6 Months

Where does the time go? I know everyone says it, but really... 6 months already!
I am LOVING having this little guy around! He has turned into the happiest baby ever. He will smile all day long at anyone who talks to him. He LOVES his dad and smiles the second he walks in the door at night. All his babbling is Da-da-da and Bryce swears he's calling him that.
He is so loved by his two older brothers and they are both so good with him.
Why did I wait so long for another precious baby? Why did I think this was going to be so hard when we found out we were expecting?... okay, it is hard, but SO worth it!

I am having SO much fun learning how to finally use my camera! These are some pics I took of Brady for his 6 month shoot and I think they turned out great for an amateur. It's fun to play around with the editing as well and see what different looks you can come up with. I can spend HOURS on my computer playing around with these pictures so here are a few different looks that I kind of liked.

BRADY...


A few weeks ago I gave him one of these just to see what he would do with it
(He refused one for the first two months of life)
He loves it now and I am so grateful! It makes things a lot easier.
He still loves his fingers and thumb though...

Can't get enough of him and EVERYONE thinks he looks so
much like big brother Chase...
We think so too.

"Hope for Haiti"

A few weeks ago Landon got to participate in the "Hope for Haiti" 3 on 3 tournament. All proceeds went to the Red Cross so we thought it would be a great opportunity to participate in a good cause and play some basketball with some great friends.
Landon played with some of his best buddies from school and Bryce ended up being their coach for the afternoon. They called themselves "Team Blackout" and all wore black shirts.
They played all teams made up of first and second graders and I can't believe how tall some of those kids are at that age! They won their first game, but lost the second... so sad. If that loss was any indication of many more losses to come than Landon has a lot to learn about loosing. He doesn't take it very well, but quickly got right back into it for his other games.
They had to play one team that was so much taller than them 3 times to make it the championship! Who did they have to play in the championship?... the only team they had lost to. Of course!
Both teams had 4 players so instead of subbing in and out all 4 team members from each team played. It was such a close game and at the end it came down to a tie! They had to go into a sudden death, first team to score wins, tie breaker!
Team Blackout won the coin toss and received the ball first...
Landon was passed the ball and went for an outside shot...
And it went in!!!
We were all so excited and if this small tournament was any indication of me as a mother watching her boys play basketball... I'm going to be psycho! I had so much fun watching Lando and his team play and I was so nervous for them, but ex-tactic that they won!

The first huddle as a team and their coach

This was not the game winner, but his favorite shot none the less!

Aren't they all so dang cute!

5 Months

... and loving solids!

Christmas...

I LOVE being in my own home for Christmas and just enjoying the day! I realized after all the presents were open and I had cleaned up most of the chaos that I didn't take any pictures of our kids opening their gifts. Then I realized it didn't matter because I just sat back with my baby in my lap and loved every minute of it.

It also could have been the lack of sleep from the night before...

The second Bryce and I finished with the gifts under the tree at around midnight Landon comes up the stairs wanting to check it all out. He was SO excited the kid couldn't contain it! We quickly sent him back to bed and told him to stay there... he didn't.

I heard something around 1:30 a.m. downstairs and quickly realized what it was. I looked over and saw Landon moving from the couch to the tree scoping out all the presents. Back and forth he went trying to control himself from touching everything. I told him to go back to bed, but do you think he did?... NO!

He probably came up into our room at least once every hour asking if he could open his presents and each time we told him to GO BACK TO BED!

Then at around 3:30 he brought a side kick along with him to join in our torment. Now we have Landon and Chase in our room every half hour begging to open their gifts. At 4:00 Bryce wanted to throw in the towel and get it over with, but I REFUSE to give in and get up. By this time Landon and Chase have grouped every present under the tree and organized them for each person. I have never seen two kids more excited. We FINALLY got up around 6:00 and started the festivities. No pictures of the tree, none of the kids coming down the stairs waiting anxiously, none of them opening that favorite thing they asked for, but it was a great day anyway!

... and who slept peacefully through the entire night...

BRADY!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

A picture is worth a thousand words...

... Iowa winter's are the worst!

4 Months

Long Drive Home

It was a fun filled two weeks home.

One plane ride to Chicago followed by a three hour drive home to Iowa...

...I think everyone had a great time, but we were tired!

I think next time we should take a few days vacation from our vacation!

Hangin' with Papa Tom

Yes, we did go to the Dinosaur Museum again while we were home.

It is Chase's favorite thing about going home to Utah, but I think there are enough pictures of that on our blog. I don't think any of you even need to go... just look at all of our pictures from our many visits.

I do have one from when we went to the Bean Museum with my dad. The kids LOVE this place and I had never been. It was just nice to spend some time with my fam and my dad all in the same afternoon.

Brady even enjoyed himself.

Landon's Baptism & Brady's Blessing

My baby got Baptized!!!
We were home over Thanksgiving and thought it would be a good time to bless Brady and Baptize Landon with all of our family. It was such a special day! Bryce baptized Landon and blessed our little guy all in the same morning. It was such an amazing day and I'm so glad we waited so all of our family could be there to share it with us.
Landon was so excited and he was lucky enough to share his baptism day with his cousin Sydney. The two of them were so dang cute! I don't think the day could have been any better.

The brothers that could be twins...
Sydney and Landon with their dad's before the big event.

Haslem Christmas Party

The Haslem Christmas Party...

1. Play and Watch a LOT of football.

2. Beat the heck out of a pinata.

3. Grab as much candy as you can.

4. Make gingerbread houses with all the cousins.

Happy Holidays!!!

If I had the energy to do a Christmas card this year this would have been the pic to go with it, but since I don't...
Happy Holidays From the Haslem's!

(I will try and update from our trip home soon... to busy and to tired, but just because I love it so much
here is one more for your viewing pleasure )

3 Little Hawkeyes

3 Months Old Already!

Flag Football 09'

Landon LOVES football! He has so much fun playing this year on the "Raiders". It took a few games for him to get over the fact that he wasn't playing with kids that he knew, but quickly grew more aggressive as Bryce "encouraged" him with football cards for pulling at least 5 flags in a game. Let's just say Landon has quite the collection of football cards after this season.

Halloween 09'

Halloween was a hit this year... My kids got to be what they wanted and between the trunk r' treat and going to houses for a couple hours they got a TON of candy!

All my boys wore this costume at this exact age
(seeing as how they were all born in July or August)
They all look SO much alike too... maybe I'll post some later to compare.

Chase's Class
There were a couple really creative costumes in his class this year.
A Humpty Dumpty, and a Tree... I'm sure you can pick them out. CUTE!

These are the boys out with their friends.
Landon was Obi Wan Kenobi and Chase was Anikan one day and Jengo Fett another.
We're really into Star Wars here if you couldn't tell.
I tried to get Brady an infant Darth Vader costume, but when it came down to it I didn't want to spend the money... maybe next year, that would be cute!

Carving Pumpkins

I put off carving pumpkins this year until the night before Halloween. I was trying to get away without doing it at all, but Chase had been BEGGING for weeks to do them so Bryce was finally home one night and we stayed up past bed time to let the kids have some fun.
Don't they look like they're having fun?

It was SO cold outside by the time we put the pumpkins out,
but we had to have a picture of all their hard work.

Picking Pumpkins

We found a great place to pick pumpkins this year. It had a small corn maze that the boys LOVED with some trick mirrors and few other fun things for them to do.
It was a great night to spend with the family since those nights don't seem to happen all that much with Bryce working so much.
I love just spending fun family time with ALL my boys!

What did we ever do without him?

Family in Illinois...

Last weekend my dad and my brother Keith took a trip out to see his folks in Illinois and we were lucky enough to be invited. I love being able to see my family, I will do so any chance I get. It was going to be my first road trip by myself with all three kids, but Bryce was able to come last minute... whew!
It also happened to be my mom's dad's 91st birthday while we were there! We took him an ice cream cake and some hard candy to celebrate.
The boys of course went golfing, even though it was only 45 degrees and my Nana and I took the boys to "Where the Wild Things Are" (Not recommended!)
My dad's dad also has a birthday this month so we took the time to celebrate that while we were there. We had a great weekend!
I miss my family!

91!

Landon LOVES showing anyone who will pay attention his football card collection.
My Grandpa loved talking football with him... it was so cute!

The Whole Gang!
(minus Bryce who was nice enough to take the picture)

Love these People!

Who's Kid is he Anyway?...

I have nothing to say about this picture...

I can't get him to take the bink.... he prefers this instead.