Who's the Professional?

I wanted to post these pictures directly after the pictures I took. That way, when you first saw mine, you might think, "Oh, that's a nice shot." Whereas if I posted mine after Heather's, you would be 0% impressed with my photog skills.

Heather Fink Photography, people. Hire her today.

4 months.

And so begins this post to commemorate Haddon turning 4 months old. We have the standard "on the couch with the dog" pictures as well as an excursion to....the backyard. Where we subjected Haddon to many the pose. I don't think he minded, though he looks confused in a lot of the pictures that I didn't post.







Ben would probably be embarrassed to know this picture is on here, but I am including it to 1.) show the softer side of Ben Fink and 2.) to highlight my son's awkward back of the head. Haddon has lost a stripe of hair due to "back is best" and hating tummy time for the first 3 months of his life. Ben wants to cut the mullet part completely off, but I think my baby's too little for a haircut.

Haddon & Mama. It was bright out, ok?

Summer Trips: The Wheaton Edition

Oh, I know. Most bloggers would update as they went on vacations, posting the day after a splendid trip. This blogger waits until the end of summer to review her excursions. Sorry to my darling type-A friends.

So to begin, my first adventure led me to Wheaton on a direct flight from Charlotte to Chicago. Ben dropped off Haddon & I early so that I could catch the first flight out. That means that it was me & the baby & a whole lot of suited-up businessmen. That flight was a piece of cake, we sped through the family-only security lines, waited just a few minutes at the gate as I enjoyed a coffee, and then flew just about 2 hours and Haddon slept the entire time. My sweet friend Mase (or emily mason, if you're boring) picked us up and we headed right over to Karen's house. Sad we didn't get a picture of the 3 of us together, but I did score this one of Mase and the babies. But Phinn is missing from the picture so you don't get quite the experience we did, with 4 little ones.
After spending some quality time catching up, Haddon & I skipped off to see Auntie Bell. (This is my I'm-testing-it-out nickname for my sister Kelly. The 3 of us went to Kate's to hang with her and the boys. That's the beauty of living in Wheaton. All of these people's houses are like 2 seconds away from each other.


Henry, who is 3 and 1/2, was willing to be Haddon's friend. However, I think Haddon disappointed a bit.

Henry: "Can he walk?"
Me: "No."
Henry" "Can he crawl?"
Me: "Nope."
Henry (giving Haddon one last chance): "Can he even...sit up?"
Me: "And another no."
Sorry Henry. Not too exciting. But he can look at the camera quite well.
During the trip, we also spent some quality time with family. Here's Haddon with Uncle Mike.

Mike & Whitney were kind enough to host a Family BBQ for our large extended family. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Cousins Removed (?) abounded in their backyard. It's always fun to spend time with them, as we don't get to see each other too often.

Auntie Whit Whit having a blast. :)

Good looking group

Grandpa! Obviously taking appropriate infant-head-safety precautions.

Family Couch Love.

Haddon & I with my cousin Meghan & her daughter Grace, peering at Haddon's odd choice in sleeping positions.

Haddon also got quality time at Grandma's. Here's the evidence.

Relaxing on the couch.

Bathtime with Grandma

Kate & I met up for a walk to Starbucks and the fountain in downtown Wheaton before we flew out.

All in all, it was a great trip!

A Pun at Midnight

The other night, as I was up feeding Haddon, I made myself chuckle. While this isn't a rare thing, as I find myself entertaining most of the time, I actually felt I had to share this on the blog. With a photo, so you would understand. Attribute it to lack of sleep, maybe. Or that I'm just a little weird.

Here's the situation:

I was burping my sweet little boy, patting his back when I felt something fuzzy. Oh yes, I thought, Haddon has on his "beary cute" pajamas from Mrs. Bradley. I am patting his bear butt.

pause.

bear butt. BARE butt?

that's when i laughed. oh homophones, you do make a good pun.

so here's a picture of aforementioned butt. i thought about posting 2 pictures to compare bear vs. bare, but will err on the side of modesty.

2 Months

Well, hello there. How are you? My name is Haddon and I am 2 months old.
I weigh 11 pounds 1 ounce and am 23 and 1/2 inches long.
This is my dog. My dad won't let me have a real one. ;)
I like this dog ok. See how my hand is around his back? Truth is, my mom put it there. I'm still getting used to him.

Oh, actually, this dog is pretty soft. I am going to pet him.

This is fun!

Oh wait, I change my mind. I actually want to get away from this thing.


Ok, dog, you sit there, I'll sit here, cross my arms and mind my own business. Deal.

Heather's Cupcake Shower

Last Saturday, I had the privilege of hosting my sister-in-law Heather's baby shower. She is due to have a girl the first week of August. It's been super fun being able to share the experience of pregnancy & I can't wait to meet her little girl! She is the first baby to make me an Auntie, so I'm excited for her arrival.

Ok, so the theme of the shower was "Heather's Little Cupcake." I found this cute invitation on Evite & thought it would be perfect. I went with the colors yellow & pink . (Heather's nursery is a woodland theme, with oranges, brown, & green, and her mom threw her a shower of that theme already, so I felt she needed something girly.)

Heather, Haddon & I

When Kate was here visiting, she found a sweet cupcake garland online. It was easy to make; you just string cupcake liners of different colors & doilies together. It looked cute hanging from the mantle. I also dolled up the mantle with some pretty girl baby things.

And then there was the food: cupcakes, obviously. I made the mini-cupcakes on the left, Tammy, our mother-in-law, made the chocolate & pink ones, Betsy made lemon-raspberry ones that were oh-so-good, & Laura made the cake pops! Cute, huh??

For a more healthy option...

Full mantle shot
There was a great turn out!

Haddon was swinging away in the corner 'til Tamaw arrived!

Yay for Heather's Little Cupcake!

A Friendly Visit

A couple of weeks ago, we had a very special visitor! My darling friend Kate. She and I have been BFFs (apart from our sisters, of course :) ) for 16 years! Woah. If you do the math, since we were 9. Her sweet husband Eric got her ticket to come see Haddon and I was thrilled. She has 2 boys, Henry, 3, & Gray, 1, at home and I love them! I am so excited to introduce Haddon to his little buddies in just a couple of days!




While Kate was here, Haddon took plenty of naps in above position. Well, not quite always in that exact position, but on Kate's lap. She was a great help to me & I felt very spoiled. It was fun to talk babies but also to have someone who gets my random references and will play Speed Scrabble with me. Even though I lost every time. With Haddon's feeding schedule being every 3 hours, we made efficient use of the in-between time & went to the pool twice! Kate was still adjusting to her weekend without children when we got out of the car at the pool and she exclaimed, "I forgot pool toys!" On Sunday night, Ben, Kate & I went out for Mexican (thanks, Sarah!), walked around the lake there, and ended up at the Wine Vault. After confirming that nursing mothers can partake in small doses, we had a nice evening complete with wine. Pictures like the one below happen when we hang out.

Thanks for coming, Kate!!