9/28/2011 - Share and share alike

From Drop Box

Finn is a great sharer, but sometimes he just hits a limit with his brother. Liam, our busy boy is all over the place and has his hands in everything. Finn is learning the joys and challenges of having a younger sibling. Those 2 and half precious years where hardly anything was shared are all coming to an end very shortly when Liam is big enough to play with Finn's toys without trying to devour them.

9/27/2011 - Yo Gabba Gabba Guys

From Drop Box

The boys got dressed in their costumes and did trick or treat practice on our neighbors. Needless to say, costumes were a huge hit! I can't wait for Liam's and my costumes to arrive. This has a makings of an amazing Christmas Card Picture!

9/26/2011 - Magic Robot

From Drop Box

Finn decided that our family is dressing up like Yo Gabba Gabba for Halloween. Jesse and Finn's costumes arrived in the mail today. Though Jesse looks pretty hilarious in his costume, Finn was too cute not to feature as the photo of the day. He was thrilled to be Plex the magic robot and proceeded to run around with Dylan wearing half his adorable costume. Halloween is going to a blast!

9/25/2011 - Road trip

We spent much of our weekend in the car. I had a wedding to attend in Pismo Beach, so we headed down to visit our cousins in Santa Maria. It was so fun to spend time with family, but pretty tiring for all for the long trips back and forth in such a short time frame. Finn was a superstar traveler. Liam did relatively well, but couldn't handle the car ride on the way home. We took a break in our cartrip at a small market. Finn enjoyed eating the strawberries from a local farmer. Liam also enjoyed gumming his very first strawberries. So cute!

9/24/2011 - Cowboy Finn

From Drop Box

Finn enjoyed his first pony ride at his cousin's birthday party. I was so proud of him for being so brave and not fretting like many of the other kids. Our boy is getting so big.

9/23/2011 - Playing well together

From Drop Box

I love it when Finn plays with toys that also can be played with by his brother. Love the duplos because Liam can gnaw on them without a big chance on his harming himself. It kept our little busy boy stay in one spot for a bit.

9/22/2011 - Hanging with pops

Chilling with pops on a warm evening in September. Loving the downtime with the kids.

9/21/2011 - If I wish hard enough will the house be clean

From Drop Box

Sometimes we wish there was a cleaning fairy to bestow our greatest wish upon us, of a clean house. Alas, it is all just a fantasy.

9/20/2011 - Popsicle Pals

From Drop Box

Finn gets a snack/treat most every night. Tonight the treat of choice was a popsicle. Papa thought that was a splendid idea and the boys ate their treats together. Cheers to Papa Popsicle Pals.

9/19/2011 - Brotherly love

From Drop Box

Finn and Liam love each other so much. Finny always can make Liam laugh. Finny enjoys being a doting and protective brother. I hope this brotherly love lasts for a lifetime.

9/18/2011 - Date Day with our boys

Jesse and I each took a boy and had a special date day. Jesse and Finn went down to Alameda and played at the beach. Liam and I stayed home, snuggled and played together. It was a treat for both of us to have some quality one on one time with each kid. I am looking forward to my one on one date with Finny some time soon.

9/17/2011 - Fancy Schmancy

What a lovely way to celebrate 5 years. Jesse and I were able to have a night out because Stacy and Gabe babysat the kids. We started out evening with a drink at Flora. One of these days we will have to do dinner there too. The drinks were divine. Then we headed over to Mua for an amazing dinner. Jesse will be raving about the shiitake mushroom dish for ages. I highly recommend it for both the hipster atmosphere, yummy drinks and good food. We finished our night with a glass of wine and a shared dessert of Creme Brulee at Enoteca di Zza's. While savoring our dessert on the patio, we randomly ran into our realtor, Shannon. It was nice to reminisce about our house purchase too. 4 years in December! Man, we have accomplished a lot in 5 years.

9/16/2011 - Fortunate Sons

Today is Jesse and my 5 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated it with two of our greatest treasures from our 5 years of wedded bliss, Finny and Liam. We went to our staple family restaurant of PF Changs. Jesse and I enjoyed a Prix Fixe 4 course menu and Finny enjoyed his usual order of Chicken Lo Mein. We enjoyed a post meal dessert of fortune cookies. We are feeling very fortunate indeed to have our lovely relationship and our amazing family.

9/15/2011 - Samba

From Drop Box

Being the crazy mother that I am, I purchased Finn Adidas Samba shoes for his Little Kicker Practices. I really wanted him to look and feel the part of a soccer player! He and Jesse now have matching Samba shoes. It is adorable and I am so jealous. I might just have to buy a pair of ladies Samba shoes to join the club.

9/14/2011 - He's a lover not a fighter

From Drop Box

We are so lucky to have such a sweet boy in Finny. Yesterday, we were hanging around playing outside with the neighbors, and Finn stopped midplay to run up to me, hug me and tell me that he loved me. The neighbors looked at us with shock that our little boy would do such a thing at his age. He was born sweet and I hope he always remains that way.

9/13/2011 - Baby Food Madness

From Drop Box

Our little boy is developing into quite the eater. Liam will eat anything and everything that we offer him with enthusiasm and spunk. We gave up on the bibs long ago and finally determined that after every dinner, the boy gets dunked in the bathtub to clean off whatever babyfood was on the menu for that evening. It's fun to have him eat so much, but I have never managed to avoid the food that inevitably gets all over me and my clothing. Thank god for dark washable laundry.

9/12/2011 - Conquering the world one day at a time

From Drop Box

Today I managed to tidy the entire downstairs, washed all of our dishes, did 2 loads of laundry and still managed to get to bed at a reasonable time. I feel like I can conquer the world ... at the least the little world that I call our home.

9/11/2011 - China Town

From Drop Box

We had a fun and exciting adventure in San Francisco Chinatown. We stumbled upon a fun festival in SF today. We stumbled through the huge crowds, ate yummy kettle corn, bought fancy Chrystanthemum Tea and people watched. We topped off the whole experience by eating delicious potstickers and pork buns. I have to admit I kinda liked the madness of the crowds in Chinatown, even with the two little ones in tow.

9/10/2011 - Little Kicker

From Drop Box

This morning was Finn's first Little Kickers lesson. It was so cute, I could just die!!! Finn did so well integrating in with the kids. He is definitely a rule follower, so he took direction well. The only thing that he really needs to work on is to stop carrying the ball around. This is going to be an AMAZING experience. I was gushing with pure pride and love for the entire hour!

9/9/2011 - Date night with Ray

Date night with Ray La Montagne and Brandi Carlile at the Greek! Amazing concert! Good company. Finn and Liam were in great hands with my good friend and coworker Kari. Life is good!

9/8/2011 - No pic today

Too busy today to even think about taking a picture. Sorry, wish I would have thought about this earlier, what are you going to do?

9/7/2011 - Pumped up

Ah, back to the grind at work and back to the grind at the breastpump. Since I spent the past few days solely nursing Mr. Liam, my milk production is down, which seems counterintuitive. Though I am happy to be able to provide my little one with Mama milk, sometimes it feels like a burden to have to lug my pump to work daily and lock myself in a random office for 20 minutes at a time twice daily to be milked like a cow. But then again, if I stopped doing it, then I wouldn't be able to nurse him so easily at night. Dilemmas. I think I am just tired today, maybe tomorrow I will love my pump again.

9/6/2011 - Champion Flyers

One of the greatest compliments that a parent can receive, is that their children are great flyers. Thank god for well behaved kids that can entertain themselves on the plane. Liam was a bit of a wiggleworm, but stayed mostly happy for all 4 flights. Finn was such a rockstar, he fell asleep on his own for two of the flights. I just love my kids! We are so lucky!

9/5/2011 - Family Bonding Part 2

From Drop Box

Aunt Fran and Uncle Frank so graciously hosted a big family get together at their house with some of the Kelseys and Pierces. Grandma and Grandpa Kelsey got to meet Liam for the first time. Aunt Mary and Uncle Jim met Liam as well. It was great to have so many people loving up the kids, wish I had had more time to visit to everyone.

9/4/2011 - Hyvee Tri

From Drop Box

We woke up early this morning to cheer on Gramps, Uncle Awesome and Cousin Ginny at the Hyvee Triathlon. The kids were total troopers and lasted all day long running from transition zone to transition zone and finally to the grand finale at the Iowa Capitol Building. Finn enjoyed running around the grandstand ringing the cowbells the Tyson Meats graciously provided to the fans. Super exciting to see all the finishers come in. Still not sure that I would ever want to compete in a tri. It's the swim, I just can't do it man!!

9/3/2011 - Family Bonding

From Drop Box

Today we got a chance to visit with a good majority of the Pierce side of the family. Finn enjoyed hanging out at the farmer's market with his cousins. The 3 boys are really close in age and have lots of similar interests. I wish we lived closer together. We ended the evening with a big family delicious dinner at the Waterfront Seafood restaurant.

9/2/2011 - Des Moines, IA

From Drop Box

We are thoroughly enjoying our visit to see the grandparents. Liam has been loving up on his Gramps and Nana. We explored teh East Village area of Des Moines, browsing the little boutiques and eating a nice tapas meal. The boys enjoyed a dip in the hotel pool. Liam's first time in a swimming pool was a total success. Maybe he will be the swimmer in our Future Triathlon Relay someday. Finn enjoyed playing with his boogie board and Lightning McQueen pool toys. Jess and I have been enjoying the extra arms to hold the kids and eyes to keep watch of them. I am sure that Nana and Gramps are totally loving all the grandkid time as well.

9/1/2011 - Flying the friendly skies

From Drop Box

We survived two flights with our two virtually angelic kiddos. Finn is a seasoned traveler and was perfectly sweet and obedient on both flights. He even managed to pass out for half of the 2nd fleet with no coaxing whatsoever (granted he did wake up at 3:30 this morning). Liam hardly fussed at all of the first flight. And on the second flight, fussed a bit in the beginning before passing out for most of the flight. On the descent, his ears were bothering him so a friendly older lady on the flight played with him and spent much of the last few moments simply observing her funny faces. I would call that a major success!

8/31/2011 - Lifesaver

From Drop Box

I dedicate this post to Stacy. We lean on her so much for help with the kids. And she is always there for us, when she can be. Stacy came over tonight and played with the kids and helped to clean house while we prepared for our trip to Iowa tomorrow morning. Finn adores his Auntie Stacy, even if she does force him to eat foods that he doesn't like. And Liam loves her as well. Jesse and I appreciate her so much. I doubt that she will read this post, but if she does, I hope she knows that her help and support is priceless.

8/30/2011 - 3 is the magic number

From Drop Box

My amazing little boy turned 3 today. I have learned so many things about myself and about life from Finn. I love that he is musical and loves to dance. I love that he is still a snuggle bug at 3 years old. I love that he is still a mama's boy. I love that he is a busy active boy. I love that he is opinionated and expressive with the family. I am both excited and devastated to see him growing up before my eyes.

8/29/2011 - Snuggle time

From Drop Box

Snuggling and a snack with Papa. Nothing better than a warm Finn after a long day at work.