2 Kids!

Soon after Micah turned 2 he became obsessed with the number 2. Everything was 2 this and 2 that... Then when Hailey was born he started saying, "2 kids! We have 2 kids!" Well, here is a picture of my 2 kids!

Big potty, small potty

As many of you know we started potty training Micah at the end of July. I had wanted to start earlier but he was TERRIFIED of the toilet. We use to bribe him just to sit on it with all his clothes. Finally he was really interested in it once we got a small, training toilet. He seemed to catch on really quickly and had no accidents after only a few days. Well, Micah continues to do great as long as we are at home but he hates "big potties" and won't use them. He has done it a handful of times before but now suddenly wants nothing to do with them. And when I say nothing I really mean NOTHING! He screams, he cries, he arches his back so I can't even force him to sit on it. I bought a seat that goes on it to convert it smaller so he wouldn't fall in but he hates that even more. He's not afraid of the flushing...he actually LOVES to flush the toilet. I don't know what else to do and I am growing impatient very quickly! Even though he hates it when he wets his pants he would rather do that then actually sit on the big potty. So...HELP! Does anyone have any suggestions?

Sleeping Hailey!

After 7 1/2 long months Hailey is finally sleeping through the night! Well...at least for the past 2 nights and I'm really hoping it continues! We never had this problem with Micah. He was sleeping through the night by the time he was 3 months old (with some obvious interruptions, no baby is perfect!). Hailey did it a handful of times when she was only a few weeks old but it just seemed to get worse the older she got. We've had many sleepless nights of getting up with her, feeding her, rocking her, and many many nights of letting her scream! You know you are truly exhausted when it no longer bothers you to let your baby cry! Then there were the few times that she was screaming so loud that she woke Micah up...grrr! But I feel like we have finally reached a turning point after the last 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep! 

Micah and his BYU shirt

So on the very first BYU home football game Grandma decided that Micah needed a BYU shirt to wear. We were already into the 1st quarter of the game (in Cougar stadium) by the time she brought it to him. Immediately he wanted to wear it and loved it! Since that day (1 1/2 weeks ago) Micah has worn it every day, except to church, and the few hours I tore it off him so I could wash it! He has even worn it to bed every night! I can't get him to wear anything else.  Even when I needed to wash it he cried...not just any tears, uncontrollable sobbing, "MY BYU shirt!" I don't know how long this is going to last but we might have to get him another BYU shirt just so it isn't such a battle every time I need to do laundry! All I can say is... we know how to raise 'em!!! :)

Yeah Birthdays!

Yesterday was my birthday (wahoo!) and it was great! Micah and Hailey actually slept in a little bit so that was a nice birthday present! Eric had put up streamers before he left for work along with cards and my present (a Wii Fit that I actually bought myself 3 weeks ago!). My sister, Kristi, came and had lunch with me which was fun! Then my parents came that evening to help celebrate. My mom brought a little cake and a little tub of ice cream so it would still feel like my birthday but not to totally throw me off my diet! Micah kept calling the cake "chocolate pancake"! It was a great day, although, birthdays don't last nearly long enough as far as I'm concerned. Plus when you are a mom and have both your kids screaming at you it really just feels like any other day! :) Anyway, I was very grateful for all my family members and loved ones who called or sent cards or emails to help make my day feel special. Thank you all!

Taking pictures

Eric's mom wanted to get pictures taken of all 4 of her grandchildren together. It was a joke! Trying to get 4 kids (Micah, almost 3, Kylie, 2 1/2, Abbey, 1 1/2, and Hailey, 7 months) to sit still for even 30 seconds was pretty much impossible. It didn't help that the photographer was an amateur and extremely slow! I had stopped going to Kiddie Kandids anyway because I thought they were over priced but after this experience I was convinced to never go back! We didn't actually get a picture of all 4 children together but here are a few of my kids. I'm sad the one of Micah and Hailey together that they aren't smiling but at least they aren't crying!

Hailey Ann Hansen

Our little "Hailey Girl" was born on January 26, 2008. She was 6 lbs. 5 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. Hailey's due date was actually February 2 but, between the fact that my doctor was leaving the country and that I had already been contracting for 2 weeks they decided to induce me. Her delivery didn't start out quite as smoothly as Micah's but, it did go faster so it all turned out ok. Hailey came after only 1 push and even that wasn't really needed. At one point we lost her heartbeat so the nurse checked to see if she had dropped. Again she rushed to call my doctor and told me to keep my legs closed, not to laugh, sneeze, or cough or she'd be delivering the baby before the doctor arrived. After another miserable pregnancy I decided quick labors are my reward! We were grateful she came quickly because she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck and we were lucky that didn't cause any problems. Hailey came out screaming at the top of her lungs! Right from the beginning she was opposite from her brother! I knew even in the womb she was going to be a more active baby. There were nights I couldn't sleep because she would move so much! Not much has changed...Hailey is go, go, go ALL the time. She wants constant attention and interaction. It's fun to see her and Micah together. She LOVES him! She laughs at everything he does and is mesmerized by everything he does. Micah loves her too...when he wants! :)

Micah Eric Hansen

Micah was born on October 15, 2005. He weighed 6 lbs. 7 oz. and was 21 inches long. He was 9 days early so was very unexpected! I had just quit my job the day before and thought I had at least a week and probably 2 to finish cleaning our house and getting ready. When I started having contractions at 2:00 a.m. I didn't know what to do so I got up and started cleaning and doing laundry! Eric woke up around 5:00 a.m. wondering what I was doing. We started timing my contractions and realized they were about 1-2 minutes apart. Being first time parents we had no clue what we were doing and when we called my doctor's answering service they wondered why we weren't already at the hospital! Once we got to LDS Hospital I was already dilated to a 3 1/2 so I could have my epidural! Yeah! Things progressed rather quickly as I dilated from a 6 to a 10 in 19 minutes. The nurse called the doctor because we were ready much faster than expected. The nurse was already able to tell our little boy had hair! After only 3 pushes Micah came out completely quiet. The doctor said normally they want the babies to cry but his skin was pinking up and his eyes were open so they weren't worried. Little did we know this was the beginning of Micah's mellow personality! I was grateful to have an easy delivery after the miserable 9 months I had just experienced! It took us 9 months to try and find the right name but as soon as he was born we knew that "Micah" fit him perfectly!

Micah will turn 3 years old next month and has kept us very busy! He is ALL BOY! He was the perfect baby and was mellow and calm all the time...now there is nothing mellow or calm about him! It's really fun to watch his little brain work! He is 100% daddy's boy and wants to do anything and everything with Eric. I think his favorite being playing guitars. Micah turns every toy, spoon, or pillow into a guitar! It's hilarious to watch him "rock out". He has been an extremely amusing and entertaining child and although tired, we enjoy every minute with him!

Start from the very beginning, it's a very good place to start!

As I thought about what I would actually write about on my blog I thought it would be a good idea to start from the top! As a little introduction to "Hansen Familie" (family in German) here is where Eric and Sarah began...

At the start of a new semester, September 2003, Eric started out his Senior, and final year, at BYU. At the last moment he decided to stay put in his current apartment. He was tired of meeting new people and especially dating! Basically he had given up on girls! Sarah moved into the building next door to Eric's; their front doors where no more than 100 feet apart. She had come down a week earlier to start her second year at UVSC to find her apartment in shambles. After some long searching and helpful phone calls from her brother, the lawyer, she was able to find this new apartment living with her sister-in-law's sister. The room had literally just become available and Sarah felt impressed to take it. She had just ended a serious relationship and was feeling pretty jaded by guys and had all but sworn them off! 

Sarah's roommate had been called to be in charge of their Family Home Evening activities in their ward. Their apartment had conveniently been placed in the same FHE group as Eric's apartment. Sarah had no intentions of going or meeting new people but her roommate begged her to go so she wouldn't be alone. At their first "meeting" they had the typical conversation; where are you from? what is your major? When Sarah found out that Eric was an Economics major she quickly realized that he could be of some help. She was taking an Econ class and was beyond lost! The teacher might as well been speaking Portuguese because that's about as much as she understood. Sarah thought he was cute, could maybe help her with some Econ homework, but pretty much left it at that. She later found out that Eric and his roommate talked and had called "dibs" on her and her roommate. Each week Sarah and Eric talked a little more and found out some common interests like their love for DisneyLand and The Beatles! Eric started randomly stopping by to visit Sarah at her apartment and Sarah found herself walking the long way to her car so she could walk by Eric's front window. Everything in Sarah's head told her it was not the right time to start a relationship, especially with someone who was SO different from the guys she normally dated, but her heart was telling her something else. On Halloween weekend Eric and his roommates planned for a bunch of people to go to a comedy show. Sarah went out and bought a new outfit so she'd look HOT in hopes that Eric would make a move. Nothing happened that night but he did tell her he thought she looked like Juliann Moore...she couldn't remember who that was but she was famous so that had to be a good sign! The next night, at Eric's apartment, he finally got up the courage to hold Sarah's hand! :) Once alone they talked about what they both wanted. Sarah explained that she had just gotten out of a painful relationship and hadn't been looking for anything but that she felt drawn to Eric in a way she couldn't explain. She wanted to see where things would go but hoped they could take things slowly. In her mind that meant, still date other people; in Eric's mind it meant, don't kiss her for a month. :) That night Eric knew that one day they would get married. Fortunately for him he didn't share that piece of information or it would have sent Sarah running for the hills! A few days later Eric was telling Sarah a story about running into an old missionary buddy and he was happy to tell him he had a girlfriend. Sarah was shocked to realize she was that girlfriend. At the risk of sounding stupid she just went along with it and from then on they were considered "dating". 

After only 2 months of dating things were progressing quite nicely and they made plans to visit each other at their homes during Christmas vacation. Sarah's sister was getting married 2 days after Christmas and when Eric volunteered to come help babysit the 10 grandchildren her family knew he had fallen head-over-heels! Sarah still not willing to accept things were that serious tried to talk him out of coming and tried to talk her way out of her visit to Idaho. She wasn't successful. Eric had told her he wanted to marry her but Sarah just laughed and said it was too early to talk about it. Well, after meeting his family and spending time with him there she then knew it was time to discuss the possibility.

Once back in Provo Eric and Sarah decided it was time to fast and pray about whether it was right for them to get married. Sarah stressed for what seemed like an eternity for this eternal decision! She called all her sisters wondering how they knew when their spouse was "the one". She went back and forth, back and forth, desperately wanting to make the right decision. Meanwhile, Eric called and made a temple date. One day Sarah was sitting in her institute class and out of nowhere, and having nothing to do with what the lesson was about, she saw a future with her and Eric, married and teaching a Young Women's lesson about when they got married. It was then that Sarah had the peace she'd been searching for and knew that Eric was not only the man she loved but the man she was suppose to spend the rest of her life and eternity with. Lucky for her they already had a temple date!

Eric and Sarah were married on May 27, 2004 in the Salt Lake Temple. Then they spent a week at Disney World for the best honeymoon ever!

Ok! I GIVE!

Ok, I give! Uncle! I will do a blog! I have succumb to the pressure and I am now going to attempt to create a blog. I can't guarantee it will look as fancy, or that I will update it as often, as some of you do but I will do what I can. It's amazing how out of touch you can feel when you spend all your time raising 2 children! So I will strive to be Wonder Women (ha ha). But honestly, give me some time to figure out what I'm doing and I will eventually catch up to the rest of you!