Christmas Day in Crazy Town!

My mom comes from a family of ten kids. Everyone was home this year for Christmas, which brought 80-some people to my Uncle Nate's house. It was wild! Pictured above are my grandma and her ten kids!
Tom attempted to rock a very tired Aubrey and Henry to sleep . . . no such luck! Too much commotion going on! :)

Santa stopped by the big party and Henry was pretty enthralled!

After the big Swank Christmas, we stopped by my Grandma Marcie's house for a visit before heading back home.

We had a wonderful Christmas season! I do have to say, however, (and I don't want to sound like a scrooge!) that I'm sure glad it is over! Henry is at a place where we constantly have to follow him around to make sure he doesn't get into anything he shouldn't and/or hurt himself on something. It can be exhausting! It is nice to be home in our lovely, child-proof house! :)

Henry was on Santa's "nice" list!

Santa came to our house! He put new slippers in Henry's stocking and . . .
brought him a kitchen (or as Tom likes to call it "Center of Commerce" . . . call it what it is, Tom, call it what it is!). As you can see from Henry's face, he was very excited about his Santa gift!

Christmas Eve with our little family

After arriving home from Mary and Anne's, Henry perked up enough for us to have our own family Christmas! We had so much fun! :)
Henry and dad gazing at the tree!

Henry opening up his gift from us.

He loved his new books on trucks and tractors.

I don't know who enjoyed the Magnetos more, Henry or his dad! :)

Christmas with Grandma Mary and Aunt Anne

We had a very nice Christmas Eve with Tom's mom and sister! Henry loved looking at all the ornaments on the tree!
Henry enjoyed playing with one of his gifts from Grandma Mary and Aunt Anne! He loved the feel of the air from the ball popper in his face. :)

Anne made delicious soup for dinner. Henry played with his new blocks while we enjoyed our dessert!

THE Santa Experience

I've been hearing great things about THE Santa at the Mall of America. So I decided to take the plunge and head on over to the place I despise most in good ol' MN, the MOA ("Do it for Henry", I kept telling myself). I gathered up support (Tom and my sister and her family) to join us for some Christmas fun. The kids waited so patiently for our turn with Santa. They never left our side once to run around the mall halls and crawl under the directory board and ride up and down the escalator and play with "wet floor" signs. Not once. This Santa was indeed awesome, if not a bit cuckoo. The kids loved him!

Afterwards, Henry had his first ride on a carasol! He LOVED it!

We've been doing just one nap a day since my winter break started. I packed his lunch to have at the mall because I knew he wouldn't make it home awake. As you can see, he barely made it through lunch! All the excitement tuckered the little guy out.

Mullenbach Family Christmas

We hosted the Mullenbach family Christmas on Saturday. We had a great time despite Tom being sequestered to our bedroom with the flu! The day started out with Brynn's dance recital, which was too stinkin' cute! Above, Henry is anxiously awaiting the arrival of all his cousins!
We continued the tradition of having soups for dinner. It was delicious!

The kids played HARD in the basement. A few highlights: Aubrey deciding she needs to squeeze in the Cozy Coupe next to Henry! And . . .

Nolan showing off his baseball skills . . . look at that stance!

Cara looks excited to open up the gifts- I'm not so sure about the rest of them! (See that open space in the middle? That is where Henry was supposed to sit but apparently he didn't like the feel of the wood on his patootie and found himself a better spot. Quirky guy!)

So apparently this is how Brynn had to pose for her dance pictures. As soon as we started taking pics, she struck the pose for us. I'm giggling just thinking about it again!

Henry was more interested in giving out presents and . . .

squeezing into boxes with Aubrey than he was in opening his own gifts!

Aubrey loving Brynnie up!

Nolan had to take one last cookie for the road!

All in all, we had an excellent evening! Tom was sad to have missed Henry's first Christmas of the season, but don't worry, we have three more to go!

Christmas Tree

The frigid weather and the blizzard of 2010 kept us from cutting down our own tree this year. So, we bundled up and headed down the street to a nursery and picked one out. It took us about 20 minutes round trip. Not exactly the Christmas experience we were looking for, but I must admit, it was very simple! :)
And here's Henry in front of the lit up tree! He has surprised me and doesn't really get into the tree. He'll go over to it and "pet" it, but hasn't been obsessed with it like I thought he would be! He's such a good boy! :)

Ho ho ho!

We were busy getting out our Christmas decorations this afternoon. Henry insisted on wearing the snowman's hat! He's so funny!
These used to be my Grandma Marcie's snowman- she made them probably back in the 70's! I do love my antiques! :)

We love the snow!

This just so happens to be the most perfect Saturday! We are snowed in and can't go anywhere! We've gotten at least a foot of snow and it is still going! LOVE it! :)

We have had lots of family time! Henry and dad are making some music.
And Henry and mom are reading books . . . of course!

Henry-isms

Henry continues to charm his mom and dad with everything he does.

Here are a few of his latest tricks caught on film:

As pictured above, Henry shrugs when I ask him things like, "Where's daddy?" or "Where's your lovie?" Super cute!

He is now eating "big boy" sandwiches . . . i.e. sandwiches not all cut up! :)

Henry points the pictures on the walls, his sippy cup sitting on the counter, pictures in books, etc. Each point comes with a very attractive "eh, eh."

Henry is a cleaning machine! He loves his "vacuum" that we have at our house. But he especially loves his cousins Brynn and Cara's very fancy broom and washer and dryer. He has clocked many hours sweeping their house and doing laundry!

On a side note, Henry was at Urgent Care last week with bronchitis. Poor buddy. It came on rather sudden and I think we caught it quickly so he recovered in no time. We also visited the ENT and he is a "strong candidate for tubes." We are looking forward to a healthier little guy once those tubes are put in! :)

CHEESE!!!!!!!!

It sounds more like a nasally "neeeeeeze" when Henry says it! :)

BFFs

My besties, Jenni and Emily, along with their kids came to hang out for the day! We had a great time . . . total chaos . . . I LOVED it! :)

Henry received a doctor kit from Jenni and her family for Christmas! He's had a great time playing with it! He turns his head so nicely when I check his ears . . . I wonder how he knows what to do so well?!?!

Mullenbach Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving 2009- wow, have things changed!
Here's our big boy enjoying his Thanksgiving meal - he enjoyed it immensely!!!

Annual Mullenbach cousin photo shoot. We sure do make cute kids in our family! :)

Henry (13 months), Cara (18 months), Brynn (3 1/2), Aubrey (15 months), Nolan (2)

Winter Fun!

The three of us went out for dinner to celebrate our six-year wedding anniversary on Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day, Tom picked up a sled for Henry and insisted on giving him a ride when we got home from our date. Henry didn't mind the cold night air- he thought the sled was awesome! :) Our daycare providers have told us that Henry loves being outside in the snow . . . as long as he's being pulled in a sled! :)
Henry and his proud papa!