finn and dylan go to the beach

finn's 1st birthday party!

 

i had this picture hanging on the front door.  we fall into hysterics every time we look at it.  still.

 

months before i told my mom my idea to have a circus party for finn and she smiled.  apparently, my mother has a natural attraction to vintage red and white striped fabric and just happened to have yards and yards of circus prints.  it was pretty perfect.

 

my mama also helped me collect fun little circus decorations for the house. 

and i had finn's first year video playing on the television below this banner...

and the backyard was pretty festive...!

 

but it was all these faces who really made this day perfect for us...
 

we ate popcorn, peanuts and nachos- of course! and for dinner, tri-tip sandwiches, hot dogs, green salad, cole slaw, baked beans, fruit kabobs...

i was most excited for the photo booth.  surprise, surpise :) i love a good photo booth. and this guy just kills me.

finn received so many wonderful, fun gifts....and was pretty thrilled with everything. clearly.  what a lucky little boy...

 

it isn't a party without a pinata.  although those things and all that bat swinging by small children gives me a lot of anxiery.  might be the last pinata...

 

and finally, everyone sang happy birthday to our boy and we plopped a cake in front of him. banana cake, because banana is his favorite.  i dreamed of this moment for weeks...i couldn't stop thinking about how it was his first candle, his first birthday song, and all that are to come.  it really tugs at a young mother's heart.  in a good, lump in your throat, way.

oh yah, and in case you were curious: finn didn't tear into that cake like part of me had hoped. somehow i knew he wouldn't.  maybe he was tired and overwhelmed  but i  think it just isn't really his personality.  our cautious, careful little guy.  we love him just way he is.

party hats for all!

can you believe our baby boom??!! precious.  there is most certainly somethin' in the water...and whatever it is, it brings the cutest babies!!

 

i think these two pictures are my favorite from the day.  all these incredible people.  gathered at OUR house.  for OUR boy.  and how fufilling to have a full house, a full yard... it was a happy sight for me.  we just wish we could have invited everyone we knew...but alas, our yard is small, our house is smaller and we would have run out of margaritas. and that is never good.

 

we were so happy that day.  i don't think finn cried once.  and after it was all done, we crawled into bed and marveled at the day.  we couldn't believe it.  

days like this one are few and far between.  it was certainly one of our happiest days of all time.  and this picture brings it all back.  i will treasure it forever.

****

 

finn's  party was such a collaborative effort...both of our parents did SO much to help and were probably more exhausted than we were after it was all over.  the party serisouly wouldn't have happened without them.  like, no joke.  they babysat so i could do stuff the week before (mimi!), helped with the food, loaned us furniture and props and supplies and linens AND delievered them - how much stuff you may ask? how about two truck loads from napa.   and a couple car loads.  wowza.  my parents could operate a vintage party rental company. and if that wasn't enough, they all stayed and cleaned up after it was all over. 

and my sisters.  my oh my.  emily drove finn around so he would take a nap before the  party, and then sat in a parked car for almost two hours while he slept, which resulted in his happy party mood.  and then she strung bunting, made appetizers, assembled five million fruit kabobs, did a million other things and still managed to take most of the pictures you see.  uh-mazing.  rachel helped me bake a thousand cupcakes, did grocery runs, did a million other things, get balloons, make lists, somehow recorded the gifts and prevented me from losing my mind.  priceless.  both girls came and stayed with me, working and cleaning and running errands and crafting and setting up in the week before.  and made me laugh the whole time.

 

and  my mom. her desire to help and her energy astounds me.  she  also stayed with us a couple days before the party (some of the best two days of my life) and one day she got to my house a few minutes before me and i found her cleaning behind my couch, and this was after she had already cleaned the window sills, the baseboards, and watered all my plants.  and this was just the beginning.  she is the ultimate party planner.  there aren't enough words to describe all that my ladies did. 

 

my dad packed and unloaded his truck about six times, helped execute my vision and set up all of my ridiculously time-consuming decorations and then, along with ryan, bbq'ed six tri-tips and 36 hot dogs in the heat.  what a guy...

so many people brought their famous dishes: dinha's baked beans, grandma's cole slaw, marsha's cheese dip with fig jam, my mama's coconut cupcakes!  delicious! 

 

mimi and pops chased after finn for a large part of the day (which can get pretty tiring-trust me), and made sure he was a happy one-year old, with things like kisses, water, snacks.

 

the weather thrilled me...a lovely 90 degrees.  especially since the very next week we were at 108 for a few days.  LUCKY.  real lucky. 

 

 

and most importantly, people came. from near and far. and they partied with us.  all in the name of our son's first year.

it all meant the world to us.  it really did.  finn may not have memories of this day, but i am certain that ryan and i won't soon forget every little bit.  thank you, everyone.

finn is one

the day is here.  our little finn is one.  it is equally glorious and bittersweet.  when i look back on finn's birth day - it seems like a decade ago.  i don't even recognize myself in those hospital pictures.  i have changed so.  learned.  grown.  my heart is certainly bigger.

and finn!  he has changed too :)  once in awhile he treats me to a little flashback...these days when he is lying down as i change his diaper and he really wails - i get a glimpse of that little brand new baby face, fresh out of the womb, crying his little head off.   funny, he was surely terrified in that moment, but it was certainly the best moment of my life.  and when i first held him, i remember rubbing his forehead, saying "you are my baby", over and over again.   i think he will always be my baby.

  we are so happy to celebrate you and your first year today.

simply put, you are the best thing. 

we love you, baby boy.

and to everyone else in our life who has helped fill finn's first year with love and happiness, thank you from the depths. there is no greater gift...

finn goes camping

we took finn on his first camping trip up to pollock pines with the tantes!

the whole time i was thinking was a good little camper our boy was, and then i realized that finn is always happy when his tantes are around.

the highlights were the swimming, the scenery, the mountain air, the cuisine...but the best was playing chubby bunny.  i don't think i have seen ryan laugh that hard since 2008.

its a new world having a baby that can stand up on his own.  so much more exploring and fun to be had.

my favorite part was the last night, just before sunset we went down to the water.  finn examined the rocks and ryan showed us is champion rock skipping skills.  who knew?!

i love camping classics - like sugary cereal and hot cocoa.

smiley pics and silly pics.  the last one features finn mid-sneeze.

happy camper family.

eleven months

your last monthday post before you are one!  how can this be? i think that it can't get any better, but then each month seems to be better than the last.  and that is exactly what happened in your eleventh month...

 

::  you now say "nana" for banana, "bye bye" and "hi".  you also recognize and try to say "blueberry"  and it sounds more like "blooooo-baaaaaahh".  so cute.  you love to stand at the door and say "buh, buh", waving your little paw as the cars drive by.  as i am sure is the case for every parent, it kind of blows us away to hear you talk.  you are also spending a lot of time mimicking sounds and words we say. 

::  you can stand on your own!  we even saw you take a step, but it was a fluke, because you have yet to take another.  and that is fine by us :)

::  you dance when you hear music and are in the mood.  you either bounce or slowly sway your body back and forth.  of course, its simply hilarious.

::  you love the driver's seat.  you seem really boyish as you grab and turn the steering wheel and flip on the windshield wipers.

::  you think bodily noises are the most funny.  great.  burps, barfing noises, hiccups and sneezes.  such a boy you are.

::  when i first heard, "its a boy!", i had a slew of fun and hilarious visions running through my head and one of them was that you may be a "wrecker" - a boy who just loved to destroy stuff.  i am sure that phase will find its way to our house, but for now i am loving watching how you carefully inspect things, as if you are trying to figure out how it works.