finley from the farm

a countdown, "don't cut his feet!" and where's the hamburger

2012-01-25T00:33:00.005-06:00

The countdown began about a month ago. The dreaded countdown. I vow never to tell the kids...especially a 4 year old that his Nana is coming in 35 days. That's 35 days of "Is Nana coming today?" It's just too much. I tired of the constant questions of when Nana was coming very early on in this countdown. Finn, on the other hand, just doesn't understand how long a day is or how many days there are in a week and so on. My mom had a great idea of making a chain out of paper where each link represents a day. When I threw away the first few days of the chain, Finn got upset that I was throwing "Nana's chain" away. So, we made a second one so that when all the links from the first chain were gone and on the second chain Nana would be here. It's confusing to me even as I type it, but that's what I told my 4 year old hoping against all odds that he would get it. He didn't, and still doesn't get it, so it has turned into a gift for Nana that we will give to her when she gets here in 1 day, 13 hours and 16 minutes. It's to remind her of the constant, incessant questions that I endured for the 35 straight days before she arrived!

Clubfoot in our family...if you're a child in our family and don't have it, you are the minority. You wouldn't think it's a big deal for clothes, but it really is when it comes to casting while they are really young and then older when they wear their braces at night. It's cold here! It's Minnesota! It's January! I only put the boys in footie sleepers in the middle of winter here in case there is a draft. Finn loves the feet on his sleepers, but it doesn't work AT ALL with the Ponseti braces that Piper and Oliver wear every night. So, I've begun looking on our local FaceBook garage sales for anyone selling second-hand footie sleepers for cheap. I've found some great deals and have ended up buying 6 pairs for $10 off of FaceBook. I settled in one nap time with the 'new' sleepers and a pair of scissors to cut the feet off for Piper and Oliver. Finn woke up early and walked in just as I was about to cut. He got a horrified look on his face and told me "don't cut his feet!". I thought it was apparent that Piper wasn't actually wearing the sleeper at the time, but I did tell him, "Piper isn't wearing them now". I then explained exactly why I was cutting the feet off the footie pajamas. He still doesn't understand why he is the only one that doesn't get to wear braces at night...maybe that's a good thing for Piper and Oliver to share together.

We had a potluck dinner at our church last night. It was an official meeting to affirm the new nominees to become elders (of which Matthew was one) and also to welcome new members. Hamburger hot dish (I have to MAKE myself not call it a casserole) is among one of the favorites up here and so I decided to make it. I set the frozen hamburger, frozen vegetables and frozen tater tots out to thaw. About an hour later I went to check on each ingredient to see how they were thawing. the hamburger was missing. I tried to think of all of the places Piper had been in the last hour as I was sure, without a doubt, that he had taken it. I asked him, "where is the hamburger?". He didn't even know what I was talking about, so I showed him the place on the table that it had been sitting. He stared at me blankly. I thought, how crazy is this? I've lost frozen hamburger! I started looking. I looked under the couches, I looked in the kitchen cabinets, I looked in the toilet! (what 2 year old doesn't love the toilet!) Thankfully, it was not in the toilet, but it wasn't in any of the other places either. I spent a good 20 minutes looking all over the house for some half-thawed hamburger before I thought to open the freezer door. There, sitting exactly where I had pulled it out over an hour ago, was my re-frozen hamburger. I defrosted it, baked it and got some compliments on this very Northern 'hotdish'. They'll never know that, at one point, I thought their hamburger was in the toilet!

the 'l' word

2012-01-02T22:47:00.001-06:00

I've posted about the 'L' word (AKA laundry) before. I've abhorred doing laundry for years and my hate of laundry hasn't diminished. I just have an organized hate of it now as I try to do at least one load per day. Finn and Piper, on the other hand, absolutely love doing the laundry. So, I have a good plan...and it's working. The boys will help collect the dirty clothes/sheets and put them down the laundry chute. Then, whenever I go downstairs to wash clothes, one of the boys will go down with me and help do the laundry. Finn now knows how to measure and pour the detergent into the washing machine and he's learning how to separate the clothes (I don't totally trust him in this area as last week he did a load of whites and I found a little red sock in there. Thankfully, I hadn't added bleach!). Piper mostly likes to put the clothes into the washer and then push the clothes into the dryer. He thinks it's a treat when he gets to push the button for the dryer to start. As I take the basket of laundry upstairs, they get a piggyback ride up. They both like to help fold. Finn has gotten really good at folding laundry and is meticulous in stacking them. Piper likes to 'fold' but it's the same as wadding up toilet paper to throw away. He doesn't quite have the patience, but I can tell that he'll be interested in actually folding them in the near future. Both were helping me fold laundry earlier and Finn said, "I wuv hewping you do the cwoze!". I asked Piper if he liked helping do the clothes and in his most Northern accent (there's no hope for a Southerner in that boy), he said, "Ya!!!"

The countdown has begun for when I don't have to do anymore of the 'L' word!

Piper and Oliver checkups - december 29

2011-12-31T14:23:00.000-06:00

Piper and Oliver had well-child/baby checkups on December 29. Piper is doing very well. Dr. Bell was so good to involve Piper in his checkup and let him play with her otoscope. She asked him where his mouth was and then looked in his mouth which made it more fun for him. She then asked him where his ears, eyes, etc were. He loved when she asked where his belly button was. He'll show that to ANYONE. But, he expected her to tickle it and, of course, she didn't know that. Ha! I don't have the stats for their visits, but I'll get them from the nurse and enter them later. We are keeping an eye on his speech--informally--as I know he's doing just fine. He learns new words every day and attempts to say new words on his own. Finn is so good to help him sound words out too. Unfortunately, Finn still can't say his L's, so Piper doesn't say L's either.

Oliver is doing well and growing like crazy. He's cooing like he should and sitting pretty well. He doesn't like tummy time so he doesn't get up onto his knees yet, but that turned out to be okay. He only loves his belly when he's sleeping. Oliver got 3 shots and Finn insisted on staying. Finn has been very interested in injections since he had to get one at his 4-year checkup and then again when he had his most recent CT scan in October on his neck. So, at the foot of the exam table he stood so he could watch Oliver get his shots. The first shot, both Oliver and Finn did okay. The second one is where they started to fall apart. Oliver started crying and Finn had his hands up by his mouth and they were shaking. I talked to Finn about the shots and he decided just to stand by the exam room door (more like he was standing in the corner) and not watch. They were both fine a minute after the injections. Lisa, our nurse, thought it was sweet that Finn wanted to stay with Oliver. Lisa then offered Finn a sticker and he asked for 3. For a split second I thought about telling him to just take 1, but I knew why he wanted 3. Lisa brought Finn back into the exam room and told me that he had gotten a sticker for Oliver, a sticker for Piper and a sticker for himself. I think she really loves Finn. =) By this time, Oliver, who was 30 minutes late for his morning nap was asleep in his car seat, barely sucking on his thumb and snuggling with his blanket.

super happy ollie - december 20 and 21

2011-12-31T14:15:00.001-06:00

People at church ask me all the time where my baby is and if we really have a 6 month old. They've never seen him! We get to church at about 9 and he goes to sleep in their crib at about 9:15. He doesn't wake up until 12:15 when it's time for me to feed him and then leave. He sleeps so well (except during his afternoon nap when he rolls to his back and can't get back over). Since he was 2 months old he's been sleeping through the night. If I hear anyone fussing in the night, I'm 99% sure it's NOT Oliver. I have to wake him up at 8 in the morning (not sure how long he would sleep) and when I wake him up, he's just ready to get up and smiles that whole-body smile that babies have. I wake him up after his morning nap at about 11:30 and, again, he acts like he was just about to get up anyways and smiles. Afternoon naps have been different the last couple of months with him rolling, but once he gets into a deep sleep he will usually be okay. By the way, he's been rolling from his front to his back for 2 months and I've only seen it once because I sneaked into his room to watch him. Matthew has never seen him roll.

It is not unusual for Oliver to just be smiling for no reason. I left the vacuum cleaner out one day next to his jumperoo and he talked and smiled at it for 30 minutes. It was hilarious!

December 21 was the first day that I felt okay about sitting him up with a blanket around him so that he could play. He was steady without help for a few minutes and loved sitting up. Of course, he smiled the whole time.

piper turns 2!

2011-12-31T14:00:00.002-06:00

To keep from having Piper's party run right into the Christmas busyness, we had it the weekend before his birthday. On December 17, Bob and Darlene, Steve and Melissa and their kids, Allie, Anna, Meg, Grady and Kate; and Kristen and Monty came to celebrate with us. It was a full and fun house and Piper had a great time. We had his favorite foods--pizza, green peppers, carrots and peaches. I know it's a weird combination, but he loves them all. Ha! Matthew spent the whole afternoon making a tractor cake for Piper. He and Finley were so excited about the cake!

Here's our 2 year old!

Darlene (half of her), Oliver, Melissa, Grady and Anna.

Anna, Meg, Finley, Piper, Allie

Singing Happy Birthday. We had practiced all day blowing out the candles after we sing the song. Unfortunately, he couldn't wait and blew it out in the middle of the song.

Eating his John Deere tractor cake.

Opening his gifts.

Anna (far left), Allie (middle) and Meg (far, far left in the pink toed socks) made a pillow for Piper. How special!

More gifts...

On the morning of his birthday, he opened the gifts from Nana, Papa and us. He got his own nursery rhymes book and a Doug and Melissa car transporter from Nana and Papa; a car from Finley (he used his own money and was so excited to give Piper a gift!); and a John Deere tractor from Mommy and Daddy.

Happy birthday, Piper! We love you!

in love with a hat - december 17

2011-12-31T13:37:00.000-06:00

Is it possible to love a hat? Just ask Piper. He wore this hat around the house all day on December 17. He would walk up to everyone and make sure that they noticed his new hat and as soon as you saw it, you had to have some kind of surprised reaction. Then, he would beam in pride and run away. I do like the hat, but I absolutely love that cute face!

"us handsome guys" - december 14

2011-12-31T13:31:00.001-06:00

Finley and Piper got new clothes/pajamas and were wearing them when Finley said, "Let's take a picture of us handsome guys and send it to Nana". How do you say no to that? So they both sat down and said, "Cheese". What handsome guys!

30 minutes of potty training - december 09

2011-12-31T12:39:00.000-06:00

Piper had been showing signs of potty training...like telling me when he had pooped or going into the bathroom, standing in front of the toilet, holding up his shirt while leaning forward and making noises like he was peeing. They were the kinds of signs that mothers all over the world long to see. So, on a Friday when Matthew and Finley were going to get some cows, I decided to train Piper.

It all started with oh, about 2 quarts of apple juice (Piper's favorite drink). Two quarts of any liquid in an almost 2 year old spells disaster, but the experts say to pump them full of liquid on training days. I couldn't have pumped him fuller if I'd had an IV. I put him in underwear and he waddled around for a while probably because of the 2 quarts of juice and maybe the new feel of underwear. We went through all the steps to 'how to use the potty'. We did 'dry underwear' checks every few minutes and he would get praised every time he was dry. Everything was going great, and then the juice moved through his system....and boy did it move! It never stopped. For a straight 30 minutes he did nothing but pee...no matter where he was. Looking at this picture now, he's probably peeing at that very moment. (Finn just saw this picture on the computer screen and said, "Piper's peeing in his pants"). Yes, that's what happened. Piper peed in his underwear, A LOT. The last time he peed in his underwear, I was running after him as he was running through the house while peeing. I didn't even know it was possible to pee while running--although, I have since been told that it is possible! We put the fourth pair of underwear down the laundry chute and the rest of them back in his drawer upstairs to be used at a much later date! To be continued...

P.S. I love you, Piper. Don't hate me for this post when you get older.

movie night - december 03

2011-12-31T12:12:00.000-06:00

When you have a 4 year old, an almost 2 year old and a 6 month old, taking a great picture of all 3 is nearly impossible. I thought movie night was a good picture-taking time as they were all bathed, in fairly good moods and ready for some popcorn and a cartoon. Why did I even think it was possible? Finn has a weird look on his face because I was making a face to get them to have happy faces. It never did work...as told by the next 3 pictures.

lavender turkey, anyone?

2011-12-30T22:31:00.004-06:00

We spent Thanksgiving at home and had a big Thanksgiving meal at Matthew's parent's house on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. I had never successfully prepared a turkey and wasn't too excited about ruining another turkey. Matthew had to go to the grocery store Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. You can imagine that his 20 minute shopping spree turned into almost an hour! I had asked for about an 8-pound turkey since we thought we were having friends over. Didn't know they only sold them in 13 pounds or bigger! He came home with a 13-pound turkey which made me even more nervous to mess it up. My mom had told me about the roasting bags for the turkey and we got one of those. My mom had also told me to make sure I took the innards out of the turkey. I wonder what would've happened had she not told me about those things. So, in my hand went to fish out the nasty things hidden inside of the turkey...all the while trying desperately not to dry heave on our future food. Why in the world do they have to push them all the way to the other end of the turkey? Maybe they should give some options when you are buying a turkey. How about, "would you like to stick your whole arm in a turkey and fish something gross and squishy out or would you like a turkey that you don't ever have to put your arm in?".

Matthew helped a lot in the preparation of the dinner and when we had floured the roasting bag (apparently so it doesn't blow up while baking--yay), rubbed down the turkey with the butter, and put it in the bag, I went to wash the turkey slime off of my hands. Unfortunately, I hadn't closed the turkey roasting bag. Our soap dispenser got clogged and that soap shot 3 feet right into the bag and on the turkey! I couldn't believe it! All that work and now the front and top of our 13-pound turkey had lavender soap all over it! I had ruined the turkey even before baking it! Matthew saw that some had gotten on the top of the roasting bag, I quickly wiped it, and the soap running down the sides of the turkey, away hoping that we wouldn't have lavender-soap-tasting turkey in a few hours. Got it in the oven and then we waited...and waited...and waited. I learned something that day. You wait ALL day for the food to get ready and then at the last 20 or so minutes EVERYTHING happens at the same time! Finally we sat down for a quiet meal with just our little family. Our company that we thought was coming ended up going home to be with their family, so the 13-pound-NON-lavender tasting turkey we ate. It was a good meal and a good day with my boys!

fun with the family - november 18

2011-12-30T22:02:00.003-06:00

Evenings that we are all at home are fun. We usually end up on the floor in the living room with Finn and Piper running around (or on) us. Oliver usually watches in amazement between the 20 ounces of milk that he likes to drink every night.

Oliver has started sitting some and babbling. He's the most easy-going baby I've ever known. Even if he's sick or just had shots he always has a smile for you.

Wrestling with Finley and Piper. They usually win.

Piper has been really happy lately...a MUCH NEEDED change in his attitude! He's fun to play with and even asks for you to play by hitting the floor next to him as hard as he can to get you to sit with him. Oliver often has a shocked look on his face...no joke.

A blurry picture, but I couldn't not put it in. Finley is so sweet and fun. Again, Ollie with his shocked look.

look at all the feathers!

2011-11-16T10:27:00.001-06:00

The last few weeks have been interesting here to say the least. Someone in our family has been sick since October 30. Matthew got a cold that day and it was slowly passed from person to person. At the moment, we are still ALL sick with something, but Finley and Piper are getting better. Oliver woke up this morning with another cold. He handles it well though and stays happy. Here are some of the highlights from the last few weeks.

One of the perks of living in the country is the deer in our yard. We have never had so many deer in our yard as we've had this fall/winter. There are sometimes 5 deer eating and lazily walking around. Piper was in the window watching all the deer in the yard.

The boys helping make Daddy's birthday cake. They both like to bake, but Piper especially.

Watching as it mixes.

Piper waking up from his nap.

And he was not happy.

Especially when I told him to smile.

In the end I just decided to leave him alone.

Finn being a big help with Ollie.

He loves to feed and hold Ollie.

And since Finley got to hold him, Piper had to hold him. Gotta watch Piper with him though. When Piper decides he's finished, he pushes Oliver off of his lap, then jumps up and runs away.

The boys at the peak of their sickness. We went to the doctor on November 7. They had fevers, coughs, fatigue and general crabbiness. Come to find out that Piper had 2 pink eardrums, pink eye, bronchitis and a little pneumonia in his left lung. Finn's neck lump was getting bigger with his sickness and his right eardrum was red. Sometimes, you take your kids the doctor and leave there feeling stupid that you took them in since there doesn't seem to be much wrong. Other times, like on this day, I left there feeling stupid that I hadn't taken them in sooner. Dr. Bell ended up putting both of them on antibiotics for 10 days.

I had a plastic storage container with baby clothes out that I was sorting. I put it up on the rocking chair thinking the boys would leave it alone. Ha! The minute they saw it they both climbed up and started playing on it.

Finn went to church with Daddy Sunday night so it was just Piper, Oliver and me. While I was feeding Oliver, Piper apparently found the last little container of ice cream, got a spoon from the drawer, took the top off of the ice cream and started eating it. He then got an ice cream headache and refused to take another bite.

The boys watching the snow. We got some snow late last week, but it was just flurries and didn't stick around. When I knew that Finn would be able to see the snowflakes, I told him to go look out the window. When he looked outside he said, "Look at all the feathers!" Ha! He thought there were a bunch of birds losing all of their feathers. Piper ended up not really caring, but Finn played out in it for awhile in the afternoon. When we were doing our family worship time, he prayed and thanked Jesus for the snow.

a few moments alone...

2011-11-16T09:50:00.001-06:00

Early this morning I couldn't sleep...tossed and turned a lot. So, I decided to get up a little before 6. Ended up having to wake Matthew up to fix the thermostat that had decided to stop working some time in the night. He fixed it within a few minutes and went back to bed. That left about 30 minutes that I got ALONE. "Weird" thing is, I started my devotions for the day and it was about how sometimes the Lord "takes sleep from you" to get your attention. Okay, He had my attention. I got to finish my devotions for the day IN SILENCE! This almost never happens. So, I was totally at peace and ready for company when I heard the first little boy wake up and come down the stairs. Finn is our early riser. He walked over to me and said "good morning, mommy." (Heart melt #1). He cuddled with me a few minutes not saying anything so I just prayed out loud, "Lord, thank you for Finley". He responded with, "Lord, thank you for mommy." (Heart melt #2). Piper woke up a few minutes later and as I was taking his foot brace off I prayed, "Lord, thank you for Piper." He said, "Amen!" (Heart melt #3). Gonna be a good day!

daddy's birthday presents

2011-10-26T21:37:00.000-05:00

Wednesday evenings are fun for me as I get to spend a couple of hours alone with Finn when we go to church...me to middle school youth group and him to Cubbies. We left earlier than usual this week so that we could go shopping for Matthew's birthday presents. So on the way to town, I asked Finn what he wanted to get daddy for his birthday. As I asked the question we were passing a stop sign, so he said, "maybe a stop sign...or something?". After explaining to him that no one is aloud to have stop signs and that it's against the law, I asked him again what he wanted to get daddy for his birthday. Finn said, "How about a beet truck?". I stopped asking after that. And I thought a stop sign was impossible!!!

We got to Target and picked out a couple of things. We were near the jewelry section (no, I didn't get Matthew jewelry) when Finn saw a rack of fashion necklaces. They were filled with charms and feathers and very large polished stones. He looked at me with a questioning look and said, "I just don't think I know what this is". So, I guess to test it, he pulled it back and let it go. Of course it clattered against the others and hit the back of the rack. Two girls were standing around the corner and thought it was pretty funny that he was acting like the necklace was a slingshot. What a fun boy!

gotta declutter

2011-10-24T10:54:00.002-05:00

So, usually when I feel like the 'stuff' in our house is taking over, I'll get claustrophobic and go on a cleaning rampage after possibly a little rant to Matthew about all the junk. I skipped the rant to Matthew this morning (although I was a little on edge) and I'm going to declutter today. Maybe I spared him the rant because he always gets a little worried that I'm going to throw all of his stuff out. Of course, I would just tell him that if it hasn't been used in a while then we don't need it. So, that's my rule today. When I see it and it hasn't been used in a while and there are no immediate plans for it, it's going out. (Matthew, if you are reading this, it does include your stuff, but as usual, I'll set your stuff aside for you to look through.) Anyone else need to declutter today?

"that makes jesus happy"

2011-10-23T13:59:00.002-05:00

I was talking to my mom on the phone earlier today when I heard Finn tell Piper "That makes Jesus happy". Somehow I knew that whatever they were doing wasn't making Jesus happy. I walked in just in time to save my headphones. They were hooked over the exercise machine and Piper was pulling on them like he was going to use them as a swing. After I saved my headphones, he went right for the diaper cream (which he knows he's not supposed to have) and started to open it. After I took that away, he went for the computer. Piper never stops and he loves everything that he's not supposed to get into. At this point, it looks like he will either work with electronics, water or diaper cream!

I'll have to have a nice, long talk with Finn about what really makes Jesus happy.

Ollie in the Jumperoo for the first time. He wasn't a huge fan at first, but he got used to it and now if I'm carrying him around, he will stare at it until I put him in it.

Finn wanted to take my picture, but I told him that I got to take one of him first. He said "cheese" with a big smile for about .5 seconds and then ran off. This was taken right at the end of "cheese".

This was a picture that Finn took of Piper...pretty good, I think!

Ollie going for a horse ride just like his big brothers love to do.

Finn climbed the wall in between the kitchen and the dining room (as always), but when he tried to climb down, his foot slipped and he face planted into the wall and slid all the way down to the floor scraping his nose against the wood work. He actually got a splinter at the opening of his right nostril! Now, that was interesting digging a splinter out of his nose! He then insisted on having a band-aid. I told him to get a small band-aid; however, I think he brought me the biggest one that we had and again insisted on me putting it on his nose. It was so big that he couldn't breathe through his nose so he sniffed a lot and it also bothered his eyes so much that they watered. Through all of this he kept it on for at least 3 hours. Every time I looked at him, I just had to laugh.

So, Piper felt left out that he couldn't play in the jumperoo so I put him in. Boy, was he happy!

Saying "shees". He ended up getting stuck and Finn 'helped' him out by turning him completely upside down. I didn't know the jumperoo could turn over...definitely something I'll have to watch with Ollie in it!

Getting ready for bed Saturday night and I put on I Love Lucy. No, Ollie wasn't watching it, but it was a cute picture with the other two sitting so still.

yesterday

2011-10-11T14:54:00.003-05:00

We had an interesting day here yesterday.

FROGS AND FINGERS

7:00 am - Finn woke up yesterday with a little cough so I asked him if he had a little frog in his throat. He got a funny look on his face and said, "No, I don't have a frog in my throat. That's yucky". He also woke up with the band-aid on his finger that we put there the night before to keep him from sucking his finger. That means that he's been finger-sucking free for 2 days!

NO!

8:30 am - I asked Piper if he wanted French toast for breakfast. He said "no" in the sweetest little voice. Of course it started out in a nice way. I thought to myself, "I give him 24 hours before he's yelling it". This morning, he yelled "Nooooo!" as loud as he could to Finley when they were playing. It was the first time that Piper got a toy that he wanted from Finley, partly because I think Finley was so shocked that Piper yelled at him.

I HODE YOU

9:30 am - I told Finn that I was cold as we were sitting on the couch. He moved right next to me and put his arms around me and said, "Here, I hode you so you can warm up". So sweet.

PIPER'S CLEANING?

11:00 am - I told the boys to pick up all of their books and toys so that we could vacuum. Piper scrambled around picking up everything and putting it in the correct box and lining up the tractors along the wall. I was so proud of him and he was so excited to help.

HIDE AND SEEK--OLIVER STYLE

11:30 am - Finally got around to vacuuming after Ollie woke up. I put him in his chair, strapped him in and put him in the family room, which is the room I always start in. I turned the vacuum on and vacuumed that half of the room. When I turned the vacuum off though to move furniture and do the other side of the room, Oliver was gone...along with his chair. My heart skipped a beat and I ran into the kitchen, which is right where Finn had pulled Oliver. I asked him what he was doing and Finn calmly said, "I want my brudder with me". I told him that was okay so I went back to vacuuming. By the time I got to the kitchen though, Ollie was 'hiding' again. Finn had pulled him into the dining room and was reading to him. By the time I got into the dining room, Finn had pulled him into the living room...and all around the downstairs he went. It's a good thing Oliver is so go with the flow! He had the same, content expression on his face each time I found him.

Do you think this kid likes bread? Finn likes to help me make bread and watch the dough mix together; however, I've never seen him hug the bread machine...

The boys fighting over who gets to hold Oliver...and Oliver just sits there contentedly.

Ollie still content as they fight over him. Finn wearing his victory grin.

Piper's tears turned to a smile as he says "shees". Poor Ollie, right after I took this picture, Piper decided he was finished holding him and dropped him on the floor face first. Ollie whimpered a little and then smiled. I tell ya, nothing gets Ollie down...

fall

2011-10-04T22:07:00.000-05:00

Finn ended up having the flu for almost 3 days. At night he would ask for the strangest things. He would be fevering and asking for paper at 3 in the morning. When I asked him what kind of paper he wanted, he said, "just paper". I asked if he wanted to write something and he said no. I asked him what he needed it for and he showed me that he wanted to wipe his nose. So, I asked him if he wanted toilet paper and he said, "no, the big paper that you rip". Which means that he wanted to blow his nose in a paper towel. That same night he also asked for "Larry boy". Larry Boy is a VeggieTales character, but apparently to Finn he looks like the big bulb syringe that I use on Ollie's nose when he has a cold. So he asked for Larry Boy to fix his nose.

Ollie sitting in his little rocking chair. He looks pretty serious in these pictures, but he is really the most smiley and happy baby ever!

He's getting so big.

Piper helping Matthew stack firewood. All I see when I look at Piper are his huge, brown eyes. I love them!

Like I said, huge brown eyes.

Finley helping to stack firewood.

I asked him to smile for the picture, but he said that his stomach hurt, so this is the picture I got. As you saw in the previous picture, a stomachache was not ailing him.

Matthew stacking firewood.

It took me 10 minutes to get him to stop and smile.

Piper playing outside.

Piper wrestling with Finley.

When they start wrestling, Piper usually gets hurt so I tell them not to touch each other. This is them not touching each other.

During quiet time today I found Finn looking through a more advanced school book. =)

Our front/side yard. Look at all the leaves!

school, pictures and fevers

2011-09-26T21:28:00.001-05:00

Finn has been doing a Pre-K program and learning shapes, letters and numbers for 3 weeks now. He also has an ABCs Bible verses book that he's going through. He likes to memorize words and then look for them in his regular books that he looks through and then calls them out when he sees them. He's turned out to be quite the student and likes to memorize things. I've also found him practicing writing his letters and he sounds words out all the time. Sometimes it sounds like "f-f-Sunday" saying the 'F' sound and then saying Sunday, but at least he's trying. If something starts with an 'F' he automatically thinks it must say Finley. Do you know how many things have 'Fs' in them? =)

Last Wednesday, Piper got a 103 degree fever for a couple of days after he got another cold a few days before. Poor guy seems to always have a cold and runny nose. He takes it in stride though and he'll come and let me know when he needs me to wipe it. He will either point to it or he will just start blowing it on anything he can reach. It's taken some time to teach him what he can blow his nose on and what he shouldn't. He's also started to let me know when he's peeing and pooping. He'll point to his diaper and then smile as he stands very still. Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at the look on his face as he's concentrating. He will then go and get me a diaper to change him. I'd say he's almost ready for potty training. I'll first work on having him get himself undressed and redressed alone and then we'll probably start in a couple of months. I really wish he could communicate more though. He still doesn't really say much at all and will absolutely not say anything if you ask him to say it. He's one stubborn kid!

Ollie is growing like a weed. He now drinks anywhere from 17 to even 20 ounces in the evening alone cluster feeding for night time. This doesn't bother me at all as he's been sleeping straight through the night now for at least 2 weeks...and we're talking 11-1/2 to 12 hours straight! This little boy loves to sleep. He takes about a 2-hour nap in the morning, will be awake for about 1-1/2 hours and then will take a 4-hour nap in the afternoon. He then stays awake for anywhere from 3 to 4 hours while he just eats. He's still the happiest, most content baby. He loves to watch Finn now and when he sees him, will lock his eyes on him and watch his every move. Tonight, Finn got out of his line of vision and Ollie got frustrated looking around him waiting to see Finley again. I told Finley to go back over to Ollie so he could see him and he just stared. We also had Ollie's dedication service last Sunday. While we were up on stage and the pastor was talking, Ollie locked on the pastor the whole time, even through a yawn, he just watched Pastor Ray talk.

Yesterday evening we had a friend from our church come out to the farm and take family pictures. Piper decided not to take a full nap so he was pretty crabby. We'll just say that we captured the real Piper. I think we got some good pictures done...we'll just have to see in a few weeks! I'm excited to get them back!

Late this afternoon, Finn got really whiny. He didn't take a nap this afternoon and after our photo shoot followed by a bonfire and a busy morning, he was tired! So, I asked him if he was falling apart after not taking a nap. He said, "Yes, I'm breaking" in a pitiful voice. About 10 minutes later he came to me and said that his head was breaking and he was rubbing it. I asked him if his head hurt and he said yes. So, I felt him and knew right away that he had a moderate fever. Within 10 minutes he was lying on the couch, shaking and shivering with fever and asking for a spoon. I had no clue why he would want a spoon, but I got one out of the silverware drawer and he said he showed me that he wanted it on his forehead. My guess is, that was the coldest thing he could think of to put on his aching head. So, as he went to sleep shaking, I rubbed his forehead with a silver spoon. I stopped once because I thought he was asleep and he opened his dazed eyes and said, "I think you better just stay here with me". Poor thing got hit hard, but as soon as it came on, it left. He slept for about 45 minutes and when he woke up he ate and then hit the floor playing with his tractors and trucks. The fever never came back...at least not yet!

Here's Matthew talking to Ollie. If you take the time, Ollie will talk your ear off and smile up a storm!

The boys ready for bed and sitting for a picture tonight.

Ollie. He's almost into 6-month clothes. We've found too that he's most comfortable in his brace. I think the bottom of his legs and his feet are just too sensitive since they've been covered for 23 hours a day for weeks now.

Piper pausing for a slight moment.

Of course, Finn chasing Piper. Thankfully, Piper loves it just as much as Finley does!

My sick little boy, not so sick anymore.

man-girl

2011-09-17T10:39:00.000-05:00

According to Finn, this is now what I am. He can't seem to get a handle on men, women, boys, girls. For now, everyone is a man and then either a boy or a girl. Matthew is a man-boy, so I'm a man-girl. If Finn is ever talking about me, he calls me 'he'. I sure hope that some day soon he starts to understand this. I'm starting to get offended...especially since this morning he made a point to come up to me and tell me that I'm a BIG (arm motions for big) man-girl.

finn's 4 year appointment

2011-09-14T13:50:00.002-05:00

Finn had his 4-year appointment this morning. He knew going in that he was getting a shot and was very upset by this...has been upset about this for 3 weeks. We got there and he saw Dr. Bell and went through his exam just fine. He has stayed at 50th percentile for height and weight his whole life and nothing had changed this visit. He has great fine motor skills and we are going to watch his auditory recognition skills for the next 6 months. It has to do with giving 3 separate instructions and him following them. He had trouble with this in the office, but I'm not really worried. He's able to follow instructions at home just fine. After his exam, he had his hearing and vision checked. He did great with these. Then it was time. He asked the nurse who was performing the tests on him if he was going to get a shot. She looked at me like "what should I tell him?". I told her that he knew he was getting one and that she should tell him exactly what was going to happen. After she told him, she left the room to go get the syringe. Finn then asked if he could get it in his leg instead of his arm. I told him he could have it in his foot if he was willing! He said, "No, just my leg". So, I asked him which leg and he pointed to his left. He pulled his pants down, I set him on the table and the nurse walked in to find him ready and patiently waiting. He showed her where he wanted it and she cleaned it, put the needle in and gave him the injection. He did cry a little when she was giving him the shot, but it was very short lived and all in all a good experience. She told him that he could have 2 stickers for being so good. He picked one out and said, "This one is for Piper". The nurse looked like she was going to cry and said that was the sweetest thing she'd ever heard. He picked his sticker out and we started to leave. Finn then turned around to the nurse and called out, "thanks for my shot"!

Here is our sweet 4 year old

a substitute for the substitute for the substitute

2011-09-14T13:31:00.002-05:00

It's never a good sign when you're in the middle of baking something and have to break out the substitution chart. The recipe called for 1 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. I didn't have have chocolate chips. Enter substitution chart. All I needed was 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate plus 2 tablespoons shortening and 1/2 cup of sugar. Enter the substitution chart again since I didn't have 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate. So, now all I needed was 6 tablespoons cocoa plus 6 tablespoons shortening. Yes, these I had; however, I didn't have the 1/2 cup of sugar. Enter substitution chart again. All I needed was 1-1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Yes, that I had. And the recipe would have turned out great had Piper not dumped 9 cups of Corn Chex on the floor requiring me to leave the stove and help him clean it up. One forgotten, burned mess on the stove.

Started all over, got it made and then forgot to take it to Bible study.

one little cutie

2011-09-14T13:21:00.000-05:00

Oliver is being dedicated this Sunday and the church wanted a picture to put up on the screen before the service, so this is what they got.

to catch you up

2011-09-12T21:31:00.003-05:00

Ollie is now almost 12 weeks old and gets up at 8, eats, plays for about 1 hour and then takes a 2-1/2 hour nap. When he wakes up at 11:30 he eats, plays for a little over an hour and then goes down for a nap until about 4:30. He's then awake until 7:30 or 8. During this 3 hours or so time, all he does is eat. He will eat about 12 ounces in that time and then go to bed. I usually have to wake him around 5:30 a.m. to eat and then he goes right back to sleep. He's such a happy and content baby. He doesn't have a fussy time during the day or evening and he already loves to watch the boys play and run. Maybe he'll be the peacemaker for the two of them!

Our two wild boys!

Piper is almost 21 months old and loves electronics, any kind of buttons, lights, noise and his Praise Baby videos. He will say "Mama", "Dada", "I do!", "Side-o" (outside), "Da-do" (thank-you) and "cheese" when he's holding anything that looks remotely like a camera. He has a very deep voice and I can't wait for him to learn more words so that I can hear it all the time. Oliver just got his Ponseti shoes and brace, so Piper is very interested in them since they are just like his except several sizes smaller. He's fascinated with unbuckling them and trying to buckle them back so we have to watch and make sure that Ollie still has his shoes on all day. He loves any pacifier, but has his favorite blue one for nap and bedtimes. He also has his favorite blanket that he loves. Both of these have to stay in his bed though during the day and he is compliant with it. When I go to get him up in the morning he takes his pacifier out of his mouth, shows it to me and then throws it on his bed next to his blanket. Today, he got upstairs by himself and brought both downstairs and laid on the floor. I took that as a subtle hint to put him down for his nap.

Finley is, of course, 4 now and loves trucks, tractors, playing outside and his new love is books. He has a quiet time when Piper and Oliver are taking their naps and he can sit and look at books for a long time and be perfectly content. He rarely naps anymore, but is happy to sit quietly during this time. He likes funny noises and if I hear something weird or unusual during the day, it is usually Finn making some kind of noise. He will laugh at himself and if someone else laughs, he will laugh too just for the sake of laughing at the same time. He has very good manners and uses them every time he needs something. He has trouble saying the 'L' sound and says a 'W' sound instead so it sounds like, "Finwee" and "Owiver". He has most recently started PreK and seems to be ready for it. He likes drawing and writing, but mostly loves to cut up construction paper when I've drawn straight or wavy lines for him to cut on. He's also learning a Bible verse a week and we have plenty of practice time throughout the day to explain and recite. Last week Piper yelled at Finn and Finn said, "No, no, Piper! A soft answer turns away wrath." This week we are learning Matthew 5:9. Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of God. He can say it, but we are just getting into the explanation. I can't wait to use this on them when they're wrestling!

Finley holding Oliver. Oliver usually just hangs out and is content with however you want to hold him. This makes it easy for the boys to hold him as they love to do.

Oldest and youngest. I hope all three boys get to be great pals as they grow.

finley turns 4!

2011-09-12T20:57:00.001-05:00

Finley turned 4 on September 2 and boy was he excited! This was the most excited I had ever seen him. He knew that people were coming over on September 1 for his party and all week he talked about them and would look out the window for everyone. Happy birthday, Finley! We are so blessed to have you as our son!

In this picture I had asked how old he was and he was saying "Four!!!"

His monster truck cake that he picked out. I was so thankful he picked a relatively easy one since I am not a cake decorator at all! It turned out pretty good though and he loved it! I did learn though that you should never, EVER put a cake in the freezer after you have added food coloring to the icing. I took it out of the freezer the day of his party and as it thawed, the green coloring started coming out of the icing and it pooled on the pan. So, right before everyone got there, I wiped up the green from around the pan and added a little more 'dirt' around the bottom. I don't think anyone noticed...and the only thing I notice was the lighter shade of green than I was wanting.

Grandma and Ollie waiting for pizza!

So, this is not a good picture of Piper, but it shows exactly what he did all night long. If anyone got up from their chair and there was food left on their plate, he would steal it and eat it. I tried giving him his own pizza two separate times, but he only wanted other people's.

Getting ready to blow out his candles!

brothers

2011-09-12T20:45:00.002-05:00

At times during the day, I'm amazed at how much these boys seem to love each other when at other times they almost beat each other to a pulp. They both ask to hold Oliver whenever he's awake and they like to lie down on the floor next to him. Piper doesn't understand what being quiet means so he will yell 'Ha!' in Oliver's face whenever he wants to talk to him. That's Piper's word for 'Hi'. Finley will sometimes read books to Oliver and Oliver talks right back.

Both Finley and Piper love to give Oliver a bottle, and even if I'm nursing him they will want to give him a bottle or a pacifier. Of course, Piper knows that Oliver won't want anything else at that time so that means he gets to keep them for himself.

finn's photography

2011-09-12T20:35:00.000-05:00

More practice from Finn. He loves taking pictures and then looking at them on the computer later. He will point to the pictures that he likes best and then we delete the ones that don't turn out.

We picked a whole bunch of beans from the garden on this morning and we were outside cleaning and cutting them up. Not sure what setting the camera was on, but I look like I'm glowing and you can't even see he bean that I'm holding up, but Finley liked it so we're using it.

Piper helping with the beans. He loves to run around the garden and will pick up a ripe tomato and eat it raw.

sharing

2011-09-12T20:27:00.001-05:00

Piper decided to share his Leapfrog game with Ollie.

Piper thought Ollie should show a little more enthusiasm for it, so he started yelling and pushing the buttons for Ollie. Ollie still didn't care.

Finn practicing with the camera again. He's getting pretty good at it. When he first started taking pictures, all we got were blurry feet.

nothin' could be finer than to be in carolina...

2011-09-12T16:43:00.000-05:00

Matthew and the youth group went on a 10-day missions trip to Romania and we decided that it probably wouldn't be the best idea for me to stay home alone with a 3 week old along with Finn and Piper. So, we packed up and after church on Sunday, July 24, we left for NC. We drove straight through only stopping for about 2-1/2 hours total and got to Charlotte exactly 24 hours after we left. We were surprised again at how well the boys traveled.

On our first full day in NC, we went up to Grandma and Grandpa's house. We had a fun day of catching up and chasing after the boys.

Grandpa and Grandma (Bama and Paka) with Ollie.

Grandma holding Ollie.

Grandpa and Matthew made a big swing for the kids. It was definitely their favorite thing to play with!

Finn on the swing.

Daddy helping Piper on the swing.

Matthew getting ready to give Finn a big push.

Daddy and Piper.

On the 28th, Matthew flew home to get ready for his missions trip. It was sad saying good-bye to him knowing that Finn and Piper would miss him a ton and Ollie would be 6 weeks old when we saw him again.

On the 29th, Mom, Dad and the boys and I met Becky and her kids, Chloe (3) and Michael (1) at the Dan Nicholas Park. They had a lot of fun on the train, the carousel, and at the splash pad. \

On the train waiting to go.

At the splash pad. Finn was all over the place running through the water, but Piper was a lot more strategic and would stand on the circles waiting for the water to fly up.

Piper patiently waiting for the water.

Finn running through the whole pad.

Introducing: Finn as cow and Chloe as sheep. They really had no idea what they were supposed to do in there as you can seen in the pictures below.

While in Charlotte, Ollie still had to have cast change appointments set up, so Piper and Ollie's doctor, Dr. Haasbeek referred us to Dr. Steven Frick. At the last minute, I decided to bring Piper along and just see if Dr. Frick could take a quick look at his clubfoot and see if he had any recommendations for us. The minute Dr. Frick walked in, he started asking about Piper as he had read the family history. He did a total examination on Piper and watched him walk, etc. He said he has a rocker-bottom foot, which explains the look of Piper's foot and he explained about Piper's empty heel pad and what treatments were available to attempt to bring it down again. (Piper's heel cord has tightened up a little and is bringing his heel up higher and is not in his heel.) I really appreciated him taking twice the time with us than he was supposed to and answering my many questions. Dr. Frick also gave us some information on some genetic testing that we can go through to try and figure out this clubfoot thing in our family. We are trying to get it through Dr. Haasbeek.

Dr. Haasbeek had told us that he'd let Dr. Frick decide if Ollie was ready for his heel tenotomy procedure. When Piper had his done, he was 10 weeks old, couldn't eat after midnight the night before his surgery (ended up being 9 hours straight that Piper couldn't eat), had to go into the hospital and be under general anesthesia. Matthew and I had decided that we would wait to do this at home since it's a rather big ordeal, even though it's a simple procedure. However, Dr. Frick said his foot was ready for the procedure and that it would take about 2 minutes in office. SIGN ME UP! No hungry and crying baby, no hospital admission, no general anesthesia, no recovery! There was really nothing to think about. Of course, I couldn't call Matthew to talk it over with him, but this was the best thing for Ollie, so I signed the papers.

Holly holding Ollie after his cast was removed. He ended up having 2 less casts than Piper did.

This is all the 'equipment' needed for his heel tenotomy. I gave him his bottle, they gave him an injection of local anesthetic, waited about 30 seconds, pinched his ankle skin to make sure he wasn't feeling it and then put the scalpel in right behind the heel cord, turned it posterior and cut through. He didn't even need a stitch. They put gauze around his ankle, wrapped it and then put his final cast on. He wore it for 3 weeks and Dr. Haasbeek removed it a couple of weeks ago.

Nana reading to Finn

Nana and Ollie

Our second trip to Grandma and Grandpa's was just for part of the morning. We stayed outside and the kids played on the swing for hours.

Becky and Michael. He is such a photogenic baby. I think every picture of him turns out great.

Finn

Piper

Chloe on the swing

Chloe right off the swing. I think she had a good time.

Finn swinging

Chloe giving Piper a hug.

A big hug!

Holly, our photographer

Oh my, this picture was pretty tough to get. In this first one, Piper and Michael are looking at the camera.

In this second one, Finn and Chloe are looking. I supposed we could just photo shop them together...

Finn was thirsty so Grandma took him into the house to get a drink. I love the next few pictures. It's a perfect example of sweet Grandma helping Finn.

The boys and I

Grandpa talking to Piper

Bama and Paka with their great-grandchildren.

Finn and Chloe swinging together. I think it was a fun idea, but Chloe ended up getting really scared.

My turn! This was right before Holly pushed me into the tree.

Papa and Finn 'watching' a movie.

Piper, Finn and Papa.

Finn practicing taking pictures. He did a pretty good job.

Well, an okay job.

I think the blocks were Piper's favorite toy that Nana and Papa had.

Ollie got a bad cold while we were there and I took him in because he was having such a hard time breathing at night. We took him to Urgent Care and they referred him to the ER for breathing treatments. In the ER he had the nicest nurse and doctor.

Waiting for the ER doctor to come in. Holly and Ollie.

His sweet doctor. He was very kind and explained everything that was going on very well and made sure I knew exactly what to do when we got home.

After his examination, he swaddled him. I've never had a doctor do that and thought it was pretty special.

Chloe turns 3! Chloe had her 3rd birthday party at a park and for the first time the boys were able to go to her birthday party! She wanted a pirate party so Nana got the boys pirate hats, patches and swords. They got to decorate their treasure chests, dig for treasure in a sandbox, get tattoos and walk the plank (a board over a kiddie pool with water in it.

Pirate Finn before walking the plank.

Pirate Piper and Papa. Piper's favorite thing for the day was running away. I was very unimpressed, but he loved the game.

Holly, Ollie and I.

Pirate Sumner. When we pulled into the parking lot of the park, my mom saw Sumner walking around and thought to herself, "what kind of people are going to be at this park?". Turned out to be her son-in-law.

Chloe and Finn after he walked the plank and fell in the water. And he didn't just fall in, he teetered on the plank, fell on his back in the water and then the plank fell on top of him. It was very dramatic and he was soaking wet for the rest of the party. Everyone else was envious of him since we were so hot, but didn't have the nerve to jump in the kiddie pool of water.

Grandma and Grandpa at the party.

I love how they still sit and talk and care for each other.

The pirate with Piper, Finn, Ollie and I.

Since Finn was soaking wet, we took his clothes off of him and left him in his underwear for the ride home. As you can see, he didn't mind at all.

Piper fell right to sleep after all the running away that he did.

Ollie sleeping, as always.

While we were in Charlotte, my best friend from school, Christy and I got to meet up with the kids in the afternoon and then later that night we went out for dessert. It was so much fun having the kids together and then going out for an adult night (something we both don't get to do a whole lot). I miss you, Christy!

Back to Grandma and Grandpa's house! We set the record for the most visits to G&G's house in one trip. It was great seeing them that much. This time we went for the morning and lunch. The kids played on the swing and in the sprinkler and then we had picnic lunches that we had brought and we ate under the pecan tree. It was perfect and the kids had a lot of fun.

Piper hanging out in the shade. It was pretty warm out.

Grandma feeding Ollie

Chloe in the cutest bathing suit I've ever seen.

Piper squirming to get down. This was about the best picture we got.

Michael, Chloe and Piper playing in the water. Michael was sitting on a riding toy that just happened to be in the line of water spraying on him. He didn't want to get off of his toy though so he just sat there in the sprinkler and cried until Becky saved him.

Soaking wet Piper on the back deck.

Finn with pudding on his face.

Finn loves pudding or anything else messy. He reminds me of Sarah when she used to eat an ice cream cone. She COULD NOT eat one without it getting all over her face! Even though I'm 2 years younger than Sarah, I knew she was a messy ice cream eater.

Piper eating fruit snacks.

Ollie drinking milk.

Chloe eating her lunch

Another great picture of Michael.

Ollie

A good picture of Grandma and Grandpa.

Nana and Ollie.

Back at Nana and Papa's house playing with the train.

Piper found Matthew's peanut M&Ms from his trip and then proceeded to stuff them all into his mouth. What a cute mess he was!

We left Mom and Dad's house that afternoon and had family pictures taken. While we were there and having individual family pictures taken, Grandma and Grandpa were sitting on a bench together. The four of us girls noticed that they were holding hands...just sitting together holding hands. They've been married for over 61 years. I appreciate their great example of marriage and love for each other.

finn

2011-09-10T16:38:00.000-05:00

Finn also loves summer and is getting more into climbing and, unfortunately, jumping. He is either running, jumping or doing any other kind of walk that is unusual. He also likes to pic flowers for me. These are either dandelions or the seed flowers for dandelions. We always put them in water though and display them.

He also doesn't like to sit still for a picture, so we make do with what we have and try to make him laugh.

And we got a smile

And then a laugh

One day, instead of dandelions he came in with a whole plant, and I mean the WHOLE plant, root and all! It was so funny that I took a few pictures. He was so proud of himself.

We shoved the whole thing into the little glass vase that the dandelions usually go into and it lived for over a week since, I guess, we also had the root. =) Such a sweet boy!

finn and piper

2011-09-10T16:24:00.002-05:00

I love this picture of Finley and Piper. This is a true representation of what they do in the summer together...run and play!

piper

2011-09-10T16:20:00.002-05:00

Piper loves summer and almost everything about it. He loves eating fresh vegetable right from the garden, playing outside and making me pretend coffee outside (not sure why he loves doing that so much).

Piper eating a red pepper raw.

Who knew a 1-1/2 year old would love raw red pepper so much!

Playing outside

He just brought me a pretend cup of coffee. I get about 10 cups in the afternoon.

He knows I'm trying to get a good picture of him and he's going to do his best to run away as fast as he can!

I love my little Piper. There are a few very fleeting moments in the day when he wants a hug or a kiss and I take advantage of those short moments all I can before he's off and running again!

ollie 2 weeks old

2011-09-10T16:01:00.001-05:00

At about 2 weeks old, Ollie started sleep training. I knew we had to start sleep training a lot sooner than we had with Finley and Piper. He responded very well to a schedule of eating, play time and then nap time. At 3 weeks old he was sleeping for 5 hours at a time at night. So, the first few days of the training were not fun, but he was a fast learner and we adjusted as we needed to.

Content to lie in his crib and listen to anyone talking.

Our very happy little baby.

Daddy and Ollie hanging out on the floor.

piper and cousin grady

2011-09-10T15:55:00.000-05:00

This is the progression of an attempt to get 1 good picture of a 2 year old and 1-1/2 year old.

So we didn't get 1 good one, but #3 is the best we could do!

he's here!

2011-09-10T15:49:00.000-05:00

On Thursday, June 23, 2011 at 12:25 pm Oliver Eric Morken entered the world weighing 8 pounds 1.5 ounces and 21 inches long. From beginning of active labor to the end was just over 6 hours! He ended up having the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and 3 knots in the cord. Dr. Bell said she had never seen it before. He came out blue which was very concerning considering the cord problems, but he came out so fast that he was just very bruised. No real breathing problems to speak of. He did get blow-by oxygen because they weren't sure of his oxygen levels, but he quickly recovered. One of the first things Dr. Bell said (and we saw) when he came out was "look at his left foot!". Club foot again. Dr. Bell had also never seen a case of club foot before Piper and now she's seen 2 cases. At least we knew exactly what needed to be done this time around! We are so thankful to have our third healthy baby boy here!

Brand new! The first few moments after delivery are always the most precious moments. You've waited for many months to meet this new baby and you finally get to meet him and see him and touch him...using the outside of your body. =) Of course he looked just like the other boys, who look just like Matthew!

Matthew holding Oliver in the first hour of his life. Oliver still didn't have a diaper on at this point and Matthew was promptly peed and pooped on all at once. It was hilarious.

Finn meeting Oliver

Sarah and Oliver

The first time Finley and Piper saw Oliver. They weren't too sure at first.

Curiously looking at Oliver. When I told Finn that Oliver was out of my stomach, he said "Your stomach is fixed!" Believe me, Finley wasn't the only one rejoicing that my stomach was fixed!

My 3 little guys

Finley just loved holding him when we got home.

Piper still not sure, but he came around soon enough.

Sleeping soundly

Piper holding Oliver. It's hard to believe that 5 days prior to this Piper was my baby and looked so little, but now he looks so big! I was very sad about this for a while.

Finn talking to Oliver. Usually he would say, "Hi little fella".

A peaceful moment in the Boppy chair.

Grandpa and 3 of his grandsons.

Hanging out together

Piper giving Oliver a kiss

And then proudly smiling at how nice he was to Ollie

This was the day that Sarah had to leave, or if you asked Sarah, the day she GOT to leave. Sarah got a horrible sinus infection the day before Ollie was born and it stuck around for at least 2 weeks of her time here. She felt horrible and then had to take care of Finn and Piper a couple of days by herself. Not really the introduction you want to being 'stand-in mommy'. On the morning after we came home from the hospital, Ollie was crying, Finn was complaining about the breakfast Sarah had given him (something he usually loves) and Piper climbed on the table and started playing in the butter. Sarah looked up at me with a frantic look on her face and said, "This is NOT for me!". She handled it better than I would have though and got Piper cleaned up, got Finn to eat his breakfast and we moved on with the day. On Sarah's first day back at work I called to ask how her first day back to real work was and she said, "It was like vacation since I actually got to sit!". I told her I wasn't sure whether I should be insulted or just happy for her. Anyways, we had fun hanging out, talking, running in hurricane-force winds (to induce labor), dancing (to induce labor) and I came away with bruises from the wonderful acupressure she did on me (of course trying to induce labor). Thanks, Sarah for helping so much!

Aunt Deah with Finn and Piper

Aunt Deah and Ollie

Sarah and I at the airport.

My favorite picture with the boys.

stop touching each other!

2011-09-10T15:12:00.001-05:00

In mid June began a new sport around here that I am not a fan of...wrestling. This is not a nice, regulated wrestling like you are picturing. This is rough, mean, and loud wrestling. Piper is often the instigator and oddly enough the one to always get hurt. I don't know how long it's going to take for him to learn this. Probably about as long as it has taken him to learn not to touch the DVD player, DVDs, computer, printer, etc., which, by the way, he still hasn't learned!

I wonder how many times a day I tell them to stop touching each other? I held out as long as I could with it thinking that they had to settle down soon, but they've only gotten more rough and loud so I finally just told them not to touch each other. This works quite well and this is how it plays out...Finn chasing Piper and getting as close to him as he possibly can without touching him. Piper loves this and the only time he gets hurt playing this way is when he turns around to see how close Finn is to catching him and he runs into stuff or trips. Of course, Finn is running so close to Piper that when he trips or runs into something, Finn ends up 'touching' him as he falls all over him, but this way is still so much better!

early june

2011-09-09T23:43:00.000-05:00

So, there are absolutely no pictures from early June. Let's just say that those first 3 weeks in June were spent surviving the end of pregnancy with 2 small boys. I'm so glad it's over. =)

We bought our Chevy Uplander on June 17. Considering Baby could arrive any day and we had no way of getting him home it was pretty essential that we get the larger vehicle. Also, considering Sarah was arriving the next day and we had no way of getting HER home, it was pretty essential that we get the larger vehicle. The day Sarah flew in we went to Aneta Days in Aneta, ND. They have a huge turkey feed and outdoor stands. We had a fun-filled, tiring day.

The next few days with Sarah were comprised of all sorts of painful massages, walks/runs, acupressure points and acupuncture visits...ANYTHING that would induce labor! Stay tuned for the rest of the story.

spring is here!

2011-09-09T23:33:00.003-05:00

Spring in Minnesota means mowing the lawn. On a good day, it takes Matthew 3 hours to cut and the boys love riding with him so much that they often ride with him the whole time. This makes Mommy ONE-HAPPY-MOMMY! Three hours to do whatever I need too and in mid May that was most likely sleeping as I had a little over a month to go before Baby boy #3 arrived!

Here are the three of them mowing the lawn one of the first times of the season.

Our first big thunderstorm. It was absolutely beautiful in contrast with the lilac bushes, or should I say, our lilac forest...but that's a different story!

Finn is getting to the point where he wants to know more about thunderstorms so we sat on the front porch and watched this one come in and listened as the wind picked up and the rain drops started coming down. It was beautiful and a wonderful memory with Finn.

I will forever regret letting the boys play in the mud THIS ONE DAY. All it took was one day for them to learn how fun mud can be. I have spent the rest of the summer telling them to stay out of the mud. It's gotten to the point where if they are near water and they hear the back door open, they run from the water or anything that resembles something wet!

They sure were cute though all covered in mud...

moving up in may

2011-09-09T23:22:00.001-05:00

When we got back from our Christmas vacation we decided to put Piper in Finn's room in a little twin bed just so he would have plenty of time to get adjusted and used to the new room and bed well before Baby arrived. Everything was fine until Finn and Piper started waking each other up at 5 in the morning! This was completely unacceptable in my preggo, sleep-deprived, brain-cells-missing brain. We tried it for a month before giving in and Piper went back into the nursery. Finally sleep again!

In mid May we decided to try putting Piper into the guest room. He loved it! He was so proud of his own bed and would practically prance on it when I went in to get him up. It's funny now because when he gets up in the morning, you know it. The bar from his brace hits the hardwood floor as he gets out of bed and as he crawls to the door (he can't walk in his brace) the whole house can hear it! He loves his Ponsetti shoes though and will stomp on the hardwood when he gets them on in the evening.

sweet finn

2011-09-09T23:18:00.003-05:00

Some pictures of Finn.

Finley has gotten really good at putting puzzles together. He got so good at putting this one together that he could pick up a piece in the beginning and even with no other pieces around it he could lay it on the table and when he would put the puzzle together the original piece would be laying in the right place!

Finley graduates his first year of Cubbies! Second row, second from the right.

His friend, Mattea is standing in front of him to the left and his friend Jimmy is standing behind him to the left. He had a lot of fun learning the Cubbies song, playing their games and learning the verses. He's getting so big and learning so much!

little piper

2011-09-09T23:08:00.003-05:00

I love this little guy...

This may be my favorite picture of him. So sweet and cuddly. I just want to kiss him!

Oh my, a mess! For some reason, when Piper is finished eating, if I don't catch him right away, he will start to smear his food all over his head and in his hair. I must have stepped away from the table a little too long in this picture!

He loves playing with the kitchen cabinets.

A teeny, tiny smile from my shy little guy.

snow and frost in april

2011-09-09T23:01:00.002-05:00

So, the thing you don't want in mid April is more snow, but the snow and thick frost on this morning was so pretty that I just had to go take some pictures.

In the back yard near the grain bins. You can still see all the flood waters.

To the left of the previous picture.

To the right of the first picture.

Facing the road.

Backyard again.

daddy's home

2011-09-09T22:50:00.002-05:00

Finley really missed Matthew when he was in Chicago and had some special cuddle time when he got back. I'm sure in Finn's mind, everything was as it should be when Matthew came home.

flood of 2011

2011-09-09T22:44:00.003-05:00

Matthew went to a Gospel Coalition conference in Chicago the week that we had our big flood. We had 2 sump pumps going in the basement that were running almost nonstop and the water kept creeping up. It's weird to see the road that you use most often go under water and there's nothing you can do about it.

In this picture, you can barely see the green road sign in the middle. The rest of the curve signs are already under water.

Further around the corner from the street sign.

The turn to the right in this picture goes into our driveway. It was scary seeing all this water up so close to the house.

If you were to turn left out of our driveway, this is the other side of the road. We literally had just a few feet until this side was under water too.

At the crest. It just about touched in the middle of the road.

Our grain bins to the right and the 'ravine' between our house and the neighbor's house. It's usually very deep, but was completely filled with water.

The ravine again. The trees that you see in the picture aren't even close to the middle, most deep part of the ravine. The tops of those trees are covered with water. You can also see our neighbor's house. The white around it is the sandbags to form a dike. They had to work around the clock in shifts vacuuming out the water in their basement and they did it for days. It worked and they were able to keep all of the water out.

It was scary being there by myself with the boys, but we made it and the boys had fun watching all the water. Definitely an experience to remember.

climbing the walls...literally.

2011-09-09T22:07:00.001-05:00

Finn has become quite the monkey and loves to climb the door frame. He started out using a step stool, but realized that he really doesn't need that, so he just starts from the floor and walks up like it's no big deal. Piper will stand underneath Finn and put his hands on the wall like he wants to try, but isn't brave enough to try anything yet. I give him a year before he copies everything that Finn does.

our family...of snowmen

2011-09-09T15:55:00.003-05:00

Matthew and the boys made 4 snowmen for our family. There's a big snowman on the far left for Matthew, then a short snowman for Finn, then another big, pregnant snowman that represents me and then the smallest one for Piper. So cute...

movie night!

2011-09-09T15:44:00.003-05:00

For a movie night we watched Up, which was good, but way too much for Piper to understand. If it's not Praise Baby he's not interested.

Matthew and Finn eating popcorn and watching the movie.

Up to this point, I didn't let Piper eat popcorn very much because I was afraid he would choke on it, but this night he got all the popcorn he wanted and he was very interested in it! It has turned out to be one of his favorite snacks. I found him one day eating some popcorn that he had hidden under the coffee table. Just a neat little pile of popcorn that was just for him to enjoy.

a fisher

2011-09-09T15:24:00.003-05:00

My sister-in-law, Melissa, called one morning and said that all of their chickens were dead. Her daughter, Allie goes out to feed the chickens every morning, but this particular morning, the door to their chicken coop was frozen shut. When Melissa went out to open it, she saw that all of the chickens had been killed and there was a strange animal on one of the shelves.

Her husband, Steve, had already left for work so Matthew went over with his shotgun and killed the animal.

Turns out, it's called a fisher and they are very mean animals, just killing chickens and small animals mostly for sport. They don't actually eat the animals. Our neighbor across the ravine saw one of these fishers on her back porch one day and called her husband at work to tell him. He ended up instructing her on how to shoot their shotgun and she shot it right off the back porch using a shotgun for the first time ever!

seriously, more snow?

2011-09-09T15:06:00.003-05:00

I remember saying these words out loud when I heard another blizzard was coming. Matthew ended up inviting a youth pastor friend, Cody, from Grand Forks out with his son so that they could hunker down and stay with us through the blizzard while his wife was in Fargo.

So, the blizzard started and by 10 pm you couldn't see a few feet in front of you. In the morning we awoke to at least 10 inches of new snow.

Cody called the senior pastor of the church that he was supposed to lead youth group at that night and asked what the protocol was for cancelling youth group. The senior pastor said that they wouldn't be cancelling youth group over just an inch of snow. Turns out, Grand Forks only got a dusting and we, being 30 miles south, got over 10 inches! Ummm...can we say "NO FAIR!"

Our 10+ inches on Matthew's car.

What do you do when you're snowed in? Make chocolate chip cookies and take pictures!

It didn't end up being a totally bad thing being snowed in. The guys were able to dig the cars out and by late afternoon our very nice neighbor down the road came with a snow plow and dug the rest of the driveway out. And he got warm chocolate chip cookies for saving us!

f-u-n

2011-09-09T14:58:00.003-05:00

Some of the most telling pictures are the ones that don't really turn out and all you can see is a blur in the screen of the camera.

Here is Piper doing what he does best...run! He is running from Finn who is growling and telling Piper he's going to get him. Fun things for little boys to do when it's too cold to go outside.

Also fun for little boys is getting into things that they aren't supposed to play with, hence, the mischievous smile.

The one and only picture this day that partly turned out of Finn while he's crawling and growling after Piper. Well, at least you can tell that they are both happy!

daddy's home!

2011-09-09T14:49:00.003-05:00

Matthew got home from the ski trip and he had 2 very happy boys greet him at the door! Finn and Piper love playing with Matthew and miss him a ton when he's gone.

Happy Piper!

The 3 of them playing together.

Finn stuck his feet in Matthew's sleeping bag and then told everyone he was a snail. Ha!

Finn doing what everyone likes to do in the winter...find the warmest register in the house and then take a nap in front of it. =) We really do have a very warm house, but there's just something about curling up close to the heat and sleeping.

snow, snow, snow

2011-09-09T14:44:00.003-05:00

So, as you can imagine, there is a lot of snow up here in the winter. You would think that the boys would be used to it now and it wouldn't be a big deal...wrong! Finn gets excited every time it is snowing. When he sees it, he'll say, "Wook at the snow!" and within a few seconds you'll hear Piper pitterpattering to the window to see the new white stuff falling down.

Here they are looking out the window at the snow. At this point, it was almost 3 feet deep! I hope they always enjoy wintertime and snow!

denae comes to visit

2011-09-09T14:35:00.003-05:00

Matthew went on a ski trip with the youth, so my friend, Denae came to spend the night. Being the yoga guru that she is, she tried to teach us a few things...keyword being 'tried'. You should be very thankful I didn't put any pictures of me doing any poses on here. Finn was a lot better at it than I was! We had a lot of fun though and stayed up late talking and learning about yoga!

Denae teaching Finn how to do some poses. Don't ask me which ones though!

We miss you, Denae!

piper

2011-09-09T14:26:00.003-05:00

Piper at 14 months. He climbs on everything. He loves to eat macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese or just plain cheese! He is still allergic to milk so he's on Lactaid and loves it!

Piper is also stubborn. I tried to get him to smile for this picture and you can see how well that went!

Maybe a little smile in this one, but as soon as he was about to give me a big smile, he turned his head and refused to even look at me!

I'd love to blame his stubborn nature on Matthew's side of the family, but I'll be honest and say that it totally comes from my side. You're still a cutey though, Piper!

finn

2011-09-09T13:46:00.005-05:00

Finley loves to make cakes and cookies so while Piper was taking a nap we made a cake together. He got to lick the beaters and got it all over his face, which he did not like at all! He especially didn't appreciate me going to get the camera and take pictures before he got his face cleaned off!

"Oh, messy!"

The fish that he made with Play-Doh. We tried baking it at a low temperature to dry it out, but it just cracked, fell through the slats of the rack and then burned up at the bottom of the oven. He was unimpressed with my Play-Doh-drying skills.

returning home

2011-09-03T13:35:00.006-05:00

I'm so overdue this post, but I refuse to give up FFTF and want to catch up, more for Piper's sake than for anything else and will hopefully keep up!

We returned home from the mild winter weather in North Carolina to subzero temps and many new inches of snow. Thankfully, we missed all the bad weather on the drive home. It was pretty to see the new snow and the boys had a ton of fun playing in it.

Piper playing in the snow. I think he looks a lot like me in this picture when I was little. What a sweet smile.

Finley sitting in the new 2 feet of snow in the front yard.

The driveway after being cleared off.

Me and my boys...all 3 of them! I remember feeling so sick on this day but the boys wanted me to go out and play with them.

Matthew and his boys. It's a good think he loves the colder weather or the boys would never get out in winter!

christmas, 2010

2011-01-13T19:58:00.007-06:00

We went to NC and spent the first week in Charlotte and the second week at Lake Lure. Charlotte also had the first white Christmas that they have had in 47 years. It was beautiful and kept us snowed in the morning.

Here's Finn and Nana riding the carousel at Concord Mills. Finley is still sporting a black eye and bruised nose from running into the church pew 3 days before we left.

Mommy and Finn riding the train around Concord Mills. Doesn't look like that thing goes very fast until you're riding it. We had fun though.

Piper walking through a tunnel in the play area.

Holly's birthday is on the 22nd so we all got together to celebrate at Becky and Jason's house.

Piper's birthday is on the 20th so we also celebrated his birthday on the same night as Holly's. His frog cake that Becky made. It was delicious and looked amazing!

Chloe and Finn waiting patiently for their cake. By the end of the trip they were great buddies. Finley still talks about Chloe.

Piper eating cake and ice cream. He LOVED it!

Teasing him with a bite. I love this picture.

If you ever need Piper to sit still, put in a Praise Baby DVD. He can sit the whole time and watch it. Also, if you sing to him, he will just stare at you engrossed in whatever you're singing. Mom rocked him and sang to him several times and he calmed right down.

Who says Chloe can't stand still long enough to get a great picture???

Or two...

Or three...Love all three of these!

Paka giving Finn a piggyback ride through the house in the mountains. They also became great buddies through the week of living together.

I think this is a little backwards, but still so cute.

One of the very few pictures I got of Michael that whole week.

Celebrating the New Year with sparklers and fireworks!

surprise! and a deer

2011-01-13T18:19:00.003-06:00

On November 3, we found out something very surprising...that we were going to have a 3rd little addition to our family. I was 7 weeks when we found out. It explained why I was feeling so crummy. I had been very busy for the past couple of weeks so I told myself it was because I was just tired, which I was, but for a totally different reason. At 12 weeks, we took the gender prediction test (which was right for Piper-didn't take it for Finley) and it said 'boy' before the time limit was even up. We aren't saying boy for sure, but definitely won't be surprised if it is, which is just fine. Matthew can then get his license plate that says "my 3 sons". =)

Matthew got a doe with his bow on November 6. Finley was so proud of him and was excited to go out and see it. We expect the meat to come in any day now. I'm excited for some sausage

This was on a 'boys night' when I was out on a 'girls night'. Love these nights for my sake as well as theirs. Matthew enjoys just having the boys to himself and he gets to play with tractors as long as he wants.

Every morning Bob (Matt's dad) comes out for coffee. On this day, he had Zach (Finley's cousin) with him. They are always excited to see each other and play well together. Zach is a great reader and will read book after book to Finley and Piper while they play. We wish he lived closer to us.

Finley next to his puzzle that he put together all by himself. If you look closely, you will see that not 1 piece is in the right place and they are 3 separate puzzles that he put together. He was so proud though so we took a picture and made a huge deal out of it!

Fun with stickers! Finley went through a stage where all the stickers that he played with had to go on his face which meant if you were playing with him, you would end up with stickers on your face.

A mouth full of banana, probably Piper's favorite food.

matthew's surprise birthday party

2011-01-13T13:38:00.004-06:00

Sometime in early October, Piper starting walking in full force. Finley was a little upset that Piper could get to toys a lot faster and it was an all-around interesting time of "grab it before Piper can!" when he was getting into something he shouldn't be. Every morning we have to grab the TV remote before he does or else he will take it into the kitchen, squat down and slam it on the floor so that the batteries will come out and he can eat them. He does the same thing with every remote that he sees.

October 31 was Matthew's 30th birthday. The weekend before, he took some kids to camp. When they returned on Sunday, we had a big surprise party for Matthew. As you can see, he was quite bewildered at first and it took him a few seconds to understand what was going on. This was the first time I was able to pull off a surprise for Matthew. Also, Finley wasn't at all prepared for the birthday spanking and had no clue why all the men were jumping on his daddy and hitting him. Finley jumped in to rescue Matthew...one of my proudest moments so far as a mom. Finley was just fine once it was explained to him and we had a great party to celebrate Matthew.

piper and the chiropractor

2011-01-13T13:17:00.002-06:00

The rest of September was pretty uneventful except for the fact that we found Piper a pediatric chiropractor. After going to his regular doctor several times and not finding anything that would account for his fussiness, we talked to a few friends who suggested a chiropractor. At this point, Matthew and I decided we had nothing to lose. I called and made the appointment. During the initial assessment, she asked if she could hold him while we talked. I handed him over and we started talking about our churches. After a few seconds she stopped me and asked how often he had a bowel movement. I told her every 2 days or so. While this isn't concerning for a child, she said that he would be much more comfortable if he were going more like every day. She noted it and we continued our conversation. A few seconds later she stopped me again and asked if he had a cough without the cold or flu. I told her about the cough that he had had since he was 5-1/2 months old. We had him in to the doctor a couple of times for it, but his lungs were always clear. She noted it and moved on. When she got to his upper back/neck area, she asked if he was still spitting up. I told her that he was still spitting up and had spit up that morning quite a bit. She noted it and then explained the adjustment process and frequency. She told me she thought that adjustments would help Piper but that I would have to commit to bringing him in once a day for the next 5 to 7 days before we would know if it was working. I did and after the 5th day, we noticed a huge improvement with all 3 problems which made him a more relaxed and happy baby. There is really no way of knowing, but she believes that it is his brace at night that could be making him twist his back out. He will be wearing that brace for at least another year at night, so looks like we're going to be great friends with his chiropractor!

Here are the boys, just hanging out one morning.

a wedding!

2011-01-13T11:07:00.003-06:00

Kristen and Monty got married on September 11, 2010. It was a beautiful wedding and reception at our church. It may have been the first wedding where nothing visible went wrong. It was a beautiful day.

Emily and Zach walking down the aisle together. They did a great job and when they were walking out of the church, she leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. So sweet.

Allie and Anna walking together. All the girls were so cute getting their hair done that morning. And it all stayed in place for hours!

Finley and Meg walking down the aisle. Meg practice at the rehearsal and that afternoon to make sure that she was dropping the flowers just perfectly. She did a great job, all the while having Finley pull on her arm.

They looked so cute together.

Sorry it's such a dark picture. It's actually the best one that we had from our camera. Bob had just had major surgery the month before, so he was tired, but everyone did great!

Mr. and Mrs. Haaland! Congratulations, Kristen and Monty!

finn turns 3!

2011-01-13T10:35:00.002-06:00

We had been telling Finley for days that his birthday was coming up. I put his presents out on the dining room table for when he got up that morning. While we ate breakfast, he stared at the presents and kept asking about them. After breakfast, he got to open them. He was so excited!

Here he is with his presents.

Mike and Ike candy! He also got a ball, a travel pinball game, a puzzle and....

A disk for his John Deere tractor! As soon as he saw what it was, he ran off to get his tractor so that Daddy could hook it up. Our living room floor has been 'groomed' many, many times now. It looks pretty neat when he finishes and makes it look like I vacuum a lot!

Excitedly waiting for Owie (Allie), Nanna (Anna), Mick (Meg) and Grady (and Grandma, Grandpa, Kristen, Melissa and Steve too) to come over for dessert on his birthday.

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY, FINLEY! I love your smile, your laugh and your sweet spirit. What would a day be like without you asking "Did you sleep good, Mommy?" or "I give you a kiss?" or just walking into a room and saying happily, "Hi, Mommy!"? I love who you have become and can't wait to watch you learn and grow another year!

august 2010, climbing and darnice

2011-01-13T10:09:00.004-06:00

August was the walking/climbing month for us with Piper. On August 2, I found him climbing the stairs all by himself. About a week later, I couldn't find him anywhere and then I heard a noise upstairs. He had climbed the whole staircase himself and was playing in Finley's room. This was a very scary moment for me because every time I let him climb with me behind him, he would fall back. We later got a latch for that door so he couldn't get to the stairs.

Climbing the stairs for the first time

Playing in the grass.

A very happy little boy in the grass.

August 3, Piper pulled himself up using the couch and took a couple of steps while holding on.

Just ate sweet potato and loved it!

On the last Wednesday in August, I was at church helping out with the youth group and one of the girls came up to me and said that she had put the kitties in my car. I said, "Are we supposed to have kitties in our car?" Apparently, Matthew had talked to this girl in our youth group and asked her for a couple of kittens for our barn...without telling me. I drove home with 2 very loud kitties in the front seat of my car. After talking to my mom about it, she suggested the names Janice and Darlene (Matt's mom's name). Janice and Darlene are now gone, but every day Finley would ask to go out and see Darnice (In the first week he put their names together). When he learned their separate names they were Danice and Darnene. One day, he saw Darlene playing in the cow's manure so he yelled, "Get out of the poop, Darnene!" Of course, Darlene's (Matt's mom) greatest fear was that Finley would go to church and tell everyone that Darlene was playing in poop. Sometimes I still remind her that she shouldn't play in poop.

mom's summer visit 2010

2011-01-12T22:56:00.012-06:00

Matthew went on a 10-day discipleship trip with the teens in late July, so my mom came to help with the boys and hang out. It would have been a really long week had I not had her help! Thanks, mom!

Nana and Piper

Wait for it....

There we go! My favorite picture of both of them together to date!

a boy on his tractor...

Running down the driveway with Bo.

Climbing the fence to the cow pen. We spend a lot of time out there in the summer.

Standing next to the cow pen in the alley.

Piper 7 months old. He started crawling the week before Matthew left. He was about 6-1/2 months old...something his orthopedic doctor didn't think would happen until late because of the casting and the brace.

Some of my favorite pictures taken on the front porch.

Going for a walk down the road from the farm. This is an old abandoned farmstead, but the driveway is kind of kept up, so it's a nice private walk in the summer.

Our lazy day outside. We took a blanket outside and put it under a big tree and just relaxed as the boys played. This was the afternoon Finn saw a moth for the first time and didn't quite know what to call it since he knew it wasn't a butterfly. It flew away from him and he said, "Oh, poor that".

Ready for daddy to be home after 10 days! That's a really long time for a 2-1/2 year old to be missing his buddy and they got to play tractors when Matthew got home!

atlantic beach 2010

2010-09-05T20:58:00.014-05:00

Okay, I'm going to try to catch this thing up over the next several days/weeks. Pictures from Atlantic Beach 2010.

Nana and Piper

Nana and Finley

Mommy, Finley and Piper

Finley thought that going out on the little porch at the beach was equivalent to going outside, so he peed right there on the porch. Here he is cleaning it up.

Piper sleeping on the beach. It actually wasn't his favorite place to be...he'll learn soon enough!

Finn playing in the sand. He LOVED every minute of it!

Nana and Piper taking a walk on the beach

NOT liking the sun

Beaufort, NC...one of the most beautiful little towns and a place that we go to one evening each beach trip for ice cream. Finley meeting a horse pulling a carriage around town.

Making friends with some people that had a puppy that he wanted to pet.

Piper in Beaufort. I love that hat on him. Didn't fit him nearly long enough

Bama and Piper relaxing

Nana and Piper relaxing

Finley just being Finley. Love his smile!

Piper in the car

Can't remember the name of the pizza place this was, but it was great! Finley and I hanging out

When we got back to Charlotte, we got to see Chloe for a whole day. Becky and Jason weren't able to go to the beach because Michael was due a few weeks later. We kept Chloe at the house for a day. She and Finley got along great!

Getting ready to play the organ at Nana's house.

Sitting on the fence

They have the same exact feet...only 3 sizes difference. They both have Becky's feet and I love them!

Nana with Chloe and Finley.

More of their cute feet.

Chloe and Piper

Short and sweet, this years' beach trip was great. The first day we got there, we had a room reserved at Floyd's 1921 Restaurant and we all celebrated Grandma and Grandpa's 60th wedding anniversary. It was a beautiful night full of memories and celebration. They have been such a great example of what love looks like. It was great just to celebrate them!

early may

2010-05-09T15:37:00.004-05:00

Finley loves a little Gideon Bible that he found. For several days now he's been carrying it around in his pocket, playing with it along with this tractors and even sleeping with it. We've been trying to teach him John 3:16 and he likes to act like he's reading it out of the Bible.

A lot of the time when he's 'reading' the Bible, he's actually on one of the first blank pages.

He looks more and more like Matthew each day!

Another 'little Matthew' picture.

This picture is funny because it looks like he's wearing a toupee!

His feet are looking great, I think! Oh, that hairdo...He's lost most of the hair on his head except the very top and I'm not really sure what to do with that!

Busy teething...

Here is Finn's attempt at the ABC song. =)

A second attempt with a little help.

Finn 'reading' something about a potty in the Bible.

end of april

2010-05-09T10:03:00.005-05:00

Piper's favorite place to be!

A cute picture of Finn.

"Can I help you?"

I love this picture of the two of them!

Piper went for his 4-month appointment on April 28. He weighed 14 pounds 13 ounces, his height was 25 inches and he was right at 50th percentile for both. His head circumference was 16-1/2 inches which is in the 45th percentile. I thought he was bigger than Finley was at that age, but the numbers say they are the same.

He did really well with Dr. Bell and she said he looks great! We are supposed to try to have him on his tummy a little more without the brace in the evening. He absolutely won't lie on his stomach with the brace on (I can't blame him for that), but he will last a few minutes without it. Finley got to go with us and was so excited to see Dr. Bell. I have a feeling I'll have another little boy that loves her. It makes doctor visits very easy!

Here he is showing Dr. Bell his roll! He almost made it...a few more days and he'll have it down!

Here's Piper after his shots. Both boys now have done really well with shots. He got 3 today and didn't even cry with the first 2. He only cried a little bit with the 3rd.

We had to take a family picture for our church directory, so here it is. This was about the 10th time using the timer on the camera...we don't look like we're sick of trying this, do we?

Piper and Finn 'smiling' for a picture.

This video was taken one afternoon after church. Some Piper and Daddy time...

Piper in the jumperoo. His clubfoot is looking better and better now. We will hear May 13 if he gets to have it off during the day and only wear it at night or if he needs to keep it on for a couple more months full time.

In the jumperoo again. He was getting a runny nose from teething...Dr. Bell confirmed that his gums are swollen and that he will probably have a tooth by 5-1/2 months.

Finley getting a good head start on singing "Baa-Baa Black Sheep" before the TV got his attention.

I was just going to take a little video of Piper, but Finn was having none of that. He says "No, wait!" and sits down next to him. He then sings most of "Jesus loves me" before he smashes his finger while rocking Piper.

Finley and I were out on the front porch one afternoon sitting and he decided that he needed to get his own chair. I think it's cute how he sets it up and then just sits down. it was also such a bright afternoon that it was hard for him to look up at the camera. As you will hear, he still says "Misle" for "Smile".

Piper's second and third bites of rice cereal. It didn't take him long to figure out that he LOVED it. Ever since he started on cereal, I've only been feeding him once in the night. Mommy and Piper are both happy campers!

mid april

2010-05-05T11:56:00.003-05:00

April 11 - Finn riding his new bike...hasn't touched it hardly since then when he fell off and got scared from the fall (didn't actually get hurt). He will sit on the ground with it and turn the tires like he's driving a car, but won't get on it anymore. We'll give him a few weeks and then see if he'll try it again.

April 13 - Finn gets a couple pieces of fruit snacks when he pees in the potty. Well, he came to me and told me that Fireman (a little toy that he has) had peed in the potty and should get treats. So, we gave him one. Finley actually tried to feed it to him and said "Yay, pee in the potty", but when Fireman didn't eat it, Finn said "nope" and ate it for him. He tried this again the next day, but I decided not to encourage that 'game'. It was a pretty creative way of getting more treats though!

April 14 - Piper 'sunning' again.

April 18 - Piper's first tractor ride. It seems like he's not thrilled and maybe trying to tell me something with that expression.

This was about the third time around. Each time they went around the circle and came up to me, he would stare me down as if to say "get me off of here!". He didn't cry though, so I figure he'll be another Finn wanting tractor rides every day!

This is one of my favorite pictures of the boys. Finley likes to hold Piper, but when he's done...HE'S DONE and you'd better be ready to catch Piper. Finley will say "Mommy hose Poo-Poo" (Mommy hold Piper) and will push him away.

early april and a 'surprise' party

2010-05-05T10:57:00.003-05:00

Piper really wants to roll from back to front; however, the brace makes this difficult. His shoes will get stuck in the carpet and he won't be able to swing the bar and other foot far enough over. Not sure if this will ever happen while he's wearing the brace...we'll just have to see. Another problem when he does roll over is "what's he going to do once he's on his stomach?". He HATES being on his stomach and no matter how long we lie him on the floor on his stomach, we won't be able to make up the time he wasn't able to do it with the cast.

It will be interesting to see how long it will take him to figure the brace out...

Spending time in the sun out on the porch...he likes it as long as he's out of the direct sun and has a good shade over his eyes.

His head control is so much better than it was a few weeks ago. He enjoys just sitting still in the jumperoo and watching what goes on around him. He also likes looking at the dining room light and talking and smiling to it...haven't gotten that on video, but it's cute.

My 'surprise' 30th birthday party! Matthew had a big party planned, which was supposed to be a surprise, but he left his Facebook page open and I thought it was mine. I saw that 'I' had a message from my mom. When I opened it, the first line read "Are you still planning to have a surprise party for Sharon?". I realized what I had just read and was not going say anything, but then I would've had to act surprised with the house totally cleaned and looking way better than I would if people had surprised me! There was no way I could pull that off! So, I told Matthew that I knew about it. We talked about not telling everyone else and me jumping out and surprising them, but that wouldn't have been very nice. =) It was a really fun time with a lot of our friends and family!

My good friend, Denae and Piper. She's the one who's always getting on me about posting new pictures and videos on here! =)

Finn was sick of pictures and apparently just refused to smile anymore.

march 28 and 31

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Finley so happy to be outside on his pedal tractor. It is huge though and he can hardly push it much less pedal it!

You can tell he's trying so hard not to cry!

A little blip of Finn singing "Somewhere out there beneath the pale moon light".

all about the pipester...

2010-05-01T12:00:00.003-05:00

Piper in his jumperoo...

This may be my favorite picture of him yet...

Oh the cheeks...and the drool!

My favorite video of Piper. It looked like he was dancing to VeggieTales.

march 26

2010-05-01T11:17:00.003-05:00

Piper still loves to lie on the floor and watch what's going on around him. He has really strong legs now and is pulling up both feet with the braces and bar on, which is kind of heavy.

Piper also is starting to like 'flying' where I will lie on my back and put him up on my knees to 'fly' through the air. I get the biggest grins out of him and I laugh extra hard too looking at those chubby cheeks hanging down!

Piper is such a happy baby and really a joy to cuddle and play with. He is so ready to give you a smile any time of day...even when he's tired. The nights are sometimes long with a lot of crying...he just can't stay asleep at night, but it will get better. I've been calling my sister-in-law, Melissa the most to vent and ask for advice. She is a great listener and has good advice.

Bob came over and gave Matthew, Finley and I a fun-size candy bar for a treat. Finley ate his within minutes and later found Daddy's. He knew it was Daddy's and had been told not to eat it because we were going to give it to him when he got home. Apparently, the temptation was too great for Finley to resist. It was hard not to laugh as he came up to me and said "Uh-Oh". I knew exactly what he was saying it for because of all the chocolate around his mouth. He then led me to the crumpled up wrapper on the floor. At the end of the movie he says "workout". I thought that was a fitting thing to do to work off the calories and fat he just ate!

Daddy time with Piper. He smiles a lot for Matthew and likes to stare at him. Matthew is able to hold him like I'm not able to. If I sit with Piper he gets antsy and just wants to move, but Matthew can sit on the couch and hold Piper for 30 minutes and he's so content. I know Matthew has a really calm spirit and Piper must sense this. I really appreciate those still moments...watching Matthew and Piper quietly bonding together.

Piper lying on the floor. When he gets upset or tired when he's on the floor, he will lift up the brace and slam it down on the floor really hard. I dread the day he does this in his crib. Not only will it be loud, but his brace will tear the wood to pieces!

march 24 and 25

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Piper is so happy in the jumperoo. I think he may like it even more than Finley did! His head control was not very good at first, but within a few days we could see a huge improvement! Here are a few of his famous smiles!

Finley likes to read a story called "The Boy With A Drum". It's about a boy that has a drum and he plays as he marches down the road. He is joined by all kinds of animals and making all sorts of sounds. It's a cute story and probably Finn's favorite. This is the first part of the story.

This is the last part of that story.

march 21 and 23

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Matthew's family got together for Bob's birthday. The kid's had a ton of fun (as usual) running and rough-housing. Finn loves playing with Allie and Anna. Whenever they are around he is sure to get a piggy-back ride...one of his favorite things to do!

Anna giving him a ride...looks like Finn is enjoying himself...maybe not so much Anna.

A fun ride on Allie's back.

Here is a video of Finn saying "Kee-keeyou, Shawa" (Thank you, Sharon). We did not teach him to say our names, he just picked them up on his own. It's hard not to laugh when he says it...especially when he runs around the house yelling for "Mattote!" I wonder where he learned that...

march 17 and 19

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Piper exercising his legs with the brace on. He really doesn't mind them at all.

Sweet little Piper hanging out on his quilt from Nana.

A smile from Piper.

I think he's workin' on something...

Okay, this is painful to watch, but here's Piper's poochy lip.

march 16

2010-04-30T16:05:00.005-05:00

Here's our smiley little boy! If you so much as look at him he will smile at you with a big grin.

He likes to just hang out on the floor and watch Finn jump and play around him. He also loves getting his diaper and clothes changed!

We had a relatively warm day and Finn got to go outside. I told him specifically to "go jump in the mud puddles".

He loved jumping in the mud, but did NOT like getting his hands dirty! In this picture he is saying "Messy!".

You can be sure that the first thing he did when we got in the house was wash his hands for about 45 minutes!

i know, i know

2010-03-14T22:45:00.012-05:00

I have a lot of explaining to do. It has been over 3 months since I posted on here and I'm sorry. Needless to say, a lot has been happening in these past 3 months but, yeah, I should have put down the Bon-Bons and turned off the soaps to update everyone. Ha!

Our little Piper Aren (Ar--from Matthew's Grandpa's middle name, Arnold; En--from my Grandpa's middle name, Warren) was born December 20 at 7:06 PM weighing 9 pounds 1.5 ounces!

You can seen his clubfoot in this picture. It hurts me just to see the pictures now.

My parents got here Friday night at about 11:30 and I started having contractions Sunday morning at 2:00. They had a full day to see our routine with Finn so they could take over when we went in. It worked out perfectly! Here's Nana with Piper.

Grandma with Piper.

Papa Morken with Piper.

Papa Stabley with Piper.

We were discharged from the hospital on the morning of the 22, had a pediatric orthopedic appointment half an hour later and were home with a cast on Piper's clubfoot in the afternoon.

Matthew and Piper.

One of the many sweet moments of Finn loving on Piper. He will go up to him randomly throughout the day, get really close to Piper's face and say "Hi, Poo-Poo"! He's never been able to say Piper's name correctly.

Another one of those moments.

Finn holding Piper in his hospital outfit. The nurses brought him into the room one time wearing a Christmas hat and a big Christmas stocking. He looked just like a Christmas gift.

After a month of casting this is what his foot looked like. He ended up having the cast for 2 months in all.

Finn just HAD to be in this picture. He wouldn't let me take a picture of Piper alone so I told him I would take a picture of his feet. He was pleased with this compromise. =)

Sarah (Aunt Deah) came to visit at the end of January. She helped out the most organizing the kitchen for me and playing with Finley. We also just had a great time hanging out with the kids. She learned very quickly that if she squat down, sat down or even bent over too far Finley would come up behind her and ask for a "roy peese" which means "ride please". Most of the time she would just give him a ride because he asked nicely. He loved all the piggy-back rides, games on the floor, rough-housing and "nomas"--snowman building with Aunt Deah.

Piper in a tired daze.

Here we are at the hospital waiting for Piper to have his surgery to release his heel cord. It was a quick surgery and his heel came down perfectly!

Finn and Piper hanging out on the couch.

His cast was removed February 15 at 11:00 and 30 minutes later he had his Ponsetti brace fitted and on. We all then went out and had a celebratory dinner thankful for the first chapter of this healing process to be over with. He's had the brace for 1 month now and we have no problems with it. He has it off for about an hour every day and doesn't care if it's on or off and actually prefers to sleep with it on. One night I had just changed him and swaddled him when he 'let me know' that I had forgotten something. It took me a few minutes to realize that he didn't have his brace on. As soon as he had it on, he settled right down.

Finn in his Sunday School class for the first time. I had tears in my eyes as he walked down the hall to the classroom. He looked so small going back there on his own. He had a great time though and was so proud of himself for coloring pictures and making crafts. I hear from his teacher that he's a pro at singing VeggieTale songs and praying. A couple of weeks ago, he wanted to pray for his food. He squeezed his eyes shut, folded his hands and bowed his head as he said "mesus, kee-kee. Maymen"--Jesus, thank you. Amen.

Alyssa, one of Finn's teachers sitting with him coloring.

Putting on his boots, getting ready to go outside.

Out with the dogs.

Finley still likes to be chased and he sometimes asks for "poo-poo go, go, go" or poo-poo geetle"--Piper tickle. This all means that he wants Piper to chase him and tickle him. Matthew or I will then chase Finley around the house holding Piper down so it looks like Piper is going to catch him. It's actually a very tiring game and Piper isn't a big fan yet.

My guys...they all have very interesting expressions in this picture.

This video was taken a couple of days ago. Piper will smile now pretty much anytime you look at him. He's a very happy baby and we are getting a great schedule down...evenings are still up in the air, but he's a relatively good sleeper and loves to eat. Here's a tiny bit of a smile from Poo-Poo.

we're so proud...

2009-12-12T21:43:00.002-06:00

Finley likes to walk around the house in my shoes and he's especially proud of himself when he walks around in my high heels.

Here he is walking through the hallway into the kitchen. He will stomp through the house to make them sound louder on the floor.

We really are proud of Finley and the big help that he's been. Matthew brought meat in to put in the freezer upstairs. Here is Finley helping me put it away.

This video was taken about half an hour before we found the lump on his neck again. Don't really have anything new to report on it, but we are going to call the doctor in Minneapolis first thing Monday morning to see what he says to do. We were told that if it came back it would mean surgery, but we'll see if maybe he just wants another scan done or a checkup. We'll keep you posted on what's going on. All we know is that God is sovereign and in control and that, like Paul, we can be content in whatever situation God places us in.