Welcome Beckett Rush

DSC_3128, a photo by Hendu Family on Flickr.

I had the most amazing thing hppen on my birthday this year.........Beckett Rush was born. Birth story is up next and then an update on the super big sisters!

Little sis Maysie

Little sis Maysie
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Maysie is so in love with her big sis. Piper is also so in love with her little sis, and pretends that Maysie is her baby. She had trained Maysie to talk "baby talk". Maysie goo goo's at her "mommy" and loves to get snuggled and fed goldfish by her "mommy". This week Brian is putting together the girls new bunk beds, and both cannot wait!!! Cannot believe my little ones are not so little anymore. Spent the morning running around the beach today watching my 2 girls enjoy each moment! I am reminded to savor all these moments too, as they go by so fast.

Happy Birthday my sweet Piper!

Last candle left!
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Cannot believe that my little lady is 4. She is the most amazing little being that I have ever met. She loves to comfort her little sister and asks me to snuggle when she needs a hug. She puts up with me when I dress her and Maysie in matching clothes. Happy Birthday Piper Elizabeth!

Imagine 12 years from now this will be a real car!!

Imagine 12 years from now this will be a real car!!! Katie, Remember the Blue bomber??
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Yesterday was Patriot's Day, so the girls and I took advantage of having the day off by going to New Hampshire. Poor Brian had to work, so it was just me and the ladies going to visit my folks. Mom had gotten a GIANT cupcake and put it on a beautiful cake stand that she had gotten as a wedding gift. She put in 4 candles and put a beautiful butterfly ring on top. Piper was loving it. She opened some amazing gifts, including a beautiful handmade dress and a matching dress for her doll. Maysie even got one too. We ended up at the mall and Maysie picked out new shoes with little "purpril" bows. Piper declined the shoes at the store, as there weren't any with enough sparkle. The best was when they both requested to ride the 75 cent car and I got flashbacks of riding in a giant "blue bomber" with my sister when we were much older. I can think ahead 12 years, and my heart isn't quite ready to envision the girls driving a real car yet. Yikes. Glad that sparkle shoes, purple bows and matching dresses are all we have to think about for now.

Cannot believe this young lady is 90!

Cannot believe this young lady is 90!
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

My Gramma turned 90 this week. The ladies and I traveled with my mom to help celebrate her special day last week. We had a special dinner at her house Saturday night with family and an amazing friend to her (Helen). On Sunday we all woke up and went to church. Yikes..., me and church do not mix well. The last time I was there was for my Grandpa's service. The girls did great while the congregation sang Happy Birthday to Solveig! Once the sermon started the girls and I moved to the back of the church to play with leggos and wait for Mimi and Nana. After the service we had cake and coffee for her. Piper and Maysie loved running around with their sparkle shoes and the balloons...But above all we are so grateful to have Mimi in our lives to celebrate her special day.

Sweet Maysie G turned 2!

shy and proud
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

I am beside myself at the fact that my sweet baby has now turned 2. Maysie is now speaking in whole sentences and she uses the potty. What the heck?? Her big sis Piper loves to hug and kiss her and if Maysie needs to cuddle she first runs to me and then Piper. She yells "Piper, kisses sister"! Loving it! Every moment! Happy Birthday Maysie, we all love you so much!

Counting down...

Cheese
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

My sweet baby Maysie is turning 2 in 2 days........She loves to pretend to play the drums with her sweet dimples, sing songs to daddy and ask every morning for cheerios for breakfast......
My mornings are so perfect waking up and seeing her and Piper hold hands walking down the stairs....life is perfect!

Meeting Curious George

Maysie kept a safe distance
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

A couple weeks ago they opened up a new exhibit at the Boston Childrens Museum. Since we are members we were allowed to come a day earlier than it was open to the public. Both ladies are SERIOUS Curious George fans, so we packed up the ladies and my mom to check it out. It was amazing! The ladies loved it. They also had a meet and greet room with some of the PBS characters which included Peep, Arthur and Curious George. Piper was a little nervous at first, but then decided that she wanted to draw him a picture before she met him. The BCM had tons of markers and paper available, so she got started. Maysie on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the giant characters. As you can see from the picture, she kept a very safe distance. Piper ended up giving Curious George a couple of drawings, gave him a high five and then a little bitty hug. It was great.

Sister Moments

026
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

My sweet little girls have decided that they love picnics! With the temperature being 20 degrees outside, we have had to accommodate this indoors. When we get home after work/school Piper takes out the blanket and lays it out on the floor. Maysie gets their milk, and I bring over dinner. I bring the Mac over and Piper decides on the DVD they are going to watch. She is always very kind to Maysie picking Elmo or the Polar Express which is a new favorite of both. My job is to keep the dogs from stampeding the picnic, as they still feel like anything on the floor is fair game!

Catching up with Piper

nobody's cooler than piper
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Piper is such a sweet little girl. I cannot believe what an amazing person she is. She LOVES her little sister and making people giggle. She asks me to snuggle with her and loves to be held. She has opened her eyes to so many new foods, loving tufu, egg salad, beans and bacon! At night her and Brian have a routine where he will read her 5 books or tell her stories, in the dark with a flashlight. She loves Ariel and hates witches. However, she watched Snow White and said she wasn't scared. She encourages Maysie to use the potty and reminds me to give her a jellybean if she is successful! Piper runs and jumps on me every day when I pick her up at school, screaming "Mommy". It melts my heart.

Catch up with Maysie

maysie funny
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Maysie will be turning 2 in February, I can hardly believe it. She is sooo silly. Her favorite foods are fruit and anything crunchy and she loves yogurt smoothies. She adores her big sister and wants to do everything Piper does. She loves school and playing with all her friends. We had a huge blizzard recently and she was a little nervous venturing out into the snow, but once she saw Piper playing in it, she was hooked. We got the Elf on the Shelf this year, and Maysie named the Elf "Nemo". Every night "Nemo" would go to the North Pole to tell Santa if the girls were good and would return to a different spot in the house. Maysie couldn't wait to come downstairs in the morning to see if she could spot "Nemo". She loved unwrapping gifts on Christmas. She would grab a gift unwrap it in record time and then yell "nether one"! We are heading to Disney in a few weeks, and it will be her 3rd time there and she isn't even 2! Yikes!

Go fly a kite

Maysie loved it too
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

I am so grateful. I have 2 amazing little ladies who love to experience everything. Even if it's just a new craft project or new crackers....they are so in awe. Last weekend we walked to the beach and showed the girls how to fly a kite. I cannot even begin to describe their faces. They loved every moment. We brought some bread to feed the seagulls after. Piper was sad after all the bread was gone, as she noticed some of the birds that never got a piece of the bread. She was emotional thinking that it wasn't fair that only some of the birds got to have a treat. Little Miss Piper may have a future in social services..........

Not scared!

Piper was loving this guy
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Piper is very vocal about things she is scared of....the dark....spiders...monsters....but then Brian made it very clear! He eats monsters and spiders and a little flashlight helped out in the dark. She is becoming so brave. I am so proud of my little lady. She is not afraid! Yeah for Piper!

We are back!

priceless
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Took a little time off from this, but I sooo missed my blog. I missed documenting the moments I spent with my kiddos. When both Piper and Maysie were born I kept a calendar for them documenting their first year....the first roll over, their first smile, their first foods, their first holiday....yet after a year I found myself scrambling to find a way to capture it. I ended up getting glass jars where I would write down on pieces of paper things that they would say or do that I wanted to remember. I feel like the moments pass so quick and I never want to forget and I want their loved ones to know the things that they are experiencing as well. This has been an amazing year for us. Both of us working full time jobs, with Brian even changing jobs within his company, yet we feel really grounded. We have two amazing little ladies who surprise us every day.

Happy Father's Day

Daddy is SO strong
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

You rock! We are so honored to have you in our lives. Piper told me the other day "Daddy is strong", and I couldn't agree more.
Thanks for loving us SO much.

Love, your 5 ladies
(this includes the 2 furry ladies as well)

P is the magic letter

Enjoying
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Today Piper gave me a worksheet that she had done today at preschool. On the top is said "Letter of the week is L". Then there were traceable letter L's all over for her to trace. She didn't even attempt one L. Instead, all over the sheet were P's. Big P's, small p's, crooked p's, lopsided p's and just really sweet p's. I was proud.

All is well with the world.

2 peas in a pod again
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

The ladies are all healthy. Piper's bloodwork came back super fine. All those veggie hot dogs and tofu was exactly what she needed to boost up her iron levels! Yippee. And Maysie is being so brave with her finger foods! Bring on the blueberries!

Piper is such a clown!

Clowns in the making!
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

We have been writing down some things that Piper says, as we never want to forget! She is too funny. Tonight, the girls and I went to the grocery store and I asked Piper if we should get Daddy something special to eat. She said CHICKEN! The other day, Brian took my car to the car wash and brought Piper along. Piper HATED it! Since that day, every night when Brian asks her how many books he should read to her, she responds.......I went to the car wash, so I get 4 books. She really is my little clown.

Just when you think things are going well.....

Henderson Family
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

We are DONE with visits to the doctor.....keep your fingers crossed. It started with Maysie getting pneumonia. Then I got my physical and all seemed well. Piper had her 3 year check up. Both of us had to get blood work for our physicals. Piper was SO BRAVE. I got the first call. My doctor said that my white blood cell count was VERY elevated. She is hoping that I had some sort of illness and prescribed antibiotics asking me to come back in a few weeks to repeat the blood work. Then came the call for Piper. She has low hemoglobin levels, which means anemia. The doctor said we need to drastically increase the amount of iron she is getting and in a couple weeks repeat the blood test fo her. Found out that veggie hotdogs (not sure if this is one word or two) are very high in iron. Also found a cereal that she loves that is high in the good stuff as well. She still loves tofu, which is great. (Just want to mention that she is not a vegetarian) Then came Brian, who got strep. We all got checked and he was the only one.......hmmmmm
Then Maysie couldn't get rid of her cough. Took her in and they did a chest x-ray. Found a spot on her lung, but since they weren't the ones who took the first x-ray (ER), they can't say if it's just residual from her pneumonia. She was prescribed antibiotics as well.
We are all done with the antibiotics. All seem healthy. Maysie is her old sweet self, oh, I missed her! Piper is loving her new foods and Brian was happy that he lost some weight having strep. Piper and I will be heading back to do blood work soon. Think we may wait until after Memorial Day weekend. Please keep your fingers crossed.

"I am a Piper"

Do I have something on my nose????
Originally uploaded by Hendu Family

Yesterday, I took Piper for her 3 year check up. She was very brave getting her check up and even all her blood work. The doctor asked many questions and had Piper do all sorts of fun things......jump....stand on one foot......jump on one foot........and then came a couple questions! The first was "Piper, how old are you?" Piper proudly displayed 3 fingers and said she was 3! Then the doctor asked "Piper, are you a boy or a girl?" Piper stated "I am a Piper!" Well, that is correct Piper........
She did eventually say that she was a girl, but we all got such a giggle that day.