Tag Archives: cousins

July 19, 2014

We’ve had an adventurous week this week filled with lots of time outside, including picking many cucumbers and zucchini and playing with Lily. We went to the zoo three times too and saw so many fun animals. We explored several parts of the zoo we hadn’t previously been through and of course we got in a couple rides on the carousel. Finn absolutely loves to have the dogs around all the time. He climbs all over Lily and talks to both of the dogs all the time. When they walk into a room he often does a little dance. Finn continues to love to climb and test the waters with what he should and shouldn’t be doing. One evening in the kitchen he pulled a box off the chair along with his to go bag and proceeded to step on the box while carrying his bag. He certainly is able to multi-task! He also loves to climb on his toy car in his room and stand on the seat and get things off his dresser, in this case, a bunch of homeless socks! Thursday we were able to host a family gathering at our place as Kevin’s brother Sean along with Chris and their kids Max and Charlotte are visiting from New Mexico. Grandma and Grandpa Armstrong and Brett were here as well. Finn enjoyed meeting his cousins for the first time and the kiddos played together for awhile in the basement and outside. Unfortunately, rather sad circumstances led to their trip to Ohio as they are here to attend two unrelated funerals. So while Sean and Chris traveled on Saturday, Grandma, Grandpa, Max, Charlotte, Brett, Missy, Kevin, Finn and myself spent the day together at the zoo. Though the day started of rainy it actually turned out to be a perfectly pleasant overcast day!

After the zoo the kids had a quick run through the yard. Finn was only wearing his socks, and left cute little trails all over the driveway. The highlight of this trip to the zoo for Finn was riding the camels (mamals)! He was super excited (though it doesn’t look like it here) and wouldn’t stop saying “mamals, mamals, mamals!”. Several areas of progress this week on the remodeling. On Monday Kevin and Brett prepped and framed the bay window area for new windows (installed on Tuesday) and added new cedar siding. After the windows were installed (by Lowe’s) Brett finished the details. The new windows are shorter than the previous windows since the kitchen sink and counters will be along the wall. Kevin primed the wood with tinted primer, so from the outside you can’t even tell anything was done. These guys are professionals 🙂 Our new refrigerator arrived on Thursday and Brett also finished up the food pantry with all of the shelving and framing for various items that will be installed (a drawer freezer and either the wine fridge or ice maker). Kevin filled the nail holes and then sanded everything so now all that remains is for the shelves to be painted and the counter to be installed. Things are moving right along!

April 5, 2014

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We started the week by heading to Menard’s on a sunny Sunday. It was the first time Finn got out of his stroller and walked through a store, as opposed to being carried! He was quite proud of himself, gauging by the huge smile on his face, and loved pushing the stroller about. And he expended quite a bit of energy!

The weather is finally beginning to get a little bit warmer and my work is slowly picking up the pace, but I was able to get home one night early enough that we went out to eat together at Liberty Tavern. There was live music which we all enjoyed, but Finn especially, as he bounced around in his high chair.

Finn is growing by leaps and bounds and continues to babble and say new words all the time. He says things like more, uh oh, down, duck, daddy, dada, momma, doggie, dog dog, and nana (for banana) as a start. He’s very good at mimicking sounds and words and mocking noises. And when he spies you smiling at his cuteness, he often scrunches his nose and does his snorting trick – kinda like, yeah, I’m cute! We absolutely love having Debbie and Sammy come each day. Debbie has been teaching Finn things like shaking his head yes and no, where is your belly, hair, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc. He has the shaking his head no and pointing to his belly and hair mastered already :0). She often has a theme for the week, which is so fun to come home to art projects of painting, coloring, and so on. This week they made easter eggs and painted with their feet!

This weekend was a busy one, as I’ve begun working at Millcreek on the weekend and Kevin helped his brother Brett, and Missy, move into their new house! What fun (and a lot of work!). He had a good time and while he was away, Finn and I went to our friend Audrey’s 4th birthday party. It was loads of fun on a nice and sunny afternoon that we spent outside, and with his cuzzies to boot! Andy and I took the role of paparazzi and snapped lots of photos. Finn enjoyed chocolate cake and came home exhausted! Kevin ended up spending the night in Enon, so Finn and I had a mommy and son weekend. We enjoyed some cuddles, Sesame Street, and play time with the “doggies!”.

I’m excited that we are planning a fruit and veggie garden this year! We plan on planting a raised bed in the backyard, so while at Menard’s we bought some seeds and starter soil and on Wednesday night (4/2) we planted our seeds! We have started watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, butternut squash, peppers and in our window greenhouse we’ve planted chives, cilantro, and basil. Yummers! As of today, Sunday 4/6 they have all begun to germinate!

Finn ~ 13 weeks

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About a month or so ago I had the idea that it would be fun to have a regularly scheduled “date night” each month for Kevin and myself. I thought it would be fun for Aunt Amy and Uncle Andy to watch Finn and that way the cousins would also have time to play together. Then, on another night we would reciprocate and head to their house to watch Graham, Rowan, and Greta while Amy and Andy enjoyed a fun night out together. This Saturday Amy and Andy went out. Prior to showing up to watch the kiddos Kevin, Finn, and I went to the Columbus Arts Festival for a quick walk around and to have a bite to eat. We put Griffin and Greta next to each other once we were at Amy and Andy’s. They are pretty close in size these days!

On Sunday, we headed up to Mansfield to celebrate my dad’s birthday. It was our first road trip to Mansfield with Finn. We enjoyed a nice afternoon with everyone as Amy, Andy and the kids were there as well. Grandma had lots of time holding Finn while Kevin and I walked around the yard with my dad looking at the hostas throughout their gardens. Graham enjoyed helping Beepa open his gifts and blow out the candles on his cake.

He took a nice long 2 1/2 hour nap in the pack ‘n play that Grandma got for him. Here I am with Finn in my childhood room!

On Monday, June 10, I headed back to work full-time. It was a rough morning for me – lots of tears for sure. The work days went pretty fast this week as I had many meetings each day. When I came home from work I enjoyed many long snuggles with Finn. He is is good hands during the day. Tricia plays with him, does tummy time, reads books, goes on walks, and so on. He is a happy guy and we feel very blessed that we are able to have care for Finn in our home. Hailey, Cameron, and Lily also enjoy having Tricia around.

Thursday morning when I woke up and looked at Finn he was totally laying on his left side in the co-sleeper! Uh oh, rolling over isn’t that far away! He is also beginning to lose hair on the sides of his head as he often turns his head to look at me while he is in the cosleeper. His hair that is coming in is blonde so he is beginning to have a lighter head of hair!

Friday I was playing with Finn. He often grabs my hands and I pull him forward so he can strengthen his neck muscles. Well today, I pulled him forward to a sitting position and then he kept on going and stood up! He is getting to be a strong boy and loves to be upright most of the time. He loves to look up and watch everything that is going on.

Saturday Kevin and Finn went with me to Millcreek for the Friends and Family Plant sale that we hold each June. They spent time hanging out together in the office. This was his third trip to Millcreek – but first time for photos. Here we are with George.