Sweetheart

I need to take pictures of our house! It's 100% different.

I'll get right on that.

For now feel free to stare into these beautiful big blue eyes.

Grace's Amazing Hands

Hello. It's been a while.

You may remember our sweet little angel that slept often and ate so well?

Well she's still there, just with a little fire.

She LOVES to read. She will sit for hours and read. Seriously.

She's into eating and drinking all by herself.
See the first photo if you want to know what happens when you try to help. :)

She adores her daddy.

(Although usually called daddy, he also goes by the name "mamama")

She's as sweet a sugar.

We took a hiatus for a few months.

It has just been a difficult season, a season with a lot of change and growth.

I'm sorry for those of you who have missed our words and pictures.

Sometimes it is just better to step away from everything and really work on ourselves.

More on that later...

Happy Birthday Fin!!!/ Happy Halloween!!

I have been promising pictures for a while now.

Here's where we begin..

Tonight, Nov. 1:

Being this cute is nothing new to her. Infact it's really really easy.

Oct. 31. Also known as "Halloween".

Although it seems as if she was happy...

We should note these pictures were taken AFTER she figured out Halloween involved candy. :)

Here are the before pictures:

She was SO not convinced.




BIRTHDAY!! Oct. 5:

I'm one!




Reading Nana & Pop Pop's Card with Daddy

Loving on her favorite person... her daddy:

Pure Joy, yep she's ONE!



Birthday Pictures, we can hardly believe how big she is!:

Daddy

Birthday Party!

Cake!

Pre Birthday:

Happy Girl..

Sad Girl...

She loves to talk on the phone...

You should call her sometime.. :)

She's getting so BIG!

Fufilling My Resolution, Part I

I haven't failed yet. Well maybe a little, but only by an hour and a half!

So it's 1:34am.
Neil and Fin are sound asleep.
I have an exam tomorrow, so for me I don't sleep, I study! FUN.

Life has been a little extra crazy and busy lately.
It's hard for me to love going to school when I am pulled in every other direction- not to mention the sleep loss.

I adore my family, I love our crazy life, but I feel exhausted and overwhelmed.

I know that this is where we're supposed to be in life.
But for me it's so weird to put school on the back burner.

I have ALWAYS been the crazy student that would freak out if my paper was late. I'm not kidding, anxiety attack included. I've always been so obsessive compulsive about it.

But you know what, I think writing this blog has made me realize it. I hadn't pointed it out to myself. My prayers have been answered. Lately I have been praying for my anxiety to be taken, Lord knows it's always been overwhelming. And he's taken it. He has. I am letting go. By releasing a late paper and not letting it eat me alive I have taken a bounding leap forward! This early morning/late night blog is beginning to be therapeutic. :)

In other news.. I'm sure the news you REALLY want :)

Fin is growing like a weed. She's the cutest weed ever. She loves to be tickled. And her favorite thing ever is Elmo. She's going to be a ballerina for Halloween! She LOVES to dance. She's running everywhere. And she still looks exactly like her daddy :). Those two are the most beautiful people I have ever laid eyes on, and they're all mine.
Fin's favorite person in the world is her "dada" she will search the entire house screaming soooo loud "daaaada! dada! daaaada!" with her arms up and hands pointed out like 'where is he'?? She adores him, and he absolutely adores her! She's taken quite a few falls in the past few weeks. She's getting to be quite the climber, and has the marks to prove her determination. :) I try to keep her away from the sharp, pointy, hard places, but when it comes down to it, climbing is great for her growth! (As long as mama's right behind you to soften the fall :)..)
She only feeds herself, anything off of a spoon she has to hold the spoon as it goes into her mouth. She's quite the independent one.
I could go on and on.. so I better leave some for our next midnight blog.

I hope you are all well, Grandma, Nana, PopPop.. we think about you often, you're never far from our minds, and we love talking about you with Fin. Family is our favorite, and we feel so blessed that you are OURS!

Oh and Next time I should promise some pictures :)

We are taken care of.

These past weeks have been overwhelming.

I have always been one to worry. I hate that about myself. It constantly clouts the TRUTH.

I was reminded today:

Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, He burns the shields with fire."Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

I have read this over and over.

HE is with me. I should not place my fears in the worries of the world.

The bills will be paid, eventually.

Dinner will be on the table, eventually.

Homework will be done, eventually.

Our house will be finished.... eventually.

But for now my family is LOVED.

There is plenty of food to be put on the table!

We are sheltered in our own beautiful home!

We are taken care of!

Oh yeah and..

FIN'S WALKING!!!

How did I forget to mention it!? :)

And she says, "up", can point to her nose and hold up her hand when you ask! She points to everything, and when she wants something she'll say "this" which sounds more like "dis" and she can say "yes", she can say banana which is more like "bana".

Oh and for those of you planning a first birthday gift: She LOVES Elmo. And I do mean LOVES. Through no fault of my own we stumbled upon Elmo's world a 15 minute segment during Sesame Street, and she is hooked on Elmo, every time she sees anything Elmo she'll point to it. And you know when she points to something that means Daddy has to buy it ;).

She is so big, and so fun!

...And SO opinionated, we are quickly realizing she is officially a toddler!

The State of the Blog

So we're failing miserably at this blog thing, I am now making a Finlee's First Birthday Resolution to blog at least once a week.

Expect the unexpected.

Nana and Pop Pop we think about you guys a lot, and miss you tons. We wish we were closer. Fin is getting so big, we can't wait for you guys to be able to give her big hugs and kisses! :)

Grandma, we've been so bad about coming to visit, we need to make a resolution to come see you at LEAST once a month! We need to make a plan!

I know, this is a pathetic way to talk to people, but I figured it was efficient :)

I'll be back soon with pictures- It's mid-terms week which has been a little stressful. How did I think school was diffucult without a one year old!?!