Christmas Weekend

Sorry for the lack of blogging! Lazy week...here are some of our pics from our weekend of Christmas celebrations!

Hannah and Lucas unwrapping as fast as they can!

Two little pampered Chefs!

Miss Lilly with her new phone and mommys new purse! Ready to go shopping...
...or the purse also doubles as a seat!

Starting a new tradition...Making a Gingerbread house with Gram! Yummy!

Miss Lilly decked out for Christmas Eve with her 2nd cousin Olivia.

Well, I think we covered all of the "family spots" the weekend before Christmas. First to my little sisters for Friday night, then my big sister's house for Bishop Christmas on Saturday. Then we headed to Tim's parents and had the Hess Christmas Monday morning and then headed to Decatur to catch the rest of the Hess' for Christmas Eve. Then we headed home before Santa was going to show up, got the kids in bed, finished wrapping presents, got ourselves in bed and you will have to check the next blog for the rest of the story!

Merry Christmas!!

Well, if you haven't gotten our Christmas card yet, it is on the way and this is the pic that made the cut!

And here is a One Year picture of Miss Lilly too!

Hope everyones Holidays are filled with Family, friends and lots of love! Remember that Jesus is the Reason for the Season and He is watching over you always.

Merry Christmas from the Hess'!

Misc great pictures from 2007

Below are some great pics from the past few months...

Probably need to get this kid into gymnastics...he does this on the couch about 20 times a day and he is also a climber...
which is where his little sister has learned her scaling techniques.
(Must be something good on that top shelf!)

Asleep in her booster...classic kid picture.

Ahhh..open mouth baby kisses for her daddy.

Both look like they are concentrating very hard...they must be determined not to have any cavities! (or they just like the taste of toothpaste!)

This is about the extent of the doll playing for now...man those toes taste yummy!

Hess Winter Wonderland

The view out my office window.
A close up view of our backyard tree.

The view from my kitchen window.

And even the pergola is pretty after a snow storm.

Girls Night!

Last night my work girlfriends had our little Christmas exchange.

Good food, good friends, good drinks, good times!

There are typically 8 of us, but Nola and Piper wanted to be included in Girls night picture too! How do we all know eachother you ask? We are all somehow linked back to the Architecture Firm I use to work at. And now, even though everyones situation with work is different, it is the best network of designers I think I will ever meet!

Up North

Last week the kids and I headed up to my sisters houses for a few days. Below are some pics of Hannah Banana and Lucas romping in the snow! Their faces were so red just after 15 minutes!

Come and get me Lucas!

My turn to get you!
And here is Miss Allie already sitting up by herself!
It was great to catch up with my sisters and see my growing neices! See you in a few weeks for Christmas ladies!

The Finished Product...

Well, a few of you asked to see the final product, and I figured since I don't think anyone will even be here before it all comes down I might as well blog some of our Christmas decor! I don't have a pic of the lights outside, but Tim strung lights around the front perimeter and it looks cool. (I will try to add one later)

Here are our stockings waiting for Santa to come down the chimney...maybe we should take the child safety lock off so he can get in!

And here is our tree a few broken bulbs later. There is a little story about the red and white beads that we have on our tree. These were given to us by Tim's Grandma (who Lilly is named after). She strung them herself and said she use to hang them on her tree a long time ago. She passed away a few years ago and we miss her very much. She got to see Lucas walk right before she passed away and it is sad that Lilly won't know her Baba (Russian for grandmother) through more than pictures. Although the holidays can seem tough without those that you love, it is also a great time to recall memories of the times you did have together. I know that our grandparents and aunts and uncles that have passed are watching over us each day.

Trimming of the Tree

Close your eyes and imagine...Soft Christmas music playing, the smell of a roaring fire in the fireplace, twinkling Christmas lights, crunching of homemade carmel corn and two kids filled with excitement that Christmas is coming...

Putting up the Star...

Calling Gram to tell her about the roaring fire...

Decorating the tree...(both of them LOVED this part)

and two elves helping get everything out of the magical bins.

...it may not have been quite so serene as described. But we had alot of fun watching the kids excitement. Lucas telling daddy to dance to the music and Lilly showing off her moves. A couple glass ornaments getting crashed together and jingle bells being shook. A night full of giggling and "daddy daddy look!" And then to awake to a blanket of snow!! Wow! Lucas thought that was the best and wanted to go play in it right away..."No Lucas it is only 5:45 am!!" Hope everyone has their trees up and had as much fun as we did.

Purdue Christmas

We got together with our group of Purdue friends (Six couples) yesterday for our Christmas Festivities. It was especially great b/c the Stamms got to join us who live out in Illinois. Below is a picture of all the kids minus Samantha who was sleeping. Everyone is up to two kids now...one still in a belly. The love just keeps growing!

Out of the 20 pics I took of this shot, this is the best shot b/c you can actually see everyones faces. I am suprised we even got them to sit still this long.
Had to show the newest addittion- held by the proud big sister!

Heres the kids table...they actually stopped playing to eat a little.

Heres the studly daddys of the kid bunch.

And here are the women that try to hold everything together. We love that the holidays give us an excuse to get everyone together (and the kids love the gift exchange). A tradition we look forward to for a long time! Thanks for amazing friends!

Throwback Thursday

Well since we had the flu most of Thanksgiving weekend, I don't have any new pics to post so thought I would copy off my friend Emily and do a "Throwback Thursday." Now I know it is still November, but if you haven't gotten into the Christmas spirit yet...why not?? I am trying to get some new pics of the kids for the Christmas card this year and am not having much luck, so I was going through some old pics this morning and thought it might be fun to look at how much things can change in three years!

Christmas 2006. Last year I feel like I had two babies and this year I feel like I have two toddlers who are into everything.
Christmas 2005, one kid...things were a little easier back then.

Christmas 2004...Little did we know we would have Lucas less than two weeks from this moment (he was 3-1/2 weeks early). We were oblivious to the impact that children would have on our lives. It has been an amazing journey so far, can't wait to see where life takes us next.

(Hopefully not back to these fat people in the picture).

Many reasons to be Thankful...

First of all I am thankful for my family and friends. God has surrounded us with such a loving and caring group of people that it astounds me. I am so lucky to have so many people that love me. My parents are wonderful and my mom helps me out at least once a week watching the kids while I go to meetings. And while she is here she is always folding laundry or emptying the dishwasher...thanks for the extras mom! I also have amazing in-laws that love and support us (and from the stories I have heard, I guess that is hard to find). Our brothers and sisters are incredible- we can always be real and have a good time. I wish we got to see them more often!! And the group of friends that God has placed in our lives truly amazes me. Thanks for always listening and caring about me so much, I hope I do the same!

Of course I am most thankful for my husband and two kids. My favorite times are spent with them just hanging out doing fun, simple things. These pics are from last weekend while we raked leaves in our backyard.I am thankful for Lucas and his playful nature. He is a handful at times, but his energy can be contagious and his hugs melt my heart! I am thankful that Tim is such an incredible dad and husband. I am truly blessed to have such a great man in my life, sometimes I can take that for granted.

I am thankful for Lilly and her beautiful smile. Her giggles will make anyone laugh and her snuggles are the best!

God has really blessed us with amazing kids. Thanks to everyone who is a part of our lives, whether we see you often or not, you have all touched our heart and we love sharing our blog with you! Hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving!! Don't forget to give thanks to the ONE who has given you all that you have.

Two more new babies...

Two of my girlfriends had their babies this past week and we now have a handsome little boy and beautiful baby girl to add to the kid collection.

This is Braden Patrick Maple who was born on

Nov. 10th at 7lbs. 4-1/2oz. and 19-1/2"long.

Congrats to Mommy Meghan, Daddy Matt, and big sister Aly!!This is Mary Evelyn Hitch who was born on

November 15th at 6lbs 2oz and 20"long.

Congrats to Mommy Christi and Daddy Mitch!!

We are so thankful that everyone is healthy and happy. Just got to meet Mr Braden on Saturday and hopefully get to meet Miss Mary Evelyn next week! Too bad they don't get to eat turkey yet!!

The Daily Challenge:

Feed Lilly three meals and still keep her clean.

This is Lilly eating her favorite food...spaghetti! She loves to eat but always seems to make such a mess of the kitchen and herself!
She also loves to share...that can be interesting.

This is after she took her Maccaroni and cheese plate and rubbed it on her head!

So, if it isn't bath night she will get a pretty good wash down in the sink. Luckily for us she likes baths as much as she likes food...if not more. Silly Lilly.