My New Wheels!

We broke down and bought a 4-wheel drive vehicle for me yesterday. It's a silver 05 Ford Explorer that we bought from a lady in Lexington. It is in like new condition, with only 31,000 miles. When we got home, I was transferring my keys to my new key ring and noticed that there were 2 remotes to lock/unlock the car and then there was a third remote. I figured that she must have accidentally given us an extra one, since it didn't match the other two. I showed it to Tom and he thought that maybe it was a remote starter. I told him not to get my hopes up. So, just for the heck of it, he tried it. I was literally jumping up and down when that car started!!!!!!!

Christmas Again!

We had Christmas with Dad and Lyn on Sunday. Again, I made everyone pose for a family picture. I think I will make this a tradition and do it every year with each family!

More Christmas pics!

Blake...having fun!
Bower/Arbaugh/Zinn/Regentin family!
Kelsie...after applying her new chapstick & new fairy costume!
Probably the funniest moment of the day was when Brianna was picking on Kelsie and Kelsie threatened "Leave me alone or I'll cast a spell on you!"
Kelsie, Blake & Brianna

A few Christmas photos

The Arbaugh cousins - Nathan, Blake & Braden

Blake loving his new trike!

The Arbaugh Family

Our Arbaugh Family

Christmas again!

We had Christmas dinner at mom's today. She made quite the spread....homemade Chinese food & spareribs...it was great! We had a nice day hanging out, playing cards and eating lots. The highlight of the day was Blake saying "Love you" for the first time...of course it was to Grandma! That little stinker!!!

Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve, the three of us went to church in Sandusky where we sat with mom, Aunt Gail & Kelly, and Aunt Peggy. After church we enjoyed snacks, drinks and the company at Aunt Peggy's house. After that we came home and Tom and I exchanged our gifts. Tom got an Ipod and a new winter coat. I got a Wii Fit, Cricut Design Studio and some other scrapbooking stuff! Christmas Day was spent at home. John & Florence, Mom and Jeff all came over for dinner and watched Blake open his gifts. Blake got some trucks that light up and make noise, a set of balls (basketball, football, soccer ball, and baseball), a mini computer and a Tough Trike to ride on outside this summer. He was so funny opening presents, he loved everything! Todd & Kristin and the kids showed up later in the afternoon on their way into town.

We had Christmas with the Arbaugh's on the 26th at John & Florence's. It was a very nice day. We got lots of clothes, some toys for Blake (including a Tough Trike that lights up and makes noise - his other one will be getting returned!!) I also got a cricut cartridge and Tom got a programmable thermostat.

Today we are going to Mom's and tomorrow to Dad's. Busy, Busy, Busy!

We decided to purchase the Ford Explorer that we looked at the other night! Looking forward to getting that next week!

A full sentence!

Today Blake said his first full sentence, "I got the b-ball!" I'm pretty sure that's what he said, and he was carrying around his ball with him when he said it!

Hard to beleive it is Christmas Eve already! More snow yesterday and some freezing rain today - yuck! We are now in the market for a four-wheel drive vehicle for me!!

Such a big boy!

Blake continues to amaze me everyday. The last couple of days he has been listening so well. I'm not sure if I'm more surprised that he is understanding what we say or that he's actually doing what we say! For instance, if we tell him to go put his clothes in the laundry....he does it and thinks it's so fun! Same thing with throwing away his dirty diapers, putting away his toys, putting away the Tupperware that he's dragged out of the cupboard. He loves it - and so do we!! I'm looking forward to Christmas, I think he will have fun with it, I know we will anyway!

More Snow!

Wow, more snow today! Glad it's the weekend and we don't have anywhere to go. Here's a few photos I took through the window this morning!

Up til now...

Wow, I'm doing good. First day and my third blog already!

I thought I should give a snapshot in time of where things are in our life if I'm going to keep this blog updated in the future...so here goes....

Blake is 16 months old, almost 17 months actually. He is at a really fun age, but also a real trying age. He likes to push buttons, literally, and including our own. Anything around the house that has buttons, he's pushing them. But I know it's just because he is curious.....except when he pushes the same ones and gets in trouble every time he does it!!! Anyway, he started walking at 13 months and hasn't slowed down since. He is a very happy baby and a good sleeper, too. He ususally sleeps 7-7 every night, give or take an hour. We are so lucky to be sleeping all night again..it took awhile though. He didn't start sleeping through the night consistently until he was about 8 months old. Let's see, what else....he is a talker! He will wake up in the morning talking, not crying. He will stay in his crib and talk and play for at least 1/2 hour before we go get him. When he is up and moving, his mouth is going constantly. Some of the things he says just amazes me. Some of the more recent words are Santa, snowman, home, diaper, Mary, and of course I can't think of any others right now. At his 15 month check-up he weighed 27 pounds, so he is a growing boy. He is wearing mostly 24 month clothing at this point in time. He loves balls and books right now, especially books that are somehow animated or do cool things. He goes to day care at Mary Ellis' every day, and does very well there. Except when him and his little buddy Sadie Jo get into trouble ("Sadie Jo" is also one of his favorite words) at Mary's! Blake has about 12 teeth at this point in time, but I think more are on the way since his fingers haven't left his mouth the last couple of days.

Regarding Tom and I...well Blake is pretty much our life, so not much else to update there! Tom has been working at Keinath Tire in Deckerville for almost 4 years now. I started a new job this past spring at GreenStone Farm Credit Services in Sandusky. We are very thankful to have jobs given this tough economy that we are currently living in. In Tom's free time, he enjoys his Fantasy Football league, playing Wii or Playstation, and "playing" with his new JD tractor outside (plowing snow!). I enjoy scrapbooking, photography, reading, Wii Fit, and of course spending time with my boys! That pretty much sums up our life!

It's a Blizzard!

Today was one of the biggest snow storms we've had in quite some time. Many local businesses were closed, including the court house. I had to leave my car at work, and Tom had to come pick me up and Blake from daycare. It's a good thing too, because my car would have never made it down the roads. It's 9:00pm and they still haven't plowed our road yet. We might not be going anywhere for awhile! I will have to take some photos in the morning and post them. It was so snowy and windy today, I didn't dare take my camera outside!

My Christmas shopping and wrapping are officially done! Almost....just need to buy a few stocking stuffers and it will be complete. I'm looking forward to having 5 days off next week/end!! But of course it will be busy with all the family Christmas gatherings.

Here's a few Christmas photos of Blake. He loves the tree and was a little surprised I was temporarily letting him touch it!

New Years Resolutions

All right....My New Years Resolution is to update this blog at least 3 times per week! As I'm getting "older", I'm realizing that my memory is not as good as it used to be, and as Blake starts doing more and more everyday, unfortunately I'm not going to remember it all if I don't document it! So, starting now, even if no one ever reads it, I'm going to keep this blog updated, so it will be easy (and fun) to go back and read and configure a timeline of his milestones. Of course I will have the usual resolutions of losing weight, staying organized, and keeping up with my scrapbooking!

Easter Sunday 2008

Here is Blake on his very first Easter Sunday morning! What a handsome young man, if I do say so myself!

Blake is sitting up so well on his own. Can't beleive he is 7 months old already!

I'm new at this...

Ok, I'm not real sure what I'm doing here, but a friend had something like this set up and it's always fun to go check it out and see what her and her family is up to since we don't get to see them too often. We'll see how it goes!