#newtocrew

[fishoutofwaterlikeabird]

Last Year First

Well here we are the last day of the first month of 2023. This year sure started off very different from 2022. Ringing in 2022 we had friends over, we (again) lit off our wedding sparklers and Elise was 6 months away from giving birth to our first son Noah. We also did our traditional New Year's Day walk and even mixed in some Frisbee golf.

2022 was a year full of firsts for the Hansen family. As we were preparing for the birth and life change of becoming parents we started looking for a place to call our own. We really liked where we were in our duplex. We had nice neighbours, it was a nice area, it was also close to a river we regularly swam in. It was also close to work and things we need. However, it wasn't close to where we spent most of our time or our friends. In April a house came up that we really liked and we put in an offer and it became our very own home.

I believe we got keys the 6th of April 2022 and were moved in that weekend with the help of our friend family. We moved in just in time as it snowed the day after.

After we had a little party to find out whether we were having a boy or a girl...

...we started doing some house projects to make the place ours and get it set up for when family would come to visit for Elise's baby shower.

So far I have put in a brand-new fence on one side of the house (it didn't have a fence at all) and taken down the broken one on the other side and made it to match. Done some outside work for an in ground garden. We've done some painting. Most importantly we fixed up the room for the little guy.

Our next first came in June with the birth of our wee little human. 12 days early! We were so excited!! Noah Jamison Hansen came on 17th June 2022. What a treat! What a joy! Born on the same day as my aunt Darcy and my best friend from school days mister Dan the man Sagaser! Being a parent has never been sweeter. Noah is now just over 7 months (at the time of this writing) and life has never been so beautiful.

The next first for the Hansen household came in October 2022 when I ran a marathon with my good mate Tag in Medford Oregon. I wrote about the experience here (https://www.tumblr.com/fishoutofwaterlikeabird/700127168240435200/we-ran-a-marathon?source=share). I also made a video of the adventure here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aEw5Sj_ndw). What an experience it was. One, I wasn't sure I would want to do again, but have actually decided to do in April of this year (2023) in Eugene, Oregon and with my mate Tag and a couple others. This time I am not just doing it for myself. I am actually running for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. You can read more about it here if you like (https://charity.pledgeit.org/f/ZIfuySVkcF).

The rest of the year has brought on many new things with our little human. Elise went back to work three months after Noah was born. I went back a month after. Being working parents has been challenging, but very manageable. It is also so fun to see Noah light up when one of us walks in the door and he sees us.

Not long after I went back to work, I switched jobs. Elise working four days a week nearly 8-5 and me working five days a week 8-5 was not working well for us with a little one. I went back to working in a school and also started school to finish up getting my bachelors degree in teaching. Adding back our volunteer commitments, work, school (for me) and a toddler has made life quite full on.

As the year came to a close we celebrated holidays with him for the first time (with friends and family), he began to notice us and things around him more, he is laughing and smiling way more, eating real food for the first time and going from being stationary to "power crawling" all over the house. Life is so great!! I couldn't imagine anything better.

As 2022 has finished and the first month of 2023 is almost over it has been fun seeing Noah learn and do new things. It has been great to see when he wants something he crawls over to it. It has been exciting to see him pull himself from sitting to a stand. He is sure to be standing and walking soon which will mean more new and exciting things coming in life. Life is so busy, but it is a great busy. Something we wouldn't change for anything.

As we look forward to so many new fun and exciting changes in life, we are so grateful for the blessings we have been given. This year we will get to see family that Elise and Noah haven't met yet. We will celebrate having a one-year-old in the house and I am sure there will be many new adventures with our little family, more house projects, fun and laughs along the way.