Goodbye 2010

2010 ended with a couple days of fever for Blake. I'm still not sure what the cause was, but it was 103 the first day, 101 that night, and 99-100 the second day. Just a little excitement to end the year on. We have been pretty low-key in celebrating New Years Eve for the past few years, most of the time not even staying awake til midnight... and this year was no different! We stayed in for a cozy night at home. Happy New Years!

Looking forward to our new addition in 2011!

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas break this year! I chose to post this on Christmas, but am actually writing it days after... Christmas Eve we went to the Children's Mass, which was adorable with the Christmas story being acted out and read by little ones from church. We went to dinner with my parents and my brother, and went home to bed to get ready for Santa in the morning. This is Blake's Christmas outfit for church -
and just to compare - here is Blake in her Christmas outfit for church last year!
On Christmas morning, we woke up at our normal time of 6:30, which isn't too bad for Christmas morning standards of being awakened by eager children! We'll see what happens next year! We opened our presents and played a little. Blake wasn't too interested in anything else besides the Cozy Coupe that Santa brought!
She kept saying "ca" over and over again. I think the gift is a winner!
We did manage to get the rest of the presents opened eventually.

After getting dressed, we went over to my parents house for breakfast and presents from Grandma and Poppa. GG Pebble and Bubba were there for the fun, too. (We enjoyed seeing Katie, Hector and Santiago earlier in the week, but they were in Houston for Santa to visit their house.) Blake's big gift was a tricycle!
We went home to relax for a little bit before Tim's parents and Juan came over. Grammy and Grandpa stayed for 4 days and enjoyed lots of quality time with Blake! We opened presents with them on Christmas afternoon, so we had a big day!
Blake loves her car so much, she even asked to eat her snack in it. So she ate a hot dog Sonic Drive-In style! ha ha.
Blake was showered with so many presents this year of books, clothes, toys, music CDs, a doll house, play kitchen and all kinds of goodies from the people that love her. She is a blessed little girl. I can't wait to have Easton join in our fun next year!

Christmas Card 2010

(Not the best quality due to scanning the picture in to create the card, and then scanning the finished product in... but you get the idea!)

Friday Happenings

Yesterday afternoon, Blake started developing a rash on her stomach above her diaper line and on her knees and feet. It was raised, red, and warm to the touch. It didn't seem to itch her, but if you tried to look at the big welts, she didn't like it. As the night went on, it grew and spread to her armpits, arms, legs, neck, and all over the trunk of her body. I spoke to the doctor and decided if it didn't get better, we would go in the next day. I stayed home from work and we endured lots of waiting room time and exam room time waiting to be seen... Luckily Tim went too and Blake was in a pretty good mood. Apparently, Blake had an allergic reaction to something. What - we don't know, but it could have been something she ate, came in contact with, something outside... who knows? Claritin in the morning and Benadryl at night and the rash/hives went away mostly by Sunday, with just a little blotchiness remaining on her legs.
In the afternoon, Tim and I went to my appointment for Easton. It was a sonogram day! Grandma came over to sit while Blake napped so we could both be at the appointment. When we came home, Blake was having lots of fun! (I don't think you can tell from the picture, but the rash was on her cheeks too and made her eyes swell a little.)

31 Weeks

My blood pressure was great 121/82 (again, Tim mentioned that of course my blood pressure would be good - I didn't go to school that day!). Easton weighed in at 4 pounds and is measuring a week ahead of schedule at 32 weeks while he is only 31 weeks. The sonogram tech said he is long and should be about 8 pounds (so I guess he'll be a little under that if we go early like planned). He was being a little shy, but we got to see a little smile from his big chubby cheeks. We saw lots of wiggles and kicks. Everything is going great - all my fluid levels are good and he checked out great.
I can't wait to see that little face in person!!

Santa Baby

We went to visit Santa at the mall tonight. We have been talking to Blake about Santa, and how nice he is, and his red suit, and soft beard... trying to get her acclimated to him in preparation to seeing him this year. She has been playing with stuffed Santa decorations and knows "aunt-na" when she sees any image of him. (Funny how Santa and Santiago kind of have the same name in Blake's language! ha ha)

Blake did pretty well with Santa! No big crying or screaming this year. She did cry when we got there because she had her daddoo with her and I took it away as we were walking up to him. She settled down pretty quickly, and we both went over to sit on the arm of his big chair. I sat talking to Santa for a little bit, and then I moved away and left Blake with him. This is the best of the few pictures they snapped, but all in all, I'd consider the visit a success!

A Little Bit of Everything

I'm moving slower and slower these days, but am getting a few things accomplished despite my waddling self. The Christmas tree and most decorations are up, Christmas cards are addressed and stamped - ready to be mailed, and I have all presents wrapped (my favorite part). I just need to shop for a couple people, mostly Tim, and I'll be finished!

As of today, I have a 21 month old! Yikes. She is ever so busy and is always wanting "up-a" (to be picked up). Here is a funny from the other day. We bought new dog food and Tim had just poured the bag into our dog food container, with Blake's help of course. He came out of the laundry room, but Blake stayed and I could hear her pouring the dog food with the scoop. I assumed she was putting it in the dog bowl... but then I realized I didn't hear the kernels landing on anything hard. Hmmm, I went in to check and saw
that she was pouring it in their water! I had to laugh and bring it out to show Tim. I'm going to have to have a great sense of humor with the terrible twos approaching!
My favorite thing lately is how much Blake has been kissing, hugging and rubbing my belly. She calls the bump "Bubba" or "Easty"! I've been telling her what a wonderful big sister she will be and how much fun she will have with her brother. So far, she's been nothing but loving! We'll see.

Easton officially has his first ornament, and it's already on our tree even though he's not here to see it.
Blake's first ornament was also her initial, so it was only fitting.
I wish I could keep the Christmas decorations up all year round!

21 month old notes:
Blake is still taking and enjoying 2 naps a day! She loves getting to have her daddoo, so this could be the reason for wanting to take a nap. She runs in place when she really wants something and is answering yes for it, she nods her head and run-run-runs her little legs up and down. She brings lotion to Tim or me many times a day to have us help her. Blake prefers the squirt of lotion in her hand so she can rub it in. She loves it! On the flip side, when she doesn't get what she wants - she cries and wants to be held. She will say your name over and over while patting you on the back while you hold her. Then she asks for whoever else is around to hold her while she cries, and goes around the circle of people that way.

Fort Worth Zoo

I took enough pictures that I decided to make our trip to the Fort Worth Zoo its own post. We had such a fun time looking at all the animals. We got there as soon as the zoo opened on Friday and spent around 3 hours walking around. I didn't take a picture of every exhibit, but I especially loved the different monkeys! One of the lions put on a big show of roaring and a white tiger nearly scared Grammy and me to death when it jumped against the glass!
We decided the meerkats reminded us of Hua,
and this kangaroo reminded us of Marley!
The zoo was awesome and had all kinds of animals, especially some I had never heard of. It also had a whole Texas section included wildlife and things from each region of the state.
Blake kept going back to look at the alligator. I guess she really liked it. I didn't care for it so much, but the fake one was fine with me!
Blake also loved this little guy. The real elephants were next door playing with giant barrels or balls, kicking them around. She hugged this one and tried to feed him Goldfish crackers.The penguins were adorable!! Blake tried to "get them" but they were way too fast. She would run her hand along the glass where they were swimming, but could never catch one! ha ha.
We will definitely be going back to the zoo!

The Rest of Thanksgiving

Wednesday afternoon we left for Frisco for the last part of Thanksgiving week. We got to see lots of family and some friends and had a great time!
Blake received lots of love and attention and enjoyed every second! She played with Susan and Grammy...loved on Big Daddy...helped cook Thanksgiving lunch...and played her little heart out. It was a great trip, and probably our last one as a family of three! I am thankful for so many things, but very thankful for the wonderful families Tim and I have.

Early Thanksgiving

Because we're all going to be out of town for Thanksgiving, my side of the family had our Thanksgiving over the weekend. Katie, Hector, Santiago, and Travis all flew in on Saturday to spend the first part of Thanksgiving week with us, and it was great to be all together! I hadn't seen them since the 4th of July. I had to work on Monday and Tuesday also, so Blake got extra play time with her cousin. She calls Santiago "awnt-na" or "awk-na" something like that... so Santiago decided two could play that game, and he started calling her that, too!
They danced, rode scooters, drew with sidewalk chalk, colored with crayons, rode horses, rode the tractor, fed the neighbor's roosters and turkeys, went for Mule-rides (the vehicle, not the animal!), and just had a great time together. I loved watching them interact! They would hold hands and hug each other, too. If only I could squish Texas up and make us all live closer together...
I took these pictures with my phone, but hopefully Travis will share the pictures he took... I didn't get a good one of the kiddos head-on.
Today we leave town and head to Frisco for Thanksgiving Part 2! We are excited to go see Grammy (or Mammy as Blake calls her) and Grandpa, and looking forward to more great food and hopefully a trip to the Fort Worth Zoo!

Yesterday I went for my 27 week check-up for Easton. I was supposed to do my gestational diabetes test, but the doctor's office was so busy that I didn't have time before the lab closed. I will go back Monday for that and to get my RhoGam shot. My blood pressure was 122/90, and Easton's heart rate measured at 150 (I guess bpm...) Everything is looking good! An update on the rest of our week and more pictures to come soon.

20 months

Blake is 4 months away from being a 2 year old! It's hard to believe! This silly little girl loves to play in shoes (mine or Tim's-it doesn't matter!)
Now that the weather is getting colder, it's time to sleep in footie pajamas and Blake loves them! She was so excited the night we tried them on for the first time and kept saying "ocka" (sock) and swinging her feet back and forth. She also kept patting herself on the tummy and chest to show us her cuteness!

At 20 months old, 4 new teeth have appeared! All 4 of Blake's eye teeth have popped through and are growing in (at the same time)... yay for teething. So now, Blake has 16 teeth.
Other happenings:

• wears size 4 diapers, mostly 18 month clothing, but some 24 month or 2T for length, and size 7 shoes, and weighs about 26 pounds
  
• Are saying lots of new words and some "sentences" like dada-duice-awww (She will tell me her daddy gave her juice and she thinks it was sweet)
• likes to get in our bed and call me and Tim to either side of her to cuddle
• sits on the potty before bath every night... so far nothing has happened!
• the word she uses most is no! but you usually have to wait and see what her action is because her answer doesn't always match. Like, do you want another bite? She'll say no, but then open her mouth wide for a bite.
  
• She is nodding her head up and down for yes, but only does that sparingly. (usually it's still no)
• likes to be independent and try to do things herself

(Thanks for the cute dress Aunt Katie and Uncle Hector!)

• is very silly! She loves to dance and make silly faces and noises to make you smile or laugh.
• loves baby dolls and stuffed animals. Blake carries them around in a single arm head-lock style, or hugged to her chest. She will pretend to feed them or give them a drink, and loves to put them "ny-ny" by covering them with a baby wipe or Kleenex!
  
• sleeps with Hippie (an already named, tie-dyed bunny). We have to have him before we can read our bedtime story.
• is an iPad genius! It's amazing to see such a little thing mastering the skill to do puzzles and play games and apps. She loves "her" (because she hates when Tim or I take a turn) "ipa!"
  

Halloween Weekend

Happy Halloween!
We decided to stay in tonight and just let Blake dress up and help hand out candy at our house. Probably next year we'll work on the trick-or-treating. She was a very cute Minnie Mouse, but she didn't love the ears.
Other than that... We celebrated my birthday (tomorrow) with lunch with my parents today at Wall Street. It was yummy! And after we ate, my mom brought in this little pumpkin cake she made. Isn't it cute?
This picture was taken yesterday after we ate breakfast and were running errands. Blake pretty much has to take some "baby" or stuffed animal with her anywhere we go, and this time it was the baby ladybug. It was a chilly morning and she looked so cute all snuggled up.