Where have we been?

February gave Dan and I the chance to vacation without a baby and for the first time in 15 months we didn't have to wake up at 7am with the Joe-Man. My mom took care of Joey while we escaped to Hawaii. It was quite the treat. It gave us the chance to hang out with each other and Joey had the opportunity to wrap Grandma around his little pinky. Grandpa soon realized there were too many buttons at Joey's eye level. It's tough having a 15 month old controlling the television.

We returned to MN in the midst of one of the biggest snowstorms of the season only to realize Joey did just fine without us. Additionally, since then we've been hit with just about every stressor under the sun. Now don't get me wrong - it's not bad stuff - just stressful stuff. In fact, most of it is pretty good stuff. Let me give you the run down...

We bought a house!

Dan is renovating the kitchen. Here's the before:

Here's where we are now:

We only have the appliances, the countertops, and the tile to go! :) In the meantime, we turned the laundry room into the temporary kitchen. There's a lot you can do with a sink, a microwave, and a grill. I should say - there's a lot DAN can do... We probably would be a little less behind if I hadn't gone into labor 3 weeks early and in the middle of said project.

On June 21st we went from a family of 3 to a family of 4 and welcomed Matilda Mae Flynn into the world. She's quick - we arrived at the hospital just before 3pm and delivered her at 4:53pm after 10min of pushing. She delivered to the sounds of the Cowboy Junkies.

Everybody has adjusted pretty well. Especially Joe, who is the only one getting any sleep. He has enough energy for all of us! :)

The MoreFlynns the merrier...

Love to all, Jen

What happened to November, December and January?

So life had gotten pretty busy. November started the ball rolling with a Thanksgiving trip to Chicago and Joey's First Birthday. December kept the celebrations coming with a trip to Des Moines to see Jennifer and James (we got snowed in), Dan's birthday, and Christmas in MN with the Dvoracek family. January gave me some of my busiest calls and by the time February hit, we were ready for the vacation that allows me to blog this. :) Check out what we've been up to and then I'll gloat more about Maui!...

Let's start with Chicago in November...

Holly and all the cousins - generation 2!

Birthday gift from Lily and Lucas

Happy to be going to Chicago

Joey's First Birthday

Mmmm Cake

Let's Party, Sage!

Let It Snow

Well we made it to November 13th without snow! Not to bad. Today is the Bears-Vikes game. Joey is trying to decide which fan-ware to sport. If you remember last year, Joey was born the day after the Vikings destroyed the Bears (and his daddy's dreams). This year is going to be a little bit tougher for the Vikes...

A Spooktacular October!

Check out my new smile!

Joey has become quite the ham lately! Needless to say, we can't get enough of it.

Halloween night was spent with Aunt Katie, Uncle Nick, and the little lion Sage! We thought we were pretty smart using the baby monitor to listen for the doorbell while we watched the Vikings game downstairs, until we found out it wasn't on!

This is just the beginning of the things we do to embarrass our children!

Joey took his first flight to Houston this month for Great Aunt Peggy and Great Uncle Bob's 60th wedding anniversary! He was a super trooper on the plane - no crying and he slept at least an hour both ways!

Massive Summer Recap

So the last 2 months have flown by. Hang on to your hats - as I try to hit the highlights...

Super Joe turns 9 months tomorrow! You would not believe what he has been up to. He's is currently breaking in 4 new top teeth (that's right - ALL at the same time).

CHECK OUT MY TOOTHY SMILE!

We've been enjoying our crop share all summer thanks to Jim and Jenny. Joey has expanded his menu to include: rice, peas, beans, carrots, mango, banana (not a fav), oatmeal, avocado, papaya, potatoes, and steak tartar (just kidding).

MMMMMM - PEA FACE

Making things even more interesting - Joey has started crawling. Well, really it is more like a scoot - dragging his little body across the floor and earning him nick names such as GI Joe and Combat Kitty. This also allows him to locate every piece of lint, crumb, and dirt on the floor. He just can't get that butt up yet.

Best of all, we've been able to share the last couple of months with good friends and family.

Father's Day at the Cabin!

Well, it's official, this little guy just keeps getting bigger and bigger! He has two teeth, sits on his own, rolls both directions, scoots on his back and can do long division. He has been sampling all kinds of new flavors: rice, banana (not a fan), carrot, peas, and papaya. He started taking swimming lessons with Daddy. Joey learns to swim and Dan learns nursery rhymes. Grandma Flynn was in the weekend before Father's Day and we had a great visit to the Science Museum and a couple of very humbling games of Pinocle. Last weekend we celebrated Father's Day at the cabin. Joey took a chilly dip in Sandy Lake. This weekend is a call weekend - boo hoo. We are looking forward to celebrating the 4th at Sandy Lake once again.

HANGING WITH DADDY!

LOOK GRANDPA, I HAVE A PUTZ HAT TOO!

Memorial Day Weekend - 6 months!

Last weekend Erin and Pat came for a visit. We spent Saturday and Sunday at the cabin. Joey was hanging with Sage and Dan took his first wake boarding run of the season. The weather was awesome! On Monday and Tuesday, Dan got to show his city off to his big sis. Dan, Erin, Pat and Joey hit the sculpture garden and the Guthrie.

This weekend we took a road trip to Des Moines to visit our good friends, Jennifer and James. The weather was beautiful and we spent the better part of the weekend either at the grill or in the pool. It looks like Joey is going to be a water baby. He loved the pool! It was good practice since he and Dan are going to take swimming lessons at the Y next month.

Joey just turned 6 months. Tonight he had his first taste of solid food - whole grain rice mixed with breast milk....yummmy? He takes after his Mom and Dad and seems to be a natural eater. Also, he has two teeth that have finally broken through after weeks of drooling so we're getting ready to say goodbye to those toothless smiles. :(