A Playdate!

On Saturday, we invited a couple over that we met in birth class to bring themselves and their little boy over for a "playdate".  Well, that and also some adult interaction too!  Their son, Jordan, is about a month younger than Cody.

They had fun playing together and checking each other out.  Cody tried to pull Jordan's socks off, they played on the Poppin Pals together, compared their manliness (THEIR HEIGHT!), Jordan showed Cody how he could take steps and Cody showed Jordan on how he can move everywhere, and they both had a very nice time.  The adults even had fun too, ordering in pizza, comparing 9 month old stats (Cody & Jordan were almost identical in weight and height!), and having some nice conversation.

Clearly, by the pictures, it's obvious to see that Cody & Jordan called each other and agreed to wear brown. 

I hope we can have more "playdates" in the future!

New Toy

Cody found a SUPER new toy to play with when hanging with me in my office.  I'll let the pictures tell the story!

(Ooh!  What did I find?)

(I'd better get a closer look.)

(How far can I bend this thing back?)

(Hmm! I can move the door all by myself!)

I'm just waiting for him to slam his hands in the door...I try to watch him but I'm sure it'll happen eventually!

Side note:  See the outlet covers?  Babyproofing?  Yep.  We're to that point.

Mommy Saves Everything

I've been trying to clean up my office, because I'm quickly finding out that a 11 month old is very curious and likes to bee-line towards anything interesting like papers, spiral notebooks, empty ink cartridges and coupons.  Yikes!!  Anyway, upon the "piles" of my organizing is this:

What are those, you wonder?  This pile of papers consist of every "daily" report that we get from our childcare provider that tells about Cody's day!  They say things like when and how long he napped, what he had for meals, when he peed & pooped, when he had bottles & how big they were, what items we need to bring (diapers, wipes, etc), and a short description of any interesting tidbits from the day.  For example, today's sheet says "Cody liked to dance to the music" (They were watching Madagascar and apparently he was rocking out to "I Like to Move It (Move It)" and "He was happier today but still not 100% (He is not feeling that good, again.  Sigh.)

I don't know why (ok, I know why...I am a packrat and a sentimental fool!), but I have saved all of these since we started him in daycare in (ahem) April.  It is now January 27.  Of the next year.  

I think I've finally come to terms that I really don't need to save ALL of them, so I am going to go through them and save any interesting ones for scrapbooking, etc.  Going through all of them should only take me another couple of months or so!  :)

1st Birthdays

I came across this photo & note from my Grandma "Dot" when I was cleaning today.  I thought it was fun to find, especially since Cody's first birthday will be coming up a little over a month!

My mom still has the high chair!  :)

They're here! They're here!!

This is my favorite candy in the whole wide world.  It is only sold around Valentine's Day (or in these days, as soon as the Christmas stuff is put away) and it can be very hard to find!!  There have been years where only my mom can find it in my tiny hometown in the middle of nowhere and she has to mail me bags.  Fortunately (or, unfortunately?), this year, Cub Foods is stocking it!!!  Rogers AND Plymouth!  Be still my heart.

I have tried every other kind of "sour cherry" candy in the world, and nothing even comes close to comparing to Brach's.  These candies are sweet, yet sour, with the perfect combination of crispy candy coating and chewy goodness inside.

If you haven't tried these, I highly recommend you do so!  Or, maybe not...more for me!

Behind on Blogging

I guess it's only been a week since I last blogged, and that doesn't seem too bad with an near-toddler, but it feels like forever since I've written.  Not much has been going on this past week.  We've been in a deep freeze (we had -25 F a couple mornings), so nearly every weeknight this past week consisted of getting home from work, trying to warm up, hunkering down for the evening, and going to bed.  It was pretty awful.  Not that we really go out during the week anyway, but this week wasn't even a remote possibility.  This weekend it warmed up to like 20, so it felt pretty heavenly after the weather we've been having.

Anyway....I'm still working "full time" at my job since I'm still organizing all the 2008 stuff, wrapping up year-end (sending W-2s and 1099s) and trying to set up everything for 2009.  I imagine that I'll work full time through January, although our checkbook would appreciate it if I extended that.  We'll see.  It's nice that I have the flexibility to work more if I want/need to.  I really do miss that one day off a week...not only to spend more time with Cody, but to get a few jobs done around the house (a couple loads of laundry, cleaning, etc.) so we don't have to spend our entire weekend doing housework.  Oh well.  I know its temporary and hopefully I can get back to my normal schedule too.  I hope to plan some "play dates" for Cody (and me!) as he's a VERY busy boy these days and I get kind of stir crazy being in the house all day with him.  I know he probably gets bored of the same 4 walls too, and I know he likes to get out and about.  Like I said, it hasn't really been an option anyway this past week....so hopefully we can get some visiting done soon.

Cody has been a real spit-fire this weekend.  I'm not sure what his deal is!  He's been *super* wiggly when changing his diaper (trying to roll over, screaming, etc), gets very upset when he can't reach a toy or when playtime is over, and is all around pretty darn whiny.  I'm not sure if he's teething, or just crabby, or what.  We haven't had any teeth since the beginning of December, so I would think more should be on the way soon.  He hasn't been too drooly as of late, but who knows.  We said he was teething for about 4 months until he actually cut a tooth!

Our family went out for lunch today to Curry Up in Maple Grove.  It is an Indian restaurant that is actually located in the back of an Indian grocery store.  Kind of hard to find if you didn't know about it, but we discovered it quite awhile ago.  Actually, I guess Gordon went out with some co-workers for lunch (who were Indian) and that's how we found out about it.  I was reluctant to try Indian at first (for those that don't know, I was raised on very bland food with little spice besides salt & pepper...no offense Mom :))...but I actually quite like it!  They have a lunch buffet there and it is different every time we go.  Today a couple of their entrees were Lamb Curry, Tandori Chicken, Sweet something-or-other (Rice with Sugar/sweetening), and other stuff that I can't remember the names of.  Cody even got a few tastes!!  Don't worry, it was not spicy - just a dish with potatoes, carrots and green beans...nothing he hasn't had before. He also tried some Naan and he seemed to like that.

On Thursday, I had the opportunity to go wedding dress shopping with my friend, Natasha.  She is getting married in September in the Cities.  I told her that I would love to go along, and she graciously invited me along with her mom.  We went to a couple shops and she found THE dress!  It was a lot of fun to watch her try on dresses.  Brought back a lot of memories from when I was wedding planning.  I hope I didn't annoy them too much with my "I remember when I was dress shopping...." or "I remember when I was looking at..."  Oops.  It was hard not to relive those planning days!  Her dress is GORGEOUS and she will make a stunning bride, I am sure.  She asked me to be in the wedding and I am super honored by the gesture.

It was interesting juggling things on Thursday so I could go shopping.  Because of Gordon's new work schedule, he now drops Cody off in the morning and I pick him up at night.  That means that I have to leave earlier (6:30 is ideal, usually its more around 6:45) and I leave work by 4:00 to get him by 5:00.  Well, Thursday was no different, I picked up Cody as usual...but instead of going home, we headed straight back to the "Cities" and met Gordon at his work.  Cody swapped cars and drove home with Gordon.  What a rig-a-ma-rol.  We probably won't do that again/very often, but I guess it's one solution.  Maybe next time we'll find a babysitter or have my sister in law pick him up or something.

On Saturday, Cody and I had lunch with my friend Careen at 3 Squares Restaurant (also in Maple Grove).  It's located where Green Mill used to be and I had been wanting to try for awhile.  It was very tasty.  They have an eclectic (?) slash different (?) menu, but of course, I stuck to a tried-and-true ~ fish & chips!  The fries left something to be desired, but the fish (walleye) was wonderful.  Cody sampled walleye for the first time!  (sans breading, of course)  He loved it!!  Too bad we both smelled like fish for the rest of the day!

Anyway, as I said, not much interesting happened this week...so I guess you didn't much with my lack of blogging for the week!

We have started thinking about Cody's 1st Birthday party.  I cannot believe it is coming up already!!!  It really feels like we just brought him home from the hospital.  It makes me a little sad to realize he's soon going to be a TODDLER!  Lord help us!  Anyway, we plan to have our party pretty low key & keep the guest list to a minimum, so it should be fun.  We're hoping to go to the party store (there's a new one in town) to look at "themes" and see if there's anything that jumps out at us.  We're not going to go crazy planning it, but we have to make it a little special - you only turn ONE once!

CD Release Show & Party

On Saturday evening, I attended the CD Release Show & Party for flutist Julie Johnson.  It was held at the MacPhail Center in/near downtown Minneapolis.  Julie was one of my high school classmates, and it was such an honor to attend this event, watch her perform and celebrate such a great accomplishment in her life.  I met up with a few classmates prior to the show (Erika, Hannah, and Carl - plus Hannah's husband and her parents), and we all had dinner at Matty B's Bar nearby.  (Side note: owned by Matt Birk of the MN Vikings!)  I had the boneless chicken wings that were sooooo spicy.  They had a garlic butter sauce, so they weren't exactly "buffalo" style, but along those lines.  I was dying.  :)  

Anyway, the performance was phenomenal.  It was such a treat to get a little bit of culture in my life.  

I took a photo of the room that the performance was in...unfortunately, it's blurry since I didn't have the flash on (I didn't want to draw attention to myself), but you get the general idea.  It was a gorgeous room.  I believe the MacPhail Center is a fairly new building, so everything was spotless.

  

There was a reception afterwards and I awkwardly mingled my way through it.  :)  There were a couple other folks from up north and I laughed and laughed listening to "remember when" stories.

Gordon stayed home and watched the little one.  I think he would have enjoyed it, but would have been bored to tears listening to old stories from high school.

In summary...BRAVO to Julie!  And, I must mention, you can buy her CD here -- CD Baby

Underwater Adventures & MOA

We took Cody to the Mall of America for the first time on Saturday.  We went right away in the morning before most of the stores even opened.  I love getting to places right when they open (stores, attractions, garage sales :)).  It has been awhile since we got to take him on an outing, because he has been sick with colds, coughs, etc. most of this fall and winter.  Finally he is feeling better (insert huge 'knock on wood' here), so we planned a little daytrip.  It had been even longer since we had him in the stroller; in fact, I think he still rode in his carseat in the stroller the last time we had it out.  Anyway ~ when we first got to the Mall, he just loved riding in the stroller and looking at all the people, bright colors, lights, etc.  It was pretty fun to watch him observe everything.

We headed to Underwater Adventures which is an underground aquarium under the Mall of America.  Gordon and I had been there a few times prior.  Cody got free admission (I'd hope so!) and Gordon and I paid about $35 for the both of us, after $3 off coupons.  Kind of expensive for how big of a place it was, but we enjoyed it and was worth it to us.  The beginning part of the attraction is a woodsy/forest area that has exhibits of fish and other animals.  It was dark and misty and we had it all to ourselves.  We leisurely went through it and Cody got to observe some different scenery.  

("official" photo borrowed illegally :))

After that part, the main part of the attraction is the actual aquarium which is basically like a tunnel that you walk in, and the water with all the fish & water-life is surrounding you!  It's a pretty neat experience if you've never done it before.  Cody really enjoyed just taking it all in and seeing all the fish swimming around.  It was hard to take photos because of the lighting, but we did manage to snap a few shots.  They're not great, but at least we have proof that we were there!

Here's a few pictures from the day:

(Ummm....that is a little close, Daddy!  There was glass obviously, but still!)

I *love* how this one turned out!  Eery.

Yay!

Like father, like son...

Stroller time!

We spent a couple of hours in the Aquarium total, and then walked a little bit around the mall afterwards.  We're not big mall people but we always have to stop by the Apple store ("just to look") and we walked through the amusement park since we hadn't seen it since they converted it to Nickelodeon Universe.  I didn't really notice a difference!

Sharky came across our path while we were exploring the mall, and he and Cody had a little moment.  It was really sweet.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera ready - shoot!

When we were walking around, I was checking Cody for something, and I noticed that around his belly and top of his pants were completely soaked!!   AHH!!  Who knows how long he had been like that, he hadn't made a PEEP so we were totally shocked.  We are so blessed with such a good baby...but it'd be nice if he at least let us know so we could take care of things :)  Poor little man!  Luckilly we had a change of clothes in the diaper bag, because EVERYTHING needed changing!  Oh well.

On our way home, we stopped for a yummy Olive Garden dinner and of course the obligatory trip to Target for "diapers and formula".  We always joke that if we ever get a Target gift card from work or a present, that it just goes towards diapers and formula!  Ahh, this is our life...

Anyway, all in all, it was a successful outing and we can't wait until we can take him out somewhere else that he can have a new experience.  We are counting down the years until we can take him on the motherload of all outings, Disney World!!!

10 Months Old

How did this happen??!

:)

Edited on 2/7/09 -- woops, just noticed the year was wrong for the sign!  

Baby Jail

Who's in there?

Peek-A-Boo!

I See You!

That was fun!!

How do I get back in there??

Feeling Blah

I don't know what it is, but I just couldn't get motivated tonight.  I was so tired when I got home from work.  Gordon and I had to change our work schedules all around, due to his new position, and I'm having a hard time with it.  Now I'm going to work early, starting by 7:30, and leaving by 4:00 to pick up Cody from daycare.  I do love picking him up after the end of the day ~ the smile and look on his face is absolutely priceless!!  It melts my heart.  But I have to admit that I am just not used to the hectic-ness of picking him up with all the other parents coming and going.  It's not a bad thing, I'm just not used to it.  Hopefully we can get in the groove soon and things will be easier.

Cody is really moving around these days.  He's rolling EVERYWHERE!!  He's also discovered it's really FUN to touch and be by all the blinking electronic doodads under our TV....so I can't leave him for a minute unattended in the living room.  Oh....it has started!!!  He is still not crawling, which is weird, but he has own ways of getting around.

Cari said that today Cody was on the floor while the other little boys were playing cars & trucks, etc. making their "brrreerrrrr" noises (I'm sorry, but I have no idea how to type that out!) and that Cody joined right along with them in their noises.  Wow!  It sounds really cute; wish I was there.

It was sooooo damn cold here today.  I am so over winter.  Really, some days, ok, a lot of days, I wonder why we live here. 

I am looking forward to this Saturday night.  One of my high school classmates, Julie Johnson, is having a CD release show & party in downtown Minneapolis.  One of my high school friends, Erika, is driving down for the day/night and we are going to attend.  We're also hoping to meet up with a classmate or two beforehand for dinner.  It should be a lot of fun!  Gordon is going to stay home with Cody, so it'll be fun to have an evening out.  Hopefully I will remember my camera so I can blog about the event.

I'm off to bed ~ 5AM comes quickly!  

My Baby is No Longer "The" Baby...

...at daycare, that is!  Today we found out that there is a new little 4 month old baby boy at daycare!  His name is Anthony & is cute as a button, but that means that our baby is not THE baby!  This made both Gordon and I kinda sad!!  Cody is growing up so fast -- too fast!  Oh, he will still be doted on and probably still laughed at by all the other kids, and I'm sure he'll still get lots of attention, but it won't be entirely the same.  At least he will have a buddy to play with in several months :)  They seem so different now, but they're really only half a year apart.  Apparently, Cody tried to "get" the baby when he was on the floor, etc.  I remember when Cody was about that age and there was a 9-10 month old little girl there...I guess she would just set her sights on him and go after him!!  Fair's fair :)

Cody is really moving around now.  The baby gates had to come up at daycare!  His new thing is that he likes to ROLL everywhere!!  He's not crawling on all fours quite yet, although now he gets on his hands and knees and stands on his tiptoes....ummmm....wow!  That takes some serious strength.  Not really sure what he is trying to accomplish with that one.  But yeah, rolling is all the rage these days.  He rolled around us in circles the other night!  We just laughed and laughed.  

Cody learned to say "Uh Oh" over the Christmas holiday.  It's so cute, but it'll be nice when  he knows how to say some other words.  He does say "Mamamama" especially when he needs something, and does other babbling too, although much to Gordon's dismay, "Dadadada" does not seem to be in his vocabulary quite yet.

I guess the bottom line is ~ he'll always be OUR baby!

2008 Was Great! (Part 3)

I know you've all been anxiously waiting for it.

Ok, he didn't vote, but he well as may have.  I don't think one person I voted for won ~ ok, maybe one.  But, still.

In November, I headed to Omaha for NKOTB concert #3.  The best seats so far, I think I had row 4, almost center.  Amazing.  Sigh.  How I missed those boys!  Gordon and Cody, that was!  My first overnight trip away from them.  We all made out just fine :)

I have to include this dreamy picture I took at the show....

When I returned home from Nebraska (really...Nebraska...that is the best place I could go on my one outing?  I am sad.), Cody treated me by saying "mamamamamama" for the first time.  I don't know if he knew what it really meant, but I like to think he did!

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house where I made my first turkey.  It seemed to turn out just fine.  We had my parents and brother and sister in law over for the day.  Cody got some good bonding time in with the Anderson side of the family, and especially liked listening to Grandpa A. talk and play with Uncle Al.  He also tried mashed potatoes ~ yummmy.

Around this time, we also found out that Cody definitely has musical genes (jeans?) in him!

We have a tooth!!  Finally, around 9 months, Cody finally gets his first tooth...and then another one!  He truly did get his "two front teeth" for Christmas!  I was beginning to think he'd have a toothless grin for his whole life....  Looks cute now, but I dont know about later!  ;)

With the addition of teeth, Cody started trying all kinds of yummy "real" food, like Gerber Puffs, Cheerios, bananas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, pineapple, peaches, toast, etc.  He loves it all!

In December, Gordon got to try out his new snowblower for the first time.  A good investment.  A very good investment, indeed.

As I'm thinking about December, I realize I actually started this blog IN December, so that's something pretty notable right there!  So the things that I am thinking of (Cody meeting Santa, cookie making party....Christmas photo shoot....Christmas cards....Christmas festivities....), I have already blogged about.  Woohoo!

With that, as you can see....

2008 WAS GREAT!!

2008 Was Great! (Part 2)

Ok, now, where was I?

Oh, yes.

We spent 4th of July over at the Andersons of Cottage Grove and had a great time hanging by the pool and having good BBQ.  Cody got to 'play' with cousin Aden (previously a-mentioned in March) who is 1 week older than him.   I don't think they quite knew what to think of each other.

We made another trek up north and Cody did wonderfully on the trip, except for a total blowout in Bemdiji!  That was tons of fun, let me tell you.  We also stopped and met Paul when we were in town (see below):

:

In terms of milestones, Cody started rolling over at the end of the month.

Oh, how could I forget?  Gordon and I *both* met the other love of our lives in July...our new iPhones!

8.8.08  NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK ARE IN MINNESOTA!!!!!!!!!!  Wow, my teenage dream come true!  They had a performance and autograph signing at the Mall of America.  Earlier in the year they announced they had reunited, and I believe in May they performed together for the first time in 15+ years on the Today Show.  This was their second performance together and I WAS THERE.  I had to work in the morning, so unfortunately, I was wayyyy too late to get in the autograph line, but that was ok with me.  I watched as they sang three songs and watched them do some autographs.  It was pretty surreal.  :)  They looked SO good.

(a few of the fans there before the performance)

We headed to Baudette, yet again, to my mom's retirement party.  It was really nice & what years of service that she put in - all at the same place!!  Unfortunately, Gordon had to work and couldn't come with, but we survived the trek on our own, although not without tears on both Cody and Mommy's part!!  It was a rough drive back home, but we made it.

Cody also saw a pediatric ophthalmologist to look at his droopy eyelid.  Not sure if most people know or notice, but he's had this since birth.  Our pediatrician didn't think it was a big issue, but referred us to have him checked out.  Our appointment went well (he was such a trooper, not even crying when they put eye drops in his eyes to dialate them!!) and the doctor said that he doesn't need to come back until another year to have checked.  She said his eyelid isn't interfering with his vision, it's just slightly cosmetic at this point.  I hardly notice it anymore; moreso when he is tired, etc.

Cody tried his first vegetables this month - sweet pote-TATE-tohs...as I like to say.  He LOVED them and couldn't get enough!  Feeding him solids has been a breeze ever since.  He eats everything we give him.  He's not a huge fan of baby food (pureed) peaches, but everything else he just gobbles right up!  I'm so grateful to have such an "easy" baby.  I know, I know...I'm not holding my breath for his toddler years!  :)

The new NKOTB CD came out on September 2nd!  I was at Target on my lunch break snappin' that up.  It . was . awesome .

We got Cody all dolled up to watch his first Vikings game!  We bought half a year of season tickets again, but only ended up going to one game all year (the season opener), in which they lost.  Oh well.  We hope to attend more games next year.  It was just too hard to go this year...weekends are our quality time days with the little one, and going to a game is just an all-day process with the travel time there, parking, game, getting out of parking, etc.

September also marked a visit from Gordon's parents who live in Colorado.  They spent about a week here and got some good quality time with their grandson.  While they were here, Gordon and his dad and mom worked on some house projects like sealing the garage floor, painting all the drywall in the garage, hanging shelves and other things.  This was such a huge help!!!  We also made Cody's first trip to the zoo (Como Zoo) while they were visiting.  Cody loved looking at the animals and especially liked the otters and the gorillas!!  We're looking forward to going back next summer.

Wow!  October was busy!

In the beginning of the month, our family travelled to the Chicago area for Cody's first big trip out of state.  We split up the trip going there and back, staying in hotels halfways, and Cody did really well on the long car ride.  We were able to stay at Gordon's aunt & uncle's house in the Chicago area (even though they were not even home at the time!) to save on hotel costs and feel more "at home".  We so appreciated this!  We had a fun gathering with some of Gordon's cousins & their families...and had a ball watching all the kids interact and play.

(here's the pic I had with the most of them - sorry, Colton got left out!))

The main reason for the trip was so that I could go to the NKOTB concert.  I'll spare you the delicious details, but it was amazing.  I had such a fun time.  I tried not to cry.  I went with my pen-pal of a million years, Michelle.

(glowing during Hangin' Tough...yes, I said glowing)

In October, we also went to a pumpkin patch & farm right before Halloween.  Cody got to see all kinds of farm animals, picked out pumpkins, went on a hayride and had plenty of photo opportunities.  I'll just post one for now.  He was more interested in the dirt and twigs more than the pumpkins.

In October, I attended NKOTB Concert #2 in St. Paul.  Holla.  (courtesy of projectnkotb girls)

And, of course, Halloween.  Cody wasn't feeling too good (one of many colds he had this fall/winter), so we didn't really do anything special.  We did go trick-or-treating at one neighbor's house.  They did have a little party at daycare and let me tell you, he was partied out by the time he got home!!

("grrrrr"....says the sleeping? tiger)

Whew!  Part 3...coming next!

The Countdown is On!

Ahhh!!! I can't believe it is getting so close!

(Side note: Part 2 is coming soon!)

2008 Was Great! (Part 1)

What an amazing year!!

I am going to see if I can do a recap of the year on a month-by-month basis. Given the fact that I had Mommy Brain for several of those months, I really don't know if its going to be possible, but I will give it a shot.

On January 1st of 2008, Gordon and I finally placed our order for the nursery furniture for the baby-to-be's room.  I spent hours, literally hours, agonizing over cribs, changing tables, dressers, rockers, bedding, wall art, etc.  I think we ended up getting everything at walmart.com, which totally killed me, but they had the best prices for the items we wanted.  We didn't have a truck or larger vehicle at that time, so shopping at a B&M store wasn't possible.  Not that we didn't make multiple trips to Babies 'R' Us, literally wandering around in total confusion.  Looking back, we are pleased with the items that we purchased.  They have been nice quality and held up well.

    

How could I forget, the wonderful birth classes we took at Buffalo Hospital in January.  Omigoodness.  I'm quite sure that me and the other moms-to-be had more knowledge about the birth process & pregnancy than the nurse teaching the class.  She was sweet and I believe had good intentions, but she just should not have been a teacher of a birth class (or possibly any class).  I got absolutely nothing out of the class in terms of facts or knowledge, but I was lucky enough to meet a couple of sets of other parents-to-be, Colleen and Ben (mom & dad to Jordan) and Amy and Ben (mom & dad to Chloe).  I am very grateful that I was able to meet these fine folks.  It was nice to have other moms to talk to that were going through the same things.

Oh, man...I was in the full-blown, completely pregnant and absolutely miserable phase!  My whole pregnancy had really been really wonderful up until this point, but it got to be where I couldn't sleep well at night [if I only knew...], had to pee every 15 minutes (literally), and was just totally uncomfortable.

(February 23rd)

We bought our new vehicle this month - the new baby needed a new car!  After much deliberation, we purchased a 2008 Toyota Highlander.  We really enjoy it, and when I mean, we, I mean Gordon, since I never drive it.  That is my own fault though, I prefer my little car :)  It is a really comfortable ride and gets great gas mileage, too.

In February we also finally found our daycare provider after several months of searching with near-frantic emails and phone calls.  I couldn't even find any infant openings, much less be able to "pick and choose" which one I liked the best.  We were almost ready to sign with a center in Albertville, which we liked but wasn't ideal, and it was expensive...when something (someOne?) *nudged* me to ask the receptionists at the clinic that I had my prenatal appointments at if they knew anyone in the area that did daycare and may have an infant opening.  Long story short, one of the gals had a neighbor that did daycare, and lo-and-behold, she had an opening!!  We feel so blessed that we found Cari and could not be happier.  Cody really seems to enjoy it there and he has tons of friends, i.e. kids that like to laugh at all his crazy antics.  While ideally I would like to stay home with our little one, it makes me happy to know that he is safe and well cared for and I believe ~ loved ~ when I cannot be there to take care of him.

This was a fairly exciting month!  :)

We started out the month by travelling to Woodbury to meet my cousins' new baby boy, Aden.  He was a total cutie and I got some good tips from the new mom.  Gordon and I also had lunch at The Machine Shed, where I actually ate *gravy*, which is what we think attributed to what happened on March 3rd...

Cody David Hart

Born Monday, March 3, 2008 via C-section

At 2:50 in the afternoon

Weighing in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces

Measuring 20-1/2 inches long

Here's his official birth announcement from the hospital - Birth Announcement

The quick story:  I went to the hospital Monday morning as I had gotten very ill late Sunday night with flu-like symptoms.  I was up all night and did not get one minute of sleep.  They put me on IV fluids and hooked me up to monitors where doctors noticed the baby's heart rate had some decelerations.  Although baby's heart rate did stabilize after awhile, the doctors still recommended a C-section either this or next week.  Gordon & I prayed about it and decided to proceed with the C-section that day, and on the walk to the operating room, my water broke!!  So, we really believe it was meant to be and an answer to our prayers.

My baby shower was on April 5th.  The shower was graciously hosted by my friend Careen at her home.  It was so wonderful.  The food was amazing, the games fun and the company lovely.  We got so many nice & useful gifts.  Gordon's parents were also visiting at this time, so Gordon's mom was able to attend the shower, which was special.  We are blessed to have such caring family and friends.

Cody also had his first "playdate" with Chloe G.  They had fun!

Other highlights of April included Cody's first smiles (around 6 weeks old), our first time out to eat at a restaurant since the baby (Perkins at about 8:30pm on a Friday night ~ I think there were maybe two other diners besides us!  Cody slept through the whole meal.), our first trip to Baudette, first stroller ride, first photo shoot, Cody's first garage sale (yes!!!) and Cody's first day at daycare (and I didn't even cry).

For my first Mother's Day, Gordon got some landscaping installed in the front and the sides of the house.  What a nice treat!  Eventually I would like to get into gardening/landscaping myself, but until the little one grows up a bit, I think our land will be a bit barren!

Another exciting thing in May was Cody's first boat ride on Lake Minnetonka!  He only rides in style, as you can see from the photos below!  Thanks to Careen & her family for taking us out :)

   

While we were out having fun on the boat, a storm passed through our area and resulted in some damage to our siding.  We ended up having to get quite a bit of siding done, but were fortunate enough to work with our neighbor who does construction (i.e. "Carpenter John") work and was able to do it for a great price.  Gordon handled everything in regard to this, so I was extremely grateful for his attention to detail and diligence.

June was a pretty quiet month, but we did manage to attend a birthday party, meet a cousin or two, meet Cody's other great grandma, spend some time outdoors, and have lots of smiles and laughs.

I'm really trying hard to think of things that happened that don't involve Cody, but I'm not having too much luck!  Gordon and I did celebrate our 2 Year wedding anniversary on June 17th.  Here's to many more, honey!

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In my typical fashion, I try to do everything perfect and with a bit too much gusto, so this post is getting longer than I expected.  I will cut this off for now, and work on Part 2 at a later time.  Guess who needs my attention!  :)