sittin' pretty

henry is getting better and better at sitting up to play!

and just some general goofiness for your enjoyment, i think of all the toys henry has, he loves playing with his blankets most :)

ALSO, as you can see, we updated the blog's design with one of henry's 6 month pics.  I'm working on the rest of them and they should be up shortly!  He didn't smile much because he was a little overwhelmed with his surroundings! We set him in the grass and he didn't know what to do with himself--haha--he just ended up staring and drooling mostly--oh yes, and trying to eat it :)  but that's also because i think he's working on some teeth...we'll see.  

creeper

here's a video of henry creeping up on a hat. he's got the army crawl down pretty good now and goes after everything that catches his eye! he likes to reach up and turn the dvd player on too now--already getting into things :)

henry also had his post-op appt. today, and they said that everything is lookin' good! thanks to everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and concern--we greatly appreciate it!

happy daddy day!

woopee! we had a great day hanging out with dad, after church we vegged out and watched the u.s. open and had lasagna and ice cream!  henry got his dad a new golf hat--of course!--something they can both play with :)

AND a happy father's day to our dads and grampas!!  thank you for all you do, we are who we are because of you--we love you!

no more baby neck bubble :)

henry's surgery went really well!  Dr. Todd said that everything went smoothly, even though it did take longer than they originally thought it would, about an hour longer....yeah we were a little nervous waiting for him.    I guess it isn't a typical procedure--but that's what henry is all about!  they gave us some pictures of the mass they removed (don't worry, I won't be posting them), and said it was bigger than they thought it was.  it felt so good to hold him after he woke up!  everyone says that babies bounce back pretty quickly, and I thought yeah yeah okay whatever...but seriously, henry is doing awesome!  I thought that he might sleep alot, and be, like, a little sad or something--but no.  he woke up after surgery, chowed down, took a long nap, and then he was his normal self--crawling around in his hospital crib, chatting and flirting with the nurses, blowing bubbles, playing with his toys--like nothing happened.  nothing could hold him back.  he even got rid of all the cords they had hooked up to him.  one after the other--he yanked the heart monitor off, then he decided he didn't need an iv, and then he thought he should be done with the drain they had connected to his wound.  so by about 7:00 that night, he was free!  He slept well, got up once to eat and then passed right out again.  this morning he swung by the treasure chest in pediatrics, picked out a toy, gave the nurses a smile and a wink and we were off.  now we are home and henry is back to business as usual.  on monday we will follow up with Dr. Todd.  

here are some pics of henry at home now, playing with his new toys.  we got him a cool car for being so brave.  (honestly though, I think mommy needs a new toy more than henry...I think this whole ordeal was much harder on me than it was on him!)

and the next two are of henry and his new friend yertle.  gamma and gramps D found this poor little turtle wandering in the hospital hallways.  he was looking lonely, and what do you know, he has a booboo on his neck too, so they introduced him to henry for some cheering up--now they are best buds :)

 

  

long night

it's 3 am and I can't fall asleep.  for the first time, I woke henry up and fed him instead of the other way around.  he can nurse four hours before his surgery, which is scheduled for 7:30 this morning, check-in at 6, so hopefully he won't get hungry before then.  they will be removing his lymph angioma today, and as you can guess from the sleeplessness...I'm a little nervous.  he will be spending the night at the hospital, and then we should be coming home on Thursday.  I'm sure everything will be fine, he's in really good hands.  however, I was looking for excuses to cancel :)  I guess his little runny nose doesn't quite cut it as one.  he is six months old today--I can't believe so much time has gone by already and he has changed and grown so much.  sheesh, I never used to get so sentimental about stuff, and I also didn't worry half as much about someone either.  But I suppose it comes with the territory--motherhood.  it wasn't an easy decision to actually have this surgery in the first place.  since it is benign, I guess we don't necessarily have to have it removed.  and since I think my baby boy is just beautiful the way he is, it's difficult to ask them to remove it.  in fact, it's pretty rare, which I think makes him even more special :)  at the same time, we knew that if we didn't have it done, he would want it done someday.  this way, he won't have any memory of the surgery, and he won't be scared for it. I also want to protect him from the pain that can happen on the playground.  everyone knows we live in a world where we are all too often defined by physical appearance, and I don't want henry to become known as the kid with that thing on his neck.  Instead, I would much rather give his personality a chance to outshine everything else--henry the kid with all the energy that likes to run around and explore (based on his current behavior, this is my future premonition, we'll see if it turns out true).  So even though it isn't necessary medically speaking, it is something we can actually control that will be of some benefit to his future self-esteem.  And I guess we should take those opportunities when we can get them, because from what I know so far, there isn't a whole lot that we are going to be able to control :)  everyday is filled with decisions, we just do what we hope is right out of love.

catching up

 kay, so I think I'll do a few posts today because we need to catch up!  We have been very busy lately visiting family.  Last weekend we made the trip to cold spring mn for uncle levi's graduation and henry had  fun playing with his grampa, gran, and his aunties and uncle.  his great grandparents were there too....and I don't think he minded all the attention :)  we had a great time--congrats to levi!

and this past weekend grampa kelly and uncle conor came to visit and lavished the little man with attention too!  what a lucky and loved little boy :)

ps-from all the traveling you think that henry would be used to his car seat...however, he absolutely hates being in it!  unlike most babies, who fall asleep in theirs, he screams until you take him out.  most of the time we just wait until he's asleep to go anywhere...otherwise its a very sad trip.  if anyone has any tips or tricks to help remedy such a situation...or at least make it more bearable we would be happy to hear them!

crawling cutie!

henry crawled for the first time today!  he saw his daddy's hat on the floor, propped himself up on all fours and took two little wobbly creeps forward then kerplopped to his belly :)   haha, maybe I won't bother austin about leaving his hats on the floor anymore if they are going to provide motivation like this for henry!  he loves his dad's golf hats :)

the tale of the stinky stink

henry has been hammin' it up lately with his yammering.  he loves to chat, even if there is no one there to listen.  obviously, what he has to say is incredibly important.  today, while changing a particularly icky diaper he went on and on, so after I washed up I grabbed the camera and snuck up on him.  Yep, it was a stinky yucky diaper change, but you don't have to take my word for it, henry tells it way better---  

peas vs. potatoes

Henry has been chowing down.  So far he enjoys sweet potatoes, bananas, applesauce, and pears.  When we thought we should try out some new veggies we went for sweet peas...because well, "sweet" is in the name...so they should be as good as sweet potatoes right?       

wrong.

After a small sampling, Henry said no thank you.

what is this green junk? gimme my potatoes!

mmmmmmm   much better

And here's henry practicing his sippy skills.  so big. He already wants to do everything himself :)

Henry's First Holiday Away!

We traveled to Missouri this past Memorial Day weekend to visit family and stayed at a fun resort with my older brother, his wife, and their little girl, my parents, and my younger brother and his girlfriend.  We had a great time, the weather was gorgeous, and Henry had some firsts! 

Here we are by the lake-- all smiles 

Henry got to spend some quality bonding time with his cousin Kaydyn who is one year and one day older than him!  She will have a little brother soon, so this weekend was good practice :)

playing peek-a-boo

Henry tries out some sunglasses for the first time and looks stinkin' cute...of course.

Playin' with uncle George

havin' a good laugh

then uncle Trav shared his lap too!

Grandma's Turn!

Grampa bein' goofy 

Mini-golfing with Dad and showing him how to putt with your toes

golfing with daddy

Off to the pool for our first swim

Dippin' our toes

Henry was fascinated with the little sprinklers in the baby pool

He wasn't afraid of the water at all!

All pooped out from swimmin'

weeeeeee! Henry thinks he could get used to this vacation thing.