ourlilpeanut

christmas eve & christmas day

2012-02-11T16:01:00.009-07:00

i was all ready for a relaxing christmas -in my own home, which i've never experienced as an adult. & for the most part it was relaxing. although "pressures" (that i probably put on myself to make everyone happy) were still there, possibly more so to make up for not coming home. skype was amazing- we felt like we were with our families. but my password wasn't working & i couldn't remember what i'd just changed my gmail password to so i couldn't reset it. so annoying! we finally got that all squared away & tried to take a couple deep breaths & enjoy our christmas eve morning with bryan's family.

they were all together at the paris' house.

hi aunt lissa, aunt jody, dee dee, gabe & pop, uncle neil & evelyn! :) aunt lissa got finn possibly the coolest thing in this little kids world. an actual train track sign thingamager! he loves it- it's battery operated & slowly goes up & down.
cars!
paper!
coke can? bryan's family does a goodwill christmas. $5 limit. i actually really love it, except i vote to move the limit to $15. i found some really nice things like a sweater/shirt from banana republic for dee dee & an ann taylor dress for jody. (but we went over our limit to get those things, woops)
trains!

after opening presents we played for awhile & then took a nap.
when finn woke up we got ready for church. we don't really have a church here, but we do go randomly to st.tims. they have a beautiful choir.

maya in her pretty outfit.
she wore aunt teecee's bracelet!
we quickly made some more sugar cookies (the others disappeared!) so santa would have some later that night! i love trader joe's sugar cookie mix. addictive. like most of their baked goods.

finn trying to figure out which shoes goes best with his outfit. a few from church. we braved the main room for as long as we could & then off to the cry room. where my 2.5 year old can quietly play with his trains & bryan can attempt to get something out of mass & i can quietly watch my kids as i'm somewhat (pretty sure bryan would beg to differ on my word choice here) patient about it all.

& then after mass melissa (emma's mom) had told us about this street nearby that shut down on christmas eve so everyone could walk around looking at all the houses that decorate! it was really neat, but so strange. almost all the families were outside together around portable fire pits roasting marshmallows. we didn't even have our big coats on. if we'd been at home we'd be rushing from the car to the houses as quick as we could!
one more time around the house before bed. he loves to see how many times he can go round before the pole comes down.
our beautiful, quiet living room. kids sleeping. tree lit. cookies eaten!! presents wrapped & laid out on the couch for finn when he wakes in the morning. LOVED THIS. i think we even had a glass of wine on the couch before we went to bed.

i'd posted on facebook a question: were your presents from santa wrapped?

stephani, jeff, bryan & i had been arguing over this for a couple days so we opened the discussion up. it was awesome the responses & bryan tallied them up to almost a complete tie with wrapped winning by maybe 2.

we chose wrapped with newspaper (of course!). only once a year do we get this opportunity to watch him unwrap his goodies & as my dad said "make that last as long as you can."

off to bed we all went.

& then on christmas morning we skyped with my dad. finn chose to eat a breakfast bar (ridiculous, but we really didn't do anything special for any of the meals!!!)

bryan told santa that finn needed more tracks. but i think bryan meant he needed more tracks. i think sometimes we love building cool new designs more than finn, although he's always happy to oblige.

finn would grab a present & say "what is it? what is it?" & then tear it open. & then study it for a bit & then move on. this is a cool lil magnet set, perfect for traveling.
trains again!
when finn is a famous photographer & says i got my first camera when i was two, we'll have the photographic proof :) it's a cars camera- so at first he was disappointed that he couldn't watch cars on it. but i think he's liking it more & more. i was most excited about this one. i searched far & wide amongst the land of radio shacks for it.
lots of goodness. we felt very loved.
mom opening (a card explaining) her fireplace. she moved & her new place doesn't have one. so monica came up with the great idea of getting her one! she loved it after we explained what it was.

we (err.) santa got him lots of books. kid still loves to read.
yum. more paper.
finn had been a handful for a couple days there & we were kinda getting annoyed with the situation & with each other. what kid doesn't go crazy right about now with all the presents & attention & excitement? so i called a time out & said we needed to get out of this house. we went for a nice walk & hit reset.

bryan proving it wasn't too big of a hill!
finn is getting braver & braver.
swinging has always cured frustration for me.
no toys, no electronic loud crazy stuff. just mother nature & a park. a breeze, some birds chirping, barefeet & your loved ones... that's what it's all about.

merry christmas, happy new year & happy to you what ever you celebrate. i hope you have a fabulous year & get the chance to realize it's not stuff that make this life worth living. it's the beautiful people that you share your days with.

the polar express

2012-02-10T23:33:00.013-07:00

since we weren't going to be spending a ton of money on plane tickets we treated ourselves to the polar express. this super awesome thing in williams arizona. the train that normally takes you to the grand canyon takes you to the north pole instead!!!

we had an awesome time. the whole trip was fabulous & much too short. there are 50 pictures in this post... that's WAY widdled down. i apologize. but really, i don't because it was that amazing & worthy.

finn lasted quite a while before we brought out the touch so he could watch a movie. we had planned to stop at the out of africa wildlife park on the way up but it was raining & pretty nasty & we were the only cars in the parking lot. bryan went in to see if they were even open & they were nice enough to replace our groupon (which was expiring that day) with 2 free tickets! no expiration date, so we have ourselves a fun day trip in the near future.
it was definitely chilly & a lil bit snowy. they forcasted 8-12 inches, starting that evening.
we get to the hotel & the first thing bryan does is turn on the t.v. sometimes we do miss it.
& then it was time to put on our pajama's & head to the train station. this is finn watching the train pull up... love this. can't you feel his anticipation!
yeah!
come on dad... let's go!
i love this one. with my whole heart.
:)
oh yeah, we're on the polo spress. (that's how he says it. out of context i can't understand that at all. he said it for days afterwards & for some reason it never dawned on me what he was saying. i was so desperate to figure it out i called jenn, my friend who watched him at her daycare... she knew immediately what he was saying!)
maya all bundled up.
it started getting a little toastier so we could get down to our jammies. my mom bought this sweet outfit for maya.

cookies!!!!!!! (what you thought we were excited about santa?! nah. those cookies were awesome.)
wait, is he coming?!
yep it's him! i was suprised he was so willing to hug the weird dude in red, but he was. not shy at all.
totally into his bell. still is.

maya wasn't so sure about him. she's all "what in the hell do you think you're doing. get me away from this guy."
:)
leaving the north pole looking for wolves.
we posed real quick with santa. the "professional" picture was adorable but they wanted something like $45 for the small one. i got one frame fired off before she yelled at me. we bought a hand painted train ornament instead.
shu nelly, the snow started up once we got off the train.

the car with a light dusting!
our drive to the hotel which luckily was only like 10 minutes.
the next morning we woke up to lots & lots of snow! the hotel was great about plowing the parking lot but the awesome little hill behind us was perfect for finn to romp around in the white stuff for the first time! our friends sharon & joe gave us their daughters snow shoes & snow bib so finn was set!
we bundled ms maya up & put her in her carseat at the edge of the hill. she fell asleep within a few minutes.

trying to catch snow flakes.
daddy bulldozing a place to slide down. such a good daddy.
occasionally he'd get grumpy if he fell down...
or if he got it on his hands.
:) so beautiful.

they did this probably 10 times.
& then we taught him how to make snowballs.
bryan got him good!
supposedly this was a heated pool. i saw the steam rising but have no idea where the heat was... because it was COLLLLLLD. so cold bryan wussed out & didn't get in.
cute lil teeth chattering.
our drive home was beautiful. the gray, cold, lovely winter beauty. perhaps only a phoenician could love this sort of weather.

ah happy pola esspressin!

decorating our first tree...

2012-02-10T23:14:00.003-07:00

i really had no idea how much i was going to love having a real tree. and staying around to admire it every night. we didn't take our tree down until late january- that's how much we loved it. we didn't have many ornaments, so i used the left over felt and made a simple but beautiful garland.

neil was still in town so he came over after his work day.
the tree has a strand of lights!!
& now the garland & a few ornaments.
up there!
serious spectator.
here ya go.

aw. is it december again yet?

another mass blog to catch up

2012-02-04T10:03:00.011-07:00

{11.20.11-12.21.11}

what a great couple of months november & december were... so many pictures.

we played in a tournament that was supposed to be in tucson, but some crazy rains made them rearrange & have it in phoenix! yeah for us. it was chilly here- so we had maya bundled up!
bryan in his super normal frisbee attire.
i mean i know ya'll believed me... but our team theme was semi-pro. bryan did have all of these pieces though -no thrift store shopping was needed.
we let maya hop in the bath with finn for their first bath together. it went well. she giggled the whole time.
we walked around our tempe arts festival. i love how finn would prefer to hold onto bryan like this.
sweet snugglin on the couch (tree decorating pictures to come soon!)
finn's really good about brushing his teeth every night & every once in awhile wants to floss.

uncle neil came to visit... (well for work but he came & played in the evenings!)
we did some light hiking in papago. finn loves peeing outside.... my lil hippy.
:)

g'lord they look serious.
maya leigh.
girl is looking at food like it's the best thing she's ever seen. she WANTS to eat. but we're holding it off for a couple more months because of how sensitive her skin is.
finn went mountain biking for the first time. he loved the hill on his first attempt but acted intimidated the others... we'll work on it! i think he's going to be a natural.
bryan chasing finn since he decided he was going to the top!

maya in her supposed nap. i think she's having a meeting instead.
she sure looks powerful, doesn't she?
we went for a nice long walk around tempe town lake...
i remember it being nice until i think about it in detail. it was so frustrating. finn wanted his bike & he wanted me to take kylie. so, we load up the car (we still had just the corolla... so it was very tight) i had maya in the ergo, my camera, diaper bag & kylie on the leash. that equals one overloaded mama, especially when finn decided he was done riding his bike & i had to carry that too.
but it was a beautiful evening.

here's a few of finn at boot camp daycare.
finn & one of his best buds kace.
isn't he adorable?
ring around the rosie. pockets full of posies. we all fall down!

finn coloring. maya chilling.

maya in her cute coat aunt rae rae got her...

okay, almost done with 2011!!!!!

maya's 4 months

2012-02-04T09:52:00.004-07:00

{11.22.11} woops. usually i skip order to post this sort of thing... but here's maya's 4 month session.

nana gave her this christmas outfit!

i bought this outfit for maya for my cousin's wedding! she was adorable in it. i sold it to a friend & was so glad to see it passed onto another sweet little girl.
i've really gotten into making her headbands. we don't wear em much but she has a ton of em!

sweet bay-bay.

cute toesies.
my lil protege' he was taking pictures with me.
:) i'm getting there guys, promise!

we made ornaments...

2012-02-03T21:43:00.005-07:00

{11.22.11}

it's my goal to have finn make something for his loved ones every year. we may be repeating this year since it didn't quite work out like i imagined... for instance only one ornament survived transport. the rest arrived shattered :( or broke before we even got to mail them.

i bought some crayola clay & we had a blast rolling them out & using cookie cutters. these are part of a fall package i got at joann's on sale. it's supposed to be a leaf, but with a few lil accents it's totally a christmas tree!

we'd use the end side of a marker for ornaments...
rolling was a bit much for this crafter... so mama helped.
so much MUSCLE!

& then these next few were during lunch.

& then the next day we painted them. {11.23.11}
ky ky watching from a distance.

i am known for sticking my tongue out while i'm making art, so i always get a kick out of seeing him do it.

she's so ready to paint!!
but she'll just gnaw on her fingers until she's old enough.
beautiful light on a late afternoon day.

i absolutely love this sight. our masterpieces... wouldn't they have looked lovely on your tree?! dang.
then daddy came home & played his one song on the mandolin.

november trip to louisville

2012-02-02T22:49:00.014-07:00

we went home for my cousin ashley's wedding. which was wonderful!

i edited these pictures down as much as i could. but i couldn't do much. sorry if i bore you on this post!

my dad really wanted to take finn to the zoo- but it was a drab day so they decided on the lou. science center instead. bryan & finn met up with my dad, pop, neil, jody, eveyln & gabe for a fun morning of exploring. bryan said it was fun to watch our dad's play even more than the kids did!

ironically he wore a rain coat...

my mom moved into a new town home, which we all really like!
baba & mom giving maya a bath.
uncle don & his magical ways with children. you can't help but be peaceful when he's around.
aunt rae rae is smitten.
yummy phlen's bakery breakfast.
nana & maya.
i'm pretty sure he's mooning her. but i don't remember!
so dramatic.
kisses for nana.
aunt sandy & jeff.
so cute.
we spent the night at the paris' after the wedding.
jody told us the exciting news that they were expecting their third kid!!!!
big cousin evelyn.

this is the first time i've seen the kids pay any attention to the piano.

:)

gabe. isn't he adorable?

finn lost interest after awhile.
my sister & jeff stopped by to say good bye on their way to the airport.

:)

finn & evelyn really got along.

& then as neil & jody were getting ready to leave the kids discovered the leaves. & we had ourselves a grand time.

RUN. take cover.......!!!!!!

aunt lissa wanted in on the fun.

finn was the only one that fought back!!! take that!

innocent bystanders. see, some people treat their dog with respect & let them be INSIDE the car on road trips!
three of the four (soon to be five) paris grandbabies. maya was napping.

i left to do my cousin maria's engagement session... which turned out awesome!

had we known we weren't going to be coming home for christmas we would have stayed much longer... 3 days just isn't enough!

maya's first time in a bumbo chair!!!

2012-01-28T22:57:00.004-07:00

{pictures taken on: 11.1.11}

she's started to sit up by herself, as of this weekend!! so it's funny looking back to the first time i felt like her neck was strong enough to sit in a bumbo!

but here's my sweet girl with one of her first milestones :)

she's so pleased with herself.

look ma!
always aware of where her brother is.
& now for some tummy time. i confess to not giving my children probably enough tummy time. they have both been such strong babies i just don't think of it much.

finn decided to try it out.
look ma!

actual halloween.

2012-01-28T09:14:00.007-07:00

my aunt teecee & uncle david were in town for a friends wedding, so they tagged along with us! we spend the day playing at their hotel pool & then came home in time to meet daddy & put on our outfits & hit some houses. i had planned to make me different fruits & treats just like in the book & make bryan some railroad crossing bars but i ran out of time. one year we'll participate... that was my favorite part as a kid- seeing what my aunts and uncles would dress up as. my mom(especially) & dad always went all out. halloween is HUGE for my mom's family. my grandparents would dress up. my grandfather, a rather large man, would dress up in my grandmother's lacy pajama's! grandma would wear some mask- but mainly she manned the door & the big pot of chili.

i can't wait to watch my kids grow up loving such a fun holiday!

maya being all witchy!!
maya loving the sunshine & pool!
(from david's ipod)

time to get dressed!
finn's ready!
tehee. uncle david's knee was hurting him. so he sat outside our house & passed candy out while we visited the neighbors!
love this one. we've hit our last house & were heading home.
checking out his loot!

love this holiday. happy belated halloween to you... teehee. ridiculous.

halloween with friends.

2012-01-28T00:05:00.010-07:00

our friends tina & rob invited us over for pizza & their neighborhood halloween party... which was huge! jump houses galore, mazes, a balloon man. lots of fun. not a lot of candy- but that was fine by us parents!

here's finn's costume all finished! minus the hat.
maya was the hungry catepillar! tehee. homemade as well. i ran out of time & was going to make the hat but bryan said just use a hat you already have. so i used the giraffe hat & sewed on some eyeballs. worked alright!
here he is with the hat aunt rae rae & uncle jeff gave him.
kyan says rrrrrrrrrrar!!!
matt & miss minnie.
3 stooges. it was our turn to return the favor to our friends jenn & chad. they watched finn while we were out of town for frisbee/wedding. avery is on the right. he was such an easy addition to our brood. at one point, while we were walking to the park, bryan said "i forgot we even had avery!" luckily he was in the wagon & we didn't REALLY forget him :)

miss sophie bug!!

melissa perfecting the mouses!
bounce, bounce, bounce!
they loved it!

owen was a lightening mcqueen!

watching the balloon guy. finn left all of his friends for a front row seat.
maya konked out.

i spied my friend paige with her husband (dressed as Zach Galifianakis from hangover) & babe in the audience.
the dads.
you okay owen?
avery looking for me.
lil micah!
tina & kyan.
the balloon guy was awesome. melissa & emma.
joanne & owen.
no better way to end the night than with some tackling!
finn in time out :(

fun times :)

our joyful lil girl is 6 months old

2012-01-23T22:50:00.007-07:00

i've never met a happier baby & i've met a lot of babies. i'm the mama so i know you're thinking i'm biased. and maybe i am. i've still never met a happier baby!!

our sweet girl is nothing but a bundle of joy.

maya leigh turned 6 months old on sunday. i didn't get a chance to do her birthday shoot until today, while finn was supposed to be napping. instead he was reading books in bed. my friend bonnie was visiting with us & maya couldn't stop smiling & laughing at her. so thanks for your help bonnie!

here are a few of my favorites. more to come with a couple more outfits!

my grandmother once told me my eyes smiled. i thought that was the most unique compliment i'd ever gotten. it made me feel special. i think i understand it completely now- maya's eyes smile. almost always. this might be my favorite from our session today. that sweet gummy mouth!

we had our 6 month check up today:

above 95% for height!
around 80% for weight!
65th-ish for head circumference!

he kept saying what a sweet baby while he rolled her over & stretched out her legs, poked her belly & looked in her ears. she'd do her goofy lil laugh & her eyes would sparkle.

we started our first round of vaccines :( i hate them! hate them!!! i know they're necessary & that they've saved a lot of lives. and that they don't work unless the majority of the pack has them. bryan's for them. i think i'd rather move to a secluded part of the woods & avoid them! the doctor & bryan grant me a delayed schedule. with finn we didn't start until 9 months because he was sick at 6 months. i was tempted to wait until then with maya as well, but since finn is around other children quite a bit, she's more at risk.

back to why i hate them: i've worked with several children that "changed" after their vaccines. their parents strongly believe that the chemicals altered something that may have already been present in their child- but it altered it or triggered it or somehow interfered with things. and that scares the shit out of me. she cried. i barely held it together. the nurse was in & out in less than 2 minutes. she said as she walked out the door "take your time" & that's just what we did. as i was holding/ shushing/ rocking her finn disappeared under the exam table. "whatcha doing?" "i hiding. go away." which translates to i'm pooping. it takes him about 10 minutes to be done. so i nurse her & comfort her. 20 minutes later they get their exam room back to torture another sweet babe :(
back to the shoot!
man, seeing these make me want to go wake her up & shower her with kisses!
girlfriend won't keep a sock on to save her life. she wants those toes!
still can't tell for sure what color her hair is going to be... it was beyond obvious that finn was a redhead at this point & maya in the sunlight is fairly red. maybe she'll be strawberry blonde like me? we will have to wait & see.

tehee.
hiya bonnie!

happy 6 months my lil sweetness.

mass post, attempt to catch up!

2012-01-10T23:32:00.018-07:00

in no particular order (mainly because they upload out of order) these were taken 9.24.11 thru 10.28.11.

maya & i attended our first bris for baby micah.

love this lion king moment.
beautiful family of four.
we had the aspinall's over for some dinner. tickle monster!!! (he loves this book aunt khaki!)
playing trains...
twirly whirly.
finn & owen feed off of each other & they are funny & rambunctious!
sophie talking with maya.
we had an intense game of hide & seek.
finn & sophie. "you okay, sophie?"

i hosted an art social & it was a lot of fun. maya helped me while finn napped.
& then chelsea came over & took both kids on a walk so i could finish cleaning! life saver :)
we decided to test out both kids in the bath. maya loved it the first time. since- she's become terrified. i think she saying she'll stay in her hammock bath awhile longer.
i bought a mullet wig for our halloween contest at frisbee. i was a redneck. thought i'd put my baby fat belly to good use ;) i claimed i was from tennessee!!
we went for a nice long walk. finn always stops to talk with "those men".

tons of energy to burn! he goes so fast!
& then this bike ride lasted a little too long. someone was tired.
our good friends brian & heather had us over to visit with heather's family.
they're baby people -so they don't put our babes down when we come over.

he was all worn out from playing with their lego's. :)

we went to the children's museum which we LOVE!

some of us wake up bright and early.
we painted pumpkins with chalkboard paint & then we wrote the letters b-o-o on them!

i'd purchased a couple chairs at goodwill. well, one was broken. woops! so we finally repaired it with the help of our landlord- he cut some new pieces for me! next up: painting them. let's see how long that takes us.
we got a new dining room table. it's fabulous. finn & bryan decorated the box before we recycled it.
finn & bryan went for a bike ride... the weather is starting to be perfect for it & maya is almost big enough to go with us!!!!
an especially good hair day :)~
kylie being so kind to act as our tunnel.

i loved this lil outfit with his dark jeans... so i wanted to take a picture & he gave me attitude!

laundry must be put on pause for family cuddling.movie watching stuff. can you find maya!?
our sweet bay-bay.

too cute. we promised he could finish the movie if he put his pajama's on & they resumed the cuddlin.

okay... we're getting there!

making finn's halloween costume.

2012-01-07T21:30:00.006-07:00

{10.26.11}

i thought long & hard about what finn was going to be for halloween. his first year he was a whoopie cushion, but we were flying back to ky on halloween & he never actually wore it other than for this photo shoot. jill & i made it for him. it was huge. he could probably still fit in it ;)

& then last year he was max from where the wild things are. i was really impressed with how it turned out. the pants buttoned but it was really hot that day & i didn't want to over heat him & he has a black boa for a tail! Jill was there with me again -for emotional support :)

so this year... he had to be thomas. but he kept changing his mind between percy & thomas. i did a little research on how to make a cardboard train & found this link to be most helpful. so while bryan & i were watching t.v. i made the train. the next morning i taped what i didn't want to be blue & let finn paint it.

choo choo!

maya hanging out while we worked.
he did a great job.
the only mess he made!
& here is our project so far. i took the tape off & painted the rest red & yellow while he was napping. & then i used foam paper for the roof & thomas face. you'll see the finished product on the halloween post ;)
that wore maya out... so she toke a nap. that winnie the pooh in bed with her is the one finn picked out for her before she was born!
i don't know if you've seen our new kitchen table, yet? i love it. & the chairs. it makes me so happy, i even enjoy cooking more knowing we're going to sit there together.
his looks. i swear.
he's gotten big on having a snack plate for lunch.

& then maya woke up & we had a lil photo session.

the kids

2012-01-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

these were taken on 10.23.11 i've decided that i'm going to include the actual date, since i'm so late at posting these!

just hanging out on the couch...

where she got her purty eyes.
i got this lil plastic camera in college for a class assignment. it never really worked, but it's perfect for finn to practice his craft :)

woops, backwards!

cuddles.

maya doesn't like being ignored...

oh, wait you're taking my picture now. okay. i'm better.

i wish we could have two saturdays every weekend. only seems fair. this time together is so precious & short.

2012-01-05T00:12:00.018-07:00

ya'll have been very patient with me & i appreciate it. sincerely. if you follow my work blog, you're REALLY patient.

this post is a whole lot of fun. it was a warm day, but us phoenicians we know how to handle 105+ weather. with small kids. outside. with very little shade. no problemo. but somehow, we did & we had fun.

i posted a buywithme special to a local farm on facebook & most of our frisbee friends with kids decided it sounded like a good time. so a ton of us went.

i took lots of pictures, but here are my favs. i love this gang of peops.

the dads braving the bounce thing.

:)
we played on it for a bit but decided to go see what else there was to do. the aspinalls just got smart phones & someone is a lil bit addicted ;) precisely why i won't allow myself to get one. it would be bad. very bad.
walking around.
see sawing.
practicing the dirty dancing routine.
throwing lil fits. :)
saying hey to the gaaaaaooats.
more walking around. stoli helping me out with our new double stroller. ah, the perks to working at rei. i've been there for over 6 years now.
maya's set up. pretty sweet lil air conditioning rig i set up, don't ya think?
snack time.

such a good little sharer.
lily & lexi.
tina & kyan & rob.
lexi wanting out!

& then we decided the bounce thing was the coolest, so we went back.

being little tots, the dads had a blast jumping as hard as they could & flinging them into the air.
lil miss sophie!

tired.

here's a picture of everyone :)
just some dads hanging out with their daughters.
finn on the prowl. love this one.
finn loves tackling joanne. & keith. okay, he'll tackle just about anyone.

my sweet girl.

they had one of those little trains...

the two besties.
she was pooped!

more posts are comping up. i'm hoping to catch up to christmas within 2 posts... we'll see if i can stuff it all in!

30 some odd hours in louisville

2011-12-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

from d.c. i then flew to louisville. my mom was moving into a new town home & so i needed to get home & go through my childhood things & downsize. i never lived in that house- so i was surprised at how much stuff i had there! i worked non-stop (well, to visit a little) & i *thought* i'd downsized to 4 boxes & was really proud of myself. unfortunately, steph & jeff came the weekend after & found a couple more. doh!

but here are a few pics from my incredibly quick trip to louisville. like real quick. i arrived late monday night & left wed morning!

nana lovin.

monica came over on her lunch break!
i don't know what it is about my mom, but she loves giving her grandbabies baths. maya's not so sure about the set-up.
yummy, freshly bathed babies are pretty awesome.

dee dee & pop came over to visit!

a whole lotta this was going on.
& a whole lotta of this too.
we met grandpa for some chai tea before we headed to the airport!

short visit, but each of the grandparents got some time! shuey, that wore me out just remembering it.

d.c. trip

2011-12-05T16:59:00.011-07:00

maya & i took our first trip (out of womb) together! & we had a blast.

it was kindof a crazy weekend for our family. i had a wedding in d.c.. bryan had a tournament in colorado- not just any tournament, regionals. so finn wasn't going to be able to go with him. so finn had his first sleep over! he stayed with our friends jenn & chad. jenn watches finn a couple days a week so she was the perfect person to help, so glad she was up for it!

*this weekend proved that we have some awesome friendships, thank you!*

our flight was early saturday morning. our good friends, heather & brian came that morning to stay with finn until they dropped him off at daycare that afternoon. my other dear friend, bonnie, took us to the airport. as i was walking to security i remembered the frozen milk for maya that was sitting in the freezer, doh! she'd need it while i was shooting the wedding. i was cutting it really close, but i called brian (& woke him up, again!) & he rushed it over to me. (thankfully, we live about 5 minutes away from the airport) there is a family line at the security gates, so we breezed right on through there, after i'd run the length of the airport!

we get on the plane & land in d.c. with no problems, maya is a great traveler. my sister took the train in from new york to hang out with us for the weekend. steph & our cousin danielle were on their way to pick us up. such sweet, excited faces jumped out of the car & stole my baby away from me.

i finally get the car seat in & we head to dee's house. she's driving really slow but i don't want to say anything & then finally she says "sorry ya'll i'm just really nervous!" it was adorable. our other cousin courtney lives in d.c & then randomly their sister ashley was in town too! shuey, are you confused yet?

anyways here are some pictures from our short visit. so short i didn't get to see any of my favorite peops that live there, except for chris! we met for breakfast monday morning.

danielle so excited to meet maya.

courtney & maya.
aunt rae rae with her girlie.
i love this face. why in the hell are you about to kiss me in my eyeball?!
smitten.
on our way to the restaurant... in a boob coma.

such a great pre-dinner with drinks!
ashley with maya. now you've met 3 of the 4 sisters! their youngest sister was/is in mississippi going to school.
nice light on the walk home. andrew & danielle... being cute.
cute girl photos! love these.
andrew jealous that maya's stealing all of his attention ;)
noticing that i'm taking a picture of him... so he smiles :)
courtney doing funny voices.
maya was definitely loved on just a little this weekend.
i burrito maya, just as i did finn & i absolutely love the first 10 seconds when i unwrap them in the morning. that amazing stretch!!!!

here's the beautiful wedding i photographed.

steph & i headed out on monday- so we headed to some cute town for some shopping before we left. had lunch at a cute lil irish pub & walked around a bit. lovely way to spend an afternoon.

& a few more of danielle & her sweet beau.

thanks for being such an amazing hostess dee. love you. thanks to steph for taking a day off work & coming down to play with us! thanks to ashley & courtney for finding time to play with us too. & thanks to all of our friends who helped us out that weekend!

thoughtful gifts

2011-12-05T14:05:00.000-07:00

my dear friend carolyn, from silver bay sent us a lil care package.

back story. our last night in new york it rained. carolyn had taken us out to eat at the country club & on the way out she let finn use her umbrella. he'd never seen one before, let alone used one! so strange living in a desert! anyways, he loved it. he had so much fun. he asked about the umbella for several days after.

i opened the box & laughed. there was no name, but i knew who it was from. the next day we got another package, this time a cute lil toy for maya with a note from carolyn. i hid the umbrella & waited for the next rain. luckily, just a week or two later it did! so i excitedly gave him the umbrella & since our storms don't last that long we didn't even have time to put clothes on!!! i heart this picture. friends on facebook think i should turn it into a greeting card. tehee.

Front: "Rain or shine..." Inside: "You always dress the part."

Front: "The bad weather..." Inside: "Is BEHIND you."

hope you're having a great day!

our kids.

2011-12-04T08:52:00.000-07:00

love each other. adore each other. and it's pretty spectacular to watch.
every morning while we eat breakfast finn does his best to make maya laugh.
& she does, she giggles at her silly brother.

home sweet home.

2011-11-24T01:12:00.006-07:00

some random pics from home.

finn & ky ky. she is the world's best dog. i'm so grateful to have her, for the kids to grow up with her tender soul.
being silly.
i love this outfit.
finn loves his sister.
where's my brother!?
"here i am maya."
finn likes to pretend to be the baby. he knows he's not allowed in the chairs, but i walked into our living room after changing her & here he was.
the rightful owner of the swing about to fall into sweet dreams.
after a good nap & a diaper change we did a lil photo session.

ah, home sweet home indeed.

last day in louisville..

2011-11-23T23:42:00.009-07:00

that last day in louisville is always bittersweet. i'm usually ready to be home, with just us, relaxing. but i'm sad as well, to leave all of our loved ones behind -until next time.

the paris & meyer's had a cookout so that they could all meet maya!

the kids played as we packed up.

ms. maya's heat rash was starting to fade... but we kept her naked most of the day.
big cousin evelyn.

dee dee & maya cuddling.
love me that buddha belly.

great aunt di & great grandpa saying hi!

great aunt di came bearing gifts!
preparing the pizza dough that we grilled... so yummy!
david helping finn bat.
maryann lovin on gabe.
di "getting" finn.
it was a lil warm so everyone seeked the shade where they could get it.

great grandpa holding a wiggly maya.
guess what he's doing here?
the paris gang.
samantha & finn are definitely related :)
great granddad & samantha.
marilyn & her grandson, lucas.
we did a mini session with denise & ron & all the kids. that was entertaining.

the boys.
the girls.
i love this one. my mom & dad's hands on my baby girl. i have it framed in our living room.
& while we were enjoying ourselves someone said what time is your flight? so we checked it & it was in t-minus 1 hour & 45 minutes. so in a bit of a hurry we finished packing & loaded up the car. gotta love the lou airport's family lane at the security gate! we made it with a few minutes spare.

wedding day

2011-11-19T06:56:00.000-07:00

maya & i left early saturday morning for the wedding. bryan & finn stayed behind so they could say hey to gabe & evelyn when they arrived! we were so excited to see them. last time we saw gabe he wasn't yet talking & although he could get around he wasn't really very mobile. the difference this time was amazing! gabe is a little man now!!! & such a cutie. i made bryan promise to take some pictures of them together.

how cute?!

maya slept the entire drive there. she was still so pooped that after walking around the property with rose for half an hour i laid her on the bed & she slept for another hour! how precious is she?

when she was woke up i wore her in my ka'tan wrap & then she slept some more. our first time photographing a wedding together!
if i wasn't holding her one of my buds from college took her for me.
the boys showed up right before the ceremony. finn found the kid table with candles on it. doh!
one of my favorite gals, nieves & bryan.
finn having a blast with all the plants & sticks.
jodi helped out during the ceremony :)
i looked over at one point during the ceremony & saw this. shuey... my man is awesome.
all the art kids that were able to make it. i miss this, can we please have a reunion soon!!!

for me? thanks sweet boy.
finn started to imitate how one of the guys was standing & i couldn't help but laugh. it was so cute.
he did it all night. "hey boys, be careful."
finn getting to know rose & clay's baby, yaka.
they put a movie on for the kids & that worked like a charm for my toddler. he was glued!

ah, one of my favorite portraits of my lovelies. to see their wedding click here :)

their wedding was incredible. one of my most favoritessss. so personal & sweet & them. love you guys.

we headed to louisville

2011-11-01T15:07:00.012-07:00

after new york. my dear friends, rose & clay were getting married outside frankfort the following weekend. which worked out perfectly because it was one less flight we had to buy.

i got this cute picture of finn sleeping on bryan's lap... we learned our lesson from the flight to ny. finn freaked out when bryan tried to readjust him so he could sleep more comfortably. this time we let him fall into a "deeper sleep." you could tell bryan loved it. we don't get to hold him anymore like this. maya & i sat in the row across... i love flights that aren't full!

lounging.
it was everyone's first time meeting maya. so we had family specific events. wednesday night was the miller's night. patrick & kennedy were the first ones there!
jennifer, in all her fabulous glory, brought a huge bin of kennedy's clothes for us to go through! you are too good to us!
the miller girls!
finn & kennedy had fun jumping on the bed together. it's so much fun watching the next generation of miller's bond.

nana & her maya.
uncle david & aunt teecee came by!
aunt monica meeting her niece!
john slowly remembering what to do with a babe so little.
i wanna see!!!!!!!!! finn will ask that as soon as you take a picture of him.
aunt sandy & finn watching nemo.
grandpa meeting maya!
mr. grumpy pants is not cooperating!
then thursday night was resch night.

my baby cousin caroline & uncle paul playing with finn.
aunt khaki with maya.

grandpa & finn.

on the drive home we were at the light where you go straight to go home or turn right to the reinharts. we turned right, even though it was something like 10 at night. we knew they'd be up. & they were :)

wild red heads chasing each other around the room.
tilly was especially smitten with maya... practicing her big sister role!
gus. cute lil wee man.

mitchell showed us the plans for their new house they're building.
mitch wanted a picture of the these two together but they were not sitting still so he grabbed them & threw em on his lap. i snapped several & then they ran off & i realized i had it set to b&w... woops.

long post :)

3 months.

2011-10-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

these were taken on 10.1.11.

our maya.

is so sweet. & cuddly.

& funny.

& precious.

& angelic.

& adorable. even when slightly pouty.

& attentive.

& adored by the boys in her life.

& she adores them right back.

within this last week n half she's started giggling. if you hold her up high & nibble on her belly, she'll chuckle. it about breaks your heart. mine anyways. she is so pleasant. so sweet. incredibly easy to pacify (except for maybe 4 or 5 times, she's usually calmed by shushing & rocking.) loves her passy. she's incredibly strong. can hold her neck up now, completely. she can stand for several minutes at a time (while you're supporting her of course!) she's amazing. so smart. i can tell. and she turned three months old yesterday. or well on saturday for all you normal folks who can fall asleep at a respectable hour.

ah my girl. i think i will actually go snuggle in bed with her now.
hope you all have a great week!

our last day at silver bay.

2011-10-19T15:35:00.011-07:00

cat & mo came over with their baby girl addy in the morning. finn was running around in his under drawers like a wild man! our friends with daughters always say something funny about him being half naked... a lot. i wonder if that's a natural instinct to be protective when you have a daughter?

sharing his crayons.
talking about music.
playing a duet.
it's so much fun to watch finn interact with other kids... he's such a little man now.
i love these next ones on the porch of finn & his sucker. which he found in my diaper bag & helped himself. i was saving that for me!
my boys crazy hair. i <3 it.

go away! no talking mommy. go away! (can you guess what he's doing?!)

maya making her what you talking about phylis face!
see how bad her heat rash got on her face? poor girl.
so sweet.

jeff & steph headed to their train. it was sad to say good bye.

we finished cleaning the house & then headed up to campus to run around one last time & say good bye to carolyn.

we have some really sweet photos in front of this tree from finn's first visit so i'd planned on doing the same shot for maya, but it rained & the ground was still really wet, so it's a slightly different picture in front of the tree.

finn's pictures:

maya's pictures.

finn didn't want to leave... me either buddy, me either.

bye carolyn. she's always so good to us... we're trying to convince her to come visit us so we can return the favor!

finn in time out. he was sitting on my lap as i edited the pictures & when he saw this one he said "finn cry, he in time out." so smart.

i can not wait to get this picture next year of them holding hands... man is that going to get printed on one large canvas!!!
my girl. my sweet girl.
this is my desktop screen saver... i love it.

oh silver bay, till next summer. what a great vacation you were.

day four of sba

2011-10-16T18:06:00.012-07:00

*ya'll ready for a buttload of pictures?!*

after the blessing we went back to the house for some lunch that bryan was nice enough to pick up for everyone.

finn & nathan snacking on some gold fish.
how cute is this! he idolized these two "big kids!"
tyler & cathi brought our kids books :) finn's reading chicka chick boom, with some attitude.
yummy mac n cheese for the kids.
isabelle watching the boys.

i loved the energy in this house the whole weekend.

jeff & maya, stephi & charlie... they are such good aunts & uncles!

after lunch doug & molly were heading out. they'd only been home for less than 24 hours before driving the 5 hours up to the bay thursday night. they'd just gotten back from vacation & then were delayed in minnesota because of the storms! i think they were very ready to veg out on their own couch.

before they left i requested our first group photo. :) this staircase won't be able to hold this whole gang one day!

steph wanted one with the three babes... finn wasn't too cooperative, while sweet charlie was all smiles!
i think this one is the cutest!

& then it was time to wrestle.

tackling cathi.

nathan helping his mama up.

finn loves playing chase. how crazy does this fall look?! he didn't stop laughing.
tyler got him!
time for hugs goodbye :(

finn had this slightly strange crush on molly. i think it's his first! he requested she read him books the night before but when she came down to do it he got shy & said "no mommy do it."
such a cute kid.

this is how prince charlie allows you to kiss him :)

the rarig's :)
poor maya's awful heat rash... it makes me so sad to look at it!
daddy fanning her.
we headed down to the beach for the breeze & cold water. daddy kept cooling her off.

luckily, i'd brought this little fan with us, so we took turns holding it over her... isabelle is such a sweetheart!
cat & her daughter addie came with us to the beach.

:)
adorable.

tehee.

sweet addie.
i think i've mentioned that we don't have a tv, so while finn was watching cat in the hat alone after everyone had left he would freak out & say uh-oh during the commercials! we watch dvd's on our computer... so it took a second for me to realize he didn't know what a commercial was.
aunt rae rae reading books.
what a great day!

the kid's blessing.

2011-10-08T08:19:00.000-07:00

bryan & i decided to get the kid's blessed while we were in new york. so on that sunday, after mass we invited friends & family to join us for a very special blessing in lake george!

we choose lake george because it's a very special, spiritual place. we choose bruce tamyln to do the blessing because he is silver bay's chaplain & was a great mentor to me while i worked there. we choose to do it outside to symbolize that, for us, god isn't inside four walls... he's outside. in all living things. & bryan & i feel most at home in nature. & we hope that for our kids as well.

bruce confirmed our choice, well mine at least, during the service prior to the blessing. his message was: "i don't believe the question is going to be 'have you done enough good? when you get to heaven i think it's going to be -did you know how much i loved you?"

i want my kids to be raised spiritual. to make decisions based on what's right & feels right & not out of fear. not that we're faulty human beings & need to beg forgiveness. if they learn to believe in their guts then i truly think they'll be decent human beings with a great care for others & mother nature.

i have yet to find a religion that i can strongly stand up for, committed to it's entire message. i'm not willing to choose a religion, but like a groodie dinner pick out the parts i don't like. which is why finn hadn't already been baptized. i may be living in a dream world desiring such a thing, a religion that fits me perfectly like a glove. but i deserve that, don't i? don't we all? to believe in something so wholey! yep, we do. & so far, being outside, having time to think & be thankful is where it's at.

SO, here is our sweet blessing.

in attendance: steph & jeff, doug, molly & charlie, carolyn close (my boss & good friend from sba), maryann (an especially wonderful, woman who i worked closely with my last summer at sba, she surprised us & came!), our good friends tyler & cathi & their kids (who used to live in phx but now live in burlington vt. they drove down for the day!) i wish i'd gotten a picture of the whole group, because not everyone was able to make it back to the house for lunch :(

tyler & isabelle figuring out the labyrinth.
cathi meeting maya for the first time!
charlie was a dear & held onto finn's shoes for him :)

:)

bruce brought his guitar & played a few kid songs to get everyone settled & engaged :)

he explained that he wasn't blessing the kids, but we were celebrating the fact that god had already blessed them. i love that!
i told you we were in lake george :)

finn's turn!
maya's turn!
we were also celebrating the fact that these two had eachother... :0

it was perfect! thank you bruce & everyone that was able to make it for sharing in this special occasion with us.

silver bay day two

2011-10-05T12:31:00.009-07:00

most of you will know this info, but just in case you don't here's the background:

i worked at silver bay during the summers i was in college. i met doug there & we became really good friends. steph worked there one summer after i graduated & doug kinda took her under his wings, showed her the ropes, introduced her to the cool kids. a few years later i photographed doug's wedding to the beautiful molly & steph came with so we could have a fun sister's weekend. steph didn't make it back to our room that night after the wedding... she & jeff (doug's brother) stayed up talking. within a few months they were flying back & forth visiting each other & making their relationship official! they were married a year ago this month!!!!

steph & jeff & doug & molly & their lil man' charlie arrived late the night before... so when finn woke up the vacation took on a whole new feel! lots more fun :)

part of the gang reading books.
maya in her adorable swimsuit.
the boys getting acquainted :)
cute giggles.
maya's heat rash started looking bad while we were at the beach, so we made her a little fort & kept her covered with the sunscreen blanket.
digging.

it's always a little cold in lake george! so bryan needed some help getting use to it.
trucks & sand make for a lot of fun.
except when you don't like the sand... "mommy hold you"
charlie didnt mind it!

i'm not sure how, but somehow i managed to forget to pack a swimsuit for myself. luckily, steph brough two! thanks tissy.
charlie & uncle jeff.
:)

little snug bug.
1, 2... THREE!

molly & maya. molly & i got to chill out a lil bit. both boys were down & everyone else was out of the house. we sat & talked for a bit & then we both fell asleep! we some tired mama's!
maya napping.

steph & two of her 3 boys. jeff's sister has another cute lil man, but they weren't at the bay this weekend. maybe next year!
finn's first boat ride!!!

he loved it one minute & then the next minute he wasn't so keen on going fast.

i love this one. look how precious charlie is?!

doug hooked us up with a beautiful house a few miles away from silver bay. it was within walking distance to a private beach & we could all stay comfortably together. perfect.

getting ready for silver bay... & then day one!

2011-10-03T13:48:00.011-07:00

my first wedding back from maternity leave was at my favorite place in the whole wide world... silver bay. my good friend, brendan, was getting married & i badgered him until he hired me :)

we decided to turn the trip into our first family vacation, so we flew out on the wednesday before.

here's finn helping me pack for our trip.

the flights went really well. both kids did great. finn was a pain during the layover, but that's better than the alternative! we arrived in albany around 9pm & then after getting our rental car we started the 2 hour long drive to silver bay... i love that drive.

we took our time waking up & then headed to silver bay to wander around. i love this picture.

"can finn have another cookie?" he likes to talk in the first person... it's kinda strange.

"look!"

it was such a relief to let him wander. in phoenix, we have to keep him close. we live on the corner of pretty busy street, so when we let him ride his bike it's a bit stressful. here he could stray as much as he wanted.

he tried to climb the small hill at the bottom of the chapel, but it was a bit hard. he said "it to heavy!"

a nice game of chase.

lunch at the cute hague market...

& then fun on the playground.

finn's pooping here & if we got any closer he'd say "go away."
ms. maya leigh. poor girl got a horrible heat rash the last day we were in phoenix. i had to run several errands to get ready for the trip & it was a hot day. it only got worse while we were in new york since they don't have air conditioning.

this place is my healing place.
& i love that i get to give it to my kids. & i think it's awesome that they both went so young, finn was 16 days old & maya was 41 days old.
i don't think she likes you biting her head, honey.
that's better.

ah. stay tuned for day two :)

trains. obsessed.

2011-10-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

this kid is obsessed. i swear he plays with trains for at least 4 or 5 hours a day. everyday we make new tracks or he invents tracks on our hamper lid or a bunch of books. seriously. i'm trying to figure out how to make a train costume for halloween. i've done a couple sketches & i think i'm onto something.

bryan splurged & bought a couple more sets of tracks so we can make some awesome train tracks now.

here are a few of my boy (from a couple different days) enjoying his favorite thing in the whole wide world.
he's starting to do more than just make noises... he's coming up with story lines. it's pretty cool to watch.
these trains don't fit so he makes the bridge go up.
& then the tunnel is to small too, so that magically goes up.
we made gates out of pipe cleaners & some of his building blocks.

choo choo!

normal day turned into fun hang out day w some of my favorite photogs

2011-09-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

maya was napping beautifully :) & finn was playing with his trains. mama was doing something, probably silly old facebook.

& then we hung out in the kitchen for a bit while i did dishes.
& then our photog friends showed up!!!!

proud mama. we let baby amaya sleep as long as she wanted!

maya waited patiently for amaya to wake up & play with her!

yeah she's awake & finn had to check her out.
one maya, two maya!!! he was so excited.
all eyes on the babes.

the girlfriends getting to know each other.
good big brother making sure his maya was happy.

sweet amaya was a sleepy girl!
i love this one.
jill with her most favorite babe.
learning to be parents in those first few weeks, months & years really can be tough...
but these two are doing beautifully at it!
yeah for impromptu visits... we need more of em.

a random collection from the past few weeks.

2011-09-28T15:25:00.007-07:00

we got to skype with evelyn & gabe... it was the first time we'd seen gabe in i don't know how long. every other time he'd been napping or they were already in bed for the night. he wasn't talking the last time i saw him, that's how long ago it was! well, this lil guy is amazing! full sentences & so proper, sounds like a lil old man! too cute. the boys instantly starting roaring at each other. we were all quite excited to seem them together in a few weeks when we were to visit louisville!

& then afterwards finn and kyky had a private conversation :)
while maya & i were making faces at each other.
she's got the best expressions!!

i have the hardest time toning pictures that i take in this bathroom... argh! but these might be my best attempt yet.
maya being patient while her brother gets a bath.

i love this one. "the dump truck has a beard, mommy!"

:) hope you have a great thursday!

maya's sip & see

2011-09-26T14:16:00.009-07:00

one of my favorite peops of all time, tall jill, wanted to throw maya a good ol southern sip n see. steph asked if we could do it while she was in town because she wanted to meet my close girlfriends.

it was a lovely party & jill again went overboard. she knows how to spoil her friends something bad. & we love her for it!

she knows how obsessed with hummingbirds my family is & so she made a hummingbird cake. it was delicious!

here's a pic of the whole spread. the chicken salad was yummy, my mouth is watering thinking of it now!
melissa (the one & only emma's mama), heather, maya & marnie.
& marnie's lil man kace.

lil buttercup was sleepy & barely woke up for her party.
but jill woke her up anyways.
love this one!
my friend sarah's lil man, emerson! watch out for those eyeballs, they'll melt ya.
she tried to hold maya but emerson wasn't having it. i'm your baby!!!
short jill, who was there to document maya's arrival & now they've got a special bond :)

jill eating her sister's face. sweet moment, really? don't you think erin?
arielle's baby was due like then!!! but that lil pumpkin took her time coming out.
tall jill came in to talk while i was feeding maya. since she's an amazing photographer she saw this light & ran to grab her camera! i'm so thankful she did because it's a beautiful moment of me & my girl.
thanks jill, for a beautiful morning! you are too good to me.
jill is for hire for all your party needs. well, not really, but she should be because she is fabulous at it!!!!!

maya's birth story

2011-09-22T23:26:00.005-07:00

*first off happy 2 months maya leigh!!!*

is eerily like finn's. the midwives told me i was very effaced & about 2 centimeters dilated two weeks before the due date. my mom freaked a little & changed her flight to come out earlier than planned. we sat & waited & sat some more & waited for 10 days; driving each other slightly crazy as we excitedly awaited the birth of peanut no 2. we bought some adorable little girl clothes even though we had no idea what peanut was... but we hoped, while keeping receipts!

i had a few braxton hicks, nothing serious.

the due date july 19th rolled around. on the morning of the 21st, i picked bryan up from work & we headed to the midwives. mom stayed home with finn. mary checked me & i was completely effaced, but i hadn't progressed any in the dilated category. dang. she recommended the cervical sweep again. "it'll only make it easier on you." can't argue with that i guess. i'd really hoped to let things happen naturally this time since this might be my last baby & i wanted to know what the surprise of labor starting felt like. ya know, the whole scenario of being out & about & oh my god, MY WATER JUST BROKE! bryan said he day dreamed about that too. where he'd be, how long it would take him to come home, etc.

so they did the cervical sweep & it didn't hurt that bad. with finn it was yowsa! i dilated a couple more centimeters. mary said see ya tonight! we walked around their building, it was pretty warm, but not miserable yet. (it reached 106 at the highest point in the afternoon.) i took bryan back to work & then headed to tempe town lake to do some more walking. a lil time by myself before my second child introduced themselves. (or should it be themself??) i was already really sore... this pregnancy was way harder on my body.

i went home & hung out with mom & finn. bryan came home at his normal time & we decided to eat dinner at chandler mall & do some more walking. plus finn could let out some energy at their indoor playground. we walked & walked & walked. we met another couple with a very young baby. they asked when i was due & i said 2 days ago! they mentioned they came to this same mall & did the same thing... & went into labor that night. we joked if i went into labor we should alert the news stations to chandler mall's magic powers.

we went home & put finn to bed. i was pretty anxious but still wasn't really feeling anything. so bryan & i went for a long walk around the neighborhood. i started having contractions around 10pm. nothing too serious. the only thing i was craving was fig newton's so bryan left at this point to go get em for me, since we'd finished the package we'd bought the day before! he came back & it was still pretty tame.

a little later it still wasn't too painful, so we decided to try & get some sleep. that was around 11-11:30ish. a contraction woke me up around 2am & it was go time. the contractions were 5 minutes apart & pretty serious. bryan woke mom up.

he called the midwife & she was on her way. he called short jill, she was coming. we talked briefly about setting up the pool but bryan wanted to wait for mary to check me out. (this is all a little foggy since i'm writing it 2 months later, but this time hurt worse.) i felt with finn i could moan throw the pain. but with peanut no2 i felt like i was trying to claw away from the pain.

mary arrived & said get that pool up! so bryan got to work. it seemed to take forever as i was laboring on the yoga ball in our bedroom. finn was asleep in the next room... that never strayed far from my mind. "please don't wake him up, please don't wake him up!" became my silent chant.

finn gets really scared when i'm hurt. he wants to comfort me/be comforted & i was not going to be in any shape to do that if he woke up. i didn't want to scare him like that. i've had other friends who've birthed naturally with their kids in the room & seen videos of it & it can be beautiful, but i saw a whole different movie rolling in my head!

mary's assistant, jen & short jill, our friend & documentor extrodianare! arrived. jill is smart & didn't even ask if she could use the flash, she just starts shooting away. poor tall jill, who documented finn's, asked & i said no way jose!

bryan couldn't be more than a few steps away from me... the contractions were really hard & fast. mom & bryan said i was a lot more alert this time, there was no going inside myself, no inner calm or moaning. once in the tub i had to hold on to both mom & bryan's hands & i nearly broke them. i can see it now, my mom mouthing ouch, ouch ooooouch! although she never said anything or let me know i was hurting her. same for bryan, they both let me assault them for the greater good :)

i put a rag in my mouth & would bite down on it as hard as i could. mary checked me and said i could start pushing. i don't remember taking breaks between the pushes, it was more like GETTHISOUTOFMERIGHTNOW! my moans were definitely more pitiful cries. luckily or maybe thankfully, i wasn't loud & finn slept through the whole thing.

at some point mary told me to slow down. i remember jen telling me to keep my chin down as i pushed. everyone kept saying, you're doing great. the baby is almost here. then i felt the head. i don't remember it burning, but instead this time i was all hell yeah! get this over with!

she slid right on out. thank god. mary brought her immediately to my stomach face down, so it was another second or two before we knew what it was. the babe was quiet & calm, so i was eager to see it's face. i flipped her over & i think shouted it's a girl! i heard mom say oh a girl, hi maya!!!! 2.5 hours of active labor, she was here.

excitement. pure excitement. we got our girl. so strange to be so excited about it, since we were so nervous about having a girl the first time around. now, i wanted a baby girl something intense.

bryan got to cut the cord & i held her for a few more seconds. then bryan took her & we went to the bedroom where all the after birth stuff happens.

i love this photo.

they measured her: 20 inches long.

they weighed her: 8 lbs 3 ounces.

healthy, happy & very alert. she scored a 9 on the apgars test. perfect lil bundle.

afterwards, bryan dresssed her in her cute outfit... it took him about 30 minutes, he was so careful. at least that's what it felt like as i watched & scarfed down the fig newton's.

& then we breastfed. she took right to it -with no problems, my lil 8lb 3oz-er likes her food!

mary & jenn cleaned everything up & then headed home. jill headed home too. mom eventually went to her room to rest. i felt like we laid there & watched our precious baby girl sleep for maybe 15 minutes when we heard finn's "mommy, daddy... wanna get up." cry. it was more like an hour, but it went by so fast.

my mom went in and got finn out of bed. bryan was ready with the camera. i was laying in bed holding maya, anxious to see how he would respond. he looked at her for a few minutes. we told him he had a baby sister & her name was maya. he softly said "hi baby maya!" he pointed out her eyes & nose & mouth gently touching each thing as he said it.

& then he excitedly ran into his room. he remembered on his own that he had a gift for the baby, that bryan & he had picked out a few days before. he came in & sort of handed/threw the winnie the pooh rattle at her & said "here ya go baby!!" it was adorable. & then we gave him his present from maya. a thomas the train puzzle set.

& that was our first morning together as a family of four. it was perfect. our sweet little boy instantly fell in love with his baby sister. kinda fairy tale, really. & i don't believe in that stuff. but, now maybe i do. maybe i do.

welcome to this world little girl.

welcome home.

our photographer extrodinare! short jill

lil artist.

2011-09-19T08:20:00.000-07:00

i hope to one day have a studio where i can just leave all of his art supplies out, so he can get messy & creative whenever he wants & not just when i'm up for it.

while steph was here we got the paints out.
he starts out all neat with a few brush strokes...

he's perfected the pouty face look. seriously, it's a work of art. he needs to be on a sitcom.
& then we get messy... full blown jackson pollack style.

he got so messy we threw him in the bath afterwards & then let him watch a movie. two of these individuals slept through it!
& then it was cool enough for him to play outside. in his undies.
check out how crazy his hair is!!

lil maya, all snuggled up.

flagstaff...

2011-09-18T09:46:00.000-07:00

steph has always visited when i'm swamped with work(to help!) or finn's sick... so she really hasn't had a "fun" phoenix visit. it was too hot in august for us to do anything outside here so we headed to flagstaff for the day. steph & jeff left friday night & headed to prescott with their friend zach. we met up the next day & walked around.

it was still pretty warm (we've had no luck escaping the heat in northern az this summer) but lovely to be out & about. i was starting to get a lil stir crazy stuck in the house.

there was an art festival so we walked around there & found mom a birthday present! steph bought me one too, as a PUSH present. i like the idea of that.

maya's first time just hanging out outside. she loved it.

cutie patootie.

pretty girl.
we found some seats in our favorite lil alley of restaurants. so we sat & listened to a really great band for a bit.
trains go through the downtown every half hour, or so it seems. finn was in heaven.

plus we let him have some juice. double shot of heaven.
steph & jeff :)
me & my girl.
finn skipped naptime, but was so cute & not too cranky! he laid down & played with his cars.

at dinner zach played with finn. i think he drew 200 trains for him.
funny maya faces:

& yes, she's pooping. this girl is an awesome pooper!
:)
starting to get really tired.
the whole gang.
fun day in our favorite az town!