Trip to Utah

On our way home to California Blake and I stopped in Utah to go to my roommate Brie's wedding. I got to stay with another roommate Jill and her cute family at her grandparent's house. Here is a picture of Blake and Daphne.

Lots and lots of snow on the wedding day! It was so fun to see old college buddies.

Brie looked so pretty and the whole day was great. Thanks to Jill's hubby John for dedicating the day to helping us get to the temple, luncheon, and reception.

The rest of the trip was spent shopping, visiting other friends, and catching up. We dragged these babies everywhere. They took lots of little naps on car rides. It was a lot of work getting them in and out of the car and keeping them warm!

Cafe Rio with Pleasanton friends Jordan and Jenny. I will admit it- I went to Cafe Rio twice on my trip. Gotta love the pork salad.

It was a little tricky traveling without Eric. Good thing they let me take the car seat on the plane. We got a whole row to ourselves going to and from Utah. I'm so glad I was able to make this trip. I love reconnecting with friends and wish that I could see them more often.

5 Months

Blakester

Blake sleeps through the night! He goes to sleep around 9p.m. and wakes up promptly at 6a.m. It is nice having him on a predictable schedule. Lately Blake squeals to let us know he is bored with his toys/surroundings. Once I get him out of the house he stops the squealing and starts smiling and kicking his legs. He loves watching people. Every once in awhile he gives some good laughs. I'll do anything to get them- tonight he got a kick out of me saying "mmm hmm" and throwing something on the ground. I could listen to him laugh all day.

Brrrrr!

It has been pretty cold the last few days. It snowed a lot yesterday- I needed to go to the store and when I got to the car my doors were frozen shut! I kept hitting the unlock button but the doors wouldn't budge. A nice man helped me get my door open. I scraped all the ice off the windows- you needed a lot more than a credit card to scrape it all off!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving in St. Louis this year. There were 18 people at Eric's parents' house- 8 adults and 10 grandchildren. Before dinner we went to play football and it was a beautful day. Afterwards all of the adults were moaning and groaning because of injuries.

Eric loved wearing his high school baseball outfit.

On Friday we went to the zoo. I had not been to the zoo in years and I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids. I was fascinated by these anteaters. They are so weird! I also loved the hippos, giraffes, and zebras.

On Saturday Eric and I played cops and robbers and capture the flag with all the kids. Again, so much fun and something I haven't done in a long time. We also got to visit some college buddies, the Gertsch's, who live in St. Louis. Each night the family played games- mostly Guesstures and Pictionary. Pictionary is my new favorite game- it is so fun!

We left St. Louis with snow on the ground. Blake did great on the ride home- we made a record time drive of 5 1/2 hours.

Latest and Greatest

Blake started sucking his thumb yesterday. And he has started to make the "m" sound- especially when he's crying. Look at those chubby legs!

ASHA

This past weekend I attended a convention for speech language pathologists. It happens once a year and is three days filled with classes. This year it happened to be in Chicago- just 4 miles from where we live. There is a list of available classes and you choose what interests you. I went to classes about literacy, fluency, language, vocabulary, and lots more. I felt like it was an EFY for work. 14,000 speech therapists attended and everyone was so friendly. It is a great way to earn continuing education units in order to maintain membership of the organization called ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association). I ran into my favorite professor from San Jose State, had lunch with the owner of the company I used to work for, and saw some friends. I loved it all.

Eric’s mom came to watch Blake. It was hard to leave him for three days- more for my sake than for his. I knew he would be fine. My friend Jen came from California to come to the convention and stayed with us. We had so much fun. At night we all played games, ate, and talked the night away. After going to bed at midnight each night, waking up with Blake in the middle of the night, getting up at 6:00 a.m., and sitting in class for 8 hours- I was ready for a nap.

4 Months

Blake had his 4 month doctor appointment today. He weighed in at 15 pounds 11 ounces and is 25.5 inches long. The doctor said that he was in the 75 percentile for both but I think it's higher based on multiple nurses comments of "Whoa- that is a big baby!" He did great with his shots.

It snowed today! I walked home in the snow. I remember always loving the first few snows when I was in Utah and that is how I felt today. I know that I'll be singing another tune in a few months but for now it is fun.

Big Smiles

These pictures make me happy!

Personality

Blake likes to be outside.
He doesn't like to wait for his food.

He likes to watch people chew gum or eat.
He doesn't like it when other babies cry.

Likes taking a bath.
Doesn't like the vacuum.

Likes to observe others and smile at strangers.
Doesn't like to cuddle.

Likes being tickled and has started laughing/squealing.
Doesn't like being on his tummy and grunts the whole time.

Likes his mom taking multiple pictures of him in every outfit worn for the first time.
Doesn't like being buckled in his car seat.

Happy Halloween!

Blake was a horse for Halloween but he did get some compliments on what a cute cow he was. Our ward had a trunk or treat party and Eric and I attempted to dress up as cow people (cowboy/girl) to go with our horse.

We didn't have much for our costumes so Eric thought my jean jacket would be a nice addition. Do any of you know this side of Eric? And why does he fit into my clothes?

Winter Clothes

I bought this winter jumper from Children's Place this summer during a big sale- it only cost $1! I thought we'd try it out today on our walk to the library. It isn't snowing yet but the wind makes it so cold. It is kind of big on Blake and he barely fits in his car seat with it on.

Halloween Spirit

I love this picture because you can see Blake's neck. I never see his neck which makes it is so hard to clean in between those rolls.


A pumpkin and a ghost. Too much?

Bumbo

We bought Blake a Bumbo chair last week- we've heard such good things about this baby item. Unfortunately, he doesn't like it and arches his back and cries after we put him in. Looks like we're taking it back.


Blake loves seeing the world. This is how we've been traveling lately. We went to the grocery store like this and he was happy the whole time-just kicking away. (It's starting to get cold here.)

Blake has lost a lot of his hair. He no longer has side burns and now has a receding hair line and a nice comb over. We love our little grandpa.