Memorial Day Weekend

Well, Memorial Day weekend is over and it was a crazy one. It started with cocktails at the Tobins’ and ended with the birth of Cullen’s new buddy Jack Vogel. Saturday turned out to be the wildest of the nights as Cullen threw his first bbq. With friends from Madison, Minneapolis, and Afghanistan (our friend Andy Reuter just arrived home from service) the table was set for quite a night. Numerous beers (Cullen stuck to formula) were consumed and laughs had, as many old friends shared stories from the past and present.

Our Sunday was a day of recovery. It is amazing how hard it is to put in back to back nights at this ripe old age. It seems like a few years ago we would have just rolled out of bed and headed out for breakfast and bloodies. Now I was just lucky to make it out of bed. Although, seeing Cullen’s smiles served as motivation for a little extra effort.

On Monday after a hike and some yard work, Lisa and I headed over to dinner at the Vogel household. Dennis and Kari were expecting a baby boy, Jack, in a week. We arrived at their house at 4pm with Kari praying that Jack would forget his due date and come very soon. At 6pm her wishes would be answered as we heard a scream from the kitchen “Kari’s water broke.” Talk about crazy. The Vogels got everything loaded up and headed to the hospital, while Lis, I and the Hundts finished dinner. Jack was born this morning at 9:00am. Cullen has had a very mischievous grin today – no doubt, he’s very excited that his partner in crime has arrived.

Hangin with the Daines

What up? Cullen in the house. Whew, it’s been a busy week. In addition to me turning two months, I also had another shower and had the honor of meeting the Daines side of my family.

I got to meet the Daines family at my Cousin Kayla’s wedding reception. Boy are they a lively bunch, I’m lucky I got a nap on the trip down so I was able to keep up. I was extremely hungry from my shower earlier in the day (thanks Barb, Deb, Marilyn, and Elinor) and I quickly drank eight ounces of formula. I almost went ounce for beer with my Uncle Vernon! After that I spent the night hanging with my cousins Allyson, Kelsey, and Ryan. I am extremely excited to spend a lot more time with these guys in the future. Hopefully, Allyson and Kelsey will show me their secrets of text messaging and Ryan will show me how he became the coolest little guy in the room.

Moore Cullen

Cullen attended his first ladies night – a.k.a. the Moore family shower. Aunt Kathy and Aunt Ann threw a very nice baby shower for Brigette and me and Wowee was nice enough to host the shower at her house. All of the Moore girl cousins were there + Grandma MaryAnne. Cullen was very thankful that his cousin Auggie came too – he needed another boy to help balance things out. Cullen was a bit overwhelmed by the commotion and the noise level – I think the Moore’s may be one of the loudest families ever! We spent the rest of the weekend in Minneapolis where Cullen was introduced to Maggie Hanson (+ her parents), the Lichty’s and the Pope’s. Notice the picture of Cullen in the U of M bib – I think Grandpa Mark nearly gave Dirk a heart attack, but I loved it. This was also my first official Mother’s Day. Cullen has attached a whole new meaning to the day. I feel truly blessed to be the parent of such a sweet baby.

Give Me Sexy

Cullen had his first photo shoot today. Thankfully it went better than Kramer and George’s or Kramer and Elaine’s photo shoots on Seinfeld. Lisa set this up with Brooke Duval and everything went great. Cullen did his best Derrick Zoolander impression and while he has not mastered Blue Steel yet, he definitely is really, really ridiculously good looking. We are patiently waiting for the cover offers for Baby GQ and Babies Health to role in.

In other news, George and Joanie Parke, pictured here, have agreed to be Cullen's God Parents. We are extremely excited that Cullen's spiritual guidance will be led by these two outstanding role models.