Brooklyn Road

We live in the country. Hans is in the process of finding a job so his parents have graciously let us come to live with them. Thank goodness for that other wise we might be... somewhere not cool. We have lived here for about a month. It's nice to be near family during the holidays. Hansen is doing well and I'm doing well with the pregnancy. We are having a girl in march. Hans was making wreaths today. Maybe I will post some pictures when I get them on the computer.

it's just life

It's really not that difficult to write a few words here every once in a while, except when you take a trip off the face of the planet, which apparently I did for the last year. A lot has happened. Hans finally graduated from college and is doing page layout and design for Wasatch Woman magazine. It is part time so he is also looking for something full time. I work at the post office encoding center, boring. I type in addresses on pieces of mail, and am not allowed to talk while on the work floor, I can however listen to music and books on cd. Hansen is really growing up. We are working on potty training and the only thing that has worked so far is us telling him he can't go back to preschool unless he uses the toilet all the time. So every time he does use the toilet he says, "ok me go get on the bus now." We are still working on it. I noticed my writing did come to an abrupt halt when i started working. I guess sometimes my nap before work and my pre-lunch errands took precedence over this lovely blog. I'll try to do better in the future for the sake of myself and the small amount of you that i've tricked into reading my blog.

Memory Grove

Hansen and I walked to Memory Grove a while ago. In fact it was the night of the last Jazz-Laker's game. So whatever day that was...weeks go by and it seems like two days to me. I got some pretty cute pictures of Hansen running around with his blanket. He went through a phase when he wouldn't put it down. I like that park because the sun goes down sooner because it's in a ravine. Plus there are dogs there for Hansen to admire. On the way back I got some pictures of lamp posts. I really like pictures of lamp posts and one day I'm going to get a copy of the Montmartre's steps in Paris because it's one of my favorite photographs. It looks a lot like this but without the people, taken from the left side of the railing, and in black and white. I want a really big print of it. Here are the pics of Hansen at the Grove and also my attempts at lamp posts. Sorry the pictures are not in order or in the place where they make sense. I haven't mastered picture placement on my blog yet. Some day...like most things in my life that I want. But don't worry they will all happen...some day. I'll talk about those things another time.

I got, forgot

This is a strange little phrase I would say when I was little.  I remember I couldn't just say the word forgot unless I said, I got, first.  I thought of this because I was thinking of some of the things Hansen says.  For ball he says galldy gall.  When he says more he says ma-more.  All gone is gall gie(rhymes with pie).  And my favorites are still goggie(doggie) and ka(duck).  He does say some things the way they actually sound like hi, go, show, cow, moo, choo choo, and key(monkey). He hasn't started saying two words together, with the exception of all gone, so he has a speech therapist that comes to our house.  Today was actually the first day she came and she played with him and showed us how we can get him to say more words.  She taught him to say please by signing in the half hour that she was working with him.  So I continued asking him to say please throughout the day whenever he wanted something.  He signs it really well and I think the hope is that he will eventually say it.  It's amazing how receptive kids can be if you will just spend the time with them. I know that one day he would probably talk on his own but he gets really frustrated with us because we don't always know what he wants and that ends up in him having core meltdowns.  I am hoping that with the speech help we can start to limit these ever so popular occurrences.   Oh and on a somewhat related note, I linked the Gub Chronicles to my page.  It is Hans' blog that he was required to set up for a school assignment. He called it gub because that is what I used to call bugs.

Bologna or baloney?

When I think of the food and the weird way it is spelled I also think of when we say it as a way to tell someone they are full of it (or baloney).  I bought some bologna the other day because it's probably been over 10 years since I've had any.  It's not too bad and it makes a nice snack sandwich when you are just staring into the depths of the fridge wondering what in the world you want to eat and when in the world you might figure it out.  I think another reason I bought it is because it is spelled so funky like.  It looks like ba-log-nah.  It's fun to say it the way it is spelled. I've always wondered why it's spelled that way.  If anyone can fill me in that would be awesome.  I bet Trestin might have the answer. For some strange reason sometimes he knows things like that.  And another thing-What do you all think of bologna?  Gross, good, or shouldn't really be allowed on the shelves?  There is no wrong answer.

Platform 9 3/4

We all know about the mysterious platform nine and three quarters from Harry Potter. It's the number of the platform the students board the Hogwarts Express to get to the school. The non magical folk or "muggles" of course don't know it's there because the students have to run through a stone pillar in order to get to it. Hansen and I went for a walk the other day and I noticed these cool addresses on the doors in the mall. One can only imagine what's really hiding behind the stores that only us "muggles" can see. Perhaps a secret meeting place for witches and wizards or maybe a store full of magic doodads and magic candy. It's fun to wonder.

Working and Dreams

On May 1st I went back to my job I had before Hansen was born.  It is a really easy job and I don't have to think too hard or do any customer service, which is very stressful to me.  Then the next monday I started babysitting my niece for my brother.  I do that two days a week for 8 hours.  I work at my job for 5 hours two days a week.   I went from an everyday mom with just Hansen and I to a working mom who has to figure out how to get things done now that there is more stress on my time.  It keeps me busy and helps me remember that all things pass and one day I won't have to work.  I want to go to school and learn foreign languages.  I think other languages are so interesting and I think it would make me feel better about myself to have a skill like that.  Hans was so sweet on Mother's Day.  He got me two books.  One is called Horse Miracles, it has inspirational stories about horses and how they protect the people they love and who love them.  The other book is called Horsekeeping on a small acreage.  It was very thoughtful of him to get this book for me because it proves that he listens to me when I talk about what my dream in life is and that he wants me to be able to accomplish it one day.  I want to have horses of my own and possibly have a place where I can board horses for other people.  I feel like myself when I am with these majestic animals.  I feel so at peace when I can spend time with a being that is so nonjudgmental and who enjoys my company.  I also get this peaceful feeling when I am with family and good friends.  I want everyone that I know and love to remember that nothing, not even a horse could replace the love I feel from you.  I cherish our time together.  I just have this dream to be with horses too.  I think we all know that dreams are what keep us going in this sometimes monotonous and challenging life.  If we didn't have dreams then who would we be?