Henry is looking forward to YaiYai and Oppa’s visit in a few weeks so in honor of the up coming trip, here’s a photo of Henry with YaiYai and Oppa that I don’t think I’ve posted.
Henry loves his YaiYai and Oppa and thinks you should too.
YaiYai and Oppa spent a week at Walt Disney World and didn’t even offer to take Henry. So, he found another way to get his picture with Mickey.
Hopefully Mickey is a little less overpowering in person.
YaiYai and Oppa were in town during their spring break so we all headed to the Dallas Arboretum to stroll around and take pictures of Henry.
Henry celebrated his first Christmas morning in Clarksville with YaiYai, Oppa, Erin and me. Apparently, he wasn’t too interested in the presents because he woke up, ate and then went back sleep for two hours.
Later in the day, we went over to Frank and Jane’s house, who are friends of YaiYai and Oppa, where Henry the boy met Henry the dog. Both Henrys were a little distracted by the other happenings in the room to appreciate the significance of the moment.
Oppa and YaiYai live in Clarksville, Tennessee which is about one hour from Nashville where Uncle Chuck and AJ live. So, while we were in town, Uncle Chuck and AJ toured us around to a few of their favorite spots. We got to see Uncle Chuck’s work and his favorite lunch spot.
Uncle Chuck works in the music industry and recently received his first gold album.
Here is Henry posing with Uncle Chuck's first gold album to help increase it's value.
Oppa couldn't resist getting in the picture with Uncle Chuck and AJ.
Someone gave Oppa a frame that said something along the lines of “Granddad and Grandson”. So one of our tasks while in Tennessee was to take a picture of Henry and Oppa together. Here are the results of the photo shoot:
"Try looking at each other"
"Ready for your close-up?"
"Big smiles on three. One... Two..."
While Erin and I didn’t get around to sending out Christmas cards this year, due to a certain infant. Henry did make in onto YaiYai and Oppa’s Christmas card which we took when they visited over Thanksgiving.
We used the camera timer for this picture and it only took six tries, which was five too many for YaiYai.
This Thanksgiving we had something extra special to be thankful for, Henry. We hosted the celebration at our house to simplify baby care. Oppa, YaiYai, Uncle Chuck and AJ all drove down from Tennessee to be with us. In addition, Uncle Mo, Aunt TM, Aunt Linda and Grandma Hinderer joined us from Erin’s side of the family. We had tons of food and Henry loved all of the attention.
Notable firsts during this Thanksgiving:
YaiYai and Oppa, Henry’s grandparents, came to visit from Tennessee this week. We’re always glad to have them come and they were especially helpful this time. YaiYai woke up with Henry during the night which let Erin and I get a little extra sleep. Oppa ensured the trip was thoroughly documented by taking lots of pictures.
Erin and I welcomed Henry Miles VanDyke into our family on Monday, September 21 at 12:02pm. He weighed 7lbs 3oz and was 19.5 inches long. This is part one of the three part story of the hours immediately before he was born.
Friday, September 18
Last minute additions
Yai Yai and Oppa (James’ parents) decided on Friday night that they needed to come down for Henry’s birth. We were thrilled. It also settled a number of bets. Originally they planned to see Henry for the first time in October during YaiYai’s Fall Break from teaching, but several people, including me, were going to be surprised Henry’s imminent arrival didn’t trigger a quick trip to Texas.
Since we were inducing Henry on Monday, they were able to plan ahead for the trip. We were inducing because Henry measured large during his sonograms. The doctors wanted him to come before he got too big to be delivered naturally.
Saturday, September 19
Erin and I did chores around the house to prepare for Henry. We mowed the lawn, washed the dog and cleaned the house. Then we went on our last date together before Henry. We had pizza for lunch at Campisis.
In the evening my parents arrived at our house after a 12 hour drive from Tennessee.
Sunday, Septeber 20
Tiger is blissfully unaware of Henry's coming.
We woke up early and ate breakfast with YaiYai and Oppa at Corner Bakery. Then the four of us drove to the hospital to give the prospective grandparents a tour.
Tigerman had reservations at Erin’s parent’s house to hang out with Butch for a couple of days so we picked him up from the house and headed to McKinney.
After dropping the dog off, we met Granny and Grandad (Erin’s parents) and Aunt Toni and Uncle Mo (Erin’s sister and her husband) for lunch. We ate at Dos Charos because YaiYai likes sampling Tex-Mex when she comes to Dallas and because we’ve heard spicy foods can help move the labor process along.
New kicks for a new kid
A little post-lunch walking and shopping yielded a new pair of tennis shoes for me. I didn’t want to embarrass Henry in public on his first day with my old worn out shoes.
5 p.m. – Sitting nervously by the phone
We were supposed to get confirmation from the hospital at 5 p.m. to come in at 10 p.m. and start the process of inducing. There was a small chance the hospital would be too busy for the induction. Five o’clock came and went with no call. So, Erin and I took a nap in preparation for the evening ahead.
After napping, we kept the phone close while watching the Dallas Cowboys’ first game in their new stadium versus the New York Giants. None of us really cared about the Cowboys but it was the only thing worth watching on TV at the time.
7 p.m. – Confirmation
One last look at our pregency bellies
Finally at 7 p.m. Erin called the hospital to see if we were on the schedule. The nurse said we were the lucky winners for the evening and we could come in at 10 p.m. After months of waiting the clock officially started counting down to Henry entering our world.
9:45 p.m. – Good bye, Hello
Since YaiYai and Oppa were staying at our house we said goodbye to them and embarked on the next phase of our exciting journey.
