Findley Jon turns 1

Findley Jon turned 1 on October 2nd. He had a party on the 1st and everything went smoothly with no rain and all sun. He loved opening presents and cried when it came to cake. He is the most handsomest boy I know and I love him.

Loved his new Mickey Mouse

Amazing Mohawk beanie



Just reading new books in his new tie

Happy little family

so sad about his cake, which was delicious pumpkin. He doesn't even know what he is missing

So BIG

Laughing at cousin Sid

Eating his lunch

Cookie bar and cupcakes

pinwheels and books

Finn is still playing with the balloons almost 2 weeks later.

Arizona

Apparently talking about my breast size, or lack thereof wasn't enough about our Arizona trip. Although that was the highlight of my trip we did much more then discover I am a small child. We swam a lot the week leading up to the wedding. What else can you really do in the beautiful dry heat of Arizona? Joe however managed to go golfing 3 times, go to a diamondbacks game and an ASU game. I swam, Joe went on many adventures. Finn discovered a couple new things. He loves to "read". Every time we are in the car he was reading a book, even if it's upside down he'll still read it, he's that talented. He loves naked time with his cousins and he loved crawling around on the splash pad. He did learn that if you look inside a hole water well come out of it and it well splash you in the face. My son may like a lot of things, but he did not like that surprise. I got yelled at by a grumpy German man for taking pictures of my sleeping son in the temple waiting room. He actually threatened to take my camera away, can they even do that? I'm pretty sure he's still upset about the whole Hitler thing, and someone should let him know that only nice people are supposed to be working in the temple. At the reception we danced the night away. Well we danced until Finn fell asleep, which was 8:30. I then watched the Latinos dance the night away while holding a sleeping, sweating baby. We spent time with cousins and Aunts and Uncles, ate Neilsons, ate some more, played a weak round of Hearts and swam some more. It was hot but worth it.

*Side note that has nothing to do with Arizona: my husband makes the best Fettuccine Alfredo. I just ate some left overs and I have never had Alfredo better than his. In fact we don't even eat at Italian restaurants really anymore because anything Italian his family makes is 100 times better then anything at sick Olive Garden or any other Italian restaurant . You know it's good when at the end of the Alfredo there is a pile of butter and oil in the bowl. Thank you Joe for making the best Alfredo ever! Now some pictures:

Happy new couple, Eli & Mila

Book worm

Mesa temple waiting for Eli & Mila

It was totally worth it to get yelled at for this picture





My 2 handsome boys



Splash Pad Party

Getting shot in the face

He doesn't even know what's coming

Naked Party

Pool time

Flying Finn

Conkling Family

Dance Dance, you know it's serious when you get the face

Mom with the kids

Last Chance

This last week my whole family went on over to Arizona for my brother Eli's wedding. Mine and Tyler's families made a vacation out of it and stayed in Scottsdale the week leading up to the wedding. Since Jeff and Joe golfed basically every day, Tyler and I made a little shopping trip to a store called Last Chance. It's not Nordstroms, it's not Nordstroms Rack, it's what comes after Nordstroms Rack and it is amazingly cheap. We got shirts for a dollar (dolla holla), $150 pencil skirts for $4.97, $50 shorts for $5.97, you get my point it was extremely cheap. Just ask Tyler she of course found out how much she would have spent compared to what she did spend, it doesn't even make sense. Anyways when we got home I was looking at my recite to see how much everything was. I know I got 3 kids belts for .97 cents and they were listed as LC Kids AP. While looking down I found 2 other things listed under LC Kids AP. for $3.97 (as shown above). I was confused as to what else I bought in the kids section and then it clicked. Yes I bought 2 kids bras that fit like a glove. Thank you Finn for tricking me into thinking I would have big breast after children when in fact I now have smaller breast then I did before and I now have to shop in the kids sections for bras. At least I finally have some bras that fit.

Happy 4 years

We made it a whole 4 years and we are still happy and married. this year we didn't have just one day of celebration, well Joe did, but I had 12 days. Everyday Joe left a note behind explaining what well happen on that certain day. I felt like a little kid waiting for Santa every morning. I am so grateful to you, Joe, for making me feel loved every day( with or without gifts). I know , I know as years go on and we get into double digits the anniversaries are going to be interrupted with kids and with the busyness of life, but I'll take what I can get for now. So from now on I well be expecting the 12 days of our anniversary every year. Just joking, but seriously do it. Thank you Josh and Court for getting married so I could give my number out to Thurm and Brock. Which led to me stocking Joe and asking Thurm for his number. So I guess I owe a thank you to Thurm too for first making me feel stupid in asking for Joe's number but then said he was joking and gave it to me. I'm so glad I wore the yellow skirt the day I did and dropped it like it was hot to get Joe to recognize me. Again thank you yellow skirt, rap music, girl's choice slow dance and Joe for not waiting for me to ask him to dance on girl's choice. Thank you for taking a chance on me and making me the happiest wife, now mom, ever. I love you and am excited for our many more anniversaries ( and awesome present ideas...again just joking, but seriously...)

temptation

This is my biggest tempation. This little special K treat from Village Baker is my downfall. At first sight it makes you so happy with its looks and smell alone. This is my ultimate temptation and I can never say no. Once i get one bite I have to finish it. No matter if I'm full or sick I finish it. I'm so happy while eating but that follows with immediate regret. though this leaves me with sadness once it is gone i truly love it. however it is becoming a problem. im pretty sure i well become obese from eating this so often. every weekend it seems like joe goes on a little drive and brings me home one of these, just because. some days it may seem like im having a rough day so joe may bring me home 2. i guess im pretty easy to make happy. no diamonds no roses just a special k bar.

Maybe a Theme

So lately I have had no clue was to blog about. I thought I could blog about Finn of course everyday, but I think only so many people want to read about how many times he tried to crawl in a day. By so many people I mean me and maybe Joe. I thought I could make up a perfect family and make fun of people because I think I ma better then everyone else, but then I realized I had a life. I could be a food critic but then everyone would know how much crap I eat. I could blog about my workouts at Pure Workout and hoe ridiculous they are and how much I sweat and get my butt kicked everyday. Again I think only myself would enjoy that. I can people watch and make fun of people, but my New Year's resolution is to not make fun of people, so that wouldn't work. For now you are just stuck with me and my family and random thoughts every now and then. On that note here is what we have been up to...

Continued

Like I was saying this is what we have been up to. Like the bad parent I am Joe and I left our Finn and went on a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas. I'm pretty sure Finn didn't really care because he had cousins constantly taking care of him and playing with him. Of course when we got back from the cruise Finn decided to give me the "no look at mom" treatment for about 20 minutes. Of course as soon as he saw Joe he was kicking and excited to see him. He probably just though Joe was at work. I do all the work and Joe always gets all the love. Sometimes I just think babies have it all wrong. Back to the beginning, Joe and I enjoyed some alone time for the first time in 8 1/2 months. Joe did have to give me a lecture on why it is good to leave a 8 month old because we don't want him living at home when he is 30. After that lecture ( which doesn't really make sense) I was fine and we were able to enjoy ourselves.

We enjoyed a boat ride in the sun to...

where we meet these guys. Sharks in the ocean where we snorkeled. Once they got to close I went in the boat while Joe stayed out.

We also relaxed on the beach,

Parasailled,

Visited this little site in Key West. It should say Southern and Hottest point in US,


and we had a fancy night.

At the end we got to come home to this little stink bug. I'd say this was the best part of the trip.

Packing = Cleaning

Why is it when you're the busiest you seem to have the need to clean your house. Not just pick up but deep clean like you've never cleaned before( and when I say you I mean I but it sounds more like I'm not the only one). While I am thinking of packing for our vacation and the million things I need before we go I open the fridge and decide it needs a clean. I don;t even know how food ends up in some of the places it does. As I move to the bottom of the fridge I realize my floors need to be mopped, then my steal appliances need to be polished and it is a never ending cycle. I do love coming home to a clean home after vacations so I only have to worry on unpacking. I just know once the unpacking starts then the cleaning well start all over. Really I don't even have time to clean because lets face it Finn is not the best napper all the time. It's like he knows I am busy doing other things so he wants to wake up and play and make more messes so instead of relaxing while he sleeps i get to clean more. If he weren't so cute some days I think I may go crazy. Anyways packing leads to cleaning unpacking leads to more cleaning something leads to another something and there is no time for anything, but i love every busy moment...just joking I don't but seriously.

What to do

These 2 are my life and they are gone. Joe decided to take Finn to scouts with him tonight to keep him entertained. Usually I would be ok with that. In fact yesterday all I wanted was Joe to come home to take Finn away. Yesterday was one of those days that I felt like a horrible mother and didn't want Finn around because all he did was cry and not nap. Of course when Joe gets home he is perfect because he really is obsessed with his dad. Finn can't focus on anything when Joe is around. If I am trying to feed him Finn's looking at Joe, if I'm getting him dressed he is rolling around trying to look at Joe; he loves his dad. Now today Finn has been an angle and Joe decided to take him and I am here doing nothing. I know it's only for an hour but on good days like today I miss my son. I didn't even text Joe today telling him he needed to get home to take care of his son, that means it was a really good day. If I can't handle an hour away from Finn, I think I am going to have a melt down when we leave him for our cruise. He probably won't even miss me, he'll j miss Joe though. So while I sit and wait for my son and husband to come home I'll do what I know Joe would want me to do...watch the playoff game.

Red Suck More Like It

I can't handle it I gotsta get it off my mind. Last night we went to Red Robin by Fashion place and it was beyond the worst thing ever, besides my food being good. We waited for literally an hour and a half before we got our food. Yes I know our party as a little more than 4 people but the restaurant was empty. They brought out the burgers then about 15 minutes later the salads came out. I usually wouldn't care because i would be full from fries but since I'm on this dumb diet I couldn't eat fries so I was starving. Then once my salad came out it was wrong so I had to wait another 10 minutes. Seriously for a salad and poor Eloise was the last one to get her food. What does the generous manager do, she says she'll give us 15% off. Oh how nice of her to spare us a dollar or 2 after waisting 2 hours of my life. Not to mention I got 1 refill in the 2 hours we wasted away. I do like red robin but i guess they only really serve you when you go on a busy night. If there is no one in the restaurant don't expect to get in and out quickly because you won't. I've been thinking about it all morning and how much it bugged me that the manager thought she was a life saver for giving us 15% off. One day I think I'll be a full blown Coccimiglio and say something in the moment to get free food( which Joe did and my salad was free), but for right now I'll just be silent mad.

Name Picking Vs. Parenting

Question: Which is harder picking a name or parenting?Answer: Both suck in their own way but end up being pretty good. I've decided no matter what you do there is someone that is going to criticize. Name picking for Findley was one of the hardest decisions. In fact I had a list of names and around 8 months of pregnancy I decided I hated all the names and started all over. Findley actually didn't even come until the day he was born. I hated sharing names with people, not because i was afraid someone would take the name but because EVERY ONE has something to say about it. I should have just been like my parents and left the birth certificate blank so one day when Finn needs a driver's licence or passport he could pick his own name. Then baby came and Findley was his name and now we had to do this parenting thing. People always quote me books or say I should do this or that, but guess what every child is different and just because a book says something doesn't mean it is right. No body is the perfect parent yet every body wants to tell you their right. You're wrong if your child is on a schedule, you're wrong if they're not, you're wrong if you formal feed, you're wrong if they take a binki, you're wrong if they don't sleep through the night or don't take naps, if you're child cries you are a bad parent, if you love your child to much you're bragging yada yada yada blah blah blah. Now that name picking is over with, hopefully we don't screw up our children too bad with this parenting gig.

Creative Flow

Since having a child ( which is fantastic) I have realized my creative writing has come to a stop. All I can think about is that little stink Finn and how I want to squeeze him. Then I write it down and let you guys know how i squeezed him and so on and so forth. So while he naps, which i should be napping too, I have looked up my old post to maybe get some ideas to write about. Man was i laughing at some of the things I wrote 1. because they are real random and 2. because i am pretty funny.

1. I wrote about how on Saturday Joe and I went shoe shopping all day. Seriously and people commented on it like it was interesting. The simple days of no yard work and no kids and we could just go shoe shopping all day.

2. I talked about how Joe has several times left me roses out of a surprise and how some girls think roses are a waste but I love them. I laugh because one V-day all Joe got me were flowers and I was mad about it calling it a cop out, which is why we now do no gifts. When I think about it a nice little surprise of a flower or card or panda express really is a nice break from real life.

3. I wrote multiple times about the Utah Jazz and how awesome they are. Now that I have written down how much I like them I guess I have to continue to like them even when they are miserable. I defiantly don't want to be a fare weather fan ( if that's what's called). Plus the only LA appearl allowed in our house is Dodger stuff.

4. Seriously Milk Chocolate chips, i loved them almost as much as i love Finn. Being pregnant really ruined my chocolate fever and I don't eat them nearly as much. Maybe because pregnancy ruined my body along with my chocolate obsession, once i get one back I may get the other back.

5. How I love the sounds of the metro in DC and hate the noise on the traxs, they should really get that checked out.

6. Oh how I used to love American Idol and would post about it almost every week.

The things I used to write about and how unimportant some of them are, yet how interesting it is to talk about. So know that you have a recap on the last couple years lets talk about something that is driving me crazy. Men, not all, are idiots. Tiger and Arnold have you seen your wives? Have you seen the hussies you have cheated with? They literally can't get uglier than that. How is it that men are so stupid sometimes? It's like Julia Roberts said, when you're creme brulee sometimes men just want jello and creme brulee can never be jello.

Looky Looky

After 4 days of misery over Easter Findley Jon got his teeth and he couldn't be any cuter!

More Adventures

It had been a whole month since our last vacation, so as you may or may not know Joe that meant it was time for another. We went down to California to visit my fam and to go to San Diego. This time we flew which was amazing. I don't think i can drive again. It was quick and painless and Finn was an angel. We played a ton while we were there. We went on our first real kid less date with Josh and Court to Santa Monica. Though I have a hard time leaving Finn, it was much needed to spend time with my hubby again. We spent 3 days in San Diego with perfect weather. He went to Sea World, played at the beach and ate lots a Mexican food. I never thought I'd admit to something being better in Utah, but I have to. Though San Diego should have the best Mexican food since it's all Mexicans I have to say I have had better in Utah. In fact I don't think anything could beat Red Iguana and my business tacos I get there. Joe wanted to keep eating Mexican because it should be good but I was over it and missing my Red Iguana. There I said it Utah has finally out done California in 1 thing and 1 thing only ( I'm not happy about saying that:)) Anyways Finn saw animals, played at the beach and rode in a big boy stroller all week and he couldn't have been happier. He loves being outside. As soon as he gets fussy we take him outside and it shuts that cute little mouth right up. We love our vacations but it is always nice being back home.

This is where Finn hung out mostly at the beach. He loved sucking on this fruit. Unfortunately while we put everything away Finn decided to face plant in the sand. No picture because he were in a hurry a to get off his face. Sand in his eyes, nose, mouth and ears. He was sneezing out sand the rest of the day.


Joe is obsessed with Magic Mountain and went twice while we were there( and yes he paid for both times with a season pass he bought). Finn on the other hand did not like the loud roller coasters.

Finn's first time feeling the nice cold pacific ocean.

I know it looks like Finn is sleeping and that's because he is. He was just so excited to see Shamu he wore himself out.

Tank foot and Jr. tank foot with the polar Bear's tank foot.




Our first stop in Sea World was the pet show and Finn couldn't be happier. It looks like he has buck teeth but that's just his tongue that is always sticking out.

Just talking to each other while hanging out in Old Town San Diego.

Once again Finn fell asleep because of all the excitement. This time it was in a nice warm spa.

Like Father Like Son

This is not a joke or planned. I tried getting pictures of Joe and Finn and seriously the pulled the same faces. Really son you already look like your dad do you guys have to pull the same faces in pictures too. I can already tell taking family pictures for the rest of my life isn't going to be easy. I already had a husband who never took pictures serious, now I have a son too. I still love you though!