Happy Birthday Ian!!

I can't believe my little guy is turning 1 already!!! We had his birthday party today. It was pretty fun. Since I like to bake stuff I decided to make his cake. I did Brenna's cake last year and it turned out cute so I tried my hand at Ian's. Since he likes cars and pushing things around on the floor i did a car cake. I made one for him (to smash and get messy with), and one for the rest of us. On the big cake i did a road with cars on it and some grass. I think it turned out pretty cute. I did the road with chocolate frosting and crushed mint chocolate cookies. Yum!!! I did Ian's little cake with a round road and a few cars. Of course it was chocolate so he could make a bigger mess it. They didn't turn out too bad if I do say so myself.



Ian loves to open presents. He loves to tear papers and make messes so opening presents is right up his alley. He got some fun presents. He got a ball popper ( I can already hear the squeals of laughter), he got some cute clothes, a Vsmile Baby game, some blocks, a Vtech Bouncing turtle, some books, and some cars.



Jason helped Ian blow out his candle. Ian was more interested in trying to play with the flame. He's a pyro in training. Around Christmas we had a candle that we burned everyday to count down to Christmas and Ian was so enamored with it.

This was a super sweet picture of Jason and Ian. He is starting to be such a daddy's boy. As soon as Jason walks in the door from work Ian crawls as fast as he can to him or if I'm holding him he jumps out of my arms to get to his daddy.

My favorite part is when they get to eat their cake. Especially little babies since they get the messiest. Ian loved his cake!! I tried to take a piece of it when he was eating it and he got mad and grabbed the piece before I could get it. After he warmed up he was grabbing fistfuls of cake and shoving it in. He was a messy boy. As a matter of fact, the mess is still in the kitchen right now, i haven't got to cleaning it yet.....which means I don't have the oomf yet to go clean up his mess.


Can you see his little tooth poking through in the middle pic? He finally got his first tooth right after New Year's. Now he has 2 more working on coming in, but they haven't poked through yet.

Brenna had a fun time too. Since most of the people who came had kids she got to play with a lot of her friends. I hardly saw her since she was playing the whole time.

I had planned on doing a sledding party and stuff with the kids...but alas...the one time I want snow we had just about a perfect day. The weather was nice and warm. Oh well...it all turned out fine and I don't think the kids minded. They had fun playing anyway.

Some fun things about Ian at this age:

He loves to make a mess. He is the enemy of all things organized. Every time I fold clothes he has to unfold them. If he sees a drawer open he has to pull everything out. My kitchen cupboards are his favorite play spot and he loves to pull all the cans out.

He loves to play with footballs, basketballs, soccer balls, basically anything round that he can throw. He loves to play catch.

He is the biggest sweetie. The first thing he does when he wakes up in the morning is give me a hug. Every time I am holding him he lays his head on my shoulder and gives me loves. I love his big wet kisses. He grabs my ears or hair, pulls me in, plants a big one on me and squeezes me in so hard that he shakes.

He loves his bath time. As soon as he hears the water runs he takes off to the bathroom and tries to climb in. He spends the whole time splashing and playing with his toys. If he goes in the bathroom when someone else is taking a bath he climbs in with them, clothes and all.

He hates shoes and socks, especially in the car. I don't know why but every time we go in the car he takes his shoes and socks off. He takes his shoes off in the house but usually keeps the socks on.

He loves his big sister!!! In the morning when he wakes up, when Brenna comes in the room his whole face lights up. He loves to follow her around and gets upset when she leaves the room. When they watch a movie in their room he'll crawl over to her and lay his head in her lap.

His favorite words are "that" and "dad dad." I only hear "mom mom" when he's sad. He loves to point to things and make you take him to it and the only clue you get is "that." He is working on saying "papa" and something that kinda sounds like Brenna.

He is a noise maker. He loves to screech....usually in a high pitch squeal. He let's us know when Brenna has one of his toys and he's starting to stick up for himself and take the toys back. His favorite toys are the ones that are as noisy as possible....especially banging pans on the ground.

He is a little character and is very quick to smile. He is such a special little guy and brings so much joy to us. I was always afraid about having a little boy because I don't relate or bond to them like I do little girls but he is one of the lights in my life, Brenna being the other one. I can't wait to see how he grows. He is going to be a goofy little kid and I can't wait!!!! i have been extremely blessed with my 2 little rugrats. Brenna is a wonderful big sister and helper. She is such a joy and a sweetie. I hope I can have that special mother/daughter relationship as we grow older. She is getting so big and turning into a little lady. I love watching my kids grow, even if it means I'm getting older. My Heavenly Father had gave me the greatest blessing ever in my family. I love you!!!

Snow fun!!

Since we actually finally got a good snowfall, we took the kids out to play. Jason hooked the sled up behind the four-wheeler and drug us around. Ian had a blast! Whenever I would put my hand up to try and block the snow getting in his face he would push my hand down.

Ian had a lot of fun crawling around in the snow and eating the snow that got caught on his glove. Plus he was chasing our dog around and that was fun too! Daddy took Ian on a ride on the four-wheeler and he couldn't get enough of it. Whenever Jason would stop Ian would put to the handle and want to go again. Silly Boy!! I guess the cold and snow don't affect him. Brenna always has fun playing in the snow and sledding. She got to ride the sled by herself and get pulled around the back, up the hill, down the hill and over bumps. She had fun until she started getting cold, and then she was tired because she didn't have a nap, then had a meltdown and had to go inside and take a nap.

I usually don't play in the snow, but I actually had fun. Maybe I'll have to steal Jason's snow pants one day and go sledding in the backyard with the kids (I'm the only one in the family that doesn't have snow pants). This was lots of fun so be on the lookout for more snow pictures from us....maybe if we get some more snow we can build a snowman soon. Yay!!!

Time for presents!!!

Merry Christmas!!!!

Brenna had a pretty good Christmas. She was excited to see all the presents under the tree. She got lots of cute clothes (of course they were cute since I picked them out). She got an Easy-Bake Oven, a camera, a scooter, some baking stuff to bake muffins with me, new shoes, and of course she got her Bumblebee voice mixer mask.

This is her face when she saw the mask. She was super excited!!!! But that excitement was short-lived. We took it out of the box and went to put it on her so she could go crazy with it and it totally freaked her out! She screamed and wanted nothing to do with it. So we took it back to the store and she picked out a piano and Tinkerbell Hobbyhorse hopper. What a silly girl! The one thing she kept asking for Christmas, she ended up not wanting. Oh well.

I was super excited for Ian's first Christmas. Especially since he loves to shred paper. Just look at the look of joy and concentration on his face. Once he got the paper off enough of the presents andsaw that they were toys he could play with, he was done with the paper and wanted to play. He didn't even open the rest of presents (pretty much just clothes anyway), he just wanted to play with his toys...but can you blame him? They must seem pretty exciting for an almost one-year old. He did a good job opening the ones he did.

Jason had a fun Christmas too. He was just like a little kid. He got toys!! I got him a NerfBlaster gun that he can go crazy with the kids. He also got a really cool remote control car that spins, twists, lights up, does cool tricks, and that Ian has a blast chasing.

Jason wanted one of the old-school Transformers that really transforms. I got him an Optimus Prime one that changes into the truck. Jason got to work figuring it out. He has more patience than I do, I wouldn't be able to twist all the little wheels, mirrors, doors, and everything else to get it to fit just right.

Of course there are no pictures of me on Christmas since I was the one doing the picture taking...that's okay...I don't mind. Seven a.m., no make-up, hair not done, wearing sweats....not a good picture-taking look for me. I got a food dehydrator, cooking/kitchen stuff, perfume-Escada- that we have been looking for for 3 years now, and some lotion/perfume from Victoria Secret- Lovespell. I guess Jason wants me to be in the kitchen, but smelling good.

All-in-all, I think we had a good Christmas this year. It was a blast watching the kids open presents. Our power went out on Christmas Eve, which was a blessing in disguise. We got to spend time as a family, read stories, talk about the meaning of Christmas, and not be distracted by T.V. and whatnot. Brenna is finally grasping the meaning of Christmas, that it is not about a fat man in a red suit.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!!!!!

Over the river and through the woods...to Grandma and Grandpa GG's house we go!!!

Before you start reading this, you might want to go grab a drink and a snack...it's going to be a long one.

Thanksgiving this year was a blast!!! We went up to Great Falls, Montana to Jason's grandparents' house. They do a Thanksgiving family reunion every three years. Pretty much all of Jason's family was there. The only ones who couldn't make it were Jason's sister Emily (we missed you Auntie Em!) and his cousin Neika. We did a count of everyone there and I think it was around 46, plus the 11 who couldn't make it. Holy cow!!! All this because two people fell in love

Before dinner everyone who wants to, gets together for a "friendly" game of football. They had lots of fun but of course it wouldn't be complete without a few injuries. The worst were Jason's Aunt Jennifer banged her head on the ground after being tackled by Uncle Steve and Uncle Steve got his knees all scraped up. So all-in-all, nothing major. Jason got a taste of humble-pie because his team got beat.

Aunt Kay had all the kids make gingerbread cookies and gingerbread houses. They had lots of fun with it!! They made some very cute houses...but of course Brenna's was the best. She loves to help cook, especially doing cookies. Her favorite part is the decorating so this was right up her alley.

Chow time!!! Brenna and Ian were ready to feast by the time the turkeys were done. We had 3 turkeys, one of which Jason deep-fried. That one was the best. Once you've had deep-fried, you never go back to the oven kind. My mouth is watering just thinking about it....I think I'll go grab me a turkey sandwich now.

After dinner, they had each of the families do a little skit to introduce everyone since there have been a lot of marriages and new babies since the last one. We did our version of Goldilocks and the three bears. In our version, Goldilocks is snoopy little girl who barges into someone else's house and after she wears herself out she takes a nap. Then the bears come home and see Goldilocks asleep and since she ate all their food, they're hungry...so they eat her up!! Brenna was Goldilocks and Jason, me, and Ian were the bears. It was cute.
This is our family: Uncle Dallin, Brenna, Jason, Peggy (Jason's mom, she's kinda hidden behind everyone) Ian, me, Richard (Jason's dad) and Aunt Kelsey. Jason's sister Emily and her husband Lee couldn't make it.

This Jason's Aunt Lisa's family (she's the one in the white shirt with brown vest/overshirt). Let me see if I can get them all, If I mess up the spellings, sorry!

In front: Brock (white/blue stripe), Jeff (green plaid) Weston, (red plaid) Leah (black) Manny (light brown), Damian (on his lap); In back: Katie (purple) Drew (white shirt behind her), Abby(brownish/pinkish) Aunt Lisa, Jessie (gray/brownish), Sam (white shirt on end). Her oldest daughter Neika and her family couldn't make it.

This is Uncle Steve's family. Steve (white shirt), Little Steve, Devon, Anna. Their oldest daughter Alexandra couldn't make it...and the other family member, Tucker (their dog).

Aunt Kay's Family. Vennesa (purple, Ben's girlfriend), Ben,(behind her), Aunt Kay (white stripes), Aaiden(boy Kay is holding) Dawson, Kaiden, Amber (behind the boys), Nathan (next to Amber), Haleigh. (I hope I got them all right)
This is Uncle Eric's family. In back: Aunt Jennifer, Uncle Eric, Rachel (blue); In front: Taylor (stripes), Sarah (pink), Jaron.


This is Brenna's Uncle Dallin. She keeps saying she is going to grow up and marry him. He is single and he's a great guy so if you know any great single girls........

This is Brenna with her Grandpa and Grandma.

This is Brenna with her cousin Sarah. They are about 6 months apart in age. They had lots of fun playing together. They are both smart little stinkers with attitude.

This is me and my sweet little girl. I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to of everyone. I was too busy having fun with everyone that I forgot to take pictures of everyone.

We had lots of fun this year!!! It was so great to see everyone. It was nice to reconnect with those we haven't seen in awhile and then meet all the new addition to the family. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Hansen for a great holiday!!! Thank you to everyone who made the trip up there so that we could have fun with them!!!

(my turkey sandwich was yummy by the way: turkey, cheese, mayo, gravy to dip in, oh ya...it was good. I LOVE leftovers from Thanksgiving!!!)

Who needs a photo studio?

I've been wanting to get some pcitures of my munchkins together for awhile but I don't want to fork out the money for a photo studio (I'm cheap). So I decided to do it myself.

Brenna, of course, was easy to do pictures of, except she kept trying to go play, plus it was around naptime so she wasn't exactly listening.

Ian was a little stinker and wouldn't look at me, or he wouldn't smile when he looked at me, he would turn his head and smile. He was more interested in trying to play with the leaves, crawling, and climbing.

When I was trying to get the two of them together it was a bit challenging. Next time I'm doing it with another person to either take the picture or keep the kids in one spot. Ian kept trying to crawl off, and when I would finally get him sitting still and looking at me, Brenna wouldn't be paying attention so by the time I got her attention Ian would be distracted again.

I still think they're the cutest kids ever!!!!

Hopefully next month we'll get some family pics of us done.

The leaves aren't the only things changing.

This tiem of year is one of my favorite times. I love it when it starts to cool off and there's a certain crsipness in the air (and I can wear my favorite outfit, sweatshirt and jeans). I love it when the leaves change color. I love walking through leaves when they're crunchy. I also love it when I drive on the road and there are lots of leaves on the road. I always look in my rearview mirror and watch the leaves float up in the air.

We have lots of leaves in our yard, which means we get lots of leaf piles. Ian and Brenna had fun playing in them.

Brenna loves to bury herself in the leaves and lay in them. Silly girl. She had fun throwing leaves in the air and making her brother laugh.

Surprisingly, Ian didn't try to eat the leaves when I put him the leaf pile. He just sat in them and crushed them in his hands. That is the exact opposite of what he does inside. If he finds a leaf on the floor in the house it goes straight to his mouth.

My little rugrats are growing so fast and they change everyday. I know change is a good thing....but sometimes I want them to stay the way they are forever. I have been so blessed with these 2 little angels (sometimes the horns are holding up the halo). Life is definatley ad adventure with them. I can't wait to see what the future holds for them and what kind of people they are giong to be. I already know they are both going to be very strong-willed and stubborn (any guesses where they get that from?). It doesn't seem like that long ago that we brought Brenna home from teh hospital and then next thing I knew we were bringing Ian home. They make everything worthwhile. (As you can tell this has been a good day and both kids are behaving themselves ;) )

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween was really fun this year. I think it was mainly due to the fact that Brenna is older and actually grasps at the idea of Halloween. Morgan City sponsored a Trick-or-Treat to all the businesses. We took both the kids to that and they had lots of fun.

Brenna was Supergirl this year, not to be confused with Superwoman (you will get an earful if you mix them up). She can run super fast and fly high and save the day because she has a cape. Brenna loves to help people so this was a very fitting costume for her. I was going to have her be a princess or a fairy(Tinkerbell) but she wanted to be Supergirl, and I'm glad she was because almost all the other little girls were fairies or princesses. Brenna even did her own super hero music (da da dada). She was here to save the day.

She even has the hero pose down!

I'm trying to decided who Brenna is looking more like, mom or dad?

Exactly who did she need to save us all from? Well there was a monster on the loose, more specifically a dragon (but I think this particular dragon is somehow related to Godzilla). Ian loves to destroy all in his path. If there is ever anything that is neat and organized, he won't be too far behind to make sure it doesn't stay that way. The only thing that manages to stay where it belongs is his toy box....funny how that works. He loves to knock things over, especially when his sister is building a tower of blocks. When we give him food he loves to mash and squish it in his hands and make as big of a mess as he can. I think I should have put a cape on him and had him go as Destruct-o-boy, and be Supergirl's arch nemesis. Mommy's little monster!!!But he definitely looks(acts) like his daddy!

When the business trick-or-treat was over with we had just enough time to stop by the house and go to the trunk-or-treat at the church. Brenna had fun going to that because most of the people there were people from our ward and neighborhood. Everyone loved Ian's little dragon costume. He started getting a bit antsy so Jason gave him a dum-dum sucker and he went to town on it, everyone thought that was so cute too. When we finished with that it was time to go home. It was only 7:00 though...Halloween can't end that early. I decided to take Brenna round to some of her friends' houses to go trick-or-treating. Well, this turned into us running house to house to house to house for an hour. I would park the car and we would run to all the close houses and then get back in the car and do it again. She thought it was the coolest thing to be able to do some real trick-or-treating and run all over. We went to the houses of people in our ward so it was nice being able to get yummy homemade treats and not worry about "hidden" stuff. I just have to give kudos to the people in our ward. They are so generous on Halloween. Most the houses were giving out full size candy bars, pops, yummy homemade cookies or popcorn balls. Those that weren't giving those out gave Brenna whole handful of whatever candy she had. We ended up just leaving her bag in the car when were running around because it was so full and heavy. She got lots of treats!!! It was so nice to be able to spend that time with just me and Brenna, we haven't had much of that lately. I love my little munchkins and I'm glad that we were all able tohave fun this year!! Thank you to everyone who helped us have a fun and safe Halloween this year!!!