Look what I can do!

Lucy loves to put everything in her mouth these days, as any baby does. Her latest is her feet - in the tub or even in the middle of eating green beans!

Tuesday evening we all went on a walk after dinner. It was chilly out, so instead of trying to keep blankets on her, we put her in her teddy bear suit. Simply adorable!

This weekend Troy and I are heading up to Duluth for the day. It is our 2nd anniversary on Monday. Two years sounds so small, but 730 days doesn't! Look at all that has happened in the past 730 days - I switched careers, we had a baby, she's almost 6 months old - crazy! Will post some pictures of our Duluth Adventure when we return!

Happy Fall!

Another weekend has come and gone and it's now autumn, my favorite time of year! On Friday evening our interior decorator (yes, we need help) stopped over with our new floor sample that we'll be getting installed at the end of October - can't wait to have hardwood floors again!

On Saturday, Lisa and Lucy went with friend Kellie and her son, Matt Jones, out to Minnetonka on a cross-stitch hunt. I decided to try out the baby sling (www.sproutpouch.com) that I had gotten when Lucy was in her colicky stage. She didn't enjoy it back then, but when we went shopping, she loved being on mom's hip and seeing everything up close! Here is a shot of Lucy in the sling:


After a nice lunch (oh, who am I kidding? we scarfed down our food as one child took a nap and the other threw a fit -- soon to be reversed on the drive home as the opposite child napped while the other threw a fit :) ) and a stop at The Minnetonka General Store, we headed home.

In the evening, uncle Eric and Cousin Heather came over and we all headed to Troy's friend Johnny's surprise 30th birthday party, just outside of town. There was lots of food and drink there and even a couple bands played. We got to chat with another couple who brought along their daughter who was Lucy's age, so it was fun to compare stories (although I admit I was a bit jealous that their's has slept 12 hours a night for the past 3 months...). Lucy and I headed home when she announced it was bath time. Uncle and Cousin spent the night.

On Sunday we all went to 10:30 service and our fellow parishioner and youth minister, Melody, gave us this wonderful baby gift that is pictured below - a huge hooded towel for bath time! After lunch, Heather and Eric left, Troy retired to watch the Vikings game and Lucy and I took a nice Sunday nap!

And now it's Monday, and this morning brought very tragic news - Lisa's aunt Donna's brother, Mike, was killed in a motorcycle accident in Hudson last night - http://www.hudsonstarobserver.com/articles/index.cfm?id=25905&section=News
Very sad for their family, and reaffirms to all of us that life is short and precious and to hold each other close while we can and not "sweat the small stuff".

Uff da!

We all went to Mama Maria's restaurant in Hudson last night to say goodbye to Grandma Jeanette and Arnie before they close up the camper and head south for the season. As you can see, Lucy had too much lasagna. I thought the picture was too cute not to post it.

An Orchard, A Drive-In and an Art Fair

This was a busy, fresh-air-filled weekend for all of us! On Saturday we headed over to Stillwater to Aamodt's Apple Orchard and St. Croix Vineyards for apples and wine. We picked up some yummy Honey Crisp apples and some McIntosh ones for baking. Then over to the Winery to sample and pick up a few bottles of wine.

We continued our journey up 95 north of Stillwater, up to Taylors Falls where we ate at the Drive-In (the name escapes me). Lots of "firsts" for Lucy that day - first orchard, first winery and first drive-in! After lunch we went over the St. Croix River into Wisconsin to make our journey back home. Just north of Amery we stopped at a quaint boutique called Bittersweet Farms. Then home we went for a nice nap!

I ended up baking a couple pans of apple crisp, which was more like apple not-so-crisp (never mess with a recipe!), but it still tastes good! We took a nice walk in town and visited with friend, Kathleen. Put Lucy down for bed and watched the movie "You, Me and Dupree" which was very funny!

Today (Sunday) Lucy and mom headed over to friend Kellie's to pick up her and Matt Jones (1-year-old) and went up to Marine on St. Croix for the annual Marine Art Fair. We didn't find anything we couldn't live without, except for a bag of Kettle Corn. We visited at Kellie's parents house, who live in Marine on the St. Croix River. Frank (Kellie's dad) is towards the end of the process of remodeling their home and it is absolutely gorgeous! They really should be on one of those HGTV shows to show it off.

And so we're home now, making a pot roast, watching the Vikings play, getting ready for another busy week!

(also, Lucy's 4-month pictures are online now at www.suzannewynveenphotography.com - under Portraits)

Stuff

Troy is off at his first night of bowling league for the season. He is swapping every other Monday with another teammate so he won't be bowling for the whole 40 weeks (it's some insane amount like that!) Lucy is fast asleep so I thought I would upload photos we took in her new outfit from Great-Grandma Blanche!

Mmmmm...fingers!

We also had some pictures of Lucy's after-bath massage time. I learned some infant masssage techniques at Baby and Me class last week. However, this being the internet, I decided not to post any cute nudie pictures of my baby. My baby who will be 5 months old tomorrow! Is that nuts? She just gets funner and funner every step of the way. She thinks that dad and I are the silliest people in her whole world - you honestly cannot have a bad day if you get at least five minutes of Lucy time in it.

That little white spot on her gums is getting bigger so I'm thinking it is a tooth, plus she loves to just rub her tongue on it. And drool. And chew on everything.

I also thought I would post some links here that keep me up-to-date on some important times going on in my relatives lives:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/MarkFearing - this is my great Uncle Mark (yes, he's great!) who is being treated for multiple myeloma and currently "living" down in Rochester at the Gift of Life house. Not only do I love to get updates on what's going on, but I love reading the comments people post in his guestbook - he's got some hilarious friends!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ChelsieHennen and her brother http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/IsaacHennen - these are my cousin Shannon's two out of three children - what a tough year it has been for them, but the sun is shining brightly on them now!

Now that fall (weather) is here, it puts me in the mood to craft and shop at boutiques and art fairs. This week a girlfriend of mine is coming to visit and we'll hit the "Market" in Baldwin and then on the weekend it's out to Marine on St. Croix for the Marine Art Fair! What I love about going to art fairs is buying a wood-carved Santa. I try to get a different one every year.

Anyhoo, time for some quiet time and Sudoku before bed!

I'm going to be an aunt?!

Whatchu talkin' bout?
Here are a couple of photos of Lucy in her camo outfit she got from Auntie Pam. You may not be able to see her in the photos due to the camoflauge!
So, from the title of this blog you may be questioning, and you're right - Lisa's sister Sam is going to be the mother of a baby girl around Christmastime this year. That will make Grandma Val a grandma two times over in a year! Although the news was very unexpected and I'm still kind of in "shock", I promise to be a good aunt and hey, Lucy will have a cousin her age to play with!

It feels like fall outside, and this is my favorite time of year. Time to get the pumpkins out and go to the apple orchards! Lucy walked with me to bible study at church today, it was a fabulous morning to take a walk. Dad was even in the mood to make chili for lunch!

Other than that, not much to report on from the home front. Going back to work hasn't been too tough to get back into the swing of things, but I do miss Lucy a whole bunch when I'm gone! Troy is also getting busier at work with school being back in session.

I know it's officially a couple weeks away, but, "Happy Autumn Everybody!"

Labor Day Weekend

What a busy weekend/holiday for us! On Friday afternoon the Trautman families came to Baldwin for the weekend, some staying with us and some staying over at Vicky and Paul's. Did we take any pictures while they were here? Nope. Ugh! Troy's usually very camera-ready but we were very busy all weekend! We did see some videos that Paul took of the water balloon antics, though!

Friday night was appetizers next door. When it was time for Lucy to go to bed, she was assisted in her bathtime ritual by cousins Olivia and Kate, who just couldn't get enough of their little girl cousin. Saturday morning a few of us headed 'downtown' to the Hazelnut Tree for coffee. Everyone gathered next door for lunch and the great water balloon launchings (250 balloons!?). In the evening, Troy made a bonfire and we roasted marshmallows and laughed and talked about our 'dream' jobs.

Sunday we all headed to church to hear Paul's sermon on "weiner gravy", followed by a delicious brunch and then the Trautman families departed back to Lake Benton and Eden Prairie. We all napped.

Today (Labor Day) my dad's side of the family (the Duffy's) came over for a late luncheon and lots of paparazzi picture-taking of Lucy. Most hadn't seen her since she came home from the hospital and others were meeting her for the first time. She charmed everyone; it's amazing how much she's grown in the past few months. Here are a couple photos from today:

Grandpa Randy and Lucy:

Lucy with Great-Grandma Blanche: