First Food!

Last night, Mitch has his taste of real food for the first time. According to his weight, we should have fed him a big juicy steak and a side of potatoes and veggies, but we played it safe and went with rice cereal. At his 4 month doctor's visit on Monday, our pediatrician asked us if we'd started solid foods yet and I told him no. He said most babies are OK to wait until 6 months to start, but he said with a baby Mitchell's size, he (meaning Mitchell) probably wouldn't want to wait that long. He gave us the go ahead to start right away. Before the appointment, I was totally OK with waiting until 5 or 6 months to start solids, and I'm sure we would have been just fine to wait anyways, but Mitch is a big guy and loves to eat. I had a friend ask me today, after seeing how big Mitchell is and finding out much he weighs, "Does he just constantly nurse/eat?" He does eat often and a lot, so we decided to give solids a try.

Here he is, before the big meal, mentally preparing himself for the event, spoon in hand, All-Star bib on.

And.....game on. He leaned forward and gobbled every bite.

I think this picture describes the whole event- he LOVED it! He was open mouthed, tongue out, leaning forward and loving every bite. He couldn't get enough.

Chloe was begging for a turn, and after all her practice at my parent's house last week of "pretending" to feed him, we thought we'd let her give it a shot. After all, she did get Mitchell used to using a spoon and he did great with it tonight. Notice Chloe's open mouth- when I used to feed Chloe as a baby, I would, not noticing, open my mouth with every bite she would take. I see other adults do it, and apparently, kids do it too!

Chloe did a great job feeding him and Mitchell loved it- whenever she is around, he hangs on her every word, turns and follows her with his head and can't get enough of her.

We started off with the suggested "first time feeding amount" on the box- 1 Tablespoon. But he gobbled that up in no time and kept eating and eating. This is a very serious shot of him- food is a serious business in the Andros home. No messing around.

If this picture doesn't show a full, satisfied baby, I don't know what does!

So- Solids were a hit! I had forgotten what it was like to feed a small baby. It is so much fun! It is a lot more work and a lot messier than just sitting down and nursing or bottle feeding a baby, but so worth it. He loved every minute of it and so did we. There's no looking back now- he's tasted the good life. My boy is the size of most one year olds, so he deserves a hearty meal!

Chunky Monkey

We took Mitchell in for his 4 month appointment yesterday and here are his stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz (97th + percentile, or as the doc said: "Off the charts")

Height: 26 1/2 inches (90th percentile)

Head: 44 cm (90th percentile)

We have a very healthy little BIG man. Just to break it down for you, at birth he weighed just a few ounces shy of 9 pounds, by 2 months he was up to 14 1/2 pounds, by Christmas (less than 2 weeks later) he had shot up to 15 lbs 12 oz! And now we are at 20 pounds and then some. So he has more than doubled his birth weight by 4 months. I don't know what it is about my and Ben's genes, but we make BIG BABIES!! I must make heavy, chocolate whipping cream instead of milk.... A preemie would never stand a chance with us- we'd have an under weight baby whipped into shape and chubby as could be in 2 weeks flat. We love our little man (he may be big but he's still my little baby) and we love every pound on him! As Ben says, any fisherman would consider Mitchell a fine catch!

Warning: Holding him is not for the faint of heart, but if you ever want to snuggle with the sweetest little baby around, Mitch is your man.

And I had to post this picture for Grandma Blakeslee- she bought Chloe this darling little jacket last week and I had to show her how darling Chloe looked in it. Thanks Grandma- we love it!!

Homecoming!!

Well, we are finally back home! For the past 10 days, Chloe, Mitchell and I have been in Burley at my parents house. My younger brother Steve just got home from his mission from Seoul Korea last week and we flew home to see him. We had a great trip. It is always so nice to see family and spend time with them. All of my siblings were together for the first time in 2 years. Ben was not able to come, as he had to work and could not take time off, and we missed him a lot. Chloe told my sister that "Dad is sad because we left him in Seattle!" He was very sad not to be there, but we hope he got some rest and relaxation in a quiet house for almost 2 weeks! (That's what I wish for my next vacation....) It was so nice to have adult company and Chloe always had someone to play with. Mitchell definitely got spoiled and there was always someone willing to hold him. We were glad to get back home today and see Ben, and to enjoy the warm weather here. Burley was a freezing 30-40 degrees most of the time, compared to the 54 degree weather that welcomed us back here in Auburn. Here are some of the high lights of our trip:

My parents actually went to Korea to pick up my little (well, I can't say little) my YOUNGER brother and spent a week there with him and had a great time. They had a direct flight from Korea to Seattle, so we were lucky enough to be the first ones to see Steve when he got home! Ben got to come to the airport for an hour or so and got to chit chat with him and my parents. He snapped this picture of the 3 of us- notice Chloe is missing. She was deathly afraid of Steve and as soon as she saw him in the airport, she covered her eyes with her hands and would not look at him or speak to him for about a 1/2 hour. Steve was persistent and finally coaxed her into at least looking at him, and before we got on the plane, she was speaking to him. We hopped on the same flight as Steve and my parents and flew with them to Idaho. Lucky for me- I have never flown alone with both kids yet and was so grateful for the help on the trip there.

Here are Steve and Chloe at Steve's farewell 2 years ago- Chloe had just turned 1 and LOVED Steve. She could not get enough of him.

Chloe finally let Steve hold her when we arrived in Burley, but only for a second. I couldn't get to my camera fast enough before she escaped. But for the rest of the trip, she loved Uncle Steve and warmed right up. She always wondered where he was and what he was doing and frequently wanted to sit by him at meals times and share her treats with him.

Since my parents were able to go to Korea, they brought home some great souvenirs for everyone. They brought home little Korean outfits for Chloe and her cousin Paige.

These outfits are traditional Korean outfits that are actually worn by the little Korean boys. You would never know that by all the pink and peach. The little Korean girls wear dresses. The girls looked so cute in them and they had a blast wearing them together, running around the house.

Here's the whole Blakeslee family, minus Ben and my sister's husband Neil. We're so glad Steve is back home safely and we have loved hearing Korean culture and history and hearing him speak Korean!

We were there on Valentine's Day and missed Ben, and here are the pictures we wanted to post for him on Valentine's Day, but couldn't.

Here is Mellow Mitchell

Chloe, in her Valentine's shirt that she has been so excited to wear on Valentine's Day. She is signing "I Love You" to her Daddy.

We discovered Mitchell's new love- the high chair! He was so content to sit in my mom's high chair and play with toys. This picture demonstrates his contentedness.....

Chloe also discovered her new love- feeding Mitchell! She would get a little baby spoon and pretend to feed him. Mitchell loved it, and when we are ready to start solids, he will be accustomed to a spoon. But when we do start feeding him, Chloe will probably think she gets to feed him every meal......

Mitch got to spend more time with his cousin, Tristan. Mitchell has been desperately trying to grow more hair since Christmas to keep up with Tristan, but he came up short. What he lacks in hair, he makes up for in weight...He could eat his cousin for lunch!

I loved this picture of the two little boys holding hands, all on their own. Tristan isn't loving it, while Mitchell shows no concern for his cousin's sadness.

I had to post a picture of our little man smiling. A lot of his pictures show him expressionless. Mitchell is quite the mellow baby and is so sweet and quiet as long as he is full and well rested. On our trip, he rarely cried and would let anyone hold him. He does not laugh much (yet) but is just starting to be the little smiler. He has such a sweet smile and all it takes is a sweet voice to talk to him and he'll flash anyone his little grin. We love our sweet little man!

One sentimental part of this trip was that my parents just recently built a new house directly across the street from their old house, the house that I grew up in. They just sold their old house (pictured above) and closed on it today. I walked through my childhood house for the last time last week and relived hundreds of childhood memories. My parents were so excited to build a new house, and we all love it, but it will be weird to probably never set foot in that house again, the only house I remember. We had so many great games of flag football and baseball in the backyard, and endless games of basketball on the court in front.

But here is their new house, a throwing distance from our old house. We love it and it is a beautiful home where new memories can be made with the grand kids.

But, we couldn't let the trip pass without some drama. Today we had to leave for the airport to catch our flight home. Our flight left at 11:20 a.m. and we were planning on leaving the house at 8:00, as it takes 2 hours to get to the airport with good weather and no stops. Well, we left after 8:00, we had to get gas, and of course, 40 minutes into the trip, Chloe had to go to the bathroom. I tried to make her wait, but the screaming and tears forced us to find a rest stop. Then, we hit snow and slushy roads in Mountain Home, which slowed us down for the last leg of the trip. We didn't get to the Boise airport until 10:50, just 30 minutes before our flight was scheduled to take off. My Mom, who drove us to the airport, dropped Chloe and I off curbside at departures. Chloe had fallen asleep just 15 minutes before we arrived, so she was groggy and cranky when I woke her up to get out of the car in a hurry. It was snowing and freezing. I got Chloe out of the car, crying, and made her pull one small suitcase while I pulled the other two, plus hauling our carryons and Chloe's car seat. I rushed inside (as quickly as I could with 6 pieces of luggage, a car seat and a cranky, crying toddler) to check our bags before it was too late. We made it, but they marked all of our bags with "late check-in" tickets and would not let me check Chloe's huge carseat. Mom had parked and came in with Mitchell in his carseat and my double stroller. We said a hurried goodbye to her, then stood in line for security. I have never been to the Boise airport and had it be busy, but of course, today was the busiest I've ever seen it (which still isn't very busy, mind you, but since we were in a hurry, it was a smidgen busier). Of course, they make you put EVERYTHING through the scanner machine, car seats and strollers included, so I'm holding Mitchell, trying to take my shoes and coat off while assisting Chloe in doing the same, all while folding up a huge stroller and 2 car seats. I can feel every eye in the airport on me. I glanced up at the clock, which now read 11:10- just 10 minutes until our plane was to leave. I started panicking and as soon as our million items came out of the scanner, we grabbed them and off we went. So here's the mental picture for you: I have the 2 kids in the stroller, our 2 carry-on bags strung over my shoulder, holding my coat and Mitchell's blanket in my hand, holding Chloe's mountain of a car seat in the other hand, all while pushing the heavy stroller. From the security check-point on, I had to run with all this stuff. It was just like a scene right out of a movie. We were quite the sight to see. Mitchell was crying, me trying to run fast while hauling a truck load of things. The car seat is heavy and awkward to hold and my right arm was dead from holding it. We arrived at our gate literally just minutes before the plane took off. When we stepped on the plane, the flight attendants were already taking beverage orders. I was sweating more than I do when I play basketball and was out of breath, but amazingly the kids were both happy at that point and neither of them made so much as a peep on the plane ride home. They didn't sleep, but sat quietly and contently. Upon arriving in Seattle, I thought we were home free, but of course, one of our suitcases didn't make it because of our late check-in. We were told that the other bag would make it on a later flight, hopefully one later tonight, but that they would call us when it got in. It was Mitchell's suitcase, with almost all of the clothes that fit him right now, plus all of our Korea souvenirs and the toys and fun things we bought while we were there. It is never convenient to lose a bag at the airport. Here's to crossing our fingers that the suitcase gets in tonight, or this weekend at the latest. I don't know how long I can live without clothes that fit Mitchell! I had to squeeze him into some smaller pajamas for bed tonight.

But all the drama of today put aside, we had a great trip! Thanks Mom and Dad for taking such good care of us and for always letting us stay for such long periods of time! Thanks everyone- Mom, Dad, Cath, Amanda and Steve for helping with my kids- they all adore you and I appreciate the endless help you are with them. Thanks to Ben for letting us be away from him for so long. He has to work to pay for these trips! :)

Why Me?

Only the slow kids get tagged...

This also happens to be my first real post. I hope I don't mess it up. My sister tagged me. And then she called and reminded me that she tagged me! Here it goes...

1. 10 years ago, I had just a little less than 6 months left to enjoy my mission in El Salvador. Specifically, 10 years ago yesterday I had just been transferred to my second to last area, Jucuapa, Usulutan.

2. 5 things on my to do list today. Lets see... tell Carrie that I lover her, work, work, get furnace fixed, and write a paper for school. The latter is what I am suppose to be doing right now. Come on graduation!! (Carrie is probably much more excited for graduation than I am). Since Carrie and the kids are on vacation I am left here to work. I can't help but daydream about #1 on my list.

3. My favorite Snacks. I eat everything. I really do! Right now, though, my favorite snack is the box (actually it is a Costco container) of chocolate covered raisins that Carrie gave that to me for Valentine's day.

4. Three bad habits. Thats tough. I am sure Carrie could name off a few rather quickly. I am sure I have more than just three. I will try to hit the big hitters. Ummmm.... A) I have a tendency to leave my clothes all over our bedroom floor. B) Carrie jokes that she will have to put Cheerios in the toilet for me to aim at! C) Now that I am old, nose hairs have sprouted and I find myself trying to pull them out. This is a bad habit because I am sure people are thinking I am picking my nose. Which is not true, all of the time. Thats a secondary thing to get to the longest nose hair!!

5. If I was suddenly a billionaire. When it comes to money, I am not exciting. I would save it! Invest it! Not work! Simple, no work = perfect!

6. Places that I have lived. In chronological order... Hilsboro, OR (birthplace, don't remember much there). Richland, WA. Rexburg, ID, multiple cities in El Salvador (mission). Logan, UT. For one summer while in Logan it felt like I lived mostly in Burley, ID. That was because I had to protect my investment! (She had my ring!). Kent, WA and now we reside in Auburn, WA.

7. Jobs that I have had. Lawn mower, concession stand dude, nerdy intern, truck driver (harvesting), soil sampler (?, don't let the imagination run too far. It was just dirt.), and finally back to being a nerd (engineer). I have accepted my nerdness.

8. Things people don't know about me. I don't hide much. For those that are too kind to ask, YES! I have ADHD! Thats why it has taken me so long to do this post. I have been side tracted by everything in the room... at least once! I am shy and get nervous in front of people I don't know. Oh this is the hidden gem... I used to be able to dunk. Well, I dunked only a few times and the rim might have been bent just slightly but I have witness. They were innocent bystanders and I have no idea who they were. Back in the day I benched 315 twice. I could never do that now. My scrawny little frame would be crushed by that much weight. Let's see, what else is there. Oh yeah, does everybody know that I love Carrie??

Well, there you have it. What a fun game of tag this is! I am not sure who to tag really. Lets make this interesting and tag 1) KC and 2) Josh V. I doubt anyone of these two actually will notice that I tagged them. But I know that their wives will notice... Gotchya!

Ben

Tag, I'm It!

I've been tagged two times in one week, my first tags, so here goes:

Two names you've gone by: 1) Blakeslee (my maiden name- I was called this by almost everyone in my high school, teachers included) 2) Care Bear (my parents called me that when I was little, and I liked the care bears)

Two things I’m wearing right now: 1) Jeans 2) AE shirt

Two things I want (or have) in a relationship: Humor- I couldn't live without sarcasm, jokes and laughter (sorry Ben, for all my sarcasm!!), and patience- I have learned to have lots of patience as I've had kids (absolutely necessary), but I know my family has to be very patient with me as well.

Two of my favorite things to do: 1) play basketball and 2) eat

Two things you did last night: 1) Watched reruns of The Office (That's what she said) 2) Talked to Ben on the phone (we're still gone, he's home alone- he may be getting the better deal here).

Two people you last talked to: Amanda (my sis) and my Mom, which is easy since I'm at my mom's house

Two things you’re doing tomorrow: 1) Going to Logan, UT to visit my sis 2) Going shopping (what better thing to do with a sister?) If I were at home, these two things would be totally different and would most likely include cleaning, laundry, etc.

Two longest car rides: Really, anywhere with kids is a long car ride 1)Auburn to Burley, ID 2) Growing up, we'd travel to Oregon from Idaho occassionally and it seemed to take forever. It was 8 hours, which to a kid, and even now as an adult, seems like a week.

Two favorite holidays: 1) Christmas 2) Valentines Day- a great excuse for more chocolate and a great excuse to go out/spend time with hubby

Two favorite drinks: 1) milk- almost nothing beats a nice, cold glass of milk EXCEPT 2) ice-cream shakes (but water is also a close second, due to being calorie free and refreshing- that sounds like a line for a commercial)

Two things about me you may not have known: 1) I rarely wear socks, if ever, even in the winter(usually only to play sports)-I like to be barefoot and wear shoes that can be worn sockless 2) Up until 18 months ago, I had painted my toe nails one or two times in my entire life (I HATED nail polish), but 2 summers ago, my mother-in-law paid for a pedicure for me, I loved it, and now I cannot stand to have my toe nails NOT painted (I still do not like my finger nails to be painted, though)

Two jobs I’ve had in my life: 1) Hoed beets one summer growing up (HATED it and although I wasn't excited to break my ankle that summer, I was glad that it got me out of hoeing beets for the rest of the summer!) 2) Cashier at a dollar store (a friend nicknamed it the Dirty Dollar because it really was- my hands and fingers were black by the end of every day)

Two movies I would watch over and over: 1) A Leauge of Their Own 2) Father of the Bride I & II

Two favorite foods: 1) Sweet and Sour Chicken w/ rice (I love white rice, even plain) 2) Fettucine Alfredo

Two places I’d rather be right now: 1) somewhere tropical and warm with Ben, kid-less 2) asleep

Two people I tag: 1) Erin Volmer 2) Nic Allphin

My Love

Well, I'm having a sad day- it's Valentine's Day and the kids and I are in Idaho, away from my love (and their Daddy) on Valentine's Day. Chloe had a cute Valentine's shirt today with really cute hair and I got cute pictures of the kids with plans to post them on the blog for Ben to see to wish him a happy V-Day and tell him that we love him.....but, sadly, we left home without the proper equipment to transfer our pictures to my parent's computer. So while this won't make up for it, here's a small Happy Valentine's info about us.

What is his name? Benjamin Elia, but I call him Ben or Benj (when I was in Young Women's I referred to him as Brother Andros to the girl's and he did not like that- says it makes him sound old!)

How long have you been together? Just over 5 years since we've met and we'll celebrate 5 years of marriage this summer!

How long did you date? about 7 months

How old is he? The BIG 30!

Who eats more? Sadly, I can't really say that he eats more than me all the time. I definitely hold my own, especially in the ice cream department (he's not a big ice cream guy).

Who said I love you first? Ben did, on a day fishing trip when I went up to meet his parents.

Who is taller? Ben is.

Who can sing better? Ben would say I am without hesitating, but that doesn't mean I'm good. But he did sing in our Kent ward's choir (but only because I was the choir pianist) and he got many compliments on his voice.

Who is smarter? We have our areas- Ben has the money and business smarts, along with anything electronic, while I bring up the rear in child development areas and English/grammar (I proof read and edit all of his college papers).

Who does the laundry? I do.

Who pays the bills? Depends on the month- we both do, but it is Ben who has us very organized in our money management and bill payment schedule, although we put off paying bills until the last minute.

Who sleeps in the right side? If you're standing at the bottom of the bed, Ben sleeps on the right side.

Who mows the lawn? Ben does and loves it! He wishes we had a bigger lawn so he could mow more grass!

Who cooks dinner? I do because I'm home all day, but it was Ben who wooed me in college with his fantastic special chicken and veggie dish. He is great to whip up something for us if I'm sick or gone.

Who is more stubborn? Me, definitely.

Who kissed who first? Ben did for sure....I was only 18 and wanted nothing to do with an "old" 25 year old.

Who asked who out first? Funny story- Ben kept telling friends and family that we weren't dating, so it was probably a shock to everyone when we got engaged because we never dated! But Ben asked me out first, even if he wouldn't admit at the time that it was a "date." (He was embarassed to say he was dating an 18 year old!)

Who proposed? He did, on a baseball field in Burley, Idaho. It was very romantic! He brought red and white roses, and a framed picture of my favorite temple, which we later got married in (Salt Lake).

Who has more friends? I would say Ben- he has a few friends from high school and college who live here, but I keep in touch with more friends than he does.

Who is more sensitive? It depends, but Ben is so sweet and very sensitive to me, especially if I've had a bad day. He'll come home from work, take the kids, do dinner and even run out and buy me a treat if needed. He always knows just what to do. I'm not as smooth.

Who has more siblings? He has 5, I have 4.

Who wears the pants? He would say me, and I guess I would probably agree, but I let him wear them whenever he asks! :)

We love you Ben and miss you lots! Have a great Valentines Day! Sorry we couldn't post our pictures, but Chloe signed "I love you" and "Dad" in her pictures and Mitch gave some big grins.

2 Girls for Every Boy

Last night we had some friends over for the evening. We all have babies within a few months of each other and all 3 are pretty darn cute. Mitchell is the only boy of the group, which we think is pretty lucky- he has the pick between 2 very darling little girls.

Here is all three of them, L-R:
Kylee- 8 months, Mitchell-3 months, Eliza-4 months

Between the 3 couples, we probably took 25 pictures of these little ones and I could post all of them, but Mitchell's expression would never change. The two little girls smile and laugh and change expression between every shot, but Mitchell just sat in the middle, surrounded by beauty, and never even smiled. He was very happy and content, but very mellow throughout. I think he is taking his job as the only man very seriously- this is a tough decision!

Here are all 3 babes almost exactly 2 months ago on December 2nd. Again, Mitchell presents the same serious front...

Eliza and Mitch are just one month, 2 days apart. Eliza out weighed our little man by almost 3 pounds at birth, but he has quickly caught up and possibly even passed her up in weight.

Here they are again, both playing hard to get....

This was our favorite shot of the 3 of them- Mitchell, once again, seriously considering his options, while Eliza tries to persuade him with her puppy dog look and big eyes. Kylee, on the other hand, quietly sits on the other side, contently chewing on a carrot, perhaps preferring a healthy snack to our macho man.

Ironically enough, all three of them weigh almost the exact same. Mitchell has not been weighed in the last month, but both girls weigh in the 16 pound range and Mitch was almost 16 pounds at Christmas, so we guess he is at 16 pounds now, perhaps a pound or 2 more. 3 very cute little babies that are all very sweet and a lot of fun!