June Birthdays

On Friday we got together to celebrate all the June birthdays in my family (Cohen, Dad and Jackson).  Cohen and Jackson were besides themselves with all the presents for them and of course Dad was a good sport letting them take the spotlight despite the fact that this will be his 60th birthday!  I attempted to make a Lego cake for them but my skills as a cake decorator are far from professional.  Jackson's response when he saw the cake, "Mom, that's not Legos.  I want a new cake!"  I think that for now on I'll stick to cakes from the bakery:)

Big Brothers!!!

More attempts at pictures but this time it was for pictures to announce that that we're expecting Baby #3!!!!!  It sure was hard trying to get both of them to look and then to have Brendan's shirt showing.  There's lots of excitement at our house now because of the baby.  Luke and I feel blessed to be having another child, Jackson is thrilled to be a big brother again and Brendan doesn't have a clue how much his life will change.  We're due November 19, 2011 (the day after Brendan turns 2) but secretly I'm hoping for an 11/11/11 baby.  Now that I say that, I know that it won't happen.  When Luke and I were dating, he always said that we'd get married on 11/11/11.  Little did we know that we'd be expecting our 3rd child by that time!

Happy Mother's Day

We tried to get a nice picture of the boys in their ties since we didn't get one on Easter but of course as soon as the camera came out, both boys refused to look at the camera and then didn't want to sit where we wanted them too.  That and the fact that we were looking right at the sun.  Maybe someday I'll get a nice Mother's Day picture:)  Maybe:)

 

I also included a picture from out trip to see the Whitecaps on Saturday night.  We left Brendan home with a babysitter and took Jackson - this picture doesn't show it at all but he really did love being at the game (he just really doesn't like pictures ... unless it's his idea).   

And here's the picture I love the most - Jackson was so worn out after playing with his cousins at lunch that he fell asleep under the cushions of the couch... sleeping pictures are still my favorite pictures of the boys!

Spring Break 2011

It's been a long time since we last posted since I was unable to link any pictures up because our camera wouldn't upload pictures - our new camera arrived right before spring break so I have lots of pictures to now download!

Anyways, we just returned from our trip to Orlando and I am seriously thinking about looking for jobs down there.  There's just something about the beautiful landscaping, sunny weather and all the Disney activities!  It's always difficult leaving Florida - I always seem to leave there with tears in my eyes.  And now Jackson feels the same way!  He was very upset that we had to leave and is already talking about going down again.

We didn't do any of the Disney parks but I can't wait to take the kids there someday!  I had a lot of different ideas of things we could do down there (1/2 days so at least Brendan would get a good nap) but we discovered the boys were just thrilled to be swimming in the pool so we stayed put at our condo most of the week.  There was one day of rain that we ventured out for a bit of shopping but didn't last too long with the boys.

The best part was seeing the excitement in the boys eyes when they would see things.  Jackson was beside himself when we went to Downtown Disney and visited the Lego store (he got his 1st set of Legos and loves them!) and Brendan absolutely loved the pool.  He would climb in and out of the kiddie pool and just stand there watching all the kids. The boys did a tremendous job traveling and behaving down there.  Of course we had our moments, like when Brendan threw a fit during our last night out for dinner but all in all they did a great job. 

The worst part of the trip reminded me how precious each day is.  My Uncle Bern and part of his family traveled down there as well and while we were there he went in to the hospital because something just wasn't right.  We had all figured that he'd be diagnosed with a minor stroke or something of that sort but it was discovered that he has a brain tumor.  News like that makes every problem that we face right now seem so unimportant.  Now we just pray for good news for him.

Why I love winter.... and why I don't love winter

I love winter for many reasons - the beauty of snow falling while you can stay inside and be warm (hence the pictures from our backyard), the Christmas season, snow days, hot chocolate, sledding, snuggling under blankets, smelling chili as it simmers on the stove, etc. 

But the one thing that I detest most about winter is the illness that seems to come along with it!  We've been doing pretty well with illness BUT last week, let's just say we made good friends with our friendly pharmacist. I came down with strep throat (a given that I would get sick as I usually get sick at some point around conferences and we had conferences last week).  Unfortunately this also meant that my shoulder surgery (for some bone spurs) had to be delayed because they didn't want to risk the chance of infection.  Then to top things off, when I was home with strep I noticed Jackson had started to wheeze when he was coughing.  Being the paranoid mom that I am (especially since his asthma reaction in the fall) I called the doctor and got him in.  Thankfully they did a nebulizer treatment in the office and it worked whereas last time it didn't and he had to visit the ER.  This time we went home with some steroids and instructions to call if it didn't improve.  Well.... it didn't improve so now we have a nebulizer at our house for him.  At least we won't have to visit the office just for treatments now... and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we don't use it too much!  So the Hansen's have survived round one of illness and now after a weekend of resting and sanitizing the house we're so much happier here.  But a snow day would make things even happier!

Sleepover Fun

We had our first New Year's sleepover this year!  When I was younger, I our family used to alternate spending New Years at 3 different houses.  That way our parents didn't have to find babysitters, nobody had to be out on the road and us kids could stay up late and play!  It was something we looked forward to with anticipation for weeks.  This year we started that tradition with the DeVissers, my sister and our good friend Holly.  It was wonderful because we were able to get the kids down at a reasonable time and then we had adult time.  I can't wait for this tradition to continue - the 3 boys will definitely be trouble:) 

The next night, my nephews came over night while my brother and his wife went to a Lions game.  It was so fun to watch the boys all play together and we really didn't have any arguments with them.  At night, the 3 oldest slept in Jackson's room.  At one point I heard laughing so I go in there and find my dear son throwing down all his stuffed animals (he sleeps with TONS of them) down from his bed and the other 2 boys laughing hysterically.  My favorite moment was waking up the next morning after hearing them making noise and finding the three of them standing at Jackson's bedroom door just waiting to come down to play.  I am so glad that they're so close in age and have become such good buddies.  What a blessing these cousins are!!!

Christmas Break

I love Christmas break!  Not only do I get some extra time with my boys at home but we also get to celebrate the holidays with friends and family.  Having this time with the boys makes me love being a mom even more.  I look at them in awe and thank the Lord for granting me such blessings!

Jackson is definitely becoming so much more imaginative.  We spent hours in the toy room as he "fixed it up" or played with trains or made up games with his brother.  He was so happy to be able to stay home in his pajamas and there were a few days that we actually did stay in pajamas all day!

Brendan idolizes his big brother.  If Jackson is doing something, Brendan will be following right along with him.  It is so much fun watching him imitate his brother and try to get his brothers attention.  He will often take his brothers toys just to get his brother to realize that he's there and then they'll start wrestling with each other.  They are definitely boys!

Tomorrow we start the routines again.  As much as I love my job, it's difficult to leave my boys and head back again:(