End of Summer and More Swingset Pictures

A long over due update... Blake is walking, running, talking and into EVERYTHING!!! I am totally exhausted by the end of the day because he is full force from the beginning to end and is such a boy, which I am glad about!!! He will be 17 months old this week and that is hard to believe!!

Word list: truck, car, light, dog, sun, shoes, boat, ball, book, tree, stick, bye-bye

Sounds: train (choo, choo) lion (roar), monkey (ooo,aaa) airplane (swoosh) car (vroom) truck (vroom, vroom) dog (who,who), and the newest clock (tick-tock)

He loves to sing the itsy bitsy spider and does the motions, as well as If your Happy and You Know it (he claps and stomps at the right times) and loves The Wheels on the Bus (prefers the shhh shhh shhh part of the song)

Blake's a big dancer loves to dance to the music, so we have music time at our house daily!! It gets all the excess energy out, you know:)

Believe it or not Blake can correctly identify letters of the alphabet: D, T, M,G,C and Z are our mastered letters, needless to say GiGi and Blake have one-on-one school time during the week.
GiGi and Blake have a wonderful relationship, she is wonderful with him and I am so lucky and blessed that she has given so much time and love to Blake. We love you GiGi!!

Josh and I spent 5 days away from Blake in September, this was the first time we have ever been away from him. I think I about had a nervous breakdown before we left, but in the end it was good for us but I don't want to do that again for a while!! Blake stayed with GiGi and Gmax and they had a great time.

All in all we are doing well, finally starting to settle in at our new house, finally putting some things on the wall and relaxing a little. We love it here, we miss our old neighbors but the house and the yard are wonderful!!

P.S. Heather, I hope your are enjoying the pictures!!

Gigi and Blake taking a swing on the glider together.


Enjoying a snack

Underneath there is this really cool sandbox and picnic table

Daddy really caught the moment here, in swinging motion!!

I just love this picture!!

Pushing around his truck in the backyard.

SOooooo big, I can't believe how much he has grown, at his 15 month check up he was 35 inches long and 27 pounds 12.8 ounces!!

Blake and Berkley enjoying the pool in the hot summer day:)

Blake also loves to get in the laundry basket, here he is just awaken from his nap and in the laundry basket.

Blake loves to play in the dirt and he loves his Berkley!!

Blake's New Swingset

We finally have Blake's swing set up and useable and he absolutely loves it, we spend a lot of time outside to say the least!! Enjoy a few pictures of Blake and his new "playground" as we call it:)


Here he is on the glider.


Going down the slide like a big boy and all by himself!!

G-max, Blake and daddy on the day they put the last board in, whew! thank goodness!! Josh and his dad spent about 2 and 1/2 weekends putting this thing together, it was a BIG job but totally worth it once they saw the look on Blake's face when he figured out what it was. THANKS G-max and daddy!!!

I absolutely love this picture, it totally captures the moment, G-max and Blake enjoying the afternon in the swings.

Here it is......Blake's new playground!

Water, Water Everywhere....

Blake absolutely LOVES to be in the water, and we are so thankful for that. We can honestly say he gets that from both sides of the family. We hope he will continue to love the water and will swim as a guppy very soon. Here are a few pictures of Blake enjoying his afternoon playing in the water....

A Visit to the Children's Museum

We had a great time a the Children's Museum in Chattanooga with T-daddy and DiDi. They were having a Curious George exhibit and as you can tell Blake adores George. We all enjoyed watching him explore all the wonderful things there. Here is a few pictures from our time at the Museum.....

Don't forget to check out the priceless video at the bottom of this post :)

Blake with Curious George (See below for a GREAT video!!)

Blake "driving" the cool hot rod.

Blake LOVES Curious George

Blake playing in the water tubs, he LOVES water too!!!

More Ono Pictures to Share!!

You have to absolutely LOVE the rolls!!

Such a sweet and happy little boy:)

I think I might have to enter this into a sporting magazine contest!! What a picture!!!

We always have a great time at Ono, many thanks the aunt Martha and uncle Chuck for allowing us to enjoy their magical place once a year! We love you both!!!

A Trip to the Zoo

Blake checking out the pot-belly pig


Blake getting a real kick out of that billy goat


Trying to get a shot of the three amigos, Jake, Blake and Kate

He is getting so big and walking all over the place

Blake and daddy having a good time watching the monkey's

Blake and mommy photo-opt

Trying again for a cute photo of the three, I think we succeeded.

Our wonderful friend, Kristen, called and asked us to go to the Greenville Zoo with her and her daughter Kate and nephew Jake, needless to say she did not have to ask twice. Here are some great shots of a day well spent.

Our first ER visit!

The day we closed on our new home Blake had his first ER visit, yes at the ripe old age of 1 he has already seen the ER and rode in an ambulance! While Josh and I were signing papers to close on the new home Blake proceeded to kick himself off the kitchen table and onto the hardwood floors at GiGi's house. Blake was sitting in his booster seat which was attached to the kitchen table chair while he was eating lunch when he kicked himself backwards! Long story short is that after the fall he starting trying to fall asleep and grabbing the back of his neck so GiGi began to worry, she called the ambulance and they came and took them both to the ER to have x-rays of Blake's head and neck. Josh and I met them at the ER and by this time Blake was acting "normal" but the doctors thought it was best the make sure everything was all right. Needless to say Blake is fine, x-rays did not show any fractures or breaks but they did say he probably suffered a mild concussion. A lesson welled learned for sure and a very scary moment that I hope we will not have to encounter again, although if he is anything like his daddy we have got a long rode ahead. We thank God and his angels for taking care of him and watching over him each day and particularly on the harder days.

Ono Island 2009

Blake in his Jimmy Buffet outfit, we were headed to LuLu's, Jimmy Buffet's sisters resturant

DeeDee had this bicycle seat put on uncle Blake's old bike, I loved to ride with daddy!

Blake had is first encounter with uncle Chuck's boat, I will have to say he was not to fond of it, but I think it had a lot to do with this uncomfortable life jacket!

Just hanging out at the beach!

Blake loved the ocean!!

I am pleased to say our Ono visit this year was much better than last!! Blake really enjoyed the beach and mommy was so so thankful!!!

Aunt Niki and Uncle Turco's Wedding Pictures

Aunt Niki and Uncle Chris finally tied the knot! Here are a few shots, not to many with Blake, considering the party went Well past his bedtime :)

Blake and mommy dancing on the the dance floor.

DeeDee, Blake and mommy

Sweet little angle, there is nothing more precious!

Somebody had him laughing!! But check out all my teeth!!

Starting WAY to early, daddy looks proud!

This was at the rehersal dinner, I must say he just may be the cutest baby there ever was!

Blake was having himself a good time at Mellow Mushroom the night before all the wedding festivities began.