Whew... I'm tired....

I'm back from yet ANOTHER trip home. So many things have happened this past week! It's been CRAZY!! There is always an agenda EVERY time I go home (it's my fault, no one else's). I did come to realize on this trip that Fin thinks "Daddy means playtime and Mommy means business." Fin will not sleep in the car when Marcel is in it, period. She doesn't want to miss a thing he might do, because it might be fun. Its exhausting!! She also LOVES being at Mimi and Papa's, Jon and Torie's and Owie and D's, therefore she WILL not sleep normally because she is wound so tight... needless to say, I slept good last night here in Charlotte and so did my little tootie...

Here are the things that are going on in my life:

My ten year high school reunion was last weekend (which got cancelled because of hurricane Fay). A number of us still met up at the Brew Pub though. It was fun!

Us before we left...

My sweet friends (don't we still look so young or are we aging together?)

Everyone that was able to make it to the Brew Pub through the RAGING storm outside.

Lord help me, my child is an animal person and I am NOT!! My grandparent's cats CANNOT relax when Fin is in the house. She torments them everywhere they go (see below).

The tormenting led to this (see below). Marcel was suprised that I was not upset that the cat scratched her, but who can blame them? I would scratch her too...

Poor baby! She didn't mind because seconds later she was desperate to see where they went!

Fin's sleeping habits are HORRENDOUS when we are not at home. For the first time EVER, she slept in the bed with us...and the next night and the next. She's a snuggler too! Doesn't make for good sleep for Mommy and Daddy...

We finally made it home on Tuesday. I brought my mom's sewing machine home with me and got straight to work! I am now obsessed with making her dresses! I am so proud of my first creation!

We are within days of Fin walking by herself (have mercy on us!). She has made it a good 8 steps between us! We are so proud!

And...our neighbors, Stefanie and Scott just had a baby boy (Chase). They will be bringing him home on Friday and we are SO excited to meet him!

What did we do before her?

This is how she wakes up in the morning and after her naps (most of the time)!

Fin and daddy LOVE the Mickey Mouse Club. Fin knows that when the "Hotdog" song comes on, it's time to dance.

She wanted the wrinkles out of her dress....

You are no longer safe in your chair in the Richard household... We already had a finger smashing incident, but that didn't stop her from crawling right back under.

Reading Daddy his book...

Marcel knew he needed to cut the grass AND he knew I needed a break. This was his solution...

Everyday it gets more exciting and she learns something new. She says "Uh-Oh" ALL day long and said "no-no" yesterday. She shrieks (ear piercing) when she is "found" during Hide and Go Seek and laughs hysterically when you let her pretend hit you and fall down. Love her, love her, love her!

We're Home!

Time flies when you're having fun, for sure. Fin and I were all over the southeast this past week. Here's the route... Charlotte to Columbus, Columbus to Auburn, Auburn to Birmingham, Birmingham to Montgomery, Montgomery to Auburn, Auburn to Montgomery, Montgomery to Columbus and Columbus to Charlotte. Yes, that would be over 1,000 miles with an 11-month-old. My sweet child whined MAYBE 10 minutes of it. How lucky am I??? I arm myself with a passenger seat FULL of toys and when she gets tired of one, I pass her another. We sing too...

Here's a few pics from our trip...

If we walked her up the stairs once, we did it 100 times!

Livi played dress up in my 7th grade Homecoming Dress. Wow, that bow was big...

Jeanna's showers in Birmingham were great! I needed the time to myself for sure. I tried REALLY hard not to be "that person" that won't stop talking about her kids. The best part of my time in B'ham was Saturday morning. I stayed with my friend Meg (who is an EXCELLENT host). We woke up on Saturday morning and watched two episodes of Intervention (my favorite show) in our pajamas and then went to get Chinese (yes, still in our pajamas). I felt like I was in college again and realized how much I missed Auburn and my college friends. I'll never find anyone else like them. They are wonderful. Friends that treat you more like a sister than a friend. Friends that would bake cookies and call you to come eat them. Friends that just came over without calling. I would love to be in Birmingham to be close to them.

I was so happy that Fin got to spend a lot of time with my mom and Torie. I feel like I'm raising her all by myself up here in Charlotte and want to make sure she knows she has them.

I wanted to come back home yesterday, but my dad insisted that I get two new tires for my car. After they put the tires on, they discovered I needed brakes too. Naturally. So, thankfully, Fin is back in Daddy's arms today. Marcel shaved off his goatee while we were gone and I was worried Fin wouldn't recognize him. Good grief, did she know him. She literally sqeezed the breath out of him.

While we were gone, too, Fin learned to say "Uh-Oh" with Uncle Breet. She is also pulling up much faster (you can't take your eyes off her now). Her two top teeth are really growing in now too. Seriously, I love my kid.

Fin's Firsts

I have decided that I'm not going to try and catch up with Fin's past year, because I am missing out on what she is doing now. Today, Fin pulled up on the coffee table and Marcel and I both got to see it. We clapped and clapped and she was SO PROUD!! I don't want to forget her firsts and this week has been huge for her. On Thursday, I walked in to Fin's room and this is what I saw... She figured it out!!!! I layed her back down and said no, no and she laughed at me. Fin thinks its hilarious for us to tell her no. Probably not a good thing, but I can't help but laugh too... The whole standing in her bed is so new to her, that naptime is dreadful for me now. She literally plays for 45 minutes before she finally goes to sleep. Fin also got her nails painted for the first time this week. She didn't really notice, but boy does everybody else!

She is such a blessing to us and is SO much fun these days! She is into EVERYTHING and loves books.

Bathtime is Fin's favorite time of the day. Seriously, she'll stay in there for an hour if you let her. I often have to heat the water back up because it has gotten cold.

Bubbles are a new experience too. They blew them during "Books for Babies" at the library last Monday and Fin was in heaven. Needless to say, we went and got some just for her.

And last, this is how I discovered Fin sleeping. Thought it was pretty funny. I love her more than anything in the world. Marcel and I are so blessed to have her and we cherish every move that she makes.