Famous Family

We're famous at church! They snapped pics one Sunday for some candid shots of families in our church. We made the new website for our church Fox Meadow in Monument....check out the website foxmeadowchurch.com.

Christmas 2008 Shots

Christmas presents are definitely for the kids. It made it so fun this year to see Kai's excitement to open a gifts. His eyes would light up and he would make the cutest ewh's and awh's .....but mostly just to see what was inside the wrapping paper! He wouldn't rip the paper. He would just pull it back to see what was inside. After he'd opened it, he would carry the gift around for a minute or two and then on to the next...not only his own gifts but everyone else's as well. He is definitely enjoying all his new toys now that the wrapping party is over....thanks to everyone who blessed him so greatly!

Kai is into tractors big time! He watches Daddy plow the snow with the tractor at camp out our windows.

This is actually Christmas Eve at Papa Don and MooMoo's house before the pj's got on. Just classic I thought.

Kai really liked the tags on the gifts as well. Too bad he couldn't read them and pass them out this year.

Arizona but COLD

My oldest brother, Reid just graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and we were lucky enough to attend with my parents. Yeah Uncle Reido! It was a long 12 hr. + car ride to get there, but Kai did surprisingly well! He gave us lots of laughs. I had a bag of tricks (new toys) and there was plenty of us to take turns entertaining him! We stayed in a great hotel with a pool and even squeezed in a quick trip to Sedona (to pick up a Uhaul really --long story). It was a fun trip before the holidays and we're proud of our Uncle for his hard work!

This is Daddy and Kai overlooking this amazing canyon on the way from Flagstaff to Sedona. Very cold and windy spot however!

Derrick and I posing in Sedona on the back side of the shops with some cool views behind us.

This is post graduation. It was pretty cool all the Construction Management Majors wore hardhats for the ceremony! It definitely helped in spotting Uncle Reid.

Christmas Tree hunt

Tree cutting 2007

Reflecting back.......

The Hunt was on.......tree cutting 2008

Since Kai was born, we've made it our tradition to cut a fresh Christmas tree. This year Derrick had pre-scoped a few options for us.....so it didn't take long. We wanted to bundle Kai up and get him out in the snow....although it was almost 60 degrees today. Hence, he went in a fleece and occassionally mittens.

This little "ta-bogan" sled used to be mine when I was little. It's perfect for the little guys going over rough terrain! Kai had a "perma-grin" almost the whole ride....until we started going downhill and he flipped forward and out head first! Poor kid. He got wet!

Kai and Momma standing by our tree!

Daddy and Kai pre-cut!

A Thanksgiving break

A Thanksgiving glimpse

Our little accountant! Kai is into buttons. I used to love hitting the buttons on this old calculator as well. It's a Hansen family tradition to cut our Christmas tree from the Black Hills. In years past it has been a joke about finding the "perfect" tree and taking a million years in the process. So we came prepared.....parkas, hats, gloves, hot chocolate, extra socks. But not this year! My parents literally spotted the "perfect" one within 5 minutes and had it cut down and dragged back to the car to load within a grand total of 15 minutes! New record! Kai was heading the pack dragging the tree back and loving every second of "romping" outside in the mud and snow!

Here's our little mountain man! Notice the knit gloves.....mom has not yet mastered putting those suckers on in a reasonably timely fashion. Therefore, they're just thrown on....no fingers available.

This is Kai helping drive the car during a carwash. He thought it was so cool when dad sprayed right at him!

Who knew Kai was part Egyptian!! We found him like this and it was the ears that really made us laugh! Thanks Great Aunt Cindy and Uncle Gabe for this cute outfit!

The camp was closed over Thanksgiving week giving us an unbeatable opportunity to spend a week at Grandma and Grandpa Hansen's house in South Dakota. We had a great relaxing time together with family and friends. We managed to eat entirely more than a "good dietitian" recommends, although not really to our surprise. We are especially thankful (amongst a long list) this year for our little man, Kai and all the joy he brings into our lives and our newest addition, Baby Unrein #2 due early June 2009. We also are thankful for our health and the abundance God has and continually provides for us!

Playing catch up

Wow, you blink and almost a month goes by! These are a few of the latest things Kai is into at 14 months: Kai got this little "truck" for his 1st b-day. At first he only practiced walking behind it, but now that he's a pro at walking......he's into the buttons and jumping on for a ride! Although for some reason it's easier to get on backwards!

He was just so cute this day in this sweats and hoodie.......and huge sapphire blue eyes! He's been getting lots of compliments on those baby-blues lately!

Because it's absolutely impossible to keep him out of the kitchen when I'm in there cooking, he's coming up with new "games." He's not allowed in the dishwasher anymore.......so here he is inside the bottom drawer of the oven! Lately he literally has to be climbing or getting into something.

Walking Requests

Some quick pics to quench also.....see below.

Family has requested more digital camera videos of Kai walking around the house. So here's a quencher guys! Plus I added Kai's latest......a popsicle to bring in the winter season and his favorite box to climb and ride in.

Halloween 2008

I procrastinated on a costume for Kai.....which I regret alittle. But Kai ended up as a spider. Pretty cute.....although got mistaken as a girl several times.....so we'll be thinking a little harder on that next year! Sorry buddy. He also got to trick-or-treat in Denver with this cousins, Drew (a wolverine) and Issac (the lion). (VERY hard to get them to look at the same time!!) The cousin reunion was the main highlight!

Here's our little spider. It's hard to see all his "arms" although they're hanging from his sides.

Here's the pumpkin Daddy carved for Kai. Kai has REALLY been into pumpkins since his 1st birthday when I bought pumpkins to decorate. Since then he has come to call them, "pum-pum." He is sure to point out EVERY pumpkin.....and knows them well.

Game time decision

My sister-in-law got me at this game....I'll give it a try. The rules of the first game are: 1) Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. 2) Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird. 3) Tag 7 more people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. 4) Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs. Hummm... 7 facts: 1. I'm in the middle of a vampire book series. The latest Stephanie Meyer's series. Modern day vampires if you will. Yes, very surprising. I'm not big reader, but I'm hooked! 2. When TV is available, I get easily hooked on the Soapnet shows. I'm ashamed to admit. What a waste! 3. Once upon a time, I would go hunting with "the boys" for pheasants this time of year. I loved it. Girls should really take up more activities along these lines. 4. Tomorrow is Halloween and I have yet to get Kai his first official costume! Talk about procrastination. 5. I'm pregnant. Hence the lack of blogs lately. I have no motivation and am throwing up morning and night. They say it gets better at 14 weeks......ONE MORE MONTH. No way.....that's an eternity. 6. I crave chocolate milk lately. 7. I have not shaved my legs in almost 2 wks. Did I mention I'm not motivated? Tag: Josie, Susan, Sheila, Sarah, Derrick, Crystal, Jackie

13 months

Kai is now 13 months. He's walking as you get a glimpse of from my video attempt. He's eating all table foods, still sleeping through the night, and still taking 2 naps a day! YES. He is attempting more words lately, although none that have "stuck." He does understand us better though which is also helpful. Here's Kai and Daddy in their Alpaca hats! Yes, fall is about over.....it's getting colder. Although 70's this week make it a hard reality! We've shown that we have a "lunch lounger" before on this blog, but it's become ridiculous! Kai thought he'd make himself comfortable for this meal. It was so hard to discipline to keep your feet off the table when it was just so darn cute!

Late as usual

This is my first attempt with any kind of video. It's just a quick video of Kai walking. It's off our camera and not our video camera, so we'll see how it works. It just makes the process easier!

Kai has been walking around the house for almost 2 weeks now. He goes all over. I'll have to get more footage because he still has alot of "drunken sailor" moments! Enjoy.

WALKER

We've almost got a walker on our hands! Kai is getting braver by the day! He's attempting walking across the room if he wants something bad enough. He's up to about 6-8 steps on his own. You can tell he gets proud of himself once he gets going. He's usually laughing or at least smiling when he's making his attempts! No serious head dives into furniture yet.....but we're ready with the First Aid kit!

Fall Days

I just love Fall. The shrubs all around our house are firey colors of red, orange and yellow! BEA-utiful! Derrick took these leaf pics around camp.....I just thought they spiced up the page in light of the season! It was a frigid fall day, but I took Kai out to let Scout stretch her legs alittle. She's been cooped up outside, freezing because she got "skunked" a couple nights ago.......definitely not allowed in the house! It was my lame way of showing her some sympathy! Kai was enjoying eating the straw Derrick put in Scout's kennel to help keep her warm in this pic.

Kai's Grandma Carrie got him hooked on Capri Sun juices. So we allow one every now and then......he'll suck the package for hours after it's finished just to make sure it's really gone.

Hitting the road

Kai and I headed with Grandpa and Grandma to SD for my Aunt Bridget's funeral a few days earlier than Derrick. My aunt lost her second battle with cancer after 4 years. She had a strong and beautiful fight and now is partyin' with Jesus in heaven. We were blessed to have the time to be with and support family in SD.

Here's Kai, glad to finally be there and find "his" stuff! Here's Kai hangin' with Uncle Reido. My cousin Ryan and his wife Melissa have a little guy too. We're looking forward to them being able to play together very soon! This is Kai's 3rd cousin, Henry Hansen (~5 mo.). They were very interested in each other. Here's Kai picking Henry's nose! Henry let him this time, but not for long! Little Henry is almost the same weight as Kai and half the age! Watch out Kai!

Other Random B-Day Pics

Daddy helping Kai eat some cake at his camp birthday gathering Thursday night. Everyone trialed my pig cake for me! Helping mom pick out pumpkins for the birthday party decor. A lady at Walmart saw me pushing him around with the pumpkins in the basket and told me "I needed to keep a camera in the car for moments like these." Well, it just happened I had it in there.......so I snapped one. After we got the pumpkins home, Kai wanted to touch them every time we walked past them on the porch steps. .

A family shot in the fall leaves. We hiked to the Palmer Lake Resevoirs with my parents while they visited for Kai's birthday. The hike was truly a uphill battle, but worth the views!

This is Grandma and Kai stopping for a water break. He refused his sippy cup of water, but guzzled Grandma's water from the bottle.

Kai also discovered balloons this week. This was just a cute preparation picture while blowing up balloons. Not sure what that face means????

Barn Bash

Kai had a Barn Theme 1st Birthday Party on Sunday. Being the center of attention really wore him out! He had an absolute blast! He's finally grasping the cake and gift idea that accompanies birthdays. Thanks to everyone for attending the Barn Bash and for all the generous gifts.

This was my "no-skill" PIG CAKE for Kai to smash his face in at the party! I really want to make it a tradition to make our kids' birthday cakes myself. I may check out a cake decorating class for the future (it would've come in handy). Although in the circumstances, I was pretty proud of this cake, big ears and all. Kai got to do a "trial smashing" on Thursday night at a camp birthday gathering and he really grasped the concept by Sunday!

Here's some of the after-math! What can I say, he loves cake!

Kai wearing mommy's cowboy hat! He was trying to get into the "theme." Thanks to those who tried!

We took a couple short Hayrides around camp to really feel like we were out on the farm. This was Kai's favorite part of the party. He rode on the hay wagon while Daddy drove the tractor. He jumped, screamed, and pointed at the tractor almost the whole way. He even said "tac-ta" at one point! Kai's driving the tractor in this pic!

There was one point in the afternoon while we were preparing that Derrick looked at me and said, "Do you think we went a little overboard for a first birthday?" I casually replied, "Nah, it will be fun and worth it!"

And it was.

First Birthday Reflections

Kai's celebration of his first year of life is just getting kicked off! We have upcoming family, cake, and a party to introduce him to the whole "birthday" idea. He still stands clueless, but stay tuned! In the last couple of days, I have been reflecting on one year ago yesterday...... the emotions, challenges, praises, and pure joys that have come about since then. I have such vivid memories of starting labor at home for hours, waking Derrick up knowing something wasn't right, calling my dad in the middle of the night, heading to the hospital to get things "checked out" and thinking we'd be back before breakfast. I remember exact times on the clock and specific thoughts and fears that ran through my head during those hours. It all happened so fast......finding out I was in labor (6 cm by the time we got to the hospital) and then everything they tried to STOP labor.

God's plan is much bigger than ours.

If I had had it my way, I would've kept him in there a while longer....... prepared a baby room, had a baby shower, felt fat a little longer, maybe schemed some more back rubs out of Derrick, maybe got a pedicure, and tried to grow that baby bigger and stronger! There's something about feeling prepared that was missing.

God's plan is much bigger than ours.

God's plan prevailed and Kai came at His time, not mine. That little "monkey" of ours has fought to be as big and strong as any other baby. A little harder at first .....to breathe normally and eat on his own.....then to stay healthy.....and to grow, grow, grow! It has taught me so much about being in God's timing.....His plan has brought us a healthy, happy 20 lb., 31 in. one year old. We are so thankful for His daily joy to our lives and the gift of Kai James. What blessed parents.

James 1: 17

To our surprise......

Kai took 2 steps yesterday! Derrick and I were both sitting right by him watching because he was standing on his own (which is a fairly new thing as well). Then he proceeded to move forward cautiously toward Daddy...one step....two steps! It was awesome we both got to witness it! This is the beginning..........

Zoo

Our oldest nephew, Drew (3 1/2 yrs old) visited for the weekend by himself, therefore giving a reason to hit the Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo! It was Kai's first trip to the zoo and Drew's first trip to a CO zoo (I think). Kai was definitely engaged in the animals....although for short periods. I think it will be even more fruitful next summer when he's able to walk through the exhibits and make the animal noises! The giraffe exhibit was a highlight.....feeding the purple tongues some crackers. They were ravenous for crackers! It scared Drew at first.....he would set the cracker lightly on the tongue and get the heck out of there! I think it was actually the slobber he didn't like. Kai just thought it was cool he could almost touch them! He recognizes the word "giraffe" from some room decor we have.

Kai especially liked to get out of his stroller and pound on the exhibit windows or grab the fences. Luckily, most of the "dangerous" animals had double fences! He was a "trooper" for the whole afternoon!

This was a 5 month old "joey" (baby kangaroo). Super cute. Drew didn't want to touch it, but he agreed to pose for the pic with his Aunt Mimi! Papa Don suggested we all ride the carosel! I had no idea what I was in for....that thing made me so dizzy (while trying to hold Kai on the horse)! You can see by Kai's drool pattern he REALLY enjoyed his giraffe straw......he chewed on it for over an hour! Perfect entertainment! Thanks for the zoo trip (and giraffe straw) Papa Don!

It was so fun to have Drew (thanks for letting him come Garrett and Becky)! He's at a really entertaining age.....very smart and witty. He played at our house (loving that now we have toys too) and took a nap. Afterwards, he stated "I had a really fun day!" Guess that made it complete.

Family

We finally got a pic with Papa Don, MooMoo, and Aunt Mimi! Because we see them so often, pictures get forgotten! We can't have that! We're so blessed to have family so close at the camp. Kai is really excited every mealtime when he can point and call out to "pa-pa" in the Dining Hall. He loves to play with MooMoo all day while Mommy works and take naps on her lap in the morning after spending the night. And of course, hangin' with Aunt Mimi (especially at the skatepark)! This particular night he was having a blast in Walmart (of all places) being spoiled by his grandparents! Go Broncos!

Now that I'm "almost" a BIG boy!

I wear doo-rags and help Daddy mow the lawn!