News

Well, I don't have any pictures. Or rather, I don't feel like uploading my pictures, so that will have to wait for another uber-exciting post. This one will just be ho-hum. Here is what has been going on with each of us lately.

Jason has been working, and working, and working. Poor guy! He hasn't been able to do anything really fun for a long time. We are just grateful he has a job and that we can save money for the slow times. He is still loving his Young Men calling. They do lots of cool things, like slack lining. It looked fun, and I wish I could have done it! He is also very into cooking meals for others. And when I say cooking meals, I mean ME cooking meals, and him inviting people. I have been making treats every Sunday, and meals about every other Sunday. I made schwarmas this week. I know you are jealous!

Finley is still just a-growing! He has FIVE teeth now, which I must admit is weird. He grew the first four in pairs, so I haven't seen him with an uneven mouth before now. He is starting to stand up by himself. I think he will be walking WELL before his first birthday. He is getting to look more and more like Jason. EVERYBODY says he looks just like Jason. He is also in to monster noises and snorting right now. It is pretty hilarious to hear him growling all the time.

I am doing nothing of great interest. Well, actually, I did help Preston pick out his engagement ring this week. It was so much fun! And it is SOOOOOO gorgeous! I am jealous, I will admit it! It also makes me want a new ring. Which I don't need. (Repeated until I believe it.) And today I got a new waffle iron, a sil pat, and some cutlery organizers that I am way too excited about. Sometimes I think I am just a little bit too weird. I keep opening my drawers to look at those organizers.

And to end, a somewhat embarrassing story. Preston calls. He wants to come hang out. Sure, why not? So I am feeding Finn and getting him ready for bed. I am changing his diaper, and have just rolled up the old one and not put the new one on yet, when somebody knocks on the door. I run to open the door, turn around without looking and say "You have HORRIBLE timing!" Well, it was my landlord, and he looked pretty freaked out. He just kept saying "I'm so sorry" and I was embarrassed. It was awkward all around. He laughed about it later, but he was freaked out for a while, there. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Granddad

My last great grandparent died yesterday morning. It is sad, of course- it's always sad- but he lived a long, full life and was suffering toward the end. I know he is much happier now. Before he died, I got to take Finn to visit him. He was very excited to meet Finn, since Finn was (and is) his first great great grandbaby. It was neat!


Here is a five generation picture! Unfortunately, my Grandma has passed away, so that is my great aunt Rinda standing in. It still counts. Granddad was staying with Rinda for quite a while toward the end, and I am so grateful to her for all she did. I sure do love her to pieces!



Granddad, I will sure miss you!

Just a Quickie!

This is just a quickie post with some photos from our recent trip to Wyoming and the few days before.


Finn- smiling! I have figured out how to get smiles again- Yay!!!



He loves to play in his car seat, as long as he's not in it. Then the toys are boring. (Note- this was before the 10 hour drive both ways... He's not so into his car seat anymore...)




Finn and Grandpa- right after church!


An actually decent family photo. Mostly decent, anyway.



Finley and his cousin? (My cousin's baby) Meliah. Meliah is a few months older than Finn. They rather liked each other.


Grandma feeding Finn some yummy tomatoes from his Great Grandma's garden!



Grandpa and Finn again, camping in the trailer.



Finn LOVES his Grandma's hair. This was a popular look for her this trip. She did like it, you know. Until he started to grab handfuls AND footfuls and pull in opposite directions. Ouch!



Finley also had his first real encounters with a dog. My old dog, Chaos. She is so good with him, too!

As a side note, Finn is getting another tooth. This makes three! And we had a great time in Wyoming. Got to eat Bobby Flay food- which was divine!, hang out in the mountains, see everybody around, and show off Finn. It was nice. Except for the drive.

Finley, Finley, Finley!

I know guys, you might be getting tired of Finn, but I never do! And he is getting so big and cute!


Today he ate cheerios for the first time ever! All by himself. It was so cute! He is also pretty good at sitting up on his own. He is learning new things all the time.




He is also tons more fun, although you wouldn't know it from the pictures. As soon as that camera comes out, he turns into "What is that and how does it work?" guy. It's cute, but not for EVERY picture. I would like some smiles, you know. I guess I'll have to write in a complaint or something.




Here he is in Jason's work hat. He really liked it, actually! I expected him to pull it right off, but he really enjoys wearing it.




He is crazy flexible, huh? He does this all the time. Boxes are about his favorite toy ever!




Here he is helping Jason reload some 500 S&W ammo. (Jason got a new gun, and he is very happy about it!) (PS- notice how clean my kitchen is, other than the reloading corner. I am pretty proud!)



And here is another one in Jason's hat, just cause it's so darn cute!

Life, oh Life...

Well, I don't have any awesome new pictures to share, but I am sure I have some older ones that never got posted. Maybe I will scare some up.

Life has been good around here. I have been keeping myself busy, and staying on top of the dishes. For a few months now! I am pretty proud of myself. I have learned that the trick is to just run the dishwasher, even if there is still some space. I used to wait for that ONE plate I needed to fill it up, but then I also had at least one more plate, silverware, and glasses- not to mention the pots and pans!- and then I had dirty dishes piling up. But no, I am now awesome and keep my dishes dirty for a very short amount of time. This is a big deal, you guys. HUGE even! I used to bribe Jason with expensive items to do the dishes for me, because I would get so overwhelmed. Oddly enough, he would just pay somebody else to do them, which was mortifying. Anyway...

We are still working on getting everything unpacked and finding homes for all the odds and ends that you need, but go nowhere. We made some good progress today, and I am glad! It's nice to see the boxes dwindling.

Jason has been really busy lately. He went to Zion National Park this week with the Young Men, and he had a great time. They did one really long canyon in one day, and even JASON was sore. He told the guys that he was going to do it every weekend until he doesn't get sore anymore. It wouldn't really surprise me. If it were closer, I think he would for sure! He has also been getting some major work hours in. He is good to me!

I decided that I am going to make myself look cute every day. Make-up, hair doing, new clothes- the works! I haven't done this much grooming since high school. It's weird. I was just starting to feel like a slob. And since I was only wearing make-up about twice a month, I figured I could pick it up a notch. So far, I have been doing it for about a week, and it feels good. Of course, the new clothes and new make-up certainly make it easier!

Finn has been growing like nuts! He is getting huge, and heavy. He is army crawling all over the place, and has even expanded his hunting grounds to the tile. He didn't like it at first because he would bonk his head every time he rolled over, but he has figured it out. No more teeth, and no pictures of the two he has yet. He is making lots of noise, and starting to get restless when we take him places, which makes me miss the newborn stage. Oh, the joy of napping wherever you happen to be.

And now, some older photos that I passed up for cuter ones:
This is the ridges in his head after he was born. Crazy, huh? He looks like his head is perfectly shaped, until you see this.


Oh, the phototherapy lights. We hated this stage. We had to take shifts staying up because he had to be under for 24 hours. And I was still recovering. It was beyond awful.


Here's a newborn picture of Finn that my Mom took. Before he lost all his hair. He was so cute! He is making his grumpy sleeping face.


This is a pretty recent picture, from July. He is playing with the toys on his carseat. He loves to play with them- as long as he's not in the carseat!


Another recent photo. Look at those legs! He is a cutie!


And a video from May of Finn talking a little while he tries to roll over. Cute, huh?

Please no!

Finn is almost crawling. I am NOT excited. Well, okay. I am kinda excited. It will be so fun to have him crawling around and getting all big.

But then, I think about baby proofing. And how I have not baby proofed anything, despite my intentions to have it all done well before this started. I haven't even fully unpacked. And I think about how he will get into everything, and be a handful. Oh well. At least it's cute, right?

AND, Finn got two teeth on Wednesday. Out of the blue! We had no teething symptoms. No excessive drool, no grumpiness, no chewing, no nothing! They are all the way through, and really, REALLY sharp. I have tried to get a picture of them, but he won't cooperate. After I realized he had two teeth, I got the symptoms. Screaming bloody murder, mainly. But only for one evening, and then he was peachy keen. I am a lucky mother. I know it.

Here's a video showing how close he is to crawling. I know most of you probably aren't that excited about it, but my Mom keeps requesting, and I am sure more relatives care. I know Jason's parents watch them too. But feel free to skip it.

Here's One for the Grandparents

Finn has been tons of fun lately! He is getting so big, and mobile to boot! At his 6 month appointment, he weighed 18.6 pounds and was 24.5 inches long. His weight is now in the 70th percentile and his height is in the 43rd, so he is growing pretty well.


This is his concentrating face. He makes it all the time when he's trying to figure something out. He is really pensive, and enjoys problem solving. I think he is a lot like Jason in that regard.


When my Mom came to visit, we went to eat at Chili's. We were having a hard time getting him to be happy, so we gave him a lemon wedge. He LOOOOVED it! I have never seen a baby go to town like that. It is especially funny because he makes sour faces. It's hilarious! He went through three wedges, and stripped them down to the peel. There is a video below. Notice that this was near the end of one of the lemons.


He also was funny because he liked his thumb flavored. (He also did this with a french fry.) He has to hold the lemon wedge and suck on his thumb. (With the fry he had to have both in his mouth.) If you try to take it away, he cries. It's pretty darn cute, for thumbsucking!


This is a video of Finley scooting. When he sees you over him, he gets all excited and squirmy. Then he starts scooting on the back of his head. It's pretty hilarious! It's also his main mode of transportation. I don't think he will ever grow hair in his bald spot.




This video is Finley using his switchback motion to try to get a toy. Well, he does give up, but it's still pretty cute. He rolls back and forth moving at an angle to move forward slowly. VERY slowly. But it works!