Four Generations of Franke men for the first time

For the first time in centuries, four generations of Franke men are alive at the same time and posed for a photo (each sporting a Mr. Rogers' vintage sweater). The couch was only barely able to withstand the combination of German girth and stubbornness. -MF

Guess who turned three months old yesterday...

In what is quickly becoming a tradition bound to last decades, here is our monthly photo of Henry Martin. - MF

Baby Einstein

Whoever invented the 'Baby Einstein' videos needs a medal. In the last couple of weeks, Henry is fascinated by them and cooes and kicks his feet when they play. I am sure it is no surprise that he currently has Bach, Beethoven and Mozart and I'm sure we will be looking for more.

Holidays with Henry

My how time flies....I am sorry that the last post was almost a month ago. Since last entry, the holidays came and went and it is now a blur. We traveled to Fort Wayne for Christmas and packed A LOT of stuff for our first venture with an infant. I can't believe for such a small person, how much stuff they need. We flew into Indy via Memphis and Henry did extremely well on all of the flights. I think his dad did worse than he did...turbulence is not Mark's friend!

The worst part of the trip came on Christmas Eve when we spent a couple of hours in the ER with Henry due to RSV. The runny nose and cough started on Sunday, but the wheezing showed up on Wednesday, which prompted the medical attention. Henry did well and smiled at all of the doctors and nurses and was sent home with his own nebulizer for more breathing treatments.

We arrived home on Dec 26 and celebrated our Christmas in Houston on the 27th. We have the same menu each Christmas...Cornish game hens, mashed potatoes and a special dessert: Chocolate Bread Pudding.

And it was a very quiet New Year's around here....based on the feeding schedule, Henry did get to see the ball drop and has become quite fasinated with the tv lately (see last picture) Enjoy the pictures!

Henry is 2 months old

How time flies.....Henry turned two months old today. We celebrated with a nice bath and the posing of this picture. This is right before a nap and you can tell that he needs one...those eyes look like they may shut at any minute!

Guy Smiley

I thought I would tell you about Henry's personality which is more apparent day by day. He is quite the happy baby, even though he was diagnosed with reflux and a possible milk allergy that caused a lot of pain. He gives lots of smiles after feeding and coos and talks to anyone who will listen. It is quite fun to have a conversation with him when he seems to answer my questions!

And he is surprisingly easy going. He is patient during diaper changes and doesn't mind a lukewarm bottle. I hope that trait is a foreshadowing of things to come! And thankfully, he isn't bothered by noise when he sleeps, including his barking dog.

Henry is settling into a routine and started sleeping through the night at seven weeks. He likes to wake around 5, but I can usually get him to sleep until 6 when I am more ready for my day to start. And when we leave for an errand, the car does a great job of soothing him to sleep.

Henry has been a true blessing and we are cherishing each day with him!

Henry becomes a child of God!

Man....it has been too long since the last post. Time to catch up.....The Bayes Family traveled to Houston to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday and Henry's baptism. It was a great weekend marked by Ellie and Tyler meeting their cousin for the first time.

Henry was baptized on November 30 which was also the 40th wedding anniversary for my parents. Good way to remember both occaisons in the future! It was also special that Henry's baptismal gown was made from the train of my mom's wedding dress. And our neighbor's gave us water from the Jordan River from their trip to Israel last year. We were blessed that Henry's godfathers Matt Bayes and Joel Springer (my cousin's husband) could be there and that Mark's aunt and family could join us too.

The pictures include one of Henry's godfather's enjoy their Texas gifts. We'll have to get Henry a 'Don't mess with Texas' onesie