We did Thanksgiving at our house for the first time. My first stab at making a turkey too, and it turned out great if I do say so myself! We really enjoyed ourselves, had a nice small group and just relaxed. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Finn and Queen Grandma
Me and my first turkey

Jamie's first carving job, looked wonderful

The family ready to dig in

How can you resist this face??? And yes, he does have a scratch next to his eye, everytime I turn around he's smacking into something. :(

I'm on a roll with the blogging! We had our family pictures done yesterday, cross your fingers they turned out well! Our wedding photographer Andy King took them down at WindanSea Beach in La Jolla. Finn did better than I thought he would, got about 3/4 of the way through before putting on the Stink Eye as his permanent face. Here's a picture before we left the house, funny face.

Finn enjoyed a pre-dinner snack under the watchful eye of Antigone the other day.
Last night Jamie and I played a game of Scrabble after Finn went to sleep. We used to play games all the time pre-baby, but now rarely have the brainpower. :) I totally kicked his ass!

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks:

Helping Dad bathe the Tigginator

Getting ready for a jog
We flew up to visit my Aunt Christa, Uncle Fred, and Olivia last weekend. The plane wasn't full so he got his own seat, very nice for us! He didn't seem too thrilled with his snack...

He thought this was the most hilarious game he'd ever played, Christa kept him entertained for quite a while with these water bottles.

I hadn't taken a sleeping picture in quite a while. He's so sweet!

Finally, our Halloween pictures are ready to share! It took me a while, but here they are. We had a houseful: my mom and Greg, Mandy, and our friends Charlene, Read, and Bella. Because the kids are still pretty little we decided to stay in and pass out candy this year. Next year we'll hit the streets and do some trick or treating. I made a big pot of chili and we passed out all of our candy, the neighborhood was hopping! Check out Finn the Tiger! He had a really cute little hat thing with the Tiger face on it, but only wore it for about 3 seconds, during which he emitted blood curdling screams. Oh well! :)

He was very excited about the pumpkins!

Where are my pants??

Playing in the yard

Not digging the tiger face hat.

Super excited about the family picture.

His favorite spot in the house, hanging out tiger-style.

Our roaring Tiger!

I can't stand it, he's too adorable!

My new dining set came in! We ordered it almost 2 months ago and they finally delivered it yesterday afternoon. I am so excited! Thanksgiving here we come!

First Annual Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza!!!

Saturday night our friends the Rosalls invited us over for an evening of pizza and pumpkins. Jamie had an ear infection and couldn't make it so Finn, Mandy, and I trekked over bringing with us our best pumpkin carving skills. The kids spent most of the time running around eating rice crispie treats while us grown ups rolled up our sleeves and covered ourselves with slimy seeds, all in the name of Halloween. We didn't win the contest but had a good time getting into to the Halloween spirit and playing with our friends!

Last Saturday we went to the Pumpkin Patch to find the perfect pumpkin. Finn was more interested in throwing hay around and playing on the slide and tunnel but we went home with what we came for after all.

This kid loves blinds and curtains of all kinds. He pretends to hide in them and thinks he's the sneakiest guy around.

It was really nice last weekend so we walked over to Lake Murray and fed the ducks. Finn didn't quite get the concept. He liked watching me throw bread to the ducks and enjoyed watching them swim around but every time I gave him a piece to throw he would eat it!

Helping Dad sweep the patio. Man stuff.

He also helped by picking up leaves individually. Not the most efficient way to go, but he's getting the idea.

Finn you are a little boy now!

Our nephew Wyatt and Finn in a wrestling match
Mr. Cheese at the San Diego Zoo

Giving the sheep a few pets

Riding the frog at Fanuel Park next to the bay

Here are a few pictures from Stacy and Wyatt's visit the first of October. It was really nice to have the boys play together and spending some family time. More posts soon. :)

I will do a real post soon, things have been so busy lately! We are in our new house and loving it! Finn has explored every square inch, loves walking around and hearing his little yells echo. We are 90% done, just need to put up our pictures and buy a few lamps etc. Jamie's sister Stacy and our nephew Wyatt were here this past weekend so we had lots of fun but didn't get any work done on the house. Finn and Wyatt had a great time together, so glad they got to know each other a little better. More pictures of our fun times soon...

We are moving! We found a house to rent only 1 mile from our current apartment. It's got lots of room for Finn and Tig to chase each other around and a backyard too. The last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of packing and sorting, such fun! Ugh! Yesterday my mom and Grandma Janet helped me paper all the shelves in the house while watching Finntastic explore his new roost. Today we plan to move some boxes from the garage into the house and maybe put some things away. The real move is next Saturday, can't wait until it's over!

Last weekend we started our "Finn sleeps all night in his crib" campaign. Previously, he had been sleeping the first half of the night in his crib and the second half with Mom and Dad. We loved having that cozy little bug in our bed but he just wasn't sleeping very well, and neither were we! After much deliberation and a few tears (okay, just mommy tears) we decided that at almost 14 months old it was time for Mr. Finnegan David to stay in his bed all night. Labor Day weekend afforded us the opportunity to start our new night life with an extra night to adjust before my alarm went off at 5am to begin the work week.



It went SO much better than expected! I am happy to report that after less than a week Finnatron was sleeping many hours at a stretch with only one wake up! Night before last he slept 9 hours! I know for some of you that doesn't seem like a big deal, but know that Finner's record before the new program was about 7 hours and his average was 4 or so. Lately he had been waking up every 2 or 3 hours again, which is what prompted us to try this approach. Two parents working full time and at least one having to wake up every 3 hours was bringing us to our breaking point. Yes, there is some crying but not a whole lot and he wake up rested and seems happier through out the day. Last night he woke up only once for about 5 minutes, fell back to sleep on his own, didn't even need a back rub from a sleepy Mom or Dad. This feels wonderful!!!!



On another note, I made my first digital scrapbook layout. Some of you know I used to scrapbook quite a bit and really enjoyed it. Since Finn was born I haven't been able to find the time and I miss it. Poor Finn has millions of pictures on our computer but no albums to fawn over. A college friend of mine gave me some guidance (thanks Mary!) and I finally finished my first page. I hope to continue to learn and to improve my digital skills. :)

Finn is a pro walker now, he only crawls when he's really tired and cranky. This video is from Wednesday, he was telling us all about it too, pretty funny. I love the picture below, my mom was getting him dressed and then they read their favorite book "Hand Hand Fingers Thumb". It was my favorite when I was a kid too. :)

Thursday we had the girls over to play. It was a zoo as usual! We love it!

I'm sad that my 3 day weekend is coming to a close. Jamie was off for 3 days too, so we actually got to spend some time together as a family AND have a little couple time. Miraculous!

Now that Finn can walk, he apparently is looking for other ways to practice his balancing talents. That is one strong block!

He said "Uh oh!" for the first time today. Ha!

Just a few pictures from this weekend. Tig was all tired out from spending the night at Gramma Jonna's. She kept Finn and Tig for us while Jamie and I had a quick romantic getaway downtown. We stayed at the US Grant and went out for dinner and drinks. We had a wonderful time reconnecting and vowed to do it again soon.

Corn is SO GOOD!

Finn has been busy learning to walk! He takes 3 or 4 steps all the time and this weekend started get more adventurous. He's not full on walking yet, but it won't be long. I was finally able to catch him on camera, check him out!

The Girls' Club: Adrianne, Charlene, Me, and Amanda

Abi is sharing some snacks with Finner (the only boy!!) while Bella looks on

Uh oh, they caught us! Quick, swallow the snacks!

The girls came over last night for chicken enchiladas. Adrianne brought bonuelos too, oh my gosh they are good! We get together one or twice a week to let the kids play, have a glass of wine, and enjoy each other's company. My sister doesn't have kids yet, and I think our get togethers may be good birth control! I really love spending time with them, it helps keep us all sane. :)