A busy weekend...

We had a very busy weekend! On Friday night Kevin and I had an "at home date night" and watched Angels and Demons and ate heath bar icecream (my new favorite). On Saturday morning we decided to venture out to Perkins for some french toast. Leo did great sitting in the highchair. He ate a banana and some mum-mums. Saturday night my sister came over to hang out while Kevin and I went to Wildfire for dinner. The food was AMAZING as usual. On Sunday morning we took Leo swimming at the CCC. The sign up for swimming lessons is tomorrow and we wanted to make sure he still liked the water before we write the check...He was a little nervous at first (hence the pacifier which we usually only like him to have in the crib or the carseat and the teething ring). He held on to that teething ring so tight I thought his knuckles were going to turn blue! Then on Sunday afternoon I co-hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law Jenny who is due on April 5th. We had a great time munching on desserts, playing fun games and opening gifts. Kevin brought Leo at the end of the shower so his extended family could see him. I thought he looked so handsome in the darling sweater vest my friend Lindsay made for him!!! So excited for baby girl Rasmusson to arrive! What a great weekend!

Sink Bath!

Leo and I spent Monday night at my parents house. We were planning on spending the afternoon shopping with my mom and Molly and then have dinner with everyone. Kevin had a 6:00 surgery case and wasn't going to be home until late. Since Leo goes to bed at 6:45pm, I put him down at my parents house after dinner and then Molly and I watched the Bachelor (yes, I am a big fan). My Dad even watched a little too (Mom was at Bunco). Leo had a hard time falling asleep on his own in a new environment but eventually fell asleep. The next morning we had school which is about a mile away from my parents house so it worked perfectly! I think this was the first class where we actually arrived on time! Leo needed a bath before school so we put him in the sink.

When we started "school" all of the babies were only 8 weeks old and most of them slept through the entire class. Now they are all close to 8 months old and are very active the whole time! They love to look at each other, play with toys, sing songs and even eat snack. How cute do they look sitting at the table during snack time??? We love our baby class!

All before 7:30 am...

This morning I vacuumed the house, did two loads of laundry, emptied the dishwasher, fed Leo, gave Leo a bath, ate breakfast, checked my e-mail, played with toys and made the bed all before 7:30am. It's amazing how productive you can be when your baby wakes up at 5:15am!!!

Little Hands Hard at Play...

I love watching Leo play with his toys. He is such a thinker and observer. He doesn't miss a beat. He notices every little sound, color, and texture. It is so fun to sit back and see him explore his surroundings. I often wonder what is going on in that little brain of his!

Fuzzy Wuzzy Hair-Do

Leo's hair is fuzzy and fluffy. I love the way it stands straight up. It is getting long on top and it is starting to form into a mo-hawk. I especially like the way it looks after he gets out of the bath. Sometimes it looks blond, sometimes it looks dark and sometimes it looks strawberry blond. I love his fuzzy wuzzy hair-do!

Table for Two...

This is our first Valentines Day with a baby, our first Valentines Day where we haven't gone out to a fancy dinner or spent a weekend away. So we decided to make the most of it and have a fancy dinner at home. We got out the red dishes and lit a candle. Kevin brought home roses and a bottle of wine we tasted on our honeymoon. We put Leo to bed and enjoyed a delicious meal, adult conversation and heath bar ice cream for dessert. It was wonderful date night at home.

We gave Leo a helicopter toy for V-Day. Needless to say he loved the flashing lights and music. What a great day!

All about Leo...

Here are a few small things that I adore about my sweet little guy...

*he loves to grab my face and give me "kisses" on my cheeks and chin

*he is very interested in his toys and loves things with bright colors and fun noises

*when he gets excited, he kicks his legs and moves his arms like crazy (he especially likes to do this in the bath tub!)

*sometimes I will catch him just starring at his hands like he has never seen them before

*while he is eating, he likes to put his fingers in my mouth and touch my face

*he is very ticklish under his arms and under his chin

*he loves to smile and giggle

*he loves to bounce and jump up and down

*he makes all kind of noises and talks up a storm. his new sound is a high pitched squeal

*his happiest time of the day is when he wakes up from a nap or when he has just finished eating or when Daddy comes home

*he is very aware of his surroundings and is interested in every little noise around him

*when he is tired he likes to cuddle with his nuk and listen to books

*he is very good at making his mama smile!

Be Mine

My cousin Ashlee sent Leo this onesie for Valentines Day. It pretty sums things up...Leo loves his Mommy and his Mommy loves him.

For those of you who want to know, crying it out is getting a little easier each night. The first night he cried for an hour and 40 minutes, the next night 50 minutes and last night 25 minutes. Hopefully he will stop crying soon tonight! After he has fallen asleep, he has slept through the night and woken between 6 and 7am without waking at all during the night. WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS! I am looking forward to the day where there will be no crying at bedtime.

One year ago today we found out we were having a boy! It was such an exciting day. Although I knew he would be special, I never imagined a baby like Leo. We are so blessed.

Today is by brother Andy's 30th birthday. Happy Birthday Old Man!!!

My cousin Caite and her husband Jamie had a little boy today and named him Soren Marcus. They have an almost 2 year old little girl named Turi. Congrats Garvey family!!!

While we are here suffering in the freezing cold in Minnesota, my parents are relaxing on the beach in Mexico. They called today to tell me about their whale watching excursion. I reminded them that they will be here in snowville soon enough...

Crying it out...

Well we decided it was finally time to let Leo cry it out and fall asleep on his own. For the past 7 months we have bounced and rocked him for 5-40 minutes to get him to fall asleep. I have had to do the bounce/rock routine for every nap and bedtime since he was born. He is now 19 pounds. My back hurts. I am tired. He needs to learn how to put himself to sleep. We didn't have a lot going on this weekend so we decided it was a good time to "teach" Leo how to sleep. After an hour and 40 minutes of crying last night, he finally fell asleep on his own. We went in every 10-15 minutes to re-assure him we were still around. IT WAS AWFUL! He usually is not the type of kid who cries unless something is wrong so to listen to him scream for that long was horrible. But it did feel great when the crying stopped and he fell asleep. He slept through the night and got up at 6:15 this morning! Today we tried to get him to fall asleep on his own for naps but it didn't go as well. This morning he fell asleep with a little help after 45 minutes and this afternoon I had to rock him after an hour of screaming. He got so worked up and overtired that he couldn't do it on his own. Tonight he was so tired that he fell asleep eating so we will see what happens when he wakes up! Hopefully he will sleep through the night again. I am not sure what we are going to do for naps tomorrow. We might wait until the night routine is established and then try to conquer the naps. I think this is the hardest thing we have had to do since he was born. I feel like such a bad mom knowing that if I go in there and hold him he will stop crying. I know it is important for him to learn to sleep on his own but it's hard to get there!!! I wish I had started this with him when he was 7 weeks old and not 7 months old. Things will be different witbh baby number 2! (No, I am not making any announcements!) Wish us luck! We would love to hear if you have any advice!!!

7 months Old!

Leo is 7 months old today! Now that he is such a big boy, he is growing out of some of his jammies so I had to get him some new ones. I think he looks pretty cute in these striped ones! You may notice that he is doing his new trick in some of the pictures...sticking out his tongue!

Odds and Ends...

*Last week we celebrated our friend Claire Meyer's 1st birthday. Leo had a great time at her party! He loves looking at and reaching for other kids.

*Leo and I both got bad colds last week and are still recovering. He is pretty congested, which means he has been up multiple times each night :) I have found how hard it is to be a mom when you and your baby are sick. Not fun!

*Last Monday, Leo and I spent the day at my parents house. My mom offered to watch him so I could catch up on some much needed rest. He had fun playing with my mom, Auntie Molly and Uncle Mike.

*On January 25th my great aunt Carol sadly passed away. She was my Grandma Nelson's sister. Many of my extended family members came in town for her funeral. Although it was a sad reason to gather, it was nice to spend time with out of town family.

*Leo has some new "tricks" and has started reaching for people, sticking out his tongue and playing copy-cat games. He continues to get better at sitting up on his own and still hates being on his stomach.

*We had Kevin's family over for Chili on Thursday night. Jenny is in her third trimester and her April due date is rapidly approaching!

*My cousin Ashlee had her baby on January 20th- a beautiful little girl named Samantha. She was born with strawberry blond hair like her Mama!

*Leo conitnues to love going to school and playing in the ball pit with his friends. It is so fun to watch all of the kids grow up together. When we started class, most of the babies were only 8 weeks old. Now they are sitting up, eating real food and some are even crawling!

I think that is all of our news for now...Have a great week!