Sunday, June 27, 2010

Grand View Lodge with the Forslund's

Nora ENJOYING vacation!!!!
Oh My goodness.....what a Blessed week.
We couldn't have asked for better weather and it was truly relaxing.

Nora was absolutely perfect. She had never been in her 8 swimsuits (yes you read that correctly....she has more swimsuits that I have had in the last 10 years!-they were all hand-me-downs but 1), she had never been in water, never sat on GRASS....we didn't know what to expect traveling with an almost 7 month old.

Nora's pack n play got set up, and we unpacked all her food and necessities. I think Matt's parents and siblings were looking at us like "wow"! I wanted to be sure I had anything and everything that I might need.

First morning we brought Nora to eat breakfast with us up at the main lodge....didn't think to bring food for HER! whoops, good thing they had a banana and cheerios that she ended up loving by the end of the trip. She is funny when she eats cheerios...she makes a face like she doesn't like it but then keeps opening up her mouth asking for more cheerios.

Matt got in some golfing and I got in 2 holes of golf! Anne & I walked down to the golf course and we met them at the course as they were finishing up so Steve had me play the last 2 holes for him. I did horribly but it was FUN to swing the clubs.....if only we had the disposable income to play and get GOOD!
Nora playing with some golf balls on hole # 9

Mommy and Nora....Nora loves the flag

Anne & Steve took Nora for an afternoon so Matt and I could have some couple time which was SO thoughtful. We hung out by the pool....Matt and I read our books while drinking pina coladas---oh the memories of our honeymoon!

Nora got in her first boat ride, which she fell asleep. She loved the pool. It took a bit to get used to. We first tried the lake, NO WAY. Then tried putting her in the pool, NO WAY. Then we fed her, got her on a full belly and tried again. We tried the warm pool, which is not as Hot at the HOT TUB, and she liked that. She actually made friends with this sweet 5 year old girl who was all excited that they both had pink swimsuits. Then we tried the cool pool again and she was OK with it. Matt tried laying her down and they splashed and every day she liked it more and more. Matt and she are taking swimming lessons in July so hopefully she enjoys the water then too. It was fun to see Matt and Nora loving the water. I hope that is something they can enjoy together in the future. He is the water lover in the family. I love boating.....I love sitting BY water....I just don't like going in unless there is a purpose. He loves wading in water and reading in a chair IN the water. Hopefully they can bond over this when she gets older!

One day Nora was SO tired but would not fall asleep in her pack n play, No one else wants to hear someone elses baby cry so I got her out and put her in the inflatable toy and she fell asleep in 5 minutes. Sun in eyes, Anne & I sitting right there, she was Pooped out!
Nora hanging out in her floaty boat (which we only used on the deck!!!!)

AJ & Elle, Matt's siblings, turned 16 while we were at the cabin. Pretty exciting. They had each brought a friend along so we all went out for a nice dinner at Sherwood Forrest. There weren't any 'Merri-men' singing which made Matt sad.

Honestly, we had such a nice, relaxing family time. It was fun to see Nora hang out with her grandparents. It was fun to see her be all sweaty and dirty and smell like the outdoors (we didn't give her a bath the whole time we were there....and normally Matt is bath crazy!) It was fun to read a book in the sun! It was fun to wear a swimsuit (did I just write that......ugh I am crazy~!) It was fun to not be in charge of supper. It was fun to vacation!!

On the Beach

Ready for her first boat ride

On the beach in her sun dome

Grandpa Steve and Nora on the beach

On the Beach

Nora and Daddy in the lake

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Brainerd with the Bergs

We are going on vacation with Matt's family from Sunday to Wednesday and thought we would come up a bit earlier and visit my college friends Sarah and Tom who have a little 18 month old Odin. We had so much fun catching up with them. We went for a walk, went for lunch on the lake, Sarah and I even went to a crazy horrible flea market!!! Sarah has an amazing camera and took some awesome photos of Nora and Odin. They both are blonde bombshells! They have good genetics :) Overall we didn't do much, relaxed, caught up with each others lives, watched the Twins, slept....well maybe the Bergs slept--Nora did not want to let her mommy and daddy sleep!
Nora at the Lake

Odin and Nora ready for our walk

Nora 6.5 Months & Odin 17.5 months
Awww.....Odin Kissing Nora

Friday, June 25, 2010

Meeting Asher

A few of Matt's college roommates came and visited tonight. Pat and Meghan and Jill and Andy and their newborn son Asher. Asher is so tiny compared to Nora!

Pat and Nora (doesn't it look like Nora is trying to breastfeed from him?) and Matt and Asher
Pat and Nora.....Poor Pat, I made him hold her!!!!!!

On a side note....This is Nora's new trick, I put her in her car seat and she will flip herself around and scoot out the front....it is hilarious to watch! No worries I don't do this on anything elevated :)

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Boat Cruise with Neighbors

Lady Liberty (ok I don't know if that is the boat's name...but I like to call it that!)



Our neighbors Steve and Kelly invited us on a boat cruise that was sponsored by his company, Ameriprise. It was a beautiful night and it was SO fun and relaxing to be on the lake tonight.
Here are the neighbor men giving each other their 'companies pitch'

Sunset on the Lake

Super Cute photo of us all
Me, Matt, John, Tina, Matt, Anne, Steve, & Kelly

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Happy Hour with Anne

I went out and met one of my college friends at Houlihands in Chanhassen. Anne and I went to Europe on J-Term together and we were friends ever since! Anne was also a key ingredient of Matt and I meeting in college. She was a mutual friend, but we did not know this. She introduced us on her 21st birthday......we'll leave the story at that.

Anne was going to watch Nora for us this week so we could go on a boat cruise so I wanted to meet up with her and give her a few pointers, trust me she didn't need them!
Yummy food and a few beers!

Saturday, June 19, 2010

First Father's Day....at the Pizza Ranch!

Matt had his first fathers day! We celebrated by going to the Pizza Ranch. Matt loves Pizza, Loves 'all you can eat' food, why not put them TOGETHER and man was I excited when I just found out that Waconia has a Pizza Ranch! Matt will love it so I was excited to share 'the Ranch' with him YET scared at the same time as....if you remember back in March when Matt tried to "exchange" our baby for free lunch buffet at the Cleveland Wok!!!!

After eating only a few pizza slices (I was not impressed by his input for the price we paid, but I did not mention this at the time as it WAS Father's Day!), we and walked around by Lake Waconia, then we came home hung out outside in the sun, and ended our day with Mint Oreo Blizzards from DQ! Pretty good day for Father's Day....although I am not the father in this couple. SO I am HOPING Matt enjoyed his day!
Matt and Nora at Pizza ranch


Sweet Delivery Mobile


In front of Lake Waconia at Lola's

Nora being a big girl sitting up



Daddy and Nora outside

At DQ, enjoying our ice cream

Friday, June 18, 2010

Meeting Uncle Richard

Auntie Katie and Nora (ready for bed!)

Emma and Nora

Adam, Emma and Nora

Nora got to meet her Great Uncle Richard from Houston this week. Richard is up helping Matt's grandparents with some stuff as they transition to assisted living. He will be back in July to help them move. We had a little party at Anne & Steve's to chill out and talk. It was so fun to hang out with everyone. The boys even got some cigars and toasted the evening on the porch! Man oh man.....Matt needed to brush his teeth twice before coming to bed to kiss me goodnight tonight!

No pictures of Uncle Richard and Nora....oops---bad blogger huh?!

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Last Day at The Home Depot

Today was my last day at the HOME DEPOT. Can't say I will miss it, but it was a good part time job. I made enough money to buy our washer and dryer so I can't complain.....and just so everyone knows YOU DO NOT GET A DISCOUNT AT HOME DEPOT EVEN THOUGH YOU WORK THERE! Yeah...I know, weird huh? Nothing, Zilch, Nada discount. I am proud to say I put in my temporary status duties and they actually let temp people "go" 2 weeks early because sales were not as expected. So I left with my head held high knowing I stuck it out, I didn't quit even though there were times I was feeling like I was missing out on EVERYTHING! Every weekend is tough, I don't know how people in retail do it!

I am glad I had the opportunity, I met some cool people, I learned a thing or 2 about home improvement and for the most part I enjoyed myself. Way to go, Me!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Nora's Getting Married????

Nora wearing a veil and seeming to LOVE it

I am helping a college friend's fiance with her wedding veil and wedding dress alterations. We had to go to the Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul to see the dress and see what will need to be done plus take a look at the veil she wanted replicated! We used Nora as a prop so we could take photos!
Here is Jessi and Nora...Nor was LOVING looking at herself in the HUGE mirror.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Nora Sitting Up

Sit Up by Yourself Nora......
Can I do it.......

Yes I can! Such a Big Girl!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Tanner Graduates from COLLEGE

My little brother graduates...or will soon from COLLEGE! Hooray!
We had a family bbq at my parents house. Then we headed in doors to watch the Twins game.
Charlie lounging on Tanner while watching the game

The girls: Kate holding Landrey and Reese holding Nora

Reese and Nora

Friday, June 11, 2010

Spa Day with the Ladies

Each year the Ulstad Ladies are pleasantly surprised with Santa brings them a spa certificate for a local spa....it is so not expected, but man it is needed by about June time to relax and pretty up our toes that haven't seen the sun in so LONG! We went to Nirvana spa and salon for the day. We were pampered, we relaxed, we ate food, we enjoyed each others company.....it was such a nice day, and probably the LONGEST I have been away from Nora ever. I asked if my brother, Brandon, would watch Nora along with his 3 kids on this Friday. He said YES! What was he getting himself into?! I didn't know.....but it did creep into my mind a few times during the day, that I hope he was doing ok and that she wasn't driving him bonkers! We called him after our spa treatments were done and said we were thinking about going out for drinks and appetizers and then heading to the casino to gamble for an hour or so...He said "go have fun" so that is what we did.

at the casino....Jenn and I went to the smoke free are of the casino (yeah I guess they have them!) I put in 5 bucks in a penny slot machine and won 10 on the 5th hit!!! I then cashed out because all the people who were coming in to see the Oak Ridge Boys were crowding the seats!!!! Who knew the 'Good Ol Boys' still had TONS of fans!!
Jenn did not gamble, I think Laurie and my mom lost and OF course Lucky Courtney Won like 60 bucks!!!!

I stayed with Brandon and Courtney so that Nora would have some time with Brandon with me there before I left for spa day and here they all are the morning after spa day! Looking lovey!

Our special Godson JT!!! He is wearing his sunglasses and swim goggles on his face...funny guy!


Monday, June 7, 2010

1st Crop Share Produce

Matt and I decided this year to try out a Crop Share Program. You pay a certain amount to this farm and then you get fruits/vegetables/herbs/flowers each week. We got a petite share since I am mainly the veggie/fruit eater and lover in the house.....Matt likes to dabble, but is definitely not a LOVER of fruits & veggies. Each week we get a little basket like this, sometimes with recipes, if there is a vegetable or fruit that is more unknown. The 1st week we got Kohlrabi, lettuce, mustard greens, and rhubarb. Forgot the kohlrabi at my parents house, ate most of the lettuce and mustard greens, and made a rhubarb crisp!!!!
Yummy....can't wait what we'll get in the future.

Cousin Ashley Going to Florida

My cousin Ashley is going to visit Florida to see some family and friends. She is bringing her almost 3 month old, Laney, with her. Wow--I can't imagine flying solo with Nora! I hope it all goes well. Here are some photos of lunch we had before she left. We met at Chili's in Roseville---Matt came and got to see all the pretty ladies as well---Lucky Guy!
Ashley and Nora.....look at how white Nora is compared to Ashley!

Nora and Laney, Everytime I have hung out with Laney she has been sleeping......she must think I am boring! Here is the size difference in the 2. QUITE a difference!
Erika, Nora, Laney, Ashley

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Heidi's Wedding

We had our first wedding of the year and Nora's first wedding! We dressed her up in her 'Sunday's Best' and went to St. John Lutherans in downtown Chaska for the wedding. It was so nice that it was in town and the reception was at the Arboretum. The wedding was for an old coworker of mine while working at Christopher & Banks. We have remained friends and she lives right down the road from us. We brought Nora to the wedding but then dropped her off at Grandma and Grandpa Forslunds house so she could have fun playing (and I guess so Mommy and Daddy could have a little fun as well!) She was so sweet when we came and picked her up, all sleepy and wanting to cuddle up in her arms....this is REALLY the only time she cuddles---when she is woken up from sleep and is resting in someones arms.

Mommy, the beautiful bride Heidi, and another old coworker Hayley

Friday, June 4, 2010

Nora 6 months old

6 months old...so cute6 months...getting so big
6 months...can't keep my hands off anything that is near

Nora is 6 months old!!


We had her 6 month appointment and she is:


Height: 26-1/4" 75%

Weight: 14 lbs 14 oz 25%

Head Circumference: 40.8 cm 10%


So she is still a long lean baby. She is eating 3 meals a day along with milk 4 times. She is really an 'obvserver'. She loves to look around and take in her surroundings.