MERRY CHRISTMAS!

the girls woke up at 6:15. i really didn't think they would wake up early but of course they did. it was really cute. we could hear mallory yelling "santa" from her crib. we had to let them get up.

all the loot under the tree.
brett and i got one "big" present (keyboard for me and bar-b-que for brett) and one small one (pair of shoes for me and a new pillow for brett).

mallory's little pile.

olivia's loot

it was a great morning. the girls loved all their presents and just played for hours. it was nice. brett and i put his bar-b-que together later. we have decided that we have come along way in our marriage becauase we actually had a pretty good time putting it together. in earlier similar adventures we were not so good at working together or being very nice. lol.
here is my keyboard. i love it and so do the girls. since we can't get a piano right now, i figured this was the next best thing. we sing and play at least every other day.

we had dinner at the madsens later that day with the missionaries. it was really fun. olivia calls their boys her brothers. she loves to play with them. megan cooked a great ham and and home made rolls, we brought some jello and a pie. it was really good food. thanks madsens.

over all it was a good christmas. we missed having family with us but got to talk to all of them. i would rather see them when the baby comes. hint, hint! i can't wait to have him and show him off.

christmas eve

merry christmas! i can't believe it is already here. we had a quite and not so normal christmas eve. i thought i would just go to walmart "really quick" and get some last minute stuff we needed. so, most of you must be thinking "is she crazy" and the answer is - yes. i didn't think it would be too busy. i think it is all the pregnancy hormones. how did i not know that it would be CRAZY at walmart??

i went to walmart at 4:30 and didn't get back until 6:45. so brett and the girls had a nice christmas eve together. brett made some really good hamburgers (i know very festive) and i got to spend the night with the people in line at walmart! they was a really nice guy in front of me and a couple behind me that i talked to alot. the guy in front kept on telling me to fake labor so i could get though the line. he also got me so water when i started not feeling so well and offered to carry me grocery's to the car for me. he was really nice. the couple behind me were only buying rolls. i thought they were crazy to wait all that time to just buy rolls but they were really nice.

**moral of the story**

never NEVER NEVER go to walmart on christmas

don't even think about it.

after i got home we let the girls open some presents. they were so excited.

grandma edrington (brett's mom) made them some really cute blankets they HAD to sleep with that night. it was really cute. they also opened some books from grandpa hansen and we read those before bed.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRETT!

don't tell brett i told you this, but he turned the big 3-0 this year. he is a little sensitive about being "this" old. so being the loving wife that i am, the girls and i found all the "over the hill"/ black decorations we could to help brett feel better about this birthday. aren't i nice!! brett thought so too. we even had an "over the hill" sign on the front door! it was pretty funny.

do you like the candles? what a good action shot too, he is blowing the candles out!! brett loves oreos, so me and the girls made him a special oreo cake.

eating some cake.
a little protective of her cup and cake.
brett with his presents. isn't he so cute!

i hope you had a great b-day babe. just wanted to do a shout out to you for taking care of us.
thanks for:
always making your girls laugh
working so hard
doing the dishes so much with this pregnancy
singing in the shower
your late night runs to get chocolate
taking the garbage out WITHOUT BEING ASKED
letting me freak out alittle bit lately and still loving me
wrestling with the girls
always giving the girls a bath
wanting to snuggle with me
our beautiful daughters and our little boy almost here

i am so glad you're my husband. thanks for sticking with me.

oh christmas tree!

the girls have a little board book that talks about getting a tree, so we had to do everything just like the book it was really cute.

here is mallory trying to find the perfect one, just like the book.
olivia had to help too. kind-of funny- this snow was our first real snow, actual snow on the ground and we let olivia go out in her princess ballet shoes. brett and i had a good laugh and then we went straight home to find their boots. olivia loves to play in the snow so her and daddy had a snowball fight. so cute. mallory and i tried to join in but mostly got hit by snowballs!! brett!decorating the tree, doesn't mallory look excited?? the girls loved the tree and helped with all the decorating. it's so fun now that both of them get in to the holidays. i love it. they can't wait for santa to come!

sweet olivia, she HAD to put the star on top because that is what the little girl did in the book. she was so excited and thanked brett about a thousand times for letting her help.
we love the tree and it didn't turn out too bad! right??

big girl olivia

olivia and mallory have bunk beds! they are so pretty, brett picked them our himself. they came in last night and we got their room organized and put the beds together. here is liv with one of the boxes. she was so excited to get a big girl bed.

here is the finished product. olivia was a little shy in this photo. she looks so little in the bed. i feel all grown-up now that we have bunk beds. we are going to keep mallory in her crib a little longer so the other bunk is in the spare room/baby room.

mallory thought she was going to sleep with olivia or have a big bed too because when we tried to get them to go to bed mallory just cried and cried wanting to get into la la's bed. it was so cute sad. we didn't know if they were actally going to go to sleep or stay asleep. we were pleasantly surprised!

after about half hour crying they finally settled down and went to sleep. hopefully tonight will be better. i was also worried that liv would get out of bed but she didn't and even waited for me to come get her this morning. so, check big bed off olivia's life list.

ALSO, i haven't changed an olivia poopy diaper in 4 days!! i am sure it is her early christmas present for me. it has been heaven. i was having nightmares about having 3 kids in diapers. thanks to all those who gave support and advice.

SHE IS FINALLY DOING IT!

dying to go outside

these poor sweet little girls are dying to go outside and play. now that it is the first of dec. it is too cold to go out.

the girls wanted to rake the leaves, so we got their coats on and they went out. since they were no leaves on our actually patio, mallory's job was to get the leaves through the fence and put them on the cement so olivia could "sweep" them. it was quite funny to watch. i have had that it doesn't snow here past march usually!! yes! so only 4 more months! much better than minneasota.

happy thanksgiving!

we had thanksgiving in indianapolis, just the 4 of us. here is our little turkey beast, isn't it funny in the huge pan?? it fed all of us and some was leftover for thanksgiving casserole. it definitely wasn't as good as a "real turkey" and i am sure we will do a REAL turkey for christmas!

here are brett and the girls at the feast. mallory and olivia hardly ate a thing. i didn't expect them to, but you always hope. brett actually ended up eating dinner mostly by himself because olivia had to use the bathroom (she is almost potty trained) and so all 3 girls spent most of the meal in the bathroom.

brett was kind-of disappointed that we didn't all get to eat together. he just wanted to have a nice sit down family meal. i told him that i don't think we are going to have that for quite some time!! but, it was a great day. it was especially fun to have brett home for 4 days. we girls were in heaven.

some things we are thankful for;

our family, the new baby, judy and phil,

earl, jodeene, tony, grandma's and grandpa's, cousins,

our sisters and brothers, josh serving a mission!

olivia finally getting potty trained, our cute apartment,

cars that work, the gospel and many more.

hopefully all of you had a great thanksgiving!

"why can't sally stay here forever"

that's what olivia said as we left sally at the airport! she got to come and visit us this last weekend. we had tons of fun. sally bought the girls a pricess cake mix. they were in heaven. all the girls made the cake together.

here is the finally product.

i have already taught my daughter well and have her licking the beaters!! didn't everyone do that as a kid!! the best part of helping!

we did alot of relaxing and playing. we went to the mall play place, went out to olive garden and sally even helped me sub in nursey! it was so fun to have her here with us. the girls just love her. she was fabulous, reading mallory the same story about 1000 times and doing anything and everything with olivia. she even let me and brett go to a movie. it was heaven since we haven't found a babysitter here yet!! thanks sally!! we love you!

olivia has a boyfriend!

this is olivia's first boyfriend, wesley madsen!

the madsen's and us went to the same halloween party and that is when wesley fell for olivia. lol. he didn't even know her name but told megan (his mom) that he had a girlfriend. so funny. a few days later we got to go to the children's museum with them and wesley and liv held hands for part of the time. megan and i thought it was hilarious!

we were leaving and i told liv give wesley a high five goodbye, they did the high five thing and then wesley said, "i love you, goodbye".

it was adorable.

we thought we had a couple more years before we had to start thinking about this!!

i'm getting smarter!

i found out the girls LOVE to vacuum under the table. you know all the food that gets dropped on our lovely dinning room carpet floor. olivia will vacuum while mallory shows where vacuuming is needed. they will help mom for a whole 30 mins! it is really funny.
i have already started to think of other chores i can have the girls!! he, he, he!

random stuff!

the girls love to watch movies in their room. we got them all set up in their little couch. aren't they cute. we even let them have some popcorn! what great parents we are! livy wearing momma's hot shoes. so funny!
she actually walked really good in them. i guess she will soon be on "america's top model".

ps, someone please help me. i don't know how to change the picture rotation? help??

ode to the uncles!

greg, you know this is for you. ever since that lunch we had the girls do this ALL the time. mallory will even do it!! so funny. just wanted you to know we miss you TONS and can't wait to see you in jan/feb for new baby time.

jeremy, remember this!! i have had the video for so long but didn't know how to get it to you. i love blogger!! hope you enjoy!

OK, i just watched this again and i can't believe how much olivia and mallory are EXACTLY THE SAME! so cute.

crazy sweet girls!

where does the time go??

i feel like mallory was just born. brett and i are sure she is only turning 1 this year!! no way could it be 2!!

we have a crab hat that aunt sally got for olivia and the other morning mallory came into the computer room growling with it on. it was hilarous!! she is getting so big. mallory has really started talking these days and can communicate pretty well. playing with olivia has gotten alittle easier.

of course, liv needed a turn!everyday living in the hansen princess castle. they are eating breakfast already dressed to kill. i love it! olivia is belle.

mallory is ariel. ok, seriously, is this not the cutest girl you have ever seen?? i couldn't help but take a picture of her with that crown on!! ADORABLE!!

we love you mallory and olivia.

thanks for making our lives crazy and wonderful all at the same time!

it's so much fun when grandpa comes!

Brett's dad got to come and see us for halloween. we had so much fun!! he did most of the trick or treating with the girls. it was a nice break for me and brett.

olivia and mallory probably had grandpa read 100 books!! he was so nice and would even read the same book over and over. mallory was in heaven.

these girls love this guy!

we also went to the trader's point dairy to see some cows and chickens. we had some really good icecream there. we went out to eat- sonic (yum, finally there is one here), red robin (one of my favorites) and jersey mike's. i love not cooking!! they was lots of reading and playing and having fun with grandpa!

thanks for coming grandpa!

come back soon!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

introducing princess olivia and princess mallory.

aren't they so cute!! this fun princess carriage was at a local park

we went to with juli and cali. the girls LOVE IT.



they are going to a ball. livy was ariel, from little mermaid
and mallory was a random barbie.

i had to sit up top and be the driver. olivia and mallory wanted to go to the ball.

grandpa hansen even came to visit and went trick or treating with us. we went to marsh (a local grocery store that gave out TONS of candy) and to our mall close by. the girls were so cute and loved halloween. they got tons of candy and even had their pictures taken by some east indian women at the mall because of their eyes. oh, some random woman in the mall also came up and gave them a dollar each! just some woman trick or treating with her grandkids!

it was funny for me to see them "all dressed up" and going out because, as anyone with girls knows, this is how they dress most of the day. it wasn't that different for me. kind of funny!