Hansen Family Reunion

As soon as I had Callen and knew he was healthy and fine, I bought my tickets for the Hansen Family Reunion in MO.  I was really sad that Jeff and the boys couldn't come with me, but we felt strongly that I should go. 

I am so very glad I did!!

Shar & I and Mom & Dad all had a connecting flight in Denver. So we got to ride the second flight together to MO. It was so awesome to travel together...oh I loved it!!!

Callen was just a little angel baby and slept the entire time.  This trip was going to be the best!!!

I didn't take a lot of pictures. SO I NEED THE CD, SHAR!!!  But here is what I took the first day we were there:

Callen got to meet Gigi Nila & Grandpa Gene:

He got to meet Nonny Kare:

And lots of cousins:

And I was able to see cousins/aunts/uncles/grandparents/new cousins/babies/etc.

Here's Shar with adorable Tierren:

This was a bittersweet trip for me.  I loved getting to see my grandparents and spend quality time with them.  And I LOVED getting to see my cousins who I hadn't seen in YEARS.  It was awesome. I got to meet my cousins amazing spouses. Oh my gosh, I fell in love with all of them. Seriously, I so wish I lived by these amazing people. SO MUCH.  

Game nights, chatting, hanging out, reminiscing, eating good food, walmart shopping ;) ;)  we got it all in and it was amazing!

That was the sweet.

Now the bitter...

I was so excited to get to go with my sweet, calm, happy Callen. 

Except he wasn't.

Someone, must be the travel fairy, took my sweet Callen & replaced him with an unhappy, grumpy, very sad baby who didn't feel good and cried and cried and cried. It was so sad. And so hard.  And there were lots of tears shed on my part and I was one highly emotional mama the entire trip. Additionally, I left behind 3 sick kiddos for Jeff to take care of AND our house we had been building was FINALLY done (after many delays) so Jeff was moving while Callen & I were gone. CRAZY!!!  To any and all of my friends who helped him out, THANK YOU!

My family was so good to me.  They helped so much. Let me sleep in after my long nights, took him on walks, held him while he fussed, and my awesome dad took him during his late night cry-sessions.  As crazy as it was for me, it would have been so much worse without their help. Thank you THANK YOU Mom & Dad & Shar.  & everyone. :)

My sweet boy in a moment of sleep:

I learned a lot of things that weekend:

I can do hard things.

I have a wonderful, amazing family.

Sometimes I just need to ask for help and it is there.

I cry when people are nice to me. (sorry Nate!)

I have amazing friends who help out when needed.

I am so blessed.

And I miss my family (immediate and extended) more than ever!

I will post more of what we did when I get the photos!

Pioneer Day Parade

We love our city and it's Pioneer Day Parade! We can walk to the parade from our home and have gone the last two years with our sweet friends Caitie & David and their kids.

Here were a couple favorites:

The boys enjoying the parade. They scored big time with candy this go-round. Which, of course, is their very favorite part of the parade:

Callen's first time at a parade. He slept through it, but it still should be documented. ;)

The highlight of the day was on our walk home.  We left before the parade finished but walking home we ran into someone who hadn't gone yet. He graciously stopped to take a photo, the kids were SO thrilled:

Ryder: 2 years

Well, this post is long over due! Here is a little about Ryder at TWO years old (July 20th)

Ryder's Stats

Height: 34 inches 

Weight: 23 lbs

Sleeps through the night. Takes 1 nap/day usually 2-3 hours.

Personality:  This little guy is a fire-cracker! He definitely keeps us on our toes with his crazy antics. He is very full of life and energy and loves to be GOING and DOING.  He runs all over the place and doesn't sit still for much of anything!  He is daring, adventurous, sweet, and loving.  Such a perfect mix of crazy, fun!  Oh we love our Ryder!!
Talents/Abilities:  He really excels at anything physical.  And one of his greatest abilities is knowing how to get what he wants. He just has to smile at us and say 'please' in his adorable voice and we pretty much melt! When we do say no, however, he is so good at accepting that and moving on.  He gets over things quickly (whether emotionally or physically hurt).  He also loves to help and is such a sweet big brother to our baby Cal!
Has started talking and saying so many things. It is so fun to hear him communicate his wants/needs.
Favorites:  Pizza, ice cream, strawberries, watermelon, apples, peas, bread, balls, trucks, trains, & cars, bike, drawing with chalk, playing outside, Deigo (tv show), running, running, running, little guy figures with hats, dress up, binkie & blanket, daddy and brothers.

Dear Ryder,

You have grown so much in this past year and become such a sweet, wonderful little boy. I was so worried how you would do with becoming a big brother but you have completely surprised me! You are so sweet with our baby Cal and absolutely love to hold him.  You are my busy, busy boy! You love to run and jump and try anything and everything your brothers do.  You love wrestling with them and are such a tough little guy! On the other hand, you are still so sweet and kind and love to help out whenever I ask. You give the best hugs and snuggles and make us laugh constantly with the funny things you do and say!  You sure love your daddy and are so excited to see him when he gets home. You are great at making all of us feel like we are your favorite person!  

I sure love you, my sweet, wonderful Ryder. You make our family better by being a part of it! 

Love, 

Mommy

Happy Happy Birthday Ryder!

 We had a fun and simple birthday celebration for Ryder's big day!! 

It was a little strange not having ANY family around for it, but we had so much fun.

We did things Ryder liked all day long:  played outside, watched his favorite show, wrestled, Mcdonalds for lunch, and had so much fun together!  

Then we had fun little party once Daddy got home from work. 

It was just perfect for our little guy, he loved every minute!

 Lunch with the bros:

Ryder LOVES holding Callen, so I had to make sure he got to for as long as he wanted:

I found these awesome figures at the Dollar store and knew they HAD to be for Ryder's cake. He doesn't have a lot of action figures of his own and he LOVES super heroes so it was perfect!

I adore his expressions in the next two:

Jeff and I spent the night before his b-day setting up his gift. I was like a kid at christmas...I just COULDN'T wait to give it to him!!!

He LOOOOOVED it!!! and didn't want to get out to open the rest!

Cute Callen slept through it all:

Of course we had to bring him outside for a ride in his new truck:

Happy Happy Birthday cute boy!  We sure LOVE you!

Callen: 2 months

This month has been so fun with our sweet Callen.

He still sleeps a ton in the day time  but has started to be awake a little more. 

He typically wakes up every 3-4  hours at night but has started doing a longer 5-6 hour stretch at night. wahoo...we'll get there eventually!  

He is such a sweet, calm baby and is just so happy. He gives the most adorable grins and loves to be snuggled and loved.

He started cooing at us this month and we are just eating up our little conversations with him!

He is definitely the biggest of all of our boys at this age:

12 lbs (75%)

25 inches (90%)

                          

Dear Sweet Callen,

This second month with you has been such a joy. We are getting into the routine of having another little one around.  We all absolutely adore you and the sweet, gently spirit you bring into our home.  Callen, you have such a special gift-  amidst the craziness of so many boys running around, you bring a beautiful peace with you from heaven.  You are so good with your brothers and let them hug and snuggle on you as much as they want. (which is a LOT)  We feel so honored to have you as part of our family and to get to experience this wonderful life with you.

 You love to be held and snuggled and you sleep, sleep, sleep the day away. You have started being awake a little bit more, but mostly you just snooze!  You like being awake in the evenings when it's quiet and you have Mommy & Daddy all to yourself!  

You already love the outdoors, it calms you right down if you are a tad bit grumpy and you quickly fall asleep.  When you are awake, you've started giving us these absolutely heart-stopping grins that we have all  fallen in love with!  You have started cooing and talking with us and have even laughed a teeny bit when I tickle you.  It is the sweetest sound and we can't wait to hear it again.

Callen, we love you baby boy. 

More than ever.

Love, 

Mommy

Saying Goodbye to Uncle Wash

The month before my brother moved we were able to hang out quite a bit. 

It was so fun to have him around and to get to spend some extra time with him before he left.
He is so great with kids and my boys just love him. 

Ryder, especially, developed a strong bond with Uncle 'Wash'  (he says a lot of things kind of backwards and Shawn backwards is apparently Wash...don't know where the 'n' went. haha)

We have definitely missed having him around these last couple of months. I didn't realize, until we had NO family around, how nice it was to be able to call him if baby sitters didn't work out, or just to come down for dinner. He was so willing to watch the kids for lots of my dr. appointments and I just appreciate him so much. I miss him tons and wish we had hung out more (and hit the gym together for sure!) but I am very happy and excited for his next adventure in med school. He will be amazing!!

The weekend before he left, my dad and Trav came out to help him pack up and move. It was a bitter sweet weekend, but we are so happy we got to hang out with some of ours (especially the boys!) very favorite people:

 Callen met Grandpa Dan & Uncle Trav for the first time:

 We had a fun goodbye dinner at Ihop:

We sure love you, bud. Good luck at Med School!!!