The 12 Days of Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Below are pictures, and three videos, of the past couple weeks from our main camera -- I will have more later this week from my camera phone, too, which includes a couple of pictures from Finley's first haircut -- which really only involved a bit off her bangs and a bit off of the back. Still, for a child that had more hair at birth than I do now, it was still a haircut.

Anyhow, over the past few weeks, we've had Shelley's dad, Steve, here, gone back to Des Moines to see family, celebrated Christmas, and had our first major snow fall. All will be captured below, but since this blog is a bit of a pain when it comes to posting pictures, they aren't entirely in a chronological order. Here goes:


Finley getting ready for the the first snow in her pretty new pink boots and snowpants. As you'll hear in the video, she REFUSES to wear a hat or gloves, so her hands get like ice.

This was by about 3:00 Christmas day. Finley, on the other hand, was still hopped up like she washed down two tablets of speed with a large Red Bull.

A picture from a couple of weeks ago, but Daddy and his girls . . . but Jack refused to be left out!

We've been hearing that the dogs haven't been getting enough airtime, so by popular demand, a canine trilogy. If pictures had captions, Monty's would be, "Wake me when this is over . . . or there are snacks."

"Really? I thought these got lost in the move."

"Maybe living on the streets of Nashville wasn't so bad. I thought after we didn't have costumes for Halloween, we were in the clear."

Again, Finley HATES anything on her head -- she has snow caps, Cubs hats (save it Cardinal fans), but she will not wear any of them. However, once she saw the dogs wearing them for pictures, she allowed one picture to be taken . . . then she threw it on the floor. Models!

Grandpa Steve was in town and he, too, learned how much Finley loves to read the same books over and over and over and over again.

When we were back in Iowa, we got to go the Helbling/Weinstein family Christmas for the first time since 2006. Finley very much enjoyed her time there -- she keeps asking to open presents when she wakes up every day since Christmas.

While we were at Valley West Mall, Finley saw the choo-choo and had to ride. Of course, not alone, so Mama squeezed into the car as the only adult on the train.

Harper doesn't have as many pictures -- she's at the stage where if you see her in one, she is basically doing the same in all the others, minus a costume change. In this one, I believe she is trying to reach Santa to let him know that perhaps Finley wasn't as good as she might have led him to believe.

Jack gets so tired after the hunt. Jack is resting after tearing the stuffing out of his Christmas Eve (stuffed) goose.

A cute video above of Finley holding Harper. Two apologies -- first, I am kind of loud and annoying in it. Second, unbeknown to me at the time, Shelley's butt makes a 30 second cameo in the video and we cannot for the life of us figure out what she is doing down there!!

Finley has a bit of Aunt Stephie in her; well, you can watch for yourself her reaction to hair accessories.

As you may know, the dogs love the snow. You can watch them play here, plus see Finley freeze because she won't wear her hat or gloves. Also interestingly, despite liking the snow last winter, she FREAKED OUT when we put her down this time. The tears were all but frozen to her face she was so mad. We'll work on that over time.

Please enjoy -- I know there is lots here, but I hope since we weren't with any of you for the holiday, this helps you feel a bit closer to the girls. More to come soon.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to both of our loyal readers. We have some great pictures to post from the last week, including our trip back home to Iowa. While I hope to post more of those later today, here is a cute little video from Wednesday. Finley is obsessed with Santa and Frosty the Snowman, so she is always VERY excited whenever she sees them. As you'll see below, she's mastered what Santa says . . . then also shows that she can be easily distracted!

Merry Christmas everyone.

Holiday Spirits

Kind of a slow week, but yesterday we did take the girls to Santa. As is generally the case, Finley is able to muster her smile on command, as she did here. Harper, on the other hand, can't be bothered. As with her picture below from our Christmas card, she really doesn't want much to do with this whole photo thing yet. As it isn't part of her 3 Commandments -- sleeping, nursing, and messing her diaper, I can't say that I blame her.

It also might have been nice on this picture to have her top and her jean legs pulled all the way down.

Like her father, Finley isn't afraid to sport naked ankles, even in winter.

I know I am outvoted on this, but I think this picture is tragic and that Harper will not speak to her mother when she is old enough to understand that this was her coming-out photo. Shelley disagrees, as do most of the women that I mention this to; however, the guys at work are on my side.

Finley, one of Finley's favorite poses -- the possessive, "mine" pose.

All is well with us. We are heading back to Iowa for an early Christmas next week, but plan to spend the holiday here with the dogs. I hope to get some new pictures of them on the blog over the coming weeks, too.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

Since I've Been Gone

A picture to start -- Grandma Susie with all of her grandchildren - Harper, Finley, and Amy. Not pictured, Shae's unborn son, Wolfgang Tupac Hoschek, due in January.

OK, I admit it -- every month or so I apologize for falling behind, only to get on a roll for awhile and then slow down. So, here is my latest promise to keep the blog updated more frequently, esp. given you have twice the babies to see.

Here are a bunch of picture, in no particular order, that will bring you up to speed in the Weinstein's lives. Also, Shelley took the girls to get our Christmas card made -- they'll be going out this week . . . and they are good.

Over Thanksgiving, Shelley's mom and older sister, Susie and Steph, came to visit. A month before Harper was born, Stephanie and Steve, her husband, had a baby girl, Amy Marie Stuecker. Amy was born over nine pounds, a difference that will become evident in a few photos below.

Below is a picture of Harper from this week -- she was a month old this past Thursday. She is growing like mad, eating all of the time (a true Weinstein AND Hoschek), and not generally sleeping much at night.
Another picture of Harper, much closer, from about two weeks ago. Yes, she mostly sleeps -- or cries.

As mentioned above, Amy was born about 3 pounds bigger than Harper (or Supersized 50% more). You will see that difference, plus the additional month, below.

The best picture we took of all three of the girls. At this point, they are 3 weeks old, about 21 months, and 6 weeks old.

Every year, our Realtors, Terri, Kieron, and Steve, have a big Christmas party at Kieron and Steve's house. We went for the first time last year and this year Finley and I went, where we saw the world's greatest balloon animal artist at work. While we were in line, we saw this woman
make a goldfish blowing clear bubbles, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and a princess. Finley, who we took to the town Christmas tree lighting and saw Santa, wanted a Santa Claus balloon. She got one, as you can see below:

One of the bloopers trying to get the picture above - she hasn't quite mastered her mother's automatic smile yet.

Shelley's family got Finley a 6-piece baby doll set, which included a pack and play, car seat (which she is holding), baby Bjorn, booster chair, and bouncing chair. Finley's two dolls are named Baby Harper and Baby Amy -- they are different sized dolls and Baby Harper is the younger one, while Baby Amy is the older, and larger, one.

Another Harper picture - this one at about two weeks old.

The best picture of Finley as we were trying to get all three girls to look the same direction -- or at least not tip over.

More Finley/Harper Pictures + When the Pack met Harper

As you can imagine, we've been pretty busy trying to integrate a new little girl into the family, so we haven't had much time for pictures. Everyone is doing well -- it seems that everyone but Harper has been battling some type of sickness. That said, Finley is starting to embrace her little sister; as you'll see below, she is very excited about holding the baby. Here is the latest:

Finley furiously typing to meet her deadline for tonight's posting:
Finley and Harper - so far so good.

I'm so tired with this new baby.

Finley and Papa Joel reading Finley's newest favorite book:

Here is the video of when we brought Harper home -- Monty, Jack, & Dixie meeting their newest puppy -- Jack is very excited

Family Update -- Harper at 5 Days

We've obviously been busy, but I wanted to get more posted ASAP. Everyone is doing great -- Harper gained 3 oz. since her appointment Monday, so she is already back up to her birth weight, which is great. Finley has started to really warm-up to Harper -- she will kiss her now, as well as pat her and brush her hair. Even the dogs have adjusted well. So far, everything is great.

Below are pictures and a video in no rhyme or reason -- I just wanted to get them posted. Here goes:

Finley is going to feed her baby and Purple Teddy in Mamma's Boppy.

What button do I press to return the baby?

No baby would stop Finley from her Saturday gymnastics. Her somersault.

Finley eyeing "the new girl" in her unitard -- rookie.

Honest to God, this is Harper's "aay toe" less than 10 minutes after birth. She's going the wrong way, but I thought Aunt Sammie and Uncle Shae would still appreciate it.

More of Finley at gymnastics -- walking the beam with the green monkey.

Daddy's girls.

Nana Pat and the girls. This was the first time Finley was near Harper without screaming.

Our friend Laurie got Harper aka Gobbler this onesie a week before she was born.

This was one of Harper's first pictures after she got cleaned up in the birthing room.

I took this video of Harper minutes after she was born. Here are her first "words."

Introducing Finley's Co-Star. . . Harper Paige

We are VERY excited to introduce Harper Paige Weinstein to you all. Shortly after the rightful conclusion of the World Series -- Go Yanks -- Shelley delivered Harper at 12:07 this morning (11/5/09). She weighed in at 6 lbs 10 oz. and 19 inches (1 lb 10 oz. bigger than Finley and a full inch longer). Both mother and baby are doing well and we introduced Finley to her this afternoon. It went pretty well . . . Finley only nearly stepped on Harp once on her way to get to her mother, so a small victory.

Grandpa Steve was up here yesterday to help fix some things around the house, so he was a lifesaver watching Fin while we were at the hospital. He met his new granddaughter -- his third straight granddaughter, this morning, but was afraid to hold her, so that will wait until the next visit. My Mom is up here to help today, as you'll see below.

More pictures and videos to come, but we couldn't be happier to finally meet Harper - she is beautiful.

Double-click on any picture to make it full-sized.

Finley's So Smart . . . and also takes after her Aunt Sammie & Uncle Shae

So, I know I have been remiss in posting, but I've been on the road a great deal in preparation for the arrival of Gobbler (our name for the new baby so we don't have to refer to it as "It"). Finley continues to get big and her vocabulary keeps improving; she really has been an easy baby. A couple of nights ago we put her into her crib to go to bed and not only doesn't she make a sound fussing with us, but she pointed at the light in the hall and said, "light." It wasn't a statement, it was a demand to turn it off so she could sleep -- she is very funny.

An example of this is her doing her "eeey" toe, which is a foot-based tribute to Fonzie. This is something her Aunt Sammie and Uncle Shae do to her mother all of the time, so Finley must have picked in up in the womb from her Aunt -- take a look:

To redeem her intellect, she also counts. While she isn't solving pi to 10 places, I think this is pretty good for a 19 month-old.

Shelley at 8 1/2 Months + Finley Photos

If you are at all like me, I have to confess I have never seen another pregnant woman's swimsuit photos (Demi's naked magazine cover excluded). If you recall, or even if you don't, when Shelley was carrying Finley, we took some pictures at what ended up being 7 days before Finley was born. We hope this doesn't mean Shelley delivers next Saturday, although that would be roughly the same 5 weeks early that it happened last time.

Anyhow, here is Shelley's profile:

After Shelley was done, Finley started screaming when Shelley put the top away, as Finley wanted to play with it. Several hours later, when we got home from dinner (Tacos el Norte, of course), she demanded that we put it on her. So, you can now see mother and daughter poses for comparison.

For comparison, here is Shelley at almost the exact same point with Finley, back on Feb 5, 2008 (it appears she had better lighting above, as she looks REALLY pale here!!!).

As a bonus, here are some random pictures from the last week:

Here Halloween outfit -- costume will come closer to the date.