Hello... is this thing on???

I won't even begin to make excuses for why this blog has been silent for 3 months. I blog in my head all the time, mentally writing posts that I'd like to publish. But somehow that never translates into actually sitting down to do it. Such is life these days!

We welcomed Camden Daly Hansen into the world on March 12, 2010 at 12:47am. He was 7 lbs, 5 oz and 19.5 inches long. My labor lasted only 5.5 hours long, and I had to push for just a few minutes. It was a completely different experience the second time around! Everything was faster and easier. I am grateful!

Camden is a joy. He is a very mellow baby and rarely cries unless he's hungry or uncomfortable. He loves to snuggle and has no problem being passed around from person to person to sleep in the next willing arms!

Big brother Westin is doing great, and loves to kiss and hug Camden(and sometimes smother him in the process!). In general, he is very sweet and "mostly" tender towards him. I won't lie, though... there have been a few sippy cups intentionally aimed Camden's way. But for the grand majority of the time, he seems to really like his little bro. It has been an easier transition for him than we thought it would be.

Here's our family!

PARENTING.....

..... is hard.

Rewarding, refining, joyful (mostly), and SO worth it. But still, HARD.

I'm just saying.

Okay, that's all.

:-)

The baby in my....

Yesterday I went to a MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) play-date at one of those "bounce-houses". It's a big warehouse-type place with a bunch of inflatables that kids can jump on and play in. Fortunately they had a special 3-and-under section so Westin could play without getting crushed by older kids. He had an absolute blast.

So... there were these twin 3-year old girls there. And they were cute as could be. But let me tell you, they were b-o-s-s-y. You'd have thought they were Westin's mother. They watched him like a hawk and kept trying to tell me what he could and couldn't do ("He can't play with that... it's for big kids." Not true. "He can't touch that." Not true either.) It cracked me up, but at the same time, I was thinking WOW... this stuff starts early!

Little girls in particular, once they really notice that I'm pregnant, get instantly fascinated. One of the twins just wanted to talk about it a lot and asked all kinds of questions, including what the baby's name was, etc. I really don't think a little boy would have been so interested. So I had a rather lengthy conversation with a 3 year old about "the baby in my boobies". Yep, that's what she kept saying. A little confused, clearly, but I didn't have the heart to correct her because she was so earnest in her little demeanor.

Nice. In just 9 more weeks I can finally get that baby out of my boobies!

Hello 2010

Hard to believe it's a new decade.... and that we're into double-digits in the new millennium.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year's! We enjoyed having my parents stay with us over Christmas, and I also got to see my sister Jennie and her family the day after Christmas. Westin was a lot of fun this year. Quite different than last Christmas, when we were adjusting to being brand new parents and were so sleep deprived yet so happy. This year we weren't quite a sleep deprived, but just as happy!

In fact, here is a picture from last year's Christmas and this year's:



















Westin loved opening presents, and he loved playing with what he got. Here are a few more shots of our Christmas morning. You'll notice that our Christmas tree is on top of an end table... this was Jeremy's idea and was the perfect solution to keep our busy little boy away from ornaments and from tearing down the tree. Jeremy secured the whole thing, including the tree skirt, so that if Westin tugged on anything it wouldn't budge! Good work, honey.

Only in Texas.....

Who doesn't love a Texas-shaped fire pit??!?

Westin is ONE

Where do you begin when your blog has been silent for two months?

Instead of playing "catch up", I'm just gonna start fresh. First off, Happy Birthday (yesterday) to Westin who turned ONE! I think this was the fastest year of my life. It's truly hard to believe that one year ago I was in the hospital, terribly sore and exhausted, but amazed at the little life that was out of my belly and in my arms. I can honestly say that being a parent has brought the greatest joy to our lives. There is not one day that goes by that my heart is not so full of love for this little boy.

One is a very fun age. He's not quite walking, but that should happen literally any day now. Westin is a little sponge and he learns new things every day. He will try to mimic most things we do. He loves to give "high-5s", blow kisses, and will even lean in and give you a big wet kiss (with tongue, if you're lucky!). He has 8 teeth and is finally getting some hair, though he's still fairly bald. He's independent one minute, and the next minute will crawl back into whatever room I'm in and into my lap. I love it. He has the biggest laugh that is absolutely contagious. He can also be a little stinker.... our current challenge is keeping him away from the trash can. He knows he's not supposed to play with the trash, so he'll crawl to the trash can, turn around to see if we're watching, and then will giggle and dive in.

He has a doctor's appointment this afternoon for his one year checkup, so we'll see how big he is and how much he weighs. I think he's still in the upper percentile of everything.

Here's to many, many more wonderful years with our son, and our other son that's still in my belly!

Howdy Y'all!

I promise I've never said "howdy y'all" in my entire life, nor has any of my family or Texas friends (that I know of). But hey... I'm a Texan once again, so I'd better brush up on the colloquialisms. I think my favorite is "I'm fixin' to....". I know I used to say this when I lived in Texas 10 years ago, but somewhere along the way it dropped out of my vocabulary. On Friday, I heard it again for the first time and couldn't help but smile. I was setting up a bank account here in Fredericksburg, and one of the bankers told her colleagues she was fixin' to leave for the day. Gotta love it!

So... we're here. The past month has been somewhat of a blur. When Westin and I landed in Houston on September 23rd, I think I was as tired as I've ever been - INCLUDING just after giving birth to Westin! I was out of it for about 2 days. And somewhat emotional. My sweet sisters got the brunt of it. I was near tears for the first 4 or 5 days I was in Texas. At my sister Julie's church the first Sunday I was here, I literally had to leave the worship service because I was crying so hard. I was just sad that I wasn't at my own church, and sad that I might not ever be there again. And I'm sure being pregnant, tired, and hormonal didn't help things either. :-)

I got to spend about 5 days with my sisters and their kids in Houston. Jennie drove down from Dallas with her 2 boys, and all the cousins were together for a full 4 days. It was quite a zoo, and not for the faint-hearted, but it was wonderful. 6 boys under the age of 5 is exhausting, not to mention LOUD. But so many fun memories were made, and I caught a glimpse of the good times to come. Unfortunately, at least half of the boys got sick, my son included. I've never seen poor little Westin so puny and snotty. Jeremy showed up 5 days after I arrived in Houston, and it was great to see him. Life is just better with my husband around me! Julie and Daron were saints and let Jeremy and I escape for one night without Westin. We got a hotel in downtown Houston, and I spent my first night away from our little guy. It was SO needed.


Left to right: Back row - Reid (3), Cade (5). Middle row - Cooper (21 months), Landry (2). Back row - Luke (5 months), Westin (10 months).

And in March, we're adding yet another BOY to the mix! I found out the gender of our baby just a few days ago. What fun these cousins will have as they grow up together.

After leaving Houston, we made the 3 and a half hour trip down to my parents' house in Rockport, where we spent one full week with them. Westin got to know his grandparents, and we had a great time with them.

And finally, 2 weeks after I arrived in Texas, we made our way to our new hometown of Frederickburg. I honestly can't believe we get to live here. It is such a quaint, scenic, and very friendly town. It's in the heart of what's called the Texas Hill Country, and it is gorgeous. We've been to 3 restaurants to far, and they've all been fantastic. There are a dozen or so wineries within a few miles of us, hiking and rock climbing within 20 minutes, and it's clear that this is a cycling mecca in Texas. Does that sound like us or what???

This morning Westin and I kissed Jeremy goodbye and sent him off to his first official day of work as an RN. Our new lives have begun.