Bundled Up - Hopefully for the last time this spring.

With Wes out of town, a cold front moving through, and me having 2 movies to return, I had to bundle Finn up for a quick trip to the store. He looked so darn cute I had to take a couple pictures. Love that Cubs hat with the little baseball on top!

Spring Break Week

We've had a pretty busy week. We've gotten lots of little things around the house done. Most notably, Wes rented a power washer and washed the house. The plumber started on Tuesday and has plumbed in our new basement bathroom. We've run around all week running errands and have taken several walks. Wes left Friday afternoon to meet his brother and sister in Nashville for the weekend. He should be home late tonight. This means Finn and I have been surviving without dad for a few days. We've done just fine, but we sure do miss him!

Finn has been sleeping in his crib for over a week now. He has done really well, even slept through the night once. Usually he wakes up just once around 3-4 and we have been able to pacify him back to sleep in a few minutes. He then wakes up again between 5-6:30 for his first feeding of the day. He'll usually go back to sleep snuggled up between us for another hour or two. And, yes, I know cosleeping isn't the best idea, but we certainly enjoy those extra couple hours of sleep and it will end next week when I go back to work anyway.

That's right, I am headed back to work Monday, April 6th. I'm hoping I can make it through the day without my little guy. I am going to be a wreck I'm sure. Wednesday we took Finn to hang out at his daycare. He met Brandy who will be taking care of him and her daughter Kennedy. Luke, another little guy who Brandy cares for and the son of a couple of our friends, was also there. Brandy is a good friend of Amanda Noel's from high school. She is fantastic and we know that Finn will receive wonderful care. We have no concerns about his well being at all. I am concerned about my well being though!

Finn turns 4 months old tomorrow. I'll post a 4 month pic soon.

March Birthdays

March is a busy birthday month for our family - second only to December. We enjoyed celebrating several birthdays over the past few weeks and wanted to wish everyone a final happy birthday.

Happy Birthday Grandma Kandy - March 12th.

Happy Birthday Grandma Jan and Eric - March 21st. Below are a few pictures from our trip to Springfield for Grandma Jan's birthday.


Happy Birthday Uncle Jeremy - March 27th. Wes went to Nashville this weekend to meet Jeremy who was there for a rugby tournament. Amanda also was able to go. I'm sure the three Miller kids are having a great time together.

Happy Birthday Maya - March 28th. Maya turned 10 this year. I've known Maya since she was four and she has grown to be a talented and beautifu young lady. Finn is going to love hanging out with Maya as he grows up!

Happy Birthday March Babies!

Moving to the Crib

Tonight was the night. Finn has been banging his feet in the bassinet this whole week and I have been putting off moving him to his crib. Now with Wes on Spring Break, I really have no reason to keep him in our room anymore. He has been sleeping until at least 5am (6:10 today) and then goes back to sleep for a couple hours after his morning feeding. With Wes not having to get up for work we can take turns going in to soothe him if he wakes up in the middle of the night. That morning feeding is going to be a killer since I'll now have to actually get out of bed, but it won't make much difference once I head back to work in two weeks anyway. Here he is wondering why we are taking a picture of him in the bassinet.

Here I am taking him to his room - teared me up a bit. He looks a little frightened. It took him a few minutes longer to fall asleep, but not as long as I expected. When Finn was in the bassinet, one of us just laid down in the bed next to it and put the pacifier in his mouth (if necessary) until he fell asleep which usually took about ten minutes. Sometimes we would get a little catnap in, as well. Now we have to stand next to the crib, so goodbye to the catnaps.

Rock and Roll

Like I posted a few days ago, we have increased tummy time. I thought Finn was going to roll that very first day. He was really close a few times. He's been kind of lazy with it the past couple days, but today was a different story. He wasn't happy about tummy time, but I guess that was motivation because HE ROLLED! And on top of me being there to see it, Wes was home so he got to see it too. AND...we got it on camera so you can all see it as well.

And it wasn't a fluke. We put him on his stomach again and he rolled right away.

Loving the Weather

Today was a beautiful day so we decided to go for a walk. Wes just put together our "big boy stroller." It is technically a jogging stroller, but we don't know if it'll ever be used to go jogging. Wes just wanted a stroller with "real tires." Okay, enough with the quotation marks...

This stroller was a gift from all the McKinneys, the Goffs, and the Dukemans. Thanks, everyone! Finn seems to love it. Here we are getting back from our walk.

Silly Guy

So Finn was laying on the floor and playing with a couple plastic rings while Wes and I were talking. I looked down at him and this is what I saw...

Silly little guy!

Bubbles and Belly Time

Wes made the bath water super bubbly last night. Here's Finn enjoying bathtime with Daddy.

We haven't been doing nearly enough tummy time. Mainly because I don't always remember to do it. Finn can hold his head up famously - been doing that since we got home from the hospital - but he hasn't really made any attempts to roll over. I am definitely increasing tummy time. Here Finn is having a staring contest with his dinosaur.

Too Cute!

Nothing big to report today. We went to Baby Lap Time at the library again and then ran some errands in the afternoon. I just had to post Finn with his cute little Chuck T's on. I love how he's wringing his hands!

New Toys!

It was like Christmas for Finn this weekend. Aunt Amanda brought him a swing and an exersaucer. Cousin Corinne picked out a couple books and a few of her old toys to give to Finn. We also got a Bumbo from a resale shop. Of course, he didn't want much to do with the Bumbo or the exersaucer after about 5-10 minutes in each. He was happy to jsut lay on a blanket on the floor and kick. He does love his swing, though. Looks like a perfect place for Finn while mom and dad eat dinner.

Lap Times and Playdates and Company, Oh My!

We have had a REALLY busy week and it has been a lot of fun. Tuesday I took Finn to "Baby Lap Time" at the Urbana Free Library. Baby Lap Time is a half hour of music, rhymes, and songs for newborn-2 year olds. It is held every Tuesday morning and twice a month they have a "moonlight " version that is held from 6:30-7:00. We had a great time and I think we'll try to fo every Tuesday until I have to go abck to work. The first moonlight class this month was on Wednesday so we went again. This time Dad got to come along.

We also had two playdates this week. Wednesday we met Ali and her three cuties, Oscar, Leo, and Daisy, at the indoor playground in Champaign. I knew about the playground (thanks, Marla!) and had seen it online, but had no idea how nice it really was. It is very clean and there are two jungle gym type contraptions - one for the little guys and one for older kids. Around the play area is a walking track for moms and strollers. There is also a big area that has tables so that you can bring in lunch and two nice family restrooms. If it had a nursing room it would be perfect. Ali and I chatted and walked around with the babies while Oscar and Leo played in the middle. We had a great time and I'm sure we'll visit many more times in the future. It will be a great place to go play in the wintertime. Sadly, I forgot my camera so I have no pictures of Finn's first playdate. Ali took a couple and I will post them when she sends them to me.

Playdate number two was at the mall. Finn and I met up with Tina, a teacher at my school, and her 6 week old son Jayden. Tina and I ate in the Food Court while the boys watched the carousel. We then walked around and shopped while Jayden napped in his stroller and Finn stayed wide awake - no surprise there. In my opinion, the mall is the perfect place for a baby playdate. The babes were happy to be strolled around and we had fun chatting and shopping. The mall also had two big family bathrooms - one with a nursing room. I'm sure Tina and I will meet up for at least one more playdate here before we go back t work. Here are the boys...

To top it all off, we were excited to have Aunt Amanda and Cousin Corinne in town this weekend. Finn loves watching Corinne and she is really sweet with him. She calls him Baby Finn which is so cute.

Faces of Finn - 3 Months

Happy 3 Months!

With the end of February came Finn's three month birthday. Wes and I continue to agree that he is a good little guy. He is sweet and good natured, quick to smile, and rarely fusses. He is still waking up for one feeding sometime between 3 and 6am. Every once in awhile he sleeps straight through to 6, but this isn't consistent yet. He's still sleeping in the bassinet in our room, but will be moving to his crib very soon. We have been having him nap in his crib for over a month so he knows it's a place for sleeping. Speaking of napping, he has become a better napper, but we're still struggling just a bit. He will sleep for at least 40 minutes between each of his feedings (3 hours apart) and we have been trying to get him to sleep for at least an hour and a half each afternoon.

He's growing faster than we'd like. We retired some of his 0-3 month clothes today and brought out his 3-6 month clothes. He holds his head up easily - although he's been doing that pretty much since birth - and pulls his head up when he is laying on his back like he's trying to sit up. He loves to stand up and usually moves his little bottom around when he's standing. Wes says he's hula-hooping.

He likes when we sing to him and loves London Bridge is Falling Down. If he is fussing, we can quickly get him to smile by singing that to him. If you didn't know, there are like 11 verses to that song. He also loves to watch TV. No matter how we lay him down, he will crank his head around to watch the TV. He's definitely found his hands. He wrings them and constantly has them in his mouth. If he's not chewing on his hands he's bubbling saliva out of his mouth. I'll have to try to get a picture of that.

All in all, it has been a great 3 months. Finn has survived and thrived, despite his parents' ignorance and foolishness.

**The slideshow above was insired by Sheryl's slideshows of Ollie. Thanks for another great idea!