Hello 2013!
One of my New Year resolutions was to blog more, but now we are sitting at January 17th and I haven't written one thing!
We had a wonderful end of the holiday season and actually did pretty well juggling our multiple families! All in all 2012 was probably the most memorable year we could have ever imagined. We welcomed our little bundle of joy into the world and have had the great joys of watching him grow, which he does WAY too fast. He's already 8 months old!
It was such a fun Christmas this year I think for everyone involved. Brody's little presence brought back the spirit of Christmas for a lot of us and he really added joy to each occasion we were at.
We celebrated at my dad's with a big party, Brody sure got spoiled by everyone including his 2 aunties! I don't think they put him down all night.
The next day we went to my mom's and had a HUGE celebration there with all my cousins, my grandma, and my aunts and uncles. Brad and I had a great time "icing" a few of our cousins...we added it to our secret santa game, and we were pretty sneaky about it. It was hilarious!
Then Christmas Eve, we headed over to Brad's cousin Darik's for yet ANOTHER huge celebration! This was quite special, we had all the little kids dress up in matching jammies and Uncle D put on his traditional santa suit and showed up as Santa! Boy were the kids excited! Brody and Zack didn't really know what was going on, but they will get it someday :) It was a fun night! The kids sure do make Christmas special.
January is almost out the door. I look forward to turning 29 next week. The last year in my 20's, I guess I have to say goodbye to clubs, raves, bikini's, shots, nightclubs, cigarettes, grinding, short dresses, heels, red lipstick, late nights, hangovers, oh wait.......pretty sure I have been going to bed at 8pm the last 5 years so bring it on 30! ;)
Brad and I have a super busy month in February, but a nice vacation to Mexico in the middle to break things up, we are looking forward to a couple days of relaxation, but will miss our little boy like crazy! Not like he really cares :)
Hope everyone is having a great start to 2013!
Love,
Ashley, Brad and Brody
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Wait, Brody was born?
It is now 5 months later and I realized how terrible I have been at keeping up this blog when I was so good about it during my pregnancy! I guess I had a little more time on my hands back then when I had no baby to attend to and I spent most of my days working at home!
Wow. Things have sure changed in this household! My October resolution is to start blogging again. I enjoy it and I truly want to keep it up and look back on my entries and photos someday.
So as you all know, Brody came into this world on Sunday, May 20th, 2012. That day was the most amazing day Brad and I could have ever imagined. Saturday was a tough one, we won't go through the gory details of the labor, but all in all it was worth the 27 hours! :)
We had a healthy LARGE baby boy! 10 lbs 21.5 inches with reddish hair! :)
He has truly been the best little addition to our family and we have loved every minute of him. We had a SUPER busy summer for just having an infant but we made it through. We spent a lot of time traveling to Hibbing so Brody could meet all his relatives and we even made a trip to Wisconsin Dells with the Willis fam. It was Brody's 1st big trip in a hotel! He did really good! :)
I took a new job at the end of August with Best Buy so that was a big change. It was hard leaving Brody after spending 3 great months with him, but I was actually looking forward to going back to work.
The fall has been really fun too! Brody grows so much everyday. He recently started eating solids now so we have been giving him rice cereal and are slowly starting to add in some different baby foods. It's so fun to see his expressions!
Brad has been so natural in his daddy role! He just loves his little boy so much. I couldn't ask for a better husband and partner in this whole craziness of parenting! We don't have the best sleeper so Brad and I have been adjusting to living each day extremely sleep deprived!
Brad and I are looking forward to celebrating our 2 year anniversary this weekend. We are heading to Duluth for a few nights and Grandma Lisa is going to take Brody and give us 2 nights off. We are looking forward to 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep!
Anyways, I promise to start keeping up on this. My apologies if you were one of our dedicated readers! :)
Until next time,
Brad and Ashley
Wow. Things have sure changed in this household! My October resolution is to start blogging again. I enjoy it and I truly want to keep it up and look back on my entries and photos someday.
So as you all know, Brody came into this world on Sunday, May 20th, 2012. That day was the most amazing day Brad and I could have ever imagined. Saturday was a tough one, we won't go through the gory details of the labor, but all in all it was worth the 27 hours! :)
We had a healthy LARGE baby boy! 10 lbs 21.5 inches with reddish hair! :)
He has truly been the best little addition to our family and we have loved every minute of him. We had a SUPER busy summer for just having an infant but we made it through. We spent a lot of time traveling to Hibbing so Brody could meet all his relatives and we even made a trip to Wisconsin Dells with the Willis fam. It was Brody's 1st big trip in a hotel! He did really good! :)
I took a new job at the end of August with Best Buy so that was a big change. It was hard leaving Brody after spending 3 great months with him, but I was actually looking forward to going back to work.
The fall has been really fun too! Brody grows so much everyday. He recently started eating solids now so we have been giving him rice cereal and are slowly starting to add in some different baby foods. It's so fun to see his expressions!
Brad has been so natural in his daddy role! He just loves his little boy so much. I couldn't ask for a better husband and partner in this whole craziness of parenting! We don't have the best sleeper so Brad and I have been adjusting to living each day extremely sleep deprived!
Brad and I are looking forward to celebrating our 2 year anniversary this weekend. We are heading to Duluth for a few nights and Grandma Lisa is going to take Brody and give us 2 nights off. We are looking forward to 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep!
Anyways, I promise to start keeping up on this. My apologies if you were one of our dedicated readers! :)
Until next time,
Brad and Ashley
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Dirty "30!"
Happy 30th Birthday Brad! What a milestone to celebrate, and celebrate
we did. Brad turned 30 on Saturday, April 28th, so of course we had to
have a party for him. Brad LOVES his birthday parties and this
was a big one. We were originally going to have it at our house, but at 9
months pregnant, I wasn't ready to take on those responsibilities, so
we ended up having it at Babe's in Lakeville, a nice towny bar not too
far from our house. We had a great turnout! It was a lot of fun, and I
even made it out until midnight which by then the party had pretty much
cleared out and Brad was definitely feeling no pain. Thanks to everyone
who came and helped Brad celebrate! Here are some pics of our awesome guests:
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| Jeff, John and Brad---forever friends! |
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| "The Boss." Compliments of Darik and Andrea |
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| Newlyweds--Matt and MaKenzie! |
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| Todd, Tatum, and Tina--cutest fam! |
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| Vinny and Andrea--she like me was N/A for the night! |
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| Laura and Ryan--awww so cute :) |
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| Our awesome neighbors Jodi and Brad! |
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| The crew from "The Grove." Love them! |
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| Riz and John--all smiles. |
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| Troublemakers! |
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| The girls talking babies. |
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| Ash and Kristin-we finally got to meet him and we love him! |
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| Me and my hubby near end of night, can you tell? |
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| The "ex-FindLaw crew." Snuck in late for some last minute partying! |
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Baby Showers Bring May Flowers!
So I have been terrible about keeping my blog posts up to date this last month, it has been one crazy month!! Just a little recap :) The last weekend in March, Brad and I celebrated our friend's Matt and MaKenzie's wedding! It was really fun because it was the first wedding Brad and I were both in together. We were able to take pics at TCF Bank Stadium which was pretty neat since neither of us had been there. The wedding was a success, I even made it up past midnight, congrats Matt and MaKenzie!
The first week of April, my friend Tina was off for a week and a half between jobs! She just accepted a new position at BCBS, so we needed to celebrate a little. With my work flexibility I was able to take a mini trip with her and Tatum up to Duluth for 2 nights. We stayed at her parents house right by Spirit Mountain. We had a lot of fun! Though it was a bit chilly by the lake, we still enjoyed ourselves. We threw some rocks in the water, went shopping at Duluth Pack, ate a great dinner at Blackwoods and had a fantastic breakfast at Chester Creek Cafe! It was nice to get up there again, I miss that city. Here are some pics from our trip!
On April 16th, I hit 35 weeks! Getting bigger everday, soon enough he will be here!
On April 15th, I had my 2nd baby shower! This was given to me by my friend's Tina, Laura, and Kathryn from FindLaw. It was soo cute! We had it at the rooftop of the Eitel Building in Minneapolis. The room was super modern and the view was gorgeous! They had some really fun details and games, all such creative gals!! We had a great turnout and baby received some amazing gifts! Thanks girls, I really appreciate it! I don't have pics from the shower yet, but will work on getting some.
On April 21st, we celebrated our pseudo-niece MiKayla's 2nd birthday party! We went over to Darik and Andrea's for brats, cake, and presents. It's so fun to see all the little cousins run around together...it's crazy we are going to add 2 more little boys to the mix! Darik and Andrea just found out they are having a little boy too, we are super excited our little one will have a cousin close by to hang out with, just like Darik and Brad had, or should I say, still do.
On April 22nd, I had my 3rd and last baby shower put on by my best high school friends: Kelly, Emily, and Talia. They had it at my house which was super convenient because that way I didn't have to lug any of my gifts home! :) They had a beautiful brunch shower with yummy egg bakes, muffins, and cinnamon rolls! My mom and Grandma Dorothy were able to attend this shower, so that was special as well! Again, baby got LOTS of great gifts, we are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family that support us. We couldn't be more blessed!! (pics to come!)
Later that night, Brad and I took "baby bump photos." We got hooked up with a friend of a friend from Lifetime who just went out on her own, so we scored a good deal. Though Brad wasn't AS excited about these as me, he still was a good sport. After all, I am the artsy fartsy one, so really does he expect anything less? Allana (the photographer) did a great job! Here are some sample pics:
This weekend we have a BIG birthday to celebrate! Brad turns 30 years old on April 28th, so he'll be exactly 30 years older than his little boy. Same as his dad was with him, so that's kind of cool! We are looking forward to celebrating at Babe's in Lakeville. Happy Birthday Brad!! So then April will be coming to a close....May only brings more excitement, hopefully our baby will finally arrive! Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us throughout these last 9 months of pregnancy...we couldn't appreciate it more. It really means a lot to us knowing how much our baby is loved and he's not even here yet! :) Stay tuned...you may hearing some big news very soon!
Love,
Ashley and Brad
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| TCF Stadium! |
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| Tina and Tatum by the big anchor! |
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| Tatum by the lake right before a wave came up and soaked her shoes and socks! |
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| Me and my big belly :) |
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| 35 Weeks! |
On April 15th, I had my 2nd baby shower! This was given to me by my friend's Tina, Laura, and Kathryn from FindLaw. It was soo cute! We had it at the rooftop of the Eitel Building in Minneapolis. The room was super modern and the view was gorgeous! They had some really fun details and games, all such creative gals!! We had a great turnout and baby received some amazing gifts! Thanks girls, I really appreciate it! I don't have pics from the shower yet, but will work on getting some.
On April 21st, we celebrated our pseudo-niece MiKayla's 2nd birthday party! We went over to Darik and Andrea's for brats, cake, and presents. It's so fun to see all the little cousins run around together...it's crazy we are going to add 2 more little boys to the mix! Darik and Andrea just found out they are having a little boy too, we are super excited our little one will have a cousin close by to hang out with, just like Darik and Brad had, or should I say, still do.
On April 22nd, I had my 3rd and last baby shower put on by my best high school friends: Kelly, Emily, and Talia. They had it at my house which was super convenient because that way I didn't have to lug any of my gifts home! :) They had a beautiful brunch shower with yummy egg bakes, muffins, and cinnamon rolls! My mom and Grandma Dorothy were able to attend this shower, so that was special as well! Again, baby got LOTS of great gifts, we are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family that support us. We couldn't be more blessed!! (pics to come!)
Later that night, Brad and I took "baby bump photos." We got hooked up with a friend of a friend from Lifetime who just went out on her own, so we scored a good deal. Though Brad wasn't AS excited about these as me, he still was a good sport. After all, I am the artsy fartsy one, so really does he expect anything less? Allana (the photographer) did a great job! Here are some sample pics:
This weekend we have a BIG birthday to celebrate! Brad turns 30 years old on April 28th, so he'll be exactly 30 years older than his little boy. Same as his dad was with him, so that's kind of cool! We are looking forward to celebrating at Babe's in Lakeville. Happy Birthday Brad!! So then April will be coming to a close....May only brings more excitement, hopefully our baby will finally arrive! Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us throughout these last 9 months of pregnancy...we couldn't appreciate it more. It really means a lot to us knowing how much our baby is loved and he's not even here yet! :) Stay tuned...you may hearing some big news very soon!
Love,
Ashley and Brad
Monday, March 26, 2012
Nursery: Complete!
Wow, what a productive weekend we had! I have to say my nerves are settling a little. After that shower, we had soooo000 much stuff, and everything was disorganized and cluttered which my body doesn't deal with very well. But my parents came down to help us organize, clean, and get everything put up and put away. We seriously couldn't have done it without them! They arrived at like 9pm on Friday night, Derek couldn't come because he had a church retreat, and it was his birthday! We were sad we couldn't celebrate with him this year, but next year for sure!
Saturday, we all woke up early to get things started. My mom and I organized and washed all the baby clothes, bedding, and toys, while Dave and Brad did manly stuff like hang curtains and ceiling fans. Those were two VERY big jobs and we are so lucky to have Dave help us! He is like Bob Villa, he seriously knows how to do all that handy stuff and now he is teaching Brad! :) YAY! We didn't stop working until about 5pm. Then my grandparents, Carl and Dorothy, came over for a bbq to celebrate Grandpa Carl's 86th birthday. They were able to see the finished nursery and we all had some great brats and burgers by "Brad, the grillman." He never disappoints!
On Sunday, my parents took off and Brad and I did a few finishing touches on the nursery, then relaxed the rest of the day. Todd and Tina brought Tatum over later on that night to swing! She had a lot of fun here, as did we! :) We all went to El Azteca for dinner and boy did that hit the spot. What a great weekend!
Thanks again mom and Dave for helping us with everything, you don't know how much we appreciated it and needed it!
Here are some pics of our finished product:
Saturday, we all woke up early to get things started. My mom and I organized and washed all the baby clothes, bedding, and toys, while Dave and Brad did manly stuff like hang curtains and ceiling fans. Those were two VERY big jobs and we are so lucky to have Dave help us! He is like Bob Villa, he seriously knows how to do all that handy stuff and now he is teaching Brad! :) YAY! We didn't stop working until about 5pm. Then my grandparents, Carl and Dorothy, came over for a bbq to celebrate Grandpa Carl's 86th birthday. They were able to see the finished nursery and we all had some great brats and burgers by "Brad, the grillman." He never disappoints!
On Sunday, my parents took off and Brad and I did a few finishing touches on the nursery, then relaxed the rest of the day. Todd and Tina brought Tatum over later on that night to swing! She had a lot of fun here, as did we! :) We all went to El Azteca for dinner and boy did that hit the spot. What a great weekend!
Thanks again mom and Dave for helping us with everything, you don't know how much we appreciated it and needed it!
Here are some pics of our finished product:
First Baby Shower!
This blog is a few weeks late, but I have been so busy lately, I haven't had time to keep my head straight! Anyways, 2 weeks ago now, I had my very first baby shower in Hibbing. It was absolutely amazing. It fell right on St. Patrick's Day and it was a high of 70! We had record breaking temps for that day so everyone was in a great mood as we are all looking forward to spring/summer! My shower was put on by my Aunt Pam, Brad's Aunt Mary and Aunt Jean, and my stepmom, Delphine (all with a little help from the two moms, my cousin Laura, and my sisters.) They did a wonderful job! I have never seen a shower so beautiful and well decorated. Kudos to my aunt Pam on the centerpieces, they were sooo cute! Pics below. The shower was at Amelia's restaurant and we had a great turnout! I am so lucky to have such generous and supportive friends and family. Our baby will be loved by so many people! I just want to thank everyone that came. That really meant a lot to me, Brad and baby boy Willis!
The rest of that weekend was great too! Since my cousin Laura and Trav were both home, we all went to my grandma's that night for Sammy's pizza. It was just like old times, having dinner at gram's with our family. We used to do that a lot when everyone was in town, but now it's a little harder to get everyone together. We had a great meal and a great weekend overall! Sunday, my cousin Laura (her cute dog Tazer) and me headed back to the cities.
What a wonderful first shower experience, we are truly blessed!
The rest of that weekend was great too! Since my cousin Laura and Trav were both home, we all went to my grandma's that night for Sammy's pizza. It was just like old times, having dinner at gram's with our family. We used to do that a lot when everyone was in town, but now it's a little harder to get everyone together. We had a great meal and a great weekend overall! Sunday, my cousin Laura (her cute dog Tazer) and me headed back to the cities.
What a wonderful first shower experience, we are truly blessed!
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Could it be....Spring!?
Hello All!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend soaking up this wonderful, balmy weather! I just hope it lasts. I have washed my hands of winter and am just looking forward to opening up the windows again.
Brad and I had a really nice weekend. We relaxed on Friday and just went out to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We were home early and in bed early because Saturday we had an all-day express baby class. And wow, talk about 6 weeks of information into one class. But it was very educational for us, it also made everything feel so real. We got a tour of our hospital, the hospital rooms we will be delivering in and staying in as well as a peek into the little nursery where our little one will soon be hanging out! We learned a lot, but as our instructor told us, "A manual comes with everything you will get for the baby except for the baby itself." But we are excited to tackle our new role as parents, hopefully we will do okay! :)
We got home from class at about 4:30 and I hurried up and quick changed to go out for my friend MaKenzie's bachelorette party. The party was good! We all wore sequin shirts, had good food and drinks (N/A for me) sang a little karaoke, and danced the night away! Although for me, not much dancing...my center of gravity is a little off. My friends Laura and Kathryn ended up crashing at my place and we were up until 4am with the time change! I haven't done that since college, and being pregnant doesn't make it much easier, but it was still a good time!
Sunday, a few of us went out for brunch then Brad and I headed to Babies "R" Us to pick up our new glider for the nursery! It fit perfectly and is so comfortable....Brad and I have just been occasionally sitting in it, breaking it in for many hours and long nights soon to come.
Last night we put together our stroller as well. We have been doing baby projects one by one the last couple of weeks. It's amazing how time-consuming everything is and how much a little baby needs! (or at least how much we think he needs.) But we have been loving every minute of it. I hit 30 weeks on Monday so I have officially 10 weeks left give or take. Yay for the home stretch!
This weekend I am heading to Hibbing for my big family shower! I am really excited to see all my family, it's been awhile! :)
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend soaking up this wonderful, balmy weather! I just hope it lasts. I have washed my hands of winter and am just looking forward to opening up the windows again.
Brad and I had a really nice weekend. We relaxed on Friday and just went out to Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We were home early and in bed early because Saturday we had an all-day express baby class. And wow, talk about 6 weeks of information into one class. But it was very educational for us, it also made everything feel so real. We got a tour of our hospital, the hospital rooms we will be delivering in and staying in as well as a peek into the little nursery where our little one will soon be hanging out! We learned a lot, but as our instructor told us, "A manual comes with everything you will get for the baby except for the baby itself." But we are excited to tackle our new role as parents, hopefully we will do okay! :)
We got home from class at about 4:30 and I hurried up and quick changed to go out for my friend MaKenzie's bachelorette party. The party was good! We all wore sequin shirts, had good food and drinks (N/A for me) sang a little karaoke, and danced the night away! Although for me, not much dancing...my center of gravity is a little off. My friends Laura and Kathryn ended up crashing at my place and we were up until 4am with the time change! I haven't done that since college, and being pregnant doesn't make it much easier, but it was still a good time!
Sunday, a few of us went out for brunch then Brad and I headed to Babies "R" Us to pick up our new glider for the nursery! It fit perfectly and is so comfortable....Brad and I have just been occasionally sitting in it, breaking it in for many hours and long nights soon to come.
Last night we put together our stroller as well. We have been doing baby projects one by one the last couple of weeks. It's amazing how time-consuming everything is and how much a little baby needs! (or at least how much we think he needs.) But we have been loving every minute of it. I hit 30 weeks on Monday so I have officially 10 weeks left give or take. Yay for the home stretch!
This weekend I am heading to Hibbing for my big family shower! I am really excited to see all my family, it's been awhile! :)
Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!
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