While I was blogging...

...this is what Hank was doing:

Never turn your back-haha

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus...

...and he's scary as hell!Here are the little ones after that traumatic experience...at least they got candy canes, right?! Hank didn't even have nightmares after this last Santa experience (I made him go twice in one day a few weeks ago...man, am I mean or what?!). After three Santa visits, it's obvious that we'll just have to wait a year (or more) until he can really enjoy Jolly Old Saint Nick. Until then, I have some very classic Santa pictures!

Sharing

Hank loves his stuffed animals, and this was the first time I saw him offering them something to eat...a sugar cookie!

He's officially a walker...watch out world!

He can walk and multi-task...usually I'll watch him walking down the hall playing the harmonica. So funny!

Sorry this is so dark...lighting, must work on lighting!

Things that make me laugh...

He LOVES that drum... Discovering a new drawer that he can pull things out of AND sit in!
I love that he'll just walk around wearing this...watch the video!A dragon, a princess, a duck, and a skunk...Halloween is the best!

I love morning hair...and that was AFTER the haircut!

Our little critter:

Pumpkins!

We headed to the pumpkin patch and had a great time finding our pumpkins...thanks to Auntie Dev, we had an extra hand to wrangle the little guy!

This melts me...

Haircuts are Fun!

The pictures pretty much speak for themselves. Hank started the day very happy, then we had to go and get his hair cut! The woman had obviously done this many times, because the crying didn't bother her a bit and she just kept on hacking away (there were some repairs that had to be made the next day). We had to stop her when she said she'd clean his neck and the sides with clippers...CLIPPERS? He's ONE, there's no need for clippers. Watch the video...you'll see why we stopped where we did (and you'll hear how supportive Bret was of the process)!
Poor guy - in the end, he looked quite handsome and now we look back at his pictures right before and giggle about how long his hair looked.

This scene happened within one minute of sitting in the VERY COOL fire truck...yeah, he saw through THAT right away. Not even a bucket-o-toys could help.

I guess it's hard to blame someone for a bad haircut when his hands pushed hers away every time she got close.

Oh yeah, real big tears...

This was a shot of the new haircut, taken just before he started to cry again-hehe. Was it the humiliation of wearing a zebra cape that got to him? Who knows...

And the video to document what a mean mom I am...

Saying Goodbye

In early October, we headed to the beach to spread Bret's grandpa's ashes into the waves at Tierra Del Mar (on the Oregon coast). It was a beautiful thing and we're so glad that we got to be there with the whole family to say our goodbyes - it's such a special place to the Ruds and Ewings and it felt right that he should be among such beauty.

The view from Grandpa Bill's Bench:

Otto's hotdogs...of course!

Discovering that sand is FUN!

A view from the neighbor's porch of the family cabin...the US and Norwegian flags are always the first things out to mark our arrival!

Bubbles!

Aunt Katie and Uncle Michael:

One Year Pictures!

Here are some of the keepers from Hank's one year photo shoot and also, the debut of his new shorter haircut (more on that to come...be ready to see one sad, sad baby). He started by being a little concerned by the new surroundings and was mesmerized by the lights, but he warmed up with a little peek-a-boo, and we were really happy with what we got! Now to find more wall space...
Our little guy in blue...

And one cheeseball family picture...by this time, Hank was pretty much done and I was sweaty from trying all I could to get him to smile and laugh!

Happy 1st Birthday, Hank!

Hank is ONE! Oh my, that year flew by! Here he is with his horse and then at his party (a cowboy theme for our little buckeroo). I'll post some party pictures later (because it was so much fun!), but for now...just the little guy!My homemade cut-up cake! I was so excited to find this design...I grew up with cut-up cakes at every birthday, and it's fun to carry on the tradition!

I love that his first reaction was to put his face in it...why not?!
He had no problem chowing down on it...the little man has come a long way since he first tried cake for his 7 month "birthday" and spit it out immediately!