Just a random thought...

Ever wonder how you know someone's perfect for you? Whether it be your spouse, a really good friend, or your children... Your hand always fits perfectly in theirs...

While snuggling the boys tonight, I held Liam's hand rocking him to sleep... Even though it's small and fragile, his fingers fit perfectly in mine...

Then I laid next to Jaxon, and kissed his forehead and held his sleeping little hand too... Another perfect fit...

It's little things like this I never take for granted, and grow to love more and more each day...

Meet the Greene County March of Dimes Ambassador...

This morning Liam and I had the opportunity to meet with our local March of Dimes Community Director and discuss being the 2011-2012 Ambassador Family for the Greene County (Appalachian Division) Chapter.

I am not 100% sure of what all that entails, but nonetheless, I am very excited to continue to bring awareness on the issues of premature births to our region, and share Liam's amazing story.

The March of Dimes has been our charity of choice since Jaxon was born, and now even more so knowing that the research MOD does went specifically into the care of Liam while he was in the NICU makes it even more of a cause to support. I am just thrilled to be involved in something so near and dear to my heart, and have the opportunity to share our story and hopefully bless other families with support and guidance that we received from other families that have been down the same road.

I'll hopefully be getting some more details on Friday, but just know that this year when I ask you to make a donation to this cause, that it will all be in our family's name, specifically Liam as the Ambassador Child!

Anniversary Weekend-Getaway...

Man! What a fun filled week we just had. On Tuesday Dean, the boys and I went to Nashville, mostly for "Anniversary Weekend", but because Dean had a two day career conference which gave me and the boys some time to visit w/friends and family!

It was so funny... Ever have one of those 'Pretty Woman' moments? So we're staying at the Renaissance hotel in downtown Nashville, which is really nice anyways... Leave it to me to trash it up lol. First we're carrying in bags and bags of toys, food, diaper bags, etc... I would say this is one of the least child friendly hotels... So here come the Wards with two kids and just stuff everywhere... So the next day, I'm on my way down to the lobby to get coffee... this is where I had my Pretty Woman moment... I am waiting for the elevator, wearing my usual: shorty shorts, beer tshirt, flip flops, hair a mess... the elevator doors open, and there are nothing but men decked out in their finest... Uh... yeah. Lol... So I start whistling "Pretty Woman" thankfully a few caught my humour. I didn't realize half of the people that were attending this conference were politicians... it was the Governors Conference... so yes... I was slightly embarrassed, but I wouldn't expect any less of myself in a situation like this.

After that, I loaded the boys up, and we started making our rounds to visit with some friends. We spent lunch with my old co-workers. It was so good to see them all, and have everyone see what a big boy Jaxon is now, and finally get to meet Mr. Liam. Both were good, and thankfully Jax remembered the conference room doors were all glass. Usually he runs full force into them, and then we spend the entire time with tears and a red goose egged forehead. We had a good visit there, and while I miss all the people, I really don't miss the work place.

That evening we met up with Nana, so she could take the boys so that Dean and I could have date night and celebrate our anniversary. We went to our favorite restaurant, the Old Hickory Steak House at Opry Land Hotel. LOVE that place. We had a balcony table, an amazing waiter, and best of all, Dean had arranged before hand to have a rose waiting on the table. Of course, I didn't catch on until he pointed out that none of the other tables had a rose... :) After dinner we walked around to check out what changes had been done to the hotel. This is the first time I had been back after the flooding, most of the areas looked the same, but you could definitely tell everything was new!

We checked out the new Jack Daniels Saloon, and planned on going out downtown afterwards, but Dean had to be up early for the last day of the conference. We had a great time though, and enjoyed a very much NEEDED date night.

The next day, after Dean was through with the conference, we headed out to the Bicentennial State Park and showed the boys where we got married, and let Jax run out his energy. It was a beautiful day to be outside, (wish our wedding day felt that good!). Then we headed out to stay with some of our family friends, Pam and Sparky. Jax was so happy that they had two puppies and "kids" for him to play with! We got a lot of good visiting in with them, and got a play date in with one of my besties and her family as well.
The best day of the weekend was going to the Titans game, a tradition Dean and I started for our anniversary. When we had purchased tickets a few months ago, we decided not to splurge and just try to get the best upper level seats we could... well that didn't last long. As we were walking over to the stadium, we just happened to see a man selling FRONT ROW tickets... Dean and I just looked at each other, debated a little, then decided that since it was for our anniversary and that we usually only go one time a year, that it was worth the splurge. We ended up paying a little bit more, but he reduced them with the trade for our tickets... so we ended up on the front row, on the 10 yd line on the visitors side. Thankfully we were sitting by Titans fans for the most part. There were a few Bronco's fans, but they weren't that bad. It was a gorgeous day, still wamer than I wanted, but not too awfully hot. I ended up pretty pink by the end of the game! Funny thing though, since the Titans got Hasselbeck, apparently they have started "the 12th Titan" initiative... Not sure how I feel about that knowing that for the NFL at least, it started in Seattle and has been a pretty special tradition for Seahawks to raise the "12th Man" Flag and be as loud as any stadium (Qwest Field has broken several records now). Oh well, maybe TN is just trying to make Hasselbeck feel welcomed? It was a fun game though! Most of the action sadly happened on the opposite side of the field, but we did get to see the winning TD right in front of us, our side and all, and after that, the Broc's fans got up and walked our REAL fast! We had a great time, got to visit with lots of our family friends, and celebrate four wonderful years together! Now back to real life, and getting the kiddo's back on a schedule!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Xoxo

Shylah

4 years...

Today is Dean and I's FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

It all started in December 2005... I needed to meet new people and make some friends my age, so a few of my co-workers invited me out to a bar on 2nd Ave. in downtown Nashville.

That night, I was going out to see this "amazing, super fiiiine" country singer, at least that's what Pam and Rosie said... I'll never forget walking into that bar. It was dirty and grimy and nothing that I really wanted to be in, let alone that I'd expect to meet my future husband in.
The girls and I got our drinks, and settled in for what I figured would be another trashy karaoke experience where I would end up singing, get rave reviews, and be on my way, back to my quiet apartment with my jammies on and snuggling my pet rabbit and my new black bouncing ball of energy, lab. I'd be in bed before nine and up early to go to work the next morning.
Well of course that's not what happened. Nope, I was instantly entertained and quite impressed with this "show" the people that worked at this place were putting on. There was a country singer, a rocker, a long haired surfer guy singing 'Johnny Be Good', two other guys, (one with dreads, and the other with a baby face) singing harmonies with all the other staff jamming out on broken instruments "backing" long haired surfer dude. That guy is the one I was totally "in to". By the time I had gotten up to sing, I had lost the thought of being bored, and now I was actively trying to impress this group of performers, specifically the long haired surfer boy. Apparently I did that well, because before I had left, I ended up landing a job and a few phone numbers as well.

A few months later, at the beginning of March, I was working at that grimy little bar. I got paid to have fun, drink and sing. I was also setting the stones to a boyfriend, a proposal, a wedding and two beautiful children...

If you would have told me six years ago, I would have met the love of my life at a bar, be married a year and a half after, pregnant six months into our marriage and moving all over the place raising babies, I would have laughed and asked for another drink. But, here we are. :)

Four years is not the biggest anniversary, no. But it is FOUR years. And in those four years Dean and I have had many, many up's. A few down's. An amazing amount of laughter and fun. One of the worst knock out drag out fights. Two of the scariest moments in our lives, the hardest month in our history, with a child in a NICU. The best family cuddles, three homes, lots of traveling and trips to Disney World. The most amazing kisses. Losses and additions, some hard times, but certainly the best times.

I don't think either of us would have guessed we'd be where we are now, let alone with two babies... But we are, and we know we are in the right place! We've only been married Four years... We still have a lifetime of memories to make, adventures to take and along the way, there will be bumps, detours, little hills and mountains... But I'm definitely looking forward to the trouble we'll get in to, the laughs we'll share and holding Dean's hand the entire way!

Here's to a lifetime of loving you Babe! Thank you for being a wonderful Husband, an AMAZING father to our boys, and mostly for being the greatest friend I've ever had!

I love you!

Milestones, Vacation and Family fun...

Over the past 15 days, a lot of things have happened in little Liam's world!!

We went on our THIRD trip from home to WA State to visit with family. We flew out on the 31st and while walking miles back and forth to changing airline gates, Liam figured it would be a good time while MOMMY was pushing him around to start yelling "Dadda"!!! :) That is a huge thing for him due to his tongue issues, that he not only is forming the correct syllables, but got an entire word out!!! And then two days later he started saying "Momma" as well as a few other attempted labels. :)

Before we had left, Liam had just started to sit unassisted, but since being in WA he sits completely on his own although I think it'll be a while before he figures out the crawl and sit pattern. He is also "crawling". He does more of a "worm crawl" where he lays down; scoots, gets on all fours, lays, scoots, all fours... As mentioned in my previous post, he also cut his first tooth!!! He's been pretty good, but the last few nights, you could tell he was really uncomfortable. It's now made a "peak" and I assume in the next day or so we'll be able to see white! Then on our second flight back to TN, I noticed he not only had one tooth, but TWO!! I can't believe how many milestones he hit in just 10 days!!

So now that we covered Liam, we'll mention the reasoning behind our visit...
The newest little Hanson finally made her debut and is home, happy and healthy, as is Mommy and Daddy!!! She is such a small, sweet little lady... Although she's giving mommy a hard time at night. It's so awesome to see my brother and his wife starting their family and I can't wait for them to experience the many joys of parenthood and the blessings the "little people" bring. :)

We also introduced Liam to his Great-Grandpa Jack and Uncle Jace as well as some other close friends. He didn't disappoint when meeting anyone, and had a smile for just about every new face he saw. Other than teething issues, Liam did really well especially with such a busy and hectic schedule and being 3 hours off the norm. I hated leaving Dean and Jax, but it was a good vacation for the littlest and I. We got lots of one on one time, and of course Liam got tons of love and attention. I got to see a lot of friends in WA, and even spent some time with one of my "moms" working on a few sewing projects including a quilted changing pad for Little Miss Hanson. While I was away, Jax had lots of fun with Daddy. He also got to visit with Nana and our dear friend Dylan who watched him while Dean was at work. Jax got to go out to lunch w/the "Crew", spend a day at Dollywood, and even spent the night with Nana and Pop's so Daddy could have a night out. =) Of course he also got to enjoy having cookies and ice cream for dinner one night (uh huh), but did really good for me leaving him so long. I've been home now for 5 days, and he continues to tell me, he's glad Mommy's home and that he doesn't want me to go on an airplane again.

Jax is doing really well in school and loves going on Monday's and Wednesday's. He has four new friends and is learning all sorts of "wonderful" things (can you hear my sarcasm there?). I know it's typical behavior for his age, but some of the things he is learning from his classmates are: throwing things, picking his nose, biting, and smashing his snacks into little itty bitty crumbs and throwing them on the ground. Not a lot I can do about it, but I'm definitely working over-time trying to correct it. I am doing a few home school lessons on the day's he's not in school, and the other days we try to go to the park or have play dates with his new bestie who is 3 days younger than Jax.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on in our world. The weather is finally starting to turn (Yay!!!) and I'm definitely looking forward to the cooler months to come.

Hope everyone is doing well!!
Xoxo
Shylah

Goodbye Mom Hair!!!!

So Dean left for a business trip to Texas yesterday... therefore after getting the kiddo's squared away, I got bored, and just like the 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 year old little girl I once was, I decided it was a good idea to cut my bangs! I know Mom, some things never change... BUT this time it turned out good, and I really like them so far... I THINK. It's been a loooong time since I've had my hair cut with bangs, so it will take some adjusting to, but I really wanted to get out of the "Mom Hair" without doing something too drastic, so here I go! ;)

Xoxo, Shylah

Football is back!!!!

Liam's got a tooth!!!

Liam cut his first tooth!!

Unfortunately, I think he may have inherited Daddy's "flat teeth" so this one was a painful start, and not entirely looking forward to the next 19 coming in...

He's been for the most part pleasant, but he definitely has had his moments of discomfort and pain too... Now hopefully he'll either cut the next few quickly or have a week or so of relief before starting another one!!

Time to take LOTS of photos of my littlest with his toothless grin before it's gone...

Jumping Jax makes Liam Laugh...

Siblings are the greatest friends, entertainment and so much fun to watch grow...

I came in the living room to Liam busting up laughing (Dean and I apparently aren't that funny, because he rarely laughs w/noise for us...)

I couldn't figure out what was so funny, and I was about to tell Jax to calm down and stop jumping so he wouldn't land on Liam or the pile of toys... Glad I didn't!