Our Early Christmas Present!

Olivia "Livi" Kate Blade surprised us with her sweet presence two weeks early. She was born December 17th at 2:18pm. She was 6lbs 11oz and 19 1/2 in long.  Stuart delivered our precious baby girl, along with Dr. Thomas' guidance of course.  Livi is truly an amazing gift to our family.  She is one tough cookie by already trying to hold her head up and roll over.  Watch out Brody!  She just might catch up to her laid back big brother.  Speaking of her big brother, he is still getting use to the idea of a little sissy in the house.  The word "gentle" has been used quite often in the Blade household.  He is slowly warming up to her by giving her kisses.  One step at a time, right?!?! 

One proud Daddy!

Daddy and Dr. Thomas

Brody meeting sissy for the first time.

Two tired girls

Twilight Santa

Every year Satellite Beach Fire Department drives down each street in the city with their fire engine all decked out with Christmas lights along with jolly St. Nick and his crew.  This glorious event is called Twilight Santa.  However, this was a VERY special year for Stuart during Twilight Santa because he actually got to enjoy it from a parent/Satellite Beach resident side.  Boy, was that a better side for him to be on.  We had Brody's friend Iz come over and sat at Stuart's Commander's house anticipating for Santa's arrival.  Brody and Iz were not the hugest fan of Santa to say the least.

Brody and Firefighter Rhiannon

Poor guy

Isabella's turn!

Brody and Firefighter Eric

Festival of Trees

During our stay in IL, we watched cousin Addy's dance performance at the Festival of Trees.  Brody enjoyed watching the show.  I don't know what he liked more... the pretty girls, the dancing, or the music.  He loved clapping after each group and couldn't wait for more.

After the performance, we HAD to take a ride on the infamous train.

We couldn't resist getting a picture with Nana's office's Christmas tree. 

We are Full- Grateful, Joyful, & Thankful

I've been running a little behind on this blog lately.  Life has been a little crazy but we would never trade our crazy life.:)


Our family has been blessed beyond measure this year.  I am thankful for my Heavenly Father most of all, it's because of him that I am blessed with an amazing husband, two beautiful children, great parents (extending family too) and so MUCH more!!  We had the pleasure of spending our Thanksgiving break in IL this year.  Our week filled up quickly with different family gatherings.  We started the festivities on the Blade side on Wednesday and then ventured over to the Requarth side on Thursday.  Afterwards, we traveled to Stu's Uncle Bruce and Aunt Mary's house in St. Charles.  We ended our trip at the Festival of Trees watching cousin Addy's dance performance.  We truly enjoyed spending time with close and extended family on Turkey Day this year.  However, for some reason I always forget to take pictures when we visit family or for many different occasions for that matter (reminder for next time).  Here are the snapshots I managed to squeeze in.:)

Brody and Kami at Nana and Papa's

The joy of sitting in a box!

Nice hat, don't ya think?!?

Great Grandpa Al loving on his Brody at Granny and Papa's house.

While we were at Uncle Bruce and Aunt Mary's house, cousin Rob took us to a house with a Christmas light display.  Brody was very intrigued with it.  His face lit up just like those lights did.  We attempted to get a picture in front of the house with all the cousins, keyword attempted.

Well at least you all stayed put.  Next time we will all try looking at the camera...right?

My sweet little man loving him some lights

Aftewards, the cousins snuggled up and watched a movie.  At least for a moment, I don't think Brody and Kami lasted for very long.:)

Brody's First "Real" Owie

In October, Brody had his first "real" owie.  He had the occasional bruise from his attempts at walking, however nothing that really broke the skin.  The culprit of the owie was the notorious ottoman.  He fell and bit the edge of it.  He was a real trooper during the whole event.  Mommy was pretty thankful that Daddy was home, because as soon as I saw the blood coming out of his mouth I was a mess.  Fortunately, he had only bit his tongue.  He definitely had a little battle wound to show for it.  An ice pack on Brody's tongue was not his cup of tea to say the least.  So..He enjoyed a Popsicle to help heal it instead.

The battle wound

Requarth Family Photos

We were much overdue for family pictures on the Requarth side.  It's definitely a rare moment when the whole fam is all together (the downside from being a big family).  In between eating our Thanksgiving feast and hanging out with everyone, we braved the cold and took some pictures.  Of course, Puppy had to make an appearance in some of them.   Thanks Aunt Krista for capturing some amazing shots!

The boys

The girls

The whole family

The grandkids

Happy Veteran's Day!!

After asking my first grade class what Veteran's Day means to them, I had a student that said "It means Vets..right?  Veteran's Day is to celebrate Veterinarians because they help animals."  The things kids say.:-)

Anyways.. Granny, Aunt Krista, and cousin Addy came to visit us during Veteran's Day weekend.  Brody couldn't get enough of his buddy Addy during their stay.  Every time she sat down it wasn't long after before Brods was sitting in her lap.  And...What trip to Florida would it be without a day at the beach?!? It was a little chilly for us Floridians, however that didn't stop Brody and Addy from getting in the ocean.  We love and miss you guys!!