Saturday, January 26, 2013

A Henry post

Oh Henry.

This little (read : big) ball of energy is so much fun. At 10 months, Henry is now a walking maniac. He took his first steps right before he turned 9 months, and over the last couple of weeks he has perfected the "Frankenstein" walk. He walks about 95% of the time, seeing as he can now get up on his own two feet without any support.

Henry loves to be chased, loves to be tickled, loves to follow his sister around, and pretty much loves life.

He continues to crash into walls, trip over toys, and bump into all furniture - almost always without crying for more than 10 seconds regardless of the size of the bruise to follow.

Henry still eats more than Adele at pretty much every meal (while still nursing in between meals), causing him to weigh almost as much as her.

Henry is also FUNNY. It's hard to describe his humor, but he definitely has his own sense of humor. He thinks things are so funny, and he does things to BE funny. He loves to be the center of attention, and will work hard to get attention from everyone in the room.

He is also a troublemaker, even at only 10 months. We never had to invest in any childproof supplies for cupboard doors with Adele, but Henry thinks it's perfectly acceptable to get into everything he possibly can. If I leave a bathroom door open, he rushes in and unrolls the toilet paper, or sticks his hand in the toilet, or leans over the bathtub hoping to fall in. If I am in the kitchen he is opening every door and pulling out plates and kitchen utensils or emptying the dishwasher. He has shut his fingers in doors more times in one day than Adele has her whole life!

Love you, Henry! Thanks for all the laughs. :)






Thursday, January 24, 2013

My heart...with legs

My dear friend Theresa once told me that having a kid was like watching your heart out in the open, walking around with little legs on it.

That mental image has stuck with me ever since she said that.

I picture my real heart, exposed and obviously headless, walking around. (It's actually sort of a weird gruesome image in my head.)

Being a parent is tough stuff. It's also extremely rewarding. I love the impromptu hugs, kisses, snuggles, etc. I really don't like the scrapes, bruises, bonks, and crashes - like when Henry fell into the side of a door last night and ended up with a big knot and gash on his head, or when Adele fell off her kitchen set today and ended up with a big knot and bruise on her leg.

So where's the balance between letting the kids be kids and still keeping them from getting hurt too badly? (That's a rhetorical question - I know the best parenting move, obviously, is to wrap my kids in bubble wrap and never let them leave the house EVER.)

I'm sure parenting will get easier the older they get........

Saturday, January 19, 2013

A pinteresting Christmas indeed

The more presents I buy for Christmases and birthdays, the more crafty I desire to become.

Perhaps it's a way to save money, or maybe it's because I believe in personal gifts...or maybe because I love finding things on pinterest so much and I realize I can't make everything for myself or I would have a cluttered house full of crafts (and I already have the cluttered part down).

Here were some of the gifts I made this year:

A canvas for my sister-in-law with the words
created from the lyrics of one of her favorite songs

 Pictures for the grandparents of Henry's handprints
(created while he was sleeping!)

And Adele's handprint (and fingerprint for the bubbles!)

Headbands for the girls


My cute model


From the side

And another look...she's busy focused on play-doh here

Ahh there we go!

A canvas for the couple getting married
(not a Christmas gift, but I made it)

And an alphabet book for Adele
(I also made one for a couple of my nephews)















Thursday, January 17, 2013

"I'm The Bride!"

My youngest sister Rachel got married on December 29th.

It was a busy, crazy, fun-filled week of Christmas celebrations, bachelorette parties, pedicures, lots of good food, family time, and laughter.

At one point when we were out doing some last-minute shopping, it occurred to me. Rachel should be using the phrase "I'm the bride" as much as possible. Just like I love saying "Tis the season" for every situation from Thanksgiving through Christmas, those rules somehow seemed to fit for the bride leading up to her wedding.

Stuck in traffic? Wave a fist and yell "move, I'm the bride!"

In line at a store? Smile at everyone and say "I'm the bride".

Arriving at a party (that's probably for the bride anyway!)? exclaim "I'm the bride!

Got a busy, full calendar? Shrug shoulders and sigh "I'm the bride."

Listening to another love song on the radio? Wipe away tears and sniffle "I'm the bride!"

See some great sales and spending too much money? Justify it by saying "I'm the bride!"

Tired from not enough sleep? Make a cup of coffee and say "I'm the bride".

House a mess and fiance starting to get nervous (and hope it's different when you live together after the wedding)? Smile sweetly and tell him "I'm the bride!"

Rachel's too nice to want any added attention to herself, but oh if only I were a bride again...I would totally do this!

And major props to my sister, who rarely got the credit she deserved for being responsible or even capable of most things without help growing up (she was, of course, the baby), she pulled off a beautiful wedding. And looked just like we knew she would - the most gorgeous and stunning bride, who made the rest of us completely and utterly jealous. :)

Here are some pictures of the big day:

Wedding day coffee with the girls! (big sis Emily, me, youngest sis Rachel, younger sis Katie, Adele, and Mom)

Getting my hair did

Pre-wedding dancing practice

The beautiful bride!

Sisters! And Henry, who can't take his eyes off his beautiful Aunt Rachel.

Three good looking men! David with ringbearer Ash and the adorable Henry

Cue "Can't you feeeeeel the looove toniiiiiight"

Mr. and Mrs. Robison!

Adele with her sucker after being an excellent flower girl

Daddy-daughter dance (all together now "awww")

Reception dancing (good thing they practiced!)



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Traditions

Ahh blogging. Life has gotten a little busy lately and blogging has taken a backseat for a while. I've hardly had time with the traveling we've done, plus the normal routines of reading books, cooking meals, cleaning the house, playing with play-doh, and constant picking up all the time.

Well enough is enough. I've got my priorities figured out now. Who needs a clean house anyway?

So I've got a few blogs I've been storing up that I'll hopefully post throughout this next week.

I'm backing up all the way to Christmas now.

I love Christmas. We were all about traditions growing up. Christmas Eve service, singing "Silent Night" by candlelight, stopping by McDonald's on the way to my Grandma Darlene's house for Christmas with my mom's side, watching old Christmas movies, sleeping in the same room as my sisters, early morning Christmas presents followed by morning naps, and Christmas Day in Pella with my dad's side.

Our traditions have evolved and changed over the years.

My Grandma Darlene passed away a number of years ago, so we now get together with my mom's side of the family for an evening sometime during the week of Christmas. Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with the Gosselinks doesn't even always fall on Dec. 24th and 25th anymore since some of us are married and have another family to split Christmases with. McDonald's is no longer part of the tradition.  (Christmas Day naps usually still are.) Instead of a family of 6 of us Gosselinks, our family has grown into 14 of us celebrating this year.



Traditions have changed. Next year will probably be even more different than this year. But the essence of Christmas remains the same. You know, the reason for the season. And family time. Lots of family time.

My sister Katie wrote a blog you should check out. It's beautifully written all about family, and rather than attempting to write one similar in nature, I will direct you to hers instead.

http://msriddikulus.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-love-this-family.html

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Tis the busy season

Tis the season for busyness. And the stomach flu. And colds. And late-night crafts. And last-minute Christmas shopping. And family time, and laughter, and snow, and stress, and Christmas goodies, and extended family visits, and less sleep, and crabbiness, and Christmas movies and lights and music, and a warm home. 

I love this season.

Here are some things we've been up to over the last week or so.


Tis the season for Henry learning to climb stairs!

Tis the season for carefully examining a Christmas tree!

 Tis the season for food!

Tis the season for FOUR generations of Hille men getting together!

Tis the season for cousins in matching Christmas pajamas!




Tis the season for Gabriel's hotel-pool-birthday party!

 


Tis the season for cousins having "coffee" in bed together!

 Tis the season for Hannah's birthday party!