Sleeping together

Two big things happened last week...we moved Jonas in to Max's bedroom and we raised Max's bed. I was a little hesitant about both things but Thomas assured me they would be fine. I thought Max was too young to have a bed with a ladder but he absolutely loves it! I also thought Jonas would wake up Max if he cried in the middle of the night but(knock on wood) so far so good. As much as I hate to admit it, Thomas was right about both things!

Visiting Bedstemor and Bedstefar

We had a great time visiting Bedstemor and Bedstefar-as always! Max loves to help whenever he can so he sat on Bedstefar's lap and helped with the potatoes. Bestefar peeled them and Max put them in the pot of water.

We've had so much snow in Denmark(and it's still coming). Max and Far(Dad) helped Bedstefar shovel his driveway.

What a Grandma!

I am lucky in so many ways. A great husband, 2 beautiful healthy children and a wonderful life. But I am also extremely lucky to have the mother(and father) I have. When Jonas was born, Mom spent 3 weeks here in Denmark to help us. She cooked, cleaned, helped with the kids and kept me sane! She spent many hours rocking Jonas to sleep(and herself at times:) ). So, when we decided to make the trip over for Christmas, Thomas could only stay 2 weeks(poor guy) and I wanted to stay longer. Being the very giving person that Mom is, she offered to fly back with me so I could stay a month. She stayed 10 days and again was a HUGE help! Mom, I will never be able to "pay you back" for all that you've done for me. You are the most unselfish person I know because you never stop giving to me and my family even if it means leaving Dad for a week or 2. You always put me(and Dad, Chad and my family) first before you think of yourself. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I LOVE YOU MORE!!!!!! Grandma has a special way of rocking Jonas. He cuddles up to her and is out like a light!

Here's Grandma and Jonas when he was a newborn.

Oops! Grandma rocked herself to sleep as well!

Bedtime twins

I must say that I love having 2 boys so close in age. Sure, it can be tough sometimes but overall it's great. I have faith that they will be good buddies when they are a little older(maybe when they learn how to share!). I think it's fun dressing them alike sometimes. Here they are in their matching pajamas. Jonas is learning how to wave and he does it randomly.

A little weird lighting on this one.

Max is so good at giving hugs(and kisses!).

The trip home from Florida

The trip home was great thanks to Grandma being there to help! We had 6 suitcases, 3 carry-ons and 2 strollers! The Customer Representative at Delta was wonderful and took care of all the baggage and checked us in within a short time. And, miraculously, everything made it to Denmark. Although we had a 2 1/2 hour delay, the boys went right to sleep as soon as we took off and slept the entire flight(Jonas woke up a few times). Wish I could say the same for Grandma and me! I'm happy to say we didn't have any orange juice spills! This is during boarding. Max is geting ready to come and take the camera from me. He's developed an interest in taking pictures.

Grandma and Jonas(Max's first picture with my help)

Grandma trying to keep Jonas in one place. Max took this without a lot of help.

Trying to control Jonas is not so easy! Max took this picture without help.

I love this picture of Jonas because you can really see his dimple. I think I was trying to get the camera away from Max so maybe those are my fingers!

Grandpa and his boy!

Max and Grandpa have had a special connection from the start. When Max was a baby he always wanted to go to Grandpa and now he loves to go places with Grandpa. After our month at Grandpa and Grandma's they really bonded...especially while eating chips! Grandpa and Max sharing their chips. Grandpa taught Max to say, " I want chips!" and bang his fist in the air. We've finally convinced him that he can only do that when he's with Grandpa :)

Max loved to sit with Grandpa(or Grandma) for a few minutes before he went to bed. He'd cuddle up with them and get cozy.

Some random pictures from Grandpa and Grandma's

Max in Grandma's Crocs and Jonas watching everything that Max does!

The Max!

Jonas during feeding time-more on his face than in his mouth!

Jonas wearing Grandpa's hat.

The Bendixen boys(sans Basso)

Thomas is always finding new, fun things to do with the boys. Here he is carrying the boys around in a Lego box. Two little butts in a box! I love these 3 people so much! They mean more to me than they will ever know!

Atlanta to see the Hayneses and the Hoags

Along with going to the east coast of Florida, we also went to Atlanta. We had originally planned on driving up there but then realized that would be crazy with 2 little boys who, I'm sure, would not enjoy being in their carseats for 8 hours! So we flew up! It was great to see both families and introduce our kids to each other. We brought in the New Year with John, Beth, Erik, Ali and Jonas. He was the only child that wanted to bring in the New Year awake! Thank you, John and Beth, for your wonderful hospitality! We are already looking forward to next year! Trying to get all the kids to pose for a picture was a bit chaotic. The age range was from 8 months to 4 years. From left to right, Matt Hoag(4), Katie Hoag(9 1/2months), Brynn Haynes(8 1/2 months), Max (2), Nora Haynes(2) and Jonas(8 months).

Jonas' girlfriend, Brynn, is such a cutie!

I think Brynn is eyeing Jonas' hat.

It was game day when we were there. Bobby Bowden's last game. The 3 oldest were ready in their FSU gear! Go Noles!

We bravely took all the kids to the Atlanta Aquarium. It was exciting for the kids and the adults!

Erik was helping Max see the sting ray and sharks.

These are 2 of the reasons why I won't go in the ocean...the shark at the top of the picture and the sting ray!

The beach at sunset

I'm still working on getting all our pictures on from our trip to the states. These are pictures from the sunset at Venice Beach. A nice old man asked us if we'd like him to take a family picture. We said that would be great. He told us that every evening at sunset he comes to the beach and takes pictures of families with their cameras. He said it was his way of paying it forward for being so lucky to live in such a great place. If only everyone was this nice!

Max loves to blow bubbles.

He's pretty good at it but he usually ends up pouring most of the bubbles out because he doesn't pay attention to what he is doing.