Oh the adventures you will go on...

It has been a crazy few days here in the life of the Waglers...I will fill you in! 

Wednesday morning Finnean and I noticed some water on the kitchen floor.  I went over to check where it was coming from (as it is not unlikely that something spilled!) and couldn't find a source.  Then I stepped closer to our washer (which is on our main living floor) and my foot squished into a whole lot more water.  I start to panic and open the laundry room doors, water everywhere.  Go into the bathroom, water everywhere.  I call Michael freaking out about there being water EVERYWHERE!  He didn't believe me as he has just talked to me about 15 minutes before and there was no mention of water being EVERYWHERE!!!  I went into our bedroom, more water.  It sounded like it was gushing through our return air intake.  Went downstairs, light fixture filling up with water and dripping on the carpet.  Boys bathroom, water.  Boys door jam, dripping water.  It was everywhere.  I could tell that the washer was full of water but could it really make EVERYTHING wet??

Yes, we found out indeed a washer can ruin a great deal of stuff in your house.  We first thought, we will just borrow a wet vac and get some fans, it will be fine.  Nope.  That is not the case.  Michael called ServPro (they have been amazing!) and they came out to check it out for us.  The last thing we need is to have mold in our house if we tried to just do it ourselves.  So Brian took out his little Ghostbusters looking meter and showed us that there is water everywhere.  The flooring, the ceilings of the lower level, the garage, the boys' room.  Sub-floor, kitchen cabinets, carpets, linoleum....all possibly will have to be replaced.  Okay-great.  So our house is going to be under construction.  Nope.  He tells me we will have to move out for 3-5 weeks to dry it out, demo it and then rebuild what needs to be.  WHAT!?!  So we spent the next 6 hours packing everything we thought we might need for two little boys and ourselves for our extended...vacation!!! 

Thankfully we have amazing friends and family.  Stephanie brought us supper, Keith and Jessica (Miss Kendall's mom and dad)  took the boys and Kelcee came to help pack.  The Matt and Kelcee put us up for the night (and cooked us an AMAZING breakfast the next morning) and then we headed to Bloomfield on Thursday.   Grandma and Poppa so graciously opened up their house to our craziness.  Michael has spent much of the last few days on the phone with the insurance people, the contractor, housing people, ServPro.  He has been amazing at coordinating everything not to mention all the times he has moved our stuff around. 

The good news is that we are officially in our "new home."  The housing people found us a long-stay suite at a hotel.  It has two bedrooms.  Finnean got to pick out his room last night and put all of his toys in here.  He thought that was pretty cool.  He finally went to sleep last night about 1015 after he continuously said, "I am not going to sleep!"  We have a little living area with a kitchen table and a little kitchen.  It has miniature appliances, they are kind of cute!  Thankfully the kitchen has some basic dishes.  There is also a bathroom.  One of the perks...complimentary breakfast!  We are also on the first floor, close to an exit for the little Jerry dog.  If anyone wants a mini-schnauzer for the next 3-5 weeks...call me!  I will get some pictures posted soon of our "new house."  We are trying to get Finnean to name it so he knows that it is not our real house but a safe place that we will be staying at for the next few weeks.  He keeps saying..."this is our new house??"  He is quite confused but also has been saying that he "doesn't want to go back to Ankeny."  He definitely knows there was water in our house and when he left it was in quite disarray.  I just want it to be put back together before he goes back there.  Hopefully...soon!

Michael meets with the contractor tomorrow to find out what they will be doing and how long it will really take.  We are hopeful but trying not to get our hopes up by any means.  We will keep you posted of our adventures. 

Keys to Sleep!

I am sure that I have mentioned that Finnean can be quite particular.  I thought I would share how that plays into nap and bedtime routine.  The following items are needed for good sleep at our house or any where for that matter! Also, for some reason Finnean has always been requesting a drink of water and a kleenex that he pretends to blow his nose in before nap/bed! 

1. Sleepy socks.
You must have "sleepy socks."  The crazier the better.  These are a recent purchase and Finnean loves them.  He is rocking the pink and the purple pairs as well (they may or may not be little girls socks...BUT they are FUNKY!)

2. Stripe Blanket
You must have stripe blanket to snuggle with.  He got this comfy blanket when he was born!

3. Sleepy music
AKA Jack Johnson.  Finnean has listened to him since he was about 3 days old and now Hutchinson is on the sleepy music wagon.  Oddly enough, we recently hooked up sleepy music by Hutch and the last two nights he has slept form 10p-6am!!  Maybe it really is sleepy music! 

We love Ames!

My pictures got a little out of order on this one...blogger (that being me) error!!

Pondering the moment?

Iowa State has these great solar powered trash compactors and Cy says to "Live Green" on them...Finnean thought that was awesome...because Cy was everywhere!!

We found out the hard way that pine cones are super sticky!!  YUCK!

"Dad!  Wait up!!"

We finished the night up by heading to Hickory Park for some yummy food and excellent ice cream (you have to get ice cream when you go!) with Uncle Trav.  Finnean loves hanging out with him and we had a great dinner! 

On Friday we headed up to Ames to check out the campus (best time of the year to go) and take Finnean on CyRide.  To say the least, he was excited!!!!  He loved riding and kept saying "I like riding the bus with you!"

Going on a walk...

These boys just melt my heart.  Look at them!

This is why it is the best time of the year to go.  The colors are amazing, trees everywhere, crunching leaves beneath your feet, it even smells like Fall!  Can you tell I love Fall?

LEAVES!!!

This is just a really awesome tree that we found:)

Michael and I spent a lot of time enjoying the campus grounds when we were in college.  Always finding a place to meet up for lunch between classes.  We remember taking Jerry to Central Campus to run around and noticed a young couple with their dog there on this day.  They ooo'd and ahhhh'd over how cute Finnean was and we think just like us, probably talked about how they want babies someday, just like we did.  It was a fun little flashback to our younger years.

Finnean Michael Wagler

WOW!  That is a BIG Lego building!  Of course he had some help from Michael but it turned out pretty awesome.  I think consisted of every Lego we have.  It is so fun to watch the two of them work on "buildings" together!  I think they are both so excited for Little Hutchinson to play with them as well.  Finnean is always saying, "when he gets bigger he can play too!"

Playing puzzles.  He LOVES puzzles and amazes us (of course we think he is a genius:) on how he can put them together on his own.  It is so fun to watch him work on the puzzle and to see how excited he is when he gets it put together!

Mini photo shoot for the little one...

Hutchinson looking sharp in his little jeans!
{2 months, 1 week, 2 days old}

O no a thumb sucker?!
Little Hutch is trying so hard to be a thumb sucker.  We hear him in the middle of the night sucking away, when he gets bored his little hand seems to find it's way to his mouth.  I am not overly concerned about him sucking his thumb in general, just the germs freak me out AND we won't be able to take it away!!

O my.  See why I keep saying he is so cute.
 I love this picture, it captures his expressive little face so well.

Sweet boy!

Picnic at the State Capitol

Big brother doing a little exploring after we ate lunch.
(By the way-the Capitol Plaza is a perfect place for a picnic, the views are amazing!)

Little brother relaxing and chatting after lunch!

Our beautiful little skyline.

Love this big boy smile.  Kelcee has been saying something changed about his smile, it seems bigger and more genuine.

Mom and the boys.

Doesn't he look so old!?!?!

Finnean loves to dome and loves the little domes on the Capitol just as much!

Warm, Fall Day!

Hutchinson getting a little exercise before we went on a walk to get some exercise!

O how I love you Finnean...and I love you too, Fall.

Are you ready for some football!?

Sticks, Drumsticks that is.

Peek!!

Love that smile!

 

Hmmm....I wanna play to!

Crazy boy!!!

Dinner date...

Last week we had Matt and Kelcee over for dinner and Finnean and I made brownies from scratch...YUM!!!!  Finnean would have licked the bowl if I would have let him!!

If you notice the feet sticking out from each side of the ottoman...that would be Matt and Finnean in their fort.  Matt is such a good sport, Finnean loves to play with him when he is here.

We made our dessert creation, Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Smores (thank you Paula Deen), and it required some very serious engineering of sweets.  Way to go, Matt and Michael.  You can find the recipe here... http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/peanut-butter-cup-brownie-smores-recipe/index.html
On a side note, Finnean loves Paula Deen.  We watch her most afternoons on Paula's Best Dishes.  She often has her sons on her show to cook with her, just like Finnean and me :)

Hutchinson getting some love from Miss Kelcee.

Finnean's dessert all wrapped up and ready to go in the oven!

This picture is deceiving...he actually didn't eat much of it.  It was "too tasty!"

Bloomfield adventures...again!

Out to lunch with Grandma Lisa!

Snuggling up the little one.

Finnean got a special treat from the business owner...a mini root beer float!  He has never had pop before so he took a big drink and made the worst face!  So Michael took one for the team and drank the pop off of it so Finnean could enjoy the ice cream!

He liked it!!

Thumbs up...for sure!

Every last drop.

Oh the concentration.

Carter and Finnean getting along...one of the only times of the weekend!! 
This was one of the roughest times they have had together.  The quote of the weekend was...
 "We are not bickering, we are arguing!!" ~Carter

CRAZY boys!  I think at this point Michael had taken them outside to run off some energy!

Watch dog, Jerry.

Bubbles!!!!!

Sweet picture by Michael.

Friday morning we headed out to the Amish Produce Auction (a must do if you are in the area).  It was a really neat experience and they also make....

the best donuts EVER!!!

It was so beautiful.  Fall colors everywhere.  Tons of mums, pumpkins, gourds...love it!

Finnean and Mom getting ready to go home!

Finnean and the Warren boys enjoying a picnic before the Homecoming parade. 

The parade route went right by Penny's house, so we had awesome seats...

so Finnean got TONS of candy!!!

Having such good seats has it's drawbacks as well...very close to the loud fire trucks!  Finnean is not a fan of loud noises anyway, so that was his least favorite part.

The beauty of Bloomfield...you get to walk just about wherever you need to go.

Favorite part:  Tootsie Gum AKA Tootsie Rolls

Finnean and Poppa playing Angry Birds on the iPad.  Just want he needs to want :)

We decided to make a "kid's table" and was a pretty good idea except all the bickering that was going on.  SO we are thinking next time we need to put them in another room, then we don't have to listen to it :)

Saturday morning we headed to Carter's soccer game...Finnean looks like he could do some coaching!

Carter!!!

Brrr...it was super chilly!  We weren't quite ready for it (thankfully it has warmed up for now!)

Rancho!!!  A must stop to eat if you are in Bloomfield.  The service is amazing and the food is YUMMY!
Finnean was especially excited about his own bowl of salsa.  He tasted it and said "It's too tasty."  Which means he doesn't like it...we still haven't figured that one out yet.  Too tasty is not good?!?!?

Boo!

Hutchinson getting some snuggle time with Hutchinson!

Hanging with Grandma and Poppa!  Fun times!