Blake's First Christmas

We knew this Christmas was going to be an exciting once since it would be Blake's first one, but we didn't know we would have to fight a snowstorm just to celebrate. Fortunately we were able to get out to Buffalo on Thursday morning and celebrate with the Quady/Soholt/Lotti families. But today we started out to Blue Earth and turned around, the roads were just too bad and we were going to have to turn around and come back tomorrow. Brian' s stress level was high driving, so we decided we should be safe and stay home. So we are snowed in so I'm going to upload some pictures to share with everyone we haven't been able to see yet...hope everyone had a great Christmas!

until next time...[gallery]

a little Christmas Tree...and a little football

With crawling only around the corner, we decided that a tabletop tree would be a smarter idea this year. So we made the trip out to my uncle Bob's tree farm and cut down a little tree. It's the smallest tree I've ever had, but it's so cute. Since we got rid of our pre-lit artificial tree, we were on the hunt for lights. Didn't know that would be the worst part of the day! I can't believe that EVERYWHERE is out of lights already. Brian really wanted red lights, you know Husker colors :) And there were none to be found until I got to good ol' Menards.  After already being at two Targets and Wal-Mart, I pretty much took the lights and ran before anyone could get them! Our tree is so little it only took two strings, so that was nice. The new LED lights are pretty nice,  it definitely brightened up everything. Since we have always had a full size tree, our ornaments fill up the tree...no problem. But it's cute and makes the house look all ready for the holiday season.

After setting up the tree all of us got settled in for the big Nebraska game. Although they lost it was a very close game. Husker got a little scared of Brian cheering and decided we all needed to be on the couch together!

Speaking of football; each year Brian starts up the College Bowl Pick' Em Tournament. I think he is still disappointed that I've beaten him a few times already, but he keeps trying. This year he wanted to make sure Blake got involved. He wanted to make it extremely fair, being the accountant that he is, so he set up a very scientific way of choosing the game. Take a look.  He associated each team with a block, and then squeeked each block equally and which ever one he touched first. YES, he did this for 32 teams. He didn't get a choice for the Nebraska or Minnesota games, Brian gave those to him automatically. Of course Brian would never let Blake pick against the Big Red, and although he's not a Gopher fan, a certain Grandma REALLY is, and it was in kind gesture.

And as always closing with some bonus pictures--

Until next time...

[caption id="attachment_130" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Husker "watching" Blake sleep on the way home from the tree farm."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_131" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="More choosing of teams..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_132" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our morning breakfast together..."][/caption]

New home...new picture...and some Thanksgiving

Welcome to our new home on wordpress. After a long research I have decided to blog on this site instead. There are a lot more features and much easier to use.

When rethinking our blog and updating things, I realized that our old blog name didn't include a huge part of our family, Husker. I thought this picture was fitting because no matter what kind of day we have..stressful, crazy, busy etc. she always greets us wagging her tail. I think all dogs have a pretty positive outlook on life in general, and she is a constant reminder of that. So I've decided that her picture is a reminder that you should always slow down and realize that there is a lot of good things to be thankful for and keep a postive attitude, even during this crazy life we live in.

Now onto the last few weeks, since I've been researching chaning our blog, I haven't posted anything in a while. In fact, it was before my 30th birthday! That already seems so long ago. Anyway, Brian and my friends planned a surprise party for me, and I was SO surprised. I totally didn't think anything of it, and it was nice to have some close family and friends around to celebrate. I honestly can't believe that he pulled it off, I'm very NOSY!

As I mentioned in the previous blog November is quite the month full of celebrations, my birthday, our anniversary and my parent's birthdays and their wedding anniversary! All of those come before my favorite holiday Thanksgiving. It was really fun this year to have Blake here and all the more reasons to be thankful. He made [well,  Rebecca made] a Turkey hat thing, that he wore to all of our gatherings. 

We spent Thanksgiving at my aunt's house, and then ended the weekend down in Blue Earth with Brian's family. It was a whirlwind of great food and good times. After a long weekend it's nice to be home, I can't believe December starts tomorrow already. Blake turned 7 months yesterday, and Brian and I just realized how fast this has all gone by. Seems like everyone that said, kids grow up before you're eyes were right...darn. Anyway, you may have seen our growing "football pictures" so below is the latest, and also a few others worth sharing.

 

Thanks for following us on our new blog...until next time.

[caption id="attachment_108" align="aligncenter" width="232" caption="Finally asleep after a day of no naps!"][/caption]

November is here...let the fun begin!

Friends, family, followers.....November is here, and depending on how well you know our family a LOT happens in November. We have birthdays, anniversarys, and not to mention Thanksgiving (one of my favorite holidays!). We started out with a bang-literally...on Thursday I lost my job at BI. The economy has really hit our business and I had already survived 3 rounds of layoffs, but this time it was my turn. It was a bittersweet day, although I was sad to leave all my friends I'm hopeful of another opportunity that has been put in my lap, hopefully more to update on that in a few days. As I arrived home Thursday morning, I was still pretty emotional, but nothing could be more uplifting than Blake jumping away in his jumperoo. An instant smile on my face! So as I've been telling Brian we need to have a positive attitude in these tough times, so that's what we're doing.

 

Our month started out with our bi-anuual trip to Nebraska to see the Cornhuskers take on the Oklahoma Sooners. According to Brian, it's a big game (I'm just a supporter not a follower :), well big game was an understatement! As we pulled into Lincoln at 2 pm. the "Sea of Red" began. It's everywhere. These fans are crazy! It was 70 degrees out and sunny, a beautiful day in NE. After we found parking and walked about a mile to the stadium we had the fortunate experience of seeing one of the Husker's Heisman Trophy winners. We also saw a presentation of the new Heisman room, and the weightroom. Even if you have no football background (like me), but you love to be entertained you'll love these games. We were there 5 hours before the game, and you would have thought it was starting in an hour. There are so many people that drive from all over to see these games. This particular game was their 303 consectuive sell out! There were 86,115 people at the game. Brian also weaseled his way down to the infamous "tunnel walk" it's where all of the team gather and walk out. This event starts off every home game and the stadium was SO LOUD. It is the craziest thing I've ever seen at a sporting event. Words just can't explain it, so here is the link to what they play on the Jumbotron, before the game. (This video is from youtube,so it's not our exact game, but thrilling just the same!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffHmXyyL3SU Brian got to actually stand in the wings and see them so close up. Something every Huskers fan should do. It's really amazing. It was a great game, they won! We drove all the way back to Blue Earth afterwards, and got home at 430 am! It was worth it, so much fun and a nice weekend away together.

Blake got to spend the weekend at Jeff and Sharon's in Blue Earth. The Oian's were there too, so Blake and Macie had fun playing/clawing each other. Christmas is going to be so much fun this year with all the kids. He was also excited to get back to daycare, I think he missed Rebecca, Jaleah and the dogs. He just lights up when he gets there each morning!

Next week is a week of threes. I'll be turning 30 and Brian and I will be celebrating our 3 year anniversary. Lots of things going on...until next time!

October is over?

Well another month closer to my 30th birthday! CRAZY. This month has flown by, hence the short post last time. Brian and I have been so busy I have to stop and think about what I did yesterday!
Since my last post, Blake has a new cousin! Brian's step-brother and his wife had a little boy, Gavin, on 10/14. We get to meet him this weekend, but we are so excited that Blake will have two cousins so close in age to grow up with. Macie is going to have her hand full with two little boys watching her run around this Christmas, but it will be so much fun.

Brian and I also got to get away with our friends to a cabin over in Wisconsin. Of course we chose the one weekend it was sleeting and snowing, but once we got there we had a great time. Blake was out in Buffalo for the second weekend in a row. He's going to start thinking Grandma and Grandpa are mom and dad! Anyway it was nice to get away. We joked that we actually got a full 8 hours of sleep. That hasn't happened in a long while, so it was nice. It's so nice to visit with our friends and not have to worry about what Blake is getting into, or him being fussy. I think it was good to be away, but really good to get home too. I have to admit, that Sunday we came home I let him sleep in my arms for his afternoon nap, just couldn't put him down.

This last week was a busy one, Blake had his 6 month check up in which he proceeded to get his normal shots and the flu shot. He does so well at the doctor, and only cries for a few seconds after the shots. Brian was there to hold him. He kept telling him to "be tough," guess it worked. The doctor also said he had a slight ear infection, which would explain our sleepless nights this last week. She said it was so mild that she couldn't tell if it was the beginning or the end of one. So Blake's first prescription, amoxicillan...he loves it! Just sucks it out of the little dropper, it's pretty funny. Other than the ear infection, he's doing very well. 19 lbs and 26 inches tall. He's becoming quite the heavyweight, and our arms can tell. I have permanently parked the car seat in the car, unless it's snowing or raining. It's so heavy with him in there.

We did also celebrate Halloween this weekend. Just a little costume from Once Upon a Child. He was only in it for a total of 30 minutes, well that doesn't include the nap he took. Cutest sleeping dalmatian dog I've ever seen. Next year will be fun. Brian already says he's going as a football player, but we'll see what Blake has to say about that one.
Work has been really busy for me, and Brian is getting closer to finding a job, so we're keeping our fingers crossed! This weekend we're headed out again to Nebraska to watch the Huskers take on the Sooners. I think Oklahoma and Nebraska are home to some of the craziest football fans, so I'm sure it will be a good time. Blake is staying with Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Sharon. This is his first overnight in Blue Earth. He'll have such a good time, it will be fun to see him interact with Macie. She'll run circles around him!

A few posts ago I said I would post some video of Blake eating, it's pretty funny. So I took some tonight, and in true Blake fashion while eating he takes time to "clear out his system" as well. I guess he had to make more room. So enjoy the video :)

Daycare in the 21st Century

So we are very fortunate to have such a wonderful place to take Blake to daycare, and to think I stumbled upon in on craigslist! Blake loves Rebecca and Jaleah, and the dogs too. So we've always been very confident dropping him off, no melt downs. But on top of that, we're lucky that Rebecca also has a cool iPhone and sends us cute pictures every once in a while. (I'm guessing my mom never got pictures from my daycare...) Anyway, super short post today, but here are the pics I've gotten in the last couple weeks...

Playing on the mat, curious little feller

Very excited to eat

Probably the last walk outside as little ones. Brian thinks its very appropriate--girls get the toys and stuff, and guys just go along for the ride.

So peaceful...he always instantly rolls over onto his tummy now..and takes a 4 hour nap! what a life.

Who turns away food? Well boys do when there is a kitchen full of ladies to look at.

So fun to eat breakfast with your friends!

Is it fall or winter?

Well most of you living in Minnesota reading this know that we had our first snowfall this weekend. Thus forcing me to give in and find some baby items for Blake to wear to keep warm. This sounds easy, but seriously is NOT. It sounds easy to haul him around in the carseat, but now that it's tipping the scale at 40 lbs! [Blake 17 lbs + Carseat 23 lbs] it's getting a little heavy. So at my favorite weekend walk thru shopping at Once Upon a Child, I found this cute snowsuit--barely worn! I have seen it for the last couple weeks and finally with this snow, I had to buy it. He looks pretty darn cute in it, so I guess it was worth it. Although Brian thinks I'm crazy...he claims he's going to show Blake this picture someday and tell him how crazy I was :)

Now we just have to go somewhere so I can put him in it, maybe I'll take take him on a walk. I'm sure he'll love that.

Since our last post eating and sleeping has become more routine. Blake pretty much loves everything we give him even zucchini. I've been keeping up with making food usually on Sundays. We're probably set at least for a few weeks, but I like to keep ahead of it. It's pretty funny making sweet potatos or squash in the oven and the house smells so delicious...and then Brian and I eat mac and cheese. Oh well, I guess this is just the beginning of "doing everything for your kids!"

I'm sure most of you probably also know that fall brings 24/7 sports in our house. So of course Blake watched the Twins win and then lose, hasn't seen a Vikings game yet. He takes after me and usually sleeps through most of them. But that doesn't mean he can't support his teams. Check out the photo of him and Jaleah at daycare supporting the Twins. They are great buddies I just can't wait until they "talk" to each other! Well until next time, here's some more miscellaneous pictures of the last few weeks.

Go Twins!

Happy to eat peas!

I'm sure we all feel like this after a big meal..

Loves the bathtub

wanna watch the Twins with me?

Snow?

Change is a good thing

Well there has been a slight delay since my last post. Mostly due to the fact of all the changes going on in our family! Last week I finally came back to work and Blake started daycare.  We were very lucky to find Rebecca, a stay at home mom and mother to Jaleah. She has made this transition SO easy on us. Blake loves being there and is always happy when I get there at the end of the day. This picture is from Rebecca, it was their first stroll together. I think Blake was slightly confused about having another person in the stroller with him! They are so cute together and it will be fun for them to grow up and play together.

We've also introduced FOOD! Super exciting, and just another step towards growing up. We started out with rice cereal, but for any of you who have tasted it...YUCK. He wasn't really into it so we moved on to baby oatmeal. That has defintely been a hit. He gets really excited and kicks his legs when he eats it. And thanks to Rebecca he's eating a ton of it. Well I guess if you consider about 8-9 tablespoons a day a ton, then yes he's eating a ton. It's definitely helped with sleeping at night. He's so full! He's actually a pretty clean eater, but I'm sure that will change. My mom said I was pretty clean too, so it must be hereditary. He really likes to suck on his bib, so he actually cleans himself up! Husker also likes to sit next to him in hopes that I will drop something. I tell her not to worry, there will be plenty of food dropped in the next few years that she'll have first dibs on. He's rolling over more and more each day and sitting up with our assistance a lot too. He LOVES his jumperoo, and will bounce and laugh in that for 20 minutes or so. It's actually pretty funny. [I'll try to post a video soon] He found his feet and loves playing peek-a-boo with Brian, it's become a nightly routine and endless amounts of giggling. It's so exciting to see all the changes each day.

         Not only are things changing for Blake, things are finally picking up for me at work too. I've been helping out in other departments that are really busy with client visits etc, so my days go by really fast. I was a little worried about coming back and not being busy enough to be distracted, but it has been a real easy transition for me. Brian is also making huge changes, after many years at Virchow Krause, he has decided to leave. It was a very hard decision for him, but it will allow him to make a transition into a job where he can have more time with family and friends. It's been something that's bothered him for a while, and I'm glad we're at a point where he can take this step. I'm confident he'll find something that will work with our life, and we'll just keep movin on!We are excited to have some trips coming up this fall, going to the cabin with some friends and then making our bi-annual trip to Nebraska for a football game. We're going baby free both times! Blake [and Husker] are staying with my parents in October, and with Jeff and Sharon in November. All grandparents are very excited for this, as are Brian and I to get away and have some time for just the two of us. I can't believe how much your lives change and time flies when you have a baby. That's why these advance planned times together are necessary!

          

         This fall is going by so fast! As I type this I realize that Blake will be 5 months on Tuesday. It's crazy to think that only about a year ago we were telling our friends and family about being pregnant, and now he's already 5 months! I'll post his football pictures next week, and hopefully some family pictures this fall. Thanks for reading, until next time! [of course more pictures below]

Super excited about the Twins game.

Husker enjoys "protecting" him while he jumps!

Rolled over mid picture, but it's a cute outfit so--oh well.

Waiting for dinner in the bumbo.

Labor Day = Family Fun!

This weekend was jampacked with things starting off with Blake's four month check up. He's doing wonderful! He's 16 lbs, and 26 inches. He did a wonderful job and mostly just slept the rest of the day. He did join my mom and I shopping--he's such a trooper. Of  course he got a few things too! It was such a gorgeous day out, so he was happy to be in his stroller...not to hot and sweaty.

Saturday was gorgeous too, Brian's stepsister Kathie got married out in Wayzata. It was a gorgeous day, and we were fortunate enough to get a whole Vriesen family picture with everyone. After photos my parents came and got Blake, for his overnight adventure--or maybe theirs--in Buffalo. Brian and I used the wedding as a date night excuse, it was so relaxing and fun to talk to everyone. (We also got a good night sleep!) Brian's dad and Sharon came over to spend Sunday night with us. We are very fortunate to have such wonderful family so close and great to hang out with.

Monday we went to Como Zoo with The Vriesen's and the Oians. It was Blake's first trip to the zoo. He didn't see much from his stroller, but it was fun for the rest of us. Como Zoo is like stroller-pa-looza. Kids and strollers everywhere. We saw some cool strollers that held two kids...it's kind of weird what things I get excited about these days!

Speaking of being excited, only six days until I go back to work. Brian and I are probably going to be in shock next week getting into t another new schedule, but I'm excited to be somewhat "normal" again. It's been 4 long months at home, and although I've enjoyed it, I'm glad to go back. Eating lunch all in one sitting, being able to get up and go to the bathroom and not have to worry about Blake or Husker, actually being able to check my email more than once a day...these are the little things I miss.

so much happening...

First I'd like to thank my friend Rachel for designing a cool Vriesen Family logo...now proudly displayed on our blog. Makes it a little more unique! Thanks Rach!

Well four months is here! We have now survived 120 days of parenthood. Can't believe it's gone by this fast. Brian and I are both amazed at how big he is getting. He finally rolled over this weekend, but it hasn't become a habit just yet. Must have been a weekend thing, because he hasn't done it since! He is giggling more and more, so that is fun. I also started making babyfood. I read that you can freeze it for 3 months so I decided to get ahead of the game. I already have a month's worth of fruits and veggies done. It's so easy and super fun. Obviously I have more time now since I'm not back at work yet, so I'm taking advantage of it. Two more weeks until I return to work...when I return it will have been four months that I have been gone. As much as I'm sad to leave Blake (the day just won't be the same!) I'm excited to get back on somewhat of a schedule. Well off to make more food...I'll post some pictures later....as promised here are some pictures. The one above is my first batch of peas...the one below is fresh zucchini compared to packaged green beans...you pick :)

Busy month...

Wow, I can't believe that it's almost September. I finally go back to work in about a month. I've been kind of getting used to being off of work, I decidedthat I better get back to a routine soon. I've still been working a few nights at the salon, and giving Brian ample time to get some quality time with Blake. It's so easy for me to calm Blake and understand his ques since I'm with him some 40 hours a week alone! So it's nice to allow some father/son bonding time as much as possible.

Since I wrote last a lot has gone on in our household. I've moved out a bunch of maternity clothes and outgrown Blake clothes at a huge maternity/child consignment sale. I sold over 60 things and made about $150! We don't have much room so it was nice to get rid of things I don't need. This sale happens in a few suburbs around here and it's great. My mom and I also went shopping through there and got a TON of stuff. For those of you pregnant, or know someone who is [you know who you are] you should really check one of these sales out! {http://jbfsale.com/?fuseaction=home.subsites#Minnesota } If there is one thing I've learned about being a mom and being pregnant, is that you always grow out of things. Don't get me wrong, I did keep some things, like the outfit he went home in, what he wore on Mother's day etc. But you just accumulate so much stuff that we have no where to store it. It felt good to get rid of stuff and also get some new stuff that Blake will grow into. Even better is that I can sell it all back in the spring too.

We also had visitors a couple Sundays ago, Jeff and Sharon came up for a Sunday afternoon. Blake was in good spirits and we had a good time hanging out all together. Everyone comments on how much he changes in the short time between visits, I guess we take it for granted since we see him every day!

This last weekend we celebrated Macie's [our neice] first birthday. It was quite a fun time. A nice day out and all the family together. It's so fun to see her walking and growing into her personality. It makes us really excited for Blake to start crawling etc. The food was great and she was very interested in her gifts. Well Erin had to help with a lot of them, but she finally got the hang of it, that they were all for her! At last we made it to the birthday cake. Erin and Marty had a family friend make a great cake. Macie had a little teddy bear cake to eat. So we all sat around and waited for her to dig in. Much to our surprise she was super dainty about it! She slowly licked frosting off with her finger and hardly got dirty at all. Either way she was super cute and that's all that matters. We attempted to get some good pictures of Macie and Blake but once again her attention span isn't there. And I would like to think that if Blake could get up and walk, he would have been out of there too! At one point Macie gave Blake a hug, out of the blue. We all started to think that Macie may think that Blake is a doll, since she has been hugging all of her toys. I guess she's not too far off, he is quite a doll! :)

It was such a great time, but when it was over Blake was on to yet another adventure--his first sleepover alone at Grandma and Grandpa Quady's. Brian and I both had to work all day on Monday, so my parent's offered to babysit. Apparently he didn't end up going to bed until 10, after a long day, he's a lot like me and likes to stay up late. With no baby at home, it was nice for Brian and I just to relax and hang out and watch TV. It was probably the first full night sleep both of us have gotten since April! Although it was weird not to have him here in the morning, I think it was good for us to have a break. Monday night we all were back together playing till bedtime and watching him giggle! My mom and dad must have worn him out, because he went to bed around 10 and didn't get up until about 630 the next morning. There are a lot of new toys at their house, and they took them on a LONG walk, so I think that about does it for a 3 month old. It also tired them out too. My mom said they were both in bed early that night!

Well that's about all for now, but since I've had some feedback [ahem...Barb] I'm posting a few more pictures than normal, also a little one of Husker. She's been such a trooper thus far!

So enjoy!