She's just growing too fast...this is gonna be a long one!

Finley is growing waaay too fast!! She will be 10 months old on the 28th! I have already been thinking about her 1st b-day party.....seriously??? I can't believe it's almost been a whole year since she was born. She has blessed us in so many ways & everyday is so fun with her...well, most days. Ha!!

Some of the things she's up to:
She is still a VERY happy girl.
She is pulling up on everything & going from one thing to another, but she's not trying to take any steps yet & that's quite all right with us.
She finally got herself 2 little toofies on the the bottom. We kept saying she would walk before she got any teeth, but we were wrong!
She still says Mama & Dada, but we think she's been trying to say Maggie(the dog)...she says gie-gie & waves everytime she sees her. It is so cute!
She also likes to share her food with Maggie. Finley gets a bite or two, then Maggie gets a bite!

We went out on the boat a few weeks ago with a good friend of Jimmy's & of course, she loved every minute of it. We actually got some pics of the 3 of us!

Top left: She fell asleep eating her 100th sucker in 2 days, then stuck her hand to her head!

Bottom left: Finley & "Papa Roger"...she LOVES him.
Some surprising good pics of the 3 of us!! Yay!!



More lake pics! Oh, check out the top right pic! It's her "funny face" & so funny!

Ok, so we decided to save ourselves a LOT of money & do our own 9 month session, so here ya go......these were taken my me, with Jimmy entertaining! Not too shabby, huh? We are VERY happy with how they turned out!

You have to click on the collage to really see the smaller ones. The 2nd pic from right (bottom) is hilarious! She got so tickled at something & her face is priceless! Love it!!! I could just eat this baby girl up! She is so precious, funny & sweet!

Miss busy body

Warning: LOTS of pictures to follow...

We have got us a VERY busy body on our hands & it's only getting worse! Finley is now 7 1/2 months old. She is crawling EVERYWHERE, into EVERYTHING, & getting quicker by the minute. We are soooo in trouble with this one. She is still just as happy as ever. She has gone from doing the army-crawl to crawling to pulling up in a matter of 2 weeks. I truly understand why people put leashes on their kids now...I refuse to do this to my child, but I do understand now!

The very top left pic is how NOT to let your child use the bouncy seat...she did this on her own & was so proud of herself. This is what we are in for with her....I strapped her in the bouncy seat, went to finish dinner & came back to find her on her stomach playing happily with the seat strapped on her back now! OH YEA!

Some pics from our last trip to Franklin. We spent the entire weekend with the family hanging out & it was so nice to just be there. I miss them all so much!! I have videos, but no pics of Finley & my Mom....she thinks Mama is absolutely hilarious! It was so cute & funny. We don't know what was so funny, but Finley just looked at her & giggled.

Finley LOVES water!! She starts kicking before you even get her in the pool & then she splashes the whole time she's in it. She is so much fun.

Our new baby sitter!! We are sooo lucky to have found this awesome lady...thanks to a friend at work!! She is a grandma, that doesn't work, so it is perfect!! She is only keeping Finley & has promised to spoil her like she's her own. We love her already!!

More pics from Franklin.....

We are still here!!!

We ARE still alive around here!! We are just enjoying every moment of our sweet Finley! She just turned 7 months old, as of yesterday! Man, time flies by so fast, it's crazy! She is so close to crawling. She has the arm part down pat, but she still scoots around on her belly. She gets up on her knees a little, but just doesn't quite have it down yet...thank goodness! She is a busy little thing & still just as happy as ever!! It's so fun to come home from work, aside from the obvious, because she REALLY gets excited when she sees me. I love it!!

Here's some recent pics from the past month (more to come)....

We took her to one of the lakes here, just to the beach/swimming area. She loved it, just as we expected! She also had fun playing in the sand.

We are headed home for a visit this weekend!!! YAY!! I am really looking forward to this trip because the pools are warm & waiting for US!! Finley LOVES the water, so it's going to be a trip filled with lots of sun, swimming & of course, family! Can't wait!

Sneak peek!

Check out the sneak peek for Finley's 6 mth pics (already??) at www.frogsandfaeriesphotography.com/blog

They are soooo cute!! I can't wait to see the rest!

I promise to update my blog soon!

5 mths old!!

Finley is 5 months old now! She weighs over 14 lbs now & jabbers ALLLL the time! She has the sweetest little voice & continues to smile all the time! She is such a happy baby & we are so thankful for that! She really only cries when she's hungry or sleepy...I'm sure she'll make up for all this happiness at some point. For now, we are enjoying her little happy self! Here are some pics from our recent trip to TN.

Not the best pic of us, but oh well

We tried baby food at 4 months but she just wasn't interested, so we put it off a month....oh what a difference a month makes! She LOVES it & will open her mouth & grunt for more. She also like to hold the spoon, which makes feeding her even messier. I taught her a bad trick....how to stick her tongue out & blow raspberries, but it is soooo cute!!! She stuck her tongue out at everyone!!

My sister had a cookout & everyone got to love on Finley!!! The kid isn't starved for attention, in any way. Colten (my nephew) is just 4 weeks younger than her, but already weighs about 1 lb more! He is such a little cutie & has the cutest dimples!!! I could just eat him up!

We had another great trip home & look forward to the next one!!!

4 months, the park & pure cuteness!

I have tons of stuff to blog about & tons of pics from the past 2 weeks! Finley is now 17 weeks & we go for her 4 month check-up tomorrow...yeah, not looking forward to the shots. :( Poor baby doesn't know what's coming again. BUT, she is still sooo happy & just fun! She is rolling all over the place & smiles alllll the time! She just brightens our day every time she smiles. She is also so close to laughing out loud...she has almost done it a couple times & it is so sweet! She found her toes too! I love the look on her face when she notices something new...just so innocent & sweet. Love her!!!

It was finally nice enough outside & I was off, so we were off to the park for the 1st time!! We have been dying to go, but it's either been snowing, raining, hailing, tornado warnings or something, SO we finally made it!! It was gorgeous & Finley loved riding in the stroller like a big girl. She looked tiny in the stroller because the straps pretty much covered her. She was so relaxed & enjoyed it so much, she fell asleep. Speaking of sleeping...baby girl sleeps about 6-8 hours every night now!!

We are so thankful to have such a beautiful, laid back & happy baby!! We keep saying we are afraid to have another one, since she is so perfect!

I'll have more updates after the doctor's appt. tomorrow! Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Finley rolled over last week!!! She was 13 weeks old when she first did it...Jimmy got to see her do it first and I'm VERY jealous about that! I got to see her do it last Saturday, when she turned 14 weeks. Now, when we put her down for some tummy time, she kicks that leg & over she goes. It's really cute, but it is scary at the same time...we know she will be walking before we know it! I'm definitely not ready for that & neither is our house! We have a LOT of baby-proofing to do.

She is so much fun right now! She is such a happy baby & a very good baby. She is sleeping about 6-7 hours at night now. She is so much easier to put down now that we kind of have a routine going...never thought we would make it to this point. She nurses, burps & I put her in her pack-n-play & that's it! Night night!

The kid LOVES taking a bath! She just kicks, splashes & smiles the entire time...she's going to be our water baby! It's a good thing, because swim lessons start this summer!! Of course, we can't seem to get a good smiling pic in the tub, but trust me, she loves it!

Here's just some random pics over the past 2 weeks. Like I said, she is sooo happy & so much fun!! Enjoy our little BooBoo...Jimmy started calling her this when she was about 2 days old & it just stuck.

She is 15 weeks old today!!! Our baby girl is almost 4 months old & it has flown by! We are enjoying every minute of her!!

12 weeks

Finley is 12 weeks old & doing absolutely wonderful! She is such a happy baby & more fun every day. She is interacting more with us & smiles ALLLLL the time! She is so funny when she gets excited because her little arms & legs are everywhere! (I have to learn how to put videos on here...that needs to be my next project.) She is sleeping about 6 hours straight at night, so we are only getting up once about 3-4am, which we never thought we would get to this point. Yay us!!



Since I went back to work, it's so much fun to come home & see her get all excited when she sees me. Jimmy has brought her by work a few times & it just makes my day! Work is going good, but I still miss being with her all day. I have to admit, it is nice to have adult conversations again...BUT I would stay home with her in a heartbeat! Here's some pics from the last week.....





She likes to cover her face in blankets, so we have been playing lots of hide & seek lately...she looks really confused when we do it, then she just smiles so big. We just love, love, love her to death!!! I put on this tutu & tried to take some pics, but it was nasty outside so I didn't have good light....lots more to come when I get a sunny day & good light! I bought some new backdrops, so we are ready for some good pics!! Hopefully all this nasty cold & snow is gone from here for good!!! I'm ready for spring & sunshine!!!!

10 weeks old

Finley is 10 weeks old today!! WOW!! Time flies but we are enjoying every minute of her...even the sleepless nights & the 3-4 hour feedings. She smiles ALL the time & is basically a happy baby as long as we feed her & let her sleep. Hey, that's what makes me happy too, so who can blame her? She LOVES her new bouncy seat we bought (on sale at Target for $18!!)!! She sits in it & laughs, coos & watches TV for a pretty good while now. She also enjoys her tummy time, especially when Daddy is on the floor with her. Her arms & legs are going non-stop...we just keep waiting for her to get up & go because she sure is trying to.

We are still working on the night time routine & getting her to sleep longer in her pack-n-play. It's definitely a work in progress, but we are getting there. She will atleast sleep in it, but not for more than about 2 hours??? BUT she did sleep for almost 5 hours last night STRAIGHT!!! Jimmy & I slept for about 4 straight hours, which is a record around here! Yay!! There is hope!!



Here are some of her newborn pics that we finally got! These are some of our favorites, but we love them all! She was 8 days old when these were taken!



I go back to work Monday, so please say a prayer for us all! I am not looking forward to it, but atleast she will be with her Daddy. Jimmy is going to keep her on the 3 days I work, so that helps my mind a lot, but I am going to miss being home with her.

We have had a LOT going on around here over the past week, so this may be a long one........

First of all, my birthday was Jan. 19th & we just hung out, then went out for a very yummy dinner. My day started with some beautiful flowers from my wonderful Mom & step-dad.

Then, Jimmy comes home with a SPA gift certificate & one of those edible arrangements!! 1 hour massage & pedicure here I come!! I can't wait til this Wed!! The fruit was very good too!

The next day, we headed to Jimmy's parents' house for a little visit. His brother has an 8 mth old & he is a little stud. He's solid as a rock & wearing 24 mth clothes! He wasn't too sure about "his" granny/papa holding another baby...a little jealousy going on. It was really cute.

Unfortunately, our visit was cut short by some VERY sad news.......my brother-in-law's dad took his own life that afternoon. We immediately packed up & headed home to re-pack for a trip to Franklin. If you don't know, my sister & bro-in-law have been together since I was 8! His dad has been family to me ever since & has been a fixture in my life. He was such an amazing man that adored his family & was nothing but good to me. He was family & will be dearly missed. Family gatherings will never be the same without him. He ALWAYS kissed me on the cheek every single time he saw me & I will miss those kisses. Jimmy thought the world of him because he always made him feel welcome & accepted in our family. They had their own connection because they both grew up very poor & made something of themselves. He always had encouraging words & kind words. I loved that man! You will be missed Jimmy Byram! We love you!

Please keep my sister & bro-in-law & his family in your prayers.

7 weeks old already!

I truly understand how time flies now since having Finley. I can't believe she is already 7 weeks old! She is smiling at us, cooing more & more & watches us more now too. She is just so intrigued by the t.v. & will stare at it. We love watching her learn what is around her & just wonder what her little brain is thinking.

We'll be getting her newborn pics this week & I can't wait to show them off! She was only 8 days old when we had them done & it seems like yesterday! Where does time go??? We are cherishing every single moment with her & yes, even the sleepless nights are priceless. She makes life so much sweeter for us!

She gives those open-mouth smiles now & gets all excited when we talk to her! It's soooo cute! Check out the bed head in the 1st pic!! You can imagine how wild her hair is in the mornings...we love it!!

Our favorite pic right now.....LOVE LOVE LOVE this smile!!!

Lots of catching up to do

Here's the last pics we took of me being preggo!! This was Thanksgiving night after going to Jimmy's cousin's for dinner...very last minute. We hadn't planned on doing anything due to the fact I was a cow, had MAJOR cankles, and basically felt like dookie from all the swelling, BUT we ended up having a wonderful turkey day! I was very happy to get to have a nice home-cooked meal, because I was REALLY missing family...little did I know I would get to see some of them 2 days later! So, here's the last preggo pics....

CHRISTMAS 2009

Hopefully you can enlarge this collage (I still don't know why it won't enlarge most of the time???) Finley got to meet the rest of my family & she got TONS & TONS of lovin'. It was sooo sweet when we got to my Dad's because Betty (step-mom) & Steve (bro-in-law) could not wait to meet her! They could not get her out of the carseat fast enough! It was really sweet...guess you had to be there!

Had to include a recent pic of Tate & Tucker....my grown-up niece & nephew! They are such awesome, genuine kids & both drop dead gorgeous too! I miss them all soooo much!

My bro & sis-in-law welcomed their 2nd baby boy, Colten Reese, on Christmas Eve! Poor kid is going to hate his birthday for the rest of his life! Mama, baby, Daddy & big brother Caden are all doing great!

Finley also got to meet her other 2 "aunts" on this trip, Sam & Liz! I am sooo glad we got to see each other! It's very rare for the 3 of us to be able to get together these days, so it's always a treat for us!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!