Introducing...

My new NEPHEW, Myles John Lundby born at 12:01am this morning!! 8 pounds 4 ounches 21 inches long! Mom and baby are doing great after their C-section. Two cute facts:
1. Myles was born on my brother, John's 26th (golden) birthday!!
2. Myles's initials are MJL which are the same initial as my dad!!
We love hime already!! YAY!

Birthday Party #1 + Graduation

This past weekend was very eventful! It started off with Jocie's 11th birthday (Friday, January 22nd). She started off the day by bringing doughnuts for all of her teachers and classmates. After school my mom, Nancy (AKA Nanny) and Daysha met us at Jocie's favorite Monticello restaurant, Rancho Grande for a birthday dinner. Nanny and Daysha got to spend the whole weekend with us!

On Saturday morning, we headed to the middle school for two of Jocie's basketball games. They beat Becker in the first game by over 10 points. In the second game, they managed a 4 point victory against Rockford in the final minute. This brings their record to 10-0!! That Coach Adolphson must be a master coach to produce success like that :)

Coach Adolphson (kneeling) strategizing along with Assistant Coach Adolphson to his left!

After the games, we went home and got ready for Jocie's family birthday party which began at 4:00. We prepared a taco bar and had a fantastic time! The kids (all 11 of them!!) had a great time (screaming) downstairs! :)

We were very happy that my brother, John and his wife, Beth could come all the way from Iowa! John's birthday is tomorrow (January, 26th), so we got a chance to celebrate his birthday too! He got his very own "boy" cake, which my nephew Tanner enjoyed as well...because there is no way he would be caught dead eating a "girl" cake!

....two candles left = two boyfriends :)

Birthday party #2 (the "friend party") will follow this weekend at the Elk River Holiday Inn and Waterpark. We will bring Jocie + four friends to swim at the indoor waterpark and then stay the night in the "Kids Suite"...should be fun...pray for me :)

On Sunday, we headed down to Minneapolis for my graduation ceremony. I must say, that two years really flew by...only because I went through the program with such great friends. At times, they were the only ones making that program bearable!

Me, Nicole (+baby), Jen and Katie

Nicole and I were very proud of our Harry Potter-like "Masters Hoods"

I actually contemplated walking through the graduation ceremony, but in the end, I was very glad I chose to. It felt as though we were getting recognized for all of the hard work we had done...it felt good :) Ella was so cute. She said, "Mom, I bet you heard me clapping for you! I clapped as hard as I could!!" And if you know Ella, you know that she was probably the best clapper in the room...just ask her :)

After the ceremony, we headed P.F. Chang for a little celebratory dinner. It was nice to be able to recognize Carl's accomplishments too, since he finished his Masters degree in August. After dinner, we made our way home to vamp up for the Vikings game....

Even though the game didn't turn out the way we wanted it to, Carl and the girls certainly dressed the part! Better luck next year.....and we still love Brett Favre!

Oh, Happy Day!

Happy Birthday to my darling Jocie!!! She is 11 years old today...oh, how time flies! We are looking forward to a family birthday party tomorrow followed by a friend birthday party at an indoor water park/hotel next weekend...pictures to follow!

30 or 90?

Well...many of you know that I have had a "bad back" for many years. It would feel pretty good for a while and then it would flair up...usually due to over-use. But lately, it has been pretty bad for almost a month. Because it is taking so long to get better, my Chiropractor ordered an MRI. The results showed that I have an herniated L5-S1 disc. I was given 3 different options of treatment. One involves surgery, another involves a series of Cortisone shots and Physical Therapy and the other involves just P.T. and Chiropractic adjustments. Of course, I would like to choose the least invasive option, so I'm leaning towards P.T. and Chiro Care, but I have to have a Spine specialist look at the MRI and see if that is a worth while option.

Even though this is no laughing matter, Carl and I are trying to stay as positive as possible. When I walk, I look like an ninety-year old man! I very much look like a need a walker (preferably with Tennis balls on the sliders).

Hopefully, I will continue to get a little better one day at a time. My goal is to be able to carry Claire again (this has been the hardest thing...poor baby...poor mommy)! I can hold her while I sit on the couch, but she doesn't want to sit on the couch for long! That is way too boring for this 9-month-old mover and shaker! I just want to be able to be a normal-functioning mother again!

9 months old

I cannot believe Claire is already 9 months old! Our lives have been such a whirl-wind that I feel like life is going way too fast! Claire continues to develop her own little personality. She is still quite smiley, but is also starting to develop some "spunk". If she doesn't get what she wants, or someone tries to take something away from her that she wants , she clenches her fits, straightens her arms, tenses her face, and shows her two bottom teeth!! Part of me is thinking, "Oh No! Another strong personality!", but part of me thinks it's OK because she is going to need to be able to stick up for herself being the youngest child.

Claire still has no interest in crawling. If she needs to get any where, she just rolls there. I have tried to put her up on her hands and knees, but she just squawks at me and rolls to her back. I am not worried about the crawling thing...actually, I like that she not that mobile yet. All too soon, she'll be walking, and then I'll be wishing that she would just sit still! So I am going to enjoy the time I have :)

She is getting quite chatty. She is always coming up with new sounds, and loves to laugh at her sisters' antics. Jocie loves it, because if she is being silly, Claire is always there to laugh at her.

She also still loves baths. Here is a shot of her last night post-bath with her rubber-duckie. In the words of Ernie, "he makes bath time lots of fun".

Because of her teeth, Grandma Barb gave Clarie her first tooth brush to make sure they stay healthy. She loves to brush...almost too much. I brushed her teeth first, and then she continued to brush for the next twenty minutes. I tried on a few occasions to get the toothbrush away from her, but she had it concealed in her kung-fu grip!

We all feel so blessed to have Claire in our lives. She is the perfect addition, and I can hardly remember life without her. We look forward to all of the milestones we will go through together.

Baby Mozart

First concert performed in Argyle over Christmas Break...Santa should have brought Claire a Piano for Christmas!