I’m really trying to catch up on our blog posts and I feel like I’m falling even further behind! I haven’t really kept any notes on our adventures and pretty much rely on the photos to jog my memory about our weeks. I do, however, remember this morning when we were all home and awake at the same time before Kevin and I each headed in to work. We hadn’t had a chance to be together to do crack open the confetti Easter eggs. Griffin was pretty excited at 7:15 in the morning to head outside and have colorful confetti blowing everywhere. He enjoyed cracking them over Lily and Brutus, and over my belly as you can see. 
Lily continues to recover well. We are still taking her out on her leash (only) and she and Brutus remain separated by her playpen walls. They do get in to periodic spats of playfulness where they basically bite at each others faces and bark and growl at each other. And Finn continues to enjoy spending time in there with Lily. 
On Friday I had my first weekly Non-stress test where they put a two monitors on my belly (one for contractions (pink band) and one for the baby’s heart beat (blue band) and in the printout below the top is the baby’s heart rate and the bottom monitors contractions). I had felt him moving around all morning but it always makes me a bit nervous while they try to find the heartbeat on the monitor and then secure the monitor in the correct place so it continues to track the heart rate. After a few minutes the nurse was able to get it right (she was new and nervous I could tell!). It took about 30-40 minutes but everything looked great so I’m all done until next week. On Friday Griffin also had a follow up hearing test. Earlier this spring he had a speech and hearing screening at pre-school and he didn’t pass in his right ear. Kevin was able to take him to this appointment since i was at my appointment in the morning and had to get to work after that. We are very thankful that he passed the tests just fine. They had him hooked up to some equipment and when he would hear the sound he would have to throw a toy into the bucket. He rather enjoyed it I think, according to Kevin! Afterwards Daddy and Finn went on a shopping trip to Dick’s to get Finn some cleats for his football games. 
First thing in the morning Griffin always comes to our room and hops right up into our bed and just snuggles. He is the best cuddler and I love to watch Griffin and Kevin together. 
Here are a few others from this week: Z is the letter of the week so Finn made a Z for Zoo and the animals behind it. Also our Rising Sun Redbud out front is leafing out and looking pretty! And a couple from the park and the zoo. 
Finn’s flag football games are a hoot to watch. There are 4 coaches and they are all actively helping the kids learn the entire game. It is tiring for Kevin, for sure, but he is enjoying it. And Finn loves that his daddy is one of his coaches.
April 23, 2017
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This week was all about Easter and eggs! We had a fun Easter Egg hunt at our neighbor Brian’s house with a few of our other neighbors. The kiddos enjoyed hunting down the eggs in his backyard and afterward we had a nice cookout at Nate and AJ’s place. It is so nice to have kids in the neighborhood and neighbors that we enjoy spending time with! 
While I was working on Saturday Kevin was quite brave and took Griffin along with all of the Manning girls to the Egg Drop at Liberty High School in Powell. It is a HUGE egg event organized by age groups. And for each age group a helicopter drops a bag of eggs from the sky. Those eggs are in addition to the 10,000 eggs already on the ground!!
Griffin was spoiled with quite a deluxe easter basket. He got all kinds of candy, but also socks, wooden cars, a candy fan and other things. His facial expression when he came downstairs and saw it on the counter melted my heart. 
Our front garden is looking really pretty right now with the creeping phlox blooming and the pretty flowers on our Rising Sun Redbud that we planted last year. And it is always one of my favorite weeks of the year when the viburnum blooms in our backyard near the patio and porch. The sweet spicy smell is so lovely! And Griffin was outside enjoying and observing nature too!
Brutus continues to grow big! Check him out – from the day we got him (upper left) to this week (right) he continues to grow and is inching up on Griffin!
It’s been a fairly uneventful week around here other than for Lily’s recovery. She continues to do really well. It just takes time to care for her and take her out individually on a leash. But I’ve got a good routine down, especially in the morning when I get up and come downstairs. I’ve learned the trick to giving her all of her meds (of which she takes about 7 pills twice a day!) is to put them on top of wet/canned dog food. She pretty much will eat them like candy! Then I end by giving her a spoonful of just plain food (no pills) and give some to Brutus to for being a patient and calm observer. Lily and Brutus enjoy playing with each other (which is basically them growling and biting at each other over the baby fence) throughout the day. I really think that Lily enjoys the protection and peace and quiet of having her own room and playspace. She’s especially been loving laying on the dog bed and blanket that my mom made to go in her crate during her recovery. Isn’t it the cutest? It is cream-colored, which my mom picked on purpose to match her furry coat. Moms are just the best :). 
Griffin enjoys being in the playpen with Lily and keeping her company. He usually takes in a puzzle or quiet toy to play with while he lays down beside her. 
Our night time routine is obviously much different since Lily can’t navigate stairs for the next 2 months. So now it is just Brutus in Finn’s room during bedtime. He still is enjoying the cuddles. 
