..say cheeeeeeese..

dear finn,

for a few weeks now we have been able to tell that you were getting very close to smiling. you would just get this sparkle in your eyes and a look on your face like you were considering it, but then decided you'd make us wait! all of your little friends started smiling around 5 weeks so i thought you for sure would too...but nope! finally this past weekend we saw some smiles, mostly while you were talkin' to your "friends" on your playmat. it wasn't until today that i was finally able to get a picture of that adorable smile! hopefully this is one of many many more to come!

love,
mom

..mr. chatterbox..

dear finn,

we were quite certain you'd be a talkative little dude from a young age because i was quite the talker when i was a babe. for the past couple weeks - well, ever since we bought you your play mat - you have proved us right! you are becoming very vocal, and whenever we lay you down on your mat you talk to the colorful animals hanging above you..."your friends," as i call them. :-)

you have made it very difficult for us to record you talking - when i am not in the room with you i hear you talk talk talkin' but the second i walk in the room you stop!!! well i should say the second i pull my camera out to record you, you stop. it is just so dang cute and i want to show you off to everyone! we finally got to record a little bit of your motormouth the other day......

sooooooooooooo cute, isn't it?!

love ya!

love,
mom

..six weeks, already?!..

dear baby finn,

you are six weeks old today. where has the time gone? i do not know! our days are filled with nursing, naps (sometimes we even take naps together, with duke and claus too!), reading stories, singing time, playing on your playmat, bouncer and swing and running around town together! the weather this month has been awful, i think we have only had about five nice days, so we haven't been on too many walks. :-( hopefully it gets nice soon so we can get out there and momma can shed some lbs!

yesterday we discovered you're ticklish on your feet. you talk A LOT when you are on your playmat, it's so dang cute! and you are so sooooo close to smiling...i bet within the next week you will be smiling for us nonstop. :-)

you are still such an excellent baby, i just love that i get to spend every day all day with you!

love ya dude.
love,
mom

..bonding with daddy..

dear finn,

i hope by the time you read this you are out of that phase where you only shower once a week...that is disgusting! hopefully you are never like that and are like your dad, who likes to shower three times a day! three times a day may be a little much, but as long as you get in once a day i will be pleased. :) no one likes a smelly boy...especially the ladies. ;-)

so far you love taking showers with your dad. you must love the warmth of the water running down your back. the other day you peed on daddy while you were in there with him! haha glad it wasn't on me. actually, i am a little scared to shower with you because you are getting to be a little wiggle worm and i am afraid you might try and wiggle your slippery wet body out of my arms! daddy says he's not scared though, so we throw ya in there with him a few times a week. nothing like the smell of a clean baby boy!

love,

mom

..meeting baby max..

dear finn,

wowza, i feel like half of the things i write on here are about you and your friends! i feel like we could set a world record for newborn baby with the most friends...you are one lucky little man. :)

we finally met max halverson tonight! he was born just three days before you were. too bad they live all the way up in idaho. i still think we will see them at least a few times a year though, so you and max will grow up bein' buds. he sure is a cute lil' guy...he is a bit chubbier than you - hopefully you will fatten up in the next few weeks, we don't want you to be a little runt! ;-) just kidding, you know mommy loves you just the way you are.

love you little man!

love,

mom

..playdate!..

 dear finn,

you are so lucky to have so many friends that you get to see so often! today we hung out with locke and chelsey. we went to tj maxx, which i am sure wasn't tons of fun for you guys...heck, what am i saying, you slept the whole time and probably had no idea where you were, so i don't think you minded that much. ;) you were a good little boy the whole time we were shoppin', thanks bud! after tj's we came home and hung out at our house for a while and had a little photo shoot with you two...unfortunately, you were trying to poop so none of the pictures are too great of you! sorry dude. but you and locke are just so adorable and i hope that you will stay good friends forever. :-)

love,

mom

..thanks for the laugh..

dear finn,

you are a total "cross-eyed" baby. haha, it is pretty dang funny...at least for now it is, because we are hoping (and praying!) that you will grow out of it! i think it is pretty common for babies to be cross-eyed, so i am sure we have nothing to worry about. :)

and even with those cross eyes you are so sooooooo handsome! the most handsomest baby ever! ;)

love,

mom

..a pro in the making..

dear finn,

in case no one has told you, you were born into a family of golfers! your grandpa jimbob is a professional golfer...at one point in his career he was the best in utah. uncle zac currently plays on the byu golf team, and my guess is that by the time you can actually read this, he will probably be a golf pro too. mommy could be a good golfer if she practiced, but she doesn't so she isn't too great. but i have a feeling you probably have it in your genes so i hope you give it a shot when you are old enough to hold a club!

you are very lucky because grandpa jimbob owns a golf course up in ogden that you can play at whenever you want! it is called "toad's national," and here is a picture of your first time out on the course, and also your first ride in a golf cart....

grandpa jimbob would love it if you followed in his footsteps and became a golf pro when you grow up. no pressure though, we will love you no matter what!

love,
mom

..hangin' with the "krew"..

dear finn,

member how i told you that you had friends before you were even born?! well, here is you and krew clark! friends from the beginning. his mommy and i experienced everything in pregnancy at the same time, it was so much fun. i will never forget when his mom sent me a text message after they found out they were having a boy...it said, "can our boys be best friends?" we were SO happy they were having a boy too so that you could have a little playmate whenever we got together.

and here is your second time hanging out (first time was when they came to meet you when you were three days old!)....

even though i hate how fast you grow up, i am happy you have someone so cute to grow up with.

love you finny poo!

love,
mom

..how much do i love you?..

dear finn,

in case you ever wonder just how much i love you, and just how much i worry about your safety and well-being, know that i will go to the extreme measure of throwing a rock through a window to get inside the house when i have locked myself out while you are still inside...sitting in your carseat...on the floor...with duke and claus. daddy was a little upset that i didn't use a ladder to climb through the kitchen window, but how was i supposed to know the kitchen window would be unlocked? daddy doesn't know what it's like to be a panicked mom! when i got back inside you were sleeping soundly in your carseat and to my relief, duke hadn't clawed your eyeballs out (that's what i was worried most about).

love you mister, and i will try to never do that again!

love,
mom

..one month old..

dear baby finn,

you are one month old today! all i can say is, boy does time sure fly! it seems like just yesterday your daddy and me were on our way to the hospital, wondering if that was the day we would finally get to meet you. i will never forget when the nurse checked to see if my water had broken, she said, "yep, you've ruptured, you're having a baby today." after hearing those words your daddy got so excited and said, "really?! like he will for sure come out today?!" we were both so excited!!

you have been an absolute joy to have in our home finn. you bring the sweetest spirit, and i cannot imagine my life, and our family without you. you are such a sweet boy. you only cry when you are hungry or when your tummy hurts, and even at those times half the time you don't cry...you just grunt and make funny noises that let me know you are hungry! we had kind of a rough start with nursing...momma was ready to give up and just pump instead, but we hung in there for a couple weeks like everyone told us to and i am so glad we did because now it's a piece of cake! ;-) you usually go three to four hours in between feedings during the day...sometimes even five, at which point i wake you up bc i am worried you won't grow if you don't eat!

you are an excellent sleeper. at night you will sleep anywhere from four to six hours between feedings...a couple times you even went seven hours! feel free to do that whenever you'd like. ;-) you sleep in your crib and do a great job. i put you down while you are still awake - sleepy, but awake - and within minutes you fall soundly asleep.

i don't think you like it when i eat onions, garlic, and perhaps cheese and chocolate. we are still trying to figure out exactly what gives you gas and makes your tummy hurt because you only get it occasionally. when you do have a tummy ache we just give you some gripe water and you calm right down. i get sad when i see that your tummy hurts but i must say it is pretty funny when you have gas while you are sleeping because you are constantly smiling and giggling silently. it's pretty darn cute! :-)

you like baths now that you can be completely in the water, but usually you just shower with your dad, and you love that too! you don't mind having your diaper changed (unless you are starving! if you are starving you don't like anything but food!) and you are even good while i am dressing you! sometimes we have a little trouble fitting shirts over your big noggin, and you get a bit impatient and start to squirm and grunt, but all in all you are great on the changing table.

you will let anyone hold you. you are perfect in your carseat - i don't think you have ever made one sound while in it! you like to rock in your swing and sit in your bouncer. you like when grandma cindy, daddy and i read you stories...usually you fall right to sleep! you love to stare at everything! people are always commenting on what an alert and observant little thing you are. we are pretty sure you're going to be quite the "goo-er" just like your momma was because you already try and talk to us, we are sure of it! you like when your big brother, claus, gives you kisses, but he is the only person you seem to like them from...you kind of make a funny face when anyone else gives them to you. you love to have your back and head rubbed, and the bridge of your nose as well...that puts you right to sleep! you like it when i sing to you - hopefully that doesn't mean there is something wrong with your ears! ;) we better get them checked because you sleep right through your crazy brothers barking also!

you seem to be pretty constipated much of the time. your face turns bright red and you make big ol' grunting sounds when you are pooping! it usually takes you a good 10-15 minutes to get it out, and when you finally do everyone within a mile radius is aware of it...that's how loud it is! ;-)

you have changed our lives in just one short month finn, daddy and i don't know how we ever lived without you. thanks for choosing to come to our family, we love you more than you will ever know! happy one month baby finn...i look forward to all that lies ahead. :)

love,
mom

..momma's first mother's day..

dear finn,

today was my first mother's day as a mommy, thanks to YOU!! i just wanted to let you know how much i have enjoyed being your mom this past month. you make me so happy every single day. i feel like i see things in a different light...the world is a better place because of you. thank you for the joy and happiness you bring to me, you are my sunshine and my pride and joy.

"i'll love you forever, i'll like you for always, as long as i'm living my baby you'll be." :)

love,
mom

..first sunday @ church..

dear finn,

we didn't take you to church until you were four weeks old! i am sure people think we have become inactive. oh well. we figured that there are SO many people there, which means SO many germs...and we knew people would want to see you/meet you/hold you, and we just didn't want to risk you getting sick.

we actually didn't even go to our ward...we went to grandma cindy's {old} ward up in park city - the ward mommy grew up in! it is mother's day, and i knew there would be lots of people there who would be so excited to meet you. and i was right. we sat by carol and tom marriott, and carol held you all through sacrament meeting. she said it was the best part of her day. :) you were such a good little boy, too, just like you always are. i thought you would be hungry right as church started (according to your feeding schedule, you should have been!). you acted hungry when we first got there so we pulled the bottle out and were about to feed you, but then you went right back to sleep and slept the whole time!

after sacrament ended so many people came up to look at you. of course everyone thought you were darling! they all thought your outfit was too. i have great taste, if i do say so myself. ;) we visited with some friends and old neighbors for a while, then we left.

i hope you are as good every sunday as you were today.

love you!

love,
mom

..your first friends..

dear finn,

who knew it was possible to have friends even before you were born?! i knew it was! clear back in october, shortly after we announced that we were having a baby, two of our friends announced they were having babies too...and the weirdest part of all - we were all due within a week of each other! a few weeks later we all found out we were having boys! since then we've known you were destined to be friends.

mr. krew clark was born march 22. he came a little early. i had a doctors appointment scheduled while they were still in the hospital, so i went a little early so that i could stop by and visit baby krew and jen. when i held him i was so amazed with how tiny babies are and it made me so excited to meet you! krew is so stinkin' cute...you two are for sure gonna be head turners! a couple weeks later daddy and i went and visited the clarks at their home...that is when dad met and held krew for the first time. while holding him he rubbed my belly and said, "k baby finn, it's time for you to come out now." daddy couldn't wait for you to get here so he could hold you the way he was holding baby krew!

mr. max halverson was born april 7, and he is a little stud muffin too! max came a couple days early, but his mom and me were both convinced that you two got together in heaven and made a bet: who could stay inside your mommy's tummies the longest! you won, by the way, mr. "i think i will come a week late!" max lives in idaho so we haven't met him yet, but we hope to very soon! :-)

you have another friend that was born a couple weeks before you - locke phippen was born march 30. i was friends with his dad in college and they just recently moved to bountiful. the day before he was born your dad and i got together with them...his mommy is so cute and i hope we will all be good friends! locke is a handsome little man as well...you two will have no trouble finding girls to take to prom someday! and you are both good babies, too. we took you guys out to dinner at the spaghetti factory a couple weeks ago and you both slept the entire time! way to go boys!

your future wife is a little bit older than you, i hope that won't be a problem. brooklyn tawzer was born december 2, 2010. she is a babe, you two will have cute kids! ;-) after you are married of course. her mom is my best friend, and she was so excited when you were born! she came down all the way from logan to meet you when you were only three days old, and she cried when she held you for the first time. you've got a great future mother-in-law finn!

miss madi mcconnel is due to be born in the next month! she is gonna be a cutie also, but you'll have to fight krew and max for the key to her heart. ;-)

how lucky are you to already have so many friends?! it will be so much fun to watch all of you grow up together and i hope you'll stay great friends with all of them.

love you!

love,
mom

..our first outing..

dear finn,

our first outing (besides your photo shoot), so really our second outing...but it was our first outing alone, was to the fashion place mall! you were nine days old, and momma desperately needed to get out of the house!

you did great at the mall! you got hungry right when we first got there, so we went to the mothers lounge inside of nordstrom, i fed you a bottle and changed your dipey and you slept the rest of the time we were there!

the ladies at nordstrom were so excited to meet you! they watched me get bigger and bigger during the nine months i was pregnant with you. mommy loves nordys so i was in there all the time. don't tell dad that! ;-) but i had to keep buying bigger and bigger clothes, and that was my favorite place to buy them. anyway, all the ladies were so excited you were finally here, and of course they all thought you were SO cute!

after nordstrom we went to the gap to see if they had anything new for you. i had pretty much already bought everything in the store, so there was nothing new to get ya! we went and got some pretzel bites then headed on home. you were a champ the whole time - so easy to take out, which mommy loves!

i felt a little guilty taking you out while you were so new. i was worried about the germs. but you didn't get sick and daddy says it's good to take you out bc it strengthens your immune system. so since then we have been out quite a bit!

love you mr. finn!

love,
mom

..first photo shoot..

dear finn,

we took you to get your newborn pictures taken when you were just six days old! it was your first time out of the house. getting everything together that morning was a little hectic! i never realized how much more you have to do/get ready when you have a little baby you're toting along. :-)

your photo shoot was up in kaysville...so not too far from home. daddy drove, and even though he is a good driver i was still a little scared bc we had you in the car! you are some seriously precious cargo.

i scheduled your photo shoot clear back in february, and the date we originally planned on was april 9. you weren't here by april 9 though, so we had to reschedule! it was no biggie to the photographer, although i must say i was a little annoyed you weren't here yet. ;-) jk little man!

you did great during the photo shoot. you were great while having your pictures taken - you slept almost the whole time! occasionally you would open your eyes when the bright light from the camera flashed or when you didn't like a certain position, but we would just put a binki in your mouth for a few minutes and you fell right back to sleep. you woke up hungry a couple times as well, so we fed you and you were good as gold. :-) you also peed a couple times...and you didn't have a diaper on!! that is our fault, i know. the photographer said it happens all the time though, so we just wiped it up and carried on!

we got some seriously ADORABLE pictures of you! a darling baby+talented photographer=amazingly cute pictures. they are now hanging all over our house and daddy and i posted them on our facebook pages and on our family blog and everyone, and i mean EVERYONE, loves them!

when I first mentioned to dad that we needed to find a photographer to take newborn pictures of you, he said, "well we have a really nice camera, can't we just do them with that?" ha ha so i explained why we needed a professional photographer to take them...he was still a little hesitant bc they were kinda pricey, but once he saw the finished product he was so happy we did them, as was i.

maybe you will be a model someday, just like your dad used to be! ;-) jk. but you definitely are cute enough!

love you so much baby finn! oh yeah, and i apologize in advance for taking pictures of you and your cute little bum with all your clothes off!

love,
mom

..two week stats..

dear finn,

you had your first doctor's appointment when you were two weeks old. the doctor we chose for you is dr. reece. his office is here in bountiful and he is so nice. after examining you he said you're perfect - healthy as can be! he asked us some questions about you, like if you like to stare at lights (yes!), if you flinch when the dogs bark loudly (sometimes!), if you have the hiccups (all the freakin' time!)' if you sneeze (yes!), if you grunt when you poop (oh yes!). all the answers we gave him were normal and good signs of your progress. you are such a champ!

after dr. reece was finished, a nurse came in and had to prick your tiny little foot for some blood...you made a face like you were going to cry, but you didn't cry! you just made little sounds that let us know you were annoyed and wanted to be done. you are such a tough little man. :-)

{here is a story for you that is a little off topic, but i think you'd like to hear it: when you were only two days old the pediatrician in the hospital came and took you to be circumcised. mommy and daddy couldn't bear to see pain inflicted upon you so we didn't watch, but when the doctor brought you back into our room he said you were one of the best babies he has ever seen. he said you cried right when they did it, but stopped shortly after and just went to sleep. he was so impressed with you!}

anyway, your first doctors appointment went well. your stats at two weeks old were:
weight: 8 lbs. 2 oz. (back to your birth weight) - 30th percentile
height: 21 inches - 61st percentile
head circumference: 38.2 cm - 73rd percentile

i love you so much, and pray every day that you'll keep growing and will be healthy and strong.
love,
mom

..finn jeffrey powell..

dear finn,

i am starting this blog just for you, as a way to document your life and what it is like to be your mom! right now you are sleeping soundly in your crib...i can hear you making cute little sounds through the baby monitor. :-)

you were born sunday, april 10, 2011 at 8:38 pm at the imc hospital in murray. you weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and were 21 inches long. dr. jeff barton delivered you - you were healthy as can be and perfect in every way. the moment your dad and i laid eyes on you we were in love. right after dr. barton delivered you the nurses cleaned you off a bit then laid you on my chest. you were screaming bloody murder - actually, you kind of sounded like a cat, ha ha - but the second i started talking to you, you stopped crying and looked right up at me. you knew i was your mommy! there was a lot going on all around us for about 20 minutes, and during that whole time i don't think you stopped looking at me. it just melted my heart and i knew right then and there that i was going to love being a mom...your mom. :-)

we stayed in the hospital for two days and during those two days we had tons of visitors - people who just couldn't wait to meet you! most of your grandparents were at the hospital when you were born...grandma cindy, nanny goat, grandpa jeff and your soon-to-be grandma wendy were all in the waiting room, impatiently waiting for someone to come announce your arrival. actually, grandma cindy was standing right outside the delivery room door...she was so sad we wouldn't let her in, so she waited outside with her ear pressed to the door so that she would know the second you came out! after your daddy and me spent some quality time with you we let the grandparents in and they were like little kids on christmas when they first saw and held you! i don't think i have seen any of them more excited or proud. they all love you so much - you are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents. (grandpa jimbob was out of town so he couldn't come to the hospital but he called probably 50 times that night to get updates and make sure everything was okay. he was so excited he was finally a grandpa!).

i didn't sleep at all that entire night. i was just so excited to finally have you here, i couldn't stop staring at you. you were such a beautiful newborn (a lot of newborns don't look very good), even with your cone head. :-) right away people said you looked just like me. the person you really looked like, though, was your uncle zac! you have since changed quite a bit, but as a newborn you looked most like him. uncle zac was so proud when we told him that. :-) that whole night you didn't make one peep - you must have been exhausted! your daddy stayed at the hospital with us...on the couch. he was super busy with work at the time, but he didn't want to miss a single second of your first few days on earth.

the next morning grandma cindy came and brought you your first birthday cake! chocolate rum cake, which i gladly ate for you. :-) she stayed and just held you and stared at your perfect face for a good portion of the day. during the last month that I was pregnant with you, grandma cindy called every single day...multiple times a day...to see if that was the day i was going to go into labor. next to me, she was probably the most excited for you to get here! and since the day you were born, there have only been two or three days that she hasn't come by to see you. she loves you sooooooooooooo much! nanny goat came by and stayed for a good portion of the day also. she says that having grandkids is even better than having children. she loves to hold you and stare at you also, you are just so cute to look at! that afternoon we had lots of visitors - heidi and oliver, kelly and dallin, vickie and randy, rachel and evan howard, grandma and grandpa hansen, dave and jenny mcconnel, great-grandma and great-grandpa powell and grandpa jeff and wendy. it was a busy day! great-grandpa powell had been praying for a boy - you! - for a while bc he was worried there would be no one left to carry on the family name. he has been on cloud nine ever since finding out we were having a boy, and was so happy when he got to hold you for the first time. you are so so special to everyone, but especially to him. :-)

the next morning some of grandma cindy's friends came to meet you - carol and maureen, and later in the afternoon my good friend miss jennifer lynn came, as did grandma cindy and nanny goat. then we left the hospital and came home! your big brothers, duke and claus, were waiting for us at home. when they first saw you all they wanted to do was smell you and give you kisses! claus loves you so much and follows us everywhere we go...duke is still getting used to you but I know in time he will love you! :-)

you are now almost four weeks old! you wouldn't believe how fast this past month has gone! you have been an absolute dream come true for your daddy and me - we have loved every second of our life with you here and we are so excited that you are ours to keep forever and ever. we both love you more than you will ever know!

love,
mom