Play Time

I must share a funny story from today. As most of you know, Blake spends most Mondays with Julie and her 1-year-old baby Eli. Blake and Eli love to play with each other and I'm quite jealous that I miss out on watching the two interact. Julie does send me pictures and tell me all the funny stories, though. She said that Eli and Blake played ALL day with each other. They even napped at the same time, which was great for her. Blake followed Eli around all day and Eli LOVED it. She said that he would look at Blake and laugh and run around. If Blake happened to fall while walking, he would just stay on the floor and crawl so he could get there faster. Too funny!

My favorite story had to do with books. She let the boys play in the living room and hallway since they had never bothered the bookshelf before. Blake followed Eli into the hallway and Julie said that Eli would pull a book off the shelf and give it to Blake. Blake would, of course, have loved it because he enjoys books so much. Eli would then take one off the shelf and run into the living room to find Julie and would show her the book. I think she found Blake and Eli before they destroyed any books. It just cracked me up that Eli would hand Blake a book so he could get in trouble!

They are just too cute together. They share all of their toys and neither one of them seem to get jealous of the other. It helps that they are only 2 months apart. That's my funny story for the day!

10 months old....almost 11...

Moving Along...

I know it has been a while since I have updated. I really do have more pictures to put up, but I just haven't had a chance to sit down and wait for the computer to download them. Blake is keeping us extremely busy these days, going from one thing to another, pulling stuff out of cabinets, opening and closing doors, walking WITHOUT the help of his parents (because that's just not cool at this stage), and making a mess in the whole front of the house! Needless to say, I'm looking forward to nap time more and more these days. Mom came to babysit for me on Monday and I wouldn't let her leave until I had a chance to at least clean the two bathrooms. If anyone has any advice on how to clean a house in the midst of someone following you undoing EVERYTHING you have just done, please tell me! It drives me nuts to know that my house is in shambles and then by the end of the day I'm running around like crazy trying to pick up and make sure it is at least presentable for my lesson students. Pass on your advice, you mothers who have been there, done that. Please!!!

In the work front, I now have a pediatrician who is prescribing music therapy! He is even billing it for insurance purposes so I'm extremely excited. I can't wait to get started with the little boy since he lives not too far from me. It will only be an extra 30 minutes so I can either see him on Mondays or do it when Raun gets home. I'm working at a summer camp for children with disabilities on Wednesdays. It's only for an hour, but it's so much fun. I am doing music therapy with them, as well as teaching them some popular dances that they would normally do if they were ever invited to a dance at school (such as the Chicken Dance, YMCA, etc.). They love it. We did the train last week and they LOVED that. I think we're going to throw a dance for them since they never get invited to anything like that. They are so much fun, though. I'm sad to say that one of my patients at the nursing home I work at passed away while I was on vacation. I couldn't believe it because although she had Alzheimer's, she was not sick. She was so sweet to me, but I hear she could be mean. She always sang the loudest and remembered many of the words to the songs. Her favorite thing to say was "I love you, honey" to which I would respond, "I love you, too, Mrs. E." It's just not the same without her there. I walk in expecting to hear her famous line and I miss it. Anyway, it's off to camp I must go once I wake up the Blakester. I'll try to post some pictures soon!

Vacation and Party Pictures

We've had a busy past two weeks. It began with the trip to Florida with our entire family, which was so much fun. We ate at a really good seafood place (we thought it was GREAT the first day we went, but it could be because we were so hungry!) and got LOTS of ice cream. We celebrated Blake taking his first steps, playing in the water, and playing in the sand. He loved the sand. It was everywhere. He would pick it up by the handfuls and eat it. We went for a walk one day and I let him pick out a seashell. Of course, he wanted to put it in his mouth but I quickly grabbed it. I love the sand and the beach, but I hate the sand when it comes to clean-up time. Blake loves the pool and would often drink the water (even in the ocean). The first night we took him to the pool and it was way past his bedtime. However, it was so nice outside that we decided to do it. He was so sleepy that he kept putting his head in the water because it was too heavy to hold up. Too funny! Since I took so many pictures, I wasn't able to put them all on the blog individually. However, you can click on the link and it will take you to a facebook page that has them on it. You can still right click and save the pictures to your computer just like you normally would. When I get a chance, I will put a link for John's pictures, as well. He has some really good ones with funny captions. Bet you'd never guess that, huh?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072189&id=52701942&l=3782c48c04

This past weekend we threw Raun a surprise party in Atlanta with some of his friends from college. We all met at one of our favorite Cajun restaurants and Raun was truly clueless until he was walking in the parking lot and saw Damon and Leigh Anne's car. Trey had parked in another parking lot so he wouldn't be noticed. Big John met us at Leigh Anne's dad's house. Raun was so excited to spend Friday and Saturday playing golf with the guys. Leigh Anne and I did girly things...like go to the IKEA store, Trader Joe's, and a few other fun places. And of course, Starbucks! And for those who are curious, I haven't had Starbucks in over a week. I'm doing good. We came back on Saturday so that our Sunday School class could suprise Raun with a cookie cake on Sunday morning. Jaime picked it up for me so that it would be there when we arrived because I knew there was no way I could sneak that it. It was from his favorite place in the mall. The rest of the day was spent at his parent's house with his brother and sister-in-law and their children. It was nice to catch up with everyone and enjoy some really good food. I took a lot of pictures during that weekend as well, so you will have to click on the link to see those pictures. Likewise, you can still right click on the picture and save it to your computer.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2072530&l=4feb863002&id=52701942

That's it for today. Got a baby that just woke up so my free time is over!

Another milestone crossed

Blake is now taking steps and is pushing his little fireman walker across the floor. He chose to begin this new phase of development while we were on vacation in Florida. I was taking a shower because I hate the feeling of sand when it dries, while Raun, Blake, and my parents were playing. I came out to loud noises and Raun came in to tell me that Blake had just took his first step. I was so sad. And yes, I cried. Not only because of the fact that he was growing up so fast, but also because I missed his first step. I mean, I'm with him almost every single day and he chooses to do this without me watching. Mom came in and talked to me, telling me that every mother knows how I felt and that I will miss a lot of firsts. That helped just to hear that other mother's felt this way. To top it off, my camera fell in the sand and broke, so I wasn't able to get a picture. I think my mom did, though.

Speaking of pictures, I will try to post some at some point soon. Raun turns 30 years old this weekend so we are going on a suprise trip for a few days. I'll let you know all about it when we get back. I'm excited because he's clueless!

Back to milestones, Blake also has cut another tooth. He now has two on the bottom. He looks so cute with that little toothy smile. I often think about how uncomfortable it must be to only have two teeth. Wouldn't that hurt when it hit the top of your mouth? Who knows. And I don't want to find out.