Week 16

I can't believe how fast Brody is growing...this Friday we have his 4 month check up and I'm dying to see what the pediatrician has to say about his growth and development! He's now eating 6 oz every 3 hours (except at night) and I'd imagine the pediatrician will recommend we start trying cereal! Cereal?!? I can't believe it, seems like yesterday he just arrived, boy how time flies! He loves to be read to and also enjoys all his fun colorful toys. One thing we have noticed is that when the TV is on his eyes are glued to it...even when you are trying to give him a bottle he turns his head to see the TV. He likes sports most of all...LOL...the other morning I came downstairs and I heard Jason saying, "yea Brody that's Lebron James...", he'll know all the great athletes by the time he can talk if Daddy has any say!

A Nature Walk...

Beggars can't be choosers and when Brody goes to bed at 7:30pm and sleeps until 4:30-5am at 3 1/2 months we can't complain. So I've decided to embrace the 4:30am wake up call from our little guy...so the last couple of weekends after the 4:30-5am bottle (of course Brody would rather stay up than go back to bed), we go for a walk. It's actually quiet peaceful at that hour, a nice chill in the air and you can hear the birds chirping. The other morning I happened to take my camera with me to snap a couple of photos, these were actually taken around 6am. It was our nature walk...the lake was so pretty and calm that you could see the trees reflection in the water.

The next morning Jason, Brody and I set out for a early morning walk (forgot my camera), we ended up walking for 2 hours (5 miles-ish), much further than we had planned. There is a great trail by our house that is very scenic. Brody was great and slept most of the trip and when he was awake he just enjoyed the scenery.

Steinemann's Pay A Visit

Last weekend Erin, Todd, Hannah and Baby Boy S "to be" came over for dinner and to see Brody. It was great to finally catch up with them. Hannah was loving Dolly and kept us all entertained, she's such a cute little girl and so well mannered. She's going to be a big sister in September, as she'll have a new little baby brother to look after. Like most little girls she wanted a baby sister but unfortunately Todd and Erin couldn't plan that! Will be fun for Brody to have yet another little boy to play with around his same age!

Hannah and DollyBrody, Erin and Hannah (sorry we left Todd out!)

Week 15

Brody is all smiles these days and it's so much fun to see his cute little personality come out! He's a definite morning baby and just loves it when you get him out of his crib at 4:30AM (typical wake up time these days). Which is always tough on Jason and I but when he smiles because he's excited to see us in the morning, we can't help but smile back!

He smiles a lot however if you are home alone and trying to get snap shots of him smiling, it's a lot tougher than a person would think. I even do a "smile for the camera Brody"...LOL, umm clearly he's not aware that what I say goes just yet as he doesn't smile until AFTER i put the camera down!

Brunch with the Wahl's and Smith's

A couple of weeks ago we met up with Anna Lee, Justin, Rachel, Brad, Brody and Leyton at Santorini's in Eden Prairie. Oh boy do they have quiet the spread for brunch! We managed to eat ourselves sick...I think I ate 3 plates...you know working towards losing some weight and 3 plates always does the trick!! I found these pastries that were to die for...how is it possible to have control at a buffet?!?!?!

Brody and his buddy Leyton.The Ward'sAnna Lee, Leyton, Justin and BradRachel, Big Brody, Little Brody and Me.Brody and I.

My most favorite picture of all. Brody shows me how he can eat a graham cracker with his toes!! TOO FUNNY! Gotta love boys!

Our Supper Club Keeps Growing!

So Brody was the first addition to Junior League Supper Club, in August Amanda and Jeffrey's Baby Kate will be #2 and then last night Mary Kathryn and Brian announced that in November a third addition to our ever growing supper club...Baby Malaney! We are super excited and thrilled for them, congrats MK and Brian!

Amanda brought ice cream and pickles, the stereotypical food for the pregnant lady!
Both MK and Amanda are expecting!
Brody hanging with the ladies.

BIG Boy Update...Week 14.

Today Brody is 14 weeks...where has the time gone!? I quickly realized after visiting my neighbor Camie's newborn that Brody is not that tiny, fragile baby anymore...he really is a big boy!

This week posed a few challenges at the Ward household as Sunday Brody came down with a cold after only 1 week at daycare; lots of coughs, sneezes, watery eyes and boogers galore. Poor little guy couldn't sleep laying down as he couldn't breathe so he spent the next 3 nights sleeping more upright in his bouncy next to our bed. I finally had to pull out the trusty bulb syringe we got at the hospital. Funny how that prior to having a baby, I was always so grossed out to see moms wiping their baby's nose with bare hands and picking boogers...now, well I'm "one of them", not so gross when its your own baby! Ahhh Motherhood! He seems to be feeling better but still continues to sneeze, I though perhaps that he had allergies but the pediatrician said that he's too young for allergies that it has to be a cold. I know this is the first of many colds our little guy will get but it's still his first so I had to write about it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Well my first Mother's Day was a little disappointing as Brody came down with a cold over the weekend. Our family had planned to meet the Osendorf family at Restaurant Max for brunch but given Brody wasn't feeling so well we didn't feel that we should drag him out. Jason insisted that I still go and enjoy a nice brunch on my special day and he'd stay home with Brody. After much contemplation I decided it would be good to get out of the house so I met up with the Os family and boy am I glad I did! The Max had an unbelievable spread with all sorts of yummy eats...I think the majority of my meal was fattening sweet treats but I enjoyed every bit!

Prior to leaving for brunch, Jason brought out a special little box (you know the smaller boxes that all woman love!!)...my first Mother's Day gift. I squealed with excitement as I untied the ribbon to see that the box said "David Yurman"...inside was a beautiful bracelet with amethyst stones (Brody's birthstone) on each side. I was thrilled with the gift, it's beautiful and I will always cherish my first gift. As I told Jason, he set the bar REAL high for Mother's Day!!

Week 13 Update

This was Brody's first week of daycare and he certainly handled it a lot better than I did! I ended up dropping him off on the first day as I was working from home...BIG mistake. I think I said good bye to him 10 times before I actually left. Then I called there at noon to check on him and they said, "he's doing OK however he hasn't slept much"..OK AND HE HASN'T SLEPT MUCH??? That is not what I wanted to hear so the rest of the afternoon I was dying to go get him! I made myself wait until 4pm as I knew that both he and I needed to adjust to the new schedule. When I picked him up he was all smiles which made things a lot easier on me. Each day got a bit easier as Jason did the drop off and I did the pick up. The schedule seems to be working for us as I go to work early so I can leave at 4pm and Jason drops him off around 8:30 in hopes of limiting as much time at daycare as possible!

The best news that came out of week 1 at daycare...BRODY NOW SLEEPS THROUGH THE NIGHT! I of course still have to get up to pump but its much easier on both Jason and I and we are loving our little guys new sleep schedule!

Mike and Tara Pay A Visit...

Mike and Tara stopped by to see Brody, they hadn't seen him since he was just a wee one at 4 days old! Obviously Brody has changed a ton since they had seen him last!

Brody rrreallllllyy likes Tara...he couldn't stop placing his hand in her shirt and when he wasn't doing that he was all smiles for her!

Uncle Mike is a natural with Brody...we need to have him and Tara babysit some time!

Brody Meets Baby Wyatt

Congratulations to Camie and Matt on the arrival of Baby Wyatt!

Last week Brody and I stopped by to meet our newest neighbor, Wyatt! You forget how small newborns are, he's such a little guy in comparison to Brody! Camie and I were hoping for a good photo of the boys together, both awake but Brody zonked out (he likes his sleep like his mama does!) before we could get the picture taken! So nice to have a neighbor boy around the same age as Brody, I'm certain they will have a lot of fun together in the future!

A Message From Brody!

Today Jason and I received a little note and picture from Brody at daycare (he's very advanced for his age)! It was such a great surprise in my day to get a couple of pictures of him! He must have had a diaper mishap as this is not the outfit i sent him to "school" in!

Hi Mom and Dad!

I am having a fantastic day! I really am so alert today and I had a lot of fun laying on the ABC mat and looking at myself in the mirrors. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love,Brody

Brody's Nursery Featured...

Thought it was fun that I received an email from the owner of Design Dazzle wanting to feature Brody's room on her website. She got my name from my friends at Caden Lane Bedding, they gave Brody's room rave reviews and recommended that she feature it! Jason worked VERY hard on getting it all painted, including stripes and circles (a lot of blood, sweat and tears!) and I followed up with the easy part of adding all the "fluff". We just love how it turned out and are happy to share it with others!

Click HERE to view the website.

Brody's First Day At Daycare

Well the day has finally come for my baby boy to go to daycare. Jason and I discussed who should take him and originally it was going to be Jason as I knew I couldn't make through dropping him off at daycare without a few tears. However today I ended up working from home so that I could go to the dermatologist this am, so I decided I'd drop him off for his first day. The minute I pulled up I started to cry, I knew it would be tough and it was. The teachers were nice and all but it's just not me caring for him! So I dropped him off and cried the whole way home. Then I decided at noon that I'd call and check in on him...appears that he too is having a tough day at daycare. Typically he sleeps all morning and eats about every 3 hours, not today, he's been eating every 2-2 1/2 hours and had only slept 30 minutes and as the daycare director put it, "he's slightly unhappy but doing great". Umm unhappy but doing great?!?! I'm sure he's slightly unhappy as for the last 3 months I held him none stop and then Nana was here the last two weeks and she too did the same thing. I *think* he might be spoiled! Am leaving shortly to pick him up, can't wait to see the little guy! Hope he had a better afternoon than he did morning. I'll hope and pray that his lack of sleep today doesn't make him crabby and irritable tonight! Here are a couple of pics of his first day of "school".

Pops Meets Brody!

This past weekend my step dad, Wayne (aka POPS) drove from Nebraska to come and see Brody and pick up my mom. While it was a quick weekend it was great to introduce Brody to Pops!

Jason also took advantage of having a "handy man" in the house. He and Wayne installed two storm doors...a fancier one for the front door (which Dolly is just loving so she can look outside) and a more basic one for the garage. Both of these will help circulate the breeze through the house, which will be great this summer!

Thanks for your help Wayne!

Week 12

Each week I'm amazed at how big Brody is getting, such a big boy! He smiles all the time now and still loves it when you sing to him! Now that I'm back to work I can't get home soon enough to see him...!

Nana Daycare

My mom arrived two weeks ago so that she could look after Brody while i went back to work. It was such a blessing for all of us, she spent countless hours with him...reading, eating, playing and sleeping...Nana also got tons and tons of smiles from Brody as well. They have a real special bond together and am thankful she she was here to help make the transition back to work a bit easier for me! Boy do I wish she lived closer!!

And of course...just like when Brody was just a wee one at 3 weeks old and my mom left and I cried...at week 12 when she left yesterday I cried again! I'm so thankful for my mom and am grateful that she had the time to spend with Brody!

THANKS NANA, WE MISS YOU ALREADY!!!