Thanksgiving

We had a couple different Thanksgivings that we celebrated. We had several of Eric's family members from Colorado stay with us the week of Thanksgiving (2 adults and 4 kids) so there was a little extra craziness around here, but it was fun!

Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Roberts with Grandpa and Grandma Van Zee and our family at Thanksgiving.

Great-Grandma Roberts with Landon.

Opa and Oma with Landon

Aunt Mary and Landon

Our little helper making Christmas cookies!

Well, hello, blog! Obviously my blogging has been quite pathetic the last 3 months. We've certainly been very busy, but truthfully, I also get lazy sometimes. When I finally have a quiet minute I want to just crash and watch TV or read a book.

Here's a few random pictures from the last few months, and I'll try to get some posts up about Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.

Madelyn loves sitting on top of Dad when he's on the floor talking to Landon.

Mady and Landon. I promise he's not as scared as he looks! :) He actually finds her pretty funny!

Sorry it's upside down! Mady decided Landon needed some shades while he was chillin' on the living room floor.

Madelyn and Mommy. I love that smiley girl. She is starting to make me crazy sometimes with her not wanting to listen, tantrum throwing, fits, but I love her. She's still not very verbal, and I think that's contributing to her fits. That and the fact that she'll be two here in less than two weeks! Crazy! I can't believe it!

She loves to snuggle up next to him.

If you look real close, you can see that she thought he needed some phone time.

Just a few random pics

Just a few more random pics.............

Our big guy

Grandpa and Grandma Harms with the kiddos

Madelyn talking to and kissing Landon. She's so funny. She'll lay on the floor and "talk" to him in a high pitched voice, just like us adults do to babies!

Happy Halloween!

Here is our little frog and pumpkin! Aren't they cute?! We had a heck of a time getting a decent picture of them! Obviously neither one of them really understands what's going on for Halloween, but we went trick or treating at the local hospital (they decorate the halls and have themes and then pass out candy....it's great for young kiddos!)

We've been loving the beautiful weather we've been having. Madelyn loves going outside to swing, go down the slide, play on the tractor with Daddy, and throw leaves in the pond.

We went to a local pumpkin patch one afternoon. Madelyn enjoyed climbing in the hay, looking at the goats, and riding in the wagon.

I've been enjoying baking with pumpkin! I don't really like pumpkin pie, but I do like pumpkin flavor in other things. We've made pumpkin spice pancakes several mornings as well as baked pumpkin oatmeal and pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. They've been a big hit with all of us!

Lovin on Landon

Madelyn has been such a great big sister to Landon. She has adjusted so well (at least for the most part!) She has her moments of jealousy, but overall she loves to hold him and give him kisses. (Although I did catch her today sitting on him while he was in his swing! Thankfully no one was hurt!)

We're definitely working on getting into a routine with two kiddos. Madelyn is getting more independent but still needs us to do most things for her, so I'm still trying to figure out how to get things done around the house while caring for both of them. Even though there are days when I struggle to get a shower taken or get supper on the table, I'm loving my time at home and enjoying these two blessings as much as possible. I can't believe I only have two weeks left before I have to go back to work.

Aren't they beautiful?! I know I'm biased, but we love them so much!

Landon's growing like a weed too! We had him weighed last Friday and he was 12 lbs. 7 oz. so he had gained 5 lbs since he was born! He's definitely putting on weight a lot faster than Madelyn ever did!

Visitors

We've had lots of visitors since Landon was born. We've loved seeing everyone and are so blessed with family to love and support and us!

Uncle Andy and Aunt Sarah

Opa and Oma Harms

Great-Grandma Van Zee (Great-Grandpa visited too, but we didn't get a picture)

Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma Roberts

Uncle Ryan

Great-Grandma Best

Welcome Landon Howard!

We are so happy to announce the arrival of Landon Howard Van Zee! Landon was born September 6, 2011 at 1:22 am. He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and was 20 inches long.

Landon sure came quickly once he decided it was his time to come! My due date was September 4. My parents came to visit on Labor Day (the 5th) and we went for a walk and had supper together. I had some contractions while we were walking, but they went away so I figured it was nothing. They left about 8:00 that night. About 9:30 my water broke! My sister came to stay with Madelyn and we left for the hospital at about 12:00. We were at the hospital about 45 minutes before Landon arrived! It was so quick that it seemed surreal for a while, but we were so excited to meet our little guy!

First family picture. This is classic Madelyn....sucking her thumb and holding my hair!

Madelyn giving Landon kisses

First bath

This is my last pregnant picture, taking just 3 or 4 days before Landon's arrival.

We've been home for a while now and are getting used to having two. We feel so blessed, but it's definitely very busy. It's going to take a while to figure out how to get anything done around here! We love Landon and feel so blessed that we have him in our family!