The Babes

A conversation with Valentine...

2012-01-29T23:08:00.000-08:00

So, Miss Valentine is one of the most darling little things, and says some of the funniest things. We have been having a lot of fun lately with our little three year old, with her refusing to poop in the toilet STILL, and her insisting on always picking out her own clothes (much to my amusement or chagrin, depending on the outfit and my mood) and her talking INCESSANTLY in the car. Seriously, every car ride the past week or two, she does not stop. And it's always some kind of conversation too that requires me to participate, which is fine, I looove talking to her, but there are some times that we're late and I'm stressed, or I just like my little quiet time while driving, or I'm really into the song I'm singing along to, and I'll ask her to please just STOP TALKING FOR A MINUTE PLEASE. I LOVE YOU, BUT JUST FOR A MINUTE PLEASE. Am I such a mean mother? Whatever. Anyways, it is mainly very amusing and I 90... ish percent of the time really enjoy our goofy little chats and the nutty/cute things that come out of my nutty/cute daughter's mouth. For example:

While driving by a church.....

V: "Um, Mama, I want Jesus? I want to see Jesus in Heaven."

Me: "Aw, sweetie, that is so great, I want to see Him too, but we can't go see Him in Heaven today."

V: "Please Mama?? I want to."

Me: "I know Tiny, we really want to be with Jesus in Heaven, but it's not going to be for awhile."

V: "Not for awhile?"

Me: "Yeah, we will someday, but first you have to go to school and college, and get married and have babies of your own and have grand-babies and go on a mission and do lots of amazing things. When you're an old lady you can go see Jesus in Heaven, but not today."

V: "Oh...... old lady? Go to school? And go poo-poo in the potty?"

Me: "YES. Yes. You definitely have to learn to go poo-poo in the potty before you can go to Jesus in Heaven."

Another day:

V: "Um, Mama? I wanna go poo-poo in my princess potty."

Me: "You do???!!!"

V: "Yeah, go poo-poo in da potty and get pink bike, and ice cream, and barbie, and princess dress, and make cookies and pancakes!" (we have pretty much promised her the moon if she'll just use the damn potty.)

Me: "Wow! That is so much fun, yes, we will, we will get all of that if you go in the potty!"

V: "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"

Me: "It is a great idea!"

V: "YEAH!!!"

Me: "Okay, so are you going to go potty when we get to Grandma's?"

V: "Um, no.... tomorrow Mama. Tomorrow."

She's been saying "uuum.... tomorrow, I'll go in the potty tomorrow," for at least a week now.

Whatever.

Some Late Holiday Pictures

2012-01-13T13:02:00.000-08:00

Valentine has a new found love of lotion- and putting it in her and Moses' hair. She looks like Edward Scissorhands. And Moses looks like.... Mr. Clean.

A letter to my son

2012-01-03T19:39:00.000-08:00

My Dearest Dearest Moses:

I love you sooooo much. Sooooo much. But tonight you threw up on me for probably the 1000th time. I'm not exaggerating, I don't think any sweet baby has ever thrown up on their mother as much as you have on me in these wonderful past 15 months. You are the cutest little thing ever, but you have been pushing my buttons like crazy ALL DAY, you have gotten sooo much snot all over me, you have sucked on me (I feel like the nursing will never end) and thrown up on me (hot dogs, in case you wanted to know, you threw up hot dogs on me) and I just started my period, ergo: I let you cry yourself to sleep tonight. I never quite had the heart/determination to do it with Valentine- I mean I tried, but after an hour or more of her either hysterically crying and screaming or contentedly talking to herself I realized it just wasn't going to happen. But you are a champ. You cried in your crib for 10 maybe 15 minutes and then you were sleeping, like the lovely big baby you are. See, you actually get tired and want to sleep, and that never happens with Valentine. I'm sorry to do that to you, but it had to be done, cause I didn't have any other options that wouldn't have involved me losing my brain. Thank you for going to sleep by yourself and also for having my most favorite laugh I've ever heard. You are the cutest and I love you so so much Little Man.

Love,

P.S. Um, if you do throw up on me one more time I might have to...... I don't know what, but something very drastic that's for sure. I love you.

Wow.

2012-01-03T19:15:00.000-08:00

Wow. I can't believe it's already been a year since last year.... does that make sense? I'm promising myself to update this more and I always feel so bad for not doing it, or writing in a journal ever for that matter, but I sometimes just don't know what to say. I've especially been in a bit of a funk the past week or two. I cannot bring myself to do anything productive. I want to stay in my warm bed all day and not have to worry about food, or going anywhere, or cleaning my apartment for the FIVE THOUSANDTH time, cause for some reason I cannot stay on top of it. I don't know, I'm not sad at all or anything.... I just don't want to do anything..... So it's a good thing that starting this week the pace is going to pick up a bit whether I want it to or not. Rehearsals for "Bye Bye Birdie" start this week (I'm the lead- did I mention that?! Just a little excited/intimidated/excited). Plus I have my recital coming up, so I have all my lessons and have to practice my butt of. Valentine is back in school and dance, Drew is at work all the time again and Moses is busier and more to maintain than ever. I guess I just really got lazy with the holidays and kind of loved it and basked in it and am lagging with getting back to reality. It'll be good for me and I'm actually quite excited about everything that's happening.... I guess maybe I'll just need to eat a lot of oreos or drink a lot of coke to get me through it all.....

Moses the Destroyer!

2011-12-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

(the title was said in like an angry man voice, like for WWE... just making sure you all got that). Anyways. Yes. Moses is the destroyer of EVERYTHING. I mean, Valentine was into everything when she was his age, but Moses REALLY gets into EVERYTHING. And then he DESTROYS it. I just got my mom mixing bowls for her birthday because in the last two week Moses broke two from her favorite set. He gets into the cupboard and then just chucks those bowls as hard as he can (which is very hard- he is quite the bruiser) onto the hardwood floor. Valentine could totally manage an ipod or iphone by his age, but Moses can't because whenever he touches one, it is either in his mouth and covered with drool or on the floor dented with the back and battery scattered a few feet away. The books on my bookshelf are CONSTANTLY not on the bookshelf. The dvds are always stewn throughout the apartment. I've given up on my poor poor formerly-cute Christmas tree. The top half looks so great- the bottom half? No man's land. I was always fixing it up at night when the kids were sleeping, only to have it massacred within minutes the next morning, so I've given up and it looks like a hot mess. Oh. And the hitting. That baby boy has HUGE hands. And BEEFY arms. He gets maaaad and throws little tantrums and hits haaard. Oh. And the nursing. I'm one of the biggest nursing advocates you'll find, but little man is 14 months with seven teeth and still wants to nurse several times a day and I'm OVER it and he ISN'T. He is constantly pulling at my shirt and throwing fits when he is denied. But man oh man, is that a DARLING little boy. I mean darling. He has the most kissable face I have ever encountered. I'm pretty sure I tell him at least 10 times a day "Moses, you are so cute!" And he always very coyly smiles back- what a little flirt- watch out girls. He still has the best laugh and we are treated to it veeery often. He's starting to talk- I mean he is constantly babbling- the last few days he's just been non-stop. His best words are "Ada!" (which he calls every dog) "No!" (his first word, just like Tiny and he says it A TON) and "Mamma!" He also says "Dada" and he tries to say "Gan-ah!" and "Ga-ma!" (grandpa and grandma) and he mutters something odd every time I give him something, and I'm pretty sure it's his version of "thanks." Oh and everything has an exclamation point cause he YELLS everything he says, it's very entertaining. He's also very clever- he and V fight over her little princess chair in the living room ALL the time- so they'll be watching something and Moses will go and turn off the tv- then V gets mad and jumps out of the chair to turn it back on, and Moses runs to the chair and plants himself. Then Valentine sits on him. We have a lot of fun around here. And My Mister Moses sure is a momma's boy and while it gets a bit tiring, I wouldn't have it any other way and love how much he loves me and I love him even more than that. He is a sweet, funny, happy, lovely baby/mini-man/toddler..... and he's also a destroyer. And that's ok. Love him.

Gross.

2011-12-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

In the past week and a half:

Cold. Breast infection. Lost my voice. HORRIBLE stomach bug. Breast infection.

HO-LY crap for crap! WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME??

On the bright side my hair looks great and Moses hasn't vomited or pooped on me in three days. At least I've got that going for me.

Happy Halloween!!! Muahaha!!!

2011-10-31T19:20:00.001-07:00

A few things.....

2011-10-29T21:53:00.001-07:00

Here are just a few reasons why I love this time of year so much.

Happy Late Late Birthdays Babies!

2011-10-22T20:49:00.000-07:00

And the worst mom award goes to me- it's been almost two weeks and I still haven't posted about BOTH of my ONLY TWO CHILDRENS' BIRTHDAYS. Jeez. I suck. Anyways.... HAPPY SUPER LATE BIRTHDAYS VALENTINE AND MOSES! I don't know what my problem is I just have not been able to force myself to get this done- I will say I've been quite busy this last week, but the week before that I was not, so...... maybe I don't want to face the fact that I now have a ONE YEAR OLD and a THREE YEAR OLD. Holy cow. Apparently there are a lot of strong feelings in this post, I'm using all caps a lot..... enough about me. Yes, wow. Valentine turned 3 on October 10 and Moses turned 1 on October 11. We of course did a combined birthday celebration - sorry kids, but that's probably going to last for quite a while- if anyone has some great boy/girl birthday party ideas, PLEASE let me know! Anyways, as usual we kept it low key-ish. My parents and siblings accompanied Drew, Valentine, Moses and I to the Burke Nursery Pumpkin Patch- along with Luisa, Merry and Grandma Jill. It was fun- it was Columbus Day and a sunny 80-something degrees, so a little crowded and hot, but fun- they all went down slides big and small, V and Luisa rode ponies and got animal balloons, Moses stared very intently at the farm animals for a good 15 minutes and got to spin on a carousel, and we all got snow cones. It was fun. Then the WHOLE family came over to my mom's for cake- not cake and ice cream cause I was SUPER SUPER unprepared and forgot ice cream. Yikes bikes. I also forgot paper plates, forks, cups, drinks, and napkins. I pretty much just made cakes. I think I lost my brain in my attempts to make fun and elaborate cakes/cupcakes for the occasion. Actually, I'm positive I lost my brain. And time. Not enough time to do all the things I wanted/needed. It was great though, family and presents and cake and lots of fun. Valentine got a new big girl bed as her main gift from us (that I made- THAT'S RIGHT! MADE! with a lot of help from Ikea and Michelle of course...) while Moses gets to graduate to her old crib (it was in "bed mode" for her) from our bed- sooooo ready to sleep with JUST Drew again- many many mornings we wake up and all four of us are squished in our usually very comfortable queen size bed. And Moses was adorned with many "monster" theme gifts from us. Because he's kind of a monster sometimes. In a funny way- sometimes in a not funny way too.... He's got his monster costume for Halloween and tons of Monster shirts, toys, hats, stuffed animals and books. Love my little Princess and my little Monster.

Ten Things That I Love About Valentine:

1. She is one of the most social little things you've ever seen. Her teachers tell me that she plays with the older kids on the playground and that she has a little "group." Good grief, what kind of teenager is she going to be?????

2. She is always always singing. I love it. She sings along to "You and I" and "Party in the USA" in the car. She does my warm ups with me when I'm practicing. She plays my mom's piano and sings. She sings along with any movie. She makes up songs ALL THE TIME. This morning we had the pleasure of hearing her sing a song about pooping in the diaper. (yeah she still won't go #2 in the potty- NOT on this list). She sings happy birthday allll the time; she sings songs about monkey bread, getting dressed, her daddy, everything. Hilarious. Love.

3. She has so much energy. It's exhausting and it definitely keeps me on my toes, but it is never dull with her. She doesn't stop until she HAS to and people are always very drawn to her and her... zest for life and everything around her.

4. She looooooves her family. She loves and dotes on her little brother (most of the time). She LOOOOOOVES her daddy. Loves. She loves her grandparents (aaaalll of them!) and her aunts and uncles and cousins. And of course her momma.

5. Valentine is just one of the most darling things I've ever seen. Her cute curly hair and big dark eyes and cute little nose and pretty petite face. I just love looking at her. I could do it all day, every day.

6. She's really a GOOD kid. I mean, yeah, she's a toddler and has her moments, but she's so sweet and happy and kind and fun and funny and helpful and just really really great.

7. Valentine is veeery clever and smart. She loves books and tries to read by herself, and is always counting everything. It's not just that though, she's just a clever girl, I can't think of another word for it, she's observant and picks up on things and is just an intelligent little thing.

8. She's very girly. She likes anything princess, or pony or glittery, or pink. She's always dressing up, or playing with her dolls, or dancing, or wearing ONLY dresses or skirts. She reminds me a lot of me as little girl :)

9. Valentine is creative. In lots of ways too. I can tell she has quite the vast and deep imagination- she has at least 2 art projects to bring home every time she's at school. She's good at playing by herself and making up things. She puts together AWESOME outfits by herself. She's independent and can create things, it's fascinating to watch.

10. She can always make me smile. Even if I'm in a horrible mood, or if I'm mad at her, or if I'm feeling terrible. She still snuggles with me and showers me with kisses. She gives me encouragement and praise. She at random points throughout the day will say to me "I love you too Momma." She calls Moses "babe" and it makes me laugh every time- "You're okay Babe." "Babe, do you want to play in my room??" She runs into school without so much as a backward glance, yet sprints for me when I pick her up and jumps in my arms and whispers in my ear. She asks to watch the BB&C Pride and Prejudice. She makes me happy. A lot. All the time.

I LOVE VALENTINE.

Ten Things I Love About Moses:

1. Moses is a BRUISER. He is so funny, he's just this broad, big guy, with his big bald head and big grin and big guns, and I just love love love it.

2. His face is one of the cutest, sweetest things EVER. He has the cutest mouth and smile and like his sister he has those beautiful big, dark eyes. Plus he has that round, fat face and big cheeks. I just want to kiss his face or head all the time, all the time.

3. He has as much energy as his sister! What and active little thing, I still can't believe he beat Valentine with walking- 9 months! He hasn't stopped since. He's a little slower than her right now but not by much and I have no doubt that he'll catch up veeery soon.

4. He is a snuggler. Valentine would snuggle with me and Drew, but not anyone else- never. Moses looooves to though. The best is Micah. Moses has this weird thing, where whenever his Uncle Micah holds him he just lays his head on Micah's chest. It's sooo weird, it's instantaneous every time. I don't know if Micah has a super comfy/awesome chest, or smells good to baby boys, or if he's just Moses' favorite, I don't know, but it is FUNNY.

5. Moses looooooves his nursing. Well... any food really. Moses is always eating whether it's nursing, or real food he eats A LOT. When we eat a meal, I'm always shocked/border-line grossed out at how much he stuff into his body. It's awesome.

6. He just loves books. He is always bringing books to me and goes "Uh uh uh!!!!" pointing to it so I'll read to him and just sits on my lap and enjoys his books with me.

7. He's always been a gooood sleeper. Praise the Lord cause V still isn't. He naps well, only wakes up once maybe twice, sometimes not at all at night.... it's helped to keep me a happy and sane momma.

8. Moses sure loves his family. He follows every thing his sister does and always wants to be with/play with her. He gets sooooo happy and excited when Drew gets home, you should see the way that little guy RUNS to the door. He's great with all of his extended family. And he really really loves his momma.

9. He is very curious. He has to check out and examine everything and touch everything and get into everything, and though it gets a bit wearing, I love his enthusiasm and desire to explore and discover.

10. Moses is so HAPPY. The whole time he's been with us it's been so funny to me how cheeryhe is. He's very good-natured and sweet. And his LAUGH. Oh man. I had to KILL myself to get Valentine to laugh as a baby (as a toddler no) but Moses has always been a huge laugher and has an AWESOME laugh. Nothing gives me more joy than to tickle or play with my happy guy and hear his chuckle.

I LOVE MOSES.

Valentine's princess cake.
Moses' monster cupcakes.

Happy late late Birthdays Babies.

It's Official

2011-09-30T13:20:00.001-07:00

It's official: Drew is IN his thirties! My sweet man turned 31 on Sunday. He's very not happy with aging and is constantly lamenting "how old" he is- I keep reminding him that it's really not THAT old and that people still think he looks like a teenager, so he at least doesn't look 31. My encouragement always falls on deaf ears though. Sigh. Anyways, here are 10 things that I LOVE about DREW.

1. Drew is super responsible, and I am super not. He takes care of everything and everyone around here and really makes me want to be better and more like him.

2. I know I say this all the time, but he's just so funny. Always making me laugh, smile, happy, fall in love with him all over again and again.

3. Suuuuch a cute cute cute dad- you should see the way his beautiful little babies light up whenever he comes home and how much Valentine asks for him while he's at work. They all love love each other and it warms my mommy/wife heart to see it.

4. So handsome- even with a mohawk he looks good.

5. He is such a hard worker- he puts himself completely into everything he does- husband, father, work, church, everything.

6. Drew is very full of life. He's an energetic, fun person and it's very catching and makes life with him very interesting and great!

7. He very much so has a sense for right and wrong- he knows what's right and that's what he does and believes in- he's extremely honest and good.

8. He makes me feel beautiful- which is a big deal cause as of late I feel like I've been looking like a monster.

9. Drew has such a gooood heart. He's always doing things for others and thinking of others and is just very very kind.

10. I love that he is who he is and that he is my husband and loves me and our lovely little ones.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DREW DEAR!!!!!!

Bad

2011-09-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Look at these faces- could they BE any happier???

This is how bad it got the other night. My kids had peanut butter for dinner. No bread, no crackers, just peanut butter and spoons. I was so frazzled from a baaad day and they were being such monsters (thus the baaad day) and peanut butter was the ONLY thing they'd eat so I let them. They sat there with their spoons and I sat there with the big fat jar and they just kept taking big fat globs and licking and chomping on it. I hope you don't think I'm a terrible mother- they did a little later also have some cheese and apple- once everybody had calmed down- thanks to the peanut butter.

LE SIGH.

Big Girl

2011-09-13T14:15:00.000-07:00

Where did this big girl come from??!!?! Miss Valentine has started pre-school. She turns 3 in a month. She really really isn't a baby anymore. She is a full-fledged KID. She's been twice now and both times I've been informed that she did GREAT. No crying, no trouble, she just has fun. That's my girl. It makes me sad and excited and tons of other emotions all at the same time. The first time I dropped her off, I kept thinking, "Do I just go??? Shouldn't I talk to the teacher or something or stay with her for a minute?" But Valentine made a straight bee-line for the bucket of ponies and after me giving her and the teacher several questioning, uncertain looks I left. I felt sad, proud, free, exhilarated, and wistful all at the same time. Mainly free. A lot free. But then I realized I have another child to go take care, so not totally free. Plus it's only 2 days a week for 2 1/2 hours- really only 2 counting the time to drop her off and pick her up. Nevertheless, this is a fun new chapter for the little Hafer clan and our little... I mean big girl.

P.S. The BEST part of this whole experience is every time I pick her up she runs to me yelling "Moooooommmmmy!!!!" and hugs me and whispers in my ear "I love you so much Momma." Then she says "Thank you Miss Sue" to her teacher and we get in the car and go back home together.

Damn

2011-08-26T06:04:00.001-07:00

DAMN DAMN HURRICANE.

Walker Texas Ranger

2011-08-03T20:54:00.000-07:00

Moses is full on a walking PRO. It's so funny. He's been walking for almost 3 weeks now? And he won't stop. He's even younger than Valentine was when she started- I didn't know that could happen! I just keep forgetting how strong he is. But he's been taking a few steps at a time since he was 8 months and right after he turned 9 months he just started going! And he not only can walk, but he very often attempts to run and he also loves picking up basketballs (actual full sized basketballs) and throwing them. Throwing, not dropping. He's just a big, strong, sturdy chunk of baby boy and we are lovin every second with him..... Maybe except for earlier this evening when while I was on the phone with my mother-in-law he went into the bathroom and played in the toilet. SO GROSS. He is getting into EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING. And climbing on EVERYTHING (thus also falling off of everything). I thought V was bad, but he's much much worse. He's so sweet and funny though. He also loooves dancing. Any music comes on and he is swinging his big head around or bouncing his big body up and down. He's so great. Did I mention that I love love love my big baby????

P.S. Oh yeah, yesterday Moses was holding his little music and lights toy (hard and plastic) and just bopped Valentine right on the head with it. She of course wouldn't stop crying until she went to bed and he just sat there smiling and bouncing. We're pretty sure he's been plotting this comeback for a couple of months now. We keep warning Valentine that in the very very near future Moses will out-grow her and not tolerate her pushing/shoving/hitting him. Well, she got her first taste of retribution. Don't say I didn't tell you so.

P.P.S. Oh yeah, he also loves books. So funny, he just sits there looking through them, any book. Proud Mama.

The Actress

2011-07-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

Merry: "Madie, who do you love most? Kooby or dee actrwess?"

(referring to herself of course.)

Don't know if I can choose.

Also....

Merry: "I want to be on Dancing With The Stars So Bad."

Me: "Well, Merry.... I think you kind of have to be a star first to get on it."

Merry: "Uh hello? I am an actrwess!"

Me: "Oh, you're right. You should totally be on it."

Lime Green Love

2011-07-16T20:13:00.000-07:00

Evidently I like dressing my babes in lime green.

Problem

2011-07-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

On Saturday my mom bought a box of oreo's for me. Then when Page came over to my place during her lunch break on Tuesday she also bought me a big box of oreo's. And now of one of them is already gone. Apparently I have a problem.

Surprise

2011-06-15T20:15:00.000-07:00

Jeez, I thought I just updated this and it's already been a month! Good grief. Anyways.....

The other day Valentine was being very quiet in her room. I very suspiciously peeked in to see what devilry she was up to. I found this:

Then this big lug joined the party.

They are so great.

Pretty Big Deals

2011-05-16T08:25:00.000-07:00

So the past two weeks or so we've had some pretty big deals going on. Moses at 7 months is not only a crawling pro but is constantly pulling himself up to EVERYTHING. Coffee table, shelves, ottomans, couches, chairs, stairs. I'm surprised he's so stable with his proportionately small legs and cute big fat head, but he does great and stands for a long time and is already walking his way around furniture. Oy. He also has two little teeth poking out of his bottom gums! Needless to say his oral fixation and drooling has gotten even worse if you can imagine.

He also is big and stable enough to take baths with Valentine. Makes life easier and it's fuunny. They almost look like they're the same size in there together.

But really, the biggest deal of all is that Miss Valentine's hair is now long enough to wear PIGTAILS!!!! She's not great about leaving them in, but I keep doing it cause it's so darling and I've been waiting for 2 1/2 years for this. The first time I put pigtails in her hair I exclaimed, "You look like a little girl!!!!" Pretty big deal.

The picture below is my new favorite picture of Valentine. Hands down.
Oh yeah, and Pagie-Pooh got married!!!!

Only in McLean

2011-04-30T18:45:00.001-07:00

So, Sarah, Maria and I had this game going out at school called, "Only in Rexburg." Pretty self-explanatory- it was a funny list of things we encountered while there that really would only happen in Rexburg. I.E.- A man robbing a bank and getting away- ON FOOT. Or, the headline story of the local news being about a singing mailman. Or, getting chastised by a local lady for sun-bathing in a field because it was across the street from a church. Or, the whole town completely shutting down on Sundays and at 9:00 p.m. all the other days (serisouly- you couldn't go to a drive-thru at 10). Or the kid at Blockbuster checking me out saying "Oh, this is rated R" me- "Oh, do you want to see my I.D.?" kid- "No, it's just.... it's rated R- you shouldn't watch this." You get the picture.

Anyways.

I was at the Giant grocery store here in McLean, VA yesterday where there is a sign up offering Valet Parking to customers. Seriously? What nutter came up with that idea? Who gets/wants/needs VALET parking at a GROCERY store? It really just baffles me- and I always feel so bad for those poor useless guys sitting at their dumb booth by their dumb sign for something dumb that nobody is going to use. This sign has been there for awhile, yet EVERY time I see it all I can think is: "Only in McLean."

News

2011-04-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Moses has just hit 6 months and is officially crawling! He's been working on it for weeks, and still isn't great, but he's doing it and he's gotten pretty good at meandering his way around the apartment. He really likes to kind of.... flip around more than actually crawl- he'll go from sitting to all fours and twist back to sitting. It makes me laugh. He's huge and happy and cute.

In other news, my darling Valentine that I love so much has somehow traded places with an evil twin I didn't know about. Evil is strong...... extremely very super naughty secret twin. Half of the time she is lovely and cute and fun and even sweet. The other half..... so terrible. I don't know how to handle it. Sometimes she's just downright nasty. They weren't lying when they labeled it "Terrible Twos." Good thing she's so pretty. Otherwise there are times that I might toss her out. She apparently has a pushing problem in Nursery and LAUGHS when her victim cries. She shrieks and hits when she doesn't get exactly her way (sounds typical but it's horrible). She SLAMS her door when she's mad (which is a lot). She looks at me after I've told her not to do something and with a very deliberate look does it repeatedly- staring at me the whole time. She throws her ipod. *Sigh* Don't even get me started on potty training. We've given up on it for now. Valentine has always been a bit..... sassy. But lately..... yikes bikes. I feel like all I do is yell and tell Valentine "NO!" Probably not helping. I've been thinking if I change my parenting tactics peut-etre I'll see some better results. She's also a toddler which tends to equal naughty for all children, so I need to not take it as a personal slight that my daughter is acting nasty. Jeez, can't wait for teenagers!

Oh and p.s. they both have been coughing NON-STOP FOR WEEKS. Oy-vay.

Cherry Blossoms!!

2011-04-15T05:51:00.001-07:00

Reason #1 I love Virginia? Cherry Blossoms.

There were also some BEAUTIFUL Magnolias down by the Jefferson.

This was Drew's first time!

Valentine for some reason thought this stone was her posing pedastool.

Valentine's' favorite part? Blowing Cherry blossom petals off of her palm at the ducks in the water.

A bit of randomness.....

2011-03-24T20:42:00.001-07:00

Here are few random things that have happened/I've realized this week:

-I LOVE the smell of unsalted butter- it's one of my favorite smells now, it is delicious and everything that is right in this world.

-I HATE potty training- it is horrible and everything that is wrong in this world.

-Moses is 100% sitting up and rolling all over place and of course trying to crawl already- he pushes himself up and yells and grunts in absolute frustration while desperately trying to figure out how to get his body to do what he wants it to- Valentine used to do the exact same thing, so funny...

-We are still not 100% moved into our apartment... can I just say though that I love it? I love our own home that we needed so desperately and can't wait until we are 100% moved in and I'll take lots of fun pictures of it.

-I went to the grocery store with both babes- Valentine was sitting in the cart and Moses was in my harness carrier facing front- a lady asked if they were twins....??? Excuse me?? I've never been so baffled in my life. SHE'S NOT THAT BALD. AND HE'S NOT THAT BIG.

-A very cute little 5 year old at the mall asked me: "Is she a girl?" (referring to Valentine) I said "Yes, she is. She doesn't have a lot of hair, but she is a girl." After a minute.... she says shaking her head and sounding a little confused: "I don't think she's really girl." Apparently she is that bald.

-Having "Harry Potter" to listen to while in the car is maybe one of the best decisions I've made in my life. That's not an exaggeration. Does anyone have the 4th one???????

-Making pies is one of my favorite things to do now. I love it. Mocha, chocolate, apple, I love them. There's nothing like a pie to make people (especially me) happy- I think I want to open up a little pie/cookie shop. Does anyone have some more good recipes for me?????

-I watched some little videos that were taken while I was in labor with Moses- there was one of the last leg of it, but not of the actual birth (I thought it might have been though) and I was covering my eyes the whole time because it was so hard to watch! I told my mom that and asked: "How did you watch that, that's terrible!" and she replied, "Whatever you were the one actually in labor!" True. That is true. It still made me feel just a little bad for birth observers though.

-The video of me holding Moses for the time was wonderful. Made me cry. I did not cover my eyes and it made me feel a little bad for birthing observers because they don't get to actually experience that- holding that incredible darling baby that you carried and then labored to push out that is all yours. Lovely.

-I was reading my most recent book (my third middle ages historical fiction book in a row) and Drew asked, "Why are you so obsessed with England?" I replied, "I'm not obsessed with England... I'm obsessed with Harry Potter..." Then I realized that's England too. Guess I am obsessed with England.

-I had Drew get me some chocolate the other night after a rough day with the babes. Then I realized I had had chocolate every day for the past... long time. Guess I'm obsessed with chocolate too.

-I finally called my best friend for the first time in over a month. I'm a bad friend and really wish I was better. I will work on that.

-I finally got my hair cut (it's been since July- yikes) and I kind of hate it. I sorely needed it, but I had unexpectedly gotten quite attached to my long hair and now I feel like a boy even though it's still long. I now feel a little pity/understanding for the fools on "What Not To Wear" who flip when their gross long hair gets chopped off.

Cherub

2011-03-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

Moses is delicious. He is just this chunk baby and every time he's naked all I can think is that he would make an EXCELLENT Cherub. I see that robust, squishy baby body with his proportionately small but still chubby legs, and dimpled bum, and perfect little angel face and all we would need to do is put some bitty feathered wings on his back and give him a few sprigs of flaxen curls on his bald head and he'd fit in just perfectly in any Rococo painting.

Today

2011-03-04T19:36:00.001-08:00

Today was kind of insane. Well, pretty much this week was insane, but today was pretty intense. On Monday Drew and I got a call from The Commons of McLean telling us that we could move in the next day. Very unexpected since we weren't planning on moving for another month. So we spend all of Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get everything moved and settled. THANK YOU TO THE MISSIONARIES, SEAN, AND MY MOM, PAGE, AND MICAH FOR ALL OF YOUR HELP!!!!! Seriously couldn't have done it without all of you lovely people that I love- Thank you! A lot of it is done, but there are still LOTS of odds and ends at my parents house (i.e. all of Valentine's toys, practically and all of mine and Drew's shoes, all our movies, you know just a couple of things) and there's still some boxes to unpack in the living room yet considering the time and preparation we've had, plus having two babes to deal with, I think we've done pretty well. Anyways, back to today. This morning Drew and I got ready and took the kids with us out to Lucketts. Lucketts. What can I say? I love love love it. I do not love love love it with Valentine and Moses. In fact I borderline loathe it. Moses poops and I have to change his diaper in the car. Valentine is touching EVERYTHING. Moses has to nurse. Valentine is yelling. Moses is yelling. And drooling EVERYWHERE. Valentine is completely stripping down and then has a mega meltdown when we force her clothes back on her. Moses wants to nurse again. Valentine is touching everything, yelling, crying, telling me, "Don't touch me!!" Moses is fussing and drooling and spitting up.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!

Deep breaths. On top of all of that I hadn't eaten and was up till 2 cleaning and putting stuff away the night before. Madie=terrible mood. But, we got our cute settee. Phew. Drew left for work when we get home and I'd about had it.

Despite all of this, I am now incredibly happy to have my cute little hellions that I love so much, even if they ruin my prized Lucketts experience. Here's a few reasons why:

After Drew left, I was not quite overwhelmed to the point of tears, but I was close, so I go into Valentine's room where she's just playing/doing her own thing, I put Moses on the floor and crawl into the child's pose position, put my face on the floor and close my eyes. I can hear Valentine walk up to me and she asks "K Momma? You ok?" I don't answer. Next thing I know she's dragging her blanket off of her bed and lays it on top of me. Then she gets her little Disney Princess pillow and says, "Here Momma, here's pillow." Then she gets her own blanket and pillow and lays down on the floor next to me.

I was trying to read my book for a few minutes, but Moses wasn't having any of that. So, I gave up and started to give my baby the attention from me that he so wanted and deserved. I was not disappointed and was rewarded with lots and lots of cute Moses laughs. He is a happy, laughy baby and his laugh is the best. It's like this guttural shriek in the back of his throat followed by a full out adult LAUGH. It's so so funny. I will put a video of it up because it is the best thing in the world- there's no way it could NOT make you so happy.

Moses likes to nurse to sleep to go down for the night, and Valentine likes to cuddle with me and have me sing to her to go to sleep. On nights like tonight when Drew is closing (boo) I normally have to do both at the same time. Luckily I'm SuperMom and can do it. So I'm on my bed with Moses lying across me nursing on my right side, and Valentine is cuddled on my left and I'm humming, "ABC's" "You are my sunshine" and "I am a child of God." I stop humming. Valentine is breathing very rhythmically and deep- she is sound asleep. Moses has just stopped nursing and lets his big head lie back. He has a drop of milk dripping out of the corner of his mouth and it falls down his fat, Santa-red cheek into the abyss that is the folds of his neck. He then smiles in his sleep. He is the ultimate picture of the word "bliss." And I am in total peace and complete joy lying there with a darling peaceful babe in each arm. I made those beautiful creatures. I carried them inside me for nine months and gave brought them into this world. They are mine. I love them and being their mother more than I could ever express. It's been a good day.

Update

2011-02-23T17:15:00.000-08:00

Favorite picture of Valentine EVER. She is the best.

Ugh. I'm terrible at keeping this up. Anyways... Moses had his four month check-up today. He is 17 1/2 pounds and 26 1/2 inches long. Big boy. He's not so into rolling over, but he's working on sitting up and is doing pretty well- probably because he always does crunches just like Valentine did. I don't know what is in the combination of mine and Drew's genetic makeup, but apparently we just don't make babies that like to hold still or are laid back. I guess we only have two and who knows what the other babies we have will be like, but the track record so far is pretty intense babies. Luckily they are also SUPER SUPER CUTE babies, so it's ok. I guess I'd take over-active as opposed to over-lazy. They're not bad babies, just demanding- constantly needing to be held, played with, cuddled, nursing- I literally don't get anything done- I'm lucky if I can do the dishes or pick-up my room, or put on mascara; and Moses is howling the whole time (hence being awful at updating this). Valentine is funny though- most of the times she'll come up to Moses (while his mean mother is ignoring him while trying to frantically finish whatever she's started) and goes, "It's ok Mo-ness. It's ok." and then she'll sing him 'You are my sunshine,' 'ABC's' or 'Mares eat oats" or play peek-a-boo, or just laugh crazy and then he laughs too. It's very cute- they LOVE each other and it warms my momma-heart. There are sometimes though when he cries that she loudly moans "MO-NESS!" in a very exasperated way- kind of like I do. And she'll say over and over "I know Mo-ness! I know!" Sometimes even, "Stop crying Mo-ness!" BUT most of the times it the cute consoling.

Moses also is a drool factory. Three months hit and the faucet turned on and has not stopped. I've been putting bibs on him purely for slobber purposes. Gross. He has this huge funny oral fixation and sucks on EVERYTHING. ALL THE TIME. My arm, his fingers, his toes, blankets, toys, burp cloths, my mom's face, EVERYTHING. Drew and I have hickies on our arms from him. He also does this hilarious thing where he sticks out his jaw a lot. Drew and I have nick-named him "The Godfather" because he looks like a baby Marlon Brando godfather when he makes that face. It's awesome. Moses is also by far one of the LOUDEST babies you will ever encounter. He yells all day every day. Happy or sad you hear him from across the street. I can't even remotely go to any church classes or sit through sacrament meeting. Going to the mall is great because EVERYONE just laughs at him- if I'm holding him or he's in the stroller, if he's sucking on something or not sucking on something- if he's awake he's yelling. Not just talking, literally yelling. I get a kick out of it (most of the time) and it makes other people laugh too, so I try not to worry about bothering people. Even if I do, whatever, I have a loud baby, not much I can do about it.

I LOVE MY BABY. He's the cutest, big, soft, cuddly, loud, slobbery, darling, sweet, huge, funny, endearing, squishy, lovable, best cute cute cute baby boy ever. I think I tell him at least 15 times a day how cute he is, I can't get over it. LOVE HIM. And Valentine- with her dress-up, make-up, princess, dancing, singing, jumping/running around, pretending-scarves-on-her-head-are-her-hair fascinations. I think I tell her at least 15 times a day how pretty she is. I just want to bottle them up and keep them like this forever...... for the most part.

Hard.

2011-02-17T19:38:00.000-08:00

Being a mom is HARD. It's great, but it is HARD. That's all I have to say.

Idaho!

2011-01-26T05:48:00.000-08:00

Here's a couple of fun, late Christmas photos from our time out in Idaho. It really was such a nice Holiday and so great to be with Drew's family.

We also got to spend a day with my sweet cute grandparents in Pocatello. My grandma would not stop holding Moses and when she wasn't Valentine would yell at her "Run Grandma! Run!" trying to chase her. Seeing as my Grandma Connie isn't even walking so great these days, it was kind of funny.

Drew's parents have this skirt for dress-up and Valentine LOVED it. She wore it constantly as a dress and kept telling us how beautiful she looked in it.
Between Moses and Henry Marcene was always holding a big baby boy.
We did a White Elephant a couple of nights before Christmas and Valentine got some Hello Kitty chapstick- loooved it.
Greta, Neil and Lindy.
Abe and Sadie with the hideous scary doll lamp I got from the D.I. as my white elephant gift. The little girls liked it.
Lucy- sooo cute. Sorry for all of the pushing Lucy! I promise Valentine loves you!
The girls all took a bath together on Christmas Eve.

Pile of presents from Santa.
Moses's gifts from us.
Valentine's presents.

Valentine was almost more into the candy from the stockings than her actual presents.

Chad with the girlies.

At the Ballet

2011-01-13T21:42:00.000-08:00

I just taught two ballet classes tonight..... IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

Don't know how fun it was for the girls.... they opened the windows during class to cool down and I said "This is good! You didn't work hard enough in ballet class if you're not sweating by the end." A girl I also taught on Tuesday replied a bit flabbergasted, "Whatever I was SORE yesterday from your class!" I almost said to "suck it up" but these girls aren't quite as into ballet as I was, so I let it slide.

It was even more fun to come home and see Valentine dancing to Kirby playing the piano- she is a natural dancer and can already feel music and move her body beautifully and it warms my heart. It's in our blood and souls- I wish I could dance everyday. I'm signing Valentine up for ballet this weekend. YESSSS.

(Not fun? Seeing my post baby body in a leotard and tights. Yikes Bikes.)

What Are Valentine's New Favorite Words?

2011-01-10T20:36:00.000-08:00

Me: "Valentine can you hand that to me?"

Tiny: "Nope."

Valentine singing to herself: "Appy Birfday to you, Appy Birfday to you, Appy Birfday Gramma, Appy Birfday to yoooouuuuuu!" (she just started singing the birthday song for my mom's b-day about a month ago, so that's who she always sings it to- she also sings to herself or to Moses: "You are my sunshine," "ABC's," "Once upon a dream," and "I still believe" from Cinderella III)

While I'm trying on different outfits one will catch her eye and she'll gasp, cover her mouth and say softly, "Ooooh, goodness gracious! It's so boot-i-ful Mama!"

Me: "Do you want some banana?"

Tiny: "Nope."

While eating cookie dough I just made: "MMmm, it's A-WI-CIOUS (delicious) Mama!"

"Mac N' Cheese!!!! Woo Hoo!!! Mac N' Cheese!!!"

"Daddy cwa-zy! (crazy) hee hee hee hee" (she points to Drew and snickers)

Me: "Valentine let's go upstairs."

Valentine: "Nope."

"Me no want pants on!! Dress Mama? Dress?"

"Hold it?!" asking to hold Moses- while she's holding him- "Hee hee, she's coot Mama! So coot!" (yes, she calls him "she")

"I wuv you Mama."

Blue Christmas... just kind of

2010-12-26T23:28:00.000-08:00

This was my bed Christmas morning- before I got up I was in that space between Valentine and Moses- comfy huh?

Christmas with the Hafers has been GREAT! We've had so much fun with Drew's family (that is when Valentine isn't pushing Lucy). Tons of games being played, a white elephant un-birthday party, babies and little girls all over the place, and the awesome company of the Hafers. But..... I have to admit I really miss my family and my Christmas. No Grandpa dressed up like Santa, no Mexican food (I did make some enchiladas for Drew's family), no big fat real tree that I helped pick and decorate, no Christmas music/movies playing while wrapping elaborately late at night on Christmas Eve, and no Hansen/Casillas family. As much as I love being here and as happy as I am to be with the wonderful Hafers, I can't help but feel a little Christmas blue right now.

Thanksgiving, Babies, Baths, Dresses, and Bows... Oh My!

2010-12-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Well, jeez. This is how horrible I am at blogging- I have about a thousand pictures and dozens of things to talk about. New Year's resolution: to update the blog AT LEAST once-twice a week. Hm, we'll see- I'm not so great with resolutions- my other resolution will be to be better at keeping my resolutions. Nice. Anyways, we had a marvelous Thanksgiving, like a year ago now, just kidding, only a month, with all of the usual suspects (minus a few) and delicious fare. This was my first year trying my Grandma's infamous yams and the much prized jello salad and I have to admit that I have been ridiculous and wrong for the past 24 years of my life. Both of those things are by far the BEST part of Thanksgiving and I am so disappointed in myself that it has taken me this long to discover their awesomeness. My life has new meaning now and I'm already ANXIOUSLY ANTICIPATING next Thanksgiving just so I can eat caramel yams, raspberry jello whipped cream goodness, mashed potatoes, and apple pie till I gag. What a simpleton I've been. Moving on: Thanksgiving was actually truly great because of all the family (not the decadent food). I LOVE LOVE LOVE my family. I don't think I can say it enough. Their company is so fun and fulfilling- we had lots of.... interesting stories and conversations this year- it was a blast. I love my own DARLING little family. I love my incredible parents and siblings. I love my wonderful ever-increasing extended family. BEST EVER. That's what I'm thankful for always.

The day after Thanksgiving Valentine got a visit from her BFF Louisa. They are CUTE and funny together. Valentine has been real interesting lately. She is definitely in the terrible two's and can I just say that that is not fun. Why do kids have to go through that stage? I just don't get it- like when I ask for something I need or something she's grabbed from me and she tries to hide it behind her back and when I actually reach for it she turns and CHUCKS it in the opposite direction or runs and throws it down the stairs. It's fun. Or when I have to tell her to not hit or chase Ada for the FIVE HUNDREDTH MILLIONTH time (those two are the bane of my existence) because she'll get bitten. But, it's worth it guess because she's also HILARIOUS. She is an awesome dancer and singer and does both alllllll the time. She also is the most talkative, energetic little thing and keeps us very very entertained with her little one-man shows or speeches that we understand nothing of because she's speaking in another language and very fast. She looooves dress up and is more often in dress up clothes than real ones- that is when she's not naked which is even more often- I just CANNOT get her to keep clothes on. Miss Hot-Stuff (as I've liked to call my sassy drama queen) is also a super sweet big sister. She loves loves her brother and is always kissing, trying to hold, talking to, concerned about "Mo-ness." I love them together- it makes me so happy and touched as a mother to see them getting along and so attached already.

On a little note- Kirby and I had a little show for our bows the other weekend with Taylor's fiancee, Michelle and her mom, Jolene, who are artists. It was great- we got a lot of work done and were able to sell some stuff and got really good feedback on our products. The website still isn't 100%, but go to it and please email us any orders you'd like for the Holidays!

P.S. If you'd like to see the pictures in chronological order start from the bottom and work your way up- if you can find the bottom that is- sorr-you (as Valentine says sorry).

This made me laugh really hard- poor little guy.

How Valentine is 90% of the time.

I can't get enough of this face.

Twinners!!!! Can you see Summer's cute twin belly? SO excited!
It makes me almost cry whenever I see Sierra hold Moses. What a sweet, special bond we all have from that sweet, special experience.

We way cracked out some Settlers action when everyone had left. Drew was in heaven needless to say.

I can't get enough of this face.

Maybe Valentine likes to be naked so much because I love my nakey babies- they don't get any cuter than when you can see every chubby roll and feel their soft silky baby skin.

Yet another dress.

JELLO SALAD! I'm pretty sure it was the word 'salad' that scared me off from ever trying this yummy treat.

By far the best picture of my life. Merry, the actress, always delivers.

MMM PIES!
YAMS!

Her favorite nightgown that she considers as a dress.

This is her new favorite dress-up dress- I bought it for $10 at a bridal store when Page was trying on dresses. And yes she always wears her crown backwards- apparently it's the only way she knows how to put it on.

She looks so much like Drew it's sometimes scary.

Bath time joy!

These are a few of my favorite things.....

2010-11-21T21:50:00.001-08:00

Happy Late Late Late Birthday Valentine!

2010-11-07T20:47:00.001-08:00

I'm already a terrible mother and awful at those whole 2 kids thing apparently- it's taken me almost a month to write about my sweet Valentine's 2nd birthday! Goodness. At first I was too tired and now I'm too busy/lazy. Anyways, the day before Baby Moses came into our world we had such a fun low key family celebration for Miss Tiny. I was waaaay too exhausted and down trodden at that point in my pregnancy to plan or do anything fun for my poor child (I promise I'll make it up next year!) but our little Sunday get together was more than sufficient for Valentine- I don't think anything would have made her happier than having her best friends- her cousins- over to play with her. Henry, Sienna, Noah and Louisa are definitely her favorite people in the world and all of her other cousins too. We had yummy chocolate cake, cupcakes, pink and princess adornments everywhere and about 500 presents. It was a good birthday. Still in shock that I had Valentine TWO YEARS AGO and that I've had another baby. Shock. Having Moses and celebrating Tiny's second birthday has made me finally realize that she is not a baby anymore. It makes me sad yet it is so unbelievably fun to watch her grow and turn into a little sassy person. After the birthday pics are my 10 things I LOVE about my Tiny:

1. If there is one thing Valentine does not lack it is personality. You always know when Valentine is around and she definitely makes everything so much more fun and interesting. She is large and in charge and vivacious and wonderful- everyone notices and loves Valentine.

2. She is the cutest big sister already. She loves her "Brudder" which is his official name for V. She is always giving him kisses, laying down with him, wanting to hold him and very concerned about him- "where's brudder?!" They're cute.

3. I love love love her little face. It's the most darling thing I've ever seen and she makes the best facial expressions EVER- I've even had strangers tell me that.

4. She has so much ENERGY. She is a little hurricane sometimes and as exhausting as it is I love it and would never change that about her (I only wish she could somehow share the wealth).

5. Valentine is sooo sweet. She still loves to cuddle with me and is always giving me kisses and hugs and touching my face and telling me she loves me and asking me to hold her- no matter how old she gets she'll always be that mamma's girl and my little Tiny baby.

6. Kids do really say the darndest things- especially Valentine. I think my favorite still is when she's in another room and I yell her name to see where she is or what she's doing and her answer to "Valentine?" is the same every time- "What???". She is too funny and cracks me up- I'll start a list of V quotes and put them up cause there are a lot any they are awesome. I also love it when she says "oh gosh" when she thinks something is pretty or when she tells me I look "so bootiful! like a prinsee!" whenever I put any form of a dress or skirt on.

7. She is so much like her dad it's comical sometimes. I love to see them together because most of the time they are just two peas in a pod and so fun together and can make each other laugh like no one else I've seen- there are sometimes though where they just clash and I have to step in and take over cause they are just too similar- it makes me laugh. The best is when Drew puts her to bed and she gives him a hard time and we can hear them hollering at each other from two floors down. Awesome.

8. Valentine is smart. She picks up on things and has always done things early for her age. She might not have hair but she'd got brains in that bald head and makes her mamma proud. You should see that way she works an i-phone or a dvd player, it's ridiculous.

9. I love that she really is tiny- that's even how she refers to herself. I think Moses is almost her same size. Just kidding, but I love my little little girl.

10. I love that Valentine is like me in some ways. She loves macaroni and cheese, she loves to dress up, she prefers dresses to pants, she loves pink and princess stuff, and best of all she already has a deep fondness for singing and dancing. She'll go and play the piano and sing to herself, she LOVES to have dance parties and has really good rythm! I was practicing a little singing the other day for the first time in weeks- maybe months- and she sat there watching me and grinning and kept asking for more whenever I stopped. I can already tell that these things that are so precious to me will always be a strong bond between us.

Happy Late Birthday Valentine! I love you- sorry I'm lame!

Introducing.........

2010-10-20T15:30:00.000-07:00

Moses Robinson Hafer

Born Monday, October 11, 2010 at 9:59 p.m. weighing 9 lbs 1 oz and 20 1/2 inches long at the Family Health and Birth Center in Washington D.C.

Of course I have my nine pound baby without drugs and my six pound baby with them. Just kidding- I actually LOVED my Birth Center experience. I loved the calmness of the Birth Center, I loved that I could do whatever I wanted and how I wanted, I could eat (I didn't really eat cause I didn't want to- but I COULD have if I wanted.) I LOVED the tub- best pain relief ever- I loved using my hypnobabies, which worked wonderfully up until the end; and most of all I LOVED my wonderful birthing team- Drew, my mom, Kirby, Page, and my AWESOME midwives Sierra, Erica, and Candace. It actually makes me cry every time I think about Sierra and the help she was and this amazing experience we had together- I definitely could not have done it without her. I also couldn't have done it without Drew and my mom and sisters- they all took turns pouring water on my back or belly while in the tub and were there to do whatever I needed. Drew was amazing- such great support and help, I love him so much. I was in labor for about 16 hours- started having contractions at six in the morning and my beautiful baby boy was born at 10 that night. I have to admit that my labor was quite a bit longer than I was expecting. I also had a TON of back pressure for the last while of my birthing time- I had a pretty huge head down there for a long time and my water wasn't breaking- no hypnosis or epidural could have helped me with that. But Sierra broke my water- I got back in the tub and Baby Moses was born 37 minutes later. His head had been crowning for a long time and I was so confused as to why it wasn't out yet- I stayed really quiet outwardly while pushing, but the whole time I was yelling in my head, "WHY ISN'T HIS HEAD OUT YET??? WHY IS THIS TAKING SO LONG?? OK NEXT PUSH HE'LL BE OUT. NO?? OK NEXT PUSH. I CAN SEE THE HEAD WHY ISN'T HE JUST OUT YET???!!" His cute big head finally did come out and I pulled that baby boy up to my chest more relieved and happy than I think I've ever been in my life. When I held that chubby baby to me I looked at his head and chunky body and thought, "Oh! That's why it took so long." I couldn't stop laughing when they announced he was over 9 lbs- so shocked. But, he was perfect. He is perfect. I am so in love with my little boy. It's crazy to me that this was all over a week ago- it feels like it was yesterday and years ago at the same time. I've been amazed with both of my babies at that instantaneous love and familiarity you have with your baby. I can't remember life before Moses was here and feel like he's always been a part of my life. He's a sweet, good baby too- eats like a champ- I think he nurses about every 2 hours during the day. He sleeps well at night though. Just like his sister was he's already very alert and aware- but I think he's more mellow than her. And Valentine looooooves "baby brudder." We try to tell her his name is Moses but she will only call him baby or brudder or both. She always asks if she can "hold it!?" and is constantly showering him with kisses. I am so grateful for my darling little family- for my husband who is a great dad and for the two gorgeous babies we created.

This is probably mid-birthing time- awesome Halloween nightgown huh?
The tub truly was the best thing ever- everyone there laughed at my huge sigh of relief when I first got in.
Using my hypnosis during a contraction- or "pressure wave" I should say. Thank you Hypnobabies!
Drew smiling at his new little boy.
Pure joy.
Skin on skin contact while mom got out of the tub.
First family shot.
Awesome awesome awesome aunt/midwife Sierra.
Check out that chunky guy!
Some rest at last.
Could he be anymore darling??
Love love love him.

Happy Birthday Drewdy!

2010-09-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Whoah. My cute husband just turned 30 on Saturday. He thinks he's ancient, but I keep telling him that since most people think he looks like he's actually 15 he doesn't need to worry about getting old. I still can't believe that we've been together almost 5 years (married for 4 in Dec.) and that we're about to have our second child. So crazy. And so awesome. Here are my ten things I love about my Drew:

1. He's so supportive- like with the whole Hypnobabies classes- so not into it at first, but did it because I wanted to and had a good attitude. (and now he's just as into it as me!)

2. He's a worthy priesthood holder and has used that priesthood to help and bless me when I've been in need of it.

3. He is the father of my two beautiful babies- he and Valentine are two peas in a pod, they are so much fun together and I can't ever get enough of seeing Drew as a father and how much Valentine loves him. I'm very excited to see him with our new little boy.

4. He is always encouraging me to be better, whether actively or by example.

5. He gets along so well with my family- he fits right in with the Hansens and Casillases. When we were dating I knew that he was a man I could marry when he met Merry for the first time- he was so easy and nice and cute and fun and natural with her. And he still is- they are pen pals now and Merry always refers to him as "Drewdy."

6. I know I always say this but he's so funny. No one makes me laugh like he does and he has that quality that I didn't think existed in anyone but my dad in which he can make me laugh and feel better no matter how terrible of a mood I'm in- he never fails and handles my crazy emotional hormonal .... craziness.

7. I love his face. His hair was insanely long for a while and he just got it cut and I realized, whoah, I haven't really seen his face because of his hair, it's so nice to be able to see it again. I love it.

8. He makes me feel pretty- which isn't so easy when I'm 10 months pregnant and HUGE and look like a gross boy. Somehow Drew manages to find me beautiful and through that make me feel beautiful.

9. He is a hard worker- I hate his hours with Domino's but he does his job well and works hard for us, our little family, and I so appreciate that. He also works hard when he's home to help with V and me and our needs- GREAT husband.

10. He is my Drew. He is unique- a man unto himself, I've never met anyone else like him and know I never will- he is strong and fun and smart and very opinionated and good humored and outgoing and honest and loving and I love everything about him that makes him Drew.

I love you Drew Dear! Happy Birthday Drewdy!

Over it.

2010-09-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'm SO over being pregnant.......

.........but I do have to say that this never gets old:

(pause music playlist first)

Hansen/Hafer Family Extravaganza

2010-08-17T14:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we had a wonderful, long trip to Paris and London. So, instead of writing a long thing about the trip, I've put up some of my favorite pictures and will caption them to tell you all about our lovely European vay-cay.

Valentine was a trooper and in general was actually pretty good considering all the billions of things we dragged her to and around. However there were quite a few times she'd get an attitude and give us looks such as this one.
Drew and I outside the Musee D'Orsay- LOVED it. Beautiful museum with beautiful artwork- it was mainly French Impressionism. The best.
Twinners. Kinda creepy how much they look alike sometimes.
The Hafers at Le Tour Eiffel.

I'm pretty sure that I had french onion soup everyday while in France. Delicious.

Sacre Coeur. Best view in the city.
The Hansens at the Eiffel Tower.

Valentine kissing/making out with me.
I adore these two.
We loved our crepes while in Paris. Yum.
Valentine gets LOTS of kisses.

Valentine loved her ice cream. Like I had onion soup everyday, Valentine had ice cream at least once a day. Everyday the whole trip.

She did like it when she got to run around and have free reign. She also liked it when there were big crowds of people to wave/talk to. There were tourist buses picking up and dropping off right where we were eating and the whole time Valentine was waving and yelling, "Hi Body! Bye Body!" (she means everybody when she says body).
Sometimes when she'd fall asleep in the stroller or was watching a movie on her ipod in it we were forced to give her some cover for some privacy.
There was a lot of coke drinking on this trip.
In honor of Grandpa Ed.
Napoleon's tomb.
My favorite thing about France was the sky. Breathtaking.
My other favorite was the bakeries. I had a croissant or chocolate croissant everyday. This place was the best. The best thing I ate the whole trip was a warm croissant from this bakery. I would eat it everyday for the rest of my life.
V's new favorite game- putting her dress or shirt over the person's head that is giving her a shoulder ride.
My cute daddy.
This gelato from "Amorino" in the Spanish Quarters was DELICIOUS. I only got it once but, Jordan got it I think three times. The best flavor was caramel. MMMM.
They made the ice cream look like pretty flowers. Delicious and pretty.
Cute siblings at the Louvre. We were much happier as a group outside the Louvre than inside. You hear about how big it is, but you don't even know. And tons of people. And lots of stairs. Not fun with a stroller. Or a teenage boy. Or a big pregnant belly.
"One of these is not like the others...." Drew's quote and unanimously the highlight of the trip. We all miss this man who was hanging out with an Asian tour group.

Micah is apparently a thug now.
Notre Dame.

The stain glass at Saint Chappelle was amazing. One of my personal highlights.

We all way hearted the Laduree macaroons.
Especially Valentine.
This is V on the grounds of Versailles.
Our favorite part of Versailles, and consequently the whole trip was Marie Antoinette's darling living quarters. It was a whole composition of these little Dutch looking cottages around a beautiful scenic pond with flowers and trees and lily pads and a little bridge and a little farm. We all want to live there. We will create our own Hansen/Hafer compound that looks like this for us all to live at.
Um, the chapel at Versailles was also gorgeous.
It's just so CUTE.
This is the only shot of all of us together. We wanted a whole family picture, so Page pointed out a couple that she heard speaking english. So I went up and asked the man (who was taking pictures so I could trust that he could handle a camera) to take a picture of all us together. He replied, "You bet!" and sure enough it turned out that he's the Mayor of Saint George, UT and of course LDS. What are the odds?
Oh that sky. And that palace. I think I might let Drew move us to France.
PREGGERS. I actually handled the trip quite well. I will say that by the time we got to London I was quite burned out and would return to the hotel in the afternoons to let V nap and me rest and read. But I was good. I would get a little frazzled/annoyed when Valentine would only let me hold her or would throw fits and I was the only one who could handle her- I think it wouldn't have been as stressful if I wasn't prego as well, but those occassions didn't happen too much, and overall it was a great experience. At least we did this trip before there's two. Yikes.
Hahaha. When we left the hotel this day Page forbade anyone to take pictures of her because she was wearing the same shorts as the day before and didn't want anyone to notice. So of course we took a picture of just her shorts.
The Opera House. It still makes me want to cry a little bit that I didn't actually go with my mom and sisters to it- it didn't work out the first time we tried and then I decided to go to the Rodin sculpture garden with Drew and V instead (which was wonderful and I loved it). The ceiling of the Opera House theater was a huge Chagall mural.

And they had a display of tutus from the French Ballet. *tear.

Paris Je T'aime.

This is Oxford- one of our stops on our day trip outside of London. I have to admit that I was actually not looking forward to Oxford, I thought it would be boring, but it ended up being one of my favorite parts of our London segment of the trip. We toured some of Christ Church at Oxford and the buildings and the whole town were just magnificent. Beautiful. I LOVED it.

The gardens EVERYWHERE in London/England were gorgeous. I wish it looked like that here.

Valentine was more into her cereal bar than Oxford. I think 90% of our pictures of Valentine form the vacation are of her eating.
She just couldn't be cuter. I was so lucky to have my whole family helping out with the Stinker. Everyone was so GREAT and NICE about pitching in and taking turns with her. I love them.

Valentine would have totally really eaten this if it was real.
Like I said, we all loved our ice cream while on this trip.
This actually is probably my favorite picture of the whole trip. This is up on the ramparts of Warwick Castle, which I heard was worth going up just to see my Mom while up there. For those of you who don't know she has a terrible fear of heights. I didn't go because I was busy taking Valentine to the Princess Tower.
"Pin-see!" Valentine was soooooo happy to see the girls there dressed up like princesses and at the top of Princess Tower she got to dress up like a princess. She was in HEAVEN. There is a picture of her dressed up, but it's one we bought, so I'll have to scan it, but it was hilarious. We did also buy her a crown and a wand- which she's already broken. Go figure.

London was so beautiful in some parts. I loved the cute older houses/flats with ivy and flowers.
Churros for Micah at the Portobello Market. It's a huge flea market once a week with tons and tons of vendors and BILLIONS of people.
This was a pizza place with a funky little car in the front window. Those funny Brits.

Big Ben.
The Tower of London. Also awesome. Our beefeater told us some great stories- even though it was raining the tour was fun. The best part about London was always our tour guides- Paddy, the Beefeater, and the guy on our London Sightseeing Bus- those British tour guides are so cheeky.

Hilarious.

2010-07-01T07:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I just saw one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life by far. Jordan is babysitting two little boys at our house who are 3 and 5. We had the dogs outside when they arrived because our dogs are psycho- not violent but loud and in your face which tends to scare little kids. So the kids went into the basement and we closed the door to it and let the dogs inside upstairs. Well, a few minutes later the older boy wanted to get a drink so he and Jordan came up the stairs and as you can guess Ada instantly sprinted over to the him and was barking and jumping in his face. He SCREAMED and bolted and I grabbed Ada and dragged her outside, and while I was doing so I heard him give a blood curdling scream and saw him sprinting around the kitchen in circles while yelping and crying with a look of utmost terror on his face. I was a little confused as I was dragging Ada AWAY from him and then I realized that the real source of terror was Napoleon (our morbidly obese pug) trotting along very happily and excitedly behind him trying desperately to sniff and lick him. This little boy has never been so scared in his life I'm sure of it. I started to die of laughter and then tried to stop so as to not hurt his feelings, I put Napoleon out with Ada and walked back in where Jordan was comforting this boy, wondering where my mom was, since she had been in the room when it had all started. I found my mom HIDING in the pantry doubled over with tears in her eyes from laughing so hard- can't even remember the last time I saw her laugh THAT hard- and I lost it too. The poor little confused boy was still out in the kitchen with Jordan as my mom and I stayed hidden- not very well- and utterly unable to control ourselves at his expense. Sorry little boy.

I don't care

2010-06-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

Valentine's new favorite phrase? "I don't care." I don't know where she got it from, but said it to me repeatedly the other day when she got in trouble for being naughty and has kept saying it ever since. Completely out of the blue. Her new favorite word? "Beautiful!" She is beautiful, the Disney princesses are beautiful, her baby dolls, me, her dresses, her shoes, my dresses, her barbie dolls, her earrings, anything remotely feminine is "boot-i-full, so boot-i-full!" What other funny things does my funny little girl say...? "GO WAY GO WAY GO WAY!" That is her telling Ada to go away whenever she is eating- she apparently does not approve of Ada's begging and lingering, which I don't either. "I wuv you" she tells everyone she loves them, even Bob who paints our house, so maybe she doesn't so much understand it's real meaning. "Where Daddy go?" I think I hear this one about..... 200 times a day? She is always very confused as to where her dad is and why he's not home with us. She also asks me several times a day, "Where's Elmo?" She hearts Elmo on Sesame Street, a lot. Also Cookie Monster. Whenever any movie is lying around she grabs it and sprints over to me "WATCH?! WATCH?! WATCH?!" I end up having to distract her and then hide the movie to get her to forget about it- the best way to accomplish this is to suggest going outside which is the only thing she loves more than her Disney movies. OH. Most of you know this already, but V totally has BEIBER FEVER. No joke, she sings along to his songs, is mesmerized by his music videos- even just pictures of him. So sad, she's too young to be boy crazy. Especially Justin Beiber boy crazy. What else? Oh yeah, she also is still in the habit of kissing me hundreds of times throughout the day- at least once a day I get an almost make-out session, hands on my face and dozens of kisses at once and all. She is great.

The Bachelorette

2010-06-14T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is my now not-so-secret guilty pleasure. The best part? It's also the guilty pleasure of the whole Hansen household- including Drew. We all watched it tonight (Micah and my Dad included), it's ti-vo'd and Drew SPRINTED into the tv room to watch the goober Weatherman seranade Ali. It is ridiculous and cheesy and there are definitely parts that I squeal at out of disgust and can't look at the tv (why do they have to show them making out and touching so much? gross.) but we watch it and get very into it and are very entertained by it. Drew just saw me typing this and got very mad. "I don't like it! I just watch it because you watch it." Uh huh. He likes it. He loves it. And so do I. It's so sad.

P.S. I'm HUGE. I swear I get bigger by the day.

BOY!

2010-06-02T20:49:00.000-07:00

See? Definitely a boy.

I knew it, I totally called it. It's a boy!!! Can't even tell you how excited I am. I went to the mall a few hours after finding out and every time I saw a baby boy or saw baby boy clothes I kind of freaked from being so excited- seriously like mini internal spasms (sorry that sounds weird....). Oh and Drew's SO SIKED for me to go baby shopping crazy for new boy clothes. Whatever, it'll be worth it when he has his son around (and looking so darling and dapper in the cute clothes I get for him). So come Oct. 4 (this baby better not be late like his sister) we'll have a daughter and a son. I love it.

P.S. This baby does not stop moving- ever- I can't get over it. I feel like I talk about it all the time but I can't help it, it's weird and awesome. I just hope it doesn't carry over to post-womb... might only have him and V if it does- I'm not Wonder Woman you know. Just kidding. Kind of.

Kicks and Kisses

2010-05-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

This morning I awoke to Valentine just waking up- with her eyes still closed- kissing me right on the lips. That was quickly followed by a storm of kicking and wiggling from my sweet other baby (I could actually see my tummy moving!) and a whole shower of kisses from Valentine- all still on the lips. The kicks weren't hard or painful- just a nice way for my baby to say "Good morning." I glanced over and Drew was also still in bed, which doesn't always happen as he leaves for work before we wake up most of the times. It was a lovely morning.

Baby Fat

2010-05-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well here are some fun pictures of me and V and my "baby fat." By the way, we still don't know what the sex of the baby is- we couldn't tell at Dr. Knudson's with his sonogram machine and I won't get my official ultrasound for about another two weeks, so the suspense is still on! I still think it's a boy, but that's just my gut feeling, I could be way off. I'm 20 weeks on Monday- halfway there! Heartening and a little depressing at the same time, pregnancy just lasts FOREVER. But it's fun, I love feeling my new little baby move all the time. And I love my Baby V. She is the best. Can't wait to have two! (that was genuine, not sarcastic, though sometimes I do say that sarcastically- like when Valentine hasn't stopped running for an hour straight or when she's snuggling with me by laying on top of my face in the middle of the night- but I really can't wait for my other babe)

Fav

2010-05-04T17:25:00.000-07:00

Um, my favorite part of being pregnant? Merry saying EVERY TIME she sees me, "Aw, look at your baby fat!" She means baby bump, but says baby fat. Every time.

Yackety Yack

2010-05-03T18:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some late Easter pictures. I love the Spring.

Miss V had a lot of fun on her own little easter egg hunt. She also loved throwing the eggs.

Her Sleeping Beauty crown from her Easter basket and her princess dolls- I swear I don't force this on her- she just really loves them.

Ah, yes. Since V's favorite movie is "Pocahontas" her Aunt Page thought it would be fitting and funny to use marker as Indian war paint on my baby's face. She thought it fun.

So Valentine is QUITE the talker. All she does is run and babble. All the time, all day long, everyday. It's a little exhausting just to watch, but it's also extremely entertaining. Her new favorite words are "coot!" (cute) and "pitty!" (pretty) and she applies them to everything-especially herself. She is constantly seen in front of the fireplace staring at her reflection with with a variety of dress-up items on- a dress, crown, princess shoes, necklace, just a cute outfit- and twirling repeating over and over, "So coot! Pitty! Coot!" For at least ten minutes at a time. She will also apply it to the rest of us though- when I put on my dress for church on Sunday she RAN over to me and exclaimed, "So pitty! So pitty!" She also said it to Jordan when she was trying on prom dresses and my mom when she wore her new skirt. What a hoot. For those of you who aren't well acquainted with my daugher she also loves to yell. A lot. Her favorite word to yell over and over is "BICAH!!!!!" (Micah who she LOVES). She is still calling me "Ma-nie" but she will call Drew "Daddy" for the most part.... whatever. Oh and she ALWAYS asks where things are. "Where's Daddy?" (I hear this at least 500 times a day- I'm not exaggerating. Especially in the morning and we wake up and he's not in bed with us.) "Where's dog?" "Where's da baby?"

Also: I took Valentine in for her 18 month check up and since we had been there two months previously she had gained ZERO weight and half an inch. I promise I feed her. She's just SO active that she doesn't keep weight on. But my mom and I agree that in the past week she's felt heavier and she looks it a little too- she's gotten her prego-like belly back. Speaking of prego, I definitely have a nice baby bump now! I think it's cute, but it's just at the point that unless you know I'm pregnant you probably would just think I'm fatter, so I am still having an EXTREMELY hard time getting myself dressed everyday. I hate every item of clothing I own and have been spending a TON of time online trying to find clothes that won't make me want to throw up. Whatever. But it's fun to be prego- I've been feeling the baby move! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that. That is one of my favorite parts of carrying a baby inside me is feeling it move- it makes such a sweet connection between mother and baby and makes it feel so much more real- like there will actually be a sweet little thing to validate the 10 months of hugeness. I will say though that I've been QUITE moody this pregnancy. I don't remember being this irritable with Valentine (maybe having her around is part of it haha) but I just can't help but get SO angry and/or upset way more often than is necessary or than I'm used to. Is it fatigue? Is it being a mom and being pregnant at the same time? Is it being around a lot of people and noise? Is it just this pregnancy for some reason? I have a theory that the baby is a boy and that testosterone is my baby that I'm not used to is making me more irritable. Don't know, but I'm trying to get over it. And we'll find out in a week what the baby is for sure!!!! Like I said I THINK it's a boy, but I could be totally wrong. I will let you all know!

Blah

2010-05-02T12:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry that I am so lame, I just recently have been just that- LAME. I've been lazy and moody and haven't really felt much like doing anything but lying around, reading Harry Potter for upteenth time, and watching Valentine. So here is a little something to keep you occupied while I try to make myself do a real post about something substantial. Just look at this face. That has to make everyone smile, it's by far my favorite thing in the world. As she would say herself it's "So coot!"

Home at last

2010-03-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

So.......... here's the story: On Tuesday around 4 in the afternoon I started getting some of the worst stomach pains I've ever had. My mom had been really sick with a bad stomach bug, so at first I thought maybe I was just getting that, but after a while I realized I wasn't nauseated and that the pain was way worse than a bug would give me. I then started getting paranoid that I was miscarrying, but I wasn't bleeding at all, so my mom called Drew who came home from work and took me to Arlington Hospital. Just so you all know- this wasn't just stomach pain- it's the worst thing I've ever felt- worse than labor, just terrible. Anyways, we finally get admitted and Sierra met us at the hospital and was with us in the ER for hours and hours waiting to hear what was the matter. The doctors gave me A LOT of morphine and I was still in pain, so I got five hours worth of ultrasounds where they discovered a very large cyst on my right ovary. To be sure that it was the cyst and not appendicitis, they admitted me overnight and had me get an MRI in the morning. I kind of felt like I was in a tv show like Grey's or ER or some kind of sci-fi movie while I was getting the MRI. Well, that showed that my appendix was fine, but that the ovary and the cyst had gotten much bigger and that there was also a blood clot on my vein right next to the ovary. What had happened was that the cyst on the ovary caused that ovary to to torque and twisted the vein by the ovary and casued a blood clot. My pain had eventually stopped (about 12 hours after is started) and it was because the ovary had pretty much died. So, Dr. Crowther- an amazing OBGYN who I love- operated on me labroscopically (I have no clue how to spell that) during which they found that the ovary had indeed died because of the lack of blood flow to it and it had swollen and became gangreen, so they obviously had to remove it, which to do they had to make a quite large incision in my lower abdomen. They could not remove the blood clot, so I had to meet with a Hemotologist who is having me take lovenox everyday, which is an injection I have to give myself once a day, until I see him in a few weeks and they do some blood work and do another MRI to see if the blood clot is gone, and hopefully if it is I won't have to lovenox myself everyday after that. SOOOO. There is the story. THE BABY IS FINE. We had several sonograms/doppler tests before and after the surgery to make sure of that. (By the way during some of the ultrasounds Drew says that he could swear he saw a penis, even though the technician said it's too early to tell- we'll see in a few weeks if he's right!) I am home now recovering, where keeping V from climbing on me and my VERY sore tummy is proving a bit of a challenge, but luckily I have the best family in the world who is helping me with her- I don't even feel like a mother right now and I hate it and I feel so bad for all of the work that everyone is doing for me and V, but I also so appreciate it. Thank you Mom, Dad, Kirby, Micah, Jordan, Page, Taylor for all of your love and help. Thank you Taylor and Nico for coming to the Hospital to help Drew give me blessings. Thank you Sierra for coming with us to the Hospital and helping me through the first scary hours of all of this and for keeping in touch during the whole thing. And Drew. Thank you for hardly ever leaving my side and sleeping very uncomfortably at the hospital and for all of your love, help, concern, support and for being the sweetest best husband I could have. I love you.

Aside from the pain and worry and terrible surgery recovery the worst part for me has actually been that all of this drama means I will no longer be able to deliver my sweet baby at the birth center with Sierra. I was sooooo looking forward to that experience and I LOVED the center and I couldn't be sadder that I can no longer do that- when I heard that I needed surgery and realized that it meant I couldn't go to the Birth Center anymore I had quite the meltdown. But Sierra suggested that I could see if Homer Knudson would take me and she could still be involved and maybe even deliver the baby still. So, we'll see. I might have to go to a high risk doctor, but hopefully not. I'll keep you all updated. Love you all and thank you to everyone for your help, love, support, prayers.

Unisex

2010-03-02T18:16:00.001-08:00

Merry: "So, Kurby, for your birthday do you want to go out to dinner with your family OR have a girls night?"

Kirby: "I don't know Merry, maybe dinner with the family."

Merry: "Uh, are you sure?"

Taylor: "Merry, why does it always have to be a girls night? Why can't it be a unisex night?"

Merry: "WHAT?! EW?! A SEX NIGHT?!!? We're not having a sex night!!"

MUCH LAUGHTER

Merry: "Gross Taylor."

Everyone in the room tries to explain what UNISEX means and its difference from SEX.

Merry: "Um, I don't get it."

SOOOOO EXCITED!

2010-02-27T20:23:00.000-08:00

Drew, V and I all went to meet Midwife Sierra at the Birth Center this week where we are planning to deliver Hafer Baby Deux. I was pretty sure that I would deliver there, but now I am POSITIVE because I LOVED IT! It was wonderful, I loved the midwives and other staff, the rooms, the tummy molds hanging up all over the center and just the whole concept of the way they bring beautiful babies into the world. I'm thinking of doing a water birth and couldn't be more excited. The birthing room had a birthing ball, an awesome rocking chair with a wood piece that detaches from the seat so you can deliver your baby in the chair, a nice big tub for birthing, and a nice big non-hospital bed. I loved it. A lot. And I can't imagine having someone better than my lovely Aunt Sierra deliver my baby- I love her. I'll admit I'm a little nervous about not getting an epidural since it was pretty nice last time, but I'm strong (I think) and with Sierra's help I'll be fine- plus I can tell I'm going to appreciate and like this new experience- I didn't love the hospital last time. I'm almost 9 weeks and can't wait for week 20 when we get to find out what our baby will be- what do you think? A baby girl, Violet Mette, or a baby boy, Atticus William? Drew's all for twins. Yikes.

Oy Vay

2010-02-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Soooo....... the other day Drew and I were trying to run out the door to run some errands. I had a slight meltdown and was in tears because I could not find one piece of clothing that I owned that looked somewhat decent on my dumb ever-enlarging body.

Drew: "What's going on?"

Madie: (in tears) "NOTHING looks good on me!"

D: "What? You look fine, just throw something on, let's go."

M: "I can't just throw something on cause I look fat in everything I own!"

D: "No you don't you look great."

M: "No I don't! I just keep getting bigger and bigger right here!" (pointing to my love handles, tummy and butt- which is true by the way)

D: (a bit exasperated) "I don't know do some sit ups or something if you don't like it."

GLARE.

M: "I AM EXERCISING! EVERDAY! YOU'RE NOT HELPING!!!!" (slam door)

......... a few minutes later..........

D: "I'm sorry, you're beautiful- and pregnant! This is a wonderful thing that's happening to you, we're going to have another baby! Don't worry about how you look because you really do look great, you don't look fat, you're beautiful."

M: "Fine. Just for future reference- never tell your hormonal, very tired pregnant wife to do sit-ups when she says she's feeling fat."

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

We had a lovely Valentine's Day with our Valentine- dressing her up in everything she owns that is pink or red or has hearts on it; having one-hour-long church (THE BEST); making Valentine sugar cookies; and V got to watch Sleeping Beauty (for the 10th time in the past 24 hours) and Little Mermaid. In case you haven't heard Baby V's OBSESSED with Disney movies, especially Pocahontas, Mulan, and Sleeping Beauty. She will sit for hours if we let her and just watch them- I most definitely appreciate them because when she watches them that's the only time that she'll hold still for longer than 2 seconds at a time. By the way, we watched "Bright Star" this week and it's my new favorite movie- if you are looking for a great love story and just a beautiful movie- WATCH IT. I love it. A lot.

I'M SO TIRED. and fat. boo.

Happy New Year

2010-01-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm very sorry that I'm such a bad blogger- my New Year's resolution is to be MUCH better at it- we'll see how that goes. Anyways, 2009 came and went in a blur- especially the Holidays. It's true that with babies time just flies by- V is almost 15 months now, can you believe it?? Well, Christmas was lovely this year- Drew actually had a few days off, a Christmas miracle, and we had a Hansen Christmas and a cute little Hafer Christmas, as well as the normal Casillas Christmas festivities. We of course had our Mexican food Christmas Eve at Nico's house this year with my Grandpa dressed as Santa of course and had all of the kids sit on his lap for the kiss/hug and gift exchange. Valentine wasn't so into that as you can tell- she was way tired, I think that if we had done it a little earlier she would have cooperated maybe? And if it wasn't me handing her off. Oh well, next year, next year. The food was delicious as always, I particularly enjoyed the "gringa" enchildas and the one tray of mint brownies we brought out of the 10 million trays we've made in the past month. Stupid mint brownies. Well, I was up till 5 that night trying to finish all of my home-made presents that Drew and I decided to so for each other and Valentine this year- that's when it really sucks that I'm a horrible procrastinator, the doll I made for Valentine took FOREVER but turned out very cute- I'll have to take a picture and post it I forgot to do that. I was planning on making a dress for V also, but waaaay ran out of time. Oh well. The frame I made for Drew turned out awesome, and he made me a very darling scrapbook of V- can you believe that I don't have hardly any printed pictures of my baby? Now I do! Thanks Drew! Anyways, on Christmas morning we all went down to our own piles of goodies and were joined by our fun cousins Ian and Grace and our aunt Joanne, whose house caught on fire and we were blessed to have them spend Christmas with us in our home. We exchanged our gifts for each other which is always fun but took a looong time- there's just too many of us now. Then Drew, V and I went up to our room and did our Hafer Christmas around our little tree (which I LOVED and Valentine was very good at destroying and taking off the ornaments) after which V and I took an AWESOME two hour nap. We than had some family come and visit and watched an old Cary Grant movie. The next day the Casillas's all came over for a tres delicieux breakfast and fun white elephant gift exchange. Among some of my favorite gifts were the Utah Jazz warm up jump suit and matching coat, the snuggie (which Page got- ha), the make-your-own-gummie-bears kit (which was intended for Merry), the Everybody Poops book (courtesy of Taylor of course), and the Robert Pattinson calendar. Lots of fun. New Year's was pretty uneventful- we made a TON of wontons- yum, and had seven layer cookies and oatmeal bars. I still can't believe I haven't gained 10+ pounds from all of the food from the Holidays. Jeez. But New Year's was nice, we just ended up watching Glee Season 1 and actually completely forgot to watch the ball drop. Whatever, I've seen it before. The only really interesting part of the Eve was when Micah ran around the house screaming and yelling "Happy New Year!" and I told him that I'd punch if he woke up my baby. Fun.

Lame

2009-12-14T21:00:00.000-08:00

While eating mint brownies:

Me: "So Mom, from what side of the family do I get the fact that I carry my weight right here and here (pointing to my stomach and love handles) in a cute little band around me?"

Mom: "That's called you had a baby"

Kirby: "That's called mint brownies."

Me: "Oh. Dangit."

Awesome

2009-12-03T16:31:00.000-08:00

Concerning Merry's Work Christmas Party:

Merry: "Kirby, can you come to my work Christmas party on Friday?"

Kirby: "Um, maybe, Grandma isn't going with you this year?"

Merry: "Uuuuuuuugh, No! Because she is pathetic and rude."

The Joys Of Motherhood

2009-11-12T21:34:00.001-08:00

So two nights ago Valentine woke up around 2 in the morning- I nursed her back to sleep and as soon as she finished she threw up all over me and herself and the bed. Awesome. So she got a 2:30 a.m. bath and I took a 2:30 a.m. shower and we did a 2:30 a.m. laundry load. Then she threw up again at 8 in the morning after nursing again (again on me and the bed) and again half an hour later after drinking some water. Awesome. After having nothing but water and eventually saltine crackers and the worst diaper I've ever experienced she was fine and has been better ever since luckily- maybe a little more clingy and cuddly than usual which is fine with me. The next night she woke up again and I could NOT get her back to sleep without nursing- so I grudgingly gave in (I was worried about getting yacked on again and I'm trying to ween my nurse-happy baby) and the whole time I lied there thinking "Please don't throw up, please go to sleep, please don't throw up, please go to sleep, please don't throw up, please go to sleep, please don't throw up, please go to sleep." She didn't throw up and she went back to sleep. Phew. Nothing like vomit in your hair and cuddling with this cute little face all day to make you realize the joys of being a mother.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T19:08:00.000-08:00

We spent a fun fun Halloween with cousins in Richmond this year. Valentine dressed up as an adorable black kitty- just like her cousin Ceily! She had her pumpkin bag in hand and had a lot of fun getting candy from new admirers. She also had a lot of fun eating her Halloween candy as you can plainly see. Fun fun fun- Halloween is most def still my favorite holiday especially with my cute cute baby to dress up- can't wait till next year!!!

Valentine's Day

2009-10-13T23:25:00.000-07:00

Happy late Birthday Valentine! On Saturday my darling little baby turned one- ONE! I am still in shock- I can't believe I have a one year old- so weird. I feel like I was pregnant yesterday, and yet I feel like Valentine's always been a part of my life. And it's still weird that I'm a mom- not weird that I have a baby (almost a toddler now- jeesh) but that I'm a MOM. I feel old. Anyways, Valentine's birthday was sooo fun. We took her to a darling Pumpkin Patch with slides and a petting zoo and pumpkins and a hayride and face painting. Don't know how much she loved the huge slide that Micah took her down, but she loved the little baby ones. Perhaps the funniest part of the day was when Jordan tried to take her down a huge slide lined with haystacks and bumped into the hay and twisted and turned accidentally doing like 180s the whole way down- SO SAD the camera ran out of batteries right before that. She loved the animals and touching them and walking around with them, she also enjoyed watching the gibbon monkeys swinging around their cage. My favorite part was getting her face painted like a cat- cutest thing I've ever seen by far, she is toooootally going to be a black cat for Halloween. So, after the Pumpkin Patch we had the family over for cake and ice cream and presents (which there were a million of- can you tell she's the first grand-baby on my side?). Valentine had absolutely noooo idea what was going on or what to think while we sang Happy Birthday but loved her own special cake. At first she just poked and picked at the frosting but finally she got into it and tore it apart. So fun- I love my little baby.

Here are 10 things I love about Valentine Jayne:

1. She seriously has the cutest face I have ever seen- more than several times a day I will look at her and say, "Oh my word you are so cute/darling/pretty/beautiful/the like."

2. Valentine is just like Drew- I love it, they are twins in personality and looks. She is energetic, smart, funny, adventurous, cute, extremely social, loud and climbs on everything just like her daddy. Plus they are soooo dang cute together. That baby loves her daddy and he loves her.

3. My baby is the energizer bunny, she just keeps going and going and going. She's running, she's throwing/kicking a ball, tearing apart any store I take her to, climbing the stairs, walking around yelling on her cell phone, chasing the dogs yelling "No, no, no!" A lot to keep up with- I love it.

4. She is the CRAZIEST nurser. My mom makes fun of us because of how Valentine nurses. It's not my fault that my baby can't sit still and happens to love nursing. She's just started to pull my shirt up when she wants to nurse and she'll do it for a second, come off with the biggest grin on her face ever, talk to people or go off somewhere and run back for more a second later. That's just how we do it. And I love how much she loves it. Nothing makes her happier than to see rosy cheeks and huge smile after she nurses.

5. Her favorite foods are mac n' cheese, ice cream and french fries- the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree eh?

6. I love how Valentine gives kisses. She opens her mouth as wide as she can and gets slobber and possibly her tongue all over your face and mouth. It's the best. My favorite is when she wakes me up in the morning with kisses. I love being a mom.

7. Valentine is sooooo social. I can't go anywhere without Valentine introducing herself to everyone. It's actually quite hard on me having a darling social baby- she goes up and talks to random people who then find her absolutely adorable because of that face and it's little personality, so I have to stand there and talk to them, it sucks. I mean, I love hearing all the time how cute she is and it never gets old to talk about it or to have people admire her, but I don't want to have to talk to everyone all the time. But I have to. It's a hard life.

8. I LOVE it when Valentine dances- she has awesome rhythm! She is definitely going to be a ballerina and musician- yes! She dances to Glee, Single Ladies, She Wolf, the Pride and Prejudice theme, Jordan playing the piano, anything and it's the best.

9. She is so smart. She does baby sign language (her doing the "more" sign is the cutest thing in the world) and talks and knows what to do with a phone and can say, "No" and "Dog" and "Shut" which sounds like sh*t, and "Ma-kah!" (Micah we think, but it's what she uses to refer to any person, pretty funny). She problem solves and understands us (sometimes) and is sassy. She's got a lot of personality. I love it.

10. As much as I complain about her being a bad sleeper, I love sleeping with her. She is the sweetest sleeper and there is nothing more comforting than cuddling with and sleeping with your baby and waking up with them and nursing them during the night. So, I kind of love that she sucks at sleeping. I love how much she needs me and how close it makes us. She loooves her mommy and I love being her mommy and I love her. She makes me happy to be a mom and to be her mom. I love my little Valentine.

Happy Birthday Dear

2009-09-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Drew! I love him, and for so many reasons. My aunt does this cute thing on her blog where she puts 10 things she loves about whoever's birthday it is, and I think I will follow suit with my darling husband's big 29th birthday- woo hoo! Way to go Drew, almost to 30!

1. He is hilarious- he always makes me laugh laugh laugh, I love it- best sense of humor ever.

2. He is so handsome- maybe a little shallow of me, but hey that's what attracted me to this man in the first place- his dark curly hair, big dark eyes, skinny body, handsome face- love it, can't get enough of it.

3. He is such a darling dad- his baby girl just adores him, those two together are just the dang cutest thing.

4. He is adventurous and spontaneous- always wants to be doing something and wanting for that something to be fun.

5. He is sooo smart- he reads and reads and about everything too- the news, economy stuff, wars, social movements, history, people, places- everything (while I read E!Online).

6. He is honest- Drew has a very innate sense of right and wrong and always makes sure he's on the right side.

7. He is a sweet good husband- he is helpful and kind and makes me feel good about myself and is always encouraging me to be better

8. His laugh- best. thing. ever. (if you haven't heard it, you should).

9. He always tells me I'm cute or beautiful and whenever we see famous people on tv or whatever he always says, "Those people are so fake none of them are actually naturally attractive, you're a million times prettier than any of them." (so not true but nice to hear).

10. He makes me happy.

I LOVE YOU DREW!

Autumn

2009-09-04T22:58:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else ever noticed in Virginia that almost exactly when September hits- BAM!- automatically Fall starts up? All of a sudden it gets chilly in the evenings and mornings. All of a sudden it's not quite so bright and sunny. All of a sudden the leaves on the dogwood trees are turning brown. I love it. I love and welcome and eagerly anticipate the Fall. I mean, I love the Summer too- I love wearing nothing but dresses and letting Valentine run around in just her diaper and the warm, close moist air. But, there is nothing like Virginia Falls. I've been aching for them while I've been away (stupid Vegas). The crispiness of the air. The beautiful reds and golds showering off the tips of trees. The smell. The taste. The fog and frost in the mornings. Jumping in piles of lovely leaves. The pumpkins. Halloween and Thanksgiving. Drew's and Valentine's birthdays. Don't even get me started on Fall wardrobe. I love it. I crave it. Welcome Fall- I've been expecting you.

Walker

2009-08-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

Well, jeez, apparently I'm very bad about updating this while living at home- I apologize, I will try to do better. Anyways, um yeah, Valentine is completely walking. Oh, wait I'm sorry- did I say walking? Running. Valentine is running. All over the place all the time. Long gone are the days that I can just sit and enjoy whatever I'm doing be it reading The Book Thief, or watching reruns of America's Next Top Model, whatever. Even with 50 of us in the house to keep an eye on her (ok 50 is an exaggeration- there are 8-9) there will be times that Valentine accidentally goes unsupervised because no one- except Jordan- has the energy to keep up with her, especially me. For example, we're all sitting in the living room and all of a sudden, "Oh... where's Valentine???" And we hear little squeaks of joy that lead us to her- she's in the pantry putting dog food in the dog water and getting dirty dog disgusting water on her. Ten minutes later- "Where's Valentine?" Oh, she's half way up the stairs STANDING UP. Ugh. Another ten minutes later- "Where on earth is that baby?" In the pantry again, this time eating dog food. Awesome. I sound like such a great mother.

P.S. Uploading videos to blogger sucks, so for some videos of her walking check out facebook!

P.P.S. The above picture is from a little trip that Drew, Micah, V and I took to the Zoo- note the pink fingernails- I love having a little girl.

Heaven

2009-08-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

Why don't I live at the beach???? Maybe I'll tell Drew to become a professional surfer or a real estate agent for beach houses or an alligator wrestler or something so I can live on the beach.

By the way, Valentine is totally walking... I'm in so much trouble.

Stinker

2009-08-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

I love Valentine. I love love love her. She is so stinking cute, and funny, and sweet, and a good dancer, a hilarious talker, and she loves loves loves her mommy. However, there have been a couple of times in the past few days that I have thought, "She has got to be the naughtiest baby ever." Such a stinker. Especially with napping. Especially with her mommy. She just turned 10 months and is already throwing temper tantrums. Stinker. But I love her.

Moving

2009-06-21T19:47:00.000-07:00

She does this face all the time and it just cracks me up.
This is Valentine's shelf. She thinks she's so cool when she climbs on it.

So, as I'm sure most of you all have heard by now we are moving to Virginia. Drew was gone on the high adventure scout trip this past week, so while he was gone I took it upon myself to do some major packing. I did most of this major packing late at night after Valentine had gone to sleep because it was just soooo much easier that way. Well, the other day I had missed a crumb of a cookie that Valentine had dropped on the floor so the next morning we had a few ants in the house- so I spent a VERY LONG time vacuuming the whole place like crazy so we wouldn't have any more miniscule intruders. So it's 2 in the morning and I'm just cleaning like crazy cause I'd made a huge mess with all of the packing. The apartment looked spotless and I decided to clean out my diaper bag right before going to bed- I pulled out a baggie with crackers in it, which was all crumbs by then, to throw away and I grab it on the wrong end and got cracker crumbs EVERYWHERE. I started sweating I was in such a panic- do I risk vacuuming at 2 in the morning with my baby asleep on my bed and all of my apartment neighbors or do I risk gross gross ants coming in again overnight? I tried to solve this dilemma by using tape to pick up the crumbs. Tape does NOT pick up cracker crumbs- so no one else try cause it's very frustrating. So, I went into my room, balled up one of my dresses and put it over Valentine's exposed ear (she was sleeping on her side) closed the door and turned on the vacuum. I don't think I've ever done anything that speedy in my life, I was THROWING that vacuum back and forth trying to go as quickly as possible. I ran back into the room to make sure I hadn't woken my baby and caused her to fall off the bed to her death. She was sleeping like a baby and I didn't get any bangs on my floor from the people downstairs, so I made it. Phew. And no ants the next day. WOOT WOOT. I think that's some of the worst stress I've ever been through- I don't wish an experience like that on anyone. Oh, a dog did start barking.

I LOVE her sleeping- she's the sweetest thing ever.
Look at her foot- she always does funny stuff like that while I nurse her.

P.S. I hate going to sleep at night without Drew, I always get scared right when I'm about to go to sleep when he's not there. I wanted to sleep with a knife or something under my pillow- you know just in case a scary man were to come in and rape or murder me or kidnap my baby- but that didn't seem safe period, not to mention when you have a baby sleeping with you. So, I wanted like a baseball bat by the bed, but we don't have one. So I ended up sleeping with Drew's huge megaphone right next to the bed every night- we were so safe!