Mommy's Birthday # 41

Just a quick post with a couple of photos from my 41st birthday. May is a really busy month for us with my birthday, Mother's Day, Dan's birthday, our anniversary, and soon to be Piperbean #2's birthday. Plus, we have several family members with May birthdays. Dan brought home cupcakes from The Cupcakery here in Knoxville. Yummy!

Happy Mother's Day!

My Mother's Day started off with Dan and Fenn bringing me a breakfast of muffins in bed. And then some gifts from my guys. Later in the morning, we did our annual photos in front of the Sugar Maple in the frontyard. (I wish we had gotten out there a little earlier when the lighting wouldn't have been so harsh.) We're hoping to do this every year and think it will be fun to look back and see how much the kids have grown and how much the tree has grown.While Fenn was napping, Dan insisted we do a little photo shoot of me and my belly. Unfortunately, we were so busy during this pregnancy, that we didn't take as many photos of me as we would have liked. But we do have some at different points throughout the pregnancy.I'm proud to say I don't have the first stretch mark on my belly! Later in the afternoon, we went back out to do a few more shots and were able to get a pretty decent family photo and a sweet photo of Fenn.We're pretty excited around here. Just 5 more days until we meet Piperbean #2!

Fun with Bubbles

Today we spent a little time playing in the front yard. Fenn loves bubbles (or as he refers to them... 'buh BAH buh BAH!'). Another favorite new toy is his bubble mower, which he calls his 'maw MO!'.

Here, Fenn practices his mowing skills in Mrs. Swingle's yard next door. Gotta sharpen his skills for that future summer job!Fenn is chasing the bubbles coming out of his mower (which his daddy is pushing). Notice his hands... he's signing "more".Next are some fun shots of Fenn playing with his big bottle of bubbles.And this is the "new normal" at pretty much any mealtime in our household. Petey learned pretty quickly that the place to be is in the kitchen whenever Fenn is in his highchair.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Fenn celebrated Cinco de Mayo by enjoying a dinner of black beans and a cheese quesadilla. As you can see, he really enjoyed his black beans! At one point, he even had a big clump of black beans stuck in his hair.

Fenn had another big weekend with lots of "firsts". On Saturday, we went to his second swim lesson. This time, I got in the pool with Fenn and Dan. Because of this, I don't have any photos. But during this lesson, Fenn went under water for the very first time. In fact, he went under water several times. He did great! We need to work on getting him to do a better job of closing his mouth. But he'll get there. First, we just dunked him quickly. Then we would take him under and have him "swim" about one or two feet. The next activity was sitting them on the side of the pool and then taking them under water. And the last activity involved walking across a little ramp that extends from the side of the pool out into the pool (made up of little foam float mats) and then "jumping" into the water and going under. Not one time did Fenn ever cry during his lesson and all the times that he went under water.

On the way home from the lesson, we decided to go to Bruster's Ice Cream and use the coupon we got in a prize egg from Easter. Dan and I both got ice cream, but we didn't get Fenn any for himself because we haven't been able to get him to eat ice cream before now. We tried a couple of times with an ice cream cone from Chick-fil-A, but we think he didn't like how cold it was. So any time you tried to give him any, he would shake his head and refuse it. But this time, we could tell he was interested in our ice cream. Dan offered him a bite of his, and he took it immediately. After that, we couldn't get him to stop eating our ice cream! At least now, we know he's our child!

Later that afternoon, I was on the phone with my mom wishing her a Happy Birthday when I heard the freezer door open. (We have one of those french door refrigerators with the freezer on the bottom.) I looked in the kitchen to find Fenn standing at the freezer reaching in to get an ice cube. So now one of his favorite things to do is open the freezer, get a piece of ice, and take it to Petey. I'm not really sure of why he thinks Petey wants the ice. But he'll leave a trail of melting ice cubes through the house if you don't keep an eye on him. Oh, and he'll leave the freezer door standing wide open. We're working on teaching him that he at least has to close the door when he's done. Otherwise, we're trying not to make too much of a big deal out of this because we're hoping he'll lose interest in this new activity. We figure if we insist that he not go into the freezer, he'll just want to do it even more.

And the last "first" for the weekend is not one we're real excited about. He has figured out how to open doors. He opened the door to our bathroom and to our bedroom. He's been trying for a while now, but he just couldn't get a good enough grip on the door knob. I think he's gotten a little taller, though, and can finally get it to turn enough to open. Guess that means it's time to do some more child proofing! My baby is not so much of a baby any more, is he?

Swimming Fenn ~ His First Day of Swim Lessons

On Saturday, Fenn had his very first swim lesson. We're going to Mr. Ed's Adventure Swim School here in Knoxville. He prefers and recommends that both parents get in the pool with their child, but because of my advanced state of pregnancy and because I wanted to be able to photograph and video the event, I opted to stay on the side of the pool. When we got there, Fenn was issued the standard swim diaper. It looks kind of like a little Speedo. They use this kind because of the elasticized legs which will hold things inside in the event of an accident. Don't want to see anything floating around the pool that doesn't belong there! Anyway, I had to take a photo before we put his regular swimsuit back on. That's our little Michael Phelps!The session starts out with getting the child used to having water poured over their face. First, you let the water drain out of the holes in the bottom of the bucket, and then you just dump the whole thing over their face. Fenn did great with this part because we've always dumped the water over his face when bathing him. He did get a little irritated, though, because Dan had to keep doing it over and over. I think he was just ready for a break!Next, they are put on a float mat where I guess they're supposed to get comfortable being on their belly and having their feet straight out behind them. And then you hope to get them to start kicking their feet.Next, they are put on a barbell-looking contraption. It really does the same thing as the mat, but Mr. Ed said some kids prefer this over the mat. That was the case with Fenn. He seemed much more comfortable on the barbell thing.For the next exercise, you put them on their backs to start getting them comfortable with floating. At the end of the class, they sang some songs and played some games as a group.Most of the class is made up of other toddlers about the same age as Fenn, with a few older kids in there, too. Overall, I think the first class was a success. Fenn didn't seem to be traumatized by anything. Of course, the goal is to eventually take him under water. But we, along with the parents of the other kids Fenn's age, opted not to do this during the first class. At least I don't think any of the other parents took their kids under so soon.We did come to the conclusion that it is much easier if both parents are in the pool. It just makes it easier to get the child in the correct position for the various exercises. Plus, one parent can hold the child and the other can get in front of them and talk to them. So.... it looks like I'm going to have to pull out the maternity swimsuit and get in the pool for the next couple of classes. After that, I guess Dan will have to do it by himself. It's a 5-week class, so he'll have two more scheduled classes after Piperbean #2 is born on the 15th. I'll miss the 4th class. But at least I can still plan to go to the last class on the 23rd of May. I'll just have the little one in tow and won't be able to get in the pool with Fenn and Dan. I love this last photo. He had just gotten out of the pool and had such a happy little look on his face.

Lookie, Lookie, Lookie... There Goes Cookie!

See that cute cookie bouquet in the picture? It was sent to us by my sweet sister-in-law, Cindy, right after Fenn was born... almost 17 months ago. See that cute cookie at the top of the bouquet that says "WELCOME FENN"??? I thought it was so cute that I saved it with plans to shellac it and preserve it. I've had the cookie in a zip-loc bag for the last 16 months. And I bought the spray shellac at least 12 or 13 months ago. And I FINALLY got it out this weekend to shellac it. (Figured I'd better get it done before bean #2 arrives in a few weeks.) Last night, Dan took it outside and sprayed the front. We let that dry and then sprayed it again and brought it inside for the night. This morning, I took it back outside to spray the back side of the cookie. I had laid it on a board and then put it on the ground in the backyard. Petey was out in the backyard. (Yep, he's that cute little guy you see over in the right-hand column of the blog... the one that looks like the Little Rascals dog.) And I really didn't think that would be an issue. The cookie was now sealed in shellac, so there really shouldn't be much of a cookie scent anymore, right? And you'd think the shellac would smell bad and would taste bad, right? Well, that apparently doesn't matter to dogs. Not long after this, I went downstairs to put something in the washing machine. As I was heading back upstairs, I noticed Petey was sitting at the sliding glass door looking like he wanted to come inside and cool off. So I walked over to the door and was about to open it. I glanced out into the yard where the board was laying on the ground. No sign of the cookie! Hmmm.... I'm thinking, "Oh no... surely Petey didn't eat that cookie covered in a thick coat of shellac." I walked outside and looked around, thinking maybe Petey had tried to pick it up and then decided he didn't like the taste and dropped it somewhere. Still no sign of it. I quickly came to the conclusion that my sweet little puppy dog had eaten the cute little cookie I had saved for so long and wanted to preserve. Yes, I know it's actually kind of funny when you think about it. Dan and I had a good laugh over it. Now I'm just hoping Petey is okay. So far, he seems fine. Hopefully there won't be any after effects from eating a 16 month old cookie covered in a nice coat of fresh shellac.

Let the Countdown to May 15th Begin!

We finally have a date! We are scheduled to be induced on Friday, May 15th. That's one week before our actual due date. Dan and I are excited about finally meeting our newest Piperbean. It's funny, though. As the afternoon went by and I counted up how many days it is until the 15th (it is 25 days from yesterday), it suddenly hit me... that's only 3 1/2 weeks! And when you think of it that way, that's a really short amount of time. So now I truly am going into panic mode. We have so much we had hoped to get done before the arrival of Piperbean #2 ~ like painting a name canvas for his room, organizing his closet, completing our spring/summer yardwork and planting, painting the upstairs hall bath and the downstairs bath, painting the hall, re-organizing a couple of kitchen cabinets for baby stuff, painting some canvases for Fenn's new room, framing and hanging some family photos,... the list goes on! Somehow we'll manage to be ready, though. We'll just concentrate on what HAS to be done. The other stuff can wait until later.

Yesterday's weekly OB appointment went well. In addition to setting the date, we did the usual ultrasound and non-stress test. He looks good, the amniotic fluid level looks good, his heartrate is good, and he's moving a lot. Plus, he's back in the head down position! Dr. Cottam also examined me and said "I'm gonna call it 1 cm., but he's still really high up." That means I have already started dilating a little! She totally expects that since this is a second child, we'll be meeting him by around lunchtime. Let's just hope and pray that's the case. I had such a great labor and delivery with Fenn. I want to experience that again with this baby... but even faster this time!

Fenn Goes to the Zoo!... and More Stuff from Last Week

Last week was a very busy week around here. First of all, Dan was working even more because of the 15th being on Wednesday. He worked really late Sunday night through Tuesday night and wasn't here to tuck Fenn in at night. Each day, I would stop by Dan's office for a few minutes after picking Fenn up from school just so he could see his daddy for a few minutes. Those last few nights it was obvious he was missing his daddy because his bedtime ritual changed and I had to hold him and rock him to sleep each night. Normally, he goes to sleep on his own. Then the 15th finally arrived! We had a babysitter lined up (Miss Ashley from Fenn's class at school) so we could go out for the annual "office after-party". In some ways, we didn't want to go because it would be another night that Dan wouldn't be here to put Fenn to bed. And both of us were sick and really exhausted. But it turned out to be fun and we probably really needed a night out. And we knew Fenn was in good hands with Ashley because she knows him so well and he has an attachment to her.
Now, back to Monday. I had the first of what will now be weekly appointments with my OB doctor. They're having me do weekly non-stress tests and ultrasounds for the duration of the pregnancy. I'm not really sure if it's because they've just changed their procedures (we didn't do this with Fenn), or if it is because of my "advanced" age. But it's kind of nice to be able to see him on the ultrasounds, even though it's just the basic ultrasound (not the 3D/4D). However, there aren't really any good photos to post. Piperbean #2 looks great. He's kicking and moving a lot. But, he was back in a breached position, with his head on my left side and feet on my right side. Hopefully, he'll turn again and get pointed in the right direction. He's measuring about 2 weeks ahead and weighs an estimated 6 lbs. 6 oz. As I've said before, it looks like he's going to be a BIG baby! So far, I've only gained about 27 lbs., so hopefully I'll only gain about a pound a week going forward and will stay within the recommended maximum of 35 lbs. But I probably should stop eating ice cream and cookies at night for dessert! In case you were wondering, we're leaning toward either Liam or Boone for the little bean's name. Surprisingly, both of those names have been the most popular on our Name Poll. If we go with Liam, it might actually end up being Liam Joseph instead of Liam Daniel. And if we go with Boone, we may flip it and make it Boone William instead of William Boone so he doesn't have to deal with getting called William all his life. (Although, I still think it sounds better as William Boone. But when does anyone ever call someone by their whole name, anyway???) Once we decide for sure on his name, I'll do another blog post.
Dan's office traditionally closes the day after the 15th, so we decided to keep Fenn home from school for the day and spend some time together on Thursday. We had originally planned to send him to school and do some chores around here, but changed our minds at the last minute since Dan had seen Fenn so little over the last week or so. We took Fenn to the Knoxville Zoo that afternoon ~ his very first trip to the zoo! It was nice because it wasn't crowded at all. Fenn loved seeing the black bears (one was swimming in the water), elephants, zebras, lions, chimps, and giraffes. And when we got to the children's area, he rode the merry-go-round for the first time. I rode with him first. We climbed on a giraffe and he started giggling and laughing almost immediately... and continued to giggle the whole time. I laughed so much, my eyes were watering. It was just about the cutest thing I've even seen or heard. I SO wish I'd had my video camera with me on the ride just so I could capture the audio of him laughing. He enjoyed it so much, we decided to let him ride again. So this time he and his daddy jumped on a tiger. After the ride, it was time for the zoo to close for the day and time for us to head home. The fun was over, but we all had a really good time at the zoo.
To end this post I'll tell a little about what's going on with Fenn these days. The cutest thing happened a couple of weeks ago. Fenn disappeared to the back of the house when I was in the kitchen. I could hear him and knew he was either in his room or our room. I'll normally let him explore a little on his own before going back to check on him. Well, before I could do so, he came walking into the room with the proudest look on his face and carrying an empty cup. It was his daddy's cup, the one that daddy fills with water each night and puts on the bedside table. Notice that I said it was an EMPTY cup. I have been after Dan for a while now to stop leaving his cup next to the bed every morning because one day Fenn is going to knock it over. When I saw Fenn with it, I immediately walked back to our room. The spilled water was not where I thought it would be. I thought it would be on the bedside table, soaking the books, and dripping onto the floor. But it was actually spilled on the rug about 4 or 5 feet away. So Fenn had successfully carried the cup for a while before tipping it over and spilling the water.
A few more things about Fenn...
:: He FINALLY refers to us as 'Ma Ma' and 'Da Da' on a consistent basis. He's been making the sounds forever, but not necessarily using them to refer to us. We know he knew that I was mama and Dan was daddy. But he just wasn't ready to start using them to refer to us until recently. That's the best sound in whole wide world!
:: His first sentence is "All done." He'll say it (sounds like 'awwwww duh') and sign it at the same time (by rubbing his hands together as you would do if you're wiping chalk or dirt off of them).
:: A favorite word is 'ine tigh' (which is "Einsteins"), letting us know he wants to watch the Little Einsteins (a children's cartoon on Disney).
:: Another favorite word is 'oww sigh'... which is "outside".
:: Another word that he signs now is 'more' by pointing a finger from one hand into the palm of the other hand. He is quick to let you know if he wants MORE cheese or MORE cookies!
:: The BIG news is that Fenn slept in his new room for the very first time last night. And he did great! We've let him nap in there a few times, but this was the first time to sleep in there at night. He's still in a crib for the next 6 months or so. Then we'll get a big boy bed and start that transition. But he is now officially moved into his new room. I still have some decorating to do, but it is at least functional for now. And I have to admit I shed a few tears over this process. Who knew it would be so hard to move him out of his nursery??? My baby is growing up... but he'll always be my baby!

Catching up the Blog...

Now it's time to play catch up with my blogging. And since I'm planning to turn my blog into a hardbound blog book (which will basically be Fenn's baby book), I feel the need to document as much as possible. [It's really cool that you can do that with a blog. Check out www.blurb.com to see what I'm talking about.] So when I get behind, it really frustrates me because I'm a Type A personality and don't like getting things out of chronological order.
NOTE: If you want to see more photos from the last couple of weeks, look over in the right-hand margin of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn", and click on "Spring 2009".

:: Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt (Saturday, April 4, 2009)

Last Saturday (April 4th), we had our neighborhood Easter egg hunt. We took Fenn last year, but he was only 3 months old... so it was really more for us than it was for him. This year, he was ready to hunt some eggs! He didn't get very many because he needs to work on his hunting speed, but he did get a prize egg with a $5 gift certificate to Bruster's Ice Cream. Fenn also got his first taste of climbing a tree when Dan put him up on a branch. I think he kind of liked it.After the hunt, we went to lunch at Qdoba Mexican Grill with some of our neighbors who have kids around the same age. That was very chaotic (with 5 kids) and a lot of fun! Just a little glimpse into what our life is going to be going forward. But we wouldn't change a thing! The family shot was taken by a friend down the street. She is also working toward starting a family photography business, although she is probably much further along than I am. She's taking classes at a local college and has a nicer camera than me. Check out her blog sometime at http://www.angelaacker.wordpress.com/. I really like this family shot. Thanks, Angela!
After lunch, Dan had to go into the office for a while since (do I even need to say it?) it is tax season! So that afternoon, Fenn and I went for a ride and stopped off at a neat little park area in Sequoyah Hills, a neighborhood we wished we could have afforded when we first moved here. It's a beautiful neighborhood along the Tennessee River. But we love our current neighborhood and are so happy we ended up here instead. Great neighbors, great friends, and lots of kids around the same age.Anyway, I did another little mini photo session with Fenn. Once again, it was a little difficult since I didn't have anyone to help me with him. So I didn't get some of the shots I would have liked to have gotten because he kept moving around and I didn't want him to fall and hit his head on the concrete structures in the park. He had a great time climbing on the steps, running back and forth from one end to the other.

:: Fun in the Front Yard with Eggs, Sunglasses, and Daddy (Sunday, April 5, 2009)

On Sunday afternoon after daddy got home from work, we went out in the front yard to hide some more Easter eggs and take some more photos of Fenn is his cute little "Monkey" outfit his Uncle Todd and Aunt Angie gave to him. The outfit had matching sunglasses, so I couldn't resist a photo session. Fenn had a great time running around the front yard, picking up Easter eggs, playing in his car, and watching his daddy be goofy. (You'll see what I mean by 'goofy' when you scroll down a little!)I posted these photos on my Facebook page, too. For the photo below, an old high school friend added the funniest comment to it: "Jeez, someone scratched the finish on my ride!" I thought that was hilarious and a great match to the expression on Fenn's face.In the last photos, I'm not really sure of what made Dan decide to do a handstand-into-a-backbend. But I'm glad I caught it on my camera because I don't think anyone would have believed me otherwise. Be sure to give him a hard time about this next time you see or talk to him!

:: Hangin' with my Uncle G (Saturday, April 11, 2009)

On Friday, I got a voicemail from my brother, Greg, saying he and Tucker (his oldest child) were going to be in Knoxville for the weekend. Tucker's basketball travel team would be playing in a tournament. They didn't even find out about the tournament until the first part of the week. So it was a nice surprise to know we'd get a chance to hang out a little. They live in Birmingham and we don't see them nearly as often as we would like. Tucker's first game of the day was at Thompson-Boling Arena at 8:30 a.m. So Dan helped me get ready and then Fenn and I headed downtown to meet up with Greg. (Of course, by the time we got there, the first game was over.) When we got there, Uncle G met us in the parking lot and opened the back door to greet Fenn. Fenn immediately took to Greg, even though he hasn't seen him since December. He quickly learned who his Uncle G is. If you asked him, "Where is Uncle G?", he would tap his finger on Greg's chest. And he would even try to say Uncle G, mostly coming out as 'uh geeee'. The nice thing for me was that Greg took Fenn and entertained him while we were there... giving me a wonderful (and much appreciated) break! It has been really hard keeping up with Fenn since I'm almost 35 weeks pregnant now. Greg went up and down and up and down the arena steps with Fenn. I'll be glad when he's big enough to do steps on his own. When do you start feeling like they can handle it without falling and hurting themselves???At first, Tucker was across the arena with his team. But then he did get to come over for a while and visit with us. He gave me a big hug, which I thought was pretty cool that a 16 year old was comfortable doing that in front of his teammates. But Tucker has always been a great kid! So smart and so talented (in many ways)... and handsome, too! He looks SO much like his dad when his hair is cut short.

During the 2nd game, Fenn was snacking on some Goldfish crackers......and then he decided to share with his Uncle G. We were actually sitting at a table right there at courtside.We had to head home shortly after the 2nd game started so Fenn could take a nap. But we joined up with Greg later in the afternoon for a late lunch at Tomato Head on Market Square. Then we headed back to the house to hang out. Greg had to go back to another game at 8:30 that night. He had planned to go to church with us the following morning for Easter service, but then Tucker's team won again and he found out they had an early morning game. They made it to the semi-finals before getting knocked out of the tournament. Thanks, Greg, for giving us a call. We're glad you were able to stay with us on Saturday night.

:: Easter Sunday (Sunday, April 12, 2009)

Since I actually did a post for Easter Sunday, I'll just add a few more pictures here. Fenn was getting sleepy by this time. We had already been to church and then to brunch, so it was time for his morning nap.