Chadd's food

This is what happens when you live with Chadd...there is, of course, the mouth watering grilled butter garlic steak...and then there is the bag of chips as big as our baby! Hungry anyone???

Math

Tummy time for Christopher!

So...Christopher and I went to the grocery store this morning, and when we were done, I decided to go through the Arby's drive thru to get myself a sandwich for lunch. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I don't like doing math in my head, but there is Arby's math, and then there is real math. Arby's math just shouldn't be that hard for anyone above, let's see, when do you learn addition and subtraction? By second grade? Anyways...so my total was $4.37. I gave him $20.37. The young man at the window got all flustered and had to call the manager. She explained to him that I would get $16 back. He nodded and she walked away. He started to get the money out, hesitated and called back the manager. He asked, "You said $16?" She says, "Yes, $16." He says "ok." He hands me $11. I tell him, "you only gave me $11." He gets flustered. He calls the manager back, I wave the ten dollar bill and the one dollar bill in the air that he just gave me. "He only gave me $11," I say. She smiles at me and opens the drawer of the cash register so he can fix his mistake. She walks away. He gets flustered. He grabs a bunch of one dollar bills, starts to count them, stops, and just decides to hand me the stack. I count them...there are $4 there. I tell him he owes me one more dollar because he owed me a total of $5 more. He gets flustered. He hesitates. Then he hands me one more dollar. I say thank you and drive away. How painful! Regardless, I enjoyed my food. And, oh, make sure your kids do their math homework!

The mile

Ashly had another track meet on Monday. She improved her mile time from 7min57sec to 7min15sec, and she is starting to like running the mile! She continues to really like track.

Christopher and I stopped by the daycare this morning and met the gal, Marcia, who will be there in the mornings. She was super nice. I gave her the scoop on Christopher and she gave me a list of what to bring next week. We start on Tuesday. I really like this daycare and I'm excited for Christopher to have a fun place to go and hang out. Right now there is all boys in the infant room, and there is another Chris. To make it easy, I told them to call our baby Christopher and the other goes by Chris. That should help a little...I guess otherwise, that is how nicknames develop!

Good news Steve! Awesome...another good doctor's appointment...cancer free and going strong! I'm so proud of where you've been and how far you've come. We all love you so much!

The nurse was right

What is Chadd actually doing in those pictures? No...it wasn't a setup for a photo shoot. He really was doing Christopher's laundry! He was a little bit out of his element, but he did a good job, and it was much appreciated! I guess the nurse was right at the hospital when we had Christopher, she told me "your husband's a keeper!" And asked me where I found such a good guy! Maybe it was because when she was trying to give us instructions, Chadd whipped out a lunch box with a homemade breakfast he made and brought to me in the hospital, or maybe it was just that every time something needed to be done, Chadd was right there helping me! Despite what anyone would have thought about Chadd and babies...he does a great job and he is a great dad! The most appreciated help is night feedings on the weekends...thanks for all you do to help me Chadd :) (disclaimer: that does not mean that he will offer to change your baby's diapers!)

It's bright outside

So, the glasses are a little big for him, but Christopher didn't want to open his eyes when we went outside because it's so bright. I tried the sunglasses and he will wear them and open his eyes. I thought baby sunglasses were just a novelty, but they really work. I'm thinking they don't look too manly though!

Meet Linden

I was so excited to meet Linden. As most of you know, Laura is one of the greatest friends I've ever had. She and I met in college in Fargo, and she is the reason I chose to move to Minnesota. It was so fun to be pregnant together (ok...I don't think either of us had any fun!). But it was great to have someone to talk to through it all. Christopher was born on Feb 9th and Linden was born on April 9th. She also has a two year old boy. Linden is so tiny compared to Christopher already! Christopher's head looks gigantic next to hers! They grow so fast. I hope to have many playdates in the future with the kids.

Nice weather

It was beautiful weather outside on Saturday. Chadd, Christopher and I walked to Subway in Wyoming Sat. afternoon while Ashly hung out with her friend, Kayla.
I love every minute with Christopher. I am noticing small changes in his behavior that show me he is learning everyday. He sucks on his fists a lot. His fists always go straight to his mouth. Also, if you make eye contact, he will have a conversation with you. It's so cute. You can tell he is trying to talk because he makes a lot of movements with his mouth and little coos and noises come out, usually with a smile. He is really smiley in the morning when he is well rested. He loves to lay on his back and look at the toys hanging on the activity mat. Now he is starting to "hit" the toys more, not quite grabbing, but getting closer. He likes to be swaddled at nap time and nighttime. He is sleeping pretty good at night. He goes down around 10:00pm and gets up once, anywhere between 300am or 4am. A few times he has "slept through the night" and did not wake up until 5 or 530am. Those are very happy nights for mommy! It's getting better, but we are still using the vacuum cleaner CD to keep him sleeping once we put him down. He is still sleeping in the bassinet. I'm thinking about switching to the crib soon. He starts daycare in two weeks so I think that will help me. It will be nice that the daycare ladies (they have names, I'm sure) will get to know Christopher really well, so they will have helpful advice and find things that work for him from their experience and expertise.

Chadd's Little Friends

Chadd wanted to share pictures of a few of his animal friends from Wisconsin.

Chadd and his dad spent Thursday and Friday at our land in Wisconsin, clearing trees and getting full of wood ticks. The weather was great and they had a great time. They returned with a muddy truck, muddy four-wheeler, muddy trailer, and a slight sunburn.

Chadd had his trail cameras out for the last month and was able to capture a few interesting critters. Can everyone identify the three different animals?

Track and Bathtime

Ashly was so excited when I picked her up last night from her first track meet. She said she loved it and she had so much fun. She said she made a whole bunch of new friends that go to the other junior high in Forest Lake. They don't actually place at each meet, instead, they earn points that total at the end of the season for the team.

Christopher just loves his baths! I love when he smiles. I can't wait to hear him laugh.

Tasha Kitty

It was fun seeing my Tasha Kitty again that my sister, Jennie, so kindly adopted and now she lives in a happy home in Fargo with two loving parents! Christopher only has to gain about 5 pounds and he will weigh as much as Tasha! Isn't she cute! Still sleeps and eats alot, just like she used to!

Guess who?

I'll give you choices: Christopher or Steve. Can you guess who is who???

Happy Easter 2009

We had a great Easter seeing all of our families. We had a quick, but successful trip to Fargo. We stayed overnight on Friday night. Christopher did well traveling, we only stopped once each way for a feeding. He slept most the time. When he wasn't sleeping, Ashly did a good job keeping him entertained. He liked looking at himself in a mirror. I didn't forget any supplies, and Christopher stayed on schedule, so I was happy about that. Thanks for hosting Easter Saturday Steve and Libby, the food was amazing! Then on Easter Sunday we spent the day with Chadd's family at the lakehouse. The kids played a fun game, it went something like this: pick an Easter egg, then hunt for your gift. They had fun as you can see in the picture. It was a beautiful day so I enjoyed a nice walk while Grandma watched Christopher. The rest of the kids spent a lot of the day inside playing school. I guess it's fun when you get to be the teacher!

Christopher started getting fussy yesterday after he woke up and I fed him shortly after getting his shots yesterday. He did this really loud scream, then whine thing that wasn't his usual cry so I knew the shots must be bothering him. So we gave him some Tylenol and in about 10 minutes he was happy again and he slept through the night (7 hours!). That Tylenol stuff really works...amazing!

2 month checkup

Christopher had his 2 month checkup today at the doctor's office. He was so happy, smiling and charming the nurse when we first got there. Then as we waited the 10 minutes for the doctor, Christopher filled his diaper, so I was trying to take care of that when the doctor came in and he said "Usually 2 month old baby diapers don't smell that bad!" Well, his do! Christopher got all his shots, he cried a little and has been sleeping ever since. Hopefully he won't react too badly, but I will give him some Tylenol if he does. He seems to be a healthy baby boy!

His stats:

Weight: 13 pounds 6.6 ounces (85 percentile)

Height: 23.2 inches (56 percentile)

head circumference 15.4 (26 percentile)

He's my BIG BOY!!! The doctor said that's ok! I said I was worried about the flat head, and he said it's ok if the head is a little flat, it's not ok if it's flat and uneven. He said Christopher's looks good. They say to have babies sleep on their backs, if he sleeps on his side it put them at a 5% increase risk of SIDS, and the next couple months is the highest risk time for babies. He also said be careful where you leave him now, he could surprise you and roll! It's fun watching him grow and I love all his smiles, especially in the morning he's happy.

Congratulations!

CONGRATULATIONS to my friends Ben and Laura for the birth of their beautiful baby girl today, Linden Marie. I can't wait to meet her!

Just put some more pictures of Christopher for those of you that like to watch him grow. Ashly has been enjoying track practices and has her first track meet next Thursday. She thinks she is going to do hurdles, 100 meter dash, shot put and running long jump. She is proud of herself for running a mile at practice without stopping! Good for her!

Band Concert

We went to Ashly's band concert last night. Ashly played the flute for the last time at a concert, so I guess that's an end to an era! Christopher did well. The drums scared him one time, but other than that I think he likes the noise of the music and the noise of a room full of voices. He likes that "white noise" stuff, so going out in public sometimes keeps him happy.

Then I took Christopher on him first outdoor stroller ride today! It was lots of fun! He did really well, and it put him to sleep. Five minutes into the walk he took his nuk and slept the rest of the time. Isn't he cute all bundled up!

Spaghetti Dinner

On Saturday evening we went to the Spaghetti Dinner and Auction at our church that Ashly was a part of for a fundraiser for her mission trip in July. It turned out to be really fun. First we ate and ended up sitting next to a neighbor we didn't really know, so that was fun to introduce ourselves better to her. Then we looked at all the baskets with goodies in them for bid in the silent auction and it got pretty intense when we were given the 5 minute warning! We won! Chadd got his carwashes, along with the was 4 free meals at Burger King and one free meal at Arbys and Ashly got the movie "Aquamarine" and some candy and popcorn. Fun. Then we stuck around for the live auction. We didn't bid, but it was entertaining. There was a real auctioneer doing the talking, fun to listen to. I have to say the wine brought a lot of money! Ashly was busy the whole time running around like a little waitress, clearing plates and refilling the food. Needless to say, we got good service!

Way to go Ashly!

Ashly got a nice certificate in the mail saying what a super job she is doing in math class. Good job Ashly, what a nice surprise! We are proud of you. She made A Honor Roll for 3rd quarter again! Yeah!

Trying to get pictures of cute baby boy smiling. He very smiley, especially in the morning. He can be very crabby in the evenings. Either way...we'll keep him!