circle of friends

there is a sort of comfort that comes with being surrounded by good friends. knowing that you can drop your bags in an empty guest room and proceed to take over their house with loads of books, little people, sippy cups, bibs, and mismatched socks warms my heart.

this year's annual superbowl soiree was held in west bend. it was our first official road trip with a potty-trained two year old. frightening, you say? perhaps. but somehow we escaped the four hour trek with just two stops. one in a restaurant and the other on the side of the road...in sub-zero temps...at 10:30pm. a mad-dash to the nearest rinky-dink county road, some yellow snow, and a 10-minute detour to go back to scrape Super Why! off of the icy road later...we were on the home stretch to casa de bansemar.

his newest fake smile face - love it!

we spent the better part of saturday morning venturing to the Betty Brinn Children's Museum in milwaukee and meeting up with the maio family. the kids had a blast! henry was in a "I-have-a-fever" funk (more on that later), but managed to eek out a smile or two.

the wheels on the bus...

pretty little alana

one of the few smiles from henry-bug that day. curses molars, curses!

trying to figure out the conveyor belt

ethan: future foreman

you might want to count your change...I'm just sayin'

harms family morning show

an all bread sandwich for GG and an all meat treat for ethan

my little momma's boy

good to see that he's already taking time to read the labels

henry and the guys

we wrapped up our little field trip with lunch at the maio's. a special thank you to matt and sarah for the classy dining experience. seeing as though you were days away from moving to a new house, we'll let it slide this time.

the maios joined us in the WB on saturday and sunday nights and all six of the little kidlets amazingly got along and there were few (if any) tears over who was playing with whose toys. just give that a few more months, right?

"you're FUNNY uncle matt!"

every kid loves the tiny dvd player

super ethan [cape compliments of pip and bean]

nice, matt.

story time with uncle shawn...who'da thunk?

the "big kids" - ethan, miles, and genevieve

we woke up to a fresh dusting of snow on sunday, so we hauled the babies outside for a sled ride. don't alana and addison totally remind you of ralphie from a christmas story? so cute!

mush, miles...mush!

game night was in a class by itself...at least for mr. maio. to quote chanandler bong, "could he BE any more excited?" and, although humerous, we had all seen enough of the "championship belt" dance to last a lifetime. in case you're wondering, our family owns little (if any) MN Vikings gear so you can bet that we did not bust out any green and gold for the pack. we were, however, good sports and tried to be as supportive as possible...for the fans' sake!

bellied up to the bar...my favorite spot as well!

go vik...er...I mean, go packers!

a toddler's attention span to sit and watch football is far shorter than an attention span for signing time

the black eyed peas will be ringing geeg for a backup dancer gig any day now

this circle of friends we have made is strong. despite the hundreds of miles that separates us, we can always count on one another to be there for the highs and lows of life. our circle has grown and that makes me smile. so far the adult to child ratio {4:3} is still in favor of the grown-ups, but I'm certain we will be out-numbered shortly.

addison (16 mo), miles (2 3/4 yrs), geeg (a.k.a. genevieve - 2 1/2 yrs), alana (16 mo), henry (12 mo), ethan (3 yrs)

celebrating buggy

the day he was born was perfect and it went the way we had planned. of course, a c-section was never really the way I had dreamt of having babies, but it's the reality for me and I'm ok with it. our ultimate goal was accomplished and we were holding our precious newborn son before noon on january 26th, 2010 (as seen here). so as his first birthday approached, I will admit that I was overwhelmed by the feeling of "where did that year go?" I just couldn't grasp it.

I took time to go back through pictures and remember the "henry moments." what a beautiful addition to our family. he was the puzzle piece we didn't know was missing. our family grew and we are better for it.

henry is funny, charming, lovable, daring, wild, loud, brave, silly, sweet, smart, happy, and precious. he loves to talk and to sign new words. he's always carrying around a ball and loves to climb on anything. if he hears a tune he will be the first to start dancing. his crazy hair is the perfect complement to his personality. our buggy is just that...ours. and we love him to pieces.

the party was planned for the weekend, but we didn't want to let his real birthday go by unnoticed. so on wednesday night we pow-wowed at a local pizza joint and invited family and friends to join us. a special thanks to those of you who braved the arctic chill to celebrate little henny-bug.

when it came time to celebrate his magical first year, we decided to do it up right. we surrounded ourselves with family and kept the party small. good thing, given the fact that my go-to location for birthday parties at our house (a.k.a. the garage/driveway) is buried under feet of snow and we live in a cracker-box.

our bug theme was a given. after all, henry has been nicknamed "buggy" for quite some time. and boy does he live up to that name - he's cute as a bug, but can definitely be a bugger at times! oh, how we love him!

one year olds are oblivious to the concept of gifts. two year old brothers, however, are fully aware. miles took it upon himself to open nearly every one of henry's gifts and cousin josiah took one for the team and joined in. now that the party is over, we are once again left with piles of wonderful new items to find homes for. in with the new - out with the old. for now though, everything is still plopped on the living room floor, because we love the new toys and (let's be honest) we've all got a case of cabin fever that seems to be cured with the addition of new entertainment!

the cake was definitely not love at first sight for this little bug.

after he got acquainted with the chocolate cake for a short time, he changed his mind and started digging. after all, he is part of our family...cake eating is a pre-requisite.

we are blessed to have our entire family all living within the limits of the same city. we know that the greatest gift we can give our children is that of a loving, supportive family. it is clear that our boys are loved - and we are most grateful for that.

the first year flew by and, as each day passes, I make a point to remember something special he did or something new that I noticed about him.  some may call me crazy, but I also take time to write my thoughts down in a calendar for each of the boys. they are growing up too fast, but I'm determined to remember every stage. kyle and I are so proud of who they are and marvel at the two gifts that we have been given.

happy birthday henry-bug. you are so loved.

BONUS: I couldn't leave out this precious moment caught on camera. miles loves his baby owl. sweet little callan is precious and he makes us all realize even more how fast our babies are growing up. don't you just want to eat him up? love him.