Monday, December 13, 2010

Let it Snow!

So, it has been an interesting weekend for us Wisconsinites hasn't it? My husband has been working nonstop since the snow started. Unfortunately we financially benefit from other's misery... So, I can honestly say that while this storm was unkind to all of us, we will be able to pay our property taxes next month no problem. So, there are ups and downs to every situation! This is a picture of my car...buried in snow!
So while my husband was out working, Gracelyn and I were stranded in the house. Now, this has its advantages. I am all caught up on laundry, the house is clean, and Gracelyn and I got to spend lots of mother daughter time together. Gracelyn also went pee pee on the potty twice this weekend! While she is not ready to wear big girl underwear yet...she does like to practice! She insisted on wearing her big girl undies over her pants. And yes she is holding a tampon in her hand. I did take it away from her right after I took the picture. She is convinced that they are some sort of "treat".

We also did some holiday banking!! She thought this was quite fun and tasty! Christmas 2010 here we come!

P.S. Notice her pretty toes! We did that too, after she poured an entire bottle of clear nail polish on her pants. Yeah, her mom didn't think she was strong enough to open it herself. I was so wrong!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Christmas Card 2010

Mod Snowflakes Christmas Card
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Thursday, December 2, 2010

Gracelyn - 18 Months

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Shutterfly

Thanks Anna for this amazing idea!! I love Shutterfly and have been using it religiously since I had Gracelyn. The photo quality is wonderful and Shutterly is the only place I go to when I need to get my pictures printed. I also have used Shutterfly for my Christmas cards, Gracelyn's First Year Scrapbook, Calenders, and the list goes on! Love, love, love Shutterly!! You have to check out their desk calanders and their birth announcements as well! They are the one stop shop for everything photo related! I also have to say that the scrapbook looked awesome and was a LOT less expensive than what it would have been if I would have done it by hand! My parents also use shutterfly exclusively! They have made photo books of the grandkids, holiday cards, calenders, and ordered pictures as well!

Here are some of the beautiful new designs they have out for 2010!





Look above in our newest post for our 2010 Holiday Card! It was so easy to make and I think it looks awesome!

Here are a few pics from Thanksgiving! Gracelyn is obsessed with Elmo! Loves to watch the 3 dvd's that we own! And she likes to pretend she is cookie monster and eat cookies, hence the last picture with the cookie shoved in her mouth!

She is talking up a storm! Says absolutely everything. No, ma ma...night night...Elmo!...Love you....Night night baby....play dough...num num...nu nu(nuk)...blankie...and my personal favorite "poopoo on the pottie" among many others...and yes she has gone poopoo and pee pee on the pottie! I am not holding my breath, but I am encouraging her ambition! She also sings the Elmo song...you know, "La la la la la la"..."Elmo loves his Goldfish, his crayon too.."

I can't believe she is old enough to do all these things! My baby is growing up into a little girl :-( Next post will be her beautiful 18 month pics!



Sunday, October 24, 2010

So Many Events!

We have been busy having lots of fun lately!!

We went the the children's museum on my last weekday off. I have gone back to working 5 days a week. Kind of a bitter sweet situation...excited to make a full time salary again...sad to not spend as much time with Gracelyn. But we made that last day a good one! Love the Eau Claire Children's Museum! She had a blast - her favorite part? The car sitting next to the "bank". I could not get her away from it!




Then Camden came to town! We hadn't seen Camden since August so it was nice to see him! Gracelyn has started to walk since the last time they saw eachother so they got to interact a little more. They love eachother, but sometimes it is hard when they want the same toy...Welcome to the next 10 years of their relationship! Fighting over toys will probably be something we will all have to get used to!






































One night while taking her bath..she decided she was done and wanted to get out. She is still too short to do it herself, but that certainly didn't stop her from trying!















And we will leave you with this. Daddy was trying to fix his lawn mower and Gracelyn decided she needed to help him. These are the moments that make me so very grateful to have my very own family. My dream has come true!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Hanson Family Reunion 2010

We had a wonderful weekend about a month ago for my family reunion!

It was soo, soo much fun!






Blogging

Hello!

I have to be honest, I have not wanted to blog. I don't know why I have such a bad attitude about it, but I have. I like to look at everyone else's blog, but I guess I just haven't really wanted to write myself. Finally, I am in the mood!

So what have we been up to? Ben has been working a crazy amount because they are currently down one man. It has been hard, but in the end we are both just grateful to have our jobs. Not everyone is that lucky.

I don't really write about my job much on here, but it is really a pretty large part of my life. I love my job and am usually excited to get back to work every Monday morning. It can be really stressful at times, when problems arise, but it also keeps me on my toes. Lately, I have been doing a lot more closings instead of searching. When I first started working at Total Title 3 years ago, I was deathly afraid of doing a closing...it meant I had to work with numbers and sound like I knew what I was talking about in front of other people. So scary! Now I love it and enjoy meeting new people every day. Simple refinances are fun because they are usually pretty laid back and there isn't much pressure. Sales are fun because it means that someone has just bought a house or a piece of land - and they are usually pretty excited about the whole event!

I also love searching because the inner historian and researcher in me likes to get in deep figuring out the legal description and putting the puzzle pieces together. Love my job! I also work for my mother in law who is very flexible and understanding of the fact that I am a working mom! So nice. The plan is for me to buy the title company one day and I am excited for the opportunity! I never ever had a goal to own my own company some day, it just kind of fell in my lap and I am very grateful!

So now for an update on little miss diva....Gracelyn is all girl! She loves to play with her babies!! She also loves chocolate!! Her most favorite thing to do would probably be dancing. She loves to dance. And the girl has rhythm, seriously. I don't mean to brag, but....I guess it runs in the family :-) She has been grooving to music since she was like 5 months old, but she has gotten more coordinated as she has gotten older. Her favorite song? If your happy and you know it! She dances around the room every time we sing it. When the song is done, she does her "more" sign and then we start all over.

The biggest news with the little one since the last time I wrote is that she is now a walking woman!!! She took her first few steps on August 30 and now is walking all over. I have been waiting for this moment and it has been worth the wait! I love that she can walk now, even if it is more work. She walks around with a huge smile on her face. She is so proud. And, it is also easier to dance when you know how to walk :-)

Can't wait for fall!! We are going to go pick apples next weekend! I crocheted Gracelyn an adorable hat for fall with a cute flower on it. I am going to crochet another one soon! I love coats and hats and snow and hot cocoa and christmas and thanksgiving and all of it!! Bring it on!

Just like Mr. Ledebuhr, Gracelyn got her hair cut for the first time since I posted too...Here are the before and after pics...



Thursday, July 29, 2010

 
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We are back!

So, we haven't really been blogging lately...obviously. So far we have had a very busy summer! We spent a week at the cabin. Gracelyn loved being outside and on the lake!! Then Ben's brother got married - Congrats Bruce and Shannen! Ben had been waiting for the "father/daughter dance" since the day we found out that they were getting married!

I have only been working 4 days a week so I am really enjoying the extra time off. We try to do fun things on my day off so we take advantage of the beautiful summer weather! Yesterday we went to the Madison zoo with my cousin Lisa, her two kids (Delaney and Dayne), my mom and dad, sister, sister-in-law, and my nephew Camden. We had an amazing time. I have noticed that watching Camden walk has peaked Gracelyn's interest and she wants me to walk her around more often. She still wants to hold on to both of my hands, but I am hoping within the month she will be walking on her own! She is frusterated and I want to end her frustration.

On a sadder note, and partly the reason I haven't wanted to blog, my cousin Kjersten passed away on July 14th. We were blessed to have 30 wonderful years with her and know that God must have really needed her in order to take her away from us so soon. She will always be in our thoughts and hearts.







Saturday, June 19, 2010

Gracelyn at 1...

Well, we now have a wonderful, beautiful 1 year old.

At 12 months old she loves:
Bananas
Popsicles
Her water table
Swinging
Being outside (she would love to be outside 24/7)
Her blankie (really blankies, I switch them out so that they will last longer, she drags them everywhere)
Giving kisses (we haven't learned to close our mouth yet though so they are juicy!)
Her sunglasses
To sleep!! We are lucky, lucky people!

She dislikes:
Cuddling (except when she is tired or sick and in the right mood)
Being inside
Mommy not letting her play with her cell phone
Being held by a stranger or even being talked to by a stranger (friendly huh?)


She is quite attached to her mommy and daddy, which is hard at times. We are working on it!

The picture below shows gracelyn snuggled up in her very favorite blanket, with her fingers intertwined in it, sleeping away...