The things I do for my sister...

I guess at least it's blue...really brings out my eyes, don't you think?!?!

And...Miss Hannah :)

Our ever happy and joyous Hannah.  I will never tire of them being silly and making our home such a special place filled with their giggles and laughs!  

A house FULL of laughter

Caleb has recently learned the art of laughter and it is so amazing to hear...he can really get going and it is super cute...thought I'd share some of it with you.

'Tis the season to be jolly...

This weekend we celebrated Christmas with our extended family in Michigan.  Saturday night with the VanDyke side and Sunday with the Terpstra side.  We had a great time watching the kids play together, catching up, sharing stories of our childhoods and memories that we've made along the way.  Hannah was excited for the parties and loved the attention she received from the older kids!!  We had a GREAT weekend!!

Christmas parties always have wonderful food!  Hannah ate like a horse and loved the snowman peep and little smokies (of which she ate 7 or 8!!)

Hannah had a Hello Kitty themed stocking to open at the VanDyke Christmas...

Grandma helped her open her stocking stuffers.  Hannah peeled one little piece at a time and took it to the middle of the circle to throw away.  

Eventually she learned to take the present with her so she wouldn't have to make so many trips :).  

Aunt Marcia has a special place in Hannah's heart and she just had to show off all of her special things with she and uncle Rick.

A case full of princess dress up clothes from Oma and Opa.

Thank you, Oma!  I love it!

Hannah as her favorite Disney princess, Snow White.

Heidi also got some princess garb...too cute!

And our little sleeping beauty.

Caleb took it all in...next year he'll be running around with the rest of the kids!

The first thing Hannah wanted to play this morning...dress up!

And, of course, brother Ike should wear a bracelet, too!!

Breakfast with Santa!

Tuesday morning Hannah had the wonderful privilege to have breakfast with the one and only Santa Clause!!  Before she went to bed Monday night she expressed how excited she was and the next morning she hopped out of bed and immediately pointed to her Rudolph dress and was ready to get dressed to go and see the man with the white beard!  Santa Clause made pancakes and sausage for the little boys and girls and each child got their own turn sitting on Santa's lap and having a chat about what they want for Christmas.  One little boy brought a computer print out of his list complete with diagrams! 

 Hannah waiting for Grandma to come and watch Caleb as we went to see Santa.

 Patiently waiting--Hannah was number 17 and she did a great job waiting her turn!

 Santa during a break between kids waving to Hannah.

 Such a sweet girl!!

 She wasn't so sure about sitting on his lap at first, but it didn't take her long to settle in and make her request of 'babies' known to him.  She said later at home that his beard was soft!

 Waving bye bye to Santa...she's a HUGE fan!!

When we went outside we had to look for Rudolph and the rest of the reindeer...Santa said they were parked on the roof :)!

The first flakes have fallen...

I never knew how excited a two year old could be about going out in the snow...now I know!  After getting Hannah into her snow gear, it was daddy's turn.  Hannah waited patiently...

 and encouraged daddy to hurry up!

 Even Ikey was ready to go out and play--he's always loved chasing and eating snowballs...this year is no different!

 Yeah!!!!  Finally.

 Daddy pulled Hannah on the sled for a long time and Ike chased them (or lead them) most of the time. They stayed out a lot longer than I thought they would so of course I had to have some hot chocolate waiting for them when they came inside!  We've upgraded Hannah to some better, waterproof mittens for her next trip out.  I'm sure we won't be at a shortage of snow in Michigan this winter!!

Three months old..

Our little man is getting bigger!  He's officially three months old now and is changing everyday.  He is full of smiles and giggles and laughs.  He loves watching Hannah and he gives her a lot of smiles!  Daddy can get him to laugh like no other!!  Caleb can hold his head up by himself, reach for toys and hold them once he gets them, and get his buddies on his bouncy seat to sing and dance for him.  He likes his exersaucer and his baths.  One of his only dislikes are bottles...it's a daily struggle to get him to take a bottle, but this too shall pass!!  Caleb started sleeping through the night on Thanksgiving night and I couldn't be more happy about that!  We've started to get into a pretty good routine although we still go a lot of places, too.  He's happy to sleep almost anywhere and on our recent trip to Missouri, you almost didn't even know he was in the car.  We stopped three times for him to eat, but other than that he was content to sit in his carseat and sleep or entertain himself.  It is so wonderful to have a little boy...and we've loved every minute of the last three month!