The Jenk Adventure

Ms Piggys Big Getaway

2012-01-15T10:11:00.000-06:00

Kari and I decided that it would be a fun way to play with River by making a movie with him. Of course I went a little overboard and made a full length motion picture. Uncle Jim (Rivers Godfather) and River save the day from the crazy Miss Piggy!

Garden oh Eden

2012-01-10T08:25:00.001-06:00

Our home is much like the garden of Eden from the old testament. Take away the nudity and fig leaves and we have a paradise here... Well, add the nudity back in because with two little boys there is plenty of that going around.
This week, possibly to our demise, the fall of man has commenced. River, obviously tempted by the talking snake we keep inside our house, climbed onto the kitchen counter and ate the fruit of the tree of good evil.
We feared the worst! Curses upon our household for sure! But nothing happened. No lightning or thunder. No animals eating each other. Not even any shame of nakedness! (they're little boys, they aren't ashamed of anything!).
Then we realized, it was just a tomatoe, that River thought was an apple. And as far as I know, even modern science can't figure out if the tomatoe is a fruit or veggie! (another argument for another day). So we wee saved by the skin of our teeth again here in the Jenkins adventure, and River learned the differences between a tomatoe and an apple!

A Jenk Adventure Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T21:45:00.000-06:00

Zombies

2011-12-05T02:14:00.008-06:00

I know Halloween was a couple of months ago, and at our house, Christmas is in full swing, but there are a couple of Zombies walking around this house right now! Raised from our slumber every night, or kept awake late, we are slowly learning how to keep two children happy on very little amounts of sleep.

The mad scientist who is responsible for the Zombies creation is this small, one month old little boy. Wren doesn't look the part of a mad scientist. Mostly he just lacks the white lab coat, but besides that, he is a perfect match for a Dr. Frankenstein type. He has worked in his secret lab, concocting up any and every way to stay awake or to wake up as many times as possible throughout the night. Also, while asleep, he likes to growl and grunt and snore and coo as loudly as possible to prevent any Zombies from changing back to their normal human form throughout the night.

As Zombies, our only weakness is a pouty, jealous two year old lip from a child who doesn't always grasp that the attention is not fully on him and that he is having to learn the virtue of sharing the Zombies time with the person who created the Zombies in the first place. A rough lesson for a two year old, no doubt, but one that River is taking with apparent grace beyond his age.

The twist in this classic Zombie tale, is that the Zombies are head over heels in love with both the one month old Mad Scientist and the two year old Zombie Slayer. We are loving every minute of this new adventure and we really don't care walking around the day like two of the un-dead. We keep our identities as Zombies hidden by scheduling a shower every once in a while and putting on a clean outfit. Most Zombies eat people, we just eat snacks at weird hours of the night and morning. The world is kept in the dark as to the true nature of the dangerous Zombie creatures that leave our house every day to walk amongst the public. You know the truth now though! So keep your eyes out, we may be nearer than you think!

Some photos for the update:

Donuts

The Musician in the family

Sleep

More sleep, just usually not when we are able to!

River likes to help out now

This is not usual, but sometimes he likes to gives Wren kisses

Pretending to be asleep

Playing with the Christmas Train

It's a family affair

River emulating his Uncle Choyer cutting hair at our friends house

Yes! My Amazing Afterbirth.

2011-11-14T14:36:00.009-06:00

A print of my placenta. You can see where the knot was located about half way down the cord.

Yes! You read it correctly, My Amazing Afterbirth. I'm so bummed we didn't get a picture of it. I always take pictures of everyone else's but forgot to take one of my own. It was a beautiful placenta, bright red with lots of capillaries and veins. It was pretty dang sexy if I may say so myself. Even my midwife and her assistant commented on how good it looked.

My dried umbilical cord. The knot is at the top left.

Here's my umbilical cord story...

When Wren came out, the cord was wrapped around his neck twice, his body once, and there was a perfect knot in it. Around his neck not too much of a deal to me, it happens often. But it was the knot that was so amazing to me. At the time, I was just so happy he was here. But over the few days at The Farm we talked about it with Stacie. She said that she had only seen a knot 6 times in 15 years. And one time it didn't turn out well. There were other issues going on, but the knot didn't help. Wren must have tied the knot early on in the pregnancy when he could swim a lot more. He would have had to swim in one direction and then back through the cord again. From what I remember my midwife sharing with me, she had done some research on knots after the one didn't turn out well. Some research suggests that women with low blood pressure tend to have more "cord accidents." Women who have low blood pressure and get a knot in their cord (which isn't that common) are more likely to have the knot tighten down. There is less blood being pushed through the cord making it easier for the knot to tighten and slow down the oxygen.

I've always had low blood pressure but with this pregnancy it was even lower. I was mainly in the double digits. But here's what is so interesting...Yes, this is speculation from Stacie and me but interesting nonetheless. I started seeing Lyle, an acupuncturist at East Nashville Community Acupuncture. At first I went for Moxa trying to turn Wren from breech. Well, that worked after one or two treatments. I continued going to acupuncture because I wanted help with regulating my gestational diabetes and raising my blood pressure. YES! I wanted to raise my blood pressure. Something inside me told me to do it. A mother's intuition is so freaking wise!!! With Lyle's help, we got my blood pressure into the triple digits. It was an accomplishment. I kept going for those reasons because not only had Wren turned vertex but now I was having success with my diabetes and my blood pressure. Speculation....Receiving acupuncture throughout the pregnancy to raise my blood pressure might have saved Wren's life. Because raising it may have pumped more blood through the knot keeping it loose. Thank you, Lyle, my Life Saver!!

Placenta Encapsulation....

Here's a photo of my tincture. I haven't delved into that yet. I could save it and use it for menopause.

With River I had a little more than the normal Postpartum Blues off and on. I had a bit of depression that didn't completely clear up until around 8 months to a year. In all honesty, I absolutely love being a mother and I have been since Day One. I couldn't quit kissing either of my Sweet Babies when they come out, even if they are covered in amniotic fluid, blood, and vernix. It was the sleep deprivation, not having much extra time for cooking meals and showering, topped with a gassy baby who cried a lot and being self-employed. I found it difficult at times to relax into my new role as a a mother. I didn't talk much about it because of the work I do. I was embarrassed. It's the weirdest thing...to be absolutely in love with this little creature and struggle meeting your own needs. This time I knew I needed to make some changes.

Placenta Encapsulation is supposed to help your hormones balance, give you energy, and help with milk production. It does a lot more, but those are the ones that stick out to me. I contacted Heather Crandall with Beautiful Dawnings. She came out within 24 hours and picked up my placenta. She dried it and encapsulated it for me. She also made a liquid tincture, a print of my placenta, and dried my umbilical cord. She kept the knot in for me. I didn't even have to ask. She knew it was special. I've been taking my "mommy pills" everyday. And I SWEAR by them. For the most part, my hormones haven't been wacky (with the exception of the unavoidable sleep deprivation crankiness), and I have more energy. Ryan can tell if I've missed taking them for a day or two. I've always promoted the idea, but now I will even push it harder for women. It has changed my life and my postpartum journey thus far.

Cheers to the Placenta!!

Our Chimney Sweep

2011-11-13T18:59:00.006-06:00

We were on The Farm for Halloween. Neem, Pappy, and Ryan were going to take River to Spring Hill for trick or treating, but he had a melt down as they drove away from the birthing house. He wasn't sure why everyone was leaving Mommy and Baby behind. Ryan turned the car around, and we decided that he would go trick or treating on The Farm instead.

River's favorite movie is Mary Poppins, so he was a chimney sweep for Halloween. River doesn't like dressing up, so we had to trick him. Ryan got him ready in the car, told him he was putting "lotion" on his face, and he thought he was wearing his favorite hat. When they got back to the birthing house, we showed him a mirror and he was startled.

Jamina came down and stayed with Wren and me while everyone else went trick or treating. It was nice to have a friend to come and hang with me while everyone loaded up on candy.

Our Time At The Farm

2011-11-13T18:51:00.012-06:00

We stayed at The Farm for 6 days after Wren was born. Stacie came and checked on us everyday. We just took our time. We say it's like our Disney World or our own Little Eden.

Ryan's parents drove down from Virginia, and my parents helped us out a ton! My parents cooked us meals every night. How lucky are we?!

We spent our time getting River acquainted with a new family member. Honestly, he didn't like it at first. And that was hard for Ryan and me. He's adjusting now, but those first few days were rough. His break through came when he saw Wren laying in the sun without any blankets wrapped around him and with his hat off. River had an epiphany, and said "baby feet?" Once he realized that Wren was just like him, only smaller, he has been into Wren ever since.

River also had lots of playmates between Daddy, Neem, Pappy, Grandma, and Grandpap. He played outside and went on walks and adventures to see the horses and chickens and play at the playground.

Jim came down to meet his new godson, and Jamina came for a visit too. My friend, Jen, who lives near the Farm stopped by for a visit as well.

Here are some photos from our first few days as a new family.

Wren's Birth Story

2011-11-13T08:37:00.011-06:00

**This is a very condensed version from my 7 page handwritten account.

Enjoy what I recount from Wren Outlaw Jenkins' special day!

I started getting emotional the week of October 23rd. Everyone thought baby would be here by now. "Bed Rest" since mid-July was wearing me down. We didn't have a certain due date. I had been measuring small the whole time, and a couple of the midwives had said in passing that they thought I would go into November. Ina May mentioned Thanksgiving. I never thought I would think Ina May was full of it. I had been doing more research on gestational diabetes for a friend, and my emotions were running high. Nonetheless, the power of words were taking a toll on me. Ryan woke up on October 26th and found me in the living room crying. I couldn't even explain why, but I started fearing that something might be wrong with our baby. He secretly called Stacie, our midwife, and told her what was going on with my emotions. I had an appointment that day, and he wanted her to know where I was at emotionally. She arranged a ultrasound to ease my fears. Everything looked good! We did find out that baby was posterior, meaning that the back of his head was facing my sacrum instead of the most optimal way of being face first. Being a doula, I know that that usually means longer harder labors. Stacie checked me that day, and I was already 2-3 cm and baby was VERY LOW, 0 station. My mom ran me a bath at her house and suggested that we all get out of the house the next day.

When I woke up on the 27th, I noticed some bloody show. I thought maybe I lost my plug. We met my parents at Loveless Cafe and rode the Natchez Trace for awhile. During our ride on the Trace, I started feeling "something" but I couldn't put my finger on it. I kept quiet about it and would look at the clock periodically; it was about 10:30 a.m. I noticed that my "something" was happening every 7 minutes. When we got back to Loveless, I told Ryan that I might be having contractions. We all ended up back at our place since it was raining for an indoor picnic. I got a shower and the contractions stopped. There was more bloody show though.

I laid River down for a nap at 1:30 and we crashed together. Those feelings woke me up a few times during our nap. At 3, I got up to let Ryan know that they were back. We decided to contact Stacie. I knew she would suggest we come down. She did. She said the worst thing that could happen would be to come down, be checked, and stay the night.

Once we made the decision to go down to The Farm, the contractions started coming anywhere from 2-7 minutes. They were a little more intense and mainly in my back since baby was posterior. They began to require me to stop and focus on breathing. I would point to Ryan as he packed the car up, and he would keep time. I remember him saying, "Kari, some of them are 2-3 minutes apart. We need to get a move on it." I still kept my slow, steady pace. We all got in the car, River and Chaco, included and headed out.

It was about 4 or 4:30, and Stacie called to check on our location...only to find us sitting in traffic on the interstate. She wanted to let me know that Laura, her cousin, was going to assist her and let me know what other midwife would be there too. I was pleased. Stacie and Laura are a hoot together. And all the while we all weren't still sure I was in true labor. We dropped River and Chaco off at my parents. We started our birth music and drove the rest of the way. I was never so happy to get to The Farm. My low back was so uncomfortable.

We got to the birthing house around 6:30p.m., and Stacie and Laura were waiting for us. I thanked Laura in advance for being my official butt wiper. We all laughed! Stacie checked me and I was 4 cm and a lot thinner from the day before. We all agreed that we "thought" this might be labor. Stacie and Laura went to the Farm store to get us all some soup and give us some privacy to unpack and get settled.

While we were unpacking, Ryan very kindly asked, "Do you want me to set up the video camera?" I couldn't decide before hand, so I had told him to ask me in the moment. My response in the moment was to stop in my tracks and use a 4 letter word. I can't remember which one but we'll go with a Hell No! I apologized immediately or at least I meant to. Ryan said I used a lot of 4 letter words this time. I do know that I kept saying, "Good God." I apologized to Laura and Stacie. I found out that Laura is a preacher's daughter. It seemed like I repeatedly said, "Good God! I don't know why I keep saying that. I'm sorry."

Knowing Wren was posterior, I decided to try and turn him using a Roll Over Technique from spinningbabies.com. Back Labor was a totally different experience than River's birth. Everything was much more intense. When Stacie got back from the store, she came to check on me. She found me half way through the Roll Over Technique in a lot of discomfort. Stacie told me she didn't want me to fear a posterior labor/birth.

"Either baby will turn or you'll push him out posterior."

"But I'm only half way through the technique."

"Is it working? Are you comfortable?"

"&*%$ NO! But I'm an over achiever. I'm only half way through."

"Well, I would get up and squat and get this baby out."

I threw in the towel on the Roll Over Technique and went to the kitchen for some soup. It was about 7:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. at this point. We all hung out in the kitchen telling stories and cracking up. When a contraction would come, I would hold onto the counter and squat or get on all fours. After awhile I couldn't handle anymore Amish stories. Stacie and Laura birth Amish babies and massage their families too. So they have tons of stories. As funny as they were, I couldn't get on top of the contractions anymore.

Around 8:30 or so, I retreated to the bedroom. I wanted to be checked, but I wasn't feeling any urge to push. I started to "lose control" and panic. The intensity was growing, and the low back pain was causing me to panic internally. She checked me, and I was between 6 -7 cm. My only thought at that moment was I made some progress. I was on all fours in the bed, and Stacie offered to put pressure on my low back. That didn't work. She suggested a bath. They got the water running, and Ryan got my birth music set up. I climbed into the tub and would go back and forth from sitting up to all fours.

I requested Lady Gaga's, You & I. We all commented on how much we loved this song. During my tub time, I would stare at the tile on the floor or this button on the side of the jacuzzi tub. I would breathe and push my breath into it. Here I was using my Birthing From Within practices. Sometimes I would roll my forehead up onto Ryan's shirt and breathe deep. It felt so good to have him sitting near me, encouraging me. Stacie told me to let her know if I felt the urge to push. After 20 or 3o minutes in the tub, I felt my nether regions expanding. They felt like they were about to rip in two. Ryan asked me if I wanted to get Stacie. "No! Let me have one more." With the next one, I came up out of the tub like the Loch Ness Monster. "Get Stacie!"

They got me out of the tub and back into the bedroom. I threw myself back onto the bed, and Stacie checked me. I was 9 cm. I think it was about 9 p.m. at this point. I couldn't form thoughts or words much at this point. However, I heard Hanson playing from our play list.

"I always knew I would give birth to Hanson."

"Ok."

"IT'S HANSON!"

"Yeah. We know."

"You know, Mmm Bop."

"Yes."

I think it was Laura who actually appeased me by saying that she didn't know they had new stuff. I swear one day Hanson will give me front row seats or backstage passes for being so devoted. If you know me well, then you know how hilarious that conversation and spot on that conversation is for me to have in labor.

I started pushing my head into Ryan's abdomen with my arms wrapped around his waist, and my vocalizing took over. Moaning. Groaning. Screaming. Those powerful birth noises are indescribable. "Toilet," I said. They got me there.

Once my butt sat down, I felt Wren coming and there was nothing I could do to control or stop it. "I can't stop it. He's coming!" My water broke on the toilet. How convenient?! Stacie told me she couldn't protect my perineum on the toilet. She wanted to get me back to the bed. But once I stood up I knew he was coming out, and I couldn't go anywhere. Ryan sat down in the corner of the bathroom and helped me down too. I leaned back on him, put my arms above my head and grabbed his shoulders. My body had taken over, and I was along for the ride. I wasn't even intentionally pushing. My body was doing it without me controlling it. Stacie looked at me and with her fingers showed me an egg size shape with her hand. "I see this much head" in the midst of me screaming, "I can't stop!" And just a few moments later, she said the head is out. I gave a push for the rest of his body, and he was out. And yes, Footloose came on! The only other person I know named Wren is Ren McCormick from the movie.

I remember this with River too but it's the most amazing feeling when you're handed your baby. The feeling of their warm, wet, slippery body against yours and then your eyes meet for the first time! Wow!!! And it was 9:20 p.m. I jokingly told everyone when I got there that I wanted to be done before bed time. Ta-dah! We were...kind of.

The placenta came after about 10 minutes. I've always wanted to cut a cord, so Stacie let me cut my own cord. I thought it was fitting since Wren and I had been connected for 9 months. I wanted to be the one to cut it when I was ready. We all had some time on the bathroom floor before everyone got me up and to the bed. Since Wren came out SOOO quickly, I had some bruising and tearing. Stacie said I tore like a flower. It sounds a lot nicer than it probably looks or definitely feels. She made Ryan promise NOT to give me a mirror if I asked for it. They know me too well. In those moments, I didn't care. Just take your time stitching me (2 hours worth), give me my frozen Arnica and Witch Hazel Pads, and we'll call it a day. I had my new sweet baby, and my husband beside me. All that was missing was my River boy.

Stay tuned for more blogs on the amazing umbilical cord and life changing placenta encapsulation...

Kari, Wren, and Family Belly Photos

2011-11-12T20:35:00.002-06:00

We had our good friend Jamina come out to the house and take some pictures of Kari while she was still pregnant with Wren. We put together a little slideshow of the best pics.

Thank you Jamina for being patient with two un-photogenic adults and a wonderfully photogenic, but hyper 2 year old little boy!

What's In A Name?!

2011-11-08T14:54:00.003-06:00

I can't believe we're coming up on 2 weeks, and we still haven't been able to add photos and blog. Our computer broke the moment we arrived at The Farm to give birth, and Ryan tried to fix it over the last couple of weeks. But no luck! We've ordered a new one, and it should be here soon. Hopefully, soon we'll be able to put pics and update the blog better. I thought I would do a simple blog about Wren's name. We keep getting questions, so here it is...

Much like River's name, we just liked the name Wren. It didn't have to be a nature name, but Wren was the only name we could agree on. So, Wren it is. Outlaw is my grandmother's name. Ruby Mae Outlaw, and she was one of the most amazing women I have ever known. She was definitely the matriarch of our family, the glue so to speak. I hope to find a photo of her and add it to the blog. Well, that makes Outlaw my mom's maiden name too.

River is named River Morgan Jenkins after Ryan's grandfather and now Ruby Mae gets her name passed on.

And that's how the name Wren Outlaw Jenkins came to be.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T12:09:00.001-05:00

Here is Wren's Halloween outfit. Heading home today. Hopefully we will be able to post some pics of River's costume once we are there.

In The sun

2011-10-30T08:42:00.002-05:00

What better to do than lay in the sun on a good morning! That's how we started out Wren's third day of life. River is just now starting to get use to the fact that he has a little brother. We're just now getting use to the fact that we have a second child! As we get used to this new way of life, we will update the blog more.

Wren Outlaw Jenkins

2011-10-28T01:28:00.001-05:00

Well, another little man has entered this world! On October 27th 2011 at 9:20 PM, Wren Outlaw Jenkins was born. 7 pounds, 4 ounces, 19 inches long, and healthy as they come.
Kari was a champ and did great throughout labor. I will let her get into the details here in a couple of days, but man it feels good to be a Daddy of 2 now!
I will be up all night, because here at the birthing center they like to have someone stay awake and watch the baby, and believe me, Kari needs her rest tonight.
I am sure we will be putting up a bunch of pics soon. But until then I will put up some from Kari's phone.

Walkin this baby out

2011-10-21T17:12:00.001-05:00

Now that we are almost at 39 weeks, Kari has started walking alot, trying to get our baby moved down. So we have been taking all kinds of jaunts in all kinds of weather.

The great day!

2011-10-21T17:07:00.001-05:00

Today was a great day! It started off sleeping in late. Then a trip to the zoo was in order. After that, a few errands, a healthy hamburger for lunch, then home for a nap. After our short nap (River didn't want to sleep), we headed to our garden for some much needed preparations for winter. Now, at the moment, we are making italian sausage samiches and potatoes soup for dinner. We plan to go to home depot after dinner and get a snack somewhere while we are out enjoying the crisp autumn evening air! A great day indeed!

Punkin' Carvin'

2011-10-17T23:32:00.001-05:00

Tonight we carved pumpkins with the Sam's! A yearly tradition since... well, as long as I can remember being in Nashville. Now that we have children, it adds a whole new level of family fun.
We used to get extremely creative with our designs, our pumpkins looking like cartoon characters or artful masterpieces. Now, as we try and keep three children from playing with the knives or eating the pumpkin guts, the designs have become much simpler and quickly done. Still though, the fun and care are carved right into every pumpkin.

Music & Molasses Festival

2011-10-15T16:59:00.001-05:00

After I got off work today we went to the music molasses festival. River got to have his first funnel cake! He did a better job licking the sugar off of it though. I got to eat the leftovers. We bought some sorghum syrup, because Kari wants to make some soft sorghum cookies after the new baby is here. Kari also met some quilters who tried to convince her to join a quilters guild. I told her she could do it and her "free time"... It was a good time had by all!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!

2011-10-01T10:21:00.018-05:00

We repeatedly sing "Let's Go Fly a Kite" in our house from Mary Poppins, River's favorite movie right now. Yesterday I was resting while Ryan and River played with sidewalk chalk, and Ryan came running in the house, "Where's the kite?" We've been waiting for the perfect day to take River to fly his own kite instead of watching Jane and Michael Banks fly theirs. What makes the perfect day to fly a kite? Sunny, Windy, and we were all home at the same time!!

We all threw on some clothes, and to be honest, none of us had brushed our hair or our teeth, but we went on our first kite flying adventure!! River had fun flying his kite....for about 15 minutes, and then the field of grass won over. I think Ryan and I had more fun kite flying! All in all great success for our first kite flying adventure as a family.

Here are some videos of our kite flying:

http://youtu.be/En6VM7Du-io

http://youtu.be/HY__Ejck7eo

http://youtu.be/VpvCjFb7cX0

http://youtu.be/I8dChuBCvuI

http://youtu.be/i-rnkUjD4uA

http://youtu.be/ETWjNPYIfu0

A Potluck Blessing For Baby J

2011-10-01T08:42:00.007-05:00

Last Sunday, some of our friends gathered together to celebrate the new Baby J! Jamina and Lauren hosted a wonderful Blessingway for us. We had a Yummy Vegetarian Southern Meal, and I can't believe we didn't take any pictures of the food. It was so good!!!

We hung out and talked and had so much fun with our closest friends, our tribe!!

Everyone spent some time doing Henna on my belly, and dear Logan, once again offered the blessing of an orgasmic birth. He offered it with River, and it was a very joyous and pleasurable birth but without the O Factor. Hopefully, this time...

Our friends gave us a fountain, and they each brought a small rock to put in it. They wrote a blessing for our family on a piece of paper, and now the fountain is in our bedroom. What a special gift?!! Our friends brought rocks from their home, their personal rock collections, and our trip to Alaska. We'd like to extend it to our family and friends that weren't able to be there. If you have a small rock and a blessing that you'd like to give our family and the new baby, we'd love to add it to our fountain.

It seems like when we're pregnant we have a song. Ryan says it's like when you're dating. When we were pregnant with River, we would listen to the song Winter Song. It's in our blog archive when our belly photos with River play. We've had a song this time too! It's been Your Song by Elton John. Ryan played and sang it at the party.

We had a wonderful time, and we felt so honored and loved!

Chim-Chim-n-ee

2011-09-30T20:27:00.005-05:00

It ain't no secret that River has a soft spot in his heart for Mary Poppins. Sometimes he runs around the house pretending to be Bert dancing on a roof. So what a better Halloween outfit than a chimney sweep! They don't sell many chimney sweep outfits and even less chimney sweep brooms for children. So we went about making our own. Here are some photos. I'm sure we will put up some pics of River after the 31st so everyone can see what a 2 year old chimney sweep looks like.

He was all into the glue guns

The straws made funny noises

It was raining outside, so we had to spray paint the broom under the carport

You will have to wait and see the finished product after Halloween. In the meantime...let's splash around in the rain!

A River J Compilation

2011-09-08T16:03:00.009-05:00

Uh, No River Pictures since Christmas it looks like.
Oops!! Here are a few highlights from this Summer.

Our Boy Is Growing Up!!

Paint brushing became Finger Painting

My Sleeping Boys

River helping Mommy make Peanut Butter Homemade Ice Cream
for Grandma and Grandpap.

Grandma blowing bubbles with River.

Grandma and Grandpap bought River a Cars Fishing Pole.
And we took him fishing...with no bait, just practice.

Sunscreen On. Ready for Grandpap to show him the ropes!

Grandpap shows River his tackle box.

Fishing didn't last long, but running did.

Playing in the mud and with sticks became more interesting quickly

Has anyone seen Mr. Potato Head's glasses?

Pappy's Birthday

River's Introduction to Operation.
You can't tell a 2 year old that the point of the game is to
NOT make Cavity Sam light up and buzz.

Knock On Wood...Head is Down

2011-09-08T05:59:00.007-05:00

***Word of Caution - Before you continue reading, please find a piece of wood to knock on or cross your fingers on both hands and then cross your wrists and shake them like they do on The Parent Trap.

We think our babe may have finally decided to turn head down. Since mid-July, the little rascal has decided to be breech. And I have been working diligently and persistently to get him/her to turn the other way. The care I receive will let me deliver a breech baby, but to be honest, I was struggling because I didn't really want to go that route. I would have, but who wouldn't want their baby to assume the most optimal fetal position?!!

Here are things I've been doing since July...

1- Iron Slant Board. The first couple of days, I laid an ironing board against my parents' sofa and got on it upside down for 20 minutes at a time, a couple times a day. This didn't work out at our house. I think the slippery berber carpet kept the ironing board from being sturdy. So, I moved on to a different solution...

2- Breech Tilt. I stacked up pillows against our ottoman. Then, I would invert for 20 minutes at a time, a couple of times a day. They wanted me to do 3 times a day, but I couldn't find the time with a 2 year old and everything else going on. But I've spent many hours upside down trying to relax my abdomen, visualizing baby head down, playing video phone games, talking with a friend, Jamina (I've managed to have upside down phone conversations. Trust me. It's harder than you think to maneuver the telephone in that position.) River attempts this from time to time. And be careful getting up, you can get light headed easily.

3- Pulsatilla. Pulsatilla is a homeopathic used for colds, but it's supposed to get baby active. So I dissolved a few under my tongue about 30 minutes to an hour before I inverted. I would do a few days on and then a few days off the homeopathic.

4- Warmth and Cold. Sometimes when I inverted I would put frozen vegetables on the top of my fundus. Sometimes I would put a heating pad on my pubic bone. And sometimes I would do both. Babies are supposed to be drawn to the warmth and shy away from the cold.

5- Flashlights and Daddy's Voice. We pulled out a flashlight from time to time, and Ryan would hold it near my pubic bone. He would talk and sing to baby down near my pubic bone trying to coax that sweet child to him.

6- Chiropractor. I've been getting adjusted throughout the pregnancy, but when we found out baby was breech, I had a new goal. She didn't feel like the Webster Technique would be effective for me because I was too flexible. I never knew my flexibility would be a problem. But she does keep my hips, pelvis, back, and SI joint aligned in hopes and with great confidence that baby would turn. This past week I asked her to check the alignment of my Pubis Symphisis (pubic bone). She used this activator tool, checked my alignment, and then pressed that tool against the bone several times to pop it into place. I admitted that that was the most action I had received in a couple of months since Ryan and I are on the No Touching Prescription to keep my cervix closed. She laughed and said that was ok with her as long as I didn't start showing up everyday to get her to use the activator.

7- Acupuncture. I started seeing an acupuncturist. I will admit I was a little nervous at first. Needles!! That's one of the million reasons I try to stay out of the hospital when I give birth. But I didn't feel them go in or being taken out. I actually fell asleep for about 40 minutes the first time. Quite enjoyable. She used the moxa stick on my toe and sent me home with one and some instructions.

8- Moxa Stick. She suggested doing this twice a day for 10 minutes near the edge of each pinky toe. Admittingly, we did it once a day. The one day I tried to do it myself, I dropped the lighter on my leg and now have a nice wound that's healing. We would listen to my birth music play list, and Ryan would get to "moxa-ing."

9- Birth Art. If you know me well, you know I teach Birthing From Within classes. One of the big things is Birth Art. I started spending some time working through some of my fears and issues surrounding the possibility of a breech birth. I'm not an artist, but I began trying to clear the negativity out of my head. It worked like a charm!!

10- Affirmations. I began posting positive affirmations and words around the house to switch to a positive mindset.

11- More Water. I already drink about 10 glasses a day, but I increased my amount to 12, making sure 100% that I drank that much water throughout the day. I did with River, but I slacked with this one. My goal was to increase my amniotic fluid to give baby more room to flip.

12- Handstands in the Pool. Whenever I could, we would go swimming and I would spend some time doing handstands and flips in the water. Quite a sight, I must say.

13- Forward Inversion and Spinning Babies. I've spent some time on the spinningbabies.com website. Amazing for getting baby in a good position and keeping the baby that way. Before I would do the breech tilt, I would do a forward inversion off the couch for about 30 seconds. I would do this frequently throughout the day...off the side of the bed, off the side of the couch. It only takes 30 seconds and you're leaning forward instead of backwards with the tilt. I feel like it creates a better hammock for baby. In fact, that's how I got out of bed this morning...on my hands. I started feeling the baby move transverse, so I tucked my chin under, put my hands on the ground with my knees on the edge of the bed, tried to relax my abdomen, held it for a little bit, and then crawled out of bed on my hands and onto the computer.

Whew! I'm exhausted after typing all of this. Who knows what actually has turned the baby and if baby will stay this way?! It could have been my persistence, a combination of everything, or just the baby saying, "Ok. I want to turn now." But here's what my gut is telling me. I think the Forward Inversions really helped me from the spinningbabies.com site, the acupuncture and moxa stick, the activator adjustment from the chiropractor, relaxing a releasing some fears with the Birth Art, and listening to my Birth Music Play List, and the total confidence in my body from my care providers.

Yesterday, we were at our appointment. We were talking about some options with my primary midwife this time. We discussed the option of trying an External Version with three midwives present next time. And in the case, that baby didn't turn at any point she would let me decide how I wanted to handle it...Go For It or a Cesarean Birth. Uh, that took about 1/2 a second. I'm Going For It!!

This whole time all of the midwives at The Farm have been completely confident that baby would turn or that I could totally do it! When she checked baby's position this time, she became 100% confident head was down. I wanted to believe her, but part of me was unsure.

After our appointment, we were at The Farm Store having a lunch picnic and letting River play on the playground. My midwife with River came by to say Hello. She'll be away the whole month of October, so she hasn't been able to be our primary this time. But she is so wonderful! She tries to come to my prenatal appointments...just because and she's in on most of our decisions. Who does that?!! Not getting anything from it. Anyway, she stopped by and talked with us for awhile. She's been giving me a pep talk this whole time with baby being breech. She even said it was ok if I called her on her vacation while I was in labor to hear her tell me I could do it. She gave me hugs and kisses and confidently told me AGAIN that - "Kari, I've seen you give birth before. You could give birth to a footling breech (hardest breech position) if I had to, no problem." She offered to check me on the spot. So I assumed the lying on the back position with knees up on the picnic bench and she confirmed - Baby Is Head Down No Doubt!!

Now, I'm working off of some of the suggestions from the Spinning Babies website for keeping baby in a good position. Sitting upright, good posture, sitting on a birth ball, etc. At least, I am free from some of my other 13 tasks at this point. And I feel GOOD!!!!

I'm somewhere around 33 weeks give or take a few days or a couple of weeks. Hahaha! But my goal is to at least cook this baby for 4 - 5 more weeks. I'm getting closer and my paper chain link is getting shorter.

Best Friends

2011-09-01T19:47:00.001-05:00

River and Chaco are best friends. Or should i say that Chaco is such a good dog that they seem like friends?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TspWmSyiXIg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Help for The Jenkins

2011-08-07T09:48:00.002-05:00

First of all, I didn't do an update from our last appointment. But things remained the same. It's great that I didn't progress, but I think I was secretly hoping to regress. I have another appointment on Wednesday. I'll try and get a blog update then.

This week I realized that my gestational diabetes came back with this pregnancy. I felt funky for a couple of days, and I just knew. So, we pulled out the old glucose meter from my pregnancy with River and sure enough - it's back! There have been a couple of readings over the last few days that haven't been good. But all in all, with a very strict diet, I've been able to keep it in a somewhat normal range. Ryan went and picked up the exercise bike from my parents, so between swimming at the YMCA and riding the stationary bike I'm hoping to be able to get some control over it.

My dear friend, Jamina, has helped us set up a Meal Baby Calendar for our friends to help us with meals on Mondays and Saturdays. However, a lot of our family and friends don't live in Tennessee. With the lovely social media these days, she's encouraged us to put the information on our blog and facebook to ask for help, which if you know me well, is not something I'm generally comfortable doing. But I'm trying to reach out of my comfort zone a bit and receive help from others.

We're attaching the link to the Meal Baby Website. I believe you have to create an account from the link. If you're in town, you can sign up for a meal. But if you're not in town, there are gift certificates you can purchase.

http://mealbaby.com/viewregistry/555650

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and support! I'm counting down the weeks until I'm full term. 9 more to go!

Update on the Up and Coming Baby Jenkins

2011-07-19T06:41:00.002-05:00

Yes! We're expecting again. We just haven't taken the time to post anything on the blog much or fb. But I did want to pass along an update on the pregnancy.

From what we can gather, since it was somewhat of a surprise, we are due at the end of October. That's from our guesses, the midwives doing their calculations, my belly measurements, and a couple of ultrasounds. Blast! In nearly 8 years of marriage, this is one of the only cycles I did not chart. Charting is helpful for me because my cycles aren't normal, but we're all pretty confident since everyone's numbers are putting the arrival of Baby Jenkins somewhere during that last week in October.

I've been spotting some throughout the pregnancy, but nothing too irregular until the other day. I had a prenatal appointment a couple of days later and knew I would bring it up again. We talked about things with a couple of my midwives (Yes, we're hoping to use The Farm again), and we decided to investigate. They did an internal check of my cervix, and baby's head was real low, my outer os was 2 cm, my inner os was 1 cm, and the called my cervix fibrous and easy to manipulate. They didn't want to give me strict bedrest because it seems so dooming with 3 months still to go, but I'm definitely limited. No lifting (even River), no long walks, try to stay off my feet as much as I can, no hanky panky, and take it easy. I've gotta keep this baby cooking.

The next day they had me see the doctor. She monitored me for contractions. No contractions and only a minute or two of some sort of irritability. I can't believe I didn't ask more about that. By her check, my outer os is 1 cm and my inner os is still closed, and that active child growing inside me has turned breech. I did another ultrasound, the actual length of my cervix is measuring in at a whopping 4 cm. That's good news. But I'm still given the same Take It Easy Orders.

I'll start seeing the midwives every other week now so they can keep an eye on what's happening. And if anything happens like more spotting, abdominal pain, or some contractions, then I'll need to get to a hospital to be monitored. So, I'm really having to be in tune with what my body is telling me. If my back aches, no ignoring it. I need to lay down and get it to stop. I just need to pay close attention.

So, please send some good vibes this way. Baby Jenkins is healthy and active, but my body needs to keep him/her cooking. I'll try and keep the blog up as we learn about the progress or lack thereof of my body over the next few months.

Timer is set for Baby Jenkins: Must Cook Until At Least Mid-October!!

A new Jenkins is on the way!

2011-06-30T13:20:00.002-05:00

Kari got an ultrasound today. Looks like there is a perfectly healthy baby dancing around inside her! We are not going to find out what gender the baby is much like we did with River. We will put some ultrasound pics up once we can get the scanned in.
So, world, prepare yourself, the Jenk Adventure is getting one larger in October.

Our Serenade

2011-05-30T11:47:00.003-05:00

River has become quite the singer! I don't know if he gets it from watching me pick around on the guitar, or from watching American Idol on TV? Either way he likes to sing his little heart out on a pretty regular basis.
Here are some previews of his rock and roll antics.

Finally, an update!

2011-05-29T22:02:00.009-05:00

It has been quite some time since our last update. As usual, life has kept us very busy. So, as an attempt to reconcile, I am putting up some videos of River for everyone's enjoyment.

River hasn't been much of a hat guy, but when I put on a hat he likes to try and keep one on for a few seconds. Here is one of the rare moments that he kept a hat on for us.

Our water hose that runs from the house to our garden has quite a few holes in it. (We are buying a new one and burying it so it doesn't get run over!) Those holes have given River a cheap sprinkler to run through when we are going on walks.

Christmas Time!

2010-12-19T15:14:00.012-06:00

Here are some photos of Christmas decorating,

our first snow this season,
and other random moments this month.

I'm making ornaments every year for River and my niece, Mallory, like my Nanny did. This year I made the owl.

Dada and River put the star on the tree!

Our little cabin in the woods

Santa Love still rocks!

The bottom third of the tree is left undecorated and without presents. We planned ahead.
River loves Santa Love

Dada and River make music

A buck out of our bedroom window.

This Wren Adventure deserves its own blog. Long story short. It flew out of our Christmas wreath when I walked outside. It flew into the back of my hair, and then got confused and flew into our house. I had to call Ryan in from work to help with the removal. It didn't take long for the wren to fly out the door. The removal involved some sheets, a couple of brooms, an open door, and lots of muscadine bird poop to clean up.

Santa receives a phone call

Our First Snow of the Season

Letting Go and New Creations

2010-12-14T15:06:00.002-06:00

Over the last few days I've been thinking....Uh-oh. That can be dangerous, but this time I think it's a good thing.

2010 is wrapping up. We have a couple of weeks left of this year, and I've been pondering about things I want to leave behind before 2011 gets here. When I started thinking about that, then I started thinking what do I want to do in 2011. Then, it all began unwinding from there.

So, here's my plan. And if any of you want to join me on this adventure, I'd love to have you do this too.

I beginning a few lists:

1) Things I Want to Leave in 2010. I already have 5 or 6 things I don't want to bring with me into the new year. Here's sneak peek: Worrying about finances. I'd like to leave that junk in 2010.

2) Goals and Positive Intentions for 2011. I've created categories like Personal, Career, Ryan, River, Family, Friends, and Miscellaneous. Under each category I have anywhere from 2 -4 goals or intentions.

3) Plan of Action. Some of my intentions need a little bit of strategy to them. For example, one of my career goals is to double my massage practice. My P.O.A. is to hand out some brochures and business cards in the community and network with other health care providers. Now, not all of my categories need an explanation, but I feel like some of my goals need a little direction.

On New Year's Eve, I'm going to share my Letting Go list with whomever I'm with and of course, YOU, and burn my list....taking some action in letting it go.

Then, I'll read to my "party goers" and the world wide web my Goals for 2011.
Throughout the year, I'll share and keep my blogging world up to date on some of the goodness that happens.

I'd love for you to do it with me. Take some time over the next couple of weeks and jot down your ideas. I'd love to hear about your experience too.

Lots of Love and Warmth to you!!

Halloween

2010-11-27T16:52:00.008-06:00

Yes. Halloween Pictures a month later...
And our blog is out of order because when you start one that's where it lines up, but I figure most of you get that Halloween is before Thanksgiving. Just bare with us. We're always a couple of months off it seems.

I bought River a monkey suit, but after a couple of tries and crying, I decided to take it back. Maybe when he's older he'll like dressing up. Last year he was a cowboy, and this year a farmer who refused to wear his hat.

We carved pumpkins with the Sams.' It's a running tradition we've had for 7 years. I think we missed one year. But it's a tradition we always enjoy.

Ben and Melanie brought the girls over to my parents, and we had dinner and trick or treating. Ryan had to work this year, so we missed him! But we did have a blast watching the kids get excited about the candy and looting the houses that left candy on the porch for self-service.

River and Addie

Three Pumpkins Later...

Karis giving her best mad pumpkin face.

"I don't want to hear a hat!"

Cleaning up the sidewalk before his lady friends arrive for trick or treating

And we're off for a night of candy!!

Exhausted from all the fun!

Halloween PJ's and mismatched socks

Attack of the Turkey!

2010-11-26T20:25:00.004-06:00

*Ryan wrote this blog, but this is Kari suggesting that the best way to read this blog is to read it out loud with your best redneck accent. It'll provide the best reading enjoyment for this story!!

Thanksgiving morning we woke up and were having breakfast, preparing to travel to Jim and Choyers to eat Thanksgiving turkey and all the fixins. I just happened to hear something out in the driveway so I took a quick peek. There were about 20 turkeys hanging around our front yard. The male turkeys were chasing the females around and were spreading their big tail feathers out like they were peacocks. Then I notice this one turkey staring at our car. I wondered what in the heck he was doing. All of sudden he started pecking at our car and jumping and scratching. I sure didn't want to have to explain to the insurance company that a turkey fighting his own reflection was the cause of all this damage to my car, so I ran out the door clapping and yelling and scared the turkey away.
Then, a bit later, Kari looked out the window and the turkeys were back! I ran out the door again, this time with Chaco, and scared those turkeys away a second time.
Sure enough, a little while later, those turkeys were back and that male turkey was fighting itself in the reflection of our car again! So this time Kari took post and ran out the door. She must be scarier than I am because those turkeys didn't come back. I'm not sure, but I think she yelled something about turkey dinner and the chopping block.
Needless to say, I no longer feel like I have to wash my car. If a turkey thinks it's that clean, then it must be clean. And no cars or turkeys were hurt in the process of this story!

Playin' In The Dirt

2010-11-26T20:14:00.004-06:00

Now that it is not 100 degrees outside, River has been playing out of the house more. We have began perfecting the art of baby proofing the inside of the house but didn't think about the outside of the house, so needless to say, River found the first thing to make a mess.
Fortunately, we don't mind. He is a little boy. It's in his nature to get dirty and make a mess. I know he sure had fun doing it. We just don't always enjoy the clean up afterwards.

I am a living dirt tornado!!

Sometimes it's just nice to be out of my pants, playing my kazoo, and kicking around some dirt on the porch.

Mom doing the hard work of cleaning up my mess

Help! I'm in a wooden jail!

My Mommy and Daddy let me roam around the yard now that all the bugs are gone.

Touch a Truck

2010-11-26T20:05:00.004-06:00

The Teals church was putting on a touch-a-truck day for local kids. So while Kari was in a class one Saturday, River, Larry, Janice and I all went to look at some big 'ole trucks.
River was a fairly stand-offish. He wasn't sure what to think about the big trucks. But we ended up having fun after we got to ride the little train and paint our own wooden race car (and getting paint on our face!)

River loves to see trucks on the road, but he wasn't sure about standing on the back of a big dump truck!

I didn't mind the extra affection though.

Thank you for taking me Grammy and Pappy!

To Charleston

2010-11-26T19:55:00.007-06:00

Back in September River and I went with Grammy and Pappy to visit our newest family member, Mallory, in Charleston. I saw my niece the first few days of her life, but it had been 3 months. So, I was thrilled to get some snuggles with her. She's growing up so fast, and she's a beautiful girl! When we were there, we just hung out. We played on the playground, went to Market Street, ate at Hyman's Seafood, and saw the sunset at the beach. AND we even got to babysit while Derek and Mandy had a date.

"Oh, Aunt Kari! I just love your necklace."

Do you remember, Mr. Buckethead? He's a man of many talents. He's also Mr. Diaperhead!!

"Daddy, I love your kisses. But your breath stinks!"

River had so much fun at the beach. He cracked me up! He ran and ran into the waves, down the beach, into the waves, down the beach......

I Love This Boy!!

"That's Cow Juice, River!!"

"What?!!!! You have to be kidding me."

Mallory Grace

A Fall Life

2010-11-26T19:33:00.006-06:00

So, it has been quite some time since we updated the blog. Again, life takes hold and we can barely find time to check our email, much less put pictures on the blog.
Seeing as fall is our favorite time of year, we thought we would put on some extra pics that don't fit into a titled blog. So, here it goes:

Welcome to my fort!

How do you like my overalls?

It's a family affair

Here are some more samples of Kari's donuts. Can't you just taste them by staring at the pictures??

I've learned to climb on things to get my hands on things I want.

I love to find things and then put them on my head. Here we have an applesauce colander.

Kari busy reading books for her class work while River naps

River loves to be squished and get kisses!

Grandma & Grandpap!

2010-11-26T19:22:00.004-06:00

In September, Grandma and Grandpap took a trip down to spend some time with River! It was my Mom's birthday. It has been so long since they came that I hardly remember all that we did. I do remember going to hike and having dinner with the Teals. Here are a few pics to help me remember...

Opening presents with Grandma

Who turned the lights out?

Grandma taught me the magic of static cling stickers!

Mr. Buckethead

2010-08-24T17:18:00.006-05:00

Most of you know of Michael Jackson's kids, but there's a new kid in town. Just like them- because of their parent's fame, they often go out in disguise. Well, move over, Blanket! Here comes Mr. Buckethead...

Time To Make The Donuts

2010-08-21T13:08:00.007-05:00

My new found interest....Donuts! My first real job was at Dunkin Donuts when I was 16. My bestfriend, Amanda, and I got a job there together. We made a lot of fun memories, but we didn't last long when they wouldn't let us work together anymore.

If you know Jody and me, then you know we've spent many hours drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee, eating their donuts, and solving all of the world's problems...or some of our own at least.

There's just something about a cup of coffee and a blueberry donut that makes me happy! It could be the sugar or the caffeine, but I'd like to give it deeper meaning.

Over the last few years, Ryan and I have grown an even deeper love of the donut when his parents brought donuts from a place near their town in Virginia. It's called Blue Collar Joe's, and every time they roll into Nashville for a visit, one of our first questions just happens to be - Did you bring Blue Collar Joe's?

You can check out their website and salivate over their Blueberry Cheesecake Donut, S'mores Donut, or any of their other donuts for that matter at www.bluecollarjoes.net

So, now I'm on a quest, a quest to make the perfect donut. I've tried making yeast and cake donuts. I'm definitely lovin' the cake more than the yeast. I try to make a new recipe every week (although I'm taking a short break right now). We even have our "little tasters." Some of our friends volunteered their tasting services, so we deliver them each time. That is our way of preventing some extra saddle bag growth on the hips. That's more for me than Ryan. Ryan gets bummed every week when I start divvying out the donuts for our friendly tasters.

I've made cinnamon/sugar, powdered, glazed, and chocolate frosted. The powdered ones and I don't get along very well. I haven't figured out how to make them adhere to the donut without melting. But they've all been good nonetheless. I'm still searching for the master recipe - a cake donut that's moist and fluffy.

Here are some photos of the new donut making adventures...

Who Needs Trivial Pursuit?!

2010-08-21T11:54:00.014-05:00

Ode To Pappy On Your Birthday...

The Wild and Crazy Celebration

I think it's official. Ryan and I are going to retire our Trivial Pursuit - Pop Culture game. It was a purchase in our first year of marriage, and we had some good times with it. The Sams/Jenkins' family hang outs used to be filled with hours of this game. And we only attempted it once with Jim and Choyer. It turned out to be no fun with them. They knew ALL the answers! Well, it's been getting pretty dusty in our closet over the last few years, and another family can enjoy a decade old game of thousands of questions about Pop Culture from Goodwill soon. Here are three reasons why. ONE - Pop Culture is always changing, so what was in over 7 years ago is no longer Pop Culture now. SECOND - Somewhere along the way Ryan decided he despised the game (Maybe when we realized we weren't good at it). THIRD - WHO NEEDS IT WHEN YOU HAVE PAPPY?!!

Yes, you read me...Pappy. My dad is a walking, mostly sleeping bundle of Pop Culture. Hard to believe, huh?!! All these years I thought my parents were relying on me to know what was cool and trendy. Boy, have I received a wake up call! The New Kids On The Block and Vanilla Ice concerts...were those my ideas? I'm beginning to question.

If you know my dad, then you know his favorite movie is The Sound of Music and he gets no greater thrill in life than to find a church having a pipe organ concert. There are plenty of times that you can get in their car, and when the engine starts, The Hallelujah Chorus pipe organ style is blasting through the speakers. But yes, this 71 year old (as of yesterday - Happy Birthday, Dad!!) man radiates Pop Culture with his Crocs, Facebook addiction, and Bieber Fever.

I'll admit over the years I've lost that feel for Pop Culture and all that is cool. I can't tell you what music is hip, what trends are in, or what TV shows are hot. Admitting that ages me more than how I feel when my birthday comes around. As a parent I automatically think of River. With me being so out of the loop, how will River adjust in the world of Pop Culture? I don't think other people think Hanson and the Smurfs are cool anymore. But it hit me this week, I HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. We Have Pappy!!!

When I come in from being away from River, I usually walk into my house with Pappy and River at the computer listening to Keith Urban or checking Pappy's Facebook page. General Larry Platt has become a common name in our house with Pappy around, and his song, Pants On The Ground, is a song sung and a dance danced at our house everyday. My dad lets me know of Pop Concerts in Nashville. I mean, I had no clue that Justin Bieber was in concert or Adam Lambert was at the Ryman. He loves Jimmy Fallon's Thank You Notes on Late Night. When my dad recently had a stay at Vanderbilt Medical Center, one of the things the doctors were concerned about was his low heart rate. My dad suggested that posters of Lady Gaga, Hillary Clinton, or Nancy Pelosi would be able to cure that quickly. And to top it all off, they just bought a Wii.

So, as I sit here in my Pink Panther nightshirt I am in awe of my dad oozing with Pop Culture. I never would have guessed that this day would come. But I embrace it. I embrace that my crown of "coolness" has rusted, and Pappy is sitting on the throne as the King of Pop Culture in our family.

Happy Birthday, Pappy! We love you, and River is so lucky to have you around to teach him how to be cool.

So long Trivial Pursuit!

Pappy is awesome! He has a cool machine he sleeps with that makes him look like he's from outer space.

River bought Pappy a Lady Gaga poster for his birthday!

Pappy's sisters come to the party...all the way from Georgia.

Aunt Martha attempts to hold the candles on the melted Ice Cream Cake.
She's very brave!!

Grammy and Pappy....and they're still so in love.

Summer Time

2010-07-24T19:57:00.018-05:00

We've had a busy summer! We've blogged about the flood, our trip to Oregon, and our niece, but with The Jenk Adventure it seems like there's always more.

We planted a garden this summer. We work out there A LOT!! We have everything from Green Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, to Swiss Chard and Squash out the Wa-Zoo and on and on. We might should have started a little smaller, but I'm really enjoying it.
I've been attending births and teaching childbirth classes.
Ryan's parents came for a visit this summer.
We've been hanging out at the Y; our Y has a water park. River loves it!
We've been to the Zoo.
We spent the 4th of July with my parents.
My aunt and one of my cousins came for a short visit.
We just got back from visiting my best friend from High School. I'm glad that we still do things together. We had a great time!

River is walking now and learning new things all the time. He loves singing and Amanda, my bf, taught him how to "fist bump" a few days ago. People ask, "What's his personality like?" Well, he's sensitive and shy at first. He's very silly and curious. We are still in such awe of him! We love him so much and can't believe he's ours.

Here are some photos...

Our Wild Man trying to feed Chaco.

Our Hike to Burgess Falls State Park

Mr. Corn on the Cobb

Where's the Meerkat, Grandpap?

I can't believe these goats are Mama's favorite!

"Say Cheese," Grandma!

Grandma and Grandpap bought him a Splash Mat!!

"Hiiiiii-yah! Take that, H20!"

Look how long my spit is!

Thanks, Fisher Price!

Grammy and Pappy at the fireworks

It was getting pretty late. River wasn't interested.

Sleepy Boy!

Oh Wait! Maybe it is kinda cool.

Wow! That's pretty awesome.
I hate shoes!!

Amanda (Knubbie) and Kari (Puddie) and our little Knoggins!!

Baby Hayes

River was trying to impress his lady

No Diving In The Pool!!!

Do I look crazy to you?

BIG...little

"I found a magic stick!"

Out for a stroll

Down the slide!

Thank you Amanda for the ride down the slide!

Wake up!

Watching cartoons....mesmerizing!

Cuddled up! That's what I call a good morning!

Uh Oh! They caught us!

Let's take Chaco for a walk!

Now it's my turn!

River loves watermelon! Really he loves anything he can eat with his hands.

Hat!

A selection from our garden. It has been a lot of hard work this summer!

Our Niece!

2010-07-04T15:25:00.005-05:00

Derek, Mandy, and Mallory

Mallory Grace Teal

I think we are forever a month or two behind in blogging, but we blog nonetheless...

Our family keeps growing and that's one of the amazing things about getting older and starting new families! My brother, Derek, and his wife, Mandy, had a little girl on June 8th! Her name is Mallory Grace Teal.

My parents, River, and I all stuffed in my parent's car and made the trip to Charleston. We actually arrived just in time for Mallory's birth! We spent a couple of days in awe of her. I hope to get back in September and love on her even more. Fingers crossed.

It's wonderful to watch my brother become a father. I knew he would be good at it! One of my favorite moments was when we first saw her from the nursery window. And we all watched as Derek doted over his new girl. We told each other how beautiful she was.

I will say that we make some cute babies.

Our first glimpse of the newest family member

River: "What?! I've got a cousin? Let me see her!"

"Whatchu talkin 'bout, Willis?"

Yes, River. He will annoy for the rest of your life. He's your uncle.

Pappy and Mallory

Grammy and Mallory

The grandparents!

Aunt Kari and Mallory, my sweet niece.
We'll do lots of fun things together, Mallory. (wink. wink.)

Who would have ever thought that we would have kids?

The generations continue...

The new family

Oregon in the Rain

2010-06-10T20:44:00.040-05:00

In May Kari and River and I took a trip to Oregon. Kari was traveling there to take classes for the birthing classes she teaches. I was tagging along with River to keep her company and so she could still breastfeed River in the mornings.
River did o.k. on the 6 hour airplane ride, but didn't take a nap. This made him cranky the last half hour of the flight, but when you are stuffed on a big 'ole flyin bus there is not much you can do. So we just had to let him cry a bit.

Waiting for the airplane

Asleep on the plane

We arrived in Portland and spent two nights in the city. We made it a point while we were there to eat at some original local restaurants and to do a little sight seeing. We spent the first evening just walking along the river a bit and recovering from flying.

On the River Front in Portland

Sitting in a swanky Portland restaurant

Our hotel room in Portland

The second day we had what we were told was a west coast staple for breakfast, Voodoo Donuts. I must say, they were pretty magnificent. We bought some groceries for the week and then made our way to the Rose Garden. It was a beautiful place and the roses were just beginning to bloom. It is entirely kept up by volunteers which was very impressive. Then we ate at a haunted pizza shop and went back to our hotel to relax a bit before going to the house of a girl Kari knew from a previous class she had taken. The girl lived right across the river from where we were staying. We had dinner there and she let us borrow a playpen, hiking pack, cooler, and some odds and ends that we couldn't fly with. Their family did a wonderful job of making us feel at home in a strange place. Thank you!!

Voodoo Donunts

Napping

Rose Garden

Smells like Roses

Playing in the fountain

A Haunted Pizza Shop
Looks like a few ghosts eating pizza!

A nap before going out again

The next day we traveled to the Columbia River Gorge, which is where the center was that Kari would be taking her classes. It was a beautiful place with a huge river, tall straight cliffs, beautiful waterfalls and vistas. We drove to an overlook and then checked into our room because her classes began that night.

The Columbia River Gorge

Hiking in the rain.

Bridalveil Falls

When will it stop raining dada?

The next 6 days River and I went on a series of adventures. I took him to the Children's Science Museum, hiking in the rain to waterfalls and gorges and up mountains, to the Forestry Museum, and to as many cool, unique restaurants we could find. We spent time napping together in the car, although it was quite a bit harder for me to fall asleep in the car that him. We simply just spent the days together. Kari's classes ran from early in the morning to late into the evening, so I took care of River most of the day. It was my time back with him since I spent so long away from him when I was in the academy. It was wonderful to be with my son again!

Childrens Science Museum

Getting soaking wet at the Science Museum. River loved it!

Expanding my mind

River had to go back to getting soaking wet

It rained every day we were in Oregon. Sometimes all day, sometime just in short spurts. All of the locals we met said that it never rained this many days in a row. I guess we brought the rain with us from Tennessee. At first I fought the rain and wetness. I was mad because every time I would try to go walking with River it would rain on us. Eventually I accepted the rain and being wet and just decided to continue on no matter what. You didn't mind it when you decided in your head to be ok with it. It made it a bit more of an adventure. And River didn't seem to mind being we either.

River sitting in the middle of a labrynth

Aw shucks!

There wasn't a bath tub in the room, so we had to put river in a rubermade tub.

It didn't seem to bother him at all!

Horsetail Falls

The view from the conference center. Majestic.

Multnomah Falls. Can you find Kari and River in the picture?

A scary bear

We took an adventure drive and just drove where our hearts took us. We turned out to be in Washington at one point.

Smell my feet!!
Kari all dressed up for class one day

River in a safari jeep inside the Forestry Museum.

Oneota Gorge

River and I hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls one day

River didn't mind being wet after a long hike in the pouring rain

All dry!

My favorite eatery in Portland! Cadillac Cafe!

When Kari was done with classes on the second to last day, we drove back to Portland and spent the evening there. Then the next morning, on the way out of town we went to Voodoo dounuts to finish our trip off right! Well, we thought so at least. When we got to our gate at the airport they told us our flight would be delayed a bit because of a mechanical issue. Then, it was delayed some more. And again some more. And so on and so on. Over 3 hours later they tell us they are just going to board us and fly and basically hope for the best. Yeah....we were thrilled. We missed our connecting flight and had to reschedule. We nearly missed our rescheduled connecting flight, and would have if we didn't run down the terminal in Dallas to our gate. But honestly, it was quite an adventure of a day in itself. River did great, even with all the delays and stress. We made it home alive and the best surprise of the day...our baggage was the first couple of bags out of the carousel! We were sure they wouldn't make it after all of the hooplah with the flights.
It was quite a trip! We had some time in the city, and it was a really cool city! We spent some time in the forest. And it was a very beautiful forest. Kari had a great time in her classes and learned a great deal of things to help her teach her birthing classes. River and I spent some great quality time together and got to explore every day.
Another successful Jenk Adventure!

River asleep and Kari's face of excitement when we find out our plane is delayed even more!

River happy to be home!

Home and then Rain

2010-05-06T10:32:00.014-05:00

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a little blog about my time away from home and how awesome it was to come back home again.
Well...
That was only temporary.

Kari and River and I have been forced out of our home because of a little bit of rain.
A little bit of rain is a bit of a joke. I'm not sure how the national news is covering it, but Middle Tennessee got around 15 inches of rain in two days. This came a week after we had a good soaking the week before. Needless to say there was quite a bit of flooding. Downtown Nashville was flooded all the way up to 2nd Ave. Opryland Hotel and Opry Mills Mall had 10 ft of water inside. The Grand Ole Opry was flooded above the stage. Thousands of homes were flooded and people left with nothing.
Luckily our house was spared from the flooding and even the damage from the storm. Unfortunately our road and our power was not.
The road to our house was washed out by overflow from an old (used to be dry) irrigation pond. I ended up having to carry Kari, River, and Chaco across the wash out with rushing water up to my shins on Sunday evening when it became apparent that we wouldn't have power for a long while. There are power lines down in at least 6 places on our road and a power pole was snapped at the base at one of those places. The power company here has lost something like 80% of their truck fleet to flood waters, so getting power back is going to take a long time. We lost power on Saturday and it is Thursday and there hasn't even been anyone back to look at the lines. So in the mean time, we are staying in Spring Hill with Kari's parents.
I tell River that we will still be talking about this flood in 10 years but that he won't even remember it. When I was a young lad (maybe 6?) I was in Virginia and we had a massive flood. I don't remember much about it except my school bus getting stuck, my basement getting flooded and going to MawMaw and PawPaw's house.
Kari is doing well with coping, being forced out of her home for a while. Our solace is that we are able to return to it once power is restored. Many around us no longer have homes. It is a strange feeling not being able to go to the place you are most comfortable.
So two weeks ago or so I was rejoicing in being able to return home and was ready for life to return to the normal hustle and bustle of things. The normal hustle and bustle turned out to be quite different than I remembered! Ha!

The road to our house...or what was left of it.

The road to our house a few days later

My bosses driveway during the rain.

More trees across the power lines.

Lots and lots of trees down. We had around 15 Rangers from all over the state come out and help clean up on Monday! Thanks guys!

More trees

Road collapsed inside of park. The State Trails Administrator is there for size perspective.

Almost looks like an earthquake more than rain

The road to enter the park on the side our house is on.

The lake is usually not that color.

Where Does Time Go?

2010-04-28T10:10:00.018-05:00

I used to wish I had one more hour in a day to get all the things I wanted done. Now, I wish I had one more week in a day! (For those math whizzes out there, that would be 7 days worth of time all in one day! Ha!)
Time flies by and Kari and I feel like we are just running to catch up. River, work, and just simply life are keeping us on our toes sprinting to not get behind. But all of this is ok, because it is part of the adventure of living. If we weren't busy I guess we'd probably be bored.
River is quite the character now days. He is growing so well into a little boy and is becoming a personality all in his own. He has his own likes and dislikes, his own wants and needs, and his own way of dealing with the world and interacting with people.
He loves cheerios, or those little baby snacks that look like cheerios. He loves food in general. I'd have to say besides the mornings, it's probably his favorite time of the day. We are trying to feed him different little things all the time. He had hamburger for the first time a few days ago and loved it! (just like his daddy!) We were a little worried about giving him dairy because the first time we gave him milk he projectile vomited it all up. So recently we have been giving him a little plain yogurt and he seems to be doing just fine with it.
He loves being outside and he loves the wind and the trees. When we go outside he points at the trees and says "ook" which we decipher to mean "look". He points at anything he is interested in and says "ook". It's really cute.
Mornings seem to be his favorite time of the day. When we go in to get him out of his crib after he has been playing for a bit (or fussing), we open the door and he opens his mouth wide and gasps like it is the greatest thing in the world that we are there. We open his curtains and he points and gasps and says "ook!" as if to say "look! the world is awesome and waiting for me to come play!"
He loves his Mommy and Daddy (that's us!). Although he is becoming much more of a little explorer in the house. It's hard to keep tabs on him because he is crawling so fast now. You can't turn your head away without him darting off somewhere out of sight. He definitely doesn't like being caged in. His playpen or a baby gate is not his cup of tea. He wants freedom for sure!
He is a little flirt. When he is introduced to people he is a little shy, but for some reason, you put him in a store or a restaurant and he talks and giggles and flirts with everyone that walks within 10 feet of him. He makes more friends at other peoples' dinner tables than anyone I've ever known! Needless to say, after he gets a bit comfortable with you, he is not shy in the least.
He isn't walking yet but is well on his way. He stands on his own for a second or two at a time and is more and more trying to get up on his feet. I figure it's only a matter of time before he is no longer crawling, but running through the house or around it even.
He is growing up in front of our eyes quicker than we can imagine. It's an amazing thing to see. Bittersweet in so many ways. Luckily he is a beautiful child and hopefully Kari and I can be great parents to a little boy who is more and more making decisions for himself. We are both just glad to be a part of his life.

Grandma stopped by for a visit in March!

Wrestlin in the floor!

Pickin Daddy's Bugers

Sleeping

Poop Face

First day at the Zoo!

Hey! What are you lookin at?

Joe Cool

Uncle Jim at Easter

More Easter Fun

Easter

Easter Egg Hunt!

Grammy and Pappy on Easter

Uncle Choyer and Jim at Easter

Ahhh!

Yo!

On the trails in the park

Home

2010-04-18T08:32:00.021-05:00

"We should come home from adventures, and perils, and discoveries with new experience and character." -Henry David Thoreau

I came home last Friday.

If you hadn't heard through the grapevine, I had been out of town since December of 2009. Four and a half months I was away from home. Granted I was able to come home on Saturdays, but I spent my weeks, Sunday through Friday, away at training to become a bona-fide Park Ranger.
Medical Training, Search and Rescue, Naturalist Training, and the last 10 weeks have been the Police Academy to become a Law Enforcement Officer. Quite a bit of information to shove into this now 30 year old head after being out of school for some 7 years.
I was part of a group of 19 "pre-pubescent" Park Rangers back in December of '09. And I don't mean "pre-pubescent" because their voices hadn't started crackling or their bodies started changing. I mean that all 19 of us had been working in the parks in some fashion, we just were not fully commissioned Park Rangers. Some of our predecessors called us "baby rangers". But that was back in December.
We spent two months at Henry Horton State Park doing medical training, search and rescue, and some naturalist training. We also got issued uniforms and all the fancy domaflichers that Rangers get to have. The other Rangers and our instructors told us that with this many of us being together for this amount of time, that we would all hate each other by the time it was over. See, this group of "baby rangers" was the largest group of Rangers they had ever sent through the Police Academy, and this was the first time they had ever done this much training of this type before sending a group to the Police Academy. So we were sort of "experimental" in a way. The thing I have found out about Rangers, though, is that they are tough and at the same time make really good friends. This was a fact I found more about when we left for the Police Academy in Cleveland, TN in February.
We joined the Academy with 17 other Police Officers from around the state. We made up Class #49. I can't imagine how the other officers must have felt seeing 19 Park Rangers strut their stuff into their classroom. "Oh Great!, Park Rangers" is probably the thoughts that were rolling around in their heads. At least that's what we all thought. Turns out the class had a fair amount of respect for what we do as Rangers. The cops deal with the bad stuff day in and day out, which for most Rangers, is not an ideal situation. But when we get into a hairy situation, we are almost always by our lonesome to deal with it, where cops normally have backup to assist them. The other officers revealed they would rather deal with the gritty stuff all day long than have to deal with it once by themselves.
The Academy is 10 weeks of training to prepare you to be a Law Enforcement Officer with the basic skills to keep you alive and well on the "streets" as the instructors called it. The Rangers would always talk more about the "trails" than the "streets", but it is all the same in context. On a normal class day we would wake up at 4am every morning and drive 40 minutes to the Academy for PT (physical training). After PT we would go to class and spend the rest of the day learning any of what seemed like a million subjects. Then we had larger focused subjects that would change our schedules up a bit and get us out of the classroom.
PPCT is Pressure Point Control Tactics. It's the new version of the old Martial Arts classes they used to teach to the military and police. It is more about "compliance" than punching someones lights out. Whatever it is, it hurts. We got to spend a whole week trying the different techniques on each other.
Firearms week was a doozy. We stayed at a military base in North Georgia. I feel like their whole purpose was to stress us out and keep us awake for as long as possible and then stress us out some more and then say, "shoot this target while we are yelling at you." We did 600 push ups in the first two days. Over 850 pushups were done by the time the week was over. I learned I could do alot more pushups that I thought I could by the time the academy was over, that's for sure! Our second night there, the instructors woke us up at midnight running through the halls and yelling for us to get into PT formation. It was really cold outside and they made us run the mile to the shooting range, do PT for what seemed like forever, and then made us crawl through a muddy field. And just as we were finishing the crawl, it started snowing, almost like we were in a movie...except this movie was real. We had to run the mile back, get in bed, and wake up almost instantly for class the next day.
We did what is called a "stress test" where you have to run through this fake building scenario and shoot the bad guys but not shoot the good guys, all the while the instructors are all yelling at you and trying to confuse you and one of them is shooting what is called "boom shells" next to your head. Boom shells remind me of the fireworks that don't make any sparkles, they just flash and boom really really loud. They are basically just a shotgun shell filled with black powder instead of bb's. It is quite dis-shoveling when it surprises you for the first time you are trying to shoot a target at 25 yards away in the dark. Oh yeah, and did I mention they make us do this in both the day time and the night time. It was fun...
Driving week was the next big activity week. We met every morning before sunup at a local high school parking lot. (Don't worry, the kids were on spring break.) We would set up different driving obstacles with orange cones and would all get a chance to test our skills. Again, it seemed like the point was to stress us out because one of the nights (which happened to be my 30th birthday) we only got two hours of sleep before having to be back on the course the next day. The final test was a large course of those orange cones with all the different obstacles we had been practicing and we had to run the course during the day and night while being timed. Needless to say, every time I see an orange cone on the side of the road now, I have dangerous flashbacks!
There was a section of training called simmunitions. They put us in realistic situations and give us guns that shoot wax bullets. The casing is the same as a regular bullet, but the projectile is wax. Trust me, I got shot in the upper leg near the groin, and it hurts! It left a nice 6 inch diameter bruise. Don't worry, my partner and I shot the instructors back!
We got to do what is called a "wet lab" where the instructors get a group of volunteers different levels of drunk and we got to do sobriety tests on them. That was quite interesting. We got sprayed with pepper spray to show us what it was like. By the way, if you were wondering...it hurts alot! And we had to do an obstacle course where you run and jump over things and climb through windows and climb over walls and through tunnels and drag a 165 lb. dummy 15 yards. That was really hard!
It was quite the experience. And it seemed like April 16th would never come. But last Friday it came and we graduated as Law Enforcement Officers. I ended up winning the "top cop" award because of my grades. And we made friendships that will last a lifetime. But that is not the moral of this long, drawn out story.
We were told that we would go home as different people, but I am still the same guy I was when I left last December. I am a guy with a much wider set of knowledge and skills though. Some of it useful and good, and some of it I wish I could give back (we saw way too many things that were meant to desensitize us!). Nonetheless, I am home. It is hard to express what it feels like to leave your 11 month old and your wife of 6.5 years. I cannot imagine what it would be like to join the army or be deployed under those circumstances because it was not fun. Every Saturday I would come back home and River would be a little more grown up, and be doing a bit more than when I last saw him. My biggest fear was that I would come home one day and he wouldn't remember me. Luckily, that never happened and I am glad. I was gone so long, Kari almost got used to me being away. It took a couple of nights for Kari to get used to me being back in the bed after she had it to herself for that long. (I may be a bit of a bed hog!) Something I did learn while I was gone was the meaningfulness of what it was like coming home. The feeling of walking back into my house Friday night after driving home from graduation was something very special. Home is very important and family even more important, and I learned that these last 5 months on top of all the Ranger schooling. Through all the adventures I had, coming home was my favorite.

Family

The Little Ranger

Proud

Class 49

What is he up to these days?!

2010-02-17T08:52:00.007-06:00

That's a question we get often.
Here's the River update...he finally started crawling, and we are so proud of him. Most people say, "Oh no, it's starting now." But we love it!
He has a nice "grill" going; he has 8 teeth and working on some more.
He points at everything, so we're constantly telling him what things are. We know that one day he'll start the "What's That Game?"
He loves to be read to. His favorite book is I Love You Through and Through. He even tries to read along sometimes. He loves being read to so much that we keep his greeting cards around, and he'll randomly pick them up and hand them to us to read to him.
He says, "Mama, Dada, Light (which sounds like L-eye)" and other random sounds.
He dances. He claps which is so funny. Game shows, Olympics, football games, anywhere he hears a crowd going wild, he'll start clapping. He waves.
He loves getting into and playing with everything he's not supposed to....phones, remotes, office supplies, the refrigerator, mama's pump, on and on.
My new thing is lint rolling him before naps and at other random times during the day. That Chaco is leaving her hair all over the place, and I can't keep it up. There are times I just have to pick him up and roll him. He doesn't mind. He thinks it's funny.
That's all I can think of right now, so here are a few pics....

I Love Dancing!!

Grammy's Birthday!!

"Can you please put the camera down and read me my card...AGAIN?!!"

Helping Mama get some work done.

River Turns One!!

2010-02-16T11:46:00.012-06:00

River turned 1 year old on January 27th! We can't believe it. And yes, he did have a party...an Elmo party! Ryan and I talked about River's 1st party, and we didn't want it to be too stressful or too crazy. We had the gathering at Grammy's and Pappy's in Spring Hill, and we invited our parents and a few close friends to celebrate River's first year of life. Of course, there was snow, but we had the party anyway. We had some snacks and cake and presents. River's godparents gave a blessing at the beginning of the party which was super special. Sounds like your average birthday party...who are you kidding?! Do the Jenkins' ever do anything tame?! Come on.

I thought about not mentioning this part of the party, but it would be neglecting to share a very important happening to the day. Everything else went off without any glitch. Well, except for Ryan putting his hand in the Elmo cake that I spent hours making before we were ready to cut it.

Our very dear friends, Ben and Mel, have two daughters which we absolutely love and adore. K-dawg has severe allergies to eggs, dairy, and wheat, so I made sure that the snacks were something she could have. The only thing off limits...the cake, and we put that up on the counter. During cake time, I made some special cookies without her trigger foods, so she would have a sweet treat. Well.....shortly after a bite or two (none of us are exactly sure how much she ate of the cookie), she started having a reaction. It got worse and worse. Benadryl wasn't completely stopping this one. Then came some swelling, hives, vomiting, and some breathing troubles...we called 911. The paramedics were there within a few minutes of the call, and Ben and Mel were able to be assisted in using their epi-pin for the first time. They took K-Dawg to the hospital and had her checked out. She obviously has more allergies than they thought. They ran some more blood tests at their doctor's office and will have the results this week. I'm really curious to know what the allergic reaction was to.

Everyone keeps telling me to quit beating myself up, and that is was nobody's fault. I know. I know. But it's like a car accident I keep telling everyone. It was an accident. Nobody intended for it to happen, but you still feel pretty crummy that you were apart of it. I think everyone learned some valuable lessons from the experience that we will all take with us from here on out.

On a lighter note, River got a Zoo membership from us. We are looking forward to taking him to the Zoo over the next year. He got lots and lots of clothes and some toys. He got a new stroller, a riding Tonka truck, and a wagon came in the mail from Grandma and Grandpap. River also received money for his banking account. I can't believe he is 1 and already has his own account.

River's real birthday was the 27th. Grammy and Pappy came over, and we went out to eat. Grammy thinks of everything! She brought River a cupcake with a candle. We sang, and Ryan and I enjoyed his cupcake.

River's Birthday Party was actually on the 31st.

Logan and Becky (River's devilparents) and Grandma and Grandpap

Uncle Jim and Uncle Choyer (River's godparents) give a blessing to River.

Logan looks like he got caught doing something...that devilparent.

River's Elmo Cake. Grammy and I worked hard on that thing. It was my first try at a cake like that.

Logan and Ben catch up!

Granpap enjoys the snacks

Kitchen chit chat

Karis is growing up!

Uncle Choyer....BUSTED!!

Present Time!!!

And then there was CAKE...

The wagon came in the mail, and Dada put it together at the Barn and brought the surprise home!

I think River looks so cute here in his cloth diapers.

How does this thing work?

Seriously, this thing has No Tip - Steering. Yay! We're going to have lots of fun with this wagon.

A Wild and Wacky Winter

2010-02-16T10:32:00.007-06:00

I'm in complete agreement with Al Roker...It's been a Wild and Wacky Winter. I feel like I spend a good portion of every week trapped back in the woods because of the snow. Even now, I'm watching flurries STILL falling to the ground. It's definitely making me reconsider mine and Ryan's dreams of living in Alaska. I try and watch the meteorologists 7 day forecast to figure out when my snowy, hilly drive out to civilization may melt. At least it is giving me time to work on my Birthing From Within classes. I have a home study to complete by the end of March, and I started teaching my first group series, so I spend most of the week preparing during River's nap times. The snow is beautiful, but I'm almost done with it and yearning for Spring. But really, how often do Ryan and I get to break out the sled and act like children.....twice this year. I believe it's now our 4th or 5th snow...see I've already lost count. I do have this love/hate relationship with the white stuff.

Here are some pictures from the snow at the end of January. I'm not getting any of this round. With Ryan gone, it's hard maneuvering a camera and River.

River and Thomas having a snow day! This was the first day of snow. Josh is another Ranger at the Park. He, his wife, Anne Marie, and their son, Thomas, came over to play.

I think Thomas told River how much fun crawling was...since their visit, he's picked it up! Thanks, Thomas!!!

I wish these next pictures had sound effects! We had so much fun. We would take turns sledding, holding River, taking pictures, and video taping. If I ever figure out how to put video on the blog, I'll try and put one of our sled runs. We were laughing and screaming and loving life. I remember my last snow blog I mentioned needing a couple more inches for good sledding. Well, we got it this time.

Poor Ryan...I only got one picture. My picture taking ability is not that great, especially when holding River. He was a great sledder nonetheless.

On A Fabric Hunt

2010-01-10T18:56:00.002-06:00

I'm going on a Fabric Hunt...
This year I'm attempting to make all of the gifts I give. We're trying to save money, but even if you make your gifts you have to have the stuff to do it.
If any of you crafty people have leftover fabrics that you are ready to get rid of, I'll take them off your hands. They can be any fabric: Christmas fabrics, Spring fabrics, Fall fabrics, any color: solid or busy...whatever you need or want to get off your hands, anything. Just send me an email to thejenkadventure@gmail.com, and I'll send you our mailing address. I'll definitely post pics along the way.
Thanks ahead of time!!

It's SNOW Much Fun!!!

2010-01-10T14:27:00.009-06:00

Nashville doesn't get a lot of snow. Usually by lunch the dusting called snow is gone. The meteorologists were calling for 1 - 6 inches for a week...even the night before it was still going to be an inch. Well, like the weather report said as it was coming down, "It is a little underwhelming." Underwhelming, eh?! I could have used another inch or so, but it did make for some beautiful scenery and a few good sled runs. I'm glad that I took my parents up on the offer for our childhood sled this summer.

The first couple of days River, Chaco, and I stayed at my parents. I knew getting stuck at our house would be treacherous. The infamous weather word. But Ryan's parents were coming in on Friday. Ryan checked our driveway on his way home. He met us down by the lake and drove us home. It snowed pretty much all day Saturday too. Yay for snow!!

A Boy and His Trains

2010-01-10T13:59:00.003-06:00

River has this diaper rash that we have been working to get rid of for about a month. For some reason, he has this rash that is giving us all a run for our money. Well, a doctor visit and a couple of medications later and we're still working on it. We tried the old air out method for a couple of days. A garbage bag, blanket, towel, washcloth, some toys, and a warm fire, and we were ready. A couple of accidents, but he did alright. Dada did get his shirt sprayed. I snapped a few of these incriminating photos. The montage is what I like to call....A Boy and His Trains!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

2010-01-10T10:12:00.015-06:00

We literally just finished celebrating Christmas a couple of days ago! Without further ado, here are some pictures from River's First Christmas Season!

His first present came at the end of November. His second cousins, Callum and Katie, sent him a something all the way from California. He had so much fun opening his first real gifts.

Christmas with The Boyz! River's godparents loaded River up with tons of clothes and a toy for bath time. You'll definitely see him styling in the pictures after these. Thanks, Uncle Choyer and Uncle Jim.

Grandma sent River The Night Before Christmas with her voice as the recording. When he opened the book and her voice started, he started flipping the pages and searching behind the book for her. He loved it! Ryan probably loved it too...hearing his mama's voice.

The real Night Before Christmas...River was getting awfully nosy. I think if we didn't let him open his presents the next morning, Chaco and River would have planned an overthrow. It looks like they were already working out something.

And then it was CHRISTMAS!! I still can't believe it, but we didn't take any pictures of the three of us. And my entire family was together for Christmas, and we didn't take any pictures. I think my parents got some, so I'll try and add those in soon.

Grandma and Granpap came on the 8th of January and finished off the Christmas Celebration!

Great PawPaw made River his very own POTTY....complete with a magazine rack and toilet paper holder. We tried to give him some helpful tips for moving things along in the restroom...read a book, talk on the phone, or have a sip of water. He now has his very own throne!!!

Life Happens

2009-12-18T21:17:00.026-06:00

Life Happens......and then, we blog. Or so it seems! There has been a lot happening and yet again the ole blog gets pushed aside. Hopefully, with some minor changes I'll give the blog more attention.

This is Kari typing. Some of you will be proud that I deactivated my Facebook account, and some may be bummed. I feel like I am trying to juggle too much stuff. So, I decided to simplify my technological communications a bit. Honestly, I ended up spending more time snooping than needed. There are a few people I miss talking to; it was a quick and easy way to make plans. But for now, I haven't missed it enough to go back.

Since our last blog, my brother got married. He married a lady named Mandy. We actually went to high school together. She's a year older, but I remember her. They reconnected, and voila. That's my simple version of what can be told very romantically, but I'm trying to type fast before River is bored with his toys.
They got married on October 30th at a Bed and Breakfast in Charleston, SC. They live near Charleston and had a very sweet ceremony. Of course, the jack of all trades, my hubby, videotaped and sang at the wedding. I told him if he lacked talent like me then he wouldn't be called on for special occasions. I'm just kidding. He is an amazingly talented man that seems to be able to do everything. And for that I have a little healthy jealousy.

After the wedding, we took River to see Mama Ocean for the first time. It was a little chilly and at sunset, so it was a short trip. I wish everyone could have seen his face as we walked over the dunes. The sound alone brought smiles.

River's first Halloween was experienced as a Road Trip back from the wedding. The cowboy wrangled and rodeoed all the way from Charleston to Atlanta.

I had my first birthday as a mom on November 6th. It was spent much like the others: dinner at Gojo Ethiopian Restaurant. But this year I had a cute little boy helping me with presents.

The following weekend our dear friends and self-proclaimed devil-parents of River (the godparents were already taken), Logan and Becky, wed in Nashville at a home in East Nashville.

Thanksgiving was spent with The Boyz (River's godparents) which is the norm. Choyer's mom, Janice, is always a beam of light at the festivities. This year we added my parents to all the fun. Ryan and I have determined over the years that Thanksgiving is our favorite holiday. We spend all day cooking and hanging out! Truly it is not stressful, and we get to just chill out all day and then dine on an abundance of home cooking.

River had his first guy friend come over for a play date. River and Frank were hilarious to say the least. I think the two boys were already up to no good. In the first picture, it looks like Frank is saying, "What?!! Come on."

At the beginning of December, I assisted in a birth. I'll do a separate blog for that. And of course, Christmas merits it's own blog too.

River is so much fun these days! Having him in our lives is like falling in love every day. It's such a rush of love and excitement complete with its moments of sheer frustration. But He Is So Adorable!! We can't get the little booger (other names that we've grown fond of...Doodles, Love Muffin, Stinker Butt, River J) to crawl, but he'll hold our hands and walk all through the house all day. I think he may totally skip crawling.
He has an unbelievable affinity for Elmo. He has a little one he sleeps with and takes everywhere. Anything ELMO...He has one that kisses and tells him that he's Elmo's sweetheart, a book that pops up, his disposable diapers, and a hooded towel. Anywhere he sees Elmo...the biggest grin comes across his face and he giggles. Today we were at the grocery store, and we passed a soup can with Elmo on it. That's all it takes. He is so impressionable these days. He gives us open mouth kisses, claps, waves, and we are working on high fives.

Ryan is at what I call Ranger Preschool right now. During the week, he is at training at a State Park about an hour away. He's learning Emergency Medical Responder, firearm training, and Park Ranger Basics. He comes home on the weekends, and I love Friday afternoons. Absence has definitely made the heart grow fonder. In February, he'll go to what I call Ranger Kindergarten. He'll be there during the week until April. We have 15 weeks left of all of this mess. I know because we created one of those paper chain links to count down for his full-time return. If it weren't for my parents, I would be going even crazier...possibly insane. I am even more greatful for them now. I'm sure Ryan will do a blog about his training. What I just shared is the wife version.

Thanks for hanging in for the blog's entirety. Hope you enjoyed the stories and the pictures. Until next time...

First Love

2009-10-21T22:07:00.010-05:00

Could it really happen?!! Could River fall in love with my bestfriend's daughter? Would that not be high school bestfriends' dreams come true?! Yes, I know Emi Kate is 2 1/2, but as they get older - she could be a "cougar." Or will their new baby due in January be the one that steals River's heart? I'll have to pin my hopes on Emi Kate because that's all I have to work with now.

Amanda, Heath, and Emi Kate came up for a visit a couple of weeks ago. It was so much fun to have my bestfriend from high school and her family hanging out with us. We had loads of pure enjoyment watching River interact with Emi Kate. It was like he knew...she's a tiny human like me. He thought everything she did was funny. She would roll a ball, and he would crack up which would lead her to do it more. They were very entertaining! I loved watching the spawns of the dynamic duo (Amanda and Kari) playing together. There were times where I could see us in them.

I quite enjoyed having them here, and it made me miss the Ashworth family even more. Here are some pics...

"Shhhhh, Baby!"

"I think she's into me."

"Will you be my girl?" HIGH FIVE!!

"I'm going in for the smooch."

"She likes to cuddle."

Blog Neglect. River Update.

2009-10-21T12:47:00.009-05:00

Ok,
We have been crazy busy lately! Therefore, our blog has suffered the consequences of neglect.
So, just to fill in the blanks, here is a little update of River.
He is wonderful and he is growing like crazy! That just about covers it.
He wants to crawl but can't figure it out. He wants to walk, but can't keep his balance. He talks in baby talk all day long and is getting louder and louder the older he gets.
He loves to play and be tossed around and tickled alot...who doesn't?
He loves his mama, but is getting around to wanting his daddy a bunch to play.
He doesn't know physics yet, but he is eating alot of people food. We (meaning mostly Kari) put veggies and fruits in the food processor and turn them into mush and then freeze it in these ice trays. When it is time for him to eat, we just throw a couple cubes into the pot and warm them up...voila!, baby food. He loves it. He grunts and growls and kicks and yells when he is eating. I think he is trying to say "GIVE ME MORE!". I am teaching him to say please and be patient. I'll let you know how that goes.
We go to the doctor next week for his 9 month check up. Hopefully everything charts out as normal.
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure;

A River Photo Update

2009-09-09T08:17:00.010-05:00

We have a ton of pictures of River that we need to show everybody.
But first, some developmental updates...
He can't quite say the entire alphabet yet, but he can goo and gaa most of the phonetic sounds, most even with a pacifier in his mouth.
He loves to play and swing his arms and kick his feet. He will wake up before us in the morning and lay in his crib and play by himself for a long time, just singing and throwing his paci around and kicking around in circles. It's really cute.
He is sitting up really well and reaching for everything. If he gets his hands on something it goes directly into his mouth. I have had to use the "no" word a few times with him already, even though he doesn't know what it means.
He has two teeth and bites Kari while he is feeding. He also is eating avacado, green beans, and peas now. We just buy veggies at the store and put them into the food processor to make some baby food. It's much much cheaper so far.
The result of those additions in his diet is a change in his poo! It's quite stinky now and there has been a magical change in consistency. I have to say that the cloth diapers are working wonderful though!
He's heavy, at least my arms think he's heavy. I can't hold him as long as I used to. He is 16 lbs. and is 26.5 inches long.
Now for a load of pictures.

River and Uncle Choyer relaxing

Cowboy River!

The cutest picture of all time! This is his new sleeping buddy.

Grammy and River on the porch.

Pappy's 70th birthday.

Hey ya'll

"Do I have any buggers in my nose?"

River the Water Baby

2009-08-17T08:08:00.004-05:00

River had his first trip to the swimming pool a few weeks ago. We are just getting around to putting some pictures up.
He seemed to enjoy it, or at least it didn't scare him. He was very calm and quiet the whole time. We think it was because he missed his afternoon nap and was very tired. Towards the end of the adventure he was falling asleep on our shoulders.
We only kept him in the water for 10 minutes or so at a time and we only stayed 30 minutes all together. The internet said that was the safe way to get them started in the pool.
And like most people, after a day at the pool, we came home and River took a loooong deep nap. There is something about the sunshine and water that just wears you out.
Here are some pics:

I added the shark for some danger effects

"Take me home mommy!"

Virginia is for Family

2009-08-14T20:34:00.007-05:00

River made his first trip to Virginia last weekend to see family. I had a rare 4 days off in a row and Kari and I mulled over sitting at home and relaxing for a change or trying to make the trip to Virginia to introduce River to my side of the family.
It had been 3 years since I visited VA. Life's business got the best of me. So we decided to attempt the 8 hour car ride broken into two days and make a little speed visit up north.
River did wonderful in the car ride. Each day was around 4 hours, give or take some. He only fussed the last hour of the last day on the way home.
I don't think he has ever been passed around so much. I almost put him in a little football outfit and just handed him off to everyone that passed by. Play-action River. (that's a football term)
It didn't seem to bother him too much that he was getting tossed around like a hot potato either. He just went with the flow. I guess he knew it was all just family.
So here are some pics from our little jaunt to Virginia.

This is my parents garden. We helped pick some luscious veggies to eat.

Great Aunt Susan

Cousin Brandy, Cousin Sadie, Great Aunt Kim, and Grandma

Cousin Sadie getting some practice for her baby sister coming soon!

Cousin Reed

Some evening relaxing time with Grandma and a nice book.

The next morning we went to the locally famous Blue Collar Joe's Doughnuts. My mouth is salivating right now just thinking about them!!

Great Maw Maw

Great Paw Paw. This is where River got his middle name Morgan!

Aunt Jody and Cousin Morgan

Cousins CJ, Morgan, and Mikey

Uncle Chris looking like a seasoned pro

Meeting my Grandpaw J for the first time

Aunt Haley

Grandmaw J

The Teals New Home 2

2009-08-14T20:02:00.004-05:00

This is the second installment of the Teals New Home updates.
Kari and I stopped by the house yesterday evening to check out the finished product. I think they are coming into town this next week to have a walk through inspection and then close the week after that.
The house looks great! I think they made alot of wise choices with it. Here are some pics that we
took and promised them we would put on the web for their viewing pleasure;

6 Months Already

2009-08-02T12:24:00.008-05:00

River Morgan Jenkins is 6 months old already!! It's hard to believe. We wanted to give a little update, and of course pictures of our growing boy.

River is almost sitting on his own. We've really started to work with him. He'll get it for a few seconds but prefers to fall over and laugh right now. It won't be long. I just know it.

He enjoys standing. If I would sit there all day and hold him up, he'd be perfectly happy.

We've started the solid food adventure. He's only had rice cereal so far. I'm still working out when to feed him, the temperature of the food and all that. We're still nursing, so he fills up on the milk and I'm trying to figure out when is the best time to feed him before he goes back down for a nap. My priority is to nurse for as long as I can, so that's my focus. So, I always nurse first. His tummy is so tiny and full that he only enjoys a small amount of the cereal...I feel like I'm cramming it in sometimes, and much to my dismay...it comes back up shortly. Also, I'm trying to do that at "breakfast." Well, he gets up around 6 or 7 and has a great feed and takes a nap a couple of hours later. I don't even usually get to the rice cereal until around lunch. I'm open to suggestions.

He loves trees. I can put all of his toys in front of him, and he'd much rather watch the trees blowing in the wind through the window. He gets totally mesmerized. Most times a quick trip outside will calm him down instantly.

He has worked so hard these last couple of months teething, and it may have paid off. There's one tooth. It's on the bottom, and we can feel it with our finger where its broken the gums. But he won't let us at his lip enough to get a good look. I don't think it's all the way through, but it won't be long. He's still going strong and chewing away.

Definitely, he has found his voice. Sometimes he "talks" from the moment he gets up until he goes to sleep. Nap Times are the quiet times. I wonder where he got that!

And River is no doubt a Mama's Boy at this point. I'm trying to soak it all in because I have a feeling when he gets older this Cuddly Snuggly Mama Love will morph. So, for now I'm soaking in all those moments he wants to nestle up to me, rub my hands, and sit on my hip.

Now, for some photos...

The Day of Reckoning!!

2009-08-01T09:56:00.006-05:00

Well, it's August 1st...The Jenk Adventure's Day of Reckoning we're calling it. It's the beginning of our journey to become DEBT-FREE!! It should be a wild ride for sure.

Over the nearly 6 years we've been married, we have managed to get our debts down to one. One lonely but huge debt that we are about to tackle......those student loans.

Starting today, we're going to live on a TIGHT budget. Hopefully, we'll be able to live off of Ryan's income and use what I make to add on to the monthly payment. We thought we would let our family and friends know what we're doing for accountability, encouragement, and support.

Here are some of our ground rules...
1) We can only spend $30 a month on eating out.
2) Our gift budget has dwindled down to $30 as well. Sorry, loved ones!
3) The entertainment side of things...well, it has to be FREE!
4) My grocery allowance...every 2 weeks, I get it in cash and I can't use the card. So when we're out, well....we have to get creative.

That hits some of our basics. We'll keep everyone posted on our journey to have peace in our lives financially.

Since it is the Day of Reckoning, I've also started it as the Day I Begin Getting My Body Back....Stay tuned for a post on that later....

Eating from a spoon

2009-07-29T07:35:00.003-05:00

River experienced his first cereal eating experience yesterday! Here lately he has taken a sip of water out of Kari's glass or a straw, but we decided to begin feeding him cereal at 6 months.
He did a great job and got messy in the process, just like he was supposed to. Here are some quick photos of the milestone;