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As her mom's visit grows to a close, Angie is wondering what exactly being home with her two little munchkins by herself will look like. How many days out of the week will she have the strength for play dates, chores around the house AND some time for her family, friends and neighbors? How many days will she be pulling her hair out by the time daddy's work day ends?

One thing that might help share the load of her two-year-old's need for almost-constant stimulation and play is the fact that Daniel now has his very own desk in daddy and mommy's office. Oh, the companies He will start from here!

Chase' First "Bath"

Hendricks Boys Totem Pole

Somehow JJ managed to rock Chase to sleep while Daniel made his best attempts to wrestle his daddy to the ground.

Guess Who?

Lots of our visitors tell us Daniel and Chase look very similar and we agree. We decided to run a little test. Two pictures below. One is Chase and one is Daniel. Who is who? Answer in the comments below.

Option #1


Option #2

Big Brother

As was expected, Daniel is going through the list of emotions that come with adding a new center attraction to the home. He has definitely had some not-like-himself meltdowns and whining sessions. He has also been discouraged that he can't throw balls to (rather, at) his brother. And learning how to hug gently and not poke the baby has been a learning curve. BUT, at the end of the day, as you can see below, he loves "my baby Chase" as he says.

Daniel in Quarantine

It is amazing how similar Chase and Daniel are. They look very similar, have the same last name, and they are reaching developmental goals at the same time. On Daniel's second day he peed all over his stuffed lion. This morning, Day #2, Chase peed all over Daniel. I guess its the circle of life.


Luckily for Daniel we didn't put him in a quarantine bag, but we did wash him quickly and change his soiled shirt.

JJ was changing Chase's diaper and Daniel had climbed up on the changing table to watch. Right after I had taken off the diaper a stream of pee came up and hit Daniel in the shirt and hands. Daniel didn't move to try and get away but stood there in shock as he kept on getting peed on.

We cleaned Daniel up and all he could say was "Chase pee" and then laughed.

Daniel & Hip Hop

We went to the Dragon Boat Festival in Denver four days before Chase was born and Daniel saw a hip hop dance troupe do some fancy moves.

When we got home he spent the first hour trying to jump onto his hands and push up into the air - his favorite move of the hip hop group.

Here are some of his latest moves.

Watch What You Ask For

Chase,

I have been praying these last few weeks that you would come a little early and that your arrival in this world would come after a much shorter labor and delivery process than I experienced with your brother. In fact, jokingly, I had told your dad and others that I desired to show up at the hospital just in time to deliver.

WATCH WHAT YOU ASK FOR!

I woke up at 2:30 yesterday morning with contractions that were maybe 10-15 min apart. Within an hour and a half my contractions were five minutes apart ... then three minutes apart ... uh oh! ... and we were out the door. (At this point I was glad I had asked your dad to read the road-side birthing instructions from our Kaiser handbook!)

I arrived at the hospital a bit after 5a.m. 8cm dilated, was rushed to the birthing room, embraced an hour of fast and furious contractions, a little pushing, and at 6:20am there you were! No drugs, no time, no more than a whimper when you came into the world.

Welcome, Chase Emmanuel. This is YOUR story.

Love you.

Mommy

Here's a little peek at your family ... you didn't want to see your own face, did ya? More photos of you and your big brother to come.

Chase Makes the Cutest Baby Noises

Whenever Chase is asleep he makes the cutest baby whimpering sounds. It's great. An easy way for us to know he is still breathing with no problems and it is a sweet little lullaby for us to fall asleep to as well.

Chase Emmanuel Hendricks Is Born

Today at 6:20am Chase Emmanuel Hendricks was born. He is doing great and so is Angie but wow was that fast. Some of you might remember, Angie sure did, that Daniel took 26 hours of labor before he came into the world. Chase took a whole 3 hours and 40 minutes.

Everything has been as smooth as we could ask for, definitely an answered prayer.

Chase is 7 lbs 6 oz and 20 inches long. Right at the 50 percentile in all categories and super cute - practically perfect in every way.

Here are some pictures of Chase during his first few hours.