Cute like my mom

So yesterday I told you about my love of jammies, so now I have to show you my cutest pair... Duckies are pretty neat, I haven't gotten to play with my duckie in the bathtub yet but I am looking forward to it! I really like these jammies because they have duckies all over them, they even have duckies on the feet!!!

Mom likes these jammies because they say "cute like my mom" on them...Daddy says mom is pretty cute, and he says I am pretty cute so I guess it fits...

Now that I am all tucked into my jammies I have to go to bed.

Have a good night!

Linden

Jammie day!

The perfect day, that is the best way to describe yesterday...Mom declared it jammie day!! Anybody who really knows my mom knows that she LOVES to stay in her sweatpants all day...When she was in college she "borrowed" one of daddy's pairs of sweatpants and wore them until just last year when daddy made her throw them out because they were thread bare (she didn't wear them the whole time, but she wore them a LOT!!) It took a long time to find a new pair that measured up...I think that is how I feel about my fuzzy jammies, I think I am going to wear these until I am at LEAST 3 years old... I don't know who gave me these jammies but they are PERFECT! They are very soft, have flowers and polka dots, are bright blue, and keep my feet warm...what more could a girl ask for? I am kind of worried about my favorite jammies though, we went to Amazing Newborn Clinic today and I weighed 11 pounds 8 ounces, I think I may need to go on a diet! Speaking of Amazing Newborn Clinic, today was a lot of fun, I got to see my friend Parsons and I got to meet baby Max too! There were all sorts of brand new babies today, mom looked like she was going to cry. She kept saying, "I can't believe Linden was that little, just 10 weeks ago..." Hopefully I don't out-grow my jammies too soon...Do you think I will? I don't think I am going to be able to sleep tonight, I need to soak up every moment in my jammies that I can get... I hope everybody enjoys their jammies as much as mom and I do. I think there should be a national holiday to celebrate pajamas and nobody should have to leave the house that day. Have a good night and appreciate your jammies! Linden

Happy Birthday Auntie Heidi!!

Yesterday was a very special day, it was Auntie Heidi's Birthday!! It was a pretty good day, first I started out by getting dressed up all cute, don't you love my little shoes!! I ate a really big pre-supper snack and made sure to take a REALLY good nap...

Grandma and Grandpa came over and we grilled steak and potatoes, they even brought a mini cake to celebrate (I wasn't quite done with my nap on the couch so I decided to take one in my swing too...) I tried sneaking a taste of the cake but mom caught me with my fingers in it and wiped them off before I could get them to my mouth...

Celebrating is a lot of hard work, and grandma Nancy is really comfortable, I decided to take one more nap with her. She was kind of bummed I didn't give her a smile, I was just too tired!

You might be wondering why there isn't a picture of me with Auntie Heidi, it is because she is in Boston right now, that's right, we celebrated Heidi's birthday without her!! I am sure she had a great time in Boston, we miss you Auntie Heidi and hope you have a great trip!!

Hope you all had a great weekend,

Linden

(I have to apologize, I missed saying Happy Birthday to my Auntie Megan, March 13th, and Auntie Missy, March 23rd...Happy Birthday guys, I love you!!!)

I love my Bumbo

Happy Friday! Friday is a pretty exciting day, first of all it means I get to go to Zumba with mom, normally it means we get to go out to lunch with dad (we were busy today so we had to skip out), it usually means a trip to Target (not that we need something every Friday, we just like to go), but most importantly, it means daddy will be home for two days!!!

I have to tell you about one of my favorite things right now, it is called a Bumbo. It is a little seat that only I fit into and it lets me sit up all on my own! I get pretty comfy when I am in my bumbo...


I really like sitting in it because it means mom gets to be on the floor in front of me and then she makes silly noises and faces to make me smile (this isn't a very good picture of me smiling, she needs to work on her camera skills...)

The bumbo is pretty nice because it has high sides so I can't fall over and the back is high enough to help me hold my head up. The center thing is nice so I don't slide out. I am still a little small for it so I kind of lean over at times, but it is still fun...like my rattle? Kitten really likes playing with it too.

I can only be in the bumbo for a certain amount of time though and then I get tired, and then I get crabby.

Don't I have the meanest mom ever, she takes pictures of me when I am mad instead of helping me out, I'm telling grandma next time I see her...

Once again, Happy Friday!

Linden

Ready, Set, Smile!

Today was a pretty fun day...

My day started out early this morning with a bath. I really like baths, I don't splash around yet but the water is really warm and relaxing so I like it a lot.

After my bath I took a nap and then when I woke up I was at mom's friend's house where I got to have a play date, I got to meet three new babies today. Meela and Finley are both four weeks old but Finley was born 6 weeks early so she is TINY!! Meela is around 9 pounds, Finley is still under 6 pounds. Kaia is only two weeks old and she was pretty tiny too, their moms said they had to use preemie diapers, I wasn't even that little! We had so much fun that mom forgot to take a picture...

After my play date I took another nap and woke up at the bowling alley. It was mom's last night of bowling for the season which is a bummer because I liked hanging out at the bowl alley. She did pretty good, but I don't think she did good enough to get any prize money.

After dinner we came home and I got to talk to Grandma Carolyn on Skype. We still don't have it quite figured out so I couldn't see her but she got to see me. This was my first time using Skype and it was pretty neat. I am a very lucky girl that I get to see my grandma even when she is so far away.

I started smiling this week. I like when mama makes funny noises and when she makes funny faces. I tried really hard to avoid smiling for her camera, but she caught me in the act (I was trying to be like Grandpa Tim, he never smiles for pictures, I think it is kinda funny!!) I decided to smile for Grandma Carolyn on Skype tonight too.

Time for bed, I have given mom a couple good nights the past few nights (I slept for 7 hours straight one night and then 5 the next), I can't decide if I should give her another good night, go back to 4 hour stretches, or give her a run for her money and only sleep for 2...decisions...

Have a good night,
Linden

Duluth Weekend Part 2: Fun

The food had mom all excited about going to Duluth, I was excited for all of the fun we were going to have...

Mom and dad have been talking about how much fun swimming is ever since I got my first swimsuit. Evidently the big chunk of ice outside grandma Carolyn's house is going to turn into a REALLY fun place to swim, I am not buying it, but we'll see, summer is on its way. Mom and dad took me swimming while we were in Duluth...Here is a picture of me in my new swimming suit:
Mom tried finding me swim diapers for babies as little as me but she had a really hard time. My swim diaper was a little big, but my swimsuit held it on, so it was Ok. I didn't really know what to do in the swimming pool, I mostly just sat in mom's arms and looked around. The water wasn't quite as warm as my bath so I was a little cold and didn't really get to swim too long...

I had a good time swimming but that isn't why we went to Duluth. Here is a picture of my first trip to the Duluth Lift Bridge. It was pretty cold out so mom wouldn't let me get out of my carseat, but it was still a lot of fun. I can't wait until this summer when I get to see the boats go under it, the shipping season doesn't start until this coming weekend.

We made a trip up to Gooseberry Falls too. The water fall was pretty neat, there was an over layer of ice with the water flowing underneath. Here is our first family photo there...

The stairs were really icy so mom was nervous to walk around too much. I really like riding in mom's carrier, I get to snuggle up close to mom and she does all the work! I was toasty warm, although I think mom was a little confused, she put SOCKS on my hands. She said it was to keep them warm because we didn't have any mittens, I thought it was a bit silly!

Mom wouldn't let me go off the trails but dad got to with Jake and Bella. They really liked Gooseberry Falls, there is a LOT to smell.

Over all we had a great trip. It was a little cold, although they are getting a LOT of snow right now so I won't complain!

I'm glad we got to go on our first family vacation, now off to bed...

Linden

Duluth Weekend Part 1: Food

We are back from our first family vacation, and let me tell you, we had a GREAT time!! I can see why mom and dad love it up there.

One of mom's favorite parts about going to Duluth is eating out. Mom LOVES to eat out and she especially loves the variety of restaurants. One of mom's favorite restaurants is the New Scenic Cafe along Scenic Highway 61 between Duluth and Two Harbors. We went there on Friday night and it didn't disappoint. Mom had steak and scallops and dad had fish. I had my usual bottle, I was a tad disappointed, I thought it would taste better, but it was pretty standard so no complaints...Mom took a picture of my bottle next to her and dad's.

Mom said the best part of her meal was dessert, she had a chocolate espresso cake. Mom always talks to me about sharing but she made daddy get his own dessert, evidently sharing doesn't apply to dessert...I'll have to file that one away for future reference.

The next day for lunch mom wanted to check out Burrito Union. On their website it said they had a feature burrito called the Meatloaf Burrito and mom REALLY wanted to check it out. Turns out they stopped doing the feature burrito the week before so she had to order a regular one. She gave it good reviews, not as good as Chipotle, but it ranked up there. My burrito tasted just like every other bottle I have ever had, these restaurants need to start catering to the younger crowds...

We went to Midi Restaurant in the Fitgers building for dinner on Saturday night and unfortunately it wasn't anything to rave about. Mom said her food was pretty bland so I opted to wait until we got back to the hotel to have my dinner. I don't think we will be back there again.

Lunch on Sunday was pretty fun. Mom's cousin, Christina, goes to school in Duluth so we called her to see if she wanted to do lunch. Her sister, Jessica was in town so I got to meet them and eat at Subway. It was fun meeting mom's cousins and letting them have a chance to catch up.

That is all for the restaurant reviews. I can't wait until I am old enough to order off the menu, I will be able to compare chicken strips and mac n' cheese.

Tomorrow will be part two of our Duluth Adventure, have a good night!

Linden

You will never believe what they did to me...

Ok, so I know I made it sound like yesterday's post was going to be the last one until we got home from Duluth, but you will NEVER believe what they did to me yesterday...

It started out like any normal Thursday, wake up, a little tummy time, a little play time, a couple bottles, a couple naps, the usual. The afternoon started to pick up, mom and I went to the store and bought all sorts of things, it was great. Then it got even better, mom and I went and picked dad up at work, we NEVER do that, I was certain we were going to have a great evening. Then we showed up at the doctor's office. I like Dr. Bob so I wasn't discouraged, he and his nurses play with me and give me lots of attention. Little did I know that things were going to go down hill, and FAST!!

First his nurse started by weighing me, 10 pounds 11 ounces!!! I am in the 50th percentile for my weight now! 23 inches long, which puts me in the 75th percentile for height, I was doing great. Then Dr. Bob came in and told mom that I am the picture of perfect health. Pretty standard trip, now on to the rest of the evening.

Then his nurse came in again, this never happens so I was kind of curious, like I said, we like his nurse so I was Ok with it. They put me on the table, and daddy was playing with me while the nurse started messing with my legs, and then, it happened....AAAGGGHHHHH!!! It was so horrible! Not only did they poke me one time with a sharp thing, but they did it two more times! Didn't they understand after the first one that I didn't like it?

Afterwards I got to cuddle with mom for a few minutes while she gave me a bottle. That made things feel much better, I think mom is the best medicine! I got my first bandaids out of the deal, and they had cute circus animals on them so that wasn't so bad.

I don't know if I am going to let mom take me back to Dr. Bob, he tricked me and I didn't like it!! Too bad I am too little for candy, I heard the big kids talking about getting a sucker...maybe next time.

Have a great weekend,

Linden

As promised...

As promised here are some of the top picks from my very first photo shoot...


I am dreaming about snowboarding in this photo (Betsy asked mom and dad for a snowboarding hat, can you believe I fit in it!!)

This is my favorite quilt from my mama! The worst part about it is that it is too comfortable, I fall asleep on it and I am out for a while!!

Aren't I cute!

This blanket is from my Great Grandma Ruth (my mom's mom's mom). I never got to meet her but I am named after her so I think it is pretty cool that I got to have this. She originally gave it to mom's cousin but she ended up having all boys so she passed it down to me!

Well, there you have it. I think I did pretty good for my first try at modeling. It won't be long and I will be at it again for my 3 month photos! I am getting big pretty fast!

For those of you who do not have FaceBook accounts here is a link to look at a few more of the photos from the shoot: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3176042&id=13916752&l=b435b63e18

We are leaving tomorrow for our first family vacation to Duluth. I have never been on a vacation and I have never been to Duluth so I am pretty excited!! I'm sure I will have lots to talk about on Monday!

Have a great weekend and a Happy St. Patricks Day!

Linden

Before I was me...

I decided to share the blog today with my mom...For those of you who didn't know this already, my mom LOVED being pregnant with me. What can I say, I am pretty much amazing, who wouldn't want to hang out with me all day? Not to mention, I made it REALLY easy on her!!

Mom always knew I was going to be a beautiful baby, so between the fact that she loved being pregnant and the fact that she knew I was model worthy, she decided to get maternity pictures taken.

Mom picked Betsy Cole because she knew that the photos would turn out amazing. Here are some of mom's favorites (it took her a LONG time to narrow this down)...

Betsy was one of the few people to know my name before I was born so we could do this picture



Daddy needs to learn to smile better, this is one of the better smiles he gave that day. I guess he didn't want to take the spotlight away from me

Isn't my mama beautiful?

This is another short blog because when you have such great pictures you don't really need to say much about them. Mom posted a few more out on FaceBook (I think you can use this link if you don't have a FaceBook account) http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=3176036&id=13916752&l=8bdd541bd0

Look forward to the next post, you will get to see pictures of me!!

Linden

Being a baby is Stressful!

So, I was in the bathroom this morning with mom when she was getting ready and I noticed that my hair is falling out!! When I was born I had a full head of dark, beautiful hair, now all I have on top is peach fuzz!!

I can understand why this happened, being a baby is stressful. It is a lot of work making sure I get in enough naps and bottles each day. Beyond that, I have a reputation of being adorable to live up to.

Mom is pretty good about calming me down when I get worked up, although, sometimes I like to mess with her and make it extra difficult.

I really hope that I get my hair back soon!
Linden

How big is Linden?

SOO BIG!!


Today I turned 7 weeks old, mom says that I have been alive for 49 days, I don't know if I will ever be able to count that high!!


Everybody keeps telling me how big I have gotten so I made mom look back through the pictures and show me how little I started out.


Here is the picture they took of me when I came home from the hospital, I was just three days old...
And here is a picture of me from today in the same outfit...I think this is the last time I am going to get to wear this one...

Mom's friend Kari gave me this stuffed monkey as a gift. It is really soft and mom thought it was funny that I was the same size as it. I was only a couple of days old in this picture...

Here is a picture of me with my monkey from today...

I guess I have gotten bigger, that must mean mom is feeding me well!

As usual, I have to end this post in order to go to bed. I try and convince mom to let me stay up late but she is already a stickler about my bedtime...

Have a good night,

Linden

Rochester Weekend Part 3: You may now kiss the bride

Dum Dum da dum, Dum Dum da dum...(sing that to the tune of the wedding march and it makes more sense)...

This weekend I figured out what I want to do when I grow up, I want to marry daddy and live happily ever after...

We went to the wedding of mom's high school friend, Dena Hammond, she married Joel Wienberger in Rochester this weekend. We had a great time at the wedding. I was fantastic, as usual, and slept the entire wedding, I waited until the very end to wake up, a girl gets hungry...Joel and Dena are a really fun couple so there were a lot of unique touches to the wedding, from the creative drawings on the program, to the readings from Mr Rogers and a book called "A Lovely Love Story".

Dena is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and works in one of the labs (she is REALLY smart), I think they met through their time spent in the lab at school. Well, one of the special, unique touches they had for their wedding was their center pieces...It is hard to tell from the picture but they are all beakers!! Their favors were test tubes filled with chocolate candies...

In addition to the creative centerpieces they also made Mad-Libs for everybody to fill out, and bingo cards so we had extra to do at the reception. It was a beautiful day and we are very happy for them. Here is a picture of me in my pretty dress that I wore to the wedding. I had a bow in my hair but it didn't stay on my head very well, I think I need to grow a little bit more...

We had a great time in Rochester. I love hanging out with my family, seeing mom's friends and cheering for hockey! Who knows what next weekend will bring!

Lots of love,

Linden

Rochester Weekend Part 2: Hockey!

Alright, more about our busy weekend...

The reason we decided to go to Rochester for the entire weekend was because my cousin, Tyler, was playing in the Regional Hockey Tournament. His first game was on Friday evening, then it depended on how they did for when they would play next.

Tyler plays on the Lakeville South PeeWee B hockey team. Their first game was Friday night against one of the Rochester teams and they kicked butt! I had a great time watching the game and cuddling with my aunties. Because they won they got to play again on Saturday morning. Saturday they played against Waseca and once again, they kicked butt! It was a really physical game and a fight even broke out!! Tyler had a great time.

After the games I got to hangout with Tyler for a little bit. He is a great cousin and really enjoys cuddling with me and showing me off. He is even ok holding me in front of all of his hockey buddies. I like cuddling with him except right after hockey, he is a STINKY boy!! Either way, he is my favorite cousin so I'll keep him.

Because Tyler's team won the first two games they got to play again on Sunday and this was the BIG game against Rosemount. Tyler's team played them twice during the regular season and even though both games were close and came down to the end, they lost both times 2-3. The team was excited to get one more shot! They took the lead early in the game and things looked pretty good. With less than 6 minutes left in the game one of the Rosemount boys hit the boards hard and had to be taken to the hospital (from what we heard, he was alright, mom and I said a prayer for him, we hope he heals soon), with that the momentum switched and they lost the game 3-4. Everybody was pretty bummed. His team ended up taking third in the tournament.

Even though I am still pretty sleepy and slept through most of the games, I still had a great time cheering him on. Look at the cute Cougar onsie mom made me...the back had Tyler's number on it too!

We had a great time watching the games and really enjoy supporting Tyler and his love of hockey.

We had one more big event of the weekend but that will have to wait until tomorrow's blog!

Have a great night,

Linden

Rochester Weekend Part 1: Family, Food and Flames

We had one of the busiest weekends of my life! I didn't think I could fit the whole weekend in one post so I am going to split it up.

Mom and dad decided to meet Grandma Nancy and Aunt Heidi for dinner in Rochester on Friday night and start the weekend off. Jake and Bella got to go to a new kennel, it was the first time they had been to a kennel in Rochester. Mom and dad brought them to Bear Creek Kennel and they had a GREAT time!! (http://bearcreekkennels.qwestoffice.net/) Mom said she will definitely bring them there again!

After dropping off Jake and Bella we met grandma and Heidi at Jenpachi which is a Japanese restaurant in Rochester. You get to sit around the grill and they cook the food in front of you! Here is a photo of me with grandma and Heidi...

The chef was really fun. He bounced the eggs in the air, did tricks with the rice and made some really good food.
The best part was when the chef made a volcano using the slices from an onion and then started it on fire!

We had a great time at dinner, it was the perfect start to a great weekend!!

More to come tomorrow,
Linden