Seven!

Our little Griffen turned seven on Sunday!  We had his party Sunday afternoon with six little boys playing in our basement.  The theme was Star Wars and the boys played Lego Star Wars on the Wii and also built ships from Legos.  The biggest excitement of the afternoon...Griffen finally pulled out his loose tooth all by himself!!!  Well, I actually did the finishing touch...literally...all it took was one gentle touch and it fell out.  He had a lot of fun with his friends and spent most of the day using his status as "birthday boy" to its fullest.  I heard him many times throughout the day telling his brothers, "But I'm the birthday boy!"  Anyway, here are a few pictures from his day!

Griffen is such a funny little guy.  He can make his mom and dad laugh a lot.  He is also still a very snuggly little guy and loves to curl up in my lap whenever he can.  I will take all that I can get now because I know that at some point he won't want to snuggle anymore. 

Happy Birthday Griffen!  We Love You!!!!

My Monkey is Six

Saturday was Griffen's sixth birthday. He is growing so fast! We had some of his friends over for a very relaxed party (I know I just said"relaxed" about a party with seven 5 and 6 year olds but it was). The kiddos showed up and played for a little while. We had Griffen open his presents and them headed over to the school so that the boys could play with Griff's new soccer ball and play on the playground. Then we went back to the house, ate some cake and ice cream, and then they played out in the backyard until their parents came. It was loud but fun. Here are a few pictures from the fun. Enjoy!

I keep trying to tell Griff that he was supposed to go backwards in age this year but he didn't seem to listen :). Well, at least he is still my little snuggler. He likes to curl up on my lap while we watch tv and I will take that as long as I can!

Happy Birthday Griffen! We Love You!!

November Flew Past...

I can't believe how quickly November goes!  Of course we were SO busy that we barely noticed it.  Every year since 1998 and then 2000 we have had two birthdays to celebrate. This year we toned it down a bit and both Jake and Austin got to invite three friends over for a sleep over on their party night. 

Jacob got to have his on his actual birthday since Veterans Day is the next day and there is no school.  He and his friends had a great time having Nerf gun wars and then settled in to watch a movie and finally fell asleep around 11:30pm.

Austin had to wait a couple of days after his actual birthday since it landed on the day before Thanksgiving.  So that Saturday two of his buddies came over (the third wasn't feeling well) and got to spend some time with the family we still had at our house.  They played video games, had some cupcakes and ice cream, and watched a movie until late and then went to sleep.  Overall, they were both very successful!

The other thing that kept us on our toes was the two extra kiddos we had for a week.  On Wednesday the 18th we got a call about a brother and sister that were coming into care.  We called back and said that we would take them but then the case manager decided that they would do better with a full time stay at home mom.  After I hung up, Dean and I joked that they would probably call us back at 5 or 6 to say that they couldn't find a full time SAHM.  And guess what?  Our phone rang at 5:05!  BUT they were calling about a different brother and sister and we told them to bring them on over!  They were younger than the first set (5 and 20 months) and VERY cute but dirty.  Their case worker figured that they would be placed with family soon so we figured that once again we would only have them for a week.

Well, as the week went on, we were feeling a bit overwhelmed having gone from three to five so quickly but kept reminding ourselves that it was just for a little while.  The following Tuesday the case worker said that it looked like it might be awhile longer since at their staff meeting no one could agree on an appropriate relative.  But as roller coasters usually do, we were taken by surprise when on Wednesday, the case worker said that the judge ordered them to be place with a relative that day.  She came and got them an hour later.  Such is the whirlwind of foster parenting.  They were cuties and sweet but through this experience we learned that for now at least, we should just stick to one kiddo at a time.  So once again, we are waiting...

A Little Bit of Everything

Well, it has been a really long time since I have posted anything. I have been meaning to but I couldn't find my camera which had the pictures I wanted on it. I finally found it today so here is a post that contains a little bit of everything.

First I have to show off the beautiful flowers that I got for my birthday. The first bouquet showed up at the church, just after I got to work, from my wonderful husband. They were SO pretty and smelled great.

About an hour or so later, another delivery came to the office. This time it was these beautiful pink roses from my mom and dad. They too smelled wonderful and are so so pretty. If you look closely to the right of the roses, there is a little green plant that my co-workers got for me. I am hoping that I can keep this one alive (I don't really have a green thumb). I have taken it back to the church so that I can have help it taking care of it.


A few days later we celebrated Griffen's birthday with a few of his friends. He had picked out "Happy Feet" as the theme so the kiddos threw things into "ice holes" (a bean bag toss) and went fishing. The poles were dowels with magnets on the end of the strings and the fish were paper with paper clips on them. They all seemed to have fun and Griffen was excited that his party had finally come. It was really hard for him in November when both Jake and Austin had their birthdays.


A couple of weeks ago the Spring soccer season started. We bundled up on Saturday the 21st and headed out to the soccer fields. Boy was it COLD! Austin did great and got in a few good passes. He seems to be understanding the game a little more this year. The whole team actually looked pretty good at the game too and they won!


Then on the 26th, the annual science fair was held at the school. This year Austin was able to participate as well. He chose to do the same experiment as Jake did which was about electricity. They tested different things around the house to see if they would conduct electricity. They both had fun doing it and making their posters and showing how to turn the light bulbs on.

Finally on the adoption/foster care front. We heard about a week and a half ago that our file had been given to the supervisor for approval. Our licensor called to ask a couple of clarifying questions and sounded like it shouldn't be too long. Well, we still haven't heard anything once again and are waiting, waiting, waiting. I am expecting a call or email that says we are going to have to redo our background checks. They are supposed to expire after 90 day which it has been well over 90 since we did ours. Anyway, our adoption case manager is ready to get working to find us a little one but she has to wait until we are licensed. I will most likely be sending another email to the licensor this next Monday. (Squeeky wheel that I am)

We hope you all are enjoying some spring weather. We are looking forward to some sun and warmth here tomorrow.

Griffen

My little guy turned five years old today! He still seems so little to me, not nearly big enough to be starting kindergarten in the fall. This little boy adds so much to our family. He is very funny and loves to make people laugh. He also loves music and still finds anything to use as drum sticks. He is so different from the other two boys (who are so different from each other) I never thought it was possible to have three opposites who are also so similar at the same time. He loves his big brothers and is looking all the time to find ways to be like them.


This was my last pregnancy and I knew it would be before we even got pregnant. It was a pretty easy pregnancy like the other two though my body was so familiar with being pregnant that it jumped ahead of itself with many of the aches and pains. I was due on March 4th but was sure that this one would be early especially when, at the beginning of February, the doctor checked and I was beginning to dilate. With the other two this meant that baby would come in about two weeks. Two weeks later I was at a 3 which meant baby would be here in a couple of days. WRONG! The baby I was hoping to have by Leap Day was still cozy in my tummy on my due date, and then on MY birthday. Two days later (and a couple of appointments when the doctor said "I'd be surprised if you made it to the next appointment") later, my doctor set up an induction date and then tried to give Griff a little push to start labor. That evening we were watching movies and the crampy contractions turned into real contractions. But they would stop for 20 to 30 minutes. Dean decided to get some sleep while I stayed up watching the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy. Finally at about 4:00am the contractions started coming regularly at about 5 to 7 minutes and I waddled down the hall to wake Dean up. I was so worried when we got to the hospital because the contractions stopped again right when they hooked me up to the monitors. Thankfully I was at 5-6 cm and got to stay!


Things went pretty fast from that point on. My doctor was the one on call until 7am (only two more hours) so she decided to break my water to "get things moving". Boy did they move! The instant my water broke the contractions came one on top of the other. One contraction wouldn't be all the way gone when another would start. I had told my doctor that I wanted an epidural the same second she told me she wanted to break my water. Unfortunately, the epidural had to wait until all of my admitting labs were back. The nice doctor with the lovely medicine was so nice and tried to get the lab to get it done faster (I guess my loudness during each contraction helped a bit with that) I laugh now because I knew what his shoes looked like and everytime I heard our door open I would pray to see the "brown shoes" coming under the curtain. Brown shoes = rest! Finally I got to rest for about an hour. At 7:00 a nurse said that my doctor would stop by to check me and see if I was close enough for her to stay or if the next doctor would take over. At about 7:15 she did come by. I was hoping to be at least 8 or 9 but she told me that I was a 10! and that baby was close. I actually only had to push about 5 times and little man Griffen entered the world at 7:29am.

Griff was a pretty laid back baby (maybe not as mellow as Jake but still pretty mellow) He loved to watch his big brothers play and as he grew so did his desire to be like them.


Griff has the distinction in our family as the first kiddo who had to get stitches. It was on halloween day 2005. He fell into the coffee table and split his lip. Thankfully my sister-in-law was next door and helped me get him to the doctor. He was really mad at the doctor during the procedure but he did great with the stitches after that.


Griff also is a story teller. I remember when this picture was taken. He was telling me all kinds of things in his little Griffy language and was pretty serious about it. He still likes to tell stories and quite often is the last one done with meals because he has spent most of the time talking.


Griff and his big boy bed. That was one of his most exciting days. I was ready to let him stay in the crib for as long as possible (he is my baby after all). He kept trying to show me that he was ready for an upgrade. He would climb up onto Austin's bed and lay pencil straight and say "see mom, see" The day he got his bed he was SO proud!

His first day of preschool was another proud day for him. He was finally getting to go to school like his brothers. His teacher loves him so much and it makes me proud that others notice what a great kid he is. I am sure that Griff is convinced he is going to the "big" school on Monday because he is five now. Hopefully he won't be too disappointed.

Our little man isn't so little anymore. He is growing up and I look forward to seeing what he can accomplish as he grows. HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRIFFEN!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!

I Almost Forgot.

I just realized that I forgot to include Austin's prayer from his baby dedication when I did his birthday post so here it is. As with Jake's prayer, this too is still my prayer for my little man.

Austin means, "worthy of honor" and William means, "great protector"

"Our prayer for Austin William is that he will carry himself with honor and spiritual nobility. As a child of the King of Kings, may he never forget his spiritual standing, royalty, or resources (Ephesians 1:3). May he always represent his Lord with great compassion, honesty, warmth, strength, and be worthy of respect. In his future, we ask for great success in his relationships and all other pursuits of his life, and may he recognize all wealth and honor comes from You (1 Chronicles 29:12; Proverbs 25:27). We also pray that he would develop great verbal skill and be an effective spokesman and apologist for the faith; one who skillfully disarms any arguments or attacks on Christian beliefs and doctrine (Proverbs 25:11; 1 Peter 3:15) We pray, however, that he will be so gentle and gracious in his speech that his words will bring refreshment, encouragement, and conviction to many (Proverbs 25:13,15,25)."

Our Aussie Bear is 8!

November 25, 2000 at 8:59 am, Austin William Hendrickson came into the world weighing 7 pounds 14 ounces. I will always think of that as my "movie" delivery. It was such a quiet, almost peaceful moment when he was born in comparison to Jacob's birth. There were only four people in the room this time (my doctor, our nurse, Dean, and me) unlike the many that seemed to appear at Jake's birth. The lights were low and there wasn't much noise other than a few incouraging words and then Austin's first cry. The biggest difference for me though was that I got to hold him immediately after his birth and I got to hold him for quite awhile (Jake had spent the first 30-4o minutes of his life being checked over by nurses and given oxygen). So from the beginning, our little Austin was proving to be different from his big brother.

We had to work to get a smile on film sometimes.

Not only was he a good deal smaller but he was a bit more demanding. He really expressed his desire to eat about every 1.5 hours (instead of the leisurely 3 hours of his brother) and he really didn't like to sleep at first unless he was being held and sucking on one of our pinky fingers. I remember Dean rather frequently mentioning that we needed to invent the "pinky binky." Looking back at pictures of him, he was a bit more on the serious side but would soon outgrow that and became quite the little ham. As he got a little bit older, he started to do a signature move we liked to call "the bob and weave" (he would be in the exersaucer and rock from side to side) He also had many funny faces he liked to make.

This was his favorite funny face to make. (He would usually breathe in and out of his nose really fast at the same time.)

Austin introduced his big brother to the wonderful world of imagination. This tended to cause Jacob some very uncomfortable moments as his little concrete way of thinking about things was being turned upside down by his little brother doing things that just didn't make any sense. My favorite memory of this was when two year old Austin finished a puzzle and then, with a sly grin, looked at me, took off one of the corner pieces and put it on top of a different corner and said, "it goes here." I thought Jake was going to explode like a volcanoe when he noticed Ausin's "mistake". That day I saw just how opposite they were (and still are to an extent).

The Mister Potato Head glasses were a favorite accessory.

Austin is still our imaginative kid. He absolutely LOVES to write stories. He gets so excited about the stories that he is writing in school and loves to tell us what page he is now on. He is also very passionate about Star Wars, video games, and Legos. Between him and Jake they could tell you about so many of the details of Star Wars. (In fact they helped me with a quiz about it on Facebook and we got a perfect score). He is amazingly good at many video games and gets good really quick. Of course he also expects to be great at them the first time he plays them.




--Did I also mention that he is also VERY, VERY competitive. I truly believe that this trait was there right from the beginning. Remember that he was significantly smaller than Jake at birth and that he also wanted to eat every 1.5 hours? Well my theory is that he knew that he was smaller and the race was on to get bigger. He succeeded and was our biggest one year old! He still has the drive to be first or to do things better.--

Autin loved his baby brother from the very beginning.

His legos ships are some of the most amazing creations in my opinion. He can sit for an incredible amount of time and just create ship after ship. They all have their own unique design and usually have a few great features such as escape pods, or special landing gizmos. He is also a little entrepenure and would love to sell his creations to earn money for the above mentioned and much loved video games. (click here for that story).

Showin' off his crazy, curly hair that he got from daddy.

He is also a pretty social kid. He has a lot of friends in his class (thought there are a few that are really special friends). He loves to play soccer though I am pretty sure that it is not for love of the game but more for the time he gets to spend running around with his friends as we see while watching him watch the ball roll past and then he enthusiastically joins the group celebration. He also loves both of his brothers. Even though he would love to beat Jake at many things, I also see admiration in his eyes toward his big brother. He will often ask Jakes opinion on things and seek out Jake's approval of his ideas. He also love having a little brother that will follow his lead. He does get a bit impatient with Griff but is also very loving toward him and really tries to teach things to him. I am very proud of my little creative man!

Happy Birthday Austin! We Love You!

The Big Birthday Bash!

Wheew...the big birthday bash has come and gone. Austin and his friend Nathan have birthdays two days apart (Nathan's is the 23rd and Austin's is the 25th) and they are in the same class in school so have the same group of friends. So this year, we decided to try a combined party. Today was also early release from school for parent-teacher conferences so at 12:30 Conne and I (and Conne's dad) headed up to the school and gathered about 14 boys and walked them all back to our house and three others arrived a little later.

Some of the MANY guests of the party.
The guests of honor open their presents.

The theme of this party was "Indiana Jones" and Nathan's dad planned lots of fun "Indiana" games. They had a race to wrap friends like mummies with toilet paper, a race to get water back to a teammate, an obstacle course, and a very fun game of capture the flag. The boys all seemed to have a great time and we all survived the noise that 17 eight year old boys can generate.

The mummies.

What a week...and it's not over yet.

Well it has taken me over a week to finally get to posting pictures from Jake's birthday party. It was a pretty quiet party with only four other boys able to come but they all seemed to have fun. Jake had picked a "Super Mario" party theme so what do you do at a "Super Mario" party...play Mario video games of course! I attempted to make cupcakes that looked like the mushroons that are in the game but they didn't quite turn out as I imagined them. The boys didn't mind though.

Not quite the cute mushrooms in the games.

Jake and Jake: They are good friends with lots of similarities not just the same name.

The other party guests: some of the sweetest boys you could know.

This past weekend, Jake, Griffen, and I drove down to Longview to my parents house. My mom was in the musical "My Fair Lady" and I wanted to be able to see her first stage performance. She did great! It was really fun to see her up there and was even better to see her smile after the show. I could tell that she really enjoys it and I am very proud of her! While I was down there, I also had the opportunity to get together with some friends from junior high and high school. It was a lot of fun to talk about those years together and also talk a bit about what we are doing these days. I hope that we are able to get together more often after this. The boys, my parents, and I also spent some time with my Grandma Mahlum. I am sorry to say that it has been awhile since I have really spent much time with her and I just really felt the need to see her this past weekend. She is very special to me and I love her so much. I did get a picture of the boys and me with her though I wish it had Austin and Dean in it too.

We love you Grandma!

Finally, today was parent-teacher conferences for both Jake and Austin. It is good te hear from their teachers that they are doing well. They each have their own small area that needs some work but overall they received good reports and their teachers enjoy having them in class! So now I am taking a little bit of time to catch up on the blog before there are WAY to many things to catch up on. Tomorrow we are having Austin's birthday party. In fact it is a double party for Austin and his good buddy Nathan as their birthdays are only two days apart and they have the same friends so we decided to combine forces. It should be lots of fun but I can also guarantee that it will not be the quiet party that Jake's was because there will be about 15 seven to eight year olds here for two hours. I will do my best to get pictures posted a little nore quickly this time.

Our Big Boy is Ten

November 10, 1998 at 3:20pm. Our big boy was born weighing 9 lbs. 9oz.

Gosh, I can't believe that Jacob is ten years old. It really seems that he should still be that little guy running around the house with that cute little voice. He is such an amazing kiddo and I am so proud of him. He has always been very determined (and a bit stubborn) which has served him well since he was very young. I can still hear his little voice saying, "I do it myself!" Even if he was struggling to pick up something he always wanted to do it himself. He also always seemed to hear me when I expressed a concern to his Occupational Therapist because when we would get home he would prove me wrong. For example, I remember telling her that he wasn't even trying to pull himself up to stand and wouldn't you know it, when we got home he immediately crawled over to his play table and pulled up to stand. Then he looked at me like "What are you talking about mom? I can do that!"

Jake loves to be like dad.

My sweet boy!

He was such and EASY baby. He had himelf on a very predictable schedule and LOVED to sleep. When we noticed that he was really favoring his left hand we were worried about what it would mean for him as he grew. Well, even though it did take him a little longer to reach some of the big milestones his determination got him there. I think that he just needed to be confident in his ability to do something (like walking) before he actually would do it. When he did walk all on his own, it seemed to be out of the blue. I remember that he was standing at the couch petting the kitties then he turned and took 4-5 steps toward me like it was no big deal. After that there was no stopping him.

Jake can be pretty funny too!

First day of kindergarten, 2004. Jake and his cousin Jordan are great friends. We are so blessed to live so close. (We were even neighbors for 5 years)

Jake's big surgery to lengthen his tendon, summer 2005.

He has always been the cautious one of the boys but as his brothers have gotten older, and more adventurous, he has come out of his shell a bit. He is also our concrete thinker who really loves science. He still likes learning about space though not quite as much as he did a few years ago. His all time favorite topic is any type of computer or video game. Just ask anyone he talks to. He will talk your ear off about Mario or the latest game he found on the computer. You would think that is all he ever does (really we don't let him play twenty four seven).

Jake and Jordan at the pumpkin patch. Still great friends!

He is a great big brother who can be so kind and loving toward his two little brothers. I have overheard him trying to explain things to Griffen in such a patient and loving way, it melts my heart. I am excited to see what the next ten years has for him. I pray that he will continue to have a few good friends who can be a great support for him. Most of all, I pray that he will find his greatest source of strength and support in Jesus. I pray that the sweet, sensitive side of him will not cause him too much saddness as he grows through junior high and high school but that it will help him be sensitive tho others around him.

Kindergarten graduation at church.

As I have been looking at old pictures, I found the prayer that was written for his dedication at church when he was about 3 months old. It reads, "May he be like the transformed Jacob, marked as one who without compromising, holds on to those things that are pleasing in God's sight (1 Cor. 15:1-2). Grant him success in everything his hands find to do, and may his ministry bring great blessing to many (Joshua 1:6-7) May he also be a good steward and caretaker of all he has (Matt. 25:14-30). Whether his resources are small or great. We pray that in every way Jacob would be a good provider for his family, and a spiritual example in whatever setting he finds himself (ph. 6:5-9: 1 Thess. 1:5b-10)." This prayer was written by the pastor of our church at the time, Bob Stone, and was based on the meanings of Jacob's first and middle names. Jacob means, "one who clutches" and Dean means "abundant supplier" This prayer, as I have rediscovered it, is still my prayer for him today.

We love you very much Jake! Happy Birthday!