I believe that children are our future.....a tribute to Whitney (aka baby play group)

Last weekend some girlfriends came over with their lil' ones to drink some wine, eat some food, and let the kiddos play.  This marked Hank's official first time ever sitting up on his own!  My Mom is to thank.  She sat him up with Oliver and Miyu, and Hank saw how it was done and made it happen. 

My friend Sheila brought Oliver (9.5 months old), Yumi brought Miyu (9 months old) and Hayley brought her sweet little newborn, Elsa.  My sister, Anne, brought her daughter/my niece, Scarlett (2 years and 4 months old). 

Scarlett is a livewire - she provides a glimpse at what the rest of us have in store for us.  As soon as she comes over she has to be the center of attention.  When she isn't throwing Hank's socks down the heating vent (her new little game), she's stripping down to her diaper, jumping around and generally being a crazy (but very sweet) toddler. 

This was Hayley's first outing with just her and Elsa (she's brave!) since Elsa was only 2 weeks old.  And they had a great time (well, I think Hayley did at least, Elsa mostly slept of course).  I hope these guys all stay really good friends.....   

Oliver (left), Hank, and Miyu

Yumi (with Miyu), Sheila (with Oliver) and my Mom (with Hank).  I did warn Sheila that this would be a sexy picture of her.

Miyu, Hank's future girlfriend, who loved hogging the toys - what a cutie pie

Here's proof - Hank watching Miyu - look, no hand's, it's all Hank!

My sister, Emily, with Yumi and Miyu

New mom, Hayley, with 2 week old Elsa - I had to take a picture quick while she was awake

Hank checking out Oliver - probably trying to figure out how to do that next.

Me with the sweet little bundle, Elsa

Smoked salmon chowder

I made a yummy smoked salmon chowder a few weeks ago to eat while we watched the Oscars.  It's an adaptation on a recipe from the Food Network Magazine.  It was seriously good - my brother Christian even said it was the best thing I'd ever made.  That's a big compliment. 

1 lb smoked salmon (I used the fresh kind from Freddy's, the trim pieces per recommendation from the fish department)
4-5 carrots
4 medium potatoes
1 red pepper (optional, I just wanted to use this up)
3/4-1 lb. brussels sprouts, cut in half through root
1 onion, diced
1/2 lemon (juice only)
1 bunch of fresh dill
7 cups stock (I use veggie)
1 cup half and half
3 T. butter
3 T. flour
1 T. Old Bay seasoning
Pepper to taste

Peel and cut the carrots and potatoes in similar sizes.  Saute the diced onion in some olive oil, then melt the butter and add flour (stir for a minute or so).  Add the Old Bay and black pepper.  Add the stock, then the diced carrots, potatoes and brussels sprouts.  Simmer until tender, approximately 10-15 minutes, adding the red pepper towards the end cause it cooks fast.  Add the half and half, then the smoked salmon.  Last, add the juice of half a lemon and the chopped fresh dill. 

Our friend Matt with Hank on Oscar night

Check out Hank in his cute overalls, courtesy of Trang

Hank, in the backyard last week

Hank this morning in his Johnny Jump Up - so close to figuring this out!

Dogs....You know I love em!

I remember my good friend, Jane, saying that if we ever had a kid we'd get rid of our dogs.  Of course I said, 'No way, we'd never do that!'.  She came back with "Well, at least the most annoying one".  Well she knew more than I, she was a new mother at the time.  We haven't gotten rid of one, but I wish we could daily.  The biggest problem is that two of our little darlings like to pee on new things, and lately that's been baby stuff.  We've discovered they've been peeing on all sorts of things: new stuff for Hank (even before he was born), Christmas presents (two years in a row), and most recently the new rug in for Hank's room. 

I've been pretty frustrated with the dogs, and pretty much ok with getting rid of at least one of them (Iggy), who I think is the main problem - he starts peeing on stuff and Pugsley has to pee over it.  The doggy diapers (our attempt at a solution) have been a huge burden, especially when you already have a kid in diapers, and they're not really a solution. 

So we had a bit of a fight a couple weeks ago and Julian thought he'd teach me a lesson by throwing all the dogs outside without their collars.  Of course they didn't stick around, and we both ended up running around the neighborhood trying to find them while I was trying to bake a cake for our friend's baby shower.  He did eventually find them, and I was actually relieved and agreed not to bring up giving them away again. 

But I have to admit I think about it every day - which is the most annoying one I'd give away?  I don't know, every day a different one would earn that honor.  The other morning I stepped on a dried turd on Hank's rug (I didn't see the other piles in the dark).  Tonight I took them up to our bedroom (where they're crates are) the other two ran into Hank's room!  So I ended up having to crawl around on my hands and knees in the dark (Hank is asleep) to make sure no one peed or poohed on the carpet.  I guess they're hoping they become our babies again....I hope they do some day.  In the mean time I'll work on my patience, because I'm going to need it.

Drool factory......

Hank's been drooling like crazy for at least the past month or so.  Messy but pretty cute.....

If you thought the Hungers were German....in fact we are Polish.

My sister, Anne, is doing a wonderful job watching Hank during the day while we're both at work.  I came home the other day to find Hank dressed up in a mighty cute outfit that Aunt Anne had put him in during the day.  Now that he's drooling on everything and attempting to eat some solid foods he's now in for a few costume changes a day.

If I hadn't known that Anne had dressed him I could have figured it out though because there are some striking similarities in his outfit and the way she used to dress herself......you be the judge.

Hank (approx 4 months)....Notice navy doggy shirt, brown & green striped leggies and checkered socks

Anne (approx age 7)..Notice striped shirt, flowery leggings and plaid shoes

Hank's first Mexican bubble bath

What is cuter than a baby's face when they are trying to take a number two?  Nothing....except when he is taking the pooh on you.

I've been taking Hank into the bath with me lately.  It's so awesome to take a bath together, and a lot easier than bending over the tub to hold him in his baby bathtub.  So far these baths have been pretty uneventful....until last night.  I was holding him facing me and he was leaning back on my knees when I noticed a bunch of bubbles coming up from the depths.....hence his first Mexican bubble bath (to my knowledge). 

But it didn't stop there.  The next thing I noticed he had pushed out two big beanies.  Thank goodness they were beanies and not the typical soft baby stuff.  Julian was downstairs and couldn't hear me calling, so I had to keep an eye on the beanies until he came back upstairs to scoop them out of the tub.  We stayed in the bath a little longer (Julian goes back downstairs) and the next thing I noticed Hank got the poop-face going this time, really getting ready to push one out.  And guess what he did - yep, pooped on me again.  I learned my lesson that time and got out of the tub. 

Here are some recent pics.  I've spared you any pics related to this story though.

Hank is flying high with Daddy.

Me with my denim demon

Hank's first metal jacket

Anyone that knows us knows that Julian is a huge metal-head.  I'm an old (well, not that old!) rocker too and love lots o' metal as well.  So we figured Hank should have a few metal jackets in babyhood.  Who knows what type of music he'll be into once he's older, but for now he's ours to dress up!

We bought this first jacket used.  But we inherited several more (bigger) denim jackets from my wonderful boss (Trang), who gave us her two boys' clothes.  No, the jacket did not come this way, but that would have been cool.  Julian sewed on all of the patches.

I'm sexy and I know it.....wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.

Here's a better view of the front.

A view of the back.

Since I took pics near it: here is our new hawk, sold to us by our friend Chris.

Hank's first beach trip

A couple of weeks ago we spent a few nights at the beach.  Before going on maternity leave I remember thinking how we'd be making all these outings - wine tasting, beach trips, karaoke, going out to eat a lot, etc. 

Well, reality hit and I realized that having a new baby means spending a whole lot of time at home.  Especially a super cranky baby.  It took us a bit, but we finally realized that Hank had what's called "purple crying".  This is an acronym for:
P - peak crying (peaks around 2 months)
U - unpredictable
R - resistent to soothing
P - pained look on face
L - long bouts of crying
E - evening crying 

This was Hank, absolutely.  And it was beyond frustrating and nerve wracking.  Both Julian and I were in tears so many times trying to figure out why he was crying so much and how we could make him stop.  When Hank was awake he was crying.  And just before 2 months he got a whole lot better.  Now when he cries it's usually for a reason we can pretty much figure out. 

So, needless to say, we didn't leave the house much in the first few months.  We're still a little freaked out to take him out to a restaurant, or anywhere there are many people to hear his freak outs (because I believe he's one of the world's loudest babies).  Things are getting better.  But being at home, or a friend's home, saves us money, too. 

Julian's parents were nice enough to let us use some of their timeshare points and we stayed for 2 nights at the Seaside timeshare.  This place was super nice: a 2 bedroom with a full kitchen and balcony with oceanview.  And best of all - it was free! 

J Dog and me (holding Hank)

Anne (holding her daughter, Scarlett), Emily, Hank and me

Parenthood is sexy!

We went to Powell's last weekend, and then walked around the Pearl so we could get a little exercise before the rain really kicked in.  We'd stopped at a Starbuck's so we could change Hank's diaper and feed him.  Then we went home - I tell you this so you could see how quickly this happened:

Hank is looking pretty content here, right after we got home

Uh-oh, guess what he was hiding!

Oh, it gets worse!

A visit from a celebrity!

I guess word has gotten out about the new boy in town.  Just yesterday we had a visit from a celebrity, none other than Jesco White aka The Dancing Outlaw!

Jesco White aka The Dancing Outlaw (aka Julian)

Cookie seems to dig Hank

Lookin' cute!

Scarlett with her cousin Hank

Some new pics

We went into my work today, here is my boss (Trang) holding Hank

Hank already has team spirit!  Holding his banner (aka dog bandana)

Deep thoughts by Hank Bijsmans

Our little buddy

Our little buddy, Hank, finally arrived just over 3 weeks ago, on September 15th at 8:10pm.  I was a week overdue and was induced, something I dreaded, for good reason - it sucked!  I don't know how much easier natural labor would have been, and I guess I'll never know, but I'd heard being induced was more intense and I can only imagine it was. 

I went to the hospital at 7am that day to get the party started.  The rest of the day seemed like if things could go wrong they were going to.  Within an hour or so I was supposedly on the Pitocin drip, but Julian noticed the IV lying on the side of the bed, dripping onto the floor.  Thank goodness he noticed that - I'd been sitting there for almost an hour thinking the drip had started and it wasn't hooked up right!  Next my doctor had difficulty breaking the water and had to try probably 4 times before it broke (and we later saw lots of scratch marks on Hank's head from the attempts).  The next many hours sucked - it turns out I had what's called "back labor", where the baby is turned the wrong way, with his head facing out instead of towards you, which causes the back of his head to hit your spinal column and all the nerves around there.  What fun!  So I labored until about 2 or 3pm with just some type of narcotic and realized that was not going to be nearly enough.  The pain in my lower back also shot through my upper legs - it was excrutiating.  Plus I had the normal (but more intense due to the Pitocin) contractions.  So labor plus horrible back and leg pain.  I couldn't walk around any more and couldn't even move or speak (beyond crying and tearing my hair out) and begged for an epidural.  The epidural helped a ton, but didn't fully work and I could still feel the pain in my back and left leg.  My right leg was so dead I couldn't even move it.  The anesthesiologist said that was very uncommon, and apologized, but it was still a big improvement.  Several hours later my doctor had them turn the epidural down by a 1/3 so I could feel more of the contractions and hopefully the urge to push (which never happened).  By then Hank was experiencing distress due to the contractions being so close together.  He wasn't able to recover and his heart rate kept dropping.  That's when things got scary.  My doctor wanted to do an emergency c-section because she was worried about him, and that scared me to death.  They put me on oxygen to help him, and at one point I said that I thought the tube had come undone, but they said no, everything was fine.  Julian noticed many minutes later that it had been undone, I was just breathing into a plastic mask with no air.  I knew it!

I was finally able to get him down far enough that she then began to say she wanted to take me to the operating room to get him out with foreceps - another horrible option - but I said do whatever if it means Hank being ok.  Luckily I got him out all on my own, with the help of Julian, my doctor and probably 4 nurses.  Phew! 

Once he was out he was kind of blue and barely moving.  They resuscitated him and within a few minutes he was doing great.  It was pretty scary to not hear him cry for so long. 

In the end, everything worked out and we have a healthy, although seemingly colicky, baby.  Here are some pics:

Me with Hank, after he was doing better

My brother, Christian, the night Hank was born

My sister, Anne, the day after Hank was born (still in hospital)

My sister, Emily, and brother, Max, a few days later

Fast asleep in one of his cute poses

Asleep with daddy

Looking cute, just a few days old

With his new friend, Amanda

Mommy and Hank just yesterday