la la la!

Yesterday was Finley's 1st birthday party. Here are some of the pics I took with my phone. (Apparently as I get older, I take more and more after my dad - my camera batteries died as soon as I turned it on. So I had to use my camera on my phone.) They didn't turn out too bad!

Here's Finley while we all sang to her:

















Here's Finley and her proud parents:

















Here's Finn pondering her delicious cupcake:

















Here's Papa and Finley hanging out. She loved waving to him. She showed off this new trick all day!

















Here's Finley and me with the birthday present I made her. It's a tribute to her love of the book Moo Baa Lalala!


















Happy birthday, Finney! You are so fun to watch as you master your walking skills and practice your cute looks that will undoubtedly get you out of trouble countless times as you grow up. Who could discipline you when you're smiling and shrugging at them? Not me.

Finley Valentine

Happy 1st birthday to my beautiful, sweet, funny, sassy, smart niece Finley. I am so happy to have you in my life, and I can't wait to celebrate your birthday with you next weekend.

Here's a look back at some of the fun moments that Finley and I shared during the first year of her life (which flew by for this auntie.....I can only imagine how fast it must have gone by for Stacy and Taylor).

And of course, how could we do a year in review without this video?

Christmas week recap

I'm feeling like I've fallen behind on this whole blogging thing. So here is a quick recap of our week o' Christmas fesitivities:

In-law dinner: We had my dad & Beth, the Stones, Ritchies, the Harrises (not official in-laws, but family friends) and Stacy, Taylor and Finley over to our house for dinner the night before Christmas Eve. It was so nice to have people over in our festively decorated house! 

Christmas Eve: We hit up two parties - one on each side of the fam. The roads weren't too bad at that point, so we were able to drive from St. Paul to Bloomington to Roseville and back to St. Paul without too much trouble. And I got to see this cute little gal for a bit until her mom got sick and had to go home early.

Christmas Morning: It snowed a lot the night before, and it was still snowing that morning. So Dad, Beth and Eric had to push my car to get it unstuck from all the deep snow in the street that had yet to be plowed. We made it out after getting stuck twice and slowly but surely made the drive to my mom's house. We saw a car turned around on the freeway at one point, so that was a little scary, but my grandma driving skills got us there in one piece. Indy and Buddy got to tear apart exchange gifts, too. :) 

One of the best gifts/outfits of the day: Eric with his new toolbelt

Christmas Evening: We got home to discover that the plow finally came through, so we couldn't get in our driveway. Eric, Dad and Rob shoveled the driveway, then I went out to help with the sidewalks, and Jeff came out later too. It was so warm out (like in the 30s) that we weren't wearing jackets - just hats and gloves. It was such hard work - the snow was melty so it was like shoveling slush. And then there were huge iceberg-sized snow chunks left over from the plow. Whew! We earned out delicious Christmas meal made by Dad and Beth - a roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, bread, wine. Mmmmm....

After that we made a house out of a big cardboard box for Miss Finley, who LOVED it! Alyse needs to post pics, cause I didn't take any with my cam. I was too busy adding pipe cleaner swastikas snowflakes to the outside of the house. Auntie Alyse made pretty pipe cleaner flowers. You'll be happy to know that the "house" is still in our guestroom.

Other holiday events:

• Pizza party and casino night with some of the G fam (not pictured)
  
  
• Ice skating in Rice Park with Stacy, Alyse and the boys (and Finley too)!

Buddy

Meet Buddy, my mom's new dog!

He is the bigger (weighing in at 85 pounds - 20 pounds more than Indy), calmer Indy. He's 3.5 years old and came from a great home where the family was sad to see him go, but they just discovered that one of the kids is allergic to dogs. So my mom, Indy and I drove up to Forest Lake to meet him, and we took him home with us. I think Indy's energy kinda freaked him out a bit, but they got along pretty well. He is going to make a great companion for my mom. And hopefully he and Indy develop a good friendship. :)

Welcome to the family, Buddy!

Maracas!!!!

Here is Finley practicing for her new band. This was pre-puking episodes.

Ode to Finley

Look at this face.

I love this girl.

This was taken after we got back from our honeymoon and gave Finley her French gift - a bib that says "C'est quand qu'on mange? J'ai faim!" In English: "When do we eat? I'm hungry!"

She looks pretty serious about her food here too. :)

Hope to hang out soon, Finney! I'll miss you this Thursday!

Here's a haiku for my niece:

Finley, you are cute.
Your head-bangs, giggles and snorts
Melt my heart. Love you!

Madison Rae Gehrman

Welcome to the world, Madison Rae!
(I know this pic isn't the best quality - it's from my phone...)

My aunt Katie and her partner Rae welcomed their daughter Madison into the world this morning at about 6:45. She weighs 7 lbs 7 oz. She has cute and tiny little ears and long skinny feet.

I got to meet her today and ran into Grandma, uncle mark and cousin Em too.

Congrats, Katie and Rae! Can't wait to see this little lady grow up. And now maybe Madison will be the youngest guest at our wedding?

one9designs

My soon-to-be sister-in-law Kristin recently started making jewelry and has her own Etsy site, one9designs. This has all really happened in the last month or so. So she was really excited when she found out that her site would be featured on Etsy's blog.

If you're interested in jewelry for yourself or others, you should check it out. And this weekend, you will get 20% off!

Kristin also has a blog: idreamofcrafting.wordpress.com. In case you're interested in the creative genius behind the lovely jewelry. :)

















I'm actually wearing the necklace she made me for my most recent shower (see photo). Thanks Kristin!

Happy shopping!

Busy summer

This summer has been quite busy. With my internship, planning the wedding, going on fun weekend and week-long trips...I have neglected my blog. Sorry, dear readers (if any of you are out there...?).

Last week, I finished my internship at Children's Hospital. I really liked the hospital setting and working with kids again. There is so much variety to the SLP's schedules -- it would be awesome to work in a setting like that, at least for a bit. When I left, my supervisors were offering to write letters of recommendation and they said they'd keep me posted on any job openings in a year. So keep your fingers crossed! I would love to do my clinical fellowship year with them. We'll see...

So now, I'm just working 20 hours/week at the U and spending the rest of my time getting wedding things ready and hopefully cleaning our house. Things like dusting and sweeping and just de-junking really get pushed aside when life is busy.

Today was my first Monday off, and I spent it babysitting Finley this morning. (See the video in the previous post.) Then I met my aunt Katie for lunch -- she is due any day now and she is really ready to pop! I really hope Madison arrives early so she can attend our wedding! Then I came home to make some wedding-related phone calls and upload photos and relax. Tonight, there is talk of dinner with Ashlee, so life is good. I love this part-time work deal!

Most recent exciting wedding news:
- We booked our train tickets from Paris to Brive.
- We booked our rental car in Brive.
- We put our ceremony together and we are both very excited about it.

We still have lots of things on the "to do" list, but we are making progress every day.

Here are some pictures from lots of our summer adventures - click on the album below.

Summer09

Guaranteed to make you smile

I had the best start to my day today. Finley came over this morning from about 8-noon while Taylor and Stacy were at work. We had a nice little walk, we read some books, played with some toys, but best of all, Finley got some play time in with Indy. Watch this video below. It is why Stacy and Taylor must get a dog some day. Just watch and see how much Finley loves Indy. I have never heard cuter baby laughter in my life. :)

Down by the cool of the pool

Yesterday, Finley and Stacy were reading a story together. Finley really likes reading -- she's a smarty pants and already knows that each page says something and she needs to help turn the pages. :) Sometimes she tries to talk louder than Stacy. She's a feisty one.

Does this diaper make my butt look big?

Spent some time with Finley last night. Although she had been crying a bit, she's still cute as ever. Don't you think?

PS I added more recent pics to my Finley album on Picasa. Most are from my two babysitting adventures with her and Eric.

See the album here.

Stacy or Taylor?

Saturday afternoon, I got to catch up with my niece Finley, who is already almost 3 months old!

She has been really busy growing a few more chins (I mean pounds). She is also very good at smiling and being really alert! Way to go, Finley!

For those who know her parents, let's do a poll. Who does she look more like: Stacy or Taylor? I think she is a good combo of both, but this pic looks more like baby Stacy.

Chubster

Look how big Finley is getting!

This is kind of a grainy shot from my cell phone, but I like it. She was helping us (read: distracting us) play Settlers of Catan last night at Stacy and Taylor's house.

Alyse and Jeff were up visiting all week, and we had lots of fun times mostly eating good food and catching up. The bro-in-laws (and future bro-in-law Eric) got to have some boy bonding time at the Wild game one night. Hopefully Alyse will post some pics from the week some time soon.

Good to see you A & J! See you in June at Jessie's wedding!

Welcome Ritchies!

Just a little "welcome to the blogosphere!" to the Ritchie fam. Stacy and Taylor started a blog this weekend (you will find it in my blog list on the right). I'm looking forward to reading their witty life commentary and seeing lots of pics of the adorable Finley Valentine.

So.......Welcome!

Taylor, now you need to start commenting on blogs, just like I showed you how to do the other day. :)

My favorite aunt/niece bonding moments so far:
- me jumping from shock at how loud and explosive Finley's poops feel while holding her (I really almost jumped off the bed -- but don't worry, I didn't drop her or anything)
- bugging her while she sleeps by playing with her lips, which makes her automatically purse her cute little lips
- talking to her and rubbing her cheeks to make her smile at me (pretty sure the smiles are just gas or reflexes at this point, but I enjoy it anyway)

Finley Valentine Ritchie

I am in love with my new little niece. She was born this morning at 12:50 am via c-section. Stacy and Taylor had a long couple days at the hospital, but now they are just content as can be. Stacy was put on bedrest last Tuesday night due to high blood pressure. On Friday, she was admitted to the hospital because she was experiencing symptoms of preeclampsia (a condition involving her blood vessels that basically meant that she needed to deliver the baby early). So Friday night, Dad and Beth flew in from Albuquerque (that's a long story in and of itself, but I'll let my dad fill you in -- he's a better story teller than I am). Saturday morning she was induced, but things just weren't progressing how they wanted them to, and by late night, the baby was starting to be stressed and her heart rate was dropping a little. So a c-section was quickly ordered, and the little cutie came into the world in the wee morning hours.

Some stats:

Finley Valentine (middle name is a family name from Taylor's side)
6 lbs 8 oz.
19 in long (I think that's right)

She has her mom's eyes and her dad's hair, big toe and ears.

Here are some pics from this morning. I'm sure I will take more later this week. Finley didn't really like getting her picture taken. Although she is a very calm baby (only making little squeaks every now and then), she kind of furrows her brow whenever the camera flash goes off. :)

Finley Valentine Ritchie

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Happy belated birthday to my main squeeze! He turned the big 28 on the 31st. We celebrated by going to dinner at the St. Clair Broiler with Eric's friend Mike (who shares the same bday) and his girlfriend Adrienne. Then we had some drinks and played games back at our house. It was really nice to just be at home and not out driving around or bar hopping in the cold.

Eric is really a paparazzi magnet, as shown below. We call this pic "Sasquatch" because really, if we darkened this pic a bit with photoshop, wouldn't it remind you of those pictures of Sasquatch where he's walking with this exact same pose and looking back at the camera like "darn, they got me!"

From Thanksgiving Up North

Here is a better pic of Eric that makes him look like a rugged mountain man:


Happy birthday, Eric! I promise your painting will be done soon. I just want it to look great and be officially done when I give it to you!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's my mom's birthday today. Join me in wishing her a happy birthday and an even happier new year!

Mom, here is a birthday poem just for you.

Pat:

Pretty
Always helping others
Trips often (seriously, this is where I get my clumsiness)

And here is a fun memory of us hanging out up north in the sunshine (this should bring some warmth during this snowy winter night!).

Another baby!

I just found out that my aunt Katie and her partner Rae are expecting a baby next August! They have been trying to get pregnant via in vitro, and this was the third try, so they are very shocked and excited. Katie said that it is still very very early, but they wanted to share their good news so that there could be more people thinking good thoughts and sending positive energy their way. I couldn't be happier for them and really hope that all goes well with the pregnancy.

Congrats Katie and Rae!

A snippet of my week

Today is Wednesday, my long day of the week. I have class from 8:30-11, then I work until about 5 and then I go to class from 5:30-8. Then I hop on the bus, get to my car and drive home. Tonight, I need to stop at Target for a few little essentials (more cups, napkins, plates and balloons for the upcoming baby shower and some wax paper for a Music Week craft for preschool group on Saturday). Then it's home to finish cleaning for our weekend guests. Oh yeah, and I should probably study some more for my neuro test tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I'll get up and drive to Brooklyn Park to do some hearing screenings (you know, raise your hand when you hear the beeps), and then I'll drive close to campus to hop on a bus to get to class on time to take the neuro test. Then I'll go home and greet Alyse and Jeff, the first visitors to arrive for the weekend of baby shower fun! We will use Eric's Sam's Club membership to go to Sam's and order the shower cake and then I need to get some food to make for dinner and also just to stock the cupboards for our lovely house guests. Then dinner at our house with Stacy and Taylor, and then at about 10 pm, Dad and Beth arrive.


Friday, I will get up and try not to disturb the house guests while I get ready to leave for campus again. I have a clinic meeting at 9, class from 10-1 and then clinic clients from 1:30-3:30. The kiddos in clinic should be looking forward to such fun activities as: Making your own superhero to work on /s/! and Digging in the rice bin to find exciting toys to talk about using our good /l/ sound! There's only one more week of clinic left after this, and I'm sure they'll be so sad and miss me so much.... Well, two of them might. But one won't -- he hates speech and actually may or may not have pooped his pants last week during our session... Anyway, Friday afternoon, Kate arrives and we get to go pick up the cake and flowers and just hang out with the fam a bit.


Saturday morning, I am leading preschool group in the morning with a music theme. I'm super excited about it. I'm bringing in a guitar, drum, cowbell (!), triangle, xylophone and maracas. We're doing some pattern repeating, listening to different music genres, reading a really cool book called "Punk Farm" and then making kazoos out of toilet paper rolls, wax paper and rubber bands. After that fun, I'm heading home to get ready for Stacy's baby shower. Should be a crazy busy day but really fun! I'm really looking forward to that afternoon. After that, we're doing a faux-Thanksgiving dinner at Stacy and Taylor's.



Sunday and Monday will be days of rest hanging with the fam. I plan on sleeping in then.