California Trip

We had such a fabulous time visiting with Steph and Jon in Cali last week. We did everything from walking along the beach, to eating delicious meals, biking, having an enjoyable fire on the beach, shopping, and we even had a chance to see The Hunger Games. Not only were all our activities perfect, but it was just wonderful spending time together again. They live in such a beautiful area and really seem to know their way around and the best places to eat!


Geoff and I at the end of the Newport Beach Penisula. Such a beautiful view with the harbor in the background.


Steph and I with a perfect view of the ocean and cliffs. While we were enjoying our drinks and appetizers I just couldn't stop talking about the beautiful cliffs, so we had to get a photo.


On our last day Geoff and I took a trip to The Nixon Presidental Museum and of course Geoff had to recreate that famous pose!

A HUGE thanks goes out to Steph and Jon for hosting us for several days and just giving us a break from reality. And of course none of this would have been possible without such supportive and helpful parents. Thanks Mammie and Papa and Grandma and Grandpa Hanson for watching our girls and showing them such a special time too!

Two Lessons Learned

Lesson #1 - Back up all computer data at least once a week! We have not been doing this and it came back to bite us BIG time last week when our hard drive crashed. Not sure how/if we can get all our documents, photos, music, videos back but we're working on it. BACK UP ALL YOUR FILES REGULARLY!

Lesson #2 - Three year olds are much more observant than I realized. A few weeks ago we were walking up the steps to go to bed and Lauren said, "Mommy it looks like you have a baby in your belly." At the time I wasn't ready to sit her down and tell her I really do have a baby in my belly, but I couldn't believe she would notice and comprehend something like that. That got us thinking though, we really should let her in on this development. We were going to wait until we found out the sex of the baby, but then we decided we are NOT going to find out, so there went that idea. One night last week Annie was in a bed a bit early so that left Geoff, Lauren, and myself playing a game of Memory. We decided this was the time to tell Lauren. Needless to say she was very excited and wanted to touch my belly right away. And now she has one of two babies in her belly also - either Thomas or Sally depending upon the day. Sometimes they come in and out of her belly, but she usually has one of them in there. Oh and if my baby is a boy she wants to name him Thomas, but if it's a girl she wants to name her Lauren.

March Madness

We are ready for March Madness at our house. Not only does Lauren enjoy watching Michigan basketball with us, she now wants to know when the games are. The other day she woke up and asked me if Michigan is playing today. She insists on wearing her cheerleader outfit and cheering with poms poms too.



I brought the girls to a local nature museum last Friday. They loved watching the butterflies, especially when they were so close to them like this little black one in this photo. Lauren was trying to use the chart to teach Annie which butterfly it was. All Annie wanted to do was touch the poor little guy.



Even though Annie does not like it when men wear hats, she LOVES wearing them herself. She tries so hard to put them on her head herself, but when that doesn't work she will walk over to us with the hats and stand holding the hats up until we put them on her head.

Before we leave for the week, a little bit of "Hail" as Lauren calls it...

Munchkin Update

Lauren started swimming lessons about a month ago. As you can tell she LOVES them.



Getting ready with her goggles. She is doing much better holding her breath when going under water and loves all they games they play during class.



Annie is currently very interested in talking on the phone. Since her first birthday she has enjoyed pretend talking on her toy phones, but recently really started taking and talking on the real phone. Annie's current words are ut oh, duck, Mama, Dada, Lala, and down. She loves making animal noises and is pretty good at pointing out her head, eyes, ears, and nose. Communication at eating times is much easier now too because Annie is able to do the baby signs for eat, all done, please, and more.



Lauren still loves reading books and Annie is becoming more and more interested too. I love that both girls enjoy reading to each other! We have started touring all the libraries in our area on some of my days off.



We finally had some snow last week so I got the girls dressed and Geoff took them outside for a bit. Watching Annie walk around in her snow pants and boots was very entertaining.



Annie did not like the sled at all in the beginning.



Hey, I guess this sled isn't so bad after all.



Lauren and Geoff were so proud of Frosty. He stuck around for about 5 days before melting away.



Annie started using her own spoon this week. She sure enjoys it and this helps meal time last longer, but it's also a bit more messy. :) It's crazy how many things Annie picks up on now. She gets upset if I brush Lauren's hair, but not hers and even goes to get her coat and boots when she realizes we are leaving to go some place.

Even though they don't know it yet, Lauren and Annie are excited to announce there will be another little munchkin joining the Hanson family in early August! Geoff and I are very excited too and have been busy trying to find a new house and a new set of mini van wheels!

Playdates

The girls have had a lot of fun the past few weeks playing with many friends. Last weekend we traveled back to Michigan to spend some time with my high school and college friends and their kids. Even though our kids don't get to see each other that often, they sure do have fun when they get together.



Lauren and Alyse had so much fun bowling together!



All of the girls checking out the lane before the bowling game began. Our ONE game of bowling lasted almost 2 hours. The girls really did a great job, but I guess bowling with 4 girls under the age of six and two adults does take awhile.

On Saturday evening we were able to spend time with even more Michigan friends. A friend of mine since high school (even though I've known her since middle school, but that's another story), Clara had us over to her house and the girls played with her sons Brendan and Jake and Lisa's (a friend from middle school) baby boy Harrison. Another friend from middle school, Laura was there too, but her little one is still in the oven so we didn't have a chance to play with him or her yet. I am so fortunate to have friendships that have lasted so long that now we get to watch our own children become friends.



There was no school last Monday so my job share partner and I had a chance to get together with all four kids. Annie has really started getting in on the action now too.

Geoff's Aunt Glo got us a book last year after Annie was born titled, If I Could Keep You Little. I LOVE this book and read it at least once a week to the girls. Well, one of the pages says, "If I could keep you little I'd pick for you a friend or two, but then I'd miss you choosing a friend you like who likes you too." Looks like at this point we've done a good job of spending time with friends that everyone enjoys!

February Fun!

Of course it's fun to climb up the stairs and then laugh at everyone down below!



Not sure what was so funny in this book Annie was reading, but she was sure enjoying it.



The girls made these adorable Valentine gifts for Geoff and me at daycare. Annie's is on the right with the shorter arms and Lauren's is on the left.



Classic photo of Annie - putting on a performance, while doing something she should not be (standing in the chair).



The girls really enjoying coloring together. Lauren is starting to work on coloring in the lines more frequently and Annie is doing a pretty good job of holding the crayons now.

Great news - the camera's finally fixed!

A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of going on a short spa weekend with some friends. We had a fabulous time and it looks like Geoff and the girls did too. Geoff took them to a local nature center where Lauren was brave enough to pet this Egyptian bat. I just LOVE her face in this photo.



Last Friday Lauren had her first visit to the dentist. We prepared by watching a few videos on YouTube first. She did a great job listening and following directions. Everything was great except the "paint" they put on her teeth at the very end. They do this now instead of fluoride for little kids. Apparently it did not taste good at all. After a few minutes we were able to get the paint on her teeth though and away we went. Oh and notice her pink sparkle boots? Lauren was given these as a gift from Aunt Sarah and Cousin Shelby for Christmas. She wears them everywhere and gets so many compliments. What a perfect gift!



Mammie and Papa visited this past weekend. Mammie brought a little kit for Lauren to make candy suckers for her Valentine's party at Mariah's tomorrow. What a great idea and lots of fun!



Mammie and Annie worked hard on this art project together. Aunt Sarah and Cousin Shelby sent a very thoughtful Valentine's Day package for the girls with lots of stickers, art projects, books, socks, beads, and shirts. We have been working very hard on the art projects and even Annie had a chance along with Mammie's help.



Annie's finished photo frame




Lauren's finished photo frame.

Hopefully now that our camera is back the updates will be a bit for frequent. Happy Valentine's Day!