Crazy Bounce

My little dare devil!  He went down every single slide there.

The "big boys" sliding down.

And Lydia took a nap the entire time we were there!

Boxing

One of the best things about having a maternity leave during the school year is that I get a chance to take the kids to places that aren't as busy with kids because the kids are all in school.  We took our first trip to Crazy Bounce last week and I have a feeling we'll be going back again soon.  The boys absolutely loved running around and going down the slides.  We went during their toddler time and practically had the place to ourselves.  That afternoon the kids were exhausted which made for a happy Mom as well:) 

Lots and Lots of Snow!

Luke and the boys ready to head out. 

Almost a smile...

Finally caught her smile on camera!

It finally snowed!  The boys (all 3 of them!) have been anxiously waiting for this first big snow and it finally happened.  As Brendan came downstairs this morning he yelled out "no" (his way of saying snow) and kept telling everyone it had "no'ed" as they woke up.  Lydia and I decided to stay inside as I appreciate snow so much more when I am warm inside.  As the day went on though, it became less fun for the boys outside as the snow was above Brendan's waist so he had a bit of trouble maneuvering through it. 

Lydia's Birth Announcement

Floral Contour Pink Birth Announcement

Announcements for every life event: graduation, wedding & baby.

View the entire collection of cards.

Just like Grandpa...

Good friends of ours gave us a onesie that said "If you think I nap a lot, you should see my grandpa"... They're also good friends of my parents and if you know my dad, he's ALWAYS napping!  Yesterday, Jackson and I decided to try to get a picture of Lydia wearing it so we can get it framed for Grandpa's office. 

Christmas 2011

Lydia and Aunt Sara

Waiting to open presents

4 Generations

Our attempt at a family photo - it's definitely becoming more and more difficult!

Jackson showing Lydia her ornament that Santa brought her.... we had just gotten home from church and the boys were so excited to open presents that we didn't get Lydia out of her carseat.

"Buddy" our elf,  brought the boys this because they were so good at finding him every morning.  Jackson was very excited about this gift!

All of the Hansen cousins

Batboys ... we got the boys all matching pajamas.  They were too cute!

It's amazing how quickly the holiday season seems to pass.  Jackson felt that Christmas "would never get here" as he waited every day to get to open those presents but I felt like it went too quickly.  Thankfully this year wasn't such a busy year for us so we were able to just enjoy being together as a family (I loved having Luke around a few extra days rather than having him at work!).  We spent Christmas Eve at my parents and the kids were awesome there!  It was a special Christmas there since my Grandma is still living with my parents so she joined in on all of the fun.  Christmas morning was the first morning EVER that my boys slept in!  Brendan slept until 7:45am and Jackson until 8:15am...on the one day that I wanted them up early so we could open presents before church.  The boys ended up opening their stockings in the van on the way to church and then when we got home we opened the presents.  Later that day the Hansen's came to our house for Christmas.  I have to say, it was really nice not having to get out with the kids and pack all their stuff up.  And we certainly are lucky to have cousins so close in age on both sides of the family - it makes for a lot of chaos but the kids love it!  

Christmas Pictures Take 1

Jackson is such a proud big brother!  He looks like such a big boy here!

Jackson was the easy one this year - maybe there's hope for a few years from now.  Although by then I'm sure Jackson won't want to be in pictures!  There wasn't a single picture with Brendan smiling.

I thought that they might do better if they were holding a present but then Brendan held it in front of his face!  Plus Lydia was starting to get fussy so I had to put the pacifier in.  Our photo session for the day was done!

I attempted to get a picture of the 3 kids for our Christmas card.  Attempted being the key word!  Every year this causes so much frustration as we try to get a cute picture.  I remember when Luke and I took our first Christmas card picture - just the two of us and Rudi and it took forever for us to get a nice shot of just us.  Now I am leaving out the two of us and Rudi and just working with the 3 kids - they're hard enough!  I realized that this isn't going to happen without Luke around though because I need someone to help keep their attention and bribe them to smile.  And now we have to make sure Lydia is in a happy mood and won't start to cry.  Plus I have to get the kids to put on their "church" clothes which both boys absolutely detest right now ... Grrrr!  Oh the joys of the season!  On a good note, both boys were more than willing to hold Lydia for the picture (I think that Jackson will end up holding her as Brendan just has her lay on him and doesn't really support her!).  So here are some shots from our first attempt.... we'll see what we get next time.

Sibling Love

These two have become really good buddies now that Lydia has arrived.  Although Jackson certainly has taken on the role of big brother and will talk Brendan into doing things for him.

Believe it or not, they don't always get along:)

I love how Lydia looks so tiny next to her brothers - or should I say, how Brendan and Jackson look so huge!  I don't really know when they grew so big!