Blake is 11 Months Old

Blake is 11 months old, so close to being ONE.  I weighed and measured Blake at home since his well visit isn't until October 9th.  Blake weighed 21 pounds and measured 28 inches long. Blake has 4 teeth; two on the top and two on the bottom.  Blake says, "dada", "mama", "nana", and waves bye-bye.  He is a crawling machine and is starting to show interest in walking.

Blake has been pulling up onto things and now likes to furniture cruise.  Blake likes it the best when someone is able to hold his hands so he can walk, but if no one is around he will crawl up to anything standing, pull himself up, and cruise from object to object.  Blakey boy thinks he is big stuff when he does this.  He laughs so hard when we act surprised to see him standing and furniture cruising like a big boy.  No steps on his own yet, but I'm not rushing it!!  He's growing so quickly already.

I could hardly take a picture of him without his pacifier in his mouth.  This little dude has developed quite the personality (attitude).  I foresee Blake and Carter's strong personalities butting heads even more in the future.  If Blake wants something or doesn't like something he lets you know!!  Even though he is developing a personality, Blake is still the sweetest, laid-back, happy little boy!

Blake loves being outside, whether he is on a stroller ride, swinging, or crawling in the grass.  Blake is all boy.  He loves to play with his big brothers' cars, motorcycles, and tractors.  Blake will imitate the vehicles noise and push it around the house.

Happy 11 months precious baby boy!

Carter's 3rd Birthday Party!

This Saturday, we celebrated Carter's 3rd birthday.  Carter chose John Deere tractors to be the theme of his party this year, so yellow and green it was.  Instead of cake I decided to have cookies and brownies.  Cookie Girl Delight out of Litchfield made Carter's cookies.  I know it's hard to imagine, but the cookies tasted even better than they looked!!! Yummy.   I did purchase a cupcake to put a candle in for Carter to make a birthday wish and then blow out.

Before the party started, and Carter got something on his shirt, I wanted to take some pictures.  Carter being the crazy man that he is, didn't want his picture taken.  I may or may not have bribed Carter with a cookie, but in the end I believe I captured his silly personality along with his dimple.

Carter picking out his cookie for taking pictures.  Nolan had to have one too.

 Once all the guests arrived for the party, plates and bellies were filled.  Lots of delicious food was eaten and the kiddos had fun playing outside.  It was time to open presents, but Carter had to be drug inside first.  He did not want to stop playing with his friends, but when he came in and saw the pile of presents he changed his mind.

Carter received a ton of great presents and by the end of the night he had played with them all.  Carter is a very loved little boy and we are so blessed to have such great family and friends to spoil him.

Carter is obsessed with wearing boots of any kind.  Recently his trusty yellow rain boots sprung a leak because he wore them so much.  Carter's favorite color is orange, so orange rain boots he received.  

Carter became very shy when everyone gathered around to sing happy birthday to him.  He was very cautious about blowing out the candle too.  Thank goodness his buddy Emmett stood by his side and helped him out.  Carter blew the candle out on his second try!!

After once more of stuffing ourselves, but with sweets this time, outside the kids went.  Back to the bounce house.  They had to work all the sugar off!

After everyone left, Carter came back in to play with his toys once more before bed.

A huge thank you to everyone who came to Carter's party and helped him celebrate turning 3!!  He doesn't officially turn 3 until the 19th, so I won't be too emotional in this post!!

The Barbershop

For the past several years, Bill and I have been looking for a place to go for the boys to receive great haircuts.  Going back home every 2-3 weeks to have Nana provide haircuts just isn't realistic.  We've tried Sports Clips, Fantastic Sams, and have even dabbled in our own skills (usually ending in a buzz).

I've heard great things about Eaker's Family Barbershop downtown and decided to try it out. Kari, the 3rd generation owner of the barbershop, is great!  It's old school at this shop.  Cash only, which I didn't have so she said, "oh just bring it by whenever you have the time!"  I was floored by the customer service and nostalgia of the shop.  

Carter and I were by ourselves since the other two were napping.  I let Kari know I was going home to grab my other boys and would be back to pay her, for Carter and two more haircuts.  Bill had just recently lost a battle with the clippers at Sports Clips, so he was awaiting for his hair to grow back out before receiving a cut.

Blake and Nolan had their haircut by Courtney, a new barber at the shop.  Kari would have customers waiting for up to 2 hours for their haircuts, and they waited because she is that great.  Kari only takes walk-ins and decided it was time to hire another barber to help decrease the wait time for customers.

Nolan takes his haircuts very seriously.

 What a cool experience at Eakers Family Barbershop!

Half Century of Progress

On August 27th Nolan, Papa, Poppy, Joe, and Bob went to the Half Century of Progress show in Rantoul, IL.  The show consisted of vintage to recent farm equipment covering the past 50 years.  The grounds for the show took place at Rantoul Air Force Base, which meant a lot of acreage to cover in a small amount of time.  Golf carts and ATVs were suggested to be brought so the entire grounds could be experienced in one day.  Papa loaded up his Kubota and off the guys went.

I was nervous allowing Nolan to travel so far away from me, but Papa and Joe assured me they would take care of my baby boy.  Papa said Nolan needed the "guys trip" experience too.  Nolan enjoyed the car ride.  He kept the guys entertained by reading the map and giving directions.  Poppy and Joe were super impressed with Nolan's reading skills!!  Reading 3 books a night for the past 4 years has paid off.

Papa was great about keeping me updated with pictures and texts throughout the day.  Nolan had a lot of fun and came back full of information.  

Papa's Kubota was equipped with a "custom" bus seat in the back for Nolan and Joe to ride on.

Lined up and watching demonstrations of the farm equipment.  Nolan said he threw a corn cob out into the field and the machine ate it!

Here is a video to show how many people were at the show!!

It was time for lunch and Nolan opted for a corn dog the size of a small animal.  He ate the entire thing and laid down for a cat nap.

Nolan informed me, "There are green tractors with yellow and those are John Deere, but guess what.  The all green tractors, those are called Olivers!"

Nolan was brought back safe and sound at the end of the day.  He was super excited to sort through the pictures Papa had sent me and explain what was happening in each photo.  My baby boy is growing up and becoming so independent.  Thanks to Papa, Joe, Poppy, and Bob for allowing Nolan to tag along.