Christmas morning

Christmas was a huge success! It was so much fun watching the girls open their gifts. Without boring you with a long narrative of the day, here are a few of my favorite Erika quotes along with the necessary picture documentation.

"Santa brought me the wrong Barbie." Oops, perhaps she should have not changed her mind after Santa purchased the "wrong" Barbie.

"I don't really like getting clothes for Christmas. I would rather have toys." Too funny! And, I agree with you, Erika!

Making cookies for Santa on Christmas eve.

Happy kids on Christmas eve.

Santa's presents to the kids. Cradles made by Daddy!

Laurel trying out her presents.

Even if it was wrong, Erika clearly loved her Barbie.

Not quite sure why Santa gave her washcloths in her stocking.

Levi's first Christmas.

Laurel liked opening Levi's presents and showing them to him.

I love that Erika and Laurel immediately put on any article of clothing they received from Christmas. By the end of the morning, Laurel was overheated in her dresses and shirts!

He's going to love this tractor....some day. Doesn't he look excited about it?

The aftermath.

Me and my baby boy!

The girls got a really cool castle from Auntie Beth and Uncle Josh. They enjoyed playing in it with their cousin, Judah.

Erika in the new castle. Complete with princess dress.

This is the best picture of the cousins. They weren't in the mood for picture taking!

Just a few recent pictures of Levi. We are totally in love with him and his sisters! But, since he's new, he is the one who gets the majority of the photos taken.

He went to church this morning in his big boy outfit. I believe all baby boys should wear sweater vests!

He is such a good baby. I would brag about how well he sleeps, but then his sleep pattern would probably change and I would have to go back on my word. Ok, I'll take the risk! He sleeps for 4 hour stretches at night, which is awesome! I am getting some much needed sleep.....and it helps to have a nap every day as well. He is not happy going to sleep and will cry once we put him down, but he only cries for a little bit and then he realizes that he is indeed tired and will go ahead and surrender to slumber.

Enjoy our handsome little boy!

Pictures of Levi

Seriously, is there anything cuter?

Wide awake and alert. Probably listening to his loud sisters playing around him.

How do you think he liked his first bath?

Yeah, he didn't like it very much.

Cute whether he's asleep or awake.

The girls are still pretty impressed with Levi!

Complete Hammar family.

Three generations of Hammar.

Grandpa and Grandma Hammar with half of their grandkids.

Levi Michael Hammar

What have we been doing the past couple of days? Having a baby! Levi Michael was born on Wednesday night, December 8, at 11:16pm. He weighed 9 pounds, 2 ounces and was 20 inches long. Side note: Erika also weighed 9lb., 2oz. I guess we have bookend kids with their weight! We came home from the hospital Friday morning and have been doing very well! Levi likes to eat, but sleeps pretty well due to that. His sisters adore him......Laurel is learning how to be gentle with him and both she and Erika are very good helpers. They like to watch him get his diaper changed and try to give him toys and his binkie when he gets fussy. We are having a great time at home getting used to Hammar, party of 5!

Baby's first picture!

Our big, perfect boy.

Proud Daddy with his son.

The girls love Levi. He's not quite sure about them yet. They are pretty loud.

Three little Hammars.

Surprises

I love living with little girls.....they are so much fun! I love watching Erika's and Laurel's imagination grow and develop more and more. Their favorite game is to play "mommy". They love rocking and taking care of their baby dolls and stuffed animals. Usually, the game ends with the baby being put to bed. I am constantly finding dolls in various locations around the house, usually wrapped in a blanket and "sleeping". Sometimes, it can be annoying because the couch is completely full of dolls and no room for a real person, but mostly it's a lot of fun. At night, when we go to tuck in the girls, we have to dig through their sleeping "babies" in order to make sure the girls are alright. Often, Erika will have all her dolls lined up on her pillow, sleeping, and she will be somewhere near the foot of her bed. What sacrifice! Here are some of the sleeping babies they play with.

Brownie, the dog, sleeping peacefully on Erika's pillow.

Sleeping Beauty and Bear tucked in for the night.

Another baby doll and puppy sleeping in a little toy basket that is meant for Levi's toys.

The two cute little girls who make all these pictures possible!

Ok, this was my favorite. They have this little Snow White doll who came with an extra head. The other day, I was picking up their toys and looked in the fridge of their play kitchen and saw this. Has anyone ever seen Stephen King's "It"? Totally freaked me out. Stanley boy.......

Yesterday, the girls spent most of the day playing train. They lined up their chairs and strollers and put different dolls in the seats, along with themselves. They were on their way "up north, to New York". When I asked how long it took to get there, Erika told me 20 minutes. Apparently they were on the super train! Oh, and we need to work on geography.

***Side note: These pictures were brought to you by our brand new camera! I really had a strong dislike for our old camera.....the images usually had a bluish tint to them and were blurry or dark or something annoying. So, as a Christmas present to ourselves, Matt and I bought a new camera on the Black Friday deals. I love it!

Little Turkeys

Grandma Parnell came to the Thanksgiving holiday with a dessert craft for the girls to
create......little turkeys made out of Oreos, Whoppers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and candy corn.

Erika had to inspect all the candy that went into the creation.

Laurel chose to just go ahead and eat all the candy before the craft was done.

Erika was a little frustrated with the process. Again, we find Laurel digging into the Oreos.

The finished product!

In other news, Laurel is on week three of potty training with about the same amount of accidents. She is doing really well! She still doesn't let us know when she has to go, so I sit her on the potty every 1 to 2 hours, and that seems to be working fine for now. Also, we are 4 days away from Levi's expected arrival. Let's hope he comes in a reasonable time period!

Thankful

Yes, it is time for me to let everyone know how truly blessed I am!
I am thankful........
-For my wonderful husband who gets up early every morning to go to work and provide so very well for our family. I am thankful that he comes in each morning to say good-bye to me....even if I don't always remember him doing so after I'm fully awake. I am thankful that he comes home to his family every night with enough energy to play with his daughters; making them laugh and enjoy their time with him. I am thankful that we are still so much in love with each other.
-For waking up every morning to my daughters talking, reading, or singing to each other in their bedrooms. I am thankful for how funny Erika is and how much she cracks me up with her questions and statements. I am thankful for what a great big sister she is - looking after Laurel and making sure she stays safe and "knows the rules". I am thankful for my sweet Laurel and how much she is growing and becoming her own little person. I am thankful for her hugs and kisses and "I love you"'s. I am thankful that my girls love each other and play well with each other. I am thankful that they still think I'm their best playmate and friend.
-For Levi, who we don't fully know yet, but will soon! I am thankful that he will complete our family and grow up with a wonderful father and the two best big sisters ever!
-For living so close to my very best friend and sister, Sarah. I am thankful that she knows when I need a break and will talk the girls for the day or come over and wear them out for me while I sit. I am thankful that she loves her nieces and they love her more than anything!
-For my family who don't live so close to us, but are able to still be close via phone calls, emails and other visits.
-For my girlfriends who I continue to grow relationships with. I am thankful for their encouragement and love for me and mine for them.
-For my Savior who makes all my thanksgiving possible and who gives me hope for even more thanksgiving in the future!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pilgrims

This evenings family activity was to make pilgrim hats. Matt designed the hats and we all got to decorate them. Erika is really into coloring lately and is getting quite good at it! Laurel is still just scribbling, but she loves to be involved. Anyway, we made our lovely hats, then Erika decided they were marching band hats so we marched around the room for a while. The hats, however, will be worn sometime during Thanksgiving dinner. Even Matt has one! It was a fun family project.

Wearing our hats. Please notice the scary football player in the background and my awesome pajama pants. With only 13 days until my due date, I spend a lot of time in jammie pants.

FYI: The hat Erika is wearing is the one I designed and I'm wearing her design. Both equally beautiful, I think.

Cute little pilgrim/chef. And Wyatt.

Fall Means.....

.....raking leaves! I love watching them change colors and then fall down. I love how they look in the yard. I love how they look in a big pile ready to be taken out of the yard. I love everything about leaves! That's probably because I don't actually do any of the raking. I do the photography that goes along with the girls raking the leaves. This is the second year that we have lived in this house with the three beautiful leaf-giving trees in the front yard. Matt bought the girls their own rakes this year so they could "help" him with the chore of raking. They did enjoy raking, but they really liked putting leaves on their rakes and throwing them in the air. Much more fun! Erika really got into raking and was pretty good at it! She would rake her leaves into a pile, run and jump through the pile, and then ask her daddy to rake them all up for her again. Laurel was not as much of a fan of raking leaves. She enjoyed smiling for the camera and holding her rake, but she didn't want to jump in them. She also really didn't want her big sister to throw leaves in her hair, which is what happened most of the time we were outside.

Erika was pretty good at helping.

The best part of raking leaves......throwing them in the air!

Everybody helping.

Yep, she liked to pose and act like she was helping.

Throwing leaves in Laurel's hair.

Not a fan of leaves in her hair.