Build-a-Baby

Get ready...



I laugh every time I look at these photos. Cousin Mattison went to Build-a-Bear and came home with a bear who sports a blonde wig with pink bows.
Mattison had been trying it on younger brother Mason earlier in the day, so we decided to try it on Finley...

Her hair really is getting blonder by the day... so it makes you wonder if this is a look ahead at age 2, though of course this Build-a-Bear wig is VERY blonde. I've been saving bows for her hair since before she was born. We have quite the collection, so this was just too perfect of a "pretend".

Cousins...

Mason, Mattison & Finley... The photo above is before Mason went for seconds on the french fries...

Enough said.

Celebrating Grandma's Birthday

Here are some pictures from the Birthday Celebration for Grandma with PaPaw, Grandma, Aunt Melinda, and cousins Mattison and Mason.

Celebrating Mimi's Birthday

We got together to celebrate Mimi's birthday with Mimi, Aunt Julie, cousin Maddie and Nana. Below is a picture of Finley listening to Mimi sing "Farajaka".

Some more cute photos of baby girl...

On the Move...

The day Nana watched Finley during Operation Grandparent Week, I came home and little Miss got up on her hands and knees and rocked back and forth...

I'd never seen her do that, so I called Chris in and he grabbed the video camera... she rocked and rocked and rocked... and then put herself back down on the floor on her belly. Hmmm...

And then started to move...

Its more of an "Army" crawl (or should I say "Navy" for Rory :) than a traditional crawl, but it's official: she's on the move. It's pretty adorable, especially the concentration face.

8 Months!

Morning of my 8 month Birthday...
Close up of all my new hair... now, I actually have more hair than eyebrows :)

I'm very curious these days... I don't want to miss a thing!

Operation Grandparent Week

I am thrilled to say that sweet girl is feeling MUCH better-- back to herself these days. A reminder that good health is not a guarantee, but a gift rather, to cherish everyday. After a week home, mom and Finn (and some days dad too), it was time for mom to go back to work. Finley was feeling better by the end of the first week, but Chris and I wanted to make sure so Operation Grandparent Week commenced. We are so blessed. Since I am off work on Thursdays, each grandparent took a different day of the week off of work (M, T, W, & F) to spend with Finley. Daddy also managed some shorter days (or at least to work from home in the afternoon). Finnie loved her time with her grandparents and by the end of the week had started to CRAWL! (Check back for those pictures). And we're also grateful for the use of Nana's camera while ours is being repaired so we can keep saving these moments and memories for a lifetime and also keep sharing them with you!


With Grandma (Tuesday) and PaPaw (Friday) above and Nana (Wednesday) and Mimi (Monday) below.

No one loves you like your FAMILY. We're so blessed.

Sick Days

Sweet baby has been home for the past week... feeling more crummy than I think we can imagine. Here's a picture of where we spend our days because cuddling is about all we can do to make it better. She has a yucky virus called RSV (bronchiolitis) and as a bonus it also caused croup and bad ear infections. Thoughts and prayers are appreciated as we hope for better days ahead real soon. She's a trooper, hanging in there and we are looking forward to her being herself and feeling well again, hopefully soon. (Oh, and as a bonus, this picture looks grainy because we had to edit it after our flash went out on our camera which will be in the shop for 6-8 weeks-- awesome). :) Oh well, we're all okay and we count God's blessings even on the "yucky" days.

Trick or Treat

Yee Haw!!! I mean... Trick or Treat! We had a great time celebrating Halloween with the neighbors. We took her to our friends house(s) to say "Howdy" and then hung out with our friends handing out candy.

Ghosts and Pumpkins, Oh My!

Left to Right, The Ghosts: Koen and Jake and The Pumpkins: Brett and Finley. The group photo was comical with the boys sleeping and Miss Finnie trying her best to wake them up!

Halloween

We had several "costume" changes and a ridiculous amount of fun and laughter on our 1st Halloween. Mom was thrilled to take the day off with her sweet little pumpkin.

Joining the Big Kids Table

I'm really excited about my new seat at the table with mom and dad. I was getting too wriggly in the Bumbo seat and since I sit up so well, I wanted to be at the table instead of out to the side in a highchair. I feel like such a big girl!

How do you get the water out??

So we don't really know what to do with it yet, but it was fun to watch her analyze the sippy cup, which for now seems to be at least a nice teething toy.

Another Gator Saturday

We love Saturdays, especially Saturdays during Football season when the Gators are on. Obviously, Finley doesn't watch TV, but Gator games are the exception. Though usually they coincide with at least a portion of naptime. I've mentioned how much she loves her Brady-- and she thought being able to sit on her back was hilarious. And I had to share her "the sun is TOO bright face"....And we thought Gator Saturdays were fun before... we had no idea. Life is good.

Neighbors

The adorable neighbor baby boys... Left to right are Koen, and the twins: Brett and Jake. They're approximately 6 weeks in these photos (Koen is a week older than the twins who were born at 36 weeks). Finley seems so big next to them and it only reiterates how fast its all going. Though reliving the newborn weeks through my friends reminds me those first several weeks didn't seem to fly by when we were experiencing them. :) As wonderful as it is, those first few weeks are CRAZY!