My Boys

The first time that Finn met Riley, mommy was unfortunately nursing Riley and this did.not.sit well with Finn! He was flabergasted when he walked into the hospital room to see this tiny baby attached to his momma! The rest of that visit didn't go very well, though Finn was very protective of his baby brother when the nurse started to take Riley's vitals and such.

But ever since we came home from the hospital, Finn has been in love with "his baby". Every day he walks into the house on the hunt for the baby. And when he finds the baby he waves to him, touches and kisses his feet, sometimes brings him toys and on one occasion that brought me to tears......Finn walked into the house, came into the nursery where I was changing a crying Riley, he shook his head and ran into our bedroom looking into the bassinet asking for baby and then when I brought Riley to the living room and sat down and Riley stopped crying, Finn ran over to us and gave Riley a big hug. Sweetest thing e.v.e.r. Every night after bathtime we let Finn hang out and touch and kiss and play with Riley. So Sweet! Here's a couple of pictures of the boys in their coordinating dinosaur jammies!

Bringing Home Baby

Here's just a few pics of Riley getting acclimated to home!

Our latest addition of FUN

Welcome Riley David Lakes, born 2/4/09 (which is also daddy's birthday) at 10:31am, weighing in at 8 pounds 9 ounces and 21 3/4 inches long. He looks just like his daddy and big brother Finn! He has a full head of black hair which also covers the majority of his body, he has a loud set of lungs on him (though thankfully rarely uses them) and so far he is a champion eater, sleeper and pooper! Big brother Finn couldn't be a better big brother and is so in love with "his baby"!

Luvin on Aunt Tay Tay

My BFF Taylor came through town the last couple of weekends and the whole day before Aunt Tay Tay arrived, we talked about her to Finn and even got him to say "Tay Tay", gah so cute! So when Aunt tay Tay walked in the door......he went right to her and hugged her for like a half hour and didn't let go! It was the sweetest thing! We love you Aunt Tay Tay!

Sorry!

So I've been busy trying to not look like this any more....

That I've completely neglected the blog........more updates to come soon!

A Shout Out to My Hubby

So I know I brag to all of my friends about how awesome I think Todd is, both as a father and a husband, and I know that those of you who know him are not at all surprised, but I feel compelled to publicly brag about him here.

When Todd and I went on our first date, he talked to me that day about how he didn’t want or intend to be an absent dad, about how he wanted to be home and there for all activities and even to be home for dinner. That he didn’t want to be always working and that he wanted to be a hands-on dad. I can tell you now that he has more than lived up to his words.

It started simple with foot and back rubs from the very day that we got our first positive pregnancy test with Finn and progressed to full-time diaper duty for the first week of Finn’s life (seriously, I didn’t change one single diaper that first week) and he took over duty during the “witching hours” every day when he got home from a long day at work during the early months. Teaching Finn how to roll, kick and throw a ball, learning to climb up and around the playground, carrying him in the baby bjorn and then eventually in the giant backpack on their many father-son hikes.

And ever since I got pregnant again, I have been sick as a dog and Todd has almost taken on the role as a single parent, taking Finn on day long activities and excursions so mommy could rest (or puke). It’s been mentally difficult for me to let them go and have FUN without me (most of you know, I HATE missing out on FUN) and it’s been hard for me to also realize and admit that I NEED Todd. But I need him and he has more than been there for me/us.

Todd is the most amazing father and as Finn has grown so has their bond and it has been amazing to watch the care and joy that Todd has for Finn. It is enough to make even a non-pregnant me melt.

If money were no object, I would give Todd a thousand babies. I am so amazed and blessed to have him in my life and I just want him to know how much I truly love and appreciate him. I know that if Finn could type, he would completely agree. I’m so excited now to see how the dynamics will shift with our new arrival and our expanding family!

Lock up your Daughters

With moves like these........

Whoa

So we bought a pack of newborn diapers yesterday to load into the nursery for deuce's arrival. And I seriously about died when I opened the package and saw how small they are! I just cant get over how tiny it is, I mean I remember them being SMALL but not TEENY TEENY TINY! I just can't even believe and then when I look back, they were even big on Finn!

The Magic Elf Hat

I've gotten a lot of questions from other moms as to how we kept the elf hat on Mr. Finn for all the various photos and occasions. I'm slightly reluctant to share because its more fun to just say "oh he loved it" but I will share......I had the idea for Elf Finn this past summer, bought the outfit in October and had been DYING to share with everyone. In the meantime, we started to make the hat FUN so Mr. Finn would like wearing it when it was time for the momentous Christmas Photo Occasion. So we played a lot of games of "ohhh, daddy is having so much FUN wearing the FUN hat!" "ohhh, mommy loves the FUN hat too!" "Ohhh, the FUN hat jingles!" and there even was an occasion where...well....this picture says it all....we made the hat FUN!

Imagine It!

We met our friends at the Imagine It Museum for some FUN!!!

Playing with the moon sand was a BIG hit!

Finn liked Bob the Builder from Afar, but I did manage to get a picture of this little girl who loved him! Ha!

He may live in the south, but he is an Indiana boy at heart!

Daddy's Present

Well Daddy got a big surprise for Christmas this year too.....a Guitar! Finn had FUN playing with it too!

Christmas

Christmas was so much FUN this year with Finn! Here he is in his various Christmas outfits and his favorite presents.....please note the broom is still wrapped but he knew exactly what it was!

More morning routine cuteness

pre bath snuggle

caught a cute little snuggle with Finn and daddy waiting for the tub to fill up

Coloring

We bought Finn some crayons and a giant roll of paper last weekend so we could start some coloring! Please excuse the no shirt, we had just finished a very messy lunch and daddy was too excited to start coloring to put a new shirt on him and once he saw the crayons he went crazy!

Big Brother Finn

We had a Christmas and Maternity Photo shoot with Miss Brittany Erwin a couple of weeks ago and here is just one of the sweetest photos taken that day. I think Mr. Finn is going to make such a great big brother!

Breakfast Eggo

We have a new morning routine.....when Finn starts to wake up, I throw an eggo in the toaster, go in and grab him out of bed, walk back out to the toaster and get the eggo where we BOTH blow on it (seriously adorable to see Finn blowing on the eggo, it is the faintest little thing but he's very serious about it!) and then I hand him the eggo, which he takes with both hands and then I sit him in his chair in the living room facing the lit up Christmas tree and he sits and eats and mmmmm's until it is gone and it is seriously the cutest thing in the world (although I suppose I think everything he does is cute)!

The Big Man

Mr. Finn got to meet Mr. Santa Claus last weekend, and he seemed to actually enjoy the experience! Santa did say he asked for a lot of stuff for Christmas though, let's just hope the big man delivers! ;)

Just some cuteness

A Toddler and a Christmas Tree???

We were so nervous, but after polling lots of other seasoned parents, we went ahead and put up the tree this weekend! We put it up after Finn went to bed so when he woke in the morning he got to see it in all its twinkling glory (yes, it was still dark when he woke up, aren't we lucky?) Needless to say he loves it and we haven't had any issues with it....so far.....

Toddler Tornado

This is what happens to the house when mommy and daddy are sick all day and let the toddler have the run of the house. (This is only the half of it, I was too embarrased to show more pictures) Happy Thanksgiving!

Way back When-esday

Thanksgiving last year - look how little Finn was! Such a baby! (and yes Todd is standing in a hole, but I guess this is what we would look like if he was 5'2" or I was 6'4")

Scrubbing

Mr. Finn can now wash his own hair.....seriously how cute is this?

Way back When-esday

So I totally stole this idea from all the other mommy bloggers out there, but I think it's super cute. Way back When-esday......this time last year we were taking our Holiday card pictures with our little Santa Finn! We're gearing up for the Holidays now and I've got a little surprise for our Holiday cards this year and can't wait to take our pictures!

Been Caught Tickling