My poor baby...

First of all, let's clear the air about one thing.... I have not slept through the night ONE SINGLE TIME since the day I got pregnant with Andrew. That's right folks, I have not slept for 6 straight hours since January 2008. That's a long, long, LOOOONG time to be sleep deprived.... With that being said, Andrew is typically up twice a night. He wants to eat and cuddle and then it's back off to dreamland for the both of us.

Well... whenever he doesn't sleep well (as in he's up 5+ times a night) it always leads to one thing -- a trip to Dr. Jon, and that's exactly where we went today.

We had a 9:45 appointment, and Jon came in and wanted to chat and chat and chat. I swear we talked for 15 minutes before he even looked at Andrew. Usually I love that he takes his time and doesn't rush in and out, but today, I just wanted to find out what was wrong and get home. Andrew's throat was super red, so Jon did a strep test. Since he had symptoms for 30+ hours, if he had strep, it should show "positive" immediately. Of course it came back "negative" so the poor little guy got a finger poke to find out if he had a bacterial or viral infection. Wouldn't you know -- viral.... Which means there's NOTHING he can do. It just has to run it's course, and in the meantime, my poor little guy isn't eating well, not sleeping and reeaaallly clingy. UUUUUGH! Needless to say, I'm off to bed!!

back to school!

Today was the big day... my little girl started first grade. I can't believe she's already in first grade. I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone. I can't believe that once again she'll be spending more time with her teacher than with me. Yes... today I cried. She didn't see me tear up, but as soon as I left her room, the tears started flowing. UUUUUGH. I hate that!

Matt took the day off, so we took Katherine to school together, and then spent the remainder of the of morning trying to figure out what on earth to do with the bathroom. We went to a flooring place and picked out tile, and got ideas for a counter top, but I really wasn't into it. As long as it's something that will "show" well when we go to sell this house, I really didn't care. Truly, I could have cared less. They could have talked me into just about anything!

After we took the boys out for lunch, we picked up some paint samples and went home. Caleb and I made Katherine a little after school treat -- her all time fave.... reverse chocolate chip cookies. It was a great afternoon. She got off the bus, full of smiles, with her friends from the neighborhood and then invited them over for warm cookies. We all had a little party on the patio around the fire pit, and it couldn't have been a more perfect afternoon! We talked about her day, her teacher, new friends, and what she all did. Oh how I missed that little one today!

So.... now to the important part.... PICTURES!!


Eating cookies after school....

Getting off the bus with the neighborhood crew....

Out in front of her school....

At home....

Isn't this picture hilarious??? Caleb REFUSES to get his picture taken, and he's trying to duck out the shot....

So there you have it... her first day. It was a great first day, full of wonderful and funny memories for her (a kid got kicked out of class and sent to the hallway in "time out" for the whole "reading and project time" -- how ever long that is... BUT IT WAS ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE!! LOL!! She lost her earring on the playground, she met many new friends, got to share a few things about herself in front of the class -- she told them that she loved gymnastics and was working on handsprings, and rode home on the bus, sat next to her BFF Olivia and invited her friends over for warm, homemade cookies. Here's to a great year!

Weekend recap....

Last Thursday, Matt's parents came into town to stay for a few days. They had been on a little vacation, and finished it off with a weekend in Des Moines. The kiddos always LOVE having them here!

On Friday, Matt took his dad and the kids to the state fair. Thankfully, Fran wasn't insisting that we go as well, so we had a fun girls day out. We went to lunch and spent the afternoon shopping. So fun!! Oh, and I totally scored!! I've been on the lookout for new stuff for the main level and our master bathroom (after the mirror debacle last week). I found 4 pictures for our bathroom (one of which may go into our bedroom) and some super cool stuff for our bookshelves in the living room! It was a productive day!!

Later that day, we had "meet the teacher" at school, and were able to tour Katherine's classroom and get her settled and comfortable in her new surroundings. Her classroom is really well set up, her teacher seems very energetic and engaged, and thankfully she already knows some of the kids in her class. However, after about 15 minutes in her classroom, she wanted to bolt... she couldn't wait to get back to her old room and see Mrs. Seybert. Oh, how she'll miss her. When she saw Katherine, she knelt down and gave her a big hug. There's just something about her.... She's so warm and nurturing. She genuinely loves the kids. She is passionate about education, and connects with the kids in a way that brings me to tears. Mrs. Seybert was the best Kindergarten teacher ever. She was everything I'd hoped Katherine's Kindergarten teacher would be -- and more. She was amazing! Somehow, I'm just not sure that her teacher this year will measure up, but after the experience last year, I'm not sure anyone could..... With that said, I have high hopes and even higher expectations.... Stay tuned!!

So tomorrow is the big day ... her first day of first grade. As always I have mixed emotions. I'm excited for all that she'll learn, the independence she'll gain, and the friends she'll make. With that said, I'm said that school is starting already. I wish I could keep her with me for a little longer. I want to be selfish. I want to keep my baby girl with me. There's so many things I still want to do, and I'm not ready to share her quite yet. Unfortunately, I can't make time stand still, and tomorrow her teacher will get to spend more time with her each day than I do..... UUUUUUGH. If I think about it too much, I'll go insane!

Tomorrow, I'll be taking tons of pictures and posting them later in the day. My baby girl is growing up and I'm NOT ready.....

stressed out!

AAAAHHHHH.... it's been a hectic, chaotic, crazy last few days. I'm beyond exhausted and my stress level is through the roof. My life has been completely consumed with the bathroom mirror debacle the past 48 hours!!


So Tuesday the mirror shattered all over the place. Matt called the insurance company and filed a claim that night. An adjuster was out first thing in the morning to survey the damage. He was shocked. It was way more damaging and way more of a mess than he ever imagined. GREAT.

He was here for about an hour -- taking pictures, measuring the bathroom, the bedrooms, etc.... While he was here, Libby (the girl who cleans our house) came over to talk to him and help me out. The adjuster said that since glass broke all over the carpet, they would replace it .... Since our bedroom, the hallway, the kids' rooms and the steps are all one continuous piece of carpet, they replace it all.

They both left and I spent the next hour getting ready for Katherine's pool party. Oh man... she had a blast. It was so much fun. All the little girls from her class came over and went down the slide for hours! We ordered pizza, they ate Popsicles and lounged in the sun. There were lots of smiles and giggles all afternoon.

Well, while the pool party was in full swing, the interior designer I've been working with called and we decided that the couch, rug and art work could be delivered in the afternoon. OK ... uuummmmmm, that's quick, but hey... what the heck! It's not like I didn't have a lot on my plate already! LOL!! So they arrived at 3:30, which was the time Katherine's pool party was getting over. So I had little girls (and their moms) in the house, drying off/getting dressed, and getting ready to go at the same time the furniture arrived. Oh yea... and Libby showed up with her 4 girls. The girls were going to swim while she cleaned up the glass. C-O-N-F-U-S-I-N-G!!

On top of all that... I had told the neighborhood crew that Katherine was having a back-to-school party with her friends, so if they could just wait to come over until her party was over, I'd appreciate it ... just this once. Well... they were watching the fun all afternoon long and couldn't help themselves any longer -- the SECOND her party was over, they were in the backyard playing. Literally, I doubt my backyard was empty for two minutes. They played until 6, we all broke up for a quick dinner and the backyard was flooded again until 9. Oh yea.... I was tired!!

Then this morning at 8 am, Victoria (interior designer) and her carpenter/general contractor came over to look at the bathroom and discuss what needed to be done. They left me with a list of things to do and start thinking about -- what kind of carpet I want, bathroom flooring, new mirror, counter top etc... It was overwhelming, and quite honestly I was tired of thinking about it, so I called Michelle and we took the kids to the Science Center. It was a much needed break from the war zone I'm living in!

Tomorrow, the slide is coming back out! So it's party at the Hanson house again!! Love it! After all, isn't this what summer is all about?? I must say -- I don't mind hosting. In fact, I love it. I know all the kids, they all know me, Katherine and Caleb love having their friends over and hopefully it stays that way forever!!

Mirror Mirror on the wall ....

So tonight after Andrew woke up from his nap, I grabbed him while Katherine and Caleb finished cleaning her room (i.e. put away all her kitchen and dress up stuff from when they were playing house). We met downstairs and just like every other night, I put Andrew in his high chair and Katherine and Caleb sat on the island and we all cooked dinner together.

About half way through the cooking process, I heard the loudest crash EVER. Literally. It was deafening. It was so loud it frightened all of us, and in that split second there was NOTHING I could think of that could have fallen to cause that kind of noise. NOTHING! I screamed, yelled "HOLY SHIT" at the top of my lungs, and snatched up Andrew from the high chair. Katherine and Caleb were right on my heels as I ran up the stairs. Katherine was convinced that her toy kitchen fell over. Caleb yelled, "Mommy, I think our house is thundering!!". The only possibility I could think of was that the military people from Camp Dodge were having some kind of drill and accidentally shot out a bedroom window. That's how loud it was.

We ran into Katherine's room first and found nothing. Caleb's room was undisturbed as well. I looked into their bathroom and found everything in order. Out of desperation and confusion I went into my room. I was *SURE* the noise couldn't have come from my room because I had just come from there a few minutes earlier, and I was the last one out. Everything looked fine until I rounded the corner into the bathroom. To my SHOCK, HORROR & DISBELIEF, I found the mirror, which spans the entire length of the double vanity shattered all over the floor. Evidently it had pulled away from the wall and broken into a million pieces. It was horrible!

So ... long story short, Matt came home and tried to start cleaning up the mess, but it was just too much. The glass hit so hard that it broke chips out of our counter top, ruined the floor and took gashes out of the door. It's a total mess. A few minutes into the process he threw his hands up in the air and filed an insurance claim. So tomorrow, hopefully the adjuster and cleaning crew can get here first thing. My carpet is a mess -- shards of glass are everywhere, I can't even imagine putting that make-up on my face again... so tomorrow I'll be going for the "natural" look! UUUUUUGH. It's such a mess. I can't even describe it. You know how when some glass breaks, it's in huge chunks? Not this mirror. Imagine a several foot long mirror shattered into hair like strands all over the place. Just the thought of it makes me shudder!

In other news....

Tomorrow Katherine is hosting a back to school pool party at our house. She invited 8 of her little girlfriends from school and we're going to swim all afternoon!! We set up the water slide tonight, got snacks, juice boxes, the works! It should be fun for her! I'm sure the neighborhood crew will make their way to our backyard, so it should be one rockin' party!! I'll post pictures tomorrow!

Oh, and tonight before Matt started the glass cleaning project in the bathroom, we met with the interior designer. We settled on a couch, chair, bench/ottoman, rug, art work and paint color. I'm so thrilled with the outcome and can't wait to get it all! We just need to work on finishing off the bookshelves and find some new lamps and we should be good to go! I'll post pictures as soon as it arrives -- but don't hold your breath -- the furniture will take 10 weeks!

I should have known....

....that when my normally happy baby boy is cranky, up all night long, and wanting to be constantly held something is drastically wrong with him. All weekend long we waited it out. Andrew didn't have a fever, he was just CRANKY.

So this morning I took him to Dr. Jon. Wouldn't you know.... an ear infection. Jon said that on a scale of 1 - 10, his ear infection was an 8. Poor baby boy. I should have taken him in sooner!

Hanson Cousins.....

I finally had a little time to edit some of the pictures from Fran's family reunion that we went to in July.

Here's a few shots of the kiddos and their cousins. (Fran/Wendell -- if you want, double click on the photo to see it larger).


Zachary --



Gus --

Andrew --

Madison --

Stephanie --

Katherine --

Leo --

Caleb --

Matt with his parents and three brothers. I took a similar picture of their family right after Leo was born, so it's been a while .... too long really. It's fun to see how everyone changes over the years!

Matt's birthday weekend...

Tonight, Matt and I went out to dinner to celebrate his birthday. We had Mary Claire lined up to babysit, and were looking forward to a quiet evening alone (basically we were looking forward to having a conversation that could last more that 30 seconds without an interruption)!! LOL!



When Katherine and Caleb caught wind of this plan they were devastated. Completely devastated. After all, how could we celebrate their Daddy's birthday without them??? OK, I totally get that. I really do. It was pretty insensitive of us.... So we did what we should have done all along (and were planning to do on Monday) -- celebrated together. So last night I called Shawn and Carolyn and we all went out to dinner together (at Texas Roadhouse, one of Miss Katherine's fave restaurants) and then went over to their house to play -- aka -- have a dress up and pj party! It was super fun. The kids stayed up WAY late, ate their fill of ice cream and celebrated with their Daddy! It was perfect!





Oh... and Caleb has the same "gift secret keeping" ability as his mom ... NONE!! LOL!! The day before, the kids and I were out shopping and they found an Iowa Hawkeye shirt and wanted to buy it for Matt. So we bought it and hid it in my scrapbooking room. Well Friday night, before we left for dinner, Matt took a shower and put on shorts and a polo. Caleb took one look at him and said, "Daddy you shouldn't wear that shirt... you should wear the new Hawkeye shirt we bought you for your birthday. It has black and yellow on it"! UUUUGH, that's my boy. Can't keep a secret to save his life. So they gave him his new shirt which he wore to dinner. Oh, let me tell ya... they were proud!



Now... that's not to say that Matt and I didn't keep our plans tonight! We left all three kids with Mary Claire and went out to dinner and talked. Oh, how nice it was!!



A couple of little funnies for you...



I drove Mary Claire home tonight and Caleb rode with me. On the way home, I noticed that the moon was huge and orange, so I pointed it out to Caleb making a comment about how pretty the moon was. He immediately stops me and says, "That's not the moon Mommy. The moon is white. That's Jupiter". What??? You're three!?!? What do you know about Jupiter??? I start telling him that actually it was the moon and that sometimes it can appear orange, when he cuts me off again. "Nope Mommy" he says.... "That's Jupiter. I know all about Jupiter and all the other planets. I learned about it from you. You take me to the Science Center all the time, and we talk about Jupiter. Actually Mommy, I know about all the planets! I even know about Mars. I've been there before. Grandma Fran lives on (Le) Mars you know"! Oh, my Goodness! I about wet my pants I was laughing so hard. Matt and I both grew up in LeMars, and he's totally got that confused with Mars the planet, and is convinced that the orange moon is Jupiter. I was shocked that he absorbed so much of what he's been learning at the Science Center and applied it to real life. I was amazed that he even remembered the name "Jupiter", let alone remember that it was huge, orange and had "rings". Pretty good memory for 3.5!



****



Earlier today Katherine starts asking me some question about cows. It was so off the wall, that I had NO CLUE what she was talking about or even how to answer it. When I start to tell her that I didn't know or have a good answer for her, Caleb immediately says, "That's OK Kafrin.... We'll just ask Grandpa Wendell. He's our family EXXBERT on cows". (He's a cattle buyer). I just had to laugh. He sounds more like a 30 year old man that a little boy!

******

This afternoon Katherine had a birthday party. While she was there, Caleb and I ran some errands. During this time, he says to me, "Mommy, you know what I wannnabe when I grow up??? A truck driver. A truck driver that hauls jelly beans. I'm gonna haul those jelly beans straight to Pop-pop's house because we like to eat them together". AAAAWWW, how sweet is that?

Oh what else.....

Remember this when Matt bought two leather chairs on a whim one day without me??? Since then we've given Stephanie our old couch and love seat so we're left with these two chairs, a couple of end tables and toys. That's it. Oh yea... miles of style in the Hanson living room! We've been furniture shopping all over the place but haven't found anything yet. We did find one sofa at Pottery Barn, but it was just a picture. They didn't have the specific sofa or fabric in the store, and at the end of the day, I'm way to chicken to order something I can't see or sit on. Let's face it... I'd like to say I could decorate, but sadly I can't. I'm just not good at it. So I buy nothing. I'm too afraid to commit to something like a sofa out of fear I'll hate it. So this morning I called By Design and we met with an interior decorator. LOVE HER!! We looked at furniture together and she's going to put a plan together and come to the house Monday afternoon. I can't tell you what a relief this is! I'm just so happy to have someone helping me so that it looks good! WOOT-WOOT! I'll let you know what she comes up with on Monday, but as of now I'm hopeful that she's going to make our living room and beyond look great!

Getting nervous...

OK everyone -- I NEED YOUR HELP!!

Matt's birthday is Monday (August 10) and I'm at a total loss on what to get to him. We're going out to dinner on Saturday night, so it has to be here by then. Any ideas???? Come on... help a girl out!!

Our anniversary.

We had a great anniversary!

We spent the morning doing stuff around house with the kids and then Matt and Andrew took off while I showered and Katherine & Caleb played together. Katherine had a private gymnastics lesson at 1, and when Matt wasn't home at 12:15 I began to wonder where he was. I finally got a hold of him at 12:30 only to find out he was out in West Des Moines. Great..... Since there's no way he could be home in 5 minutes, so Katherine and I could get down to Chow's by 1, we decided to meet in the middle and head down there together.

Her lesson went well. She's learning a ton of new skills (on floor -- front and back handsprings, front flips, and front walkovers. On bars -- front hip circles and kips. On beam -- cartwheels, handstands and different dismounts) and perfecting the skills she's been working on. It amazes me... She doesn't mind the criticism. In fact, she thrives in the quest for perfection. She doesn't mind her coach moving her head ever so slightly, constantly making tiny adjustments to her fingers and toes and pushing her out of her comfort zone. I will say this... Little Katherine fears NOTHING. She's not afraid of falling. She's not afraid of getting hurt. She'll do crunches and squat jumps to the point that I fear that she'll puke. She loves every moment she's in the gym. As a parent, the conditioning and training process can be tough to watch at times. After all, this is my baby girl and as much as I want to coddle her -- they don't. They don't treat any of these girls with "kid gloves". I've seen many of the team or "team track" girls in tears over the past year. Some have quit, and I'm sure many more have wanted to over that time. So far, Katherine is in love with everything gymnastics. She watches the team girls in awe and will do anything they ask of her to make sure she makes it all the way. She tells everyone that Level 10 is not her goal -- she's going to be an elite gymnast someday.

Anyway....

I sat up on the balcony watching her with tears in my eyes. It doesn't seem like that long ago that she was taking gymnastics at Urbandale and Mr. Tarry was gushing over how good she'd become someday. At that time, she was a little girl full of energy and determination. She had big dreams and tons of confidence. She was constantly giddy.... literally jumping around the gym with a smile on her face. The smile, energy and determination are still there, but it's different now. She walks around the gym with her head held high, her back straight and her arms at her side. She knows she belongs there. She's earned it. Looking back, Mr. Tarry was more of a playmate who taught her cool stuff in the gym. At Chow's, she has a new found respect for her coaches. They are people who she listens to and respects.... and she'll do anything they ask of her. It really hit me yesterday when I saw her in the gym-- she looked more like a young woman than a little girl. AAAAAAHHHHH....

When the lesson was over, Nicole (the Level 5 coach who also coached her TAG class last school year) came up to me and gave me a handwritten sheet with strength and conditioning exercises they'd like her to be working on at home. WHAT???? She's 6 years old and the fact that she has"gymnastics homework" seems silly/crazy to me! LOL!! We got talking and she told me that Li (Chow's wife) told her that Katherine "was a VERY special little girl with tons of talent". Evidently they have decided that Katherine's future at Chow's will be a long one and they can take her as high as she wants to go. Nicole told me that Katherine was everything they were looking for -- right body shape/size, great attitude, she'll do anything they ask, takes criticism well, makes any body/form corrections they ask, and doesn't have the "I'm the next Shawn Johnson" attitude. She's humble but confident; energetic yet controlled. She then started talking about pre-team and told me that most girls are in TOPS (Katherine's new class) for two years, but she doesn't see Katherine there for anywhere near that amount of time. They have big plans for my little girl! Katherine just stood there beaming and taking in every word Nicole said. She wants this so badly.....

Later that night, Matt and I had our first dinner out without Andrew. I've never felt comfortable leaving him with a babysitter (because yes, I am a control freak!! LOL!!) but our anniversary dinner out with friends seemed just the occasion! So when Mary Claire arrived, Matt and I took off to pick up Troy and Andrea. On the way there, he surprised me with some gorgeous bling! He bought me a beautiful 3 stone right hand ring and I LOVE IT!! Oh, and remember when he was late for Katherine's gymnastics lesson??? He and Andrew went over to Anglo and bought it. How sweet is that? I was shocked!! We had a nice night out, and then came home, put the kids to bed, and sat around the fire pit with Troy and Andrea and chatted. It was a really great night!!

So now I'm on the quest for the perfect birthday present for Matt. Anyone have any ideas???