Christmas....Hanna style

Christmas was great, until Piper threw up all over Karen's dining room (including a cloth covered chair), then again at our house, and again and again (4x, yep, thats right). In the middle of all that Sage started. So at 9pm last night Shawn was shampooing our carpets (grape tylenol vs white carpeting....emergency carpet shampooing) and I was setting Piper up on the couch with the garbage can. Poor kiddo.....Merry Christmas to the Hanna family.

Before the puking we had a great day! Shawn got me some Under Armour for running, and shirt and pants so now I am ready to tackle cold weather runs. My sister in law got me a great vest (Im a bit vest obsessed), Piper got a Barbie house, car, new Barbie, a sewing machine and lots of other stuff. Sage got toys. Lots and lots of toys. Shawn got long underwear, a new knife and a scabbard for hunting on horseback. We got a new grill from Shawn's mom and dad and Im sure we will be breaking that in tonight!

I thought alot this weekend about "belief". Why do we believe in Santa? The answer I got from Piper was because we have Santa Tracker to see where he is flying and reindeer food to attract Rudolph, plus Santa has email and a website. Kids today believe because they have technology telling them to. We believed because, well, because we went to bed early and got up early and VOILA....Santa had been there! No government agency tracking him across the globe, no Reindeer food guiding Rudolph (who didnt need any directions for hundreds of years) and Santa didnt write you a letter till you wrote him one. We believed because we did, thats just the way it was. Im kinda sad that my kids need so many reasons to believe. Im sad that they cant just believe because they are children and they can.

Brannon

I am a terrible mother. A terrible, blogging mother. I cant remember the last time I updated on Brannon. Compared to the other blogging moms who have great photos, awesome stories and are ON TIME with their updates (Geri)....I am a terrible, blogging mom.

So here goes....a very late Brannon blog!!

He is 10 weeks old today, around 12.5lbs and 22 inches long. We have had a long standing battle with acid reflux which we seem to be getting a handle on. Of course, the "tips" the doctor told us to do did not work, so we went with some good, ol' fashioned, been-there-done-that, experienced mom advice and whattya know....PEACE IN THE VALLEY!!!!

Aside from the screaming and crying, which I cant blame the little guy for...how miserable for him....Brannon Garnet is a great baby! He is getting to the age where we can interact with him more. He laughs and coos, he smiles and giggles (which often results in puking....work in progress) and we have so much fun with him!

Piper really doesnt pay much attention to him. He isnt very much fun for an 8 year old, not compared to her little buddy, Sage. But she loves to love on him, which lasts about 30 seconds, then give him back. A few more months and she will be all over him just like she is with Sage.


Sage thinks his little brother is great! He loves to pull his paci away and substitute his fingers. He also thinks that when the fingers in Brannon's mouth doesnt work, then he tries up his nose, but again, he just doesnt understand why Bran doesnt like that. As far as Sage is concerned having your fingers in your mouth or up your nose is normal and natural.

Thankfully Brannon is very laid back. This is obvious when you watch Sage crawl into the boppy with Brannon and proceed to give him kisses (which can be scary moment for seasoned parental figures) and Brannon just sits there. Sage crawls all over him, sits on him, lays on top of him and Brannon just chills.



Brannon loves to play on the floor with his daddy and thats when he gets to laughing and smiling the most. Sage tends to get very jealous of this so its a good thing that Daddy is strong and can hold Sage off while he plays with Brannon.
I am so lucky that all my kiddos are such great kids!

Cyber what??

I love Christmas but I really dont like shopping. I really, REALLY dont like Christmas shopping. Therefore the concept of Black Friday is one of pure torture and insanity for me and I choose to not participate.

I do most of my shopping, holiday or not, online. Partly because I live 90 miles from the closest Wally-world and partly because again, I hate shopping.

I so proud of myself this year, I have IDEAS for the kiddos, which is new. Usually I have to search the websites and let something jump out at me that says "Piper cant live without me!!!!". Not this year, I am PREPARED!! I am READY!!! I even set aside some Christmas money so that isnt a concern this year either. Im talking MOM O THE YEAR here!!!!

I was all ready on Monday for some free "Cyber Monday" shipping and great "Online ONLY" discounts. The boys were sleeping and/or occupied, my credit card was ready to go...then the websites start crashing. Things are not opening, links are bad, servers are crashed.....WHAT!!!! Right in front of my eyes my "place your order by noon for free shipping" was disappearing in a gigantic blob of technology.

This is Cyber Monday's version of getting trampled in a massive rush of people through the doors at Target at 4am on Black Friday.

So Im going to try again today. Im not nearly as prepared, Im sure that was the shopping goddesses way of getting back at me for all my complaining about shopping and how its so much easier online. Im hoping and assuming that I will find great deals just as soon as Brannon starts to scream, Sage falls in and then out of his toy box, again, and Shawn takes off with my car, and therefore my credit card.

Anyone else find it ironic that I can find a husband online much easier then I can buy Christmas presents?

My son, the spider monkey.

Sage's most favorite thing to do is climb. He will climb anything, regardless of if its in his way or just there. The "spider-monkey" is very good at what he does which is why we have come to terms with having to accept his new found love, instead of trying to curb it. So far we have had a couple of bruises, and some scraps but nothing permanment (or cast worthy).

Week 1 DONE!!

I finished the first week of the Couch to 5K program this morning and I feel great. I feel really accomplished because of being so out of shape and really not liking to run. I am finding out that I do like to run, which is amusing to me. If I wasnt so darn stubborn I could have figured this out years ago and HAD runners legs already....uhhhh!!!

I am remembering how much I love a good workout and being sweaty. Its a feeling of accomplishment that I think everyone needs.

I also found the first 5K that I am going to run in. Its not till June but that gives me plenty of time to get ready. Lots of time, you say, yes...but I have 3 kids, 2 babies and a husband. I dont always have alot of spare time.

Anway, the race is in South Dakota, in Deadwood, which is one of my favorite places so I figured it was the perfect first race. An actual reason to go to Deadwood besides gambling and ghost hunting.

C25K - Week 1 Day 1

I am facing my dread of running head on!!

Lets face it, runners have the best legs and if I want runners legs and a runners booty, deductive reasoning says I need to start running.

The Couch to 5K program http://www.fromcouchto5k.com/ is the roadmap that I am using to accomplish my goal. I am even dragging my little brother along for the ride with me!

Week 1, Day 1 consisted of 60 seconds of jogging followed by 90 seconds of fast paced walking, for 20 minutes. I felt like I was going to keel over at any time (mostly during the 60 seconds of jogging) but I didnt and I got it done and I feel great!!!

The plan is that we will run our first 5K together next year. There is one in town for our county fair next August but there are several in Denver in the spring and summer. Since he lives there, its easy for me to get there to enter races.

My motivation is to be healthier, and happy with how I look. I know what I am capable of doing and capable of looking and I am going to get back there.

My other motivation are these:

And these:

Good Feeling!!

One of the best feelings in the world is when I set a workout goal for myself, make it to my goal and then keep going!!

Today was day 2 of treadmill time, and my goal was 20 minutes (just like yesterday) however once I made it to 20 minutes, I didnt want to stop, so I kept going and did another 5 minutes!!

Aside from kisses from my kiddos, thats one of my favorite feelings!!!