Long Day...

A Very Merry Christmas...

Because Mike is well enough to enjoy these special moments with us. Looking at these pictures of this Christmas, it is hard to believe that less than a month ago we were in the hospital.....God is so good. I'm so thankful, so very thankful! Obviously from the pictures, you will be able to tell that the boys really enjoyed this Christmas. Cole is growing up so fast and Taylor is the quintessential older brother! It got very loud at times, especially when Cole would go for one of Taylor's new toys. Wow! I thought it would never end! :) But it was so much fun and it was so fun to take these pictures and capture this memory! So cool to think of how next Christmas there will be another little Henderson! God is too good to us! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve...

Always such a special time with my family. We spend the entire day together starting with brunch at around 11, games and hanging out, appetizers, singing around the piano, dinner, opening presents and dessert. Normally the day doesn't end until around midnight or so, but this year, with Mike's health, our night ended a little earlier which was okay since the boys were getting over colds and we all seemed to be tired earlier.

My brothers and sisters and I went to see my Grandma at the hospital since she was going to be there over Christmas and we sang some Christmas songs. Garrett posted one on FB of us singing on the way home......hmmmmm......very interesting since its acappella! :)

It was good to see her though and she seems to be doing much better.

She should be able to come home in a little over a week.

I thought I would post some pictures of the highlights of the day!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Steven's beautiful tablescape! It made our Christmas Eve dinner so special!

The boys unwrapping and enjoying their presents!

My chunky monkey!

What a way to end it - self portrait all the way!

Steven Graduated!!!

Tonight Steven graduated from college with his accounting degree! He only had eight seats so unfortunately only the siblings could attend but at least we got to be there! This was the only picture I could take because my battery was dead! Ugh! Steven probably wanted it that way though because he really doesn't like to be in the pictures - he likes to take the pictures but he doesn't like to be in the pictures. Afterwards we all celebrated at Ruby Tuesday's! It was fun night and I am so happy for Steven. I'll miss all the Wednesday afternoons hanging out waiting for the evening class.......good memories though. He was a good excuse to sit on the couch and watch HGTV and eat! :) Love ya Steven!

Coley & His Bottle

Baby News!

Soooooooo.......we are pregnant with Baby #3! We've known for a little while but wanted to keep it a surprise until we could share it with everyone at Thanksgiving! Yesterday when I was at my parents for Thanksgiving, (Mike wasn't well enough to go with me) I was able to tell them as we were sharing what we were thankful for and when we were with the Henderson family later, Mike was able to share the good news! Everyone is so happy for us and I always feel so blessed to have so many loving family and friends around to share in our happiness. I totally feel that this is the girl that we have been praying for **fingers crossed** and I'm sure that God wants to answer those prayers! Our family will be complete whether God blesses us with a girl or boy! And you know us, always prepared, so if we have a girl she will be Madison Christine (after my Nana) or Zachary John (after Mike's dad). July 7th cannot come fast enough!

SO VERY EXCITED TO WELCOME THIS NEW LITTLE ONE!

Family Photos...

So Mike is feeling better and I'm so thankful! I was afraid that he would still be feeling sick through these pictures but he has been feeling a little better every day! We had our family photos done today in order to have them done in time for our Christmas cards ~ I know, I know, Christmas is two months away but I'm always trying to be way proactive, or maybe its just that I'm overly paranoid and planned out and way always it seems to be ahead of schedule on something that doesn't really seem like it should be the priority at that certain point in time......I don't know. But anyways, there we were today all prettied up and me praying that the boys would smile and cooperate and we would be able to get everything done and have at least one nice picture. I arrived, of course, fully prepared with my spread sheet of all the backgrounds and poses that I wanted to do and the lady seemed very happy that she didn't have to ask me all these questions and try to figure out what we wanted to do. I knew we had a short window with the boys so we moved as fast as we could and I think they turned out very well! Here's just a few......

Best Friends!

Duluth Pictures

Vacation - Day Two

Last night was much better! We moved the pack and play to a new place in the room and I slept between the two boys and since Taylor had been up so much the night before with hardly any nap, he slept wonderfully! Mom and Dad Henderson joined us today and stayed at the Edgewater Waterpark Hotel which was nice because they were able to get us extra wristbands. We met them at Perkins which is right next to their hotel for lunch and had a great time. Taylor is realizing the we are in a situation where we can't discipline like we would if we were at home so he is really pushing his limits. Which tends to get a little tiring when you are battling his wills. But he really is a good boy. Very polite and very kind! :) We then went with Mom and Dad down to the pier again to see if any boats were coming in. Dad suggested bringing the umbrellas and we all thought that was a bit overkill but boy did we end up needing them. It started sprinkling almost immediately and by the time we were done, it was raining pretty good. But that didn't stop us from getting icecream at the little ice cream shoppe in front of Grandma's Restaurant. They had this java chunk ice cream and it was heavenly! We ran back to the car, got the kids in and then headed back to our hotels. We decided to just spend in the night separately relaxing and that ended up being really nice. We took the boys to the pool and had a great time! Finally we went back to the room and turned on Kipper for Tay and reheated our pizza from the night before. It ended up being a wonderful day and I'm praying with all my heart that we have another good nights sleep! :)

Pictures of Us in Duluth

Vacation - Day One

So Taylor was running wild til 1am! What in the world! I don't know what got into him - had to be the hotel room and everything.....but wow. Finally he laid down on the bed with Mike at around 1am and then proceeded to kick and turn, then fall asleep just long enough to fall off the bed at 2:45am. Seriously? I got up, comforted him, prayed that Cole wouldn't wake up from the crying, laid him down in the packnplay, then I laid down again. But that woke Taylor up all over again, so at 4am he was still awake and still looking for toys and not wanting to go to sleep. I finally had to tell him that if he did anything else or got out again, that he would be in trouble. Not sure if that worked or not but he seemed to stay quiet for a while and then finally ended up sleeping. But of course, when Cole woke up at 9am then Taylor woke up. So yeah, the sleeping situation is not quite the most lovely it could be. We went to Do North Pizza and it was fantastic! Mike found a brochure in the lobby and I was afraid that it was going to be such a hole in the wall and not at all appealing from the outside but it ended up being in a newer strip mall and was very clean and inviting. My mom would have been so proud of us! Supporting the local businesses and all! I can't wait to tell her! :) We then went down to the pier to see the "ducks" which is what Tay calls the seagulls and watch the boats come in. We got some popcorn and pop, oh, that was after the stop at Caribou.....couldn't have lasted through the day without some good coffee! We were hoping to see some ships come in but they were coming in so much later in the day so we had to just leave and wait for another day. We were hoping to order Do North Pizza again but they closed at 8pm so we had to settle for Pizza Hut. Not quite the same but good still. I'm hoping for a much better night tonight with the sleeping......maybe, just maybe.....

First Day

We left today and headed up early this morning! We were actually on the road by 9:30 which is an amazing feat for us! We stopped at McDonalds for a very healthy breakfast :) and started on up the road to Duluth. I had thought maybe we could take the scenic route but I don't know what I was thinking with two little ones that don't like to be in their carseats any longer than necessary. We ended up getting to the hotel early but they let us check in early which was very nice of them. We got settled in and then headed over to Culvers for another healthy meal! :) I love vacations for that! I don't think I will be watching what I eat at all because what's vacation when you have to watch what you eat? Not a real vacation anyways. We will see how tonight goes with the kids......I wonder......

Vacation, Here We Come!

Mike was given two weeks off work for paternity leave to use any time within twelve months of Cole being born so we decided to use one week for VBT and the week after for a short vacation to Duluth. We always go up to Duluth with Grandma and Grandpa Henderson at the end of September but thought it would be so fun to take an extra trip. I'm not sure how it will work out with the hotel room and two kids but we are going to enjoy the experience! More posts to come of our trip! :)

VBT

Oh What A Time! This week is always the busiest week of the year. And it seems to dominate every other moment of my time for weeks leading up to it! But I wouldn't trade any of it for anything! Vacation Bible Time is always so much fun and we love it! Mike always takes the week off of work so he can devote all his time to VBT and it makes it so much fun to have it different. Every night after we clean up from the activities and get everything ready for the next night, we end up going to Taco Bell! Every night! I'm pretty Taco Belled out! This year turned out so wonderful! We had our biggest night that we've ever had and the most children registered that we've ever had. God is so good! I'm so thankful for all that He's given us and how He allows us to serve. We have such an amazing church family too! We are so blessed! Everyone banded together and helped in so many ways without any complaint and boy was it hot and sticky! So happy to have such a wonderful week but so glad that it is over for another year! Now to start planning for next year.....wait, I'm gonna wait for at least another month! :)

Looks...

I get this look all the time!

A truck and a dandelion...

Odd choices for a ride to church but that's what he chose. And it's precious!

He's turning into such a little man and I love it!