Future Lumberjack!

While I would love to post more, Luke is hungry for some yogurt and avocados so we're going to make this a quick one.

We had a GREAT time in Hayward yesterday. Luke was an awesome baby (like always of course!) and Jamie was able to compete in the Axe Throw which made him really happy...and he got 4th place! He tied with 13 (best is 15, three bulls-eyes) points with six other people and won that, so that gave him 4th! He did a great job. We are definitely coming back next year! It was so good to see all of our friends too and hang out with them. Here are a few photos and a really cute video of Luke rolling! :)

Nate is warming up with Jamie. Boys, the log is supposed to be ABOVE water.

Nap time.

Jamie throwing the axe.

Uh, Dad? Kids are not supposed to chew on axes.

Throwing in the tie-breaker for 4th place.

Nice bulls-eye! Got 4th place!

Family photo with an axe of course.

Luke and Jamie watching the rollers.

Luke had a prime seat. Talk about comfort!

Proud Daddy.

VERY proud Daddy!

Jamie holding Luke on a log. The last time he was on a log was at 17 days (and was asleep the whole time). Apparently he knew what to do this time. His feet don't stop moving and actually change direction when the log does. Jamie sure is proud; looks like I'll be cheering Luke on in rolling before we know it! Sorry about the announcer for the show, I guess he didn't know we were having our own show on the side - and the darkness too.

Off to the parade for Lumberjack Days and Grandma and Grandpa O'Brien's house. Happy Sunday! :)

Jill, Jamie and Luke

Scootin' Machine

Jamie left yesterday for Blue Earth, MN for a show so Luke and I had a quiet day today. We would have probably had a quiet day regardless if Jamie was home or not since he's been crazy busy this summer but that's besides the point. We did our traditional errands, bank-deposit my cash from working, I always wonder what they think of me and the cash since I never get a paycheck cause of taxes from credit cards; post office-return the Netflix, and Target). Luke really likes being free from his car seat and chillin' in the cart. Frankly, I am so sick of carrying the car seat that I will deal with the extra 2 minutes to get him in and out of the car seat. Plus, I'm a little tired of people offering to help while watching me lift the car seat up to put it in the cart. Do I look like I'm struggling that much??

Yes, I was that mom taking pictures of her baby in the cart at Target.

We stopped at my grandparent's house today to catch up with them. As I pulled up, it looked like they were getting ready for the President (wait, he's a Democrat), never mind, General Petraeus to arrive at their house. They had five men grooming, trimming, shaping, blowing and cleaning up their yard with all of their hands full of chain saws, trimmers, and blowers. My grandma said she called Lawn Green to schedule a time to come trim the bushes and the soonest they could arrive is in a few weeks cause they have some "big jobs". Grandma said that wouldn't work well because she was hoping to have the lawn groomed in time for the parade on Sunday. No, General Petraeus is not coming to Stillwater, just the city Lumberjack Day's parade that strolls past their house. Well, low and behold, five men showed up and made their shrubs and bushes look like Edward Scissorhands had something to do with it. It looks great! My grandpa said at least six times, "They've been coming here for close to 20 years. They do great work. The only tool they used to have was a shovel!" And again...and again. Good thing he is pleased with their work! And don't worry about the men working in the high humidity and heat today. Grandma brought them an ice cold beer after.

Future Gopher!

He can't crawl yet, but he has learned to scoot, backwards. That took him under the table.

He's cute even under a table!

And he figured out to keep scooting backwards from out under the table! I like how he looks behind like he's backing up a car.

So sleeeeeeeepy.

And finally, a Snickers ice cream bar. mmmmmmmmmm so delicious! I reluctantly bought a box at the grocery store the other day and am now kicking and hugging myself for that behavior. I really just wish I was pregnant again so I could eat three or four of them and blame the extra two pounds of the baby. It worked with my McDonald's obsession last fall. Just look at the gooey caramel, sweet chocolate and salty peanuts. This is heaven.

I'm leaving Stillwater!!

No, we are not moving, I'm not going to some rural county with Jamie for a show and no, I didn't win a vacation. Well, I guess I kind of did. Anyway...we are going up to Hayward just for a day, but it's better than not at all! I am really excited to go and get away for a little bit (with little being the key word). Jamie is doing a show this weekend in Blue Earth, such a weird name for a town, but has Saturday off so we are going to watch the Lumberjack World Championships for the day. Since I planned on being up there the whole weekend, I took Friday night off, so I will pack all of Luke's things that night so we are ready first thing in the morning. I'm so excited!!!! Plus, I really just need to get away from my daily life and go do something fun. Don't get me wrong, Luke and I have a great time going on walks, to the park, to Target, visiting people, going swimming, etc, but I am very excited to get away and free my mind, even if it's for a day. And, it's Luke's first, but certainly not last, Lumberjack World Championships!! Next year we'll be cheering on Daddy!!

Well I suppose I should note that Luke turned 7 months old on Sunday! I cannot believe how fast time goes with him. Before I know it, we will be deciding on what to eat for his first birthday!! I love every minute that we spend together whether we are cuddling, trying new food and watching his funny faces, or dancing together in the living room, he's an awesome baby and I couldn't ask for a better little man.

Here are a few photos from this past week.

Two of Jamie's preschoolers (the girls) moved to Holland last year so we had a play date with them at Washington Park on Monday. It was really cute how excited they were to see Mr. Jamie. Paige (one in white shirt) even picked out a pair of tiny glass shoes in the traditional blue painted pattern as a gift for him. Our nephew, Braden, is in the yellow, and Luke is staring at the sand. As a clean freak that I am, I watched him the whole time to make sure he didn't eat it and had my wipes ready to clean him up after. I know, I know, he's a boy and will get dirty but my plan is to keep him as clean as long as I can! :)

He loves bath time and his yellow duck bath tub he gets to sit in.

We hope everyone has a great week!

Love,
Jill, Jamie and Luke

GIGGLES!!!

I have been waiting for the tummy giggles for some time now and while he started to really go at them the past few weeks, I finally caught some on video to share with the out-of-towners who may need a little giggle of their own. Its funny what babies think is funny, who knew a pink plastic cup would be so entertaining!

I have finally finished grieving of not going to the Lumberjack World Championships next weekend in Hayward. While I certainly would love to go, I have accepted the fact that we are staying home. I did get a smile though when I heard Jamie booking the hotel room for next year, July 2011, here we come!!!

Jamie came home yesterday from a trip in Nebraska, he was somewhere near Sioux Falls, SD, that was the biggest city nearby. I figured, what's the point in asking where exactly he was, it's Nebraska, the whole state is the same - flat and boring. Personally, I'd rather go to Iowa. He leaves again tomorrow for Winne-something-or-another, Wisconsin and will be home late Saturday night. A nice short trip! We like those.

Luke and I have been not up to much. He's been busy trying new foods; he had Yo-Baby yogurt tonight and really liked it. I tried some myself, not bad! I have some mangoes ripening on the counter for him to try in a few days. I'm anxious to eat those too! Sorry for more food photos...

If only he knew the food was on his fingers, he's great at putting those in his mouth!

He's graduated from his bumbo chair (his thighs kept getting stuck when we would try to take him out) and into his high chair!

I swear some food made it into his mouth...

Happy baby!! Go Twins!

Trying out a new chair Grandpa got at Simonet's. Fit perfect!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and we'll post again soon!!

Love,
Jill, Jamie and Luke

Ups and Downs

i am going to warn you, this blog will have bad grammar with no capitals as hitting the shift key and then the backspace after i accidentally capitalize the second, not the first letter, will let me ramble about everything on my mind, mostly minuscule stuff, but hey, it's my blog. like my run-on sentence already??

so i just read another blog by the photographer of luke's newborn photos and also the mother of one of jamie's preschoolers and it is shocking, to me at least. check it out: http://foresthausphoto.blogspot.com/2010/07/hairy-situation.html

while i don't have a daughter, being a girly girl myself, my jaw was dropped the whole time. i am curious about the the 'before' photo though...

on another note, i have had a really great past week. my cousin micki flew in last week and we were able to spend a lot of time together, mostly by the pool hanging out with luke, her sister, kelene and her son jack. i meant to take more photos than i did, but here are a few from the reunion.

she hadn't seen luke since the beginning of april so she enjoyed hanging out with him, even if he was somewhat a crabby pants baby.

while i don't want to bring up the subject, i CANNOT WAIT for micki to move back home sometime next year. (i know i said no capitals, but i really really mean that i cannot wait!) i hope micki and her hubby dane find jobs back here much sooner than later so i can get my sister/cousin back to mn!

today we had a pool party, with rain and clouds, at my aunt and uncle's house. it was great because my grandpa from arizona is in town for the summer and he got to finally meet his newest great-grandson. after luke was passed around to everyone, he finally had his chance.

here's my grandpa with ella (3.5 years old), jack (18 months) and luke. ella really likes babies if you can't tell :)

now on a sad note, jamie does not want to compete in hayward this year for the lumberjack world championships. he has been so crazy busy with work and traveling this spring and summer that he hasn't been able to train like he would have liked to so we aren't going. i am almost in tears because i want to go so badly. i know, it's only hayward, wisconsin, but i really enjoy this weekend every year. i like watching everyone compete as i sit comfortably in the sun or shade, playing mini-golf, going to the same set restaurants every night and the social aspect of it. i completely understand jamie not wanting to go if he hasn't trained well, but what about my mini-vacation i was looking forward to and luke's first lumberjack world championships experience??? sure luke won't remember anything, but i would have taken plenty of pictures for his photo album that he can look at later in life and appreciate it then. i know that sounds selfish and i shouldn't say anything since it is jamie's weekend, but i love watching him compete, even if he may not win. seeing him log roll and particularly boom run, makes me so nervous and anxious, i think i hold my breath for most of the time. he is such an amazing athlete. hearing people cheer and scream for him as he booms and rolls, there isn't anything like it. (well i suppose hearing them cheer "jill" versus "jamie" would be cooler; maybe in my next life.) and even if it was jamie's weekend at some point, it is now the one weekend a summer we get to do something together as a family and we won't be going this year. so, i don't know if being a single mom part-time is starting to get to me, but even if i was still going to be the one taking care of luke all weekend, it still would have felt like a vacation to be out of our house and doing something fun. it would have been a break for me. since my only real break if going to waitress, and that's still working. i am very fortunate to not work full-time and get to spend all my time with my little man, luke. i need my get-away too though, even if he gets to come with. i guess i'll have to wait until next july for hayward.

i suppose i should include some photos from last year to pay tribute :)

here is a video from jamie and jr rolling for first place. jamie won the fall but ended up losing and earned a still-awesome second place.

sorry to sound like such a sap about not going to hayward; i really am going to miss it.

Loving Avocados

While I would like to post more, I will tomorrow or Thursday, but I wanted to post this cute video of Luke feeding himself his favorite food, avocados. I know, I know, it's just a baby eating mushy food, but he's OUR baby eating mushy food and it's cute. :) He grabbed the spoon and initially fed himself but hasn't for a month or so, except for tonight. Hope you like it!

And here are a few photos from his happy eating feast.

Yes, he is wearing two bibs, and I'm sure you can see why.

Tomorrow, Luke and I are picking up my cousin, Micki, who is visiting from Denver and we cannot wait! Tomorrow is also Jamie's birthday!! Unfortunately, he leaves for a lumberjack show at lunch time so we'll have to celebrate when he returns. 

Have a great week everyone!!

Jill, Jamie and Luke

Simonet's Reopens!!!

After a little over a year of being closed, our family furniture store has reopened! The 145 year legacy is being carried on after a short year off. My dad, along with Mike Kranz, owner of Midtown Antiques, has opened a new and used furniture store, called Simonet's Furniture and Flooring Outlet. After many hours of stress and sweat, they opened their doors today. For those who knew the old 'store', it looks very similar but with great discounts on nice quality furniture, carpet, flooring, tables and more. I will take some photos in the next few days to share with you. If you're in the area though, come and visit. You'll be amazed at the great deals. And chances are, Luke and I will be there so you can see him :) (I try to stop by often to give my dad a few moments of carefree baby time to take his mind off of things, I think it works.) I already have a new informal dining room table and chairs I have my eye on, just have to talk to Jamie first! While they had their "soft-opening" today, the grand opening will take place the week of Lumberjack Days in Stillwater, July 19-25. Check out their Facebook page

Here are a few photos I snapped of Luke and Jack the dog a couple of days ago.

Happy-go-lucky baby playing with his monkey-feet pjs.

He found something fun to hold onto!!

Distracted by the outdoors.....

And Jack walks away and Luke still holds on!!!

Happy Fourth of July!!