sweet little Arie

Last Friday, we were woken up by a phone call just shortly after having fallen asleep. It was Brad, he told us Jayne was in labor and they were heading to the hospital! He asked if we could take Cohen and have him sleep at our house. Of course we would! It's nice living so close in cases like this.

 So naturally, we hopped out of bed, got the pack 'n play set up, and ran outside to wait for the drop off. When they got there Jayne was in full labor, we grabbed Cohen quickly and brought him inside. He woke up so we brought him in our bed to watch some PBS Kids on the iPad in hopes that he would fall back asleep. And I waited anxiously for the call & go ahead to head over to the hospital to wait for the new ones arrival. I've been at the hospital for the births of all of my nieces and nephews, except for Cohen, because he was born in California. So I definitely did not want to miss this one. Even in the middle of the night. So after about 15 minutes, we heard from Brad that Jayne was basically going to have the baby any minute and that it was fine to come over. 

I hopped in the car, zipped up E470, and was there in 15 minutes. Cara and I arrived at the exact same time, and probably about the exact same time my newest nephew made his way into the world! Jayne had the fastest labor and delivery EVER! Probably about an hour from start to finish! She did it naturally too...no time for an epidural! What a champ! By the time we made it up to her floor, Oma & Opa were waiting in the waiting room. They swore they had heard a baby cry, but had heard nothing from nurses or Brad since. We waited about an hour before Brad came out and announced the name of their new son...

Arie Kenneth Jansen

 He is a cutie with a head full of dark hair! 

He weighed 8 pounds 4 ounces! A bit different from Cohen, who weighed almost a pound less at birth. But Arie was a typical BIG Jansen boy! 

We all enjoyed a few snuggles and kisses and heard all about Jayne's amazing experience. Then we headed home. I think I was back in bed shortly after 3 a.m. A late night, but oh so worth it! 

Mark had a little bit of a different night...he was still up until 3 a.m. even though he wasn't at the hospital. He had the pleasure of sleeping with Cohen for the night! I guess he's a wild sleeper! Ha!

When I got home we transferred him into the pack 'n play and we all got at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep! What a bonding experience. I think someday when Cohen's older we'll laugh about the night he slept ON TOP of his uncle! 

 The next morning we woke up, got dressed, got some coffee, and headed over to the hospital for Cohen to meet his new little brother. We sent Cohen in first and of course he loved his new bro. He is an expert baby kisser, just ask Brooks! 

Look at how sweetly he's looking at his brother. 

Then we headed in for my guys to meet Arie as well. 

They are no stranger to babies and they love their new cousin! 

Here Nolan is delivering gifts to Cohen and Arie.

 My boys all had boogery noses so I didn't really want them to hold Arie yet. So I held him and we took some pictures together, which of course Heath wanted nothing to do with. 

But I asked him to sweetly kiss him on his hat, and he obliged! Silly boy! Brooks looks so huge next to the latest little one. He is 8 months to the day older than Arie. 

Mark got to swing by quickly on his lunch break that day to meet Arie. But he didn't get enough snuggling in, so we stopped by on Saturday as well. 

I just love this baby stage. I could hold him all day long. {NO...I will never have my own infant again, but I am always willing to cuddle someone else's! That is, when I don't have one of my many children hanging on me!}

Brad, Jayne, and Cohen...we are thrilled for you! We are so excited to watch you figure out this family of four thing. The love is indescribable! 

Arie...it's amazing how much we love you already! We look forward to seeing your personality develop, to watching you and Brooks become buds like your big brothers are, and to pray that God's hand always guides you. Love you bud! 

xoxo Uncle Marky, Auntie Abby, Nolan, Heath, and Brooks

::eight months::

Happy 40th!

On August 12, Mark's parents celebrated their 40th Wedding Anniversary! 

Us KIDS threw them a party with their closest family and friends to celebrate 40 years of love and life together! 

We hosted the party at our house, so I was busy, and I really didn't take too many pictures. Cara took more, so if you pop over to her blog, I'm sure she'll post a few more photos soon. 

We had a lovely afternoon happy hour! And it was fun to see them surrounded by their adult friends for once, instead of all of their little ones. (They were all hanging out in the basement, playing and watching Despicable Me! They were actually all really well behaved and our house wasn't left a total disaster!)

Brooks hung out upstairs and enjoyed lots of snuggles from Auntie Sue...

and Uncle Dave, and any other willing snuggler! 

Nolan and Payton were really the only people who sat at this folding table we set up in our dining room. 

Everyone else hung out in the kitchen...why wouldn't they, the food was great! Everyone made an appetizer or two to share! 

We had a wonderful time celebrating the excellent example of marriage that Bruce & Barb have shown us over the years! We are so thankful for their love and support and we pray that we will be blessed with a lasting love like theirs! 

our new home

Here are some, well, really a lot, of photos of our new home! We wanted all of our family and friends who live far away to be able to picture where we live each day! 

We still have a lot of work to do. We have empty rooms and we have empty walls. We have too much beige. We have boxes in the garage. We have blinds and curtains to hang. We have trees to plant and rocks to get rid of. But all of that will come with time. 

We are just overwhelmingly happy in our new space, as beige as it may be! 

 We have really enjoyed our front porch. We like to sit out there and watch the kids play. They have so many new friends. Our house still seems to be a fun meeting place. But now the boys take walks with their friends down to the circle and they even have their friends come in the house to play now too! Mark thinks, Lauren, a nine year old little girl, uses the boys as an excuse to come over and really play and talk with me! Ha! I have also met some new friends in the neighborhood, at the park, and at the pool. I spend a lot of time chatting with all of my awesome new neighbors. I especially love my new friend who bakes us chocolate chip cookies! 

 front entry way

  living room

  dining room

  hallway from the front entry way to the kitchen

  kitchen

 

 family room

  main floor study

 main floor, three quarter bathroom

stairway upstairs

At the top of the stairs is our bedroom to the left and the boys' rooms and laundry room to the right.

 Brooks' room

 Jack and Jill bathroom connecting Brooks' room and Nolan and Heath's room

 Nolan and Heath's room

 N & H's closet (Heath thought this was his room when we first moved in! It is pretty big! Ha!)

 upstairs laundry room and new front loading washer and dryer

 master bedroom

 master bath

 Finally...we have a walk in closet again! 

upstairs landing and staircase going down

The hardwoods are hand scraped...it has a neat effect. 

Down to the basement...

playroom

guest bedroom

We really wanted a home that our kids would want to bring their friends to. This basement will be the perfect space for our (one day, high school) boys to hang out in! 

 The walkout basement leads to this, less than glamorous, cement slab. Mark has big dreams for this patio...someday! 

 Here is our backyard. It's probably more than double the size of our yard at our old house. It's flat too, which is nice. BUT, we face straight West and get so much afternoon and evening sun. It is really, really hard to keep the grass green in this intense summer heat! Planting trees will be a MUST! We really were looking forward to having this big yard for the boys to play in. But we really haven't used it much. Our neighborhood is full of kids playing out in their front yards...it is just way more fun for our boys to be surrounded by new friends every day then to be playing by themselves in the back. Maybe when we beautify and kid proof the space it will get used more. 

 the view of the basement when walking in from outside

The door in the back there is the bathroom. 

 basement bathroom

our crowded garage

(still full of boxes, and peg board that needs to be hung, and shelves that need to be put up, and tools and sporting gear that need to be put away...we just need a weekend of nothing to get the job done!) One thing that was on our wish list that we did not get when we bought this house was a 3 car garage. Mark was really hoping for some extra space in here, but we'll just have to get creative in our organization, and maybe eventually build a shed. 

 our small deck off of the kitchen upstairs

The deck does not have stairs down to the backyard right now. Which is another reason why the boys haven't played much out there...it's not that easily accessible. Again, another project for the future. We would like to extend the deck and have it run along the length of the back of our house and of course build stairs down. But right now, we do sit out here in the mornings and drink coffee or watch the sun go down at night. 

We love that we don't have any houses right behind us. That road is a little bit noisy at times though. It's not too bad, but when the windows are open during the morning and evening rush, you do notice the sound of cars zooming by. But to me, this view is worth it...

On clear days and nights, the mountains are amazing! We see the BEST sunsets! And they are just a constant reminder of God's faithfulness to us! We are so blessed to have an amazing home to raise our children in and to welcome others into. We pray that this home will be full of love and laughter and that it will be a blessing to all who enter into it!