D.J. and Julie

Christmas 2009

2010-06-15T18:25:00.000-07:00

We let Alex decorate part of the tree last Christmas with the cloth ornaments and he made sure that his area was completely covered - not a one could be left unused. Alex showed us just how good he was with his matching. If he found any ornaments that were similar they had to be lumped on the same branch. We found out just how many bells, Santas and Christmas trees we really had.

Ta Da, all done!!!!

We enjoyed an evening out for the LSS Christmas party.

Meeting Santa. We found a very different experience for meeting Santa this year - no lines at the mall for us, this guy transforms his front yard into Santa's workshop and sits outside waiting for visitors in his little house. It was fun to have a real personal experience with Santa.

We each decorated Christmas cookies, and these pictures don't do justice, but Alex's is layered about an inch thick with frosting, sprinkles and gummies - it took a good 3 days or so to eat it all gone.

Catching Up

2009-11-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

Now that we've finally moved into our house and set up the internet we wanted to update everyone on what's been going on. It's been so long since we've really updated this that we feel bad. So, here it goes...

Like we said in our last update we've moved into our new house in Waconia. Julie's job at Ameripise and D.J.'s job at LSS have been great. We've both been presented with new challenges that we enjoy. Some days are crazier than others, but that's kind of how life goes.

This summer we were able to spend a lot of time with our families and friends. In the 8 months since we've moved we've done so much. We spent a couple of weekends over the summer in Amery with Julie's parents boating and relaxing.

Here's Alex soaking in the summer sun.

He loved helping Grandma water the garden. He took the job VERY seriously...

...but found creative ways to accomplish what he needed to do.

We made regular visits to the house as it was being built. Ever since the walls were up Alex would run in and check out his room right when we got there.

He's always full of smiles.

For the 4th of July we went to the celebration in Chanhassen. Alex loved seein all of the flags and pointed out every one he saw. He got to go in his very first carnival ride. We were going to ride with him, but he insisted riding by himself.

Taking in the view.

Crazy driver!!!!

Along with the carnival rides and food they also had a car and tractor show. We asked Alex if he wanted to take a picture with one of the tractors. Out of the 15 or 20 tractors that were lined up he immediately pointed out the only green tractor at the very end of ther row.

This summer the Mall of America hosted a 10th Birthday party for Sponge Bob Squarepants. Since Alex lovs to sing the Sponge Bob song we went and got to meet the birthday boy and watch a movie.

Alex and Sponge Bob.

Waiting for the movie to start.

This was the first time Alex had been to the movie theater so we weren't sure how he'd do and decided that if he got too antsy we'd just leave. Not only did Alex sit through the entire movie he waited patiently for 20 minutes for the movie to start.

Silly Goose!

The 2009 PGA Championship was at Hazeltine in Chaska which is literally in D.J.'s parents' backyard. We had been given a couple of days of tickets and below are some of the pictures.

Checking out the field of players.

Alex and D.J. went out the first morning of practice rounds to checkout the course and not expecting to see any big names so early in the week. We heard that Tiger had gone out early in the morning and was about the finish his practice round when we got there. When Alex heard that Tiger was there he kept asking "Where's Tiger Daddy? Where's Tiger?" We got close to him as he was walking between holes and when I told Alex that Tiger was right infront of use he wasn't really impressed, he was hoping for a real tiger.

Alex working on his putting stroke

10th Hole

Monday practice round.

Tiger teeing off 7 - looks like he's stading on a mountain of people.

We were able to look over the fence on the 6th green as the back of the Kearney's neigborhood looks over the course.

Alex looking for tigers

When we moved into the house we moved Alex out of the crib and into a big boy bed. He never got up once and couldn't have transitioned any better.

Enjoying his new room.

Alex playing dress up at Grandma and Grandpa Fretwells

Alex at his very first Twins game.

He even got to run the bases after the game.

Alex's new buddy, T.C.

Alex's favorite part of the going to the Twins game was riding the lightrail train.

The Chanhassen Arboretium is 10 minutes from our house. We went there one night this summer and took some of these pictures.

This fall we made a trip to an orchird to get apples and pumpkins. On the way out Alex got to see and pet the horses.

D.J. was more afraid of the horses than Alex

Alex and his pumpkins

Alex really enjoyed trick-or-treating this year. He had a perfect monkey costume for the cold day.

2009-08-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

Update

2009-05-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

Since our last post many things have happened. D.J. got a new job, Alex turned 2 years old, Julie got a new job, we moved, started our jobs, sold our house in Plover and started building a new house in Waconia, MN... needless to say there has been a lot of changing for us.

Let's start from the beginning: D.J. accepted a position as an Application Specialist at LSS Data Systems in Minnetonka, MN providing services to doctors' clinics that use the LSS medical records software. This is a lot different than the athletic training that he was doing in Wisconsin Rapids but is better because he no longer has to cover games and more potential for growth. Julie took a position working for another Ameriprise Financial Advisor in Eden Prairie as his Paraplanner - basically running his practice. She has had her work cut out for her getting his practice up to speed but is really enjoying it.

The same week we started our jobs we got, and accepted, an offer on our house in Plover. The house closed the end of April so we have been very busy packing and moving. After looking at a number of houses in the Twin Cities we found that we could get exactly what we wanted by building a house as we would have by buying an existing home that we didn't like without spending any more. So within a week we accepted the offer on our house and signed a contract to build our new home in Waconia which is scheduled to be done in August.

Alex with all of his stuffed animals

Our house... or where it will be in about 3 months. This was taken the day they started digging.

We are very excited for everything this new chapter in our life holds in store for us. We will keep you updated on everything that happens.

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-12T16:39:00.000-08:00

We had another great Christmas with our families. For 4 days over Christmas we were at the Kearneys in Chaska. It was a full house with 8 adults, 4 kids and 2 dogs. Nothing is better than being close with family. Julie's parents came to our house over New Years to celebrate Christmas in Plover. It was nice to see everyone and celebrate together.

Santa came and brought us very nice things. Alex got a lot of presents including a train set from Uncle Jeff, a tricycle from Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell, toys & clothes from Grandma & Papa Kearney, and lots of toys, puzzles, and cars.

Of course Alex got to see Santa. He was excited about it all day and loved sitting on Santa's lap.

Here's Alex at snack time. He loves sitting at the counter to color, look at books, or eat. He got a new activity table from Mom and Dad. It's great for him and he loves to sit at it to color and do puzzles.

Grandpa Fretwell took some nice pictures while they were out to visit. D.J. went out to shovel some snow from the driveway and Alex wanted to help, he even has his own shovel. If it keeps snowing as much as it has D.J. will let him shovel the entire driveway by himself.

Alex's new tricycle from Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell.

While in Chaska we celebrated Julie, Dad, Mindy and Matt's birthdays as they are all within about 5 weeks of each other spanning from Nov. 27th to Jan 2nd.

Alex proudly showing off his reindeer ears he got from Aunt Jen.

Alex and cousin Jon really bounded over the holiday as they are getting to an age where they can get into to trouble together. Since Christmas Alex will look through our house trying to find "Jon Jon". Here there finishing up some jello at Christmas dinner. Yummy!

Alex learned how to toast over Christmas. He's a little aggressive now, but should get lots of practice before Jen and Nicks wedding this fall.

The stocking of endless gifts.

Merry Christmas from the Kearneys!

Belated Thanksgiving Photos

2008-12-17T19:02:00.001-08:00

I know, I know... we're late getting these up, but wanted to share them with you. We spent Thanksgiving in Amery this year at the Fretwells. Jeff was home from D.C. We haven't seen him since his college graduation in May. It was wonderful to spend time with family, Julie's grandmother was able to come over for Thanksgiving dinner. We even got to spend some time with some friends. The only "Black Friday" shopping was D.J., Sandy, and Jeff going to Sears.

We had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings, including sweet potatoes, lefsa, pumpkin & pecan pies. Alex showed his true Swedish roots and revealed his love for lefsa. Alex also got in a little play time with GG while we sat around the table after dinner.

Julie's high school friend came over to visit with her husband and their little boy, Brendan. Alex and Brendan bonded instantly. The boys had a great time playing together and the big kids got a chance to visit.

Alex got plenty of quality time with his Uncle Jeff over the long weekend. He even got a little drum lesson from Jeff after getting into his drum sticks.
As usual Alex was a little ham, entertaining everyone all weekend long. Below are some of the ones we got the opportunity to catch on camera. He is a very big fan of Mr. Potato ead, but decides to use the accessories on himself instead of Mr. Potato Head. I think he's channeling Charlie Chaplin in this one.
One of the most exciting things we did over the weekend was visit a dairy farm that is owned by friends of Joanne and Sandy. Alex got the chance to see a calf that was one day old and let the little calves lick his hand.

2008-11-05T17:54:00.000-08:00

Below are some of our favorite picture from this fall. This fall was filled with all sorts of fun adventures including trips to LaCrosse to play with the cousins, going to the pumpkin farm and petting zoo, and of course Halloween.

Alex has learned where his fascial feature are including his eyes, ears, teeth, tongue, and - as he's showing you in this picture - his nose. He even knows where it is while wearing a garment bag.
Here Alex and his cousin Jon are the morning of one of our trips to La Crosse.

Alex and Jon had so much fun playing in the leaves.

Here we are at the petting zoo - Alex got to pet bunnies, donkeys, chickens and ducks, and llamas.

Alex is amazingly gentle with animals. He even managed to pick up a chicken all on his own - we were a little scared he'd squeeze too tight, but the chicken didn't seem to mind.

We let Alex pick out a pumpkin that was just his size - it's the little one right in front of him. He would carry it all thoughout the house, and even pretended that his pumpkin was taking a nap by wrapping him up and laying him in his makeshift "crib", (which is the floor space underneath our kitchen stools).

This was a hail storm that we had one evening - D.J. was actually driving home and there were a few cars that ended up in the ditch because of it.Alex had a lot of fun this Halloween, carving pumpkins and seeing all the kids come trick-or-treating at the door. He wasn't quite sure what to think about the pumpkin guts, but enjoyed helping Daddy and was so excited when the pumpkin had eyes, a nose and mouth.Alex loves phones, but it's especially cute when he sits in his chair and has pretend conversations with GG, Papa, or his friend Jonah.

Alex loves to color and will sit and color while Mama is making dinner - and sometimes we join in too.

More Pictures

2008-09-29T18:29:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, I've been bugging Mommy and Daddy to put new pictures on here for a long time. They have been so busy that I finally taught myself how to use the computer and put them up on the blog. If I waited for them, I will have graduated by the time that they get them up here. We have been super busy as usual. We have been doing lots of projects and planting around the house lately. Now that the schools have started he has been busy covering lots of games. And it seems that all three of us have had some type of illness in the last couple of weeks. All in all we're doing very well and couldn't be happier.

While Mommy and Daddy have been doing projects I've been learning all kinds of things. I'm learning new things all the time. I like watching the school bus go by every morning and point it out to Mommy. Whenever I hear the train go by I say "choo choo" to Mommy and Daddy so they know. I've been coloring a lot too, the refrigerator is becoming my art gallery.

Mommy and Daddy spent a week playing with friends. They played golf, went out on the lake, grilled out, and caught up with friends. I wasn't able to make it because I was playing with Grandma and Papa. We got to see Aunt Jen after she got engaged to Nick... now I can finally call him "Uncle Nick". Below is the sunset on the end of Mommy and Daddy's day of playing. I turned 18 months old in August, it was the same day as the Olympic opening ceremony. We celebrated by having cupcakes.

I was very lucky when Mommy and Daddy built this bench for me. It has pegs that I can pull out and put in holes. The bench has been updated since this picture was taken. The pegs are painted different colors and it now has doors on the side that I can open and close. Mommy and Daddy said that they will paint it all kinds of bright colors soon. I will keep you posted.

Grandma and Papa Kearney came to visit Labor Day. I wanted to show them my favorite park. Luckily it was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun. I took a really good nap that afternoon.
You can't tell in this picture, but I'm chasing the ducks at the park.

Daddy tells me that I need to drink lots of water and stay hydrated like his athletes. So I drink lots of water. In fact whenever I pass a water fountain I have to take a drink. Aren't we a cute family?

In case you haven't heard... I like flags. If you give me a flag to play with I will be the happiest boy in the world. I like all kinds of flags, but the American flag is the most exciting. It's all the different colors. Plus it has stripes and stars on it. It's so cool!Mommy and Daddy say that I am the only child that would rather sleep with a flag than a stuffed animal.
It may be a little early, but I've decided to learn how to drive. So I saved up and bought a beauty of a car. Mommy and Daddy say I'll need my license before I can go on the road, but until then I can pedal all over the house and the driveway. And no drive is complete without the shades.
I have to give Mommy and Daddy a kiss goodbye before I leave in my car.
Mommy and Daddy have been working hard planting around the house this summer. They are showing off the fruits of their labor here.I love my Daddy!
In September we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Fretwell. This was also the same weekend of Amery's Fall Festival. Mommy always talks about how much fun it was to go to the parade and ride all the rides when she was a kid. The part that I liked the most was the parade. There were lots of fire trucks and police cars with their lights and sirens going. Plus there were marching bands and horses and lots of people to wave and say "Hi" to. I surprised Mommy and Daddy when I sat through the whole 2 hours.
I liked sitting with Grandma and Grandpa

"Mommy look at all the flags!"
I wanted to be part of the parade, and march with the band.
Towards the end of the parade Mommy was blowing bubbles. I thought it was hilarious when the other little kids chased and popped the bubbles. I was laughing so hard my cheeks turned red.
Well that's what we've been up to. I hope to see all of you soon. I'll try and make Mommy and Daddy update this more often. If not I'll just have to do it again.

Love, Alex

Summer Fun, 1st Haircut

2008-07-30T06:41:00.000-07:00

Alex got his very first haircut while we were in Amery a little over a week ago. His hair was so curly we couldn't bring ourselves to cutting it off. Luckily Julie's parents were there to distract him while we cut it since he was so curious about what was going on. We put him in front of the mirror in the bathroom, but figured that wasn't such a good idea because he could see what was happening. Here are a couple of pictures of him before we cut it.
If his hair is combed it doesn't look too long except for the curls in the back, but if you pull it out you could really see the length.
This picture is just before we cut it. His hair doesn't look long here but he was so cute we had to post it.
And here's the finished product. Not too bad for just grabbing hair and cutting. This is a picture from when D.J. took a week off from work and stayed home with Alex. They went to a different park everyday. He was excited to go to the park and looked so cute in his hat I took a picture.
Alex recently had his first experience with corn on the cob. He wasn't real sure what to do with it at first but with a little help he got the hang of it.

This past weekend was pretty fun. We went to the local farmers' market to get some fresh produce - so much better than the grocery store... and cheaper too :). After that we went to the "mega" playground that Alex loves, Mommy and Daddy had fun too. Alex continues to show no fear and ran all over the playground that would probably take up a racquetball court it was so big. The "bouncy bridge" was one of his favorites. A couple days later our friends Kelly and Travis invited us to go swimming in their pool. Of course Alex loved it because it's outside and he loves anything outside.

This is a cute picture of Alex with Katie (Kelly and Travis daughter) who is about 5 months old. She is the same age Alex was the first time he went swimming in Kelly and Travis's pool.

And we had to get a picture of his footprint. They're just so cute.

Lucille M. Kearney, 1917-2008

2008-07-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

On July 2nd D.J.'s Grandma Kearney passed away after a battle congestive heart failure. She was in hospice care for nearly two weeks. She was strong, faithful, and caring about everyone else all the way until the end. Below are pictures from when we went to see her last July, that was the first time she had met Alex. She loved him just as she did all her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren...with all her heart. Although we were all very sad to say goodbye to Grandma, we knew she had an amazing faith in Christ and is in a much better place. This gave us the time to spend the time with the ones we love most. Family was very important to Grandma and she wanted us all to stick together.

During a very sad time we had many good times with everyone. Alex got to play with his cousins and see his uncles and aunts. Uncle Matt with Grace, Jon, Alex, and Sam."Yeah, I got to see Uncle Matt!"Aunt Jen with Jon and Alex"Daddy, we're not supposed to play at the table." "Uncle Matt, why don't you try this for lunch?"
The Kearney Cousins
The fam plus Jen's boyfriend, Nick.

Summer Time Fun

2008-07-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Since summer has started we have been enjoying the fresh produce that is available. Alex really enjoys that strawberries, grapes, and mellon.

Who coudn't love a face like this?
One cloudy cool Saturday in June we decided to check out the local children's museum. Although realtively small it was just perfect for Alex. It had a big room he could run around in, instruments & toys he could play with. Some of it was a little old for him, but he still had a blast. The best part about it we didn't have to worry about him breaking things or picking up after him :)
Since going to the childrens' museum he has requested drums.

"Daddy, why are we seating on a bench and paddling?"
Alex was too excited about the slanted floor to pose for the picture.

Although this looks like a dog tub it was designed for children...I swear!

Lots of Pictures

2008-06-22T12:47:00.000-07:00

Since returning from South Carolina we haven't done much, but time has gone so fast. It's hard to believe it's almost July. The most exciting thing to happen to us since getting back was that all three of us had the flu within a day of each other. Nothing's worse than having the flu at the same time as your child. So we all spent a weekend in bed.

Alex playing with his buddy, Jonah, while Mommy and Daddy had a dinner party.

Alex is an excellent eater, a little messy, but very good.

Alex begged us to do his hair this way, I swear.

Alex has learned some new tricks over the last month or two. He is talking quite frequently and sometimes is very persistent. Some of his favorite words are shoe, bye-bye, daddy, mama, and Siggy (the cat - every cat is "siggy" to Alex). His favorite thing to do now is climb up in chairs and couches. He is very proud of his accomplishments as you'll see below.

In May we celebrated D.J.'s birthday in Chaska. It was also Memorial Day weekend, so we went to the parade downtown. Below Alex is showing off his favorite toy... a flag of course. June finally brought some nice weather so we decided to have some fun and go to the park. Alex loved going down the slide and going high on the swing.

This past weekend we bought Alex an inflatable pool and since it was so warm we filled it up for him. He loved it! It was outside, and that's his favorite place to be... so needless to say it was a match made in heaven. Alex got a little confused and thought the plastic storage drawer was his pool.

He loved splashing and marching in the water. He wanted to go skiing but the boat didn't fit.

After a long day of anticipation and playing (without taking a nap), he fell asleep in his high chair while eating dinner.

South Carolina Trip

2008-05-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

We took a road trip to South Carolina to see Julie's brother, Jeff, graduate from college. Our biggest concern going into the trip was how Alex would do riding in the car for so long... and he actually did surprisingly well. As long as he had enough snacks, drinks, and toys to distract him he was pretty happy.
Jeff graduated from the Citadel in Charleston (hence the military garb). While spending time on campus we found what Alex's favorite thing is... flags. He loves all flags but specificly the American flag (fitting for our surroundings). Whenever he sees one he will point and says "Cooool".

Alex got to see his Great Grandma Fretwell, who was excited to see him.

On the way down to Charleston we stopped in Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore House. Alex wasn't really that impressed with 100+ year old mansion, but he loved the petting zoo.

The highlight of our trip was watching Alex play on the beach. After a couple of minutes of clinging to Mom & Dad we couldn't get him out of the water. He had no fear, going towards the tide as it was coming in.

These two are my favorite pictures from our trip.

Ten days gave us a lot of family time together, and time for Alex to experience new things.

Here's us taking a walk on the Ravenel Bridge.

Alex sporting his new shades with Daddy

Marching into Spring

2008-03-15T12:47:00.000-07:00

You haven't really been able to tell in the pictures from recent posts but Alex has been walking since early February. Now he's a regular walking machine. It's exciting to see all the progress he's making. He will walk into his room and just sit and flip through books for 10, 15, 20 minutes at a time while Julie and I are cleaning or eating. It's cute to poke your head in and see him intently looking at a picture in his book, not even knowing you're there. When he was born Jeff, Julie's brother, got him a pair of Converse All-Stars that we knew he wouldn't wear for a while. Last week Julie put them on for fun, and they almost fit. They make his feet look huge! NBA here we come!

Alex still loves to crawl around and put things in his mouth. This picture shows just what I mean. He loves Mickey Mouse and just happened to put the block in his mouth perfectly. Julie was able to get the camera in time. You can tell by the look in his eye the he knows he did something funny... what a ham!
Last weekend we were in La Crosse for Jon's 1st birthday party. Being only 5 weeks apart Jon and Alex will have lots of fun growing up together. They don't know it yet but they will probably get in all kinds of trouble (fun) together.

Alex played so hard one day that when Julie put him down for a nap he ended up sleeping like this. It was too cute to pass up a picture.

Next month we will be taking a road trip to South Carolina for Jeff's college graduation and were buying some things for the trip. This was the perfect hat to keep Alex's ears and head from getting fried by the sun while we are down there and out playing this summer. He thinks it's pretty cool. He likes to have it all the way down so you can't see his eyes.

One Whole Year

2008-02-25T17:17:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Incase you haven't heard yet I had my first birthday on February 8th. Now that I'm 1 Mom and Dad are letting me write this blog entry. I want to show you some pictures from all the fun I had.

I was very lucky and got to celebrate my birthday THREE times. First was at home with my new buddy Tyler. He turned one a month before me, so he had this birthday thing down pat. He and I played while our parents watched the Super Bowl. On my actual bithday Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell came out to visit. They brought me a wagon to ride in and Mommy and Daddy gave me a play kitchen. The night before my birthday they put all my toys together so when I woke up the day of my birthday I could play with them... boy was I surprised! Then this past weekend we went to Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell's to celebrate my birthday again, and this time Grandma & Grandpa Kearney came up with aunt Jen. That was a lot of fun. Grandma & Grandpa Kearney gave me a Mickey plane that plays music, that thing is cool!

I got my first experience with cup cakes/cake. They were yummy! I got a cup cake each time we celebrated my birthday. I must be my mother's child because I barely made a mess. Despite some messy hands and face, I was very clean.

Mommy and Daddy didn't let me eat all of these cup cakes, but the one with the candle on it was all mine.

Look Mom, no bib!

This is my new wagon. I can't wait for the snow to melt so we can go for a walk.

Here's one of the many books I got for my birthday. This is one of my favorites.

Mommy and Daddy gave me a bubble bath. They must think I'm going to be the next Santa because they're starting on my white beard.

Ah, my favorite past time - pulling out baking pans. What you can't tell from the picture is that I'm getting ready to practice for my future career as a drummer.
I'm getting so big that I'm showing Daddy how to brush his teeth. He's learning, slowly but surely.
I hope you all liked my first blog entry. I'll try to update more often. Until next time I'm going to catch some rays.

Many meals, many laughs, many memories

2008-01-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! Ours was busy. We spent Christmas weekend at Julie's parents in Amery, WI. Alex enjoyed his first Christmas and received wonderful presents, although he was more interested in the ribbon and playing with the cat. It was nice to spend time with family and relax. Alex also got to go sledding for the first time. The pictures don't do justice to how much fun he actually had. Unfortunately we only had one good weather day to go outside. He giggled going down the bumpy hill and loved making snow angels. The weekend following Christmas the Kearney clan came to Plover to celebrate the holiday. We made accommodations for 8 adults, two toddlers, and two infants. Much fun, food, and drink were enjoyed by all. Alex enjoyed playing with his cousins, aunts, uncle and grandparents so much he tuckered himself out... he took a two and a half hour nap after everyone left.

Alex has a push car he got from Kelly and Travis when he was born. Now that he is close to walking he loves it, and uses it all the time. It is cute to watch him motor all over the house pushing his cart.

Alex wouldn't be a Kearney boy if he weren't getting into some kind of trouble. In the first picture he got a hold of D.J.'s "Sport Illustrated" one day and decided to leaf through it while Julie was getting ready for work. The second picture shows Alex's favorite activity, pulling all of the Tupperware and utensils out of the drawers. One day he completely emptied the two bottom drawers. The only reason he didn't do three was because he couldn't reach.

With the Vikings in the hunt for a playoff spot D.J. wanted Alex to get into the spirit of things and taught him to do "touchdown". Unfortunately he didn't get to practice enough because Minnesota couldn't get in the end zone, but we did catch a cute pose on camera.

Not enough time in the day

2007-12-09T18:39:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's amazing how busy the holidays are. Between D.J. starting to cover winter games, Thanksgiving, and getting ready for Christmas the past month and a half have flown by. First of all the little man continues to grow. He has started standing on his own. It is fun to watch him just stand there for about 30 seconds and then he decides to just sit down. We're taking bets on if he will be walking by Christmas.

We've let him start watching some cartoons. His favorite is Tigger and Pooh. He gets so excited to watch that he stands right infront of the TV. Also, since he has so many teeth we've started brushing them. He loves watching us while we brush so we started brushing his as well. He has a little grin on his face while we brush them.

Thanksgiving was spent at the Kearney's in Chaska. The whole gang was home, so we had 8 adults, 2 toddlers, 2 infants, and 2 dogs. A good time was had by all, except D.J. had bronchitis and was coughing most of the time. Alex enjoyed spending time with his cousins. He was very interested in Jon as they are only 5 weeks apart. They will be a handful as they get older... I see many mischevous adventures in the future. Since we had so many people we wanted to cook an extra bird, but Alex wouldn't sit still long enough to baste him.

Julie's birthday was on the 27th of November, she turned 27. Since it was her "golden" birthday we threw her a surprise party while home in Chaska. Julie's parents and brother came in from Amery as well as some other of Julie's friends. Needless to say she was very surprised and happy to see everyone. And she got to have her favorite, Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

With all the cold weather we got the chance to bundle Alex up in his elf and marshallow man winter outfits. And since the snow blower needs a tune up he came out side to help Mommy and Daddy shovel snow, he's got a smile on his face so I think he had a good time.

November has brought us many projects. The highlight came when D.J.'s parents came out to visit and his dad helped him put up crown molding and some cabinet work. After 12 hours the job was done (without any major injuries) and they sat back to admired their work over a cold beverage.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T17:30:00.001-07:00

Alex is almost 9 months old now. We can't believe how fast the time is going, and how quickly he is growing. It's hard for us to even remember when he was so tiny and couldn't crawl. He is a bundle of energy. He loves to crawl all over the house, open cupboard doors, chase the cat, and play with his toys.

In the past month he's been starting to babble a little. He's started saying "Mama" but it comes out as "Baba" some times. He hasn't gotten anymore teeth, but is far ahead of schedule already having eight. Julie endured her first nights away from Alex as she had a business trip to Chicago. D.J. took Alex to Grandma and Grandpa Kearney's house while she was away. Both mother and boy did very well, but were very happy to see eachother when they got home.

On October 23rd we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Grandma and Grandpa Fretwell took care of Alex so we could spend some time together over dinner.

Here's D.J. and Alex all ready to watch the Viking game. Unfortunatley they didn't show it... surprise, there was a Packer game on.

Alex got a new Vikings sweatshirt because he out grew his other Viking out fit so fast. Here he is proudly showing it off.
Alex loves to play with the remotes, and the other morning he got 2 of them and had a lot of fun playing with them.

Here's Alex taking his bath - D.J. wanted to see how "big" he could get Alex's hair, this is what we got, but Alex wanted to show you his duckie.

Alex has a couple different smiles, there's the one when he's laughing and it's a big smile, but then there's the sly little smile where his eyes will crinkle and his cheeks will raise to show his little teeth - this is my favorite smile because it's so genuine!!!!!This one is of Alex during trick or treating (we have it on Sunday during the day, so it's safer, but not quite the "Halloween spirit"). It was tiring for the little man to hand out so much candy. (We only went to a couple neighbor's houses, and passed on the candy - maybe in a few years.)
Here's Alex in his pumpkin costume with our other pumpkins, I know which one's my favorite, how about you?

Here's Huey, Alex's stuffed cat.
Here's Alex on his rocking moose.

2007-09-23T18:18:00.000-07:00

WOW! It's amazing how fast time is going. Summer flew by and it's hard to believe September is almost over. We're very sorry for not updating the blog regularly lately. Needless to say we've been very busy. Julie has been busy with work, and recently started playing Bunco (a dice game) with some girlfriends. D.J. has had a busy month with school sports starting, so he's covering a lot of games. Alex has been growing like a weed and becomes more mobile each day. He is crawling and pulling himself up with ease now, pretty soon he'll be asking for the keys to the car. "OK, now that I've unfolded all the clothes what else can I get in to?"
On Labor Day our neighbor invite us to swim. Alex didn't like the cool water, but obvisouly found floating in the tube to be relaxing. All he needed was a fruity cocktail with an umbrella in it.
"Siggy where are you going? Don't you want to play?"
Alex liked the grass at Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell's. This was taken the day before his 7 month birthday.
He likes to cuddle :)
"Yeah, I know, I'm standing up. What's the big deal?"

"Let's see what else I can get in to."

HI Grandpa!
Playtime after bathtime. RIB-IT!
"Go Vikes! Why can't I find the game on TV? Shoot, that's right we live in Wisconsin!"

6 Months Old!!!!

2007-08-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

On August 8th Alex turned 6 months old. The last six months have flown by but so much has changed at the same time. Last week Alex had his 6 month check up he was 17 pounds 11 ounces and 27 inches long. He also got 3 immunizations, he was a trooper and didn't cry until the 3rd needle went in (it took that long to realize what the strange sharp pain was in his leg). He did great and only cried for a couple minutes, it must have been tiring though as he slept most of the day.

At six months Alex has accomplished a lot, especially in the past 6 weeks. He now has six teeth!, which he's been using to eat solid food. He sat up and started crawling within the last week, and just today we caught him pulling himself up on a small box. He loves to be tickled and to chase the cat. He is starting to develop his own personality. He's a very happy baby and smiles a lot. We've been VERY blessed as he has been so content. It's been nice for us now that he enjoys playing by himself, allowing us to get some things done. However, one of the most precious things is when we get on the floor to play with him and he crawls up into our laps. "What?!? You looking at me?"

"I've gotta get the bag.".

He's so cute when he smiles.

"My first time eating cereal. YUMMY!"

"Daddy and Grandpa took me swimming in the Lake. Mom didn't let me go skiing."

"Happy Birthday GG!"

Alex loves his Exer-saucer.

"I can't wait to get my driver's license."

Fun Times

2007-07-24T19:02:00.001-07:00

Alex is very ticklish, especially for Daddy, here they are having their evening tickle time.

Alex has started making new sounds, one of his new ones sounds like a high pitched screech, which involves him opening his mouth as big as he can and screaming from the back of his throat, it is actually really interesting to hear... and watch.

Last weekend we drove to Fort Dodge, Iowa to see DJ's Grandma Kearney. Here's the 4 generations of the Kearney family!!!

Here Alex is with his GG Kearney, we were so glad that we could visit her and give her sometime to be so excited about, Alex was such a good little boy!!!! He was mezmorized by GG's fingers. She would wiggle them infront of him and he would stare at them before he broke down and give her a sly grin.

This is so the Abercrombie picture of the baby world....eat your heart out girls!!!!!

Update

2007-07-12T18:23:00.000-07:00

So in the last couple of weeks we've been so busy!! The summer is going so quickly and we didn't think we were going to be busy this summer, but now we're realizing that we were wrong.

July 1st was Alex's baptism, and we were so excited to have so much of our family here - not only to celebrate, but to be at our house (we always like visitors). Here are some pictures!!! Alex was so good, no crying or anything. Julie's brother, Jeff, and D.J.'s sister, Jennifer, are his godparents.

In Alex's first week of being 5 months old we introduced him to a couple of very exciting new things, his ExerSaucer (I know that doesn't sound all that interesting, but put yourself in the footy bottoms of an energetic little boy) and a swimming pool. We have lots of pool pictures, because they are so cute - Alex loves his baths, and he enjoyed it by kicking around, I think the life jacket and the vast size of the pool were a lot to take in.

Hi Great-Grandma, I'm mobile, and have lots to say about it!!!!

2007-06-25T19:31:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Fretwell and Great-Grandma Fretwell came to visit on their trip up from South Carolina this past weekend, so here's the family. We enjoyed having her visit, because it was the first time she'd met Alex and the first time she'd been up to Wisconsin for a visit in many years.

He's mobile - well, kind of, he can roll.....it's really cute to see him flip himself back and forth as he rolls, it's not a real fluid roll, he kind of gets on to his side and then uses the momentum to flop to the other side, and then when his arm gets pinned underneath himself it takes a little rocking to get it unstuck - it's an amazing next step. We don't have any pictures of the actual progress of the roll, maybe we'll have to take pics soon and make like a flip book out of it, but for now here's what we got.

This is Alex talking and telling stories, he can get very animated with facial expressions and hand movements. If he can say this much without any words we can only imagine what's in store when he really knows how to communicate!!!!

Hail Damage

2007-06-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Some of you heard about the severe weather that came through central Wisconsin yesterday. There was a tornado and softball size hail in Wisconsin Rapids where D.J. works. There was some damage to buildings and cars in the area. Unfortunately D.J.'s car was one of those with damage. It has some good dings and a spider web break on the front windshield. There was a tornado that touched down a few miles from our house, luckily it lost strength and there were only a few things outside blown around. Enjoy the pictures, you always see them on tv, but you never really think it will happen to you.

4 Months Old & Growing

2007-06-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Today is Alex's 4 month birthday! We have lots of things planned for him, tomorrow he's having pictures taken and Tuesday he goes to the doctor for his check up. OK, so it's not the most exciting birthday but he has a lot more to come.
Alex has been talking A LOT lately. He will go on for 5 or 10 minutes just babbling, it's fun and exciting to see him changing. Other new things he's doing is chewing on everything in sight as his first two teeth continue to come in. He always has his blanket or hand in his mouth, nawing away. He is doing well at sitting up (with a little help) and holding his head up. He's also folding his hands infront of him, so it looks like he's praying all the time. We walked into church last week and priest noticed this. He said Alex looked like he was all ready for mass.

Happy Birthday Daddy

2007-05-28T16:40:00.000-07:00

Alex is getting bigger and discovering things every day. He has begun cutting his first teeth! The first one came in on Monday and the second started breaking skin on Friday. We like to call them his "alligator chompers". Other accomplishements including rolling from his stomach to his back with some consistancy and realizing he can pull on his toys to make them sing. He continues to be a wiggler, in constant movement only stopping to sleep.

Friday was D.J.'s 26th birthday. Alex decided to buy some plants for the front of the house as birthday presents, with those and some other gift certificates we got a whole new front landscape. It was a nice change as you can see with the before and after pictures. We spent the Memorial Day weekend working around the house, not only did we plant bushes we planted 19 sapling trees around the yard, planted annuals in the whiskey barrels, and stained the deck furniture.

I'm getting so big!!!!

2007-05-13T17:15:00.000-07:00

This was the bear suit I was suppose to be able to wear when it was snowing out, but unfortunately it took until April for me to fit into it, so on a day it was a little cool out Mommy dressed me up and we went and played outside. This is my "crazy cow", he sings and dances for me and I love to watch him!! Mommy had a wonderful 1st Mother's Day, I wore the first outfit she ever bought for me before I was born & I looked so cute!!!!

Uncle Matt came all the way from Seattle to see me and my cousin Jon the end of April and here we are chilling at Grandpa and Grandma's; Aunt Jen, Uncle Todd, Aunt Mindy, Grace and Sam, and Nick were there too. We had so much fun and I can't wait until he comes to visit again - Daddy and Mommy said maybe we can go out to Seattle and visit sometime soon too - they said something about flying fish....sounds interesting.

I've been trying to roll over for a couple of weeks, most of the time I get to my side and usually just hang there, but Daddy was quick with the camera and caught me in the act - I'm getting pretty good at it!!!

Mommy and Daddy keep telling me how strong I'm getting, I like trying to stand up, sometimes I would rather do this than sit, I'm not even 4 months old, so it'll still probably be a little while before I'm walking, but I'm working on my muscles.

This is Alex playing with his fishy mat. He's 3 1/2 months old now, he's growing and learning new things everyday. As he told you above, he started rolling over in the last couple of weeks and he is starting to put anything that he can into his mouth. He loves to babble and tell us stories and enjoys playing with his toys. We hope you enjoy the pictures and hope to see you all soon. Love from the Kearney's!!!!

What's Up Doc!

2007-04-09T10:46:00.000-07:00

Alex had his two month appointment today. Everything went really well, he weighed in at 11 pounds 10 ounces and 23 inches long. He got his first round of shots today. Four shots to be exact, two in each hip. He wasn't a huge fan of having needles stuck in him, but Mom was right there for a hug and kiss. He calmed down pretty quickly. He will get lots of hugs and kisses tonight.

Happy Easter & 2 Months Old!

2007-04-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter! We hope everyone enjoyed this holiday with family and loved ones. We spent the day at home in Plover as we saw family recently, and will be seeing more family soon. Alex slept through church and woke up in time to play in his basket of goodies he can't eat yet.
Today is also Alex's 2 month birthday. He's changed a lot in a short amount of time. In looking at pictures within the last month we are amazed at how big he's gotten. He's begining to laugh and giggle at us, the "e-i-e-i-o" part of Old McDonald really gets him laughing. He especially loves his bear mobile in the crib. He loves to laugh at them while they dance.

This is what Julie likes to call her "Mantourage". Alex, D.J., and Siggy.

More Catching Up

2007-04-08T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is Alex's dream Sunday afternoon. Watching TV and chilling with Siggy.We went to Amery to visit Great Grandma Sjobeck. Four generations!
Uncle Jeff spent his spring break staying at our house taking care of Alex. It was a great bonding experience for Alex, and a learning one for Jeff. We really appreciate Jeff coming all the way from school in South Carolina to visit the little guy.
We have a feeling Alex is going to be a genius. He's actually reading the story to Julie in this picture.

Catching Up Pictures

2007-04-08T18:33:00.000-07:00

Grandma & Grandpa Fretwell came to visit me in the hospital. So did Grandma & Grandpa Kearney
This is my first day home. That's Siggy, he and I are buds, even though he doesn't look so sure if he wants me around. I know, I was little!
My first bath. Bathtime is fun!
Daddy, you're not Mommy!

Say Hello Alex!

2007-04-01T15:53:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Kearney Family Blog (Plover, WI edition)! We want to share pictures and stories about Alex with you, and since we don't live close to most of you this is our best option.

Alexander Thomas was born February 8th. I know we're kind of late getting this started, but you try typing while holding an infant. Julie was scheduled to have labor induced at 7AM on the 8th (as she was 9 days overdue), but Alex had plans of his own. Around 1AM on the 8th Julie started having contractions on her own. We went to the hospital around 5:30AM and Alex came into the world at 1:08PM. He weighed 6lb 6oz and was 18 inches.

Since then Alex has grown to around 11lb and 22 inches long. He has his 8 week appointment next week so we'll have some more concrete numbers then. Since being born he has had a welcome home party with a lot of family. He's also become a traveling man, going to Amery (twice) to visit Great Grandma Sjobeck, to Chicago when Daddy had a conference for work, and to La Crosse to visit his new cousin (all in the first 6 weeks). We think he is the founding member of AAA Jr.

Enjoy the pictures. There will be many more to come in the future.