Torgesen Family Times: November 2010

Stranger anxiety and more T-giving

Sara has got some stranger anxiety lately, she just doesn’t want to be held by ANYONE except Mommy and Daddy.

Not Great-Grandma Myrtle.

Not Santa Claus

Not Grandma Sandy or Grandpa Dave

Not Grandma Judy

Not Grandpa Steve or Grandma Connie

Just Mommy and Daddy! Otherwise – this is the face we get. (Which is all very quickly resolved when firmly back on Mommy’s hip or snuggled in Daddy’s arms)

We enjoyed a day at the beach this Thanksgiving weekend, and boy it was cold! So, we took our snow suits and had a blast! Sara chewed on some shells (It’s almost the same picture I took of Alex in 2007!) and was just generally a happy girl. Alex had a fun time exploring all around. We didn’t spend too much time there, as it was so darn cold. But, it was fun anyways.

Alex 2007

We got the kids dressed up and had Santa pictures at Chapters Photography. They have a great thing – make an appointment (don’t stand in line!) and have Santa pictures with a (totally funny and fantastic) Santa, choose your custom photography package, and they mail you the prints! You can’t get any better than this! This year, Alex was soooo looking forward to the Santa visit – he knew exactly what he was going to ask for – a skateboard. Last year, Santa was still to scary (so Santa had to be peeking behind the chair). We walked in and Alex had a big smile on his face – it was so fun to see.

Like a child’s dream come true type of smile.

He sat on Santa’s lap and Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas. He said what he wanted and then asked Santa what he wanted for Christmas – this is the funny part. Santa said that he wanted “Verizon to start carrying the iPhone”. After I totally cracked up, I said that that was a good one and I wanted that too!

We put Sara on Santa’s lap to take the picture (and see above – we got a screaming little face) and got another one with Alex sitting in the chair, and Santa peeking out behind the chair. This one she is smiling. She loves her brother!

So, when we got home, they were dressed so nicely – I just had to take a few photos myself!

Thankful

We had a very thankful Thanksgiving. Alex was thankful for getting the eggs at Uncle Mikey’s house, Sara was thankful for “Mum-Mum-Mum”, I was thankful for our health (+insurance!). Lance never did say what he was thankful for…

Lance – leave a comment (first time ever!) with what you are thankful for. nnnn-K? I’m waiting!!!!

Hmmm… If I were to have to guess – it would go something like this (in no particular order):

Snow, kids playing outside, sledding, cute snowsuits,

Two happy, healthy kids playing together happily

Having fun as a family, being kind to one another

Laughing and smiling,

Making funny faces,

Being beautiful on the inside and out,

Helping Mommy make warm out-of-the-oven pies

The smell from the kitchen is just so great, and a girl who is ready to eat,

Chowing down to some really good food with family and friends,

Sharing the kiddo attention to everyone in the family,

Even cousin Owen, who was so fun to play on,

So much fun to laugh and play,

And last, but not least, a wife who captures it all on “film”.

How Daddy watches Sara and Football

So easy, when she’s not mobile. So EASY!

Lance watches football every Sunday, has 4 fantasy football leagues he’s in, tracks it all on his computer, and also watches his daughter.

We’ll see how things change when she’s mobile… But, for now…

This is how I caught them last Sunday watching football on TV, watching the computer update his fantasy stats, and “watching” Sara

Family photos – Fall 2010

A while back I mentioned that we always take some fall photos – well, here are the results of the 2010 family photos from the wonderful Jamie Nielsen. The goal was to get some family photos of the 4 of us, since it was very difficult to get all 4 of us in photos now. We had like 2 photos of all of us since Sara was born (her birthday and at the beach with a tripod). Plus, I wanted some of me with my kids, since I’m the one always taking the photos (on an aside – I’m trying to teach Lance how to shoot pictures with my camera, without using auto mode, maybe that is another good blog post someday!).

We met at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens and were supposed to meet at 9 am – except that it was pouring. So, we met later in the afternoon (thank goodness both our schedules worked out!). These photographs below are my FAVORITES of the session. Jamie had a twirling Tasmanian devil on her hands who seemed like he was hyped up on sugar (even though he wasn’t). He was just crazy full of energy, wouldn’t cooperate much, trying his parents patience to just get some gosh-darn family photos and was moving constantly. So, finally we decided to get some photos of me and Alex “racing”. Then, even though that was a fabulous idea, and worked like a charm, he was pretty much done not too long after that. So, we got a few of me and Sara, my baby girl, and we were done too.

I think there are some AMAZING photos that truly capture our personalities here, what do you think? I love the colors and the backdrop of the gardens. We had fun, even though our little Tasmanian devil was twirling our patience. I love that we will be taking family photos every year and remember how precious this time is.

I loved working with Jamie and can’t wait for next year already when Alex is 4-1/2 years old and Sara is 1-1/2 year old!

Snow day!

Alex’s day was filled with snow angels and sledding and playing outside with Daddy! So much fun, that bedtime came early tonight. Not even one book since he was too tired.

Snow flakes get caught on those long eyelashes too!

Inside, Sara and Mommy snuggled in the warmth and took some cute pictures!

But, then --- Sara got to put on her new snow suit and head outside to feel the snow first hand, her first time! She loved it! It is so cold out, last we checked it was 13 degrees F. So, we didn’t stay out long with Miss Sara. Next year, for sure!

Those photos reminded me of when Alex felt snow for the first time. (it obviously wasn’t that cold out back in 2007!)

And one more of Sara in her snow suit – just too cute!

She still sleeps like this

…And I love it!

In my head, it’s her saying “I’m guilty… of being too cute”

Sweet dreams, my dear

Weekend recap

So many fun pictures from this (and recent) weekend(s) – so I thought I just share them all!

My 2 “fighter-fighters”, as Alex calls them

Sara’s 7 month teddy bear picture – she’s getting so big! She’s like the size of a 1 year old, except she’s 7 months old. Lance weighed her Sunday and she’s 18.5 lbs. Seriously, the size of a 1 year old!

P.S. On the *verge* of crawling!