Hansen Update

It's hard to believe it is February 2nd! Since our last post we have had Thanksgiving, final exams, Rylee's Birthday, Christmas, New Year's, a trip to GA, and Landon's Birthday. Its been a while, so here is an update on what has been happening in the Hansen household.

Rylee had her 7th birthday on December 23rd. The day before our friend Emma told us she had blown up about 50 balloons to put in Rylee's room while she was sleeping. Needless to say, she was so surprised when she woke up!

We had a fun birthday lunch at Chickfila and were really happy/surprised by how many people were able to make it 2 days before Christmas. She spent a long time picking out her "dream cake" and was really excited as it had been a few years since her last friend party.

Rylee was a lucky girl to receive 3 original birthday gifts this year. The first was a KDoll from Kristi, Conner, and Kylene. The second was a horse from the Chelsea, Sophie and Syrena. The doll and the horse both match Rylee's room decor of purple and yellow which is so darling. And the third was an apron from Emma (who also did the balloons...what a sweetheart). All three have become a part of Rylee's daily life and each time I look at them I think of how lucky we are to have such wonderful, generous, and creative friends!

Rylee is as vivacious as ever! She is still doing ballet on Thursday afternoons and loves playing with her friends outside after school. She just got her 2nd report card of the year and we were thrilled to find out she is reading above grade level! She gave her first talk in Primary a few weeks ago that she actually read instead of memorized which was very exciting. Her favorite subjects at school are Art and Spanish. She spends endless hours drawing and crafting. In the words of her teacher "Rylee has a mind of her own and it is always working."

Next came Christmas. I hosted my first Cookie Exchange this year. I really enjoyed doing it and hope to make it an annual event. Thanks to everyone who participated this first year as I worked out some of the kinks.

Here we are in our Christmas PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. Christmas morning was delightful and it was really fun to see Landon enjoy opening presents for the first time. We really did have a great Christmas...some of the highlights were Lance and Becca moving back to NC, making Christmas cookies, the Elf on the Shelf, Rylee singing O Holy Night, Landon singing Little Drummer Boy, Rylee reciting "T'was the Night Before Christmas" from memory, quiet nights of reading Christmas stories by advent candlelight, and of course lots of yummy food! That seems like forever ago now.

So...moving along...Landon had his 2nd birthday on January 14th and we took a trip to GA that weekend to see Daina's family. We went to Monkey Joe's for his birthday where he could have bounced all day long. Landon received a new chair from his Grandma and Grandpa Hansen. He loves it and is now often found cuddling in it with his blankie which he has just recently decided is a vital part of existence.

Landon spent much of January being sick, poor little guy. The doctor said he has "asthmatic tendencies" and so we have been administering albuterol via nebulizer and inhaler up to 5 times per day. Then last week he got the Flu and RSV which didn't help the situation. When we took him to the pediatrician on Sunday he actually had to go to the ER via ambulance. Thankfully he stabilized pretty much once we got there. We were so grateful to go home and not have to be admitted. Landon perks up for a few hours more each day. It is a relief to see his little personality back in action...which is in the full force of being two. Not too terrible, but two nonetheless. Mostly, he is truly a sweetheart who loves his mama! Lately he won't let poor Daddy do anything for him...put on his shoes...get him out of the crib (one morning he decided to stay in his crib an extra 35 minutes before he finally let Rylan get him out). He is saying 5 and 6 word sentences which often have us either cracking up or tearing up (because he is growing up just too darn fast).

Rylan is busy with school as always but things seems more manageable this semester because there is a lot more clinical work than book work. He graduates in 15 months! In a way that seems around the corner and in other ways it still feels like forever. He finally got released from his calling as a Primary Teacher at church and is now serving as a secretary in the Elder's Quorum Presidency.
I am working every other Saturday from 9am-3pm which is nice because Ry can be with the kids while I work and I can be with them all week. It has been a cold winter by NC standards so even though it is only Feb 2nd I am already ready for spring. I surprised everyone (including Rylan) with a trampoline at Christmas this year so it needs to hurry up and get warm so we can get more use out of it. I really enjoyed going to see Lion King with Rylee, Rylan and my mom last weekend. I know everyone says this...but the costumes really were amazing! It was unlike any other musical I have seen but I really liked it. This Saturday is my 28th birthday so I guess I have one more year of being something other than 29 for the rest of my life!
Well, I probably should have broken that up into several smaller posts but anyways, there you have it!