the hansen spot

family pics

2010-01-06T22:42:00.000-08:00

ok, so we are alive, and here's some photos to prove it. these were taken just after the 2 year birthday, i can't believe how fast they grow up.

san diego trip

2009-04-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

we had an impromptu trip to san diego on spring break with jeremy & libby & co. we had a great time at the beach and the san diego zoo. and it was great to have someone there to take some pics of us. san diego is at the top of my list of places i'd rather be. the girlies LOVED the beach, and we did too.

january in review

2009-02-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

so at the beginning of january we got a year pass to the zoo, and have gone twice. abby & maddie love it.

here maddie is realizing that she can not only pull open the drawers, but also pull everything out and put it on the floor. new games are so much fun.

best friends - they go everywhere together. soo cute. and the purse holding is very fun too.

oh man, don't you just want to squeeze her. we are finally completely switched over to sippys. did this the beginning of january. yay no more bottles to wash

i got them these sweater dresses, and i love them with jeans underneath. soo cute. oh, and we've totally embraced the Judy Jetson look.

um, abby, could you pose for the camera?

maddie has finally gotten on board with the whole purse thing and is now enjoying carrying one around. she loves her scooter and is such a good driver, she backs up, turns, does three point turns - it's amazing. grandpa calls her 'danika'

the latest craft project. my sis-in-law & i have spent the last two weeks searching for a great valentines wreath, with no luck. they are all pretty lame, so i decided to take matters into my own hands and put this together. it was alot of fun, and i love it.

random phone pics

2009-01-06T09:19:00.001-08:00

i finally downloaded the pictures from my phone and here are some fun ones.

this one is old and when they were just learning to sit up.

abby loved to scoot along the couch, she got quite fast at it.

maddie and her pal harley looking for dad to come home.

our first time out to eat (old again it was summer so they were in tank tops) at crackers with our aunt tam

abby showing off her 'more' signing skills - more fries please.

found this cute airplane at a model home my sister in law was looking at and thought sweet we can play with this one ( i've seen these in catalogues for like $400)

maddie making the 'oh wow' face

abby thought it was pretty cool too

before

after - it looks darker, but i just got it cut - no color

front view

birthday cupcake - she didn't eat the cupcake just mashed the frosting everywhere

abby has become very aware of fashion and wanted to wear the hat because aunt Jenn was. i was surprised that she kept it on, but she thought she was pretty cool to be wearing something that aunt Jenn would wear. you should see her with the little purse i got them for Christmas - it's coming.

playing around in the back room

about face

2008-12-22T09:59:00.000-08:00

it's finally happened. my girls are big enough to face forward in their new 'big girl' car seats. ok, so they've been big enough for a while there with their little feet hanging out of their carriers - but it's one of those things that you only think about when you're strapping them in to go somewhere. and lets face it - if we're strapping in, it's because i have a plan...

they are LOVING their seats and the new view. they love to look out the windows. of course it is a bit harder to get them both strapped in when it's just me. soon enough they will be able to strap themselves in, and then i'll really be sad because they'll be sooo big!

all caught up

2008-12-09T14:25:00.000-08:00

ok, i know i totally slacked for a few weeks/months - whatever. i'm caught up now so check out the latest posts and i'm going to do better. christmas is coming and we're very excited.

family pics

2008-12-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

we had brooke take some family pics of all my siblings and their families a few weeks ago. it was so much fun that we're going to try to do it every year. here's a few... and btw i got a hair cut Yay!!

the whole crewmy brothers & sisters (not in any order)

don't i have the cutest babes ever! so fun with me and my babes. we'll work on smiling next year!i think we do okay too.
thanks brooke!

Birthday

2008-12-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

the girl's birthday was november 19th and we had a great time. the girls had their very first cupcakes and while they spit the actual cupcake out it was fun to get frosting everywhere
they also had fun opening presents. abby has a special knack for pulling paper off of things i didn't think possible (like board books, and boxes) so this was right up her alley. it still took a little encouragement but they caught on and it's great practice for christmas!grandma and grandpa won the day with their scooter gifts.
the girls took to them very quickly... i put abby on her's pushed her forward a little and she grinned and took off.same with maddie. they had a very fun night with several scooting sessions.

Walking

2008-12-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

the girlies are having alot of fun learning to walk. abby is the front runner by far, which i never would have guessed. here's some video of all the good times. this is pre-walking to abby walking. she is almost running now, and maddie hasn't really taken an interest in it at all, but we're working on it.

Pre-Walking Training from Jason Hansen on Vimeo.

It's tough being a box - but we're livin it up from Jason Hansen on Vimeo.

Abby's Walking Skills from Jason Hansen on Vimeo.

Halloween

2008-12-09T13:27:00.000-08:00

I know I'm way behind, but the girls have really picked up some momentum, so without anymore excuses here are some halloween pics.
Abby was Batgirl and Maddie was Supergirl. Following the theme Jason was Clark Kent and I was Lois Lane.

We had a busy night starting out with our new ward trunk or treat for a minute to say hi to the 5 people we know there - then off to grandma's to say hi and get some treats from them. This was probably the most fun for the girls. We took them to the door to see all the trick-or-treaters which they loved. There was a little girl that came to the door saw the girls and forgot all about the candy. Her little princess jaw dropped and she said "super hero babies... two super hero babies" and stood there in awe as the rest of her troop got their candy and were on to the next house. It was the highlight of the night.

Then it was off to the old ward trunk-or-treat which was fun to see all the old friends again. A very fun night.

The Big Trip

2008-10-09T09:16:00.000-07:00

ok so the big trip of 08 was actually in august (yes, i know i'm behind) and it was great! the girls got to meet their two great grandmas so it was very special for them. we went to see my grandma first in Provo, where we spent the night at my aunt becky's house, then we went on to bear lake (utah/idaho border) and spent the rest of the weekend with jason's family.

abby & maddie are at a very fun age where they make friends fast, and eveyone loves them. they took to grandma very quickly... here's some pics of the girls with great grandma McOmber at our aunt Becky's house

abby, maddie & gr. grandma mac

maddie & gr grandma mac
abby & bob, maddie & grandma

we had a great time with aunt becky & uncle jed & grandma & grandpa. it was our first sleep over with the girls, we put some cushions on the floor and surrounded them with pillows which the girls thought were great fun to crawl over. we were trying to get them down for bed and they happened to start crawling over the same pillow right towards each other, and when they saw each other they just started laughing. so any frustrations that jason & i were having trying to get them down instantly melted into laughter with them. i finally laid down next to abby and they both instantly calmed down and slept through the night. what beautiful wonderful girls i have.

then it was off to bear lake for the annual hansen gathering

first things first, we had to meed gr. grandma wallentine
we had some good times playing with both our grandma's

then it was off to the beach for some real action

aunt michelle & abby, with grandma and cindy with maddie

splashing with aunts cindy & michelle

mom & abby testing out the water

mom & abby really making a splash

my new favorite pic of maddie ha!

The girls did absolutely wonderful on their first trip, they slept marvelously no matter where we were, they did great on the plane trips, and had so much fun with lots of family. it was alot of work planning and packing, and even though they will not remember it, we have plenty of pics to look back on and remember. i really want abby and maddie to have lots of fun memories to look back on, and just because something is hard to do, i shouldn't let that stop us. (even if it does take us a week to recover)

chicks dig skills

2008-08-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

so it seems like the girls do something new everyday, and it also seems like it takes me a whole week to adjust to it and feel like i can handle it physically. here's some of the latest. sorry to be quick, but the girlies are up again...

Jumping from Jason Hansen on Vimeo.

one more..

Crawling buddies from Jason Hansen on Vimeo.

thanks jason for putting these together for me, ''you're the best... i laaaave you"

crawling

2008-07-15T08:27:00.000-07:00

these girlies of mine are growing up way too fast. it seems like there's a new trick everyday. here's their latest

and here's why i don't have time to blog - i'm pooped from chasing this around

can you believe how big they're getting!!

grandma visit

2008-06-25T09:52:00.000-07:00

my mom visited this last week, she was down for another baby, but we made a family party of it and had a great time. here's some pics of the soiree. we wanted to have everyone take a pic with my mom, so there's only a couple of candid ones the rest are just pics with grandma

hair do's

2008-06-25T09:43:00.000-07:00

so i finally found some elastics that were small enough for the girlies, here's the results
maddie with a pony tail

maddie with pig tails & abby with pony tail

i need to work on getting things in focus,
but look at how good they are sitting up now

update

2008-06-11T09:13:00.000-07:00

ok, so jason informed me that it has been two months since i've posted, and he's been getting mail that i need to post. i can't believe it's been that long, but here's what's been going on with us...

week one:

i get the stomach flu. i never threw up, but i also never ate anything. i thought i was over it, and then jason asked me what i wanted for dinner, and i said gatorade and saltines, so like a good husband he made me dinner.

jason's oldest sister, cindy also visited with her youngest girl quincy. it was the first time meeting the girls, so we had to have lots of parties - i just wish i had felt a little better while they were here.

week two:

my mom came to visit because jason was going out of town for the week for work. this is where it gets interesting. we found out that jason had to leave town about two months earlier, so i asked my mom if she would come down and help out while he was away, she said she would and maybe she would have my youngest brother taylor come along and visit with everyone as well. so when i told tyson (other bro) about it, he said 'well maybe taylor should stay and we could live together', so... jason & i thought maybe we could rent them our house and we could get a new one as we could see needing more space in the very near future. so, just for fun we started looking around, and before i even knew it, we had found a great house in a great neighborhood, and we were signing papers!! so - no more trainings for jason, they're just too expensive. but a great big thank you to my mom for staying with me - i didn't even worry about jason being gone because i knew i would have all the help i needed.

one other fun thing that happened while my mom was here is that the girls started teething. first i was hoping that they would start teething when they were six months and not five and a half, so i wasn't mentally prepared for them to be teething, it took me an afternoon to figure out the cranky drama. oh, and i also thought that the teething process involved a few crabby days for the tooth to push through and then you have a glimmering white tooth - ha boy was i wrong. it took maddie two weeks of on again off again teething to get her first tooth.
this sums up april - moving along to may

week three:

holy crap we just bought a house

there were a couple of things we wanted to do to the house before we moved in, like paint the cupboards, and put some shelves in a closet in the laundry room - for a pantry, etc so this week was spent getting quotes, looking at appliances, trying to rent our other house, oh and one other minor little thing... preparing a talk so we could speak on mother's day

week four:
speak in church on mother's day - jason & i stayed up way too late on sat night trying to prepare for these things and when i finally felt like i had a beginning, middle and end to the talk i called it quits and prayed that it was more than 5 min long.

holy crap we just bought a house

guess we better start packing

my sister came over and helped me pack things up which was great, it really goes 4x faster with two people. we got everything packed up and moved on Saturday with help from the men in the ward. thanks guys, nothing was broken.

maddie got her first tooth! you couldn't see it, but you could feel it break through the gums. holy smokes my little girls are growing up!

week five:

holy crap we just bought a house

time to unpack, because last month i told everyone they could come for a swim party on memorial day at my house. what was i thinking? probably that it only takes me two days to unpack a whole house - this of course does not factor in my two girls who turn 6 months this week into the whole unpacking equation. thankfully tam came over and helped me unpack the necessary areas needed for a family party.

maddie got her second tooth about 3 days after her first. i'm going to say this is the way to go. i like baby things in pairs so teeth in pairs is great. abby still doesn't have any teeth.

week six:

holy crap we just bought a house - and invited my three sisters, two brothers, spouses and children over. the party went well - we didn't think it would be warm enough to swim after the cold rainy snap of last week so only my brothers brought their swim suits, but oddly enough all the kids got in with parental supervision of course. it was a good time and there was plenty of room in the house for all those kids.

after the party and the girls were in bed for the night jason & i undertook the task of taking all the kitchen cabinet doors off - tuesday the painter came to paint the kitchen cabinets.

(sort of a before & after. you can kind of see what color the cupboards were before, and after with the doors back on. mucho bettero)

the rest of this week i had the painter here painting cabinet doors, the front door (which I absolutely love now) and then there was a hall linen cabinet, and the girl's bathroom that we decided to do at the same time. he was done on thursday and said they were dry enough to put the doors back on, but that night maddie had a temperature of 102.9 that kind of freaked me out.
i picked her up while she was rolling around on the floor and she felt a little warm to me so I took her temp and it was 99.8 or something, so i gave her a little tylenol and let her just sit for a few minutes, she just kind of laid there not moving a whole lot, with is very unusual for her, so after 15 min I checked her temp again hoping the tylenol had started to kick in, and it was way higher 102.9!! so i called jason and let him know, who then called his mom who could get there faster and i ran in to the bathroom to give her a lukewarm bath. i put abby in the bouncer in the bathroom with us so she wasn't unsupervised, but she was happy as a lark. i think she knew that i was worried about maddie, so she didn't fuss or make a peep, even when grandma showed up and didn't even look at her. thanks for understanding abby. after the bath her temp had come back down to the 99 range. i called a nurse, i love that you can call a nurse 24/7 from any of the banner hospitals 230 - CARE and she said i had done everything right, and babies can handle higher temps than we can, and they really only worry if the temp gets to be 104 and doesn't come down with tylenol. it was reassuring to know that i was on the right track and not rush to the pediatrician so they can say 'she'll be fine' the next day was still in the 99 range all day, but never got any worse than that.

ok, so i know this may sound crazy, but i actually enjoyed the whole experience. i know crazy right, but i don't know if exciting is the right word here, but it made me feel like a real mom, having to deal with fevers and feeling like i knew what to do immediately and then finding out that it was all that really needed to be done. i know that most people don't get excited about fevers, but i think it was just the whole mom experience that brought out new feelings and instincts and worries, and the reason i got to experience all those feelings was because i was finally a mom which is the best feeling in the whole world.

week seven:

the first half of this week was running errands and trying to get life back to normal after the move the cabinets are back together, and we had shelves installed so now i can finish putting the pantry away and start decorating the kitchen - if only we didn't all have colds.

maddie had it first and in true sisterly fashion she shared it with abby, the next morning jason & i both woke up with small symptoms which only got worse. so i've had the humidifier going in the girl's room for a week now and have barely had the energy to take care of two babies. and by 'take care' i mean feed them, change diapers, and let them entertain themselves while i sit and recover from the feeding and changing. ok so it might not have been that bad, but there wasn't a whole lot of singing or book reading or playing happening on my end.

and that brings us current with the runny noses still in swing, but i feel like i'm on the upswing which is good because jason will be out of town for thurs & fri.

men vs women

2008-04-09T16:09:00.001-07:00

ok, so i may not have all the answers, but i think i have stumbled upon a major find. now, i don't claim to have found the genetic structure that defines the differences in the thought processes of men vs women, nor do i claim to know what a man's thought process is, but there is a difference. now to illustrate one of these said differences i have some evidence: below you will find two pictures, one taken by me, a woman, and one taken by jason, a man.

exhibit 1: abby & maddie holding hands... aaaahhhhh

exhibit 2: maddie with a diaper on her head... oooohhhhh

now, if you haven't come to the same conclusions as i have, then i will let you know that 1. i took the first picture, 2. jason took the second picture, and 3. you are probably a man

back to work

2008-04-09T13:10:00.001-07:00

i went back to my old job just for a visit so i could show off my cute girls. it was fun to see everyone again, and of course everyone was so excited to see me, well at least to see my girls! i was having such a good time with everyone that i only got a few pictures, and only with my uncle (the boss). oh well, they're pretty cute.

here's the boss man (uncle mike) with abby & maddie

i turn around for 2 seconds and he's already got abby on the payroll. i guess you've got to start young
hmm, she's pretty good at this, you're hired!

i've also got to give diana props for the cute bows she makes. I don't leave the house without bows in their hair - and i still get asked if they're girls!! I think the bows just make every outfit 10x cuter!

spring 08 photoshoot

2008-03-15T11:09:00.001-07:00

here is a fun slide show of pictures that scarlett took. the girls are three months old, and scarlett was a real trooper through feedings and naps. she really spent some time with us and got some great shots. i'll share the link when she gets her site up.

thanks again scarlett!

mia maids

2008-03-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

ok, so she's technically not a mia maid, but they sure are growing up fast. i tried this seat out the other day and maddie is so strong that she had no problems with it. but it made me feel like i don't have little babies anymore, i mean if she's sitting up now, what's next crawling? walking? young womens?
this is like the third time maddie has used her little seat, and look at her! she's such a champ looking at me like she's an old pro at this. We had our friend Emmi over and maddie was totally showing off.
what a little show off. time to tone down the cuteness and give the rest of us a fighting chance.
abby's not too sure about all this yet. she's a little more laid back about the whole thing, but she's getting pretty good at it.
here's our friend emmi, she tried out our seat for the first time and apparently she's stunned at her own sitting abilities. it's crazy to think that emmi is 3 weeks younger than my girls, weighs more, but they're about the same length. it's amazing the development that goes on in those last few weeks of pregnancy. the girlies will be 4 months on thursday, and we're just starting to fit into the 0-3 mo. clothes. but, i am still amazed at how they've grown in the short time we've had them. we LOVE our girlies!!

Playin' with Abby

2008-02-22T15:13:00.000-08:00

Abby was being pretty cute this morning - On my birthday.

first smiles

2008-02-21T17:05:00.000-08:00

This was a little over a month ago. Jan 12th. Got some good smiles in.

Husband Tag

2008-02-20T20:12:00.000-08:00

What is his name? jason

How long have you been married? 7 years January 5th 2001

How long did you date? we started dating in april, were engaged in september and married in january

Who eats more sweets? that would definitely be me. jason does not eat any chewy candy, and they are my favorite. i stock up on jelly beans during easter, i love hot tamales, tootsie rolls, red vines, gummy bears, gum drops (but only the spice ones), those sour round things, cinnamon bears... need i go on. hmmm, could this be the cause of all those cavities?

Who said I love you first? it was totally jason, we were in a park in New York where he was doing an internship and i went out there to visit him. we were just walking along and it was soooo green and beautiful and peaceful, and a couple days later we were looking at rings!

Who is taller? it's too close to call

Who can sing better? well, i sing more, so i win by default

Who is smarter? jason is always saying that i'm pretty smart, so... it's unanimous. jason has the market cornered on business stuff, news, and all things electronic - especially gadgets. i have all the household stuff covered along with art, decorating, and knowing where his shoes are at all times.

Who does the laundry? we both do, but jason is banned from turning on the drier

Who pays the bills? jason

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? i do, but it gets re-evaluated every time we move or rearrange things. luckily the right side of the bed was closest to the door and the bathroom - a must for when you're pregnant!!

Who cooks dinner? jason will if we want quesadillas, otherwise i usually do.

Who drives? jason. i think i did once when we were in a hurry and it just felt wrong.

Who is more stubborn? we can both be, i usually give in, especially if jason feels strongly about something, but there are somethings i won't budge on

Who kissed who first? jason totally went for it on the first date!! we had been to lunch a couple of times, and been working on a school project for a while before there was an official date, so it wasn't too shocking. and actually i dodged the first attempt, but not on purpose - i turned and in my periphery saw him leaning in - oops. luckily he's persistent and wouldn't let a dodge slow him down

Who asked who out first? jason asked me to be in his group for an english assignment at ASU. several lunches and meetings at our houses occurred before he officially asked me on a date. interestingly enough there were two other girls in our group, but i don't remember them being at any of these meetings. hmmmm.....

Who proposed? jason of course, although there was an early scare that had me nervous all night. jason went to NY for an internship and the week before he left he took me up to south mountain(which we don't recommend it turns out it's mexican makeout point), and i could tell that something was going on, and i started to get nervous that he was going to propose. we had only been dating for like a month, and i really didn't want to tell him no, but there was no way i could say yes... i was really starting to sweat especially when he pulled out a box that looked exactly like the box my sister's engagement ring was in(turns out it was, thanks Tam), i ever so slowly opened it wracking my brain for what to tell the poor guy and inside it was a promise ring whew!!! so i totally said i would be his girlfriend then told him about my fears and we both laughed because it was too early for him too, so now we call it the 'not yet' ring and i still wear it.

Who wears the pants? i totally let jason wear the pants, actually we're both pretty easy going, but i really depend on jason alot

Ok, so hopefully Jason doesn't read this and dispute all the answers... and now I tag Tiff, Diana and Celeste

happy valentine's day

2008-02-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

here's a couple of fun things from some of our favorite websites

from my new favorite artist phil hansen (no relation) a song about the abc's of love

and from our favorite email answering cartoon strongbad:

valentine teen girl squad

Retail Therapy

2008-02-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

yay we finally got out of the house. it's been a little warmer lately so i thought it would be ok to go for a walk, so i busted out the double stroller, strapped the girls in and away we went.

we went around the block, checked the mail, and talked to libby for a few minutes - then back home and down for a nap

it went so well that saturday, we decided to go shopping!! jason was having an x box party at our house, so we grabbed grandma hansen and headed to target.

we had such a good time looking around at all the neat things, and so many people. grandma held maddie for a little bit as she was a little fussy, and grandma said she got alot of smiles from people, and she's pretty sure they weren't smiling at her - but i'm sure they were smiling at the grandma with her grandbaby. we took the stroller with us and it was great - it's a little too long to turn around in some of those small aisles, but it does have very good steering, now we just need someone to come with us all the time so they can push the cart.

the shopping trip was a success, check out our new hats! afterwards we hung out at grandma's house for a little bit so we could visit with grandpa who took our pictures

thanks for going on our first shopping trip grams! we had a great time, and all of us are worn out. time for a nap!

shots

2008-01-29T10:09:00.000-08:00

tawnya & maddie at the dr waiting for shots

abby on the dr's table waiting for her shots

so the girls are two months old now, which means shots - what an ordeal. we get the girls up two hours earlier than they normally get up so we can be to the dr on time, and even though we're the first appointment of the day we still wait 50 min to see the dr. in the mean time they both got weighed and both abby and maddie weigh 8lbs 5oz, and abby inched ahead in the length category at 22in to maddie's 21 1/4in. i wouldn't have guessed it, but abby does tend to scrunch her legs up under her and maddie is always kicking and stretching so she seems longer.

we talked to the dr and things are going well. they are growing just like they should be, which is a worry sometimes when you're nursing, but they are good eaters so i don't worry too much. he did say that it was time to let them 'cry it out', which we've been doing - sorta but not very consistently, and definitely not long enough. he said it would take about two weeks for them to figure it out, but then they would not cry as long when you put them down for naps and things. so while they're crying their eyes out i just have to remind myself that i'm responsible to teach them how to calm down on their own and that i'm being a good mother by letting them cry - very counter intuitive. i'll have to update you on how this little venture is going.

so after we talked to the dr, the nurse came in with her tray full of shots. three shots each and one that they swallowed. two in one leg and one in the other - so both legs got pinched and there was a fresh cry with each shot, but jason got to hug maddie after her shots, and i got to hug abby after hers and by then they were so tired that they basically just fell asleep. on advice of aunt penny (who has twin girls as well) we gave them some tylenol before the shots so it wouldn't take as long to kick in.

as you can see we are all doing well one day after our shots

i was a little worried how the girls would handle the shots and what kind of day it would be like. i had aunt penny and lindsay merkley on call and ready to come if it was a bad day, but the girls really just slept all day. i noticed that they were both warmer, but not enough to be concerned and we kept up with the tylenol, so it was actually one of the quieter days we've had in a long time. i am just grateful that they didn't get sick

smiles

2008-01-21T13:46:00.001-08:00

the girls are starting to smile!! this is a new activity this week. maddie was the first to smile - at least that I saw. I was getting ready to feed her a few days ago, she was laying on my lap, looked up at the fan and smiled really big. then maddie was really hamming it up for her grandma hansen, so I grabbed the camera as fast as I could and caught a few of them before they turned into cries for a nap. So some of them are a little blurry, but very exciting.

we took some more the next day with both abby & maddie smiling. jason is putting together a slide show of it, so i'll update it here once he has it done.

white dresses - first in a series of three

2008-01-20T17:46:00.001-08:00

aren't these the most beautiful dresses you have ever seen? a great big thank you to grandma skinner who got them while she was down for a visit, i'm usually not the frilly fru fru girly, but i must admit that i cried when i saw them. must be all the hormones - but they were so perfect.

i have to tell you this, i put their dresses on them the day before to make sure we didn't need to exchange for a different size, and they fit perfectly - just like they were made for them. the whole time neither one made a peep, and they usually don't like to change clothes too much, but you could just tell that they knew this was a special dress, and they felt so pretty in them. i took them off pretty quick before they could even burp in them, and as soon as i did they both started to pout! it's amazing how they know so much.

sunday morning we started at 7 am so we could all be out the door at 8:45 a noble goal, and i think that we made it out by 8:50, it's a good think the church is only a block away. we told all the family that we wanted to sit in the back, as it is flu & cold season and our girls are only 7 weeks old! so scary. so we all took up the last two rows of the soft chairs in the back, and everyone got there before we did. i guess i'm not too surprised though.

when it was time to bless the girls, jason took abby & i walked up with maddie and sat on the front row so we could do a quick switch. we had a large circle with lots of family - jason's dad & brother (sheldon & jeff) along with my brother tyson & the brother in laws - brad & randy, uncle mike, and jeremy (from the ward). unfortunately grandpa law was in utah, and ben couldn't make it due to a conference, we missed them both, but there were plenty of men up there. the blessings were beautiful, jason did such a great job. we talked about it some before hand, then he made lots of notes on what he wanted to ask for these two great girls. of course they were very similar, which was a concern for jason, but really, we want the same good things for both of them.

i think that i held my breath as jason paused before he said abigail kate hansen, and then i relaxed and just listened as he got the name right. he later admitted that he had to look down and make sure he said the right name, even though we agreed that abby should be first. of course jason asked for them to be blessed with all the usual things, health, strength in the church, obedience, desire for knowledge and ability to go to the temple - but there were a few things that really stood out in my mind. one of them was that they would always be close to their mother - excuse me while i go cry my eyes out... another was that they would realize the importance of family and that they would always be close to their family and that they would especially enjoy the unique friendship that they have with their sister. the last that i found interesting was that while he blessed them with the desire to learn, there was a specific line about desiring to learn about the gospel. for some reason this really stood out to me as being important and different, but interestingly enough he said it for both of them. i just get the feeling that this is going to be a big thing in their lives.

anyways i just wanted to say thank you to all the family that came to support us on this big day. jeff & jenn came from california. michelle & fam were down for christmas, but just missed the blessings - but we had a great time with them. mike & penny have been especially fun to talk to with all their experience. and i don't know what i'd do without my sisters, they have been such a big help. it was so great to have kathy with her boys, who are so grown up, i just can't believe it. thank you thank you to everyone who came, it was such a great day.

mom & abby at the after blessing party

it was a long day for both, abby a little sad, and maddie a little sleepy
mom & abby, grandma & maddie
sorry ladies, jeff has found a new girlfriend with miss maddie
as you can see he's very smitten

grandma skinner

2008-01-20T17:19:00.000-08:00

my mom got to visit us the beginning of december, the girls were about 2 weeks old, and it was the best! it was so special to have my mom there to see me become a mom. crazy! i'm still trying to get over the fact that i was pregnant!

it was so great to have her come and stay for a few days. the best part was that she really took care of me. of course she came to see the babies, but she really showed me what i needed to do to take care of myself, so that i would be able to take care of the girls. for example she said, "you're not drinking enough water, I've been here a whole hour and you haven't had anything" yikes, yes ma'am. she'll be glad to know i haven't made that mistake again!

but really, all joking aside it was the best 4 days, she cooked, she cleaned, she calmed crying babies, and occasionally their mother, but mostly i felt like she really was there to take care of me, and in ways that i didn't even know i needed. so thanks mom, i love you. we all wish you were closer, and can't wait to see you again.

ok, now that i've stopped crying, here are some pics of her visit, i can't believe we didn't take more while she was here! there are some of her with tiff & fam on her blog though.

merry christmas, er new year, um...

2008-01-20T17:05:00.000-08:00

ok, so this was supposed to be our christmas card, but for some reason it just didn't make it out. so then it was going to be a new year's card, and somehow we missed that as well. so now it's just a family pic taken about a week before christmas. they look so tiny! either that or jason & i are ginormous. my vote is for tiny.

harley even got in on the family pic. she wouldn't stay sitting, so we only got part of her in it. she looks like she has a double chin, but she really doesn't - she has her winter coat, and i was pulling on her collar to try to get her to sit up and it bunched up all her neck fur over her collar. so no, my dog is not morbidly obese, just furry right now. btw i am so not looking forward to her shedding her winter coat-what a pain! she's a labradoodle and not supposed to shed, at least that was one of the selling points.

anyways, i am holding the maddie girl, and jason has abby. for those of you who have not noticed, abby likes to open her mouth for pics. i was going through a batch that we had printed up, and in every one of them her mouth was wide open! it isn't always in real life, but it seems to be a common theme in pics. (see the 'see how we grow' post) ha!

see how we grow

2008-01-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

ultrasound at 6 weeks - amazingly enough we could see heartbeats! can you tell who's who? don't worry, neither can I. they are both 13 mm.

ok, so abby is on top in this little series taken at 8 weeks, the darkish circle on the left is her head. maddie is the bottom one, and we're basically looking at her backside. I can't tell if she's head up or down, you decide. btw they are just over 2 cm

this is where it started to get fun and you could actually see hands and things - taken at 16 weeks. they stopped measuring as it wouldn't be accurate, but before they started to guess their weights. once again abby on top, maddie on the bottom.

this is really fun, because i've got two pics below that are very similar to the 3-d ones above. these were taken at about 26 weeks. from here on out the ultrasounds were not as much fun because they were getting bigger and one arm took up the whole screen. so these are the fun ones, hope you enjoy

for more ultrasounds click here

our first outing

2008-01-16T16:42:00.000-08:00

jason & his girls, abby & maddie

We got home from the hospital on Friday - late, we left around 11:00 pm, they are so slow... anyways we got home Friday, and our first outing was on Monday to see the pediatrician. It was an all day event to plan feedings so they would be done in time for us to pack up go there and be home before the next feeding. It took us about a half hour for us to get all packed up and in the car. It was a little nerve wracking when we got there to see that the "well child" and the "sick child" areas were so close together and only separated by a little half wall. We're a little paranoid about these girls getting sick, so we asked and they put us in an empty room where we could wait to see the dr. We saw several of the practice's dr.s at the hospital - whoever was on call that day, and there was one in particular that we really liked. He came in sat down looked at his notes and said, "it's official, they're perfect" how could you not like that! So when we set up the appointment we asked to see "the dr that was on call on Wednesday & Thursday" as we couldn't remember his name, and hooray we got him, he's LDS and has kids and grandkids of his own, and he feels like a very practical kind of guy. We really like him alot.

We did a weight and measurements check - Abby was 6lb 2 oz, 19" and Maddie was 5lb 8oz, 20" they lost weight those first few days and are starting to gain it back.

Afterwards we went through the drive through at Taco Bell, and I suddenly felt very connected to the outside world. Unfortunately I have no pictures of any of these events, as we were very focused on just getting us all out the door.

The girls are going 4 hours between feedings at night, boy what a difference that extra hour makes. We're not getting as much sleep as we used to, but what a great reason - TWO girls!!
mom & abby at the hospital

They are so sweet and content and my favorite is when you hold them against your chest and they pull their little legs in so they're just a tiny little ball. They are so sweet!

abby & maddie what sweet girls!

Ok, so this is the cutest thing, in the hospital they put the girls in the same little bassinet, and when you would take one of them out, the other would start to stir and wake up and look around for her sister. It was soo cute to see that they love each other and miss each other when they're gone. Best Friends Forever!

it's a miracle! it's two!

2008-01-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

Our two beautiful girls were born on Monday, November 19th. Abigail Kate Hansen was born 2:31pm weighing in at 6lb 7oz and 19in long. Madison Jane Hansen was born at 2:32 and weighed 5lb 14 oz and was 20 in long. They were born three weeks early, but they have no complications or problems. They are just perfect. We had a c-section scheduled for Friday, but they decided they wanted to come on Monday when my water broke. They came by way of a c-section as they were both breach and that's why they were only a minute apart. Jason and I actually think it was less than a minute it seemed so fast.

I'm glad they surprised us came on Monday because it was so much fun to call Jason and tell him my water broke, and then repeat it 3 more times until it sunk in. Much more exciting than knowing about it on Friday. And I didn't have the chance to worry and fret about it. So here they are the two cuties fresh from heaven:

maddie on top, abby on the bottom

Abigail Kate Hansen born 2:31pm 6 lb 7 0z, 19" at about 30 min old

Madison Jane Hansen born 2:32pm 5 lb 14 oz, 20" 30 min old

Our sweet angels only a few minutes old

maddie & abby after their first bath

three girls one boy & a dog

2008-01-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

Our little family has started to grow. My two beautiful girls are almost 8 weeks old, and it seems like it's already gone by so fast! So in an effort to keep up with them, and keep the family informed I think it's time to dive into the digital scrapbook mode of blogging. I've been putting it off for a while, but with these two special angels, I don't think I have any excuses left - we must push forward. Hmm this sounds like I'm having to psych myself up a little too much. Well, here we go... a new adventure every week for three girls, one boy & a dog.