18 weeks!

Today I had a Dr. appointment. All was well! The babies heart rate was ranging from 145 to 150. I was very excited to see that Dr. Gannon was my doctor today!! She delivered Blake and is so awesome!! It was nice to see her and I'm very glad she's back from her maternity leave. Next week we have an ultrasound, so I'll be posting a picture! The first ultrasound we had was to determine my due date and I was only 6 weeks along then, so we didn't get a picture of the little peanut!! On Friday Blake and I met some New Mom's friends at an indoor playground. It was the first time we'd been to this particular playground and it was great! It was much brighter and cleaner than the YMCA playground we've gone to in the past. Cal was home with Blake today and they went this morning for a bit! Saturday morning Blake had his first swimming lesson. Cal went in the pool with him and I took pictures and video! It looked to be a good program with fun songs and games! Cal learned a few new tunes :) I'm taking Blake this weekend because Cal has school. Other than that we had a relaxing weekend. On Sunday we went for a walk to watch some football at Eric and Christa's! Blake put on his Colts jersey for the 1st time this year. Last year it was a bit big, but this year it fits perfectly! Blake's continuing to learn new things every day. He surprises us with what he knows sometimes! He can point out his nose, ears, teeth, feet, and head! Next is the belly button!! They really are like little sponges, soaking everything up. We have to start watching our language! I'm afraid one day he'll say something we don't want him to be repeating! Another thing Cal's taught him is to give five! And at the family reunion we were at in August my Mom taught Blake to shake people's hands, so when we hold out our hand and say, "Please to meet you" he shakes our hand vigorously!! It's hilarious! Anyways, we will post our ultrasound picture next week and let you know how it goes. Have a great week!

Tracy

Fall is upon us ...

Wow, have the temperatures ever dropped in the last week. I'm not sure if this is good or not ... I love fall, don't like the really high temp.'s of summer, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for this brisk weather!? Last Thursday I had a great day to myself. I took Blake to the day home a little later in the morning and ran some errands, did some house work, went for a fabulous massage and then picked Blake up early!! The massage was soooo... nice! I went to a spa near our house and had a pregnancy massage for the first time. It was heaven! I plan on going back at 6 months!! On Friday morning Cal, Blake and I went into Stony Plain to visit with my sister for a while before we went camping with my parents to Jasper. It was a nice visit. Lindsay couldn't believe how fast Blake was "running"!! He's really picked up the pace in the last couple of weeks!! We don't even put the baby gates up in our house anymore. He goes up and down the stairs and all around the house!! We try to keep a close eye on him still of course. He tends to spend a lot of time in the front room trying on our shoes and walking around in them!! It's hilarious! About a week ago I didn't have a close eye on him and he had his first "encounter" with Jazz. Of course, Blake came out on the losing end. I heard Jazz hiss and Blake scream so I went running up the stairs and there was Blake running towards me crying and talking in a very angry voice. I picked him up and took him to Cal's chair to rock him, but he wanted down. So I let him down and he scooted up the stairs and went and grabbed Jazz' tail again!! All the time sounding like he was cursing Jazz! It was quite funny, but at the same time I had hoped after one encounter he'd learn to respect Jazz' space!! He's doing good now though and definitely listens when we say, "Ta ta Jazz." Jazz actually seems to like Blake most of the time, but will not tolerate Blake grabbing his tail, ears, face, etc! Gentle hands only!! Blake' s started reading me a book at bedtime! We usually read the same book each night (Good Night Moon) and a couple of weeks ago he started reading me the book. It is soooo.. sweet! I read him the book in a very quiet voice and he reads to me in a quiet voice, almost a whisper. Then at certain points in the book he'll look up at me with a sweet little grin and kind of cuddle into me. My heart melts :) When he's playing at home he sometimes sits by his bookcase and reads for a short time. It makes he happy to see him reading, I hope he continues to enjoy books! But I've digressed from our last camping trip of 2008 :( We stayed at Whistler campground near Jasper. It was a great weekend, despite the cool temperature!! Our furnace got a work out and we now know how long our battery lasts!! I love Jasper and just being in the mountains. Blake had a good time too! He really enjoys camping and just being outside. And he sleeps so well in the trailer, I think all the fresh air tuckers him out!! We can't wait for May long 2009 when a new camping season begins!! And it will also be our new babies first camping trip! On another exciting note, I felt the baby kick for the first time! I haven't felt it too much since, just occasionally so hopefully I'll start feeling it more and more! I have a doctor's appt. next week. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going! It's crazy!! With Blake each week felt like forever and now I'm 17 weeks pregnant and it just seems like yesterday we found out we were expecting. I guess that's the difference between having no kids and working and having a one year old and working!! And I understand time keeps going faster as you get older ... BOOOOO!!! I have to find a way to slow time down. (I'll let you know if I do!) Blake starts swimming lessons this coming Saturday at the YMCA. He is in Bubblers!! Cal is going to take him most weekends. Blake loves the pool, so I think it will be fun for them both!! We hope everyone had a fantastic September long weekend. Those who have kids headed back to school, enjoy the back to school craziness!!

Love,
Cal, Tracy, Blake and Baby

16 weeks!!

Wow! Tomorrow I will be 16 weeks pregnant. It's hard to believe! I keep thinking, 4 more weeks and I'm half way there! I'm excited to start feeling movement, should be soon!! We're all doing well. We are home this weekend and boy is it nice!! We've been on the go most of the summer so it's nice to stay home for a few days and just hang out! Yesterday Blake and I spent the whole day at home playing and napping!! Next week I have Thursday off and I think I'm going to go get a massage and maybe a haircut. I'm looking forward to a little pampering! Then on Friday we are heading to Jasper for the long weekend. Cal's off Friday too so we'll leave in the morning. I wanted to send a big congrats out to my cousin Jeanine and her family - they welcomed a baby boy, Austin, into the world yesterday. Now the great grandsons are outweighing the girls on the Smith side of the family!! We'll see if our new addition evens the numbers out at all?! Take care everyone :)

Luv Tracy

1st Appointment with Primary Care Network!

Today I had my first appt. with the Primary Care Network - the group of Dr.'s I saw when I was pregnant with Blake. It felt like I never left! LOL! In fact, the Dr. mentioned to me that it seemed like I was just there!! I said, "Well ... I was. A little over 1 yr. ago!" It was great to hear the babies heart beat - 154 bpm. And I'm measuring right on track, but she commented that by feeling my stomach she would have thought I'd be further along ... great. Does that mean I'm going to get even bigger then I was with Blake?! Yikes! We have another ultrasound scheduled for September 17th. Can't wait! And I'll be back to the Dr. in 4 weeks! Today at work we saw a baby who was 3 months old. Her Mom and brother were with her and the 2 little ones are 21 months apart! So I saw a glimpse of my future ... even busier!!! The little girl was so adorable! A full head of red hair!! Her brother was blond. I really wonder if our new little one will look like Blake or be totally different. It will be so cool to see Blake with his new brother or sister. I can't wait!! We got back from holidays yesterday evening. We had a great time! My cousin's wedding was beautiful and our M.C.ing gig went pretty good!! Blake went tubing behind Linds and Jer's boat a couple of times and didn't seem to mind it at all! It was pretty cute! This weekend Blake and I are headed to Rocky Mountain House with my parents for a Campbell reunion (my Grandma Marg's side) and Cal is going to school. He's taking a Project Management class at NAIT. It is 1 weekend a month for 1 year. I'm proud of him for continuing his education. It's not always an easy thing to do as you get older!! The rest of our weekends continue to be busy - Cal has football drafts and poker tournaments, we have family visiting (we get to meet Katie!), a 4 day camping trip to Jasper, a wedding, the Reba concert, Thanksgiving, Cal has a 1/2 marathon in October ... before we know it, it will be Christmas!! Better start on my cards! LOL! Hope everyone enjoys these last few weeks of summer - take care.

Love Cal, Tracy, Blake & Baby

Yeah ... Congratulations Kathy!!!

Today (early, early this a.m.) Cal's youngest sister Kathy had a baby girl!! Kathleen Marie Cameron - named after her great, great Grandma Yates and born on her birthday. We haven't seen pictures yet, but apparently she has dark spiky hair and is verrrryyyy cute! Kathleen was 6 lbs, 11 oz. and 18" long. What a nice size! Carmen will be posting pictures on Facebook tonight so we are excited to see our new neice! The "Yeah" part of the title of this blog has to do with Blake!! He is a "yeahing" machine! LOL! You know how most kids say no, no, no, no ... not Blake! He says "yeah" to everything! It's so cute! Every question we ask him, he says yeah in response! We've been asking him if he's having a sister and he says, "Yeah!" Then we ask him if he's having a brother and he says, "Yeah!" It's pretty cute! I hope the yeah thing sticks and he doesn't start saying no all the time. We try not to say no to him that much. We try to save the no's for the major things and say ta-ta most of the other times. I've been realizing lately how much Blake is growing up. We are having more and more fun each day! He can be so goofy at times. We love chasing him around or one of us chasing him and him diving into the other's safe arms. His giggles and laughs are so cute and one of the best sounds in the world! I just LOVE his little personality!! I'm also very glad he's still cuddly :) His cuddles can make any bad day go away in a flash! He is getting quite smart too!! I think he understands much more than we realize. Yesterday his jeans were a bit too long so I told him to come here so I could roll his pants up and he bent over and grabbed his pants and said, "Pants!" I was really surprised! He also loves figuring things out. He enjoys trying to plug the laptop power cord into the laptop and un-screwing bottle lids from the bottle. The look of concentration on his face is priceless! I'm on the hunt for a toy that has these types of activities. I seen one at Toys R Us but it isn't there anymore. I think we need to exercise his analytical mind!! Blake isn't walking anymore, he's running! As he walks across the room he picks up speed then loves to "crash" onto his big stuffed bear!!! Too funny! We are off to Saskatchewan on Friday for a wedding and then on to the cabin on Sunday for a week. We are really looking forward to this vacation! It is much needed! I am still not feeling too good and hoping that now that I am in my 2nd trimester this "all day" sickness will go away!! I have noticed that I'm not as tired as I was last week, so hopefully that will continue. Take care everyone, we will talk to you when we get back!

Love Cal, Tracy, Blake and Baby

Hi Everyone!

Below is an email Blake sent to some friends and relatives!!!

Hello,

How are you? I'm borrowing Mom's email again to write you a note! I am very excited!!

Mom and Dad told me a few weeks ago that I am going to be a big brother!!! Can you believe it!? Mom and Dad were quite surprised too, but very happy :) Apparently, this baby will come home sometime in February. Dad hopes on his birthday! We all got to see a picture of the baby on a t.v. screen. It was very exciting! We also heard it's heart beat.

Mom's not feeling too good, just like with me! Hopefully she's feeling better soon.

Mom and Dad say they will be very busy with 2 kids under the age of 2, but I promise to be very good and helpful!

I just wanted to share my exciting news with everyone! Hopefully we will see you all soon!

Lots of love,

Blake

BIG BROTHER BLAKE! COMING SOON - FEBRUARY 2009!!!

That's right!! Blake is going to be a big brother and Cal and I will be parents of 2! We are very excited! I am 11 weeks, 4 days pregnant and my official due date is February 8, 2009. We found out we were expecting on June 8th. Well, actually I took a test on June 7 but didn't believe it, so I waited and took another test the morning of June 8! Cal and Blake were laying in our bed and I walked into the room with the test in my hand and asked Cal, "Do you think Blake is ready to be a big brother?" The surprise on Cal's face was priceless!! We weren't "trying" but we weren't not trying!! LOL! Of course, Blake is too young right now to understand that he is going to be a big brother, but I'm hoping as my belly grows he might understand there's a baby in there! We had an ultrasound on June 19 and all 3 us of saw the little one (really, really, really little one - 6 weeks, 4 days at that time) and heard it's heart beat! Blake was pointing at the screen and saying, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" I had tears in my eyes and said, "Yeah, that's your baby brother or sister!" It was an amazing moment. We aren't going to find out the sex of the baby. We enjoyed the surprise of Blake and don't care either way whether it's a boy or a girl, so we're going the surprise route again!! And we already have our UC Baby appointment booked. It is on November 15. I will be 28 weeks at that time and that is when we went with Blake, which turned out awesome, so hopefully this session will be just as good! So, needless to say we will be very busy come February!! 2 children under the age of 2!? I have "morning" sickness again, and I say "morning" sickness, because it is more like "all day" sickness!! I'm on Diclectin again, so that's keeping me out of the hospital basically!!! Although, I am not sick to my stomach as much this time. Volume wise I mean! Sounds yucky I know, but I am not losing as much each time I bow to the throne!!! With Blake I was sick pretty much all the way through, but it eased up during my 5th month. I am really hoping that it eases up this time after the 12th week (which is this Sunday). Of course there's all the tiredness as well, which is even harder this time around with a 1 yr. old! None the less, as with Blake I feel so blessed and lucky and am very happy to be growing a baby, whether I'm sick or not! It is such a miracle and I can't wait to feel it's first movements!! I'm quite the planner and right now we're trying to decide what to do with the crib situation, etc. We think we'll leave Blake in his crib and buy a new crib for the baby. I don't want to rush Blake out of his crib and it makes into a bed anyways, so he can keep it. We'll probably buy the same kind of crib for the new baby and then they can keep it as well! That's the plan for now anyways!! We've been looking at double strollers as well and trying to decide if it's worth it or not. A friend of mine bought a really cool one from the States so we might do that! Blake will move to the third bedroom upstairs and the baby will take over the nursery! We're excited to plan Blake's big boy room!! I'm also really excited about these new diapers I found, called G Diapers. They fall between a disposable diaper and a cloth diaper. I was hoping to buy my own cloth diapers and covers, but now we're thinking about using these G Diapers. We'll see!! I am already showing and looking back at pictures from when I was pregnant with Blake, I think I look now how I did when I was 17 weeks pregnant with Blake! I've always heard you show sooner with your 2nd! We will keep everyone up to date on our blog, which is now shared between Blake and his new sibling!!! Blake is great at sharing, so he doesn't mind :)

Lots of love,

Cal, Tracy, Blake and Baby
XOXOX