A Finn-tastic Shark Party

(Poor) Finley's First birthday party was put on hold a few weeks for numerous reasons, but the biggest reason was straight-up selfishness on our parts. We are re-doing our backyard and wanted it finished for the party! Well, that bit us in the butt because a) it wasn't finished (rain, rain, and more rain hinders concrete pouring and while it was poured JUST IN TIME, it was a literal mud-pit everywhere else) and b) it stormed and rained the entire party. But once invites were sent out and party planning was in full-swing, the party must go on! And despite it all (including Finn's surgery just days before) it was a wonderful party and we all had a great time! Finn, still a little under the weather, enjoyed himself a bit too!

I was all about making Finn's cupcakes this year. But I didn't. And I am glad, too! These Sam's club cupcakes were AMAZING!

 

Month-by-Month. My how time flies!

 

Big brother is super excited about the party!!

 

My hand-carved (all by myself!) fruit bowl shark!!! Pretty awesome if I do say so myself. And it makes up for buying, rather than baking, Finn's cupcakes!

 

Mommy and her birthday boy!

My sweet loves. In their coordinating shark apparel!

 

Drink table: Sweet tea (fit for a fish fry) and pink lemonade sangria (Um, yes. Delish!)

I've about decided that Finley hates cake. And this makes me very sad.

The Pogue Family

 

The Carr Family

The Pedigo Famly

Stacey and Annie

Whitley Joe and her blue cupcake...so dainty!

 

And not-so dainty!

The birthday boy didn't want down on the concrete, and he didn't want to be held. So we let him "run" around in the walker. Watch out! He'll take your toes off!

Cheese!!!!

Bubbles make a kid's world go 'round! It may have rained the entire party, but the kids were OK as long as the bubble machine (and/or Josh) was blowing bubbles.

 

The Harrison Family



After everyone had gone home, Annie and Keagan had some play time of their own. Jumping on the bed isn't something I condone, but I snapped some pictures right before reprimanding. Ha! They are so cute and such good friends!!!

Pure love. Keagan shared his "nana" with Annie...I can't explain to you how big this is of Keagan!

And their goofy mommas.

OK, be serious now! Ha!

Despite the rain and thunderstorms and the not-completed backyard (at least the patio was poured Thursday and ready to walk on by yesterday's party!) it was a really fun party. I think both kids and adults enjoyed themselves!! Funny how our adult get-togethers are now centered around kids birthdays!! :) I love it.

Lately

Lately, life around here has been crazy. I keep shaking my head and reminding myself that it is nearly fall, though I feel as if I should be just entering summer. Time has flown at an unusually fast rate for me. I know time flies when you are having fun, but it seems to be going faster than it should! I mean, HELLO!?, tomorrow we are half-way through August. Really?! AUGUST? Blows my mind.

Speaking of minds being blown: Keagan started preschool last week. I didn't make a huge event out of it because he didn't move schools, just moved classrooms from the toddler-2s room to the preschool-3s! He is such a big boy. He actually raised his hand tonight at the dinner table when I asked him not to talk to me until he finished his fish stick. (I mean, the kid talks NON-STOP.) He raised his hand! I got tickled, then he got tickled, then fish stick mush sputtered out of his mouth. Ick. He also told me tonight that his name starts with the letter K. Here are 1st day of preschool pictures of my handsome, too-old already, preschooler:

In case you didn't catch it, Keagan's favorite color is pink. It has been pink for a long time. I don't know what to think of this. I actually thought about putting "green and blue" down and pretending that it wasn't pink. But it is pink. If you ask Keagan his favorite color, he squeals PINK! much to his daddy's dismay. I hope he outgrows this phase. But who knows. And it is what he likes, and someday we are gonna (hopefully!) look back and laugh that Keagan's favorite color was pink. (I am shaking my head writing this!). We know he knows what he likes, too, because when he and Josh go to the sporting goods section of Wal-Mart, Keagan goes ape over the little pink gun that resides in the glass case. Josh doesn't linger there, for fear of anyone hearing this. Ha! Oh, and Keagan also wants to live in a castle when he grows up. Let's hope he doesn't want to be a princess. I didn't ask, didn't want to go there!

In other news...

 

Finley had his adenoids removed today. He had tubes placed in his ears back in April after 5 months of chronic ear infections. Unfortunately, the ear infections didn't cease. The pressure just lessened for Finley and we saw the infection drain out of his ears. And instead of oral antibiotics, we were using ear drops. Four vials of ear antibiotics later, plus an eye infection and a constantly snotty nose, I took Finn to his pediatrician. She suggested a sinus infection, and oral antibiotics were given. I had seriously had enough. I put in a call to his ENT who knew the trouble Finn had been having and had us come in to talk about adenoidectomy. Less than a week later, here we are without adenoids! I had some reservations (obviously putting my baby under IV anesthesia instead of just gas) and was afraid that maybe this wouldn't work either. And I still don't know if this is the answer, but when the doctor came to talk to us after the surgery he told us the adenoids were very large and obstructing the normal passage of mucus/bacteria/infection and so it was being pushed up into the ears, eyes, nose. So basically, they needed to be removed. And now we are hopeful that the cold and flu season that is nearly upon us (remember, we are nearly to FALL!!!!!) will not be so hard on this baby.

 

Here is Finn in his tiny hospital gown before surgery. He wanted to hold me, and didn't want to pose for a picture, but you gotta see how cute he is. Even if he is mad! 

And here is my baby, returned to me groggy but happy. The doctor said that he stayed back in recovery longer because he was such a good baby, and was pleasant and not screaming and they liked it! They said most children scream and cry as they are waking from the anesthesia. Finn didn't cry at all! Surprised us! He really only fussed around naptime once his IV pain meds wore off. Gave him some meds, and he took a good nap and has been wonderful all day.

Once we were in the car it was apparent that he was still out of it. He looked confused. And the poor guy had a fat lip from the surgery.  Thankfully this phase only lasted a few hours and when he woke from his nap you'd never know anything ever happened!!

 

Maybe now that Finn is (hopefully!) feeling better, our summer can begin! Oh. Wait. Summer is almost over. Sigh.  

Finely - 1 year Review

This posting is LONG overdue. It has been busy.busy.busy around here and to get a moment to sit down is rare. I am sitting, and my eyes are crossing, so this blog post is for sure going to take me more than one attempt. I blogged last about Finley's first birthday but haven't written about Finley's personality, likes/dislikes, and abilities. So this is that post!

Finley at a year:

Likes: his brother's toys, snuggling and tucking his arms "in" while being held, cell phones, food, his night time bottle (I reluctantly stopped nursing a week ago because my neurologist changed my blood thinner and it isn't breastfeeding-friendly...I wasn't entirely ready to quit but Finley has taken this transition really well!), balls and anything he can throw or catch, any opportunity to ride in brother's forward facing car seat, stroller rides, being held constantly, climbing/cruising around the open dishwasher, bath time, ice cream, books

Dislikes: being left alone, nap time, being put down, not getting his food in a timely manner, diaper changes/clothing changes, ear/eye/nose drops, booger getter, having nose wiped (are you seeing a theme here??), having a toy taken away from him (but wouldn't you scream, too?), being forced to "walk" instead of crawl, not being removed from bed in a timely manner

Motor: Finn is a super effective crawler and can climb stairs and anything else in his way. He is getting good at walking with two hands and sometimes just holding one, but he refuses to let go. He cruises around furniture and toys like nobody's business, but I have only once seen him let go and stand unsupported. Finn waves bye-bye, claps, eats mainly with right hand (I hardly ever have to wash his left), uses a sippy straw cup with ease, efficiently grabs at and gets whatever he wants (he seems to have his Mommy's "go-go-gadget arms"), throws a ball to you and plays catch. He has seen his brother color enough that he has even started trying to color, the motions are there but the pressure isn't so there is no real artwork.

Personality: Finn is super-opinionated and decisive. He knows what he wants, and he generally wants it NOW (or maybe even yesterday). He is very funny, likes to catch your attention and make you laugh. He has hilarious facial expressions and I feel like he knows what he is doing! Sometimes he is dark and serious-looking, but in a split second will say "ha!" and change to a big toothy grin. He loves to play peek-a-boo. He is amazingly loving, will lean his head to your head, plant an open mouth kiss on your face, pat-pat-pat your back when you hold him, snuggle in tight to you. The child is super passionate. And feisty. If he doesn't like something, he will let you know immediately. He is the life of the party and his teachers seem to love him at school, though they do tell me occasionally that he takes toys or screams at the other babies if they take a toy back. He apparently also likes to cruise along the cribs, waking the other babies by sticking his hands into the crib..

Etc.: Finn is strawberry blonde, bright blue eyes, very fair skin, and already has freckles (two very noticeable ones on his head, I try and wash them off every now and then thinking they are dirt). When naked he reminds me of a butterball turkey. I love to squeeze him. Finn has both top front teeth and both bottom front teeth, and is working on the top side teeth. He is hands-down the worst teether e.v.e.r. And I am not even kidding. Poor Finn has had a rough go since January, having chronic ear infections and antibiotics which led to tubes in April. I incorrectly thought this was the "answer" but poor Finn has been through 4 vials of antibiotic ear drops for on-going ear infections! He also has had eye and nose drainage and illnesses that just don't seem to let up. We met with his ENT last week and are proceeding with a second surgery to remove his adenoids this coming Wednesday. I am anxious but hopeful that this is the answer. I hate that this poor child hasn't felt good for so long.

Stats: According to his pediatrician, Finley's growth is perfect :) 
weight- 23lb1oz (75-90th %)
height- 30.25" (50-75th %)
head- 46.75 cm (50-75th %)