11 Months Old!!!!!!

Alexia's first limo ride

Alexia's first flight in an airplane

Alexia's first live stage show

Alexia's first carousel ride

Alexia being adorable on her first family vacation

Alexia's first amusement park ride (It's a Small World at Disney's Magic Kingdom)

Alexia's first pair of sunglasses (blowing kisses)

Showing those beautiful baby blues

Alexia getting ready to go on her first vacation

Well, Alexia has experienced many firsts this month! Most of the pictures are self explanatory. She also got her first pair of boots this month and we discovered that she is very much like her mommy because she hates shoes!!!!! She pulls her shoes off really quickly and will not walk or crawl with them on. Poor kiddo! We make her wear shoes in the cold weather!

Alexia is little miss independent in some ways, but still enjoys being cuddled and taken care of. She chases everyone around the house giggling and waving! It is really hard to believe that in only one month she will be one year old.

She is a very kind and loving little girl. She loves to share her toys and food! She also likes teasing people and LOVES being the center of attention! She may possibly be just a little bit spoiled! ;)

Can't wait to see more of the person she is becomming! She amazes us at every turn! She is constantly learning and enriches our lives more than we could ever explain!

Happy Thanksgiving

This year, more than ever, we have so much to be thankful for!!!! We are extremely thankful that Blake is responding wonderfully to his treatments and that he is still in remission!!!! We are thankful for our friends and family members who have been "somebody to lean on" in our times of need! We are thankful for organizations like the American Red Cross, which breathe life into people who without them would be lost. We are thankful for Make-A-Wish, who are sending our family on an amazing trip soon! We are most of all thankful for God and for each other. For the strength God has granted us to get through this part of our lives.

What an amazing year it has been! We are so thankful for so many things, it is hard to fit it all into one blog. Chances are, if you are reading this, we are thankful for you too!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving,

The Parracks

Back to School!!!!

Blake's friends on the saucer swing!!!

Blake and all three of his closest friends on the swing

Going down

Climbing Up

Jumping in the leaves!!!!

Blake is really enjoying the beautiful weather so far this fall! He got to play in the leaves and has taken several trips to the playground. He really enjoys going with his closest friends!!! They are his mommy's good friends from Jr. High's children and it is so much fun to see them all play together!

Blake also got to go back to school this month!!!!! He was so excited to go to school and play with is old friends again! He seems to have slipped right back into his old groove and his little girl friend was even there to greet him on his first day!

Blake is doing really well and with the exception of a slight cough has been very healthy this season!!! Please pray that he continues to stay healthy through the winter and through the rest of his life!

We also have very exciting news!!!!! Blake got to make his wish and it was granted!!!!!!!!! We will post more information once the day arrives, but we have started the countdown (Thanks for the countdown calendar Wish Granters!!!!!) We are totally in AWE of all of the wonderful things Make-A-Wish is doing for Blake and the rest of us!!!!!! We feel really spoiled!!!!

Thanks once again for all of your continued prayers! We are all doing VERY well as a family and are happy to have made it this far!!!! We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family!!! Blake is so strong and such a good boy!!!! God has blessed us with 3 amazing years with him and we hope to continue to enjoy his company for the rest of our lives!!!

Our 10 Month Old

If you look really close you can kind of see her top teeth!!!

Comforting Big Brother while he is in Time Out

We just love it when she sits like this!!!

Climbing

Mischief Maker

Alexia is 10 months old now! It is hard to believe that our little girl is so close to being a full year old. She is VERY healthy and is soaking up all of the information she can. She has a pretty extensive vocabulary and is learning new things every day!!!

She is a walking pro now and has 4 teeth!!! She has also been feeding herself for quite some time now AND is sleeping through the night. It is pretty impressive when a breastfed baby sleeps all night long. At first there were quite a few nights that mommy woke up thinking something was wrong because Lex hadn't woken up to eat yet, but she was sleeping, safe and sound in her little crib!

Alexia LOVES her school! She really enjoys spending time with all of her classmates, but is always happy to go home at the end of the day as well. They are VERY impressed with how much food Alexia eats! She also impressed us by not fussing when we dropped her off for her first day away from mommy! She sure loves mommy and daddy, but is fascinated by other babies, which I think is what made her okay with staying.

Alexia is a very tough little girl and holds her own when she needs to, but she is such a little sweetheart and could melt anyone's heart! She is a very good natured girl and becomes very concerned whenever anyone else is upset. She rarely cries unless she gets her feelings hurt.

We are so blessed to have her in our lives and can't wait to see what she has in store for us.

Pumpkin Carving/Halloween 2009

We really enjoyed the fall festivities this year!!!! Life is so much better with our babies in it!!!! I think this was the best year yet!!!! With all of the trips to pumpkin patches, the pumpkin carving, spending time with family and lots of reasons to celebrate, I think we will have a tough time topping this fall. But I think Fall 2012, after Blake completes his chemo treatments will be the next one to beat as best fall ever!!!!!

The kids were a total joy to watch, as Alexia experienced it all for the first time, it was neat that she is old enough to really take it all in and enjoy everything! Blake is older now and was able to experience things he was too young for before!!!! I can't wait until both of them are old enough to have fall festival parties at our house with games, making caramel apples and bobbing for apples. Fall is one of our favorite seasons and it is so nice to have these two beautiful children and each other to celebrate it with!!!!!

We are also VERY excited for WINTER!!!!!! We will have lots of fun in the snow!!!!! We can't wait to make snow angels and snow men!!!!! But before we get ahead of ourselves, we are also really excited for lots more fall fun and hopefully some time with family and friends gathered around the firepit!!!!

Thanksgiving is our next big event and we are looking forward to spending time with all of our family!!!! :) Blake is doing well with his treatments, he is a champ at taking his oral chemo meds at home daily!!!! It's hard to believe we only have to go in to the clinic once or twice a month!!!! We can get used to this!!!!

Oh and GREAT news, Blake is able to go back to pre-school soon, he is VERY excited to spend time with his old friends there!!!! We also hope he is able to make lots of new friends!!!

God Bless you all!!!!!

Blake's 4th Halloween!!!

Dr Blake

Got Blood?

Bounce Castle at Calvary Christian

Checking Daddy's heartbeat...

Listening/watching the Bible story at Stonebridge

Playing the game

Family photo
It's hard to believe our little boy has been around for 4 Halloweens! His first halloween he was a cute little puppy (2 months old), his second halloween he was a STRONG muscle man (14 months old), last year he was the incredible HULK (2 years and 2 months old) and when we asked him what he wanted to be for Halloween this year he said Dr. Coulter (his Oncologist). We think he made a very cute little Doctor!! He even had a little bag of "blood".

He had a great time on Friday night, first he requested to visit Aunt Ryleigh, so we went over there for a little bit before we headed to the Harvest Festival/Trunk-or-Treat party at Calvary Christian. He really enjoyed the games and the bounce castle at the Harvest festival, then he enjoyed getting his bag filled with candy at the trunk-or-treat!

On Halloween he got to stop by Aunt Val, Uncle Tommy and Taylor's house. He was very sleepy, but appreciated the play-do and other goodies they gave him!! We then headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a yummy dinner!!! We went to the Trunk-or-Treat at our Church and once again Blake really enjoyed all of the Bible stories and all of the candy!!!

Alexia's First Halloween

Our Care Bear playing with her Care Bears!!!

Family photo

Alexia wants Grandma all to herself!!

Getting big brother

Gonna get you!

Care Bear butt

Fun times with Papa Tom
Alexia really seemed to enjoy herself during all of the festivities! We went to see Aunt Ryleigh and Papa Tom and Grandma Jodi then to a Harvest Festival and Trunk-or-Treat party at Calvary Christian on Friday night!! On Halloween we got to see her cousin Taylor and Aunt Val and Uncle Tommy! We LOVED their costumes!!! We then headed to Grandma and Papa's house for dinner and we all went to the Trunk-or-Treat at Stonebridge Christian!!! It was so much fun and the kids got to see lots of their favorite Bible verses acted out!!!

Alexia didd not take a bucket with her to get any candy since she is way too little to eat candy, but she did enjoy the juice and snacks that were given to her by family members!!!