Pasta Anyone?

Since waking up to reality on Monday we have been keeping busy around here. On Tuesday I decided to cook up a bunch of food to freeze for Finley and I. Since Finley has been eating so well and pretty much everything these days it is my goal to feed him healthy and homemade (and organic if possible) meals. It is hard to find the time to cook everyday for just the two of us so I decided I would try to make a bunch of stuff to freeze. I made my homemade marinara sauce, chicken and dumpling base and several different roasted veggies that I pureed. I froze everything in portions for easy use. Since Finley still has no teeth, he eats most of his veggies pureed yet. I cut up fruits and other things for finger feeding. I plan on doing at least one more marathon cooking session before the weather gets too hot to have the oven on all day!
On Wednesday my parents came down again- this time to bring our doggies back home. They have been watching them for the last two weeks. Finley loves having them back but I think it's taking the dogs a little more to get their patience with him back? I also closed on my refinance on Wednesday and my parents watched Finley while I did this. Everything went smoothly and I am happy to be done with it all! We finished the day with some Mexican food (not as good at the stuff in Albuquerque!) but it was a good day.
Today was a catch up day. I still have lots of household things to catch up on and Finley and I ran some errands. Tonight Finley enjoyed a dinner of the homemade marinara and linguine. He LOVES it and had fun playing with the noodles too. Little does he know all the veggies I sneak into my sauce!! All that fun and nutritious too!

With Grandma and Grandpa

Stinker

The face and the shirt match...

Yum-O

Getting messier...

Concentration

Fun with Linguine

Back To Reality

Today was my first real day back in "real" mode. Meaning, we had nothing big to do or get ready for as we have in the past weeks, even months. Also, I was back to being solo with Finley. Having Nate for the four days and having a weekend full of endless help from everyone was sooooooo nice!! Nope, today was just a big dose of reality of what our life is and will be for at least another 10 months. I think I forgot to mention how great Finley did all weekend up in Appleton. He is such a social baby and was happy to meet and greet everyone. He never minded if other people wanted to hold him and embraced everyone happily. I was feeling very proud and lucky to have such a good sport as a son but knew a little in the back of my head that I would probably pay for his good behavior once we got home. I don't mean that in a bad way but just that being so good for so long (the entire trip to ABQ and all weekend) would warrant some adjusting when we tried to get back to our normal routine at home. The price I paid actually came at the grocery store today. Did you know that large groceries store have a pretty good echo? When Finley decided to test out his "exorcist" screaming/screeching/gurgling at Woodman's and I found that out. He was just not happy grocery shopping and who can blame him? It's not my favorite chore either though necessary to do. Anyway, he has been pretty good otherwise. He slept wonderful last night, had a bit of trouble going to sleep tonight but all in all ok. I am still proud to be the mom of such an adorable, fun and social little guy (with occasional grocery store meltdowns). Real life...were back....

Rolling up the rug?


Reaching for the cat's drinking fountain (on point:)

Anniversary in Appleton!

We are back from our weekend trip to Appleton. Nate's grandparents celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday with a huge crowd of family and friends! It was very special and a lot of fun. Finley got to meet lots of family and play with his cousins. There was a "Coffee Break" in the afternoon with cake and an awesome sideshow of tons of family pictures...new and old...some warranted a few laughs too. Then just the family had a wonderful private dinner at a restaurant on the river downtown. We had the place to ourselves which was nice for the little ones. Nate called right after dinner to wish Grandma and Grandpa a Happy Anniversary as he was the only one who could sadly not attend the event. It was truly a weekend full of family and fun! Here are a few pictures. I did not get one of the "group shots" but hope to acquire one from someone else?? I hope I can post it when I do!

Finley swam again- this time he tried Olivia's floatee thing

sidenote: I think every kid there had that panda toy in their mouth at some time...lol

With Clifford and Amelia; Finley is sucking on a coffee creamer?


Finley's "bottle break" at the "Coffee Break"


Some of the girls... Emily, Alisha and Amelia


Finley at dinner




Olivia trying to feed Finley


Uncle Jake being silly


Grandma And Grandpa-60 years!!


Finley helping open the gifts

Traveling Again

We are headed out this evening up to Appleton for Nate's grandparents 60th Anniversary Party tomorrow. His entire family (who flew in from out West and California) will be there from his dad's side and it should be a good time. I am hoping Mr. Finley is ok with another hotel stay and will be delightful with everyone. It will be his first time meeting some of the family so keep your fingers crossed!


Finley this morning- apparently playing a little to rough with his activity table?


Wake up this afternoon

Family Vacation in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Well, Finley and I are back as of midnight (this morning!). After getting home from the airport Finley decided he had to play with his toys and cats till about 2 am! I did not find time to post during the trip so this is going to be a LONG post to cover all the fun we had in New Mexico over the past 4 days!
I will start with the trip there... Finley did pretty good on the flights. Actually, he was a bit squirrely on our first flight but the second jump from Denver to Albuquerque we were on a bigger plane and had our whole row to ourselves and he highly enjoyed himself sitting like a big boy next to me and playing with his tray table! Finley even earned his wings on that flight. We were just so excited to get to New Mexico and see Nate!! Most people commented on how good he was and he was smiley and friendly to all. I guess the wiggling around in my lap didn't affect them... he never really cried or had any outbursts and napped for portions of the flights. After a slight delay in Denver we arrived on time (somehow) in Albuquerque to be greeted by Nate. Unfortunately my luggage did not arrive in ABQ. After having to get our rental carseat at the airport and stopping at Walgreens for formula and diapers (no luggage!) we didn't even make it back to our hotel until about 10pm. Somehow Finley was so pumped up to see Nate that he decided to stay up till about midnight!!

Delayed in Denver


Hello kiss from Daddy


Back together- my two boys.


The next day my luggage would not arrive till 2:00 pm (Thanks United...) but we had fun anyway- Finley playing around with Nate in the hotel etc. Sunday was kind of our catch up day and we just made a Target run for some supplies and later that night Nate and I and Finley found a diner on Route 66 (Route 66 Diner!) to have a casual dinner.

Route 66 Diner...mmmm


Finley eating his hands instead of his food


Bath fun with Daddy


Neat and Clean again


On Monday we headed out to Petroglyph National Monument to hike the trail and look at the rock drawings. It was a beautiful day and not yet too hot to do this. On the way back on the trail we almost walked right into a swarm of bees! There must have been thousands! It was scary as there is only one trail to get back so we weren't sure what to do at first! Nate ran back to keep Finley away and I checked about a minute later and they were gone! Apparently they were just flying through? Crazy Bees!

Ready to Hike

Finley seems unconcerned by today's Fire Danger status


Two Peas


We found a picture of Opsec from the Ancient people


Boys in the Desert


Happy Family


Car seat Cutie


That night we decided to seek out a Japanese Restaurant as Nate felt like having some Sushi and we figured Finley would get a kick out of the Hibachi chef. Well, Finley must have been too tired from our hiking trip etc (even though he napped) because he was pretty awful at the Japanese restaurant. Nate and I agreed it wasn't the most pleasant time but he did enjoy watching the chef and eating for about 20 minutes and the rest of the time at the restaurant he just wanted to crawl around not sit still!! Once we got back to our hotel though our little guy had a second wind and had his own fun in the room.

Finley's first Japanese Dinner... no he did not have sushi!





It's more fun smacking the toilet though


Wisconsin boys


On Tuesday we had a fun Zoo and Aquarium trip planned and after breakfast at the hotel we headed out. We even took a train ride between the Zoo and Aquarium. Finley enjoyed the Zoo and Aquarium - though whenever we pointed animals he could see out we had to call them "kitties" his favorite and recognizable word, to get him to look. People probably thought we were crazy... "Finley, look at the kitty, kitty, kitty, monkey" Hey, whatever gets his attention to look! He is still a little young to notice everything but he had fun and was pooped out by the end. It was a very fun day for all of us.

Quick bottle on the train


"Kitty" Fishes and Sharks


Big Shark behind the boys


Mom and Finley (there's a big Ray behind us)


Zoo Zonked


Finley and Daddy by the Gorillas


Giant Kitties...and a sleeping baby


Family with the Flamingos and a fading Finley


After a long day at the Zoo and Aquarium, Finley went swimming for the first time with Nate. He LOVED the water although the hotel pool's heater was broken and the pool was COLD, Nate took him for a quick dip in the cold pool and then into the hot tub which actually wasn't that hot? Either way it was swimming to Finley and he loved it. I was so happy that Nate got to experience this and take Finley in a pool for the first time!
We decided to go the more relaxing route of having dinner in our room that night. We found some great "New Mexican" takeout. Finley quite enjoyed it. We just enjoyed each others company hanging out and having fun.

First steps in the Pool with Daddy


Ummm.. this water is kind of cold!







Ok, the hot tub is much better!


Yummy "New Mexican" dinner


Wednesday... We couldn't believe it was here already! We spent the morning packing up and playing with Finley. Nate was supposed to be back to Bliss/McGregor by 6 pm (with a 4 hour drive to get there) but my flight wasn't taking off till 6:50pm. We killed some time after a late check-out at the hotel and then it was the dreaded time to part yet again.

Watching the wiggles while finishing lunch


Playing around in the room


Finley LOVES sitting at the computer with Daddy


The trip home went well although I am very tired of walking up and down airports. It was either keep walking while we were waiting for flights or Finley had to play on the gross floor... I opted for more walking... less gross airport floor time! Finley slept on our entire flight to Denver and half our flight back to Madison. He was a bit overtired on the way to Madison but nothing a sticky rice crispy treat in a shiny package couldn't fix (my awesome mom last-resort trick to keep him good!). Hey, whatever it takes. Other passengers commented on how great he was so that made me feel good. The Flight attendants were always great to us too although no one assists you much with the stroller and bags getting on and off the aircraft...
All in all we had a Fantastic trip. I learned that flying alone with a baby is tough at times and tiring but definitely doable.

Four days was not long enough to spend with Nate and we are sad to have had to say goodbye again. We miss him so much already! I got so used to having Nate there to help me with Finley in just the short trip that I don't know how I do it all by myself! Nate had so much fun with Finley- seeing how much he has grown and all of his antics and stunts. The two of them can just play for hours on the floor. They speak the same language so to speak. Just silly little games with Nate and Finley is all smiles and giggles. It makes me sad that they have to be apart but hopefully the rest of this deployment will go by fast so we can be a family again! We are also hoping for a mid-tour leave for Nate but it is not promised yet. Here's hoping!

On our way home...


Goodbye Albuquerque and see you soon Daddy!!