Harvalas In Holland

Some of June

2010-07-08T14:54:00.004-05:00

Kinda random, I decided to actually post pictures today : )

ENJOY!

"This little light of mine" at the T/TH preschool graduation.

Joshua is right about in the middle in the blue & green striped shirt.

Miriam fell alseep on the living room floor one afternoon. (rare!)

The kittens that were under our deck.

There were six.

He thought he'd golf in the living room.

One of the things he got for his birthday.

Joshua with his cake.

Joshua wanted a Mickey Mouse cake, so I made him one!

A birthday favor the kids learned how to do!

Oh, MY! PICTURES : )

2010-07-08T12:13:00.009-05:00

Painting toes :)

Umm Joshua & Miriam got BORED??

Changing baby's diaper.

Friends Jon & Emily's baby. This was the 3rd newborn we saw in 3 or 4 weeks and by then Miriam just had a grand time holding the baby!

Family at Easter. The kid's grandma Harvala made their clothes.

Early morning play doh with grandpa supervising.

Modeling the dress Brenda made for her.

Super Hero cousins! LOVE this picture!

Making pizza Mmm.

Painting frosting on cookies with Brynn & Sophie.

Miriam's sleepover.

Miriam's ballet slipper birthday cake I made her.

Sliding down the frog's tongue at PALS.

Macrae about 6 months

Sledding in Marshall.

Family at Christmas

Hungry Hungry Hippos

Miriam singing.

Grandma and her "baby" grandkids

"Wake up" auntie Tessa!

Fishing

Part of December

2010-02-05T13:06:00.004-06:00

Miriam's little bootprint.

"Fixing" daddy

Cutting down our Christmas Tree!

More outside time & working hard.

Putting up the window clings

While working on decorating the tree, Miriam decorated herself!

Daddys make good tables.

Joshua baked cupcakes for his 1/2 birthday...

and Miriam helped daddy with the dishes.

November

2010-02-05T12:29:00.005-06:00

Back in the beginning of November I needed proof Joshua was getting taller and could reach the lightswitches. He's grown even more and doesn't have to reach quite this much.

Miriam and her love for socks.

A side pony tail

Her hair is even longer now!

Making peanut butter cookies

Miriam was the fork smasher and Joshua was the ball roller.

Tasting the product!

Our bookworm

Macrae & Miriam

Joshua wrapping up Macrae

Joshua and Miriam adoring Macrae

A spotted baby donkey at Brynn, Sophie, and Macrae's Grandpa's house.

Playing Hi - Ho Cherry-O Joshua won...

October

2010-02-05T12:12:00.002-06:00

Cousinly love

Mr. Buzz Lightyear

Story time

Outside time in some of the first snow

A visit to grandma's house led to Miriam finding a good time.

Halloween 2009

2010-02-05T11:08:00.005-06:00

Joshua & Miriam the Lions

Joshua & Miriam at Joshua's preschool Halloween party

A little practice before trick-or-treating.

trick-or-treating at the Good Sam Center

A member from our church in the picture on the right giving candy to Miriam

Digging into the goods.

September

2009-12-10T09:07:00.009-06:00

Joshua's 1st day of Sunday School with his teacher.

On our way out to Rapid City we needed to stop and see what the fuss is all about at Wall Drug. Yes, we learned some history about all those "Free Ice Water" signs.

Our 1st family activity in Rapid City after some dinner. Adam tried to show Miriam the proper way to get the ball in the hole, but she's a smart cookie and figured out an easier way on her own!

Modern enterainment (movie in the laptop) in a "pop-up" camper.

Crazy Horse Monument what it should look like on the left and what it currently looks like on the right.

A little awestruck in the hills - never thought I'd see in real life remains of forest fires.

The kids with their fox & wolf at Bear Country USA and Miriam taking a break during the Maze.

Joshua petting snakes at the Reptile Gardens.

My favorite at Reptile Gardens was probably the crocodile show!

After we got to pet a baby crocodile... or alligator, I can't remember!

Fun with the Mirrors from the World's Fair

The screened in bonus on our camper came in handy one evening as it started raining, otherwise we would have had to be crammed in the camper while the kids napped & we tried to make supper.

The kids helping Adam clean up the yard.

...and jumping in the leaves.

CHEESE!!

August

2009-12-10T08:23:00.004-06:00

Miriam believes she's queen and when she's finished at the table she pushes herself away and then puts her feet up on the edge of the table and gets even further away. This picture she just felt the need to lounge and eat.

We took a family trip to the Tyler golf course so Joshua could see where daddy went every thursday afternoon golfing without him! The kids had fun, mainly watching, although Joshua did get to help putt a few in and hold some flags!

Miriam had the time of her life up on Grandpa's back, sat there for quite some time perfectly content.

At the end of August we finally got to welcome dear little Macrae to our world! Sometimes I'm not sure how my friend, Becky, and I get through the week without some kind of contact. Now that Macrae is number 3, she's thinking it's my turn so that Macrae has someone to play with, too.

The kids and I just HAD to go visit Becky & Macrae at the hospital.

This picture really doesn't show Joshua's real excitement. I think having my kids along making all kinds of noise in the room and to see Macrae sleep through it all was a comfort to Becky as to how he'd do with his not-so-quiet sisters!

Grandma Hanson & Joshua hula-hooping.

Grandpa Hanson with the oldest grandkids.

Mallory's belated birthday celebration cake.

Miriam's very 1st pony tail!!!

Every night before I go to bed I check on the kids and cover them up if they need it. This particular night I had a surprise in Miriam's crib - her pink pajamas are in the top right-hand side. She does not keep the nice, warm zip-up pajamas on.

This other night the pajamas had some elastic around the ankles and she couldn't get them all the way off.

The next morning she greeted me like this!

I have even changed sheets in the middle of the night because of her undressing, it's lead to a completely undressed little girl one night! BRRRR Good thing it was only september.

July

2009-12-10T01:48:00.008-06:00

July began with our anniversary of 5 whole years already! We left the kids at home and took off for NE Minnesota along Lake Superior. We stayed at Caribou Highlands - right next to a ski resort. Adam wants to go back up to ski, not sure when that would ever happen since the snowy season is consumed with Advent & Lent!

We tried out kayaking on a lake.

This is the view out our condo balcony. The hills in the background are ski hills.

In the background is Lake Superior. We rode a ski lift to the top of a mountain and took a ride (7 times to be exact) down the alpine slide.

The evening of our anniversary we got all dressed up and tried out the restaurant at a different resort! When we got back Adam had it all lined up with a lady to put a bottle of wine, glasses and a new ring on the table in the place we stayed. He had told her where we were eating so we think she called over to the restaurant and bought us dessert because we ordered some and it wasn't on our bill (also the waitress had a smile on her face like something was going on).

Later on in the month we went to the cities and played around at the Children's museum (it was a Target free Sunday meaning Target paid our admission that day - Bonus!). Miriam enjoyed sliding down Clifford's tail.

The reason for going to the cities was for Adam's seminarian classmate's installation, Dan Keinath.

We discovered the fun at the Underwater Adventures Aquarium at the Mall of America. May seem expense, but really, when have you ever seen sharks & stingrays swimming all around you? You walk through a tunnel and are surrounded by water.

A stingray

Adam trying to help Miriam touch the back of a live crab! Her arm was too short though.

We made a trip to my families lake cabin, they enjoyed playing on the beach.

and fishing with Grandpa!

We managed to be there the same time as the East Ottertail County Fair in Perham.

Tessa & Miriam on the Carosel - this was the first ride when we got there, I believe she may have been a bit sleepy at the time, but she loved it!

Joshua holding on for dear life! He was asleep when we got to the fair, he wore his sunglasses for awhile until he woke up more.

Joshua and Tessa went on through this a few times, it was one of his favorites, once he got up the rope ladder.

The 4-H kids had an awesome petting barn - the best I saw out of 5 county fairs this summer! They'd take animals out of cages for the kids to pet/hold and we could even go inside the stalls/pens to pet the pigs, sheep, calf, goats!

Miriam loved this train ride, her little legs were kicking the whole time!

June

2009-12-10T00:51:00.006-06:00

So... it's December already?? Yeah, sorry about the neglect, dear blog. I thought I'd stay up late and surprise people! I think everyone who still has faith in this blog should send me an e-mail so I know just how many have been waiting SO long for new pictures!

Joshua's 3rd Birthday

He got a fishing pole & tackle box, we had to hide it or he'd always ask to go fishing!

I took some quick pictures of Miriam one day and entered her in a cute baby contest. This was the picture that was entered, I'm just not sure why she didn't win!

2009-06-10T11:01:00.008-05:00

Captions yet to come... gotta get the kids to bed and don't want to lose the pictures!

2009-06-08T14:59:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday Joshua!
6:18 pm this evening he will be 3 years old!

Went to the Dr. this morning for the 3 yr check up. He was all caught up on shots, so he didn't need anymore. He's 41 1/2 inches tall & 40 lbs! He's so big he's off the charts for both.

2009-05-15T09:36:00.004-05:00

Miriam on our little slide, it's just the right size for her!

She thinks she's pretty smart climbing up on the chair all by herself.

At the end of the Fireman's spaghetti dinner Joshua got a ride home in a fire truck!

After Easter we took a couple days and went down to Yankton for a little visit.

The boy in the back is Kyle, he was a preschooler in one of the classes I helped with.

One of his favorite things, a slide!

Playing in the sand at the "rainbow" park in Yankton.

The sunset overlooking Lewis & Clark lake.

Coloring together.

A wagon ride from Grandpa. Miriam loves to ride in the wagon,

she will climb into it all by herself and wait to get pulled around.

Miriam getting some cool whip.

Joshua holding Miriam.

Oh, and he can say her name now... all the time, she's no longer baby!

Joshua playing baseball with Grandpa at Easter time.

Well, now the ball is on the ground so it's golfing with a bat.

Me with the monkeys.

A lazy ride on the "horsey".

Spring Fever

2009-04-21T14:00:00.002-05:00

I'm hoping to have a vegetable garden and this year it's hopefully gonna happen since I bought a mini greenhouse with those peat pellets that expand almost instantly when you give them water. Monday the 13th Joshua & I planted our seeds (while Miriam played with the drawer of bibs) and now only a week later some of them are already just about to the top of the cover!

We planted green beans, peas, carrots, radishes, cantelope, watermelon and pumpkins!

The last three are more for fun to see if we actually get anything.

A Long Awaited Update!

2009-04-20T13:58:00.005-05:00

Happy Easter!!!

Our family Easter morning...

Daddy, Mommy

Joshua, Miriam

Joshua got a little GOLF set and LOVES it. Miriam likes to carry around the clubs and balls too. The Vikings hat served as his basket from G'ma & G'pa Harvala.

Looks like a pretty good swing to me.

We tried it out before the second service.

"Grandma Shel" and Miriam kinda matched with they pink on Easter.

So we took a picture.

We colored eggs a new way this year.

1. Put a few, up to 6 I suggest, in a strainer in the sink
2. "splash" more like pour 1/4 or 1/2 cup vinegar over the eggs
3. Drop food coloring on eggs (just like Joshua is doing there with the yellow)
4. Hold strainer, swirl eggs around, let set 30 seconds
* at this time we worked with a 2nd strainer in the adjoining sink while the coloring set *
5. repeat steps 3 & 4
6. It's suggested to use only 2 or 3 colors for each group of eggs you do or the colors will get "muddy" looking.
It was SUPER fast and a lot less preparation & cleanup! By the time we were done Joshua's attention span was done also, so it all worked out well!

Sink #2

Joshua was the master colorer.

What our eggs turned out like. Oh, and all the food coloring/vinegar on the towel washed out... no sign of it at all and I didn't even pre-treat it! Just used Norwex laundry detergent.

Odds & Ends

2009-03-12T22:45:00.006-05:00

Believe it or not (no not Ripley's), I'm pretty much caught up! There are now only about 5 videos I really wish I could get to upload.. but this is it for tonight and then in the morning we leave for Mankato for a PALS meeting - we'll be back saturday evening, it's a short one this time. There won't be anything more until Sunday or monday at the earliest if I get the videos to work.

Oh! Almost forgot... Joshua used only 1 pair of undies all day today! Yes, we're potty training. We thought we've been doing it for awhile, but not really. Last monday evening I finally laid down the law and said no more diapers for Joshua! We packed them all away for Miriam to use some day (if she even gets to size 5 before potty training) and we've been using undies ever since... even at night we did only undies but every morning he woke up wet so sunday night on the way to Dar's I got a pack of "nighttime pants" from the grocery store. (Shh! they're really pull-ups.) Anyway, I would say in a span of only 1 1/2 weeks he's doing really well! So when I said he only used one pair today that means he had NO accidents today and yesterday he only had one! If I don't tell him "Let's go potty" because I see signs he needs to go or if he doesn't actually come tell me "I have to go potty", he has actually been going into the bathroom himself and then I go after him ask if he has to go potty or say "okay let's go" and I help him get the undies down (he can't do it by himself) & pants and sit on the potty chair and he goes! Ahhh preschool here comes Joshua!

Miriam keeping busy/happy before going to church.

Joshua sitting on the steps and pouting because I woke him up from his nap.

I think Miriam wanted to take a bath!

Miriam getting a ride around the living room from Joshua.

We were sorting through Joshua's clothes for his cousin Trace and I guess he thought this hat still fits him! I think it's a 12 month hat, I don't remember for sure though!

Playing ping ponk in the kitchen before supper (daddy just got home, I guess Joshua couldn't wait long enough to let him take his jacket off).

Check out Miriam's fancy tennis shoes! Her cousin Mallory got her those.

Miriam can be quite the book worm at times. Give her a book and she'll calm down.

Joshua had a case of impetigo behind his ear, so he had some pink liquid Cephalexin to take for about 10 days I think. We never had any problems with him taking his medicine.... I remember him saying "good" and even asking for more one time. I suppose it probably didn't help that mommy was taking medicine during the same time (I pretty much had strep throat - the test was negative, but the PA put me on some meds anyway). It's a good thing G'ma & G'pa Harvala gave us their old liquid medicine spoon thing - it sure helped, Thanks!

I found Joshua like this when I went to wake him from a nap... he LOVES the Lion King and "Seba". It's a good thing we have 1, 1 1/2, and 2 for a little variety - they could be the only movies in the world and he wouldn't care.

Miriam sporting the new hooded shirt aunt Brenda gave her... she got it from a swap she particiapted in and well, it's a little small for Mallory.

Last but not least, Miriam playing the drum.

Men Baking

2009-03-12T22:16:00.005-05:00

Once again, Joshua LOVES to help in the kitchen! Adam found a recipe for unleavened bread on the internet and needed to try it. After a couple times of making it we even used it for communion at church a couple or few times.

Measuring

Sifting

Stirring

Kneading and rolling

Valentines

2009-03-12T18:15:00.002-05:00

While making dinner I decided to let Joshua finger paint some paper to later make into valentines... note I actually started this project before Valentine's Day, by the time I got it completed and finally mailed off they didn't make it in time. It's the thought that counts though, right?

All of the painting creations.

Joshua's 1st time actually using a scissor.

He would close it and then pull instead of opening it again.

Close to being done... just added Miriam's hand print later.

Home Decor

2009-03-11T23:40:00.003-05:00

I'm trying to catch up on blogging, but I just wanted to throw these two pictures in because I'm SO excited about them! This first one is of our brand new wallpaper border in the kitchen (not the dining area - only the kitchen) we just bought it monday and put it up that night! I'm glad it got done right away otherwise the rolls would probably be sitting on the counter for who knows how long. I just thought the kitchen needed just a little something more instead of just plain blue all over and I've liked the baking themed borders. Also, this helps give a little more separation between the kitchen and the dining area since both rooms are painted the same blue.

This second picture is of the oh, so random sign I bought one day... randomly! My friend Becky and I stopped by a store in Slayton before going home and well, I had just finished telling her a couple different ideas I had to decorate the dining area wall(s) and just so happened to see this sign which also happened to be on sale for $15 because the store was moving. I didn't know what to do because I don't really go out and buy home decorations on my own... or ever!, so she said if we couldn't find a place for it that she would buy it from me since it was only $15.... needless to say, I won't be seeing it on her walls!

I like my sister, I like my brother

2009-03-11T22:11:00.005-05:00

Joshua & Miriam went with daddy to youth group a night they played ping pong... He saw the bag with the paddles & balls in it one day and wanted to play "ping ponk" or "ball" pretty much all the time... well he still asks for the paddles & balls - now they've made their way to the basement.

Joshua discovered the M&M dispenser and got it down... he is a good brother and shares (everything) when he's into the things he shouldn't be.

Happy Birthday!

2009-03-10T12:17:00.006-05:00

AND she's a year old!

January 30th

Presents..

Cooking again with Tessa!

Slumber party!

Mallory didn't want to go home so she spent the night at "aunt Kasey's house"

Mallory wanted to feed Miriam

Joshua brushing Tessa's hair

Miriam sitting so nicely while daddy feed her one morning.

Christmas in Hillsboro

2009-02-26T14:27:00.008-06:00

Mallory & Joshua

Mallory, Jessica, Miriam

Tyler & Joshua

doing a puzzle

Miriam got a new book.

Buddy even got a present!

It's a collar, here I'll put it on you!

Mallory & Joshua's aprons.

Grandma whipped them up!

Miriam with uncle Tyler

Miriam checking out the trailer

A tractor!

hello, baby
Miriam's 1st of 4 or 5 babies for Christmas

wet willy baby?

Joshua & Miriam in the pink tub

Joshua helping hold Trace's bottle

baby Trace

Mallory feeding Trace

Trace's Baptism

grandma & grandpa

siblings

with the sponsors

Making Muffins with Tessa

Stirring

Tasting

washing the hands

Miriam saying "bye"

2009-02-26T13:41:00.002-06:00

I finally got a video to load again! Not to mention I took time to attend to the blog! Someone will say bye and she'll start "waving" and sometime's babbles and it sounds like she's saying "bye bye". I'm working on getting a good video of her starting to walk.

A New Bed!

2009-01-14T15:27:00.003-06:00

For Christmas we got Joshua a new bed. We were only borrowing the toddler bed he was using so I thought we could get away with giving Joshua a new bed for Christmas. It's actually a bunk bed, but we are using it as two single beds - one for him and the other as a guest bed downstairs. Tuesday night (the 23rd) Adam took it up to Joshua's room and finished putting it together. Here's some pictures of Joshua seeing his new bed for the first time. In the first picture, if you enlarge it you might be able to see him smiling and pointing at the bed!

Miriam yelling

2009-01-14T10:21:00.003-06:00

Alright, here's the deal... I can't get blogger to upload the video for me, but I got it up on facebook so here's a link to see it on facebook. You're supposed to be able to just click on it and be there, but I can't get that to work either... so open another window and just copy and paste it in. Sorry for making it so difficult. I wish I could just put up here, but I think I need someone to help me figure out why I can't do 3/4 the things everyone else can! Enjoy the video, at least you can control the volume unlike us who can't turn it down (or off) when she's sitting next to us at the dinner table!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=116281350037

Miriam has found her voice!

2009-01-13T13:26:00.004-06:00

I'm trying to post a video of Miriam yelling... in the mean time, here are a couple pictures of her when she's really getting loud!

Trying to catch up!

2009-01-05T20:50:00.007-06:00

A couple cute pictures of Miriam all dressed up to start.

Joshua wanted to help unwrap carmels, it kept him busy and he didn't quit until they were all done! Once I realized he could actually get them unwrapped I didn't make him do the whole bag by himself, I helped.

Joshua actually played with some play doh one morning while I frosted sugar cookies!

Miriam's grandma Hanson made her this blanket; it has her full name and birthday on it. She just got it when they came for Thanksgiving and it goes with her room quite well (the new paint).

A 4 generation picture of the Harvala side taken Thanksgiving day.

A 4 generation picture of the Plummer side taken at Melissa's, day after Thanksgiving.

On the way back home after Thanksgiving we stopped at a tree farm just NE of Marshall. We actually drove around looking at the different trees and cut one down ourselves! It was a nice family memory and maybe a tradition..

Miriam enjoying some books

We have been busy...

2009-01-05T11:09:00.003-06:00

Always something to clean around here. One particular day Joshua got into the built in cabinet and managed to open & dump out a 4 lb bag of sugar... at least he didn't run it all over the house right?

Grandpa Harvala thought maybe he could teach Joshua to use the toilet when they were here before Thanksgiving. I am proud to announce we are currently potty training. He insists on sitting on the big toilet rather than the little potty training chairs... go figure since we've got one for each bathroom! Oh well, it's going pretty well. He always manages to go a little bit whenever we put him on. He's even gone #2 now! He's all about wiping, flushing and washing his hands on his own too!

Joshua for a little while got attached to Elmo, here he thinks Elmo needs a diaper. First he needs to be wiped though.

Joshua & Mallory when we had the Hanson thanksgiving the saturday before.

And last but not least, we got the good job done of painting Miriam's bedroom right before Thanksgiving time. I decided to go a little bit girly but stay a little neutral (it's been said it could be Vikings themed if it needs to be a boy room in the future). It freshened it up nicely and it gives you the feeling someone's living there now with a little personalization added to it. The upstairs probably hasn't been painted in a good 20 years, so it was time! We would also like to do the other two bedrooms upstairs (ours and Joshua's) I think we've got a plan worked out for Joshua's room, but we're still thinking about ours. Here's a picture of Joshua helping mark the spot where the next line of tape should go for the top of the stripe. We put purple on the bottom, yellow on top and then added a brown stripe. In the picture the purple looks blue so you really aren't seeing the right color. I'll have to remember to get a picture of what it looks like with it finished.

Prayer Request

2008-12-17T15:45:00.002-06:00

I usually don't post prayer requests, but now that I've been through 2 pregnancies that went really well I my heart is aching for an unborn baby and the family. Yes, a couple about our age is pregnant with their 2nd baby, however, she is currently on bedrest as she is 2 cm dilated and 50% effaced among a few other items that don't add up to being good at all when being only 29 weeks pregnant! So please keep this family in your prayers, that God is only giving them a bumpy road and that the baby will wait to be born.

A variety

2008-12-10T13:12:00.003-06:00

Miriam taking an interest in the Berenstain Bears.

Joshua talking on the phone to his aunt Tessa (for real!).

Our hair stylists. Mallory doing her mommy's hair and Joshua holding onto some of his hair.

Miriam being silly one day... She climbed in, turned around and came back out all on her own. It was a sight to see!

"Tub" time

2008-12-10T12:57:00.004-06:00

Our kids love baths. I actually just gave them one this morning (late morning). Here's a couple bath time pictures from a while ago.

Mr. Helper getting Miriam's hair wet to wash it. One problem... she's not in the tub!

Mommy, Joshua got me wet! Can I get in yet?

Costumes

2008-11-13T17:12:00.002-06:00

Here is my post about Halloween... my attempt at picture with the kids in costumes... hmm didn't work so well. The 31st we were in Mankato for the night and part of saturday so that morning I dressed them up and tried to get a good picture of them, but it didn't quite work as planned. We went to Mankato for our first PALS meeting, it's kind of a continuing ed time and support group for Pastors & their family just out of the Seminary. We have the option to be a part of it and those of us who join can be in it for the 1st 3 yrs out of Sem. Since it was the first time meeting Adam & I didn't know how much sitting was going to be required of Joshua and the group had decided to try it the first time without a babysitter (there are other little kids) so we chose to leave Joshua at with friends where he could run, jump, play and farm all he wanted plus lots of attention. Here are my attempts at the costume pictures.. we borrowed a duck costume from my friend Becky for Joshua, but he was a little too tall for it and it didn't fit very well. Joshua didn't want to have the costume on at all, he kept trying to get it off.

9 Month Baby Girl

2008-11-12T16:38:00.003-06:00

Here are some pictures of Miriam and Joshua playing on her 9 month birthday, October, 30th. At her 9 mo. check-up she was 17 lbs 3 oz (25%), 27 1/4 inch long (50%) and her head measured 17 cent. (25%). Yeah, we've got a little squirt, but we've already been over this. She's a crawling pro and maybe a month ago (I can't remember anymore) started walking along furniture. She has her two bottom front teeth and just on sunday I noticed her top left lateral incisor has come through (a "fang" tooth). So she'll look kinda silly for awhile until her top front teeth come in.

More of Joshua the Helper

2008-11-10T21:03:00.004-06:00

Whenever I get the Puffs out for Miriam Joshua insists on wanting to feed her. She's fine with it as long as she gets fed, and besides she just LOVES her big brother. Brenda was over yesterday and thought Miriam might be small like she is because she burns all her energy chasing Joshua around. I guess that could be part of it.

Joshua offered to rock his daddy...

A quick trip to G'ma & G'pa Hanson's

2008-11-09T18:07:00.005-06:00

Adam was asked to preach for Mission Festival (and conduct the whole church service) on October 19th at the church he was baptized at, attended through second grade and the church his dad first served as Pastor, so we went up there to the rural Lidgerwood area and had a good time. Since we were up that far anyway and Adam has mondays off, we decided that after church and dinner to make the rest of the trip up to Hillsboro for a little visit. The kids not only got to see grandma & grandpa, but we met Tessa in Fargo for supper Sunday night so she could see them Joshua & Miriam too! Here are a few pictures from that weekend.

Miriam wasn't afraid of Buddy at all, she went and sat right next to him.

"Where you going Buddy?"

Helping grandma put a corn cob up for the squirrels.

Feeding the birds with grandma.

Trying out the tricycle with grandma's help.

Visiting grandpa in the field... after being in the tractor with grandpa Joshua decided he wants a tractor too.

2008-11-09T16:19:00.003-06:00

Joshua likes feeding Miriam, but I only let him with Puffs or cheerios.

Joshua wanted to hold Miriam, doesn't look like she was quite for it that time.

Sneaking in some time with Joshua's football.

The beginnings of a toothy smile... can you see one of her two bottom teeth?

Sugar Cookies

2008-10-27T09:07:00.002-05:00

Every once in awhile I talk about my friend Becky and her kids Brynn & Sophie, well I babysat both girls one morning while she was at a funeral and decided something fun for Brynn & Joshua to pass the time would be to decorate cut out sugar cookies (inspired by my sister). I pretty much had the dough ready when they got here, Sophie & Miriam both took naps while we made cookies. I let them each decorate (with sprinkles) a couple pans each and I frosted the rest later. It was fun, except that Joshua wanted to help with everything, I almost needed another person to help keep him at his station... not to mention keeping him from moving or eating the cut out dough on the pans before they made it to the oven!

Joshua decorating his pan of cookies

Brynn creating her masterpiece pan of cookies

2008-10-26T22:12:00.002-05:00

8 months old

Having a snack

Looking cute in this dress

Being silly

Not one but two dishwasher helpers!

2008-10-16T19:52:00.002-05:00

On our way back from Fort Wayne we stopped in Moline, IL and decided since we were right there to take some time and check out some John Deere. After finally finding the Headquarters we decided they need better signs for people like us who had never been there before. Here are a few pictures from that.

Fort Wayne trip

2008-10-16T17:23:00.003-05:00

Just after our trip to the lake we drove out to Fort Wayne, IN to visit G'ma & G'pa Harvala after they just relocated to the Seminary there (this time mainly to teach, not as much to learn). Here are a few pictures from our stay there. Joshua & Miriam did really well traveling, the key is when you stop somewhere it's to do EVERYTHING - make sure the gas tank is full, feed everyone and change the diapers/use the bathroom, then get back on the road again!

Visiting Grandpa in his dorm room office - Joshua was helping him... with something.

Feeding the ducks at the seminary duck pond.

Playing under the table.

Getting a piano lesson from grandma.

Our vacation at the lake

2008-09-11T12:27:00.005-05:00

At the end of August we took some vacation time, spent a week at the family lake cabin on Big McDonald lake (MN)and then went out to Fort Wayne, IN to G'ma & G'pa Harvala at their new house on campus at the seminary. Here are lake pictures, Fort Wayne pictures are yet to come.

Taking some time to see Phelps Mill, an old flour mill in Minnesota.

Adam, Joshua fishing off the dock. Grandpa Hanson helping Joshua

Joshua's 1st fish!

The line's back in the water, let's try for another fish.

Adam untangling the line caught in the reeds

Adam and Joshua went fishing out in the boat and came back with supper in the live well!

Miriam trying to get into the excersaucer

G'pa Hanson would be proud.. Joshua ate the last of the Kuchen like a piece of pizza!

Mallory's Birthday

2008-09-11T10:41:00.002-05:00

Our niece and cousin Mallory's birthday was August 17th, to make it easier on the traveling fam with gathered on saturday instead (the 16th). She is now 2 and although about 2 months younger than Joshua is just about the same size... pretty much. Here are some pictures from that day.

Mallory drawing with sidewalk chalk

Joshua playing t-ball and Mallory's new puppy

Mallory blowing out her candles

Matt was hauling garbage in a wagon out to a burn barrel and Joshua found another wagon to follow him. It was so cute!

Here and There

2008-09-10T14:30:00.004-05:00

Joshua and Brynn at our park in Holland, Sophie (Brynn's sister) in the back left.

Joshua going down a slide at a park in Tyler, MN

Joshua posing with a hat he got from G'ma & G'pa Harvala when they were in the process of packing up there belongs to move out to Fort Wayne.

Looking cool riding in the van

My babies playing together!

Joshua "reading" to Miriam

Miriam at the park here in Holland

Miriam sat up on her own... now she's a pro at sitting, she can sit up so nice and tall.

A day at my friend Becky's house

2008-09-10T13:01:00.002-05:00

The kids and I went over to Becky's to can peaches about a month or so ago. Here are some pictures from the day.

Joshua helped put the peaches in the jars

Joshua and Brynn lounging on her couch

Brynn wanted to help Joshua put his shoes on

The Famous Song of Hiawatha Pageant

2008-09-10T10:55:00.003-05:00

From our seats..

Also at the end of July we made sure to go see the 60th and final year of the Song of Hiawatha Pagaent. Last year we had been told about it and that we should go, but thought it would be too late in the evening for Joshua (it starts at about 9 when it gets dark and is about 2 hours long). When we heard this was going to be the last year of the production we made a point to go see it and dress up as Indians. People from the community just show up to volunteer to be "extras" as Indians (costumes are provided), they also sign up where they attend church and the church receives a little money for their participation. It was a fun time, I'm glad we made sure to do it.

Our Indian family

Our Indian boy

The group from our church

Where to start??

2008-09-09T14:41:00.003-05:00

I have so many pictures to share and a lot has happened since I lasted posted... especially with our little Miriam! Now that we're done vacationing and I am getting caught up with laundry and other daily cleaning I'll try to get some stuff done on our blog. So please continue to be patient, I still have Joshua and Miriam to work around. Way back in the end of July or beginning of August was the Pipestone County Fair. I bought some ride tickets for Joshua ahead of time so they weren't as expensive and Joshua rode a handful of different things and most of them twice. We met up with my friend Becky and her two girls, Brynn and Sophie. Brynn and Joshua rode just about all of their rides together... try to compare their body sizes, Joshua is just about as tall as Brynn, but definately heavier - She is 4 and he is 2!

On the car ride with Brynn (curly blonde haired girl)

Riding a Motorcyle with Brynn

Going down the big slide - Joshua loved it! On the left is my friend Becky & her daughter Brynn and I am on the right with Joshua.

6 months

2008-08-10T11:09:00.002-05:00

Friday Miriam went in for her 6 month check up. Our doctor has a medical student right now and she came in, checked her out, asked all the questions about what Miriam is able to do right now. After a few questions I told her she crawls, she thought I meant army crawling and so I said "no, she crawls". Hoping she understands soon because I don't know how else to explain Miriam is crawling finally she's like, "up on her hands and knees?", YUP. Later on though she asks how much tummy time she is getting.... ummm well since she rolls and crawls all over the place she doesn't really stay on her tummy. Anyway, she's doing very well, was a happy baby there and even talked a little bit. The Dr. said to start veggies and in a month we can start fruits, then a month after that we can introduce some meats too(mixed in with other stuff). The nurses came back, gave her one oral vaccine and 3 shots! My poor Miriam was not a happy girl after they started injecting the stuff with the first ones. :( She's growing steadily, still in the same percentiles she's always been so that's good.

Height: 25 inches 50th percentile
Weight: 15 lbs 1 oz 50th percentile
Head circumference: 16 cent. 10th percentile
Teeth: None
Mobility: Crawling

Here's Miriam when she was 6 months

Miriam CRAWLS!

2008-08-07T11:41:00.004-05:00

It's official now, our little girl is off to see the world...
Here's a little show for you, enjoy! Sorry about cranking your necks, I thought I'd be able to rotate it once I uploaded it on the computer, but it wasn't working for me.

Water Kids

2008-07-28T17:29:00.003-05:00

One of our church members(and friends) have a nice big pool, 24 ft diameter & about 5 ft deep I think) and have invited us to go out and use it whenever we'd like. A little over a week ago we did just that, we all enjoyed it!
A couple family pictures

While in the baby float (that he weighs too much for) Joshua can be on his own, it's nice when we don't have to hold on to him.

Miriam on the deck before she got in the pool.

Joshua flying high in the sky

Here's an idea of how big the pool is and the deck built next to it

Rice Cereal

2008-07-28T17:06:00.002-05:00

Oh about a couple weeks ago I started our happy little girl on rice cereal. I am not sure if it was that I have done this before or that I waited longer (until she was older) to start than with Joshua, but it seems to be going pretty well! It's said at first it's mainly just the baby learning to eat from a spoon and that the baby usually doesn't eat much of it... and that it gets all over. WEll we must have one smart cookie on our hands or else waiting to start rice cereal with her until she was 5 1/2 months old had something to do with it, but currently when it's all stirred up there's probably 2-3 tablespoons of it and she eats most of it. Here are some pictures from the first time (also first time in the high chair).

MMmmmm!

A belated birthday gift

2008-07-28T16:54:00.002-05:00

Joshua's Aunty M couldn't make it to his birthday party and had been hoping her gift could have hitched a ride with someone, but finally she had to break down and UPS it from the local lumber yard. It's kinda hard to know what to do with so many new toys at once anyway! Thank you for the new ride! He's just a tad too short to pedal it all the way around by himself yet, so it will be something to grow into!

We opened the box right away, Joshua helped.

Joshua's words before age 2

2008-07-28T16:21:00.006-05:00

Before Joshua turned 2 I got smart and started a list on the fridge, writing down all the words he could say before he was two. For those of you who are curious, here is that list, I have new list going now of words he can say after 2. I haven't decided what the cut off age will be yet.

Hi, pull, socks, foot, feet, more (and the signing it), puppy, baby, ball, church, Joshua (sounds kinda like Josh-sha), bye,bowl, out,ouch, up, no, cheese, hot, uh-oh, please, forty, kitty, moo, one, two, mine, catch (he says it with a "d" like "datch"), cow (also says it with a "d" like "dow), pillow, don't, cookie, hop, shirt, dude, donkey, horsey, thank (he says "tank"), blow, drink, "I got you"

He's added about another 20 words/things to his vocab. One of the exciting ones lately was yesterday we were in the van and the radio had a local church service on, the Pastor said a prayer and after he said amen we heard an amen come from behind us! Joshua said Amen yesterday for the first time, he folds his hands and prays at meal time and bed times, but has never said it before!

Outside at the lake

2008-07-18T22:09:00.002-05:00

Miriam sitting like a big girl in an umbrella stroller

Joshua

Joshua, Mallory & Brenda

Miriam and Grandma

Cool dudes

2008-07-18T22:01:00.002-05:00

Joshua & Mallory modeling Mallory's sunglasses

At the farm

2008-07-16T18:20:00.002-05:00

While recently at the lake we took kids to go see my uncle Mike's and cousin James' horses (they each have one), James' horse was more cooperative and friendly, I guess it helped that he was there too, so all of the pictures are of his horse. We also saw chickens and a few cows, Mallory was most interested in the chickens.

Joshua petting James' horse

Miriam petting James' horse

Joshua feeding James' horse

Joshua giving James' horse a kiss

Miriam giving James' horse a kiss

Grandma's garden is a good place to play

2008-07-16T18:10:00.003-05:00

Once they're in the dirt just let them be... well there could be some exceptions, but in this case - we just let them be. What a mess they were!

Did you know that sandals work well as pails too?

Joshua & cousin Mallory

2008-07-12T22:28:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I had said footage of Miriam was coming and well, blogger isn't letting me upload it (I tried 3 times) and so you will have to settle with pictures.

Here's Miriam 5 months old...

and a little drool for you too!

She has discovered how to roll over in her crib, but she hasn't figured out how to undo the process to get to where she started - on her back. I have had to rescue her in the middle of the night from rolling into the rails.

What a silly girl! She's in a swaddle/wrap thing, something I've put her in for bedtime and naps since almost the beginning. Now she hardly stays in it anymore.

A new baby!

2008-07-12T22:22:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Emily & Pastor Olsen on a their 1st baby - a boy, 6/24/08!
Actually born on the due date... how often does that happen?

A love for balls

2008-06-25T11:34:00.002-05:00

2 days after the party he had to eat breakfast with his basketball... is that kinda like sleeping with a new toy?

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joshua!

2008-06-25T10:16:00.007-05:00

His Birthday was June 8th, but it worked out better for most of the family to hold the party the next weekend. So June 14th we had the festivities, we had lunch at the house and went out for pizza at our local Dar's Pizza in Pipestone. Joshua had more presents than he knew what to do with! Finally here are the long awaited for pictures...

Joshua's Nemo birthday cake I made for him! Turned out pretty well I thought.

Joshua with his cake

One of the presents we gave Joshua was his own guitar, now he can play along with his daddy.

Eating at Dar's pizza.

Miriam listening to what Grandpa has to say.

The "kids" table at lunch.

Uncle Tyler trying to get a nap on the floor, Joshua thinking otherwise.

A game of Scattegories

Grandpa & Mallory taking a walk since she wasn't going to nap.

Tyler playing the race car game

Uncle Dan holding Joshua up to play some basketball.

Tessa & I playing air hockey

Brenda & Dad playing Big Buck Hunting

Joshua and Uncle Dan driving

Dad & Matt playing Big Buck Hunting

What a helper!

2008-06-25T10:00:00.004-05:00

Joshua decided Miriam needed to wear the santa hat.

He really wanted to jump in the bath himself, he was even lifting up his shirt to get it off. While the water was running for Miriam's bath, I told him if he could get both his shirt and shorts off all by himself he could go in, well that didn't happen so he settled for helping Miriam with her bath instead.

I wonder where he was planning to go?

Food

2008-06-25T09:46:00.003-05:00

One afternoon I decided to make a blizzardy/shake treat for myself, during naps of course, and wouldn't you know it, just as I finish making it I see Joshua was coming into the kitchen! So this is a picture of him "asking" for a spoonful of my treat! I'm not sure what exactly woke him, hearing the rain on our tin roof, the blender or what I don't know.

The Toaster Strudels with the eggs, meat & cheese are the only way I've gotten Joshua to eat eggs so far. They're pretty good, maybe a little salty though.

A weekend of celebrations

2008-06-12T10:11:00.002-05:00

Friday (the 6th) was my birthday! I am still young enough to have been the daughter of any of our parent friends from church we often get together with, they enjoy pretending to be grandma & grandpa to Joshua and Miriam though. People all year have been saying it's nice to have babies back in the parsonage, it's true, they love our kids! Well everyone survived friday night... Adam, myself, the babysitters, Joshua and even Miriam. I found a couple girls to babysit for us that night and Adam took me out for a birthday supper to a super small town, Ward, SD, where there's a restaurant we had heard was pretty good. It was indeed good, they had been super busy before we got there and was decently busy while we were there too so we agreed it was good we didn't have the kids and we that we weren't in a hurry (the wait for our food was like an hour). We got home to find both kids still up, I didn't even bother having them try to put Joshua to bed as I was pretty sure it wouldn't happen, but I thought Miriam would have gone to sleep, I guess she wanted mom... she had wound herself up good and she was just calming down when we got home. Poor girl! But, we ALL survived.

Sunday was Joshua turned 2! We didn't do much to celebrate though since we have this coming weekend slotted for a party with the family. Adam had a hospital visit to make in Sioux Falls, we browsed a greenhouse (Joshua did enjoy that), and went to a few other stores before making it back just in time for Dar's Pizza (a Sunday night weekly get-together with the above mentioned friends).
Sunday was also Brenda & Matt's anniversary (my sister & brother-in-law).
Monday was my mom & dad's anniversary. Hopefully everyone had a great day!
Yesterday we had some old camp friends, Cole & Marie, drop by for a visit on their way home from St. Louis, I we enjoyed that as we don't get too many traveling visitors and Joshua made a couple new friends too! It was the first time they had met Joshua & Miriam.

I have a few more pictures and maybe another video, but I need a little more time at the computer for that.

Peeewww! What's that smell?

2008-06-06T15:31:00.002-05:00

All about Miriam

2008-06-03T19:32:00.003-05:00

These were taken yesterday...

Joshua giving Miriam a kiss.

A big smile.

Figuring out the links.

P.S. There are 3 posts from yesterday and this is the 3rd today, make sure you check them all out!

Our Football Star

2008-06-03T18:33:00.001-05:00

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A taste of Joshua

2008-06-03T17:08:00.001-05:00

2008-06-02T17:47:00.002-05:00

Here's the last few pictures to post, next monday is Joshua's 2 yr check-up so there will be new news next week and if I remember I'll post the list of about 30-35 words he says that we can actually understand, he says a whole lot more but we just don't know what all he's saying yet. Some day... Until then we'll keep working on "no", he's really been on that lately.

Just like dad.

Joshua sure does like his sister. By the time I got the camera I wasn't able to get a very good picture of them laying together. Two more nice, caring for Miriam acts he has done lately is (1) burping her - I'll move my hand and he'll pat her back and (2) when we're in a vehicle and she's crying, umm more like she's really mad, he'll hold his hands out wanting to hold her (okay, let's hear it... Awwww!).

This one's of him just today playing with a toy I got on saturday at a rummage sale for a whopping $2!! Brenda (my sister) and Mallory came down for a visit saturday morning and you guessed it, we went rummage saling... I love 'em! I hit the Pipestone & Jasper City wide rummage sales and got all kinds of clothes for my munchkins. My excitement is just wearing off about finding myself 4 prs of jeans & 2 shorts which even all fit. The jeans were only $2 a piece and a couple of them were even Maurices brand, I was so unsure of whether I should get them since at rummage sales there's no trying things on, but I took the risk and am so glad I did! Miriam already has a Christmas dress for this year... only $2

The outdoors

2008-06-02T17:30:00.004-05:00

Joshua just absolutely loves being outside. Last sunday (Memorial weekend) we were invited up to Lake Benton (MN) where a member has a camper, for a BBQ. The little public access camper park site has a swing set (one I would like to have for our kids) there so we let him slide and swing for awhile and he just had a blast! It was fun watching him too. There were some "steps" on one side to get up to the slide and after a bit he figured them out and was going up and down pretty much all by himself.

Watch out! Joshua's driving... Reminds me of the little old ladies who can barely see above their car's steering wheel!

He is a strong little bugger, he would sit there and hold himself for a little bit before he decided to go.

On the right of this picture are the "steps" I was talking about.

4 months

2008-06-02T16:27:00.008-05:00

On Friday Miriam turned 4 months already! Today we had her 4 month check-up. Since Joshua has recently become much more active and loud I asked Adam if he would either come along or stay with Joshua at home.. While Miriam and I were at the clinic, they did some errands, it was really nice and kinda relaxing actually just Miriam and I. The doc says she looks really good, he warned her he was the easy part while she kept smiling, kicking and moving about oh so wildly. He left, two nurses came in, gave her a drinkable vaccine plus 4 shots. She was good until they started to injecting the stuff then did she scream, after that they just needed to hurry up and get the second set in and done with and get the bandaids on so she could have her mommy! Poor girl, she was so happy too! He also said we don't need to start rice cereal for 4-6 weeks yet, that's what's recommened I guess. ANYWAY, today, at 4 months and 3 days old she weighed 13 lbs (90-95%) and was 24 1/2 inches long (off the chart), the average of her weight and her length at her age is average (50%). Her head circumference was 15 1/4 cm.

Miriam at just about 4 months

(1st time at the beach)

Joshua at 4 months, he was 16 lbs and 26 1/4 inches in length

2008-05-21T17:30:00.002-05:00

It's time for another new car seat for our Joshua.

Miriam's ready to go farming.

Joshua getting every last drop.

The slide I got for Joshua at a rummage sale for only $5!!

The pool at Maddens

2008-05-21T17:09:00.003-05:00

We recently attended the Minnesota State Pastors Spring Conference (MN North & South Districts) held at Maddens on Gull Lake as a family. Being our first year here I wasn't sure what I and the kids would do while Adam was in meetings, but I just went along with the day as it came and everything was fine. Although it was a little chilly while we were there and of course the day we leave it was gorgeous out we had a good time and were able to meet up with some other guys Adam went to the Sem with. A couple of them, Christian Strickland and Sam Morsching met us at the pool. Here are some pool pictures, Miriam and I even sat on the edge, enjoying some pool water on our feet.

Splish Splash we were taking a bath

2008-05-21T16:29:00.002-05:00

Dad having fun during bath time too.

Side view

Classic after-the-bath towel only pictures of Miriam:

Fun Outside

2008-05-08T14:50:00.003-05:00

Checking the mail

Taking Miriam for a walk

Helping Miriam with the phone

Another Melissa is Married

2008-05-08T14:33:00.002-05:00

Last weekend the kids and I picked up Brenda & Mallory and made the trip to ND for our cousin Melissa's wedding. The way up was SUPER windy (along with some rain) and most everyone took a nap most of the way. The way back was a little different, Miriam had some problems she needed to tell us about, her crying woke Mallory who then eventually wanted out and began crying - all this going on my amazing Joshua continued to sleep! We finally figured it all out, Miriam finally went back to sleep but Mallory and Joshua were awake the rest of the trip home. Adam stayed back, but we were home in time to get some birthday celebrating in yet Sunday night.

Miriam all dressed up attending her first wedding. She even wore the color of the day!

Joshua goofing around at hte reception... the rest of the time he took grandma & aunt Tessa for a run in the hotel halls. He was the first one asleep on the way back to Hillsboro.

Miriam, Melissa, Myself, and Joshua

Clowning around with cuz Mallory

2008-05-08T14:22:00.003-05:00

Duet Time

Help! We got ourselves in here but can't get back out again!

Grandpa's office help... he always did want someone to help organize his office.

3 months old!

2008-05-08T14:08:00.004-05:00

and a new bed! ...well new for Miriam anyway.

Awhile back our stairs and upstairs hallway got new carpet, last week we had the same carpet go in all 3 bedrooms upstairs also! It looks great! This is a look in Miriam's room.

A peek at Joshua's room and him playing in his hippo.

Joshua's "new" bed. We're borrowing a toddler bed from our friend Becky as they won't need it again for at least another year.

One more angle in Joshua's room.

Discovering new things

2008-05-08T13:58:00.004-05:00

One day Joshua figured out he has the ability to take off the couch cushions. This became a daily activity, now this week not as much.

Silly boy!

2008-04-24T20:16:00.003-05:00

Tueseday morning I had heard Joshua get up but I had fallen back asleep and when I woke up again it was pretty quiet around. I got up and found him sleeping on the floor in the hallway... Last night when I got up in the middle of the night to feed Miriam I was greeted (in a way) in the doorway of her bedroom by Joshua sleeping on the floor. We hadn't heard him get up at all, not sure what time of night he got out of bed. They say it's supposed to be good for you to sleep on the floor!

A Birthday greeting

2008-04-22T10:47:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday

Tessa!!!

No more crib... kinda

2008-04-13T07:04:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday we had a little incident where one way or another Joshua landed on the floor our of his crib. (He was okay after lots of comforting from his mommy.) Since we didn't actually see it happen, we're not sure if he was just leaning over the rail and fell over or if he for real tried to climb out. Either way it's a long way down so Friday Adam decided to convert the crib to the transitional bed. All that happens is once side comes off and two little rails go on the ends.

While Joshua's upstairs sleeping in his "new" bed style we decided all the other bedroom doors and the bathroom door be closed and also we're back to closing the baby gate at the top of the stairs too. This is instead of closing Joshua's door.

The process.

All finished and Joshua can climb up and get down all by himself SAFELY!

This morning while laying in bed yet I heard some rattling with the baby gate after a little bit I went to investigate. I looked in Joshua's room and this is what I found... no Joshua! Adam had closed the gate but just didn't latch it (he was downstairs already) and so Joshua had gotten it open and was making his way downstairs! ...I'm not sure if I'm ready for my baby boy to be getting himself out of bed yet!

Joshua

2008-04-12T13:55:00.010-05:00

I finally got some time to get more pictures up. It just wasn't the most important thing to get done during nap time. I am happy to say I am finished with thank you's!!!! The week after Easter Adam went to the cities for a conference and I decided to load up the van and head to my mom and dad's for the week (while he was gone) so here are a couple picture before we left and some in ND.

Some may think traveling 4 hours with 2 kids under 2 would not be so much fun and would not want to take it on. It really isn't so bad, just make sure everyone's fed before leaving and you have a full tank of gas and you should be fine. I did not stop once on the way up! On the way back about 30-45 minutes from Holland we pulled off the road for about 5 minutes to re-strap Joshua back in as he had gotten his arms free because the seatbelt hadn't been tightened all the way.

He also came up with a new meaning of "comfort food". While having a snack he had to have a cracker or cookie or whatever he was eating in both hands, he would eat from one hand, but with the other hand he just carried food around in it for hours! He even did this on the way home, Joshua had a cookie in his hand on the way out to the van and he never took a bite of it until about a good 2 1/2 hours later!

Oh! March 31st I spotted his first 2nd molar (his bottom right) and then on April 2nd I spotted the bottom left one! Who knows, maybe the top ones have poked through by now too, they are a little harder to see. I just happened to see the bottom ones he will do this crying thing with his mouth wide open. So... I guess that explains some mysteries that had been going on with him, such as for about the previous 3 weeks he had extremely icky diapers randomly, while in ND he wouldn't eat much at all (my mom was getting pretty worried about him) and a few times he even woke up during the night. Life's better now -- only 2 more teeth to go (until wisdom teeth) if they haven't poked through yet.

This bath is not over yet grandma!

Joshua wanted uncle Tyler to pick him up... well this was Tyler's idea of holding him.

Sitting with Tessa

Concentrating on unwrapping a reeses peanut butter cup.

Doing a little water painting.

Miriam

2008-04-09T22:43:00.006-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of Miriam. At her 2 month check up on March 31st she weighed 10 lbs 14 oz and was 21 inches long. Her eyes were producing gunk and getting crusty so I asked the doc about that, he thought her eyes might have a little cold so we got a weeks worth of eye drops. The drops seemed to have helped but her eyes are as bad as ever now and the eye drops are all gone! We'll have to see what happens the next few days.

It was no surprise she held her head up so well during some tummy time.

Leaving you with a smile.

Happy Easter!

2008-04-02T14:38:00.005-05:00

Alright, I believe I am probably the last to say "Happy Easter"...

I have so many excuses though! Oh well we could all use a little Happy Easter all year long right? Enjoy the pictures.

A nice family picture!

Other than a little wacky hair do for Joshua, the kids looked so good!

Miriam managed to hardly spit up on her nice clothes too.

Our church Easter morning.

Saturday Fun

2008-03-24T12:16:00.012-05:00

On Saturday Brenda & Mallory came to play since their plans had changed for the weekend and they weren't going to ND for Easter afterall. We decided to give egg dying a try... it was a mess, but the key was not to get upset at all and just have a good laugh. Thankfully, Miriam slept while we had our adventure. I was planning to dye eggs sometime that day with Joshua, but doing it while Brenda was here sure helped!

The 3 cousins: Miriam, Mallory & Joshua

Having a snack

Joshua figured it out real fast... and if you can't get the egg out with the spoon, just use your hands! He was a super fast dyer.

Putting the orange egg on the rack... oops! it fell to the floor and rolled.

and the orange accidently spilled.

This is what they looked like after dying. With a good soak in the tub all the dye came off their skin. We thought for sure Sunday morning we'd have all kinds of people saying "I know what you did yesterday".

Time to play.

I'm not sure about Mallory, but Joshua had never played with playdoh before. He tried to drink it and yes, tasted it too.

Our results.

A Happy Boy

2008-03-22T22:57:00.004-05:00

Just his size

A hug for Miriam!

A Child of God

2008-03-22T22:20:00.003-05:00

Miriam's Baptism

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

Miriam's sponsors, Jon & Kristina Bonine

Kristina & Caleb, Myself & Miriam

(Caleb is about 1 month older than Miriam)

Picture time!

2008-03-17T10:11:00.003-05:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

I thought I'd brighten your day with some pictures of our fresh fallen snow. Yes, just a few days ago it was getting so nice out that almost all of the snow had melted (except where there had been piles and where the sun didn't get to it), but now there's a fresh blanket of white everywhere.

Our sweet little Miriam

My helper, Joshua sweeping the floor.

This is HIS new way of going upstairs, he was just making it to the top when I took this picture. It is NOT the preferred method!

Trying to capture a smile.

Eating Kix in a bowl with milk just like you and I would.

Mr. Curiosity is back!

2008-03-11T17:45:00.002-05:00

Joshua did not have temp. at all this morning... although I did finally go get him out of bed at around 10:30 -10:45 today. He's back to his normal have to check out everything self today.

It always amazes me when either Miriam or Joshua is crying and the other doesn't wake up! It's amazing, but I sure am glad they don't wake up.

As Tessa put it, Joshua is babysitting Miriam already and he's not even 2! He feeds her (goldfish crackers), takes wipes out of the box (sometimes he actually takes the burp cloth) and goes to wipe up spit on her face and even covers her up with a blanket! He will also help out by handing me the boppy pillow when it's time to feed her. I hope someday he will even watch out for her when they get older and are in school!

Poor Joshua

2008-03-11T09:37:00.002-05:00

The last couple days our wild man/little tornado Joshua isn't so much a wild man or a tornado lately. Back a couple weeks or so I was seeing some signs (chewing on fingers, drooling, a couple ickly unexplainable diapers) that could be associated with teething, but it's hard to be completely sure if that's just what it was or not since his teeth never bothered him before and the next to come are his 2nd yr molars. On sunday we noticed our boy just wasn't quite himself. Such as he actually sat nicely in church by me and played quietly (usually he wants nothing to do with me in church and you can't keep him still), at lunch he just sat and waited patiently and quietly for our food to come, that afternoon we went to Sioux Falls for a hospital visit and Joshua just stood next to Adam quietly waiting - he did say a little jibberish to the person we visited, but all day no matter where we were we weren't running after him or anything. And then there was yesterday... he didn't eat much for lunch, and after his nap he was pretty clingy to me, while I tended to Miriam he just stood next to me by the couch like he was bored he didn't want to play with anything. This morning a friend was going to come over with her kids to play and with Joshua acting like he was I was thinking about postponing the playdate so before calling I took his temp! There was no question about it, it was 101.6 before adding a degree! We could definately feel he was warm too. He gulped down some grape juice and ate a fruit cup in record time for supper so that was good. Gave him some tylenol and he went to bed shortly after eight. Either he's got some teeth coming (which I still can't see since he won't open his mouth for me to see) or he caught something. Believe it or not he's still in bed so I haven't had a chance to check his temp yet today.

Little Miriam all well, on thursday we weighed her for fun and she's 9 lbs 7.5 oz working up to 10 lbs now! I can tell she's getting bigger as she's filling out some 0-3 month clothes a lot better not and so her newborn clothes will have to be put away soon. Still has the cord stump though... what's the secret for getting it to fall off???

Sharing

2008-03-04T07:52:00.002-06:00

Yesterday while Miriam was lying on the couch Joshua was having some goldfish crackers for a snack, I had went into the kitchen and came back to find Joshua sitting next to Miriam sharing his goldfish with her. By sharing Joshua had even helped her out and put one in her mouth! So here's little 4 1/2 week Miriam lying there looking around with a goldfish half in her mouth and Joshua thinking he did nothing wrong... now I'm wishing I had grabbed a camera to capture Joshua's first sharing moment and Miriam's first goldfish (and solid food of any kind at all).

2008-02-26T10:03:00.002-06:00

It'll be 4 weeks tomorrow little Miriam was born, time does fly by! Due to no memory left on our camera and not getting anything done about it yet, there are no new pictures to post. Our little girl is noticeably bigger; last thursday (feb. 21st) she weighed 8 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches! She has now reached Joshua's birth weight.
Not to leave Joshua out at all, on that same day he weighed 32 lbs and was 34 inches... our baby boy is not so much a baby anymore. I don't think it will be much longer we can stop using the bulky convertible car seat with him, at 40 lbs he is able to use a booster car seat. He has turned into quite the climber although he hasn't escaped from his crib yet he is helping himself up onto the couch, the recliner and now the latest this morning is the dining room table! Ahhh. He is very much so a copycat which is great for learning (people will have to choose their words wisely around him now). Yesterday his new words were sausage and baby. He has said Grandpa only once, papa many times. When is comes to meal times he insists on feeding himself, he'd rather go for "big boy" pieces of food (we have to make sure he takes bites instead of shoving it all in at once though), and he uses a cup/glass without any type of cover.
This weekend Miriam will be baptized, she will be the 3rd baptism in a row here for Adam and possibly the last one for the year unless there's one born at the end of the year, but so far we don't know of anymore. Our friends, the Bonine's, are coming up from St. Louis, they will be arriving thursday evening I'm guessing. It will be fun to see them again as they just had their 2nd baby the end of December and their 1st is Joshua's age. It will surely be busy around here this weekend!

We have a GIRL!!!

2008-02-06T11:23:00.000-06:00

Miriam Josephine

7 lbs 1 oz 19 inches

Wed. January 30, 2008 10:04 pm

Big brother Joshua

Now we're a family of four

Uh oh! Miriam's crying.

All wrapped up in aunt Brenda's car seat blanket ready to go home.

Miriam & Grandma Hanson

Miriam & Grandpa Hanson

Aunt Tessa with Joshua & Miriam

Cousin Mallory & Miriam

Growing up so fast

2008-02-06T11:16:00.000-06:00

I caught him with both of his hands in his sweatshirt pocket

Breakfast is ready, but what or who is out of place? He loves sitting

the chairs just like everyone else.

My Little Red Wagon

2008-01-18T21:13:00.000-06:00

Grandma & Grandpa Harvala got me a Radio Flyer red wagon for Christmas. When it was still in the box it was pretty exciting... a good place to sit and pretty low to the ground so I was able to stand on it too without worrying about falling off. Guess what! It was even more exciting when dad took it out of the box to put together for me! I couldn't stay away, I had to be inside it and even be right there with him to help him put it together.

In the middle of assembling my wagon mom thought I needed to get ready for bed. I didn't want to leave so she had to carry me up. While she took care of my old diaper and washed her hands I was already on my way downstairs. By the time she finally was on her way down I only had 3 more stairs to go... I had to get back to my wagon!

When dad was all finished he took me for a ride, I sat real nice - I loved it! Oops... Showing a little chest, I must have gotten warm. Time for bed, I think I'll sleep with my wagon tonight.

This was Sunday afternoon, I had fallen asleep with dad in the recliner and he needed to put me down to answer the door. Boy was I tired! They had to wake me up so we could go hang out with the church youth that evening.

This makes mom smile every time.

2008-01-18T21:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, watching Joshua pulling himself up onto the dining room table chairs does make me smile. It's a pretty funny site actually. The last few times I've told him "let's go sit down" he goes over to the end chair with arms to climb up and sit. That one is his favorite I think, these pictures don't show that particular chair. I think he actually believes he's going to get to sit there instead of his highchair to eat. We're trying to teach him now that he can't stand up on the chair though.

What's your best guess?

2008-01-17T22:34:00.000-06:00

Alright all you anonymous viewers, it's time to reveal yourselves as I would like your opinion! Our second child is due in about a week, Friday, January 25th is the date we've been given. I thought for sure he/she would come early and make an appearance this week, but the week is almost over and he/she continues to push out of my right side (I've already explained to the baby it can't come out my side). So, my question for all of you to comment about is this:

What specific day is baby coming and will we be going to the hospital in the middle of the night or during daylight hours?

Yes, there will be a prize! If you answer with the correct day I'll make you cookies... if more than one answers correctly, the tie breaker will be if you answered correctly the time of day we end up going to the hospital. Good Luck with my fun little game and play soon as I'm hoping baby arrives soon!

Melissa's Wedding

2008-01-10T22:11:00.000-06:00

We made the journey 3 hours or so to Howard Lake for Melissa (Adam's sister) & Kyle's wedding January 5th. We got there the day before for the rehearsal as Joshua was the ring bearer and then took in the fish fry (lake fresh fish caught in the previous 2 days) supper prepared for us all afterward.

Lexi, the flower girl led Joshua back from the altar as she has done this before and remember what exactly to do!
Joshua leaving Lexi in the dust!
You can actually see them in this picture.
Joshua taking part in the dollar dance.

Joshua taking a seat on the dance floor, during the dollar dance.
Out dancing and enjoying the DJ's lights.
Joshua found a friend out on the dance floor.
Although he was half asleep he was enjoying the company of Shylynn (the little girl next to him), they played well together. Shylynn is the daughter of Adam's cousin Kim, they live in Hutchinson.

Getting back to the hotel it wasn't quite bed time I guess. Joshua decided he was going to draw, he needed the cover to the rubbermaid for a hard surface and sat down with the hotel paper & pen.

Just showing Melissa & Kyle the pillow works quite nicely, thank you! The pillow was a "thank you for being our ring bearer gift".

The Angel Fish Rocker

2008-01-07T15:48:00.000-06:00

Here are pictures of Joshua's BIG present from G'ma & G'pa Hanson.

I decided to start putting it together and Joshua wanted to help too.

He just can't wait!

It works pretty well for a chair. We had to wait for dad to help put the screws in for reinforcement. It's pretty hard putting screws into hard plastic.

The empty box is fun to play with too, kinda comfy too I guess.

All put together.

Some of Joshua's animals got a new home.
The donkey, horse and polar bear visited the bookcase.

Hanson Christmas in Holland

2008-01-07T14:31:00.000-06:00

The weekend of Dec. 28-30th my parents and both sisters, brother-in-law and niece came to our house for Christmas. We were only missing my brother. Entertainment, of course, was provided by Mallory and Joshua. Here are some pictures from that weekend.

Joshua got a Thomas the train, you push the conductor down and away goes the train. Here it went through Joshua's legs.

Grandma and aunt Tessa showed Joshua how Thomas worked. (It was hard to get a good picture of the whole ordeal!)

Opening a BIG present... pictures of this gift later.

Joshua got a Tickle-me-Elmo, we're all watching to see what all Elmo exactly does. Joshua isn't too impressed with it. Aunt Tessa got one from Santa and really enjoys it.... we decided it's for kids 18 YRS and up to enjoy rather than 18 MONTHS!

Mallory and dad Matt - looks like she got a hamburger and the fixings.

This is how you open your presents.

Joshua checking out what's in the box and Mallory thinking his dump truck looks pretty cool.

Adam got a dartboard, it's hanging up in the basement and has become quite addictive!

A puzzle.

Mallory, Grandpa, Grandma and Joshua

Aunt Tessa borrowing Mallory & Joshua for her family picture.

Our family picture... all 4 of us. (36 wks pregnant)

1-2-3 who can get on top first?

Joshua preferred to sit on the box while Mallory stood.

Joshua would get down, stand up straight and say "Ooooo"

Going back up.

Playing with his new mega blocks.

Grandma braiding Tessa's hair and Joshua inspecting it.