Oops........

Here is a picture of the two angels that I fogot to post in the Ten at 10 blog......They are to cute!

First Edition or the Ten at 10!

Ok....Here is my new format, I am going to start posting ten things about our day each night........that way, you will all get a little snapshot of what our day was like!

~*~Blainer was twisted sideways and almost upside down when I went to get him out of his crib this morning. He didn't seem to mind though, he just grinned at me with that big smile and went about eating his hands.

~*~Finley's new fascination with glow sticks started at my mom's and has rapidly progressed, everytime I turn around, she is pulling a glowstick out of somewhere.

~*~I hate when doctor's call and cancel doctor's appointments for a second time......our time is just as important as theirs, you know?

~*~Our application for our possible new house has been submitted. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for us! We are in love with this new place, and so excited about the prospect of a bigger place with so much more room for the kids to run around in.

~*~The wind and rain continued today. If it doesn't stop soon, I am just going to start taking Finley out and letting her run in the rain and jump in the puddles. She would love that much more then I would! I am sure the smile on her face would be worth it though!

~*~We are so excited for our trip next week to North Carolina. I can't wait to catch up with Heather. Part of me feels like I am going home. I think that is because that is where we lived when Finley was born.

~*~I think we figured out our trip to Florida.......I am not telling Finley yet though, because I think she will drag her floaties and stuff out and I just got them away from her and hid away.

~*~I still can't decide on outfits for the kids for their pictures on Saturday morning. Although, if this rain doesn't stop, there may not be any pictures. Boo-Hoo!

~*~Everyone mark your calendars........Baptism is June 20th at 2 in the afternoon. Party celebrating the baptism and Finley's birthday will be after the baptism. Guess this means I get to go shopping for some nice outfits for them........

~*~I am hoping that it's nice out tomorrow, I want to take Finley to feed the fish tomorrow. I have been promising her for days!

Night Everyone.....Sweet Dreams!

What a Day! OY!

What a day.....poor Blaine was minding his own business today playing in his bouncer activity center. He was turning himself and pulling on the toys, laughing at whatever was going on in his little head, when out of nowhere, Finley leaned on the side and tipped it over sending the poor little guy crashing into the floor. It nearly gave me a heart attack. Thank god he is a tough little guy. He cried for like 2 minutes and then stopped and started cooing at Finley who was hiding behind the chair crying because she thought she hurt him. Reminded me of when Aunt Livia dropped Finley when she was just a few months old and she went running into her room crying and didn't come out for awhile.

Changes......

So, it seems like alot has gone on in the few short weeks since we first got back from Florida. First off, I am going to be changing up our blog. I have "borrowed" a few ideas from a wonderful "new" friends blog. I read her blog and look at her work, and it inspires me! So, I am hoping to share some of that inspiration with you guys! I am thinking about taking up a new hobby too. I will talk about that more lately. I am also trying to plan another trip to Florida.......If only I could get my mom to call me back. Finley is talking non stop about "Gamma's" swimming pool. She goes on and on about Brewster sitting on the steps of the swimming pool, and she has been taking her new Ariel floaties and Mickey Mouse innertube with her everywhere. Just to clarify, she hasn't been wearing them, just carrying them, and will probably freak out when I actually try and put them on her. So, mom if you read this, let me know! Mike and I have gone round and round since we moved here about buying a house. We are, we aren't, we are, we aren't. It's a never ending debate. Well, the other day I was at a play date with the moms club I joined, and I fell in love with the girls house who was hosting the play date. As luck would have it, I found out that she was moving mid-July! Her neighbor is also a member of the moms club and has a little girl who is 4. Keep your fingers crossed for us! This could work out great for all of us. Me and Mike could have a home for the kids with lots of extra room and in a great area, and Finley and Blaine would have playmates to make memories with! YAY!!!! The added bonus would be a great new friend for us.


We have been busy bees around here for the last few weeks too. Lots of time outside, and trying to grow flowers and plant a garden. Finley has been loving watching the veggies and plants grow. She loves being outside, and I dread dragging her back in once we get out there. She is however getting better about it when she is told to come in. It seems like she may be growing out of the terrible two's. I can't tell you how great it is to see her leaving that stage behind and growing into a sweet, inquisitive, caring, kindhearted little girl.

I have been able to catch up with an old friend of mine from when I was in high school over the last few weeks. It's amazing how technology allows you to find and keep in touch with people that you haven't been in contact with for years. Anyways, she has two little ones as well and her little girl will be 3 this month. We got to go and spend the day with them last time we were in Altoona. I couldn't wait to see how Finley interacted with the kids. Much to my surprise, she jumped right in and played. They had a blast together! Drawing, blowing bubbles, running in the yard, eating popsicles, swinging, sliding, climbing, you name it they did it and had smiles on their faces the entire time.

That's it for now.........Stay tuned for more!

Blaines New Hat!

When my mom was in town, she bought Blaine a new hat at Gymboree. Vincent got the same one, so someday soon I will have to try and get a picture of the two of them together in their matching hats. Anyways, on Saturday Great-Grandma and Grandma Vandevander and Aunt Dana came for a visit. The sun had finally decided to come out and since we were eating outside, I put the hat on him so his head was out of the sun. He looked so cute in it. It was still a little big, but he was adorable. I have a feeling that over the next few months, this hat will show up in tons of pictures!

Just Having Fun!

The other day Finley asked if she could sit with "Blainer Boy" as she calls him and get her picture taken. So, she hoped up on the chair. She didn't want to hold Blaine, but she wanted him to sit right beside her on the chair. "Put him right here," she kept telling me as she slapped the space beside her. These are just 2 of the shots.........Finley's new thing is when you tell her to say cheese she gives you this huge smile. She is to smart for her own good........it amazes me somedays! Mike and I say to each other every night after we get them both tucked in how lucky we are. That is something that I will always be grateful for.

A work in progress!

We have been talking with Finley since we were in Florida about building her a garden when we got home. We talked about what we would plant, and where we would have the garden, how we would have to water it everyday. Finley has been so excited about it, and we have slowly but surely been getting everything to start it. Mike built a box to house the garden and turned over the grass and put top soil down in the box. Me and Finley went yesterday and she picked out what she wanted to plant. We have watermelons, pumpkins, cucumbers, cantaloupes, green peppers, tomatoes, and green beans. So, needless to say, what was supposed to be just a small garden has turned into an entire produce section. None the less though, we are excited to get everything planted when this rain stops. I can't wait til we see the first vegetable growing, Finley will love it! Stay tuned as the weather gets nice, and the garden starts growing. I will continue to update on our success, and post pictures.

A Big Day for Our Little Boy!

Everyday Blaine does something new or just a little better then he did the day before. It's amazing to watch him and the smile he gives you melts your heart faster then anything. He truly is a joy. I kept telling Mike the entire time that I was pregnant, that because Finley was such a good baby, that I couldn't imagine we would be blessed with another mild mannered, pleasant, all around happy baby. But, to both of our surprise, he is exactly if not more pleasant then Finley was. He loves his new activity center, and he gets his legs going in it like he is running a marathon. Mike put it together for him last Saturday, and he has spent alot of time in it since. Here are a few pics of him playing, and the last few are him eating cereal for the first time. He did really well with the cereal, it took him two or three bites to get his tongue used to it, but after that he opened his mouth and was ready before hand. Enjoy the pics.......he is growing so fast.

A Night in Hershey!

After Disney on Ice, we went and stayed at a hotel. Finley loves staying in hotels, and lord knows she is a pro at it by now. I think in her 2 almost 3 short years, she has stayed in more hotels then I have. Her daddy has her trained to jump on the bed first thing when she gets in the room. Anyways, here are a few pics of Finley getting ready to go swimming in the indoor pool. She all of a sudden loves to swim and pick out a swimsuit to wear. Mike was holding her in the water and she kept saying kick and paddle, kick and paddle. Me and Blaine hungout while they were swimming and as you can see he sucked down his bottle and then got into his new froggy pajamas!

Disney on Ice!

On Saturday, I took Finley to Disney on Ice in Hershey. I bought the tickets several months ago and she has been so excited ever since. I should have known though that it was going to be a long afternoon when she didn't sleep the whole way there and the show wasn't until 3:30. We got there and went in, and she was loving it. She got a snowcone and a princess flashlight and an Ariel doll. She was total smiles until we walked down the steps to the ice. She was petrified once we got to our seats. She wanted to hide and of course her pink blanket that she wanted to hide under was in the car. She eventually fell asleep on my lap and when the show started with a bang it woke her and it definately woke her on the wrong side of the bed. She immediately wanted to leave, but when she saw Mickey, Minnie and the rest of the gang, the smile on her face couldn't be any bigger. Then came the princesses, and the smile did get bigger! I was so glad that she was coming out of her shell. She danced and played and Cinderella even touched her hand. Although we got off to a bumpy start, the day turned around, and I couldn't have asked for a better time for Finley and I to spend together. She is such a joy and I love being able to make these memories with her.

Growing Boy.........

Yesterday we spent almost the entire day outside. It was so nice to be out in the sunshine and to let Finley get out some of her pent up energy. She had so much fun riding on her Barbie bike she got for her birthday last year. Hopefully we can get to the greenhouse in the next few days and get some flowers so me and her can plant them and then start on our vegetable garden. After we came in I was going to start dinner but needed to feed Blaine first. As soon as I put the bottle in his mouth he grabbed it out of my hand. I put him in his swing to start dinner, and he fed himself.

Here's Blainer.....

Now here are a few pictures of the little guy. He is really becoming vocal, and loves to lay on his playmat on the floor and try and pull the animals down onto him. He rarely cries, and loves to watch everything that is going on around him. He is such a precious little guy!

Fun in the Sun!

Here are a few pictures of Finley from the trip. She loves playing on the beach and covering herself (and everyone else) with sand. We went to a kite festival while we were there and she got her own kite with a cat on it. She was so excited to fly it..........for about ten minutes. Aunt Liv was a pro at getting them in the air, and then Finley loved to watch them while everyone else did the work.

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Home again........

We got home from our extended trip to Florida on Monday and it has been a busy few days. Between trying to unpack and getting Finley back in the swing of things, I think I have been on my feet non-stop. We had a great time though. Finley has been looking for Gramma and Aunt Liv everywhere she can possibly think of. Last night before bed, she asked if Gramma Chappan could come over and plant flowers with her this morning. She has also been looking for the poor dogs that she has tormented for the last 6 weeks. I am sure that they are at home recooperating from their rough few weeks. Now it's the cats turn to flinch when they hear Finley coming. Thanks for a great time mom! We left Florida on Easter after we had dinner. Finley loved running around the yard looking for Easter eggs, and Blaine looked adorable in his little bunny outfit. He is getting so big and Mike is convinced that he is more vocal then Finley was at this age. Before long he will be Finley's age!