All About Finley

Finley is officially 15 months old! I wanted to wait to do the All About Finley post after we went to the pediatrician this morning just in case I found out anything exciting!  Dr. K said she looked perfect and that there was no need to be concerned about anything!

She weighs 21 pounds (10th percentile) and is between 30 and 30.5 inches long (25th percentile).  The length measurement from the pediatrician visit wasn't accurate, but it's safe to say that she continues to be on the petite, but healthy side!

She isn't enjoying shopping as much these days.  I usually "bribe" her with pretzels when we go run errands and she does just great then... otherwise, she's quite antsy and wants to be out of the cart!

Sometimes it takes a bit of prompting to get her to try food.  I always read that you shouldn't force kids to eat, but to continue to present the food over and over allowing them to choose to eat it.  Well, I've tried that and I've found that my stubborn little girl doesn't always want to try stuff that she really does like!  For instance, the other day I stuffed a peach in her mouth after her adamant refusals and she then ate a whole plate full of peaches!

She's really good at taking bites and tearing food into smaller pieces now.  I rarely cut up anything for her anymore.  She is definitely a bread lover!  We made biscuits the other morning for breakfast and she had more of them than I did!  She also loves pancakes.

She continues to enjoy dumping things out and putting them back in.  Whether it's blocks, farm animals, or pens, she will sit and do this for a good 20-30 minutes without stopping.

She's created a couple of independent artworks! =)  When she gets really bored, I'll give her a pen and a piece of paper and let her create.  I can't wait until she's big enough for real craft projects!

She is quite musical.  As I've said practically every month, she loves music, but now she hums/sings melodies back to us.  We'll sing the ABC song to her and she'll sing the tune right back!  She does it with other songs as well, but this is the one she is best at.  She also nods her head when I sing to her as if "yep, Mom, that's how this song goes."

She points a lot these days.  I've tried to explain that it isn't polite to point at people! Ha, ha!  But she is definitely understanding more and more these days.  If I ask her to point to her diaper, doll, cat, zipper, etc. she will.  I don't know if it was by coincidence, but I even asked her to point to Daddy in a picture and she was able to do it.

She can climb onto her rocking horse and little car by herself.  She's almost tall enough to push herself around on her car.

She is teething a lot these days.  Her two bottom molars are fully in as well as the tooth next to her middle two on the right side.  She has another tooth coming in directly next to it as well as at least one tooth on the left side. I think she's getting her top molars as well, but it's hard to tell.  Regardless, she hasn't been sleeping as well and hasn't been herself lately.  I'm ready for all of her teeth to be in!

Along with knowing where her head is, she also knows where her tummy, tongue, and feet are.

She loves to rock her baby dolls.  It is so cute.  She rocks back and forth instead of side to side.  The gloworm is one of her favorites right now since it sings and lights up.

She continues to be more and more vocal.  She says "Up peas" all the time which is really funny.  "Up please" pretty much refers to Up, Down, or whatever she wants at the moment.  It's the only time she says Please and when I say Please with anything else, she'll say "Up Peas".  I think she's a bit confused on the fact that Please is a separate word! =)

She has to have something in both hands pretty much at all times.  Whether it's food or toys or binkies, she likes to have both hands full!

She has been making less calls due to the fact that she has taken an interest in the house phone instead of my cell phone!  Thank goodness.  It's much more difficult to make unsolicited calls on it.

Speaking of phones... if we are out shopping and she hears someone's phone ring, she'll put her hand to her ear and pretend to be talking on the phone.  It's so cute.  She just jabbers and jabbers!

She is quite the kiss blower these days and is starting to blow them unsolicited.  The other day, I said "I love you, Finley!" and she blew me a kiss.  She's such a sweetie!

She's having a major change in routine.  She was sleeping until about 9 every morning, but now it's more like 7:30 or 8:00.  Her nap schedule is all messed up as well as I posted about earlier this week.  A little Baby Whisperer and things are looking up, but I'm still not sure exactly what our new routine is going to look like.

She is wearing size 3 diaper still and is mostly in 12-18 month clothing though she has several 6-12 month outfits that I've been putting her in a lot before she completely outgrows them!  She's wearing size 3 shoe or 6-9 months and I'm convinced that she would be walking if her feet weren't so small! ;)

And no, she's still not walking consistently.  When I picked her up from Mary's the other day, she said "She walks on her knees."  And I said "I know!" and Mary said "She is so fast on them!  It's crazy!"  It's like she doesn't have a need to walk on her feet when her knees serve the same purpose.  And in fact, Dr. K said there is absolutely nothing to worry about and that she will walk when she is ready!

She claps when other people are cheering or if she hears music start playing.  We were watching OSU play basketball the other day on t.v. and she kept cheering for the other team because it was an away game and she was cheering with the crowd!  I think she thought it was crazy that we were cheering when the t.v. crowd wasn't!

Her and Jenny are pretty good buds.  She loves the cat, but the cat does NOT love her!  Poor Finley hasn't figured it out yet!

She loves when we make animal noises.  She thinks it is so funny!  Devin is much better at animal noises than I am so she especially loves it when Dada makes them.

Her hair is getting longer on top.  Her two ponytails look more like little dustmops these days.  The other day we were at Target and this little 4-year-old girl said "Mommy, she has silly hair!"  I couldn't help, but laugh.

She's going through a phase where when she first wakes up, she doesn't like to be set down.  She doesn't necessarily want to cuddle, but she wants to play while being held.  It's as close to snuggle time as I get most of the time so I am enjoying it.

Along with that, she has recently started letting me rock her a bit before bedtime.  For quite awhile, I could only rock her in my arms while standing up, but thankfully, she's being a bit more cuddly these days when she's tired.

Her little face has pretty much lost all of it's baby-ness.  She is definitely looking like the toddler that she is and I love it!  God has really blessed me with an appreciation of her growth and development.  Sure, I long to hold her swaddled newborn body in my arms at times, but I am just in love with learning who she is and can't wait to see who she will become.

She's getting better and better at standing up in the middle of the room.  She has been doing this periodically since August, but just recently, she has become a pro at it.  I've read that this is a precursor to walking so she's making definite progress!

She has a very ticklish neck!

She loves cheerleaders.  We had amazing seats (thanks to my uncle) for an OSU basketball game recently and Finley was fascinated.  We were literally sitting on the court.

She can find "hidden" things.  I'll hide her binky or other toys in my pocket or in other places and she will go right to it and uncover it. 

She's got the head shake down!  She's beginning to get a little "sass" with it, but thankfully, is still not too sassy yet.

When she gets fussy in the car, Devin will fake cough and she'll fake cough back.  She thinks it is the funniest thing!  

She enjoys playing with the baby gate, but doesn't like when she locks herself out of the living room.  Even if she can still see us, she gets really frustrated if she can't get to us.

Daddy is still her favorite!!!!!  If the phone rings or if I open the back door and the alarm beeps, she immediately says "Dada!"  She gets so excited to see him!  I have to be careful not to say anything about Dada when he isn't here because she'll start looking for him and saying "Dada? Dada?" over and over.

And as always, she is truly the most wonderful, beautiful toddler ever and I love her more than I can stand!

Truth-filled Tuesday

Dear Finley,
As I was sitting in BSF today and absorbing the TRUTH of God's Word, I realized once again how important it is that I pass on to you the only TRUTH that really matters. It is honestly the best gift I can ever give to you and was my plan when I started Life Lessons last Spring.  Of course, life got in the way and I haven't been very good about writing down what God is showing me.

As I was listening to the lecture today, it just occurred to me how big of a priority it is for me to take the time to record and reflect on God's Word so starting this week, I am going to start writing you a letter each week after BSF so that I can do just that!  Granted this is probably more for my benefit at the moment than yours, but that's why I am going to write it in letter form... so one day we can both go back and discuss these wonderful truths of God's Word that were written for our benefit... to correct and inspire.

Today we discussed John 12.  You'll probably want to read it for all of the following to make sense... my notes are a bit choppy! =)  This is such an amazing chapter on the true personal nature of Jesus.  My desire is for you to not just have a Biblical knowledge of our Savior, but to have a true personal relationship with Him!

Principle #1:
Jesus notices, remembers, and is blessed by our acts of costly worship!

Mary anoints Jesus' feet with her perfume.... perfume worth one year's salary and probably her entire dowry.  She does this because she LOVES Jesus.  She wants to show gratitude to Him for raising Lazarus and because she knows His time is near.  In many ways, Mary shows more worship of our Savior than even His disciples did because she took advantage of the opportunity to worship Him!

After she anoints Him, Judas criticizes her for wasting that money.

Criticism almost always reveals an inward problem.  Sweetie, this truth was so convicting to me because I know I can be so critical sometimes.  When you find yourself being critical, make sure to examine the underlying reasons.  Is it because of insecurity on your part?  Because it's easier to criticize than understand?

Always remember that He sees when we make sacrifices for Him.  He sees when we wake up earlier to spend time with Him.  When we give up something for Him.  When we don't buy ourselves something so we can give to Him.

What fragrance fills your house?  Does Jesus linger or is it worry, fret, anxiety, or hurriedness?

We must according to Hebrews 13:15 "Give Him the SACRIFICE of praise."  Even God realizes that sometimes it is a sacrifice and He honors that.

Principle #2:
Sovereign Jesus is in charge and He deserves to be worshipped in true joy.

In this chapter, we also see Jesus coming in humility and as a servant riding on a donkey as the crowds sing Hosannah.  He is the perfect fulfillment of the OT.

We must remember that if we expose ourselves to Scripture, the full picture becomes clear.

His light shines brightest through those believers who are in the midst of darkness.

He calls Himself the Son of Man... He is the only one who refers to Himself in this way because He loves to identify Himself with us.  Once again... we serve a personal Lord!!!!!

Take joy in the fact that He wants you to come before Him and be in His presence!!!!!

Principle #3:
Real worship is daily dying to self in order to fully follow and glorify Christ.

He put Himself into the ground in order to produce life for us.  We must therefore die to our self (die to our hopes, joys, desires, etc. and seek what God wants in our life... asking Him to fill us with His desires!) in order to truly live.

Jesus says "My heart is troubled" as He faces His death and resurrection even though He knows that was His whole mission on earth... His heart is still troubled by the idea of being separated from God for the first time!

When we are going down a path that we never wanted to go down, we must as Jesus did say "Father, be glorified!"

Principle #4:
The worship of our Sovereign Savior deepens our understanding of God's ways.

Lastly in this chapter, we see the continued refusal by the Jews to worship Jesus.  No matter how many miracles Jesus performed or how many OT prophecies Jesus fulfilled, they made the choice to not believe.  Why?  Because the Israelites CHOSE to reject God and therefore, God blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts to the TRUTH.  Throughout the Bible, we see God's Sovereignty versus Man's Responsibility.

If we do not allow the TRUTH to invade our souls and live by active faith, we will miss His glory (and waste our trials and tribulations) due to our choice to let our souls be hardened and our eyes be blinded!

I love you, sweet pea!
Mom

A Day Week in the Life

I usually try to post about the exciting things that happen in our lives, but last week, a few "mundane" things happened that I know I will think are really funny one day.... especially what happened on Wednesday.  I hope to be better about writing down more of our normal everyday experiences because I know even those are precious!

Monday:
Finley slept until 9:30 a.m. Who-hoo!  She has not been in a good routine for quite sometime due to the holidays and our ski trip so I was able to have my quiet time, get dressed, check my email, watch a little t.v., etc. all before my little girl woke up.  It's was great!  Once she was up, I got her dressed and we ran a couple of errands before meeting Aubrey for lunch.  Our lunch was great!  Aubrey and I hadn't had lunch in several months so we had lots to catch up on!  Thankfully, Finley behaved about as perfectly as can be expected from an almost 15-month-old who is stuck in a high chair for two hours!  We got home and she took another nap and I was thinking "Wow!  She is back into her old routine!"  Unfortunately, I was wrong! =)

Tuesday:
Tuesday's are BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) mornings and I got up a little later than usual and immediately heard Finley crying.  I went to give her some milk, but she made it clear that she wanted O-U-T.  Already running late, I tried to get both of us dressed and fed at the same time which didn't work too well.  Normally, it wouldn't have been too big of a deal, but I hadn't done a good job of laying out what we were going to wear like I usually do and Finley was teething so she was being a bit needier than usual.  When we pulled out of the driveway just two minutes behind schedule, I was feeling so proud of myself.... until we were a mile away from the church and I realized that I forgot my phone.  Of all days to forget it!  I had lunch scheduled with girls from BSF and my friend, Mary, had agreed to watch Finley.

Even though Mary is a nurse, a mom to the sweetest little boy, and completely competent, I just hated not having my phone in case of emergencies.  I was really stressed out by it and felt anxious throughout the lunch. =(  Fortunately, Finley had a blast playing with Mary and Hunter.  Of course, when I got home and found my phone,  I had five voicemails.  One of them was from Devin and when I called him back, I immediately started telling him about my morning and he cut in to say "I figured it had been a rough morning for you when I came home for lunch and found Jenny inside!"  What?  I had left the dog inside?  I NEVER do that!  I just had to laugh.  I am definitely not one of those moms who always has her act together!!!!

Wednesday:
I wake up and think how happy I am to have a day at home to catch up on laundry and play with Finley.  Everything starts out great.  Finley only sleeps until 8 (which is still great, I know!), but I still had time for my quiet time before she woke up.  We ate breakfast together and did our devotional...  She had a dirty diaper so I changed her.  Gathered up her laundry so she'd have clean jammies and went back downstairs.  I started some laundry and went back to play with Fin until naptime.  Once Finley was asleep, I went into the laundry room to switch laundry out and it REAKED!

I panic and then realize that I had put her dirty diaper on the washer so that I could take it outside later.  I look on the washer... no diaper.  Check the top of the dryer... no diaper.  Look on the floor... Look behind the washer and dryer... no diaper, no diaper, no diaper.  Surely not, I think.  No, I wouldn't have been that stupid.  But yes, I had scooped the diaper up with the dirty clothes and thrown them all into the washer.  I won't go into great detail, but it's safe to say that I was very close to buying a new washer along with a new wardrobe for Finley.  7 soaks, 5 wash cycles, 2 types of detergent, and a brief vacuum cleaning later, I felt that it was going to be okay.  GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!  Again, I am definitely not one of those moms who always has her act together!!!!

The rest of the day wasn't quite as eventful, but Finley only took a really short nap and was a bit restless all day.  We went to church that night and she seemed to be in better spirits.  She really loves being around other kids.

Thursday:
Thursday's are Mother's Day Out days and as should be expected, Finley was dead asleep when I went in to get her ready.  It was clear that she would've slept until at least 9 which made me laugh since Thursday is the only other day besides Tuesday that we have to be up by a certain time.  Poor girl, she was looking a bit pathetic when I dropped her off.  I told them to call if she was fussy because I could tell her teeth were really bothering her.  When I picked her up, Mrs. Sheila said "She had a rough day... well, a rough day for her.  It just wasn't one of her better days, but she was still really good."  I thought for sure she'd take a great afternoon nap like she usually does after MDO, but nope, once again, she barely napped.  Obviously, she's getting older and doesn't need as much nap time, but I'm so confused as to what her ideal routine needs to be right now!!!!

Friday:
Again, Finley was up early, early since we had nowhere to be!  =)  We played all morning and she went down for a nap that didn't last long.  I got her up and tried to put her back to sleep after giving her lunch, but no such luck so we went shopping!  =)  In desperate need of some new shoes for her, we went to the mall and she, thankfully, enjoyed the time out of the house.  She fell asleep on the way home which was good!  Devin and I had Date Night that night so we put her to bed as soon as we could, ordered take-out, and watched a movie!  Of course, we won't always stay in for Date Night, but it was actually nice to stay home and just enjoy time together!

And that was our week... Next week, I'm going to work on figuring out Finley's new routine and work on obtaining a new "normal"!  Moms who don't have routines for their children AMAZE me because I am so not productive when I don't know the general schedule of our day.  I could do a whole post on the difference between routines and schedules, but I'll save that for another time! =)

Ski Trip: Day 3, Night 4, Day 4

Day 3:

I woke up Sunday morning and could not talk at ALL.  No sound came out.  I didn't feel horrible, but I didn't feel great either.  When I was teaching, I went hoarse a couple of times, but this time, it seemed out of no where.  I was kind of bummed that I wasn't feeling 100% on our last day in Taos since I had planned to take a lot more pictures.  Obviously, I still had a photo shoot with Finley and it did force me to get us all packed up!

We non-skiers had a relaxing morning while the skiers went back to the slopes.  Devin was pretty excited to try moguls and jumps again after the 3 of them had tried them the day before.  I wanted to go watch them, but there wasn't a place I could go to see them without actually being on skis and obviously, that was NOT an option.

That afternoon, we again went to watch Adam and Nathan ski.  Nathan was taking a nap so it was just Adam this time, but the ski instructors all encouraged Amy and Dillon to bring Nathan back to the ski school soon because as they put it, he is absolutely fearless!

Night 4:

That night, we came back and just finished packing, ate dinner, and relaxed.  We also took "scarf" pictures.  I had bought us all fun scarves at Old Navy when they were on sale for $1.  I was pleasantly surprised that we actually got a decent one.  It's hard to ever get one with all 3 kids looking, but all-in-all the scarf pics turned out great!

Probably my favorite story from the whole weekend happened while we were hanging out.  The boys had brought these blocks to play with and they were quite the hit all weekend.  Well, both Adam and Nathan had built some pretty complex shapes and were showing them off to all of us and Finley comes over to the boys with a yellow block stuck on her finger just as proud of herself as she could be.  She kept showing it to them like it was just as cool as what they had made and trying to be a part of the action.  It just made me laugh so hard!  She so wants to be one of the big kids!  I should also say that Nathan calls Finley "Finley Ela" all the time and I absoultely LOVE it.  It's so precious!

Day 4:
The trip back was long, but not nearly as frustrating as the way there.  Finley did about as well as could be expected.  She did sleep quite a bit of the 9 hour trip back, but she was also awake a good portion.  We entertained her with her favorite CD and toys, but she was as ready as we were to get back home!!!!