Happy 5 Month Birthday Jameson!

Yes, you are reading the title correctly, our little man is 5 months already!!  CRAZY!!  Jameson had his 5 month birthday on Christmas day!

The past month has been so much fun.  Jameson has been exploring nonstop!  He found his toes, can pick up toys, uses both hands to grab things and now turns his head to look at you when you call his name!  He has also been loving the baby food and typically eats at least one meal of veggies a day and sometime two.  (but no peas...  he simply will NOT eat the peas!)

5 month statistics:

Weight: 18.8 lbs

(I have to be honest, since Jameson was sick and we had formula issues,

his weight fluctuated quite a bit... so this may be a little off)

Height: 26 1/4 inches

Diaper size: 3

Clothing size: 6-9 month (mostly 9 month)

Our 5 month photo session was not too successful.  It was a long day with Christmas and all, and by the time we got around to taking the pictures Jameson was pretty much spent.  (it did, however, make for some pretty funny pictures and he gave Luke and I a pretty good laugh!)

 He did NOT like the sign!

 And as you can tell, he did NOT like the sticker either!

And he is now EATING the sticker!

 Just cranky!

Jameson sitting up!

Watching Jameson grow into the person he is today is so much fun.  I love our little man with all my heart and thank God for blessing us with the best son a mommy and daddy could ask for!

Love you, Jameson!

Christmas 2011

I have to say, I LOVE Christmas time... But Christmas with a child is remarkable!  Jameson truly brought a whole new meaning to the holidays and family this year.  

Our [immediate] family Christmas was pretty laid back.  Since Luke had to work part of Christmas Eve, we decided to stay in Sioux Falls and spend Christmas day with just the three of us (Luke also had to work on the 26th).  I have to say, I was a sad we weren't going to see our extended families over Christmas, but Luke, Jameson and I had a very special and memorable first Christmas together!

With Luke working part of Christmas Eve, Jameson and I decided to stay in our pj's, watch Christmas movies and snug for most of the morning (simply wonderful).  We did have a couple errands to run before daddy got home, so we eventually got ourselves ready and headed out among the crowd and did our last minute shopping. 

Once daddy got home, it was relaxation and family time!!  Luke and I decided we weren't going to make a huge meal for Christmas Eve and instead we did a "smorgasbord" of appetizers (so fun!).  The three of us snugged, listened to Christmas music, watched Christmas movies, played monopoly and ate wonderful food!  It truly was a fantastic evening! 

It was killing Luke to not open gifts, so we decided to open our gifts from Jameson!  Jameson got me the new Kardashian book and he got daddy a framed picture (from Porter) for his desk at work.  (He also got daddy one more present, but daddy wasn't able to open that until Christmas morning) 

I felt like a kid in a candy store on Christmas morning...  I could not wait to open presents with Jameson!  He was so cute and really got into it!

Santa filled Jameson's stocking!

Gifts from Santa!

I think someone was a GOOD boy!

After we were done opening gifts, we got ourselves all ready to head to church.  It was such a beautiful day (no snow, sunny, and mild temps!  The golf courses were open!) that Luke and I decided we were going to head down to Falls Park. 

Although we were unable to head back to our hometowns and be with our extended families for Christmas, we made the most of our first Christmas as a family of THREE!  It was so wonderful and very, very memorable! 

Love you Luke and Jameson!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Survivor... Sioux Falls Edition

Wow...After this past week, I think Luke, Jameson and I can truly make it through anything ;-)

It's been pretty busy around the Hansen household the last couple weeks as we prepared for the holidays.  On top of the craziness of Christmas, we have been fighting with baby formula for about the last three-four weeks.  Jameson has been having issues spitting up (A LOT) and I decided it was time to take him in.  I talked to our doc back in Woodbury and she assured me it was ok to just see someone here in Sioux Falls... So, to move this story along, fast forward to this week and we have now been on 4 different formulas, phoned two pediatricians over five times, started reflux meds and went back to the ORIGINAL formula!!  (AHHH CRAZINESS).

The week started out with a BANG!  I had a "cyber date" with my high school girlfriends!  Since we all live in different parts of the country, we drew names for a secret ornament exchange and then used google+ to have a 5-way chat and open our gifts!  It was so much fun!!  Not to mention we all drank wine, laughed about the past and enjoyed each others company right from the comfort of our own homes!  (Technology just blows my mind!)

Mommy may have stayed up past her bed time Monday night, but that wasn't going to stop me... Jameson and I had a fun Tuesday planned with playgroup.  When we got back home, we relaxed and waited for Daddy to get home from work.  The three of us sat down for dinner, relaxed and then the craziness started...  Jameson started getting tired, which meant pretty cranky and then he started throwing up!  We thought, at first, it was just part of his spitting up (even though it was an excessive amount) but when it happened over and over we knew it was time to go in.  So off the the ER we went.  After many tests, IV's, x-rays, ultrasounds, and some cuddles, the doctors decided it was ok to head home.  They felt he just had a virus and it would take time to pass.

So bring on Wednesday...  Jameson slept pretty well once we got home, and I was VERY happy because Luke did not have to be into until 4 that afternoon...  We were able to relax and rest since we had a very long night (we didn't get home until 2am)  Jameson was pretty pooped the entire day, didn't really eat much, and (let's put this gently) we didn't have to change his diapers too often the entire day.  I told Luke I thought it was ok to head to work and Jameson and I would just take it easy and relax.  I would watch him closely and let him know if anything changes.  He was not at work more than two hours before the throwing up started again... This time it was happening VERY frequently!  Boy was I scared.  I knew I wouldn't be able to take him to the hospital alone because he was throwing up so frequently, so I called Luke home from work and off to the ER we went... AGAIN...  After more tests, IV's, meds, and a few more x-rays, they decided to admit us so we could see some specialists.  We were to our hospital room about midnight... Got Jameson all settled and to sleep, got all the paperwork completed and made up the pull-out couch for our very rough night of sleep.  I woke up about 3am only to not feel so hot...  That same routine happened again around 6am... by 7am Jameson was awake and I was "singing to the porcelain gods!"  NOT COOL!

We were discharged mid morning on Thursday and it was time for me to go home, get in bed and try to sleep my flu bug off!  (Thank heavens Luke had the day off!)  We were not home more than two hours and I woke to Luke throwing up!!  NOT GOOD!!  All I could think was, "how are we going to take care of Jameson if we are both sick?"  And boy, let me tell you... It was bad!  I couldn't even get out of bed, let alone pick Jameson up...  So, my AMAZING mom left work and drove all the way out here to take care of our little man so we could get better!  (THANK YOU mom!!  You are the best!)  Thursday was VERY rough, but I was feeling much better by Friday.  Luke had Friday off as well, and wasn't feeling the greatest, but was definitely on the up-swing.  My mom was so gracious to stay one more night to make sure we were ok for the weekend.  (My parents and brother were not planning on heading out here to celebrate Christmas until the 26th).

So, after a long drawn out story, the Hansens were FINALLY back to "normal" by Saturday morning.  Nana headed back home, Luke had to head into work for a while, and Jameson and I snuggled, hung out and enjoyed our first Christmas Eve together!  Daddy joined us about 3pm and we had the most relaxing evening!

I just have to give one last shout-out to my mom!  Thank you SO much for taking care of us and especially for watching Jameson while mommy and daddy were down for the count!  You are simply the BEST and we love you!

Gettin' Crafty for Christmas

Our MOM's club recently had an outing at a place called Color Me Mine.  Color Me Mine is a paint-your-own pottery studio... and I have to say, it's A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  The selection of items to paint and the creative ladies working in there are outstanding!  I can't even begin to explain what a great idea this place is and how beautiful some of the artwork is!  (I just wish I had a quarter of the creativity and artistic ability as the artists working there!)

When I found out our MOM meet up was going  to be at Color Me Mine, I was SO in!  I couldn't wait to do something for Jameson to remember the "baby" years.  We were able to paint different ornaments during our outing and I decided Jameson was going to do a Christmas tree because the gal helping said we could use his fingers to create colored "ornaments" on the tree... SOLD!  I was all for it! (well after being reassured MANY times it was washable paint)

Here are a couple pictures of our work-in-progress

And here is the final product (already hanging on our tree)

I could do a hundred more blogs about the ideas, kids projects, party ideas, etc. Color Me Mine has to offer, but I think you would all stop reading... So, I will end with: If you are ever in the area and want something to do, I HIGHLY recommend Color Me Mine!  (For ALL ages)  

Happy Holidays!

Love,

Abby



Part II of Baptism Weekend

Like I mentioned in Part I, our weekend was AMAZING!!  But, Sunday was really the icing on the cake.  It was such a special day.

Jameson slept really well Saturday night and did not get up until 7ish!!  (Which was nice since us "big kids" decided to stay up WAY too late!)  Everyone slowly "showed their face" as the morning went on, but Mal, my mom and I had just a couple last minute details to finish before we headed to church...  (ie: make the beans, decorate the cake table, put the beef back in the crock pot... and a couple more)

When I started planning Jameson's baptism, I knew we had a VERY small window of weekends that would work due to Luke's crazy holiday work schedule.  He told me, from the beginning, that he would only be taking one weekend off in December.  With that said, I was not willing to wait any long to get Mr. Man baptized, so it just so happened that St. Pat's holds baptism twice a month...  The second Sunday of the month they do the baptisms AFTER mass and the third Sunday is during mass.  We had decided (about the middle of October) that Luke would be taking the second weekend in December off... With that said, I was VERY excited we were going to make this work and I was perfectly fine with the baptism being after mass...

We were able to get everyone ready and out the door in time to make it to 11am mass!!  (yay!!  I was VERY happy about that!)  Jameson slept the entire mass (which was great because he did not take a morning nap... SURPRISING???  NO!) and was ready to go once we finished communion.  Mal and I then quickly changed him into his ADORABLE baptismal outfit (thanks Nana and Grandpa Marson).  Deacon Frank was baptizing three other babies along with Jameson.  It was a little crazy at first (I am use to the VERY coordinated/choreographed catholic baptism during mass) but everything turned out perfect and our little guy did great!  He was a happy baby the entire time, and I have to say, he LOVED the water over his head... Not surprising since he LOVES bath time. 

 

He LOVED this part!

 He wasn't too sure what Deacon Frank was doing to him... It was hilarious!

The entire baptism lasted about 30 minutes and then it was time to take pics... of course!!  Jameson did SO well during the baptism, but he was getting really tired of all the pictures by the time we were done!! 

Thank you Deacon Frank!

Group picture time!

Jameson and all his Grandparents

Grandparents and Godparents

 The Marson Gang!

 Aunt Nancy :-)

Jameson delicious cake!

Thank you to EVERYONE that made our weekend so special!  It really meant the world to Luke, Jameson and I. 

Love to you all,

Abby

Part I of Baptism Weekend

We spent this past weekend in Onalaska celebrating Jameson's baptism.  We have joined a church here in Sioux Falls, but we really wanted Deacon Frank to baptize Jameson (he married Luke and I) and Onalaska was a much shorter drive for some of our guests. 

Luke had to work all day Friday, so we were not able to get on the road until 5:30ish... We made REALLY good time and arrived at my parents house around 9:45!!  Not to mention, Jameson did AWESOME!  He slept the entire drive, even when we stopped to grab a bite to eat.  (I tell ya, I am already scared if we decide to have another baby because he is so good) 

Saturday was pretty unusual for us... WE HAD NOTHING PLANNED!!  Luke kept asking me, "are you sure your dad and I can just hang out?  There isn't anything I can help you with?"  hahaha (I chuckled... he knows me so well!)  I had a couple small errands to run (pick up the cake and the last of the groceries for the party) to get ready for the party on Sunday, but nothing huge and I could pretty much get it all done within an hour.  The majority of Saturday consisted of relaxing and lounging around with the family!   (It was WONDERFUL!)

Luke then had the "brilliant" idea to cut Jameson's hair into a mohawk!  No worries, mommy said NO to actually cutting his hair, but I was all for "styling" it... and maybe a little dress up... 

Introducing "Mini" Danny Zuko  (we were having WAY too much fun!!!)

Yes, you are seeing that correctly, we did roll a camera battery in his sleeve!!

I then decided we should take advantage of the beautiful Christmas decorations and tree my parents had up in their house and try for a few family photos. 



I was beyond excited for Saturday evening because Mallory (my best friend) and her husband Andy were going to be arriving!  Mallory is Jameson's godmother and Andy was so wonderful to step in for my brother (the godfather) since he was unable to fly in for the weekend.  The six of us (Mal, Andy, Luke, mom, dad and myself) spent the evening chatting, laughing, celebrating Christmas and enjoying each others company.

Before we knew it, it was all hours of the  morning and we needed to head to bed so we were all ready and rested for Jameson's big day on Sunday!

(Stay tuned...  another post will be coming soon with all the highlights from the baptism!!)

All my love,
Abby