Holiday Greetings

Happy Holidays! We had a wonderfully typical year (weekend jaunts to Flaming Gorge and a trip to Disneyland) and then... kapow! On June 15, sweet rosy pink baby Millie was born!

Michael is now drowning in fuchsia and absolutely adored by his girls. He works hard and plays hard, loves cycling and leading his scouts. I savor mommyhood entirely, and also had a full year freelance reporting and working with neighborhood young women. Fancy Sophie (3 yrs) loves ballet, preschool and dreaming up songs about bugs and ponies. Jolly Millie (6 mos) does all the gooey baby stuff that makes us ridiculously proud: cooing, growing teeth and rolling over. They really do love being sisters.

Our hearts extend to our dear friends and family. This winter, we rejoice in His birth and the addition of our baby daughter. We sincerely hope that whether you are in our neighborhood or across the globe, you are also finding joy in the special way that you celebrate this season. We look forward to the New Year with optimism. Best wishes to you and yours!

Love,

The Hansens

Best of 2009

What I didn't have room to include in the holiday greeting

SUNDANCE.

Here's how weird Sundance is: Jenni and I covered red carpets with Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon, chilled with Nick Cannon, ran into Robert Redford on the street... all just after being snubbed at the Spongebob suite of all places (really, people?!). And all, apparently, while I wore a stupid hat.

HAPPY PLACE.

Hansen Family ran off to one of our top favorite places to show the parents (er, I mean, the kids) a good time. Get ready, Princesses: we had so much fun, we're heading back in February! And this time, I'll be un-pregnant, so I can ride all the superfast superscary rides! Wahoo!

GIRLFRIEND GETAWAY.

I had the bummer work assignment of spending a lavish weekend at a spa resort with my sister, best friend and sister-in-law. I couldn't figure out how to copy the pictures, so if you are really interested in seeing my yoga modeling (I'm not kidding) at six months pregnant, knock yourself out here: http://michaelallisonhansen.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

SPRING BREAK IN VEGAS.

Sounds wild and crazy, doesn't it? Our spring break in Vegas with Howells involved two toddlers, two teens and four tired but superfun parents. Wahoooo! Megan ought to take up gambling, she was the big ticket winner. She turned around and traded in her winnings for suckers for the girls.

DANCE.

Miss S continues to take dance lessons with neighbor girlfriends. Finished this spring with a Mommy and Me class, now enrolled in ballet.

HAPPY THIRD BDAY!

We celebrated with a backyard bash... balloons, slip 'n' slide, cake. A kid's dream!

HAPPY BIRTH DAY!

Miss M made her grand debut in June!

We got lots of help and visitors, including Celeste from California. Big Sister got sleepovers with Megan, Hansens and Larsons!

CABIN FUN.

Flaming Gorge did not disappoint, except that we wish we had spent more time up there fishing and boating and hiking our guts out. We're committed to much more cabin time in '10!

Michael took his scouts and the dads for an overnighter... they had an awesome trip.

SUMMERNESS.

We spent a fair amount of our summer pedaling to the corner convenience store for "slurps," hitting the SL Farmers Market, rocking in Mommy's new hammock while Michael worked in the yard, visiting the zoo and being charmed by our baby girl!

PRESCHOOL.

Miss S started real preschool (side note: she "graduated" from an awesome Joy School co-op in the spring, with new friends we'll surely hang on to forever).

MORE CHARMING BABY GIRL.

We had the most gorgeous blessing day and celebration at the end of the summer.

Seriously, she is such a happy kid.

ALL WORK REALLY IS ALL PLAY.

Miss S loves to help Daddy work outside. It truly is her favorite past-time, digging in the dirt and collecting critters and raking leaves. Now that winter is on, she begs to go out and shovel with him, too!

UTES.

Football season is wrapping up and we're on to basketball (although Michael says he may make a road trip for the bowl game next week). It was a fun year; I think Miss S went to every home game with her daddy!

HALLOWEEN.

Our princess and pea.

HOLIDAYS.

... and, of course, a joyous holiday season! Here's to a FABULOUS 2010!

Santa Dinner

Hansen Grandparents treated the kids and grandkids to a fancy Santa Dinner this week. What a fun, magical way to celebrate this time of year with little ones!

She looks a little uncertain, but Miss M really liked Santa.

When he entered the dining room, Miss S wasn't so sure...

But then, the big guy gave her and Ri big snuggly teddy bears, so she may have changed her mind.

Miss M's first ever Santa gift: a little kittycat.

It went straight into her mouth. Naturally.

We had the yummiest treats.

We were thrilled to run into lots of friends.

And eat more yummy treats! (and more... and more... and more...)

Thank you, Ed and Myra!

(side note: Yes, Gina and Scott were also there. We just, apparently, don't have the photos on our camera to prove it.)

I Need a Drink

After an awesome long hard crazy fun day with multiple diaper changes, impromptu dance parties and creative kitchen experiments... this is how I unwind.

This stuff will take the edge off.

And speaking of kitchen experiments, this week Sophie and I undertook the challenge of homemade marshmallows. Final result: very complicated. very yummy.

I Like These People

Al, Mindy, Lalona, Kelly, Laney, Jenny, Liz

Lucky me, when I married Michael I was inducted into the "Beta Wives." I didn't even have to do any crazy secret initiation involving chants or paddle spanking (not that I even know what actually goes on in fraternal initiations... "brothers never tell").

The Beta Wives all married into this group of fraternity brothers, and with some magic trickle-down effect, we have a great sisterhood. We get together occasionally throughout the year, some of us are in book club together, the little kids play and take dance together, etc. Only one lives out of state right now, and we're crossing every finger and toe that will change soon.

On a personal note, these women have been invaluable in my transition to marriedhood and motherhood and livinginUtahhood. They're beautiful, fun, hilarious, insightful, spiritually solid and quality.

Thank you, Betas, for marrying great girls.

Be It Ever So Humble: Christmas Trimmings '09

Raised the tree... and covered with ribbon and bulbs and candy canes and "boyngies." Same happy theme as always: red and Santa-inspired.

And as it turned out, we ended up with two trees. Another (great) story, another time. Can you find the hiding kiddo?

Peekaboo! I let her stay in her footsie jammies til noon, since we were just tinkering with Christmas decor and singing our guts out to 100.3. Funny tangent: Mid-decor, I got called in to work pronto for network on breaking news, so I sheepishly delivered my little one to my mother-in-law's happily open babysitting arms in her pajamas in the middle of the day. Embarrassing! Luckily, Myra's awesome.

Moved Mommy's magazine obsession off the coffee table and ceremoniously placed our collection of children's Christmas books (Mommy's other obsession).

Found little nooks and crannies for our nativity sets (kiddo's favorite below, placed in a kid-reachable corner).

Fancied up our fresh wreath and set it on the front door. We added a little posh pink to our annual red theme this year, in honor of Baby Girl Numero Dos.

And, lastly (my personal inspiration and this year's holiday delight)... hung our stockings by the chimney with care.

(If you or a friend want me to make you a "care" banner or teach you how, I'm happy to! May start selling them in my etsy shop soon, who knows?)

"Utah Football 2009" (or "Don't Say We Didn't Try")

We did it. We got Miss M to her first University of Utah football game a few weeks ago. Too bad she lasted, oh, um about two minutes. Basically, long enough for us to get these photos as proof of our attendance.

It was like an exact replay of Miss S's first game three years ago: it was colder than expected, she got hungry and tired as soon as we got there, the noise bothered her, she screamed her gosh-darned head off, people stared, I retreated. All within milliseconds of kickoff. Go team.

Old Friend

Ran into* an old friend on his lunch break today...

* We were actually aware that Santa would be in the neighborhood. So aware, in fact, that we had an appointment to meet him for portraits at a nearby location. We just didn't expect to see him hanging out on a sidewalk bench between sessions.

Tutus for Sale

Remember these?

I love tutus! Perfect for pictures and twirling (and in my case, decorating my daughters' room). I add my own little touches, with patterned ribbons and ric-rac and a big flower with a sparkly rhinestone in the middle. Girls love this stuff.

You know I normally create them exclusively as gifts or costumes for Sophie. People have asked me to sell them, but I've always declined. However, I went a little nuts with the tulle last week so I'm opening this up... for the holidays, I'm selling some tutus. I give you my word, I will never do this again.

If you've got a Fancy Nancy or Fancy Sophie or Fancy Gertrude, heads up:

Itty Bitty (up to 12/18 months): $28*

Girls (probably up to 5/6): $32*

I've got Christmas (red/green or red/white), Angel White (with accents of silver and/or blue), Pastel Multicolored, and Sugary Pink (our fave). Just a couple of each.

Send me an email if you're interested (allisonhansen@gmail.com). Spread the word, too.

* To save you the trouble of price comparisons, smaller tutus go for as little as $19 online but they're pretty basic, without the ribbon and bling. Then again, Gina and I saw some at a boutique last week for (gulp) $83.

Sophie-Mommy Time

With the new baby invasion at our house, my mommy arms are often full with nursing and diapering and soothing. So Big Sister doesn't feel completely ignored, I have taken my pediatrician's wise advice to spend some Sophie-Mommy time, just her and I.

While Daddy was away at a scout overnighter and Baby was asleep, we had a "Girls Night." We got Nielson's Chocolate Malted Almond Frozen Custard, rented the Hannah Montana movie, and made this silly craft we saw on a kids show (not really sure what it was supposed to be).

Last week, I took my princess to Disney's Princesses on Ice show downtown. She wanted to dress like Tinkerbell, of course.

When we arrived, the energy and anticipation were palpable.

Right away, I had a "must be a mom" moment. As the show began, I caught myself clapping with delight and wiping away a little mist around the eyes. The real revelation was that I wasn't even watching the show... I was watching my kid watch the show! The joy and wonder was just too much.

There was a lot of this...

And per Daddy's request, Sophie waved "hello" to...

... these guys. Hi-ho!

I promised her a treat. Didn't realize that meant I would be spending THIRTEEN dollars on a snow cone. But, hey, it came with a cool cup and spoon straw. Sigh.

Inspired by the "skating princesses," she twirled and skipped outside the arena. Fun night!

And I failed to post these pics from our other Sophie-Mommy outing earlier this year at the Downtown Farmers Market.

We love the buckwheat pancakes with granola and bananas with apple cider syrup. My finicky eater just gobbles it up!

She also loves to taste the farmers' samples, particularly peaches. Totally unprovoked from me, she doesn't dig the tomatoes.

The morning was so much fun, we didn't want it to end! So we went to the drive-through car wash. She loves the "monster fingers."

Many more fun Sophie-Mommy moments to come!

Auntie Boo and Uncle Chris Visit

After a surprisingly successful antelope hunt in Montana, my sister and Chris had an extra day to, um, kill. So, lucky us... they stopped by for an overnight visit! Auntie Boo is like a celebrity to Sophie. She was also enamored with Chris (who isn't?), snuggling up next to him during bedtime story and showing him all her toys in the playroom.

I love hunting season, because it means there's a very slight chance my sister will drive through town. Plus, this year, I think we'll inherit some free range buffalo meat from one of Chris's hunts in Wyoming. I've only occasionally eaten game meat, but I'm excited to try the bison because it is so lean and doesn't have all of the hormones that feedlot beef contains.

Don't Hate Me

Don't hate me because I now own "The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook."

Don't hate me because I'm going to make Hummingbird Cake this weekend...

... and this next week.

Oh, and of course, don't hate me because I'm beautiful.