Three Years

This last year's highlights in our marriage:

October 2010:
Two Years!

November:
Reid and I were not able to travel for Thanksgiving due to weather so we put on our big boy pants and made a feast for hundreds for ourselves.

Reid can't hide his excitement about his first turkey!

December:

I started my new job at Kendall County CASA

January:

The test read "pregnant"!  Reid was in Flordia for work so I text him a picture of the test...true story.

February:

Saw our gummy bear on the screen and saw his heart flicker.

Baby Hamann's first picture

April:

At my 20 week ultrasound we found out we were having a boy!  Reid was in complete shock :)

July:

Reid celebrated his 30th birthday and I celebrated my 28th

September:

Reid and I became parents! Noah Charles Hamann was born on September 20th at 8:50 pm.  He peed all over the doctor as he made his entrance into the world.

Noah is wrapped in his blanket made by his Great Grandma Esther

October:

Three Years 2011!

Fall

Fall is my absolute favorite time of year.  Especially living in the midwest and getting to see the amazing colors hanging from the trees.  This year I was able to do something that I have never been able to do before...combine two of my favorites; Fall and Noah :)

Noah had a photo shoot at Silver Springs Park with the wonderful Vitella (Ellie) Dennin-Piper.  He was a great model...mostly because he slept the whole time :)

Refill

This is the question that is printed on a pajama shirt that my dad has framed in his office.  I believe that it was a gift from a member of the congregation he served in Winterset, IA. 

I have always really loved this quote.  I think that as adults we forget that there is not a limit to our ability to love.  We can love everyone without needing a reason and even when we think that we can't love anymore there is a refill ready with our name on it. 

When I look at my son I can't honestly believe that I can love him anymore then I already do, but somehow magically at 2:00 am when I am exhausted and he is hungry I look at the beautfiul innocent face and fall more in love with him.

Love is limitless even when we are limited.

What's in a name

When it came to picking out a name for our son, I really struggled.  I have the teacher's curse.  There are names that I have loved in the past, but after teaching preschool for a few years some of those names have been taken off the table.  There was one name that really stuck with me though and that was Noah.  Now of course there is a famous Noah, even more famous then the character Noah from the book/movie "The Notebook" :)

When I think of the name Noah I do think of the biblical pioneer.  To me the name Noah represents someone who is a good listener, a great builder, and a lover of animals.  The name Noah means comfort and peace and I love the idea that a man can represent those words. 

His middle name is Charles which is in honor of my father. The meaning of the name Charles is strong man. 

I love the idea that my son's name represents a man of strength thru peace.  I think it fits him well.  He loves to look around and just take things in.

Noah Charles Hamann





The Answers To My Questions

A few posts ago I listed some of the questions I had regarding Noah's arrival.  Here are the answers :)

When will labor start?
~2 am on Tuesday, September 20th

What will it feel like?
~Horrible back pain :(

Will I make it to the hospital?
~Yes!

Will I have time to get an epidural?
~Yes!!!

How long will I push?
~1 1/2 hours

Will he have lots of hair?
~I would say average amount, but definetly not bald

How much will he weigh and how long will he be?
~8 lbs 2.7 oz and 20 1/2 inches long

Who will be look like?
~Right away my doctor said he looks like me.  Now having stared at him for hours upon hours I would say that he is a blend of both of us.

Will he come out with a name tag? :)
~No name tag, wishful thinking on my part :)

Will he latch right away?
~In the words of the lactation nurse, "He sure has a strong latch!"

Will the swelling finally go down in my feet...please oh please?
~It took a week, but finally my narrow feet are back.

How will Maggie react to our new family member?
~Maggie is doing ok with the newest addition to our family.  She is not so impressed with crying every few hours during the night.

Coyote

Maggie is not a very vocal dog.  Usually she only howls/barks if there is something or someone around who makes her uneasy.  She has an issue with men who look like farmers which might have something to do with the fact that she was taken from a farm in Indiana where she was neglected.  This of course makes going home to South Dakota interesting because of course there are no farmers there!

So last night Maggie was at the back screen door howling her face off.  There was nothing and no one in our backyard, but still she was really bent out of shape.  I opened the door to let her out and I heard the most sad little howl/cry.  It sounded like a coyote, but since I am definetly no expert on the calls of the wild I needed to pull in a native expert who has heard diverse animal calls...my husband.  In his expert opinion he thought that is sounded just like a coyote pup.  We have a bean field behind our house and it sounded like the pup was lost sitting in the field missing his mommy.  It broke my heart.

Maggie continued howling like a manic at the sound of the pup's call.  Now Maggie is no more equipped to defend herself against a coyote as she is a plastic bag floating in the wind, but still she was really for the challenge. 

Now does this look like a true killing machine?!

Eviction

It is official...
If Baby Hamann does not vacate his residence by September 23rd he will be evicted.  His scheduled date to move out is September 19th, so we will see.