My First Baby

My friends Stephanie tagged me! Here goes!

1. Were you married at the time? Yes.
2. What were your reactions when you found out you were pregnant? I "had a feeling" before taking the test, so I wasn't too surprised by the results.
3. How old were you? I was 18 when Blake was born.
4. How did you find out you were pregnant? Like I said, I kind of just knew, but I did take a test on Valentine's Day!
5. Who did you tell first? Doug
6. Did you want to find out the sex? Oh, yes! I was sure it was a girl though. Doug guessed right!
7. Due date? Oct. 18, 2006
8. Did you deliver early or late? 4 Days early, on the 14th.
9. Were you sick? Once in a while, but nothing too bad!
10. What did you crave? Ice cream and mexican food!
11. Who irritated you the most? There wasn't a person, just the stretch marks irritated me...
12. What was your first child's sex? Boy. All boy.
13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy? 28 pounds
14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Nope.
15. Where did you give birth? The Birthing Center in Blackfoot.. i think it was called Mountain River or something like that.
16. How many hours were you in labor? 12 hours ish.
17. Who drove you to the hospital? Doug. Twice. We got there and they sent us home "to labor." Within an hour we were back there. Such mean nurses!
18. How much did your child weigh? 7 lbs. 7 oz.
19. Did your child have any complications? We used the vaccuum to get him out because my contractions slowed down so much.
20. What did you name him/her? Blake Douglas VanOrden
21. How old is your first born today? 2 years, 3 months
22. Who does your child look like? He has a lot of Campbell and a little VanOrden!

If you want to do this post, consider yourself tagged!

Family Pictures

Besides 3 weddings, the V.O.'s haven't had family pictures taken since Blake, Lyndsey, Jessica and I joined the family so we all decided it was time and we had them taken a few weeks ago. Michelle Bowen took the pictures and she did a great job! Thanks, Michelle!

Year in Review: 2008

January: Major Kitchen Remodel including cabinets, countertops, tile backsplash and floor, paint, trim, etc. February: Helped with Blackfoot Jr. Miss Self Expression - Masquerade

March: Spring Break and Easter in Lancaster, PA with Al, Amber, Jackson, and Marcus. We visited Hershey, Washington D.C., and Philidelphia while we were there.

April: Blake went to Nursery, officially

May: Big Birthday Bash for Grandpa Tyler's 90th

June: Relay for Life and a new roof over our heads

July: Campbell Family Reunion, a visit from Alan and Amber

August, September, October: Grain, Potato, Beet Harvest. Lots of long hours in the tractor and 10 wheeler. Blake moved to a new bed and a new room downstairs. November: Bedroom and Office Remodel, New Carpet, Trim, Doors, and Paint.

December: Big 12 Championship Game in Kansas City, Planned and pulled off the ward Christmas party program, Painted our family room, Entry way and downstairs landing.

We had a great year and accomplished a lot of projects on our house, thus shortening the list of home projects for 2009. We are looking forward to a nephew in February and a neice in April and Becki's and Pablo's wedding all in 2009. On a less exciting note, we are hoping for recessed lighting, refinished hardwood floors, textured walls, new paint, a few new interior doors and new trim in the living room this year. A garden is also on our wishlist....wish us luck! Hope you all have a great 2009!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas vacation included way to much yummy food, lots of Phase 10 Twist, a few blizzards, 4 seasons of Gilmore Girls (and counting) and plenty of presents! Here are the details!

Let's start with Doug's super birthday! Doug turned 21 on the 21st. His birthday was on Sunday and so we celebrated all weekend! We went to see the movie Seven Pounds on Saturday and then enjoyed a great dinner at Texas Roadhouse. Mom and Dad had Blake that night and it was great to have a date, just the two of us! Doug's parents were out of town that weekend, so Mom fixed Doug's birthday dinner: missionary chicken and mashed potatoes. Yum! We had birthday cake and a few of Doug's friends came over to visit. He got a few clothes and movies for his birthday.

We kept up the tradition of going to the movies on the 24th and we saw Madagascar 2. It was pretty funny and Blake enjoyed all the animals. We hosted Christmas Eve at our house and both families came. Blake had all four of his grandparents there along with 4 great grandparents. We ate dinner and then we had a special Christmas program that we adopted from my sister in law Amber's family. Her dad wrote the program and it was a great addition to our usual traditions! Blake also opened his Christmas p.j.'s for Grandma Campbell!

Blake falling asleep with a chicken nugget in each hand in the way to the movie!

We spent the night at mom and dad's house and opened up our presents there the next morning with Mom and Dad, Tim and Abby, Grandpa and Syble, and Sandy. Santa brought Blake a parking garage, dinosaurs, playdoh, a baby horsey (thats what he asked for), clothes and a winter coat. Doug got a new 120 GB ipod classic and has been uploading music like crazy. And I got a sewing machine! Its a Brother and has like 60 stitches! I love using it and have started a few projects for Abby and Jessica. Mom and Dad got us sleeping bags and a few dutch oven accessories and we are excited to use them next summer!

After opening presents, we headed over to V.O.'s for breakfast and more presents. They gave us the illustrated Hymnbook, the same gift we gave them and a gift card to Sams Club. We have been working hard to get out 72 hour kit and food storage put together and both of our parents helped us out a lot. We played games played his Blake's toys and then Mike, Sheila and Curtis came with us to Christmas Dinner at the Campbell's house. It was a crazy blizzard outside and we got the tractor stuck at Mom and Dad's house... Only in Idaho do you drive a tractor to Christmas Dinner at the neighbors!

The day after Christmas we decided to get busy and start painting. We painted the family room, downstairs landing, and back entry way over the course of the next week. We had a quiet New Years with a few games and movies and have enjoyed just hanging out the last few days. New Year's Eve also brought the exciting news of Becki and Pablo getting engaged! Wahoo! New Year's day was the Perkes Party and we enjoyed seeing lots of Doug's aunts, uncles, and cousins. Doug went back to work today and I think its about time we got back to our normal schedule. We are sad to leave 2008 behind but we have lots to look forward to in 2009!