Number Four

Baby #4 is due the 29th of August. I don't know if David and I have been this excited and nervous about a pregnancy since we were pregnant with Ashton. We've been hoping for a #4 since April. After trying a few extra months than normal and a miscarriage at 12 weeks (baby had stopped growing at 7.5) in October we gained a whole new perspective and appreciation for bringing babies to the world and our family. Because pregnancy had gone so well for us with the first 3 I think we really felt jolted back into reality. It turned out to be something we both really needed. I know it's taboo to talk about miscarriages but I'm not afraid to go there. Mostly because amazing friends who had openly talked about theirs were some of my first phone calls when I started to bleed. I wanted to know exactly what to expect and what my options were and boy was I well taken care of by the women in my life.

So David and I got a much needed reminder that we're not in charge. We can't plan out all of our kids just how we want. It's sad to admit but until I miscarried I think we both believed we could. I know our hiccup of an 8 month limbo is nothing compared to what others have to go through trying to have baby. But I can say that I am so grateful to be reminded of the huge blessing it is to be pregnant it's definitely something we'll never take for granted again. I've always found it so much fun to hear the baby's heartbeat inside of me but now the sheer joy and anticipation that I feel when that doppler is on my stomach is indescribable.

So needless to say we are thrilled. And would you believe me if I told you it's pretty likely I'll be having my baby at the army hospital this go around... gasp. I almost don't believe it. But loans need to be paid down and free is free. It was an added bonus that I am not particularly fond of any of the midwives available in the area. So the mormon doc on base is a good second choice. I figure worse comes to worse I hate it and the rest of our babies are all born at home. I'll keep you posted.

To the man in my life...

When David and I were dating (you know for that 3 week period) I asked him why he wanted to be a dentist. His first response was "I want to be home." I hardly knew him at the time but I knew that was the best answer I could have hoped for. Then during dental school I realized I saw my husband arguably more than any other dental wife. David was the first one out of the door every afternoon to come home after he finished his work. Now, I could argue it's because who would want to spend more time at school than necessary or that he's an introvert so he didn't actually care about the social interaction but I know one thing... he never wasted a minute at school coming home to be with his family was his priority.

Now that he's done with school and living the life of an army dentist his schedule is a very straightforward 7:30-4:30. All of his hardwork in school allows him to walk in our door at 4:40 and not have to think about work again till the next morning. There's no doubt he's reaping the rewards of all that schooling.

So this morning I woke up and went through everything we've got going on in March. And the first thing that came to my mind is how amazing my husband is. Young Womens is a busy calling and I'm not even the president (shout out to the amazing Jeni!). I've never been RS president but I would say that is the only calling that could hold a candle to the amount of time put into the young womens program. Mutual, dances, super saturdays, girls camp, youth conferences, meetings and the constant thoughts of the youth that you're in charge of... I wish I would have said thank you more to some of my leaders growing up I had no idea how much of themselves they were giving.

So last night I left at 5:30 to take a soon to be spanish speaking missionary to dinner then headed straight to mutual. I walked in the door at 8:45 and here's what I wrote on the calendar and then related to David... so we're feeding the missionaries Sat night and then we're both teaching this Sunday. Next week I'll have to leave on Sat at 5 for the stake Super Saturday and then on Sunday we're hosting a fireside for all the youth at our house. The Sunday after that we're both speaking in Sacrament meeting. And did I throw a couple of YW camp meetings and mutuals I'll have during the week into the mix? And can I go to the gardening class tomorrow night at the church and will you put the kids down by yourself again?

And you know what his response was? Sure, no problem. He never has asked me if I really have to go to any of these things... he never asks me to cut back. He just picks up the slack and then lets me come home and talk through my entire night. I love that he knows all of my beehives and my concerns and hopes for them. He helps me think out and plan my activities. When we got married I knew he was great but we hardly knew eachother. As time goes on I see him in different situations and get to know and love him more and more I feel so blessed. Sometimes when I ponder how fast we met and got married I think maybe it was just dumb luck. But I know the Lord knew it was right and that's why I felt so strongly that this quiet, humble, family oriented guy was perfect for me. I had no idea just how amazing he was going to be about everything. So here's to my guy who has planned his life "to be home" because it makes all the difference.

Snowstorms, Southwest and the Flu

We're just getting over the 24 hour flu that hit each of us individually one day at a time over the last 5 days. David was the last one to get it and is barely recovering today. So after this weekend I'd like to officially plunge my face in the snow like Hannah. That's what the kids do first thing when they see snow. In fact I have various pictures of all the cousins face first in the snow. I'm pretty sure that's David's first priority too. Apparently when your little mittens are useless for picking up snow to eat. On the way out of a restaurant one day I was filing the kids into the parkinglot and into the car and Hannah saw some snow by our tire. Yes, the gray kind. She got right down on her hands and knees and had a decent helping before I could get her up. Gross.

I just uploaded a bunch of random pictures to blogger. I have no idea who took this but I'm glad I documented the men for once setting up lunch with a billion paper plates ready to go for when the kids come in from the snow.

Every night at my parents we throw all the cousins in my parents' huge shower. Then we lay them all out on the floor to get dressed. We had almost finished when Papa came in and they all jumped up to hug him.

Playing in the snow.

My Mom and I knocked over our super tall skinny snow girl to make Ashton a fort in the front yard. You can see Hannah lined up behind him ready to fire with nothing in her mitten.

On Sunday morning the day David was supposed to fly out from Georgia the snow started falling hard and fast. Seriously some of the biggest flakes I've ever seen. There is Hannah watching from upstairs my Dad plow in Daisy so he could pull out of the driveway.

All the kids from outside in watching my mom plow for the 2nd time an hour later so we could get out of the driveway for church.

It was a great vacation and now that we're home I feel like the holiday season is officially over. Because this trip kept getting postponed due to David's work I felt like we hadn't had all of our holiday fun. Thank goodness for Southwest and fully transferable and cheap (in Jan & Feb) tickets! We love Midway it's always such a treat to go up there.

This was our first time flying SW with the kids. I have to say it was everything it cracked up to be. VERY family friendly and the layovers weren't a big deal at all. And on our 4 flights only one was completely full which mean we all had extra space galore!

The pilot had Ashton come up and hang out in between flights and even let him pull back on the stick when Ashton asked how you take off.

Hannah's new Cinderella squinkies for the plane were a huge hit. I'm such a fan of these ridiculous little things. The kids love them and they are so easy to pack up. I can see how they get lost easily but we have kids (and a dad) who are super obsessed with toy organization so they almost always go where they're supposed to before Mallie can use one as a piece of gum.

Ashton with his new StarWards squinkies and Mallie looking confused. Did I mention Ashton had woken up that night at 1am throwing up? He was fine a few hours before we boarded the flight but I still feel so bad thinking about how many people we probably contaminated.

And when on our last flight this little girl refused any sort of candy and crashed on David we knew we were in trouble. We just prayed she'd keep it in until we got home. Low and behold exactly 1 hour into our 2 hour drive home she started to throw up. I've never been so grateful for the timing of sickness. Sorry to everyone on the SW flight with us that caught this nasty bug.

On a side note the security guy checking our tickets in SLC talked to all of the kids as we passed through (except for Hannah who yelled "NO" at him) and then saw David's military ID and looked at us and said "You must be proud parents - and thank you for your service." Our kids were their normal selves all over the place but here was this guy about our same age taking the time to appreciate a family. I thought that was pretty much the greatest thing ever - because you know what? To me, our little family is the greatest thing ever.

Vacationing on Valentine's Day

The 3 kids loaded on the back of Daisy getting ready for a ride around town. David and I flew up to UT together last week then he left for Georgia to a CE course till Friday. The kids and I are enjoying an extra few days with my parents. I miss my Valentine but he's left me in good hands. Mom took the four of us to Cafe Rio for lunch. The first half of our vacation full of family has been the best. David and I love that no matter what time of year we choose to come up we get to see all of my sisters. Thanks for coming up! And you don't know vacationing till you've done it with my parents. All we have to do is get here with a change of clothes. Food, wipes, diapers, the kids' favorite snacks, my favorite salsa, snow clothes in all the right sizes are here just waiting for us. It's the life of ease. I'll blog more with pictures when we get home. As for now, we still have a few more days of spoiling left to enjoy!

Looking Up and Forward

I haven't had any desire to blog and replace the top post with anything but Atticus. He's at the forefront of all my thoughts and I hardly go through a day without just breaking down in tears for the Hansens. It is a constant reminder for me to look Heavenward and be reminded of Heavenly Father's plan.

So while I want to just take a hiatus I know I can't. I was reading in the Ensign today and it said maintaining a family blog is doing your own family history. And since I'm not a great scrapbooker I know I can't give up on this for posterity's sake. I do incredibly well at journal writing for me and all the kids. I just wish printing off pictures and pasting them in their journals would come as easily as blogging. Anyway, I'm not giving up. Just looking forward. Please keep the Hansens in your prayers.

Here is Happy Hollow our favorite spot on post. There is a perfect little sandy beach leading to the river and goes only about 1/2 a foot deep till you're 5 feet or so into the river. The flow is slow and the kids love to splash around even on cold days.
Here's Mallie and the playground that flanks the river. It'll be gorgeous in the spring. Did I mention this is 8 minutes from our front door? Truly amazing.
Not much else is new. David loves work. I love the army life and our amazing friends. We always talk about how we're exactly where we're supposed to be right now and for once I don't feel in any hurry to rush to the next stage of life. We're so happy here. I just got a new calling as YW Assistant Stake Camp Director. As soon as I accepted I said, "But wait I still get to keep my other calling, right?!?" The answer was "yes" so now I can say with my whole heart that I'm thrilled! I loved Girls Camp growing up and haven't gone as a leader since I was 36 weeks pregnant with Mallie two summers ago when I could have gone. It'll be fun to see the stake side of things but still get plenty of time with my ward.

So that's whats new. We're off to Midway soon to visit my family for a holiday trip that got postponed until now. Just 4 links left on our countdown chain - we're ready!!

Atticus

When we left downtown Dallas for Richardson with only 15 months left in Dallas we weren't sure if we'd even care about making new friends. We were so wrong. We made friends in that area who we will keep in touch with forever. The Hansens were some of those people. Cindy came to drop off a meal after I had Mallie and we were instant friends. She would come over and we would talk for hours and make and then consume an entire batch of sugar cookies (on more than one occasion). To this day one of the huge reasons Dallas is on our top 3 places to live is because the Hansens will still be there. Cindy's oldest son Atticus is just a month younger than Ashton. The boys could play for hours because they were in the exact same stage of life. It was all about CARS. They could spend hours racing them up and down the hallways. It just worked out so perfectly that I adored Cindy and Ashton adored Atticus. This picture was from the day Cindy called and told me about a parade and I said I didn't have a car to go anywhere. So she came over and loaded all 3 of my kids into her car and chauffered us to the parade.
The doctors found an inoperable brain tumor on Atticus' brain stem. They'll do a round of radiation and chemo and basically just wait and see. The doctors have given him 1-2 years at best. Please please pray for Atticus to have a little bit of normalcy during this process. He so badly wants to regain his balance to run and play sports again. He is the most determined, smart and sweet boy I've ever met. He has been such a champ so far. Please keep Cindy and Eric in your prayers so they can find some peace during this hard road ahead. They are amazing people. My heart is broken for them - let us all remember to hug our kids a little tighter today.

Here is the link to Cindy's blog so you can stay up to date.

New Table

This post is mainly for my Mom. We've finally finished the table and covered it in clear vinyl. Our table growing up was always covered in a map, pictures, scriptures and the articles of faith. After we were finished laying it out I told David I'm pretty sure my Mom left more dead space. Either way I love it and I get wait to see the kids tomorrow. This will definitely help with me being afraid to leave them alone with crayons at the table. So here's to you Mom for coming up with this genius idea many many years ago!