9 lbs. 5 oz.!

I took Blake to the Health Unit on Tuesday to be weighed and he weighed in at 9 lbs. 5 oz. So not as big of a gain as last week!! He has also grown 3/4" in length. And his head circumference was a little bit bigger. Soon he'll fit his ball cap! Which is good, because when we were going out in the hot weather I was wishing one of his hats fit him!! Blake went to his first parade last Saturday. It was Farmer's Days in Stony Plain, so we walked to the parade with Auntie Lindsay and Uncle Jeremy and met Auntie Lesley and Uncle Gerry and some of Lesley's family there. It was a gorgeous day and a pretty good parade! Needless to say, Mr. Blake slept through it all!! Which means he enjoyed himself!! LOL! Blake and I continue to keep busy during the week days. Between visiting, shopping and daily household chores the days go by fast! On Friday Blake watched his Dad play ball hockey for the 1st time! Or at least he was in the stands, not sure if he actually saw much of the game! Last week we also visited Grandma and Grandpa Smith's offices and met all the people they work with. And I had an appointment to set up an RESP for Blake so Grandma babysat for a couple of hours. It's unbelievable how much they predict post-secondary schooling will cost in the year 2025!! Scary! So anyways, that's all that is new with us. Hope everyone is enjoying the summer weather! Take care!

Luv Tracy

Growing Fast :(

We got Blake weighed today and he is up to 9 lbs!! He also grew in length - he's 21" long now! The nurse said my milk must be good and he must be a good drinker! I knew he would have grown quite a bit because he sure feels heavier!! But I'm glad he's gaining weight because it means he's healthy! I think his hair is lightening too! It certainly looks lighter to me. Last night he went 5 hours between feedings! I was so surprised when I looked at the clock! So all is well and we hope everyone is great and enjoying the warm weather! Take care!

Love, Cal, Tracy & Blake

3 weeks old tomorrow!

Hello! I posted some more pictures tonight - we just received the CD with all of the professional pictures!! I love them all and can't wait to get some copies made! I also have to start on Blake's birth announcements! Blake is doing awesome! He is such a sweetheart! He had a couple of sleepless nights this past week, but right now he is sleeping!! He doesn't really have much of a pattern so far, other than he eats every 2-3 hours! Sometimes at night he does go for 4 hours without eating. We have been really busy, mostly visiting! We've had lots of visitors and today we went to Allen Gray to visit. We're glad Blake is meeting everyone! It's funny because people always say how small he is and to us he is so much bigger than just 3 weeks ago! We didn't get into the health centre to weigh him this week, but I am sure he's over the 7 lbs 8 oz he was last week! His face and arms and legs are really filling out. He is still a very content baby and doesn't fuss much. Today at work he was crying a little bit and everyone was like, "That's it? That's his cry? Wow! You're lucky!" It's not too loud (yet)! L.O.L.! But we're having fun and learning everyday. His umbilical cord fell off on the 12th. We were glad for that! And now Blake likes to look around, especially at lights and his mobile. It is so cool to see the changes in him! He really makes eye contact now too! And sometimes if someone else is holding him and he hears our voices he turns towards us! It is such an amazing feeling! Cal went back to work on Tuesday. We really missed him being home. He is so good with Blake - I knew he would be! He's a natural! I love them both so much!! Heidi and I are outnumbered in the house now - 3 males to 2 females!! But, I should get to sleep, since Blake is sleeping. That's one thing I'm not very good at - sleeping when he's sleeping! And all the books and everyone says just leave the housework, and I can't do that either! Could be why I'm tired!! Take care everyone :0)

Love Tracy

New Pictures!

Hey! On Thursday we had our professional photos taken and I've posted a couple here on the blog! The photographer emailed a sampling of a few of them, but there are lots more to come!! If you are on Facebook, I've posted more there! I'm very happy with the ones I've saw so far! I think we might use the blue bow pictures for Blake's announcements. Anyways, we're just heading out to Cal's Uncle Evan's in a few minutes here and then we are going to Brazeau to camp! We hope the rain will hold off (keep your fingers crossed)! Hope you have a fantastic weekend - rain or shine!

Love Cal, Tracy and Blake

Growing Boy!

Yesterday we had our Pediatrician appointment and Blake is now weighing in at 7 lbs 8oz!! He's almost gained 1 lb! The Pediatrician was really happy with this and says he is a perfectly healthy little boy! I am sad though ... they really do grow up too fast! I can't get over the fact that everyday he is growing and changing and he'll never be this little again. We have had a lot of visitors this week! We've been very busy, so today is family day! Blake slept for 3 hours last night and then for a 5 hour stretch!!! It was awesome! And I had to wake him up after 5 hours! They don't want newborns to go more than 5 hours without a feeding. I felt bad waking him up! I wonder if maybe he wasn't so tired from all of his visitors! We'll see how he sleeps tonight - hopefully last night was his new routine!? Wishful thinking! Tomorrow we are going for pictures in Spruce Grove. Now I'm just wondering if I'll be able to do my hair and what the heck I'll wear!? We are supposed to go camping this weekend for a few nights, but the weather channel is forecasting rain :( Hopefully we'll still get out there. So, I hope everyone has a great long weekend! Take care!!

Luv Cal, Tracy and Blake

1 Week Old Already?!

We can not believe that Blake is 1 week old already! Wow, time just flies and it is only going to go faster! Pretty soon we'll be saying, "I can't believe Blake is turning 1 already!" Everything is really good. Blake is being very good! We rarely hear him cry these days! He still does not sleep too long in one stretch ... But I think I've figured out that ensuring he gets a good full feeding in, allows him to sleep longer and keeps him content! On Friday Blake had his first walk outside and today he went on his first shopping trip! Blake enjoyed both - sleeping right through them! Grandma, Auntie Lindsay and I found Blake's stroller to be quite handy for holding all of our shopping bags!!! This weekend Blake's Great Auntie Kathy and cousins (2nd I think!) Skylar and Michelle were in town to meet him. We enjoyed their visit and thank them for driving all that way to meet him! This week we have visitors scheduled for almost every day, so we will be busy again! On Tuesday Blake has a pediatrician appointment. Blake sent his Dad Mother's Day shopping last week. He bought me a beautiful figurine with a plate that says, "There are angels walking on the earth disguised as Moms." It is so cute! I love it! He also bought me a little book called Spit Happens!! I had a very nice Mother's Day and can't wait to see what Blake sends me to buy for his Dad for Father's Day! We also can't wait until we start getting finger paintings and macaroni covered toilet paper rolls for Mother's and Father's Day! L.O.L.!! We hope that all of the Mom's, soon-to-be Mom's and Grandma's had a wonderful Mother's Day!! Also, Blake's Auntie Lesley celebrated a birthday on Friday and we hope she had a great day! Oh, and I have to tell everyone that I wore my old jeans today!!!! Yay! It felt good! But anyways, we hope everyone has a great week and we will talk to you soon!

Love,
Cal, Tracy and Blake

We're Home!

Hello everyone! Well, we are home and healthy!! We came home on Sunday May 6th at around 8:00 pm. We could have stayed another night at the hospital, but decided to go home instead! We actually could have gone home a little bit earlier in the day, but Blake had to pee before the Dr. could circumcise him. So he eventually did pee and get circumcised and then we packed up and headed home! We had a wonderful experience at the Sturgeon. All of the staff were absolutely amazing and so, so, so helpful and kind. We can't say enough about how fantastic they were! Dr. Gannon was beyond amazing and I can't say a bad thing about the whole process! Looking back - I actually enjoyed it! Well, maybe not the pain part, but that was only a small portion of the whole experience. So no horror stories here! I know there are a few people reading this who are expecting and don't worry - labour really isn't that bad. I'd do it again!! Anyways, Grandma and Grandpa Smith, Grandma and Grandpa Cameron and Great Grandma and Grandpa Alstad visited us the first night. The first night was a bit of a learning experience!! The freezing from the circumcision wore off and Blake hadn't had a B.M. so he had a sore tummy on top of the other sore area!! On Monday the Healthy Beginnings nurse came to the house to check Blake and I out and see how the family was doing. Everything was really good other than Blake not pooing! So Tuesday the nurse called to see if he had gone and he hadn't, Wednesday he still hadn't gone, so she made us an appointment with the Pediatrician Dr. Gannon had referred us to (Dr. Radisic). We went to the appointment and the Dr. manually checked him and he went a little bit, but not enough, so he sent us to get some abdominal x-rays. So Blake had his first x-rays! The x-rays showed that he had gas and B.M. present, so the Dr. told us to go buy infant glycerin suppositories, try that and call back Thursday a.m. So we did that and within 25 min. of giving his the suppository he went! And boy did he go! We then went to Stony Plain for supper and visited with Grandma and Grandpa, Sharon, Erica and Dione and Paul! We called this Blake's Stony Plain "meet and greet"!! We then went to Uncle Gerry and Auntie Lesley's for a visit and then headed home! So Blake's first day out of the house was busy! Today I called the Pediatrician and he was happy that he had a large B.M. and said that as long as that meconium is out he's not worried about him going every day - apparently some babies only go once every few days. Every night Blake seems to be getting more sleep. He is breast feeding really good and we've had no concerns with that. I thank the nurses for that because they took the time to show me how to get a proper latch and do it the right way! Phew! So I just had to take a break from typing here because Blake had a dirty diaper! Yay!!! Crazy - getting excited about poop! Ha, ha, ha! It looks like that issue has cleared itself up! All of Blake's clothes are way to big. He isn't fitting into the 0-3 months clothes and so we've had to pick up a few preemie clothes. So now he has a few outfits that fit! Heidi and Jazz are doing great with their new brother! Heidi just came home last night and when she first met him she gave him a good face washing, but now she just sniffs him! It actually seems like she is keeping an eye out for him. Last night she slept at the end of the bed looking into his playpen/bassinet! Jazz pretty much ignores him! We'd like to thank everyone for all of your love and support! We are truly blessed with such an amazing circle of friends and family and appreciate all of your love and well wishes! I'll try and write a little update every now and then and keep posting pictures as Blake grows! I can't believe that he'll never be this small again. But I'll stop talking about that before the tears fall on the keyboard! Take care and we will talk to you soon!

Love Cal, Tracy and Blake
XOXOX