Deirdre's New Haircut - June 2008

April 2008

Random Kid Pictures from the Month of April

Deirdre - 26 months and Lorien- 7 months. Deirdre who would never wear hats, suddenly wants to all of the time because she sees Lorien doing it. Sometimes jealousy works in the parents favor....

More crazy hat babies. Lorien looking particularly pleased.

Lorien showing her stuff on the carpet. Soon she will be crawling. Her hair is still very much crazy.

Lorien the little blond beauty.


Deirdre helping Papa and Mama with "The Great Leaf Removal of 2008," as it will be known. Having Lorien born right before the Fall of 2007 put us a little behind, ahem, in our yardwork and upkeep around the house.

Lorien all smiles in her excersaucer during "The Great Leaf Removal of 2008."

Deirdre being more cute then effective in her raking. Oh well, she tried.

Jen Part II

Lorien waking up from her nap.

Cinderella or "Cin-Der-Rwellwa" as Deirdre says.

Nathan and Jen, or Deirdre and Lorien?

Mama finally gets the girls to sit still for a few seconds...

Deirdre not cooperating too well, Lorien looks like she is having fun though!

Deirdre showing me what "Thomas" looks like on her sippy cup. I assure you her impression is very accurate as she practices it several times a day.

Lorien caught in the act. Right before this picture was shot, and immediately after this picture, Lorien's battle cry rang as she attacked her tiger. It happens. He had it coming to him.

To say this picture disturbs me is an understatement WHO TAUGHT HER THIS?

Happy 2nd Birthday Deirdre!!!

February 6, 2008

Apparently she is 2 going on 20.... I have no clue where she got this expression from. We call it her "sultry" look. It scares me. Nathan says she is never to leave the house when she is older. I say why wait, better start now!



The birthday girl all smiles in her party dress. Mom was with us when we picked this out for her in New York, she even got to see her wear it on her first Christmas. It makes me sad that this will be the last time she will be able to wear it. Such a pretty dress.


The birthday spread in the dining room. The cake seriously looks like a 4 year old wrote on it. It wasn't me, I promise. So much for thinking that by paying someone else to do it, it would look better then what I could do...


Note to self - Toddlers like to grab burning candles.


A close up of said 4 year old handwriting

Full length view of sultry expression.

Lorien's Photo Shoot - January 2008

Lorien Ayla Lin Henkel - 4 Months

We are planning to do these with all of our children at 6 months (like we did with Deirdre), however I was worried that Lorien would grow out of her ridiculous hair and I really really wanted to capture this phase because it's going to be what I remember when I think of her as a baby. So we did her photo shoot early, at 4 months.


Not even a blanket can cover THIS hair!

One of my favorites. Her serious little button eyes.


Check out the hair. Ridiculous....


She has such long fingers and toes.

Sweet little baby


I don't like that you can see the scar on my wrist, but oh well. Her hand is precious at least.

I thought I would end this on a ridiculous note

Christmas Night 2007

Most of Christmas Dinner and Night are a blur. We were still suffering from the flu, but there was merriment to be had. The night consisted of a wonderful meal, and of course, more present to open!

Our sad attempt at a family photo, hey we were all sick!!!

Deirdre in her pretty Christmas dress, with Lorien's stuffed tiger.

"Mrs. Claus"

Apparently her Christmas Necklace was a hit.

Lorien the "Christmas Gnome."

Papa and Gnome

Lorien with fuzzy eyebrows.

Nathan's brother, Philip, and his wife Neshma. Mimi Becky making an appearance as well.

Aunt Rachael all smiles.

Christmas Morning 2007

Early Morning Traditions

Mom always had us open our stockings over breakfast and this was a tradition we wanted to continue with our family. We also had the traditional Christmas Morning breakfast which consists of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and coffee. Whenever I smell these baking it reminds me of Christmas.

Christmas Stockings Hanging Over the Fireplace. We had several guests stay over this Christmas, Uncle Philip and Aunt Neshma, so they got a stocking as well.

Deirdre tearing through her stocking. She got pretty headbands and necklaces which she insisted on wearing as soon as she opened them.

Sister with her "Baby's First Christmas Stocking." She slept through all of the "Christmas Morning" events. I guess it didn't really matter that the girls had on matching pj's, Lorien was never up enough to capture it.

Deirdre opening up her presents from Mommy and Papa. She opened Lorien's as well and even understood the idea that they weren't for her. After she opened each gift meant for Lorien, she would stack the presents all over a sleeping sister in her swing.

Nathan opening up his present from me.

Deirdre watching Aunt Rachael opening up her presents. Nathan was actually responsible for this one, he picked out some choice Origins products for her.

Back to Deirdre

Nathan with more presents from me.

Sweet baby opening presents.