And the Adventure Continues!

We are in the midst of so many big changes!

After spending 25 years of life in the Army, Colin is retiring and beginning his second career, which is taking us to New Mexico. So, we are packing up our lives in Maryland and are set to travel on December 22nd with a pit stop for Christmas with Colin's family in Clemson, SC. We will leave the family on Boxing Day and head west to Los Alamos, NM. It will be a 3 day road trip with the babies in my car and the dogs and all our important possessions in Colin's vehicle. Even though it was challenging having Lilly early, we are really lucky that Lilly and I are both ready to travel longer days, which may have been a problem if she was born on her due date. Another potential glitch that we have been lucky to overcome was Colin's knee surgery on November 30th. Fortunately, it went well and he will be able to travel without causing too much pain or difficulty. So, this week we are tying up loose ends so that we can pack up and be ready to go when the movers pull out of our driveway. We have our house up for sale and have had plenty of interest,  but are still no bites. The market is looking better in this part of the country, but I don't imagine many people will be looking to buy a house this close to the holiday season.

Finn and Lilly are doing really well. I am amazed at how well Finn can understand, even though he is only saying a few words. The other night I asked him if he was ready for bed and he got off the couch, blew a few kisses and walked to the gate, waiting for someone to open it. When it was open, he walked to the stairs, climbed them and crawled into his room. He went to bed without another word. Tonight he did the same thing when I suggested he take a bath (but crawled to the bathroom!).  He's becoming a little boy!

Lilly is growing like a weed. She had her two month check on Thursday and weighed 9 pounds 11 ounces, which is over a 4 pound increase from birth! She was skin and bones when she was born and now she has lots of baby fat around her arms and legs, so cute!

Due to all this chaos, we have decided not to mail out holiday wishes this year, but we do want to wish everyone this blog reaches a very Merry Christmas and a most fruitful New Year! We will hopefully be settled in Los Alamos/Santa Fe area by mid-January, so may be out of touch until then.

Peace and Love Always,
Karen, Colin, Finnian and Lillian

Colin and Finn in front of the White House Christmas Tree

Finn and Lilly in the only good picture that we have of them together by themselves.  Finn still cannot be trusted!!

Annie babysitting Lilly. She is so good with the kids!

Just the three of us.

My friend Marybeth made these shirts for Finn and Lilly. I love them! This one says, "Finn loves his little sister Lilly"

This isn't the best picture, but this shirt says, "Lilly loves her big brother Finn"

Colin's retirement luncheon with Kristen and the boys celebrating with us.

Colin receiving his retirement gift, a lithograph of the White House, from the Director of Security.

We did a two month photo shoot of Lilly. Here are some of the keepers:

And an outtake:

Finn test driving a mini cooper...he was a very unhappy boy when we pulled him out of the car. 

An Early Surprise!

Lillian arrived a little bit earlier than we expected.  She was due November 9th and came into this world on October 6th, not by her choice.  On Thursday, October 4th, I wasn't feeling the best. My blood pressure had been high and the doctors were testing me for pre-eclampsia, but so far the tests were negative. I decided to call the hospital and they asked that I come in for a check-up. So, Colin, Finn and I packed up in the car for what we thought would be a routine trip to Bethesda. Instead, I stayed at the hospital and Colin returned home with Finn in hopes to come back to the hospital the next day to bring me home for another two weeks before Lilly would be delivered.

My blood pressure was under control for most of the next day, but in the early evening things began to change again, so they made the decision to induce my labor.  Baby Lillian arrived at 35 weeks 1 day.  Colin had the foresight to bring a playpen for Finn and we all moved into the delivery room to labor through the night together.  Fortunately, we were all able to get some sleep and Finn was completely unaware as to how his life was about to change.

I was hoping to deliver during the early hours of the morning, while Finn was still asleep, but no such luck. Colin decided to call on his friend Spence to come and pick up Finn so that Colin could focus on the delivery.  Spence picked Finn up at noon, and Lilly was born at 13:07.  She came out screaming, a sound that has never been more welcoming.  She scored high on both Apgar tests and was placed into my arms. She was so small, only 5 pounds 7 ounces, like a doll. It wasn't long before the pediatric team took her back to continue their assessment. That is when they decided to move her to the NICU for further evaluation.  It seemed as though she could not regulate her body temeperature well, and her blood-glucose levels were not very good. These things are not uncommon for a baby born prematurely. So, Lilly went to the NICU, Colin went home to Finn and I was stuck in bed with an infusion of magnesium sulfate (yuck). By noon the next day, things were much better for all of us. Lilly was back in my room, I was off the magnesium sulfate, and Colin and Finn were back to visit us both! We were finally released from the hospital on the following Tuesday, and aside from a few doctor's visits we are getting into a routine at home and I am very grateful that Colin has two weeks of paternity leave.

Finn is interested in Lilly and has only been jealous when he sees her getting a bottle. But, as life sometimes happens, he has his first ever cold and cannot get too close to her right now. We'll see how he fairs in the upcoming weeks.

 Lillian Morgan Steed

13:07, October 6, 2012

5 pounds, 7 ounces

18.75 inches long

 Colin, Finn and Lilly watching Mom on drugs

 Look at how tiny she is, compared to Colin's  hands

 Getting ready to go home!

Dressing Lilly for the first time

 Lilly ready for the fall weather

 Our tiny girl in her car seat

 Finn (our new puppy) trying out his new jacket from Auntie Susie

All dressed up and ready to go!

Finnian's First Birthday and other Firsts!

We celebrated Finn's birthday on Sunday, August 19th, so that we could enjoy a family day instead of just a dinner party, which is all that would have happened on his actual birthday, the following Monday.  Colin and I checked out the weather report and chose Sunday as the perfect day to visit the National Zoo. This would be Finn's first trip to a zoo, so we were kind of excited. As you can see by the pictures below, it rained...hard. Finn took it all in stride though, and splashed in the water and perhaps enjoyed the day a little more with the rain. He didn't seem too excited to see the animals. We did see the giant panda exhibit and were sorry to hear that Mei Xiang's baby died last week. It was only one week old, but we did see Mama bear when she was expecting.

The day after Finn's birthday, he had his one year check up. He weighs 21.02 pounds. We were so surprised that he didn't weigh more that the doctor weighed him a second and then a third time. He feels much heavier than he apparently is! He is in the 25th percentile for weight and 30th percentile for height at 29.5 inches long. He had 4 teeth on his birthday, two on the top and two more on the bottom. However, on September 5th, I noticed that he has two more teeth on either side of his top two teeth...so now he has six and is teething further back, perhaps he'll get molars next.  He walks along furniture and will stand for a few seconds by himself, but has no interest in walking just yet. I'm ok with that as I have little interest in chasing him these days!  Along with his usual checks came the vaccinations. I hate seeing him get those darned needles!  Fortunately for me, Colin was there to wipe away Finn's tears and he never really has any serious reactions that cause much disruption.

The next week, Colin and I took Finn for his first haircut. We were nervous to get this done, but his hair was in his eyes, so it needed to get done. We took him to a children's salon (paid twice as much for his trim than Colin does for his buzz), but he really enjoyed the experience. He was full of smiles and there was so much going on, he had difficulty staying still during the cut.

It's hard to believe that Finn has been in this world for an entire year already, though I can't really remember what life was like before his arrival.  What does the next year hold for this little guy? Well, probably the biggest change will be adjusting to having a baby sister, but we are pretty confident that he will take the new addition to our family into stride when she gets here.

 Mama bear holding Finnian at the zoo. He didn't like this very much!

Utterly exhausted after the zoo, metro ride, not to mention all the rain!

First birthday cupcake!

Fingers first, then...

mmm...pure deliciousness!

Finn's first haircut

Loving the entire experience!

Opening his birthday gift from Auntie Katherine that came in the mail. He loves opening presents!

Another first: finally holding his own bottle of milk!

Finn enjoying an afternoon snack. He is getting so big!

Back to my Canadian Prairie Home

After the beach, Finn and I boarded a plane bound for Canada. My parents moved from Saltcoats, Saskatchewan to Medicine Hat, Alberta (to be closer to my sister and her family) and I was anxious to see their new digs. I was surprised to see how settled in my Mom and Dad were, considering that Finn and I arrived only a month after their move.

A highlight of my trip was catching up with my brother Brian and his girlfriend Kate who live in Taiwan. We actually hadn't seen each other for 7 years, so a reunion of sorts was well overdue. It's too bad that Colin had to stay home and work as he still hasn't met Brian and Kate, but Finn did. He and his Auntie Kate became fast friends!

It was great being around family for a month and time passed us by much too quickly. We went to the Medicine Hat Stampede, which included both a parade and a few rodeos. I would walk the golf course while my Dad and brothers Doug and Brian golfed. I even dragged my sister Shelley out one day when she had some free time! I reconnected with some cousins that I hadn't seen in years as well as Aunts and Uncles. It was a great holiday, full of food and good times.

It was so nice to arrive by plane and not have to worry about packing baby stuff. I want to thank my sister Shelley and her daughters Amanda and Carrie-Ann for arranging everything from car seats to toys to high chairs for Finn. It was such an easy way to travel!

Below are pictures documenting our trip (thanks Kate). Finn did great on the plane, and handled the fact that we missed our last plane and had to spend the night in Toronto much better than his mother did. I guess it isn't too early to take a page from the kid's book!

 Beautiful prairie sunset from my parents' deck. I miss those sunsets.

 Finn ready to take on the world one early cool morning

 Finn spending some quality time with his Grandpa

 Finn and Grandma waiting for the parade to start

 The beginning of the parade

 Finn and his second-cousin Daizee-Joy enjoying the parade together

 My grand-nephew Brennan enjoying his experience as a puppy dog!

 My grand-niece Brianna with her face painted as a princess at the fair

 My grand-nephew Joseph all dressed up for a family dinner:)

 Brian and Brianna at my niece Amanda's farm. It was a beautiful evening with good company and fantastic food!

 The oldest grand child in my family Amanda (31 years old) holding Finn the baby of the family (almost 1 year)

Siblings on the bald prairie

 The golfers letting me take the bench at every hole. It's a good thing for me they only did the back 9!

 Kate frozen on the golf course. It was colder that day than it usually gets in Taiwan even during the winter!

 It was so nice to see Kate again!

 Finn drumming on the guitar. He loves music and technology. 

 Finn loves his Auntie Kate!

Yee Haw!

Edisto Beach with the Steed Family

Colin's parents reached the milestone of 50 years married this summer. To celebrate, we joined Colin's parents, sisters and their family for a week long vacation at Edisto Beach in South Carolina. It's a beautiful location and we had so much fun visiting and enjoying the beach!

Colin and I took advantage of family who wanted to spend time with Finn and we were able to get out for a few meals  and even spent one day touring around Charleston. It's an interesting city and I have really grown to appreciate the history and beauty of the South...not to mention the friendliness!

Finn didn't love the ocean as much as he loved the beach. Colin played with Finn on the beach and we only had one 'experience' that was a little dangerous when the surf came up and covered the baby. He was surprised, but it didn't deter him...there was more sand to be eaten!

 The love birds celebrating their Golden Anniversary. Still crazy-happy after all these years!

 Finn playing in the sand

 Isn't he starting to look more and more like a little boy and less like a baby??

 Finn and his cousin Raney. He carried on conversations with Raney, something he hadn't done with anyone else up to that point...I guess he knows his secrets are safe with her!

 Our little family enjoying some time at the beach

  You can count on his cheeks being full of sand in this picture

Sun-protected and ready to play!

 Finn eating the beach, while Colin plays.

 Finn didn't love the ocean

Look Mom...more sand in my mouth!

 Colin and Finn in their matching Hawaiian shirts. Can you see the resemblance??

 Good quality time with Daddy

 John and Mary with their Grandchildren

 Finn getting lots of love and attention from his Auntie Susie. 

 Finn getting extra hugs from his Auntie Tricia.

Colin and I enjoying an afternoon of kayaking. It was such a lovely day!