Prego

So I have two weeks and five days to go. In a way I like going through the last stretch over the Holidays. It is a great distraction and time has been flying quickly.

Four Sundays ago, Dec. 12th, I went into false labor. My contractions where growing closer together. They where about 2 and a half minutes apart at one point. We started to do last minute preparations to go to the hospital. Then they started to grow further and further apart. They kept happening about fifteen minutes apart the day after. I asked my doctor about it and she said that it was common for someone who had premies their first pregnancy. Their body goes into labor around the same time they went into labor before and then their body corrects itself. She said it might happen once or twice again.

I experience something similar about a week ago. Nothing since, just regular good ol' fashion Braxton Hicks.

My doctor thinks that she might be sitting side to side. She says that is likely that she'll turn head down. I have been praying that she will. I have an ultrasound this week.

I feel pretty calm and good about whatever happens.

Christmas

So I made it through Christmas without going into labor. Yay! We spent Christmas with Talmage's family in Globe. It was fun chatting with the family, going to the park, quadding (safe and slow of course), taking care of the kiddos, opening presents, reading a book, eating delicious food, and just relaxing. I felt like I relaxed and snacked the whole time. Pregnant woman interpretation: Wonderful.

How to Write a Children's Book

Step One: Think of a Child and occasion to write it for: Heber and Hannah's Christmas present.

Step Two: Have an amazing spouse who can think up the idea with you and write all the words.

Step Three: Order some blank baby books

Step Four: Take about ten hours or so and draw some pictures to put in the book.

Step Five: Scan them into the computer, add words, graphics, etc.

Step Six:Have someone with a good eye for words edit. Thank you Jana.

Step Seven: Print on sticky paper that comes with blank books. Stick into book.

Step Eight: Bask in the joy of finishing

Step Nine: Wrap and hope that they will like it

Step Ten: Give one to them to read and keep the other one on the tallest shelf in the house as a keep sake. Save a digital version, just in case.

Christmas Card

When Heber and Hannah where born I had this great idea of combining our Christmas card with their baby announcements.

What! You don't remember that?!? Well, that is because I dropped the ball. I went through all the effort of making them but fell flat on my face when it came to printing them out and sending them. Blame it on sleep deprivation and taking care of new born baby's.

Last year I didn't even attempt a Christmas card.

I am proud to say that I did one this year though. I just sent it out to our siblings, parents and grandparents. Start off small.

We hope you are having a Merry Christmas this year!

From the Hansen Family

Graduations

Talmage and I graduated together this last Friday with our degrees in General Engineering.

My primary emphasis was in Electrical Engineering and a secondary focus in Art.

Talmage's primary emphasis was in Civil Engineering and certificate in GIS (Geographic Information Science).

I thought it was going to be anticlamatic because I finished my last class this summer. In the end it was an amazing experience to graduate together. We went through it all together and it felt so good to be rewarded together.

Thank you to all those who came to support us and who have encourage and supported us through the years.

Yesterday's Adventure

Yesterday as I was getting things ready for a bridal shower that I was throwing for my sister, Amanda, I had to run to the grocery store to get some things for it. I strapped Heber in his car seat and Hannah crawled to the back row of seats. I thought "No biggy, I'll run inside and get what ever it was and then come back and strap her in." I came back and tried to open the door, but it was locked. They where all locked. Hannah had locked the doors and the keys were in the car!

I panicked, horror stories of children locked in cars probably were in the back of my mind. I called Talmage and told him what was going on. I tried to coax Hannah into unlocking the door. She would put her finger on the button but not push it. I told her to open the door and she pulled on the handle, but not hard enough. When I would point to something she would just point to my finger on the window. All the while she wasn't too terrible interested.

After 15 minutes or so of trying to work with her I said a prayer. A lecture Talmage had in school on dealing with stress came to my mind. Basically if someone is under stressed or over stress their productivity weakens. I just knew that I had to wait for the right time where she was a little worried but not overwhelmed. I went back inside and started deep cleaning, something I needed to do for that night anyways.

I went and checked on them a couple times, trying to see if she would cooperate. She was more interested in

• a permanent marker (how does she always find those!)
• gum, she ate one and a half packets of gum
• crackers, which she also feed to Heber
• dumping my purse and wallet and stringing the contents all over the van

Heber was a good sport about all of it. I could tell he didn't want to be in his car seat and he whined when he saw me, but he handled it well.

Finally, after an hour and a half I got her to push the unlock button! I opened the door so fast and caught her as she was falling out of the van. I hugged her and told her that she did a good job.

Moral of the story, patience goes a long ways with kids. Or just have a spare key around, it will come in handy.

One Year Older...

Hannah and Heber turned 2! We took them to one of their favorite places, the park.

They ate cake. Yeah, a lot of cake.They didn't really understand the whole openning presents concept but they loved banging on them.

We thought Heber would love his big truck for sure but were hesitant if Hannah would love her doll. Hannah ended up liking her doll and Heber ended up liking her doll too.

We took them to a live Nativity Pageant. They loved the animals there but once the opening prayer was started they started screaming and crying like no other. We took them home, needless to say lots of cake does not make for calm toddlers.

Hannah, Too Sweet For Her Own Good

Today Heber refused to throw away his diaper and so I put him in time out. When he was done, I went to have him throw away his diaper but Hannah had sweetly and quietly already done it for him.

Another time Heber was in time out, he was pretty upset and beside himself. Hannah brought him a soft blanket and a sippy cup. Kinda defeating the purpose of time out.

He continuously tries to take things from Hannah. She gets upset and as I start to scold him. She sweetly hands what ever it is to him. Too sweet for her own good.

Question: Where are the pictures of you looking so big?

So this wasn't one of those All Ears questions. Carrie asked me it in the comment room. I had Talmage take them of me last night. I probably should have fixed my hair or something, oh well that is the real me. The little appendage is Hannah.

Question: How come the "baby meter" below sometimes shows the baby right-side up and other times up-side down? Is that what really happens?

I don't think she turns that much from up to down as the "baby meter" shows. I think she was hanging out side to side on my last ultra sound. The baby meter shows how developed she is, she doesn't look like an alien as much anymore and is looking more baby like. And it tells me how far along I am, which is good because I don't really keep track and if I forget I just check it out.

Question: Do you actually want to have another baby?

Yes, I do. I know it is a little crazy especially considering that I already have two babies (ok, toddlers) running around that I would want another one but I do. This pregnancy was planned and it felt and still feels so right to have this new addition coming.

I'll admit that at times it seems daunting to be pregnant and have two other young ones. I expected it to be an easier pregnancy because I am having one instead of two. I guess I didn't consider having to chase around two and the fact that I would be this big. It also seems daunting at times looking forward to having a new born with two other littles ones.

Often when I am out in public I think of how ridiculous my situation must look to people as I am handling Heber and Hannah while being so big and pregnant.

All and all I am happy about it. When we have more I think it will be after a good four or five year span. But that is what I thought after having Heber and Hannah, we'll see.

What have I been up to these days?

• Window painting. Something I have been wanting to do for years. A friend of my family has done it during the holidays for years. She takes her earnings and splurges on Christmas. So I decided to try it too. So far I have painted my window, a neighbor's, two McDonald's, a Fry's and I have a couple more lined up. For a couple pictures see the link at the top called Window Painting.
• I have been working on a painting for a Christmas present for my Grandmother. I have her name this year. She has wanted an oil painting from me for a while now. Her style is something southwestern with pastel colors. Both really different from me. So it has been a challenge to figure out a picture that I would like to do and that she would like to have.
• Talmage and I have been wanting to write a children book for Heber and Hannah for a while. So we decided to make it for Christmas for them. It is called "A Day in the Life of Mighty and Magnificent". I have one page illustrated and Talmage has a couple of the pages written out. I took a lot of searching to find a toddler proof book that we could have our story printed in but I found a website that sends you blank books. Then you print out your story on clear film and stick them in the book.
• I have been getting stuff ready for Olive, two more months to go, although I keep getting the "any day now?" comment. All our spare dressers are being used by Angel and Seth so I have been on the prowl for a new dresser for Olive. My Aunt Lois came across a dresser at a yard sale. She's a beauty. It is my favorite dresser in the whole house. I would show you pictures but my camera is MIA and my placenta head can't remember where it went.
• I made this car seat for Olive. I had a hard time deciding on the material but once I found some material that I liked and it just came together with some material that I had laying around.
• I already put up the Christmas tree before Halloween. Crazy I know. I figured the sooner the better because I am only going to get bigger. So I'll just do a little at a time and it will be fun, pressure free holiday decorating.

That is all I got for now.

My mom came to visit last week. A pleasant, unexpected surprise. So blogging was pushed to the back burner. And I am going to push it to the back burner some more. Just a few notes of what is going on in my life though.
Heber's arm was hurt yesterday, we went to urgent care this morning. I was trying to lead him to the backyard. He was having a tantrum and through himself on the floor. I heard and felt something pop. They found nothing on the x ray but think it might be a fracture. He looks so cute with his hospital gown, which they gave him, and caste.
I had an ultrasound of Olive and she is doing wonderfully. But I lost 3 lbs because I have been feeling nauseous and food sounds unappetizing generally. Generally, not always, sometimes I have something that really hits the spot. My stomach has been hurting, which is why I am up now, the Dr. said that I have a hernia. It hurts when I bend over and when I pick up Heber and Hannah. I remember similar pain with Heber and Hannah, but just thought it was part of being pregnant.
Talmage has the Fundamentals of Engineering test tomorrow, all day. He has been a little stressed in anticipation of it. He has been studying hard for months now and I really think he will do well.

Dishes

One trick we have around here to keep the dishes down is assigned cups. Mine are any of the clear, beveled glasses. Seth's is the bigger ASU. The kids have ASU and sippy cups. Angel has the smooth glass. Talmage has the UofA cup. We all have 3 to 7 of our kind of cups, except for Seth. He only has one and seems content with it.

Sorry, I wasn't able to get on the computer yesterday at all. Between Talmage studying for school and my sister writing a paper. I was only on it to edit her paper. I was full of big promises and high hopes. A post a day, what was I thinking! Idiot!

Laundry

I know you are thrilled to know how laundry is done around here.
Firstly, Talmage brings the dirty laundry down from our bedroom (because he is wonderful). I try to wash one or two batches a day and put it away before I get started on another batch. I used to wash a whole bunch of loads at once. The problem with that is that they get piled up in my bedroom and left until who knows when.I hang the tots clothes and I throw the clothes in their dressers. Shirts, pants and others all in different drawers. Yes, you heard me right, I do not fold their clothes.
For Talmage and me I hang all of our nice shirts, pants and for me, skirts. I color code all our hanging up clothes. I think that it makes it easier to find clothes and it just looks cleaner.
Call me crazy but I hang my clothes on white hangers and Talmage has all the blue and dark hangers. Hannah's hanger's are pink, clear and white and Hebs has all the blue and dark hangers.

About every couple weeks I reorganize our non hanging clothes. What are some of your tricks that make laundry run smoother or that make it worth you while?

I love processes, charts or anything to organize how something is done. So naturally I like figuring out what make things run easier and more efficient around the house. Like how are chores done, laundry, meals, etc. I just eat up other peoples blog post on these topics. Next week, Monday through Friday you'll get a post a day finding how it is all done here at the Hansen's. My treat to you.

Question: Who's smarter, Talmage or Rachel?

I thought that this blog post would be a quick and easy. I'd just say that I personally think that Talmage takes the cake on this one because he is so methodical, scholarly, and continue to list all the other reasons why. When I showed him the post though he said that I didn't give myself enough credit.So I found this table online talking about six different areas of smarts and categories within those areas. Then Talmage and I rated ourselves on scale of zero to five in each area. Zero being "dumber then a box off rocks" and five being "pretty good or excellent".

The grand total came out to be the same. So we perceive ourselves as equally smart. The fun thing was to see where we each held our smartness strength.

What category of smartness do you think you do best in? Visual-Spatial, Verbal- Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Musical-Rhythmic, Interpersonal or Intrapersonal?

Question: Ok I looked where you told me, but still couldn't find how to get my own question thingy!

• Go to Wufoo.com
• Make a Log In account
• Go to the bottom left side of the page and click on Gallery
• Click on Forms on top of page

• Click on Contact Form

• Click on the green Customize button

• Click on Form Settings to change the title and to add a description. The title I chose was "All Ears"

• Click on Email Address on the right side and delete it by pushing the red minus button. (If you do this people won't have to put their email in just to make a comment.)
• Click on Forms on the top of the page
• Click on Code in the middle of the page.
• Click on Embedded Form Code
• Copy the Java Script Version
• Go to your blog Design
• Add a Gadget to the side panel of your blog
• Pick the HTML/JavaScript gadget
• Paste in the code that you copied from the wufoo website
• Save the gadget
  
• Make sure to save the changes you made to your blog design too.
• Your all done!!!