Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Welcome to our family blog! We've decided to "go green" this year and wrap up the year with our blog and lots of pictures along the way! We will do a "2011 in Review." Follow along as I explain month by month...

January--

This year the boys made tremendous progress closing the gaps on their adjusted age from prematurity. They both have reached their developmental milestones for age and are even with their peers in weight, length,and head circumference. We have been cleared from Pulmonary and Cardiology standpoints with Nathan. It is such a blessing that they have come along so nicely. We thank God daily for our healthy boys today despite the bumps along the way and such a rough beginning.

In January, they were 8 months old.
They stayed busy with plenty of floor time and various small toys they could play with. They were eating solids and already starting to play together to keep one another entertained. Any car trip was a good hour to hour and half in preparation! Let's just say we didn't go very many places the first year...

February--

The boys were doing army crawl at this point and very slow with their movements. It was a nice time as we didn't have to worry about them going too far and cute to watch. Little did we know that the fun was just about to start....

March--

Erika, Kris's sister, had been our nanny for 6 months and left us to pursue her dream of mission work. She was chosen to work in Thailand for 18 months. We hired a new nanny, Cheri, who was been wonderful with the boys. As you can see above, this was the boys' first attempt at pudding painting with her!!

April---

We moved in April from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin to Madison. We quickly realized our beautiful condo was a little tight for the 4 of us! So, across town we went. The change in seasons also allowed us to get some time at the local parks playing on swings and getting some fresh air!

May--

May was a very busy month for us. First up, was the boys' birthday celebration! Their 1 year birthday was celebrated in Ephraim, Wisconsin a.k.a. Door County. They enjoyed eating cupcakes and icecream--what a treat! The Hagmans have more than 150 years in Door County and it was great to have 4 generations of Hagman males there!.

Kris and I ran in the Door County 1/2 Marathon and Nicollet Bay 5k race(well, I did the 1/2 and Kris did the 5k). I placed in the top 15 female finishers; Kris was happy to finish...

We got the boys a bike trailer so they could tag along with us on bike rides around the Madison lakes and trails. They really enjoyed the speed of the bike trailer and people watching!

June/July/August--

This summer the boys enjoyed playing in their swing, outdoors in the grass, tasting, playing, throwing rocks, and enjoyed the water! We were able to bring them to Great-Grandpa Possin (Amanda's Grandpa's) cottage for several weekends away from home.

Kris participated in the Tough Mudder which is a 10 mile obstacle course in Merimac, Wisconsin with a good friend of his. Proceeds are donated to the Wounded Warrior Project for military members that have been injured or disabled from service.

September--

We were blessed with warm weather for such a long time this year we took advantage of every last day we were given. The boys loved to push their trucks in the driveway and swap trucks when they were bored with theirs. They enjoyed an "everything truck" show in Madison in which they got to hear the sounds and explore different trucks with other young children.

Kris presently serves with the Army Reserves in Beaver Dam as Company Commander. He was featured in the Freedom Day Parade this month honoring those in the military in remembrance of 9/11 for the unit. The boys were able to watch him go by in the parade and hang out with him afterwards.

I ran the Run for Snow 8k trail race in which I placed first for my age group and 3rd overall in the women's category. I hope to train for the Madison Marathon this next year.

October--

We went to a pumpkin patch and played on the various playground equipment and saw the animals. We visited Great-Grandpa Possin on his farm and enjoyed exploring the outdoors, farm equipment, and cats that would come by!

November/December--

The boys are now 19 months and growing!! Nathan enjoys crawling or climbing into or onto anything he can get his hands on. Give him a box and he's happy. He loves jumping in his crib and is quite fearless! Nathan is great with his sign language. Ryan is somewhat cautious watching his brother pursue all of the known "no no's." He enjoys cuddling, reading, and being sociable. We also call him the "milk monster" as he will drink his and if Nathan isn't watching, Nathan's milk. They both are able to do sign language for their basic needs as they speak very few words yet. This has helped with their language development as twins have their "twin talk,"-- secret babble language, which can delay speech for them. So, I'm sure next year at this time we will have an even noisier home!

Kris continues to work in sales with Lyco Manufacturing. He's always on the go travelling here or there as his sales territory is rather large. He is also in graduate school pursuing his Masters in Project Management and balances the Army Reserves with home life.

Amanda remains with the Deparment of Veterans Affairs as a Nurse Practitioner in Primary Care, but has accepted a position with the University of Wisconsin Hospital, Department of Medicine and Geriatrics starting January, 2012. I continue to stay involved with the Madisons Moms of Multiples club attending meetings, events, and volunteering with their 2x yearly resales held at the Middleton Keva Sports Center.

We are looking to buy a home and settle in the Sun Prairie area early this next year. Add another thing to our list of things to do, right?

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year! We welcome you to become a follower of our family blog and stay in touch with us! I do my best to update it twice a month. If you haven't already--go back and review some of the old posts!

Love, Kristofer, Amanda, Ryan & Nathan

Kristofer: kkdh25@gmail.com
Amanda: aadeni25@gmail.com

We are so thankful!!

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope everyone had a great time with family and friends! We had a wonderful time with family eating large meals and catching up! It's really nice to have time off of work and for us to be a family. We spent Thanksgiving Day with family in Waupun, Wisconsin and had a second immediate family only Thanksgiving in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. The boys found a new interest in matchbox cars, race cars, and trucks that make noises and can push across the floor.

With the help of our nanny, Cheri, the boys made cute turkeys that decorate their bedroom doors for Thanksgiving. They used their foot prints to make feathers on cut-out paper and used finger paints to spread paint across a paper plate acting as the belly of the bird. We were told that they had to use their feet because they refused to get their hands dirty! Oh too funny! She also works with them on...signing! Yes, they are able to do a few words in sign language. We add words all the time--book, sleep, blanket, more, food, milk, please, thank you. It's so sweet to see them do this! As speech development comes a little later for twins due to their "twin talk", this counts as words for them and helps them to communicate with us. They enjoy "partying" in their cribs at nap time babbling back and forth with one another and throwing their blankets along with jumping up and down and giggling....

As you can see, the boys have been busy getting into everything! Their abilities continue to increase with climbing on couches, in baskets, bins, chairs.. you get the point. If you came to our house, you would think we were minimalists as most of the furniture has been removed due to their climbing and exploration. Their favorite spots continue to be little hiding places and of course behind the couch and under the kitchen table. If you hear that the house is quiet...you better go check because 9.5 times out of 10 they are into something!!!

Grandma Susan and Nathan!

Nathan playing with his train.

Ryan pulling one of his toys..

We also received a visit from Aunt Joy and her new fiance, Paul. Kris, Joy, and Paul spent a day together with the boys as they were home for the holiday from Kansas.

As the year is coming to an end, it seems things aren't quite slowing down just yet. I made a very tough decision recently to leave the Department of Veterans Affairs as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and have accepted a position with the University of Wisconsin Hospital. I will be working as a Geriatric Nurse Practitioner for the inpatient and outpatient setting. This is a brand new position in which I will be helping with system design, hiring, and.... public speaking--Yikes! I'm sad to be leaving my patients behind at the VA, but between the 45 minute drive to work and inability to further my professional growth, I've made the decision to move forward with an exciting new opportunity. Because I made this decision, we decided we've had enough with renting and want to buy a house! So, yes, we will be moving again!! This means the boys will have moved 3x by their second birthday. But, exciting for us in that we will have a home and are permanent to the Madison area! So... to add just a little more stress to our lives, I will be starting a new job at the end of January and we have to close and move into a new house by the end of March! If you happen to have nothing better to do at the end of March--we could use some help or babysitters :). Anything is much appreciated!!

So, in closing, I hope this update finds you well and FULL after the Thanksgiving holiday!!

The Case of the Sick Sickies

October 30, 2011:
Happpppyyyyy Halloween!!
Nathan was a ninja (how fitting) and Ryan was a rooster!! This past week Ryan and Nathan have been sick. Lots of coughing, crying, and of course snot smeared all over.. ewww! (You can't be a parent unless you go to work or out with snot or spit up on your clothes!) Despite the fact that the two of them have not felt well this week, I dragged them out for a little bit of Halloween fun. (No fevers, just runny nose and cough---trust me, I wouldn't take them out if they were that sick). My mom came down to help me bring them around in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, to the chamber of commerce trick or treating at the local businesses. Tons of kids were out and they had fun sitting in their wagon seeing all of the kids and dogs! dressed up!!

Kris and I have also struggled over the past week or two getting Ryan (Nathan has passed this phase thank goodness) to STOP throwing his food on the floor. It has been a nightmare! I had a "spaghetti war zone" in the kitchen this week as Ryan decided to splatter it on the walls, table, and floor. There has been several nights he has gone to bed hungry due to his bad behavior. Which... is not so good for us because that means he wakes up early crying due to hunger. And who can sleep with a crying kid??? So, my morning wake times have been unfortunately reset to oh--5 o'clock, 5:30 AM ---on my days off!! Everything I've read online recommends this approach and we're not winning yet!!

In addition to this, the boys want to challenge us with their (one nap) they take during the day by having a party in their room. Yes, this is our break, our catch up to get everything done, our relaxation, maybe nap (on a good day). They laugh, babble, throw things, and for whatever reason, take their pants and socks off and throw it at each other. So, we've had to seperate them and put one in the temporary pack n play in the toy room and the other in their bedroom. You would think this was a brilliant idea, but unfortunately these little buggers are so smart they yell and can hear each other in the opposite room. Are you kidding me? They think this is so fun!
Again, not winning yet!!

So, it has been quite the week with the "sick sickies" in this house. I hope things turn around this week and we can a) get some sleep b)not have to pick up food off the floor and c)not have any sick kids! Here's to hoping :)