A little help please....

Now that we know we're having another boy, we are once again struggling to come up with a name. We've received lots of ideas from friends and family, but the only name we both really like is Dean and I'm not sure we can actually go through with naming our next child Dean. It would be a constant battle for me - Dean, Dane and Dan. I already mix-up Dan and Dane constantly and to add one more D-N name in the mix would be torture for me! Plus, if we do that we'll be forced to rename Bailey and we're not sure he'd like that too much.

So, we're asking for you help. On the left of our blog, we've posted a poll of names that we both didn't rule out right away (although, you may recognize one name that was ruled out by the queen of the household, but my darling husband is still fighting for that one!) We'd love your input. Please vote for your favorite name and if you'd like to leave a comment as to why you voted for that name please do so. Also, if you have any other name suggestions, let us know what you think (although, we'd like to have "Baby Phelps" name be only one syllable, so keep that in consideration when you are giving your suggestions.)

Here is a recent picture of "Baby Phelps" to help you decide on a name. :)

And the x-rated one that shows that it's most definitely a boy....

Cheers and Happy Voting!

Only 2 more days until Puerto Vallarta!!!

And look who's ready...

Dane has been wearing his life vest since we bought it last week! (And you'll all be glad to know that I have not been gearing up by wearing my maternity bathing suit 24/7) We're all ready for 80 degree weather, beautiful sandy beaches and lots of sun! Bring it on....

It's a . . .

FORTS!

Last Thursday, I came home after parent/teacher conferences and what a sight! The boys were tucked under our dining room table, which was covered by a blanket, playing in their new fort. My heart just melted seeing them together.

{ Warning, Dan has hijacked the blog ! }

Everybody in Alaska has a bunch of of photos of glaciers and eagles. But how about this – a tree that naturally looks like a cartoon character. While snowshoeing recently, I came upon a natural spectacle. Yes, better than a potato chip bearing an image of the Madonna, this is truly amazing. The exact location will remain secret, to prevent the otherwise inevitable onslaught of media cameras and slackjawed gawkers. See for yourself…

---

So Big!

Dan has warm memories of his parents regularly charting his height during childhood, so he was happy to start the same tradition with Dane. The boys went to Home Depot to buy the wooden strip, while mom enjoyed some solo time at a card making workshop!

The first official measurement - a whopping 32 1/4 inches. Dan didn't want to cut the wood strip from its original 8 foot length, but I ultimately convinced him Dane would probably never grow over 7 feet !

Dane - isms

(in order of when Dane first said them)

Mom = mama
Dad = dada
Water = awah (began as wah wah and now sounds very similiar to aqua and we don't even live near Mexico anymore...hmmmm?!!?!? But this will be very handy in Puerto Vallarta next month!)
Dog = uff uff
Blast off = Blaah
Up = UP!
Clock = cull
Car = crrrrr
Bath = ba
Shower = shou


Here a few short clips showing off his new found skills. :)







Dane's too cool (look at those cool sunglasses)! He can't help dancing (briefly) when his favorite song comes on. Then as a surprise bonus he sees a raven at the end of the clip and utters one of his new words. Be sure to listen to the end, there will be a quiz! ;)