Hank, The Hen Man, Henster

I'd say one of our bigger problems these days is that we have three different devices on which to take pictures. The big, nice, expensive camera that is heavy and horrible to lug around, Alan's phone which is a 4S and takes pretty decent pictures, and my 3G which takes the WORST pictures. Of course, most of the pictures get taken with the 3G because I'm a woman obsessed...first off with Henry and secondly with Instagram. So I'm sure everyone's seen their fair share of pics through there, but I'm just going to post the pics we've been taking with the nice big camera right now....since combining all three would be complete MAYHEM. Shall we? 

Henry at about 5 weeks or so. He already looks so much different...he's got hair all over that bald head now! 

And here's our little man going cross-eyed. Ha ha this picture is just kiiiillling me. He was pretty much cross-eyed all the time for the first 5 weeks of his life. He's figured it out now though, get off his back!

My Henny has very nice skin. Thanks gramma Dix! 

Same day...just got the camera out and played around with it for a while, nothing too exciting. Except for everything Hen was doing...because that's ALWAYS exciting. We are constantly just bent over top of him watching him do nothing (well, pretty much nothing). 

So here's the start of our trip home to SoAB. We decided to make it a fun little drive so we woke up real early (including having to wake Henry up to feed him) and hit up Drumheller for a serious dinonsaur fix and then Calgary for a serious shopping fix. Here's Al at the Royal Tyrell Museum...is that what it's called? 

We usually fight over who gets to carry Hen...Al won this battle. So I just took pictures of him the whole time, occasionally getting a dinosaur bone in the background. 

The museum was fun. I really wish I would have ate lunch before we got there because I mostly remember being starving and thirsty as H the entire walk through the museum, but it was cool. I'm sure it would have been cooler if I liked dinosaurs? Or wasn't completely creeped out by their existence. Also, if I would have eaten lunch before.......

Hehe..Henry. Those pants don't even fit him anymore. 

 We tried going for a walk through the "badlands". Is that what they're called? It was so BLOODY hot and I didn't have any shorts that fit me at the time and wore long sleeves because Al likes the car cold so I was about dead...also, still hadn't eaten lunch. If you're wondering what's in the bag, it's a stuffed dino for Hen. He's spoiled already, don't even worry about it.

I give Drumheller a 7/10 overall (I've been watching a lot of reality TV lately). I've always wanted to go, and I'm glad we went. I'd say my favorite part was just how the ENTIRE town revolves around dinosaurs. They are as obsessed with dinos as we are with Henry!

 Then we went to Waterton when we made it to SoAB...with these cute faces...ALL of them being cute. Jen, this is me sending you this picture...here you go. Even though I know you got Pam to take more for you cause you think I SUCK at photography.

 It was heaven being in Waterton. Serious, absolute bliss. We miss the mountains SO MUCH in S'toon. Technically, they do have one mountain here. You can even ski on it. But it's legitimately a man-made pile of dirt on the edge of a coulee. No, that's what it is...I am NOT lying to you right now.

 Henry loved camping. He even got this blanket from Caribou Clothes...spoooooiled.

Another picture of me??? I dunno.....why....I put this up....I'll just leave it.....no going back now....

We also hiked Bears Hump with Hen, that was fun. I got to carry him that time and I did some really good sweating. We took 5 little kids up with us. It was pretty impressive, I must say. 

Jen had a shower for me when I was home. It was the best. I got to see everyone I don't ever get to see and show Hen off. Here's me and Bonnie trying our darndest to pose for a picture...FAAAAIL. 

Me and Britt with Hazel and Henry. I can't believe we both have babies...weren't we just playing with FAKE babies like a year ago? Yup, sure were. 

 HENRY'S BLESSING DAY!

 We blessed him in Welling with both of our whole families minus Sam and Lanny. It was (and I mean this) a very special day. I might be getting choked up thinking about it. I just loved having our family around all in one place and I love being married to someone so amazing who can bless our babies. He's just such a good dad (tears). I'm such a cheesy mom now....always tearing up. I'm just so in love with my boys, OK?!?!?!?

 Henry never woke up once. I waited and waited to get a pic of him in his outfit with his eyes open but by the time it happened he had poop seeping up to his neck rolls....soooo....

 Just fixing the bow-tie all nice and good. His double chin kept flattening it.

 How good is this?!?!?! hahaha my little munchkin. My milk is 100% cream..all jokes aside. I mean what would you expect? All I eat is carbs and sugar. :D

 Pam took this one for us so it looks a lot nicer. That skirt looks pretty weird when I sit down though.....who knew!

 Baker and Pam lovin the swing.

 Grandma and Grandpa and ALL their grandbabies. Everyone was quite matchy!

 In the process of changing him out of his poop-covered outfit. He has gained more weight since this picture...if you can believe it.

 And this is Hen back at home looking at his toys. He's just getting so smart and big and cute and chubby and fun. He smiles and coos and loves to look at his toys swinging back and forth. We just really really love him and I just REALLY REALLY love playing with him all day.

Stay-at-home mom trial = success.

Fatty

So I got my maternity shoot back from Esther and just wanted to share a few of my favorites. It's easier to look back on being pregnant than to look at yourself when you are pregnant...I actually enjoy these pictures now but I'm sure if I would have seen them while I was still a fatty...I would have wanted to cry....because I would have been pregnant...and every possible thing made me cry. 

 Now that's a round belly if I ever saw one. Isn't this little garden pretty?! Saskatoon might not have a lot to offer, but it IS pretty around here.....not that that makes up for the shopping opportunities...or lack thereof. This skirt is from Sears, which I find hilarious. You take what you can get around here.

 This house is one of the oldest in Saskatoon or something...so they have it set apart as a garden/walk-through place. It's cute. I might maybe frame this one like 3 years down the road (takes me a while to make decisions)

 Knotting Hill, anyone? Isn't it everyone's dream to be pregnant lying on a bench on their husbands lap ever since that movie? While it was a dream come true, it also wasn't. I'd imagined it to be a little more comfortable....Julia Roberts made it look so easy.

 That HOUSE!

 We're tender like this...24/7.

 I'll just remind everyone that I had my baby like 3 days after this photo shoot........look at that beelllaaay!

Ok now it's time for me to post about Henry. Should take me about 72 hours cause I have 7 billion pictures to sift through. Good think I made cake yesterday to snack on whilst in the process!

Pam I Am

Ok I have a LOT to talk about I knooow I know but I don't have time so all you're getting are a few pictures for now. We have been doing a lot with our little Hen man and I'm going to tell you all about it with an obnoxious amount of detail but that will have to wait until Al starts school and I'm bored and crying to myself in bed all day cause I miss him. AKA I'll have a poop load time on my hands...maybe...

While we were home in Alberta this past week, Pam my sis-in-law said she'd do a free shoot of our little family. She works full-time and me and Al and Henry were all over the freaking place so it was hard to get a time scheduled in...but on Henry's blessing day after his dinner out at the in-law's farm Pam suggested we do a few pics.

Hen had had a lovely poop explosion all over his adorable blessing outfit (coming soon to a blog near you) and Alan didn't bring anything cute to wear, so he switched outfits with Derick, Hen wore a back-up outfit I had, and I am awesome and brought clothes...but not shoes...so these are Pam's shoes...so ALL the credit goes to Pam and Derick..thanks guys!

 Isn't Henry big?!!? I love LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE kissing his chub. Can't emphasize that enough.

 My favorite part of the session had to be Pam telling Alan to "stop just squinting and smile"....no, that's just how he smiles every time a camera is involved. Very forced. But we love him anyways!

 What we do..ALL day.

 Oh freak, I love that double chin.

 Hank on a log.

 He refused to look at the camera. I assume this age is kind of difficult to take pictures of....he wasn't quite at the point of focusing on us yet. Just started this week!

 Henry in a tire. This might be my favorite ever.

 He cooperated good for these ones...don't you love him?? I go nuts!

I love my little family. And also our family we got to visit this summer...we miss everyone so much. Thanks for the pictures Pam! Always shocked how good they turn out since we are a disaster whenever a camera is involved.

I'm not sure why people are so nice to me, but I have a few more photo shoots to share that were also done pro bono. I will post the pics when I get them but for now, check out my friend Esther's blog. I looove all her work. You can find the pics of us HERE and HERE.

Henry's Birfff Stowy

Warning: this is a really long birff stowy, and baby talk has consumed our lives. 

Isn't it annoying when people finally have their babies and don't post about it for weeks?! It definitely annoys the H outta me. And here I am, with a 3 week old baby..already starting to forget how this even came to be. I spent a few nights writing his story down in my journal...hopefully I can sum it up a bit better for you guys.

So let's see...it all started with high blood pressure and SWOLLEN feet. Big big big feet and ankles that hurt. The doc was worried about me so kept suggesting induction. Every time he'd mention it, I'd feel overly nervous and even more excited. One thing that comes with having babies - a whole schwack of feelings. So after a visit to the dr on Tuesday the 19th...we ended up in the hospital all day taking tests and getting monitored. They told me to come back the next day to get induced. 

On Wednesday, we were called in the morning and told to come in around 9. We grabbed our bag full of snacks (didn't pack much else...typical) and rushed in. Ended up waiting around in a shared room until about 2...when they put my Cervidil in. That alone was uncomfortable enough for me...get your hands OUTTA there ...geez. They had to take that route cause I wasn't dilated at all. 

I was told to wait around for a while and then to try going on walks. So we did. We were at the hospital down by the river so we went for a walk down there...with me in my robe and slippies...looking pretty classic! We got back at about 4 and I immediately started feeling things. Mostly contractions in my back. We were way too excited now that I think back...I should have felt the opposite if I knew what was coming...but I knew I'd meet my baby soon and that was over-ruling all the impending doom. 

We waited...I told Alan every little twinge and pain I felt (he loves when I do that) and we giggled and laughed and ate treats real annoying-like while the people in the curtain next to us sat quietly and every so often documented "man, this SUCKS". They were a tad bit pessimistic. 

I stopped laughing at about supper time. Things started hurting and our little walks down the hall and to the cafeteria were becoming impossible. This kept on all night. It hurt worse every contraction but was still bearable. The problem was that the pain was constant..I wasn't getting "real" contractions so I wasn't getting a break. Just really terrible back pain and constant little contractions. I sat in a jacuzzi for a few hours (glorious) and at about 1 in the morning I was BEGGING to get checked cause I was sure I was going somewhere with this. They checked me aaaaaaaand...I was 1 cm. I bawled. They gave me Morphine (which I had told myself I wouldn't take) and I fell asleep...miraculously. 

I woke up at 3 with "real" contractions and tried to work through them myself so Al could get some sleep in the family room. It lasted about an hour and I knew I needed help. I was in too much pain to call Al so I managed between contractions (which were VERY close together) to text him "can you come back". We buzzed the nurse...begging her again to check me. She did. 2 cm. AAAH I was dying. They said I needed to be 4 before I could get an epidural. Some other nurse came and checked me and to my pleasant surprise accidentally broke my water while she was up in there. ha ha NICE! that meant I could go to the delivery room...and away we went! 

side note: my water breaking = coolest feeling of my life.

so THEN I wanted my epidural...liiike, real bad. and i got it. and it was, liiike, real good. Alan claims after I got it I fell asleep and he ran to the car for a few things and called my mom (she had driven here the day before) and yada yada...but I don't remember that. A few hours passed and I started to feel my contractions pretty good...and felt some serious pushing urges. I ignored them cause I'm smart like that. When the nurse did a random check on me she was shocked...I was fully dilated and pretty much ready to go. Guess I should have told her sooner that I'd been holding the baby in for hours! 

another side note: the nurse checking me when I was dilated = weirdest feeling ever. she could fit her whole hand up there! 

The doctor was called, my mom showed up, about 20 more people came into my room...and I pushed...and pushed REALLY hard. My epidural took away a lot of the back labor I was having, but I could still feel my contractions really good which was kind of nice cause I knew when to push. I did it all pretty much on my own..no one even told me what to do...which I found interesting but also stressful cause I like being told what to do. I held my own legs and pushed when I felt I should while everyone cheered me on like a Raymond Comet!!!! (so that's how that feels)

I pushed for about 30 minutes and out Henry came. Holy EEEFFFFF that hurt. I don't remember what the pain was like all I remember is screaming at the top of my lungs similar to how I would scream if I was on a roller coaster cause I hate heights/rides/going fast. 

They flopped him on me and said "it's a boy!" I was still screaming...like a spaz. And then I screamed at the doctors to take him because I couldn't hear him crying and all I knew was I wanted him to be ok and knew I didn't know how to make him ok. They took him, made him ok (he was fine...just really calm)...and I got to lay there happy for about 10 minutes, thinking I was done. The feeling of having that baby out of me was miraculous...and knowing I had a little boy of my own...well I can't even explain it. I was so happy and so excited. He was mine. I had a baby! 

But then came the hard part. I won't go into details but they stitched me up for 2 hours...and I felt it all. And I bawled. And I hated it. I just wanted to hold my baby. Writing this makes me cry, so I'll stop! 

I FINALLY got to relish in the glory of my baby (about 4 hours later) as they wheeled me to postpartum. I was a disaster. I was on serious drugs (they pumped me full of some strong meds to try and calm me down...which was deemed impossible), I had a catheter and an IV in, my hair was in a greasy rats nest atop my head (hadn't showered for days), my whole body was puffed up and swollen, the drugs made me look a lovely pale grey color, and I was continuously puking in a ginormous basin since I couldn't get it in one of those stupid kidney bowls...but the part I remember most is how special it was that I was the only one that was allowed to hold him while they wheeled me down the hall...cause he was mine. He IS mine. And I love him to death. I can't even explain the love I have for this little boy. 

 Dix was the delegated photographer and hadn't been taught how to focus the camera...but here's a good pic of my nurse. I guess she felt it necessary to wear safety goggles for the birth.

 Alan was tremendous through the whole thing. And I NEEDED him...more than I ever could have known.

 So glad grandma was there to watch him while the hard stuff got taken care of.

 This nurse was darling. She cried with me when Henry came out...and also got lucky and got to give me a sponge bath!! the best.

 I crave him.

 After I finally showered (like two days later)

So Henry was born on June 21 at 8 in the morning. He's a perfect baby. He sleeps and eats like a boss and just plays and smiles at us (or maybe at his farts) when he's awake. I'm guessing this blog will transform into a documentation of Henry's cute little life, but I'm guessing that's ok with you cause he's SO CUTE. I can't stand how cute his little face is. So happy he's in our life.