Blake is 9 months old!

I cannot believe how old Blake is getting! He had his 9 month check-up this week. All is well! He is 18.8 lbs. (36th percentile) and 29.5 in. (90th percentile). Still tall and skinny like his daddy! We also had his 9 month pictures taken today. Here are some of my favorites (Notice Blake's tongue is on the top of his mouth in most pictures. This is because I was clicking my tongue to get him to smile, and he was doing it back at me!):

Blake's Birth Story

I have been wanting to do this for a while. Finally, I decided to sit down and write it! Here it goes:

My pregnancy with Blake was overall pretty easy. I felt a little lousy in the beginning, but I never got sick. I had a stomach virus once, which wasn't pretty, but I never had any illnesses besides that along the way. The only downside to the pregnancy was my swelling. Toward the end, my feet, calves, and hands starting swelling horribly. Oh, and my face was huge... super attractive. None of my shoes fit, and my socks left terrible indents on my legs. Nevertheless, I continued going about with my normal routines. At 38 weeks pregnant, my doctor decided I should go to the hospital and get my blood pressure checked out. It was pretty high. It turned out acceptable, but it was bad enough to where I was ordered to stop going to work. Lucky for me, the timing worked out well. We had snow days at school, so I didn't have to use very many of my sick days for this time. The evening before I was 39 weeks pregnant, we were getting a pretty bad ice storm. My sister, Rebecca, came to stay with us so she did not have to drive from Plainfield to Bloomington for school the next morning. I wasn't feeling very well, so I headed up to bed early. At around 11:30pm, I had a strange feeling and called for Alex to come upstairs (he and Rebecca were still watching TV). I thought my water had broke, but I wasn't certain. I stood up from bed, and then I was SURE my water had broken! Now, from everything I had read and what my doctors had said, this was no big deal. I could get all my stuff together, shower, eat, and try to rest. We would just go in or call the doctor in the morning, because everyone knows labor takes forever, right? Wrong! I got in the shower and was immediately hurting! I hurried up, got out, started timing the contractions, and called the doctor. They started at 8 minutes apart and were down to 3 minutes apart in less than 15 minutes. The doctor still had not called us back! Now, I was freaking out! Should we go to the hospital? How's the ice storm? Should we wait for the doctor? So many questions. We called the doctor again and headed to the hospital. The doctor called us back as we were headed out the door and said to definitely come in. Walking to and getting in Alex's truck was quite an ordeal (yes, we took Alex's truck... the weather was terrible... we needed the four wheel drive to make it!). Alex helped me to the truck so I wouldn't fall, I struggled to get in since it was such a huge, icy step up, and we were on our way! Obviously, I had already called my parents, and they were trying to get out of their driveway. They had so much snow and ice! Alex had called his mom, and the interstates were shut down by her! I called Stacia on the way, letting her know what was up (like she didn't know what I was going to say being almost 39 weeks pregnant and calling in the middle of the night!). We slowly made it to the hospital, and I was seriously hurting when we got there. We were in the hospital room by 2am. I wanted that epidural ASAP! Of course, I had to wait for the anesthesiologist because he was in with a c-section patient. I got my epidural finally, and guess what... I was dilated to 10cm, and Blake was ready to come out! Bad news for me: the epidural didn't work all the way! It only partially numbed me. I was still able to feel everything... great. Blake was quick though... just a few pushes and he was born at 5:07am on February 2nd, 2011. 6 pounds 14 ounces and 20 inches. A little jaundice (we had to use the unpleasant light) and a little bruised from coming out so fast. I was also a little bruised with a broken tailbone from him escaping so quickly! (Side note: I didn't help the broken tailbone by falling on it a couple days later!) My parents arrived at the hospital shortly before Blake was born, so they were able to see him a couple hours after delivery. Alex's mom came the following day (when her roads were open again!). Rebecca and Lauren also came to visit us, but that was easier since they both were going to classes at IU! We had a couple other visitors from Bloomington who braved the ice and snow as well. We went home a few days later and have been happier than ever since.

Famous words by me from Blake's birth video after he comes out: "That feels so much better!" and "Thank you for getting out!" I constantly am getting made fun of for saying these things! :)

I have heard the first baby takes the longest... I am a little afraid how quickly our next baby will come (assuming we have another) based off of how fast Blake was born! Hopefully, we will make it to the hospital on time! :)

Thank you to our families for watching Blake when Alex went back to work and I went back to school. We really appreciate it, and I am sure that Blake does as well. We are very fortunate that we haven't had to send Blake to daycare and that I am now a stay at home mom. I do plan on going back to work once we are done having children and they are all in school (we would be on the same schedules anyways with me teaching!). But until then, I will cherish my time with Blake and any other children we might have.

Trick or Treat

Blake's first Halloween was a success! He was a cute little monkey! The costume was great because it was nice and warm, and of course, adorable! Alex and I dressed up as well. I was a witch (with a Hogwarts student hat) equipped with a wand (a perfect stick from outside), and Alex was a zombie (or walker, if you prefer The Walking Dead terminology). We went to a nearby neighborhood at 6pm at hit the streets! By the way, it gets dark here at like 5pm... should be interesting when daylight savings comes around next weekend. Here are some pictures! Enjoy, and happy Halloween! Time to go eat candy and watch scary movies!

Expelliarmus!

Stupify!

Expecto patronum!

Showing off my tail.

Zombie and monkey.

Witch and monkey.

Yummy!

Trying a sucker!

Is all this candy mine!?

Aubria's Visit

We had a visitor! Aubria came to see us all the way from Indiana! We had all kinds of fun while she was here. First, we went to the New England Aquarium. Blake loved it!

Jellyfish.

Jellyfish.

So pretty!

Seahorse.

Gill.

Penguins!

So cool!

Scary fish.

Nemo.

Passed out.

We saw Occupy Boston while we were on our way to the aquarium, too! Going strong throughout this yucky weather!

We also went to check our Salem, Massachusetts. Since we went the Friday before Halloween, it was crazy! There were all kinds of people dressed up.

That is a man, FYI.

A zombie must have tried to bust out.

Sarah Good.

A man witch?!

Pressed to death... 

This is cool.

Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Beavis and Butthead approved.

We also had a taste of winter. We got about 6 inches of snow. Crazy! Luckily, Aubria's flight was still on time, but our 3am drive to the airport was interesting!

Overall, we had a great time! It was wonderful to see Aubria and spent some time with an Indiana friend!