He talks right back to the TV and acts everything out.

He is very into hats right now. Always wants to be wearing one (or more). He also thinks that he is very cool when he wears his sunglasses!! He didn’t even want to take them off during church this past weekend.

He is starting to get very concerned with his “sissy.” The other day we were at the in-laws and we were packing up to come home. Ryan carried Blake out to the car first and he was SO worried that we were leaving Olivia there. He screamed “SISSY, SISSY, SISSY…..no, no, no” Until she was safely secured in the back seat with him….then he was so excited to have her there. I LOVE it.

Sunday night was his first night in his toddler bed (well…actually for the second time). He didn’t do so great….but last night was better….I know that it will be a process, but hopefully the transition doesn’t last long. He looks so big sleeping in there!

His “teachers” at “school” say that he is doing very good. He is always happy, compassionate, and a good listener. We still have issues getting out the door in the morning and into daycare. They assure me that once I leave he is as happy as can be. I look forward to the day when he doesn’t get mad/anxious when I leave him!

He is such a sweet, loving boy and I just can’t get enough of him!

Short night….

Or long night…..not quite sure how to categorize this one. Let’s just say, we didn’t get much sleep last night!!

We decided to make Blake’s bed into a toddler bed yesterday. Probably a very silly move on our behalf on a Sunday night. We should have done this on Friday. Oops! This isn’t the 1st time that we have tried this. When we moved Blake over to the big-boy room and made the nursery into Olivia’s room before she was born we made Blake’s crib into a toddler bed. He did OK the first few nights, but then decided that he wanted to sleep in Olivia’s crib. Probably a combination of it being his old room, and a crib. He was just much more comfortable there. We decided to convert his bed back into a crib…a new room AND a new bed was maybe too much all at once. Well, now he is used to his room, and a big boy…so we thought that this was a good time to go back to the toddler bed. This is how last night went:

7:40 Blake in bed and sleeping right away (Ryan and I though…awesome, this is too easy!)

8:30 Olivia in bed

10:00 Ryan and Annie in bed

11:30 Olivia up to eat

12:00 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep)

12:30 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep)

1:00 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep)

2:00 Blake whining in bed (rub his back and back to sleep) (at this point I was JUST about ready to bring my pillow in his room and sleep on the floor)

2:30 Olivia up to eat

4:00 Blake, standing by my bed…”is Mouse on?”….”No Blake, it is too early for Micky Mouse”…waaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaa

4:20 Olivia up to eat

4:40 Ryan's alarm off

5:30 Blake FINALLY sleeping again

6:30 Annie's alarm off…snooze

6:45 Olivia up to eat

7:00 Get in shower….LATE

7:30 Blake up and out of bed by himself

8:30 out the door to daycare/work 30 minutes LATE

SOOOO….as you can see not much sleep. We are NOT going back to a crib for Blake, so hopefully this transition doesn’t last long. Olivia used to wake up just once at about 4:00 before her surgery. Now she is up every couple of hours. Since we are really trying to get her to put in weight, I can’t complain right now….but I am hoping that this is just a phase as well. This mama needs some sleep!!

It’s a good thing that they are so cute :)

Liv playing under her play gym...she gets the BIGGEST kick out of it!

Blake sporting his new winter coat from nana and papa...this was supposed to be for NEXT year...but at this rate it may not fit!!

Blake is 26 months!!

Not sure when I will quit saying his age in months…now that he is two, I should probably stop! BUT, for my sake I am going to try to post monthy so I can remember what he was doing at each age.

Yesterday Blake turned 26 months old. Seems like he JUST turned 2, the past 2 months have flown by!

He weighs between 27 and 28 pounds.

He wears a size 18-month pant and 24 month shirt. He is still very slim!

He is in a size 6 shoe.

He needs a haircut…but we are going to try to grow it out for a bit and see how that looks!

He is still in a size 4 diaper. We talk about potty training, but haven’t really given it much effort yet. We bought a potty chair, and have sat on it a few times, but he hasn’t gone in it. He knows when he goes…but usually tells us after the fact, not before. His pediatrician advised us to wait until this summer to train, when he is 2 ½.

I just sent him off to “school” this morning sporting a nice red sweater for Valentine’s Day. He is having a party in his class today. He took Toy Story Valentines for his classmates.

His vocabulary is getting bigger and bigger. He talks in full sentences a lot…sometimes even more. When I picked him up at “school” one day last week he said…”Mama, see that paper in there?” pointing to his cubby…”I colored it”…

He knows all of his colors, shapes, and now emotions too. You can ask him to see any of the following faces and he knows what to do “happy, sad, tired, shy, scared, crying, excited, and loving.” We made up the “loving face” but he does this cute little cuddle face that we just love…

Cant believe how fast my boy is growing!!

My baby is growing up...

It seems like Blake is just growing up in front of our eyes! I love all of the changes that he is making and the things that he is learning…but it is sad that he isn’t a baby anymore!! Since I have been home on maternity leave we have been keeping Blake on his regular 3 days a week daycare/school schedule…to keep him in a routine. Plus he likes it there and would be bored at home. I miss him so much while he is there, but I know that it is good for him.

In the past month or so he has really come a long way. His vocabulary has exploded. He can pretty much tell you anything that he would like to! He is working on recognizing basic shapes and knows them all…including octagon, which always cracks me up when he says it. He knows basic colors. He can count to 10 when prompted a bit. I feel like he is just SOOO smart! He memorizes movies and recites them when they are on…specifically Shrek right now. He is on a big Shrek kick!

He tells us when he is ready for a nap or bed at night. He LOVES to sleep. He tells us when he has went “poo poo”…now we just need to work on him telling us BEFORE he goes! He still doesn’t ay much attention to Olivia, but luckily has no jealousy issues either.

His hair is SO thick and grows so fast. Funny because when I look at pictures of when he was little and he was as bald as an eagle! He still wears a size 4 diaper...and probably always will. He is wearing size 18-month clothing…and a few 24-month shirts…but not pants. He is very skinny through the waist!

I love this little guy SOO much and he makes me so proud!