Not quite Helen Keller...

...But close. No just kidding that was probably a rude title but, I need to just take a minute to "bear my testimony"about Baby Signing Time. This was given to me as a shower gift (thanks Tesha) and I really love it so so much. I started showing these DVD's to Blakeley at 7 months and she loves them. They are educational and entertaining. Blakeley can sign 15 things and she did her first sign at 9 months. She can sign:

Hat, Dog, Kitty, Wash Hands, More, All Done, Eat, Drink, Mom, Dad, Trian, Car, Cracker, Milk, Water, and Bath.

Besides it being the dang cutest thing to watch it is nice when she can show me what she needs. Anyway recently the Stratford girls were asking me what I had done with Blake to teach her to sign and the truth is not much, I just let her watch the DVD's and she started picking up on it. Most importantly she LOVES them. Anytime I say should we watch Baby Signing Time she runs to the TV and starts dancing it is so cute. So I thought I would share it with the rest of you I think they are the best DVD's ever! They come with CD's for the car of all the (annoying) songs and she loves to listen in the car too. You can go to babysigningtime.com to find out more. Ok I will get down from the pulpit now :)!

The day has come (and sadly gone.) Blakeley turned the big one today. We had such a fun day with her. She loved everything, her presents, the cake, and all the attention! We just cant believe our little monster is 1! We took Blake to Beus Pond to feed the geese and ducks this afternoon. Blake had a good time and we just enjoyed watching her discover everything. Then tonight she had a Pink and Brown party for her with our families. She got spoiled of course by everyone. She was entertaining, getting excited about all her gifts and trying to put on her clothes. She thought her cake was VERY delicious and was covered in it within minutes. Little blakers made us smile and we are so proud of her. She is so much fun and while we miss that sweet little newborn that we held for the first time one year ago today, we are so grateful for the sweet, darling, little monster that we have now! Time flies and it is sad to think that another year could go by just as fast! Blakey you're our sweet little baby and mom and dad love you so much!

Happy First Birthday, Blakeley!

Have you noticed...

I noticed when I looked at my blog today that Blakeley's little birthday ticker (shown above) is on the 12 Month mark. Obviously I knew her bday was this week but it just kills me to see that there! She is getting so big its just so hard and bitter sweet! We have been busy planning and preparing for her big bday bash this week. (I know she won't remember any of it but I don't care, I will!) This year has flown by at it is amazing all that can happen in one short year! We just love our little boo so much, she brings us joy everyday.
I love my little Booie Girl!!

Punkinaze Fun!

We had fun last night! We went to the Punkinaze "Christmas in September" fundraiser had a great time and ate some delicious food. Rob took Blakeley down the slide a bunch of times. At first she was just chill like whatever but after they went down a few times she was beggin to go down again and again. When Rob would get to the top of the slide with her she would be jumpin up and down in his arms just ancy to go down the slide again! It was so cute, Rob was so excited cause now he has a good excuse to go down the slide :)

Look at her grin!

Grandma let Blake hunt for some candy in the corn!

I have a new Trick and a new Look!

My New Trick....

Look out my little monster is Walking!!!

My New Look...

If you look close I have some pretty new ears!!!

I have been bad Blake started walking a couple of weeks ago and I haven't gotten around to posting it. Maybe because she is into EVERYTHING and I haven't had time :) She is so big and so brave. She is doing so good now, she can pivot around and head wherever she wants. She loves to walk and it is so cute to watch!

Ok so disregard the outfit in these pictures she is missing her skirt and obviously her shirt. I was also trying something new with her hair. I can get it into a teeny tiny pony tail on the top but she hates it and its hard but that is the deal with her hair but really this is all about the EARS! I finally got her ears pierced. I have been meaning to do it forever. I heard about a doctors office that does them and I thought that would be very sanitary and so we went for it! Blake did really good, she cried I think only cause she was scared because the minute I picked her up she was fine! We think she looks SOOO cute with her new earrings.

Tagged by Lily Cakes!

Name and Meaning: Blakeley Brian. Rob and I have always loved this name. We have known since we got married that we would name one of our little girls Blakeley! We have many people in our life named Blake that we love too so we tease that she was named after them!
Age: 11 months

Birthday: September 25, 2007
Nicknames: Blake, Boo, Blakers, Booie, Bakey, Bakey Monster, Boozer, Loves, Love Dove, I think there are too many to list. Just any take on Blake and Boo we can come up with!
Favorite Activities: Playing, Being outside, Watching Baby Signing time, Walking, Books-she is a total book nerd, Giving kisses and loves.
Favorite foods: Basically things she shouldn't be eating, she is fond of sugar like her mom! Mac and Cheese, Loves Yogurt and Red Grapes for sure.
Least Favorite Foods: She hates rice cereal and most baby foods.
Favorite Music: She loves the music on Baby Signing Time and the songs that her toys play. But she will dance to anything!
Favorite Toys: Right now she is loving her Lion walker, that was supposed to be for her bday but we had to give it to her early because she is already walking. She also loves her new piggy bank and bus toys.
What makes me Happy: When daddy comes home!! Baths, just being played with and teased.
What makes me sad: We are a little bit drama already! She can get sad over whatever if it is the wrong time of the day. She doesn't like when I clean out her ears and her nose!

First Family Photo Shoot!

Cathy worked a bit of magic once again! She wanted to try taking some pictures at Antelope Island and asked us to be her subjects :). Which Im sure she regrets now because Blakeley wasn't all that cooperative! Anyway of course as always Cathy got some keepers! Here are a few that turned out despite Blakeley begging for crackers!

Our Scary Weekend

Our sweet little Boo got really sick last week, she ended up in the hospital with a really bad UTI, which was actually good news because when the doctor admitted her we thought it could be something much worse. It was so sad to have to watch Blake go through all the tests they did on her. She was really sick that first day and really scared us because she had a fever of 105! They thought she might have meningitis, so Rob and I were very worried. We had to stay 2 nights in the hospital to make sure all of her tests and cultures came back negative. It ended up just being a UTI and we were so grateful that she was feeling better within just a few days. Now we are home and Blake is back to her crazy, busy, hillarious self! We are so glad she is better and we never want to have to see her go through any of that again! Here are some pictures we took while we were stuck in the hospital.

Right after all of her tourture!
You can see in her eyes she didn't feel good

I thought this was TOO precious

Starting to feel better...

Yeah! Im home, and they took that darn thing out of my arm too!All Better!

Maddee really is one of the most beautiful people I know! She is such a doll and we have a picture of her and Kade together just like this from about every year of their lives. Something was different this time though when we took the picture. Kade is for the first time TALLER than Maddee, and he is pretty handsome too!

This one is for you Maddee!

Hi, Maddee posted a picture of me on her blog where I look retarded literally. So I thought I would retrun the favor! Love ya Mattsie!