Whoah? Where did the summer go? Now, for most people they are probably bummed to see the last day of August come and go. I myself am okay with it as it just means I am that much closer to seeing Nate and having him home for good too. We welcome September and all the fall has to bring.... Here are just a few random pictures from the last few weeks.
Howie's butt is an awesome book rest... Making an entrance Oooo...this is his new face when he sees a truck (wearing his t-shirt from our Albuquerque NM trip) It's covered in watermelon juice from lunch. Wearing his t- shirt we got him in Key Largo on our "babymoon" vacation last year when I was about 28 weeks pregnant. He is holding a shark finger puppet that goes with is shark t-shirt. Reading about his favorite thing, trucks... Would you like a raspberry? (that's yogurt all over his head)
Sleep walking is something that runs in my family. I myself have been known to do all kinds of weird things in my sleep... such as turning on every light in the house, walking out the door and talking all kinds of nonsensical things. Scary huh? Just ask my husband all of his experiences with my sleep walking. I am beginning to wonder if this is something I may have passed down to Finley... The other night... at 12:37pm (I remember as it was so strange) I woke to Finley "talking" in his crib. I now keep a few little board books in the corner of his crib for when he wakes up. He loves to look at books in the morning and will stay content in his crib for 20-30 minutes before needing me to get him. The picture on our video baby monitor told me what was up. Our child was "reading" books in the dark. What the? He was paging through his books pointing and talking to the pictures.... in the dark? Either this kid has some imagination or he is following in his mama's footsteps...
I snapped a few pictures of the monitor with my phone so I could show Nate... Look closely, you can see Finley sitting up against the side of his crib and the book...
Just in case you were all wondering what it looks like when someone (Finley) puts his Nilla Wafers in the cat's drinking fountain while mommy is trying to make dinner... I thought he was feeding them to Howie because he kept quickly coming back for more...all I was thinking was whatever keeps you occupied while I try to make dinner...little did I know. Later that night, after he was sound asleep I discovered what really happened to the Nilla Wafers.
He actually topped it off with this cup that he had been playing with...
It seems Finley and I have been sort of busy these last few days. Actually, since Friday night. We traveled to Janesville for dinner at Nate's parents house. Finley highly enjoyed playing with cousins Gavin and Olivia and the attention of everyone. Saturday we did dinner and Borders with Aunt Chris. Sunday we traveled to Johnson Creek to meet Grandma Patti and Aunt Heather at the outlet mall for some shopping- by which Finley wasn't exactly game for the afternoon of shopping but with the help we made it. Today we had a playdate with Anna and Lisa for some "Splash Table" fun and backyard play. Then Finley and I headed over to dinner at their house. Since Nate is not here I don't ever grill out. We have a nice gas grill and the propane tank has sat empty all summer. It's hard enough to cook in the house with Finley underfoot let alone prep and cook and go in and out with Finley. He screams every time you open a door. I think he is going through his version of separation anxiety. He just thinks you are going to leave him and wants to make sure he gets to go with you. Well, my point is, we don't grill at home and I get my summer grilled food fix only when we are invited somewhere for a cookout. Tonight it was a burger and it was great! The busy-ness continues...I have a "date" for dinner with Aunt Heather. It's a "stay-at-home-mom's much needed dinner out without the kids once in while" date. Patti and Greg will be graciously watching all three kiddos for a couple hours of our "decompression" time.
The beauty and gem of all this busy-ness? I haven't had to feed Finley dinner at home for 4 going on 5 nights!! You know what that means? I haven't had to clean up from dinner for 4 going on 5 nights!! A much needed break from the monotonous 3 times a day meal cleanup!! I feel liberated! Ha... okay my reality will come crashing down on me on Wednesday night. Oh well. It's been a good run. (secretly I am trying to see how many more days in a row I can plan things for dinner out (or not at OUR house) so I have no dinner cleanup...sick isn't it?). Such a silly thing but when you clean up from baby/toddler meals a 3 times a day, everyday, solo, you too would be celebrating this.
In the meantime... Hopefully I can get some cleaning done around here tomorrow morning. It seems my house is the "self-destructing" type. Like the moment I get things picked up, cleaned and vacuumed it takes about an hour before it looks like I never did any of those things? Mom's of toddlers? Are you also experiencing this phenomenon? Some days I just don't bother...then regret it later when I look around at the mess and think what I have to face in the morning!!
I know what you all are saying upon reading the title... whoo hoo- sounds like a hot Saturday night...well it was for Finley! My sister (Aunt Chris), Finley and myself all headed to Avenue Bar tonight for dinner. These days dinner time out is all of 5:00pm (even 4:30pm sometimes) to avoid the busy hour so that service may be quicker for Finley's sake. He is really well behaved at restaurants for the most part but can be pretty messy and just loud and there is still a time limit before that behavior changes. The occasional meltdown does occur, again, hence the earlier dinner hour less people to annoy. We joked that we are part of the early bird dinner crowd now in our old age... Finley did well at dinner though most of his meal consisted of Bugles which I brought from home and french fries. He did eat some broccoli and a carrot and some steak. Hey, some nights are for letting go right? At the end of the meal my sister was giving him tiny drops of Coke from her straw to keep him happy till we got the check... again some nights are for letting go...put your judgments aside. I am pretty sure no child was ever truly harmed from a teaspoon of carbonated sugar water... HA! After dinner we decided to take a trip to Borders bookstore. I LOVE that place. Tonight we thought it might be fun to unleash Finley and let him run some energy (and Coke) off and play in the Childrens section. Our coffee in hand, we let him go wild and boy did he. He ran around oohing, ahhing and screaming (sort of quietly?) for at least an hour. He was CRAZY. He followed a few other kids around and played with all kinds of books and toys and whatever else they had (furniture, metal signs...letting go remember?). He kept pulling this sequined Red Dragon stuffed animal out of the the shelf every time he walked by it. Too funny. I am sure a few people thought he was obnoxious but he's only 1! Seriously, if you want to read in quiet go to the library... and if you choose to try to read in quiet at Borders you probably shouldn't choose the chair that's 5 feet from the Childrens section! People never cease to amaze me. Last time I was at Borders this guy had taken his shoes and socks off and made him self (super) comfortable in a chair there with a pile of books. Really? Did you need to remove the socks too buddy? Ok, I digress but.... Finley enjoyed himself running around so much he was pooped by the time we got home. It was bath, bottle and sound asleep by 8pm. We may have to make a weekly night of Borders? I wonder how they would feel about that??
ps....ok, so Finley too off his shoes as soon as we got to Borders too. But he's 1? At least he kept his socks on.
I think I mentioned that Nate's Bro, Uncle Jake, came along to help me out for Finley's 1 year portrait session. He was a lifesaver, he even took Finley for a stroll around the mall and got me a latte from Starbucks while I waited for the pictures to be ready to pick out. After the photos, Jake, Finley and I went out for some dinner. We don't get to see Jake often as he goes to college in northern Minnesota and it's quite a drive. It's nice to spend some time together and for him to be able to play with Finley when he is in town on breaks and what not. Finley is thrilled with both Nate's brothers and just loves being around guys. I know Finley misses Nate a lot and his Uncles come in close second. After all, they sound a lot like daddy too! Here is a quick photo I snapped of Finley and Jake at our house...festive with the leftover party balloons in the background..lol. Also Finley is getting kind of squirrely but hey, he made it through a photo shoot AND dinner in a restaurant (barely)!
Jake is back off to school on Saturday and we probably won't see him till Thanksgiving! Thanks for helping out Jake!!
Here they are- besides the ones I have already included on my page (some are similar but different effects etc). It went super well this time. Nate's brother, Jake (aka Uncle Jake) came along with us so that helped ALOT. Finley was almost all smiles....when he wasn't running off. Man, the energy that little boy has is exhausting! I am so proud of him and how awesome he did today. He was just loving be the center of attention.
Last night after I started the post about his 1st Birthday Party, Finley decided to wake up refreshed from a "nap" at 7:45pm. Ok, so the party made his schedule a little off but I thought he was so tired (I was?) he had gone to "bed" at 6 pm to stay asleep all night!! Not so much. So from 7:45pm to 9:45pm my little toddler partied like a rockstar. It was so hilarious watching him as he was HYPER. Guess that is what cake does? If it wasn't nailed down he was dragging away or pulling it down. He even surfed the kitchen counters trying to reach things on them? Seriously? This kid had a massive sugar induced mission last night. What you are seeing folks is 3 rolls of toilet paper, one box of tampons and whatever toys and household goods he could find to throw around. I was just too tired to fight that battle last night. Finley rarely entertains himself happily for 2 hours, I guess this was a small price to pay.
The evidential pictures where taken with my iphone so they are a bit blurry.
Warning... This is a LONG Post! So many nice pictures were taken and this is just a sample (seriously)
Whew! It was a super fun day and Finley has been fast asleep since about 6 pm (not sure if it's for the night) after an afternoon of partying with all his friends and family. He had a great time at his 1st Birthday Party and made it till about 5pm when he had a bath and got in his pjs as he was indicating that he had his fill of partying and playing. I must say that the party was a success and I think everyone had a good time. I know I did and Finley did. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us. Also a big thanks to my mom and dad who I don't know if I could have pulled this off without them and Nate's mom and dad who also helped out a lot. I tried to include a picture of everyone at the party to really capture the mood of the party. It was a bit chaotic at times with about 10 kids running around!! Finley did the traditional Book, Bread and Dollar choice (Nate's families tradition). If they choose the book they will be a scholar, if they choose the dollar they will fall into wealth and if they choose the bread they will work hard for a living? Something like that. Greg can tell you. Anyway, he first touched the bread, then grabbed the dollar and a minute later paged through the book! I guess we will say half and half dollar and bread. He was equally interested in both. He will work hard for part of his life and fall into money?? LOL He did enjoy his smash cake. No real smashing he just ate it bit by bit methodically and actually was about falling asleep as he did that. Uncle Josh helped him eat his cake too. After cake we opened gifts and Finley enjoyed the help of some of the bigger kids. That was nice because if we would have let Finley do it all by himself we could have been there for a year. Our friends and family are EXTREMELY generous and Finley got so many nice things. We are very appreciative! Again, thank you all. He is just thrilled with all of his gifts. Over all it was a fun success. Our little guy rang in his one year with a super fun time. Beautiful weather, family, great friends, good food and good cake! Can't ask for much more right? Well, we only wish we could have had Nate there with us. I know Finley would have had an even better time with his daddy there!!
I am now exhausted from the party and this post (which I just finished and it's actually Sunday morning now)
Mommy and Finley Happy Birthday Boy Just having fun Grandpa Bill and Finley It's a Party Cakes ` Lisa, Anna and my Cousin Kelli
Erin and Lauren Jessica and Bree Grandma Patti and Finley
Uncle Josh and Finley (Finley is eating a truck?)
My Mom and Aunt Sue enjoying lunch Leslie and Melissa
Cousin Connor
Grandpa Greg and Olivia Mary and Izzy
Playing with Isabel Lisa and Anna Getting ready for cake
The bread, the book and the dollar Smash? Green and blue make turqoise mmmm
Lauren enjoying her cupcake The remainder of the cake Gift opening time Hugging his new puppy dog
Presents with his two great helpers Gavin and John Presents with Aunt Heather and the boys
New Splash Table Soaking wet from playing in the water
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