Big Boy Bed

Well, it's time.

NO, not to get rid of Murrey (I wish). Any takers???

Finn has a climb-out-proof crib (featured above) that is gorgeous and has served us very well (thank you grandma), but he still tries to get out, and nearly every day --sometimes many times in a day-- he gets his leg stuck in one of he slats and we have to rescue him.

He's a big boy, and we're movin on up. My mom left behind a twin bed for when 'Finny gets bigger', and Tom and I are going to make him a nice bed frame. Though I'm sure Poppa will be largely involved in it's construction, I will be painting and designing it and Tom will build it. Maybe my dad will even help a bit, since it will be built in his garage, someplace I'm not sure he will ever leave.

Anyhow, my theme will be counting sheep, (inspiration) and I think it will be very cute, and we hope to have it done in time for Christmas (though with holiday engagements creeping up on us, I think we may be short on time). I think it will fit nicely into the primary color scheme of his room, adn will be easy to paint over and update for more kids.

We also bought this in green to keep him safe inside but not trap him. The bed will otherwise have three sides, and nice long pillows to keep him from going 'bump' in the night.

It breaks my heart he is so big already, but I do think he's ready. I wish there was a new baby to put in the crib, but good things come to those who wait... right???

Oh, and thanks to Michelle (K), we have a great theme for his birthday-- CANDYLAND! I only have a few ideas so far, but I'm sure once my juices get flowing, I can make it spectacular... but first I need to work on the invitations!!! Again, I'm open to suggestions....

Punk rock Mama

Take THAT Thirty!!!!

All I need is a nose ring and I'm set. Youth will not evade me.
Neither motherhood, nor time, nor age shall defeat me when I have hair dye!!!
MWAHAHAHAHAH!

This is Buckbeak. She is a dear, dear friend, and we have the SAME HAIR. I did them both at once, aren't we trendy? Last time I saw her I cut it too, I'm so handy! We also painted our nails pink to match our hair, and are going to get pink heels to go out on the town in~ FUN.

Jesus! Are my boobs really that big? Good lord, call Dr. Rey, I need a surgical intervention.

Pardon the peaked complexion, we've all been very sick with bloody diarreah (scary, but doctor said it's okay) and vomiting for almost two weeks now.

Poor Finn also had a yeasty diaper rash and was SOO very miserable, but he seems much better thanks to some antifungal cream and powder, and mommy's special homemade diaper cream. I will miss his 4 hour sick boy naps when he does get better, but I'm hoping he'll get better soon so we can go out and play with our new mom's group before it gets too cold!

ROCK on.

Halloween

Finn's first costume was a ninja. He looked very cute. The triplets came to our Halloween party, all dressed as super heroes, and Finn had a GREAT time running after Sarah. Here they are taking a breather, and sneaking a few kisses.

By the end of the party, Mr. Maniac man had torn his costume off of his body, and into three pieces, so I had to run out and find another one. Being at the mercy of the retail establishment (I usually buy online and early) I had to get him what was left, so he was a mouse. And he wasn't happy about it.

I should probably mention that it was an unseasonal 70 degrees that day, so his warm fuzzy costume, which would have wonderful against late October wind and rain, made him sweaty, and angry. But no less, before running out to another party of our own, we had time to make one stop for Trick or Treating with our new neighbors Michelle and Topher.

Here she is, glamorously doling out candy to Finn, who very politely said please. He liked this part.

And then Uncle Topher stepped in to hand him a 'special' prepared bag of goodies, and then two extra bags of good stuff for being so cute. Finn also liked this part.

Especially the cars, which he carried with him to bed that night, and told us all day until we got to grandma's house, that he had cars.

We tried to make a few more trick or treating stops, especially to the neighbors I used to trick or treat at, but Finn got very angry when he couldn't play with their dogs or the other kids, and after a huge tantrum we thought it best to go home. We had plenty of a candy, anyhow.

Pumpkin Farm Day

This is a picture of a boy who thinks he is very excited to go to the Pumpkin Farm.

This is what he looked like inside the pumpkin farm.

As you can see, he didn't like it very much. Of course, I was heartbroken. Halloween is my favorite holiday, I love it much more than Christmas, and the pumpkin patch visit is my most looked forward to holiday tradition. I was SO disappointed.

We spent less than an hour at the farm altogether because he never stopped crying. He was terrified of the animatronic things (understandably) that were everywhere, and he was suspicious of everyone and everything because they scared him so much.

Tom and I had planned a weekend day to go, but Finn barfed his breakfast that day, so I had to take him myself. Because of this, I brought the wagon to help carry the pumpkins and to keep him from getting crowd claustrophobia. He did not sit in the wagon AT ALL, but I had to drag it with me everyplace, and couldn't go into the petting zoo and other parts of the farm he would like because I didn't want to leave it outside unattended. I carried him in the Mei Tai the whole time, and was sorely disappointed by the whole trip.

This face says, 'mommy, get me out of here.'

Once we packed up to go and he got his little punkin, he was very happy, though.

I passed a farm stand that sold pumpkins that looked cute, and I was determined to stop and have a fun day with Finn. It was much lower key and turned out to be a great decision! He loved the bunnies.

And he REALLY loved the chickens.

Click here to listen to him talking to them.

I found some unpasteurized unprocessed apple cider (SO hard to find), as well as some good, fresh farmstand jams, pickles, and some mums to decorate the house with. It turned out to be a fun little excursion, after all, which made me feel much better.

Displacement

These pics are old, but Finn now understands that 'things' can fit into or onto other 'things'. So strange combinations of stuff are popping up all over.

Up to date

For those who don't know, I will be officially sending in my DONA certification package this Friday, which means I ought to be certified in a month or two.

I'm also provisionally certified to be a Bradley Instructor (up on their webpage in lights and everything), and start my first class in January.

These certifications by themselves take most people 3-4 years to complete. I did it in about a year and a half. I really have been working hard and look forward to seeing what it's like to being 'just' a stay at home mom once I'm all done. I am still going to finish up my La Leche League peer counselor position work, but will be taking my time over the next few months.

And I guess I will still be cleaning houses, too, so maybe less of that stay at home stuff than I thought! Well, maybe now that we have a pres-elect from the party with the donkey instead of an ACTUAL donkey, the economy will improve and I won't have to do that much longer. One can only hope. And for the record, none of us could be happier Obama won. We're lighter on our feet than we have been in years. The power of hope is incredible. And the power of racism is lesser, though I'm still horribly ashamed of the some of the responses the color of a man's skin has to illicit from some of the toads out there. If only we could mandate healthcare AND education, America would be a healthier, happier place for sure. And the republican party would have a lot of 'splaining to do...

Anyhow, I learned of a new feature offered by Gmail (owned by google, as well as blogger and many other awesome things) called Google Reader. You sign up through your google mail
(Gmail) account and can 'subscribe' to my blog, and it will give you updates when I post new stuff. My sister turned me on to it and I though I'd pass it along. Of course, I will be able to see who is subscribed, so if you're one of my 'secret' viewers, you may want to just stay anonymous so we can both pretend you're not sneaking peaks at our little life. I even put a little gadget in the sidebar where you can see who my readers or 'followers' are so you can check one another out if you'd like-- again, this is where the anonymity issue would come into play, as this is automatic.

Anyway, Happy Subscribing!

Lazy Mom

Sorry, I have been really horrible at keeping up. We're all moved in, but still don't have internet on my computer, which is where we keep all the pictures and my whole life, so I don't have anything new for you yet-- soon, though soon. And I have some Halloween pics and stories for you as well as some stuff from before the move.

Finn is turning into a lanky little boy before my very eyes. In just a few short weeks he seems to have grown into, and is now growing OUT OF all of his Christmas and Birthday gifts from last year! He's so very tall and thin. Like his mother was, and not so unlike his cousin Sammy soup. It really will be interesting to see who he looks more like as he grows, because there are so many similarities.

One difference, though, are his vocal skills. He makes a lot of noise, but not as many words as I would like him to. Mind you, he's quite average in his development, and seemingly all boy because he sees the world as a giant jungle gym, and has no interest whatsoever in talking, words, or being read to.

I'm also not one of those 'on top of' moms who is all up in their kids face about everything. I know he's a bright kid, and I want him to find his own way and teach him at his own speed instead of mine. Tom and I have very different ideas about education and teaching than most couples these days, so I find that those who cram learning down their kids' throats look down at me for not being more 'into' it.

But, I am who I am, and we're moving along. He knows most of his letters, but won't tell you about them unless he hears other kids doing it, or is in the right mood. He knows a lot more words than he lets on as well, and it's really a battle of the wills to get him to use them. Just this week we mastered 'thank you', which he has signing for over a year now. He has known what it meant all this time, and knows what it means, but wouldn't even try to say it until properly, diligently, and significantly motivated to do so.

He is a very stubborn boy, which of course he got from me. I suppose my dad is laughing at me from beyond as I struggle to show Finn who is boss.

He also REALLY likes to slam doors, turn off light switches, and hit things. He REALLY enjoys kissing me with such vigor that he slams his head into mine with affection. He also does these great climbing hugs wherein he starts on your chest and climbs onto your head. Don't be fooled by his attempts at affection-- they're all just ploys to hit or climb on you. Like I said, he's all boy.

We're really into cars, boats, and choo-choos these days. Pulling up at a train crossing is like he won the lottery, and from the wails afterwards, you'd think he won but then lost his ticket.

And we're also on our second old-school butcher block hacked up mommy hairstyle. His hair is thin and wispy but curly and cute. It's getting darker and thicker, but if it gets too long, it just hangs all limp, so I keep cutting it into layers to promote the curls. But don't worry, no traditional boy haircuts here, we're way too cool for those. :)

OK, enough for now. My little man needs a snack and some quiet time before bed-- which he tells you he wants to go to now by going upstairs and waiting for you in his room. Too cute!

Save the Date

Finn's birthday party will be Sunday, December 14 from 12-6. Mark your calendars, and then hope I invite you (since not every reader I have will be invited-- hah!).

No theme yet, and it will be much smaller scale than last year.
I can't believe my baby boy will be two!

Dead Air

I've been working so hard, sorry I haven't posted. I am, however, provisionally certified for Bradley and sending in my Doula cert package this week. Two classes to teach, one test to take, and I'm done with those two for good!

Finn is a riot. He likes to hide things now, and see what fits into what, so in the last week he has: put a toothrush into the heating vent so it was still sticking out, put his shoes inside my birth files, put one of my shoes inside the garbage can UNDER the new bag I put in, hidden his toys in the diaper champ, and much more.

He speaks more and more, and learns new words all the time. Today he is sick, and rather miserable, but he really likes our new house, and is much happier here than he was in the old house.

We had a halloween party/housewarming last week and he tore his costume into three pieces while he was wearing it, so I had to buy him another one. It's short notice, so I'm not sure he'll ever forgive me, but he will be a giant fluffy mouse, and cute as can be. Since he tore his ninja costume to pieces, perhaps he will chew holes in this one?

Only time will tell.

Getting Settled

So, I've just unpacked the camera and am trying to get settled. The move itself was easy, but the months of packing WAS NOT, and neither was feeling like neither place was home.

I'm down to my last 10 boxes (hooray) but would have had them all done if I hadn't had a birth this week, and spent part of a day crying out of feeling so overwhelmed!

Finn LOVES it here, and even the dogs are better behaved. It's a lot of space to get used to, and it's scary to think we might have to pack up leave all over again in a year's time. We hope we can stay and make this our home, but only time will tell.

In the mean time, I've hung up my things even though mom's wall colors don't match any of them, and I've arranged the furniture and done my best to make it feel like home. I hope it does soon, but honestly, I miss my old house, too.