Brothers of the heart...

Nathan & Drew happy as can be, brothers of the heart we'll always be; We thought life with us together was great, and now we have our sister Hannah to celebrate.

Mommy with her babies.


It's funny how capturing these moments makes the frustrations of the little things during the day seem so insignificant.
Yes, the days are long, the words are sometimes short, the meals are cold, but those smiles, laughs, and hugs are so warm and sweet.


 

Parenting in these "birth years" (0-5) is definitely the most difficult, but also very rewarding when the evidence of previous teachings appear.

We just have to remember those small nuggets and keep perservering.

What are three of Mommy's favorite things?

Baking a birthday cake with Nathan on Christmas eve.

Hannah - almost 6 weeks old (below)














and new books for the boys (thank you Maga!) Richard Scarry is one of the BEST!

Good Morning...

Two fingers, two blankets, two bears. This is Drew waking up on Christmas morning. Christy ran downstairs and grabbed the camera and captured this sweet moment.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Family & Friends!
Love Paul, Christy, Nathan, Drew, & Hannah

One month... and counting

Our sweet little Hannah has just celebrated one month here... can you tell she's enjoying life? Oh, the joys of being a newborn. Pampered all day long, held, fed, rocked, kissed, wiped, fed, burped, held, sleep, fed, held, sleep...

She may be our best sleeper of the three (the boys are great sleepers) since she has lots of banging, sirens, crashing, beeping, growling, laughing, noises constantly in the background from her brothers.

We are very thankful & blessed to have such an easy going little girl.

The gift that keeps on giving... and Advent

Thanks to a wonderul Maga, who gave the train table to Nathan (family) 2 years ago, Drew (21 months) is now enjoying the table alongside his big brother. Engineers in the making.

As we eagerly await the return of Jesus, we share in the Advent and teach the boys of the time of our Savior's birth. It's wonderfully exciting to share the experience of opening the tiny numbered boxes each day to be surprised with who arrives at the manger scene. We alternate days, and of course each one asks (or points) multiple times to open the Advent calendar.

Smile, or sleep tight...

Two weeks. Happy baby.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Hannah 8 days (Hannah's 1st tummy time) & 9 days old.

Decorating our tree,

blanket time for the boys.

Pretty in Pink on T-day

7 days old. Happy Thanksgiving sweet pretty in pink baby girl.

Hannah - first week on earth

Daddy time - sweet baby girl (3 days)
4 days,
5 days,
6 days.

... pattern developing.

Welcome Hannah Marie Haynes - November 19, 2009

Leaving the hospital - 2 days old.

Mommy is so beautiful, and a pro!

2 days old, we're home (cute new hat).

3 days old, first bath, still fresh brand new baby scent.

Happy Fall - Oct 2009

Pumpkin Harvest Family Fun on the Kinsey Family Farm - October 10, 2009. Maga (Judy) joined us as we took a hay ride, sat on a tractor, and picked a few pumpkins for our house.

 















Backyard leaf piles.

Sweet Drew Bear (20 months)

30 weeks

Taken Sept 12 - Due Dec 1, progressing along.

25 weeks...

That's right, our third baby is on the way. Due date is set for December 1, 2009. My guess is that we'll probably be eating a plate of turkey & dressing in the hospital since Thanksgiving falls on Nov 26 this year.

Oh yeah, we're having a GIRL this time. ;-) Woo hoo!

Sunflowers are a summer tradition

If you have not personally experienced or seen how amazing this annual phenomenon is, please read on...

From a teeny, tiny, super small seed, comes one of the largest (commonly 8-12 feet) flowers grown. Some fertile soil, sun, water & mulch - very easy to grow. Seeds are used to eat or pressed for oil, Kansas state flower, subject of Van Gogh, genus Helianthus, annual staple in our family garden, etc.

Nathan (& daddy) loosely planted about 15 seeds, 3 made it a few inches high, and this one beat out the rest and became our specimen in just about 10-12 weeks.

Nathan is very proud of his sunflower and how big it has grown.
Check back for a follow up with more blooms that are currently budding.

We're still enjoying the summer, sandbox, water table, pool, etc.

See you soon...

Future Telecommuter

No, this is not a new eTrade commercial about online stock trades, however it is our Drew bear making his way through some of his favorite letters on Starfall.

18 months, and into everything! Can you relate?
He's so sweet & adorable, which totally trumps his strong willed determination to get his way at all costs!

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

Thanks for allowing us to celebrate another wonderful year with you!

Drew turns 1

Drew turned 1 year on March 4 so we can proudly say (for about 12 weeks) that we have a one & a two year old. Thanks for keeping in touch through updates (few & far between). Drop us a line, or call so we can get together this year.