No words needed...

Fin's 2 Month Appointment

Yesterday (9/24) was Fin's well-baby check. She is in fabulous health and was given 2 thumbs up and a see you at 4 month certificate! She was also given 4 shots (2 in each leg) which she tolerated about the same as Maya did with hers, although this time we were smart and gave Fin some Motrin just before the shots! She was pretty groggy and out of it until about 5am this morning and now she is back to her silly self!

Are you ready...for the stats!?! Seriously, Danny and I make wookie babies!
And for comparison I am including Maya's numbers.

Maya:
At birth: 8 pounds 2 ounces
At 2 months: 11 pounds 8 ounces
Total gain in 2 months: 3 pounds 6 ounces

She was 23 inches

Finley:
At birth: 9 pounds 2 ounces
At 2 months: 14 pounds 4 ounces
Total gain in 2 months: 5 pounds 2 ounces!!!!!! Seriously, the breastmilk must be amazing!

She was measured at 24 inches.

We don't have any new pictures...because...well, lets just say there will be pictures starting again on Friday!

Happy update!

MN Trip, Part 3

Wednesday (9/10)

Grandma Sandy pulled out her new tent and out we all went to figure out how to put it up--yes, everyone was involved in getting it put up! Maya and Porter got a bit distracted by the pond, the rocks, the wind blowing...you name it, they were distracted!

I'm not sure if Porter is scratching his butt or if the strong Wesely gene has infected his posture as well! :)

Seriously...what is wrong with these two? We tried to lock them in the tent...but they escaped!
After an attempt to nap in the tent was abandoned and a nap was enjoyed in the house we loaded up in the mini-van and headed down to Geneva to see Dad and Barb at the Geneva Bar and Grill!

Oh, the firsts...

Nursing in a bar...

Shooting guns...

Throwing darts...how someone didn't lose an eye is beyond me!

Fin got lots of love from Grandpa Jack and Grandma Barb. In fact, she slept most of the night in Grandma Barb's arms! She even managed to puke down Barb's cleavage! :)



We drove around Owatonna to make sure Maya was sound asleep and got to see how much Owatonna has grown since I was a kid! It's insane how the town has changed in 16 years!

I will save Thursday for it's own blog post because there are a billion pictures from our adventures that day!

Rough Couple of Days...

I know everyone is waiting with bated breath for the next installment of MN Vacation but I feel like I need to take some time to write about the "trying times" that have engulfed us since Friday.

Typically the morning routine includes Danny waking up early with Maya and those two hanging on the couch watching Backyardigans while Fin and I nurse ourselves awake. Typically both rooms are content...that is until the two rooms begin mixing. Maya gets really excited (I think) and just loses her mind when she gets in contact with Finley. We have generally stayed one step ahead of her...but I wasn't so lucky on Friday.

Maya came into the room and was really gentle and at ease hanging with Fin and I so Danny jumped in the shower. Fin was laying on the bed and Maya was snuggled next to her. I remember this because I thought, "I should get a picture of these two together". Then Maya sat up and started moving around fast and suddenly decided to lay back and start a tantrum which includes kicking her legs up and down. Well...I didn't get Fin out of the way fast enough and Maya's heel connected with the top of Fin's head. Fin was quiet for a second and then started screaming (which to be honest, I was glad to hear). I dragged Maya off to her room and hollered at Danny to get out of the shower all the while staring at Fin to see how she was doing.

Long story, short: she's fine. The nurse at the doctor's office reminded us that babies are like little soldiers and can take lots of bumps and bruises. I hope Fin is responsible fr her next bumps! (:

Saturday was pretty ok.

Sunday was hell. Anything and everything Maya could do to get in trouble she did, plus some things we wouldn't have thought of. It was AWFUL! Danny and I turn on each other so we don't go after Maya...but damn! I took Maya to the grocery store and to my office in two separate trips...leaving Fin with Danny. in both cases Maya was awesome! BUT as soon as we got home/the four of us together she would lose her shit! Seriously...it was insane. I remember looking at the clock at 10:30am and thinking "oh, crap, this is going to be a long day"...and boy, was it!!!

But we all survived and made it out the door this morning!

MN Trip, Part 2

Monday (9/8)
We arrived at Grandma Sandy's house at 6:00. Thankfully Grandma talked Maya in from Medford--Maya was close to a breakdown! Grandma Babe was there in between appointments and everyone hugged and kissed and quickly sat down for a home cooked meal.

After supper we headed off for a walk to see Jonathan, Teresa, Tyler and Porter. Grandma and Maya collected leaves and galloped.

Maya and Porter stared at each other for about 1.2 seconds and took off to play. There were guitars...


And ponies...


It was a pretty early night because everyone was pretty exhausted.

Tuesday (9/9)
After dishes


and baths


we took advantage of the weather by heading over to Waseca to tromp through Courthouse Park.

Maya taught Grandma Sandy how to ride a pony (are you sensing a theme in Maya's brain).


After taking a wrong turn in the woods we came out in a field and had to walk back to the park on a gravel road. Fin was a dream--just hanging out in the Moby--and Maya was a trooper hiking most of the way on her own. Until the very end when she decided to sit down and have a birthday party for her "puppy".


We stopped at DQ on the way home and Maya ate the biggest ice cream cone imaginable. And before you ask why we got her a giant ice cream cone...we didn't. Maya has taken to "trading" ice cream treats. So...if you are ever in a position to eat ice cream with Maya be prepared to hand over the goods...because in her mind trading does not require agreement!

After naps Grandma Babe came over to chat with Maya and snuggle with Fin!


We played 500, ate cookies and cheetos and enjoyed each others company!

MN Trip, Part 1

So, the first few days of our trip were spent in Fargo/Moorhead hanging with Mel, Britt and Odin! It was awesome to see their home and to see how big Odin has gotten in the past year.

Maya was concerned that Odin wouldn't have any toys to play with. Boy was she wrong! The adventures these two had together were fabulous!

First there was t-ball! Odin is a natural and Maya was not to be outdone...she was working to figure it all out. Little does she know that we have had a ball, glove and bat in the closet since she went to the Ems game with her school but with all our vacationing we haven't gotten it out. Perhaps this weekend!



Then off to the bath. I think Maya freaks Odin out a little bit...as you can see in this picture. He couldn't understand why Maya let me wash her hair under the faucet. Definitely part alien! :)


There were lots of bikes to ride. Maya burned the wheels off of most of them. We had a hard time making her understand you can't just ride the bike 12 houses down the sidewalk! (Yes, that really did happen.) Odin was a trooper and shared his toys with Maya!


Fin found lots of time to snuggle and snooze. The weekend in F/M was the start of her smiling habit which just continued to flourish over the course of our vacation. Here she is snuggling in dad's arms and looking perfect!


We took a trip to Concordia to show Danny our old stomping grounds. Here is the fam sitting outside of the theatre. Ah, many ciga...er, I mean memories were shared on those benches! When we got to Concordia Maya demanded that she get her suitcase/backpack out of the trunk to take with her. She beelined from the administration building across campus, under the bell tower and right to the theatre with little to no guidance. I guess we might have a future Cobber theatre folk in our house!


It was great to see the McThors and hang out. It was equally sad to say goodbye. If only we could live around the corner. Thanks again guys...you are fabulous!

On Monday (9/8)we drove down to Owatonna to begin a new set of adventures.

We went...we vacationed...we took pictures...

910 of them to be exact! I am in the process of uploading them and it is taking some time. I think the best way to chronicle our vacation is to break it up into adventures! So keep your eyes posted for multiple "vacation" entries because we had a ton of adventures (trust me)!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Six years ago today Danny and I sweat our asses off while sharing vows with one another.

Today we spent the day hanging out with Maya, Fin, Mel, Britt and Odin in Fargo! It was much cooler...just fyi!

We survived the journey to Seattle, the flight to MN and the journey up to Fargo. It has been quite relaxing and wonderful to hang out with the McThors world fam! We even got to see Monk, Sue, Quinn and Marina tonight for supper.

Tomorrow morning we will head over to Concordia and look around (perhaps stop by the bookstore) and then have some lunch before heading out to head down to Owatonna.

I have some pictures to post and hopefully I will get to that in the next couple of days down at mom's house.

Hitting the road...

for our next big adventure! Two kids on an airplane...what in the world were we thinking!

Today we are driving to Seattle with a brief stop in Portland to have lunch with Lindsey and Ben. Supper with the Thomas grandparents and sleeping at Auntie Kate's house. Then tomorrow morning we get up at the butt crack of dawn and go to the airport (thanks Auntie Kate) and head to MN. We are spending Saturday and Sunday nights with Mel, Britt and Odin in Fargo! We haven't seen them for nearly a year so it will be great to catch up! Then on Monday we will head down to O-what-a-town to see the Wesely/Kuchenbecker clans!

I hope to update while we are gone and I imagine it will be much easier now that mom has her fancy internet hooked up! :)

And on that note...we are off like a cow kite!

Maya honors Great Grandma Wesely

(or something along those lines)

I'm not sure who (because it's not Danny or I) uses the term "babe" but Maya has taken to calling Finley babe. Not baby or baby sister...just babe. Frequently heard phrases include: "Hey babe", "What's wrong babe", "Don't cry babe", "I wanna hold babe". As many of you know, Babe is what Grandma Wesely goes by to most people who know her. It confuses my brain...is she talking about Grandma or Fin?!? Pretty soon the two "Babes" will meet!

still finding sand

howdy...
checking in after our wonderful trip to the ocean!
Maya and i had a blast playing in the waves and flying kites.
i got to spend a lot of time holding Fin and getting lost in her eyes...
We had lots of laughs and good food and playtime with Kevin and Leah and Tuesday.
Jennifer and i got to enjoy a few extra moments of rest and relaxation together when the girls were both sleeping or when one or the other of them were being held/entertained by Kevin, Leah, or Nana (Kevin's mom came along for extra hands)

I keep finding little piles of sand all over the house!

We managed to only bring home two small rocks!
(I could usually bring about 5 times this many treasures on my own let alone with Maya's help).
I think we were more preoccupied with running around than collecting treasures.

One of the highlights of the trip, for me, was at one point in the afternoon Maya and I had a solo adventure in town - we were driving and i put a Peter Paul and Mary CD on in the car - thinking she might dig it ( I am working on a show that may use some folk music from the early 60's)...

well after about one and a half songs she was like - "daddy, can you turn this off? I want to rock..."

I was like "yeah sure," and the only rocky thing i had in the car was the New Pornographers album Twin Cinema - I put it in and she instantly started banging her head.

I asked, "How's this?" "This is better." My daughter is a rocker. i was beaming with pride!

After the second song she said - I like the girl singers better - the boys are too noisy - this is a girl who knows how to make both her parents proud!

Wow...

Hats off to parents who stay at home with more than one child while maintaining their sanity! Whew!

So...our trip to the coast was wonderful. We have 300+ pictures so I will try and post a few here and perhaps set up a link for those of you that want to view the others.

We spent lots of time doing this...

We had several rides on this...


There was time for snuggles...


We flew kites...


And played in the sand (glamorously of course)...


Finley spent a lot of time in the Moby wrap getting snuggled around the beach. She was a trooper about the whole trip! We are seeing a lot of smiles and starting to hear coos and little beautiful noises. She seems to be getting into a rhythm at night as well, sleeping from 9pm-2am and then again until 7am or so. She wakes up long enough to nurse and get her diaper changed and then falls quickly back to sleep.

Tomorrow we get back the regular grind...well, Maya does. Danny worked today (thus, my solo mission). I, however, am still "chilling" and getting my hair done! Yippee...this is much needed. Tomorrow night we have a birthday party for one of Maya's classmates. Wednesday we don't have anything (I think). Thursday is a birth to three social at the swimming pool. Friday we head up to Seattle to start the beginning of our MN adventure! Sounds a bit crazy doesn't it!

Home alone...

with 2 kids.
If I survive the day I will post stories and pics of our adventures at the beach!