Hope you love these videos of our growing boy! Can't believe our little booger will be 5 months old in a couple of days! I sure love these kiddos of mine!

Guess this is what happens when you eat too much chocolate during pregnancy. At least he has good taste in chocolate! And yes....I do enjoy taking Candy from Babies! (ha ha ha)



I love that he loves his sisters so much! So far, they are some of the only people he will really laugh for. Makes my heart smile!

My camera was out of batteries, so this is all you get for now. I can't help but think that I have some of the cutest kids ever! Happy Halloween everyone!

Hello my dears!

I've been thinking a lot lately about the wonderful uses of blogs, and how fun it is to be able to share our lives with so many friends and family. Just for fun (and to keep my mind sane) I decided to start a blog of my very own just filled with random thoughts. The link is on the top right-hand side of this blog if you want to check it out.

I've also been thinking about how available this information is for complete strangers out there.....some of whom may not be the most friendly minded. Because of this, and realizing that not only am I providing the world with mine and Jared's personal information but also my children's.....I've decided to make our family blog private so only those who we want to be reading our information will get access to it. So, would you please send me an email letting me know if you'd like to have access to our blog so I can add you? I know it's a little inconvenient to have to log in to read, but I feel safer knowing that our lives are being openly displayed for only those we trust. I will be officially private by the end of next week, so please contact me before then.

Thanks everyone!

I even included a video since you all were so patient!

Aedan Joseph Thomas Hancock is finally here! He arrived at 834 am on Wednesday June 9th, 2010. He weighed in at 6lbs 9 oz, and was 18 inches long. He looks just like his daddy, which makes this momma very happy! The delivery was long, and to be honest one of my most painful, but he's worth it!

He was so anxious to arrive, he couldn't wait for the Doctor. Our lovely Nurse Vickie ended up delivering him...(although he really delivered himself). He's such a joy to have, and the girls love him to pieces.

Well, the fun seems to continue. After my OB appointment today, the Doc had some concerns because, despite the bedrest, my blood pressure is still high and I'm having many headaches accompanying it. So, he sent me to the hospital to have a Non-stress test (NST). Basically they hook me up to the fetal monitor and monitor my blood pressure and how many accelerations (increases in heartbeat) and fetal movements the baby has during a 20 minute period. Problem with doing NST's this early in the game is our little guy has a lot of room to move, and move he does. Therefore, a test that should have only taken 20 minutes ended up lasting 2 hours because they couldn't get a continuous rhythm strip of 20 minutes without losing Aedan's heartbeat due to him moving around. I finally asked if I could just hold the monitor on my belly and followed him around as he moved. It worked! Good news is baby is doing fine, and though my blood pressure is still pretty high, I have not lost any kidney function yet and have not developed pre-eclampsia. I also get to have another ultrasound in about 2 weeks. The doc wants to check Aedan's development in case we have to deliver early.
Bad news is I "get" to start doing this twice a week now. Fun! Oh well, I guess it gives me something to break up the monotony of bedrest right?!

Don't I wish I could do that! No wonder our girls have such awesome abs!

Well, it's official. The doctor finally put his foot down and has put me on.....BEDREST....."shudder!" The contractions haven't been as bad, but the swelling and blood pressure are higher than they have ever been. He had the script written out to excuse me from my job before he even came into the room. He warned me at my last appointment to be expecting it....I stubbornly said I would make it to at least the end of April. My body however, decided it was only going to let me go until yesterday.

The good news about bedrest, (I'm trying so hard to focus on the positives) is that I get to be home with Ainslee one-on-one until the baby comes. That was something I cherished so much with Rhees before Ainslee was born! When I told Ainslee yesterday, she actually cheered! All day today she just pauses, runs up to me, gives me a big hug and says, "Mommy! You're home with me! I love this!" Makes the whole thing a lot more bearable!

Speaking of our little Ainslee.....we found out that she has a hernia and has to have surgery to have it repaired. Originally we had scheduled her surgery for May 17th, but due to my bedrest, we are now going to have to push it back. I think it will be better anyway to have it done after the baby comes, that way we'll have a little less stress flowing around here. It's not too serious of a surgery, and the surgeon said that she would even be able to take a full bath later that night. So we're not too worried. It doesn't cause her any pain or problems, but has the potential to become a huge problem in the future, which is why we chose to have the surgery when she's young.

Other than that, life is moving along. Aedan is growing and moving around like crazy. He is a very active little guy who seems to think the inside of my belly is a boxing ring. But, we are so extremely excited that the time is getting closer. The doc mentioned that if I can hold out until I'm 37 weeks, he's leaning toward inducing me then. That would make 5 1/2 more weeks. Here's to holding out until then!

On our way down to tucson I caught ainslee pulling gum from behind her ear and putting into her mouth.......I know, EWWWWW!!! When I tried explaining to her that this was NOT ok, she told me, "but mom, the girl from the chocolae factory does it!"

Easter came and went again this year. We did color eggs (a couple days late), the girls were able to go easter egg hunting, and received spoils from the easter bunny. Although there were more pictures....the quality didn't turn out so hot, so I decided to grace you all with pictures of my beautiful girls in their new Easter outfits compliments of Grandma Anni. Grandma has been sewing the cutest outfits for the kiddo's each major holiday lately, and the girls love it! I think the skirts turned out fabulous and have plans to copy the pattern myself for more lovely skirts!

On a new topic....

I've always known that I have the most amazing in-laws, and have been blessed not only to have married such a great guy, but to have married into such a great family also! Lately, I've been feeling so remote and somewhat alone during this pregnancy. Safford has been a hard place for our family to adjust to. Coming from our ward in Texas, where we felt like part of a big family, to Safford, where, well, we don't.....has been an adjustment for us. Just as I was having one of my more "down" days, we received some packages in the mail from Anni and Steve. One package was for the family for Easter.....two others, I was instructed not to open until we could have some time together as a whole family. I called Jared to let him know, at which point he told me he was aware of the packages, and to sit tight on them until the next day when we would have some time together.

Now anyone who knows my girls, know that they both have no patience in their little bodies. So from the time the packages arrived, until Jared got home, all I heard was, "mommy, can we open the other packages now?" about every 5 minutes. When Jared got home, he began to get the same constant questioning. It was later, around 8 pm....about the time we get the girls ready for bed, when he finally relented (mostly to save me the headache of the constant pestering from the girls all the next day) and said we could at least open the packages.

I opened the first box, which contained a wrapped present and a piece of paper that said, "Shower in a box." My lovely mother-in-law and sis-in-laws had decided that they needed to throw a baby shower for me, but since we lived so far away, they got creative and decided to do it all out of a box. The party guests included myself, Jared, Rhees and Ainslee. The packages were full of presents, party favors, shower games, and even little packets of crystal light to make the punch.

See! I told you I married into an awesome family! Just when I was feeling so remote and alone, they go and do something like this! I admit....I cried some happy tears!

Due to the excitement of the girls (and myself ) Jay let us open the presents. Jared did take pictures, but most turned out a little blurry because he would take them when I wasn't aware and I would move right as he shot the pic.....so I will post the ones later that turned out.....but this little Aedan is one spoiled grandbaby and nephew. Nikki made the cutest carseat cover for him, Audrie made the softest after-bath mat, and Anni made multiple blankets, burp cloths, onesies, etc. complete with lots of the cutest outfits. It's made me soooo exicted for this little one to come join our family!

Thank you mom, Nik, and Audie for the awesome shower and gifts! You have no idea how much I needed that at the time!

Have to say that I won the jackpot when I married this awesome man! Not only did I get him, but I got his awesome fam too!

Poor Rheesie! She has her mother's grace and her father's accident proneness!

Jared got a call from the school the last Wednesday. The school nurse's assistant was asking him to come and look at Rhees' eye. She fell and got pretty banged up! Apparentely she was running outside and tripped and fell eye first into a concrete bench. Thank goodness it didn't affect her actual eyeball, but she will probably have a good scar right below her eye brow. Her eye swelled up pretty good and is still pretty black and blue, but she is feeling better now.

Now her and Ainslee will have almost matching scars from almost matching black eyes! I sure hope Aedan doesn't inherit the graceful ability and accident proneness from his parents like his sisters have!

Why is it that women are engrained with this natural "nesting" instinct during the time when you should be relaxing the most?

I'm going cRaZy (and taking my hubby along for the ride, poor man!) with all these many things I HAVE to do around the house.....but due to being heavy with child, and on restriction.....can't accomplish. Poor Jared has been inundated with lists....and lists....and..well you get the point, of all these many things that I NEED to get done RIGHT NOW! (I'm telling you! If the closet does not get organized again....for the 80th time in a row....right now....it's life or death people!)

Thank goodness for a very loving and patient husband who puts up with my madness!

Time to go write another list :o)

I was explaining the "stranger danger" concept to Rhees. I asked her, "If someone you don't know offers to drive you home when you are walking home from the bus stop, do you get into the car with them?" She looked at me and emphetically answered, "NO!" I said, "that's right! Why not?" To which she answered, "because I like walking."

Ainslee asked me the other day if I could pull her in the wagon. I told her that because of mommies pregnancy right now, I couldn't pull her in the wagon. She asked, "because you'll hurt your belly?" To which I replied, "yes, it might make mommy's belly hurt." I told her that she should ask daddy when he got home from work. She looked at me with her big gray eyes full of concern, and said, "but, mommy! Daddy can't! He might break his belly too!"

I know it's a little late, but we did have our official Family Fun Day in February. Due to my preggo restrictions....we can't do much, but we decided to take the girls down to Tucson to go out to eat at a nice restaurant and just bum around. (It's sad when your town is so remote that going to an Olive Garden and a Target are exciting ventures!) The girls think it's always so exciting to go to Tucson, so they had fun. the most important part was that we spent the day as a family and really enjoyed it! Not to exciting, but nonetheless, it was a hit. While in Tucson, Rhees saw an owl mask that she wanted us to buy for her. I convinced her that instead, we would go home and make an owl mask. Here's how they turned out.






As for an update on my pregnancy. Little Aedan Joseph is doing well. He's moving and growing like crazy, and doesn't like me sitting still at all. I'm still working, but have adjusted my schedule so that I work 4 nine hour shifts instead of 3 twelves. It's been nice to be home before dark and right as Rhees gets off the bus! I'm on restriction, so I can't do any patient care work.....which means I'm currently doing a lot of office work like writing policies and procedures and creating training guides. I've been so blessed to be able to continue working! The doctor wanted me to quit working, but I carry the benefits for the family, so had to keep working to keep them. Luckily, my boss worked with me so that I could continue working, and Heavenly Father is helping us in this regard. I feel larger than life right now.....but still can manage to get around. I'm just happy I've past my 1/2 way mark! Here's to the next 3 months!

BOY!!!! We are so excited to be bringing some more testosterone into our home! The girls are elated, Jared can't quit smiling, and I'm so happy the baby is looking so healthy and happy! I'm half way through the pregnancy, and just taking one day at a time! It'll be quite a change from our two girls, but I'm excited to see the joys that boyhood brings!

We had our first official family fun day on Saturday. The morning started off with the girls letting us sleep in (past 7 am). We then got ready and headed up to mount Graham to play in the snow. Now here in sunny Arizona, we don't get much of a chance to see snow.....so we weren't very prepared snow clothes and equipment wise. We ended up putting three layers of pants on each of us, with three layers of shirts, and plastic baggies over the girls feet. For a sled, we took a plastic box lid and wrapped it in a heavy duty garbage bag. It didn't look the best....but hey, it worked and was fun! The girls had such a blast sledding down the hill with their daddy while prego mommy took pics. We stayed fairly warm and had a lot of fun!

After we made it back down the mountain, we ate a quick lunch, then headed out again for Phoenix. For Christmas, Jay got tickets to the ASU vs. U of A hockey game. So we were off to the hockey game. We decided since the game started so late, we'd get a cheap hotel room and spend the night, so we weren't trying to drive home at 1 a.m.. So we made it to our hotel room, got some dinner, then headed to the game. We were a little dissappointed to find out that the ice rink was pretty lame and didn't have enough seats for a majority of the people there, so we ended up standing the whole time....but the girls had fun, and enjoyed their first game, though Rhees, our gentle child, stated the players scared her sometimes because "they had to always play mean!" to which Ainslee responded..."but, that's what's so fun!"

After 2 periods, the girls started getting restless, and our shoulders started getting sore from holding the girls up there, so we decided to call the game quits and head out for icecream. We ended back at the hotel where we watched a movie on TV, then went to bed.

All in all, we had a great time! It was great to get out as a family and spend some quality time together....something we have been lacking in! The whole day was enjoyable, and just seeing the smiles on the girls faces made everything so worth it! We can't wait until next month! hope you enjoy our pics from up on the mountain!

Got a call from the babysitter on Tuesday. "Ainslee fell and has a good size gash on her face." Not what a mother ever wants to hear! This is the result 2 days later. The "gash" is right next to her eye, so she's lucky she didn't damage her eye any! Her eye is still pretty swollen and the prettiest shade of purple. The cut isn't as deep as originally thought, and she doesn't seem to be bothered much by it. Thank goodness she's so tough! I took the pic with my cell phone so it's hard to see, but you can obviously see that her left eye is smaller than her right. Poor thing! thank goodness it's healing quickly!

As for an update for me. I never did hear back from the Doc, so I went ahead and returned to work on Monday. I was able to get through the whole work week with limited contractions thanks to the medication he gave me. Now we're just playing it one week at a time. Baby is moving like crazy, and we will hopefully find out whether we are having a baby boy or girl next week. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers for our family regarding this! It's very appreciated!

Still unsure of the gender....but boy am I showing! I got put on limited bed rest for the rest of the week and was ordered home from work.....it doesn't help my case when I work with my doc at the hospital and he knows how easy I DON'T take it while I'm working. He did tell me that if I took it easy for the rest of the week I could maybe start back at work again on Monday. Any ideas on some entertaining things to do to keep me busy that aren't strenuous? Our library is very limited and we have no book store, I've read all of our own books multiple times, and I'm not a big tv watcher. Needless to say.....I get really antsy with the whole word bedrest! So anyone have any ideas on how to keep myself busy and entertained? Jared will thank you immensely!