www.TheHamptonings.blogspot.com

You can find our new blog at http://www.thehamptonings.blogspot.com/.

And the winner is...................................

Thank you all for your ideas. And I know you're all anxiously awaiting to know who won!

As for Hensley's middle name........drum roll, please!...........well.............here it goes...............Secret. No, not her name, "Secret". We're gonna keep it a "secret"...until she's born. Our intentions are to start a family feud over her middle name. That way she will always feel special! Oh, by the way, we're only a month away to her due date, 12/10/09. For those of us who would like to continue playing guessing games, feel free to guess when Hensley will actually be born, her weight, her length (Does anyone else find it interesting that babies are referred to in terms of "length" rather than "height"?), hair color (bald is a hair color...a really nice hair color), and anything else that you think could be fun!

And for the blog name, the finalists were "Happy We Be" and "The Hamptonings". Aaaannnnnnd....the winner is........"THE HAMPTONINGS"!!!! Congrats to Honey! You are the winner! You have won Bragging Rights for a whole year!!! Or longer if you'd like. "The Hamptonings" will be coming soon. We have lots of life-changing events happening in our world right now, so we have lots of updating to do.

I wanted to mention one more thing before I go. In one day, Dylan learned that Santa Claus says "Ho! Ho! Ho!" He doesn't even know who Santa Claus is, yet. That kid is super smart! Must get it from his Momma! He also gets his eating habits and "Cheese" smile from is Momma, too! :)

We need help!

Do you have friends or family that only calls or contacts you when they need help? That's what I'm doing right now. I have not blogged in 3 months or more, but now Laura and I need your help. Laura is 34 weeks, now, so only 6 weeks left before Hensley arrives. And, we need help with two things; Hensley's middle name and a new name for the blog.

Hensley's Middle Name

A couple of names that we like are Hope and Ellis. Grace has also been mentioned and it flows pretty good with Hensley. However, we are not locked into any middle name, yet. So, we invite anyone and everyone to share your ideas for a middle name. If we pick a name that you suggest, you will WIN A PRIZE. We have not decided on a prize, yet, but we're leaning towards an all expense paid weekend vacation for me an Laura while you babysit Hensley and Dylan. So, get your suggestions to us soon and start baby-proofing your house...Only 6 weeks left!!!

A New Blog Name

Another opportunity for you to help us and WIN A PRIZE, is by giving us ideas for a new blog name. The blog is currently named "DylanMorrisHampton". This just won't work anymore with Hensley on the way. To give you something to work from, we would like to play off of Jared/Amanda's and Stu/Dev's blogs: "It Is We" and "The We Tree". Again, we have not yet decided on the grand prize, but it will be well worth it!!!

Get your ideas to us soon. We're looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. Of course I cannot blog without adding a few pics. These are just miscellaneous pics from this summer and fall. Dylan's gonna make a great big brother!!!!!!!!!!

Big Shoes To Fill

This is a classic picture!!!...a son walking in his father's shoes! Wow! I get goosebumps everytime I look at this pic. Without spilling my guts and my emotions, I'm sure you can see why this picture will be one of Daddy's favorites forever!

Dylan's 1st ExpHAIRience!!

Well, we finally broke down and gave Dylan his first hair cut. Gran was nice enough to accept the challenge. He wasn't real keen on Gran messing with his hair, but we attacked his weakness (which he inherited from his daddy)...his appetite for Oreo cookies. However, this posed a different problem (which his daddy no longer has to worry about)...how to keep his hair from getting on his Oreo. Well, either we were able to succeed at that, or the hair didn't phase him because he finished the "good part of the Oreo" (the middle...gets that from Momma) before Gran finished cutting his hair. Luckily though, she didn't like much and Laura was able to distract Dylan just long enough for Gran to finish him up. And, tadaaaaa...now he looks like a little boy!! And a big brother!!!

D-Mo trying to be like Nemo.

As the mercury hit 89 degrees, last weekend, we decided it would be a good time for a swim. We weren't suer how Dylan would like it, but after the 1st step, then the 2nd, and as he was attempting to go to the 3rd step which was head high on him, we began to realize, "this kid really likes the water!". Then, after he got out on the sidewalk and was jumping into Momma's arms without hesitation, we decide it was time to get some floaties. So, I made a quick trip to town, and retrieved some arm floaties and a jetski floatie he could sit in. He loved them! He hasn't quite figured out how to kick, yet, but he's working on it. My guess is he will be swimming at the end of this summer.

Swimming wore us all out. D-Mo needed a nap, but of course was not ready to get out of the pool. If we had let him, he would have taken his nap in the pool. He got comfortable in his jetski and was on his way. It was a good weekend, and we're looking forward to teaching him to swim this summer.

Cheeeeez!

Dylan has discovered "cheese". No, not cutting the cheese. He 's been doing that for a long time, now. Somehow, he has discovered that when a camera is pointed at him to smile and say, "Cheeeeeeez". Below are formal pics taken last month when he first learned this new trick. Now, he's cheezin' for real. He recently joined the doctors and nurses at The Clinic for group pics. As the story goes, everyone was worried about getting Dylan to look at the camera and smile. Well, as it turns out, he became the center of everyone's attention by putting on a "cheezin" show for the camera. I haven't seen the pictures, yet, but I just know Dylan will be the only person looking at the camera...while everyone else is smiling, laughing, and looking at him. Doc and Mrs. Patti, I'm interested in seeing those pics when you get them. :)

These pics are a couple of months old, but I wanted to share them with everyone. He's making Daddy proud...sleeping with his ball. He'll make an athlete, yet. We'll give him until August, and then we'll start two-a-days. My goal is to have him dunking by age 3, hitting homeruns by 4, and winning the punt, pass, and kick contest by age 5. Then we can start the weight lifting program! :)

I've been catching a lot of flack lately, and rightly so. I'll admit, I have been doing a super poor job updating the blog. All excuses aside, I am making a vow right now to keep the blog current so that every one can see our "perfect" little child and all the fun our family has been having. So, with that in mind, get out the tide stick and let's play with the ketchup...I mean, "catch-up"!

Dylan turned 1 year old March 19th. Can you believe it? I'm still trying to figure out who I can legally file a lawsuit against in order to get "time" back. Hey, a woman was awarded millions of dollars for spilling hot coffee herself, it could happen. They could at least give us a warning label..."Caution! Don't blink! Days eat hours, and decades eat years. Pretty soon you're not hungry anymore because your stomach has shrivelled up like the rest of your body, and your kids' kids are having kids. Life is happening before your very eyes. See it all, don't blink!"

But, I guess if they did that, they would have to supply a list of side effects, "Not blinking, may (will) cause dry, itchy, sore, red, swollen, irritable, scratchy, or bloodshot eyes. On occasions, people have been reported to experience blindness, but this is a very rare side effect as most people cannot resist blinking for more than 1-2 minutes. If you see spots or nothing for more than 4 hours, you should consult a doctor immediately."

I digress...here are some pics of Dylan's splendid 1 year celebration. Enjoy and come back soon, as I will be posting more updates in the next few days to come.

February

Chilling in the stroller....

Don't you love it when your parents make you wear something stupid?

What? These puffs are good!

Bad to the Bone!! Putting on a show for my homies!

First Ski Trip and First Christmas!!

Dylan's first ski trip was awesome! As you can see from this pic, Dylan enjoyed every bit of it. We stayed in a 1 bedroom 1 bath bi-level condo which had about 3 steps from the living room up to the back end of the condo. Well, he loved climbing up and down the steps and did it pretty gracefully, really. He also loved hanging out with his cousins Tyler, Tanner, and Jenna. Oh, and he, as well as everyone else, LOVED Gran's cooking!!!!

Dylan's 1st snow...it snowed somewhere between 2 - 3 feet while we were there (Mesa, CO @ Powderhorn Resort). We had to shovel snow off of our porch and sidewalk every morning. The snow was great for a ski vacation, but I think we all decided that we would not want to have to live in the snow for any significant length of time. It was COLD!!!

Dylan's first Christmas...Christmas a little bit different this year because it was our (Mine, Laura, and Dylan's) first time to spend Christmas Day away from home. We had Christmas at "the Hampton's" before we left for CO. It was great!!! Then, we got back to the Chapman's for Christmas on Saturday the 27th, where we found that Santa Claus had found all three of us! Needless to say, we all received great gifts. Of course, Dylan's favorite part of opening presents was the paper and boxes. And, Laura's and my favorite part of Christmas was getting to spend so much QT with family!!! It was another Christmas to remember!

Dylan's first plane ride...I almost forgot because it went so smoothly, Dylan flew on an airplane for his first time. And, he was spectacular! Our flight was delayed about 2 hours due to weather. So, we spent just enough time at the airport to wear Dylan out. We barely more got boarded onto the plane before D-Mo was rubbing his eyes. Our flight was 2 hours long. Dylan slept from just before take-off until after we landed. He woke up one time on our descent. His ears bothered him just enough to wake up, but as soon as we gave him pacifier, which La knew would help him adjust his ear pressure, he went right back to sleep. He was perfect...like always!! :)