Zoo day to celebrate our 3 year old!

Finnegan turns 3 on Wednesday. It really seems like yesterday that we were headed to the hospital in Brooklyn for her arrival and today she is a real little human with thoughts and crazy emotions. Finn is a true first born daughter. She wants to please, she wants everyone to LOVE her, she wants to help and care for her sister, etc...She is so sweet and a very sympathetic child. If someone is hurting or sad it's almost like she can sense that, I pray that her caring and loving spirit stays with her. I also pray that as she gets older she would gain a confidence in who she is and not question that. 

We took the girls to the zoo on Saturday instead of a birthday party. It was really a perfect day. Everyone was in a good mood and it felt good to be out and about and be together! (We have one more month of the academy and we'll be thankful to have an actual schedule once Gabe graduates).

I'll the pictures speak for themselves. I don't have anyone to edit this;)

Going on a bear hunt....our new favorite!

Bryan, Crystal, and Janey got this book for Gracie and we read it about 10 times a day. We love it! It provides lots of creative play as we search for bears in the house (it's usually Gabe or I;)
This video is a bit long, and it really is just Finnegan reading, but we wanted to document it for ourselves!

Party time-these pictures capture her personality perfectly!

Happy Birthday to our sweet Gracie girl!

I am kind of sentimental on birthdays and first birthdays are so sweet and sad to me! I love the baby stage- it's totally my thing and although it's amazing to see my babies grow up I also mourn the loss of all things baby.
I won't waste your time and list those things but my girl is a' walking, dancing, crazy girl and we seriously fall more in love with her daily.

She loves her big sister to pieces. We just went out of town and Grace didn't want any toys the whole car drive (about 3.5 hours), she just wanted to watch Finnegan play, sing, dance, scream, etc...
Grace didn't give any one the time of day- no smiling and cooing for about 9 months. We kind of joked that she just wasn't impressed! Now this girl plays coy but gives big smiles and loud giggles. She really can dance like it's no bodies business and she lights up when she is happy! She still doesn't let on right away that she is impressed but you can see her smile start in her eyes and move to her lips. She is a CRAZY eater. It's hysterical to watch and she LOVES everything and is never full. 

She is a pretty easy baby but she goes through these phases every few months that she is extremely needy and wants to be held all the time. It's funny bc she fluctuates from being super content to a fusser pot every few weeks. 

Here are just a few random pictures of our sweet baby!!

1st cookout and random photos!

The family came to our house on the 4th of July for a cookout. It was a fun time and we love making memories in our new home. Finnegan asks often if we can move back to Asheville,  listen to Alicia Key's "Empire State of Mind" (as we talk about NYC), and even mentions our 2 month stint in Belmont longingly but this morning as we pulled out of the driveway she said "I love my new house!" Phew...hope this girls knows that this one's a bit more for keeps. 

The crew inside

The outside crew

Nana Grace with our Gracie girl

Blowing rasberries (and do my kids always have food on their faces or in their hair?)

Momma and her girls

Aunt Alli and Finnegan

Uncle Seth and Quinn are in town!

Sisterly love

CHEESE

Quinn brought Finn some new batman stuff

Pool time

Finn did a face plant but wasn't phased

It's offical, we are homeowners

And this is where we call "Home Sweet Home"! It's pretty darn exciting and we really love the house...but at the end of the day it's all about these girls:

And we are seriously IN LOVE! We have two busy little bee's that fuss and cry and lean in for kisses and tell us that we are loved and we just feel so very thankful.

Gabe's crazy schedule has begun (he is still in the academy) so we don't get a whole lot of time together and the time that we do have together has been a bit stressful but I think that just comes along with the territory. We are still looking for a church, friends, community, etc., but having family so close has been a gift and it helps me to not feel as lonely.

Weekends have been spent in the yard doing fun things like this: Be prepared this is an exciting picture!
New vents! 

Hoping that the next few months allows us some good family time and hoping you can find us here

I have a bunch of other random pictures to share but it's not letting me upload anymore so I'll have to revisit it later this week.