Winter Wonderland

Saturday morning we woke up to a blizzard!

Lainy was so excited we just had to go outside and play in it!

We had so much fun sledding, building snowmen, and catching snowflakes on our tongues. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Our Growing Girl

Today we went to the doctor for Alaina's 15-month checkup. All in all, she's doing great. She's defined herself on the growth charts as tall and thin - surprise, surprise! (I wonder where she gets that? ha ha)

Lainy has been learning so much lately. I am amazed as I watch her play. What happened to my little tiny baby? Now she's a full-blown toddler, getting cuter every day.

To commemorate her 15 months of life, here are a few cute things she's doing now.
1. She raises her little hand and says "hi-eeee" in her cute little sing-song voice whenever she meets someone she likes, or when her dad comes home from school.
2. She mimmicks the sound of the following animals: dog, fish, lion, lamb, monkey, and sometimes cow.
3. She loves her daddy. She walks around the house looking for him and saying "da-eee" when he's gone.
4. Brad taught her to say "cool". Now she says it all the time. She walks around and points at things and says "cool".
5. She says "baby" when she sees a baby or when she holds a baby doll.
6. When she's tired she'll bring me a book to read, which virtually means "Put me to bed!"
7. She dances when she hears music. It's not just the head-banging anymore. She'll pick up the corners of her shirt/dress and sway back and forth, she'll hold onto the tv stand and lift her leg in a very impressive arabesque, or she'll bounce her knees and wave her arms. I don't know where she learned all of this! It must be inherent in all little girls.
8. When I pick her up when she's sad or upset, she'll pat and rub my back like I'm crying and need comforting too.
9. She likes to be looked at, but not touched by strangers. She'll smile and flirt shamelessly until someone tries to hold her, then she freaks out.
10. Her hair is growing! Now it can be put in pigtails and ponytails. Yay! (Okay, I'm much more excited about this than she is.)
11. She gives good kisses, complete with the smacking sound. She used to give these sweet, but drooley, open-mouth kisses. Now she'll pucker up and smack her lips when she gives kisses.
12. She's convinced she can talk. She jabbers in sentences, waits for my response, then keeps talking. It's really funny. Sometimes she looks at me like, "C'mon Mom! Don't you get it?"

It's fun to be the mom of such a cute little 15-month-old!

We love the Holidays!

We had such a great Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to be with our families! Brad and I kept talking about how lucky we are to have such wonderful families. We love spending time with both of them.

To make a very long entry short, here are a few highlights of our Thanksgiving break:

• Thanksgiving dinner at my Grandma's house. Delicious!
• Spending time with Brad's brother Bryant and his fiance Rachel. They're such a cute couple!
• Watching Lainy warm right up to all her grandparents. She loves them so much!
• Being home for my birthday. I was so spoiled!
• Seeing our good friends Tyson, Audrey, and Daegan. We miss them!
• Sleeping in (because there were people around to watch Lainy while we slept)!
• My parent's hot tub. What a treat!
• Family dinners with Brad's family.
• Games with my family.
• Lainy was so good on both our 9-hour drives. She's such a sweetheart!
• All in all, just being with our families was great!

I just wanted to share a couple of stories.

When we walked in the door to our house, Lainy was so excited she started squealing. We put her down in the living room and she just ran around grinning from ear to ear. She was just so happy to be home! It was really cute. As nice as it is to visit, sometimes there's just no place like home.

To celebrate our homecoming, Lainy and I decorated for Christmas. After we got our tree up we laid underneath it and looked at the lights. She looked so darn cute that I had to take a couple of pictures.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're hitting the road in a few hours to drive home for Thanksgiving. We're so excited! So if you don't hear from us for a while, it's because we're enjoying time with our families.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

By the way, Lainy's rash disappeared after a few days and she's feeling 100% better. Yay!

One Sick Baby, ie What Do We Do?!

Saturday morning, Alaina woke up feeling feverish. She had a pretty high temperature and a runny nose, but she was acting okay so we just gave her some Tylenol and didn't think too much about it. By the afternoon, her temperature was down and she was playing and laughing with Brad like normal. We thought the worst was over.

As I was getting Alaina ready for bed Saturday night, I noticed some puffy red bumps on her stomach. It looked like some kind of rash. Brad and I went over everything we'd given her to eat during the day and couldn't think of anything she hasn't had before. We'd been careful to give her food she likes because she hadn't been feeling well. Still, despite the rash, Lainy was acting fine so we decided to put her in bed for the night.

It was a long night. I spent it on the floor of Lainy's room because she wouldn't sleep unless I was right by her. She scratched and fussed every few minutes.

At 5 am I woke up Brad and we proceeded to examine our little baby. The puffy red bumps had spread all over her body and swollen her eyes half closed. It about broke my heart to look at her! But still, once she was awake, she didn't act sick. Her temperature hadn't returned and she was talking and walking around like normal.

We decided to watch her. If her temperature got worse or she started acting weird, we'd take her to the ER. If not, we'd wait and take her to the Urgent Care clinic when they opened at 1:00.

We arrived at the Urgent Care center about five minutes after they opened and were shocked by the huge line inside. Everyone in Moscow must have been sick yesterday! We ended up waiting for over an hour, watching as Alaina's rash got worse and worse and her temperature returned.

Finally, it was our turn. The doctor took one look at Alaina and said, "Whoa! That's quite a rash". (Something you never want to hear from a doctor when you don't know what's going on with your baby and you're hoping he does.) He did some tests, asked us a lot of questions, and sent us away saying: "I don't know what's causing her rash. It might be something viral. Give her some Benadryl and if it gets any worse, take her to the ER".

After that helpful advice, we took Alaina home, gave her the Benadryl, and all went to sleep. We slept for a couple of hours and it was just what we all needed. When we woke up, Lainy's rash looked ten times better.

She's continued to improve, though she still looks so sad! She slept pretty well last night and this morning she looked even better. Here are some pictures of her this morning.
Throughout this whole ordeal, Brad and I just felt so awful! It was hard to watch our poor sick baby and not really know what to do for her. Last night as we got into bed, Brad said, "It's a good thing I'm going to be a doctor because I just can't stand feeling so helpless when our baby is sick". I have to admit, I agree!

Like Mother Like Daughter?

For those of us who think Lainy resembles her father much more than her mother, here are a couple of pictures that might change your mind. . .

Lainy is on the left, I am on the right.

Okay, so maybe we have to be squinting to look alike! Still, it's kinda fun, right?

Haircut!

Normally I wouldn't do this, but my Dad requested a picture of my new haircut so here it is...

(Lainy saw the camera out and decided she needed to be in the picture too)

I had it cut yesterday and I love it! It's definitely a change, but I think change is good in this case.

There ya go Dad!

Happy Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween! (Why is it that holidays are ten times better with a kid?) We were a family of bugs. Lainy was a ladybug, Brad was a fly, and I was a butterfly. I made all the costumes and they turned out so much better than I thought they would! It was fun to be creative.

Here are pictures of us carving our pumpkin. Lainy loved eating the inside of the pumpkin. She didn't touch the seeds, just the gooey stuff and the pumpkin rind. Weird, I know.

Here are pictures of us at our ward Halloween party. We decorated the doors of the building and all the little kids went around to collect their candy. It was great!

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

Weekend Getaway

Brad has seemed a little burned-out lately, so I decided to whisk him away to Spokane for a weekend getaway. We left after his classes Friday afternoon and made the beautiful 1.5 hour drive in great time.

We stayed in the Doubletree Hotel after finding a crazy good deal on hotwire.com. (We only paid $50 for a four-star hotel.) The view from our room was gorgeous!

It was right on Riverfront Park. We saw Spokane falls and played on a big huge Radio Flyer slide as we leisurely made our way to Olive Garden for dinner.

Saturday morning we met our friends at the Spokane temple. We watched their little boy as they did a session, then traded and they watched Alaina while we did a session. It was so nice to be in the temple! We were so spoiled in Rexburg with the temple just up the hill and two willing grandparents to babysit. Brad and I have really missed just being able to run up to the temple whenever we had a chance.

The Spokane temple is one of the small temples. It's in a beautiful area! We were so thankful we made the time to go.

After attending the temple, we drove to a place called Green Bluff Farms where we went on a hay-ride, picked a pumpkin out of a huge pumpkin patch, looked around at craft booths, and listened to a band playing live music.

We ended our trip by going to REI where Brad browsed through climbing gear and various other outdoorsy things to his hearts content.

It was a fun weekend! We were able to relax, enjoy the beautiful fall weather, and gear up for the next few weeks of school.

A Wonderful Weekend

Last Wednesday, October 15th, was the last tax deadline of this year for my Dad's office. My hardworking parents needed a break after their busy week, so they came up to see us! Hooray! They made the long drive up and arrived late Thursday night.

While they were here they spoiled me rotten with early birthday gifts, treated us to dinner, relaxed with us, watched Lainy while Brad and I went on a date, and lifted our spirits! It was so fun to have them.

Our big activity on Saturday was the football game between Washington State and USC. I was so excited for the game because I've never been to a big college game before. Our seats were right behind the east enzone. It was fun to watch the game from that vantage point because we could really see the openings on the field. I felt like a was getting the same view as the quarterback. It was great! It was also fun to be close to the band. Well, it was fun because of their enthusiasm. It wasn't fun to hear the Trojan victory song played every first down, which meant they pretty much never stopped playing the same song. I can still hear it in my head. . . ha ha. You gotta love marching bands!

We had a pretty good idea that Washington State would lose (they've had a hard year with quarterback injuries, etc.), but it was okay because we were excited to see the #4 ranked USC Trojans play. So you get a clear picture of what happened, let me give you a few statistics from the game:

First Downs USC: 28 WSU: 4
Rushing Yards USC: 362 WSU:88
Passing Yards USC:263 WSU:28
Final Score USC:69 WSU:0

They got killed! Slaughtered! Creamed! We figured USC scored about every 6 minutes. Isn't that crazy?! Poor WSU. They looked like little kids holding onto the legs of their dad as they tried to tackle the big USC receivers and running backs. It was pretty amazing. We had a great time. Who knows, maybe we were watching the championship team play?

Mom and Dad left Sunday after our meetings.

Here are some pictures:

USC marching band as the Trojans take the field

Mom, Lainy, Me, and Brad sitting in the stands

View from the stands

Lainy watching Elmo with Grandpa

Lainy playing outside with Grandma and Grandpa

Dad, Lainy, and Mom before they headed home

Thanks so much for coming to see us Mom and Dad! We absolutely loved having you!

Playing Tag

I was recently tagged by my wonderful sister-in-law Leslie. Hope you enjoy these random facts about me!
How To Play This Game of Tag:
1. Post these rules on your blog.
2. List: 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random surprising facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post by leaving their names.

3 Joys
1. Hugs, kisses, and bedtime snuggles from my husband
2. Making Lainy laugh
3. Waking up before Alaina feeling fully rested. Oh it's wonderful, though it doesn't happen often.

3 Fears
1. Going to bed without locking the doors
2. Scary books/writing. I don't know why, but books get to me worse than movies do. If I read something disturbing, for some reason those words stick in my mind and I inevitably dream about it all night.
3. Looking like an idiot in public. For example: the other day Alaina had a doctor's appointment. I dressed her all cute, left in plenty of time to be to the office early, and made sure I had all the appropriate documentation for the secretary. I walked boldly up to the secretary and told her we had an appointment at 10 o'clock. "Who is it for?" She asked. I told her. "And what doctor is she seeing?" I told her. She looked confused and clicked around on her computer for a minute before she informed me that Alaina's appointment was tomorrow. Woops! I felt dumb and hurriedly excused myself. When we got home I checked my calender to see if I'd written it down on the wrong day. Nope. I was just completely spacey that day I guess. How embarrassing!

3 Goals
1. Keep my grocery bill down. I never knew how much our parents fed us until we moved away from them. Our grocery bill has doubled!
2. Read the Relief Society lesson before it is given
3. Have a clean home when Brad comes home from school

3 Current Obsessions/Collections
1. I admit I like watching Dancing with the Stars. Warren Sapp, the "quarterback killer", has got some moves!
2. Checking my email/blog for updates from family members
3. Keeping Lainy's face and hands clean so I don't find something wet and sticky on my clothes/furniture/carpet/hair.

3 Random Surprising facts
1. I used to get really scared at night so I'd put all my stuffed animals around me in bed so if the bad guy came to get me while I was sleeping, he might mistake one of my teddy bears for me! The teddy bears were only very recently replaced by a husband on one side and a big pillow on the other.
2. I hate cleaning bathtubs
3. There was a time in my life when I read The Lord of the Rings trilogy every summer. I loved them, and still love them, but can you say "nerd"!

5 People who are luck enough to get tagged by me!
Whoever wants to do it that hasn't already!

It's Time for Some Campaignin'!

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Apple Cider

We had such a fun day yesterday. One of the secretaries at the WWAMI office lives on a farm with an apple orchard. Yesterday she invited all of the WWAMI students and their families out to her orchard to make apple cider.

It was the perfect day to be out in an apple orchard with the crisp air and sunshine. We couldn't think of anywhere we'd rather be.

Making the cider turned out to be a lot of work! I'll tell you the process: First we picked all the apples off the trees. Here is Brad shaking branches to get the apples to fall.

Lainy enjoyed the fresh air and helping pick apples. She was good about putting the apples in the wheelbarrow until she found this one. I guess she was hungry because once she had this one she wouldn't let it go.
After picking the apples, we cut out the bad parts and washed them in bleach. Then we rinsed them off, and they were ready for the mill.
Here is the cider mill. It was really cool because it wasn't electrical. We had to operate it by hand. This is a picture of the grinder.
Here is the apple cider press and the cider dripping into the bucket.

This is me operating the grinder.

We also had fun on the farm driving the tractor. . .

. . . and chasing chickens. It took Brad fifteen minutes to catch this particular chicken.

What a fun day! We made the most delicious apple cider I've ever tasted. We left with three gallons of it. I wish I could bottle up a cup for you all! Maybe we'll bring some home at Thanksgiving. . . if there's any left by then!

A Visit with Family

Last Thursday Brad's Mom and Becca were able to come and visit us! One of Brad's Mom's piano students was in in the State Jr. Miss program in Coeur d'Alene, so the family offered Mom and Becca a ride up. They were able to watch her perform her talent and she went on to win 2nd runner up in the competition. We were excited for her.

So Thursday night I drove up to Coeur d'Alene to pick them up and they stayed with us until Sunday morning.

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Brad finished his midterms on Friday after an exhausting week for both of us. The weather was chilly and rainy so we were content to be at home relaxing. We watched General Conference over the internet for the first time. (Can you believe they don't broadcast it on three TV channels and on the radio like back home?! :) ) In between sessions we went to the Farmers Market, a fun toy store, and the U of I and Washington State campuses to show Mom and Becca where Brad goes to school.

Becca, Mom, Brad, and Alaina at Washington State University

Practically all our other time was spent watching Alaina grow up before our eyes. She started really walking. She's so steady she doesn't have to hold onto anything and she hardly ever falls. Grandma Hansen sent a little lamb with a blanekt and Alaina fell in love with it. She'd hug and kiss it and say "baby". It was the cutest thing! She also learned to do peek-a-boo, and we swear she said "Grandma" and "Becca" a few times. It was so fun to watch her.

Alaina kissing her "baby"

Thanks so much for coming to see us Mom and Becca! We absolutely loved having you here!

Studying

In case you were wondering how a 1st year medical student studies for his midterm Anatomy exam, here is the answer. . .

No, actually they did this in class. The students were told to wear appropriate underclothes for the excercise. I'm not sure of the technical term for this, but basically they drew markers all over one another in order to learn where different organs are located. This time they learned where to listen to a patient's heartbeat, lungs, and a couple other things.

Anyway, I thought it was kind of funny. What was more funny is that Brad came home from class, stripped Lainy down and located her organs. What would he do without her? Hopefully Brad gets this mental picture down so he doesn't have to draw on his patients in order to hear their heartbeat!

Alaina Walks!

Okay, so the truth is Alaina has been taking steps for a couple of weeks. She's been darting in between furniture and in between parents, but it's just been the past couple of days that she's been brave enough to venture out on her own. Here she is!

P.S. For those of you who receive this by email, the video won't work unless you log into our blog. The address is tbahans.blogspot.com. If you haven't been invited to our blog, send me an email at traci_024@hotmail.com and I'll make sure you can log in.

Oh Canada

A few weeks ago my friend Juliann invited Lainy and I to go up to her grandparents cabin just across the border in Canada. Since Brad and Juliann's husband Spencer were really busy studying, we decided they could live without us for a few days and we hit the road.

The kids were great in the car most of the time. (We had Lainy, Reece (2 1/2), and Benson (5 mos) all packed in the middle seat of our Subaru). They each had their little fussy moments, but it was nothing we couldn't handle. Well, until all three kids started screaming at the same time. They were completely past consoling and there was no place to stop for fifteen minutes! All Juliann and I could do was laugh.

The cabin is in a little cove on Kootenay Lake. The scenery is gorgeous! Though it was cold and rainy most of the time we were there, we had a lot of fun just relaxing.

Unfortunately, Lainy had a hard time while we were there. It was all due to one mean little 18-month-old girl. Poor little Lainy was bitten, pushed down, strangled, and all around just terrorized. I felt like some animal mother who had to protect my young from a predator as I tried to calmly keep this girl from killing my kid! I guess I didn't realize the affect this would have on Lainy until we got home and went to church. Lainy cried whenever a toddler came close to her. I'm afraid part of my sweet little baby, who has always been quick to smile and make friends, may be gone. I guess all I can do is shower her with all the love I can at home and hope it's enough when someone is mean to her. It's hard though! Stinkin' mean little kid. . .

So we had a great time, saw some beautiful scenery, strengthened friendships, and learned some life-lessons. . . not a bad trip!