July

After our trip to Idaho we came home for just enough time to unpack do laundry and repack for our next 3 week trip. Thanks again to my mom and dave for putting up with Finn and me. It was so nice to get out of the heat! My mom and I took off to Coto de Caza, CA which is just a little inland of Laguna. We spent a couple of days just hanging out and went to the beach. Finn is so stinking cute. We then headed up to LA and picked up Dave from LAX. We were there for my sister in laws graduation. She graduatead from USC's IBEAR program. We were so proud. While there we went to Shutters on the beach and had Lemon Ricotta pancakes. DELISH. We also saw Juliette Binoche from Dan in real life eating lemon ricotta pancakes. She is even more gorgeous in real life. Finn is a USC fan already. From there we drove to the fabulous Las Vegas. We stayed with my grandma and got to see Niels and Suz and lots of other fam and friends. It is always a fun little trip. I miss the good people of Green Valley! Even though I really have no desire to move back to Vegas, I still wish we could all somehow just live by each other. After a few days in Vegas we headed up to Park City. My sweet step sister Jenna helped me get Finn on a schedule and sleeping through the night. Finn and I became new people. He was a happy baby before but now he is happy and so easy. I have so much more energy its unbelievable. I will forever be in debt to you Jenna! We went on hikes and just enjoyed the fresh air and beautiful mountains. Her kids are so good with Finn it was fun for everyone. We had a family reunion at the Aspen Grove family camp up above Sundance. It was a blast. We hiked, played tennis, badminton, table tennis, did the ropes course, paintballed, swam, took a water color class, and much more. Finn loved going to his play group on occasion which was nice for Ryan and I to do some fun things together. I added up all the hours of driving, combined it came to 34 hours over 3 weeks of travel time. Finn did so amazingly good! We were glad to make it home despite the heat though. We were both definitely done with the car for a while. Escaping the heat actually has made me kind of enjoy it. Since I wasn't trapped in it this summer I haven't minded it as much.

June

finn & cousin ty One Saturday I was sitting at work and I got a text message with a picture of this: From my sweet husband. I had been nervous to take Finn to the lake at all but how could I say no to that? We took him to the lake and he loved it. He loved the water he loved the boat. I still was nervous but we had a great time. It was great to see Ryan in his ultimate element as a dad at the lake. The beginning of June is Ryan's birthday. I threw him a joint surprise birthday party with our friends Ben and Sherri. After the weekend we ended up jumping in the car with some of his family and driving to Palm Springs. It was just as hot as Phoenix but we still had a good time. We swam, ate good food, enjoyed staying at a resort, and loved the road trip. We passed most of the time driving listening to the Glee soundtrack. It's a must have. For Fathers Day we were lucky enough to have my dad come and visit us. He came all the way from Rigby, ID and he and Finn bonded instantly. He was so cute with him. We had dinner at Joe's Farm grill and had a great weekend together. It was Ryans first Fathers day so I made them both breakfast before our 8am church! We spent the day at Trevor and Brooke's and it was just great to be with family. Here are some photo's. The end of June I took off to SLC just Finn and me. The plane trip was a small nightmare. The girl sitting next to me was motion sick and dry heaving into the bag next to me, Finn was not in his finest hour either. I made it though. We met up with my mom in the airport who had flown from Germany. It was so cute to see the two of them reunited. Finn isn't instantaneously friendly to strangers, so he must have remembered my mom because he instantly started smiling at her. We went to dinner and met up with my good friend JP (Jen Chatwin). It was so good to see her! The next day we drove up to Idaho. We had lunch with my dad, grandma, and lots of cousins and aunts. That night my little seeester was singing with a friend at BYU, ID so we had to go! She was flawless. She is such a little rockstar. She always has had a fantastic stage presence and has loved belting it out since I can remember. Way to go lizardo! We went up to Driggs the next day and played with Grandma Haycock and all my cousins. We did a hike at the base of tablerock. Finn and I LOVED being outdoors. He did so good in the bjorn! I love that thing. We missed Ryan a lot but it was so nice to be out of the heat. I forgot what it feels like to be chilly. On our way back Ryan had gone with his family last minute to Bountiful, UT to visit the Swartwood's for the 4th so I stayed the night with them. Ryan and I jumped on their Vespa and drove down the hills of Bountiful at sunset. It was the most romantic thing we have done in a long time. I used to be anti vespa's but I quickly warmed up to them.

End of March/April/May

The day after we got back from Hawaii our friends "Glitch" (Gloria and Mitch) came to visit us. We ate good food, and went up to Kierland Commons. We walked into a fun little store called West Elm and saw a display of a day bed with white pillows. It was lovely. I wanted it badly. But for now, I will just show a picture of it so you can all admire it with me. Lots of white pillows lots of different textures. Not practical, but I love it. Finn was such a super trooper. He loves being on the go. In fact, I think he prefers it. (Him at 3 months) Finn started rolling from his tummy to back right at 3 months. We tried to get a video but somehow always managed to miss it. This picture was the best we got. 4 Months! My mom got him this darling little outfit so we promised her we would take pictures and send them. Here they are! In May we headed up to LA to my big brother Ben's graduation. He graduated from USC's MBA & MRED program. I was so proud. I felt like we were at Disneyland. Perfect weather, gorgeous surroundings, everyone was happy. He was the perfect host. Ryan was in heaven. He is a huge USC fan. I had never really spent any time in LA and Ben took us everywhere. We toured Beverly Hills, drove down Hollywood, walked around downtown, Saw Dick VanDykes house, drove down Rodeo drive, ate lunch at the Groves and even ran into the Jonas brothers! We went to an Alumni BBQ in Pasadena where we found the house they filmed father of the bride at. It was so fun to drive through those neighborhoods. Sorry for the quality of photos. We have a really nice camera but for some reason I always just end up using my phone. It's just so convenient.

February/March 2010

The beginning of February we blessed Finn and a ton of my family and friends were able to make it into town. It felt so special to know how many people besides myself and Ryan love this little guy so much. During the blessing my brother Niels said Finn was wide awake and just staring at everyone holding him. Probably making a mental note of who to thank later. 4 Generations Our new and happy little family! All my family that was able to make it. (If you can believe it, there's more!) Dave and Lizzy, Finn can't wait to meet you in just a couple of weeks! We had so many friends go out of their way to be there. It meant a lot to us. Pictured: Lauren, myself, Paige, & Megan The Dawn and Dave Terry family put on an AMAZING lunch for everyone that came. Leave it to them to plan a party. They are the best. Seriously, they had the most darling centerpieces ever, not to mention all the delicious food. Everyone enjoyed themselves. Pictured: Brooke, Caden, Hailey, & Jacob. HUD buddies! Pictured: Ryan, Jeff, & Devyn The end of February Finn was already 2 months old and losing all his hair! We try and do an amateur mini photo shoot each month. We were so excited he finally fit into his red vans they had to be a part of it. When we first found out we were having a boy, the first thing we went and did was shop for some amazing baby boy things with Ryan's mom. Our first purchase was these little red vans. AMAZING. The middle of February I went back to work just 2 days a week. Dawn watches him one day and Ryan watches him the other. It was so hard to leave him that first day. I was teary all day long. March came too quickly. Mid March we took off to Hawaii with the Terry family for our Christmas surprise trip. My post pregnancy body definitely wasn't swimsuit ready but we had such a fun time anyway! Finn slept the entire flight there and back. The waves on the beach lulled him to sleep. It was the perfect time to go. Ryan and I finally got to go scuba diving together! It was such a fun experience. I have to admit the first dive I had a little anxiety since it had been 4 years since I had done any diving at all, but the second dive I completely enjoyed myself. We saw young sea turtles, the most giant mana ray ever who was so curious he just hung out right by us, and lots of other cool things. For my birthday dinner we went to Kimo's. I recommend the O Pacu Pacu. They had the BEST Hula Pie. That was my first experience and it didn't let me down. We sat on the top floor looking over the ocean at sunset. Best dinner ever. Here's the view. "Unconditional Lava Flows" We also did the road to Hannah. Everyone said it isn't a good idea to take a baby but he slept the entire time. I was reluctant to go but SO glad I did. We saw the black sandy beaches and had delicious banana bread made by the nicest hippy lady. I would love to do that again on a vespa with towels. We forgot our towels so we didn't get in any of the waterfalls on the way up.

January 2010

Timing couldn't have been better. We got our tax break, we got him after Christmas, my mom and little sister came all the way from Germany and were there within 24 hours of him being born, and we got home in time to celebrate New Years Eve at home. My mom stayed at my house that first week we were home. It was a HUGE blessing. I couldn't have hired help as good as she was. I came down my first morning home, she had breakfast out on the table, was organizing my kitchen, and had Finn asleep in his green chair, and was making a list of groceries to go and pick up at the store. Thanks again mom. Ryan had a work conference he had to go to in Florida like 3 days after we got home. It was rough but we sent him lots of pictures. We spent a lot of time over with Trevor and Brooke and their 3 kids. We made Lebanese Fatires for New Years, those are pretty much heaven in an edible bundle. A handsome and happy new dad. Right when we walked in the door from the hospital. It's amazing how you don't get sick of staring at them. I could do it all day every day. Just over 2 weeks after we got home from the hospital, my mom and I headed to Vegas to visit my grandma haycock. I probably wouldn't have traveled so soon but I knew I wouldn't get up to Vegas anytime soon after my mom left. It was awesome. We stayed with Niels and Suz for a couple of days before staying with my Grandma. Niels and Finn bonded instantaneously. Finn couldn't stop staring at him. It was really cute to see my Grandpa love Finn so much. He swore he'd never seen such a beautiful baby boy and I know my grandma loved having us around as well. When we told my Grandpa (Clair Leroy) that we had given Finn his middle name after him he replied, "He's gonna hate you for that". We laughed. Staring contest. I took these on his one month birthday. It's amazing how big he got in just one month. He fell asleep right after I shot that one. He had the sleepy look written all over his face.

Meet Finn

Finn Leroy Terry. He is our pride and joy. I never knew I could love my baby so much. I hadn't had any experience with baby babies so I was really nervous to become a mom. I didn't know if I could do it. Luckily I had Ryan around cheering me on. It's amazing how quickly my instincts kicked in. Almost my entire pregnancy he was going to be Pete, but when he was born we decided on Finn. Where else can you do a photo shoot with a newborn outdoors in January? He was the sweetest newborn ever. He impressed the doctors with how alert he was. He loved getting his hair washed and being cuddled. He transitioned to nursing like a super star. Very healthy. He never complained unless he was hungry. We only had one night where he wanted to be awake at night and that was our first night home. He never got colicky or anything. He was the perfect newborn. I miss this little newborn! He is so big now. These pictures were taken when he was just over a week old.