Happy Birthday Blake

One year ago today we were sitting in Woodwinds hospital waiting for our 3rd child to come in to the world. And he made a very smooth and easy entrance--by far my easiest delivery. My first comment after he was born was, "I could do that again!" to which Matt replied, "Let's just wait and see how this one goes."

Blake was such a sweet baby and a great sleeper. He loved his miracle blanket!

My earliest crawler at 8 months old and now walking quite well at 1!

Blake was a pretty happy baby---when he didn't have an ear infection. Unfortunately, he has had 5 ear infections in his first year of life and we just had an appointment with an ENT this week. And yes, Blake will be getting tubes. He has been on antibiotics for 3 of the last 4 weeks and is a much happier and interactive baby. In just this short amount of time he seems to have learned so much, which I think is because he's not in so much pain. So next week he'll go in and get tubes and we are hoping this will alleviate much of his pain.

Still only 4 teeth at 1 yr.
...putting EVERYTHING in this mouth....
..and loves playing telephone with anything he can find....

Blake is one strong and tough kid. He already loves wrestling with his big brother and at times when I cringe and think, "Ooh, he's going to cry", he doesn't. But instead he just keeps going. It doesn't seem like there is much that will be able to hold this kid back. When he is determined to do something, he puts his mind to it and does it. We are so blessed to have Blake in our family and are excited to see what the Lord has planned for him. Happy Birthday Blakers!

Trimmings

Most of these pictures speak for themselves. One of our traditions that the kids love is having the bottled Coke while decorating the tree (which led to a little girl being up several times to go to the bathroom). They also love looking through the ornaments and remembering which ones are theirs and where they got them!

Could be an interesting Christmas season with this little guy around!!

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree!

On Saturday we headed up to my aunt and uncle's Christmas Tree Farm (where we've been getting our Christmas Trees every year of my life!). The weather was a bit warmer (high of 25 degrees) and it was a perfect day....sun shining, fresh snow on the ground, and the perfect tree waiting to be found. My parents were getting the tree for their house as well so we left with two trees. And we also met up with our good friends, the Kuchs, and had fun on the tractor and in the tree fields with them.

Coby, Erik and Matt

...and they're off...

I think this was our 5th tree....meaning, the 5th time that we said, "This is it!" yet kept looking just to make sure there wasn't a better one out there.

And thanks to my good friend Steph, this is where Blake spent the entire time. He did awesome, especially considering that we were out in the cold for about 2 hours and the poor guy wasn't moving a bit. But as Matt says, "Our kids are growing up in MN so they need to learn to like the cold"

...estimating the height...

...perfect size for Sadie...

Angie is 8 1/2 mos. pregnant and due in 2 1/2 weeks. Completely reminded us of our experience last year when I was 3 days overdue while we were up there looking for our tree. And now its Angie's turn! Too bad that tractor ride didn't induce labor for her.

This was the final tree. But of course Blake wasn't looking at the camera...what can you do?

What a beautiful view! There is nothing like the experience of cutting your own tree to not only build memories but also to experience God's beautiful creation.

Picturesque!

In the gift shop with my aunt Adie. She is so sweet and each year she used to let us each pick out an ornament for ourselves and now she has my kids do the same. They love looking at ALL the ornaments and then selecting their favorite. And of course the hot cider and cookies are welcome after being out in the cold!