Finley is 9 Months Old!!

Finley is 9 Months Old! Well, technically tomorrow she will be, but we will be on the road to SK, so I thought I would post this today! It was a very exciting month for Finley, here are some hilites:

She was able to sit up all by herself – with no help from mommy or daddy! We still have to put pillows behind her because she gets a little too excited at times and gets distracted! We credit her sitting ability to her new musical toy that she absolutely loves!!

We went on her first, second & third camping trips this month. The first two were at Banff National Park and the last was in Drumheller where we met up with Grandma Gail. She had a lot of fun each time but especially loved being spoiled by Grandma Gail. Finley also got her very own sleeping bag from MEC. It is so adorable to see one so small! I can’t wait until we get our new tent! Of course, Greg had to pick a tent that is only available in the US so we have to wait 3 more weeks!

Finley now has 4 teeth and am pretty sure another one, or two, may be poppin out shortly. She is teething like crazy and will chew on anything that she can get her hands on!

She is so determined to crawl that I imagine that will be a highlight this time next month! She army crawls everywhere and is very fast at getting around our bonus room! She gets in the crawling position and kinda rocks a bit but hasn’t figured out how to make it work.

She loves chili, cheese and yogurt! If she hates anything, I just throw some cheddar cheese in it, melt it and she eats it. It’s deceptively delicious! I tried giving her a glass of milk recently and she did not like it and was not impressed with me! I will try again shortly! She still won’t feed herself finger food and still likes everything pureed for the most part – with exception to French Fries, Kiwi & Pears. She is so funny when she eats her fries – you really gotta see it. She had some new foods this month such as beef, salmon, cod, turkey, spinach and seems to like it all. We are moving on to some pasta dishes this week so we are looking forward to that! We also gave her some ice cream, which she absolutely loves. So far she has tried a soft twist cone from the zoo, maple walnut and mint chocolate chip. She seems to like them in this order as well!

She is getting much better at bath time. Still not where I’d like her to be, but definitely happy with how far we have come! I think her ability to sit on her own and be somewhat in control plays a role in this.

We finally filled up her pool last week. With Calgary’s summer finally here, Finley & I had a pool party. She really enjoyed it….for about 15 minutes but she got bored not cranky which I was very happy about!

She also had a few new babysitters this month during Stampede. When mommy and daddy went to Taylor Swift, Finley’s Great Uncle Doug & Great Aunty Leslie babysat her. Finley had a great time playing with them and even got stay up an hour later then usual! 2 days later, we headed down to Stampede again for Kenny Chesney. This time, we took Finley to Grandma Jen & Grandpa Don’s house to hang out for awhile. She also had a great time and was happy to spend some time with them before they headed out to Scotland & Prague for a month. She can’t wait to see them in August!

Aunty Kristy & Grandma Toot came down for Stampede. We had so much fun taking Finley to her first ever Stampede! She seemed to enjoy the cotton candy that Grandma Toot gave her. It was so cute getting Finley all dressed up in cowgirl gear. Her little cowgirl hat was absolutely adorable!! It was a great visit and Finley can’t wait to see them soon!

We also ventured to the park this month and she LOVED the swing! She was so happy and was laughing so much. We did it again in Drumheller with the same result. I am happy that there is another place we can go to keep her occupied…for a few minutes anyways!

Here are a few pics from today, and as always, pls check out http://picasaweb.google.com/BeckyFlorizone for tonnes more pics of Finley!!

Is It Just Me?

Or does anybody else seem to have no idea who Kim Kardashian is? She broke up with her boyfriend yesterday, Reggie Bush, who I had heard of (he's an NFL Quarterback) and it seemed to be huge news on every entertainment website. It even made the top stories on CNN.COM. Has she done anything substantial that I should know about? And what about Heidi Montag or Spencer Pratt who are they? And why is everything they do such a big deal??

Am I that old and out of touch that I have no idea who these "celebs" are?? Anybody else in the same boat??

Finley's Pool Party

I finally put Finley in her paddling pool last week. I was a bit concerned because although she is starting to like the bath, we are not all the way yet. However, I was pleasantly surprised. She loved it! I think, in large part, it is due to the fact that she can sit on her own for most of the time. Here is a short video of her in the pool!

Sleeping Bag Princess

After our first camping trip of the season, 2 things were clear: we needed a bigger tent & Finley needed her own sleeping bag. So I ventured down to one of the greatest store's on earth: MEC! I purchased Finley her very own sleeping bag. We went camping again this weekend and she was able to use it. It is the cutest thing in the world!!!

This is her sleeping bag all layed out in the tent

This is her all bundled up in her tent with Sophie & GloWorm of course!

Another picture of Finley, Sophie & GloWorm

This was how I left her when I let myself out of the tent...

And this was her when I went to check on her....

Such a silly girl.....

Now if only we could find a tent that Greg deemed satisfactory....

Finley Rockin Out

A few weeks ago, I purchased the Little Superstar 2-in-1 Singing Band Walker by Fisher Price. It turns out that Finley absolutely loves it! More then any toy she has - other than sophie & her GloWorm of course! I tried to take a video of Finley rocking out...so far this is the best that i could do! Not bad for my first recording ever! HAHA

Finley Screams For Ice Cream!

After our crazy 11K hike on Sunday, we decided that we deserved to get yummy ice cream cones from Scoop in Chateau Lake Louise. Greg was carrying Finley since he gets to eat from a cone. He gave Finley a lick of his Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream cone and she was hooked!!


Her first lick of ice cream!

She wanted MORE!

Wanna Get DIRRTY

This past weekend, we headed up to Banff National Park for a fun weekend of camping. We were hoping to "practice" for an upcoming weekend camping trip near Drumheller with Grandma Gail and for a 10 day camping extravaganza in Washington & BC. It was a great time but realized our 3 person tent did not cut it! Anyhow, Finley had a great time and seemed to channel Christina Aguilera's "DIRRTY" while at the campsite:

Now & Then

What a difference a year makes! Here are two trips to Lake Louise made 53 weeks apart. The first, being the NOW picture, is Me now, holding Finley. The second, is the THEN photo, was me last year.


NOW

THEN

Doritos Anyone?

This morning I put Finley in front of her Little Superstars toy and ran into the bedroom to get dressed. I head crinkling and thought she might've grabbed the bag of doritos and was playing with it since she likes the crinkling noise. Never did I imagine I would find this when I went back into the bonus room:

Bath Time With Aunty Kristy

When Aunty Kristy was visiting, she decided to give Finley a bath. She thought that if somebody else gave her a bath, it would make a difference. I am pleased to say that she didn't. As happy as I would be for Finley to enjoy bath time, I was very happy I wasn't the cause of her unhappiness. As you can see, pre bath time and post bath time are as happy as ever, it's just the inbetween stuff that makes her cranky. We used a new bathtub last night and made a slight difference. I will post those pictures another day.....

Make this the day you stop dreaming and start doing.

Resist the urge to overanalyze every experience. Live each moment instead.

Don't shrug off compliments; honor and remember them.

Missteps are part of any process. Stay focused on where you're headed.

Your core supports the whole body. Explore ways to keep it strong.

Stress can push your internal resources to the breaking point. Make time to unwind.

Leave The Room Lighter Than You Found It

I have always been the type of person who looked at a glass and thought it was half empty and not half full. I always saw the negative before the positive. I had seen Oprah and read "The Secret" where they encouraged positive thinking and good things would happen to you. I remember after reading "The Secret", I was going to change the way I thought so I said to myself I am going to find me a new gym bag today. I had been looking for weeks and nothing. So I went to TD Square that Sunday afternoon and was so sure that today was the day I found that bag. And sure enough I did. Greg said it worked, I wasn't so sure and never really did it again.

Fast forward like a year or so. I was laying in the ICU after having Finley and had tubes down my throat and wrists tied to the bed (so I wouldn't rip out the tubes, which I had apparently tried to do on numerous occasions) and being unable to breathe on my own, move, anything. I seriously thought I was going to die, I felt awful and was sure that I was going to choke to death or god knows whatelse. Then after 2 days of feeling like this, I decided that I had to think positive so I could get better and go home and be with my baby. It was amazing how I changed my attitude resulted in my condition starting to improve in a positive way. I convinced one of my nurses that I wouldn't pull out my tubes if she undid my hands....which is pretty good considering I still couldn't talk, I let the nurse sit my up and dangle my legs even though it hurt like hell, I was able to manipulate my tubes so it made me feel less like it was going to kill me. The only time after the changed attitude that I thought I might die was when they gave me too much potassium with nothing else and I vomited with the tubes in my mouth which was the most disgusting, traumatizing thing that could happen to one. I seriously thought I was going to choke to death on my vomit. Thank god for the amazing nurses that this didn't happen.

Within 36 hours of my changed attitude, I had the tubes out of my mouth and was moved out of the ICU into the post-op ward. Whether this is all related to my posiitive attitude, I don't know for sure, but I certainly like to attribute my recovery to that.

That being said, my ICU stay is not the point of this post, the point is to think positive in all situations. It seems impossible but it actually can be done. I started keeping a journal and at the end of every day, I write everything that I am grateful for for that day. It seems silly, and possibly contrite, but I really do find that it works. I have so much to be grateful for and sometimes when you have a bad day, it's hard to see it. By writing it down and thinking about it, makes everything alot better!

I am hoping that thinking in positive terms and not in a negative manner will reflect in Finley. If I make every effort to speak only positively to her and my future children, they will do the same. It won't be easy but I can only hope that by continually shifting negative remarks will help in her development. I hope that my children will speak in a positive way to each other and their friends. An example that I am already using with Finley is saying "You must really want to be a soccer player" when she is kicking all my nicely cleaned toys around...instead of why must you be so destructive and mess up the area. or something to that effect....it's really a work in progress!

I am also learning how to meditate. Meditation is a wonderful, empowering way to quiet the mind. It makes you stop and ask yourself, "What's the worst that can happen?" when things might not be going my way. A "problem" is probably just a detour that I am supposed to take, though I may not know why at that particular moment. In the grand scheme of life, most problems, really aren't problems at all. This certainly came in handy when I was induced and had to have the emergency csection.....as well as pretty much every other situation in life.

All this being said, I am not perfect and unfortunately I still have my bad days. For example, I was at IKEA last week, parked in the family parking lot when a man in a two-seater TELUS truck parked behind my vehicle so close that I couldn't open the trunk to my SUV and was forced to put my stroller into the back through the back door. It was not a pleasant experience and said some things that I probably shouldn't've said but we all have our moments of weaknesses. But seriously, can people not read?? It says everywhere that it is a FAMILY LOT!!!!!!! There is an entire parking lot for the rest of you single people to park in! It happened again when I was there with my mom & sister....a single girl parking in the lot and then asking us for help getting her table into her car. Greg helped her of course but it still made me mad she was in the lot to begin with.....

Anyways, here is to a great Monday!

Yee-Haw!!!!!

On Friday, Finley attended her first Stampede with her mommy, daddy & Aunty Kristy. She had a great time, as did we! I think next year will be a bit more fun since she will be older and more aware of the surroundings. She really wasn't into any of the animals or other features of the fair.

Here are a few photos of Finley in her cowgirl gear:
Finley looks like a bandit here....she did this herself....so cute! Even she was feeling the Stampede Spirit!

She seemed to quite enjoy the getup.

Definitely need to get her a pair of cowboy boots!

Having a grand ol time down at the grounds!

She definitely had too much fun.....

Can't wait till next year!

Finley at the Stamps Game

On Wednesday, July 1st, Finley & I went with Greg to the Stamps season opener against Montreal since Frunkl Jack had gone back to Saskatoon for the week. Since we couldn't cheer for Calgary or Montreal we wore RIDER GREEN! This is something RIDER fans do even if they are not playing at the game you are at. Ya, that's how loyal we are. I am not going to lie, it was a boring game and was not at all saddened by the rain that came and "forced" us to leave at half time. All of the other people around us thought Finley was so cute but that she was wearing the wrong color. We had to make sure that we changed her out of the Canada Day outfit for fear that somebody would assume her to be a Stamps fan and we certainly can't have that (sorry Aunty Shanny!!). After decking her out in green, I made sure we had the pink blanket for her so people would know she was a little girl. Sometimes the pink converse shoes don't get that point across.....

Happy Canada Day!

Happy 142nd Birthday Canada! Hope everybody has a safe & happy holiday!