A few things I have to remember...

• Last night after Finnean's first Christmas concert (more on that cuteness later!), Michael asked him what his favorite part was about the night.  Finnean responded "Having you there was my favorite part." ughhhh, talk about heart melted.  I don't think he was even talking about me but my goodness...that boy gets me.
• Yesterday we were out shopping and Finnean said that he wanted to get himself some Cars slippers.  I told him that he told Santa that, so we just need to wait and see.  THEN he pointed out that he hasn't seen Santa this year and still hasn't told him...so looks like we are going to see Santa this weekend.   I have a suspicion that Santa is bringing Cars Slippers :)
• I was telling Michael that we needed to go see Santa and Finnean asked Michael what he wanted from Santa.  Michael responded...hmmm, I don't know some socks.  Finnean shouts from the backseat...WE ALREADY GOT YOU SOCKS!!!! Silly boy. 
• Hutchinson started saying Uh-oh!!!  SOOO cute!! But not really that cute when he is throwing random stuff in the trash.  His new favorite thing to do.
• He can pump his fist when you say GOOOO CYCLONES!  He also can identify anything ISU.  He sees it and smiles and shouts.  Did I mention that he is loud? 

I know there are more things to write but I have a little button pusher trying to help me post this!! :)

WHOA!!! Birthday Extravaganza!!

So...Finnean turned four!!  What! How can that be, you might ask.  It is true.  He is super old.  Super smart and super funny.  This is all my unbiased oppinoin, of course.  First, we will start with an update on what Finnean has been up too and then we will get to details of all that celebrating! 

 

Being four means...

-loving preschool and and loving your teacher, Ms. Stephanie.

-loving any thing that has wheels.  (You can usually find him with at least two cars in his hands.)

-being a rather picky eater.

-knowing all of your letters, writing them and knowing most of the sounds they make.

-loving baking or cooking, especially with Mom.

-playing with friends, even though it is hard sometimes.

-learning about all kinds of things.

-struggling to eat anything but breakfast.  (this trait might be the end of me!)

-bring curious.

-loving sports.  Football is a favorite.

-being obsessed with music.  Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson and "kids" music are on the top of the list.

-teaching your little brother how to be a big kid and giving him lots of love.

-enjoying I Spy books.

-loving hanging with Dad and going on adventures.

-loving "fixing" things.

-enjoying talking. A lot.

...well I guess not all four year olds love these things, but Finnean sure does!

 

 

 

FIRE STATION BIRTHDAY!!
Finnean kept saying that he wanted a fire truck birthday.  I kept wondering how I was goign to make a fire truck cake.  Then Kelcee mentioned that her neice had a birthday AT the fire station.  Perfect.  So we got it arranged...it was FREE and the kids had a blast.  Finnean invited his little preschool friends and some of his old friends.  They had a blast exploring the fire trucks and going down the kid-sized fire pole.  It was a bit scary seeing the fire fighter in all his gear but we managed.  The fire men even got a call while we were there!!  It was pretty exciting to see them put on their gear and get in the truck!  They turned on the lights and sirens as they pulled away.  They were just gone for a bit and came back to finish the tour.  We also saw where they cook and work out.  The kids did great!  It was so fun and Finnean really had a great time!  So thankful that Grandma Lisa watched Hutchinson and one of Finnean's preschool friend's Mom stayed to have an extra set of hands. 

BLOOMFIELD BIRTHDAY!
We celebrated over Thanksgiving with our families.  It was great to have everyone together.  Adam and Maddy were back from Lincoln and Ellie and Carter up from Columbia...so we had some birthday treats and called it a party!  Finnean got to help play dominoes and play with his new Symphony in B toy.  Quite possibly the coolest toy ever.  If you have a music lover, you need to check it out. 

Then we headed over to Grandpa Stevie's.  They made Finnean a really cool dump truck cake and sent him home with a super cool bull dozer.  We played, chatted and celebrated a late Thanksgiving with a spagetti dinner. 

BIRTHDAY PLAY!!
So, Finnean is a pretty special little boy.  Kelcee's brother Matthew is a professer at Iowa State in the theathe department.  He made a kid friendly play that opened the weekend of Finnean's birthday.  Matthew took Finnean backstage, showed him where we would be sitting, took him to meet the actor/actresses (one of them even colored Finnean a picture) and gave him a special cape and eye mask.  Finnean got a little nervous when then lights went down to start the play, so him and Michael stepped out for a bit.  Michael said it was a rough five minutes and thought they were going to have to go get ice cream or something BUT they came back in and we all sat together in the back row.  Finnean, of course, wore his headphones but seemed to really enjoy, Alice in Wonderland.  His favorite character was The White Knight.  It was such a fun experience.  We were thankful that Kelcee and Matt could go to dinner with us.  It was a fun date for Finnean AND he got another super cool present.   The Murphy's got him a Budda Board, a super cool "painting" toy that only uses water and it kind of hard to explain but it is sooooo neat. 

Happy Halloween!!

Spiderman and Anikin getting some loot.

Enjoying a treat!

 

On Sunday night we had a great time painting pumkins while Michael carved one for our front porch.  Hutchinson hasn't been around paint very much, so I told Michael we really need to watch him, so he doesn't eat it.  I put a huge squirt of paint down, Hutchinson sticks his brush in it and RIGHT in his mouth it went.  Whooops.  Thankfully he didn't do it again.  Finnean took his painting very seriously and turned his pumpkin green.  Hutchinson went for a little more color but they both had a lot of fun! 

This is Michael's handy-work.  Finnean wanted our Jack-O-Lantern to just like the card that Grandma Lisa sent...I would say that Michael rocked it!  Way to go! 

Happy Halloween from the Waglers!

 

As you can see...Hutchinson was the sweet little lion around and Finnean was Spiderman!  He LOVED being Spidey and took it very seriously.  That kid cracks me up.

 

Finnean had his first door to door trick or treat experience last night. In Des Moines and the surrounding areas they call it Beggar's Night and everyone goes out on the 30th...I don't think this is normal but what can you do! Spiderman and the neighbor boy ran ahead of us and went up to doors, ringing bells and yelling Trick or Treat! After Spiderman would pick his candy he would yell back to me "MOM!!! A TWIZZLER!!!" M and M's were other favorite. He was pretty cute and most of the time remembered to say thank you.  The lion was just along for the ride in the stroller and he didn't seem to mind at all.

We were all having a lot of fun until Spiderman was running and didn't see a step down and ran right of the sidewalk. His little friend said kindly, "It's okay, you are Spiderman and you are strong!!" Finnean responded....still crying that he "just wanted more candy!" So off they went to get a few more pieces.

After the fall, Spiderman was done and Finnean was back. He really wanted to hand out some candy, so we sat outside and enjoyed one treat and handed out candy to some trick or treaters that stopped by. Finnean thought it was pretty cool and made sure to tell them "Just take one"---he must have heard that on his travels of the night.  It was a pretty fun adventure.

 

The boys dressed up a lot this year.  We went to our library's Trick or Read, hit up a Trunk or Treat on Saturday night and then Finnean got to wear his costume to school.  Not a lot is cuter than a bunch of 3-4 year old dressed up in costumes.  He thought it was pretty awesome to be Spidey at school!  Hopefully some of those pictures will make it to the blog soon...

Life is busy.

O how he loves to explore.  He is EVERYWHERE!  He is busy, which keeps me busy and he loves to check out whatever catches his big brown eyes.  He seems drawn to trees.  Always pulling up on them, feeling them, hugging them.  Maybe he will be an environmentalist.  :)

These eyelashes. o. my. goodness.  i can't get over how cute he is.  I know he just looks like a baby to everyone else but I am just smitten.  the cheeks.  the messy, soft hair.  he has me wrapped and is quite the momma's boy.

Now this guy...when did he turn 15!?!  He seems SO OLD!!!  He has this personality that just light up our house.  He is funny and he likes to be funny (which is not always funny)! He is sassy, smart, fast, full of life and energy, loves making new friends, not as timid as he used to be and looks just like Michael.  It has been so fun watching him grow into a little boy and he is just as wrapped around my finger as his little bro.  He LOVES Hutchinson so much, it is just awesome to see them interact.  I just didn't know that my heart had that much love to give, but with three boys like I have (michael too!), it does.   

Finnean got to go to the football game last month and GO ON THE FIELD!!!!  Michael will be doing a post on that experience soon.  Mind. Blown.  So fun:)

Okay.  So the blog may never get a picture on it again.  {Okay, I lied and had to put a few on this post after I typed it AND they actually uploaded.  Too bad I am super tired and can't do anymore! Anyhoo...on to what we are up too...}  Life seems busy right now and there isn't much time for waiting on my super slow computer to upload the pictures.  With that said, what have we been up to?!  What keeps us so busy??  Preschool is our biggest commitment of the week.  Finnean is LOVING it and it keeps me from scheduling too many things for our week.  It also keeps from scheduling too many things in the evenings, making us have an earlier bedtime...which is a good thing!  I will do a post just on preschool this week.  O man, he loves it!  We have been watching our little walker, Hutchinson, turn pro.  He walks all the time now and is just blowing us away with how old he seems!  He is starting to say Momma more and LOVES to say Dad, Hi Dad, Hiiiiii Dad etc.  He loves his Daddy.  Just his past week he started saying "nigh-nigh." O man-so cute.  The boys keep busy with going for walks (bike rides for Finnean), playing with friends, library time,  reading, playing, building, hitting the pumpkin patch, etc. etc. etc.  We try to keep the house clean with all that playing that we do.  I stay busy with Bare Root, Michael works late at least one night a week, we attempt to make it to church on Sundays and attend our bible study a couple Sundays a month-so our little calendar is full.  I am not complaining.  Life is good.  We get to spend time together as a family.  We are healthy and we have a house to keep us warm.  Life is good.  Just busy.

Wisconsin!!!

We left for our Wisconsin trip on Wednesday night.  We hoped that the boys would fall asleep in the car and sleep the whole way there.  Well, it didn't work out quite that easy BUT they still did great.  Hutchinson stayed up way longer than we thought he would and Finnean was so excited about going to Wisconsin that he couldn't fall asleep.  He wanted to see all the lights :)  Sweet boy finally fell asleep outside of Dubuque.  We got to Ashlyn and Adam's a bit before midnight and got settled in.  They made us feel right at home and they have a perfect little guest space!  On Thursday, we started our adventure...

Adam suggested Marigold for breakfast!  It was right downtown Madison and perfect for breakfast.  It was so nice because we got to take our time getting around and finally got to breakfast around 10.  Finnean LOVED that you could watch them cook our breakfast.  Food was amazing and the place was super hip.

Good thing we had such a good breakfast because we set out for the Madison Children's Museum!! WOW!  It was awesome.  If we lived there, we would totally have a membership.  This is the view from Capitol.  Madison is so neat because the Capitol Building is right there, you can get so close. 

The museum had all kinds of activities to do.  The boys enjoyed playing with babies, instruments and {pretend} fire in the mud hut.  They also planted veggies and picked them. 

Our little drummer.

Hutchinson loved doing a little canoeing.  He was just starting to take a few steps here-so it was fun to watch him explore!!

 

They had a water room that the boys LOVED!!!  It reminded me of landscape fountains but to play in!!  I love little Hutchinson's bare feet!

Then we went upstairs and they had a big window that overlooked the street that you could paint on.  Finnean loved that he could paint on the window and then wipe it off and start over.  I think he would have stayed there for hours if we let him.

Love his little hands.

Keeping clean.

They had these giant spoons...Hutchinson thought they were funny :)

We rode the biggest elevator we have ever been in (it took 16 Finnean hops to make it across) up to the green rooftop of the building.  It was a rainy dreary day but still very beautiful to see everything.

This is the spot we took a picture of from the street level.  You can see the Capitol in the back.  We headed back to Ashlyn and Adam's for lunch and a nap.  They so graciously took Thursday afternoon off to hang out with us.  It was so nice to visit and catch up with both of them.  Then they took us to...

...the tallest building on UW's campus.  Adam just happens to work in that building so we got to go all the way to the top.  The view was amazing!!! AND we got ride in a tiny elevator...just a few Finnean hops across.  You can see the Capitol just where the sky meets the earth.  Madison is on two lakes---so it was a BEAUTIFUL view!

Looking so old!!

The Waglers!

After our sky views we headed back downtown and did a little running on the lawn.  Finnean LOVED being chased and chasing Adam :)  They played a few rounds of hide and seek as well.  It was great because I got to chat more with Ashlyn.  They are expecting a baby in January-so it was fun to connect with her. 

Finnean checking out the AMAZING dome!

Silly boy!

We ended our night with dinner with Joe and Susan.  We were in Madison three years ago to celebrate them getting married.  You can see those posts here and compare how much Finnean has grown!!  We love getting to see Joe and Susan, seriously some of the nicest people we know.  We ate at the Great Dane Brewing Company and sat in their garden patio.  It was like a little sanctuary but right on the Capitol square.  Awesome way to end our first full day on vacation.
 

Sweet memories...

Hutchinson started walking this weekend!! He just took off!!  He has been taking one-two steps for a while but this weekend he would go from couch to chair or just walk to something he wanted.  It is so cute how he toddles around and you can just see how much concentration it takes.  I LOVE this stage.  I LOVE how sweet he looks and how proud he is when he is walking.  He knows that we are watching and it is pretty sweet when Finnean yells, "LOOK!! He is walking!!"  Then he will say "Good job walking, Hutchy!"  Ohhh, I love when he calls him Hutchy. 

Today, Finnean went to preschool like a pro.  Like it was old news.  He is doing great and really enjoying it!!  He doesn't know any of his "friends" names yet but he does seem like he is playing with them!  On Friday he walked into his room and the teacher moved his little name tag.  As you could imagine that threw our little creature of habit off a bit.  He even told his teacher that he didn't want to move seats anymore!!  Sweet guy.  He was totally fine today when he had to sit in a different seat.  It will be good for him to get used to mixing things up a bit!!  Now for the sweetest.thing.ever.  I told him to have a good day and I loved him when I dropped him off at school.  He waved and said bye...then I heard him run to the door and he poked his head out and said "I love you too, Mommy!!"  Talk about making my day!!  Sweet little guy.  When I picked him up and I asked him how is day was and he told me a few things and then asked me how my run went.  I love that he is curious about me too!  It has been such a joy to watch him turn into a little boy.  We definitely have struggles but mostly good days here at the Wagler house.  Pictures to come soon.  I need to catch you up on our recent vacations but I had to "write down" these sweet memories of our little guys!

Who am I kidding?

Yesterday, Finnean had story time at his preschool.  He was so excited until he got there and then was a bit overwhelmed.  Sounds about like what you are about to read...

I have been asked about 100 times...

Family/Friend/Random person: Is Finnean going to preschool this year?? 
Me: Yes, in September.  He is really excited.
F/F/RP: Ohhh, how are you doing? It will be so hard.
Me: I am doing okay, he is the first one so I think it will be way harder when the baby goes.

Yeah freaking right.  I almost pulled him out of preschool yesterday AND he hasn't even started.  I called the director to make sure that I had him in the right class (3 day vs. 2 days a week).  She was so kind and explained that 3 days seems like the best fit for him and his skills and that 5 day next year would be a great preparation for kindergarten.  WHAT!? 5 days!!  I ended up crying on the phone TO THE DIRECTOR and said, I think I am just struggling a bit more than I thought I was going to.  She gently laughed and told me it was normal and I am definitely not the first mom to get cold feet about sending their child to preschool.  We hung up and then she probably told his teacher that I am crazy. 

Awesome.  So he hasn't even BEEN to preschool yet and I am crying. 

His first day is September 5th.  I think he is going thrive at preschool and could use the group interaction.  It is for 6 hours and 45 minutes a WEEK.  He is not going to college.  I will be fine. He will be fine.  AND please, please I plead with anyone that sees me, do NOT say: he will be going to college before you know it.  You might get an overflow of tears that you might not be able to handle!  Good grief, wish me luck. :)

Love!

We took a bus ride around downtown and had to make a stop at the Capitol...isn't it pretty and boy are they cute!?

Doing a little work for Daddy at his office.

Love these big cheeks checking out the city.

We went to the zoo the other day and Finnean got scared, so I got to feed the giraffe!

A little after nap drumming!

Cool cat waiting for the bus!

Love this picture.
It is just sooooo Finnean. 

Sweet boy and his first masterpiece.

Big bro showing him how it is done.

A snuggly night when Dad was working.

Finnean said "hey mom! I wrote Hutchinson's name!"
Sure enough-he did.  Way to go, Finnean!

Love him.

and him.

Date night with the boys while Michael worked (he has had a lot of travel this month!)

Just reading.

LOVE his shadow!

Cool cat.
His eyebrows crack me up.

Hutchinson's first carousal ride...he LOVED it!

Checking out his zebra.

Still waking up.

I told Finnean that we had a treat for dessert and he asked me if it was "tasty goodness?"
Where does he come up with this stuff and yes, it was tasty goodness!!

Baking. 
We don't get to bake as much with our little helper, Hutchinson getting into everything but soon enough we will ALL get to bake together :)

o my. sweet little thing.

Splash park snack time!

Love how the green balloon showed up in the shadow.

A storm moving in...thankfully we have had some rain!!!

Homemade blueberry muffins complete with fresh blueberry compote and Finnean sprinkled stresal.

YUM!

"What!? You want a bite of my corn dog. You are crazy"
My favorite Finnean picture yet!
He was so pumped for his corn dog!!

Fair Squares!!

He looks sooo old!!! 
Check out the fly that I caught buzzing by...just to the left of the light pole...it looks HUGE!

Doing a little grilling:)

Splash park mohawk!!

Love this little man.  We had a great date!

Happy boy.

Loving their cheese while shopping! 
Lisa had a perfect caption...
"Looks like they were caught with their hands in the cookie/cheese jar!"