Happy Birthday Grandpa

Today is Blake's favorite person in the whole world's birthday...Grandpa's!! Happy Birthday Dad/Grandpa! We love you very very much. Blake wanted to post some of his favorite pictures to celebrate your special day...enjoy!

Exciting News Part II

So several months back if any of you remember, I wrote that we had two pieces of exciting news that would be shared at a later date. The first, was my pregnancy...very exciting indeed! The second piece was just finalized so I'm finally able to talk about it...in just about one month from now Brad and I are going to Europe! To be more specific we are flying into Germany and visiting Paris and Rome! Visiting these places has definitely always been a dream of mine and I can't believe its actually coming true. Brad's brother who is in the Air Force has been stationed the last few years in Germany. When he went over there he made it a mission of his to fly over each member of his immediate family to visit him and travel somewhere they have always wanted to see abroad. Brad's mom and dad have both made their trips and now its our turn. I can't even begin to express how generous and amazing this gift is. We are beyond grateful to Thomas for making this happen and doing this for us. Brad and I are counting down the days. I am so excited I am able to see this part of the world with Brad and it will be great getting to have Thomas with us as well...for me getting to know him even better and for Brad at last having some real quality time with his brother, which hasn't been able to happen much since he joined the Air Force I think 7 or 8 years ago now. (sorry if I got that wrong Tom)
So to answer a few questions that may be lingering in your minds....
1) My doctor approved the travel for this trip at the stage of pregnancy I'll be in.
2) We are not taking Mr. Blake... Brad's mom has graciously offered to fly in and watch him while we are gone.
Being away from Blake is going to be INCREDIBLY hard, but I try not to think about that aspect of the trip. If I did, I'd talk myself out of going. So I focus on the part that Blake will have 10 days to spend with his grandmother that he rarely gets to see which is a great opportunity for the both of them and I know will get spoiled rotten while we're away. He will be in good hands and I try to focus on that and not the part of missing his smiling face for 10 days.
So there you have it, part two of our exciting news. I absolutely can not wait and will obviously have so many stories and pictures to post upon our return!!

A Baby Changes Everything...

Or rather babies change everything. I am one incredibly lucky girl to have some of the best friends anyone could ask for. Its worked out so wonderfully that Brad has become best friends with two of my closest friends' husbands. We've spent the last several years all hanging out together, many late nights, drinking, you know the normal debauchery that ensues when a group of friends hangs out on the weekends. This Friday night our little gang all got together, although it wasn't like it had been in the past, staying up till the next morning, it was hanging out with our children...eating pizza and drinking soda. Was it any less fun?? If I have to say, it was MORE fun. Our little group now has 5 kids (soon to be six) and 6 adults. Wow, a little time and babies really does change everything.

The Other Member of Our Family

With all the talk on the blog of all of our family, including our beloved Odie dog, there hasn't been much mention of Miss Darcy, so I thought it was time to introduce her to all of you! When Odie was about 2 years old, we just felt he really needed a friend to play with. Odie was full of energy and seemed to get bored easily and Brad and I just couldn't play with him as much as he wanted us to. Another dog seemed like the perfect answer....and it was. Getting a second dog was one of the best decisions we've ever made. The search was not very easy though. We knew we didn't want another puppy to have to train again like we did with Odie and we truly wanted another Corgi, but the odds of finding one in a shelter were next to none. We found a dog named Sadie that seemed adorable on SPCA's website. I can't even remember now what type of dog it was, but we took Odie to the SPCA to introduce him to Sadie to see how they would get along. Let's just say we left with only one dog that day. One day while procrastinating at work I found a dog that the Humane Society had up for adoption named Darcy and she was a corgi! I immediately thought she needed to be our dog. I contacted the humane society and they were going to be with her at the Petsmart in Lewisville that evening for an adoption drive. So off to Lewisville with Odie we went. She was so sweet looking and we fell in love with her as soon as we saw her. Brad walked Odie and Darcy around Petsmart while I filled out the adoption papers to make sure they got along, which they did. Lucky for us we weren't our normal late selves that evening as a few minutes later a girl showed up wanting Darcy as well. Darcy was meant to be ours though. Darcy or Pretty Princess as I also call her, is incredibly loyal, sweet and has brought so much love into our hearts. Darcy was abused in her prior life and is scared of almost everything, including her own shadow. Odie was always her security blanket. When she was scared she'd stay glued to his side. Darcy took awhile to adjust with no Odie by her side, but is doing much better now. We are so grateful for Darcy in our lives and she has been the perfect addition to our family.

Stats

Blake's 1 Year checkup was Monday and he got a glowing report. His stats:
Weight: 23 lbs 5 oz (50-75 percentile)
Height: 31 inches (75-90 percentile)

Baby J stats: I am now in my 17th week and while I'm still getting sick some mornings, I am definitely feeling so much better than I had been...what a relief! The weekend before last I started feeling occasional flutters and the flutters have been increasing, which I absolutely love. I look forward to feeling this little one more and more. One week from Friday and I know if I am having a son or daughter!!!