Good morning Santa

Got Milk?

Seriously Santa

Finn and Harper went to see Santa for the first time recently and somehow I was the only one to end up on old St. Nick's lap. And that proves once again there really is no limit to a mother's love.

525,600 minutes

We made it! One year down and many more to go. Little miss celebrated with a Wonder Woman birthday party and started taking her first steps on her own. She has expanded her vocabulary to include duck, ought oh and dog. She's been working on this trick for a while, but she now can successfully open her blinds when she is supposed to be taking a nap. We also were able to turn her car seat to face forward. Unfortunately, the side effect is that I've tried to put Finn in her seat twice now. It's been so fun to get to know her personality during this year and can't wait to see what the next year will bring. Happy Birthday Miss Harper!

Let Me Out of Here!

Eleven!

This month I nearly panicked when I thought I missed getting Harper's eleventh month photo. This year has gone by so quickly and had so many hectic moments that it wouldn't have surprised me if I would have missed it, but luckily I found that I just hadn't downloaded from the camera. At eleven months Miss Harper has six teeth and can say three words. She says mama, daddy and this. I find it very interesting that she says daddy when she gets excited or sees Brad, but mama only comes out when she's really upset. (Can children really play their parents as early as 11 months?) She stands by herself and walks around the furniture, but hasn't taken steps on her own yet. She loves riding in her "big girl" car seat and is already starting to figure out how to open the baby gates. (Yes, we are in big trouble.)

Ho, Ho, Hugh?

Finn on Santa Claus:

Me: Finn, did you know Santa Claus is coming soon?
Finn: Santa Closet?
Me: No, Santa Claus.
Finn: Santa is in the Closet?
Me: It looks like Santa has some explaining to do.

A Bootiful Halloween

Amazing Pumpkins

It was touch and go for a while, but we did make it out of the corn maze with both kids and without a GPS. Finn had a great time in the "corn jungle." Harper thought it was fun to, but she wasn't quite sure why we kept wondering around in circles. Along the way we also managed to find and purchase about 25lbs in pumpkins that are waiting to be carved.

There's Something About Harper

10!

Lil' Miss is ten months old. She is a funny little girl with a quick smile and an inquisitive personality. She is officially out of her infant car seat and has moved into the pinkest most obnoxious little girl car seat we could get our hands on (In our defense it was 50% off.) It is getting tougher and tougher to get her picture taken because she doesn't sit still for a second. She is also starting to stand on her own for a few seconds at a time and is working on breaking the land speed record for crawling. Because we have about 14 baby gates in our house, one of her favorite things to do is to pull herself up to the gate and start shaking them. It sort of looks like she is trying to break out of jail and I'm hopeful that it isn't an indication as to what the future might hold.

Mom, I'm Bored!

I rarely get bored, which means either I lead an unusually exciting life or I am easily entertained by the mundane. Fortunately for me the kids can't articulate their boredom just yet, but they do get restless and that is when one must get creative. Here are a few of those moments...









Making brownies









Playing birthday party









Fun with buckets and bowls










A toothbrush is a toy

Finn the Builder

It isn't really breaking and entering if the excavation equipment is just sitting there unlocked, right?

First Day of School

It is a Seeley tradition to have your picture taken in by the front door on the first day of every school year. This is how the pictures went this morning with Finn...

Just Breath

I started thinking the other day the the secret to life is to just take one breath at a time. And then in dawned on me that breathing really is the secret to life. One breath at a time. The past month has been incredibly difficult. We noticed some changes with Finn's eyes and then his balance and knew something was wrong. We took him in to Primary Children's Hospital and left 9 days later. I'm sure that leaving the hospital with him on the 9th day I was happier than when I brought him home when he was born.

He went through a battery of tests in the hospital and was finally diagnosed with ADEM (Acute Disseminating Encephalomyelitis). Basically it is a brief, but intense inflammation in the brain that often follows a viral infection. It is very rare and can be very serious. Right now we feel very lucky that Finn is doing as well as he is and we are very hopeful that he will continue doing well. We want to thank all of our friends and family for your thoughts, prayers and generosity.

My Oh Nine

I remember someone telling me how great it was before kids become mobile and wondering what they were talking about. Well, now I know. Miss Harper began crawling this month. I thought it was tough enough with two little munchkins, but now that they are moving it two different directions all bets are off. She now has five teeth and it seems like every time I turn around she's growing a little bit more. Brad and I have also determined that she and Finn are trying to slowly drive us insane through sleep deprivation. For anyone reading this who had one of those kids that slept through the night at six weeks or something like that, I hope you slam your finger in a door. (Just kidding, I am really happy for you.)

Parents Gone Wild

After nearly a year and a half, Brad and I had a weekend away (adults only). Sure we missed the kids and were super glad to see them, but it was so nice to sit a restaurant and not hear the sound of a ticking time bomb going off in my head. We were able to get out and bike together, which has become a real rarity. The count down until next year starts now.

Wild Flowers

When we used to go backpacking, I would worry about how heavy my pack was going to be. Now I say, "Bring it on backpack, you don't have anything on a wiggly two year old!" We recently took a hike in Albion Basin to enjoy the wild flowers. They were great an all, but the real highlight was throwing rocks into the lake and feeding cereal to the wildlife.

Super Eight

I know I say it every month, but I can't believe she's eight months old! Time goes by so quickly. She now has 3 teeth and is officially mobile. She rolls and scoots herself across the floor and if given the chance she will pull herself up to stand. She's started to babble even more and one of her favorites is da-da-da. Finn is quick to remind her to say ma-ma-ma too. (That's my boy!) She spent her first night away from me this month and seemed to do just fine. Some of her favorite things to do are put things in her mouth, grab hand-fulls of hair and laugh at her brother.

Daddy Night Camp

During a recent book club a few of the dads got together at our house to watch the kids. Let me just say a picture is worth a thousand words...

Stars and Stripes Forever

We celebrated July 4th in Driggs this year. We had a great time. We started the day with a home town parade (including really loud fire trucks that scared Harper to death). Finn loved waving his flag and catching the candy. We lit a few sparklers, which resulted in two burnt fingers. We barbecued and mountain biked in the rain. And when it was all said and done the kids slept right through the fireworks.