Jake Justice - by popular demand

Here are a few pictures of baby Jake that Aunt Susan took during her visit this weekend. Oh - by the way Baby Jake has a new nick name - Jake Justice after his cousin Patrick's rescue hero.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Its a quiet day at our house today but we have so much to be thankful for this year - our two beautiful boys, our good health and of course are friends and family. We hope that you all had a nice and relaxing day as we did.

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving. It snowed here this morning so Kevin and Avery had a great time playing outside. We even broke out the sled for the first time this year!

Introducing Jacob Montgomery Blalock

Baby Jake and I had a restful stay in the hospital. We had a fabulous nurse, Flo, who hooked us up with a corner room with two big windows and a walk in shower. Having been through once before, I opted for an extra day in the hospital, put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door, and spent the extra day napping. This also gave Avery and extra day of TLC with Kevin's mom, Bebe, who thankfully has been staying with us for the last week.

Friday was our big coming home day and Bebe had plans to bring Avery to the hospital so we could make a big deal of the whole process. Avery woke up with a stomach bug and puked all over his bed. Kevin went home to check on him and after a few hours of cartoons and a couple of pieces of toast he thought maybe the little guy was okay. They packed up the car and got on the highway only to have Avery throw up all over the back of Kevin's car. Poor Kevin, this made his already stressful day even more stressful. So, I took another nap and Bebe came to get me a few hours later. Thankfully Avery was okay after he got up from his nap and we made it through our first day at home.

The weekend was relatively uneventful. We're not sleeping much at night but all in all the baby has been really good. We had a rough start with breast feeding in the hospital so we have been supplementing him with some formula. We go back to the doctor today so he can get weighed to make sure he is gaining weight. Avery has been great with the baby. He is very curious and so far has been really sweet and gentle with him. We have had a lot of support from Avery's daycare teachers as well as from Kevin's mom this past week. He has had so much extra attention the last few weeks I feel like the whole event has been very positive so far.

Here are a few more pics from the weekend. Thanks to everyone who has called, emailed and left us comments on the blog! It's great to hear from you!!

Baby Jake, taking a snooze at the hospital with his mom

Avery holding hands with Baby Jake and Bebe

Our first family pics

Baby Boy Blalock has arrived!!

Well, I got my early delivery afterall. Last night at 8:30 my waterbroke at home and our little guy was delivered at 11:20, just 12 hours before my schedule c-section. He was 7lbs and 2oz, 19.75" long. We're still working on a name. We'll update this post as soon as we decide.

Happy Halloween!!

Our little spider getting ready for trick or treating (posing next to Kevin's masterful jack 'o lanterns).

Avery making his big smile and me, ready to burst from being ssssooo pregnant. I thought there was a chance we could have a Halloween baby, but I was mistaken yet again!!

Face painting at Avery's friend Reese's birthday party last Sunday (a better day for me than yesterday as you can see).

Are we there yet?

In case anyone is wondering, there is still no sign of nutter one. Officially we have 13 days to go and the doctor is telling me there is little or no chance this little guy is coming any earlier. We are all ready, including Avery. He's been talking to and patting my belly on a nightly basis trying to coax his little brother out of the womb, but no such luck. Stay tuned over the next few weeks, we'll post the pictures as soon as he makes his appearance!

Day out with Thomas

Catching up on some pictures from this summer - here are some pictures of perhaps the most exciting day in Avery's life - a day out with Thomas the Tank Engine. Kevin took him to Stillwater, MN to see the life size Thomas engine and go for a ride on the train. He talked about it for weeks afterwards!!

Silly Fun with Patrick

Here are some pics of Avery and his big cousin Patrick playing at the Smith Memorial Playground in Philadelphia.

more fall fun

Getting Ready for Halloween

a nutter one

For those of you who haven't heard, we've got 'a nutter one' on the way, another baby boy due this November. For the last few months Avery's been watching my belly get really BBBIIIGGG! He assured us it was a 'big baby girl' in mommy's belly, but the ultra sound tech is pretty sure its another boy. The official due date is Novemeber 20th. My goal is to make it through Halloween and then #2 (as he is fondly called by his father) can make his appearance anytime before Thanksgiving. We'll keep you posted on the details.

Happy Summer

Its hard to believe its almost August! Its been a long time since we've posted anything but we have been busy riding bikes, catching bugs and going to the pool. Here are some pics from Avery's adventures this summer. You can see our little boy is not so little anymore!!

Cool Cat - hanging out at the splash pad

Big Boy Bike

4th of July - going to the parade with Reese

Avery's New Cousin

We made the trek to Wisconsin one last time before Matt and Ginger moved to North Carolina. Secretly I'm happy they are moving because now we can see them in a much warmer climate and we don't have to make the 4 hour drive across one of the most boring states in the country. Anyway, Avery had a great time with his cousin Lindsay and enjoyed watching the baby (when Lindsay wasn't guarding him). Lindsay got some juggling balls for her birthday and both of the kids LOVED watching Kevin juggle. I'm sorry I didn't get more pics, but here are is one of Ginger with the new baby and one of AVery imitating Kevin juggling.

More Birthday Pics

New Buzz Lightyear Pajamas from Pat-Kik (and a new haircut)
Showcasing his new gymnastics skills
Avery and his posse at his birthday party
Avery and Reese (his best friend) watering the flowers at his party

2 years = 2 weeks of celebration

Officially Avery turned 2 on April 22nd, but we've been celebrating his birthday for the last 2 weeks. The party started the weekend before his birthday when Bebe was visiting and just kept on going through this past weekend with a birthday party with our friends and neighbors. He LOVES to sing the Happy Birthday song. You can see in the picture below he is making his shy/happy face when all of his friends are singing to him. Luckily we've got lots of birthdays coming up this next month so he won't miss his new favorite song. Here are a few pictures from his party yesterday.

Avery's New Cousin

Kevin's sister, Ginger, had her baby last Friday April 27th. Michael Thomas Templeton was born at 3am, weighing in a 7lbs 5oz. Here's a link to there blog....

http://lindsaybeans.blogspot.com/

He's adorable, he looks just like his dad!

Mama House

Yesterday Avery saw a Mama Duck sitting on her nest outside of daycare. He's been working hard at putting two words together. He pointed out to Kevin the Mama Duck and Daddy Duck, it was very cute.

When I got home last night he insisted on eating his dinner on the front porch so we could watch the cars and bikes and airplanes. He was munching on his cheese and I asked him if he as a mouse. He looked at me and said "Avery Mouse." Then he pointed to Kevin and said "Daddy Mouse." Then he pointed to me and said "Mama House."

I'm not sure if he meant we were sitting outside of my house, or that I look like a house??

NUGGETS! NUGGETS!

Yesterday Kevin and I carpooled to work. We decided to treat ourselves and drive through Starbucks for some coffee. I gave Kevin my order and as he is going through all of the options with the barista (whole milk, 2% or skim, sugar, splenda or equal, etc) Avery starts shouting from the back seat, "Nuggets! Nuggets! Chick Nuggets!" Keep in mind it's 7:30 in the morning andKevin is totally frustrated with the barista, we just start cracking up.

Have we been going to McDonald's too much?

Palm Sunday at Aunt Susan's House

Avery and I had a fun trip to Aunt Susan's house for Palm Sunday weekend. Sadly my camera battery was dead so I didn't get a lot of pictures. Check out Mateo's blog for the play by play on our Easter Egg hunt with the boys....

http://babysantalucia.blogspot.com/2007/04/cousin-cuties.html

Happy Easter

Here are some pictures from our Egg Coloring activity on Sunday morning. Kevin named Avery the Hulk after we got done because his hands and forearms turned green from the Easter Egg Dye. He had a fun time with the dye, but he really got into it when he realized he could crack the egg shells on the table.

We are so happy that spring is finally here. We spent most of the weekend outside riding bikes and cleaning up the yard. We got new swings for the swing set and Avery likes to take turns on each one of the three new swings. We are looking forward to a big Easter Egg hunt at Aunt Susan's next weekend!!!

Happy Easter!!

Finger Painting

Is it spring yet?

Well, its March and in true Minnesota style we got a huge snowstorm last week. Here are some new pics of us playing in the snow.

Happy Valentine's Day

Kevin and Avery picked me up yesterday from work and Avery had a big red heart painted on the side of his cheek! Apparently Valentine's Day is a big day at daycare. On the other side of his car seat was a big brown lunch bag decorated with red and pink hearts and full of Valentine's from his friends. I was one of the only Moms not to send in Valentines for the other kids in his class! Luckily the teachers had some extras and they let him scribble on the back and they signed his name for him. I feel so guilty. Not only did I not send Valentines to school or to anyone else for that matter, I didn't even get all of my Christmas cards out this year. I guess as long as I am working in the Christmas department, you can write me off for all of the winter holidays, the problem is that the winter holidays are really the only ones that count. Ugh!

Wintertime Workout Avery Style

Well, its been below zero about here for over a week so we have been scrounging for things to do around the house (and ways for Avery to burn some energy). Here's a short video of his new workout regimine.