we went to mimi's for my mom's birthday dinner.


uncle johnny.
maria & finn.
the polo's :) aunt sandy & finn.
teaching finn to fist bump.
the grandpa's.
we got to meet kennedy! my cousin's baby girl.
the grandma's.
tehee. sorry kennedy -don't hate me! i thought it was funny.
sweet girl.
the overall's aunt bevy gave him. the cute hat is from aunt tecee.


cute!

kennedy getting loved on.
haha. i love this one.

the mama's & the papa's.
the papa's.

paris' up next!

louisville.

this may be a 500 part post. i have so many pictures to share with you! we had an awesome 2 weeks at home. we're so grateful bryan's job is accommodating & let him work from home so we could spend this time with our family & friends in kentucky.

1st friends.

our good friend from highschool, becca, is getting married!! this weekend actually :)
while we were home we got together & celebrated. it was the first time most of our friends had met finn.

becca & scott.

finn waking up from his nap.

he's so happy.
ruth & sweet claire. ruth & bryan's baby is due in november :)

finn & claire were born three days apart... we've predicted they'll be very good friends.


our good friends sarah & mitchell just welcomed their 3rd beautiful baby into this world. a girl, matilda. they were awesome enough to come over to my mom's house so we could meet her! my mom had just had minor mouth surgery so we couldn't leave her.

i love this picture- cute lil bootie.
guster.
roaaaaar. he kept attacking poor bryan. he was terrified.

tillie. soooo cute!

leo loving on finn.

my sweet boy.

you better give me my boobie.
more pics coming soon.

blog action day is this thursday... if you're a blogger

please join in on the call to action.

click here http://www.blogactionday.org/en/blogs/new

more than 5000 bloggers in 126 countries are participating! the theme this year is climate change... but you can do just about anything you want from that topic.

*while i was in new york for this last out-of-town wedding i went on an 8 mile hike & this is one of the views that made it soooo worth it. flying home the next day with a sore body, i kept thinking of this...

we must take care of her.
it is our job whether it's financially rewarding or not.

4 months old.

our babe is 4 months old as of yesterday. we woke up with finn between us softly cooing & bryan started singing happy birthday. our sweet lil peanut is getting so big. i haven't updated his fan club in soooooo long. i'm a horrible mother! so let me fill you in.

~he weighs well over 17 pounds, 17.11.5 to be exact. our 4 month check up was today & everything went really well.

~he is 25 inches long & his little head is proportionately growing... so no worries there. everything else checked out great! he smiled almost the whole visit.

~he has rolled over! bryan witnessed the very first roll & then he did it 3 or 4 more times for me on wednesday! i got it on video- but it was during nakey time... so i'll try to catch it again!

~he giggles. it's precious.

~he has a fake cough... i think he uses it when he wants your attention. smart lil stinker.

~he's found his feet. i love it. he can lay there just holding onto his toes all day long, but he hasn't learned they reach his mouth, yet.

~he is a slobber monster. i have a bib on him almost the entire day- because he's soaked within minutes! my sweet cousin corinne found an awesome bib with a camera on it & it's my fav so far. but he's not grumpy so i don't think he's teething yet.

~he went on his first bike ride saturday! he loved it. we joined the rest of the hippy's here in tempe for the tour de fat. it's an awesome parade/party that new belguim (a yummy beer maker) puts on every year. we borrowed one of the carts that attach to the bike from a friend... it's a definite need to purchase item, especially now that the weather is cooler! he just looked around & was very chill. it was a very entertaining event- there were probably well over 300 people in the parade- we rode our bikes all over tempe! most of us in costumes- our group dressed as pirates. rrrrrrrrrrrrggh.

~let's see what else... he's such a cute, sweet kid. he really is. such a great disposition. i can't brag enough about him.

~we started mommy & me yoga with our friend stoli(matt) & his daughter emma. well, it actually started 5 weeks ago but this past friday was our first in town! he had so much fun & i needed it because we'd just had a frisbee game the night before & only one other girl on our team showed up. so we played the entire time- that means i was running around for almost 2 hours straight. i about died, but we won & i'm super siked that leah & i could keep up with their four girls! i definitely helped myself to a big bowl of ice cream when i got home!

~we're debating on what he should be for his first halloween- it's a big deal around our house! we're thinking of doing a family themed costume... but we're not sure. we'll probably keep it a secret ;)

okay, that's all i can think of for now so onto the pictures!

(i will be posting pics from our 2 week trip to lou next, but i thought you needed a current post!)



he loves sitting up whether it's in his bumbo chair or the excersaucer.

sortof figuring the thumb sucking out.

atlanta.

finn & i flew into atlanta early for erin & andrew's wedding... our crafty skills were needed! we needed to finish the cup cake stand & a few other odds and ends. it was our first trip without bryan. what a pain! that man is such an excellent sherpa! who knew???? luckily, the good ol moby wrap saved the day. i could carry finn in it hands free, so i could schlep the diaper bag & the car seat(to check at the gate) around.

this picture was taken back in march when i was in atlanta for another wedding. i think i've mentioned this cup cake stand before. it was a very fun project that erin asked my advice on & we ran with it. thankfully, southern men are super polite & wouldn't hear of a big ol preggers lady cutting wood at home depot- so they did that part for us. then andrew, don & i glued/hammered the puppies together. finn tried to help but was a little in the way ;)

& here is our finished product... with 20 coats of paint later, thanks to tom & don! i think we did an awesome job. (must give major kudos to my papa for teaching me these here skills)

okay, onto the pics you really wanna see. first a few of the wedding shots. this was such a great wedding. i'll start it off with a photo that explains the mood of the day. tehee.


will was kind enough to dance with me, after i dragged him out there.

bryan. poor, poor bryan. spent something like 16 hours in the airport trying to get to the wedding. his 10pm (friday night, red eye) flight got cancelled & then they cancelled something like 3 other planes on him. he arrived around 1 am sunday morning. doh. just in time to snuggle up to his baby boy whom he hadn't seen in over 4 days.
updated shot of me doing my thang. sans big belly, now medium belly. (thanks will!)
aunt snefani & nana... kissin on him.

sarah, my best friend, came during the reception to help out with finn, she eventually kidnapped him & took him back to barb's house so he could sleep.
aw. isn't this cute.
the docUmenTORs!
i have this awesome picture of aunt teecee holding me when i was a babe... similar to this one of her holding my babe.
jeff & steph. being cute.
nana doing what she wishes she could do all day long, everyday.
next up pics from louisville, but good lord do i have a ton to post. we were home for 2 weeks & didn't stop running around. so be patient as those get processed!

mama's got a cold.

*had a cold -this post is a couple weeks old*

with all this traveling i emotionally braced myself for this. it hasn't been too bad, luckily. but the entire flight back from new york this past monday i could sense it. tuesday i felt like crud-doodie. so i called in sick to the gallery & finn & i napped the day away. we went to our ultimate frisbee game that night. i played several points & it actually helped quite a bit. amazing what a bit of exercise does for the immune system.

finn's been a little cranky so he may well be coming down with it. or he could be teething already since he's a drool monster.

this got me thinking. i'm not prepared for my family to get a cold. i don't want to use today's traditonal drugs to treat a cold or a fever or a bruise, unless necessary. so i've been doing some research & i'm excited about some of my findings! i wanted to share with you in case you wanted to try these little diddies too!

quick question for ya... will you be getting the flu shot(s)? we're on the fence about it...

echinacea. i bought a bottle from our local store, desert sage herb.
i put a dropper full in a glass of water. drink it down. this is more preventative.

eucalyptus oil. i put a few drops of this with some organic lotion & rub it on finn's feet & my chest, so that he is inhaling this natural "vick's vapor rub" while i hold him. it smells amazing.

the reason i'm using a natural rub vs. vick's vapor rub is because vick's uses petrolatum which is a by-product in the distillation of petroleum to produce gasoline. YUCK! i don't want that on my innocent lil babe.

& then arnica. seems like an amazing little discovery.

arnica & st. john's massage oil is good for bruises, strains, general aches & especially nice after a strenuous workout. (i wish i would have known about this while in labor- it's supposed to work wonders!) & (plain arnica gel is good for clogged milk ducts!)

arnica pellets: to be placed under the tongue & disolved. good for aches, pains & headaches. i've used this a couple times & it seems to work well.

my friend sarah anne, whom i've mentioned here told me about herbasaurs calming. it's a natural homeopathic medicine for children experiencing restless sleep, fussiness & irritability caused by minor illness & teething!

also on the subject of teething i know several mama's who use hyland's teething tablets... another natural option.

okay i'll keep reporting back with all the goodies i find! i promise some posts with pictures are coming. i have one more wedding this weekend & then things calm down because the rest of my weddings are in arizona... yeah!!!!!!!!!