Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve....we made Christmas cookies so we could leave them out for Santa.  Ben loved cutting them but even more putting on the sprinkles!!  They were all over the floor after we were done.  After the kids were in bed that night, Chris and I went to work getting all the Santa gifts ready for the morning and eating the cookies Ben had left out.  Christmas morning Ben was excited to go get the Choo-choo he remembered asking Santa for :)

Testing out one of his creations....of course it had to be a blue one!

All setup ready for Santa.... a trike for Ben, and table and chairs to put his choo-choo on.

The girls in their Christmas PJ's checking out their gifts Santa left them

I asked Ben to hold up his car for the camera....

Take 2

Opening his Choo-choo train from Santa

Setting up the Choo-choo with daddy

The girls in their Christmas PJ's from Santa

All the kiddos Christmas morning

Holiday fun before Christmas

Sorry it's been so long since the last update.  We have been very busy with holiday parties, preparations, etc.  December has been a fun month, here is what we have been up to...

Choo-choo at the Southdale Mall....the conductor said "All aboard" so Ben kept calling "all aboard" from the caboose as they rode around the mall :)

Ben told Santa he wanted a choo-choo, so this is Santa asking Ben if he wanted a "big" one. 

Waiting for the Holidazzle Parade

 

Playing out in the snow on Christmas Eve...

We really have twins?!

I thought this was a cute picture of the girls doing tummy time together!

Sometimes I look a them and think "I really have twins?!". It seems normal to us now but when I think about how we had only planned on one more baby and instead got these two little miracles..... Life here is very busy and sometimes crazy and stressful but I wouldn't trade these little girls for anything. I read in a book once that twins are given by God/the Universe/whatever you believe in....to moms and families that are able to handle the unique challenges of twins. I really liked that thought, it helps encourage me when we have bad days. I guess someone out there knew we were meant to be a happy family of 5 instead of 4. It's a good thing someone out there did....or I wouldn't have these two special little girls.


Left Samantha, Right Allison

Celebrating on Ben's birthday

We took Ben to the Mall of America for his actual birthday on the 24th and took him on some rides. His favorite was the Choo-choo train. Then we had lunch and Ben had his first Happy Meal from McDonalds:) It was a fun day with our little guy!!

He accidentally dropped the free toy down through the railing and it fell in the middle of the under construction Legoland. Luckily he wasn't to upset over losing a transformer...if it was a car that would have been a different story!

His last birthday gift...a Choo-choo train

4 month check up

The girls had their 4 month checkup today. Samantha is no longer my little peanut (we already knew this but now we have confirmation). She eats quite a bit more than Allison and has flown by Allison in terms of weight. Here are their stats :)

Allison
Height: 25 1/2 90%
Weight 13 lbs 2oz 50%

Samantha
Height: 26 1/4 95%
Weight: 14 lbs 4oz 75%

Apparently I have tall kids!! At Ben's 2 year check up he was also in the 90-95% for height. Guess all the kids got the tall genes from my side of the family....those genes just happened to skip me!

One other fun note....Allison rolled over for the first time today! We missed the first one when our backs were turned. We put her back on her tummy and she did it again. I then grabbed the video camera but she decided two times was enough for today :)

Ben is 2 years old!!

Happy Birthday to Ben!! The past year has gone by so fast and it was even more amazing than the first year. He is becoming such a wonderful little boy. From learning to walk, talk, and then becoming a big brother to two little sisters it's been a busy year. We feel so blessed to have such a special little guy in our life.



We celebrated over the weekend with family and neighbors. Ben's favorite toys, movie, and word over the last year has been Cars so we thought it only appropriate to have Cars as the theme of his party. He loved opening the gifts. Each time he opened a toy that was in a box he would say "take out, take out". He loved it when everyone sang him happy birthday and he had his first piece of cake and ice cream. It was such a great birthday party, thanks to all our family and neighbors for making it such a special day!

Birthday boy!


Cars theme!!


Opening gifts

Singing to the birthday boy!

He skipped the fork in favor of eating cake with his hands :)

Allison and Uncle Nic

MaryJo and Samantha

There was no shortage of people to hold, feed, and entertain the girls!

Family pictures

Family pictures were a little more challenging this year :) A almost 2 year old who did not want to smile or even cooperate, two girls that didn't want to nap before pictures and trying to get all 5 of us to look at the camera. Chris wouldn't mind if we never did this again :) Despite all that I think we got some good shots of the family and kiddos!

Allison

Samantha

First Snow 2010

The minivan got stuck in the driveway on the way back from the run for Ben's boots (so much for the AWD). It made me feel a little better when the neighbor across the street who had a truck also got stuck! Luckily good neighbors help dig each other out!

All bundled up to play in the snow!

Ben on his sled and neighbor Braden is helping his daddy shovel

Friends Thanksgiving

Our 10th annual Friends Thanksgiving was on the day of the big snowstorm. As we were driving and listening to Christmas music it felt more like a white Christmas than Thanksgiving. The number of kids increases every year....soon they will out number the adults! All the kids sat around the table and ate together and they had a blast playing with each other. Someone took a photo of the whole group....when I get it I will add it to the post so you can see the whole crew!

Samantha rolls over

This happened about two weeks ago and I am finally getting to posting it now. She did it a couple of times in a row but now hasn't done it again since, but I managed to get it on camera!!

More pictures of the girls

Just some fun pictures of the girls and Ben around the house.

Ben and Samantha

Allison left, Samantha right

Miss Samantha is catching Allison on weight...check out those cheeks!!

My little Miss Allison :)

Ben entertaining one of his little sisters