Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa VanderZwaag

We celebrated with my parents on the 26th because Sara had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas. When we arrived, both Jackson and Cohen were whinning and crabby. I was definitely worried about how the evening would go with Jackson like that. Anyways, once we started opening presents the boys cheered up. At first Jackson enjoyed helping Grandpa by throwing the wrapping paper away. Later he discovered that many of the presents had boxes so he had to put them on his head, climb in them and put items in them.

Aunt Sara had bought the boys matching Batman pajamas so we put those on and I can’t even begin to explain how cute it was watching the boys run into the living room with their capes flying!

Santa

Santa came to our Christmas party at my parents house. I was anxious to see how Jackson would do – last year he tried to pull Santa’s beard off. Well, when Santa knocked at the door Jackson ran to see who it was. When Santa walked around the corner, Jackson started screaming with fright! He clung to me and just stared at Santa. Hopefully next year he’ll enjoy Santa a bit more.

Christmas Morning

Christmas was definitely different for us this year versus last year. Last year Jackson was just starting to sit up and didn’t really understand what was all going on. This year was a different story! On Christmas morning we had Jackson open up a balloon and he was ecstatic when he opened it. It reminded me of how all those little things amaze him at this point. He didn’t want to open any more presents because he was so busy playing with the balloon.

A Dream Come True......

How did they know that this was all that I wanted for Christmas?

Christmas Pictures

It was that time of year again - Christmas picture time. I remember stressing about it last year as well... little did I know how bad this year would be! Jackson has a mind of his own and decided that he didn't really want a picture by the tree - therefore whenever we placed him by the tree he would run off much to my dismay. After three nights of trying we got a couple where he wasn't screaming or running. Lesson learned - Never again attempt pictures with an 18 month old!

Rock Band

I should’ve known when Luke said “I think we should get a Playstation 3”… Rock Band was soon to follow. Initially the PS3 was for Blu-ray movies (we only have one so that didn’t really make a difference). Then came Call of Duty and some sports games. Now, our living room is filled with not only toys and a Christmas tree but also a drum set! We got a call last week from someone saying that they had gotten some of our mail and we should really call them. Low and behold, they had gotten the Rock Band package in the mail that was supposed to come to us. It was like Christmas for Jackson and for Luke that night. Jackson just loved the big box and the many things that came out of it. Luke was thrilled to get everything out to play. Needless to say, Luke and I have “started a band” and are playing gigs to earn points. And, my parents were over so we had my dad try it out…. I’m thinking that he should stick to his day jobs;)

The Christmas Tree

We continued our tradition of getting our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving (after shopping with Lori of course!!!). Last year Jackson was too young to really appreciate the whole experience but this year was a lot more fun for him. Sara came with us this year so she could hang out with her little buddy, Jackson.

Our house smells like a Christmas tree now. Jackson hasn’t touched the tree yet. He admires it from afar and I did find him trying to peer into the tree as if something was there (perhaps a squirrel???).

Our Little Reader

I finally have a little reader! Can I say how relieved I was to see him finally express an interest in books after so long?!!!! I absolutely love to read so I went a bit overboard when buying books for Jackson and then was discouraged that he only wanted to read one or two of them over and over and over and over again…. Yes, I now can recite Oh David, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Please Puppy Please by memory. However, my little boy has started to enjoy all of his books. Of course we’re still reading those favorites of his but I was so happy to see him enjoying books without me pulling them out first!

Birch Run

Last weekend Luke, Jackson and I along with the DeVisser’s went over to visit friends of ours from the other side of the state. We were anxious to do some shopping over at Birch Run but we also wanted to just catch up. We drove over Friday night after work. Lori made us a delicious dinner and the six of us were able to actually sit and enjoy a dinner. On Saturday the three of us girls headed to Birch Run and left the kids with the boys (I think they were thrilled to not have to shop AND they could watch all the football games on). When the game ended, they met us for dinner by the outlets and then we headed back. It was a short time together but well worth it. John and Lori have a beautiful house and were perfect hosts – Thanks guys!

Family Pictures

On Sunday, we had family pictures with the Hansen's at a park. It was a beautiful day - perfect for pictures and the kids did awesome! I was really worried that Jackson would do what he usually does with me.... anything BUT look at the camera! Anyways, the pictures turned out great. You can see some of the official portraits at Amy Carroll Photography

Playtime!

We spent Saturday night with the DeVissers and Plockmeyers. It was so much fun watching the kids interact this time. Sam is such a compassionate little guy and wanted to play with Jackson all night and then would give him hugs (even though Jackson would hardly stand still!) The "big boys" played Rock Band ... don't think that any of them will have a future in music! And of course we played our favorite game - Tock! It's a game very similiar to sorry but our games get quite heated because we play boys vs. girls. Unfortunately the boys won two out of the 3 games that night:( They're not the most gracious winners....

Happy Halloween!

On Friday, we made the rounds for Halloween with Jackson. We started out taking our now "annual" picture with Collin, Brianna and Dylan (Jackson goes to daycare there and really is more like their little brother than a daycare child). We ended our evening visiting with baby Lincoln! My cousin Emily had Lincoln on October 25 so went went over Thursday and Friday to visit with him. He is such a cutie!!!!

Just like Dad

Jackson has discovered his Baby Einstein DVD's. He'll go and push a cushion up on the couch so he can sit at his level and then he's mesmerized by what's going on in the DVD. If he moves somewhere he won't turn his head away from the TV! .... just like Daddy with football:) Anyways, on Friday I walked into the living room and had to get a picture because both Luke and Jackson were sitting the exact same way.... like father, like son:)

October Updates

Wow! Almost a month since we updated …. I admit the blog has been neglected. However, life continues to go on at the Hansen’s house. Jackson is forever keeping us going and I thank the Lord for such an amazing little boy. He has certainly developed quite a personality and knows just when we need to laugh the most.

I had Thursday and Friday off due to conferences earlier in the week and then Luke surprised me and took Thursday and Friday off as well. On Thursday, Luke and I decided to spend the day together in Michigan City (yes, I know that was probably more of my decision than his but he does love to find deals down there!). Jackson spent the day with Grandma VanderZwaag and Cohen… pretty sure that he didn’t miss us one bit while he was there! Jackson and Cohen have certainly become good buddies and it’s quite something to see their reactions when they first see each other. Grandma will have some trouble with those two!

On Friday we had a call that someone wanted to see the house on Saturday (no, it’s still not sold☹) so we did some cleaning. Jackson had fun playing with all of his old toys downstairs and then decided that he wanted to run on the treadmill like adults. He would stand on there and run in place just to get us to laugh. He also found a new place to pout when he wasn't getting his way (we did not put him in the cupboard like that...).

Apple Picking

We're finally updating again! Life has been a bit hectic at the Hansen house but Jackson and I managed to get some time in with Nicki, Miya and Jayden. We went to Crane's to pick some apples. Jackson thought Miya was quite something and the both of them enjoyed many apples:) Afterwards we went to the Hawk's Nest for some ice cream (they have amazing monster cookie flurries!) and the kids played on the toys there.

Camping

We took a last minute camping trip up to Pentwater over the weekend. The weather turned out to be perfect and Jackson absolutely loved camping. He was quite enthralled with being in the sand all the time and watching the fire.

Congratulations Ryan and Missy!

The babies have arrived! Our good friends Missy and Ryan became parents of two sweet little babies (they are absolutely adorable!) on September 2. The babies were a bit early but are doing quite well and I was amazed at that phenomenal care they were getting at the hospital. The little details that they remember for preemies are really astounding. Missy looks fantastic already and is resting now before the fun all begins! We just pray that all continues to go well for them and that it won’t be too long before they’re able to come home with Missy and Ryan.

A FSU Reunion

On Saturday night we got together with Luke’s former roommates from Ferris. Luke, Kevin and Brent roomed together at Hillcrest apartments up at Ferris. It was so much fun getting together this time with the three kids.

The End of Summer

It’s hard to believe that last weekend was our last weekend of summer☹ We had such a great summer so it made Labor Day weekend bittersweet because we knew that it had to come to an end at sometime. We went for a campfire and fireworks at the Pines on Sunday night. Jackson even stayed awake for the fireworks. At first he clung to us as the fireworks started but by the end he sat on the blanket by himself and was oohing and ahhing along with everyone else. He even added some claps in there!

Visiting the VanderZwaags

On Sunday we went up to visit Uncle Bern, Aunt Jan and the family up in Howard City. They are staying at the cottage all week but invited us to visit on Sunday (it was reminiscent of our Florida trips with them!). We had a great time playing in the water. The boys all went out tubing for awhile as the girls sat in the sun and talked. It was great seeing all of the kids play together. We had a fantastic time with them!