My First Christmases

I feel very lucky to have such a wonderful family. I loved getting together with all of mine. Here is a picture of mom, dad, and me at Great Grandma and Grandpa Oldenburgs for Christmas.




Next, we were off to the Cicha family Christmas. This is my great grandpa John Cicha. (my mom's grandpa).














Here is me with my new red fire truck from Grandma and Grandpa Fasching. (dad's mom and step dad). I think cousin Logan approves of the truck. I am not too sure yet, as I was quite sleepy. I fell asleep shortly afterwards!






Here I am again, oh, I am sleeping. Do you see me wrapped up in the Johnny Tractor blanket in mom's arms? Mom just unwrapped the new dino rocker that Uncle Donny made for me. Cousins Peter and Ryan each got one too. I cannot wait to ride it!





Hey, I am not sleeping for this gift. You can see me in the back opening up my new Little People Farm. Thanks Chris, Lisa, Jessica, and Katelyn!










Here's me enjoying my first time playing outside. I rode in the sled for a few short seconds. It was really wet outside, and I didn't want to sit in my wet snowsuit during the ride home. I think I will love playing outside!





Here are just a couple of fun pictures of me. Mom found this hat at Target. It says "Baby's First Christmas." The other hat is the Como Zoo hat that I got this summer. My head fills it out a bit more that it did this summer, but I still have lots of growing to do to fit into it completely. I think I am going to be a hat person. (Like father, like son!)

Getting Ready for My First Christmas!!!

Here we are, getting ready for my first Christmas. Oh what fun, it is to be, sitting by the tree! Here is a picture of mom holding me while we try to get a good card picture. Boy, Daddy is really funny!















Here is me with mom. She is the best!!









This was our first try.Murphy just didn't want to sit still. I think he was more interested in a treat, rather than taking a picture with me!






Just looking at the tree with my dad!















This reading thing is really kinda cool! I think I will like it!

Halloween, Some Grandparent Time and So Much More...

We know you all check this for the pictures, and trust us, we don't blame you. So, in an effort to keep this Andrew centered, I will try and be brief with the prose. Sorry we haven't been incredibly diligent about updating this. We are going to try and do a better job as the breaks in the school year present themselves. Since we last posted, Andrew experienced his first Halloween. He dressed up as a dalmatian.

Andrew also helped out in the yard. He and Murphy supervised as we raked leaves and mowed the yard.

Andrew has also been visited by family and friends quite a bit.

Grandparents are always a favorite with Andrew.

Cousins also make some of the best reading buddies.

We are headed out and about for Thanksgiving this year, so hopefully we will have new pictures to add soon.

We hope everybody has a fun, safe holiday season.

It's been a while

Yes, it has been a while. School is keeping us busy. Andrew is growing so fast. It is hard to believe that he is 5 months old. He is so cute, rolling over, smiling and giggling all the time. He started cereal about 2 weeks ago. I even gave him some sweet potatoes last night. After one funny expression, he realized that, "Hey, these are good!" and continues to eat them up!

He seems to be growing out of his car seat! I remember when he seemed to small for the seat. He is filling it out nicely. This picture was taken in September when he went to the Minnesota Zoo with the girls. Yes, all of our friends have girls. We went with 7 girls. He enjoyed it all!







Who can resist taking a picture of a sleeping baby???

















So, he finally realized that the TV was interesting. I had to get a picture, and then tell him, "No TV!!" He can seem to spot it from anywhere in the room.






He loves this little Hop 'n' Pop. He sits so nicely in it. He can stare out the window, or at Kevin and me. (Just not the tv!)



















Learning to stand on his own! Ok, so Kevin was helping a bit!
















We love hanging out with dad!













One of my new favorites! Thanks Katri for the pea pod hat! We love it!!

Back to school

The smiley one is back at it. He's become a huge hit at daycare with all of his peers. Mary (our daycare provider), keeps telling Kelly and I how much fun he is to have around. We keep telling her, "Trust us, we know."

I have no idea how much recollection Andrew will have of this time in his life. If he were only able to recall one or two things I am guessing it would be trips to Target with his parents. All of the teachers reading this will understand. I think before any given school year the average teacher makes a minimum of four trips to Target. Now, couple that with the fact that he has two parents that teach. Our guy has a good chance of remembering the red dot.

A couple of mornings Kelly has found Andrew spun 180 degrees from where he began. She said placed him with his head toward the window and in the morning found his feet in that position. Andrew has also been practicing his time on his tummy. He is trying harder than ever to roll over. If his frustration is any indicator of success, he would have rolled over a couple of days ago.

Drew has also been hanging out with a few of his friends these past couple of weeks. We all went up to the Alexis, Abby and Brianna's place two weekends ago. Andrew had a good time hanging out with the girls.

Hope to post again soon.

It's been a while

Hey everybody, I know it's been a while. This month has brought with it some great times with family and friends. Our last post informed you of Andrew's baptism and the party that ensued. The following week it was time to tear-down the old shed and build a new one in its place. This was a large job as the building we were replacing had rotted out and was beyond repair. So, what were we to do you ask. We brought in our very own team of professional home improvement do-it-yourselfers. All three grandpa's, uncles Donny and Jimmy, and even some of his cousins lent a hand. It was an all day project and our whole family was very thankful for all of the help everyone was willing to offer. The sideline coaching was also a great deal of help as the day went on.

The next week gave us our first look at daycare. Andrew attended for two days, and by all accounts seemed to enjoy the experience. I can say that drop-off was a bit tough on the first day. Not for Andrew per se, but rather for dad. Mary (our daycare provider) stated that Andrew likes being around the other children and has no problem letting her know when he needs to be fed. She stated that they had a great day and was looking forward to seeing him on a regular basis. I just don't know that mom and dad are ready for that right now.

This month Andrew also hosted his first backyard grill-out. Some of dad's co-workers came up and brought their families with them. We had a good time, and only minor injuries were incurred. Andrew wanted to thank everyone for coming out.

Andrew has also had multiple visits from family and friends that he had not yet met. Mom's dear friend from her childhood met Andrew for the first time a week or two ago. Stefanie has two boys named Ryan and Brandon. Both were happy to be meeting Andrew for the first time.

Andrew also got to meet one of his great uncles and two great aunts this month. Barb, Doug and Lisa were all able to stop in and see Andrew for the first time. Jarrod, Olivia, and Calvin also stopped in to meet him as well. And as usual he took it all in stride...right up to the point where he became hungry. At that point all pleasantries are off, and we need a bottle!

Hopefully the next posting isn't as far between as the last two were, but I say that every time. This time I know I am shooting for the moon because both mom and dad are preparing for the beginning of school, but I will try my best to get one out around the first weekend in September.

Almost Two Weeks of Catch-up

Hey all! Sorry it's been so long between posts. I know my seven loyal viewers have been itching for more pictures of Andrew. However, as is usual with most of us, life caught up to all three of us this summer and we seemed to have more on our plates than normal. For Andrew, the past few weeks have been filled with visits to and from: aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, doctors (standard two month checkup), friends, and even the occasional contractor bidding a roof for the house. These past few weeks have also brought with them, visits to daycares, church, and a trip to both mom's and dad's school.

Mom and Andrew have also been perfecting the art of bath-time. Andrew loves the bathwater and seems to have a good time while mom sings and talks with him. I used to believe that both Kelly and I were more in love with the duckie bath towel than Andrew, but he seems to be liking it more and more. But as I was saying, bath-time is typically filled with laughter, singing, a little splashing and a healthy dose of good-times.

Andrew has also been hanging out with his cousins. Logan and Andrew get together from time to time allowing aunt Julie a chance to hang on to a baby as compared to chasing after hers. Andrew has also been getting together with Peter, Ryan and Katlyn. Grandma and grandpa Baron's living room seem to be the hot spot for hanging out. Occasionally it looks like a small tornado has passed through when all four cousins have been in, but everyone seems to be having a great time. Andrew even got the chance to be fed by his cousin Katie this weekend.

Andrew also wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to grandma Fasching for taking the time out of her schedule to hang out this week while mom and dad went to work. On day three of the mom and dad going to work experiment, Andrew got to visit both mom and myself at work. We just hope he had as much fun as everybody else did. Rumor has it, he was a bit hit at both schools.

Andrew has also been doing several public service events. Most notably, he has been coaching grandpa Baron through nap time. Now I know this doesn't sound like the most earth shattering of public service endeavors, but we decided to start small and work our way up.

Today Andrew was baptized at St. Michael's. We had a number of family members come and take part in the service. God-parents: Sara, Don, and Julie were all wonderful sponsors. Andrew wanted to take special care to say thank you for all you did to make today special.

We also wanted to take this chance to mention how much we appreciate all of the food, chairs, tables, and refridgerator space given to us to make today's event so successful. Thanks for coming back to celebrate with us.

Sincerely,

Andrew, mom and dad