A Laughing Matter

I know it's been a couple weeks but I'm back in action. And hopefully this one will be worth the wait.

So last night Dad and I were playing and all of a sudden he started whacking me with the rings, and man, I just loved it.



If that wasn't enough, this one's got some real deep belly laughs.

6-Month Bday Alert

So Sunday was my 6-month birthday, and you know what that means... yep, photos of Charlie the Bear and me.

First, though, let's not forget about my 5-month birthday even though Dad seemingly forgot about it and missed posting photos. I have to say that after all those guilt trips I finally got a birthday card on my 5-month birthday. The Richmans came through with flying colors… thank goodness at least someone cares about me.


So we've arrived at my 6-month birthday, and as you can see, I’m bigger than Charlie the Bear now. With each passing month my desire to eat anything in sight is exponentially increasing, and good ol’ Charlie began to resemble a slice of Pequod’s pizza, complete with oregano, parmesan cheese and some red hot chili peppers. Needless to say I spent much of the photo shoot trying to eat him.




Oh, and I'm sitting up now all by myself. I gotta think I'm kind of a child prodigy with this whole sitting up thing. And if I continue to work at it, every single day, eat well, stay away from the booze, don't fall in with the wrong crowd, listen to gospel music, do the dishes, and stay focused, I've got a shot to qualify for the 2024 Summer Olympics, which I'm hoping will be held in Hilton Head. When I set that world record for Sitting Up, you can all say that you saw it in me way back when, that you knew I was headed for greatness; that I was Phelps-ish, Phelps-like, Phelps-ian.

Hey La, Hey La, My Boyfriend's Back!

So my boyfriend, Jake, came over this morning to play and we had fun. He 's kind of a big shot because he can walk and all, and he's getting his license next week and promised to take me to the movies.

We're off to my cousin Isaiah's birthday party today, which is going to be a lot of fun. I'll post some pics of me at the party tonight or tomorrow.

Uncle Brian's Back!!!

So remember when I told you that when Uncle Brian gets back I'll have more vacation pictures for you? Well, he got back today and I got my hands on some of those photos I wanted to show you all. Had to go through about 7,841 pictures that he took over the course of two weeks, but we got what we wanted.

First of all, I have to tell you that the best part of my vacation was the fact that I got to hang out with my cousins all day, every day. I just loved sitting in the walker watching them run around, talk, scream, laugh, play, the whole nine yards. So to start things off, here are a few photos of the Motley Crue.

Here are Luke, Hannah and Isaiah at the beach.
And here is Sophie picking lint out of Eli's belly button. See, Eli wears a lot of linen suits to work every day so he often has lint in his button, which Sophie gladly cleans out for him. One day she actually found a cheeseburger in there.

And here's all of us back at the beach up on the life guard's chair. If you see at the top, Dad is in the photo. Yeah, he wanted to be in the photo so I had to hold him up on the chair... not sure what he'd do without me.

So there they are. Now you know why I had so much fun; I mean, just look at them. Now it's on to some photos of little ol' me on my first trip to Hilton Head.

Here's me snoozing hardcore in the cabana at the pool.

Here are a couple shots of me at the beach.


Here's me hanging out with Papa, he's making me laugh. What he doesn't know, and we won't tell him, is that I'm laughing AT him in this picture, not WITH him.

Here's me with my 1970s hairdo. There's a good chance you could take this photo and transport it to 1974 and I would fit right in. Hell, I don't think anyone would be surprised if you told them I was sitting in the chair listening to "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family.

Lastly, here's a great shot of Dad, Mom and me at the beach. Yes, that's a wifebeater. Yes, people still wear those things. No, it's neither normal nor acceptable. But it's my dad, so he gets a free pass... just this once, though.

Vacation Pictures

So we got back from Hilton Head late Sunday night. We had an hour and 45-minute flight delay and I kind of lost my temper towards the end. Then again, Dad kind of lost his, too, and he looked a little sillier than I did.

Anyway, enough of that malarkey, here are some photos from Hilton Head. We had a great time, eight days on Hilton Head Island just living it up. We had two 2-bedroom condos - Mom, Dad and I were in one with Uncle Brian, Aunt Tasha, Isaiah and Eli, and Nana & Papa shared a Condo with Uncle Kenny, Aunt Suzie, Hannah, Luke and Sophie (also known as The Soph Dog).

If you're wondering how the week went with the family, here is a snapshot of it. This is Eli, who was my roommate for a week, and, yes, that is a diaper on his head.
I got completely off my sleep schedule and had no idea what the difference between night and day was... needless to say Dad and I had frequent 3am and 4am play times, which was fun for me, but he may have a different take. (Editor's Note: Dad does not have a different take. He honestly loved the middle-of-the-night play time, too). My life became a series of 3-hour naps and I never knew where I'd wake up - the beach, the pool, the condo, Piggly Wiggly (the grocery store)... it was fantastic.

The weather was great - in the 90s and sunny every day, and we spent a lot of time at the pool and beach.

When my Uncle Brian gets home I'll post more photos because he took a bunch of good ones, but for now this is what I've got.

Here's me hanging out with Dad at the pool, having a good ol' time.
Here's me after the pool in my post-swimming jumper, very comfy.
One night Mom and Dad went out to dinner and I stayed home with Nana, Papa and all my cousins. This is Papa and me having a laugh. Oh, and his hair isn't always that out of control, just one of those hair days for Papa.
Here's Mom, Dad and me when they got back. Mom was lookin pretty cute in her dress. Dad was in pants that weren't even ironed... as usual.
And here's a picture of me at the ocean for the first time. I absolutely LOVED the ocean at night with the wind blowing and my feet in the water. I often just sat in the Bjorn giggling.
Well, that's it for now, I'll have more photos early next week. This week it's just good to be back home where Mom, Dad and I are back in the swing of things, but are still in that vacation state of mind.

Greetings From Hilton Head

Aunt Tasha and I are headed to the beach to pick up some hottie life guards.

Finley Used to Work on the Docks

So last weekend mom and I took a trip to Omaha. Mom was getting together with her girlfriends for a double baby shower and I was going to stay home with Dad for the weekend but at the very last minute Mom decided she wanted to take me. She told Dad she wanted the girls to meet me.

In reality I think she thought she'd come home to find I'd lost my piggy bank savings in a poker game on Saturday night with dad and the boys, my locks replaced by a pink mohawk, me cursing like a truck driver and a tattoo on my forearm that reads "Livin On A Prayer." (and I honestly can't say none of that would have happened)

Editor's Note: You will never see another photo of anyone that is not a family member or friend on this blog. This is not a platform for celebrities to get more publicity than they already get, most of which is not deserved. Not the case, however, for Dad's mancrush - Jon Bon Jovi - who deserves any praise he gets for the dozens of hits he has produced with Richie Sambora, Tico Torres (drums), David Bryan (keyboards) and Alec Jon Such (ex-bassist, not pictured). Oh, and Michael Jordan photos are aloud on this blog as well.

Anyway, so I left on Friday night on my first airplane ride. And I have to tell you - all those babies that are screaming on flights and everyone says, "Oh, their ears must be popping from the elevation... poor thing." Yeah, let me just tell you, that whole ear-popping thing is a myth, an excuse made up by some poor mom who's kid was a nut. All went fine for me - I chilled from the C-H-I all the way to Omaha and slept soundly on the way home, not a peep.

On Sunday morning Mom took me to a baby photojournalist to get some pics taken. And as you can see, they're a step up from the photos Dad takes of me for this blog (no offense, Dad).






Stay tuned for my fifth month birthday photos.