Happy Moments Make Happy People

Blog Failings...

2011-10-29T08:45:00.001-07:00

Yes, it has been just over a year since I've paid any attention to this blog.

The truth is, I've been meaning to play "catch up" on the blog for many months... but just haven't done it. It's hard to motivate myself to do anything "above and beyond" during football season :)

However, I'm really going to do it... I'll be dating posts when they actually should have been posted, rather than when they were. Scroll down and read and enjoy the pictures if you want to catch a glimpse of our last year.

Hee Haw Farm

2011-09-30T08:52:00.000-07:00

To celebrate fall and the exciting events to come, my work did an activity at Hee Haw, a nearby farm. There were all sorts of activities that we participated in... including a hayride to a pumpkin patch where we picked out a pumpkin to take home.

Here are some of the other fun things we got to do:

We played in the gigantic corn pit... which was way cooler than sand!

There were tractors and other things to ride on

We got "lost" in the corn maze

Lily did not love the cutouts that I wanted her to stick her head in for a picture

However, she did love the rubber horsey swings

There were also a number of animals roaming around the farm. Despite our best efforts, we couldn't get close enough to the goat to pet it.

Favorite Teams

2011-09-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Even when the BYU football team is very mediocre, we still cheer for them! The same goes for the Red Sox... through the good times and the terrible times, we're still big fans. That's what being a fan is all about!

Super messy hair after a nap!

Baby Millie's Blessing

2011-08-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

Sunday Uncle Jeff blessed their little girl, Millie. Jeff did a great job on the blessing and we had fun hanging out with them afterward and eating delicious food.

The family after the blessing

Lily didn't want to sit in the chair and eat the food we got for her. She insisted on sitting on the grass with her cousins. When they would look away or wander from their plates, she would pick out the food she wanted from their plates and eat it. That's my girl!

Bear Lake - where the water freezes your internal organs

2011-07-29T07:53:00.000-07:00

For the second time, my grandparents provided the family with a trip to Bear Lake. They rented a lodge made to sleep 50 people and we spent 5 wonderful days together. The days spent at the lake were a lot of fun. The nights spent with Lily, Millie and Kelsie in the same room with us were not very fun. It was like a chorus of crying with Kelsie escaping her port-a-crib every few minutes. When one woke up, they all woke up. Ultimately, this left us all a little tired and a little cranky. That's what family trips are supposed to be like, right?

Elizabeth and I had fun dressing Lily and Millie in matching clothes each day. They probably didn't love all of the photo sessions... but, to be honest, they didn't have much of a choice.

Does it look like Millie is about to be attacked/tortured by Lily? Why, yes it does. She's got her lobster pinchers out. Poor Millie... it's no fun being the younger cousin!

Trent brought Jeff's jet ski up with us in the back of his truck. It wasn't registered so Jeff and Elizabeth drove to a different town early Tuesday morning to get it registered. They shelled out the money to do it and Jeff Trent were excited to ride. Unfortunately, the jet ski hated Bear Lake... and never really worked. It was disappointing for us all! (It's so much fun watching people fall off!) Much of Trent & Jeff's time at the lake was spent tinkering with the jet ski.

Lily's favorite activity was riding around, sunbathing in the kayak. Uncle Jeff was nice enough to wade through the cold water to pull Lily around, ensuring she had a smooth, safe ride.

I'd someone to carry me around while I relax in a kayak. Jeff and Elizabeth, are you up for it? Maybe Aunt Paula will be willing to keep me in the shade as well. This is the life!

Rendevous at the Cabin

2011-07-18T07:24:00.000-07:00

I think I was around 6 or 7 years old when my Grandpa purchased a cabin for the family in Causey Estates. I have some very fond memories at the cabin playing with cousins and family. We spent time building forts, making dams in the small creeks, horseback riding, playing volleyball/badminton, shooting at clay pigeons, late night games, snowmobiling, sledding... and the list goes on. After owning the cabin for 20+ years, my grandpa is ready to sell it. It's kind of sad to think that one day when it sells, we'll no longer have access to it.

Knowing that it was on the market, we wanted to travel to the cabin as a family for a weekend. The group included my parents, brother's family and sister's family, Trent, Lily and me. Everyone had a great time.

Trent playing cars with the girls

Being at the cabin is fun!!

Keeping a close eye on Millie while she sleeps... maybe she wants to bounce in her bouncy chair? Lily sure did think so.

Going on a four-wheeler ride with daddy

Sitting on a horse with Great Grandpa Sharp

Happy 4th of July!!

2011-07-05T20:50:00.000-07:00

The most unhappy kid in this picture: Lily
This is what happens when you're deprived of your regularly scheduled nap.

Happy 4th of July!!

San Diego Trip - Part 2

2011-06-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

We spent a day at SeaWorld. I love SeaWorld. It was fun seeing all the shows, going on some ride and spending quality time with each other.

If you notice all of the particles in the water near the walrus, it was eating, regurgitating, and then eating it's food again. Honestly, it was a little disgusting. Lily seemed to be entertained by it though. She wanted to pet it.

If Trent looks a little scared on this ride... he just may have been. You'll have to ask him about it.

In addition to a day at SeaWorld, we also spent time roaming a couple of the fabulous beaches in the San Diego area. Here are some of my favorite pictures from that:

San Diego Trip - Part 1

2011-06-25T11:58:00.000-07:00

So... for those people who say that facebook is a waste of time... get this. By taking 2 seconds to write a short post on facebook, I won a trip to San Diego! That's right, all I had to do was "like" Columbus Travel's facebook page... and then leave them a short comment. By doing so, I was entered to win a free trip. Unbelievably, I won. I'm not exaggerating when I say that never happens to me. I suppose I can't say that anymore... because now, it has happened to me.

Here was my comment: "I'm ready to win a vacation... feel free to pick me!"

And then they picked me. Lucky? Yes, I think so.

Lily did great on our flights to San Diego (we flew Southwest, which doesn't offer a direct flight from SLC to San Diego, so we had to stop in Las Vegas).

Apparently, all the flying really wiped her out though... once we finally arrived at our destination.

After landing and getting our rental car, it was lunch time. We went to Mitch's seafood which was reasonably priced and delicious. I highly recommend it for anyone traveling to San Diego. We ate our lunch outside next to the fishing port.

After lunch, we drove down to the Mexico border and visited the outlet mall. For whatever reason, I was thoroughly impressed with the huge fence bordering Mexico and California. I really wanted to go to Tijuana... but we didn't think it was a great idea to go with Lily. Something about people being kidnapped, robbed, murdered... you get the picture. In fact, there is an advisory that recommends not crossing the border for a visit. With that in mind, this is as close as we got to Mexico. Note the border fence in the background of the picture:

More to come in the next post on the trip!

Welcoming another girl... Cousin Millie!

2011-06-04T11:38:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Jeff & Elizabeth who welcomed their daughter Millie into the world on Friday, June 3. We're so excited to have another girl cousin in the family!!

We went and visited Millie and her parents at North Davis hospital. While we were there, we learned that Lily's baby portrait has become "famous", hanging in the walls of the labor and delivery unit. We couldn't resist getting a picture of our big girl next to her newborn picture.

Lily didn't know what to think of her new cousin. She waivered from being interested in cousin Millie...

To disinterested...

When it was my turn to hold the new baby, Lily would have none of it. She threw a fit and wanted me to hold her instead. Jealousy...

Fun on the trampoline

2011-05-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

Lily has just discovered that playing on the trampoline is fun! Here's to hoping for many more years of enjoyment... without any injuries *fingers crossed*

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T11:16:00.000-07:00

Coloring eggs, Easter egg hunts, and finding hidden baskets were all part of our celebration this year. Lily didn't get into the egg coloring too much. However, she did get the hang of things a the, picking up the eggs/treats and putting them into her basket.

Getting ready to color eggs:

Eventually, Lily was able to crack through the shell of this orange egg to get to the good stuff. She then proceeded to eat the egg, shell and all!

First Steps

2011-04-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

The long awaited time has finally come! Lily is walking!! Just days after her 15 month checkup where the doctor asked if she walked and we had to say no, she's now doing it! I'm not going to lie, there was a part of me that wondered if her nursery leaders would have to carry her from room to room when she was 18 months. Thankfully, that will not be the case.

Back to the Basics

2011-02-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

After taking a year last year off (being pregnant), it was so nice getting back to one of the things so easy to enjoy. Snowboarding at Snowbird on a nice day just can't be beat! We're excited that Lily will be able to join us in a couple of years!

With increase mobility comes...

2011-02-16T10:43:00.000-08:00

It's been several months now since Lily graduated from "army crawling" to "real crawling". She's pulling herself up on things more frequently now and trying to get into everything possible. With the increased mobility comes increased havoc.

How does that toilet paper taste??

Piggy Tails

2011-01-16T10:03:00.000-08:00

After months of waiting, Lily's hair is finally long enough for little piggy tails! Yes, they are tiny and they do stick straight out (like Pippy Longstocking). However, this is a monumental achievement for the whole family!

Lily's Birthday Bash

2011-01-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

Okay... it probably wasn't a "birthday bash"... however, it was a great birthday party! With a Minnie Mouse theme, how can you go wrong!

It's hard to believe that one year ago we were at the hospital cuddling our new baby girl. Her learning and growth in the past year amaze me. The fact that we've made it a whole year without any major catastrophes is miraculous in and of itself.

All ready for the party to start!

The birthday cake that Grandma Sharp made for Lily!

All ready to eat!!

Cake is sweet!

A happy 1-year-old girl makes two happy parents!

Thank you to everyone who came to Lily's birthday party and helped make is a special, memorable experience. We are truly grateful!

Four Generations

2011-01-03T09:54:00.000-08:00

To celebrate my Grandma Austin's birthday, we went to the Garden for lunch. Delicious food! While we were there, we took a four-generation picture with Lily, my mom and her mom. Thanks for taking the picture Elizabeth!

Acclimation

2010-12-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

Since Trent and I are winter enthusiasts, enjoying snowboarding together and Trent also developing an interest in snowmobiling, we figured it's important to acclimate Lily to the wonders of winter and snow early on. After all, she'll be snowboarding in a couple of years, right?

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-26T08:52:00.000-08:00

Christmas is easily one of my favorite days of the year. I love the decorations, the lights, the tree, the snow (when there is snow), a delicious breakfast and of course, spending time with family. This Christmas was no exception to a wonderful tradition of great Christmas experiences.

We started off the morning early (who can sleep with all the anticipation and excitement!) and, to Trent's chagrin, I wanted to start with a picture. After nearly 20 attempts (and Trent pulling faces in each on of them), this is as good as it got:

Lily was somewhat interested in the presents she received... but mostly interested in the wrapping paper, boxes, and any type of "stringed attachments" to her toys that she could stick in her mouth.

After opening presents at our house, we headed up to Layton to visit Grandma & Grandpa Sharp, Great Grandma Austin and the cousins. All the girls wore their matching pajamas Grandma bought for them.

For some reason... my mom didn't buy me any pajamas. What a jip! I guess she didn't think that I wanted to match with the little girls. Little did she know...

Grandma and Grandpa bought Lily a rocking horse for Christmas. The horse moves its head, wags its tail and makes all sorts of noises. Lily is a little scared of it now... but we're sure she'll grow out of her fear!

All in all, it was a fun day! Now, we'll have to start the countdown to Christmas for next year...

Meeting Santa Claus

2010-12-23T09:27:00.000-08:00

We had our "Sharp Family Christmas Party" at Grandma Sharp's recently (with all my dad's sisters and their families). Each year, my dad gets the ultimate privilege of playing Santa. I guess that's what happens when you're the only boy!

Lily got to meet Santa... and let's just say that she wasn't thrilled about it:

However, she wasn't as terrified/horrified/frightened/scared/alarmed/terrorized/(any other adjectives you'd like to add?) as her cousin Kelsie was.

Pure torture... so awesome.

California Trip... Continued

2010-11-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Another highlight of our trip to California was spending time on the beach. Even though the weather was overcast and a little gloomy, we still had a great time wandering and exploring the beach.

With this trip, Lily has now been to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific. What a lucky girl!

Our 1st Family Trip to Disneyland!

2010-10-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Our adventure to the "Happiest Place on Earth" was fantastic. The only thing which could have made it better was warmer, drier weather. Regardless, we made the most of our time there spending 3 days at Disneyland (including one night of trick-or-treating), two days at Universal Studios and a night at "The Haunt" at Knott's Scary Farm. Since my earliest days working during Frightmare's at lagoon, I've wanted to go to the Haunt.

Check that one off the bucket list!

Yes, it was worth all the hype and it was everything I thought it would be... plus some. For an old lady like me, staying up until 2am was a stretch... but completely worth it.

Lily's favorite ride at Disneyland was "It's a Small World". She clapped and squealed along with the singing. Since the ride lasts 10+ minutes, we only brought ourselves to go on it twice. We just couldn't convince Justin a 3rd time was worth it. It took bribery just to get him on the ride for the second time.

(Lily on her favorite ride)

My favorite ride was... that's hard to say. I can say for sure it wasn't the long ride to and from California.

Sometimes you have to be creative (or crazy) to make the time pass more quickly! Gratefully, there were no problems or speeding tickets either to or from our destination.

While on the vacation, it was fun for the girls to spend some quality time with each other... matching and all. For a family that only believes in having girls, at least they're cute!

While waiting in a line for 75 minutes plus to get our picture taken with the princesses... including Cinderella was not cool... being able to take turns waiting in line while the other people went through "trick or treat" lines to get free candy definitely was cool.

For "Mickey's Halloween Party", Lily came as a lamb... IMHO, she made an adorable little lamb (yes, I do realize that I am extremely biased).

While some people like to wear their 3D glasses on the tour at Universal Studios, other prefer to try and eat them.

I really hope that they sanitize those. Oh well... what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger, right?

One of the best parts of the trip for Lily was all the attention she got from Grandma & Grandpa Sharp, her cousins and aunts and uncles...

Or maybe that was really one of our favorite parts!

9 Month Stats

2010-10-23T12:46:00.001-07:00

Lily turned 9 months old almost two weeks ago... on October 12. Trent took her to her doctor appointment the following day. She seemed to have recovered from the trauma of the appointment (getting shots) by the time I got home from work.

Here are the stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz - 57%
Height: 27 inches - 31%
Head Circumference: 43 cm - 22%

More than anything, we're grateful to have a healthy, happy baby girl!

There will be posts about our California trip and Disneyland coming soon!

Blog Merge

2010-10-08T20:48:00.000-07:00

I realize I've been terrible at blogging. I discovered one of the reasons I haven't kept up is because I unintentionally ended up with two blogs. (trentandamanda.blogspot.com and hansenbabyblog.blogspot.com). This happened when I started the baby blog after finding out I was expecting. However, because I didn't want my pregnancy to be public early on, I started a whole new blog.

Well... what I've learned in the past year is that two is TOO many. I've merged all the information from trentandamanda.blogspot.com so I will only have one blog to upkeep. I'm hopeful this will keep me motivated. Check back for more regular posts!

Babbling Baby

2010-08-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Lily started babbling a ton today, for the first time. She's always made a lot of noise... but now we can't get her to stop! In fact, she'll babble for a bit, stick her binky in her mouth, then pull it out because she has more to say!

I'm not sure the people at the Indian restaurant liked it too much... but we sure did love it!

Riding Bikes...

2010-08-12T19:00:00.000-07:00

Before Lily was born... we bought her a really cool bike seat. Trent & I love to ride bikes together... so we figured that she'd enjoy coming along for the ride.

A couple weeks ago Trent pulled our bikes down from the hooks where they are carefully hung on the roof of our garage. I'm embarrassed to say that this was the first time I've used my bike at all since Lily joined us. Luckily, I still remembered how to ride. I guess that's why people have coined the phrase... "it's like riding a bike". Apparently that's not something you are supposed to quickly forget how to do.

Lily loved the ride!! It wasn't until after we were finished that I realized we should really have a bike helmet for her. After spending over an hour searching for infant helmets, I discovered they don't make them for babies her size. Apparently it's not safe to take a baby on a bike until they're at least a year old. How disappointing! I guess we'll wait a while for her next ride. I imagine, by then, she'll like it even more.

Fallen off the blogging planet...

2010-06-12T19:44:00.001-07:00

The title basically says it all. While I've had really good intentions to contribute posts to my blog with some degree of frequency, I've basically failed recently. I don't have any excuses for it... I just didn't make it a priority.

Lily has grown and changed so much! Every day brings something new and exciting. She's five months old today and doing great! She's learned some new tricks in the past couple months. In the next few days, I will be posting various short video clips of Lily's progress. Among her new tricks are rolling over and sitting up. She's a talkative little girl and loves making noises. She recently started "growling" as well. It's fun for all of us!

A few weeks ago, Lily had her first experience swiming. The weather was gloomy and cold out but we went to an indoor pool up in Clearfield. Lily loved swimming with Elizabeth, Jeff, Grandma, Morgan & Maddie.

What a fun time!! She even loved the shower afterwards. The only part she didn't enjoy as much was when I thought maybe she could float... so I let her go and she sunk in the water... with her face getting wet. I guess I learned my lesson... she can't float yet :)

Bobbing for Binkies

2010-05-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

I meant to post this video weeks ago... I just love Lily's determination to get the binky back in her mouth. Go Lily!!

Lily's Blessing

2010-04-17T19:23:00.001-07:00

Trent blessed Lily last Sunday. It's funny... she really rarely cries. However, as soon as he started the blessing, she started to cry. Interesting. Everything turned out great. Lily's Grandma Sharp made her blessing dress. It was gorgeous. The pictures really don't do it justice. My mom and I went and had some pictures taken of her today in the dress. Honestly, she didn't love having her pictures taken. Some of them looked pretty good though. For such a happy baby, she sure didn't want to smile for the photographer today.

Here are some pictures of our event on Sunday:

Waiting for the big event

Trent looks so happy!

Lily with Daddy and the boys

Two great grandmas came for the special day

There was time for some fun afterwards.

French Beret Baby

2010-04-16T16:33:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture of Lily.
Blessing pictures are still to come...

More Pictures

2010-04-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Lily is 3 months old now... okay I said it. I can't believe how fast time flies and how much she's grown! Monday was her official 3 month mark. Sunday Trent blessed her. Saturday was her first time jumping on the trampoline. It's been a big week for us!

Lily with her Mama

After bath time at Grandma Sharp's house... Lily loves her baths

Check out the michelin man arms!!

Look at those cheeks!!

First Easter Basket. Thanks 'Bama & Papa Sharp... and Great Grandma Austin!!

Musical Therapy

2010-04-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

Although Lily is a very good baby when it comes to her crying frequency, there are occasional times when she simply isn't happy. It's times like those that her Aunt Elizabeth breaks out in song, dances around with her, and "scares" her into silence. Whatever it takes!! Lily loves it when her aunt sings and dances with her.

The video below is a nice rendition of Cruella de Vil. It certainly was entertainment for all! Thanks Elizabeth!!

New Hobby

2010-03-30T11:26:00.000-07:00

Lily has recently (within the last couple of weeks) discovered a new hobby. She may have discovered this earlier except that we always kept her hands covered. Now that she is "free"... she just can't get enough of her index finger on her left hand. Occasionally, she manages to slip her thumb in her mouth as well. Sometimes she sucks so hard on it that I'm afraid she'll do some damage to it... but then I just think, "oh well, at least it's her left hand!"

She managed to get the thumb in for this photo:

The red index finger shows the aftermath of a "Lily attack"

Evidence of the new Hobby:

Proof

2010-03-30T11:08:00.000-07:00

I still feel somewhat emotionally damaged after holding Lily's arms down while she got her two month shots. She was so happy before her doctor's appointment and so unhappy after. Here's your proof:

Before Picture:

After Picture:

If a picture says a thousand words... then a video says EVERYTHING. Poor thing. My own little "angry elf"...

2 Month Stats

2010-03-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

We survived Lily's two month appointment!! (barely). To be honest, it wasn't Lily's favorite activity she's done so far. She especially hated the shots. I'm not sure if she hated them as much as I did though. Seeing her get shots and scream in pain (while holding down her arms) is seriously the saddest thing in the world. I started to cry a little and the nurse asked me if I was okay. I wasn't even the one who got the shots! The whole thing just broke my heart. As we left the doctor's office... I grabbed a lollipop for myself... I figured I deserved it after surviving the appointment.

Here are the stats:

Length: 22.5 inches - 54%
Weight: 11 lbs 9 oz - 72%
Head Circumference - 38.2 cm 32%

After starting out so tiny... Lily has grown a ton! She's a great eater... which is evidenced by her weight gain. We love her chubby cheeks and thighs!

Nearly 2 Months!!!

2010-03-11T07:38:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, our little princess Lillian will officially be 2 months old. It's hard to believe for us. I've done a sub-par job at keeping up the blog... as I've basically spent all the time I could with Lily. I'll be going back to work in a few weeks so I'm trying to enjoy this time as much as possible.

Lily grows and changes every day. She's getting really big! I feel like I get decent exercise carrying her up and down the stairs. She has her two month appointment tomorrow so we'll find out her official stats... however, I think she's nearly doubled her weight since birth. What a good eater she is!
Lily spends more and more of her time laughing and smiling now. It's fun to watch her little personality start to develop. She's still our champion sleeper. Beginning at 6 weeks, she has been sleeping through the night. We put her to bed around 9:30 or 10:00 and she sleeps until 6:00 or 7:00. I love having uninterrupted sleep!! Now, since I'm not pregnant anymore and having to get up every couple of hours to go to the bathroom, I can really enjoy the sleep!

Here's some of our recent pics:

Lily loves her "bumbo" chair. It allows her to sit up on her own. She especially liked it during the Olympics... so she could watch hockey!! She definitely is her "Bama and Papa's" granddaughter... developing an early love for hockey!

We've taken Lily on more walks... now that the weather is getting a little warmer. She loves to look at all the scenery... especially at the sky.

After having a receding hairline for a while... Lily's hair is starting to fill out! She likes to lay on her boppy and exercise her neck strength.

February Update

2010-02-19T12:43:00.000-08:00

We're all doing well in the Hansen home. Lily is getting so big! In fact, yesterday we used the last of her newborn diapers... and now she's wearing size 1. It's bittersweet seeing her grow so quickly.

Here are some photos of the latest developments in our lives.

It's so frustrating when your hat covers your eyes... and you just can't seem to get it off!

Lily celebrates turning one month old!!

Two days after reaching the one month mark, we had a very happy Valentine's Day. We were hoping her outfit would fit... but it was pretty big on her. One of these days... it'll be a snug fit.

First walk ever!! She liked it a lot until she woke up... then she wasn't super thrilled.

Trent gave Lily her first ride in the baby carrier.

I've discovered the "hands free" carrier is really useful so I can get a few things done and not feel like I'm neglecting my baby.

Lily continues to be our little rock star when it comes to sleeping. There hasn't been one night where I've had to get up more than one time. She frequently provides a 6-7 hour stretch each night. Way to go Lillian!!

Lily's Nursery

2010-02-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

I know these pictures are long overdue... but I figured, better late than never. Lily loves her room! A special thanks goes to Trent, my mom and sister for helping make it so beautiful!!

The letters my mom and I painted... to look like the bedding. We spent the whole day doing it... totally worth it :)

Lily's "big girl chair" next to mommy's.

Lily sleeping in her crib. She really likes looking at her mobile.

The vinyl lettering my sister and i did. Also, the Noah's ark that my great Aunt Anne made for Lily is on the dresser. So precious!

Two Week Update!

2010-01-28T08:49:00.000-08:00

It's somewhat hard to believe it's already been more than two weeks since Lily made her abrupt entrance into this world. Yesterday, she had her two week wellness visit... and she's doing great!

Here are the stats:

Length: 20 inches - 36 percentile
Weight: 7 lbs 1 oz - 13 percentile
Head Circumference: 35 cm - 25 percentile

When we left the hospital, Lily weighed 5 lbs 11 oz... meaning she gained almost a pound and a half!! All that hard work is paying off! Additionally, she grew two inches in two weeks. I'd like to grow 2 inches!

She's been a pretty happy baby so far. She's also very good to her parents at night... waking up only one time in the middle of the night to eat. We sure do love her!!

Lily's Birth Story - Unabridged Version

2010-01-17T12:20:00.000-08:00

Baby Lily made a very special entrance into our lives on Tuesday, January 12th 2010 just after the new day had begun. Her arrival, although much anticipated came more sudden than we had expected. This will be a long post capturing the events and happenings of the time leading up to her arrival… so brace yourself… or just skim through and read the parts that are the most interesting to you.

Date: Sunday, January 10th at 1:00am – After not having a single noticeable contraction (no Braxton Hicks, nothing) for 40 weeks, the contractions started coming. I was pretty excited about it because to me, it represented some sign of progress. I was so nervous that she wouldn’t be born before the 16th (the day my parents leave for their cruise) and I would have to be induced on the 18th. What a bummer it would have been to not have my parents even in the same country when she was born. I timed them out for about an hour and a half and was delighted to see that they were all between 3 and 5 minutes apart. I woke Trent up at 1am and told him I thought I was in labor. We grabbed the last few needed items and were on our way.

Once we got to the hospital, we went to triage to be monitored for the first hour. During that time, I was to show that I was in progressive labor. As long as I was, I would be admitted and the fun would begin! I thought getting admitted would be a piece of cake… especially with how consistent my contractions were. It was fun for me to watch the monitor measure Lily’s heartbeat and also the frequency and intensity of the contractions I was feeling. The contractions stayed between 3 and 5 minutes apart. Some of them were pretty painful. I kept telling myself… it’s only an hour. Once I endured that hour and showed progressing labor, I would be admitted and get an epidural, to ease the pain.

My plans were basically thwarted when the nurse came in, checked me, and said… “well, it doesn’t look like there was much of a change.” She then explained that we had a couple of options. None of them included being immediately admitted. Had they, I would have chosen that one. Instead, we chose to spend the next hour walking the halls of the labor and delivery unit to see if that changed anything. I even did a few lunges, hoping to speed things along. After that long hour, another quick exam… and still no change. At that point, we were basically sent home. The nurse gave me a couple of pain pills and told me to try and get some rest. She said if the contractions stayed steady and became stronger, I should come back into the hospital.

Sleep was really hard to come by. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that I thought we were going to have Lily that night and we didn’t. The contractions continued all night long… that is, until I woke up in the morning. I went to the bathroom and they suddenly stopped. At the same time, I seemed to be bleeding quite a bit. Also, I didn’t notice Lily moving. She had been such an active baby that the combination of these three things sent me into panic mode. I called the hospital to see what they suggested. They said they weren’t allowed to give me advice over the phone and I should call my doctor. Since it was Sunday, I thought it might be hard to get in touch with someone. I decided we should go back to the hospital. I called the on call doctor on the way to the hospital and explained what was happening. He didn’t act like it was any reason to be alarmed but told me it wouldn’t hurt to go back in and check the baby's heartbeat, if it was concerning to me. So there we were… 4.5 hours after leaving… back in the hospital.

Fortunately, everything was fine with Lily. Unfortunately, my cervix still hadn’t changed. When we went home this time, I just felt relieved. I was so thankful nothing was wrong with our baby. At that point, I made the determination that I wouldn’t be going back to the hospital until I was completely sure that I was in labor.

I had irregular contractions for the rest of the day on Sunday… and didn’t get much sleep Sunday night because the contractions would wake me up. Monday morning I had another appointment with the obstetrician. We talked about my Sunday experience, the contractions I was experiencing, and the health of the baby. The doctor told me I was 90% effaced, dilated to just over a 3. So, in essence, all those contractions on Sunday did me absolutely no good. The contractions didn’t stop on Monday though. As a result, I decided to work from home.

Skipping forward to bedtime…I really wanted to sleep Monday night. I hadn’t slept hardly at all Saturday night and very little Sunday night. My body was completely exhausted. Despite the better opinion of my doctor, I decided to take Tylenol PM to assist my sleeping ability. I went to bed around 10:15 and was completely unable to fall asleep. My contractions were still fairly irregular but they were extremely intense. I had a feeling I wouldn’t be getting much sleep. I did, however, want Trent to be able to sleep so after 20 minutes of suffering in bed, I decided to go suffer downstairs. I started timing my contractions again and they seemed to be between 4 and 7 minutes apart. Now it was just a game of “clock watching”. My fatigue increased in between the contractions (probably because of the medicine)… to the point where I’d fall asleep for a couple minutes and then awake again to the pain.

As the clock kept ticking, I decided that in 20 more minutes, if my contractions continued, I would wake Trent and we’d go to the hospital. Just when I had made that decision, I felt like I really needed to go to the bathroom. I’ll spare you all the details you’d probably rather not read and just summarize by saying I felt really constipated… like I had the biggest “poop” ever to get out. With every contraction, I tried to get it out. After four or five pushes, I felt thirsty and went to the kitchen for some water. After taking a few drinks, the feeling that I needed to be in the bathroom came back. I went back in and pushed. Except this time I started to wonder if I wasn’t constipated at all. I felt “down there” and could feel something coming out. Panic and fear overcame me. I started screaming Trent’s name out. When he didn’t respond (sound asleep)… I hustled as quickly as I could upstairs. I told him he needed to get up right then… because the baby was coming out. He didn’t say a word… just shot straight up in bed… hurried to his closet and got ready. With every contraction that came, my body pushed, despite my best efforts to stop it. Within minutes, we were out the door, headed to the hospital.

American Fork Hospital is not that close to our house. With traffic, it takes about 25-30 minutes to get there. We didn’t have that much time. Luckily, since the clock was nearing midnight, there wasn’t much traffic. Trent traveled as fast as possible down Lehi Main Street… passing cars in whatever way possible on the way. We jumped on the freeway, got off the next exit, ran the red light and continued speeding. As each contraction became more intense, the natural pushing of my body also became more intense. With each one, I would tighten my body, roll down the window, and cry out “don’t push”… “don’t push”. With the hospital in sight, I was overcome with a feeling of gratitude that Lily would be born there… not in our house, not in our car. Trent dropped me off at the front entrance. Just as I got out of the car, another really strong contraction came. I hunched over and tried not to contribute to the pushing my body was doing. The security guard came out and asked if I needed a wheelchair. I told him I was fine. Trent parked the car and sprinted towards me and the entrance. We got on the elevator, got off on the third floor… and entered labor and delivery.

Upon entering, I calmly said to the receptionist: “Hi… we are having a baby, like right now.” She asked my name. My confidence that the baby was coming right then seemed surprising to the nurses. One of them said: “this is your first?” I assured her it was… and that she really was coming, right then. We skipped triage and went straight to room #1. I stripped down upon entering the room, put my wonderful gown on, and the nurse checked me. “She’s at a 10,” she said. She had me lay down on the bed. They called for my doctor and started to prepare for delivery. One of the nurses asked “What’s her station, zero?” The other responded… “No, it’s probably at a plus two.” They asked me routine questions. They asked about anesthesia and if I had wanted an epidural. I assured them that I had wanted one. At that point, all there was to do was push the baby out… so no time for drugs. As the contractions continued, I started pushing more actively. It just seemed like what my body wanted to do. Trent asked the nurse if I should be pushing. She said I could do what felt most comfortable. They started monitoring the baby’s heartbeat. It was stable… then it started to drop. My doctor still hadn’t arrived but there was a midwife on the floor. They called for her. They could no longer detect the heartbeat of the baby. At that point, the main nurse said “let’s just go ahead without the doctor.”

One push and my sac of water (which still hadn’t broken), bulged out. Two more pushes and Lily’s head emerged. I felt exhausted. I said I didn’t think I could push again. Trent sounded excited as he told me her head was out, and I could do it… just one more. With the next push, I screamed… there was a piece of profanity that flew out of my mouth which I choose not repeat… then there was a baby, they laid her on me.

My words can’t capture the feeling I had when I saw our baby. Birth truly is a miracle. Lily was born about 17 minutes after we entered the hospital… 10 minutes after they started monitoring her heartbeat. The time was 12:07am… and 59 seconds. The nurses were all very capable and competent. They made the experience better for us. They waited for the doctor to come to sew me up. There was a lot of tearing on that last push (which is probably why the profanity flew out). The doctor arrived about 10 minutes after her birth and started to stitch me up. Since I didn’t have any medication, he had to give me several shots to numb the areas he was preparing to stitch. The stitching took much longer than the delivery. Trent held Lily as the doctor continued working on me. Once he was done, I got to feed her. After she finished eating, I walked to the bathroom to get cleaned up.

I felt like I could have easily walked down the hall to the elevator and traveled to my recovery room on my own. That was not an option though. They insisted that I took the wheelchair. Trent went with Lily to get bathed and taken care of, I was brought to my room.

Thinking about it now, the whole thing kind of feels like a dream. That first night I didn’t sleep a lick. I just kept going over everything that happened in my mind. I felt really good. I kept touching my face for a “reality check”… to see if I was just dreaming. In a way, it is like a dream. Since I was quite a bit younger… all I ever wanted to do was to be a mom. That was my dream… and now I’m living it.

Welcome to the World!!

2010-01-13T09:57:00.000-08:00

Welcoming the baby!!

Lillian Elizabeth Hansen was born on January 12, 2010 at 12:07am (one second away from 12:08).

She weighed in at a whooping 6 lbs, 0 oz... and was a short 18 inches long.

She had lots of dark hair covering her head (and some of her forehead/face/body)

She was very anxious to make her debut... so much that she was almost born on the way to the hospital. Upon entering the hospital, she took her first breath a quick 17 minutes later. This child knows what she wants and when she wants it. I can't imagine where she gets her personality from!

Little Lily with her daddy... who she absolutely adores.

The happy little family...

Week 40 Image

2010-01-10T20:33:00.000-08:00

40 weeks pregnant... need I say more?

Week 39 Image

2010-01-03T19:41:00.000-08:00

39 Weeks... holy crap!! The weekly photo is a "ta da" version... because we made it to 39 weeks! Let's begin with that...

Now... Baby Hansen was supposed the first baby of 2010... but she didn't want that role/fame/attention... so she opted not to participate. New Year's Eve came and went... as did the first day of 2010... with no baby. I don't think she has decided whether or not she wants to be born. With the indecision, Trent and I are patiently waiting. Well, Trent is waiting patiently... but I, on the other hand, am simply waiting (there is nothing that I'm doing which would include "patience").

However, Baby Hansen did have her first "movie theatre" experience this week. We went and saw Sherlock Holmes:

She loved it! She moved around the entire show... making it somewhat uncomfortable for me. There's just not a lot of space for her to be moving like that! I kept thinking that she would take a break and have a little nap... but she didn't. I'm not sure if it was the time of the day, the noise, or what... but she was extremely active during the show.

Thanks to all those who voted on the baby birth time frame poll. Unfortunately, the few people who voted that she would be born before January 2nd were mistakenly wrong. However, we are fairly sure that eventually, she will be joining us... and we're excited for that.

Week 38 Image

2009-12-27T17:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! I hope everyone is having an enjoyable holiday season. Christmas in the Hansen home was good... mostly just calm and peaceful. It was a chance for Trent and I to get a little rest and make some more preparations for Baby Hansen to arrive. We're getting very excited for her grand entrance! We're hopeful that she is as enthusiastic about meeting us as we are about meeting her. I've spent a lot of time the last few days trying to convince her, that no matter how hard she tries, she is not going to be able to break through my ribs and my stomach in order to get out. I keep telling her there is really only one way out... but she doesn't seem to be listening. I'm sure she'll be much more obedient once she's born (wishful thinking). I guess she'll come when she's ready. Despite having fears regarding labor and delivery, I couldn't be more ready for her to come. As my discomforts increase daily, I become even more anxious.

This isn't your traditional weekly photo... as there is no shower curtain. However, since it is the holiday season... I thought I'd pay a little respect to the best Christmas movie ever made. (The Christmas Story). I think I saw it a few times during the annual "24 Hours of the Christmas Story" which plays on TBS. In this picture, I feel like the little boy who can't put his arms down cause he's so bundled up. Good thing I didn't fall over (like he did in the movie)... because my guess is there would have been no getting up for me!

Certainly this picture (with several layers on) makes me look even larger than I am. But at this point... who really cares, right? I mean, I'm 38 weeks pregnant... so this should be expected. I did have another win on the scale this week at my doctors appointment... with no weight gain. I'm guessing I've peaked as far as the weight is concerned (could also be wishful thinking... who knows).

The nursery is getting much closer. Hopefully we'll have it all done this week. If so, I'll post pictures next week. Other than making final preparations and celebrating Christmas, the only other "eventful" thing that has happened this last week is that my emotions have seemed to spiral out of control. The last couple of days, just about anything can make me cry. It's horrible. I'm kind of tired of it... and am hopeful that it's only a "phase".

Here's to another good one!

Week 37 Image

2009-12-20T19:32:00.000-08:00

Another week happily zips by...

We are visiting the doctor weekly now, which is exciting. Even though it is purely pscychological, it makes the time seem to pass a little more quickly. I get a little more cautious about the food I intake in the couple days leading up to my appointment... joking with others that I have to "weigh in" so I have to be careful.

Week 37 was a successful one, in regards to weight gain. 0.00 pounds gained... which was very exciting for me. Also, the blood pressure was really good. Physically, I'm feeling pretty okay. I seem to have some upper back pain somewhat frequently but other than that, nothing major. Baby Hansen's movements are becoming much more painful for me. There's just not a ton of room in there for her. This is what we (baby Hansen and I) are looking like after 37 weeks...

With the holidays upon us, I imagine the next few weeks will pass by rapidly. I hate to think that I'm "wishing time away"... I'm just really excited to meet Baby Hansen. Trent and I feel fairly prepared, in regards to having the things we think we'll need. I'd like the baby to come sooner, rather than later... and Trent is okay with her coming as late as she'd like. I would suggest that is because he doesn't get to live with the daily discomforts. I'm not going to complain about all of the little things... because I have no doubt that in the end, it will all be worth it. However, it will be nice to have my body back once she's born... and start to do some of the things I love so much but am unable to do right now. My sister went snowboarding last Thursday... and I was fairly jealous.

We're excited for Christmas this week and to have a couple of days off from work. Hopefully this post find you happy and healthy during this holiday season. Make it a great one! We'll be sure to do the same.

Week 36 - Wait... no image!

2009-12-15T06:24:00.000-08:00

To start off, we neglected to take a picture on Sunday... so there won't be one of those this week. I hope you'll take my word for it... I'm still growing larger :) In the prenatal seminar we attended several weeks ago, we were told that while 37 weeks is considered full term, if I went into labor at 36 weeks, I wouldn't be stopped. Scary!

Baby Hansen is still fairly active, just with a lot less room to move around. It makes her movements much more visible for the random onlooker. I keep saying she's just trying to "break out". If you'd like to venture a guess regarding when she'll be born, there's a poll in the right column of this blog.

I spent most of the weekend "hevtej bna" (Mongolian for laying/resting). I wrote it that way because my weekend reminded me of something from Mongolia. In Mongolia, it is quite common for people to pay to go the clinic or hospital for a couple of weeks. Without anything seriously wrong with them, they would go to essentially rest... and lay in a bed for a couple weeks. I had some companions that were planning on going to "hevt" after they finished their missions. I always thought it was a bit strange that they would pay money to go to a hospital so they could rest. The clinics typically didn't provide much or any treatment to them... and they didn't provide food (the person's family or friends would bring them meals). I guess when a person reaches pure exhaustion, that's just what they do.

While I am really tired, I don't think I'm quite to that point yet. The main struggle has been that when Baby Hansen wakes me up between 4 and 4:30 each morning... I've really struggled to fall back asleep. Besides spending much of my time resting, Elizabeth and Alaris were nice enough to have a baby shower for me last week. They did a great job putting it all together. My Grandma Sharp hosted the event at her house. Since I didn't provide a 36 week image (disappointing, I'm sure!)... I have a couple pictures from the shower.

Yummy Food...

Kelsi had a great time playing in the tissue paper afterwards

Two out of three of my favorite nieces :)

The baby my sister made me... so cute! I just keep hoping that Baby Hansen doesn't come out quite that big (this baby is extra stuffed with diapers)

Yay for 36 weeks! Another week will surely provide another adventure. We've got no big plans for week 37... just taking it easy!

When will she come??

2009-12-11T06:48:00.001-08:00

I often find myself wondering when Baby Hansen will make her entrance into the world. The idea of her joining us really excites me. I can't say the same about the "how' she will come. That still terrifies me.

There's not a day that passes that I don't wonder when it will be. So, just for fun... join me in wondering. I have a poll on the blog that will allow you to guess the general date of her entrance. If you want to be more specific about a date, feel free to leave a comment with your guess.

Her due date is only 30 days away. Considering the fact that I've been alive for 9,649 days... and I've been through 30 day segments 321 times throughout my life, 30 days seems really soon!

Week 35 Image

2009-12-08T05:58:00.000-08:00

One week closer... thank goodness! It's taking longer than anticipated to recover from the Thanksgiving adventure. Note to self: "Don't play football past 30 weeks of pregnancy." With the snow starting on Saturday, I've really had the "snowboarding itch"... but have wisely opted not to scratch it. It certainly helps that none of my snowboard pants/coats fit me nowadays :)

Although the due date is still five weeks away, we spend time thinking about Baby Hansen on a daily basis. It's hard not to think about her when I'm sitting in a work meeting and I get a sudden shot to the ribs... sending shock through my entire body. I have to exert every ounce of self control I have to not "yelp" out loud. My mom and I spent time on Saturday painting letters to hang on the wall of the nursery. It was a lot of work... but will add more prettiness to the room. We just have a few more things to do before we can call the nursery "complete". When (if) that point comes, I'll be sure to post some pictures.

I officially got my FMLA paperwork filled out... meaning that I'll be taking 12 weeks off from work after Baby Hansen is born. I'll be attempting to work right up until that point. I think it'll be good for me to help time pass quicker. Before I went on my mission, I had a week and half where I didn't work at all and just waited for time to pass so I could go to the MTC. Calling it quits early from work made the time pass painfully slow. I certainly don't want to repeat that experience, if I don't need to.

We're looking forward to seeing what week 36 brings to us!

Week 34 Image

2009-12-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

Week 34, as expected, was a good one. I'm surprised at how quickly it slipped away. I'll get to the excitement of the week momentarily... but first the dreaded weekly photo:

This week I decided to do a comparison photo. One picture is from week 34 and the other one is from a short 19 weeks ago... week 15. Without any hints, I'm guessing you can't figure out which is which.

On a very positive note... I had a doctor's appointment last week in which I discovered I only gained one pound in the last two weeks! That felt like a pretty big personal accomplishment to me :) I am looking forward to baby Hansen coming in part so I can adequately exercise and start taking some weight off. I did try some limited exercise on Thanksgiving day... in the form of a football game. I played as the designated quarterback... but that turned into scrambling away from the blitz, running a couple of routes as a receiver, playing defense. My body just isn't built for running right now. As soon as the game ended, I knew I would be hurting... and I'm still sore... four days later. Live and learn, right? I'll think I'll refrain from playing football until after the baby is born.

We had a great Thanksgiving and started a shopping shortly thereafter with a trip to Michael's Thursday evening. From then... it didn't stop. My mom, sister, cousin Rebekah, and I went to Park City at midnight to do some shopping... and then Elizabeth and I continue all night long until 9am. She was super tired around 7am so we went and woke up my mom and Rebekah to continue. Elizabeth bowed out after breakfast around 9am and the rest of us continued... until about noon, when I basically crashed. I guess I don't function incredibly well without any sleep. It didn't help that I woke up at 4:30 am on Thursday... and couldn't go back to sleep. In all, it was a 31 hour marathon for me... with no sleep. I napped for two hours and spent the rest of the weekend trying to recover physically. I think I have a better understanding of swollen feet now!

Despite the fatigue, we enjoyed some super deals, worked on the nursery, and watched a little football over the break. Those components are all it takes for a great week!

Now that I'm a little more uncomfortable physically, I'm becoming more mentally prepared for Baby Hansen to come. It still scares me to think of how she has to make her entrance into the world... and what that means to me... but I'm guessing that over the next several weeks as my discomfort increases, the actual birth will seem less and less scary. At least that's what I'm hoping for!

Week 33 Image

2009-11-24T06:34:00.000-08:00

Huge. There are times where I feel this way... but mostly, I think I look this way. I avoid full length mirrors... as much as possible but the size really seems stunning when Trent takes my picture every Sunday. I'm beginning to believe that my camera is faulty and is somehow distorting the pictures :)

Week 33 was a good one. Baby Hansen's bedding set arrived in the mail so we can start decorating her room a little. There are still plenty of "essential" things we need before her arrival (like a mattress for her crib) but I figure we've got time... and there was a 20% off babies r us coupon in Sunday's paper! There's nothing quite like spending a little money in order to save a little money!

We put up one of our Christmas trees last week (embarrassing, I know) but I was just so excited to do it! We put it up in our loft so our neighbors can't see it and feel embarrassed for us that we just skipped right over Thanksgiving. We're putting another tree downstairs in our front room. We'll wait until after Thanksgiving to do that one. I just figured I might not feel like putting up the trees and decorating by the time the "appropriate time" for doing it arrived. I mean, on some days, walking up and down the stairs feels like a terribly taxing task.

We certainly won't be forgetting about Thanksgiving. I love this holiday! I love the day after just as much :) Baby Hansen will get her first "Black Friday" shopping experience... with my sister, mom, and I. My coworkers have tried to convince me that being visibly pregnant will play to my advantage this year. I'm pretty sure it will just make it harder for me to maneuver quickly through the aisles. There's no one who will be giving me any special treatment on that day... people are crazy! I need my mom and sister there with me because I tend to be a spontaneous buyer. When I see everyone grabbing a particular item, I grab it too... not because I needed it... not because I wanted it... but because everyone else was getting it so it must be good! My mom helps provide me with a "sanity check" and lets me know that I really shouldn't buy some things... even if everyone else in the store is buying it.

Week 34... Thanksgiving, Black Friday, BYU-Utah football game. There's a lot to look forward to!

Week 32 Image

2009-11-17T05:24:00.001-08:00

32... one of my favorite numbers while growing up. I think it had something to do with the Utah Jazz and some future Hall of Fame basketball player (likely to be inducted next year) who played for them. Currently, it's one of my favorite numbers because it represents progress... and it means we're one week closer.

For some reason, Trent's 32 week image hasn't had much change. He's just not growing like I am! No baby bump there...

I couldn't find my camera on Sunday... so we had to use the phone for the picture. I had Trent pose initially so I could make sure it would work. He took his job pretty seriously :)

Baby Hansen is poking out more and more every day. Even black clothes (the 'slimming color') weren't enough to disguise the red belly poking out. At least it's nice to have people know that I am pregnant... rather than wondering whether I'm just gaining a bunch of weight!

Trent's sister and mom (Deanna and Tawny) put together a baby shower for me in Lehi last week. The decorations were so cute, the food was delicious, and the company was awesome. It was very nice of them to plan/host the event and I'm really grateful. It was fun getting together with the wonderful people who came. I wish I had some pictures to post (did I mention I can't find my camera??) but I will say that Baby Hansen will be very well dressed! Besides clothes, she received a plethora of gifts including toys (very important), handmade quilts, diapers, books, and much much more! Thanks to Deanna and Tawny... and everyone who came! (Especially those who had to battle the terrible traffic to get there).

All in all, another good week... gone.

Week 31 Image

2009-11-09T06:00:00.000-08:00

Another week crawls/flies by! The week was highlighted by the following:

A baby shower with my wonderful coworkers at AdvancedMD
A BYU football victory... finally, they shut someone out!
Baby Hansen providing further confirmation of her sleep schedule - consistently waking up at 4am every morning
(It use to be at 5am every morning... but daylight savings really screwed that up. She hasn't adjusted to the change, and as a result, neither have I)
Daily walks on the Jordan River Trail
6 hours of a prenatal seminar that just about scared me to death
and of course... last but not least... growing larger!

Just a few notes on the prenatal seminar. I must say, it was very informational. There were things that I didn't know which I was grateful to learn. There were also things which I didn't know that honestly, I may have been better off not knowing. Isn't the saying, "Ignorance is bliss?" What I would give to have remained in a state of bliss.

The one part of the prenatal seminar that was most shocking/eye opening was watching the movie, "The Miracle of Birth". Truly, after seeing that, I am more convinced that human birth is a miracle. The bigger miracle will be if I survive giving birth. In the movie, we watched four different births... including one with an epidural, one c-section, one natural (without medicine), and one where the doctor had to use forceps. The first one might have been the worst for me to watch. I won't get into the gory details but I will say that I started laughing uncontrollably, out loud, while I was watching it. I had a huge feeling of nervousness and uneasiness overcome me during the video... and it just made me laugh. Seriously? The baby will magically come out of me... how?

It's a good thing that I never saw that video prior to getting pregnant. That would have been a very strong deterrent to me ever wanting/having kids. One of the ladies on the video (the one who had the natural birth) seemed to be able to give birth so easily. The doctor barely got to the room in time to catch the baby before it plummeted to the ground. My immediate urge was to find that lady and hire her to be a surrogate for me in the future. As for now... I believe we are past the point of no return.

Shifting gears... I remember being a missionary in the MTC, several years ago. Even though the MTC experience was just shy of three full months, I really enjoyed it. There were times, however, where the days would seem to drag on forever. It seemed as if the days lasted forever but the weeks flew by. In a very real sense, that's how the latter part of this pregnancy has been. Some days seem like an eternity... but before I know it, it's Sunday again... a new week begins... and we're one week closer to meeting baby Hansen. Despite my hesitations/fears about actually giving birth, we're excited to meet the small active baby growing inside of me. When the doctors first told me that the baby was measuring a little small... with her head size in the 20th percentile, I was a little worried... now, after seeing that video, I'm grateful.

Week 30 Image - 75% of the way there!

2009-11-02T06:09:00.000-08:00

I would say this is a monumental week for me. Just think, 75% on a test in school... while not desirable... is still a solid "C". Trent, Baby Hansen, and I all had a great week. For me, this was aided by the fact that BYU had a bye week. Sometimes, I feel better if they just don't even play.

We had a doctor's appointment on Friday and learned we'll now be having regular checkups every 2 weeks, instead of every four weeks. We'll have three of these bi-weekly appointments and then, an appointment every week until Baby Hansen joins us. We sure are getting excited for her to come!

While it may look like I'm trying to push my stomach out even more to make myself look even larger, I assure you I'm not. Good thing maternity clothes have a lot of elasticity... because these things are going to need to stretch! The heartburn has gotten pretty bad... bad enough to elicit a change in diet (no more orange juice)... but other than that I'm feeling pretty good.

One of my favorite moments of this last week was on Tuesday, when I was lying on my bed reading out loud. While reading, I felt something brush up against my stomach... just above my hip. It felt like a mouse or some sort of creature. I jumped up out of my bed, to find where the creature could have scurried off to. Of course, I found nothing and a moment later, I realized the baby had just given me a weird punch or kick or something. I had to laugh after the fact because of how scared I was but I kindly asked her (baby) not to do that to me again. Hopefully she obliges.

We finally got registered (mostly). It was something I had kind of been dreading. I think the reason for that is mostly because it would cause me to realize all the different things that I will have to think and worry about... like thermometers, first aid kits, burping clothes... I don't know... diapers! After registering, I'm realizing that being a mom seems like it is a lot of work. My mom was nice enough to join me at Babies R Us. It was good she was there because I had no idea where to even start. I also registered at Target. I was a little too burnt out to go to the store... so I just did it all online :) The internet = a person's best friend.

AMD Halloween - 2009

2009-11-02T05:46:00.000-08:00

The biggest holiday at work has now come and gone. Although every year I swear it'll be the last that I end up dressing up for Halloween, I played along again this year. Amy (coworker) championed the "Golden Girls" theme and it seemed to turn out okay. I was just thankful that this year I got to wear a wig... meaning I didn't have to worry about getting color out of my hair.

For those who don't remember last year:

And this year... I was "Sophia"

We had a great "cast"
(From left to right) - Skip = Dorothy, Dave = Rose, Amy = Blanche, Me

Although I never really watched the show prior to Friday morning, by the end of the day, I loved it! I spent much of the day saying things like... "Picture it... Sicily... 1912"... and when I was asked if we had chores in Italy, i wisely replied "It was a chore just to cross the street without getting pregnant!" I then looked down at my ever growing belly and it just seemed comical. Sophia's character fit me pretty well. I enjoyed telling people to "shut up" and just being a little on the ornery side. One of my favorite parts was when Rose (Dave) thought she was my daughter (when it reality it's Dorothy) and "she" called me "Ma". I gave her a little slap in the face and let her know she was not my daughter. Good times.

While I' won't officially count myself out for next year, I certainly won't commit.

Week 29 Image

2009-10-26T20:27:00.000-07:00

Case in point: Maternity clothing is designed to accentuate pregnancy and make a person look even larger than they may feel/really be. You don't believe me? Take a look:

If there were any other way around the maternity clothing, I'd take it. However, this will have to work... at least for the next 11 weeks. I don't have any symptoms or signs to add to the list I put out last week. I've actually felt really good this last week. Sleeping well at night is a "hit and miss" thing but I'm planning on enjoying the good nights as much as possible. My instincts tell me that a good nights sleep will be harder to come by once our baby girl joins us.

Overall, we're doing well... and we are certainly grateful for that!

Week 28 Image - the third trimester begins...

2009-10-19T05:47:00.000-07:00

Common side effects that occur during the third trimester, according to the internet:

fatigue
difficulty sleeping
heartburn
swelling
leg cramps
constipation
backaches
shortness of breath
spider veins
varicose veins
hemorrhoids
frequent urination
weight gain
Braxton Hicks contractions
Intense dreams
hip pain
itchy abdomen
increased skin temperature
hair growth on the arms, legs, and face... (seriously the face???)
depression
emotional mood swings
stretch marks

Is that all? Really? How about the fact that at the end of the third trimester... the baby growing inside somehow has to magically come out of you? How about the fact that once she's out, even if you have no idea how to take care of her, there's absolutely no way to put her back inside... back in that safe haven when she could basically take care of herself?

I may have a fairly common "side effect" of first time mothers already... where I'm "thrilled to be a mother but am worried I won’t be a good one." (That was copied verbatim from the internet).

Here's another "side effect"... which wasn't quite spelled out like this. It is what it is though, so we'll just title it accordingly: FEELING HUGE.

Yesterday Trent and I went on a bike ride. I probably hadn't been on my bike in at least two months. To my surprise, I discovered that every time I peddaled, when my legs/thighs came up, they would brush against my belly. Are you kidding me? I become "short of breath" and experience "fatigue" quickly enough... I don't need any extra resistance or friction on my bike ride!

Just a quick shout out to the third trimester!

Boston Red Sox Baby

2009-10-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

When we thought we were having a boy and then found out she is really a girl... one of the hardest things for me to accept was the fact that I probably shouldn't dress her in all the sports apparel I bought for our supposed boy. I already had Jazz clothes... Red Sox clothes... and BYU clothes... proudly hung in the babies closet. It was at that moment of "despair" that I discovered the color pink. Isn't it great that there is a "pink sports line" for just about every team??
It looks like we'll have a Boston Red Sox baby after all!

Week 27 Image - No Surprises

2009-10-12T17:02:00.000-07:00

I can't possibly describe how good it feels to be writing this blog... and announcing that there weren't any world shattering surprises in the Hansen household this last week. That's the way we like it... no surprises. We're getting more excited with each day that passes to be having a little girl joining our family. In fact, Saturday was a landmark day... exactly three calendar months until my due date! I'm feeling more and more "pregnant" with each day that passes. I'm starting to understand what "heartburn" really is. I've read about some wives tales which proclaim that the more heartburn you have, the more hair your baby will be born with. I can only hope that's the truth! If it is, we'll have one of the hairiest babies ever! I'm pretty sure I was born with lots of hair... on my head, ears, and back... so it runs in the family... lucky girl!

I'm doing a little "palming" of the stomach in this picture. Afterall, I'm wearing an orange colored shirt... and I feel like I have a mini basketball in my stomach. I've never had big enough hands to palm a normal basketball but I can handle the mini ones! Speaking of sports, Baby Hansen has been moving more and more lately. Sometimes I get a few kicks or punches that feel like they might actually come right through me! She's a tough little girl... probably preparing for a future as, I don't know... a soccer player? To assist her in this, I bought her some little soccer cleats. She'll probably be 3 or 4 by the time she can wear them but they were so little, cute and inexpensive, I just couldn't resist.

Saturday my Mom, niece Morgan and I went to the Baby Expo in Sandy. It was a lot of fun! Seeing everything out there available for babies is a little overwhelming. I mean... some people must be making some serious money off baby products! My mom and I liked looking at all the fun products. Morgan liked the bounce house and the popcorn. Lots of the baby stuff was pretty pricey so I'd whisper to my mom "don't you think you could just make that for me... and save some money?" She's super talented so I wouldn't be surprised if she could duplicate a lot of the ideas.

I picked up a few pair of shoes. When I showed Trent, he made some comment about how I'm trying to make her just like me... with more shoes than a person could possibly wear. I just think you've got to train them from the start! Shoes are a girl's best friend!

Week 26 Image - What a surprise!

2009-10-04T19:48:00.001-07:00

As far as "surprises" go... this was our most eventful week yet. I think I'll begin with the traditional weekly photo:

Yes... the sign I'm holding is correct... at least that's what we're told. What a ride! Friday morning I had a doctor's appointment where we were doing a follow-up ultrasound to check the babies heart. Last time, the baby was moving so much that we just couldn't get a good picture. The first thing I noticed during the ultrasound is that Baby Hansen's hands were up next to the face. I remembered the doctor telling me at the previous appointment that most often, girls will keep their hands up by their face while boys have their hands down near... well, let's just say their "waist area". I was surprised to see the babies hands up by the face... especially after the hands clearly weren't there during the last ultrasound.

Baby Hansen was a little more cooperative this time around... not quite as much movement. As the doctor performed the ultrasound and moved down the body in order to confirm the gender, he made a comment... "see how she....". His words trailed off in my mind. I missed the rest of his sentence. Did he just say "she"... I wondered. I think he caught himself. The doctor then said "last time, we were pretty sure this was a little boy, right?" I nodded. The look on his face said it all. He showed me the genital area, pointed out the different parts and let me know we are having a little girl. I missed most of what he said... just trying to somehow digest this shocking news. He apologized for leading me astray the previous appointment. With all the movement last time, who knows what we were looking at that we thought was the babies private area. All three of us (Trent, the doctor, and myself) seemed 100% convinced that it was a boy. So... either the baby changed gender overnight... or... well, we were wrong. My instincts tell me it is the latter.

Now the doctor did try to add a little humor to the situation. He told me we could have a "tie-breaker" ultrasound during my next appointment. After reviewing the ultrasound pictures, I don't think that is really necessary... however, I'll still take him up on it. Who knows what to believe, right? It took me a couple days to really comprehend this sudden change in events. It wasn't the message that we're having a girl that really concerned me... it was just the shift in mindset. I was expecting a boy. From the moment we found out (thought we found out) it was a boy, my excitement for that has been growing. My response would have been the same if we were originally told we were having a girl and then found out it was really a boy. Trent's adaptability to the news was much quicker than my own. I can honestly say that we are both thrilled to be having (or at least think we're having) a little girl... and we're not the only ones.

Sharing the news with my niece, Morgan, was a highlight. She'll be four in December. When I asked her several months ago if she wanted a boy cousin or a girl cousin, she insisted she wanted a girl. When we told her we were having a boy, it took her a little while to be happy about it. She finally admitted "I guess that's okay". She was pretty confused at first when I explained to her that she's going to have a girl cousin.... she said "no, I'm having a boy cousin." Try explaining that one to a 4-year-old! When she understood we really are having a girl, she was very excited. Hopefully there are no more surprise changes in the babies gender... or Morgan might need a therapist to help her sort it out!

Everything makes sense now. I blogged a couple months ago about how my softball season was not going as good as I hoped it would and how Baby Hansen must be a girl... cause we're bad at softball. Once I found out we were having a boy, all my excuses left with that bit of knowledge. Now, however, it all makes sense. The baby and I really were bad at softball... and my initial impressions while we were playing that I had a girl growing in me were correct. It always feels good to be right!

Trent and I are moving on to the fun stage now... trying to come up with names that we both like and think our baby should go by. We're very excited to be having a baby girl for my brother's three daughters to play with. I've sure got a lot to learn... besides the normal baby things (like how to do a girl's hair)... but I'm certainly up for the challenge. We're hopeful we'll have another great week... with less surprises :)

Week 25 Image

2009-09-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

This last week was a quick one, especially with AMD's Annual User's Conference. The baby and I spent Wednesday through Friday at the Zurmatt Resort in Midway. We had lots of good food to eat and certainly didn't hold back. Friday, we had cheesecake for dessert during lunch. I couldn't decide which kind to get so I grabbed two slices. In preparation for the crazy looks I thought I might receive, I pointed to my stock of dessert and exclaimed "it's for the baby!" It seems like a logical reason to overeat and over-indulge. In fact, people seemed extremely understanding of my need for two slices of scrumptious cheesecake. I guess they don't take into consideration that at 25 weeks, Baby Hansen is now about the size of an eggplant.With User's Conference most of the week and football on Saturday, not much else got done. We still haven't done any additional shopping or planning for Baby Hansen. I'm thinking about registering a couple places since this is our first child. Any suggestions? Registering certainly isn't my favorite thing to do. I put it off as long as possible before we got married. It just seemed like a daunting task. Hopefully this time around won't be quite as rough.

We're excited to tackle another week! Without softball two evenings a week, we'll have to be creative in our attempts to stay pretty active. I must admit though, I'm glad the softball season has ended. I'm sure by the time spring rolls around, I'll be ready to play again!

Week 24 Image

2009-09-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

I've been publishing this "weekly image" post later and later each week. I think most of it has to do with the fact that I get the picture taken... look at it... and then enter some type of state of "shock". I suppose I just don't think I look or feel as pregnant as the picture shows that I am. Some people call that denial. I mean, I know I have a "baby bump". In fact, I read somewhere that my uterus is about the size of a soccer ball now. When I read that, I just kept thinking... I want to play soccer! I just don't feel as if I look like the same person that the picture shows me as. That probably sounds very confusing, but it makes sense in my head.

Here I am... larger than life :)
For real, I think the shirt makes me look bigger than I am. Who was it who said black was a "thinning color"?? On a different note, Baby Hansen played his last softball game yesterday. In fact, we had a double header. I wasn't looking forward to playing two games because I thought one would be enough for me. Baby Hansen and I had two good games though. There's one more game tomorrow but I won't be able to make it because of some obligations I have with work. After the game yesterday, I didn't feel like I could walk very well. I did something to my left hip/quad during the game. The entire second game was played with a limp. It probably has something to do with the extra weight and the fact that I just can't cut and move like I use to be able to.

We didn't go out shopping at all this last week so we have no new things for Baby Hansen. As a result, I haven't furthered my belief that stores disproportionately represent baby girls. I do appreciate the feedback and ideas that many of you gave. I certainly can gain much from the experiences you've had. I'm also grateful for the charlie horse advice you gave me several weeks ago. Unfortunately, my friend Charlie continues to visit me periodically. I've tried drinking more water, eating bananas (potassium) etc but they keep on coming. I'll be in a deep sleep, having a wonderful dream... when the pain won't only wake me, it will cause me to jump out of bed shrieking in pain. Trent is a deep sleeper so it usually doesn't have much impact on him. Lucky guy.

Baby Hansen is staying pretty active. It's fun feeling him move inside of me. I read that the baby sleeps about 12 to 14 hours per day. I have to admit, I was pretty jealous when I read that. How would that be? I'll probably never know... at least not for the next couple years!

Week 23 Image

2009-09-15T06:06:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to question why it was I thought it would be a good idea to post weekly progress pictures of my "growing belly". For some reason, pictures have the capability to make people look worse/more awkward than they perceive themselves to be. After looking at this week's picture, I'm feeling pretty large. It just might be time to step into those maternity clothes.

I've received a few comments from folks at work that I'm actually "starting to look pregnant" now. I suppose that was bound to happen. Trent and I went to Target last week, roaming through the various baby isles... when Trent started laughing. I asked him what was so funny and he said there was a couple who was walking by us, just staring at me. He said they looked at me, my belly, my face, my belly... as if they were trying to figure it out. I didn't think it was quite as comical as he did.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but I'm trying to give a "shout out" to 23 in the picture. Not only does it represent an end to my 23rd week of pregnancy, but also Michael Jordan was enshrined in the Hall of Fame this last week. There have been discussions of whether or not the NBA should retire his number, 23 for the entire league. I'm kind of hopeful they will because I never cared for Jordan much... and each time I see someone sporting the number, I automatically think of him.

As the weeks fly (sometimes crawl) by, we're getting more and more excited to have Baby Hansen. I frequently find myself wandering aimlessly in stores just to look at their selection of baby items. The one thing I have noticed thus far is that available baby girl clothes in stores far outweigh baby boy clothes. Perhaps it is a foreshadowing of things to come in their respective lives. As much as I want to believe the disparity between boys and girls options is some minor form of discrimination, I imagine it's a reflection of supply and demand. Has anyone else noticed this? I'm wondering if I'm just looking for it since we're expecting a boy.

Baby Hansen and I are very much looking forward to week 24... and we're hopeful the end ofthe week will bring another BYU victory. Go Cougs!

Week 22 Image

2009-09-07T18:59:00.000-07:00

It was an exciting week for Trent, myself, and baby Hansen. Much to our excitement, the long-awaited doctor's appointment finally made its way to us. Trent and I made sure to arrive on time to our appointment Tuesday morning. Surprisingly enough, we had to wait a while before we could see the doctor and got to have the ultrasound.

Here are some things we learned:

-Baby Hansen is very active. There were very few times where the baby stopped moving.
-Baby Hansen isn't terribly cooperative when it comes to having ultrasounds. The positioning made things difficult to see and the baby didn't seem to care in the least.
-All the babies vitals look good... what a relief!
-Baby Hansen measured in the 25th percentile for size.
-Baby Hansen is a boy. At the very least... we are very confident that he is a boy. We did see him grab himself a number of times... but the images weren't as clear as they could have been because of all the movement.

As for me, I seem to have "popped" overnight. I swear my pregnancy was hardly noticeable on Monday and then suddenly on Tuesday, My stomach was sticking out a couple extra inches.

I think the picture makes me look even bigger than I am. (Either that or I am officially in denial). I blame this partially on the skirt I was wearing. It was a maternity skirt that my sister-in-law, Alaris, was so kind to loan me. I have determined, however; that the purpose of maternity clothing is to make a person look more pregnant than they would look if they just wore normal clothes at a bigger size. I confirmed my theory today when I spent the day with my mom shopping. We looked at some maternity clothing and I tried a few different things on. I couldn't believe the difference the clothing made! It really excentuated the right areas so anyone who saw me would have little doubt that I am pregnant. Since I currently refuse to wear "maternity clothes", I'm still having people shoot me strange glances. With the extent of their inquisitive looks, I don't doubt they are wondering, is she pregnant... or just has a 'pudgy' stomach? I suppose I don't care so much whether they realize I AM pregnant or if they conclude that I have a very disporportionate stomach. Each moment I feel our little baby move, I have little doubts that this is for real.

One thing that is beginning to sink in is the following... we're not just going to be 'having a baby'. We're going to be parents! I'm going to be a mom! That's pretty scary for me to think about. I guess I just thought... "oh, we're having a baby! That'll be so much fun!" Now I'm entering the... "oh my gosh, we are going to be parents. We will have real responsibilities. Our lives will be changed forever!" stage. Yes, it is scary.

Baby Gender

2009-09-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

(We think... we're almost positive... but there will be more info to come on the ultrasound experience)

Week 21 Image

2009-08-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

Over the hump and on the way down! This week was a somewhat uneventful one (the way we like it most of the time) On Tuesday, our long-awaited doctor's appointment will be here. This means that we should know whether we're expecting a baby girl or a baby boy on Tuesday. We're both getting very excited about that. If you haven't yet... there's not much time to cast your vote on our gender poll!

There was a point, this last week, that I was pretty sure I was having a girl. It was nothing scientific... in fact, it was borderline gender discrimination. On Monday I started in a new softball league. I've had several weeks off from softball after the summer season ended. The first softball game was awful. Our team was beat pretty badly. Personally, I played horribly. I batted 0 for 4, had 2 or 3 fielding errors and overall, had a terrible game. I left that game thinking "this has got to be a girl... cause we're terrible at softball". Now I know that sounds bad... and I didn't mean it in an offensive way. It's just that in coed slow pitch softball, the men tend to be way better than the women. I'm all about women playing sports and competing at a high level. It's just that there are some things that men excel at more, just as there are things that women are much better at.

On Wednesday, in our second softball game of the season, baby and I played much better. My cute little niece Morgan is rooting for a girl. When I saw her on Saturday, I asked her if she was going to have a girl cousin or a boy cousin. She was quite insistent that she'd be having a girl cousin. I guess we'll see!

There's no hiding the growing belly anymore. I'm pretty sure people look at me and don't immediately guess I'm pregnant though. I imagine someday I'll move out of the awkward stage of "pudgy" and "pregnant". It is nice being a little smaller though... just because it makes it easier for me to stay active and do the things I want to do. Lastly, I think I've officially been plagued with what I've heard termed "pregnancy brain". It was my turn to teach in relief society today. I was getting excited about my lesson on provident living and felt ready to go. That is, I was ready until I looked at the announcement handout for the day and realized I had prepared the wrong lesson! (i had prepared September's Teaching for our Times lesson instead of August's) That's never happened to me before. Hopefully it won't happen again.

Moving Maddness

2009-08-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

We're only a couple days away from the long awaited doctor's appointment. The excitement is certainly growing. On a similar note, I'm growing too :) I had to put in an order for polo shirts to wear at a User's Conference my work hosts each year. The conference is held at the end of September. I really struggled to decide what size to get... not knowing what kind of changes will take place in the next four weeks. How can a person predict something like that??

The one thing I do know is Baby Hansen is moving a lot! I feel the movements several times everyday. The most common time is after I finally drag myself out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I get back in bed. Falling asleep again is a challenge because the baby decides it would be a great time to move around and play. The feeling is like something I've never experienced before and can't really describe. I feel somewhat relieved when I feel the movements... because it helps me know the baby is still alive! I'm not going to lie... early on, the best part of going to the doctor's appointments was hearing the heartbeat (for the exact reason of knowing the baby was still alive). I guess it's easy to wonder when you can't see/feel anything that would confirm it. I feel a lot more relief now being able detect movements and other signs of life.

On an extremely positive note, I haven't had any additional painful charlie horse experiences. Certainly I'm grateful for that!

Week 20 Image - Halfway!!

2009-08-23T20:17:00.000-07:00

This is a 20/20 situation... meaning 20 weeks down and 20 to go! My hope is that this experience will be much like serving a mission. The first half seems to go pretty slowly... then you hit the halfway point... and the next thing you know, you're going home. The second half of my mission flew by. Any words of advice on whether or not this will be the same? My instincts tell me a resounding "no"... but I'm still hopeful :)

I didn't have too many issues with headaches but I did meet a new "nemisis". We'll call him "Charlie". One morning last week I woke up to pursue my regular routine. I grabbed the tv remote, turned on Sportcenter, and slowly started to awaken myself and stretch out. I pointed my left foot in an attempt to continue stretching (taking me back to my ballet days). Except this time, the when I tried to release and subsequently flex my foot, it became apparent quite quickly that it was stuck. Pain shot up my leg and my foot wouldn't move. I've never felt a charlie horse quite like it. I let a shrill of pain out as I tried to manually force my foot back into its normal position with both hands. After several agonizing moments, my calf muscle stopped contracting and everything was back to normal. That's not to say I didn't experience the ill-effects later. For three days after the experience, my muscle was super sore and super tight. I'm still feeling some adverse effects from it now... many days later. Did any one else meet "Charlie" while they were pregnant? I don't intend to blame every ache and pain on pregnancy, but it is an easy explanation!

Besides Charlie, the week flew by and I'm still feeling great. We're down to single digits before we get to learn the gender of the baby. That means there's not much more time to place your guess in our poll! Don't delay! Act now! (Does this sound like an infomercial? If so, I think that's great... because I really like infomercials. I try to avoid them though as I am easily sucked in and find myself uncontrollably reaching for my phone and dialing the number to order whatever product is being promoted. Just ask me about my "ronco knives"). Seriously though, if you haven't voted, there's not much time left to do it.

Baby Hansen's first time wake boarding! (18.5 weeks pregnant)

2009-08-20T18:49:00.001-07:00

As promised... I'm delivering a quick post about Baby Hansen's first wake boarding experience. To be honest, I'm pretty sure Baby Hansen loved it!! Now, I should point out that wake boarding was the one thing that my doctor advised that I really shouldn't do. He said the risk of falling/high impact crashes was a little too high. I should have known that I wouldn't be able to resist the temptation after spending a week up at Bear Lake. We went with my sister and Jeff to Delta several weeks ago and I did well to stay inside the boat and refrained from wake boarding. This time, the desire was just too much.

When we arrived at Bear Lake early Thursday morning, I asked Trent if he thought it would be okay to wake board. He said no. I agreed. Even though I agreed with him, it still wasn't easy to shake the desire to go. The freezing cold water should have been enough to deter me... but my brother's friend Cal had wetsuits we could borrow. After watching my brother wake board for the first time, I was really itching to go. I asked Cal for a wetsuit and put it on (those things aren't easy to put on... especially with a growing belly!) Although my mom was very opposed to me (and baby hansen) going wake boarding, I did my best to convince her that everything would be fine.

I said I would only go once, stay in the wake, take a short ride, and let go of the rope when I was done or if I felt it was too bumpy. Here's a little photojournalism to document the adventure:

Getting ready to take the plunge:

The water is freezing. Even with a wetsuit, it's very very cold.
I'm trying to catch my breath after the initial shock:
It took some true concentration to make sure the baby had an enjoyable, safe ride
It's hard to tell from this picture, but I was trying to get Morgan's attention and wave to her. Unfortunately, she was far too tired (taking a nap on my mom's lap) to acknowledge me

Bottom line... the baby loved wake boarding. One time wasn't enough... so we had to go again a little later. I did, however, resist the urge to go just "one more time" after the second time... because the water was really choppy and it seemed a little dangerous.

Week 19 Image

2009-08-16T17:22:00.001-07:00

Wow... nearly half way. I'm discovering that the angle of the weekly picture makes all the difference. I don't feel like I've grown that much in the past week... although my clothes do continue to feel tighter. I'm going to have to invest in some new skirts or something for church. Today, I had to wear my skirt all the way up past my belly button just so it would fit. The length usually extends halfway down my calf muscle but today, it went just below the knees. Besides the slight discomfort of clothing and the occasional headache, I'm feeling great. Are headaches normal?

According to a website I found, baby Hansen is about the size of a mango. The average size for a baby at19 weeks pregnant is 8.5 ounces and 6 inches in length. Speaking of which, I could go for a 6 inch tuna sandwich from Subway right now!

Trent and I are getting excited to learn whether we'll be having a baby girl or a baby boy. Either way, we're absolutely thrilled. We have another 2+ weeks until we get to find out... so that gives you a little more time to place your guess in our gender poll, if you haven't done it yet! It looks like "boy" is currently ahead. I do think some people's guesses might be skewed by the fact that my brother has 3 daughters... and so it just seems logical that we'd have a boy.

We spend the week up at Bear Lake with the Sharp family. We had a terrific time. The baby even had its first wakeboarding experience! More details on the wakeboarding to come in a post later this week. Stay tuned!

Week 18 Image

2009-08-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

They say black is a slimming color... but I beg to differ. I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. It sure did start off with a bang. When I stood on the scale... I had to get a second glance at the number that was registering. (*Note - I've never seen a scale register a number that large in my entire 26 years of existence). My eyes widened as I turned to the nurse and insisted their scale was malfunctioning. She smiled and told me that next time I ought to consider wearing my "light shoes". I looked down at my well used, burgundy Keens with the paper thin sole practically worn off and mumbled that "these are the lightest shoes I own." She suggested flip flops... but I'm thinking next time, I'll weigh in naked, just so I can shed all that clothing weight.

I've always known that pregnancy and weight gain go hand in hand. I guess I just didn't expect to wake up one morning and feel like I've grown significantly overnight. I thought it was supposed to be gradual... so much so that it would be hard to notice the slight changes over the days and weeks. I mean, if you compared week 35 to week 12, the change should be fairly blatant... but the changes week to week would be slight, or so I thought. If anything, I don't feel slight today.

I will say, on a positive note, that I'm still feeling really good. Perhaps if I start looking more pregnant, people at the BYU creamery won't shoot me such awful glares when I order the banana split... the most humongous thing they have on their menu. Surely it is enough ice cream/deliciousness to feed a small, starving nation (or at least 3 or 4 people). I mean, if I look pregnant, then instead of people thinking (and saying through their looks) that I'm a disgusting pig of a person, they'll be more considerate of my ice cream indulgence. After all, she is eating for two people. Who cares if the other person is only a half an ounce right now and she's eating 8 pounds of ice cream/toppings. The baby needs to grow, right?

That's it for week 18! If you haven't expressed your opinion through the gender poll on the right, be sure to do so. I originally had a different poll up... but discovered when it took you to the "results page", some borderline porn pictures would appear. As a result, I discontinued that poll. Moral of the story, if you haven't voted, please do :D

Until the next post!

Wind Storm

2009-08-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

A couple days back, the wind was blowing like crazy. We had planned using our paint sprayer that evening, painting crown molding and a couple of doors. Our original intentions were to take the items outside and then spray them, so we wouldn't have to worry about the mess. With crazy high winds though, painting was out of the question.

Leave it to us to find something "safer" and more "conducive" in the tornado-like conditions. We decided it would be a perfect time for Trent to the roof of our two-story house and install a dish up there. The pictures don't do the conditions any justice... but I figured they should be posted regardless.
I should mention that this ladder was insanely heavy. Shortly after installing the dish and returning inside the safety of our home... we heard a huge crashing sound. The wind blew so hard that the heavy ladder fell... and collided with the ground. Luckily Trent wasn't still on the roof... cause I'm not sure I could have propped the ladder back up against the house.

Who needs to hold onto the ladder while ascending? Not a professional dish installer...
one hand carrying the dish, one carrying the tools.

A close look up top. It looks like he knows what he's doing.

From afar...

Although it's hard to tell... he's still up there.

Week 17 Image

2009-08-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

Although the changes are taking place slowly (not necessarily a bad thing!)... they are certainly taking place. Because of the heat and the leather seats in my car, I've decided against jeans as of late. It's just too uncomfortable and sticky. I'm still feeling great and staying as active as possible. I did play soccer last week (limited time) but I'm still going back and forth on whether or not I should be playing. Mostly it's just nice to have something to do & look forward to, especially since softball season is over.

Trent & I started to do some work on our nursery. I'll post some pictures of our progress later on. If Trent has learned anything from our experience thus far, it's that he doesn't particularly enjoy working with me on stuff like that because I'm an uber-perfectionist. He'll say something isn't a huge deal and I'll tell him it is... and that our "baby" will want it to be perfect. We'll see how long it takes me to burn out that line of reasoning.

Another week, here I come!

Week 16 Image

2009-07-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

For whatever crazy reason... I feel like it is a huge accomplishment each week when I get to post a new picture. It's as if having another week pass by is some sort of huge deal! This is likely because I'm very excited to find out the gender of our baby. The more weeks that pass by, the sooner we'll get to find out.

News has spread pretty quickly at work. Many people in our ward also know now. It's such a relief not to worry about who knows and how they found out. At church today I got a few "you're not showing at all" comments. I don't really mind that. I have a couple friends who are likely "days" away from delivering their first kids. When I look at their pictures I think, "gosh their huge". I can't even imagine how much discomfort they must be experiencing now in our 100 degrees plus weather. I'm grateful that it will be cold out when I get to that point of pregnancy. Although I'm not showing a ton, My size has definitely changed. My clothes are fitting tighter... jeans are incredibly uncomfortable... and when I do wear them, I sometimes feel like I should unbutton them (at least while driving). I don't like the constricting feeling I get while sitting in my car with a pair of jeans on.

I'm looking forward to the adventures of the 17th week of pregnancy. Physically, I feel great. My last softball game of the summer season was on Tuesday (we actually won the game!). I'm still debating whether or not it is a good idea to play "fall ball" which is in August & September. I've been playing on a co-ed soccer team as well. I sought out the approval of my doctor before playing. He said it would be fine. I'm having some degree of second thoughts though (mostly because soccer can be a high impact sport... lots of physical contact... the chance of getting tripped... taking a soccer ball to the stomach... etc). I've been kind of going back and forth on the idea (while continuing to play). If anyone has any thoughts/advice on this it would be appreciated. I want to continue to be active but I don't want to take any "unreasonable" risks.

New Blog

2009-07-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

A couple months back, I created a new blog to document our latest adventures. I haven't really shared this new blog with anyone, until now. If you'd like, feel free to check out our new blog:

http://hansenbabyblog.blogspot.com/

Another First: A major baby purchase

2009-07-21T20:32:00.000-07:00

Today Trent & I went to our closest Babies R Us and bought the sleeping unit which our child will enjoy for it's first year or so of life. We got a super deal... so decided to get the entire set.The color of the furniture looks quite a bit different in person. I liked it a lot more when I saw it in the store. We're thinking that by saving a little money because of a sale, we can get more things things that our baby will really need:

Breaking the News at Work

2009-07-21T17:04:00.000-07:00

Since I found out I'm expecting, I really believed my boss, Michele, should be among the first to learn of my news at work. I would have been full of regret if she had heard it through the "rumor mill"... instead of from the source. I had planned on telling her next week... but I just couldn't wait for 7 more days. During my one on one today, I broke the story.

I won't go into the detail of our conversation but I will say I was extremely impressed with her response and how she received the news. She seemed so excited for me. I spoke briefly about my career desires and how I want to continue working. I don't want my decision to have a family to prohibit me from having growth and promotion opportunities. I receive a lot of fulfillment from the work that I do and I plan on continuing that, while balancing my "mom" responsibilities with my work responsibilities. I've seen many people do this quite well and I hope I can do the same. I felt a huge amount of relief after revealing my "secret" to Michele.

Now I can say... it's no longer a secret. "News" spreads quickly. At work, we have a snack table. When there is extra food that was purchased for a training or a meeting, the extras are put on the snack table and available on a "first come, first serve" basis. It's safe to say they don't last long. Initially, one person notices the food and within a couple minutes, every last morsel is on someone's plate or in someone's stomach. We're like vultures when it comes to free food. I say this because the way we consume information is strikingly similar. People at work are vultures for the latest news/gossip. Not even an hour after letting Michele and a few others know that I'm expecting, I was receiving "congratulations" from folks all over the company. Overall, it's nice not to have to keep my secret to myself.

Week 15 Image

2009-07-19T17:00:00.000-07:00

With 15 quick weeks now gone, I'm enjoying the heat of the summer. I'm super grateful that I'm not 7, 8, or 9 months pregnant during the summer months. I can't even imagine the discomfort that would come with that. This could be the week where the "baby news" is revealed at work...

Week 14 Image

2009-07-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Another week has slipped away... but today was a special day for me (my birthday). Twenty-six isn't feeling too old right now... but definitely, older. I think in the picture below, I'm a little surprised by the fact I've already lived for 26 years. That seems like SUCH a LONG time. Today, I'm 14 weeks pregnant... only 26 to go :)

26 years old with 26 weeks to go. 26 weeks feels like it will be forever... so I'm not sure why 26 years have gone by so fast. Any ideas?

Week 12 Image

2009-06-28T17:00:00.001-07:00

I know it's pretty trendy to post pictures of the developing "baby bump"... but call me that I guess, trendy. I mean, what other time in my life will I not have to worry about gaining a little weight? This is great!

Today... I'm officially 12 weeks pregnant. While I have gained a few pounds since I got pregnant (mostly due to the lack of morning sickness and overwhelming desire to eat ice cream all the time), it hasn't been too worrisome yet. My clothes are fitting a little tighter but I guess that's to be expected.

Phot0:

Oh yeah... I also cut my hair off last weekend. It's so much nicer having shorter hair.

Lagoon with Morgan

2009-06-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

A few days back, Morgan was riding in Elizabeth's car with her in Farmington. Morgan saw the big ferris wheel and many of the other rides. She asked what they were and Elizabeth said "that's Lagoon". Morgan became very excited and exclaimed "I want to go to the goon!". We decided to take her there and had a wonderful time. I drove to Layton and picked her up from my mom's house. It was kind of rainy and cold. When we were getting ready to leave, she tripped down the stairs and got a tiny scrape on her knee. What a great beginning to our adventure!

It was raining really hard right before we got there. In fact, it was so bad that I somehow missed our exit, concentrating so hard on making sure we were safe. We got off the Centerville exit and back-tracked to Lagoon. We sat in the car for a while waiting for the rain to stop. Morgan ate her Happy Meal while we waited. (side note... did you know Happy Meals are over $4!! What a rip! Inflation has really got the best of them). I tried calling Elizabeth several times but she never picked up her phone. She was planning on meeting us there.

As we walked up to the park, Morgan exclaimed "I'm so excited! This is just like Disneyland! (which she has seen on tv before) I want to go on that big white ride!" (white roller coaster) I told her she could go on any ride she wanted.

She had a great time on several of the rides. I thought she would be really scared to go on many of the rides. Surprisingly, she wasn't afraid at all. Her favorite ride was the "fish ride"... also known as Odysea. She went on the "lady bug ride" which looked pretty scary. She was hesitant near the beginning of the ride but by the end she yelled out "let's go on that one again!" Morgan also enjoyed the show in the Rock U 2 the Top theatre. She especially liked listening to the two songs from The Little Mermaid. She got up and danced around for part of it. Overall, Morgan loved Lagoon. I think taking her may have even elevated me to "favorite status".

On the train

Morgan insisted on riding the zebra.

On Puff the Magic Dragon... while two kids in front of her in line chickened out and decided not to ride, Morgan didn't even flinch.

The favorite ride of the day. The rider can control whether it goes up or down. The decision on which way to go can leave you pretty wet. Morgan controlled the direction... and Elizabeth's pants got pretty soaked as a result.

After this ride, it started to rain a little. That was our queue to leave... even though Morgan really wanted to go one more time. Look how little she is compared to the chair!

Ultrasound

2009-06-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I mentioned that the ultrasound was "cool". I was very impressed with the technology. This is the picture that Dr. Bean printed and handed to Trent, saying "this is for you." Trent seemed excited to receive it.

Another 1st... meeting with the Obstetrician

2009-06-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

Today was my first appointment with the OB. I'm not gonna lie... I was nervous. I was so nervous that I begged and pleaded with Trent to come with me. He was a little hesitant (telling me he couldn't get off work) but at last, this morning, he relented. I was very happy to have him come with me.

You wouldn't have guessed my "happiness" though by the first few minutes we met with the doctor. I can't explain why... but for some crazy hormonal reason, I just started bawling. Trent wasn't in the room yet but when he came in, my eyes were red and full of tears. The doctor asked Trent if I've been emotional lately. He was about to answer "not really" when he looked over at me. He saw that I had been crying (apparently for no reason) and said... "yeah, sort of". I think it was probably a combination of a lot of things.

When I woke up this morning, I was feeling ill, scared, overwhelmed... I could go on... but you're probably getting the point. Shortly after arising, I realized I was supposed to make a dessert to bring to work to celebrate my coworkers upcoming birthday. In a rush, I hauled down the stairs and started throwing everything together. It wasn't long before I noticed I was short a main ingredient, marshmallow fluff. Since Trent was still home (planning to come with me to my appointment) he graciously went to the store to get the missing ingredient. While the first part of the dessert was baking in the oven, I got a quick shower. I had a couple things to do before I could bake the treat for the last 18 minute segment. I'm not an expert baker... but I did my best to quickly and efficiently prepare the dessert. I threw it in the oven for the second time at 7:54am. My appointment was at 8:30am and I was hoping to leave no later than 8:00am to make sure I could find the place.

7:54 to 8:00... only six minutes. Since I knew pulling out the dessert early wasn't an option, I had to resort to plan B... speeding and hoping I'd be able to find the place. We left the house in a hurry just after 8:10am.

Why is it that when you are in the biggest hurry, you get stuck behind the slowest, most annoying drivers in the world? It was painful. I probably could have cut my time in half if I wasn't tailgating people who were going 5-10 mph UNDER the speed limit! Unbelievable!! Only in Utah :) I only had to make one U-turn from going the wrong way... and it was a miracle that I ended up at the right place... with Trent following closely behind me. I was only three minutes late so I didn't feel too bad about that.

All the anxiety and stress came to a head when I sat in Dr. Bean's office. He asked me several times if I was okay and I assured him that I was. I likely wasn't very convincing, through my tears. The whole experience was unexplainable. I got a lot of my questions answered at the appointment.

Am I really pregnant?? (there shouldn't be doubt after 5 home pregnancy tests)
YES!! This was confirmed with the ultrasound... so cool.

When am I due/how far along am I?
According to the size of the baby... I'm 9 weeks, 5 days along. This means my initial prediction of 9 weeks, 4 days was only one day off. The exciting part of this is that my official due date is January 10, 2009... on my mom's birthday!!!

Since I AM pregnant, does that mean no wakeboarding this summer?
Absolutely no wakeboarding. I was a little sad about this... especially since the Sharp family is going to Bear Lake in August. We wakeboarded with Jeff & Elizabeth once last year and it was so fun! I was planning on doing it again this summer... but just being really careful and not trying anything stupid. Dr. Bean put a big NO on my idea.

What rides CAN I go on at Lagoon?
I can actually go on a lot of the rides... I just have to watch out for those that have quick stops and starts with a lot of jarring motion (roller coasters). I asked why so many of the rides had a "no pregnant women" sign. He said it was just to release the park of any liability... in case something happened, unrelated to the ride, and the people tried to hold the park responsible. They play on the most cautious side possible.

Is it still safe for me to engage in sports like softball?
YES! He said I can still stay very physically active. He just told me not to slide into bases or to dive for the ball in the outfield. I reminded him that it's slow pitch softball... certainly not worth hurting oneself just to make a good play.

What are my chances of having my baby a little early?
Dr. Bean said I was really healthy... and had very low prenancy risks. He said this was a good and a bad thing. The good thing (outweighs the bad): I should have a healthy baby. The bad thing: my baby might be so comfortable in me that it doesn't want to come out. He said it's not uncommon for someone in my situation to go a full 40 weeks... and I wouldn't be "started" (if I don't go into labor naturally) until I was at least 41 weeks.

All in all, the 1st appointment went very well. It made me even more excited about this whole experience. We're waiting a few more weeks to make our "secret" public. It's been hard. People at my work keep guessing it. I do everything I can to wipe the smile off my face when they say it. The excitement is hard to contain. No one would have guessed I was excited by the way I started crying this morning :)

Another 1st... throwing up

2009-06-11T18:15:00.000-07:00

I've felt sick on more than one occasion so far... but nothing compared to the horror stories I've read about online. In fact, I've been pretty grateful that my feeling of nausea is as minimal as it is. Several months before finding out I was pregnant, I was "blog stalking" and read over a post in which some people suggested morning sickness is all in a person's head. I made the mistake of mentioning that to my Aunt Juanita (who is also pregnant and has been pretty sick). Now I'm thinking I may be eating my words (and then possibly regurgitating them). As it stands, in my mind, I'm perfectly healthy and feel great. However, that is not the way I felt this morning.

I've found that I can't let myself get hungry... because that's when I start to feel sick. The hungrier I get, the less able I am to eat anything. I've been waking up early and forcing myself to eat a bowl of cereal as soon as I get out of the shower. This morning, cereal sounded so gross. Instead, as soon as I started to feel hungry, I went downstairs and grabbed a raspberry yogurt. I brought it back upstairs, laid in bed with Sports Center on the tv, and tried to down the yogurt. I felt fine until I got out of bed to continue getting ready for work. After I brushed my teeth, I felt like I would vomit. However, I've felt that way before... so I didn't take it too seriously. This time was different.

I'll spare the gruesome details. Let's just say raspberry yogurt... in the porcelain thrown. I felt much better afterwards. A couple hours later while at work, I felt really sick again. I imagine I was fairly unproductive but still grateful that I only had one episode today. I'm hopeful there won't be many, if any, duplications of the event. Afterwall, it is all in my head, right?

Another 1st... setting up an appointment with the OB

2009-05-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

I just started my 7th week of pregnancy. As an activity, I thought it would be important to setup an appointment to meet with an obstetrician. Everything I read online suggested that most OB's meet with their patients between the 6th and 8th week of pregnancy. The office I'm going to prefers to have the first appointment between the 8th and 10th week.

When I called and spoke to the receptionist, she asked why I needed to see the OB... making sure I was pregnant. When I told her I was, she said "congratulations". That was the first "congratulations" I heard. I called her while I was at work but went outside and away from the building so no one overheard my conversation. I don't know why, but for some reason I get kind of nervous when I have to call people I don't know. When she asked if I was married, I was grateful to say "yes". I can't even imagine not being married and finding out I'm expecting. For me, that would be a terrifying experience.

My appointment isn't until the 12th of June... more than three weeks away. I got the earliest appointment possible (8:30am) so I don't have to miss as much work. I was kind of hoping to meet with the doctor sooner... but I guess it's protocol.

Double, Triple, Quadruple Check

2009-05-16T17:46:00.000-07:00

Just to be sure I really am "expecting"... I did a few extra tests. I believe there was one more... totaling 5 in all. They all showed the exact same result. That seems pretty conclusive to me.

Elizabeth & Jeff's Wedding

2009-05-10T08:48:00.000-07:00

My youngest and only sister married Jeffrey Toone yesterday in the Salt Lake Temple. Jeff and I served our missions together in Mongolia. It was fun seeing them date and get to know each other over the past 16 months and even better to see them marry each other. We are very happy for them and wish them the best.

Everything went perfectly. Despite bad traffic and road closures, no one planning on coming missed the sealing. The luncheon was at the Rodizio Grill in Trolley Square. The reception later that night was beautiful.

Congrats to Elizabeth and Jeff!

The bride, groom, Justin Alaris, Morgan, Maddie & Kelsi at the reception

The coolest cake in the world... courtesy of my mom, Aunt Colleen & Aunt Juanita

Trent eating a chicken heart with the bride and groom in the background

Could it be?

2009-05-05T17:06:00.000-07:00

For the last several days... I've that weird feeling that I'm "with child". I was only one day late yesterday (which isn't terribly uncommon) but I just kept getting the feeling that I should go and buy a pregnancy test. I told Trent on Sunday that I thought I was going to have a baby. He assured me that it was all in my head... and I was not. I resisted the urge to stop at the store on Monday... even though I really wanted to. I guess I mostly didn't want to get my hopes up to much. I thought I would be disappointed if the test came back negative. With that in mind, I decided to wait a little longer where I thought the probability of me actually being pregnant would be a little better (I don't know where the logic was in that thought).

After work today, I just couldn't take it anymore. I went to the local Wal Mart to pick up a test. I just had to know... one way or the other. No more waiting in anticipation for me. When I got into my car, I ripped the package open, pulled out the instructions, and starting reading them. I hurried home, took the test... and within seconds, this is what it showed:

I had to take a few "double takes" and re-read the instructions to make sure I was interpreting the result correctly. No wonder companies now make tests that "pregnant" or "not pregnant". In the middle of the moment, I think it's easy to confuse yourself. Once I realized I was likely reading it correctly, I was so excited, I didn't even know what to do. I started jumping around my bedroom like a little kid on Christmas day. I had tears fill my eyes. It probably sounds super cheesy... I was just really happy. My whole life, all I've ever wanted to be was a mom... and now, I'm on the path to fulfilling that dream.

Happy Easter!! - A little Late

2009-04-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter a few weeks back. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up, my siblings and I anxiously awaited Easter. I dare say that I was typically the most excited for it. We never missed a visit from the mythical bunny who brought us baskets filled with all sorts of goodies. To add to the fun, our baskets would be hidden somewhere inside or outside of our house for us to find.

I would wake up early and begin my search. After ransacking the entire house (spotting my brother and sister's baskets along the way) I would be left empty-handed. It wasn't that I was forgotten by the bunny, just that I could never find my personal treasure. I think it (the bunny) had it out for me. My basket was always hidden at least 100 times harder than anyone else's. I can't even remember a single year where I was able to successfully locate my basket without hints from my mom. Some years, there were tears filled with frustrations. It's a wonder I like Easter at all!

Let the tradition continue... I begged my mom to get me an Easter basket this year. She told me, since I am now married, that wasn't her job anymore. With enough pleading and persuading, she was convinced. This year, just like every other, I had to have help to find my basket.

Who thought it was a good idea to hide it up in the tree? I'm way too old to be climbing in trees. It was quite a struggle for me. I'm just grateful I didn't injure myself.

After the Easter basket triumph, we went to my brother's house for dinner. Trent and I played with two of their girls, Morgan and Maddie, outside. They loved it when Trent blew bubbles for them and we had a good time in their playhouse as well.

That house was "cozier" than any other house I've ever been in... even in Mongolia. Morgan and Maddie really love it though!

Photo of the Day

2009-04-24T21:33:00.000-07:00

We woke up to a snowy surprise on April 14th... according to some, it shouldn't be snowing in the middle of April. The "surprise" element of weather is what makes it so exciting. However, after only two weeks without snow, people had already seemed to forget how to drive in it.

Photo of the Day

2009-04-19T21:58:00.000-07:00

This was supposed to be my photo of the day a two weeks ago. I finished the 2000 piece puzzle on 4/5/09... one week after starting it. I think Trent was especially grateful when I finished. I tend to have a one-dimensional focus whenever I'm working on a puzzle.

Doing this puzzle made me excited about puzzles. I haven't started any new ones yet but I did purchase a new one which I'm looking forward to doing. It'll be a hard one so I'm waiting until I have a lot of free time.

Photo of the Day

2009-04-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

Trent & I spent Saturday skiing at Deer Valley. We met up with my friend Tiffany and Uncle Phil & Tanner. After my third attempt... my skiing skills still leave a lot to be desired.

I lost control in the powder. One of my ski poles was lost in the wreckage. Luckily, with some effort, we were able to dig and recover it.

It was a nice powder day. What's that in Trent's hand? You don't think he'd try to hit me with that, do you?

Lastly, while my ski skills (or lack thereof) still leave a lot to be desired, Trent tends to forget that he's not on a snowboard anymore and things are done a little differently. Nice air though :)

Photo of the Day

2009-04-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

Bryner Mission Reunion... after returning home more than three years ago, it's fun to see these people every so often.

Photo of the Day

2009-03-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

2,000 Pieces... One person's pain is another's pleasure

Photo of the Day

2009-03-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

I just want to bring your attention to the fact that Trent's carrying two boards... what a gentleman.

Photo of the Day

2009-03-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

Although this picture has nothing to do with the occasion... happy wedding day to Jenn & Jack!

Frequent Posts

2009-03-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

After a lot of thinking... I've made the decision to increase the frequency of my blogging. Since coming home from my mission, I've been terrible at writing in a journal. In fact, my mission was the only time in my entire life I've been completely dedicated to documenting any sort of journal. I didn't miss a day while in the MTC or in Mongolia. It's fun looking back through it and reading about my successes and struggles. I wish I was always that dedicated to documenting. In an effort to become more committed, I'll start with the blog.

I'll also be posting a "photo of the day". Some days this will a picture taken that very day... and others it will be something from an "archived collection". Either way, it should give me more reason to take pictures. If a picture is really worth a thousand ~~years~~ words, that can't be a bad thing, right?

Today's Picture: The land I love!

Khailaast Branch... one of the very best.

A new addition!!

2009-03-02T18:22:00.000-08:00

Baby Kelsie was born Friday, February 27th in the afternoon. She weighed 5 lbs 6 0z and was 20 inches long. Trent & I visited her for the first time two days later. By that time, she weighed in at a whopping 5 lbs 2 oz. The blankets wrapped around her seemed to weigh more than she did. Big sisters Morgan and Maddie are very happy about their new addition. Morgan is often heard saying "Kelsie is my best best friend!!" When others ask if they can be her friend too, she says "No, Kelsie is my friend". Congratulations to Justin & Alaris.

What we love about winter...

2009-02-26T19:19:00.000-08:00

This video is from last season. We did a little hiking... and needed a break to rest. Trent didn't want to take a break... so he occupied himself doing other things.

New Job

2009-02-22T13:47:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow, I will begin my new job. I'm extremely excited for it as I've been looking forward to starting over the past month. I'll be working in the "Client Retention & Growth Group". I'm looking forward to helping construct the overall vision and direction of the group. It is a very needed element the company. I believe the formation of this group will help facilitate increased client satisfaction and provide many opportunities to grow our current client base.

A long time ago, my grandpa told me if you work hard... focusing on your responsibilities... while not letting the "politics" of a situation affect you, you will always be recognized and rewarded for your efforts. I've tried to apply his advice and it has paid dividends for me. While I will likely miss certain elements of working in finance (mostly the people I worked so closely with), I'm looking forward to growing my own abilities and working in a more "client facing" department. I'll have opportunities to dabble in all sorts of different organizations (sales, marketing, client services, product management, etc). Tomorrow is day one... of many many more days to come.