Little Momma

With this little one around, there is never a dull moment. I took these pictures the other day when Wyatt and Sadie were playing in our room and I was ironing some shirts. She was 'feeding baby with a nursing cover' and at one point, i actually heard her say to Wyatt, "I can't go yet. I have to feed baby on the other side." She has always loved playing 'mommy', but now her play has been taken to a whole new level by watching me with Blake.






One other thing I wanted to put on here.....her latest term is 'up sleeves'. Most of us call them short-sleeves, but Sadie insists they are not short sleeves but 'up sleeves'. Kinda makes sense!

New Look

I'm trying out a new look on my blog, just to change things up a bit. Wider margins and larger pictures.....let me know what you think!

8 weeks old

Just a few pictures from the last month of Blake's life. I haven't taken him in yet for his 8 week appointment (next week), but I just weighed him here at home and he was around 16 1/2 lbs! He's also very long and is barely fitting in to his 3-6mos. clothing. He is a wonderful baby and so happy. He's very smiley and talks (coos) whenever he's talked to. He doesn't love being left alone for too long (not like that happens much around here with all the commotion) and will get a bit fussy until someone comes and talks to him, which is always rewarded with a huge smile and coos!

Being a little brother

There is no lack of love around here for Blake. Wyatt and Sadie's most cherished time of day is when then are going to bed and each of them gets to have Blake lay in bed with them for a few minutes. It just warms my heart to see them interact with him and also how much he loves it. On several occasions, their bedtimes fall at the same time as when he needs to eat and he gets a bit fussy. But almost without fail, whenever I lay him down in bed with them, he quiets down and look intently at his big brother or big sister. Sadie usually cuddles with him and share her blankie while Wyatt spends his time talking to Blake about stuff.











We just can't get enough of this kid!!

At the request of my sister in law...

Company or Customers?

We had a great relaxing weekend this past weekend as Matt was not on-call and we had no plans!! Since our Saturday was completely free, some friends of ours came up from Rochester for the day with their 9-month old son Charlie. We had so much fun with them and hope to be able to do it more often, but with Matt's schedule and Bill's (he's a resident at Mayo), Steph and I may just have to get together!

Blake 'checking out' Steph

Great head control for just a 5-week old! (no bias here)

Sadie wasn't sure what to think about Charlie playing with Blake's stuff at first. But she quickly warmed up and loved playing with him, since he's much more interactive than Blake.

Charlie meeting Blake

"Charlie-style"=poking his nose

(notice Bill holding Charlie's hand at this point and Blake looking at him, like, "Are you just going to let this happen?")

Charlie--9 mos old, 20lbs

Blake--5 weeks old, 14lbs

Bill and Steph were lucky enough to experience our family to the fullest! Let me explain....

Wyatt, upon giving Bill the tour of our house, told him,"And when we have customers over, they sleep in Sadie's room and she sleeps in my bunk bed with me." Apparently our guests are viewed as customers!!

Sadie, when Bill was having a jumping contest with her, said, "If I had suction cups on I could jump all the way to the ceiling and then I would stick there and then I could sing up there and be a decoration." HUH??

And finally, we went out to eat in downtown St. Paul. Matt dropped Wyatt, Sadie and I off at the restaurant so we could get a table and went to park the car. Bill, Steph and Charlie soon followed us in. When Matt finally came in, I looked at him and said, "Where's Blake?!!"

To which Matt quickly turned around and ran back out to the car a few blocks down the street and got him--he was sleeping soundly and still very warm, no worries. That was a first for us and Bill and Steph were lucky enough to witness it.

However, the very next day at church when Matt dropped off Wyatt, Sadie and I, I turned to Matt and said, "Now don't forget Blake", mostly kidding. But Matt walked in to church at the same time as some friends of ours and when he got to the entrance, exclaimed, "Oh no. I forgot Blake in the car." Our friends (parents of one child) came in church crying they were laughing so hard and in disbelief that Matt could do this. They came up to me and said, "You'll never guess what your husband did." I was assuming he had gotten in an accident in the parking lot or something. But when they told me he had forgotten Blake in the car, I said, "Oh well. He did that last night too!"

I'm sure there will be more stories like this to come!

One month

Blake was officially a month old last week and I have a feeling this entire year is just going to fly by. With Wyatt, the time seemed to drag on and I wondered if I would ever sleep again, but with #3 it seems to go so much faster!!

But Blake is certainly following in the footsteps of his big brother and sister is achieving 'big baby' status. At 4 weeks old, he already weighed 13 1/2 lbs!! That's weight gain of about 1 lb/week. So needless to say, he doesn't look much like a 4 week old but more like a 3 mos. old!

This was Wyatt and Sadie's way of making sure Blake was included in their game.

Not sure what he thinks of it....

SMILING!!

New Year's 2010

Matt and I have wanted to settle in the twin cities ever since we got married and finally were able to do so this year. There are many things we love about the cities, but our group of friends here is by far #1 on that list. Our friends up here all went to Bethel College with Matt and have remained close ever since, subsequently becoming some great friends of mine as well. Every summer Matt and about 6-10 of the guys (Burbots, as they refer to themselves) in this group of friends head up to the Boundary Waters for a 5-day canoe and fishing trip. And they have gone every summer for the past ten years (since graduating from college). Of course not every guy can go every summer, but for the most part they all try to make it a priority and it's become an awesome tradition. They have such a great time up there and I am so thankful for the friendships Matt has with these guys. They are all such godly men who encourage each other, pray for one another, and have so much fun together. I can't wait for Wyatt to be able to go on these trips with them.

Anyways, all that to say that we invited all these guys and their families over on New Year's Day. Not everyone could make it, but we had about 30 people and it was a blast. The highlight of the day/night was playing "Burbot Jeopardy" courtesy of Andy Lutz who was spent over 4 hours preparing the game. It was filled with questions about each of the guys, their wives, kids, funny things that happened in college and in the 10 years since, memories from the Boundary Waters, etc. Matt and I are still laughing about it!! And what a great year to start a new decade--by remembering all that has happened in the last decade and some amazing friendships that have grown over the years. What a blessing all these people are in our lives!

A few pictures from the day....

All the winter gear after the guys played broomball (yes, it was about 2 degrees and they played on the outdoor rink in our neighborhood).

Johnell made this book of pictures/quotes/memories commemorating the 10-yr anniversary of the guys' Boundary Waters trips and it was amazing!! All the wives bought a copy for our husbands for Christmas and have learned quite a bit about what really goes on up there--and I'm sure much more we don't want to know about!

Kid-central!

Sadie had never met many of these people but had no fear in asking anyone to read her books and let her sit on their lap--something Matt finds a bit disconcerting as she gets older!!

THE GAME

Anna and Wyatt were such great helpers

Andy--the mastermind behind it all!

Retelling some of the hilarious stories that comprised the material for the game

Everyone got to our house in the early afternoon and stayed until about 10pm. The kids loved having all the kids at our house and getting to stay up late and we had such a blast!! This will definitely become our New Year's Tradition--can't wait until next year guys!!