Finnean is FIVE!

Being a mom is so weird.  You are never prepared for the emotions that come along with it.  I am happy and so thankful for our sweet Finnean, so thankful for all he brings to our house.  On the other hand, my heart is sad, I don't want him to be so old.  His hands seems bigger, the way he says things is older, he face, look at it...he looks older.  Sweet boy.  He is just an amazing kid.  Obviously, I am a bit biased but I can't get enough of his fun, loving, kind heart.  He tells jokes (that don't really make sense), he laughs from the tips of his toes, his eyes twinkle.  I swear they do!  They are still an indescribable color.  His hair is usually messy.  He hates washing his hands.  He is smart as a whip.  He loves school and church school.  His little brother thinks he is the coolest thing, ever.  He is the pickiest eater ever but still loves PB and Js.  He is quick to make a friend and from what he teacher says, is a super sweet friend.  He loves to draw and write, make maps and put on puppet shows.  His imagination is over the top.  He loves his brother but sometimes it is hard having a brother :) He told me he wants one more baby (not happening, buddy!).  He gets excited when his family is coming to see him.  He loves old buildings, just like his Dad.  Speaking of his Dad, he is head over heels for Michael.  I love watching them interact.  They love building Legos, watching This Old House or doing "work" together.  The cutest is when they fall asleep on the couch together during "rest" time.  He is challenging to me.  He makes me a better person, he makes me work hard to be patient but for the most part we see eye to eye.  We are a lot a like, which can make it interesting, to say the least!  He loves going on adventures but also loves just having a "mom day" at home.  He likes to help around the house and still loves Curious George.  He loves to read and hates going to bed.  He just doesn't want to sleep, he says.  He is fast, the boy can run and his form is killer.  I am hoping that will take him to "Ames" someday-that is where he wants to go to college BUT he says he is going to play football there :/ He loves the Cyclones and the Packers (most days-sometimes he tries to razz me and says he likes the Vikings, no way, Aunt Vicki, it isn't happening).  Did I mention he loves to read and look at magazines, he just examines things.  His attention to detail is over the top.  Except with his clothes, he often has to be reminded to put his shirt on the right way, it is always on backwards in the morning.  He is excited to be five.  He is excited for Kindergarten.  He is just a happy little boy.  I love that I get to do life with him everyday.  So thankful for the day we had together, the weekend really.  I will post more on that soon (HOPEFULLY!).  For now, enjoy the pictures from Finnean's actual birthday day, it was a great one!

This is Finnean's last picture as four year old!!!

We put balloons with messages and pictures outside Finnean's door in the middle of the night, so he could have a surprise when he woke up.  When he came upstairs this morning he said something along the lines of...Did you know there are balloons outside my door? I got up in the middle of the night and they kinda scared me, so I went back to bed, thought they were balloons and then got up again.  They weren't scary, I just didn't know what they were!  HE CRACKS ME UP.  So rational (sometimes)! He brought all 15 upstairs and read them all.  The boys had a blast kicking them around this morning before school. 

We batted around tons of ideas for a party for Finnean's birthday but couldn't come up with a good plan.  He wanted to have about 15 kids to OUR HOUSE-no way that was happening.  So we decided on lunch with a friend.  He picked Camden.  A little gal in his class that he has been friends with since last year.  They have the sweetest little friendship and they were SO CUTE!  They just giggled and giggled most of the time we were at lunch.  He picked Buffalo Wild Wings and we had a great lunch!  Can I just say again how stinking cute these two are!?

Camden brought Finnean a little gift.  He thought that was pretty neat.  It was this remote control monster truck that he declared was THE BEST TOY EVER!  I think he would still be playing with it if he wasn't sleeping!  

I asked Finnean what he wanted for Birthday Dinner and he said pancakes and eggs and bacon.  That is easy enough, so that's what we had.  He requested peanut butter and syrup on the cakes and I added the chocolate chip 5, he thought they were pretty darn good!  My friend Shelby captioned this picture perfectly, "he looks so happy, like he just had the best day!"  He really did.  It was such a fun day.  I can't get enough of that smile and today it was on his face all day! 

He worked on his thank you notes today too.  Oh my, he just blows me away.  I wrote out THANK YOU on a separate sheet of paper, so he knew how to spell it but he did the rest.  I just said, write Grandma and Poppa a thank you and he did this.  He got "Dusty" from Planes.  Love his art work :)

Finnean's teacher just sent me these from today.  She said that he had a lot of fun.  He looks kind of terrified here!  He requested chocolate chip cookies, so that is what I made.  I thought for sure he would want chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting but that was not the case!

He is just something else! 


I always love to look back on pictures on their birthdays.  Here is the post from Finnean's first few days in this beautiful world.  Oh my.  He was so tiny.  It seems so blurry but so real and clear-like it was yesterday.  Again, motherhood has the craziest emotions!