Beach fun

Who says beaches are only for the summer...not us! We got to spend the weekend with friends up in Wells Beach, Maine and aside from a little rainy drizzle on Saturday the weekend was perfect. Vanessa got to hang with her friends Rich and Maddie and even got to have a little dance party - her favorite activity especially when she has partners to dance with. We also got to enjoy some time in the sand which Vanessa was all too happy to do. It was pretty clear to this mom and dad that next summer needs to include a lot more beach time (ok by me!). On second thought, maybe she was trying to tell us we need to buy a beach house???? Before we hit the road for Maine we had a great visit with Aunt Sue or as Vanessa calls her "Aunt Ssss-Ssss". Vanessa loves having visitors and was not shy with cuddles and kisses.

Thump thump...thump thump

Yesterday we all went to my OB appointment and got to hear the little heartbeat growing inside! Thump, thump...thump, thump. Music to our ears. Even Vanessa was curious about the funny sound coming from mommy's belly, either that or wondering why this strange woman was putting a machine over it. I'm 13 weeks at the end of this week, the countdown to April 2010 has begun. The new blanco isn't the only one growing, Vanessa had her 15 month check up this week and is getting taller by the day. She weighed in at just 21lbs (our little peanut still), but is now 31 1/2 inches tall. She may only be in the 10% percentile for weight but she's now in the 60th percentile for height....grow girl, grow. Nothing wrong with being tall and thin! The better to hit the golf ball according to daddy.

Apple Picking

We can hardly believe the summer is over - blink in Upstate NY and it seems like you miss it. We spent the summer visiting with friends and enjoying every bit of the outdoors. It really seems quite amazing how every day things you've done before suddenly seem new and exciting when you start seeing them through the eyes of a 15mos old! Vanessa had a great summer for sure and we're now moving on to Fall...and nothing says Fall like a little apple picking! Vanessa (and Juan) had their first taste of what this little tradition is all about. Now I've got to learn to make apple pie :-/

Our new t-shirt is much more than a pair of cute owls

Nothing says "sorry we've been slackers about blog posts" better than a new post showing off Vanessa's new t-shirt ;-) Baby Blanco #2 blessing our lives on, around or as close to April 10th, 2010

Cruisin' on the lake

Summer fun here in NY! What could be better than sitting out on deck watching an amazing lake view with friends? We spent time out at Lake Bonaparte this weekend with the Hardings and our gracious hosts Doug and (Sara) Zido. Vanessa boarded a boat for the first time and seemed to like it (well, except the first time but we'll blame that one on poor timing and planning on mom's part since it was dangerously close to dinner time). It was also her first real feel of wet sand. LOL! Very funny to watch, she didn't quite know what to make of the way it felt in her toes. Wet sand aside she had fun playing and splashing in the water, watching (or was it stalking?) two-year old Maddie and hanging out with everyone. She even fell asleep sitting up in mommy's hands on the way back to camp.

Visitors from the east

We were lucky this weekend and had two special visitors from MA come to play...Kelley and her little boy Colton. Vanessa had lots of fun chasing (or was it following) Colton around, playing with his cars and of course a little dance party action was had! You think Vanessa has some moves, you should see Colton salsa! Once the kiddies were in bed the mommies got to hang on the deck with a nice bottle of wine, some hungry mosquito's and lot's of girl talk! On another note, miss Vanessa's getting pretty good at holding a golf club. Daddy's very proud. Watch out folks...it's not just Sam Woods you'll be watching on the future LPGA.

Enjoying summer

We've been keeping busy and trying to enjoy every nice day we have...isn't summer great! Hoping everyone had a great 4th full of family, friends and fun. Can't believe it's July already...where does the time go?? They aren't kidding when they say once you have children the calendar seems shorter. Vanessa is doing great - walking, no wait...nearly running, everywhere and babbling away more than ever. So funny to have "conversations" with a 13month old. This past weekend marked my first Utica Boilermaker 15k RoadRace (9.3 miles)...one word = amazing! An insane amount of people everywhere it was so crazy and yet so fun. I finished 4,811th out of 10,852 runners. LOL!! Amy and I were happy with our time (1:23min) especially since the first three miles we could barely take four steps before we were getting kicked in the shins by the people in front of us. Seemed as though every time we passed someone there we were again behind a "wall" of sweaty rear-ends. I never ran in such a zig-zag before, but I'll do it all again next year. The fact that the finish line is at the Saranac Brewery might make up for some of the frustration. We left Vanessa with grandma since we figured an 8am start and 40,000 spectators might be a bit much for her...maybe next year.

Father's Day fun

Happy Summer! We spent a great weekend having fun with daddy and Tia Susy. Went out for breakfast this morning and after Vanessa finished eating a bowl of fruit, two scrambled eggs and some toast (not bad for a little 18lb peanut!) we hit the park for some swings. I think Vanessa has found a new love in the swings. Happy Father's Day Dad's!

Cupcakes and candles...look who's ONE!

Wow...one year already. OMG time flys!! A short 12 months ago we were spending the day at the hospital helplessly staring at this tiny little girl wondering if we would ever be able to stop. Of course we never have stopped staring since every day it seems like there's something new to look at or watch. Yesterday she was all swaddled up and barely able to 'break free', today she's walking around the house singing (at least that's what we call it). We celebrated her one year with family and friends and cupcakes.....later we celebrated "way-to-go-mom-and-dad-you-made-it" day alone on the couch with a good movie and a great bottle of wine ;-) Thank you to everyone who was able to make the drive. It meant a lot to us to have you all there. We know those that could not make the trip were there with us in spirit and we appreciate that just the same! Here's a little video of Vanessa opening a few of her first birthday cards that she received in the mail...if you can't tell, she loves getting mail. l

Two Teef

We finally got a good shot of the chompers on miss Vanessa...wanted to share this no longer toothless grin with the rest of ya

Mother's Day and drive way walking

This past weekend I got to celebrate my very first Mother's Day. I loved every minute of it! We had a great family weekend hanging out in downtown Saratoga, strolling in the park and taking in the Albany Tulip Festival. Vanessa continues to amaze me (us) every day....I can't believe she's nearly one! Below are videos that will hopefully make you smile and laugh as much as it did us. I fell victim to "I want that" at Babies R' Us last week and bought, on the spot, a new toy for Vanessa. What? You would too if you saw how much she loved it! She started playing with the piano keys in the store and laughing, singing and dancing up and down to the point that every shopper near to us stopped and commented. How could I NOT go home with it??? As you can see...she loves it even more at home!

Eye of the Tiger

Today marked my first run with my daughter. Only thing is that all you people out there who make running with a stroller LOOK so easy...forgot to tell me that it really is NOT easy! At first I thought it was just the fact that I can be a bit um, shall we say "uncoordinated", but now I really just think running with a stroller is hard work! I swear I started singing 'Eye of the Tiger' on my way back just to pump myself up. You can see from the video that Vanessa clearly does not share my views about how difficult running with mom might be. If you listen closely, she'll tell you just how marvelous she thought our run was.

What a difference a day makes

Lot's of excitement around here over the weekend. To start we had oodles of playdates! We were lucky enough to have the Wells family come stay for awhile while they were in town for a wedding...lucky really to have Richie all to ourselves for a bit. Although Vanessa couldn't get enough of him (probably wanted too much for Rich's liking at times), she really liked when he left for the wedding and she got to play with all his toys solo! The fun continued with a visit from our friend Marina and then even more friends on Sunday as we finally got to meet Kay Tichy (of course mom forgot to take pics!). BUT the biggest news is that we finally **drum roll please** have a TOOTH!! A little bity piece of white, sharp as a nail, on the bottom popped out on Sunday morning. We think Vanessa must have had some great sleep on Saturday night because she woke up Sunday and started using a few of her signs that mom's been working on all by herself ("more", "milk", and "eat") and has a tooth. Wow...what a difference a day makes! Trying to get a shot of the tooth!

Easter! Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! The last pic is a little shot of Vanessa "helping" mommy with the laundry. The pants on the head is in honor of our friend Haley Larson!

Home Sweet Home

Ahhh is pretty much the word of the day EVERY day around here these days. Back from Orlando, we're getting settled in and 39 Timbira is really feeling like "home". Hence the .....Ahhhhhh. We had such a great time in Orlando and were so glad to be able to spend time with our family down there. I got to celebrate my birthday (22?) and have my very first VeggieTales party. Party hats and all! My nephew Joshua was also born on 3/20 so we decided to make it a joint event. Good thing he's a fan of Bob the Tomato! Vanessa loved all the company and couldn't get enough of her cousins! Vanessa is the big 1-0 today! 10 months old and this mom can barely keep up with her. We've mastered crawling and moved on to standing and are on the verge of the "cruising" stage. "Careful what you wish for" is what I keep reminding myself. I'm certain that no sooner will I see her take her first step and then she'll be sprinting down the driveway! We're waiting for Spring to not just come but to really and truly STAY! I'm getting ready to start training for this years Utica Boilermaker 15k Road Race and these OLD bones just can't hack a run in the cold!!

Where are the Blanco's

Where are the Blanco's????? Yes, our last post was WAY back on February 8th ...too long for some of you. Just can't get enough of us can you! Well we've been very busy but it's all been for the good! We finally have a new address...no wait...make that a new HOME! A home of our very own where we'll create all kinds of great family memories while miss Vanessa grows. We signed the closing documents, packed and moved all within a 12-hour period. Crazy. We're still getting a bit settled but it already feels like home. The timing couldn't have been better too especially since Vanessa is crawling and standing ALL THE TIME and was literally busting out the seams of our small apartment. With the size of our living room now, she can't decide which direction to go first. We also celebrated Vanessa turning 9 months! Wow...has it really been 9 months already?? She's still our little peanut weighing in at 16lbs 14oz and standing 27 1/2inches tall and has quite the linebacker appetite! We're off to Orlando to spend some bonding time with family --- Vanessa will finally get to meet her Tio Peter, Tia Marjorie and her cousins Samuel and Joshua!! Promise to post again when we're back! lot's of boxes!

Hablando con Tia Susy

Vanessa gatea por primera vez para hablar con Tia Susy. A little video for the Blanco side of the family. This was actually Vanessa's very first crawl....straight for the phone (foreshadowing for her teenage years???)

A small correction...

We'd like to make a small correction to our last posting. It appears we may have been mistaken when we stated that Vanessa is "almost" crawling. She was either teasing us or decided to prove us wrong. Take a peak at her new video ;-)

8 months big!

Wow....8 months already! Vanessa is at such a super fun age right now, laughing all the time (belly laughs!) and so interactive it's incredible to think just 8 months ago she was our little itty bitty 6lb peanut. Crawling? Almost! She crawls backwards and also does what look to be like cart-wheels around in circles to get to where she wants to be. Hey...gotta love her inventive style right?! Who wouldn't want to do cart-wheels all day long? We tried to take a photo of her holding her "8", but as you can see by the video below she preferred to shake it and crumble it up. ALSO... may we have another drum roll please.... the Blanco's are nearly home owners!! Hey, good things happen to those who wait, right? We're heading down the final stretch on our home purchase and hopefully if things keep going smoothly we'll be closing end of Feb or first week of March! So excited.

Proud to be an American!

Today was a very special day for the Blanco's (for all the Blanco's) as Juan took his Oath of Citizenship this morning and is now.....drum roll please.... a U.S. Citizen!! Yeahhhhh daddy!!!!! A big room with lots of people from different cultures (and lot's of different smells)finally getting to live the dream. Certainly a moment that one can't help but feel proud to be an American. Off to go sing a little Neil Diamond to my husband ("They're coming to America") ;-) Vanessa and I are very proud of our newest American!

Where is Vanessa.......?

No more fever and the congestion is getting better, I think Vanessa is feeling pretty good these last few days.....

Lord love the aspirator!

How's things with the Blanco's you ask?? Pretty great...except that Vanessa seems to have her first cold (we were hoping it was just teething, but we think otherwise). Fever of 101+ all day/night yesterday and oodles and oodles of snots and sneezing. We've fallen in love with our nasal aspirator (although I think at times Vanessa wishes we'd misplace it). Our poor little angel has been in good spirits most of the time, but you can tell for sure that she's not feeling well. Hmmm....could it be just coincidence that three days ago she had her first daycare/babysitting experience at the YMCA (I am leaning towards a big fat NO on that)??? Either way she was bound to have her first cold sooner or later, look on the bright side....she did fabulous at the YMCA and played so well her mom and dad wondered if she even knew we weren't around? Here's to hoping for a speedy recovery!!!

A few giggles for daddy

Since Daddy is away this week (in AZ for work) we thought we'd post a few giggles for him (and you) to enjoy. We miss you Daddy!

Rock on Gene Simmons

I wonder if KISS will still be touring when Vanessa is 18?? She's been working on her best Gene Simmons face...

Ms. Piano Man

"...sing us a song Ms. piano man...sing us a song tonight...." Rock star or Julliard scholar, we're not sure yet.

7 months and play dates

7 months....wooowhooo!!!! Vanessa is 7-months big today and couldn't be happier about it. These days all she wants to do is stand. And I do mean ALL she wants to do! She of course needs assistance, but just try to pull your hands away (I dare you) and she'll lunge for them. We're still babbling up a storm and have recently grown fond of talking on the phone (hmmm....is that an inherited trait?)

Also we had a few play dates recently which means we finally got to meet little Mr. Hehl...well worth the wait! So very cute to watch the two stare at each other and then start "talking"! Too bad we didn't film it, the adults got a kick out of the babble baby talk that's for sure. We've already made mommy Hehl promise to teach Vanessa how to ski.......we're working on future prom date too since Jake is added to the "pre-approved" list by dad.

our friend Marina

(born 2hrs before Vanessa - we met in the hospital!)

7 months!!

little Jake Hehl