Pumpkin Carving Fun!

So as I mentioned in the previous post, my mom, Jameson and I carved pumpkins Sunday morning before she left.  It was so much fun to see Jameson watch us and actually look like he was really into what was going on!  I also had the "brilliant" idea of putting Jameson in the pumpkin to get a few pictures... (you can see below how successful that was!)  But in the end, our pumpkins turned out great and we had so much fun creating our "master pieces" with Jameson!

Not happy with mommy!

What a FUN memory!!! 

Love,
Abby

Nana Marson Comes to Visit!

It was WEA for my mom last week, (Thursday and Friday) so she decided to venture out to Sioux Falls for a long weekend visit!  (I think if she had an extra hour off she would drive out here to see here little man!!  She is such a proud Grandma!!!!)  :-)  Nana met us here Thursday afternoon, and from the second she stepped in the door to second she left, we were having a blast and soaking in as much Nana time as possible! 

Thursday night was pretty relaxing, with all four of us relaxing on the couch chatting, watching TV and eating pizza.  Friday, Luke had to get up and head to work, so Nana and I got ourselves and Jameson all ready for a fun filled day around town.  I recently joined a Mom's group and we had a Halloween party to attend later that morning.  With that said, we couldn't go to the Halloween party without a supply of yummy candy!  So after a quick pit stop to Target, we headed to the Sioux Falls community center for Jameson's first Halloween party.  I have to say, he is the cutest Banana I have EVER seen!!!  :-)

Jameson "Bowling"

Jameson's first "arts and crafts" project

A weekend with my mom and I together would not be complete without some sort of shopping!  Mom and I were able to get a little girl time Saturday morning while J and Daddy had a little bonding time.  Luke had to head to work Saturday afternoon, so after we got some "great deals" Saturday morning, mom and I packed Jameson up to head out for a little more shopping.  Saturday night the three of us relaxed and watched a movie (well, we at least tried - sorry mom, I had to put that in there).

Of course, every weekend must come to an end, and before we knew it, it was Sunday and Nana had to head back to Onalaska.  We had one more "adventure" to complete before she was to take off.  We decided to carve the pumpkins!!!  It was so much fun and Jameson seemed to enjoy ;-)  (here is a "sneak peak" of us carving the pumpkins!  I will be posting more pictures of the pumpkin carving in the next blog... so stay tuned!)

Time to say goodbye to Nana

Thank you for a GREAT weekend, Mom and we can't wait to see you next week in D.C.!!!!

Love,
Abby

 

 

Another Family Filled Weekend

We are feeling very spoiled with all of the family visits!  The past two weekends have been wonderful and family filled!  We started our stretch of "family fun" weekends with Luke's dad and stepmom, and this past weekend Luke's mom and stepdad came to visit (my mom is coming this weekend!  WOW craziness!)  Grandma and Grandpa Gunderson were so gracious to make the drive out to Sioux Falls to visit us for the weekend.  We were able to see them a few weeks ago at Luke's cousin's wedding, but it was such a short visit and Jameson wasn't able to get much Grandma and Grandpa time.

It's always a great time when we get together with Jean and Mark (Gundy), but this past weekend was even more special because we were able to relax, not be rushed and enjoy each others company!  We were able to get some much needed one on one time with both Jean and Mark, and of course, Jameson was spoiled with love the entire weekend!

Grandma and Grandpa Gunderson arrived Friday evening.  We decided to head to dinner right when they arrived so we could get back home and put Jameson to bed at a decent time.  We started our Saturday morning with a world famous "Gundy Breakfast" and boy was it delicious!!!!  (Gundy made the bacon on the grill so it wouldn't over power the house)  After we filled our bellies with all of the delicious food, we decided to take Gundy and Jean out and about and show them a little of Sioux Falls.  We bummed around the mall for a bit and then tried to head downtown for lunch.

**Quick side note**  If you are not familiar with the Sioux Falls area, the weekends here are insane!  The parking lots are always packed, you will always have to wait to get a table at a restaurant and don't try to turn in or out of the Target parking lot!  All of the surrounding areas head this way on the weekend to do their shopping and find entertainment.  Those that know me well, know I don't mind crowds, but even I get cranky and try my hardest to stay off the roads on a Saturday afternoon.

So needless to say, after our adventure downtown (the 7 mile trip took us almost 35 minutes!) we decided to just pick up some lunch and head back to our place.  I have to say, I am really thankful we did that because we were able to take our time to eat and chat AND Jameson was able to take a nap in his own bed.

Like always, our time with Jean and Mark was WONDERFUL!  We can't say thank you enough for everything Grandma and Grandpa Gunderson!  We love you tons!

Gundy grilling the bacon :-)

Quick family picture before we head out for the day

Grandma Jean and Jameson

Grandma Jean taking some picture and playing with J

Gundy singing to Jameson

Jameson with Grandma and Grandpa Gunderson

A Visit from Grandpa and Grandma Hansen

We had a very exciting weekend with a wonderful visit from Grandpa and Grandma Hansen!  With all of the craziness going on in our lives over the last month and half, we hadn't seen Luke's dad and step mom since Labor Day weekend.  Like I had mentioned in an earlier post, it always seems like every time we are with friends and family, time is rushed and we are always on the go.  The best part about this past weekend was we had quality time together, it wasn't rushed and Jameson got some wonderful snug time with his Grandpa and Grandma!

Luke had to work Friday evening, so Jameson and I decided we would take Grandpa and Grandma out to dinner and do a little exploring of Sioux Falls.  I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous taking Jameson to dinner due to the lack of naps Friday afternoon, but he was wonderful and enjoyed our time out. 

Saturday was a very relaxing day.  We visited the "Women's Expo" here in town (yes, the boys joined us and they were troopers!) and did a little shopping.  We then spent the rest of the afternoon and evening visiting and relaxing at our place.  Luke's dad was able to help him hang some pictures on the walls and Carol was so gracious to help me cook a delicious dinner.  (she is an AMAZING cook!)

One quick side note - It's a standing joke in our house that every time Luke changes Jameson's diaper, he decides Jameson needs to just be dressed in a diaper (this is due to two reasons 1. less laundry - which he doesn't do anyways, so I am really not too sure why that bothers him and 2. Luke enjoys laying around the house in shorts and he feels Jameson thinks the same way) or he decides Jameson needs to be dressed in some sort of clothing that supports a sports team he favors (AKA the Vikings!).  Anyways, the point of this story is while the boys were hanging pictures, Luke decided Jameson needed his diaper changed.  (Let me just mention that the Badgers played on Saturday, so I had dressed Jameson in all red and white!)  I told Luke a couple weeks ago that it was starting to get too cold for just a diaper, so if he really felt the need to to change Jameson's clothes, he needed to make sure it was more than just a diaper... Needless to say, I have to share a picture of the final product after the diaper change (yes, very long story to get to this one picture)... Again, just keep in mind that Jameson was dressed in badger gear earlier in the day and had two matching socks on!



All in all, the weekend was wonderful!!  It was great to see Grandpa and Grandma Hansen and get some quality time with them.  Thank you Mike and Carol for making the trip to visit!  Love you!

Abby

Jameson's First Photo shoot

Porter, of Shannon Porter Photography, was our AMAZING wedding photographer.  To this day, Luke and I talk about what a great job he did capturing outstanding memories of our special day.  When we found out we were expecting, there was no question in our mind who we would ask to take "Dash's" newborn pictures. 

Since we ended up having a short NICU stay, our photo shoot was a little delayed.  Jameson was almost two weeks old when we had the pictures taken.  Luke and I loaded Jameson up in the car and we were off for our first family road trip to Winona.  It was a gorgeous Friday morning and Jameson made the entire two hour car ride without a meltdown!  (not bad for a baby that wasn't even two weeks old!)  I can't tell you how excited I was to get the "standard" newborn pictures that you see with the baby sound asleep, all crunched up in adorable poses...  Mr. Jameson did not have that same idea...  Our little boy decided he did NOT want to sleep the entire time we were at the studio!  (only my son)  Needless to say, no sound asleep, crunchy baby photos here!  hahaha. 

Just as we thought, all the pictures turned out AMAZING!  Porter did a FANTASTIC job and we LOVE every single photo.

Here are a few samples of Porters "creations" :-)

Our Favorite!

My favorite picture of Jameson (his eyes were closed for maybe 30 seconds)

This one's for Daddy!

Thank you for the amazing memories, Porter!  We LOVE all of the pictures and they will be treasured for a lifetime!

Much Needed Family Time

Spending time with our friends and family back in our hometowns is something that is very important to both Luke and I...  And although we don't get to head back home too often, and when we do it's typically for a short period of time, we truly treasure the time with our friends and family while we can.  Jameson and I actually had a great opportunity last week to get some time back in Onalaska with my family. 
Our week long adventure started out with a night stay in the Twin Cities.  Luke had a work meeting Tuesday and Wednesday, so Jameson and I packed our bags and made the trip to Minnesota and joined Luke for the night.  We arrived in the Twin Cities Monday evening (Jameson was a CHAMP  the entire car ride!!!!!) and met up with Kayla and Matt for dinner!  It was SO wonderful to see them and get some much needed "adult" time to chat and catch up. 

Since Luke had a meeting all day Tuesday, Jameson and I decided we would go "bum" around for a bit.  We started our day at the Mall of America (which was not appreciated by Mr. J! AKA melt-down-city the second we entered the mall.)  We then headed to my (old) office in downtown St. Paul to have lunch with my co-workers.  It was great to see everyone and say goodbye one last time.  We then decided to head back to the hotel and relax for a while before my parents arrived to pick us up.  Nana and Grandpa Marson were so gracious to drive up to the Twin Cities to pick the two of us up so we could spend the remainder of the week in Onalaska.  (Let's be honest, they would have driven across the country and back just to see Jameson!)  We were able to catch Luke for a quick goodbye before we headed down river. 
Our relaxing week at my parents consisted of:
Lunch with Nana and Grandpa and Piggy's
A little shopping (of course we had to fit that in)
Visiting Great-Grandma Marson
Ice Cream "date" with Grandpa Marson
Grandpa babysitting J while mommy got her hair done (WAHOO!!)
A trip to the Apple Orchard
and then Friday evening Daddy was able to join us!!!  YAY!

Saturday was an exciting day for the three of us...  We were attending Luke's cousin Melissa's wedding in Independence, WI.  Melissa and Luke have always been very close, so there was no way we would miss her big day!  Luke was also asked to be a reader (he did a great job!!)  Here a few pics from the wedding. 

Melissa and Brian - We are so happy for the two of you and wish you a lifetime of love and happiness!!!  Thanks for allowing us to be apart of your day... You throw a GREAT party!!!

And then, before we knew it, it was Sunday and that meant our relaxing week at home was over... It was time for the three of us to pack our bags and head west.  I have to say, all the activities we did during the week were great, but the best part of the week was getting to spend some much needed father/daughter/grandson time with my dad!  My dad's work schedule and our travel schedules never seem to add up.  It seems every time we are home or we have the family to our place he has to work... This week was great because he had two full days off to hang out with Mr. J and I!!!

It was a great week, but it felt great to sleep in my own bed Sunday night.

Thanks for everything Mom and Dad!!!!  And Congratulations to Melissa and Brian!

Love,
Abby

The First of Many....

Well, well, well...  Here goes nothing!!!  Like most new mom's, you get reminded on (almost) a daily basis how much family misses you, wants to see pictures, wants an update on life, yada, yada, yada... So, like so many of my friends, I have decided the best way to keep everyone in the loop is to start a blog...  My hope is to document whats been going on in our lives and share pictures of our family. 
With that said, I want to start this "adventure" off by updating everyone on the changes that have taken place in our household over the last year...  (in a nutshell)

So... here... we... go...
Luke returned home from his second deployment October 3, 2010...  I feel like that day was the beginning of an entirly new life for the two of us. 

Shortly after Luke returned to Minnesota, he had a couple job offers in the works.  In the end, he accepted a job with Target.  He truly LOVES his job and Target.  Our biggest and most exciting change was finding out we were expecting!  I will never forget that evening and seeing the "two pink lines" right before my eyes!  Our original due date was August 7th, 2011, but that was quickly changed to July 27th, 2011.  The winter/spring of 2010/2011 consisted of "nesting", a trip to Florida with my family, and trying to stay calm getting ready for baby. 

We kept the sex of the baby a surprise and "Dash" (the nickname we gave baby while I was pregnant) joined our family on July 25th, 2011 at 5:47pm.  Jameson - Luke liked the name Jaime, but thought he needed something more powerful when he's in trouble!  (haha).  Kenneth - Jameson's middle name comes from my Grandpa Marson.  He was truly an AMAZING man and I can't wait to tell Jameson all the wonderful stories about his Great-Grandpa.  It was an emotional start, but after a short stay in the NICU, we were able to bring our bundle of joy home!  

Not only did we have the excitement of a new baby, but within a month of Jameson being born, Luke was offered a promotion within Target!  Great news, but HUGE changes ahead.  The promotion meant a move for our family...  We put our house up for sale the second week in September and by September 15th, we were calling Sioux Falls, SD home.  CRAZY!!!!  The great news in all of this was our house actually sold in 4 DAYS!!!  I was SO sad to leave our house, our neighbors and our friends, but we could not pass up the promotion.  The other huge change in all of this...  I am now a Stay-at-home-mom!  Yes, all of you that know me, I have always been very career oriented.  I have to say, the change has been a challenge, and at times I question what we are really doing, but in the end, I know it was the best choice and I am enjoying every single minute I get with our little man. 

Well, most of this post is a repeat for some of you, but I wanted to make sure everyone that is reading this is on the same page. 

My goal is to post an update at least once a week.

I hope everyone is doing well, and we miss you all!  We send our love and hope to see you soon.  Please know, you always have a place to stay when passing through SD!

All my love,

Abby