Christmas and what comes after

This is Craig's first week as a stay-at-home dad. Monday included a two-hour screaming fit from Henry, but it seemed to get easier each day. Friday was the big reward as Henry rolled over for the first time. The two videos here were taken within 24 hours. On the top one, Henry babbles away on his belly. On the second one, Henry takes charge of his situation and rolls over. Nice way to end the week. As Craig writes this, both boys are napping, Laura is on her way home from work and Craig is indulging in well-deserved beer.

Henry sure is pretty, no?

We had a wonderful Christmas time, spending a little bit of time with both families. A week before Christmas we spent a weekend in Howards Grove with the entire Franz family making it home for the holidays. The above and below photos are not from that. That's from Christmas Eve, which we also partially spent with the Franz's before heading north to Green Bay for the rest of Christmas.


Back to the Franz family Christmas, Harrison loved hanging out with his cousin, Ben. Harrison follows - or maybe more accurately, chases - Ben all around the house. They get along famously despite their age difference of two-plus years.

Harrison didn't get all of those presents.

Harrison is already considering a career in law enforcement and attempted to arrest his uncle Alex for being an obnoxious Jets fan.

Harrison also enjoyed decorating Christmas cookies in the weeks leading up to Christmas. With each cookie he'd dump the entire jar of sprinkles on top. We'd fill it back up and repeat the process over and over and over.



Henry really enjoys bath time and for the longest time it was pretty much the only way to get him stop screaming in the evening.

Harrison got an Elmo snuggie on accident (Laura thought it was a blanket). He thought the packaging for it was a hat, so he kept putting it on Henry. It sort of looked like one of those collars they put on dogs so they won't lick their stitches after surgery. Henry didn't mind, though.

We took some portraits of the boys and it appears they turned out quite well.



Craig has a habit of checking on Harrison just before he turns in for the night. Usually he just has to pull the blankets back over his feet, but sometimes Craig gets a good laugh out of it. How can this possibly be a comfortable way to sleep?

Bonus picture

Thanksgiving and onward

We seriously don't update this nearly enough. Seriously. Any who...We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Green Bay were Grandma Cindy spoiled the boys to no end. Craig and Laura love it almost as much as Harrison and Henry do. We had a splendid time hanging out with the whole family and also getting a chance to go out for dinner and drinks with adults. Craig and Laura don't get to socialize with adults very much, so it was really appreciated.

We also got what seems to be an annual photo of all the Corsten grand kids and great grand kids.

Last weekend we took Henry and Harrison to see Santa at a breakfast with Santa event. The food was beyond bad, but Harrison was so darn excited to see Santa. He would not stop talking about it. Henry was kind of blase on the whole matter.

Harrison, however, changed his mind about Santa once it was his turn to sit on his lap. Screaming and kicking and other loud noises. Not good, but Craig really enjoyed it.

Finally, the kids got a visit from St. Nick. Harrison didn't get it. Look at the dazed look on his face. We dragged him out of bed and acted really excited. But he just seemed really confused. Maybe next year.

Maybe, just maybe, we'll be quicker about putting up some post-Christmas photos. Raising Harrison was easy. Raising Harrison + Henry = challenging.

My name's Craig Corsten, and I approve this message

The biggest news over the last two months is Henry got baptized on September 19. We had a bunch of family make it, including his aunt Carol and uncle Alex, who flew in from the Washington, D.C. area to be 2/3 of his Godparents (with his Aunt Jessica filling in the last spot). We've now successfully awarded all of our sister's with Godparent positions. No need for anymore kids!

Henry's baptism was one of three(!) baptisms done at our church this morning, which the pastor said was a record for the church. We have a lot of young families at our church and Henry didn't mind sharing the spotlight.

While everyone was in town we held an early celebration for Harrison's second(!) birthday. He looked upset with his ice cream cake.

We also got a nice photo of all the Franz cousins. Too bad none of them bear the name Franz.

Harrison LOVES hanging out with his little brother.

We went apple picking in early October and a great time was had by all, but especially Craig. Craig was super excited to get his picture taken with sheep.

Harrison had a great time putting apples into the bags. Still a little too short to actually pick the apples, but eventually he'll get there.

Harrison celebrated his REAL birthday in Green Bay when his grandparents had a booyah party. There was booyah and beer and cake and all kinds of munchies. Craig also got to have his birthday celebrated since him and Harrison have their birthday's two days apart. To aid in the celebration the Badgers beat Ohio State. Yay!

Harrison was really excited about his toy tractor with a "big scooper."

Harrison also loves helping out with bath time. He doesn't really help much, he just makes a wet mess. But whatever.

We went to Wisconsin Dells last weekend with Aunt Lizzie and Uncle Aaron, their kids and some friends. Everyone had a great time. Harrison loved the water until his feet got a little cut up from the pool bottom. Then he screamed. A lot.

Henry's "hero" photo. Look how well he gazes off into the distance.

We carved pumpkins earlier this week. Harrison loved to watch, but wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin guts.

Lots of pictures, little text

It's not always easy to find time to blog with two little ones. So here's some quick pictures with as little explanation as possible.

Gotta keep the cement short, right?

Being home is awesome

Henry and Harrison are getting along pretty well so far, but Harrison has a lot to learn about being gentle with his brother. Harrison rolls out of bed in the morning and says "Baby?" Then he runs into Henry's room, points at him and enthusiastically says "baby!" Then he hold his pointer finger over his lips and says "shhh!"

Kisses - in video form!

Laura and Henry headed home from the hospital last Thursday and everything has been going great. So far, so good. Henry is a great sleeper, which is making nights pretty easy for mom and dad.

Now some pictures!

Pool time for Harrison

Looking back a little bit, we did our best to make sure Harrison had a great time in the weeks before Henry was born. Harrison started to understand that he had a baby joining him soon and he'd kiss Laura's belly whenever we told him to give his brother a kiss.

We also took Harrison to the county fair just before Henry was born. He loved seeing all the cows and horses and pigs he sees in books in person. Harrison screamed the first time he saw a horse at the fair and spent the bulk of his time there pointing wildly at all the livestock.

We also took Harrison out to Olbrich Gardens in Madison for some portraits, a much more difficult task now that he's fully mobile. Here are the highlights.