Finn's First Laugh

3 Months

Okay, this post is kind of long and sentimental. I'm just trying to write down more things so I don't forget. Feel free to just look at the pictures at the bottom so you don't die of boredom. :)

So Finn is 3 months old! And all I want to do is hold him in my arms and tell him to stop growing up so dang fast! Oh, it makes me want to cry... He's already gotten so big and learned so much. I know I should be happy but I just keep worrying that I'll forget all of these sweet moments with him. I keep trying to take mental snapshots... I just don't want to forget anything about our sweet little boy. I can't believe how much I've fallen in love with him and how easily he makes me smile and melts my heart. Here are some things I am loving about him at 3 months:

I love how we can sit on the bed staring at each other and have a 15 minute conversation about whatever Finn feels like. We just take turns making sounds at each other and he loves it!

I love how when I'm holding him in my arms and rocking him, just before he starts falling asleep, he'll look up at me with his eyes trying to stay open, break out into a huge smile and give me a big "Gooo," and then do it over and over again until he falls asleep. Probably one of my most treasured memories of him.

I love how he knows his mama. At first I couldn't believe that I was any different to him than any other person. But the other day a lady in our ward came over and held him on her shoulder. Chase walked up behind her and Finn gave him a big grin. Then I walked up behind her and his eyes went right to me and out of nowhere he had his huge pouty-lipped frown and gave a big pathetic cry, so I took him from her and he stopped right away. He just wanted me. :) What a lovely feeling.

I love his big chunky dimples! His smile is to die for. Aren't baby smiles the sweetest things? I think because you know they are so genuine. They can't fake or force a smile like we can.

I love his pouty lips and big frowns. Almost as cute as his smiles. Sometimes if he is grumpy we will prolong his grumpiness by blowing at his face just to try and see his pouty lips. We are awesome parents.

I love waking him up in the morning. It's so fun to go in there and see him just staring sweetly at something, and then when I say good morning, he finds my face and breaks out in a smile. Best part of my day.

I love giving him BATHS! I never imagined he would love baths as much as he does... but he'll just sit there and splash water all over me and half the kitchen with this little grin on his face. Bah, he's so cute and now just thinking about it makes me want to go wake him up and pop him in the tub.

Other random things about Finn:

• He still sleeps like a champ! Eleven hours usually unless I swaddle him poorly and he breaks out. Then he brightens my day at 6am. But I totally don't mind since I get up at 530 anyway and then I get to play with my baby instead of work. :)
  
• He's now in his crib! Woop! He'd been sleeping in this rocker since birth, and I was so worried he would have a hard time transitioning, but turns out he'll sleep all night just about anywhere if I just swaddle him well.
• HE ROLLED OVER! And I know that's not that big of a deal - all babies do it at some point. I actually don't know why I put that in all-caps. Haha.
• He is doing so awesome at nursing which makes me so so happy. I'm so glad I didn't give it up after we had so many issues (like him being tongue-tied and then needing to relearn how to nurse and being used to the bottle for his first 3 weeks, supplementing with formula, etc.)
  

Okay, clearly I could just talk about my adorable baby all day. But what mama can't, right? So here are some pictures of our little man from the last month. But first, look how big he has gotten:

How did he go from this little bug... to the chunky little guy below?

Finn's Blessing

A couple of weeks ago we had Finn's blessing. It was so fun because Chase's whole family (except his brother Dan and his cute fam) came down from Idaho for the weekend! They loved the AZ weather. Anyway, they arrived at 6:30 on a Friday morning, and since they couldn't check in to their hotel room, they crashed on our living room floor. Sorry guys, our living room is small. :)

We had lots of fun shopping, swimming, playing volleyball, and passing around Finn so everyone could get a little kissing and cuddling in. We're so grateful they made the long drive here!

I love my two handsome boys so much! They are adorable. :)

Chase's family, minus his brother, and plus his new soon-to-be brother-in-law! (Yay Christina!!)

The Grandpas

The Payne side. Love them. :)

Some of our friends came too!

Definitely a day we'll never forget. Chase gave a sweet and simple blessing for our perfect little boy. He's such an amazing dad. :)

Nursery

Okay, it's still not done. I have to finish making the artwork and hanging up some letters... and I wanted to make a leaf mobile... yeah, and a dozen other things that will probably never happen. :) So here's the little guy's room so far.

We tried really hard to keep it cheap - but I still probably spent too much considering how decorated the rest of our house is. Oh well, it was fun. Here's a little breakdown, just for the sake of us remembering:

• Crib - gift from Mama & Papa Payne!
• Dresser, shelving tower, 2 white shelves on wall, and lamp - $85 as a bundle on Craig's List! (Yes, I feel like we stole from them! Such a good deal.)
  
• New lampshade - $15 from Ikea
  
• Rocker - $35 on Craig's List, fabric to recover was $40 = $75
• Curtains - $10 from Ikea
• Valance - DIY, fabric was $16
• Birdcage - $15 on Etsy
• Big stuffed bird - homemade by my Mom
  
• Baskets - $20 from Ikea
• Nightstand - $30, half off from Ikea's "as is" section
• Owl Nightlight - $25 from Urban Outfitters, can you tell I splurged on silly things?
  
• Frames - 50% off at Hobby Lobby, I think about $40 for the big one and three small ones.
  
• Bedding - $40 on Ebay. Really, we're only using the bumper, so wasn't such a good deal in hindsight.
  
• Ottoman for rocker - $18 from Walmart
• Paint for walls (Benjamin Moore Gray Horse), molding, and spray paint - $50
  
• Little nicknacks - under $10 from the thrift store and Joanns.

Total: $429

Sorry Blogger is lame so these pictures are not in order.

Finn's pajamas match the bumper. He insisted he be part of the decor. :)

Sleeping Through the Night!

Just have to document this: Finn slept 10 hours last night! Um, someone get this kid a trophy. He started sleeping 5 hour stretches at 3 1/2 weeks. At 4 weeks it was 6 hours. Now it's been anywhere from 6 1/2 - 10 hours at night!

Also, he gave us his first "real" awake smile yesterday! This is from today (sorry, from my phone):

Finn's Newborn Photos

We got some newborn photos taken of Finn! Stacey Hemeyer took and edited the photos and they are absolutely adorable, if you ask me. She is a great photographer and did such an amazing job!!! The one above is my favorite. :)

Click here to see them on her blog!

One Month Old

Gah, one month went by so fast - I still can't believe he's here! Little man is such a joy to our lives though... It's amazing how quickly you get that feeling that everyone talks about - where you can't even remember life without your sweet angel baby. That's how we feel, like he's always been with us. He is such a sweetheart and we are constantly staring and laughing at him as his cute little personality starts to emerge.

Life has been pretty great with a newborn, especially since you hear all the horror stories about never sleeping and constantly wanting to cry because of baby blues. I'll admit, there has been a day or two where I was running on no sleep, felt like the worst mommy ever, and basically ended the night sobbing (not because of Finn, just because I was sleep-deprived! Okay, and maybe because Finn didn't nap, was fussy all day, and peed/spit up on about 5 different outfits) while Chase put Finn to bed. Haha... yeah, I laugh now because I slept good last night! But Finn is a wonderful baby.


He does have times where he fusses and cries, but you get used to the sound of crying. Chase actually comes home from work and laughs when Finn starts crying because he thinks it's so dang cute. And it IS cute, just not when it's been going on for more than half an hour. :)


Chase is the best papa ever. I call him the baby whisperer because he'll come home from work and snuggle his little boy to his chest and put him right to sleep (after I couldn't get him to nap all day!) Anyway, what I'm trying to say is the last month has meant a ton of changes for us, but it really has been a blast, and I'm loving it more each day!

So some things about Finn at one month:

• So many people tell us he looks like Justin Bieber we've started calling him Mini Biebs!
  
  

• He's been sleeping really well lately. That past week every night he slept for 5 hours, ate, and then slept 3-4 more hours. So I've only been getting up to feed him once, and I've been feeling SO much more rested during the day. I'm crossing my fingers that this sticks and isn't just a phase!
• Ever since he's had his first real bath at home, his hair has started sticking up and being really fluffy. I think it is freaking adorable - but it does get pretty wild and it's pretty much impossible to keep the back from sticking straight up.
  
  

• He got his first hair cut! Well, it was just a trim around his ears and neck. We decided he's just not ready to rock a mullet.
  
  

• He doesn't pee on himself anymore! Big thumbs up from mom and dad.
• We got his tongue clipped and I've been nursing him for a week and a half, and it's going well. Each day we get a little better at it.
• We just discovered that putting him in his car seat and walking around for a bit knocks him out (sometimes, not always) and sometimes we just put him in it so he can watch us while we eat dinner.
  
  

• Finn and I went to church this past Sunday for the first time, so to celebrate Finn had a huge blowout during Sacrament meeting. Luckily, I had an extra outfit. As soon as I changed him and put him in it, he spit up a TON all over the front of it. LUCKILY, I had another extra outfit (10 points for me for being super prepared!)
• Whenever he is drowsy after he eats, we cradle him in our arms and he always smiles over and over. It's so sweet, even if they're not REAL smiles yet. :)
  
  

Anyway, just a few things about his first month. I'm sure there's a ton more, but this is all I can muster at the moment. Finn was the sweetest little Valentine today though! He was super cuddly. :)