And I'm Back

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted anything and I do apologize. The truth is that I had to turn in my work laptop right around the time of the last post. Our PC is downstairs on Tom's desk and is really just not as convenient. I promise I will try to be better though since Evan is changing so much especially lately.

I will also apologize in advance that I am not able to post any pictures. All of the pictures are also on the other PC and we are having some work done to it this week. As soon as I get it back and working properly I will post a bunch of pictures from the last few months.

We had a great Christmas at home in St. Louis. We stayed with Tom's parents and Evan did great. He was more into the wrapping paper and tissue than the presents but he got some pretty cool new toys. We were back in MN for the New Year and we had a pretty melo night. Tom grilled steak and I made lobster tails for the first time. I have to say it was pretty easy too. We pulled out our china and toasting flutes from our wedding and ate and drank champange in our sweats. Things have definitely changed in the past year. But we wouldn't change it for the world.

Evan is now 5 and 1/2 months old. I just finished up making some baby food for him today. He is eating rice cereal about twice a day and will probably start baby foods in a few weeks. He hit a milestone the other day and rolled over for the first time. Tom and I were both there to see it and even high fived afterwards. He goes from his back to stomach but is not quite sure how to get back over. I am sure that is soon to come. He loves his exersaucer and also being in his johnny jumper. Our neighbor also gave up a contraption that is like an exersacuer and johnny jumper crossover and he absolutely loves it. We have found that his favorite thing to watch by far is basketball. Tom and I are both playing in a city leauge and he loves to come to the games and he just watches everyone run back and forth.

I will work on getting some pictues posted soon for you all. We have some good ones from Christmas that we would love to share.

Fall

We are enjoying the Fall so far even though the weather feels more like Summer. Last week I think there was at least 3 days where we set a record for the high each of those days it was in the mid to high 80's.

I met Tom out at one of his dealers farms on Friday so Evan could see Dad at work. We had some time before they started harvesting so we took some pictures with the combine.

My friend Jen came to visit from Kentucky last weekend too. She has 10 month old twins so it was a little get away for her. We had a great time catching up and had lots of mom talk. I took her to the Mall of America and to Ikea for her first time. She loved it! We even went to a Sunday afternoon chic flick. I was glad she got to meet Evan and it was so much fun to have her here in MN! I miss her already.

Sunday we took Evan to the pumpkin patch to pick out his very own pumpkin. As you can see there were a lot to choose from. I love his expression in these pictures. I think he is trying to tell me that he has had enough pictures for a while.

We are heading home to St. Louis this coming weekend for Evan's Baptism. It will be a great weekend spent with both of our families. We are all looking forward to it. Til next time........

Chunky Monkey

Evan is already 2 months old and as you can see in his picture he has grown quite a bit. He had his 2 month check up this past Friday and he is 14.5 lbs (94%) and 23.5in (64%). His pediatrician told us that he is very social as well ( I am not quite sure where he gets that from). As she examined him he had a little conversation with her, cooing and babbling at her as she talked to him. She said that having a "conversation" like that is usually something a 3-4month old does. He is so advanced:). He also got 3 shots which he did very well with. He cried just for a minute and then stopped as soon as we picked him up. I think it was worse on us than him.

He has started to smile at us too. It is so much fun to get him going and see all the great faces that he makes. His best time is definitely in the mornings. He looks around and talks to us and smiles lots. I love all his little noises.

I have also started putting him on his activity mat. He usually lasts about 10 minutes and then is ready for something else. I am hoping that as he gets older he will like it more and more.

Elway continues to be great with him. He usually sniffs him and then Evan gets a lick either on his head or hands. Tom can't wait until they can all go out hunting together. All of the nights that Tom gets Evan ready for bed I can guarantee that he will have his camo sleeper on.

This is our other new toy, the bumbo seat. He still has a little bit of a bobble head so it only works with us helping him out a little. Soon enough though he will be able to use it more. He also had his first experience in the nursery last week. I have joined MOPS which is a moms group that meet at our church. You have the option to take any infants to the meeting with you but I thought he would do just fine in the nursery, which he did. He is the youngest one out of all the kids so he got held the entire time he was in there. It was great to meet with some other moms as well.

We are in full Fall mode here in MN as well. The trees are all changing and the weather has cooled off quite a bit. We went to the apple orchard over the weekend and had a great family outing. Evan slept most of the time in the carrier but it was nice to be outside with him. We came home and had a chili dinner and I also made a homemade apple pie. I think Tom was pretty impressed too:)

Trip to St. Louis and More

Snoozing with Papa
Meeting Great Grandma StabenowCousin Daniel Like Father like Son

Evan is almost 8 weeks old. Hard to believe that I've been a mom for 2 months already. We are doing great. He continues to grow and become more active each day.

We had a great trip to St. Louis over Labor Day weekend. I was able to fly home on Tuesday with Evan and then Tom drove in on Thursday. We had a wonderful time seeing lots of family and friends and introducing Evan to everyone. Evan did great and adjusted just fine to being held constantly. We had lots of family/friend get togethers, attended my dad's retirement party, went to the famous St. Paul picnic and even had a night to ourselves to go to a Cardinal game(Evan stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Wehmeier).

Since we have been back I feel like I am figuring things out a little bit more. I am now able to take care of Evan, do some laundry and maybe even have dinner ready at a reasonable time. This is a big change from a few weeks ago when I thought we would be eating frozen food or take out for the rest of our lives. I have had a few outings with my neighbor to some parks around town and I am looking forward to starting MOPS this week at our church.

While in St. Louis we also became proud owners of a boat. This has been something that Tom has wanted for a long time and an opportunity came up on one that was hard to pass up. It was actually in St. Louis so we picked it up while we were home. It is a fish and ski so Tom will be able to fish out of it and it will also be a great family boat for us. He took it out this past weekend to fish and I am hoping that if the weather is nice this weekend Evan and I can go check it out. I will have to post some pictures later.

I think that is all for now. We are enjoying the MN fall weather and looking forward to our next trip home in October.

One Month

On the course
A Loon, which is the MN state bird.
Family Picture, Evan even looked

So Evan is now one month. Time really does fly. He is doing great, eating like a champ and definitely growing. The nights are getting better. He is only getting up twice and is going back to sleep right away which helps.

Tom had a conference for his work last week and wives were invited to attend. Since Evan was so little they told us we could bring him along as well, so we did. It was at a resort in Northern Minnesota where most of the 10,000 lakes are. It was beautiful and I am so glad we made the trip. The high temp one day was 65!! A little different than St. Louis in August. Evan did great and was the hit of the meetings, he got spoiled being held so much. We even had our first non-family babysitter so that I was able to have a break and go on a boat ride. Evan also had his first experience on the golf course, he slept through 7 holes so mom even got to play! He has become a great car rider too, he slept the entire time(5hrs) both ways. We are hoping this gets him ready for the trips to St. Louis.

We are basically unpacking to repack. Evan and I will be flying into St. Louis on Tuesday and then Tom will drive in and join us on Thursday. We are so excited to make the trip in so he can meet everyone. We have a few things planned but are planning on blocking out Saturday afternoon so that people can stop by to see him at my parents house. Tom's parents are also having an open house on Monday afternoon. Please feel free to stop by either one to meet Evan.

Pictures

On our own

We are officially on our own now. The first week Tom was home and then last week my mom was here with us. Having my mom here was sooo wonderful, I don't think I will ever have my laundry as caught up as she had it. We had a great time just spending time with Evan and getting things back to normal at the house. We had a few outings to Target and the Grocery store, went to a event in downtown Rochester one afternoon and even had our own mini photo shoot with Evan. I am so lucky to have such a loving and caring mom who would spend a week with us. We both miss her already!!

The rest of the family came up on Friday. My dad, Matt/Liz and the kids and Bridget all made the trip up here to meet Evan. We had a great time and even went to the Mall of America on Saturday. It was nice to all be together(we missed Uncle Kyle though). Evan was excited to meet his new cousins Daniel and Ava and I think Elway was even more excited to have some attention from them.

Tom's mom and sister Molly will be coming up in two weeks for a few days and then we will be heading home for an extended Labor Day weekend so that Evan can meet the rest of the family and our friends.

He has become more alert during the day time hours and is still getting up about every 2 hours in the night time. We usually have one 3-4 hour stretch early in the morning which I take full advantage of! We are planning on having a playdate this week with a friend that has a 7 week old, not sure how much playing they will do but its an excuse for the mom's to get together.

I think that is it for now. I will post some pictures very soon from our photo shoots last week.