Albuquerque and Daddy Here We Come...

The Most Precious Cargo...


Well, it's less than 24 hours till we will be in Albuquerque and with Nate! We fly out of Madison tomorrow at 3:00pm and after stopping in Denver, will arrive in ABQ at 8:00pm where Nate should be waiting for us! Nate starts his pass at 2:00pm in McGregor and has to get his rental car from El Paso and drive up to Albuquerque (3-4 hour drive). Hopefully he can check into our hotel and make sure the crib is all ready for a tired Mr. Finley!! I am nervous about the trip- mainly flying by myself with Finley, but also very excited too. Hopefully Finley will find air travel tiring and take a nice nap!! I may try to post before we go tomorrow but I am not sure about on the trip. I know we will take TONS of pictures and I will have the full story after we get back at least. I hope Finley is super excited to see his Daddy. I know Nate will be floored to see how big Finley has gotten (in person) and also to see all of Finley's stunts and tricks... lol.
Yay! Now I need to go get some sleep!

All packed up... well almost!

The End of the Dinosaur Era

No... this post isn't about the real extinction of the dinosaurs...it's about Finley's "Dinosaurs", his Old Navy dinosaur sleeper. You have probably seen him sporting his "dinosaurs" in some of my posts...
You see, Finley has worn these jammies since he was about 8 weeks old! For some reason they fit him ok (were a little big I guess) when he was just a wee baby and I am officially announcing that he has worn them for the last time Tuesday night. Finley has finally outgrown them and it's a sad sad thing (guess they won't be coming to Albuquerque with us). It's been a joke between Nate and I for the longest time. Nate has come and gone on his Army stuff over the course of the last 6 months... every time he came back he'd be shocked that Finley still fit in "the dinosaurs". We were certain the pajamas were growing WITH Finley... no other sleeper has lasted this long!
I actually bought these pajamas right after I found out I was pregnant with a boy. I found them on sale at Old Navy and thought they were pretty cute and they have a zipper... bonus when your kid's a wiggle worm and hates getting dressed! They are a size 3-6 months. I never would have guessed they would have lasted this long!
I guess I figured I needed to dedicate a post to the old faithful jammies that have experienced so much of Finley's life. Dinos... you have served us well and will be missed!

Finley at about 8 weeks old (in October). I think the first time he wore these


This one was taken in Decemeber


Cereal face in his dinos (January)


With Daddy and Big Cooper (February)


Waking up yesterday in his dinosaurs... the feet are just a little tight now...


Goodbye and fond farewell Dinosaurs!

8 Months!

Finley turned 8 months old today and my how time flies! He is such a active little boy and keeps me on my toes (you can probably tell this from the other posts). Finley is downright crazy sometimes and makes me laugh but he is still the toughest job I have ever had! As far as milestones go so far Finley is ahead of his game physically- meaning with all the physical milestones... he is actually starting to test his balance by letting go of things while standing. He can stand on his own for a few seconds before he either falls or quick grabs something again! He also is starting to "cruise" on the furniture practicing taking steps while holding on. What a daredevil! He gets that from Nate. He is also balancing on his knees while playing with things- again improving his core balance for the next stage- walking! It won't be long! So far Finley has none, count em', ZERO teeth! Though I thought he was teething months ago, nothing has emerged! Also he does not yet say Dada or Mama but I think we are getting close. I am pretty sure he might skip those words and just say "Ella" (his favorite cat) or Meow or Woof...his favorite sounds! Sometimes it sounds like he does say "Ella" and "Hi". He gets very vocal about the animals and makes lots of noises and yells but no true words yet. His eating is getting better and better and he likes most everything now- fruit included. His favorite thing is probably his Yo-Baby yogurt and green beans and he likes ice cream and strawberries...and Puffs but you all know that!! We are working on waving hello and bye-bye (which he did a little on Easter) and "So Big" but Finley is just so physically driven he doesn't sit still long enough for any teaching sessions so I have my challenges there. He's just a go go go kid.
Oh and to report the good and not-so-good, Finley has started having temper tantrums. He can pretty much clear the room with his high pitched, loud screaming fits over silly things or just for no reason that I can figure out. He just loses it sometimes and even the pets run away!! I guess some kids personalities are more susceptible to tantrums... apparently he might get this from me? (So my mom tells me?). What goes around comes around I guess... Overall at 8 months he is doing GREAT!!

The monthly "chair" picture. I had to give him my phone to keep him still...

Balance Boy

Playing with his Activity Table Mommy got him for Easter

Crazy kid after dinner tonight... in Opsec's dog kennel

Look Mom, one hand! Balancing in a box of wood...great idea!! (and yes I am taking the picture praying he doesn't fall!)

Puff Addiction

It started with Finley. I recently introduced him to Gerber Graduates Puffs (little puffy things that dissolve in your mouth). They come in an enticing array of flavors, including Sweet Potato and Peach to name a few. It took Finley a bit to warm up to these "puffs", but soon we would find ourselves double checking that we didn't leave home without them. They were my secret weapon at the store, the Doctors office, anywhere we went. It seems Finley grew fonder of them by the minute as well. Finley now cannot live without his puffs and he has since introduced them to his friends...yes that's right... they became addicted as well.

Finley and his beloved Puffs


The word on the street is these things are GOOD


Bombarded by his buddies


There's just not enough of these addictive puffs to go around


Yes... It's so bad Opsec's actually been spotted eating them off the baby (SCANDAL!)


When the puffs run out the baby has actually been driven to eat the furniture!


What will we do?? (I do know I will be taking plenty of these on the airplane with us!! :)

Happy Easter!

Here are some pictures of Finley's first Easter.


First time sitting in the grass...




Gavin showing off his egg

Olivia running with her eggs

Finley playing with a shiny Easter Egg

The crowd

Finley and Uncle Josh

Everyday Normal

I just wanted to post some pictures that are all scenes of my normal everyday around here. We did have a good day today as my parents decided to come down for a visit. They played with Finley all day...though they snapped a bunch of pictures I forgot to get some? Well, Mr. Finley was pretty tired and was kind of a zombie by the time I put him in the bath. He has a pacifier that he "plays" with in the bathtub (duh, pacifiers are for babies...it's just a toy now :) and he actually sucked on it and practically fell asleep in the bathtub! Then after his bedtime bottle (Nate dubs it a "Big Gulp") he got a second wind and gave me one more round of playing before pretty much passing out.
Here are some pictures from the week...

How I find Finley waiting for me in the morning


Baby Vs. Cat Wrestling Match


Mmmm..Fruit Salad and finger feeding is preferred method these days


Getting to know your sippy cup


Rushing the camera (the usual scene)

A Nice Day... and Lights Out!

Today we had beautiful weather and Finley and I had quite a good day- although we both had a visit to the Doctor. I had an appointment today and this morning I called to sneak Finley into to see his Doctor (they are in the same clinic right across the hall) because he has been acting somewhat out of sorts for the last few days. Really it was nothing major but pulling on his ear, being extra cranky at times, a runny nose and a few bouts of diarrhea but with our upcoming trip and flight I wanted to rule out ear infections or anything else that might cause him discomfort. Well, turns out he is A-OK... and we can just chalk up his behavior to teething.. again. I swear if those teeth don't start coming in I might cry with Finley.
Anyway... after our appointments we headed to a quick Target trip for some last minute Easter supplies. Finley is a pretty bad shopper these days but I will report he was pretty wonderful today... maybe it was the fact that we had a Blackout in Target? Seriously... the power went out while we were in the middle of the Easter section. It must have been pitch black (I mean you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face) for at least a minute before the generators kicked in. Some lady next to me exclaimed..."I've got a flashlight in my purse!"... seriously? Do a lot of people carry flashlights in their purses? Too funny. I just held onto my kid with one hand and my purse with the other during the pitch black. You never know? It was kind of scary. Thank goodness the checkouts still ran under the generated power. I wasn't going to be happy if I would have had to ditch all my stuff and shop for it again later! Reports were that other stores had to close because their stuff wasn't working...not Target! Anyway... I never found out what happened to cause the blackout but it was all over that area on the Eastside. All the traffic lights were out (on East Wash. yikes) It took us about double the time to get home due to the craziness but we made it and the power outage did not affect us where we live so that was good!
After our eventful afternoon I took Finley outside on the porch to enjoy the nice weather and we had a great evening.

Getting Ready to Go Outside



Okay, VERY Happy to Go Outside


The first true sign of Spring in Wisconsin


Catch Me


Finley loves to laugh at the doggies playing and running


Happy Boy, Happy Day

Bath Punk

Tonight I remembered to grab the camera for Finley's bath time. I have fun with his hair making different styles like his little mo-hawk tonight. Finley takes a bath every night as part of his "shutdown procedure" aka bedtime routine. Finley is like a well oiled machine these days (going going going) so shutdown procedure is probably more appropriate! Here are some of tonight's pictures of the little monkey.







Notice he likes to hold the sprayer himself? He eats the water... it's the funnest part of the bath! When do you think he'll figure out he can spray me?

*Tara's comment prompted me to remember that I forgot to write. For about a week or so every night for the last few minutes of the bath I take Finley out of his bathseat to see how he does. He likes it A LOT but is a slippery little wild man. His favorite thing to do is lay down in the water (face up)...I think it's weird but he must like how it feels and the view up. He kicks his feet...an Olympic swimmer in the making? There is not enough water in there to cover him... just enough for him to play around. He also enjoys trying to stand up...dangerous! I think I will continue using the bath seat and keep this up for a little bit till I gain some more confidence!