Aunt Joyce and little Blake
Phase 2 - I get so excited and smile so big that my mouth is wide open.
Phase 3 - I end with a little smirk.
Also, we weighed Blake when we went to the doctor's on Monday of this week, and she is up to 9 pounds 1 ounce. She was 7 pounds 1 ounce at birth, 6 pounds 3 ounces at 3 days, and 8 pounds 2 ounces at one month. It is just so amazing!
Also, some good friends of ours, Kyle & Jess, just welcomed their second child, Beckett Lee, into their lives on September 4th. Congrats, Jess! And, Randy & Suzi, some other friends of ours are expecting their second baby girl in November. It is kinda cool that we are all going to have children the same age. None of us would have ever guessed it when we were in college...how things change. Well, it is finally time for Lauren to return to work. She will be working from home over the next week or two, and then it will be back to the office. She has really enjoyed spending so much time with Blake. But, she is ready to return to her normal work routine, especially since we have found a wonderful caretaker, Chris (not Brune), for Blake. It is just nice to know that Blake won't have to go to a day care. We really don't know that many people around here, so it makes it very hard to know which day care would be appropriate. Chris has three boys and the youngest is off to kindergarten this year, so she seems excited to have a little girl around to keep her busy. Our best wishes to everyone, and we hope you enjoy the updates!
It was Grandpa's first visit up here since Blake was born. 
They were extremely helpful around the house, and of course, Grandma had no problem holding little Miss Blake every second she got the chance.
Grandpa finished painting our side porch area and our kitchen...THANK YOU!!! We will post some pictures of the kitchen later on when we get the chance. It looks really nice. Bob and JR were also able to take the boat out for a day, and (for the first time) Bob got out-fished on his own boat. He was a good sport about it though. Grandma and Lauren were able to run several errands during the week, and they even got the chance to go garage saling with one of Lauren's good friends, Suzi. Suzi had her daughter, Claire, along for Deb to spoil with attention as well. Suzi was VERY thankful for the extra help. Blake had a little bit of a stuffy nose while Grandma and Grandpa were here, but she still managed to be a fairly easy keeper. She's been sleeping very well, which has given her mom the opportunity to get some good naps in. The week went by way too fast, but we are excited to get to see Deb and JR again in December. Thanks again to all those who have us in their thoughts. We have really appreciated all the kind words, gifts, and support.
