Like Father, Like Son

It's hard to believe that 29 years ago, Kyle was wearing this little Viking's sweatsuit that Koen has on!!!! It fits him perfectly! Kyle received this outfit from his Aunt and Uncle (Janet and Bob) when he was born! As you can tell, Koen really likes it too. He was so happy in it....which could be because he had a 'blow out', as we like to call it, about 45 minutes later :) I've already washed it and it's ready again for next Sunday! Go VIKES!

Kyle, Koen, Chris Deming and Matt Pilon (Kyle's buddies) cheered on the Vikings this past Sunday to a great victory in the last second where Farve had his first amazing play for the Vikes! It's crazy to think that we are now cheering for Farve when we spent so many years hating him! We like to think that Koen brought the luck to the Vikes!

I should also mention that Koen is doing so much better. We did figure out that he has some acid reflux and the doc put him on some medicine a few times a day, which is helping. And I think he's started to outgrow the colic....lately he's been a NEW kid! He's always smiled alot, but now he's smiling intentionally and sometimes even laughing! He LOVES to babble and talk back (in a good way!). If you catch him in the morning, he can be quite the ham! His sleeping has improved....the last two nights he has only been up once each night. A drastic improvement since the days of waking up 3-4 times a night! Mom and Dad are happy campers!

Leon wants to go for a car ride!

We've been finding a lot of Leon hair in Koen's car seat lately and couldn't figure out how the hair was getting in there!!! We finally figured it out the other night:

Happy 29th Birthday Dad!!!

What a great week to be off AND have a birthday! Kyle had the whole week off....He says he's 'retired', but he is inbetween jobs....starting his new gig at Heritage Embrodery tomorrow. It should be a great position for him with some new challenges ahead! We are all very excited!

We started Kyle's birthday celebration on Sunday with the Veenis family! Grammie Veenis made Kyle's favorite dessert: Dirt Cake! Thanks Grammie V!!!! Here is the beautiful presentation of the delicious dessert:

Monday was Kyle's actual birthday, and since I recently 'retired' as well, we were able to spend the whole day together with Koen! We started the day with a nice walk down to Grand Avenue for some coffee, then drove over to Minneapolis for lunch at The Local. Kyle had his favorite 'fish n chips' and got a free piece of birthday cheesecake. We then walked around the Mall of America for a few hours. Koen was very well behaved and he loved having his dad home for the day (and week!). We had the best of intentions to head down to Stillwater for a nice dinner, but the day had gotten away from us and we were all exhausted. We ordered Kyle's favorite pizza for dinner and just hung out at home! By the end of the night we were stuffed and tired...but it was so much fun to spend the whole day together! Happy Birthday DAD!

Another Counsin For Koen!

We are so excited to announce that cousin Finn is going to be a big brother....and Koen is going to have another cousin! Joe and Brooke are expecting....12 weeks already! They are due in the beginning of April. We are SOOOOO thrilled! Congratulations Joe, Brooke and Finn! Koen is so lucky to be getting another cousin!

60 years of marriage!

My grandparents (on my mom's side) just celebrated their 60th year of marriage...absolutely amazing! So we threw a big party for them and celebrated all day today!!! It was so much fun! Koen was very well behaved, even with the heat and humidity! He loved meeting his extended family..... and hanging out with his great grandparents. Congratulations Grandma and Grandpa!

Here is a pick of all the grandchildren (24 total):

And a pick of Grandma and Grandpa with their great grandchildren...

2 months... Hard to believe!

It's crazy to think that it's already been 2 months since Koen arrived into our lives! It's hard to imagine life without him :) He had his first (and only so far) 'long' night of sleep this past weekend...at the McCannel Cabin. I was excited to go up there for the weekend as the last time we were there, he slept for 5 hours straight! This time, it was 9pm-5am....8 whole hours! It was unbelieveable! He must like the fresh cabin-lake air! We had a great time (as usual) at the cabin... I got to boogy board and surf behind the boat, sooo much fun!

Ali was Koen's favorite over the weekend...she held him and played with him the whole time!!! Thanks Ali!!!

We had Koen's 2 month appointment today! He was a champ, getting a shot in each of his legs! He smiled for the first part of the appointment then cried after his shots :)

Just before the shots...he loves Dr. Saxton!

Koen just after his shots :(

Koen snuggling up to his bear...happy the appointment is over!

Last week, Koen got to meet his Great Aunt and Uncle who live in New York! We had dinner at Gma/Gpa V's place... He just loved his Aunt Rhonda....and maybe next time Uncle Dave will be brave enough to hold him!!!!

Koen just loved snuggling up with Gpa V!

And he just loves his Auntie Elly!

6 kids...all under the age of 4!

Koen and I went over to Gramma H's house today for a big play date! Gramma was watching Sam and Finn for the day and so we invited Jennifer (one of my oldest friends!!!) to come over with her 3 kiddos! It was so much fun!

Here is Sam (4) with Zoey (4). They chased eachother around the yard the whole time. When Zoey was getting ready to leave, Sam asked for her phone number :)

Here is Amaya (17mo) with Finn (15mo). They loved playing with the shopping cart and actually shared very well! Finn didn't even tackle her!

and last is Malik (6mo) and Koen (2mo)!

Just before the kiddos arrived, Koen and Finn were playing on Gramma's bed. I took this video of Finn kissing and hugging Koen. He also gave him knucks! He is so gentle and sweet with Koen!

Smiling Boy!

Koen has started to smile lately and when he's in a good mood, you can almost get him to laugh! Gramma Veenis says that Kyle used to smile with his mouth open just like this:

The Great Minnesota Get Together!

Koen got to enjoy his first Minnesota State Fair! Going to the fair with a big group is definitely the way to go. Everything we bought, we shared, so we were able to try a lot! Our favorite was the Australian fried potatoes smothered in melted cheese and ranch (heart attack on a plate)....good thing it was split between Joe, Brooke, Finn, Kaycee, Kyle and I! Some of our other samplings: pronto pup, cheese curds, chocolate milkshake, buffalo kabob, french fries, chips/guac, sweet martha's cookies, fried veggies...maybe that's why Koen didn't sleep well that night.... Here everyone is taking a break and eating....and eating..

We took a stroll through the Minnesota Wild tent and saw that Lou Nanne was signing autographs...instead of an autograph though, we asked if he'd take a picture with Koen. Lou was so excited and thrilled...what a great guy!

We forgot to bring 'state fair bingo' which is usually the highlight of the fair...but we did find the most interesting dressed person....check her out in the picture between Brooke and Joe. She looked more interesting in person.....

Finn was really excited about this stuffed gorilla!!

The weather was perfect which is why we were able to stay for so long...11am-6pm! By the end of day, Koen and Finn were knocked out....

Saints, Canterbury, Keelin, Edward...

We've had an amazing (but busy) week of FUN! We started by celebrating our members at Snap Fitness by taking them to the Saints game! Koen flirted with a young girl sitting behind him in the stands...he wouldn't take his eyes off her!

On Friday night, we went to Canterbury to watch the horses race. Koen didn't bring us much luck as the one horse we bet on was dead last :) We had a great time with Pilon, Ali, Scoter, Flynn, Joe, Brooke and Finn..what a great group!

On Sunday, we got to meet Koen's new 'bestie', Keelin Leslie Morud! What a cute little boy! Martina and Eric Morud welcomed their new son on August 31 at 1am! He was 8lbs 11oz. We are sooo excited for the Morud's, congratulations!!!!

Below is Koen with his cousin Edward. He is 4 months old and twice the size of Koen...if Koen doesn't catch up soon, he's never gonna beat Edward in a wrestling match! Edwards parent's are Pete (Kyle's first cousin) and Kari, who live in Norway. They were in Minnesota for a few weeks for Edwards baptism and it was so much fun to finally meet him! Check out those eyes!!!! We can't wait to see them when they come back for Christmas this year!