Sunday, August 26, 2012

long (wood) weekend

we had a pretty long weekend with no plans. so, we became members of longwood gardens, and went twice in one weekend. i have good memories of going there as a kid, and one of the last times i spent with my "gran" was at longwood gardens. it feels good to know that for the next year, we can just drop in for a stroll.

i can't believe they let us in. even vera realizes that it's best to stay undercover.



every now and then, i would let finley peek at the pretty flowers and trees.



pretty sure we won the race..... all of us.


we played some mixed mallet keys. wood, metal, stone. they all had nice tones. what a cool kids garden.


we explored the tower.
 oops, how did this get into finley's blog?


we'll see you all soon. expect more photos from longwood.

first tooth

just kidding. i have no clue what that is. it isn't a tooth though.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

take it where you can get it

finley relaxes on the changing pad* - 3 weeks old

dad relaxed nearby. mom showered.

*before the changing happened

Sunday, August 19, 2012

aquarium and longwood gardens

we have been doing lots of stuff lately, but finley doesn't seem to get the camera attention. usually because whoever is holding the camera is also holding him, leaving the other parent with arms free for fin's big sis'.

here is finley chillin with a pink penguin.



finley keps his cool, even when surrounded by dangerous sharks.

 finley playing in a tree house with cousins, mom, aunt-e, and grandma.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

two weeks old

finley turned two weeks old yesterday. check it.





vera helps push the swing.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

hot potato


when finley has visitors, he likes to play a game of hot potato baby. there are rules to this game, although we don't usually tell anyone until it's too late.

finley with nana.


 finley with kathy.


finley with vera.


finley with andre.


finley with kelly.


there are better pictures of finley and tim, but i like the expressional communication that's happening here.


finley and ????. kidding, it's patti, but unfortunately, this is the only picture we got of these two.


finley and sarah.
 sarah gets two pictures, since she has been here to help so much. come to think of it, we'll be sure to do a sarah post one day soon.


thanks to june for sending over some extra pics. unfortunately, the only picture of you with finley is pretty blurry and you aren't even holding him. looks like we'll have to visit again soon.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

finley's first modeling job

finley had some professional photos taken the other day. here is a behind the scenes look.



here is a teaser photo from the shoot. if you like it, wait to download to your computer until we get our official photo package. i will be sure to repost a higher res photo once the photos are delivered.

Monday, August 6, 2012

namesake

as mentioned before, finley took a bath to get ready for a family visit. we have some photos of that visit but most can wait until the next post.

since we have our priorities in order around here, it is time to introduce finley's namesake. for those of you not in the know, the woman pictured below is theresa raufer, whom at some point in her life carried the last name of "finley". that is, until jess' grandfather, hank raufer, and theresa met each other.

we here at the travis household of north wilmington are proud and honored to share names with those of our family that came before us. i know we both dearly love our familes and all they have done to provide us with the life we live today.


Sunday, August 5, 2012

WAR!!!

its official. there will be a blog war between jess and i, or vera and fin, depending on how you look at it. the only winners of this war will be you, the viewer. as jess and i struggle for blog superiority, you will find yourselves inundated with cute photos, sharp wit, lack of capitalization, oxford commas, and all the wonders of sharing our experience of raising our kids.

i had intended on blogging about the similarities of our kids as newborns. however, jess beat me to it. i must concede this battle as jess did a mighty fine job of it. waaaay less words than i would have used. so if you missed it, click here.

time to go rest the troops.

first bath

finley got his first bath on saturday. he had lots of family coming and well, he needed a bath. he was pretty happy about the whole thing as you can clearly see.







vera helped. and by helped i mean directed. and by directed i mean she pointed out things like "baby bath", "water" and "OH! SOAP!".

Friday, August 3, 2012

finley and vera

after we got home, vera had more time to introduce herself to finley. i took quite a few photos, but many of them are blurry because vera moves so fast these days. it has nothing to do with the person using the camera.....







finley is lucky to have such a careful older sister.







just in case finley doesn't know where his eye is, vera is sure to help him locate it.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

welcome finley

finley claude travis was born on July 31, 2012 and 747 am at the wilmington birth center. he weighed in at 9 pounds and 0.5 ounces. things went pretty smooth with the exception of an overnight sidetrip to AI Dupont childrens hospital for some low blood sugar. despite the docs best efforts, this was not remedied with IVs and feeding tubes, but with some rest and some feedings once finley was ready.

jess is doing very well considering. Labor was much much shorter this time around and i believe we both feel grateful for the experience.




grandma and grandpa (mama and papa) brought vera for a visit around noon. vera was quite energetic but very nice to her new brother.




i am very happy to have finley with us. i did my best to help with the labor and i am amazed at how well jess did. she really had her sights set on a natural birth with midwives, a doula, no pain meds, no wires and tubes. i was concerned but supportive. she really made this happen in the most fantastic manner possible and i have no words to express the wonderful feeling of being there for finley's birth. oh, i got to cut the cord again this time but no blood splatter on my shirt this time. the birth center lets the cord pulsing stop before cutting.



FYI - this blog will be formatted similar to jess's "vera updates" blog. from here on out, i will use this mostly to post photos for family and friends to view and use minimal text. enjoy!
-jp