Counting Our Blessings at Thanksgiving

 Grandma and Grandpa made the long trip from St.Louis to join us for Thanksgiving in Brighton this year.  Grandma put Hannah to work right away at making a pumpkin pie.

On Thanksgiving Day, we celebrated Christmas together.  It is so much fun to see the kids open the gifts with excitement.  Timmy mostly just ripped and ate paper, but Hannah's eyes lit up with glee each time she had a turn to open a present.

 Of course, Hannah spent a lot of time in her princess garb.  Grandma gave her a crown and tutu for Christmas and I don't think she took them off the whole day.

 Timmy loved his activity play table.  We're still trying to teach him what it's actually for.  Right now he prefers to use it more as a tool as he pushes it around the room to sturdy himself while he cruises.

 It is quickly becoming a family tradition to visit Huckleberry Railroad on opening night the day after Thanksgiving.  I think this our third year riding the train, walking around the quaint village, and marveling at the fireworks.  I think this year's fireworks was the best display I've seen in my entire life.  They were beautiful!  Hannah covered her ears, but didn't scream for cover like she did last year.

 The next day, Hannah and Aunt Lauren made their 2nd annual gingerbread house.

 Here's Hannah in another dress up!

 She even coerced Grandpa Pete into trying on a few dress ups!

What's that smell, Timmy?  Again?  Really?

 Grandma's enjoying her little rugrats.  Can't get enough snuggles with these two cuties!

Playtime with Grandpa Pete!

We had such a wonderful time!  It is so hard to say goodbye to family because there are normally several months between visits.  It's so hard living long distance from loved ones.  But we are thankful for the time we do have together.  It is so precious!

We are blessed!

November Update

Daddy raked lots and lots of leaves this month!  I think we counted at least 30 bags altogether.  Hannah loved "helping" and suckered daddy into raking up piles for her to jump in.  Timmy wasn't so sure about the crunchy leaves beneath him, but we managed to snap a quick picture where is seems to be enjoying being with his big sister even though the leaves make him nervous.

 

I can't figure out how to flip this picture, but it is from the Brighton Holiday Glow.  We went with our friends, the Paynes, and then headed back to our place for dinner and playtime.  Hannah loved seeing Santa and watching all of the lights come on downtown.

We also celebrated Thanksgiving with a feast at Hannah's preschool.  Daddy took a half day of vacation from work so he could see his special girl sing songs and enjoy the food that she prepared with her classmates.

Timmy's 10 Months

Timmy is 10 months old now and we have a mover and a shaker!  He is a busy little boy who is always on the go.  It's hard to keep up with his mischievous ways!  His favorite activities include:  playing with whatever Hannah has at the moment, splashing in the cats' water dish, pulling on cords, and spitting food into the face of the person feeding him.

 He's cruising around the furniture and pushes toys (and chairs and stools) around while standing up, but hasn't taken that first step yet!

 We're trying to get him to eat some solid foods but he definitely prefers his bottle!  If he had to pick a favorite baby food I would bet on bananas.  He has an aversion to vegetables though!  Sometimes we can get him to eat some sweet potatoes if we're lucky.

Timmy, you did such a good job sleeping through the night this month!  It feels like maybe, just maybe, we've turned a corner with your night sleeping.  You've always been a great napper so we are thankful for that!

You just adore your sister, little guy!  She can make you laugh like no other and vice versa.  You love to get into whatever she's playing with but she has learned if she quickly swaps what she wants from you with a different toy you are easily distracted.  Let's see how long that lasts!  :) 

We love you so much, Timmy!  You have stolen our hearts!

Iceman Cometh 2011

We made it to the Iceman Mountain Biking Race for the 3rd year in a row!  We always love going up to Traverse City to see Daddy race.  We're so proud of him!

 This year we took the shuttle system a LOT!  It was hard to manage the stroller and all the kid stuff, but my friend Hilary was a HUGE help.  Timmy was such a trooper!  He's such a go with the flow kinda guy.  Hannah had a blast with Carleigh and Lowen, too!

Here's Timmy being his usual nutty self in his pack 'n' play.  He loves pressing his tongue and nose on the side of the crib because it makes Hannah laugh hysterically!

 Our hotel room was beautiful!  It looked right out onto the water and had wonderful amenities.  The kids had fun swimming in the pool and playing in the game room.

Happy Halloween

 We had a spooktacular Halloween!  Hannah got in to carving the pumpkin with daddy this year.  She had fun pulling our the guts...for about 5 minutes.  Daddy finished the gross part and then Hannah helped design the face.

 Timmy didn't go trick-or-treating this year, but he still got in the spirit and dressed up as our little Hershey Kiss.  My dad commented that he looked more like the Pope and I can't say I disagree :)

 We did our annual trick-or-treating around the block with our friends, Ashlyn and Sonya.  The girls had a blast and came home with a ton of loot!

October Update

We finished out the camping season a bit earlier than usual this year and Hannah was a big help cleaning everything up to get the pop-up ready for storage.  She's been daddy's big helper lately.  She also enjoyed sealing the front steps with her very own paintbrush.

Her favorite activity right now is dressing up as princesses.  If you have been to our house this month I would be surprised if you hadn't seen her prancing around in one of her dresses. 

 Both of the kids had check-ups with shots this month.  We are so blessed to have two happy and healthy little kids!

Timmy's 9 Month Stats:

20 pounds (41 percentile)
28.25 inches long (51 percentile)
18.25 head circumference (79 percentile)

This big boy has two teeth on the bottom and has four coming through on the top already.  He also loves standing in his crib and we had to lower his mattress right away after we found him doing this one day after his nap!

Hannah's 4 Year Stats:

34 pounds

41 inches tall

As you can see, we've also spent most of the month rooting on our favorite baseball team.  Go Cards!

Timmy's first time in a shopping cart!  Hannah just loves the responsibilities that come along with being a big sister.  She kept him entertained the whole trip.  I love that Costco has these big cards to fit both of the kids!