Aaron, Michelle and Family

Blessing

2012-02-06T09:07:00.000-08:00

Aaron blessed Dylan yesterday at church and here are some of the nice folks that joined us for the fun day.

Blake was done and wanted to get home to eat...okay, it wasn't just Blake who was hungry.

Here he is after his big day...totally out! Thanks to those who came.

SeaWorld Again

2012-02-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

Aaron's folks were in town this weekend so we went to SeaWorld with them.

Interesting how Dylan is looking at Blake in the pictures huh? They say he has a strong neck...I don't wonder how he got his strong neck...he is always wondering where Blake is.

Dylan hung out in his stroller a lot.

Blake with his "Cheeeeeese" smile.

Blake was super excited to see the turtles.

So Sad

2012-02-06T07:12:00.000-08:00

It is no secret that I HATE needles. Dylan was a happy boy before...

and even after, but during he was not happy and screamed the whole time. It was fantastic and am looking forward to doing it again. Yes, they did a blood draw and not a prick. They needed to get a vial of blood, which meant they had to find a vein. These experts took about 5 minutes and 2 arms to find a vein. I was unimpressed. The next morning I was changing Dylan out of his pj's and there was blood on his pj's...unimpressed again.

Growing up so fast - Dylan's first eating

2012-01-28T14:28:00.000-08:00

So, Dylan's metabolism has been working on overdrive lately. Seems like every hour he's hungry and "requesting" some food. So, we decided to have him try out some rice cereal 1) to see if he likes it and 2) to see if it helps fill that little belly up better.

I think it's a fun video. He's definitely getting dang cute.

Enjoy!

Clear

2012-01-19T11:42:00.000-08:00

Because of BWS, Dylan is at high risk for cancer, which means an ultrasound every 3 months (along with a urine sample and blood work). I was told that Dylan needed to be fasting for 4 hours for the test and then when I scheduled the appointment I had them confirm this with the ultrasound technician because it seemed ridiculous and I was told that it actually needed to be 5 hours. Really? How do you get a baby to do that? I warned them that Dylan is really unhappy when he doesn't eat and he eats every 2 hours in the day, they assured me that they are used to fussy babies. I tried to convince them that he isn't fussy, he is mad. I figured that maybe this will help us get in and out of the doctor office if Dylan is screaming his head off, so maybe this would be fine. Alright, well, the best chance of this happening is in the morning, so we took the first appointment of the day at 8am. We get there and Dylan is mad so the technician asked why he was fussy to which I respond...um, because he hasn't eaten for awhile. Technician then tells me that there is no way a baby can go that long without food. I just about punched her in her face because well, I had been up since 4am trying to keep him happy without feeding him. Enough of my complaining...they found nothing in the ultrasound (other than a lot of gas) and now we know, he won't have to fast for another year or so. We go in next week for the blood work, but since they didn't see anything on the ultrasound, we should be clear until 3 months from now.

And speaking of being clear, well, this is Dylan's normal look when he hears Blake's voice. Dylan is making sure he is "clear" of Blake's attacks.

While Dylan is taking his morning nap, Blake likes to play outside and ride on his scooter, but then almost always will end up watering the plants (aka spraying). The other day he sprayed me and about 5 minutes after he sprayed me says, "Mom, your shirt is wet." and then he laughs.

Smiles

2012-01-16T12:48:00.000-08:00

Dylan can be a happy kid (mostly when big brother isn't around).

2 Months

2012-01-05T20:04:00.000-08:00

This happy kid survived his 2 month check up. He is still tall and has a small head. Blake was such a skinny kid that I think Dylan is a chunker, but he is in the 45th percentile. He proved to the doctor that his lungs worked just fine and reminded me that we should not do any doctors appointments during naptime.

Blake is slowing adjusting to being a big brother.

The frequent doctors office visits are starting this month.

Blake had the idea of matching Dylan for church.

Got to love it.

2012-01-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

Two of the games Blake and I play together deal with him climbing on my back. The first is what we call "Fly". He encircles his arms around my neck from the back and counts down from five. Then shouts "blast off", we then spend the next 5 to 10 minutes running around the house like he is flying. The next game we play is called "horsey". I'm on my hands and knees, Blake jumps on my back and well you guessed it, I'm a horsey.

So, yesterday, while I am laying face down on our bed, Blake climbs up and sits on my back and says, "Okay Daddy. We can play fly or play horsey, those are the options, okay? Pick one, Daddy." It took me a while to stop laughing before I could respond. I acquiesced with horsey.

Then today, I was sitting on the couch. I asked Blake if he wants dinner. He responds with, "Daddy you stay here on the couch. I'll go make dinner. Then we'll eat. Then we'll play. Okay, sound like a plan? Daddy?"

"Okay Blake", I say with a chuckle. He responds while beckoning me on, "Let's go! Come on."

Another fun saying Blake has picked up is "Have fun!" As I am leaving for work or Michelle is headed running, Blake will frequently call out to us as we are headed out the door, "Have fun! and good luck!" That'll never get old.

A Couple of Good Quotes

2011-12-30T21:24:00.000-08:00

We were driving to Costco yesterday and chatting. Blake asked if we saw a police car passing by. I said that I did, but Michelle had unfortunately missed it. So not to be the only one that missed the passing police car, Michelle asked if Dylan had seen it. Blake responds, "Dylan not talks.........he screams."

BYU played it's bowl game today. I got a little animated at times. After one minor yelling-at-the-TV episode, Blake looks at me and says "Daddy, hey Daddy, maybe you should just turn it off."
A little while later, Michelle takes him upstairs and he looks at her and says, "Daddy needs a hug." It all ended okay as BYU won the game and I got that hug. :)

Well, he's growing up

2011-12-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

Let me set the stage:

For those that don't know, we try to take a lot of walks during the week. We try to release some of Blake's energy and get some fresh air in the process. Now, our community pool has a lock on it. There's a red light to indicate that the lock is engaged and only turns greens and unlocks with the key.

As we walked by the pool door this past week, Blake says, "Let's go this way, " pointing to the pool door. We told Blake that we can't go that way, the door is locked and our key was back at the house. He says, "No let's go this way." Instisting that he knew the way we should go.

He walks over to the door and pulls it right open to our astonishment. He turns around with the door still open and tells us, "See, guys, told you. "

Really messes with my parenting skills. :)

Last night we were sitting on the couch and Blake looks over at me and says "Datti?". He stops and repeats it to himself "Datti?, Datti?" Realizing that it wasn't quite right, he says "No, Daddy. Yes Daddy."

It was pretty funny/interesting to see him realize his small mistake and try and try to correct it.

Kids say the darndest things.

Fun Being a Boy

2011-12-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

There are some benefits of having neighbors close by. One benefit is when they get a new A/C unit, you can see the crane from your room. It isn't everyday you see an A/C unit in the air.

Dylan is smiling now, but it is hard to catch on camera.

Christmas

2011-12-28T13:22:00.000-08:00

The family got a Kindle Fire for Christmas and Blake had to test it out.

Aaron got a donut maker, which we all enjoyed.

The cousins had a blast playing with their new toys together.

While Dylan slept.

My cousin, Caryn, drew the dump truck and presents on a shirt for Blake. Pretty awesome huh? Thanks to everyone for the fun presents!

8 weeks

2011-12-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

Dylan is already 8 weeks old. We don't go in for his check up until next week, but he sure has been growing (and eating) a lot. He takes after me in that he has midget sized legs and a long torso.

Who thinks Dylan looks like Blake? A lot of people tell us that they look a lot alike.

Christmas Lights

2011-12-28T12:54:00.000-08:00

We went to Candy Cane Lane again this year and Blake was even more excited than he was last year.

I love these decorations and love that I don't have to pay their electricity bill.

Who enjoyed the lights more...Blake

or Dylan? (who slept the whole time)

Who's a what?

2011-12-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

So, we just finished watching Beauty and the Beast (not for the first time mind you). But I was curious about who they had sing the theme song. I waited until the end and once it popped up I said, "Oh, Celine Dion sang it." Blake, who is sitting right next to me, responds with "Daddy, who's a Ding Dong?"

Where goes he get this stuff?

Gingerbread House

2011-12-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

Blake made his first gingerbread house. He was pretty focused for awhile, but then the candy was super tempting.

Yes, that is frosting on his face.

He managed to finish the house.

He thought it tasted pretty good too.

Who wants ice cream?

2011-12-12T20:30:00.000-08:00

So, tonight after we finished eating dinner, I'm in the kitchen washing dishes and Blake looks over at Michelle and says, "Thanks for dinner mommy."

Michelle says, "Ohhh thanks Blake."

Blake says, "Tomorrow, I'll make dinner--by myself."

Michelle says "Oh that's nice Blakey. What are you going to make?"

Blake responds with, what else..."I'll make ice cream, mommy. With milk, and eggs, and orange juice, and that....cereal. "

So if anyone's open to having Blake's homemade ice cream, with OJ and cereal, just stop on by.

Merry Christmas.

Play With Me

2011-12-08T13:55:00.000-08:00

Blake really wants to play with Dylan. After offering Dylan most of his toys and being denied, we brought out a toy that Dylan does play (well, tolerate) with.

It didn't take long for Dylan to be over the whole playing with brother gig.

The Look

2011-12-08T12:37:00.000-08:00

This is a typical look that Dylan gives...not going to completely open his eyes to acknowledge you. Of course if Blake is around, then both eyes are wide open.

Church

2011-12-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

Here are the guys all ready for church.

Too Cute

2011-12-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

He found his thumb...and he kind of likes it.

Grandpa with all the grandkids.

What's your favorite kind of cheesecake?

2011-12-02T17:44:00.000-08:00

So we made some cheesecake today and we were asking Blake what kind of fruit topping he wanted on his cheesecake. Blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, boysenberry? We asked.

He said, "I like poison berry."

I guess he found one, we could all agree on.

:)

So this video is a few weeks old. I pulled it from my phone once we were able to bring Dylan home. I call it "Brothers". Hope you like it.

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T14:55:00.000-08:00

The original plan was for Dylan to be born the day before Thanksgiving, but Dylan had other plans. We were able to spend Thanksgiving/my birthday with my family.

Blake was able to get out some energy with his cousins.

Dylan was able to sleep and be held by lots of people.

Great-Grandma had a hard time giving Dylan up to the next person to be held.

The Kids

2011-11-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

3 1/2 weeks old

Grandma loves to hold Dylan.

So I know Blake looks like Aaron, but I guess he has to be like Aaron too by using the computer.

He was excited to get out of the house.

Disneyland

2011-11-29T14:38:00.000-08:00

My friend asked me if it would be okay if she took Blake to Disneyland for the day. Um, let me think about that...YES. He had a blast with his friends and I was able to get a lot of my Christmas shopping done. Thanks Shaylyn!

First Trip to the Park

2011-11-29T14:32:00.000-08:00

A couple weeks ago, Dylan went to the park for the first time. He slept the whole time.

Blake was okay with that because that meant more playing.

Brothers

2011-11-13T13:44:00.000-08:00

Blake loves his little brother, maybe a little too much. This is the boys on our way to Dylan's first pediatrician visit (outside the NICU). Blake got his flu shot while we were there. After the shot, he said, "That hurt me." So sad.

Blake hanging out.

This picture makes me laugh. Blake is always wanting to kiss or hug Dylan, but he is working on being soft with Dylan. Dylan doesn't enjoy these kisses or hugs and always has an eye out for Blake, or, tries to turn away from him all together. Blake really wants Dylan to play with him and keeps bringing him toys to play with. Dylan will be old enough before I know it though and they will be causing all sorts of trouble.

Can you tell where Blake was when this picture was taken? Yep, right next to dad who was taking the picture. Usually Dylan does just have one eye open looking for Blake, but this time, two eyes were necessary.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

The plan was to get a pumpkin last Friday, but Dylan had other plans, so we finally got around to carving a pumpkin today.

Blake had a lot of fun.

Is Aaron an artist or what? Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Discharged

2011-11-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

After long visits and discussions with doctors, I agreed that I would sit in the NICU all day and do all the feedings so that Dylan could be released.

This was the last NICU room that he was in. He was in 4 different locations within the NICU.

Here Dylan is waiting to go home.

Blake loves his little brother. He gives him lots of kisses and wants to hold him...for about 30 seconds. Blake reacted a lot better than I thought he would. We will see if that changes, but so far he really likes him. We are really happy and fortunate to be home. So many of the families in the NICU have been there for months and we were there for a week. I learned that while most of the nurses and doctors are great, you have to be really involved during rounds so that you can add your input. One of the doctors had my back the whole time...I liked that doctor. We have so many doctors visits in the near future and we still don't know the results for BWS, but it is nice to be home. He has gone on a couple walks already with the family. We'll see if he likes walks as much as Blake did as a midget. Thanks to everyone for all your prayers!

Tuesday

2011-11-06T19:28:00.000-08:00

Tuesday, I was discharged from the hospital. Aaron picked my up and we went over to visit with Dylan before we went home.

We were told that he needed to work on his eating and then he would be discharged.

Back at home, Blake was trying to get over his cold. I kept wondering how he was going to react to Dylan.

Grandpa's Visit

2011-11-01T09:03:00.001-07:00

While Grandpa was the first family member to see Dylan, he didn't think he should be the first family member to hold him. After work yesterday, Grandpa finally held Dylan and Dylan smiled at Grandpa. Dylan has Grandpa's toes, which I call flip flop toes because there is a big space between the two toes--perfect fit for wearing flip flops.

The NICU is kind of an interesting place where they test for everything and are super careful about everything. It kind of drives me nuts sometimes, but as long as they are getting Dylan all better and ready to come home, I guess I should not complain.

Update: Dylan gets really, really made when he is hungry and some of the nurses are so schedule based that they won't feed him any earlier than his scheduled feeding. His heart rate sky rockets when they make him wait and the alarms go off. But once he is full, he is such a happy camper. He is having a hard time taking the bottle, so they stuck a feeding tube in him again, which he hated. Who would like it though right? I was there when they put it in and he immediately pulled it out. Once they put some temporary tape on, he pushed his stomach (since the tube goes from his nose to his stomach) which made the tube pop out again. Did I mention that he hates it? I told him that if he starting eating better then he could get the tube out. So he loves food, but has a hard time eating. He breathes through his mouth, so he hasn't figured out how to breathe and eat at the same time. Yesterday, I was able to nurse him and he did fantastic. My guess is because he had control of flow, etc. If he gets this feeding thing down better, then they say he might come home on Friday, but that can change. The other big thing from yesterday was they ran tests on his kidneys because one looked bigger than the other and were concerned that was making some of his urine go in the wrong direction. The results came back and the flow is normal, so he shouldn't have any urinary tract infections like they thought he might. The other concern is that they might need to clip the bottom of his tongue so that he could eat better, but the doctors are debating whether it is necessary or not. We are still waiting on the results from his chromosome test to see if he has BWS (beckwith wiedemann syndrome), but won't get those for another week or so.

Today I get to go home, but as luck would have it, Blake is totally sick. I am sure grateful for my parents who are willing to watch him even though he is sick. We just need to get Blake healthy before Dylan is released.

Dylan Tanner Johnson

2011-10-29T19:09:00.001-07:00

Who is surprised to see pictures of our kid already who was due November 30th??? Who is even more surprised that he weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces?

The story: We knew that our midget had something called an omphalocele and would require surgery that same day. The doctors also said a c-section would be necessary, so we made changes to all our doctors and transferred everything so that I could deliver at St. Joseph's which is right next door to CHOC where they would have to do the surgery. It was a high risk pregnancy and I was monitored very closely. In fact, on Thursday Blake came with me to the fetal monitoring for a non-stress test. Aaron had left for Dallas Monday with plans to fly home Saturday night. Friday morning at about 12:30 (like 2 hours after going to bed) I woke up with some contractions. At first I thought I would just try to go back to bed because um, we are still in October. But then the contractions continued and were pretty strong. What to do...well, I call Aaron hoping that this is the first night in his life that he kept his cell phone turned on...nope..it is turned off. I call my parents and tell my dad that I am having contractions, so they come over a few minutes later while I was able to pack a couple of things for the trip to the hospital. We get to OB admitting at 2:52am and I am having serious contractions. We check in and while waiting, my water breaks and I feel him coming, but I need a c-section. There was no time for an epideral, so they knock me out and after getting the NICU staff, etc there, midget is born at 3:07am. Fast huh? I don't get to see midget because I am knocked out and midget has to be sent immediately over to CHOC, so Grandpa follows midget to CHOC while I recover. Friday I spent in my room trying to recover, but I won't stop bleeding and it gets kind of serious, so no visit to see midget yet. My dad sent Aaron a text with a picture of midget along with the stats and says congrats. Aaron got that text when he woke up and thought it was a joke. He tries to get a flight out of Dallas back home, but nothing is available until Saturday morning. Interestingly enough, the time that Aaron made it to the hospital was the time that I was finally released to go see the midget...about 33 hours after he was born.

During that time, my folks (who have been watching Blake), come by with Blake so we get our first new family picture. Blake was completely confused. I couldn't pick him up, which was a little hard because I missed the guy and he was trying to wrap his brain around being a big brother.

My first time getting to hold him. He has a strong personality and LOVES to eat. He had his surgery at 3pm ish on Friday and did fantastic. He hated the breathing tube, so they took that out about 1 hour after the surgery, but were planning on taking it out 6 - 12 hours after surgery. And he did fine. They thought it would be at least a week before he could take my milk, but nope...he started that today and needs some formula as well because he loves his food.

Here is the proud daddy. We sure think he is a cutie. He has blonde hair like Blake did, but not as light and not as much.

Here he is today, with his face not as swollen. He has already gained weight. While we know that there are more tests that need to be run to see if he is really okay and will see how many doctors visits we will have with this guy during his childhood, we are sure grateful for him and love him.

Baby Shower

2011-10-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Shaylyn and Lisa threw a baby shower for me this past weekend and we got some really cute stuff.

Isn't this towel great? I think Blake is going to fight over this towel because he has a boring blue towel right now that doesn't come close to how fun this one is.

This is a cute bib that a friend made, but for those who care...you can see how big my belly is getting. He is expected to be a big kid...both in length and height.

Here is a picture of some of those who attended.

Looking Good

2011-10-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

After learning of Blake's dislike for long sleeved collared shirts, Grandma was able to find a short sleeved one that Blake wore to church on Sunday. Apparently he thinks he is the fashion police now because he had to pick out a tie for Aaron to wear and was rather confused why I wasn't wearing a tie.

SeaWorld

2011-10-18T14:37:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to SeaWorld again. Without fail, the first thing Blake wants to do is go on the rides. Aaron was thrilled to go on the rides.

This is his favorite ride.

During the month of October, they have special Halloween shows. He really liked the Elmo show.

Match Daddy

2011-10-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Recently Blake has been asking where his tie was while we were getting ready for church. I looked for some times, but couldn't really find anyway. However, Grandma found one and gave it to Blake. We tried to put on a long-sleeved collared shirt, but he wanted short sleeves. I totally thought he wouldn't keep it on very long, but he kept it on the whole time at church. He thought he was pretty special because he got to match daddy by wearing a tie.

Anniversary

2011-10-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

We celebrated our 10 year anniversary the other week. My parents were nice enough to watch Blake for a couple of days so that Aaron and I could get a break. Since I am not allowed to travel far, we went up to Long Beach. One day we went to the Aquarium and saw some really fun stuff. Aaron is standing next to the Giant Sea Bass. They get up to 7 feet and 500 pounds.

Blake loves turtles and this one was huge.

This is a sea dragon--totally weird huh?

This is a leaf sea dragon--even weirder huh?

There were plenty of sharks there too. The zebra shark must have been a toddler or something because it kept swimming around in circles around the same coral..over and over and over.

It was a nice and relaxing break that was much needed because these next couple of months are going to be busy. Blake had a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa...thanks again for watching him.

Lunch

2011-10-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Jen was in town a couple of weeks ago, so the old gang got together for some lunch. It was great to see everyone.

Fix It

2011-10-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

After having the tree removed, we had a guy come out and pull up the bricks and then pull out the root that was causing the problems on our patio. Blake watched Scott for most of the time and wanted to go help fix it.

"Should we help him?" Blake asked this several times.

BYU Friday Night Football

2011-09-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

In real estate their most used mantra is "location, location, location" right? Well it could be the same for football. Adam and his friends really do have some great seats. And it only makes them that much better when your team decides to show up and win. Way to go team, way to go.

A Work Trip with Benefits

2011-09-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

So, while in Utah doing some recruiting, I stopped by Adam's house to check out their new addition and spend some time with Mia (and Adam and Becki, I guess). Here we are reading books. That girl is quite the climber and not afraid of heights either.

As mentioned, here the new addition, little Zoey. You can tell she's related to my dad--she's asleep when everyone else around is having fun.

Even having gone through this whole process before, you can tell Adam still needs some coaching on how to hold a baby. But hey don't worry, he'll probably have a little more practice.

"Support the head, their necks are weak."

Don't it Feel Good to be a Gangsta

2011-09-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

They grow up so fast.

Happy Boy

2011-09-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

We had a tree cut down right outside Blake's room. They came to cut the tree right before nap time. Does it look like Blake is slightly interested in taking a nap while all this fun stuff is going on?

It's Begun

2011-09-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

Football season started a couple weeks ago and Blake is still adjusting to Aaron's excitement for the game. During the Utah game Blake commented a couple of times, "Daddy is mad." He would also say, "Daddy, be less loud."

He has added fumble and touchdown to his vocab.

It's Me

2011-09-05T16:43:00.000-07:00

As noted, Gregg and Amy came to visit this weekend. Blakey sure likes his family. Thanks for the visit.

We were all over (Gregg and Amy included) at my parent's house chatting, catching up on life. Blake was actually keeping himself pretty busy (for once), playing with the toy tools, hammering away. We glance over and see him with the toy safety goggles on. He comes strolling over and looks at us and says as if we couldn't tell at all, "It's me! It's Blakey!" Apparently, he lives with the Superman/Clark Kent idea that something over your eyes changes the person you are. The entire room immediately burst out laughing. What a character!

Look at that silly kid.

Blake likes the movie "Despicable Me". (Spoiler alert!) For those unfamiliar with the premise, the main character is a villain trying to steal the moon. He spends the entire movie in this pursuit. He works and works and finally jumps into a rocket and travels to space. When he finally steals it, he is spinning in space with the earth in the background and shouts, "I've got the moon!" So, there's the context. While at church on Sunday, I am showing Blake a bunch of pictures and come across a picture of the earth. Blake looks at it and right in the middle of sacrament meeting shouts, " I've got the moon!" It was very hard keeping the laughter in while reminding Blake that we need to be reverent in church.

Grandmas and Grandpas

2011-09-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

Blake with both sets of grandparents.

Beach

2011-09-05T16:05:00.000-07:00

We took a trip to the beach.

SeaWorld with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-09-05T15:56:00.000-07:00

Aaron's folks came for a visit this weekend so we went to SeaWorld one day.

We did have to visit the rides.

We had a fun time!

Angry Birds

2011-08-28T21:13:00.000-07:00

Who knew Blake would like Angry Birds so much?

Visit with Angie

2011-08-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

My friend, and former co-worker, Angie moved to Texas last year and was in town for a visit.

We were at Angie's aunt's house, who had a fake cow in her yard. We thought that was a natural spot for a picture.

It was really hot, but fun!

Blake loved the turtles.

Fireman Blake

2011-08-17T13:49:00.000-07:00

One of Blake's favorite books has a character named Fireman Joe. Blake found some boots and a helmet in his room just like Fireman Joe.

Donuts

2011-08-14T12:52:00.000-07:00

We made donuts the other day. I kind of think Blake liked them.

Joys of Forts

2011-08-14T12:43:00.000-07:00

We haven't ever built a fort with Blake, but the other day he decided that he was going to build a house, which may come before building a fort? He did remember to build his house with windows.

Fun Times

2011-08-03T13:20:00.000-07:00

This cute kid is going to have a..

My sister-in-law got this for the midget. Midget is due in November and Blake has no idea how much his little world is going to change. The midget is really long and during an ultrasound, he was completely stretched out so apparently he likes to make himself comfortable.

Water Gun Fight

2011-07-22T17:08:00.000-07:00

One of the joys of having uncles is having water gun fights.

Who encourage attacking Grandpa.

Blake was outnumbered and came away pretty wet, but I think he loved every minute.

LA Zoo

2011-07-19T21:22:00.000-07:00

We went to the LA Zoo today with Grandpa, Grandma, Seth and Kaleb.

The boys sure had fun and Blake had to sit just like Grandpa for the picture.

It was 90 something degrees, so some of the animals were hiding in the shade.

Wedding Time

2011-07-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Aaron's friend's sister got married yesterday and luck would have it that they were married in San Diego, with a reception only an hour from our house. We were busy chatting with the family so we didn't get many pictures, but here are the newlyweds.

Aaron with his buddy, Justin.

A Child's Prayer

2011-07-03T18:30:00.000-07:00

Michelle and I take turns giving the prayers in our house. Lately, however, Blake has insisted that it's his "turn" to say the prayer. So, we'll help him by having him repeat each sentence after us. He usually only gets the last word or two but he does a good job with those. Today, of course, was the exception (hence my urge to post about it).

As Michelle carefully said each sentence, Blake repeated the last few words but then included "Yep".

Michelle: "Please bless this food." Blake: "Food! Yep."
Michelle: "Thank you for Mommy and Daddy." Blake: "Mommy and Daddy! Yep."
Michelle: "Bless those in the military." Blake: "Yep"

Given the nature of a pray, most try to keep it pretty serious, but I really had a hard time keeping my laughter in check today.

YEP!

A little messy?

2011-07-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

You know when I do it, I get laughed at. But when Blake does it, it's cute. Not sure this life is very fair. :)

I hope this video inspires you to enjoy a nice cold smoothie.

Out of left field

2011-07-01T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, last night Blake starts singing and dancing, in and of itself it isn't all that crazy, he sings and dances all the time---must take after his uhhhh...... Mother :) But for the life of us, Michelle and I can't figure out where the words, tune, or dance came from. It may just be one of the mysteries that is never solved. But in the meantime---enjoy!

Swim Lessons

2011-06-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

We thought it would be a good idea to enroll Blake in some swim lessons this summer. Here he is on his first day.

Because of Blake's age, he is in the parent/child class, so Grandpa went the first day. My not-so-tough child pretty much cried the entire time.

So, day number 2 I went in and he did much better.

He loves to blow bubbles, but his favorite thing to do is to jump into the pool. He was the first to master the "swimming" part where I hold him on his belly, he scoops his hands and kicks. But he still hates being dunked in the water.

SeaWorld

2011-06-24T20:48:00.000-07:00

We went to SeaWorld this week and Blake's favorite thing were the rides. He wanted to go on the roller coasters, but he has many more years before he will be tall enough for them.

So we went on the same couple of rides over and over.

We did catch some shows as well.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

"Happy Father's Day, daddy"...that's what Blake said to wake up Aaron on Father's Day. I thought it was pretty cute.

Grandpa had fun celebrating Father's Day with his grandkids.

Memorial Day

2011-06-05T12:09:00.000-07:00

Rugrat has had a cold lately, so he hasn't been his normal high energy self.

He was still excited to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for Memorial Day and to see his cousins. The pool is in the processes of being redone, which created all sorts of added excitement. The kids especially liked the frog that they found in the pool.

Blake has been spending a lot of time on the scooter. He loves it. When he falls down, he immediately gets up and says, "I'm okay" and gets right back on the scooter.

Lisa's Wedding

2011-05-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

My cousin, Lisa, got married on Friday the 13th.

Is that why they had 2 freight trains and 1 commuter train go by during the ceremony?

Cute cake! Congrats guys!

Mother's Day

2011-05-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

While I was with my mom at a church event, all the boys went to Home Depot and made a flower pot. Blake's favorite color (right now) is purple, so he picked out a purple flower for me.

Pretty cute flower pot. Aaron, I mean, Blake did a great job.

Cycles

2011-05-10T10:39:00.000-07:00

Robert and Sarah came over for dinner the other week and brought Blake some motorcycles (or cycles, as Blake calls them). Blake tells me daily where Robert and Sarah sat at the table during dinner and that they gave him some cycles for a present.

After he opened the first motorcycle, he threw his arms in the air and yelled, "Cycle!" He loves his cycles and now thinks that any present has motorcycles in them.

Ice Cream

2011-04-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Baskin Robbins was having their 31 cents per scoop night, so we took a trip to get some ice cream. At dinnertime, Blake ate all his food and then wanted more, so I gave him some more. He then finished that food and wanted more. I told him that we were going to get some ice cream soon, so he said, "All done. Out"

To make the night even more fun, the fire fighters showed up, so we had to go visit. While visiting the fire truck a tow truck and a motorcycle drove by. Does life get any better?

Seth gave Blake a kiss good bye, so Blake said "Love you". I am pretty sure he was saying love you to Seth and not the fire truck.

Happy Easter and Happy Day Party

2011-04-25T10:27:00.000-07:00

We went over to my Grandma's house for an Easter egg hunt.

Blake was pretty excited to check out all the goodies.

But finding eggs is a lot of work, so Seth and Blake had to relax and read some books.

Then he opened some presents.

Happy birthday bud!

Fix It

2011-04-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Blake finds any excuse he can to fix things.

His scooter needed some fixing.

Easter Goodies

2011-04-25T10:15:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa sent Blake some Easter goodies.

Do you think he liked it?

Studying the New Recruits

2011-04-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

Aaron has somehow convinced Blake that it is really fun to watch film of BYU recruits.

Helping Grandpa

2011-04-19T13:53:00.000-07:00

We had a massive and super heavy desk in Blake's room and decided it was time to go. Since the desk was so heavy and we didn't want it anymore, Grandpa and Grandma came over to help us tear apart the desk. Blake was sooooo excited to use his tools. To make the day even better, while we were taking out the pieces of the desk to the dumpster, the trash truck came.

Blake had his whole bag of tools with him while they took apart the desk. I am pretty happy because we took the train table that was downstairs and put it in his room where the desk was. I love it and Blake clapped when we put the train table in his room. I guess a train table is more fun to have in your room than a desk.

Happy Day!

2011-04-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

Blake is 2 years old! We are celebrating his birthday next week, but he was able to open a couple of presents.

Tools from mom and dad

and some more tools, a tool bag, and a puzzle from grandma and grandpa. It was perfect that Blake had his own tools because on his birthday we had some repair guys out finally finishing up our master bedroom closet that had water damage (yep, it took 4 months for HOA to get their act together). He had to take some tools with him while he supervised the work that was going on.

Blake wanted some ice cream for his happy day, so Aaron made some ice cream for all of us. The next day we went to the doctor for his 2 year check up. Blake hates the doctor (must take after his mom). He is doing fine. He is in the 97th percentile for height and they project him to be about 6'2" when he is older. Sometimes kids say some great things huh? Recently Blake and I were visiting a lady in our ward at her house. Blake was playing on the ground with some trucks and put his hand on the floor and said "yuck...wipe". Her house is not the cleanist house. Did she hear Blake? Absolutely. Super. Earlier that day we were at Home Depot and Blake saw a bigger man with white hair and beard, so he said, "Santa!". The man told Blake that he wasn't Santa. Blake wasn't convinced, so Blake said, "Santa! Ho ho ho!"

Puzzle

2011-04-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

As mentioned before, Blake loves puzzles. Apparently he is pretty focused when he is working on the puzzle.

He can do the puzzles by himself. He will put pieces in the wrong place and then when he realizes that he will laugh and shake his head no.

Happy Birthday Grandpa

2011-04-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

My dad's birthday was yesterday. We worked on Blake telling Grandpa "Happy Day", which is his way of saying Happy Birthday. Right when Blake saw Grandpa he said it..perfect. All the grandkids had to help open some presents. Happy Birthday Dad!

My Aunt Patt, who lives in Montana, came down for the weekend and totally surprised my dad with a visit. Patt had to encourage Blake to smile because there was just so much going on. It was great to see you, Patt!

Playing

2011-03-22T12:45:00.000-07:00

We've been having less than perfect weather lately which has resulted in more time indoors.

But it hasn't bothered Blake too much because we still get to go outside...just not as long as usual.

So we get to read lots of books.

And play with fire trucks...every boys' dream.

Life is Rough

2011-03-22T12:09:00.000-07:00

Blake loves playing with his little puppets. He had the cute idea of putting them all around him and making sure they had a blanket.

Rough day for this kid huh?

Seth's Birthday Party

2011-03-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Seth turned 6 years old, so he had a party at the park.

Blake got to hang out with his uncle Robert. He even said "Robert" very clearly. Of course he was just teasing Robert when he called his name.

Blake just loves Sarah (Rob's girlfriend).

What a surprise that Blake was climbing. He climbs everything and he runs everywhere--he almost never walks.

23 Months

2011-03-20T10:26:00.000-07:00

Does he have a personality? What a character!

Blake is playing more on his own with his toys, but he really loves to put together puzzles and is actually pretty good at them. He still loves to read and has memorized a lot of his books so he will "read" along with me. His favorite number is 2 (right now) and everything is now the color black.

Blake Loves Grandpa

2011-03-06T11:44:00.001-08:00

These are all pictures that Grandma took, but I couldn't pass up the cuteness.

Home Depot

2011-03-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa took the grandkids to Home Depot to build a race car. You wouldn't guess it from Blake's face, but he loves hammers, screwdrivers, etc.

As much as he loves hammers, he doesn't have great aim, so Grandpa had to help.

After they finished building the cars, they got to race them.

Here is Blake's car...or should we say the car Grandpa made and Blake "helped" make. Thanks Grandpa!

Discovery Science Center

2011-02-18T16:59:00.000-08:00

Since the cousins didn't have school today, we went with them and Grandma and Grandpa to the Discovery Science Center.

A trip to a museum wouldn't be complete without "driving" something. Blake and Kaleb got to drive the Zamboni.

Seth did a pretty good job as the goalie.

Here are the buddies posing for a picture.

Grandpa was a great cashier.

22 Months

2011-02-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

Blake is now 22 months and happy to be back home. We all had a fun time in CO, but really do like this CA weather.

Our last day in CO.

Cousins

2011-02-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

Blake had lots of fun hanging out with his cousins. We celebrated Avry's birthday and Lexi's birthday.

Here is part of the gang waiting their turn to hit the pinata.

Blake and Mia were so funny together. While in the car, the two of them were in the back seat singing and laughing.

Lexi and Morgan loved Blake and did some gymnastics for us. Blake had to try and get in on the action and attempted a summer salt.

Natural Science Museum

2011-02-15T14:12:00.000-08:00

While in Denver, we took our little monkey to the Natural Science Museum.

We met up with Meesa, Avry, and Keely.

Blake liked seeing all the exhibits.

Especially the birds.

Skiing

2011-02-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons for our trip to CO was to go skiing, so here we are after a day on the slopes.

We went skiing with our friends, Jason and Karen. Thanks guys for the fun skiing!

Early Birthday Present

2011-02-15T13:41:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa gave Blake some books for his early birthday presents.

Thanks for the fun books...we have read them multiple times already!

Children's Museum

2011-02-15T13:29:00.001-08:00

While Aaron was skiing with his brother, Trevor, Blake and I went with Grandma to the Children's Museum. His favorite thing was the fire truck.

He also liked playing with the bubbles.

He also loved the trains.

Then we were back at the fire truck, but this time Blake's cousin, Bryan, had met up with us.

Tiffanie and Keagan also played on the fire truck with us.

Fun in the Snow

2011-02-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Denver this past week. We flew out a day earlier than originally planned in order to beat the big storm. Our first day there we took Blake outside to revisit the snow. He was bothered that his shoes disappeared in the snow.

He was pretty happy to be outside though...even if that happiness lasted only 10 minutes and then he wanted to go inside.

The rest of the trip he didn't ask us to go outside because he knew it was pretty cold.

A couple of days later it warmed up a little, so Blake helped Aaron shovel the driveway.

He thought he was pretty special.

Weights

2011-02-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

Blake is still hooked on lifting weights.

He even enjoys putting them back where they belong.

2011-01-22T12:44:00.000-08:00

Blake took a pretty good tumble the other day right on the cement.

But it didn't really bother him.

What bothered him more was me trying to cut his hair. Agh!! He takes after me and has a ton of hair and it grows super fast. Not a great picture of his hair, but trust me, his hair looks a lot better now.

Hide & Seek

2011-01-22T12:28:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before, Blake likes to play Hide & Seek. The other week Blake played it with his crazy cousins.

He learned how to cover his eyes and "count" (and by count I mean he just repeats "two" over and over because that is the only number he ever says).

But he only will hide for a couple seconds.

Christmas Present

2011-01-22T12:10:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I asked my mom if she could reupholster our dining room chairs. I liked them just fine, but they were white and I do not have a clean child so keeping them white was driving me nuts.

Here is the finished product. Turned out pretty good huh? Of course I have chairs that have piping around the edge, which would make it hard for me to do it because I have no skills, but my mom has tons of sewing skills.

Since there was some extra fabric left over, she made some pillows. We think they all look great. Thanks mom!

21 Months

2011-01-14T17:18:00.000-08:00

He woke up from his nap with a fantastic hairstyle.

He's been working out with us. Look at those abs!

While Blake was at Grandma/Grandpa's the other day, they went on a walk and saw 3 fire trucks at a neighbors house. One of the firefighters gave Blake a hat and a badge. Apparently he wasn't too excited about sitting in the fire truck, which is pretty shocking because he LOVES to sit in cars and to pretend like he is driving. Oh well, it still made his day and he later told us all about it (in his own gibberish).

Beach

2011-01-09T20:46:00.001-08:00

We had our annual turkey dinner at my great aunt & great uncle's beach house this weekend. Here are the happy cousins.

Whatever Seth is doing, Blake thinks he needs to do as well.

Life is good!

Funny Kid

2011-01-09T20:36:00.000-08:00

Blake still loves his scooter.

This morning I was reading the paper while eating breakfast. When I went to clean off the dishes, Blake sat in my chair and started reading the paper.

Playing

2010-12-31T20:41:00.000-08:00

He can be pretty serious when he is reading.

But then he will get distracted and try to eat the book.

I guess boxes are still fun toys.

Really?

2010-12-31T20:24:00.000-08:00

You remember these big fans from June 2009 at our house? Well, this year our disaster wasn't nearly what it was like last year. We were hit hard with some serious rain. We got 10 inches in 7 days, which is a lot for us. Anyway, our roof couldn't handle it. Thankfully we didn't have a big leak, it was just completely warped and water damaged. We didn't think breathing in mold would be a good idea, so out come the big fans.

It would've been too good of an idea to get a picture of the actual damage before they tore it up. The good news is this is covered by our HOA, but that means that we once again have to fight with our HOA to get things done.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-31T20:05:00.000-08:00

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Blake loved everything about Christmas and it was fun to have him like his toys more than the boxes/wrapping paper that he liked last year.

Blake had a motorcycle and an apple in his stocking...what was more exciting? Nothing beats food.

Blake loves his scooter. When Blake got on his scooter, he said "hat" (aka helmet). Bummer that Santa forgot to get a helmet, so a couple days later, we went and got a helmet.

What can we say other than Blake's aunts, uncles, and grandparents sure love him and got him some really fun toys.