I like to Move it Move it

Finnegan is ON THE MOVE people!

Look out, the REAL marathon begins now.

He is crawling, scooting and moving around through a series of motions, unique I would say to his own style.
As many people know, Finn has substantial "junk in the trunk" so it makes it a little tougher for him to motor around. But he has definitely figured it out! I set him on the floor and he was paging through a book, one minute he was by the fridge and the next moment he was across the room and splashing around in Wal's water dish.
Here are some pictures of him in action:

He can stand for a really long time by himself. So hysterical to see his fat little feet and toes trying to grasp on to our floors. Just last weekend he was having a hard time picking up his chubby legs but just within a week, he will now stand then take a few Frankenstein steps your way when coaxed.

At night he is often pooped out from playing with Daddy all day, so our evening dinnertime is tough. Here are some funny photos from last night. Sweet Potato and Cinnamon Bisque ALL over the face. So tired! Why eat? Just put me to bed already!

Here is a random clip of Finn playing with Wallace's tail. Another new favorite past time. Thank goodness Wall is such a good sport. I think I finally figured out how to add video so look for more real-time action in upcoming posts.

Speaking of other things on the move.

His top right big front tooth is on the scene. It's awesome. The left one is taking its time. I think he has a few others coming into the world also. Most likely will get them all at the same time.

That's the update for today! Will post a new favorite later in the week.

Favorite Thing Friday...on er....Monday Part II

So I've done it again!
What can I say....

BECCA FAVORITE THING #2

DRINKING WITH FRIENDS

I realize that I might be stretching it on this category a little bit, but I love it! I really do. There is just something so fun about drinking with friends! Thinking back on all of the fun occasions that I have gathered witha group of people and had a few....the memories, laughs, stories and unfortunately headaches! that have come from those times are CERTAINLY some of my favorite things. Being as busy as I am, and now a mother, and a mother who is trying to get fit and run 3 or 4 times a week, booze is just really not a part of my life. So! How glad was I when Danny's Tavern in Bucktown decided they would throw one of their fabulous Peace Party's in Open Books honor and donate half the bar to us! So, it was on! Having to DRINK with friends and co-workers to raise $$$ for Open Books!?

Let me just show you how it went in photos....

It started out great! Shanna and Andrew and Maggie all turned out to help the cause.

Erin and Stacy were there of course! Love this picture.

THEN the shots started, To Literacy! To Open Books!

And then, after some time, a few beers later...I decided to try Dani's drink!

It took me a little bit to recover...just because whiskey has a cherry in it, does NOT make it delicious.

Tequila + Whiskey makes everything funny.

Does it sound bad that one of the things I am dreading most about training for the marathon this fall is that I will really not be able to DRINK much this summer? It probably does sound bad...but last spring I was pregnant, last summer, I was nursing....sigh. I must be a grown up adult now....but summer is just SUCH a great time to drink with friends. There must be a happy balance...and I will find it! Before I am pregnant again :-) By the WAY! We raised $1200 dollars! Great fundraiser and GREAT fun.

This Past Weekend

Thought I would post some pictures from our eventful weekend.

We spent Saturday visiting with some college friends! Some in town for a wedding, we took advantage of us all being in the same place at the same time and hung out for a few hours on a cold and rainy day.

Megan spent time reading to Finn, she will be one of my partners in running the marathon in October.

Matt - who graciously gave Finnegan an OBAMA T-Shirt! We love it, thanks Matt!

Laura - Who had fun playing hide and seek :-)

And last but not least, Gina, who also had fun reading to Finn.

It was so much fun to get together. Sharing lots of stories and laughs from our days in the dorms, nights out to the bars, parties, etc. Whoo! We were younger once, and man did we have a LOT of fun together.

After our gathering of old friends, we met some new friends Dani and Bruno Brzozowski for dinner! Dani is Open Books brand new Director of Development. They just moved to Chicago from Indiana and have settled in Hyde Park. They live 2 blocks away and Dani and I have been carpooling, it's working out really well. She is a runner too and we can be found most mornings of the week sweatin' it out on treadmills or catching a Wednesday early morning pilates class. So Saturday night we took them to one of our favorite neighborhood spots, Dixie Kitchen and had a wonderful dinner. Finn devoured the cornmeal pancakes and flirted with Dani the whole time.

Sunday brought an early morning trip to Madison to enjoy some time with family! My cousin Marc and his wife Julie were gracious enough to host a birthday party for all of the little boys in our family! My godson Bennett, his brother Mason, and Finn! All have birthdays within a couple of months. So this 3 Musketeers group turned 5, 2 and 1 and it was a really fun time. I think Bennett and Mason enjoyed teaching Finn how to do things, they all played really well together, and we enjoyed an amazing spread of food.

Grandma Nancy made special number cookies for the boys, they were so cute. And Julie made great cakes too! "Hoopies" (basketballs) for Bennett and Mason and a football for Finnegan.

Finnegan got many nice gifts, and I think Nick and I were just as excited to have some new and fun books to read, balls to throw around, games to play and toys to discover.

It was a great weekend.

Just wanted to also say a quick thank you to all of the people that regularly read and comment on the blog. I love hearing from all of you and appreciate you peeking in on our life! :-)

Favorite Thing Friday...on er....Monday

Typed up on ....er.... Sunday.
So last week was ridiculous.
So BUSY!
Whew....but I am just so loving the idea of sharing favorite things.
So I hearby solemnly swear to try and do this post on Fridays....but for now, here I am on Sunday night, posting this for Monday...

BECCA FAVORITE THING #1

PANDORA RADIO

http://www.pandora.com/

If you're a music lover, you're gonna love this. It's basically an amazing online database/collection of music. You can create multiple stations, based on songs, artists, or genres of music you like. As you're listening you can give the songs the good ole' thumbs up or thumbs down. That tells the lovely cool music robots to pick other songs or artists more like the thumbs up variety! It's brilliant really. And I must say that a TRUE favorite thing for me is to stumble across a new song, album or artist that truly connects with me, just right for what I am feeling or going through at any moment, day or year in my life.

Try it! You'll be hooked!

More pictures coming from our awesome weekend!

This weekend

Was busy and glorious and full of things I love to do.

1) Hanging around the house in the morning, drinking a gallon of coffee

2) Doing our usual morning walk as a family

3) Spending loads and loads of time outside, lifting my face to the sunshine

to soak it all in

4)Doing Pilates while Finn naps

5) Going for a 2 hour walk by the lake

6) Going out for dinner with a dear friend and eating some of the best pizza I've ever had.

7) Going for a 6 mile run by the lake. Loving the strong cool breeze that makes your hair stand on end.

8) Ending the weekend with a glass of red wine and a delicious steak dinner and brownie ice cream pie.

Hope everyone that reads this also had a fantastic weekend!

My dear friend Emily called me this weekend and I can't wait to catch up with her. She has a lot of friends that blog and one of them, Lora, came up with a great idea to post "Favorite Things" just the must have, do or die's from our lives. Love that idea and I must join the club :-). Now to just pick a favorite! I am always saying, this is my favorite "so and so".

Other news: FINN HAS SAID MA-MA! Call the papers!! Well.....he is making that sound anyway. Hopefully up next: "I love you Mama, Please read me a book!" Hahaha JK. Melted my heart though I must say.

Happy Monday!

Ask and Ye Shall Receive

One Readers request:

"I want some more Finn pics!"

For you my dear sister :-)
MORE SO BIG!

Think the Teeth are Finally on the Move! Lots of drooling, coughing, vampire biting and little sleeping this week

I'll take some more tonight....see if I can get some picks of him in his "Think I'm just too cool to crawl" stance.