This and That

I am tired of trying to play catchup and not getting there, so I am just going to include a lot of posts into one, so then I can relax.. mostly, I still have one or two left, but at least I am getting there.
This past summer was a lot of fun with the girls. I think because they are older and we got to do a lot of fun stuff together.
My little monkeys. They feel like if I am in the kitchen cooking they need to be on the counter with me. I love that they want to be with me and I am glad they are wanting to help me cook, but every single time? Seriously, it can really drive me crazy when I am trying to hurry and get dinner made. Lizzy was helping me cut up watermelon. She loves to eat everything! I don't know another kid that loves fruit and veggies (ALL of them) as much as Lizzy does. Although the other day she asked what we were having for dinner and we were having leftover soup from a few nights before, and I told her and said "is that okay" and she said "Actually Mom, I don't like that soup." She still ate it though.
Nellie wearing her shades, she loves wearing her sun glasses and wears them quite a bit.

We went to the pool quite a bit this summer. It is so nice that it is only a block away. But I was really tired a lot this summer and there were some days that I just didn't have the energy to get us all packed up to go swimming, so I turned on the sprinklers and Lizzy just loved it. She became quite a little water bug this year. She thought it was so fun to lay on top of the sprinklers.
Nellie wasn't quite as enthusiastic about the sprinklers. She loved the pool, but after the first day in the sprinklers she decided that the best place was on the porch with me.

We brought these hula skirts back from Hawaii for the girls. They didn't really care for them that much at first, but one day a couple of months later they decided they just had to wear them and it was the cutest thing.

Kevy brought home this dresser that we are going to refinish for the girls, but it was sitting in the living room for a few days and the girls thought it made a great toy to climb on.

This was my Lizzy on the first day of school. She was SO excited to go. She goes three days a week for three hours, and it has seriously changed her attitude. I think before she was just needing some social interaction. She has two very special friends from last year, Taye and Tarin, both boys. For such a girlie girl she loves to play with the boys. Nellie was fine the first few times Lizzy left, but now she cries every time Lizzy leaves for preschool. She was crying the other day "Come back my Zizzy. I want my Zizzy!" It was so sad, but so precious that she missed her sister.

Once a week the girlies and I go to the library. It is so nice to live in a place that has a library. The girls really look forward to it and have learned to LOVE books. They want to read them all the time.

We have been saving up for quite a few months so we could buy the girls a new bed. We decided to get a trundle instead of a bunk bed because it is less dangerous and it takes up a lot less space during the day. The day we got it Nellie was ecstatic. We went and bought her new bedding that she got to pick out, which was neat because usually she gets hand-me-downs and Lizzy gets the new stuff. Nellie just loves her new bed. Me on the other hand, I really miss the crib, and wish I could bring it back, I got so much more sleep before. I know it will be better in the long run to do it now before the baby comes, but it has been a rough couple of weeks.

At first I was laying down with her until she was falling asleep, but some nights she would jack around for two hours before she would finally fall asleep and then I was so tired I would pretty much go straight to sleep and Kevin and I got no time together. So finally we decided that we would just shut the door and let her cry until she goes to sleep, and that works, if Lizzy cooperates and goes to sleep, but if Lizzy doesn't then Nellie won't go to sleep, and they both just jack around forever. Then Nellie gets up in the middle of the night and won't go back to bed unless one of us lays with her. It has been pretty rough these last few weeks. She is finally getting adjusted and until last night she was doing better, but last night she wouldn't stop screaming, it is so hard to listen to your child sob your name for an hour and not go and comfort them, but I didn't. I went in there to check on her once she had fallen asleep, but she didn't crawl into her bed, she was in bed with Lizzy. It was so sweet.

This is me a couple of weeks ago at 21 weeks. It was really weird for me to take this picture. I am not the biggest fan of pictures of me pregnant, but I wish I had some belly shots from when I was pregnant with the girls, so I decided to take some this pregnancy.

All About Nellie

My sister Chanelle did this on her blog when it was her boy's birthdays and I thought it was a great way to record what they are like at that age.

Nellie is such a joy to have. It is amazing how much she has grown in the past year. She is now 21 pounds, which I am sure sounds small, but Lizzy was 23 at the same age, so Nellie has pretty much caught up. I am not just talking about her size though, I am sure everyone knows how difficult her first year of life was. I really didn't know if I would make it through, but you always do. She has just blossomed this past year into such a sweet darling little girl. Kevin and I find ourselves saying everyday "I just can't believe how grownup she is getting"

Nellie loves to play with her sister, they are the best of friends. When Lizzy goes to school, Nellie runs and grabs her own little backpack and tries to go with her, and she is soo sad when Lizzy leaves without her. I can tell she is starting to feel like she is missing out on things, so I try to make our time together as much about her as possible.

Nellie gives the very best hugs. She wraps her little arms around you so tight and then she lays her head on your shoulder. She has the sweetest little voice and I just love to hear her talk. She didn't start talking much until about the last few months but she has really picked it up quick. She is saying full sentences now and she is actually really easy to understand. The other day she said to me "Mommy, I want to go see Ebony." Ebony is a dog at her Daddy's work. I am just amazed at how she already is saying all the little words as well. Some of the funny things she says, she always is telling me when something is "my favorite" even when it may be something she doesn't necessarily care for she still says it. She also says her own name so cute, "Newwie" It is also really cute because she apologizes for everything, if I get hurt or frustrated she always says "Sorry Mommy, sorry." It is so sweet. She also always tells me if she gets a little bit cold that "I'm freezing Mommy"

She loves to sing with her sister, Lizzy sings a lot so and Nellie has picked it up as well, it is just the cutest thing ever when they both sing together.

Nellie is a huge animal fan, if she sees even a picture of an animal she has to hug and kiss it. She loves Dora and Diego, I think mostly because of the animals in them. She is not nearly as into girly stuff as Lizzy is, but she still likes it, she just also likes other stuff too.

I look at her everyday and I can't believe she is that tiny little baby that came early, she has no signs that she was premature, except her fighting spirit. She sure is a stubborn one with a will of iron. She needed that iron will to go through what she did, but man I thought I was stubborn, I don't hold a candle to my Nellie. Although when it comes to battles with food I mostly win because I don't give in, and that has made for a much better eater, she could have been a really picky eater, but I wouldn't let that happen. She loves treats and would eat nothing but junk if I let her, but she does like other food too. Eggs are one of her favorite. She loves cake, but not ice cream, it's too cold she loves candy, and sometimes I have to resort to giving her some if I need her to let me do her hair, she doesn't like me to do her hair very much right now. The thing she loves most of all though is her milk, she wants like 10 glasses a day and I have to limit it, because that is all she would live on if I let her, well that and treats.

She is such a joy to have and I feel so blessed to have been given her. I can't imagine my life without my darling little Nellie Belle.

Nellie's 2!!

We had a small family party for Nellie's second birthday. I figure we will start friend parties when they turn four, since that is when they are in preschool and will actually have friends to invite. But I did have to make her a fancy cake, because I did it for Lizzy, and i can just see down the road in ten years or so if I did it for Lizzy and not for Nellie what would happen with feelings. "you don't love me as much" I know how it is and although I will never be able to make it perfectly even, I am going to do the best I can. This cake was much easier to make then the Cinderella cake I made for Lizzy that had 50 different colors of frosting to do. It still took me a lot of time to do it though, but I still enjoy doing it.

Nellie got a trike from Grammie and Poppy, she loved it so much she wouldn't get off of it to open her presents so we had to have her open them sitting on the bike or "my bicycle" as she calls it. I didn't even know she knew they were called that as well as bikes. She is so silly.

Unfortunately a setting or something on my camera was screwed up and the pictures ended up all fuzzy how disappointing.

Nellie got a dress up dress and so Lizzy and Brinlee had to get dressed up too. Then they thought it would be funny to wear tutus on their heads.
Nellie enjoyed eating her cake. She is so sweet. After such a difficult first year of life, she has had a really great second year.

California Trip

We made our annual trip to see my parents this July, it was a ton of fun as usual . My sisters Janae and Chanelle were there with their kids so there were 9 little kids under eight, maybe a little crazy at times, but nothing that we in the Hansen family aren't used to. The girls had so much fun playing with their buddies. They love them so much. We didn't do a ton of activities, but that is the way I like my vacations. Some activities and lots of hanging out and being together, plus lots and lots of good food, you can't have a Hansen vacation without lots of good homemade food. I think we only went out to eat twice the whole ten days we were there. Lizzy and her buddies, she had so much fun being with them, we should call them the three musketeers because they are always playing together and Lizzy talks about them all the time.

My parents have such a nice backyard and we had so much fun hanging out there. We played lots of games and ate most meals out there. It was so nice to hang out outside and not get eaten alive by the mosquitoes, I didn't see one the whole time we were there.

We went to an outdoor splash park while we were there and the kids loved it. Lizzy especially, she has really taken to water this year. Nellie only
stayed for a few minutes before she was too grumpy and needed a nap.
Lizzy decided that she needed to wear some goggles, of course not in the pool just around the deck.
I love this picture of Nellie and her cute little smile.My girls really love their daddy. He is the best dad too, he loves his little girls so much. Poor guy he is really outnumbered in our house.

We went to a bouncy place while we were out there. The girls of course loved it especially the slides. We sure wish we lived in a place that had more stuff for kids to do. There is very little out here where we live.
Lizzy was all mad about something that day and so I had to take a picture of her pouting. Such a silly little girl, you won't find her like this often though, she is such a sweet happy girl.
Nellie loved pushing around the pretend mower, she is more of a tomboy than Lizzy and usually gravitates to the balls and toys that are more for boys.

Think Pink

Well I am sure you can tell what we are having. We are having another beautiful little girl. Her name will be Jane Richey. I was a bit surprised because I thought based on a lot of things that we were having a boy. But she is beautiful and healthy and we are so excited. I now know my instincts are way off. Lizzy thought it was a boy the whole time and we thought she might be disappointed, but she wasn't, she is just as excited about having a baby sister.

From a budget perspective it is great because we don't have anything to buy really, but from a shopping perspective it is a bit disappointing because now I don't have an excuse to buy lots of fun baby stuff. One thing it will mean is more time getting ready in the morning, it takes quite a bit of time to do two little girlies hair, we'll see how it is with three.

We unfortunatly didn't get really any good pictures of her, but I thought this picture of her little hand was cute.

July 4

I am slowly trying to catch up on this summer and everything that has happened. For the 4th we went down to a city that has a really big celebration. We took the girls to their first parade. They thought it was pretty neat. Especially the horsies and the candy too. They didn't think they could get enough candy and it was fun to watch Little Nellie run out and pick up her candy and put it in her bag. After the parade, we went to the rest of the festivities, they had shows and food, a special kid zone a petting zoo and a carnival.

Nellie holding her bag and her flag. She may not look like it but she really enjoyed it.

It felt pretty hot sitting in the sun so it was nice when they threw out Popsicles.

We were going to go on some carnival rides but the girlies wanted to spend their money on riding the ponies. Normally I would think it is way overpriced, but the girls love it so much that it is worth it.
There were a lot of activities for kids there, there was a bounce house, face-painting this treasure hunt, and they even could pet stingrays. Although they chickened out and wouldn't actually touch them.

Nellie loved feeding the animals. She absolutely LOVES animals. If she sees even a picture of an animal she has to hug it and say "Ohhh."

Later that evening we went over to Tipton. Kevy's sisters were in town, it was fun we had a good dinner and then we all went and watched the fireworks. The kids loved them, and we all did too. We will never be able to enjoy the fireworks in Utah again because Kansas fireworks are awesome. That is probably the only thing I can think of that is better in Kansas.

All the kids riding over on the trailer. They thought it was pretty cool.

Nellie loved her pops or snaps or whatever you call them. The funny thing was she couldn't make them pop when she threw them so she had to step on them and it was hilarious because she would try really hard to step on it and miss it most of the time.

Little Nellie was so cute she just sat there really quietly and watched the fireworks, but I could tell how much she loved them.
Lizzy loved her sparkler. She hadn't done on in a couple of years, so it was like the first time and she really enjoyed it.

August 19

That is the big day, when we find out if we are having a boy or another girl. I am so excited and I feel like the day is never going to get here. I just want to know what our baby is so I can picture it and prepare. I do NOT know how people go through their whole pregnancy without finding out. I am way too impatient for that plus I like to be able to think about the baby as a person rather than an unknown.

I am so nervous about it, of course we would love to have a boy but I wouldn't be disappointed about another girl. I love having girls, and if that is what Heavenly Father wants us to have then how can I complain. Plus I want the baby that I already have, and if that baby is a girl than that is what I want. The only thing I am really dreading about having another girl is the obnoxious comments people make about how Kevy just can't get it right, or somehow we need boys to feel complete. I know most people think they are funny or just making a comment but I am sensitive and it hurts my feelings.

So anyone reading this, If I am having another girl, please don't make a comment on how we can't get it right or whatever. We are not having another baby just to get a boy, we are having a baby because we want another child, boy or girl.

Utah Trip

All the way back in June.. wow I guess that was two months ago. I am getting really bad at blogging. We went to Utah, first we went to St. George and spent five days down there. We got to spend a lot of time with Sandy and the boys so that was a lot of fun. We went swimming and just hung out. Lizzy and Carson sure had a lot of fun together.Sandy and ConnerNellie has started to get more timid of the water, wouldn't you know it when Lizzy starts to love it. After St. George we went up to Jake (Kevin's brother) and Kara's wedding. This is our little family at the reception. I love this picture, except I wish Nellie was looking at the camera. I would be posting more pictures than this, but I forgot my camera every time we went out, so almost all the pictures I have are from other people emailing them to me.

We went to a little carnival when we were up there with Chanelle and Janae and their boys out in Eagle Mountain. The weather was so crazy when we were there it was in the fifties and sixties for highs and we about froze to death. It was June for Heaven's sake. Lizzy had so much fun hanging out with her buddies and riding the rides.
Even Kevy got on there with little Nellie. She loved it.
We stayed with Chanelle and Tom when we were out there and the girls had so much fun with their cousins. It makes me so sad that we live so far from them and rarely get to see them.
All the kids crowding in the sandbox, kids are so easily entertained.
We also went to the Children's museum while we were there. The girls loved it, they could have stayed all day.

Then the last weekend I was there after Kevy had left, my sweet sister Chanelle watched the girls for a night so I could go with my high school friends to Park City. This is the year we all start turning thirty so we thought we should have a get together. We went out to dinner, hung out at the pool and stayed up talking until really late. It was a blast. It is so neat to know that I am still in touch with my friends from high school. They are all such sweet girls and I love being with them.
It is always sad for me to leave Utah, mostly because so many people I love live there and Kansas is too far away, but I always really appreciate the time I get to be with my family and loved ones.