First trip to the lake

Well, Blake isn't quite ready to wakeboard just yet, but the life jacket fits pretty well. We made our first trip to the lake with him the other day and he did quite well. The weather was good and it wasn't too hot, so it was a good time for him to make his first trip. We did a little wakeboarding (probably the last of the season) and then just enjoyed being on the water for the last couple times this year.

Blake: http://picasaweb.google.com/jasen.bankson/BlakeMichael

While we were hanging out i decided to break out the fishing pole and just throw it in the water some to see if anything was hungry. Seems like when you go out to fish you don't catch much or anything and when you throw it out there to see if there are any fish at all you hook up the big one...well, this was the time i didn't expect to catch anything and hooked up a monster....well for me it was a monster...not bad...probably the biggest fish i've caught since fishing in Alaska 5 years ago. We couldn't weigh it but i bet it weighed about 10 lbs. Pretty fun fish. It was a Wiper (http://www.kdwp.state.ks.us/news/Fishing/Fish-ID-Gallery/WIPER) and put up a good fight...under the boat a couple times before it finally tired out and I was able to pull it in. Supposedly they are pretty common in the lake and we should catch them reasonably often. Gonna have to try to do that. (Time to get a net :-) )

Grammy and Grampy visit

We had our first couple nights completely on our own in between visitors this last week and got to experience life with Blake on our own. It was fun and really went just fine. He's a pretty good kid. He sleeps about 5 hours at a time at night, so really we've been doing pretty well rest-wise.

On Friday Blake had his 2 week check up and everything went great. He weighed in at 6lb 14oz, so he gained back all the weight he lost right after he was born (5oz) and then put on another 8oz. So, all is well and he is good and healthy. The doc had nothing but good things to say about him. We feel blessed to have such a good kid and that is so healthy thus far.

Also on Friday, mom and dad Bankson came to town VERY excited to meet their new grandson (and first grandchild). We've been doing video conference and trying to take as many pictures as we can to hold them over until they got here and they are very excited and proud. We've had a nice time with them so far and ventured out a little on a walk today to enjoy the nice weather and we saw a few trees changing colors. We're glad to be able to spend some time with them and they are enjoying the time with their new grandson.

Next time you see my dad (Mike) ask him how the Utah Utes are doing :-) You can ask him to explain after you ask him.

We enjoy having visitors and everyone seems to enjoy meeting Blake. The only thing that we're finding is, meeting a newborn is dangerous...almost in every case people that have kids can't remember them ever being that small and then start wanting another one.

Here's a picture of the nursery. It was a bit of work, but thanks to the help of a couple friends we were able to take down the old wallpaper, paint and put up some chair rail and it came together pretty nicely (if i do say so myself)...


In the pictures below there are a couple other pictures of the nursery. Grammy B made a beautiful turtle blanket that is hanging on the other wall alongside the crib. It turned out great and goes really nicely with the colors and decor of the room.



Pics
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasen.bankson/BlakeMichael

This is the life...

Well, one day this week I kept an eye on Blake for a few hours while i was working and Abby and her family went to spend some time mini-golfing. He was pretty easy going and pretty much slept the entire time (good b/c i was trying to get a few things done for work)...at one point i looked over to make sure he was doing alright and he had got himself into this comfortable situation...hat down over his eyes, arms down his sleeves. Pretty funny. I had to take a picture 'cause i just thought it looked like the good life. Make yourself comfortable, wrapped up in a blanket, not too shabby. There's another pic like this in the album if you take a look.



This week was nice. We had Abby's family here part of the week and had a really nice time with them. We got out and did some fishing (and Brandi pretty much crushed us...caught like 6 fish while i only caught 1)...that was a nice relaxing afternoon. We ventured out to breakfast one morning and attempted taking Blake out. All went well and he enjoyed the change in scenery. Otherwise we got some good relaxing it and have a good time hanging out with all of them.

Check out this picture of this proud grandma (nanna) and grandpa (papa)...



More Pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasen.bankson/BlakeMichael

Bonding

It's been a nice relaxing weekend with the Burns family in town. We've been enjoying time with family and just taking it easy. We got a little fishing in, although Blake didn't get to go this time :-) Kona seems to be taking a new interest in Blake, especially today, as she is starting to realize he's probably going to be around for a while. She snuggled up next to him tonight and fell asleep on his lap.

Otherwise Blake has been doing well. He sleeps about 4 hours at a time at night, which is pretty managable, and we were able to take him out a few times this weekend to a soccer game and then for a couple walks. He's pretty easy to take out...he usually just sleeps. Everybody says to enjoy that because it won't be long and he won't want to sleep anymore...well i still like to sleep, so maybe we'll get lucky and he'll have my genes and be a sleeper. Guess we'll find out.

a few more pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jasen.bankson/BlakeMichael

A few days after...

Well, it's been a couple days now and things are going well. He is still waking up about 4 times a night to eat, but otherwise he is pretty easy going. A lot of sleeping, eating and pooping. It sure is fun to just watch though and wonder what he is thinking sometimes as they look around and take in the new surroundings.

We took him on his first walk around the neighborhood yesterday and he seemed to like it a lot...he slept the whole time :-) Guess we'll keep that in mind when we can't get him to fall asleep.

We posted a few more pictures for you to check out.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jasen.bankson/BlakeMichael