Austin David Hansen

Austin David Hansen joined us Wednesday, December 19th at 9:44pm. He weighed in at 7lbs and 11.8oz and was 20 1/4 inches long. He's got tons of black hair (I know, not sure where he gets it from!) and we think has brother's matching dimples. Delivery went REALLY well and we were in and out of the hospital in less then 48 hours! Praise God! Austin has been a champ sleeper so far, is eating well, and is very adaptable to his energetic big brother. Jaxon loves to love on his baby brother with kisses, bear hugs, and eskimo kisses. We're all just loving our new addition and spending this week bonding at home as a new family. Thanks to you all for your well wishes, prayers, and gifts. We are so blessed with a circle of loving friends and family and we're over-joyed to know Austin will be welcomed with such loving arms into this circle of love. Here are some pictures of Austin 2 days old!

Gotta love Christmas sweaters!

Who doesn't love a great Christmas sweater???

This picture was too funny not to share! This was our company Christmas dinner and it was also designated Christmas sweater night! As you can see, we all pulled out our best sweaters to dazzle up the evening. Too funny! Yes, Dave and I are matching :-) If you have a great Christmas sweater like one of these hiding in your closet I encourage you to dig it out and wear it at least once this season. It is well worth the stares you will get and the smiles that you will bring to strangers faces! Happy Sweater Season to you all!

Hello Winter!

My goodness...has it ever turned to winter quickly? Last week we were jumping in leaf piles and this week we were digging out the mittens and hats for a little snow play! Jaxon loved the first couple snow falls we had, even if they were very light :) He stomped on it all over the yard and of course had a fine snack while playing in it too! What fun and how pretty it looked as the snow fell all around us.
With colder days comes some more family traditions that we really enjoy... we always get our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. The last couple years we've gone with our good friends, Reisetter's, to the great Kris Kringles tree farm outside of town with our kids. They love it! So...Saturday we bundled up and picked out the finest tree we could find and hauled it home for decorating and adding good scents to the house for the holidays!
I love these little traditions and each year they remind me of what we're celebrating together... the joy of family and friends together, love and peace that comes out of this time of year, extended hands helping others this time of year, and of course the reminder of the most precious gift of all...God's gift to us...His son. As we go through these traditions I'm reminded of why I get to celebrate such a holiday and look forward to what my heart goes through during and after this season...the preparation of realizing once again what God's son does for us. Receiving God's love through His son and then being offered His grace through the death of His son is the most amazing thing through all the hustle and bustle of trees, gifts, get-togethers, decorations, and goodies. It is my hope that through our special traditions our children will learn to enjoy this time of year for the very same reason Dave and I do, as we do our best to teach them what we're truly celebrating for. I hope you find time to reflect this holiday season on what is truly important while fully enjoying the joy and fun of all this season brings to us!

Welcome Winter and have a Happy Holiday season!

At the tree farm...warming up after a cold walk to find the perfect tree!

Brrrrr, it was cold this day!

Jaxon warming up in front of the heater at the tree farm...it was so hot and blowing so hard I thought his face was going to burn off! He didn't seem to mind though. Ha!

Jaxon playing in our first snow of the season!

Fall Days...

One of our favorite things to do is walk and hike through Hartman Reserve here in our home-town. We don't do it enough actually... Jaxon calls it "the jungle" and loves to run through the trails and just talk about anything and everything as he goes looking for animals or cool sticks or big rocks to throw into the very small creek that runs through. It is times like these that I truly stop and let myself get lost in the moment of being there with our child that God has given us. I can remember our moods, our laughs, questions asked during these walks, hear Jaxon's little feet on the ground, feel his small and gentle hands in mine, hear his little voice asking great questions and giving me great explanations of what he sees...I simply get lost in these moments and the beauty that surrounds us while we escape for a couple hours into a quiet place. It's such a wonderful thing to share! These pictures are from our last trip there last week. It was lots of fun and might be one of our last with just Jaxon ... the next time we walk the trails we may be backpacking a baby with us too. And then, we'll share one of our favorite family traditions with the next Hansen member. Jaxon will be a great little leader for that! Happy Fall days to you all and I hope you each find moments of quietness to get lost in.

Pumpkin Farm!

Hansen family at the pumpkin farm in Grinnell,IA. We spent a Saturday afternoon with our good friends, the Reisetter's, at this very family friendly farm. It was a fun day that the boys (and mom's & dad's) really enjoyed :-)

Jaxon getting ride from dad in the wheel-barrow! Faster Dad, faster! Dad later impressed us with jumping over 3 wheel-barrows...you still got it hon!

Jaxon and his good buddy, Mason, in the corn field maze.

Jaxon getting a ride with "Lucy". He was all smiles and got off saying "I loved it, Mom."

Here's Jaxon in the cool little shed filled with CORN! It's like a little boy's dream and easier to clean up from then sand. An ideal play place for mom's too :-)

Of all the things he did...Jaxon loved the slides the most! Slides from the tree-house and in the hay-barn. Feet first, hands first, on his tummy, on his tushy...he found lots of ways to enjoy the slides!

It was a fun day and we look forward to pumpkin farms again next year!!

Baby Johnson

Babies...they're everywhere, they're everywhere! My sister just had her first baby this week... A little girl named Madalynn Isabelle. Jaxon's 1st cousin on the McIntosh side. That's kind of exciting! Jaxon wasn't as impressed with this one because "she's a girl" as he quoted to me on the way to visit her. If only his idea about girls lasted until he was out of the awkward and hormone induced adolescent years! Hmmm, probably not. Anyways, baby Madie and my sister, Andrea, are both doing well and coming home as a new family this weekend. Congrats to them and welcome to the family Madalynn!

Baby prepping...

Mom & Baby at 17 weeks!

Mom and Baby at 21 weeks!

Mom & Baby at 27 weeks, with friend Kris at 29 weeks!

Baby Boy Hansen at 20 weeks!

So we've come into fall and the cooler weather is reminding us that winter is just around the corner, as well as the arrival of our little guy. We're excited and anxious all at once. Excited to meet the little guy whose been moving around and growing for well over 7 months now and anxious about the changes that will be taking place soon on our family. Once in awhile a little bit of me feels overwhelmingly (?) sad as I say goodbye to days with just my first-born. I have treasured him so much and am so thankful I'm able to stay home with my children. Watching him grow, learn, play, and turn into such a little boy of God's brings tears to my face every so often. It's such a bitter-sweet new beginning I'm approaching...
And, then there will be 4 of us! Dave has really kicked it into gear the last couple weeks to get some things done before baby arrives. Painting baby's room, baby's room furniture, a couple home projects, buying some baby clothes (off e-bay of course), putting the crib together, getting the car-seat out and cleaning it, preparing Jaxon, setting up baby's insurance, and thinking of names (yes, he's still nameless at this point...any ideas???). I must say for a husband who does not like "projects", he's been the apple of my eye these last few weeks in that department :-) So...we'll finish preparing the home for baby's arrival and keep preparing our hearts as we await his special entrance into our world. Can't wait to meet the little man!