what did they say??? a blizzard???

This was the horrifying question I asked while staring at the TV this morning. A blizzard??? In April??? Not just April...but April 25th! We drove back from Grand Forks tonight and had to slow down quite a bit because the roads and visibility were so bad. The wind is howling, there's snow sticking to the windows, and I can just see the tiny buds on the trees shriveling and giving up for the year. Living up north, you'd think I'd be used to this...seeing how I have been here almost 8 years. Nope, never have gotten used to these long winters. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy a nice snow and actually the occasional blizzard...around Christmas though...Not April! I find myself thinking, "what crazy person would want to live up here in this?" Then I think..."well I guess I do since I'm here." My youngest sister, Holly came to visit once when it was cold and she had a laundry list of reasons why not to live here. I was talking with her about it and actually thought, "Why do I live here?" Ha! I suppose there are a few reasons like my husband and my son, but definitely not the long winters. Yes, October to April is WAY TOO LONG!

come back aunt deah!

We had an awesome visit with Aunt Deah for a few days. Finny just loved her and I know he is missing her. She took him on walks, played with him, held him while he fell asleep walking, fed him, gave him a bath and changed diapers. She caught on to the games we play and was making him laugh like Matthew and I do. I especially liked 'sneaking up' on her and surprising her. He's supposed to be really quiet when he's 'sneaking', but he usually gives it away with a loud giggle. What a special time they had together! I can't wait for the time when they get to see each other again.

Zodie's back!
Matthew picked Zodie up last night from the house she's been staying at for 2 weeks. We didn't see a change in Finny's allergy symptoms while she was gone, so we got her back. Boy, did Matthew miss her. He was so excited to bring her back home. She acted like she had never left. Finny acted like she had never left too, and the only thing that changed while she was gone was the fact that Finny can actually catch her now...and you know she loves that. *note the sarcasm*

Just as a side note, I am having some pretty huge technical difficulties with my 'new' work computer. It doesn't let me download any pictures or videos right now. This could be a HUGE problem. We're still working on it. When we get it up and running I will catch everyone up with what's been going on. I miss posting pictures and stories every day.

cry baby...x 2

So, when Sarah bought her ticket to come here, she said, "I don't do well with crying". Well, most people would say that since most people don't like to hear a baby cry. Boy, she wasn't kidding! I picked her up from the airport and she got in the back seat with Finny. We were just driving off when she asked how to make him laugh. I told her that I just do something surprising a few times and then he catches on that it's a game and he will laugh. So, Sarah starts saying "Boo" in his face. Well after the second time, he got 'the lip' and the tears started pooling in his eyes. I laughed and told Sarah that he was probably just hungry. Well, a few seconds later, he starts crying and I look in the rear view mirror and see Sarah laughing with me...at least that's what I thought she was doing. We hadn't even gotten out of the airport parking lot and there they both were in the backseat crying together. And I don't mean Sarah just got a sad look on her face. I mean the tears were rolling down her face before they were rolling down Finny's face. I've heard of sympathy, but this goes above and beyond anything that I've ever seen before. She just sat there sobbing saying, "I didn't want to make him cry". The only thing I could think was boy, this is going to be a long 4 days. Turns out, Sarah only cries with babies when they're in the car...whew!

Finny, Aunt Deah, Danae and Mattea at our house Saturday night.


Sarah acting like Finny. I know I'm partial, but I think Finny has a much cuter face here.


More of that cute face. He was so tired after the long day that he fell asleep on our walk and Sarah ended up carrying him home.


Finny sleeping with Aunt Deah at church.


Out to lunch with Amy (John and Katy).

Finny's best friend cont.

Another day full of sun. It was warmer today than it was yesterday. It was perfect. We spent almost the whole afternoon outside. Finny crawled around quite a bit more today than he did yesterday. It was really fun to watch. I would stand in one part of the yard and call Finny, but when he started crawling, the grass messed up his sense of direction and he would started going in a totally different direction. When I would call him again, he would have to turn back toward me. Eventually, he would get to the right place, but he took a lot of detours.


Finny soaking up the sun.


More of the same.


Love, love, love this picture!


For mom. She always requests feet pictures.

Crawling in the grass.

Another picture for mom.

When I was fixing supper, Finny crawled into the lazy Suzanne cabinet and was playing with the appliances in there.

Then he stood up and tried to climb over the bread maker. That's when I had to pull him out.

I have some videos from today to post, but Blogger isn't letting me right now, so I'll post them tomorrow...when Sarah (Aunt Deah) is here! Yay!

grass...finny's new best friend

It was so warm today! All the neighbors were out walking and getting out for really the first time this year! Finny had his first playtime in the grass and he loved it! He even has a cool pair of sunglasses that he likes to wear. We spent the first part of the afternoon in our yard and the later part of the afternoon at the farm with Matthew.

This picture was taken from the back porch. He looks so tiny in the yard.


Finny watching a beet truck drive by.


Playing with a leaf.


Studying the leaf before he tries to eat it.

Picking his nose.

Such a cool baby.

Trying to stand. Sometimes he tries to let go and of course just falls over. He has absolutely no balance yet.

Right before he fell.

Out at the farm with Daddy. The grass there is a little bit pricklier than at home so he sort of tip toed when he crawled.

The perfect picture of my boys. LOVE IT!

Another introduction to the cows.

A very friendly introduction to the cows.

The friendly cow licking Finny's foot.

Check out this bedhead...or should I say cowlick?

A good picture of Finny and I. I think he has a little Elvis lip going on though. =)

Anna and Meg at the farm.

fun videos

Today, we went to town and had lunch with my Bible study group. Finny has a lot of little friends there to play with...if he can keep up. Half the time he is alone because he just sits and watches the older kids playing. He will find toys on his own though and as long as the toys he has aren't too exciting, he's pretty much guaranteed to keep it for awhile. If it makes any kind of noise though he won't have it for long. He can't defend himself yet...much less the toys he's playing with. We had a few highlights of the afternoon. The first was that Finny ate 2 french fries and a tiny piece of a grilled cheese sandwich. I say "ate" but the correct word to use would be "devoured". The second was when Mattea (11 months) tried to feed Finny cheese--which he didn't want and then at the same time Amy (1-1/2 years) tripped while walking toward him and threw water on him. He's so laid back though that he really didn't mind. The last highlight was when I was watching Amy and Finny and for about 30 seconds she kissed Finny. He tried to pull his head back, but wherever Finny's head went, Amy's head went. It was a pretty passionate-looking kiss. I knew we'd have to warn Finny about that kind of girl sometime, but I didn't think it would be this soon. =)

This video was taken when we got home. This is his playpen that I have set up in the living room. He plays in it okay on his own, but it has really helped when I just need to run downstairs for a few minutes to do laundry or something. This is him playing games in it. He likes to play peek-a-boo in it and loves to be tickled through the netting.

These next 2 videos are of Finley saying Dada again. He has started bouncing a little bit when he's talking. I couldn't get him to stop sucking on the step stool though.

Finny can make the funniest faces when he's trying to make noises. He ends up spitting all over the place, but I think it's cute.

no way!

So, I've been having a hard time getting Finny to sleep for a nap and keep him asleep longer than his usual 30 or so minutes. Matthew got home from the farm this morning just in time for Finny's nap at about 9. He didn't seem all that tired but I'm really trying to stick to the schedule, so I decided to give it a try. Except that I wanted Matthew to see what I go through to get him down. So, I handed Finny over to Matthew and said "good luck and have fun". Matthew put him in his crib and walked out. I was at the computer just waiting for the crying to start. Matthew came out and said, "He's already standing up at the fence. I don't think he's ready for a nap." (Matthew calls the crib bars "the fence".) We decided just to see what happened, since it was time for him to have a nap. Finny started making a little noise, but more like playing than crying...I was stunned that the screaming hadn't started! About a minute after Matthew put him down, the noise stopped. NO WAY! I calmly got up and looked in his room. He was lying in the corner of his crib...still...no crying...no shaking the bars...no jumping...just sleeping! I was shocked and a little disappointed if I can be totally honest. Half of my day is spent either psyching myself up for or recovering from the 30, maybe 45 minutes of crying that I have to go through to get Finny to take a nap...and that's when he's actually tired! I was left thinking, "What just happened here?" I still don't know what happened this morning.

This is a video of what Finley does best now. He's always on the move to stand up. Since he needs something to pull himself up with, you can always find him standing with something. It is no longer okay for him to just crawl around. I get dizzy watching him walk around and around the coffee table all day long and there are always 'fun' toys on the coffee table. You can put the brightest toy right in front of his face, but he will crawl across the room to get the gray or black remote.