Repurposing of Blog

I created this blog when I was pregnant with Blake so I could share all the wonderful things happening with our family. Now, I'm changing the purpose of this blog. I will still post pictures & information about Blake, but mostly these posts will be about Mom & Dad over the next few weeks/months.

So many people have inquired about my parents & their recent car accident. I'm unable to keep up with all the emails, texts, & phone calls. So, I'm going to post updates here every day or so on their progress. Please feel free to continue emailing, texting, & calling me; but understand that I may not be able to get back to you for a couple of days.

Thanks so much for understanding & for all the prayers & concern for our family. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends & family!
Stay tuned...

Exciting Times!

So much has been happening with Blake recently! He'll be 14 months next week & he's really started to blossom the last couple of weeks! I've been hesitant to post about his milestones because he's behind a lot of peers. We go to baby story time once a week at Chapin Library, & it's been evident for quite some time that he was developmentally behind children that were even much younger than him. It was a little depressing to go each week & see other babies crawl, pull up, walk, etc. & know that Blake wasn't close to doing any of those things. You try not to compare or let things bother you, but it's really hard!

When December rolled around (11 months old) & he still hadn't pulled up yet, I decided it was time to take action. I found out about BabyNet through a friend. BabyNet is a free service through DHEC that helps children under age 3 that appear to be developing slowly. He qualified in a couple of areas & has been receiving services since January. He's currently being seen by 3 different people.

Lyndsay is an early interventionist & helps him a little in all areas. She's sort of like our case worker. Marissa is his speech therapist & has only seen him once so far. He's only a month or two behind according to her tests, so I'm not as concerned about him in that area. Katie is his physical therapist. She's only seen him one time, but we've seen more progress since that one visit than anything else. She first saw him on Monday, February 22. The next day, he crawled on all fours for the first time. He only went a couple of steps, but it was amazing! He's been "army crawling" for quite some time. He's also been getting up on all fours & rocking back & forth, so we knew crawling was coming soon. Also, he's just started pulling up in the last couple of days too! He doesn't pull to standing yet, but he gets up on his knees. He attempted to stand tonight for the first time, but fell down & wasn't interested in trying again. He also went from all fours to a seated position for the first time yesterday.

I'm so excited & so relieved by all the progress he's making! Everyone says not to worry. All kids develop differently, which I know is true. At some point, however, there's a real concern that he's not developing properly. I know there's nothing wrong with him & truly believe this all related to his mellow, laid-back personality.

In addition to his physical developments, he's making gains in other areas too! He can do the following:

• Give five


• Hold up 1 finger when asked how old he is


• Point to the ceiling when asked where the fan or light is


• Give a kiss on the cheek


• Blow a kiss


• Wave bye-bye


• Put blocks into the train (there's a slot on top where you put the block & it shoots out a hole in the back to put the block into a trailer)


• He eats a lot more table foods now too. Tomatoes seem to be his current favorite!


• I'm sure there are other things I can't remember at the moment. I'll update this as I remember.

Words he can say...

• MaMa


• DaDa


• No-no


• Go


• Ball


• Puppy


• Boo


• Uh oh


• Hat


• Night-night


• There are a lot of other words where he says the beginning sounds. He also repeats a lot of what he hears. So, we have to watch what we say & watch on TV these days!

That's all I have to report for now! I'll keep you all updated! He's doing something new everyday!

Family Fun

Blake got to hang out with Granna, Pappy, Aunt Wendy, Uncle John, & all his cousins this past weekend. Wade brought his John Deere Gator & took him for a spin!

Where'd my driver go?

I'll be driving in no time!

On the inside, looking out!


Blake likes to swing with Granna!

February Fun

More pictures of the latest happenings...

Granna & Pappy came to visit on Valentine's Day!

And they brought me a bath toy!

Playing with the frog & duck puppets that LaLa gave me!

Graham crackers are delicious!

Snow!

Valentine's weekend brought snow to Myrtle Beach! It was Blake's first snow, sort of! (We got a few flurries last year, but he was only a few weeks old so we didn't go outside.) The snow brought a lot of excitement to the Grand Strand. We rarely get snow & even more rarely get a few inches of accumulation. We took Blake outside, but he wasn't very interested. He didn't want to touch the snow. It was too cold for him! Here are some pics of the momentous occasion!

How often do you see snow on the beach?

A lot of it had already melted by the time I got down there to take pictures!

So Much to Report!

January has been a whirlwind so far!

Blake started the New Year with a double ear infection & really bad sore throat. Poor little guy! After a couple of weeks of antibitotics, we went back to the doctor a couple of days before his birthday & it was a good thing we did! Blake still had a double ear infection, sore throat, AND bronchiolitis! After more antibiotics & a few days of breathing treatments, however, he was feeling better & back to normal!

Blake's birthday was January 13 & it was lots of fun! Aunt Wendy came to visit & brought a cupcake and a balloon. The balloon didn't last very long, but the cupcake was delicious!




We had more visitors that night. Uncle B made dinner & we were joined by LaLa & Grandpa White. Granna & Pappy came over too! There was more cake to eat & presents to open.

Click HERE to see more photos from Blake's birthday!

January 16 was Blake's 1st birthday party! It was a blast!. The theme was football & most of the guests wore their favorite team gear to the party. Blake got lots of great toys & some cool summer clothes! We're so thankful to everyone that came out to celebrate Blake's special day; especially those who traveled from far away to come! (Thanks Mike & Jane, Sarah & Jessica!)

Click HERE to see more birthday party photos!

In the last few weeks, Blake has been moving around a lot more. He still doesn't crawl in the conventional way, but he gets around pretty fast by army crawling everywhere. He's also learned to say "No, no, no" while shaking his head. He usually gives us a big grin when we tell him no, which makes it even harder to say no to him.

He learns something new everyday & we're so blessed to have him our lives! Now, we're looking forward to warmer weather so we can get outside more!

Blake's First Christmas

Blake's first Christmas was lots of fun. He didn't really know what was going on, but he enjoyed all the paper & boxes. He got lots of great clothes & fun toys! The festivities started on Christmas Eve. We went to Ron & Tammy's (Ron works with Brian). They are so sweet & always have a little gift for Blake. Then, we had the Lewis Christmas at Aunt Diane's house. After that we went to Leonard & Diane's house to have Christmas with them & the Martin family. Christmas Day, we woke up & did our Christmas (the 3 of us). Then, we went to my parents' house for Christmas with them. Blake was exhausted after all the activities that week! I took millions of pictures, of course! Click the link below to see them all. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas & have a safe & Happy New Year!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128351&id=605989335&l=b7b2bd8734