Trunk or Treat...and a much needed update!

What an incredible fall day here in MI! And its about time because we have had a pretty cold and rainy season so far. So with the mild temps and sunny skies, the girls and I headed to 'Trunk or Treat' with the Hedstroms. Ari was of course just along for the ride :) But Sky loved trick or treating and getting candy, I think Halloween may end up being her favorite holiday!

We have had a lot going on in the Hansen house this fall....I have been super busy with work, photography, & life...Chris is super busy with school, and the girls are busy buy busy!!!
(to say the least)
We enjoyed family in town at the beginning of the month for Haley & Courtney's wedding. It was so great to see everyone but of course it was not nearly enough time, and there were several family members we were missing so it would be wonderful to catch up with them in the near future! Haley was an absolutely beautiful bride...I unfortunately did not shoot the wedding so I do not have any pictures to share, bummer right? My amazing friend Jaren did the photography and we are all patiently waiting to see some photos! I know they will be stunning :)

Little Miss Ari is not so little anymore...she is now 9 months old, can you believe it...time is flying by! I am trying to grasp every minute I can! She started crawling at the end of Aug and within 3 weeks was pulling to stand. She is now walking around furniture and getting pretty steady on her feet. I am betting that she will be walking by Christmas, whoo not sure if I am ready for it or not! She just had her 9 month check up and is growing perfectly...a very long 29 inches and she is weighing in at 20 lbs. (95th percent for height & 75th percent for weight) She has also come very self aware and is starting to let you know if she is not happy with certain situation (i.e. Sky taking her toys from her) She squeals pretty loud!!! She is such a great little girl even with the fact that she is becoming so aware of her ability to disagree she is most of the time a pretty laid back little girl!!

Sky is really keeping us on our toes...she is constantly making us laugh with her take on life. To see the world through her eyes, really takes any worry and stress away and leaves you with wonderful belly laughs instead <3 We are finding that she is now using our tactics against us...

a couple of of recent conversations:

sky(at 8am) : mom I want candy because I am hungry
me: ok I will make you some toast :)
sky: mom, do you hear me...look in my eyes when i talk, i am serious!
(YIKES)
needless to say she just got toast
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me: sky, ari has a red mark on her cheek, did you hit her?
sky: well mom, it was with a magic wand! and i just made her a cutie pie
(got to love her reasoning huh?)
_______________________________________________________
after taking her toys away from Ari
sky: ari is a pain in my butt
then after listening to ari scream because the toys were taken away
sky: ari is a drama queen
__________________________________________________________

we don't have many dull moments around here, and we love every minute of it!

{She's on the move}

Ari is on the move...watch out world! No more putting her down and knowing exactly where she is...she is a quick one. I can't believe how quickly my baby is growing! In additional to crawling she has 2 teeth and she is just itching to stand up...if you hold her up to the edge of the couch she grabs on and stands on her own, I am sure before we know it she will be pulling up on the furniture!

{First BIG Girl Hair Cut}

Well we decided that it was time for Ms. Skylar to have a big girl hair cut! We bit the bullet and cut about 4 inches off, it looks so cute! She cried the entire time saying " I don't want my hair cut, I just want my hair and my daddy!' After they were done they spun her around to look in the mirror and and she continued to cry saying, " I just really don't like it, I really don't" :) but good news is she likes it now!!!

{...can't be left behind}

well after Skylar modeled for Besty Bee
Miss Ari wanted in on the action too!! Besty is AWESOME
and is now doing sizes starting at 3 months! YAY, all the
pint sized divas can fill their closets now too!!!

so in addition to adding 'model' to her resume...Ari is staying busy! She is now 6 months old, really where has the time gone? She is sitting up, rolling around like a crazy lady, and just itching to crawl, I give her 3 weeks, then watch out world! She is as happy as ever and just a doll...She loves to watch her sister and just giggles with delight when tickled! She is loving the introduction to 'food', teething biscuits are topping her list of favs, but she has not turned her nose up at anything yet, this girl has an appetite!
She had her 6 month check up last week and it proved she is growing like a weed... 16 lbs 3oz (50th percentile) & just over 27 inches long (80th percentile).

**she is perfect in every way**

{Skylar's modeling debut}

My friend Betsy is launching a little girls clothing line, Betsy Bee .She just completed her fall line up so we had a day of fashions shoots to get all the product shots for her website! She has asked if Skylar would model for the shoot but I told her no promises could be made, Sky has a mind of her own and we would have to see what was on that mind the day of the shoot. I also told her it didn't help that I was the photographer! But low and behold when Sky's friends arrived the day of the shoot and she found out that part of the shoot involved painting daddy's bus pink (yes he is a great sport, he let the girls paint on the VW bus....it is getting sanded next week to get repainted:} ) she was game! SO without further ado...here is Skylar's modeling debut:

*she has definitely mastered the serious model face!*

more cousin time!

the other night we had dinner with Cari, Ryan, Tyler, Sammy, Sara, Jared, Avery & Uncle Glen & Aunt Boni. A big thanks to Cari & Ryan to hosting us all!!! :) Here are all the kiddos...5 kids age 3 and under :)

Sammy 1 1/2 yrs., Ari 5 1/2 mos., Avery 6 1/2 mos, Tyler 3 1/2 yrs, & Sky 2 1/2 yrs.

Ari & Avery

they are just 4 weeks apart, it was fun to see them together!!!

supposedly Avery is not into nuks at all but she was pretty into Ari's!

the battle was on!

aren't they sweet

Avery was trying to bite her....

we are hoping that Sara, Jared, & Avery will move back to MI sometime soon so the girls can grow up together! :)

pool time

we spent the day last weekend at wodarski's pool, we had a blast!!!

spending time with the cousins...

the other day, Michael, KJ, & Makenna came over to hang with us for a few hours....a busy couple of hours, which made me realize I am perfectly set with 2 kiddos of my own!!! Her are some pics of the kids painting! :)

michael & kj warned me that kenna did not know how to paint...well I think she did a pretty good job, other than it wasn't on the paper!!!

4th of july

we didn't get to do everything that we had planned for the day because the weather was not as great as we were hoping! But we had a great time anyhow~ we spent the afternoon and evening at Chris' Uncle Steve & Aunt Toni's house for great food, swimming and amazing fireworks!!!

Ari with Great Uncle Randy

they re-created the pyramid, Chris' Dad & his brothers

<3 LOVE this picture of Grandpa with 2 of his girls!

sisters...

Sky:"Ari can sit by me, but I need a pillow....."

...just..can't stay ...awake.....

fell asleep eating her peas! :) this is like the 3rd time, it cracks us up!

always up for a challenge

so at Start of Summer they had the Euro-bounce (REALLY fun and I totally recommend it....that is if you have not been out drinking the night before) ~anyhow~ my wonderful mother-in-law bet me that I couldn't do more back flips then she could and that I couldn't out jump her....Not thinking real clearly about what I had done the night before :) I accepted the challenge, I am proud to say that I successfully beat her in both, but me head paid for it !

A day at the beach

We spent father's day at the beach! What a beautiful day!!!Skylar loved everything about the beach, and Ari didn't mind it either! :)

Bath time fun

Ari is big enough to sit in the bath tub seat! She LOVES being able to sit in there and watch her big sister!! Skylar is enjoying someone to play with!

Ari's Baptism

Ari was baptized on Sunday June 14! What a special day to dedicate our little love to God! We had a beautiful sunny day that was spent with our family! A big thank you to everyone for sharing this day with us!

the 5 cousins, talk about hard, 5 under the age of 6!!!

Florida Trip

Sorry for the ridiculous amount of pictures....I am way behind on blogging, I know I keep promising to get better but, lets be honest .... 2 girls, my photography, a full time job, a husband, and I can't forget my Facebook addiction :) So maybe you should all join FB then you can keep up with me :)

The beginning of June we made the trek down to the sunshine state. I had to attend a work meeting so we made a family trip of it so that some of my family (who made never met the girls) could get some snuggle time! We had a great time! Cameron came with us, which was awesome!We always love hanging out with him plus he was a huge help with driving, yes we drove straight through not to bad the girls slept almost the whole way!!!
We started off spending time in Monticello with Dad, Mary & Sam...we were also able to see UNcle Andrew. Sky fell in LOVE with here Pop-Pop and his horse, Sox...she was convinced he was going to let us bring the horse home! But where would we put it?!!?!? In addition to spending time at the farm we had lots of quality time with Mary which was great, I would so love to live closer so we could have more quality time together!
After 4 days we headed to Orlando and enjoyed a day at Magic Kingdom then a day at Animal Kingdom & Blizzard Beach! Sky was very excited to see Cinderella's castle and all the other disney princesses! Then at Animal Kindom she was able to see all the animals and have her picture taken with a Baboon, funny thing to be excited about huh?
Then on our way home we stopped for a quick visit with Uncle Mike & Aunt Barbara...it was so good to see them!
What a great mini vacay...will have to happen again sooner rather then later!

...life is busy...

sounds a little cliche' right? But seriously LIFE IS SUPER BUSY! I started back to work full time the first week of April! At first I was hesitant, I didn't want to leave my babies, but now that we are in the groove I have adjusted very well (the girls had no problem). WE are very blessed that mom was able to tweak her work schedule so that she would Monday's off and be able to spend quality time with Sky & Ari! It has been wonderful, a little adjustment for Skylar as now Nana has to lay down the law from time to time...I think it was her second or third week watching the girls when mom told Sky that she was doing something that I wouldn't want her to (eating play dough) and Skylar in a very serious tone said " nana, mind your business!" ....so we have had to work on some things :) The girls are also spending 3 days a week with Miss Annie (a good friend of ours) even on the weekends Skylar will ask if she can go to Miss Annie's, it is so nice that she is comfortable and loves being at the Hedstrom house, I know that they girls are very well loved when they are there and it makes my days being away from them even easier! And then one day a week Chris has been able to adjust his schedule to have a daddy daycare day! Sky loves Daddy day but I think both Chris and Sky are looking forward to summer so that they can be outside more often! It is so great that Chris can do this not only does it give him some special bonding time with the girls but also (i think) given him a new appreciation for the role of 'mommy'!
I am keeping busy through out the week working for H-Wave and then I am also doing quite a bit with Ashley Photography. I am blessed that my dream continues to grow, and I am so excited to see what the future hold for Ashley Photography.
Update on What's new with Miss Ari~
Can you believe she is almost 4 months old? She is such a joy. She is turning into quite the talker, constantly squealing and babbling (boy is Chris in trouble). She has not rolled over yet but seems to be close, she gets half way (from her back to side) then stops. She does seem to be scootching all over, no more hanging out on our bed unsupervised...She has her 4 month check up next week, so I will be interested to see how big she has gotten, she is very long and defenietle starting to chub up! She is sleeping great usually going to bed at night around 9 pm then pu around 6, this morning I actually had to wake her up at 7...but thats only happened once!
Sky's Update~
It is amazing what a smart little girl she is...knows all her colors, can count to ten, can sing some of the alphabet, her speech is fantastic, she often uses several sentences at once to get her point across...I love hearing all the funny things she says, she has completely mimiced Chris and I. We have had to really start watching what we say when her little ears are around, we could get in a little bit of trouble :) She is also lookig so grown up, she is already 36 1/2 inches tall and her hair is starting to grow out of its mullet phase :) She actually had her first official haircut, although it was just a trim, she went to a real salon!! She is ready for summer to come so that she can get out and play, riding her bike and swinging are 2 of her favorite activities!

I will try to keep things updated a little better.... hope you all have a fantasic week :D

Easter 2009

We had a beautiful Easter! Not only was it amazing weather it was also a great day with family! Skylar and Ari both had baskets waiting for them when they woke up! The Easter Bunny doesn't hide them yet, maybe next year. Skylar ate her weight plus some in chocolate, she was one happy girl:)

We started off the day with brunch at our house with Mom & Fred and Haley & COurtney, then off to a great church service. We came home for a couple of hours of relaxation, then off to Dad & Cindy's for Easter dinner with Haley, Courtney, Cameron, Ali, Ben & Dad & Cindy!

{spending time with Grandpa Hansen}

we have been trying to do dinner a couple times a week with Dad Hansen, which has been very nice! We are so blessed to have most of our family right in town and SKylar LOVES to spend time with her grandparents! Her face lights up when she sees them! It is so cute she calls dad, just HANSEN, no grandpa...whatever works, I think its so cute!!!

{ARI got her ears pierced}

2 weeks ago I took Ari to get her ears pierced! She was 11 weeks old (Skylar was 10 wks when hers were done!) She did great and her little diamonds look so cute in her ears!!!

right before...she has know idea :(

again no idea...but isn't she cute!

here it comes

ok it just hurst for a minute, like shots but much prettier:)