Thursday, February 4, 2016

Hansen life: December + January

December is such a fun month! There is nothing quite like the anticipation of Christmas. Drew is starting to understand that Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth and he talked about it frequently. I love decorating for Christmas over Thanksgiving weekend so that we can have plenty of time to enjoy the spirit of the season. Our month ended with everyone have varying degrees of a pretty heavy cold. Mary got it the worst and lost her sweet little voice. It was a bummer way to start off the New Year, but we're now all on the mend! 

Here are some picture from the month of December (Christmas photos will be in a different post):

Drew playing with trains in front of the Christmas Tree - so classic!

This year I made jars of "Christmas cheer" to give to the milk man, childcare gals at the gym, and friends and family. The mini mason jars were filled with enough hot cocoa mix for one person, mini marshmallows, and a crumbled candy cane topping. This was a very quick and simple project that was fun to do!

This year I also set up a hot cocoa bar in the kitchen (of which I was the most frequent customer!)

Mary loves having her picture taken!

Kyle had an impromptu guy's night with his dad and brother - they drove down to Portland for the night and had dinner at a Brewery that has a special beer they all like. 

Visiting the camel at Swanson's Nursery!
Classic red sleigh pic

Drew LOVED this electronic train - he kept running around the
little village and yelling "here it comes!!" and then "there is goes!!". 

Kyle really, really loves the kids and always "steals" them
from me when he gets home from work.

Drew has been enjoying more art projects during our Table Time. We're working on how to
hold a paintbrush and do strokes with the brush.

I got Drew some of the tiny legos to play with when I need to keep him quietly
entertained in my bedroom. I once proclaimed I would never open the
door into the world of tiny legos, but they are actually kind of fun :)

My mom and sister came over to decorate Christmas cookies.
My sister made the most perfectly shaped Christmas cookies - I was so thankful
because my cookies turned out like blobs!

My mom making one of her signature treats: coconut-orange balls

We had Drew decorate most of the cookies!
This precious girl is just a camera ham!

Kyle took Drew to the beach in his rain boots and let him go wild stomping around in the waves!

It was a grey and white stripes kind of morning for Mary and me

We spent New Year's Eve at our friends Steve and Jessica's house.
They have two kids that our similar ages to our kids so it was quite the toy free-for-all!

Precious kids enjoying all the company together.

Family NYE pic (minus Mary)!

Mary's baby dedication at Sound City Bible Church

Our verse for her is Psalm 91:1: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.
Great-grandma Pat and Great-Grandma Eva with little Mary
January I took a break from blogging to recover from the holidays. Everyone in our house (except ME!) got some form of sickness right around the New Year, and Mary got it the worst. She couldn't breathe very well and was really unhappy so we took turns sleeping with her for naps and overnight for over a week. It was like having a newborn again! She even slept in our bed with us one night just so we could all get some sleep. Despite being sleep deprived ourselves, I could hardly wait for it to be my turn to snuggle up with her for her next nap. Just holding her little hand and listening to her breath...that's the stuff heaven is made of!

Finally, everyone got well again and life resumed back to normal. Kyle and I celebrated our 4-year wedding anniversary with dinner at our favorite local restaurant in Edmonds. We stayed out pretty late (for us, haha) and just ate slowly and chatted. Then we parked down by the ferry and listened to music and watched people come and go off the boat. We like turn up Shaina Twain or Celine Dion and belt it out loud! It was a great little night and the perfect low-key way to celebrate our relationship. The rest of the month was carried out over play dates, grocery store trips, birthday parties, and time spent with family. The days go by so fast with two little ones at home (which sometimes I really appreciate!), so I'm trying to just soak it all in whenever I am able. These are the little years for us; our kids are small and every day ends with an aftertaste of chaos. But the Lord's mercies are made new every morning, so I hang my hat on that and rise each morning ready to try again and find joy in the chaos!

Bedtime snuggles - I cherish these tiny people the Lord has given us!

Drew's great Aunt Shirley knit him this adorable sweater for
Christmas, but he was less than thrilled about posing for my photos

There's my sweet little boy!

Drew's great grandma Pat made him these jammies for Christmas
and he asks to wear them daily.
"Sharing" the rocking horse

Dad and his little sweetheart!

Drew is into painting right now...

Lots and lots of painting!

Mary in her darling knit sweater from great Aunt Shirley
Selfie shenanigans on our wedding anniversary date!


I sure do love this guy :-)

And this guy ;-)

Drew's friend Gideon had his birthday party at a fire station so the kids all
got to meet the firefighters, play with the gear, and touch the firetrucks!




He had a little too much fun at the party!

Drew and his buddy Keller playing during Table Time

Drew and sweet Noel making crafts during Table Time

I asked Drew to watch Mary while I ran upstairs real quick - he took his job super seriously!

Drew has finally started pretend play; he loves to "feed" people plastic cupcakes
 right now...consider this your warning, should you come over anytime soon!

Mary pulling up to standing!

Mary and her girlfriends at the Westgate Chapel play gym




Mary sitting in the cart - what a big girl!

Family donut date before church - Mary and her daddy

This girl sure loves her daddy!

Mary helping me with laundry...she was providing all the cuteness I could handle!
We too the side of Drew's crib and now he has a "big boy" bed!

The things we do to pass the time until dad gets home from work...
The kids both love their Uncle Zeke! He truly is the world's best uncle!

We celebrated my sweet friend Lynette's birthday with a surprise gathering
of friends at our house. So many kids running around, it was chaos and oh-so-fun!

Drew and I exploring the waterside at Warm Beach

Perfect day for muddy rain boots

I love his curious spirit! 
Little Mary with great-grandpa Bob

What a pair!

Drew and buddy Samson watching the band play at church

These silly boys love the front row!


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