Is there a right side to the bed?

I am not a morning person. I repeat: I am not a morning person. I have always loved sleep. All through highschool and even college, I ALWAYS got 8-9 hours of sleep a night. While others were out drinking in college, I was snuggling up in my cozy sheets watching Friends episodes while I fell asleep. Just typing that makes me feel so....sleepy. And wistful.

On August 25th, 2008, God started breaking me of this idol in life. Finley was born and I never slept again. The end. And then we got him to be a semi-decent sleeper and Cole was born. And I'll never sleep again. The end.

With my lack of sleep at nights and my boys looooving to wake up with the sun (read: around 6am), most morning while Pat gets ready for work, I let the boys wander around helpfully (ha!) at his feet while I moan in bed for a good 15 minutes looking for sympathy. None is ever given so I should probably turn my efforts elsewhere, like learning to like coffee.

Here's my view as I lie in bed. The boys like to crawl around chasing each other in the morning growling like bear cubs. I would love it and find it adorable if the sun wasn't still rising.

Of course I sleep with a little box fan next to me because that's the only way to sleep. The boys LOVE my fan. Fin always tries to blow air back in it, like it's a battle, and Cole just stands in front of it with his eyes closed looking happy/confused at the cool air hitting his face.

Really once I get out of bed, I can begin to function. And it does help that my boys wake up so cheerful and happy. But man do I crave the day where I'll wake up, look outside, and it's light out. It's the little things in life...

The family that naps together...

...stays together. And has a happy mama.

Cole's been waking up before he (or I) are ready from his naps. I've been sticking in a Baby Einstein movie and he just cuddles in my arms for a whole 1/2 hour. Bliss.

Can you even handle these cheeks?

On Saturday Pat uncharacteristically conked out in our bed during naps. I had to wake Fin up from his nap b/c if he sleeps too long he parties all night long. I woke him up and went to change Cole's diaper. When  I came back, this is where I found him. Stinker.

Ah, does my heart good.

Birthday Wrap up

For my own memory I want to record Fin's birthday before I forget. The day started with a family date at Dunkin' Doughnuts and ended with water balloons and Aunt Sarah bringing over gatorade. Need I say more?

I just felt very overwhelmed with the love from all the people in our lives on that day. We had family calling, sending cards, the neighbors across the street made him sprinkle cookies, and the sweet older lady next door who's our adopted 'Grandma Peggy' made him a card and a handmade camo blanket with his name on it. How sweet is that? Even the pizza place we went to for dinner (which is owned by Pat's friend) made a huge deal over Fin and gave him stickers and brought out a cupcake with a candle on it as a suprise.

Being this loved is not the norm today, although it should be. I guess I just always wonder, why us? Why are we this blessed with so much love and support and healthy children? It weighs on me a lot but I figure God knows best and however we can bless other people in our own small way is how we should try.

End of sappyness. Fin's highlights of today were:

*Waking up and seeing the house decorated.

* Pops coming out and picking him up for a lunch date with Aunt Cait and Nanny. Fin was over the moon excited and kept "calling" Pops on his phone (which was coincidentally his hand) to come pick him up early.

*Dinner at Jacks pizza place.

*Playing at the castle park afterwards and having a family game of hide and seek.

*Aunt Sarah bringing over a gatorade for him and putting him to bed.

And last but not least, Fin LOVED his presents from us of water balloons, a scooter aaaaaand...

His Jack in the box that he's been begging for for months! The best 3 dollars we've ever spent, although somehow this toy for babies has Pat and Fin stumped as to how to push the monkey back into the box. It's seriously the best entertainment for me to watch those two try to figure it out. Fin told me he's going to college now that he's three but I told him they don't have his favorite shows there so he's content to stay awhile at home. Thank goodness.

Bunks and Birthdays

Today my very best big friend is 3. And while my heart hurts because he'll never be two again and he's growing up so fast and wasn't I just swaddling and rocking him?, still I choose to celebrate today. Because he is such a blessing to our family, such a fun, expressive kid, and because we love to celebrate in this family!

Last night we gave Fin one of his presents...bunks beds! My parents graciously gave us the bunks beds I had when I was a kid. Fin was over the moon excited.

Of course Pat couldn't do this project on his own. He needed the help of two little boys. One who likes to nail things that are not even nails and one that crawls and bangs on anything that you're trying to work on.

"Please lady, no cameras. Can't you see I'm working here?"

I caught Cole taking a break from hammering the ladder to watch a Baby Einstein movie. Shortly after I took this picture I informed him that if he was going to take a tv break, he would need to clock out. We're not paying people to lie around here!

5 hours and 3 trips to the hardware store later you have the finished project!

You don't get much happier than this.

In honor of his birthday, I did a little interview with him. I plan on doing this with all of our kids on their birthdays just to remember where they were at each age.

Mom: What is your name?
Fin: Fin.
Mom: And how old are you?
Fin: 3.
Mom: You are three! And what do you want to do on your birthday?
Fin: Um, pick up turtles.
Mom: Pick up turtles? What do you think you're going to get for your birthday?
Fin: A Jack in the box. (Sidenote: He's been asking for this for forever. How random?)
Mom: maaaybe. What are you going to do now that you're three? What did you say last night you were going to do now that you're three?
Fin: Watch sports center and rub your feet. (Sidenote: I'm loving three already!)
Mom: So now that you're three are you going to get a job?
Fin: Yes! No wait mom I'm not getting a job until I"m thiiiiiis big (stretching out his arms).
Mom: Wow, how old is that?
Fin: Um, I don't know.
Mom: Ok. So what did you get last night for your birthday?
Fin: bunk beds!
Mom: Yay! Did you like sleeping in them? Were they comfy.
Fin: Um yea.
Mom: What's your favorite color?
Fin: Red and Blue.
Mom: And what's your favorite thing to do?
Fin: Play basketball with Daddy.
Mom: And what's your favorite thing to eat?
Fin: Um Krispy things that go "po po po po po po". (Rice Krispies)
Mom: And how much do you love your mama?
Fin: (spread his arms halfway) This much.
Mom: And how much do you love your Daddy?
Fin: (spreads his hands) This much.
Mom: And how much do you love your Coley Bear?
Fin: (Spreads his arms as wide as they'll go) Thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!
Mom: Aw. Well we love you Fin so much, Happy Birthday.
Fin: Love you Mama.

Lunch time

Everyday, I make a nice lunch for myself and the boys and we all sit down together to eat. Aaaand 5 minutes later we are usually all here...

I don't know what it is about lunchtime but Fin always needs to poop as soon as we sit down. And pooping is not his favorite thing (biggest understatement ever). He's been potty trained since he was 18 months but he always hates going number 2 on the potty.

So this is Fins routine. We sit down to eat and Fin looks at me and says, "Mommy I'm cold". Clue #1. Then when I assure him he's not he says, "Mommy can we cuddle?". Clue #2. When I tell him we can cuddle after we eat that he moves onto his final clue. "Mommy I don't need to poop". Clue #3. I mean can we even call that a clue? The boy needs a lesson in subtlety.

So off we all haul it to the bathroom for 15 minutes of fun *cough* before we get to return to our now cold and starting to go stale lunch.

Cole loves our lunch time despite the interruptions. Today he tried cheesy noodles and was a big fan.

I'm mainly recording this so I can look back one day and remember these times when we didn't have peaceful uninterrupted lunches. That time will come, right? It doesn't bother me too much now b/c I know this is just a season of our life and I really wouldn't trade it for the world.

Oh the irony

Pat and I looked over while eating lunch and found this sight.

We were letting Cole air out after pool time and thought it was so funny he was trying to reach this word. And yes, my husband does try to spell questionable words with our kids' alphabet magnets. He's really quite talented as it considering we only have half the letters still.

Friday Night Fun

This is how we unwind for the weekend-Mama and Fin style

Preview the Promenade

We had a great summer night last night. We met up with Pat's family at Waverly Place which has been completely redone. It is AWESOME now. There is a play ground, a spray ground where little jets shoot up water at the kids, a huge grassy area for the kids to run around in and my favorite addition- a froyo place AND a cupcake place. Hello new best friends.

Fin wasn't too sure about the spray jets first so he just observed.

My niece Emma however dove in headfirst, literally. She stuck her face by a fountain and it shot full force in her face. She screamed and was back in them not two minutes later.

Fin finally got wet and immediately came over to show me his clothes.

Before too long his shirt was off and he was jumping on bubble wrap that Grandma had brought. Her purse is seriously like the Barney bag.

And then we ended the night with a mini cupcake. It is truly a test parental test for me not to eat my childrens cupcakes while they are not looking. I passed the test last night but not without a lot of inner dialogue.

Cole was a trooper strolling in the hot night. We sat near the sprayers and some kid splashed some water on us. Cole looked up at me from my lap and shook his head so mad like he was saying, "kids these days". I swear he's 50.

I'm more British when I'm grumpy

Today I was driving in the car dying a slow death.
Cole was crying like he has been non-stop for 5 days, Fin was trying to shove a kids mirror out the car window to fly it like a kite and I needed caffeine. Trying to rise above it all I took a deep breath and turned on the boy's kid cd to see if that would calm them down.
 'My country 'tis of thee' came on blaring on the stereo and I thought I would lose my ever loving mind. Really? a) that is NOT a kids song and b) NOBODY enjoys listening to that song, especially when 20 brainwashed kids are creepily singing it.
I'm 1/2 British thanks to my mom and I've never felt more aligned with the Mother Country then I did today.

That was fun while it lasted...

Three weeks ago after many sleepless nights, much drooling and crankiness, Cole got his second top tooth. Aaaaand a week ago he randomnly got said tooth stuck on a (seemingly) harmless toy and ripped it 3/4 of the way out. If I cliff notes this story...we had to make an emergency pediatric dentist run last weekend because our emergencies NEVER happen on weekdays during office hours. We were told to wait a week to see if the tooth was salvageable and if it would start setting back into it's root. And o-by-the-way don't let your 10 month old put anything in his mouth...for a week.

Hello dentist, have you met a baby?

So the rest of the week was spent me shrieking anytime Cole tried to put anything in his mouth to the point where we were both traumatized. Then on Friday (one hour after office hours closed) Cole bit on his finger and sent blood shooting everywhere as his tooth loosened and he screamed. Since we couldn't reach anyone, Pat had to pull the tooth himself to ease his pain. In true Pat fashion, we said a prayer together, he pulled his tooth, and then took off running around the house screaming "Ahhh" for no reason. It would have been funny...if I found anything funny at that point.

So meet Toofers Mcgoofers.

Do NOT let his smile fool you. He has been fussing/crying non-stop since Friday and this is my view all.day.long.

I'm a little beside myself b/c I do not know what to do with this fussy child. Maybe that tooth was the key to his happiness and we pulled it? Maybe he is just traumatized and telling us over, and over, and over. Either way I'm about to pull all my hair out. Which is a shame because it just started growing back nicely since the postpartum hair loss.

Fin has been a champ dealing with all of this except he may be needing a little extra attention himself lately. He's been insisting on eating in Cole's highchair (?) and every morning he get's up and says "My new tooth grew in again!" and then we all cheer and high five each other. Might as well humor him.

Literally the ONLY time I"ve seen Cole happy the past 4 days is when he learned to climb my parents steps last night. He was so proud and I would build him fake steps to climb over at our house if it would make him happy.

So we're hopefuly our bear will return to his normal happy self soon. And I'm hopeful he will buy me flowers and chocolate to apologize for hanging on me 24/7 while yelling in my face. It's really the least he can do.

Losing the Baby weight

Coley had his first meal in his new high chair seat tonight. Funny story about that.

I dragged out Fins old high chair seat a few weeks ago b/c Coley's fat rolls were not squeezing in the old Bumbo anymore. Cole immediately went stiff as a board and squeezed out the bottom of it like he was shooting out of a luge. Before I could blink. I needed something with a belt and a stopper thing in between the legs ASAP. And I wanted to spend no money on it.

I took Fin's old high chair seat into a second hand store and asked the man if I could give him that (which is ooooold and not great to look at) and take home a nice cushy chair he had there that was more then a little upgrade for us. For free. And then I batted my eyes and tried to look like a teenage mom.

At first he just looked at me weird and then....he recognized me. Because not only does this man own that shop but he also owns the local ice cream store that is my home away from home. So much so that when the teenage girls that work there see me walking up they charge me $2.16 and hand me a scoop of cappucino crunch. The owner grinned and said since I was such a loyal customer he'd let me have the new chair for free. I KNEW my lifestyle choices would pay off big one day. Moral: If you have cute kids and eat a lot of ice cream, good things will come

Cole feels his new highchair is much more unaccommodating to his bourgeoisie lifestyle.

He was oddly quiet today and I found him balancing shakily on the bathroom scale. I think he's a little worried about the amount of puffs and avocado he ate at dinner. I told him do a few extra laps with his walker and he'll be fine.

Do you love how big this outfit is on him? I could eat him with a spoon in this picture. Poor boy has had a rough week with his tooth but more on that later.

Will work for Banana Pudding

Tonight we watched my nieces for awhile and they had dinner and playtime with us. Throughout all dinner I kept looking at Pat and dropping hidden comments such as "See we could totally handle 4 kids" or "Don't 4 kids seem so easy?". I'm nothing if not subtle.

After dinner we had the stereotypical free for all wrestling match where Pat body slammed Fin, Grace and Emma and I yelled in the background that somebody was going to get hurt and there would definetly be tears. When did I become that mom? The kids had such a good time though and loved all trying to tackle Pat.

Cole watched the whole thing chilling against this pillow with a dissaproving expression on his old man face. He agreed with me.

Group attack.

Grace and Pat went head to head.

It was a sweet time with our nieces. After they left Fin said how much he missed them. The best part was Kerry brought us sweet tea and banana pudding from Danny's BBQ as a thank you. I'll do just about anything in this world for some good banana pudding. Don't test me on that.
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On another note, a week and a half ago my sister Kiersten left to live in Indonesia for two years working as a teacher. It's been really hard on the whole family as we are all very close and we already miss her so much. Fin doesn't quite get how long 2 years is as everytime we pull into my parents driveway he yells "Kierstens here!". Also apparently he knows nothing about Indonesia as evidenced by his prayer tonight...
"Dear Jesus, thanks for Mommy, Daddy and Coley. Please please please keep Kiersten away from all the bears. Help her to come home soon so I can ride in her car to Nanny's pool, maybe? Amen."
 Sweet boy prays for her every night without being reminded. And always mentions the bears. NO idea how the two connect.

And so it begins...

When my sister Sarah first asked if Fin could sleepover at her house I was skeptical. I knew that he would LOVE it, but I wasn't sure if I was ready to let him be away from me for the night. I tried to weasle out of it by reminding her that he typically wakes up a little before 6am but she was still game to do it so we agreed.

Pat and I dreaded this day like he was going to college. Fin and I packed up his little going away bag (sound machine included) and I really feel like someone should give me an award for not telling him that he could still back out if he wanted to and "don't you think you might miss your mama?".  Such a missed opportunity to emotionally stunt him.

This is the big boy getting ready to leave. He told me goodbye about 12 times throughout the day as he tried to leave early for Sarah's. I was starting to get a little offended at his eagerness.

Fin and his Aunt Sarah. They are soul mates pretty much. He doesn't know he can't marry her yet.

The night was a success. Sarah took him and Uncle Will to get cupcakes and then go play at the park. We did Facetime with him on my iphone before bed and he was sitting there as happy as can be munching on a big bowl of popcorn. Obviously I wanted to see tears and despair.
Tonight before his bedtime, Fin, Pat and I were lying in our bed just talking and I asked him when he dreamed about while he was there. "Mouseys riding on tomatoes" was his prompt reply. Then I asked if he missed me so much. "Yes I missed you mama soooo much" he said. "What about me?" Pat asked. Fin looked at him skeptically "No b/c you're freddy (sweaty)". Poor Pat had just gotten back from the gym.
It's a small victory but I'll take it.

More Finn-isms

Ya'll almost-three is SUCH a fun age. Still so cuddly and best friends with his mom and dad, yet so expressive and just...funny! There are a few funny comments Fin has said lately that I want to remember.

- I was dressing Fin for church Saturday night and put a polo shirt on him. Fin immediately smoothed out his shirt with his hands, looked at me and said, "Mama am I looking sharp?". After assuring him he was he ran into our bedroom where Pat was dressing and said "Daddy you are looking sharp too" and then held out his hand so they could give each other dap. Apparently there is a snazzy dresser club they belong to. I've not yet been invited into this club but I have high hopes once I can manage to shower during the day instead of at night right before bed.
-At the Y pool we discovered they loan out floatations for kids. You strap it on their waist and it has a little oval float that stays on their back. Fin was SO excited to be a turtle and swam around giving his best turtle impressions. When it was break, he pulled his float behind him like a dog on a leash and told me so seriously, "this is very special to me".
-Last night we put Fin down for bed and I picked up food from a restaurant so we could have a date in. Halfway through eating we heard Fin's door creak and little footsteps. If he comes out he usually  plays the "I'm so sad and missing you in my bed" card where he comes out fake rubbing his eyes. I guess this time he decided a different approach b/c he came out like Johnny Carson, waving and with a big smile on his face. "Hey dad, I missed you guys...Oooo a burger! I love love love burgers...let's cuddle" and then he proceeds to hop up on the couch next to me, grab a fry, and eat it like nothing was wrong. Pat and I just looked at each other like "what just happened?". Sneaky little stinker.

I still think Fin thinks that he is on the same level as Pat and I and then we all just look after Cole. I love that he wants to be with us more then anything, as I know this will not always be the case. Sometimes he has us all grab hands in a circle and say, "1,2,3...we are beeeeeeest friends". And then I melt and want time to stand still.

Desperation is the Mother of Ghettofication

Well I've managed to do the impossible. I've taken my pretty pretty iphone and made it the equivalent of "mom jeans". It's now the proud owner of two strips of velcro on the back. I would be sad but these little strips have literally saved my life.

Before I was a mom I NEVER understood why moms would have their dvd players always playing in their minivans. "Kid's imaginiations grow from boredom" has always been something I believe strongly in but then Cole turned 9 months old and ohhhh emmmm geeee.

The boy went from not making a peep in the car to hating it more then he hates medicine syringes (which is a lot). He shakes his head violently when we are just approaching the car and then screams and flails around when I'm trying to strap him in and continues to scream the entire.stinking.carride. Picture me driving with one hand while throwing toys and doing hand puppets with my other hand. Anything to make the screaming stop.

This continued on for a month until I started developing an aversion to the car myself b/c of how stressful it was. Poor Fin would always ask me while Cole was screaming, "Why is baby Cole being so MEAN?".

Sooo, since I was genuinely worried about having a car accident with all this chaos. I superglued 2 strips of velcro to the back of my iphone cover and stuck 2 strips to the back of the head rest in the car. Viola...a mini dvd player that I can play baby einstein videos through Youtube.

Life is peaceful again. And I no longer feel like I need a candy bar to get through every car trip. Chocolate is my alcohol afterall.

Wanted: More Male influence

The boys and I met up with three of my sisters and Will at Target today to get out of the house and enjoy free airconditioning and kid's cookies. While we were walking around, I remembered that I needed to grab sour cream for dinner so I left the boys with the Aunts and ran across the store. Not three minutes later I returned to find my little boy dressed like this.

Please note the Jackie O. sunglasses and bracelets.

And for kicks they added a random raccoon tail which he was THRILLED about.

                                             Seriously girls, paybacks coming when you have kids!

Awww Skeet Skeet...

A week ago I took Pat out to Fuquay to go skeet shooting as a birthday present. Random? Yes. A groupon deal? Yes. It was SO much fun and we laughed our way through the whole 13 point course. I of course did not shoot but had 2 important jobs. Well, 3 if you count keeping neon foam earplugs from falling out of my ears. Apparently I have oddly shaped ears b/c those things would NOT stay in.

So job #1: Pushing a giant red button to release the clay disc when Pat would yell pull. I seriously felt so important.

Job #2: Being the golf cart driver. Pat fired me halfway through the course b/c we kept rolling backwards down hills and he said he didn't feel safe. Whatevs those golf carts need a little more gas power to them. Those hills are STEEP!

I told Pat to look like a huntsman. How manly is he?

This is how I would look if I shot a gun.That thing is so heavy! Give me Nintendo duck hunt anyday.

The people that run this place are some characters! Pat and I felt like city-folk compared to them, haha. When Pat was signing his gun waiver I asked if I had to sign one too since I wasn't shooting. This old country man looked at me as serious as could be and said, "Yes ma'am, I don't know ya'lls marital business". Like I was going to lure Pat out in the woods to shoot him. That'll teach him to leave the toilet seat up!
We hope to go back again, if I can just find me some proper earplugs :o)