Saying Goodbye to 2012

If I had to sum up the last year in one word, I would call it Magical. Now I'm not going to sit here and say the whole year was sunshine and rainbows, because lets be real there were days that weren't so pretty,  but on the whole, it was an amazing year.  Not only did we grow in size as a family, I believe we grew in so many aspects of our life--our marriage, our home, our patience, our hearts, our faith--the list could go on.

While  I thought about doing a recap of the year, I don't think I'm going to because I know there will be something that I forget to include.  I just want to remember the moments, like the day we found out we would be gifting Rowen with one of the most amazing things we as parents could give him, a brother, our dear sweet Finnegan, who doesn't yet know how much joy he has brought to our family.  Its moments like these, that made 2012 magical.  So here is a list, with not a whole lot of detail, of some of our moments of 2012:

-Finding out our family was growing
-Celebrating Rowen's first birthday
-Rowen taking off walking
-Taking Rowen to Disney
-Summertime swim days
-Seeing Joe graduate
-It's a boy!
-Rehoboth Beach
-The great raisin incident
-walks, walks, and more walks
-EAGLE
-Watching a dear friend marry her best friend
-Visiting the zoo
-Doing over two little boy rooms
-Day date
-Trips to the pumpkin patches
-carving pumpkins
-eating ribs
-Halloween
-A visit from grandpa and a first trip to the train store
-Seeing Flight
-Meeting Finnegan!
-Seeing my boy's meet and grandma meeting Finn
-Our first Thanksgiving as a family of four
-pneumonia and a three week (the worst week ever)
-Driving lights, Christmas trees, and a purple hippo
-First family road trip
-Finnegan's first New England Christmas

2012 was a glimpse of great years to come.  When my boys are teenagers, and hopefully best friends, I will remember these last few weeks of 2012 as their first few weeks together, the beginning of their bond as brothers.  

So Goodbye 2012, you have been great to the Rivera Family, and we will remember you fondly in the years to come.

Our Christmas

Merry the day after Christmas, isn't it sad that the day has come and gone? We had a wonderful Christmas and made the most of the day as a family.  

On Christmas Eve, Rowen spent much of his day running his choo choo.  My dad built a train table at his level, and since we have been here he has been obsessed with this table. I'm pretty sure he will miss it when when we go back home. 

One of my favorite things about Christmas at home is all of the decorations around the house.  I could write an entire post on each room filled with Christmas cheer, and its definitely one of the things that helps make everything 'feel' like Christmas.

Everyone that joins the family gets their own stocking, and over the years the entire mantle has been filled up. I also took a picture to capture my sweet little family of four's stockings this year, with the newest addition being Mr. Finnegan's stocking!

That night my mom surprised us with matching pajamas and we herded the cats to try to get a picture or two!  Finnegan was sleeping, and we were hoping for a little sleep through the night so we didn't wake him to join the picture.

Before bed Row enjoyed a little train time with Aunt Regan.

On Christmas morning we were woken by this little angel. Everyone else got an extra hour of much needed sleep and we enjoyed cuddles with Mr. Finn.

Once everyone was up we started opening up gifts...

Rowen loved his mini trains so much that he pretty much couldn't be bothered to play with any other toy for the rest of the day...

We spent the rest of the day hanging out, laughing, and eating way too much delicious food.  All in all Christmas 2012 was a wonderful day, spent with all of the people I love most in this world!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

~Better Than Expected~

Yesterday we took the boys to one of the local malls to see Santa.  Obviously Finn wasn't going to be too interested in meeting the jolly man, but we weren't sure if Rowen was going to be happy to meet him or start screaming like a wee terror.  We thought Tuesday morning there would be no line, but boy were we wrong, we got there before Santa was even out and there were already at least ten families in line.  

When it was finally our turn to meet the big guy, Rowen said hello and happily sat on his lap.  At the end he was pretty excited about the sticker Santa gave him and waved goodbye.  Without further adieu, Santa Visit 2012... 

~Finnegan James - 1 month old~

Dear Finnegan,

I am sorry this is a few days late, but I had to retrieve my SD card before I could post this.  The first month of your life was by far the fastest month of my life.  Between your arrival, Thanksgiving, and the holiday season, time is just flying by.  And each day you are growing and changing more and more and I hardly recognize you as the little baby we brought home!

So far, you have been a relatively easy baby.  You love to sleep a lot, and in almost all cases we have to  wake you up to feed you.  You are a lazy eater, and while we know you are hungry, usually you act like eating is no big deal.  For the first few weeks of your life, you and I lived in the living room, but at this point you are sleeping in your crib.  Most nights you sleep anywhere between four and six hours at a stretch, wake up and eat, and are back down until morning.  You love to be swaddled as well, and when you are ready to be swaddled you let us know and start fussing.

You know how to use your lungs and if you are not happy you are sure to let us know.  And while you can holler when you like to, you also just make lots of noises and squeaks in general, whether you are eating, sleeping, or just hanging out.  Your grandfather said the sound of you eating a bottle sounds like a small barking dog.

You are currently drinking roughly four to five ounces every three to four hours.  You are wearing size one diapers, have outgrown all of your newborn clothes, and fit well into your 3 month clothes.  You are long and lean, and we think you might be tall one day given your long little fingers.

Finn vs. Rowen

While I think you share some traits with your older brother, you are definitely a distinctive little person and I don't think you are going to be a mini Rowen.  Right now your eyes are blue, and if they change to brown I will remind you everyday that one time long ago your eyes were BLUE. And may you never dispute this fact like your dad.  You also have the most precious head of dark spiky hair, which I love, and am hoping doesn't fall out (at this point your brother looked like a 40 yr old balding man).

This month has been amazing with you Finnegan, and you have seemlessly fit into the fold of our little family.  You have made our hearts double in size, and the love we feel for you grows more and more each day.  Happy one month Finnegan James!

xoxo,
Dad and Mom

And just for a giggle here is a picture I snapped of you and your brother the other day, you both weren't too happy...

~20 and 3~

Today my boys are 20 months and 3 weeks old. I think its neat that it falls on the same day.  While sometimes it seems like Row is aging slowly (or slower than before) its hard to believe that last Christmas he was only eight months old.  And as with all newborns, Finn is aging incredibly fast.  I still can't believe that he has been with us for three weeks already, and am trying to not dwell on the fact that I only have two more months of maternity leave.  I had planned to take pictures of them today, but other circumstances took hold and thus all I have are iPhone pictures to mark the day with. 

You may notice big brother looks a little tired, and for good reason.  My usually (knock on wood) healthy toddler has been fighting a mean fever since Tuesday and today I took him to the doctor to discover that he has pneumonia.  What was supposed to be a relatively 'normal' week has turned into a sicky week, and it wasn't until Rowen's fever got down to 101 tonight that we started to see signs of our normal bubbly boy.  Hopefully this is a turn towards health and tomorrow we will be able to hang out fever free and wait for daddy to start the weekend.  

Last Friday when I picked Rowen up from school I was handed 'homework' and told to fill a puzzle piece with whatever we wanted to put on it, so I chose to go with the theme "Rowen's Favorite Things."  I think it turned out pretty cute and I incorporated things that he loves right now, including trains, his purple light up hippy (who currently lives outside my front door), all of his bedroom buddies, little blue truck, and his brother.  I also used mickey paper as my background since we are disney crazed in this house! This is my very first piece of child homework and I know there will be so many more in the years to come!

Is it appropriate to give your UPS man a gift? This has been on my mind this holiday season since I am doing the majority of my shopping online, and our beloved UPS man (he truly is the nicest man) visits us almost daily, and upon seeing Rowen the other day remarked how he remembers when he was born.  We don't know many people in this town, but our UPS man is one of the constants that makes this town feel like home.  So hopefully he wont mind, or find it inappropriate, if we give him a small token of our appreciation this holiday season.  

And last but not least, hopefully I will finish up Christmas shopping this weekend.  I have a slight complex when it comes to this job, and feel like I have to find life altering gifts, which isn't the case, and isn't expected by anyone I give gifts to.  But combine that feeling with being preoccupied with a newborn, and I feel rather off my game this year, despite having almost all of it done.  My goal is to online shop my way through almost everything tomorrow so hopefully we can enjoy our weekend and do some fun holiday esk activities!!

Random I know, but this is whats on my mind. 

Finnegan's Birth Story

Our dear sweet Finnegan James,

It is time to document your birth, so that one day you too will know the story should I ever forget the details.  As I write this you are quietly rocking back and forth in your swing, making the occasional grunt that we have discovered is quite common for you.  Today, you are just one day shy of your third birthday, time is already going too fast.

Getting back to your birth, you were born at exactly 39 weeks.  Two days prior to your arrival we had been concerned that you were loosing fluid, and your dad and I took a trip to the hospital to check things out.  After running a test, Dr. Owen said we were free to go, but if I was still concerned on Thursday to go ahead and come in because she was on call and would be happy to check things out again.  Let it be noted that we LOVE Dr. Owen.  

On Thursday the 15th, I got up bright and early to head out to the mall for a long walk.  At this point it became too cold to walk outside, and I met your Auntie Gail to do half mile loops of the mall.  I also want to note that I ate a bowl of fruity Cheerios prior to leaving the house, and finished the box, which in hindsight should of been a sign that this day might be the day ( I did the same thing with your brother)!

After the walk I called your dad because I was still concerned about leaking, and he told me to go ahead and call the hospital. I did so, and they told us to come in.  So I quickly changed and met your dad at the hospital at around 1130.  Once again Dr. Owen ran a test, but also decided to do an ultrasound to see how you were looking.  While the test said things were fine, the ultrasound showed that you had low fluid, which meant we were staying, and were going to meet you soon! 

The decision to induce labor happened around 1 pm, at which point I asked your dad to get me a snack before I wasn't allowed to eat anymore.  He came back with a Snickers and Peanut M&Ms, I sure do love him!  The doctor started the Pitocin at 2:30, and the waiting game began.  At around 6pm she came into check me and wasn't happy with the progress, so she went ahead and broke my water.  While this sped things up with your brother, I didn't know that it would make things go just as fast with you!  

At 7pm the new nurse for the night came in and decided to see where we were at.  Surprisingly, we were complete, and it was time to push!  However, I couldn't feel my legs at this point so we waited a while to try to get my legs back, but you weren't too eager to wait long.

At about 830, the nurse decided we couldn't wait any longer and called Dr. Owen.  While the doctor was still putting her gloves on, you decided you were ready to meet the world, and after 1.5 pushes ( I like to give myself a little credit, your dad on the other hand will tell you I did no work) we welcomed you to the world!  Yours may have been the most anticlimactic birth ever.

You, our sweet Finnegan James, arrived at 841 pm on the 15th of November, weighing 8lbs and measuring 20.5 inches.  You came out hollering with a head full of long dark spiked hair, and long fingers and toes! 

We were instantly smitten with you, and grow more and more in love with you each day! Words cannot express the joy you have brought to our family, and we can't imagine our lives without you!

Welcome to the world Finnegan James! 

Love,
Dad and Mom