Pumpkin Poser

Aidan has become such a poser for the camera. You'd think we take his picture all the time, which just isn't true. But, the minute he sees that camera come out, boom, cute pose and then he runs over to see himself on the display after the picture is snapped. It's really quite funny to witness. Here are our "posed" pictures from Grandpa Finn's 62nd birthday dinner on Friday night. Grandma was kind enough to chase Aidan around the house while the rest of us carved our pumpkins.

Posing with his trusty broom

Helping Grandpa blow out the candles

Aidan's pumpkin, before

Aidan's pumpkin, after

Note that mommy carved this pumpkin,
and then her own, which = sore hands!

Mine, Aidan's, Kyle's, Grandpa's

Yes, Kyle decided to carve a pumpkin sporting the Geico logo.

Did You Hear That?

Babycenter.com tells me that Baby #2 is starting to hear what's going in the outside world. I already figured that out because it kicks and rolls around whenever it hears Aidan laughing hysterically. I'm hoping that's a good sign and the baby LIKES hearing Aidan be his loud self. Baby #2 also gets wiggly during Aidan's bedtime when we're reading stories and signing lullabies. Could be that Aidan's sitting on the baby and squishing it, but I like to think it's responding to the stories and songs.

Another new development in baby land is the need for maternity clothes. I suppose it's that time. Next week I'll be halfway done with this pregnancy. I guess I should count myself lucky that I made it 19 weeks in regular pants. No more though. Even the Bella Band is getting uncomfortable. Time for over-the-belly maternity pants.

Ready or Not

Ready or not, here he comes. Aidan will be starting daycare part-time in November when Kyle starts hockey. I initially fought tooth and nail against this switch. Why pay for Aidan to nap? Do they even do fun learning activities in the afternoon? I know Aidan will love playing with other kids, but I have a mental block against daycare. Kyle made me realize that we don't have a whole lot of options, and it's only 15 hours a week from mid-November through the end of February, minus 2 weeks off at Christmas and any other days off that I have from school.

Kyle and Aidan visited our local KinderCare on Thursday afternoon during nap time to see how it works. This is the same center I visited last spring with Aidan when we were looking into daycare. The center was well-kept, clean, and bright. I was concerned Aidan wouldn't sleep and they would try to make him nap for 3 hours on a mat. For those of you that know him, he is not a quiet or inactive child. Kyle said when they were there a little boy wasn't napping and they had an adult quietly reading a story with him. That made me feel better. They also do not nap for 3 hours. More like an hour and a half to two hours. When they wake up, the kids that are only part-time get to do the crafts and stuff that the other kids did in the morning, and the morning kids get free choice time.

Okay, I'm starting to feel a little better about this. Aidan will be going 3 afternoons a week from 11am-4pm. The bonus is that Aidan's teacher is the mom of a goalie that Kyle has coached for several years. It must be fate. She knows Kyle, we'll see her at hockey games, she can't abuse my child, right? And, since we know someone that works there, we get 3 weeks free of daycare. Double bonus. (I asked Kyle if we could use those 3 weeks after the new baby arrives so I can transition from being a mommy of 1 to a mommy of 2) The downside is that Aidan is going to have a snotty nose all winter from the new germs he will be coming into contact with. Yuck.

Family Pics

We attended my cousin Kara's wedding this past weekend back in IL. It's rare that we're all together and looking nice, so we took advantage and snapped lots of great photos.

The Finn family

Kyle/Kali, Papa/Nana, Kyle/Aidan/Courtney

Aidan with Great-Grandma Mosher (she's 93!!!)

Great-Grandma, Nana, and Aidan (who was done taking pictures at this point)

18 Months

Aidan hit the 18 month mark last week. To celebrate, we went to the doctor and got more shots. Yay! (note sarcasm) All is well with Aidan, although the doctor did detect a faint heart murmur. Strange that it took 18 months to find it...but nothing to worry about and the doctor said it would go away on its own.

18 month stats:
Height: 34 inches---92%-ile
Weight: 23 lbs 8 oz---17 %-ile
Head: 19 3/4 inches---89 %-ile

Besides going to the doctor, we also visited the apple orchard last weekend. Aidan had a great time and was trying his best to say apple. Unfortunately his version of apple sounds a lot like baseball. "ba bol" We're still working on this talking thing. He's got about 17 or 18 words that he uses regularly, right in the normal range. He should be putting 2 words together now, which is he not doing yet. (Unless you count "Mama, Daddy" which he says all the time when we're all sitting in the same room together)

Here are some of the pictures from the apple orchard.

The best pic of the day

Trying to roll the pumpkin

Mommy and Aidan

Picking our apples (we picked a total of 2)

I like to call this one "Deer in the headlights"

Aidan's favorite thing to do: pick up rotten apples

Being cute in the hay pile

Four Months and Counting

"Four months and counting to what?", you may ask. Well, Baby Finn #2 is on its way. I am starting my 16th week, so I'm four months pregnant and counting. Now, you all may be slightly surprised...certainly not as surprised as Kyle and I were, but then again, maybe you're not surprised at all.

Kyle and I have known since July 10th. About a week after I got pregnant. How did I know so soon? I immediately got sick. Which is part of the reason I waited so long to tell people. If I had told any sooner, every single blog from July 10th until about 2 weeks ago would have been me complaining bitterly about how awful I felt. Now that I'm feeling better, I think the blogs will be a nice balance between Aidan's antics and awaiting this new bundle of joy.

So there you have it folks, the latest gossip from the Finn family. Baby #2 is due on March 24, 2010 and we will be finding out whether it's a boy or a girl on November 13th. (as long as the baby is cooperating) Grandma Michele is getting her second chance at a girl, but Kyle is positive that it's a boy. I have my motherly intuition, but I'm going to keep it to myself so I don't look stupid if it turns out the other way. Here are some ultrasound shots from week 12. The head is at the top, with the baby's arms/hands by its face, its torso, and then its knees tucked up to its tummy. The ultrasound tech was adamant that she could not tell if it was a boy or a girl. You can click on the picture to make it larger.