First Christmas

What a wonderful first Christmas Shae had! We were a little nervous that some of it would have to be postponed because of the big winter storm rolling through, but we were able to make it to visit all family as planned.

Christmas Eve was spent at the farm with Grandma Lori and Grandpa Bob and family. Christmas Day started out at home with Mommy and Daddy, opening gifts and playing with the new toys that Santa brought. We then headed down to Grandma Kathy's and Grandpa Mike's for brunch. We stopped home again for a little nap, and then it was off to Great Nana's for Christmas dinner. It was a busy day! We were a little worried that Shae might get cranky by the end of it, but he was all smiles pretty much the whole way through. Then, the day after Christmas was spent at Grandpa Gary's and Grandma Mary's for some more celebrating. The fun was just never ending.

Although it makes for some hectic holidyas, Shae sure is lucky to have been born into such a large family with so many people to love him.

Also, we were just overwhelmed with all of the gifts Shae received and we couldn't resist capturing a moment with him and all of his first Christmas loot.

Not so sure about the sled at first.

Doesn't that pouty face just make you melt?

But a second later, his big ol' grin was back.

Daddy Speaks Out

Well, another year has passed. Of course most of you think I’m talking about 2009 coming to a close. I’m not. Selfishly, I’m talking about me here. You see, today’s my birthday. I turn 33 today (insert old joke here). And so I thought: what better time than now to break my blog silence…when I'm reflecting on how blessed I am in life.

It’s interesting to look back and think about how much life changes over such a short period of time—and I’ve only lived a small portion of it. In my early twenties it was all about the party and living beyond my means. In my mid-twenties it was all about playing golf and baseball and spending an obscene amount of time at Benchwarmer Bob’s. In my late twenties and early thirties it was all about making more money—having financial security.

Okay, so that wasn’t what it was all about— I did graduate from college and get a good job and buy a townhome and adopt the world’s craziest dog; I did marry my soulmate and become closer to my parents and family than I’ve ever been. But they were some powerful underlying motivators, that can’t be debated.

But you know what?

Partying and living beyond my means is nothing compared to looking across the room and seeing Shae smile wide at me, exposing his two front teeth. Playing golf and baseball and spending an obscene amount of time at Benchwarmer Bob’s pales in comparison to reading a book to Shae and having him look up into my eyes in expectation of what I’m going to say next. Making more money seems insignificant when we’re all lying on the living room floor laughing and playing—mommy, daddy, Rocky and Shae.

Shae is my little man, my bud, my flying baby, my squiggly-wiggly squirmy-wormy skinny-minny poopy-bear. He’s what makes my world turn. And I couldn’t be happier to turn 33, especially when it means birthday hugs and kisses from my son.

Santa!

Shae's first Santa visit was a huge success! We went to the Bachmans on Lyndale where they have a fantastic Santa. He and his elf even do a fun little show before photo time. We purposefully showed up towards the end of the show, not knowing how long Shae would last before wanting to get the heck outa there. We caught the last couple of songs and then waited in line for the big moment. Shae was an angel through the whole thing.

Getting ready to go
Okay, Mom, let's go already! I can hardly contain my excitement!
Santa and the "big kids" singing Jingle Bells
Oh my gosh...It's really him...
What's up Santa?

Okay, now when will I see these TOYS which Santa speaks of?

Rise and Shine!

I just have to share with everyone what a great "waker" Shae is these days. Whether he's waking up at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning or waking up from his third nap of the day, he does so in such a delightful manner. I first know that he's waking up when I hear him babbling away quietly to himself. Each "word" goes up in pitch at the end, making it sound as if he's asking himself a question. "Maaa?" "Baaa?" "Ooou?" His quiet babbling soon turns to shrieks of delight. I can't get in there fast enough at this point, as I know that the biggest smiles and silliest faces will be there to greet me. Here are some of the fun faces I see within 20 seconds of peering into that crib:


What? Doesn't everybody wake up this happy?

The Sounds of Teething

The first tooth is in! Shae's bottom left tooth made an appearance yesterday and now we're just waiting for his neighbor to the right to break through. It's been an interesting week with this new stage. Poor little guy has just not been himself as he's been dealing with the pains of teething. We've been doing our best to help him through it with a number of different remedies: Baby Orajel, frozen teething rings, homeopathic teething tablets, Mommy's finger, Infant Tylenol, Daddy's finger; all of which seem to be somewhat helpful, at least temporarily.
.
Shae has been making some new sounds to help him cope with this new sensation. He gets a very serious look on his face and makes a deep "oooo oooo oooo" sound, often followed by a scream. I did my best to get it on video, but again, once he sees that camera he holds back a bit. Sometimes when he makes these sounds he seems perfectly content and you wouldn't even think he was uncomfortable, but here you can see his discomfort. It's cute and sad at the same time...

So Much to Be Thankful For

This date last year will forever be etched in my memory. November 26, 2008 was the day before Thanksgiving and the day that Joe and I discovered that we would be parents!

.

It had been a hectic and stressful day at work. Joe and I got home, put on our "comfy" clothes and collapsed on the couch with a beer to just relax and talk about our days. We had the pregnancy test, but thought that it could be too early to take it and honestly didn't think that it would be positive anyway (hence the beer in my hand). But as I told Joe about my stressful day, he said, "Just go take the pregnancy test. You'll feel better." I was hoping to be pregnant, but really didn't think that I was, so I wanted to point out that a negative pregnancy test would not make me feel better at all. But instead I went ahead and took it, and couldn't believe the results! I didn't finish my beer.

.

The rest of the evening was filled with energy and excitement. We had a lot to look forward to! Here's a picture we took of ourselves just minutes after the test. Look at how young and well rested we look. ;)

I had more to be thankful for that Thanksgiving than ever before. I couldn't stop thinking about how grateful I was to be carrying that tiny little embryo and how excited I was to become a mommy and to make Joe a daddy. I couldn't have even imagined at that point how thankful I could be this Thanksgiving, just one year later. For my wonderful family, amazing friends, and the world's best husband of course. But most of all, this year, for this:

.

Dining Room Photo Shoot

Who needs a fancy studio? Shae and I had a little impromptu photo shoot in the dining room the other day. Just a wall, an ottoman, and a little natural light (oh, and an adorable baby), and voila!

I love this baby.

Rollin'

For a few weeks now Shae has been rolling onto his back from time to time when placed on his tummy. This is the easier direction for babies to roll and the one that they usually master first. We weren't expecting him to roll from back to tummy, however, for at least another month. But our little superstar had other plans.

Yes, his arm does get in the way, but I still consider this to be a pretty big milestone. We're so proud of our big boy, but are still in awe at how fast he's growing and changing!

Little Prankster

Joe put Shae to bed last night at 7 pm, laying him in his crib with his head facing the west. I know for a fact that he did because we have a video monitor and I even went into his room before Joe and I went to bed to say one last good night to my sleeping baby, and there was his head right where I expected it to be, facing the west. When I went into his room this morning at 7 am (Yes, our baby sleeps up to 12 hours straight. And no, we don't let him cry in the middle of the night. Let the death threats begin.) he was laying perfectly with his head facing towards the east! What the....?!

Of course at 3 1/2 months Shae is not usually very mobile, but he does do this thing where he puts both of his legs straight up in the air and then flops them down a little off to the side, causing his body to move slightly. In fact, I have found him in his crib laying sideways because he's moved so much throughout the night. But he's never even gotten close to doing a 180! And the thing that really blew my mind was that he was laying perfectly centered in his crib with his sleep sack unbunched, as if someone had just layed him there like that.

What a crazy little baby!

(Oh and don't worry, we had already taken his crib bumpers off when he first started moving around so that we wouldn't have to worry about the risk of suffocation with them.)

1st Halloween

I meant to post this sooner but our pc caught a virus and my laptop went out on me all at the same time! Replaced the laptop and fixed the pc and now we're all good. Whew!

.

Shae had a fun-filled first Halloween! He dressed up as a little monkey and we drove around to visit all of his grandparents. The costume only lasted long enough at each stop to get a few pictures and then it was time to come off! Poor little guy must have been wondering what the heck we were doing to him. I tried explaining Halloween to him but he thought it seemed like a pretty bizarre little holiday.

Grandpa making funny monkey sounds with Shae

Grandma Mary

Grandma Lori

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Kathy

3 Months Old!

Wow! What a difference 3 months makes. Shae is not the same baby we brought home from the hospital just a mere 12 weeks ago. His biggest recent accomplishment: sleeping through the night. I mean really sleeping through the night. Up to 12 hours straight! And he wakes up so peacefully, just smiling and talking. What a treat for all of us. :)

.

I also can't get over how much he has physically changed since birth. He hardly even looks like the same baby! He's getting so big and strong, his hair is thinning out and lightening, and his eyes have gone from a really dark blue to a beautiful baby blue like Daddy's.

.

Just compare this picture from the day he came home to the more recent pictures below.

Then

Now

Shae also celebrated his baptism recently. He did a great job and enjoyed spending the day celebrating with Grandmas and Grandpas and Aunties and Uncles. My pictures in the church didn't turn out very well, but here are some of the big day!

Special baby ring from Grandma And my favorite little feet ever

Giggly Baby

I realize that not everybody wants to see videos of Shae talking on a daily basis. To some, one talking baby is just as cute as any other and they don't necessarily need to see it over and over again. However, for those of you that are as smitten with this little guy as his daddy and I are (grandparents), you'll love this one. In this one, you'll notice something new... laughing!

Once again I had to be sneaky with the camera so that Shae wouldn't notice it and get shy. I wish I could've had it right on his face so that you could see just how amazingly adorable he was.

I apologize to those of you that get annoyed with those parents that think that their kids are the cutest and most amazing ones to ever live and are always rubbing it in your face, but this is my blog and that's what I intend to use it for. Am I saying that Shae is cuter and sweeter than any other baby in the history of mankind?...Yes. Yes I am.

Chit Chat

Shae has been chatting with us quite a bit these days. I've been trying to get it on camera, but every time I bring out the video camera Shae just stares at it and gets really quiet. So today I just propped it up behind me on the couch and pretended it wasn't even there. Shae didn't seem to notice it, and we were able to carry on a little conversation.

Be sure to turn up your volume to hear Shae's little surprise ending. :)

2 Month Check Up

Shae had his two month check-up on Monday and it was fun to see exactly how much he's grown. He weighed in at exactly 12 lbs, measured 23 inches long, and has a head circumference of 15 3/4 inches. All three of these stats fall at exactly the 50th percentile which makes Shae as average as they come! (Or as perfect as they come, as I like to say.)

They also performed an EKG at his appointment to make sure his heart is healthy. Just a precaution because of some family heart issues. This was not an easy task on a wiggly little baby, and right after finishing up, as he was beginning to get aggitated, they finished up the appointment with his four immunization shots. This was the part that I was really dreading. Shae did better than I was anticipating, but it was so sad for me (and Joe) to watch. Shae was looking me right in the eyes during the injections and just seeing his big blue eyes fill with fear and then tears made mommy cry as well. :( But we got through it.

In other Shae news, he continues to smile like crazy and is talking and cooing more than ever. He is a very happy baby most days and we're having so much fun with him.

.

Here are a few pictures from this past week:

Shae found his reflection in Grandma Kathy's glasses. Doesn't he look so old with his chin propped up on his cute little hands like that? And by old I mean like 4 months :-)

Getting cold outside. Time to get out the hats.

Watching the game with Daddy

Black and Whites

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Okay, so I haven't been finding much time to update the blog, but I thought I'd at least share some recent pictures since that's what everyone really wants to see anyway. As you can see, Shae is getting bigger and more social every day. Joe and I are loving being his mommy and daddy! :-)

Look everyone! I have a tongue!
Bad Ass Baby
Huge smiles!

My friends at Mom and Baby Group

Snuggling with my friend Evan

Dude, you have a tongue too?!