Walking and Talking Boy

Bishop has really taken off with his walking (literally)!! It is so much fun to watch him!

The past week he went from taking a few steps to walking out of "school" last night all by himself (I held his hand when we got outside, but otherwise he was all on his own)! He's really enjoying it and he's moved on from the "mummy" stage, where he holds his arms out in front of him to looking like a little boy now.

He has also started saying more words. His favorites are Dada, Uh-oh, nana and up, while he continues to say mama (although not has often as I'd like) :). He started saying "moo" and he said Auntie last night for the first time before Auntie came to visit! It was the best and he even said it for Auntie Shelly!

He is completely done with bottles and we're down to 1 nap a day! I definitely don't have a baby on my hands anymore! We are also completely done nursing. It was a LOT harder on me than it was on him!

Bishop and I are home together today, due to some car problems. We are stranded at home, forced to play together--it doesn't get much better than this (except for the car problems, but someone else will take care of those)! :)

What a fun stage! Bishop is so proud and happy to be walking and it's exciting to hear him talk and mimic us more. The other night Luke would crank his head and look up at the ceiling and Bishop would copy him....he basically does anything Luke does. There was a time not too long ago where he would only want to come to me, but lately he's preferring Luke. When we stopped the nighttime nursing, Luke started a new routine with him and he really enjoys that!

A busy weekend

We had a very fun and busy weekend!!

Bishop and I stayed at Grandpa and Grandma B's on Thursday night. When Bishop woke up on Friday morning I asked him if he wanted milk or if he wanted to play with Nana and Papa...his response was..."nana", so that was the end of our morning nursing--(that sounds kind of harsh, but it was my sign that he was ready to be done nursing in the morning), and he's been COMPLETELY fine!!

A happy boy with his nana!

Bishop "on Papa's phone"-he puts the phone up to his ear!

Saturday we had Bishop's one year pictures taken. I will post them as soon as I see/get them! There's one on my facebook page and I can't wait to see the others. He wasn't super smiley, but he was cooperative for the most part and he was very interested in the camera and his surroundings.

Saturday night we had dinner at the Hubbell House for our annual March Madness contest with my family. This was for last years contest, which my dad won (no surprise there, he usually wins). It was a great night and Bishop had a blast and did so well!

Bishop eating his dessert at The Hubbell House

Today has been quite the day! We went to Rock the Cradle at the MN Institute of Arts. Bishop loved all the people and the music....and it was PACKED! After that we went out for lunch and got groceries.

Playing the piano

Bishop playing the bongo, he really enjoyed this one!

We skiied on the streets in our neighborhood this afternoon after we got home. Most of the streets haven't been plowed, so it worked out great. We were going to ski around the lake, but it was too windy, so we stuck to the streets, which was great!!

Skiing in our neighborhood

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend!!

Valentine's Day

Luke and I started a tradition a few years ago that on Valentine's Day we make a new recipe, instead of going out to eat. We followed the tradition this year and it was quite possibly the best one yet!!

After Bishop went to bed we made Surf and Turf (shrimp and steak- and asparagus). It was SO good!! The cut of the steak was beef tenderloin, I didn't realize how expensive that cut of steak is, but it was worth every penny!

We exchanged small gifts, cards and ate by candle-light. It was a perfect Valentine's day with both of my Valentine's!!

Birthday Party

SO BIG with Great Grandpa and Grandma Bishop

Uncle Jake

I got Bishop a balloon that sings "happy birthday to you" and he LOVED it!

Bishop had his first birthday party on Sunday! It was a blast and he had so much fun! He was a bit overwhelmed with all the gifts (I was too) as everyone was SO generous...but he's LOVING all of them now!! :)

Bishop got his own birthday cake and he enjoyed every bite of it!!

After all his guests left we all took a nap and then got out to enjoy the beautiful weather by going for a walk.

I know I've posted this before, but it's been a wonderful year and I am so proud to call Bishop my son. He is simply amazing and I am so excited to watch him grow....he's so fun!

He's saying a few words now "up", "uh-oh", mama, dada, nana and lots of babbling and story telling! He still enjoys "SO BIG" and his new favorite is clapping when you sing, "if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands"!

He's started to take a few steps--I think we're up to 6 now, so that's exciting! It will be any day and he'll be running around like crazy!

If you're happy and you know it......

Bishop's 12 month appointment

Bishop had his 12 month appointment this morning and all went well!

He weighed in at 23lbs 11oz and is 30 1/4 inches. He is about 70% for both (they correct them for premies and he's catching up to being almost equal to his adjusted age).

He had a bit of fluid in his ears, but no infection--he's basically had a cold all winter, so hopefully the fluid clears out when this cold is over. I'm hoping the warmer weather will help!

All in all, it was a great appointment! He had a couple shots, which he didn't like (I didn't like them either), but he's a pretty tough guy and he handled them well!

Here's to a great weekend!

Happy 1st Birthday Bishop!

Happy 1st Birthday Bishop!!!!

Wow-what a year it's been, I can't believe you're one already!!! Crazy! You are such a joy...ALWAYS happy, giggling and enjoying life to it's fullest! You have taught me so much and I am so proud of you!!

Thanks for the past year, you are amazing!!

Bishop's last day of being a "baby". We spent the afternoon/evening at Grandpa and Grandma Froehle's (yesterday).

Lifting weights!!

Bishop's last "sleep" before he turned one!

Bishop got to take a bath the morning of his birthday--one of his favorite things to do!

Eating lunch at school!

Opening a few presents from Gpa and Gma B!

Grandma B gave me some cake so I could practice before my party on Sunday!

Eating at Buster's for my birthday dinner!

I thought the last two pictures were so cute--with Luke looking at Bishop and then Bishop looking at Luke. He had so much fun eating out--and we had chocolate cake to celebrate and Bishop LOVED it!!!

We had such a great day! Bishop was able to celebrate with his friends at school this morning. I picked him up around noon and we celebrated with Gpa and Gma B. We visited my cousin, Tim, who just had back surgery and we celebrated with more gifts from (Great) Uncle Bob and Aunt Sandy. We ended the day with a trip to Buster's and celebrated with Uncle Jake! The best is yet to come with the party on Sunday!

I re-told our crazy story to Bishop's teachers today at school and it brought back so many memories. A year ago today was a scary day!! Neither Bishop, nor I, were doing very well...but we have had such a happy year and things couldn't be better! It's hard to believe what we experienced within the past year and Bishop puts everything into perspective! His smiles and giggles are unforgetable--to me he is the definition of HAPPY!! Such a happy, go with the flow, carefree boy (we're still trying to figure out where that came from)! :)

I thought I might be more emotional today--and while it was a little sad to see my "baby" turn one, I am so happy and proud of him! I was sad to see the day end though--as it was such a great day and I didn't want it to end!!

We have Bishop's one year appointment tomorrow and his party on Sunday--so we have a fun weekend ahead!!

Here's to the next year--it's sure to be even better than the last!!

You Are My I Love You, Bishop!

The North Shore

Luke and I went up to the North Shore this past weekend to do some skiing! We had great weather and some great skiing!

We took off early on Friday and skiied the Baptism River, which is where all the pictures are from. It was a gorgeous ski and the conditions were great!

Saturday we tried to ski the Brule River--after slogging through VERY heavy snow for 2 hours we couldn't find the "put in" to get on the river so we left to ski someplace else. We got on the Devil's Track River, which we've skiied a couple other of times, but decided it wasn't the best idea to get such a late start with the heavy snow on the river, so we skate skiied at Pincushion instead. It was AWESOME skate skiing and it felt great to be on groomed land! :)

Sunday we got dropped off above BlueFin Bay (where we stayed) and we skiied down to the resort. I was thinking it would be mostly downhill, but I was SO wrong!! We skate skiied for close to 3 hours and it was A LOT of steep up hill! It was pretty cool though as we hardly saw any people and we saw some cool views (and the last portion was all downhill, so that was a nice way to end)!

Bishop stayed at Grandpa and Grandma B's for the weekend and they all had a blast!! He played and walked and took baths and even got to go to a basketball game! Thank you mom and dad, you are the best and we appreciate it SO much!!