My boys in action

We don't take nearly enough video of the boys - here they are on Tuesday, Nov 11th doing their thing - enjoy!

October has come and gone!

October was a monumentous month - we welcomed baby Nate and spent the rest of the days adjusting to our new family member and hanging around the house together. Neal took a week and a half off of work to be with us and Kenner took the month off from preschool. It was a refreshing, but sometimes challenging, time for all of us. We took the boys for fall pictures when Nate was a week old, as well as to a pumpkin patch later in the month. Following are some of my favorite pics from the month.

Welcome Nathan Neal!

Hi all,

We are so happy to let you know that baby Nate has arrived! Born on Thursday, October 2nd at 1:32pm weighing 8 pounds, 13.3 ounces and 21 inches long.

He was a week overdue and was scheduled to be induced on Friday morning, 10/3, but both him and I were not too fond of that plan! Thankfully, about 9:30 am on Thursday I felt my first contraction. I thought we were in for a long leisurly labor, but Nate had his own timing! About 10:30 I called Neal and let him know to start making his way back home, but he was on his was on his way from Phx back to Casa Grande in the SRP welding truck and would need to get back to the plant down there to pick up his own truck and come back this way - I let him know to take his time - we'd be fine! About 11am I call my sister to come over to the house to watch Kenner and said that Neal should be home to pick me up around noon, so to take her time...11:15 I call her back - OUCH - "maybe you should come now...." Thankfully, her intuition was already ahead of us and she was down the street! I finsihed packing up, we loaded Kenner in the car and she drove us the long 25+ miles from home to Scottsdale Osborn. On the way it was clear that Neal would not be able to be there with me in time to check-in, etc so I called my dear friend Michelle, who works in Corporate at the Hospital to meet me at the curb and be with me until Neal arrived. Check-in - 12:30pm. I get changed, into a bed and the nurse checks my progress - "Where is your husband?" she asks - I say, "on his way - how far am I dilated?", "How close?" she demands "You're at 8!" - At this point I feel like an All Star and turn to Michelle, who has a beautiful daughter of her own and has been through the process - "I'm awesome" - flash forward 2 minutes - I am disolved to cowardly tears, "What, but I NEED an epidural - no time and my blood pressure is too high? Check it again, I''m better now..." I guess I'm not very convincing. And after pleading with the nurses for that little something "to take the edge off", I learned that there is no such thing either - don't believe what anyone says - they couldn't give me anything that wouldn't affect the baby's first breathes...Damn. After about 20 minutes of trying to find a vein for my IV (the worst part of Kenner's labor and delivery story as well), I'm plumbed (for no good reason) and wheeled into the delivery room at 1pm - and Neal arrives (thank God!) along with the urge to push (thank God - let's wrap this show up!) and my Doctor (thank God - he missed my first delivery due to vacation). So many rules when it comes to pushing a baby out - who knew - it took me a bit to get it 'right' and at one point the Dr, who appeared to be annoyed with my lack of technique and huge waste of his time, demanded my hand, pressed my fingers to Nate's gynormous head not yet delivered and sternly advised "that's your baby, now PUSH him out!" Okay, okay, I get it! ONE huge (and technicaly PERFECT) push later, ALL of baby Nate was born - How was that Dr? Hhhmmmmph! We all feel very good and the recovery from the natural delivery has been suprisingly easy and quick - I can not tell you how good it felt to stand up after delivering Nate and not having all the tubes, sensors, etc tied up to me. Now I can say I've delivered naturally!

Nathan was born so strong, alert and content and we are so happy to have him out with us so we can continue to get to know him! He loves being held, sleeping, looking around, riding his bike (that pumping and kicking thing) and chirping (his version of cooing). Kenner is doing fantastic and is a super attentive and gentle big brother - we couldn't ask for a better transition!

Thanks for all your love and support as we enter this next eventful chapter of our lives - life with 2 boys - I can't wait to watch them grow and learn together!

Typical timing...

Jeez, I thought it had been like a month since my last post - not over 2 months! I've been meaning to share the pictures and details of our Mexican Riviera cruise - it was a wonderfully easy and relaxing vacation! I'd highly recommend to anyone. It was much easier than I thought to cruise w/ a toddler, and unfortunately, a lot harder than I thought to cruise w/ teenagers - they were 'too cool' for all the organized teen activiites, so hung out in their cabin driving eachother absolutely batty - oh well...

We left from LA on a Sunday, got to Puerto Vallarta on a Wednesday and organized a private independant tour of the city, then a trip up into the mountains to a family owned tequila distiller and then a jungle canopy zip-line adventure for Neal and the kids - we LOVE PV and will return - here are a couple of pics from there:

From PV we cruised overnight to Mazatlan, which is a bigger and more industrial city. Not the same charm or attraction, but it was neat to see. We took a bus tour of the city offered by the cruise line and it was so-so...we're not really intersted in going back to Mazatlan. Here are a couple of pics from there:

Finally, we stopped in Cabo San Lucas for a day on Friday. We had never been there and I was excited to see what 'it' was all about. Thank goodness it was the ONLY sunny day on our entire 7 day trip - perfect for chilling at the beach, which is all we did. I am bummed the water was so cold, but I guess that's just the way the Pacific is down there. Oh, and the water taxi's are not a gimmick - we got dropped off in the middle of this industrial-ish port and were bombarded with offers for a water taxi ride to the beach - we thought it'd be a short walk that we could manage - about an hour later, 2 cranky teens, a 35lb toddler who was done walking and had to be held and us ringleaders arrived at the beach - take the water taxi! We enjoyed our downtime immensley though - here are a couple of my fav pics:

We arrived back in LA on Sunday and drove home to the sweltering 115 degree heat - home sweet home! It was a nice 'BIG' vacation that I hope will be a wonderful memory for all in years to come...

2 years ago today...

Our little man made his early appearance 2 years ago today and we've been madly in love and laughing every day since! Here is he was...

And here is his recently in his new big boy bed and cruising the dirt pile in the backyard. What a miraculous and transforming experience it is to see yourself and the love of your life come together in a new and beautiful person! I love you Kenner!

State Champs - Basha High Winter Drumline

Last weekend Ronnie and the Basha Winter Drumline competed in the State competition and took first - we are so proud and they've worked so hard to earn this distinction. Attached is the picture (with gold medals too!). Ronnie is on the bottom row, 4th from the right wearing the blue pajamas. The theme of their show is The Nutcracker and it's very captivating. I am trying to find another parent who has their show on video so I can share it here (our camera was out of juice of course, the time we remembered to bring it to a competition).

Oh, just found a link to their show on youtube - it's 7 minutes, but very entertaining. Ronnie plays the steel drums and synthesizer and you can see her on the bottom right of the screen as they are setting up - enjoy if you have the time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQztPnVkxbs

Kenner Update...

Attached is a link to the past few months of Kenner Pix on Shutterfly...Just recently (you will notice) he's figured out how to smile totally cheesy at the camera and so in most pictures we just end up with closed eyes and big teeth - so cute anyway...share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcOGbhm1YtGSc

This month is bug month at school and they are all *so* into it. Every few minutes I hear him exclaim "Eeeeewwww, bug!" Usually it's a dust bunny of dog hair on the floor, but their studies in class have really honed in the little one's attention to detail!

Welcome to Hancock Standard Time....

Hancock Standard Time...It's a truth in my life that is undeniable and unchangeable, and I've stopped fighting it. It's taken 6 years to develop and I am sure will continue to evolve (or unravel...) over the coming years. In short, it means that whatever I do, or wherever I arrive, I really meant to do/be there minutes, days, weeks, months and now, even years, ago. Time is slippery and I lose it often. For example, this blog, I've been meaning to start this since Kenner was born - 22 1/2 months ago, to allow us to keep in touch in an easier way. During that time, I've not been in touch at all with many of my life's influences - I apologize, but have a hunch that you suffer from your own time challenges...I can't possibly be the only one...Another example, Kenner's baby book - not a single word has been written. I have decided that I really am the only person on earth who has committed the crime of not documenting on paper every little first...Instead I try to justify this large imperfection by repeating in my head the key firsts so someday, when I have time (and can magically not write like a boy) I can lovingly script his firsts (better put them here while I am thinking of them - first smile 6/23 at his Granddad in Mexico, first day of preschool 7/17, sat up on his own in Nov 06, first teeth discovered Sat 12/9 while making Christmas Tamales at Michelle's house, began "combat crawling" on 2/1, first steps 4/29...and first haircut 2/18/08). I hope I can remember a few more before I crack the book...

Anyway, I look forward to sharing with you more of us and our news and developments through this blog.

I'll try to update every week or 2 with glimpses from our busy days!

With love,
Jamie