The Lion Roars!!

I can't possibly forget about the first and only furry baby we have!! The other day I went to grab the blanket and it felt exceptionally heavy and look who appeared...Dolly. She had crawled up into the blanket that lay on the back of the couch! She looked all cute and cozy so i snapped a few pics. She's adjusted well to having Brody in the house, she pretty much ignores him...of course someday when he's chasing her around pulling her tail that might be a different story!

Week 11

My little blue-eyed angel is getting SO big. I can't believe how fast they grow...my mom and I were reminiscing tonight about Brody when he was a newborn with his tiny body all curled up still in the fetal position, just a wee one. Now his legs are so long that they split and fall to each side of my motherly hips. Such a big boy with a cute personality! We still can't seem to identify who he really looks like, but what we do know is that he's incredibly cute and YES we are quite biased! He's really interested in sucking his fingers/fist/any part of his hand that he can manage to get in his mouth. He's still trying to figure it all out but we certainly think we'll have a thumb or finger sucker in the future.I just love this picture...he's like "ehhh, you wanna come to my crib for a bangin' party tonight around 3 am??" I chuckle at this onsie...as I could have wore a t-shirt like this in the past as it's so me...well it USED to be me but now, not so much as times have changed...I don't think I could stay up past 11pm these days. Thanks Becky for the cute outfit!

I Survived...

Well I survived my first day back to work!! Brody had a "decent" nights sleep so that really helped me on Thursday morning. Perhaps he knew I needed as much sleep as possible so I'd be mentally prepared for my first day back to work! I got up, got ready, actually put on make up and wore something other than a track suit. I was feeling good until I came downstairs and heard a big happy squeal from Brody as his Nana talked to him. You see Brody is a morning baby, just like me...I enjoy the beginning of each new day and all the beauty it has to bring and Brody is the same way. So most of our conversations and smiles happen before 7 am...so I knew this might be a challenge. As I approached Brody and started to talk to him he gave me BIG smiles...and of course in return that gave me lots of tears. It was really hard to leave him...as my mom said "wouldn't you rather have smiles than crying??"...(Umm not sure as a cry might be easier to leave!). Anyway, I talked to my good friend Nancy on the way to work...she kept my mind occupied, thanks Nanc! I arrived at work to find a box of kleenex, a red bull (minus the vodka, which i'm still waiting on) and some mints from my coworker Tony, that made me laugh! Was fun to see everyone and get back into the swing of things. Around 10am, a knock at the office door...a flower delivery for me! As I opened the card and began to read, of course the tears began to flow again...would you believe Brody sent me flowers to wish me a great day at work and to let me know that he'd be ok. Was the greatest touch to a tough day...thanks JRo for helping Brody get those to my office, you're the best!! Thanks also to the many friends that sent me emails, text messages, facebook posts and phone calls. You have NO idea how much that meant to me!! You guys are the best!!

An Inspiration, Just When It's Needed Most

Many of you know that I'm not looking forward to returning back to work on Thursday...hate the thought of leaving Brody with anyone. I know he'll be in good hands especially the next week with Nana here and of course once he goes to daycare on May 4 he'll be in good hands, I know this but its still hard to leave my little guy. Anyway, tonight I went to hope on Facebook to post my "thoughts" about my return to work...as I'm cruising around FB checking out what my friends are doing. I pass my friend Cody's remarks, in which he says..."The whole Lee family thinks that Katherine and Jay Wolf are an inspiration. Katherine, yours is miracle and you are a blessing: http://www.katherinewolf.info/". He peaked my interest so I went to the blog...talk about tears, WOW. Here I am a very healthy, able body who will GET to return to work, who will GET to pick up her son, who will GET to take him on walks and all of a sudden my sad feelings about returning to work aren't as sad, I am thankful as I am able. Katherine is an inspiration for sure, you must check out her blog. She's got one amazing, unbelieveable attitude about life and her recovery...I'm not sure I'd be the same way if faced with the same unfortunate circumstance.

Today I am thankful...

Click HERE to read her blog...and make sure to grab some Kleenex first.

A REAL Cafe...

This past week Brody and I went to meet Jason for lunch. It was fun to meet his new coworkers but the real highlight was that he took me to an old school cafe. And when i say old school...i mean it! They still had brown vinyl booths with real dark wood and these god-awful light fixtures from the 60's, they have not remodeled since they opened. They are NOT known for their decor!

If I would have walked into this place with Jason not knowing they have great food I would have probably turned around and left, it was that bad...however Jason's friend Chad took him there a couple weeks prior and Jason raved about the food...not to mention when you see several cop cars in the parking lot you can pretty much bank on some good eats! The good news is that they still offer up old school prices and HUGE portions, I mean huge! In fact i had to take a picture of the pancake because you couldn't even see the big plate under it!!! We shared a huge blueberry pancake and a huge omelet!! So yummy...! Brody was so excited he even flashed several smiles to his daddy which i tried to get on camera (from the opposite side of the booth)...it's not the best angel but you get the idea!

Can you believe the side of this pancake?!? And it was SUPER thick too! Mmmm...and then I wonder why i'm not shedding the baby weight!You can see a bit of the cafe in the back ground...

My Old College Roomie Denise Meets Brody!

My dear friend and old college roomie Denise made the trek from Omaha NE to Minneapolis this past weekend to meet Brody! She arrived Friday evening and we did it up Nebraska style with grilling up some Omaha Steak branded hot dogs and burgers (I know, where's the steak!?!). Then on Saturday we took it easy, so easy that we wore our PJ's all day long and just hung out. The beauty of old friends...you can do nothing and still have a nice time! Well there is one thing that we did on Saturday that was top secret...we went to Dairy Queen (umm yea, sorry J, we went to DQ w/out you, perhaps it was feelings of guilt!!). It was the perfect day for a cold treat as the weather was beautiful! Denise took off on Sunday...thanks again for coming to visit us!!

Week 10, Growing Like A Weed!

I still can't get over how fast Brody is going! He has such a little personality and loves morning time with mama. I get most of my smiles and all sorts of conversation around 5:30am...it just melts my heart and makes me smile! He has the prettiest of blue eyes and a little tiny rose bud mouth...he's still losing his hair but still has more than his daddy! =)

This past week the weather was pretty nice so we got out every day for walks. On the cooler day I decked him out in his Redskin's hat that Uncle Jeremy and Aunt Amy got him. Obviously, Jason's favorite team and together someday, Brody and daddy will watch a few games together!

HI HO HI HO It's Back To Work I Go...

Time for you all to buy stock in Kleenex...

I can't believe how fast the time has gone, seems like just yesterday Brody was born and now this Thursday I'll head back to work. I've been dreading it now for many weeks and this past week was the worst...can you imagine this week now?!?! The sheer thought of leaving him brings me to tears, almost on a daily basis. I know he'll be fine but its just hard to leave him...(OMG here i go eyes filling with tears) we've been hanging tough for the last 10+ weeks, day and night. He's my right hand man...always there to listen to me blabber about something, loves to hear me sing (which i'm terrible), likes to go for walks, seldom complains and now he actually smiles and babbles, just in time for my return to work. As my coworker Chris put it, this is one of the many parenting milestones you'll endure over the next 18 years. He's right and I'll cry for all of those events too.

Tomorrow Jason and I are going to Primrose to meet Brody's "teachers" and turn in his paper work. He'll start there on May 4, in the meantime Nana will look after Brody for the next week and half. Having my mom here will be a nice transition before taking him directly to daycare. I think she's going to just die when she see's him tomorrow night. He's changed a ton since she last saw him at 3 weeks old. I'm thankful that she's able to help us out during the transition...thanks Mom!

Ok, so I know there is such a thing called "power of positive thinking". Which starting now i'm going to attempt to wrap my brain around...thinking about all the great things Brody will experience at daycare.

Come Thursday please send me positive vibes/prayers/good thoughts as I know my first day back to work will be filled with lots of tears.

Happy Spring!

Finally spring has sprung in Minnesota!! It's supposed to be in the 60's all week long...finally!! Of course, as I stated several weeks ago, just in time for me to go back to work. (ugg)

Anyway, the other day I had on my bright orange track suit and Brody has on his bright green and white stripped outfit and Jason wanted to know if i had coordinated our "spring outfits". While I've been known to be a bit cheezy...it wasn't planned but certainly cute and photo worthy!

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny made a stop at the Ward house this year to drop off an Easter basket for Brody! As you can see he's thrilled with his little basket of treats...I think next year he'll be a little more excited! Grandpa Ed brought Brody his first John Deere tractor! John Deere is near and dear to our heart as MY Granddad Datus used to own the John Deere Implement in Broken Bow... and now my dad has all of my Granddad's old JD toy tractors...so its very special!! Dad also gave Brody the JD tractor he got when he was a little boy...dad estimated the tractor to be some 60+ years old (opps he probably doesn't want me to say that since you'll be able to more closely calculate his age!!). The "antique" tractor will go on the shelf and the big new tractor will be one that Brody can play with once he's big enough.

Brody's first Easter basket Grandma Ellen and Brody with his first Easter bunnyDad with Brody's new and old John Deere tractors

Grandpa Ed and Grandma Ellen Visit Minnesota

My dad and Ellen made the trip from Nebraska this past weekend. It was so good to see them and of course they really enjoyed meeting Brody! Ellen, Brody and I went to Maple Grove shopping on Saturday, the weather was beautiful so we thought it would be a perfect time to take Brody out! Sunday we went to brunch at Lord Fletcher's on Lake Minnetonka, they had quiet a spread and we all ate way too much. So happy they were able to come and see us!My dad has the prettiest blue eyes and I'm in hopes that Brody inherits those baby blues!Dad and his first Starbucks latte...just had to get a photo of that!!

Week 9

We had a great week...Brody is really growing like a weed and is socially interacting more and more. He's definitely a morning guy like his mama, I get most of my smiles first thing in the morning and he's always so happy. He's also really started to babble a lot and makes all sorts of noise, Jason claims he's a lot like me...just talks to hear himself talk! LOL!

We spent a lot of time out and about this past week...trips to Target, Sam's Club and a couple of trips to the mall, he's a good little shopper. Typically i put him in his car seat and he falls asleep which makes shopping easier. That boy knows his mama needs to shop in peace...teach them young!!!

He's fallen in love with the safari play mat...when we turn it on (plays music and lights up) he squeals like crazy. It has to be the cutest thing ever!!!

Our First Night Out...SOLO...

It was our first "date" since Brody had arrived, it felt weird not to have him there with us but we enjoyed ourselves! (thanks again Connie for being super babysitter!!) We met up with Chad and Kristy in Woodbury at Akita, an all you can eat sushi restaurant. In celebration of our first outing I had sushi and red bull/vodka (thanks to Chad) for the first time in nearly a year...they were both as wonderful as i remember them being!! We also celebrated the fact that Kristy made "partner" at her law firm...congrats again Kristy!

Connie Meets Brody!

Connie is a great family friend of the Ward's and we were thrilled that she was able to visit us from Maryland while on Spring Break! She arrived on Friday and I took both Connie and Brody to the Mall of America for the first time...something everyone should experience even if you don't like to shop! Brody loved all the bright lights and sounds of the mall. He was awake the entire afternoon taking it all in. He really enjoyed his experience as did Connie!

Saturday we all went to the bunny brunch and then on Saturday night Connie watched Brody so Jason and i could go out for dinner with the Zastrow's.

Thanks again Connie for visiting us!!

Junior League Bunny Brunch

On Saturday we went to the Junior League Bunny Brunch at the Golden Valley Country Club, it was a great event! We dressed Brody up in the cutest little Easter outfit and well that lasted all of 15 minutes upon arrival as we had yet another diaper blow out (ahh yes we just switched to size 2 diapers in hopes that would help elemenate this issue). Thank god we had an extra onsie in the diaper bag, then we wrapped him up in his blanket and called it good. Brody was thrilled to meet the Easter Bunny who was all of 5 ft tall. He also got his first stuffed bunny rabbit and Easter basket at the event! We sat with the Osendorf family...that way Brody and his best buddy Landon could visit! =)

8 Week Update...

Last week was very busy for us. On Tuesday we were invited to be the "guest family" for the birthing class at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. Jason, Brody and I went to the class and discussed in front of 13 other couples our experience with labor and delivery. It was really fun to share our story with the to-be parents. Brody was awake the whole time and did so well!

On Thursday we had our 8 week check up with Dr Skullard. Jason couldn't make it to the appointment so i went solo for the dreaded 8 week shots. He had 2 shots in each leg and one oral vaccination. I couldn't watch so I talked to Brody and tried to comfort him, the worst was shot #2, when his face turned bright red and for a moment nothing came out and then the biggest scream/cry I have ever heard from him. At that point my eyes welled with tears...but i gathered myself and was able to comfort him. I fed him after the shots while still at the doc office, he fell asleep in the car seat and slept the rest of the afternoon and thank god he didn't have any negative reactions to the shots! He's also growing like a weed hitting both the 75th percentile for both weight (12.3oz) and height (23.5in). The pediatrician feels that Brody is developing nicely. We head back again at 4 months.

Minnesota Spring

Are you kidding me...it's April 1st (Happy Birthday Dad!) and we have a snow storm?? Where in the HELL is spring?? I know, I know...friends and family reading from a far are saying..."that's what you get for living in MN"...ahh yes this is true, why do we live here again Jason??

Here shortly i'll head to Jeremy and Amy's blog in San Diego and see sunny photos of their boys on the beach playing in the surf and walking in the lagoon while Brody and I are still hibernating and when we do leave he looks like the Ralphie in his snow suit from the movie "A Christmas Story"!!

WE WANT SPRING!!! WE WANT SPRING!!

I know on April 23 when i go back to work it's going to be 70 and sunny!!!!