…we have a little bit of holiday cheer going on. I love how our little tree with white lights instantly makes our house feel cozy and peaceful. 
First year without a “full” tree, and I kind of like it.
Our mantel, for the time being, “kinda looks like antlers”-brian
can’t wait to add a new initial next year!!
So, this weekend Brian and I had the biggest shocker EVER thrown to us by our little peanut. Let me tell you, this goes down in my book as probably the most splendid surprise of all time. For those of you whose babies never took a binky or got rid of it early on, it probably sounds absurd to you that our now 2 year old still had one. But, from day one she has loved sleeping with it, and we’ve allowed it (in her bed) because well, we have enjoyed reaping the rewards of our good little sleeper. A long time ago we agreed that when she turned two we would get rid of it. Basically we put it off for the last month because I’m a huge wuss and I kept coming up with excuses. I was really not looking forward to how this was going to affect her (my) sleep. We decided to approach it by being straight up with her, and a day or two before I forewarned her that we would be all done with the binkies because she is a big girl now. We talked about her other big kid friends who don’t have binkies anymore and that’s pretty much it. The first time without it happened to be a naptime and it was everything I expected and more. She cried/wailed/whimpered for her binky/mommy for an hour or more. It was really, really sad to listen to. But………
I tried to fool around with my camera to get a better picture, but cameras are not my forte. The fabric doesn’t look nearly as good in the pictures as it does in real life, but you get the idea. 
here is the lovely “before”
I thought shingles would be fun, without realizing I would have to cut and hot glue over 250 popsicle stick pieces.
a little paint, trim, and shingles, and here you go!
I love that little face peaking in from behind!
Next up: repainting finley’s new (my old) headboard and nightstand.
One of my very favorite family traditions is heading up to the mountains on Thanksgiving morning to cut down our Christmas tree. This year was especially interesting because the snow was soooooo deep (above my knees). Thankfully, Brian’s family came prepared with enough snow shoes for almost everyone in the group. But even with snow shoes on it was still really tricky to maneuver around in the snow and i sort of thought i miiiiight go into labor when i had to carry finley back to the car. As usual, we had a great time and we have LOTS of pictures to prove it (it’s bound to happen when Brian’s mom and I get together). And now, let me introduce you to what many of you wait for all year long…..
Brian, in his onesie snowsuit. Try not to be afraid.
Grandma had to make the trek without snowshoes!
If only there was a way to photoshop finley’s whiny face into a smiling face…it could’ve been a Christmas card option!
don’t worry…we’re only using the very top of the tree for our “table topper tree”.
not happy taking a face plant in the snow 
with grandma
I LOOOOOVE THESE TWO!!Time must really be flying by, because it’s seems like only a few weeks ago that I was typing my “first trimester” post. I’m so thankful to have had an easy, uneventful pregnancy this far, and I just hope this luck carries over into the last stretch. Life has been crazy around here lately… some nights Brian and I find ourselves laying down in bed at night saying to each other, “remember how we’re having a baby?!” Of course we don’t really forget, it’s just that it’s not the ONLY thing on our minds. Some things to note about my second trimester with baby no. 2:
As soon as we’re done finishing our downstairs remodel, we’ll get to the really fun task of doing the baby’s nursery (which is currently our room). Brian and I both agreed that we wanted to do something other than pink, since we’ve got the whole bubble gum thing going on in finley’s room. I toyed around with green, but my heart just wasn’t in it. For some reason I keep going back to the idea of a white/neutral colored room. I love how white is clean, bright, and calming all at the same time. We’ve already got all white furniture so we’re off to a good start. I’m just nervous that it’s not as easy to pull off as it looks. What if the whites don’t exactly match? Will that look weird? What if it just ends up looking like an unfinished room? I don’t know if I can get brian on board with this crazy idea, or even if I’m brave enough to give it a go, but here’s some pictures that made me melt…
i hope and wish with all my might that someday we will live in a house with white plank wood floors. But, don’t worry babe. I’ll never suggest to you again that we paint our hardwoods. i now know, that the odds of us purchasing a quaint little beach house with said floors is far more likely (ie not gonna happen). a girl can dream though…
Every now and then I like to do a post about Finley and what she’s up to. I have been awful at keeping up with her baby book, so it’s kind of a way for me to record important things. Now that she’s a big two year old I’ve been meaning to do one, but keep putting it off. I really feel like my words can’t possibly describe this super fun stage that she’s in. I can’t keep up with all the new things that she’s learning or all the impossibly cute and hilarious things that come out of her mouth. So here is my attempt at capturing what brian and I feel has been “the best stage yet!”
Here is her first haircut done by a professional. I gave her what can only be described as “the worst mom haircut you’ve ever seen”, just days before her birthday party. thankfully it was fixable.
This weekend Brian started on a project in Finley’s room to transition it from baby room to big girl room. While we’re making the switch I decided that the brown walls needed to go and we needed something lighter and softer. You know, needed! We’ve loved the brown, but for such a small room with small windows it probably isn’t the greatest choice.
So, Brian literally worked all weekend putting up the board and batten wainscoting and painting the walls. The paint sprayer turned out to be his bestfriend and worst enemy. He had to do a gazillion thin coats in order to keep the paint from running. He even woke up at 5 am on monday to do one last coat so finley could be back in her room that day! The last few mornings when I go in to to get Finley the first thing she says is, “it’s my new pink room! it’s so cute! thank you, daddy”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. THANK YOU, BABE!
He took these pictures at night, so it’s sort of hard to see the detail and the pink looks a little off (it’s not such a blue pink) but you get the idea. 
still have to paint her new door white…
and here we are at a fun little animal farm. we didn’t capture many great pictures because finley was a little under the weather. 
Okay, now this was seriously entertaining! all the sudden these goats climbed up on these tables and posed. They stood perfectly still for a LONG time. They must be some sort of show goats that have been trained to pose for pictures or something.
Go ahead and judge me for saying this…our family isn’t really that into halloween. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend any money on a costume so we dressed her up in something she already had. If I do say so, I think she made a rather cute little ballerina (even if she wouldn’t leave on her ballet slippers). Instead of taking her trick or treating we decorated plates of sugar cookies and took them to some of our friends in the neighborhood. At night we stayed home and enjoyed seeing all the kids (um, and adults) come to our door. Every time the door bell rang, Finley screamed “my friends are here!!”. 
Last week our little girl turned 2! On her actual birthday I asked her what she wanted to do to celebrate. She chose to go to the water park but since that’s impossible, her next choice was to go to the pet store. Very exciting, I know. 
The mice are her very favorite. Kinda creepy, huh.
birthday treats
the birthday girl got her own special jumbo cupcake.
party favors
the world’s cutest banner that Hillary let us borrow-thanks!
luckily i captured lots of pictures of the birthday girl before the party, because once it started i basically got nothing.
she insisted on wearing her pearl necklace.
finley says, “that’s my number two. my mommy maaaaaade it. it’s so pretty mommy”. we might leave it up a little longer.
not sure who ate more treats before the party, brian or finley.
the sneaky little girl somehow managed to get her hands on these without anyone noticing. 
but it was so cute i let her have one.
for about 2 hours finley was the proud owner of a kitty. but, we had to send this gift back with grandma…
Last weekend we went out to Jubilee Farm to visit a friend to who lives and works on the farm. Even though it was FREEZING, we had the best day checking out the farm. I would totally recommend this place to anyone looking for a good pumpkin patch because there was so much to do and see (for free).
searching for the perfect pumpkin.
hmmmmmm
maybe this one?
or this one?
maybe i can carry this one.
i think this is it!
family photo attempt 1.
the best part was the hay rides from the barn to the patch. our friend was driving so we stayed on for several rides.
feeding the pigs some corn.
checking out the chickens, roosters and turkey.
family photo attempt 2
and 3.
hanging out at the barn.
going through the hay maze.
we better go that way.
photo op with “farmer ian”