Happy Birthday to Me!

Thank you for all the Happy Birthday wishes from everyone! It's true, I am officially 26 and past the quarter-life-crisis. Phew! :) I had a fun birthday, especially since it was Saturday so I got to spend all day with my two favorite guys. Brian was extra nice to take care of Wes all day so I could get a "mom break" too! Happy Birthday to me for sure!

I am definitely spoiled and woke up to find a brand new office chair - now that I'm a hard working woman - from Wes. (I have a sneaking suspicion Brian gave Wes the spending money for it...)

Then I got to see a movie in a movie theater which is something I haven't done since June (and that time I was holding Wes and trying to keep him alseep while we were watching Live Free or Die Hard...you can imagine what that was like). And since you're wondering, we saw Enchanted and yes, it was my choice (of course, it was my birthday), and yes, we did like it.

Then we picked up Wes (who was kind of a stinker and apparently missed his parents) and grabbed some paninis (one of my favorite foods as of late) from Barnelli's (famous Chi-town restaurant) on the way home (in the snow, of course).

On the home front, we ate and then Brian sang "Happy Birthday" and dutifully attempted "Feliz, Feliz" like a good member of the Jack and Mary Smith clan! I made my wish, blew out the 2&6 candles, and then opened my presents! What better way to spend a birthday? Here are a few picture to mark the occasion...

(For those who have read the Baby Einstein "Mirror Me" book - which now I've read about a thousand times - this picture reminded me of that: "Puff - and blow!" "Jane makes a super silly face. Hello little monkey!" Yah, I pretty much have it memorized.)

This cake is A-mazing. It is my FAVORITE by FAR. I first had it at the baby shower Brian's office threw for us and I fell in love with it.

It goes like this: the bottom is angel food cake, then a layer of fresh strawberries mixed with light and fluffy whipped cream frosting, then another layer of angel food cake, then it's topped with whipped cream frosting. Oh yah, and it's surrounded on the outside with tiny coconut flakes. Yum!

There's regular frosting if you need that, but you really don't. Seriously, so good. It's got just the right amount of sweetness and it's full of whipped cream and strawberries...what could be better? This is one thing I'll definitely miss when we move since it's just this little local bakery that makes it. Just like I miss fresh flour tortillas from El Paso and Costa Vida (Cafe Rio) pork from Utah...

I thought I'd just throw in a pic of Wes playing with the toy he got for my birthday. Thanks Aunt Jennie! :) (And yes, he is getting a little big for his swing...)

One last pic from the weekend... Brian and Wes hanging out in their fort. I'm sure this will be the first of many such instances. Love it.

Especially for the Grandmas and Grandpas

Our Little Piano Man

Wes likes playing the piano with his dad. We might have to get him his own mini piano so he can practice when dad's not around to help him stand on the piano bench.

No Longer Toothless Joe...

Wes got his first tooth right before Thanksgiving. We took these pictures on November 25th after we got back. His tooth is even taller now and he's working on the 2nd one! Time to start the good habits of brushing his pearly whites! :)

PS: I think he looks like Brian in these pictures (with chubbier cheeks though).

Thanksgiving in STL

As most of you know, we drove to St. Louis for Thanksgiving to visit Brian's friend from high school, Jake, his wife Alaina (who's 8 months pregnant), and their daughter Miriam (who's 2). We had great (and cold!) weather and a lot of fun!

This was the view we had as we drove in. The arch actually looks really cool when you drive into town. (And it is blurry, because Brian was driving as I took the picture.)

This is Brian and me enjoying our Thanksgiving dinner. (And all we brought were the deviled eggs and some Stove Top!)

Brian getting in on the picture that Alaina was taking of Jake.

This is where Wes spent pretty much all of his first Thanksgiving dinner: watching the other kids from the floor. Except, of course, when we made him eat sweet potatoes (see video below).

The view from the bottom of the arch.





Wes and Miriam braving the cold.

The whole gang at the arch.

Wes steering a paddle boat at the Mark Twain museum in Hannibal, Missouri. (He's doing a great job steering on grass, don't you think?)




Brian and Wes whitewashing the Tom Sawyer fence (the only part of any Mark Twain books that I've read, by the way).

Me in front of the home of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. She was born here in Hannibal and so was her first child. Who knew? They have this little museum in her honor. I think Mark Twain is still considered the more prominent figure in Hannibal though...

Wes sitting on the well at Carthage Jail.

Me in front of the beautiful Nauvoo, Illinois Temple!

Brian with the Mississippi River and the sun setting in the background while we were waiting for the super slow drawbridge on the Illinois/Iowa border. (So yes, now we can say we've been to Iowa, too!)

First Bites

Oh the joy that is Thanksgiving! The sights, the smells . . .

. . . the first time you try a weird-looking food.

What Can We Say? The Kid Was Doomed

Thanks to Brian and my curly-headed genes, we knew our children were very likely to have curly hair. Actually, we figured they didn't have a chance. We were right with child #1. His hair's getting kind of out of control and looks like a mop most of the time. I feel bad about it. It's partly curly, partly flat, partly wavy, and partly fro-y. Good thing he has a cute face, because I pretty much never do his hair. It's hard enough to do my own hair in the morning. Poor kid.

What a Difference Six Months Makes

Then: Wesley was 6 days old

Now: Wesley was 6 months, 9 days old

It's rare that he's asleep on me these days, so I had to take full advantage of the moment. It constantly amazes me how big he got in such a short time. He's cute, isn't he? :)

Brian's 27th Celebration!

Natalie did an amazing job of planning my birthday party this year. I thought I'd share some pictures from the most important day of the year.


Wes admiring the candles that are almost as tall as he is. The cake was from Portillo's and was GOOD!


Took me a few puffs to blow that many out. I guess it'll only get worse...


Wesley's present to me was his first drawing. Natually it was a masterpiece and was in a nice frame and everything.


The most fun part of the night was playing "Vas o no Vas" (Deal or no deal) for my birthday present. I desperately needed new work clothes, so cash was my big birthday present. Just how much I got depended on how well I played the game. "No deal, Howie!!"

Thanks Natalie! It was a GREAT day!

Happy Halloween From The Hanks

These are pics from our ward trunk-or-treat that actually was pretty lame because about 3 adults dressed up and Brian and I were 2 of them. And our costumes weren't all that exciting! I was water, Brian was night, and Wes was the Coca-cola polar bear. We hope everyone has a delightful Halloween!

Our Turn for Pumpkin Patch Pictures

On Saturday, we went to a really fun Pumpkin Patch about 25 minutes from our house. The only problem is that it was really cold because the sun wasn't out and the wind was really blowing! We got about one smile from the freezing cold Wes. Poor kid...he has no idea that in about a month it'll be about 40 degrees colder than it was that day...

This was my favorite picture that Brian took. I thought it was pretty cute!

The only half smile we got from him at the very beginning of the Pumpkin Patch adventure!

Our family pic in the Pumpkin Patch.

It took Brian all of 2 minutes to find the perfect "Mom and Dad" pumpkin and the perfect "Double Oh" pumpkin.

Wes meeting the sheep. There were a ton of animals. He'll really enjoy this place next year! (If we're here next year...)

Wes "riding a horse" for the first time! You can tell he's pretty much just cold...not too excited about anything.

Happy 27th Birthday, Brian!

You may remember when I posted my second favorite picture of Brian, but this is by far my most favorite picture! I counted the candles and it appears to be Brian's 13th birthday. Not only do I love how cute he looks in his bad uniform, but I think Kevin, Craig, and Janna look so cute, too!

I love you, Brian. I'm so glad you were born 27 years ago.

(And thanks to Mom Hanks for all you went through to get him here!)

Thanks to the Gleeds!

I just had to post this picture because I thought Wes looked pretty cute in the Illinois hoodie that Uncle Darl and Aunt Michelle bought for him last March (yep, before he was born) when we met up with them in Springfield. It fits perfectly now! I thought the Spiderman slippers were pretty cute, too! :)

Tuckered Out

So it's been a while since Wes has fallen asleep anywhere besides his car seat (with the cover over, of course) or his crib. However, yesterday morning it was suspiciously quiet in the front room and this is what I found:

I'm sure he was wasted from a random week of waking up at 3:30 in the morning. Brian and I sure are!

2065

Today my Grandma and Grandpa Swensen celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. What an awesome accomplishment! Congratulations to them.

I was thinking about when Brian and I will celebrate our 60th...in 2065. Can you even imagine what things will be like then? Thinking about how much has changed since my grandparents got married in 1947, it's hard to even fathom how different our lives will be in 58 years!

Anyway, I love you Grandpa and Grandpa and I hope you enjoy this momentous day.

My LEAST Favorite Times of the Day

Since September 15th we've been trying to feed Wes food and you can see the wonderful progress we've made. This is such a stressful time of day for me (twice a day, actually) because it takes all my effort and energy to get him to open his mouth! It's not that he doesn't like the food, because he's fine to eat it. And he's got the tongue action down so he doesn't push it out anymore. It's just that he WILL NOT open his mouth.

Thanks to some Grandma Hanks tricks like almost giving him the bottle (bait and switch) or letting him grab another spoon and put it toward his mouth (although now he just likes to drop it and watch it fall *sigh*) he does get some food in.

However, this kid knows what's up. I can only trick him a few times before he decides he's not going to open his mouth anymore. I can sing, dance, make goofy faces, make silly noises and he'll smile his half smile, but no open mouth because he knows what happens if he opens his mouth. He loses and mom wins. For a moment. And then it begins again.

Instant Digital Gratification Yet Again...Sort Of

Well, we have yet to re-purchase our digital camera, but in the meantime we're using an old school version of one we got as a hand-me-down from my parents. It's working better than the film pics we had before and give us the "instant gratification" of instant pictures that we missed with film.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share a couple cute pics of the Wes.

Watching Baby Einstein. I am SO grateful for Baby Einstein. I don't care if he "shouldn't" be watching TV...he loves it and for that, I am so grateful. It's a nice break for me from his whining and need for attention so I can get one of my millions of things done. I can only play with him so long before I need to get something accomplished!

This is Wes trying to get out of his Bumbo. He's getting big for it which is really sad for me. It's been a great place for him to sit and chill and be immobile for a bit so I don't have to worry about him rolling somewhere and getting stuck. He likes to look out the window at the trees (that are sadly slowing losing their leaves).