Our new life

Now that Christine is almost 2 months old I guess we should call our life the new normal. Haha, I don't know if our life includes any aspect that would go under the definition of normal. We are more along the lines of a 'way out there' outlier kind of family. That brings to mind a term paper I did in high school about what it means to be normal. Who knows why me, of all people, would choose a silly topic like that since I've never really lived the definition and, as my life goes on, I keep straying further from it. Oh well, we have fun keeping excitement in our life.

We are loving this cute addition to our family and Christine is a happy, wonderful baby! Her big sisters couldn't be more thrilled to have a live doll to play with. Adriana is a great mom to her and loves to hold her and keep her happy by singing lullabies. Daily life is always a little crazy, but there is always something to keep a smile on our face. Even if it's just on Abigail & Elena's face as they come up with something crazy to do while I am with Christine. (ie, dump the contents of their entire dresser on the floor and enjoy trying on the myriad of clothes before them). Some people ask which is harder; twins or 4 kids under 5. The truth is neither is recommended or easy, but I have to admit that I think twin babies are harder. There is just one of Christine. All joking aside, we love our girls and feel very blessed to have each of them. They are lots of fun and really are sweet girls.

Okay, now on for the real post, the pictures...

Christine gets more attention that she sometimes wants!

Adriana's astronaut outfit.

Sweet sisters

Christine 

These girls love art projects! They stay focused and are so proud of their work.

A few more at the botanical garden when Aunt Sherene was here.

Christine Elizabeth

We welcome our newest addition, Christine Elizabeth!

Born January 30 at 3:15 pm

10 pounds 1.2 ounces 21 inches long

Our new family of 6... are we ready for this?

Big sister Abigail

Big sister Elena

Big sister Adriana

Christine had Jaundice and fast breathing so she had to stay a few extra days. Here is a picture of her under the lights all hooked up. She also had an IV for the antibiotics they gave her because of the fast breathing. The nurse wrapped it up so it wouldn't get caught on anything. We did not expect this extra hospital time, especially since she is our biggest, but we are glad she is okay and was in good hands.

Getting ready to come home!

Finally grandma gets to spend time with her.


The girls have had so much fun with their new sister.  Anything that involves Christine, they want to be there.

A beautiful blessing dress made by Grandma Hansen

We have been lucky to have several family members come help and visit since Christine was born. My mom got to spend more time with us before she was born than we thought. The good thing was that because Christine came late, she was able to be at the birth, which was a special experience.

Aunt Sherene came

and Thomas & Annie

Where is the baby?

So now that we are trying to get into a rhythm of life again I guess we can share a little of what we've been up to the past few months. We'll get to the baby next. 

My mom came, from Japan, on my due date (Jan 21). Well, we had no baby so we had lots of fun with grandma and tried to fill our time so I didn't go too crazy waiting for this baby. The day she got here we went to the Coke-a-Cola museum. It was our first time there and we all loved it.

Filling the bottles

The girls were all excited to see the Coke bear, but not so much up close. Adriana didn't even make it in the picture.

 At the end of the museum there was a taste-testing room where they have different Coke products from all the different countries/continents. It was quite the variety, some much better than others.

Inca Kola - Mark's favorite from El Salvador

Krest - Adriana's favorite

Some Japanese for Grandma

A few days later still waiting

Do we have a future in Branson, MO?

Fun pizza night

Gifts from grandma