"It's nice to share"

Sharing can be kind of hard for Fin sometimes, but he's starting to learn that, "its nice to share."
Fin loves his little sister and here is the proof:

Happy Halloween!!!

When I was a kid halloween was my favorite holiday. For months I would plan my costume and dream about filling my pillow case with candy. I still love halloween even though my costume is usually thrown together from stuff in my closet and I can (and do) buy my own candy whenever I feel like it. I love seeing my kids dressed up and teaching them about the importance of free candy. The day before halloween Fin and I practiced trick or treating at home. I opened a pack of smarties and whenever he said trick or treat I'd give him one. When the time came for trick or treating Fin was prepared. Our little crocodile made us proud and brought home a bag full of candy. Our little pumpkin just slept most the night, I guess we'll have to wait till next year for her to contribute to our candy stash. Happy Halloween!!!

pumpkin farm

Last week for Family Home Evening we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends. The farm had some great activities like a petting zoo, dried corn pit, and a tractor ride. Fin had such a great time his favorite things were the mommy pig and the red car toy. This was a great fall activity.

first football game

this was a first for Reed Ava and Myself! We went to see the Seattle seahawks and as you can see we are in the nose bleeds. Ava was not impressed and cried the whole time. I think we'll be ok seeing an average of 1 football game every 30 years.

Ava'sfirst yankee game

The Yankees played in Seattle when Ava was just a few weeks old. It was a lot of fun to dress the kids up and take them to the game. Both kids had a great time!

Welcome Ava!

I know this is a little late, but here is the long awaited blog introducing the newest member of our family, Ava Michelle Reed, to the rest of the world! If I was a good dad this would have been written and published about a week ago and if I was an even better dad it would have been written even a few days before that! I guess my only excuse is related to the fact that we are still at the very bottom of the "parents of more than one child" curve - moving up at record breaking slow speeds. (One more reason to constantly admire John, father of SIX and diligent publisher of multiple daily blogs.)

Ava Michelle, better known in our house by those who stand taller than 3 feet high as simply "Ava" (and known by all others as EeeeAhhh), was born a few hours after her brother finished celebrating his birthday, in the wee hours of the morning on July 7th 2009. While missing a destination birth date prestigious enough to make Amber covet by only 20 hours (07/08/09), she obviously got her tips on how to make an early entrance from her brother who showed up roughly the same amount of time ahead of another date to make Amber swoon, 07/07/07. Alas, we were so proud of both Michelle and Ava for managing to delay the heavenly child-sending powers that be long enough to give our kids their own individual birthdays. It should also be pointed out that long before Ava tried to stake the 7th as her day, this day was previously claimed by our beloved Jonathan James Andersen Jr. about 9 years prior - so Happy Birthday Johnny - looks like you got yourself a little birthday buddy! At any rate, this is pretty good grouping on the Michelle and Reed side of things. Looks like all my dart playing on the ship must have paid off afterall. I guess you could say July is a good month for us - or perhaps it might be better said that October is a good month for us! :)

After a long day of partying hard with Fin and family, we crawled into bed sometime around 10:30. Michelle had been feeling contractions most of the day but was too busy focusing on Fin to realize that she was progressing in her labor. We decided sometime around 2:30 that it was time to start heading to the hospital. The late night/early morning drive to the hospital had an all-to-familiar feel to it from when Fin was born. When we were loading up the car I tried calling Mom to give her the heads up that she should start heading to the hospital. Five phone calls was not enough to wake our legendary (light)Sleeping Beauty Mother. (If I would have known Mom was that hard to wake up I would have tried to sneak out more as a kid!) Thank goodness Brett and Ashlee were staying the night at the house because it was Brettly who ended up waking up to receive my phone call.

Once again, one of my chief duties in the child-birth event is to play the dual role of race-car driver and crew chief, and at the same time pretending like I am the car in the old Buick commercial driving a speed course with a glass of champaign balanced on the seat of the car without spilling a drop. The likeness to the old Buick commercial was ironically closer than you think with the glass of champaign being represented half way into the trip by a sloshy orange puke bowl. Thanks to Fin for making us watch the movie Cars 2-3 times a day, I think I excelled in my duties.

We checked in to the Deaconess Hospital just before 4:00 and about 50 minutes later, at 4:41 AM, Ava was born making the official record weighing in at 8 lbs. 0 oz. sopping wet and measuring 19 1/2 inches. (I actually read the tape at 19 inches even, but convinced the nurses to list her as 19 1/2 in the program just to intimidate the other babies in the nursery.) Ava was greeted in the delivery room by both of her sweet Grandmothers, a very competent and professional midwife, a very proud father, and a beautiful and tired mother - all relieved and happy she made it safe and sound. Michelle was absolutely awesome! She just makes it look so easy, even though we know how difficult of a task it is to accomplish. She is truly amazing. Once again, it was a textbook delivery that will leave the hospital staff talking for days!

Ava is a beautiful and sweet little girl with such a cute personality. She seems to be more Johnson than Reed so far, but maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. I think every Dad hopes his little girls look just like their Mother. She has delicate facial feature with hints of dimples, light hair, clear eyes, and a beautiful red "V" stamped just where it should be - right in the middle of her forehead! (The "V" was actually the deciding factor in naming her aVa. We kept considering other names, but every time we looked at her we just kept coming back to aVa! It was so organic!)

So far Ava has been such a joy for all members of our family. Fin instantly loved her, showering her with kisses and offering her a steady supply of trucks and cars. He enjoys holding her and sharing his things with her. She is turning into a great little eater and a slightly better than average sleeper. It is often fun to hold her and watch the cute little expressions she spontaneously makes accompanied by cute little noises. So far she is all girl, something you all know our house could use a little more of!

Welcome Ava! We're excited to have you in our family!

catching up -- Fin turns one

It's hard to believe that my little Fin is one year old already! (even though it happened last summer) The past year has been fun for me, I have seen Fin grow and change daily. I'm amazed how much he has learned in his short time on Earth!
Fin is very smart and aware. He is a fast learner and has a memory, for example, when I taught him how to climb down the stairs backwards he immediately generalized that skill and applied it to climbing off the couch and bed. He still doesn't say to much, but he seems to understand a lot. Fin impresses everyone with his problem solving, when he sees something that he'd like, you can see that he's coming up with an idea of how to get it. He moves chairs, climbs things etc. He also remembers where things are and how to get to them later.
The most important thing in my life is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, therefore I feel that the most important thing I can pass on to my children is a knowledge of the gospel. Reed and I are trying to be good examples for Fin. We go to church each week. we say prayers as a family each day and sing primary songs and hymns every night. Fin loves music and loves to sing too. (Fin's singing is just a bunch of notes strung together randomly)
Fin is a very social little boy. He loves people and attention! He loves to have a lot of people to play with. Generally Fin is not afraid of strangers. he's not shy at all. Fin has a good memory for people, he recognizes people from church and neighbors. Most importantly, he remembered his Dad after being separated for 7 months.
Fin is big. People usually think that he's older than he is. Fin has been in the 95% for his height ever since he was a month old. Fin is also amazingly strong for his age. He some how manages to more what ever is in his path, even furniture. Fin seems to be very aware of his body, he does pull some crazy little stunts - but he always seems to think through his actions before hand.
Fin looks just like his Dad. No one has ever told me that Fin looks like me, but Reed gets it all the time.
Fin loves to play. Almost everything turns into a game for Fin. This isn't good when the game is "don't touch that!" or "Get back here!". Fin loves to wrestle and get tickled. He loves to hide himself under a blanket and wait until you find him. Well, he hides his head and his legs are usually out and kicking with excitement. Fin likes to throw things and play catch. He has a little baseball and he is getting really good at catching and throwing. Fin really loves to play outside. He also loves to go for rides on the Ranger.
Fin is a wonderful little boy. We love him very much. Our lives are happier because he is here. I'm grateful for my sweet little boy. The past year has been fun and I am looking forward to many more years to come. FIn will be a part of our family forever and I'm excited to watch him continue to grow and learn.