pictures that will come in handy when Will applies for college

Will has family connections to a lot of different academic institutions. We maybe can get a leg up when he's applying for college if we can show he's been a fan of the school "since birth". We're planning on a similar strategy for Hallie.

Erin and I did our undergraduate work at the University of Iowa, where we swear our sports allegiance. Will loves watching the Hawkee-guys with us. We have lots of pictures to choose from here:

I have been a graduate student and tailgater at "Go Blue" for all of Will's life.

Whenever Will and Grandpa Mike get together, they talk a lot about the 'Huskers (he even told me to my face that his favorite football team was the Huskers this weekend, when Grandma and Grandpa were here visiting).

Also he is a huge fan of the University of Wisconsin, because Grandma & Grandpa Paul live in Madison and Aunt Sara graduated from UW. Also, Will likes schools that start with a "W".

These pictures, taken on Easter (yes, that's a frog Easter basket on his head) probably give him the best chance for being accepted at Wisconsin.

Hallie looks like her mama

Since Will was born, I have heard many people say how much he looks like me. Fortunately, Hallie looks more like Erin, maybe with a Ferrisized nose. Unfortunately, she also got my monster big toes.

Thanks to Grandma Brenda for providing these pictures!

Baby Hallie

Baby Erin

rainy season

Combining Will's interest in splashing in the rain with firetrucks, here is the official unveiling of the firetruck boots. These pictures were taken the night that the boots and umbrella arrived in the mail, and it is a treat for Will to get to wear them outside, which he has gotten to do often lately since it has rained a lot. The firetruck boots are fast and splash well, just like the trucks.

Will's first piano lesson

Will is quite musical - surf through the history of blog posts on the left side of this page and you will find several that support this claim. Too many for me to link here. Well, there's this one.

Anyway, this is a lost video from about a month and a half ago. He's still practicing this first lesson.

Hallie comes home

We came home from the hospital on Easter Sunday. Here are a few pictures from that day, and a few more from this week.

Will introduced her to the baby swing, and rocked her for a little while to comfort her. He also let her snuggle with Roar, which I think was about the nicest gesture he could have done.

The bouncy chair has been very useful this week. Here she is taking a nap, and Will decided he would help by feeding her the bottle that goes with his baby.

I'm very proud of Will - we can tell having the new baby around sucking up everyone's attention is tough for him. But he's been very sweet to his baby sister.

One night, instead of having me read him his bedtime story, he wanted to read a story to Hallie.

Here big brother Will is helping Hallie calm down by letting her suck on his pinky finger.

Hallie's life thus far has been about 95% a combination of sleeping, screaming while she gets her diaper changed, and eating. But more and more she's having moments of eyes-wide-open-looking-around time.

This picture of baby Will is one of my favorites. Hallie was a good sport for the nose-sucking pose.

I guess this could be considered Hallie's first bath picture, since it was her first at home. She technically had her first bath at the hospital. She was as happy as she looks to get nice and clean. Will wasn't a big fan of his first bath either.

Easter eggs

While Erin and Hallie and I were in the hospital, Will and Grandma and Grandpa died Easter eggs. It was apparently a fun, messy time.

Hallie at the hospital

Here's a short montage of the videos I took at the hospital.



We're taking lots of pictures and videos, will keep them coming.

Hello Hallie

As promised, here are some pictures of our new baby, who was born yesterday. We're doing very well at the hospital and should be heading home tomorrow on schedule. These pics are some of the better ones, although other than being a brand new baby, I don't think Hallie is very photogenic yet since she spends most of her time with her eyes pinched tightly shut and crying. If you aren't satisfied, there are more pics on my picasa site here.

Here's the very first picture of Hallie with mom, while we're still in the OR.




I really think there's some similarities to Will, but with passing time she looks more and more like her own person. Also she looks more and more like a baby instead of a raisin.






This picture in particular reminded me of baby Will.




The pinky method works well to calm down a mad Hallie, just as it did for Will.




Today she started opening her eyes and looking around a bit more. For the picture on the left, I am reminded of this one when we were in the hospital after Will was born.




Yesterday afternoon and today Grandma and Grandpa and big brother Will came to visit. Will was a very good boy in his visits and is excited to be a big brother for "baby Hah-yeee". He gave her lots of hugs and kisses, and with each visit he has brought her presents (a stuffed baby seal and a blanket thing that's a monkey version of Roar).