Coalson and Blake: Best buddies

Coalson and Blake are not only cousins, but best friends.  They are so funny though, you would think they are brothers the way they pick on each other, argue, but hug each other and get so excited to see each other.  I look forward to watching them grow up and hope to be able to see a great relationship between them as men.

Playdate

I am so blessed with many friends, and many of those have babies around the same age of my kids.  God had Kevin and I wait on having a family for many reasons I know, but this is one of the biggest ones.  Some of my closest friends in Rock Hill, and outside of Rock Hill, have kids either Blake's age or Delaney's age.  It's so much fun comparing notes, supporting each other and having great playdates.  Sara Redmond, McCord's mom, hosted us today in her brand new playroom, which is so beautiful.  She has such an amazing new house around the Winthrop area that they are fixing up (it's already beautiful without fixing up though).  She is such an amazing decorator, I wish I could see things the way she does and the potential everything has in it's own place.  McCord is on the far left, he was 1 in July, Taylor, Pam Warren's daughter is next in front of Delaney, she will be 1 Aug 31, and Riley Fisher, Tracy's son was 1 in May.  Delaney had so much fun with all of them.

Blake is 2...and a half

The first time I laid eyes on
Blake Jan 20, 2009.

Blake loves to add the ...and a half part on to two when you ask him how old he is.  Every 6 months now I have to write about Blake and send it along with 10 pictures and a professional one to the adoption agency we used in Las Vegas.  His birthmother, Lisa, has the opportunity to read these and see the pictures.  I've never heard that she has and never gotten any response back from her, so I'm not real sure who I'm writing them to, but I figured I'd post it here to give a 2.5 year update, which is a month overdue, oops, bit busy lately to blog.

The first time Daddy got to hold his little
boy, love at first site!

Two and a half has been a fun age with Blake.  He has discovered life and all it has to offer.  He just started talking a whole lot more and loves to sing songs, he can even sing Twinkle, Twinkle and the ABC song all by himself!  It’s the sweetest thing!  He has a love for small toys, holding onto little cars, boats, airplanes, etc.  Even if we are in the pool he’ll have something in each hand.  He enjoys his sister’s toys too, pushing the babies around, and cooking on her kitchen set.  He gets outside with balls and sports stuff every chance we can, which, with 100 degree weather hasn’t been much lately.  He sweats a lot and is the first to say it’s too hot outside.  We are swimming a lot, in our little kid pool in the backyard and in the community pools.

We recently spent 3 weeks at the beach in North Carolina.  Blake enjoyed watching the boats go by on the Intercoastal Waterway and swimming in the pool in the back.  He likes the sand and the ocean, but wants to have an adult right beside him.  He’s not one to adventure out and take risks on his own.  He likes to follow the rules and make sure he’s not going to endanger himself of getting hurt.  About two months ago he got his first ever skinned knee! At 2.5 that is almost unheard of.  He’s so cautious on everything he does.  He has had a few boo boos since then and is always worried about them.

He has a passion for books that I love to watch.  His favorite to read right is Curious George books, specifically the “dump Truck” one.  He likes books about trucks and boats and will sit and let us read to him for 45 min-1 hour.  Maybe even longer!  He pays attention to them and can tell you everything about them after we read them.  He isn’t allowed to watch much TV, but sometimes we’ll see Elmo on Seseame Street some and he loves Elmo.  He watches baseball and golf with Kevin at night before bedtime.  He’s a routine oriented kid.  We have a garden in our kitchen and every night the light on it goes off at 7:30, he knows it’s time for bed and to go upstairs and brush his teeth.  Daddy usually takes him at night.  He’s so funny about wearing socks too, he wants to sleep in them at night and naptime.  He sleeps until about 6:30 in the mornings, and takes 2-3 hour naps still after lunch.  He’ll lay in his bed and play with his blanket, or something until we come get him though giving us a few extra minutes some days.  He won’t get out of bed (he’s in a big boy bed, bunkbeds, now) or cry until we go up to get him. He likes to have about 10 minutes to wake up, or he’ll be in a bad mood.

He is such a loving little boy.  He has many friends at school, church, and the neighborhood.  The parents always tell me that their kids come home talking about Blake.  He will take a toy to a friend if they don’t have one, or give a friend a hug if they’re sad.  He gets upset when Delaney, his sister, isn’t happy and loves to do things to make me happy.  He says, “Mommy does that make you happy?” when he does something he knows I’ll like. I LOVE hearing that.  He makes me happy every day in some extra special way.

He likes to eat, but does the weirdest thing, he sucks on all his food, he can chew with his teeth, but we have to remind him to use them.  He still gets super tired while eating lunch especially, and we have to encourage him to wake up to eat some days.  He’s a good eater though, we don’t have to push him very often to eat anything.  The other day he requested green beans!  His favorite place to eat is a local Mexican restaurant we go to about once a week.  Since he was 8 months old he has always loved Mexican food and will clean his plate every time. 

Delaney and he are best friends.  They play together so well and he asks her to do things with him.  He doesn’t want her to miss out on anything.  And she is the same with him, always looking up to him and laughing at him.  He constantly does things to make all of us laugh, he’s got an amazing personality and sense of humor.  They love to chase each other around the house and play hide n’ seek. 

Blake, as a baby, and his birthmother Lisa with two half brothers
Marcus and David.  We were blessed to spend about 20 minutes
with them the week we picked him up in Vegas.  This woman
is AMAZING!  I thank God for her all the time.  She is so
selfless and strong.  She has a place in our hearts forever!

I’m not sure who is reading these, if anyone, but Lisa, if it’s you I’d love to have more contact with you, see pictures of your kids, and ask you questions about your history and roots if you ever want to contact me.  I want to tell Blake all about you and what a special and incredible person you are to him.  You would be VERY proud of Blake and the little boy he’s become.  We keep you alive in him in little ways that we can right now.  He has a mole on his ankle and one day he asked me if it was a boo boo.  I said no, it was just a mole but he kept talking about it, so I told him it was from you, a kiss from you.  We talk about how Lisa loves him very much and he’ll say I grew in her belly mommy, but I grew in your heart.  He is so loving and sensitive to everyone’s feelings.  We look at the pictures from our trip to Vegas to pick him up and tell him his story, we talk about Marcus and David in the picture with him and how much he looks like them now that he’s a little boy like they were then.  We love you and pray for you and your family.  Blake is doing wonderful and loves life!

Rafting with QCP friends

A diaper cake for Chris's 40th

My 16 year old friends texting.  And yes,
texting each other!!!  LOL...planning for
the evening with the surprise party.

We went rafting at the White Water Center in Charlotte today, what fun!  Kevin was out of town, but the Collins, Casons, Fishers, and I went with Tracy's brother leading the way.  The center is so much fun and it was nice to have a day with friends.  We celebrated Chris' 40th birthday with a surprise party that evening in the neighborhood, no pictures to post from that.

Kaitlyn visits for 3 days

 Cousin Kaitlyn came to visit for 3 days while Kevin was out of town this week.  She is 8 years old and loves Blake and Delaney so much!  She was a great help to me, but I sure was worn out by the end of each day with 3 kids in the house and no husband.  She has a lot of energy, now I know where Delaney gets it!

Finger painting is a once a week activity, they just love it!

Bubbles, paint, play dough, and markers are those activities I try to stay away from that they just want the most, go figure!  

Ward visits

Ward Williams, Dara's little boy who is a good friend of mine from high school came to visit.  The kids are only about a week or two apart in age.  I hate we can't get them together more.

Mexican night!

We love Mexican food!  Especially Blake and Delaney.  We haven't been in Rock Hill the past few weeks, so we had to go to our favorite, Charanda's as soon as we could.  Their service is so good and fast, with two toddlers that is priceless!  The kids had their typical Quesidillas and beans.  They both dug in!  Blake is now using a spoon and fork neatly pretty consistently.  Delaney likes to use her hands, but we're trying to encourage the spoon.  She refuses to let us feed her, and if I do she'll usually spit the bite out and then feed it to herself, what independence!  Ahhhh!

On the way home

We had a pretty good ride home.  We rode in the truck, packed full under the kids feet and between them with all our stuff we have stored at the beach for 3 weeks.  They did well during the first hour, ate their sandwich and gorp, I had to try to keep Delaney awake to make it to the gas station though, once there she cried and cried because she was so tired and we kept her up.  Once we started back Blake went to sleep pretty quick, but not Delaney, she sang and talked for an hour, then cried for the next hour.  Blake slept through most of it, but then woke after only 1.5 hours.  I finally climbed in the back seat sitting on top of luggage and moving some to the front.  I tried to calm her, but she was just so tired.  I finally nursed her, well, stuck it in her mouth, she balled up in fetal position, rolled her eyes in the back of her head, stopped crying and fell asleep after only about 2 minutes.  She may not have gotten anything, but it calmed her quick!

The Beach Trip must come to an end

We have had an incredible 3 weeks at the beach.  Honestly, I wish I could stay longer.  I enjoy being outside with the kids so much, they love the weather, Blake will say, "Mommy, it's pretty outside" when it really is, in the evenings with the wind blowing, or during the sunrise.  It's so precious.  I do miss friends back in Rock Hill, but the beach is a great place to stay for a while.
We have had some great moments at the beach with our family of 4 and my parents (Mama and Granddad) who where there all but 2 days, in the pool, on the boat, having family time (Wes, Sara, and Creighton were here 5 days, David and Pam's family have been here most of the time, and Dotty, Bob, and family were here a week down the street), Blake sleeping in the bunk room with the big boys, getting ice cream, taking a bath together (Coalson, Delaney, and Blake) in Mama's BIG tub, reading books and drinking milk in the big red chair with Mama, swimming in the pool with Granddad, Blake using blue swimmies and Delaney using the one yelow swimmy, both doing great at swimming, having snacks including watermelon, slush, cookies, and a favorite of both, gorp!  Here are a few memories.

July 4

There was a parade in the morning at OIB.  This is a tradition there at Christmas time (well weekend after Thanksgiving) and July 4th.  Anyone can participate in it.  Some walk, ride bikes, and decorate golf carts to ride.  This year the older grandkids and Granddad decorated our cart and were in it!  The little kids got a pre-show ride down Craven Street with Granddad.  Delaney waved to no one the whole time.  It was so funny.
The Forth of July at the beach is always lots of fun.  Granddad decorates the house and pool and my mom's sister Dotty Blake (this is the family Blake is named after) and her family all come over to celebrate with us.  This year we had my dad's brother Wes and his family there too!  We had a great time out by the pool.  Kevin grilled a BUNCH of hamburgers and hotdogs and we had homemade ice cream that my mom and dad made, it was so good!!!!

 My cousin Kim Sumrell and I on July 4.

Taylor, Colason, Creighton Williams, Meredith Sumrell holding Delaney, Katherine behind Blake and her twin Rebekah beside Peyton.