House Party

What do you get when you add 14 adults, 11 children, 6 cars, and 1 infamous night together?  Why, a house party, of course!!

Our very first annual DeSales High School reunion was held at the Hendricks Household last night.  Brian has been friends with some of these very fine gentlemen since grade school.  That's over twenty five years, people!!  And the funny part about the whole thing is some of the boys have never even met each other's children!  (Kate excluded since she is so new!)

This year presented a perfect opportunity to host a little gathering and remedy that 'I've never met your children' problem.  There were a lot of out-of-towners in town for the holidays, so Brian, Kate, and I (mostly Brian with his perfect party planning skills) hosted our very first official house party.  With 25 people at our house including all those previously mentioned fine gentlemen, their lovely wives, all of their darling children, lots of delicious appetizers and many fine beverage options, it was a complete success!  A success so triumphant that it was mentioned multiple times that this must become an annual tradition!

That is 100% fine by us!  We will gladly offer up our stomping grounds to host the Stallion Soiree anytime!

Merry Christmas everyone and thanks for stopping by!!

Click for more shenanigans!

It's Christmas!

Our Christmas was so extra special this year: it was our very first Christmas with our little girl.  Having Kate here with us is the most amazing gift of all.  We know that Christmases from here on out will only be more and more special with our sweet baby girl in tow!  Happy Christmas!

Santa Baby!

Christmas with Mommy!

Christmas with Daddy!

Our very first Christmas together!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

The problem with White Elephant Christmases is you never know what you're going to end up with.

Sometimes it's a Target gift card:

Score!

And, sometimes...it's a cat hat:

...score.

We celebrated Christmas Eve this year at Brian's Aunt's house with his family's annual Christmas Eve traditions of which included a White Elephant Christmas!  Despite ending up with a cat hat (I should've been paying more attention to the gift opening instead of talking), it was nice to see everyone.  Plus, Kate got to show of her très adorable self and dress!

Kate's 1st Christmas Eve!

Brian's Grandparents used to throw this annual shendig at their house but having it at his Aunt's this year made it easy and enjoyable for everyone!

Two very proud Grandparents!

And all of their Grandkids and three Great Grandkids!

Two more very proud Grandparents!

Merry Christmas Eve to you and yours, cat hat and all!

Let The Christmases Begin

We kicked off the Christmases this year at Brian's Mom's house today - complete with a visit from Santa!

Santa makes a special pre-Christmas stop!

The Grandparents and their prides and joys.

The sweetest, most beautiful girl in the world - our
pride and joy.

A big thanks to Mary and Tom for hosting such a nice Christmas for everyone, especially their grandbabies!

Our Very First Art Project

Daddy, Kate and I got set up for our very first art project together: Handprint Christmas Ornaments.  Kate was already six weeks old when we did her handprint, so we figured it was about time to start arts and crafts!

Our family Christmas 2012 art project!

(If you've followed us and/or read any of our other posts, you know that Kate's Mommy and Daddy like to get creative.  We're hoping Kate likes to too!)

Anyway, I found a lovely ornament online that we re-created.  And it was all natural and very simple!  The hardest part was waiting for the salt dough handprints to dry so that we could paint them!

First we made some salt dough out of flour, salt, and lukewarm water in the following proportions:

-1 cup of All Purpose Flour
-1/2 cup of Salt
-1/2 cup of lukewarm water

We mixed the flour and the salt and then we added the water and kneaded it all together until we had the perfect ball of dough - not too dry or grainy and nice and smooth!

We made it perfectly round too...not that that really matters.

Then we sprinkled a bit of flour on our rolling area and rolled the dough out like we would if we were making sugar cookies.

Rollin', rollin', rollin'!

Once we had a flat slab of dough, we grabbed our lovely sleeping baby and gently pressed her hand in several times to form the cutest little handprints.  We did stick her hand in flour so that it wouldn't stick to the dough before we did her handprints and we noticed that after a couple prints we needed to do another quick dip in the flour.

She was a trooper, I tell ya!

When we got all of our handprints on our dough (it took several times of cutting them out and re-rolling the remainder of the dough), we carefully cut our nine handprints out with a knife, punched a little hole for the ribbon, and set them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper to dry.  I read that you could bake them, but that sometimes they crack, and since we were in no rush, we decided to let them air dry.  It took about six days to fully air dry and we flipped them three times.

Dry hands!

When Kate's handprints were finally done drying, we gathered all of our supplies for painting and sealing:

-Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer (we used Mod Podge's can one)
-Acrylic craft paint in Black, Red, White, and Tan
-Paintbrushes
-Mod Podge

Supplies!

We sprayed the handprints with the Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer first to get a smooth base for painting.  Then we painted each Santa in layers.  By the time we finished painting the same layer on all of our ornaments, the first one was dry enough to start with the next layer.

Cute, huh?!

Once all of the paint dried, we coated each ornament with Mod Podge on the front and back and once the Mod Podge was dry, we did a quick spray with the sealer again to add finish and to remove the slightly tacky feel from the Mod Podge.

When everything was dry (a day or so later), we tied ribbons in the holes that we had punched earlier and hung our completed ornament on our tree as well as wrapped a few for gifts for Kate's Grandparents.

And I'll tell you what, we had a BLAST making these ornaments and they turned out FANTASTIC!  We were so impressed!  I'd make these every single year if I didn't think it would look tacky with a ton of handprint ornaments on our Christmas tree!  Instead, I know we'll come up with another project to document our next Christmas, but salt dough projects will come highly recommended from me!

Click below for more photos!

Merry Christmas!

The Sniffles

My baby has the sniffles
And it really breaks my heart.
I wish there was something I could do
To make her cold depart.

Her nose is stuffy, her cough is dry
It's making her life hard.
And if I could I really would
Give this cold a red card.

For no longer is it welcome
It never really was;
Go on your way, you stinkin' cold!
Because I say so.  Just because.

You make my baby uncomfortable
And for that you shall pay.
I am her Mommy.
You shall not live another day.

Be it a lesson learned for you
To never cross paths with me.
Or any baby in the world
Unless you want the wrath of Mommy.

For we sleep with one eye open
Watching out for you.
We will protect, we will prevail
So go on, we bid you adieu.

Cold's suck, but they suck even more when your Baby has one.

December Baby

This is my absolute favorite picture of Kate so far - all bundled up and ready for the cold Winter air!

What a sweetheart!

Our Little Monkey

Cutest little monkey ever!

Monkey toes!

Even a monkey bum!!

We love that little monkey more than words can describe!!!

Coming Soon!

All of our updates!!

I am ashamed with how far behind we are with our blog updates.  (We are five weeks behind.  GASP!)  We are going to be working rigorously with the time that we have to play catch up and...get caught up!

Keep an eye out for previous posts.  We are working on borrowed time here, people.

We are sorry for the delays and promise to get a lot better with our time management so that we can continue to update all of our friends and family with our new, amazing, completely adorable and absolutely cuddly addition and life as a family of three!

Love,
The Hendricks Family

Tummy Time

Kate had her second appointment with the pediatrician today.  Everything seems to be going swimmingly!  She now weighs 10 lbs. 15 oz. and is 21 3/4" long.  That puts her in the 85th percentile for weight and 75th for height.  Also, the nurse said she was in the 80th percentile for her head circumference, but I don't remember what measurement that was and it's not written down in her book...  Either way, we know she's got a big brain in that noggin!

Our pediatrician is very happy with our baby girl's progress and so are we!  Kate received one shot in her right leg today and after a short scream she quickly quieted down when her Mommy picked her up and gave her some lovin'.  She is just so good, but it still breaks your heart a little bit knowing your Baby is crying because she hurts.

We go back to the doc at the beginning of January for another round of shots.  I think I'm going to prepare myself more for this appointment than Kate!

In other news, with all the recent fuss about our new family member, Jack wanted to be sure that we saw his progress as well:

Dogs can do tummy time too, ya know.

We haven't forgotten about you, Bones!  We still love you too!

The Goose is Getting Fat

So, we thought since we've introduced our darling girl into the world and since it is her very first Christmas, we should start making some wonderful family traditions.  What better a tradition than to be able to go Christmas tree shopping and chop down our own tree?!

We headed out to a Christmas tree farm.  We grabbed a sled and a saw.  (The sled was to pull the tree back in.)  We got our photo taken at the Christmas tree:

That's Kate in there!

And then we looked at the cost of the trees we liked and decided that we would hold off on the chopping of the tree tradition until Kate really wanted to do so.  Plus, it was cold.

We did, however, stop and get a fantastic tree at Meijer's and decorated it:

The star is no longer crooked...

We also put a little tree in Kate's room.  This was the tree that we set up at the condo that we lived in on W. 5th Avenue BK (that's Before Kate).  We're sure this will become a tradition.

Kate's tree. ♥

The holidays are rapidly approaching, and at the risk of photo overloading you and this post, we have also been stuffing and sending this year's holiday card:

Quite an acrobatic bunch, aren't we?!

Do you recognize that image of Jack?!  The build up isn't nearly as dramatic as it has been in year's past, but we hope that we did not let you down with this year's holiday wishes!

Here's to gearing up for the holidays!  Merry Christmas!

Poop Defies Gravity

So does pee, if you want to get technical, but not nearly to the extent that poop does.  We've learned both of these facts the hard way.

Now, I don't know about you, but I was taught that gravity pulls objects toward the Earth.  At least on our planet it does.  That is, unless your object happens to be poop or pee from your new baby girl.

Our sweet Kate had a massive poop out while I was burping her.  And when I say "massive" I mean there was maybe a dot of poo in her diaper.  The rest was entirely up her back, covering her clothes, and on me.  And I still have not figured out how it was possible.  My only conclusion thus far is my belief that Sir Newton may not have considered poo when he developed the Law of Universal Gravitation because if he did he would certainly have expected said poo to travel down, not up and out.

And speaking of gravity, while I was changing Kate's diaper the cool, fresh air must've signaled "go time" because our darling girl decided it was time to go to the bathroom.  (Number one, that is.)  Except going to the bathroom did not entail peeing into her open diaper.  No.  It was analogous to a geyser.  Her pee shot straight up in the air, covering her, her diaper, the changing pad cover, the changing pad, and the wall.  It all happened so fast!  (By the way, Brian, we need to wash the pee off of the wall behind the dresser...)  I was fortunately spared this time.  But, once again, I was left baffled at the force behind such excretion.

Poop [and pee] defy gravity.  I have witnessed it first hand.  I have warned Brian about this and I have seriously considered writing to the accredited scientific society that would overturn or at least make an exception to Mr. Isaac's studies.

I suppose I will hold off on my letter until I have photographic or video evidence, but at that point I don't think anyone will want to see/watch my scientific evidence anyway, so let this be a lesson learned - don't let gravity fool you.  There are some exceptions to the law.

Father Christmas

Kate, meet Santa.  Santa, meet Kate.

We can assure you, Santa, that Kate
has been a very good girl!

Today we met up with three of Kate's cousins - Gina, Courtney, and Wyatt - for a Breakfast with Santa.  There is a church that hosts this breakfast each year where the kiddos get to meet and have their picture taken with Santa, play lots of reindeer Christmas games, see a little puppet show, and get into the festive spirit.  This was Kate's very first visit to meet Mr. Clause and we must make this a tradition!  It was so much fun!

Our family of three and our first breakfast with Santa!

In addition, we received our Baby's first photos from the holiday photo shoot that we had a couple of weeks ago (Thanks, Katy!!):

Our little angel.

She is such a sweetheart!

Our Christmas is going to be so extra special this year!  (Because of Kate, not Santa, that is...)

The Lineup

We had a reunion with our child birthing class tonight at the home of our teacher now that all the little one's have been born!  (It took me three hours to cut up vegetables for our vegetable tray and Jack ate the Olive Penguins that I had started to make while I was tending to Kate.  I will probably never try to make them again...and I will also probably just buy a pre-cut vegetable tray for our next soiree.)

Now that's a nice looking class!

We talked about our babies and our labors and deliveries and enjoyed some delicious food and wonderful company.  We also lined all of the sweet babies up on the couch to snap a quick photo.  What resulted was pure comedy:

Brian's view.
Kate is in the pink dress.

Erin's view.
She was such a darling!

She was not quite sure what to think of the whole thing,
but she was so sweet sitting there.

It was really nice to see everyone and meet their new additions after spending five weeks in class with them!

Congratulations to all the new Mommies and Daddies, and Happy Holidays!

The Elusive Hippo

Kate wonders why her parents insist on hanging blue hippopotamuses above her head.

"Why, if that thing falls on me..."

As if being toted around in a carrier seat isn't enough...

Guess What Time It Is!!

HINT: This is a jerry-rigged photo studio.
Yes, our paper towel holder doubles as our
light source.  And, yes, that is a painter's light.

If you guessed it's time for our annual Christmas card photo shoot, then you guessed right!!  Yep, we are currently working on this year's masterpiece and we are very excited to include a new prop our sweet baby girl!!  (I meant that in the sincerest of terms, Kate...)

For your viewing pleasure, here is last year's holiday card and cards from years past and a sneak peek for this year's card:

Jack *loves* this time of year!

Happy Holidays!

He's Baaack!

I would tell you, but you wouldn't believe me...

...So I will show you:

Matt came back into town.  He loves him
some Buckeyes...and chili dogs...and
extremely short trips to the states as seen
here and here and here and now this post.

He had never attended an OSU vs. Michigan game and
both Brian and he decided what better game than Urban's
first season and the very last game of the Buckeye's
so far undefeated season.

Meanwhile, Kate supported her Daddy and
his Buckeye's from home with her
Mommy, who, unfortunately, did not don
any scarlet and gray that day...

They chose a good one.  They were both
able to revel in the glory of the Buckeye's
defeating the Wolverine's in the 12-0
victorious first season coached by
Urban Meyer. 

I don't think this is a game that either will forget anytime soon!  Thanks for making the trip, Matt!

This Year's Prize Turkey

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving with a stop at Brian's Dad's and a stop at Brian's Aunt's.  We had a double dose of turkey!  Kate was such an angel at both places and slept soundly in everyone's arms!

Courtney, Kate's cousin, put it perfectly - who is this year's prize turkey?!  Why, Baby Kate, of course!

Our first Thanksgiving together!

We have so much to be thankful for this year, but Kate certainly tops our list!

Happy Thanksgiving from our turkey family to yours!

Theme Songs

I come up with some pretty random things in the middle of the night.  This is one of them.  Last night I was overcome with the desire to list our current theme songs. 

What in the world, you ask?

Well, our current theme songs are those that are playing in our individual heads throughout the day and night.  No one else can hear them, but they capture the emotion/moment/melody of our current life or the happenings in our life.  Each one of us has our own song, currently, but it is very possible to have a family theme song.

On November 20, 2012, these are our current theme songs:

Brian's current theme song is I Don't Give a Damn For the Whole State of Michigan - with the looming OSU football game this weekend against archrival University of Michigan, Brian sees only in scarlet and gray.

Erin's current theme song is Dream by Priscilla Ahn - this melodic myriad of emotions captures the wide spectrum of emotions that she is currently experiencing.

Kate's current theme song is No Sleep Till Brooklyn by the Beastie Boys - our sweet little girlie has been pretty consistent at giving us four to seven hour chunks of sleep since we returned from the hospital; however the last couple nights have been more like two hour chunks...

Bun's current theme song is Another One Bites the Dust by Queen - for Bun knows all to well what happens when another member is added to the family.  I actually think Bun is singing this song to Jack...

Jack's current theme song is the acoustic version of As Long As You Love Me by Justin Bieber - Jack is still working out where he fits into the mix with a new family of three.  We are working together together to make sure he knows that no matter what we still love him.

We are quite a musically diverse bunch, I tell ya!  Now I wonder how long theme songs last...

Scrub a Dub-Dub

Kate's first time in the tub!

Kate's umbilical cord came off on Monday.  I found it plastered to her leg with poop that exploded from her diaper, so we didn't save it.  But we did give her her very first bath and got her smelling so fresh and so clean, clean!

Daddy is very daring holding that naked butt
with no protection!

Testing the water temperature, sans baby.

Kate's not too sure what to think of this contraption.

And decides to watch with only one eye open.

Mommy assures her all will be well!

And makes sure all her bits are clean!

Uh-oh...our one and only crisis moment.

Phew!  Crisis averted.

Warm, snuggly, and clean after our first bath!   ♥