Cousins!

Georgia came to stay with us again and when I took her home on Friday my kids got to meet baby Leo.  Or baby "Weo" as Lauren calls him. It was so much fun having Georgia spend the night again and I'm getting better at taking care of three.  Or I thought I was...but now that I'm looking at these pictures I see that no one's hair was really brushed, Blake got to wear his favorite monochromatic outfit, and he has green paint in his hair.  

 Lauren loved meeting Leo, it was really sweet to watch her with him.  On the way home she noted that Leo did not say good bye to her and that his "wegs" don't work yet so he can't walk around.

 Just like his big sister, Leo makes my kids look like they belong in a Twilight novel. 

The age difference between Blake and his big cousin Jake is the same as Blake and Leo.  Jake has been so great to Blake, teaching him all about fishing, baseball and general boy stuff.  Hopefully Blake will do the same for Leo one day.

Daddy Daughter Day

Chad planned a special daddy/daughter day to spend some time with Lauren.  Lauren has talked about it all week and was excited this morning.  I don't know what they have planned, but I'm sure there will be ice cream!

Lauren is her daddy's girl!  She prefers ice cream to frozen yogurt, dogs to cats and Huskies to Cougars.  

Here are a few more pictures of Leo from our little photo shoot on Saturday!

+ GG makes three!

Georgia stayed at our house this weekend while Alison, Brian and Leo were in the hospital. I have a whole new appreciation for parents of three, particularly those with twin girls about three years old.  You know how some southern women are known for saying "oh bless your heart" when they really mean you're an idiot? Blake, Georgia and Lauren had the same idea about the word "honey".  I heard a lot of "no, no honey" or "oh honey that's mine" or "you can play with this one honey".  They politely bossed each other around all weekend....but at least they were polite about it.

 We all had a lot of fun and Georgia made it pretty easy.  I did my best to have wheat/gluten, soy, corn and dairy free food all three kids could eat, but if my kids were eating something she wasn't suppose to have she would explain to them it wasn't good for her. She also slept for FIFTEEN hours on Saturday night (and most of Sunday morning). I guess we wore her out! Here are some pictures from our adventures, we can't wait to do it again soon.

 Blake had his last basketball game of the season on Saturday.  My friend ordered all of the boys statues.  I mean trophies. They were HUGE, Blake could not be prouder and he was "shining" it this morning (it's plastic). Georgia and Lauren had fun running around during the game and now and then Georgia would stop to cheer Blake on.  Thank you Grammy and Grandpa for helping with the girls so I could watch "Gangnam Style" win their last game!

nakedness, it's always clothing optional with these three.

 

As you can see, they followed the house rules closely. 

Think she's having fun?  I did eventually make them stop jumping on the bed.

Leo James Handsaker

Blake, Lauren and I left our house at 6:45 Friday evening to pick up Georgia. On our way my sister called and said we'd need to pick her up at the neighbor's house, they needed to head to Swedish right away. Alison checked in around 7:30 p.m. and my new nephew flew out into the world Friday evening at 8:04 p.m.

Georgia and I got to go meet Leo yesterday . She seemed pretty happy with her new little brother and we stayed at the hospital for two hours. (When Lauren was born Blake lasted 10 minutes tops.)  Blake is thrilled to have another boy in the family, my kids can't wait to meet Leo. I'm so happy for the Handsakers, what a dream come true - they officially have a family of four! 

Baby H #2 is getting ready to make his or her arrival in the next few days...maybe a week? We'll see! It definitely feels like we are all closing one chapter and getting ready to move on to the next.  Life for the Handsakers will never be fully normal, there will always be check ups and that lurking fear.  However, I am hopeful that both will fade a bit with time. It's crazy to look back at how little our girls were when this all began (Lauren 5 months, Georgia 10 months).  

Georgia is so excited to become a big sister and I know she will be a big help to her mommy...as long as she gets a baby sister! Georgia is going to stay with us for a couple of days when the baby arrives, she has her bags packed and is ready to raid Lauren's closet.  We can't wait!

Besties

Love, love, love these sweet ladies!

Terrible Twos?

Neither of my kids had the classic "terrible twos" tantrums, however they both displayed lots of two year old creativity.  If I turn my back for two seconds Lauren will get into something she's not supposed to. She was hiding with the blue pen when I found her and she'd locked herself in my bathroom for her pedi.