The Dells!! :) or :(

We live pretty close to the Dells so when one of my friends was going to be there for a couple days, we decided to meet them and introduce Blake to the world of water parks. Turns out Blake isn't interested in experiencing the world of water parks. In his defense, we really haven't taken him swimming yet, so this was his first experience and it was more than overwhelming. I didn't think about the loud music, noise from water rides, fountains in the kiddie area, etc. It was pretty hard to just find calm water that was really shallow. Also, in retrospect, I don't think he was feeling very good, so it made me feel really bad that we kept trying to get him to try it.

Poor Blake wasn't happy even before we entered the park and this picture was before he touched any water!

About to go try out the kiddie area :)

Just before he went down for bed in my friend's suite, he could hardly eat his pizza he was so tired and almost feel asleep on the couch. We laid him in their bed and when we went to pick him up, he was sooo warm. He was really warm the next day too, so poor baby probably had a fever or something. I don't think he overheated at the dells, since we got there about 2:30 pm and only stayed until around 5, but who knows, he might have. Also, I kept a hat on him and he was damp most of the time.

Anyways, what I thought was going to be an awesome experience for him turned into a flop, but it was still fun to go.

What I haven't mentioned is that while we were saying our goodbye's and had double checked to make sure that we had everything, we were about to walk out the door when Sophie, Jenny & Jaime's little girl, whispered to her Dad and said, "Aren't they going to take Blake?" Not sure when we would have figured out that we were missing our little boy who was sleeping soundly in the other room, but I'm pretty sure it would have been when we got to the car :) We sure did get a good laugh out of it, esp since it was an 8 year old (?) who pointed it out!! haha

The forgotten child.

Poor Blakey

We have now purchased a baby pool for our back yard as a better introduction to the water. We definitely want him to enjoy it!!

On another note, not sure why, but Scott doesn't seem to learn that if he leaves a glass of water on the table, it WILL be tampered with. So, he either finds floaties in his water, an empty or missing glass from being drank or spilled, or other items. This particular morning as he sat down for breakfast, it was something from the "other item" category that he found in his glass. He got such a kick out of it, that he had to take a picture.

He also continues to ask questions like, "Why is there salt in my glass?"
My response?   "Why do you think?" :)

Boy or girl....????

Well, the poll on my blog didn't work, but it turns out it was for good reason anyways. Little baby Miles was being modest and not letting us get a good picture of whether he/she was a boy/girl, so unfortunately, I have to keep referring to him/her as "him/her." So much more typing!! Why do my children have to be so difficult?!? Just kidding, if this is the most of my problems, then I'd say I'm living the good life :) The ultrasound tech did have an idea as to what the sex was, but since she was so uncertain, we've decided not to go telling the world what we "might" be having.

I decided to wait until today to post these pictures b/c I wasn't sure if my doctor's apt this morning to go over ultrasound results would be helpful in determining the sex. It wasn't. But the good news is that there is no need for concern--baby is on the smaller side, even with a jump in my weight (although I must say I doubt all that was due to baby Miles, but more due to my sweets cravings and is going more to my hips than my stomach)! I wasn't really surprised to hear baby was on the smaller side b/c Blakey is also on the smaller side, although as a newborn, he wasn't (8 lbs 7 oz).

Another thing, is that I should be exercising more, I feel. On Saturday, Scott and I walked to a park that was farther than our nearest one (no idea on the distance) and we walked at a brisk pace. We had to slow down a bit b/c I was getting a little cramp at the top of my belly. When we got to the park, I sat down at a picnic table while Blake and Scott went to the playground. The top of my stomach started cramping really bad and I could hardly sit up, so I just leaned against the table. Scott told me to come and catch Blake on the slide, and I told him I couldn't, and then he came to make sure I was ok. It lasted about 10 minutes (or so it seemed) and then I was fine--I was pretty sure it would pass soon, but I started to get slightly nervous when it lasted so long! I was sure glad Scott was there b/c I don't think I could've gotten up to chase Blake around!! Needless to say, we went slower on the way home. Pregnancy sure does weird things to one's body!!

I'd say the differences from my pregnancy with Blake are few, but the few I noticed are that I am getting pregnancy acne (awesome!), started showing sooner (big surprise--that is normal with the second), and seem to be more hungry than I was with Blake. Didn't notice much of a change with him, but for some reason, I need to eat more frequently with this one otherwise I don't feel great. Also don't remember the shortness of breath coming on so soon, but overall I am feeling quite well :)

So, here are the first pictures of our little Miles #2!!!

This (in case you couldn't read the upper left hand corner ;)) is a foot :) :)



This is the arm, with the hand fisted.

This is a profile of our little baby

Another profile



And a third :)

The doctor recommended another ultrasound so they could see the spine, which they couldn't get with this one, but I declined. I forgot to ask whether they could do anything in advance if there was anything wrong, but if they can't, I don't see the need to have another one. Obviously, I'd like a more definitive answer on the sex, but ultrasounds are not proven to be completely harmless, so having more than needed is not recommended. Thus, we will be in for a fun surprise!

Gatorade taste and Uncle Gary & Kelly

Blake enjoys sweet things, along with most other kids, even though we try to limit his intake. Well, Scott was having Gatorade and Blake joins him and naturally wants a drink. He was so thrilled with this drink, as you can see in this video:

Blake's first taste of orange Gatorade  

 

It is Sunday today and after I put Blake down for a nap, it was time for Scott to get a haircut. I've been cutting his hair since we started dating, so while he was getting the clippers, I looked in on Blake (which I like to do while he is sleeping). He was on his tummy and had one arm completely sprawled out. I said to Scott:

 

Me: Blake is so cute lying with his arm sprawled completely out.

Scott: Why is that cute?

Me: (laughing) I guess b/c everything Blake does is cute!

Scott: (also laughing b/c he knows it's true) 

 

It doesn't really seem to matter Blake is doing--Scott and I always point out things b/c we think they are just soooo cute. Biased? Sure...or we just have a super cute kid :) :)  

 

We had the pleasure of hosting Uncle Gary and Kelly this weekend and although the visit was short, it is always good to see my brother and his girlfriend. Plus, they love Blake too :)

 

 

Carnival (post-parade)

After the parade, we decided to continue the festivities and check out the carnival. In retrospect, I wish we had not b/c frankly, I don't enjoy carnivals and we just ended up eating crap food and making Blake more and more tired. Now, it wasn't all that bad, but it would've been better to go home :) The best part was the playground, which was just off the carnival :)

There was a large slide that we thought we'd take Blake on--it was the ride with the gunny sacks and it has two humps as you go down. We watched a couple young kids go down (and a younger grandma who actually looked a little scared) and I decided Blake probably wouldn't like it. So, we checked the price and found it to be $6 to go down once (for both Scott and Blake). Once. And all that to scare the crap out of our child. We both decided to save our money and went to the playground, which was right next to all the kids rides. Turned out this was way better anyways and free :)

Blake nervously excited (it always takes him a bit to warm up to new things)

Not thrilled yet--good thing we didn't do the big slide!!!!

Hm, I'm starting to see why the concerned look on Blake's face...;)

Now he's loving it!!!

Wheee!!

Blake's favorite way to go up a slide



Being cautious on the bridge



Haha, this just makes me laugh



Of course, Blake's way to get into his stroller is to climb up. This child climbs on everything!!



My two favorite men watching a baseball game. They were both interested in the game. Love it!!

Parade!!

So Blake and I were watching the garbage/recycling trucks go by one Friday afternoon, and I was thinking, "Blake sure likes to watch these trucks...where is a good place to watch trucks"? All of a sudden I remembered that there are lots of trucks and tractors in parades and found out that there was one this weekend! When Blake hears a truck in the neighborhood, we have to run to the window to watch, no matter what we are doing. He doesn't just forget about it :)

So, Mt. Horeb, WI had their annual parade and we decided to go! Bear with me, there are a lot of pictures (as I was typing this, I wasn't entirely sure which bear/bare to use, so I googled it. Apparently, there is a lot of discussion on the correct usage, but I found "bear" with me to be the most accurate from my 30 second research) :)



This parade was after church. Church is during Blake's nap time, so he fell asleep in the car and we had to wake him from a deep sleep to watch the parade. You can tell he looks sleepy here (but waking him was worth it)!

Oh, there's some smiles!!

Blake getting into the parade!



Los padres



Blake absolutely refused to look at the camera for this shot. Scott tried really hard, and I told him to forget about it. Blake needed to watch the parade :)



We got Mr. Freezies! I felt bad for the guy walking by trying to sell sno cones after we were handed these, haha!



Blake got a ball!! He kept throwing/trying to throw it into the street, so we had to take it away during the parade.



The Subway mascot personally came and gave Blake a sucker. Blake was a little scared, which made Subway man laugh.

 

This is Blake's disgusted face as he watches Subway man walk away. haha



If you know Blake, you know he doesn't sit still for long. Well, there were no problems while the parade was going!! He sat as still as can be!



He would just sit there holding his two pieces of candy. We were thrown more, but he didn't attempt to pick them up, just held onto the two for the duration of the parade.



Oops, guess he still needed a little more sleep :)

I was leaning back to take a profile pic of Blake and try to get the cool trucks in the background. When I finished with my pic, I thought, what a boring background, then realized it was a random lost car who accidently got on the parade route, haha. This middle age/older women was looking straight ahead--I think she was too embarrassed to look around :)



Scott caught eating some of Blake's candy. I had to laugh at this picture, showed it to him, and said this was definitely going in my blog--he laughed :)



Blake leaning forward to get a better look.



Blake got brave after the parade and ventured into the street. I'm sure he was timid b/c he KNOWS he isn't allowed in the street without me!!

Messes, messes and more messes :)

Ok, so I guess the key to blogging is to have bloggin on your mind before you sit down to blog. I had a brain fart on my earlier post, so it was short and boring. So, I decided to finish the dishes and while cleaning up, I started thinking of good things to blog about. Such as this morning:

I (and Scott, I believe) am beginning to wonder if Blake is the most curious, messy child on earth. Probably not even close, but we each get a little fed up with his constant messes and him constantly getting into everything. It was recommended to us that we try to train the baby not to get into things in the house rather than baby proof the child. I'm sure that works with some kids, but I just can't imagine trying to do that with Blake b/c he is into ever.y.thing.

So, onto the morning happenings. I decided to be a good wifey and make Scott a warm breakfast, which he loves. So, I whipped up some boxed pancakes (haha) and an egg (Blake tried to pull the egg carton off the counter, but thankfully did not succeed). Meanwhile, I set the table but realized we were about out of fake syrup (which Scott loves) and all we had was real maple syrup (which Scott tolerates). So, I put the glass jar of syrup on the table along with the plastic jar of fake syrup.

Well, as I'm cooking, Blake climbs up on the chair (big surprise) and before Scott can stop him, he drops the glass jar of maple syrup on the floor, which due to the weight, makes the cheap plastic top break and syrup to gush out of the jar. I yell to quick grab it because that stuff is expensive, Scott gets agitated, and commotion ensues. Poor Blakey doesn't understand why we are upset, and he starts crying. I tell Scott to go tell Blakey that he still loves him and we calm him down while trying to see if we can salvage any of the syrup :) What a mess.

After the meal, I got a phone call which I needed to attend to b/c I had left a message with Travelers insurance after finding out that our home owners insurance was never cancelled after the sale of our house (bonus to find out we are getting a refund, but confused as to why this was never taken care of at closing. Another reason why I hate escrow--I'd rather be in charge of my own bills, not let the bank take care of it and then have things slip out of sight). Anyways, meanwhile, Blake is scrounging for food on the table (or so it seems) and finished up a pancake scrap, some grapes, and plays with his oatmeal. (Since I don't love giving Blake pancakes, he had oatmeal with raisins, which he didn't quite finish (even though he finished off the last of my pancakes :) )). After my phone conversation, I find oatmeal everywhere on the floor and on the chair. Sweet.

Anyways, I procrastinated cleaning it up b/c I hate cleaning up sticky oatmeal off the floor. So, while blogging my last post, I decided to just go finish cleaning up since I wasn't enjoying blogging anyways. When I was about done, I thought what a great post this mornings happenings were, so naturally I decided to treat myself to a bowl of ice cream while doing so (which I just discovered in the freezer, so it won't last long there, haha). Well, we were out of clean spoons in the drawer, so I dug in my clean dishes in the sink to find one, knocked Blake's highchair tray, which then knocked my ceramic cup on the floor (crash!). After that was cleaned up and I decided to safely wash the one spoon that was out that I took off the floor from Blake's oatmeal, I then dished out some ice cream and grabbed a chair to bring to the computer (we don't leave a chair here b/c Blake always climbs up the chair and bangs on the keyboard, clicks the mouse, throws papers on the floor, etc). After I got the chair to the desk, I realized this chair still had oatmeal on it, so I had to run back to the kitchen and grab a washcloth to clean it off, then plopped down on a damp chair. Hope you enjoyed our morning thus far and as you can see, it isn't always as easy to just sit and blog as it may seem :) :)

Ice cream always helps :)

So, since my first thought when syrup was gushing on the floor was NOT "Kodak Moment" I do not have a picture, but I do have a picture of Blake getting into granola bars and cereal from earlier days. His newest finds in our pantry that he recently has been able to reach, but rarely can now since we push them even farther back, or move to a higher shelf.

This is how he opens the granola bar :)

Num, num



After all the trouble of him getting the granola bars and opening them, I didn't have the heart to take them away, so I restricted him to eating it in one corner of the living room, where there was already a mess :)

This is where I discovered him, and only because I heard crunching :)

Concentrating

So cute :)

Cereal that I thought was a new box.

Shaking...



And...dump. Whoops, not a new box, I guess. He was too quick for me! Another mess...;)

 And, now since I've just revealed some of  Blake faults, I must tell you that he is such a loveable boy at the same time. Here he piled all our pillows on top of himself and just sat there looking adorable on our couch.

Playing in the pillows

Adorable adorable smile :) Love this boy!!

Rolling around again :)

And Blake has now awoke from his nap, and he absolutely insists on "helping" me at the computer, so I must sign off now. He is currently sitting on my lap, playing with a pen. His newest fascination is putting the cap on and off again. He puts all his gadgets in front of him--he found on the desk the cell phone, pen, and camera (which I took from him to take this picture--it is back in front of him now :) ).