The Hanson Crew

Ashlyn officially turned 6 on Monday! She is getting so big and so smart. We are going to have some school friends over on Friday night to celebrate more. I asked Ashlyn what she loved about being 6 and she said "being bigger and I can learn how to do stuff - like ride my bike alone!" I guess when you're six that's all that matters. Here is a recent pic of her taken by our wonderful and talented photographer Lisa at the lake! We keep telling her to leave her hair down more often like this because she looks so much older. I guess when you're six, being comfortable is more important too! Happy Birthday Ashlyn!

Josh officially turned 3 on Monday! He has really grown up this past year and it has been a blast to be home with him each day. We are proud to say we have made it 2 days in underwear with NO accidents and believe we are on the path to being potty trained! He is going by himself now and not having to be reminded all the time. Josh had a fun birthday party on Sunday with family and loves all his new stuff. Among the top few is a thomas train mat with trains and a box of tools. He really loved everything though! Here is a photo taken a few days before his party. It kinda looks like he is praying for a great birthday. Happy Birthday Josh and we love you!!!

So I woke up today with a shooting pain in my right side, which keeps coming and going this pregnancy and decided to call my ob. Even though my first appointment is on Monday, they wanted me to come in and get a scan. So the office did blood work and an ultrasound in the office to rule out a tubular pregnancy or appendicitis. Thankfully it was neither :) They did find two cysts on my ovaries, which are normal in the first trimester to keep the hormones for the baby alive. I had no idea - they should go away in a few weeks. Sometimes these cysts cause pain so they are guessing that is it. But they did a second ultrasound (the nicer one on the stomach!) to make sure later this afternoon. So long story short, I still have a pain (which could be normal), got two ultrasounds, will still go back on Monday, and most importantly there is only ONE baby with a great heartbeat in the uterus (where it should be!) Yah!!!

Josh loves to share with his brother, oh as long as he can have something in return (no really, he is our best sharer!) Caleb has picked that habit up and would only share his sucker with Josh if he could have a drink of his drink. Both boys wouldn't let go of his own "thing" while taking advantage of the other. So here is Caleb drinking some juice without letting go of his sucker stick just as Josh taught him.

At the Weston AppleFest this weekend, the kids enjoyed getting their face painted. Unfortunately, they made the parents and kids paint the faces. So here are a few good pics of the kids doing that. Lisa and I sure tried hard to make them look like what they wanted... Josh was a cat Ashlyn said "Boo" and had a a ghost, bat and pumpkin Eli got a star Rylee drew a cat and posed with Ashlyn (again campaining for Talent)

Here are the 3 kids with the pumpkins they picked from the patch on Sat (yep, we went to a different patch on Friday with Ashlyn's kindergarten class too). We had a really busy day with our friends Eli and Lisa. My niece Rylee joined us after a sleepover at our house Friday night too. We started the day with a parade in Weston, then the AppleFest, an apple orchard, and then a pumpkin patch! It was busy and fun! We have tons of pictures from the whole day so I will be using those pictures for more blogs this week. Enjoy! Caleb discovering his pumpkin is attached to vines. Ashlyn campaigning for Talent with her pumpkin Joshua Paul finally standing with his pumpkin (he had a hard time walking through the vines!)

So I had a few complaints yesterday about my negativity toward this pregnancy, including my husband. I have to admit yesterday was not a good day so much of that stemmed from feeling very sick. After an enlightening conversation with John last night, I have put things into perspective. This pregnancy is a blessing and a miracle and I need to remember that each day. God will give me the grace I need each day I am sick and will not give me 9 months of strength in one day. I need to remember to pray each day and get through each day not looking ahead to the ones to come. Who knows, maybe this baby (hopefully female) is destined to bring 100s of people to Christ or say something to the one person who will. I know God put this baby in me for a reason and I need to thank him for that instead of complaining about it. I am sorry for all the negativity yesterday and will try to be more excited and a little less frustrated about this pregnancy. My first appointment is on Oct 23rd when I

As I ran this morning to the bathroom I began to remember past pregnancies and how miserable they have all been. I am still praying this one might be different, but after this morning it is not looking too promising. In honor of my last 3 memorable NINE months of illness, here is what I have to look forward to: Many trips to the bathroom, feeling tired all the time, throwing up everything even water, passing out, losing about 10 pounds, trips to the hospital with dehydration, PUPS ( a horrible rash with Ashlyn all over my body), my children pretending to throw up in the bathroom all day, contractions way to early, horrible meds to stop the early contractions, magnesium drip, bedrest, no sleep, blood lines on my stomach because it is stretched too far, about a 50 pound weight gain, and oh ya, just being uncomfortable!!!! Here is to pregnancy!!!

Well, we had a great time in MN this past weekend. The boys went to a Desiring God conference and said it was better than last year (which is hard to believe since last year was so awesome!). Lisa and I wished we would have went to that now, but still had an amazing time. We shopped at an outside mall, scrapbooked, took the light rail over to Mall of America, met up with the guys, and of course ate! We had a blast sharing funny stories about our past and just hanging out. Here is a pic of the two of us and each couple at Pizza Hut driving home. Lisa and Deanna Deanna and John Nate and Lisa