The "Finnster, et al."

Today I learned were the lactation room at our church is located. I usually bring a bottle with me to church so that I can feed Finn during the service - today was no exception. However, the bottle we brought had a big hole in the nipple and we accidentally drenched Finn during "big church." Since we no longer had a bottle I had to find a place to feed Finn. The lactation room is really nice; the seats are really cushy and they have a nice television. I could get used to attending church in the lactation room. Tonight Michael and I read to Finn for the first time. Finn sat in Michael's lap while I read "The Donkey's Christmas Song" to him. This book was a Thanksgiving gift from Nana. I almost cried reading to him, but I was able to hold it together long enough to make the animal noises. (I cry waaayyyy to much). He wasn't really all that engaged with the story, but we will keep reading anyway.

Today Finn laughed. Michael and I were sitting on the couch and I was bouncing Finn on my knee and he laughed! I have no idea what else Finn did today because I was nauseated all day and slept a good portion of it away. I feel pretty guilty because I didn't get to spend a lot of fun time with Finn. I held and rocked him a lot but we didn't get to play.

Today is Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday - you don't buy gifts, you don't wrap presents - you just spend time with your family cooking and eating. So of course I was really excited to spend Thanksgiving with Finn. I just knew he would be a perfect angel - wrong, he either fussed, ate or slept the entire day. He was lousy. As for our day, I woke Finn up at 6:30 to feed him and then he sat in the swing while I had breakfast. Mom made a great breakfast - cheese grits, apple crumb muffins and egg casserole. After breakfast we sat in the den and watched a few minutes of the parade. Next, I attempted to take our family Christmas picture. I put Finn in his Christmas outfit and less than 10 minutes later "excrement" had exploded out of his diaper and up the back of the outfit. So we had to wait until his clothes had been washed and dried before we could take the picture. Okay, after we got Finn redressed we went outside to take our picture next to the holly...

Today Finn and I prepared for Thanksgiving dinner and Mom's. This year Emily and I are helping mom cook - I am making dressing and pineapple casserole and Em is making sweet potato casserole. I was hoping that Finn would nap while I was cooking but of course he was wide awake and wanting to play. I tried to put him in his swing for a while in the den, but he wouldn't have it, so instead I put him in the kitchen with me while I cooked. He liked that. As long as he could see me he wouldn't whine. Later that day Michael and I packed up the car and we left to go to mom's house for the night. When we got there we had dinner and then sat around and played with the babies. Finn kind of sat up today. I would sit him down and he would lean forward to balance himself. After a few seconds he would fall over. (Once he fell right on his face - oops.) Next we made up Finn's bed. It was a little pallet on the floor next to our bed. I don't really like for him to sleep in the b...

Today Finn visited both Mama and Daddy's office. First we went to visit our friends in the Assistant Commissioner's office. We love the Assistant Commissioner's office because they always have Tootsie Rolls! Next we went upstairs to my office where I attempted to get some things done. Of course, the minute I turned my computer on Finn started fussing. So instead of working I ended up feeding Finn in my office. After I fed Finn I introduced Finn to my favorite attorney/client - Assistant Commissioner Christy Allen. After leaving my office Finn and I went over to TennCare for a Thanksgiving luncheon. The food was great. Finn slept in his stroller most of the time. However after we ate we got him up so that Michael's coworkers could meet him. He was happy and pleasant for about seven minutes then he started crying. It was loud in the room, he was sleepy and hungry - bad combination. We will go back another time when Finn is in a happier mood. After TennCare we went to visi...

Today Finn and I had lunch with Shelley and Macey T. at O'Charleys. We had a pretty good time except for these two women who kept coming over and touching Finn and Macey. It was really quite annoying. After lunch Finn and I went to Michael's where we bought a few pine cones to spray paint for the Christmas tree. Once we got back to the house I started decorating the Christmas Tree. Finn sat in his swing and watched the entire time. Since this is our first Christmas with Finn so I got to hang his "Baby's First Christmas" ornament. After dinner Finn was in a really needy mood and would fuss if you weren't looking directly at him. I was so perplexed by his behavior. While I was decorating the mantle Michael sat on the couch with Finn. When Michael would look away Finn would whine (loudly) and the second Michael would look back at him, Finn would smile. I am afraid that we have a strong personality on our hands. Later Pa and Uncle James came over the watch the Mon...

Today we finally made to church on time! I have been trying for weeks to figure out how early I need to get up in order to get myself, Finn and Michael ready for church and I think I have figured it out. Finn was a little bit of a distraction during the service. He slept the whole time, but unfortunately Finn can sound like a fog horn when he breathes. Every so often when Finn would really turn up the volume, the folks sitting around us would turn around and look at him. Thank goodness they didn't look mad. Instead, they would kind of chuckle. When we got home I gave Finn a rattle to play with. I have tried to get him to hold some of his other toys but they are too big for him. This rattle is just right - it is small, light weight, and most importantly skinny enough for him to get his hands around. He did a great job of holding on to that rattle - at least with this right hand. He was a little shaky with the left but we are working on that. I don't think that he really knew wh...

Today Michael, Finn and I loaded up in the car and went looking for the Begley Family Christmas Tree. In preparation for the task ahead we packed snacks for the journey (milk for Finn) and loaded the necessary tools (coupons). We then set off in search of the perfect tree. After an enjoyable car ride complete with the singing of Christmas Carols such as "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" and "Joy to the World" (yeah right, Michael is kind of a "Scrooge" when it comes to Christmas music) we arrived our destination - a snow covered forest (or the Home Depot). We all got out of the car and took off on foot to find the Begley Family Christmas tree. After a long and thoughtful search, we found it . . . the perfect tree - a 7.5 foot pre -lit Wesley Pine Tree! Then we began to cut the tree down (actually, we put the pre-boxed tree in the buggy and went to the checkout counter). After acquiring the tree, we drug it through the snow all the way back to the car. Then...

This morning at 5:30 I heard Finn crying over the baby monitor. I was little confused because recently he has been waking up at around 3:00 and then again around 7:00. As I got out of bed I was a little perturbed that he was up again so to his 3:00 o'clock feeding. But as I was walking down the hall towards his room I realized that I hadn't been up yet at all and that Finn had slept through the night! I was so excited. I know that 5:30 doesn't sound like sleeping through the night, but since I will be up at 5:00 when I go back to work, 5:30 is looking pretty good. I don't know if this will continue - but here's hoping. This afternoon Finn and I taught our first Mock Trial practice at Beech High School. My brother-in-law David is one of the faculty teachers and ask if I could come help out. Finn was bit scared of the intercom system and was on edge due to all the activity in the classroom. David had to take him out halfway through the lesson. Later that night we met...

Today Finn went to the Pediatrician's office for his two week well baby check up. He was in such as good mood when he got there. We played with him in the office and he laughed and talked. I felt so bad for him because he had no idea what was about to happen to him. At this appointment we learned that Finn weighs 13 lbs, 3 oz and that he is 23 inches tall. Dr. Thompson told us that her early assessment (based on the size of his feet) is that he will be a pretty tall guy. She was also very impressed with how aware he was (she thinks he will have a good attention span) and how expressive his face is already (I take full credit for that). Finn was mostly pretty good while she was examining him, but near the end he acted like he was going to cry. While she was listening to his breathing, Finn would look at me and Michael and stick his bottom lip out. It was so funny because he was so close to losing it but never quite got there. He has never stuck his lip out and pouted like that befo...

Well, today was my first full day of work since Finn was born. While I will not be going back totally until after the first of the year, I did travel to Savannah today with Maryam to interview witnesses. Consequently, today was Finn's first day with Victoria and JT . Victoria and I were in the same Sunday School class for the past few years and now we teach 6 th grade Sunday School together. She has a 5 month old son named JT . Victoria has graciously agreed to keep Finn part time when I go back to work full-time. I guess you can call today our acclimation period. In order to get both myself and Finn ready I had to get up at 5:00 to shower and dress. I woke Finn up at 6:00 to eat and we were out the door by 6:45. It was difficult to drop Finn off. It seems so unnatural to leave him. While I have left him before, this felt more permanent - probably because I was in a suit and actually going to my office. However, I felt comfort knowing that he was in good hands and that he would ...

Finn has always been a very aware little boy. However, he has not really demonstrated any awareness of our (mine and Michael's) whereabouts until just recently. Today while I was eating breakfast in the glider I noticed Finn looking over at me from his swing. He wasn't just looking in my direction (like he used to) he was looking right at me with the sweetest look on his face. He looked as though he was completely happy just to stare at me. He didn't want to be fed, he didn't want to be held, he just wanted to look at me. The whole time he was looking he was smiling - not a big smile, but instead a very serene smile. This was the first moment that I felt that Finn loves me not just because I feed him, but because he really loves me. That moment ended quickly. The next time I looked over at him he was still looking right at me, but instead of looking content he has this confused look on his face as if to say "why are you not holding me?" We stared at each other...

Today I was surprised to learn that babies can get dirt under their fingernails. While I was feeding Finn I noticed that his fingernails were dirty. How is this possible? He isn't dexterous, he can't scratch anything purposefully and he certainly isn't playing in the mud. I am at a loss. During the same feeding I noticed that Finn has a lot of wax in his ears too! It took 5 Q-Tips to clean his ears out and I only cleaned the outer ridge (I didn't go anywhere near the canal - who knows how much is in there). I promise I am washing my child's ears and fingers for that matter. I don't understand how his little ears can have so much build-up in them. Now I admit that I am not the great housekeeper in the world, but Michael and I are very purposeful about keeping Finn clean (I put bath pictures up to prove it). Gosh! Oh, he can finally sit to take a bath now. Before he couldn't hold his head up so he would lay flat in the sink. Now, he can sit up for his bath ...