First Steps

You really can't capture someone walking in a picture, which is why we also have video of it. But Mr. Davis took his very first steps today! We are so proud of him. He will take about 3 before tipping over. I was so excited when he did this! Now I don't think he'll be toddling around here anytime soon since he doesn't seem to have any interest in doing it on his own. Only when I stand him up & then he'll come. But it's a step in the right direction :)

What's in a Name?

Coincidentally, right as my friend made a comment asking if we'd thought of names, the subject was actually on my mind. So I thought I'd put a little snippet up here about it. What a struggle this has been for me! Usually at this point I am dead set on a name. Assuming we were having a boy, we both agreed on Bennett Clark Blankenship. Isn't that name awesome? So strong and successful sounding. I could picture him with some high power job. BUT, when we found out it was actually a girl, we were at a loss. Not that we haven't thought about it. We have a few names, but none that we both love. I want Perry, but Lane says it's a no go. He wants Leighton, but I'm not sure about it. Not that I don't like it. I did come up with it, but later came up with Perry which I liked better :) ANYWAY, we have since thought of a couple more, but are still wondering what the final name will be. I guess I'm kind of picky. I mean, when I hear different names, I like them, but I think to myself, I don't like them for my family, you know? If you have any ideas, let me know. I'm definitely open for suggestions. I apparently tend to go with surnames. That was not planned, but is how it ended up. It's not mandatory though. So there you go. That is where we're currently at with the name game.

Gender Revealed!

Looks like we'll be seeing more pink around here pretty soon! I have to say I was completely shocked. I really thought it was a boy. But I am very happy to welcome another little lady into the family!

Wanna Know What We're Having?

 

So do we, but we have to wait til Thursday! 

I had my ultrasound appointment today, but I'm having a gender reveal cake made & it won't be ready until Thursday. I figured Lane had to work anyway and it would be fun to have Elliot be there to find out as well, so two more days won't kill us.

Doctor says everything looks great. No concerns. However I gained 6 pounds since my last appointment! I think the correct term for that would be Holy Cow! For me that is a TON to gain in 1 month this early on. When I first stepped onto the scale & saw the number, I said, "Wait a minute, I'm taking my shoes off!" That took off 2 pounds, but still! I don't think I look bad or anything, just surprised. My doctor said if I gain that much by my next appointment, then we'll see what's up. Hopefully I will lose weight next time.

Anyway, to tide you over until Thursday night, here are some sono pics that I thought were especially cute.

 Isn't that profile precious?

 Here's a foot.

 A thumbs up.

 And a hand.

The sono tech kept going on about how perfect the baby was cooperating & how great the profile shots were. I'm a proud mama :)

Elliot is 3

Elliot woke up this morning to balloons in her room. I woke up to crying because there were balloons in her room. She was ok once I explained the reason for them being there. I chalk it up to her staying up too late last night. But she is very much a creature of habit and likes things in their place.

Anyway, we went to get donuts this morning. She said she wanted a pink one and I told her that there may not be one, but low and behold she got her wish! Mission accomplished.

 We had a carnival themed party. As the days went by this week the chance of rain increased. By last night, it was 70%. I was for sure expecting things to get rained out, which would have been a disaster since everything was outdoors. But the rain held off and there was even a light breeze, so it worked out perfectly. I didn't take any pictures during the actual party because I was running around. I wish I had. I loved the way everything turned out. I'm not going to lie, it was a ton of work! I have been preparing for the past 4 months. But I could really tell the kids had a good time, so it was all worth it.

 Games: bounce house, balloon animals, photo booth, tattoos, face painting, crazy cans, ring toss, win a fish, and bowling. A HUGE thank you to my family for working these games. I know that's not their idea of fun when they come to someone else's party. It won't happen again! I really wish I had taken some pictures of the kids playing the games. They were really eating it up. Especially the balloon animals. That was kind of a last minute add on. We found out Lane's sister Aly is a pro at them, so we asked her if she wouldn't mind doing that. It was definitely the hit of the party.

 Concessions. Don't mind the giant box of Huggies under the table. It was full of refills for the food.

 Food: popcorn, animal crackers, pretzels, peanuts, gumballs, lemonheads, peppermints, whirly pops, cotton candy, licorice ropes, and cupcakes.

 There really wasn't enough to room to fit everything on the table, so things weren't displayed too well and we had to have the drinks on another table.

 She was so happy to finally have people sing HER happy birthday. We've been to a lot of parties this summer & she's always singing to someone else.

Here are some photo booth pictures...

 We took our pictures after everyone had left, so we don't get the same back drop.

Once everyone had left, we cleaned up and put everything back in it's place. Then we went to lunch at a local place called Buttermilks. After that, it was nap time. Then dinner & the opening of presents.

Elliot got so many wonderful gifts. This is her opening her Lightning McQueen car. She just knew that Grammy got her one. I'm telling you, the kid is obsessed. She played with it the rest of the night. Whew! What a day.

Elliot Stats:
Height- 37.4"--52%
Weight- 28lb 4oz --25%

The Circus is in Town

For Elliot's birthday, we took her to the circus. That was our present to her. The last time she went, she was in the womb. It worked out perfectly that they had a show the day before her party, which was carnival themed. We let her pick out 1 toy & 1 treat and I have to say I was pleased with her choices. I thought for sure she'd get one of those cheap light up toys, but instead she picked an elephant. And for her snack, she chose a snow cone. Also a good choice because it came in a souvenir cup that I know she'll love to use.  She had a great time and woke up this morning saying how fun it was. Success!

Birthday Survey

Elliot is 3! Every year I'm going to ask her these 20 questions. I loved hearing what she had to say. She's never really been able to answer detailed questions before so this was interesting.

1. What is your favorite color?  Pink
2. What is your favorite toy? Lightning McQueen

3. What is your favorite fruit?  Blueberries
4. What is your favorite tv show?  Caillou
5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Chicken Nuggets
6. What is your favorite outfit? Lightning McQueen shirt
7. What is your favorite game? Cars  Memory game
8. What is your favorite snack? Fruit Snacks
9. What is your favorite animal?  Panda Bear
10. What is your favorite song?  I love You (Barney)
11. What is your favorite book?  Bears in the Night by Stan and Jan Berenstain
12. Who is your best friend?  Eleanor (Cousin)
13. What is your favorite cereal?  Cheerios

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Sidewalk chalk
15. What is your favorite drink?  Juice (sodas)
16. What is your favorite holiday?  Halloween
17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Rollo (her bear)
18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Pancakes
19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Pizza (she wasn’t quite sure on this one)
20. What do you want to be when you grow up?  A mean witch (LOL…she’s thinking about Halloween)

New Car

Last Friday on a whim, Lane decided to sell his car. It was SO time! It was a '98 Dodge Avenger. In case you don't remember what those look like, see picture below. It's been having issues & that day we took it to 2 different shops to be worked on. So he posted it on Craigslist and to our surprise, got a call 10 minutes later! That person showed up at our house 30 minutes later and after about an hour, drove off with the car. Wow, that was too easy. What a relief.

 Now we were down to 1 car. No big deal. Lane worked nights (7pm-8am), so I would have one if I needed it during the day. We decided we should go ahead and get a loan set up so we'd be ready when we found a car. We went in 1st thing on Monday, submitted everything & waited. We didn't find out until Tuesday afternoon that things were good to go. I know everything sounds like it's flowed so well, but with Lane working nights, he needs to sleep during the day and that wasn't really happening too much. So he was using a lot of his sleeping time to look at cars and make phone calls, etc. He was pretty much hallucinating by the time today rolled around. We did find a car and what was thought to be a simple process of the credit union transferring the money over, turned into a nightmare that lasted ALL. DAY. LONG. I won't even go into the details because it's so frustrating & I still don't even fully understand it. But by the grace of God, I drove home in our new car, while Lane drove straight to work. Poor guy!

2010 Dodge Journey

Sorry for the poor quality, but it was too late to get a good shot by the time I got home. The color is listed as blue, but it really looks grey. I love it! It reminds me a lot of our old Jeep by the way it looks on the inside & out. This car however seats 7, so there will be plenty of room. I really hope it's a good car for us.

Davis' 1st Trim

It was so time to give our little guy a trim. His hair was so far over his ears it was ridiculous. We didn't cut any other part of his hair.

 Before shot- I realize the top of his hair is crazy, but he just woke up from a nap. Just notice the hair around his ears. I am in LOVE with this picture. Just look at that mug. Precious!

After shot- All I can say is--Poor Child! Lane insisted on cutting and boy did it turn out HORRIBLY! I was so mad. I kept telling him not to cut too high and of course he didn't listen. Good thing boy hair grows out quickly. Next time I will be cutting or we will take him in somewhere because this is NOT ok.

Davis at 10 Months

Davis is 10 months today! He is growing so much! About a week after I posted about him being 9 months, he started crawling. He's a pro now and I wouldn't be surprised if he is walking before his birthday. The only reason I say that is because he walks really well holding onto my fingers. I don't even lift any of his body weight and he has the motion down perfectly. He also cruises really well. He's pretty good at giving five. I've tried to get him to clap, but he's more of a knee slapper at the moment. Since crawling he has gained a little more independence. If I go into another room, a few seconds later he will show up. And sometimes he takes off by himself & goes into his own room to play. I don't interrupt him when this happens because I want him to learn how to play on his own. I've also started to close the bathroom doors because for some reason that is where he wants to be. He doesn't even mind if it's pitch black in there. I tried giving him stage 3 foods yesterday. He did fine with the fruit, but the meals he had a hard time with. I gave him lasagna & he didn't know what to do with the noodle pieces. So I guess I'll have to switch back to stage 2 for those. He is still part monkey, using his feet to feed himself & play with his toys. It's so weird! And at the moment his favorite books are Barnyard Dance & Moo, Baa, LaLaLa, both by Sandra Boynton.

 He really loves playing in Elliot's room. The kitchen is his favorite.

 Just chillin while dad gives him a ride. I thought he would laugh or something, but no, this is all we got.

 Practicing his walking skills.

This is his bad habit. He is constantly pulling off the protective stripping we have along the fireplace. It has pretty much lost its stick.

Hillbilly Teeth

No need to buy those comical hillbilly teeth because my kids have the real deal. Ok, so it's not that bad :) If you're looking at Elliot, her front right tooth on the right corner is chipped. And today I noticed that Davis' front left tooth on the bottom middle is chipped. Both due to falling down. Ugh! Thank goodness they're baby teeth, but they still have a LONG time to go before they start losing teeth. Unless of course they fall hard enough to knock one out, which at the rate we're going is very possible for my children. Luckily you really don't notice either one, but as they get bigger you probably will. Very annoying as a mother who wants her kids to look nice.

Swim Lessons Complete

Swim lessons are finally over. We did the late session this year so that Elliot could be in a class without me. She of course loved it. Although I think the rec center does a great job & 8 classes are only $30, I think next year I'm going to pay more & get her into a serious one. I want her to know how to swim around by next summer for sure! On the last day, parents get to take pictures, so here you go...

 Practicing her kicks

 Bear crawl on the wall. She should be doing this by herself, but she kept saying it was too hard. I think she's just lazy.

 Going under water! Yea! This is a huge improvement from last year. No more crying if she gets dunked.

 Jumping

 Play time

 This little guy was in a class with me! I had planned it so that we would have something to do while E was in class. Looking back, I should have waited because he couldn't really do anything (blow bubbles, scoops, kicks, etc). Oh well. He still had fun splashing around.