August

I apologize for being so slack in my updates, this house renovation has taken quite a bit more of my time than I had anticipated. Work has also been busy and when I'm not dealing with either of those two things, I spend my time with my 2 boys! :)

We moved back home last Saturday and let me say, it is NICE to be home!! It's really true, there's no place like home. The house looks great and should be done 3 weeks from today! Everyday gets closer and closer and it's exciting! This was a picture from last weekend.

The mudroom

The new living room

Bishop has been doing great! He started eating rice cereal and vegetables, so that's been fun. We also transitioned him into his crib and he's adjusted VERY well (much better than I thought). We let him "cry it out" a couple of nights ago, which was tough, but last night (and so far tonight) he's gone down easily and he slept 10 1/2 hrs last night, which was WONDERFUL!!! Bishop had his 6 month birthday on August 10th and he's sitting up and playing, it's so fun! He loves to laugh, giggle (especially with daddy) and smile. He's such a happy boy, we are so blessed!

Bishop eating rice cereal for the first time

We celebrated my Grandparents 65th Wedding Anniversary on August 15th at Sunnyside. They are doing so well!

We are trying to soak up as much of the summer as we can!! I will try to update this blog much more often now that we're home!

House Renovation

Wow-it's been awhile since I've last posted. Life has been very crazy the past week! This is a long post, so sorry for that!

Monday was my 30th birthday. We celebrated on Saturday night at Lowertown Music Fest, where we saw Cloud Cult AND Mason Jennings play at an outdoor venue. Cloud Cult and Mason are my absolute FAVORITE bands, so I was SUPER happy! We took the city bus (my first time) with the Steffen's and Jones', so that was fun. Bishop was with Grandpa and Grandma B, so we stayed at the Steffen's, which was fun too! Bishop stayed with his grandparents because we were in Owatonna helping MY grandparents move into an assisted living apartment. On my actual birthday Shelly took me out to lunch and Luke and Bishop took me to Al Vento for dinner, so that was nice. We temporarily moved into our friends parents condo in downtown Mpls, while they sheetrock our house.

It's been a very stressful week transitioning to the condo and we've done a lot of running back and forth. Thursday night Luke was on the road for work and Bishop and I got to the condo to find out it had sustained water damage during the day and there were industrial fans and devices to remove water from the air in the condo....it was too much to stay at the condo, so we stayed at Auntie Shelly and Uncle Ryan's (which was a nice treat)! Things have settled down and we're able to stay at the condo again.

Today was the Bishop Open in Eagan. The golfers included Grandpa Ray, Barry, Bob, Jon, Shelly, Ryan, Luke, LeeAnn and Patrick. Bishop, myself, Sharon, Jennie and Darlene joined the golfers for lunch. It was a great day!!

Our house looks great and it's so fun to see the progress they've made. The sheetrock is on and they will sand next week and put the stucco on the outside. I did some "shopping" this past week for light fixtures, faucets, toilets, etc, so that was fun. It will all be worth it in the end and they should be done in 5 weeks!!

Froehle Family Reunion 2010

Wow! It's been a long time since I've updated the blog and a LOT has happened in our lives since then!

I will try to update this as much as possible.

We spent a week in Colorado for the Froehle Family Reunion 2010! We drove and Bishop did great on the drive out and back! We went on a bunch of hikes with Bishop and he was such a trooper. We went on some pretty intense hikes--including a hike to Black Lake....it rained and was windy for part of the hike. I wiped out on the way down and Bishop was covered by the poncho (he "hiked" in the Bjorn with his dad). It was an 11 mile hike, which was tough, but it was so beautiful!! We hiked in the Rocky National Park as well as Roosevelt National Park.

We were able to spend time with Froehle's from all over the US--I love seeing all the relatives and it was a wonderful time together with family. There were 75 Froehle's who made it to the reunion this year. Some highlights include:

• Hiking, hiking and more hiking (we hiked a total of 30 miles or so)
• Whitewater Rafting with 9 other Froehle's down the Poudre River with some intense Class IV rapids
• Cooking dinner for 50 Froehle's with Luke and his cousin Melissa
• Casino Night, the Olympics and the Talent Show
• Swimming in the pool with Bishop
• Spending time with family we don't see that often

It was a wonderful reunion and we are already looking forward to the next one!!!

We got home on Sunday night at 11:30pm, after driving straight through and getting home in 13 1/2 hrs (record time for having a baby with us). We knew there had been a lot of work done to our house while we were gone and that things would be quite invasive, but it was quite the eye opener when we got home. We have plastic zippers all over our house, which makes going up and down the stairs quite difficult. The house looks fantastic and they are moving along at record speed!! The house is completely framed with the windows and doors in. The radiators and boiler are out of the house and they continue to work on putting in the duct work, electrical work, etc. Sheet rock should be put in next week and then things will zip right along. It's exciting and it will be so nice when it's all done, until then, we're just trying to get by! :)

Happy Retirement Rich!!

Congratulations on your Retirement, Rich!!!!!

Rich retired on Thursday, July 1st and we celebrated with the annual Barn Dance on Friday, July 2nd!! It was Bishop's first barn dance, so it was extra special!! We are all so happy and proud of you, Rich! The Barn Dance tradition started a few years ago (probably 5 yrs ago), after the barn was raised....before the barn dance was the "barn raising" weekend when everyone would come up to help Rich build the barn to store the firewood. Now we all reap the rewards of the barn dance, where we hire a blue grass band to play. This year was extra special since it was Rich's retirement party, so lots of friends and family came to celebrate!

Saturday we went to the Hold Steady Concert at the Cabooze. Grandpa and Grandma B came up to watch Bishop so Luke and I could go enjoy a night out together! We had so much fun!

On the 4th of July we went out on Lake Minnetonka with Paul, Jadee and Johnny!! Bishop had such a great time on the boat and playing in the water!! We tried to stay for the fireworks, but Bishop wasn't going to fall asleep, so we had to leave around 9:30--we still had a great time!!

Today was a great day! Luke went for a bike ride with Tony Meysenberg, while Bishop and I went to the grocery store. We had a picnic at Lake Nokomis Beach with the Bitzer's and Meysenberg's--Bishop just LOVES the water, it's great!! Bishop went on the swings for the first time today and he absolutely LOVED it!! He laughed and giggled the entire time, it was so cute!! Auntie Shelly and Uncle Ryan came over this afternoon....we hung out and went for a walk--it was so great to see you both!!!

I got home Thursday and it's been SO nice being home!! Bishop is such a happy guy and he's really into playing with his hands and feet these days!! He loves sucking on his hands--he'll try to get as many fingers in his mouth as he can!! He is so a good baby, we are so blessed!! He makes everything SO much more fun!!

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!