Merry Christmas!

Christmas 2007.

Christmas 2009.

Two years changes a lot...particularly with the
addition of our little Landon!

But these three still know how to have a good time!

We had a great Christmas in Georgia this year and
hope everyone else did too!

What a sport!

Landon had to get tubes in his ears today. Although it was a common surgical procedure it did require him to have general anesthesia, which needless to say, makes me happy to have it safely behind us. He was a real sweetheart in his little hospital gown before the surgery. The nurses were smitten with him. Coming out of the anesthesia was hard for the poor little guy and he threw up quite a bit. But after a three hour nap he felt much more like himself. Hopefully a little better, so we can all get some sleep. Two months of ear infections = a household of sleepy Hansens. But hopefully things will be improving over the next few weeks.

I took these pictures on my phone, hence the poor quality.

Landon's First Pumpkin

On Friday Landon had his first encounter with a pumpkin.

He was instantly captivated!

When big sister showed him the wonderful goop inside......

...he was all the more intrigued.

So we put him on the floor and let him discover it on his own.

So began two taste tests!
First:

Hmm, not so good, let's try that again!
Second:

Okay, the verdict is in...Landon does not find raw pumpkin tasty! But he sure loved the pumpkin bread we made later and playing inside the pumpkin was splendid!

Needless to say, he ended up in the tub because he was covered in pumpkin from head...

...to toe!

One of the best Halloween moments ever!

Nine Months

Rylee's First Day of School!

All ready to go! It was still so early and dark when we left for school that the flash on my camera went off when it was set to Auto. And this is when we left...which was about 35 minutes later than the bus would have picked her up (6:55). That is too early especially since school doesn't start until 7:50 so we are driving Rylee in the morning (carpooling with Axel) and she will ride the bus home in the afternoon.

Looking good with a big girl backpack!

Here comes the bus!

We could see Rylee and Axel waving enthusiastically as the driver pulled up.

Can you tell she was excited? We are so happy Rylee and Axel have become such good friends, are in the same class, can sit together in the bus and carpool. Sometimes things just work out like a dream!
Notice in the pictures after school Rylee is not wearing her backpack. About 30 seconds after I took the last picture I asked "Rylee where is your backpack?" She looked frantically back at the bus as it drove away. Needless to say, I spent the next 10 minutes chasing down the bus in my friend Jill's car. But the backpack was recovered and Rylee went on to tell me she had a great first day. She loves her teacher and we really couldn't be happier with out things have worked out so far! Still...I can't believe my baby girl is already a kindergartner. I got a little choked up after dropping her off and am again as I write this. Its not that I am sad...I am super excited for her! Its just crazy how fast they grow!

Presenting....

Our neighborhood kids and parents worked hard to pull off the 3rd annual neighborhood play. This was obviously our 1st year and we had no idea how big of a deal this was going to turn out to be. Rylee had a blast playing "Star bellied Sneetch #6" who had 3 speaking lines which she delivered loud and clear. We really loved being a part of the fun and look forward to participating again next year! Needless to say we are glad we moved to such a great neighborhood!
It was...complete with live music...

....Awesome stage props, backdrops, and costumes!

Star bellied sneetches having fun on the beaches!

Star bellied Sneetches having a frankfurter party.

The sneetches without stars upons "thars" singing the blues.

McMonkey Mcbean and his machine (to take off/put on stars)!

Two special members of the audience reading the program!

All of the sneetches are the best on the beaches! (Rylee's great new friend Axel who lives in the neighborhood and is in her kindergarten class!).

(Almost) the whole cast!

Take a bow!

If you found this post confusing check out "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss. It has a great message about kindness and equality. Then come back and revisit this post and you will better appreciate what a superb performance these kids pulled together in only 6 days of 2 hour practices!

Hard at Work!

This week when we went to visit Daina, Mark and the girls, Mark brought home from work what is now Landon's favorite new toy!

Sometimes Landon makes faces like he takes things so seriously.

Thanks Uncle Mark!

Sneaky!

I walked into the living room yesterday and found Landon here.

I had left him here.

No, Landon is not crawling. But apparently a black carseat strap is much more exciting than this colorful contraption, at least for our boy on the move!