Hancock Haven

Check out my new blog

2011-08-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

Hey all!
I know that I've been horrible at posting, and I probably still will be, but right now I am chronically my 30-day juice fast. Check it out here:
www.highfructosedeathsyrup.blogspot.com

We Should Know Better By Now

2010-09-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a good day for me. Even though Ryan had worked a double shift and I had hit a couple of almost-mental-breakdown moments with the kids, by the end of the day I was still feeling pretty good. We had gotten quite a few apples this week from a fruit/vegetable co-op thing that we do, so I decided (after the kids had gone to sleep) that I would make apple crisp for Ryan (which is one of his favorite desserts). When Ryan got home at 9:30ish, he excitedly went to get ice cream from our chest freezer to go with his fresh-out-of-the-oven apple crisp. And before I continue on with my riviting story you must know 2 facts:
1. Although it is almost October, good ole AZ is still producing over 100 degree weather.
2. Next to me and the kids, ice cream could be Ryan's true love. During the summer we stock up everytime there is a sale. Ryan enjoys a bowl almost daily and still (heaven only knows how) maintains his 150-160lbs. status (but that's getting off topic).
So yes, back to the story. When Ryan went out to our garage to get some ice cream he became suddenly aware that one of our kids (we still don't know which one) turned our chest freezer completely off. All of Ryan's 15 ice creams (yes, I said 15!) were totally melted. He was super bummed. [Although we're trying to re-freeze the ice cream, Ryan know it just won't taste the same]. Luckily our meat (the little amount we had) was in the bottom, so it survived. Ryan fit as much in our freezer above our fridge as he could and then patched up the dial on the side of the freezer so the kids can't touch it anymore. Here's what we want to know though: why would a company make a freezer dial with an off option? If one wanted to defrost a freezer, wouldn't one just unplug it? Food for thought.

P.S. We will be taking ice cream replinishing donations.

What goes through her head???

2010-08-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

You're going to say to yourself, "wow, this is a really long post. Do I really want to read the whole thing?" But let me tell you, if you have children, or ever plan on having children, or are done with children and you want to laugh at someone going through parenting now, this post is well worth your time.

So, yesterday I was at my friend Aggie's house. Ag happens to have a little girl who is a few months older than Sydney and as it turns out they are best friends. Oh, and Ag lives next door to me. Any parent out there knows that if two little girls are missing and silent for over 5 minutes, one is bound to find some sort of mischief. As soon as Ag and I realized the lack of ruckus (which is the norm. with those two together) we went on the hunt for a couple of 3-year-olds. We found them giggling in Ag's room sitting on her bed. Why were they giggling you ask? Because they had plastered their hair with Vaseline. That's right, I said petroleum-based-gross-greasy Vaseline. Admittedly, when Agnes and I found the girls we couldn't help by chuckle a little ourselves wondering what in the world would make them think it's fun, or even OK to slather 3/4 of a big Vaseline container in your hair.

Not great pictures, but you'll get the point:

Let me tell you though, neither Sydney nor I were giggling or chuckling at the end of the night, 15 hair washes later. *side note: Sydney detests having her hair washed.

When we got home I first tried using dish soap twice to see if it would "cut the grease" as dish soap claims. No dice. I shampooed and washed 3 times after that. Imagine my surprise when it looked like I hadn't tried a thing to get the Vaseline out. (This puts the hair washings total to 5 so far). After this I gave Sydney her dinner to get her energy up and decided to google how to get Vaseline out of hair. Several people suggested using corn starch claiming that it would clump up and absorb the Vaseline. I tried this twice and then followed up with another 3 shampooings (Hair washings total: 10).

One seriously depleted shampoo, box of corn starch, parent losing faith in google, and unhappy child later, Syd's hair was still saturated. AHHHH!!!!

A bunch of other people on the Internet said that baby oil works. I thought to myself, "how could putting something oily on top of something greasy help?" But honestly, it couldn't have gotten any worse, so I let Sydney take another breather while I called around to find some baby oil. Luckily my sister-in-law Crystal had some (she only lives 2 1/2 blocks from us). By the time I told Sydney she had to get in the bath again so we could try one more thing to get the "yucky stuff" out of her hair, Sydney was saying in almost-tears, "Mommy, my no want another bath. My all done." I explained gently that no, she wasn't done because she put Vaseline in her hair, which she shouldn't have done. To which she replied, "I NEVER going to do that again". (Even though you know 6 months down the line, she's gonna forget that promise).

After 2 baby oil applications, one more dish soap washing, and 2 more shampooings, Sydney's hair resembled somewhat close to normal... (really, baby oil?). Oh, and that reaches the total 15 washings.
After I got her out and dried her off I spent at least 15 minutes with a fine toothed comb, combing out chunks of Vaseline. I thought her hair looked pretty good when I was done.....

And then this morning when Sydney woke up and came out of her room I noticed home homeless she looked with stringy, still greasy hair that never looks fully dry. I pulled her hair in a tight braid for church and hoped everyone thought I'd put product in it or something. I seriously think it's going to take a month for her hair to get back to normal.

Moral of the story: don't leave Vaseline around where kids can get it, because you will spend your night wishing that the person who invented Vaseline would have never been born.

These are a Few of her Favorite Things

2010-08-15T20:36:00.000-07:00

I had a bunch of pictures on my phone from this month showing how Sydney occupies her time.

1. Biting Jasper

2. Play in the mud during Arizona monsoon season (this actually happens to be at a Brinkerhoff [Ryan's mom's side of the family] reunion in Heber, AZ [white mountains]).

3. Playing Scrabble-Upwords (without actually spelling any real words) with Jasper while wearing her Cinderella dress.

4. Dancing around like a fool but feeling like it's OK as long as she's wearing her Snow White dress.

5. Climbing Trees

*And let me finish this post by saying that I think no matter what kind of job you do, any parent of a "spirited child", as we like to call it, should have a place in heaven waiting for them when they die.

I am truly going to try to start bloggin more-- My life as of late

2010-05-23T21:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday when I got home from my run (while pushing Jasper and Sydney in my double stroller), Sydney says, “I smell something”. And the I asked, “what?....me?” She nodded her head and then said, “you stinky mommy”. Gee, thanks Syd. That makes me feel real pretty. I mean I know I STINK when I exercise, but it's a total kick when my almost-3-year-old who will sit in the bathroom while someone's going poo and not say anything tells me I'm stinky. Nice.

Also, earlier in the week we were on our daily afternoon walk and I was telling Sydney that before the mother-daughter activity that night we needed to wash off the pen she had drawn all over her arms and legs. She said, “No Mommy, we don't (need to )". I replied that we did need to. She then said, “but it's pretty though”. She's gonna have tatoos by 16, I just know it.

The mother-daughter activity on Thursday was amazing. We made flower clips (which Sydney totally painted by herself—so what if it was sopping wet and took overnight to dry—and picked out the gaudy jewel to go in the middle), picture frames, and after Sydney scarfed down her ice cream she grabbed my hand and said, “Mommy, we need go make bracelets now”. So that's what we did. Sydney was so cute gluing things on the picture frame and helping me get the beads on the bracelet. It is so fun (and at times frustrating) to have such and independent girl.

If you're into baby laughter....

2009-09-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

If you like watching babies laugh, this video is for you:

Also, here is Sydney singing part of Les Miserables:

I am a horrible person

2009-09-20T19:25:00.001-07:00

So I already am aware that I'm a horrible person for NEVER BLOGGING. Now that's out in the open, I'll go ahead and give a very brief update. Jasper is 7 1/2 months old now, and Sydney is 2+ a few months. They are my greatest joy and my greatest stress. Sydney is SO ACTIVE. We like to call it "spirited". Some of her favorite activities include breaking things, pulling things out of cupboards/ off shelves, terrorizing Jasper, stealing toys/books from anyone and everyone, and insisting that anything within a 20 foot perimeter of her is hers, or as she likes to say, "miiiiiine". Although Syd is only 23 lbs, she can tackle kids that are roughly double her size (just ask her church nursery leaders). Jasper is my angel child. He is always SO HAPPY. His current favorite activities are smiling, laughing, saying da da da da, and watching Sydney do crazy things. Although I rag on Sydney, she has actually become quite affectionate. She gives me lots of hugs and kisses, and constantly tells me, "Mommy, I love you". And I love her too. Here are a few recent pictures:

Sydney loves to read in her free time:

Jasper's cousin, Kennedy, put this on him:

Jasper especially loves his baths:

Jasper and daddy:

Jasper in grandma Dawnita's laudry basket:

Syd's a little obsessed with stickers:

Sydney in some dress up clothes at a friend's house:

Jasper got blessed

2009-05-03T14:42:00.001-07:00

Jasper got blessed

2009-05-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

Our sweet little Jasper Charles Hancock was blessed today by his proud papa. This is his little suit that he wore. The last picture is Jasper and my neighbor Shannon Singleton. Shannon is the one that lent me this cute suit. Her son, Landen, wore it when he was blessed. Thanks Shannon!

Took me long enough

2009-02-22T17:55:00.001-08:00

I know my family thinks I'm a bum for not posting enough. I'm also a bum because they had to wait 3 weeks to see more pictures of Jasper. Here they are:

These ones are all a day before his 3 week birthday. The ones before were a few days after he was born.

Mercy Gilbert Medical Center Hospital Announcement

2009-02-03T14:36:00.000-08:00

Our hospital puts up pictures of the babies when their born and has some interesting facts about their birthday and such. Here's the website for those of you who may be as obsessed with Jasper as me:
http://www.mercygilbert.org/Patients_And_Visitors/Online_Nursery/index.htm?&vnMode=details&bId=4346&nsw=j

Jasper Charles Hancock

2009-02-02T16:51:00.000-08:00

All 8 lbs 1 oz, 20.5 inches of Jasper Charles Hancock was born today at 9:18 a.m. The c-section was very successful. Much much better than my last experience. Our hospital number is (480) 728-7430 and anyone is welcome to call if you want more details. Here is a video and some pics of our newest addition to our Hancock Haven.

visit to Heber, Arizona

2008-12-17T12:51:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a visit to Ryan's family in Heber, Arizona. We got some snow while up there, which was fun. We also got a couple of hilarious videos. First is Sydney harassing Ryan's family's cat, Frankie:

One of Sydney's new things is to say "weeee" when she's having a lot of fun. This is her on a wooden horsie:

If I had more time today, I'd put more up. This will have to suffice for now.

Why People Need the Internet

2008-10-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

So, I've decided that the internet should be a free service for poor people, like part of Welfare or sompin'. My reasoning is this:
1. If poor people had the internet, they wouldn't have to call every freakin' place they needed help from instead of doing stuff online. The average poor person is put on hold for at least 240 hours of their life. That's 240 hours that could be spent hunting down dead squirrels to cook for dinner.
2. Poor people get bored a lot because they also don't own a second car to get out of the house.
3. Poor people need blogs to stay connected to others and feel like they have friends (or at least order free samples from Walmart so they get mail).
So all I'm saying is if this sounds good, let me know and I'll see what I can do to start a petition or something.

Because I'm visiting my parents and they have the internet, I think I shall post again tomorrow. Until then.

Offically having a...

2008-09-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

So, today Ryan and I found out what gender our little baby #2 is going to be. Here are the ultrasound pictures. Most of them, it's hard to tell what is what, but they're still fun to look at:

Top of the baby's head:

Profile Pic:

Ewww... placenta:

One of the cutest feet I've ever seen:

Now that you've looked at all the pictures, I can tell you we're having a BOY!!!

Sydney at 13 and 14 months

2008-09-12T11:18:00.000-07:00

This blog post is dedicated to the several members of my family who keep rebuking me for not sending out enough photos of Sydney. Yesterday, Sydney crawled into this little nookie and we thought it was hilarious! She loves tight spaces for some reason.

Here's our little model. We can't believe how big she's getting:

I think that Sydney looks just like Ryan's baby pictures in this one:

13 MONTHS:

Sydney went to a water park in Tempe with her cousin (2nd, I think?) Emma.

Sydney loves water slides:

Sydney got into Mommy's jewlery. She decided to go topless too:

Welcome, welcome, I'm happy to have you any day:

This was in Heber at Ryan's parent's house. We cleaned out the mop bucket so Sydney could go on a ride. This is what poor people do for fun:

Kindly enough, Sydney let Daddy take a turn too.

Sydney LOVES animals. Especially Frankie (Ryan's family's cat). She chased him around everywhere:

And hugged him...:

And petted him...:

And pretty much wouldn't leave him alone:

These pictures were taken labor day weekend

Sunsplash/What Sydney does around the house for kicks and giggles

2008-08-07T12:24:00.000-07:00

Ryan's mom, Gail, and brother, Kevin, came down to visit us last week. A lady at church (Helen Carling) who works at sunsplash (a water park) got us in for free. Swww-eeee-t. Sydney had so much fun. The amazing bathing suit she is wearing was bought for her by her adoring Grandpa Jeffry. Sydney is meant for the water. I was ready to leave before she was. Sheesh.

This was at home before we left for Sunsplash. Sydney was playing with her cow, Bessie.

When we left this slide, Sydney walked back over to it and started going up the stairs. She obviously wasn't done yet.

Sydney was playing with Lexi Carling (Helen's daughter)

Daddy pretty much forced Sydney down this one (no just kidding). Sydney really hoped Grandma Gail would catch her at the bottom.

Syd and Lexi again.

Now on to a few picutures of what Syd does around the house for fun. This is why we don't need TV:

Sydney likes to play with her stuffed friends

And then eat them

Then she finds a good sized shoe box

And stuffs herself in it, hoping no one puts a clearance sticker on her

She also quite enjoys eating peanut butter from the jar (Daddy goes for convenience)

And plays on chairs (while Mommy freaks out thinking she'll fall). Sydney really likes climbing on things.

And that about sums it up.

***IF YOU LIKE WHAT YOU SEE, CHECK OUT MY PICASA WEB ALBUM:

http://picasaweb.google.com/JaidaB/SunsplashWhatSydneyDoesAroundTheHouseForFunMidLateJuly2008

If I were that cute, I'd run around in the nude too!

2008-07-27T19:32:00.000-07:00

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES...IS NOT FOR THE WEAK OF STOMACH

This week was a good one, as is always the case with my little Sydney and my sweet Ryan. Yesterday Sydney was naughty. She’s at the point now where she definitely knows what she’s doing and she’s very deliberate in her actions. I was just getting out of the shower when Ryan brought Sydney into the bathroom…NAKED! Ryan proceeded to tell me that while he was in the living room reading his scriptures, and Sydney was just on the other side of the couch in the kitchen, Ryan heard the Velcro-e part of Sydney’s diaper being slowly pulled away from the diaper. Nothing unusual there—I mean, if my butt was as cute as hers, I would probably want to run around in my birthday suit all day too. He called to her, but she didn’t come right away, like usual. So, he went to see what was going on and there she was, not only totally in the nude, but her diaper that she had taken off was poopie. Apparently because Ryan didn’t get know she needed a diaper change, she decided to do it herself. Sydney had smeared her poopie on the tile and just a little on the carpet. We weren’t mad though, because it’s one of those parenting things. But the best part was the look on Sydney’s face as Ryan carried her into the bathroom. She had this beaming smile on pasted on, not smug, just a look of satisfaction. Ry and I decided that from now on, we need to make sure that she is dressed at all times. Otherwise, she pulls off her diaper every chance she gets. And heaven forbid that there’s more poopie next time.

This is just a little piece of the image I saw when I came out:

Sydney gives high fives now. It’s pretty hilarious! She gets so excited after she gives someone a high five, because we always clap our hands and say yayyyyyyyy! Some of my other favorite things that Sydney does includes: snuggling with her stuffed animals when she thinks that no one is looking, laying her head against my arm when I read her books before bed, giving me the dirtiest looks when I take away something she wants (if looks could kill…), dancing to music by flailing her arms while squatting up and down (actually on the beat), and the look of joy that spreads across her face when she does a baby sign and we understand what she is trying to communicate. Sydney is truly good company!

What it's like to be a Sydney-- a year and counting!

2008-07-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

Sydney had her 1 year birthday yesterday. Ryan and I keep wondering how she could have turned from 1 month to 1 year overnight!!! I went through the possibilities in my head, which include:

An angel came down and made Sydney grow because her spirit was too advanced for her body. (Not too likely)

She somehow got her hands on some growing pills. (I wouldn't put it past her)

We live in a twilight zone.

I'm personally opting for scenario 3, but hey, it's totally up to you to decide. No matter what the explanation though, it has seriously gone too fast! Sydney is such a joy to be with. She is entertainment enough for anyone. It would be ridiculous to have a televison around with such a goof right in front of us. We constantly wonder what we must have done in the pre-existance to have recieved such a choice spirit. Which brings me to my next topic... because our little one is growing up so fast, we have decided to have another (for those of you who didn't already know). It--he or she, we don't yet know-- is expected to join the happenin' Hancocks on February 1, 2009. We are SO EXCITED. And nothing but. This one has made me more sick than Syd, but it's totally worth it! I've been blessed with a husband who does more for me than is natural, so you know, I've kind of made out like a bandit.

Here is a video that I made as a tribute to Sydney's first year. I was going to put it right on my blog, but it didn't want to load, so just click on the link instead...
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=65e405891876763a1f9399&skin_id=701&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

These were Sydney's pictures from the last year, but I also wanted to make a brief note regarding the things we didn't catch on camera.

Syd really likes to put things in her mouth...STILL! I've given up the battle. By this point she has eaten paper, half a black bug (I'm guessing some sort of beetle), half a sweat bee, 3 day old string cheese, grass, tree leaves, various flower petals (no need to worry--we made sure none were of the poisionous variety), chapstick, hair found on the floor, and many many other things. Needless to say, these are just the things that I have seen her eat. At least she has a pretty strong immune system.

Sydney has a really high pain threshold. She has done the following without a single whimper: fallen and smacked her head, been pushed over by an oversized toddler, caught her fingers in a drawer, and been whacked in the face repetedly by our neighbor's dog's tail (if you can't picture that--trust me, it's hilarious!)

Sydney is also an intellect. She has a drawer full of board books that she will go to on her own and sit down/read them. It's really funny actually because I'll be in the room next to our bedroom (of course the house is baby proofed) and I'll hear Sydney laughing and jibber-jabbering to herself. When I go in, there she is turning the pages and "reading" the book outloud. Who knows to whom? I have a feeling she's going to be one of those tea-party-with-stufffed animals kind of girls.

Sydney thoroughly enjoys being chased. Even though she always gets caught, she still thinks that she can out-run us. Oh, blissful ignorance.

Sydney thinks it's hilarious to untie shoes (mind you, one's that are actually being worn). The only problem is this: when you live with a 93 year old woman, and your baby can untie shoes, but not retie them, you spend a good portion of time tying old lady shoes.

Sydney loves to play the piano. She'll get up on her tippy toes and plant her hands up on the keys. It's pretty funny to watch because she'll play a couple of notes and then look back at whoever happens to be there in need of approval. As soon as I say, "Good job, honey!" She gets this huge grin and goes back to playing.

There is so so much more, but I don't have time to write it all.