A Giggle

My heart has officially melted. I was just rocking my little guy in his room and I heard his giggle for the first time. It was one of the sweetest things I have ever heard. He was sound asleep and he kept smiling. Then, he suddenly let out this deep chuckle. At first I thought it was a fluke but he did it a few more times. For those who have had the pleasure of hearing his Uncle Kevin laugh, imagine that in a 2 month old version. It was hilarious! I really wish I knew what that little guy was dreaming about!!

A Beautiful Blessing for a BIG Boy

This past week was CRAZY (to say the least). It all started on Wednesday when Alex (my best friend of nearly 18 years) came to visit with her mom and her grandmother. They got here quite early that morning to meet Finn for the first time and spend the day with him. We had a really good time drooling over this boy's adorable face and chunky cheeks. I was quite exhausted by the end of the day because these women are pretty crazy and VERY talkative. Alex and her family have always been very entertaining and they certainly didn't leave me disappointed!! I don't have any pictures of them with Finn at the moment...I think Alex has some on her phone, so I'll try to post those very soon!

Then on Wednesday evening as Alex and her family were leaving, Sandi and Shannon came by with Drake and Sloane so we could finally meet Sloane and Shannon could meet Finn. I am absolutely in love with this little girl. It is not even funny how beautiful she is (see the pics below)! She almost doesn't look real because she is just so perfect. I kind of already knew that Finn was a heffer, but he looked gigantic next to Sloane!

Thursday was an exciting day because Finn had his 2 month check-up. I was very anxious to get his new stats: Height: 25 inches, Weight: 14 lbs, 5 oz., Head: 16 1/4 inches. The doctor was quite impressed with his height and weight. I was kind of expecting it since Blake is over 6 feet and so is my dad. I predict that my little guy will be taller than me by 5th grade!

By Friday night, we had all sorts of people in town. All of the Holloways were here and my parents flew in as well. Then, on Saturday, Gerald, Danyelle, and Hannah arrived. We got everyone together to go to Basha pool. We had such a fun time. The kids were in the water all day, and Finn was exhausted by the end of the day from playing in the pool and getting passed around to everyone. We went over to Kevin and Melissa's for a BBQ that night and ate some delicious food.

Finally, it was Sunday - Finn's big day. We had the blessing at our home after church. It was really fun to get him in his little white outfit, wrap him in his white blankie, and hand him over to his daddy for his blessing. I was already losing it before Blake said a word. Just watching all of these great men from our family gather in a circle to bless this little guy was such an amazing experience. Blake did an incredible job and had some beautiful things to say to his little son. It was a great day and it was sad to see everyone go. We hope that everyone had a great weekend and we want to thank everyone again for traveling to be here and helping us out! Here are some pictures from the big day:

Here are the men from the blessing. Note: my dad did wear a white shirt and tie, but he managed to change before we took the picture!

Grandpa and Grandma Holloway with all of their grandchildren!

This is our attempt at getting all of the cousins in a picture together. It was quite the interesting experience! Right when you got one kid to stop crying, another one would start...I'm sure most parents can relate.

Gerald, Hannah, and Danyelle...Hannah and Reese are new best friends. They had so much fun together!

Blake and Shannon decided to take a picture with Finn and Sloane next to each other to see the size difference. Finn is only one day older than Sloane...are you kidding me??

Happy Easter!!

I know this is a little late, but I want to share all about Finn's first Easter. While we were at church, the Easter Bunny snuck in and delivered a basket for Finn and Molly. Finn's basket had Disney's "Robin Hood", one little easter egg, and (most importantly) a can of formula! I guess the Easter Bunny knows that if Finn got candy, then Blake and I would end up eating all of it. Then, Molly's basket had some of her favorite chewies and treats. She was very, very excited! She was especially excited when we let her get on the couch for the pictures (this isn't our main couch...it's the one in our office. She's definitely not allowed on our other couch). There were some other pictures where Finn was NOT screaming, but this one was too funny. Then, we went over to Clint and Andrea's for Easter dinner. We had ham, cheesy potatoes (soooo good!!), green bean casserole, and all sorts of other goodies.

Also, this weekend was Andrea's birthday. We went to a place called San Tan Flat. It's a really cool outdoor restaurant. There are picnic tables, fire pits, a big dance floor, and live music. They have really yummy food and you can roast marshmallows in the fire pit to make s'mores! It's really, really fun! It was kind of chilly outside, so it was a lot of fun to get bundled up and cuddle with our little guy!

We had a really fun weekend and a very happy Easter! We hope all of you did too!

A Little Belated...

I know this post is a little belated, but it's better late than never. I want to wish a VERY HAPPY 27th Birthday to my dear husband!! He is such a great guy and everyone who knows him seems to like him right away (which can be a little annoying at times). There is something very sincere, likable, and charming about him. However, he can be extremely frustrating as well (which is something that people notice pretty quickly about him as well). Somehow, though, that charm overrides all of that stubbornness and any of those other not-so-fun qualities.

As scary as it may seem...his son seems to be exactly the same. This little guy will have a day where he screams and screams and I will feel ready to give up, and then he will redeem himself by flashing this little grin at me with his big, cute dimple in his cheek or he'll get all cuddled up with me and fall asleep on my chest. Let's just say that I definitely have my work cut out for me.

Anyway, I truly love my husband and I really hope that he had a great birthday! Not only is he an incredible husband, but I think he is a fantastic dad. You can already tell that his son absolutely adores him! Feel free to post him some happy thoughts or to give him a hard time...

See Finn Swim!

Yesterday, Blake and I took Finn for his first swim. I was a little nervous because I wasn't so sure that he would like the water. He usually likes his baths, but he also really loves to be swaddled in a warm blanket. So...we went with Ryan and Tenneal's family to Basha High School where they have a really cool Aquatic Center. There is a really fun kiddy pool, a lazy river, two water slides, and all sorts of fun stuff.

We got him dressed in his very cute bathing suit and lathered him in LOTS of sunscreen. Then, Blake took him for a dip! He seemed to really like it, which makes me happy because I think he has the potential to be quite the swimmer (have you seen his feet??). He got to float on Blake's chest in the lazy river, but there were some parts where water pours down on you and he did NOT like that. Overall, though, he seemed to enjoy himself and we had a lot of fun!

Also...I had the idea to take a picture of Finn next to his daddy's pants just to show how tiny he is now and how big he could be one day! He is just too cute...

First Time at Church

Finn is officially 5 weeks old and today was his first time at church. As you can see, he got all dressed up for the occasion. We really wanted to take him last week, but with church starting at 8 am, it's easier said than done. He ate right before we got him all dressed, we took a few pictures, managed to get ourselves ready, and we were only a few minutes late! He slept all through Sacrament meeting and if our Ward wasn't so loud, I probably would have done the same!

This has been an interesting week because this little guy went from 4 hours between feedings to about 2 or 3 hours. And every minute in between was basically spent crying and screaming. Fortunately for all of us, my mom was here to help. Can I just say that I am incredibly grateful for my mom and all of her help. Without her help this past week, my dishes would be stacked to the ceiling, I would probably be starving to death, and I'm pretty sure that I would have gone completely insane. Not only that, but she gave me that extra boost of confidence with her words of wisdom when she reminded me that I'm not the only mom who has gone through this and that I will actually miss these days when Finn's too big to be held. I know I'm biased, but I really do have the best mom and I can only hope to be as marvelous as her.

Now that I have probably made her cry, I'll move on by saying that I really do love this little guy. He has started smiling (usually when he's pooping, but hey...it's a smile)! He is too adorable for words and I am having a blast watching him grow every day. I also don't want to neglect to mention my husband. He has been very patient with me when I try to keep sleeping when he's nudging me to go feed the baby and when I go to bed at 8 and leave him in charge of getting Finn to go to sleep after he has worked all day. I think the patience he has learned after dealing with me has prepared him to be a very patient and fantastic dad. So, I guess there really is a reason why I am the way I am...

One Month!

I am amazed at how quickly time flies! My little Finn is already a month old! He is getting very big, mainly because he eats non-stop. He is super sweet and loves to be held. We still aren't getting much sleep, but every now and then he'll let us have a good stretch of sleep. He is finally starting to enjoy bath time as well, which is nice compared to when he would scream the entire time. I am loving spending time with him and hanging out with him all day. He is such a joy to have in our home and we absolutely love him!

On Sunday, we had some friends and family over for a St. Patrick's Day feast. Blake spent the day in the kitchen cooking up corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, Irish soda bread, and cupcakes with green frosting. It was all very delicious! He is quite the chef!

I couldn't resist taking lots of pictures of Finn in his "I am a McCutie" shirt. Also, I can never resist torturing Molly with her traditional St. Patty's Day hat! Enjoy!!