It's (going to be) a GIRL!

We had our ultrasound on June 2nd, and much to my surprise, it's a GIRL!! I was shocked...I thought for sure that it was going to be a boy. The only girl names that we have agreed on so far are Cora Jane (my favorite), and Dana Claire, which was Tom's grandpa's name. With Cora Jane, Jane was Paula's middle name, plus it's my Grandma Vogel's middle name, and it's Tom's aunt's (middle) name. So, we could cover all three of them with that name! We haven't decided anything for sure yet, but I think we are leaning towards Cora.

Blake has been talking like crazy lately, to the point that we really have to watch what we say, because he is repeating a lot too.

Over this past week, I can faintly feel the baby kick, from the outside. This baby seems very active this early, but I guess I don't remember for sure how active Blake was at this time. I just don't remember feeling movement everyday consistently at 20 weeks or so. I am almost 21 weeks pregnant, past the halfway point. Truly, hard to believe!

We got Blake a toddler bed from Jody, so now we just have to get working on his new room!

I've decided to start my own little side business. I've had several people comment about my photography skills and have asked if I would photograph their children. I finally decided that I may as well make up a little price list, so that I can get compensated for my time. I've already got about 6 people that want me to do their photos, and I haven't even finalized the price list yet! It should be fun though! Plus with the profits, maybe I can purchase more photography equipment!!

We took the day off work today (since Blake daycare was closed) and took him to the Frankenmuth zoo. It's a small zoo, but just perfect for a 2 year old. I will post some photos a little later.

Trouble at daycare....

Blake doesn't usually cause too much trouble at daycare, but he is a curious boy.

The other day, as Mary was feeding baby Brennen, she happened to look outside and saw Blake and Sadie Jo out on the swingset...and she hadn't let them out to play! Turns out...Blake figured out how to unlock the sliding glass door, and they decided to go out to play!! So, the next day Mary put an alarm on the door, and sure enough, within 15 minutes of him being there, he opened the door. When the alarm went off he says "shut the door! shut the door!" But it's funny how he says it, it's "shut theeee door!" In general, that is one of his favorite sayings, and we aren't sure why. Whenever he goes by a door, big or small, he says "shut thee door". We get a kick out of it!

He got bit once by Sadie this week, but up until then, she hadn't bit him in about 3 weeks. Hopefully she is getting past that stage.

Today we put up Blake's new swingset with the help of Grandpa Regentin and Grandma and Grandpa Arbaugh. It's just about done..just need to put the tarps up tomorrow! I sure hope he enjoys it....for MANY, MANY years!!

Ultrasound on Tuesday...can't believe it's almost here already!!

Tom's Goal/Dream

Had my first baby dream last night...it was a boy. We were home from the hospital, and I asked Tom, "well, should we call the family and tell them we had the baby now?" We also didn't have a name for the baby at this point!!

Tom had a goal again this preganancy to get down to 220 by the time the baby got here. He started out at 245 and hit his goal today..he was down to 219.6!!!!! I am very proud of him. He has worked very hard, running on the ellipitcal almost every night for up to 60 minutes at a time...makes me feel like a lazy slug!!! Good for him though...I hope I have 1/2 of that motivation after the baby gets here!!!

My last doctor's appointment was last week, May 11th. Everything went well. The heartbeat was around 145, and I've gained about 6 pounds so far. The ultrasound is scheduled for June 2nd!! I can't wait to find out what we are having!! I've been feeling pretty good so far, with the exception of these allergies/cold. It's going on the 5th week now, it's getting to be ridiculous.

Blake is loving to be outside. The weather has still not been the greatest, but if it were up to him, he would be outside 24/7. He has a fit when it's time to come in. It's one of the few times that we see tears from him.

We celebrated my 2nd mother's day last weekend. We ended up going with John and Florence over to Aunt Jane and Uncle Ed's since Lynn was home from Florida for the weekend. Tom and I got each other tickets to a Tigers game for our Mothers/Fathers Day gifts. We went this past Saturday, May 16th. We had a nice dinner at Carrabba's before the game. And the Tigers won too!!

Mary's House

For the last week or so, once we get to a certain spot on the road, Blake realizes that "we going to Mary's house" and then he smiles. He is also very aware of all the trucks, tractors and school buses that we see on the road, and he is sure to point them out to me. On the way in today he kept saying "Wheee!!! we're going for a ride!" Maybe my driving was a little too adventuresome for him???

He's been a little picky with dinner lately. The last three nights he hasn't wanted to eat...we had sloppy joes, taco salad, and mac & cheese. The first two didn't surprise me, but he always likes his mac and cheese. Maybe we need to go back to some more finger foods for him? He doesn't do the greatest feeding himself yet, but refuses to have any help from anyone.

Blake has been in his "big boy (booster) chair" for a couple weeks now. About 3 weeks ago, he decided that he wasn't going to sit in his high chair anymore, so we had to get him a booster seat. He loves to sit in it, but hasn't been eating very well ever since. Little stinker!

Easter 2009

Although Blake had fun with the Easter Egg Hunt around the house and with his Easter Basket, at the end of the day, he was happy as could be playing with this box!
He was so excited to get M&M's in the Easter Eggs!

The Easter Bunny was pretty good to him, he didn't make Blake search too hard for his basket - it was right on the living room floor. He got a Bolt movie, some bubbles, a golf set, and of course some candy!

For the Love of the Game....

This child LOVES basketball. I took him to the park on Saturday, 4/18/09. Once he spotted a basetball and hoop, he wanted nothing to do with the swings, slides, merry go round, etc. It was all about basketball. He SO wanted to shoot the ball into the hoop. But he loved it when I shot it and made a basket, he would get so excited! Definitely have a little jock on our hands!