Hey, Baby & Other Random Pics

We had to laugh when we saw this expression. We could hear some guy saying, "Hey, Baby."


Having fun building with some new blocks.


Henry really likes Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck now (time to start planning the DisneyWorld trip). Nate has had fun finding some of his favorite Mickey Mouse cartoons to watch with him.


The next pictures are being posted so my mom and sisters can see the new furniture arrangement in our living room. Sorry to bore everybody!

Catching Up

I'm finally catching up. Here are pictures from the Christmas celebrations we had with both of our families. We were snowed in on Christmas so we missed Christmas Eve at Grandma Berg's in Wisconsin, but we enjoyed having Nate's parents over for supper.


Getting ready to open presents.


The Men putting together a truck for Henry.


Henry helping out with a screwdriver.


Getting close to the finished product.


Trying on one of Boppa's gifts.


Trying out his fun laptop - oh, kids these days!


With my mom, grandma, and sisters


Henry with Aunt Jodi. He was very persistent about wanting to open Jodi's present for her. You can just see that he's sitting on the present while waiting for the ok to start opening. After this we discovered Henry had a 102 temp.


The fun of present opening.

The Gumball Guy

The hightlight of this week was the arrival of "Gumball Guy."

He first arrived as a birthday gift from Denny and Pat (and their kids) when I was in grade school. What makes him even more special is that Uncle Denny made him. For his own good, when Henry arrived I put Gumball Guy on a shelf in Henry's closet. The last few months Henry has pointed up to the shelf and asked me about him. I explained that he has gumballs in his head, you turn his ears and a gumball comes out of his mouth!

Recently, Henry started to open the closet door, pretend to turn his own ears and make a special sound meant to be a gumball coming out of his mouth. It was pretty cute...and I knew what he was trying to tell me.

This week, I finally remembered to buy gumballs when we were in Willmar! Henry literally shook with excitement as we opened the bags of gumballs and filled up The Gumball Guy's head.

The first words out of Henry's mouth when he wakes up each morning are, "Gumball Guy!" and then he's off and running for the kitchen. He loves to guess which color gumball will come out. I love watching him turn the ears - he takes a big breath and looks at me with big eyes when he hears a gumball drop into place! What fun...


Gumball Guy


Enjoying a morning chew and chat with Gumball Guy before breakfast.


Getting ready...

Aah, the joy!

Bingo

On the 26th we got together with Nate's family on his mom's side. Occasionally, we have our parties at Grandma Josie's church - the kids can run around and the cousins (who are now 30+ years old) and their kids can play dodge ball while everybody else watches and tries to avoid getting hit by a wild throw! :) We also play Bingo...there is even a table full of prizes. Henry had his eye on the gum all afternoon and Dad finally won it for him.


Henry had a lot of fun "helping" Grandpa with the Bingo hopper (I think I made that up!). Anyway, he loved pulling the little balls out and putting others back in that had already called. Basically, he made quite a mess for Grandpa!

I am the mother of a BOY!

Of course, I knew that already. For some reason it struck me tonight while we were eating dessert, that Henry is a typical 2 yr old boy - moving and climbing non-stop! Whenever we're eating at the kitchen table and Henry is not safely secured in his chair....he is climbing on me or Nate. See below.





We just signed on as the newest act in a traveling circus! I'll work on not having awkward poses before our first performance - although, in my defense, have you ever tried to balance a 30 lb child on your neck/head while eating cake?

Christmas in Renville

Last year the three of us didn't really do our own Christmas at home. We wanted to make sure that we started setting aside a time for us to celebrate and begin traditions. Henry and I even made fudge and cookies to give to our neighbors (a tradition from my mom) this week. I'm sure we'll change some things over the years, but this is how we celebrated tonight.


Henry woke up from his nap just in time to help make a birthday cake for Jesus. You can see what his favorite part was (mine too).


We're getting ready for a big snow storm tomorrow. Here's our house before the supposed 12-20 inches that are coming...


Nate and Henry waiting to eat dinner/supper. Henry was excited about blowing out the candles. After supper we read story of Jesus' birth from Luke 2.

Oops - remembered that I had 2 presents that still needed to be wrapped. Or should I say, "re-wrapped?" Henry had fun helping me wrap his presents...and then opening them 5 minutes later. What a waste of a tree, huh?

Family pic

Opening his first present - he loves puzzles right now.

Typical guy! He opened his wagon box, took out the parts and immediately started stacking tires!

We sang "Happy Birthday" and then blew out the candles. (By the way, that's a manger next to the word "Happy." Next time, I'll stick to the basics.)

Nate's Birthday: Take 2

This weekend we celebrated Nate's birthday with my family. We also had a little visitor for part of the weekend! We all enjoyed spending time with Addie while her mom and dad were at a wedding.

On the adoption front, we received notice that out I600- A was approved. One more step to mark off!


Finishing up an Oreo Ice Cream Bar with Mimi's help - Yum!


Nate got a card that plays music when opened - Henry was very surprised. He enjoyed opening and closing it.

This was the gift of the night! Henry couldn't wait to climb to the top. We'll have to keep this "toy" locked away since I already have a hard time keeping Henry's 2 feet on the ground!

Addie liked this birthday card the best...

What a sweetie pie.

Henry helped set the table for cake. I can't believe how much he can do now!