Everyone is pregnant!

Well, everyone but me that is! Gotcha! Could you imagine - 3 under 3, that would be more than I could handle! But, two of my best friends in the whole world ARE pregnant - congrats to Caroline and Lindsay. Belated congrats, but congrats nonetheless. Lindsay is about 11 weeks and Caroline is about 16 weeks - seems to be flying by to me, but I think it's because it's not me going through it this time!! I just can't wait to have two more babies to play with - and for Lyla and the two new ones to be only a year apart is going to make for WILD get togethers in the future and I just can't wait! The more the merrier!

Rodney and I took our little family and Nancy to Hilton Head this past week for some work, some play and some 2010 strategic planning for our family. The trip was a Christmas gift from my mom - THANKS MOM! We had a great time and the kids were great. Selfishly, we decided to do some hard core potty training while were were there - better for Neil to have accidents on someone else's floor besides mine! Terrible, I know. He is doing SO well - making it to the potty most every time for #1 and usually for #2. His teachers will be so proud when we go back after Christmas! Honestly, it's about time - he's been doing this for more than 6 months!

Lyla decided to sit up while were where away and is really starting to crawl around. It's funny - she scoots around and around in circles! And she wants anything and everything that Neil has. If she gets something in her hand and you take it away from her, she SCREAMS. Definitely a hard headed child. The doctor warned us that she will most likely be a feisty little one trying to do things that Neil does and getting mad when she can't - Dr. was right! I've got to get a new camera - the only pictures I have are from my sad camera on my phone. Maybe that can be a Christmas present to myself!

Lyla Francis Hancock, June 25, 2009

So, I know I'm VERY behind in updating this blog but I'm going to try and post a few things to get at least somewhat caught up on my life over the last 3 months.

The night before Lyla's arrival we decided to keep the tradition alive and eat at Sweetwater Cafe - just as we had done the night before Neil arrived. Mary Robin was here for the birth so she was able to join us too! Me, my mom, Rodney, Neil, Lindsay and Mary Robin all had a great dinner - just perfect for my "last supper."

Rodney and I checked into the hospital as planned about 8:15 Thursday morning, June 25th and things moved pretty quickly. We were back in the OR about 10:15 and Lyla was born at 10:34 AM. It was definitely a different and more difficult experience than the first time, but I really think since I knew more of what was going on that I thought about it more and got myself a little worked up. Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant experience, but I'm sure it could have been worse. Rodney had a more interesting experience this time too - he'll have to tell that story!

Getting ready for surgery

This is my first glance at Lyla's beautiful face!

She was 7 lbs and 7 oz. and about 19 1/2 inches long. DG and Nanny were there to greet her as she came into the nursery. We had wonderful friends come to meet her - I honestly don't remember much about the first day or two, but I do know that we were very well taken care of and shown much love and attention! It's amazing how much Lyla looks like Neil when he was born. I need to get those pictures and post them too - it's just crazy!

Lyla Frances Hancock - update

Just a quick update - went to the doctor this morning and I am 1 cm dilated and she is head down! Not exactly what I was expecting today.

If things go as planned, Lyla will be born on Thursday, June 25th at 10:00 AM at St. Francis Hospital. Robbie is watching Neil on Thursday and Mary Robin will be here all this week, so we'll have LOTS of help! Hopefully we'll be home on Saturday and will have Lyla all settled in by the first of the week. I CAN'T believe it's less than one week away!

If you'd like to visit Lyla in the hospital, I think after 5:00 on Thursday would be ideal - that way we'll have a little time to get to know her :) Can't wait to see everyone!!

PT with Daddy

A month or so ago, Rodney started a nightly tradition with Neil. Before bed, Neil climbs up with Rodney on the couch or in the bed - wherever Rodney may be - and Rodney does a TP with the covers and they snuggle under the TP. It's precious! Well, Neil doesn't say TP, he says PT - which makes it even cuter.

Can you say MINI RODNEY?!

I read some great advice on babycenter.com recently. A lady on the site was talking about how to introduce your new child to your older child. I loved the advice she gave - she suggested that the older child have a present to give the new child and also have a present to the older child from the new baby! Isn't that smart? So, Rodney and I have been searching for the perfect gift to give Neil from Lyla. I think we've settled on a set of golf (gaulk, as Neil would say) clubs. At Caroline's suggestion, which I think it a great one, we'll also have something that will occupy Neil's hands at the hospital - like an Elmo toy. That way, he's not running all over the room hitting people with his new "gaulk" clubs! At least someone is thinking ahead for us. Gaulk clubs will be better suited for the house, not the hospital!

Lyla may be coming early

I received a call from my doctor's office yesterday that Dr. Wilson will be out of town on the 26th and they'd like to reschedule my C-section for the 25th of June.  One less day being pregnant is OK with me!  Not sure of time yet, they are going to confirm with the hospital today - I'll update later!

Bed confusion

Last night when Neil and I went upstairs to take his bath, I asked Neil if he'd like to go see Lyla's room.  We've been spending some time in her room in order for him to get more and more used to it.  Well, last night Neil realized that his old bed was in Lyla's room - it was so cute.  He asked to get into "his" bed and proceeded to lay his little head on Lyla's blanket and curled up with her "lovey."  It was SO cute!  I explained to him that this was now Lyla's bed and she was going to be home soon to sleep in it - he seemed okay with it...for now.

I honestly can't believe that Lyla will be here 3 weeks from this Friday.  My belly feels so tight and Lyla is moving around in there like crazy.  I guess the quarters are getting tight and she's as uncomfortable as I am.  You should see it - I just waddle down the hallway at work.  It's bad!  I don't know if I'm ready for Lyla to be here mentally, but I am definitely ready physically.  I told Rodney that I'm starting to get nervous about the C-section.  BTW - we got to take a peak at her position in my belly at our last visit and Lyla is pretty much transverse (sideways across my belly).  I have another appointment on Friday - we'll see if she's moved at all.  So, looks like a C-section may have been in my future regardless of my preference!

Finally - got my OLD camera working again

As many of you have noticed AND COMMENTED, I have been doing a TERRIBLE job of updating this blog. Well, I promise to start doing better because I finally got my old camera working so I'll have it with me all the time (like I used to!). It was going to costs me at least $75 to send off my old digital Kodak because I dropped it and the battery closer thing broke off - so it wouldn't hold batteries anymore. Well, this morning I decided to get out a tiny screwdriver and take matters into my own hands. Granted, I dropped the camera almost a year ago (July), but what the hell - I finally fixed it and it didn't cost me a penny!

Ah Dude

Too cute for words - Jen kept Neil a week or so ago while I went to a meeting and he had a TERRIBLE diaper. When she was changing him she said, "Oh Dude" because it was awful and Neil thought that was hilarious! So, here it is a week or so later and he's still saying it. I think this picture says it perfectly, but I included a video as well!

Neil's vocabulary

Mulk = milk

Beyes = bread and bird (not sure how that happened)

Gaulk = golf

DD = DG (Ashley's mom)

MiMi = Mary Robin (Ashley's sister)

Nanna = Nanny (Rodney's mom)

Guck = duck

Boon = balloon

Munie = movie

Peese = please

Buball goal = basketball goal

Feesh = fish

Boo = blue

Ball, juice, up, down, baby, bug, book, egg, light, boat and moon.  And the most special word of all - LYLA!  I can't think of anything else, but I am sure he says more than that right now!

Talking, talking, talking

Neil is definitely a talker - just like his mama.  He has begun to repeat things that we say, which is terribly scary.  Guess we are going to have to really watch the potty mouth now!  Neil's best words come from the books that we read over and over and over again.  Right now, he points to and says, "moon, choo-choo, juice, milk, ball, bug, down, up, dog, cat, amen (at the end of his prayers!), DG (my mom), nanna (Rodney's mom) and a few other things that I can't think of at the moment.  But, he's doing SO well and really starting to enunciate things.  I can't get enough of him right now - he's SO much fun to hang out with.  And he knows all his body parts - he can say nose, eye and mouth, and point to (but not say) hair, tongue, teeth, ears, belly button, knee, arm, hands, leg, foot, shoes, toes and fingers.  Such a smart boy - so proud!

Lindsay, Rusty, Jen, Neil and I went to eat breakfast this morning at Three Little Birds - if you haven't been there, it's one of my favorite places.  SO GOOD!  The weather in Charleston is beautiful and I'm so proud of the people that ran (and walked) the Cooper River Bridge this morning.  Lindsay and I vowed to do it next year.  I honestly haven't done it before because I've heard it's such a nightmare getting over there in the morning - not really a good excuse I guess.  So, next year - I'll do it next year :)

Neil is doing so well with his health and his sleeping patterns.  He has been sick a time or two, but I do feel that keeping him at home has been good for him so far.  Rodney and I are working out a pretty good schedule now too - both of us are home one day per week with him and Rodney's mom is keeping him the other two days.  We alternate on Friday's, depending on what is going on that week.  I can't believe this beautiful day today - after breakfast, Neil and I went to Wal-Mart and bought him a little tikes basketball goal.  He's napping right now and I'm about to put it together.  I will try and capture his face when he plays with it for the first time.  The kid is COMPLETELY obsessed with basketball - just balls in general, but he really loves basketball.  We have a standard size basketball goal in the driveway and Neil will literally stand below the goal and try and throw the ball as high as he can.  So sad - so I couldn't help myself - I had to go and get him his own goal that he can actually reach.  It will be fun!  And he LOVES to be outside.  I'm telling you - he is SO much fun right now.  I just love this age.

Caroline and Emily are in town to walk the bridge, so hopefully we are going to have a big ole group of people going out on the town tonight.  I can't drink, but I can definitely eat!  

I hate that I don't have pictures to post - I actually do, but I don't have a way to get them from my camera to the computer.  I'll be sure to do it at work this week so we can share the new videos and pictures ;)

Neil's 1st spaghetti dinner

Neil, Rodney and I had a really nice family day today.  We had a great morning cleaning and organizing some things around the house then went to lunch for Jody's birthday at California Dreaming.  I had something I've never eaten there before - and that is really saying something!  If you've never had their BBQ chicken nachos, you MUST order them next time you're there.  So good - seriously!  Now every time I do to eat there it's going to be a toss up between the BBQ chicken nachos and the creamed spinach nachos.  Ugh, decisions!

After lunch we all had a great nap.  Thank goodness for Saturday (and Sunday) naps - I think they really help me make it through the week!  Rodney made spaghetti for dinner tonight.  Instead of feeding Neil the spaghetti with a fork, we decided to just let him go at it.  As you can see, he LOVED it.

So Rodney and I traded off watching Neil tonight.  I went out first for Lindsay's birthday dinner downtown, then came home to keep Neil while Rodney went out with a fun group for Jesse's birthday.  So much for doing things together!  At least we both had a good time :)

Merry Christmas (a little late)

So where have we been over the last two months?  I've had my head in or around the toilet for the most part - yep, still sick!  I'm now 20 weeks pregnant with a little GIRL.  Can you believe it?  How am I so lucky to have God bless me with a little boy and now a little girl - I'm still in awe and shock from finding out on Thursday.  

I promised some friends that I would be better about updating the blog.  I know I've been terrible about it, but one POOR excuse is that it's been so cold and we don't have heat in the office where my computer is - so it hasn't been convenient to go up there and update the blog.  So, I'm using Rodney's computer while Rodney sleeps and Neil sits beside me watching the baby crack movies (Baby Einstein) and playing with a balloon.  He is completely obsessed with anything that is remotely similar to a ball and has been since day one.

Christmas morning was a blast.  Neil LOVED his wagon and his climbing castle (thanks to Santa's little helpers).  We were crafty and a did re-gift some toys that Neil already played with - heck, he doesn't know any better and we saved some money!  He just loved having all the toys on display for him to jump into.  So cute and so much fun.

A few days before Christmas, Rodney and I took Neil to go see Santa (and the Christmas lights) at the James Island County Park.  Santa and his photographer helper were the best I've ever seen!  We rode the train around the park to see the lights and had a great little family night.  If you've never done the train before, I honestly do suggest it - especially if you have kids. 

Oh yeah - Happy Valentine's Day!  My plan was to make today SO special for Neil - get a card and small gift...yeah, none of that happened.  Maybe next year!  Next Valentine's we'll have a 2 year old and a 7 month old - crazy to think about.

Some of you all know that Neil stayed sick in day care, so we decided to take him out for a while.  He didn't go back after Christmas "break."  I can honestly tell a huge difference in his health already.  We've started him on a multi-vitamin with iron and I think that has helped tremendously too.  Nancy, Rodney's mom, keeps Neil twice a week and we hired a Nanny to keep him two other days and I was keeping him every Friday.  That worked for a few weeks until our Nanny found another job last week.  So - if anyone has a good suggestion for a Nanny, please let me know.  There are a few good leads I've gotten from Craig's list, but I really want someone that is going to be reliable and is interested in staying on for at least a year or more.  

Well, we are going to explore downtown Charleston today with the million other people for the 

Southeastern Wildlife Expo - should be fun!