Emma and Daddy at the Twins Game

This past week I could not wait for the weekend.  This is not anything new, but this week I had a completely different reason.  This past Saturday I had two twins tickets, one with my name on it and one for Emma.  I was so excited to take her to the game and sit with her and have ball park goodies and take in the crowd and the game.  She's been to plenty of games before but this was really the first time I took her by myself. Now she is so interactive and really understands what is going on.  I was so excited and the experience did not disappoint!!!

The opponent was the Seattle Mariners which was merely a detail; in reality the game itself was completely inconsequential to our evening.  What was great about the game was that it was a 6:10 start, so it bought us an extra hour before Emma's bed time (normally games start at 7:10 which doesn't leave a lot of time for an 8:30 bed time).  We started off the night with some dinner, Emma's choice, of chicken strips and french fries.   Then we moved on to some popcorn, which Emma declared she was "in charge of."  And as a night cap, washed it all down with a helmet ice cream sundae with chocolate and sprinkles on top (the sprinkles were Emma's request).

All evening, Emma was on the lookout for her best friend T.C. Bear (the twins mascot).  She spotted him here and there, mostly seeing him on the jumbo-tron.  I was hoping we would run into him somewhere on the concourse to get a picture with him and KAZAM - as we were headed out, there he was!  Hard to tell who was more excited, me or Emma. :)

I see many more trips to the ball park in our future, but this one will be hard to top.  

With love from Target Field,

Jason and Emma

Lucas's First Week

So far we think Lucas is a keeper.  As you'll see in these pictures, Emma thinks so too.  She has been a very sweet big sister to him and has showered him with hugs and kisses.  Here are a few pictures of Lucas's first few days of life.

Emma's sweet expression says all there is to say about how she feels about her new little brother.  This picture may make my top 10 favorites list.  So cute!

If Luke is awake, Emma isn't too far away.

Unfortunately for Emma, he spends most of his time with his eyes closed.

He does wake up to check out his new surroundings every now and then.

He stayed awake for his first bath at home!

We went to our photographer, Jen Taylor, for Luke's newborn pics on his one week birthday.  It was a ton of fun and I think there are going to be some great pictures.  I take that back, I know there are going to be great pictures because here is the teaser Jen sent a couple days after the photo shoot.

Here is a picture I took of Emma with my phone during some down time at Jen's...such a cutie. :)

Having Luke at home as been awesome!  Especially watching Emma transform into a loving, doting big sister.  Lucas is one lucky kid.  And, no doubt, Melissa and I are lucky parents. :)

With love from Minneapolis,
Jason, Melissa, Emma, and Lucas

Easter 2014

Because Easter was a full week after Melissa's due date, we decided early on we weren't going anywhere.  So, my family came to us.  I think they were hopeful to have the opportunity to meet their new grandson and to be truthful, we had hoped to have a baby at that point to introduce to them!  But, that wasn't in cards.

We had a great visit and a fantastic holiday!  My Mom and Dad and Grandma Marge came up for the weekend.  Emma always loves it when she gets to hang with her Grandparents.  We did all the usual Easter things - dying Easter eggs, an Easter egg hunt, and Easter dinner complete with yummy Easter ham.

Emma is on the hunt . . . for eggs.  As it turns out, after finding all the eggs Easter morning we left them outside while we went to church and during Emma's afternoon nap.  In that time period the pesky neighborhood squirrels got into every single egg and ate the candy.  As you can imagine this is devastating news to a soon to be 3 year old.  Thank goodness for Melissa's connections to the Easter Bunny!  One phone call and the bunny came back and hid more eggs the following day.  Phew!

Everyone is looking good in their Easter duds before church.

We had a wonderful meal with wonderful company!  Our lives are blessed with the best family and friends a person could ask for, and for that we are so very thankful.

With love from Minneapolis,

Jason, Melissa, Emma, and Lucas

Winter/Spring 2014 Random Pics

Here are some random pictures of our happenings from the early part of 2014.  I thought Emma's hair looked really cute and curly with her Twins hat on so I tried my best to capture it on film.

There is nothing better than a book by the fire on a cold winter day.

Probably one of the biggest transitions to get ready for the baby was to move Emma into her big girl bedroom in order to clear out space in the nursery for baby boy.  We decided to move her into the spare bedroom and consolidate the spare bed and office.  I know my Uncle Larry was sad to see this green color go.  He painted it (under protest) about 5 years ago while he was spending a weekend with us while on call for his job.  I really enjoyed the project and as you can see I had a pretty strict supervisor!

Emma requested purple with polka dots.  This is what we came up with.  The dots were quite a process but turned out pretty good.

More supervision while getting all the stencils in place.

Dots are painted with stencils still in place.

Stencils removed.

Finished product!

On to Valentines Day cookies!!

Gotta have sprinkles :)

Cuddles with Momma and baby Luke still in the belly.

Just plain cuteness.

From Minneapolis with love,

Jason, Melissa, Emma, and Luke