Finnegan Pics from Dec. 2011

Finnegan looks just like his grandpa Terry. He loves grandpa very much.

This was Finnegan's first bath at home (instead of a wet soapy towell wipe down). He loves getting baths, the warm water and smelling clean. Rachel is really good about giving him baths.

Rachel ordered this wonderful wall decal for Finn's room months and months ago. We litterally spent 4-5 hours putting this thing up, it was such a pain in the butt!!! and guess what happened the next day! we woke up and half of it had decided it did not want to stick to the wall and fallen over and stuck to its self. Luckily we were able to get the money back, but we wish it just would have stuck on there cuz it was really cool.

Finn doesn't wear hats as much as he used too. When he would fall asleep he would constantly be pulling them down over his own eyes. Maybe he just didn't like the light... sure is a cute little bugger though.

Finnegan is almost 3 months old!!!

I can't believe our little man is going to be 3 months old this saturday. He is getting so big. I thought I would put a few pictures of him up that I really like before I have to leave for work. There are many others ( and I will try to put more up) but these are some of the favorites for now.

Im soooo tired mommy! can't keep my eyes open.....

I'm pretty sure this pic was taken right after he got fed. He passed out.....

Rachel thinks this looks like a funeral picture. I think its adorable
abut the last month or so finn has started smiling alot. he loves to have his chin tickled. and he loves having his feet played with. his laugh is soooo hilarious.

Denali - "oh Finnegan, I love you! I want to give you kisses! oh and please scratch behind my ears."

Firehouse pets...

So every fire station needs a pet right? Most people would think dalmations, but not the AAPF Dept. We have mice, and lots of them! they have been working on the problem for a couple of months now, and it seems to be getting better. For awhile, the mice were so mild that they would just let you pick them up. I think they have got the idea that we are at war now though. Usually when I get them alive I just throw them outside in the snow, I don't really want to get my boots bloody by stomping on them I guess.

Sure they look cute, but we have seen them in our kitchen, and that is NOT cute.

Christmas 2011

I know that this post is well over due, but better late then never I suppose. We had a wonderful christmas this year, with lots of good presents and family. I had to work all the holidays (thanksgiving, xmas, xmas eve, new years.....) this year, but we found a little time to squeeze in a little family christmas. This was Finn's first christmas! and althought I"m sure he will have more enthusiusm in the coming years, I know he loved being cuddled and kissed by everyone. Finn got to dress like his buddy santa this year, and oddly enough we don't have any pictures of him in that outfit. maybe we can get a few from my mom... hint hint.

This was one of my xmas gifts for rachel this year. It is a .308 Kimber Montana. Guess what her valentine day gift was???? if you said scope, then you are correct. It was a new Ziess 3-9x40 and I purchased light weight tally rings to mount it with. All together her rifle weighs 6 lb 3 oz. For those of you that don't know, and have not had the privledge of carrying a rifle all day, that is extremely light weight. for example, my .338 Remington is 8.5 lbs..... I was really hoping rachel would draw a valley cow moose tag this year, or a denali highway caribou. but no such luck. I guess I took all the draw tag luck this year :)

I can't wait to work up some loads for her .308 and test them out (her test them out).

Ok so this is Finn with his xmas gift from daddy. He got to open the first present. I got him a high capacity magazine for his 10/22. He loved it!!! said it was the best xmas gift he has ever gotten. and he can't wait to go rabbit hunting with his daddy.

I don't have pictures of them, but I got some great gifts as well. My dad handed down his browning 44 mag lever gun to me, which I was really excited about. Rachel got me a new reloading kit and a meat grinder, both of which will be getting a lot of use this upcoming year. And Rachel's mother got me a RCBS die set for my 300 WSM. So now I can work a load up for my sheep hunt. I think i'll be going with 168 grain barnes TTSX, we'll see. Now I just need to make some room in the garage.....

more pics of Finn

I know its been awhile since we have put some pictures up of Finnegan. so i thought I would add a few. I have some really cute ones of him recently, I just haven't uploaded them yet. so these are all from his birth / December.

This is literally his first bugger! Rachel didn't want me to take a picture, but I know the important stuff when I see it.

This was Finn's first day home with me. I'm pretty sure we were watching a football game at the time. I know it looks like we are all sleeping, but this is how we watch football these days.

This is one of the first pics of me holding Finn at Providence. I'm sitting on the couch of Rachel's room the morrning after his birth. The couch is really comfortable to sleep on by the way.

Finn had his 2 month doctor appointment yesterday. It was his 'shots' appointment. He did really well. He cried like he was being tortured when they put the needles in his legs, but then ten seconds later, after being held and soothed, I think he totally forgot about the whole thing. He weighted 12 lbs 3 oz. which they said is the 50th percentile. And he was in the 75th percentile for his length (23 inches i think it was) and head size (40 cm).

I'll try to put some pictures on here from X-mas and this month. Rachel got a new camera for christmas that she has been using, and I have some real good ones on my cell phone too that I need to download to the computer.

love at first sight

Well the day after Finn came home from the hospital he got a little cranky. I asked him what was the matter and he said he had been waiting months and months to see his birthday gift and still hadn't see it yet. So I pulled the 10/22 out of the safe for him and he was delighted. He said he loves his birthday present and can't wait until he is big enough to shoot!

Finnegan is born!!

I love those little toeses of his, they are so cute. He has the 'Weight toe' ;)

Finn right after being born, I got to cut the cord. I almost cut the wrong spot. They were like "cut it" and I went for it! They stopped me before I did though and showed me where the right spot was.

Well as many of you have heard, Finn was born a little earlier then we were expecting. His due date was 12/4 but he decided that he wanted to show up just a wee bit sooner. He was born on 11/25/11 at 11:59 PM. This is a special day for him, not just because it is his birthday, but because it is also the birthday of his great-grandpa Booth, from whom he get his middle name. It was really close, probably 20-30 seconds longer and he would have a b-day a day later.

I had left for work that evening around 5 Pm for my shift that started at 6. Earlier in the day I told Ray that Finn was definitely not coming today. When I left for work Rachel was taking a nap. I was in the fire station that night, and someone at work asked me when the baby would be here, and I told them that it would be soon but "it aint going to be today." Well about 8:45 or so Nicky (Rays sister) texted me and said Rachel was in severe pain and they weren't sure if it was labor or not but they were going to the hospital to get checked out. I told her "ok, just let me know." about ten minutes later I got another text saying come to the hospital. So I told my boss I have to go, got changed real quick and ran out the door. I got over to Providence Hospital about 9:15 Pm. And man, was Rachel ever in Labor. It was difficult to watch, she was in a lot of pain. Everyone, including Rachel was screaming to get her some pain meds. But that wasn't our plan from the beginning so I was the only one in the room trying to talk about things and see what side effects could occur and so on. Well the anesthesiologist took forever to get there and Rachel was progressing rapidly. Rachel REALLY wanted that Epidural and everyone (sisters, the nurses, doctors) wanted her to have it, except me! Rachel has been saying for months how afraid of needles she is and that she didn't want one, so I was trying to be strong for her and remind her of her prior decision. Well around 10:50 or so everything was ready for it and Rachel even signed the paper to get the epidural already. The nurse checked her one last time and she was at 10 cm. So she started to push, which was really exciting. everyone agreed that she didn't really need the epidural at this point and to just GO FOR IT. Nicky and I were helping and looking at the clock. Finn had less then an hour before midnight. I thought for sure it was going to be a couple more hours til he was actually born. I thought no way is this kid going to make it on the 25th. Well, nobody told Finn that because at 11:59 PM (I had given up hope already) he was born with just seconds to spare. Most likely the last baby in the US born on that day considering the time zones. He was beautiful and perfect in every way. 7 lbs 9 ounces with dark blue eyes. I'm so glad that he was born on grandpa Booth's birthday. Finn may have never met his Grandpa Booth in person, but he will always remember him. I loved my grandpa very much and I miss him very much, and hopefully Finn will too.