Kaitlyn's First Birthday!

Kaitlyn turned 1! Time flys when you are having fun. What a princess!

Summer Vacation

We went to Yellowstone, Glacier National Park and Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada for vacation this summer. It was so much fun! Blake's very first vacation! We saw the falls, hot pots and Old Faithful in Yellowstone. Glacier Montana was beautiful! There is a picture of Blake picking up rocks out of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. We even got to go wine tasting and golfing.

BLAKE IS TEETHING

Our boy is teething and is so ornery and uncomfortable. We feel so bad for the little guy. He is chewing all of the time and drooling everywhere. He will chew almost anything he can get into his mouth, including his feet.

4th OF JULY AT STRAWBERRY

We went camping at Strawberry for the 4th. Blake's first camping trip! He even got to go for a ride on Grandpa's new boat. It was a lot of fun. We spent some time fishing and hanging by the campfire. The kids had fun roasting some marshmallows. We could not have asked for better weather while we were there. It was absolutely beautiful.



How Cute! Baby boy wrapped up in his blankie by the campfire.




Happy Birthday Kayla! Little Miss 4th of July on Grandpa's lap.

WHAT A BIG BOY!

Blake is holding his bottle for the first time at 5 months.

BLAKE EATING CEREAL FOR THE FIRST TIME

Blake is getting soooo big. My little boy is just growing way too fast. He tried rice cereal for the first time at 4 months old. We were surprised how much he ate and how well he did for his first time.

FUN AT JAMES & BRYDGER'S NEW HOUSE

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

Keaton, James, Carter, Keith, Blake, Austin, Terry & Evander

FUN AT STEVE AND MONA'S!

This is a picture of Stephanie, Steve and Baby Chase

Stephanie and Baby Chase were in town recently and we got to see them. Mona had a luncheon for all of Stephanie's girl friends and their little ones. It was a lot of fun! Blake got to play with Chase and all the other kids. Hopefully next time we will get to see Nick too.

MOTHERS DAY

All of us girls are sitting for a pose with our flowering plants. Terry got us the plants for Mothers Day.

My first Mothers Day was wonderful! We visited the Mom's and went to dinner. Blake and Austin got me a Mother's ring and it is absolutely beautiful! It has Blake's birth stone (Amethyst) and my birth stone (ruby) along with two diamonds. I am such a lucky Mommy.

A LITTLE SUGAR!

I know! I shouldn't be giving my boy any sugar, but it was just this once. It wasn't actually me holding the sucker it was Austin. Blake loved it! His little tongue was moving so fast and his face was all sticky and blue. I guess you can say he's got a sweet tooth, just like his daddy.

BLAKE & GRANDMA ROBYN

BLAKE'S FIRST EASTER

It was our baby boy's first Easter! Isn't he so cute in his little outfit. We colored some eggs the Saturday night before. On Easter Sunday he slept most of the day, but got lots of loves from the family. He got to be with all of his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. He also met his great aunt Liz for the very first time.

The Easter bunny visited him three times! He got a rubber ducky at home, his first Easter bunny, a book and an outfit at Grandma Robyn's and Grandpa Tim's and a few outfits and a new toy at Grandma Joan's and Grandpa Terry's. What a spoiled boy!

St. Patricks Day

Look at our little man in his adorable St. Patty's day outfit. He is growing every day. Blake is a month old already! I just can't believe it.

Happy Birthday Blake! February 17th

February 17, 2009

Our beautiful baby boy has arrived! Blake Austin Van Otten arrived on February 17th at 11:06pm. He weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces and measured 18 ½ inches. Austin and I are so excited to have him here! I apologize it has taken me so long to update our blog. Everyone has probably given up checking it after about three months of no posts.

Our doctor, Dr. Watts, put me on bed rest at the end of January, because I had symptoms of preeclampsia. About three weeks after I was put on bed rest I developed PUPPP (Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plaques of Pregnancy). What a mouth full! The way PUPPP was explained to us is that I was basically having an allergic reaction to my placenta. I had hives everywhere. I couldn’t even sleep, because I was itching so badly. Nothing helped, not Benadryl, Hydrocortisone cream, not even a prescription cream my Doctor gave me. Because of the PUPPP and the preeclampsia symptoms my doctor decided to induce me.

The birth of Blake was the most amazing experience Austin and I have ever been through. I was induced at 9:45 the morning of February 17th and was in labor for a little over 13 hours. I almost had to have a c-section, because Blake’s heart rate dropped a few times. Thankfully, I didn’t have to go through the difficulties of recovering from a c-section. After a few days in the hospital, we were able to take Blake home. It has definitely been an adjustment. First he had his days and nights mixed up, so Austin and I were a little sleep deprived. Now he is on a schedule. We were also very curious, and a little nervous, about how Maya was going to act when we brought Blake home. Much to our surprise, she is very protective, she acts like a baby sitter-it’s adorable.

We really appreciate all of the love and support of our family and friends. We are so glad that our friends Stephanie and her son Chase from Phoenix could visit. Sorry you were under the weather Nick. Thanks to Mona for the visit and the cookies-they were yummy! We were so glad that our good friend Vicki from San Antonio (Go SPURS!) also had time to visit while she was in town. Thank you Greg and Katie for the cookies! We are finding out that Katie is talented in many ways. Thanks to Matt and Teresa for the visit, the bear and blanket are adorable. Thanks to Great Grandma Pat and Great Grandpa Leroy for the yummy chicken noodle soup and bread it was very good. Thank you to Grandpa Tim and Grandma Robyn for the gifts and visit. Thanks to Grandpa Terry and Grandma Joan for the prepared frozen meals and for grocery shopping. To Uncle James and Aunt Brydger for bringing us dinner. To Uncle Charlie, Aunt Heidi and cousin Kaitlyn for the amazing salmon dinner, the noodles were just fine, I promise! Oh and I forgot to tell you that the blueberry cheesecake you brought over from the Cheesecake Factory was awesome-my new favorite! Thanks so much Heidi for coming over and helping me out while Austin was at school.

I will try to post more often to keep you all up-to-date on Blake. Keep an eye out for Blake’s birth announcement-we will be mailing them soon! I will also try to get Austin to post to the blog once in a while too. Love you all!

BLAKE'S FIRST BATH

Austin got to give Blake his first bath at the hospital. The nurses could not believe how comfortable Austin was at bathing him.

Ultrasound - It's a Boy!

October 13th, 2008

Half way point, 20 weeks! We had our first official ultrasound. It was incredible to see the heart beat and watch him move around. The doctor got a great picture of his profile. We have decided that we will name him Blake, his middle name is still to be decided. I want it to be Austin, but Austin isn't so sure. We still can't believe we are going to be parents, it's almost like a dream. Daddy knew it was going to be a boy from the beginning and is so excited to teach him how to golf, fish and play basketball. I just can't wait to meet the little guy.