Addison's Rocking Chair

Grandma and Grandpa Dank bought Addie a rocking chair for her baptism present and it got here the other day.  She likes it very much and is even able to rock on it a little.  Yesterday we moved it upstairs by James' chair and James said we needed to take some pictures with both of them.  

Sitting in her big girl rocking chair.  She really liked the flowers on the arms and back of the chair.

Happy happy happy...joy joy joy!

James in his rocking chair.  Jam has apparently lost the ability to smile like a normal person.  It is harder to get a decent picture out of him than Addison.

Sitting together in what will eventually be their room.

Always with the face-off face :)

Our Fun Weekend

We had a very fun and busy weekend.  We went to Emmy Reese's birthday party, did some shopping, went skiing, and watched the super bowl.  Addie also wore a dress for the first time and went skiing for the first time.  Below are some cute pictures of our fun.

James got to hold Addison on Saturday for like 5 whole minutes.  She's a bit more of a handful than she used to be.

Addie got to wear a dress for the first time on Saturday.  I was worried her legs were going to get cold, but that didn't happen.  She did, however, chew on the hem of her dress and flash everyone.  We are going to have to work on that.

She's just so darn cute!

On Sunday, the Dehlin family came out to Negaunee to do some skiing.  James and Sam got to do some skiing first.  Jam is getting pretty good quickly.

Sam also had fun on his skis.  Sam is one of Jam's very best friends.  After the kids did a couple of hundred yards James and Addie rode in the chariot while Joel, Jen, and Chris drug my out of shape a** half way to Ishpeming.  I seriously doubt I'll be able to walk tomorrow.

Seeing Double

Sometimes when I look at Addie I think, she looks just like Jam.  Today I decided to see if I was right.  Let me know what all of you think.

James at camp at 5 months 10 days

Addie at her baptism at 4 months 10 days.

Jam doing tummy time also 5 months 10 days.

Addie doing tummy time at 5 months 13 days

Christmas finally

Here's some pics from Christmas Eve and Day.  We had lots of fun and everyone got everything they wanted and then some.  My mom and dad and Jake and his Emily came up for Manicotti.  Jam was most excited for them to come and visit.  He played loads of soccer with Emily.

Addie thought Christmas was fun.  She most enjoyed ripping and eating the wrapping paper!

Addie also thought that her new Cabbage Patch Kid from mommy and daddy tasted good.

James on Christmas day listening to his iPod and trying on his new ski boots.

Addie looks super cute in her Stormy Kromer and showing daddy how good she tastes.

Daddy and James look cute in their Kromers too.

Wii and Rockband 2 Are the Greatest Things Ever!

Joel and James got up early on Sunday (1/18/09) to pick up a Wii for our big family gift from Grandma and Grandma Dank.  They got there five minutes after Target opened and were the 5th people to walk out with a Wii.  The Target people didn't even bother to put them on shelves.  It was like Christmas all over again... complete with meltdown by lunch.

I was not too sure how great it would be for James since he is so young, but its even better than I had hoped.  James loves to play tennis and boxing.  It's not terribly hard, but still a challenge.  Jam doesn't like the bowling because you have to release the button at the right point with your swing and he has trouble coordinating it.

As for Rockband 2, James can occasionally string together 2-3 notes.  The 2nd rockband has a no fail setting though so we can't get booed off the stage.  When Addison decides she is not going to be fussy we all play as a band.  James is getting kind of good at the drums.  He's figuring out that you have to coordinate the color of drum with the color on the screen.

Jam was excited that there was a bass drum pedal.

He bites his lip when he plays the drums

James told me that, "You should get your camera and take 10 pictures of me because I'm a rockstar and they get lots of pictures taken of them!"

James definitely has his rockstar stance down!

Addie's Baptism

Addie was finally baptized in December.  My brother Jake was the godfather and my sister was the godmother.  My mom had to stand in for her though.  Addie was perfect during the baptism and even enjoyed the congregation cheering for her.  I think if she could have done the beauty queen wave she would have.

James wanted to get to be in a picture

Addie and her godparents

Jam's Fourth Birthday

James had a multi-day birthday this year.  On Tuesday (12/9/08) he brought cupcakes to preschool.  On wednesday, his actual birthday, Grammy and Gramps came up and watched him play hockey and had dinner with us.  We told Jam he could go to any restaurant he wanted and he picked Burger King.  We tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted.  On Friday (12/12/08) Jam had his birthday party at the YMCA in Marquette.  He had soooooo much fun and it was super easy for us.  This was good because we were, of course, fighting colds.  The people at the Y handled all the details and we just showed up and had fun!

The party coordinator at the Y is dating one of the Wildcat hockey players so when we said he loved hockey she had her boyfriend get him a poster signed by the whole team.  He was so excited he was actually running in circles!

Sammy D, James, and Charlie enjoying pizza.  The two people in the background were our excellent Y workers.

Sammy D, Chris Dehlin, James, Max, and Charlie gather around the hockey stick cupcakes while we all sang.

Emmy, Max, and Charlie help James open gifts.

Everyone's favorite part seemed to be the pool.  It was nice to get the chance to swim in the middle of winter.  the Y has a beautiful kid-friendly pool.