The "Finnster, et al."

On Monday we decided to allow Finn to sleep in his new room for the first time. We put the shade and the curtains up so that the light wouldn't bother him. Even though Finn loves his new room he was very apprehensive about laying down in his bed. I sat next to his bed and rubbed his forehead until he fell asleep. It only took a couple of minutes before he was out like a light. I left the room, closed the door and felt very proud of myself. At 11:00 I heard Finn yelling for me over the baby monitor. I went into his room and saw him sitting up in his bed. I laid him back down and held his hand until he went back to sleep. After I felt confident that he was asleep I went into the TV and fell asleep on the mattress. (We have the guest bedroom mattress in the middle of the TV room floor for the time being. ) Fifteen minutes later Finn was up again. This pattern went on until about 1:30 in the morning. When I finally got back into bed I was hopeful that I would be able to get

Today at 4:45 I picked Finn from JT's house. It has been since Friday at 1:30 since I had seen him last. As I walking up the front porch I heard the sweetest voice yell with enthusiasm "MOMMY." When I opened the front door Finn gave me the biggest, longest hug he had ever given. I was so overcome with happiness to see him. After he hugged me, he looked at me and hugged me again. It was sweet. As I was putting him the car he gave me another hug. I kinda think that he missed me. On the way home Finn told me all about his adventures. He told me that had a picnic with Nana and that he ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apples, chips and milk. He also mentioned that there was bug (mom had told me that there was a bee flying around). Finn told me that he petted cows and he saw the lawnmower. When I asked him about the nursery he responded "it'll be okay." Once home Finn gave big hugs to dad and the two of them played trains while I prepared dinner.

On Friday Finn and I met Michael for some lunch at the "Bell" as Finn likes to call it before my OB appointment. While Finn was scarfing down nacho's and dip Michael and I unceremoniously decided on a name for the sequel - we have decided to name him "Samuel Hunt Begley" and call him "Sam." After leaving Taco Bell Finn and I met Nana at my doctor's office. Mom was going to go with me to my OB appointment and hold Finn. Afterwards Finn was all set to spend the weekend at Nana and Papa's house. Unfortunately my doctor's office lost my appointment so we left with no ultrasound. We packed Finn up in Nana's car and then I spent the next three days chillin'. Finn, on the otherhand, had a big, big weekend. First, he went to the fair with Nana and Papa were he sat on tractors, petted animals, ate fair food, and rode rides. On Saturday Nana informed me that Finn had a picnic under the big trees in the front yard. On Saturday night Finn

Finn has a new favorite thing - this James the Train backpack. He uses this backpack as a place to store is most precious toys when he goes away from home. Before leaving the house I tell Finn that he can put two (2) toys in his backpack. He will start with two (2) but when I am not looking and sometimes when I am he will stuff every toys that he possibly can in the bag. When Finn is not looking I will take them out. Before we leave the house I will hand Finn his backpack and he will carry it to the car. Last week Finn took it to JT's for the first time. JT was pretty excited to see it. On Thursday Finn and I made a trip to Toddler Town to visit two (2) of my younger clients. Since we were going to a daycare anyway I thought it would be okay to bring Finn. Finn, of course, asked to take "james bag." When we got there I put the backpack on Finn's shoulders and he walked into the daycare. He was greeted by about ten (10) very friendly toddlers all very

After dinner tonight Finn, Daddy and I went outside and played with Finn's sidewalk chalk. We had a lot of fun, but I didn't realize how messy it is. See Exhibit A. EXHIBIT A While we were outside, I drew a really lousy picture of Mickey Mouse - however, Finn thought it was great. He got really excited. This is a picture of Finn watching the little girls next door jump rope. This is a picture of Finn looking at an airplane. When we came inside Finn had a bath. After his bath he asked to play with his kitchen. While Finn was playing I went downstairs to get a diaper. By the time I got back upstairs Finn had urinated all over this kitchen. So we spent the night decontaminating the kitchen.

Well today was tough. Michael and I both overslept but we were able to get to church on-time at 8:30. Finn walked straight into the nursery and didn't look back. After church we came home and Finn opened his presents from me and Michael. We didn't give them to him yesterday because he was too preoccupied with everything else. He did a little bit better today. We gave Finn a "Victor" train and "Dash" train. Finn was pretty excited and immediately put them on his train track. Finn got this track last Christmas, but we put it away until Finn was old enough. Well he is old enough now and literally sits and plays with the track for hours. We also got him a "Thomas" coloring book, sidewalk chalk, a sound block puzzle and a Thomas play book with tiny characters. The book was a big hit. After opening his presents Finn played with them for a while and then we went to the store. Then we went to Gran's house for a few minutes. Micheal and Jame

Today Finn turned two! It is been a busy and stressful week preparing for the big day. For Finn's big birthday present from us we decided to give him a new room. We ordered a toddler bed and painted and put his toys in his room. The painting wasn't a problem, but we couldn't get the queen sized bed apart that served as the guest bed. In order to put Finn's room together we had to get the bed apart. Thankfully my Dad came up on Thursday and got the bed apart. Later in the evening Michael put Finn's new bed together which was a headache in and of itself. After the bed was in we started the process of bringing everything else in - his room looks really cute. On Friday, Nana came to spend the night with Finn and to help me get ready for the party. She also brought Finn's present and we put it together the night before; it is a really cute walk-in kitchen set. The next morning we got up and did a few last minutes things to prepare for the party. We served b

This morning Finn woke up at 7:45. Why is it that when I have to get up early Finn decides to sleep in? Anyway, we were up early for a good reason - we went to ride on Thomas today. We put on Finn's train overalls and headed to the Nashville Central Railroad museum. Finn was very excited to go. When we got there the first stop that we made was to "Imagination Station" where Finn played with blocks and watched other children playing with miniature train set. They had the trains sets everywhere - I have never seen so many. Next we headed over to stand in line to board Thomas. Finn and Daddy right before boarding. Here we are inside the train. We had a nice little corner in the back next to a picture of "Diesel." The ride was really nice - it didn't go too fast and they played Thomas songs the whole way. Finn really enjoyed being on the train. Next we waited in line to have our picture taken with Thomas. Michael and I took turns holding our spot in li