We are excited to introduce our newest little one, Keira Lily!!  It's hard to believe that my little Keira is already one week old today!  She is such a love!  She is about the complete opposite of how Avery was as a baby...she sleeps all day, she nurses well and she rarely cries!  I'm just glad that Avery was the difficult baby because I can truly appreciate how good Keira is now.

Last Tuesday the 16th, I started feeling some contractions in the early afternoon but they didn't last long.  I decided I would try anything to have the baby as soon as possible.  Avery and I walked around the neighborhood for an hour and that seemed to do the trick!  It wasn't long after Nate got home from work that we realized it was the real thing and that we would need to go to the hospital.  My parents were supposed to be my emergency call to watch Avery and, of course, they were not home and were not answering their cell!  I started panicking once my contractions started getting closer and closer.  Luckily I could rely on my friend Kelli to watch Avery so we could rush to the hospital.  Once I finally got a hold of my parents, (I'm in labor remember) I snapped at my dad for not being available.  This is how the conversation went...I'm including it because it's so funny.

"Dad! Where have you guys been??  I'm going to the hospital!"  Dad-"Who's going to the hospital??!!" Then I scream, "ME!!!" and he says, "Who is this??" and having lost all patience I yell, "Michelle!!!  I'm in LABOR! Put mom on the phone!!"  LOL

So once we checked in the hospital it was about 9 pm and little Keira was born 4 hours later!!  Hurray!  Everything went wonderfully.  I only had to push twice before she came.  She weighed 7 lbs and was 19 inches long. Nate and I hadn't decided on a name until she was born.  Once she arrived with a full head of curly black hair, I knew she was a Keira since the meaning of the name is "dark." Her middle name is after my mom, Lillian.  Now that I have two kids, I appreciate my mom more than ever and wonder how she ever had ten kids!!

We stayed in the hospital for three nights and came home Friday.  Avery was so excited to have us home.  She immediately wanted to hold her baby sister.  Keira slept all day but finally opened her eyes that evening.  When Avery saw that she was awake she exclaimed, "She's awake! She can play with me!!"

We are so thankful to all our family and friends who have visited, brought us meals, or watched Avery. We appreciate all your support and love.  I especially want to thank my mother-in-law for watching Avery while we were in the hospital.  She was an enormous help!

Avery meets Keira

Keira brought big sister new princess jammies

Lots of black curly hair!

Sisters

Sheyla took some cute pics of the baby

Sweet Smile

So hairy! Little hairy arms and back :)

37 weeks and 2 days along....not too much longer to go!  Hurray!  I've yet to meet a pregnant woman in her last month who didn't wish for it to be over soon.  And I'm no exception!  Oh this last month has gone so slow, I can't help but count down the days, hours, (minutes!!) until she arrives.  Yet at the same time, I'm getting more and more nervous for showtime.  I think with your first pregnancy, you are nervous because you don't really know what to expect.  With the second pregnancy, I'm nervous BECAUSE I know what's in store for me!  Oh the joys of pregnancy....

Poor Nate has quite the long "honey-do" list as D-day slowly approaches.  It's the nesting in me that wants everything perfect for when the baby comes.  We've been working on our house a ton the past month.  We had some nice wood floors installed last week which has truly transformed the look of our upstairs rooms.  We have a few more projects to finish before the upstairs is truly "complete" but it feels closer and closer to being done.  Nate wishes he had more time to work on the house, but since he started his new job he has been so busy, which is a good thing.  He's enjoying his new job so I'm happy for him.

What's in a name??  One of the hardest choices (in my opinion) is coming up with a name for the baby.  It's such a permanent decision!! Although we've narrowed it down to a few choices, it's been a struggle deciding what the official name will be.  It seems that Nate and I aren't crazy about the names the other likes and vice versa.  It was just so simple with Aves because we both loved her name since before I was even expecting.  I guess we will just wait until she arrives and decide what name fits her then.  So stay tuned for the results....

One more thing...never tell a pregnant woman she 1) looks HUGE  2) looks like she's ready to POP or  3) ask if she's expecting twins!!  People are clueless and must not realize how hormonal and sensitive pregnant women are!!! (Just ask our husbands :)

Here are a few pics from January.  You'll notice that Avery loves to get a hold of the camera and take pictures and surprisingly, some aren't that bad!

Cheese

Daddy's girl

Avery gets a hold of the camera

Avery gets a hold of the camera part 2

Aves took this pic of Nate...not too bad

Prego mommy, again another pic taken by Avery

Playing dress-up with Anna

Princess Anna and Avery

Someone thinks she doesn't have to take a nap, but this is what happens around 5-6 pm every night...

Michelle: "Avery, who is mommy's mommy?"

Avery: "Grandma Lily!"

Nate: "Who is daddy's mommy?"

Avery: "Grandpa!"

Avery (to my sister Carol): "My baby sister is stuck"

Avery (to Brittany): "My baby sister is coming at my house tomorrow"

Michelle: "My tummy is getting so big, isn't it Avery!"

Avery: "No mommy.  Baby sister is getting big."

Avery: "We're going to the beach mommy." (I have no idea where this came from since we have never been to a beach or have ever talked about what a beach is!)

Michelle: "Oh really?  Okay, let's go to the beach."

Avery: "The PRETEND beach mommy."

Avery's first haircut was LONG overdue, but her cute hair was getting so long that I hated to cut it.  I don't dare cut her hair myself so we took her to "Cookie Cutters" that specializes in kid's haircuts.  The place is so cute.  They let the kids pick out which movie they want to watch and have them sit in little cars.  Of course, Avery picked the pink car and happily watched Dora while they cut her hair.  She held still and was great for the hairstylist.  I know she would never sit that still for me!  After her haircut, they gave her a balloon and sucker.  Her cut turned out really cute and I would recommend Cookie Cutters to anyone. 

First hair cut!

She wouldn't hold still so I could get a good "after" pic, but it looked cute

We had a nice Christmas this year!  This was the first year that Avery really understood what was going on and it was so fun to watch her get excited about Christmas.  We wrapped all the presents and put them under the tree and Avery knew exactly which ones were for her and she would carry them around the house all day for two weeks before Christmas.  It was cute to hear her say "Merry Kissmas" and sing Christmas songs.  

We spent Christmas Eve and morning with Nate's family in Huntington.  We love spending time with Grandma Grange.  She really spoils Avery with attention and gifts and Avery adores her.  We appreciate all the nice gifts she gave us and the yummy treats and food she prepares while we are visiting.  Nate surprised me with Muse concert tickets!  I can't wait to go see them in April!  I told him it was my Christmas, Valentine's, anniversary and birthday present.

On Christmas night, the Hansens had a family Christmas party at my mom's house.  It's been over three years since my parents have been in Utah for Christmas so it was a treat to have them here.  It's a tradition for our family to act out the nativity every year, but since our family is growing so large, now we just have the grandkids act it out.  I wanted to be the pregnant Mary but since I'm not a grandkid I didn't get to :).  Avery got to be Mary this year.  I didn't think she would perform in front of everyone, but she did a great job and looked adorable.  Although, she got very possessive of "baby Jesus" and wouldn't let anyone else get near him.  lol

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too. 

Decorating gingerbread men with Grandma Lily and cousins

Can't wait to open presents!!

Christmas morning opening presents

Mary in nativity

Blake (shepherd), Avery, Lincoln (Joseph), Isaac and Maddie (Wisemen)

Riding the donkey (Britt)

Hansen grandkids acting out the Nativity

To celebrate my dad's 70th birthday, my sisters and I planned a big birthday bash and invited all my dad's family and friends.  Unfortunately, his birthday is December 20th so not many extended family could come since it was so close to Christmas, but we still had a nice turnout from friends and immediate family (my siblings and their families alone make 35 people!).  For his birthday, I created a "remembrance book" with pictures and letters from all my siblings for dad.  It turned out nicely and he seemed to enjoy it.  At the party we had a short program to tribute things we remembered about dad throughout our childhoods.  I sang a song about fathers that my aunt wrote, but could barely sing without crying!  I love my dad and appreciate all he has done for me and the family all these years.  He's an amazing person and father and I feel so lucky to have him for a dad. 

Happy 70th Birthday dad!

We are so thrilled to welcome my parents back home after two years serving on a mission in Malaysia!!  Avery was only 6 months old when they left so you can imagine that my parents didn't recognize her when they first saw her!  Avery wasn't used to them either but it didn't take long for Avery to fall in love with her Grandma Lily and Grandpa. 

Welcoming Grandma Lily home

Snuggling up to Grandpa

I'm finally getting around to posting pictures of our new kitchen. It's so nice having it done! Most of you have already seen it, but for those who haven't I attached some pics. You can't appreciate the full affect unless you see the before pictures too!

After pictures