Fun in the Sun on Seabrook Island, SC ~ Part Two

On Friday of our trip, we decided to spend the day in Charleston. I had never been to Charleston, so I was looking forward to going. Plus, Dan's cousin, Dawn, lives in Charleston and I had never met her before. So we picked her up and headed into town. Right off, I could tell I was going to love Charleston and hope to go back and spend some more time there someday. But for now, I had to settle for a partial-day tour of the Battery, Market Street, and a quick drive through some of the historic home areas. However, the highlight of the day was eating lunch at Jestine's Kitchen (click on the link to see some photos of the food). Most of us got the fried chicken, and we (of course) ordered up several desserts for the table to share. If you know me, you know I'm not going to pass up dessert! They even sent us an extra dessert that we didn't order... just because! If you go to Charleston, you'll want to check this place out. Apparently it is a favorite of Rachael Ray and some other Food Network chefs. We got there a little before noon and didn't have to wait for a table. But while we were there, a line started forming outside that wrapped around the side of the building. Thanks for a fun day, Dawn! It was great to finally meet you!That evening, we all got dressed up in our best khaki and white and tried to take some family beach photos. Our efforts were hindered by the attack of the LOVEBUGS. Yes, we apparently planned our beach trip during the two weeks that the crazy mating bugs take over the beach. They were everywhere, and they apparently love white. I'm not going to post any of those photos here because in many of them we have lovebugs on our noses, foreheads, clothes, etc. Plus, we didn't get the greatest photos that night because Fenn was tired and wouldn't look up at the camera. The first photo on my "Part One" post is from that night. But we got better photos the next night. Oh, and this photo of Dan and Fenn turned out sweet.On Saturday morning, we went for another bike ride. Here are a couple of those photos. This time, Fenn stayed awake the whole time. We even scoped out a better beach location for hanging out later that day and for taking pictures that evening. This was our last day on the beach. Once again, Fenn had a blast playing in the sand. I won't go into details... I'll just share several photos here. Throughout this post and the one for Part One, if you'll look closely at Fenn's photos (or even click on them to enlarge them), you'll notice he has sand all over his face.I like this photo, even though Fenn's eyes are closed. On our last night, we had one more photo session to try and get some great family photos to possibly use for Christmas cards. I can't post many of those here since we might use them later, but here are a few. The group picture of all of us was taken by one of two sisters who happened to be walking by and offered to take our picture. They were both obviously drunk. I think the one who used Kama's camera actually got a better photo.On Sunday morning, I took Fenn back out to the beach for a few more photos in this cute terry cloth, hooded romper I had bought months ago with the intention of using it for beach photos.That's about it for our beach vacation. Luckily, this vacation wasn't Chevy Chase Vacation... the Sequel. We had good weather and we were all well. It was very relaxing and we had a great time with our friends, the Shaws. Thanks for going with us! I know between this post and the Part One post this has turned out to be a really long post with quite a few pictures. But keep in mind that I took almost 800 pictures during the trip!

Beach Teaser

OK, it has been a crazy week since coming back from vacation. In addition to trying to get caught up (work-wise and at home), I have been having trouble with my modem... which means no internet... which means no blogging... which means I have been totally lost without my computer! Anyway, I'm online (at least for now), so I thought I would post a few "teaser" photos from our beach trip to Seabrook Island, SC. We have a service tech coming tomorrow morning, so they'll probably switch out my modem and hopefully I won't have any more problems. Stay tuned for a better post about our trip and more photos! Oh, and if you can't tell from the photos, Fenn LOVED the beach.

Fenn's Baptism

Fenn was baptized on Sunday. It was a big weekend for him, and he had lots of family here. His G-ma and G-da drove up from Alabama. His Grammy and Poppy drove up from north Georgia. And his Aunt Debbie and cousin Sydney drove over from North Carolina. We had him baptized at the 9:40 a.m. service. It might not have been the smartest move since he normally gets a bottle and goes down for a nap around 10:00. We gave him his bottle at 9:00 before heading to church and thought he might take a cat nap on the way. He didn't, of course! But even though he was sleepy, he never got fussy. He loved all the music for the first 20 minutes or so. Then it was time to get sprinkled. He was so sweet and still never got fussy, even when Micah (1 of 3 pastors at our very large church) took him and walked around the sanctuary with him. He was so cute looking at Micah. Afterward, I think he fell asleep in daddy's lap within 5 or 10 minutes of the ceremony... and he slept until church was over. After church, everyone came back to the house for a big lunch. We cheated and got ham and a couple of sides from the Honey Baked Ham store. G-ma and G-da were staying until Monday morning, but everyone else headed out shortly after lunch. Daddy had to go into work that afternoon... and the rest of us took naps! Thanks so much to everyone who came. I know it will mean a lot to Fenn someday. Next big occasion will be Fenn's first birthday. We'll have even more family here that weekend.


I'm doing this post in a hurry tonight because we're trying to get packed to go to the beach in the morning. So I'm not posting many pictures. Maybe I'll come back and post a few more. I just wanted to get this post out here before going out of town so I wouldn't be so far behind when we get back.

Fenn at Nine Months Old

This is Fenn at Nine Months. This is the ninth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. Just to sum up Fenn's 9th month of life... he now has 5 teeth (two upper central incisors, two lower central incisors, and the left lower lateral incisor), he went on his first boat ride, went swimming in a lake, started crawling, started pulling up to a stand, and has even started moving from the ottoman to the sofa or a toy while in the standing position. It has been a big month for our bean.

Fenn on the Move

Just thought I would post a few of these pictures showing Fenn's new skills: crawling and pulling up to a stand. Life sure is getting interesting around here! First, here he is crawling into the kitchen for the first time. It was bedtime and I was in the kitchen getting his bottle ready. He crawled into the kitchen, spotted the pots and pans, and made a bee-line for them. When he grabbed one of the pots, the lid shifted and made a loud BANG. I guess it startled him (and he was also really tired and sleepy), because he put his face down on the floor and started crying... almost like a little hissy fit. I was so amused by it, that I forgot to take a picture of it.
Oh... be sure to look at the slideshow I posted a few days ago... the one with various shots of Fenn eating. I added a few more pictures to the end of the slideshow. I finally had my camera ready to shoot when he did this one face he does sometimes. He'll straighten both arms, push them forward, and clinch his fists... all while making the funniest face. It makes me laugh every time he does it.

Here he is pulling himself up on the ottoman. He just started doing that on Sunday. Fenn was playing in the floor and Dan and I were in the kitchen. Next thing we knew, Fenn was standing up, leaning on the ottoman, with a great big smile on his face. He was so proud! We got him to do it again and that's when I took these pictures.

Yeah Baby! We Have a Crawler...

Could this be Dr. Evil's next "Mini Me"??? I love this photo! (For those who might not know what I'm referring to... Dr. Evil is a character in the hilarious Austin Powers movie series.)

It has been a big week for Fenn. He is offically a crawler. He started taking those first few "crawl" steps a little over a week ago, but now he has progressed to a full blown crawl. Look out world... here he comes! We had Fenn's 9-month photos taken yesterday. And THAT's when he decided to really start crawling.... just when we wanted him to sit still for some pictures. We were trying to do some naked baby photos, and he kept crawling toward Rebekah, crawling toward one of us, or crawling toward one of the light stands in the studio. That made it really hard for Rebekah to keep the photos "G-rated"! We can already tell he's going to be a handful. But it's so fun to see him learning all these new things. In addition to crawling, he's getting pretty good at pulling up to a stand. He mostly just does it when he's holding on to one of us. But it won't be long before he's pulling up on the sofa or ottoman, or in his crib.

Here's a little slide show of some photos I have taken over the last few months of Fenn while he's eating. I'm able to capture some of the cutest and funniest expressions when he's sitting in his highchair. Enjoy! Oh, and I'll be sharing a link to his 9-month photo session proofs as soon as Rebekah notifies me they're ready and up on her website.

Drop and Give Me 20!

Last week was Fenn's first full week in the Creepers room at daycare, and he is the youngest one in there at the moment. With the exception of Will (only 5 days older than Fenn), all the other kids in there are crawling and/or walking. So, over the last 4 or 5 days, we can really see a difference in Fenn's determination to start crawling. Like all babies, he started off by getting on all four's and rocking back and forth. Now, he'll push his butt up in the air... almost in a head stand position. Sometimes it looks like he's about to do push-ups and sometimes it looks like he's doing the Downward Dog yoga pose! He also will take 1 or 2 steps forward with his hands, and then I think he gets a little nervous because he'll quickly lower himself down onto his belly and do the soldier crawl. So for the time being, his 2 modes of transportation are the soldier crawl and what I lovingly refer to as the Boot Scoot (where he scoots across the floor on his booty). I can no longer put him on his play mat in the den and leave him unattended for more than a couple of minutes because he'll end up across the room! (And no, I haven't been leaving him unattended for hours at a time. But I could put him down to play and go into the next room for several minutes before having to check on him. And he would always be in pretty much the same place I left him!) So over the weekend, Dan installed the baby gate at the top of the basement stairs. And next he'll install the clear banister guard we found for the stair railings. I had already put in outlet covers a couple of weeks ago. I suppose we need to start buying all the other childproofing paraphernalia for doors, cabinets, drawers, toilets, etc. Because Fenn will be getting into EVERYTHING via crawling (and probably walking) in a matter of weeks.

Over the weekend, we had a visit from Grammy and Poppy. Fenn got lots of quality time playing with them. And as usual, we put Poppy to work on a couple of small projects around the house. He just wants to stay busy! And it wouldn't be Grammy if she didn't get in at least one visit to Home Goods while she's here. We did manage to watch a little college football on Saturday. Unfortunately, neither of our teams' games were televised. But we were able to watch the Cliff Notes versions on CSS on Sunday. War Eagle!!! and Go Dawgs!!! Both of our teams started off the season with a big win.

To finish off the weekend, Fenn and I met daddy at Chick-fil-A on Monday for lunch. (Daddy had to work on Sunday afternoon and all day Monday because of the Sept. 15th tax deadline coming up.) They were giving away free 3-piece chicken strips if you wore a team logo. So Dan wore his Georgia attire and I wore my Auburn attire. Even though Fenn couldn't eat the chicken, he still wanted to get in on the act.

Debbie's Photos from our Day on the Lake

This is pretty cool... I just discovered that I can do this with Kodak Gallery albums! These are Debbie's photos from our fun day on Lake Norman. She got some great close up shots that I couldn't get because I don't have a zoom lens for my camera yet.
(Just click on the link below, then click on the yellow 'Play' button. To get back to the blog, just click the 'Back' button on your browser.)
Kodakgallery.com Slideshow

October 2010 Update:  I just discovered this apparently does not work anymore.  Kodak Gallery must have changed something.  Sorry!

Weekend Trip to North Carolina

Finally, I'm getting a chance to blog about our trip to Mark and Debbie's last weekend. It has been a busy week, and I just got around to figuring out how to download the pictures from my new camera to our computer. I have to admit I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with all I need to learn about the camera and also my new Photoshop software. I know it will take time, but I can't help but want to know everything NOW. In the meantime, here are some of my favorite first pictures I made with my new camera. Some were taken on "Program" mode, and for some I actually set the aperture and ISO speed myself.

Before I get to the weekend, I have to talk about one more thing I am really excited about. We finally got a new garage door opener. You might think that's not a very big deal. But believe me, it is! Apparently, the previous owners of our house never even had any remote controls for the garage door opener. It was some ancient Sears model... very noisy. Anyway, since they never had remotes, that means we haven't had remotes. So the only way to open the garage door was to use the wall-mounted button INSIDE the garage. And we've been living with this for 3 years! I haven't been parking in the garage because it was just too much trouble. Picture this... go into garage, open garage, get in vehicle and back out of garage, walk back in garage, push the button to close the garage, and then run like you're being chased by a wild boar and do the limbo under the garage door to get out before it closes. Enough said... We now have remotes and a keyless entry panel on the outside. Hooray for us!

Now back to the weekend. Mark and Debbie live north of Charlotte, NC in Mooresville. Fenn loved having the girls dote over him the whole time. Let's face it, Fenn loves having any pretty girl around, whether they're a cousin or not. They had a big day on Lake Norman planned for us. On Saturday morning, we rented a pontoon boat and spent a good part of the day on the lake. It was Fenn's first time on a boat and his first time to swim in a lake. Yes to both grandmothers... we DID in fact put that baby in that lake! He had on a life vest and was with his daddy the whole time. He loved it! And I was surprised that he relaxed enough to lean back and float on his back.Everyone except Fenn and mommy rode the tube. It was lots of fun to watch. That night, we all went out to Lancaster's BBQ, where they have some awesome BBQ and yummy hushpuppies. Sunday morning came and after a big breakfast, we had to load up and head home. The weekend went by way too fast. We had a great time!

A few more photos...

Why Mommy is so excited...

I am so excited about something, I just have to share. I have been wanting a new camera for a while and really wanted to venture into the world of Digital SLR cameras. I have always loved photography, but have never really done anything more than just use a point-and-shoot camera or the "full auto" option on my Canon EOS Rebel G 35mm film camera. I few times I actually experimented with manual settings, but didn't really know much about aperture and shutter speed. And I never bought a decent lens for my Rebel G ~ just used the cheap lens that came with the kit. Good intentions... but I digress. Now I'm getting more serious about it. One reason is that I'm tired of missing so many of Fenn's expressions waiting on my old point-and-shoot digital to actually take the picture! Another reason is that I'm spending a small fortune on professional photographs of Fenn. If I can start doing it myself, that will pay for the camera and any other lenses and equipment I purchase in the future. My new camera, a Canon Rebel XTi EOS Digital SLR, just arrived yesterday. And my lens, a Canon EF 50mm f/1.4, should arrive today. And I'm hoping the memory card I ordered will arrive, too. I did a lot of research online to determine the best "beginner" camera and lens, and I knew I wanted to stick with Canon. The new Canon XSi came out recently as the new and improved replacement to the XTi. Because of this, I was able to find the XTi at a pretty good price. I'm hoping to start taking my first photos this weekend while we're visiting Dan's sister. Next up... I'm hoping to take an online photography course in the fall. And hopefully I can finally learn how to use the manual settings on my camera. I'm not necessarily looking to start a new career with this. But if I got good enough, and it blossomed into a small business, that would be fine by me. If I had a few paying customers from time to time, that would be great. But that's a ways down the road. In the meantime, I hope to learn as much as I can and take pictures of my family. Be on the lookout for new and improved photos of Fenn. Hopefully no more washed out photos (like the one above) due to an unnecessary flash. I swear, those built-in flashes really know how to suck the life out of an otherwise good photo!

Fenn at Eight Months Old

This is Fenn at Eight Months. This is the eighth installment in the "12-month onesie" series. Check out how tight the onesie has become! And we have 4 more of these to do. (Be sure to check out the link in the right-hand margin to see ALL of his "12-month onesie" photos together.) We went to the doctor on Friday for a re-check (after his 2nd ear infection in less than a month), and Fenn weighed 20 lbs. 14.5 oz. There have been lots of big changes over the last month. Some highlights are: He holds his arms up to be picked up. It's not a big gesture yet (like indicating he wants you to pick him up). But when he sees you approaching him, he'll put his arms up to make it easier. Still not crawling yet, but he can now hold the crawl position. And he'll do the little "rocking" motion... so it's close. For now, his methods for getting around involve maneuvering around on his belly, rolling over, and scooting across the floor on his bottom. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he sleeps on his tummy now. And he loves to stand up (with assistance, of course). But over the last week, he has started trying to move his feet. So he definitely knows that's going to be the way to get where he wants to go! He sits up like an old pro now and moves from a sitting position to his tummy with ease. And when he's flat on his back, he can almost get up to the sitting position without help. If he's leaning against a pillow, he can get in the sitting position without a problem. His newest forms of communication involve the "Baa Baa" sound and shrieks/screams of joy. The kid definitely has a set of lungs on him. He is fascinated with Petey; watches him intently whenever he's in the room. Oh, whenever he sees the TV remote, he grabs for it and trys to play with it. As I mentioned way back in June, he got his left and right Lower Central Incisors shortly before he turned 6 months old. Well, last week we noticed his left Lower Lateral Incisor has broken through (Thursday, Aug. 7th). And the right one is bulging and shouldn't be too far behind. Also, his right Upper Central Incisor is just a couple of days from breaking through. We can see a little bit of white, but it hasn't broken through as of this morning (Monday). And, the left one is also bulging and shouldn't be far behind. So right now, he has 3 teeth. But he'll probably have 6 teeth within the next few weeks.

A couple of sweet things he's doing right now... When I arrive at daycare to pick him up, he'll smile as soon as he sees me. The other day, I was looking through the door (glass french doors) and he was playing on the floor with Will and Charlotte. He looked up and saw me through the glass and gave me the sweetest little smile. Another thing is when Dan is on his way home from work, he'll call to let me know he's on his way. I'll put the phone up to Fenn's ear so daddy can talk to him. He'll smile as soon as he hears his daddy's voice and then will have this serious look on his face (like he's concentrating on what daddy is saying). Then he'll smile again, pull his face away from the phone, and then look into the phone as if he's wondering how daddy got in there! I just love watching him grow! (I usually only put in one "onesie" shot, but I kind of liked this other one, too.)

Caught with His Pants Down!

How we found Fenn yesterday morning...

Dan had already gotten Fenn up and fed him. Then he put him back in his crib so he could shower. (Mommy was still sleeping.) When I got up, this is what I found. Fenn was apparently having a blast playing in his crib!

Just 29 More Days til....

...College Football is here!!!!

Go Dawgs!!! Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof!

War Eagle!!! Go Tigers!