The Shower!

Lots of love and pink ruffles were at the party!








I am touched by how many showed up to give their love and support. Even some of the men dared brave the women's ooos and ahhhs.

Advice on Raising a Princess

At the baby shower, the guests filled out these cards to give me advice on how to raise a princess. Each person got to decorate their own crown shaped card with little sticker rhinestones and stickers. What fun!

"Never get mad at her. Give her whatever she wants. Princesses need to know how to do chores." ~Katelyn (My cousin)

"Don't put your kids the same room over night for more than a year." ~Chelsea (My cousin)

"Watch lots of princess movies!!" ~Emily Nerdin (My cousin)

"Lots of love & candy! <3" ~No name signed

"Buy lots of SHOES." ~No name signed

"How to raise a princess: 1. Never Scold. 2. Give her everything she wants. 3. Give her a unlimited budget. 4. Give her unlimited hugs and kisses." ~Grandma Nerdin (My grandma)

"Listen to what she has to say." ~No name signed

"Give her lots of love, attention, and take her shopping whenever you can." ~Grandma Aunt Nancy (My great aunt)

"Watch Kung-Fu Panda lots! & Lion King. . . Not all Princesses have to be too girly! :)" ~Aunt Clarissa (my sister)

"Be the kind of woman you hope your daughter will become." ~No name signed

"Rock her a little longer, sing her another song, Tell her another story, your time with her in not long!" ~Aunt Lisa (My aunt)

"Enjoy every small moment! There is magic in every phase of life." ~Aunt Janet (My aunt)

"You can say no even to a princess." ~Grandma Hanson (My grandma)

"Always treat her like a queen. (& teach her how to pull up her tights after she goes to the bathroom)." ~No name signed

"Think Pink!" ~No name signed

Gamer

Duane is turning into quite the little gamer since he and Avan got a Kindle from their grandma for Christmas. Their favorite thing is to play Angry Birds, although she got it for them to use as a tool to help them learn to read. They do use it to read books out loud, especially the ones that involve cars and trains. Avan loves the books that make truck sounds.




It's so strange that Duane looks so grown up! There is no baby left in him except for the fact that he's MY baby and always will be.

Painting

The boys love to paint! Not all of these were done today. We have a small art gallery that seems to grow by the week.


By: Duane

By: Avan

By: Duane

By: Avan (With help)

By: Duane

By: Duane

Sledding!

I have been a lame mommy lately. I barely have the motivation to get out of bed some days in the past week or so. As a result, Duane and Avan have missed out on some fun snow. As a way of making it up to them, we bought a sled last night and took them sledding on the small hill next to our apartment. They were e ecstatic!
We didn't stay out very long because it was getting late, but they had so much fun! Hopefully mommy can be less lame in the near future and we can get out more. Duane really wants to build a snowman! :)

Someone . . .

. . . is very excited to meet his sister. He lay out all her clothes this morning while talking endlessly of how he wanted to show her:

And has packed his suitcase to stay the night at grandma's:

Christmas

Christmas was great around our place! The only negative thing was the fact that we were sick just before Christmas. We got better just in time to attend family parties and such, but then picked up something horrible and are still sick again. :(

I guess there was one other negative thing. We lost our camera so we don't have any pictures of the boys opening presents on Christmas morning. The only pics I have are from my mom's facebook page and those came from her iphone.

On Christmas Eve we went to the traditional Nerdin party, hosted by my grandma Nerdin. There the boys were able to see their grandpa who lives down in Monticello and they don't see very much of him. They had a blast visiting with their uncles who were excited to play with them.

After that party, we went to my mom's to make Santa's runway and gingerbread houses and to see Santa!!






Here is the construction of Santa's runway. Then we moved on to the gingerbread houses to await the arrival of the jolly old elf.







When Santa came, Duane was so excited! He loves Santa this year, but Avan is opposed to the whole idea of strangers holding him. Then we opened presents:




Let me say that the boys were spoiled by more than one source! They have so many new toys that we're not sure what to do with them all. They have a lot of people that love them. :)

Christmas day was a slower pace. We woke and opened stockings and the presents under our tree. Then we went to church and came home to play with our babies and their new toys.

Santa brought me a jewelry chest. How did he know I needed one?

Goofy Kids

Some gems we've captured with the cameras on our phones. I think the one of them with suckers in the cart/car is one of my favorites!

I swear Avan wasn't crying. He was laughing too hard to stay still. ;)

Reindeer Noses

I saw this idea and thought it would be perfect for little fingers. I got the idea from this blog.

This is the face Duane would make every time I told him to smile. He's such a ham.

One Happy Day

It was one happy day that we had on Avan's birthday! He ate the attention up!

Duane helped us decorate while Avan was taking a nap.



Avan spent a great deal of the party in his room, doing what he loves best!

This is how the kids broke the pinata. I was reluctant to bring out the bat indoors.


As you can see, he was VERY excited about his cake.

Duane claimed one of Avan's presents. Avan is a good brother and shared.




I'm so glad we have a sweet little Avan in our home. He's such a wonderful and happy boy.