Monthly Archives: March 2014

Finn ~ 52 weeks

IMG_20140313_135103-003Look at this big boys haircut! That was the highlight of our week, Finn’s first official haircut! We met over lunch on Thursday at Cookie Cutters – a place for kids haircuts. We had to wake him from a nap to go, so he was quite still and very calm throughout the whole process. Not to mention he got to sit in a blue airplane and watch Sesame Street! First is his “before” haircut and then his new look – doesn’t he look handsome? And so much more like a toddler. Kevin and I both have mixed feelings about the haircut – we love it but our baby is growing up way too fast!DSC_0415 DSC_0416 DSC_0421 DSC_0424 DSC_0426 DSC_0429 DSC_0433 DSC_0434 DSC_0448 DSC_0453 DSC_0463 DSC_0466 DSC_0474 DSC_0487 DSC_0497 DSC_0503 DSC_0510 DSC_0516 DSC_0521 IMG_20140313_133207131_HDR-2 IMG_20140313_133326209-2

On Tuesday we took Finn to the doctor again as he was tugging some on his right ear (still) and didn’t seem to have his regular appetite. He wasn’t really interested in food or his bottles, which is pretty unusual. He is also working on getting in tooth number 7, so we weren’t sure if that was a part of his crankiness or if it was possibly that his ear infection hadn’t completely cleared up. Sure enough, he has an infection still in his right ear. So, we are on the third round of yet another different antibiotic. If this doesn’t clear it up we will likely be referred to an ENT, so I am hoping this does the trick! He is much better now – he was the fussiest he ever been!

With every day, it is becoming more clear than Finn understands so much of what we say to him. He often responds with actions or “words”. It is amazing to see. He is like a little sponge, and he is VERY good at mimicking sounds, like when we cough. He pretty much has that one down pat!

Friday evening was the annual Millcreek Spring Fling, our kick-off event for the spring season. It was in Powell, at Liberty Tavern, and was a fun night for everyone. Lots of fun conversation and it’s nice to interact with everyone outside the workplace! We brought Finn along, a little party crasher, and he had quite a good time being passed around by everyone – and peering out the window. DSC_0535 DSC_0534 DSC_0533 DSC_0538 DSC_0536 DSC_0523

Our week was pretty busy with all kinds of activities leading up to Finn’s first birthday party. We had a lovely gathering at our house with family and lots of friends. Finn woke up at 3:30 pm, just before the 4 pm party time. He was awake throughout the entire party and didn’t hit the hay until 9 pm! He was happy up until the end and even then he was going strong, just a bit bleary. He loved eating lots of berries and a cookie. It took him a minute to finally tear into his birthday cake, but once he did he enjoyed himself. I think having a large crowd staring at him made him a bit unsure. He was showered with so many lovely gifts – we are all to excited to explore so many toys, books, and games! Here are tons of photos, and some are from Amy too!DSC_0543 DSC_0541 DSC_0544 DSC_0549 DSC_0552 DSC_0555 DSC_0563 DSC_0564 DSC_0582 DSC_0600 DSC_0613 DSC_0615 DSC_0620 DSC_0623 DSC_0626 DSC_0630 DSC_0631 DSC_0635 DSC_0639DSC_0755 DSC_0757 DSC_0762 DSC_0782 DSC_0645 DSC_0651 DSC_0654 DSC_0663 DSC_0666IMG_0072-2 IMG_0075-2 IMG_0076-2 IMG_0080-2 IMG_0082-2 IMG_0045-2 IMG_0047-2 IMG_0049-2 IMG_0051-2 IMG_0058-2 IMG_0060-2 IMG_0069-2 DSC_0605 DSC_0675 DSC_0677 IMG_0098-2 IMG_0127-2 IMG_0129-2 DSC_0696 DSC_0712 DSC_0715 DSC_0723 DSC_0725 DSC_0731 IMG_0131-2 IMG_0108-2 IMG_0110-2 IMG_0134-2 IMG_0145-2 IMG_0137-2 IMG_0140-2 IMG_0118-2 IMG_0141-2 IMG_0120-2 IMG_0144-2 DSC_0741 DSC_0749DSC_0800 IMG_0149-2 IMG_0150-2 DSC_0800DSC_0765 DSC_0767 DSC_0768 IMG_0173-2 IMG_0174-2 IMG_0155-2 IMG_0177-2 IMG_0157-2 IMG_0159-2 IMG_0163-2 IMG_0165-2 IMG_0169-2IMG_0178-2 IMG_0185-2 IMG_0190-2 IMG_0196-2 IMG_0201-2 IMG_0202-2 IMG_0207-2DSC_0795 DSC_0802 DSC_0805 DSC_0807

 

Finn ~ 51 weeks

DSC_0323_51weeks   It’s been a low-key week around here. My work schedule is picking up some as I have a lot of projects that we are trying to get wrapped up before the spring craze sets in. It’s hard to believe it is that time of year, but it has almost arrived. It is nice to walk around at work and see all of the newly potted production and we have begun to ship on a small scale mostly to the south. Finn and Sam have fun with each other, one usually wanting what the other has. Here they are going back and forth with Sam’s Elmo!DSC_0291 DSC_0292 DSC_0293photo   On Friday and Saturday I attended the women’s retreat put on through our church. It was a nice event, and a lot of the content continues to resonate with me. It was my first overnight away from Finn since he has arrived! I did ok though, and he was totally fine without me (ha! no surprise there!). Kevin’s parents came up to hang out for a bit Friday evening and stayed the night. Grandma and Grandpa brought the fun tunnel that you see Finn crawling through (and daddy playing in) in these photos. They had some fun play time with him and it worked out great that Kevin was able to take Cameron and Lily to the Vet for their yearly appointments Saturday morning while they watched Finn. We’re a bit concerned about all of the growths (lipomas) on Cameron, though she has always had some and as she ages they said it is common for her to have more of them. However, her lymph nodes were slightly enlarged so we are having that looked in to. She’s had a hard time with the stairs and getting up on the couch and we’ve learned she has arthritis pretty good in three of her four legs, so she is going to begin taking Rimadyl which was the medication Hailey had taken for a long time. This aging is no fun!

Finn had a slight fever Saturday evening. Seems as though he is getting another tooth, his lower left, and so far fever seems to be a good indicator that it’s teething time. That makes 7! Enjoy your week – it’s party prep time for us, we almost have a 1-year old on our hands!DSC_0296 DSC_0302 DSC_0313 DSC_0327 DSC_0332 DSC_0333 DSC_0335 DSC_0338 DSC_0343 DSC_0348DSC_0350 DSC_0352 DSC_0358 DSC_0361 DSC_0371 DSC_0379 DSC_0389 DSC_0397 DSC_0402 DSC_0407

Finn ~ 50 weeks

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Seriously, where does the time go? I’ve been thinking these past several weeks how time is just passing way too fast. How can Finn almost be 1 year old?? He is turning in to this little man and it is so fun to watch him every day, yet I frequently ask myself how can our baby be growing so fast?

He loves to be a bit mischievous and test the boundaries at times. Sometimes when we tell him no, he will look right at us and cautiously do it again – whatever it was.  Trying to see how far he can go, that little stinker! He’s loving climbing on things, including climbing into buckets or boxes, climbing on to his rocker, or at times, climbing on Lily! She just lays there and puts up with it, usually chewing her nylabone. IMG_20140224_174835727 IMG_20140224_175359588 IMG_20140224_175517311 IMG_20140224_175721029 DSC_0007 DSC_0008 DSC_0012 DSC_0025 DSC_0028 DSC_0031 DSC_0036 DSC_0037 IMG_20140301_081934463 IMG_20140301_082038194 DSC_0234 DSC_0254 DSC_0272 DSC_0278 DSC_0280

This week Kevin finished installing a new chalk board we purchased for the basement. Despite having a finished lower level, we didn’t spent much time down there ourselves or with Finn. However, after our trip to IKEA awhile back it is a much more kid-friendly space to play! Debbie plans fun activities with Finn and Sam each week. They’ve been coloring, painting, playing with bubbles, and playing with all of the toys down there. She took a few cute photos of them together this week too. Finn continues to cruise all along the furniture and he also pushes things across the floors (including his music table across the carpet). He’s wanted to take a few steps on his own but so far he only goes about one step before he falls to his bum. He is also quite good at lowering himself to the floor very gently!photo-2 photo (1)-2 photo (2)-2 DSC_0082 DSC_0084 DSC_0090 DSC_0091 DSC_0094 DSC_0100 DSC_0104 DSC_0108 DSC_0113 DSC_0114 DSC_0076 DSC_0118 DSC_0122 DSC_0129 DSC_0140 DSC_0163 DSC_0171 DSC_0173 DSC_0174 DSC_0177

We are in party planning mode and look forward to celebrating Finn’s birthday in a couple weeks with our family and friends. My office hours officially switch to 5 pm on Monday, March 3rd, and that is just the beginning of the longer days for me. I’m not really looking forward to the late nights, but will appreciate having such a flexible schedule after the spring craze is over. Renovations have begun at my office as well and as a part of this phase I will have an office of my own! I never really thought I needed an office to myself, but I am actually looking forward to having a space that I can work uninterrupted! It’s exciting and hopefully will be complete by April 1st! Yay! Other than the hours of sunlight getting longer each day, I’m most excited that Kevin and Finn will be able to come visit me in the Spring!

Kevin and I began a meal replacement plan this week. I have two shakes a day, breakfast and lunch, and Kevin has one for breakfast. Then we eat healthy snacks, like cottage cheese, yogurt, hummus, tuna, fruits, veggies, nuts, throughout the day. Can you guess which one of us eats which of those foods? :). Then we make a nice dinner of salad and a protein like steak or pork. I’m really enjoying it as I don’t really eat breakfast or lunch and I snack throughout the day. So this provides some consistency and I love that the shakes can be any flavor we want. So far we’ve stuck to mixed fruit and mixed berry, but this week I’m excited to try peanut butter banana and chocolate cherry! We use any kind of frozen fruits (or fresh), almond milk or oj, so the possibilities are endless. We splurged on Saturday night as we met up with the Ackerman’s on this side of the river for dinner at Easy Street, followed by a shared bowl of ice cream at Jeni’s! And correction from last week on mentioning Finn doesn’t care for raspberries! He actually is loving them, and had more than 10 tonight at dinner.  This little man has a big tummy, we haven’t figured out where it goes, but he enjoys having a good meal with mamma and daddy. This week some of his newer foods include steak, burger, cottage cheese, melon, avacado, curried brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, and Jeni’s Salted Caramel and Milkiest Chocolate ice creams! DSC_0183 DSC_0193