There is something about having an updated blog post and freshly painted toe nail polish that makes a girl feel like her life is together. I must admit I love to blog and I am glad to be finally getting around to a post.
I just love everything about Christmas time. It seems to get funner as my boys get older and I think it will just keep getting funner. These picture are in random order but I wanted to show you some highlights from our month of December.
Lance playing with some funky stretch and connect toys Christmas morning.
Lance opening a present at Grandma and Grandpa Henriksen's on Christmas Day.
Santa left me a note saying that I needed to buy one more stocking and in desperation he decided to stuff Lance's pants with presents.
Lance pointing to his favorite food - a banana. He could eat those all day. Picture books are the only books that keep his attention for more than 1 minute - little stinker.
Liam had a blast opening presents. I was sad because the video camera ran out of tape as the kids were walking down the stairs to see their presents. We will be better prepared next year!
Lance playing with waffle blocks.
I bought some fabric from a cute fabric store in Kauai called "Vicky's." I was excited to make the boys blankets to open on Christmas Eve. Lance just loves blankets and when he opened it he laid right down on it and said, "Night Night." Too cute! Well on Christmas Day we put Lance down for a nap and when we heard him wake up we went upstairs to find a happy naked boy jumping up and down in his poo which was all over his crib and his new blanket. We could not believe our eyes. I hope that was a random one-time thing but we have been putting him in clothes that he can not take off himself just to be sure. That will be a good story to tell future girlfriends!
Grandma and Grandpa Henriksen with the grand kids!
Don't you just love 18 month olds? Everywhere you turn they are getting into trouble. I can't tell you how many of the little tinsels Lance took off of Grandma's tree. Let's hope by next year those little shiny tinsels will not fascinate Lance because my mother-in-law puts them on her tree every year. They are pretty but very tempting.
My handsome boys!
Isn't that a cool picture with the steam in the background. I love that picture.
We ventured out into the freezing temperatures for the boys to see the lights at temple square. Don't they look like they are having fun? It was a little difficult to get them to smile but I think they were fascinated by all the lights and nativities. It is always freezing - but always worth it!
Liam wanted to invite his friends over to make graham cracker houses. Liam was in heaven, he sure loves his buddies Bryant and Max.
Lance and Liam had a blast playing outside while the snow was falling down. I just love cozy days when the snow just keeps falling and we don't have anywhere we need to go.
Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera while we were celebrating Christmas with my parents:( My brother and sister-in-law Joanna surprised us with wonderful news that they are expecting a baby in July. It was such a wonderful Christmas surprise!
I can't believe that it is New Year's already. I just can't help but reflect on the last 12 months. This last year has not been the easiest one but somehow it was full of joys and miracles. It was in January when we found out that my mom had liver cancer and for a few weeks we were unsure if she would survive the cancer. She underwent many surgeries and after 4 months of being in and out of the hospital she came out of it cancer free - at least we thought until we found out she had a completely separate cancer - breast cancer. She had a mastectomy in the late Fall and is now really cancer free! Sadly, my Dad had a really bad fall and broke his arm the same week as my mom's mastectomy. It broke my heart to see them both in pain after all they had been through already. The lessons of endurance, love, patience, optimism and faith they have taught me this year are priceless gifts. My cute mom helped me make the blankets I gave the boys for Christmas and the whole time she was helping me I was just thanking Heavenly Father that she is still in my life. I just cry when I think about how lucky I am to have her in my life.
Rob and I celebrated our 5 year Anniversary during 2008. We had the wonderful opportunity of going to Hawaii together - and spending 11 days relaxing and enjoying each other's company. It was fun to go back and do some of the same things we did there on our honeymoon. It reminded me of all the wonderful reasons why I fell in love with Rob 6 years ago. It was a little nerve racking leaving the kids for such a long time and I overly stressed about it but it went better than we could have imagined and now I can't wait for the next time Rob and I can go on a vacation by ourselves.
In January 2008 Lance was 7 months old and was wearing a helmet full time to help round out a flat spot on the back of his head. That poor kid was also struggling with ear infection after ear infection and asthma that would keep him up at night. With all three of those things going on he was getting up quite a bit at night and I felt exhausted all the time. He got his helmet off in March and then soon after had tubes put in his ears. Luckily the fluid in his lungs cleared up as well and he has not struggled much with asthma since the Spring. We are crossing our fingers that he has grown out of it as a lot of babies do. We have seen him grow from a little baby to a toddler that is all over the place climbing on everything! He seems to be finally picking up on a bunch of words which is a lot of fun.
Liam has grown up a ton this year. He spent the first half of the year clobbering his baby brother - he just could not get enough of Lance which I thought was adorable - but stressful for me to monitor constantly. Once Lance became more mobile it did not take long before they started running around together. It is fun now to see them play together - though fights break out often. Liam became quite the swimmer over the summer - he is actually a better swimmer than I am since I still have to plug my nose:) Liam has really enjoyed going to preschool and I love when he comes home and tells me about what he has learned. Rob and I have loved watching his imagination grow this year and we just crack up at some of the things he says. He is very excited to go into Sunbeams this Sunday. That is all he talks about. He like to tell everyone that he is a Sunbeam and he calls all of the clothes he is wearing his Sunbeam clothes - I don't really know where that came from but it is cute. I just love Liam and I love having a 3 and a half year old.
We have been very blessed throughout the year. I want to thank all my blogging friends for sharing your pictures and stories with me throughout the year. It is really fun to "catch up" with you through your cute posts. You all inspire me to want to be a better person! I wish you all a very Happy New Year full of many wonderful blessings!
