Blabla the doll

Addie has her first doll. I saw this brand before we had Addie and thought they were too cute. We were walking through a store earlier this week and saw them there...we had to buy one! She loves sucking on Blabla's hands and feet or playing with her dress. Blabla and Millie the Monkey are officially family members.

The Mid-State Fair

Is it that obvious that we are new parents? Addie got to experience her first fair in Paso last night. We had a great time as a family and loved just walking around and "being" together. We showed Addie all the animals that we read about in books, the amazingly "healthy" foods that mom and dad LOVE at the fair, and of course, the rides. Not many rides are 5 month-old-friendly, but the carousel was our winner. It was so much fun to see the joy on her face as she went up and down...she loved it....and so did we. I can already tell that Chris and I will be those parents that buy all the silly stuff at the fair for their kids. :)

I do have to say that we are wrapped around our little one's fingers. At night when she is asleep, we often look at pictures of her and laugh...she is getting so big. She is also an eye-catcher. I feel we can't go anywhere without her making someone smile or comment on how cute she is. We are blessed.

The Mid State Fair Videos

We grabbed some video of Addie's first ride on a carousel. We laughed the entire time and switched off holding her as the other one took pictures and video. Hope you enjoy our nerdiness as parents...

Daddy Love

A joke we have in the family is that Chris is a human burp cloth for Addie. Without fail, she will spit up on him whenever he holds her after eating...be it right after or 30 minutes. We were on our way home from camp/wedding in Palo Alto and caught these. The first is our fine job of learning to feed the Little Bug oatmeal and the second is at a McDonalds sweet tea stop (good ol' sweet tea) where Addie got Chris pretty good. I love Chris's face in the picture!

Back at Woodleaf

It's so nice being back at camp with Chris...we have missed him. Addie knew instantly who her Dad was even though it's been a few weeks. Chris is constantly holding (and kissing) her...I love seeing it!

Chris's folks came up to visit on Sunday since it's been awhile since they had seen him. Addie and I got there that day too so it was great for us all to be together. Chris got some time off to hang out with the family and it was so nice. Addie played in the lake with Grammy while Chris and Papa played a game of Home Run Derby. I guess camp has a way to bring out the kid in us all. It's so refreshing for my soul to be here...I wish we could stay longer.

Eating Steps

Last week was an interesting week in the Blake household. Long story short, we had to take Addie to the doctor and we found out that she is not gaining enough weight...yes, the cheeks fooled us too. So, we were advised to try giving her oatmeal amoung many other things. I was excited to give it to her and interested in how she would respond. So, trying to feed, entertain, and capture this all on camera and video, Addie successfully had her first bites of food. She knew exactly what to do and opened her mouth like a champ. After a few bites she was over it but each day she is liking it more and more.




The next thing we tried giving her was some formula. I had not idea how this would go since some babies HATE it. I assumed that she would be one of those, but I was wrong. Grammy had the honors and gave her 2 ounces to start and Addie downed it in seriously 1 minutes and started crying for more. I quickly mixed another 2 ounces and again it was gone. I have to admit that I got excited that she will take formula if needed. I felt like I had some more freedom to go places since I call breast milk "liquid gold" and I don't want to have to use it unless it's for weddings. I had to say, Addie amazes me every day.

Pineapple!!

Good mom?...bad mom? So, Addie is reaching that point where she is getting interested in "adult food." I was eating some fresh pineapples the other day and since she is grabbing everything, she grabbed my pineapple. I decided to put a little bit in one of those Sassy teething things...SHE LOVED IT!!! She sucked and sucked and sucked. I realized after I gave it to her that I probably should have checked online to see if pineapples are safe for her...oops.

More pictures with Nina and Pots

We also went to Hearst Castle with my parents and then to Morro Bay for lunch. At the restaurant, Addie had her first high chair experience...it lasted about 1 minute and then whe was ready to get out. Nina got to show Addie the seagulls in the Bay and Addie was totally tracking them as they flew by. We laughed.

Pots and Nina

With Chris being out of town for 5 weeks, I had to call in for help with Addie and weddings. Luckily, I have amazing family and my folks came in town for a wedding I had to shoot on Friday and Saturday. It warms my heart to watch my parents interact with Addie....they truly love her and it's so evident. They love just watching her laugh, move and "be" Addie. She loves Nina (my mom) and all her silly songs and dancing and Addie also loved Pot's (my dad's) face and glasses. It was fun seeing the joy in all three of their faces as they played.

We went on a few adventures while my folks were here...I will post those later but these pictures are from today. We went on a picnic in the downtown park before we went wine tasting...yes, Addie went too and even danced on a counter at one of the tasting rooms. :) I took my camera with me to the park since I wanted to get some of my parents with Addie. My mom had smocked a beautiful dress a while back so Addie wore it today and she looked amazing. Everyone was commenting on how cute she looked...it made my mom smile since she made the dress. I also grabbed a few shots of my parents...they are still in love. I am blessed in so many ways and it was fun to just relax and spend some time with my parents. Oh how I wished they lived closer...I long to have Addie know them and fall more in love with them. Thanks mom and dad for all you do and did while you were here!!!

5 months old at Woodleaf

It seems like every year we always celebrate something while we are on assignment at Woodleaf...in years past, we have had many anniversary celebrations while at camp and this year we got to cheer as Addie turned 5 months old! I have to admit that I am still in shock that she is 5 months old and that we have been parents for that long. The time has seriously flown by. Each week is getting more and more fun with our little one. She is shining her vibrant personality each day. At this milestone, Addie is a huge fan of sucking on her hands...or anything really that she can grab. She is constantly putting her fingers in her month and drolling is a never ending flood from her month. She also loves music and dancing!!! Someone gave us a CD of oldies and Addie and I got some great dancing in. Her favorite song so far that is a sure-to-get-a-smile is 'ABC' by Jackson 5...watch out Micheal Jackson! She is getting cuter each week and everyone keeps commenting how she "looks like Chris Blake's baby." I guess she is favoring her Dad more and more. We are lucky and we are in love....here are a few (not so great) pictures from camp.