One Year

My little Blake turns a year old tomorrow.

Oh dear, as I got ready to go into the operating room, I had a mix of emotions. I was so relieved when Jason was by my side as the procedure began. About 10min into the procedure, we heard..."It's a boy!" Ahhhh the joy and excitement I had. The anxiousness for me to meet eyes with my child for the first time! I can't even begin to explain the firs time I saw Blake. I just kept thinking, wow this was in me 10min ago so safe in my belly, and now it's out in this world, I have such a big job to raise and protect this child. He was beautiful. Boys can't be beautiful, but he really was! His eyes, head, fingers, toes, little belly, all was just beautiful.

Off to the recovery room as Jason and I were able to be alone with Blake. I was out of it, but did know that Blake was by my side. I nursed and held him and kissed the little boy. The tiny features and little lips were so precious.

Soon we were in the room and had visitors pounding on the door to see their nephew/grandson. The love that Blake received in his first few months of life was so heart touching. Friends and family loved on him in a way that was so overwhelming.

The hospital stay was so fun! Amongst all the setbacks with my recovery, Blake had so many visitors, so many friends and family to keep mommy company too. Bethany stayed one night to help out. We watched hairspray and stayed up and talked for several hours. At 2am I heard a baby screaming and told Bethany, ummm I think that one is mine. She replied...yeah right, all babies sound the same. Sure enough, in wheels Blake...hungry little guy he was!

My parents came by one time while in the hospital and said, "Hi we're are here to babysit Blake, you and Jason go on a date." That we did, we ordered room service and went across the hall to a little place with table and chairs and had our first date as new parents and left Blake with his first babysitter.

As far as the first year of his life, it has had it's challenges. With my embolisms, and frequents visits to the doctor and ER, and then Blake with his helmet, tongue being clipped, the issue with his lip, and ultra sound of kidneys it was hard...it was tiring, and it was scarey.

Along with the challenges, came many joys. The first time he opened his eyes, the first time he cried, the first time he cooed, the first time he laughed, smiled, crawled, walked, talked, were inexpressible. I remember so well the first time we heard Blake talk when he was around 6 months old. He said bbbbbbbbobbobobobob and his little cheeks moved up and down and we just got a kick out of it. OH man the first time he pulled down the toy that hung from the car seat handle was on the way to church. We thought it was such a big milestone for Blake. Ahhh the first time I fed him food was so funny! He smacked his little lips. I can't forget the first time he clapped his hands in church because everyone else around him was clapping. He has become a person, someone who loves his sweets: french toast, nutrigrain bars, and his snacks: goldfish, crackers, cheese, cheerios. Last week his big thing was eating mommy and daddy's pudding. I am so glad that Blake was given to us by the Lord. I love this little boy and am pround to call him my son. I pray that I can be the mom that he needs and am never too tired to teach and play with him.

We went to the dr. today and got his stats...he is 45th percentile for weight, 35th for height, and 70th for head. He was 29 1/4 inches, and 21.9 pounds. Ahhh the little one is so big now! The doctor said that by the time he is 15 months old he should be saying 5 words at least....I am so glad we are just about there, we need one more word. I do believe that children learn tons through playing, but I also believe that learning has to be intentional as well. We were told today that at 15months to start with doing eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and animal sounds. Also at 15 months that Blake can start to use a spoon and fork much more easily

The first year of his life is over, I hope Blake had fun and has felt his love from his mommy and daddy.