You Like The Peas? My Kiddo Does!

Here's little Levi jammin to some 'Imma Be' by the Black Eyed Peas. It came on the radio and I cranked up to see if he would respond. My other son Ezra didn't seem to care too much.

Little Kiddo Prayers

Most nights we'll do a round of prayers with Ezra and Levi. Here's Ezra's prayers last night...

Time Off

Had a great week at home this week. I only put in two full days at the church this week and took vacation at home the rest of the time. 3 days in a row off! Went in on Saturday for a couple hours to make sure the new video suite hadn't had a meltdown, but other than that...pretty refreshing time.

This was a good opportunity for me to really spend time at home seeing what my wife has to go through on a daily basis. Sure, I was able to help her, but I gained a new perspective on how hard it is to accomplish anything when you've got a 2 yr old and a 5 month old at home!

The thing that really smacked me in the face was today, getting ready for church. It occurred to me that all our families voluntarily wake up early, get the kids ready and head in to church, (hopefully on time) without killing anyone in the process. I had an "ah-ha" moment today. I love how much my wife loves our family enough to get the kids ready for church by herself every weekend...come in and serve 1 service and attend another one. Huge....that's freakin huge!

Okay...more soon.

Derrick

Life Happened...

So, I guess I took what Carlos Whittaker called a "Blogatical." With two little ones in diapers and all the new developments I've been undertaking...the blog took the back burner, big time! I'll begin informing everyone on the developments at the Tulsa campus of LifeChurch.tv soon. For a real-time look into what is going on, follow me on Twitter here (LINK)

See you soon...

Derrick

You Sicko!

For three weeks I've had a cornucopia of nasty viruses. First, the Flu..then...well...diarrhea...sorry. Then, Uvulitis for several days. Lost my voice...then I picked up a cold. Sinus issues. Okay, normally I don't get sick...but it's all happening at once.

So, Rachel got a Neti Pot to treat her sinus issues. I decided to try it. Here's the video...sorry for the faint of heart.

The Story of Levi

November 10, 2008

7:30pm - Rachel runs to Subway while I'm giving Ezra a bath and getting him ready for bed.

8:00pm - Rachel's contractions are about 15 mins apart, we start watching Heroes.

8:30pm - Rachel's contractions go to 5 mins apart for about an hour...PAIN ONSET!!!

9:30pm - Car is loaded and house is ready but Rach is in too much pain to move...

9:40pm - Helping Rachel to car...car is running in the street, Rachel screaming, I'm waiting on friend to arrive to stay with sleeping toddler in the house....TENSE!!!!

9:45pm - Friend arrives, and we flee towards the hospital...running red lights, passing cars while honking and flying down the road!

9:50pm - Arrive at hospital, frantically try to convince ER staff that baby is IMMINENT!!

9:53pm - Rachel is lifted out of car, Levi's head is almost out!

9:55pm - Arrive in hospital room, nurses everywhere, no Dr. in sight! PUSH RACH PUSH!!!

10:01pm - Levi Olen Henslee arrives!

16 minutes after we left our house Levi was born! Rach's water broke in the car and she was in INTENSE PAIN! I was freaking out! Had we not lived so close to the hospital, yours truly would have delivered his second child in the car on the side of the road! God is Good!

Thank you friends and family who have given encouragment and love. We're excited about this little guy....he was ready to come OUT!!!

Photo Gallery of Day 1

Henslee Halloween '08

Here are a few shots of Ezra on Halloween this year. In case you can't tell, he's a monkey.

Fugee The Displaced Rottie

Hurricane Gustav has brought about memories of three years ago when Katrina devastated New Orleans. About that time the Humane Society of Tulsa brought up about 100 dogs and 50 cats for people to foster until they could be returned to their owners in New Orleans.

Rachel called me at church and begged that we go and get a dog. I was reluctant thinking that there would only be pitt bulls and emotionally scarred dogs. When we got there this was pretty much the case. I did however find one crate with a very excited Rottweiler. I had a Rottie when I was a kid and loved him! Contrary to their bad rap, they are wonderful kid-friendly dogs. In every dog book you'll find them described as a great family dog that has young kids. This was definitely true when I was a kid.

We brought Fugee home (Fugee is short for Refugee) and no one claimed him. He was found wandering the streets, emaciated and scared. When we got him he weighed around 70lbs and we could see his ribs. We loved him and fed him lots...now he weighs a healthy 100lbs and loves Ezra. Although he can get a bit rambunctious and knock our toddler over, he is a great jungle gym for him and a wonderful family pet!

Here's some pics of our Hurricane Katrina dog Fugee:

Injured Bad

Man, I've been out the past week with all sorts of medical issues. I had an upper endoscopy where they stretched my esophagus to help with acid reflux n'such. Aaand I learned that my gall bladder has to come out soon...boo!

The worst part of it all is that Ezra (18 months) had a surgery on Friday of this week. There were some problems with his nether region that we had to correct so that he would like us when he got older.

When we met him in the recovery room he was awake and screaming. He had pulled out his I.V. and was really ticked off. The worst part is that for two weeks he's gonna walk around like he just rode a horse for 7 hours straight.

Please pray for the little guy and a quick recovery! There is one video that sums up his experience....here it is...

He's Already Leaving Us

Ezra is over a year and a half old now. So, were were able to enroll him in "Mother's Day Out." It's a program that Asbury United Methodist church offers that allows us to put him in "school" for 5 hours, 1 day a week. We're really thankful that Asbury offers this ministry!

I'll get to take him every week and drop him off before work. That will allow Rachel to get some time to herself and Ezra will get to play with other kids his age.

Here are some pics from his orientation today:

Too Close To Home...

I just found out via Twitter that Greg Laurie (a well known pastor) just lost his son in an auto accident. He left behind a child, and a pregnant wife. WOA! I've got a child and a pregnant wife. Makes me really think about how fragile life is, and wonder if my life insurance is good enough.

I've been praying for the Laurie family, that God would give them thick, tangible grace in their loss. I can't imagine how much hurt they must be feeling. Please pray for them.

Favorite Cigar?

We went to the baby Dr. today to determine the gender of our kiddo. What do ya know...it's a BOY! As one of my favorite comedians (Mitch Hedburg) once said..."my favorite cigars are, itsaboys."

Yay, now we don't have to buy new clothes or paint anything pink and toile.

Zoo-Mania

Bird Poo
Originally uploaded by dhenslee

We took a trip to the Zoo today with our friends the Craigs. Ezra really likes birds so we went into the Feather Fest exhibit with a ton of birds. He almost crushed one in his little hand. We would have had to name it Petey and stroked it while re-assuring it that it was a "pretty bird."

Anyway, check out the flickr album by clicking on the photo. Good times to be had by all!

Back From Vacation

I was on hiatus! Yes, the Henslee family took a little time last week to rest and relax. We took our annual trip to Orange Beach, AL and stayed at the Phoenix V condominiums. We love coming here each year because we can eat at our favorite restaurants and just unwind on the beach.

After the 15 hour car ride we arrived to some stormy weather. Not unusual for us being from Oklahoma, but a bit unexpected. it was cool to see the rain come in from 8 stories up!

I also decided to take a break from blogging while we were gone. Now that we're home, unpacked, and back at it...here come the posts!

Enjoy...

New Words

Our kiddo is saying a few words... Cool right?

Here they are:

"Dhaduh" (translation: Dad)
"Dhad-dee" (translation: Daddy)
"Mohm-mah" (translation: Momma)
"Toogee" (translation: Fugee, our dog's name)

He can also sign other words that he can't say yet:

More
Thank You
All Done
Please
Milk
Dog
No (although for this, he just shakes his head)

So, these are the things that are stealing my heart lately. Thought you might want to know.

Compassion Kiddo

Recently, Anne Jackson and some other bloggers went on a trip to Uganda. I followed their stories and was touched by a post on Anne's blog about actually seeing the change in a child that was sponsored verses a child that wasn't sponsored through Compassion.

Soon after that all settled down and the celebrity bloggers returned home, Anne posted about a young boy named Francis that was awaiting a sponsorship. My wife and I decided to start investing in his life. (BTW, this further delayed me getting a DVR and better cable...we still know how to program our VCR though so we don't miss Lost, Smallville, or Idol.)




We received our first letter which gave me great perspective into his life, and the vast contrast between his world and ours. The simple desire to just go to "town" if he could go anywhere and that his favorite food is bananas really challenges my gratefulness. I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with him and praying for him with my family.

Maybe you should check out Compassion and be challenged too....it's okay, DVR isn't THAT cool.

We're Expanding

Man, my wife and I had a conversation a couple weeks ago. She said something to me...."Derrick, time to buck up." DANG! Now, in her defense, this came after the knowledge that she is indeed pregnant with our second child. Knowing what we know about her pregnancy with Ezra, she'll most likely be sick for the majority of the time.

Buck Up...man, that's hard when your sweet bride tells you that. My main goal when I am at home is to take over any and all responsibility she has with Ezra, help keep the house straight, and help us stay on top of creating margin in our family's finances. Couple that with my new desire to eat healthier (dang Phat Philly's) and be more consistent in my running...and this boy has lots of bucking up to do.

Main reason for the post was to declare that our family will be adding another real live person in November. The other reason was to publicly confess my desire to help my wife during this time. Hopefully, we'll have a girl, be done with pregnancies (adoption is more favorable at this point to Rachel) and live happily ever after.

More on that later!

It's Finished!

I only get one full day off per week. This makes it difficult, at times, to get any major projects done around the house. So last weekend I took Thursday off so that I could be a regular Joe and have a normal 2 day weekend! Here's what went down:

• Cleaned out all packed up boxes and bags of clothes
• Sorted all the clothes into "give away" and "keep" piles
• Took 15 full trash bags of clothes to Goodwill to donate
• Bought and installed new closet organizer
• Organized all current clothes and stored summer stuff
• Organized entire dresser
• Sneezed a lot from the old nasty clothes!

Now, some of this was finished this weekend. But, now we have a much nicer closet space and my wife can actually see her clothes now. Good times, everyone's happy....that's good!

Shiny Fire Trucks!

Ezra got a shiny red fire truck for his first birthday. His great grandparents bought it for him and when I put him on it he held on to the handle and was ready to ride. Please forgive the cutesy kid voices we're using as I push him up and down the hall.

I can't wait till he's older...I'll become a big dork (more-so than now) and be a part of A.C.E. and we'll hit all the cool coasters! Enjoy the video!

Ages and Ages

Hello blogging world! My name is Derrick. Yes, I am back. It has been a while since we last shared a moment together. We've been sick a lot here at the Henslee Home. Ezra has a nasty cough and Rachel just got over her cold from last week. It seems like at any given time, one of us has something making us sick!

I've been spending time fixing up the green room at the church. I'm making a second office in a corner of it for myself. I'm doing this as a result of catching myself in too many open-office discussions about things that really aren't that critical and wondering where all my time went. So, I'm trying to distance myself from the "crowd" at work so that I can focus. I've never been tested, but my wife is sure I have some form of A.D.D. They've actually got a website about A.D.D here which is remarkable considering that people with ADD usually have a difficult time getting anything accomplished...hmm, maybe there's not much to the website past the initial page.

Anyway, there's lots of exciting things coming up. See you soon!