SINCE BRAD'S BEEN GONE.

Brad left for Spain a few days ago so Finley and I have been hanging out and partying like it's 1999. The last few nights she has magically started waking up at 3AM and will not go back to sleep for several hours. I guess she must miss her dad. Not that he got up with her in the middle of the night or anything - but maybe she's all out of sorts because she didn't get her daddy cuddle time before bed - whatever it is I'm not a fan.

St. Louis has had a heat index of 106 for the past few days so I've had to skip our afternoon walks and do inside errands instead. At our little mall an exotic animal awareness group brought baby tigers that you could pet (with a $25 "donation"). I concluded that baby tigers and baby humans probably wouldn't get along so we viewed them from afar. Dang are they cute. I'm thinking that seeing tigers at their most adorable stage probably won't deter too many people from wanting one as a pet. If anything it probably put the idea in more people's mind. Oh well. I don't do their PR. But random, right? Baby tigers at the Alton Square Mall?

We also got to talk to Brad on the web cam yesterday. We had some technical difficulties so after 15 minutes of us both saying "what??" a million times we agreed to try it again today. I did manage to hear the story of how one of the female professors they are traveling with was almost mugged on the Metro. Brad actually pulled the mugger's (also a female) hand out of the professor's purse to stop her. There were some concerned people on the Metro that helped them confront the mugger and her cohorts and luckily everything ended well - as in no one was hurt and nothing was stolen. And Yes! Just the sort of story a wife wants to hear!

Brad gets home Sunday and until then we are going to pack for our long vacation. Do some crafting. Catch up on reading the blogs. And clean house. Finley's excellent at packing... this was her contribution when we were getting Brad ready for Spain.

PS - Finley's hair has fallen out on top and the little she has left is a fuzzy blonde. Poor girl. It's time to pull out the bows and headbands.

JUST. SO. TIRED.

Finley met her Grandma and Grandpa Carn this past weekend and I warned Finley that she's the 21st grandchild on that side so she has to stand out if she wants to be remembered. We had a great time and as far as I know she didn't make any racist remarks or spit up on anyone. She also made it through her first day of church with only minor complaints... I guess I can get used to listening to the Relief Society lessons in the hall. But our main order of business for the weekend was just relaxing - I think we met our objective.

Finley napped first.


Then Ross got in on the action.

Then Diane didn't want to miss out on the fun. (sidenote - the first thing Diane said when she saw this picture was - "don't put that on the blog!" Oops.)

But by the time everyone said goodbye we were all well rested!

THE SECRET TO GETTING THE HOUSE CLEAN

I'm telling you... spoiled spoiled spoiled.

ONE MONTH

Well our little chicken is officially one month old today. We celebrated with a bath and then a walk around campus - it was a big day. She is getting the hang of sleeping longer stretches at night, but unfortunately that means more crankiness during the day because she doesn't nap as well. She just really loves to be held because she's one spoiled baby, but since I have the time and the ability I don't mind our daily cuddle time. We haven't taken her to church yet but if all goes as planned she'll make her debut this Sunday - we are gonna try for all three hours. Woo hoo.

As a side note - it turns out then when you are breastfeeding you have a lot of down time and I've watched more TV lately then I ever wanted to in my entire life. Anyway. So this week is Kids Week on Jeopardy. As in twelve year old geniuses (genii??) playing for cash. Can I just say that it is THE MOST DEPRESSING show ever. I've never felt so dumb in my life. But you bet your left foot that I got every "Radio Disney" answer right. I think I'll switch to reading while Finley eats.

In other news Brad takes his Boards on Friday. We are all a little on edge because his score will decide our next several years of plans after dental school. So everyone please keep us in your prayers! Then next week Brad goes to Spain for a few days to present some research at a dental conference, so I'll have Finley on my own. Don't worry we're gonna party. Brad will be so sorry he missed all the fun. Europe shmirope. Anyway, then when Brad gets back from Spain we're heading to the Carn family reunion and after that we are driving out to Utah for a few weeks. So we are pretty jam packed for the next bit - which will be interesting with a newborn. But we'll take Tim Gunn's advice and make it work.

And since it's not a post without pictures of Finley, here you go:

Tummy time usually ends up in nap time, she loves being on her belly.

I love that double chin. This is her "fat and happy" face after she's done eating.

She also quite enjoys this "baby lounger" (on loan from her cousin Avery who was born last summer). She's almost too long for it but since she still curls her legs like a chicken we might be able to use it for a few more weeks. Although when she's awake she kicks herself off and ends up with her bum on the floor.

I'm pretty sure she would stay like this forever if possible. The only problem is with the heat and humity her face and neck have broken out in heat rash from being so warm when she sleeps on us. Poor girl. Now we have to keep a "cool breeze" on her to clear it up. Which is great because babies love cool breezes. And by love I mean hate.

We didn't really celebrate the 4th of July because Brad is studying his guts out. But I did make a 4th of July feast. Finley looked longingly at our brats and spinach dip... maybe next year.