Blake ~ 15 months

Blake had his 15 month well baby visit today.......and shots. I almost told them to hold off on the shots but didn't. Hopefully I won't regret it. He actually handled them pretty well. He cried but it wasn't excessive. I just hope there aren't any side effects. He weighs in @ 22lbs which is in the 10-25% range on the growth chart. That is just shocking to me! He so solid, such a tank.......but barely on the charts for his weight. Crazy! His length is 31 inches (50%). I finally asked about this dimple I've always noticed on his chest. In the back of my mind I've always wondered if it could be a third nipple and then just put it off thinking there's now way. Well, sure enough, the doctor confirmed that it is indeed a third nipple! Poor little Blake! It's not that noticeable and supposedly it won't grow any bigger than it is. I just feel bad because boys can actually walk around without their shirts on.

MILESTONES @ 15 months

• Finally saying more words (mama, dada, duck (duh), dog, (da), car, bye, ball (ba))
• Understands commands
• He is basically running now! and climbing on everything!
• He has a good arm....can throw from a pretty good distance and the ball comes right to me
• He's also kicking balls.......kind of like he's dribbling a soccer ball..........so cute! Future B-ball and Soccer star!
• Still eats just about anything in sight. He doesn't seem to be too fond of cheese or much pasta (just like the girls)
• He's already entering his terrible two's stage. He can throw a temper tantrum like no other!
• He is STRONG! Sometimes I have a hard time breaking his grip from things.
• He's not as shy around other people as he used to be. He's cautious at first but opens up pretty quickly.
• Whenever he wants something or is upset you can always hear him crying, "ma -ma-ma-ma"
• He has recently started walking backwards. It looks like he's moonwalking.
• Will scribble with crayons, loves to pull lids off of things and then put them back on (like markers, ugh!)
• He will help me with putting on and taking off his clothes
• Still sleeps like a champ and takes 1-2 naps a day. As long as he has his blanket to cuddle with and his music playing he's good to go!

this is his new cheesy look

First Lost Tooth & B-day Party

Yesterday, after church, the girls went to their neighbor friend's birthday party @ Fiesta Farms. They had a lot of fun.......so did Blake. We almost didn't go with it being Sunday and all. Addison was so excited when we showed up. She was having her party with another friend and that friend had a lot of her other friends there and Addison was on her own. :(  I'm glad that my girls could help brighten her day a little.

Towards the end of the party Allie lost her tooth! Her facial expression was priceless! Kind of a mix between excited, scared and nervous. We were able to keep the tooth and put it in a water bottle to bring home. She was anxious to get it under her pillow for the tooth fairy. When she woke up this morning she remembered to look under her pillow and she said, "I guess the tooth fairy is real!" She proudly displayed the $2 that she had left her.

Happy Sleepover

The girls had their first sleepover at our house Friday night. All in all, it was a success. Being that Avery wakes up at 5:30am every morning and the fact that she didn't get a nap in that day.......you can probably guess she was extra emotional, cranky, whiny, and just plain mean. She did pretty good though considering she didn't start acting that way until after it would have been her normal bedtime. She ended up sleeping with me and, unfortunately, didn't wake up on the right side of the bed. I still think she is too young for them.......I will let her try it out one more time, but not at our house! lol.

Happy Thanksgiving

Yet another year of a non-traditional Thanksgiving for the Huber family. This year takes the cake though as the kids and I were alone with no family, not even Derek. Four families were kind enough to invite us to have a Thanksgiving meal with them. I graciously declined to everyone as I'm not much of a social butterfly and knew it would be awkward. Deep down I was a little depressed but tried my best to put on a fake happy face. Although it must be evident that I'm feeling down a lot because one of the ladies later emailed me and told me she prays for our family daily and hopes that one of these days she'll get some inspiration to help lift my spirits.
We did end up going to a Thanksgiving dinner though, after much persuasion. The kids were thrilled and had a lot of fun being with their friends from school. It was awkward for me as it was a family get together and we were not family. But they were very welcoming.
Derek wasn't alone for Thanksgiving either. He made the 6 hour trek to Kevin & Tami's to spend a couple days with them.

The girls have been off all week from school. For the most part we've just stayed home and packed, played games, played outside. We did go on a couple of outings.

One day we went to the McKenna Children's Museum in New Braunfels. New Braunfels school district was still in school so it was the perfect time to go because it wasn't too crowded........and we used a Groupon!

Blake kept coming back to the ambulance. Definitely his favorite thing there.

sick passenger

We were going to go to the Zoo on Thanksgiving Day but the girls wanted to watch the parade and ended up deciding the zoo was boring. So, we had a picnic in the park and just played at the playground and went on a little hike. It was a beautiful day! Seriously, the perfect weather.

This is Blake's new thing. With all of the boxes laying around he's constantly trying to get in them. He somehow managed to fit himself in this little shoebox.

putting on a show, Princess & the Popstar style

I love how clean my kitchen looks, er.......looked for like 12 hours.

The girls have their friends over for a sleepover right now so I'm sure I'll have pictures from that to post sometime this weekend.

Kiddie Park, Frisbee Golf & the Presidential Election

We'll start off with the Kiddie Park. Saturday morning we met some friends there........they've lived in San Antonio for a long time (he's been here since he was 12) and never been before! Blake rode the carousel the last time we were there but this was his first time riding the other rides.

Later that afternoon we went to the frisbee golf course right by our house. It was a beautiful day and the kids had a lot of fun and want to go back!

And a little about the election. I realize this could be controversial but I want to write it down for our records. With the coming of the election we talked to Allie about who we were voting for and why because they were talking about it in school and we wanted her to know a little bit about the process from our personal perspective. Allie, surprisingly, was enthusiastic about the whole process and would chant, "Mitt Romney" around the house. Well, Avery got in on it too but she would chant "Rock Obama" to cause drama.

Allie's school actually had their own little election on election day. Allie said they had three choices: "Mitt Romney, Rock Obama and some guy that started with a G." (gary Johnson). I asked her if she knew the results and she said everyone but 2 people in her class voted for Mitt Romney. She said her friend Natalie didn't know who to vote for so she asked Allie who she was voting for and so she did the same. She said, "because she always copies me!" haha. Even though she knew the results from her class she didn't know the results from the entire school.

That night she begged me to stay up and watch to see who the President was going to be. I knew it would be a long night so I told her it wasn't a good idea since she had school the next morning and it would probably be late. She then wanted me to wake her up when I knew. I didn't wake her up though I just broke the sad news to her the next morning. She didn't say much. After she got off the bus, though, she was very enthusiastic in telling me that, in fact, Mitt Romney had won! Too bad it wasn't true and was just from her school's election.

One last tidbit.........75% of our American Soldiers voted for Mitt Romney, I don't know the actual percentage but I would guess it would probably be around 75% as well of celebrities voted for Barack Obama. Now, if that doesn't tell you something........I don't know what does. I know who's side I would want to be on though!

Derek's Mom showing Mitt the scrapbooks she had put together back when Mitt's Dad, George, was Governor of Massachusetts.

Thankful Jar

We are doing the Thankful Jar again at our house. The girls get so excited each night when it's time to draw out a thankful paper. One night they did it on their own..........I heard them whispering and being very quiet. I figured it must have been "I'm Thankful for Mom" so I stayed away so they could surprise me. 10 minutes later they were both proudly displaying their new artwork for me and giving me big hugs and kisses while telling me that they loved me and were thankful for me!
One of their favorites so far was "I am thankful for our car". The task was to clean it out and then celebrate by driving it to get ice cream. :)
One of the sweetest was " I am thankful for my brother." Allie decided to make him a book all about Thanksgiving.........the reason why I'm blogging. I wanted to record what she wrote in the book:

"To: Blake
From: Allie

Thanksgiving Day Book

Thanksgiving is a special day because you give thanks to people that you know.

Thanksgiving Supper
Lots of people eat turkey for dinner. Sometimes people eat pumpkin pie.

Thanksgiving Celebration
Some people celebrate Thanksgiving by going to their Grandparents house.

Thanksgiving is the best holiday. Thanksgiving is in November.

I love you Blake."

She did this ALL on her own. I helped her with one thing. She had put that Thanksgiving was November 11th and I told her that was Veteran's Day. She was so upset that she messed up her book and started crying. I showed her how easy it was to just cross the last part out and say Thanksgiving was in November (and not put the day........since it's always different anyway). She seriously has the biggest heart!!!

A Bunch of Random Pictures

Avery had a playdate at Mia Jaye's house. She was there for SIX hours! I think it wore her out.

Derek brought home all of the leftover MRE's from his last training camp. We are pretty set on food storage!

Blake loves pushing his dump trucks around...

He also LOVES to play outside. He gets so excited whenever I open the door. This little fire truck would have been perfect to have for trick or treating with our little fireman........can't complain though, we got it the day after and it was FREE! The people moving out down the street were throwing it out.

He's been interested in books lately. He really studies the pictures. I wish he would be this interested in them during church!

another new toy that the neighbors were throwing out

Last Saturday we went for a bike ride around the Missions. These two passed out!

we stopped at a playground so the kids could get out and play for a bit.

We also stopped by the Japanese Tea Gardens