COOPER JOHN born 9/23/07 and RYDER REDINGTON born 9/4/09

Here are some pics of our little chickens from Halloween...

Here's Ryder at his 2 month doctor's appointment. He weighs in at 13lb 4.5oz and is 24.25 inches long.

Ryder Redington Fiske-Kneafsey was born 9/4/09 at 5:23pm weighing 7 lbs 5 oz and a whopping 22 inches long! Amy gave birth one hundred percent naturally with no drugs at all and I'm still over the moon impressed with her. We are all home getting adjusted and Cooper is a bit out of sorts but mostly bursting with pride over his new baby brother...I can already see they are going to be the best of buddies and adorable together. Here are some pictures: --Dolan (aka "bursting-at-the-seams-proud-daddy")

the kid's got one hell of a sense of humor (and great comedic timing too!):

here's a fun video we made earlier tonight:



Today is also my dad's birthday. RIP, Dad...we miss you!

Here's a video of xmas morning:



more holiday pics

Here's Cooper with his cousin Molly a couple of days before Xmas at his Grandma Fiske's home:



Riley Ann the newest little reindeer:



Carmel, Riley, Cooper, and Daniel at Nana's on Xmas Day:



Nana and Norah Rose:



Christmas Day chaos with babies and kids everywhere:



Cooper and Danny in their matching Xmas pj's (Riley and Norah had some too but were asleep when the picture was being taken unfortunately)

So, things have been a hectic since the move and haven't had much time to put pictures and stuff up here but here's some newer pictures from Xmas and some of the new house (which we are loving!)...Hope everyone is having a happy and healthy holiday season! (double-click on each picture to enlarge it)

our new home (and the first snowfall at our new home)



front porch stacked with firewood...yaay!



Cooper loves the front door at our new house that he can look out all the time!



our xmas tree (first time we got a fake xmas tree....we just figured it would be much easier because of the age Cooper is at right now!)



our stockings hung by the chimney with care...



living room:



Cooper with his cousin Molly:



Christmas Eve Nana and Uncle Michael came over for a visit before Santa's visit!



opening presents on Christmas morning:



apparently Santa ran out of xmas wrapping paper and had to resort to Batman!



couldn't get the toys out of the boxes fast enough for Cooper....



....although I must say he was happy enough while he waited! ha ha



that's all for today....to be continued with more pictures soon from Xmas Day at Nana's

Here's one very soon after she was born: (check out those looonnng toes! :-)





here's one with her proud pop (my brother-in-law Derek):



Welcome, little Riley! We can't wait to get to know you!

Today my baby sister Carmel and her husband Derek welcomed their first child into the world...a beautiful, little girl named Riley Ann McDonnell. Riley came into this world verrrry quickly and with a sneeze! She weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and is 21 inches long. And she has lots of dark hair. We all love her so much already. Happy Birthday, Riley! (pictures to come soon hopefully if we ever find our camera...been lost since the move!)

Today is a historic day for our country. It is good and it is right. Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States of America. It feels like I can finally take a good, long, deep breath and relax. People are spontaneously gathering in droves and parading down the middle of Broad Street with pure glee and jubilation. It feels good to be a part of this. OBAMA!!!!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while but we've been very busy packing for our move on Friday. Anyway, here are some Halloween "treats"....This year for Halloween we went to my brother John and his wife Jamie's home...everybody met up there for a lovely evening. It was my new niece (Norah Rose's) first Halloween. Here are some cute pictures from the night:

Cooper was (what else??) a little monkey of course!





Nana gave Cooper a stuffed animal Phillies doll (GO PHILLIES!)



Coop with two of his cousins Daniel and Norah Rose:



Coop with his Nana:



Nana with her newest addition (Norah Rose as a pea in a pod)



and another grandchild/cousin coming in a few short weeks who is already getting into the Halloween fun! (Carmel and Derek don't have long now!)



Big monkey with little monkey!



me with Norah Rose (at least one of us was happy for the photo! ha ha)



Mommy feeding little monkey a banana (it's appropriately one of his favorite foods! :-)



family picture:



It is so cute to watch Cooper and Daniel together..Cooper gets such a kick out of him and they just adore each other--check out the smiles on his face:





oh, and Nana got in on the Halloween fun (although Cooper didn't like the mask one bit!)



lastly, here's a cute video of Cooper and his big cousin Daniel playing on Halloween night after all the trick-or-treating fun:

We sold our house (yay!) for above asking price (double-yay!!) and have bought a new home in the neighborhood we've wanted to live in for a long time so we are super excited...however....we are currently in the midst of packing panic and chaos. How in the world did we manage to accumulate sooo much stuff?!? (I blame Cooper :-) And of course Cooper thinks this new game of boxes everywhere is just so great! lol...whenever we are trying to pack a box he finds it hilarious to try to remove whatever we put in the box which makes for slow going indeed. Anyway, we are moving the week after Halloween and can't wait...keep us in your prayers that we get it all done and that Cooper cooperates (you'd think he would since his name is in the word dammit! ha ha)

So, today we had a "surprise" baby shower for Carmel and Derek and here are some pictures....we are so excited to meet Baby McDonnell in December! (And Coop is especially excited to have another little cousin!)...double-click on each photo to enlarge-

before guests arrived: (Caroline and Mom really went all out with the decor...everything was amazing)



white pumpkins that Caroline carved that said "Happy Shower" (it was an autumn theme)



the chair for the guest of honor and just some of the many gifts!



the cake: (Carmel on the left and Derek on the right)



the favors (cute little pumpkin candles and bookmarks) guarded by Carmel's fave (Tigger):



cute decoration around the food table:





Coop's big cousin Daniel giving him a helping hand:





Nana finally sitting down and relaxing after all her hard work!



Cooper waiting patiently (?) with Mommy for Carmel to arrive:



the boys watching the door in anticipation:



Nana and Coop:



Aunt Jamie and Uncle Mike almost getting caught outside and rushing to get in to the party before Carmel and Derek pulled in to the driveway (too funny!):



"SURPRISE!"



Somehow, we have a hunch that Carmel wasn't too "surprised"...ha ha



Kathleen Calhoun, Aunt Caroline, cousin Kathleen, Mary Tansey:



Cooper about to get a smooch:



Aunt Carmel getting hydrated and ready to open all the presents:



Coop playing outside:





And, as always, Cooper keeps close tabs on the beverages:



Congratulations Carmel and Derek! (Cooper said to tell you that he knows you're both going to be wonderful parents because of how wonderful of an aunt and uncle you already are!!)

This past weekend was a busy one...we had a small party to celebrate Coop's first birthday. Cooper also had his one year checkup at the doctor's and Grandpy and Grandma Jo were in town to help celebrate.....here are some pictures (double-click on each to enlarge)

at the doctor's office:



1 year stats are: weight: 27 lbs and height: 33 inches tall (still in the 98th percentile for both...our big boy!)



stealing kisses makes Cooper laugh:



Coop's party before guests arrived:





as usual, with all the chaos we didn't take nearly enough pictures of family and friends but here's one at least:



the birthday boy himself:



family pic (can't believe we made it through the first year!)



Coop starting to get annoyed by all the paparazzi:



Daniel being such a good big cousin helping Cooper try out one of his new bday gifts (from his Uncle/godfather Michael):



Coop with one of his little buddies Cobrin...checking out some toys together:



Coop with another buddy Cole (both looooved the balloons!)



trying to get a group shot with the boys did not go well...



cake time!



Happy Birthday, Baby!



mmmm...he definitely liked vanilla better than chocolate!



in his monkey birthday hat (which he barely left on long enough to get a picture)



the day after his party we went out to brunch with Grandpy and Grandma Jo, Aunt Suzy, Uncle Alan and cousin Molly:



Coop thinks brunch is just hysterical:





and Nana's meatballs are just as yummy the second day!! :-)



Thanks so much to our awesome family and friends who helped us celebrate and spoiled Cooper with wonderful presents and attention...he had a blast.

Today Cooper and Amy had their first "mommy and me" music class (although apparently the term "mommy" is flexible as Amy said about half of the class "mommies" were actually private nannies :-)

Cooper really loved the instruments but apparently was not too big a fan of the corny teacher and songs (and also would not give the instrument back when she went to collect them after one of the songs but the teacher said that was fine as he would learn the routine in time.....hopefully! what can I say...he loves his music! :-)



look at the dirty look he seems to be giving that other baby! "Hey Pal...this ain't no Stargazer Lily so I don't know what you're so happy about!" ha ha



then after work we all went to get Cooper (and Amy's) hair cut! (his first haircut)



and while he wasn't exactly thrilled...overall he really didn't do too bad at all; no screaming or crying...just a bit of whining and unhappiness towards the end:





but he was back to his happy self once we got home (and look how cute he looks in one---of the many--shirts his Nana got him for his birthday!)



and finally, here's a video after dinner that's just cute where he says "ball" and a couple of other words he's trying to say. It's especially funny when we ask him if he can say "Nana"....because even though he nods yes he has yet to actually say "Nana"...he's a cutie!

So, today I took the day off work and we had a fun-filled day for Coop. So many friends and family called throughout the day to wish Cooper a happy first birthday and we very much appreciated all of it.....here's a rundown of how Coop's day went: (double-click on each picture to enlarge)

We started the day off with yummy pancakes and strawberries:



Then after breakfast it was present time!





After playing with his new stuff we decided to go to Rittenhouse Square for a walk since it was such a nice day out and we stopped for lunch at Continental where Cooper loved the decor and big lights (he thought the food was so-so):



On our way home for Cooper's nap we stopped at Brown Betty Bakery where Cooper picked out a cupcake (which would be his first taste of pure sugar!):



waiting happily for his cupcake after his nap:



mmmm....chocolate! (surprisingly though, he actually didn't eat much of the cupcake and then was reaching for crackers and plum instead! go figure! --clearly Amy's influence! ha ha)



Then his godparent Steph stopped by to give Coop his present (he just adores Steph...it's very cute):



Steph showing Coop his new book all about animals:



Later in the evening my family descended to finish the day of spoiling! :-) Cooper was thrilled to see them arrive:

Coop and Nana sharing a laugh (the boy sure has an expressive face!)



Caroline and Danny bought a little fire truck car for Cooper which Caroline kindly put together immediately:



And Daniel kept Cooper occupied while Caroline was working on the car by showing him fun uses for the empty box:



Carmel and Derek showed up to add to the birthday fun (Carmel's belly finally "popped" which is so cute!...Coop can't wait to have another cousin in December to add to the mix):



By this point in the day, it seemed Cooper had finally gotten the hang of this birthday thing and understood the opening of the gifts for even more fun underneath the wrapping...it was very cute as he waited intently for Carmel to get his present out of the box and wrap:



Then the car was finished and Derek helped Coop climb in for the first spin:



Well...he absolutely LOVED it...we couldn't get him out of it for at least half an hour! it was too cute:



It was a good day and our little guy was tuckered out by the end of it (as were we!)...Happy Birthday, Cooper! We love you very much! (I will try to put some videos up here soon from his birthday as well)

Tomorrow at 10:30am marks officially Cooper's first birthday. At this time last year, poor Amy was in the midst of her 36(!) hour labor and we were both delirious from exhaustion. Amy went into labor on the very same day as my Dad's funeral (Cooper did us the courtesy of waiting until after the service at least!)....and our lives haven't been the same since.
Cooper, whenever you do read this you should know that you are so very loved and adored not just by me and your mommy but by so many others as well who are family either through blood or through choice. You amaze me each day with your newfound skills, persistence, bravery, and humor! It seems like within the past few weeks we're stuck on fast-forward and you're growing, learning, and changing in leaps and bounds. You're walking (sometimes trotting even), you're climbing (anything and everything!) and you're just simply amazing. You say "hi" and "bye" and "done". (It's the cutest thing ever because it started at mealtimes...Cooper would shrug his shoulders and have both palms up in the air and say "done" and now that he sees that we understand that word he has started trying to apply it to everything.....stuck in traffic:"Done!"...in the bath:"Done!"...in his crib:"Done!" and so on and so forth; it's very cute). You also are saying "dog" (this applies to almost any outdoor sound or animal currently. Birds are dogs. Every sound is a dog. Cats are even dogs). And even though you seem to have this love for dogs, it appears to be only in the stuffed animal/book versions as in real life if one gets too close you get verrry upset indeed (which we continue to work on). You love topsy-turvy things...the more "dangerous" the better. You love playing "rough" and being tossed high up in the air or jumping high on the bed.....yet, for some reason, you are scared of flowers!?!? :-) You have a wonderful belly laugh and such a mischievous grin where your whole face lights up, your eyes squint and your nose crinkles up and you crack a big, wide smile showing all two of your adorable bottom teeth (although we can see the tips of the top ones coming)...You love to be tickled and to be chased. And recently, you've caught on to the game and have begun sneaking up on us and saying "tickle, tickle, tickle" as you not so gently hit us basically (your version of tickling right now)....you adore music, all kinds of music. Whenever we throw a cd on, you can't even control yourself and your head starts bopping to the beat and that great smile spreads across your face. You love to "read" and to be read to and even have some favorite books that you'll say "again" each time we finish reading them (some can be read 4 or 5 times in a row!)...You have a budding bizarre sense of humor (how could you not in this family?!?) and it's truly just a pleasure to be lucky enough to be your parents.
Happy, Happy Birthday you sweet, wonderful, brilliant, charming, amazing little man....we love you so very much~

September 20th is my mom's birthday (aka Nana)....(and the 19th is Uncle Derek's! Happy Birthday Uncle Rex too!)....we all (the adults) went out for a lovely surprise birthday dinner tonight to celebrate the wonderful, amazing woman that I am lucky enough to call "Mom"....we went to this new restaurant near my mom's called "Bonefish" and the food was awesome. We all had a really lovely evening and it was just especially nice to get a rare night out with fun, laughs, love and good food. Amy and I had a photo blown up for Nana's gift that is one of her favorite photgraphs and we had it framed and she just loved it. The photo is below: Happy Birthday, Mom and looking forward to celebrating many, many more! We love you!

(annnd it's very hard to believe but our gorgeous, amazing little boy will be ONE year old on Tuesday...wow!)

So, I know these pictures may be a bit morbid but I took them so family in Ireland could see Dad's headstone...it truly is a piece of art and I know he would really think it is beautiful. Also, when we went to the grave yesterday, it was (of course) hard for everyone but Cooper toddled right up to Dad's headstone, crouched down, smiled a big smile and then started waving and saying "Hi"... it was heartbreaking to watch. He must have stood there smiling and patting the headstone gently for a full 5 minutes...and even though it was so hard to see, it was comforting to know that Dad was there with us. (double-click on each picture to enlarge it).