Football Season

Both of the boys in my life have been enjoying football season!  They wear crimson (and sometimes orange!) every Saturday and love to watch the games together.  

This is a conversation that went on in our house while an Alabama game was on:

Henry:  Ababa (Alabama) is not winning.
Me:  They aren't?
Henry:  Well I'll ask Daddy if they're winning.

(He runs from the kitchen into the living room.  Travis tells him that Alabama is winning big time.  He runs back into the kitchen.)

Henry:  Ababa is winning big!!!
Me:  Good!  Roll tide!
Henry:  I know!  It IS roll tide!  It's DEFINITELY roll tide!!

One Week

These are a few of the pictures that Steven and Teri Lee took of Cora at 1 week old.  They did such a wonderful job, and we are so grateful to have these pictures!  And on top of that, they brought us a yummy meal...thanks so much!

Cora Jane Hancock

I know I haven't updated the blog in a while, but I've had a good reason!  We had our second baby, Cora Jane Hancock, join our family on September 19 at 9:10 AM.  She weighed 8 lbs, 7 oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.

She came on her own, a week before her due date, just like I was hoping she would.  I woke up around 12:30 AM with contractions so I got out of bed to monitor them and see if this was really labor or just a false alarm.  They continued and were getting closer together.  Knowing we still had a little time before we would need to head to the hospital, I woke Travis up and told him what was going on.  He acknowledged me and went back to sleep :)  He wanted to make sure it was the real thing before getting out of bed!  So I got our things together and called our neighbors, Mo and Drew, to come over and stay with Henry until my Mom could get there.  By that time the contractions were close enough together, so we left for the hospital.  

We still weren't sure if this was real labor, since I was induced with Henry and didn't have anything to compare it to, so we waited to call our families until we knew for sure.  But the nurse at the hospital said that I was starting to dilate, so I was admitted around 3:00 AM.

I was afraid that my doctor wouldn't be there to deliver the baby since we came in the middle of the night, but things progressed fairly slowly at first.  We ended up just hanging out through the night until the next morning when Dr. Shelley got there.  She broke my water, and after that it went very quickly -- Cora was born about 15 minutes later!

We were able to hold her and nurse her almost right away, and then Travis went out to the waiting room and brought Henry in to meet her.  He loved her right away and has continued to be very sweet with her!  (Although sometimes his ideas of what will be helpful to her are a little off :) )

Sorry this video is sideways...I tried to turn it but it obviously didn't work :)

Our stay in the hospital was a little shorter this time...we were ready to get back home to our beds and our other child!  We came home on Friday evening.  

This picture was right after we brought Cora in.  Henry was ready to read her a book right away! 

Cora has been a great baby so far!  We are still figuring out how to do life with two kids, but for the most part Cora has been very laid back and has fit herself right into our daily routine.  We are so blessed with our little family and are so grateful that the Lord has brought Cora to be a part of it!

Whiskers

Henry:  Where Daddy go?
Me:  Daddy went to shave his face.  He has to shave off his whiskers.
Henry:  Sometimes kitty cats have whiskers.
Me:  Yes, they do, that's right.
Henry:  But Daddy is not kitty cat.

Haha, good job recognizing that faulty logic!

Animal friends

Henry loves his stuffed animals right now!  He likes them to go where he goes and do what he does.  He calls them his friends and says that they are all friends...sometimes a particular animal misses another animal who is not in the same room as they are.

Bear and Woof (dog) are his favorites and sleep with him every night.  Sometimes he even wants a hug and kiss from Bear and Woof instead of Mommy or Daddy when he gets hurt!

Here he is feeding a few of his friends.

I guess when you're an only child you have to come up with playmates from somewhere.  We're just hoping that all of this affection transfers to his new sister when she joins us!

Brownies for breakfast

Me:  Henry, would you like oatmeal for breakfast?
Henry (looking at the brownies on the table that we had made to take to church):  No, just brownie.

Nice try, Bud :)

New bed!

Travis built Henry a toddler bed about a month ago.  Henry has done great with the transition to his big boy bed!  We've had some instances of him getting out to get toys or books, but overall it has gone much more smoothly than I expected.

He loves the bed, and still refers to it as "Henry new bed."

Making Saturday morning breakfast

Helping cook (aka taste) is one of Henry's favorite things to do!

Waiting for baby

Henry talks about the new baby all the time.  I'm glad he's so excited about it, but I'm not sure he really knows what he's in for when she does come!  These are a few of the things he's said lately about the baby.


Henry:  I hope baby come out soon.  I wait and wait and wait for baby come out!

Henry:  My baby is moving!
Me:  Are you hungry?  Is your stomach growling?
Henry:  No, baby in there!

The Little Mermaid

Henry:  Sometimes Henry watch movie with Jaden and Kelsey.
Me:  What's your favorite movie to watch with Kelsey and Jaden?
Henry:  I'm not really sure.
Me:  I like The Little Mermaid.
Henry:  I like the BIG mermaid!

A Built-In Table

One of the advantages of being pregnant :)

Fingerpainting

Biltmore house

Travis and I got to enjoy a date weekend last month, thanks to Andi and Boo taking care of Henry.  We were able to visit the Biltmore house for the day, which neither of us had seen before.  The house and the grounds were amazing, and we had beautiful weather for enjoying them.  It was so nice to be able to spend the day together, and I know that Henry had a fun day as well!

27 weeks

I know we haven't done an official announcement on any social media, so I'm sorry if you're surprised, but I'm pregnant with our second -- a baby girl!  I'm 29 weeks right now, but this picture was taken a few weeks ago.

Biscuit making

Henry loves to help me in the kitchen.  He runs over to the table and starts dragging a chair over to the counter any time he hears me say that I am going to make something.  I think he really just likes it because I let him taste :)

Here is a picture of him helping me make biscuits on Fathers' Day-- one of Travis' favorites and a recipe that has been passed down for generations in his family.  I'm sure there will be lots of repeats of this!

Friends

Henry loves his good friend Sydney!  She came over for two mornings a few weeks ago and they had a great time playing together.  They especially loved hide and seek and jumping in Henry's bed.

Here they are cheesin for the camera...so cute!

Rainy Day

Watching a movie in the tent a few weeks ago.

He wanted to save some to watch with Daddy after work :)

Henry's birthday

Henry's second birthday was May 13th.  We celebrated on the actual day with his favorite meals -- 

grilled cheese for lunch, pizza for supper -- and ate both of them outside!

We took the pizza and cupcakes to the lake for a picnic, since Henry really loves going to the lake.

He actually ended up feeding his cupcake to the fish after he ate the frosting off...I guess we know which part is his favorite.

But he really loved looking at the fish with Daddy!

We also got to see boats,

throw rocks in the water,

and play some football.

Happy boy!

We also had a little birthday party the next weekend with the Kaldenbachs and grandparents.

Henry finished off that day by helping Travis wash the car and getting completely soaked, then coming in to play with his new "choo choo trains" minus the wet clothes.

We had a great time celebrating Henry's little life.  We love our two year old and we are so blessed by him and grateful that the Lord has entrusted him to us!

Beach Trip

A few weeks ago Henry and I were able to go to the beach with Andria, Teri Lee, Carter and Samuel.  Andria has rented this condo for a week the last two Summers, and Henry and I were able to go last year and this year.  It is so nice being right on the beach with the boys, and it is so much fun for all of them to get to play together.

I think Henry's favorite activity of the week was playing "choo choo trains."  Carter brought his train set and Henry never got tired of it.  

The boys also all enjoyed watching movies...

and even got to use Andi's ipad!

There were also lots of books read

and lots of bubbles blown on the back porch.

We also went to the aquarium in Myrtle Beach on one of the rainy days.  Henry loved putting his hands in the water in the touch tanks, but he wasn't such a big fan of the fish swimming in them...I think he missed the point of that :)

And we got to go under the water tunnel!

The first day that we went out to the beach, Henry was enjoying putting his feet in the water and feeling the waves...

until he got overconfident and this happened.  Then he didn't want to go near the water for the rest of the week!

But all of the boys enjoyed playing and digging in the sand.

And this little guy especially loved it!  Carter and Henry were very careful not to get wet or sandy while playing, but Samuel had no reservations!

Even though we had a great time, we still missed Daddy!  Henry got to talk to him on the phone most afternoons.

And on the last day that Henry and I were there, we took a trip to Krispy Kreme!  Henry hadn't had a Krispy Kreme doughnut before, but he loved it.

And this was the funniest reaction I've ever seen anyone have to a doughnut!

Thanks, Andi, for a fun week at the beach!