Collaboration

We have been wanting to get this done in awhile...

finally another project checked off of the list!

We started off with Claire's hand and foot in the middle.

Then ended up with Randy's hand and foot around the outside.

It didn't turn out quite as we wanted or pictured in out heads, 

but it is still something that we did as a family and we are 

very proud of our first piece of art.

A new chapter

This first month of having Claire at home has been filled with firsts for her.

First smiles :)
First baths.
First sister moments with Lauren.
There really hasn't had much to adjust to since Claire has just seem to fit into our family perfectly.
Her personality has already shown. She is a very easy.going.baby.
She goes with the flow and at most times is calm and content.
She enjoys attention and listens to every word when she is spoken to.
Right now she is such a little joy to be around.
I think it is safe to say that we are so lucky to have her here with us...part of our family.

Family of Three

I have been wanting a family photo shoot for awhile now. Since our family will be expanding I wanted to capture our family before the little one arrived and also to get some shots of just Randy and I together...that doesn't happen very often. We hired my sister's talents to come and help us out...and I think that their are some very good shots and we had great fun...can't you tell from the last photo...randy may have gotten a little "too" into it!

Thanksgiving

I have finally gotten around to writing about our eventful Thanksgiving. This week has already been a busy one for me. Back to Thanksgiving though. Randy usually gets off a little early for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we were not sure that because of his new position if he would be dismissed early or not. Thanks to Humana Randy rolled into the driveway at 1:30 on Wednesday and we started to pack the car and prepare the turkey rub for our meal the next day. By 5:00 we were on the road to my parent's house. We basically got there unloaded our stuff got to visit with my parents and Andrea, played Allison and Carson's Wii (to get more steps on our pedometers!) and then crashed into bed.

The next morning was quite hard. Lauren did not sleep very well. Partly because we were in the bedroom with her and because she had a slight runny nose and was a bit congested too. But we were able to get ready for church and she was a very good little girl. Then it was time to start preparing our Thanksgiving feast. I started off with making my Pumpkin Surprise Pie then prepared some yummy cranberry sauce. Usually I am not a big fan of cranberry sauce...most of the time it is the stuff out of the can. But this recipe was a big hit with everyone...must have been the pomegranate seeds! My dishes were done now it was time to help Randy with his part...the rest of the dinner! Between that time we played Dance Dance Revolution and Lauren even got into it! Way to go Uncle Carson! Randy and I were very busy chopping, roasting, smashing, and anything else you can do in a kitchen. Our menu was delicious. We threw in some interesting ingredients like pomegrante seeds, brussel sprouts, parsnips and fennel. To our surprise everything was a hit and very yummy. Randy did not disappoint~as usual. Way to go Honey:) We then had some visitors come over. My Aunt Nancy and Uncle Terry along with Angela and Mark wanted to check out the Wii. I think we sold it to them. They were planning on ordering one off of the internet the next morning...black friday! They left, we cleaned up and after a long day headed to bed.
Friday morning came way to quick and we were out the door by 8:30 to go to breakfast with Santa. My grandpa has been helping out Santa for quite some time now. But this was the first year that Lauren got to participate in this. What an exciting time. The Landmark where my mom works hosts this every year and well we kept telling Lauren that she was finally going to meet Santa! She was so excited and couldn't wait. She kept saying Ho Ho Ho! Then it was like night and day. It was our turn to finally meet him and not really sure what set her off...possibly the long white beard...bright red suit...all of the flashes from cameras? But she just started crying mamma mammmma...well at least she didn't through a fit with kicking and screaming. The video is priceless and will be used as blackmail when she is older:) We got a few good pictures and breakfast was delicious.
Then we left Lauren with Uncle Carson and Auntie Allison as we went to go help out my brother and his wife move things from their old home into their new one. What a transformation from two weeks ago. They have really done a great job fixing up their home. New flooring, paint, appliances can really help update a home. Can't wait to see it when it is all furnished!
We then got back to my parents and realized that we should probably get going back to De Pere. I wanted to get a tree and decorate the house on Saturday. As always we had a fantastic time with family and are waiting for the arrival of a new baby...hopefully soon!

The Farm

here kitty!
A flower for dada
Wow a flower that Lauren didn't want to smell!
Feeding the Sheep...baa baa

I can feed them all by myself!
...this little pig went to the market...this little pig got to eat!
Big ears!

So as some of you who read this may recall Lauren and I had visited The Farm back in June, but thanks to my old digital camera who's battery died we were unable to post any pictures. So because we absolutely had a great time the first time we had to return with Randy and the nice camera. This time around we got to see the horses too! Lauren had such a fun time with feeding the animals--she was persistant with trying to give a bottle to every animal she came across. A little apprehensive at first, but once she got the hang of it there was no stopping her from feeding all of the animals. Note: must go early in the morning when the animals are hungry and active.

We took a nature trail to go to the pond and say hi to the ducks and to our surprise two little kittens joined us. They were very playful jumping in and out of the woods. Then we made our way to see the big sheep. Lauren loves to say baa baaa. So she got to hear some real baas..