It's been a LOOONG time....

8/25/2010

So WOW….its been quite a year! We have had a lot happen since I wrote last.

Christmas was awesome! It was nice to share our lil man with our families for the holidays. We went to Christmas Eve at Christine’s grandparents and then we did Christmas Day with Jimmy’s family at his parents house. We were lucky to have Jimmy’s sister & husband, Andria & Ian including their lil boy, Aidan with us this year….which was great because we finally got to meet Aidan and the boys got to meet each other. Tristan wasn’t quite sitting on his own yet and Aidan was just starting to scoot around on the floor. They loved meeting each other and couldn’t wait to get a little bigger so they could really PLAY together. We also got to see Jimmy’s dad, Chris before they left and got a great picture of Grandpa Chris with both of his Grandsons!

Next up…We bought our first home!















It’s a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath, 2-story home. Attached 2-car garage. On the inside of the curve in a court so we have a nice wide, pie-shaped lot that is almost a ¼ acre, which is great for the dogs. We moved in on New Years Eve, after many weeks of demo and remodeling. Jimmy was over here almost everyday after work ripping out flooring, repairing walls/ceilings, painting, putting in ceiling fans etc etc etc…..there was so much to be done before we could move Tristan into this house. Jimmy removed carpet from the living room and the stairs, removed tile from the dining room, hallway, kitchen and family room and all the wood flooring upstairs. Then we found out that the carpet we chose wasn’t going to be manufactured until January, so lucky for us the carpet guy (helps to know people in the business) said he would install temporary carpet and then when ours was ready help us move furniture and such to install the new stuff….all because we had to move before our carpet would be ready. So that’s what happened. We got some really nice ugly dark brown, marbled, apartment grade carpet that didn’t reach the walls, in the 2 living rooms and our bedroom and Tristan’s bedroom only. Man were we happy when the new, pretty, off white, speckled carpet was put in. We have carpet in all the bedrooms and hallway upstairs, on the stairs and in the living and family rooms. We re-used the wood from upstairs to do the entry, hall and dining room. And Jimmy re-tiled the kitchen, on the diagonal, which I understand is the most difficult choice for laying tile. It all looks great!

In Febuary we took our first family vacation. We took a long weekend in Monterey, CA. I had a travel voucher good for $500 from my work that was given to me as a wedding gift and so we decided to finally use it. We stayed in a nice little hotel, right on the water. We got to see otters and scuba divers every morning swimming just a few 100 feet from our balcony. We took Tristan to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, had dinner at Bubba Gumps and let Tristan taste a lemon for the first time.

In March I was laid off after 5 years with Flatiron. Basically it was because of the economy and the lack of jobs, that they were going to eliminate my position. I was shocked…but it was something Jimmy & I had wanted to happen so that I could start a small childcare business at home. It has been great being able to stay home with Tristan rather than him going to daycare and being cared for by other people for 9-10 hrs a day.

Also, in March we lost Jimmy’s Grandmother, Irene Hansen. She had been sick at the time, but we thought she was on the mend and then suddenly she took a turn for the worse and she is now in heaven. She will be missed and we are so grateful that she was able to spend some time with both of her Great Grandsons before leaving us. Then as if that wasn’t hard enough on the family, in April, Jimmy’s dad, Chris, passed away. It was absolutely, sudden and unexpected and really sent the family into a whirlwind of emotions. We had a beautiful service for each of them. At least we can have comfort in knowing that they are together watching over all of us from heaven and they are no longer in any pain. We are so grateful of the picture we captured of Chris with his 2 grandsons at Christmas as it was the first and only time we had all 3 of them together.

"4 generations of Hansen men"

It's not everyday that you are able to get a picture of 4 generations ...so we made sure to get this shot.

We are so grateful now that we did.

Moving on to happier times….In May we found out that Jimmy’s sister is pregnant again.

She is due November 10, 2010 and its another boy! His name is Colin Christian.

We are excited with the anticipation of welcoming another boy into the family and can’t wait to see Aidan as a BIG Brother!

In June we purchased a new car. We got a 2009 Toyota Sienna. Yes, I got a minivan! Lol It seats 8 people.

We also celebrated Tristan’s FIRST Birthday! A great time was had by all! It was a cowboy theme. We had a good 30-40 people show up including family, friends and lots of kids. Tristan got a TON of new clothes, toys and books. He had chocolate cake and made a huge mess. He was so worn out that he took a 3-4 hour nap afterwards.

Lastly, also in June, Jimmy decided to leave Hearn Construction after 5 years of dedicated service. He has joined Doug Ross Construction. They are based out of Palo Alto and he is currently working on a project in Santa Cruz. He stays at his best friends house in Santa Cruz a night or two a week and comes home the rest of the time. Its hard, but we make it work. Who knows, maybe we will end up moving back to the South Bay Area. Because of this, I have put getting a childcare license on hold, as the requirements and stuff can change from county to county.

In August, we celebrated our 4^th wedding anniversary and shortly after, we found out we are pregnant again! We are due March 10^th, 2011. It is still too early to know if it’s a boy or girl…but we will be sure to let you all know as soon as we know.

Tristan growth update....At his 1 year check up he was 25 lbs 12 oz (95th%) and 2ft 6in (43rd%). He officially learned to walk at his birthday party is is running allover now. He is also showing signs of 'terrible twos' and hes only 14 1/2 months old.

So that is the news in our lives! We hope all is well with you and yours! I’ll try to write again soon.

Love,

Christine, Jim, Tristan & Baby#2!!!!!

(PS- see the tab above labeled Pictures)

oh my oh my

I have to apologize for taking so long to do an update. Life has been crazy hectic in the Hansen household. So, enough small talk....lets get to business.

Hmmm....where to start. During the last few weeks of September, my sister, Tera, started coming over to learn how to take care of Tristan, because I needed to return to work in October. So Tera started coming over and after the first week, I started going on short errands to leave them alone.

I started work on Friday October 16th. I was pumping...but I found that I wasn't producing enough milk to make the time of pumping worth it. I was lucky if I got 1 oz total from both sides. So after the first week I only had about 4 1/2 or 5 oz of breastmilk. So I stopped pumping and I only breastfed in the morning and evening. It didn't last long before Tristan just wouldn't let me breastfeed anymore.

Leaving T all day wasn't so hard, because I was leaving him with my mom and Tera, but what WAS hard, was knowing that I was going to start missing things. He was just starting to really learn how to do stuff and I just knew that things were going to start to fly by.

• On October 30, I got a text message from my mom....it was a picture of Tristan on his belly. The caption said "Mommy, I rolled over by myself". He rolled from back to belly when grandma wasn't looking.

Around the end of October/1st of November, T's behavior started changing. On a Saturday he, was acting really fussy. Nothing really seemed to make him happy for very long. He didn't feel warm to me, but I took his temperature and it was about 101.4, but a few hours later it was back down to within normal range. then it went up again to a very mild fever so I gave him a small dose of baby Tylenol. He started waking up in the middle of the night, when he has been sleeping thru the night for a long time. When I would go into his room to give him his paci, that wasn't good enough, so I would pick him up. He would keep his eyes closed the whole time and just whine/moan. The only thing that would settle him down was to feed him. Well then, on November 4th I got to my moms house to pick T up after work. Him and I were playing on the floor. He was holding my finger and he stuck it in his mouth and I was like :-O "what is that?" I went to work, trying to get his mouth open so I could SEE what I was feeling.....Sure enough, you guessed it, he got his FIRST tooth. Then just 3 days later the 2nd tooth broke thru! WOW! He wasn't even 5 months old yet and had 2 teeth.

• What really made this a 'Special' moment? I felt like he was 'showing' me. My mom and Tera hadn't noticed it (or if they did, they kept it secret...thank you). It felt like he was proud of himself and had saved this moment just for me!

Tristan has now celebrated his first Halloween. We had professional photos taken of him in his Halloween costume. He was a turtle. In the picture there is a bunny (Thumper), so we call it the Tortoise and the Hare. hehe The weekend before Halloween, T went with my mom to GGs house for our annual pumpkin carving party. One of his Aunties carved a pumpkin for him. This was his first overnight without mommy and daddy. While he was seeing the family, Jimmy and I were at the annual Halloween Party that we go to that benefits Vacaville Public Education Foundation. We were Pirates.

On Halloween my mom and I took T to the pumpkin patch. We bought him his 1st pumpkins. He got one normal size one, as well as two smaller ones. I wrote 'Baby's 1st' on one and the other was small enough for him to hold. We dressed him in the Ewok costume we got from The (Washington) Fong family and took pictures of him in the hay wagon full of pumpkins, and riding on the 'faux' horsies. It was a lot of fun. In the normal size pumpkin, I carved two BIG holes in the bottom and we took pictures of T sitting inside his pumpkin. Then I used those 'leg' holes as eyes and carved his pumpkin upside down.

Tristan is growing so fast. His next doctors appointment is Monday November 23rd.

3.5 months old

So we went to the doctor today. Tristan had to get his second round of vaccinations. One oral and two shots. He got more Bugs Bunny Band Aids and he cried for a little longer this time...but then he was asleep in his car seat by the time we got out of the doctors office. He slept in the car and then he woke up when we got home and I fed him and he went down for his afternoon nap (early) and slept for about 3 hours. Then later fell asleep in my arms while I was watching funny videos on You Tube about babys first laughs...they were so funny!

Anyway, Here is where he is at now! 14 pounds, 13.5 ounces and 25 inches long. He is in the 75th percentile for his height and the 50-75th percentile in weight. The doctor is very happy with his growth. She wants us to work more on tummy time so he can start to roll over. She said since all is going well with his weight gain, we will wait to start cereal once he is 6 months old. She also said he is almost ready for the exersaucer, he just needs to get a little more control over his neck/head.

He started giggling a few days ago and smiles alot now. He likes it when we put his toes in his mouth...that makes him giggle. And this morning him and I were hanging out on the bed and just talking and making faces lying next to each other....when I sat up and then sat him up in front of me and started talking to him he started giggling....that was pretty special.

For a while now he has been batting at his toys that hang from his play mat...but today he actually started intentionally reaching for them. He will hold the rattle in his left hand and the chime-frog with his right hand and move his arms all over and kick his feet like crazy. He also will grab the rattle with both hands and try to pull it down to put it in his mouth.

By now you should have received an email from Snapfish, inviting you to view our pictures. If you haven’t gotten this email, please let me know so I can have it resent. The only downfall, is they require you to sign up in order to view the pictures..but its FREE and just takes a few minutes…plus this is really the easiest way for you to see current pictures as email will only allow me to send a few pics at a time. I plan to upload pictures each month, of the previous month. So when Tristan turns 4 months old on October 11th, shortly there after, I will upload all the pics that we took of him while he was 3 months old. With Snapfish, you should be able to order prints of any of our pictures and they will mail them to you. They also have all kinds of other merchandise that you can get with his picture on it, like mugs, mouse pads, calendars, photo books, even stamps! Also, now that we are set up on Snapfish, I should be able to load slideshows onto the blog, which should be easier and faster than the way I have been doing it in the past. So after I upload the 3month pics I will try to put a slide show on the blog.

So here are just a few pictures to get you by until October 11th (ish)! ;-)

Playing in my new exersaucer thing...although I'm still not quite big enough for it.















Great Grandma and Grandpa Hansen came over for a visit















4 Generations of Hansen Men.
Great Grandpa Herb, Grandpa Chris, Daddy Jim and Baby Tristan














(This is the only shot that mommy got on our camera...not so good.
Will Grandpa Chris and Great Grandma email my mommy some of the shots that were taken with your camera?
Pretty please with a Tristan Kiss on Top!?!?!)


Hanging out on the couch...eating my hands

Wearing my "I was Born at John Muir Medical Center" T-shirt!

Blowing Bubbles! (if you look closely, you can see them on my chin)















Getting a Bath















MOMmmmmmm....I am trying to play here...stop it with the flash!




















Playing with my toys, and kicking my legs!














Watching "Handy Manny" on Disney Channel




















Well...That's All Folks!
XOXOXOXOXO

We have ourselves a little Gemini!

About the Gemini Child - A Quick and Agile Mind

Your Gemini child will look up at you with bright, merry eyes, making you laugh as he makes it clear there's a lot going on in that head of his. And if he starts talking at an early age, he's just living up to his nature!

Gemini children tend to be communicative, charming, and social, but even if your Gemini child is a quieter sort, he's still quick-witted, curious, and mentally engaged with the world around him. Make sure he's always surrounded with books and puzzles to stimulate his mind, and give him plenty of space and supplies for his many projects.

Gemini children love anything new, and they tend to bounce from one activity to the next at a moment's notice. As soon as they master a new challenge, they'll grow bored with it and move on. Their mood may also change in the blink of an eye.

Many Gemini children are indecisive or change their minds often. The other side of this coin is their adaptability. Gemini children often prefer variety of experience over depth of understanding, but as their parent, you can help them focus and develop a particular area of strength.

Your Gemini will excel at cerebral endeavors like reading, writing, and debate, as well as anything requiring dexterity, such as playing the piano. Due to their variety of interests, Gemini children tend to have many friends and will often be the center of the circle, naturally excelling at what we grown-ups call networking.

WELL...That about sums Tristan up!!! I can see the signs, of a lot of these traits already!

Visitors!

We are so lucky to have so many family members that love us so much. This past week was filled with lots of visitors!!!

Ok…So, last post, we had just gone to the doctor....Tristan weighed 11lbs 13oz and we found out breastfeeding alone wasn't enough....that was last Wednesday...so the doctor asked us to come in for a weight check on Monday....just 5 days later he weighed 12lbs 12oz....that’s almost 1 full pound in 5 days!! WOW! :-O

On Thursday Grandpa Michael and Grandma Mary came down from Auburn for lunch. Tristan got to snuggle and fall asleep with Grandma and he got to play with Grandpa. He really enjoyed sharing his smiles with them.

On Saturday Grandma Teresa and Auntie Kylie came over to baby-sit Tristan. Jimmy and I went out to dinner at Spice Thai Kitchen to celebrate my coming 29th Birthday! Dinner was great....but we missed our movie (Inglorious Bastards) so we went to Starz and played pool instead. I WON all 4 games!!! It was great to get out and enjoy each other for a few hours. Thanks Grandma Teresa and Auntie Kylie.

On Monday Tristan's Great Grandma Erma, Grandma Teresa, Great Aunt's Debi & Lisa, Aunties Tera & Kylie and Second Cousin Breeann all came up to Vacaville to go to lunch with us to celebrate my birthday. We also celebrated my Aunt Lisa's birthday. It was great seeing everyone!

My actual birthday was Tuesday (Sept 1st). Even though we went out on Saturday, Jimmy still wanted to cook me a special dinner...so I asked for, shrimp skewers, potatoes and asparagus. It came out GREAT and was Yum-O!

The upcoming holiday weekend is separating our little family for 3 days. Jimmy is gong to Lake Shasta for a houseboat-bachelor party weekend for his best friend Jason. Tristan and I, joined by my mom, will be heading to Reno/Sparks, NV for the Annual Nugget Rib Cook Off!

Well that’s all folks....Here's what you all come here for....PICTURES!!!


swinging in the big baby swing at the park

playing with Grandapa Michael
this is fun

I got big muscles!

after a bath

Auntie Kylie sleeping on the job! lol

me and mommie on her birthday

birthday mommie...29!
mommies birthday dinner. Seasoned potatoes (broiled), BBQ'd shrimp with Garlic Parmesan Basil butter, Asparagus and fresh Sourdough bread! Yum-O!!!!!!!

good morning

just hanging out in the swing

SMILEY TIME!!!!