Ben's 28th Birthday

On April 20th, Ben celebrated his 28th birthday! Griffy came down with an ear infection that day, so we spent the afternoon at the doctors office. But they prescribed Amoxicillin for him again, and he felt better after just one dose.
Grandpa Steve and Griff

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Twins' Opener!

Ben was able to go to the Twins home opener in April at new Target Field through work. He had a really fun time with his buddies at work.

Just awesome.

They were on the "Bud roof deck." Great view and free beer.

Happy 1st Birthday Griffin!!

On Friday, May 28, Griffy turned 1! He's been the biggest blessing to Ben and I. It's been a really fun year, and I'm so excited to see what the next year is going to bring. We had a big birthday party on Friday evening with all our family and friends at the Wanamingo park shelter. It was a fun and hectic evening with beautiful weather! Griffy received some cute outfits and fun summer toys- thank you everyone! I'll post some pictures of the party and more this week.

Just another day...

Busted.
Bath time!!

Chewing on his "cow-duck."

Too cute!

Huh?

#2

Ben and I are excited to announce that Griffin got his second tooth this week!!!! He's getting to be a big boy.

Bad Mom Moment...

I'm sure I'm not the only person to have done this.

The end of January is the Cannon Falls Alumni Tournament where many of the CF graduates come back and play in a basketball and volleyball tournament. Being a good wife, I brought Griffy to the high school to watch Ben play that Saturday afternoon. Now, my car has a fancy automatic door-locking system. If I hit the lock button ONCE, the doors will lock within 10 seconds of the doors closing. If I hit the button TWICE, it locks all the doors immediately. So, I turned off my car, grabbed my keys, purse and diaper bag, opened my door, hit the lock button ONCE, and crawled in the back seat to take him out of his car seat. He's sleeping of course. As I'm unbuckling Griff, my phone rings.

Now, hindsight- I should have just let it ring. But it's Katie and what if it's something important, and Griff was sleeping anyway so it's not like he was waiting for me. Right? So I answer it and think to myself, "I'll just step outside to talk so Griff can keep sleeping." I step outside and quietly close the door. Talk, talk, talk, lock.

Uh oh. %*$&#! KATIE, I JUST LOCKED GRIFF AND MY KEYS IN THE CAR!

A frantic and cold 20 minutes later, Mr. Towtruck/locksmith/lifesaver unlocked my car and I scooped up my still sleeping boy and we went to finish watching Ben's basketball game.

So Cute

I was watching Noah at our house yesterday for a little while when Katie was getting a well-deserved massage. We were looking at a picture book and I was pointing to each picture so Noah could tell me what each thing was. There was a little blonde boy crying on one page, and he said, "Logan!" It struck me by surprise- first that he knew who Logan was (probably from the Christmas picture? or blog?), and that he associated a crying boy with Logan. I don't think he's seen Logan cry lately, but I do have to give Noah a little credit, the boy really did resemble Logan. Funny kid.

Grandpa and Grandma Bakken's house

Don let Griffy play on his face- it was so funny! Griff loved it!
Ben's brother Chris has 5 boys and new baby girl- making 6 kids! It is pretty special to have one of our kids be close in age.

Grandpa Don and Katherine Anna.

Griffin got a new John Deer stocking cap from Don and Avonne.

He looks so cute in it.

My guys.

Christmas Eve

We stopped at Ben's Grandma's house in Zumbrota on Christmas Eve. She is such a wonderfully tiny lady.
Playing with Dad.

The boys by the tree! About 2 seconds after this was taken, Griff took a nose-dive onto the floor. The floor was slippery, and Griffy is wiggley. He was not a happy camper for a few minutes.

Playing on the floor.

Having so much fun!!!

He is such a happy baby. What a blessing.

Mom's 53rd Birthday at Casey's- Dec. 14, 2009

This was taken at our house one night when Ben and I were watching Noah. Before putting on his pajamas, he wanted to be "Nakey Noah!" OK- just let him run around in his diaper! Easy enough.
Happy Birthday Grandma Val, or Gamma Bal as Noah would say.

Sweet boy.

Sissy at 26 weeks.

We had really good supper of delivered pizza and vanilla cheesecake. It was wonderful, but bitterly cold that night. I guess it was a foretaste was what was to come.

Christm... New Years House Tour, kind of

A snowy evening in Wanamingo.
We had our tree in the front porch, and hung our 3 stockings in the window.

Little Ben.

Awesome bangs. Thanks Mom!

It seems I may have forgotten to take a picture of our tree all decorated. Well, there's always next year.

PEAS!!

"Them some good peas ma!" Hungry little boy.

Absolutely miserable.

Dec. 1, the Bakken's got a cold. Poor Griffy had it the worst. Runny nose, cough, sore throat (we think), goopy, watery eyes... it was aweful. He didn't sleep for a week, which means I didn't sleep for a week. He didn't eat well or sleep well. He just whined and moaned, but I could do anything for the poor guy. I ended up taking him to his doctor to find out he had an ear infection and was given an antibiotic. After one dose- he was a differnt boy.

As Heidi would say, here's some "post-bath cuteness!"

Why are kids 100x cuter after a bath? They just are, and I love it. A warm bath can make any baby feel better, and it did.

Retirement and Halloween

Sunday November 1 was a big day for Ben's parents. His dad Don, retired after 28 years of service at Our Saviours Lutheran church in Cannon Falls. Avonne also retired as the church secretary. It was a very special day for the both of them. After the morning service, there was lunch and a special program at 2:00. Don and Avonne sat up front and for an hour, we sang and told stories. People stood up and told them how their ministry impacted their lives. They are wonderful people, and the church was blessed to have them serve for 28 years. Happy retirement!!!!
Happy Halloween!! Our dragon was pretty tired. He slept through most of the trick-or-treating.

A visit to Grandma Lindell's house. Noah was a frog, and Griff was a dragon. They were soooooooo stinkin' cute!

Playing with Dad.

Bekki's Burthday and more

Sunday Oct. 25, we went to Mom and Dad's for supper to celebrate my 25th Birthday. It was fun and low-key. Here are a couple of pictures of Griffy. He looked so old-fashioned in his pajamas and mom's old blanket.


Rolling outside.

Sitting up in his high chair.

Hello, I'm 5 months old today! Just looking as cute as ever.

Visit at Grandma Lindell's Oct. 24

By the end of the visit, Griffy was wiped out. He fell asleep with his thumb in his mouth, just as I was holding him. Precious.
Griffin and Mandy talking away! He thought she was pretty fun!

Sissys! It was just soooo much fun to see Kelly and her kiddos. You too Mrs. Michelle!


Little Anna is getting so big. She is just adorable!! Who knew Justin could make someone so cute??

Rolling to his tummy, big boy!