Really??

       Ooooh Fin. I knew this day would come. My sweet lover of all things but sleep. My child who didn't sleep through the night until you were 16 months. My dragger out of bedtimes. My "kiss and a hug and a kiss and a hug and a kiss and a hug!" cuddley child. My "Is the sun up yet?" questioner. I knew this day would come.
        Fin, Cole and I were cuddling on my bed at the late hour of 6:20 am this morning when I brought Cole out to change his diaper. Fin asked if he could stay in my bed since he was still "a wittle sweeepy". Thought in my head, "THEN WHY AREN"T YOU SWEEEEEEEPING?".
        Cole and I were horsing around out in the living room when Fin marched out ever so annoyed and indignant.
        " Guys! Would you please be quiet. I have to get some sleep before I have to get up and go into work today!".
       O How the tables have turned.

Will babysit for cupcakes

I came home from a late night at work to find this:

Hallelujah!
We've had our little friend Annie come to play some mornings lately while her mom Jamie goes to her doc appts for the end of her pregnancy. Note to Jamie: Name that boy. We need to bond :o)
As a thank you, Jamie got me cupcakes from The Cupcake Shoppe which just shows you that she gets me.
I came in, took in the gloriousness of the site that beheld me, and immediately stuffed my face until my stomach was like "I'm in pain,but thank you,but I'm in pain, but really...THANK YOU".
You're welcome stomach friend with a compartment just for sweets. You're welcome.

Pancake o'clock

I"m a big fan of breakfast food. Love it, as do the boys. We have hot breakfasts most mornings but one thing we ALWAYS do is have pancakes on Monday. There is no better way to start the week. Today I went low-cal and skipped adding chocolate chips in :o)

Coley, while a finicky eater, will always down him some pancakes. And when he's done he subtley tells me so by hurling pancakes onto the floor.

Today Fin decided his stuffed animals needed some pancakes too. The more the merrier.

Over time

Fin's been pulling some long hours at the Tractor Beaver Hump lately and I have to say, those co-workers of his are a little too sassy for my taste. Case in point, the other day Fin was messing around on his bunk bed ladder and I told him to be careful. When he continued horsing around, I told him he was disobeying and I didn't like that. His response: "But my workers looooove when I do this".
      It's not just his workers that are a bad influence. This morning Pat was teaching Fin his letters on the ipad. When Fin had had enough (seriously, how can you NOT recognize the letter "T" when you've just seen it three times??) he put the ipad down with a sigh and said,"I can't do anymore or my boss will fire me". Very clever, son.
     The cutest thing was the other day we were driving home from the Y and I told him we were going to go see Uncle Will play his basketball game in two more days. He ADORES Uncle Will and I thought he would be so excited but he got this sad look on his face and said,"I'm sorry but I can't go mom. And neither can dad or Cole. They have to go to my work with me. Dad has to move my pallets, Baby Cole has to pick up heavy things, and I have to click on my computer. So we can't go in two days, but we can go Monday!". What cracks me up the most is that he thinks when Pat and I are on the computer, we are just sitting there clicking for the heck of it. It's so fun getting a picture into his little mind.
     It's fascinating that this place is so REAL to Fin. He sometimes will tell us it's pretend but he really thinks of that place as a part of his everyday. The day I have to start cooking for his boss and co-workers though is the day I draw the line.

Lost in Translation

This morning Fin came and got me from the kitchen saying,"Aw look at our baby brother, he's so cute!". Can I tell you how much I love how sweet and affectionate Fin is to Cole? He thinks he's the cutest. I think they're both the cutest. Pat thinks we all use the word cute too much. Daily struggle :o)
    So I followed Fin into the living room and saw Cole lying on the ground with his blankie watching Mickey Mouse.
Me: Aw he's sleepy isn't he?
Fin: Sleeping? NO mom he's not sleeping, he's just watching Mickey.
Me: No...Sleeeeeepy. I know he's not sleeping.
Fin: He's not sleeping Mom, see?
Me: NO I said sleeeepppppyyy.
Fin (squinting up at me): Are you speaking Spanish??

I mean, is this a joke?

All in a days work...

Pat got a huge perk to his job last week when his boss allowed him to expense an ipad2. This took him from status of "I love my dad and he's really good at basketball and standing on his head", to "My dad's my hero and I kiss the ground he walks on" in Fin's eyes. They look up tooting Rhinos, talking genius parrots and letter games. You know, the important things. They are pretty darn cute while they do it.

A perk of my job at the Y is that a) I work with hilarious people and b) There are random costumes and props everywhere in the nursery. Add in a slow night and you get...

A Coley ladybug. Caroline (a girl I work with) gave me this costume that she found lying around and asked if I would put Cole in it. Subject my own flesh and blood to getting dressed up and having half a dozen girls oooo and ahhhh over him? Of course I will. Cole was a good sport and pretty stinkin cute. Lest you criticize me for dressing him up as a LADYbug... please remember that the lady bug, Francis, in a 'Bug's Life' was a man. Don't gender stereotype, people. It's an ugly thing.

Sometimes...

Sometimes you wake up at 6:30 and from the get-go it's like whoa. And you're mantra the whole day is, "I will turn this around", and yet everything just feels out of your hands.
Sometimes your toddler cries the whole day for no reason and you take him to the doctor and pay a co-pay just to have your doctor tell you he's healthy and just being fussy.
Sometimes you feel so tired all you want to do is faceplant on your bed but highchairs trays need to be cleaned (again) and you promised yourself you'd put the laundry away today and Cole still.won't.stop.crying.
Sometimes you are guiltily happy when said child finally cries himself to sleep at naptime, only to sigh for a different reason when he wakes up 30 minutes later.
Sometimes you jsut have to call it a day, take a hot shower, eat a milky way with a shot of milk and climb into bed.
Because tomorrow WILL be better.
And you can't appreciate the sweet days without some stretching ones sprinkled in.
And Finley's taken to spontaneously kissing me on the cheek like I imagine he will when he's a 6ft+ teenager towering over me. This makes everything right.