Happy Birthday to Blake!

Ten years ago from this moment I was in labor at Lodi Memorial Hospital.  They induced me at 8:00 am and even though I was dilated to a 2 when I went in, I never went farther than 4 during the next 16 hours.  Ultimately they chose to do an emergency cesarean because Blake's heart rate started to slow down quite a bit and  my cervix decided it was tired and started to close up shop.  

By then it was pretty close to midnight, so they gave us the choice of having the New Years baby for Lodi, CA or the tax break for 2001.  Since I was slightly out of my head from the Stadol that they slipped me when I wasn't paying attention, Chad made the decision in favor of the tax break.  

No surprise there!

Since that moment life has not been the same. 

 Once you become a parent your world seems to tilt a little and never quite regains the balance that it had before.  I don't necessarily think that is a bad thing though.  That imbalance tends to keep you on your toes to prepare you for the little curve balls that parenthood will throw at you!  

Just before they made the first cut my doctor (Dr. Dodd) asked us if we had decided on a name.  We had narrowed it down to two:  Blake Evans or Matthew Dean.  We liked both names but just couldn't decide.  When Dr. Dodd asked us it was like the room got just a bit brighter. 

 Chad looked down at me and said, 

"Blake Evans McGhie".

I couldn't have agreed more.

A few minutes later they pulled Blake out and I just remember him sounding like Donald Duck as he flailed his little blue fists around, looking for the jerk who pulled him out of his nice comfy haven!  

For years I have told Blake that he was born at 11:46 pm...turns out I was wrong! Trevor was born at 11:46 am.  Oops!

Ten years later I am so proud to be able to say that I am the mother of Blake Evans McGhie.

He has brought us so much joy this past decade.  He has made me laugh, he has made me cry and he has become someone that I can rely on to help me when I need it, a lot of the time without being asked.  

Since we didn't have a fancy digital camera for the first part of Blake's life I had to go back to the scrapbook that I made for him to get some baby photos.  You may or may not be able to tell that he didn't enter this world as a redhead.  

His hair was kind of a light brown with blonde tips that stuck straight up for the first six or seven weeks of his life.  It started to fall out at around three months old and so Chad gave him his first hair cut.

After a few months of being bald his hair came in blonde and finally at around 8 months old, it darkened to the ginger color that it is today.  

Ten months old

Three years old

This kid doesn't do anything small. 

 He crawled at five months, walked at nine and could do a complete 360 jump by the time he was fourteen months old.  When he puts his mind to something he usually will accomplish that thing with time to spare, whether it be reading the entire Harry Potter series in six weeks or learning a new skill in baseball.  We are starting to see glimpses of the man he will become someday, complete with a stubborn iron will and ego like his father!  

We are excited to see what the next ten years brings!

Only one breath to blow out ten candles...I hope he made a good wish!

Happy 10th Birthday Blake!