Got Game?

Like most parents, we have dreams for our kids as we mold their childhood and it is so fun when some of these dreams of ours actually come true. My hubs has always wanted a nice basketball hoop for his boys to grow up with, practice on, and have fun with and we've both wanted our home to be a place where our kids bring their friends to hang out. Jaxon is getting old enough that friends are starting to come around more often and him his Dad seem to be playing some basketball more often, too. So when the opportunity came up to put in a nice basketball hoop for hours of fun to be had for years to come...my husband pulled the trigger and made it happen. It was all his vision and planning and I'm super proud of his latest project. The finished product has already been used a ton and we look forward to lots of ball dribbling, hoop shooting, game playing, and bike riding days ahead. Knock-out anyone? 

 Our good friend, also named Dave, really made this happen for us! He was the brains (and muscle too) behind most of the concrete work. Thanks, Dave!!!

 Our brother-in-law also pitched in a morning to help get the drive-way ready for pouring cement...

 And the kids were entertained with bugs, worms, and dirt found...

 As well as Dave's sweet ride! Austin rode most of the time with Dave in the skid-steer loader...and loved it!

 These guys plowed through this in one morning...

 and my little outside boy was thrilled to be involved!

 Between Dave, Dave, Aaron, and Walt...these guys made it happen! So thankful for helping hands!!

 Pre-drying cement...

 I am impressed, boys!!!

Our awesome work crew, blessed with friends and family. Really.

 And the next week Grandpa & Grandma came to finish the job...Thank you!!

 This boy was a LITTLE excited :)

 And this boy was, too :) (You still got it, Babe!)

Our new fun entertainment! Hello BB time! (I really hope all our kids like basketball!! :-)

Baby Girl's 1st days...

Savannah arrived so late at night that we didn't even get to have the boys come meet her until the next day. It was Memorial Day, but to us it seemed like an exciting first day to meet a new sister! I had about 3 hours of sleep that first night in the hospital and by the time nurses had done baby girl's tests and checks, the lab techs had been in to get blood samples, I had been given some time to get a bath and some food, the baby doctor had been in, and I had some nursing sessions...it was well into Monday morning and we finally pulled our phones out to share the news with our family and close friends. Savannah's temp was low, so she had to spend some time in the nursery under a heat lamp til mid-morning and we had the kids wait to come up til she was in the clear and ready to be held. It was a fun first meeting...

My final picture of baby girl inside me! Headed to the hospital!

And my last pic of my three boys before they ALL became BIG brothers! (Yes, Carson seemed HUGE when I saw him next!!)

 About 2am...Savannah gets her first bath. She hated it and pooped all over for most of it. So lady like already :)

 True story... about 5am they wheeled Savannah into my room and as I blurry eyed looked over at the bassinet coming toward me I thought to myself...that's not my baby, it has a pink hat. Then I quickly remembered...I have a girl :)

 Maybe one of my most favorite visual memories tucked in my heart... My three boys coming around the corner into my room with a pink balloon and flowers for their sister and Mama. Jaxon had this huge grin on his face and led the pack. Carson squealed in delight as he saw me, and Austin climbed right up on my bed for a snuggle. Jax wanted to hold his sister right away and that he did!

 This picture cracks me up. The three boys on the left looked less then impressed. Jax and I look happy, happy, happy! Sitting still for pics is not the Hansen boys strength.

 You've heard me mention her, but this is our college roomie who occupies our basement. She has been with us since last August and will head out this summer to go student teach. I couldn't have just anyone live with me... but this gal makes having a roommate easy. She gets my introverted and quiet ways around home and I never feel like I need to entertain her. I love that she jumps in anywhere to lend a hand when she is around...kids, dishes, laundry, picking up toys, feeding dogs, you name it. My boys love her, she is sweet mannered and gentle, she cleans up after herself, she doesn't let my boys get away with everything, and is so easy to have around. The boys stayed at home with her when we were in the hospital and I am super thankful God knew what He was doing when he sent Natalie our way last summer... she is going to be missed!!

 Austin finally holding her. He gets sweet on her a time or two each day!

 Carson just giggled and touched all her little features. He loves babies and found her pretty interesting...

 ...but not as interesting as this. His fun during his visit was the flushing of the toilet in my room. Wow. Those sibling visits after one or two sure get shorter :) Can you believe when we had Austin we let Jaxon spend the night at the hospital with us the second night. This time the kids visited once...and that was enough :)

Ha-ha-ha...attempting a first sibling pic! Priceless!

 I loved that my lap finally had room to snuggle this boy close again...and he loved fishing a spot next to little miss.

 I was really wiped after the last few nights of little sleep and my body was sore, so I took advantage of the awesome nurses and sent Savannah to the nursery for the afternoon and got some rest. I knew going home to 4 kids was going to be work and I was taking full advantage of a little R & R or "mom-cation" in the hospital :) I was exited to share our girl later in the day when grandparents were coming to visit and other then that we had no planned visitors to come. Jax was so excited he came back with Dad by himself to visit while the grandparents came. Look how proud and happy he looks! I sure enjoyed a quiet stay, room service, long baths, and special one on one time with my sweet baby girl.

 Savannah was a sweet gal those first days in the hospital. Calm and quiet and a good cuddle bug. I spent a lot of time just looking at her...

And on Tuesday afternoon this little lady, her Dad, and I all headed home. We arrived home to a quiet house  while the boys were at the farm and Jax was in school. A nap, a new baby, and a hot meal made for the perfect first hours at home! And there we went...life as a family of six began!

she's here!

Don't let this late announcing fool you...we are so thrilled this little girl is here! But our days are filled with holding a wee one and chasing a wild one and watching a curious one and listening to a very talkative one. Add on beautiful weather finally, a backyard filled with fun, and a new basketball hoop for our chatty one and you've got not too many minutes left in the day if you want to catch some shut eye before it all starts over again. Thus, the blog break :) But here I am finally getting some pics downloaded and some words put together to share this very good news...

She is here! Savannah Grace arrived on a rainy Sunday evening at 10:02pm on May 26th, 2013. She weighed in at 8'1 and 21 inches long. The first thing I saw on her when she reached out to me from my womb was those famous two dimples on both her cheeks...just like her Mama's and all three big brothers. Oh, and her huge hands! She has been an overflowing cup of goodness with a lot of sweetness oozing from her too. If you can't tell...we love her a little bit :)

The Sunday she was born started off fairly normal...I slept terrible the night before and we decided to take a Sunday off from church and just relax together one last lazy Sunday before we were no longer just us five. We spent the rainy morning doing not much of anything. My Instagram photo said "Perfect rainy day...slept in til 8:30, skipped church (oops), smoothie yumminess & donuts, mama took a nap already, and the sound of the rain as our background while we all lay around. Love unplanned days like this :)" Little did I know at that moment just how unplanned it was!

For the couple weeks before this day, I had been having regular mild contractions, was dilated to almost a 4, and was 75% effaced! I thought for sure she was coming earlier then later. All this early prep my body was doing had my hubby asking daily..."are you having a baby today"? over and over and over... Sigh, no, I kept saying over and over and over.

As I stood in my kitchen listening to my firstborn tell me a basketball story (for the 4th time, same story :) I felt a trickle...then a large trickle down my legs. Trying to pause the BB story, but not succeeding, I blurted out to him to wait because I was peeing my pants :) He hates to be interrupted and acted annoyed and I ran into the bathroom. I emptied my bladder, not sure if I just peed or my water was leaking. I cleaned up and went on back out to hear the rest of his story... Half an hour later I had the same large trickle happen again. Hmmm....I think I will shower just in case I thought. As I got out of the shower Dave came up the stairs and said, like everyday..."Are you having a baby today"? "I think so". I responded. "Seriously...oh". He said back. About an hour later I called my mid-wife, Kim. This was about 2pm.

After several other small gushes, Kim assured me my water broke and it was the day! I always hesitate to call, because I don't want to be that mom that goes up to Labor & Delivery over every little thing. And it was very possible I was peeing my pants based on my history of the last couple months :) I wasn't having huge contractions so we agreed to meet in a couple hours. We took our time packing bags, hanging with the boys, making sure our college roommate was home, calling my sister-in-law who comes to all my labor/deliveries with me, and then I turned off my phone as we headed up to the hospital. I didn't want to be distracted or interrupted as we spent these precious next few hours experiencing the arrival of baby girl.

On arrival we calmly walked up to the labor/delivery floor and I was so peaceful inside. I felt physically okay and was in awe that we were about to meet our first daughter and this moment couldn't have been more perfectly designed by our Creator. We were prepped long before this day to experience all that was to come in the next few days...becoming a family of six with a beautiful little girl unexpectedly added to the mix. His plan is so good, even when it seems to be really off, His plan always means good for us along the way. And this day felt like a prize given after a long stroll through some hard days. Unexpected...undeserved...but given anyways. His grace is enough.

The labor and delivery of our little lady went just as unplanned as she was! Since my water broke, I got checked right away, and had a fore-sack blocking the main bag of water. Upon breaking of that fore-sack, I had a large gush and contractions started almost within an hour. I really wanted an epidural and we even attempted to get one, but I transitioned too fast and it never took. At 7pm I was a full 10, but little miss was sideways (transverse). I will keep the next long few hours to myself and those in the room... but it was a long few hours of trying to get her in the correct head down position to arrive smoothly. I went into this delivery not mentally prepared to do a natural birth, but about two hours in I had to give myself a mini-self pep talk! I can not say enough about my amazing mid-wife. She can take control of tough situations and make them seem like calm waters for swimming. I trust her so much and just let her lead me. The nurses were awesome, my hubs was a good supporter, and my sister-in-law an encouraging quiet spirit next to me. Finally about 9:45ish we decided to push her through, sideways and all. She arrived screaming at 10:02pm and we were a sappy, tired, smitten mess. I loved her from those first seconds of seeing her. She was here! And she was still a girl! :)



Savannah has been just a joy to get to know and we are spending some very low-key days doing just that... four is a lot, not gonna lie, but these slow days at home have made the transition go really well (so far!). As I keep saying...we are still swimming, not sinking...yet! We've been so blessed with food from friends and family, help with laundry, help with taking big boys to and from their activities, help from my super awesome hubs & roomie who let me heal and recover that first week, neighbors stopping in to lend a hand, and space to find a new rythem for our new family. Summer is a perfect time of year to add a sweet baby girl to this crazy, loud, and wildly fun mix of boys and two parents overly thankful for such a crew to call our own.

our preschooler!

Austin had a big week this last week with finishing preschool and visiting kindergarten all in a few days of each other. We couldn't be more proud of this boy this year as he grew into a more confident, comfortable, and happy school going kid. He came a loooooong way from the first weeks of school while he fought back tears on the ride to preschool, to these last couple months of jumping out of the van almost before I even parked! I can not say enough about his preschool and the teachers he had... and I am also so, so, so glad I took the time last spring to visit a variety of preschools and get a feel for teachers with his personality in mind. God blessed this boy greatly through wonderful teachers and together we saw him just blossom. It is so fun to see your child grow and even sweeter when the other people helping you are cheering him on just as much. We will miss Orchard Hill Preschool and are so thankful for being a part of their program that brings up little ones to love Jesus and love learning.

 Austin had his kindergarten visit mid-week and was super excited...until it was time to say goodbye. He got a little nervous and shy, but when I picked him up he was full of details from his fun morning.  He will most likely attend public school part time and home-school part time and he's looking forward to going to big brother Jaxon's school next year.

Here he is on his last day of preschool! One cool, confidant 5 year old...!!!

His teachers had a little ceremony and party for the kids...and I saw more then one person wipe a tear or two away. It was a really great group of families, kids, and teachers!

We love Mrs. Kimball! She has the perfect amount of energy and spunk for this goofy boy of ours :)

And we love our Mrs. Knapp who never hesitated to offer an extra hug, gentle words, or some extra encouragement for our boy...will miss her!

 

Congrats to our Austin boy! School years...here he comes!

finger lickin' good!

Somebody loved their first s'more!

hatched!

We live fairly close to a reserve and that means we get a variety of wildlife in our yard from time to time. It's not odd to wake up and see 5 deer grazing in the back open grass behind our house or see a Mama Duck and her babies waddling down the street. This particular Mama surely hatched a big batch of little feathered ones this year...I think I counted 14!!!

She was headed towards water and our yard was on the way...

 That made for one happy 5 year old boy here!!

 

He "helped" them get to where they were going...

 They were a good full hour of entertainment one morning!

I mean, how could they not be...how cute are they?

Cute, right?

Austin was so busy watching out for them... helping them cross the street, get around the yard, and bringing them water from his cereal bowls :)

Spring has sprung and hopefully the Mama in this house can join Mama Duck with her own new hatched baby soon!!!

to be a boy

Having boys means many things for this household...and one of them is the dirt that is attracted to all my boys of every age. A little mud never scared these boys off and bath-time is a necessity most nights! I hope baby girl likes to get dirty, too...what fun is it to stay clean all the time? :)

From mud holes...

...to sand-boxes...

...to freshly rained on lawns...

...my boys seem to find it all...

...and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Because life is too short to not jump in the puddles or get mud squished between your toes or let your legs sit in the sand...

...and these little guys keep reminding me to let down my hair, kick off my shoes, and get a little messy every once in awhile myself. The way life should be :)