New Jersey

I've been in New Jersey for work for 8 days now!! I go home on Thursday and I am SO excited to get home to see my boys!! I miss Bishop and Luke SO much!! Things have gone well here so far and the time has gone relatively fast, but I miss my baby like crazy!!!

This past weekend I had driver's training on Saturday. We were in the classroom 1/2 the day and behind the wheel 1/2 the day. We were let out early, which was great.

Sunday I went into New York City! The Twins were playing the Mets, so I went to the Mets stadium and watched the Twins play, which was fun. We lost....and we only stayed for the first 5 1/2 innings, but it was still a lot of fun to see the stadium and the Twins. It was a HOT HOT day! After that we took the train back to Penn Station and we walked around Times Square and Central Park. We took the train home and got back around 8pm or so. It was a great day and I'm so glad to see the city again and to get out of the hotel!!! I was exhausted by the end of the day though.

Tomorrow is my last full day of training! Thursday morning I take my final test and then I'm on my way home...I cannot wait!!

Rich (my father in law) retires on Thursday and we're having a big celebration for him on Friday night at the annual Barn Dance, so that'll be fun.

7 "sleeps" down, 2 to go!!!

4829

It's been a CRAZY past week!

We are all moved into our new house--4829! We LOVE it and we absolutely love the location. We had all week to move last week (and we were all sick) and it was a lot of work, but we are "in" and loving it! Our life will continue to be in transition, as the construction started yesterday, on the renovation of our new house. There are guys out digging our backyard up, right now! We expect it to take 12 weeks, so we'll be living minimally until it's done. Thankfully, it won't disrupt our lives TOO much, but we will have some interference here and there (limited access to our basement, laundry, etc).

This past weekend we spent our time unpacking and organizing as best we could. On Saturday, we went to Target Field to watch Rocori win the State Championship in baseball. The last time that happened was Luke's team, so it was fun to watch! Bishop had a great time checking everything out and my parents were able to join us, so that was fun too!

Father's day was spent as a family. We went for a walk around Lake Harriet (our new lake) and Calhoun and had a picnic. It was perfect! That evening the Hennum's came over for dinner-we grilled out and sat outside, something we've been looking forward to doing for a LOOONG time!

Last night was a very special night for my dad. He was inducted into the Richfield High School Hall of Fame for baseball and basketball! He was (and still is) quite the athlete and I am so proud of him and to be his daughter! He is such a hard worker and is so talented. He has taught me so much in life, thanks dad...you're the best!

Today is kind of sad day for me. I leave for NJ for 10 days for work! I'm going to miss my bugaboo SO SO much!! I get teary eyed just thinking about it!! Bishop is such a sweet boy--he is such a happy baby --he laughs and smiles all the time and he's so fun! His teachers at school say he just watches his friends and smiles, when they read books to him he smiles and he just smiles most of the day! He's been sleeping really well too, so I hope he sleeps through the night for his daddy. I know it'll be hard, I just pray the time goes fast and we'll be snuggling together again!

Four Month Check up

Bishop had his four month check up today! He did great!! He weighs 15lb 1 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. He has developed a cold from his first 2 weeks at daycare, but there was no fluid in his lungs or ears....it's just a cold and you would never know he's not feeling well, because he's his happy, smiley self!!!

We have been working on having Bishop look to his left more, as he always looks to his right when he's sleeping and it's created a little flat spot on the back of his head. His Dr today said it's not "helmet" worthy, so that was a relief. We will continue to work on having him turn his head and we'll try to keep him off his back as much as possible...tummy time, here we come (not Bishop's favorite thing to do)! :)

He did get two shots--he didn't flinch for the first one (you wouldn't have even thought they pinched him), but the second one stung a bit more (the nurse said it would). He cried a bit and that was it. We all went to lunch afterwards and Bishop fell asleep. He was pretty drowsy after his shots at his 2 month checkup, so I wasn't surprised.

All in all, he is doing great!! I am so proud of him and I love him to pieces!! He has been sleeping like a champ! He's slept through the night more and his average is to eat at 8pm, go to bed after that and sleep until 3 (if not 6am), eat and then go back down for a few more hours.

I dread leaving him for two weeks, it will be one of the hardest things I've had to do, but we'll get through it and it will make me REALLY appreciate the time I do spend with him!

We are spending our weekend packing up the house--no more 5712 as of next week!!! It's been a great house for us for 6 years! I can't believe we've been here for 6 years, but we are incredibly excited about our new house and neighborhood!

Working with Daddy

Weekend

We close on our new house one week from tomorrow!! Wow!! It'll be so nice to get into our new house, we are really excited--it's just SO much work getting to that point!

Friday night we met with our mortgage broker and friend, Dan. We hung out with him Michelle and Danny--we had dinner with them and it was so great to hang out! Danny is one month older than Bishop and he is so cute! He's a big boy and Bishop has some catching up to do to keep up with him!! I'm sure it won't be long and Bishop will be bigger than him!!

Saturday we had Fintan's 3rd birthday party. It was too bad it was raining, but we were under the chalet, and the kids still had fun! Bishop loved seeing all the people and he took a nice nap after the party!

Bishop all dressed up for Fintan's birthday party!

Saturday afternoon Shelly and my cousin Tim stopped by. Shelly helped me pack up the basement. She was a HUGE help!! We stopped by Tim's to have some of his homemade beer, which was delicious! Bishop loves his auntie Shelly and Tim--he was very happy hanging out with both of them!

Today we had Bennett's 1st birthday party!! Bennett is SO cute!!! He had a blast eating his first birthday cake, it was pretty cute--he had chocolate cake ALL over himself! I wish I would have taken a picture!

We've had a very nice weekend...it will be sad dropping Bishop off again tomorrow, but the week will go fast and then we'll be moving, which will be great!!

Back to Work

It was back to work for me today---after being off for 7 months, I am officially back! It was sad to leave Bishop, but I think he's happy at daycare and he'll be able to play all day long with his new friends!

I was so fortunate to be off with Bishop for 4 months--we had a great time and I cherished EVERY minute of it!! I wouldn't have traded that time off for anything! It's hard to not be with him all the time now, but I truly believe it's best for both of us!

Luke got me a "going back to work" gift today--he's the absolute best! He got me a bluetooth, and I was pretty excited about it!

Bishop had a good first day at "school". He took a couple of naps, took his bottle a couple times--and played with his friends. His teacher said he is a very happy baby, unless he's hungry!! He smiled and smiled when we picked him up, it was so great to see!

My transition back to work is a little different. I am home studying for the first 3 weeks, as I will be selling 2 new drugs. So, I am actually home, studying. My first day went well-it went really fast, which was great!

We all survived--I think anticipation is always harder than reality. There were some tears....but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Everyone says--it gets easier as time goes on.

Hiking with Auntie Shelly and Uncle Ryan

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Sunday we went for brunch at Al Vento. That afternoon we went for a hike with Auntie Shelly and Uncle Ryan at Lake Maria State Park. It was kind of a cloudy day and the mosquitos were out to get us, but we still had a great time. After our hike we went to Shelly and Ryan's and they made us delicious fajitas for dinner! We love spending time with them--it's always a good time!

Monday morning we got up and drove down to Matt Addington's, near Kenyon. He took pictures of Bishop, which was fun. They have a beautiful place and the weather was absolutely perfect!!! We are so lucky to know Matt and have him capture Bishop as he grows., as he is SO talented. You will have to check out Matt's website to see the pictures: mattaddington.com then go to his blog (on the right)! We absolutely LOVE the pictures, thanks Matt!

Monday afternoon we went for a walk around Lake of the Isles and had a picnic! It's one of my absolute favorite things to do. We got all our favorites.....prosciutto y melone, pecorino cheese, bread, olives and of course a bottle of wine! It brings us back to Italy!! It was a beautiful day for a walk and a picnic!

Monday night we went over to the McGovern's for a BBQ, it was the perfect way to end our long weekend.....and my maternity leave!