Kids only!!

It's been awhile since I've wrote an update on the kids, and I thought today would be a good day :)

BLAKE
Blake is enjoying being 3 :) He's busy as ever, and loving the freedom of playing outside! Rain, snow or sun he'd be outside if we let him! It's nice that this year, he's enjoying playing in the backyard by himself (well usually with Heidi by his side :) If we can't go out with him, he'll often play out there by himself! Driving his car, playing soccer, hockey, playing on his slide, in his little house, learning to ride his bike, towing various things around, etc, etc, he keeps busy! His sand box is a bit muddy right now, so he's keeping out of it for the time being although that is one of his favorite outside activities. Only trouble is, it's hard to get him inside when it's time to come in. Usually getting him inside involves a small bribe, such as a "treat" or promise of more time outside after supper!! I worry that Blake is becoming some what of a "tv junkie" in my words, but hopefully not :S He enjoys watching what he calls "his shows" during Em's morning nap. These include Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, Special Agent Oso, and The Backyardigans to name his faves! We haven't gotten too into movies yet and will hold off on those for as long as possible ... I'm not sure when Blake learned to identify numbers, but he sure can! We don't specifically work on them with him, but I think after repeating ourselves over the years, he's caught on. He can also count well, knows all his shapes, even a pentagon and of course his colors, which he's known for a long time. His latest interest is time. He always wants to know what time it is and what time we're doing certain things and even tells us, "I'll get dressed at quarter to." or "I'll go potty in 15 mintues." or "No, at 7:30 we'll go out!" We bought him a clock toy at Chapter's but haven't done much with it yet! I finally broke down and let Blake buy some playdough ... so far so good ... it stays on his little play table in the kitchen and he loves it!! He also enjoys coloring and we're working on staying in the lines. Blake loves music and now knows a lot of the popular country songs on the radio!! They are what he requests at bed time :) He also has memorized numerous books and enjoys reading to us! Blake still takes an afternoon nap with no troubles! Although we've learned he can not sleep past 3 pm, because if he does he takes forever to fall asleep at night. 2 hr max. nap for him in the afternoon! I'm sure within the next year he'll start getting out of his afternoon nap. Some of Blake's favorite sayings these days are "Of course!" and "Ta-da!" Blake's an all around fun, smart, and cute little guy!!!

EMERSON
Miss Em! Emerson is growing fast! We haven't had her weighed or measured lately, but we know she's growing because she's quickly growing out of her clothes!! And she's eating a lot ... and some days sleeping more then usual! Which we won't complain about! She is such a good sleeper! Although I really think a good sleeper is "formed" not born!!! We were wondering if she wasn't growing out of her morning naps, but after a few attempts at cutting them out, we've realized she still needs them. If she doesn't get her morning nap, she seems to have a shorter afternoon nap and is far more grumpy at what I call "the witching hour - 4ish to 6ish pm!!!" So maybe in a few months she'll be ready to go to 1 nap a day. Blake dropped his morning nap around 18 months. Em is still getting around by bum scooting, but mostly she walks around every piece of furniture, every toy, and every person she can get a hold of! She's also started crawling the "normal" way, not doing the worm, although she doesn't choose to get around that way. And Em can now climb stairs - she had her first fall last week, when unbeknownst to me she had crawled up 2 stairs and then fell down :( Poor girl has a little purple bruise on her cheek. Many times through out the day Emerson stands on her own, but once she realizes she's not holding on to anything she either quickly grabs for something or sits on her bum and gets upset!! My Dad even seen her take a few steps this weekend, but once she realized what she'd done she got rather upset!!! lol! What a girl! One thing we're experiencing with Em, which just started a few weeks ago, are temper tantrums ... not pleasant. I feel sorry for her, but there really doesn't seem to be much to do to help her. She wants me to hold her, but she continues to melt down and flap her arms around, which sometimes hurts! It's like she's so upset and can't control her emotions!! I told her today, "It's okay. You're just female!!" I know I feel like having temper tantrums numerous times through out the day, thankfully as we get older we learn to deal with those moments!!! They don't happen every day thank goodness :) She enjoys playing with all her and Blake toys and plays very well by herself. Em loves driving Blakes trucks and saying, "Vroom, vroom!!" She also loves reading books, especially books that have pictures of animals. She turns the pages and talks away in an excited little voice! Every night we read her Goodnight Moon and I swear she knows what pages the kittens are on, because she flips the pages so fast until we get to that page and then she points to them and says in a squeaky little voice, "Kitties, kitties!!" and looks up at us and smiles :) It is so adorable! Her smile is so cute, with her one dimple ;) And when we get to the last page, she closes the book and says, "All done!" Em loves playing with anything soft and cuddly and is often found snuggling into blankets and teddy bears. She's so sweet!

BABY
Today I had my 2nd ultrasound with this pregnancy. The 1st was at approx. 7 weeks, and was to determine my due date. Cal came with me to this appointment. Thank you SO much to my Mom who came over and watched the kids for us. It was awesome to see the baby!! He (we don't know, I'll just use he for now!) was moving around so much. His little legs and arms were just a going! It was so amazing. Especially when you hear that the baby is only 7.14 cm from top of its head to its bottom, not counting the legs, because their legs are not often stretched out so it's hard to get them in the measurement!! It is so, so amazing that something so small has a fully functioning heart, arms, legs, eye sockets, etc, etc. SO amazing! It truly is a miracle :) The baby's heart rate was 161 bpm, which is in the normal range. Today I was 13 weeks, 3 days along according to this ultrasound. I think that's a couple of days less then what my 1st ultrasound said, so maybe my due date will change. I'll find out at my next Dr. appointment in a few weeks. This ultrasound was accompanied by a blood test. Together the 2 give you an idea if your baby has a chance of having Down's Syndrome or 2 other chromosomal abnormalities. Like I said, it tells you if there is a chance - a positive result does not mean your baby will have one of these problems, just that there is a greater chance. If you get a positive result, you have the option of requesting further testing. Cal and I decided we'd like to know if there is a greater chance, just to be more prepared come babies arrival. I don't think I'd do any further testting. The odds are 95 in 100 come back with a negative result (so no chance). We have our routine 18 week ultrasound in a few weeks, which the whole family will be in attendance for!! This baby continues to make its Mom ill ... but I suppose it's a small reasurrance in that I know it is growing and doing well!!

Love Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Baby

Wonderful Weekend!!

We've had a great weekend!! Friday morning we left Edmonton. We took Emerson and Heidi to Stony Plain for a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa D's. Cal, Blake and I left for Okotoks around 11:30 am. We made a pit stop at the Cross Iron Mills Mall in Balzac. It's a great mall, we had fun looking around and Blake enjoyed the kids play centre! I imagine all my shopping friends and relatives would go nuts in that mall!! Definately suggest all you shop-a-holics check it out ;) From the mall, we continued on to the Hrdlicka's in Okotoks! I was so excited to see Candace and her family! It didn't take Blake and Nicholas long to get re-aquainted and have some fun. They play so well together. Not sure why, but they get a long very well! Could be because they're only 5 weeks apart in age? We had a nice time visiting and catching up. Saturday afternoon we all headed into Heritage Park in Calgary for "A Day Out With Thomas." Blake saw Thomas puffing down the track and got SO excited!! It was awesome! He had an awesome time running around, checking out the various activites and tents. It was worth every penny! I'm so glad we took him! After our train ride, we said goodbye and left for home. We stopped in Red Deer for dinner and arrived home around 9:30 pm. Thank you again to Candace and Brandon for their hospitality!!! Emerson had a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa! Thankfully, she was very good for them! They enjoyed spending one-on-one, or two-on-one I guess, time with her. We sure missed her though. It was a bit odd not having her with us, although much more relaxing with just Blake!!

This morning (after I got to sleep in!! YAY! Love sleeping in, especially these days!!) we met my Mom, Dad, Emerson and Heidi (who stayed in the car!) at Moxie's for brunch. Brunch was delicious!! After brunch my Mom came over. We hung out outside for awhile and when the kids were napping we went to the mall for pedicures. I love a good pedicure ;) We browsed around a bit and she dropped me off at home! We had a delicious steak dinner! Thanks Mom, Dad, Blake, Emerson and Cal for a wonderful day :) ~ To my Mom, you are an amazing mother and grandmother and an inspiration. I only hope I can one day be the Mom you are to Lindsay and I. I know I'm learning from the best :) ~ Blake and Emerson, words can not describe the love I feel for you. A Mother's job has to be one of the hardest, but certainly the most rewarding jobs in the world. And I would not trade it for anything. I am so glad I get to spend as much time as I do with you. I love experiencing everything through your eyes and learing along side you. You bring so much joy to my life, my heart literally bursts with love for you two!! Blake it was so sweet today, how you asked me numerous times if I like my new slippers. So, so cute :) Your genuine concern and desire for me to love my slippers is amazing to me!! Such a simple thing, but it shows your love for me, which has made my Mother's Day that much more special :) ~ Thank you Cal for the sacrifices and little things you do day in and day out, not just today, to make me feel special, appreciated, loved and happy. ~ And a very Happy Mother's Day to all the other special Mom's in my life - My Mother-in-law, my Grandma's, my Aunts, Cousins, Sister-in-laws, friends and all other Moms out there!!!

xoxo Tracy