Welcome, Brody Edward Blade!

On Monday, June 21st, at 1:43 p.m. our first nephew Brody Edward Blade was born! He is gorgeous and healthy and we are so happy for Stuart and Jackie. He weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long. Isn't he adorable?

He reminds me so much of Hadley when she was born. Look at that beautiful hair! We have been able to Skype (talk over the computer with our web cam) with them almost every day so the girls are able to see baby Brody. One day I had the picture of him sleeping (above) pulled up on the computer and the girls thought they were "skyping" with Brody but he was just sleeping. They kept asking where Stuart was and when baby Brody was going to wake up. It was hilarious! I can't wait to get to Florida now. We leave next Thursday, the 8th. The girls can't wait to meet their new cousin and I am excited to snuggle with my first nephew. Will I know what to do with a boy? :)

Congratulations Stuart and Jackie! We love you!

Playing Catch Up!

We went to the Sangamon County Fair on it's opening night. Brad, Devin and Ellie met us there too. We ate yummy corn dogs, rode a few rides, saw a magic show and sweated! It really is a nice little fair and the girls were able to ride several of the rides. With the fair being in New Berlin, I was able to see several former students and their families. It was especially nice to see some of the kids that I had in my class when Brooke was born.

Let me explain the next two pictures. It was Aunt Devin's idea to go down this monster giant slide. :) HaHa! I don't know what she was thinking, but in a moment of weakness, I agreed. We climbed the stairs and I really thought I was going to puke when we got to the top. The slide had three rows. Devin and Ellie in one. Hadley in the middle and Brooke and I in the other lane. We get situated on our little mats and get ready to go. I decide that I would hold Hadley's hand so she didn't get too far ahead of us. I have no idea what I was thinking! Obviously I out-weigh her and obviously I would go faster than her. I guess I just thought I would hold her hand and we would happily go down the big yellow slide. Not so much! Immediately after taking off, Hadley is pulled off her mat --still holding my hand. It all happened so fast, but I remember thinking that I didn't want to let go of her hand because I was afraid she would tumble down the slide head first. I'm pretty sure they greased the slide before we got on because we were flying. Brooke and I were airborne with each of the bumps. I'm trying to hold Hadley up so she doesn't hit the bumps and get a burn on her legs from being dragged. Devin grabs her other hand and here we are, dragging my baby down the slide. It was horrible! The entire thing probably lasted ten seconds but it was a scary ten seconds. Hadley was an absolute trooper and didn't cry. She did have a stunned look on her face, kind of like "What just happened?" I was shaking and felt like a horrible mother. Needless to say, we didn't go down the stupid yellow slide again.

Daddy took the big girls on the ferris wheel. I was a nervous wreck!

We took Brooke to Knight's Action Park (the water park in Springfield) for the first time. I didn't know what to expect, but she LOVED it! We have actually gone back several times and the girls really have a great time. My mom was able to come one day and we brought Kami too. She enjoyed sitting in the water and splashing.

Brooke, Hadley and Ellie

Kami, Ellie, Brooke and Hadley

We signed Brooke up for Fun Shop this summer. They have a little six week program. We thought we would try it and if she likes it, we would sign her up for the fall class. So far, she is doing great. She loves playing at the water table and play-doh table.

A Little Get-Away With The Big Girls

Because we are venturing to Florida for a week, we thought it would be a good idea to try a little weekend trip first. We wanted to make sure that we could remember everything we would need for Brooke. She has quite a bit of equipment and it's a different kind of packing when it comes to her medical stuff. We decided to take just Hadley and Brooke for our dry run. Kami Lu stayed with Nana and Papa Blade Friday night and Grandma and Grandpa Tweryon on Saturday night. We went down to St. Louis for the weekend. Brian found us tickets to the Cardinal game Friday night, we went to the zoo on Saturday and Union Station before coming home on Sunday. Brooke actually had a little cold and that made things a little more complicated. It didn't help that it was 100 degrees outside and we were going, going, going, all weekend. She did great, but you could definitely tell she didn't feel well. I'm glad we took the time to do this because I realized there were a few things I DON'T want to forget when we head to Florida. I did separate blogs for the game and the zoo (next) so here are a couple other pictures from the weekend (in no particular order).

Brooke on the paddle boat. Her life jacket was a little big :)

Feeding the fish

They have a fudge shop where the employees sing to the audience while they make the fudge. The girls really liked watching them work and sing.

Dinner on Saturday night

We found a really nice park where the girls played after dinner

Swimming at the hotel

A (VERY HOT) Day At The Zoo

We visited the St. Louis Zoo during our little mini vacation with the big girls. It was a very warm day, but the girls did great! We really like this zoo and were able to see all kinds of animals. The girls were excited to see the monkeys and elephants the most. When we took Hadley to the zoo while Brooke was in the hospital, the big daddy orangutan puked right in front of us. Since then, when we mentioned the zoo, she always talked about the monkey puking. Well, Brooke picked up on the that and would spit when you mentioned the monkey. That's her way of saying the monkey was going to puke. Unfortunately, the orangutan exhibit was temporarily closed so we didn't get to see any monkey puke. Oh well, there's always next time. Here are a few pictures from our day. I would like to put more, but my computer is about to get thrown out the window. GRRRR!

Cooling off in the mister thing.

We also enjoyed cooling off in the penguin house.

The hippos were fighting with each other! Yikes!

A Night At The Ballpark

Here are a few pictures from our game in St. Louis. This was Brooke's first Cardinal game and Hadley's second. Our seats were four rows of the field on the third base side. I was a little nervous about being that close, but a ball never came near us. We all had a good time and the girls were able to see fireworks when Colby Rasmus (Hadley's favorite player) hit a home run. Thank goodness he hit a home run because she was convinced that we were going to see fireworks after the game. The few that went off with the home run were enough to keep her satisfied.

I Should Know Better By Now!

Have I learned nothing? Why do I wait so long to update this silly blog? I am kicking myself right now because I have so much I want to share and I know it is going to take forever to update. The longer I wait, the harder it gets and I really should know better by now! In the last month we have (to name a few)...

1. gotten a first haircut

2. gone to a baseball game

3. visited the St. Louis Zoo

4. gone to Knight's Action Park

5. played at FunShop

As I type this I realize these are all firsts for Brooke. It's been an exciting month around here and I promise to work on updating the blog this weekend. Oh wait, we have a family reunion on Saturday, so maybe by Sunday. Oh wait that's Father's Day. Let's shoot for Monday. Have a great weekend. Stay cool! :)

Here are a couple sneak peak photos!