Air Evan

It's amazing how much time you can kill just by jumping into a pile of pillows!

Braden: 9 months old

My little peach is growing so fast. At his 9 month exam he weighed 19 lbs. 9 oz (40%) and was 28 3/4 inches tall (75%). He has been poppin' teeth like crazy, and he learned how to clap in December. He learned how to do the army crawl in December and a month later in early/mid January he began all-out crawling on his hands and knees. All of his gross motor skills are so foreign to us. Evan didn't learn how to clap until he was 14months old....and he never crawled....so we are only NOW learning about babyproofing our house! Braden even likes crawling up the steps! I just can't believe it. Needless to say, I am so proud of him!!! But it feels like he is growing up faster than Evan did. :(

Braden's first sledding experience

Ben pretty much forced Evan on the snowmobile this year. He was kicking and screaming and crying and didn't want to have anything to do with it. Once they drove down to the lake, Evan loved it and wanted more!!

We barely got any smiles out of Braden as we pulled him around the yard for the first time. He looked so serious mostly. I thought he would enjoy it more.

just playin' around

Sometimes Evan can be such a goofball. He found his cousin's helmets and insisted on wearing one around the house for quite a while. He even got me wearing one while I was making dinner.

Here he decided to get into a Kohl's bag and he called it his swimsuit. He thought it was great to walk around in it.

Farewell Noel and Kat

We were able to meet for brunch at Hell's kitchen in Minneapolis to say good bye to our friends from college, Noel and Kat. They are moving to Austin, Texas to move closer to Kat's family. We will surely miss them!

Steve and Amy's Wedding

Ben's cousin, Amy, got married on the 2nd of January. It was a beautiful family winter wedding.
Here we are with Jenean and Brad (Ben's parents), Mike and Jade (Ben's brother and fiance).

Steve and Amy

Evan and Naomi (Ben's cousin's daughter) had a 'thing' for each other!!! They held hands and played all night!

Family day at MOA

For two weeks over Christmas break, Ben busted his booty on the basement. I somehow convinced him to take Tuesday off so we could go do something fun together. We had free passes to Underwater World (which Evan didn't like at all), and a gift card for the MOA, so Evan enjoyed some rides at Nickelodeon Universe. It was a crazy, busy day to be out there. I feel like we spent all day in lines.

Heckman family Christmas

Ben's uncle and aunt, Joel and Sue, had everyone over for Christmas on Saturday. It was very nice to see everyone and how the family continues to grow. This is Braden and James. James belongs to Ben's cousin, Josh. James was born on 4-1-09 and Braden on 4-4-09. It was neat to see how different they are with being so close in age. Braden is quite a bit thicker, and James is quite the crawler!

This is Braden E. and Brayden H. Brayden belongs to Ben's cousin, Steven. He was born exactly 5 months after our Braden.

What cuties!

Christmas Day

I gave all my boys (when I say that, it includes Ben) haircuts on Christmas morning. Braden got his first haircut of his life. I just cut off his little mullet. We were glad to see that go! My parents, Mary, and Lance spent Christmas Day at our house this year. Our tree was quite bare until they showed up! Thank you for all the wonderful gifts!

Trying to get both boys to pose for a picture is quite a challenge these days! That is why we had to do two separate photos on our Christmas card this year.

Ben and Lance decided to take my dad out for a sled ride Christmas night while Mary, Mom, and Evan went to Mary's house to feed Ludo. Braden and I got some quiet time alone!

Christmas Eve

Ben's parents had us over (next door, literally!) for Christmas Eve with the Erickson family. We enjoyed a nice dinner with family and had fun watching the kids open presents. Unfortunately, I didn't take any group photos of anyone :(

My Santa Baby

It was fun watching Braden explore the Christmas tree, etc. He is so curious!

My 1st dance recital

On December 12, I participated in my first dance recital. I've always wanted to take dance, ever since I was a kid, so after I recovered from having Braden, I decided to join a dance class at a local studio. I convinced my friend, Kara, to join me. Later on, she ended up convincing me to be in the recital, even though she was not going to. Reluctantly, I decided to do it. It was a very awkward feeling. I don't really think I am a performer, but I kind of like the challenge. It's not easy for me to memorize all those moves!