Tis The Season

This has been probably my favorite December in a long time.  It must have something to do with being a Mom and the exciting real starting of our Christmas traditions.  And I've finally figured Pinterest out a little more.  Christmas Time + Pinterest Finds = Good Times.  We've been having a blast this past little bit! 

For Family Home Evening on the 3rd we got our Christmas tree (overland and five mile, nicest LADY helped us, I suggest buying from her if you were wondering).  After decorating it we took a picture with our advent calendar from Shane and Jeanette.  "Day three- Now here's an idea for FHE, take and post a snapshot of your cute family!"  I did have jeans on at one point in the day, I promise.  Aleah just looked so comfy in her pajamas and I thought she had the right idea. Ha.    

I love taking pictures of Daddy with his little girl

For another one of the days on our advent calendar we were told to pass out as many candy kisses as we could.  Sorry Jeanette, we probably failed on this one, we only made it to one house- Kami and Rogers.  I played a candy kiss matching game with the boys, actually re-pinned this from Jeanette's Pinterest that day.  Had fun.  Landon won, Riley could care less after the first kiss made it into his mouth (and all over his mouth for that matter). :)  Kiss wrappers everywhere and a couple of hyper boys was the result of a fun game.  Poor Ryder had to play alone on the floor because Aleah was showing Aunt Kami how she likes to throw a good fit.  Little did she know that Kami had bought her a cute Christmas onsie that says, "I'm on the nice list".... :)

With Kami.  LOVE these two kids together!

And my all time favorite pin so far!  How to make an AWESOME Gingerbread house out of Graham Crackers.  I have NEVER been able to make my graham cracker houses stick before.  This did the trick.  I already want to build another.  Feel free to steal!  http://pinterest.com/pin/52565520622507117/  

Cade used frosting (stubborn guy), I used chocolate...I think mine stuck better with less :)

So much fun making such a mess!

P.S. Careful not to burn your chocolate on the stove, we found best success microwaving it...thank goodness Cade and I bought way too much chocolate and were able to save the little mistake. :)

Love this picture

Thanks for the good time Asay's!

 AND just because I can't get enough of this cute stinker....

Thanks for the shirt Aunt Kami!

Also...
Aleah in her crib!! 
IT'S A MIRACLE!
Ok...so this is deceiving..  She's hangin in the boppy sucking on her giraffe.  She won't actually sleep for more than five minutes after laying her down in here and even if she did, "they" say not to leave a baby unattended in the boppy.  Bummer.  So if she does sleep longer than five minutes here, I get to sleep....none, still.  Hm...shoot.  BUT!  She's in her crib and I think it's a step in the right direction.

Old and New Pictures

Aleah's Friends... 

At the Hospital- Jenny and her sweet girls with Aleah (arranged best friends)

Briceida and I had our babies four days apart!  

Here they are with their daddies

Going on seven weeks

Cousins Aleah and Ryder- They are so sweet together!

Both blessed on the same day

Just Hanging Out..

The BEST Dad!

Thanksgiving and Aleah's Blessing

Thanksgiving weekend was especially sweet this year.  We really did have so much to be grateful for this year!  Aleah is such a blessing to us.  We can't get enough of her.  (Even though she is just about the fussiest little thing EVER! Don't let the happy pictures fool you! :)  We LOVE her!!  Cade gave her such a sweet blessing and then we spent the rest of the day with our families. Perfect way to end that week!

Four Generations Picture!

  Grandma and Grandpa Koyle

Grandma and Grandpa Hansen

Another picture of a picture- My Mom and me.  Aleah was blessed in the same dress that I was, given to me by my Grandma Koyle.  

 

       

Quick, she's sleeping!

Who does Aleah look like??

Daddy.

:)

 Do you see it?

 Too bad her red hair doesn't show very well in either pic, then you would for sure see it. ;)

Here is a cute Mommy and Aleah pic.  I took this picture of Aleah in her swing with the bunny blanket I was so anxious to give her and then last night came across a similar picture of me. 

Bright and Early (without the bright)- Happy One Month here -Daddy trying to hide.

A few of Aleah's newborn pictures.  Kami didn't think she did her best work here.  But I love them.  So I'm going to be post them!

And I can't believe that I was able to start and finish a blog post just now.  Aleah sleeping not in my arms?  What?  Amazing.  I could write more but I'm not going to push my luck. 

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Our Little Girl

Aleah Lynn Hansen

(Six days old here) Thank you SO much Kamilee Seamons Photography!

This is Aleah's "birth story", for all who are curious...I think it's kind of fun.

Prediction
Earlier in October I was talking to my Mother-In-Law about the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk that was going to be on October 13th.  Cade and I hadn't decided if we were going to go with the family or not.  It was about six days before my due date and I just wasn't sure how I would be feeling on that day and if I would really be up for it.  But I was considering it and thought maybe walking would do a little good.  When the Buddy Walk came up, I sarcastically told my Mother-In-Law, "That's the day I plan on going into labor". 

Week of the Buddy Walk
Tuesday- Dilated to a three.  My Doctor told me it was possible that I could have my baby that week.  Kind of got excited about it.  Everyday that passed I was a little bit bummed and mad that my doctor gave me false hope.  Friday night, we decided we were going to go to the Buddy Walk.  I couldn't miss it since Autumn (Cade's sister) was going to be speaking!  And I didn't feel as heavy as I'm sure I looked.
 The Walk
Saturday, just before the walk I finished packing my bags.  I laughed and told Cade, again sarcastically, "I'm seriously expecting to have this baby today!"  

I posted this status update on facebook, "One of my favorite events of the year! Down Syndrome Buddy Walk with the Hansen Fam! And maaaybe, I'll walk myself into labor today! Or just really regret the sideaches and sore feet I'm about to have."

We went to the walk.  It was good!  I felt fine.  I was actually kind of disappointed at how great I felt.  Had a thought to get a picture of me and Cade, a 39 weeks picture...didn't though, would have been neat to have now though.  And then we went home.

Autumn Speaking

Water
We were both tired and fell asleep when we got back to our apartment.  When I woke up and got out of bed..I felt a small trickle.  Wondered if it was what I thought it might be..  Went to the bathroom.  Went to go take some laundry to the washer and planned to talk to Cade about it after.  On the way to the washer, another trickle...so I stopped right there and told Cade what was going on.  Did my water break?  Thought better to be safe than sorry and we headed to the hospital.
Traffic

We live by the mall.  It was Saturday and just about five pm.  Traffic was AWESOME.  Who gets stuck in traffic while wondering if they are in labor?  I wasn't sure I was really having this baby though so we just laughed about it.  I thought in my head, with the next false alarm, we should take a different route.  

Hospital

When we got to the hospital they put me on a monitor and then checked me to see if my water had broke.  The nurse that checked me basically said, yes there is fluid but that can be normal near the end of pregnancy. She said, "I'm about 80% sure your water did not break", but still left to finish "examining the situation".  Another nurse came back in and said, "Remember how that nurse told you that she was 20% sure your water broke?  Well, you should go buy a lottery ticket.  Your water did break.  You are staying here."

Ugly Picture Alert :)

Go Time

From when my water broke, the next few hours, as contractions were barely present, I don't know what our deal was, Cade and I were in a giggly mood.  Who knew you could find so much funny just before popping a baby out.  

THEN, I started hurting.  And that was not fun.  

Timeline: Water broke at 4, started hurting right about 7, progressed to a five and got the epidural at around 10-11ish.  Started pushing...sometime.  Pushed for two hours and six minutes, (some say that's alright, others can't believe how long that was).  Had sweet Aleah at 4:56 A.M on Sunday October 14th.  

Cade holding Aleah for the first time

She's perfect!  We love her sooo much!

Named after her Grandma Hansen (Vickie Lynn) and also shares this middle name with her Aunt Autumn and two cousins.

One of the first features I noticed (and loved) about Aleah was her red hair.

At first I was the only one who really noticed...but as time has gone on her hair has lightened up and there is no doubt about it, she has some red.  Love it!  

I've been saying for a long time that we would have a firey red head.  Red hair from Dad and personality from Mom--we'll see about personality as time goes on.  So far, she's too sweet to be like Mom.  :)  

Five Days Old

Her sleepy smiles make late sleepy nights for me a lot more enjoyable.  Wondering who her visitors might be.

We are blessed!

First (somewhat decent) picture with me in it-She's not loving it though!

From a couple days old to a couple weeks old...she's getting big already!