First Steps

Blaine took his first steps on Monday, and he has been progressing quickly since then. He has started standing then squatting down to pick up a toy and then standing up again. He has also started to let go of whatever it is he is holding and walk to where ever it is he wants to go. He and I were just playing tonight, and he thought it was hilarious when I would pick him up and have him start again. He eventually got so tickled that he couldn't even stand up!! Enjoy!

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Explorations!

Blaine is definitely his father's son! He is such a little explorer. We usually keep a gate up to block off the den because that is where we keep the dog's food and water. We just raise the gate up off the floor a little so the dogs can squeeze under, but Blaine can't. This was working wonderfully until my little explorer figured out how to squeeze himself under the gate. He spent several days trying to figure out how to accomplish this. At first he would lie flat on the ground and look under the gate, but he couldn't figure out how to move in this position.........Alas he figured it out!
After he knew how to go under the gate........there was no stopping him. The gate is now on the ground, so if my dogs starve to death, you'll all know why!
On the same day he learned how to go under the gate, he decided to get really adventurous and tried to get under the bed. Unfortunately, we have lots of things under our bed, so he got stuck!! Todd was disappointed that I didn't take a picture of that, but I really thought it would be cruel to leave him there while I went to get the camera!





He's also been working on his balance lately. He likes to stand by himself! He's not walking yet, but I don't expect it to be too much longer........Then we're really in for it!

Exciting News!!

After two LONG months of anticipations, I am extremely excited to be able to share this news with you all!
WE'RE MOVING!!
Where, you may ask?
Todd has accepted a position as a Chemical Engineer for Domtar Industries in Ashdown, Arkansas. He plans to start mid December. We will be staying with our parents in Murfreesboro, Arkansas while we try to anticipate what's going to happen with the economy (more specifically, the housing market). We have had our house here on the market for a few months now, with very minimal activity. We ultimately plan to relocate to the Texarkana area!
I can't tell you all how excited we are to be moving HOME! We love our life, our Church, and our friends here in Florida, and we will miss them all tremendously. We have been so blessed to have such caring friends and a wonderful church family. But, we always knew the time would come when we would want to move closer to our family........That time is now!
I had always told Todd that once we had children I would want to move closer to home, but I never realized how much I would want that. Having Blaine has made me realize how much our family is missing out on with us being so far away. Over the past eight months as I have watched Blaine grow, learn, and change before my very eyes, it has been so exciting; however, it has also been a bit bitter sweet. Seeing him grow and change so quickly makes me realize just how much all of those who love him really are missing out on.
I am so excited we will be able to share our joy with them!
MANY hours of prayer were heard and have been answered!

What a Busy Day!

My day began with Todd waking me to tell me goodbye at 5:30 this morning. Yes, he went to work at 5:30 this morning!!! Blaine and I were up at 6:45, and by 8:00 we had eaten, showered, gotten ready, and were out the door. We then drove to the polls to stand in line for an hour and a half waiting to vote.... Todd joined us about half way through the wait. Blaine is such a good baby.....He waited so patiently even though he and I both were ill-prepared for the weather! The forecast was sunny with a high of 78. However, the temperature never got out of the 60's, and it was overcast all day. Fortunately I did at least have Blaine in pants........but no socks on those cold little toes. Anyway, we finally got to vote, and then Todd and Blaine headed home while I went to work. I tutor on Tuesdays, and Todd works from home so he can keep Blaine. But today Todd needed to go back to work before I got home, so after a morning nap, it was off to play with Jayden and Kelso for a couple of hours! Not a problem for Blaine; he loves to be entertained by Jayden, and Jayden LOVES to entertain him. Jayden squeals with joy when Blaine comes over, and it seems to be virtually impossible for her to curb her enthusiam. The funny thing is Jayden has her very own little brother who is only 2 months older than Blaine, but I think maybe the new has already worn off of him!! Anyway, Blaine had a blast crawling through the new tunnel Jayden got for her birthday,


and he even got invited to his very first tea party. Amy pointed out that Blaine looks less than thrilled about this tea party. He's obviously learning early that sometimes its easier to just appease the women!!

I got off work just in time to pick Blaine up and bring him home for a nap. Then he woke up ready to go, go, go. He's such a busy boy! He's started walking behind his push toy this week. It's so cute, and he thinks it's hillarious!! He's also learned how to climb onto his new chair......not climb as in the sitting sense, but climb in the sense that he's standing in the chair. I'm affraid the child has many injuries in his future!! Let's just hope he's not as accident prone as his daddy!

Happy Halloween!

I just wanted to share some of our fun Halloween pictures with you all!

The day started with Todd taking these "Witches fingers" to work for a creepy Halloween lunch party. (They are actually cookies!)

Then Blaine and I stopped by Todd's office to check out all the costumes and creepy food. The 'Witches Fingers' were, by far, the scariest and most realistic looking food there.

Todd dressed up as an M&M. We made this costume a couple of years ago for a costume party!


This is Blaine with Laura, a co-worker of Todd's.


These are some of the people who dressed up for the party.

After Todd got home from work, we attempted to take some pictures of our three pumpkins together. Just so you know, it is virtually impossible to get two dogs and a baby to all sit still AND look at the camera at the same time. But, these were our best efforts!

I'm not sure why it looks like Blaine is constipated in these pictures!

After a short nap and some dinner, Blaine changed into his evening costume.........NEMO! This costume was given to us, and I thought it would be more comfortable for him to crawl around in while we were passing out candy to trick-or-treaters. However, we only had five trick-or-treaters, and they all came together!! SO...............if Todd and I are fat next time you see us, you'll know why!

Sweet Fish!


Surprised Fish!


Fish From the Back.


Silly Fish......Trying to be SCARY!

Happy Halloween!

It's 9:00pm; Where is Your Husband?

It's 9:00pm. The children have been put to bed, and the house is nice and quiet. Where is your husband? Winding down from a hard day in front of the television? In his recliner? Remote in hand, watching baseball or football, or perhaps he's flipping aimless through the channels.
NOT MY HUSBAND!! Nope! He's just getting started...........
Started doing what, you might ask.
Why, what else.........performing an autopsy on a fish, OF COURSE!! What else would a sensible man do when a fish dies? Certainly NOT simply flush it down the toilet!! The 'Mad Scientist' must discover the cause of this poor fish's untimely demise!
YES! He is somewhat disturbed! :)

Boy Meets Dog Bowl!

Blaine LOVES to play in the dog's food and water bowls. In fact, I have moved the dog's food and water bowls to a very inconspicuous place. My hope was that he wouldn't see them all the time, and thus wouldn't think about getting into them. WRONG!! Even though they are hidden out of plain sight, the little stinker still remembers where they are and goes for them every chance he gets! Yesterday morning I was cleaning the house, and Blaine was being most cooperative. I managed to sweep, vacuum, mop, and dust all before his morning nap. He jumped in his doorway jumper for the sweeping and vacuuming and played in the floor while I mopped and dusted. He even stayed out of my way and didn't get into anything! I was very impressed, as he usually wants to be right under my feet while I do these things. I had just finished with everything, and was putting something away when I realized he had disappeared. I figured he had probably gone to the dog food bowl, but I knew there wasn't any dog food in it. So, I wasn't too concerned. I finished what I was doing and walked into the den to find this...........



Apparently this high quality dog food bowl, purchased from the 'dollar spot' at Target, has a nice little black rim around it that when chewed on leaves nice black greasiness all over little boys!! SO........I just thought I was finished cleaning for the day!!

Mohawks and Bathtime!

Just thought I would share a few cute pictures..............

Blaine wanted to support the Tampa Bay Rays tonight, so he decided to sport a mohawk after his bath!

Here's the side view
This is a picture from when we were in Arkansas a couple of weeks ago.
Bathtime at Grammy's

Randomness

I know it has been entirely too long since I've posted an update. We all made a trip to Arkansas to visit family. Todd was able to join us for the trip but had to return a week before Blaine and I. We all had a nice visit, and thanks to Grammy's planning were able to get some really good pictures.
Daddy is being silly!

Here's our little Razorback......This is Uncle Greg's Razorback statue.

This is a tractor that Daddy and Uncle Greg played on when they were little boys.

Daddy was just playing with camera settings when he took this picture.

Fall is in the air......Not in Florida, but maybe somewhere~

Blaine continues to grow like a weed, and he is constantly on the move. He is such a busy little guy. As Todd says he likes to play with anything he thinks he's not supposed to play with. I pulled dog food out of his mouth too many times to count before finally moving the dog food to a different location. He is pulling up on EVERYTHING and has already taken a few spills. Here is a picture of one of his favorite things to do.

He loves to look out the sliding glass door. While he used to sit on the rug and look out, he has now figured out how to pull up on the door to see even more!!

A Family Photo

It's only taken us 6 1/2 months, but we finally have a family photo.........minus the dogs, but I'm sure we'll have get to that eventually!

We have been staying busy with normal everyday stuff.......cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, and of course playing with the new camera. Now we are trying to get everything here taken care of before we leave on Wednesday for our visit to Arkansas.

Blaine is growing like crazy and becomes increasingly entertaining each and every day! He is getting much faster and more adventurous daily. He is starting to pull up on things and has already taken several tumbles onto our nice hard tile floors. Yesterday, he tried to crawl into the dishwasher to help me with the dishes. He loves to crawl into the kitchen and try to get to the dog food before one of us has a chance to get him, and he has started following us around the house.........Todd especially enjoys this because he likes that Blaine wants to be where he is!!

We look forward to seeing you all soon!!

Cars that Go Vroom!

Todd has been anxious to get Blaine on this little car. Kayla got it for him several months ago. It converts from a rocker to a ride-on toy to a push behind. It also has a handle that allows someone else to push Blaine on it. This is the part that Todd has been so excited to try out. Last time we got it out, Blaine wasn't quite ready for it, but this time he was! Todd pushed him all over the house, and Chloe chased him. Blaine thought the whole thing was hysterical!!

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http://www.kimerykaos.blogspot.com



He has also started trying to pull up on things over the last couple of days. Here are a few pictures of him trying to pull up on his swing. He doesn't quite understand that his swing is not stationary and is probably not the best choice for stability!!

A New Camera

After much anticipation, our new camera has arrived! I thought Todd was going to make me drive Drive to the Orlando Fed Ex location on Thursday night because he just didn't think he could wait until Friday. He managed to wait another 24 hours.....lucky for me!! I don't think he's put it down except to sleep........well, he did mow the lawn today too. Then, we went to the park to take a few pictures.............I use 'a few' very loosely here. I think he's taken over 400 pictures since last night. Thank goodness for Digital technology!! That was our problem with our other cannon rebel......it was a 35mm. It takes wonderful pictures, but Todd likes to take hundreds of pictures. Having that many developed gets pretty expensive after a while. Anyway, so far we are very impressed with the camera, as we should be. It wasn't cheap!! Here are a few of my favorites. I'll post more later.