These boots are made for walkin'!!

Tori got new boots from Nana. We had them stored in our room for a while because they were too big but this morning Tori found them and INSISTED on wearing them to daycare. Then she came home and Mark managed to get them off for a while. And then it was bath time and time for pj's. Again, she INSISTED on wearing them...

Part time job? What?

Okay, so Mark and I ran away to Las Vegas for four days and when we came back, it was my turn to cover Misty's vacation time at work. She was gone Monday through Saturday and we were open all six of those days. I am BEAT. I did the math and, if it was done correctly, I hit 59.75 hours this week. And then went to work at the church last night and will teach again this morning.

I miss my family! I can't wait to have Monday morning and Wednesday morning at home with my kiddos before heading into the new "late summer schedule" we have going at the clinic. I will be working Monday 12-close, Tuesday 6:45 AM to close, Wednesday 12 to close, Thursday 8:00 AM to close and every other Saturday 8:45 AM to about 3:30 PM. That schedule will last through September 1st when Mark heads back into the classroom and I go back to Tuesday, Thursday, every other Saturday.

I really can't complain when it comes to my crazy hours. We can always use the money and get our debt paid off faster. Plus, it gives my hubby good one on one time with his kiddos. And, the kicker: I love what I do and the people I work with. No matter what, this past week was FUN. We were all tired and we were all stressed (some more than others) and we were all just trying to manage. But we DID manage--because we all love being there. And that's the best part!

Okay--time to get my act together so we're not late for church!

Introducing Max Ethan

Before I introduce Max, I feel like I should introduce his momma.

Miriam is one of the most amazing people a person could come into contact with. She is one of those few people I consider truly beautiful inside and out. She is gracious to EVERYONE and she is kind and an amazing wife to her husband and the most amazing mom I have ever seen. She comes from a difficult childhood & past and continues to deal with family issues on a regular basis. But, no matter what, she is ALWAYS positive and she always looks for what God has for her family over everything else going on around them.

Miriam and her husband, also a Max, moved to Las Vegas last year as we were moving back to the valley. I was so sad to see them move just when we were going to be close enough to spend time with them again. But God had plans for them and He continues to bless them.

In October 2006 Miriam had Julia.

Julia is a mini-Miriam and an incredible joy to be around.

Wednesday, July 16 at 2:09 AM, Miriam had Max Ethan Doner at home (a water birth). We arrived in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon and we were hoping to see the Doner family Thursday morning. When we made these plans, we thought she would have had the baby (she went into early labor and landed on bed-rest several weeks prior to our visit) and would be ready to be social again. I received a text message as I was arriving at the Portland airport saying, "He's here! 6 pounds, 11 ounces, 19 inches long!" I was ecstatic for them and started calling friends and family and announcing the new addition. And then I realized I might not get to see them and kind of started throwing a little temper tantrum at God. "SUCH TIMING! Couldn't You have worked this out a little better....???"

BUT...again, with the amazing-ness that is Miriam, she said she still wanted to see us. Miriam, Max, Julia and Mini Max piled into their car and met us for dinner 36 hours after he was born...


What a blessing it was to see them!

5 Years...I can't believe its already here!

Mark and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this weekend. We celebrated by going to Vegas! SO FUN! We shipped the kiddos off to Nana & Papa's house for three days and took off! It was great! We stayed out late, slept in (well, kinda), went for coffee, walked around and shopped for hours on end, slept by the beautiful pools at the hotel and pretty much just enjoyed being together without our kids for a few days. What a wonderful break it was!

In the mean time, the past five years have been busy and eventful for us. Not only did we get married, but we've managed two job losses (one each through a company sell), Mark finishing his bachelors AND his masters, two surprise babies, three deaths between the two families and six moves in two states.

The best part: I wouldn't change anything. We are happy. We are healthy and we have two beautiful children to celebrate life with.
Just after we got married:

Family pictures with Andrew:

Getting ready for Tori:

Our completed family:

Vegas! Headed home at the end of our vacation:

VEGAS!

More explanation to come, but here are some pics! SO FUN!

Out with the old, in with the new!

Andrew graduated to his "Big Boy Bed" today. We were given an awesome twin bed by a close friend (Thanks, Stacy!!)and Mark sanded it down and painted it last weekend. It's beautiful and Andrew loves it!
Here are the boys moving the toddler bed out...

Even Tori got in on it. I think she picked up on the fact that the toddler bed was going into HER room.

Here's my awesome hubby putting the new bed together!

Andrew never passes up an opportunity to use Daddy's tools!

Big Boy Bed!

And Tori decided it was time for her to graduate to her new bed. We haven't quite managed to get her crib out of her room yet, but that project is next!

Its like two different worlds colliding!

How could the same two people produce such different kids?!

Some comparisons for ya:
Andrew
Victoria

Here, they're lookin' pretty much the same. Red. Wrinkled. And sleeping.

But things are pretty different from there!

They both smiled pretty easily but, as you can see, Tori was always a bit more...ROUND than Andrew.




But then we started seeing some pretty significant differences. Andrew didn't cut teeth until he was 18 months old. Tori cut them at five months.

Not that you can SEE their teeth. But these are the ages they were at when they cut their first ones.

They were both early walkers, but Andrew managed it at the end of his 7th month while Tori figured crawling was her best option until she was 9 months old.



Since then, the biggest differences for us has been their levels of communication. Andrew has always been (and continues to be) REALLY good with his motor skills. Every time I take him to a well child appointment, the pediatrician is impressed with his physical abilities.



But he struggles with the speech part of life. We used sign language with him but we still have a hard time understanding him on occasion which, understandably so, frustrates him (and us!).

Tori is quite the opposite. While she has good motor skills, they seem to be about average. Yes, she was an early walker, but most of her other motor skills are right on track. However, verbally, its insane how different she is than Andrew. She speaks CLEARLY and, at 14 months, is using more words than Andrew did by the time he was almost two. Not to mention the fact that she knows what she wants when she wants it and she will let EVERYONE around her know she wants something!




But one of the biggest physical differences for me is their size difference...
Tori is now 14 months old. Here is a picture of Andrew at 14 months and a current picture of Tori.


Well, maybe they don't LOOK that different, but...trust me, they are. She is HUGE compared to what he was at that age.

A huge personality difference in the two of them is the fact that, most of the time, Andrew is a naturally sweet kid. Don't get me wrong: he can be mean and steal toys and he struggles with sharing and he yells and he throws fits. But something Tori is that he is not: Naturally aggressive. Maybe its the difference of feeling the need to "survive" that makes her that way, but she is a bully! Here's a perfect example: in their Sunday School classes, we always get the same thing from their teachers. Andrew's teacher always comments on how sweet he is, how respectful and how well mannered. We have ALWAYS heard that about him. Tori's teachers? Well, they talk about how adorable she is and how fun she is...but they also talk about how she bites other kids, she pushes, she hits and she steals food. She's a bully! She will decide she wants a toy just because Andrew has it and she shriek at the top of her lungs, run at him and take him down until she can get the toy and run! He is pretty good about asking for help to deal with the situation but, now and then, he will decide to fight back and then it just spirals from there. I end up with two kids crying, a broken toy and several bruises from the brawl. *SIGH*

Okay...I have no idea what the point of this post was other than to allow ME to go through and think about the differences in my two kids. Suffice it to say: they are very different. Physically and in their personalities. But I am so grateful! How boring would it be to have the exact same experiences over and over again?

*GASP* Lani had a day off!

And a busy day it was! We went to Nana & Papa's house (Mark's parents in case you didn't know) and Mark worked on painting Andrew's "new" bed. We were given a twin bed by close friends and we decided to paint it Blue to match the rest of his room. Mark worked on that while the kiddos and I went to Corvallis to hang out with and have lunch with Abu (short for "Abuela" which is spanish for Grandma and that's my mom). After making a mess at the Mexican restaurant and tearing apart Abu's office at the church, we headed back to Nana & Papa's for some fun in the backyard. We played in the pool, made a mess of the sand box and turned the slide into a water slide. So fun!

The one where Mark takes the kids to the zoo...

My husband is awesome! He braved "$2 Tuesday" at the Oregon Zoo and took our kiddos to see all the animals. I had to work today so I didn't get to go (sad!) but they had a great time and Mark survived the day. He even took pictures!

SUCCESS!

This may seem like small potatoes to anyone else, but its a BIG deal in the Hanson household: Andrew blew his nose today! All on his own! He has always been TERRIFIED to do that and this morning he came to me and said, "Momma, I blew my nose!" I grabbed a tissue, asked him to do it again and he did!

And then he said, "O-tay! I want a treat now!"

Well--yeah, I gave it to him. I was so excited I would have given him almost anything!

~Happy Independence Day~

A few pictures from our weekend...busy, but so fun! Andrew was in a parade with his Nana & Papa to promote their charter school. According to Nana, the first half hour was great! He waved and had a wonderful time. The next hour...he was ready to be off the bus!
Hanging out the window

Our kiddos were ready for the day!

Hanging out with Dad before the parade

Mark, Tori, Nana & Andrew waiting for the parade to start

She had a great time playing in the sun! Check out those pink cheeks!

Zzzzz...too much parade...