Gymboree Birthday (exactly one week late)

These pictures have been graciously provided by: Melissa Hatcher Photography

I wanted to post some pictures of Finley's birthday party last Saturday. He had such a great time... we all did actually. Thank you to our friends who took time to come and celebrate his special day. I will post more later as I can get them uploaded... our computer is suddenly acting a little silly. I stole these from the hubs facebook.

Birthday Party

I am working on getting my pictures uploaded, in the meantime, go here http://www.melissahatcherphoto.blogspot.com/ to see Melissa's fantastic pictures from the party. And if you want, you can click here http://www.melissahatcherphotography.com/ to schedule your own photo shoot. I promise you will not be disappointed! Thanks Melissa for capturing wonderful memories of our sweet boy. I am also working on getting the video ready of Finley "blowing" out the candles on his cake.... by that I mean he actually just grabbed the flame between his fingers and "piched" it out! It happened so fast... Melissa, again, jumped in to high-five Finn before he could get too upset and disaster was avoided altogether. I snatched this picture, only one, for now and I think it speaks for itself:

January 23, 2009 - Happy Birthday Finley!!!

The following pictures are my first installment of celebrating Finley's 2nd Birthday.... a look at his "firsts". (no particular order)

This is the first time Finley realized J.T. was sick... he followed him around all day long and laid beside him wherever he was! In this picture, J.T. was trying to hide from Finley - behind my bed on the floor, but Finley found him soon enough.

First Easter Basket

(in Louisiana)

First time I let Finley throw a temper tantrum without giving into him. Instead, he gave into his tiredness and took a nap in the middle of the kitchen floor. (Yes, I moved him after I took this picture.)





First time to taste guacamole.... he loved it!

First time to "stoop"... this was HUGE for him.

First time to eat spaghetti by himself!

First time wearing a Spiderman shirt! Hehehe!

First time to eat chocolate cake.. on his 1st Birthday!!!

First time to smile for my camera and "hold" it... you know how the digital flash takes forever and you miss the good smiles... he looks so much like my dad to me in this picture. (he is named after my father - Paul )

First time to pout on a porch??? Okay, I'm reaching but this picture is soooo cute! Thanks Melissa @ http://www.melissahatcherphotography.com/

First Owie!!!

(he fell off of the Diego jeep onto the concrete.. poor baby!)

First Birthday Night... First time to eat at Shogun.. mom and dad's favorite Hibatchi restaurant!

First Christmas Morning in his first pair of Christmas pajamas!

First Easter Service at Church (the car ride home)

(once again, first in Louisiana)

First day of daycare!!! (yes, I dressed them alike for a week!)

I will post more later; these were just some of my favorite memories, if not pictures anyway. Up next, our latest battle with our favorite almost two year old... the big boy bed! Oh yeah, and I will also be posting preschool party pictures and birthday party pictures, and so on and so on . I just can't get enough of this chubby little man!

Knock Knock

Who's there?
Happy Birthday to
Happy Birthday to who?
FINLEY of course!

I cannot believe that in a few short hours Finley Paul will be 2 years old!
I cannot believe that mere hours after he breathed his first breath on this earth, we thought he was breathing his last.... and then God showed up (not that he wasn't there all along), but man oh man has he been working since then! What a blessing we've been given! What an amazing journey! I can't stop using exclamation points!!!!!!!

Tomorrow I will be posting some of my favorite pictures and memories....
tomorrow. Oh, how grateful I am that the Lord has given us so many tomorrows with our precious son.

Thank you Father for blessing our lives with such a miracle. We give you all the praise. Amen.

Beautiful

Any questions???

Say what?

Heard around our house today:
As I was holding Finley in the living room, staring at his bright red rosy cheeks that he tends to have after waking up from his nap, admiring his long eyelashes sweeping across his cheeks and shadowing his beautiful blue eyes, I ask a question...
Me: "John?"
John: "Yeah.."
Me: "What do you think our next baby is going to look like?"
John: not even missing a beat..."Probably a lot like your next husband."
Thanks honey.. just what I was looking for.. sarcasm.

You know, speaking of, I wonder if my next husband will look anything like this handsome fella..

A girl can dream.

Happy New Year.... and a felony?

Isn't breaking and entering a felony? I have never been in enough trouble for such things to find out but my husband on the other hand....

Let me explain.

What would your thoughts be if you saw your husband walking through the door carrying this?

Okay people, not Jack Nicholson in "The Shining". Although, there was a screaming child in the background.

You've never broken down a door before? Well, maybe not a door, but the hinge and door frame and actual handle?

What, with wood pieces and metal flying to the ground?

Well, my darling husband did this morning... and you know what... it put a twinkle in my eye, because he was rescuing our precious baby boy, who had LOCKED HIMSELF IN THE BATHROOM IN THE DARK!!!

Now, don't be silly... I did try to pick the lock with a clothes hanger while slipping our little man goldfish under the door, but 15 very long minutes (seemed like 15 hours) later, our hero came down the stairs, tried the hanger trick, and swiftly walked outside. You can imagine my surprise when he returned with the weapon! Imagine my fright when I thought he would try to chop the door down, Jack Nicholson -style... "Here's Daddy!" Yikes!

However, he always knows best and took the very manly, heroic route instead, bashing the handle from it's resting place with one swift movement, while smashing the wood surrounding it! (Is it wrong for me to look at this man with such respect and admiration after the mess he created?) After the return of our child safely to my arms, he spoke not a word, but went straight back to bed (did I mention it was very early?) What a man!

Here he is... Finley Paul!

Too bad Batman wasn't around yet for our door bashing party!

Hope you all are having an exciting New Year as well!

Meredith