HA, HA!!

That's Blake's new thing!! Just yesterday he started "ha-ha'ing" at various things. It's hilarious!!!! He'll be doing something or see someone else doing something that he apparently thinks is funny and he'll smile and "laugh" saying, "Ha, ha!" Trust me it's a lot more funny when you hear it!!!! He's also saying Jazz and Heidi's names now, but Jazz sounds more like Jzzzzz and Heidi is more just the "h" sound! I am in my 20th week of pregnancy now and starting to feel the baby kicking more strongly. Of course night time is when I feel it the most! It's hard to believe that something the size of a large banana can kick that strongly!! This past Saturday I had my 10 year high school reunion. It was a lot of fun and great seeing everyone. This weekend Cal and I have a wedding on Friday afternoon/evening and on Saturday I'm going to the Reba concert with my Mom and sister. Blake is going to have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's on Friday night, along with Lindsay and Jeremy! I'm sure he'll have fun :) Today is the first official day of fall, but on Sunday my Mom and I took Blake for a "fall walk" to take some pictures in the leaves with my Dad's new camera. Of course, he didn't want to sit still so all the pictures are of him walking!! I posted my favorite on the right hand side! Have a great week everyone!

Luv Tracy

ULTRASOUND!!

Today we had our 2nd ultrasound. It was awesome!!! I had a very good tech. who answered all my questions and took the time to point out a lot of cool things! I asked about the heart and brain, etc. and he pointed out the chambers, what they look for, etc, etc. It was great! Cal and Blake came in after the "medical" portion of the ultrasound was over and the tech pointed out the arms, legs, nose, lips, chin, spine, and heartbeat (which was 143 bpm). The baby kicked and moved its arms a few times and the tech pointed out how the baby is now swallowing amniotic fluid. The pictures we got weren't the greatest, but that's okay because we have the UC Baby 3D/4D ultrasound in November! Can't wait for that one :) So as far as we saw today all is well with Baby!! Blake looked a bit scared when he came into the room and I was laying on the table. Poor guy, wondering what the heck my Mom's doing in this dark room?! I was laughing so hard tonight when we were putting him to bed!! I said, "Kiss?" and he put his open mouth up to mine and held it there! When I went to move it away, he moved his too!!! It was like a super long slobbery kiss! It was soooo funny, but not a good idea to get him laughing right before bed!! LOL! I'll post the best ultrasound picture on the right hand side! Happy "hump" day!!!!

Luv Cal, Tracy, Blake and Baby

EXHAUSTED!!!

Hi everyone! I am completely wiped out these days ... feels like I'm back in the 1st trimester. I really don't know why I'm so exhausted. I'm chaulking it up to being pregnant, having a one year old and working!! And I thought I was tired when I was pregnant with Blake. I'm getting not too bad of a sleep at night but maybe I'll have to try going to bed an hour earlier. I'm guessing if I talked to anyone who had/has 2 kids under the age of 2 they'd tell me you ain't seen nothing yet!! In fact, on Friday Blake and I were in Walmart in the baby section and I saw a lady who had a boy who looked around 2 and a baby girl. Out of curiosity I asked her how far apart her kids were. They were 20 months apart! So I asked her what it was like and she said it is what people say it is - extremely busy!! But then she added she wouldn't have it any other way and it's a lot of fun too! So anyways, what I'm saying is that although I'm tired right now, I'll probably be more tired in approx. 20 weeks :) Tomorrow we have our ultrasound, which we're super excited for!! I'll post the picture asap! Blake and Cal are doing great. Cal's still running most days and has registered for TWO hockey teams! It'll be a busy winter! Blake's doing great. He's repeating a lot more these days. Actually pretty much everything!! He loves, loves, loves being outside. He can almost open the back door! We play outside a lot and surprisingly we don't have a lot of "playground" equipment outside and he doesn't really care! He just loves running around and playing with his hockey sticks and the balls that go with them!! He takes one stick and gives the other to us. He also enjoys watching the older kids play street hockey in front of our house. He talks away and points at them and looks at us like he's telling us all about it! And hockey season hasn't even started ... Hope everyone's having a great week!

Tracy

Feeling Terrible :(

I am feeling bad right now ... Blake has fallen down the stairs (the same set of stairs) twice in two days. I can not believe it. He's been going up and down these stairs for months, I suppose it was bound to happen (especially after I blogged about how good he is on the stairs, right?!). Thankfully he is okay, just a bit of rug burn and a small bump and bruise. I think I feel worse then he does! I know there will be more bumps and bruises, but I feel bad because I could have prevented this one. Yesterday Blake and I did some shopping in the morning and in the afternoon a friend and I made birthday invitations for her little girls party. Cal's in school this weekend, so Blake and I went to his swimming lesson this morning. It was lots of fun!! I discovered I need to buy a new bathing suit though!! Kinda growing out of this one! We have no other definite plans for the weekend, other than play, play, play!!! Have a good weekend everyone :)

Tracy

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