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.

Finley's New Game

I know this will make the grandmothers fret, but Finley now loves to climb up our recliners. She knows enough to reach down and pull the footrest out enough to be able to use it as a ladder, and then she begins her climb. You'll see a bit of it in this video.

I know -- slow news week.

Finley the Friendly Ghost

We took Finley to the park last weekend and she loved to ride the dinosaur toy -- here she is petting him. She likes to go down the slides, but they are a bit big for her; she really likes the small plastic slides she plays on at daycare and at baby gym.

Here is a cute little video of Finley playing under one of her blankets. She never seems to get tired of this game.

Shelley is now at 33 weeks -- and ready to have this baby. We've been talking to Finley about being a big sister and how Momma has a baby in her belly. For the last week, she has been playing with a baby doll in daycare and when one of her teachers, who is also expecting, was saying she has a baby in her belly, Finley said Momma did, too. So, while I know she doesn't really know what this means - esp. to her, she is starting to understand parts of it. It she really wants to know what it means to her, she should just ask Monty; Monty is still waiting for the other two dogs to leave. When we bring home another baby, Monty might just pack her bags and move on out.