One more on the way...

Well, it's time to make the announcement...

Owen will be a big brother!!!

Yes, another little Blankenship bun is in the oven!  Baby 2 is due August 24th, 2013.

Jimmy and I are thrilled that God has blessed us with another child! It looks like they will only be about 14 months apart.  

We wanted them close together!

I'm currently 14 weeks pregnant and feeling great!

It's true, you definitely pop out sooner with #2.  I've already started wearing some of my maternity clothes... mostly just the pants.  I do plan to post pregnancy blog updates throughout this pregnancy, but will probably only post them once a month.  I enjoy blogging, but I'd much rather spend my time soaking up my little man's smiles!

So here it goes...

Along:  14 weeks!

Size of Baby:  Baby 2 is the size of a naval orange (about 4.5 inches and weighs only 3 ounces).  Baby 2 is practicing breathing in the womb this week.  He/she is also moving around like crazy, but I can't feel the movements yet.


Gender:  Do not know yet!  We find out in about 6 weeks.  We are actually considering being surprised .. so I'm not sure if we will actually find out the gender or not yet... 

Sleep:  I'm sleeping wonderfully!

What I Miss:   Nothing right now... maybe an alcoholic beverage now and then.

Cravings:  I have been craving some juicy fatty hamburgers.  5 Guys is the best.  I have also been craving Mexican... which is interesting, because with Owen, I could not stomach Mexican the entire pregnancy.

Symptoms:  I was pretty nauseous weeks 5-8, but never actually got sick.  I switched to a natural vitamin and it has made wonders.  I was also a little tired the first trimester, but not nearly like I was with Owen.  I just had to go to bed an hour earlier.  I have had a few food aversions... specifically yogurt.  I cannot even stomach the smell of yogurt.  Jimmy has to eat it in the other room.  I was the same way with Owen.

Best Moment this Month:  The best moment had to be hearing the heartbeat for the first time and seeing little baby 2 moving around on the ultrasounds screen.  He/she was sucking its thumb and had hiccups during the ultrasound, just precious!

Jimmy and I are very excited and we think Owen will make such a wonderful big brother! 

Love to all,

Judi and Jimmy

Owen is 8 Months Old!

Happy 8 months baby boy!!!

Sleep:  Owen sleeps about 11 hours a night.  He goes to bed at 7:30/8:00 and wakes up around 7:00/7:30 each morning.  He never wakes up in the middle of the night.

He is down to two naps a day.  He will nap from 9:30-12:00 and then again for an hour or so anywhere from 3:30-5:30.  I knew his naps would fall into place when he was ready.  :)

Size:  I'm not sure exactly how much he weighs, his next appointment is at 9 months.  I'm sure he weighs over 20 pounds, and my guess would be 23 pounds.  He is getting so much longer too.  He is outgrowing some of his 9 month clothes and I'm going to have to go shopping for some 12 month outfits!  He is still in size 3 diapers, and Huggies are the best.

Special Trips/Visits:  We have not had any special trips or special visits this month.  Owen loves getting out of the house though.  We take him everywhere we go.  He especially loves the grocery store!  His other new favorite place is Sweet Frog.  We took him there last weekend and he loved it!  We are planning on going today since it's going to be warmer!  He is so good out in public... I have not had a single time where he has cried in public or thrown any kind of tantrum - yet!

Daddy's grocery shopper!

(Owen loves Wegmans!)

Owen loves Target!  He smiles and squeals at everyone!

Firsts:  Owen is CRAWLING!  He started crawling shortly after he turned 7 months.  He is all over the place!  He loves crawling on Skyler's dog bed.  He will bury his face in the bed and squeal!  He also loves all of the dog toys... he will see a dog toy across the room and BOOK IT to get the toy.  The dogs are VERY good about sharing with him, even though we obviously don't want them to share!  I have found him chewing on the dog toy basket just wishing he could get all the toys out!

Can I have your bone?!  :)

Owen has also just started to eat more solid foods (like real people food, not the gerber squares of pureed food)... he has had some yogurt bites (freeze dried yogurt that he can pick up and eat), avocado, banana, apple, and orange.  He loves all of it and when it's all gone or I take it away he is not a happy camper!  I have to have a quick distraction handy!

Being silly!

I love his posed smile.  He now knows to 'smile for the camera'!

Owen also made Radford University's Facebook page on Valentine's Day!!!  I sent them this picture saying "When two Radford grads get marries, they make an RU baby!"  They posted his picture on Valentine's day and he got more than 300 likes!!!

Radford Baby!!

Owen also got a Jump Jump (the seat that hangs in the door frame).  He absolutely loves it.  He will spend an hour jumping in it and squealing with excitement!

Dude gets some air!

Owen also had his first Valentine's Day this month.  Jimmy is already teaching him how to be a gentleman.  Owen got me the book Love You Forever, which, of course, made me bawl that morning!  Owen also picked out yellow roses for me (yellow is Owen's favorite color).  Owen treated Momma pretty good, and I felt more blessed than ever to have such a wonderful son, and an amazing husband!

Likes:  Owen still loves fruit, and now loves whole pieces of fruit.  He is still not at the point where he can eat small chunks so we watch him carefully.  He likes to eat when everyone else is eating.  When we take him out to dinner, he needs to have something to eat while we are eating otherwise he whines for some of ours!  He loves everything he is not supposed to have (now that he is crawling).  This morning he threw a little fit because he couldn't have the carpet cleaner!  He loves taking a bath.  We have a blow up bath and tons of bath toys. 

Dislikes:  Owen does not like when you take a toy away from him that he is not supposed to have.  He still doesn't like green vegetables... but, honestly, that is about all I can think of that would make him unhappy... he is such a happy guy!

Developmental Milestones:  The major milestone this month is crawling.  He is also starting to babble and make different sounds "ba ba ba ba" and "da da da da".  He will copy you when you make the sounds to him.  When have a book we read to him and every time we get to the word 'bus' he says "ba ba ba ba"!  He also loves to share... he will take out his passy and try to put it in your mouth.  He will also try to give you his bottle!  He also knows his name now and will turn to look at you when you say Owen!

Family Update:  Things are going very well for us and we have some special news... more to come in the next blog post!

Here are some more cute pictures that I could not resist sharing!

Sup, pretty lady?

Sleeping just like daddy.

Tearing apart my play mat!

We have the same color eyes.  

Playing with the forward facing camera.  He LOVES to look at himself!

Best friends!

I hope everyone enjoyed the post!

Love,

Judi

Owen is 7 Months Old!

Crazy Boy.

Sleep:  Owen is now going to bed a little earlier and waking up a little later.  He now goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and wakes up about 7:30 in the morning.  He sleeps the entire night without waking up, like a CHAMP!  

Owen takes two to three naps a day now.  He usually takes a mid-morning nap, mid-afternoon nap, and a late afternoon nap.  All of his naps last anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  Sometimes if he has one longer nap, he will only take two naps that day.  I have been very flexible about when he naps.  He will go to sleep when he is tired, and the pattern and schedule has fallen into place.  He is taking all his naps in his crib now - no more swing, yay!

He is such a social guy and doesn't want to sleep when we have people over, or when we are at someone else's house.  All he wants to do is be a part of the action!  We went to a friend's house a couple weeks ago and the guys played poker while the girls hung out with the kids.  Owen did not go to sleep until 10:00 that night.  All he did was flirt, flirt, flirt!!!  He was showing off all his skills to the other ladies and squealing and laughing.  He had a blast!  The next morning he slept in late!

Size:  Owen weighs over 20 pounds now.  I haven't weighed him at home and haven't had a doctor appointment, so it's hard to say exactly.  But I'm sure he is at least 20 pounds, maybe more.  He is also getting so long.  I just packed away all his 6 month clothes and moved on to the 9 month clothes a month ago, now some of the 9 month clothes are too small already!  We have some 9 month outfits that barely fit him and will barely snap because he is so long!  He is still a chunky guy and has some adorable thunder thighs!

Special Trips/Visits:  This past month has been very uneventful... which has been really nice.  No special trips anywhere and no special visitors.  I have to be honest, I have really enjoyed the slower pace after the busy holidays.

Owen does love to get out of the house.  Since our nanny comes to the house every day he doesn't get much time out and about.  So on the weekends we try and take him everywhere with us.  He just loves seeing new places and new faces.  

Firsts:  Owen got his first tooth!!!  It is the front bottom left.  It came up about two weeks ago.  Now he has the second tooth coming up right next to it!  Teething has been okay... not really bad, but certainly not a breeze either.  Sometimes the pain will bother him and sometimes not.  When he is bothered by it we give him some tylenol/motrin, and some teething tablets and that does the trick.

Likes:  Owen loves fruit!  He gobbles up fruit like it is dessert.  He loves Lola.  Every time she walks by he smiles at her, squeals, and reaches for her.  He also loves Kenzie!  (Kenzie is our nanny's daughter.)  He smiles at her when he sees her each morning and loves to sit in his highchair while she is eating like he is eating with her.  Kenzie loves Owen too.  She gives him kisses, brings him his toys, and pats his back.  It is SO adorable!

Dislikes:  Owen does not like green vegetables.  That means, peas, green beans, and spring veggie mix.  He will eat the peas and green beans, but makes a face.  The spring veggie mix (which includes spinach) is horrible to him.  He spits it out over and over.  He still is not a fan of being on his tummy, but now he can escape it by rolling over.  We also discovered this week that he is allergic to blueberries.  He's has a bad reaction to them so far... nothing serious, but he won't be eating them again anytime soon!

Developmental Milestones:  Owen is now sitting up completely on his own and loves to scoot across the floor on his booty.  He can also stand up from a sitting position all on his own!  He loves to sit on my lap and stand up.  Of course, he can't stay standing very long and usually holds onto my arm while he is standing, but it's working those muscles!  He is also VERY close to crawling.  He gets on his forearms and puts his back legs in position and rocks back and forth.  He is still not strong enough to put his hands down on the ground and lift the top part of his body up.  I think he will get there very soon!  

Socially he is really developing well.  He loves to be around people and loves to smile at everyone.  When we take him out places people are always stopping to talk to him (who could resist that face?!?) and he is always smiling right back at them!  He squeals and coos and talks up a storm.  He looooves the attention!

Squealing in the diaper box!

On Daddy's shoulders.

Playing on the floor.

Lately he loves to take a nap next to me on the couch while I catch up on my DVR shows!

Wegman's trip with Daddy!

Jimmy took him while I was at work one day and sent me this picture, of course I had to show my students!

Family Update:  Things are going well in the Blankenship household.  I am settled back into work really well now.  I'm taking two classes this semester in order to renew my teaching license this spring.  So I will be BUSY!  Jimmy is doing very well at work and has had a great start to the new year!

I hope everyone is staying warm!  All I want to do is sit on the couch with a blanket when it is this cold outside.  But the best thing about winter is the beautiful Spring that follows, which is my favorite time of year!

Love,

Judi

Owen is 6 Months Old!

Happy Half-Birthday Baby Boy!!!

I cannot believe it has been 6 months since Owen entered our lives.  He has brought so much joy to my and Jimmy's life.  Some people say that your life ends when you have kids, Jimmy and I both feel our life began when Owen was born.  I do not deserve this blessing!  I thank God every day for the wonderful gift of my son!

Sleep:  Owen's sleep habits haven't changed since his 5 month post.  He is still sleeping 10-11 hours a night and taking short cat naps throughout the day.  I've yet to try and schedule his naps... I'm going to work on that (along with Katie) after the holidays are over.  He is not a fan of naps right now... He fights sleep like no other!  We say he has Missing Out Complex, he never wants to miss what is going on!

Size:  We just had his 6 month appointment this morning.  He weights 19.5 pounds and is 27 inches long.  He is in the 90th percentile for weight and height!  Boy is growing good!!!

He is still wearing size 3 diapers.  I think we'll be here for awhile.

I just packed away all of his 6 month clothes and brought out all his 6-9 month and 9 month clothes.  

Special Trips/Visits:  Owen got to meet my Oma and Opa for the first time.  They are my mom's parents and live in California.  It was so incredible of them to fly to Virginia to see him!  I nicknamed them Goma and Gopa (the G is for GREAT!).    I got some cute pictures of everyone...

Goma and Gopa!

Playing with the sweetest Goma ever!

Owen also got to meet some of Jimmy's family for the first time.  Owen met Jimmy's Aunt Debbie and Jimmy's Granny Marian.

Great Granny Marian!

Great Aunt D!

Firsts:  Owen has continued to eat cereal twice a day now, lunch and dinner.  He has now eaten several different kinds of fruits and vegetables.  Bananas are his favorite!  He has dropped a bottle at lunch and now only eats solids.  At dinner he will finish the rest of the bottle that isn't used to make his cereal, which is around 2 ounces.  Just enough to fill him up some more before bed.

I'm in love with this face!

Owen went to see Santa for the first time!  The line was TWO HOURS LONG!  Yes, two hours.  My boy was a trooper the whole time, not a fuss, and smiling at everyone!  Of course, when he sat on Santa's lap he gave us a huge grin.  I just love that boy!  I don't have the Santa picture on the computer yet, but here is a picture of us waiting in line!

Owen had his FIRST Christmas!!!  He actually LOVED opening all the presents!  He liked to pull the paper off and tried to put it in his mouth (of course).  He got REALLY excited for some of his toys!  He especially loved a lantern toy Nana got him, and a few of the light up toys Jimmy and I got him.  I loved seeing his face light up when he opened his presents!  

My playful boy!

This was the most joyous Christmas Jimmy and I have ever had.  To see Owen's face fill with joy and excitement when opening a present filled our hearts with joy.  We didn't get each other presents this year (just bought the house and have had to spend a lot of money on furniture and decor), but we both felt like this was the best Christmas we have ever had and are so excited for all the Christmases to come!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Developmental Milestones:  Owen is on target with all his developmental milestones.  The doctor said he is looking great today!  He rolls over all the time, and now he is sitting up on his own!  Christmas morning we noticed he could finally sit up on his own without our support.  He sat in between my legs and opened his Christmas presents!

Family Update: We are finally all done unpacking and settled into our new house.  It took us awhile, and it took Owen awhile to get used to the new surroundings... but we are so glad we made this move.  We now live in a family friendly community in a house that has plenty of room for our family to grow!  I can't wait to have more kids and raise our family in this house!  I get emotional thinking about all the memories we will create here and our future children who will grow up here!

Happy Holidays!

Love,

Judi

Owen is Five Months Old!

Sleep:  Owen is still sleeping 10-11 hours a night.  He goes to bed at about 8:15 and usually sleeps until 7:00.  This morning he slept until 7:30!  I love that he gets more sleep, but I leave for work at 7:00, so I miss getting a little hug in before I leave.  BTW:  This is one more awesome thing about Katie, I can leave him in his crib and don't have to wake him up and take him to daycare!

Owen will take about three naps a day for anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.  We don't have scheduled nap times.  I let him fall asleep when he gets tired.  I'll schedule them when he gets older, but for now, I'm sticking with what works best for him!

Size:  Owen is at least 18 pounds now.  Infants gain anywhere from 1 to 1.25 pounds a month, and since he is on the bigger side, I'm sure he gained 1.25, or more, this past month.

He is now in the size 3 diapers.  They fit him perfectly.  We still prefer Huggies.

He is still wearing 6 month clothes, but some are snug on him.  I'm just now starting to pull out the things that are too snug and put them in his closet to be packed away.  I just bought him Christmas outfits and bought them all in 9 month.

Special Trips/Visits:  My best friend growing up came to visit us over Thanksgiving weekend.  She now lives on the eastern shore with her husband, which is about a 5 hour drive from here, but her parents live in Fredericksburg, which is only about 45 minutes away.  While she was up visiting her parents for Thanksgiving, she stopped by.  It was so awesome to see her!!!  I LOVE when I get to spend time with her!  It was her first time seeing Owen, so of course, I had to get some pictures!

Owen the stud with Aunt Molly!

Firsts:  The most exciting first for Owen this month was trying solids!  Our doctor told us to wait until he was 5 months, so on November 25th we broke out the cereal and mixed it up!  Owen absolutely LOVED his cereal!!!  It took him a couple bites to get used to it, but after the third bite, he knew what to do!  He squealed and made "mmmmm" noises while he ate.  It was precious!!!

Yummy!

Gimmy that cereal!!!

We started with organic oat cereal.  Our doctor told us to skip the rice cereal since arsenic has been found in it recently.  I'm choosing to go the organic route with Owen's food for the first year or so.  I feel better about it, and it's not that much more expensive.

So far Owen hasn't shown any signs of being allergic, nor have the solids interrupted his sleeping pattern. 

Owen also met the horses at my parents house for the first time this month!  I'm sure he's seen them before, but this time he was actually interested in them, and I remembered to bring my camera.  :)

What is that?!?!

Cutie boy.

Owen has also learned how to 'spit' this month.  I know it sounds gross, but it's actually kind of cute.  He discovered it all on his own, and now he does it whenever he's feeling spunky!

While I'm taking his 5 month photo...

Developmental Milestones:  Owen is on target with all his developmental milestones so far.  He rolls over to his tummy, holds his head at a 90 degree while on his tummy, and has started to sit up on his own.  He can sit up on his own with a tiny bit of support.  He likes to hold onto your finger to support himself.  I think he'll be sitting on his own with no support by 6 months.  He loves playing in his excersauser.  He pushes with his legs and plays with the toys.  Another cute/cool thing he can do now is put his passy back in on his own!

Family Update: The most exciting thing that has happened this month is moving into our new house!  It was a big hassle and closing on both houses ended up being a mess, but it's ALL over now!!!  We are almost all the way unpacked and are now just trying to relax a little bit before the Holidays make us crazy busy again.

Home sweet home.  <3

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Love,

Judi

I am Thankful for...

I thought it would be nice to think about things that I am thankful/grateful for each day in November.  I'm going to try to post something every day, but chances are I'll miss a few days and try to catch up at some point!  I'm going to keep editing one post, so there aren't 30 "I'm Thankful for..." posts!

Jimmy and I feel like we have SO much to be grateful for... so many things in our life are just wonderful right now.  Sometimes I tell Jimmy that I feel like I'm living a dream!  It's easy to think about how bad things can be when everything seems to be going wrong, and it's easy to complain about things you wish were different.  Often we forget to think about how good they are when they are good, and to thank/praise God for his goodness in our lives.

November 1st - So today I am going to reflect on how thankful we are to have found Katie.  I have found such peace going back to work knowing that our son is well taken care of.  When I come home each evening Owen is such a happy guy and in such a good mood!  I'm sure all the other mothers out there understand how good that makes a working mom feel.

November 2nd - I'm thankful for my husband!  He provides for our family because he wants to, not because he has to.  He loves me and Owen with all of his being.  He writes me a love note every day (yes, every day!) and leaves it next to my breakfast!  Oh, and he makes me breakfast every morning - egg whites and turkey bacon/sausage.  He thanks me every day for making dinner.  He thinks I'm the most amazing mom in the world.  He appreciates me.  He changes diapers, feeds, and holds Owen when he is crying all with a smile on his face because he is so happy to be a dad... and the things that has made me fall in love with him all over again - he is an amazing father.

November 3rd - I'm thankful for my son!  His smile lights up my world.  His funny noises crack me up.  He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and the best thing I'll ever do with my life.  I thank God every day for blessing me and entrusting me with his beautiful life.

*I know the last two are pretty much a given, but I feel so incredibly blessed to have found the man of my dreams (when I was only 18!) and have a beautiful son with him!  So, of course they had to be on my list!

November 4th - I'm thankful for my sister!  The first 12 years of my life I never had a sister and when Lauren became my sister it changed my life.  She is such an amazing person and I admire her so much.  I know she doesn't hear this a lot coming from the older sister, but she inspires me.  I feel lucky that I was blessed with her presence in my life and I'm SO thankful for our relationship.  I also love how much she loves my son.  She adores him with all her heart, and I love her even more for that!  She is a special person and I cherish her!

November 5th - My job!  As I am sitting here inbetween parent-teacher conference (I have 28 back to back today), I am thankful that I have a job.  I'm thankful to have found sommething I love to do and that I'm pretty good at!  Even on a long day like today, dealing with parents, and questions, and  interpretors, and all that stuff, I'm thankful for my job.  I'm also thankful Jimmy has a job that he enjoys and is successful in too!

November 6th - I'm thankful to live in the land of the FREE and the home of the BRAVE.  God bless the USA!  Now, GO VOTE!

November 7th - I'm thankful for my friends!  I have some wonderful friends who I have been close to for more than 10 years now, and I have made some wonderful new friends in the past two years.  They have really been there for me through trying to get pregnant, pregnancy, and now motherhood.  I'm so glad that I met them!

November 8th - I'm thankful for my family's health, especially my son's.  Sometimes you take being healthy for granted... but today I want to recognize how important and meaningful our health is. 

November 9th - I'm thankful for my students.  Each day is new and different... Each day at least one child makes me smile!

November 10th - I'm thankful for my car.  I know I probably shouldn't be thankful for material things, but I just love my car, haha. 

November 11th - I'm thankful for a steady and stable income, thanks to my hubby!  Many people are struggling right now with this economy, and I'm SO thankful that we are doing well.

November 12th - I'm thankful for our new house!  I'm so happy to have found a house that we can grow and raise our family in. 

November 13th - I'm thankful for sunshine.  A bright sunny day always cheers me up.

November 14th - I'm thankful for the little moments... little moments are what makes life meaningful.  The smiles, hugs, kisses, glances, touches... Those moments are what bring us all together.

November 15th - I'm thankful for my brothers.  Growing up was a blast (most of the time), and I'm thankful my son has such great Uncles!

*Since we're moving this weekend, I'm going to jump ahead and do a few in advance!

November 16th - I'm thankful for my parents.  They helped shape the person I am today, and I'm forever grateful.

November 17th - I'm thankful for photographs.  Sometimes our memory doesn't do memories justice.  I'm thankful we have cameras to capture all those 'little moments'!

November 18th - I'm thankful that I have a warm bed to fall asleep in every night.  And that my son does too.  :)

November 19th - I'm thankful for my grandparents.  All four of them are still alive and thriving.  All four of them are part of my life and we see or communicate regularly.  I'm thankful that we have such a good relationship and I admire all they have accomplished, especially their marriages (both have been married for 50 years).

November 20th - I'm thankful we can hire people to help us... this may sound crazy, but we're moving into our house today and I'm SO thankful we could hire some big guys to help us unload the truck!  It will get done so much faster!

November 21st - I'm thankful for technology... where would we be without it?  Can you imagine how different life was 20 years ago?  50 years ago?  It has made our lives much easier... and maybe harder in other ways.

November 22nd - I'm thankful for family!  I love the holidays and getting together with my family.  Family is the MOST important thing.
 

What are YOU thankful for?!?!  :)

Love,

Judi