Finley is 6 Months...Where does the time go?

It's hard to believe 6 months has passed!  Everyday brings us something new and watching Zander and Finley make each other laugh is the highlight everyday!  First of all, Finley's stats...He is 27.5" tall, in the 79% and 22 lbs, in the 99%.  Finley's head is 17.91", in the 93%.  I am amazed everyday that Fin can make Zander look small!  They are wearing the same clothes this holiday so Finley is about 4 months ahead. 

Finley's belly laugh keeps us all smiling.  He loves his food and we continue to work at convincing him to drink his bottle.  His favorite places are on Daddy's lap in the recliner or in the excersaucer.  He talks non-stop and we can't wait until he starts picking up words.  Zander greets him in his crib every morning!  Grandma has been watching him on Thursday and Friday so Zander walks around on Friday morning saying "Baby?  Baby?" 

We are looking forward to a great Christmas and can't wait to spend extra time with the boys!  Here are some pictures they had taken at daycare...LOVE THEM!

Enjoying the Leaves!

I finally got a picture with all three of my guys where one of them wasn't screaming!  Love it...Happy Fall!

Kisses!

Go Tigers!

It's not looking good for the Tigers but we have enjoyed cheering them on and having our baseball watching season extended since the Rockies were hopeless!  Here are some  pictures of the boys!

Zander's home sick :(

Loves to hold his brother...in the morning before
we went to the Dr.

Sound asleep at 9am...

I have been very lucky to be able to take Friday's off since the beginning of the school year, my dad has been subbing for me and the kids love him.  He was in Michigan for one of the Friday's and the kids were very worried, even though I had told them he wouldn't be there.  They were excited to have him back the next Friday!  This was my last Friday off and I was looking forward to getting lots done!  Well, my day sure did not go as expected!  Zander was up coughing the night before and complaining because his ear hurt.  He has had lots of ear infections and I was sure this was another...I took him to the doctor first thing in the morning and no ear infection but he did have croup.  They gave him steroids for his cough and my poor little guy fell asleep on the way home...he was warn out!  Well, needless to say, he stayed home with Fin and I and let me tell you, he didn't look sick for long!  It took him no time to empty the pillows off the couch and build a pillow pit!  I got nothing done but had a great day with my boys!  Dad had been out of town since Wednesday and came home to a messy house with no groceries on Friday!

After nap...while mom was cleaning Zander's room!

Family Pictures

I think the only regret I have from my wedding is that we never got a picture with everyone on my side of the family.  The kids were always in different places and then Bryan was excited to get to the reception.  We made up for it this weekend...and it was even better because Zander and Finley were part of the family picture.  They turned out great!

Oktoberfest...Prost!

Last weekend, the boys stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Bryan and I went to the Rockies game and Oktoberfest.  We even got to stay downtown and had a great time!!!  Today, we wanted to take the boys back and it was Zander's last day at Sharp Start so after a rough week some fun was in order!

On Monday we found out that Sharp Start was closing, we were very upset as both boys were very happy there and Bryan loved walking them in the morning.  We have found another daycare in the neighborhood and Zander and I visited it this morning.  It was a rough visit but hopefully Zander will love it as much as he did Sharp Start!

Oktoberfest was just what we all needed!  Zander had a great time dancing, loved watching keg bowling and climbing in the castle!  Dad took lots of pictures so he can build one in our backyard!

Gotta love fall!

Football is back!  Zander loves to sit in the backyard and wait for the planes to fly over for Broncos home games...he makes his airplane noise and when they leave, asks dad for "More...More".  Bryan has made the mistake of replaying the planes on TV for him and now he thinks dad can control the airplanes in the backyard too!

We have had a blast cheering on the Spartans, watching Sunday football, and Zander loves the apples that come with fall in the backyard.  He enjoys pulling off every apple he can reach on the tree and giving it to the dogs...as if the 100's they already have on the ground is not enough!

Zander moves to a new bed!

We were hoping Zander would stay in his crib until Christmas time...Finley still gets up 1-2 times each night and I wasn't sure I could take on the challenge of Zander in a toddler bed too!  But when I looked in the monitor on Saturday morning, Zander was straddling the top rail of his crib, I took off running!  Luckily Sawyer had passed his toy story bed down to us and all we had to do was carry it upstairs...oh and get Zander to sleep in it without destroying his room.

Parenting has surprised us in many ways but this was perhaps was of the most surprising...we shouldn't have been worried!  Zander loved his new bed and is as easy as ever (knock on wood) to put to bed.  We read him a story or two, tuck him in, and he waves good bye to us!!!

Currently, a ball must be taken everywhere...to bed,
to baths, on walks, to play, and in the car!  Sometimes
I wonder how he fits in the bed!!!

Now naps are another story....

Zander loves the Zoo!

We decided to head to the zoo as soon as it opened today!  We loved the cooler temperatures, saw lots of animals and were even photographed in the new Elephant passage!  We will have to see if we make it on any zoo advertisements....

Zander's favorite are still the Giraffes but many others are catching his interest too!

Zander is 19 months and Finley is 3 months!

It was picture day at school today and I couldn't resist dressing the boys alike!  They were adorable!

Zander gets stitches...again!

Trying to entertain Zander while the numbing gel took effect!

This morning we had breakfast at the Universal with the Dukai's and then walked over to Courtney's to meet Jak and let Zander and Lilly play together!  They were having a great time, playing in the water table, swinging, watching the chickens, and riding bikes until Zander crashed.  His bike went off the sidewalk and he hit his head on the deck.  It immediately began bleeding A LOT and we knew we were headed to the ER.  We had walked there so Courtney and Mike gave us their car, an ice pack, and LOTS of paper towels and they kept Finley while we went to get stitches.  Zander was a champ!  The hardest part was keeping him entertained for the 45 minutes it took the numbing gel to take effect, he even fell asleep while getting the stitches!

An Unexpected Trip Back to Indiana

During my first week back at school in the middle of August we received some sad news that led to an unexpected trip back to Indiana. 

Bryan's dad passed away and we headed back to Indiana for the funeral.  Zander stayed with Grandma and Grandpa as he needs his own ticket (the airlines say he can ride on our lap but he says otherwise!) and it was pretty expensive at the last minute.

It was not the reason we wanted to go back but it was a great opportunity for Bryan to reconnect with his dad's family and we took Finley to introduce to everyone in Indiana.  And Gram's loved the excuse for some Finley cuddle time. 

This was Aunt Jody and Uncle Jason's first time meeting Finley and luckily my Grandma was able to make the trip down from Michigan.  Uncle Mike and Quinn were nice enough to drive Grandma down and we all met up for lunch at Applebee's in Auburn.



I bought Zander some balls to take to Grandma and Grandpa's!
He loved them and turned Gma's tub into a ball pit!

Zander is 18 months...and Finley is 2 months!



Zander is having a blast being a big brother and Mom has had such an amazing summer with her boys...back to work tomorrow:(  Zander started daycare today and will be back full time, I think he has missed the other kids and maybe they will teach him a few new words!  Finley is back part time starting tomorrow until November.  Grandma will have him on Mondays and Mom is taking off the first few Fridays to spend with him!

Zander's height is finally starting to catch up with the rest of him and I think he moves too much to gain weight!  His height is 33.75" (89%), weight 31lbs 8 ozs (100%), and head 20.63" (100%).

Finley is all around bigger than his brother but with a normal head size....Dad calls Zander the runt!  His height is 24.25 (95%), weight is 13lbs 9ozs (82%), and head is 15.83 (85%).

Watching them grow cracks me up everyday!  Zander walks backwards and on his tippy toes and cracks himself up all the time.  He loves to watch Alvin and the Chipmonks and is more than willing to share his toys with his brother!  We have a great time playing catch and making baskets, one of the few things Mom can do while nursing!  Finley loves to give us smiles!!  I am still nursing so he sleeps one stretch of about 5 hours each night and the rest of the day is around 3 hours.



Kisses!

LOVE MY BOYS!!



Finley's 2 Month Pictures!

I wanted to get some baby pictures of Finley before I went back to school...although we still love the pictures, one would think I was torturing all of my boys!  Zander wanted nothing to do with pictures, Finley peed on Bryan, and the fun just kept on going!