our quiet little christmas

This was our Christmas tree. I didn't want to put too much on the tree because I wasn't sure if Blake would mess with the tree or not. He did take a few ornaments off, but after we told him "no" a few times, he got it. Vegas had a blast playing with the wrapping paper and twist ties that came off our presents.


This was the first present we gave him. I was expecting him to try to open it, but he didn't really get it. I had to open it for him.


We had gotten him a couple different "shows" to watch, to add more variety... You can see the look on his face... he rather keep watching "Meemo" (Finding Nemo) or "Lightning" (Cars... oops, just said it out loud to check the spelling with Adam and Blake heard and wants to watch it now.)


Blake also go a magna-doodle. I figured this would be something he could take to church.


The BEST present was this bus. He just LOVES buses, we have a bus stop in front of our house and he gets the biggest kick out of watching the bus and says "bye-bye bus" w hen it drives away. He plays with it all the time. He also got a train table. We figured he'd like to drive his cars on it instead of the window sills... He still likes the window sills, *sigh* and he likes to stand on the train table, *double sigh*. He's stood on it more that 3 times writing this.

This just makes Adam and I about pee our pants:

We kinda think he looks like Mater in this picture.

We kinda got off to a late start this year. We put up our tree on Dec. 23rd. One of the traditions that I want to start is only getting Blake (and future kids) 3 presents each, like the Savior received. It's harder to do that you would think, but I don't want presents to be the focus of Christmas.

On a side note, Blake is such a smart kid. We say "one" and instead of repeating us, he says "two". It's really hard to not laugh when we try to count to three in a warning... We are trying to teach him colors and numbers and the alphabet. He already knows that a bus is yellow.

He also said "no" in answer to every question we've asked him. We have been working on it and now he says "no-yesss" and nods his head. Sometimes he catches himself and answers with a "yes" and a nod when he really wants something.

He had his first day of nursery today and he did so well. He cried a little when I dropped him off but warmed up after a few minutes. It didn't hurt that they had a bus in there. He had snacks and made a noodle necklace.

fuzzy fur feet

I have a couple pair of these fuzzy, warm socks that I like to wear in the winter. Blake LOVES soft fuzzy things, he hugs them and kisses them. It's kinda cute. So when I had my fuzzy socks on, Blake kissed my feet. It was kinda cute. So I ended up putting them on Blake. He loved it! He just sat on the couch, watching Veggie Tales and kissing his feet.
Adam says that we need to get him a pair of boy fuzzies, so he's not wearing my pink ones...

i'm not complaining, promise!

I'm totally lame, I apologize. I really should be updating/posting more often.
Anyways, that aside, the latest news is:

I applied for and got a job in the fast track in the ER with actual HOURS! Honestly, the ER wasn't the first place that I wanted to work at. I originally wanted to work in ICU (intensive care) and be able to really take care of (really) sick patients and learn. Before we moved, I had my rose colored glasses on that we'd move to this new place and we'd have an awesome new house and I'd get whatever job I applied for, because, let's face it, I. Am. Awesome. While it's true that I am really awesome... It's was very foolish to expect that everything would be great and just work out.
I have to preface this by saying that our time in North Carolina WAS great and everything DID just work out. Adam and I have come to realize that it was because that's where we were supposed to be. In hindsight, moving to Maryland probably wasn't the choice that we SHOULD have made. Adam and I say that Cherry Point is the black hole of the Marine Corps, and we were a little obsessed about getting stuck there. So we pretty much jumped at the opportunity to get out of there while we could.
Since moving here, the only thing that went really well was selling our house (I'm not going into all the details because it's tedious and I promised not to complain). The only position that I was able to get was a "float" position with no guaranteed hours. I took it because at least it was something. But after I was oriented, I was put on call like 99% of the time, which means I didn't work. My boss offered to cross train me in the ER as a way for me to get some hours in. I agreed and started cross training there. It's a lot different that what I was used to, but everyone there was really nice and helpful.
The more I worked there, the more I liked it. More so because the staff was great and fun to work with. When the Director told me that there would be some positions opening up, I decided to apply. It was amazing to me that the staff was excited about me applying and actually wanted me to get the job, especially some that I didn't really spend too much time with. I guess I really am awesome, huh? So KIDDING!
What I really would like to do is go back to school and eventually get my Masters. I just don't have a clue which specialty I want. And it just doesn't seem like the right time.
So for now, here's to making lemonade!

finally! a haircut!

Adam and I kept saying that we needed to get Blake's haircut and it was getting longer and longer. Finally we took him in and couldn't believe how long his hair was! He did really well and he's super cute!

a vist with cousin april

My brother had April 2 weeks before Blake. This is the first time they met and they got along really well.



My brother calls this her "Popeye" grin.


I couldn't resist getting pictures of their naked bums.

faces of Blake

So Cute

I see you!

I don't know what he's doing here, but it's cute.

So is this one.

coming home with the goods

Lately when I come home from grocery shopping, Blake wants to get into the bags too. So Adam and I hand him the bag with the cans in it and he sits there and takes out each can one by one. Then we have him "help" Dad put them away. It's nice because we can put the rest away without him getting into everything.

Poor baby is cutting 3 molars, so he's been a little cranky. And yes, Adam is in his jammies.

popcorn!

Daddy sharing his popcorn with Blake:


You can see that Blake has grabbed more than one...


At least he cleans up his messes.

playing catch up

I'm really bad about updating my blog, I apologize.
So here's what's new with us, starting with the little one:

Blake: will be 16 months on 10/21. He is running all over the place. He still takes 2 naps a day for me, but only gets in one at daycare. He is getting his 1 year molars and has been tolerating it pretty well. He had an ear infection about a week ago, and we didn't even know it. He absolutely loves buses, trucks, airplanes and helicopters. He really loves the freedom of being outside. He can climb up and down on the couch now. He manages to get Adam's cell phone and has called me and Adam's mom. (Adam refuses to "lock" the phone) We're hoping he doesn't end up calling China one of these days. He says a bunch of words like hello - helwoah, oops - uts, oh man -oh me, uh oh, juice, Dad, meow, yay yeah, go, ball, amen, nap time, and bed time.

Heather: I'm working PRN (as needed) at the hospital here. Most of the time I'm scheduled, but they call me off and I end up not working. It sucks. So I'm trying to learn to work in different areas of the hospital, so I'll have a better chance of getting some hours. It's getting about the time that the chest pains/flu/pneumonia's start coming in, so maybe things will pick up and I'll be able to work more. It's sad, but true.

Adam: He has been starting to travel for work. He will be going to Arizona the end of this month and to San Diego in December. He recently got his bass fixed (not the guitar kind) and found his music, so he has started playing a little. He also has a couple cars in the garage to work on. He also has been enjoying watching Veggietales Silly Songs with Blake.

disney

Animal Kingdom was my favorite park. We got to see most of the main character and had a lot of fun. The best part was that the weather held out the whole time we were there, only raining on us as we were walking back to our room.

When Blake first saw Mickey, he thought he really was an animal, so he ran right up to him and Mickey took his hand.

You can see the look on his face... I don't know about this...

He also went right up to these bears (I don't know their names) and after that he was more interested in walking around.

We made Blake take a picture with us and Goofy and then let him go play.

Adam chased Blake around while I had my picture taken with Minnie...

And Donald...

Then we went on the Safari and saw the rhino...

The hippo's...

And the giraffe...

And the elephant. Blake feel asleep on this ride.

This is the rapid ride that we went on after the safari and I got DRENCHED! It took all day to dry out... My advice, go on this ride at the end of the day OR bring a towel and change of clothes.

The first day we went to Magic Kingdom, rode the Peter Pan ride, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, It's a small world... Blake fell asleep on that too. The next day was Animal Kingdom, then Epcot after that. I only spent a couple hours there and then went back to the room to let Blake have a good nap. It was the rainiest day of the week. Then we went to Hollywood Studio's the last day and had lots of fun riding the Aerosmith roller coaster and the Tower of Terror. It was a great week. We only wish we had a little more time to relax by the lazy river.

surprise!!!

We just had a trip to Disney World and we took our friend from NC and her daughter. We didn't tell her daughter where we were going because she would bug her mom with countdowns everyday for months. She is almost 12, but very gullible. We told her we were going to Myrtle Beach, but had to take the "long" way around. When she saw we were in Florida, she asked why and Adam told her it was because he had to visit his Grandma before we got to Myrtle Beach. She totally believed us. So she just went on looking out the window, not paying any attention at all. We were in the turning lane to turn into Disney and she still wasn't paying attention. So I grabbed the camera, had it pointed at her and asked her to look where we were turning... Here's her reaction:







She was more upset that EVERYONE else knew about it and she didn't. We had been planning the trip since January and no one told her. It was a great surprise.

mr. big stuff

Recently Blake figured out how to climb onto the couch and boy was he proud of himself. His babysitter says that he's brave... not always in a good way. More like he's fearless, which translates into getting hurt. So far, though, it hasn't been too bad. Of course I grabbed the camera to document the occasion and I was watching him to make sure he didn't fall, but there were pillows on the floor just in case.

Can you see the huge smile on his face? You may have to click on the picture.

*I was originally going to post this sooner with more pictures, but blogger wasn't cooperating, oh well.

dumb and dumber or high five?

What do you think should be the title of this blog post? I vote for dumb and dumber, Adam's vote is for high five. We had this box left from something and put it on the chair in the kitchen. Vegas loves boxes and as you can tell, she's actually climbed in there. I thought it was really funny just seeing her head popped out of the box. I had Adam keep Blake away until I could get the camera.


You can see her watching the little fingers creeping closer...


Adam is delusional if he thinks Vegas is trying to give Blake a high five... It's more like get the heck away from me!


And she's had about enough...