Hi Everyone!
We have been so busy these past couple months. Sorry for not keeping up. I know a few grandparents, uncles and aunts that would love to see the kids more. I will try to be better. Anyway, here are a few from the past couple months. I will be posting again very soon with even more recent pictures. Stay tuned!
Hugs and love to everyone!


Hans has learned that when he gets put in his high chair he is going to get something to eat....and he loves that!


Elise was getting really bored one day, so we got out Dad's old sock and made a puppet. She wanted it to be an Elise puppet... blonde hair and blue eyes. She made dots on the shirt to look like the shirt she is wearing.


While I was sewing the hair on her puppet, she decided that she was going to take my thread and put it on her fingers.....


.... now she has olives on her fingers! Anything that will fit on her little fingers goes on them.


Hans was Tigger for Halloween (I know that I am bit late for these pictures!) Elise wore this costume last year. It is going to be a family tradition, I think.


Elise wanted to be a bunny. It was a-okay with me since it was probably one of the easiest costumes to do. She was happy to wear her heavy coat, which happened to be white, and then the ears, tail, and bowtie. She had a great time!


Uncle Kurt and Aunt Katrina moved back to Idaho from Arizona!! We are so glad that they are back in the state. They came up to visit us while Kurt had some training not too far from us. We sure were glad to see them.


We carved pumpkins this year! We intended to last year, but time got away. It was lots of fun! Mom helped too, but she had to take the picture.

Fall Time

Hello!

We have been enjoying our hot tub this summer. We don't really keep it hot, just comfortable enough for those warm days...



Nic brought Elise in the "big pool" and she did great until she got some water in her eyes.... she was done.



Elise is doing so well on the potty! I could not be more pleased. She claps each time she goes potty...and asks for a treat!



Hans is doing what he does best....EATING!! This boy would eat all day if I let him. Thank goodness he sleeps all night!



We visited with the Holland side of the family in July. Fallynne was born 18 days after Hans. Here they are getting to know eachother. Since then, Ben, Nic's brother added Jacob to the family. Three cousins in one year!



Who is the older one? Elise! Who is the bigger one? Soon to be Hans!


Elise loves her brother! She is such a little mommy. When she wants to be a help, she really is a great one.

Hi there!

We are pleased to introduce you to Hans Jeffrey. He was born April 2 at 4:01am weighing in at 6 lbs. 2 oz. and 20 inches. (I know that I said 21 1/2 before, but we were told wrong!). Kari and Hans are both recovering well; Nic and Elise love that Mom is up and about again! They are also happy to have Hans here.

Thank you to everyone that helped us out. We are eternally grateful.

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Pictures to please

Hi all!

We are hanging in there. We hit 32 weeks on Thursday and could not be more excited for the progress. I am still on couch duty, but I can see the end is near. We have to make it at least another 4 weeks... thank you for all the prayers and help on our behalf. We will keep you posted as things happen.

In the meantime, enjoy the pictures of our little family...that is growing in many ways.


Elise loves to play with this train! She takes it apart and then has someone else put it together!


Nic's little girl- she makes Daddy pick her up, then she never lets him put her down.


Grandpa built the biggest tower yet! I think that there were 29 blocks. Elise loved knocking that one down!


What a cute girl! Monkey and Little Buddy (sloth) accompany her on the couch.


Elise has decided that she enjoys the game of putting things down her shirt and then wanting us to take them out. Here you can see her goat sticking out of her shirt. The rest of the farm animals are deep within her shirt!


The red wagon was a hit! Inside or out Elise laughs when Daddy pulls her around.


It was snuggle time on the couch. There is less and less room as my belly grows for the both of us, but Elise does not care. She always finds a way to snuggle right in.


Grandma and Elise are playing the piano for our family home evening. What better person to learn to play than from her Grandma!


I am not sure what Elise is looking at that is causing her to make that face. It was a cute picture to include anyway!


Elise loves to read! She goes to story time at the library each Tuesday with either Grandpa or Grandma and is able to pick out books to bring home. We read them over and over.

Hi Everyone!

I am back! I am sorry to say that the computer took a back seat in my life for a while. I will try to be better.

Things have changed a bit around our house. I guess being pregnant does that. At about week 17 I was put on semi-bedrest for having some sporadic contractions due to a low lying placenta. Nic took on the cleaning, lifting, laundry, etc. I continued to try to keep up with Elise as well as the cooking. We thought that I would be okay until a little over a week ago when I went in for having more contractions as well as lots of pressure. I was sent to the hospital for monitoring for a few hours. Lucky me, I get to be on full bed rest for the rest of my pregancy. I was dialating and contracting regularly. I am not very enthused about having to sit around for 3 months, but I am very grateful that it is not worse. I saw the doctor again yesterday with things just the same.

Our baby boy is doing great! His heartbeat is very strong along with all his limbs! I feel him kick and move constantly. We are so grateful that he is just fine. Now if I could get my body to act right we will be in business!!!!

Nic has been so good about the whole situation. He has taken full responsibity to care for Elise and all the household chores. We have some great friends that have also stepped in to help us. Carol, Nic's mom, came on Sunday which has been a huge help! Elise has been so good about Mom having to stay on the couch. She will bring me her toys and books so I can still play or read to her. Santa brought her a big pad of paper and crayons for Christmas which also keeps her busy. She has a wonderful time coloring!

Other than our baby adventures, nothing much else has changed. We are loving being in our new home. We live around some great people whom we have been able to become friends with. It is very nice to know that we are surrounded by such a wonderful group of people.

We hope that you are all doing well. We hope that you all had a great Holiday season that will last all year through... oh yah! Happy New Year!!

Enjoy each day-- you never know what the next day will bring! (We have learned this many times!)

Love you!!