At Last

  This past year, it seems like we had see nearly everyone in my family except for my brother, Tyler. Back in late February my oldest brother BJ and his family, as well as my sister and her husband Holly and Jeff, and Mom all came out for a visit for various reasons on the same weekend. It was a nice little reunion. Dad came out for a friends wedding a few weeks later. Around that same time a company booked me on a flight to Flagstaff, AZ for a job interview. I finally thought I would have a chance to see Ty and his family. I thought wrong. The company just happened to book me to arrive the night that they left for vacation. Well, we finally got to meet up this past week. I couldn't believe how much the girls have grown!

Tiff and Lexi with Finnegan.

Lexi was pretty excited to hold Finn.

We enjoyed some Morgan Hill strawberries. Sadie especially.

We even got to see some horses.

All of the girls were really good with Madie, she warmed up to them quickly. Kylie was a good sport for letting Madie drag her around by the hand.

Mal and Finn.

Madie and I even got to ride a horse. It was my first time, EVER.

Madie was pretty scared at first, but we convinced/forced her to get on with me. You can see her reaction.

Nice little reunion, looking forward to the next one.

Lisa Hannigan Concert

Our first date since Finnegan's arrival.

Lisa is a folk artist from Ireland. Made her name by accompanying and touring alongside Damien Rice.

The guy on the left, John Smith, was a good performer too. His name is so generic that it was hard to look him up when I came home.

The Great American Music Hall was a really cool venue.

A Special Thanks

 Marilou, Kaitlyn, Ezra, and Eden just left for Maine a couple of days ago. They were all a huge help with keeping Madie entertained, taking care of Finn, and helping with things around the house. Ezra even warmed up to the kids, which is saying something! Also, thank you to everyone who has brought us bread, food, gifts, etc. It has all been greatly appreciated.

First bath at home

Post-bath

Eating Ethiopian food in Oakland

A Comedy in One Act

This morning Madeleine dubbed Uncle Ezra the Chosen One. Only he could replace her nursing mother on potty-duty. Others offered, but were turned down. Ezra, ironically, did not offer. Maybe you needed to be there to enjoy the comedy, but here's how it went down:

Madie: "No! Uncle Ezra can do it!"

Ezra (just walking through the door): Throws his hands up by his head and shouts "Yay!"

Madie: "Come on, Ez! Let's go!" She runs towards the bathroom.

Ezra: "Okay Madie, I don't know what to do, so I guess you're on your own."

Madie: "You help me go potty!"A moment goes by.


Mum (standing at the vanity right by the bathroom door): "No, no, Ezra. You only need to pull the skirt of her dress up and her panties down. You don't need to unzip her and take the dress off." Another moment goes by. "Oh, Ezra, never mind. Move out of the way."

Ezra comes out of the bathroom and Mum goes in. Madie screeches and Mum comes back out.


Mum: "Well, now that you've started taking her dress off, that's what she wants done, so I guess you need to go in there and finish what you started."

Ezra returns to the bathroom. Mum stands in the living room and snickers into her hand.


Madie: "Put me on the potty!"

Ezra: "What?"

Madie: "Put me on the potty!!" Aunt Kait gets up and goes in. "No, Aunt Kait!" More screeching. Aunt Eden gets up and goes in. More screeching. Ezra gets shoved out by his sisters--not that he minds--and Madie screams some more.


Mum: "By the time he actually gets her on there she's not going to need to go any more."

Me: "Okay! You two (Kait and Eden) get out. Come out of there. Ezra, strip that kid down and stick her on the toilet!" Ezra finally just DOES it--you would never guess the Ezra-to-Madie height ratio is at least 2:1. About 10 seconds later:


Madie: "I'm doooone! Ezra, I'm done!"

Ezra: "What?! You just got on there!"

Yes, Ezra, it's true: it doesn't take most people 30 minutes to urinate, even a two-year old. Congratulations on your induction into The Big Sibling Club. Can I just say, the justice is so sweet.

Escape from Livermore

A 106 degree forecast for Livermore means we head to the coast where it's 20-30 degrees cooler. We went to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and enjoyed some beautiful weather. In my opinion, they have the most beautiful redwood grove in the bay area. It took forever to get there because apparently everyone in the bay area had the same idea about heading to Santa Cruz to cool off. Definitely worth it too.

The shamrocks there are huge.

Ezra and Eden posing with a redwood base.

MariLou and Eden acting as the reference point.

This is exactly what you would imagine prancing through this grove, and then they showed up!

There is this tree called the Fremont Tree, which has a cave in the middle of it. You can literally crawl through the opening and stand up inside. Madie was reluctant to go in at first, but after she warmed up she had so much fun going in and out of there.

We even found a dog near the visitor center.

Finn was happy to be home.

Recovery Week

Sleep, rest, strawberry shortcake...no better way to recover from giving birth and feeding a new baby. And just so you know, Finnegan doesn't sleep in the bed with us. That was just after breakfast. 

Finnegan's Homecoming

This boy loves to be swaddled.

We decided to go home after being in the hospital for 24 hours. Apparently the night Finnegan was born, Madie told Grammie "I'm sad because Dad's not home." Way to twist the dagger Madie! We were home the next day.

A lot of people have asked how Madie has reacted to Finnegan's arrival. It has been very positive so far. She has been taking such good care of her dollies for the past few months, and she kind of looks at Finnegan as another dolly. She shoves the pacifier in his mouth, gives him kisses, and rubs her cheeks on his face (this means he is in her inner circle already). It has also helped having Mallory's two younger siblings and mother here to give her tons of attention. Time will tell what she really thinks of Finn.

Exhibit A.

Finnegan is ready to go!

Mallory did such an amazing job with the delivery. She went without an epidural again, which deserves a trophy (and much more) in my book. She literally pushed three times and he was OUT! Not having the epidural has definitely helped her recover much quicker. We made a Costco run on Wednesday and went to the Farmers' Market on Thursday. Gives you an idea about how well it's going.

Heading out to the car.

Grammie holding Finn. He falls asleep really fast when Grammie is rocking him.

Finnegan Arthur Watkins

Low hanging baby. All checked in at Valley Care in Pleasanton.

Big upgrade in comparison with Madison in Rexburg. I got my own sleeping nook!

Finnegan was born on June 11th 2012, at 4:47 pm. He weighs 7 lbs 14 oz and was 20 inches long.

Dark hair, two dimples and a clef chin.

Madie was so excited to hold Finn. Every time we gave someone a turn to hold him, Madie would want him back and insist he stay with her. She was rubbing her cheek on him (ultimate sign of affection) and kissing him.

MariLou and Eden holding Finn.

Madie kept pointing out his little nose and wanted to put a pacifier in his mouth really bad.

One happy family!