Catching up

So, life has changed dramatically since I last posted! Justin left his job at ConAgra for a new and promising opportunity with a tech company that does contract work. Well, the contract he was hired for fell through and the company officially laid him off this past week. So, if anyone knows of any good supply chain jobs out there, send 'em our way!

In happier news, Cardon just gets better and better!! He is just over four months now and we relish every smile and laugh! You would think that we'd never heard a baby laugh before by the way we react! What is it that J.M. Barrie said? A fairy is born every time a child laughs? It's because it is the sweetest, most wonderful sound on the planet!!! We have a video of it, but the file is too big and we can't load it on here! Sorry, Mom! We'll keep working on it!

Since it's been so long since I posted, here are some shots of Cardon--after a bath, lifting his head up, you know, the really big achievements! We also went to Tennessee to Smokey Mountain National Park for Justin's birthday, so those are included. And finally, our little boy was a skeleton for Halloween. No trick-or-treating, but he did look sooooo cute!!

What a summer!!!

So, it's been a busy summer!!! These are just a few pictures from our various family reunions. We started in Inkom with the McNabb's (where Cardon was blessed), up to Island Park for the Olson's, and then a couple weeks later we got to go to Washington for all the Jones'. We had a fantastic time on all our trips and we just can't believe we really got to see everyone! Scroll below for a few shots from the last couple months. I'll do a separate post with just Cardon photos, since I know that's all everyone's interested in anymore!

The day Cardon was blessed.

My favorite picture from his blessing. He is so beautiful!!

At the McNabb farm

The Darold Olson Clan

On to Yellowstone, where there was a marshmallow war,

some shooting,

some more shooting (I hit my clay pigeon on the first try!),

and more shooting,

beautiful vistas,

moose (the animals in the back, not Justin and Camden!),

and Old Faithful.

Then it was off to Washington. Mom managed to get the whole family together for 24 hours, but it was totally worth it!!!!

We hit the Kite Festival in Long Beach,

an old school merry-go-round in Astoria (AKA-a death trap),

and the Pacific Ocean.

It took Ellie the entire trip to warm up to Cardon, but when she did, it was adorable!

The Doug Jones Clan

Us at Lake Sacajawea

Then it was to Cincinnati for Labor Day. Normally we would have done a Red's game, the riverfront fireworks, and some shopping but we were so tired from all our trips, we only had the energy to take pictures of Cardon in his Red's outfit!

With the cap (and checking out his hand, Cardon's favorite past time)

Without the hat, but with a smile!!!

So, that's been our whirlwind of a summer!!! Stay tuned for more candid shots of Cardon!! We love you all!!

He grows!

Cardon continues to grow--in stature and in our hearts! We just love him! He had his 1 month appointment today and he weighed 7lbs 3oz! He's up to normal birth weight now, but to us he looks huge. I can't imagine birthing him at this size because he seems so big compared to before. I know, I was totally spoiled with a little 5 pound baby!!! So, below are a few more photos. Next time you check in, there should be lots of pix from our upcoming family reunions! Cardon will finally get to meet all his Olson/McNabb cousins!

Checking out the camera

I don't look great in this picture, but you can see his legs are getting a little meatier!

Grabbing Mommy's finger

Okay, this isn't a picture of Cardon (obviously), but have you ever seen a squirrel lounging before? This was out on our deck and this guy was just sunbathing!

This one is my favorite!!! Justin loves to burp Cardon and one time while doing this, Cardon latched onto Justin's nose. Now Justin will just do it because it's so cute!

He's here!!!

John Cardon Olson

So, two weeks after Cardon's arrival, I'm managing to get to the blog. This is actually quicker than I expected, since I'm only on day 3 of being alone with the little man! He is an absolute joy and Justin and I thank Heavenly Father everyday that Cardon has joined our family!

I'll spare everyone the nitty-gritty details of labor and delivery (I think Justin's email w/the picture of me 15 mintues after delivery pretty much sums it up. Remind me to NEVER let my husband post a photo like that again...), but it went fairly smooth. John Cardon Olson was born on June 26 at 10:24AM, 20" long and 5 lbs 2 oz. When we took him home, he was 4 lbs 12 oz and just the skinniest thing you've seen. He had his first doctor's appointment a week later and he was already up to 5 lbs 3 oz, and the following Monday (I took him in for a blocked tear duct), and he had grown to 5 lbs 9 oz in just four days! I can already tell that he's bigger than when we brought him home!

Cardon is a really wonderful baby! If he's not asleep or feeding, he just likes to look around and see what's going on. My mom says it's the same thing I did when I was a baby, just alert and aware all the time. He rarely cries, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that keeps up. He is just perfect (in my unbiased opinion!) and we love him tons!

I know everyone really just wants to see pictures, so enjoy!

My two favorite men!

This one shows off all his blonde hair.

Doing his best Dr. Evil impression...

I know it's not a real smile, but I'll take it!!!

You can really see how skinny his legs are (and Justin looks so handsome!)

Isn't he just beautiful???

A long stretch...

So, it's been two months since I last checked in, and a lot has happened! Congrats to Julie and Daniel on their new addition, Nora Jane, and to Jarom and Cynthia on their Nadia. We'll be joining the ranks soon enough and doing our part to keep the Olson name alive with Cardon! I started working from home and though it's been an adjustment, it's nice to only go into the office twice a week. Justin started his new job at ConAgra on May 19. So, no more cheap yogurt, but now we can look forward to cheap microwave popcorn. In other fun news, we're buying a house! I think it's and even bigger pain to buy a house then plan a wedding (and Justin did most of the work on that!), but we're set to close on June 13. We'll move in on the 14th and Justin's supposed to go to Omaha for training on the 16th. As long as the baby doesn't come, we'll be good!

We have to go way back to catch up with pictures! So, here are a few shots from Easter. Everyone came to Cincinnati, Uncle Lynn & Aunt Darlene from Atlanta and the Stavron's from Chicago. It's always a blast to hang out with all of them and we had a great time.

And here we are with Huey, you can't forget the bunny on Easter!

About a month after Easter, Jarom, Cynthia, and the girls came to Cincinnati because they were adopting Nadia. They got to stay for two whole weeks, so we had to come down to spend some time with them!

It was Madison's birthday while they were here, so we had a party! There was a pinata, but Camden and Madison couldn't quite get the word right, so it came out "pi-nadia." Close enough!

Over Memorial Day, we took our trek to Arizona to spend time with Brett, Barbs, and family. I kind of didn't tell my doctor that I was flying 6 weeks before my due date, but since everything's been problem free, I didn't anticipate any problem. The hardest part was sitting on a plane for 3 straight hours. Otherwise, it was a breeze! While we were there it poured down rain, Megan graduated, there was a big party like "My Super Sweet 16," and we had an overall great time. We love spending time out there with all the nieces and nephews!

Last, but not least, here are a couple pictures of our new house. I think most everyone has seen the pictures, but here are a couple of the outside. It's 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, so we've got lots of room for people to come stay!

I think that's it! If I'm being completely honest, the next time I get around to updating this will probably be after the baby's born! So, apologies in advance if you don't hear from me in the next month. I've got to move into a new house and birth a baby in the next three weeks! We love hearing from everyone and hope all is well!!!