My parents went to Italy and all I got was this lousy t-shirt...

Nesting

It seems a little early to me to have my "nesting" instinct come into effect, although I guess really I only have about 2 1/2 months left in my pregnancy! Last night my nesting behaviors were in full effect. I picked up Blake from school after working all day, went to the store, we ate dinner, played outside, washed dishes and cleaned the kitchen from dinner, I baked brownies, put away Blake's laundry, put Blake to bed for the night, baked cheesecake cupcakes out of my new Martha Stewart Cupcake cookbook and cleaned the kitchen and picked up Blake's toys in the living room. I was done with all of this by 10 last night. And now? I wish I was at home all day so I could organize and clean and bake some more! Seriously this is not Brooke as I know her...but I love it! Can this last forever please?

Blake's First Hair Cut

I NEVER thought I'd be that mom that didn't want to cut her baby's hair. The mom that lets her son start looking like a girl due to sentimental reasons that she can't bare to snip her little one's hair for the first time. Well surprise surprise, I was becoming that mom. I wasn't proud of it, but I think I was trying to hold onto as much baby of Blake as I could as he's just growing up entirely too fast! But with his hair getting more and more shaggy I slowly was convincing myself it was time to let go. So I started talking about it a lot to convince myself it was the thing to do and set a date so I was commited to taking him.
So after Blake's nap on Saturday we loaded up and headed to the barber where Grandma & Grandpa were waiting for us to be witness to Blake's big first. Here is a pic of shaggy hair Blake before leaving the house...**picture warning** You'll notice in the pictures below Blake had a fight with the corner of the wall Friday night...wall won. Huge black and blue bump on his forehead. Poor guy, but he's a big tough boy.

I was a little worried that Blake would freak out at scissors coming towards him and half his head of hair would get cut and then we'd have to bail, but our little monkey was so good. Not one tear, yell or peep. And on top of that not a tear from mommy either! Now Grandma on the other hand....
He got to sit in a little yellow race car and watch the Wiggles. The Wiggles seriously make everything okay in Blake's life! Plus the woman who cut his hair was great, working quickly but still doing a good job and talking to Blake and telling him what a good boy he was the entire time. Here is Blake before the cutting began...

Here is Blake with a look like whaaat is going on???

And here is Blake all done, what a big handsome boy!!

If you notice from the pictures he did not let go of the steering wheel on his little yellow car the entire time. Too cute...
And here he is in Grandpa's arms no idea why all of us are making such a fuss over what a big handsome boy he was now!


Saturday night was a big night for both Blake and Brad and I. Blake hasn't had an overnight stay at Grandma & Grandpa's in a very long time due to my mom's health, but my parents graciously agreed to keep Blake Saturday night so Brad and I could have a date night to celebrate his birthday. We really enjoyed having a night just the two of us which we haven't had in FOREVER. Here is a picture of the two of us a little dolled up...

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa for watching monkey and letting us have a night out. Blake had so much fun he's taking a very good nap from being completely worn out!

Catching Up

I spent so much time blogging about our amazing European vacation that I think I needed a little break from the blogging world. We've had a great few weeks with a little bit of awfulness thrown in the mix. Our 4th holiday was a perfect day of spending time on the lake with Mr. Blake and friends and then grilling out and watching fireworks at Grandma & Grandpa's. Last week was a little less perfect as I was hit by another car on the Tollway on my way to get Blake. Of course the driver did not accept fault either, so my word against her word equals I get screwed. My positive ray of sunshine husband (and not being facetious) keeps reminding me that one, the damage could have been much worse and two, the most important thing is me and baby were both unharmed. I was also reminded what a wonderful hubby I have when he volunteered to deal with the insurance company and coordinate repair for the car because he didn't want me stressing over it and getting more upset than I already was since I am pregnant. Very sweet and so incredibly appreciated by me, who yes, was already very upset and emotional over the whole ordeal. This past weekend we finally had our second attempt on Blake's professional photo shoot, since the last one he melted down at. Blake did GREAT at the shoot and had pictures snapped of him for about an hour straight! I can't wait to see how they turned out and of course will be posting the link of the photo shoot as soon as they're ready. After the photo session Brad went to our friends' lake house for a guys weekend so it was just Blake and Mommy the rest of the weekend. We sure missed daddy a lot but had some good mommy/son bonding time.
Other than wanting the 100+ Texas heat to die, I'm feeling great with my pregnancy and trying to enjoy every minute of it as its going by incredibly fast. I have less than 3 months left now until this baby is due and I know that time is going to fly by. As soon as we can find a much needed home for our guest bed, we will start the conversion process of guest room to nursery. Bedding is purchased, crib will be purchased by end of week so we are on our way but have lots of work to go. We were already done with the nursery at this point in my pregnancy with Blake and we haven't even started with this one. The Jones's need to bust a move!
I haven't snapped any photos since the 800+ photos we took on our trip, so my dad was nice enough to share this pic of Blake he took this past weekend on the way to dinner. He's growing like a weed and becoming more and more a big boy every day!

The Rest of our European Vacation...

Tuesday we headed to Vatican City. I am sure I do not appreciate all that we saw this day to the same level as perhaps Brad and his brother did being Catholic, but I still loved the extreme beauty of everything we saw and the rich rich history involved with every piece of art and buildings that stand there. St. Peter’s Square is where we started our morning, which is larger than pictures could do justice and very picturesque.


I had so much fun sitting in the square for hours on our trip just taking everything in and people watching. The people watching in itself was an event. We then made our way into the Basilica


and once we took in all the ornate beauty that surrounded us went through the Treasury of the Basilica.

Then onto the Vatican Museum, which is supposed to be even larger than the Louve. I was pretty excited to see the Sistine Chapel, which was one of the must see spots on my list in my life. We completely lucked out at this point. Normally the line wraps through much of Vatican City to enter the museum but a tip we had received to go during lunch time paid off. While everyone in town was in the pizzerias eating their lunches, we went to the museum and had zero wait. Score for us! We went through the magnificent museum taking in the wonderful works of art displayed. We eventually made our way into the Sistine Chapel, the last stop of the museum. Magnificent. You are not allowed to take photographs inside the Sistine Chapel, but my sneaky spy husband managed to take a few before the guard yelled no photos. The pictures truly do not do this beauty justice.


What a genius Michelangelo was but I can not even imagine what he endured to paint the vast walls of art. I have seen the Eiffel tower, the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, all within just a few days. I felt truly blessed at that moment. After our time in the Sistine Chapel, Brad and his brother decided they wanted to climb to the top of the Basilica. This adventure involves narrow winding stair cases to the very top of the Basilica.

Again, in my pregnant state, not something I was really able to do, so I went back and sat in St. Peters square enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery and quiet time while Brad and Tom made the hike. The views from the top they saw seem amazing and I’m sorry I had to miss out on it in person, but at least there are pictures!!






After we met back up we walked to St. Angelo Castle.


We then stopped into a beautiful old church in a beautiful piazza before walking to the Pantheon.



After the Pantheon


we walked to Trastevere which is such a romantic and beautiful part of Rome. The streets are all narrow with beautiful buildings lining the streets. We ate a delicious last dinner in Rome and then hit up a very sinfully tasty Gelato place for dessert.


It had been a very long day and we were wiped! Back to the hotel and bed….

Wednesday was our last day in Rome as we were flying back to Germany that evening. We first made our way to see the statue Moses, by Michelangelo

and then after really seeing everything that was on our list to see in Rome, we had the day to do shopping! We ended up walking from one side of Rome all the way to Vatican City, which is on the complete other side of Rome by foot. We did this leisurely with occasional stops

but we were still amazed a the end of the day how much walking we had done! It was the perfect ending to our time in Rome though, to do a walking tour of sorts of all the city taking it all in one last time, picking up a few souvenirs on the way. We ended up in Vatican City and the three of us just sat in St. Peter’s square relaxing, talking and enjoying each others company. What an amazing trip we have had together!

Then on the plane back to Germany, only to wake up a few hours later to head back to the airport to head back home. It was bitter sweet saying good bye. It was hard to leave the trip behind us, the beauty that surrounded us, the experiences, but knowing Blake was on the other side of the ocean waiting for us did make it pretty easy to step foot on the plane. When we checked in at the ticket counter to get our boarding passes the lady told us she could only get one of us a seat and we would have to talk to them at the gate to get the other. We were supposed to already have reserved seats so I started freaking out. Brad, my constant state of cool and calm helped bring me back down. We checked in at the gate and after what seemed like an eternity the agent handed Brad and I two boarding passes and said we had been upgraded their treat to business class. How does Brad always have a way of knowing that things always work out in the end?? I need to be better in trusting that. We had a 10 ½ hour flight back to the states, but Brad and I both agreed we could have flown another 5. It was the most amazing flight of our lives and definitely the perfect ending to the perfect trip!!!

It felt absolutely amazing to be back home with my boy. After the initial confusion and shock wore off he couldn’t have been happier to be with his mommy and daddy again either.
And finally, to end my LONG blog about our trip I have two very large thank you’s to write. The first to Brad’s mom… without her we wouldn’t have been able to go on the trip and are so grateful to her for watching Mr. Blake for 10 days. Not only did she take wonderful care of Blake but she also managed to organize my pantry and Blake’s closet. Too bad she’s not for hire permanently! Truly though, I am so grateful for the loving care she gave Blake while we were gone.
And last but certainly not least, thank you times infinity to Tom for making this whole trip happen. I am forever grateful to him for this opportunity and will have these memories and experiences to treasure forever. What an amazing gift Tom…Thank You.