Jump, Jive, and.....

Those crazy kids can dance! The parents aren't too bad either ; ) This past Saturday was National Dance Day. This is something that is common in our house every weekend, but recording it was a little tricky, and a little embarrassing!

Coming Soon to the Hanson Household Nearest You...

Or maybe not nearest you. Whatever. We were supposed to be hooked up on Wednesday. Thursday night and still nada. Hopefully we'll have a brilliant technitian fix us tomorrow.

Once we're up and running updates will be coming at ya like crazy : )

(you know, when I have more than an hour/kid free/at the library)

Here's what to expect:

• Max is 2!
• Elly is 2 months (now 11 weeks!!)
• Wedding Receptions that ROCK
• The promised birth story!

Still Among the Living

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I blogged! We're all alive and kickin', just really busy. I guess summer gets like that. What am I saying, our entire year is like that! I keep thinking that someday, we'll have more time for ourselves, but I'm beginning to think perhaps not. We're going to have to schedule ourselves some time off! On one hand that would mean time for us - yay! On the other hand, that would mean we'd be missing time with our friends or family - boo!

So, everyone is doing good. Max is amazing us every day with new things. He talks all the time now (not that we can understand 98% of what he's saying!) and is getting more clear every day. His little/BIG personality is getting more and more evident. His daycare provider was telling me today that yesterday at lunch the other little boy was making noises at Max, and Max gave him a big belly laugh each time : D Went on for like, 30 minutes! Yay, a longer attention span is forming!!! Along with the good of course comes bad. He is testing his boundries like CRAZY. I'm so thankful that I have Mike to go through this with; whenever he pushes one of us too hard, the other is there to lean on. That's for both Max and the other parent, no giving in! Can I tell you how hard it is to distract this one from his indended action? Any suggstions?

Mike and I are both surviving. So far, this pregnancy has treated me pretty well. I'm not nearly as nauseous as I was with Max, and not nearly as tired. With Max I'd come home from work, nap an hour, get up and eat, and then go to bed within two hours of waking up. So far, I've been able to limit my naps to weekends, which is keeping the guilt level down. The only major hurdle so far was waking up with a crick in my neck last week Thurs. I couldn't hold my head up straight, so off to Doc I went. After some MAJOR pain there (I've never cried so much in his office - in fact, in 6 yrs, only one other time) I was able to at least keep my head vertical (I hope they didn't have any new patients in while I was there...my screams may have scared them off). But, since we couldn't fix the problem, I was sent home with a Cervical Traction Device. While Mike may have the words to explain it, I do not, so you'll have to wait for pictures later. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good. After talking with the OB, I was able to get some muscle relaxers to help get my head moving again. It took two days and another day off work, but I did get most of my motion back. There is still a little restriction, and a lot of tenderness (what I wouldn't give to take some ibuprofen!) but we're almost back to normal. Mike is good, working a lot and playing a little. He's feeling the itch to take a LONG bike ride soon. Thankfully he has friends that want to go with him because this girl isn't up for it!

Anyway, if you're still here (good for you! you make me so proud : ) ) I will try my best to get a new post with some pics up soon. I still haven't finished telling you about our vacation....which was over almost 2 months ago ; )

Party Time!

So, this party happened last Saturday, the day before my little boy turned 1. It was a good turnout for the brutal cold snap we were experiencing. Note to self: five space heaters + 1 fireplace do not a shelter house heat (in 4 hours time anyway).

To start the day, Max got his first haircut. He didn't pitch a fit, so I will consider this a success:

Then it was PART-AY TIME! (notice Max was all about the kisses that day!)

Some of the peeps:

Some of the gifts:







The Cake:





He was being "Mr. Clean" so Poppo stepped in to help...

Did it help? A little : )


I guess we should have had Kolten demonstrate first!!

All partied out. The End.

5 in 52

So this post is a day late, sorry 'bout that. Mr. Hanson had a business dinner last night and I figured we could wait. This is what it would have looked like last night.

I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford, "Identity Crisis," M*A*S*H

Max enjoys his baths just like mommy. Warm and with a good book (sans vino for the babe).

Guess what? I forgot some info on the last post, besides what I already pointed out I forgot. I mean, something I forgot

completely until posting this. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. Max has another two new teeth! A third tooth on the bottom and his second on top! I'm sure he appreciates the additional grinding material.

4 in 52

To us, family means putting your arms around each other and being there.
~Barbara Bush

3 in 52

Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family. ~Anthony Brandt

"Here I come to save the day!" ~Superman....or was that Mighty Mouse?

2 in 52

The family is one of nature's masterpieces. ~George Santayana, The Life of Reason

Here's what we look like almost every night. Daddy still in his work uniform, Max drooling all over his pj's and me ready for us to all go to bed.



Here are a couple pics from the weekend for your viewing pleasure.

Max's cousins got a puppy for Xmas. Max wasn't sure what to think of Cheyanne's interest in him (Jill, sp?).

Max did finally figure out that puppy kisses are only fun for so long. This is a pretty good pic of Cheyanne's face (again, Jill...sp?)

1 in 52

I love stealing other people's great ideas, don't you? Sam over at My Tiny Speck of Life...Magnified mooched this idea from another blog; I fell in love with the idea, so I am doing the same. The idea steal is this: every week in 2009 I am going to get my family together for a self portrait. You'll get to see our little fam in all our randomness! Plus, in the end I'll have a years worth of photos to reflect on.

So, I read about this idea after the new year and thus we got a little bit of a late start. I set the timer on this last night. So, with no further ado, here is week 1's photo op:

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family. ~Thomas Jefferson





You know I can't post just one:

CRASH! POW! BAM! Batman!

Complete with cape!

Xmas Update #2

First, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We rang in 2009 with Chris and Karyn. It was great; I smell a new tradition coming on! More on our good times later.

Our second Xmas was spent with the Hanson's. A good time was had by all. We had the pleasure of welcoming Matt and Mel home on Xmas day. Grandma Pam was especially pleased to have everyone home for the holiday. We were there from the 24th thru the 26th. Max got spoiled, but thankfully wasn't too bad about readjusting to real life : )

I think I have figured out the slide show thing. There are lots of pics, I'm sure as I get the hang of it I will get better at creating them. Pictured are Grandma and Grandpa Hanson, Matt and Mel (brunettes), Chris and Karyn, Mike and I and Max. It starts on the 24th with Xmas at our house, and then moves onto Gma and Gpa's house. The reindeer outfit=Xmas Eve; the red and white outfit (& pjs)=Xmas day. Enjoy! And please let me know what you think!

Xmas Update #1

So sorry for the very long delay in updates. I have been trying to put together a slide show of the pics. Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful. Oh, well. I'll keep working on it and if I can get it to work you'll finally see the fruits of my labor. And, since I can't get it to work, you get more pics than is healthy for one blog post : )

Max's first Xmas celebration was in Denison with Mommy's family the weekend before Chrismas. Everyone was there, Aunt Jill and Uncle Matt with Sheldon, Evan, and Kolten. And Uncle Kevin and Nicole. A full house for sure. The kids were extremely well behaved so everyone had a lot of fun. In no certain order:

Mommy, Daddy, Max (or is that one of Santa's elves?)

Mommo, Poppo, Max (yep, definitely one of Santa's elves!)

Mommo, Poppo, Sheldon, Evan, Max, Kolten (that look is too funny!)

(Minus Max)

Matt, Jill, Kol, Nicole, Sheldon

This little elf sure is excited to be wrapped up for Xmas!

Evan Joseph, are you a present or a lump of coal? Today and always you are a precious gift!

My Shel-bel; sure looks sweet to me!

Kol, what a joy you are!

Max at home, playing with the first Xmas gift he opened.

At that wraps up our first Xmas update. I'll post again soon with the next Xmas celebration with Daddy's family! Thanks again everyone, for making Max's first Xmas special. And thanks for stopping by!