mi casa es su casa

It will be two years this July that we have called San Antonio home. Time has flown by and in the meantime... 

we have grown to love our home, 

share cookies, herbs, and friendly banter with our neighbors,

hog the swing at the neighborhood playground,

make friends with the kids that Finn stares at at the park, 

mark our territory with sweat (and blood) on the running trails,

say hello to the deer who show up at our back door,

survive initiation of the dreadful cedar allergies,

become "regulars" at Thai Chili down the street,

enjoy the sites San Antonio is famous for, 

and be embraced by our church family.

This house is the perfect size for our growing family. With 3 bedrooms there is room enough for guests. A large office and 2 car garage provides Ben with his much needed space for his busy and booming business, and most importantly- a large open living space allows us to host lots of PARTIES!

Since we are renting the only changes we could make to this pink kitchen was to paint over the atrocious 80's pink brushstroke border and the matching backsplash tiles. I keep dreaming up what I would do to this room if I owned the place. We are renting until 2015 so until then, I will keep on dreaming on!

No kitchen table yet... but it is the perfect spot for Finn to roll around in his little car.

This guest bedroom is calling your name...

Finn's bedroom...

The wooden frames are art by our brother in-law, Bryce Lafferty. We LOVE his modern artwork!  The mirror port-hole was once Ben's parents.

This vintage armoire was a rare find at a thrift store. And thanks to Benjamin, with a little TLC and some paint it is one of our favorite pieces of furniture in the house.

 This movie marquee F was found by Ben at our favorite antique mall. With a smokin' hot coat of red paint it is PERFECT for our mister Finnster.

These pictures of French planes were bought in Paris for our "boy one day." We took them home, matted and framed them for Finn.

This poster of Switzerland was bought in a little shop in Gimmewald.  We knew it would one day be in our boys room as well. The changing table was a gift from Ben to me while I was pregnant. He found it at a thrift store and spent hours refinishing it.

Each of the homes we have lived in have been special in their own way. This home is where our family took on a whole new meaning when we welcomed Finn into the world.  We love the comfort and spirit of this place, but I can definitely say, no matter where we are, it is just as the corny song goes...

"HOME IS WHENEVER I'M WITH YOU."

Finn's 9th Month

February 14, 2014

9 months old
19lb 12oz (33%)

Our little Valentine

Milestones

recording all the firsts

• Finn says "da da da" and "ma ma ma!" He started with "da da da" and definitely says it more often than "ma ma ma." (This, of course, does not mean he loves da da more)
• Finn now claps his hands together at things that make him happy, like the bath, going outside and animals. When he is excited he wiggles and kicks his legs super fast. It is the cutest thing EVER. 
• Finn took on his first staircase with ease! He crawled all the way to the top without hesitation.  
• Finn picks up snacks with his fingers and puts them in his mouth. Sometimes when he gets frustrated trying to get it in his mouth he will put his mouth to the tray to see if that works better. 
• He now stands everywhere, even in the slippery bath tub. We rarely find him sitting. He has even stood without holding onto anything! (Scared us silly!)
• Grampa and Gramma Capson came to visit. He had fun playing with them and loves the walker they gave him. He'll be walking in no time now!
• Poor baby, threw up two mornings in a row. He projectile vomited on daddy one day and on the area rug the next day. We still aren't sure why but we are glad he didn't seem sick in any other way.
• When we pick him up he will pat our back/shoulder and if we are lucky he may even give us a scratch. 

some of Finn's

Favorite Things

• Cords. (Just don't mess with the outlet, please!)
• Smiling. Our favorite thing is to find Finn smiling at us; of course, we can't help but smile back, and maybe even scoop him up and kiss on him!
• His new discovery--behind the TV cabinet doors! He loves going through and disorganizing all of our dvd's and changing the settings on our TV with the remotes.(Why wouldn't he!?)
• Shiny things... door knobs, metal table legs, diamond earrings, bath spout... he just has to taste them.
• Finn is fascinated by the vacuum, space heater and hair dryer.
• Mommy and Daddy. Often times he will be in the middle of playing and when he see's us he will crawl quickly to us so that we will pick him up and play with him.  When I am working at the dining table he will crawl under the table and pull on my leg... I swear he is trying to say "pay attention to meeee!" 
• Finn loves when mommy sings his very own personalized version of "You are my sunshine."
• When we scratch his back, face, tummy... he closes his eyes and smiles. Sometimes he will giggle because it tickles. So cute. 

some of Finn's

Not so Favorite Things

• Teething. He is still gnawing on everything. He even tries to eat mommy's toes. With all the gnawing and sometimes even whining you'd think he'd have a tooth by now. NOPE!

Stories

of the Finn
Finn is now realizing when we are gone. After about a week of daddy being away for work Finn saw a man that looks similar to him and reached out and wanted to be held by him.  It breaks our heart to ever have to be away from him!

Nakey baby!! Picture  for the future girlfriend.

  

            

Finn loves his stroller rides, especially when we stop at the park. There, he likes to watch and play with the big kids. 

We can't believe how fast our little munch is growing up!

Thank Heaven for Grandparents!

At the end of January, Grampa and Gramma Capson came for a visit! They hadn't seen Finn since his baby blessing, so it was exciting for them to see him and just how much he has grown.  They loved taking him for daily stroller rides, cooking dinner for us, and site-seeing San Antonio.

Daddy and Finn picked them up from the Austin, TX airport and took them to the extraordinary State Capital Building.  After touring the Capital, they stopped at the beloved Buc-ee's for some jerky, fudge and a super clean toilet.

While in San Antonio they enjoyed SOME sunny weather... until a cold front came in and nearly scared them away! We couldn't believe how windy and cold it became--making our first trip to the Riverwalk a milisecond long.  Thankfully the weather eventually warmed back up and we gave the Riverwalk a second chance...

We took the tour boat ride along the Riverwalk.

The Alamo!

We took a trip to the San Antonio zoo!

Grampa and Gramma surprised Finn with a walker. He pushes it along like a pro!

Thank Heaven for little boys

AND GRANDPARENTS!

We sure love 'em!