It's a BOY!!!!!

Otto Michael Piedmont, III - "Tripp"- made a suprise arrival on June 19, 2010- three weeks early!! My water broke at 5:15 am and Tripp arrived 18 hours later at 11:11 pm- another long labor but the end result is so worth it I don't mind- plus the epidural made it much more bearable.

Tripp was 7 lbs 5 ounces and 19 inches long- almost a whole pound and half bigger than Ellie and he was only 37 weeks. Since he was early, my mom was not here to help so my Aunt Maureen or Mama Mo came down to take care of Ellie- thank goodness. Ellie had a great time with her Mama Mo and really has adjusted better than I ever imagined. She has been a fabulous big sister and has been nothing but loving towards Tripp. Tripp has also proven so far to be a very good baby- first he came early as he knew his mommy was very very tired of being pregnant and he has proven to be pretty easy going and a good sleeper and eater- mike and I are keeping our fingers crossed the good behavior by both our angels continues.

We are so unbelievably blessed and can not express how overjoyed we are with the addition of Tripp to our family- God has given us the greatest gifts with Ellie and Tripp and we are just in awe of our little miracles. Thank you all for your prayers and words of congrats. We love you all.

Fun times in May

The Piedmonts have been quite busy trying to fit in as many fun trips and adventures as possible before the arrival of Baby #2! It is such a special experience to live here an Newport and have some many interesting cities/museums to visit within such close driving distance. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time so far.

For Memorial Day weekend we headed up to Eliot Maine to visit my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Jim known to Ellie a Mama Mo and Papa Delli. We had the BEST TIME. The only time Mike had even met them was at our wedding and yet when we got together it was as if he had known them his whole life. It is such a testament to my family, especially my grandparents, who instilled in us all the importance of family and staying close. We may all live far apart but when we are together it as if we lived down the street. Ellie instantly loved her Mama Mo and Papa Delli as they did her. We explored the nearby towns which were so quaint and ellie loved all the boats. Again, we feel so blessed to have had this chance to live in the Northeast and visit with some many family members that we would otherwise have been able to see. A big thanks to my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Jim for welcoming us and showing us such a good time- hopefully they will get to make it down to Newport to meet the newest Piedmont.

For mike's birthday, he wanted to do something fun as a family so we drove to Davis Farmland in Sterling MA- it was incredible. It was heros day so all military got in free. It is farm that rescues endangered farm animals and they all just roam around the farm for the kids to feed and pet- ellie was not intimidated at all and loved it. Plus they had a tractor hay ride and pony rides, a play area with houses, small tractors for the kids and Ellie's favorite- a bounce house. She is fearless in that thing and jumps like crazy. The entire farm was geared towards kids and we had the best day and ellie fell asleep in the car before we even got out of the parking lot which was a major sign that she really enjoyed herself.

As for baby piedmont #2, I have been pretty uncomfortable lately and officially can not tie my own shoes- ha. I have about 5 weeks til my due date and my mom has scheduled her flight for July 4th so anytime between the 4th and the 10th would be great! We are anxious to find out whether ellie has a brother or sister and I will keep you all posted but we are just praying right now for a healthy baby and easy labor and delivery hopefully a little shorter than the first (26 hours) but we shall see.

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

Ellie playing the bongos at the Children's Museum in Maine
Cooking at the kitchen- she spent about 45 minutes here so i see a play kitchen in her near future
Daddy and ellie and the tug boats
Ellie pointing at the boats- she loved them
Mama Mo, Ellie and Papa Delli!
Ellie in her bathing suit trying on the new running shoes I got for my birthday
Ellie tried on daddy's shoulder boards- future lieutenant (i don't think so)

Modeling her pink skirt before school- she is so adorableFamily at the farm- my belly is HUGE!

Feeding the baby goats
Getting kissed by the goat- she loved it
Pure joy in the bounce house

Concentrating hard on driving the tractor- she bites her tongue just like her daddy when she is really into something
Riding on the hay ridge

Martha's Vineyard

This past weekend we went to Martha's Vineyard for the day. Ellie is the perfect traveler/sightseer right now so we are trying to get in all the places we want to see before baby #2 arrives. Ellie was so thrilled because we got to ride on a bus and a boat- while on the bus she entertained people by singing- "the wheels on the bus go round and round" At lunch, she danced with the staff to the jamaican music playing and while waiting for the boat she had all the people around us laughing with her antics. She has developed quite the personality- shocking since mike and I are not personable at all- ha ha. It was so great to be able to see Martha's Vineyard before it is taken over by tourists this summer. We just had the best day walking around, looking at all the homes and enjoying the beautiful weather. We took Ellie to ride the oldest carousel in America- built in 1883- and had a similar experience to her first time seeing Santa- she got so excited to see the horses and kept making horsey sounds- ran up to the carousel but when it was time to get on wanted nothing to do with actually sitting on the horse- so daddy and Ellie rode in the chairs- and she is still talking about it.

We miss our friends in Oklahoma but have been so thrilled to have the opportunity to live in the Northeast and see experience all the culture this area of the country has to offer. And watching it through Ellie's eyes has just been the icing on the cake. We definitely act like tourists and as an example I will relay the following story- we arrived in Martha's Vineyard and figured out we had to get a bus pass for the day. Mike went to the ATM to get cash and when the bus arrived we were told we needed exact change. Mike was standing outside the bus holding ellie and the stroller- me and my big pregnant self had to run across the street to get the change. The bus driver was about to leave mike just standing there when he pleaded for another minute to which he got a very non southern response but the bus driver reluctantly said he would wait one more minute. When I showed up the whole bus cheered- I think they were just happy to see that I had not put myself in labor. Needless to say we looked like the classic tourists but luckily it was the off season and we got away with it. It was quite humorous.

Enjoy the pics!

Ellie sitting drinking her water- she was fascinated with being able to use a straw!
Family photo on the boat- my belly is getting huge

Ellie driving a car- watch out world
This is one of my all time favorite photos- Ellie was cracking me up about something and found herself pretty amusing as well- mike happened to catch it at the perfect moment- priceless

Riding with daddy on the carousel
First trip on the carousel- we got her on the horse before she could think about it but after this ride there was no way she was getting back up there
Looking out the window at the boats

More Easter Pics

More pics as promised of Ellie in her beautiful easter dress!

Before church we let her go down her new slide which was initially indoors- it is the perfect size for her and she loves it!
Ellie smelling the flowers- she as too scared to get close to the flowers but she pretended- she is one funny kid. She will walk up to any dog she sees and try and hug him but try and hand her a flower and she freaks out- it is hilarious.
Mimi and Ellie!
Daddy and Ellie- I just love this picture!
Sweet girl with her ever present snack cup.

MImi's visit/ Easter

DISCLAIMER- I will be posting more pics later because Blogger keeps telling me I am making a bad request and I am getting extremely frustrated- so I will go with what I have and post the remainder easter pics later.

My mom/ Mimi was in town this past week as her school had spring break. we had a great visit and Ellie sure does love her mimi. It is amazing to me how quickly she is so comfortable with mimi and how she never misbehaves for her- it was such a blessing to have mom here this week to help and give my pregnant self a little break. Last Sunday was Easter and the Easter Bunny brought Ellie a slide for the back yard as well as bubbles which she loves- the weather here has been amazing and we all just loved being outside with Ellie running around. She is a ball of energy these days so I am very thankful to have such great weather as we would have gone nuts staying indoors. We also did an easter egg hunt and as soon as she caught onto the fact that there was stickers and chocolate in the eggs she loved picking them up. In fact she loves the eggs so much we still play with them on a daily basis- they will probably still be out come next Easter.

On Monday we went to Boston to the Children's Museum and had so much fun. Some parts were a little advanced for ellie but she has a great time pretty much anywhere. we walked ALOT which was good with all the easter candy I had been consuming since I gave it up for lent. the day was exhausting but so fun and it is definitely the major benefit of living in Newport that such great cities are so easily accessible.

My mom and I also hit up the outlet malls while she was here- Ellie is going to look so cute this spring/summer as you will see in the upcoming months. And mom brought ellie plenty of hairbows so she can look like the southern girl she is at heart.

again it was such a fun visit- we could not have asked for better weather and I know Ellie could not have had more fun with her mimi- she still asks for her on a daily basis and I am glad they are so close as Mimi will be a great distraction when the new baby arrives in July. Only 12 more weeks which is scary and exciting but I know I will be ready to deliver as the third trimester is not that comfortable! Hope everyone had a great Easter.

Riding the horsey at the children's museum.
Still fits in her easter basket- I will post last years pic later for a comparison!
Bought Ellie some cute shades at the outlet- she loves them and of course they are pink to match all her outfits.
Mommy looks a little rough but we were walking on the cliff walks so please excuse the appearance- we discovered the cliff walks which is a sidewalked trail with the atlantic ocean on one side and the mansions on the other- it is beautiful and we plan on taking many trips there to get our exercise
Ellie in her new raincoat- adorable
After church
Ellie and her new bunny from mimi- soon ellie will no longer fit in her crib as she has too many stuffed animals to sleep with
Easter egg hunt
Look at those adorable curls- I love her hair.
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles- her expression of pure joy is priceless

Navy Easter Party in Newport

Happy Easter!

This weekend there was a party on base for the kiddos- sometimes the navy really comes through with some great things for the little ones. Ellie had her pic taken with the Easter Bunny- well I should say we all had our picture taken as once again she was not too keen on getting close to him alone. When we walked in the room and saw the Easter Bunny or hop hop as Ellie calls him she was so excited- waving and smiling. Mike put her down and she ran to the Easter Bunny and about 4 feet from him came to complete stop and was not going any closer- so all three of us got in the pic and it turned out cute- mike will have to scan it in so yall can see it - that is the great part about the navy party as the pic was free- at this age I can not rationalize paying for a picture that she will not even take- maybe next year.

There was a room with an easter egg hunt- ellie did not quite get the concept but had a great time running around and playing with all the bunny and duck stuffed animals. She was adorable in her smocked dress and we kept getting stopped by people saying how cute she was- I don't think these yankees see many smocked dresses- that and she is exceptionally cute if I do say so myself but I know I am just a tad bit biased! We made bunny ears and she is so advanced she even spelled happy easter (ha ha) and then they had a band for the kids to watch- it was the same band we saw valentines day weekend and it is so amazing how much ellie has changed in less than two months- at the valentines show she was not even interested in the band. This time she would watch and smile but was not ready to get on the floor to participate- maybe by their next show she will be out there dancing since at home she is a dancing fool. She definitely got her daddy's sweet dance moves as many of you have witnessed at the numerous weddings over the years. All she needs to do is stick her thumbs up and she would look just like her daddy on the dance floor. Each night we put on music and the two of them have a dance party- it is by far the highlight of my day and I can not wait to have another little one out there dancing too!

My mom is coming this next week and we have tons of fun things planned and she is great at taking photos so I promise a long photo recap of the week! Hope everyone has a blessed Easter- Love the Piedmonts

Ellie and daddy watching the band



Our little bunny!