More Pumpkin Patch Fun

On Sunday afternoon, we decided to go back to the Pumpkin Patch at the Lutheran Church near our house.  I got such great pictures of Fenn last year (click here to see that post), so I had to go back again this year.  Plus, unlike going to the farms that are almost an hour away, we can run over to the Church late in the afternoon when the lighting is so perfect for photos and still get home in time for dinner and bedtime.  Once again, I got some photos that I really like.  Here are some of my favorites.  And there are more over in the "Fall 2009" photos (the link under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone"). 

Boone's photos are all very similar because he's not sitting up on his own yet, so we had him sitting in the Bumbo seat.  And Boone is drooling in these photos about as much as Fenn was drooling in the photos from last year.  Still no teeth for Boone, but we're expecting those two bottom teeth to pop through soon.  Fenn was moving around constantly and I had a hard time getting him to stop long enough for photos.  He decided to pretend the 'puntnin' was a cup and the stem was a straw!  We had to make him stop putting his mouth on the stem... He thought it was funny.  And we couldn't help but laugh.  Bad parents!  And I didn't really even try to get any good photos of them together.  I have one in the "Fall 2009" photo album, but it's not a great one.

Bay Hales.... Hay Bales...

We don't know why, but for some reason Dan and I both end up saying "bay hales" instead of "hay bales".  That's just what pops out sometimes.  There must be something about the combination of the two words together.  Or maybe we're just getting old and our brains are not firing on all cylinders.

Yesterday, we finally got some bales of hay to do our fall decorations outside.  We're a little behind on getting decorated for Halloween and Fall this year.  We've just had a lot going on here lately.  Next year will be better.  I plan to start really early and have several ideas for decorating outside and inside.

Fenn was excited to see the hay bales in the yard and decided they were perfect for climbing and jumping.  And he has really taken a liking to pumpkins this year... or as he says, "PUNTNINS!"  It's about the cutest thing ever!  I think the last photo is hysterical because of what is going on with Fenn's hair.  He is jumping off of a bale of hay and I was sitting on the ground.

Pumpkin Patch at Maple Lane Farms

On Sunday, we went to the pumpkin patch at Maple Lane Farms in Maryville, Tennessee.  Last year, we went to Oakes Farm in Corryton, Tennessee, but decided to try a different one this year to see which one we liked best.  There are actually things we prefer or like best about each one. 

Oakes Farm seemed to be a little more organized and professional, like more of a real business.  But they don't actually grow the pumpkins on the farm.  Instead, they purchase them from somewhere else and just dump them out into an open field (which was kind of dry and dusty last year).  They did have great activities for kids, but Fenn was still a little too young to enjoy many of them.  Maple Lane Farms actually grows the pumpkins there.  The ride out to the pumpkin patch on the flatbed trailer pulled by a tractor was very authentic and we even saw a herd of cows coming in for the evening.  They walked right past us and Fenn really got excited about being so close to them. 

They seemed to be a little less organized and had fewer things to do for little kids.  Both farms had corn mazes, which we have yet to try for fear of getting stuck inside with a screaming kid and not being able to find our way out fast enough.  We'll do the corn maze in another couple of years, though.  I do think Oakes Farm has a "mini" corn maze made out of bales of hay for smaller kids, so that's kind of cool.

Last year, it was unseasonably warm on the day we went to the pumpkin patch.  But this year it was C-O-L-D!!!  And windy, too!  I actually didn't take enough things to keep us warm.  I had asked Dan what the weather was like and he said it was in the 50's but didn't really feel that bad.  That's the last time I trust his judgment about weather!  I'll start checking myself from now on.  I didn't take hats for the kids and didn't take a heavy enough jacket for myself.  Thankfully, the sweater I had for Boone had a hood so I was at least able to cover his head.  Fenn had on a polar tech pullover, but no hat.  I had an extra pair of socks for Boone, so I was able to double up there.  And we had a couple of blankets for the boys.  It actually wasn't too bad when you were in the sun and the wind wasn't blowing.

We spent quite a while out in the pumpkin patch letting Fenn explore... and get filthy.  It was a little wet and muddy out there.  I guess that's better than dry and dusty!  He loved walking around looking at the pumpkins and trying to pick them up.  And he really seemed to like making them roll... and roll... and roll.  Oh, and he also thought it was funny to pick them up and drop them.  Oops!  He didn't bust any open though.

On the hayride back, Boone fell asleep.  I didn't realize it at first, but knew he sure did seem to be leaning to one side.  I had him strapped on in the Baby Bjorn carrier.  No mom should be without a Baby Bjorn!  Finally, someone looked at him and made a comment like "So adorable!" and then I looked down and realized he was asleep.  Poor little guy was exhausted from all the fun. 

We got back and paid for our two pumpkins and then let Fenn explore a little.  We tried to get him to stand in front of the "How Tall This Fall?" pumpkin sign, but he wouldn't pose for me.  He kept sitting down.  I finally got Dan to distract him by getting him to look at it so I could at least get a photo of him standing in front of it. 

Fenn played at the edge of the corn maze for a while and then we headed home.  Another fun trip to the pumpkin patch.  I can hardly wait until next year when Boone will be walking!

Because there are just too many great photos to post here, I have a bunch more that you can see.  Just look over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and click on the link to "Fall 2009".

ROLL OVER ALERT!!! Boone Rolled Over

Boone rolled over all by himself yesterday morning!  He rolled from his tummy to his back.  I actually caught the 2nd rollover on video after quickly scrambling to get the video camera.  These photos are a re-creation of his rollover.  By the time I got to my camera, he was getting tired and wouldn't really do it again.  So we "re-created" the roll with a little nudge.  Funny, Fenn rolled over from tummy to back for the first time on exactly his 5-month birthday, May 10, 2008.  Boone rolled over pretty close to it... just 3 days after his 5-month birthday.  Unfortunately, daddy missed the actual rollover because he and Fenn were at the grocery store.  But he was here for the re-creation!

Fenn and Boone Watching TV

Here are a few photos from yesterday morning sometime.  It looks like they're watching a football game since they both have on team colors.  

But the photos were taken a little before 10:00 a.m., so there weren't any football games on yet.  Maybe we were getting ready to watch College Game Day!  Most likely they were watching Little Einsteins.  As promised, Boone was getting a little more floor time.

We're also working on teaching Fenn what is acceptable in regards to how rough he gets with Boone.  The worst thing he does right now is to lie on top of Boone to give him a kiss and then put his hand somewhere on Boone's mid-section and push himself up.  We keep trying to tell him that he can't do that because Boone is still little and can't handle that much weight.  But we're not quite sure of how to make him understand. 

Regardless, it is getting sweeter and sweeter to watch them together.  Notice Boone in the last photo... He is reaching out and grabbing Fenn's shirt.  Fenn will look down at Boone's hand and giggle.  It is so sweet! 

Later that day, Fenn and his daddy made a pizza out of Play Dough. He was pretty proud of his creation!

Boone's First Taste of Squash

Boone got his first taste of vegetables today.  First up... Squash!  Judging by the smile on his face, he liked it very much.  He was probably ready to start trying solids a little sooner, at least as far as his appetite was concerned.  He is already starting to fill out more and seems much heavier.  But when we first tried the rice cereal, he still had problems with the tongue thrust reflex.  He has gotten much better about that now and is not pushing out as much food as he was.  We just have to keep the spoon moving quickly to catch whatever runs out of his mouth and push it back in so that he doesn't become impatient.  We'll do squash for a couple of weeks and then try something else.  It hasn't really been that long, but I've already forgotten what Fenn tried after squash.  But that's what's so great about having this blog and documenting every little minute detail of my kids' lives.  I can look back in the archives!

Boone at Five Months Old

This is Boone at Five Months.  This is the fifth installment in the "12-month onesie" series.  It has been a busy month for Boone with lots of "firsts" happening for him.  He loves playing with his feet and it seems like he always has either a finger or a foot in his mouth.  He's drooling like crazy, but still no teeth.  We know they're in there somewhere and expect to see those lower teeth soon.  He has already started having some restless nights, and from our experience with Fenn that usually means they're teething.  He went on his first real vacation which included meeting some horses and going to the beach for the very first time.  Actually, he also met his Uncle Todd and cousins Seth and Jesse for the first time on that trip.  He had already met his Aunt Angie because she was here when he was born.  He also had his first taste of solid food and was immediately trying to take over possession of the spoon.  He gets angry if you don't feed him fast enough, and he hates it when I wipe off his mouth with a cold, wet paper towel.  He still hasn't started rolling over.  But we think that's partly our fault.  He doesn't get as much floor time as Fenn because we have to constantly worry about Fenn sitting on him or dropping a toy on him.  Fenn is mostly very gentle with him, but it's hard to explain to him that he doesn't need to put too much of his weight on Boone.  Because of that, we can't just put him on his playmat or down for tummy time unless we're going to be right there beside him for the majority of the time.  We used to put Fenn on his playmat and then could move in and out of the room doing things like putting away clothes, cooking dinner, etc. and he would entertain himself.  So we feel bad that Boone doesn't get that same opportunity and are working on doing a better job of putting him on his playmat.  Boone is such a great baby and we consider ourselves very fortunate to have two really easy babies.  We were sure we wouldn't be so lucky with the 2nd baby, but we are.  Boone loves his big brother and watches him all the time.  And Fenn does a great job of making him laugh and smile.  We can hardly wait for Boone to get big enough to play with Fenn.  Although those first few months were really difficult to get through, we're going to be so glad to have had them so close together.

You can see all of Boone's 12-month onesie photos by looking over in the right-hand column of the blog under "More Photos of Fenn and Boone" and clicking on the link to "Boone's 12-Month Onesie Photos".

Dinnertime Silly Faces

Just a few photos from dinner last night.  Dan was working late, so I was on my own for the evening.  I was feeding both boys at the same time and ended up snapping a few photos.  Fenn was double-fisting the utensils.  He's getting quite skilled at feeding himself.  Yes, he's been doing it for a while, but his accuracy is getting much better.  He doesn't turn the spoon over right before it reaches his mouth quite as often.  I told him to make a silly face, and this is what he gave me. 

And Boone doesn't know how to make silly faces yet, so he gave me one of his sweet smiles instead.

Fenn Asked to Sit on the Potty!

Fenn is getting to be such a big boy.  He'll be 2 in December.... and you know I'm already planning his birthday party!  Yesterday, he asked to go sit on the potty!  He had actually already gone poopy in his diaper, but I think it's a huge step forward that he is already showing interest in the potty.  We haven't been pushing to get him potty trained yet.  But we do have a little potty seat that sits on top of the big potty and a little stool Fenn can pull out and put in front of the potty to get up.  And we show it to him occasionally just to get him acquainted with it.  Then when he does show interest, we'll show him how to put the seat on top of the potty and climb up.  In this photo, we put him up there with his pants on.  But then right after that we asked if he wanted to take his pants and diaper off and he said, "Yes.".  So that's what we did next... but no photos of that.  It was very brief and he was over it almost as soon as we took off his diaper.

Another thing he has started doing is playing underneath the dining room table.  He is showing quite the imagination these days and it is so much fun to watch.  He'll gather all kinds of toys underneath the table and then pull the chairs back in to create a little secret play space.  And sometimes he'll even insist that one of us get down there with him.  He'll say, "Get down!" and pull on our pants leg.  The other day, Petey even got in on the action and was sitting under there with Fenn.  Fenn thought that was pretty cool.  {You may notice a big knot on the right side of his forehead in the photo above... That's from getting down off the potty, tripping, and hitting the bathroom door.  He was fine and you couldn't even tell the next day.}

I've been running a little behind on my blogging lately and have so many things I need and want to write about Fenn.  He's talking so much and doing the funniest things these days.  I'm afraid I'm going to forget everything.  I think I need to keep a little notebook (or maybe a fancy iPhone or something) to write down all the things that pop in my head from time to time that I really want to remember to write about.

Mommy's Annual Girls' Trip

I just got back from my annual girls' cabin trip weekend last night.  We affectionately refer to ourselves as the Cabin Divas.  We believe this was our 12th year going.  I go with a group of girls {that makes us sound much younger than we actually are} I used to work with in West Point, GA.  We all worked for a local bank and they all actually still work there.  I'm the only one who has ever left!  And there are many times that I wish I still worked there.  I miss them all so much!  We always go to Waynesville / Balsam Mountain, NC.  Donna's family owns a cabin in Balsam (which originally belonged to her dear grandparents).  Her family was originally from the Coral Gables, FL area and they spent their summers at the cabin.  Donna has many fond memories of the cabin and has been gracious enough to share her special place with us all of these years.  We go every fall and have even gone twice a couple of years (making the 2nd trip in the spring).  We shop in Waynesville, Asheville, Dillsboro, and Maggie Valley.  We eat, we drink, and we spend a lot of time hanging out on the porch of the cabin.  That's our view from the porch! 

This trip means so much to all of us and we anxiously look forward to it every year.  As we've gotten older and everyone's kids have gotten older {except for mine... I got a late start!}, the tone of the trip has changed.  We don't drink as much, we don't stay up quite as late, the wrinkles have increased, and the topics of our conversations have changed.  But I hope we always continue to make this trip.  Yes, I have new friends here in Knoxville.  But there's nothing like longtime friends who really know you.  When we're shopping in Waynesville and see a group of women older than us, we'll point to them and say, "There we are in 20 years."  I sure do hope so! [Top Photo (L to R): Donna, Phyllis, Linda, Amanda, me, Barbara]

Tailgating Tigers

Yesterday was the Auburn vs. Tennessee game here in Knoxville.  We actually had a chance to get free tickets a few days before the game, but we couldn't find a babysitter on such short notice.  All the good ones (i.e., teachers from school who already know Fenn and Boone and who we know can handle two at one time) were already taken.  So we had to turn down the tickets.  We decided to go ahead and take the boys down to tailgate for a little while.  It was their first time ever!  Fenn was completely overstimulated by all the crowds and noise.  We could tell he was loving every minute of it.  He got to watch the Tennessee band as they were coming into the stadium {that's when we were actually headed back to the car to go home}.  Boone was so cute hanging out in the stroller with his Auburn cap on and his feet propped up.  He got a lot of attention that day because he was smiling and cooing the whole afternoon. 

We walked around for a while just to see what was going on.  We even ran into Miss Rachel, one of Boone's teachers, tailgating with her college friends.  Small world.  This next photo would have been so awesome except for the fact that the person taking the photo (unfortunately a drunk Auburn fan) almost completely cut Boone out of the photo and then focused on the bridge instead of on us. 

I really need to figure out the best settings to use for the camera when having someone else take the photo... something foolproof.  One of the special and unique things about Tennessee's stadiums is that it is right down on the Tennessee River.  The stadium is actually over to our right and you can see some of the "Vols Navy" down on the river.

Next, we stopped by to tailgate for a few minutes with Betty Kay (Dan's business partner) and some of her friends.  They were on the top of a parking deck right next to the stadium.  We didn't stay very long because we quickly realized how hard it is to keep up with Fenn in such a large crowd.  We were afraid to put him down at all.  Plus, we needed to get home so we could get the boys fed and in the bed before the game started.  We did manage to snap a few cute photos of me with the boys. 

And in the last photo, the majority of the "sea of orange" you see is Auburn fans surrounding the team buses as they arrived at the stadium.  I heard Tennessee wouldn't allow Auburn to do their Tiger Walk (which, by the way, Auburn originated).  But the Tiger fans still showed up to show their support for the team.  War Eagle!

Boone's First Taste of Rice Cereal

Today was a big day for Boone.  He got his first taste of something besides breastmilk or formula.  We decided it was time to start giving him rice cereal.  We actually got the greenlight at his four-month checkup, but were waiting for a weekend to get started.  Right off, he seemed to really like it, although he was still having some trouble with the tongue thrust reflex. 

We had to keep the spoon moving fast, constantly catching what he pushed out of his mouth.  I think the reason he is crying in this photo is because we weren't feeding him fast enough.  As far as an appetite, I think he had been ready for rice cereal for a while now. 

He even took the spoon from us and wouldn't give it back.  We had to pry it out of his hand. 

All in all, his first taste of rice cereal was a success.  Next up in a couple of weeks:  Squash!