A day in old Sac

On Saturday, we spent the afternoon in Sacramento. First, we met Drew's old roommate, Todd for lunch. We hadn't seen Todd in almost two years so it was good to catch up with him

After lunch, Drew and I took the boys on a train ride. It was a ninety year old train that went through old Sacramento along the river. It was pretty exciting for the boys. I love that Jack is getting old enough to enjoy things like this now.

Finally getting back to normal

The past two weeks have been a little crazy around here

I'm happy to say that the craziness is ending 

and it seems like life is getting back to normal

Ben is doing wonderful in school. He was enjoying it so much that we switched him from 2 days a week to 3 days a week. He looks forward to going and as soon as we get there in the morning, he runs to say hi to his teachers and then he's off to find his friend, Kayden. They play together at recess and every day when we pick Ben up, they are sitting by each other on the rug. When Ben's not at school, he is running wild around the house. His latest obsession is super heroes (thanks uncle Michael on that one). Every day, he is a new super hero. Today it was Thor. Ben is not a fan of the word no and when told no, he puts up a fight. He will try to negotiate to get what he wants. Being around Ben is mentally exhausting. Despite his occasional not so great behavior though, he really is a great kid. He is a lot of fun to be around and has a good sense of humor. He is very compassionate and can tell when someone is feeling sad. He then makes it his job to cheer them up. He's pretty special.

Jack is the perfect balance to our family. He makes us laugh and shows us so much affection. There is no doubt that Jack's favorite person to be with is his big brother. These two have an incredible bond already. Although they might be rough with each other and Ben is constantly taking Jack's toys, they still love each other. They are always hugging and kissing each other. Jack follows Ben around and wants to do everything Ben is doing. I love watching the two of them together. Jack is learning new things every day and is trying to talk more. He recognizes people by their names and will point to objects when you ask him to. He likes when we sing songs. He has started this new laugh recently and will laugh at pretty much anything Ben does. Jack is cutting his 16th tooth right now. They keep coming one after another. He has given up the bottle. He is still sleeping great at night. Overall, Jack is just as wonderful as he can be and I can't even describe how perfect he is in our family.

Drew and I are chugging a long. Each day brings a new set of challenges but we haven't been given one that we can't handle yet. We try our best to keep a positive attitude and at the end of the day, we know that we have done our best. Drew continues to be a wonderful dad and husband. Although he works a lot and travels frequently, he makes the most of his time with his family. I'm doing everything I can to stay sane in a house that is rarely quiet. When it is quiet, it means the boys are sleeping. Every waking moment they have is filled with laughter, adventure, learning new things and having fun. There is no question that they are very happy boys. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Keep Ben in your thoughts

He is going in today for a Meckel's diverticulum scan

they will be checking for stomach tissue in his intestines 

which could be the cause of the bleeding he had

the scan will take a couple of hours and he'll be getting an iv

and will most likely be put asleep during the procedure

We're praying for good results

and that Ben will be strong during it all

What does God look like

While laying in bed with Ben tonight, he says to me

"God made me special. 

He made me, 

he made mom, 

he made dad 

and he made Jack. 

He made all of us.

mom, what does God look like?"

In school, they are learning about how God made all of us special. I think he's actually taking what he is learning in.

Need a Monday pick me up?

Try to guess what is going on here...

For those of you who have been wondering what is really going on here, I can assure you that it is not as exciting as you probably imagined. To get both of the boys to sit and smile for a picture, I gave each of them a piece of popcorn. As I went to put Jack's piece in his mouth, Ben stole it from my hand and ate it.   That is why Jack is giving him  dirty look. I'm not sure what Ben's doing with his hands though.

Well actually... oh dear

Ben's two favorite phrases to use

When he is correcting you, he will say "well, actually" and then go on to tell you how it really is.

He says "oh dear" when referring to something not so good.

Never a dull moment

While our sheets were in the wash, this is what Ben and Jack used our comforter and pillows for. They did this for about 30 minutes and got the biggest thrill from it.

a little tip for those of you who are not aware of this, on the bottom right of the videos, if you click the four arrows, it will make the video full screen.

How will the Hanson's remember our weekend at the beach?

They will think of Ben sitting on the toilet in the kitchen for hours and hours

On Sunday morning, we told Ben that he couldn't go down to the beach until he peed in the toilet. Finally, by 2:30pm he peed! Who holds their pee for that long? Very impressive Benjamin. I think you may be just as stubborn as your mother. Anyways, it was a really good weekend spent relaxing with Loree, Cary and Michael at the house they rented on the beach. This is the same house that the four of them used to visit each summer when the boys were younger. I know that Drew has a lot of good memories there so I was excited that I got to see it. I could definitely picture little Drew playing there. Ben and Jack loved the beach and didn't even notice that it was really cold out. I am not a beach person but seeing how much fun everyone was having, I couldn't help but to enjoy my time spent there. The laughing and smiling on the boys faces was priceless.

right after we got down to the beach the boys wasted no time.

I love this little boy

I don't know how he wasn't freezing. Or maybe he was and was just having too much fun to care.

waiting to go back to the beach after lunch and naps

the sun finally came out for a short while

I love this boy too :)

wandering the beach

and of course I love this boy too!

one of his rewards for using the toilet. Bribery is a bad thing in most cases but when it comes to potty training Ben, it is a necessity. 

he never smiles when I try to get a picture of the two of us

Loree was in heaven surrounded by all of her boys for the weekend

warning: the background noise gets pretty loud at times on the video between the waves and the wind and I had to upload it at a lower quality since it is a longer video. It was too big to upload at the better quality.

When I look back and see this...

I know that they love each other

Often while driving, this is what these two little ones are doing

Catching up

You all finally get to see pictures and video from our trip down south. Life has been very busy lately and finding the time to sit down and go through pictures and edit videos has not been so easy.

We had a really good time visiting with my family and the boys played hard the whole week. My favorite part of the trip was watching Ben, Jack and Luke play together. They already have a strong bond and I know as they get older, they will continue to get closer. They love to hug and kiss each other and they also love to play rough with each other. We started the week off at my dad's and spent the rest of the week at Sarah's house. Of course the whole week was geared towards the 3 little ones. We went on merry go rounds, played in the water, in cars, on slides, golf carts, ball pits. Thanks to everyone who spent time with us and thanks to my dad for his patience while driving 2 whole days with us. It was good to spend the extra time with you.

very awkward but one of the only pictures we got of the 3 of them together