Miracle

All three of my children are taking naps at this very instant. I'll be brief here, so I can join that party!

Dear William,
Please just believe your mommy when she tells you that you need a nap. If you skip the tantrum, you'll spare us both some future need for therapy (and you'd get a nap in your awesome car bed which is probably more comfortable than the floor).
Love, Mommy

Out to dinner for Nathaniel's birthday. I love how Andrew's arm is draped on N's shoulder. :)

Being 32 is serious stuff, folks.

UGH. Me looking my age. HAHA!

Macho, Macho Man

Happy Birthday to the love of my life.

Here is his journey of machoness to become the macho poppa that he is today.

Mini Macho

Pee-Wee Macho (Nathaniel is far right)

Teen-Angst Macho

Trophy-Winning Macho

Newly-Wed Macho

Top-Notch-Daddy Macho... times 1 (William)...

...2 (Cameron)...

...and 3 (Andrew)!...

We love you so much Nathaniel. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Happy Birthday William!

William turned three today. Making me feel like an old Momma! We all enjoyed a lovely day with wonderful friends. I'll post more tomorrow... if the three littles let me. Free time has been sparse lately, if you can imagine that...

Happy Birthday to my dearest, darling, angel-heart boy. You bring the greatest joy (and plenty of chaos) to our lives.

March 27, 2007

---fast forward THREE whole years---

What a handsome boy!

sick

Cameron hasn't had much of an appetite all week. After a crying fit yesterday I finally tempted him to eat some delicious cinnamon crumb cake, courtesy of a fabulous neighbor. You can still see the tears on his face! Poor kid.

Oh man. I'm tired of the germs in this house! A week ago Cameron got sick. I had taken him to the doctor last Sunday and they said it was a virus. I took him back in on Tuesday because even the pain meds didn't seem to be helping the poor love. Two ear infections. Then Tuesday/Wednesday nights (only at night) William was waking up with fevers. Thursday night he felt insanely hot and I measured his temp at 106.1! Nathaniel quickly gave him a blessing and rushed him off to the ER. It killed me to not be able to take him, but with a nursing baby ready to eat, what could I do. Daddy did an awesome job anyway (note to self: cut some apron strings). They ran a ton of tests and everything came back negative-- though his chest x-ray showed some congestion so they diagnosed him with pneumonia and gave him some antibiotics too. Then, Nathaniel hoped on the fever train. Fortunately, his was only one night though he's been left with a nasty cough deep in his lungs. I got a horrible head cold, which is fabulously passing. Even sweet little Andrew hasn't been spared (though he missed the fever, thank goodness!), and he has the most pathetic and heartbreaking cough. Not even 4-weeks old... what a rough gig! Hopefully this week things will clear up so we can all get outside and soak up this gorgeous weather!!

You KNOW William is sick when he falls asleep in random locations. I woke him up as soon as I found him asleep though (it was 5pm). Since his nighttime visit to the ER he's been waking up in the middle of the night ready to play... trying to kick that habit out of his system!

Before illnesses got out of hand: William and his best friend Spencer doing what else? Putting forks into their water bottles. Silly boys!

While the bigger boys were occupying themselves with stomping through mud, I was able to get some pictures of Spencer's sweet baby brother Miles. He's just delicious!

Sunday Morning pictures: Since the boys still want to be outside, but I'm trying to keep them away from neighbors we've opened up the backyard to them. It's like a whole new world after the winter stuck inside! This is a very classic and common William pose.

"A" you're adorable...

"A" for Andrew that is. What a stinkin' cute baby.

Cameron had a low fever all day Friday. Saturday night it jumped up into the 102s and stayed there through Sunday... naturally until I took him to the Doctor when they measured it at 99.something. Ears and throat are clear, it's just a virus. Ugh. Poor little guy. This morning it was back at 102. Makes for lots of trips to his room at night in addition to trips to the nursery* every 2 or so hours for Andrew. *Catch that? Sweet Andrew must be a third child. Three weeks old today (happy bday sweetie!) and he's already been booted out of mom and dad's room. Since C is sick the boys and I stayed home from church. Here are the pictures I took while N was out home teaching... Sundays are a busy day around here!

A RARE picture of William actually looking at the camera. Nathaniel and I keep staring at him and pointing out to the other how BIG he's grown. Honestly. Time flies... it wasn't that long ago (less than 3 year, in fact!) that this boy was our itty bitty baby.

Blurry action shot-- but I had to include it as this is such a common daily scene. What you see is that William has just slide tackled Cameron and Cameron is on his way down. Poor little Cameron... one day you'll be able to take down William too. Don't worry!

This is the response to my threat to look at the camera and then I started the dreaded "One.... Two....." then he finally looked... like this. Haha!

Poor sick little C. See that tear drop mark on his pjs.

Sweet baby Andrew. Before I know it, he'll be up and in the chaotic mix with his big brothers. Don't grow up too quickly, okay, my sweet baby?

Nap Time

Theory: Put the two little ones to bed, put the bigger one in front of a movie and sneak a little nap.

Actual results: Two little ones took a great nap. Bigger one could not be distracted by a movie and instead climbed in bed with me to play with my iPhone. I did fall asleep... about 45 times after being awoken every 2-5 minutes to hear a question such as "what color is that, mommy?" (which half the time with William means 'what is that'... even though he knows, he's just quizzing his mom).


My mom left this morning. I am beyond sad. She is such an incredible help and the boys adore her. I would kidnap her to live here, if I could. Fortunately a dear friend brought me homemade cinnamon rolls today. I may or may not have eaten the better part of the pan... I just can't be sure... and there are no witnesses (of age) anyway.... ;)

William is still very much enamored of Andrew and often asks to hold him. Just yesterday he added the word 'cute' to his vocabulary in reference to Baby Brother.

Andrew's first bath. It is always such a relief to me when that umbilical stump finally falls off!

We've been LOVING the warmer weather and making daily trips to the sand box because of it. The boys have been big fans of the constant puddle in the front yard thanks to the melting snow.

Delicious

I love this baby.

1 week old

It's amazing what a week can do. My body has had an incredible recovery--best yet. In the hospital when I was freaking out with the pain I was almost regretting not signing up for the optional c-section (wouldn't have made it to that date anyway), but as soon as I was in that recovery room I was so pleased. It was worth those 2 hours of misery (poor me and my quick labor, right?) to not have the c-section recovery. I think about that every time Cameron or William jump on my stomach. I'm up and around and feeling pretty good, though a lot emotional. Andrew is a precious, mild-tempered baby. He's been sleeping for at least 23 hours a day until last night and he stayed awake for 2 hours in a row. Two nights last week he even slept for a 4-hour segment! What a good baby, looking out for his momma's sanity... especially as his older two brothers have been getting up too (*sigh*). The big boys are anxious to play with him.. William offers him all his toys, and Cameron tries to bounce his head like a basketball when Andrew is sitting in the baby bouncer... We have to keep a close eye on them! Both big boys like to slime his baby hair with kisses though. It's incredible to be here, in this phase of life. Three baby boys. It's amazing... and I'm trying to just focus on that and not the 'overwhelming' part of it all. :)

Stretch! My friend Jeri bought this onesie for me back when I was pregnant with William. It ended up never getting worn by William or Cameron, but finally little Andrew gets to wear it. I love and adore it. When Andrew gets a little fatter, it will look even sweeter.

William wanted in on the photo shoot with 'baby brover', but poor Andrew was already done by then.

They must see something interesting here that I don't...

We took pictures of my big boys on this when they were newborns. I pulled it out so it would be handy should I find motivation to get some of Andrew. Cameron couldn't resist the blanket's Telly Monster type lovableness and jumped right on it and tried to swim. Such a silly boy

Hanging out

On Saturday my sister Charity sent me a text message asking if she could come visit from NY. I was SO excited to see her but a little bummed that she would be here before Andrew's arrival.... Andrew was up for the challenge though. He came HOURS before she did. ;) Charity brought along her god-daughter, Miko. Miko and my big boys have been having a lot of fun playing together and Charity has been an incredible help. I'm so grateful for how that timing worked out!

Charity is a bit more adventurous than I am... Here is Andrew...

And here is Cameron, a mere 18 months ago. :)

A rare sighting of those dark eyes.

Another favorite hospital picture. One of my favorite parts about coming home from the hospital is getting to cut off all their wrist/ankle bands. Then I feel like they're really mine.

Blessed Auntie Cher. We would be lost without her.

Miko. This girl should be a professional poser. I think she looks like Olivia from the Cosby Show.

Cameron trying on Charity's shoes... C is still impartial to the baby, so long as he still has full access to me. Love my crazy little boy. He's looking so big!

We're a sleepy lot around here these days.

Home

We've made it home! Horray! I did my best to appreciate the quiet time alone in the hospital, but it's divine to be back home with ALL my boys.


So... If you think Andrew's arrival took YOU by surprise, you may imagine my surprise waking up just past midnight Monday morning, looking at the clock, looking at it again every 3-5 minutes for about 20 minutes and realizing "oh my! he's coming!" I called my dear friend Carolyn to come over, called the doctor, and we left... even before Carolyn got here (though we passed her on the way out). I was wise to heed my mom's warning 'as soon as you know you're in labor, GO." By the time I got to the hospital the contractions were rolling one of top of the other and I was proclaiming to all that I was 'seriously going to DIE.' My hat off to all the 'natural' goers... I myself survive by the epidural alone, even if I was painfully (LITERALLY) disappointed in the effectiveness of this most recent one. In any case.. he's here and he's gorgeous. He has such a calm disposition thus far, but we'll see how that wears off in the next couple weeks. MANY THANKS to all of the FB and blog comments. It's incredible to feel the love. Many thanks also to those who have helped and offered their help. We appreciate it!

Andrew Alan Hancock

6lbs 1.2oz, 18 1/2 inches, 4:40am

Thankfully all of the boys have their daddy's nice tan complexion.

I adore this picture.

So... How did the big boys react to their new brother?

Cameron was really almost more interested in the buttons on my bed. He's been very impartial thus far. I think that'll change real quick as he sees who is getting priority in momma's arms.

William, on the other hand, was beside himself! So excited for "Baby Andrew" and "Baby Brofer!"

"Here Mommy, I hold baby Andrew!" I'm gonna have to keep a close eye on him. He's a bit too hands on. As I type, he's sharing a toy car with him and giving him bisous. Shortly before this picture was taken W kept saying "here, Andrew! Give me nais bisous!" (eskimo kisses).

Three boys. I can hardly believe that I am the mother of 3 children. I'm incredibly blessed (and maybe a little crazy).

Middle of the night labors sure take their toll on everyone. Nathaniel hasn't had quite the same opportunity to recoup that I have had. haha! Poor tired papa!