Liam's birthday, take 1

On Friday, September 13, Liam turned four years old!  Geoff and I can hardly believe it!  We blinked, and he became this talkative, social, super-hero loving little boy!  He got to celebrate with a little party at school.  Here are some photos.

 Getting ready for the festivities!

 Blowing out the four candles, representing four years of growth.

 Opening his gift...

 a book about amphibians and reptiles...in Bosnian!

(with teacher Amila)

 With teacher Leila

 Such a big kid now!

And finally, CAKE!

Baby "Cecil"

While in London, I got to check on the status of little Baby "Cecil" (a nickname from Mims).  He is doing well, despite all our early fears otherwise!  This appointment took place at 22 weeks, and he was right on track, measuring at the 50% in most areas, weighing in at 15 ozs., and all development appeared normal.  We are grateful for this healthy news.  Here he is at 22 weeks, sweet thing.  I think he looks like Baby Liam!  We love you "Cecil"!

London, take 2

I often have the thought that I was British in a past life.  The history, culture, and literature of the U.K. has always fascinated me, so when I found out I was pregnant and would get two chances to go to London for medical appointments, I was thrilled!

My first visit I chose to spend my limited free time out in the countryside of Woburn Sands, where a hometown friend of mine was teaching school for a year thanks to the Fulbright Teacher Exchange program.  This visit, Rebecca had already returned to the States, so I spent every minute in fabulous London!  I know I have only been there 4 days total in my life, but London might just be my favorite international city I've visited.  Almost everywhere I looked, there was something familiar...whether from a childhood story or classic novel, a history lesson, or even a movie or TV show (Downton Abbey anyone?), I recognized street, park, and neighborhood names.

My doctor's appointment was in the early afternoon, so I spent my morning on the hop-on, hop-off bus tour.  My limited time did not allow me to hop-off at all, but I got to see a great majority of the city and all the "touristy" spots.  I was mesmerized the entire three hours, and I desperately want to get back there one day so I can actually go INSIDE Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London as well as take a boat ride on the Thames.  London is a city made for me!!!

 Trafalger Square--where they import trained
American red-tailed hawks to keep the pigeons away!

 Westminster Abbey

Parliament and Elizabeth Tower--NOT Big Ben.  

Big Ben is the name of the largest bell inside the clock tower.

(Also as an aside, the picturesque bridge we Americans think is the London Bridge
IS NOT London Bridge.  This picture was taken while on London Bridge.)

 A lovely neighborhood park near my hotel

These are everywhere in London.

Me having a solo picnic lunch in Green Park, which goes all the way to 

Buckingham Palace (at the other end of the park).

There were thousands of Londoners out and about for lunch,

taking advantage of the sunshine.

Travnik, an ancient city

One beautiful Sunday, we decided to take a day trip to Travnik, one of the oldest continually inhabited areas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  It dates back to Roman times, and was the home of Bosnian kings before the Ottomans conquered the area.  Then, the Bosnian viziers called it home and made Travnik a beautiful and highly cultured city.  Travnik lost some of its popularity when the Austrians took over, and thankfully, the city was spared a great deal of destruction during the war in the 90's.  An old fortification overlooks the more modern part of the town, and there are many fish restaurants that take advantage of the river that begins in the mountains and runs right through the city.  We had lunch at a little place recommended by a local friend. The ćevapi (Liam's favorite local dish) was good, but Liam got his first bee sting while there.  We soothed the hurt with a chilled water glass and then some ice cream by the river.  We fed some of the fish in the river before heading back to Sarajevo.  It was a lovely little outing.

 The fortified castle

 Heading to the top...

 where there were some lovely views!

 A Saudi family was also touring.  Liam thought this lady was Darth Vader.

I tried to explain to him that she wasn't Darth, just a lady like mommy but with dark robes
her church asks her to wear, but he refused to let it go.

One more shot before heading back down

 Bee sting ice cream

 Feeding the fish!

Liam's 2nd set of stitches

Not even 2 hours into Liam's first day back at school after our summer vacation, I received a call from the school.  "It's not an emergency, but Liam fell while outside, and I think he may need to see a doctor."  My heart sank.  I knew if it had been a REAL crisis, an ambulance would have been called, so I was curious as to what the injury could be.  My guess was a cut that needed stitches.  I was right.

When I arrived at school, Liam was sitting calmly in the office.  He had a white bandage across his chin and was eating apple slices.  He came to me and gave me a hug and told me, "I was running so fast and I hurt my chin."  I didn't even look at the cut since it was so neatly cleaned and bandaged, but the director told me she thought it was pretty deep.  So Liam and I headed into the Embassy to see the doc there.  Geoff met us there, and when the nurse took off the bandage, I let out a big, "OH!"  The cut WAS deep...and from one edge of his chin to the other.

The med team started prepping Liam for stitches while Geoff and I held him down/distracted him.  Liam was SOOOOO brave.  He only cried a little bit when the anesthetic shot was given.  He stayed still with me only occasionally having to remind him not to move while the doc stitched him up.  When the procedure was over, everyone was so impressed with "IronMan" that he got to pick TWO prizes from the box AND get 2 tootsie rolls!

The whole thing made Geoff and me so grateful for Liam's calm demeanor (well, most of the time).  He really is a super kid...who now has a super cool, tough-looking scar across his chin!

A last celebration in AL

The Thursday before Liam and I flew back to Sarajevo, Mims, Baba, Liam, and I drove down to Auburn to see Uncle Connor, Aunt Shannon, and Avery one more time.  Earlier that week, I had my targeted ultrasound done and was able to share with Geoff and Liam the good news that a baby boy was on the way, but no one else knew yet.  So we decided to have a tiny "gender reveal" party to let the Glenn family know what Baby Howard was going to be.  I ordered a cake from Gourmet Tiger, and Aunt "Shanny" got some balloons and pink and blue decor.

After dinner, it was time for the cake cutting!  

Everyone voted on what they thought the baby would be by holding up either a pink or blue rattle.

AND THE CAKE IS BLUE!!!!  I love the facial expressions--too bad I couldn't get Dad's face too!

"I'm going to have a baby brudder!" says excited Liam.

Sweet Avery loved the cake despite getting some 18 month shots that very day.

After dinner, there was a short golf lesson with Uncle Connor.

We then had to say our good-byes for the hour and half drive back to Pell City.  It wasn't too sad this time around though because we knew we'd be back together again in November!  Until then, dear Glenn family!

Pirate Island

There is a magical place in the middle of Logan Martin Lake.  It's called Pirate Island, and it's about a 2 minute boat ride from my parents' dock.  I don't know to whom the island actually belongs, but apparently this person is quite fun and generous.  It's a small piece of heaven for kids, and I suppose adults too.  There's a hammock along with some benches and camping chairs around a fire pit.  Palm trees are planted there, as are some other lovely flora and fauna.  Sand was imported and dumped to make a small beach, and there are even anchors marked by buoys off of the island where boats can tie up so that folks can enjoy the island.  The best part for the kids though is the treasure chest.  Kids can open the chest and find small prizes.  Liam has been captivated by Pirate Island for quite some time, and our couple of trips there this summer simply made his day!  To whomever owns and maintains this cute little place, THANK YOU for making it open to the public!  You are a kind soul!