So we waited until one of the coldest days all winter to take Blake to Dollywood for a show and to see the lights! We went Sunday night to watch "Babes In Toyland" and let B ride the rides and look at the "ho ho ho yites" or Christmas lights! It was FREEZING but Blake didn't notice! We had the best time ever! Blake LOVED the show and sat thru the entire thing without making a peep! He also loved riding the rides in the 30 degree cold and wouldn't leave his gloves on for anything! Kids are crazy

Our Annual Trip to Mimi and G-Diddy's Christmas Party!

This past weekend we made our annual trek down to Augusta, SC for Jamie's dad and step-mother's Christmas party! (It took a little longer to get there this time because of the I-40 closure!) We ALWAYS have an awesome time at Mimi and G-Diddy's. They sure know how to throw a good party! I wasn't so sure this year would be as fun as last year because last year Blake was just a baby but now he's a very energetic TODDLER!!! But.. he suprised us once again, he was excellent at the party and even went to bed during the party so we could have a few hours to live it up with out having to keep an eye on him! As ALWAYS Mimi went above and beyond to make our stay perfect! She decorated a "Blake" Christmas tree for our room and stocked our room with organic snacks and juice for B!!! Blake can recognize his name and when he saw his name on that tree he got a huge smile! Blake also knows his G-Diddy is a sucker for giving him sweets so he got some good cake out of him too! I guess that's what Grandparents are for! Thanks again for the great time Mimi and G-Diddy!

The "Blake" Tree

The tree in My FAVORITE room!

Blake hitting up G-Diddy for his cake!

Red Velvet cake! mmmmm

Blake's Snacks from Mimi!

Jamie, Blake, Johnna, Mimi, and G-Diddy!

Thanksgiving!

As usual we went to Illinois for Thanksgiving this year for some good food and good shopping! We took a "plane" "plane" as Blake would say and Blake thought that was pretty cool. Blake hardly slept the entire 5 days we were gone, he didn't wanna miss any of his trip but he was still a good boy! We had a great time visiting with everyone!

Christmas Pictures 2009!

A friend of mine that I worked with at Hooter's way back in the day is an AWESOME photographer and mommy now and she did these wonderful pics of our family for Christmas! Her name is Chantena at bubblesnpuddlesphotography.blogspot.com and she is so good at photography! You should really check out her work! Every single picture was so good so I am having a terrible time picking one for a Christmas card and even narrowing down just a few to put on here! Dang it, Chantena!

70 Degrees in November!

It has been in the 70's here this weekend! We took advantage of the warm weather and went ahead and decorated out house inside and out for Christmas! Here are some cute pics of Blake!

RIP Shamu!

Everyone remember our Fair fish? Tonight, while we were gone to Earth Fare Shamu committed suicide! We don't know his motive or if it was just an accident but he apparantly jumped out of his bowl and flopped off the table to his tourturous death on the floor! I am so sad and poor poor Sushi is all alone now w/ no one to chase in circles!

It's Almost Thanksgiving!!!

Gosh I can NOT believe that it is almost Thanksgiving already! I really can't believe that I already have 3 of my Christmas trees up! I am going to start decorating them tonight! Blake LOVES them and he can't wait until we put "Balls" on the "shree"! For Thanksgiving we are going to Illinois as usual to see my family. Blake and I flew up there by ourselves about 6 months ago so everyone will be excited to see how he's grown! We have chosen to fly again because 10 hours with a toddler straped in a carseat sounds miserable to us! Blake should really enjoy flying this time because he LOVES to see "Plane Plane" in the sky and he has some toy planes too. Here are some recent pics of him, he's getting to be such a big boy! After Thanksgiving we are throwing the diapers out for big boy underwear too! Wish us luck and pray for us on that venture too!

B practicing on the potty!

Sporting his Krispy Kreme hat! Oh and that is his 'Smile' face! haha

Halloween 2009!

I always knew Halloween would be awesome when we had a kid of our own and this year did not disappoint!! Blake was soooo CUTE! He was the cowardly Lion from Wizard of Oz and he LOVED it! His favorite part was giving out candy to the other kids. He was a little slow at it though, at one point he had a line down the drive way of kids waiting for him to put the candy in their bags! We had tons of company too, with everyone coming to see our Lion. Mimi and G-diddy James came to town to see him and Grandma and Grandpa Martin and even Uncle Gary came by to check out our little trick or treater! We had a WONDERFUL Halloween!

Fall Festival

Last night was our 5th annual Fall Festival at home! Every year we cook chili and carve pumpkins and it's become such a tradition for us! Heidi and her family always come over (or we go to thier house) and do it with us each year! Last year Blake had just learned to sit up on his own and could sit by a pumpkin and this year he was running around like crazy. He was scared and grossed out by the pumpkins this year! Last year he loved sticking his little hands in but this year he didn't want to touch one at all!



Blake being grossed out by a pumpkin!

Blake and Daddy!

Blake LAST year!

The Finished Product!

Blake's Motherly Instincts!

Mom brought Blake my old twin stroller that I played with when I was little. I knew he'd love it because he loves to push his own stroller. I got that stroller and twin cabbage patch dolls when the "real" twins, Amber and Jacob were born! He's so motherly!

Christmas Is Just Around the Corner!!!

If you are already in the Christmas Spirit like me, then you may already be starting your Christmas shopping!!!! Yes I know it's only October but I LOVE to start early!! Blake's Mimi (Michele) told me a while back about this awesome website called www.myregistry.com. You can create one registry there for things from any store anywhere!!! Since I know many of you are always asking me what to get Blake I am trying to put things on that registry as they come to mind. There are a few things on it already and I will add things when he shows me them or I think of things he would like! You just type in www.myregistry.com and in the "Find a Registry" Box type Blake Smith. Hope this is helpful to you and you can create one for you or your children too and not just for Christmas either, you can make one for any event from weddings to birthdays! It's a really neat site. Thanks for the cool info Mimi!!!

Build A Bear!

Blake had his first trip to the Build-A-Bear store at the mall this weekend! He was a little nervous at first but ended up having a great time building his bear. We named our bear Benjamin and gave him a fishing outfit and pole so he can go fishing in the creek with Blake and Grandma! We also went to the outlets in Piegon Forge and got B some new clothes so he really racked up this weekend! He also had his first baby sitter in almost 1 year! We took Blake over to Heidi, Sean, and Jacob's house Sunday night and we went to a movie! He had a great time with them and didn't cry for us even once! He even acted like he didn't know us when we went to pick him up! He LOVES Jacob, ("Jay Jup" as he calls him) so he was excited to spend an evening playing with all Jay Jups cool toys like his trampoline and drum set!!!

Giving Benjamin his heart


Brushing Benjamin's fur.


B and Ben, Shopping.


Riding a motorcycle at the mall!


Blake and his Babysitters, Auntie Heidi and Uncle Sean

Fall Fun

So things have been pretty quiet around here. We've been taking advantage of the beautiful fall weather and taking it easy. We've been spending some time riding our bikes and going to Patrick's football games. Patrick has been spending some nights with us too and we LOVE having him. I call him my "Manny" because it's like having a nanny for Blake, haha! I made us a great organic white chicken chili this week and it was so good, I love FALL!!!!


Blake and Grandma getting ready to go fishing in the creek

Blake trying his Chili!

Mommies Model!

Soooo Blake had his first photoshoot on Saturday and here are the results! He's a natural! If you love these like I do you'll wanna look up Off Beat Photography. Amanda is the photographer and she did an excellent job. She's used to a 16 month old because her daughter has the exact same birthday as Blake!
http://offbeatphotography.blogspot.com/

I LOVE FALL!

This was a PERFECT fall weekend here and we enjoyed it! Saturday night Jamie went to the UT game with his dad, Patrick and uncle Gary while I took Blake to a photoshoot he had with a local photographer. His shoot was outside in downtown so we got to enjoy the fall weather!I can't wait to post some pics from his session, he did AMAZING, he is a little model for sure! Sunday we went to a local corn maze and pumpkin patch and it was so fun! Cousin Patrick went with us and Blake LOVES hanging out with him. I also got our winter flowers planted too so it was a busy weekend!