9 months old!

I can hardly believe it- my beautiful baby boy is 9 months old!  The next time I take him to the doctor, he'll be one year old, and I don't think I'm ready for that....

I took him to the doctor last month, and his current stats are:

Weight: 23 pounds, 9 oz.  (90+%)

Height: 29 in (75%)

So yes, he is still very big for his age, but he's actually only gained 3 pounds in the last 5 months, where as in the first 4 months of life, he gained 12 pounds (3 pounds per month!)  He was storing up for the winter, I guess.

Current obsessions:

*Solid foods- anything and everything he can get his hands on (or that I let him get his hands on)

*His thumb- can't get enough of it.  Prefers it when he's tired, sad, or any other time.

*Scooting around the room- he does not crawl yet, but can circle around on his bottom or tummy (I'm not too sad that he isn't crawling yet.  He can't get into very much right now, he's always in the same area that I leave him, and he still seems more like a baby!)

*Making a weird chuckle- the nurse at the pediatrician's office described the sound as "a chipmunk" laugh.  Very cute, but very strange, and he makes it constantly.

*Clapping his hands- when he gets excited, he'll clap his hands together and smile ear to ear.  He does this when we prompt him with a "Yea Mitchell!"

*Laughing/smiling whenever one of us signs "Dad" in sign language.  He loves that!

*Being held.  This is the stage of stranger anxiety and separation anxiety and luckily, he really has no stranger anxiety (he really does seem to love everyone), but he does cry often when I leave the room or put him down.  Kind of frustrating sometimes when I'm busy, but mostly just very sweet.  I wish I could hold him all day.

*Watching his sister be silly.  Chloe can get Mitchell to laugh like nobody else.  Sometimes she isn't even trying to make him laugh, but he watches her every move and finds her to be hilarious!

We took some 9 month pictures of him.  Here are some of our favorites of our little Mitch Bob:

This last one depicts Mitchell the best- always has a thumb in his mouth!

Fishing Fun

Another wonderful day for us yesterday!  Ben took the day off again (wahoo!) and we had more family fun.  We headed off to the local Mill Pond (a kid's only fishing pond).

  Anyone that knows Ben knows that he loves to fish.  He would rather be fishing than doing just about anything else.  And Chloe loves anything her dad loves- airplanes, fishing, pop, dogs, being outside, being in the water, throwing a football or basketball, etc.  Ben has went fishing a few times this summer and each time he has gone, Chloe has begged him to take her with him.  She sobbed one time when she was told her couldn't go.  So we decided that a day out fishing would make up for the times she hasn't been able to go with her dad.

Fishing pole and tackle box in hand, she heads down to the pond.  (Chloe usually wants us to carry all of her things for her, but today she was very excited to haul her fishing things around).

Helping Dad bait the hook.

First cast of the day!

Mitchell, awaiting the day he can go fishing with dad, too.

Reeling in....... (She insisted on reeling in all by herself every time).

Look- no hands!  The dock railing has holes in it where you can set your fishing pole.  Chloe loved this and would cast, then set her pole in the hole and "wait" for a fish to bite.

We were having a wonderful time, but knew that her catching anything was pretty unlikely.  The pond is stocked in early Spring and by this late in the summer, there is not a whole lot of fish left to catch.  At one point, we had left Chloe up holding her pole "waiting" and Ben and I were chit chatting behind her that it was too bad that we waited so long to come here and that next year, we'll have to come right after they stock it.  Suddenly, Chloe said, "I think I have one!"  We weren't convinced, but Ben went over to investigate, and sure enough, Chloe had caught herself a fish, all by herself!!  She has been fishing one time before and didn't catch anything, so today was her first fish caught!

Ben helped her reel it in. 

She was fascinated to watch it flop on the dock.  (Daisy was pretty interested too....)

Way to go Chloe!

Ben and his fishing buddy Chloe!  He told me later, "This has been a day 3 1/2 years in the waiting!"

Chloe was soooo excited after she caught the fish.  She kept running around the dock skipping and twirling and squealing in delight.  She was quite proud of herself (so were we)!

Chloe measuring her fish: 8 1/2 inches!  (Although she said, "Yep- one and a half tall!)

Here was Chloe's response when we asked how big her fish was...... A true Fisherman!

Chloe and her fish, which she proudly named Ukalayla. 

Museum of Flight

Yesterday was a fabulous day for us!  Ben took the day off yesterday, which is rare for him to do unless we are away on vacation because they are so busy at work right now that he can rarely escape.  So we decided to have a day out as a family and our destination was the Museum of Flight in Seattle!

Chloe has always loved airplanes and can always spot and hear a plane from a mile away.  Living so close to a large airport, we get to see and hear planes multiples times everyday.  She has become even more interested in planes now that she understands that her daddy works on airplanes.  The other day, as we were out running errands, she asked, "Mom, where is the airport?"  I pointed in the direction of the Sea-Tac airport and said, "Over there."  She then said, "Why does Daddy work there?"  Although Ben doesn't work at the large airport, he has been working at Boeing Field almost everyday for the past few months doing tests on airplanes, and Boeing Field indeed is an airport.  Ben occasionally flies on planes all day while they run tests on the planes in the air and on those days (and sometimes for days afterwards) Chloe will spot a plane in the air and ask excitedly, "Is that the plane Daddy's on??"

So we thought it would be fun to take her to the Museum of Flight where there are planes everywhere!  When we were first married, Ben and I went to the museum of flight probably 4-5 times in an 18 month period.  We went alone, and then at least 3 different times with family members when they came up to visit.  I can't remember if Chloe has gone before, but if we did take her, she was only 3 or 4 months old, so this was her first time going when she could really have fun!

She was very excited to be able to get inside some of the planes and play with them.

Hooray!  A toy away from home where she can touch all the buttons and not get in trouble!

This picture is for Chloe's cousin Sam Williams!  We hope this will persuade him (and his family) to come visit so we can take him to this museum.  I think this is a sign.....  We know he would love it! :) 

Silly pictures of us as old-school pilots.

I love this picture of downtown Seattle.

Chloe in the control tower, filling in as an Air Traffic Controller for the day.  She is clearing a plane for take-off here.

We all took a break and took a quick trip up in to space.  It was fun, but the space suits were hot......

Ben, looking out for meteors...... 

Lucky for us, the Blue Angels (Navy Flight planes) were in town and took off from Boeing Field (next door).  We got to watch them take off in the parking lot.    They are the blue and yellow planes in the background.

The Blue Angels' pilots do aerobatic shows in the air.

Chloe, our little Blue Angel.

Chloe and I had fun in the stationary hot air balloon.

I have a picture of me, pregnant with Chloe 4 years ago, in almost this exact pose.  

We had to get a picture of Ben & Mitch in front of the plane Ben used to work on.

This is the name of it.  Way to go Daddy!

We had a wonderful time at the Museum of Flight and even bought ourselves a one-year membership so we can go back many times in the next year.  We are a plane loving family, and hope that all of Ben's hard work on airplanes will one day result in us owning our own aircraft, as a Christmas bonus from the Boeing Company or something........ :)

Summer Vacation

After.......

3 weeks gone

8 different car trips

2,491 miles traveled

4 states traveled through/in

2 sick kids with fevers

6 cousins played with

Many naps missed

And fun too numerous to count.....

WE ARE HOME!

The kids and I drove to Burley the last day of June, by ourselves for the first time ever.  I was very nervous about making the trip alone with the kids, as Ben is usually with us- he drives and I take care of the kids for the 10 hour drive.  But this time, I was both driver and care taker.  Fortunately (miraculously, perhaps), the drive went really well.  We got to break the trip up into 2 parts: We drove to Tri-Cities Sunday night, then woke up and drove the last 6 hours on Monday.  We only had to stop 1 1/2 times.  The half time was a quick side of the rode potty trip (Chloe, of course, had to pee an hour outside of Tri-Cities, no where near a rest stop), and then the other time was for a quick lunch and gas stop.  It was a long trip (I felt every minute of the 10 hour drive) but the kids did pretty well.  I was so glad to be done and to be in Burley, though!

We had a wonderful time at my parent's house.  They took such great care of us, as always, and it was so nice for me to have company and someone to visit with everyday.  That is one of the hardest things for me about being a stay-at-home Mom- not having an adult to chit chat with during the day.

After being in Burley for just 2 days, Mitchell and I took off on another road trip to Logan, UT to visit my sister Amanda who just had her first baby the middle of June.  Chloe stayed home with Grandma, Papa and Catherine (she was not sad at all to see me leave) so I could enjoy some fun, quiet time with Amanda and baby Carter and Mitchell, 3-year old free.  Chloe, not wanting to break usual "Burley Trip" tradition, got sick the day after I left.  I cannot remember a time when we have went to visit my parents that Chloe has not gotten sick (along with another one of us, as well sometimes).  We were glad that at least this time we didn't have to visit the Burley Emergency Room, as has been the case the last 2 visits.  Her bug was just a 24 hour thing, but Mitchell decided not to be out done by his sister and he got sick as well.  Both kids ran fevers and Mitch was CRANKY for a good week.  The curse of Burley.......

Mitchell LOVED baby Carter.  I know Mitch is big for his age, but let's be honest- it looks like David and Goliath here!  Next to Carter, Mitchell didn't seem like my baby anymore......

Check out the difference in leg size......

These 2 little guys are almost exactly 8 months apart.

And Mitchell got really good at standing while we were gone.  He still doesn't crawl, even at 9 months, but he LOVES to stand.

My mom, little sis Cath and Chloe came up to Logan to spend the 4th of July with us.  I had to do the matching shirts.  I wouldn't be a good Mom if I didn't do corny stuff sometimes.......  Still cute.

We had a great 4th of July and a great time in Logan!

We spent LOTS of time jumping on the tramp!  Chloe could jump ALL DAY LONG and enlisted anyone to jump with her that she could find.

This was Mitch's first time on a trampoline.....

Our baby prodigy picked up playing the  piano while we were away...... Watch out Beethoven!

We LOVED all the heat and sunshine in Burley.

We wore lots of hats and lots of sunscreen.

All the heat made for perfect swimming weather.  Chloe loves water and enjoyed some swimming with her cousins Paige and Jace.

The kids had a wonderful time together.  Here they are at Storybook Park.  We went their last year too and they all love this park.  Here they are 2008.

Storybook Park, 2007.

We were fortunate enough to be in town for the new Twin Falls Temple open house.  The temple is beautiful and I was so glad we were able to walk through it.  The kids behaved wonderfully- Mitch slept the whole tour.  Chloe refused to wear the shoe coverings so one of us had to hold her then entire tour, but she was very quiet and sweet in the temple.  While we were watching the preview video, she asked quite loudly if the baptismal font was a swimming pool.....  

My parents are very excited for this temple- now instead of driving 2+ hours to the Logan temple, they will have just a short 40 minute drive to Twin.

For part 2 of our trip, my entire family (my parents and all my siblings) went to Park City for a week.  Ben flew in and joined us and we had a great time.  We all stayed in a very nice, large condo.

We did some shopping at the Outlet malls and Chloe picked out this new swimming suit.  She was in love with the built in tutu and could not stop spinning and twirling in it when she tried it on in the store.  It took much coaxing to get her out of it so I could pay for it.

She wasted no time using it back at the condo in the outdoor hot tub. 

The highlight of the trip for Chloe was when we rode the Alpine Slide!  It is a huge slide that runs down the mountain.  You ride the ski lift to the top of the mountain, then sit on a cart and slide your way to the bottom.

She could not stop smiling.  We also rode the Coaster- a roller coaster that you ride up to the top, then it winds its way down the mountain and through the trees.  The fun part about both the slide and the roller coaster is that you get to control how fast you go (you can even make yourself come to a complete stop on both rides).  Chloe was not scared on either ride and just giggled and giggled.  

Steve, unfortunately, experienced the down side of the Alpine Slide- as it warns you at the top "You can fall off the Slide!"  Steve's slide cart dumped him off on a turn and he landed face down on the slide with his cart on top of him.  Here he shows his war wounds.

Somewhere on Alpine Slide is a huge piece of skin.......

One day, we drove to Salt Lake and went to Hogle Zoo.  It was so HOT that day, but we still had fun.

Blakeslee Family 2008

The day before we left, we got a family picture.  We haven't had one in 3 years.  We did these ourselves and I think they turned out great.

It took a lot of shots to get 16 people to look at the camera and smile at the same time.  In one of the shots, everyone, babies included, were looking at the camera.  Chloe was the only problem..... (at least she was looking at the camera while she did it.  And she's smiling too!)

When they're not screaming, crying or pooping, our kids can be cute!

On our last day in Park City, we went to the Olympic Park.  

Chloe carrying the torch.....

The exciting part of the day was when Dad decided he wanted to ride the Olympic Bobsled.  He rode the bobsled at the Olympic park in Calgary Canada, too, and was up for it again.  My sister Amanda decided to do it with him and at the last minute (after trying to get Ben to do it), I decided to do it too, for a "once-in-a-lifetime experience."

Step 1 was to watch the video about what we going to happen.

Step 2 was to sign our lives away, saying we won't sue the park for anything that happens on the ride......

Here was our fearless team: Amanda, Dad and Me.

After we had climbed into the Bobsled and got buckled, one of the employees quickly mentioned, as if it were no big deal, to try and keep your back and spine as straight as we possibly could and to try and keep your head up, as it would continuously want to fall over and whack the person in front of you (due to the speed and force of the ride).  He mentioned that we would have a hard time controlling our heads.  It was at that point, for the first time, that I got nervous...... what was I getting myself into?? 

Here we are at the start, being pushed off.  My older brother Matt helped push us off. 

I've watched the movie Cool Runnings many, many times ("Feel the rhythm, feel the rhyme, Come on Jamaicans, it's Bobsled time!") but I guess I forgot how scary it looks to ride in a bobsled.  As we started off, the first 7 or 8 seconds or so, and the first turn, were easy.  I had complete control of my head and back and I thought "Ok, this isn't so bad...."  But after that we picked up speed (close to 80 mph) and things got crazy!  My head thrashed around uncontrollably every turn after that and I can see now why they say anyone with back or neck problems should not ride!  By the end of the ride, I was hunched over with my helmet covering my eyes.  I was sweating (nerves and heat) and I was clenching my hand straps as hard as I could.  I was clenching my whole body the whole ride, actually, and I was clenching my legs and feet so tightly that I gave myself a Charlie Horse during the middle of the ride!

Here was our final time- 59.46 seconds- a very long 59 seconds, but it also felt short at the same time.  We ranked 3rd out of all the times for that day.  What a rush!  I'm glad I did it- now I can say I rode a Bobsled, but I think that may be the last time.  My back and neck were sore for about a week afterwards and I was nauseous for the rest of the afternoon.  But way to go Team Blakeslee!  For another recap of our historic bobsled ride, see Amanda's blog.  Dad did great and had no complaints, but he is a seasoned veteran of bobsled rides.  It was fun to do it with Dad and Amanda.  But rest assured, you will never see me in the Winter Olympics competing in the bobsled competition!

We had a wonderful vacation!  3 weeks is a long time to be gone, but we loved every minute of it!