Sibling Wars Part II

Think this face is purely

SWEET and INNOCENT???

Well then you've been fooled!

See the pictures below for proof:

So Parker can definitely pester and tease his little sis relentlessly,

BUT --

WATCH OUT!

If antagonized enough, this Little Spitfire CAN and WILL attack that big brother!

How does she do it?

I'll tell you....

She opens her mouth real wide, screams, and in she goes for the kill!

She'll bite (well not hard) & pull hair, all the while throwing her tiny yet fiery body into a tackling assault onto her teasing big brother!

Lastly, she'll scrunch up her little face and yelp while looking to Mom for help!

Whatever it takes to get her brother to just STOP!

So so SOOOOO DRAMATIC!!!

While this common-occuring scenario might sound frightening, don't be scared.

It's not.

Truthfully, it's probably one of the funniest things we witness in our day. Despite her doing this a repeated number of times, Chris and I still get a little surprised by the uproar that comes out of our sweet little Em and we can't help but laugh at her sudden change in temperment.

Girls will be girls, right??

...If you know what I mean.

I support her through and through and I love that she sticks up for herself! :)

Go EMMIE!

Bachelorette perfect ending

HOORAY for Jillian and Ed!

Did I call it or what?! :)

I have to admit that I am pretty elated about the outcome of this show! In my book, it couldn't have ended more perfectly. Ed was my pick from the beginning - hands down. I'm not going to lie - I've had a crush on him since day 1. Yes, he's got something a little dorky about him, and those mankini shorts were absolutely atrocious, but all along I thought he was the perfect fit for Jillian, and thankfully she thought so, too!

(On a petty sidenote, I DID like Kiptyn's choice of a ring much better! But heck - I'm not going to sit and criticize a $60,000+ ring!)

Was it agonizing for anyone else to watch Reid come back last night and try to propose? I was having an anxiety attack, but in the end I'm glad he did because I think it helped to give Jillian a little bit more closure on their relationship and to see that she really was making the right choice. To be expected to turn on and off your feelings like that for someone has got to be incredibly difficult! So I feel bad for Reid and Kiptyn -- but I suppose that is the essence of the show and they'll get over it eventually.

So HOORAY for Jillian and Ed! I am soooo glad for this outcome and hope that the have a Happily Ever After -

Ryan and Trista kind of future!

Great. Now I don't have any shows to look forward to until American Idol is back on in January!

P.S. Who is going to be the next Bachelor??? It's gotta be Reid, Michael or Jake, right? I say REID...!?

THREE YEARS OLD!

My baby is

THREE!

HOW CAN THAT BE???

Three years ago, on a blazing HOT (118 degrees!) July 22, 2006, in Glendale Arizona, our life changed for forever!

After 6 years of marriage, 9 months of pregnancy, 34 gained pounds, 15 hours of labor, a blessed epidural, and 3 1/2 hours straight of pure gut-wrenching PUSHING,

Parker Christopher Hansen

(6 lbs, 9 oz, 21 inches, lots of long, auburn-ish hair)

finally made his debut into our family! It was truly the most amazing, wonderful experience I had ever had up to that point in my life. I had so much adrenalin running through me moments after he came out that I remember telling my Mom that I wanted to do it again! I was astonished to discover that I loved childbirth, the very thing I had been petrified of for years. At that point of course, I didn't realize just how much of a beating my body had really received. Opposite to my delivery, my recovery was not so easy... to say the least!....I was in absolutely HORRIBLE, I mean HOR-R-IBLE shape for weeks after. Pushing for such an extended, continuous period of time did not do good things for my petite frame, and one of the many "treats" I walked away with included a broken tailbone that took almost two full years to recover from. SO PAINFUL!

However, amidst all of this and many ghorry details I will go ahead and spare you from at this time, I was still blissful as ever with my new baby in tow and I can truly say that I loved being a new mom from the getgo. I know that is not always the experience for all, so I consider myself lucky. The hardest thing for me was defintely the lack of sleep for months on end! Sleep deprivation can sure throw you for a loop!!! But after 6 years of marriage I was READY to start our family and was so thrilled by this new little presence in our home.

FAST FORWARD TO July 2009....

Three years later I can truly say that Parker has been a tremendous blessing to us! He is fun, spunky, quick-witted, intelligent, affectionate, a great listener (most of the time), and has a memory that blows me away. He is charismatic, full of energy and ideas, and he is eager to learn and to relay his constant-accumulated knowledge. I am reminded when I'm around other kids his age that he in comparison seems to be such a mature soul. It seems weird to say that he's wise beyond his years at THREE, but honestly, if you are lucky enough to know this little guy, the things he says and talks about, the talents he already uses, his ability to carry on conversations and offer compliments and to express empathy towards others, and his amazing comprehension and quick ability to learn and retain information at barely three years old, has been mind-boggling to me! Don't get me wrong -- he's also a three year old that DEFINITELY has his terrible moments and list of things he hasn't quite caught onto yet! Also, I am SO not a Mom that goes around comparing my child to every other kid on the block while placing my child on a pedestal, so please forgive me for my description, but it's important to me to write all these things down so that I can remember what my little guy was like at 3 in years to come!

He has filled our home with more joy than we ever could have imagined. He makes us laugh everyday and is one of our favorite sources of entertainment. He keeps us on our toes and I am the first to admit that he can be a real handful at times. But I wouldn't change it for the world!

Thanks Parker for enriching our lives these last three years!
It has been the ride of our lives.

Happy Birthday Mr. P!

We Love You!!!

The big birthday bash

We gave Parker his main present from us the morning of his birthday. Upon opening, he excitedly exclaimed, "Roller skates!". Ha ha. Close. We took him outside to practice his new ride on his hot red scooter, and he wasn't bad! I must say he looked pretty cute zipping up and down the sidewalk in his helmet. His only problem is that he has to stop and vocally analyze the grasshoppers or rocks or dirt or weeds he sees every few feet. So even with his new wheels, he doesn't get too far too fast. :)

THE PARTY!

Parker had been telling me for months that he wanted a "bish" (fish) party for his birthday. Where he came up with the theme, I don't know - but we didn't want to disappoint, so a fish party is what he got! I must admit, Martha's fish bowl turned out a lot cuter than mine, darnit! Next time I have a fish party though, I'll be an expert. :)

I had a lot more cute decor to put out, but Emmie's been really sick for the past week and in between taking care of her (+ numerous doctor and a hospital visit) and in doing all the grocery shopping and cooking dinner and desserts for 18 people and trying to keep my house clean and come up with creative "under the sea" ideas, and put out all the decorations I DID get out out, this is the best I managed by the time our guests showed up. Even with all the planning and prep I did weeks in advance. Oh well! You can only do so much, right?? What a crazy week! All in all, I think Parker had a fun day! He is loved by so many people and I can tell you that he in turn adores each one of them. Thanks to all of our family who were able to make it out and celebrate Parker's 3rd birthday with us. He got so many FUN toys and we've already been having a ball playing with them. (Yes, I said WE and I meant it! :))

Funny. I found and made this (complicated) homemade chocolate cake recipe because Parker LOVES chocolate cake (Chris and I despise it!). I even practiced making it the week before to make sure it was a good recipe. I also made a boxed Funfetti white cake last minute, just to add another option for those of us who aren't choco cake lovers. Well, I didn't notice it until looking at this picture, but after all that, he's eating the WHITE easy-to-make cake! Ha ha. Why did I bother??? Such the way it goes, right? Oh well. I know for a fact he's eaten several chocolate ones since his birthday....

More Bachelorette speculation

Okay so, I wasn't going to blog about the Bachelorette again.....but - after tonight's show I'm left wondering what in the world is going to happen next week on the finale, so I've got to throw out my theories. I love to analyze - which is partly why I think I love this dumb show so much.......

So here's my analysis!:

First off, I am going to be SHOCKED if she chooses THIS guy:

Kiptyn! I just don't see them having that strong of a connection, and as I've said before - she just seems more into him than he is into her. His Mom is a little over the top which is forgivable but I just don't see Jillian being comfortable in his environment. Plus - she's said it herself - I think she'd be too scared that he'd break her heart.

Next.

Did you notice how on the closing of last night's show "The Men Tell All", that Chris Harrison asked Jillian if she's HAPPY, not if she's FOUND LOVE - like I swear is the usual question at this point in the game? That totally makes me wonder whether she's going to end up with anyone at all in the end of all of this! Yikes. I'm afraid that that is going to be the case.

And what is this 'unexpected confession' that makes her question everything??? The last shot of the teaser for next week's show is REID standing there looking down at a gold ring! I had to rewind and pause my DVR a few times to figure out who it was because it only flashed on him for less than a second. CRAZY! What is that all about?! Do you think he makes a comeback? He wasn't on last night's reunion show AND Jillian did say just last night that she wasn't ready to send him home....Hmmmm! Truthfully, I don't see her with Reid either - but moreso than Kippy Boy!

At the end of the day,

I'm still HOPING this is the last man standing:

Our ED. We'll forgive him for last week's show - including his little green swim trunks. What were those things?! The whole sinful episode was too embarrassing to even talk about... not just Ed's part in it but Jillian's and everything that went on. Seriously. We'll just leave it at that and a big CRINGE! :)

All in all, my vote still stands with Ed. So I say she either walks away with Ed next week, or she walks away solo.

Any other predicitions girls???

I know, I know. I need to get a life. But heck, I have one indulgence in my life these days, and it's once a week for two hours. Give a girl a break! :)

Sibling wars

Emmie loves the velcro ball. Her eyes get big and her little body trembles as she tries as hard as she possibly can to squeeze it into her tiny mouth. The girl derives much satsifaction and contentment as long as she has her trusty ball. Until,

that is, big brother takes it away and causes her to do THIS: Which causes HIM to do THIS:

Such a little STINK.

But hey, that's what big brother's do, right?

They receive great joy in the infliction of torment and antagonization (is that a word?) of their younger sibs...

All I can say is, you better get used to it, Em.... I'll protect you all I can but that only goes so far.:)

The Fourth!

On Saturday morning, Parker, Emmie and I headed up to Park City for the annual Park City Fourth of July Parade Spectacular. Well, I wouldn't call the parade anywhere near spectacular, but there is just something about being in the breath-taking Rocky Mountains on a day dedicated to celebrating the beautiful country in which we live that I have come to love. We met up with my brother and his wife, Steven and Kylie, who were nice enough to help me troop my two kids and very heavy double stroller up the steep hills of Main Street, to meet up with my Mom and Reed who were saving us some good front row seats. Thankfully we were able to partake of a delicious breakfast in the park at the bottom of Main before heading up, or I'm not sure we would have made it....it was quite the workout toting my kiddies and their gear! :)

It also doesn't help that I am a bit of a wimp. Parker and Emmie had a great time watching the parade

Thanks Mom and Reed for staking out our good seats

Afterwards, it was back home for naps, then as soon as Chris got home (from work) around 6, we rushed to Franklin Covey Field to watch as my Dad got to throw in the first honorary pitch at the Bees Game. My Dad is a huge, HUGE, & in case you didn't get that, HUGE baseball fan and he won a contest on the radio by sending in an essay proving WHY he's the biggest baseball fan, and the prize was to throw in the first pitch at the game on the 4th of July! It was so fun to watch! I got there RIGHT as he was walking out on the field and I was so grateful I made it in the nick of time. Unfortunately, I was so busy video taping it that I didn't get any still shots until after it was all said and done. He is in the middle of that crowd on the field however in the pic above. :)

We didn't get to stay for fireworks because of our little people, but all in all we had a really great, fun-filled, action packed 4th!

I just love this holiday! :)

Just for the record

Random updates...Nothing too exciting but worth noting... Parker's recently decided he likes corn on the cob & rice. It's nice to have a few more "grown up" items to add to his menu.

He's doing awesome in the potty training department. I'm glad we waited for him to be a little older before training him. I think it's really helped make the process pretty bearable for all involved.

Funny things he's said lately:

"Mom, I just went potty. DON'T WORRY!....I only sprayed the wall a little bit."

All I can say is THANK GOODNESS for Clorox Wipes! :)

We were driving home on the 4th of July from Park City when he announced that he needed to go potty. Not wanting to pull over and drag he and Emmie into a public restroom after I had taken all that time to pack them up into the car, I told him that I was so sorry but to just go in his pull-up and that I'd change him once we got home. After we were home and I was changing him, he said,

"Mommy, don't ever, EVER tell me to go potty in my pull-up again!. I'm a BIG BOY and big boys don't go in their pants!"

I gave him my sincere apologies. I really felt bad but I had to laugh. Apparently it's only acceptable when it's HIS idea to go in his pants.

One more thing I can think of is that he's always telling me, "Mommy, don't drink (or eat) all of that. You save some for me!"

He sure makes us laugh. We love our Parker!

What a HAM! I promise he really does have a non-cheezy grin somewhere in there....:)

As for Emmie:

Her top four teeth recently made an appearance. That's right, FOUR all at once! They came in right around 9 months. That makes for 4 on top and 2 on bottom.
Poor thing... she had a constant runny nose for weeks because of it and more than a few rough nights, but we made it and now she's finding them to be quite useful in the food department.

Emmie's been climbing up the stairs, but hasn't learned to (safely) get down them yet.

She LOVES bananas - both baby food and cut up pieces. She also loves strawberry flavored eggos, shredded cheese, noodles, rice, bread, LOVES water, and I get nervous to feed my babies meat, but I got brave and did give her some ground up turkey pieces and she loved it. I've also been giving her turkey lunch meat and she likes that, too. The girl basically just loves to eat. If she's unhappy, 95 % of the time I can just give her food and she calms down immediately.

The things that she likes to show off when she's well-rested are: waving "hi" over and over, clapping, she LOVES to play peek-a-boo with anyone whose game, and she - like her brother, has her own dance moves she likes to whip out when she hears the music.

This girl LOVES her silky purple blanket. I give it to her and her thumb immediately goes into her mouth and she'll lay right down. It's so precious. Grandma Jane just made her this cute PINK silky blanket however, and she's loving this one just as much! Thanks Grandma Jane!
It's so fun to have her so attached to something that she adores and that automatically soothes her so much.

As you can see, she - also like her big brother - loves to put on the cheezy grin. She is so lovey and affectionate, sweet but spunky. We just love this little Love Bug!

We made it!!!

I've been trying to get Chris to go to the Hogle Zoo with me for the nine years that we've been married. And I've been completely unsuccessful in my attempts.

Well, I have an announcement to make.

We finally made it!WITH the help of my almost 3-year-old. I promised Parker that if he went 5 days in a row without having any potty 'accidents', that we'd take him to the zoo. He surpassed that goal weeks ago (although he did just pee his pants today - so he's still not got it down perfect) so last Wednesday - Chris' day off - we were off to the zoo! FINALLY!
We had such a fun time! We went right after it opened so it was still a little cool and the weather felt great. We zipped around the park and we had seen everything just as lunchtimes and naptimes approached. That is just our style....In case you didn't know, the fairy tale in our household goes that at half-past noon Parker turns into a little monster if he isn't in bed sleeping or well on his way, so we're always racing around to get anything done before those times, and before Parker has the chance of transforming into his unbelievable ornery, mean, irrational monster twin. He is such a sweet, fun, charismatic little guy if he is well rested, but if not - WATCH OUT! I end up paying for it sooner or later.
My fellow ward members have witnessed this as our lovely church time falls between the dreaded hours of 11 -2:00. In fact, unfortunately I think many of our fellow church goers must think Parker IS a monster because that is the side they have to see....Sad to say, but I absolutely dread Sundays these days. Two weeks ago Parker's behavior was so out of control (due to his inability to be at home napping) that all three of us -Parker, Em and I (Chris had to work) were crying by the time we got in the car to go home. But -- that is a whole other story...:)

Back to our excursion........
Parker loooved the carousel and especially the train ride!
(Our camera died right as Chris was taking a pic of Em and I on the train however, so no pics)
It made us excited to see how much fun he had on the rides and even more confident of how much he is going to love Disneyland in September! And Emmie was soooo good as usual.
BLESS THAT CHILD!
Thanks Parker, for making it possible for our little fam to finally make it to the zoo!
It seems that having kids makes Chris a little more willing to be adventurous and step outside the everyday grind once in awhile.
I know, I know it's kind of pathetic how excited I am about going to see a bunch of animals in cages...and in his defense, I'm sure that Chris isn't the only guy out there who doesn't love the Zoo! Am I right?