Let it snow!

We finally got enough snow to bundle the kids up for the first time to go out and "play." It took us longer to get ready to go, than to actually play. :) Landon wasn't quite sure what to do with the snow and he hated the mittens! He did like his ride on the "sled," if that's what you want to call the piece of plastic we have. I think the boys spent more time in the snow, than on the sled! Emerson just went out to watch and she seemed to enjoy being outside.
Happy Holidays everybody!

Thanksgiving to Alicia Day and all the days inbetween

I've got about a million excuses for not blogging in a month, but we won't go through those now!

Thanksgiving was a huge blessing with Steven and Kristina coming home for a few days. It went way too quickly, but good news that they'll be home soon again for Christmas break for 2 weeks! YEAH!!

Emerson has done the most changing in the last month. She's gone from mostly stationary to a mover! She wiggles and rolls all over to get to what she wants. For the most part she's happy playing on the floor and watching her big brother. I don't want to jinx it, but she's also slept ALL night for 2 nights in a row! That might not sound like much, but it's huge when you've been up every night for about 14 months in a row! :) She's also enjoying her veggies (well not really :)). She likes sweet potatoes a lot, but not really green beans or squash! We'll keep trying. She had her 6 month check up and weighs 16.4 lbs (50th %) and is 27 in. (90th %). So she's growing well. I really thought she'd weigh more because she's so chubby! :)

Landon is doing great as well. He had his first big crash last night, where his sippy cup met the linoleum which then met his top lip and sliced it open. He bled for quite awhile, but has been fine since. He's quite the trooper! He's walking around and into everything. Amazingly, he's left the Christmas tree alone, but he absolutely LOVES the lights! :) It's so cute. He points and gives a huge smile when he sees the tree! He also got his first haircut. So he doesn't have a mullet any longer in the back! It was quite difficult to cut his hair since he had no interest in sitting still, but I think we did pretty well.

Emerson also had a visit from Parker Smith who is exactly 1 month younger than her. He's much more active and I think about the same size. She absolutely LOVES him too. See below!! :)
And the last thing I'll post about in this already too long post is Alicia Day. What is that you may ask? Well it's an awesome surprise day where your two greatest friends take you away, treat you to lunch, and spend the afternoon painting pottery with you. AND buy you gifts to tell you how special you are. I think everyone should have a day and two friends like that. Thanks Jessicas! Love you both so much. Thanks for the great day!!

Someone's got a new tooth!

And it isn't Landon...although that might be exciting news since he is 13 months old and has only 4 teeth! But, no, it's his little sister! Emerson and I were sitting in the rocking chair and she was laughing at Matt. That's when I thought I noticed something white in her mouth and sure enough, her first tooth poked through! I took a picture of it, but you can't really see it so I decided not to post it. She seems so little for a tooth already, but I guess that's because Landon's been so slow getting his. It isn't bothering her. She's still slobbery and wants to chew on everything just like always. She didn't get a fever or extra grouchy, so hopefully she takes all her teeth this well! :) So a big congrats to my little girl on her first tooth! :)

Fall Break and a busy week

I do realize that it has been over a week since I've enjoyed my fall vacation. But ever since then, our lives have been pretty crazy. Either Matt, myself, or both of us have been gone each day since. So it has taken me awhile to post. Fall Break was the weekend of Halloween and the Thursday, Friday before. It was so great being able to spend time with the kids. I think I really realized how big they're getting. Landon is pretty much an expert walker (ok he does fall down often, but at least he now knows how to get back up!). And Emerson is getting so big. She actually gets heavy to carry around now.

Well, I should also recap our lovely Halloween party. I believe it was the 5th annual Halloween bash with the theme being dressing from a decade. The 70's won the popular decade (with 3 guys dressing from then). Jess won best costume and I tied for 2nd (but won the tie!). We also played Scary Family Feud, Partini, and Rock Band. It was nice to get some adult time and actually get to talk to people without having to worry about what the kids were doing. Thanks to Todd and Cathy for watching the kids overnight. I think that's the first whole night sleep I've had in over a year!! Hmmm...I wonder what next year's theme will be!

Matt-70's and Alicia-20's

This past weekend was also really busy. On Saturday, Matt and I went to the Purdue/Michigan game with his parents. It was up in Michigan (about a 3 hr. drive). The weather was absolutely georgeous and the game was soooo exciting. It probably helped that PU won!! That stadium was crazy big, though. There were over 108,000 people there. I don't think I've ever SEEN so many people before. We had a great time at the game and eating at a cute little restaurant on the way home. Thanks to mom and dad for watching the kids all day!

And this evening was our Sunday School Harvest Party at the Schmucker's. The kids had their first hayride (and both fell asleep!) and we had to leave early because it gets dark so early and Landon thought it was bed time! :) We still had a nice time, though.

What a great blessing to have so many wonderful friends to spend time with!!

Happy Halloween!

Landon is 1!

I can hardly believe that my little guy is 1 already. I know everybody says this, but I can't believe how fast time goes by. We celebrated Landon yesterday with a party! He did really well. He LOVED the cake and ice cream (once he figured out how to pick it up). And yes he did pick up the ice cream as well! :) The car cake turned out pretty good. I put it together and frosted it while Matt added the details. People could tell that it was supposed to be a car, so I guess it was a success! Landon didn't care too much for the presents. We even opened up some presents on Friday (his actual birthday) because I thought it might be too much for him to do them all on Saturday. But he sat on my lap to open about two and then he wanted to get down and play! He did really well though with all of the people and the excitement. I'm sure he didn't have any idea that it was all for him. We got to talk to Landon's birth mom as well because she called on his birthday. I can't wait to get some pictures developed to send her. I'm so glad that we are able to keep in touch and that he'll get to know her some day!

Tomorrow we have his 1 yr old doctor's appointment. I'm anxious to see how he's growing. He can fit into most of his 12 month clothes, so hopefully that's a good sign! He is taking some tentative steps and will stand on his own for 30 seconds or so, so I'm sure that walking isn't too far off.

Just thought I'd give you a quick update about Landon as he is "taking a nap". Actually I can hear him jabbering and kicking in his crib! :)

Emerson's Big Week

Last week was a busy week for us. On Sunday, we celebrated Emerson's Dedication at church. Both kids did really well (no crying this time because both kids we fed BEFORE their part in the service). She was very content to watch Pastor Jim and all the lights and Landon didn't cause too much of a distraction! I just love that our kids will be part of such a loving, supportive church family. It always makes me teary-eyed to think of the whole congregation standing up to say they will support us as we raise our children and teach them about God!

Then on Thursday, Emerson had her 4 month appointment at the doctor. That was the craziest day ever. I had to be to school early to get my flu shot and among all of the morning ruckus, I left the diaper bag at home so Todd had to run to our house so the kids could have clothes for the day! :) Then, as I leave directly after school, I remember that Emerson will be getting shots and she hadn't had any Tylenol and we didn't have time to get any before the appointment. So, poor baby got her shots without any medicine. She also got freaked out by the crinkly paper on the table at the doctor's office and screamed anytime we had to lay her on it! :) But besides all those set backs, she is growing fine. She weighs 13.8 lbs (50th %) and is 26 in. (80th %). So she's right on track with Landon being tall and skinny!

And I know this post is about Emerson, but I do have to mention that Landon is (sorta) taking steps. He'll walk a few steps in between Matt and I. It's more like falling to us, but it's a start! :) He's also learned to clap and he, of course, loves to do this while he's supposed to be eating, so a little mess becomes a bigger mess!

What a blessing of two beautiful children.

New Routines

Matt and I have been back in school for approximately 3 weeks and everyone seems to be adjusting well. The kids are doing well with their grandmas and the grandmas are doing well with 2 kids! I think the roughest transition has been for Matt and me. We are pretty much exhausted after working all day and taking care of the kids until 9-9:30. There's not much time to relax. So this weekend has been spectacular! We've gotten some time to ourselves. On Friday we had a date night. We had pizza and watched a movie at the house. I know...not too exciting, but to be able to sit and watch a whole movie without any distractions was enough for us! :) Then on Sunday we had a party at the Davis'. The rain held off thankfully and we got to play volleyball, cornhole, and have some smores around the fire (before all the mosquitoes chased us inside). You'll have to check out Jessica's blog to see pictures (I got tired of waiting for my 1 pic to load!! :) ).

And today, we're hanging around the house with the kids. Landon is getting around really quickly and is feeding himself! YEAH! He is 11 months after all. He's not a big fan of his sippy cup yet, he'd rather drink out of an adult cup. Emerson is talking and smiling like crazy! She is learning to hold onto toys and is so content.

Landon loves his sister

Visits from Uncle Nate and the Bergers

We were blessed to have two sets of visitors this past week. Nate was home from Texas from Aug. 1-5. It was so nice to be able to visit with him. He spent a lot of time with his niece and nephew. This was the first time he met Emerson. Matt also got his frisbee golf itch taken care of for awhile, I think! We are still waiting for him to move closer so we can spend more time with him, but we know that's not part of God's plan right now.

We also had a great weekend with Mikel, Jessica, and Gunnar. We finally convinced them to come up and stay with us for the weekend. They usually stay with their parents and we don't get to see them very much. But this weekend we got to do a lot of stuff together. Gunnar and Landon did really well together. They kind of played together and of course, NO was a very popular word since they're both so interested in exploring EVERYTHING! :) We also got to play some RockBand, which is a new purchase in the Hahn house. We have some very talented singers! :) Then on Saturday, my parents and Dave and Karen Berger came over to watch their grandchildren and the rest of us went to eat at Mad Anthony's in Elkhart (very delicious!) and went to Kohl's shopping. It was nice to leave the kids for a little while and I know the grandparents had fun too! On Sunday, Landon got his first experience in a pond. We went over to Jessica's parents to swim in the pond and he LOVED it! I was so disappointed I didn't bring the camera because it was so adorable. He just sat and splashed. He didn't care if he got water in his face at all. He also enjoyed playing in the sand. So thanks to the Gunns for a good time!

Emerson-2 months

We took our youngest to the doctor yesterday for her 2 month check-up. She weighs 11.2 pounds and is 23 1/2 inches long, both in the 75th percentile. We also asked the doctor about her gasiness, which is still waking her up in the middle of the night. He said that some breastfed babies just act like it's really difficult to go to the bathroom, but as long as her poo isn't hard, then she isn't constipated. So good news, I guess, and hopefully with moving her to all formula, the gasiness will get better. We're down to 2 nursings a day and hoping to go to 1 next week. But other than that, she is doing well. She did great with her shots (I still hate to hear that cry, but I had Landon to distract me this time! :) ).

Landon still absolutely LOVES Emerson. He always gives her kisses and wants to touch her. He's recently learned how to give a high 5 and is now sleeping without a nightlight. He was waking up every night and would not go back to sleep unless we fed or rocked him, so we turned off the lights and he sleeps all night! YEAH!!

Both kids seem to be doing well and they are keeping us busy. It is nice when both nap at the same time so I can check email and blog! :)

Mystery Guests

Matt left this morning at 4 am for his annual trip to the Boundary Waters with his middle school kids. This year, of course, is much different than in years past since we have 2 kids now. I know he has a blast, but I always miss him like crazy and I know this year was especially hard for him to leave. But with all his planning and packing, he had time to call 3 Mystery Guests who we will either visit this week or will come visit us. How cute is that? He left 3 envelopes with directions on when to go and what time I should open the envelopes to get there on time! What a thoughtful guy. Please pray for him and his group this week to stay safe and the rest of the family as we get help from the grandmas (without that I don't think I'd manage! :) ) to take care of the babies. Hope the next week goes by quickly!

Happy/Sad weekend

We had such a busy weekend with the kids and without. Mom and dad watched the kids on Friday so Matt and I could have some adult time with our Sunday School class. We went to Ruby Tuesdays (YUM) and Paige's Crossing. It was nice to have some time to worry only about ourselves and know the kids were in good hands.

Then on Saturday we went over to the Fryes for the first boat ride of the summer. Landon did not enjoy himself (but it was also naptime) and Emerson slept the whole ride. We had a nice time but also had some issues: ruined keys, umbrellas, and baby's first sunburn (that's right...mark me up for mother of the year :) ).

Sunday was Kristina's last day in Indiana for awhile :(. We miss her already. She was such a great help with the kids and I think she enjoyed herself! :)

Then on Tuesday we took the kids to Bass Pro Shop in Portage (a little over an hr. drive). They both did great in the car. Landon took a nap on the way there and back and of course Emerson slept the whole way. It was nice to get out of the house for awhile and the kids did well in the restaurant and store. Landon got a new hummer toy (his Daddy's such a sucker :) ) which he loves because it has wheels! :)

1st Father's Day 2009

It's about time!

Ok...so I've had about a million and one excuses, but I am going to try to be better at blogging. We were internet deprived for about a month as we looked for faster and still cheap service (no luck!) and then of course our beautiful baby, Emerson, was born. So needless to say, it's been awhile since I've posted anything (or commented on any of your posts!).

We are doing well in the Hahn household. It is SOOOO much easier having Matt home with 2 babies, rather than trying to do it by myself. He had to go back to work for a week and a half after Emerson was born and it was a little frustrating at times trying to care for 2 babies. But we made it through and luckily they're both too small to remember crying for 15 minutes while I was trying to feed, change, or rock the other one! :)

Landon is getting so big. Just in the last month he's learned to army crawl, pull himself up, cruise around on furniture, walk holding onto hands, stand by himself (for a few seconds), and is FINALLY getting his first tooth! I can't believe how fast he's growing.

Kristina is here visiting. She was here this past week and will be here next week too. It is so nice to be able to spend some time with her and I know she enjoys spending time with the kids (although she may have a backache by the time she leaves from walking with Landon so much!)

Lastly, I've got to post a few pictures:

Mix of joyful news

• The weather is going to be beautiful again this weekend! YEAH!
• Landon is sitting up pretty much by himself
• He has a cold, but still is sleeping through the night
• He loves absolutely EVERYTHING we have fed him, green beans are probably his least favorite, but he'll still eat them
• I'm down to 5 weeks until the baby comes and am feeling pretty good, besides the football sized feet and ankles :)
• We had a great week last week with Kristina who was home for spring break
• Landon got to use his stroller for the first time at the Maple Syrup Festival and loved it!
• We got to celebrate the births of 3 wonderful members of the Frye family

God has had this all planned for us since the beginning of time! :)

Landon's 6 months

He had his doctor's appointment last week and is 16 lbs. (25th percentile) and 27 inches long (75th percentile). The doctor said that he is growing well and following the same curve of growth, so not to worry that he's skinny! :) He started on carrots this week and just loves them. I was expecting some funny faces, but he ate his first bite and just kept opening his mouth for more. He also learned how to sit up by himself (for a short time) and rolls all over the floor. He tries to roll towards a toy that he wants and if he can't reach it, he'll keep looking at it and trying to reach for it. He figured out how to spin around in his Exersaucer and bounce a little. I can't believe how fast he's growing and how much he's learning each day. It's so neat to see how far he's come.

Nursery #2

Sorry it's been so long between posts, but this past week we haven't had internet access at home. Now we're up and running again...sort of! We do have internet access, but it is even slower than before (yes, it is possible! :)) So slow that no pictures will load. So until we get it figured out, there will be posts without pictures. :(
Two weekends ago Amos and Jess came over to help get the nursery ready for the baby. They were such a HUGE help, moving furniture and priming and painting the room. I know Matt is especially grateful because he doesn't like to paint and since he wouldn't let me help, the Frye's painting the room was a GREAT gift. They are such wonderful friends, giving up most of their weekend to help us with the room. The color didn't turn out exactly like I was envisioning (does it ever? :) ). It's a little more green than I was thinking it would be, but I'm sure it will still look good with the bedding since there is yellow and green in it. I think Matt's just happy because I didn't choose pink for the walls! :)


We got the bedding and room painted two weeks ago. Last week we ordered her crib and dresser and they both came in yesterday. Our goal is to have her room put together by the end of the week (since we're both off for spring break! YEAH! :) ).

Pictures and Birthdays

First of all, I have to say a big thank you for all the prayers, thoughts, and cards we received in this past week. Although it was difficult to say good-bye to grandpa, we are doing ok and will continue to heal knowing that God has him safe in heaven. I don't know what people do who lose a loved one and don't have that peace knowing that they are in God's hands.

Secondly, we finally got our new camera about a week ago. We went to pick it up 2 weeks ago when it was on sale at Best Buy, but of course it was out of stock, so we had to wait another week to get it. It's a lot different than our old one, but I'm sure we'll get used to it. And I thought I'd post some recent pictures (since we have taken so many trying out the different features of the camera). And of course, they are mostly of our favorite model! :)

Landon has recently discovered his feet
Logan doesn't want to be left out

Lastly, I have to wish our siblings a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Kristina turned 27 on the 13th and Nate will be 27 on the 16th of March. It was really nice being able to celebrate with Kristina because we haven't done that in years. The Bergers, Hoovers, and Hahns went with Kristina to the Chubby Trout restaurant, where you get a free ice cream sundae and mug if it's your birthday (for future reference). And then back to our house to watch the Purdue basketball game and they won!!

Aunt Kristina and Landon spending some quality tummy time together!

One Last Breath...

...and it's home to be with Jesus. Grandpa was disconnected from life support today. The EKG showed little brain wave activity and his kidneys were failing. The nurses unhooked the ventilator and he breathed for a few minutes on his own, but a little after 1:00 this afternoon, he took his last breath. We all prayed with him and told him how much we loved him before he left this Earth. So I'm sure that he is up singing with the choir and holding Grandma's hand. We will all definitely miss him, but we have so many wonderful memories to hang on to.
Here are just a few:
-Grandpa was always a singer. He passed his love of music to his daughters who then passed it down to the granddaughters! :)
-Everytime he'd come down to visit at mom and dad's, he'd never say, "hello" it was always "hoo-hoo."
-When I was younger, and still recently, I always remember thinking how gross it was that he'd always mix all his food together. I'm not talking about mixing the beef with the noodles, but the beef, noodles, jello salad, bread, corn, etc. all together. He always assured me that it tasted the same (even though I never believed it!).
-Whenever someone would pray aloud, he would always join in with a "yes" or a "do it" as his way of talking to God too.
-He always had a story to tell and was always so up to date with things that were going on in the news.
There are so many more things I could share, but I'll stop for now. The funeral arrangements will be made some time tomorrow and Kristina's trying to get a flight home. I know the family would just appreciate prayers. God has definitely called one of his most good and faithful servants home.

Unexpected Weekend

I know that God knows the number of our days here on Earth, but it still always surprises me when those days look like they're coming to an end. My Grandpa Bleile (mom's dad) was taken to the hospital last Saturday because he was having trouble breathing. Turns out that he had pneumonia, so they admitted him to the hospital and he was doing alright for most of this week. But last night, he took a turn for the worse and this morning he stopped breathing.

Matt, Landon, Logan, and I were on our way to visit Mikel, Jessica, and Gunnar when I got a call from mom saying that Grandpa had stopped breathing and he was unresponsive, so we turned the car around and drove right to the hospital. He is now on life support, not breathing on his own, and in a coma like state. It was so difficult to see him in the hospital, not at all looking like the talkative go-getter that I'm used to seeing.

I guess the plan is to wait 24 hours and see if he can breathe on his own. It looks like there will be some difficult decisions for the family to make in the next few days, so we could all use your prayers. I know God is good and my grandpa has such a close relationship with the Lord, but it's still hard. I'll try to keep everyone updated. Thanks so much!

Like Father, like Son

So sorry that I have been absent from the blogging world for so long! :) But I thought it was about time for an update!

Landon is growing and changing every day. It is amazing how much he learns in just a short time. He has become very interested in things with buttons, such as the remote control and x-box controller (hence the title of this post! :) ). He is also talking like crazy. He especially enjoys talking to his bottle, pacifier, and toys that he can easily hold. He LOVES Logan. He will watch him and look for him all the time. He also smiles and giggles when Logan barks. Logan has done really well with Landon too. So far he doesn't mind if Landon tugs on his ears.

Today, Landon rolled over on his tummy to get the football that was out of his reach when he was on his side. I wonder if he knows it's a Bears football. Probably because Matt's favorite lullaby for Landon is "Bear Down, Chicago Bears." How cute is that? :)

I also have to include an updated picture of baby girl and me. I am now in week 26 of the pregnancy and mostly feeling good. The only thing that really bugs me is my lower back. It is sore all the time. But according to Kelli (who's 2 weeks ahead of me) and Victoria (who's 2 weeks behind me), that is normal since they're having the same problem! :) But I'd take this over morning sickness any day!!

Mr. President

Matt and I got a very cool opportunity today. President Obama came to Elkhart to hold a town hall meeting and we got to go. Not because we stood in line for hours on Saturday to get tickets, but because my uncle got to introduce the President! He is one of the many RV workers that has been laid off for the past several months and he's been interviewed by several of the local and even national news stations. But he got a call this weekend from Washington, D.C. saying that they'd like him to give a short speech and introduce Mr. Obama. How cool is that! He got to walk out with him and everything. And since we're part of his family, my aunt, cousins, mom, and grandpa got special seating and we didn't even have to wait in line to get into the gym. We were lead right to the front. It was a really neat experience, to be that close to the leader of our nation and even though I may not agree with everything he stands for, I still think it is so important to support him and our government as they try to make changes to make our nation better.

On another note, I realized how crappy our camera is because out of about 25 shots, these are the most unblurry ones I got! :)

Matt and I waiting for the meeting to begin. We were there about 2 hours early.

Uncle Ed giving his speech while the President looks on
Mr. Obama answering questions from the audience

4 months

Landon is now officially 4 months old (plus a few days) and we had his check up with the doctor this week. He weighs 14.2 pounds (in the 40th percentile) and is 26 inches long (in the 90th percentile)! So it looks like he'll fit in with the Bergers just fine, tall and skinny! :) The doctor said everything looks fine and he is healthy. What a blessing!
We also had his 3 month pictures taken at JcPenny's a few weeks ago. They should be coming in this week. He did well for about 10 minutes and then decided he was too tired to smile any more. There are some pretty adorable ones though!
I am still feeling really good. My clothes are finally not starting to fit. The shirts are a little too short and the pants are a little too tight. So I'm in the in between stage. Too big for regular clothes and too small for maternity clothes. But thankfully when I do get to maternity clothes, one of my co-workers gave me a lot of her clothes that she bought but never wore. So woo-hoo for saving money!
And as long as I'm acknowledging all the people who have been SOOO helpful to us and helped us save money, I can't forget the Frye's. They have given us all of Tyler's old clothes. Landon's closet is overflowing!! It is so wonderful to not have to worry about buying clothes. That has to have saved us at least a bazillion dollars. SO a HUGE thank you to Amos and Jess (and Tyler too! :) )

I can roll over!

But I DON'T like it! :) Landon learned how to roll over this morning. We knew that he was getting close, but didn't realize that he could do it until about 5:30 this morning when he woke up crying. Matt went to check on him and found him on his tummy! :) No one has actually witnessed him roll over, but mom found him that way after one of his naps today too. So as soon as I get a picture, I'll post it!

We also got our new car last night. It's pretty "sporty" looking according to Matt, even though it's our family car, and we have yet to try and fit 2 car seats in the back, but hopefully we'll be able to make it work! :) We like it pretty well for buying it at an auction without ever seeing it or driving it. I'll post pictures once I take some!!

I also have to post about how wonderfully thoughtful my husband is. He came home with these today: What for you may ask? No reason! :) He saw them and said he knew I liked flowers and didn't know that there would be tulips out already. What a sweetheart. Matt is always so thoughtful and considerate. He has been such a great support to me and is a terrific dad. I love to watch him with Landon!

Below are some pictures I had to share:

Looking cute in the crib!

Me and little baby girl. Can you tell I'm 21 weeks pregnant?? :)
Daddy loving Landon

It's a....

Ok, so maybe you can't tell from this ultrasound shot but how about the next one???

Yep. It's a girl! Hard to believe since Matt and I both thought the baby was probably a boy since it has Hahn genes! Landon was excited, since he guessed it was a girl from the beginning. Every time we asked him if he wanted a brother, he'd just sit there, but when we asked if he wanted a sister, he'd smile or coo.

The ultrasound was soooo neat. It was neat to see her moving around. She sucked on her fingers and moved her mouth a lot. She was also moving around like crazy!! The ultrasound tech assured us that this does not mean that she'll be a hyperactive child! :)

I also felt her kick this week for the first time. At first I didn't know what it was, but after she kept doing it I asked Matt and he could feel it too. God is so amazing and I am so happy and blessed to be able to experience being pregnant. It's such a miracle and pretty unbelievable that a baby can grow inside of you.
So Landon's going to have a little sister to watch out for. He was probably just excited because now he won't have to share his room! :)

Hope things are going well for everyone out there. Stay warm! School is cancelled tomorrow for us already because of the frigid temps.