Saturday, May 1, 2010

all about the pipester...

Piper in his jumperoo...




This may be my favorite picture of him yet...


Oh the cheeks...and the drool!


My favorite video of Piper. It looked like he was dancing to VeggieTales.

march 26

Piper still loves to lie on the floor and watch what's going on around him. He has really strong legs now and is pulling up both feet with the braces and bar on, which is kind of heavy.


Piper also is starting to like 'flying' where I will lie on my back and put him up on my knees to 'fly' through the air. I get the biggest grins out of him and I laugh extra hard too looking at those chubby cheeks hanging down!


Piper is such a happy baby and really a joy to cuddle and play with. He is so ready to give you a smile any time of day...even when he's tired. The nights are sometimes long with a lot of crying...he just can't stay asleep at night, but it will get better. I've been calling my sister-in-law, Melissa the most to vent and ask for advice. She is a great listener and has good advice.


Bob came over and gave Matthew, Finley and I a fun-size candy bar for a treat. Finley ate his within minutes and later found Daddy's. He knew it was Daddy's and had been told not to eat it because we were going to give it to him when he got home. Apparently, the temptation was too great for Finley to resist. It was hard not to laugh as he came up to me and said "Uh-Oh". I knew exactly what he was saying it for because of all the chocolate around his mouth. He then led me to the crumpled up wrapper on the floor. At the end of the movie he says "workout". I thought that was a fitting thing to do to work off the calories and fat he just ate!


Daddy time with Piper. He smiles a lot for Matthew and likes to stare at him. Matthew is able to hold him like I'm not able to. If I sit with Piper he gets antsy and just wants to move, but Matthew can sit on the couch and hold Piper for 30 minutes and he's so content. I know Matthew has a really calm spirit and Piper must sense this. I really appreciate those still moments...watching Matthew and Piper quietly bonding together.


Piper lying on the floor. When he gets upset or tired when he's on the floor, he will lift up the brace and slam it down on the floor really hard. I dread the day he does this in his crib. Not only will it be loud, but his brace will tear the wood to pieces!

Friday, April 30, 2010

march 24 and 25

Piper is so happy in the jumperoo. I think he may like it even more than Finley did! His head control was not very good at first, but within a few days we could see a huge improvement! Here are a few of his famous smiles!


Finley likes to read a story called "The Boy With A Drum". It's about a boy that has a drum and he plays as he marches down the road. He is joined by all kinds of animals and making all sorts of sounds. It's a cute story and probably Finn's favorite. This is the first part of the story.


This is the last part of that story.

march 21 and 23

Matthew's family got together for Bob's birthday. The kid's had a ton of fun (as usual) running and rough-housing. Finn loves playing with Allie and Anna. Whenever they are around he is sure to get a piggy-back ride...one of his favorite things to do!


Anna giving him a ride...looks like Finn is enjoying himself...maybe not so much Anna.


A fun ride on Allie's back.


Here is a video of Finn saying "Kee-keeyou, Shawa" (Thank you, Sharon). We did not teach him to say our names, he just picked them up on his own. It's hard not to laugh when he says it...especially when he runs around the house yelling for "Mattote!" I wonder where he learned that...

march 17 and 19

Piper exercising his legs with the brace on. He really doesn't mind them at all.


Sweet little Piper hanging out on his quilt from Nana.


A smile from Piper.


I think he's workin' on something...


Okay, this is painful to watch, but here's Piper's poochy lip.

march 16

Here's our smiley little boy! If you so much as look at him he will smile at you with a big grin.


He likes to just hang out on the floor and watch Finn jump and play around him. He also loves getting his diaper and clothes changed!


We had a relatively warm day and Finn got to go outside. I told him specifically to "go jump in the mud puddles".


He loved jumping in the mud, but did NOT like getting his hands dirty! In this picture he is saying "Messy!".


You can be sure that the first thing he did when we got in the house was wash his hands for about 45 minutes!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

i know, i know

I have a lot of explaining to do. It has been over 3 months since I posted on here and I'm sorry. Needless to say, a lot has been happening in these past 3 months but, yeah, I should have put down the Bon-Bons and turned off the soaps to update everyone. Ha!

Our little Piper Aren (Ar--from Matthew's Grandpa's middle name, Arnold; En--from my Grandpa's middle name, Warren) was born December 20 at 7:06 PM weighing 9 pounds 1.5 ounces!


You can seen his clubfoot in this picture. It hurts me just to see the pictures now.


My parents got here Friday night at about 11:30 and I started having contractions Sunday morning at 2:00. They had a full day to see our routine with Finn so they could take over when we went in. It worked out perfectly! Here's Nana with Piper.


Grandma with Piper.


Papa Morken with Piper.


Papa Stabley with Piper.


We were discharged from the hospital on the morning of the 22, had a pediatric orthopedic appointment half an hour later and were home with a cast on Piper's clubfoot in the afternoon.


Matthew and Piper.


One of the many sweet moments of Finn loving on Piper. He will go up to him randomly throughout the day, get really close to Piper's face and say "Hi, Poo-Poo"! He's never been able to say Piper's name correctly.


Another one of those moments.


Finn holding Piper in his hospital outfit. The nurses brought him into the room one time wearing a Christmas hat and a big Christmas stocking. He looked just like a Christmas gift.


After a month of casting this is what his foot looked like. He ended up having the cast for 2 months in all.


Finn just HAD to be in this picture. He wouldn't let me take a picture of Piper alone so I told him I would take a picture of his feet. He was pleased with this compromise. =)


Sarah (Aunt Deah) came to visit at the end of January. She helped out the most organizing the kitchen for me and playing with Finley. We also just had a great time hanging out with the kids. She learned very quickly that if she squat down, sat down or even bent over too far Finley would come up behind her and ask for a "roy peese" which means "ride please". Most of the time she would just give him a ride because he asked nicely. He loved all the piggy-back rides, games on the floor, rough-housing and "nomas"--snowman building with Aunt Deah.


Piper in a tired daze.


Here we are at the hospital waiting for Piper to have his surgery to release his heel cord. It was a quick surgery and his heel came down perfectly!


Finn and Piper hanging out on the couch.


His cast was removed February 15 at 11:00 and 30 minutes later he had his Ponsetti brace fitted and on. We all then went out and had a celebratory dinner thankful for the first chapter of this healing process to be over with. He's had the brace for 1 month now and we have no problems with it. He has it off for about an hour every day and doesn't care if it's on or off and actually prefers to sleep with it on. One night I had just changed him and swaddled him when he 'let me know' that I had forgotten something. It took me a few minutes to realize that he didn't have his brace on. As soon as he had it on, he settled right down.


Finn in his Sunday School class for the first time. I had tears in my eyes as he walked down the hall to the classroom. He looked so small going back there on his own. He had a great time though and was so proud of himself for coloring pictures and making crafts. I hear from his teacher that he's a pro at singing VeggieTale songs and praying. A couple of weeks ago, he wanted to pray for his food. He squeezed his eyes shut, folded his hands and bowed his head as he said "mesus, kee-kee. Maymen"--Jesus, thank you. Amen.


Alyssa, one of Finn's teachers sitting with him coloring.


Putting on his boots, getting ready to go outside.


Out with the dogs.


Finley still likes to be chased and he sometimes asks for "poo-poo go, go, go" or poo-poo geetle"--Piper tickle. This all means that he wants Piper to chase him and tickle him. Matthew or I will then chase Finley around the house holding Piper down so it looks like Piper is going to catch him. It's actually a very tiring game and Piper isn't a big fan yet.


My guys...they all have very interesting expressions in this picture.



This video was taken a couple of days ago. Piper will smile now pretty much anytime you look at him. He's a very happy baby and we are getting a great schedule down...evenings are still up in the air, but he's a relatively good sleeper and loves to eat. Here's a tiny bit of a smile from Poo-Poo.