Outside Fun!!

Gunnar has been loovviinngg being outside, which he should, he IS our child! :) Last Friday he helped us work cattle, and he fit right into the routine. Uncle Evan said "next year he'll be inside the gate helping us sort pairs" ummm...not quite Ev, but good thinking! He has been helping with chores at night as well. The other night he was in his bib overalls and I had to bucket feed a heifer, which meant I put Gunnar on the outside of the cattle but he was hanging onto the gate. All of a sudden the heifers go running over to him and me, thinking he's going to be crying at these maniacs yell, "Gunnar, you're okay, it's okay buddy" and hurry as fast as I can. I come over to the gate, and he is sitting on a cement block, content as can be, with a smile on his face! I think it's safe to say, he's getting along great with the cows! He has been spending a lot of time in his new swing as well, and could probably hang out in there most of the day if we let him!

Gunnar has always loved bath time, and when Nathan is working late and I have to do bath time on my own, I have a little seat I put him in. Anyway, it's worked great until the other night I left the room for a split second to grab his towel, I came back to a little boy STANDING in his seat! I was shocked he could get out that fast! He must've been planning this for a few nights, because it takes some maneuvering to get his legs underneath him! He's such a goofball before and after bath too. He crawls as fast as he can laughing to get away from us, then usually gets so excited that he pees, closes the door to his bedroom on us, plays in the toilet any chance he gets, and drinks out of his empty soap bottle like it is a flask. GOOFY.

He has successfully slept through the night Tuesday-Friday night! Last night we had a family grad party, so our schedule was out of whack by an hour, but still, he didn't do too bad. Anyway, lots of changes going on with our little guy! He makes us smile constantly and I couldn't imagine my life without him!

Here's a few pictures to show you what has been going on in Gunnar's world lately...Enjoy!

                                                             Swinging....

Field work with Uncle Evan...

Bye Mama...I'll be fine!

Being goofy...

Testing his limits once in awhile :)

Our handsome little guy!

Camping!

Camping season has arrived for the Wagners. While most people think Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend is camping season, the people here in Iowa have got the right idea. If the weather is ideal, let the camping begin! We booked a cabin at Little Sioux Park for Fri-Sunday. We arrived Friday, a beautiful day, and got everything set up. Last year with having Gunnar at the end of April, we didn't camp since we don't have a camper. Needless to say, we were itching to camp. After getting set up and finding that the cabins in Iowa put South Dakota's to shame, due to having a bathroom IN the cabin (major plus for me!) being bigger, and having a fridge and microwave, all these things the SD cabins didn't have. Anyway, after that nice surprise, we went for a walk, putting Gunnar in his stroller. There's something about seeing families together, relaxing, playing games, and hearing laughter, that just puts a permanent smile on my face. The whole weekend was beautiful, we couldn't have asked for better weather! We took pictures of our little ham bone (Gunnar) on our cell phones, since bringing my Mom's expensive camera wasn't something I wanted to be held responsible for, especially this FIRST trial run of camping with Gunnar. But he was hilarious, loving it up the whole time we were there. Our good friends, Mike and Katie Modrell came Saturday night for supper. Gunnar decided that was the night he was going to take his first REAL steps! It was a huge milestone, seen by all 4 of us, and all of our mouths dropped open! Smores, Coors Light, coyotes howling, and a sizzling hot fire, along with good friends, my wonderful hubby, and cute son, equaled one amazing weekend.
We're definitely planning another camping weekend, and next time I'll bring the camera! :)

Gunnar has been so funny lately. He can climb steps so fast these days, obviously can scale a room, tear a newspaper apart, play a few notes on the piano, and then scurry along to dig out some Tupperware, in a matter of minutes! I know I know, it only gets worse now that he's walking! He still prefers to crawl, since it's faster right now-ha-but will walk from person to person when asked to perform! With the nice weather this week, the guys are back in the fields. My brother asked to take Gunnar for an hour in the tractor, and without hesitating said "what time, I'll have him ready!" just so I could get an hour to go ride Rex. It worked perfect, an hour is just long enough for him to sit there, eat some snacks, and look out the window. I wonder what kind of conversation Uncle Evan has with him, whatever it is, he always comes back a happy little boy!

Acreage hunt is still going, with our eye on a specific two, we're hoping for some good news in the next week! Extra prayers are being said, and we know that we'll be lead in the right direction by keeping Faith.

We hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful SPRING weather that is being handed to us! Take time to enjoy the little things in life, like sitting with your husband or wife a few extra minutes on the bench outside. Nathan and I feel so connected just getting fresh air together, watching Gunnar play in the grass with the dandelions and dogs! ENJOY!

1st Haircut!

Well, I finally gave in. The guys, meaning Nathan, my dad, and Evan plus any other guy friend or relative, have wanted Gunnar's hair cut for awhile now. I told them, "let me have a YEAR to cut it" and so they did. Of course, not without giving me crap every time it was in his eyes, or curled in the back under his hat though! :) So the time was nearing for his first birthday, and everyday there was talk about "Gunnar's hair"! My Mom wanted to cut it, Nathan said he'd cut it, my Grandma said she'd cut it, and my aunt who used to be a hair cutting lady, said she'd cut it. Well, being the nervous nellie that I am, I made an appt in Holstein for Monday at 1:45. So...here's how it panned out!

Gunnar did really really good! He sat there like a champ, munching on snacks and getting tickled by the hairdresser! He looks SO BIG now, I can't believe how much of a difference a haircut makes! Yes, I have a baggy of his hair that I saved, and yes I had a few tears in my eyes, but all in all, it was a wonderful experience.

Everyday he is learning something new, if it's a sound he makes, or a mimic of his head nodding NO or YES, he's adorable. Another FIRST down, can't believe we've made it through a year with such an easy, happy, and healthy little boy! May the next year continue to be so much fun, and let all of our lessons we've learned, stick close by!

Before I forget, Gunnar also had his 1 year checkup with Shelly yesterday. He's in the top scales for his height, like he has been all along and is 32 inches tall, and is weighing in at 20.5 lbs! He had 3 sets of shots :( Poor punkie. AND, I was a horrible mother and forgot his lovie blanket, so we got to hear a screaming baby for longer than usual. He did good, but next time (15 months ckup) I will definitely remember his blankie! Once again, another lesson learned!

PARTY Time!!

Gunnar's birthday was a memorable one! We had so much fun celebrating on Friday with my parents, brother, Nathan, and I. On Saturday, Tom, Cullen, and Caitie came to Iowa which was also a FUN day! I of course, was a little stressed, trying to get everything to be perfect. I took on the task of making Gunnar's cake on my own, something I've NEVER even tried to do. I made a monkey cake, and it turned out pretty good. I didn't think it looked that good, but ended up getting a quite a few compliments (I'm sure most of them were thinking "what in the heck was she trying to make here?!?) but everyone said they liked it! :)
On Sunday we had around 25 family members and friends show up for the party! Almost everyone that was invited, made it! Good thing my parents have a big house, and with the weather being perfect out, there was plenty of space to stand outside and in the garage!

Gunnar ended up with a sugar-high weekend, that's for sure! With all the cake, cookies, and frosting he ate he found a new turbo speed to crawling! He was a ham at the party, loovviinngg all of the attention! I always wanted my kids to be outgoing, unlike me, who is pretty reserved, so I was excited to see his true colors coming out! He got so many gifts, and we appreciated every little and big thing everyone always does for us! We are truly blessed to have our amazing family, and friends!

Gunnar's Monkey Cake!

MMM...cake!! This was taken at his party on Sunday!

Daddy and Gunnar on his 1st Birthday, April 30th! I still can't believe it's been a year since I had him!

This was ON his actual birthday! He LOVED the cake!

His swing! I can't wait to get it hung outside for him to swing the summer away in! He was having a blast with Daddy and Uncle Evan swinging him in the living room! :)

What a wonderful weekend! We Thank each and everyone of you that made it special, by phone calls, face book messages, and being at the party, THANKS! Our next big hurdle, today at 1:45 Gunnar's 1st Haircut! Stay tuned for haircut pictures!