One month update...

Has it already been a whole month? Emmie is four and a half weeks old and things are going really well! She is such a sweetheart and it just seems as though she's been with us forever.

Here is a quick evaluation:

Happy Newborn: Check. (she's only waking up once during the night - can you believe it???)
Happy Parker: Check. (minus a few typical 2 year old tantrums) Happy Mom: Check. (I haven't felt this good in months! Really!) Happy Chris: Check. (As the saying goes, "Happy wife = Happy life", right? jk)

Happy Roxy: ...Okay, that one's a negative.....Sorry Rox, it's impossible to keep everyone happy around here! I'm afraid you're even one step further down on the totem pole than you were before Miss Em arrived. We still love you though!

Some things you just don't show a 2-year-old

Last Saturday my Mother-in-law and I looked out to see Chris' Dad showing Parker how to shovel up the dog poop into a bag with a play shovel in our backyard. "Oh goody", were my thoughts, "what a great pastime to teach a 2-year-old......"

My fears were validated as Monday rolls around. I look outside to see this:

I go out to investigate.

Me: "Parker, what are you doing?"

Parker: "Shoveling dog poop!"

Ah, sick. Or should I say, Oh crap.

Me: "Oh -let's not do that... Come play ball with me instead."

Parker: "No! Pahkah (Parker) pay (play) with dog poop!!"

And there you have it. Everyday this week, as Parker went outside to play, he sifted around doggie poop with his play gardening tools & refused every one of my offers to play ball with him. Looks like Parker has found a new hobby. (And it looks like Chris is going to have to be more on top of cleaning up Roxy's business!)

THANKS GRANDPA!!! :) We owe ya one.

A night out with a happy 2-year-old

We don't go out to eat eat much, but Chris hasn't had a day off for a while and won't for another ten days or so, and we had some time last night so we decided to treat ourselves to dinner at Chili's with the kiddos. In addition to our meals, we ordered the bottomless tostada chips. When the waitress brought them to the table, Parker's arms shot straight up in the air while joyously he yelled out, "Chiiiiiiiips!!", making us all laugh. Yes, this kid loooooooooves chips and salsa & was pretty excited to dive into this dish! So Chris and I enjoyed some good conversation while Parker munched ravenously on his chips & salsa all the while flirting with the adjoining booth and passing waitresses. When we announced to Parker it was time to go, he frantically picked up all the remaining chips he could possibly contain in his little hands and jumped out of the booth. We preceeded out of the restaurant with our 2-year-old leading the way, with his pile of chips clenched tightly in between his chest and two hands as if was escaping with handfuls of gold from the pirate ship on the Goonies. Talk about a serious kid on a serious mission!

Maybe you had to be there, but I wish I had my camera because it was a pretty funny sight and we had some comical stares as we weaved our way through the dinner crowd still waiting to be seated.

In hindesight, I guess we should have gotten him his own little to-go box...we'll know better next time. I think it's safe to say that Parker has a favorite restaurant! I have to admit, it IS excellent chips and salsa! You'll have to try it out for yourselves!

Thanks

Hey thanks everyone for all your great advice on the double stroller! It's so nice to have all of your hands on input to take into consideration for the big purchase! We'll hopefully get out to buy one in the next couple of weeks when Chris has a day off of work...I'll let you know what we decide! Meanwhile, if anyone has any additonal thoughts, feel free to leave them!

Thanks again!

Double time

Okay, so the time has come to purchase a double stroller! The question is, WHICH ONE?? If anyone has any opinions or advice on what kind is better - side by side, back to back, different brands, what you do or don't like about yours, etc. - please leave a comment and let me know! I appreciate ANY input you may have on this topic, because I am clueless! So if you have one that you love or that you hate, or any other advice, I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks so much! :>

Parlez-vous francais?

Alright, so I did take a french class back in the eighth grade. That was fifteen years ago, and no, I don't remember much! But enough to realize that my 2 year old is apparently bilingual (okay - TRIlingual if you count his sign language abilities), with his second language being french! This petit genie (little genius) constantly interjects "le" and "a la" into his speech. Where he picked it up is beyond us, but it sure gives us a good laugh. (Okay, so maybe these terms just mean "the"(I think?), but it's still impressive, right?? Kidding, of course...) Here are a few examples of his everyday use of this language....

I'll be changing Emmie's diaper, and he'll say:

"Mama - le bebe has LOTS of a la poopies!"

We'll be fixing him a waffle, and he'll say:

"Mama likes a la waffles, too?"

We'll be at the park and each time he gets to the bottom of the slide he'll say:

"Gen! Gen! (Again!) Pahkah (Parker) go down le slide a la gen!!

He'll be stacking up his pile of books (a new favorite pastime) and he'll say:

"Pahkah (Parker) a la bead (read) le books to le bebe."

There you have it! Like I said, petit genie! We're getting his papers ready to send off to Harvard this fall.

Au revoir!

3 weeks old!

Emmie is 3 WEEKS OLD TODAY!!!

Time is sure flying by and we are just loving this sweet little girl more and more each day (if that is possible!). She had already gained a pound at her two week appointment, which I was a little surprised at seeming as she only wakes up twice during the night to eat. This is such a change from Parker, who ate every 2 hours round the clock for months and months!! I am overall feeling really good, and so far this two year old and a newborn thing has been much easier than I anticipated! :> ( I am sure I am speaking far too soon.... stay tuned!)

SHOOT

I love love LOVE good photography! Life goes by so quickly, and capturing & recording moments on film that will in turn last a lifetime is truly something I feel is so important. My Grandma, who passed away when I was 16, (& who we named baby Em after) was our family photographer, taking pictures of not only every get together or event, but much of the day to day. It's a good thing, because if it weren't for her, I'm not sure I'd have but a few pictures from my childhood! I once told her that I wanted to be just like her when I grew up, & so on my next birthday she gave me a camera. Ever since, I've been the camera-crazy one of the family.

There is nothing like being able to look back at photographs from the "good old days" and the power that gives us to stir up memories from the past, that we otherwise may not have remembered. Take it from my experience this last year with the death of my brother...When you lose someone you love, the pictures that you took the time to take or have taken, suddenly become absolutely priceless. You'll never regret taking a picture, you'll only regret NOT having taken more. So GET SNAPPING, whether you do it yourselves or hire a professional!

My high school friend, Amanda Petersen, is a photographer and she did a photo shoot for Parker's 2-year-old pictures this last July..... Below are some of the awesome pictures she took. I think they turned out so adorable & couldn't resist posting some of her work! Don't worry, included in her pricing is the copyright and CD of these images, so it's all good to post these. We went and did a newborn photo shoot with Baby Emmie this morning, which was so fun and I think that they too will turn out great, too! I will definitely post some of her pics when they are done in a few weeks! Thanks so much Amanda! You do amazing work!

If you want to check out more of her work, (and you should!!) you can go to her photo blog at http://www.amandasimages.blogspot.com/, or her photo website http://www.amandasimages.com/











Alright. I'll admit it.... I think he's pretty darn cute!!! :>

Life is good...

Let's face it...the recovery/aftermath of having a baby is so not fun for our bodies! I've been awful this past 11 days at making phone calls about this new baby, calling anyone back, taking pictures, and posting pictures of our sweet baby girl (& boy!) on our blog - just to mention a few of many things...If you fall into any of these categories (in the phone call department) I apologize! My excuse is just that - my body HURTS and my hands have been full with a newborn and two year old. (Does anyone else post partum feel like a football player with pads in ALL places, or is it just me? So high maintenance, I swear! But so well worth it, too... :)) My main issue is my back, (okay and maybe we'll include the torturous beginning of nursing once again) but we won't get into that and I am fine. I think in a couple of weeks it will all be good!! The KIDDOS have overall been awesome- I'm just waiting for my body to recover and have been taking any spare moment I can find to sleep rather than make phone calls. Having said all that, our little household of 5 (counting Roxy) is doing GREAT and I am LOVING having two kids! So far little Em sleeps a ton (I know that will soon change) & is just the sweetest little addition to our home & Parker is adjusting surprisingly well, minus a few jealous breakdowns earlier this week.

So I'll stop with the rambling & let you see the couple of pictures I managed to take today of our little Emmie 11 DAYS OLD....If you look closely, you can barely see her adorable little dimples (courtesy of her Daddy). They are slightly covered up by her shirt... How fun that both my kids have dimples! Thanks Chris! :)
Must be naptime again
A smile in her favorite state of being - asleep!
I just want to thank everyone for your sweet comments left on our blog, your phonecalls, emails, etc. through this last couple of months and especially this last week and a half! We are so blessed to have such supportive, loving friends and family & we appreciate all of you so much!!! (Even though I don't always call back right away!! :) )

SHE'S HERE!!!

After a much anticipated birth, our sweet Baby Emmie finally arrived to us safe and healthy on Monday, August 25th at 11:19 a.m. After weeks of preterm labor and bedrest and trying to keep her in my belly "just a little longer", in the end she came at a healthy 39 weeks and on her planned induction date! Go figure. I was induced Monday morning at 7 a.m., and she arrived just four hours later, at 11:19, after a fast and essentially painless delivery (THANK YOU EPIDRUAL!!!)! I guess those weeks of being so dilated and having painful contractions paid off when it finally came down to the actual delivery. She is beautiful and healthy and we couldn't ask for anything more! Emma Lee Hansen

"Emmie"

7 lbs, 4 0z, 19 inches

On our way to the hospital....

Ready or not....

Here she is!!! She came out screaming, but has been pretty quiet ever since.

Hooray for such an easy, wonderful delivery! It couldn't have gone more smoothly!

Getting pretty in the nursery

Parker meeting his baby sister for the first time... he wasn't too interested.

We're going home!Yeah, so?? Now what?! He loves his sister...Nevermind that he's pushing her off his lap.....Proud Pops

She has quite a bit of wavy brown hair with blonde roots. She really doesn't look a whole lot like Parker did....

Our Little Em has the sweetest demeanor and we are so thrilled to have her as a part of our family, and we're soooooo grateful that she's finally here - safe and sound!!!

Missing him

August has been an emotional month for me for a couple of reasons…One of course being the approach of bringing this new little life into our family. Another for the reminder of the loss of another life, my older brother, who was suddenly taken from us this last October. What would be his 31st birthday is tomorrow, August 21st, and I am so sad that he is not here for us to celebrate with him. He was so full of life, spunk, and energy, and there was just never a dull moment with him around. He danced to the beat of his own drum, never caring what others thought of him. Through that exterior however, inside was a soft heart & he was a wonderful older brother. Happy Birthday Michael! We miss you terribly and love you endlessly, and can’t wait for the day we get to see you again!

I have comfort in knowing that he has been able to spend time with and get to know our sweet baby girl before any of us here have had the chance. I can’t wait to meet this precious baby girl, who will come fresh from the presence of our Father in Heaven, but also from the presence of her uncle, my older brother.

August 21, 1977 - October 6, 2007Such an unconditional love between these two brothers

The three of us

Thanksgiving 2005

(Steven was on his mission)

Quick Update

Here's the scoop....I had a Dr.'s appointment today and I am dilated to a 5 and 90% effaced. (Isn't it kind of weird that I tell this to the world??) YIKES! Anytime now. My worst fear at this point is not making it to the hospital in time.

Hopefully - for my sake - my delivery "story" will be a real boring one when it finally comes to fruition.

READY is an understatement!!

We made it! On Monday my pregnancy officially became a full term one - as we hit the 37 week mark! We made it through bed rest, and now we are just ready to have this baby!! At my last appointment - last Thursday, I had just dilated one more cm from when I first started bed rest at 33 weeks. I was (almost) a four, and 80% effaced. So there you have it!!! I have another appointment this Thursday, so we'll see then if there is any additional change. Who knows, we may just go until my induction, which is scheduled to take place on August 25th (less than 2 weeks). My body really is hurting and it's hard to get around with having so many (ouchie) contractions, but I say bring them on, I'm READY!!! Anytime now. :)

We'll keep you posted.

Chris just finished painting and putting up this bead board in the baby's room. I think it turned out really good... thanks Chris for all of your hard work!! (And to his Dad who helped out with the bead board.)

Thanks to my Mom for making the cute bedding... I will take a real picture of it when I have it altogether in the crib, which is currently still being occupied by Parker. He still hasn't figured out how to climb out of it, so we are taking advantage of being able to keep him contained for as long as possible, since the baby will just be sleeping in our room in the pack and play for the first while anyway.

Meanwhile, the rocker is ready to roll, and the this Big Mama is ready to deliver!!! :)

What's worse than having your baby at Wal-Mart?

How about having it at your 10 YEAR CLASS REUNION?? Yep - call me crazy (really) - I went to my 10 year high school reunion 9 months pregnant last Saturday! I wouldn't have gone, but a small ramification of running for senior class office back in the day leaves you planning all of the reunions for the rest of your life. SO - since I was "helping out" ( which I wasn't much due to the fact that I had been on bed rest for the last several weeks), I felt I should go. The funny part was, I was having strong, hard (painful!!) contractions (4 minutes apart) that went on for an hour and a half just prior to going. Soooo - Chris and I were seriously trying to decide - should we go to the hospital, or the reunion? In the end we obviously went to the reunion which was held at the Red Lion Hotel in downtown Salt Lake. It was pretty fun and turned out to be a success! The food was great, and we held a silent auction that ended up raising over $5000, which will go towards remodeling some bathrooms in an orphanage in Ukraine through Project Reachout. Class alumni brought items to donate for the auction (i.e. someone donated a week stay at their Malibu beach house, 1 hour massage, floral arrangement, baskets of goodies, homemade little girl hairbows, blankets, etc. etc.). Anyways - it turned out great. Thanks especially to Ali and Cami for making that such a big success!! It was fun and I still can't believe it's been ten years!!! My good friend Jill and I... she is just four weeks behind me in pregnancy. (We were cleaning up - hence the empty room. It really WAS full of people...)
L to R: Myself, Jill, Cami, Ali

I seriously couldn't have been in student government with 3 more amazing girls... we were such good friends back then, and we still are! That makes it so nice for when these reunion planning things come around. Aren't they such pretty girls? This is right as we were leaving -right before midnight and I look disgusting - but THEY all look beautiful, don't they?
Our husbands (mine and Jill's)... Such good sports to help with setting up, cleaning up, and just BEING there the entire time!