What We've Been Up To

First camping trip.

First time touching water in a lake or stream.

First baseball game.

First BYU football game

First time trying solids.

Priest Lake trip with Grandma and Grandpa Hanson.

Sleeping in silly positions.

Cutie pie before getting a hair cut.

First Halloween!

Valentine's Day + Update

K and I had a wonderful low-key Valentine's. 

K brought home pizza and crazy bread.

I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

We exchanged gifts.

I got him his favorite things - chocolate milk, a set of 3 James Bond DVD's, and Reese's cups. 

He got me a card and some chocolate.... Except then I opened the card and inside were tickets to Wicked (!!!!) when it comes to Spokane in May.

(May's not too soon to leave our babe with a sitter for a while.... Right???)

Kyle's a sneaky mcsneakerson when it comes to gifts. He's always getting me something I didn't know I was getting that I love/have been wanting.

Whataguy.

Saturday we just relaxed around the house, and went to the adult session of Stake Conference that evening.

Sunday was the general session of Stake Conference (our ward choir, which I'm in, sang in it, so we had to be there a little early). 2 hours is always long.... But great messages were shared.

Monday was President's Day, which Kyle had off, hooray! So we just did more relaxing and spending time together. Gotta get that in before we have this little boy here.

Also! Kyle got the position at work that he interviewed for! He is so excited! I'll try to make him write a blog post all about it so you know what he's going to be doing and while he'll like it better.

He gets to go to a week-long training. 

It will be in the middle of March, in Boston.

(We thought it was going to be in Alaska, which he was so excited for, but that training is actually the first week of April.... A little too close to my due date for comfort.) 

I'm proud of my guy, and all the hard work he does!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to this lovely guy.

He makes me laugh multiple times a day, and I love him for it (and a lot of other reasons, too).

Thanks for choosing me, babe, and making me the happiest I've ever been.

Photo by Lissa Claire Photography, February 2011

Just a Lil' Update

I thought it was probably time to do a little update on our life, outside of baby :)

Kyle is enjoying his job, and is building his case load which means he is keeping busier at work. He is going to interview for a slightly different job this week (still in the same department), so we'll see how that goes. It's just different enough that he thinks he will enjoy it a bit more, but if he doesn't get it, it won't be too big of a deal.

He was also just called to be the second counselor in the Sunday School presidency in our ward, so that will be good for him. The president and first counselor are both really nice guys, and we'll look forward to getting to know them a little better.

We're also still called to be the CTR 5 primary teachers, so we'll have to see what happens there. Luckily during the Sunday School hour is when we have sharing and singing time, so if Kyle can still join me third hour for class time, I should be ok. We've got quite a rowdy bunch of little boys this year, and while they're cute and fun, I don't think this pregnant lady could handle it by herself. So maybe they'll release us sooner rather than later.

But who knows?! We sure have a blast teaching those kiddos each week, though.

I'm just at home, getting things ready for baby - we all know I'm a planner so I am constantly making lists of things we need, or need to do. 

I'll probably talk about this in my next weekly post, but we started our birth class this week, and we enjoyed it! (Maybe I did a little more than Kyle.....) :) We still have three more classes to go, and I'm sure we'll learn a lot more.

We're still enjoying life up here in northern Idaho, and we're getting excited for spring (for multiple reasons! - but mostly because our babe is coming) (but also because it will be lighter out longer, and be warmer!).

Utah Trip

Kyle and I were able to take a little trip to Utah this past week/end. We didn't go down during the holidays, but wanted to see family before we have our baby in April. I flew in on Tuesday afternoon, Kyle flew in on Thursday night, and we flew home together yesterday (Monday). Our days went like this:

Tuesday:
I got up bright and early (as did Kyle) in order to make it to the airport for my 8 am flight. Between mechanical problems and re-routing.... My (re-routed) flight left about 9. I flew to Boise, stayed on the plane, flew to Phoenix, switched flights, and finally made it to SLC around 4. And then of course my luggage gave me a scare when it was one of the last pieces off. Kyle's dad picked me up, and we were finally on the road to go back to their house around 4:45. Long day of traveling.

Later that evening, Kyle's mom hosted a baby shower for me with both the Hanson and Bishop sides. It was a lot of fun seeing some of Kyle's aunts and cousins, and we were gifted with some great things for baby Hanson! My mom and Charity also came, and I went home with them that evening.

Me with 2 of my 3 SIL's, Mel and Jess. They helped host the shower.

Claire helped me open presents, it was super cute.

Wednesday:
Just a relaxing day at my mom's. Charity was at school and with her dad most of the day, so Mom and I just chatted and ate and relaxed.

Thursday:
Similar to Wednesday, except Mom threw me a little shower that evening. Mom's two closest friends Becky and Berti came over (they are like grandmas/aunts to me, love them!), as did a friend of my moms in her ward, and another family friend came with her new baby and one of her older girls. There was some delicious food and it was good to see those that came.

Me with friends and my mom at the shower at my mom's.

Me with mom and Char.

Oh, Kyle also flew in this night, at like 9:30 pm or so. He stayed with his parents.

Friday:
Relaxed in the morning (Charity was off of school), and got ready for the day. After Charity went with her dad for the weekend, Mom and I did a little shopping at the Orem mall, and then she dropped me off for my friend shower that Ayisha, and Dani, threw for me. It was at the church where K and I had our reception, so that was kind of precious, and it was so good to see those that came!
Adrianne and Juliet, Leanna, Jenny, Katie, Shauna, Collin, Alicia and Everett, Em, and Ashley. And of course Ish and Dani. It was so good to see everyone and we got some super cute things! Baby boy is going to be so dang cute in all his cute clothes.

Me with one of my best friends from HS, Collin, and his cute wife Alicia and their baby Everett!

Me and BFF Dani.

Me with my BFF Emily and her cute sister Ashley. I adore them both!

Me and my Isha.

Me and Katie.

This night Kyle had a boys night out with his dad and 2 of his brothers. They went to Smashburger for dinner, played around at Scheels, and had shakes at Iceburg. I'm glad he could have a fun time with his brothers.

Saturday: 
Kyle and his dad came and picked me up at my mom's, and we went to Price to visit Kyle's grandma. Nate and Mel also drove down with their kiddos. We had a nice time with them and Grandma, and we also saw Kyle's Uncle Dennis as well.

Kyle and Avery drawing.

Kyle and Liam.

Me and sweet baby A.

Me and Whit.

Kyle and I with his Grandma Hanson. We love her!

We picked up my things, and we drove up to stay at Kyle's parents' house for the rest of our time here. That afternoon, and that evening Alan, Jess and Claire came over for dinner, and it was fun to spend time with them.

Sunday:
We went to church with Kyle's parents, and then I took a nap. Kyle and I drove down to my cousin Troy's house and got together with my Uncle Gordon's family. It was fun to spend time with some of my cousins, their spouses and cute kiddos.

Monday:
We spent the morning relaxing and playing with Claire (Kyle's parents tend her in the morning). We ran a quick errand, and then packed up our things before Kyle's dad drove us to the airport to catch our 5:40 pm flight. Our flights went fine, although we had a 2.5 hour layover at the Vegas airport that seemed to take forever. We finally made it back to Spokane around 11:30pm or midnight, and made it home and basically fell right into bed.

K and I with Claire.

We had a great time being with family and friends, and are so grateful for all the nice things we received for baby boy! It was kind of crazy leaving Utah, and realizing that next time we see any of our family and friends we will have a baby!

Goals for 2014

It's that time again... When we make goals and resolutions to start the new year. Let's be honest, you can choose to set goals any time of year, but the beginning of a whole new year always feel fresh and crisp. I have some serious goals, and some less serious goals for this year. So here are mine, in no particular order.

First, have a baby. I don't say that in a flippant way, I really mean give birth to a human being. It's terrifying and miraculous all at the same time. Also, going along with that, I have a goal to not complain (too much) during my last 3 months of pregnancy. The last few days I have all of a sudden felt very overwhelmed with all the changes in my body (back aches! hip aches! knee joint aches! a huge stomach! insomnia!) so I will at least try to not complain about that, because I know it's all for a great reason and come April I will have a sweet baby of my own in my arms. WORTH IT.

Second, be an awesome mom. Ok, that one is kind of in a flippant way. But I really do want to try to be the best mom possible for my little one. I'm excited (and sometimes a little nervous) for all the things he is going to teach me, but I mostly CAN'T WAIT.

Third, finish the Book of Mormon, and then re-read the New Testament. I'd also like to integrate conference and devotional talks into my scripture study. I also want to get into the habit of doing my scripture study before getting on any social media. Also make sure to say my morning and evening personal prayers.

Fourth, I'd like to continue to eat more healthy. Kyle and I have been doing better on this goal (holiday eating aside...) and I'd like to continue. Kind of going along with this, I'd like to make a lot of freezer meals before the baby comes.

Fifth, once the baby comes I'd like to get into a work out schedule, and lose baby weight, plus some. I have a "goal weight" in mind, but would be happy just looking and feeling healthy, not matter what that weight ends up being.

Sixth, make time to spend time with Kyle, especially once baby comes. Whether this is at home date nights after baby is in bed, or getting a sitter occasionally, just make sure to keep that a priority, even with all the changes that will be happening.

And these last two are kind of less-serious goals, but two that I'd like to get done, all the same.

Seventh, print my "waiting" blog and my "single, college" blog. They've both been formatted and ready to go since we lived in Utah... But I've never wanted to fork over the money to actually get them printed and shipped. That needs to happen.

Eighth, scrapbook all my high school stuff before the baby comes. I REALLY need to get caught up and have that out of the way so I can focus on scrapping mine and Kyle's life, and baby's life when he comes. (I should probably also scrapbook college life, too, but that will also have to get in line. One thing at a time.)

Yes, 2014 is going to be a year of adjusting to the changes that come with having a baby, and hopefully getting into a really good rhythm of being a stay-at-home mom (... and possibly finding a part-time at home job. Only time will tell!).

2014, (I think) I'm ready for you.