Blake Dean is Here!!!

I guess my wish came true, blast off happened sooner than expected! I went into the hospital Wednesday evening at 5:30 and Blake was born Thursday morning at 7 am. 7lbs 11oz and 21 inches long, due to his size, we're guessing his due date of April 15th was a little off. We are all doing well, and happy to be home! Kate is proving to be a great big sister, she is very loving and attentive to Blake. Here are a few pictures of the little man, I'm sure more will be coming soon! Sorry, no sibling pictures yet, Kate has a slight fever and nasty cough, so much to her dismay, she is keeping some distance! :)







and I couldn't resist posting these pictures of Kate helping Daddy do dishes!





gotta love that "smile."

TORPEDO 2!!!!

T-Minus 5 weeks (actually 4 wks 6 days)! I am hoping for blast off a little sooner than that though!

Getting the Right Idea

Kate loves toilet paper, and has figured out for the most part what it is used for. Usually when she gets a hold of a piece, she pretends to wipe with it. Last week while Jason and I were cleaning up after dinner, she came out with some...I think she thought she was in trouble...although all we said was, "let us take a picture".



This morning while I was cleaning the house, I made a quick stop to the bathroom, which I am doing about every 30 minutes these days! This is what I found...



If you can't tell by my lovely photography, that is TP in her training potty (no she does not use it yet, we just got it to introduce her to the idea).

Krazy Kate!

Kate is on a kick lately. She loves to collect things and either make piles or try to wear whatever it is. Her favorite items are:
*Buttons
*Ribbon
*Cards
*Bows
*Stuffed animals
*and pretty much anything else she can find that comes in multiples!

Here are a few pictures of her wearing some unusual things!

All her headbands from when she was little, she'll just sit there, handing them to me and pointing out where she would like me to place them!




Her flash cards:



and for some reason, she LOVES to put stuff between her toes!



Since she likes it so much, she thought maybe she should give Daddy a turn:

A Tribute...

Two weeks ago, Jason's sweet and wonderful Grandmother passed away. Because we have never lived close, I never got a chance to get to know her very well, but from what I did know and from the many stories I have heard, she was an amazing woman! She always made me feel completely comfortable around her and from the moment I met her, I could just tell she was very special! Although it makes me sad that I will not get to know her better in this life, I find comfort in knowing we will all be with her again some day! We love you Grandma Alice!

Winter Fun!

Last year, we had a pretty awesome ice storm. This year's was a little different. It was more like frozen snow. We got 2-3" of it and it was so solid, even driving your car over it wouldn't crush it! School was canceled for Jason for two days, so we got to enjoy having him home with us! Kate loves being outside, but I wasn't about to try and walk on that stuff, I'm wobbly as it is anyway! So Jason made a make-shift sled out of a cardboard box and pulled her around in the backyard for a while! I think they both had a blast!





Yes, I know she looks homeless, but we don't have a lot of winter clothes for her, because winter's here are generally nice!

Well, that was a very nice Christmas.

Originally, we had planned to just hang out in OK for Christmas, but I guess my Mom knows me too well, so we ended up spending Christmas in Washington with My family. I went up about a week before Jason, so he could study and take his dental boards. (Which by the way, he passed! We are so proud of him!)

Washington welcomed Kate and me with a BEAUTIFUL blanket of fresh snow. Western Washington usually doesn't get much snow, so it was a neat Christmas surprise....at least for a few days, until it was a day or two before Jason was supposed to be flying in, a day or two before Christmas Eve and flights in and out of Sea-Tac were being canceled! Luckily he made it in fine and we were able to be together for Christmas. My sister and her family, who was supposed to be in Dallas for her bro. in-law's wedding was not so lucky! LONG story short, they ended up staying with us for Christmas, and were able to get on a later flight and still make it to the wedding. I felt bad for all the chaos they had to endure, but was so happy they were with us for Christmas. It was also my little brother's last Christmas home before he goes on a mission, so it was nice for him to have more family there! Because there was SO much snow, we were basically home bodies, which was fine for me! We just got to hang out, enjoy each other's company, bake, EAT and relax! I was a slacker with the camera, so here some of the few pictures I took!

CHRISTMAS MORNING:




Our stockings that I started LAST Christmas! Dont' worry, still not done! I am planning on getting our names embroidered on them.



My cute parents on their way to a New Year's dance!



And of course, no trip to Grandma and Grandpa's would be complete without a little snuggle time!