sorry for the delay...we've been busy?

Wow, I actually had to open up our blog to see when the last time I made and entry was....two months to the day![slight 2 week delay in posting [:(] So my apologies for those of you who check our blog looking for the most exciting [:)] and up to date info about our uber-exciting lives! We have been extremely busy these last few months, so I'll highlight a few things...

At the end of March one of my good friends welcomed a new baby girl, to our group, so Blake will have a new little girlfriend to play with. We are so excited to have a girl to spoil in our group of friends.

Easter was family filled down in Blue Earth and Iowa. Blake got to meet some of his second cousins for the first time. Isaac and Elliott were up from Iowa--finally some boys to play with. Although he can't really follow them around, he definitely got everyone's attention. You know his love for remotes...well Great Grandpa & Grandma Christ have these fancy chairs that go up and down with the remote. So Blake got a hold of Grandpa's and started monkeying with the buttons. Next thing you know Grandpa is ready to eject right out of the chair, just then Blake hits the next button and back down it goes. Luckily they move about as fast as a 2 toed sloth, so no one was ever in danger! It was fun to see all the Christ girls too, they had fun playing with Blake.

[caption id="attachment_199" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Taking great grandpa for a ride-- a slow ride."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_192" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Second cousins...the little farmers!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="One of our last football pictures!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_206" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Our family picture at Amy's wedding"][/caption]

After Easter activities  we were onto a wedding of another great friend of ours-- Amy and Mike had a beautiful wedding out in Buffalo. This was Blake's first wedding and he looked so cute I thought I was going to cry! He's growing up so fast. He was very intrigued by all the people and the music, so funny to watch him people watch. You have to wonder what he is thinking! Brian and I used the wedding as our "date night" and stayed out till 11 pm....yeah sounds early but not for us. That was late for us, but we had a great time.

[caption id="attachment_194" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Once you have a child....no one takes a picture of us anymore!"][/caption]

We rounded out April with Blake turning 1. The night of his actual birthday was just a quiet dinner at home, nothing crazy....that comes later...keep reading.

[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Our last football picture"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Opening a book from the Christ Family"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="He wanted to open gifts...who needs a family picture?!"][/caption]

Well that brings us to May already! The first weekend in May we celebrated Great Grandma Vriesen's 80th birthday down in Blue Earth. All of the kids, grandkids and great grandkids were there. Of course there were a bunch of Kodak moments all weekend. We spent most of our time at Jeff and Sharon's where Macie got a little taste of what it would be like to have a sibling. Blake is pretty used to "older" girls taking his toys away, but she wasn't too keen on sharing. But she had lots of hugs and kisses for him, so I think it all worked out in the end. Blake was also teaching Gavin, his other cousin, how to sit up and take notice of all the things around him. Husker went out to Buffalo to start her 2 week vacation...she gets so much more attention out there I think she would rather stay there than come back.

[caption id="attachment_198" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The matching outfits were a total fluke....no one planned that!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A few more year and this group is going to be trouble..."][/caption]

The second weekend in May was fun filled, I co-hosted a baby shower for one of my college girlfriends. It was weird to see so many "baby" things that Blake has already grown out of. It just reminds me again how fast time flies! After the baby shower it was finally time for Blake's big birthday party. We were very fortunate to have close friends and family celebrate with us. He was pretty overwhelmed by all the people, but was in good spirits most of the day. Some of the highlights during the day is him dancing for everyone to his favorite song...Behind Blue Eyes from The Who. We have it recorded on our DVR and anytime he's in a bad mood, we cue it up and he calms down. It's pretty funny. [I'll try to post the video soon] He wasn't to interested in cake, he doesn't eat much sugar, so I don't think he liked it very much.  He was a very spoiled little boy, getting toys and clothes etc. We are so blessed with such great friends and family, it made the day really special.

[caption id="attachment_209" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Didn't really go for the hat so much..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_210" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Not a big sugar fan, so the cake was a little overwhelming."][/caption]

Meanwhile, all of this going on during the weekends, I was SUPER busy at work getting ready for my trip to Hawaii....YES for work. I left on Mother's Day and just arrived home this Sunday. It was a long week of work, but I guess I couldn't complain too much about the view. The planning of this trip was a ton of work, I'm still stressed out about it and it's over?! But that's the worklife I live, so I'm used to it. We were in the beautiful St. Regis Hotel, on Kauai. The island is very different from the Big Island where we honeymoon-ed. It's so much more green and the water is much more calm. Of course it was beautiful everyday, and after being their 7 days, I only got to lay on the beach for 40 minutes. My legs are still as white as snow.

[caption id="attachment_211" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="This is the view from my "desk" all week, I couldn't really complain."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_212" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The sunset from our office room, yep we were working from sun up to sundown."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_213" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Taken during my 40 minutes on the beach!"][/caption]

All in all it was a great time, but I was very excited to come home and see my boys. While I was there Husker celebrated her 5th birthday. I can't believe we've had her that long. Yet again, another reminder that time goes by SO fast.

Thanks again for waiting for the updated blog, I promise to be a little more dilligent...but her are some pictures just for fun that we've taken in the last few months!

[caption id="attachment_201" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="First time down the slide"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_202" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A little sleepy after the park and the walk to Wal Mart~"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_203" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="First time without the baby bath"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_204" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Not a huge fan of grass...takes after Mom."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_205" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Still loves to eat"][/caption]

Only one year ago...

It was only one year ago that I was getting ready for my big weekend of baby showers, and starting to get the nursery ready. With Brian in tax season, and me working two jobs we didn't really get around to doing much until the bitter end! Our house wasn't covered with baby toys, blankets and bottles, and Husker was still pretty much the center of attention. Wow...what a difference a year makes. Now our house is strewn with toys, pacifiers, blankets, books and Husker resorts to curling up on the bed out of everyone's way. It's a completely different place, and we wouldn't want it any other way.

Last weekend we sold our infant car seat and moved Blake up into a bigger seat, it makes him look so much older. It makes me realize that time really does go by fast.  He also decided th other day that he no longer wants to be fed baby food, which is quite interesting. So we have moved on to small pieces of whatever we're eating. His new favorite is sweet potato fries, which I could eat with him all day long....mmmmm-good. Anyway, he's on the brink of walking, he likes to "cruise" around the living room from couch to chair and back. I think Brian is determined to have him start walking ASAP...but we're trying not to push him.

He's also learning the meaning of the word no. This growing pain is actually quite harder for Husker, she has grown accustomed to all things NO referring to her. She has definitely given us a look when we say NO and she's just laying there...but we have to laugh because for both of them learning NO is a "selective" learning process. Blake has definitely learned some boundaries. For instance, he is obsessed with Brian's play station, he likes the buttons and the lights, but of course Brian doesn't want him to mess with his saved games--heaven forbid! So that has been the main learning point of NO. Blake will crawl over there and get on his knees so he is eye level with the play station, then he turns around to see if anyone is watching him, slowly his hand goes up and he goes to push the buttons. One of us finally notices and says NO, and he just stops in his tracks and smiles. Although he heard the NO, he tries again. One more NO and he moves on, but only to come back a few minutes later. It's quite funny to us, and eventually he'll totally understand, but for right now it's only when he wants too. You would think he understands what we are saying, because he is starting to babble constantly..in between laughing that is. He can say MAMA pretty well, but I don't think he knows what he's actually saying. But we're working on it. We actually think his first word might be Husker. Every time she barks or comes around he giggles and makes a barking sound.  So I'm sure its just a matter of time before he's chasing Husker and barking at her.

Well in usual Vriesen blog fashion...ending with some more photos Rebecca took at daycare...(click on them to make them bigger)

Blake definitely loves ravioli...and making a mess.

You would think he would enjoy a pacifier, but he prefers any toy that is laying around....

Until next time..

Blog away....

Since I've been back at work I feel like the only time I have to blog is on my lunch hour, so as my co-workers say "blog away."  Another busy month in the Vriesen household, as usual.  Since our last post, Blake turned 9 months, and this weekend already he'll be 10 months old. It's amazing how fast time flies! Blake is now officially crawling, and very fast at that. He is very intrigued by Husker's dog dish, and other gross things like liking the TV?! It's pretty funny to watch him change on a daily basis.  One nice break is that even through teething, he's been very good. If you remember back to my first blog about the annoying question "is he a good baby" I guess I can finally say yes.  He is consecutively sleeping through the night, and loves going to daycare everyday.....I think the only time we really hear him cry is when we take something away from him. So in that case we're pretty lucky.

Brian and I, well more me, have really noticed how great it is to all be home during what we would normally call "busy season." Having Brian around after work each night is about the only way we eat dinner. Each night one of us cooks...we'll let's face it...usually me, and Brian and Blake play. It's a two person job! Husker is starting to become more aware of Blake, she definitley jumps when his little hands latch onto her tail. I think they are going to be really good together. We are really looking forward to spring where we can finally all go on a walk together, I'm thinking Husker is the most excited about that.

Since Brian has been home more this winter we have had time to go out and do things! A few weeks ago my parents took Blake for the entire weekend, mostly we slept in, but it was nice to get a bunch of things done around the house. I do have to admit, but Sunday afternoon we were happy to see him again. It's funny how fast you forget what your life was before kids! We also had another "makeshift" date night at my good friends Couples Baby shower last weekend. We have such a great group of friends, it's nice to get out and be able to stay out late....although, sad to say 1:30 am is WAY past my bedtime.  This week for Brian's birthday we went to the Gopher Basketball game, although they lost it was a REALLY fun game. Not to mention we got to see a great half time show, Quickchange [pretty amazing...google their act]. Blake and Husker of course always gets to hang out with the best babysitters, one of which is my friend Katie. She is always offering to babysit and for that we are truly grateful!

So not only is Brian turning the big 32...Blake is turing 10 months old, although technically there isn't a 29th day of Feb, so we're just going to say it's the 28th :) As I've mentioned before we have a great daycare, Rebecca takes pictures of the kids all the time. Sometimes she'll email me at work, and it's definitely the highlight of the day. On Blake's 9 month b-day she staged a little photo shoot in the play room, so I've included some of the pictures. Enjoy! (sorry they're so small, click on them to make them bigger)[gallery link="file"]