Spring Break is almost here, Any ideas?

Well today is the girls last day of school before spring break. We cannot go out of town this year, but I would still like to be able to do some fun things with them. Does anybody have any (cheap) ideas? I think the weather will be very nice, so I would like to spend as much time outdoors as possible. Of course whatever we do, Jacob will be tagging along too. He is pretty good at tagging along right now:) Let me know if you have any ideas!


This is my first choice for spring break, Hawaii

Also, Does anyone have any advice on how to keep up a milk supply while breastfeeding, besides nonstop pumping, feeding, pumping,etc. I am having trouble keeping up with his feeding needs.

Last night before church the girls had some fun with Jacob, so I thought I would share some pictures of them. Hope you enjoy!

Praying for Stellan

My heart is aching this week for this sweet family and their precious son Stellan. I read about him about four months ago when he was born healthy despite doctors saying he would not live. Stellan has a heart condition that I am not going to try and explain, but it is serious. If you are reading, if you feel led, pray for him. Drop to your knees and pray for this child, pray for his family, and praise our God that He is in control of this situation. His family was not expecting this, but our sweet Jesus is not surprised. Please check out MckMama's blog to read the full story so you can know how to pray more specifically. Angie Smith posted these verses on her site to pray for Stellan and I wanted to put them here for anyone who reads this.

1 Praise the Lord, O my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits-

3 who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

5 who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's

(from Psalm 103)

1 Blessed is he who has regard for the weak;

the Lord delivers him in times of trouble.

2 The Lord will protect him and preserve his life;

he will bless him in the land

and not surrender him to the desire of his foes.

3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed

and restore him from the bed of illness...

(from Psalm 41)

Lord Jesus, I know Your power. You are great like NO other. We will not cower in fear, nor will we let our thoughts consume us. Our Jesus is still the same....He is still the same. We are praying from a place of confidence, and with the belief that you are able. Heal him, Abba. We will give You all the praise..

Surprise!

Today was a great day! Nels mom and Dad, aka Nana and Gramps, came up and surprised the girls. First they showed up at the house to surprise Emily and then they went to Ella's school to eat lunch with her. Ella loves to have people come eat lunch with her, especially on Friday's for lunch bunch. I told her this morning that I would not be there, so she was not expecting anyone to show up. I know it made her day! Thanks for coming up Nana and Gramps:)

Today Jacob turns 2 months old. I cannot believe that he just arrived two months ago, it feels like he has always been apart of our family. He just fits. He is such a sweet boy. He loves to cuddle up in my neck and take a nap. He loves kisses from his sisters and hearing all about our day. When we talk to him he tries to mimic our lip movements like he is going to talk back to us. He is very observant and always knows where I am. He is a mommy's boy! He is a great sleeper and he is pretty laid back. What a blessing! We were supposed to go in for his two month check up today, but I had a flat tire and could not make it. I was glad he did not get shots today because we have plans this evening, so I did not want him to feel bad. I did want to find out his weight and height though.

Jacob 2 months old

Jacob Hansen 6lbs 19 1/2 inches long

Tonight we are headed to our church for a goodbye party for our sweet friends John and Stani. They are moving to the Czech Republic for at least a year and we are going to miss them dearly. We will be praying over them tonight for their travels and for the year to come. We are looking forward to see what doors the Lord opens for them and hearing how He will work through them. We will miss you guys ! I will post pictures from dinner tonight.

Stani and John

Nels and John

Stani and I (w/ Jacob)

This picture below is of Nels, Jacob and Gramps, when they came to surprise the girls. Nels happened to be home fixing my flat tire.

Three generations of Hansen men


These flowers were given to us by Emily's friend Mason who lives down the street. I thought it was so sweet that he walked down and brought flowers to Ella, Emily and me. His parents are teaching him very well, always bring flowers for the mom:)

I did it!

I finally managed to change my background. I tried to change my header, but still no luck there,oh well. I am not sure I like the way it all looks now, but I am happy that I finally figured this out. Cutestblogsontheblock.com is awesome and gave wonderful instructions for someone like me.

I thought I would share a prayer request that I read off of Angie Smith's twitter. There is a family who just lost their sweet son Evan. I do not know many details, but they could use much prayer and some fellow believers to carry some of their grief. You should check out their blog to learn more about them,http://www.monicalynnb.blog. I think this link will work.

I also wanted to tell anyone who reads this to check out Kelley's Korner and her recipe blog. I just made the poppyseed chicken and it was great!

Thanks to everyone who helped me figure this blog thing out.
Emi waking up from a nap

I love tiny feet

Ella getting tired of the photo session
Jacob

*** As you can all see I still have not been able to change my background. For now I will leave it the way I have it.


I love spring! I love the see the flowers blooming, hear the birds chirping, smell the beautiful jasmine while I am out running and see all the new life. It is so beautiful here this time of year and the way I come to life when the sun hits my skin for the first time in a few months is wonderful. I could spend all day outside breathing in the fresh air. This is the time of year when we begin spring cleaning, throwing out our old junk and making room for new "junk". I always loved getting a new Easter dress this time of year and my girls love it as well. I loved waking up to see what was in my Easter basket and could not wait for the Easter egg hunt with my cousins after lunch. But This year I want to stay focused on the reason we are celebrating Easter, Jesus Christ. We have new life in Him. My Savior died for little old me ( and you) and I just want to remember why we are celebrating this time of year.

On another note, We had a very busy weekend. Nels and Ella ran in the Jr River Run, both girls had a soccer game, Emily had a birthday party to attend, we did some spring cleaning, and Nels and I managed to sneak in a date night. This was Ella's second year running in the river run and now she has her heart set on doing a triathlon. I think she would do great, we just do not have a pool for her to train in, she would have to be able to swim four laps straight. She loves swimming, but has never done laps before. Emily did awesome in her soccer game. She scored three goals and one for the other team. She did not do that on purpose, she was trying to turn the ball back towards her goal and it ended up in the other teams goal. Emily's friend Laci turned five this weekend and had her birhtday party at pump it up. This place is crazy,there are two rooms filled with the big blow up jumpy things. It was loud and crazy, but the girls who work there were so good at rounding the kids up when it was time to move on. Happy birthday Laci. Nels took me (and Jacob) on a date Saturday night to Sishi Rock. I love Sushi and it had been so long since I had any because I was pregnant. It was so yummy! Thanks baby. We also rented the movie Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox. It was intense and had a few twists that I did not expect. We also did some spring cleaning yesterday. I love having a clean house. Jacob slept through everything this weekend.

Ella and Nels before the river run
Emily before the soccer game
Emily and her best friend Mason

Jacob in one of his few moments being awake

Why can't I figure this out?

Thanks to everyone who sent me info on cutest blog on the block. I have been trying now for an hour to set up my blog background and cannot seem to change the background. If anyone has the "cliff note" version of how to do this that would be great. Its not that big of a deal, I can stick with the black background.
On another note I was excited to see that a few people had looked at the blog yesterday, all 4 of you were my first readers. Hope you all will come back and bring friends. Maybe I will have a new look soon.

Ashlee

I had to post a picture of Jacob, he is too cute~

Blog Questions

Ok I know two posts in a row is kind of a lot but I have a 2 blog questions. If any of you are skilled bloggers would you please help.
1. How do I add music to my blog?
2. How do I make my page look pretty?

If any is reading this I would love some help.
Have a great night,
Ashlee

First blog post

So this is my first blog post. I have been a reader/follower of many blogs for a while now but never thought this was for me. I will try this out for a little while and see how it goes.

I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is Ashlee Hansen and I am 29 years old. I am married to a wonderful man named Nels. We have three beautiful children Ella Marie who is 7, Emily Maren who is five, and my sweet Jacob who is just 7 weeks. I am a child of God and I am thankful for his provision.

I am not sure if many will read this blog or not, but I will try and keep up to date with our lives. I hope to be able to share funny stories, seek advice on parenting, decorating, etc., and maybe even a little ranting here and there. If you happen to come across my blog, say hi I would love to hear from you.
Nels and I in Hawaii
Nels and Ella on date night

Jacob





Emily and I (my hair is brown now)