He's here!

We welcomed Baby Lucas Kimball Hanks into the world on Monday, March 30th at 4:00pm. He came in weighing 9lbs 4oz and was 20 inches long. Laura, you were the closest! Well, technically, I was because Ephraim and I had our own bet going...I guessed 9'4 on the dot. Now, what am I going to do with the $50 that I don't have to be accountable for?

Don't I look excited to be in labor?


We are home and all is well. The labor and delivery were quick and........painful. But I feel much better with every passing hour. We're excited and nervous to see what the immediate future holds.

Our Latest Shopping Trip to Target

Why do we have this on video, you ask? Because my husband has a new phone that he can't put down.

Go ahead...Take a Guess

This is for all of you far away who have requested pregnancy photos. Prepare yourself...I'm huge...not even close to my normal size 2. I still wonder about those girls who can wear their regular jeans all through pregnancy??


So this is my third kiddo. I have two boys and I know I've mentioned before that they have both been on the larger side at birth. Noah was 9 lbs 15 oz and Anderson was 8 lbs 15 oz. So let's guess how big we think this one is going to be!

Stats:
** This is another boy
** My belly seems to be about the same size as in the other pregnancies
** I have gained about the same amount of weight (way too much...)
** I feel about the same, although my lower back hurts much worse
** I will be induced on Monday and will be 39 weeks (which is how far along I was when Anderson was born). Although Anderson did have an issue with the placenta, which often results in lower birth weight babies. Noah was born one day before my due date.

Go ahead, take a guess!...let's see who gets the closest!

Just for fun, here was my view sitting on a bench at McDonald's today while the kids were playing.


As for the garden, success so far!

The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden

"For God has given us rich brown soil, the rain and sunshine too." I always see this song as I flip through the LDS Children's songbook but I don't think I've ever heard the melody. For our garden, the Hanks Family might have to add the "rich brown soil"...and the rain...but southern Utah will definitely provide the sunshine.

My yard has been begging for a garden ever since we moved into this house last year. There is a raised patch of dirt in the corner of our yard that just screams "Plant something!"

(don't be fooled by this questionable piece of our property. It will be TRANSFORMED when it is time to transport the plants).

We started today by sowing our seeds in some soil. The kids helped and were so excited to be involved. Noah informed me that he will only eat the cucumbers and we'll have to give away the tomatoes, squash, and peppers. We'll see. The kids are excited about the pumpkins that we will hopefully harvest in the fall.

We'll keep you updated on our successes and failures as we take on this summer project.

The Piano

I started taking piano lessons when I was eight years old. I continued until I was 16. I remember begging my mother to let me quit....but she wouldn't...not even in the summer. And I am grateful. I can take out the hymn book and play any hymn.

I can't believe I haven't had a piano in my house for 13 years. Thank you to my sweet father-in-law for letting my house his for the time being. It has filled our home with joy this past week. And thank you to my wonderful husband (and my great brothers-in-law and Caleb) for delivering it on Valentines Day. What a great gift.

Happy Valentines Day!

We have the best grandparents in our family and they didn't disappoint this Valentine's Day. Thank you Grandma Nona and Grandpa Randy for sending the kids this great package...the pjs, the movie, the coloring books, and ohhhhhhhhh the candy.

And I couldn't resist this picture. Andy fell asleep today with one of Ephraim's birthday balloons.


And for those of you who have been worried about Ephraim's chocolate, he got some more for his birthday.

Happy Birthday Ephraim

On Sundays, Ephraim and I teach the Sunbeam class in Primary (3 year olds). Eph's birthday is this Friday (the 13th) so on Sunday the Primary sang to him and gave him a Nestle Crunch candy bar. Later that day, while Ephraim was taking his Sunday nap, the kids and I helped ourselves to a little bit (well, most) of his candy bar. My thoughts...my husband is not a big "sweets" person and I can buy him a new candy bar anyway...he won't mind. Well, he did. He was a little upset and said it would have been nice if I had asked to eat his candy. He was right. The situation was made a little funnier later that evening when Ephraim's parents came for dinner and his mom helped herself to the rest of the candy bar.

Yesterday Ephraim was sick so I went to the store to get some Advil for his pounding headache. I was standing in line to check out when I spotted a Ghirardelli all milk chocolate giant sized candy bar. Perfect, I thought. Ephraim's favorite is all chocolate with no bells and whistles. $2.50 later, I was heading home with the chocolate bar. Expensive, yes (I'm usually a pretty intense bargain shopper) but worth it. Eph would love it.

I came home with Ephraim's candy bar and laid it on his nightstand next to the bed. And then proceeded to lie down to take a nap (I haven't been feeling well myself...you know, this whole pregnancy thing). I woke up an hour later, feeling very refreshed. I looked on the nightstand next to the bed where I had laid the candy bar. Hmmmm, no candy bar. Ephraim must have found it and eaten it. Nope. "I know I laid it there," I said to him. So the interrogations began.

Mom: Noah, did you eat a candy bar that was laying on daddy's nightstand?
Noah: Yes.
Mom: Did you eat it all?
Noah: Yes, Andy and I did.
Mom: Where is the wrapper?
Noah: We ate it on the couch.

Not seeing any evidence of this anywhere, I wasn't sure I believed this version of the story. And my thoughts...there is no way my boys could have eaten this whole candy bar.

So I went to the 2-year old (not expecting much of an answer):
Mom: Andy, did you eat a candy bar today?
Andy: Yes.
Mom: Where is the wrapper?
Andy: In the trash can.

Sure enough, there was the candy bar wrapper lying in the garbage. The kids had eaten all three ounces. What was most amazing to me was that there was not a drop of evidence anywhere and that the wrapper ended up in the trash can.

Happy Birthday, Ephraim.