First Birthday Letter

Dean Finn,

Well, my sweet boy.  We made it to a year.  I look back and at times I wasn’t sure we would ever get here in one piece.  But we did!  ALL of us!  It has truly taken a very strong family and the support of a village to get to his point.  I am so blessed to be your Mommy, and to be a part of this family.  I have no idea why God put this path before me, but I can honestly say I am so much a better person for it.  And your path is just starting!  I was just thinking this week about HOW MANY lives you have touched, and you haven’t even spoken your first word or walked your first step.  You are shining the light of Jesus, and you don’t even know you are doing it!

Happy FIRST Birthday, Little Man!  You are SUCH a complete joy to be around!  You smile so easily, and you charm everyone you encounter.  Your eyes are so expressive, and your numerous facial expressions keep us all guessing as to what is going on in that perfectly round head of yours!  You are sporting some pretty blonde hair right now!  There’s not a lot of it, but it is a color and texture I didn’t expect!  You have 5 teeth, and I keep thinking that sixth one will break through any day!  2 on bottom and 3 on top – the middle two and the one next to it on the left.  You bit your own arm about a week ago, and the mark left on your forearm was definitely yours – there were 5 little indentations!  You can crawl like greased lightning, and you pull up to stand CONSTANTLY.  You like to climb over people who are playing on the floor with you, and your favorite toys are the blue hand clapper noise maker you acquired at Alpha Delta Pi Bid Day back in August, a toy cell phone that has a mirror on it – although I think the orange webbing that attached it to a ring is really your favorite part – and the blue triangle shaped chewy tube.  Oh, and Stella.  You love pulling her ears, yanking her tail, and sticking your hands in her mouth.  And lucky for you, she is so gentle and just lets you!  

You are eating more and more table food every day!  You really like chicken, and cheese and BREAD!  My kind of kid!  You never did take to pureed baby food.  I have a nice stash to pass down to the next baby in line…  You have been waking up in the middle of the night more these past couple of weeks.  I remember reading where that happens around 9-10 months, so  guess you are there.  Daddy and I sure would appreciate you getting back into sleeping all night, though.  Some nights, you just need a cuddle and a back pat, others, you need food and a play date! LOL!  Silly Monkey!  Our biggest obstacle right now is your SEVERE separation anxiety and stranger danger!  WOW!  You have QUITE a set of lungs on you (which we are very happy about)!  Church is a complete scream-fest for you, and we learned last weekend at Daddy’s High School reunion, you don’t do well with the Weaver grandparents, either.  So, for right now, you don’t like for anyone to care for you except Mommy, Daddy, Nana and (occasionally) Grandpa.  You sure are lucky to have them so close!  So are Daddy and I or we would never get a free minute!

Finn, you are just too cute for words.  And have such a laid back, precious temperament.  You are perfectly content to sit and play with your toys without outside intervention, and you are easily fascinated by anything with lights.  If you are crying, you have a pretty significant physical need that is not being met – even if it’s just a hug!  We are so proud of the wonderful little boy you are becoming.  You have come SO FAR!  And you just keep amazing us with your discoveries and your sweet disposition.  You are getting pretty close to standing alone – I’ve even seen you let go a few times.  Daddy and I have a bet going about whether or not you will be walking by Christmas!  Daddy says yes – by Thanksgiving even – but I am on the more conservative side and say it will be after the first of the New Year.  Either way, we know we are in for a chase when it happens!  You love to be all over the place making mayhem!  The dog bowl for water and Nana’s potted plants don’t stand a chance against you!

Daddy and I have worked really hard to plan a fun “Milk & Cookies” 1^st birthday party for you.  We have some special gifts for you, too.  We can’t wait to share this celebration with you, and to let you dig into your first birthday cake.  Your brother Jake and your sisters Emma and Lara are so delighted to have you for a little brother!  They always want to show you off, and they even argue about who gets to play with you next.  You are such a lucky little guy to be surrounded by such marvelous people that care so much for you.  But, I think your Dad and I are the luckiest parents on Earth!  We love you more than you can every possibly understand, and we are just so proud of you and how far you have come.  We are blessed to be on this journey with you, and we can’t wait to see what God has in store for such a special baby!

Happy 1^st Birthday, Finn.

I love you,

Momma

It's the Final Countdown!

Finn - 1 month old

We cannot believe that Finn is turning ONE this Friday!! What a year it's been!!

This weekend is the March of Dimes - March for Babies Stillwater walk. We are so grateful for what this organization has done for us personally, and for what they do for every tiny baby and their families!  The mission of March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.  Our family believes passionately in this mission!

We've set a Finn's Fans team goal of $1500 and we are getting so, so close. We need to close out the walk donations by Wednesday evening - so the final push is on! We are $300 short as a team right now .... are there 15 individuals out there who would like to donate $20 each? Maybe 10 individuals who would donate $30 each? 4 individuals who would like to donate $75 each? There is a link at the bottom of this post to donate securely with your credit card online. Rather use a check or cash?  Comment, call, tweet, text, facebook, etc.,  and one of us can get in touch with you!

Are you local?  Can you Spare a Dime?  There is a small purple bucket in my office (325E Willard) where you can drop your dimes (or other spare change) to help Finn’s Fans meet our fundraising goals – and see pictures of Finn throughout the last year.

Why are we raising this money and walking? We are walking to give hope to the more than half a million babies born too soon each year. The money you donate supports programs in our communities that help moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies. And it funds research to find answers to the problems that threaten our babies. These walks have taken place since 1970 and have raised an incredible $2 billion to benefit all babies.

Click HERE and PLEASE help us help these TINY babies!!

 Come join us Saturday at Noon at Boomer Lake, to see our Finn's Fans team 
in our PURPLE "It's a Preemie Thing" shirts, too!

Guest Blogger: Finn’s Big Adventure

This past weekend, I got to go on my first real “trip” of any kind!  It was my Daddy’s 30^th High School Reunion in his hometown of Enid, OK, and Big Brother Jake and I got to tag along!  Daddy was so excited about this trip!  He was on the planning committee for the reunion, and he had worked really hard getting things together for it.  He even made the super cool name badges that all the attendees got to wear!  Mommy was excited to – she got to spend the whole weekend with Daddy and meet all these people he was always talking about!

The plan was for me and Jake to bunk at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, while Mommy and Daddy got a hotel room in town.  The girls were staying in Stillwater because they had practices and games to go to.  So, after everyone got home from school on Friday afternoon, we headed out!  After we checked Mommy and Daddy in to the hotel, Mommy, Daddy, Jake and I were off to find a parking place for the Enid High School Homecoming Football game.  We ate dinner at a big tailgate outside the stadium, and I charmed everyone in line, and tried to help Mommy and Daddy as they carried 3 plates of food, drinks, and napkins, kept Jake from spilling things, and hold me!  I’m so cute they didn’t even care!  I ate some cheese and part of a bun while sitting on top of the table.  That was FUN!  Mommy told all those around us all about me while Daddy passed out name tags.  I really had fun at the game, but I sure was glad when we left – I was getting pretty sleepy from being so darn adorable!  I met lots of new faces, and I even let a couple of Daddy’s friends hold me for a few seconds!  But, I always wanted to go back to Mommy.

After the game, Jake and I got dropped off at Grandma and Grandpa’s so Mommy and Daddy could go to the bar with their friends.  But, I didn’t want them to leave me!  I didn’t realize when they left, but as soon as I figured it out, I let everyone know I was *NOT* happy about it!  After I screamed and carried on for about an hour, Grandpa called Daddy and my wonderful parents came back home to “rescue” me.  I had fallen asleep, so they tucked me in, and went back to the party.  Little did they know, I had a very restless night and woke Grandma and Grandpa up A LOT!  I just missed them so much!

Mommy and Daddy came to get us boys for breakfast early the next morning after spending the night in the hotel.  I was SO happy to see them!  And I loved breakfast at the high school and the tour.  Lots of new faces to smile and coo at!  Mommy got a little tired of carrying me, but Daddy said the stroller would be hard to use because the school has a lot of stairs.  I was happy with Mommy carrying me, anyway!  After we left the high school, I fell asleep in the car.  I hear they ordered some treats for my birthday party next week, whatever that means!  Later that afternoon, Daddy and Jake went swimming, while Mommy and I napped at the hotel.  I love naps with Mommy! *sigh*

But then, Mommy got up and took a shower, and Mommy and Daddy put on fancy clothes.  I knew something wasn’t quite right here!  They took me and Big Brother back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  This time, I let them leave again without much fanfare.  But once they were gone, it was time to scream to get them to come back!  Daddy called to check in about an hour after they left, and after Mommy heard I was upset, she came to get me.  I got to spend the rest of the night at this big fancy party at the Country Club with lots of food, music and the OSU Football Game on a huge TV.  It was AWESOME!  Mommy fed me off her plate; I napped in her arms, smiled for all the people, and really had a good time!  Daddy said I was a “crasher” and Mommy put a picture of my bottle with her wine glass in Instagram – but I don’t even know what that’s all about!

After the party was over, they went to Grandma and Grandpa’s to get my bed (Pack-N-Play), then took me to the hotel to sleep with them!  JACKPOT!  I was SO happy!  I went to sleep in my bed, but I decided that was still too far away, so I cried until Mommy put me in bed with her.  I rewarded her by filling my diaper at some point during the night, so when she woke up, my stinky bottom was in her face.  But when I woke up, I was just SO GLAD to see Mommy and Daddy right there with me!

We went back home to Stillwater after picking Jake up from Grandma and Grandpa’s Sunday morning.  I guess he was asleep when Mommy and Daddy got my bed, because the first thing he said that morning was, “What happened to Finn and his bed!??!”  He had no idea I was lucky enough to be with Mommy and Daddy!  I hope I didn’t make him jealous!  I was so glad to be home Sunday afternoon and to see my Sisters.  I had missed them over the weekend!  But I am sure glad I have Mommy and Daddy so wrapped around my finger and so well trained.  They kept me happy all weekend, AND I got to go to some fun parties and meet new people.  Thanks for being so nice to me, Enid High Class of 1982!  See you in 10 years!

Love,

Finn