All in One

Since our family likes to make sure everything is celebrated at the same time, I decided to just do one post for our anniversary, Christmas, and the girls' birthday. Sorry for the long post but since we haven't updated in a few months, I guess you won't mind.

7 Years

On December 27, Kristin and I were able to celebrate our 7 year anniversary. I was able to have the day off of work but don't think we did anything fun. I think we were able to get laundry completed, clean part of the house and take care of our two little girls with colds. I know what you are thinking, how romantic. Oh, don't worry, we got curb side to go from Applebees after the kids went to bed. We were a little more hungry by this time but hey, at least we got to eat with no interruptions. God has truly blessed us in our 7 years of marriage and we are so thankful for the beautiful children he has given us. On our wedding day, we were smiling and happy as you can see below, and we are still smiling and happy but more tired.

Christmas 2010

We are so fortunate to have both of our parents live in the same town. It makes it a lot easier on us to be able to go one place and be able to celebrate Christmas with both families. On Thursday night, December 23 we were able to get together with Kristin's side. We like to think of this as the low key Christmas since there are not a lot of kidos running around. On Christmas day we got together with my side of the family and prepared for the chaos. It actually goes really well but you never know what to expect when you have 11 kids wanting to open gifts and then trying to figure out what to do with everything after they are opened. It was great to be able to get to spend time with both sides of the family and just relax and celebrate Christmas. On Sunday, we were home again in Ankeny and we got to spend time as a family and open gifts, just the five of us. I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Klayton was super excited about his stocking.

Hailey and Brynn checking out the new books.

Getting their excercies on the new trampoline.

Our attempt at a pic with the kids. A lot of confused faces.

Family picture

These Christmas pjs are sweet!

Love the sweater

Finally a chance to relax.

2 Year Pictures

The day before the girl's birthday we were able to head down to Pella for the Christmas festivities. This also allowed us to get their 2 year pictures taken at Digital Galleria in Pella. The girls did wonderful and below are just a handful of wonderful images they were able to capture.

Birthday Party

On Dec 22nd all the family came over to help us celebrate Hailey and Brynn's 2nd birthday. We had to move it up a couple days again due to the lovely weather but it all worked out and everyone was able to come. We had a One Fish, Two Fish birthday this year and Kristin did a wonderful job of making the cake. Its hard for Kristin and I to imagine that our daughters are 2 years old now and are so thankful for the gift that God has given to us. The girls are very active and are talking and being there own person. Its hard to think of them as twins but we are so happy that they have their own personalities. When they were born it was hard to know what to expect on how things were turn out but they are both doing great and they only reason we know that they were born at 31 weeks was because we were there :-)

Hailey loved the cake.
All Done. Good Job Brynn

Brynn is a natural. She got right in to help the Grandpas put her new table and chairs together.

Opening presents. This was the first of 5 consecutive days of opening at least one present.

Kristin and I took them to Build a Bear. Here they are checking out the options but go figure, they both picked the same bear.

Brynn 2 years old

Brynn 1 year old

Brynn a couple days old.

Hailey 2 years old.

Hailey 1 year old.

Hailey a couple days old.

One week old

Its hard for us to realize some times that Klayton is already a week old. This has been a big difference for all us, considering last time we still had 8 more weeks to go in the NICU. Everyone is doing well and the girls are slowly adjusting. Brynn loves to give kisses to Klayton and they are always curious as to where he is. Its a good thing that babies do well sleeping through loud noises because its not the quietest place always. This past week we have had the grandparents up to help out and also get thier fix in with the kiddos. Below is a few pictures of this past week.

4 generations of the Van Mersbergens

Klayton eyeing the goal of being a future Hawk. Start them young and raise them right. Go Hawks.

Klayton likes his swing.

Brynn and Klayton

Hailey and Klayton

Hanging out before bedtime.

The girls like to color and they make beautiful pictures for our fridge.

Up close and personal

He is a good cuddler

Klayton Wayne

Klayton Wayne was born at 5:45 am on November 8, 2010. He weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and was 20 inches long. We are very blessed to have him.

Well, I am sure some of you thought that the next post you saw from us would be regarding our new addition. Well he must know its been a little colder out and he wants to stay warm inside of Mommy. We are patiently waiting and we know that God has the perfect time for him to come into the world. I thought I better get some pictures of Kristin and the girls before the little guy came. Good news for you is that you will get another posting next week as well, when he comes. Sorry it took us so long but we tend to forget to share what is going on.
Some things that have happened since the last post was a campout with my entire family in September and enjoying watching the Hawkeyes on the weekends. The girls had the opportunity to go a pumpkin patch with their friends and Dad got to take them trick or treating for their first time. The girls were not real sure of what to do but we only went to a few houses on our block and the girls still came home with a bag full for Dad and Mom. Don't worry, we do share a few items with them. Hope you enjoy the pics below and keep an eye out for a posting any day with pics of our latest edition.

Waiting patiently. Her due date was today, Nov 5.
Girls love to go on walks. They are so nice to go with Mom and Dad to help Mom get an individual out.

Daddy and his girls.

Our little giraffe, Brynn.

Hailey the Lady Bug

Attempt at a pic at the Pumpkin patch.

Brynn, Hailey, Lola, and Camille at the Pumpkin Patch

Baby Boy update and Fair pics

Last Friday Kristin and I headed to the doctor's office for another ultra sound. At our first ultra sound they found a spot on the heart and they wanted us to come back to make sure it was gone. It was a little nerve racking going into this ultra sound as we were just hoping that God had healed our little guy. After seeing our little boy, we were reassured that everything was fine and he is doing well and is healthy. Based on the measurements that were taken, he was at 3 lbs 10 oz. This was interesting as this is the same weight Hailey was when she was born. It was a good mental picture for us to know just how big he is. It is so amazing how technology has changed and we were fortunate to have some close up pictures of his face done. I hope you enjoy the pictures of our newest addition.

A few weeks ago, Kristin and I had the opportunity to take the girls to the Iowa State Fair. I thought it was funny because before we had the girls Kristin would never go into the animal barns because she thought they smelled. Now that we have kids, she says, we should got to the fair because I think the girls would love the animals. So we headed out and met my parents there. Below are some pictures from our little outing and the girls liked the animals and they even got the grandparents to share ice cream with them.