Playing in the Snow!

SO FUN!!!!!  Seriously, I could not wait to get J in the snow!  After a (pretty much) snow less winter last year, I was really looking forward to getting him out in the white-stuff this year.

We finally got the "whole works" of snow gear so we were ready to go!  I truly had no idea what to expect when we went out due to the fact J could hardly walk in his boots and he could not figure out why his hands were all bundled up.  Needless to say it was a slow start.

I put him in the snow and he would NOT move at all!  I have to admit, all I could do was laugh!  He was just so confused as to what was going on.  In the end, he really did not like trying to walk in the snow at all, but sitting down tossing the snow was making him giggle uncontrollably!  (heart melting noise!)

I look forward to many more snowy memories with our little man!

Thanksgiving 2012

Yes, let the "Catch up" begin...

Once again, J and I headed back to my hometown for the entire week before Thanksgiving to give Luke some space..  Going into his craziest week of the year and J and I were getting restless sitting at home, so I thought why not head back to my parent's and visit family and friends.  We had such a great time!

I finally got to meet up with one of my dearest friends, Jane and meet her sweet baby Charlee!  SO BEAUTIFUL!  It was one of my favorite lunches ever just because I got to spend time with a friend I miss so much!  It's crazy because we use to see each other almost every day and if not everyday, at least a few times a week... and now nothing... oy, I have to say it again, but boy do I miss her!

Miss Charlee

The remainder of the week leading up to Thanksgiving consisted of resting, playing, resting, visiting family, resting, and playing more.  Nana and Gpa were on cloud 9 with J at their house for 8 days!  Jameson was also on cloud 9 because he was having the time of his life!

Visiting Great Grandma Marson!

Nana playing dress up with J

Daddy was not too happy about this picture!  haha

I knew this would be one of the last "relaxing" weeks for a while.  With the holidays, Luke's work schedule and our move lingering in the near future, all down time was pretty much planned out.  So let's just say, we really took advantage of the extra help and relaxation in Ona.

For Thanksgiving, J, my parents and I headed up to Rollingstone to spend the day with Luke's family.  We LOVE being able to make the get together, but it's always hard to be there without Luke.  Not to mention the fact that Thanksgiving is Luke's FAVORITE holiday.  Oh well, we had so much fun seeing everyone, enjoying a delicious lunch and announcing our exciting baby news.  Thank you Paul and Linda for hosting a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving lunch!  It was so heartwarming catching up with everyone and getting some much needed Harris family time.

Jameson showing us everything 

he wanted us to buy for him!

BIG BROTHER!

Since "Black Friday" turned into "Black Thursday" mom and I had to find time to sketch out our plan of attack.  Jameson stayed with Jean and Mark Thanksgiving evening and mom and I put our game faces on and shopped till we dropped!!!!!!!!!  I know, some people call us crazy, some people love that we go so they can have us pick something up for them and some people just don't care... but WE LOVE IT!

Early Friday morning... After only a couple hours of sleep.. Mom and I headed down to La Crosse to get our hair done (THANKS MATT!) and then it was time to pick up my little man!  I tell ya, it was only one night, but I missed J like crazy!

To be honest, I am not even really sure what we did for the remainder of Friday because I was SO tired! haha.  But Saturday morning I was able meet  up with my lovely high school girlfriends for coffee before we heading back to SF.  I finally got to meet Mr. Charlie Schwein!  What a handsome little man!!!!!  I just wish we all lived a little closer so visits and play dates could be more of a regular occurrence.

We packed our bags and headed west after my morning get together.  It was Luke's birthday later in  the weekend and I wanted to make sure J and I were back and ready to celebrate with plenty of time to spare.

WE LOVED OUR TIME BACK HOME!!!  But it was great to get back to daddy and sleep in our own beds.  Thanks mom and dad for a great week!  It was so WONDERFUL!

Ending 2012

Let me start by saying...

Happy New Year!!

Yes, I am writing this post on New Years Eve 2012 from my comfy couch, in my comfy PJ's with NO cocktail or snack in hand...  And to only make that statement better... I AM LOVING IT!  Yes, that's right, this is exactly the way I wanted to spend my New Years.  

Boy have times changed from just a couple years ago... From going out all night, many phone calls at 12:01am and much much more FUN!  But, with a toddler that doesn't understand the meaning of "sleeping in" and baby #2 on the way, staying in, staying warm, and relaxing is all the excitement I need in my life tonight.

With that said, I sit here, watching Dick Clark's New Years Rockin' Eve (or however you say it) and reflect on (what I would call) a wonderful, fun, crazy, emotional and most of all LOVING year.  Yes, what a year it has been!!!  

This year has brought so many memories that I can't even sit here and list them all off.  I am grateful for all the fun times, the sad times, and most importantly, every single moment I was able to enjoy with my amazing family.  I truly have been blessed with such a great husband and lovable toddler.  They bring so much joy to my life that every time I think about either of them, all I can do is smile!  

I am so excited to ring in 2013 in my NEW HOUSE, welcome our second bundle of joy in June, and make many, many, many more fun filled family memories! 

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!!

Much Love,

Abby

**PS... Since I haven't had time to blog in about a month (moving, Luke's crazy work schedule, sick with the flu and baby #2... you name it..) I have kept a list of all the "catch up" blogs that I MUST write.  I apologize now for the next couple weeks and the overload of updates from the Hansen Household!***

Halloween 2012

Ok, so I TOTALLY understand this is WAY overdue, but I didn't want to post our Halloween pics until the news was out about the baby :-)

We spent the Saturday before Halloween with some of our wonderful friends!  THANK YOU to Jill and Jason for hosting a GREAT party!  Seriously, so many laughs throughout the night...  Not to mention many "remember last night when" moments on Sunday.  I am already looking forward to next year!

Scooby and Daphne

(our wonderful hosts)

SNL Cheerleaders!

"Bun in the oven" and Bun Maker

The Olympians

Keith Stone and Gaga

Such great friends, great memories and looking forward to many many more!  

Even BIGGER News from the Hansen's

So, "the cat was let out of the bag" a couple days ago... Therefore, I had to make our BIG announcement "facebook official" and now "blog official".

Baby Hansen #2 is due June 16, 2013!

We are truly thrilled to share this news and to give Jameson a little brother or sister.  I have to admit, the second time around has not been all fun and games!  Everyone says the second one is harder due to the fact you have another child to care for, but this, this has been nuts!  Between being INCREDIBLY sick since week 4, not sleeping hardly at all, eating... well that's just a joke these days and oh yeah... a super busy 16 month old..  WOW!  this has been one tired mommy.  A HUGE thank you goes out to my wonderful husband, parents, mother-in-law and father-in-law for helping me out over the last few weeks.  

Although it's been a rough start, I am willing to deal with it all since the "prize" at the end of this 9 month journey is simply amazing.  We were able to see baby's heartbeat the first week of November and everything looked amazing.  

So, our prediction is that it's a GIRL!  (I promise that is just a guess!)  I was not really sick with Jameson (besides a little food sick and smells kind of did me over sometimes, but nothing like this) and everything is so different this time around...  Let's just say, I would be very happy if this one is a boy, but as of today, I am seeing pink in our future.  

Timeline - I am about a week away from my second trimester!  If we decide to find out the sex of the baby this time, you can expect to see an announcement around the end of January/beginning of February.  

Grandparent visits (catch-up)

Pretty much the story of my life these days, but I am behind on posting about our two weekends of visitors.

The first weekend in November my parents made the drive out to Sioux Falls to visit.  I have to start by saying I am so thankful they were here because I had a rough week of feeling under the weather so the help was fantastic (Luke had to work the entire weekend).

We truly did not do too much but play, play, and play some more.  I have said this a thousand times, but J is obsessed with my dad and that is all he cared about the entire weekend.  Nana and I just sat back and enjoyed "the show" of giggles, snugs and wrestling.

The BIG excitement for the weekend was the fact that my parents were in town when we found our NEW house!  We had just started the house hunt that weekend and they were so happy to be apart of it.  Not to mention the fact I LOVED that they could see what we were looking at and they could also give us their thoughts and opinions.

Sadly, I did not get any pictures the entire weekend.  Again, I blame this on the fact I was under the weather and giving it all I had to get off the couch!  haha

The following weekend Luke's mom and step-dad visited!  So much fun!  They were able to get to town in the early afternoon Friday, so we had a little extra time together.  Friday evening was spent relaxing around our place, enjoying a delicious home cooked meal, and catching up on many laughs.

Saturday we were able to just bum around and do whatever we wanted.  Naturally we had to hit up the mall for a while and then (all three) boys decided to head home and relax/nap while Jean and I decided to hit up the craft show.

We had been contemplating all day where we wanted to go out for dinner...  Oh how the times have changed...  With Jameson RAPIDLY becoming a full-fledged toddler, going out to dinner it not-so enjoyable these days...  So what was our solution?  Pizza and beer in the comfort of our home!  Nothing gets better then that.  Jameson was happy, the adults were happy and we all had a great evening.

Jean and Mark got up early Sunday morning and headed East.  Luke, Jameson and I spent the rest of Sunday relaxing as a family and enjoying some much needed snug time!

Thank you to both my parents and Luke's mom and Mark for the wonderful visits!  WE LOVE YOU ALL and LOVE having you out!

Exciting News From the Hansen's

Well, you haven't heard much from me over the last week and a half because we have been one busy family.  Between two weekends of Grandparent visits and BUYING A HOUSE (yes you read that correctly) it has been go, go, go on our end.

The main point of this post is the HOUSE comment.  Over the last few months, Luke and I have been doing a lot of talking, searching, and "figuring things out" for our family.  We moved to Sioux Falls with the mind set that this was not really "home" but rather the "next stop" on our journey together.  With that said, things have not really felt just "right" since we arrived in SD.  What do I mean by that?  Well, now that we are a family, no matter where we are living, we want to make the best of that time.  Make everything feel right, homey, and most importantly, make sure all three of us are HAPPY!

Honestly, things just haven't felt like home.  We went from owning our own home to renting in a neighborhood that we just do not like.  Up until recently, we knew there were people living in the houses around us, but would NEVER see anyone outside.  No one to chat with, have a fire with, dinner, drinks... You know, all the fun neighborly things people do.  (but then I met Mallory and things turned around!  Thank you for being such a great friend Mallory!)  

With that said, the many chit-chats Luke and I have had recently lead us to the decision that no matter if we are here in Sioux Falls for 6 more months or 6 more years (depending on the career path Target has in store for Luke) we need to make each stop along the way feel like home... beginning with Sioux Falls.

So, here we are...  About to close on a house we love and ready to make this stop on our journey feel like home and make the best of the time we have left here in Sioux Falls!  We can't WAIT to get into our new place!  And one of the best parts, it just down the street from a couple we love to hang out with!  (Jill and Jason, we are SO looking forward to being neighbors!)

Closing Date: Dec. 17th!!  

Just in time for Christmas!  SO EXCITED!