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!

---

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!  :)  

My Christmas Gift

I have to brag a little, but this was one of the best Christmas gifts I received.  My hubby spoiled me with this new Canon PowerShot SX110 IS digital camera.  I'm just figuring out all its bells & whistles, but so far, I LOVE IT!!  

I had a Canon PowerShot A520 before, which was a good little camera, but I never had spectacular photos with it.  This new one is quite an upgrade!!  I'm excited to use it.

I'm sure I can think of a certain subject to practice on!  :)