Blake's 9 Month Pictures

Since my last post was so long, I decided to make a separate post for Blake's 9 month pictures I took.  Nolan was my photog assistant this day!  Blake is becoming super hard to photograph because of his mobility and decreased attention span.  I managed to capture a few good ones though.

Blake was too interested in the outdoors to focus on my camera or me for that matter.  He kept picking up the grass and leaves then putting them in his mouth!  Gross.  Once I had him back inside, the old faithful spot, Blake worked his magic for the camera.

My handsome little man!

Blake's 9 Month Well Check

Blake saw Dr. Hulsen for his 9 month well check today.  Blake is moving right along through his milestones.  I had to fill out a questionnaire today regarding Blake and it is amazing all the things I take for granit that my baby does.  For example, picking objects up with finger and thumb, saying "dada", hitting objects together, crawling, pulling self up, standing with support, putting food to mouth, acknowledging his name when spoken to.  Plus several more.

Blake weighed 19lbs 5.5oz, which places him in the 30th percentile for weight and measured 27 1/4in, which places him in the 20th percentile for height.  Blake may not be big, but he is mighty.  Dr. Hulsen did not see any reason for concern because Blake is doing what a normal 9 month old does, is growing and happy!

I snapped a few pictures of Blake during his well check today.  He is all boy!!  Constantly on the move from one thing to the next.

Like I said, Blake is on the move!!  My baby made his army crawl debut on July 8th.  Blake was tired of waiting for someone to get his toy for him, so he made the move and went for it!  Now there is no stopping him.  Nolan and Carter think it is hilarious to watch Blake maneuver his way around the house.  Blake wants to keep up with his big brothers already!  While Nolan and Carter were napping this weekend, Blake army crawled over to the gate on the staircase and pulled himself up!! I couldn't believe it!! He kept yelling up at the stairs too! I think he wanted his brothers to wake up and come play with him.

My happy little man now has 1 and a 1/4 teeth!  Tooth letter O is almost fully in and tooth letter P is 1/4 of the way in.  Blake is still not interested in solid foods, Cheerios gag him.  He will eat squash and sweet potato in baby food, but not a fan of anything else.  I have to start offering him water in a sippy cup as well as breastmilk still.  Dr. Hulsen said Blake will eventually like food and will probably bypass baby food and go straight to table food when he has enough teeth.

Blake still likes to wake up 3 times a night to eat, but I am used to his schedule by now!  I have to keep some meat on his bones.  He only took a paci for about a week and went back to chewing on it, which makes me nervous he will choke on it in the middle of the night, so I took it away.  Blake does love to chew on his burp cloth especially with all the teething he is doing at the moment.

Blakey boy brings so much laughter and happiness to our family of 5!! Happy 9 months baby boy.  We love you.

Family Photos

The most recent family photo we have with my parents was when Nolan was only 15 months old.  So when I saw our photographer, Sherry Rosenberger, was holding mini sessions on June 11th I jumped on the opportunity to update our family photo collection.

We went around nap time and it was pretty hot outside.  Nolan and Carter did NOT want their pictures taken at first, but Sherry worked her magic and managed to get a few smiles out of the boys.  Blake was his chill, happy self and did great for the photos.

Below are my favorites from the day, but it was definitely hard to choose just a few.

A Camping We will Go

I cannot think of a more American way to celebrate America's birthday than to go camping.  And this past weekend that is exactly what we did!!  Papa and Nana had been camping in Carlyle and we decided to join them.  I'm not going to lie, I was hesitant at first with Blake being so young and the campsite being right on Carlyle Lake.  My parents good friends, the Millburgs and the Coopers, were camping too.  In the end everyone had a great time!!

Friday afternoon, the main attraction when we first arrived were the hummingbirds!  They were insane.  I could only capture a photo of one, but at times there were ten different hummingbirds fighting over the feeder!  Joe and Dena had to refill the feeder several times a day to keep up with the demand of the hummingbirds!!

There were so many fun things to do while camping!  Nolan and Carter enjoyed riding bikes, swimming, fishing, playing in the dirt, roasting marshmallows, and relaxing.  The boys (including Bill) were in their element for sure! 

Nolan liked practicing his casting skills.  He has become really great at casting.  Too bad he didn't catch any fish while we were there.

Carter loved playing in the dirt with his trucks and tractors.  He would sit and play for an hour or so, talking to himself and making ponds and roads.

The weather was absolutely perfect, which led to a smooth transition for everyone.  Blake hung out in his pack-n-play while outside and if he became tired I would take him inside for a nap.  Blake loved being outside!!

Papa, Nolan, and Carter invented a game.  One would hold the noodle up while the other blows to see who can blow the water bottle the farthest.  This entertained the boys for quite awhile.

We decided to try out the swimming pool, but it was in the evening and way too chilly.   Nolan, Carter, Papa, and Bill went into the pool and swam around for a bit.  Carter was so cold his teeth were chattering and he couldn't talk.  I made the boys get out and warm up after only a half an hour in the pool.

After the boys were dried off and warm again it was time for s'mores before bed.  YUMMY!!  Nolan kept sneaking the chocolate without the marshmallow and graham crackers.  Carter wasn't fond of anything to do with the s'more and only wanted to throw sticks in the fire, which I quickly put a stop to.

On Saturday more fishing, relaxing, and playing took place.  KK and James came down to visit too.  Bill and Papa went to Wal-Mart to buy their fishing licenses and some stink bait.  Carter wanted to know what Papa was going to put the "peanut butter" on.  Joe told Carter to smell the "peanut butter" and Carter yelled, "cah cah that's poop!!" 

While Carter was taking a nap, Nolan and Blake enjoyed the scenery in Papa's hammock.

Nana and Carter built a pond together.  Carter had a lot of fun and was covered in mud by the end of playing.

Blake was such a great baby!! He loved being outside,  Here he is playing with daddy and getting "so big."  Oh yea, his little tooth popped through so you can kind of see it in one of his pictures.

Dena wanted to take pictures by the lake, which was about ten feet from the campsite.  Nolan, Nana, KK, and myself posed for a couple of shots.

My Poot, maxin' and relaxin' in his comfy chair.

The Millburg's dog, Rudy, was Blake's guard dog!  Hanging out by his pack-n-play keeping Blake entertained.  Blake wanted to grab her so bad.  He kept pushing on the screen to try and reach her.

Saturday night ended with a Bocce Ball game, courtesy of the Coopers.  First round we played teams and second round after dinner it was becoming dark, so we played elimination Bocce Ball.  Kelby nailed Papa's grill lid and left a huge dent in it.  I couldn't stop laughing.  The grill was in the middle of no where and Kelby nailed it.  Like Cooper said, "making memories with this dent."  The winning team consisted of Bill, James, Kelby, and myself.  Joe was the sole winner of the elimination round.

Our camping trip went so incredibly well, our next big purchase will most likely be a camper for next summer.  Nolan, Carter, and Bill had such a great time.  I might as well become used to this type of stuff having a family of all boys!!  I will admit, I did enjoy myself.  It brought back lots of memories from when I was a kid and we went camping as a family all the time!!