a not so happy cat

Zodie got a hair cut....a big hair cut. It's called the lion shave and she gets it when the hair takes over the house. With the corn stove this winter it has been anywhere from 70 to 80 degrees in the house. Zodie has been shedding like crazy and plastering herself to the window or laying flat out on the floor to stay cool. I called last week to make the appointment for her hair cut and at that time it was normal weather for us. This morning though we woke up to almost -30 degree temperatures and wind chills in the -40s. Poor Zodie never goes outside and had to go out today...shaved. She was not a happy cat. Hopefully she will be a lot more comfortable now and I won't have to clean up loads of fur.

he's sitting....kind of

Finny can sit in the tripod position on his own now. He likes sitting in the window and looking outside. This is usually 'Zodie's seat' but she's been good to share it with Finny. Sometimes he teeters and most of the time can catch himself. There was one time though when I thought he was going to catch himself and didn't grab him in time. He fell back and bumped his head on the couch. He started laughing though so there must not have been too much damage done.

Last night we had a meeting at our church. Finny isn't quiet enough to keep him in the sanctuary so I took him in the back and let him play on the floor. He got up on his hands and knees and rocked back and forth a couple of times before launching himself forward onto his face. Again, no crying. He just went on playing.

finny's game

Finny and daddy have a new game. Matthew will tickle Finny's neck and make funny noises and he loves it!

I have been trying to get Finley used to other people besides just Matthew and I. He does really well with others so far and doesn't cry at all when I leave him in the nursery or with a babysitter. Last weekend we had a get together with the staff at church and he was passed around all evening. We thought since he was missing a nap that he would get cranky and tired, but the whole evening we never heard a peep out of him. Every time I looked for him he was with someone new either cuddling or making people laugh by smiling or making some noise. He smiles so readily now and laughs often. We get so many complements on Finley...and this isn't just a proud mother talking...If you look at Finley and smile, you will get a smile back, whether he knows you are not. =)

rub a dub dub...

Finny in his 'baby' bathtub. It took him awhile, but he finally started playing in his bathtub.

Everything goes in his mouth...

You can see on his right arm that he has 4 rolls from the top to the bottom. His thumbs even have rolls. =)

In the new big bathtub. He looks a little shocked in this picture holding on to the side, but he loosened up soon enough and was splashing and playing around.

Laying back and kicking. I think he loved the new bathtub. See his cow rubber ducky?

I love his dimples when he makes this face.

fun with daddy

Finny loves it when Matthew plays with him. He laughs and makes faces, and makes funny noises. Matthew was making faces with Finny while he was in his jumperoo.

This is a new trick that Finley absolutely loves. His face lights up every time Matthew puts him on his shoulders. Matthew will walk him in front of a mirror and Finley will laugh his belly laugh.

will this night ever end?

Sorry, no pics to go with this blog. You wouldn't want to see them anyways. Finley crying...waking every 10 minutes screaming...my hair disheveled...and more tired than I can say. No, you wouldn't want to see the pictures that go along with this blog.

Matthew and Jeramy have been working in the basement and they work down there until pretty late....past our kid's bedtime. Finley does not do well when he isn't on HIS schedule. He finally went to sleep at 11 tonight...not too bad, but for some reason he has felt the need to wake up every 10 minutes and not just cry, but scream. He opens his eyes and looks around and screams. It's the most pitiful, sad, and infuriating thing ever. I run through the questions you are supposed to ask yourself. I know that last time he ate was umm....20 minutes ago, so no, he's not hungry. He had a new diaper put on before bed and I checked it for the 10th time just now. The one thing I do know is HE IS TIRED! I will pick him up and after a couple of minutes, he will fall right to sleep....a deep sleep. How do I know this? He starts to dream and then laughs in his sleep. Laughs when he was just screaming 2 minutes ago! What's up with that? And this is no ordinary laugh. He laughs so hard in his sleep that a couple of times he had to stop and catch his breath. Even being as tired as I was and upset that he wouldn't sleep, I had to laugh with him. It doesn't make sense to be laughing together at 1 o'clock in the morning, but there we were laying on the couch, laughing. Neither of us knew what we were laughing at, but it didn't matter.

So, after getting up with him 6 times, I thought he was finally back to sleep. I was creeping into our room to get back in bed, and the pager went off for the Fire Department. Oh Finley loved that! I loved it too. Back out to the living room we went. Matthew ran around looking for his coat, then his hat, and finally ran out the back door, and Finley and I sat and listened to the pager as the Climax First Responders radioed in and did their thing.

He is finally asleep (I think for good). Hasn't been up once since I started blogging. Yay! I'm going to bed!

the poochie lip will get you...

Poor Finny. He was trying to wake up from a nap and just wasn't ready to play. The result? The poochie lip.

Sometimes, if you try to cheer him up with lots of smiles, you can get a giggle along with the poochie lip. It's really quite pitiful.

hangin' out

Finny started playing with his feet today. I have been waiting for this for so long. I love it when babies play with their feet. He's been grabbing at them all day.

Hanging out in his crib. He likes to look at the John Deere tractors....just like daddy.

Finny with one of his new favorite rattles. He will carry it while you hold him and if he drops it, he will reach for it and sometimes cry for it.

This picture is of him playing with his feet for the first time. He was using them as leverage to sit up. He has really been trying to sit up and stay up. He was on the floor today reaching for his rattle and holding himself up with his hands in front of him. Of course, he didn't stay like that for long and he ended up leaning all the way to the side. His stomach is so pudgy that he can't breathe very well when he leans all the way over so he gets very frustrated. Hopefully, we can have some new tricks learned for when Grandma Stabley (Nana) gets here in 2-1/2 weeks.

am i supposed to like this?

We got Finley a rainforest jumperoo a few weeks ago. He has been scared of bouncing so he usually doesn't bounce at all. Today, though when I told him to bounce, he jumped up and down, then I promptly got "the lip". It was so cute, I just had to get a video of it. I tried to turn the picture but it didn't work. Sorry about that.

wake up you sleepy head

Daddy and Finn waking up from a nap.

the other girl

don't tell Amy, but Finn might be two-timing.


yes, Mattea is 3 months older than Finley. He sure caught up...

the bathroom

Jeramy and Matthew working in the basement bathroom. I am so excited to have an extra bathroom!

For those of you who know about Jeramy's dad and are praying for him...keep praying. He went in for emergency surgery yesterday and they found out that the growth that was there in December is now bigger and they have to wait 2 months after surgery to start chemo. Their whole family really needs a lot of prayer.

our small group is...ahem...close

This is Amy getting close with Finn


And closer.....



And CLOSER.....




Is this not the sweetest....

I think we will have to keep and eye on them. I'm not ready for this!

look at that cutie

who me?

Yes, you Finley. Doesn't he look so innocent? If you look at his left leg though, you will see the problem. He was still on antibiotics at this time and they did something to his stomach. He would just 'blow out' at anytime of day....and this was definitely a 'blow out'. I'm blessed to have a husband who will help out when something like this happens. Matthew pretty much cleaned up the whole mess and I just dealt with Finn.

and he's back

Well, bronchitis will do a number on your 4 month old. Finley finally started to feel better last night after almost 2 weeks. This morning he woke up with a smile on his face and plenty to say. He layed on the couch after I got him up and talked and talked and talked. I loved it and I have missed it so much. He is smiling at everyone and everything again. We've even gotten a giggle out of him. Matthew came home for lunch and said hi to Finny. As soon as Finny heard Matthew talking, he smiled. Matthew commented that he hadn't gotten a smile in a long time. It has felt like FOREVER since Finley has been well. It was so sad to see him sick and hurting, and although he is not fully better yet I can at least see a lot of improvement. I always wondered if I would be able to tell when he got sick. Besides the fussiness, I didn't think there would be a whole lot of evidence that he wasn't feeling well. Boy, was I wrong. The talking stopped, the laughing stopped, and the snoring started. I was talking to my family on the phone and put the speaker up to Finley when he was sleeping. They said it sounded like "a car was starting" and "a train was going by" to name a couple of the comments. Hopefully, that will stop soon...I get it enough from the other man in the house. =)

Finley scooting this morning.

Rolling Saturday morning. Matthew came hom for a couple of minutes and got Finley to roll about 10 times.

pictures from the last few days

Finley trying to figure out how to get his bunny. Even though he was sick, he still didn't want to be held all the time. He still liked to get on the floor and scoot or roll over.


Hanging out on the floor.

One of the few times I let him watch some TV. When I was little and got sick, mom always let us lay on the couch and watch movies, and I guess I thought Finley might feel a little bit better if he watched a little bit too.

Sitting in his new jumperoo. He doesn't quite have the jumping down yet. He will jump once and then pull his legs and feet up so he bounces in the air. I don't think he knows that he could jump all he wants continuously. He gets frustrated pretty quickly, but he'll sit in it on his own for a few minutes.

our sick little boy

You may have heard that I took Finny into Urgent Care on Monday. He had been running a fever the night before and then started to not eat as much Tuesday morning and just being really fussy. We went to Crookston...which I have come to really like. This time, however, I was very disappointed with the way the doctor was in and out in about 3 minutes, left before any of my questions were answered--didn't even ask me if I had questions, and then sent in a nurse to give me the prescription (which I also had questions about that she didn't know the answers to). Anyway, to make a long story short, he prescribed Finny 10 days of amoxicillin. I still have the prescription in his diaper bag--didn't even look at it. I was not about to fill an antibiotic prescription for my not-even-four-month-old son, especially when the doctor didn't explain anything about the 'gunky' ear (what is that supposed to mean?) or go over any other alternative treatments. My sister-in-law, Melissa had the same problem with Meg at about Finny's age and Dr. Bell (our doctor) gave Melissa some ear oil to use which Melissa said worked very well. We went over to Steve and Melissa's house and got the ear oil. We have been trying it for about 2 days now. Surprisingly, Finny doesn't seem to mind it when I put them in. He hasn't had another fever since Monday and although he is still fussy more often, it is nothing like it was Monday and Tuesday. He has started touching his right ear though, so I put some drops in that one this morning before he went down for his nap. We now have a routine every changing, every nap, and before bedtime. When I change his diaper, he gets Vicks (not the greasy stuff, but the Vicks lotion) on his chest and neck, back, and feet. This seems to soothe his throat and open him up a little. Before a nap, he gets a dropper of Tylenol and drops of the ear oil and the humidifier. About an hour before bedtime, he gets a vapor bath (it's this wonderful Vicks-smelling bubble bath from Johnson & Johnson) that really soothes him. He then gets lavender lotion and Vicks again. This is one gooey baby...but it all seems to help him feel better.

He has his 4-month checkup tomorrow with Dr. Bell, so we will see what she says. Oh yeah...they weighed him yesterday and he was 16 pounds. Yes, he is a little butter ball now...and I love having more to squeeze!

Here are two pictures of him sleeping yesterday.