baby #2 is in the works!

We are just finishing up the first trimester for our second baby - due June 7th. We are excited, and I am feeling better all the time, but still very tired. I had my first ultrasound last week, and everything looks good so far.

max and zack play date

Max and Zack came over to watch the SUNS game, but we didn't watch much of the game with three one year olds running around! They had fun, and we had a good laugh. Henry didn't share his toys very well - something to work on. :-D

helping dad put together my new table

a very messy eater

henry at 18 months

Henry is a year and a half old, and full of energy. He is saying lots of new words every week. Elbow and neck are his new words this week. He definitely has a mind of his own. He has been waking up at approximately 4:45 am, and it is killing Val and I. Don't know when we will ever sleep in again. He is going to sleep great at night. We have a good routine down again. He wants to say 'hi' and 'bye' to everyone . . . it's a very fun age.

ready for halloween!

henry at 17 months

Henry is a talking machine! Here are some of his words:

flower puppy bubble baby Olive (ah-lie)

ball bath airplane bird car go!

We are close to having him weened from the bottle for good. Pacifier will be next. :[ He is getting more active - it's hard to believe that is possible! He is going to bed later, and getting up EARLIER! ugh! He never walks anywhere anymore, he RUNS! It is very difficult to dress him, or to change his diaper. He loves to dance, and will put on quite a show for anyone who will watch. He loves to joke around. He loves to play outside on his slide and in his cozy coupe car. Val and I are really enjoying watching him develop soooo fast. It's a fun (sometimes difficult) age.

we moved!

here is our new place! if it looks familiar to you, that's because it's mel and lisa's old place. we always liked their house. i liked the area, so when we found out it was on the market, we talked about buying it. then, we put our house on the market. it sold in two weeks! i guess it was meant to be because here we are. now you know why so long since the last blog. more to come.

henry was very helpful while moving . . .

cousins!

henry and papa out for a wagon ride

Roseburg, OR August 2007

first stop - Umqua Valley wine tour - 8.17.2007

visiting the Yorks in Waldport

playin' on the beach in oregon

my favorite monkeys

henry playing in the sun

Grandma Patti hooked Henry up with this sweet water playground. Olive was trying to get in on the action.

henry and his mohawk

henry at 13 months

Henry is eating us out of house and home! He has been on a big growing spurt. In fact, when I dropped him off at school yesterday, they all commented that he had grown over the weekend. He is past walking and starting to run. He got out of the house yesterday via the doggie door. He hates when I drop him off at daycare (that's new). He is still not talking. He claps his hands. He knows how to make his toys play music, then he dances to it. His favorite song right now is Old McDonald. His favorite toy is his bus. He runs back and forth in his crib like a little monkey when you walk into his room in the morning. He isn't big on the idea of being weened from a bottle. He loves to ride on daddy's shoulders.

henry at one year old

Henry is getting more and more mobile, and more and more independant by the day. Gone are the days when he would follow you around and want to be held. He's walking further and taking more steps everyday, and Val and I compare him to the baby orangutan we saw at the zoo on his birthday - he walks with his arms in the air and his feet pointed outward. He said 'dada' in reference to Val the other day - I guess that makes it his first real word. His top teeth have recently popped through his gums, and he will bite you (not hard) if you try to feel them. They seem to be giving him more trouble, because he is waking up nightly around 3 am. I find him sitting cross-legged with his back up against the side of his crib talking up a storm. He loves Olive, and she plays really well with him. The thing people say about him the most is what a happy baby he is. He has transitioned beautifully into the one-year old room at school. He has A LOT of energy, and he goes around and around the house getting into things. That must be why I have been so tired lately!

when henry met tess . . .

henry's 1st birthday

double trouble

rub a dub . . .

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
We had a great weekend - Tess and her parents came to visit us from Seattle! I am one now. Tess is fun to play with! Have a safe trip back, Tess!

Love,
Henry

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y ! ! !

Henry enjoyed his first Ben & Jerry's!

henry is one year old!

We celebrated at the zoo! It's his first carosel ride!

henry the dancing machine

we still love you, olive . . .

Olive has been a little jealous lately of all the attention Henry gets.

more achilles woes

I had a 'procedure' a week ago to drain the fluid around the achilles, and I haven't been able to even walk normally since. I thought it was going to be a simple procedure, but once the anesthia wore off - I was in pain! The next two days were even worse! Not great when you have an almost-one-year-old running around. Today - the cyst seems to be back with a vengence - very dull ache in the tendon. Not fun. What next?

henry eye update . . .

Henry's procedure for his eyes has been moved out to June 12th . . .

a happy and productive mother's day!

Grandma Patti was out yesterday for a visit, and we decided to send Henry home with her! It was his first sleepover away from home! She said he did great! We are meeting them for dinner a little later to pick up little man. Val and I didn't know what to do with all the freedom! Val mowed the lawn, and worked on the bathroom, and is about to start tiling the shower! (But first, he should maybe sketch it out again . . . and again . . . and again.) We also went to breakfast this morning, then over to the nursery for some more flowers and herbs. I am finally getting back to working in the yard - since I got pregnant! Finally starting to feel like myself again. I planted french lavendar, italian parsley, english thyme, the usual sweet basil and cilantro, and also a couple tomato plants. I also added more vinca and portulaca to my flower beds. I hope they don't die -- getting lots and lots of this Arizona sun, just . . . like . . . my . . . legs . . . is that a sunburn I feel coming. Oh no, must go find the aloe.

henry at 11 months

He's a curious little guy - always putterin' around the house seeing what he can get into. This week the locks went on the cabinets, breakables got put up high or away. Separation anxiety is a thing of the past. When we get to daycare, he hits the ground running, and doesn't even notice I'm there. He will look up and wave at me when I leave. His top teeth still haven't poked through, but they are working on it. He has finally shown an interest in table food, and is eating cheerios, raviolis, and lots of other big people food.

Henry's blocked tear ducts never have cleared, so he is getting another outpatiet surgery (very minor) on the 29th. It will be about a five minute procedure, and it will be so nice to have that done. We've been struggling with little eye infections on and off since he was born. He doesn't like us trying to clean them all the time.

Since he got the tubes put in his ears, he is sleeping 11 hours at night, and it's my favorite thing (once again) to put him down for the night. Baby Galileo is a favorite video to watch, and he loves doilies, wheels and buttons. (yes, I said doilies.) If I had to guess, I'd say he is going to work at a tire store when he grows up. He loves Olive, and tug-of-war is their favorite game.

Last, but not least, he took his first steps on Sunday - Cinco De Mayo! Five in a row. It surprised the heck out of Val and I. He usually gets two or three little steps in before he toples over. So cute to watch. He is a bull dozer, loves to plow through his toys. When I show him how to stack blocks, he loves to charge through them and knock them all over - that gets big giggles! Such a boy. Grandpa Fred likes to call him 'Henry the Ham.' Or 'Henry the Hammer.' Val and I call him 'Cranky Hanky' when he gets tired.

He doesn't say any words regularly yet, but he likes to point at birdies and airplanes. 'Sa!' and the "S" and "D" sounds are his favorite this week. Di-di-deh! He wears Stoudamire's jersey (#1) with pride. In a couple weeks, he will be one.

i can walk with my walker . . .

two little buddies . . .

big boy

Henry used to easily fit cross-wise in his crib. Not anymore!

henry can wave, and walk (almost)

Henry has been surprising us with how much better his walking is getting. On Sunday, he jumped up behind one of his walkers and walked across the room like he'd been doing it for years. This morning, he waved by-bye to me for the first time when I dropped him off at 'school.' I walked out of the building, but in my mind, I was floating.

Side note: That must mean that soon he will say 'Mama!' I keep working with him (he knows how to say it), and every time he looks at me with a smile and squeals, 'dadadadadadaadada-DADA!' Sometimes he's just like his dada.

more horsin' around

Grandma Linda made us these to use as coasters, but I like to put it on my head to get a reaction. What can I say? I like to make people laugh.
-Henry, 10 months

a great weekend . . .

We have had a wonderful weekend! Little guy is sleeping pretty good again, and we are catching up on our sleep. We even had a date night last night just the two of us - courtesy of Karen. She watched Henry and we enjoyed the gift certificate she got Val for his birthday. What would we do without her? We had dinner at home tonight . . . Suns are on a roll . . . groceries and laundry is done . . . life is good . . .
I'm off to catch up on more sleep. Should be caught up by the 4th of July, maybe.
:0

the boot gets the BOOT!!!!

The tendon is healed up nicely, and I no longer need to wear the boot! I would like to know what MAN invented that thing anyway. Probably the brother of the guy that invented high heels. :0 There is still some fluid around the area, so I can't start jogging or anything like I wanted to, but biking, walking, etc. is okay. Let's hope that goes away - I go back in a month to find out. In the meantime, I feel like a new woman!

henry likes to joke . . .

Henry is developing his sense of humor, and loves to play jokes on mommy. One thing he finds really amusing is to pop his pacifier out of his mouth, and try to put it in mommy's mouth. His other fun trick (pictured) is to bite down on the spoon while I'm feeding him, so I can't take it out of his mouth. Anything for a reaction.

on the road to recovery . . .

Time for an update. We are doing much better, not great yet, but I'd venture to guess by next week, life will be good again. Henry got his tubes put in Saturday morning, and is already sleeping through the night again. I don't know what I'd do without her. Henry's that happy, easy baby we knew several months back! We had to take last week day by day, it was brutal. We were so sick, Grandma Patti had to come out and stay with us for a couple nights. We were at the pediatrician's office a couple times, and had issues almost every day! So, in case you were wondering, FOUR months of getting completely run down from no sleep and taking care of a baby that doesn't feel well, here are some things you can get: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (google: coxsackie virus and hope you or you kids never get it - Henry came down with this two days before his surgery), strep throat, bad cough, partial achilles tear, cold, flu, food poisoning, and the latest as of today: PINK EYE. Yep, Val got pink eye for his birthday. Like I said, we are all on the road to recovery.

just hangin' out in my stroller

i learned to make a funny face!

tubes, boots, and lots of patience

Henry has another ear infectiton. We are using another antibiotic, that doesn't seem to be working very well. Henry is still pretty cranky. We are having a rough time getting him to sleep at night. These last couple months have been the most trying of times . . . and now I get to go throught them wearing a big BOOT on my left foot. Turns out my bump on my achilles tendon I've been wondering about is a partial tear. I've really been wanting to start doing some training, and I wanted to run a 5K. I signed up for Pat's Run yesterday morning, and found out I had to wear a boot for 3 weeks a few hours later. The boot is really big, and hot, and awkward. But I am really thankful I didn't need surgery - the foot doctor was quiet for so long after the ultrasound, I thought that was what he was going to tell me. I'm also glad I can still drive. I'm counting my blessings, AND counting down the days (9) until Henry gets the tubes put in his ears (Sat, March 31). Everyone I talk to tells me this will make all the difference in the world. I'm hopeful. I think that's enough complaing for one night - I'm off to watch the Suns beat up on Sacremento. :0

separation anxiety

I didn't think Henry would get it - since he's been going to daycare since he was about three months old, but it's another one of his new things. He crys when I drop him off at daycare and taps on my legs for me to pick him back up. This is also another reason why the sleep in our house has been so bad - he wakes up and wants mom and dad to hang out with him in his room. This is one phase that I hope will pass before too long. He also has an appointment with an ear, nose and throat doctor today. Mommy and Daddy are getting serious about taking care of this ear infection issue.

another week, another ear infection . . .

it's another ear infection for henry boy. dr. says warm weather is right around the corner and we'll be having less of these problems. i sure hope so. i need some sleep.

made it to starbucks!

It's Sunday, 10:44 am and I just took a long walk, with Henry and my mac in tow down to the neighborhood Starbucks. Daddy was working on the bathroom project (including lots of banging, clanging, hammering and drilling), it was nap time for Henry, I needed the exercise, so I figured what the heck? Olive was the only loser in the whole deal - she had to stay home. But Henry is sleeping like a champ, I'm blogging with my iced latte in my hand. (Yes, Pablo, I'm paying for wi-fi).

What a weekend we've had! TWO NIGHTS OUT in a row with babysitters for Henry! Friday night, we hired Allison (a previous teacher from Henry's crazy daycare) and headed out to Donovan's with the Gregory's to celebrate Michael's birthday. We had a great time, not to mention great wine, great catch-up conversation (with the Cervi-Skinners and Kirk and Karla (sp?), too) and a tower of seafood that Val and I were still talking about yesterday. Thanks, Theresa for organizing such a great dinner! We were so glad you called us, and we could go!

Yesterday, Mom met Henry and I at Scottsdale Fashion Square and did some quick shopping (made a dent at Pottery Barn Kids) before heading back to our house. Grandma Patti stayed with Henry while Val and I went to dinner and a movie. We saw Breach (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7133600) and it was really good. It is about an FBI agent that sold hundred of our government's secrets to the Russians. It was interesting, because they couldn't even tell what secret he told. He is serving a life sentense in Florence, CO and spends most of his day in solitary confinement - and most of the secrets he gave away are still classified. I didn't care what we saw, just wanted to see what it felt like to sit in a theatre with my husband again, but I did enjoy the movie.

I'm off to read the news before Henry wakes up.

i need another buzz cut!

Well, my hair is still growing straight up. My mom thought it would have settled down by now, but no. I see a haircut in my recent future.

- henry

lots of milestones . . .

Whew! It's been awhile, and the last couple weeks have been very eventful for Mr. Henry. He is getting more mobile by the day - he can cover one end of the house to the other in no time. His two bottom teeth have popped out, finally! He can sit up from his back or his stomach, and he is pulling himself up to standing - especially in his crib. He is eating finger foods, and babbling up a storm. Henry LOVES to go to daycare, he gets excited when we walk through the doors, and barely notices when I leave. They say he is great all day long. He is having some sleep issues, and making his mom-muh and da-duh very tired. The lack of sleep has been really tough to deal with lately . . . especially when you have to show up for work the next morning. I hope we figure it out soon.

The weather is very crazy today - windy and cold - strange since it's been getting pretty warm out, we had our windows open most of the day yesterday.

he can crawl!

we are in high definition . . .

We haven't even had time yet to celebrate our BIG new flat panel tv. (Val says it's too big, but I am loving it.) Henry has been sick since Friday, and we've had very little sleep. It turns out Henry's ear infection from a couple weeks ago has never cleared up, so we are at it again. We are doing injections for antibiotics this time, and Henry gets his final shot tomorrow morning. Let's hope it does the trick. We missed a birthday party, the phoenix open, and the superbowl party we were supposed to go to, what a bummer it is when your kid is sick, in so many ways. Maybe a Suns game in HD would cheer me up. A good night's sleep would be nice, too.

henry at eight months

Can you believe he is eight months old? Henry is very mobile and getting into everything. Hi crawl is pretty labored and inefficient, but he can move - especially when you combine his army crawl with rolling. Things are gradually getting child-proofed as we go along. Henry loves to rip catalogs apart. He puts everything in his mouth. He is into a heavy phase of head bonking. He is constantly cracking his coconut on something. Thankfully, he hasn't had any bruises yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. And, oh yea, we have created a pacifier lover. He wasn't big on it, originally, but (like desperate idiots) we kept giving it to him, and now he likes it when he is sleeping, crabby, or bored. Oh boy, what did we do? And when do we take it away? His sounds are definitely sounding more like words, he'll talk your ear off, but he won't say mama or dada yet. He likes the "On The Go" Baby Einstein the best, and watches it every morning, like he is right now. He loves to go out on different trips with mom and grandma. He went to Sur La Table yesterday and he loved looking at all the kitchen stuff from his stroller. You had to watch out for little grabbing hands the whole time we were there, but we made it out without any unplanned purchases, whew. He is tall. We saw a little boy walking around yesterday, and Henry is definatley as tall as he is. He is standing while holding on to things and starting to pull himself up a lot. He likes you to hold onto his hands while he is standing, and he tries to take steps. He'll be walking soon.

good buddies

henry is crawling!

Hello from Peoria. Henry and I are visiting Grandma Patti up here in Peoria today. We might even stay overnight. We figured daddy could use a break from us interupting his bathroom project. Oh ya, we are remodelling our master bathroom. Not because we wanted to, because our shower was leaking, and we didn't have a choice. We'll be getting a new tile floor, new tile in the shower, new fixtures, etc. Lots of fun, and probably the biggest home project we've done to date. All Henry wants to do is get down on the floor, army-man crawl around, and (if all goes well) get into things! I'll post a video soon. My mom says she feels really old, because Henry is watching cartoons. He is getting more and more like a little boy, and less like a baby. The dogs (Olive, Skeeter, and Gootchie) are jealous. Why no attention when Henry is around?

henry's favorite toys of all time

back at it - humidifier, antibiotics and all . . .

Well, we did have a couple healthy weeks, but Henry has just come down with his second ear infection - this time in both ears. He was unconsolable when I got him home from daycare today, and I just knew it was another ear infection. After a couple hours of wailing we headed up to Cornerstone Pediatric Urgent Care just a couple miles from our house. Surprisingly, our first urgent care experience was a really good one. The doctor (Dr. Raj Patel) was excellent AND he believes me now that Henry will vomit all stomach contents when given medicine. So he got a shot in the leg and off we went to Walgreens for some augmentin (and a week of heartache for us trying to give it to him). Then home for a bath, a bottle and bed. He is snoozing soundly now, and I am wondering how long that will last. He hurts worse when he is lying down. And, yes, Val and I are still sick, too, just in case you were wondering. Beware of us right now . . .

rubber ducky, you're the one . . .

Here is a photo of Henry at tonight's bath. He had a good day at 'school' today. This blog comes to you from my new macbook. I've been on it the last two nights, and I hope Val won't get jealous. Oh wait, that's him across the room from me on his laptop. We've been downloading and sharing different photos tonight. I've been working on getting the macbook set up how I want it, and getting used to the new operating system, Mac OS X. I like it so far. I haven't started working with movies yet, but I'm really looking forward to it.

michelle the macgirl

I ordered my new macbook this morning and I can't wait for it to get here, should be here Tuesday at the very latest! yipppeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

Grandma and Grandpa Hammer and my first train!

Come on aboard the animal train,
come on everyone!
Learning about animals is really lots of fun!

That's how the song goes . . . hey, what happened to our nice tidy living room anyway? Why do I know exactly what all these noisy toys sing? Why is our house looking like some kind of baby obstacle course playland?

henry's first christmas

. . . and his first hog. Grandpa Fred helps him try it on for size.

henry at seven months

Henry is changing on a daily basis. It breaks your heart, and is so exciting at the same time. He is sitting up, eats solids like a champion, and is getting really close to crawling. You must watch him at all times because he is getting very mobile and into things! He is such a happy baby I can hardly believe he's the same kid from those first couple (very trying) months. He smiles and giggles all the time and is into exploring everything. He loves Olive. He has outgrown his infant car seat and is in the 75th percentile for height and weight. His hair had recently grown out of control and he received his second buzz cut on New Year's Day (the first one came at three months when we had to loose the mohawk-mullet.) He squeals with delight whenever something makes him happy and he is very into jumping. He jumps in the jumparoo at daycare all the time, and talked his parents into getting him one for at home. He sleeps well at night (bedtime is my FAVORITE time of the day!) and is not so good at sleeping during the day. Napping schedule is a little erratic, but that maybe has something to do with his first tooth coming in. It hasn't popped up yet, but we definitely know it is there. Other than the teething side effects, I am happy to report Henry is healthy! No stuffed up nose or cough here! No humidifier running in his room at night. Ahhhhhh.

bonding with uncle ryan

We all had a great time with Ryan and Kristin while they were here for Christmas! And Kristin sure is a good sport for putting up with all of us (especially Ryan). Welcome to the family, Kristin!

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