New Stuff

Henry went to the dentist for his first official teeth cleaning this week and he did an amazing job. He was so excited to go that the whole way there he just smiled. He let the hygienist polish and scrape his teeth and followed her every direction. He also informed her he might have a cavity which is so funny because he and I had talked about how if you don't brush your teeth you get them. Funny thing is that we have had to limit Henry's tooth brush time because he was literally brushing his teeth 10 times a day! Dentist said his teeth look great and overall it was a great trip!

show those pearly whites


Polish time


I have some fun videos of Reese below. We realized we never had let her get messy while she ate. So we loaded her up a bowl of yogurt and applesauce and let her go. She absolutely loved every minute of it and so did we! Apparently spoons are just accessories.



She has been cruising all around the furniture and her skills truly improve each day, which is so fun to watch. I was taking the video below because both the kids were being goofy and I caught her trying to take a step. She is definitely not walking yet and it will be a bit before we enter that world, but I was impressed with her little 10 1/2 month self trying to take a step.



Here are my two kiddos sharing an afternoon snack of cheerios. You can tell it is a contest of who can get more first!

Sunday Sledding

The snow just kept coming yesterday. We ended up with about 5 inches and it was beautiful and most importantly fun! After nap we all walked up to the junior high and joined all the other neighborhood kids in the sledding fun. This was Henry's second sled run of the day!

It was so much fun and he must of gone up and down that hill 100 times. He would climb up, slide down, eat some snow and repeat. He really did not need our participation. Reese sat in the backpack and watched all of the kids in awe. She smiled and yelled and just had a great time!

Reese and Bill at the top





they were both watching the kids and would not look at the camera!


up the hill again


as the sledding came to the end the sky was pink and blue and it looked beautiful!


Here is a video of the sledding. It is long but captures the afternoon perfectly!

Baby's First Snow

Reese finally got to join in the snow fun. Here she is on her first outing, she loved it! Henry and Bill have been up the road at the junior high all morning. I am betting they are sledding like crazy!

Reese's first snow (10 months old yesterday!)


Henry's first snow (4 months old)

Henry the Snowman

Today we got our first official dusting of the winter. It was light and by the time Henry woke from his nap it was pretty slushy. The Birkholz men wasted no time and headed out for some snowman making. Best part was when Bill shouted in to me that he needed a carrot for the nose.

Presenting the newest member of our family, Henry the snowman (named by Henry the boy)


All we had was a 2t snowbib that was quite short but the boots were tall enough to cover up his legs. He also had some hot pink and black gloves!


The Henry's


Henry thinking about getting rid of his friend Henry. We decided to come in and have hot cocoa instead.

Video Time

So last night I took the world's best video of Reese and then I accidentally deleted it. I was so sad. She does this thing where she shakes her head back and forth and I love it. So here is my attempt at getting it on film again, but I have to admit it is not quite as great as the one yesterday :(
Here she is today while eating lunch. The blinds behind her are closed and you hear a cracking sound because their is a man behind it replacing the window, yes we are finally getting new windows!!!!

This is a little long but totally is what Reese is all about these days!



Here is a video of Henry using his new drinking glasses on Christmas morning, I love this one so much!


Here are my misfits having a snack together. I love how Henry gives her one and then takes one himself. They had no idea I had pressed record on the camera.


Last but not least I found this one of Christmas morning. Very quiet and short but I love how engrossed Henry is in his new toys. Also if you look close you can see his face is covered in chocolate from his m&m breakfast!

2012 is here!

*New year, new look. Also new pictures on picture site :)

This may sound cheesy but we truly did have an amazing and magical holiday season. We were lucky to have visitors celebrate with us and Santa definitely delivered for every member of our family.

We began our official holiday celebration with a visit from Grandpa Steve. We had a wonderful couple of days with him and the kids enjoyed the constant playing and trip to get ice cream! Here is a trip from one of our park adventures!



We also got a visit from Lauren and she of course brought lots of smiles and took lots of pictures. This is my absolute favorite! She even put it on her blog. In case anyone didn't know Lauren is pretty awesome, here is her new website: www.laurencrew.com


Our next guest was Nana and she got to stay for a whole week and celebrate Christmas with us and we had so much fun. She got to join us in our annual trip to the Microsoft holiday extravaganza and also helped Henry make his gingerbread house. Her patience and attention to Henry was a highlight for all if us and she and Reese shared in many smiles and kisses. Nana was afraid we would kick her out and here is the reason below:

hard to tell but it is a kid size firehouse tent, he loves it!!!!!


Though we were surprised by he enormity at first watching how much Henry and Reese loved it is totally worth it! She also got him a megaphone which was most annoying not when the kids were using it but when Bill became fond of it :)

The huge snow globe at Microsoft, Henry and Reese loved it!


Making a gingerbread house with Nana


Christmas eve and day were nice. We relaxed and played and hit the park. Made some cookies and played lots of games with Nana. Reese ended up spending her first Christmas with a fever. She remained her happy little self at first and was just zonked out. I finally took her to the emergency room Christmas Day and she had a Christmas ear infection! Poor thing got a lousy gift in that respect but she did get lots of cuddles and kisses and was quite a trooper. To be quite honest she really didn't even know it was Christmas :)!

Christmas morning was magical. The look on Henry's face when he saw the police/firehouse he had asked Santa for was priceless. He saw that Santa had eaten the cookies and milk and the reindeer had eaten the carrot and this made him very happy and you could just see the wheels turning in his head! I think the look on his face will forever be in my memory.


Making Santa's cookies on Christmas Eve


cleaning the chimney!


Santa brought Henry a police/firehouse. He played with it from 6am until he went to bed!


Reese and her new abacus! Here she is with a 102 fever (nothing phases this girl!)


New Years was spent at the beach with lots of relaxing. We are looking forward to a great year filled with many blog worthy moments!