We love our family of four !

We are all so happy to be together !  Adrien is in love with Stella, he found a nickname for her:"Stella Bella" it's cute, he kisses her several times a day and still uses the softest voice when he talks to her.

Stella is now sleeping a few more hours at night ! (YES !!  I am very excited about that ! ) ,
I started driving Adrien to school last Wednesday so we have our new routine down now.

Christophe has been a tremendous help.  I am so lucky to have such a sweet and caring husband !  He 's been doing so much around the house to help with the cleaning,  and groceries.  He's wonderful with Adrien and loves cuddling with Stella at night :)

Duff is a lot more protective since Stella arrived so he has to make sure he barks at whoever comes close to the house, it is a little annoying but very endearing at the same time.  He checks on Stella and sits next to her crib or to me when I breast-feed like he's keeping an eye on us.

Our wonderful friends have been coming almost every day dropping delicious meals to us, we can not believe how nice, generous and helpful everyone is !  Thank you all so much for doing that !  It 's great to see everyone, and super helpful to have a cooked meal ready for dinner especially since Ms Stella usually cluster feeds from 5 to 7pm which is right when I am supposed to make dinner - so THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH !!!!!!!!

Overall we feel very loved, happy and blessed !!!  Here are a few photos from last week :
Stella next to her friend Katherine - who is 4 months old.  Adrien loves playing with his buddy Carter & his brother Patrick.   It will be fun when Stella can play with Kathryn as well in a few months :)

 A sweet cuddle while mommy took a much needed nap and shower this weekend - Chris is the sweetest  !

 Christophe holding Katherine at the birthday party

 Adrien had a blast at Brady and Jake's birthday party at the farm.  he loves them so much he wanted to be on the sibling picture :) LOL!

 On our way we were in the middle of the country and saw the longest train ever, and a cool looking tractor on the side of the road-  typical views from the Texan countryside.

 Adrien excited to go to Brendyn's birthday party, his favorite buddy from his class

 I think that's  the look that says:" I'm done with pictures Maman :) "

 Proud big brother trying to play with "Stella Bella"

                                                      3 weeks old - 

Stella & I

 This is me at the hospital

this is Stella at the hospital

My parents sent me these photos so I could see how much we do look alike, I have to say it's pretty neat to see the resemblance !  

a few photos from last week

Stella is two weeks old today!  I can't believe how fast it's going !  My friends had warned me but the reality is striking !  I was looking at Adrien's baby pictures and I have about 100 of pictures for week 1, 100 other pics for week 2...etc, poor Stella does not have that many pictures.  I need to try to capture more moments .  Last week was an adjustment week, Chris went back to work and I got to stay home with my two beautiful angels Adrien and Stella.  Adrien has been adapting to his big brother duties really well.  He lets me take naps, plays autonomously, kisses his little sister and talks to her softly.  I am so thankful for his help and for his maturity.  

Stella is such a sweet little girl, she's very lay back, a little bit of a night owl - usually awake between 2 and 6 am :) but is just going with the flow and has made it also very easy on me !  

Chris has been wonderful, he's been coming home earlier to put Adrien to bed each night , and takes him to school in the morning, and helps with the grocery shopping.  He has to work from home at night to catch up.  I am so lucky to have such a sweet husband ! 

I am so HAPPY and THANKFUL !!!  Life is GOOD :) 

So here are a few pics from last week, I will try to take more this week ;)

 Adrien all proud to take his baby sister on a walk !

 Baby Stella waving "Bonjour" in her sleep :)

 The puddles were calling his name, he asked if I could push Stella so he could enjoy jumping in the puddles

 Fun !! 

 Chris wakling Duff - poor Duffy gets less walks these days but we'll make it up to him ;)

 A nice afternoon to pick up pumpkin at the farm with our friends

 Adrien introducing his baby sister to his buddy Garrett

 a hay ride

 big pumpkins coming through !

 Garrett, Jake and Adrien , 3 blondies playing in the dirt !

Stella all comfy in the car seat, wearing a little white skirt (that Adrien picked out) everything we have for her is too big but soon if she continues to nurse so well, she will fill out the clothes better :)

nursing at Jamba Juice ....where did Stella go ?   :)

The most eventful week ever :)

Wow !  What an eventful week we had !
Last Friday night my parents arrived to spend quality time with Adrien and to eventually meet Stella.
Adrien was super happy to see them and loved every minute he spent with them.


We went to the arboretum on Saturday and had a blast !

getting creative in the sandbox with Ninne, Adrien was so proud of his work he asked that we take a picture

 Right after birth, skin to skin time with our sweet Stella ... you forget all about the contractions and labor when you hold that perfect sweet little baby in your arms !

Stella was born on Monday Oct 3rd weighing 6.6 lbs. 19 1/5 inches at 1:57pm, 

and two hours later Adrien was so excited to finally hold his baby sister and greet her !

He was a natural at  holding her, the rehearsal with his baby doll worked :)  He used his soft voice to talk to Stella and was so sweet !

 He was showing off his big brother bracelet and shirt

 Stella Rose Nicole Hanckowiak  - during her first bath two hours after bring born

 Our new and complete family (well missing Duff :) )

 can't believe how tiny and cute she is :)

 We loved hvaing Debi and Gus's visit on Tuesday, She was so sweet and dropped us lunch from Fuzzy's with all sorts of delicious snacks and goodies (yes there was beer too ;) ) - It was a really nice treat and made our hospital stay that more comfortable.

 Chris falling in love with his daughter :)

 Our wonderful Doctor  came to check on us the next day- Dr. Clark is such a wonderful doctor , we were so happy and thankful to have him !

 Cuddling with my princess :)

 Sweet cuddles with Titou and Ninne

 Jodie came by for a quick visit to meet Stella on Wednesday after our return from the hospital and brought me the most thoughtful "recovery" package- Thank you SO MUCH !   really appreciate it !

 Adrien had a fun time at his school open house, where the kids get to show the works they choose at school, he was proud that Ninne, Titou and Chris were all there to see him in action.

Adrien and Brandon - his best buddy in his class

 A sweet little cuddle in the morning, first thing Adrien wants to know now when he wakes up is "where is stella ? " and he always is eager to help, fetching diapers or water, he's already very helpful !

We had a sweet delivery of a gorgeous cooky basket from our friends the Parsons ' family- thank you so much !!! It was such a sweet gesture and we loved it ! 

 My parents took Adrien to the Zoo on Tuesday while I was still at the hospital and took a few pics with the birds that were really cute !

On thursday Chris went back to work and my parents took Adrien to the park so he could play his big brother gift : an all terrain fast remote controlled car, then they went to Smashburger and yummylicious.  Yep Adrien got spoiled the whole week long, eating out with Ninne and Titou, having fun playing every day !  What a fun week for him !

It was such a big relief to have my parents at home for the week, they were awesome and were sowonderful with Adrien.  He was so excited to be with them , he did not get a chance to miss me while I was at the hospital and got a lot of love and attention during this week of change.  Thank you Ninne and Titou so much !  We all got to enjoy your company and will cherish these precious memories !


We love you Stella and are so happy you are now here !