Country roads, take me home...

As the John Denver song goes, "Country roads, take me home to the place I belong."  Our trip home was wonderful.  The drive out was great with a kid in each car and an adult to keep the kid entertained.  We made it there in record time.  I can't even describe the feeling that I get every time my car gets to the crest of that hill and then when we pop over it, you can see the Mississippi and Iowa on the other side.  Almost heaven.

Lots of Mimi and Papa lovin' was spread around.  Finn made sure to get her Mimi and Papa time in -- A LOT.  It was a lot of "No, Mimi do it." or "Where's Tapa?" (her cute little way of saying Papa).  There was also a lot of cousin Owen.  She couldn't get enough of him.

photo courtesy of Mandy 

We went over to my brother's place one night and grilled out.  The kids got to play in the yard.  There were slides, sandboxes, kites, balls and bubbles.  It was a great night to be a kid (if only the weather was just a little warmer -- it will be next time we are home).

photo courtesy of Mandy 

photo courtesy of Mandy 

photo courtesy of Mandy

One of my favorite photos -- it looks like they have some serious convo's out there.

Sunday was our family Easter egg hunt.  As mentioned before, she made out like a bandit.  There was more than enough eggs to go around and she was definitely an overachiever.  With only three kids and so many eggs, one got tired after all the big eggs and prizes were picked up and the other realized that there was candy on the inside of the eggs and started opening the eggs as he picked them up.  Finn was still running around like crazy until the final egg was picked up.  And her bag definitely showed that!

Aunt Susie holding brother Fish.

This was also the first time that Fish and his cousin Nixon were able to get together.  If you remember during the Iowa Christmas post, my cousin had a baby boy around New Year's Eve.  So Nixon and Fish met for the first time -- only four weeks separate the two of them.  Nixon definitely has some size and pounds over Fish -- but we'll see as they got older, who is going to be pushing around who.

The Egghunters:  Noxx (Nixon's older brother), Owen (some to be older brother this summer), and Finn (Fish's older sister)

I love how Finn and Owen are holding hands.

Gram #2 Vicki holding brother

And they are off!

She was so excited to pick up eggs, she even lost her shoe!

Double-fisting it!

Hey, wait!  There is candy in these eggs.

Beautiful brother Cory

A little bit of housekeeping: An Easter Recap

So this post is definitely going to be photo-heavy as I have a lot of catching up to do.  These two photos are of Finn's last day at daycare.  I'm not sure if I mentioned it here, but I have quit my job to stay at home with the kids.  As mentioned before, we went to Iowa during her first week at home, so this week is our first official week of me as a SAHM with the two kiddos.  Wish us luck!

My mother, my aunt, and my cousin all came out for Easter.  It was a fantastic weekend!  We dyed Easter eggs, had an Easter hunt and even did some Easter dancing.  I was then lucky enough to have the three of them to help us drive back to Iowa.  We were all so happy them came out to visit.

Getting ready for some egg dying...

Lucy decided to join us initially and tried to help.

Sister was an awesome egg-dyer!

We had every color under the sun.

Near the end of it, someone was getting a little stir-crazy and even took a drink of the vinegar dye.  Thankfully it was only a sip and that it was food-grade dye.

We even dyed an egg for brother Fish.  He wasn't having anything to do with it -- probably because it was pink.

Check out the red mustache that was attained from the sip of dye!

Love the dye-stained hands.

Sister and her clutch of eggs.

Easter Munky

The Easter Bunny left little bunny tracks through our house to lead Finn to her Easter basket.

The Easter Bunny gave her a little black ballerina leotard, which was a big hit.

We had an Easter Egg hunt in our yard on Easter Sunday as well.  Somebunny was ready!

 

Easter cupcakes were also made that weekend.

And there was even some Easter dancing!!!

Gone fishin' at 13 weeks

At thirteen weeks old:

---Doing our very unscientific weighing, Fish is weighing in at 16.5 pounds today!  He has gained almost 2 pounds in the last month.  We also unscientifically measured him and he was 26 inches long!!  Holy long-man, Batman!

---At his last appointment at the doctor which was over four weeks ago, his weight was in the 97th percentile as well as his height was in the 98th.  We will see if he keeps it up at his four month check-up.

---He had been eating like a mo'fo the past two weeks and we were figuring that he was having his three month growth spurt.  Looks like we were right if our measurements are accurate.

---He is still sleeping with us, which I personally feel is wonderful!  Last night, he slept from 9:30pm -- roughly 2:45am.  And then I think that he slept again until about 5am.  He likes to wake up around 5-5:30 and stay awake until 7 and then fall back asleep.  Seriously, dude, let's fix this...

---He now recognizes me and greets me with a smile and a coo when I've left the room or set him down.

---He is mesmerized with the TV.  We don't put him in front of the television but in putting him down on the sofa or the floor, he will turn to the television and watch.

---He is still napping pretty good.  He takes one really long nap in the morning and then another pretty long nap in the evening.  The in-between time is cat-napping here and there.  He still naps a lot more and a lot better than Finn did.

---The big dude is already in 3-6 (6) month clothes.  We moved him over a couple of weeks ago.  And he is stretched to the length of the 6 month clothes.  He is fitting pretty perfectly into them.

---He is in size 2 diapers.  He is still fitting pretty well into them.  I foresee a move into bigger diapers in the next month or two, though.  He is just long enough for them to be fitting perfectly, another inch longer and they won't be working well.

---The dude is now holding objects with both hands when placed in his hands.  This is a pretty recent development.  He could always hold objects, but it was a bit of a struggle.  Now he is readily holds something that is placed in his hands.

---He also found his hands two weeks ago.  I was sitting on the sofa with him and suddenly there was a loud sucking sound.  I turned to look at him and he was sucking his hand, just like he did when he was born.  
---He is starting to do more talking.  He isn't a really big talker yet.  He will make coos, gurgles, and some raspberries.  But most of the time it's just smiles, smiles, smiles.

---We need to practice more tummy time.  He isn't a really big fan of it and spends most of his time, rubbing his head on the floor and fussing because he doesn't want to be on his tummy.

---He also has excellent neck strength.  He can be picked up from a laying position with minimal head support.  He doesn't need head support at all being passed between people.  He doesn't need any support when being held upright.  Every once in a while, he gets a little wild with his head, but quickly regains control.  And he is getting really good at maintaining neck control when we grab his hands and lift him into a sitting position from a laying position.  In fact, when laying in a reclining position, he will lift his head off the pillow (in like a semi-situp) and keep his head up as if to sit up on his own.  He will even do this while sitting in his carseat.  Dude wants to see the world!

 

I threw a photo of Finn in at 12 weeks for comparison.

---The little dude is definitely a mama's boy.

---I think that he is ready to eat some rice cereal.  I'm going to wait another month or two.  But he avidly watches you when you are eating and he is also nursing almost every two hours when he is awake.  The minute that food comes out of the oven and is plated for me to eat, he will begin to cry like clockwork.  The minute that food is ready, I try to shove my face full, knowing that it will only be minutes before he realizes food is ready to eat and begins to cry.

A week in the life (v.2014.14)

Throw your hands in the air like you just don't care!

Sisterly love.  The video totally makes me giggle, especially Fish's face when Finn's fingers are all over his face.

As mentioned earlier -- we were in Iowa for the past week and a half.  It was much needed.  Finn loves her Papa.

Cutting up wooden sugar cookies to bake.

To say that Finn got to do some crazy things while back home is an understatement.  Riding on the "tractor" with Papa.

The next time I looked out, Papa wasn't driving anymore.  "Look, Ma!  No hands!"

Whach you talkin' 'bout, Willis?

We went over to my brother's place and Finn got to fly a kite for the first time.

She loved watching the "diamond in the sky".

I couldn't get to my car, get my phone, and then get over there quick enough to get a long video.

Brother was totally chillin' with the chicks on the patio.

Cousin Owen sliding down his slide.

Finn sliding down the slide.  It was a big hit!

Love.

Happy boy.

My family also postponed their Easter Egg hunt for us.  To say that she got spoiled, is quite the understatement.

There were three kids for six bags of eggs.  I somehow think that I as a parent is now being punished for my child being an overachiever.  The other two boys stopped before all the eggs were picked up.  This girl just kept going and going and going...

Fish got passed around inside and then passed around again.  Uncle Burhead got his turn.

The results of a hard-earned bag of candy-filled eggs.

Owen came over to Mimi & Papa's and they decided to share Owen's cowboy boots.

I drove home solo yesterday.  10 hours.  Long time.  But this photo...  Not only are they both sleeping -- but Finn's sunglasses are on upside down...