THE NURSERY

Finley has the best looking and most organized room in the house. Go figure. At least we didn't give up the master bedroom to her... although with the bassinet, blankets, pacifiers, bouncy seat, etc. it might appear otherwise. I guess you could say there has been a Finley Explosion around here, I think she might have taken over our lives. I finished her nursery about two days before she was born which was nice to check off my list.

With no closet in the room we had to get a little creative about storage. The two dressers hold her clothes and the baskets on the bench hold toys books and burp cloths.

I framed black and white pictures of Brad and I and our parents as kids. I still need to get one of my dad from his youth. My favorite picture is of Brad on the horse - I can't believe how blonde he was as a kid.

Here is the essential changing station. The white thing holds diapers and lotion and wipes - one of my favorite purchases and very well used. And the Diaper Genie? Amazing. It has been a sanity saver for our bug attracting apartment - I can't imagine walking out to the trash ten times a day.

I tried to make sure Finley knows about two of the best places on earth - Texas and France. I also had to make sure Illinois was represented since it's both her and Brad's birth state and I'll have to get something to represent Utah. We'll be there in about a month, can't wait!

The picture above her crib is a map of Paris.

The crib was given to us by Brad's older brother - it belonged to the first Carn granddaughter who is now 16 years old. It was given to us with the instructions that we give it back to her when she has her first baby. Brad and his Dad outfitted this drawer with wheels and a divider - it was a drawer that Brad's Dad just happened to have on hand and it matched the crib perfectly in size and wood color. Convenient!

That was probably the longest tour for the smallest sqare footage ever - thanks for indulging me!

TWO WEEKS

Finley had her two week pediatrician appointment yesterday and she has grown. She gained 9 ounces and grew a 1/2 inch. The pediatrician said she is perfect and appears completely healthy -- which is always good news. I was a little concerned because her umbilical cord hadn't fallen off yet so I was asking some questions about it to make sure it wasn't infected or anything. And what do you know? It fell off while I was talking to the pediatrician. So Finley finally has a belly button and can take a real bath instead of the dreaded sponge baths. She is sleeping much better now and still eating well... so things are going pretty smooth so far.

My mom spent two and half weeks here and went home a few days ago. She was great doing laundry and cooking us dinner and snuggling the Finley. It was really hard to see her go but I think the last few days on my own have gone relatively well. I just have to readjust my entire idea of time, for sleeping purposes and scheduling purposes.

Finley also had a few other firsts this week - she wore her first dress. She's still too small for all the dresses we had so Grandma bought her one in a newborn size. She also had her first trip out of the house to the library which allowed me to try out her stroller, of course she slept through the entire experience.

FINLEY'S FIRST WEEK

A few days before Finley was born my dad came to visit - we had a good time going out to eat and getting a few last minute items prepared. I like to call this the calm before the storm.


Then my mom came into town for the long haul to help with the birth and Finley's first few weeks of life. This was taken as I was registering the night before Finley's birth at Saint Anthony's Hospital.





Here I am - little did I know what was about to go down over the course of the next 24 hours. I will spare everyone the gory details but let's just say that Finley needed A LOT of prodding to get into this world. Pitocin... 10 hours later... epidural... 45 later... pushing... 2 hours later... forcepts... 2 minutes later... birth.


I'm not gonna say it wasn't painful - but it was magical and totally worth the work and the wait.






This is Finley coming home for the first time. She wore home the same dress I wore home from the hospital when I was born. I was a little chunkier so it was a little big on her.

This is the awesome Dr. Cannon that delivered Finley... apparently Finley had some wicked flash backs because two seconds before I took this picture she was totally fine.

She loves to sleep all day and loves to cuddle. She hates sponge baths and sleeping at night. We are all learning - but we still think we got pretty lucky.

INTRODUCING

It was a long hard day but we are so happy that she is finally here. Of course we pretty much think she's the cutest baby that ever was. She likes to open one eye at a time... so we call her Popeye... but her official name and stats are:

Finley Anne Carn

June 7, 2010

6:45 pm

7 lbs 6 oz

20 inches long

A million more pictures to come...