A Wedding

This last weekend we went to Snowflake to go to my brother's wedding. Aaron (my brother) and Carrie are now officially husband and wife!! We are way excited to have her be part of the family and for him to be married. My parents only have 1 more to go now!

It was quite the adventure. We left Pima about 6:30 a.m. or so and headed to Snowflake. We had actually never been to Snowflake from this direction before so it was an all new drive for us, which made it kinda fun. We still made it really fast because there was no traffic. Luckily no one got sick on the windy roads. We left the kids at my aunt Daphne's house while we went to the sealing because we didn't want them out in the cold waiting for us and we didn't want poor Stephanie to have to chase all those kids around the temple. She was watching my kids, Elizabeth's 2 little ones and Ren and Amber's 1, so 6 kids in all. (Thanks again Steph!!)

After the ceremony we dashed back to get the kids for pictures at the temple. Unfortunately it was super windy and we weren't hanging around for any pictures. Plus they wanted me to climb stairs and I was already swollen and decided we would just hang out at the church and wait for lunch. The bride and groom stuck it out and got some pictures. We ate quickly and dashed back to Pima for Kiara's dance recital at 5:30. She did really good, but I think all of us were really tired by the time we finally got home at around 7:30. We got the kids in bed and just plopped on the couch. Of course, I started having contractions and my hands, feet and face were all swollen from the crazy day, so I drank a whole lot of water and went to bed.

We were so glad to go and see Aaron and Carrie get married, but what a whirlwind of a trip! It was really neat to get to go back to the Snowflake temple. We hadn't been there since it was dedicated and we were living in Flagstaff. It was also wonderful, as always, to remember the commitments Shane and I have made and be all lovey dovey remembering why we did this in the first place. It is so easy to forget in the midst of all the craziness of life that it was just joyous to remember that we love each other and that we love each other even more than we thought we did back then : )

Funny Random Pictures

Some funny pictures I found on my camera when I was uploading birthday pics:

Kiara in the treehouse and Rowan with Moly in the backyard

Aidan and a train and Aidan's tongue

Rowan and Shane

Aidan ready to work

Rowan with lipstick on his arm (at least it isn't on his lips)

Happy Birthday to Rowan!

Rowan's birthday was Sunday, Nov 30. He is now officially 2 years old. I have officially been crying about that for a while now. I think I'm having problems with my kids getting bigger because I also cried all the way through the primary program with my 2 big kids up there singing and sitting so reverently and saying their parts all by themselves. I would blame it on me being pregnant, but I'm pretty sure I would be crying about it anyways.

Back to Rowan, my 2 year old. . . . . I'm not sure he knew what was going on all day, except Kiara kept calling him the birthday boy and Aidan was so excited all day for it to be "night" so Rowan could open his presents. My mom and Stephanie came over (everyone else was sick or out of town) to see him open his presents and have cake and ice cream. Once we convinced him it was fun to open presents he really went at it. He was pulling paper out of bags and saying "TA DAH" like the paper was what we were all waiting for. He got some wonderful toys that make lots of noise and are therefore very cool. He also managed to put his fingers in the cake in several places while waiting for the candles to be lit. Aidan was very impressed he could blow the candles out all by himself and pronouced Rowan "big now." It was fun to see Rowan so excited.

I can't believe his is 2 already, but he is talking up a storm, knows what he wants and when and does everything he can to get it. He is quite the character and I can't wait to see what this next year brings!

And just for fun, the big kids being silly before the party! They are good at the silly part : )

Thanksgiving Thanks

I saw this on someone else's blog and am totally stealing the idea.

Things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving:

T: Tummies, an ever growing one that means our baby is getting bigger and bigger, little kid ones to tickle and kiss, good food to put in them.

H: Home, my wonderful little home that fits everyone in plus a dog, a cat, 2 gerbils and a fish with room for one more.

A: Aidan McQueen the car Shane Hansen. This 4 year old keeps me on my toes with constant questions about the letter A and how to spell Thomas's name and all of his friends names. He also is very excited about his newest baby brother.

N: 'nother boy: Rowan. He is the funniest almost 2 year old I think I have met. He is always pointing his finger and giving his "angry" face whenever anyone does anything he doesn't agree with. He gives great hugs and kisses and talks up a storm and then some.

K: Kiara. At 6 years old, she is so excited about school and everything new she can learn. She is gaining a love of clothes and shoes and wishes she could wear makeup, the girl I never was, but I guess I will be now!

S: Shane. I can't even begin to say thanks for all he does for me, but for now I am just glad he still loves me after being with me through almost 4 pregnancies and the accompanying hormones and cravings for endless bean burros.

G: Gifts. Giving them and getting them, of all kinds. Sometimes the very best gifts are the ones that don't cost anything, but touch your heart and make you remember.

I: Income, as in having some. I am so grateful Shane still has a job with the mine laying off people and the economy so shaky and crazy.

V: Very amazing world we live in, with kids who manage to survive with crazy moms, flowers that grow, rain that falls, rainbows that come, days that pass, problems that work out somehow and knowing that someone is in charge of it all, watching over us all.

I: Ice cream and the way it just seems to solve all sorts of problems. Kids don't want to help on clean up-bribe 'em with ice cream, sad-ice cream is a great antidepressant, happy-ice cream works for celebrating, pregnant? have some ice cream, it won't start labor, but you'll be happier about it!

N: next boy. The more I think about, the more excited I get to have another boy. Another boy to carry on his daddy's name, another boy to serve a mission, another boy to build forts, wrestle and just be smelly.

G: Grandmas and grandpas. I am so grateful we get to live here where my kids have 4 sets of grandparents within 10 miles. It is such a blessing for them to have such great relationships with not only their grandparents, but their great-grandparents as well. Plus, grandmas make the best babysitters!!

There are so many more things I am thankful for, it makes me smile just to think about all I have to be grateful for now and everyday.

Hooray

I found out today that I don't have gestational diabetes, which means I can eat for the holidays however the heck I want!! Whoo hoo!! My 3 hour glucose test came back all normal. I guess the 3+ hours I spent in the doctor's office on Friday were worth it. So all I can say is bring on the chocolate pie and Christmas cookies. I'm pregnant right, I'm not supposed to be losing weight, right??????

the future. . . .

The day you deliver, outside will be breezy. Your baby will arrive in wee hours of the morning . After a labor lasting approximately 8 hours, your child, a girl, will be born. Your baby will weigh about 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and will be 20-1/2 inches long. This child will have dark brown eyes and dark hair.

I found this prediction of what my baby's date of delivery will be like at http://pregnancyandbaby.com/pregnancy/baby/Madame-Zaritska-predicts-your-birth-experience-736.htm

I wonder if I should get excited because Madame Zaritska says I'm having a girl after all! And only 6 pounds?!? Amazing since they think I have gestational diabetes! At least good for a laugh!

I have to take it back...

I decided I can't complain about being pregnant anymore because I just found out one of my friends from high school is having her second set of twins in 3 years! AHHH!!! Good Luck Leah and I know you can do it!! You really are the best and the bravest!

Less than 100 days. . . .

Well, according to the little thingie on my blog I have only 99 days left of this pregnancy. I have officially decided that I suck at being a pregnant lady. I just dislike everything about it, except the fact that I will have a baby at the end of it. I think it is good that you forget all the stinky parts of getting a new baby or no one would have more than one. Of course, I keep remembering sooner and sooner with each kid I have. I have been worrying about labor already and reliving the pain in my dreams already. I may have to rethink my no epidural stance this time! I guess Heavenly Father is pretty smart to make women lose their minds again and again so that you think getting pregnant again sounds like fun! Only 99 days to go!

Halloween

We had a fun and simple Halloween this year. We carved pumpkins on Thursday. The kids got a kick out of that, especially designing their own faces. Kiara wanted hers to say BOO and Aidan wanted a scary one. After Aidan's was done Rowan checked it out and started talking to it in his best scary voice. It was pretty funny to listen to him.

On Friday we went to our stake's Trunk or Treat at the Central ballfield (for the last year there since the new temple is going there!) and had fun saying trick or treat and eating hotdogs.

Kiara was a cheerleader, but at the last minute decided she needed to be something scary, so we opted for her being a dead cheerleader (or at least a severely injured one). I told her she fell off the top of the pyramid. Aidan was all for being a puppy again and since his costume still fit from last year, I was all for it too. Rowan was Tigger with a costume I got from my aunt. It was lovely not to have to buy anything at all this year in the way of costumes! They do look pretty cute, at least I think so :)

Kiara and her best dead cheerleader face

Aidan, the puppy

Rowan, the cutest Tigger I've ever seen!

My mom was all dressed in her witchy best at the Trunk or Treat to give out candy too. The big kids recognized her, but Rowan wasn't too sure. I think he recognized her voice, but she didn't look like herself at all. They got plenty of candy and were very happy!

With their jack o' lanterns

Joyous Things

I was going through some old boxes from college and found a list Rebekah and I made of joyous things. We started it one day while she was visiting and I hung it on my wall and added to it until I got married. It had such things as the perfect pair of jeans, boys calling you, red mustangs, first kisses, looking at the stars, etc. I was thinking about all those things and decided I needed a new list of joyous things for this new point in my life. It would still include the perfect pair of jeans (although a few sizes bigger), red mustangs and looking at the stars, but it would have to have a whole new section for being a mom and wife. Here are some of the things on my new list of joyous things:
~the first time you feel a new baby kick in your tummy
~the first time you hold that new baby in your arms
~home from work kisses
~getting all the kids in bed before 8 p.m.
~grown-up movies
~sticky kid kisses
~days off of work
~ice cream
~chocolate
~kids all dressed up for Halloween
~dance recitals
~preschool
~the way sick kids just want their mommies
~dates
~fireworks
~cookie dough
~kids stealing cookie dough
~having someone to lick the bowl with me
~having someone just as excited about Christmas as me.

What's on your joyous things list? I keep thinking about what the General Authorities all seemed to say at this last General Conference: that we need to be thankful for all that we do have no matter what kind of other things are going on. Plus with almost 4 kids there are a lot of things to find joy in!

The letter A

Aidan has a new obsession: the letter A. Ever since he discovered that his name starts with the letter A, he has been looking for As everywhere, in signs, books, on TV, everywhere. He asks all the time if words or names have As in them. He has discovered that everyone in our family has an A in their name but me. I cannot convince him that Celissa has an A in it because that really isn't my name apparently. My name is Mom and only Mom. However, lucky for me, he still likes me even though I don't have an A in my name. He doesn't make many exceptions. (He is asking me if Backyardigans has an A in it as I type this). Things and/or people without As in their name he doesn't like, so sorry to houses, trees, dogs, trucks, etc. He has been glad to find out that Thomas the train engine, Spongebob Squarepants and McQueen the racecar all have As in their names. Who would have guessed that A could be so wonderful or so important!!

A Wonderful Weekend

This last weekend was very busy and very wonderful. It was fair weekend here in Graham County which is always fun. Shane took Friday off so he could go to the parade with us and see Kiara march. This was the first time she marched with her dance company instead of riding on the trailer. She did such a great job, staying in line and even dancing while walking. I was very impressed and she had a fun time. We made sure she was well hydrated to avoid any headaches that would ruin the day. After going to lunch we went home to take a nap and then on to the fair that afternoon. We looked at all the exhibits, especially the animals, got cotton candy and kettle corn and free balloons. Really, what more could you ask for from the fair?

Saturday Shane and I dropped the kids off at my mom's house and headed to Glendale for Shane's 10 year high school reunion. We stopped to do a little shopping and catch a movie before checking into the hotel. Then we got to take a nap before the party started. The party was at the hotel so we just went downstairs. Not very many people showed up, but there were some people there that he was glad to see. One of his groomsmen that I had known in college too was there and told us he is now in New York City building sets for the New York Metropolitan Opera. What a job! He had fun talking with old friends. The next morning we had breakfast with Shane's dad and then headed back to Pima. The kids had fun with grandma and grandpa running all over the town. Their cousin, Dallen, my brother's little boy had his first birthday party and they went to that and then back to the fair to see Kiara dance in the rain.

Monday morning I woke up early and realized that Shane hadn't left for work yet. I pushed him awake very worried that he wasn't at work and had forgot to set his alarm. He rolled over and told me to go back to sleep, he wasn't going to work today. It was a fun surprise to get to hang out with him on Monday too especially when he told me what his plan for the day was. He went and got the tractor, cleaned up the weeds and then finished the fence. The kids played outside all day long and I worked inside on some stuff I have been needing to do. By the end of the day, we had a backyard that was available to everyone. We even let Moly out. He didn't get the gates done, but he put some chain link we have across the gate areas so everyone can play safely back there. The boys got up and went out right after breakfast this morning even though it was cold.

Hooray for husbands and for backyards!!! I can't wait to plant grass and a garden in the spring.

PS I need to take some pictures to post. I just have been anti-camera lately for some reason.

Outnumbered

Kiara and I are officially outnumbered. We are having another boy. That makes it 4 boys to 2 girls, a clear majority. O well, we are still prettier than them! I am getting even more thankful for our big backyard since now we will have 3 boys running and climbing and jumping and tumbling all over the place.

We were actually very surprised since I haven't been sick and seem to be carrying lower than the other boys. But I guess this baby just needed to be different and I don't miss the throwing up that I had all 9 months with the other two boys! The ultrasound was good. The tech was very thorough and checked everything out. Our little boy wasn't very cooperative moving all around, but he looks healthy and is obviously strong as he ran from the ultrasound over and over again.

Kiara is very disappointed. She was in tears for a while when we told her, but I'm glad we told her now as opposed to her finding out in a couple of months. We will have to work on doing special girl things since it doesn't look like she is going to get a sister. I'm glad Stephanie, my sister, is close by and likes to do girly things with her too. Shane says we can try again for another girl, but that also opens up the chance for another boy so I think I'm okay with being done at least for the moment.

And... my due date didn't change. HOORAY!!! I am officially due on February 18, 2009 which means I made it to 20 weeks!! Only 20 more to go. Luckily those weeks will be filled with holidays to keep me busy. Now we just have to figure out a boy name. Good thing we still have 20 weeks, it just might take us that long to agree on a boy's name.

A new baby, but when?

We are expecting baby #4!! The only problem is we aren't sure when this baby is going to come. At my first appointment I was due December 27, then February 8 and now they tell me I'm due February 18. I seem to be stuck at about 17 weeks and can't seem to get any further. My frustrations are growing with each appointment since every time I go they tell me I am 17 or 18 weeks and expect me to be all excited that I'm almost halfway. Funnily enough, I'm not excited about still being 18 weeks after my third appointment.

Regardless of this frustration, the baby seems to be growing well. They have been able to hear the heartbeat without any problems at all my appointments and it is always strong. I am scheduled for an ultrasound on Wednesday to hopefully clear up the date issue and find out if we are having a girl or a boy. Let's just hope I'm not suddenly due in March now!

The kids are excited too, but divided on whether they want a girl or a boy. Kiara is all for a baby sister, but Aidan wants another brother. He says he already has enough sisters. Kiara, of course, is done with brothers and has vowed to stay in her room "FOREVER" if it is a boy. I would love to have a girl to even things up and Shane wants a girl too. Plus, we have absolutely no idea what to name the baby if it is a boy!!

I keep telling myself 4 can't be any more crazy than 3. Let's just hope I'm right!

Cheerleader!!

Kiara is officially a mini Pima cheerleader now. The PHS cheerleaders had a mini cheer camp over a couple of Saturdays and last Thursday they got to perform at the Varsity football game. It was so dang cute. Kiara was really excited to go. The best part was that they were selling their old uniforms. Kiara looked so cute that I just had to give in any buy it. (at least now I already have Halloween taken care of for her) The pictures turned out pretty stinky, but trust me she was cute!

I don't think my brother was too thrilled about her cheering for Pima after he played football for Thatcher for 3 years, but o well. I guess my loyalities to Thatcher have faded as well because I am all for blue and gold now (NAU is blue and gold too)!

Hooray for husbands!!

Shane just got back from spending 2 weeks in Utah for work. After 2 weeks of being a single parent and having to take out my own trash and feed the animals and put the kids to bed and about a million other things he usually does, it was wonderful to have him home.

We drove down to Tucson to pick him up from the airport and when we drove up and he was there my heart did a little flip-flop just like it used to when we first started dating. I guess even after 7+ years of being together he can still make my heart skip a beat. I threw the car into park and leaped out of the car to get my first kiss in 2 weeks. And then another one. It was wonderful just to hold his hand as we drove home.

The kids were also excited to see him. Aidan had gotten in big trouble just before Shane left and had told Shane he didn't like him anymore. When Shane called Aidan started telling him that he liked him again and when we picked up Shane, Aidan had to tell him over and over again that he liked his daddy again. All weekend Shane hasn't been able to sit by himself for longer than 5 minutes without a kid coming to sit on his lap or his wife needing a hug. I hope he got the message that we missed him because we really did!!

First Days

The first days of school have now officially come and gone. Kiara's first day was actually 2 weeks ago, but those 2 weeks have been spent trying to fix our computer and then trying to fix our internet. Fun, let me tell you!

Kiara is in first grade now, in Mrs. Kempton's class. Mrs. Kempton's class is Kempton's Kingdom and she even has a castle in her classroom that the kids can play in and work on the computer in and read on. It is very fun. Kiara has been walking to and from school and feels very grown up. It makes things much easier for me. It is nice living so close to the school that I don't have to worry about her doing that. She has homework every night but Fridays and is actually loving it. We will see how long that lasts! Here is a picture of her on her first day in the outfit she picked out herself. Elizabeth made the headband for her while we were in Utah.

Aidan started preschool today with Mrs. Bryce and Mrs. Thygerson. I am very excited for him to go and be able to socialize with other kids his age. I thought he would be nervous but he just jumped out of the car and ran right in. Of course I then promptly started tearing up and had to call Shane to cry to him. Rowan was very sad his last buddy was gone too. Here is a picture of Aidan after he got done with his first day. You can see just how happy he is. What you can't see is his sad mommy taking the picture.

Rowan is very distressed that everyone keeps leaving him. He cries almost every morning when Kiara leaves for school and today he cried almost the whole way home after we dropped off Aidan. Apparently I just don't cut it as a play buddy. I am not nearly as cool as his brother and sister. I am glad that they are all so close though. I thought they were driving each other crazy all summer, but I guess they liked it more than I thought.

In other Hansen news, Shane is gone for 2 weeks back to Salt Lake to run more test work up there. He has only been gone a few days and we are all already feeling it. Aidan ended up in my bed last night and the night before Rowan cried most of the night. I have a feeling I am going to be very sleep deprived by the time he gets back. We are close to finishing our fence. If Shane ever gets a free weekend it will be done and I can let the kids free to run and run! Whoo hoo!!

Pictures

Some Utah pictures and other pictures. I finally got off my lazy bum and uploaded them. Apparently the lazy days of summer have captured me in their grasp. I am the laziest bum I know these past few weeks. School starts in a week and a half and I will be back to not so lazy, hopefully, for my family's sake!

Rowan driving the car. He got in with the big kids and went straight for the driver's seat!

Josiah, Elizabeth's baby. A very smiley boy.

Cousins at the picnic. Front: Audrey's Shay and Wade, Kiara, Elizabeth's Avery. Back: Daphne's Brad, Audrey's Dane and Aidan.

Aidan doing a dinosaur dance in front of the triceratops head.

Shane and Rowan with the triceratops skull. You can see just how big it really is.

Rowan just being cute at the picnic.

Utah

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Things got a little crazy really fast. Shane came home about the middle of June and said that his work might send him to Utah for some training/testwork in Salt Lake for about a month. Then he came home and said they were going to send him for 2 weeks, but probably not until August. Then he came home about a week later and said they wanted him for 2 weeks and could he be there on June 30? So we made the quick decision for all of us to go so the kids and I could visit my sister Elizabeth who lives in Provo. He managed to convince Freeport to give him a rental car even though he drove up there and off we went. We stopped in Phoenix for a Hazmat refresher class he already had scheduled the Friday before and headed to Utah on Saturday. We made it up there without incident (except a few crying kids) and got Shane settled in his hotel room/studio apartment. Because it was an extended stay place it had a full size fridge, a stove, microwave and dishwasher. (I don't even have a dishwasher at home!!)

Sunday the kids and I went to Provo and went to church with Elizabeth and Andrew. We had a fun week with Elizabeth and her kids, Avery and Josiah. I hadn't got to see her baby, Josiah, yet so it was fun to see him. He is already 4 months old and thinks he is way bigger. He liked to put his little bum in the air like an inchworm and push himself forward.

For the 4th of July their neighborhood has a big shindig on the 3rd. They rope off a street and have a real block party. It was a lot of fun with a BBQ, music, dancing, fireworks and the "Rocket Chick," a crazy lady who dresses in a fireproof suit and rides her bike up and down the street with fireworks taped to her back and to her helmet. The kids really got a kick out of that. It would have been a great night except for my runaway son. Aidan rode off on his bike to the other end of the street looking for Elizabeth, but didn't find her and kept going. We found him about 20 minutes later 6 blocks away. It was the worst feeling I have ever had in my life. Thank goodness we found him safe and sound. In retrospect, I cannot believe that he would be the one to get lost. He is such a momma's boy and I never thought he would cross the street by himself. I won't make that mistake again! I didn't let go of him for the rest of the night and he was rather content to just stay on my lap.

Because we were in Utah we got to buy and set off our own fireworks. Shane came down from Salt Lake for the 4th and we had fun with the fireworks. We went to Pleasant Grove, where my aunt Audrey lives, to see their show and got to be pretty close. None of the kids, even Josiah, were scared of the booms and they all had fun.

While we were there we got to go see the triceratops (yep the dinosaur) that Andrew is working on putting together from fossils found in Montana. They had the whole skull together and it was really neat to be able to see actual fossils so close up. He gets to put them together and create bones that may be missing. We also went to dinosaur museum at BYU and the Bean Museum at BYU which has lots of dead stuffed animals that kids love. We spent lots of time at the park and at Target (of course!!) We also went on picnics, to the duck pond and to puppet shows at the library.

It was a great trip! It was so fun to see Elizabeth and actually get to hang out without having to worry about leaving so soon. I think Shane had a good time in Salt Lake. He got to walk around downtown by the temple every night and go out to eat with his corporate card. Freeport is even going to pay for our miles to and from Salt Lake. It was a really good deal for us. We only had to pay for food for me and the kids, which we would have had to pay for at home in Pima.

I will post pictures once I find my camera which is lost in some random bag. School will start in just a few weeks so now we need to get ready for that, whoo hoo, first grade and preschool here we come!

T-ball dance, lost teeth, swim lessons and macaroni

That about sums up our last week in a few words. Aidan has been enjoying T-ball very much. The rest of us are also enjoying it because he is really hilarious. His dance when he gets to each base is the funniest thing on the field. Today we even had the other team talking about number 8 and his dance. Here is a video I took on my camera of his dance. I hope it works. It really is just hilarious. He is just so excited to be there on the base and so he just has to dance.


We started swim lessons this week. Aidan is very excited to get to be in the big pool. I think the lifeguards like him. Both days we have gone, he has had the lifeguard working with him laughing the entire time. He does a dance after he puts his head under the water, after he swims to the rope, just any time he can. I think he is telling her funny things too because he told me that he was making her laugh. Kiara is doing well in swim lessons too. She was floating on her back all by herself yesterday.

Kiara lost 2 teeth this last week. She was putting something away in the fridge and came to tell me that she had lost a tooth. I was checking it out and she had lost 2! The other one was still in the fridge when we went to look for it. The tooth fairy was slow on the job, but she finally made it and even left a tooth fairy note. Of course, Shane has decided that she is a bit rednecky because of her new smile. He has been calling her all sorts of lovely names like snaggle tooth and redneck princess. Rowan decided that he would find a new place for the leftover macaroni on his tray yesterday morning. He thought the best place for it would be in his nose. All of the sudden I look over and he is grabbing at his nose and making weird noises. I looked at his tray and saw another macaroni and I realized right away that he must have a macaroni up his nose. I jumped up and was trying to figure out what to do when he started sneezing. After about 4 or 5 sneezes it came shooting out. Thank goodness!! No more leftover macaroni for Rowan! It seems like my kids are getting progressively better at getting into trouble. I don't remember either of the other ones doing crazy things like him. I think he just wants to make sure I stay on my toes and never think I have this mom thing figured out.

First T-Ball Game

So, I'm supposed to be working, but there are no jobs, so I thought I would quickly put on a post about Aidan's first T ball game. It was hilarious, to say the very least. We got there and had to change into his neon green shirt and put on his hat. He refused to let me put his hat on straight, he had to have it pushed a little sideways. Then when he got up to bat, he did really good hitting the ball, but then got "lost" on his way to first base. (That is what he told me afterwards). It looked like he decided halfway there that he needed to go get the ball instead. He successfully got there, eventually. Then as he ran the rest of the bases he had to skip every few steps. While on the base waiting for the next hit, he danced and spun his hat around on his head. He also entertained with various dances while in the field. I'm not even sure he knew the other team was batting. He definitely had fun and we had fun watching him. Aaron decided he couldn't claim him, but I thought he was great and totally Aidan, having fun and being happy no matter what!

Sorry for no pictures, I just got a job. Better go make some money. I will post pictures soon!

Dance Recital

Kiara had her spring dance recital this past Saturday. She did really well. They danced to a song from Lilo and Stitch and then to Jukebox Boogie. She had a lot of fun. I can't believe she has been dancing for 3 years now. It was fun to see her in a bigger class and not the littlest class anymore. She did really well and was one that everyone was looking at to see what to do. She is so funny though because she is concentrating so hard that she forgets to smile.
Kiara is on the far right and the girl next to her is her friend, Cheyenne.

I keep feeling really old the bigger Kiara gets and the more things she does (It probably doesn't help that Shane feels it is his personal duty to point out how close to 30 I am getting). Today she is going on a field trip to the Safford Pool and was so excited. She had her kindergarten program on Monday where they talked about all the things that they had learned. She really has learned so much this year in kindergarten. She can now draw pictures and then write a whole sentence telling what the picture is about. She can read simple books and tells me all the time what things say that I can't believe she knows. She was really blessed to have a great teacher, Mrs. Thygerson who was so patient with her socialness. She was also lucky to have found some good friends. One of her friends, Cheyenne's mom took over as the kindergarten aide in January and she has been wonderful too. Cheyenne and Kiara have had fun going to each other's houses after school and having tea parties and the other day they were even skateboarding. They are even in the same dance class. I'm glad she has found such a good friend.

In other Pima news, Aidan started T-ball. He has to work on running the bases without holding hands, but otherwise is doing well. He can hit the ball really well and was even catching the ball at his last practice. Rowan is doing well too. I can't seem to keep him out of anything. He climbs on the table, on the top of the couch and anything else he can. It is hard to believe that he isn't even 18 months old yet. 2 more weeks and nursery here we come!!

I have been working hard on a little yearbook for Kiara's class. Her teacher gave me copies of all their pictures from the year and I put together some scrapbook-like pages on the computer to make a book. It turned out really good. I hope all the kids will like it. Shane has been working evenings for the past few weeks trying to get a project done. The equipment he needs is only available in the afternoons/evenings so he has to go in then. It has been a nice change to have him home in the mornings for a little bit. I think he likes the lunches I send with him better than the ones he throws together when he leaves at 5:30 in the morning.

Happy Birthday to Aidan McQueen the Car

Aidan's 4th birthday was last week on Thursday. I think he had a good day. We had grandmas and grandpas over and had cake and more importantly presents. He was very excited to get a Thomas the train hat, Thomas toys, Cars sheets and some dollars. I made him a Thomas cake as requested and it turned out pretty good. Lucky for me that cupcakes make perfect wheels seeing as how I keep having to make things that go for Aidan's birthday cakes.

Some thoughts about Aidan: He is my little buddy. We have gotten to hang out together a lot since Kiara has started going to school and various other things. It has been fun to go to the store with him and watch Thomas movies and play Thomas or Lightning McQueen in the window. He is completely a boy. He loves trains, cars, tractors and anything that is big and can knock stuff over. He has decided that his name is not just Aidan Shane, but Aidan McQueen the Car Shane Hansen. In fact if you ask him his name that is what he will tell you. I can't wait for him to learn to write all of that name! He has been the quiet one in our house for a long time. He also is wonderful in Primary. His teacher always is impressed with how reverent he can be. At home he may be quiet, but he is the one who is going to get into something. He doesn't ask me to get him something, especially if he thinks I will say no, he just gets a stool or a box or both and gets whatever he has his little heart set on. I always get nervous if I haven't seen him for a little while. He is getting ready to start teeball and swimming lessons and will start preschool in the fall. What a guy!

My Fence Heroes

Saturday we had a fence building party. Shane has been trying and trying to get our fence up since we moved in. We have a humougous backyard (We have 1/2 an acre of land) but we are backed right up to the canal which makes letting kids run outside a little difficult. So Saturday Shane's dad, his friend Cliff, Shane's uncle Pete and Shane's nephew Shay, along with Dar, Shane's stepmom came to Pima to help us work on the fence. They, along with Shane and my brother Aaron, got a whole heck of a lot of work done. They worked really hard in the hot sun and left with sunburned faces and sore muscles, but left us a lot closer to a finished fence. This is a big thank you going out to them!! We love you guys!!

Shay, Rowan and Grandpa Kelly walking in to take a much needed water break.

Shay, Uncle Pete, Shane and Dar discussing their plan of action.

Rowan taking a break from his hard work

My honey

I just couldn't resist posting this picture of Shane. He will most likely kill me if he sees this, but since he never looks at my blog I will hopefully be safe. This is Shane all the way through. He is so willing to do anything to make the kids laugh and be happy. He was trying to get Rowan to smile for a picture so he let Rowan take a picture of him being silly. He loves the kids and me so much, we are really, really lucky to have such a crazy guy in our lives! I love this crazy man even with his tongue sticking out!

A Haircut

Shane has been bugging me for a couple months to cut off Rowan's curls and I finally had to give in this week. I've been putting it off and putting it off because Aidan's curls never came back. My baby is no longer a baby, he is a little boy. (Deep sigh). Somedays I wish they could just stay little forever. Today I gave juices boxes to the big kids for snack and had to give him one too and he drank it without making a mess. (Even deeper sigh) I guess he really is getting big.

6 YEARS OLD!!

Kiara is officially 6 years old. Well, actually she was 6 last week, but then she got sick so blogging was put on the very back burner. I can't believe how fast she has grown. It really seems like not that long ago that I was pregnant with her and scared out of my mind to be a mom. Now that she is 6 and in kindergarten with a whole new world open to her, I think I am even more scared to be a mom. Thank goodness I get to grow up with her.

Just a few thoughts about my little girl. She is such a joy to have in our house. It is never, ever boring with her around. She is a little princess, a drama queen, strong, brave, kind, a social butterfly and never afraid to tell you how it is. If anyone breaks the rules, even mom and dad, she is the one to make sure we know about it. If I am sad about anything she is the one to come give me a hug and tell me she loves me and how glad she is that I am her mom.

She is drama all the time and can make me crazy, but without her our house would just be boring. She gets Aidan to make up shows with her, dress up with her, do naughty things with her and just have fun. She has never wanted to sit still and be cuddled, even when she was a baby. She always wants to be doing something whether it is being outside drawing hopscotch or going to the store. Kindergarten has been so much fun for her this year because she has gotten to exercise her social side a lot. She is a such a good friend. If someone doesn't have anyone to play with a recess, she goes to play with them. She will come home and tell me she played with someone new just because they didn't have a friend today.

She may be the complete opposite of me, but Iwouldn't trade her for anything. She has been through a lot and I'm so glad that she has made it through all her medical bumps without any change in the little girl she is supposed to be. Thank goodness she is mine and Shane's for always.

Happenings in Pima

As the weather is getting warmer we have been spending more and more time outside. In fact, I can't seem to keep them inside. Aidan keeps escaping outside leading to Rowan escaping too. They just want to be outside so they can dig. We got some extra dirt to level out our front yard before putting grass in and the piles are now full of holes that have been dug by bulldozers and shovels. Shane is working hard on getting the backyard fenced in. Aaron has been helping him which has made it go a bit faster. I will be very glad when that is all done so I can send them all outside to play in the dirt without worrying about cars or canals.

We had a good Easter. Shane's sister, Kim, and her kids came up to stay with his mom so they all came over for an Easter egg hunt on Saturday.

We spent all this weekend outside too, having a yard sale and playing. It was nice to get rid of a lot of stuff and have my laundry room back. Now I can actually do my laundry which may or may not be a good thing.

Rowan has discovered the joys of sunglasses. He wants to wear them all the time. Of course, part of it could be that we think he is so darn cute when he has them on and make a big deal about it. But hey, he is pretty cute.

Spring Break!!

Disclaimer: Very long post with unashamed plugs for 2 of my favorite things!

Last week was Kiara's spring break from school, so we decided to take advantage of it and go on a trip to San Diego. One of those timeshare companies had offered us a deal, so we decided to just go ahead and take it and sit through the presentation and then enjoy the rest of our time there. We went on Monday and went to the timeshare thing. Because our baby had not taken a nap, he was very, very cranky and the guy could barely talk to us at all. We told him we were not interested and after some more crying by Rowan, he sent us on our way after only 30 minutes of his 2 hour presentation. We were never more happy to let Rowan scream : )

Tuesday we went to SeaWorld. I had never been before and I thought it was wonderful. The kids and Shane had a really good time too. It was so hands on and just plain cool. The kids had fun at the tide pool where they got to pick up starfish, touch sea cucumbers and see other stuff close up. They also liked getting to touch the rays. We came right at feeding time so they even got to feed the rays. The sharks were also a big hit. We got to go right under the sharks so they were swimming all around us. That was really neat. The penguins and polar bears were also favorites. We didn't go see Shamu's show, but we did go and see the killer whales in their tank. They swam right up to the glass over and over. That was the first thing we went to see and we had to pull the kids away to go see the rest of the park. All in all, in was a really fun day. I was so impressed by everything SeaWorld had to offer. They even had special diaper changing rooms and nursing rooms. They wouldn't have been important to me before, but as a mom I was really impressed. Rowan even enjoyed himself. He liked touching the critters and he really liked the sea lion show we went to see. I was pleasantly surprised that even Rowan had a good time. Another thing that it has over Disneyland is that it has Pepsi instead of Coke. When we went to the sea lion show, they even had an otter bring 1 of the trainers a Pepsi. I was very impressed and asked for a Pepsi otter for my birthday. Shane said he would see what he can do.

Kiara touching a seastar.

Kiara and Aidan in front of some really big shark teeth.

Wednesday we went to the beach. We got lost going to Coronado Beach, but ended up at Imperial Beach, which was wonderful. It also gave us a chance to see how real people actually get to live on Coronado Island. It was just us and the surfers for a couple of hours. Kiara and Shane went looking for shells and came back with a whole bunch of them. Shane even found 3 sand dollars. Aidan was content to dig in the sand and make towers for his bulldozer to knock down. He even was so kind as to knock down my sand castles too, just to save me the trouble. He's just a nice guy like that. Rowan was very excited to be out of the car seat and out of the stroller and had fun crawling, walking, digging and doing anything else he could in the sand. After we had been there a couple hours, Rowan fell asleep and took a good nap on the beach. We may just be raising a beach bum. There were lots of surfers there to watch and it was a relaxing, fun day.

Our beach bum.

Shane, Kiara and Aidan wading into the waves.

Rowan heading for the water.

On the way back to the hotel after the beach, the kids were completely wiped out and crashed in the car. This is just how tired they were:

Ok, well Rowan wasn't that tired because he snoozed on the beach

Another really cool thing that we found in San Diego was the coolest Target ever!! We had forgotten a few things, of course, so we went looking for a Target. We found a Target with 2 stories, an elevator, an escalator and an escalator for your cart!! Needless to say we were very impressed. We almost took pictures, but decided that might take our love of Target into the realm of crazy obsession. It was a lot bigger than any that we had been to before and we found lots of stuff on clearance! Yay for Target!!

The kids enjoyed staying in a hotel and even managed to sleep in the same bed without killing each other. It probably helped that they were exhausted by the end of every day. They liked riding in the "alligator" as Aidan called the elevator and took turns very nicely about who got to push the buttons.


We came back Thursday, but stopped at the San Diego temple on the way out of town. I had heard from lots of people just how beautiful it is, but now I can really appreciate it. It really is beautiful. Shane and I want to go back with a babysitter or by ourselves to be able to go inside. I am sure it is just was beautiful on the inside.


Now we are back to the real world with lots and lots of dirty laundry, lots of shells and tons of great memories. It was a great vacation and everything went wonderfully. I am really glad we went and can't wait to go back again! Thanks for reading all the way to the end of this crazy long post.

Pictures

I have been meaning to post these pictures forever and finally remembered. These are some of the pictures Leah Davis took for us when she took our family pictures. I went to high school with her and she has started taking pictures and is just wonderful. She followed the kids around and just let them be kids and got great pictures doing it. I couldn't believe she got Aidan to smile for a picture, but she is a really a miracle worker! Thanks again Leah!!!

I feel like she really captured the kids.

Here is Kiara: America's next top model in the making!

Aidan who is all about the fun and never sits still if he can help it.

He is also always happy and just enjoys life to the fullest.
Rowan who is all smiles
and a daddy's boy!
I put the black and whites on just for something different. Hope you like them. You can see some of Leah's other work at her photography blog at http://leahdavisphotography.blogspot.com/.

My Yellow Sponge Dilemma

Everyday I have an ongoing struggle with myself about the joy that is Spongebob Squarepants. My kids and husband think he is just the best thing there ever was. I disagree wholeheartedly. I think he is completely riduculous. Now you would think that I could just say that we're not going to watch Spongebob, but here is the problem: All my kids, even my 1 year old will sit and watch Spongebob happily allowing me to actually get something done. (In fact, they are watching Spongebob right now) They were all sitting on the couch and Spongebob came on and all 3 of them started dancing and Kiara and Aidan started singing the song at the top of their lungs. When Shane is home all 4 of them will sit and watch it. Don't even try to talk to any of them during Spongebob.

I guess my dilemma will continue, or I will just get over it and spend 30 minutes on myself everytime their favorite yellow sponge comes on...

Bathtime

Rowan really likes to take a bath. In fact if he has to get his diaper changed before getting in the bath, he gets incredibly upset and does his best to get back to the bathroom.

One day I took him in the bathroom with me while I was filling up the tub. He kept lifting up his leg trying to get in the bath. I was sure he couldn't get in without my help and turned around to get something off the counter. I heard a splash and sure enough he had jumped into the bathtub clothes and all. He was very proud of himself and happy as could be because he was in the bath.

After getting his clothes off and giving him a bath, I took him in the living room and set him down to get Aidan into the bath. I was chasing down Aidan when I heard an odd noise. I went back to the bathroom and guess who was in the bath again: yep, Rowan. Ahhh bathtime!