Double Double Toil and Trouble

Blake is officially into the double digits at 10 months!!! I cannot believe our son is already so big and so close to being O-N-E!

We also have some exciting news to share with everyone

Yes, you read it right, we are expecting baby number two in late April, making Blake and peanut 16 months apart. So far, this pregnancy has gone quite fast for me. We are three months in and it feels like it just started, but in reality I am in the last week of my first trimester. We found out August 23. I had been feeling weird but having very different symptoms than I did with Blake. I took two tests just to make sure it wasn't pregnancy and both tests said negative. I waited it out another week and finally decided to take my last test at 3:49am. I was anxious and wide awake so I decided that was the time. Sure enough, positive! We were a little over 6 weeks along by that point. I planned to tell Rowdy later that day but he woke up around 5am and wanted to know why I was awake, so I told him after his persistent badgering. He was excited and surprised.

It has been hard to keep things underwraps this long, but with Blake being as active as he is, he has been a great distraction. Blake is non-stop crawling everywhere he can get. Climbs into everything. Climbs onto everything. He is talking more and more, he has started to say "uh-oh" along with the usual mama and dada and in the lasts few days has been attempting to stand up all on his own, and he is always making sure someone is there to watch and praise him every time he does it. He will walk across the room if he is pushing his little cart thing, it is crazy to see him walk along like it's no big deal. Rowdy said that Blake walked three steps on his own from the couch to the ottoman all while I was at work, he is growing up too fast!

He is getting big, his pants are getting shorter on his legs and his feet are starting to make holes in his footie pajamas. He is also starting his "attachment" phase, where he cannot be without me for a second, even in the same room. He knows when my grandma or my mom come over to the house that means I am leaving and immediately starts to cry. He is very adventurous, getting into everything he can get his hands on and sneaking anywhere he can. He loves to climb stairs when I let him, and he also thinks that whatever you are eating, he should be eating it too. Dinner is becoming more of a nuisance, Blake knows the difference between his food and our food and is not satisfied with his own. He is quite smart.

 The only pictures of Blake's teeth

He has the cutest smile with his dimple and four teeth, which are growing in nicely. He is such a bugger though about letting us get a picture of them. We are all starting to wonder how things are going to be in six months when Blake is no longer our only child. I'm hoping he won't take long to transition with him being so young, but ya never know. Those that we told earlier all said I am going to have  my hands full, and that I am sure of. Blake will still be a baby, likely just walking and figuring out how to talk. We are going to have TWO BABIES. The thought is a little daunting, especially because I highly doubt I am going to have a great sleeping baby twice in a row. Whatever is in store, we are very excited for this little one to come into the world. I am already showing, which had Rowdy a little worried it was going to be twins, but the Doctor said that it's very typical to show earlier and earlier with each pregnancy, especially since Blake and peanut are so close, he said it is to be expected.

His infectious laugh, this it part 2. Part one was more blurry, but had tons more laughing in it.

Blake is learning to wave to people and is such a flirt. He likes to wrestle with the couch pillows and laughs really hard whenever Rowdy laughs. It's almost like it's infectious for Blake and then for us because we laugh at how hard he is laughing. He loves to play with a ball, they are his favorite toy and he has quite the arm. We may have a baseball player on our hands. I think Blake is going to be a lot like I was as a child, with the climbing and also his personality. He is already starting to throw fits, and my mother can attest, I was the queen of throwing fits when I was young. He throws things when he is mad, kicks his feet as if he is stomping them on the floor and screams at the top of his lungs if he doesn't get what he wants. He also is hitting, but I don't think he understands that it hurts, it's just what you do when you get upset and your are stomping your feet, you also thrash your arms about. Sometimes, his cuteness is all that saves him, I do not understand how a 10 month old child can have this much personality and want so much independence in his own choices. We have always known our children would have a more than good chance of being stubborn, but really, as a baby?

In some ways, I think it is a good thing, because if he is someone who is firm in what he wants and believes, he can be very successful and stay away from temptations in life if he chooses to be firm in the Gospel. I look forward to watching him learn and grow into the man he is going to be someday.

As far as peanut goes, he/she is a little over three inches long and in a month will be 6-7 inches! I can't believe how fast they grow. I can feel my baby inside me when I lay on my stomach or when Blake sits on me but I look forward to feeling the movements. My placenta is attached in the back this time rather than in the front like it was with Blake so that means I'll feel movements earlier and stronger through my entire pregnancy, as will others who touch my belly. I am also lactose intolerant this pregnancy, which I had no idea could happen, but it can apparently and it isn't extremely common. Usually, women who are already lactose intolerant prior to pregnancy are able to digest products with lactose in them while pregnant. Luckily, it is supposed to go away once I am no longer pregnant.

We won't find out for another month what the gender is, hopefully the week of Thanksgiving. I had a feeling of the gender when  I took my test, but in all honesty, I have not had any special dreams or confirming feelings, so who knows if peanut will be a brother or sister for Blake. Rowdy is rooting for all boys, but we will see! The name game will also begin once we know the gender, Lord help us! So here is to the next 6 months flying by and everything that will follow!

Oh How Time Flies

Once again, time got away from me last month and I didn't post for Blake's 7 month, so today  you will get a "threefer".

Blake turning seven months seemed like it came and went really fast, what with the Coakley family reunion happening that month, it was a constant crazy ride every single day, but that also meant he had way too much fun! Blake had a lot of firsts, first camping trip, first boat ride, first time at Moe's and at Canon Beach, first time sleeping over at Grammy and Popi's house in aunt Danielle's room so mommy and daddy could have a night to ourselves. We also went to Enchanted Forest, did Tie-Dye, Out of This World, Grilled Cheese Bus, Farmers Market and Hillsboro Hops game all more firsts for Blakers. Six month clothes were starting to get a bit snug, so we started to wear 6-9 month clothing, which meant buying more clothes of course. Blake absolutely loved the constant chaos of having four older cousins running or crawling around, constantly wanting to play, he just wasn't a fan of Tripper using him as a personal jungle gym and stealing his binky. We had high hopes that he would watch Tripp crawl and want to keep up with him, but no such thing happened, he could have cared less about crawling, maybe because he preferred a little distance between he and Tripp some days to keep his mounds of hair that Tripp loved to pull, safe.

 Blake loves bath time in the sink

 Tripper Boy

 Our Tie Dye

 Danielle getting a taste of what twins would be like at Out of This World

 Playing hard with Aunt Lacey

 Sleep over with Aunt Danielle

 Farmers Market

 Safari Sams. Always being funny with Aunt Lacey

 GO HOPS!

 We are big game lovers, playing Pit

 Blogging with Aunt Danielle

 Enchanted Forest

 Seaside Candy Store

 Watching the big kids on the Tilt-a-Whirl

 Deal or No Deal, the family favorite at the arcade

 Mo's

 Too Cool

 Ice cream at Seaside

 Tilt-a-whirl

 Windy day at Cannon Beach

 He's already trying to borrow the car

 Our adopted sister, Tasha

 Bret and his popcorn

 Can't have a Coakley Family reunion without a little baseball

 First Camping Trip

 He was not a fan of the life jacket

 Big Blake and Little Blake

 Bath time!

 Hanging out with soon-to-be-dad, Nathan

Something really special that we got to do with the family being in town was Blake's baby blessing, which is a special blessing given to the baby by a Priesthood older (in most cases the father of the baby). In this blessing, the name which the child shall be known by on the records of the church as well as advice and special blessings are given. It is a very sacred and wonderful event in the life of a child in our church.

Overall, it was fun having family in town that we only get to see so often, the older cousins absolutely adored Blake, entertaining him while I helped with dinner or making his food, you could tell they were great helpers at home for their mom with Tripp, they are baby lovers! The last half of Blake's 7th month was spent with my family at my cousin, Austin and his beautiful bride, Sami's wedding and our annual Jasperson Family Campout. Blake met lots of family that he had never seen before and he did really well. I think his favorite new person that weekend was my cousin, CJ's boyfriend, Mike. Boy did he love Mike. He also ate a lot of dirt. Everyone who had a dog, brought their dog on the trip and Blake was in doggy heaven. He loves dogs, he loves to lick them, kiss them and pull their fur. He was enthralled. Blake's first word was also during his 7th month, it was of course "MAMA"! I love listening to him say it and call for me. It puts a smile on my face. We had a fun and adventurous 7th month with Blakers!

 Eating Watermelon with Auntie Carla

 Mike

Blake turned 8 months August 17th and it dawned on me that in four months I will have a 1 year old son. What the crap?! 8 months has been full of milestones for Blakey boy. He started crawling on the 26th and then pulling himself up to stand. It took only a matter of hours before he figured out how to climb the solitary stair in our house (we have a sunk-in living room). Sept. 5th he got his first tooth and on the 9th his second broke through. He is no longer the toothless wonder and his biting will leave a mark! He is quite the eater though you wouldn't know it looking at him. The kid eats as though it's his last meal every time and yet that little waist of his isn't getting any bigger! He is full of smiles and will talk your ear off. Now that he is mobile it's nearly impossible to keep him in one place for more than a few seconds. He is constantly on the go and has no desire to sit still, making church a little difficult.

 Ready for church

 Helping aunt Lacey pack

 church time

Blaker boy is now 9 months old, weighing in at 19.6lbs, 29.5 inches long and 44cm head circ. that puts him in the 47% for weight, 90% for height and 21% for head. Doc says we have a long and lean little boy on our hands! He is currently cutting his top two teeth, they should make their appearance within a day or so, they are right there. He went to his first high school volleyball game last night to support his cousin, Kenzie Johnsen and did wonderfully. No crying, sat and enjoyed the game like a champ! For the most part, he's all smiles and mischief, getting into EVERYTHING and pulling out anything he can get his little hands on. I have to close the doors to all the rooms otherwise he will get lost, he disappears within seconds, he is FAST. He's still a total mama's boy but I'm sure as he gets older, that will change, all boys love their dads. He is also in 9-12 month clothing, growing like a weed, but we still have to overlap his diaper straps because he just isn't chunking up, only in his thighs!

For those that didn't know, I turned 24 September 12 and Rowdy threw me a surprise party. Let me tell you, I am not easily fooled, I usually sense when something is about to happen, but Rowdy and everyone else involved kept it underwraps and I have NO IDEA. I was so shocked I cried. It was wonderful walking in to a room filled (literally, people were even on the back deck!) with people I love. It was such a great surprise.

 Tiff and her hubby, Bryon

 Molls

 Lindsay

 Jens and Micah, I was so happy my brother and nephew made it down

Lacey also moved out at the end of August in preparation for her big move to South Carolina. I'm not going to lie, I cried the first night she stayed at her parents. We have  never lived without Lacey since we have been married. We started out our little family of four, Us, Lacey and Tasha. After a year, Tasha moved out and went to U of O and a little over a year later, Lacey has moved out. I have always been a fan of a busy household, which is why I want to have as many children and Rowdy can handle me having. We are missing a large piece of our puzzle, Blake loves his aunt as another parent and lights up every time he see's her and cries when she goes away. It is going to be devastating not having her around all the time. Blake and Lacey have had a special bond from the beginning, but yesterday she left and is off to a new and different life in South Carolina with Danielle, Ryan and the boys. We were all a bundle of tears as she took off. She will sorely be missed around our house, she already is.

I am finally reaching the end of my school career. After two schools, marriage, two nanny jobs and a child of our own, I am in the home stretch to graduation. I have been on the slow track, especially since having Blake. School hasn't been much of a priority for me since I left Linfield but I can say I am almost finished! Rowdy is starting at Portland State in their accounting program and hopes to finish in the net 18-24 months before he heads off to law school. We have so many changes and life experiences ahead of us in the next couple of years, stay tuned for more updates from the Coakley Clan!