We Are Still Strange

For a really really long time I've been wanting to get a glider rocker for Rhianwen's room. Like since she was born. We had been sitting in this little tiny child's rocker to feed her bottles and to read to her etc. Well, finally we found a deal on craigslist and bought a real rocker for her. She loves it, and so do I. Especially now that I am fat, that little rocker just wasn't cutting it if I wanted to sit and read to her in her room. The colors tie in nicely with her room as well although I am thinking about trying to find some similar colored material for the cushions that is softer and sewing that on instead. We'll see!

Enjoying rocking.

We've been getting ready for baby Alden. Rhianwen's been watching me sew his diaper bag and blanket this week. She does amazingly well watching and not touching unless I tell her she can.

The diapy bag. Rhianwen really digs the trains. Hopefully Alden will too.

She saw an Amtrak train go by on our way to playgroup on Wednesday which was really exciting. Then we went shopping for curtains for Alden (which we didn't find), but we also looked at bathing suits for Rhianwen. It was so funny, b/c she didn't seem incredibly attracted to the frilly bows and flowers that were on the suits for her, but went straight to the boy suits that had Thomas the Tank Engine on it. Thankfully, she didn't seem too upset when mommy told her that those were for boys and how about this pink one with hearts and bows? Now all we need is a kiddy pool. Saturday we got to go to Eno River State Park for a nice 1.5 mile hike. It was beautiful, and Rhianwen did great walking. Daddy did a lot of carrying though too. I don't know where he gets all his energy! She kept wanting him to do "horsey" which was to carry her either on his shoulders and do a jolting run with her or to carry her in front and hop up and down.

A view of the "spectacular rapids" according to the trail description. It was very pretty.

I think it was probably Rhianwen's first waterfall.

Rock climbing (just like daddy) under daddy's watchful eye. Mommy had visions of Rhianwen in the falls.

Tree climbing (just like daddy). Actually, we stuck her up there b/c it looked fun. She seemed to love it. Climbing trees will always remind me of Clemson and Wally and the hammock he had WAY up high in some trees near the Pit where he would study sometimes, and we'd go up there to have some alone time and watch the birds. I miss those days sometimes!

Some fun things Rhianwen has really been enjoying recently are puzzles and legos. She's gotten really good at her puzzles, and I keep thinking if I actually succeed in breastfeeding Alden, maybe I can get more puzzles for her to keep her entertained while I'm busy with him. The legos, she still will get frustrated about. It's hard for her to put a lego on top of one that only has 2 circles. She's also been counting (sort of). She mostly says, "1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10!" And if she is counting to 3, she'll say, "1, 2, fiiiiive!" It's very strange. Also, anytime she gets REALLY frustrated, she'll throw herself on the ground and ask for a "Nappy nap".

"Baby Alden Noises!"

We had our final ultrasound today (we think!). Baby Alden's kidneys measured normal HOOOOORAAAY! Rhianwen did amazingly and was excited to hear "Baby Alden Noises!" ie. his heart-beat. We couldn't get a good picture b/c he was moving around the entire time and b/c he kept his arm over his face again. So we had to settle for this hard to see profile pic.

Getting big!

We got to see him yawn a couple of times. So fun :) He is measuring in the 56th percentile and a little over 4 pounds right now. It's a good thing we had the ultrasound b/c now all of a sudden I am measuring small which would have made the docs worry that he wasn't growing well. But he is, and I'm doing fine too.

I was hoping Rhi would take a nap after all the excitement, but she is in her bed talking away...probably pooping. SIGH. So no nap for me either.

Country Doings

This weekend we visited Grandmama and Grandaddy, and saw Uncle Averett before he left for FL and Aunt Clara before she returned to her apt. Rhianwen had a blast with so many people which always makes coming home a little hard when mommy is the only company to be had! Grandmama pulled out some of Wally's and his siblings old toys. Rhianwen's favorite by far was the Fisher Price Sesame Street Clubhouse. If we weren't outside or eating, she was playing with it! Even when we were doing other things, it was often the main subject of her conversations (although it took us a long time to figure that out). She kept saying "Kink. Kink. People kink." Finally, I figured out that she was saying "Crank" b/c you turn the crank on the side to get the people to turn and to move down the clubhouse to slide down the slide.

"No breakfast for me! I'd rather be playing with the toys!"

It is a totally fun toy. Why did they ever discontinue those things?

We also got to go strawberry picking at the farm where Daddy used to work when he was a kid and in college. When we stepped out of the car, the scent of strawberries was delicious! Rhianwen picked a few, but mostly had fun carrying the bucket and playing in the dirt.

Picking strawberries.

Our huge bucket and oh so much sweeter than store-bought!

For lunch we all went to Landsford Canal State Park where this rare spider lily blooms in the shoals. We rode in Wally's parent's huge van and Rhainwen who is not used to having someone behind her kept asking where Uncle Averett was. He finally started putting his hand up in front of her, so that she could see that he was there, and every few minutes after his hand was gone she would say, "Uncle Averett, hi?" and lift up her hand so that he would put his hand back.

Helping roll the cooler down for a picnic lunch.

It was pretty amazing to see such a wide expanse of the river filled with lilies! We also got to see a state park volunteer handle a water snake. Afterwards I asked Wally if he told Rhianwen that we don't touch snakes, and he didn't. I just hope she won't try to pick one up on her own!

The shoals and spider lilies.

A close-up. No, I did not take my pregnant self hopping over the rocks to get a "real" shot of them, although I was tempted!

Having fun climbing on the fence at the lily look-out.

Rhianwen had a great time with Aunt Clara and her monkey.

Grandmama and Grandaddy.

Over the weekend, we found out that Rhianwen's Great Grandpa (my grandpa) had a pretty serious stroke. The doctors say with some PT, he will be able to walk again (he's already walking a little), but he needs a lot of prayer! I'm so glad that we live closer, but being even 3h away is sometimes very frustrating!

Hand in the Cookie Jar

Rhianwen was playing with her shape sorter today, and reached through the circle hole, grabbed a lego, and tried pulling it back through. But her hand was too big with a fistful of lego. So, I said she needed to let go of the lego if she wanted to get her hand out. She kept trying without letting go of the lego. I finally said, "It's like the monkey with his hand in the cookie jar. You have to let go of it if you want to get your hand out." Not that she knows that story yet. When she heard me say that, she dropped the lego, raced over to her sock monkey, brought it over, and stuffed him in her shape sorter jar. It was too funny!

This past Tuesday was my birthday, and Grandmama, Grandaddy, and Uncle Averett came up to celebrate. They worked out in the yard, brought delicious corn on the cob (that Rhi just ate all week), fresh strawberries and cantalope, peonies and roses, and gifts. Rhianwen had such a blast with them and won't stop talking about Uncle Averett. Wally and I even got to vote without bringing Rhi :)

Rhianwen brought Grandmama a book to read to her, but then Rhi grabbed our old church directory and sat down to read it herself.

Having a ton of fun making mommy's b-day card with markers, sticker, and Grandaddy's help.

Rhianwen got to sing happy birthday to mommy, then totally inhaled the cheesecake daddy made! I guess we might start having cheesecake twice a year: once for mommy's birthday and once for Rhianwen's! I've never seen her eat something so fast...not even cookies!

She can't even look up for a picture!

Grandmama and Grandaddy.

With Uncle Averett.

Grandmama brought the dress that she's been smocking for Rhianwen to see how it would fit. Looks great!

Mommy tried a new hairstyle on Rhi this week. It seems to work pretty well for her. Here she is saying, "Uncle Skipper!" I'm not sure why.

A daily treat for Rhianwen is feeding kitty cat when daddy comes home. She does a great job with it.


On Friday, Rhianwen enjoyed playing with a friend while mommy had her Dr. appointment. Mommy was told that they shared lots of hugs! We just got Rhianwen a book called HUG (I got it at Goodwill for $1 b/c I refused to pay $8 for a book that mostly only says Hug all the way through it). She loooves the book though and has gone into a hugging spree with anyone who wants one! Anyway, mommy's appointment went well. No problems. And baby Alden is now head down! Next appointment is May 22 for our last ultrasound of his kidneys, and the Dr. assured me it is a really normal thing to be measuring just above the threshold.

Saturday, Rhi's friend Hannah came over for a few hours where they had lots of fun coloring, playing with all kinds of toys, getting really grimy outside, and sharing food. Somehow, Rhianwen thinks that sharing means that people need to share with her and not vice versa. She did a good job sharing most of her toys this day, but any time she wanted something back from Hannah, she'd look at me and say, "Share! Share!" as if I needed to get Hannah to give it back :)

Rhianwen keeps Hannah hydrated during the coloring phase of the day. What teamwork!

Saturday we also did a thorough cleaning of the VUE. Boy was it sticky and messy. Sitting behind the driver's wheel and pressing all of the buttons was a fave pastime for Rhianwen. If she wasn't doing that, she was finding all of the pens in the car. Now that she is learning her colors, daddy has told her what red and green lights mean. There was a point the other week when Rhianwen would nearly throw a tantrum when the light was red. Talk about learning early :) I finally told her it was not something to cry about and that we just had to wait until it turned green to go. She's gotten better about it. Wally said he knows the feeling!

Lastly, Rhi made a fabulous mother's day card. She drew herself, a fish, a puppy dog, and wrote "I love you" on it...we'll just say she's mastered abstract drawing.