At Least I Tried to Get a Photo of Them Together!

A couple of weeks ago (see... I'm still behind on blogging), I decided to dress the boys in their "Big Brother" and "Little Brother" t-shirts and try to get a good photo of them together. The key word here is "try"! I am quickly discovering that it is almost impossible to get Fenn to be still for me to take his photo, much less pose for me. We kept telling him to sit beside Boone and look at the camera. He would squat down, lean in for a couple of brief seconds, and then off he would go to start playing again. So frustrating! The first photo is the best of the bunch. But I would have preferred one of them both looking at the camera. However, this one is really sweet and I do love it. Here are a few more from the "photo shoot"... some of them together and a few more of Boone by himself that I really liked.

See what I mean!?!? He would lean in for a second but would not look at the camera.This is a sweet one of Boone.This next one totally cracks me up! I swear, he smiles all the time. But he also has this really serious expression sometimes.There are no words for the next one! He looks completely pained to be sitting there. Like he's saying, "Come on mommy... can I play now?"And one more sweet photo of Boone (with his famous expression, of course!).

I have a few more from this same photo shoot of Fenn that I'll post later. So be on the lookout for those!

BEFORE and AFTER

In honor of my last blog post where I talked about us trying to sell our house, I thought I would post a couple of photos. The first one is the way the house looked the first time we saw it in May 2005, a week before we got married. Hideous, I know! We were moving from Georgia a few months later and had come up to meet with a realtor (who is now our friend) and look at some houses. We asked her to show us houses in a certain price range so we could get a feel for what we could get for our money here in Knoxville. We looked at a few houses in the neighborhood we're currently in (all fixer-uppers) and we looked at newer houses. We really DID NOT want a fixer upper because we knew things would be busy with Dan's new job and knew we would be starting a family soon. But we just could not find a new house that we both could agree on. Something about each one just didn't work for us. Either the houses were too close together or the yard was too small for our three big dogs, or because of how the house was designed there was no way to put in a dog door so the dogs could get into the garage and out of the weather. So, when we came back again in July, this house was still sitting here. No one wanted it. But we could see past its ugliness and knew we could make her look much better. We closed on the house at the end of August 2005. And this is how she looks four long years later. Better, huh?

It's a Busy Life!

We've been really busy around here lately (what's new?). Actually we have been even busier than normal because we've been trying to get our house ready to sell. And that task is almost impossible to accomplish with two babies in the house! It's not just a matter of cleaning up, de-cluttering, and staging the house for us. We've also had to finish up several unfinished projects from the last 2 or 3 years. We've had a painter, a plumber, electricians, and a landscape guy here. One day, they all even showed up on the same day.We're still not ready, but we had to go ahead and at least put the sign out last night. We've had a contingent contract on another house in our neighborhood for about a month now, so we don't want to anger the owner's by not keeping up with our end of the bargain. The house is about 20 years newer than our's, about 1,000 square feet larger, and most importantly has fewer projects so we'll have more time to focus on spending time with Fenn and Boone. And, it is still in the neighborhood we love.Because I've been so busy working on the house whenever I have a spare moment, I have fallen behind on blogging. So I thought I would just do a quick post about Boone with some recent photos of him. We're seeing more and more of what his personality is going to be like. He's mostly laid back like Fenn, but does have a little shorter fuse. If you put him down when he wants you to hold him, he lets you know in no uncertain terms. He has discovered his hands and chews and sucks on them all the time (see photo above). He has also started drooling, which leads me to believe he has started teething. He enjoys sitting up (assisted, of course) so he can see the world from a new perspective... not just looking up at everything any longer. He sleeps completely through the night most of the time. We'll put him down between 7:30 and 8:00 p.m. and he sleeps until anywhere from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m. If he does wake up during the night or earlier than 6:00, we can usually just give him his pacifier and he'll go back to sleep. And I don't think it will be too long before he is able to find his pacifier on his own and put it back in his mouth. He's pretty good with his hands. I like this last photo because it shows one of his many expressions. He has such an expressive face. Oh, and notice the drool on his chin.

Fun Day at the Pool

Just a few photos from a recent trip to the YMCA Pool in our neighborhood. They have an awesome kiddie pool that starts at 1 foot deep up to 2.5 or 3 feet. There's a huge area that is 1 to 1.5 feet and then that part is connected by a water walkway to the other part that is a little deeper for bigger kids. It looks like 2 separate pools with a little hallway between them. We still take Fenn over to the big pool to practice his underwater skills. But he loves the kiddie pool because he can play on his own. He'll climb out and jump off the side into the 1 ft. area over and over and over.... giggling the whole time. On this day, when we got there this sweet little girl came right up to us and proclaimed, "I'm a fish." I thought that was so cute and funny. Then she started playing with Fenn as soon as he got in the water. Boone hung out with me on the side of the pool in the shade. Yes, I do exist... I'm actually in a photo for a change. I did dip Boone's feet and legs into the water some. But we haven't submerged him all the way because the water is so cold. Also, he hasn't been big enough to put in his float. Once the pool closes next weekend, we'll continue to go to the indoor heated pool throughout the fall and winter and will get Boone in soon. We hope he'll love the water as much as Fenn. Here's one last photo of Fenn in his shark towel. So cute!

And a bit of news about Boone. Last night, we had our BEST night ever! We got in from another afternoon at the pool, bathed the boys, and then finished cooking dinner. Boone fell asleep during dinner, between 6:30 and 7:00. We put Fenn to bed a little after 7:00 and then Boone barely woke up enough to drink his last bottle around 8:00 p.m. I put him in his crib around 8:30 and we didn't hear a peep out of him all night. I woke up around 5:30 a.m. and checked on him. He didn't wake up until around 7:00 a.m. He slept for over 12 hours!

Roll With It Baby

A couple of weeks ago, Boone had his first ride sitting up in the stroller instead of riding in his infant carrier carseat. Despite appearances, he really enjoyed the walk. {That's just his serious face!} I think he liked being able to see everything ahead of him. And he also liked sitting next to his big brother, Fenn. At least Fenn looks like he's having fun.

Much Ado About Boone

Look up 'boon' in the dictionary and this is what you get:

boon /bun/ - noun
1. something to be thankful for; blessing; benefit.
2. something that is asked; a favor sought.

boon (bōōn) - noun
1. A benefit bestowed, especially one bestowed in response to a request.
2. A timely blessing or benefit: A brisk breeze is a boon to sailors.
[Middle English bone, from Old Norse bōn, prayer; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots.]

Could his name be any more perfect for him? He truly is a blessing to us. Both of our boys are blessings and miracles to us, something we had both hoped and prayed for but thought (for a while) we might not ever have. We cannot believe how blessed we are to have our family complete.
Here are a few sweet photos of Boone I wanted to be sure and get on here. I actually took the first two in July. The first one (at the top) is one of my all-time favorite photos ever. Just something about that sweet little face, the lighting, and the composition that I love. The second one was taken during the same 'session' as the first. I think he was looking up at his daddy. The last photo was taken at school a couple of weeks ago. I walked in and found him in the activity bouncer disc thingy. That was the first time I had seen him sitting up in something like that because we had not tried doing that at home yet. Look at how strong he is. He wasn't quite 3 months in this photo, but was doing a great job of holding his head up. Since then, we've been sitting him up more at home and I have turned him around to face outward in the Baby Bjorn carrier. He loves that! And he has a really strong grip. He likes to grab onto my hair and his pacifier clip. Once he gets hold of something, it is really hard to get it away from that death grip! Oh, and check out those eyebrows in the last photo. I think he gets that expression from his daddy. That's what he does when he's being serious and really concentrating on something. Like right here, he's probably wondering why mommy always has this big black thing {the camera} up in front of her face.

One Last Kiss

Last week, I found out that Fenn's classmate, Anabelle, was moving to another school the following week. Her family had moved to a new house and because of that, one of her brothers was going to be in a new school. Fenn's school does not provide after school pick-up at that school, so her brother would be going to a different after school program. And it didn't make sense to the family to have their kids at two different schools (daycares). So the solution was to move Anabelle.

You might remember Anabelle from this post back in December. Anabelle had become Fenn's "love interest" at school. I think since then they've had an on again-off again relationship... but mostly "on". Anabelle has always been so sweet and friendly. She would come up to me everyday and greet me. And once Boone was born, she immediately learned his name and would say "Boone" and "baby" every afternoon when we would walk into Fenn's classroom. And when Fenn's Aunt Angie took care of him in May when Boone was born, Anabelle developed an attachment to Angie and would go over each day and want Angie to pick her up.

I decided I wanted to get some photos of Anabelle so we could remember her. Even though they'll end up at different high schools when they're older, you never know if they might run into each other at a football game, school function, etc. Plus, I want to photograph as many of Fenn's classmates as possible through the years because I wish I had more photos of friends from my earlier elementary school years. I have the memories, but the photos would be nice. So anyway, I got there and pulled out my camera. I told Anabelle to give Fenn a kiss and this is what I got. Look at the grip Anabelle has on Fenn's head.This next one is priceless and completely hysterical to me. Look at the expression on Fenn's face. {I sure do wish this one was in better focus!}Goodbye, Anabelle. We hope we'll see you again one day. We miss you. 08/24/2009 UPDATE: I just found out today that Anabelle is coming back on Monday. Apparently, she has been very unhappy at her new school and has been crying a lot. So her parents decided to let her go back to her old school where she was happy.

Boone at Three Months Old

This is Boone at Three Months. This is the third installment in the "12-month onesie" series. As you can see in the picture, Boone has really started filling out. His face is getting very round now. He's really strong and is doing a great job of holding up his head. In fact, when I got to his school the other day to pick him up, he was sitting in one of those activity discs. I was really surprised because we had not tried putting him in anything like that at home. Just another example of how things change with your second. By the time Fenn was 3 months old, we had already been letting him try the Bumbo seat and doorway jumper thingy. These days, we just don't have the same amount of time. Thank goodness he is a patient baby, because Lord knows he is having to be patient with his mommy and daddy. Boone... mommy and daddy are so sorry you don't always get as much attention as you deserve! {We'll just say it now so he can see this when he's older.} Everyone told me that's just what happens with any children that come along after your first. Maybe that's what is wrong with me... I'm the third in my family. {Insert smile here.}

Anyway, the big news is that Boone rolled over! I didn't see it, but last weekend when we were at my parents' house, my dad had him lying on the sofa. He said Boone started staring at something on the back of the sofa and the next thing he knew he had rolled himself over... all the way to his belly! He hasn't done it anymore since then. But that seems really early to me. Fenn didn't roll over (as far as we know about) until he was 5 months old. In fact, it happened on his 5-month birthday. Maybe Boone is just that strong and is going to do a lot of things sooner than his big brother. Or maybe being on the sofa helped him roll over.

Boone's eating and sleeping patterns haven't really changed since last month. He's still taking 6 bottles a day. We give him his last bottle between 7:30 and 8:00 (depending on what time we get Fenn down for the night). And then we get Boone down between 8:00 and 8:30. He sleeps, on average, until around 4:00 a.m. and sometimes until almost 5:00. He loves sitting up with some assistance and watching everything going on around him. He especially loves watching Fenn. He smiles and laughs at him all the time. And Fenn really seems to like that.

Remember, you can look over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Boone" to see all the "12-month onesie" photos to date.

Boone's First Road Trip

Last weekend, I headed down to Lanett, Alabama (my hometown) with Fenn and Boone to visit my parents. Dan stayed behind to work on some projects around the house. We have so many unfinished projects and can't seem to find the time to finish them now that we have our babies. It's amazing how little time we have now to do even the most basic household chores. But we love and treasure the time we have with our boys, and wouldn't change a thing. The projects can wait... at least most of the time. Right now, we are trying to finish up a few things so we can function better around the house. Dan's project for the weekend was to finish painting the epoxy paint on the garage floor, finish painting the garage walls, hang an organization track system on the walls, and just basically get things a little more organized so we can park our cars and still have enough room to move. Plus, it could be a great place for the boys to play when the weather is bad outside.

I was worried about making the whole trip by myself with two little ones. (It's only a little over 4 hours with only one quick bathroom stop, but longer when traveling with kids.) So, I enlisted the help of my parents. They drove up and met me halfway so that my mom could ride the rest of the way with me and help entertain the boys. Thanks mom and dad! I know I could have made it on my own if necessary, but it really made a difference having some help. Having to stop and feed myself, Fenn, and Boone would have been a challenge.We headed out on Friday morning shortly after getting the boys fed. By doing that, they would both only need to be fed once during the trip. I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of the car all loaded up for the trip! I did that for Fenn's first road trip. The trip down went well. While I was on my own, Boone slept for the first hour or so. Then he had a few fussy moments and I had to reach back and give him his pacifier. He eventually went back to sleep. Fenn was great and even took a little nap for the last 45 minutes before we met up with my parents. We had about a 2 hour "layover" at the halfway mark, eating lunch at Cracker Barrel. I think it was good to let them both be out of their car seats for a while. For the second leg of the trip, Boone was not quite as cooperative and my mom spent a large portion of the trip unbuckled and turned around on her knees to keep Boone happy. We thought about letting her sit in the back between the 2 car seats, but it's kind of tight and not the most comfortable position in the car. We made it through Atlanta easily and then were on the home stretch on Interstate 85. At some point, both Boone and Fenn slept again and we had some peace and quiet. That night, we had my mom's spaghetti and Fenn loved it. He kept asking for more!On Saturday, my brother, Greg, decided to come down from Birmingham for the day to visit. He brought along Tanya, his girlfriend (is that okay to say?) whom we all like very much, and my nephews and niece, Tucker, Griffin, and Audrey. That was Boone's first time to meet all of them. We spent the afternoon in the pool while Boone hung out next to the pool with G-ma. Fenn impressed everyone with his water skills, like jumping off the side of the pool and going down to retrieve rings off the bottom of the pool. We played a fun pool game called 'Star' and Greg did a couple of cannonballs off the diving board.Fenn was having so much fun with everyone that when it came time for me to go inside and get ready for dinner with my friends, he didn't want to get out of the pool. So I let him stay and swim a little more with Tanya. I love the expressions on both of their faces in this photo!That night, the three of us met some of my cabin diva friends, Barbara, Donna, and Phyllis, and some of their kids' for dinner at my favorite local mexican restaurant, El Rio Grande. {I sure do miss that place!} Boone decided he didn't want to sit in his car seat, so I had to put him in the Baby Bjorn and strap him on. Barbara stepped in and fed Fenn for me because it would have been very difficult to do so with Boone strapped onto me. Thanks Barbara! We had a great time catching up and now are all looking forward to our annual cabin diva trip to Waynesville, NC in October. I took a few pictures, but I'm so sad that very few of them turned out. I don't know what was wrong with me, but several of them (i.e., the ones that had Barbara, Phyllis, and Donna in them) were not in focus. But here's a sweet one of Julia (Phyllis' daughter) reading a book to Fenn.Thanks girls for meeting us for dinner. Fenn loved seeing you all and Boone enjoyed meeting you all! I'll see you in October!

Sunday morning we had breakfast, packed up the car, and headed out. Mom and dad helped out again and went to the halfway point with us. That part of the trip was relatively uneventful and we cruised through Atlanta once again. Shortly after parting ways in Adairsville, GA, Fenn started saying "dy PUH... dy PUH... dy PUH" over and over again. That's 'diaper' in Fenn language. I asked him if he needed a clean diaper, and he said 'Yaahhh' (that's "yes" in Fenn's swedish accent). Then I asked him if he had a poopy diaper, and once again he said 'Yaahhh'. We pulled over at the next exit and pulled into a large convenience store/gas station parking lot. You know... one of those that has a fast food restaurant built in. I got Fenn out and put him on the driver's seat of the car. Sure enough, he had a poopy diaper! I had a feeling that was going to happen because he had not had his usual one that morning. I got him changed and we got back on the road within a few minutes. But I am so, so proud of my little man for telling me that he had a poopy diaper! He's only 20 months old and we haven't even started working on potty training yet. But this might be a sign that he's ready to start. I think we'll start talking about going to the potty, introducing him to the potty seat, and see if he shows any interest. I don't want to push him if he's not ready, though. The rest of the trip went great. For the last hour or so, Fenn kept repeating "home" over and over. I would ask him if he was ready to go home, and he would say "Yaahhh!". And I would ask him if he was ready to see daddy, and he would say "Yaahhh!" I love the fact that he'll answer my questions now. When we got home, he was definitely glad to see his daddy. And daddy did a great job on the garage. He didn't quite finish everything, but what he got done looks great. Maybe I'll post some photos of that soon.

Fenn at 7 days old versus Boone at 11 days old

I have a couple of posts I need to work on from our trip to Alabama last weekend and some cute pictures of Fenn at school yesterday, but for now I thought it would be fun to post these two photos for comparison. Both photos were taken by Rebekah Stanfill of Southern Charm Portraits. {I have links to her blog and website over in the right-hand column.} The first one is of Fenn when he was just 7 days old. And the second one is of Boone when he was 11 days old. That's Dan's hand in both photos.


Here's two more. Again, the first one is of Fenn and the second one is of Boone.

It's Almost Time for College Football!

Hip Hip Hooray.... just 32 more days until college football season begins! War Eagle! {This photo of Boone was taken last month right after his 12-month onesie session, so he's getting a little annoyed with his mommy and totally over the whole photo session thing.} Go Dawgs! {This photo was taken by Rebekah of Southern Charm Portraits during Fenn's 9-month session last September.}

His Smile Makes Me Smile

Last weekend was a fun and busy weekend for us. On Saturday morning, we joined the YMCA near our house, and that afternoon we went to Noah's 2nd birthday party. {Noah is one of Fenn's classmates.} And then on Sunday, we spent about 3 hours at the Y pool. At the birthday party, they had a bounce house, a slip 'n slide, and a backyard playground set complete with a curved slide. As you can see in the photos, Fenn had a blast on the slip 'n slide with Noah and Mary Frances (another classmate). The boy does love the water! Anytime... anywhere! Since Fenn really didn't know how to get a running start and dive onto the slide, his daddy had to help him slide. But believe me, he always went willingly.I wanted to take a few minutes and write about some of the things Fenn is doing and saying now. I'm going to have to stop doing this soon because he is learning new things so fast that I can't keep up anymore. Or I guess I'll just have to hit the highlights going forward. I have actually had a little list going for a few weeks now where I'll jot down things he does or says as a reminder to myself. His vocabulary has virtually exploded overnight. He can identify so many things correctly now. You may or may not be able to understand him, but if you know what he's talking about, you can tell he's using the correct word for it. Here's a little sample of what he's saying now::: apple sauce {ap poo SCHLAAUUH}. Notice the emphasis on 'sauce'. I believe apple sauce is his first two-word combination. And right now, apple sauce seems to be one of his favorite things to eat. In fact, his first three-word combination is "more apple sauce". Thank goodness they have different flavored ones now (strawberry, blueberry, etc.). They're all yummy! :: sunscreen {shuh schwee}. He recognizes the bottle, calls it by name, and willingly comes to you to let you put some on him because he knows it means he's going outside to play. Smart kid!

:: yes {YAAAAHH}. Think swedish accent {I'm Inga from Sweden.}. It's hysterical! He'll also nod his head in an exaggerated manner when saying yes.:: Elmo {uhhl MO}. He used to put an 'm' on the front and it came out more like 'meuhl MO', so I think it's kind of neat that he has corrected himself.

:: amen {AHHHH mah}. This is so sweet. We have a little book of bedtime prayers we read every night. Each page has a short story and then a corresponding prayer on the opposite page. When we're done, he says "AHHHH mah!".:: Ashley {ash LEE}. Ashley is one of his teachers at school. When he says her name, it actually sounds pretty darned close to the way it should sound. His other teachers are Nicole and Heather. He'll say 'cole' for Nicole, but he won't say Heather yet.

:: vacuum cleaner {awn MOWah}. OK... that's not really correct. He knows what a lawn mower is, but when he sees a vacuum cleaner (which isn't often around this house!), he calls it a lawn mower. He's not really that far off! They are kind of similar when you think about it.:: A few more words are please {spheez} (or something like that), tree {chwee}, up {op}, and help {hep}.

And here are a few things he's doing now that I think are cute. Heck, I'm his mommy, so I think everything he does is cute. Well... almost everything! I'm not real fond of when he decides to sit down at the bottom of the steps at school (and not get up) when I have Boone in his car seat, 2 diaper bags, and am having to hold Fenn's hand because I don't want him to get away from me in the parking lot. If I put anything down, I'll have to let go of Fenn in order to pick them back up!:: To come home after picking the boys up at school, I have to drive down Kingston Pike. {For those who don't live here, it's kind of the main road that takes you almost anywhere you need to go in our part of Knoxville.} I usually turn off of Kingston Pike the first chance I get to avoid the afternoon traffic and cut across our neighborhood. But when I start to turn, Fenn starts saying "Noooooo... Nooooo". I can't figure out why he's saying that. Maybe he just likes staying on the main road so he can watch all the cars going by. Who knows???

:: A few weeks ago he started grabbing our hand and pulling us to wherever he wanted us to go with him. I just think that's one of the sweetest things ever!:: We think he might be left-handed. Right now he is favoring his left hand, but we know he could change at anytime over the next couple of years. Or maybe he'll be ambidextrous like his mommy.

:: He is doing a pretty good job eating with a spoon and fork. He can usually get at least something to his mouth before dumping the food. He has a tendency to turn the spoon or fork sideways right before he gets it to his mouth. But he is improving! That apple sauce is slippery!:: Another thing... when he's eating, he'll sometimes stuff his mouth if he really likes something (i.e., cheese, crackers, pasta pickups). And then he'll ask for more. I'll tell him to chew it up and swallow first, then he can have more. He'll do this little exaggerated chewing motion where he bobs his head up and down. Then he'll open his mouth and let you see that it is empty.

:: After a bath, we'll put him up on the changing table and put lotion on him before getting him dressed in his PJs. He likes to have a little lotion in his hand. The only problem is that instead of rubbing it in, he'll eat it. And then he'll ask for more!:: He can match several colors. He has a puzzle that has pieces shaped like music notes, and each 'note' is a different color. The hole in the puzzle where each piece should go has the same color. He can put the pieces back in place. But he can also point to some of the colors when you ask him to do so. Distinguishing between red and pink is a little difficult, though. But he knows green, blue, and yellow... and sometimes even gets red and orange correct.:: And I saved the best for last. Several weeks ago, we started putting him in "time out" whenever he acts out and/or does something we've told him not to do. He gets one warning, and one warning only! We're not going to be those kind of parents who keep making threats over and over and over ("If you do that one more time, you're going to time out.") and never actually follow through. Sorry if you're one of those parents. But we're just not playing that game. The first time we did it, he knew exactly what to do so we assumed he had already been in time out at school. I have to say he is so cute when he is in time out. We have a hard time keeping ourselves from laughing. He'll sit there and be completely quiet. And he'll even look straight at the wall (we have his stool in a corner and make him face the corner). Every once in a while, he'll turn around and look at us. But he doesn't say anything. He just waits until we tell him that time out is over. One time, he put himself in time out after hearing us say the word. I think we had just told him he was going to time out if he did something again. I guess he knew he'd slip up and do it again, so he might as well go ahead and get the time out over with. We had to tell him he had not done anything wrong and didn't have to sit in time out.

I sure do love that child!