We're Moving and Apple Picking

Well, my dad is FINALLY getting his wish - his middle child and his first grandson, along with his other favorite son-in-law, are finally moving home. God is so gracious and merciful to us - He provided an exceptional job for Margo back home in Ontario, Oregon as a pediatric P.A. A family friend of ours who is a nurse at the local hospital asked one of the doctors she ran into if the doc knew of anyone in the area that might be looking to hire a P.A. The doctor, who happens to be a pediatrician, said, "well, I might be." Our friend immediately got excited and told the doctor all about me. Intrigued, the doctor told her to have me forward my resume on to her, which I promptly did. Within a week, the office manager at Treasure Valley Pediatrics Clinic called me and an interview was scheduled - they paid for my plane ticket and we happened to have enough frequent flyer miles so that Dru and Fin could fly out with me. It was a whirlwind weekend - we flew out on Friday, I interviewed on Friday and Saturday, we had dinner with our entire family Friday night and dinner with the clinic people on Saturday, and then flew back early Sunday morning. They offered me the job on Saturday during the second interview and I enthusiastically accepted. It is VERY hard to find a job as a pediatric PA anywhere in the COUNTRY, much less in the Northwest, much less in the town I GREW UP IN. This is definately the hand of God and we feel so blessed to finally be moving back closer to family. Dru is very excited about leaving, even though it means leaving a job he's had for 20 years; he is thrilled to begin a new adventure and is okay being a stay-at-home dad for a few months while he looks for a job out west.

Fin's first plane ride went exceptionally well. My friend, Anita, had made me a Mari wrap so that I could "wear" Fin through the airport and onto the plane. It worked great and Fin ate, slept, and played through the 8-hour trip to and from Idaho - he didn't fuss at all, which was a relief and a huge blessing. Here's our family marking Fin's first plane trip.


For the first time, all the cousins were together under one roof. Here's a picture of the daughters and their children, from L to R: Margo, Callia, Chelsea, Fin, Julia, and Gretchen


Cousin Callia really enjoyed meeting baby Fin - and Fin really thought cousin Callia was something special - he smiled for her over and over. It was SO cute!

The 3 cousins hanging out with Poppy and Aunt Chelsea

Nana, Aunt Chelsea, and Fin

Uncle Dru and Gretchen

Aunt Juju, Gretchen, and Fin

So, we're making the most of our time with friends while we're still in the Northeast. We went apple picking with our friends the Pullens and then spent a fun afternoon with them carving pumpkins. They made us a DELICIOUS lamb dinner which we chased with some homemade apple pie that I had thrown together right after apple picking. We are going to miss Rick, Lorena, and Hannah very much.

Tractor ride out to the apples

Mommy and Fin spotting "the good ones"

Good thing Daddy's tall....

We found some good ones!

Our family's first apple picking outing on a cold October morning

A baby apple for Fin!

Fin entertaining us with his faces in the apple house

The whole apple picking crew with the orchards in the background

Me and Hannah carving pumpkins while Lorena held Fin

The final creations...

Mommy with her inspiration for this year's jack-o-lantern (if you can't tell, my pumpkin's supposed to be a baby!) :)

Fin enjoyed sites and sounds on Daddy's shoulder - his expressions are priceless!!

Found Fin in his crib like this one night

Found him like this the next night...too funny!

Back...To...Work...ughh...

It's been awhile since we've posted. Time has once again become a precious commodity as I have gone back to work. :( Going back to work after spending every day for 10 weeks with our little man was like hacking off one of my appendages...very painful. But, it really has been the best situation imaginable - Dru switched to second shift so he's working from 4-11PM and can be home with Fin most of the day. He brings Fin to my work at noon so that Fin can eat; Dru brings me lunch, too, so I don't have to worry about packing it the night before now...sweet! For the 2+ hours after Dru leaves for work and before I get home, we have a teenaged friend of ours, Hannah, come and stay with Fin. Hannah is the oldest of 10 brothers and sisters, so she has tons of babysitting experience and we trust her implicitly. And, I have enjoyed seeing my old patients and laughing with my colleagues again.

Fin continues to amuse and bless us every day. He's getting so long - definately his father's son. He smiles and squeals and coos all the time now - so entertaining. He is starting to hold his head up, picking it up off our shoulders and trying to sit forward in his carseat. And, in classic true form, Dru has "taught" Fin to stick his tongue out - in this video, you can catch Fin's little tongue flicking out occasionally in response to Dru sticking out his tongue at him.


Fin also loves to bounce - I put him on the bed and bounce him up and down while singing "Bounce to my Fin" - the very popular alternate version of "Skip to my Loo"

Here's a little video of Fin smiling HUGELY - just too cute.

He's doing well on his tummy time, although he now starts to whine after about 5-10 minutes on the matt. Sometimes, however, he just falls asleep. He cracks us up.



He also likes to look at himself in the mirror on the gym - it's funny because he'll just lay there and stare and coo. Dru caught a cool picture of him doing this.




He also loves his newest toy - a SWING, courtesy of our dear friend, Anita, who had an extra one. Here's a pic of him swinging and talking away...

It's gotten colder here now, so we'll sometimes wrap Fin up in his adorable little bathrobe after his bath - doesn't he look like a little fisherman? Bathrobe courtesy of our friends Linda and Chantelle.

And finally, cuddle time with Daddy - he's still our little cuddlebug, which I love. I'll be sad when he gets mobile and doesn't want to cuddle as much...