We're BACK!

Sorry about that hiatus... the weather has been good, Trey has been sleeping less during the day, and I discovered Pinterest. So crafting, baking, project-doing-mommy has been busy!! The good news is, one of the huge "To Do's" I had on my list was accomplished! And here are the results of the "To Do... Family Photos"

Super cute, right?! I think they turned out pretty great, and I was really happy with our photographer. We're pretty happy here in Minneapolis! Loving our new house, trying to decorate and furnish our new house, and taking in every minute of sunshine we can get our hands on!

At 10 months old, Trey can do a LOT of things! Including (but definitely not limited to):

WALKING!!

Only a few steps at a time, but he can get from point A to point B without holding on to anything!

TALKING

Including: Mama, Daddy, Doggy, Baba, Dat? (as in, "what's that?")

DANCING

He has some super smooth moves, which he must have learned from his dad

SINGING

He chimes in whenever mommy sings

PEEK-A-BOO

He thinks it's the funniest

TANTRUM THROWING

uggggghhhhhhh

CLIMBING

Everything. But mostly the stairs

WAVING AND SAYING "BYE BYE"

It's just the cutest

My model

My model : )

Apparently he HATES the Easter Bunny



Peek-a-boo!

Sunday Best

I kind of think my boys are the best thing EVER.

Our Lean, Mean 7-Month-Old Drooling Machine!

Time has started FLYING by! The weather is warming up, the little snow we have is melting, the house is starting to come together, we are finally on a consistent napping schedule, and Trey is seven months old! I can't believe how fast it's gone. I know how cliche that sounds, but it's true! He does something new every single day, we can barely keep up with him.

Yesterday Trey went to school and began his transition from the infant class to the TODDLER class. "Toddler??" you say? Um, yeah. Trust me, I am not happy about calling my baby a toddler, and typically they don't transition the infants up until they are either walking or a year old. But Trey is so mobile, so curious, so strong, and so smart, they felt he was ready for it! And he LOVES BEING A TODDLER!! The note from the teacher at the end of the day said:

"Trey had a SPECTACULAR first visit with his new friends in the toddler class! He jumped right in with a great cheerful attitude and began reading books first thing this morning. As the day progressed, he moved on to connecting and pushing motor links on the rug with "the boys" and giggling along with them as they ran their trucks into the block tower Mrs. Chambers was building : ) He is already one of the "gang"!!"

He is the youngest in the class by three months, but it didn't surprise me at all as he has always been so strong. As I was bathing him yesterday, I lifted him out of the bath and he flexed his little bum... and it's CHISELED! My baby does not have a squishy, dimply baby bum, he has a toned, muscular wrestler bum... go figure?

Here are some of the things Trey has been doing in the last couple months:

• Learning to say "Mama" - his first repeated

• Learning to crawl on his hands and knees

• Pulling himself up on everything

• Trying to CLIMB everything..including a whole flight of stairs (supervised of course)

• Intentionally goofing around to make mommy and daddy laugh! I set him on our bed one evening, and he did a belly flop jump into the pile of blankets and we laughed. So he sat up, did it again and looked up at us expecting us to laugh. When we complied, he sat up again, turned around and flopped onto the pillow, looking up at us to make sure we were laughing... and continued this for five minutes : )

• Cutting his first tooth! It's just a tiny sliver so far, but we're thrilled that it has FINALLY popped through, thanks to his favorite hobby... chewing on everything

• Going to the zoo and other play dates with our new friends in the neighborhood

•  Kissing

• Learning to use a sippy cup all by himself

• Memorizing Mets and Twins stats in preparation for baseball season

And last, but certainly not least... being handsome

Being seven months old must be exhausting. 

Hudson, WI

This past weekend we took a few hours for family time (since we get so little of it while Tyson is studying for his final actuarial exam), and went exploring! We live 10 minutes from the Wisconsin border... so we decided it was time to see a new state. Hudson, WI is on the other side of the St. Croix river, and although it's a small town, it's very charming! The St. Croix is beautiful, and there are a lot of ducks, boats, running trails, parks, restaurants and even amphitheaters along the river. It was a gorgeous sunny day (45 degrees in the middle of February???) But we can't wait to go back when it warms up so we can enjoy it even more!

Trey had an awesome time too... although I think he was ready for a nap by the time we left

A Very Merry Un-Birthday... To Trey!!

Can you believe our little peanut is SIX MONTHS OLD?!?!

(To the tune of "It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To")

IT'S MY BLOG AND I CAN BRAG IF I WANT TO... BRAG IF I WANT TO... BRAG IF I WANT TO!  YOU WOULD BRAG TO IF HE BELONGED TOOO YOU!

Every day we are overjoyed to have Trey in our lives. He is undeniably the happiest, strongest, smartest, cutest, most determined baby I've ever known! Here are some of his most recent accomplishments...cause it's my blog, and I can brag if I want to : )


CRAWLING: Yes, it's true. Only a couple of days after Trey turned only five months old, I saw his first lunges forward. A couple days after that, he was army crawling everywhere. Now he's so fast, I can barely keep up with him! This is picture #1:

And literally before I could snap another picture, this is where he was:

SITTING UP: Funny enough, this came after crawling... but he's definitely able to sit on his own, and he's working on getting to the sitting position by himself.

SOLIDS: We started a little later than most people, but he took to solid food like a champ! He's definitely eating more and gaining weight like crazy! He really likes to help mommy with the spoon, and he's getting pretty good at the sippy cup : )

FIRST WORD:  "Gap." Too funny, right?  I know people think I'm nuts... Tyson made fun of me relentlessly until he actually witnessed it himself! Trey has randomly mimicked some of  the words we say. A couple of weeks ago I said "Baby, would you like to have a bottle and then go to Gap?" And Trey very clearly said "Gap." It started from there and he has said things like "bless you" (of course in baby version it was more like "beshu"). But he's definitely trying to say what we say. Go ahead, make fun of me... but I know what I heard!

NAPS: Yes, sometimes he takes naps that actually last longer than 25 minutes!! It doesn't sound like an accomplishment, but believe me IT IS!

We are going to the Dr. tomorrow for his 6 month appointment, so I'll have better stats on his weight, height, etc. But here are some pictures of Trey's hobbies:

Playing in his "cage" (as Tyson calls it)

Helping Mommy fold piles of laundry



Watching things out the window, like snow, garbage trucks, mailmen, and dad shoveling the walk

Playing with his Christmas toys, including his Johnny Jump Up from Nana

and his Activity Center from Grandmama. (speaking of Christmas, I promise I'll have a Christmas post soon)

Playing with the handsome baby in the mirror

And letting Mommy play dress up

We can't wait to see what this little man is going to do in the NEXT six months!

The First Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was definitely a happy one! I have SO many things to be thankful for, there is no way I could count them all. But here are a few that come to mind at the moment:

(in no particular order)

A Happy, Healthy, Handsome Baby Boy 

Tyson Stewart Nicholas

Skype

Chemotherapy

Sunshine

Best Friends

True Love

Employment

Dr. Levitan

Ice Cream

Jesus Christ

Baby Smiles

Empathy

Supportive Family

Photographs

Disposable Diapers

Humor

J.Crew

The Eversmans

and

Handprint Turkeys

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!





M.I.A.

Did you miss us?!? So this is the reason I was so hesitant to start a blog... posting is literally ALWAYS on my "To Do" list. And one more "to do" is the last thing we need right now! We are smack dab in the middle of the most hectic time in our lives (thus far). Here's just a FEW of the things that we've been up to the last couple of months:

Tyson took his last actuarial test!!

We find out if he passed (which I'm confident he did) in the beginning of January.  Boy oh boy, have these tests been a HUGE undertaking! He basically studies every free minute he has for 6 months straight, then takes a test that is harder than any test I could possibly comprehend taking (x150). When he passes this test, he will have his FSA! I told you I married the smartest man I've ever met : ) Good luck honey!!!

Trey Turned 3 Months Old!



I know it's a little anti-climatic (since he's almost FOUR months old)... but it was still exciting! He celebrated by holding himself upright on his arms for long periods of time, giggling, sleeping 7 hours in a row at night, and ROLLING OVER! He also had a growth spurt, and began drooling excessively... which makes us think he just might be in the beginning stages of teething!
 

Trey Started School at Primrose!

In order to maintain a little sanity, and bring in a little extra income, I decided to return to work part time. I feel extremely lucky to have a job that I enjoy at Ameriprise Financial, and they were willing to let me come back 10 hours a day on Mondays and Wednesdays. It is the PERFECT schedule! Who wouldn't want to only work 2 days a week?? I couldn't pass up it up... and so two days a week Trey attends "school" at Primrose School of Woodbury. I NEVER thought I would feel as comfortable with a daycare as I do with Primrose. He has two teachers, Mrs. Bohlson and Ms. Moor, whom Trey LOVES! They are wonderful with him, and we have been so impressed with everything. The owners of the daycare live in our new neighborhood, and all the office staff members know us by name, know our schedules, (and have even memorized my phone number because I call in so much : )  They pick up the phone and say "Hi Andrea! Trey's having a great day today! He's in the middle of his 2nd nap...etc.). He comes home every day with a memo of what he did that day! And he has made some of the cutest crafts and "Fridge Art" that I would never be creative enough or have the time to do with him myself. His favorite things are music time, and interacting with the other babies. They say that he is the happiest baby they have, and the best dressed. They call him their little "GQ baby" cause he's such a stud! One of the best things about Primrose is the location, it's right next door to our...

NEW HOUSE!!

We bought a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath townhouse in Woodbury, MN! It's still being built, and will be ours on December 22nd! We are SO excited to move in, as we are quickly outgrowing our 2 bedroom apartment in the city. Although we have absolutely loved the area we are in, we are really looking forward to the "burbs" so we have more space, more families to play with, and a shorter commute for Tyson. And I'll be honest, I'm excited to have a BRAND NEW house! Woodbury was named the 13th best city in America to live in, and we have been nothing but impressed so far.

FALL in Minnesota

If you don't remember our October last year, let me remind you:

One week after we moved to this gorgeous state, we had the third worst snow storm in the state's history. It was MISERABLE, and it was even worse that it happened so early in the season. This year, we had the most enjoyable fall I've ever seen! It was in the mid 60's and 70's for all of September, October and the first few weeks of November. In fact, we just barely got our first light snow of the season a couple of days ago. Trey and I took a lot of walks to utilize every second we could of the good weather:

 One weekend, we took a little drive to an orchard and picked out pumpkins and delicious apples!

 And then there were VISITORS!!!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I have the BEST friends a girl could ask for! First, my bestie Corinne came all the way from Charlotte, NC to see us! Corinne and I worked side by side for a few years at Beneficial Investment Services. We consider ourselves to be twins separated at birth because we are SO alike. I miss her like crazy, so it was fun to spend a few days taking walks, eating out, watching HGTV, and just catching up. We love you, Corinne!

About a week later, my other bestie Chelsy came to visit! Anyone who knows me knows Chels. We have been friends since the very first day of first grade, and we have been inseparable

I don't know what I would do without these two girls, and I am forever grateful that they would travel halfway across the country to visit us!

HALLOWEEN

...Was extremely uneventful and I pretty much forgot all about it until that morning. I dressed Trey in his Superman onesie and sent him to school before I got a picture. When he got home from school, he was very tired, so we immediately had a bath and dinner and went to bed. So unfortunately there is no documentation of our little Superman, but according to his teachers, he was "showing off his muscles all day!" They said the word spread around the school about how cute he was, and ALL the teachers stopped in to check out "the cutest Superman they ever saw!" I promise to dress him up soon just to take the picture. But in the meantime, feast your eyes on the cutest SuperSAM you will ever see!!!

and our little monster...

PHEW!! And those were just the highlights! Now for the things we have to look forward to:

1) Trey turning 4 months (with his immunisations scheduled for his appnt Dec. 2)

2) Packing all our belongings

3) Thanksgiving

4) Christmas shopping

5) A visit from our friend Mike - who's coming to the Vikings/Broncos game next week

6) Shopping for furniture, appliances, paint, decor, shower curtain rods, etc. etc. for our new house

7) Closing on our new house Dec. 22nd!!

8) Our trip to Utah Dec. 22nd!!

9) Christmas with our family and friends

10) Moving into our new HOME Dec. 28th!!

What an adventure!