I thought it would be fun to show how I have grown over the past 2 months. Dallin sure is growing fast....The progression is 5 months, to 6 months, to 7 months today. It is so crazy how fast he is growing, but at the same time it feels like I have been pregnant forever! We feel so blessed to be able to be parents soon and can hardly wait for Dallin to come. We are going to start to get some stuff for the nursery next week, so we can finally start pulling it together. There is so much I want to do for him and I feel like time is just ticking away. I am finally realizing the great responsibility that it is to become a parent. It still feels surreal, but as I was looking at some little baby clothes that my sister gave to me to use, I was imagining Dallin wearing and it finally hit me! I am going to be raising another human being! He will be relying on me for everything, for food, shelter, education, love, etc... What a big responsibility, but one that I am so excited to fulfil. We are so excited for him to come!

Business is Booming

Wow, things are getting pretty hectic around here. I am getting so busy with the business, but I am loving it nonetheless. We are in the midst of the busiest time to the year and we are doing really good. Jamie, one of my business partners, and I are busy designing the new prints for our new aprons that will be coming out in 2009. I think design is one of the things I love best about being able to have our own business. I can create whatever I feel like and test it out. Often times, I have to redesign the print 10 or 11 times before I get what I really want. Jamie and I are working on some really cool prints and designs for our new lines and I am so excited to see what they will look like. Want a sneak peak??? Here is a picture of the print I just finished yesterday. It is not to scale, but it gives you an idea of what it could look like....

It is so much fun learning how to use Illustrator. I love working with it.

Joe and I have been getting sick like crazy. I have been in the nursery for just a few months now and it seems like every Sunday I get sick that night. I am really getting frustrated with the whole situation. Kids come to nursery sick every Sunday with runny noses and coughs. The parents are not supposed to bring them to nursery sick, but they do anyways. I have said something one time and it just blew up in my face. The parent basically said he was teething and that is why his nose was running. She wouldn't take him out of nursery. I am not a bio-chemist or a doctor, but I know a cold when I see one and when your snot is green, it is mean bacteria going on in there, not just "teething". I think I have taken all that I can. It is affecting my day to day functions, especially my ability to function completely in our business. It is not fun to have to run errands, do inventory at the cart, make sure they have everything they need, ship out product, update the website and design new aprons, when you feel like you are ready to die. Well, not literally:) I am being a little over dramatic, but I am pregnant so I feel the urge to be dramatic today...:) Things will look up as soon as I get released, but I just don't know when that will be. I would like the calling otherwise, but right now being pregnant and getting sick all the time, makes it really difficult to be even mediocre. We will just have to see what happens I guess.

On a happier note, Dallin Carter is growing like crazy and he is sure active. He is always kicking me and moving around. The other day I was lying in bed and he just started kicking me like he was practicing karate or something. I mean, his legs were kicking one kick per second for like an entire minute. I am not exaggerating. I had never felt him kick so much or so quickly my entire pregnancy. It was pretty cool, but also pretty uncomfortable after a few seconds. I am really starting to feel him stretch now. He tends to stretch right on my bladder and into my lungs. I swear that is what it feels like. I get short of breath all the sudden and feel the intense need to pee all that the same time. Pregnancy sure is full of the unexpected. It is not boring to say the least:)

We can hardly wait for him to come though. I want so badly for him to arrive. We have yet to buy anything at all for him, but I am sure after Christmas we will start buying some things we need. It is just a like too surreal still, but I am sure it will only get worse. I am a lot more relaxed about the whole thing knowing that if he came today, he would be able to survive most likely. That makes it easier to get excited and not worry that something bad could happen to him and that it would all be for nothing. I am sure every soon to be mother worries about this, and I am glad that it is being relieved slightly as it gets closer to him coming and he is growing more and gaining strength each day.

I get really excited for Dallin to come when I see my new nephew Calvin. Calvin is just a couple months old, and he is so adorable. I love to hold him and see him smile. It must be so much fun for Crystal to watch him grow each day. She is a great mother to him.

Well, things are crazy, but I am so excited for Christmas to come. Mom and Dad Hansen are coming out after Christmas and I am super excited to see them. They are so much fun to be around and we have a blast every time we see them. I feel so blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. I know that the family I make with Joe will always be close to them and that brings me a lot of joy. I think that thing I love most about Christmas besides the wonderful season, is how much it brings families together. I love to see those that I haven't been able to see in a little while and the feeling in the air is just so magical. Yes, I can barely wait for Christmas. I am so excited.

And the belly grows...

Hey Everyone! So my belly continues to grow everyday. I am sure popping out. I ran into one of my dad's co-workers at the movies and he told my dad that I looked like I was ready to pop already!! Haha, he said I was huge! I don't think I am huge yet, I still have 3 months to go and I am sure I will only get bigger and bigger. This picture is my belly today, at 6 months. I guess I am getting pretty big. I sometimes forget I have a belly and then I knock something over with it and to my surprise I look down and realize there is a human in there. So crazy.
We can hardly wait for Dallin to come. We are so excited. We just moved the office furniture out of the second bedroom to make room for the baby. We have so much stuff! I don't know where we are going to put the rest of the business stuff when the time comes to really put the nursery together, but I am sure we will find a way to make it work. We still have a lot to get for him. We haven't purchase a single thing yet. I am sure the last two months just sneak up and right on by you before you know it, so I am trying to figure out when I should start putting things together. I don't want to do it too soon, but not too late either. I think after Christmas will be a good time to start:)
Anyways, it looks like my belly will get rather large, regardless of my tall height. Everyone was telling me that I might now show that much because I am tall. Well, there goes that theory:) It's okay though, I still feel very able to move around and exercise still. I wonder when you start to waddle....???? ;)

Halloween

Joe and I had a Halloween party this year. It was a lot of fun. We had planned to do a big murder mystery dinner. We invited 5 other couples, but only 2 ended up coming. Yikes!!! Our plans had to change a little. It was great though, we still did the dinner and we just improvised. It was fun to see some of our friends and to catch up with a couple we hadn't seen in a while. Here is a picture of Joe and I. He was superman and I was a fairy. Everyone kept saying I looked like an angel... what can I say, I guess I am one ;).

Well, it looks like Grandma and Grandpa are reading this blog now! Hurray!!!! I will show you guys some more little pictures of Dallin that we just got on Thursday. We had our 5 month, or 20 week checkup this week. They measured all his organs and made sure that everything was as it should be. So we have a few more pictures to share of Dallin Carter.

The ultrasound technician said his kidney's are a little fuller than they should be, so I have to get one more ultrasound in 4 weeks to make sure that everything is okay there. She said it was nothing to worry about, but hello!!! I worry about everything...haha. Joe says, that I am a worry wart, and it is true, I am, but I am trying to get over it. Worrying doesn't help anything :)

We are so excited for him to come. I was out shopping with my sister yesterday, and I saw so many cute little baby boy clothes that I never really noticed before. It is funny that being pregnant opens your eyes to all things motherhood. I also was able to find some new shirts for my growing tummy. Most of my shirts are starting to ride up the belly, as it grows and grows. Let's face it, no one wants to see me in a belly shirt, 7 months pregnant...uh uh. So the shirts I got will help with that problem, no belly shirts!!! I got some pretty cute ones actually. I was surprised that I was actually enjoying myself yesterday. It helps so much to wear maternity shirts, it is just so much more comfortable. I am not huge yet, but I imagine I will be soon, and the shirts are definitely a plus in that category.

Here is a picture of me at 5 months, taken yesterday the 23rd of October.

I had to pull my shirt tight to my sides so that you could actually see my belly, otherwise the shirt does a pretty good job at covering it up. Joe said I didn't even look pregnant in the shirt, now where is the fun in that? So I pulled it nice and tight, so that you could see little Dallin too. After all, in all his ultrasounds he has been very willing to get his picture taken, not shy at all. I think he will love to get his pictures taken Grandma!!!

Also this week, we had the tree in the back of our yard taken out. It was a whopping 100 feet tall and it was diseased. Every day it would drop dead limbs on our yard, not fun to pick up. And when it would storm we would have even more to pick up. I liked the game "pick up sticks" when I was little, but now that I am older, this game was getting old. So Joe and I found a tree removal service that would remove the tree for $850 bucks. Sweet deal. But when the guy came to take it out for good, he tried to change his quote and said that the tree was bigger than he remembered. But no luck for him, Joe stuck to his guns and showed the guy the quote that he himself had written out and given to us. The guy couldn't back out now. So here are some before and during and after shots of the tree....I am so glad that it is gone....

Tree just before we took it out.

Half way through.

Mostly done... just a little ways to go!!!

And done, our carport had to be removed to get it out. They couldn't cut it down to the ground because the big brick wall was in the way... oh well... it is much better than having that huge tree dropping things on me...haha.

So the tree is gone and we are so excited to landscape back there next spring. We have so many ideas of what we could do. It will be so fun.

That is it for now. Ta ta.

And we are having.....

Hello Everyone!

So last week was an exciting week for Joe and I. We got to find out what our little baby's gender is going to be. It was so exciting to see our baby so clearly for the first time... so without further ado, I would like to introduce Dallin Carter Hansen...

He is already kicking so much and I am only 19 weeks. It has been so surreal to feel him moving and kicking inside of me. He is a pretty active baby and so far I think he is going to be really strong.

I wanted a baby girl so bad, but once I found out we were having a boy, I was so excited! Just having a baby is so wonderful, and I am so looking forward to raising this little one. We are pretty set on his name already. Dallin Carter Hansen, it has a nice ring to it. Of course, we want to see what he looks like when he is born, he could look completely different to us then. So far so good though, Dallin Carter is sounding just right.

It has been a rough pregnancy so far, I have been so sick and so tired, but it has been so worth it. When I saw him moving inside of me on this ultrasound, I admit, I got a little choked up. I am feeling so blessed for this opportunity and I can't wait for him to come.

Joe and I are always talking about what he might look like. My sister Crystal said the profile on her ultrasound of little Calvin, was pretty accurate to the profile he has now. I think Dallin's little profile is pretty cute. I just wonder if he will have hair!!! I would love it if he looks just like Joe did when he was little. Joe was a Cutie, with a capital C. What a little knock out he was.

It will be interesting to see how the physical traits that both Joe and I have will come into play with our little Dallin. I am so excited to see how he will turn out.

ON a different note. I made a BYU cake for Joe's birthday, it was over a month ago, but I wanted to post my first attempt ever at decorating a cake....it is pretty bad, but Joe loved it, and so that is all that I care about. I plan on getting better though.

Joe with his Cake

Joe blowing out the candles.

The cake turned out baby blue instead of Navy Blue. I don't think I could have made it Navy blue even if I wanted to. I poured half a bottle of blue dye in the frosting and it stayed the baby blue color. My hands were dyed blue for like two days after.

Anyways that is it for now, we are so excited for Dallin Carter to come!!!!!

Rock hard abs...not!

So before I got pregnant I had a stomach to be proud of. I worked hard for it and I am not too shy to admit, I was freaking proud of it. I had a stomach of muscles that ran up and down, you know, the line that every girl wants on her stomach, yeah...I HAD that....but not anymore.

Ha ha, but that is okay, I am in this for the babe, and what can I say, it is so much more important than my rock hard abs from before. Lately though, (I am just two days shy of being 17 weeks along) I have noticed my stomach getting harder again. At first, I was a little alarmed, my stomach had become so soft and gushy in the last 5 weeks, that I was beginning to think that it would always be soft and gushy for the rest of the pregnancy, but I was wrong!! It first started about a week ago, my stomach was getting slightly harder around where my uterus was, normal I know, but what happened this morning was not...at least I don't think it was normal...

I woke up this morning around 3 am feeling more than uncomfortable. My stomach was on fire!!! Not only was it on fire, but there was this little bump on my stomach that was once gushy the day before, but now it was rock hard. I lay there for minutes just pushing on the bump, feeling around, trying to figure out what it could be. Could it really be the baby already???

Then, the bump moved!!! It went right to the other side of my belly and there it remained for another 10 minutes at least and then disappeared! I was in awe, was I already feeling my little one moving inside me??? I don't know exactly what it was, but I know there is a hard little bump under my belly and I am starting to wonder if I am farther along than the doctor said. He is probably right my due date, and what I am experiencing at 17 weeks is probably normal, but wow, what a new thing for me! I can't help but wonder.

So now my rock hard abs are gone, and in their place is a hard little bump with a mind of it's own. I wouldn't trade my little bump for anything right now, it is a manifestation to me that our little one is in there and is healthy, how cool is that?!!

baby bumpers!

So we got to hear the baby's heart beat just a little over 3 weeks ago and tomorrow we get to hear it again. Last time it was beating so fast, 165 beats per minute, man it's little heart can sure go! It is so amazing to me. Our baby is just a little over the size of a shrimp, how crazy!!! I can't even believe how crazy it is to know there is a little baby bumper growing inside of me.
Before I was pregnant I thought it was so unbelievable, and now that I am, it is more than unbelievable, it is super surreal. Another human life is growing inside of me and I couldn't feel more blessed to be a part of this great wonder of giving life to another. It really is amazing.
Joe is getting super pumped to be a father and I couldn't be more happy with it. He is going to be a great dad. We got an ultrasound to find out how far along I was and we got to see the baby moving and it's heartbeat. The technician asked us if we could see it's heart pumping, and I could right away. Joe said he could, but after the appointment he hung his head and said, "I couldn't see the heartbeat, I lied." How funny is that? It's okay Joe:) We have plenty of opportunities to see the baby in the future:) So tomorrow will be fun to hear the heartbeat again. I can't wait.

Finally

Hello All,
So Joe and I decided to finally start one of these. With all the changes happening in our lives we decided it would be a good time to start. We sure are behind everyone else, but as soon as I figure out how to use this site, we will be posting info and stories in no time. So far so good, I have managed to figure out how to post this one, so I think I will be just fine :)

Joe and I moved into our first home, just a little over 6 months ago. We enjoy living here, but we are already itching for more space. With Joe's love of exercise, his workout items are slowly starting to take over the office, and the office is taking over the rest of the house! Our new business is booming and we are so grateful, but it will be so nice to have a separate office at home so we don't' have to make one room into an office, workout room and baby room! Yes, I said baby!!!

Joe and I are expecting our first child and we couldn't be happier. After 1 year and 10 months of trying, we were finally blessed with a child. I couldn't believe it either! I had been late before and nothing had come of it, so this time, I really didn't think much of it. I was so convinced the test would say negative, but when that little pregnant pink line come up clear, I stared at the little white stick for an eternity. I couldn't believe my eyes!!! I walked out of the bathroom and into the living room where an anxious Joe was waiting to hear the news. As always he was prepared to console me, but not this time baby!!!! I told him the good news, and he didn't even believe me, it took a few tries before he realized I was serious!! We both jumped up and down...but soon my excitement wore off, and I was sure it was just a false positive. Joe unsuccessfully tried to convince me that never happens, but I still made him go to the store at midnight and buy another test. This time he bought two, one I made him take, which came out negative...hehehe, and the second for me, which came out positive again. It was so surreal!

We are so excited and just recently heard the heartbeat for the first time. I can hardly wait to find out what the baby is, but that is still a ways off. We are so excited to be parents soon and look forward to the great responsibility with joy!

So we have a new home, a baby on the way, and a booming business. Things couldn't be better and we are loving every minute of it. As the title of this blogs says, "I'm happy I'm a Hansen, yes siree!!! " Can it get better? I submit that it can not!